Stay Stay Stay Music Video!

For the record, two of three times I wrote "stay" in the title, it came out Stacy. It reminds me of that one time I was at work and was needing to name all these different files "Lecture 1", "Lecture 2", etc. and almost every time they came out "LeCture" or "LeChture" because of my last name. It was rough.

Anyway, as many of you may already be aware, the LeCheminant Family children recently came out with their 5th Annual Music video. Yes, my friends, we've been doing this for five years. And it's pretty awesome and really fun. It's also really fun to see how much we've grown in the years since the first music video (especially Jake! He was so much shorter than us in the first one!). We've improved over the years and I would say that we've gotten better and better every year except there was that third year when something terrible happened and I sometimes wish we could burn that music video from our thoughts because it's just sad.  But you live and learn, am I right?  I'm right.

You might also remember that our video from last year has almost 11,000 views. You're probably thinking, "Wow! They must have some incredible acting! And amazing filming skills!" And you would be 100% right, but I suppose it's only fair for me to mention that we used a Taylor Swift song last year and while that would be enough reason to suggest why we had so many views (I mean, come on! It's Taylor!) I suppose I should also mention that the real Taylor Swift came out with a music video to the same song as us just a few weeks after we posted ours. In the days leading up to when she was scheduled to release her music video and in the days after, the views of our video skyrocketed and we were feeling pretty awesome.

This year we had kind of a hard time picking a song. It just seemed like nothing particularly catchy came out this last year that would be good for us to dance to. So, we resorted to what all music video makers go to and that would be Taylor Swift, because duh. No explanation needed. So yes, we used another song from her album that came out about a year ago, but we're just hoping she releases a music video for it in about two weeks. After that, you'll be able to see just how popular we really are.

And if you're looking for just a little bit more fun (I mean, who isn't?), then feel free to check out these videos from years past. Also, please don't watch the one from the third year. It's just sad.

Year One: Me and My Gang
Year Two: Ain't No Particular Way
Year Three: I'm a Believer
Year Four: 22

the pre-Christmas part of Christmas Break and also I don't know which words to capitalize in a blog post title.

Christmas break.  The time of the year that basically everyone looks forward to, but I would say especially students. You know how it is. You've been going crazy with approximately one MILLION projects and tests and presentations and then finals and too little sleep and too much time at the library and too many times that you forget to eat dinner. Actually, scratch that last one because I never forget to eat food.

I suppose now is the part where I mention that I'm not actually a student anymore. I graduated but I still live near the school because now I work at the school and so basically since I'm surrounded by students I feel that gives me the right to still feel like a student. Except I guess all those things I mentioned in the previous paragraph don't actually apply to me. But they did! And sometimes it still comes back to haunt me which is why I will continue this post pretending like I'm still a student. It's totally unfair, but I'm doing it.

Anyway.

Yes, the life of college student definitely makes you look forward to the time when all you are required to do is sleep and eat and occasionally help around the house. Your mom makes you dinner and you can eat food out of any cupboard instead of just the one shelf that is yours in your apartment. It is glorious. It's Christmastime and the counters are essentially covered in candy and all you can think about is how you don't want to go back to school because when you go back that means you have to go back to work and studying and you have to do your own laundry and it's the pits, yo.

But let's not focus on the fact that I'm already back and have already gone back to work and also I might even be getting sick so that's really cool. No, let's go back to the very beginning of break. The before Christmas part of the break.

Yes, before Christmas was a glorious time.  When I first got home, it was just me and my parents and my two younger brothers so baaaaasically it was a party. I convinced my parents that we absolutely NEEDED to go see the new movie Frozen (seriously, I'm obsessed. I don't know if I've ever seen a movie twice in theaters, but this one was worth it).  And I mean, since we were going all the way over to the movies, we might as well go to In-N-Out, am I right?  So that was awesome, and yes, the movie was also awesome. But for real.

The next day was church so we got all dressed up and off to church where e'erybody was so friendly and was happy to see me but let's be honest, they were mostly all wondering where Levi was. Oy. But it was cool.  Then Tom drove me home and was apparently a little ashamed to be driving a minivan home with his crazy older sister because wasn't too stoked about having his face in the picture. Hmm.

The next day was Christmas Eve Eve, which apparently we're calling Christmas Adam now because Adam came before Eve? I don't know if I can get on board with that, but whatever. Anyway, as we always do, we headed to my Aunt Stella's house and she made probably the biggest piece of meat I've seen in my entire life. But for reals. Also, it was at my aunt's house that we met up with my older siblings and their wives and the family was almost complete (Jalyn is still on a mission in the Dominican Republic).

Then Jake got a new watch from Aunt Stella for Christmas and it was a little bit too big so instead of going to the watch store or something, Danny decided to fix it himself using various items throughout the house that were small enough. I thought it was funny, but also very smart. But then again, funny and smart are the first two words I would use to describe Danny (not a joke), so I guess it makes sense.

And finally, the next day we headed to my Grandma's house for Christmas Stacy! (Adam also came before me, so I've decided we should change Christmas Eve to Christmas Stacy. Who's with me?!) Anyway, it was glorious and we had a marvelous turkey dinner and my Uncle Brian and Aunt Julie were there and we read the Christmas story out of the Bible and sangs some Christmas songs and read The Living Christ, which I highly recommend you all do. It was great to be with the fam and to think about the real reason for the season.

Afterword, we headed home and I still had to wrap a million presents because I guess I like to leave things to the last minute?  Well that, and also some packages didn't arrive until we were gone, so give me a break, please!  Also, it should be noted that I had to wrap the gifts my dad was giving, too (as I always do). Apparently wrapping gifts isn't his forte. But they were very good gifts, so I'll let it slide.

And that my friends, is how not to write a brief blog post of the days leading up to Christmas. But who's surprised?

trailblazing, baby. also, a little bit about apparating.

^^starting this post of right with "the stink face".^^

 ^^the best part about this picture is the fact that it looks like Tom has his hand on Matthew's back instead of Mykel.  So tender and so one million hilarious.^^

 

^^Meet my brother, hipster Danny.  He wears his hats sideways and there's nothing you can do about it.^^

 Mom: "Put your hands up like you're making a Y!" ...typical Thomas.

So what's crazy is the fact that I graduated over a month ago.  Cray to the cray cray, let me tell you what.  Also, it's nearing the very end of May and it's raining.  I know people say it all the time, but sometimes Utah doesn't make any sense.  Like remember a couple years ago when it snowed in June?  Or that same year when it was raining semi-regularly in June?  Or what about back in January of this year when we had that freezing rain?  Talk about ridiculous, am I right?  I was just glad I got to work before that freezing rain started or we all know I would have just given up and flown to work, risking my wizarding license since I'm not allowed to let muggles see me use magic.  Okay, no. That's a lie, but seriously.  If I could have one magical power, it would be flying. Actually, maybe apparating.  I think that apparating would be less likely to mess up my hair.  Except flying seems so much cooler.  So maybe could there be a type of flying that puts a protective bubble around your head to keep your hair from messing up?  Oh, I guess that would be a helmet.  Except helmets give you hat hair, and we can't have that.  Where is this even going?

Okay, what I was saying was that over a month ago I graduated from college.  Which is still weird to think--I am a college graduate.  Oy.  When my family was in town, we all decided to hike the Y, which is the giant "Y" that is painted(?) on the mountain just a few minutes away from campus.  It's like a 45 minute hike that everyone is supposed to do while they are a student here.  Except then there's me, who apparently missed out on that opportunity every time it presented itself to me in the past five years because upon graduating, I still had not hiked the Y.  But I just want to say that I do not remember people inviting me to hike the Y very often...in fact, I don't remember being invited to hike the Y...ever.  That might not be true, but seriously.  I really think I would have taken the chance to do so because I didn't want to be the lame-o who never hiked the Y when they graduated.  Does this mean I don't have friends?  Or does this mean that I was intentionally never invited?  Do I talk to much?  Am I too loud?  Do I complain too much?  Did my incredible physique and lightning fast running skills intimidate people, making them think that I would be like way one million faster than them?  Did my stories of traversing the jungles of South America and trailblazing through unmapped areas of Africa make them think that a simple hike up a mountain would be beneath me?  These are all questions that have left me confused and concerned about my standing among my peers here in Provo.

But, no matter. There's always my family. And besides, I'd rather go with them anyway, you lame faces!  And so we did.  We hiked that Y.  And actually, it's steep.  I know people had told me that, but I was like, oh whatever, nbd. I've got this.  And really, it was fine, but definitely steeper than I thought it was.  Which really shouldn't have surprised me because I look at that mountain every single day and there is nothing about it that make me think that it isn't steep.  Whatever.  So we hiked it and it was great and we made it to the top and looked out over the valley and it was really pretty.  It was cool to see all of Provo, the place that has been my home for the past five years.  And holy cow, five years.  I can't believe it has been that long because seriously, time flies.  I feel like I say that all the time, but dang it, people!  It's the truth. So much has happened here; there has been so many fun time, so many hard times, so many trials, so much happiness, tears, proud moments, and days when I didn't think I could go on another day.  But then there I was, at the top of a mountain, and I just felt grateful.  So grateful that I had the opportunity to even be here for the last five years.  Through much of my studies here at BYU, I've learned a lot about how blessed I am and how fortunate I am compared to others who will likely never have the chance to go to school at all, let alone college.  And so I am grateful.  Grateful to graduate from college, and also grateful to have been able to make it up that dang mountain.  I don't regret even one minute of these last five years and I hope I never forget them.

And now, a really dumb video of me dancing on the Y and also my mom being worried that I would fall and most importantly, a random baby crying a spectacular cry.

siblings.

So, remember how the other day I graduated?  And that was sad?  Well, yes. It was sad.  But one really cool thing that came as a result of me graduating was the fact that my whole family came out for my graduation!  That meant that my parents and two little brothers came from California and my oldest brother and his wife came from Manhattan and my other older brother and his wife came from LA.  I know graduation is kind of a big deal, but flying all that way just to watch me have three seconds to walk across the stage is super one million nice (and also bonus feature they got to watch me dance for a solid 15 seconds down on the floor of the Marriott Center for a couple thousand people to see while we waited for graduation to start--why?? seriously, I don't get me.)

My two younger brothers are still in high school and one of my older brothers is in dental school which meant they even had to miss some of school just to come see me.  And then of course, my other brother had to miss work! I mean, that's just so nice!  Obviously my parents came too and that was just as big of a deal, but that's stuff to be written about in another post.

I guess what I'm saying is I'm super lucky.  I was looking at this picture above and I'm kind of obsessed with it.  I guess I hadn't noticed until I looked at this picture that it's just me and the boys these days.  My one and only sister is currently serving a mission for our church in the Dominican Republic and was unable to be there which meant that I'm the lone female.  And if you have brothers, you know what that means.  Instead of them incessantly teasing me and my sister, all of the teasing was directed toward me.  And oh how they love to tease.  But in all honestly, I love to be teased.  Because in our family, teasing basically equals love.  And I love to be loved through teasing, I'll tell you what.

Plus, in my family, we just get each other.  We all joke around all the time, and we're pretty sarcastic and I seriously just have the funniest family.  Over the years though, I've noticed that more and more Danny and me are racing to tell the same joke.  I swear someone will say something and then we'll both start saying the same joke at the same time. It's the worst because I want all the credit for telling a funny joke, but then he gets half of it, plus it's less funny when two people tell the same joke at the same time. Try it someone...it's super lame.  Also, Danny.  I know I've said this before, but he's a good big brother. He's always thinking about other people.  He left for college when my littlest brother was 3 and I just remember how he made such a good effort to keep good relationships with us.  He would always hang out with us when he came home on break and I just thought it was the greatest thing ever.  Also, he grows a pretty nice beard. Which is convenient, since he hates shaving.

Even though Matthew tormented me for the first decade of my life and snapped my bra all the time and always teased me about boys and stuff, I just love him.  He is pretty much the greatest example to me of what the nicest person in the world is supposed to be like.  And not only is he nice, but he's smart. One BILLION smart.  Actually, all my siblings are geniuses...and I'm just like, Oh yeah!  One time I was in the spelling bee! Okay, yeah, I got out on the first round, but STILL.  Anyway, Matthew is the greatest and I always loved how he just did what he wanted in high school and college and wasn't ashamed, whether it was bleaching his hair, wearing headbands and long socks for badminton, shaving his legs, growing a mustache, or wearing a variety of interesting costumes/outfits.  Kid kills me.

While Matthew may have tormented me in my younger years, these days it's Thomas. When I was in high school, I used to always tease him about which girls he had a crush on and I would try to embarrass him by giving him a kiss on the cheek in public, but oh how the tides have turned!  I swear the kid doesn't let a day go by without send a text to me that starts with "hey baby" and he is always pretending to be my boyfriend in public by holding my hand or kissing me on the cheek or making me take engagement-looking pictures with him.  Ugh, it's the worst, but he thinks it's hilarious.  I suppose it's payback though.  Also, this guy is hilarious.  He is always coming up with this hilarious one-liners and he's always doing things like catapulting fruit roll-ups across his physics class and making weird movies and teasing girls all the time.  The kid doesn't even know it, but every girl ever loves him.  And it's not just because he's hilarious, but also because he's just nice.  He's a good kid; he does well in school, he is respectful to others, and I mean, yeah. He's pretty cute, too.

And then there's Jakey, who will forever be my baby brother.  It blows my mind that he's 15.  I have no idea how that even happened.  Just like everyone else, Jake is hilarious.  He sends me snapchats all the dang freaking time and I'm like, where does he come up with this stuff?  He has the best dance moves and I just love it when he laughs.  Also, the kid comes up with the most random and hilarious things to say out of the blue sometimes.  And Jakey, oh my little Jakey.  He is just the nicest little guy.  He is so loving and so kind and usually so willing to help.  He is going to be the best husband, I'm not even joking.  Both him and Tom (and Matthew and Danny) are really smart at figuring out how stuff works or finding the answers to questions and it amazes me because I'm just like, uhhh, the microwave is too complicated.  Or DVD players are so over my head, not a joke.  But those kids, geniuses.  Jake has always been obsessed with traffic and city planning and design and I'm not kidding when I say that when I was a teenager I wouldn't bother asking my parents for directions to places; instead, I would just take Jake places with me the kid had the place memorized since he was like 5. We didn't need a GPS because we had the JakePS. Plus, bonus feature--Jake is like the most studious student ever.  I think he takes after my mom.  It's a really great quality, and I hope he continues to have it all the way through college. Kid is so cool.

Anyway, what I just spent the last year trying to tell you is that I love my brothers and I'm so grateful for every single one of them and for what they contribute to my family.  Together with them (and my sister!) we kind of make the most perfect team and I love it.  I love every little thing about it.

And now, a million pics for your viewing pleasure.

I just love them.  Thanks again for coming!

p.s. obvs a post about my parents will be coming soon.

college is cool.

My parents and my little brothers are currently out of the country for spring break (Oh the woes of BYU not having a spring break!).  Because of this, my little brother--who was accepted to BYU in the fall--asked me to sign up for housing for him.  BYU does this thing where they assign you a date and time for when you are allowed to go onto the housing site and pick the apartment you live in and have a little idea of the foolz you are going to be living with (i.e. you get to know what type of music they like, what time they go to bed, and whether or not they are tidy. I put that Tom is tidy because I want other tidy people to live with him and then maybe he'll be tidier? And maybe the apartment will stay cleaner? Is that wishful thinking?)  Anyway, Tom's assigned time was today at 3 pm, so I made sure to get on that right at 3 pm.  It turns out I'm a crazy person because I think I LITERALLY changed his room ten times before I settled on one that I thought had decent roommates.  But ask me again tomorrow and I probably will have changed it another ten times.  Sheesh.

The reason I'm saying this though is because holy cow, college.  I remember when I was young my mom would talk about how college would make up some of the best and most fun years of my life and I will tell you what.  Homegirl was right.  College is just the greatest.  For one, I've made about a million friends (no exaggeration, zero, none, nope, totally honest and I have a straight face when I say that).  Plus, in college you just do fun things.  Freshman year it was mostly fun dumb things, but still.

And second, I've just learned soooooo so so so one million much while here in my five--yes, FIVE--years of college.  I look at the world and the responsibilities that I have very differently than I did when I was graduating from high school.  I don't regret taking a single class (except that online health class that I actually didn't need to take and that makes me angry every time I look at my grades...) and I know that I've become a more intelligent, contributing member of society because of all of the other classes (even if it is true that I still refuse to sniff dairy products).

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm really excited for my little brother to come to college.  I can't wait to see him become a full-fledged adult doing adult things and making adult decisions, but also having regular-style cray to the cray cray fun.  But Tom, please be responsible. That means that maybe you should try to avoid any situation that might lead to you shaving your legs (like your older brother) and do us all a favor and remember to eat your vegetables.

So to anyone that is going to be starting college soon or who is currently in college, I just want to remind you to appreciate it.  I read a quote by a BYU alum once and it said, "Appreciate your time here because it is too soon gone."  And that is seriously the saddest truth.  These past five years have FLOWN by and I don't even know how it happened.  You'll be sitting in class your freshman year still studying your planner trying to figure out where your next class is and then the next thing you know, you're ordering a cap and gown and it's over.  So just take time to appreciate where you are right now.  Don't be thinking too much about the next step and where you need to be going next year and what you'll do as soon as you're done here.  Just appreciate where you are.

These are some good times, my friends. Some seriously good times.  And you don't get these years back.  Once you're done, you're done.  So make the most of it.  Do dumb things.  Make new friends. Get outside of your comfort zone.  Take the classes you really want to even if they're not for your major or may not seem particularly valuable.  Try new foods. Befriend professors.  Visit every building on campus.  Study somewhere new in the library.  Go on adventures. Be spontaneous.  Join a club. Start a club. Don't stop searching for a major until you find something you're passionate about.  Make the most of your situation, even if you're broke and all you have to eat is saltines (that's a real story from the life of me, folks). Smile more. Serve more. Love more. Enjoy more.

You won't regret it.

i don't know about you...

So, here's the thing.  I can honestly tell you that I have thought about blogging every single day over the past two weeks. Not a joke, people.  And why is it that I haven't actually blogged?  I have no idea.  But that doesn't matter!  Let's put it behind us!  Let us move on to bigger and better things!  We can do this!

And so now I present to you a post that should have been posted over a week ago because for most of you, it's probably old news, but to you I say, WHATE'ER. I do what I want.

Every year, my younger siblings and I make a music video.  We've been doing it for the last three years, so this was our Fourth Annual LeCheminant Family (Younger) Sibling Music Video.  And look, I just want to say that I think it's my favorite one yet.  The only sad thing is that this year we were missing Jalyn because she is in the Dominican Republic serving a mission for our church!  So we wish the best for her, but dang. She missed out on a totes one million high qual music vid, I'll tell you what.

This year Thomas edited it, which was good because my editing skills are like that of a five-year-old, not a joke.  So basically the editing was awesome.  The three of us came up with all the ideas for each scene, just like we do every year.  It was really, really fun.  I super love my siblings, and this is always a fun thing we do during Christmas break each year and I love this tradition.  It's fun to look back at our first video and see how little Jakey was and to see that Thomas was once the same height as me!  Also, it's fun to see my curly hair again...sigh. Also, who doesn't love a good cameo by the parents, am I right?

So, anyway, I present to you the Fourth Annual LeCheminant Family (Younger) Sibling Music Video.  Man, I just love it.

p.s.  Yes, it's true. Both pairs of pants in the opening scene belong to me.  Depressing that they fit into them, but mostly hilarious.

p.p.s.  Check out our past videos! (Although none of us are particularly proud of 2011's video...I don't know what happened, but we ran out of time and our ideas were lame, but there are some pretty good chase scenes...)

2009: Me and My Gang

2010: Aint' No Particular Way

2011: I'm a Believer

yogurt for e'erybody!

I am home for the holidays. The holidays!  Christmas!  My favorite!  And for three weeks!  But can I tell you something?  Because our break is three weeks it means that I got home before my little brothers (and my mom!) were done with school for the semester.  As in, they have finals tomorrow.  And as much as I want to say, "Hey guys, look at me!  I'm DONE with my finals!  I'm free as a bird!  Neener neener!" it turns out things are kind of boring when I'm the ONLY one who doesn't have studying to do since my dad is out of town on business.  So here I am blogging and waiting for someone to feed me bon bons.

In other news, the holidays also mean it's the time where I go see every doctor and dentist in the history of Santa Rosa and get all my check-ups done (thanks, parents!).  I just want to declare that I, Stacy LeCheminant, survived the dentist free of any cavities.  Thank you very, very, one million much.  But...I do have gum surgery on Wednesday to repair my poor little gum.  So I'm looking forward to eating a lot of mashed and pureed foods for the next week.  Yogurt and jello, let's do this.

thanksgiving like a boss.

you guys.  I just got back from my most fabulous surprise trip home.  That's right, a surprise.  You see, I don't just normal style go home for thanksgiving every year because my home home is many much miles away from my current residence, but you see the thing is, my sister is leaving on her mission to the Dominican Republic in just over two weeks and I wouldn't even get to see her over Christmas break and it came to my attention that this was a very appropro reason for my dad to fly me home (okay, but I just want to say that I offered to pay.  It's just that the guy is such a jolly man and offered to pay for it all himself!  And then my mom let me eat all of the food out of her pantry! (And let's be real, girl knows how to eat.)  I mean, really!  Those guys are neat!)  Aaaaaaaanyway, what I'm saying is that I surprised them!  Dad said he had to pick some global pass blah blah blah up at the airport and they believed him!  And I surprised them!  And so many sentences are ending with exclamation points!

We ended up having a most glorious first thanksgiving on Wednesday with my grandma and uncle and some of their friends (who I'm sure at this point think my entire family belongs in an insane asylum).  It was glorious.

And then we headed down to LA where my brother lives to have another(!) thanksgiving with them and and do a mini celbration of my birth and also to ride bicycles on the beach (or in my case, a tandem bike with Jake---whhhhhich, btdubs, cost my dad one whole dollar less than if we had each had our own bike...I'm still not sure why he didn't make my other siblings do the same thing...).

And here's something--I don't know if it was just this tandem bike, but it turns out if you're the one riding in the back, your pedals are connected to the other guy's and you have to pedal exactly when they are and as hard as they are and when they all of a sudden brake, you suddenly can't pedal anymore and you're left wondering whether or not your pedaling actually has any value.  And so you end up looking like this:

...for the entire ride.  Not actually a joke, guys.  So anyway, we rode bikes and ate one million different food items for thanksgiving (did you guys notice that I just used "one million" in an almost appropriate way?  take that, english language!).  I had a most glorious time just hanging out with the faaaaam.  Also, my siblings played hot cross buns on the water glasses.  It was actually quite impressive.

The next day we headed back to northern California (the land of milk and honey or maybe it's actually just wine) and on our way we we able to stop and visit Danny and Lena who were having thanksgiving with her family and how neat is that?!  They were at this ranch and it turns out ranches sometimes have one BILLION peacocks and a herd of llamas. Also, llamas are weird.  I mean, look at this guy.  Is he really a llama?  Or is he actually a demon?  Or maybe one of those creepy creatures from lord of the rings? Honestly.  Poor guy really got the short end of the stick because he is just unfortunate-looking.

Then we finally made it home and I watched The Avengers for the first time (all of it!  No sleeping for me! Mostly because Jake sat on one side of me and Jalyn on the other so I couldn’t even lie down which may or may not be a major factor in whether or not I stay awake for an entire movie).  Then on my last day in town I went to church and a lady in the ward told me that she could “see my future husband just on the horizon.  Trust me, you will find him soon!” so that was encouraging.  I also found a baby that is whiter than me and that also provided a good amount of comfort for my albino soul.  Then my mom made me favorite dinner as a little bit of an early birthday celebration. And then I was off to the airport to catch my flight (which, turns out it was actually a ward flight because there were two guys from my ward on the flight).  The flight was fairly uneventful other than the fact that the 18-year-old girl in the seat next to me was on her first flight and the fact that the guy in the row behind me collapsed in the middle of the flight….soooooo, nbd whatever.

And now here I am, back at school and suddenly realizing that blogging is not what I should be doing because I have an insane amount of stuff to do in the next two weeks and blogging doesn’t actually get any of it done.  Weird.

But, important comment!  Christmas season is just about to commence!  (I say, "just about to" because we all know Christmas season doesn't start until after Thanksgiving or after my birthday, whichever comes second.  And for the first time in the history of ever, my birthday is super one million after thanksgiving and has not yet occurred and so the Christmas season must hold on for just one more little minute).

But that doesn't mean we can't have a Christmas tree!  It's so beautiful!

Also, p.s.  The guy that collapsed on the plane was fine.  Just a little light headed, I guess.

that guy.

One time my family went on a rafting trip.  My cousin had been rowing one of the boats, but then he got hurt and so my little brother had to take over for him.  Thomas rowed through some pretty intense rapids and he also rowed for the next three or four days straight, which was something he had never done before.  He was fifteen years old.

I think he's pretty amazing.

That's all I wanted to say.

things are always hip in santa rosa.

I do this every time I go on vacation. I go and then I come back, and then a few weeks later (sometimes over a month) I decide to blog about it.  And so, in true Stacy style, I am here to blog about the second half of my vacation to visit my family.

After we spent the week in LA with the whole family, the younger kids and the parents headed up to Northern California for a jolly good time.

1. On the way home, my dad got a little cray cray and decided to treat us to a classy dinner at Del Taco. Our friend Thomas over here ended up downing six tacos like it was nothin'.  He's a growing young boy, I guess.

2. The morning after we got back to our house, I opened the freezer to find this.  Seriously, my mom knows what's up.  Def snacked on those the whole rest of the weekend.

3.  While I was home, I got to hang out with one of my bff's Annie.  Since we spent all of our middle school and high school days together, we had pretty much done anything and everything that Santa Rosa had to offer.  So we decided to venture to Cotati, a small town just to the south of Rosa.  We went there in search of a bakery because I mean, that sounds so cute, right?  Go to a little town and eat a croissant or something at a little bakery.  There would be flowers blooming off to the side and the owner of the little cafe would greet you like you were old friends.  The only problem was that there are ZERO bakeries in Cotati.  I mean, seriously.  None.  What the heck?  I think that in order for a town to be established, you need to first figure out where you are going to build a bakery.  Srsly.

Anyway, we ended up going to this strange establishment that said they were a cafe, but if that was true, it was the strangest cafe ever and by the way, they probably should have considered updating the decor that I think they've had for forty years.  Idk, just a suggestion...those dusty fake flowers had seen better days, that's all I'm sayin'. Also, if I ever try to order something that has a lot of peppers in it, please don't let me do it.  Never good.

After that little dealio and after finding a pretty neat thrift store, we headed back to Rosa to see if my bakery needs could be fulfilled there instead.  And they were.  So that was good.

4. Imagine opening the door of your bedroom and Shel Silverstein is the first thing you see.  So frightening.  Thank you, little brothers.

5 and 6.  Shopping with this kid is never dull.  First, he decided to help the customers (and employees) out a little bit by putting the less desirable clothing on a higher rack.  Second, he did some artwork at Old Navy and then put it on display.  And by put it on display, I mean he stuck it in the hand of one of the mannequins.  Stay classy.

7 and 8.  Hangin' out with the birthday girl who I am happy to say OWNED when we played Racko.  (Also, let it be written and let it be said that it took way too many rounds for mom to ever win. Homegirl needs to work on her Racko skills, just sayin'.

9.  When hanging out at my other grandma's house, Jake attempted to pick me up from the couch.
Jalyn: Jake, be sure to lift from your knees.  You don't want to hurt your back.
Jake: Ooh, I hope this works my gluteus maximus!
That kid.  Kills me.

10.  Oh you know, just getting owned by my other grandma at Yahtzee.  That girl is GOOD.

11 and 12.  I was unaware of how many delinquents there were in my family.  Everyone was sharing about the times they went to the principal's office. Jacob won with like 5 times before he was even in second grade.  I lost with zero trips to the principal's office.  I clearly haven't lived.

13. Mom said I couldn't go into the restaurant wearing socks with my sandals.  That girl, I swear.  She just doesn't understand fashion.

14. Delicious mango chicken salad at the new Mexican restaurant in town.  So good!

15.  While at the Mexican restaurant, we were lucky enough to to sit next to these fine ladies who were out for lunch.
Thomas: Did you ladies see the knitting competition on T.V. last night?  It kept me up until 8:30!

16. I volunteered to take Jakey to the orthodontist at the unfortunate hour of 8 in the morning so that Mom and Jalyn could go walking with some of their lady friends.  It turns out that Mom and Jalyn didn't go walking; instead, they slept in while I rolled out of bed and drove Jake to his appointment. Girl can't catch a break.

All in all, it was a fun little trip home and it was way fun to hang out with my family and to see friends and to enjoy California and home cooked meals and also those girl scout cookies.

Can't wait to go back (at which point, I'm sure my youngest brother will be about a foot taller than me.  What the heck?)

all about my vacay, bay bay.

So, last week, I was on vacay.  It was cray cray.  And by cray cray, I mean totes cool.  And because it was litz so cool, I thought it would be a pretty good idea for me to blog about it.  Also, I haven’t blogged in one MILLION years, so I think now is an appropro time to get back at it.  Also, my use of slang is getting 100% out of control. Totes.

One MILLION early on Saturday morning, Jalyn and I woke up and were driven by our local taxi service (commonly known as my roommate Danielle) to the Salt Lake airport.  I feel this is an appropriate time for me to mention that the Salt Lake airport is my fav airport.  Seriously, San Francisco just stresses me out and Oakland makes me feel weird.  Anyway, we got on our plane, I texted my brother Matthew telling him we were about to take off and promptly fell asleep.  Girl has got talent.  We were flying into the world’s biggest airport (jk) in Long Beach, CA (close to where Matthew lives) and arrived there 30 minutes early.  So, we had to wait a little while for Matthew to come and get us, but it was cool.  When he picked us up, he told me he was very glad I had texted him when we got on the plane because he (along with EVERY SINGLE PERSON in my family) thought that our plane was landing at noon instead of 8:30 am.  What the cray cray? I was glad he was able to come and get us on time, but it leaves me wondering—why the heck did everyone think we were landing at noon and why the dang heck DIDN’T we get to land at noon?!  Def one of life’s great questions.

So at this point you’re like, oh good, she just spent approximately four years telling us about GETTING to this vacay…this is probably going to be a novel.  And that might still be true, but I just want to tell you right now that I’m going to seriously cut back on the pointless details and focus on the important things like what we ate for dinner and stuff.  Seriously, Scout’s honor.

So we landed in Long Beach, got back to Matthew and Mykel’s apartment and soon the rest of my family arrived (they had driven down from Northern California). Sad news, my baby brother is now taller than me. What the heck?! 

My little brothers brought two scooters (one BAJILLION sparkle points for each of them) and we spent the rest of the afternoon playing and swimming and eating delicious food (srsly, I think the majority of this vacay was spent eating food, NOT a joke).  At the pool, the boys and Lena had competitions like who could hop across the pool the fastest.  Srsly killed me, it was so funny.

On Sunday, we went to church and since Mykel was recently called as the primary president (i.e. she works with the small children), Mom, Jalyn, and I went and hung out with the young ones.  Oh my gosh, little kids are one MILLION hilarious.  It was Father’s Day and they were supposed to draw a picture of them with their dad and this little four-year-old girl was like, “Draw a picture of you and your dad pushing a grandma!!”  It was probably the funniest thing I heard all day.  She was definitely a character.

Matthew and Mykel have church right next to the LA temple, so after church we went and hung out there for a bit and Mykel’s friends snapped a few pics of the fam.  It was magical.  The high qual pics can be found in the previous post, but there were also a bunch of pics taken as we prepared for the high quals.  That doesn’t make any sense, does it?

Sunday evening was spent eating (duh), playing games, and reminding my dad why he’s so cool (my number one reason being the fact that he dances to Carly Rae Jeppson and One Direction).  Seriously, such a cool guy though.  So cool that we bought him a grill!

Disclaimer: Jake did not build that sandcastle.

Monday morning we went to the beach and it was surprisingly chilly (so basically it was like a Northern California beach).  Of course, that didn’t stop the majority of my family from boogie boarding.  It took my dad a little while to get the hang of it and when he finally got it he stood and did some fist pumping…at which point the boogie board smacked him in the face.  I swear I did not laugh or find it amusing at all.

After the beach we headed to the Angel’s game!!  So cool!  We even tailgated!  My first time!  We used the grill that my father had conveniently received the day before (seriously, how convenient! haha).  After the tailgating action, we headed into the stadium and watched the Angel’s play the Giants.  Being from NorCal, I obviously had to root for the Giants and it turns out about half the stadium was also rooting for the Giants.  I didn’t plan on that, but it worked out nicely.  It’s always a little easier to cheer for a team when you’re not the only one in a stadium of 35,000 people.  Weird, right?

Tuesday was Magic Mountain day!  The boys were so excited and it was really fun.  I’ve learned that my stomach can’t handle doing so many roller coasters, but I did my best and fortunately didn’t throw up on anyone.  It wasn’t unbearably hot like the last time I went to Magic mountain so that was another bonus.  One thing I’ve learned about myself is that I can’t differentiate between the roller coasters.  Someone would be like, “Did you like the Goliath roller coaster?” And I’d be like, “Which one was that?”  Then they’d explain it as the one that had the big drop or the loop-de-loop, and I’d be confused because I’m pretty sure they all had those things.  I don’t know.  I do remember the one where when the ride finished and you’re waiting to get off, you just sit there hanging so your back is facing the sky and the rest of you is facing down and so you have to try and hold your head up and I’m sure more people have thrown up on that part of the ride than anywhere else or on any other ride.  For reals though.  It was ridiculous.

Wednesday was the day of river rafting!  If you know my family, you know this is kind of a given with family reunions.  We had to wake up supes early and drive to the Kern River.  In NorCal we usually raft on the American River which is always crowded.  The Kern River is the exact opposite.  We seriously saw three other boats the entire day.  Kind of weird.

(Yes, in the picture above, I have a string connecting my sunglasses to my life jacket.  Stay classy.)

My dad had run the river one time, but the rest of us had never done it before.  It definitely rocked us around a bit.  We ended up stuck on a couple of rocks (I seriously thought the boat was going to rip on one of them) and under a couple of trees (super enjoyed that branch that scraped all the way along my back) and I definitely whacked myself in the face with my own paddle (definitely one of my best moments), but it was still so awesome.  Srsly, guys.  Rafting is one of the coolest things.  You should come with me sometime.  And when I say with me, I mean with my dad or one of my uncles or even my 83-year-old grandpa who STILL goes rafting.  What the cray cray?!  Not a joke.  That guy is seriously Superman.

After the river trip all I wanted was In-n-Out and my father was happy to oblige.  Just what I needed.

Thursday morning was the day that the reunion ended.  I made French toast for the first time (not a joke) and I think it was edible, so that was neat.  Then we had to pack up and the parents and the four younger kids headed up to Santa Rosa.  Highlight of the drive home?  Getting pulled over.  The guy comes up to the window and is like, “I’m pulling you over because you have a passenger not wearing a seatbelt.”  You have to understand that my family has had a big 12 passenger van for many years (yes, we’re LDS) and we mostly just use it for long road trips like this because there are three passenger benches.  I get one, Jalyn gets one, and the boys share the longer one in the back.  Jalyn and I always sit in the middle seat on the bench because there isn’t a shoulder strap.  Then we loosen the seatbelt and lie down on the bench and sleep most of the time.  It’s really the greatest thing ever.

Anyway, this highway patrolman accuses Jalyn that she’s not wearing her seatbelt because he “drove up alongside and looked at her for five seconds and she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.”  She started to explain to him that she had just been leaning over on her elbow and reading a book.  She demonstrated for him and it was very clear that she had just been sitting in the middle, but homeboy refused to believe her.  It was ridiculous.  Seriously, she would have had to be a midget when he was drove up alongside the van because she was actually lying down.  I just thought the whole situation was hilarious and I could not believe that he wouldn’t believe her.  My parents were telling him that they would never let us sit in the car without wearing a seatbelt, but he was adamant.  It was ridiculous.  After a good five minutes, he finally was like, “Fine, I’ll take your word for it this time, but you weren’t wearing your seatbelt.”  Such the ridiculous.

Anyway, the rest of the drive was rather enjoyable and Dad even treated us to Del Taco where Tom downed six tacos and Jake consumed five.  It was wild.

All in all, a most fabulous reunion.  I love that family of mine.

i just want to share this one thing.

I spent all of last week with these fools.  Always a good time. Always.

More about my week spent with these coolios coming soon.  I say this mostly in an attempt to convince myself that this post really will come soon. We'll see how that goes.