friday morning [8.12.11] i woke up and my megan sister was there (she arrived at the ranch the night before from reno). i love her so much. i missed her a lot. it was a weird summer without her.

anyway, so we packed up my car and my parents packed up theirs and we hit the road to utah. we were going to salt lake to maybe go to the zoo before nychea, megan, and i went to my cousin eleshia'sbachelorette party at sapa. we definitely did not make it to the zoo. construction delays, poddy breaks, and food stops made sure that it took us like five whole hours to get there. so instead we went and snatched madison from the salon and hung out at the mall.

the four of us hadn't been together for about two years, so it was a fun reunion. lots of laughing and inside jokes. i have the most fun with these girls. madison & megan bring out the best in each other. seriously they are hilarious. so we went to the bachelorette party. eleshia was beautiful & the food was fantastic.

after dinner we weren't done having fun so we went out to see crazy, stupid, love. it was really great. it was everything: funny, cute, ryan gosling...need i say more?

the next day my family had some fun at this is the place monument, and then that night: the wedding. i definitely cried when eleshia started to walk down the aisle. she looked so beautiful. at 19 i can't believe she is the first one to be married of all the grandkids! but i am so happy for her :)

then there was the reception. then there was chili's with my uncle lyndon's family. then there was a much needed visit with the burke family--and how nice, they let us (megan, me, and nychea) sleep over to minimize our driving time. then there was a beautiful talk by lexady in sacrament on sunday. then there was the long drive home.

one of the best things about the wedding: i got to see people that i love more than anything in the world. family is so important. and i got to spend time with madison before she left for texas! oh texas....

here's some pictures from the wedding :) what a day...

My perfectionism has gotten the best of me.

I haven't written in f o r e v e r because I feel like I don't have time to do it exactly how I want and make it as perfect as possible, so while this may be a bang-up job, here is my last couple months in a nutshell....

UTAH VACA [Part 2]

On Saturday, May 14th when we woke up at Jaxon's my Aunt Monica made us yummmmy German Pancakes.  Then we just hung out with their family all day.  It was so nice to get to talk to my aunt and hear all of her hilarious stories. My little cousins are so stinkin' cute too. :)


That night we headed to Madison's house and stayed there only to wake up SUPER early Sunday morning and make the trek to Pocatello for Elder Duran's farewell.  I was so happy to have Madison and Jaxon with me because I hadn't seen Jordan forever!! His talk was so inspiring, and really touched me--I basically cried the entire time. We had similar stories growing up & moving away from Bear Lake (just goes to show how much that place captures your heart). After sacrament meeting we went to his house for lunch and hung out for awhile! I sure am going to miss him but I know he is making a g r e a t missionary. Jackson, Mississippi: LOOK OUT! :)

Monday, May 16th: Madison had to work! BLAHHH! :( so I started this blog and pretty much worked on it all day. I am so boring.

Taco Tuesday!! YUM! Madison and I got ready and headed to Taco Time to start out our Tuesday date.

After tacos we went to Water for Elephants and it was AMAZING! We both fell in love and I lost count of how many times Madison has seen it now...

On the way home from the movie we stopped and got f'reals for my first time :) basically they changed my life.

"Your quest for happiness is now complete."

We also stopped at the DI and treasure hunted for awhile...I got so much stuff! Basically it is now a Madison & Keisha tradition that every time we are together we make a trip to the DI and find great stuff--supporting my shopping habit while not breaking the bank = success. 

On Tuesday night I went to Salt Lake to get my hair done at my Aunt's salon on 9th & 9th in Salt Lake. I rode the front-runner up there and then went back to PG that night, stayed at my aunt's house, went back to Salt Lake Wednesday morning early and rode the front-runner back to Layton! Talk about a lot of effort for some hair!

Since it was my last day in Utah on Wednesday we decided that the rest of the day would just be spent soaking up the remainder of our time together and we had a 3 movie marathon, 2 Harry Potter movies and the legendary:

I love this movie soooo much! It always, always makes me feel happy :)

Wednesday night and on deserves a separate blog :) geeeez I had no idea this would be my quick recap...I haven't even finished a week! Yikes!

Madi & I waiting for the train

Ever since Madison and I started talking every single day, we have been waiting for the day that we could hang out again! One day we were talking and I just decided right then and there that I was coming to Utah to see her, so I bought a plane ticket.  We counted down the days for over a month and on May 12th the day finally arrived! With my bags packed, Kobee dropped me off at the airport and I flew to Salt Lake to come see Madison.  Although I was sad to say good-bye to Kobee, I was excited to come to Salt Lake!

I landed around 4:00 p.m. on that Thursday afternoon and Madison met me at the airport. I figured she would just pick me up outside, but to my surprise she was standing in the airport waiting for me :]  I was so happy to see her! We hugged for a long time, making the appropriate squealing noises, then just caught up and waited for my bags.  We then drove back to her house where we sat and talked, exchanged birthday gifts and ate dinner.  Her mom is a g r e a t cook so I was excited to dig into a homemade meal that I didn't have to prepare!


After dinner we ran to the store to rent a movie from the Redbox and get some Heaven on Earth, (aka Half Baked Ben & Jerry's ice cream).  When we got back to her house we got in our PJ's, gave each other facials and pedicures, and enjoyed our ice cream while we watched Unstoppable.  Nothing like a little Denzel Washington right before bed. :]


The next morning we got ready and headed to Layton Station to catch the Front Runner to Salt Lake City. For those of you that don't know, Unstoppable is about a run-away train, so it was pretty funny that we were getting on one after watching that movie the night before. 

When we got to the city we jumped on the other train, UTA Trax, and went to The Gateway Mall to do a little shopping. Madison got a bowl (it's a real treasure) from Anthropology, and we both got a "Wreck This Journal" from Urban Outfitters.  

It is a journal that basically gives you instructions on how to ruin it. Haha.  We ate lunch at Applebee's and then took Trax up to Temple Square.

Yummy :]

I was so excited to go see the Temple and just spend some time
at the Visitors Centers there. Everything was so beautiful :] it truly was a perfect day.  It was warm and there wasn't a cloud in the sky as we walked around the gorgeous grounds surrounding the temple.  

There were flowers in every direction and the trees and grass were so perfectly green.  I was mesmerized. While we were there we saw:

The Temple of course :]

The Famous Tabernacle and its organ...

The Conference Center

The Christus

At 4:30 we went and watched the new version of the Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration movie.  They changed it so that people who aren't members of the church can better understand the story.  The old version assumed that whoever was watching already had a lot of knowledge about church history.  As always, the movie was amazing. I can't imagine the scorn that came Joseph's way as he proclaimed that he had seen a vision, and I gained a deep gratitude for the early Saints and their strength.  They were badly persecuted, but they continued to build up the Church and many of them sacrificed almost all they had and moved West when the time came.  The story of the Church is such a testament to me that God is watching over us all and helping us to do the things that need to be done on this Earth.  With out His help I know that the Church never would have lasted.


After the movie Madison and I walked over to Deseret Book to meet my mom who was in town for a doctor's appointment.  She was going to Pleasant Grove to my aunt's and that is where we wanted to go so she came and picked us up.  Lucky me, she bought me new scriptures while we were there too :) yay!

That's right ;)

We got to my aunt's house and hung out for a little bit, but then left to go to a concert. Oh yeah, funny story: so Madison (my best friend) is now dating my cousin Jaxon.  That is why we were going down there really, so that they could hang out:] so a huge group of us went to a concert/block party at Provo Town Square.  It was really fun. A few bands played (including J.Wride and Vibrant Sound), and Sammy's provided free hot dogs for everyone. We had a blast and got to dance a lot.

After the concert we went to In-N-Out to grab some food, and then we went to Ricky's house, one of Jaxon's friends that we were with.  He plays the guitar and sings, so we just sat and listened to him for a while, I ended up singing with him a little bit too.  It was really fun.  He is really talented.

Once Ricky ran out of songs to sing us, at about midnight, we headed back to Jaxon's and c r a s h e d after our long day! It was fun but totally exhausting. I was so happy to get to see my family and spend some good quality time with Madison! Oh how I missed that lady!! :]