Thanks!

Just in case you were wondering, my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, which just so happens to be this very month. It has everything you could ever want: Family, Friends, and Food.

And, I mean, on what other day can you eat as much as you possibly want and be sure that no one is going to judge you? Uh-huh. True love right there.

And so, in light of this, the most fabulous holiday, I am going to dedicate my November blogging to talking about things that I'm grateful for. I've been feeling extra whiny lately, so this will be especially good for me. I can't promise a post every day (cause, who am I kidding? I have a hard enough time posting twice a month, let alone thirty times), but I will post as often as I can. Get excited!

I'm not really feeling a super long post right now, so I'll choose a simple thanks to start off with: I am grateful for my job at the library.
I've actually posted about it before, but I love my job. It's so bomb. In the best way possible. Even if the only hook up I get is that I can check out books without my student ID (insert oohs and ahhs).

The up side is that most everyone is friendly and/or entertaining (like the chick who told me that we were keeping the library too hot and someone was probably going to pass out. Yeah. It wasn't too hot. Or even hot at all. Menopause?).

Anyhow, Cedar City doesn't really flaunt job opportunities so I was looking for forever before I was found this job. And I will tell you what, I was a blink away from crying when they offered it, that's how insanely happy I was.

And the tears should probably have been shed. I'm thinking that in my short list of jobs that I have had (I have a great talent for keeping jobs a ridiculously long amount of time), this one is definitely a fave.

Pure Genius

My sweet grandma passed away just over a week ago (more on this later). My family had to quickly get everything ready for us to be able to drive up to Montana for the funeral.

Amidst the hurry and packing, Leslie expressed her sincere worry that our computer would be stolen while we were away. Her anti-theft device? This:

Seeing such genius makes me think, "Now, why didn't I think of that?"

The printer doesn't look too suspicious does it?

BYU vs. SUU: Sensitivity

I've been thinking more and more about BYU since I have recently had to start looking seriously at graduate schools. BYU is a tempting option. That's mostly because it's outrageously cheap in a world of very, very expensive grad schools.

And the more I think about BYU, the more I see the differences of BYU and SUU. And there are a lot. One example:

I attend SUU. And I know that yesterday, October 11th, is National Coming Out Day.

How many people at BYU knew that?

And did BYU provide an actual closet set up in the middle of campus for people to "come out" of?

Slightly Incredibly Astronomically different?


I rest my case.

A Confession

Here's the deal:

I am kind of a sinner (in lots of ways, but especially) in that I kind of really hate it when people try to get all preachy and religious on blogs. I know it's awful of me. But it just bugs. When people get all preachy on their blog, I'm thinking:

A) They're trying to get points by how spiritual they can come off
OR
B) They had a really awesome experience but they don't know the time and place to share it

And I'm guessing that my hatred simply comes from the fact that I have a really hard time letting my spirituality get across via the inter-web. I mean, it is just really hard for me to figure out how to give my feelings any justice without sounding cheesy. You know what I'm saying? Of course you do.

So, while I won't be whipping out a lengthy rendition of my testimony, I just wanted to say:

Gosh, I love general conference.

I mean, seriously. For a short weekend, God is letting us know what he's been thinking about. And, somehow, in all those messages we can gain a lot of guidance and revelation. What's more is that we can get a tiny little glimpse into how much our Heavenly Father loves us.

And that is just pretty awesome.

Missed One!

I forgot to add pictures of the quilt I made over the summer. It was basically the easiest thing ever (that was the point...the last one I did was much more labor intensive). I made it a twin size so that I can actually use it (the other one was made for when I get married...which we all know is still awhile away). And I got crafty and made myself a wicked sweet pillow to go with it. And all the patterns I used were blog stalked. The quilt pattern was found here. And I regret to inform you that I saw the pillow pattern on a blog, filed the pattern in my head, and completely forgot where I found it. So, sorry unreferenced blogger! Here are the pictures:

Instead of forcing my mom to do the quilting, like I usually do,
I figured I'd do it myself.
In a young and free spirit (I mean, if you're going to make a quilt for your lonely college bedroom, you might as well throw some panache in) I quilted it with my favorite song lyrics.
Featured here is "The way it pops and fizzes" (from The Band Perry's Hip to My Heart)
Other lyrics included:
-"I want a love that's still alive and well in rocking chairs" (Andy Grammar, Keep Your Head Up)
-"Pick yourself up and dust yourself off and back in the saddles" (Shakira, Waka Waka)
-"Good times never seem so good" (Neil Diamond, Sweet Caroline)
-etc etc...

And here's my pillow.
It still makes me happy.

Here's the Proof

Remember that one time?

When I never posted the awesome goings on from August or September?

No need to fret any long, because here they are! Now, this is likely going to be a very long post. Not necessarily wordy, but complete with pictures and appropriate commentary. I have sectioned each set according to the event, so feel free to browse and skim through what interests you (what am I saying? Of course you guys are interested in all aspects of my life). Here goes:

Kicking it in Kansas

Here's the story:

Sometime over the summer, Spencer and Whitney
a) got themselves a new house AND
b) got themselves a new baby boy.
And no one from the original Lifferth household went to go see either. Which I thought was just a little ridiculous. SO I yammered at Heather until she agreed to come with. We forked out the dough for the plane tickets and GOSH were we happy we did. We had a blast! Spencer and Whit hooked us up with an amazing time in the hot and sticky KC! We did all sorts of awesome things including hiking, caving, camping, swimming, running, and chowing down on delicious barbecue food.

We hiked to a castle!
Don't they look like princesses?

This is where we camped. Right next to the water.

We woke up to a hurricane. Okay...lots of wind and rain. We stuck it out and made fun of all the people who booked it out of there once things started clearing up. Until Torrential Downpour #2 came along.

We had ourselves a little dance party in the kitchen.
Just like their Aunts Heather and Kim.

Racing the annual Wyco Trail Nerd Night 10k.

At the last minute we decided to go for the 10k Trail Run. Kyle and I did it 2 years ago. This time was much less muddy...but still tons of fun. And we totally rocked it! (ahem...I'm going to brag a little....) I got first! For the women! I was pretty stoked to say the least. Plus they gave me $50 to a local running store. My time was just under 58 mins. Heather booked it in with fourth for the women (1:06). And Spencer came in at 1:09. I was so proud of us :) Pics and results found here.

We seriously had such a blast. Thanks again Spencer and Whitney!

21 And Still Not Married

That's right, folks. I turned 21. Since I'm still not married, and this is the the great state of Utah, I can officially join the Old Maid and Hopeless Club. It's great. I love it! But really. I had possibly one of the best birthdays EVER thanks to the sneakiness of my sister Heather and The Boy. I was completely shocked when I came home 2 nights before my birthday and found Heather, Jana, and Mary sitting on my couch, cazookie in hand! They drove down all the way from Provo to surprise me! We did pretty much everything you can do in Cedar while they were down here. That includes:

• Being chased by a psycho upon attempting to enter the old hospital
• Hiking Kanarraville
• Swimming at The Lake on the Hill (dumbest name ever...)
• Eating at Pastry Pub
• Attending the most rockin' awesome dance party that SUU has possibly ever seen

Gosh. Gooooood times!

The fire we made to sit by while we enjoyed our shish-kabobs and s'mores.

The party we had on my birthday
that included my awesome Cedar friends and neighbors

Sittin' in Cedar

Has Cedar ever been the most hopping spot? Answer: Nope. Never. So we've had some great adventures trying to figure out what to do in our spare time. Usually it involves watching Monk or hitting up Krave (local Frozen Yogurt place). Sometimes we get a little bit crazier. Like:

When we went to the Iron County Fair.
Is that baby lamb not close to the cutest dang thing you have ever seen?
If it's not, you have no soul.

Snagging gobs of candy from the homecoming parade.
SUU I love you.

Ran the RedRock

The RedRock Relay that is. It's a 12 person team race that goes from Brianhead down to Zion's National Park (roughly 180+ miles). I was on a team with one of my awesome friends here in Cedar and her parents. Her dad and one of the other guys on our team are actually Psych professors here. Awkward? Answer: Surprisingly not. It was TOTALLY WICKED!!! I totaled 18.6 miles. And it doesn't hurt that several people from other teams asked if I ran for a college cause I was flying!"

My face is so beautiful in this one.

Me handing off to heather on our last legs.

Thanks for sticking through guys!

IT'S OVER!!!!!

Yeah. I Just Did That.

I finally did it guys. I bought me some chacos:
I've been wanting some for like 3 years (not even kidding you). But you guys know what a cheap wad financially conscientious person I am. Am I right or am I right or am I right? (Right? Right? Right? RightRight? Name the movie...!)

I've been shopping deals on Chacos since forever and a few weeks ago my lovely friend/roomie found a deal that was just too darn good to pass up (so good, in fact, that we're going to rock matching ones:). Chacos for $36? Hook me up! So while they aren't exactly the ones I would've chosen...they were insanely cheap and I never complain about bargains.

They are currently in the mail. Should be here in a day or two (!!!!!!!!!!!).

And this purchase is sure to bring me back to my hippie roots (one summer and it's already to roots, folks). So, for the occasion, here's my favorite/most hippieish song I could think of: