So it may be August 1st, and I am just getting around to posting about winter semester, but better late than NEVER right? And I never thought I would look back at Winter Semester and say time flew. What a blessing. I just never got around to posting after the semester ended because I had literally 5 days inbetween winter semester and spring semester. I moved out, chilled in kaysville for a few days and moved back down to provo for spring semester. And it only got busier for those 6 weeks of Spring. Then July was just go go go fun fun fun. (as seen in another later post- to be continued). So rewind to January and let's replay the last several months of the life of shelllllllllllllers.
Christmas was SO fun to have the New Yorkers in town. The last night, Riss got to stay up late with me and do makeovers. I looked quite fancy... or a little clowny. But I cherish our late girlie nights :) So hard to say goodbye to them!
Rach and I finished off winter break with a true G.N.O. We took the girls ice skating and then to get some ice cream. I love how similar Rach and I look. Rach could seriously be my age- she looks so good! So grateful for her and her kids holding down the fort in btown. Don't know what I would do without her. We have gotten so close. :)
The first night back in ptown for winter semester! We had a big dinner to say goodbye to Park's friend (and my friend of course haha), Keller, before he left for BYU Jerusalem for the semester!
Aud and I had a few last weeks together before she peaced out to Mexico!! But boy was I grateful for those few weeks with her as she got me through my first heartbreak ;) thank you Scott Holmes. hahahha
Let's just say, the beginning of winter semester was dark, cold and a bit lonely. There were many much needed pint parties and girls nights. So grateful for these roommates of mine! And who said ice cream can't fix a broken heart?
And my weekends looked like this.... HA! This woman. Words can't even explain our friendship. I love her so much. We have put this tandem to good use. We were there for each other at a tough point in life for the both of us. Everything happens for a reason. After Scott and I broke up, I grew a lot closer to mom and gained a lot more respect and understanding of her. And I also grew closer to my roommates. God is in the details of our lives people :)
Martin Luther King Day at the Zoo with my favorite kiddos! Love this epic picture of Henry hugging this otter statue. It's the simple things in life guys!
And one wise person once said to me (Rachael Alexander), "when it rains it pours." So after getting my heart broken (guys I PROMISE things get more uplifting as the post goes on haha) and then getting strep throat, I had to say goodbye to my bestie and cousin AUD TODD. Oh and not to mention on my way to go up to wyoming I crashed the car. The rain was thick ;) But, I had a blast going up to Wyoming to Aud's farewell! It was a serious Mexican Fiesta! Adios Sister Fowler! We had so much fun and grew so close. Can't wait to reunite with her a year from now!
Last few days together in ptown- of course that calls for more pints. And i'm sitting here wondering why I have gained so much weight during college...... thank you ben&jerry's.
I found aud hiding in her cleaned out cupboards. Let's just say she didn't want to leave me. HA!
Aud's last weekend was celebrated with plenty of "skating." Ice skating and then classic skating... and then she skated out of here!
Our rockin skate shirts!
K, but for real, I MISS HER. So grateful for emailing. Another one bites the dust!
Mom came for a visit to ptown one weekend to go to the awesome "Sacred Gifts" art exhibit at BYU featuring Carl Bloch. It was an amazing experience. Thank you for taking us mom! Truly a spiritual experience. Add that to the list of tender mercies from winter semester!
So we found this amazing Pizza place and yes, one night we all pretty much got our own pizzas! Pizza PARTY. Miss chilling all together at Lib Square.
IPod Dance Party round dos. We love AMERICA. It was put on in honor the Olympics and a BYU student who competed in the skeleton!
Han and Bri came again to visit in Provo one weekend. So fun to have them down! We went shopping, out to dinner and of course had a dance party in my apartment. I am continually in awe at how many friends God has continued to bless me with throughout my life.
Valentine's Day with Mom! We always enjoy trying out new places in the good ole K town- AKA kaysville. LOVE YOU MOM!
I really fell more and more in love with skiing this year. Park and I had some great times. Thanks for the extra passes Mom! A happy early birthday to me! Parker and I also got some AMMMMMMAZING hot cocoa after one day. I forgot to mention that this kid turned my winter semester around. He was there for me every day. I couldn't ask for a better blessing and brother. Again, God is so mindful of us. I witnessed it over and over and over again throughout the semester.. and well mostly now, as it is easier to look back and see how much he was there in times of need. And he sent parker into my life who has been an angel for me in many times of need!
But really, BFFFFFFFS.
Oh and nothing like double blind sibling dates! Park and I set each other up on a fun blind date! We split up as couples and made dinner for the other couple!
Tyson, one of Parker's Mission comps! Classic.
Happy Birthday LILI! So grateful to have Mitch, Sam, Lili, and Lincoln back in UT!
I can't get enough of nickel city. This isn't the first pic I've posted there, and surely isn't the last.
TOLD YOU. hahaha Park hit the JACK POT. Oh and yes this was a different day, nickel city twice in one week is even better.
These two. Jaden and Char! Another set of tender mercies. We became SO close during winter semester. We did so much together! And I can't wait to get back to the Quarry! I miss climbing.. and I could use the exercise!
More girls nights :) Treats ALWAYS included.
Hahahaha oh boy. The ice cream pics don't stop here. Please just take a good laugh at my face. It doesn't get better. LIL FATTY.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! Again, Parker is the best big brother and organized this party for me! We all ate a brick oven, played a super fun dance party game at Parker's apartment and had cake! :) Chan and Bri even came down from Bountiful to celebrate with me. Made my day. 20 never felt so good!
And real birthday skiing this time. Isn't that beautiful!? Ah I love the snow.
The birthday celebrations didn't stop coming! So fun to go out with Rach and Mom over the weekend as well :)
Sunday Birthday Dinner Festivities. 20 feels old. No one warned me how fast time flies. Goodbye TEENAGE years! You may or may not be missed......
My fan club. But really, wouldn't ask for anything else on my birthday :)
Charlee's Mission Call opening. Guys, this is my life. But I am so proud of each and every one of my friends who have been called! I ask them all to take a piece of my heart and serve for me out there as well!
Belgium Netherlands Mission!
More desserts. More girls nights. It's the best. We should be "Waffle Love" models.
Another Birthday weekend for my baby girl DESI RAE!
These are the moments people. "It's my birthday, I can cry if I want to."
Can she please just stay like this forever?
Ok here's my sappy moment to say that I would do anything for this little girl. She practically feels like my baby- after witnessing her birth, and living with her all last summer, I feel so close to her. Can't believe my baby girl is 1! Thank you Ray and John for sharing your kids with me! An experience I will never forget.
I realized I couldn't let my two best friends go up to school in Logan for their whole freshman year without visiting them! So Bri and I finally took a weekend trip up to Aggieville at the end of March to see Chan and Linds!
Just touring campus!
The famous "A." Yes, it is big enough to fit the 4 of us!
Watching the sunset from the "concrete jungle." It was actually amazing.
Almost the FAB 5.. we missed hannah!!
One of my favorite pictures ever. Graffiti can be beautiful I guess...:)
And then we come to April 1st.... APRIL FOOLS! It was quite the day down at BYU. My roommates and I caught this duck from the BYU ponds and put it in Parker's apartments tub. Hahahahah
We also left flour on the ceiling far, vaselined the door knobs and toilet seats and left this message on the mirror (pulling classic DUCK faces). We thought we were SO FUNNY. But then we scared ourselves and thought we might get in serious trouble. So we returned the duck and the boys got us back by sending a fake management guy to come tell us the police wanted to talk to us and stuff. It was quite the night! That's what happens when innocent white girls try to pull off an April Fools prank. We pranked ourselves! Truly an April Fools never to be forgotten!
Bowling night with the crew! Seriously just getting my apartment and parker's apartment together was always just an instant party! I am going to miss living so close to them!!
And then there was this amazing weekend, commonly known at General Conference Weekend! All I have to say is there has never been a talk more for me than President Uchtdorf's Sunday Morning Talk! I feel like conference weekend was a turn around for me. I was so comforted, so uplifted and so grateful. It was beautiful!
And the same weekend was my little Boo Boo's birthday! This picture says it all. Love this spunky girl! She is also growing up WAY too fast. Can time just slow down for a minute?
Right before finals week, Parker and I were SO blessed to get to go back to NYC and visit the Marsdinis! Spen hooked us up and flew us out Thursday night till late Sunday night. Another tender mercy. I have decided that being with kids is my remedy for any kind of sadness, anxiety, fear or frustration. No wonder all I want is to be is a mom and my major is elementary education :) Back during my freshman year when I went to NYC for President's Day, my whole life was turned around. The outpouring of love I feel being with all these kiddos is indescribable. I feel like the coolest person to walk the face of the earth. So thanks to these crazy kids for saving my life or in better words for making me realize how good my life is! Being an aunt is the best part about my life, HANDS DOWN!
So here is Parker, London and Violet. We went to pick up the older kids from school Friday morning!
Riss was dressed up for some school book day thing!
Then we played at the park! Love these wild girls!
Oh Shem-o. He brought money to buy himself a little snocone after school. What a crack up!
I never get tired of classic twin pictures! So sweaty from playing soccer!
Saturday morning we went to cheer the twins on at their first baseball game of the season! So cute!!
Love my FIFI!
Adorable. What a cool place to play ball- right on the bay next to the Hudson river!
And we gave Parker the privilege of changing London's diaper. It was his first diaper change! Spen said it was the most awkward thing he's ever watched. Ha I don't know about that, but it gave us a good laugh! Poor londy was so concerned about it. She sure LOVES Pawwwka though :)
After the game we had lunch on the Pier. The boys table...
And the girls table...
Then we walked all the way down the river to this fun park! It was crazy with these big ring monkey bars, and all sorts of big kid toys including a slack line, stilts, hula hoops, and pogo sticks!
Here goes monkey shemmer!
Slack line! Like a true trapeze!
Always trying something new! Love these boys.
Spen is still always looking for thrill!
Trying to get back in my element on stilts!
Ok this kids was seriously a stud on this pogo stick. He was a mini spen! He was cracking me up! We would jump down on the steps on it, do it with no hands and he could stay on it forever!!
Riss rocking the rings! They had smaller ones for kids and bigger ones for adults. I made it all the way across the big ones. I was so proud haha! It was really hard!
The little girls loved playing in the sand! It was the perfect park for adults and kids. We all had a blast! New York knows how to put on a good park!
Sand diapers! Always a classic.
Parker playing the piano with the boys. Shem is so talented and was even picking up on some of Parker's songs. They had a lot of fun just jamming together. I seriously think Parker and I got the best end of the deal getting to be the fun single aunt and uncle. :) These boys just loved Parker. And so did the little girls. PJ kinda stole my thunder this trip to NYC haha. But I don't blame the kids, who doesn't love Parker Marsden??
Late Saturday night Scotty came and picked us up from New Jersey to go see Sarah and the newest member of the family, ANNA JOAN MARSDEN, in NJ. I was so grateful. What a precious little angel from heaven. It was truly like holding a little, yes VERY small, piece of heaven :)
Sarah is the cutest mom ever.
Triplets! My amazing brothers. It was honestly one of the coolest experiences to see Scot as a first time Dad. Boy, his kids are lucky.
Number 17! And I still get so excited to met each one. I want them all to never question Auntie Shelbs' love for them. Can't wait till I get to hold my own....:)
Before Scot took us back to NYC, he showed us this awesome pier looking out to the NYC skyline. It was beautiful! Amazing!!!!!
Lazy sunday morning in NYC! Riss is my little shadow. She just snuggled right up to me every morning!
And some kid took this epic photo. London is a doll and loves the family calendar! I guess she was even sleeping with it! I'm glad someone appreciates the calendar I made this year :)
Sunday afternoon out on the patio!
Parker and Spen being boys trying these skateboard jump tricks over these tables. Riss was all worried. And then Diana came out to the ruckus and like classic kids, us adults and all, we said "uhhh ohhhh."
The boys cheering spen and parker on. They came up with this song about "Biff Brothers" since Spenc and Park took some "Biffs" trying dumb tricks throughout the weekend.
Violet!
They have all sorts of fun things up on their patio! It is like a personal park!
Playing the game they call "boomwhack" or something. It was way fun! Just like a mixture of tether-ball and tennis! The kids were really good at it!
And of course, more girl makeovers before we left Sunday night! Sophia joined us this time. And yes Riss helped me approach a strong resemblance of Cleopatra!
SELFIE
Sums up the weekend, and life in general, with all these hooligans. SO grateful for the fun weekend in NYC! THANK YOU SPEN AND DIANA! Can't wait till next time ;) ;) Miss these kids like crazy.
And then it was back to school and studying for finals..... oh and late night wendy's runs. Anything to get through finals guys. Don't judge.
Our main girl WENNNNNDY. My favorite ginger... well actually maybe Jaden is:)
Goodbye roommate dinner! We all separated ways! Char headed out for a mission, Brooke getting married, Meg to live with her sister, Jade back to Kaysville and Me to start a new semester at BYU for Spring. What good memories with these girls. We seriously just sat here at dinner and reminisced about all of the times we had over the past two semesters. It made me want to laugh and cry all at the same time. I never thought I would get so close to these once upon a time "random roommates" of mine! I survived my sophomore year guys! LIFE IS GOOD. Each year just seems to get better- let's keep it like that!
Parker's birthday was also the weekend before finals so it served as a nice year end party too! I decorated the boys apartment while Parker was at work and made a cake for him. Then we took him classic skating. It was just a bunch of his bro friends and me. I seriously was their 7th roommate last year. My second home :)
What a clown. Literally. Happy 22 Park!!
The crew. Ryan, Mark, Alex, Jon Yates, Park and Adam Child. We are hardcore. As you can tell, two staple activities of my college career are Nickel City and Disco Skating.
The next day was Easter! Park and I were able to go up to Kaysville to celebrate it, as well as his birthday. I was stoked that the Easter bunny still came for us! Getting the game "blokus" was a highlight of the weekend for sure!
Dressed in their Easter best. We had some family fun with our classic egg roll competition and Parker's Birthday celebration!
A little birthday/Easter duo mash up! We sure love you Parker! So many important birthdays over the course of Winter Semester!
And here's another one of those special birthdays! LOVE THIS LADY. Thank you to Shae for sending this classic paper (whiteboard substitute) birthday board! Mom loved it! And by the way, she doesn't look a day over 30! Best Mom and Granny EVER!
A little Cafe Rio with Gramps. A good way to celebrate the end of the semester. He loves Cafe Rio! And he said the most hilarious comment when we showed him this picture. He asked "How old can you get and still look like a person?" Oh gramps, we love you!!
So, this is it. Our final moments in Lexington 23. Boy, good times, good times. I could cry just looking at this picture...and I secretly may be, but you will never know :) These two picked me up and carried me through winter semester. How lucky I was to have gotten roommates like them. All I can say, over and over again, is everything happens for a reason and I know in the eternal scheme of things, these roommates were not just "randoms." I needed them, they needed me, and they will be in my life foreverrrrrr! All in all, winter semester was a time of learning and growth. I grew so much closer to so many different people like I've mentioned, but most of all, I grew incredibly close to my Heavenly Father and savior Jesus Christ. I feel like we should be able to say every day that today we have never been closer to God. Although the semester started off rough and had it's ups and downs, I would NEVER trade it for another. Looking back, I still loved winter semester. Mom once reminded me how fun roller coasters are! And yes, 2014 has been quite the roller coaster but I am trying to love it as much as I can! I have amazing friends and family and the blessing of the gospel. Today, I seriously am SO HAPPY. Liberty Square and Sophomore year were good to me, but I was ready for change..... for the first time EVER. :) And the tender mercies continued and I'm still seeing them everyday. God is good! Oh and PS... see those white legs??? It was time for that to change too. Maybe I was just ready for SUMMER. Yep, that's it. :)
