Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! 

This Thanksgiving in the midst of turkey comas, food babies, and backyard football, I thought I would make a little list of things I am thankful for....as you can see, it grew. I am thankful for:

Mum

Dad

Hannah

Ashton

Grammy Kathy

Grandpa Burd

Grandma Wilson

Grandpa Wilson

Grandma Nadine

Grandpa Joe

Grandma Pratt

Cousins

Cousins’ kids

Aunts

Uncles

Great Aunts

Great Uncles

Sarah

Austin

Shelby

Dallin

Spencer

Quinten

Jo
Laramie

Melissa

Taylor
Kelser

Allie

Keni

Becca

Best Friends

Roommates

Abraham Lincoln

George Washington

Joseph Smith

William Tyndale

Theodore Roosevelt

Albert Einstein

Thomas Edison

Walt Disney

Thomas Jefferson

William Shakespeare

Sir Isaac Newton

Chocolate

Pork Chops

Steak

Trout

Potatoes

Corn on the Cob

Cake

Brownies

Ice Cream

Garlic

Tapatio

Jalepenos

Onions

Computers

Internet

Printers

Toilets

Running Water

Heaters

Air Conditioning

Garage Door Openers

Lights

Cellphones

Email

Letters

Pride & Prejudice

All the Harry Potters

Vampire Academy

The Host

Sherlock Holmes

The Scarlet Letter

The Foot Book

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The Notebook

The Chronicles of Narnia

Hercules

The Princess Bride

Pocahontas

Serendipity

Castle

Mulan

Leap Year

The Notebook

P.S. I Love You

Aladdin

Bed

Afghans

Quilts

Laptop

Heated Blankets

Sweaters

Jeans

Running Shoes

Yoga Pants

High Heeled Shoes

Eyes

Ears

Nose

Lips

Birthmark

Fingers

Feet

Legs

Arms

Brain

Basketball

Yoga

Running

Football

Hot Baths

Singing

Listening

Hugging

Sleeping

Talking

Nyssa, Oregon

Home

Church

Logan, Utah

Apartment

Twin Lakes

Owyhee Dam

Oregon Coast

United States of America

Fruitland, Idaho

pinterest.com

facebook.com

gmail.com

hulu.com

google.com

usu.edu

Wikipedia.com

Etsy.com

Youtube.com

Spotify.com

Jesus Christ

The Atonement

The Plan of Happiness

The Scriptures

Father’s blessings

Patriarchal Blessings

The Sacrament

Preach My Gospel

Prayer

Temples

Eternal Families

Missionaries

Cats

Kittens

Dogs

 Sheep

Horses

Puppies

Seahorses

Goldfish

Cows

Birds

Utah State University

Calculus

Math

Reading

Nyssa High School

Journals

Physics

Mirrors

Blogs

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I am so blessed to have so many things to be thankful for. I hope you have a great day with your loved ones! 

Some people care too much...I think it's called love

McKenna

A Trip or Two

Last weekend I went on a strange and terrible and funny and Mother-of-Pearl-inducing adventure. Yes. All of those apply. 

My high school football team was playing at Santiam Christian School for the quarterfinals. We played them two years ago and lost in a terrible way, so I really wanted to go watch, but I had to find a way to get home so I could go to the game with my dad.

And I ended up on the bus. -_-

Well, not really the bus, the Salt Lake Express which is really more of a shuttle.

The first leg was from Logan to Brigham City. It was just me and the driver on that leg.

25.0 miles

I got on at 8:30pm, and got to Brigham City a little after nine. The shuttle dropped me at a truck stop, and my next one showed up around 9:30pm. That one was more crowded, including a wannabe-gangster kid who smelled like smoke who tried to start a conversation with me.

Being anti-social paid off. He gave up.

Anyway, that shuttle took me to Pocatello, ID.

109.8 miles

I got to Pocatello around 11:30pm, but my next shuttle wasn't coming until 3:30am.

Yeah, that's four hours, and did I mention they dropped me at a Maverick? That means nowhere to sit, no place to hunker down for the night except for on the floor in the corner.

In front of the Natural Light Beer, with my laptop, headphones as my only protection, watching Castle, and texting both my parents ever 47 seconds so they could verify that I was still living. 

Yep, that happened. And I really hope it never happens again (remember the terrible part at the beginning of this story? Still wondering what I meant? No? That's what I thought.)

Finally the shuttle showed up to pick me up. The final leg was from Pocatello to Boise. I arrived at the Boise airport a little after 7:30 in the morning.

239.8 miles

Then my dad picked me up and drove to Ontario, OR where I dropped him off at his work and drove home.

56.3 miles + 14.2 miles = 70.5 miles

At this point it was little before 9:00am. And I took a nap. I was maybe, kind of, just a little tired.

...or exhausted. It was one of the two...

I'll let you figure that part out on your own.

After my nap I had time for a quick chiropractor appointment and shrimp tacos with my parents before going home and packing.

At 3:30, my dad and I picked up my sister and her friend from the high school, picked up my sister's stuff then headed west for the game. 

We drove through a blizzard on Santiam Pass and got to Salem, OR around 10:00pm PST.

Obviously I didn't take this picture,
but this is kind of what it looked like
when we drove through. Scary...

406.6 miles

We dropped off some t-shirts from the local dentist at the boys' hotel and headed to Albany and our hotel.

We finally made it to the hotel and we all crashed.

31.7 miles

The next day we wandered around for a bit (Holiday Bazaar anyone?) before going to Santiam Christian School for the game.

8.6 miles

The boys killed them 29-0. :) It was pretty great. I hate private schools. Also it was like a mini-class reunion with all of my classmates who showed up.

I love them.

Unfortunately, we then had to load back up and head right back home. We headed out, stopped in Troutdale for some dinner, before loading back up (plus one more so now we had a completely full car) and heading home.

We drove. And drove. And drove....

512.5 miles

And finally made it home. I even got to sleep in my own bed; for one night during this crazy trip.

But I had to leave early in the morning to be in Boise before 8:00am. 

50.0 miles

And got on the shuttle.

Which went from Boise to Pocatello.

237.8 miles

Then Pocatello to Brigham City.

110.1 miles

Then finally Brigham City to Logan.

25.0 miles

It was much less eventful than the ride over. 

For those of you who have been keeping track, my weekend came to a grand total of 1,827.4 miles (or that's what Google told me at least). It was a crazy weekend but it was totally worth it. 


A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down,

-McKenna


P.S. Nyssa is playing in the semi-finals this weekend (no, I'm not going) against Dayton. If you're interested, it's being broadcasted here Saturday 11/23/2013 at 3:00pm PST. Go Bulldogs!

You're engag... Whhaaaatt??

Sorry for the long absence guys. College life is busy.

And I watch a lot of Castle...

Moving on, Monday evening I was sitting there with three of my five roommates watching The Voice (AKA best music competition show EVER!!! But that's a story for another day...) when in walks my roommate Liz with Cole from downstairs. 

And they're holding hands. 

And her hand happens to have a new sparkly ring on it.

Aren't they adorable??

PAUSE. Rewind for back-story. 

Earlier that evening Liz left to go on "a drive" with Cole. For the record, as far as we knew they weren't dating. Liz occasionally goes on dates with a guy who I will lovingly refer to as Mr. Collins.

For those of you who get that reference, he is seriously a Mr. Collins.

Only maybe more awkward. Yes, that is humanly possible. Apparently.

Anyway, so we didn't know they were even dating but we teased Liz anyway as she left.

You know: "Return with Honor" "Remember who you are" "No macking!"

....everything my mother used to say....

And then she came back with this:

And the whole "We're engaged guys!!"

I was like "Whhaaaattt??"

Like this guy:

I mean, I know it's Utah, but I didn't even know they were dating!!! Apparently, whenever she was on a date with Mr. Collins she would leave early and go hang out with Cole. 

And she's getting married!!!

.........

.........

I want to get married.

.........

........

Don't worry Mom, I have a mission to go on. Stop hyperventilating.

.........

........

Or they were just punking us.

Yup, it was that one. The ring was a present from one of Liz's friends and it was all a prank.

In my defense, Liz is my bet to get married first out of the six of us, and she and Cole pulled it off really well. She was all giggly and flustered and kind of looked like she had been crying.

And I really didn't believe it at first (hence the minion face) but she was so emotional and their backstory made sense. 

And it's Utah.

I feel like that statement alone should justify believing that a 19 year old girl could get engaged in November after meeting a return missionary in August.

Yup. Welcome to Utah folks. We may not be at BYU-I Do, but we do go to singles ward.

It's better than match.com.

Back, to the story, Liz and Cole are NOT engaged, and we are all very disappointed here in our little apartment.

My money is still on her to be the first one married!

P.S. For a different perspective of all that you should really read this.

A dream is a wish your heart makes!

-McKenna