THE GOOD LIFE

man.  the past few days have been priiiiime.

we enjoyed this delicious bacon/chicken/cream cheese pasta deliciousness.  mmmm.. thanks melina!

3/14 -- pi day!  we got a surprise last night.  3 boys from our ward brought us 3 pieces of pie to celebrate the special day.  it was awesome! thanks guys! :) 

good morning, byu!  i think march and june got confused this year -- i am lovin it!

yet another good morning picture.  hellooooo sunshine!

everyone (and i mean EVERYONE and their mother) was studying outside because of the joyous weather!

go march madness!  now those of you that know me well enough are probably thinking, what the heck?  shaylee knows absolutely nothing about basketball, why in the world did she make a bracket?  well, kids, i am smart.  and i had riley do my bracket for me...  watch me win :)  haha

and hey, guess what guys? it's almost friday!!  this week -- despite a paper, a test, a lot of homework, a lot of work, and tons of stress -- has been wonderful.  there is joy all around us, all we have to do is find it!  

"we tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have."  <3

PRANKED!

anybody need a good prank idea?

i'm your girl.

get the toilet seat covers from wal mart (props to melina for bringing them to us over christmas break) and stick them on people's cars.  we also wrote mild potty humor on them, all for the viewing pleasure of my best friend jewels.

love you julia!  this is simply payback for the many times you have pranked me.

THE SOUND OF SUNSHINE

so, this song pretty much just describes my mood today:  happy, joyful, and so in LOVE with the sun!

we spent the majority of the afternoon outside on a blanket, laying there reading, homework-ing, talking, and soaking up the sun's amazing rays.

the moments captured today (unfortunately, no pictures of us outside.  i'm a horrible photographer):

yes, we actually put our sunglasses on to go sit outside. whoooooo for summer!! (okay... spring.)

we discovered a new recipe!  we made it up -- be proud!  it's called lemon butter garlic chicken and pasta.  it's pretty much exactly what it sounds like.  it's delicious.  and lemons make everything taste like summer.  haley and i are excited to eat, obviously. 

AND homemade lemonade, straight from AZ and thanks to our lovely melina :) 

here's to summer!  hope your day was equally as lovely and full of sunshine! 

FRY DAY

whoo!!!!!  it's FINALLY friday!

this week has been one of those weeks where every day feels like it drags on.  monday felt like it should be friday already.  tuesday felt like we hadn't had a weekend for a month.  wednesday, i wanted to die.  thursday felt like 3 days all rolled into one.  and now... friday is here!

granted, i still have to take a test.  but as soon as the test is over, i'm going home!

but... i have laundry to do.  and a lot of studying for next week.  and my friday night will probably be spent at home doing these things.

but hey, it's still friday.  and that means two days of no school.  hallelujah!

happy friday to everyone!

ps.  the greatest thing about this friday is the beautiful WEATHER!!! have you been outside? it is lovely.  i'm not even wearing a coat today! not even a jacket! i'm definitely walking home and then staying outside until the sun goes down.  summer, you can't come fast enough! :)

1 PRO, 1 CON

one of the pros about going to byu is that everyone is exceptionally friendly.  walk down the sidewalk and make eye contact with someone, and instead of feeling that awkward shoot we made eye contact, look away..  look away..  feeling, you get a smile and a nod, or maybe even a "hi!"  with complete strangers.  it's a friendly campus.

one of the cons about everyone being so friendly is that when you step off the bus, and the overpowering wind blows a large gust of dust/leaves in your eyes, and they immediately start watering... then everyone you pass on the sidewalk looks at you with concern.  this just happened to me.  10 minutes ago.  my eyes were watering (that dang wind), and not one but TWO people stopped me and said, "are you doing okay?"  one was my lovely visiting teacher, and the other was a complete stranger.  embarrassing.  guys, i'm fine, i'm fine, it's the wind.  thanks though.

SPY ADVICE

my roommates and i are secret agents... shh.  don't tell.  we absolutely love spying on our friends and their dates.

it does make it convenient that we have a peephole, which we can look out whenever we hear someone arriving back home from a date.  whether it be a hug, a handshake, a high-five, a kiss on the cheek, a peck on the lips, or something a little longer than that, those of us watching inside wouldn't miss those moments for the world.  a dtr (for those of you that aren't up-to-date on these fun abbreviations, that means 'define the relationship') is always fun to watch as well.  those call for a longer stake out -- at the window.  i think it's safe to say i have now successfully mastered the art of spying.  want me to let you in on the secrets?

lights = off.  all of them.  your unsuspecting friend and her potential (or maybe not) boyfriend outside can't know what's going on.

blinds = cracked.  we have found that you can hold them with your fingers, but then that gets really old.  the best method for spying is to stick your nose all the way on the window, and hold the blinds down with your nose.  it works quite well.

pillows = necessity.  your neck gets real tired from craning it to see what's going on in the conversation down below.  prop a pillow under your chin, nose holding the blinds open... heck, you could stay like that for hours!

commentary = hilarious.  it's amazing what comes out of your mouth during these secret spy sessions.  "they look upset... it must not be going well."  "oh, well he just put his hand on her knee, that's a good sign."  "are they gonna kiss?"  "i can't see!!"  "they're leaning in...."  "what do you think they're talking about?"  "what could they POSSIBLY be talking about?!"

i'm pretty sure i've done this to every single one of my roommates... without fail.  i don't think any one of them has ever done it to me.  i must be pro!! ;)

BEST

gordon b. hinckley said, "do the best you can.  but i want to emphasize that it be the very best.  we are too prone to be satisfied with mediocre performance.  we are capable of doing so much better."

i think i've allowed myself to forget the importance of this.

doing my best doesn't mean simply doing what i'm barely supposed to -- going to school, working, reading my scriptures, doing some studying, preparing my sunday school lesson the day before (or the day of)...

it's just not enough.

i need to go to school and learn.  i'm at byu, the greatest university ever (yes, i'm biased.  you should ALL be here), and i need to take advantage of this tremendous blessing.  i need to work, the full 20 hours a week, so that i'm not living off yogurt and apples and granola bars.  i need to not only read my scriptures, but study them, and ponder them, and pray about them.  i need to study my hardest so that i can get a great gpa.  i need to prepare my sunday school a week before, and be thinking about it!

shaylee k -- it's time to be your very BEST.

anyone with me?