mckay week

my little mckay left for him mission this last wednesday. so of course i had to do a #mckayinstagramweek...

this is his "aub..." face that i have to go without for 2 years.

throw back to the beach where mckay first learned of sand crabs.

mckays hugs are the best and i will miss them the most.

norway better take care of my baby brother...

even though i know he is the one that will really be taking care of them.

last night.

1998-2013

i cant believe we are all grown up!

luckily some things never change.

i love you so much mckay!

and guess what. I barely even cried when we dropped him off.... until that night when I realized when I went home he wouldn't be there. Then the tears flowed.

we have already received our first letter from him and he is doing FABULOUS. loves being a missionary. though we all knew he would!

all 5

last week i set up my own little studio.

in my garage.

and it worked out quite well

if i do say so myself:

he is so handsome. and i love him so much.

and today,

mom's missionary shelf was completed.

mckay leaves next week,

and in 2016,

all 5 of my brothers will have served full time

LDS missions.

what amazing examples i was lucky enough to grow up with!

seriously,

i wouldn't be who i am today with out them.

i am proud to be their only sister!!

the church is SO true.

and i thought the farewells were over.

they aren't!
everyone is going on a mission!
and it's awesome and im so happy for them:)

Leslie: Kansas

Makell: Massachusettes

Stephen: Italy

Breann: Nicaragua

wow.

i am so proud of all of them

and i am so thankful for their examples in my life!

GOOD LUCK

and my prayers are with all of you!!

a missionary

for family night we did a little

"mock missionary lesson"

where my dad and mckay acted as missionaries teaching new investigators 

(me and mom)

i was so impressed.

i'm already a member, and i have a testimony,

yet as mckay and my dad taught me

i felt the spirit so strong.

they were teaching me things i already knew

but the spirit was there to testify of it's truthfulness.

i'm so proud of him!

plus, he got me to commit to come to church on sunday ;)

PS- we FaceTimed our family for family night activity.

until mckay fell asleep.

the boy will sleep anywhere.

i'll tell you this:

another version of "in my head" to help catch up on the last week or so:


-my laptop finally had its last day. the backlight would no longer come on, and that made it extremely difficult to do anything on it. Luckily i was able to see just enough to get my documents onto a flash drive so i could use the school computers to finish finals week. but i'll tell you this: it was a pain.

-my good friend rashad has been trying to get UVU to put up a palestinian flag in their hall of flags, since they claim that there is a flag representing where every student it from... i took some photos for his for the paper.. and i'll tell you.. that's legit!!

-finals over. NAILED my exit interview of the early childhood program. praying that i passed biology. and saying goodbye to UVU.. maybe for forever.

-i have my own fix it felix! and i'll tell you this: i'm so glad i didn't have to spend a boat load of money and have someone at the store fix it. Thanks chancer:)

-my baby brother is going to NORWAY on his mission! he leaves aug. 21. and i will tell you..... how bitter sweet it is. im so proud of mckay, but im going to miss him like CRAZY.

-im so excited to teach preschool. and i'll tell you, i was so sad to say goodbye to the preschoolers of orem elementary. they sure brightened my days!

-i moved back home to sandy. who knew i had so much stuff?... and i will tell you... i'm not so happy about it. don't get me wrong, im excited to have another summer with mckay before he leaves for his mission. for real. i love him:) however... my life is kind of in orem now.
here's to long(ish) distance! whoohoo..

-may has begun which means a whole lot of birthdays around here! and ill tell you this, a candle over facetime is just as heart felt as one in person.. and speaking of candles, mom asked me to use my artistic ability... so i did. and everyone loved it.

-it was a weekend full of photography for me! and i will tell you this, photographing weddings and couples are probably my favorite thing! a little nerve wracking for my first wedding shoot, but i feel like it was successful. and i was so lucky to have my cousin nicole there to help me, since she actually acted like she knew what she was doing.. haha great first experience! and a thanks to steph and steve who did a couples shoot for me.. what a darling couple!

-i've been home for about a week now. and i will tell you: im bored. mckay is at school all day. i haven't started my job yet. (oh yeah, did i mention i got a job at a preschool?! YES!!!) all my friends are on missions... or at school. that leaves one pretty lonely aub. :(

-and for random's sake: maybe im not completely sure who i will marry one day, but i will tell you.... i am STOKED to get married. like way excited. like i kinda wish i could just fast forward...

then again. life is good now. so i'll wait for my time. :)

mace face

i remember when i moved back into village in the fall.
and when i got my key there was a blonde girl in the office getting hers too.
i heard she was in G1170. So was i.
she left to the apartment, and i did shortly after.

i remember introducing myself, and she introduced herself.
i thought she seemed a bit shy.
but i knew i wanted to be her friend.

as days passed i felt like i saw her coming out of her shell a little bit.
and soon we became very comfortable with each other.
we could talk, laugh, and best of all, make snooty comments to each other
knowing we were just teasing. haha she kills me.

maybe we didn't hang out every weekend, or stay up late every night together,
but macy became one of my really really good friends!
when the missionary age change came out, Macy was one of the first people i know
that decided she was going to go on a mission for sure.
I so admired her for that.
though it made me sad, because she moved out just before christmas.
and then coming back to village after christmas break
i seriously noticed her absence. (her and annie too! :( )
and me and my other roommates would constantly say
"i miss macy."

but every so often i would text macy
or she would text me.
and i seriously love those conversations.
they always crack me up!
always lots of "Why don't people just think like me?!"
and
"how could anyone love me?"
hahaha..

I'm so glad to call macy such a good friend!
she had an amazing farewell talk, and i know she will be an amazing missionary!

LOVE YOU MACY!!

another catch up post via iphone

A),B),C), & D) St. George the weekend before spring break! Now, THAT was nice! Even if it wasn't super warm... it was still nice to get away with friends without a worry of homework!!

E) facetiming with that monkey!

F) hahahahahaha she cracks me up

G) Jam sesh with landon. He's like..really good. And i have to write chords on napkins to keep up.

H) Adventure day. Time to break out the shades.

I) pretty sure it hit 70 degrees. if you didn't go outside... i feel sorry for you.

J) FIRST engagement shoot! i am pleased:)

K) that sneaky little leprechaun left evidence in our preschool!

L) It looks as good as it tasted, too.

M) Outdoor concert in march! that means summer starts like... tomorrow, right?

N) first missionary photoshoot for one of my good friends, Macy. I just adore her and she is going to rock that mission field! and the pictures turned out awesome!

O) i'm coffee! and shes creaaaaam! Sister berg is going to be an amazing missionary out in australia. i'm super jealous actually. Love her so much!

P) despite that i could have done some homework, and i had to get up at 6 am the next morning, Brian and Jamo invited me and annie to the jazz game with them, and we felt like we couldn't pass that up. and we learned that if we had, we would have regretted it. Thanks guys!!

so yeah.

life is good.

i'm just lazy at consistent documenting...

but you know what?

summer is right around the corner,

and i'd like to think i will have a lot more time!!

one. whole. year.

ONE. YEAR. AGO. TODAY.

it was the last time i saw my very best friend,

addison kyle walter,

before he left for Canada to serve the Lord and the people there.

ONE YEAR!

are you serious?!

(this was the last picture we took together.

it was about a week before he left, and we went to the temple together.

i was too busy being sad that he was leaving to even take a pic of us at his farewell haha)

i'm so proud of him.

he is doing the most amazing things,

and being so blessed for it.

I'm so blessed to have an amazing best friend and example.

only one more year.

that's nothin!

miss you every day add!!

im thankful

i can definitely start by stating

i was thankful for this break!

no school.

no work.

just family and food.

just like i like it.

one of my favorite 

thanksgiving traditions

is writing what i am thankful for

on grandma's special thanksgiving table cloth.

it's so fun to go back and look at what i have written

and what everyone else has written in the past.

there is everything on there from the obvious family, friends, and the church

to the score of the BYU-UTAH game that year.

hahaha it really is awesome.

this year for the tablecloth

i decided to write what was especially on my thankful list this year.

missionaries.

EVERYONE IS ON A MISSION OR GOING ON A MISSION!

it's awesome, really!

all my guy friends are on missions.

tons of my girlfriends are going on missions.

but there are some specific missionaries i have in mind.

first:

my best friend.

addison kyle walter.

ohhhhh do i miss that guy!

he is just tearin it up out there!

and it's almost been a year since he has been gone.

WHAT?

oh my heck...

i'm so thankful for him.

he is in a different country,

but he is still my best friend.

the days i get letters from him are especially good days!

he always has something to say that makes me want to be a better person,

and his positivity is so encouraging.

i'm so thankful for his example and friendship.

next:

my best cousins.

isaac and scooter.

of course i love all my cousins.

all of them.

i do.

but it's a little different

because we have literally grown up together.

isaac born in march

me and scooter born in may, 2 days apart.

so of course we are so close.

how could you not be?

family gatherings at least once a month at grandmas.

doing everything together from playing pokemon

to sitting up in the 'green room' just talking.

and laughing.

ALWAYS lots of laughing.

and that is my favorite.

i can always count on them to laugh at my stories

and jokes.

and they aren't just courtesy laughs.

they are real.

hahahaha... 

i miss it..

family gatherings,

though they are still the best and i LOVE THEM,

just aren't quite the same without them!

they complete me... haha

as much as i miss them though,

i'm so proud of them for serving missions!

Mexico and Ukraine are lucky to have them.

I love reading their e-mails

and knowing they are growing and learning so much.

and i already can't for them to get home

and tell me all their stories.

ahh...

i'm so thankful we are so close!

they are some of my best friends in the world.

(if you haven't noticed from previous blog posts)

after stuffing ourselves,

and having a little bit of digest time

we moved on to one of the most anticipated moments of the whole year...

THANKS GIVING BINGO!!!!

....

you think i'm kidding.

seriously, everyone looks forward to it.

though we did suffer without uncle jeffs funny way of calling out the cards...

"Give many many many t'anks...."

"Indian chipowa with the solo feather!"

"It's a goooood ship lollipop!"

"the pray as he may little boy!"

ahh... that doesn't even do it justice.

we sure missed him.

and everyone gets bingo on the same round...

and we all race to see who can get the best prize,

usually from the dollar store...

some jazz tickets were there this year though!

haha it's just a hoot.

plus those pumpkin candies that we use as markers

are like 10 years old.

ha!

and to end the feasting with pie.

what a meal...

AND

OF COURSE

TO END THE NIGHT!!!!

GRINCH TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mom said 

"come here cheermeister!"

and gave me some new pjs...

hehehe i like this tradition.

me and chad were the only ones to last the whole movie.

I LOVE IT.

any thanksgiving spent with family

is a successful one!

PS

i thought grandma forgot the yams.

apparently im the only one who likes the yams.

i like them best sliced with marshmallows on top.

but i like them in any way.

so i had a space on my plate and said to my dad

"something is missing..."

i looked around...

"the yams..."

grandma heard me.... shoot.

"is there something missing aubrey?"

"oh no grandma! everything looks great! thank you!"

"......OH! I FORGOT!"

(phew she remembered...)

"The cranberry salad!"

...."yeah grandma! that's it!"

hahaha...

then 15 minutes later..

"Oh! the yams!"

after i had stuffed myself...

but you bet i made room.

and i'm the only one that did.

haha 

i'm thankful that the yams made it to the table.

ill just have you know this

homework.
every night this past week.
that never happens.

so that is what i blame for not updating....

so.
ill just have you know a few things.

-a real goodbye with edward was hard. but im so proud of him.

-sammys pumpkin pie shake is ridiculously good. ridiculously.

-breaking dawn part 2 pre-premier. that's right. annie won tickets. we can't believe it either.
 if this weren't the last movie, we'd make it a tradition... i liked it. and i have no shame.
 (and yes, 4 days apart was much too long for us)

-traverse mountain outlets opening event. christmas and fireworks= my two favorite holidays in one.
 doesn't get much better than that. except for maybe 3$ fuzzy socks.

-disney on ice with my best friends is a new favorite tradition. they are too good to me. and it was so
  magical.

-i still like vocal point even though tanner is not in it anymore. i still love them actually.
 i also love these 2 a lot.

- i would take a puppy over a boyfriend any day. i love this little guy!

now.

only 2 days of school and work this week.

then BRING ON THANKSGIVING BREAK!!!!