"Farewell, Mates"

{Music credit: "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas}

"We only part to meet again." -John Gay

...And by "boss", he meant "landlord". {Sorry about the noise, Sam.}

Our last night all together turned into boot camp.

{I guess it makes sense, Caz being a soldier and all.}

The past few months have really been incredible, guys.

The movies, the ice skating, the light-seeing, the corn mazes...

But this isn't the end, no sir!

Until next year! {muah!}

"Until 2:45 AM"

"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

-Abraham Lincoln

Friends certainly brighten the weekends.

Cassie, Tanika, Darcy, Rob, Ayn, & Kevin came over for a spell on Friday.

We enjoyed a panda movie together {with chocolate candies}.

Epic games followed, not ending until 2:45 AM.

{*yawn*}

We also learned the word for "shower" in Russian.

{Psst, it's "dush".}

And we're just immature enough to giggle about it.

Example:

Tanika: "That makes me feel so unclean."

Kevin: "Then go take a dush!"

Tanika: "I already did twice today!"

We're kinda silly. :)

Oh, how I'm going to miss everyone so much!

But Japan will bring new faces, new memories.

And besides, I think one key to happiness is to bloom where you're planted,

wherever that may be. ♥

"Two Nights, Two Parties"

Party #1:

A herd of My Little Pony boys.

Favorite costumes of the night. Truly.

They even had little charms taped to their... "flanks"...

Alright, I'm stopping there.

The dance was 10x more fun than I ever thought it could be.

My ward is full of dancin' beasts!

{And an Edward Cullen, apparently!}

Party #2:

Halloween is a favorite; it's one of the best.

{Though my #1 holiday is New Year's!}

The McCabes and I meandered up to Salt Lake for a little ghost hunting.

Jeanie caught some "orbs" in her photos. Pretty wicked. :)

After the ghost hunt, I drove back to the valley and met up with more chums.

And we partied a little bit. :)

Nate totally won the prize for awesome that night.

Ghoul love.

{Minnie loves everybody...}

I wanted to be a pirate this year, so I loved Kevin's costume {almost} the best.

But of course everyone else looked fantastic. ;)

Because I'm a bimbo {means "poor" in Japanese... and something else entirely in American}, I went as a forest fairy thing {not a pirate}.

...Posing isn't my forte. Apologies for the face-making.

But the makeup was loads of fun to do. :)

{I love to experiment.}

After the party, some friends stuck around to watch episodes of Supernatural.

It was so scary, I made Edison sleep in my room afterwards.

{This is why big puppies are my favorites.}

How anyone could go near an old, creepy house where someone was murdered is beyond me.

Real ghost hunters are either the bravest people out there, or complete nutters.

Or maybe I'm just a big baby.

{Music credits: "The Violet Hour" by Sea Wolf; "Jai Ho!" by A. R. Rahman & PCD; "Never Think" by Rob Pattinson}

"Thank Heaven for Friends"

"...when thou art come into the hand of thy friend... go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend." -Proverbs 6:3

If it weren't for friends, I'd be stuck reading textbooks on Fridays.

{Oh, I mean... ahem.}

No, my grades are fine, promise.

...For now.

{tee hee}

{Music: "Living in a Bubble" by Eiffel 65}

Matt and Logan came over to play yesterday, and we had quite a rambunctious time.

And this morning, I was able to share couch cushions with even more wonderful people.

We ate delicious pancakes and watched General Conference together.

It was incredible. ♥