Let's ride!

As you knw we live in Northwood. And if you didn't know, Northwood is GHETTO. It almost wouldn't be right and we wouldn't be true Nothwoodians if we didn't pick something up from the side of the dumpster and use it in the 3 years that we're here. So, we have finally have given in and have taken something from the dumpster. Actually, we've taken two things..

This is my bike...

And this is Jase's bike.

Jase did some handiwork on the seats and handlebars to make it so we don't hit our knees everytime we pedal. You wouldn't think it, but we actually fit the bikes pretty well, and they're somewhat comfortable. They're actually quite convienent, too. We use them to go visiting/home teaching around the neighborhood, and we've even taken them on our Sunday walks. Beside the funny looks that we get, we love riding them around!

So tired

Last night we went to the temple for the eight o'clock session. We enjoyed our time while we were there, but were so ready to get home so we could sleep. This week has been a very long one! Once we got home we went straight upstairs, brushed our teeth, and went straight to bed. Jase was so tired that he couldn't even stand up to floss his teeth. Thank goodnees today was Saturday so we could sleep in!

Help?

For some reason I can't get my postings to be spaced out evenly. Some posts are ok but then other times, no matter how many times I fix it to make the pictures and writings be spaced out evenly, it just keeps going back to whatever it wants to do. Does this make sense? Does anyone have any suggestions?

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday! I am 24 years old! I can't believe it. Where does the time go?? I don't have any real plans for my birthday, but I do have to take Jase to the airport. He's going home to good ol' North Carolina to look for practices and such with his brother. I wish I could go so badly! But I guess someone's gotta work and bring home the bacon... Since Jase is leaving today, we can't really do anything so we celebrated last night. Downtown Ann Arbor was having a summer festival so we went to check it out, but it ended up being pretty lame. We left there and walked to the Cottage Inn Restaurant. It was sooo good. Then we came home and ate some of the cake that Jase had made for me as a surprise while I was at work yesterday.

This morning Jase woke me up with breakfast in bed. One of my favorites - eggs and toast. He's so sweet!

Last night I went over to my friends Keith and Angie's house to have dinner. Angie and I then went over to Logan and Ann-Marie's house for cake and ice-cream. I brought over the cake that Jase made because there was no way that I was going to be stuck by myself with that whole cake over the weekend! Keith and his friend took a piece before we left their house, hence the half-eaten, not so pretty cake. After dessert Ann-Marie and I went to see Baby Mama in the theatre. It was pretty funny. Even though I missed Jase a whole lot and wish he could have been around today, I seemed to make due just fine and managed to have a great birthday. Yeah!!

We Love You, Brittany!!!

Last week I received the news that one of my best friends, Brittany, had drowned while swimming in Mexico. She was my first 'friend' that I ever had. We met in second grade and were close friends all the way through college. It's sad that life just continues on and she will only be a memory in my mind. She was really and truly a special, special person, and the world will never know how great she was. She was so beautiful, inside and out. I will miss her so much and will never forget all the great times that we shared together. I love you, Britt!!



Left to right: Brittany, Ellie, me, Laura, and Meghan.
We love and miss you, Britt!

Back in "Chapel Thrill"

Despite the circumstances, I was so happy to go to Chapel Hill and see everyone. I got to see all my girls! Back in school we used to call Chapel Hill, Chapel Thrill, because we thought it was so boring. But not this time; it was so good to see everyone and catch up on the latest. I sure do miss them!



The Crew. Left to right: Laura, Jessie, Anna, Marilyn, me, and Ellie. Where's Brittany? :(



Jessie, me, and Ellie.



Ellie, Meghan, and me.



Me and Ellie.

Cedar Point!!

This past week Jase and I played hookie from school and work and went to Cedar Point with some friends from church. We had SO MUCH FUN!! Neither one of us had been to an amusement park in a long time so it was great to be able to ride some rollercoasters. We found, though, that when we were younger, we were able to handle many, many rides without getting sick. These days however, after about 5 or 6 rides, it was time to take break and make sure we didn't throw up all over the place.

This was the very first ride that we rode. It was absolutely insane!! Top Thrill Dragster is what it's called. It's 420 feet tall and goes from 0 to 120 mph in 4 seconds. It pulls you back and shoots you like a sling shot. You go up one way and twist, then come straight back down with another twist. The whole ride is over in 17 seconds, I think. Even though it's short, it's still enough to get your heart racing.


Left to right: Nate, Missy, Me, and Jase. After this picture we rode the Millenium Force rollercoaster, my favorite!

Some of us girls trying to rest after a long day. From left to right: Missy, Me, Trisha, and Kelli.

Jase and Nate coming off of a ride. They didn't feel too well..

This is us about mid-day. We rode so many rides and had just gotten off one that was pretty nauseating. We seriously felt like hurling.

It was so much fun that we may just have to go next year!

Bye Bye Jonah : (

Being that my last day of work is Thursday, I wanted to post a picture of Jonah (the little boy I nanny for) so I can remember what he looks like. It's hard to believe that I've spent this past year of my life basically raising him. I'm definately ready to move on a have a change of pace, but I sure will miss the little guy!!

Pipestem, West Virginia

Jase and I went to the Pipestem State Park and Lodge in West Virginia for the Memorial Day weekend. We met some of Jase's family there for their annual family reunion. Usually they do their reunion at the beach, but last year we went to Pipestem and decided to do it again this year because it was just so beautiful. While we were there we enjoyed playing outside, spending time with everyone, eating a great Sunday dinner (complete with Salmon and vermicilli), playing games, and lots and lots of hiking!






Jase and I got there on day earlier than everyone else so we wanted to camp. These pictures were taken at an overlook close to the campgrounds. Absolutely beautiful!



Let's camp!!

Jase securing our shelter for the night.


Our rooms were located down in a valley that you got to by riding a gondola down the mountain. You get a really pretty view of everything all around, but it gets kind of hot because the ride takes about 5 minutes and the sun is beating down on you and there isn't any air circualtion. It's definately a unique way to get to your lodging!



Picture of the gondola from the top of the mountain.



Picture of the gondola from the bottom of the mountain, at the lodge.

This is (almost) everyonewho came to Pipestem. We were heading out to take our first hike of the day.

This is the river that runs in front of where our rooms were.

THE BLUE CREW. From left to right: Liz (sister-in-law), James (Jase's brother), me, and Jase.

Like father, like son.

This is what happens at night when you're with the Olsen family. All the guys get together and watch the game, whichever one might be on that night, and the girls attempt to get everyone together to play a game. We took it easy on them this night because we all had a pretty busy day.

This was a huge black snake that we saw on one of our hikes. NASTY! but pretty cool.

Sorry Jase, I couldn't resist :) One of the hikes we went on had a river at the end that you had to cross. We did this hike last year and were shocked when we saw the river and realized that was the only way back. So we ended up crossing the river in our pants and tennis shoes. We almost died in the process because the river was up pretty high and there were slippery rocks everywhere. We wanted to do that same hike again this year because it was such a pleasant walk. So this year we came prepared. We made sure we had shorts on, and we brought water shoes in our backpacks and poles to help us cross. This is Jase gearing up to make the trek across. He looks like he can handle it, right?

This picture was taken while we were waiting for everyone to get ready to go on a hike. Getting Jase's family out the door to do something takes forever, so I decided to snap some pics of Jase and his mom and dad while we were waiting.

This was taken in our last ride up the gondola as we were leaving. We sure do miss Pipestem! It's always good to be home, though.

Denver, Colorado

Jase went to the annual AAO meeting in Denver 2 weeks ago. He said he had a really good time. He saw a LeAnn Rhimes concert, went bowling with some co-residents, and saw a Colorado Rockies baseball game. All the while, I was at home missing him terribly! This picture is of Jase and the OK residents at the baseball game. Jase said he did just about everything with his brother, Justin, and the other OK residents. He barely even saw any of the Michigan folk. He must have really missed his brother!

Just call me Britta aka Interior Decorator

I was looking around at different stores for pillows to decorate my couch with and then I had a thought. Why not try my interior decoratoring skills and make some pillows! I've always wanted to go to school for interior decorating, so maybe this could be my start in the right direction. Thanks to my friend Trisha, I was able to work with one of the best sewers around! We went to the store, got the correct amount of fabric, and started sewing. I made two pillows; notice how I only took a picture of one. That's because I have never sewn anything in my life so the pillow that she left up to me to do is, well, shall I say, not as tailored looking. Either way, I love them! I plan to make two more pillows to put behind these smaller ones. They will be bigger and will have a different pattern that compliments this one. Thanks Trisha!!