If only life were a Musical!

All my friends know that I am always waiting for the day when I wake up and find myself living in a musical - birds will be singing, the minus track will come on, and everyone will know all the words to the songs and be in perfect rhythm in our group dances... but until that day, i'll have to settle for my home being a movie set. ;)
For my plattform as Miss Pioneer Valley, I'm working with MADD on a new project called the Strengthening Families Program. Right now we are involved in the filming of a video that will be available to families through the MADD website. It is an amazing program, and my family has learned a lot by working on it. Thanks to my family for supporting me and being such great little actors all weekend, and the countless hours you've put in! Love you!

Lets just say this was the best crew ever - I liked the cast too ;)

Sayonara Summer

In one last big Goodbye to Summer, half my family took a quick trip with my cute grandparents to good ol' Lake Powell (the other half went to the cabin - go figure). This was a couple weeks ago when Salt Lake got a little snow, and I was happy to be in sunny (though rather chilly) southern Utah. Me and Mommy dearest wrapped up in our towels and blankets to keep warm.

Cute Autumn - we bonded over our dislike of hot-dogs!

Our own miniature Goblin Valley. This little hike to our mushroom land was supposed to be a 30 minute hike... the water must have gone down since the last time my grandpa was there, because 3 hours later we were back to our boat. It was so much fun, and the first time I actually got hot on the trip!

Landen loves to wake-board...

Brock turned out to be a great knee-boarder...

And lets face it, i'm the best flag-waver ever...

But my real specialty is recreational reading. I got through the entire September issue of Vogue - you know I was enjoying my time. So though summer is gone, at least I got one last sunburn in. Goodbye sweet summer, I will miss you while you're gone!

First Day of School

For the first time in 17 years, I didn't have a first day of school this year. Talk about strangest feeling in the world! Everyone is busy buying books, backpacks and cute clothes, and I'm not. Even though I graduated, I don't have that 'i'm done' feeling because I plan to go back and get my MPA next year. So i'm in this strange inbetween stage where I don't feel the relief of being done, but I don't feel the fun 'start of school excitement'.
So here are some of the pros and cons of not having school.

Pros:
NO Homework (a pretty great one I must say)
No studying (although i'm taking a GRE prep class, so I do have some studying)
More sleep
More hours at work = more money
Not paying tuition (also equals more money :) )

Cons:
No back to school shopping
Not getting to see all my friends in my major
Not getting my exercize in from running all over campus
When you answer the question of 'What are you up to lately?' All you can say is work, and then you sound really lame

I'm sure there's lots more for both of these lists, but thats all I have time for now. I'll add to them later- feel free to respond with your favorite pros and cons. :)

HaPpY PiOnEeR DaY!!!

One year ago today, I was experiencing the Days of '47 parade in a very different way. I am so grateful for the wonderful experience I had, and all of the amazing people who made it possible - especially those outstanding pioneers who made it possible for us to live in this beautiful state. I am so grateful for my pioneer ancestry and the sacrifices they made!

Happy Pioneer Day!

Our Beautiful float with the float designer from Modern Display.

The 12 foot latter we had to clime to get to the top of our float!

Miss Pioneer Valley

A few weeks ago, I got thinking about how lame this summer is compared to last summer. This time last year, I had an event (or 3) every day for Days's of '47, and this year all I have to look forward to each day is work.

So I decided to change this, and give myself a little challenge. I found two pageants coming up, one in 2 weeks and one in 1 month. Anyone who has done a pageant and understands how much work goes into them would think I was crazy to wake up one morning and decide to do a pageant in a month, let alone 2 weeks, but this is exactly what I did! I decided I would do Miss Pioneer Valley as a dress rehearsal of sorts - and then do Miss Salt Lake County and hope for the best. Instead, I am now Miss Pioneer Valley '09-'10 and will be competing at Miss Utah next June! I'm very excited and grateful for this fantastic opportunity.

And now, here is some pictorial documentation of the event. I only have pictures from the end right now, but I will post more later of the whole event.

I found a beautiful dress, and then enlisted my family to help me bead it - ThAnK YoU for all your help! Even my dad showed some talented sewing skills! :)
Me with Ariel Larsen - Miss Pioneer Valley '08-'09
Miss Pioneer Valley 2009 - 2010
Me with my 2 best cheerleaders ever!
Me and my Interview coach aka Grandma – nothing gets by this woman! It is a relief when I finally get into the 10 minute interview and know that there is nothing these 6 people can throw at me that is any harder than my interview sessions with Gigi!
I knew where my family was sitting because I could hear Landen yelling for me - thanks

Landy-pants!
My inspiration in all that I do- my Aunt/twin Holly.


My adorable cousin Courtney was so excited because we had the same hair-do, so we decided we better see how hers looked with a crown. It looked dang good – watch out Miss Utah 2021, Courtney will be ready! :) Thanks again to all those who were so supportive! I couldn't have done it without you!!!!!

Holman Family Pics

My family is rather large, and therefore it's hard to catch us all together, let alone all looking the same direction! My friend was brave enough to come and take family photos though, and they turned out great! Here are a few from the collection.
Thanks Jessica!

The Cabin Adventure

For the 4th of July weekend, my family headed up to the mountains for some fresh air, mixed with bug spray and campfire smoke - my favorite! ;) I go to the cabin about every 17th trip the rest of my family goes on. Not that I don't enjoy it, I usually just have something very important going on in the city...

This weekend my important things on my To Do list were,

Hike up to the Lake

Find crazy signs to take pictures of

Catch frogs (don't worry, I didn't actually touch any)
Find beautiful flowers
Enjoy hikes with beautiful views with the Fam

Check, check, and check! I must say this holiday weekend was a success!