The Grimm Adventures: April 2013

So as the semester starts winding down I feel like everybody gets a whole lot more sentimental towards...well everything. So I thought I would join the club and write a post for those who have made SUU so much fun and bearable to be away from home; I dedicate this post to my wonderful, sweet friends.

In the dictionary, the word friend is defined as follows: Friend –noun: a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard; a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter. But my personal definition of friend is this: A friend is somebody who knows your flaws, sees you be weird, hyper, crazy and cry and yet still chooses to spend their time with you. I have met some of the most awe inspiring people in the entire world down here at good old Southern Utah University, people who I know will be my friends for a lifetime, and I couldn't feel more blessed in all honesty. It would take me forever to do individual shout outs to every single person I have encountered down here that has been a positive force in my life, so I am only going to do just a few. Just bear with me, these might get a little emotional, but I promise to finish out strong :)

To my dear roommate Kim, I would be foolish not to admit that a good portion of the reason I am still sane is because of you. You were the perfect first roommate I could ever imagine. I owe a lot to you :) I definitely feel choosing to live with you was a positive choice. We have some good times! We laughed, we cried, we danced awkwardly. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be so close to you :)

Jade. Where to begin with you? How is it that we are basically the same exact person...like for real life...how does that even work? I am sooo grateful that we have become such good friends. It's so nice to have a voice of reason so close to me all the time. I know I can count on you to tell me the truth, and give me an honest and straight forward opinion. You are such an incredible person and friend, and there are few people who make me laugh as hard as you. Oh I just love ya!

Kelsie. Even though sometimes your talent makes me so sad (only because I don't have even a 1/3 of the vocal chord abilities as you...it's whatever...) I absolutely adore you. You are such a beautiful person and I definitely feel like you understand me in a way that nobody else can. we just relate beautifully :) You just always find a way to make my day and make me laugh, and you are just the best. I also love our mutual love for Kid History. I definitely feel that bonds us :)

Kenzie. Ohhh delightful MaKenzie. You are probably the funniest person I have ever met. Even though our friendship started a smidge later than the rest (which I think is funny knowing why..hehe) I just know we have a special closeness that others just don't understand. Need I bring up the meteor shower? I think not! you are such a special person and a wonderful friend and even though you're ditching out on us to go to Dixie next year, we are still going to stay tight. Because the ever so wonderful snapchat was created, and you my friend, are a pro.

Jeffrey Chapman...where do I begin with you? I knew from the moment I met you we were going to be homies. We became such good friends so fast and that in itself is one of the biggest blessings i have ever received. You make me laugh so hard and you are always there for me...I don't think I could have survived this semester without you! You are so trustworthy and selfless and boy can you play guitar. I am soo excited for next semester so our friendship can continue. You are simply the best thing ever. I adore everything about you, kid!

Bryton Wells...I saved the best for last. I often think back to the night we met, casino night, and I laugh a little bit. Mostly at the memory of your outfit that night :) Don't worry bud, ya looked fresh. I thank my lucky stars every single day that you came over and talked to me and that we went to the same high school because I don't know if we would have ever become friends without those factors. You are the main reason I have loved being here at SUU...we have become such close friends and it has kept me sane...well as sane as Haley can be :) You and I...our friendship is so special haha in the most unique way humanly possible, but we definitely make it work. Sometimes we conceal our problems with humor, but no big deal. :) I don't think you will ever truly understand how much I owe you, look up to you, and absolutely adore you. I count you as one of the best friends I have ever had and you mean a lot to me. You are going to make the most incredible missionary to the people of Everett Washington :) Even though i won't be seeing you for the next two years, there is now way you are getting rid of me that easily. Thank you for everything you've done for me. You're the best, buddy :) I love ya.

Let me simply finish by saying that those aren't the only people who have impacted my life...but they are definitely the ones that have been the biggest support and blessings since moving away. Next let me say that I don't think things happen by coincidence...especially friendships. I once read a quote that went something along the lines of "People don't come into your life for no reason, they are one of two things: a blessing or a lesson." and I have learned that to be true time and time over again. Luckily for me, the majority of people who I have encountered here at school have been complete blessings. I don't really know what I have done to come to know such incredible people...but whatever it was I am glad I did it! Jade, Kelsie, Kenzie, Bryton, Jeff, Kim, and many many more..thank you guys so so much for being the light in my life that I so desperately needed. I can’t even begin to express the gratitude and love I have for these people, the good times we have had, the laughs we have shared, and the moments of bonding. I wouldn’t trade my experiences with you for the world. I love you guys, thank you for being blessings in my life. And you better know this isn't goodbye...it's just a see ya next semester :)

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the following words that come together to form the following statement: I care too much. What does that even mean? Can one really care too much? Isn't that why we are put on this earth? To care about others so much that we forget about ourselves for a second? But then again, it does get us into trouble...well it gets ME into trouble; I can't really speak for the entire population on this one. I just love my friends, family, and the whole human population really, so much. I have a genuine love and care for people; it fuels me and contributes to who I am. But I care for people sometimes so much more than they care for me, and this love kind of makes me feel inclined to take on the world and it's problems, which then causes me to think my opinion is correct and that they care, so I share it and...feelings get hurt, I cross lines and tension is created. All because I cared...Too much? It's up for debate. Let me know what you think...the chances are that I care about YOU individually more than you understand and your opinion means the world and more to me. So...let's talk about it.

Onto the fun, less serious stuff!! First things first, let me tell you about Jade Martin. She is probably one of the most incredible people on the planet. We have become friends since I have become a big kid and moved away to college and well, she is just the best. We have so much in common, we are both hilarious and completely fabulous and we really get each other. With that being said, it is apparent she has become one of my best friends. and with THAT being said...she is from Las Vegas. Kinda..like 20 minutes away. but that doesn't matter..DETAILS. So anyway, Jade and I decided we were both kind of done with the dorms, school, and cedar city in general so we made plans to go to Vegas! And, since my parents are rude and in Colorado helping my brother and his family move back to Utah (YAY!!!), we decided to go down Easter weekend. I honestly can't express to you how excited I have been for the last like 3 weeks since we made these plans. I absolutely love Las Vegas, I think it is so magical. I mean, I am aware that it is "Sin City" and that there is a lot that goes on in the heart of Vegas that isn't so magical...but I try not to focus on the negative aspects of life. :) So on friday we loaded up my car, and drove on down to Vegas! ROAD TRIP! We laughed, we cried, we sang and just had a really good time. Friday night was pretty relaxed. We went to dinner with her dad and then came home and talked and watched movies. Boring details that, I can almost guarantee, none of you truly care about.

Saturday is when the real fun began. Have you ever been sitting and watching a movie that takes place in a pretty popular city and thought to yourself, "Wow that would be sweet if I happened to be there when they were filming this, then I could take the time to go through every single scene and try to find myself in the background!" Probably not to that extent, but you do know what I mean. WELL, to start off our Las Vegas adventure....THIS TOTALLY HAPPENED TO US. There were these people that were just filming their little hearts and souls away and Jade and I are in my car, totally in the background at least twice. I kid you not...this is all fact! So, keep your eyes peeled for a movie that takes place in Vegas, on the strip, where people drive really old cars and motorcycles and pollute the crap out of the air. My car, jade and I are starring in it. Obviously it's gonna be a good one. Next we went over to the Bellagio where Jade's dad works and we got an insider tour! It was fun to go inside and see all the beautiful and fancy things that are there, like the blown glass and the conservatory that is decorated all fun and stuff. :) I will post a picture or two so you can see how fun the conservatory is! :) Then we went and got some absolutely incredible gelato and walked around to see all the shops. It was really fun. :) Our next adventure was supposed to be the wax museum, which I was insanely excited about. A little too excited most likely...but it is probably fine. So we Jade's dad where we were supposed to be going to find said museum. We get told to go to the Quad...so we pile into Ava (that's my car's name for anybody concerned about that statement) and we headed over to the Quad. Side note: I am a really pro driver. But when I am in places that I am unfamiliar with...I sort of panic. Really bad. And traffic is like my least favorite thing in the entire world, so as you can imagine there was a little bit of freaking out going on in my car. The reason I tell you this is because I successfully navigated my way around Las Vegas and the strip ALL WEEKEND LONG and i didn't cry once, or get in a car accident. And we only got lost temporarily. So big high five to me! CONTINUINING ON! So we find a parking place in the quad parking garage and walk inside for a good...10 minutes and we don't see signs pointing us in any direction, we are just wandering around aimlessly and completely lost. We finally get the idea to ask somebody where the crap this museum is and we get told...we aren't even in the right place. We were told to head over to the Venetian Hotel and that is where we would find the subject of our hopes and desires. So we decide to walk down there and so we go to leave...and can't figure out how to get out of the dang place. We walk and walk and walk around and..no luck. So we begin to panic...as in I begin to panic internally. I am silently preparing to say my goodbyes to the cruel harsh world and then...we see a glimmer of light. And we power walked right through that casino and found...THE DOORS! It was as glorious as it sounds, we had found the strip once more!

So we walk and walk and get to the Paris hotel. If you know anything about me, you know how I feel about Paris. ANYTHING Paris. So, having a small replica of the Eiffel Tower right in front of my face made me a smidge excited. But just a smidge. I think I told jade how excited I was, or happy to see the replica, or how one day I would actually go to France...a hundred times. I definitely contained myself. So we take pictures, watch some strange people dance on the sidewalk, laugh a little, cry a little, complain about the warmth of the sunshine and carry on our merry way. We walked for at least 45 minutes to find we had walked down to the Luxor...not the Venetian, and I will admit we did feel pretty crappy about our lives in that moment. We had made such a long trek south in the blistering heat of the Vegas sun just to find sheer and utter disappointment. But have no fear, Jade and I bounced back real quick! We decided to walk through the hotels so I could now see the INSIDE of them instead of the outsides, because I seriously was playing tourist so. hard. Anyway, we walk into the MGM Grand and...lo and behold...THE RAINFOREST CAFE! it was quite the glorious of sights for me. So we ate and headed on back to the Venetian which, mind you, was a hotel away from where we started... We go to the Wax Museum and take countless amounts of silly and fun pictures and just have a grand ol time. While we are in the wax museum though, we are walking from room to room just minding our own business and I turn the corner and there is a guy just standing there and he scared the absolute crap out of me. Granted, he was waiting for his family and I spoiled their fun by screaming, but I applauded his genius efforts to at least scare SOMEBODY. He was quite successful.

So we walk over the Bellagio to watch the fountain water show thing and that's always a good time, but at this point we are both kind of done. We had been at the Strip for 5 to 6 hours and our feet hurt, we were sweaty and it just wasn't cutting it for us anymore. So, we venture back to my car and while walking through the Quad hotel we ran into Michael Jackson...quite literally. He turned the corner, said he was sorry and was running late, proceeded to walk away as we said it was ok and sorry for almost knocking him down...waited 5 seconds, shared a look and about died laughing. Who was going to believe THAT story? Probably everyone..I mean...we were in Vegas :) I know that the saying goes, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" But I decided to NOT conform and tell you ALL about it :) I guarantee Vegas is the only place that a black man would call Jade White Chocolate, my car would be in a movie, see Elvis at least 5 times, Physically run into Michael Jackson, walk past the Margaritaville bar and get scored on appearance (don't worry, we both got all 10's haha) feel violated by middle aged men who undress us with their eyes, laugh so hard we probably almost cried, eat in the rainforest and take pictures with countless numbers of celebrities. All in all, it was a pretty fantastic weekend :)

As a side note, Here is a shout out to my Grandma Carla, who has been very sad I haven't blogged about her yet. My grandma is so wonderful and SO funny and does so much for me. I miss you a lot and I can't wait to see you in a month when school decides to release me from its firm and awful grasp! :)

Until next time!