Summer '08!

Alright, so I promised new stuff. Since I take my camera everywhere with me, I thought these pictures can give a pretty good explanation as to what I've been up to this summer. I'll admit there are quite a bit of them, but who doesn't like pictures. This slideshow takes you through various days and nights at the hottub and pool, random roommate adventures, going to the temple, hanging out at Mckay's cabin, activities and campouts with my new ward at Raintree, 4th of July, Free Slurpee Day at 7-11...these are my favorites from the end of May until this past weekend. Enjoy!

I know, I know.

I'm slacking when it comes to postage. I realize this. Just hang in there, new stuff coming soon.

My Roomies, Part 1.

Roommate\rüm-māt\: one of two or more persons sharing the same room or living quarters —called also room·ie.

I wanted to dedicate a post to my amazing roommates because I haven't talked about them yet. So this one's for you guys...

When I first moved in to apartment C308 exactly 10 months ago, I had absolutely no idea what to expect, it being my first time leaving home. I will admit I was a little scared, but ready to be a little more independent. I had originally planned on moving in with my sister Monica, but rooming situations were misunderstood with the girls in her apartment. So I found my way over to a different building...

The first girl I met, Stacey Morgan, was also my first roommate.


Stacey's from Glide, Oregon. She and I got along well right away. We both loved choir and musicals and grew up in the mission field, so we could easily relate to each other. She introduced me to a lot of the good friends that I have today. Before I got there, she had already made plans to move down to the floor below us with a friend of hers, so we were only roommates for about 2 weeks. We were pretty much inseparable for the next month and a half, but we kinda drifted apart for no reason. Sad. And I haven't seen her in months.

Then there were the other three girls that moved in the same day as I did...

Meet Chelsea Baker, Miranda Aston, and Melissa Clark...all from South Jordan, Utah, all graduates of Bingham High School, and all nursing majors. You could definitely say I kinda felt like the outcast. But that didn't last long.

Chelsea runs track. That girl is freakin amazing. We referred to her as the "father" in our family because she's so muscular. :) She's almost always smiling and optimistic about everything.
Miranda is both mild and wild. She usually went to bed really early and we'd always have to be quiet because she'd get mad. But when she parties, she's crazy fun! She's really sweet and one of the most generous girls I know.
Melissa is a one of a kind girl. She's tough because she has 6 older brothers, but she's also a girly-girl. She's very spontaneous and super fun to be around. There's just about always something fun going on when Lissa's home!

This was our first night together.

And this was about 2 months later. Melissa's sister-in-law Jenny took a bunch of pictures for us. (If you want to see her professional work, go to her blog! She does an absolutely AMAZING job! imagesbyjenny.blogspot.com .)











So it was us 4 from August until December...and then Caitlin and Sariah moved in.


Caitlin is from South Carolina. She's a very easy-going, low maintenance kind of girl. And she loved to ski. She was pretty quiet though. She was the first person I shared a room with since Stacey had moved out, so by the time she came I had pretty much adjusted to having my own room. So it took a little getting used to. But she was way chill though, so I didn't mind at all.


Sariah Esperanza Medrano Echeverria (sweet name, huh?) is from El Salvador. She is an amazing cook and super cute. It's nice to have another Latina in the apartment, especially when I need help with my Spanish! She's always baking tons of dessert or cooking a huge dinner, usually for other people. She has the kindest heart. We love her dearly!

So for the first time, our apartment was full! 6 girls was kind of a lot to handle, but we got over that quickly and just had fun. It was like that for two weeks, and then Miranda and Caitlin both moved back home. So you could say we had a pretty interesting first semester!




To be continued...

So sacred.

So, I love the power of the priesthood. And I'm very grateful for my surrogate older brothers who worthily hold it. I, along with 4 of my friends, had a very powerful experience take place in my room about half an hour ago. You could feel the spirit surrounding you everywhere. It was amazing. Ladies and gentlemen, YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES YOU, AND THE CHURCH IS TRUE!

Tag, I'm It.

So I have been tagged by Monz.

Leah's Answers:

3 Things on my "To Do" List Today:
1. Go to the temple.
2. Lay outside.
3. Watch or listen to Game 6 of the NBA Finals! GOOOO CELTICS!

3 Snacks I Enjoy:
1. Harvest Cheddar Sunchips.
2. A Pink Star Smoothie from Jamba Juice.
3. Grapes.

3 Places I've Lived:
1. Chico, California.
2. Fargo, North Dakota.
3. Orem, Utah.

3 Things People Don't Know About Me:
1. So far, I'm the only person from my home ward who didn't get accepted to BYU.
2. For my senior prom, I spent over twice the amount of my dress on my shoes. (It was so worth it! Best shoes ever!)
3. I've seen my favorite movie, Frequency, about 150 times.

I tag.....Jess & Aric, Megan, and Liz.

Dee-Eh-Dee-Dee-Why.

It's Father's Day. And I love my dad. Figured it was a good time to post! I wish I had access to all the good classic pictures of my dad from back in the day. But I only have a few, so we'll have to improvise.

So I know that everyone thinks this, but my dad seriously is THE BEST. For one thing, I get my astonishing good looks from him. :) (I know you're all thinking no way man, she looks like her mom. Well the truth is that I get the dark hair, brown eyes, and darker skin from her. When it comes to my face, I really look like the padre.) But on a more serious note, I am sooooooo grateful for everything he's done for me. I'm so glad I can look back at my life and always remember him being there. Some of my favorite early memories of him include:

• playing Barbies with my sister and I. (I really wish I had that picture!)
• taking me to the TV station when he had to work on the weekends. I loved sitting at his desk, spinning around in his cool chair, and getting to be on set watching while he did the news. I loved hanging out with the news crew, they all were so nice to me.
• the clever way he'd get me to wash the dishes. There's a Disney Sing-a-long video I was obsessed with called "Fun with Music". When we'd wash the dishes together, he'd sing, "Fun with dishes, fun with dishes, doing dishes is fuuuuuuuun"....

He was at every major and not so major event in my life. My baptism, basketball and volleyball games, DARE graduation, all the daddy-daughter dates, just about every concert/parade/talent show/recital I ever played piano, drums, or sang at for the past 14 years, teaching me how to parallel park and being so excited for me when I finally passed my driver's test (I failed it the first time), helping set me apart when I had callings in the Beehive, Mia Maid, and Laurel presidencies, when I went to my first prom as a sophomore I flew to Washington to go with my friend Paul and Dad came with so I wouldn't have to be on the airplane by myself, being there when I received my Young Womanhood Recognition and completed the Personal Progress Program, seminary graduation, high school graduation, always doing my taxes for me, helping me fill out my FAFSA and completing other financial aid forms, driving me out to Utah and helping move me in to my first apartment, and I can't wait for him to be there for all the other future events that are to come in my lifetime.

Right before I went off to my Senior prom.

High school graduation.

He introduced me to the Beatles, who have been a part of my life since the moment I was born, and still are today. I will forever be in debt to my dad for this, because this later got me to have an absolutely HUGE love of music. Music is probably the biggest part of my life (besides the gospel, of course), and I've had amazing opportunities because of it and was able to learn the importance of sharing my talents. I've won many awards throughout the years at various competitions and have gotten to play and sing in some really fantastic places, none of which would have been possible without the introduction he gave me to music (and the Beatles).

Some of my favorite Beatles memorabilia...

He's taught me many things (most of which are obviously a combined effort with my mother): the value of a dollar and how to work hard, all about guys and how their minds work (something I still don't understand completely), how to love unconditionally, being willing to serve, how to righteously fufill callings, to have a love of the gospel, my Heavenly Father, the scriptures, etc., and that I can always find room to increase my knowledge of those things, and how to find the qualities that I want in a future husband.

I am so thankful for the example he is to me, my family, and others. I'm thankful I had the opportunity to be brought up in a home where my father holds the priesthood honorably. I'm thankful there's always going to be at least one man in my life that will always think I'm beautiful.
One thing is for sure.....


HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Adlfkjagoihjgha. (If you looked inside my brain at the moment, you'd see something similar.)

I have a lot of feelings in my heart right now, and I need to spill somewhere. I won't be able to sleep tonight if I don't. I really don't know exactly who will read this, but spilling some of my guts on the internet is a risk I'm going to have to take because I have to get this off my chest ASAP, and everyone in my apartment is asleep (which is definitely something I should be doing since I have to get up for work in about 5 hours).

I am in "deep like" with someone. It wasn't immediate, but these feelings came a few weeks after I met him. I've known him for about 5-ish months. In those past 5-ish months, I haven't wanted to go on dates with anyone because I just sit there wishing it were him. Don't get me wrong, on the date I'm still myself...outgoing, polite, fun...but really, I say yes because I have no reason to say no, other than the few lines mentioned above. And they got the courage up to ask me, why deny them of that. But this past year, I've been on enough dates with enough different people that I know what I want.

My cousin Jessica wrote me a short little book called "To Leah, with love...your guide to surviving college and enjoying it." Of course, one of the chapters is advice on boys. There's a section in it called "You know you have a keeper when..." and these are the criteria:

1. He is open and honest with you and others.
2. He honors his priesthood and fulfills his church responsibilities.
3. You feel the spirit around him.
4. He makes you want to be a better person.
5. He is respectful of you and your standards.
6. You feel comfortable telling him anything.
7. He compliments you in every way.
8. You feel like you are the most wonderful and beautiful person when you are with him.
9. He puts your needs and comforts above his own.
10. You never question his testimony, he lives it all day, everyday.

Every single one of those things are true with him. (With the exception of number 9...I haven't really been put in a situation with him yet where that is necessary, but the good part is that if the occasion does arise, I know with all of my heart that that's what he would do.) When I pray about it, I get nothing but warm and comforting feelings. And you can't really argue with the man upstairs. So even if there's no future, he had to have been placed in my life for a purpose. I have faith in that statement 100%. And I know this isn't just a passing crush...I've been in love once before, so I know all the signs. This could definitely eventually lead to that.

But here's problem numero uno. He either 1) has picked up on my feelings and doesn't feel the same, 2) has picked up on my feelings, does feel the same way, but lacks the courage to do anything about it, 3) has no idea, because he's a guy, but feels the same way and lacks the courage to do something about it, or 4) has no idea, but even if/when he finds out, the feelings aren't mutual. So I've got a 50/50 chance. Other things to take into consideration when reading this:

• We live in the same complex.

• We've hung out ALOT.
• We've only been on one "sort of" date. (Ask if you need further explanation as to what is considered a "sort of" date.)
• We have a lot of mutual friends.

And here's problem numero dos. In case #'s 2 or 3 in the first problem are true, I obviously should do something about it because he's lacking the courage, right? Maybe. And if #'s 1 or 4 are the case, then I should still do something so that I can know whether or not to move on. BUT I AM TERRIFIED OUT OF MY MIND. Obviously, rejection is a big fear factor. But even more so is the initial approach. I am normally very outgoing and have no problem striking a conversation with people. But the thought of asking this person on a date has made me more nervous than singing the national anthem in front of 40,000 baseball fans, like I was last summer. Yes, I get that nervous around him. And I absolutely do not want to rush into anything, I just don't know how to make it go anywhere.

But in case he is somehow reading this right now, or even if he isn't, I want him to know that I am trying my best to live my life in a way to be completely and 100 % worthy of you, and if not you, for the Lord, myself, and whoever else is in my future. And if that means that I will be miserable and alone for the rest of this earthly life, then that's okay because I'll know that I'm not settling for anything less than what I deserve. That's right, I think that highly of you to know that if things were to work out, I wouldn't be settling. I view you as a choice son of our Heavenly Father, no doubt about it.

So, any advice? Maybe I need to be a little more patient, but if I just sit back and let him get away, I know I'll hate myself for not taking that chance to find out what could've happened...