family+friends+food+football = :)

This week ended up being superb. Yesterday was my 19th birthday, and I feel so privileged to have such an incredible family and friends.

On Wednesday my dad carried on a tradition of taking the son/daughter having a birthday out somewhere the night before their birthday. He traveled down to Provo that night and picked me up from my dorm. We were going to go to Olive Garden since I was craving Italian food, but then he said, "Why don't we get real Italian food? We googled restaurants in the area that are not chain-linked, and found one that received good reviews. We ended up going to a small, but fantastic restaurant named La Dolce Vita owned by a family that had lived in Napoli for a while. It was at the very end of a small road so not many people know about it. Mama mia the food was spectacular! I was able to try minestrone soup, cannellone (very much like a rolled up lasagna,and the noodles were homemade), and Italian soda (who knows if it really exists in Italy, but it was sooo good!) My dad and I felt as if we ate an elephant by the end of the night. 

Peach Italian Soda

My birthday was incredible on Thursday. In between my classes, my mom decided to drive down to Provo to take me to my absolute favorite restaurant-Tucanos!! We enjoyed a delicious salad bar and unlimited meat. Oh, and you know that humiliating feeling you get when the servers come up to you with instruments while they sing? Yep that happened. They came right up to our table playing bongos and singing loudly, and handed me a tambourine to shake. At least when it's your birthday they give you a dessert.

Once again, I was as full as ever, but I love my parents so much. It was very thoughtful of them to come down to Provo to wish me a happy birthday and take me out for a treat :) When I came home after some study time, girls from my ward were there to wish me a happy birthday with a  few treats. And after I came home from my 7 o clock class later that night, my fhe family was there making cards and had a chocolate cake that we all enjoyed. I know I just talked a lot about food, but nobody can argue that food is just so good! But it really was such an incredible birthday and I cannot even express my gratitude enough for such wonderful friends and family around.

As for tonight, BYU won against Utah State, and we were able to storm the field after. This weekend I am headed back to my good hometown to watch General Conference, which will most likely turn into another blog post on here. It's been grand and that's all for now :) 

Homecoming, 18, and Robotisa

     I figured I might as well start a new post since I haven't in a while. Anyways, homecoming was amazing!!! I definitely had a great time and such nice, fun date. We first met up with others in our group and played miniature golf. It's the best when you don't even take miniature golf seriously and just try to have fun :) We then got slurpees, and you definitely can't go wrong with them! :) Later on we met up with the rest of our group (17 couples) and had a lovely dinner at a golf course nearby. The dance was so much fun, and I was able to wear my grandma's dress that was sixty years old!! I absolutely loved it, and can you believe it fit perfectly?? After the dance we headed over to a gymnastics place where we all wore ourselves out by jumping on the bouncy floor, climbing ropes, doing cartwheels, watching the boys wrestle, diving into a foam pit, and much more. It was defintitely a great day!!


     And for this week, I was able to enjoy turning eighteen (can you believe it?) on Wednesday. Yes, it is a little weird to think that I am now 18. I am so grateful for such good friends and family members who helped make it a great one. I was able to hop around and get free food from some of the best places in Salt Lake City, such as Iceburg and Smokey Mountain Pizza. My mom made such a delicious cake that tasted like a chocolate cake from costco, and we enjoyed a small family party. It was a good birthday :)



Blowing out 18 candles :)


     And finally, I had to take a robot baby home with me for my child development class just for this weekend. I really wasn't sure what to name her, so I came up with the name Robotisa :) It has definitely been a challenge because she cries all the time. Very very loudly. And on top of that, I admit that I was very stupid enough to go to the football game last night, where I lost the baby's diaper. So now when she needs a diaper change, I can't do anything and am just getting points docked. I sure hope I will be able to laugh at this whole situtation with Robotisa later on, because right now I am not enjoying it. I came home last night, and was so thrilled to see my cousin Kara at the door because she loves this stuff!!! Luckily she has been able to help me out a little bit with Robotisa. Unfortunately, we both have a strong feeling that Robotisa will have to come home with me for another weekend so I can get a better grade.