FAMILY REUNION

So this last weekend was pretty hectic. We went to Utah for a 4th of July family reunion and my cousin Tara's wedding. Needless to say, we were running all over the place! I just thought I'd share some pictures of the weekend's happenings for the very few of you who might care. :) The first few are us hiking the Y mountain in Provo. (That was quite the experience! Ugh!) The others are some of the family reunion pictures we took. These are just snapshots since we actually had a professional photographer there who probably took much better ones. Anyway, enjoy!

Hiking the Y. I always seem to be out of shape when we do this activity.....

View from the top!

My brothers are dorks. What else can I say?

The whole Miles crew! (My mom's side of the family)

The Miles family. (The ones who got it all started!) My mom's the oldest on the far right.

TAGGED AGAIN....

Okay, so I've been tagged again, this time by Tiffany Andrews. So...here you go!

Attached or single? Single
Best friend? Hmmmmm....Good question. I'd probably have to say right now...Kristen Packard
Cake or pie? Pie
Day of choice? Friday. You have the whole weekend to look forward to!
Favorite color? Green
Gummy bears or worms? Um, both! (Have you seen me lately?) :)
Hometown? San Marcos, California
Ideal vacation? Touring Europe and visiting all the historical places/sites that I teach my students about!
January or July? July because it's summer time and I don't have to work! :)
Marriage date? Still waiting on that one.....
Number of siblings? 6
Oranges or apples? Apples
Phobias? Probably heights and certain spiders.
Quote? "Service is like wetting yourself. Everyone can see what you've done but only you can feel the warmth."
Reasons to smile? My family, my health, my friends, and the gospel!
Season of choice? Fall
Tag three people: Nikki Schroeder, David Bunjes, Ashley Veater
Unknown fact about me: I have a huge crush on Michelle Pfeiffer! :p
Vegetable? Broccoli
Worst habit? Forgetting people's names! You can't do that when you're a teacher!
X-ray or ultrasounds? Um...X-ray I guess....
Your favorite food? Mexican food
Zodiac sign? Pisces

MORE CRUISE PICTURES.....

Cuz you just didn't get enough the first post, admit it! :)

More Moore's (and Vandevegtes) on the beach.

You can't go to Mexico without a trip to Senor Frogs!

Outside of Senor Frogs.

This was outside a club that ran up along a really pretty beach in Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa. Notice what you have to walk under to get inside. Too funny!

Pictures by one of the pools on the ship.

The finest dining ever! This is on one of the formal nights. I think our dinners together were some of my favorite times on the ship.

The best servers ever! These two were hilarious and a lot of fun.

A formal night photo.

Riley, our room service guy! He was from Jamaica and was extremely funny! These guys really take care of you.

CRUISE PICTURES....

Okay, so I've actually gotten some requests for pictures of the cruise my family and I went on in March so, here they are! I'm not the most photogenic person in the world but my siblings sure are. :) We had the greatest time! Now let's see if this works..... Here's the family on the first day. The ship hasn't left the harbor yet so we were just wandering around and eating. (Notice Tanner already has a bowl of ice cream)

The family saying "Bye" to sunny San Diego.

My little brother Kyle and I. Can't you just tell how much I love the sun? This is in Acapulco I believe.

My little brothers Tanner and Hunter going out on Sea-doos in Acapulco. They were a blast!

My siblings and our two neighbor girls (Their family went with us) posing again in Acapulco. Beautiful place!

The bannana boat! I can never go on those because I always think of Jaws the Revenge. :)

SEMINARY FUN!

So I had my seminary students come up with some modern day applications for scripture mastery clues and I thought they were pretty funny! Here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Moses 1:39- Jesus Christ sends out missionaries to teach people so they can have immortality and eternal life.
Moses 7:18- There is a Utah neighborhood that are all self-sufficient and care for each other with tons of service and all thought the same kind of things. They also ate casserols and jello together.
Joshua 1:8- If your seminary teacher tells you to read the scriptures you should pray about them after you read.
Joshua 24:15- Choose what path your going to follow every day before going to school.
Leviticus 19:18- Your neighbor is annoying because their dog keeps pooping on your lawn. Even with their disrespect you should show them love and charity because of the Lord's example.
Genesis 39:9- If some one offers you weed, run away!
Abraham 3:22-23- There were many great people in the pre-existence and Heavenly Father has chosen them as his rulers.
Isaiah 29:13-14- The missionaries are going to honor the Lord by doing his great work. The work and wonder is the gospel and the Book of Mormon coming to pass.
Isaiah 55:8-9- The Lord's thoughts are higher and great, however, our thoughts during the day and night are not nearly so great.
Malachi 4:5-6- Geneology is important to do because it fulfills Elijah's prophecy about eternal families.
Danieal 2:44-45- There is a run away stone wheel that represents the gospel and its running over all old people and customs.
Malachi 3:8-10- Pay your tithing!
Ezekial 37:15-17- The Book of Mormon and the Bible were made for different people and they are joined in the scriptures.
Isaiah 1:18- Although some one may have sinned a lot they can be forgiven of their sins and have their sins become white as snow.
Amos 3:7- When I listen to conference and hear President Monson speak, I know we are recieving revelation that he received from God.
Psalms 24:3-4- One time I was writing on myself and I looked at my hands. I realized I would have to wash my palms before going to heaven.
Job 19:25-26- I have a friend who does not believe that our redeemer lives. But from the truthfulness of this scripture I can bare my testimony to my friend about how I can see God again.
Proverbs 3:5-6- Turn on the light and you know it will turn on. If you don't put the light bulb in, it won't turn on.
Jeremiah 16:16- If you get called on a mission, you should go!
Exodus 20:3-17- Do not have idols for there is no other gods than Heavenly Father.
Isaiah 53:3-5- When I sin I pray for forgiveness and I know I will be able to be forgiven because of the Atonement.
1 Samuel 16:7- We should not elect some one on their size or strength but on their actions; not on their appearance.
Genesis 1:26-27- Today I was talking to a friend and he brought up God and man and asked what I think God looks like so I told him about this scripture.
Exodus 33:11- I was talking to my friend FACE TO FACE and realized that my relationship with God could be much like my relationship with my friend.
Deuteronomy 7:3-4- You marry a goth and her depression is starting to get to you. You become a goth and leave the church. Ten years later after you divorce all you think is, why did I marry outside the covenant?

I'VE BEEN TAGGED!

Okay, so I've never been "tagged" before but at the risk of being smacked by Ashley, I'll do this. :)

What were you doing 5 years ago?
Well, I would have been 21 and it was March, so I was literally just getting back from my mission to the Texas Houston East Mission. I got home March 10, 2003, so I'm sure I was trying to re-adjust to life after a mission. It was a great feeling to have it done though and to know I gave it my all! I was also getting ready to go back to BYU which I did the very next month (April).

5 things on my to-do list today:
1. Do laundry.
2. Pay bills.
3. Start packing for the cruise I'm going on in 4 days! (But who's counting right?)
4. Finish up classwork for the course I'm in that's ending today for my Masters degree in Secondary Education.
5. Taking a nap because my spring break has officially started!

7 snacks I enjoy:
1. Homemade chocolate chip cookies! (my Mom's to be precise)
2. Wheat Thins crackers
3. Oreo cookies
4. Yogurt (since I've been dieting, its my new favorite snack)
5. Doritos chips
6. Bananas, apples, grapes, oranges
7. Granola bars (all kinds)

3 bad habits:
1. Not saving money like I should! I love buying DVD's. It's an addiction. :)
2. When I get excited, I tend to talk louder. Gets annoying.
3. Forgetting people's (especially students') names. Not a good thing when you're a teacher!

If I were suddenly a billionaire......
I would buy my dream home complete with a library that would put the Beast's (from Beauty and the Beast) to shame, get a few nice cars, invest in several income properties, and travel the world several times!

5 places I've lived:
1. Santa Rosa, CA
2. Provo, UT
3. San Marcos, CA
4. Houston, TX
5. Lake Charles, LA

5 jobs I've had:
1. Concessions Manager for San Marcos Youth Basketball
2. Dental Assistant (not the kind that actually helps the dentist work on teeth, but the guy who sterilized all of his equipment, cleaned the lab/dentures, and made sure the office looked nice.
3. Ticket Clerk in the Marriott Center at BYU
4. Administrative Assistant at Psychiatric Centers for San Diego
5. Middle school substitute teacher
(You only want 5 right? I've had several others) :)

5 things people might not know about me:
1. I play the piano. I took lessons for about 6-8 years (I can't remember exactly) and quit when I was about 13. However, through occasional practice, I've retained just about everything I've learned and can still play fairly well.
2. I'm writing a novel. When I say writing, it's mostly in the past tense since I haven't even looked at it in over 3 months! I actually have over 600 pages of material and only have about a chapter and an epilogue left before it's finished so once I finish this darn Masters degree, I might actually get the thing done.
3. I'm a seminary teacher. I can't remember who all of my friends (and even some family members) I've told that I teach freshmen seminary but I have now for 2 years. I really love it but unfortunately this will probably be my last year since I'm going to be a full time high school history teacher next year and just won't have the time to do both. :( It's been really fun though!
4. I have the hardest time falling asleep. For as long as I can remember, I've always had to lay in bed for at least an hour before I can doze off. And that's on a good night. Sometimes it's even longer. On my mission, I started taking sleeping pills to help me fall asleep so I could get enough rest to wake up at 6:30 in the morning (or whenever it was we had to get up). Thankfully, I don't seem to need as much sleep as I used to because I get up at about 5:30 every morning now for seminary and I seem to be fine without the sleeping pills.
5. One of my best friends passed away the summer before my senior year in high school. His name was Chris Brown and he and his entire family (mom, dad, and two little sisters: Trish and Holly) were killed in a car accident just outside of Las Vegas. Not the most pleasant experience for a 17 year old kid to have, but I bet it's something some of you didn't know about me!

I tag Hyrum and Tiffany Andrews! And what the heck, in a feeble attempt to force them to start their own blogs, Meghan Merritt and Derek Porter!

CRUISIN THE WORLD

To whom it may concern,
Okay, let's get real here. There really aren't all that many concerned about my whereabouts, but I thought I'd share where I'll be from March 21st to the 29th anyway! Yes, I'll be cruising the Mexican Riviera on the Carnival Spirit for 8 fun filled days! I'm so excited. I've gone on this ship before but not to the destinations we're headed to this time. And, my entire family is going for the last time without "in-laws!" (For those who don't know, Tanner's getting married on May 17)

Anyway, I just thought I'd gloat. :) There's no better way to spend spring break in my humble opinion than cruising the ocean! I'll be sure and gain a few pounds for everyone! Bon voyage.