New Favorite Breakfast!!!

Hello... I have a new favorite breakfast I thought I'd share. 

This is quinona. My friends think its what hipsters eat. It is a grain kind of like rice, kind of like oats, but WAAAYYY better!  You can cook it on the stove top or in a rice cooker and make a giganitc batch to last you all week.  It is very filling too:)

After heating the quinona I drizzel some honey on top, sprinkle cinnamon and glob some peanut butter on there.

Then add rasberries or any other berry you'd like. I also think some coconut shavings would be super delicious!!!

Hope you enjoy!

XOXO- Paige

The Christmas Tree Adventure

Last weekend I went on a Christmas Tree Adventure with Austin and is brother and sister in law.  We drove up to a forest in the mountains to chop down a tree... This was a new experience for me as my family has always had a fake tree.

We trudged around in the freezing cold for about an hour searching for the perfect tree.  The boys also got some of their energy out by running around throwing snowballs at one another.  

Austin found a mini tree for his apartment (displayed below) and his bro and sis in law found a slightly bigger one^^^ (displayed above)  Sawing down the tree was a lot of work, of course, I was just supervising but boy did it tire me out watcing them;) haha! 

I call this the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree:)

After changing our wet clothes Austin and I went over to his bros house to help them decorate thier tree and  wrap presents while listening to christmas tunes.  It made it feel a little bit like Christmas. Except for the lack of snow here in Rexburg.. its quite sad:(   Then we watched Over the Hedge... not so christmasy but its ok:)

Bye Bye College

Looking back at this picture makes me laugh.  I was so oblivious and uncertain as to how my first semester of college would go.  But I was hopeful! And although it was really rough, I can look back and smile, because honestly without the wonderful people that I met, I wouldnt have been able to make it.

Annie and Syd:)

Tuesdays Devotional! This is a pic of when Elder HOLLAND came to speak to us!!! It was such a powerful message encouraging us to be happy.  And it was exactly what I needed at that time in my life!

Finished my 15th journal!

Weekly Temple visits! Probably my favorite part about this campus was the fact that I could walk to the temple whenever I wanted!

Love my FHE Family!!!

Lastly, I love this quote<3  College is a place to discover who you are.  I definetley feel like Ive done that.  The friends Ive met have helped me come out of my shell and be myself.  Ive also come to know whose I am.  I am a daughter of God and I know that he loves you and me!  He loves us individually and if you are ever in need of help of strength I know that he is always willing to help us.  I have seen his hand in my life, literally, every single day of my college experience.  Being on my own, I have grown even closer to The Lord.  God is Good:)

Tijuana, Mexico Round 2

Over Thanksgiving break my mama and I went down to Tijuana, Mexico to visit my doctor.  Yes, I know it sounds sketchy! If you are not aware already, I have had digestion problems for the past 6 years and we have been working to get to the bottom of it.  I am  hopeful that this doctor is our solution.

This time, we drove...17 hours.  It really wasnt that bad though.  I only drove for 1.5 hours and mom was freaking out the entire time so she took over:) Im really not a bad driver though... I promise!  Instead of checking into the hotel in San Diego we decided to go to the beach.  

    The closest beach was called Boarder Field.  Quite ironic becaue it was literally right next to the boarder of Mexico.  See that fence? Yep, the other side is mexico.  We met a security officer who has to sit on the beach all day to monitor so people dont try to hop the fence or swin around to come to America.  

     Unfortunatley, you cant swim in the ocean because when it rains all of the sewage from the Tijuana River floods into the ocean contaminating it.  Gross! I was really sad:( I wanted to swim!

The next day we made our way into Mexico. Yes, my MOM drove into Mexico with HER CAR!! The drivers there are like mini Italians and my mom says to are either an offensive driver or an offended driver. Haha! She did an excellent job!

So pretty much every day we went to the clinic right across the street from our hotel to get treatment until about 4 oclock.

The bacteria I had last time is completely gone! Yayy! But I still have some other abnormal cells that we need to get back to normal:) I will be going back at the beginning of March for HOPEFULLY the last time.

In the evening we would go out on the town:) One night we went to this AMAZING movie theatre with GIGANTIC recliners!!! We saw Mocking Jay and I accidentally fell asleep... Whoopsy!

     This is our absolute favorite meal at "the grass hut restaraunt." Spicy Grilled Shrimp with rice pilaf and veggies! YUM!~

And... I got sushi!!! But it wasnt that great. Too bad so sad!

It was perfect weather- 75 degrees. SuN sHiNiNg

We also went to this organic vegan and diabetic bakery!  The owner spoke little english but was so sweet and nice! She served us dinner even though technically serving hours were over.

    Everyone at the hotel and clinic are soooo kind to us!!! I wish Americans were like that!

At the clinic getting Chelation ( an IV which cleans your blood)

Being weirdos... wait a minute. Being OURSELVES:)

The coolest trees in the world. According to me:)

Till next time Tijuana:)

My Facetime Buddy!

One of my many life lines here at college has been my favorite cousin Ellie! Whenever im having a rough time, hard day, or am struck with a wave of complete boredom I can always turn to her.

She likes to keep things intersting by running around the house with me or singing songs. One day we even wrote a song together!  I absolutely love my Ells!

Sometimes we have scripture study together or talk about how 5th grade is going.  She pleads with me to give her advice which I feel very unqualified to do, but I try my best! 

      

Honestly, hanging out with Ellie makes me sooooo extremely excited to be a mom one day.  To talk, sing, advise, play and love my kiddos!!!!

I love you Ellie!

     XOXO- Paige

Recap: Happy Birthday to ME!:)

       Hello world!!! Im 19 now! Yippee!!! 

  Oh and so is Elder Simmons:) 

Our birthday was actually November 8th, so as you can tell Im a little behind... better late than never right?

        One of the best birthday presents I recieved was a video that from Preston in Chile wishing me a Happy Birthday!  It was so fun to see him and hear him and get a small taste of that hilarious sense of humor that I miss so much! 

        For our birthday, I didnt want to be stuck in Rexburg (no offense:) so my friend Austin and I took a road trip to Roseleaf Academy for a long weekend where we met my family to PARTAY!

      On friday, Austin and I went to temple square and preformed baptisms for the dead at the GORGEOUS SLC Temple!  Then we got a tour of the conference center!  This was probably my favorite part.  The tour guide told us some wonderful stories that really made me feel the spirit and increased my testimony of how the Salt Lake Valley is truly and inspired place!

      We just HAPPENED to get lost and just HAPPENED to run into the famous WAFFLE LOVE truck.  I had to get a picture!!! 

Woke up on Saturday (birthday morning) to this wonderful shrine that Laurel and Camille set up of Preston and I! They sacraficed their beauty sleep and woke up at 5am to set it up! They are seriously the BEST!

      Later in the day Austin, Mama, and I went hiking to Donut Falls.  And yes, we found snow:)

On the way up the mountain we jumped from rock to rock like my favorite childhood game- Hot Lava, skipped, danced, and laughed.  It was sooooo much fun seeing my mama again:)

It was also pretty freeeeezzzziiinnnggg! Hiking up to the falls was quite and experience.  The rocks were covered in ice, and as an independent 19 year old I refused to be helped!!!

That night my parents, Austin and I all went out to dinner for.....SUSHI! My favorite! Then we went to the local Desert Star Playhouse and saw Dracula.  It was a fantastic weekend! 

Happy Birthday to Me:)

Yellowstone National Park

Repost from college- semester 1:

 

Monday:  Monday was hard- mentally, but each day got better and better!  For FHE we were going to go apple picking but showed up too late so instead we played Never Have I Ever// Human Knot and walked around as a fam outside:)
 

Tuesday: Had weekly Devo and then went to the temple with my friend Nathan and his friend Kayla.  That night Austin and I went to yoga but there wasn't a teacher so these random girls started teaching the class... it was kind of a joke. But afterwards I danced a little in the studio. It was only like 30 seconds but it felt soooo good!!!!

Wednesday:  I was overwhelmed by my stupid math class and planning my lesson for church.  That

 evening it was nice to drop everything and hang out with my FHE Brothers.  I think that's the trick to college- work hard during the day and have fun at night. You've gotta have a balance or else youll go CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday: Went to the temple again with Austin.  It was very busy but it was so nice to have time to read the scripture and just sit and ponder.  I love the temple because every time im in there, and I try to think about my worries I physically CANT.  Its the strangest thing.  My mind is so clear and I cant help but be in the moment.  I love it!!:)  After the temple we watched NEWSIES!! The greatest movie ever and sang the whole way through.  My roomies asked if I was torturing him by making him watch it. Haha! Newsies is not their style.

Friday:  After a long day of homework and test taking (which BTW I think science is my thing- or maybe his tests are just super easy:) I went with Nathan and some other friends to a haunted straw maze.  It was a first timer for me and Im not really sure how I feel about it still.  I say BRAVO to the actors because they really freaked me out.  Nathan is an actor himself and was trying to scare the scarers. haha!  We needed more men there to hang onto:)

Saturday: YELLOWSTONE!!!! I went with Daniel, Steven, Austin, and Ciera (austins cousin).  The car ride was about two hours but It was so nice having nothing to do.  We first saw some steaming hot pools and walked down the boardwalk taking thousands of pictures like the stereotypical tourists.  Then we saw Old Faithful, a gigantic geyser (Daniel kept calling it a glacier. haha!) As we turned to leave a huge Bison was chillin amidst the tourists.  People were getting sooooo close which is not the smartest thing to do.  We kept our distance but were able to take pics with it.  Once kid around 13 or 14 years old got seriously three feet from it!! I thought the Bison was gonna charge and we would witness a death that day.  Fortunately that wasn't the case. 

   One place we visited had a steaming waterfall that looked like you could slide down it.  As you stood on the boardwalk the cool breeze would push the steam towards you, making you hot and cold all at once.  It was so beautiful and peaceful!! The perfect place to go to get away from the stress of school.  I kept saying, " I just want to live here!" I would've been completely content with sitting on a rock and staring at the hot pools all day long.  The last hot pool we went to looked like a giant lake .  The steam was so thick, it looked like puffy clouds you'd envision seeing in heaven.  I hope the next life has some gorgeous places like that!!!

    Daniel couldn't quit talking about how he wanted to see a bear.  We did see some deer and bison:) Oh and I dared Steven to eat a grasshopper.  Austin and I told him we would each give him a dollar.  He decided to bite off the head first- the manly way I guess. It was disgusting!!!

   The car ride back was perfect!! The sun was setting and the entire sky was orange!  When we got back to Rexburg I just hung out at Austin's apartment the rest of the night, because my roomies were all gone.

    It was a perfect day!!

XOXO-Paige

I miss my twinner:(

Dearest Preston,

I miss you! And i love you so much. I hope you kow that. I'm sorry for not telling you more often.

I miss you inventing words- like pingle, soy, and JIM. I thought it was hilarious. 

I miss trying to teach you how to kiss, even though we both have nonexistent love lives.

I miss listening to your aweful music in the car. You were always so patient with me and wanted so desperately for me to like just one of your songs.

I also miss the way you'd lead the music to our car concerts with your extremely long finger. 

I miss temple Thursday. How I'd yell at you to tell me when to merge even though you haven't driven a day in your life and we could've easily died.

I miss our deep spiritual conversations.

I miss forcing you to study and threatening to smash your phone against the wall if you touched it. 

I miss having a buddy to go to the first day of school with. And to stick by my side every day after.

I miss your loud eating. And how you'd explain to me that it was the EBT. Eating breathing technique. 

I also miss having a human garbage disposal around to so willingly finish my food for me. 

I miss how you'd talk.. And talk.. And talk.

I miss how you'd speak Spanish in your very creepy accent. And how you'd speak Spanish to Oliver, who let you know he wanted nothing to do with it:)

Get it??? I miss you. But I know we are both where we are suppose to be:) I know you are pleasing The Lord and blessing so many lives in Chile.

I love you<3

XOXO- Paige