I just want to say

that I won Settlers of Zarahemla today!! WOOHOO! I'll admit that I was just playing against Rulon and Rebecca and Chris, but hey, Rulon is good, and the others are okay. But, it was the first time I have won in a while. Not to mention a couple of days ago I almost won. Jody won, but Nathan and I were tied just one space behind him. Here is my proof of that:(I was the blue player)

For those of you who have no clue what I am talking about, all the people I mentioned are cousins of mine. Settlers of Zarahemla is an awesome game that we play at reunions and such a lot. It's very similar to Settlers of Cataan, just with a Mormon twist on it. It's an awesome game, and I love it, but I rarely win. So, I'm pretty darn happy. That's all I wanted to say.

Reunion Ranch

That is where we are having our lovely reunion. So, it has it's flaws. Not as big as we would like, a hot tub we can't use, not enough lawn, locked closets that drive you crazy, a septic system so we have to use porta potties as much as we can, no really good 4-wheeler trails near by, not enough beds, so only the "adults"(my dad and his siblings) get them, etc. But, its still a pretty good place. And since I'm with family, I will always have good memories of this place.

So, some good things about it, there are plenty of bathrooms with showers, which is usually something we lack. There is a pool table, and air hockey table, two TV's with cable, and DVD players, and wireless Internet! The area around here is beautiful, and the chairs are pretty comfy, and it has some pretty cool decorations.

Best of all, family is here. Once more, enjoy some pictures...

Star Valley

So, I'm at my Hirschi Family Reunion right now and loving it. We are at a cabin just outside of Afton, Wyoming in Star Valley. It is beautiful here! I would love to live somewhere like this, which may seem crazy since all the towns are small, and houses aren't so close to each other. But I think that would be perfect. Not only are there nice small towns, but the scenery = amazing! Surrounded by green mountains and hills, who could ask for more? Also, when the wind blows, the wheat and grass in the fields move so they look like waves in the ocean, or ripples in a river. I love it here, it's extremely peaceful here not to mention fun! So here are some pictures to give you an idea of what I get to enjoy.

A word of Advice

Bikes are wonderful things, truly they are. I love good long bike rides with the wind blowing through your hair. The push up the hill, and exhilaration as you speed down the other side. I used to love riding my bike around the neighborhood. I had a set route I would ride. Then, I got a bad knee and grew to big for my bike. So, the bike went to the D.I. and I didn't' get a new one.

Now, I'm up at a Hirschi Family Reunion, and before we came my dad got out an old bike Sarah got from a friend. It's still hers, but right now, it's mine to use. So, we brought it up here, and Dad brought one to. Yesterday, I went for the first bike ride I'd had in like 4 years. And it was glorious! It was even raining lightly, and felt really refreshing.

So, here in lies my advice. When you haven't had a bike ride for four years, don't start off with a long one. No matter how much you love it. Because you WILL pay for it later, to the point where it hurts to sit down.


(Just to let you know, soon I will have a lot of blogging to do all about my Reunion and the Windrivers, so stay tuned.)

Goodbye Best Friend

When I was seven or eight years old my family had a garden, and one night for family home evening we all worked in it, with a promise of ice cream afterwards. That night, I got something much better than ice cream. I got a best friend. We headed over to Baskin Robbins, but at that time a new pet store had just been put in a couple doors down. We begged my dad to let us go look inside. David had recently been bit by a dog, and was a little afraid of them. Also, we had never had a dog before. We begged and begged, and promised that we'd help take care of a dog. So, to help David like dogs again, and I suppose just because my parents wanted us to experience having a dog, they said yes. We picked out the runt of the family, and he was the cutest thing. Instead of ice cream that night, we got a puppy.

We voted on his name, I only remember two options. Shadow and Aussie. Aussie won out, in honor of my dad's mission in Australia. We kept him inside in a box at night, until he got too big and could climb out. He was an outside dog for the most part, but every once in a while we let him inside. In designated areas. Aussie was a great dog. I remember dressing him up, going down a slide with him, painting his nails, taking him on walks, and watching Dad teach him how to do numerous tricks. Aussie always loved Dad best, even though he was the one that also did the disciplining. I always hated watching dad get mad at Aussie, but afterwards Dad would always play with him for a while.

We've had Aussie for 12 or 13 years now. I love him dearly. But he got old. He gets too tired to play much. He developed cancer, and is going blind and deaf. Also, he has panic attacks when there are fireworks, really bad ones, so that he puts himself in danger, breaks things, and makes huge messes just to try and get away. My dad decided it would be for the best if we put him down before we go out of town for the 24th of July, since there are fireworks then and we won't be here for him. So, tonight I said my last goodbye to Aussie. No longer will he be laying in my way by the back door, he won't be there for me to go sit by in the backyard. when I'm laying asleep in the sun, he wont' come lick my face. I can't take him for walks anymore. I can't sing crazy songs to him anymore when I'm the only one home.

I don't' know if all dogs go to heaven or not. But I do know that I hope when I pass on, I'll get to see my Aussie dog again. I hope that he'll be young again, and have the energy to play fetch and tug or war for hours. That I can sit by him again and get covered in his black hair. I hope I can get licked in the face and have to put up with his horrible breath.

So, to Aussie, I say goodbye. You were the best dog I ever could have asked for. I love you, and I miss you already.

My Perfect Man

So, I got into a conversation with Amanda about how I would describe my perfect man, and we decided it would be a perfect blog entry so here goes.

Taller than me, but not more than a foot taller
I'm not too picky about hair color, but I'm partial to lighter
Short hair, I hate long hair
No facial hair
not to scruffy in his dress, but not too preppy either
good eyes, maybe not ones that everyone loves, but ones that I do
A good smile, that he uses a lot
Someone who respects me and sees me as an equal
Has a desire to care for me and protect me
Listens to me, is a shoulder to cry on
Easy to talk to, someone I can tell everything to
makes it clear how much he cares about me
A good sense of humor, a clean one
Can make me laugh, every day
Honors his priesthood and is a worthy priesthood holder
RM
Loves God and strives to be close to him
Values and loves his family, and mine
Cares about others
Has a willingness to serve
Honest
Loyal
Smart enough that I can have an intelligent conversation with him
Loves kids and is good with them
active
A friendly people person, who doesn't judge others and is friends with all types of people
Outgoing, but not overwhelmingly so
Fun to be around
Loves the gospel, and the church
Kind hearted
Forgiving
Has a testimony of the Atonement, and other gospel principles
Knows how to have a good time, how to be serious, and knows when each is appropriate
Someone with whom I can be myself completely
Lets me have my space when I need it
Feels honored to have me
Makes me feel honored to have him
Someone who I can communicate easily with
Enjoys reading
Clean
Ability to cook
Hard worker
Someone who I can turn to when I'm having a hard time, who will let me get everything off my shoulders, be understanding about it, but then make me laugh so I can move on
A good hugger
Appreciates art in all it's forms
Not afraid to cry in front of me
Someone I can feel comfortable being silent with
Someone who will take me to the temple
Can tell when I'm having a bad day, and knows how to make me feel better
Someone who will sing to me, even if he has a bad voice
Sees my true worth, and helps me to see it to
Has confidence in himself, but is not proud
Will bring me flowers, just because
romantic, but not sappy
Someone who brings out the best in me, and in whom I bring out the best
Has a good relationship with his parents, and his siblings
Someone with a family I can love
Loves music
Puts my the needs of others before his own
selfless
Looks at me when I'm looking absolutely horrible and still thinks I'm beautiful
My best friend
Someone who has not only an attractive appearance, but importantly, an attractive personality.

That's all I can think of right now, and I think it's a pretty good start. I hope I find him one day, and until then, I'll work to become his Perfect Woman.

Writing

Today, I was talking to Amanda. Something in our conversation reminded me how much I love writing. And not only that I love it, that it has been WAY to long since I sat down and wrote just to write. So, I had the day off, and plenty of time and I got a desire to write today. So I began to think about what I could write about. My best and perhaps only good writings come when I'm really writing from my heart. From experiences I've had and feelings I am feeling. So, I began to think about things I could write about. A couple of ideas came, and the more I thought about them, the more I got thinking. About deep thoughtful things. So, I started to write. The result was a poem. I find it truly beautiful, I'm not saying that it's amazingly well written poem. But it comes from my heart, and it touches me. So, I'd like to get more feedback on some of my writings, and plan to begin writing more often. So I want to take this chance that there is a link to the site where I post my writings right here on my blog! If you wouldn't mind helping me out with some feedback I would love you lots! Just to make it a little easier, the site is http://lydiasexpanse.spaces.live.com

Adventure with Kiera

Kiera is pretty much one of the best friends a girl could ask for. She came with me to the temple while Sarah got married so I wouldn't' be too bored since I had to hang out around the temple instead of be there. So, we decided to have some fun and take pictures. You'd never guess how many cool places there are to take pictures on the grounds of the Ogden Temple and the buildings withing the gates. Here are just a few of the pictures. I had a blast with Kiera taking them!

Also, we did take pictures of Kiera, just on her camera. So, its' not like it was ALL about me. :)

Sarah's Wedding

So, Saturday I got an awesome new brother-in-law when Sarah married Matt in the Ogden Temple. It was a good day. Busy busy busy, and HOT. But still great. I waited outside the temple during the ceremony. Then we had a delicious luncheon and then a great reception later that night.

My sister is amazing, so I feel like nobody is quite good enough for her, but Matt comes pretty close. I am so glad that she is so happy and that everything went well that day. They are both a good example to me and I am so excited that they will live down in Provo by me.

It's hard to describe a wedding day in my opinion, so I'm hoping some pictures will speak for themselves. I felt special that Sarah chose me to be her maid of honor and once again, I love my sister very much.

Special thanks to Kiera for keeping my company outside the temple and stopping by the reception, and for taking pictures. Also, thanks to Aunt Deanna who made my dress for the reception, and to Amanda Larsen who did my hair for the reception.

The week of neverending CRAZINESS

Last week was so busy and crazy for me. Now that I finally have a job, I of course had to work most days of the week. Busy making activity number one.


Number Two: seeing as Mikey leaves on his mission on Wednesday July 9th, I wanted to do one last thing with him before he left. So, I had to find a time that I was not busy and neither was he to do so. Luckily we found a time that worked for us both and went on a lovely walk and just talked. Then we took some pictures. I think it was a bad night for pictures for me. Here is the best one of me;
Number Three: Sarah wanted me to party with her since she was getting married and it would be the last week it would be easy to do so. Easy, yeah right. We were both crazy busy, but we found some time to go up to Melanie's(Sarah's friend that I love!) to do pedicures, facials, and silky lips and hands with her and Leah(another friend that I love!) Also, Sarah, Mom, and I got manicures done. My first time ever. It was fun and my nails are all prettiful now. Even if they are starting to chip.

Number Four: Appropriate that this be the Fourth of July. Happy late Independence Day everyone. I love this country and I am so grateful for it. I of course had to take part in some festivities. So, I went to fireworks. I was sad to not do more Fourth of Julyish activities, but sadly they were replaced me things pertaining to;



Number Five: Pre Wedding Stuff. We set up a lot of the reception stuff on the fourth. I also spent time finding a dress/outfit to wear for pictures after the temple. The most entertaining preparation of all was setting up the Gazebo to go over the refreshments. It took us forever to get it to stay together! All of this was of course for the big day which is



Number Six: The WEDDING DAY! My sister Sarah Hirsch married Matt Crooks on July 5th 2008. And now I shall change to another entry just about the wedding.
P.S. number seven. Amanda Jardine was in town, and I of course HAD to spend some time partying with her. yay for little kid tables at the mall!

Thank You Sara...

For telling me to read the Sweep series of books.

Any of you who love to read and have a taste for the fantasy genre should read the Sweep series by Cat Tiernan. Sara told me I should read them and I absolutely love them. Currently I am on book 12 of 14 and I have liked every one I have read. I have even decided I would take a Hunter Niall(basically the hero/boyfriend guy of the series) over an Edward Cullen from the Twilight books. Just throwing that out there. So, right now when I am not working or playing, you can find me rolled up with one of the books. I just wanted to tell you all about them, I would recommend them any day.