Catch Up

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't written anything for about two months now. I'm a bad blogger I've discovered. I think maybe it's because I write in my journal almost every day, so I forget about this blog. BUT, my right wrist has been hurting on and off a lot lately. And especially now that I'm in school again I feel like I'm working overtime and straining it a lot more than I probably should. So I'm going to try and write more on my blog than in my journal so I won't strain my wrist any further. I think it's a good plan... unless I don't write on here for two more months, haha! 

Anyway what has been going on in my life? Well the end of the summer consisted of going to Texas and hangin' with family:) It was so fun, and my cousin Jessica came down!! I hadn't seen her in if I remember right, six years! It was so great to see her again! I love her so much:) There are some pictures I compiled into a collage below with some of the pictures I took while down there... well mine and some of my mom's. (If you click on the image it should get bigger.)

Okay so fast forward a month and I moved into Wolverine Crossing! Yep, I am now a resident of Orem, and "on my own"... well If you want to say that. My family is only thirty or so minutes away, so I can go home whenever I want, which I LOVE. But it's still hard to be away from them constantly. They were all I had for the past three years we've lived here... My mom, dad, sister and brother are the most important people in my life and I'm glad I'm so close to them. Some people might think it's weird to be so close to your family, but I think it's awesome to be close to your family members. I mean, honestly, when the world is falling apart they will always be there by your side. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful family! I love them with all of my heart and wouldn't put them below anything or anyone. Sorry for going off track a bit, haha, but it needed to be said:) So onto the present day.

I'm in college as of right now, going back to UVU for my sophomore year. It's really weird to think a year has already past! Hopefully I'll only need two and a half more and I'll be graduated... hopefully! My classes this semester include the following:
Monday and Wednesday I have 2D design from 11:30-2:00 then on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Math at 11:00-12:40 then an Institute class from 2:30-3:20 and finally Digital Imaging from 5:00-7:50... oh yeah and an online Health class... which I haven't started yet.... procrastination: 1 Leanna: 0
Anyway there is my schedule for college, a total of 12 credits. It isn't so bad everything is going pretty smoothly.. that is except for math, because I hate math... other than that though, it is fine. I'm just truckin' on through, trying to keep everything balance which is pretty hard to be honest. For example, yesterday in my 2D design class we were given a new project and tomorrow we are having a progress critique. so tonight, after my Digital Imaging class finally got out, I got working on some 2D design stuff because I felt obligated to do so. Unfortunately I felt rushed and now I feel like it looks like crap and I'm nervous someone else will think so as well. It's annoying, but that's life I suppose.... wait where was I going with this? I have no idea, maybe you can figure it out.

Well I better get going. It's almost 10:30 and if you couldn't tell, I'm pretty tired... especially after staring at small exacto knife cuts for an hour and a half making sure they were as perfect as they could be.. my eyes need a break. But I'll leave you with a funny story from last Monday at my ward's family home evening (FHE). Enjoy, and I'll talk to you later!!

I just want to say that I hate dodgeball.... I will never ever ever play it again for as long as I live!!! 

It all started when I was younger in elementary school. On PE days we'd play dodgeball every now and again, you know one of the typical "sports" you'd play in PE. Everyone loved playing it in elementary... that is everyone except for me. Why? Well I was so good at dodging the balls I'd always be the very last one standing against about half of the other team, ALWAYS. It was so scary if the other side had all the balls and so annoying because I was the last one left once again. 

I think the reason I was so good at dodging the dodgeballs was because of Wade. Hahaha! But seriously! We used to have a trampoline in our backyard in Texas and Krista, my sister, Wade and I would play don't touch the balls on the trampoline and put every single ball we had on the tramp and jump around them. If a ball touched you were out and you had to get off of the tramp. Once you were off you could pick up the fallen balls and throw them at whoever was left on the tramp. So if you understand right, I had A LOT of dodgeball practice, hahaha! 

Anyway the whole point of this story is I never played dodgeball again once I left elementary school because I hated being the only one left every single game. So I stopped playing.... Until last Monday. Yes. Last Monday night for FHE my ward played dodgeball. I sat out the entire time because I knew I'd be the last one standing if I decided to play. About four games in, they redid the teams and soon they were ready to play another game. I continued sitting on the sidelines, perfectly content may I add, when a guy who I had never met before asked if I wanted to play. I quickly said no, but he kept bugging me to play even after I kindly said no at least three more times. So I decided to break my non dodgeball playing oath and play one game. I told the guy who still didn't introduce himself that I was going to be the last one standing and I have the worst arm in the world so I'm going to be helpless and we will lost the game, but he only laughed and said, "I doubt that." Well the game started and can you guess what happened? YEP I was the LAST one on our side, just like old times. Except this time it wasn't against the small elementary aged kids, but full grown strong men who were aiming deflated volleyballs at me... it was honestly pretty scary, haha. We lost that game. I was behind the sidelines behind the basketball goal trying to leave because I was not about to play again. Then that guy who made me play the first time told me I should play again. I was just about to say no when the game started and people started throwing balls at me, so I dodged them and BAM I was playing again. I thought to myself maybe I could purposely get hit, but I couldn't bring myself to it since I knew the balls they were playing with really packed a punch. So I just dodged them and soon enough I was the last one on my side again.... we lost again. hahahaha. Before the next game started I hurried OUT off the court and sat on the ground by my friends Sheldon and Tori. And that is where I vowed I'd never play dodgeball EVER again even if someone tires to get me to play over and over again. I seriously have a dodgeball curse. hahaha

THE END! 

Living Elsewhere

On Monday my mom, friend Lexie and I went and looked at college apartments. I'm a sophomore in college at the Utah Valley University. (Go Wolverines!) Anyway, when I was freshman I decided to stay at home and not worry about the things most of the UVU freshman have to worry about. This year I decided I did need to get out of the house, because I really wasn't living. I would go to school, come home, study, eat, sleep and do it all over again the next day. I didn't interact with anyone or anything which of course wasn't enjoyable.
As of now I'm all ready to move into my apartment on the 22nd of August! I am pretty excited, but I'm also nervous, which is understandable because I've never done this before... unless you want to count EFY in San Antonio which was only for a week... which I don't, haha.
My mom and I went to Target yesterday and got some things we needed for my dorm room. I love the color blue, so that's what I got for my dorm! It's cute:)

Next week on Friday, my mom, sister, and I drive down to Texas! I can't wait to see all of my family including my cousin, JESSICA! It will be a fun vacation:)

Leanna

Hiking

Have you ever had a moment when you have a goal you wanted to keep, and you think it sounds easy or awesome, but once the moment gets there it's in actuality a horrible idea, but you keep doing it anyway? Well this summer my mom, sister and I decided to go hiking every week of summer break. I thought at first, this will be fun, I haven't gone hiking since last summer and I remember liking it so this will be a great thing to do. Once I went on the first hike however, my mind switched gears about hiking. I absolutely hate it. Here is my pros and cons list... or in this case cons and pros list. (Once you go to college all you can think about is pros and cons to any situation... it's kind of a curse.)

Cons of hiking for me: 

-My mom and I are the only ones that go every week with a group of women from a nearby church. We  wake up at 8 to be ready by 9:15 to meet at a house and get on our way to a hiking trail. Krista somehow has been able to get out of every hike except two, which I think is a little unfair.
-Every single hike is either going straight up or feels like it's going straight up. Almost none of the hikes have a leveling off area where you can take a break. I'm not even kidding when I say I either get heat exhaustion, pass out, or feel like throwing up every time I go hiking.
-After going hiking in the morning all I want to do is take a shower and sleep the rest of the day when I get back home. So the day is basically wasted, and I end up having a headache for some reason.
-I get blisters and dirt all over my feet even though I have shoes and socks on... not to mention how sweaty you get throughout the whole hike.
-My hands swell when I'm hiking for some reason, I have no idea why... maybe I'm allergic to hiking?
-Once you go up you have to come down... which usually gives me a cramp in my side.

Pros of hiking:

-You feel good about yourself for climbing up and down a mountain every week. I mean seriously you feel like a superhuman.
-If you are on a diet you can get away with eating more food when you hike, because you burn 1000 calories and up every time you go. Party!
-You get gorgeous views from hiking up a mountain. If you bring your phone you can take pictures and post them to Instagram with the label #nofilter on it. They also make great cover photos for your Facebook (;
-If you want, you can get a camelback and wear/drink out of it on hikes. I have always thought was cool to do because you feel like an adventurer, or someone really awesome like Indiana Jones, The Librarian, Virginia Lewis, Russell or... someone like that.
-Sometimes you see wildlife, like a real life Bambi (which I did see last week drinking from a small waterfall) and sometimes you hike to waterfalls which is a nice relaxing spot to cool down.

Even though I hate hiking as much as I do I'm glad I go, because I'm proving to myself I can do anything I set my mind to. Once this is all over, I can say I have completed a goal, going through with it until the end. That very idea is what makes me keep hiking every Tuesday when I want to give up so badly, when I could easily turn around and wait in the car, I don't because I know it will all be worth it in the end to say, "I did it."

So far I've hiked everyday of June and now one week in July. "Sadly" I won't be able to hike every week of July because my mom, sister and I are going to Texas for about two-three weeks starting on the 21st. So I have only two weeks left of hiking until I can stop and be proud of myself for completing my goal, and man will it feel good (:

Leanna

 PG Falls Hike

 Timponogos Caves

Horsetail Falls (hardest hike of them all)

Julie Andrews Hike

Scout Falls Hike

Memories

I started this blog when I was a freshman in high school full of excitement, just looking for something to do. After about a year or so I slowly stopped posting until every other month when I'd feel the need to write something on my blog. Today when I decided to look through my blog I realized I haven't posted anything for nearly two years. 

As I started exploring all the post I had, I found a lot of memories with bad grammar and not so flattering pictures of myself and others from high school. (Sorry to those involved). Most of these memories were small and insignificant to others, but it was fun to go through and relive those moments, laughing and smiling to myself for an hour or so. 

Only a few days ago a forest fire broke out ten minutes from my house. People I know had only five minutes to gather what they could and leave because the fire was coming their way. It was frightening to know that I could get that knock at my door, and I would have to be forced to choose what was precious and what was not to me in only five minutes. If you know me well, that is almost asking the impossible! I mean really, what would you choose if you only had five minutes? Scrapbooks, pictures, journals, letters, books.... The list could got on and on! What is important to save and keep? After thinking this over my answer came to: Memories. Memories are probably the most important thing to me besides my family, which is why today while looking through my blog I'm thankful to my immature fifthteen year old self who started this way back in 2008. Even though almost all of the posts weren't exactly special to those reading, they were memories from my life and were important to me.

So I got an idea to restart my blog and begin writing my days and experiences out again. Yes, I did delete every single post I had except for the random video in the post below, but don't worry! I copied and pasted my memories onto a word document so I can have them forever. Now that I have a clean slate and all of you don't have to put up with my bad spelling and millions of exclamation points everywhere, I'm ready to start again.

So here I go writing out my life for all of you who are interested to listen. Don't take anything for granted, and thank God for everything you are blessed with, because you never when may loose them.

Leanna

Strawberry Fields

This post is from 2008 and today it's July 6, 2012. I'm cleaning out my blog so I can restart from this year on, but once I came across this miracle I couldn't delete it. It's one of my uncle Travis' first videos, so enjoy even if it is a little rough:)

Original post from 2008:

Travis made this video during Spring break when we went strawberry picking, and I LOVE it!!! My Grandma Rachel loved picking the strawberries, but for me it got boring after the third bucket. Unfortunately, my grandma didn't think there were enough and that we should pick as many as we could, we were there for like TWO whole hours!! so we went home with at least seven to eight buckets full of strawberries!! when we got back home and my grandma started washing them off, she looked at all of them and said, " I think I got one to many!"hahahahaha! well anyway, here is a video of us at the strawberry field... Enjoy! :)