the good, the bad, and the ugly

thanksgiving weekend, it would appear, is officially over. i almost had an anxiety attack yesterday when i was told the last day of classes is next week. say whaaaa?!!

anyhow, thanksgiving was fantastic. i wish i had pictures to show for it, but surprise! i don't. all i have is this picture i took at church of four old men who were best friends. so cute.

so not cute enough to be the only picture from the weekend.

bri and i spent the weekend at cristina's, watching some shows, playing with bentley, eating d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. cristina-food (i swear she is the best), and sleeping in til ten. (TEN?! can't even remember the last time i've slept that late. it felt so good..) oh, and bringing bentley on walks which turn into carries when he sits his little bum down and absolutely refuses to move, oh, about three houses down.

we ended the weekend with a four hour game of phase 10. not an exaggeration. eight to midnight, one round, 700 rounds. i broke 1000 points. dan won with 450. the most ridiculous game of phase 10 in my life.

anyhow, i'm about done with thankfulness lists in the blog world.. so much so that i realized on thanksgiving that i was so thanksgiving-ed out from blogs and pinterest that i hadn't even thought about what i am grateful for. so here's a brief list:
- my parents - living close to my sisters - Heavenly Father - a job that i love - a sharp decrease in stomachaches - a boyfriend who treats me so well - good grades - general conference talks - christmas -

today is

today is: the first day of classes.
my tummy hurts. i can't tell if it's because i'm, like, five years old and still get nervous for the first day of school, or if it's just my usual tummy ache. but really now. enough is enough!

today is: paige's last day in utah.
we've had a grand time, complete with crafts, shopping, drives, and long talks.

don't mind the tie-dye. i literally (literally) only wear it to bed.

today is: banana bread for breakfast.
can't wait until it's pumpkin bread season, and i wish i hadn't eaten all of the zucchini bread my mother brought me so quickly.

today is: not a day to wear new clothes.
i'm rocking a white v-neck and skinny jeans. cause i am an advocate of the "i'm-not-in-middle-school" look, which requires waiting until the middle of the first week to wear new clothes. which is a shame because a) mom and bri and i went on a shopping spree at gateway on saturday and it was the best. day.evahhhh, and b) brianna now lives in my town, which means my closet is basically twice as big. (DON'T BE MAD THAT I SAID THAT, BEE!!)

today is: the day aubrey probably comes home!
absolutely fantastic, i've missed that girl so hard over the last week while she's been working.

today is: a happy day.
i love being happy. and i woke up this morning with the sun streaming through my window, and even though it was 6:45, i was happy. maybe happy isn't the right word. maybe i'm just..content.

thanksgiving breaaakkkkk!!

so zackery and i are at his house cause it is thanksgiving.

i really like it here :)

on friday we pretty much almost died driving here.

but thaaaaz okay!

on saturday we went to leavenworth.

it was fantastic.

i have a picture, but it is on zack's camera.

sooo.. stay tuned.

on sunday we ate a FRITADA!!

ummm.. i like fritadas a LOT.

monday i had the most wonderful day.

and i got to see zack's mom's special ed preschool for a little bit which i loved.

and i made a hot pad!! cool, huh?

also i had a tummy ache, because i get those a lot.

so pam gave me a water bottle so i can drink more water and maybe it will fix my tummy aches.

i'm not sure what exactly it is, but this water bottle does something that makes water SO DELICIOUS.

last, i would like to give a SHOUT OUT to keenan,

who sometimes offers to give me a glass of milk when he thinks i want one.

he is fantastic, as you can tell.

this one is entitled "lovers." thank you, keenan.

[insert some really clever title here]

it has been an excellent week.

we went rollerblading by the river in IF

i positively love rollerblading.

and i saw taylor!!

so that was fun. since it never really happens.

we watched the sunset on a mountain.

it was magnificent.

we went to the waterfall..

and had a picnic there!

could anything be better than that?!

probably not.

also we watched the sunset.

surprised? :)

we went kayaking.

and it was gorgeous.

seriously, i love this state.

it's raining right now.

it hasn't rained for a long, long time.

i'm not really used to it not raining.

unfortunately i left my umbrella at home..

..for the third day in a row.

bummer.

i have a science exam tomorrow.

eww.

but also tomorrow..

palm springs with my family!!!

cannnnnottt waaitt :)

camera one closes in.. the soundtrack starts.. the scene begins

there's something about having school and work from nine to five that results in a permanent state of not enough hours in the day.

but, i guess that is life.

anyhow.

life's been good.

i love this place.

here is my life ahora:

we like picnics.

especially with picnic baskets, picnic dishes, and dinosaur sandwiches.

(okay, that's just me, actually)

we like picnics even if we're not the greatest at taking pictures of ourselves.

next.

this is the face zack gives me a lot.

i think it means "what in the heck are you thinking, amy?"

but it might not.

i mean, maybe it just means that he likes me.

but i don't really think so.

last weekend zackery and i went to provo.

we went to a safteysuit concert.

it was fantastic, i tell ya.

zack's a little selfish though..

he says i'm not allowed to be in love with them.

not even a little bit.

not even just as backup.

rude, huh?

also we saw cristina and dan.

which was just wonderful.

especially her new picture frames.

they're rather attractive.

and one more thing.

we got dinner at this place in chubbuck.

it was hands-down the best ham grilled cheese i've ever had.

and the fries were to die for.

so i just wanted to say that.

so tonight i'm just pretty darn happy.

tomorrow i get to see taylor, which is rather exciting.

and ann's getting married in less than one month.

and next weekend is general conference. :)

and then the weekend after that i'm going to palm springs for a sweet 48 hours with my family.

i cannot wait.

i'm loving my classes, especially early field experience.

today my cooperating teacher told me i have the best first grade teacher handwriting she's ever seen.

thank you.

also i love children's lit.

the teacher's all about a "zion class."

so we spend a lot of time doing unity-building activities.

and it's actually pretty cool.

as always i love my job.

enough said there.

well.

that's my life in a nutshell.

i'm pretty lucky :)

i'm only laughing because i can't hold my smiles in

well i'm back.

and i like it even more than before. :)

my sisters and i drove out last week. it was such fantastic fun. as usual, we took almost no pictures. maybe someday we'll learn.

we honestly thought this was the funniest sign in the world when we were little..

actually, we still do.

okay, fine. only i still do. whatever.

when i got to idaho, i had it all planned out what it would be like to see zack again. but as always, he had something else in mind.

i like scavenger hunts.

and then on monday zack and i went to bear world, thanks to my wonderful grandma, since i didn't get to see any at our cabin. it was such an adventure. especially the bear cubs. they were adorable!!

i finally got my room all set up just how i wanted it. today i'm going to make a bulletin board with my brand new hot glue gun from cristina. and i'm going to go buy a pet frog with kylie! and i am just sosososo happy to be back. and i adore ann and kylie. i missed them so much but i didn't even realize exactly how much until i saw them again.

classes start tomorrow, and so does work. which i was excited about, but the truth is that i'd rather just not go to school or work and hang out with zack all day. ohhh wellll. i have to get my educaaaationn. plus one of my classes is elementary early field experience which means i get to go to the schools and wear a nametag that says miss cragun. cool, huh? i think yes.

i am just on top of the freaking world.