k-town, USA

So... after 3 months, i'm finally updating... Kinda. so what have you all missed in my life?? hmm... Well, july treated me well. I had an unexpected visitor around the 10th and had so much fun seeing him. then i went to visit some of my friends from winter semester down in Kanab, UT for pioneer day.. We did fireworks, the typical tourist things as you will see in the pictures, and got my hair done by ben's mom. oh yeah, and we rode horses.. and watched the parade.. and did a lot of things.. so... all in all, i'm swallowing my pride and saying OUT LOUD... I actually really like kanab. That's about all i will allow myself to say right now, but if you'd like details on why, just ask. :) here are some fun pictures from that weekend.. My friend Jessica came with me and we had so much FUN! thanks for coming with me jess. i look forward to our next road trip. :)

Jess and I with Chris' MASSIVE pig.
Getting the horse ready for us to ride :)
We're real tourists.. taking pictures with the fake cop
K-Town, USA... represent.
At the old movie set with ben's sister Katie.Fireworks at truetts house with chris, lance, jess and katie (& Truett)

We played at the park water thing... it was fun.at the pioneer day parade.
Camie's SUPER CUTE KIDS dying in the heat of the parade!!
one thing is for sure... kanab is BEAUTIFUL
Jumping off a cliff at lake powell. (great way to finish off the weekend)
Me and little Josie at the Lake
The group of us before we left. (Truett, Me, Lance, Jess, Chris)
Me in the wall..?
I don't know how to turn it.. but this is Jess and Cami's adorable kid Zak. :)Overall... SO MUCH FUN! and i don't regret staying an extra day one bit!
Thanks everyone for a great time!

the VITAL things in life..

hey everyone.. it's me. duh. (guess i don't have to say that since it is MY blog..) Oh well, ANYWAY.
just in the last 2 seconds, i have realized how VITAL some things are in my life... this is a blog that talks about those things..

first, pictures for my blog. I don't understand who would post a blog without pictures.. It is basically against my religion to have a post without some, but sometimes you can't help it.. I'm at work right now, and we are closed for devotional, so while we are closed i decided to blog.. but guess what..? i don't have MY computer, so i can't post any fun pictures from my life recently..

Second, GREAT MUSIC. so we all know that Michael Jackson died last week, and while we're here at work, his public memorial is on EVERY major News Station EVER. :] so we're watching that.. and it's so entertaining that i can barely blog because i can't take my eyes off of it... [Good thing i learned to type without looking freshman year of high school.. (Thanks Mr. Ousley)] ANYWAY, so yeah, GREAT MUSIC is a vital thing in my life because it kinda fills in those empty moments where you think nothing can make life better.. and then an MJ song comes on, and life is good again.. ;) (same goes for Rascal Flatts, but MJ DID DIE, so we have to show a little love for his music..)

Third, Hair products. I cannot stress this enough. I tried a new one today, i'll let you know how it goes.. It smells DIVINE, but it was a gift from a girlfriend of mine and I'm too cheap to buy it so we'll see if i get hooked. but overall, Hair gel/spray/mouse/clips/bands/etc... are VITAL to the beast that is my hair..

fourth, work. As lazy as i can be sometimes, WORKING (in any way) is vital to my life.. there are times where i feel sooo satisfied with my life because I am either helping people at work, or working to make my house clean or even yardwork for the parents... although i may whine and complain, I still think that work is vital to my life.. whether i like it or not.

Well, that's all for now. oh wait.. and FOOD. FOOD is SOOOO VITAL to my life, not just for survival, but for happiness.. :]

alright, bye for now..Like i said, I'm not on MY computer, (oh yeah, AND POPSICLES!-they're the BOMB!)

Thanks for the AFRO dad! i love it!

I just wanted to share with the world some of the things that my amazingly wonderful dad has taught me... on this day that we appreciate fathers, I want to say THANK YOU to my father who has taught me so much. Thanks for everything Dad. You're the best dad i know. (quite literally) Thank you for supporting me through thick and thin, smart and stupid, smiles and tears... you're the greatest. I don't think words can quite describe how much you mean to me... so I'm going to share some of the things you've taught me in my life.. dad. I LOVE YOU and think that you're TRULY AMAZING. (good luck with the other kids) ;)

You taught me the value of an education.

You taught me the importance of having great friends.
You taught me how to party.
You taught me how to clean up after myself. :]
You taught me to appreciate good food.
You taught me to appreciate the great outdoors.
You taught me to appreciate good music..
You taught me how to smile and laugh at myself.
You taught me how to WORK really REALLY... HARD.
and BEST of all, You taught me to appreciate what matters most in life.. MY FAMILY.

OH YEAH, and P.S. DAD,
we ALL want to say, "THANKS" for the AFRO's.. :] WE LOVE THEM.

LOVE, natalie.

dear brian... love, star.

Dear Brian,
So, i've never done birthday shout-outs on my blog, but i just feel that this one is necessary.. one of my best friends had a birthday today (saturday) and I just wanted to tell him happy birthday. I forgot when it was, and then b/c he's a punk and wouldn't tell me, i had to guess. I guessed today, and lucky me.. I WAS RIGHT!!! so brian, thanks for being an amazing friend to me ALL the time! my family and I love you and hope that you had a great one. congratulations on graduating last month and good luck in the future.. Hopefully I'll see you soon. because i freaking miss your face.

love, star.

This could quite possibly be the most embarrassing picture of the two of us, but I LOVE IT.

heaven in a cup?

4 times in one week..
yup. i've eaten it 4 times in one week.. what do you ask?? yes... that's right. STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM... aka heaven in a cup. :] it being strawberry days and all, i've had the opportunity to participate in multiple fun events involving this delicious treat... first was the concert in the park with free cups of heaven... and then just yesterday i got to eat TWO more cups of heaven at the Strawberry Days Rodeo in pleasant grove... (they were free also.. it pays to know the right people) It was a fun rodeo.. My friend Spencer and I went with some other friends of ours... It was spencer's first time eating heaven out of a cup and it was my 2nd rodeo... and let me say one thing: DANG! i forgot how violently entertaining it was... I don't know if that phrase makes sense, but the violent part is the animal cruelty part.. and the entertaining part is the i don't really care about animal cruelty b/c these guys are talented... nearly deserves an OHWOAHDANG. :]

Here are some pictures from Strawberry Days Rodeo in PG...

^Chasing cows so they can milk them..

Blurry Bull Riding

motocross 1/2 time show (kinda)

spencer with his first cup of heaven (strawberries and cream) :]

He was soo excited for it.. :] Rodeos are always fun.. i'd reccomend them to anyone who likes to see ugly animals get roped up or girls in sequins riding like they're cool or something ;)

Thanks for a great time spencer, skoot, mark, bruce, and jennia.. always a pleasure guys.. :]

STRAWBERRY DAYS are the BEST kind of DAYS..

So on Tuesday night my good friend Gina sent me a text about the strawberry days in pleasant grove... the text read, "pg strawberry days anyone? they are giving out free strawberries and cream and 50's concert. around 730 at the park." So i thought... free strawberries & Cream??? for real? umm, yeah, "i'm in." so gina, her roommate sarah, and i all went to strawberry days.. It was nothing short of a GOOD TIME. It was at "verterans memorial park" (i can give you directions if you're wondering where it is.. it was an adventure just FINDING the park.)

ANYWAY, once a convieniently good looking fireman gave us directions to the park, we were off!! off to find bliss in a little thing called "strawberries and cream".. (S&C) it was absolutely DIVINE!!
This is the only picture from our adventure, but we all ate TWO cups of S&C... this is my second. I ate the whole first one before even thinking to take a picture of happiness in a cup...

After enjoying the S&C we continued to sit and enjoy the band and fun music.. apparantly it was from the 50's... i knew a lot more than i thought i would, so it could have just been 50-ish music... ahh, you never know.. (well, at least i don't)

but after that day, i've decided that STRAWBERRY DAYS are the BEST kind of DAYS... So, make today, a strawberry day.. (trust me, you won't regret it)

he even showed me his credentials...

So something kinda cool happened yesterday..(tues). My friend in my ward put me down as a reference for her background check. She is applying for a U.S. Embassy job in Russia... (super cool) The guy called me a million times before i actually picked up the phone, and when i finally did, i got out of bed and got ready so when he came to my house to meet with me (yes, they have to make house calls) he wouldn't think I just woke up.. (sad huh?) but yeah, it was a really cool experience... he even showed me his "credentials." it was sweet. this is a mini picture of what they looked like.. (the best google search could give me)

any questions?? feel free to ask.. it's kinda cool to say that i participated in a real background check.. yeah, i'm kinda a big deal ;)