double postin it, always (:

Why 25? Because that's how many days are left until Nick flies out here for my birthday !!! Eeeeeek (:

elder norlund

Last night I just could' not get to sleep. Luckily Brittany and her sister came in around 1ish, so we put in a movie til we all got sleepy enough. The apartment is great. Our other roommate is a little off. And it's beginning to be a real pain...

Money is causing my life to get hectic. I do not spend, only pay off things. So, that's making me have anxiety out the ying yang !!! Oh well, that's growing up... I guess.

Lately I've had this obsession with birds. The weird thing is... I have hated them with a passion for so long. I guess it's the freedom that I'm obsessed with. And how different their life is when a cage becomes their only surrounding. I'd never cage a bird. Never. How cruel, how unfair.

Next month, September 25, I become 19. Weird. So weird, that's how old Stephen was when we dated/ when he left for his mission. He comes home in December !!! That's SO soon. The awesome thing is he and his family will be living right here in Utah! It's so strange to think he's only 45 minutes away. So weird. I miss that kid.

p.s.

Ooops! I just wrote and entry below, but forgot to mention... I've made some changes to the site. Obviously, the site is now www.sknichols.blogspot.com.

AND

Yall can all leave comments whether or not you have a blog account! So enjoy, and I'd love to hear from you! Just make sure when you leave a comment to sign your name so I know who posted it.

xoxo

refresh button

Computers have spoiled us. completely. We wish for buttons like: delete, edit, undo, backspace, etc.

Good news! We do have a refresh button , and I have hit it once again.

No, I haven't upped and moved to another state again... I'm simply changing somethings. So far, progress for me personally out here has been much better than last summer, for sure. But, I'm still on my road to finding what i'm looking for. It's very frustrating and trialing. I'm searching so hard for something, and I don't even know what it is!

Ok, YES, it is true. No longer are Jeff and I engaged or dating. I just feel like there's so much more out there to be done than getting married at this stage in my life. I mean, I turn 19 in exactlly one month. I broke it off around 4 days ago.

I apologize for the lame entry today. All the lack of sleep is catching up to me now. It's kickin my tail!

shawty right there is a 10

Ok, I know I just posted 4 minutes ago, but I just wanted to put this in here. So make sure you read both!


This is Will. He's one of my best friends. Not once have I ever felt betrayed by him. He has helped me through so much. He's always been there supporting me, and making me laugh when everything sucked. I first met Will in 2006 when he started working at Firehouse Subs with me. I love his thick southern accent and his sense of humor. Oh, and he had a dope truck (: We were definitely buddy buddy from the get go. We've been through a lot together. His laugh is the best medicine for me. And when I announced I was moving out here to Utah, it was really hard for us, being as close as we were. But, he supported it in the long run. As a matter of fact, Will (along with Korynne), drove me all the way to the Atlanta airport EARLY the morning I flew out here. We stopped and ate at Varsity, one of Will's favorite places, downtown Atlanta (which was where this picture was taken with our Varsity hats). And yes, I still have that hat. I just felt like putting this up, because I'm really beginning to appreciate my close friends more and more each day. Through all these hard times, I am able to see who really cares. And for that, I am so grateful and so lucky to have the close friends that I have.

spoons with holes don't fufill

Sunrise over the east mountains. I have an amazing view from our patio. It's my favorite place.
It's a trying time for me right now. There are things that are just too complicated to explain, and too complicated for me to understand. There's no need to worry about me, it's just personal things I need to figure out. I turn 19 next month. That's still so young. I have so much I want to do with my life. So many goals to accomplish, so many things to see and experience. I try to be as realistic as I can, but sometimes my dreams get the best of me.

Yesterday was definitely rough. As I mentioned before, I was here at Sensory Sweep at 8 a.m, then headed straight to Denny's at 4:30 p.m. I was suppose to be off by 11 p.m. No one left Villa the key to the closet where the AC was, so we had warm air blowing, and the temperature in the restaurant was 84 degrees. It was miserable. Villa and I would take turns watching the floor as one of us would go stand in the walk in freezer. Here's me chillin in the freezer last night.
It honestly felt like the south's humidity, no joke. So, as usual, Jessica was late, then when she got there finally, she said she had to go on break, so I had to stay on floor until 10:30 p.m. How lame?! I was livid. Thank goodness Villa is so cool. Villa is in training for being in a management position, but still serves too. She was a lot of help. Usually, on Mondays, it is just me on the floor until Jessica gets there at 10 p.m. (which never happens). Then I'm off floor, and do my cleaning side work until complete. But Lupe was the buss boy, so it was ok. Lupe is 18, and Hispanic. He barely speaks any English at all. So, he and I teach each other. He calls me "mi amore" (his love) and "mis pecas" (pecas is Spanish for freckles, I'm "his freckles"). He's fun to goof around with. Plus he's super helpful and funny. This is Lupe.

So, I'm in for another 16 hour work day today. I know, everyone's envious, huh? Ha! Yeah right. I just have to keep a smile. This is what I chose for myself, so I can't do too much complaining, but I'm entitled to some, right? (: I miss y'all so much. Not a day goes by when I don't think about y'all and my best memories with each and everyone of you. Know my heart is still in good ole' South Carolina, sweatin' with the rest of yuh. I can't wait until we're together again. Much love to all of you.

I'm having my ups and downs, a lot lately. I guess I'm just realizing how hard it's going to be these next few months; getting settled in the apartment, having 2 jobs, one in which I'm there at 8 a.m. then leave at 4:30 p.m. to go to my night job, and usually work there until 2 or so in the morning. It's just hard. And I know that's a part of being on my own and responsibility, but it just gets me a little down sometimes. I feel as though my life is work and a handful of hours of sleeping.

The good thing is, I've been hanging with my friends more. Kayti and I went dancing the other night after seeing a movie and having a brownie at her work. I seriously had so much fun. And a few days before that, my roommate, Brittany, and I went to the movies. I've missed hanging with friends.

I don't have one night off this week, and that's a super bummer. But, whatever it takes to continue forward out here, I will do.

Well I've been a successful vegetarian for 4 or so days now. I love it. It's actually not that hard. And I'm already starting to feel better. I've also been doing strict workouts, so I'm toning my body, and that also helps.

blessed doesn't stress it enough

Another morning I'm actually awake, how amazing is that? We'll see if I'm still whistling that tune in an hour, though. I'm working at Sensory Sweep again this morning, 8 to 4:30. I love this job, I wish I could have it full time. Who knows, maybe down the road I might. The company is basically family and family friends, so, they're nice and just way cool.

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. My best guy friend, Nick Galloway, is coming out here to visit me in September! I just can't believe it. I have all these friends saying I need to keep in touch, I need to visit, blah blah blah. But most of them don't even try to make the effort on their end. But Nick, he is coming out here. This is going to be the best birthday present ever! It's funny what measures you sometimes go through finding who you real friends are. Nick is definitely one.


Last night, for the first time, the three roommates hung out! We haven't been able to catch each other to sit and chat, not even for a moment. We are so busy with school, work, family, etc, none of us are hardly ever home but to sleep. I know I won't be now with working here in the daytime and Denny's at night. But, back on track, I love the girls. Brittany is a fairly new Vegan. She was so adorable last night, eating her soy ice cream. Yeah, soy ice cream. I'm going to HAVE to get some and try it, ha. She said it's kind of chalky, but still good. She has a boy on a mission. One more year for him! Jen is the one that got us all together on the apartment. She's so nice. She had just about everything to complete a house, so for an apartment, we're pretty rockin!

Jon has two free tickets to Lagoon for today/tonight. He offered them to me. I wanna go if Denny's doesn't call me in to work (fingers crossed!). Lagoon is a small theme park. Smaller than Carowinds, if I was told correctly. It's all they've got out here, haha. But, everyone loves it, so I figure I need to go. Plus, I get to see Jon Jon and Laurie, get free dinner there, AND the words free are just so enticing!

So here's something that was encouraging to me. I got a call from Denny's yesterday, but I was working at Sensory Sweep, so it went to voice mail. It was one of the managers asking if I would come in and work, because we just had 2 people quit. So, I called a few hours later when I got home. Luckily it was really slow, so they didn't need me. But then I got super nervous, because I was going to ask them that same day to change my schedule to just work nights. But with 2 people having just quit, that seemed too intimidating to ask. But, I had to, and I did. Then the shift manager, Villa, said, "Yeah I'll leave a note in the office. That should work perfect because Rayna worked the swing shift and Jacob worked the graveyard shift," (those are the 2 that quit). So where am I going with all this rambling on? I was talking to Mom, and we were just like, isn't that amazing how that worked out? I know it's something so simple, but for me, it was a huge deal, because if that wouldn't have worked, I would have to give up one of the jobs, or my hours would be cut horribly.

It's amazing just how much I took for granted. How most of us do. I'm not preaching or anything like that. I am just beginning to realize what the important things are that I should focus on and to be happy with what I'm getting, because truly... it's a lot. Grieving, fretting, worrying, stressing... we're all going to have those feelings more times than we should, but we need to try to keep a clear mind. We all know how impatient I am, so it's a long process.

moldy orange juice

So, things are pretty fantastic. Thanks to faith and family, I was able to move out into an apartment with 2 amazing girls, Jen and Brittany. The apartment is super nice. We each get our own room, we have a washer and dryer, a nice big patio (we're on the second floor), a decent sized kitchen, and a nice living room and dining space. Blah, blah, blah, it's awesome !

Last night, we went bowling. Mott, Melissa, Ed, Kayti, Jeff, and I. It was so much fun. I beat Jeff two times !! Heehee.

Denny's is workin out pretty awesome. I'm not gonna lie, I like it. I love the interaction with people, although a lot of them are rude, cranky, or bad tippers, the ones that are fun and the ones that do tip well make it all worth it. Plus, there are a lot of good people I work with.

Thanks to my amazing friend, Kayti, I have this awesome job at a video game company. Without her, I'd be working at some minimum wage crappy place as my second job. I owe her big time, and I am so thankful for her and our friendship. She's really been there for me. So has Mickie. Even though we don't work together, we are still keeping it tight. I miss her so much, it sucks not being able to chill with her all day, 5 days a week. (woah, she had to put up with me THAT long?! )

Things are going well in my family for the first time in a long time. Jackson got a job in Sumter! Everyone is getting along, Kaleb (my cousin Kathryn's infant boy) is finally out of the hospital and well on his way to recovery. My Tingey family loves me, and they are so sweet, caring and supportive. They take such good care of me, and make me feel a little more at home and comfortable. I do miss my family very much though. No one could ever take the place of any of them. But I have my big brother Jon Jon and Laurie out here, and that's so good to know. They have taken care of me and been so helpful and welcoming. Plus, Laurie is an amazing cook !!! Jon and I never really bonded too well back home in the olden days, but now, it's so great. I wouldn't trade this new life for anything in the world. No way.

We went to the nickelcade a few nights ago, (for you South Carolinians, that's a huge arcade, where you pay $2.75 to get in, and all the games are a nickel, some are free... sweet, huh?). It was Jon, Russ, Allie, Jeff, and me. (No not I, haha).