Hard Life!

I suppose McKenna will strangle me if she finds out about this but what are cousins for??? McKenna is staying with Callie and I while her parents are in Boston. It is 12:00 NOON and this is what McKenna looks like. I remember the good old days when I could still do this!

Sarah's Strange Reading Choices

Now that I've finished this series I thought I should do a little explaining. I'm sure if you've looked at the titles that are listed in my Sarah's Summer Reading section you may be a little concerned about what I'm doing to occupy my brain (mostly to avoid thinking) this summer. Near the end of the school year I went into the library looking for a list of books to read over the summer that I could then recommend to my students. The librarian went nuts and I ended up with 20 books from our school library. All the books written by Louise Rennison are a series titled The Confessions of Georgia Nicolson. I have absolutely LOVED this series, and I have started passing them to Emma and McKenna to read. They are written in diary form by Georgia Nicolson. Georgia lives in England and progresses from 9th to 11th grade during the 8 books. She is hysterical, there were many times that I was laughing out loud! Georgia has got a crazy cat, Angus, a nutty family, a gang of friends that are just as nutty as her family, and teenage drama that makes you think, "Oh, maybe I REALLY don't miss junior high!" Because Georgia is from England some of the words she uses are strange, so in every book she provides a dictionary for us "dim-witted Americans." I highly recommend these books for kids in junior high as well as anyone who just wants to read something light and fun. You can visit Georgia online at www.georgianicolson.com

Mamma Mia!

The birthday girl! Callie turned a quarter of a century on Friday the 18th, welcome to the club! Do you feel old yet?
We got Ikea goodies, all thanks to Merr!

Kirsten, McKenna, and Callie waiting in line eating Costa Vida (yummy!)
Annette Merrilee, Faythe, and Robyn

The gang waiting for the movie to start! It was exciting! I haven't been to a movie premiere since I saw the midnight showing of Spider Man 2 with Tyler. I was glad that we didn't have to wait in line as long or stay up as late for this movie!



All the credit for this fun night goes to my aunt Merrilee.... A couple Saturdays ago I was at Ikea with Mom and Merrilee. They had a big promotional event in the front of the store for tickets to a preview of Mamma Mia. The catch was, in order to get tickets someone had to sing an Abba song karaoke. One of the Ikea employees tried to talk us into singing when we walked in but there was no way I was going to do it, and Merrilee wouldn't do it by herself. But, as we were leaving the store a couple hours later that same employee saw Merrilee and somehow convinced her to sing. Merrilee made the person who sang before her sing with her, and Mom stood behind Merrilee singing. I, however, stood next to them laughing my guts out and making phone calls. :) Merrilee performed "Mamma Mia" and earned 10 tickets to the preview. Thursday July 17th Merrilee, Callie (this was really all for Callie's birthday celebration), Kirsten, McKenna, Mom, me, Emma, Robyn, Faythe, and Annette had a girls' night out and drove to Layton to watch Mamma Mia. We LOVED it! It was so much fun! The best part was that we didn't have to worry about getting in hissed at for singing with the music because the entire audience would burst into song as soon as one of the musical numbers began. My only complaint is that it's hard to listen to Pierce Brosnan sing, it's kind of unbelievable, and Merrilee sounded better than he did!

Does Money Grow on Trees?

Monday I went to the Quilt Shop at Gardner Village to finish off my new bedroom. I ended up with something that was completely different than what I had envisioned for my room, but I absolutely LOVE it! If you ever go to the Quilt Shop at Gardner Village seriously looking to buy something, but you need cute ideas for all the pillows, etc. talk to Lindi. She was so good and helped me incorporate all the things I wanted into my new bed. I don't have all the pillows yet, but this is a pretty good start. Grandpa George told me to frame this picture because my bed would never look like this again. But, I would like everyone to know that my bed looks like this again today.

I'm a big girl now!

Okay, so my room definitely does NOT always look like this. I got home this morning and had to run out to Riverton to meet my mom. I couldn't find ANYTHING to wear (as illustrated by the clothes all over my bed) and I didn't have time to put those clothes away. Thank goodness I have my own mall called Callie's closet that I can go to those mornings when I honestly have nothing to wear! The mess in my room is almost never clothes, it's usually books and papers.


I'm going to go with red I think. I'm looking for a red bedspread and red curtains. But, then because of all my sunflower stuff that I have and really like I'm going to do accent colors of yellow and black using throw pillows.

I've been waiting for my grown-up paychecks to begin, and I've gotten quite impatient. I have created a list of things I want when I am officially making a grown-up salary. 1. a new car (well, that's been on my list for awhile but it's now closer to being a reality), 2. a new bedroom set (to fill up the lonely emptiness that is my new bedroom), 3. a laptop, 4. a trip to Nauvoo (I haven't been back since I got home in April 2006 from BYU Semester at Nauvoo), and 5. laser hair removal (is that too much information????).
Anyways, I haven't been sleeping lately, and quite frankly I'm getting tired of not sleeping. In order to avoid possibly considering deeper issues I have decided that I needed a new bedroom set to fill up that vast expanse of room that I now live in. As each day goes by I have been getting more determined that I just need a new bed. This morning I went to the temple with some friends and when I got home I decided it was time to look seriously. To make a long story short (if you want the long version let me know) I ended up at RC Willey with an ad in hand (a big thanks must go out to Callie for finding the ad) and I left RC Willey with a receipt for a queen size bed, nightstand, and chest of drawers. I have a BIG GIRL BED now!! I've been avoiding a bigger bed because I always feel like I'm drowning when I sleep in big beds, but my room was just so empty and not cozy. I have to say that I am quite excited, but a little sad to be saying goodbye to my dear bed of many years. I'm kind of a packrat who hates to get rid of anything (where am I going to put all the stuff that was under my bed? aaaaaaaaaahhhh!), but I think this was a wise decision...
Disclaimer....... These before and after pictures do not do justice to what my room looks like when it's clean, but considering it's only clean every once in awhile I am giving all of you a glimpse into a Sarah White you might have never known. Also, my room isn't completely set up, but I was so excited about my new bed and chest of drawers that I just had to take a picture.

Pool Party!

Friday July 11th our ward had a pool party at Brother Blomquist's house (1st counselor in the bishopric). I am glad that I went because it turned out to be a lot of fun. We had some fun creating formations in the pool and patterns for jumping off the diving board. I think the best part was the group cannonball. We did this two different ways. First we all jumped off the diving board one right after another (first person would jump to the right, second to the left, third to the middle, etc.) by the time we were done- about 9 people later- the water was slashing over the edge of the pool. The next trick was just as exciting. We lined the sides of the pool, and by then our group had grown to 12, and one the count of.... ONE, TWO, THREE, GO we all cannonballed into the pool. I guess to really have enjoyed these stories you had to be there, but trust me it was fun.

Serving in the Lord's House

I have had the opportunity to spend the last two evenings in the temple. I was able to receive my endowments on December 28th. I have only been back to the temple a few times, so I was excited for the opportunity to serve twice this week. Tuesday night was our ward temple night. I felt the Spirit as I spent time in the temple that night. I didn't realize that I needed that boost until I was there. Wednesday night I was invited to help a few members of my ward clean the Salt Lake Temple. We spent our time cleaning lockers. Although I wasn't participating in ordinances I still felt as though I was serving. It was fun to spend time with people from my ward and get to know a few of them better. I have been blessed to be included in a fantastic ward.
I realized Tuesday night that serving in the temple is one way that I can have a connection with Tyler. I am helping the same people that he is helping. It is a comfort to know that we are still able to work together. I am now more a part of his mission than I was before. I love you Ty!