A Wrap Up- Fall Semester 08'

Ok Guys I guess it's about due time for another update from life here in Logan. The semester is over. CRAZY! It flew by faster than I could've ever imagined. I don't even know where it went. AND...I must say that it was an amazing one. Good classes, Good Friends, Good Times. I am not especially excited about Spring Semester because that means COLD logan...and it's not my favorite. Nobody is jazzed to be at school anymore and there's not much to do with the freezing weather... I'm sure we'll get it figured out though.

I am SO relieved that I get a break. It is much needed. I am not going to miss the sophomore studio for a month...as we spent countless late nights in there busy working away. I am ready to just shut off the brain for a little while. Next semester it's back to Interior Design full force because we will be applying for STUDIO at the end of the spring. I want to try for studio. (Only about 20 out of the 60 make it!)

Tiny House/Construction Documents/Model Building/Presentation Boards/Sketches/Architectural Lettering/Shadow Assignments is what was included this semester. The first quarter was pretty simple as we were just learning AutoCad and they were babying us along. We would do assignments in class and that was about it. The next 3 quarters of the semester were... Not So Simple. They pretty much set you loose- with hardly any clue of what you are doing- and say "OK-DESIGN A HOUSE". They give us a lot of responsibility and I had a hard time with it. My teacher said to me ,"Ellen, you are very talented but I think that you need to work on consistency. This semester you seemed to be in this pattern of WORK WORK WORK- HIT A WALL. WORK WORK WORK-HIT A WALL". He was pretty accurate in describing me. It was an extremely tough semester- but I think that come January I will be a little bit more prepared- maybe not procrastinate so much.

A FEW RANDOM TIDBITS:

1. In the second week of November I headed up to Boise to spend the weekend with my good friend Rose. We saw a concert together in sake of old times and she showed me all around her city. I must say- I LOVE boise. It is way way cool. Downtown is awesome. I just like the feel of it. We went to a BSU game- that was intense. Their fans are insane. Her family lives in this sweet community around a lake. There are no motorized boats allowed- and every single house has their own dock with canoes. It is a sweet set up. Kinda reminded me of Seattle. WE at at the PieHole pizzeria in downtown and also at Merritt's Truck Stop (amazing scones) . Both great little dives. I love sweet places like that. Another connection to Boise is Dejah- Graham's new main squeeze. She's awesome. (From Boise) I hope you'll all get the chance to meet her.
We saw The Maine in concert while in Boise. One of our all time favorites. We got to talking to them after the show. Way cool guys. A little teeny boppers dream come true...This was the third occasion we've met and talked to the guys. Oh man...

2. The Factory is a siiick little dive in Logan. An underground pizza place that's been around forever. There are olden type huge wood seating and peanut shells all over the floor. If ever you are in Logan you've gotta try it out.

3.G-PA'S 80th B-DAY
What a night. I started bawling in front of everyone overwhelmed with happiness after not seeing anybody forever. Embarrassing. My friends - The Reese Twins- from Logan came and met the crazy Ririe Family. We had a fancy dinner. Grandpa had such a cute spiritual moment where he expressed his gratitude for all of us. I don't think any of us will ever soon forget it. The quiz about Grandpa's life was TOUGH for the majority of all the crazy couples (yams, pilgrims, etc?) Thanks to Dad Larson. He does know how to rally a crowd.
The Saturday of that weekend me and my friends headed to Decades. A SWEET vintage shop on State St. and about 600 South. I wonder if any of you kids have ever heard of it? The twins introduced me to it. Now i just want to go back and try on everything...all the fur coats, vintage hats, sunglasses, etc. IT's Amazing. It's HUGE!
Decades. Everyone Remember.

4.I saw Bolt in 3-D on a date the other weekend..I would HIGHLY recommend it. It was hilarious....

5. We have a Onesies Crew. Pajama's with Feet, Big tall furry wintery things. There's 6 of us and we like to whip out the onesies and wear them out whenever possible. They are the most comfy things and they bring to us a level of energy that can't be found anywhere else. Me, Melissa, and Andrea have just recently joined so I'm sure that there are many good times to come... the 3 of us have matching purple onesies with penguins all over them... It is hard to fathom how great these things just are.

6. Upon arriving home back to Logan from Thanksgiving Break- I can't contain my excitement for the christmas season. I can't wait for all the lights, the christmas cheer that comes with this time of year. I think I have had a disorder that requires me to sleep 12 hours a day. Where I get that in..I don't know...I don't have a job. This semester just wore on me- and all of the interior designers were having a really hard time coming back and getting adjusted after the break.

7. Gidget circa- 1960...have any of you older people heard of it? My girl Andrea introduced me to the Gidget series and we watched them on the projecter at the studio one late night. I love. Old Classic Hollywood Films.

8. Saturday, December 6th- It could've had better results but was still memorable. USU Basketball VS. BYU Basketball in the DELTA CENTER. It was...amazing. The energy in there. It was a close game and we ended up losing...BUMMER. I was talking smack to Graham via text during the game....we were so confident that we would win. We wanted it. Bad. Our fans were 4x better than theirs. At least we have that. We brought the energy of our home court to the big court in downtown salt lake. After the game we all went to my house and picked Katie up to go introduce all the Loganites to Molca Salsa on 33rd. After that we went to Nielsen's Frozen Custard. I swear that place has been around forever. So fattening. So delicious.

9. My old Roomies came up last weekend and we went to visit all our old Bishopric members and their families. The first stop we got fed a very fancy dinner...and then the next we got fed, and the next. We were stuffing desserts down our bellies. They are such great people and I love that we made that relationship with them so good that they can still come up and we can go visiting. This is how I feel.... I felt like the questions of the night were ," Who are you dating?" "Oh how's that going?" "Do you like him alot?" "Oh! Do you think you could end up together?" MARRIAGE QUESTIONS gal-lore!!!!
And I mean...yeah...we're at that age....I guess....BUT STILL! Come on...cut us some slack. I still feel so young! I'm only 19. The others are only 20! We've got plenty of time for all that, and i know it's all gonna work out...so could everyone just stop HOUNDING US with the marriage questions?? Hahah.

That's How I Feel.

10. I had some reconciliations lately. They feel so good. There's nothing like mending a friendship that needs it. There's no point in holding grudges...Where are we ever gonna end up unless we forgive unconditionally? I'm so grateful for good friends. All of you that are reading this. I find myself feeling so overwhelmingly blessed every single day.

11. Ok Here's A Biggie.

Earlier this week I got home in the early hours of the morning. About 4 A.M.. and much to my surprise there was a MASSIVE DEAD DEER HANGING BY ITS NECK FROM THE BALCONY OF MY APARTMENT BUILDING. What a shock. I screamed so loud I'm suprised I didn't wake everyone in my apartment. It was NASTY! Bleeding on the sidewalk. I've heard of things like this happening, but never has it Happened to me. I called the Po Po's and they came and took care of it. Not the most pleasant of experiences. Obviously a big group of kids had a little too much time on their hands. How? During finals week? Who knows...But yeah. There's one for you to all digest.

I'm so so excited to come home for the break and hopefully see as many of you as I can.

Until next time.

Adios

Cool Times, School Times.

Hello Friends-
I am just having the best time up at college my sophomore year...so I thought I'd let everyone in on my secrets to happiness....
I've been here about a month now (I swear, time flies.) and I'm loving seriously every minute of it. Living in the dorms was such a different experience than being off campus in apartment housing. I felt like all I met last year were freshman and plenty of "special" people...This year so far I'm having a lot better luck meeting older people. I'm lovin it.
I am positively stoked for my program. I LOVE it. My classes are awesome and so are all of my professors. I'm taking strictly int. design classes this semester so I don't have any generals to bore me. It's great!
I'm living in apartments called Oakridge. There is 25 buildings with 28 people in each...it's HUGE. It's very social too. We have a pool, hot tub, and volleyball courts. There will always be a group of people out in those. The ward this year is HUGE and I love it. An awesome bishopric and lots of way neat people. I had connections with my stake pres. so therefore I had a stake calling within the first week of being up here. Whoo! Stake Institute Representative...so it's my job to encourage enrollment, being on an LDSSA board, and attend 7 o clock sunday meetings once a month. (AT least it will wake me up early before my 1:15 PM church...it's the worst time!!)
My two room mates this year are quite a bit older than me- Deborah (25) Whitney (23) We are all quite different but it's been a good experience so far. It's interesting to live with people who you are very different from.
SO FAR: There's been tons of fun things going on- on campus, off campus, hockey games, foot ball games (I don't really enjoy those). There was the annual movie night on the QUAD. They played IronMan and hundreds of people showed up with blankets and even couches. They had projected it onto this massive jumbotron/balloon lookin thing. I got a boot on my mom's car for parking in a lot where I didn't have a permit (70 bucks to get it off :P). I have been to a tradition called "pasta sunday" where these girls host everyone at their house once a month or so to have some sort of pasta together. It was great fun. I met the president of student activities up here and wow he was cool! It was quite the social event. I went bowling with some people that went to Peru this summer with me..It was so great to talk with them and reminisce together. I LOVE talking about Peru and who better to do it with than people that were actually there with you. Even if nothing is planned there's always something to do...that's why I love it up here. I know it's Logan..but oh man the people are awesome up here. For example: One night me and my friend Andrea headed up to the quad where a bunch of people were playing glow in the dark frisbee (teams sepearted by different color glowstick bracelets). We joined in for a while and then played sardines with a diff. group of people. We ended up putting a bunch of blankets down and layed out on the grass talking. Eating out in Logan is quite the experience, there are so many yummy places that are unique only to here. Me, Katie, and Andrea went to this place called Blackstone (fine seafood, steak, pasta) and so delicious it was.
One Sunday we headed over to somebody's house for a "Cajun BBQ" it was so delicious. We ate crawdads ( I had to have the boys wrip the thing apart to get the meat out! gross ) , shrimp, cajun rice, cornbread, home made root beer. It was great. I love these events that people put on so that I'm not always having to cook for myself (Which I am not good at yet).
My Bishop has facebook...yep. Believe it. He has all the people in the ward added as friends and he uses it as a tool to contact people. He's keepin up with the times, I tell you what.
I had a horrible experience hot tubbing one night: We got locked inside the pool and therefore had to jump the fence. I am not agile at all. I'm a big clumsy oaf...SO...I perched on top of the fence scared for my life...barefoot. I took a leap of faith and landed barefoot, both heels, on a metal divider between the grass and bark. ouch!!! I deeply bruised both heels and sliced one of them open. IT was not a good experience. A bunch of my buddies came and helped me clean it out...one of the guys is a med student. It was pretty nasty I must admit. I had to walk around on tiptoe the next few days.
Those same boys who came to help with my foot are a big group of friends who went to Skyview and were born and raised in logan. There's a ton of them and they've all been friends forever. They've started this tradition called "Within Reason Tour". Once a week we go out to lunch somewhere/anywhere that is within reason (<10$). Way fun. Cool Guys. Last weekend we did a big "Tie-Dying" party which was way cool. I made a sweet purple/pink tie-dye shirt. Love it. Earlier that night we went to the hockey game (We killed the U...FINALLY in SOMETHING!)...and ate at La Beau's (Yes, they have one here and it was started the same time as the one in Bear Lake! Who would've thought).
OK...here's a good one...
I came home last weekend on saturday to come pick up a bunch of decorations for my apartment and go to a wedding shower. The plan was to come back to logan on sunday but I ended up driving back to logan late saturday with a couple friends. I saw a bunch of my friends from last year at this wedding shower...i love reunions. My friend Tiff had the cutest dog ever. It was a mix between a shitzu, pug, and jack russell terrier. I loved it. I went shopping at Gateway with my friends Alex and Logan...from there we ate at Training Table where Alex's twin bro. Chris/his girlfriend Ginger met up with us. We all went back to the house and yes...we watched teh Aunt Melinda show. (I just keep recruiting them)...They all roared with laughter..as usual and I loved seeing some new reactions to it. THey were all like YOUR AUNT SHOULD PUT THIS ON YOUTUBE!!! Of course. Too bad I left the two beastie boy music videos in Orem at Riley's, or I would've shown those too. I'm such a fan. They helped me pack up all my deco's and we headed back to Logan.

There was a true aggie night this last week...We decided to go and check it out. No plans or intentions of gettin up on that A block. We danced like fools in front of the speakers they had there and then all stood together and discussed how trashy true aggie night has gotten. It's like a contest of who can get away with the nastiest kiss..yuck! I think the novelty of it has worn off...it's a big thing for freshmen that's for sure. But hey...it's a huge social event...and a way rad tradition.

I'm loving it up here...seriously. I'm an avid support of USU. It's under rated- I think. I am loving just dating lots of different people, hangin out with all different sorts, and of course loving my interior design classes. We do things in the middle of the week when we can, and there's already been quite a few late nights/long afternoons spent in the studio working on different projects...
Last night we had a movie night where we watched Gladiator. We did at this kid's house named "Booke". It was literally a castle. Inside and Out. Me and Andrea (int. design majors together) ran around the house checking out every little detail. It was so interesting. In the living room there is a huge part of the floor made out of glass which looks down onto his Dad's Asten Martin. WHOA....It was quite the house. Probaby multiple millions of dollars. Good times...

I'm taking a spinning class...and it kicks my butt! It's the BEST workout...but oh man it is brutal. Sitting on that hard seat for an hour is enough to make you cry let alone every muscle in pain. I love it. Gotta.

Secrets To My Happiness.
1. Good Friends
I have met a ton of new people this semester that I just love. It's so great to find someone who you click with and then do everything with that person. There's a couple girls in my Int. Design program that I've been spending at ton of time with.
2. Church
Being a member in a ward is an immediate in to tons of new friends/ activities. I love it
3. Institute
I'm taking two institute classes that i LOVE. Bro Jacobs and Bro Maughan. They have teh BEST stories, are such smart guys, and invite the best spirit. I love it.
4. Awesome Professors
Enough said.
5. Being Outgoing
It's so fun to meet new people and just be open to everyone. My goal is to meet every person in the ward...You can never have too many friends.

Inspiring

The Rocket Summer is one of my all time favorite bands...
Bryce Avary leads them out and he is the most amazing blonde haired, blue eyed artist I've ever known.
His song "Do You Feel" is all about the problems in the world that we all want to help solve..somehow...but don't know what we can do.
My good friend Kelly put this link up on her blog for the new video that just came out.

Definitely worth seeing...

ch-ch- check it out!

http://www.friendsorenemies.com/web/foe/users/therocketsummer/

oh the joys of college.

Hi all. Welcome to another session of me, ellen genevieve larson, rambling about my goings on in life. It is such a sad occasion for summer to end....but I am actually really excited and happy to be at school. I was done slaving away at emigration every day.. i needed that break. (and can i just tell you how bad scooping ice cream sucks! never again!) SLC serves me well but let me tell ya, Logan is pretty freakin sweet. I'm glad to be back. I hope to aptly describe to you my experiences in the last week of summer and the first week of SOPHOMORE YEAR USU.

One of the last saturdays of the summer some of the girls packed up and headed to lagoon. what a great place. but FORTY BUCKS for a day pass...that is freakin ridiculous. It's not six flags standard, or even DISNEYLAND for that matter but it's all we got and people will pay the price. we all did. we hit all the major rides (wicked of course the favorite) and i also loved the bat. that'll jiggle your brains.

me, liza, and jeff enjoyed icees at one of the overpriced stands. YUM!


Ali and I headed down to Orem for one of our friend's weddings. Well sorta a friend of a friend. We were sent on a wild goose chase to this massive house in highland/alpine with a great backyard. we saw our friend mckay who just recently returned from the Australia mission (he has a hilarious accent!). Reunions are such fun.


On Friday, Aug. 22 I came up to logan for a big occasion. Go utah state for having ISHMAEL BEAH come to speak to all the freshmen. If you haven't already read his book "A Long Way Gone". It is harsh and really hard to read but he is an amazing writer. (he attributes his skill to his culture being a "storytelling" one and the fact that many things he translated directly to English from his native tongue Mende which is very poetic.
Background Information: He was born Nov. 23, 1980. At 13 years old he was a child soldier for 2 years. In 1996 he was rescued by UNICEF and taken to a rehabilitation camp. In 1998 he won a contest to come speak in America and came to NYC. He graduated from Oberlin College and is now 26 years old. He is so cute!!


As an avid fan of this African writer- I wasn't going to miss it. (however I was 20 min. too late for the book signing friday night dang! I was so excited to meet the man himself). Saturday morning he gave a convocation speech to tons of freshmen and a few lucky community members/older students. They stuck us on the last 3 rows in the Kent Concert Hall. That was frustrating as I got there early to try and snag a seat. The speech was amazing. So inspirational. This man has had the hardest go at life...he really is lucky just to be alive. He told all the kids that they should be SO grateful for their life in the Western World and for their opportunity to gain such a good education. He said that one of the first times he ever cried was when he got his college diploma. It was finally something taht nobody could take from him. He said that one of the things that was really hard for him when he came to the U.S. was the way that Africa is portrayed as "hopeless- a lost generation. there is nothing we can do." He was upset that people thought of Africa as a war-ridden country always. When he came around to writing a book his main goal was to portray the strength of the human spirit. For people to feel the exhaustion of going day to day fearing for your life. He felt the responsibility to put a human face on the whole experience...

EDUCATION:
He said it changed his life. I told you about the way that graduating from college hit him so hard emotionally. He said "All you people are the luckiest in the world to have access to higher education. Imagine having thoughts and feelings and not being able to write them down. Education is a self-discovery process. Never forget those less fortunate than you. Think about places outside of SLC, UT. Learn about other cultures before they become war-ridden. Exercise respect for all humanity. I miss the human connection in Sierra Leone. I miss the food! American food is .... bad."

I felt so lucky to have caught word of this thing that was happening. After reading the book I went to youtube and watched Beah read some excerpts form his book. How lucky I was to hear him speak. A LOT of people came out for the event and the book signing.

Ok I'm done with talking about that. Next- my classes. I LOVE my classes. I am taking all interior design classes and nothing else. I'm hitting the program hard. I'm taking an AUTOCAD class, Graphics, Computers&Art, Interior Design Seminar, Spinning (P.E.), Gospel&World Religions, and Doctrines of the Gospel. I have lucked out. I've got fabulous professors in every class and I'm going to love my homework this semester. It's going to be really tough- as I have heard- but very worth it.

The apartment: Oakridge- 25 apartment buildings with 24 students per building: hmm. SOCIAL. There is lots of fun people here. I love the ward and all the people that live in my building. My room mates names are Debbie and Whitney. They're really nice girls. Our personalities get along because we are all very clean. Such a plus. Debbie provided the 34'' flatscreen, Whitney provided the Xbox/guitar hero, and I did the decorating. Yes. We are happy. I love having an actual kitchen this semester. The shuttle picks up right in front of our building and I can get to campus in 5 minutes. WE have a swimming pool, a hot tub. and unlimited laundry. Yes, I'm happy. Now- the only thing we need is wireless internet. I HATE having to plug my mac into the wall. Quite annoying.
The Kitchen

Room




Whitney Playing Hero


It's only been a week and...I've already had tons of fun and met a lot of new people. I love to make new friends. Thursday was "movie on teh quad" basically hundreds of poeple showed up to wrap up in blankets and watch Ironman on a huge projector. Good fun. After that me and Andrea hung out with some really fun boys. In all the excitement they dropped me off to my car in a random gravel parking lot down the street. They drove off and I realized...that there were caution signs taped all over the car. I HAD GOTTEN BOOTED! dang. $70.00 fee to get the big ugly metal boots off. I didn't think the tiny gravel apt. was permit only. Oh joys.

Next day: I fork over 70 bucks to get the boot off and 20 minutes later i'm pulled over off main street by a po-po. The registration was expired on Mom's Infiniti. Oh wow. What a lucky day for ellen. After that whole ordeal I felt like staying in the rest of the afternoon. That was Friday. AT 7 that night I headed up to Bear Lake to meet the fam for a little labor day cabin time. We had a lot of fun. Me, Mom, and Aunt Mary, oh and neighbor Penelope (such a name!) went on the BL Parade of Homes and saw many ridiculously beastly cabins throughout the BL valley. It was a good time. Fun to see brother Graham for the 2nd time the whole summer. HE is glad to be home from Puerto Rico. Done with the Del Sol thing.

Well that's all I have for now! Until next time.

Elle.

Feelings in the MiXeR.

GO PHELPS!!! Just watching right now, and he just grabbed his eight gold. WHOO EEEE! So exciting.
So I have had a fabulous summer and I really couldn't be happier. I've got a absolutely darling nephew Ririe who I'm just in love with. He is growing up fast, learning a lot of new words and getting close to taking those first steps. He has been a constant entertainment for all of us at family reunions and even just sunday get togethers.
Hat's off to my boy...Ririe...And...to his absolutely adoring parents.



I had an awesome week with the Warners at Bear Lake. We spent some good time at the beach, on the jetskis, at the campground, eating good meals, and of course boating...I have to admit Ry and I looked killer on the kneeboard. ALSO- while on the boat that week one of favorite up and coming bands (THE MAINE!) made their debut on the radio. What an exciting thing to see them make it big. Rose and I have met them countless times...really nice guys. Not to mention...talented.




After my week with the Warners it was the RIRIE REUNION followed directly by the Larson crew and Berry Days. Bear Lake (could be my second home) came alive with these two events. There is nothing quite like the Ririe crew uniting and all the crazy aunts. I seriously love them all. They each define "flavor" in their own personal way.



Me and mother headed down Bear Lake Blvd. to set up camp for the parade. I had a lawn chair, an umbrella, Breaking Dawn, a diet coke, cooper at my side, and tons of crazy cute cousins competing for amounts of candy. I was so happy with that moment in time I thought I'd share it with you...


P.S. BREAKING DAWN is just wonderful. Truly wonderful.

A personal horseback ride (me mom preston) up the logan canyon was just to die for. My horse, Captain, leading the way...it felt so good. There is a real part inside of me that wishes she were a cowgirl. I've always loved horses. Me and cousin Rachel used to go to horsecamp every summer. It was a beautiful green day and I got splashed soaking wet from the water off of freshly sprinkled trees.





How great is Archuleta's new single "crush". He is so cute and has got that voice...oh man. I'm just another adoring fan.

sudden addiction

SO what is it about the olympics that gets everybody buzzing. I'm not sure...but I have a few ideas. The greatest athletes from all over the world (basically the closest thing we have to superheroes) come together for a couple of weeks to compete. Suddenly everyone has something buzz about- and a common ground. I think EVERYONE has that place in their heart for the olympics. It's just so...thrilling. What with Phelps, a record breaking greatest athlete of all time, and a 41 year old medalist...USA has a lot to cheer for. EVERY night that I sit down in front of the tube, I find myself addicted, swept in, unable to move for the next few hours till the night ends at midnight or so. At least I know that I'm not the only one in this predicament... :) ...

the livin's easy.

I have no complaints. Not one to bore you with. This summer has been perfect. I have been able to find the balance between work and play. Important things and foolish behavior. There's always got to be a balance between them...otherwise life can get dull or out of control. Thus far I have been on quite a few memorable trips, spent some time with quality friends, had a missionary come home, earned a lot of money, and gotten a sweet tan. What more could I ask for...honestly?

This last weekend was jam packed with awesome things, sights, people, and events. I will try to recap everything that happened. One of my very bestest friends Kelly (Rose) came down to Salt Lake from Boise for a weekend packed with fun.
FRIDAY
On friday before Rose arrived- I took a trip to Best Buy to buy an ipod mini. I am so happy with my purchase. It just makes going to the gym so convenient. Cause I need some tune-age to work out. So anyway at about 5 I went down to Salt Lake Comm. College to see Rose compete in a Feis Festival.
Feis Competition: Traditional Irish/Celtic dancing and singing.
It was quite the experience. A round of applause for Rose she sang very well. It was fun to experience something new. Every girl that was competing wore big (i mean HUGE) curly wigs and rather large dresses. Very fun.
From there we met Spencer (another utah state friend) for some quick dinner before goign to see Wall-E with his friends. Before we went far from his house I had him take me down the street to see DAVID ARCHULETA'S humble...(or not so) home. Just ask these friends....I was pretty excited about it. I'm like a twelve year old with my celebrity crushes. The movie Wall-E was just fabulous. I loved every second of it. It was funny, witty, sort of an eye opener, and sort of political. (all of that in a kids movie!) So yes. I reccomend it to everybody.
SATURDAY
This was the day we had long awaited. WARPED TOUR. What a day. It was so intense. Hot, sweaty, tiring. and above all else- AWESOME. The bands we saw play were; We the kings, forever the sickest kids, the maine, Angels & Airwaves. say anything, the color fred, and the family force five. Quite some names eh? Well they are all great....but the highlight of the day was an acoustic set from Forever The Sickest Kids. By far our favorite. We love these guys and their power pop. It was a huge day. Almost 9 hrs. of nonstop partying withs ome of our favorite bands in the entire world. It was such a scene down at the Utah state fairpark. Tons of people and hundreds of merchandise booths. We all purchased a couple "band shirts'. At the end of the night we finished with some Molca Salsa (at rose's request) and a bunch of picture sharing.
SUNDAY
What a great day. We went to our friend Spencer's farewell out in Murray. He gave a great talk filled with a lot of scriptural doctorine. He's a smart kid and he'll be a great missionary. I met his friend ELLEN LARSEN. Wierd! Same. but not. She is not Ellen Genevieve LarsOn. Like me. :D It was cool to meet her though. haha.
The whole fam came over for dinner. Rose and Riley were there with me too. We all hung out and had some good conversation at the kid table covering a wide variety of topics. We had some good laughs making fun of Katie's super wide eyes when telling a story. Me Rose and Ry hit up the last couple hours of the arts festival (thanks to g-ma ririe for the tickets!!). I was so glad we could make it down there. It was such a big professional operation. I was impressed. We saw some awesome artwork, wierd bands, funny old people dancing, and some crazy artsy people. The set up behind the library was smart. I had never been back there. Gorgeous. When we got home we ended the night with THE AUNT MELINDA SHOW (so great) and some guitar hero. Poor Riley having to drive back to Orem so late. The long distance thing is hard!
MONDAY
A very long day. I worked from 7 to 2 and then rushed home to get some final quality time in with Rose. We went to Desert book downtown to pick something up for her and then just about missed her plane home. Quite stressful! She was just a great house guest. I love people that are easy to please.

Anyway...it was a jam packed weekend. This summer has been pretty jam packed.

I'm not excited for it to end. I can't even THINK about school. It makes me depressed.

There are a couple real exciting things coming up...can't wait!

Until next time...

ellen

Strolling Down Memory Lane

Sunday is a day for visits. Tonight me, mom, and pres decided to head up the avenues to Gma and Gpa Ririe's. Both of us were pretty stoked on going because a trip to their home is always an adventure. Their modern piece of art is located right next to Ensign Peak with an indescribable view of the entire Salt Lake Valley. (When walking out, I told my mom that I'd love to own it someday). Their home is just a patchwork of artwork/pieces from literally, ALL over the world. As empty nesters, Rhees and Shirley took adventures to every continent. It is just a known fact that these Grandparents of mine are so...HIP. Grandma has ownership over a very prestigious modern dance company called "RirieWoodbury". Grandpa is a very accomplished woodworker (his pieces are incredible.) These two have always "had it". Everything. I always enjoy when we start storytelling with these two. Tonight I heard quite a few notable stories from the two. They just always have something interesting to say. I talked to them about Peru and the 3rd world living conditions. They have seen the WORST 3rd world country locations in the far east. I love love LOVE hearing about their lives. So much adventure, so much life in the two of them. I'm such a lucky girl to have been born into the Larson/Ririe family. It's a good one.

That's all for now...
Lake Powell this Wednesday...I'm SO ready for some sun, boating, and relaxation.

A Quick Update

Hi Fellowmen.

Even though my life is pretty much boring, I thought I'd publish a quick update. Summer, hmm...usually when it comes to mind I think: "a little work, lots of pool times, and many nights out with friends"...however this has not been the case for Ellen Summer of 08'. Ever since my adventure to Peru all I have been doing is working...and pretty much nothing else. I am too beat to ever do anything nights that I get home, or i have to wake up super early. Not the ideal life. At least I'm averaging $22/hour some weeks at the restaurant. Hey...I'll take that.
Emmigration Market- waitressing and working in the coffee/ice cream shop. That is one of my jobs...and i've also started working at Doctor Bill's dental office. Doing assisting, filing charts, etc. Man, that can be intense. The other week I helped Doctor Scott (brother) extract some wisdom teeth...no big deal. I thought I'd get queasy, but i didn't! I actually kinda enjoyed it. Kinda cool. I feel pretty important in a lab coat and medical gloves. Doctor Ellen. Sounds cool. This is as far as I'll ever go with medicine though, I just don't have it in me to go through all the classes it would require. I'll stick with my interior design..
We've got a couple trips coming up, Lake Powell and then Seattle the 2nd and 3rd weeks in this month. I'm pretty excited for both. Powell has always been one of my favorite spots in the world and I'm really pumped to get up to the northwest and check out all of the places Graham worked in for 2 yrs. We are going to visit some of the "Twilight" places, like La Push and Forks. Pretty excited for that. Maybe we'll spot a vampire...hahah.
I just finished "the host" by Stephenie Meyer. WWWOW. Incredible book. All you Meyer fans out there...I highly reccommend it. It was...to say the least...delicious. I love a good read. Takes you to a different, sometimes more interesting, world.

Well, till next time.

x

Extra Terrestrial

Ok, So...kinda a random blog post. BUT I am reading this FABULOUS book and I just have to share it with everyone. I was skeptical to start it, but I decided to give it a try. Stephenie Meyer's "The Host" is just gripping. It is about aliens...yes...that take over earth. They come in the form of "souls" and are "inserted" into hosts on whichever planet they choose to reside. It all sounds kinda whacko and crazy, but it is actually a very interesting story. The 'souls' are very peaceful creatures and think that they are doing mankind a favor by taking over their entire civilization (as men are so vicious and violent to each other). Melanie is a human who refuses to fade away and stays in her body, along with Wanderer, a soul who was placed inside her. The story just really puts things into a very interesting perspective. It makes you ponder on crazy things...if you've got any extra time..I'd reccomend to pick it up. Boys Beware: there is romance in this fabulous find.

Spitfire.

hello friends.
So I haven't written for a while, but I have a lot of random thoughts that I would like to spit out. It has already been a month since I moved home from Logan. I wish that time didn't get lost so fast. One year down of college. I don't feel so mature and old! (oh wait, maybe that's because I'm not!) You have to be really careful or you'll lose days. It happens. Many days will go unnoticed. It seems to me that I find myself a little bit lost these days. Ever since my return from Peru I've been a little anti social. It's work all day and then close myself up in the basement in my room. I've started on this big project that I like to call "Simplify". I have just realized how much STUFF I have that I DO NOT need. Just last week I took FOUR garbage bags of clothes and over 50 shoes to the DI. It feels good to try and get rid of stuff. The African guys that were working at the DI claim center were pretty stinking cute too. They're reactions as they unloaded piles of stuff out of my car were...priceless. "Thank you Miss! Thank you. Thank you."


PERU. I want to try and explain my 2 week experience in South America. I don't think that you can really physically or mentally prepare yourself for something like that. The morning I left to the airport I still couldn't believe that I was going. It was all so fast. Only 3 days after I moved home from school and I was GONE. I think it was almost better that way. Don't get too settled..just start right in on the adventure.

The Jungle. We started out in the jungle. Hmm. Now that was something! We slept at this river lodge- right off of the amazon right in the heart of the jungle. Being that we only had 5 minutes in the airport to pack our backpack for 3 days in the jungle, I didn't pack ANY of the right clothes or supplies. I was off to a rough start. And I WOULD be roughing it the next few days. We went to this village and worked with the people all day for 2 days to get them started on this fish farm. Wow. Brute work. That's what it was. Digging holes, raking, in all that humidity. I couldn't believe how strong the local peruvian men were. They're like ants- can carry 10 times their body weight. We also experience two wild anacondas in the jungle. two of the villagers brought them out. Not my favorite moment. One of the guys was taunting them and got bit. luckily they're not poisonous!!!

The Big Bug. On our last night in the jungle I had a experience I would never forget...
me and ashlyn (my roommate every night) got shafted to this tiny bungalow for two..
we had just settled into bed after a cockroach and other misc. bugs had been sprayed or squashed. somehow we got stuck with the cabin that had MULTIPLE large holes in the netting that was supposed to keep these things out... ashlyn was under her mosquito netting and i was over in my bed with my headlamp writing in my journal.... ash told me to check up in the celing one last time, for any other creature friends.. I flipped over quickly and shined my light right on a.....TARANTULA! right above my head. OMG. it was massive too. it was 4 feet up there just chillin on the netting. what a wake up that was. i screamed bloody murder and jumped on ashlyn and immediately spooned her, grabbing onto her as if she could save my life from the big hairy monster.. I had a panic attack. For real. The boys came running to see what the commotion was. They grabbed a stick and they poked it until it got into a place they could squash it. me and ashlyn were freaking out this whole time. The thing was massive. Straight out of my nightmares. I think I slept 2 hours the rest of the night. I was laying there, unprotected, listening to all the jungle sounds. It was pretty much the worst night of my life. I accumulated about 25 bug bites just while in the jungle. I must have sweet blood.

The People. That was the highlight of my trip to peru. They are so amazing. I can't believe how humble they are. They have basically nothing...and yet they are so happy. Working side by side with the people and playing with the kids was so amazing. The language barrier was tough. If I ever do a trip like that again, I will make sure to memorize more phrases. It is so horrible to see the conditions that the people all live in. No matter where you go- even in the more higher class places that we visited- it was all still very unsanitary. It is a huge eye opener to be there first hand. After visting Belen- the most disgusting place that I have ever visited- I talked to Mom and I couldn't help but break down. It is heart breaking to see what these people survive in, day to day. The dogs in that city were either skeletons, or completely covered in fleas, being eaten alive. And there is hardly anything that anybody can do to change this.

The Children. There were multiple occasions, with multiple little boys that I wanted to kidnap bring back to the states with me. I just want a better life than what they have. There was this boy named Angelo who is 12 and works on the streets of Iquitos, shining shoes. His English was almost perfect and he was so charming. I saw him a few times while we were staying there. It amazes me what they do. There are tons of children who work on and live in the streets. There are gangs- that will establish different "working" areas. Drugs and violence are common. Pretty much "survival of the fittest". American kids take what they have for granted.

The Translators. Our two 5' tall translators were named Freddy and Julio. They are ages 26 and 30-something. These two men were so incredible. It was so neat to get to know them. They stayed with us the majority of our trip. They have both had really really hard lives but they have been resilient and are still really happy. Freddy left home at age 10 to work in the streets. His mother found him 2 years later and told him that she had cancer. An American man found Freddy a year later and took him under his wing. Did so much for him and sent him a hefty check from the United States every year. On Sept. 11 this man was killed in the tower attack. So sad. I just don't understand how some people are so blessed and others have hardly a chance at life. Freddy and Julio do so much good. Out of the 15 or so translators that Monty (leader of the Hope Alliance) has had- they are the only two that have lasted. The others got fired because of honesty issues. Freddy was really one of the highlights of my trip. He was hilarious. We all had so much fun together.

The Macchu Picchu. Hmm. Majestic? Wierd? Incredible? I don't know that this place can be described. The air is so thin and it seems like you're in a dream the whole time you're up there. It's so mind boggling to try and understand HOW the Incans built it or survived there. A little group of us just sat on the edge of this wall with a perfect bird's eye view of the whole place. We sat there for at least an hour. I think we were all on the same mind set - trying to take it all in. One of the seven wonders of the world.

The English Boys. So at the base city in the middle of the mountains where you stay before travelling to Macchu Picchu, I met some boys from England. Just graduated from High School. Travelling in South America for 4 months. No big deal...AH! Before the conversations that I had with them I thought "Oh yes! Some people who speak English! They're Just like me." Oh Ellen. So naive. We got to talking about a few things...Religion. School. Families.
They had never met a Mormon before. The first couple of questions that they asked me were 1. Do you "Mormon's" have Electricity? 2. Are you very..."liberal" with your women? WOW! Stupid boys. The classic misconceptions. I answered them with a laugh and a ,"Do I look Amish to you? Or in the styles of a Polygamist?" It was cool to answer them all their other questions. I'm glad taht they have now met a Mormon and know that we are...normal? To say the least. So next we got to talking about the home life and the schooling. They've all been to boarding school grades k through 12...seeing their families only once a year. What IS that? Why have kids?? It was very interesting to learn about their culture. Even they are so different.

The Sum Up. There was a lot more the whole Peru Experience. I can't type any more though. My poor fingers are tired now. As well as my body. I reccommend this kind of trip to any one who could work it out. It's pretty amazing. Some people never see what half of our world is like. There are billions of people living in 3rd world countries. I just feel so blessed.

Until Next Time,

Tell Me Something Good!!

Ellen

Baby Owls and Third World Countries

Hi All-
It has been a very interesting and exciting weekend. Moving home from Utah State was a DOOZIE! (aka...large and grueling task) And I had a little under 4 days to pack up and be completely ready for PERU. I take off on Monday morning...bright and early at the crack of dawn. It is going to be an AMAZING trip. I just can't wait. The nerves have started to set in but the excitement is over-running them. I can't wait to witness South America. I've always wanted to go there. Monkey Island, travelling up the Amazon River, Macchu Picchu, and Jungle Tours are just a few highlights of the trip. I am so excited to work with the people- especially the children. I just know it's going to be the most amazing experience. Probably life-changing. Through all the excitement of getting ready and spraying "bug killer" on all of my clothes we had a very exciting thing happen. The backyard of the Larson home is basically a forest. It attracts animals of all sorts. Baby animals to be exact. Yesterday afternoon our dog Cooper started freaking out and barking at something. Dad and Graham went down to discover that it was indeed a baby owl (about 4 inches tall) that was wedged inbetween a scary dark wall and fence. The little guy just happened to be the runt of his owl family that had taken up nest in our huge trees. The fledglings were learning how to fly and runt ( I like to call him Hedwig ) had been booted out of the tree and his mother didn't care about him. After research- we have discovered that usually the brothers and sisters will peck the runt to death and then eat him. (ew!) Dad Bill brought Hedwig into the house (with thick gloves on of course) and set him on the kitchen table. That was quite the surprise to come home to that. Me and Katie were dying. He was the cutest little most amazing creature we had ever seen. Poor little guy was traumatized and so we took him back outside and put him in the tree hoping that his family would have mercy on him. We are rootin for him. All last night the owls were communicating with each other. Hooting/clicking. It really was a cool thing. Come this morning- they were gone. Probably got sick of all the human interference. So that is the Larson owl experience. How I wish I could've kept the little guy and raised him to be my buddy and my Message Carrier-

Until next time,

Ellen

FACEBOOK

I only want to vent a little about a certain thing we all have come to know....facebook!  Gotta love it, but sometimes I feel as if it is a certain lesser evil.  I find myself spending time "facebook stalking" when I could be doing much more productive things ie. studying.  I think it is ridiculous how people use it as a tool to "see who has the most friends" or the "most interesting and fun life".  I recently went through and deleted about 150 people who were merely accquaitances (eh? spelling!) and i barely knew.  I'm just so sick of the shallowness of it all.  Why we all love it so much... ah... I have the explanation... it keeps us all so INTERCONNECTED all the time.  You can get on and read all about someone you barely know and suddenly you know their life story, who they're dating, what they did friday night, and "where they've been".  Gag me.  As of now- I will continue to facebook but try to keep it classy.  Get on only to keep in touch with good friends..and oh...maybe on occasion upload an album or two for the world to view....//haha

Progress

I am very new.  Cut me some slack sir spencer and miss rose!  I have figured out bit more, so you should be proud. I know that this isn't the best time to be messing around with my blog- but my brain is feeling quite fried at the moment.  Finals week- what a joy!!

I have a blog. So apparently I'm very "hip" and "in" so we'll see. But I'm still really trying to figure all this out