School, football, and cinnamon rolls

Well it has definitely been a while since I've updated! School has started and life is pretty crazy. But I quit my job last week and life has been wonderful since then! I am loving school so much! I have so much fun with the other 13 girls in my program and we're all doing so well in clinic and everything. We're learning so much and getting better every day.

One thing that has helped me destress this semester has been cooking. I've tried all sorts of new things and it's so much fun! The most recent: cinnamon rolls (yes, I've never made cinnamon rolls in my life!). I made them with Amanda last Sunday and they turned out pretty good. The first one we used so much butter when we rolled them up and it was so soupy! So the second one we cut back on the butter and they looked way better.... but you can guess which one tasted better :)

Another exciting thing about Fall Semester starting is BYU football!!!!! For the first game, against Oklahoma, we had a huge BBQ and watched the game at a friend's house and we went crazy! Go Cougs! PLEASE don't choke any more!!!

Here's a 7 layer dip we made for the game! Count the # of "players" It's legit!

Here's a video of our victory celebration!!

Continuing the Summer Fun!

One of my friend's who is in the BYU sailing club took a few of us out on one of the BYU sail boats! It was so much fun! I had never been out on Provo Lake and I didn't know it was only like 10 feet deep! Sailing was so much fun and I can't wait to go out again!

Salt Lake Real soccer game vs. Toronto. It was an amazing game and such a fun atmosphere! I just love soccer! I've been to a few BYU soccer games too and they are pretty intense! So much fun! This is a legit picture- not taken from online or anything! So pretty! Rio Tinto stadium is awesome!

My friends and I went to the Manti Temple Pageant and we had a really fun time. The pageant was pretty funny- the sound track was easily 40 years old and totally cheesy! After the show we went to a friend's cabin and we kept quoting our favorite parts of the show. It was so funny! The Manti Temple is so pretty! It looks just like a castle on top of a hill.

4th of July weekend was probably one of the most fun weekends I've ever had! On the 3rd, a group of us went to a rodeo! I just love rodeos! And I especially love the small town ones because they are just so much fun chillin' with all the locals! We had a good time there! My roommate, Laura, and I got a picture with the rodeo clown! He was, of course, so funny!

We got home from the rodeo around midnight and we were driving down University Ave and there were thousands of people out on the side of the street camping out for the parade that started at 9AM the next morning! I couldn't believe how many people (including families with little kids) were out there partying at midnight! We drove home and Laura and I rode our bikes down there and joined in the festivities until 2:30AM. There were dance parties and food places and little shops were still open and it was just so fun! The next morning, Laura and I, once again, rode our bikes down to University Ave for the parade which was so much fun!
At work on the 3rd, I won tickets to see the Stadium of Fire!!!! One more time, thank you APX!! They weren't the best seats but it was seriously such a fun show! There were dancers out on the field and they were cool and the Jonas Bros performed! I couldn't believe how many teenage girls were there screaming their heads off! It was crazy! The firework show was the best! It was so cool!

Now I've got about 1 more month to party before school starts again! I can't wait to see what happens next!

June fun!! What haven't I done?!

Ok I feel like I need to do some serious catching up! This last month has been one of the funnest months ever! (And it's not even the end of the month yet!) So I'll just list some of the fun things I've done during June:
I went with a couple people in my ward and hiked to the Mt. Timpanogos Caves and took a tour of the caves. It was so cool!! It was a pretty hard hike up there but I would still recommend it to anyone!

Two awesome FHE activities: fingerpainting murals in the parking lot and a sweet wiffleball game at a park!
We had an "American Idol" competition at work to win two tickets to a Kelly Clarkson concert. There were about 6 of us and we had to pick one of her songs to perform for the rest of our department. It was totally embarrassing but really fun! Blake one the tickets and he knew I really wanted to go so he took me! He didn't bring a sweatshirt so he had to wear one of mine... it didn't really fit him very well! haha. My friend Ceci was there too and it was fun partying with her!! Kelly Clarkson was sooooo amazing! She is so good live! Thank you APX for the free tickets and thanks Blake for being an awesome performer and winning the tickets!My sister Debbie came into town to run the Wasatch Back Ragnar Race. She was on a team with our brother and his wife and a bunch of other family. They did awesome! They got 84th out of 700 teams!! That's so awesome! Since Debbie was in town, we decided to make it into a long weekend and go up to the cabin with Dave and his family. I love having Debbie here! It's so much fun hanging out with her and laughing and doing crazy stuff. When I picked her up from the airport, the first thing we did was go to Cafe Rio! She was craving it so bad because there aren't any out in the east. I love how excited she looks in the picture! The cabin has been so much fun! Debbie and I were up here alone for a day and it was so fun relaxing and hanging out together. Dave and Becky and their kids got here and it has been non-stop partying ever since! It's pretty cold up here right now but that didn't stop us from 4-wheeling!!

Blast from the past!

This is a poem I wrote in Kindergarten at good old Alicia Reyes Elementary School.

"I Used to Be"

I used to be scared of the dark
But now I'm not.
I used to be wacko
But now I'm not.
I used to play dogs
But now I don't.
I used to be a prom queen for Halloween
But now I'm a waitress on roller blades.
I used to be annoying
But now I'm not.
I used to be stupid
But now I'm not.


Are you kidding me?! I can't stop laughing every time I read this! What was I thinking?!! Haha!

Ok here's a little note I wrote to my brother, Jon, when I embarrassed him or something. I don't remember what happened, but here's the note I had to write to him. Take note of the spelling:

Dear Jon I am sary that I inbarist you wan yor frands were here. I'm sary that I didient go to bed. I'm sary that I was bing bade.
Love,
Julie


Ok last one. This is a note that I wrote to my parents. I'm not sure why I wrote it but here it is. Note the spelling once again:

Dear MoM & DaD you have bene gude parince & you hlpe Debbie & me to solve prabloms
Love
Julie

I can't get enought of the cabin!!

When I went to visit my parents a few weeks ago, my mom said, "Julie, you should take friends up to the cabin for Memorial Day Weekend!" You should, not you can! I'll always take up that offer! So I took a bunch of friends up to the cabin and it was such an awesome weekend!! There were 11 of us and it was a great group. We went 4wheeling a lot and it was so fun becuase it was really muddy up there so we got really dirty! Of course all the boys loved that! We saw the Mt. Everest IMAX movie on Saturday night which was really fun. After church on Sunday, we went into Yellowstone and saw Old Faithful and all the other classic stops. It was such a fun trip!! I love taking people up there! Thanks Mom and Dad!!!!
Of course I took everyone to Big Springs to feed the fish. There was one fish there bigger than any fish I've ever seen up there at Big Springs. We named it "Big Mama." We canoed down the river from Big Springs and we had a fun time. It started sprinkling and I thought it might start pouring down on us so we made it home really fast. Luckily the didn't dump on us! I rode in a canoe with Paul and Brian who are my hometeachers! Love those guys!

Haha! I convinced some of the guys to jump off the bridge and it was in no way warm outside! Suckers! No it was fine- they liked it still.

And of course- there was a lot of sleeping happening the whole weekend. The boys got tuckered out from 4wheeling.

On our way home, I got pulled over and I was so scared becuase I've never gotten pulled over on the freeway before. The cop said I was following the car in front of me too close (sorry Mom!!!) Luckily I only got a warning. I can't remember a time when my heart was beating that hard or fast! The funniest part- the other two cars in our group were driving behind me so they totally saw me pulled over- they both called me a few minutes later to get the story! So funny! I tell you- Idaho cops have it out for California drivers!

What a Party! I'm so glad I work for APX!

Today was the big APX opening party and boy was it BIG!! APX sure knows how to throw an awesome party!! The DJ was awesome, the food was awesome, and there were so many fun activities to do. They had a basketball and dodge ball tournament and I played in the volleyball tournament- made it to the semifinals! Go Processing department! They also had tons of bounce houses and blow up toys! When we first got to the party, we got a shirt and a raffle ticket. They were giving out tons of hats and backpacks. I won a skateboard! It's pretty cool looking! I was standing in line to get the raffle tickets with Blake Savage (I sit next to him at work) and we told each other that if either of us won the helicopter ride we would take the other person (if you win you could take 2 other friends). Well Blake won and so he took me and his sister-in-law up for the ride. It was so much fun being in the helicopter! What a fun new way to see Provo and up Provo Canyon! Thanks Blake and THANK YOU APX for making this a day to remember! APX does it right!!

The 8th Wonder of the World! Or just of Seattle!

After my finals were over, I was so happy to get away from Provo for a week! I went up to Seattle to visit my parents who are there serving a mission for our church. I haven't seen them since I put them into the MTC the beginning of January. We did so much fun stuff together! We went to Snoqualmie Falls and to Pike's market (I think that's what it's called!). We saw the movie "Earth" which was awesome! We went to a restaurant and had awesome stake dinners! My favorite thing we did was go to the tulip festival! It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen! The tulips were so gorgeous! I've never seen so many different colors of flowers! Enjoy it for yourself! Though pictures won't do it justice!

In the middle of the week, I met up with Angelita and we drove down to Portland to Ryan and Angie's wedding! We had such a fun time down there- beautiful weather, beautiful temple, beautiful reception, beautiful bride and groom! This picture is of Angelita and I at the Portlant Temple waiting for Ryan and Angie to come out. Note to self: Get married in May!!

I stayed at Angelita's house one night and in the morning we went on a hike to the beach. This is what we saw! Happy "First Day of Boat Season!" Poor guys!

Dental Hygiene Goodness!

One of my favirite classes this semester was my Community Dental Health class. Every Monday, we would go out into the community and do some kind of service related to dental hygiene. As a class, we went to a bunch of elementary schools and taught the kids about brushing and flossing their teeth and eating foods that will make their teeth "happy"!!! We also went to a couple nursing homes and cleaned the patients' teeth/dentures- that's an experience if there ever was one! haha! My favorite place we went to was a school for handicapped kids. They were the cutest, happiest, and most grateful kids ever! They laughed at all our jokes, loved our puppet show and loved when we taught them how to brush their teeth. I especially loved the kid in the pictures. He was so happy and loved having us there. He kept telling me "Good job!!" and clapping for us. He was so cute! I am so happy I have picked a profession where I can serve and make a difference in my community!

Spring Break Trip: DC and NYC

I went to DC a few weeks ago for my spring break to visit my wonderful sister, Debbie!! When I was there, we packed in every day to the fullest! In DC, we visited the Supreme Court, Library of Congress, Capitol Building, Smithsonian museums, Jefferson Monument, Washington Monument, and some great places to eat!! Wel also went shopping at H&M which is my favorite store so I was in heaven!! We took a 1 1/2 day trip to New York and that was such an adventure and so much fun!! We rode the Chinatown bus up there and that was a fun experience! Ben, Debbie's significant other, suggested a bunch of different places to go eat and we just loved that!! When we first got to NY, we went to a hummos restaurant and I was in heaven! It reminded me of Jerusalem and made me miss it!! Then we went to a bakery and got a $4 cookie... we thought that was so expensive until we took a bite of the huge cookie and it was the most delicious thing I've ever tasted!! In NY we also went to the MET(for 5 hours!!), the LDS Temple, and saw the Broadway play, Marry Poppins! It was such a fun trip and I was so happy to spend time with my sissy!!

I finally have some free time- how about some reading?

The semester is finally starting to wind down and I'm getting many of my projects done! Yesterday, Emily and I went to a nursing home to do a presentation for the CNAs and it went awesome! I was really nervous- I'm not the best public speaker! But I think I pulled through and did quite well. I can't say enough how happy I am to have that over! Now we have to write a paper and we'll be done with that!
My sister, Debbie, did the best thing and got all of the Fife girls to start their own book club! This was so good for me because since I'm in school, all I read is textbooks and I'm getting sick of it!! It's nice to read something just for enjoyment! Debbie picked the first book, "For One More Day" by Mitch Albom. It was a great book about a son's relationship with his mother. It's a book that really makes you think about your own relationship with your mother. Great book!

For the last few weeks I've been reading a book that was actually written in good old Merced, California- "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" by Anne Fadiman. It is such a fabulous book! I have learned so much about the Hmong culture and has really helped me to appreciate how diverse our country is. The book is about a very young Hmong girl who has Epilepsy and the clash between traditional Hmong healing and Western medicine. It also gives a wonderful history of the Hmong people in Asia. It's a fabulous book and I would recommend it to everyone! My pick for the Fife girl's book club for April: "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd. Hope it's a good one!

Finally an Update!

So I know it has been such a long time since I've written on my blog, and I still somewhat agree that blogs are mostly for married people, but I thought I'd give it a try again so people can see what I'm up to in my oh so interesting life.

I started dental hygiene school and I am totally in LOVE with it!! I love going to school and I'm always so excited at the end of the day! I've cleaned about 10 people's teeth so far and it has been quite the fun experience.

Here's an update on what I've been up to the last 5 months since I got back from Jerusalem (gosh I miss that place sooooo much!!):

* Started my dental hygiene at a new school

* Multiple blind dates...

* Fell while running, gashed open my knee and got 4 staples...

* Took a bunch of my friends up to my family's cabin in Idaho and had a blast

* Went to BYU football games GO COUGARS!

* Played on the Callister cousin's volleyball team!

* Got a boyfriend! woohoo

* Always looking forward to my monthly trips to Las Vegas

* Twisted my ankle for the first time in my life- don't recommend it!

* Temple Square Christmas lights

* Ugly Christmas Sweater party!

* Went home for Christmas and had so much fun! Saw tons of old friends

* Started second semester of Dental Hygiene school

* Lost the boyfriend :(

* Learning to love hockey! watching... not playing!

* Put my parents into the MTC on Jan. 5th!! So exciting!

* Sledding, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and other "snow" activities

Pretty much my life is awesome right now and I'm having so much fun!