Yut.

^ Yeah, that's Maine for ya. 

Okay, well.. I'm currently at the JFK airport for the next seven hours.. so why not write a blog about how awesome it was to experience such a cool, different place. 

It started off when Megan, Camille and Kit dropped Pearl and Me off at the Salt Lake City airport. We said our goodbyes, and eventually Pearl and I were boarding our flight to New York. Too bad we didn't get to sit by each other for the ENTIRE flight. 

I had the pleasure of staying with Stephanie Little and Megan Jones. These girls are hilarious.. AND true Mainers. They definitely made my stay so enjoyable. We all jumped off a bridge into a river my second day there. Cody Small joined us. Cody is kind of like a really cute brother that I never had. I think on our first car ride together, I talked for 20 minutes straight without breathing. But he didn't care. :) Jumping off that bridge was honestly sooo scary. My heart was pounding the ENTIRE time. I never do things like that. I'm so thankful for the experience to travel and do things that I wouldn't normally do. 

For some reason, people in Maine like to call me "Utah" We picked up this guy that Pearl and Steph knew, along with some of his drunken buddies. He doesn't remember me, but he called me Utah. The car ride was honestly hilarious. We drove to an abandoned, haunted house in West Athens. The mood quickly changed. (For me anyway) And suddenly I was freaking out! The house looked like a legit horror film. There was also a small graveyard right next to the house. In Maine, there aren't really any neighborhoods, so this house was just all by itself, at a dead end, in the freaking woods. Memorable evening.
The next night, I had a Brocasion at Jake's house. I'll just say that it was a real good time. Those fellas are so swell! 

That's just me at a cute little park. Pearl pointed out that I have an unhealthy obsession with fountains. It's true. They're so great! I'm going to have 127430373833003 of them in my future home. Anyway, we walked around this lovely park, went to a thrift store, and had lots of ice cream. Maine is sooo cloudy all the time and I absolutely love it. 

^ Nick, Violet and Me walking around in Skowhegan. 

Nick is SO cool to hang out with. I had such a good time with him. He is very intelligent and I wish I would have had more time to get to know him. 

Speaking of Violet, it was an absolute pleasure to meet Pearl's family. They are so sweet and perfect, just as I imagined. I can totally see where Pearl gets all of her awesome qualities. 

Yes everyone, that is Pearl's TWIN ^^ 

Steph, Megan, Pearl and I decided to have a beach day when the sun came out.  We drove to Old Orchard Beach. We ended up soaking up the sun, peeing the the Ocean, and then a bunch of guys that were REALLY bad at pick up lines decided to hit on Pearl and Megan. This one guy says to Pearl "Hey.. I see you..." It's like um.. really? You see me? Cool. Obviously. You just walked right past me. I promised Megan I would set her up with a cute Utah boy. One who isn't REALLY bad at pick up lines. I SECOND THAT GORGEOUS! 

Oh, did I mention that on our way home from the beach, Steph decided to let ME drive? Yeah, me. Believe it. Guess where we ended up? In New freaking Hampshire. I'm probably never driving again. The ride home was 3 hours. We were all hungry, exhausted, and drunk off laughter. I don't think i've ever laughed so hard at Pearl in my entire life. 

I also had such a swell time hanging out with James. He says things like..."Oh that's a drag..." and "Oh you can't keep all your chickens in one coop..." Or something like that. He's like a dad or something. This is a cool sideways picture of us. 

^ Ashley, Shauna and Pearla. 

This is us at some oriental restaurant. I knew from the second I met Ashley that she was a really loving girl. She had me cracking up so many times! And Shauna and I are so much alike, it's scary! We had a heart to heart when we went to the haunted house again. Finally someone to chicken out WITH me :) 

I don't have a picture with Brandon, but let me tell you this much: He pretty much took care of me. Haha. You don't need to know any more, but he has been extremely helpful with this visit to Maine. He is so great to talk to :) And he uses nice, sexy words when he speaks. Which is always good. 

One of my most memorable moments was the night before I left. Pearl, Cody and I drove to Tim Horton's. When we got back we stayed in the car and talked about a lot of cool things :) I did that annoying, warm fuzzy thing when I make everybody in the car say something that they appreciate about each other. 

IT WAS SO SPECIAL. 

So basically.. this blog doesn't even cover half of the stuff I did.. or the fun that I had. But I kind of haven't slept at all and I think i'm going crazy. Walking for 30 minutes in the pouring rain with Pearl was sooo great. I am so blessed to have such a great friend who wants to share things with me. She picks up my slack, and she helps me be a better person. I can't even tell you how much I love her! Maine was awesome. This definitely isn't goodbye. I'm coming back to Maine for sure some day :) All the laughs and the new things that I have NEVER seen before. I've learned so much. Thanks to everyone who made this trip amazing. Next time, Rakul is coming with us. I WILL make it happen. Until we meet again! <3 

Summer Thus Far!

Well, it all started with a little trip to India. (Or Cedar City) I wish I could express how lucky I was to experience such an amazing culture with all of its traditions. Pearl and I took a shuttle to Cedar and got to hang out with our favorite roomie :) We definitely ate tons of Indian food, danced with the greatest of Punjabi's, and became well educated and enlightened on the Punjabi religion. Her family was so sweet and welcoming. My favorite part was probably the dancing! (Or sucking in helium with Sammi) I miss Rakul so much and I wish she could be with us all of the time, but I know she is kicking butt at school. 

Did I mention that Pearly White has been my lovely roommate for part of this summer? It has really been too great. We do things like.. dick around at Walmart, drink energy drinks, talk to cats, go for morning walks in the rain with mah boys, have late night chats/nail painting with my little sisters, How I Met Your Mother Marathons, Candy Bar games, making our very own Butterbeer (IloveyouRon), hiking with Dan, watching great movies, and just talking until all hours of the night. She really does save my life. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have her to talk to! <3 

Summer also meant saying goodbye to Elder Hilton. I already know that Nick is doing so swell on his mission! I had the honor of singing at his farewell with Ivy. At first, I was totally nervous and my voice was shaking... then Ivy grabbed my hand and held it the whole time :) I'm so glad she was there for me. TRUE FRIEND RIGHT THUURRR. I already miss ya, Nick. I know you're doing great things. 

Who the heck is that classy biznitch driving that car? Like an adult? 

OH. 

IT'S. 

ME. 

Yeah, I know. Hard to believe.. isn't it? I've had my license for about one week. Since then I've only missed 3 stop signs, and ran 2 red lights. Woops. I sure do hope mother isn't reading :/ 

Look at my Kenny Bear :) 

I seriously am so proud of him. I made a trip to Vegas with Kiersten and Joe to go to Kenyon's mission farewell. His talk was so great! I honestly am having a hard time already. There are so many moments when I want to whip out my phone and text him! When I arrived at his house, I was greeted by his amazing mother. We all had dinner together, and I got to meet Kenyon's father and HIS BAND. Yeah, band. They're called "Mid Life Crisis" They sing anything from The Beatles to Owl City. I know what you're thinking... a bunch of old guys rocking out in a basement? Here's the thing.. they're wayyy good! Also, they let me sing a Beatles song with them! It was so fun. Then they had Kenyon and me sing together! It was so nice to sing one last time with him. We visited the strip, and saw the Bellagio fountains.. (Best part of Vegas) I also had such a great time with Kenyon's siblings and family friends, Ashely and Carlos. We giggled and embarrassed Kenyon in front of the woman he was trying to impress. My dearest friend Joseph Hyde Stoddard was on Lortab the entire time.. so that sure made for some good times. He was chanting things like.. "When I say Loro, you say Tab.. LORO TAB LORO TAB. hahha. He cracked me up so much. And to be quite honest.. I fell in love with Ken's family :) They are a fabulous bunch of people. Saying goodbye was more than heartbreaking. I know Kenyon is going to be a great missionary. Did I mention I got to see my beautiful girl Debra? I always always love talking to her. She just gets it. 

I also attended PRIDE FESTIVAL in SLC with Allison, Pearl, Weston, Dan, Moses and Kyle. It was sooo great seeing all the people that came to support! I saw a father holding a sign in the parade that said.. "I'm proud of my gay son.." It nearly brought me to tears. WOOO. I've been having endless amounts of good times with Garett, Allison, Moses, Dan, and Campbell! We play curses and laugh reallllyyyy hard. 

MOVIE OF THE SUMMER: Super 8. If you haven't seen it, do it. It has every great quality that a movie should have. I laughed, I cried, I loved it.