Looking Back on 2007

I decided to dedicate this post to some of the highlights of 2007. This has been an extremely busy year, but it has been amazing.

Amy graduated high school in May, which is still totally crazy to me. I swear I just graduated! (Even though it has already been almost five years for me, believe it or not.) She starts beauty school in a week.

My friend Geo Sanchez left for the National Guard in April. We threw a party for him and another friend, Chelsie, who moved about the same time. This picture is of Geo and I at the party we threw. Geo and I met while working at Carino's. It was really hard for me to see him go. Geo and I had a very close relationship that most people couldn't understand. Mostly because we had so many inside jokes and had so much in common in weird ways. He actually came home in November and is back working at the restaurant.

This picture is of Chelsie MacFarlane(far left), Anna Davis and I at the party we threw for Geo and Chelsie going away. Anna and Chelsie are two of my close friends that I met at Carino's. Chelsie and her husband Jared were moving to Twin Falls, Idaho, for his job. It was so hard saying goodbye to her!! Chelsie started working at Carino's a week after Amber and I started, so we had been through it all together. I've had the opportunity to see Chels a few times since she moved and I talk to her on the phone every now and then. But I really miss that girl. And I'm glad that we were able to become such good friends.
I started back up with school at BYU-Idaho in mid April and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. I had finished my associate degree in the summer of '05 with no intention of ever returning. But I made the decision to go back and finish, and I'm so glad I did. These are my roommates I had during the summer before Amber got married.
These guys were our closest buddies during the summer - Zack Vogel, Dan Hansen, KJ Sargent and Dustin Hess (sound familiar?)They were also involved in what we like to call "The Love Triangle".
This was another apartment of guys in our ward that we were close to - Dick Kay, Brit Stanfill, Leif Erickson, Dave Epps, and Bry Hasler. And yes, they too were involved in "The Love Triangle". Crazy semester, don't ask. But we love them!

After my summer semester at school my family decided it was time to take a real vacation for a change. But we wanted it to be huge that also had some meaning behind it. So we decided to pack our things and head back east for two weeks. We started in Boston. In this photo Amber, Amy and I are standing in front of the U.S.S. Constitution in the Boston Harbor.

After a few days of touring Boston we drove south west through upstate New York to Palmyra. We learned so much about the history of the church and Joseph Smith. It was an incredibly spiritual experience. We were able to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant and tour the city of Palmyra and church history sites. This photo is of our family in the Sacred Grove. It was a very humbling experience.

After Palmyra we drove down to New York City and spent a few days touring the city and completely took advantage of being tourists. All but Aaron and Adam had been to NYC before so we basically went everywhere we didn't go the last time we were there. We did a lot. We saw "Wicked" on broadway, toured Madame Touseaud's Wax Museum, took a boat ride around Manhattan and saw the Statue of Liberty (which we had actually done before) and many other exciting things. We also went to a Mets baseball game in Queens at Shea Stadium where Amber, Amy, Aaron, Adam (in the background) and I are pictured in this photo. It was so much fun!

We ended our trip in Washington, D.C. where we toured most of the U.S. history sites. We went places such as the Holocaust Musuem, the Vietnam Memorial, the Air and Space Museum, the U.S. Capitol and the White House (from a distance). Aaron, Amber, Amy and I are seen in this photo at the Lincoln Memorial. This was my favorite site in Washington, D.C.
Our trip came to a close at the Washington, D.C. Temple. Dad told us before we got there that the sight of this building would literally take our breath away. He wasn't kidding. I think all of us gasped when we saw the amazing structure come into view. It sits off the interstate in a forest area, and its incredible. The design is after the Salt Lake City Temple but a modern version. We sat right at the front door and had a devotional, also discussing our favorite parts of the trip. This vacation was an awesome experience that we will all never forget. It was an absolute blast.

Our family came back home from our vacation to weddings, weddings, and more weddings. My cousin Coya on my mom's side was the first to start the trend for the Murri family and was married to John Reid from Washington state in August. They were married in the Idaho Falls Temple.

My best friend of 21 years, Ashlee Ingram, was married the week after Coya to Dru Charles of Idaho Falls in the Idaho Falls Temple. It was a very emotional day for Amber, Ashlee and I. After talking and dreaming about our weddings together since we were little girls it seemed very surreal for it to actually happen. BFF's!

And of course, my twin sister Amber was married in the Idaho Falls Temple on September 22nd to Che' Miles of Shelley, Idaho. It was a great day for the entire family.
I always knew that Amber and I would split ways and get married. I hated the thought but accepted it anyway. Amber's wedding day was an incredibly emotional day for me, I cried the entire way to the temple and didn't stop till I got to hug her when she came outside with Che'. I even cried at the reception a little bit. But I am so happy for her and this huge step that she made last fall. I love my twin, and I'm so blessed to have had her by my side for all these years.

In the middle of the wedding madness my good friend Kristine came home off her mission. She spent 18 months in Chile.
Reality set back in when I had to go back to school for the fall semester. Amber was married so we had a new roommate moving in. It was Kayla Smuin from Mud Lake, Idaho, and she turned out to be one of my closest friends. I was able to feel very comfortable with her and we became close friends quickly. The five of us had a very fun semester. I am in this photo with Kayla, Katie and Julia.
And we can't forget Syd! Sydney also lived with us for another semester, she's definitely a unique one! I love that girl!
We also can't forget about those crazy boys we all love so much. Sydney and KJ (Vancouver, WA) were dating, Julia and Dan (Draper, UT) were dating and Dustin and I were dating. To recap, Dan, Dustin and KJ lived together in the summer and were in our ward. But Dan moved in the fall to live with some high school friends. KJ and Dustin stayed together. The six of us had some pretty good times. The other girl in the picture is Courtney, Dan's sister. We were giving her a Big Jud's experience when this was taken.

And speaking of Big Juds, Dustin's sister Jessica came to town for Thanksgiving with her friend Sarah, and we gave them both a Big Juds experience as well. Jessica ate that entire burger and got her picture taken. It now sits on the wall with other champions at the Big Juds in Archer, Idaho. We had so much fun with Jessica while she was in Idaho. Before we took the girls to the airport we went shopping and went to Temple Square to walk around. It was a lot of fun. Jessica reminds me a lot of my sister Amy. She and Dustin get along really well, and it was fun seeing them hang out and enjoy one another's company. I had a lot of fun with Jessica. She's freaking awesome.
I turned 23 this year. Sick. I still don't believe I'm already 23. Where does the time go?! If you talk to my roommates they will tell you that I struggled a little bit this birthday. Dustin will say the same thing. But I had a great birthday. My friends took me to Craigo's and got me some really fun gifts. We had a fun time.
It was a neat experience to watch the development of the Rexburg Temple right outside my window. It was completed during my fall semester and will be dedicated February 3, 2008. My family and I had the awesome experience of touring the temple at the open house on December 29th. I had never been to a temple open house before so this was an especially neat experience for me. It is a beautiful temple.
My good friend Kelli Hoopes also got married this fall. She married James Eccleston of Salt Lake City, UT, in early November at the Loft in Rigby, Idaho. I love Kelli, I'm so happy for her and her marriage. She's pretty much one of the coolest people I know. "Red power!"

My good friend Kathy Wilde got married right before Kelli did in October to the love of her life, John Carrol. These two are so incredibly amazing. They have one of the neatest families anyone could know. Kathy has always been someone I've looked up to and can count on for guidance in my life. And I was so honored to have been able to attend her wedding and witness her happiness when she married John. I'm grateful for John and how happy he makes Kathy.

Over Thanksgiving Amber and I had the opportunity to get together with friends from high school and it was so much fun seeing everybody. We were missing a portion of the group that we later got to see over Christmas, but it was so much fun seeing Cami and Sha with their little babies. It's amazing how we're all growing up!
And with all of these happy experiences some negative was bound to creep in somewhere. I guess it's not 100% negative but it hasn't been the best thing for me. My good friends the Stommel's moved to Grand Junction, Colorado, right before Thanksgiving for Greg's job and it was really hard to see them go. This is a picture of their family this past Halloween. Erica and Greg have been good friends of mine for a while now (we met working at the restaurant) and I've been incredibly blessed to know them. They've been the best friends anybody could ask for. We've kept in touch while they've been gone, but its still hard not having them around. Their kids are amazing as well. McKayla, McKenzie, Abby, and Logan are four of the coolest kids in the world and I love them like they are my siblings. There's so much more I could say about how great the Stommel's are. But for now I just want everybody to know that I love this family so much. And if you were to know one thing about them it is that they are wonderful people and have influenced me for the better. I love you guys!

That pretty much sums up the big stuff that went on this last year. We had a really busy Christmas holiday that I haven't put pictures up for yet. But we enjoyed the Murri family during the Murri Christmas party and also a high school friends get together last weekend. I have so many things to be grateful for from this last year and so many people that I am truly blessed to have kept close to me through it all - with the addition of the new people that have come into my life. I am so grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves me and cares about my happiness while I am here making my daily decisions. I am grateful for the power of repentance and the blessings that come from striving to be a better person. I am grateful for an amazing family and friends who love me and support me in everything I do. I'm excited for the upcoming year 2008 and the exciting experiences I am going to have. There are going to be plenty of weddings (including Deidre's in March) and new roommates...new classess...and I'm ready for whatever the year wants to throw at me. 2007 has been a great year. Now it's on to 2008!