This past week, Lexie’s team played in the District tournament for softball.  It was a blast helping my dad coach and to get to hang out with all my girls again.  They played great, but unfortunately lost in the finals to Taylor, a town about forty five minutes away.  The tournament was in Winslow though, and even though I’d been there a million times for all sorts of sports games and such, I got to explore the culture and history a little more this time.  My family and I explored the famous La Posada Hotel.  It was built in the 1930′s, and it’s gorgeous!  There’s an art gallery in one of the main sections, a restaurant, a gift shop full of brightly colored things from all over the world, AND a hotel part where famous people (Jimmy Stewart, for one) stayed in.  I loved it.  It was so rich in culture, and just dripping with history.

That’s the restaurant, called The Turqoise Room.  Below is the fabulous gift shop.  Amazing, right?

So that was my adventure in Winslow.  Who knew that Arizona’s oldest towns could be so cool?  I’ll have to snoop around Prescott a little more to see if I can find somewhere cool like the La Posada!

Speaking of Prescott, I’m going down there with my little sis this weekend to go to the Embry-Riddle Take Flight Volleyball Camp.  Lexie will be participating, and I’ll be helping to coach the girls who come.   And after that, LAKE POWELL!! WOOOO HOOOO!  Wish us luck!!

“If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday.”

-Pearl Buck

This summer so far feels like one long, hectic, fun-filled weekend!  I am working for my dad’s CPA firm as a receptionist, I’ve been helping my high school volleyball team in workouts and camps, I’ve been helping coach my little sister’s softball team, and I’ve been catching up on all the news here in the White Mountains of Arizona!  Unlike many of my classmates at Riddle, I’m not taking any summer classes, so I have time to catch up with my family and to work.  It’s definitely pretty nice to be able to take things easy after a tough semester.

Here are all of my girls on my sister’s softball team.  Gosh how I love those goofballs!

This is Anna, Jerem and I at Jerem’s graduation.  We all played Co-Ed volleyball together when Anna and I were juniors, and he and our other friend Shelby were sophomores.  Luckily we all still stay in touch!  Shelby just got married, as a matter of fact!  She’s Mrs. Murphy now.  It’s so crazy how everyone grows up so fast.

And here is what I’ve been doing all day today.

I have been sleeping pretty much all day as a result of my ward’s twenty four hour scripture reading, causing me to miss my sleep!  We read the whole Book of Mormon in twenty four hours, and it was so much fun to see all of my church girls and to have the opportunity to be invited to help read to them.

Levi and I also decided that we are going to watch all of the movie classics that we love…

…so we’d better get started!!

This is what Landon, Levi and my dad are doing right this SECOND.

If you can’t tell, all three of them are glued to the Celtics/Lakers Finals game.

So this is basically my summer so far!  I hope that everyone out there is having as great of a summer as I am!

“To see the Summer Sky is Poetry, though never in a Book it lie- True Poems flee.”

-Emily Dickenson

As of two weeks ago, (more or less), I have officially survived my freshman year of college.  Now I’m a sophomore!  WOO HOO!!  Since I have so much experience under my belt now, (as I roll my eyes sarcastically), I would like to throw out a few things that I have learned in this past year.  Here are ten easy tips that can help all of you upcoming students survive YOUR first year at Embry-Riddle.

Tip #1:  If you are living in the dorms, make sure that you or one of your future suitemates brings a vacuum, broom, dustpan, etc.  You WILL need them sooner or later (it’s your choice if it’s sooner, or later.  My advice?  Sooner.)  Listen to your mom about this stuff.  She’s right.  (And don’t think that if you’re a girl, your room won’t get dirty.  Girls’ dorms were typically just as bad or worse than the boys’ dorms.)  If you decide to ignore these essentials, bring Plan B: a gas mask and rubber gloves.  You’ll need them.  Trust me.

Tip #2:  DO YOUR HOMEWORK.  End of story.

Tip #3:  Chartwell’s is delicious the first week.  Don’t be fooled.  As soon as all the parents leave, you’ll be going to Fry’s to get Ramen and Easy Mac because you’ll get sick of the same thing every day.

Tip #4:  Go do something fun every once in a while.  Hike the Dell’s, go check out downtown Prescott, see a movie, go out to eat with your suitemates; do something fun to help you get adjusted better.  The more you get to know the town and your suitemates, the more comfortable you’ll be.

Tip #5:  If you’re going to burn your food, PLEASE, for the sake of everyone living in your hall, DO NOT WAIT UNTIL TWO THIRTY IN THE MORNING TO TRY TO MAKE IT!!  If you don’t know how to make Ramen or Mac and Cheese, practice now.  The rest of us, er, your hall, would really appreciate not waking up and having to go out in the snow in the wee hours of the morning due to a fire alarm set off by stupidity.

Tip #6:  Get to know the people around you.  Your neighbors down the hall, the kids in your Psychology class, your professors, everyone you possibly can.  The more people you know, the better off you’ll be in the end.  (Especially when you need help in your Psych class… you’ll always have someone to call!)

Tip #7:  Cheap toilet paper is no where as good as expensive toilet paper, but they’re much better than paper towels.  However, if you’re going to use paper towels, DO NOT FLUSH.  Bad things happen.  True story.  Don’t ask.

Tip #8:  Make sure to have a planner.  Even if you don’t write anything down, it’s fun to doodle on it when you’re bored in class!  In high school, I never ever used a planner, because my teachers always told me when the assignments were due.  Professors at ERAU expect you to be an adult and be prepared, so you’re on your own.  Having a planner makes it easy to stay on top of things and turn in assignments when they’re due.

Tip #9:  Flexi dollars disappear at the end of the semester, and don’t carry over to the next one.  Use it all!  And if you haven’t used it all and there’s a week left, splurge.  It’s finals week: you deserve it.  I didn’t know they didn’t carry over until it was finals week, so I got loads of ice cream, chips, and sandwiches just in time for my finals.  It worked!

Tip #10:  And last, but not least: this first year goes by so fast.  Some of it you’ll be miserable, some of it you’ll want to never end, but none of it will last forever.  So enjoy it while you got it!  You’ll be glad you did.