miss kaitlyn caycee

Year in Review...

2011-12-26T17:23:00.000-08:00

It's time for the annual "Year in Review" blog post! Here we go:

JANUARY was a crazy month! It was time for a change of scenery, so I packed my bags and moved away to Mexico to 4 months. In this month... I moved in with a Mexican family, ate lots of Mexican food, tried to control a classroom full of 15 kids, and climbed to the very top of the Teotihuacan pyramids.

FEBRUARY we traveled to Oaxaca, Puerto Escondito and Huatulco. We climbed some more ancient ruins, did some snorkeling with jellyfish, and sunbathed at one of the nicest surfing beaches in the world. This month I became extra close with my little Mexican siblings.

MARCH was full of traveling. We took a bus to Mexico City where we went to the temple, Six Flags, and the zoo, and then we shopped in the most amazing zocalo in the world. We finished off the vacation in my favorite city in the entire country of Mexico, Taxco, an adorable European style city outside of D.F.

APRIL I turned 19 and my host parents smashed my face in a cake! Gotta love Mexican traditions. We finished up teaching with lots and lots of tears, said our goodbyes, and traveled down to Southern Mexico where we jumped in waterfalls, ate wannabe Italian food, got parasites, and danced in parades.

MAY I came home! My whole family was in town when I got back, so we had a fun weekend together. I got my job back at k Pilates and relearned how to not throw my toilet paper in the trashcan, and how to speak proper English!

JUNE I drove up to Utah for a weekend and decided that I wanted to LIVE there! I checked out my new apartment, found a few job possibilities, and had fun with my friends! I just kept working hard at the pilates studio to earn some grrrreat money.

JULY one of my best friends got married! It was a most delightful day, and she was a beautiful bride! We had a family reunion in Show Low and my parents bought a new home in the woods.

AUGUST was a big month! I quit my job, took a vacation to California with my best friends and spent some time shopping and at the beach. I realized I needed a different car that would last me in the snow, so I got a cute blue Hyundai Santa Fe, and then I packed it up and moved away to Utah with Chloe!

SEPTEMBER was a beautiful month in Utah! We spent a few weekends at the park, took some drives up the canyon, and spent time with my best friends. I got a job at International Language Programs as a Representative in the office. My job was one of the best parts of Utah. I loved it.

OCTOBER we saw the first sign of SNOW in Provo! It was a happy day! My friends & I were Biggest Losers for Halloween, and I just kept studying hard. I took a trip home to visit my family and all my siblings were in town. We took a trip up to the cabin and rode quads and shot guns. Then I took a super awkward picture of my family picking up pinecones.

NOVEMBER I started getting cold. We dressed super warm and I stayed inside to study study study. I didn't go home for Thanksgiving, but I stayed in Provo and ate with my awesome Uncle & Aunt and ate my body weight in turkey. My work ate lots of food at our work parties and I realized how sad I was that I would be leaving there :(

DECEMBER I had 3 of my biggest accomplishments ever. 1. I got straight A's on my online semester at ASU- that was quite the feat. 2. I got my blood work done and didn't pass out! Hallelujah! 3. I drove all the way from Utah to Arizona by myself, without a ticket, only drinking 100 ounces of DP. I had my tonsils removed, there were 2 babies born, and I talked to my bff Scotty! It was a wonderful Christmas in the sun.

It seems the older I get, the faster the years go by, and the more exciting they always are! This year has been great and I can't want to see what 2012 has in store!! :)

Camera Phone Update

2011-10-07T23:26:00.000-07:00

Here's an update into the life of ME! Minus any pictures of me. Lately I've been really feeling un-photogenic, so here's a little view into what I've been taking pictures of the past few months.

Road trip to Utah! Had so much fun in a car with Chloe for 12 hours full of singing, flaming hot cheetos, Dr. pepper and beef jerkey. Mmmm.

My first weekend in Provo I went on a date to the batting cages with Nathan. I've never been, and it's safe to say that I loved it! I was horrible for the first.. ohhh I don't know... 20 balls. Then I started hitting them all! Didn't miss a single one after that!

The area in which I would love to spend the rest of my life: my bed. It's awesome right? If you could only see my purple satin sheets. It's soooo hard for me to get out of bed in the morning!

Our first home cooked meal! Spaghetti of course, with a garden fruit salad! Yummmm.

What I spend about 50% of my life doing... Studying. I am going to get straight A's. I'm determined! A lady that I worked with at K-Pilates in Mesa promised me a new pair of lululemon yoga pants if I got good grades. That's my main motivation right now!!

After a few weeks, we finally got a tv in our cute little entertainment center. And the first movie we watched was my favorite ever... Tangled!! Do we have cable yet? Nope! We just watch an occasional movie every now and then. Probably a good thing we don't have cable!

The day I was feeling really crafty so I did mermaid nails with glitter! So fun!

Watched Brooke perform with a live band TWICE in one night! She's great at playing the cello and singing!

Took a picture of the Provo Temple late at night!

Went with Gilliam for his first experience of Olive Garden. Mmmm unlimited breadsticks.

Went to Temple Square and stared at the temple for a long long time!

Traveled to Idaho for work and had a few ice cream social information meetings about ILP. This girl just kept scooping her ice cream and Lindsey and I could NOT stop laughing!

Laughed at the morning headlines in Idaho...

Got my first ticket (**Insert picture of my angry face here**)

Studied a lot about really weird named Volcanoes.

Caught a bug in my bedroom and Brooke & I named him Al. Short for alien. We have had him for about a week and it's been true love!

Was loving the rain all day on Wednesday!

And then I couldn't see the mountains, or even the Y.

Then on Thursday we could kinda see the mountains in the morning... snow!

Then we could REALLY see the mountains! Then it started snowing while I took this picture! But it wasn't sticking to the ground.

And then the sun came out for about a half hour! Isn't that so pretty?! I love it!

And then today, it just rained again. For a long time. And then I was late for work because Utah drivers are so stinky. And then this man in front of me ran out of gas, so I was even more late!! OHHH Utah drivers :)

I love Utah and am surprisingly loving the cold (so far). We'll see how I feel in a couple weeks when it starts snowing every day!

New Representative!

2011-09-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day of my new job as a representative at International Language Programs!! WOO! This is the program that I traveled to Mexico with this past spring semester. And I guess you could say it's my dream job to tell people stories all day about Mexico.

Being in that office and talking to people who are interested about the program really brings back memories of my trip. There are times when I miss it so much, but I was so blessed to have had such a great experience!

So of course I am going to post some pictures.. Enjoy!

Where is my hairbrush?

2011-09-03T19:09:00.000-07:00

So I'm here in Utah and really, I don't have too much to blog about. Maybe because I don't have my memory card for my camera yet, so I don't take any pictures. But I guess I could think of a few things..

-I spent 65 dollars and got about 2 months worth of groceries... I'm a new crazy couponer/price matcher at Walmart.

-It's starting to get cold, and tonight I will probably be wearing a sweater.

-I have purple satin sheets, and I never want to get out of bed.

-I start my new job at ILP next week. HOLLAAAA! If anyone wants to teach abroad, give me a call. I'll tell you all about my experience in Mexico.

-I have awesome roommates- Haley and Brooke. Let me tell you about us all.

Bachelorette #1- Haley Walker from Temecula, California. Major: Marketing. School attending: BYU. Haley is a sassy brunette who likes long bubble baths (but really), watermelon, Zac Effron, New York, Parachute, soccer players, popsicles, traveling, shopping and sleeping.

Bachelorette #2- Kaitlyn Dwiggins from Mesa, Arizona. Major: Speech and Hearing Sciences. School attending: ASU. Kaitlyn is a ghetto fabulous shawty who likes long walks on the beach, Spanish speakers, chocolate chips, cereal, cup noodles, satin sheets, Justin Bieber, Modern Family, sleeping, and more than anything, food and Dr. Pepper.

and last but not least

Bachelorette #3- Brooke LeBaron from Mesa, Arizona. Toros, holla back. Major: Advertising. School attending: BYU. Brooke is an awesome non-conformist who likes Friends (the tv show) and friends (the real kind), berries, working out, Bachelorette Beatdown, Veggie Tales, sports, being barefoot, boys who play sports, portuguese, music, eating food, trying new things, and above all, LOVE.

Maybe someday we'll take a real picture, looking good or something...

And there you have it!

Things to think

2011-08-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

Here are some random facts about my life as of late...

1. I have a meeting with my Spanish professor every Monday morning on video chat at 8. Ay caramba. Or should I say, yo tengo una junta de video con mi profesora de espanol cada lunes a las ocho de la manana.
I hope she doesn't mind that I'll be in my pajamas?! Haha kidding...

2. I move to Utah in 3 days. My family is taking the trip up there with me to head to a wedding in Salt Lake on Saturday! Have I finished packing? No! But I did get a new adorable coat. I'll post a picture someday, I'm sure.

3. I need to think of a name for my car. I haven't even figured out if it's a boy or girl. Only time will telllll...

4. I have a dentist appointment this morning to get 2 cavities filled. Last time I had a cavity filled I slapped my dentist..... sooo we switched dentists.. I guess you could say I have the worst luck with any type of doctor. Let's just hope that doesn't happen this time, ya?

5. My friends are all coming home from their missions. So weird! Now all of them just need to come home so we can all be besties again.

6. I have carpal tunnel... or something. So I have to wear a wrist brace every second of my life. But then my arm gets really itchy, so I take it off and then forget to put it back on.

7. I'm going to be reunited with my dear McKenzie McFrenzy in a few days! We are going to party for the few weeks she has left in Utah before she goes back to Rexburg. I miss her. I haven't seen her since the day where we were all sick and we had to walk her to the bus station at like 3 am. Good times, good times!

That's pretty much all I've got for today!

SHOW LOW, DO LO

2011-08-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

Last week my family had our

ANNUAL DWIGGINS FAMILY REUNION!!!

This year we decided to head up North to Show Low, Arizona.

We had such a fun time being all together again! It has been a while since we have ALL been together... since before Bryan left on his mission. But it was so fun!!! Not to mention the weather was a whole lot cooler up there!!

We took advantage of being together and got our family pictures taken.

When we get the actual pictures, I will post some of those as well.

All 6 kids with my mom and dad...

Cindy, Jason, Eric, Chris, Bryan, Kaitlyn

All 11 nieces and nephews!!

(There will be 2 more by the end of the year!)

From right to left: Braeley, Belen, Aaron, Caleb, Tanner, Gracee, Austin, Ashlyn, Wesley, Lacey and Cohen

Here's a few more pictures of the kids. I especially love Cohen's face in this one...

We made blankets for the kids while we were there, and they all loved to snuggle up with them at night when we watched movies!

My awesome brothers, dad, and brother-in-law

The whole family!

I really am so blessed to be here on this Earth with such an amazing family!! I love them all so much and am so grateful for each one of them!

Next chapter

2011-06-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

HELLO HELLO HELLO!
Last weekend I went up to Utah for a visit and had such a grrrrrrreat time with my friendsies. I had an ILP reunion at Zupas with MY GREATEST HEAD TEACHER Adri. LOVE her!!

I even had time to visit my awesome Uncle Ron who had a birthday! I didn't take a lot of pictures, but that's mostly because I was pretty busy with some business stuff.....

So here's what's new: ehh hemmm. I am moving to Utah in the fall! WHHHHHAAAAATTTTT?! HOLLLLAAA! I am so ready for some change! I am excited for a new adventure so I am being bold and going with it! I will still be enrolled with ASU through their online program because I am not ready to give up that scholarship just yet!! Life has endless possibilities- maybe I won't be a Utah girl and I'll come back and finish as a Devil :)

BUT............
I will be living with BROOKE! WOOO! I'm very stoked for that!! Love her.

Anyways, yes I am stoked. Major stokage. Sup totes stoked. It will surely be a blast and I can't wait!!

p.s. Shout out to my bff Gil. Thanks for putting up with me for a million hours on our road trip and for taking great pictures of yourself on my camera.

Piece of mind

2011-05-14T00:36:00.000-07:00

I am back in the United States, and I figured I would blog about my last vacation in Mexico!!

We took a 14 or so hour bus drive down to Chiapas! That was sure a blast. Sike. I surprisingly didn't get sick at all though, that's a surprise!!

We went to a cool place where we got the "All adventure pass." We did everything offered! Including: zip line, holding snakes, monkeys, rock climbing, swimming, etc. Super super super fun.

We went to church in San Cristobal! That was amazing. The church was the cutest and the people were incredibly nice!!

On the way home from church we saw a parade! It went on for like an hour it seemed and the people in the parade loved to give us white girls attention. They were dancing with us and singing to us. They also would throw us candy if we cheered for them haha.

Then we went and ate some DISGUSTING italian food. I wanted to throw up after I ate it, it was completely doused in butter. And I think there must have been a little gross something in there, cuz Alejandro my parasite is still angry in my tummy. TMI.

Then we saw some beautiful waterfalls! Agua de Azul and Miso Ha. Talk about beautiful. Of course, this is when I started getting sick and taking less pictures because everywhere we went I just laid down on the floor. It was a disaster... But nonetheless, it was beautiful!

Then I got some weird disease in my finger. Could anything else have gone wrong? My finger looks much better now though, no worries. It only just looks like I got attacked by some rabid animal. I think it is just like some weird infection.

Then Italia took my camera and took some pictures of some Mexican boys. Don't ask why. But I was busy throwing up, so I stayed in the hotel while everyone else went to the coolest ruins in the world. Dang it. Palenque- look it up! At least I was in the same city, right? I feel justified.

I sure am happy to be home! Maybe someday I will blog again!!

LOVE, Kait

My last weekend.

2011-04-20T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from my birthday weekend/last weekend in Tehuacan!

1. Taking a walk through this GINORMOUS block of just shops. It was amazing. I felt straight up MEXICANA

2. Having a surprise birthday-ish party! It was fun, minus the fact that my family was there till 6:30 in the morning!

3. Getting my face shoved into my birthday cake! Okay... now I'm Mexican!

4. My gorda arms. Seriously. At this party I was called.... A cow and a hippo by my family members. But really it's not that fat haha. It was just the angle. I promise.

5. Spending the whole weekend with Adri and Italia! I love these girls!! We did feel like we were missing something though... McKenzie we miss you!

6. Mama Vicky and her cuteness! We had a dance party right before this photo was taken!

7. Getting a pedicure from a gay Mexican hombre named Jorge!

(No picture, dang it.)

I will be returning here...

2011-03-30T15:13:00.000-07:00

Taxco.... officially one of the most beautiful places on Earth!!!

100% reason to remember my name

2011-03-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

Remember the time I went to Six Flags with Scotty on my first date?

And remember that other time my friends and I took a VERY spontaneous trip to Six Flags one random weekend?

WELL........

Remember how I'm going 4

SIX FLAGS, MEXICO CITY!!!!!!!!!

in..... 3 days? HOORAY!

It was a cloudy day... that's why.

2011-03-11T09:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was an extremely tiring day. I have to be quite honest when I say that I was homesick! Mostly, it was because of my classes. Generally in classes there is the 'trouble child' or the 'two trouble children.' Well.... I think it's safe to say that yesterday at Discovery, it was more of a 'trouble entire CLASS.' I think all the parents got together yesterday morning and decided to spike the kids' breakfasts with some kind crazy medicine or something, because those kids were OUT OF CONTROL.

But, then they still have that adorable side to them too. How can you be mad when you see these faces?!

Yes. Julio loves me!!

I have learned that teaching is such a thankless job! I was blessed to have amazing teachers, and amazing parents to teach me throughout my life!

Ya, I have had those days during the month where all I want to do is give up! When classes wear me down, I get tired of the other teachers (no offense guys haha) and I just want to be home!

So yesterday, in between classes, I did that... I went home for lunch. To the place that I still consider my home for the next month and a half, the closest thing I have to home and a family. I am so glad I have such an amazing host family here in Mexico, who is able to cheer me up when I'm feeling down! I walked in the door, was showered with hugs from Maria and Julio, was showered with punches from Emi, and had a delicious delicious lunch of spicy steak and all you can eat tortillas. Thank goodness for second families.

I love Mexico!

On a walk to church

2011-03-06T08:18:00.000-08:00

Funny quotes #2

2011-02-27T21:43:00.000-08:00

"You guys, I need to email my husband...."

-Italia

Favorite quotes of Mexico- Part 1

2011-02-27T19:58:00.000-08:00

"There wasn't a trash can, so I flushed it... AND IT FELT GOOD"

-Adri

Fact:

2011-02-27T19:22:00.000-08:00

Tehuacan, Mexico, and the little/big ninos I teach every day will always and forever have a piece of my ♥

2011-02-24T14:26:00.000-08:00

I think it's safe to say that I love the country of Mexico!

It's time to copy my dear friend McKenzie and make a happy list for myself:

1. I never feel ugly in this city! Not sure if this is a positive, but we will make it a positive. :) There's not a day that goes by that we are not whistled at, honked at, or talked to. The Mexicans know a few certain phrases that they use over and over... "Hello" "Goodbye" "What is your name my name is Colton (yes- in one phrase) and my personal favorite, "I like it."

2. On our last trip, we went to a cute town, Huatulco, and went snorkeling! There were even jellyfish in the water. We even got the wear some sweet get up. Perfect photo opportunity.

3. We all realized that we are not light packers, and we learned that the hard way. I had to use suitcases as a foot rest for a few hours of our trip. But we all got real close, real fast :)

Photos de Teotihuacan..

2011-02-01T14:17:00.000-08:00

So right now I am very happy!! Here is my list of reasons why...

1. My host mom made me a lunch today! Surprise? YES!!! Delicious.

2. I got a KEY!!!!! Hallelujah!!!! I felt like a 16 year old getting the keys to my very first car. It was insane how excited I was.

3. We took an AWESOME trip to Teotihuacan this past weekend! Here is where I post pictures...

It was absolutely beeaauuutttiiifffuulllllll there!! I felt like I was in the Book of Mormon! Seriously. It was insane.

4. This weekend, we are going to OAXACA. Friday we are leaving super early, and then we're touring all day in Oaxaca, then ALL day Saturday and Sunday we are playing at the beach. Who is excited? I am excited!! Are you excited? Okay. My mind is going to explode from teaching so much. Me gusta dar paseos en la playa!

Pictures to follow next week. Hopefully my camera comes soon! Cross your fingers!

That is it!! Nos Vemos!!

Qué onda?

2011-01-21T22:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday for lunch, my mama came home with taquitos. We ate delicious taquitos, spanish rice, and spicy chicken legs and then she pulls out........... PAPAYA JUICE.

Que sabrosa, right?

Don't be deceived by its charming good looks.

Really, it might have been the worst thing I've ever tasted.

Okay, that was dramatic- but it was pretty bad. I felt like I was honestly drinking throw up. Stomach bile. A mixture of rotten eggs and battery acid.

So after I took a sip, I realized that my family didn't notice that I drank any of it. So I turned to mama Vicky and I said..... soy alergica!

Problem solved!!!

My grateful list...

2011-01-17T21:39:00.000-08:00

And now I will proceed to make a list of things that I have never appreciated as much as I do now that I live in Mexico.....

1. Instant hot water in the shower. At my family's house, you have to make sure the hot water is turned on, then you have to let the water run in the shower for about 10 minutes before it heats up. But BOY am I glad I at least have hot water here. Thank goodness for that!!!

2. Carpet. This house has no carpet. Nada. My room has no carpet. I have come to realize that carpet is my favorite thing ever. There are times when I just want to roll around on carpet, and there is none!! Except for in the green opening room in my school. But I wouldn't really consider that carpet... it's more like fabric covered cement.

3. Having a car and my own key to my house in Arizona. Okay, don't get me wrong, walking is the best thing ever here. I walk to school every day! About 8 blocks, 10 minutes, it's not bad at all!! I live really close to the school. First of all, even though the city is ghetto, it is beautiful. It smells divine on every corner, whether it be fresh fruit, juice, or tacos. But my mama here is a little unreliable- sometimes I wish I could just hop in a car and drive myself around places! And having a key to my own house.... if only. I tell my mama every day, yo necesito un llave mama! But remember how she's not very reliable? Ya, it's awesome.

4. Drinking water out of the faucet. Ya... it's possible to do that.... IF I WANT TO DIE!! Just kidding. My first night here, I accidentally did, and I'm still alive!

5. Flushing my toilet paper. Seriously, I hope that's an easy habit to break when I go back to the states. I don't know if people will like that one very much if I continue that!! Haha! But the septic tanks are apparently very small here, equalling throwing your toilet paper away. So YAAA I've clogged my toilet here already, but it was also because I threw up 7 times! But I learned how to say plunger in Spanish and took a couple pictures. Awesome!!

6. Ice. I haven't had ice in 12 days and I'm sort of going through withdrawls. I'm gonna get some of our purified water here at my house and make myself a cup of ice. That's not bad, right??!

Okay that's my list for now! Nos vemos!

A few pictures!!

2011-01-16T00:26:00.000-08:00

So since I lost my camera... I have resorted to only taking pictures on my Macbook and cell phone! BUT not to worry- another camera will be here shortly!! So for now, here are some pictures of Maria! The little sister I never had...

Maria is 5, and she is quite a goof! She loves to just come hang out with me in my room! I paint her nails probably every day. When you say you are going to take a picture of her, she just closes her eyes (as shown in the first picture). She loves to do that haha! She is loca, but I love her!

estoy enferma

2011-01-13T12:19:00.000-08:00

So I'm currently sick in bed, and have been sick since Tuesday night! I think honestly it's because i ate 8 tacos. That was way too much for me. I think my family knows now that I can't eat that much... So that's a good thing.

I have missed 2 days of teaching now, but I'm planning on going back tomorrow! My classes are CRAZY!

I will hopefully be posting pictures soon, but I can't find my camera?! Ahh.....

;alkj;alijw;oij

2011-01-11T09:59:00.000-08:00

Ya I've had the most stressful 12 hours of my life....

So after teaching yesterday, (which went OK for the first day) we went back to my family's house and mama fed me dinner. it was DELICIOUS. I had some soup, and some chicken, and juice, and green beans. But after, they said VAMOS! And we went to a birthday party of one of the cousins. They had some really good cake, the little boy turned 7! It was super fun. So we just hung out there until about 10. At ten, they said VAMOS again because they said we needed to go home and sleep! So at my family's house, there is an entrance to get into the house- there is a BIG door that you need a remote to open (the garage door), and then a little door right next to it that you need a key. Then when you get through that door, there's a LONG driveway- like twice as long as our driveway, and then a big court thing where there's bikes and stuff. So then when you walk through that driveway, you get to the actual house. So my family pulled up to the house, and since they don't have a remote to open the garage, they had Julio get out to open up the door, then when he did that, he was supposed to run in and open the garage with a button inside. So he was opening up the door, and it was taking longer than normal, so mama got out and went to help him. After like 5 minutes, Papa Julio got out to help the both of them. twenty minutes later they came back to the car and said the key broke in the door. Pretty much we spent about another half hour there with no success, then we went to the grandparents house and stayed awake till about 1 in the morning, then mama vicki took me to a room and there was a little bed for me and she told me we would go to the house in the morning. I asked her what time, and she said 8! SO I was really restless, because I knew I had to still plan my lessons for today, but my backpack and all my stuff was in the house! I had nothing with me! SO I woke up at like 7 and heard nothing, woke up at 8 and heard nothing, so I finally just got up about 830. We stayed there till like 11, and mama Vicki wasn't there. She was gone! AHHHH. And I am still wearing the same clothes, thinking I'm not gonna have a lesson for today. I was really stressed! So I told the abuela that I needed to go to school, so they walked me back to my house, and luckily they had just gotten the door open. SOOO I went in, got my stuff, and came out, and Vicki was gone AGAIN! Oh my goodness. Love her as I do, that woman is so unreliable. So I thought, OKAY I can walk to school for my first time. So I went in my room to look for my map. Could I find it at all? NO! I lost my map!!!!! So I went downstairs and grabbed some LALA, the most delicious yogurt ever, and had the maid open up the gate for me, and then I left. I was completely lost! I asked a few people on the way though, and all of them told me different things, but luckily I remembered a few of the street names, and some of the landmarks around town got me to where I was supposed to go. The 10 minute walk took me about 30 minutes. Now I am at the school, with all my stuff, and I need to plan my lesson. Most stressful day of my life already..... AHH. But I am safe now in the school!! That's all the matters, si?? Okay, now later, if we can open up the door to our house ayyyy, I will blog. Adios

Lala

2011-01-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

So here in Mexico, I've had a hard time figuring out my meals. Mama Vicki has made me lunch a few times, and I'm not really sure they eat breakfast? But when she has made me lunch, she gives me this amazing drink called Lala. It is seriously the BEST thing in the world. It's just yogurt, but it's different! It's just a drink, but I have never tasted something so delicious.

Anyways, the end. Today was my first day of teaching, so I will blog later if I have time! Adios!

Weird things- Part 1

2011-01-08T23:56:00.000-08:00

Throwing away my toilet paper instead of flushing it. That's gonna be a hard thing to get used to!

Safe and sound!

2011-01-07T22:02:00.000-08:00

HOLA FROM MEXICO!!

Hello!!! I have arrived in Mexico, safe and sound!! The flights were great, and I made it out of Mexico City alive. I flew first to LAX where I met up with the rest of my group, and we all flew in to Mexico City together. Mexico City was an adventure. The airport was ridiculous. People asking me questions in Spanish, everyone running around, SO crazy. And the driving here is ridiculous too. Anyways... the regional directors (TEO y Rachael) met us in Mexico city. They are SOOOO great. Teo is the stake president here in Tehuacan, and Rachael is from the United States! She lived in New Jersey. So their kids are half Mexican/half American, and they are absolutely adorable. pretty much I love Teo.

There are 11 (I think) of us teaching in Tehuacan. We took a bus ride to Puebla, then got on another bus to Tehuacan. It was about 4 hours total on the bus, and I was SO tired of sitting. When we got to Tehuacan we went right to the school. (There are 3 different schools that we will be teaching at, all very close to each other- this one was the main school A lot of the host families started showing up right after that to meet and pick up their students, but Teo and Rachael informed me that my family was out of town! Rachael also informed me that my family is known as "The party family." Seriously, i'm okay with that haha. So me, McKenzie and Sara all stayed the night in the school. We opened a can of spaghettios with a knife and slept on mattresses on the floor. It was great haha! Felt like Mexico. So then today we woke up and had a little training and safety class, then we went out and explored Tehuacan in the daylight! What a beautiful city! En serio. It's really really pretty, and the people all seemed very nice! We got whistled at a few times already, and honked at a lot. Supposedly people just honk here ALL THE TIME!! But it was great. We walked around and found the church/stake center where we will go for church on Sundays and Institute, we found the post office, the pharmacy, and tons of other places. We stopped at this little place and got food called Tortas- mine was the Pierna one. So it's pork leg, in this sandwich with chili and mayonnaise and beans. I hate mayonnaise and I hate beans. BUT I LOVED IT. It was delicioso. And then we went back to the school and had a little bit more training, and then my host family came to pick me up!!! The mom's name is Vicky, and I call her mama Vicky. She is THE SWEETEST EVER!! I love her. They are really young. Vicky is 26 or 27. She has 3 kids- Julio who is 8 and speaks a LITTLE bit of English, Maria who is 4 or 5 and a complete doll- she has been clinging to me all night, and Emiliano (Emi) who is 1. Emi is SO SO SO SO CUTE. He has big eyes and curly hair. I want to steal him. So My family speaks NO ENGLISH except for Julio knowing a little bit. This is good because I will learn a LOT. All my spanish is coming back to me, and I love it! I have spoken more spanish tonight than I have ever! The mom is not married, but her and her boyfriend have been together for a long long time, I don't really know why they are not married. I think they just never did, and never have. His name is Julio as well. It has been surprisingly not very hard to communicate with them. I am glad that I have taken the spanish classes that I have, because I have done really well already!! They told me "tu espanol es muyyyy bien"- they said compared to their last teacher they hosted, who knew absolutely nothing, that I knew a lot! SO i was glad. Anyways, so they picked me up (in this super nice truck) and drove me to their house. They live on a street called Calle floras. Super cute street, and adorable house!!!! Adorable/HUGE. It is really big, compared to all the houses around here! I have my own room, my own bathroom, a tv in my room, ridiculous. Me and Julio played guitar hero for a few minutes when I got here, (haha) and then we went to Vicky's sister's house and we had chicken wings that were So spicy- i was in love, and rice.

P.s. my family can't pronounced Kaitlyn- they say CATALINA- but they just call me CATA. It is the cutest thing ever!

In mexico, january 6th is a holiday, but since my family was out of town (at their ranch with their horses and their swimming pool- score), they celebrated tonight!!! You get out this big circle cake, cut it into slices, and eat it with this hot chocolate. In a few of the pieces of cake, there is a little doll, (a muneca) and I guess the tradition is- if you get the muneca you have to buy tamales for everyone. But my family was just crazy and was giving all the cake that had the munecas in them to the little kids. The food so far has been so good!!!!

So we came back to the house, they helped me unpack a little bit, and then we skyped with my family! Mama Vicky y Julio and all the kids met my mom and dad and Bryan on skype, and then they spoke spanish with Bryan! We talked to them for about an hour, and then they went to sleep.

So far I am loving it here. I love my family and I'm so excited to start teaching on Monday. I was told that I am teaching the young kids AND the older kids- so probably like the ages of 5 and then 10 or 11 as well. So we teach every day from 1-3, and then from 5:30-7:30. There are lots of 3 and 4 day weekends where we will be traveling A LOT!!!

Anyways, I have only taken a few pictures, but I will take some tomorrow with my family, and with my group!!

hasta luego!

Bienvenidos Elder Dwiggins!

2011-01-05T01:54:00.000-08:00

Elder Dwiggins is HOME HOME HOME!!

In the past 2 weeks I've realized a few very important things.

#1. I realize that me and bry look a lot alike when we take pictures together.

#2. Bryan is the bomb.com

The first thing we did when Bryan got home was go SHOPPING! (Well after we had dinner and played Just Dance, of course) I sort of am the best sister ever and bought Bryan lots of new clothes. Yes, he loves me, and I love him.

Here we are lookin like twins.

Item #2 on our agenda after shopping, was FILIBERTOS!! MMM get in my belllly. Not that I'm gonna be eating Mexican food for the next 4 months... but seriously. Filibertos is divine.

Direct quote from an email:

"random thought....... my first night home i wanna hit up filli-b's with you at midnight. if i forget you gotta remind me."

Done and done... and he didn't even need a reminder.

And here we are looking like twins again.

I love Bryan and i'm sooo so so so so so so glad he's home.

The End.

p.s. I leave in 27 hours for Mexico, so I'll definitely be blogging a lot. Starting... in 27 hours.

Thank you, Hayden!

2010-12-09T23:10:00.000-08:00

Today while we were blessing the food for family 'dinner' my dad said,

"We're grateful for the delicious food we have obtained from Taco Bell."

It was probably the second funniest thing that's happened to me all day, right behind the silent dance party I attended at ASU in the Hayden Library!

It was legit. And when I say legit, I mean I got invited through a Facebook event.

The whole front of the library was packed. So we all had headphones on and right when the clock turned 12 we all pushed play on the song 'Right Round' by Flo Rida. And danced, quietly. It was the best thing ever! There were even school reporters there filming it. Super hilarious!

I really love my school!

If you want to watch the awesome dance party, check out this YouTube video made by the library..

Numbers!

2010-12-01T21:20:00.001-08:00

So tonight I was in the shower, just thinking about my life and the rest of the year, when I thought....

Hey. Today is December 1st! Which means there are quite a few important things happening in my near future that I am sorta all the sudden freaked out about.

1. In 6 days I am DONE with classes!! Meaning I only have 2 more days of classes, then FINALS week. Seriously??? I have absolutely loved this semester because I am finally into my classes for my major! BUT I am currently getting straight B's!! Minus one class. Unbelievable, since I have gotten straight A's thus far in college. But I guess my major is harder than I expected, and I probably shouldn't have taken 4 speech and hearing classes in 1 semester....just a thought. But through all the long nights and long days, I have had some fun times. Alex and I have LOVED our 4 1/2 hour long class together. We have had many laughs, many many laughs, and I seriously love her.

2. In 17 days, Bryan comes home from his mission. (Or we are going to Costa Rica to pick him up before that!?) This is still up in the air. But anywho, I still see him in somewhere around 17 days nonetheless! I CAN'T WAIT!

3. In 36 days I leave for Mexico. That's almost a month. I will be on a PLANE to MEXICO for almost FOUR MONTHS!! OH MY GOSH. This one freaks me out the most. Can't wait!!!!! So obviously, since I haven't left yet, I don't have any pictures of myself there. Luckily I have some good people to stalk who have been to Mexico in previous semesters through ILP, so I yoinked a few of their pictures.

My life is sure a crazy one, but I am loving every second!! Until next time....

Like a miniature Buddha, covered in hair

2010-10-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

This is Baxter!

He's our newest member of the family.

He is an 8 week old Maltese, and we absolutely love him already!

He's smaller than this little stuffed animal. Seriously a toy dog.

He is very tiny right now, and they said he should only get a little bit bigger! He will only be about 4-6 pounds

Jack & Baxter got along VERY well on their first night together! We can tell they are gonna be good friends! Look at that size difference!!!

Just as long as Baxter doesn't poop in the refrigerator, or eat a whole wheel of cheese, I think I will take him to foggy London town, because he's my little gentleman.

Thank you Anchorman for giving us so much humor to use with our little dog.

It's never too late....

2010-09-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

Today I put to use one of my favorite mottos....

It's never too late (or too early, in my case) to buy a new swim suit for summer :)

I had a gift card (thanks brookie!!) and I wanted to put it to good use.

SOO.... I bought this beauty about 5 minutes ago from Shabby Apple. I'm obsessed!! Can't summer just come back?!?!?!

Peek-a-boo babies!

2010-08-20T14:46:00.000-07:00

Cutie little Aaron and Belen!!

Back to Memory Lane...

2010-08-11T17:26:00.000-07:00

So in memory of good old Mountain View High School starting today, I thought I would look back on my high school years and post pictures of some of my favorite memories!! There are tons of pictures... get ready!!

I would love my life even more...

2010-07-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

If anyone knows where I can buy one of these sweaters... please let me know.

I seriously want one

I WANT THESE!!

2010-06-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

Cutest giveaway here:
http://ohdeedoodalee.blogspot.com/2010/06/toms-giveaway.html

I love toms i love toms i love toms i love toms i love toms!!!

p.s. aren't these the cutest toms you've ever seen? i am dying!

Second cutest giveaway here:
http://boydandniki.blogspot.com

I want to win a necklace! This one in particular...

This is the best day evvveeer. So many giveaways! yay!!!

Telemarketing Secret.... shh...

2010-06-07T22:51:00.001-07:00

So you know those annoying telemarketers that call to see if they can help you lower your interest rates and stuff?
......
I am one of them! Don't judge me!! I just started last week at my new summer job... I was desperate, and my Mexico trip is not gonna pay for itself!
I work in a call center calling people from all over the United States about interest rates. It's kinda fun sometimes, but other times, I hate it!! But I promise I'm not an annoying caller, I'm a nice one!

Want to hear a telemarketing secret??

Next time you have one call your house or your cell phone, listen to them!!! OR let them off nicely and tell them you aren't interested, and ask politely to have them add you to the Do Not Call list. Without yelling or being rude! Because let me fill you in on something that I've seen at work....
Sometimes telemarketers don't add people to the Do Not Call list when they are asked to, because they think the person is being rude!

DUN DUN DUNNNNN!

Shh.... you didn't hear it from me!

Thirteen things you might not know...

2010-05-23T22:59:00.001-07:00

1. I have 5 freckles on my right arm, in the shape of a trapezoid. Sometimes when I wear jackets in the winter, I connect my freckles just for fun!

2. I wear my feelings on my sleeve... and my face. Very clearly. When I think something is repulsive, I will definitely make a face. I'm unintentionally judgmental and thinking before I make a face or speak is definitely something I need to work on.

3. When we lived in Maryland, I was a brownie girl scout! But once, we took a trip to the zoo, and I read a magazine the whole way there, and then I threw up. So I stopped being a brownie. I never even got to sell girl scout cookies!

4. I only like captain crunch because Scotty loves it. Secretly I hate it a lot because it tears up the roof of my mouth! But I pretend like it's the best food in the world, just to make him happy!

5. Sometimes I brush my teeth with bubble gum toothpaste because it makes me feel like a kid again!!

6. I've always wanted to donate blood, and I probably would have in high school, but I never weighed enough because I'm a shawwty. But now, I probably would be too scared because when I see needles, it's not good.

7. I am a people watcher. When I used to ride the light rail, I was completely entertained the whole way, even when I didn't have my ipod or something to read. I just watched people, the whole hour ride out to Phoenix. I saw interesting people, heard interesting things, shared a little bit about the gospel with a few people, and even had a few emotional experiences. I once saw these deaf people communicating, and I definitely started crying.

8. Wearing chap stick or lip gloss makes me feel a billion times better about myself, don't ask me why!

9. I am sorry if you hate Justin Bieber, but I'm in love with his voice and his songs. Ya, he's not the cutest thing in the world, and he is like 12, but this is a thing I am passionate about!! His songs are catchy! Judge me all you want, but I am not changing my mind!

10. I stress out when I have to make big decisions. It scares me that my life could be changed by just one choice, and then I'd have to live with that decision forever. And ever. And ever. And ever! So I pray a lot before I make big decisions.

11. When I drive by myself, I pretend like my steering wheel is a drum set, and I sing my heart out, and I even dance!! One time, this old guy was laughing at me because I was jamming at a stop light, and I just waved at him, and he started dancing in his car too. I love people and think everyone should have fun in their cars!!

12. I procrastinate everything! All my homework assignments were definitely done the night before they were due this past semester. I feel like procrastination gets me better grades, if it is believable. My proof: I got straight A's this semester! I work hard, but just the night before :)

13. This one is definitely not be a secret to my friends, but I cry when I watch t.v, or movies, or anything. Even when Vienna won the Bachelor, I cried. I cry when anyone gets voted off American Idol, or so you think you can dance, or pretty much ANYTHING! I'm such a cry baby.

The End!

Meh-Hee-Coh!

2010-05-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

I got my city assignment today... I am going to PUEBLA, Mexico! I couldn't be more excited!!

:) :) :)

From my research so far, Puebla seems like an absolutely beautiful city, but it has some amazing architecture and buildings!

Tri/Try

2010-04-28T22:55:00.000-07:00

On June 12th, me and my super athletic sister-in-law Jamie are going up to Payson for the PAYSON SPRINT TRIATHLON!!! I couldn't be any more excited!!

Since Jamie is very legit, she sent me a training schedule to help keep me on track to be successful in this race! It's a 15 mile bike ride, 3 mile run, and 500 meter swim. Tonight, Jamie came over and I started my first day of training. We biked 5 miles, and it was GREAT!! It only took us a half hour, but we are getting better :)

Luckily my mom and dad are avid bikers, so my mom has some AWESOME cushiony spandex which rock my world because that bike seat can get pretty uncomfortable! So I decided I'd wear them tonight. And since it was so late when we went biking, I thought I would wear my fluorescent green shirt too so I wouldn't get stolen!! Good thing it was dark and nobody could see me but Jamie!

p.s. it's the first time in my life I have ever had a black booty. I might wear those cushions all the time.

Que emocionante!

2010-04-01T09:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Kaitlyn,

We are happy to inform you that you have been accepted to participate in the ILP program during the Spring semester of 2011. We congratulate you on being qualified to volunteer during a semester abroad!

Mexico, here I come!!!!!!!!!!

Making my day

2010-02-27T17:46:00.001-08:00

This picture is makin my day. Me and chloe were just taking a picture by the big moon, and jack got jealous. I love Jack. He only wanted to be in the picture, poor fellow...
Jack is my bff!

P.s. Me and chloe find it kind of ironic that we both blogged about our dogs today :)

Go To Jail...

2010-02-23T12:03:00.000-08:00

This weekend some friends and I went to California for the weekend. We went to Six Flags, the Sandiego temple, and La Jolla Cove. It was such a pretty weekend! the weather was fantastic, and it was so fun to spend time with friends.

This is us at six flags before X2, the first ride of the day! We all wore matching shirts and we got sooo many great comments.
Chloe and I were the only ones who had been to six flags before, so everyone else was in for a treat! I love love love rollercoasters

This is Batman, of course. My idol. Except I have to say I was quite disappointed with this Batman. He was awkward and suuuuper creepy!

The Sandiego Temple was beautiful as always. This is my absolute favorite temple. SOOOO gorgeous.

The water in the ocean was sooo super cold, and it was rainy and cloudy, but sooo pretty and perfect for pictures. But of course Petey had to get in the water! SO funny!

Just had to practice some spanish on the beach!

My friends rock. The End.

Hasta La Pasta!

2010-02-03T21:58:00.000-08:00

So, it's been a long time since I've blogged! Let me recap on what's been happening in my life lately....

I started my second semester at ASU! School is great and I am just staying busy with all my classes. I am looking for a job except i'm not 18. que triste!

I spent some time with my very best friend Scott and said my final goodbye as he leaves on his mission for two years! I bought a count down chart. don't judge me. Honduras will love him!!

Some of my best friends are down from BYU, and I got to spend time with Kimberly! And I miss her!

For our "Galentines Day" celebration, some of my friends had some fun dressing up and going to the sugar bowl in Scottsdale to eat lunch and dessert. We got some great looks from a lot of the people there, and one lady even asked us if we were 15 or 16. Really!? I didn't get any really good group pictures because the same lady didn't know how to work a camera, and kept moving the camera before the picture actually took! What a silly old woman.

For President's day tomorrow I am going to.... Go to school. ¡Qué asco! I am quite upset about it, seeing as how ASU is the onlyyyyy school that is in class tomorrow! I even have a paper due and a spanish test.

Well, that's my life!! Hasta la pasta!

Cutest little twins in town

2009-12-11T11:42:00.001-08:00

This morning I had a math final at approximately 7:30 a.m. sharp.

This morning I woke up really late!

I went out to my car and was even more late because there was ICE on my winshield. I thought it was supposed to be warm here!

I went to school to take my math final, ran to class cuz i was going to be late, and I almost died cuz it's so cold!

I walked in late of course, and as I sat down... I realized that I forgot my calculator. Awesome, huh?!

But then I came home and I was looking through pictures and this favorite video popped up of the cutest twins in town, and I just wanted to share it with the world. I just love these kids. They brightened my gloomy day!

P.s. You have to watch till the very end- that's the best part.

P.s.s. I actually ended up doing extremely well on my math test, even without a calculator. Yay for A's in math!!

P.s.s.s. I only have 1 more final then i'm D-U-N DONE with my first semester of college. yay!

BANDWAGON!

2009-11-14T16:28:00.000-08:00

Let me tell you my life story..
Thursday afternoon I went to the doctor, and I spazzed out because the nurse had to take some of my blood. Almost passed out. Threw up on the table. It was the worst thing ever!!
So I thought... why in the WORLD am I doing nursing!? I can't handle anything dealing with needles, even thinking about it, and I just get queasy over everything, and I pretty much black out every other day (not really). I know it's something I've been planning on for practically a year, and I know I would LOVE to do something in life to help people, but I'd rather not help people by inflicting pain upon them, and inflicting pain upon myself by breaking tables with my head!!! hehe.
SOOOOO.......... it's official........ I am such a crowd follower... and I'm changing my major.
I still want to do something to help people and i want to be able to have flexibility and be able to choose what I do when I am done with school.

I have decided. I think am going to major in... dun dun dunn
Speech and Hearing Science!
I'm gonna be a speech pathologist (speech therapist).
Say what?
Definition: Speech-language pathologists work with people who cannot produce speech sounds or cannot produce them clearly; those with speech rhythm and fluency problems, such as stuttering; people with voice disorders, such as inappropriate pitch or harsh voice; those with problems understanding and producing language; those who wish to improve their communication skills by modifying an accent; and those with cognitive communication impairments, such as attention, memory, and problem solving disorders. They also work with people who have swallowing difficulties.

After researching this, and talking to people who are currently in the program or who have already graduated, it sounds like something that I totally will LOVE! I am so super excited! Yay!!!! p.s.. my friend kimberly is doing the same thing. we both switched our majors from nursing to this, but she was first! I promise I am not copying her though!! I sure love her! The end!

P.S. last night, I went to see Phantom of the Opera at Gammage, and it was AWESOME! It was so good, I will admit that I cried. I recommend it to everyone! Bye!

proud aunt of eleven!! :)

2009-10-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

I know Chris & Jamie will be blogging about their new little twins, but I just have to share the news too :)!!

Aaron McKay
5 lbs, 14 oz

and Belen MacKenzie
5 lbs, 12 oz

(don't mind jamie back there hehe)
were born exactly a week ago today, and i'm so glad to have them here to meet their favorite aunt kait!

cutest new little family

they love me the most though, most definitely. i love coming home from school and holding them all day! i mean, who even needs to study when these kids are here?

This has to be the cutest picture ever!

what a good dad!!!

i loveeee my nieces and nephews!!!

OOOH Fridays..

2009-09-18T13:17:00.000-07:00

Every Friday, I hop on the light rail, try to sit by someone normal, and ride out to Phoenix for the best class ever invented.... ASU 101. SIIIKKKEEE. This is by far the most pointless class ever. What's the point of it? Someone please inform me.

ANYWHO.... I'm not even bored!!!!!!!!! I have about 2 HOURS to sit and do whatever I want! Soooo I play on the computer! They have this great little room of macs and i just love it. lots. And today, I turned the computer on mute, and I took pictures. YESSSSS.
There's people all around me working (probably on very important things... you know, journalism stuff), and I'm over here taking pictures of myself on this mac. How professional.

WELP... asu 101 is calling my name :) peace out earthlings
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f-r-i-e-n-d-s :)

2009-08-25T00:09:00.000-07:00

"Even though we've changed & we're all finding our own place in the world, we all know that when the tears fall, or the smile spreads across our face, we'll come to each other... because no matter where this crazy world takes us, nothing will ever change so much to the point where we're not all still friends."

BLACK OUT

2009-08-02T23:16:00.000-07:00

Picture 1

Picture 2... i.v. included

ICH LIEBE OSTERREICH!!!

2009-07-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

Monday I got back from the coolest trip ever! My choir at Mountain View had the chance to go on tour to Germany and Austria to sing at the 200th anniversary of Haydn's death. It was such a fun experience! Now i'm going to write all about it! WOOOO! This is gonna be a verrrry long post. hehehe

So in chicago we had a 5 hour layover, and since I got absolutely 0 hours of sleep the night before, I slept practically the whole time!!

We had these awesome little video screens in front of our seats that showed where we were, and we got to pick movies to watch on them! Except I only watched one movie and slept the whole rest of the time! bahah!

Welcome to Germany!!! look at how green it is!

in Germany we took a boat ride, and got to walk around and see Neuschwanstein Castle and it was absolutely beautiful! Everything was so green and rainy and beautiful!

Then we got to SALZBURG, my absolutely favorite city of the entire trip!! It was just the cutest little town ever! One day in Salzburg we went to the Salt Mines. Woo hoo, right? BUT SERIOUSLY.. funnest thing ever! First of all, we got to wear these awesome outfits, and of course I just HAD to pretend I was a little gangsta for at least 5 minutes :) We rode down deep into the mines on trains, and then we got to slide down looong slides, and it was the funnest thing ever!!

The after picture! It started pouring as we were getting out of the mines! YAY rain!

Later that day we went shopping in Salzburg! MVT orchestra was also there, and I saw brooke outside some of the shops!

We had a quick recital in this room where Mozart has performed. It was awesome!

We got to walk around the Mirabel gardens, and take pictures in many places famous in the Sound of Music!

It was fun to walk around and pose with the statues and just be with all my best friends!!

Then we had a concert in a beautiful church!& we were advertised all around Salzburg! just kidding :) but we did see a paper about it!

we love gelato

Also in Salzburg, we went to a cemetery (notice the frowns), had a recital in the Salburg Dom (AMAZING ACOUSTICS- WOW, COOLEST THING EVER), met this creepster man who blessed my friend Eric with his flower power :), and took a cable car ride up to the Fortress (saw an amazing view of all of Salzburg.. BEAUTIFUL)

i found chupa chups! my favorite sucker!

So then it rained like every day. and I planned my outfit, it matches very well

YAYAYAY we also went to the sound of music gazebo!

So we left Salzburg and went on this beautiful boatride on our way to Graz!! It was the cutest little town that we stopped in, and we had free time so we hiked up on some rolling hills and it was definitely a big hike up there! But tooootally worth it. It was beautiful.

Austria has the best gelato ever!!!! we had it almost every day

We were only in Graz for one day. But here, we had our first real paid gig :) Well we all got together, and started singing in the town square, and we had a hat put out in front of us, and we totally made like 25 euro. how great! bahaha it was so funny to see people stop and watch us, then put money in our hat.

Then we left Graz and went to Vienna! WOO! Vienna was great. It also was totally like a big city, so it wasn't that small country feel like Salzburg was. But it was still awesome to be able to be in the music capital of the world!!!

Our first stop on the way to Vienna was the Bosendorfer factory... the nicest pianos EVER! We have one at our school, don't ask me how! They are super duper expensive and are like a couple hundred thousand dollars. SHEESH

We also went to the grave sites of famous composers like Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms.

One day, while we were shopping in vienna I found this store that completely reminded me of home. Good old grandma cecile

The whole group

The last few days we were there, we had some pretty long rehearsals! We had 4 hours one day, 6 hours the next, and our big concert the next day!!
But before our big concert, we had the opportunity to go to a church in Vienna! One of the chaperones went to Vienna on his mission, so he talked to the people, found out when it was, and got us permission to sing a musical number in church! Awesome possom!

This was the church we got to sing in for a final performance the last night, and some of the pictures after the performance!

Pascal, our favorite Austrian tour guide EVER!

I miss Austria so much and the trip was definitely the coolest experience ever!
The End!!

Ummm... I'm sorry about your table....

2009-06-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

I think I have the worst luck of anyone on the face of the planet. My wisdom teeth experience is definitely not over and I have a sad, but hilarious story to tell.
So Friday night I was in lots of pain.
Come to find out, I have dry sockets! OUCH! I went through the whole weekend hurting pretty bad, and the medicine was definitely not helping! So mom called the doctor yesterday morning (Dr. Gasssssssss) and says "HEY Kaitlyn's hurting, etc etc...." so he says "OK! Come in today at 1:45 and we can fix her up."
So I'm thinking... yes! it's gonna feel better, since I'm going to Austria in like 5 days! Perfect!
SOOOO at 1:00 I leave and head on over to Dr. Gass's office out in Chandler, driving my little car, feeling just great, but a little hungry. Hmm.
I get to the office, and they take me right back to the room I got my wisdom teeth out in. DUN DUN DUNNNNN. I walked right in and said "Wow, I hate this room" and the little assistant says... "Oh don't worry, this visit will only take a minute today, and there's no laughing gas or i.v's or anything!" Pheew what a relief.
So she looks in my mouth and says "Yep! You have a dry socket in that tooth, This will definitely just take a minute!" So the doctor comes in, they get this little gauze thing ready with some stuff on it, and he puts it right in my tooth and says "OK you're done! come back tomorrow or the next day to get it changed out!" And I'm like WOW that was quick! So I get up... walk into the lobby, and I'm standing there at the desk, and I say "Umm this kinda hurts my mouth" and the nurse just says "Oh you're fine, it'll numb up in about 10 minutes" and I just said "Well I feel really weird" and I turned right around and that's the last thing I remember!
I woke up and my head was throbbing and I was laying on the floor! I blacked out! I have never done that in my entire life!!!! HOW EMBARRASSING! Luckily, there was no one else in the waiting room :)
So the nurses grab the doctor and they all run over, and the doctor elevates my legs and then just looks at this table next to me, and he's like "wow, you broke my table." Umm, sorry?
And of course I was out of it completely, everything was dark and everything sounded so funny.
So he gets me up, we walk into the other room with the chair (the same one I laid in after my wisdom teeth!) and I black out AGAIN!!!! right when I hit the chair. BAHAHAHA why do I have such bad luck?!?! I woke up from being blacked out and was like... "UH I'm gonna throw up." So they grab me this bucket and I start throwing up! It seems like i am ALWAYS getting sick at the most inopportune times. Gee.
So he lifts me up, carries me into the scary wisdom teeth room, and the nurse says, "k we're just gonna give you some oxygen" and she puts the oxygen laughing gas mask thing on my face. I hate the smell of that stuff. So the doctor then grabs my arm and says, "we're gonna hook you up to the I.V." AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! So I just started crying!

does this really not scare abyone else?
I just blacked out in the middle of a waiting room, slammed my head on the table, blacked out again, and NOW I have to get an i.v.
I got the i.v... IT actually made me feel a loooot better, I'm ashamed to admit.
So Dr. Gass called mom, she was all the way in North Phoenix working, so she had to get over to Chandler, SOO i was there just chillin in the room! After a while, he took the i.v. and gas off, and I went back into the comfy chair.
So I'm sitting there, and start to realize that my head is throbbing. I start to feel my head and I have this fatty goose egg on my head! Right about then the doctor walks by, and says "Is your head hurting? You hit that table really hard." And then of course I hear "Yep that table's done for, you broke it pretty good" GEE WIZ I'm sorry! :) How embarrassing.
SO mom gets there, Dr. Gass tells the story to her (and includes the part about me breaking the table) and we left. We got in the car and mom just started hysterically laughing that I broke a table with my head! BAHAHAHA ya it was pretty funny.
BUUUUUT.... I'm good now! Just have a headache under the fatty goose egg. Ouch. :)
I think I'm done with Dr. Gass's office for a while. NOT. I have to go back either today or tomorrow.
Wish me luck. Maybe I'll break another table. Hahahaha

5 Big Mac's please?

2009-06-19T01:32:00.000-07:00

This past Monday I got my wisdom teeth out. It was one of the best experiences of my life. SIKE. But really, it wasn't tooooo bad. Doctor GASS was my doctor. SIIICK HUH?! It was super quick, i didn't even get stitches!, and i was HIGH AS A KITE. and I LOVED IT. The only thing I remember is hating the laughing gas and practically hyperventilating before getting the i.v!! I'm such a baby and cry whenever I see a needle. how am I going to be a nurse? I'll get used to it... hopefully. Mom and dad said I was asking them for cheese quesadillas from Filli B's and 5 big macs on the way home. And I don't remember a dang thing!

Mom got me to open my eyes and smile for about 2 seconds. If you can see, my shirt says "It was a GASSzzzzzz." shirt courtesy of dr. gass. what a guy.

anywho, the pain really wasn't too bad for the first few days! I have grrrreat friends who really made the recovery fantastic. they came over and watched movies with me, and so you think you can dance, and i got lots of ice cream and jamba juices and popsicles! i love love love my friends. alllsooo i love my mom and dad. Mom and dad went out and bought lots of pudding and jello and everything else i could have ever asked for. They are great. I love them lots and lots. they watched movies with me, and gave me my vicaden and sat with me when i cried. ouch. enough of this. on a happy note... i'm not too swollen! which is great! my poor friend kimberly got hers out a few days before me, and she was like 10 times worse. :(

SOOOO.... i'm feeling lots better, and i'm sure glad that's over!!

Time for an update!

2009-06-08T18:35:00.001-07:00

Soo.. I'm sick in bed, so I figure that right now is the best time to update my blog :)

SOOO, school is over! I graduated!! from seminary and school! woo!

Graduation was great! It was nice weather, not too hot and not too cold. But it RAINED!! And i loved it! It's so crazy to think that I'll not be going back to Mountain View next year. Weird! I'll be at ASU! How silly.

Oh yes... and as you can see from the pictures, Jamie chopped all my hair off! I luhuhuuuuuve it.

Anywho, i'm completely enjoying the summer, and I can't wait for AUSTRIA in less than 3 weeks! YAY! I've never been to Europe, so I'm super super duper excited

But until then.... yoga on :)

Everything!!

2009-03-13T17:00:00.001-07:00

DECEMBER!
Sedona!

Bryan left :(

JANUARY!!
Ice skating for the first time ever!

Singing at the state capital with PREMIERE!

Acceptance to ASU nursing program and provost $7,500/yr scholarship!

Winter Formal with Brock King!

FEBRUARY!
Regionals... 7th chair!

Sadies day activity with tyler fletcher!
not even all our group... (we're in black!!)

MARCH!!
SADIES with fletch! we are sailors!

Brooke and Kimberly!

Ice Skating- FREEEEEZZZING!

THE END!!

It's a big deal!

2008-11-13T17:04:00.000-08:00

So I finished my online chemistry class with a 94%! HOOORAY!! And yesterday I got my license. WATCH OUT. Just kidding I am a great driver! SO fab. Well I have things to do, people to see, and places to be. BAHAHAH ya right. I HAVE HOMEWORK!!! bye!

My dear friend B!!

2008-09-26T17:23:00.000-07:00

Soo... The most recent update in my life is about my friend Brantley who is seriously one of my favorite people ever!! The past week or so he has been really sick. He has had really bad head-aches, dizziness, numbness on the left side of his body, loss of vision and hearing, lazy eye in his left eye and his personality has been really different. So on Wednesday, B went in for an MRI, and got his results back that day- and the doctors told him that he has Cavernous Angioma- which is a blood clot right by his brain in the back of his neck. They told him that it was really serious and they needed to get him to the hospital right away, so that night they took Brantley to the hospital and put him in the ICU. They told him that they would need to get him into surgery quickly because they didn't know if the blood clot had already started bleeding. He stayed in the ICU from midnight on and at about 4:00 on Thursday afternoon they put B in an induced coma and the doctors started on surgery. Thursday during the day, my friend Ashlyn talked to him and she said that he was way optimistic and was trying not to be scared. She asked him how he was doing and he said "Well Ash, I haven't eaten since Midnight, I've got two huge needles sticking out of my arm, and I am SOO bored!" That made us way more positive and happy when we heard his positive attitude. So he had the surgery on Thursday night. From what I hear, they cut a 3 inch part out of the back of his skull right underneath his hair-line and did the surgery, and then put in titanium plates. The doctors as of right now are just making sure that they have all of the blood clotting and everything finished with his blood vessels and they are saying that they are pretty sure they got everything out. Today in the afternoon they took B out of the coma, and they said he is really miserable. He is really nautious and the whole left side of his body is really numb/ slightly paralyzed. They started him on therapy today which was really good, but his mom says that he is just really miserable because he wants to get up and move around and is frustrated that he can't move the left side of his body at all. This year I've spent lots of time with Brantley because he's a section leader with me in Chorale, so it was really hard for me and our close friends. We all fasted for him for a full day today/yesterday and are glad that things are going good!! Keep him in your prayers! He should be back to school in a few weeks, but the doctors say he probably still will not have a lot of feeling in his face or his left side of his body at all for a while so he'll probably need a wheel chair! I'm just so glad he's doing ok right now!!

More school!!

2008-09-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

School has been good!! I've been having fun in all my classes! Lunch is still my favorite part of the day. bwahah! I have a's in all my classes... i think? I have 3 AP classes, so this year is pretttty difficult!

SOOO.. this picture is me and Kimberly at lunch.

Ok.. crazy story... So the other day we got stuck in a lockdown. I guess some guys were walking around by the neighborhoods by the school with guns. SCARY!! It was like right as we were coming in from lunch that they announced it, so all the security guards were just riding around the parking lot screaming at all the seniors getting back from lunch to run to the nearest classroom so we sprinted into the main building and just hung out in our government clas for a few hours! It was way fun actually cuz there was tons of fun people in there.. even though like half of us didn't even have that hour of government! It was pretty great.. So this picture is me Lauren and Lindsey and we just are sad that there's creepster guys with guns!

So school has pretty much been all that I've been doing. Except I've been to the d-backs game a few times lately with Brooke. It's super fun! Brooke loves to buy hotdogs EVERY time we go. She is crazy. She gets like the monster-dogs. And i just get the blue shaved ice! (Hence the blue lips). AND, might i add... we got on the jumbotron BOTH times we went! And one time it was just like me and brooke up on there. It was the greatest. Its cuz we had our DBACKS pride!! We had our shirts on and we were dancing during one of the songs it was playing, so it like zoomed up on me and brooke. Dang it was the greatest day ever. I was so happy! This is the second time we went.. we didn't get on the jumbo tron for too long cuz we weren't wearing our siiiiick d-backs shirts. too bad huh?

Hm.. well things are going good besides that! I'm going to homecoming with Lucas- the one I went on that goodwill date with that I wrote about a few months ago! It should be suppperr fun i'm veryyy excited!! Ok welp see ya!

Senior year!

2008-08-24T11:44:00.000-07:00

my senior year has started! It's so busy!!! I've got 7 classes! I'm enjoying them all though, so it should be a fun/busy year! This is me and Ashlyn at lunch! I love going off-campus. It's my new favorite thing ever.

SO.... this is the other new part of my life.. WORK!!! I work at Milano Music and I LOVE it!! I look like a weirdo in that picture. Hmm. Well... Brooke works there with me, but we both work super hard and never get a chance to sit down all day! I work right there behind the counter where those guys are. We do band and orchestra rentals, and pretty much I know everything about all those instruments now! It's so great. I work every day after school, so I'm staying busy, that's for sure!

Hmm... well nothing else is new! BYE!

Girls Camp

2008-07-26T12:26:00.001-07:00

I just got back from girls camp this past week... super super fun! We had a new group of girls since our stake got re-organized, but it was incredibly fun!!!!

This was our bus driver. He actually passed Camp LoMia and then all the sudden, someone on our bus yelled out "HEY WE MISSED THE TURN!!" and our bus driver was mad!!! He was like, umm no.. according to this map, we didn't. and so all of us were like "yes you did!!!!" hahah it was the best.. but he did wear the cowboy hat since our theme was western!

on the bus...

so our leaders bought us crocs! YA YA YA!!! we all wore them every day!

our ward leaders that me and alex love!! Oh ya... and as you can see, me and alex are sportin the MAMMA MIA shirts! WOO HOO!! We went and saw it the night before we went to camp, and we loved it!!

IT POURED AT GIRLS CAMP!!!! k so this seriously was the funnest thing ever!! It was really cold rain, so we were all freezing and didn't play for TOO long, AND there was this monster thunder sound, and i swear it was like right next to us. So we all ran inside!!! Scariest thing of my life.

Anywho, girls camp was a blast! and i'm sad summer is almost over! Here's some recent news for those of our family who don't call me anymore (*cough cough EVERYONE*)... I PASSED MY ENGLISH AP TEST, I got a job working at Milanos Music and I start August 2nd working on rentals, and I'm taking 7 classes for my senior year! IT should be fun. Everyone that lives in arizona should come visit me and rent a violin or something while I work! ok wellppp peace out!

beginning of summer

2008-06-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

here are some random pictures!! the first are a few of when i babysat wes one day, the others are from a date i went on lastnight with my friend lucas! we went to goodwill and got some crazy clothes and then went around to places in our clothes- we ate at costa vida and took pictures by the fountain, and then we went to the bookstore nextdoor and ran around! then we just went to caleb's and pretty much had an ice cream fight with blindfolds on! lots of fun! wellp bye!

EFY

2008-06-01T16:31:00.001-07:00

i went to efy in provo this past week and it was a BLAAASSSSTTTTTTT!! i went with alex and we seriously had so much fun and i've never laughed so hard in my life!! here are some crazy pictures.....

on the plane to utah!!!

ya i know this picture is sideways and i can't figure out how to rotate it. hmm. but it's my favorite. we had a game to see who could make the ugliest face hahahahaha

our guy counselors names were jared and jess! they were aweeeessoommmeee!

we saw a whole bunch of friends from mesa. like half the young women from mine and alex's ward was there too.

game night! our company was seriously the coolest! we were hard core spirited and always yelled. if there still was a spunity award, we would have won fo shizzle.

our girls group! sooo so fun. that girl next to me on the end is in our ward. so random, we didn't even plan it! it was way fun though!

our gangsta picture. i didn't even have to try it just comes naturally to me! bahahah just kidding

so at the talent show this guy turned his feet around backwards. it was sick. and then he started walking around and it was so nasty!!!!

our friend cory from tucson

me and alex on the last day before the dance

us with cheyenne and brooke

jumping picture! brigham square

dance!

going craaazzyyy

our messy hallway full of trash! we ate sooo much! on pizza night we had 4 pizzas, and one of the guys group in our company only ate 3. oh ya... and on pizza night, i shoved a whole piece of pizza in my mouth and everyone got it on video. I'll have to see if i can find it for you guys.. i know chris would love it since we are the presidents of the big mouth club.

prom!

2008-04-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

Prom was this weekend... Here is a totally random slideshow of all the pictures I took and ones mom took. Some of them are just like really random. There are some from the dance, mud caves, and from six flags! and yes... hannah montana is playing in the background! she's my girl!! and i don't really know how to work the whole slideshow thing? it took me like a half hour to put music on it, i'm not very tecnologically advanced sometimes. Sorry if it's all messed up looking, i just threw some stuff on and grabbed my favorite songs. BWAHAHAH

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

San Francisco!

2008-04-06T20:06:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago my choir took a trip to san francisco to record at skywalker studios- the most famous recording studio in the world- ya ya ya... be jealous!! While we were there we got to do a lot of fun stuff and sight seeing, and we just chilled! It was such a fun trip... I took a ton of pictures, but here are a few of what we did...

We got to walk along the Golden Gate Bridge! We didn't get to go the whole way though because we only had like an hour... and it was VERY COLD!!!! it was super windy the whole time we were there, and it was the weekend after a big storm they had, so it added to the coldness!

the second day we recorded at skywalker studios!!!! I thought this picture was cool because we all have pefect vowels te he he. just kidding, but i really did think this picture was neat! those microphones right there are about 6 thousand dollars a piece. Ya so... when we were walking around, I accidentaly tripped on one and now I owe them a crap load of money.

JUST KIDDING! hahahahah. that would realllllyyy be a bummer

George Lucas' private masion (the owner of Skywalker). I think it's his house, but they actually told us it was his "office." If that's just an office, I wonder what his actual house looks like! Holy Hannah, it's ginormous.

this might have been one of the best popsicles i've ever eaten!

K... so Friday we had workshops all day!! We were suposed to go to an exchange with another school and sing stuff for them and they'd sing for us, but it was their spring break and that happened to slip their mind when we planned it all! So we found some critiques and workshop people and that was pretty fun... we took some pictures inbetween the workshops and ate delicious popsicles :)

Saturday was our free day!!! We woke up and went on the Great White Fleet San Francisco bay cruise!! It was lots of fun! At the beginning it felt like a rollercoaster and it was a blast, i was having so much fun.. but by the end it was getting really rocky and just slow and i started to get pretty sea-sick! But I was fine and didn't throw up on anyone. :) After our cruise we got to just walk around the city and do whatever we wanted! I went with some girls to this good food place and I had a clam-chowder bread-bowl. It was DELICIOUS! I was lovin it!!! Ok.. so here's some pictures from the cruise and from our day shopping and playing around the pier..

We went around Alcatraz!! It was pretty awesome!!

These seals were so cool....

Ashlyn, Me and Brooke by the seals!

cool silver guy in downtown san fran!!! He would just jump out and scare us as we walked by!! We all thought he was fake. It was pretty awesome!

I have a ton ton ton ton ton more pictures but these are probably just a few things we did summed up into a few pictures!! it was a blast!

snowboarding weekend!

2008-02-21T15:29:00.001-08:00

Chris and Jamie took me snowboarding the other weekend and Bryan and a few of his friends went too. It was looootttssssss of fun!! I pretty much ate it big time the whole day, but it was still lots of fun! I threw up off the ski lift and hit some guy's board that just standing there below us, which was probably the highlight of my day.. wow. We kept yelling at the guy to move, but he just wouldn't, so hey, i just threw up on him. HA!!!!!! I was kinda feeling sick the whole rest of the day, so thanks chris and jamie for putting up with me! it was very much fun, and I did ok!! I definitely want to do that again!!

Yep, I know. We're hardcore.

Oh and here's some pictures of the tile in the living room. I don't know if mom was ever gonna put some on her blog, but i'll put some anyways...

And I have another funny video of Wes.. It is hilarious when he tries to say bryan!!! Listen to how he says it...

will you count me in

2008-01-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

I love when Wes comes over to play! I babysat him a few days before Cindy and the kids came and I was practicing my picture-taking skills with my new camera. He figured out what the water thing was in the kitchen and wanted me to keep pushing it down so he could drink water. It was hilarious! He cracks me up.

It was fun having cindy, paul and the kids down for christmas!!! This was the only picture i took the whole time of them when they were all together and all of them are kinda smiling! ...Kinda

These videos of Ashlyn made us laugh so hard! I still cant stop laughing HAHA! You have to listen to the song bubbly by colbie caillat, and it makes these videos even funnier!!!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAH

2007-12-21T11:20:00.000-08:00

We had our Ashby Christmas Party a few weeks ago and mom took pictures of all the couples and me and bryan were a little left out ... so mom took pictures of us!!! I don't really have anything going on.. it's christmas break! that is pretty exciting i guess! I GOT A B IN ANATOMY!!!!! YAAAAHHHHH BBBAAABBBYYYYYYYY!! peace out!

2007-12-06T16:27:00.000-08:00

ya ya ya, get off the road everyone... I got my permit! hoooo de hooooooooooo!!!