I can tell that we are going to be friends...

Well, I hope you sang that in your head, because that is a great song.

Anyway, last night, I hung out with my bestest friend for the last time until Christmas. It was so fun! We went to go window shopping (the only thing we actually got was See's Candy. YUM!), looked at Pinterest for a fair amount of time, talked, and looked old pictures of ourselves.

Including this one!

This was the summer of 2009, when we had our first adventure together. We went on a road trip to Oregon for a rafting trip. It was so fun! This is us at Old Navy trying on huge clothes... We look so young! Since then, we have had many adventures, including a band/choir trip to California, a road trip touring schools senior year, GRADUATING!, and the fun day to day things. Like "running", making cookies, going to midnight premieres, and talking for hours on end.

I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful best friend, and I will miss her while she is at school!

Sad movie review... and a moment of gratitude

I'm just watched this horribly depressing movie, which I couldn't turn off. It's called Never Let Me Go, with Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Keira Knightley. *Warning- it's rated R, but on tv they protect my virgin eyes:)* 

Anyway, it's set in an alternate 20th century, where in England, they have these private schools where they raise clones that will later become organ donors. It is pretty much terrible. But it is so intriguing!

It's a terrible concept, raising children like pigs to be slaughtered, but I just was wondering what I would do. You know?  I just wonder if I would be the same person, but I know I wouldn't be, because my experiences would have shaped me differently. But I would like to think that I would have been a rebel and that I would have run away. I'll never know, but that is definitely not something I regret not knowing. I guess I'm trying to say I'm grateful for the life I have been given, even though the challenges make me want to scream. I'm incredibly blessed to have the people I have in my life, the opportunities I have been given, and for a Heavenly Father that blesses me so much more than I could ever have deserved.

So that's it. Yay for a good life, even though I might not say the same thing next week... 65 hours at the waterpark.

The little things

Okay, I know I already blogged today, but I had a few good moments today. I am a pretty serious person, and one of my biggest flaws is that I'm often negative. I know that I'm an extremely blessed person, and am so glad to have my family and lifestyle, but sometimes the everyday problems blind me from that.

So when I had these two little moments, I just knew I would want to remember them. It is the little things that we should remember. So here they are!

One: I have been lying on the couch all day, just resting my ankle, when my grandpa asked me if I wanted a banana split. Of course, I said yes, and he asked, "Small, medium, or large?" So I said "Medium." Ten minutes later, he brings me this MASSIVE bowl of ice cream, and we just started laughing hysterically. I took a picture, and accidentally deleted it :/

Two: I'm watching a movie with the kiddos (Christian, Olivia, and Adelaide) and Olivia suddenly wants water. So she walks over to the kitchen, and Adelaide declares, "I want water too!" and grabs my water instead of following Olivia. It was hilarious to me that Adelaide was so observant. Then she goes starts to drink it, and screams, "THERE'S NO ICE!!!!!!!!!!" It seriously could have been a meme, where they show 1st world problems.

Anyway, these were small moments, but they say it is the little things in life that makes all the crappy things worthwhile. So yay for cute moments!

McCall/Boise River/Shopping

I've had a crazy week. Seriously. Here is a basic rundown... (is rundown a word?)

Monday- Lots of packing. Babysat my adorable new cousin Zane (he is only 8 weeks!) and how awesome is he???

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Tuesday we left for McCall, only after 4 trips to Walmart. Sweet mercy. I drove with my dad, Madi, and Megan. It was fairly short at 2 1/2 hours, and it was amazing. Seriously. We got to Pilgrim Cove Camp in McCall, which is like a church camp with a big lodge where the staff feeds you, lots of cabins everywhere, and a dock with kayaks, paddle boats, canoes, and other fun stuff to hang out on the lake with... Here is the view from our cabin! 

Gorgeous huh? It was a little cloudy when I took the picture, but the rest of the trip was perfectly sunny. 

The reunion was great! It was with my Great Grandma Bessie Marshall(we just call her grandma great), her five children, and their children, and their children's children. I'm one of the oldest of her great grandchildren, and the first to have the Marshall last name. My grandpa (Gpa Marshall) is grandma great's first kid, and he had 8 kids, so his family takes about 50 of the 108 people there. It was so fun to see all of my family!\

 It was kind of sad that 2 of my favorite cousins were gone, but I think being gone on a mission is a great excuse for that. So I hung out with my cousins Lindsay, Cameron and Porter, who are my only first cousins that are 1) single and 2) college aged. So we had a great time! We played lots of card games, watched the Walking Dead, got milkshakes in McCall, and hung out at the lake a lot. I found out that I'm a pretty skilled paddle boater, even with psycho-crazy waves. I wish I had a picture to post, but that kinda failed to happen. Oh well. 

We took family pictures, ate lots of food, and just hung out. It was kind of a bummer that there were lots of wildfires going on, because we couldn't have any campfires at all. Not that I missed the smell all over my clothes. 

We left Friday morning, and had to take a longer route because the wildfires blocked off the main highway. It sucked. I also got a handful of mosquito bites, even with the use of bug spray everywhere. I got one on my ankle Tuesday night, and this is what it looked like Friday afternoon...

It was huge!!! And it still hurts. It is still swollen (it's Sunday). I can barely walk on it. This is what it is like to be allergic to mosquito bites.

When we got back to Nampa, some of my first cousins, aunts, and uncles decided to take us floating on the Boise River. 

BAD IDEA!!! We didn't get there til 6 because of traffic, so the water was freezing! Long story short, I hit my head a lot on trees, got tons of little leeches on me, scratched my back and butt a ton, and was freezing to death.  The only good thing that came out of it was that the river was so cold it helped my ankle's swelling go down just a little bit. I'm never doing it again!

Which leads to yesterday. Madison is going to high school,  so I took her school shopping. We did pretty awesome, if I do say so myself! We got a most of our stuff at American Eagle, which had a HUGE sale. I got a few things too, so it was great. My favorite thing that we got for Mad was this awesome bunny shirt! 

It is so cute on her. She couldn't wait to wear it everywhere! It was great.



We watched Olympics, and then I took her back to my dad's. I was pretty exhausted and tired from walking around the mall, and it made the swelling worse again. Not exactly the smartest thing I've done.


I also sent my 2 week notice in. August 25th is my last day at the waterpark!! Thank heavens. Life is getting pretty exciting!!! Sorry for the long post, there was simply so much to say. 

Confessions of a Lifeguard

So, I haven't had a "confessions" post in a while, and I'm not really a student for the next few months, so I thought it might be interesting to confess the truths of lifeguarding...

For those who don't know, I have worked at the Roaring Springs lifeguard for 3 summers now, so you could say I'm experienced. I know the waterpark backwards and forwards. It was really fun the last two summers, but this year is not as fun. Maybe because these things have become more noticeable...

1. Confession 1. "Do you know CPR" Is THE WORST pickup line in the world. Seriously. Of course I know CPR, and no, we don't do mouth to mouth. 
2. I have learned that there are such things as dumb questions in life, but I had no idea how bad. "Will we get wet on this ride?" is hands down the dumbest question to ask in a WATERPARK. 
3. Lifeguards are exhausted. So don't screw with us. We sit anywhere from 5-12 hours in the sun, standing, walking, lifting rafts, and holding up to 650 pounds with our calves. Our hands are raw and peeled from holding the rafts for people. Hence the lack of patience when people are irritating. 
4. Not all lifeguards use the exact same rules. On the bottom of each rules sign of each attraction there is a rule that says, "Obey the lifeguards at all times." If we aren't comfortable with your behavior, we make that a rule on the spot. If the guest becomes upset, our boss will back us up 100%. 
5. In waterparks, or anywhere that has many dangerous things, the customer is NOT always right. 
6. All of the rules or things we yell at people for have an incredible purpose. People tend to think we want them to be miserable, but every rule will save lives. Especially the "No Running" rule.
7. We really don't get paid enough for what we do. Apparently, the lifeguards got paid $11 an hour. After the economy dropped in '08, they dropped it to around minimum wage. I'm a higher level lifeguard, so I get paid a little more, but not much. This results in a need for more hours, which results in more exhaustion, which results in cranky lifeguards.
8. This one is the main thing I want all parents to know: I wouldn't trust more than half of the lifeguards to save a kid's life. I know that is terrible, but it comes with experience. This is so important to know, because we are responsible for hundreds of people. Don't expect a lifeguard to pay "extra attention" to your kid. That's your job.
9. The lifeguards clean the park at night. After the park closes, we have to pick up the trash, move the furniture back in place, sweep the towers, and clean the parking lot. It sucks, and really has taught me the importance of not littering. I've had to pick up (with gloves on, THANK HEAVENS) full diapers, underwear, alcohol containers  (which have dripped all over my legs...), rotting food, hygiene products, band-aids, and many other disturbing and inappropriate things. 
10. The water is NASTY! I am always in shock when a parent doesn't scream at their children when they drink the water. The chlorinate it a lot, and often, but I've seen what's been in there. Dead animals, used hygiene products (ewwwwww), blood, pee, poop, spit, and pretty much anything else imaginable. I'm not saying don't go in it, because it is safe, but just don't drink it. And shower when you are done. 

This is a pretty short list of things I've learned, but they definitely are important. I guess with the new job coming that has much better things (and much cleaner things), it makes it harder to work at the waterpark knowing that something better is waiting.

Don't get me wrong. I love the waterpark, and all that they have done for me. But this job is one for younger kids that have the energy to work til midnight in the freezing cold, not for "old" people like me, who prefers to go to bed at 10, and stay inside all day. Maybe it is a sign that I'm growing up, that I need an "adult" job. This job has taught me lots of things, but I'm very glad to be moving on. WOO!

Decisions, Decisions.

So, I expected to come home from school, relax, and have no stress.

WRONG!

I'm working at least 8 hours a day (which doesn't sound like too much, but it is physical work. My hands are peeling, my skin burned, and my feet ache), sleeping a LOT (which helps, but is more like recovering than relaxing), and I am making a lot of decisions. Such as which car will I get, where will I work, will I leave Idaho? Okay, so they aren't that bad. It isn't like I'm getting married or anything. But it still feels like a big decision. Especially after I made it...

So here it is. I'm getting Ken's car. And I'm moving to  Portland, to work as Curtis' "Administrative Assistant". I know, I'm a legit adult now.

It is a big decision to me, in knowing that I am leaving Nampa... Again. I'm leaving a lot of family, and although most of my friends will be gone, I will be missing when they come home for weekends. The job was what made the decision. Curtis called yesterday, and it just answered a lot of prayers. So I'm excited! I will finish with Roaring Springs, and will go there in September. I love Portland, which will make it even better!

That's pretty much it. This was more of an update kind of post, so I should probably say that I cut and dyed my hair... I'm really tan... I love the Olympics... And I am going to my family reunion in McCall next week! I'm really excited.

So I am stressed, but I'm glad to have my decisions made and my path set.