Sunday, August 31, 2014

Summer of Traveling Part 3

When I got home after spending a few weeks in California I was home for 2 weeks when it was time to turn around and go back to California for Elsie's baby blessing. My parents and I drove down this time, and I was very happy we were. I was so sick of airports and crammed airplanes. I had a stack of books that I had been wanting to read and this was the perfect time to read them before I started college.

After Elsie's blessing my parents and I drove to Tucson, Arizona to see my sister, Nicole, my brother in law, Stephen, and my nephew and niece, Adam and Olivia. I hadn't seen them in over a year and I had never met my niece, Olivia. We loaded them and all of their things into our car and brought them back to Idaho with us and they're here until some time in September.


Took Adam to the library




It's like we have two dogs now, always following everyone around. Begging for every bit of food we're eating.


Visited our lame zoo, Adam didn't care he was still happy to go somewhere.


We tried to go camping this last weekend, but it was really rainy and cold. We ended up coming home instead.



Summer of Traveling Part Dos

After my parents and I flew home from Philadelphia I was home for a total of six days before I flew out to San Diego to my sister, Stacy's. It was sort of my summer job since I didn't have one in Idaho Falls. I helped her out with my nephews, Graham and Mason while I was there. Here are some random pictures that I took on my phone while I was there.


Souvenirs from Philadelphia 


Mason loved taking pictures with me. He would ask to take a picture on my phone every so often. I think he just like making faces at the camera.


Hide and seek, these boys get pretty creative with their hiding spots


Stacy made the boys reading charts while I was there. If they read enough they would get a prize. Graham worked so hard to get his goggles and when I had put enough circles on his chart he was so excited about getting his goggles that he wouldn't take them off, so we had to go swimming just so he could use them.


While I was there Stacy and Matt had their little girl Elsie Jennette Serafine on July 11 :) I was there to watch the boys while Stacy and Matt went to the hospital. 


She's so precious and snuggly :) 

I had a great time in California with Stacy and Matt! I love staying there with them and helping around their house. Plus I think I've cleaned their house more than I've cleaned my own in the past year! Thank you Stacy and Matt for letting me be your live in nanny for a few weeks. And a special thanks to Matt for cleaning out my ears while I was there! 

Right around the 4th of July I woke up one morning and I couldn't hear out of my left year, but I just thought it was my sinuses because I have really bad allergies. I took some decongestant and it didn't help. I was telling Stacy about it one afternoon and Matt had to look in my ears to see what was happening... Let's just say ever since I was a baby I have had multiple doctors and nurses tell me I have really waxy ears, but I never knew how waxy until Matt cleaned them out. Thank you again Matt! 

Summer of traveling


Finished my senior year with a bang! Okay not really it was more like a junk car with a really loud muffler on sputtering to it's destination. Yeah that seems a little more like it! Anyways, I graduated high school along with seminary! Which was a miracle considering the amount of make up work I had to do... I blame the seminary program really, all my missing classes were because of tennis. I missed days on tennis trips or I missed days because I was forced to make up tests at school, so I was able to graduate! But I did it! Yayy!!

{Aw look at me all grown up!}

Then came summer, FINALLY! My parents took me on my senior trip and I chose a baseball trip! We flew into Philadelphia to see my absolute favorite team play at Citizen Bank Park home of the Philadelphia Phillies :)
{It rained the entire game but I didn't really care! I was happy to sit there!}



We went to two games in Philadelphia, one against the San Diego Padres and one against the Chicago Cubs. We did some quick sight seeing while in Philadelphia and we saw Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.



We then drove over to Baltimore to see the Orioles play on Father's Day. They were giving out free fedoras to all the men at the game.


The next day we took the metro into DC. There was no game the first day, so we went to the National Mall. 


Washington Monument


WWII Monument


At the WWII Monument there were pillars with the states on them so a selfie with good ol Idaho was a must!



Lincoln Memorial


Vietnam Memorial. it was impossible to take a picture without getting random strangers in it, so I decided I'll be in it instead.


Korean War Memorial


Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial


We hopped on a tour bus and rode about an hour and a half to George Town. Let me tell you it would have been faster to walk to George Town, but we got on the bus at the wrong stop and had to go through way too many stops and a small break at the train station. Although we sat on the bus forever it was air conditioned and it started out to be a good break from walking around the National Mall. That is until a lady needed to sit in the seat next to me, and that was fine with me. I'm not the most keen on sitting really close to people I don't know and being up close and personal with them. This lady fell asleep and started leaning on me; it was probably the longest half an hour of my life. But when I took a bite of my George Town cupcake the bus ride was so worth it!


The next day before our next baseball game, we hopped on the bus again (We planned a little better this time so we were on the bus for a short period of time) and rode over to Arlington National Cemetery.


Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 

This day was so unbelievably hot and humid. I have never sweat so much in my entire life as I did standing here watching the Guard change. I am also so happy I chose to wear dry fit this day :) After we rode back we decided it was time to enjoy some air conditioning in the Holocaust Museum and the Air and Space Museum. 


Game 4 Washington Nationals vs Houston Astros 
And of course our seats were directly in the sun. By this point in the night I was regretting that I don't drink hardly any water. I was exhausted and didn't want to eat anything at the ball park. It wasn't until I sat down and wanted to take my shoes off when I noticed my feet. 


My feet at the game


My feet on a normal day... Just so you can compare
We ended up leaving that game around the 7th inning because none of us could sit there any longer. We were all exhausted and dehydrated, so we went back to our hotel to get some sleep.


The next day we slept in and when we finally got up we walked around DC to just see a few extra buildings we had yet to see.


That night we went to another Nationals vs Astros game, so we could actually enjoy some baseball since we were suffering from heat stroke. 

I had a great time on this trip, it was so much fun! Thank you mom and dad for taking me on my "strange vacation" as my grandma named it. Not very many 18 year old girls pick baseball tours for their senior trip.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

I'm unsure how to do this adult thing...

It's hard to believe that I'm going to be moving to college in just a few short weeks... I still feel like I'm a little girl! I guess I have to start doing adult things like cook and clean and do laundry. Being an Adult sounds like a lot of work and I'm not sure if I'm ready to make that commitment quite yet. Can I just take my mom and dad to college with me? Everything would be so much easier.

I have been deemed as Permanent Vacation Hannah by my brother in law Matt, he thinks that I'm gonna be in for a rude awakening once college actually starts! He's probably right though, but I'm open to advice to make this easier! Some advice I've already gotten from people is

1. Don't get married. (A real challenge considering I'm going to BYU-I)
2. Have fun
3. Study hard
4. Wash your clothes

Now if anyone has any advice on how to study I would gladly take that... I couldn't tell you the last time I actually studied. Wish me luck on my new adventures and keep checking back here! I will try my hardest to update you on my learning experiences after I move out! :) 

-Hannah (: