i think the pictures say it all

apparently i like kissing dinosaurs ^^

wow, Park City was the BEST! it was extra special this year, because Shae came with us :) We spent the week shopping, swimming, going to temple square, seeing movies, going to the dinosaur museum, feeding fishies, visiting beautiful gardens (where i ALMOST got to ride a segway.. ugh why can't i just be 18?) spending time at Thanksgiving Point petting horses, playing sardines in the hotel (yes, we STILL do that, and no we're not 12 :), eating at yummy restaurants, and enjoying each others company. I love going to Park City with my whole family! its always been a fun tradition for our us. With school starting back up soon it was the perfect final vacation for the summer. 

see you in 18 months..

On July 5th i said goodbye to my best friend and sister. Amanda is on her way to dominate California and become the best missionary ever!

Her last few days she was so busy with gathering last minute supplies, saying goodbye, and packing, but we managed to make time for one last traditional Big Fat Greek Wedding extravaganza! we even got greek food to eat while we watched it :)

The next day she was set apart and officially became Sister Hansen. We continued to work at last minute tasks and finish packing up her things. Luckily we were able to squeeze in some time to celebrate the 4th of July with a BBQ and sparklers!

That was also our last night together and we of course slept in my room together and stayed up talking, reminiscing, laughing, and crying. Then at 5a.m. we woke up and headed to the air port to set her off.

It was truly one of the hardest goodbyes i have experienced and it is difficult to imagine not having her at home and being there to talk to or hangout with. However, even though i would do anything to have her back with me I know that she is needed and she is serving the Lord. The people in California are lucky to have her :)

final year at Lo' Mia

  Sadly, this was my last year at girls camp. Girls camp was always something i looked forward to each summer. The young women in my ward are a very close knit group. We have a blast going up there having dance parties, telling scary stories, learning, and just growing even closer together. It is were i really gained a testimony of the gospel and is where i always got the opportunity to share and grow it. I also loved being a YCL these past two years it brought a whole new aspect to it and gave my the chance to be a leader to help the girls younger than me. Although, this year was a little different, because they decided to mix it up and have the YCLs over different wards, but even though i didn't get to be with the 3rd years from my own ward i still grew to love the girls i was over so quickly and wouldn't have changed it for anything! 

we were exhausted! 

My sister Ashley is in our stake and had the opportunity to go up to camp with her ward. I always love having family up there with me. It was so fun to see her around camp and be able to hang out with her every once in a while. 

These two girls are my best friends! I am so glad i got to share those six years at camp with them. They seriously are what made the experience better. We spent those years growing and learning spiritually together and it really bonded us even more.

I am always going to miss those years at Lo' Mia, but hopefully i will get to go up again as a leader someday :)

my ghost adventures no.1

     If anyone knows me well.. they know that i am a big believer in ghosts. My cousin, Raquel, and I can spend hours watching ghost shows, Haunting, and what not. Not to mention, several of my cousins have had crazy experiences with spirits and we love to tell ghost stories at family gatherings. Some people think its crazy, but i think its interesting.
    Anyways, the week we got back from Utah, Me, my two sisters, my sister-in-law, and my two cousins spent the night in the famously haunted Jerome Grand hotel, which is only 2 hours from Phoenix. We were so excited for our upcoming adventure we actually did some research on the place and guys, let me tell you. This place is no joke. we found tons of reviews on the place about people's experiences there and we even found a whole episode of Ghost Adventures on it. We were super stoked and ready to go check this place out.
    First of all, Jerom is a random, weird tiny city basically built along the sides of a mountain. The little shops and streets are all winded up to the top, which is where the hotel is. It used to be an old mining town and was really wicked with a lot of crime. The hotel was actually the old hospital and had 9,000 deaths there. So naturally, this just makes it all the more exciting :)

We got there about 9p.m. and checked in. the concierge was really nice and gave us some good tips as to where to go and explore. The elevators are really cool. you actually have to pull the two doors and use a key to operate it. We located our floor and the first thing i noticed was how cold it was and i swear we were the only ones staying there besides a small family with little kids. Once we got settled in our room, the exploring began!

As we explored the hotel further we found some props that the they had set up to spook the guests :)

the concierge gave us a few spots to go check out and one of them was the cemetery. It took about 45 minutes to find it, but once we did we understood why he recommended it. It was creeeeepy. In fact most of us stayed in the car and only Ashley, Jessi, and Amanda went to see what they could find.

As the night wore on, we eventually got tired and had to face what we were all dreading.. going to bed.

we each took turns going with each other to the bathroom as we got ready and all climbed into bed.. 

lucky for us, there were 3 or 4 of us crammed in each of the two queen size beds. 

Finally the lights were out and we all did our best to fall asleep.. unfortunately, neither me, Ashley or Amanda slept one minute the whole night. literally. It was a pretty rough night. Lets just say we were all relieved when we saw the sun come up. 

The next morning we packed up and were out of there pretty early. We stopped at a little diner for breakfast and then we were back to our comforting homes. 

Ok, so i guess non of us encountered a ghost, but we did have fun and we got pretty spooked. It was a good trip and it was fun to experience with all us girls, hopefully we will be able to do it again :)