"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we dont have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have."
-Frederick Koenig
I am so thankful for all of you...my friends and family. I hope that everyone has a cozy and yummy Thanksgiving filled with love and laughter. I love this time of year!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Oh...this is so true. Lately I've really come to realize that school is so much more a rite of passage than anything else. Especially graduate school. They increase the tuition? For what? It's the same professors and the same building. It's so lame. Don't get me wrong, I've learned an INCREDIBLE amount while in school, but so many people depend on a "college" education to learn rather than viewing their entire life as a chance to be educated about everything. I've been a little melancholic thinking about school being over. I feel like the Architecture building and all of the students are a second home. I'll miss it, but it's always nice to know that the learning never stops :)
This photo is a flashback to my trip to Germany in 2007...one of the greatest learning experiences of my life!
It was a great experience and I was glad to be a part of it!
Something to get to know him by: Wow, what can I say...you just have to get to know Brandon to know how great he is. One story that comes to mind is when we went canyoneering a few years ago, and Brandon wasn't feeling very well that morning but then said he was feeling better. We decided to go anyway with Tamara and Dave and it was extremely tiring...a few times in the canyon, we would all be holding ourselves 20 feet or so in the air in a narrow crack and if we let go...well, it wouldn't be good. It was a great adventure which was scary at times, but the whole time, I never felt unsafe or worried because I knew that Dave and Brandon wouldn't let anything happen to Tamara and I. There were a few scares in the canyon but the boys were there every step of the way making sure that we were safe. It took a lot longer than we expected to hike out of the canyon and back to the car, and by the time we made it there, it was dark and we were all SO EXHAUSTED. It wasn't until the end of the hike that Brandon told me that he had the flu and hadn't felt well the entire hike. He had a fever and everything...poor Brandon. He didn't want anyone to worry so he kept it to himself the whole time and pushed through the tiring descent. We were all so sore and tired. (well, except Dave, he has like abnormal adrenaline or something.) I don't think I could walk normal for about a week afterwards! We started driving home and we were all making up our minds to call into work the next day because we just didn't have the energy to go home the next day. We were all fine with telling a little white lie to get out of the next day's work, but Brandon refused to and decided to make the trek home to fulfill his responsibilities at work. I don't know if I ever told him, but I was so impressed that day. He showed his true character and proved that he is truly an ethical person who always puts those around him first and always wants to do the right thing.
Our favorite things to do: We love anything outdoors. We love to go fishing, hiking, camping, four wheeling, etc. This past summer we went hiking probably every weekend and it was so much fun! There's nothing like a challenging and tiring hike and then being rewarded at the end with the fantastic views of the beautiful Utah Mounains. We love to travel. We enjoy cooking a gourmet meal together and enjoying it with a good bottle of wine. We love to hang out at home in our pajamas watching a movie when it's cold outside. We enjoy taking Chica out to the dog park or on walks. Um...there are other things that we enjoy but I won't go into that...heehee!
What I Love About Her: Once again, we can totally be ourselves around each other...this is what really makes a true friendship don't you think? When I think back to all of our memories, it's almost difficult to pinpoint one...I remember laughing. A lot. There was a lot of laughing. In class. When we're not supposed to.
I love how close we were growing up. We were so close that I swear our minds were on some kind of third dimension where we are partly psychic but only with each other...like we would show up to school ALL THE TIME wearing the same outfit. It was so weird. Also, I had a dream that she was pregnant before I even heard about it! Weird. We went camping once with her family and her mom said that in the middle of the night, we were fighting over a nintendo game in our sleep...so we were like sleep dreaming/talking together. Hmm....I wonder if she's reading my mind right now...are you Angela? Heehaw.
Something to get to know her by: Well, there are endless stories that I could tell. I'll tell one of my favorite stories.
Angela and I are probably about 16 and she's driving us to Hollywood Video in Riverton. We pull into the parking lot of Petersons and are slowly driving towards the parking lot when I sort of glance up above my head and out of the corner of my eye I see a really dark thing on the ceiling of the car. Immediately, my mind thinks "spider...about to fall on my head...get out..." and without thinking I start screaming about a spider about to fall on my head and I leap out of my seat and lay across Angela's lap (who is still trying to drive). Hearing my screams and something about a spider, Angela also starts to scream as we drive into the Hollywood Video parking lot. As we are both trying to get as far as possible from the spider on the ceiling on my side, we are both smashed up against the driver's side window...Angela's face was completely against the glass screaming and I'm pretty much on her lap trying to unbuckle my seatbelt. She finally pulls into the handicapped parking stalls at an angle where she puts the car in park and opens up her door...she has one of those cars that have an automatic seatbelt so as we both try to pile out of open door, the seatbelt slides forward and as we fall out (still screaming hysterically) we become completely entangled in each other and in the seatbelt. A lady walks by and is very concerned when she asks us if we're okay. As we finally begin to compose ourselves as we are laying on the asphalt by the car that is now taking up two handicapped spots, I look inside the car and discover that the "spider" is just a stain on the ceiling. We laughed even longer now that we knew we were screaming about nothing and people just passed by us wondering what on earth we were doing laying in the parking lot laughing.
Let me just say, I think that is one of the best laughs of my life!
Now Angela lives in New Mexico so we don't see each other that often, but she is a great friend and person! She has the two most adorable boys ever!
I miss you Angela!
How we Met: Mike and I met during our first year of Architecture school but didn't really become good friends until last year when we went to New Orleans for one of our studios. Now we are like BFF along with Brittany and Dallas...who I will highlight in a future post. We both won the New Orleans competition and travelled back to N.O. a second time which was a blast...I would've been totally bored out of my mind if we didn't have each other on that trip!
Germany 2007
New York 2006
