I think this post starts mid-april.

It is now time for another installment on the update about my life.

This first picture is one of my all-time favs. This picture was taken in the middle of our bridals in Salt Lake City. We had taken some of the pictures around Temple Square and we were headed to Memory Grove. Not a joke, people, Memory Grove and Temple Square are gorgeous. It really is. It was so awesome to take our pictures up there. I just love this picture because the day of our bridals also marked one year of dating for us. And I just love Levi so one million much. And to be fair, it was actually one day after the year mark, but I had been out of town for the weekend, so basically it didn't count. Anyway, I love this picture. We were so so so very happy and we still are so so so very happy and it was just a great day.

For those of you who are getting married, start those invitations way early. You never know how long the dang printing company is going to take. I'll spare you the details, but I will tell you that the company kept telling us over and over that it would take another day to get the invitations printed because their printer kept jamming. What was really happening was that yes, the printer was jamming, but they would take like twelve hours before they would go unjam it which is why it was taking one million years. Levi decided to take matters into his own hands and go over to the printing place and sit and watch the printer so that if it ever jammed, the employees would fix it immediately. With Levi there, the job was finished in two hours. Hmm, crazy. I know that sounds kind of rude, but seriously. It was taking waaaaaay longer than it ever should have. Also it's kind of hilarious because I'm sure the workers were very confused as to why there was a strange man sitting in the lobby stuffing invitations while watching a printer.

Anyway, I tell that story because we were on a time crunch and so that same nightwe stuffed ALL 600+ invitations and put them in the mail. Turns out we accidentally stamped like thirty more invitations than we should have, so I took matters into my own hands (pun totally intended) and removed the stamps from all the extras and put them on my thank you card envelopes. #winning

This, my friends, is the Fun Friday Club. And while the name implies that we would do something fun on Fridays only, the truth is that we actually did something fun basically every day. This was my lunch bunch every day during the school year. It was seriously SOOOO fun to have lunch with these guys. Everyone shares their food, Catie uses Katie's Cougareat discount card, we sit near Levi's mom's picture in the Wilk, everyone except me talks about their mission, everyone gets dating advice, Kelsey goes on the most dates, and a good time is had by all. I LOVED having lunch with them. Always a highlight of the day. Also, if you get a chance, watch the music video "My Way is My Decision" by olympian Tina Maze. In the words of our favorite Slovenia-loving friend/returned missionary, Tina "won the olympics." So she deserves a little respect.

This picture is another one of my very very most favorites. This picture is from Levi's graduation! I was so proud of him. Seriously. I know some people think the whole thing is silly and that's fine, but I love it. I love seeing him in his cap and gown and I was so so proud of him for everything that he had accomplished. He had survived college and rugby and working and was still such an all-star fiance. It also got me really excited for the future we had ahead of ourselves. Plus, yes. My hair looked awesome on this day.

So, this picture. Have we all seen the movie Frozen? Well Levi and I love that movie and love to quote it ("You-hoo! Big summer blowout!"). Also, Levi thinks the character Anna is just like me. Which, for the most part, I'm okay with. Except I definitely didn't fall in love with Levi in one day. Just sayin'. But anyway, you know that part where it's Elsa's coronation and Anna wakes up late and has the craziest hair? See this picture. Well whenever I wake up from a nap or when I wake up in the morning and my hurr is a little cray cray, Levi always says, "Good morning, Anna." Plus, I have a terrible grumpy morning face when I'm not ready to be awake yet.

Next up, back when we lived in Provo (so many moons ago! actually, not even one moon.) we would go to Levi's parent's house for dinner every Sunday, which was always really great. This is a picture of Levi in a food coma like 20 minutes after dinner. The thing is, he's a party animal, that Levi. Nothing will stop him from partying all day and all night. Also, I think a really important detail to make you aware of is the fact that we are wearing matching shirts. Unintentionally wearing matching shirts is one of my top ten favorite things to do with Levi. It's a bummer because it's definitely in his top ten LEAST favorite things to do with me. Oh well.

Art City Donuts, you guys. The food truck business is all the rage in Provo right now so if you're there, you really really really really really need to check it out and you reeeeeeally need to try these donuts. I'm basically a donut connoisseur and Art City Donuts are the most magical thing. I'm getting hungry just thinking about them. Try the Blueberry Crumble--it will change your life!

For Levi's graduation, my mom gave me some money to buy Levi a gift and I knew exactly what to get him. Since we were moving to Oklahoma, Levi has become a huge OKC Thunder fan. He's so happy to have a team that won't break his heart every year like the Utah Jazz do (And trust me, I've heard about his broken childhood heart multiple times. Let's just say he didn't love Michael Jordan and the Bulls very much. But now the Bulls have Jimmer, so his heart is softening. Except the Bulls still have Joakim "Joa-gross" Noah, so unfortunately, my heart is still rock hard.) ANYWAY, I really like the Thunder, too and obvi we love Kevin Durant so the obvious gift choice was to combine my mother's funds with a little of my own and get Levi a KD jersey. He was SOOOOOO stoked to get it and I was SOOOOO stoked that I kept the gift a secret for an 5 whole days, which is a personal record.  Also, that night I made enchiladas, which is his favorite meal. Man, I'm good.

Sidenote: Levi literally JUST texted me and told me that in the summer school class that he is teaching right now there is a child with KD shoes. He plans to steal them. I totally support him.

And that concludes the next chapter in updating you on our life. I think this officially gets us to the end of April. You're welcome.

food and friends and more food.

This last week has been pretty swell.  It was full of old roommates and friends and food and it was fantastic.

Last Friday Rachel and Kenneth came into town for the weekend to be here for Kenneth's grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary.  They were only here for the weekend, but we still got to hang out twice.  On Friday, we went with them to Sonic for shakes and also, here's the thing: Sonic has a fantastic Reese's shakes like woah.  Anyway, it was fun to catch up with them and to hear about the hilarious things that happen in South Carolina, which is where they live.  Also, while we were there, these high school-aged kids came up to us and they were apparently on a scavenger hunt.  One of the things they needed to do was have a stranger kiss one of the guys on the cheek.  Rachel got out with the excuse that she was married, but I couldn't do that. They guy kept begging and begging and I tried to have him get Levi or Kenneth to do it, since apparently he would get more points if he did that.  It was very strange and confusing, but we eventually convinced them that we were not going to kiss him.  From the sound of things, he eventually got someone else to kiss him.  Good for him.

On Saturday, Levi and I went and tried out this place called Slab Pizza.  Um, it's so super great.  I got chicken cordon bleu and chicken bacon ranch and they were both quite marvelous except they were huge so I could only eat half of it and Levi had to help me out.  It's nice to have him around sometimes.  Actually, it's nice all the time.

Then on Sunday was Katie's homecoming talk up in Centerville. This meant that I got to see Kelsey, and Kennedy, and Rachel (and Kenneth), and even Danielle (and Dillon). But most importantly, baby Kenny! Oh, and I guess also Katie.  It was so fun to hang out with them and to see Katie again because let's be honest, I love that girl and I am so super one million excited that she's back!

Then on Monday, I got to hang out with roommates again!!  Rachel wasn't there, but instead we had other Rachael as well as Keisha! This time we went to dinner at this place called Paradise Bakery.  It was good except that if you go there, don't get that one sandwich that I got that had this weird horseradish spread stuff on it.  It was weird.  Man, it's good to be with those girls.  We just sat there and talk and laughed very loudly for a good two hours.  Also there was this one part where I was surprised by something funny and then I laughed so hard that I may or may not have sprayed some of my food on Rachael. Oops.  Actually, that's embarrassing.  But like I said, the sandwich tasted a little weird anyway, so it was like nbd.  We tried to have someone take a picture of us, but that didn't work out so well so I ended up taking a picture of us as we exited the building.  This resulted in my head being very close to the camera and that's unfortunate, but at least everyone else looked cute.

On Tuesday, I made Chicken Crescents for dinner which is something my mom would make.  I really like them, but every time I make them I am always reminded of how many steps it takes to make them.  Okay, it's not actually that many, but still. I'm more of a mix it all in a bowl, throw it in the oven and BAM! dinner is served kind of girl.  Still, it was quite delicious.

On Wednesday, it was weddingapalooza, as Levi called it.  We went to two wedding receptions.  The first one was for my friend Kelsey who I worked with in sociology.  She's so super great and I am so mega happy for her.  Levi loved the location because it was indoors and also air-conditioned. What more could you want?

The second wedding reception was for Reegan Lake, sister of the one and only Keisha (Lake) Hendricks. And let me tell you something--those Lake ladies know how to put together a good reception, I'll tell you what.  Well done, Keech.  Also, I just like hanging out with the Lakes.  They're neat.  Also, right now I'm thinking about the mini pies that they served at the reception and I want one, dang it.  I would have posted the picture of me and Keech, but somehow I managed to have a super creepy claw hand on Keisha's shoulder and it is a little too frightening for public view, so sorry.

Then on Thursday, I made sesame chicken!  Remember my need for fried chicken all the time always?  Yeah, well that's still happening, but I'm trying to tone it down.  So I made this; it was delicious chicken, but not so fried and crispy.  It did the trick.  Except for the part where the chicken coating burned to the bottom of the pan, essentially blocking the heat and making it take 12 years for the chicken to cook.  So we (and by we, I mostly mean Levi) had to spend 7 of those years scraping the bottom of the pan so the dang chicken would cook. So that was fun.

And then to end this saga, I will tell you that yesterday, we went camping with Dillon and Danielle.  And by camping, I mean we just went to a nearby park up the canyon and had foil dinners and then came home and watched a movie. But the guys did a great job being manly by chopping wood and building a fire (using the teepee method--not the log cabin method--as they made sure to point out).  Danielle and I did a really great job of watching and providing moral support.  And moral support from me mostly includes me getting stressed about the possibility of Levi chopping his fingers instead of the wood and the possibility of him falling in the fire as he and Dillon ran around passing the rugby ball back and forth.  All in all, it was a fabulous evening; the food was totes delish, no one chopped their fingers off, and the rugby ball was the only thing to fall into the fire pit. I'd say it was a success.

mad 8 and the foxy foxhood 12

So last night we had a sophomore/junior year get together.  It was splendid.  It has been fun to see where our lives have taken us since those magical years that we lived together. For example, marriage and babies. Since Rachel had her baby on Thursday, that is now my fourth roommate that has had a baby.  Cray cray!  So Rachel and Margaret weren't there and Katie and Kelsey and Catie are on missions, but the four of us were able to get together and it was quite splendid.  It's always fun to get together again and catch up and reminisce about when we lived together.  We were seriously so weird and crazy, it kills me.  Also, Kennedy literally has the cutest child ever, not a joke.

Anyway, today I was going through some old emails and not only did I find a gem from Rachel telling me that her email was princess-angel@cinci.com, but I also found the "Roommate Final" that Rachel wrote at the end of sophomore year.  I seriously die when reading it.  So I thought I'd share it for some jolly good laughter. It's from second semester, so Kennedy and Margaret were on study abroad so they weren't really included in the questions, but it's still pretty hilarious if you ask me.

Also, I can't believe I just went through and put all my answers in parentheses...I don't know if they're all right, but those are my guesses.

Key: Racha=Rachael Thompson (Calquin) , Keish, Keech=Keisha Lake (Hendricks), Rach=Rachel Manning (Alford), Katie=Katie Cutler!, Kels=Kelsey, and me=me (Stacy!)

My roommates and I have a running joke that at the end of each semester we are going to administer a roommate final exam to see how well we know one another.

Roommates, if you want a study guide for this semester's exam, here it is. Make sure you know ALL that's on this post.

1. Learn what Katie's favorite animal is. If you aren't sure, listen to when she sleep talks because apparently that is all she dreams about.(Horses)
2. Watch Kelsey when she does her hair. What does she always say when she finally gets it done?
3. Learn about Keisha's favorite words. Specifically, she has three that she likes. (Clearly, obviously, whatnot)
4. There is something Katie does that is unique when she washes her hands. What does she do? (2 things) (that squeezy soap sound!)
5. Who likes to play "Guess what price I paid for this, but make sure that you guess more than you really think" game? (Rach)

see more after the jump...

Gupta, Gurkin, Maybe, Tie, Dye, Obama, Bush, Lucy, Kennedy, and More. (We're not very responsible pet owners, to say the least)

*Disclaimer: I'm still going to be here for a while, no worries.  I just got to thinking and this post was inspired.

*Also, featured throughout are a small (and I mean small) sampling of pictures from my freshman year.  I would get some from my other years, but just looking at my freshman pictures took me over an hour because I wanted to look at them all, so I figure this is good enough for now.



I kind of just had the coolest little experience.



Today while I was sitting on the couch, there was a knock at the door.  I opened it, and there stood four girls.  They told me that they had lived in this apartment 5 or 6 years ago and they were wondering if they could just come and take a look around.



I let them come in and look around and they just went on and on about how much they missed it here, and "don't you just miss being a college kid...those were the days."  One of them told me how she kissed her husband for the first time on our back porch and another talked of how a poster we have hanging was there when they lived there and how they did this and that and "remember how we could see Timp from here" and "I never had more fun than when I lived here".



After they left, it got me thinking about how much I love living here in Provo.  Yeah, some people hate it and some cannot wait until they can get out of here, but I'm being completely serious when I say that I wish I could freeze time and be this age forever.  I wish I could live all these college years over again, because they have seriously been so awesome.  It's crazy how life just keeps moving forward and you have these roommates and then you become best friends and then those best friends/roommates get engaged and married and I'm sitting here wondering how all that time just flew by.  I mean seriously, I cannot believe it's been nearly three years since I first moved here and met my five freshman roommates.  I cannot believe that I'll be marrying off my last one (yes, that's right--they're my children) on June 30.  I cannot believe our fish funerals were so long ago, or the Single Ladies video or the time Moroni came to visit or when we did our exercises before watching 24 or when we discovered the air condition at Lib Square or when we had that lame waiter at Spark or the collection of quote boards are just memories of the past.



It is so weird to me and it makes me a little sad.  I mean, I knowing moving on is cool and stuff, but seriously.  These have been the best years of my life.  I've had the time of my life.  I've never learned so much or grown so much or seen so much or aspired to be as much as I have here.  I've never laughed so hard, been so ridiculous, or taken as many pictures as I have here.  Here.  It's the best and I hope I make the rest of my time here absolutely unforgettable because seriously, I'll never regret it.









[caption id="attachment_868" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="{and of course, the best picture of the year}"][/caption]

...too much love.