And the Lord said, "Let Her be Done!"

I'm Done! Sweetness and a half!

Graduation was on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at the Dee Events Center at 2:00. My graduating class consisted of 516 people...it was long. :)

The Grandparents from both sides were there and my family. I'm so glad they could make it - it meant a lot to me!

My friends and I had plans to take pictures at 1:00 because they were NOT going to let us get pictures in our caps and gowns after the ceremony. Well, traffic was horrendous, but a few of us managed to get there in time - this meant I was forced to go without food. But my mom had pity on me and brought me a hamburger from Jake's Over the Top just in the knick of time. I also happened to bump into Grandpa Higley before the ceremony and got a picture with him!

Overall, it was a neat experience. I got a gold cord (3.8 or higher throughout high school) and a fancy medal - they gave one to everyone, but we all thought it was cool. In order to pick up the official diploma, we had to turn our robes in, that's why I don't have it on in these pictures.

It was a really special day for me. My parents put on a family party for the occasion and I got to see everyone! We had some good food and were able to eat outside in the beautiful weather - it was a gorgeous day! We had fun talking with one another and reading over Lesa's "Darkside of the Horoscope" book. :) And I got some really thoughtful gifts...and I got a Laptop! I haven't felt overly excited, and I am by no means sad, but it feels so nice to be done!

That night we had our senior party at Toads. It went til 4:00 AM. I went laser tagging, mini-golfing, go-karting, played arcade games, and ate junk all night long. They had artists who would draw you as a characature and prizes you could win, but alas, I waited too long for the picture and I didn't win anything. It was fabulous though! We all wore our senior shirts which declared: "Weber 2009" and along the side: "Hugs not Drugs" - Wow...profound. They had cereal for us to eat at 3:00 AM and so Shanna and the Ashleys and I enjoyed some golden grahams.

I slept in until 12:30 PM the next day. My system was off kilter. But me, Ashley, and Kirsten still went to Olive Garden for lunch as a celebration. It's been a good few days.

And tomorrow, I leave for Disneyland! I'm so excited!

Relay for Life

My friend Angie needed a service project for her Communications class. What better thing to do than participate in Relay for Life?

On April 25, 2009, my friends and I headed up to University of Utah at 1:00 that afternoon. We had plans to be gone until 8 or 9 the next morning. We were going to walk 14 hours straight! The cause: All funds raised go to the University to aid in research in continuing to find a cure for cancer. Our job: Have at least one member from our group walking at all times.

We walked all over campus attempting to find where the walk was to take place. We bumped into protesters who tried to convince us to walk with them to the capital until they were noticed - They were working to save children in Africa. A noble cause indeed, but we had something a little different in mind. :)

We finally found the location after asking every passerby. There were tents set up all over the center of a sidewalk "track." By now it was raining and raining rather hard, but we were pumped and excited to do something none of us had done before! Jeans soaking? No worries, we would make it through.

Events were scheduled to last throughout the night to keep people entertained, including a toiletpaper fashion show at 2:00 AM, a 70's dance off at 4:00 AM, and karaoke at oddball hours of the morning. We just walked. :) Teenagers have the ability to entertain themselves.

Me, Angie, and Tyler, walked basically the entire night! We had an 11:00 PM break at Wendy's and I had a half hour nap at 4:00 AM to keep me going, but we did it! I cannot tell you how painful it is to begin walking again after a nap when you had walked 12 hours straight before - killer! But worth it!

It was such a fun experience! Heck, I even got a date out of it, but it's something that will stay with me forever. It was nice to reflect on some memories of Jen, and share some of those with my friends who were willing to listen.

Good times. Lots of laughs. Closer friendships.

They Almost Left Me For Dead

Revenge is sweet - this is true...but it sucks when it's revenge on you!

A month ago the FFA attended their annual state convention. A group of us officer girls decided to play a prank on our fellow officer boys and had spent a month planning it - gathering supplies and plotting furiously. We got Mr. Openshaw in on it and it was sick! We hashed out their hotel room with Fremont souvenirs and balloons and soap. It was rather harmless, but oh-so-funny. :) Brent and Dakota swore vengeance upon anyone who helped scheme the prank on them. The mastermind of the whole plot was Emma, but I helped considerably in the act...so we were the two main targets...dun-dun-DUN!

So over the last month, Dakota and Brent have had us all pysched out. We never knew when the were going to hit, but they would smile and laugh at us anytime we saw them. I swear they were going to attack my room because of overheard conversations, so every night I would hesitate to open my door. That would have been the nicest thing they could do.

But they didn't.

During our landscaping class we started to walk out to the tree nursery and I had to stop at my car to get a backpack sprayer from my trunk. I was confused. Was that my car? WAS THAT MY CAR?!?!? My little white escort was propped up on jacks and my front tires were missing. Lined paper was shoved underneath my windshield wipers with snide little sayings like, "Don't you love the FFA?", "Have fun getting home today!", "Best Friends Forever!", et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I was ready to kick their butts. I knew it was Brent and Dakota.

Jess: "Where are my tires?"

Dakota: "I dunno! They musta roled down the hill."

Jess: "Where are my tires?!"

Dakota: "Way down there somewhere!"

Jess: "WHERE ARE MY TIRES?!?!?"

Dakota: "They're in my trunk."

I chased Dakota halfway down the parking lot, but flip-flops make terrible running shoes. And I told Brent I hated him. But I couldn't help but laugh the entire time. I definitely wasn't expecting this as revenge! Our whole class was laughing. They went out during third period and swiped my tires; so not only did they get revenge on me, they sluffed to do it.

I made Dakota and Brent stick my tires back on. They did it with smiles on their faces. Proud little suckers.

Quite frankly, I learned one very important lesson from this entire revenge experience: I need to remember how to change a tire.