New Year, New Start

It's the end of the first week of the new semester. All I can say if the rest of the semester is anything like this week has been it is going to be a wonderful semester!!!! I have loved every single minute of it! It's been a little hectic and I'll have a lot of homework but I love my classes! I really do wish I could stay in school forever and just take classes that interest me. It has also been nice to have professors that already know me. Over the break I went to SLCC and talked to an advisor there and got everything squared away so I can transfer there this summer. I am heartbroken to have to leave SUU again. If it wasn't for the one professor who I absolutely refuse to take again, I would stay here forever.
Christmas break was a good one. They were nice and gave us 4 weeks off. It was so nice to be home for a month and just relax and not have to worry about anything. When I quit TCP I decided not to come back at all so I was truly free! I did some babysitting for some extra cash and that took me back to my teenage years! It was so fun though. I had big plans to do things like scrapbook and such, but that did not happen. I was a lot busier than I thought I would be (which was wonderful).
Sharla won some tickets to the Discovery Gateway Museum and so we (Sharla and me), Jason, and Michelle took Bailee and Mason to it. Yes, it took 4 adults to take 2 kids :). I had so much fun! I really do have the cutest nephews and niece! Bailee and Mason had so much fun. I had a lot of fun too! Those kids are so smart and creative. They never stop amazing me.
Christmas itself was good. Almost all the family came over that morning and spent some time at home. It was good to have them there. The next day we had family over again because my aunt was in town from Chicago. I somehow got stuck on babysitting duty and didn't get a chance to visit. It's a good thing I love those kids!
The Wednesday after Christmas I headed off to New York to spend a week with Allison. I was a little worried because that previous Sunday NYC had a massive snow storm and it closed almost the entire city. Thankfully they got everything going again for me. My flights there were interesting to say the least. On my first flight the two ladies I sat next to wanted to set me up with a 16 year old. On my second flight we had a medical emergency. I have no idea what it was, but it was crazy getting woken from my nap by them asking for a doctor over the intercom. No one died and I'm assuming it wasn't too bad because he wasn't the first person taken off the plane. I got to NYC right around 9pm. By the time Allison picked me up and we made it to Mamaroneck all I wanted to do was eat dinner and go to bed! Traveling really takes it out of me. Thursday Allison had to work that morning so I chilled at her house until she got home. That night we hung out in Mamaroneck and at her aunt's house. Then we went to the mall in Stamford, Connecticut. I've never been there and I wanted to go. Mamaroneck is only like 10 miles or so from the boarder so it didn't take long at all to get there. Of course I went to my favorite store, H&M! Friday I spent the morning/early afternoon at our friend (I met her the last time I was there in March) Lynita's house. Allison had to work again and Lynita lives right by the train. I got on the train that afternoon and headed into the city. I met up with another friend for New Year's Eve in Times Square. There were so many people there we finally got through security and into our first corral (at least that is what they felt like) on 52nd Street (Times Square is on 42nd Street). They went thru and made more room in front once people were settled and we got to move up a corral to 50th Street. From this location I could actually see the ball. It was super small, but I could see it and that is all that mattered! We got to that location around 6ish (I had been waiting at security since 3ish). The next 6 hours went a lot faster than I thought they would. I think it helped that I just kept talking to everyone around me. I met a lot of new people. I spent a lot of time talking to some nice gals from Liverpool. We bonded over our love for The Beatles. Then I met some people from Canada. We spent a lot of time making fun of each other. I kept teasing them about the 'eh' and then they would tease me about how I over-pronounce my 'ing' endings. We also made friends with a couple from Sweden. They liked to make fun of Americans in general. Haha! I love meeting new people. I don't think I would ever do it again, unless I had a definite spot in Times Square, but I am glad I did it! Saturday night Allison had a shift at the Mamaroneck EMS. She got me in to do a ride along with her. We went on two calls that night. The first one we basically just gave an old lady a ride to the hospital. The second one was crazy! The person had over-dosed on pain killers and was totally unconscious. Allison got to bag her (as in squeeze the bag to help her breath) and I pushed a couple buttons on a machine. It was intense! Sunday we slept in. It was wonderful! Monday we hopped on the train again and went into the city. We went to the Neue Galerie. It is a super small museum by the Met that only has German and Austrian art. There was a painting there by Klempt that I wanted to see so we had to go! After that we went to Pret a Manger for lunch. I love that place!!!!! Then to MoMA of course. I could go to that museum every day and never get bored. They had a killer exhibit on Andy Warhol on film. I guess he made a bunch of movies and stuff too. Most of them were of people just doing things like brushing their teeth or fixing their hair, but it was still crazy! We decided to spend the night in the city so after that we went to find our hotel and relax a little. Our hotel was right across the street from Madison Square Garden. It was SKETCHY! Haha! I was super happy we only stayed one night. I swear it was the hotel scary movies are made of. The next morning we went and got last minute tickets to The Phantom of the Opera. We then made our way to Battery Park. Allison had never been to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was freaking freezing!!!! But I think the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are things that everyone needs to see at least once. And thankfully Ellis Island is all inside. After that we were starving so we went to Times Square and had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. I always forget just how expensive it is. At least the food is good. We then went to this place called Junior's that her aunt and uncle raved about. Their cheesecake was AMAZING!!!! The Phantom of the Opera was amazing too! I've seen it 3 times now and I could see it a million more times. It gets better every time I see it (then again the first time I saw it I was 10, the second time I was 15, and now I'm 25). The next day I was flying home. We went to brunch with her aunt and grandparents and then Allison took me to the airport. I almost missed my flight because we thought it wouldn't be as crowded as it really was. Thankfully some really nice people in line at security let me cut in front of them so I wouldn't miss it (my flight left at 2 and at 1:30 I was still in line). The flight home was very un-entertaining (the way I like it!).
The following Saturday my friend Nicole got married to my best friend Leanne's brother Spencer. Because of the impending snow, I had to drive back to Cedar that day so I went to the temple to see Leanne there. I felt bad I could only see her for 15 minutes, but it was better than nothing.