I like 'em big, I like 'em chunky...

Dear Christian,

Please don't go see this movie until I am home. Until then, just enjoy this video.

Love, Stacie

Sorry the last link was jacked up. Here is the real one.

Rejoice

So I was just reading Acts 5 where Peter and John are again arrested for preaching and performing miracles. They escape prison, but are brought back to the council. The council plans to kill them until Gamaliel tells them to think about what they intend to do because if Peter and John's work really is of God you don't want to be found fighting against God. The council beats Peter and John and tells them again to stop preaching and they let them go. And then Peter and John respond in this way:
41: And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
42: And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
The Church is suffering a lot of persecution right now and I realize that I sometimes do not know how to handle it, but Peter and John are amazing examples. Rejoice that we know the truth and are counted worthy to suffer for this gospel. We are a small percentage of the world and we have a great work to do.
Cease not to teach and preach of Jesus Christ.

Raise the Roof!

California...way to be. I'm quite disappointed that Prop 4 didn't pass, but Prop 8 looks pretty promising with 95% of precincts reporting. I don't want to go into how upset I am that that I heard many members didn't vote Yes. Bottom line: Proclamation to the Family!
So I just want to raise the roof for all of you in California who stuck it out and did your duty. I did what I could from here, but I did not have to deal with it like you did. A special shout-out to Stephanie who pretty much dedicated all her "free time" to it.

Sad day for McCain. He was very gracious about the loss though and quieted all his supporters down when they were booing the fact that he was congratulating Obama so early. Not sure how I feel about Obama yet. It is pretty amazing that we have a black president after our nation's history. We've come a long way. He gave a decent speech too...not sure it was necessary to talk about MLK. I will definitely support him. I'll get back to you soon.
***Edit: So I was just looking up Prop 8 and I read this quote in one article:
"Barack Obama's candidacy made this win by the Prop 8 folks possible. Black voters went for Prop 8 by a margin of 9 to 1. Hispanics split, and whites voted against it. Without such a huge black turnout, it probably wouldn't have passed."
Here is another one I read:
"Meanwhile, The Advocate, a gay magazine, offers another reason why Obama's election may have been bad news for Prop. 8: "No on 8 volunteers fear that with the election all but won for Barack Obama, California Democrats who would have otherwise waited in line after polls closed might be inclined to call it a night -- bad news for Prop. 8.""
Thank you, Obama.***

In other news, Kyle will be coming to Utah this weekend! I am so excited to see him. I don't know how he will feel about the snow...p.s. it snowed last night. Boo.
______________________________________________

Steph, tell Christian to come look at this...



I can't wait to see this with you! I like to move it, move it...

vote however you like...

the only reason i will miss this election. funny videos.

Beginning of time-forever...

So the first time I was clocking out on the computer rather than the time clock I somehow clicked on this screen and noticed it had all my different BYU jobs listed...including one I didn't have, but whatever. The next thing I noticed is highlighted in lime green. They think they own me or something.

Note: I recently discovered how to do print screen and since my camera is no more I have been using this feature to spice up my blog. It is so cool.

stop this train, i want to get off and go home again.

Things are going so fast! This is good and bad...it is awesome that Thanksgiving and Christmas are close, but this just means I have so much work to do before then. Ahh!

So funny update...this weekend we had our Best Buddies Halloween Party--always a big hit--and it was seriously the best turnout. The buddies looked so good in their costumes. We even had a girl dress up as Sarah Palin and during the scary monster sound contest, she said,"Vote for Sarah Palin!" Kills me. Anyway, the party was a blast and, in true Best Buddies fashion, we had to have a dance. Let me tell you...these people can dance! They put me to shame. We have 4 married buddies (2 couples) and then lots of other relationships. One buddy, Amy, is such a handful. She has down syndrome, but she is VERY high functioning...has a job, emails, does her own thing. Still, her social skills and such are not like most. She was engaged last year to another buddy, but that went south and she now has a new boyfriend. He is too much. Daniel is also a buddy, but I sense that he is much less innocent and naive than the other buddies. I'm onto him. It seems like he would just be the awkward guy at the office. Maybe somewhere pretty mild on the autism spectrum such as asperger syndrome. *Sidenote: Rachel (Zach's sister) and Candice (her cousin) are their buddies. They are good with them.* Anyway, they were dancing and getting a little too close for comfort so I just mentioned that we want to keep it clean. Daniel says, "But I have raging hormones!" I just walked away and took care of some other stuff. I walked by them again and jokingly said, "Remember the Book of Mormon rule from church dances?" Amy looked at me with a very upset face and said, "You are making me uncomfortable." More like she was making me uncomfortable. I went and talked to some other officers to get input and one said she could try and say something because she did it all the time as an EFY counselor. She got busy and when I walked back toward the dancing, Amy and Daniel stopped me and informed me that they weren't going to do any bad dancing or "petting". I don't know how I kept a straight face as I walked away.

Another funny story...my roommate's buddy lost her camera at the activity (we think she left it at home because we never saw her with it). She called my roommate who then called me to check if we had picked it up during cleanup, but we hadn't seen it. Anyway, my roommate got a few calls early Sunday about it and the last she heard Mary Ann was going to call BYU Lost and Found. Done deal, right? Never in Best Buddies. I check the email on Tuesday night and we have a message from BYU Broadcasting:
_______________________________________________

Dear Stacie Nichols,
We received some voicemails here at BYU Broadcasting from one of the BestBuddies participants who lost her camera at a recent event. Her info is below. Could you please respond to her?

Thanks,Karen Knorr

BYU Broadcasting

A young woman named Mary Ann left 2 voicemails.
She lost her camera (black with pink stripe and blue stars). Have you found it?She tried calling the Lost and Found but "they're not answering."
***-**35 or ***-**34 (she left a different number each time she called).

_________________________________________________

Why is BYU Broadcasting involved? That would definitely be the next place I called... Again, I thought that was the end of it. Who am I kidding?

Wednesday I get a call from the Best Buddies College Buddy Director from the U (my equivalent up there) who tells me that he had a message about a buddy who lost their camera. I was dying laughing. You can't be serious. He was.

I get off the phone and check my personal email and I have an email from the Best Buddies Utah State Director, Justin Haskell.

__________________________________________________

Stacie,

I think the voicemail attached is from one of your participants. Let me know if you have any questions.

In Friendship,
Justin W. Haskell

___________________________________________________

He actually attached the voicemail. Too good. It was 1:45.

Best Buddies can be so overwhelming sometimes (all the time), but I can tell you that it is giving me better abs because I laugh so much. We all need to take the advice of Elder Wirthlin: "The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable."

Last thing...I'm pretty sure that no one reads this...if so it is just my family...but I would ask that if you work in the schools, please see if you can get the Best Buddies program there. If you don't, go to bestbuddies.org and see how you can get involved. Donate, go to events, or BE A BUDDY! There is a Buddy Citizens program for adults and there is also an e-Buddies program so you can live anywhere and be involved! I don't think I have to tell you that I love working with people with disabilities, but I want you to love it too. Everyone deserves a friend and if we could all just reach out a little further then that might happen.

Real Life

I am an avid CNN.com (crime section) reader and today I was looking in the crime section and I saw "Soldier kills woman". I clicked on it and read about how a 21 year old man met a 19 year old girl on MySpace and when they finally met in real life, he ended their meeting by killing her. It is inconceivable how trusting people are. This girl didn't know this man. Yet she met him and he took advantage of her. Comments on his MySpace from other girls after the murder made it clear that his other young "girlfriends" were on his side. They didn't think this changed him at all. They still believed he was a decent guy. He even had on his profile that he could "kill for no reason and without mercy". Why would people want to be his friend let alone physically meet him all by themselves in the woods? The saddest part about the article is that the girl was a special education student. This made me realize the great responsibility I have to protect my students from the evils of the internet and dangerous people.

So for those of you with children or students...please go to isafe.org to be trained in Internet Safety for yourself and to teach others. It seems lame (I thought it was at first), but it really is important for kids to be aware of what they are up against.

get involved...

Tonight, all BYU students from California had the opportunity to come together and watch the broadcast to members in California regarding Prop 8. What a blessing it is that we have the fulness of the gospel. We know our purpose here on Earth. We know the purpose of families. We understand their role in the plan of salvation. I know that marriage is ordained of God between a man and a woman. I know that I must do what I can to ensure that our state defines marriage as such. I walked the precincts once before I left for school and haven't done anything else since, but I know I can do more even though I am out of California. I can talk to my friends. Elder Ballard talked about getting involved online. So here I am. And it can start small.

Words from our prophet, President Monson: "My young friends, be strong. The philosophies of men surround us. The face of sin today often wears the mask of tolerance. Do not be deceived; behind that facade is heartache, unhappiness, and pain. You know what is right and what is wrong, and no disguise, however appealing, can change that."

And finally, just so my intentions are clear, words from our late prophet, President Hinckley: "Nevertheless, and I emphasize this, I wish to say that our opposition to attempts to legalize same-sex marriage should never be interpreted as justification for hatred, intolerance, or abuse of those who profess homosexual tendencies, either individually or as a group. As I said from this pulpit one year ago, our hearts reach out to those who refer to themselves as gays and lesbians. We love and honor them as sons and daughters of God. They are welcome in the Church. It is expected, however, that they follow the same God-given rules of conduct that apply to everyone else, whether single or married."

F-A-G

No, I am not talking about a bundle of sticks or homosexuals. I just have another funny story from my adventures in the classroom. The class took a spelling test, but two students were exempt and worked with me at the back of the room on their letters and numbers. After the test, it was circle time and the teacher asked the students to spell some of the words while we were waiting for the speech therapist to come in. They were taking turns on the words either writing in on a whiteboard or saying it out loud. Oscar, one of the exempt students, was saying random letters the whole time. The teacher asked if anyone could spell can. Oscar had stopped his random letters, looked straight at the teacher, and said F-A-G. I was dying. The other teachers didn't seem to notice, but I couldn't stop laughing. I already love my career.

back by popular demand.

Okay adoring fans...I will blog. I know I need to just make it a habit to blog like once a week. I tried that...Sundays...doesn't work since I haven't had a single free hour in the last 3 Sundays. I have to be at church at 8, back by 12:30, and then from there I have had Best Buddies meetings (the only time we could meet to do the matching), council meetings for my calling, interviews, visiting family in Ogden, and the list goes on. One of these days I will take a Sunday nap. School is amazing---I love my program. I was so worried that I wouldn't click with anyone or people would be way more experienced (they are) than I am with special education and they would think I shouldn't be there. I was wrong. I have made some great friends in my program and it is so fun to go to class everyday because I see all of them. I have program classes M-Th from 4-7...6 on Tuesdays! Before that, I work, have Best Buddies meetings, go to weight training and New Testament. After class, I just try to get everything done before I crash and burn around 12. I am up the next morning by about 6:45 to swim (I slept through my alarm this morning though). I have been volunteering for 5 hours each Friday at Amelia Earhart elementary with the same teacher I have been with for the last 2 years. It is so fun to see all my kids again, but my favorite has now been mainstreamed. I am so happy for her, but selfish me wishes she was still in my class. She even gave me a Pokemon name...Stunky. I wish life would slow down a little bit so I could enjoy it a little more, but this is how it goes I guess.
Let's see:

• This weekend, I went to Ogden because my mom was in town. So good to see family and especially my mom. My grandparents were amazing too. I hung out with my cousin, Alex, who is 18 and he was going to a party so I went. Awkward...I am a Junior in college and these kids are seniors in high school, but it was fun to be with him.
• Last night, I went to Brick Oven with some people from my program...so fun. We decided to do it more often. We need to see each other outside of class so it isn't always so stressful. I would recommend the Garlic Chicken pizza. Yum.
• After that, I went to Aunt Tiana and Uncle Brent's so I could hang out with Jordan before he leaves. I can't believe how amazing my family is. He is such a great kid/young man and I am so blessed to be related to him. I love all my family, but it has been so great to always live near the Urmston's. He is going to be such a great missionary.
• Funny story 1: I was working with a student named Bryce and he didn't listen to my prompts the first time so I repeated them. He turned to me and said,"Patience. Patience is a virtue." I do not know how I contained my laughter. Where do kids come up with these things?
• Funny story 2: Amy and I were at the library last week and we left a little before midnight. We are hilarious people (we like to think) and we noticed that one of the big, glass-covered bulletin boards right in the middle of campus was open. How could we resist? We put my roommate's phone number on a paper and wrote, "Nicole Austin, a freaking hot babe." We went home and didn't say a word. The next night I was eating dinner when Nicole walked in and said,"I got a call from a St. George area code..." I died laughing. I couldn't wait for Amy to get home. Apparently, a boy called and said, "Nicole, I saw this note. A freaking hot babe...where are you?" We couldn't let it end there so the next night we put our other roommate's number up.

All in all, this is going to be a great year. I love what I am studying and the things I am involved in. I need to try and make more time for a social life. This is my goal for this weekend. Hang out with Roxanne and other amazing friends that I don't live with. Love to you all.

Mother of Mine!

Where do you start? She is the most amazing, thoughtful mom that anyone could have. I got to my apartment on Friday and I had a package from my mom on Saturday. See what I mean?

I almost didn't come home this summer, but I am so glad I did because I was able to spend time with her. I often took it for granted (when it was at the office), but I would give anything to be just an hour or two away from her.

She never feels like she does enough, but she gives me more than I deserve. She is an amazing example of the pure love of Christ. She excels at so many things and she motivates me to do all the things that I want, no matter how daunting they may seem.

Thanks for putting up with me and the other 6 hooligans.

Mom, I love you. I am so blessed to have you as my mother.

Happy Birthday!

just in case you didn't know

so i have a problem. i have a small bladder and i laugh at just about everything. you get the picture. this is a visual of me trying to "hold it". i was laughing because i didn't think i could make it from one rock to the other without getting wet. not sure why it was so funny to me, but apparently kyle captured it all. i often have to do this when i laugh really hard. i should stop surrounding myself with funny people and ridiculous situations. anyway, welcome to my world. i am a joke.

i'm back lovers.

I rolled into Provo a little before 5 today. Got Rachel checked in and then went to the bookstore. Met up with Garrick and we all got Chinese food. I am now in Rachel's dorm. I'm sure you have all been dying for a good post so I will get back to you soon with that. LOVE YOU ALL!

life is good my friends

I had a great weekend in Vegas seeing some of the family. Audrey is absolutely beautiful and I am so excited to see our family keep growing. I won't be contributing anytime soon, but I am happy to babysit and be an awesome aunt! I will post a few pictures from this weekend, but I guess I should mention that I GOT INTO MY PROGRAM! SEVERE BABY! I didn't know how it would all work out, but I knew somehow it would. Heavenly Father "opened an effectual door" for me to work with these special people and I am so grateful. I swear when I have more time I will write more.

Friends, Concert, Birthday, No Future

Well family, I have received a few requests for an update so to appease the masses (all 5 of my sibling who read this) I did. My friends, Raquel and Vanessa, came up to visit over President's Day weekend. They came on Thursday night and I picked them up and we came back to our apartment and ate pizza. On Friday, we showed them campus and then went to Salt Lake. Saturday we went to Park City and then to the BYU basketball game. After church on Sunday I made potato soup and then we went to Temple Square and then the airport. They were here for 3 days, but they couldn't stay for Monday because Vanessa had school. Her school does get Cesar Chavez Day off though...very odd. It was so good to see them and spend time with them. It was also fun to have them see what we are up to in Utah. They liked it more than they thought would and I was very happy. Not such big fans of the snow...Go here http://byu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28643&l=dc40c&id=612182095 to see all of my pictures.
In other news...I went to my first REAL concert. I love Ingrid Michaelson and Roxanne mentioned she was going to the Joshua Radin concert and Ingrid Michaelson would be there so I jumped at the chance. It was all very exciting, but you should all listen to some Alexa Wilkinson, Ingrid Michaelson, and Joshua Radin songs. You will recognize Ingrid's song "The Way I Am" from Old Navy commercials. I'll fix my music player soon so they are right there. More pictures....http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29477&l=8fd7d&id=612182095

Here are some videos...never mind they take too long!

Tomorrow is my roommate Nicole's birthday. We went to dinner and then came back for cake and ice cream. She has really been wanting some underwear that shall remain nameless, but when she opened them a table near us with a family began laughing and pointing at us. Their little girl was appalled and we tried to run out quickly, but after I got out of there the dad stopped Nicole and asked her if she wanted a picture of her opening her "little present". What a perv! Anyway, we came home and played Nintendo 64 Mario Kart...I can't steer and I always lose. Nicole is the reigning champ! Other than that...life is fine. Zach has a committment for baptism and another investigator is doing really well! FHE was fun tonight...we did yoga. The boys were hilarious. On a more somber note, I got my program letter and I didn't get into the severe program. A few weeks ago the secretary for the program gave us the option to switch emphases, but I said I would consider switching IF I didn't get in so I am still waiting to hear about the mild/moderate program. I am also on the alternate list for severe. It was weird to realize that this was the first time in my life that something big didn't go the way I planned. I have been so blessed and at first my reaction was "Well, I guess it is time that something bad happens to me", but then I realized that it isn't like that at all. I think this is the answer I have been waiting for regarding what emphasis I should be in...it may be mild/moderate and it may be neither. I have always been willing to ask, but less willing to listen because I know what I want and I assume that is the best thing for me. At this point I need to leave this all up to the Lord and have faith, but I realized tonight that faith doesn't mean assuming the Lord will fix everything. It may not actually work out like I want and that is what faith really is...trusting in whatever the Lord has planned for me. I lesson I needed to learn. Trials do serve a great purpose.

I know, I know

I suck at posting. I just don't have the cute kids that you do to post about. And no one cares about my opinions on politics...I don't even care about my opinions on politics. I'll try to be better at it, but I make no promises. Just to update you a little on my life I will make a short list.

• Raquel and Vanessa are coming to visit this weekend! We will be showing them the best of Utah and just hanging out. I am so excited to see them. I miss home so much and it will be good to have a little part of what I love about Bakersfield here.
  
• Zach has been out a year!!!!! I am on the countdown now.


• My family won't come visit me...not even in Vegas.
  
• School is fine. I am happy to be here getting an education, but I take school for granted way too often. I am mostly worried about my upcoming Biology test. I got a 92% on my first Interior Design test, but I should have done better. I think I am just getting sick of GEs...cross my fingers I get in to my program so I can stop this nonsense.


• Speaking of my program...I applied 2 weeks ago and I should find out at the end of this month!


• I love going to the special needs institute. The people are so fun and I get so much out of the lessons. I go on Tuesday and Thursday nights and I am in the Teachings of the Living Prophets class and the Old Testament class. Chetty comes with me most of the time. Funny story: this one guy, Donald, falls in love with whoever sits next to him. One day I heard him ask one girl 3 times to marry him. Back to the story though...he wanted to hear the talks from general conference so the teacher told him she could make a CD with their voices and he asked if she could put Michelle's voice on it too (the girl sitting next to him). Anyway, these people just amaze me. Ron is blind yet he can play the piano better than anyone I know and he has a great testimony of death and resurrection. They all have such strong testimonies of the plan of salvation.


• I was sick and ALMOST lost my voice completely (a lifelong dream of mine), but I just sounded like a man for a few days.


• Found 2 new restaurants (Gandolfo's and Guru's) on Center St. My world is expanding!


• I love my best buddy, but I think I see her way too much for my busy schedule. I have already seen her twice this week and it is only Wednesday! I love it, but sometimes it is hard to have the time to pick her up or take her home, but she makes me feel guilty about her riding the bus. This is a picture of us at the Utah Flash game. They play the Bakersfield Jam.




• I went shopping by myself with my gift cards and bought a new dress! I had an assignment for interior design that required me to go to the mall plus I needed to be alone...living with 3 other people can completely destroy any semblance of privacy or personal space. And to think they want me to live with 5 people next year.

Well...I think that pretty much sums up my life as of late. I miss you all.

Dilemma...

Amy and I have been telling our friends they should come visit us for quite some time. We never thought they would come so we didn't think about the fact that there is not much to do in Provo. Dilemma...they love us enough to visit and we don't know what to do. We will drive as far as Park City and Salt Lake, but we need ideas. Sledding, the planetarium at the Gateway mall, Tucano's in Provo...I need more! They will be here for 3 1/2 days. Please help. I love you all. I will soon write about my life, but you'll just have to help me out first. P.S. This kid is cute and grandpa is hilarious. Love, Stacie

EMHN

(Or at least that is what she calls herself nowdays.)

NOTE: I had her full name plus my last name, but I knew I would get some upset emails from Nikki or Steph about putting it on the internet. Just a heads up...wanted you to know what it was originally.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

We never thought we could love another kid as much as we loved Christian and then Elyse came along. She is the most feisty 4-year-old I have ever met. I like to tease her and the other day we went shopping and I said something about her hair because I had straightened it. I had just gotten a haircut so her comeback was "Your new bangs are ugly." Wow...she knows how to dish it out and take it. Funny kid.

She is the most beautiful little girl and she knows it. When her hair was straight, we were at the Gap and she kept going to the mirror and looking at herself and playing with her hair. All-girl...oh wait, Christian does that too.
She loves to sleep over at our house and we LOVE to have her. The only downside is she moves a lot and takes up all the room in the bed, but isn't she just so sweet when she is asleep?
She is a little bit of a drama queen so it is funny to see her mad. Here is a prime example. Also, she always runs to Grandma because she knows Grandma is a sucker for her. The other day I told her I was going to race her to my mom and I would win, but she said, "No because I'm grandma's favorite girl." I guess I have been replaced.
She loves to play with her big brother Christian. Here she is applying her special Hello Kitty lipgloss.

She also likes to take care of her little brother Grant. She is the best big/little sister around.

I wish I had a good movie of her dancing because she has MOVES! You'll just have to take my word for it. Her best dancing songs are Bossy and Lipgloss. Maybe Steph can post a video? We had a dance party a few times while I was home on break and she kept asking for more.

I love you Elyse! I wish I could be there more, but until the summer...make sure to call me and leave me funny messages.