The BEST way to end the semester

Me, Allen, Luke, and Doug after the Celtics beat the Jazz!

The 4 of us again, having a good time (Allen is trying to be short?!)

OK-now I love a great professional sporting event, and the Celtics/Jazz basketball game was great...until my boyfriend showed up!!!! Can you see who this is being interviewed on the big screen?! Yes!!! MICHAEL PHELPS!!! I will admit that I reverted back to my middle school crush syndrome and was screaming, and frantically looking for Cami's binoculars, and then scrambling for my camera. It was a dream come true!!! OK, so Michael Phelps might not be the next Brad Pitt, but he is good looking in my opinion-and the guy is the most amazing swimmer ever!!! My family knows what an avid watcher I was during the Olympics...anyway, this made the night more than worth my $45 ticket. The guys kept asking how long Michael and I had been dating? I said, well, we go way back, you know, he just doesn't know it...kidding. I was so excited though...I mean to be in the same arena as him...I had felt so distant watching him with me in Breckenridge, CO while he was in China...ok, now I know I sound obsessed...so enough about my Michael Phelps (although Kristina Phelps has a nice ring to it, huh?!)

Here I am with my girls-Cami, Rachel, me and Alison before the game started (yes my hair got darker a couple of weeks ago...my mom wasn't thrilled to hear I had gone darker...but I do really like it!)

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year from me to you!!!

So yes, I am now officially done with my first semester of grad school and man, does it feel amazing!!! It has been hectic and crazy since I have been back from my Thanksgiving break in Dallas, hence no new posts. I have been swamped with school, work, and then babysitting quite a bit to make ends meet for this month (and to pay the $50 in parking tickets that I accrued last week...and no, we do not need to go into detail about 2 horrible, no good, very bad days that I had last week). All of my final projects, papers, exams, and presentations got done on time, and I think I did really well this semester. I enjoyed all of my classes and am really looking forward to my courses next semester. To end it all, I went with Cami, after we got off work yesterday, to grab some dinner, to see the Christmas lights in downtown Boston, and then to meet up with some other friends at the game. It was wonderful...the Celtics totally beat the Jazz (I say when in Boston, do as the Bostonians, and the best team did win!) As you can see, the game was fun, and seeing Michael Phelps was well, amazing! Today has been one of the craizest days yet...I got up to take a friend to the airport at the crack of dawn, babysat for 5 hours (now I can pay utilities and parking tickets), finished a take-home essay final exam, and am doing all of my catching up, laundry, and packing bags so that I can get up super early tomorrow to leave for Tokyo!!! Oh, for those of you that do not know...I will spend 3 weeks in Tokyo and 1 week in Houston before heading back to start school on Jan. 14. Enjoy your holidays, I will try and update with Tokyo adventures! Love you all!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Rock climbing--easy landing

Nice shot, eh?! Here I am in action...

Andrew...thanks to him, I have the coolest climbing shoes ever

Leigh is a hot shot-this is totally her thing...maybe one day I can be as hard core as her.

Andrew and I at the Dallas Temple

Leigh and I after our session at the Dallas Temple

One size fits all?! Big chair...small chair.

Big chair for me, small chair for Leigh

Andrew and Leigh at Chili's

Kristina and her mysterious date at Chili's?!

OK, me just wishing I had a significant other to take to dinner with Leigh and Andrew

Leigh and I playing the Wii

Andrew playing Guitar Hero-he is really, really good-go rockstar!

Here I am failing miserably at Guitar Hero

Leigh and I-fun and crazy

Here I am trying out the racing helmets at Richardson Bike Mart-Lance has gotten his cycling gear here...maybe I can be that good, too!

Leigh and I in Lenscrafter-she really needs glasses, I have always wanted glasses-do these ones suit me?!

Enjoying my burrito from Freebirds, mine was huge!

So I did survive 2 more days of class and work, and then got up bright and early for my 7:30 am flight out of Boston to Dallas, Texas on Wednesday morning. My flight was good and long, but I was productive and wrote a paper on the journey. I was picked up at the aiport by Leigh, my wonderful sister-in-law. We had lunch at Freebirds, a popular Burrito place...and mine was supposed to be a half-bird, but it ended up a whole size. Then Leigh and I went shopping at a huge, fabulous Texas mall. She was looking for new dress pants, and she ended up with two pairs, and I ended up with one pair. We picked Andrew up on his commute home from work. Andrew and I were out for a while, and then came back home to play Wii-I rock at Mario Kart-actually not at all. On Thursday, I went with Leigh to watch Andrew playing football with some guys from Church on the morning. Then I went for a really long run, and took Chaco (their boxer) with me for the last part...man, I really want a dog! Someday, someday... after getting ready, we all headed out for Thanksgiving dinner at Leigh's aunt's and uncle's house. I met most of Leigh's extended family, and enjoyed some awesome Thanksgiving food!!! and I did quite well, I only ate one plate of food...talk about self-control. Thursday night we watched some TV, and I also played Guitar Hero with Leigh, then we played some other Wii games. Friday morning I went running in the Texas rain, something that I do like. Then we went to see the new James Bond movie-Leigh and Andrew and I, and Leigh's parents and sister. Afterwards, I went with Andrew and Leigh to visit Oma, Leigh's wonderful grandmother. Then we grabbed some food at Chili's and ventured over to REI. I love REI, it inspires me to want to just live in a tent and be outside and active all day every day. I did buy a new fleece with a hood-I do love my hoodies. We also picked up Leigh's aunt and cousin from the airport, and then came home. Leigh and I had some great girl bonding...I love my family! Today I went to the Dallas Temple with Andrew and Leigh, and after some errands we met up with some of Andrew and Leigh's friends and went to a great indoor rock climbing center. My second time rock-climbing and I loved it. Plus, I got to use my new climbing shoes! Now we are enjoying pizza and a movie. I am having a great time in Dallas, and I cannot believe that my vacation is quickly drawing to a close...sad. I am having a great time with my brother, Andrew and my sister-in-law, Leigh...they are so good to me! Happy Holidays to all!

Happy Pilgrim Day!

Here is the Pilgrim Village in Plymouth, the employees all assume the character of someone that really came over in the Mayflower, and settled in Plymouth. They tell you all sorts of things about their lives in England, and their lives in the new colony. There was lots to see, and we liked hearing their stories inside their little homes, right by the fires they had built....warmth!

Charlotte, Katie, and I on the cannon; there were cannons set up in the upstairs of where they met for church meetings below...interesting...church and weapons

I decided that this was the first Jenga game...the wood is all stacked very strategically; I was worried that it really might all fall over if we tried to pull a log of wood out.

Here I am, a little sad...I only get to live in the poor native's hut?! Why don't I get a big one? Apparently because I am single, the natives of Plymouth only built huts big enough for their families, but never bigger...that makes sense, don't have something bigger than you need-genius!

Katie, Charlotte, Victoria, Michael, and I in a canoe made by natives. They actually sailed this one from Plymouth down to Martha's Vineyard, on open water...scary!Here is the whole group warming up in a cafe along the ocean, we could see most of the Thanksgiving parade from the windows; I enjoyed super yummy hot chocolate and award-winning New England clam chowder in a bread bowl.

Here is my roommate, Candice, and I posed by the Mayflower that brought the Pilgrims.

And the Mayflower again, it brought over some 130 people! It wasn't all that spacious, and my family would not have been comfortable, I had to walk around the boat with my head tilted to the side...I guess the Pilgrims were much shorter...

And here is Plymouth rock!

Those are the pictures from my fun Saturday in Plymouth, Massachusetts. So I had a bit of a long, stressful week, trying to keep up with schoolwork and studies, and my life in general, after 3 fun, but busy days in NYC last weekend. I made it through the week ok, and have had a really good weekend. I have been trying to get a research paper done all week, and it just doesn't seem to be happening for me. I have decided that I do not like research papers; I like writing and have done well on all my other papers this semester, but research papers are not my thing. Maybe a PhD will not be in my future..hmm...or maybe it could if I was doing some of my own research. Anyway, after a long day of unsuccessfully working on my paper on Friday, I went with my roommate, Melissa, to the temple in the evening. Have I mentioned that I love it there?! I think so, but I really do. Going once a week to the temple keeps me going really, and gives me so much more peace than I can ever find during my busy weeks. Saturday morning I went with my roommates, Candice, and Melissa, to breakfast at this super yummy restaurant called Zaftigs with another friend, Cami. I had Challah french toast, it is a Jewish delicatessen. It was delicious! I love yummy breakfasts, they make me happy. Then I drove myself, Melissa and Candice down south an hour to Plymouth, Masssachusetts where it all began. We found parking, met another group of friends, 10 of us in all, and enjoyed a day in the life of a Piligrim. It was freezing cold, seriously...thermometers were reading 25, but with the windchill in Massachusetts, it was probably 10-15 degrees. Cold, cold, cold. And apparently, it will be here to stay until April or so. Enjoy the pictures, and happy early Thanksgiving!

My Wasabi Green B-Day Present

So Andrew and Leigh, my brother and sister-in-law, were really excited when they heard about my first rock climbing adventure earlier this fall. I had a blast, did well according to my guy friends, and was anxious to go again, but being a busy grad student and not having stuff has prevented me from going again. The day after my birthday, I had a fun surprise in the mail from my fabulous brother and sister-in-law...rock climbing shoes...my very own! and in none other than wasabi green...perfect color! Andrew and Leigh are supposed to be taking me to use them when I am there in Dallas next week for Thanksgiving! And so that Andrew doesn't feel left out...we are down to 4 days until I see you! Sorry I don't have a paper chain link, but I am counting down, and I am excited to see y'all! Thanks again, I love them!

I LOVE NYC!

NYC from the Empire State Building

Cool American Flag display at Ellis Island

Alison, me, and Michael on the ferry to Ellis Island on Sunday

I saw Mary Poppins for the second time, first time on Broadway, on Saturday

(Alex-made me think of you, I took my picture with this in a museum on my mission)

Alison and I on Friday night, near Radio City

Alison, Michael, and Melissa in SoHo on Saturday

Me, Alison, and Megan at Rockefeller Center on Friday

Alison and I on Friday, after going to the Manhattan Temple

**Disclaimer: This is the only picture with my hair done, I did it Friday morning; it was humid and rained the whole weekend, so I did not waste time the rest of the weekend on my hair. Also, I did change clothes, I promise, but I did end up needing this green jacket most of the time.
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This post is overdue, like most of mine are, especially since it has been over a week since I left for New York City. So I had a good b-day and in order to extend the celebration a bit, as well as to celebrate my roommate, Melissa's b-day, we went with a few friends to NYC. It was an absolute blast! I have been twice before, but still absolutely love that city! Although, I will admit that I love living in Boston way more (it is more me) but it is nice being close to NYC...I suppose I would really like living there, but not for right now...my friend, Alison and I said maybe if we are still single and 35, we can head that way. We had invited around 12 friends, but people are lame and always bail...so it was 5 of us. Alison and I left with her friend, Megan (who had flown into Boston the night before from Las Vegas) on Friday morning. We took the subway, aka the T, into the city, and then got on our bus-a 4+ hour ride to NYC. We slept, I did some reading for a class, and we watched a funny, cheesy movie, Underdog, that was being shown. We spent Friday walking around Times Square, shopping along 5th Avenue (mostly looking), walking through Central Park, Alison and I did initiatories at the Manhattan Temple (my first time in that temple), we met up with Alison and Megan's friend, Caleb, and walked around Times Square some more, past Rockefeller Center (the Christmas tree was getting set up), past Radio City Music Hall, etc. We had some great dinner and some super yummy New York cheesecake! I met up with my roommate and went with her to get food at Carnegie Deli, I was still full. Then we headed to the Upper West End in a taxi to the apartment where we were crashing, a friend of a friend's place. Saturday morning I went for a run in Central Park-awesome! It was raining, but refreshing, and I love parks like that-very Hyde Park/London park-like. After Melissa and I grabbed some fresh fruit and yummy bread, we headed in to Times Square. We met up with Alison, and our other friend, Michael, and waited for half price Broadway tickets in the pouring rain! We were soaked! We explored Canal Street, and wandered through SoHo, and then came back for Mary Poppins, which I had already seen in London, but it was great, lots of fun, wonderful music...we all enjoyed it. We walked around some more, went up to the top of the Empire State Building when it was dark, had dinner at a fun diner, shopped some more, and then all headed our separate ways after 2 exhausting days. I managed to get Melissa and I turned around several times going the wrong way on our way back to our place...we were on the wrong side of the park, I usually have a better sense of direction, but it was dark, rainy, and I was tired. Sunday we got up, grabbed some yummy pastries for breakfast, and headed to church, we went to sacrament meeting in a family ward-it was the primary program. It was wonderful-I loved it! You really do miss those primary programs when you are in a single's ward for so long. Then we went to south ferry and went to Ellis Island, which I have never done, and loved. It was so interesting. We came back for dinner and headed to the bus for a very long ride home. I love NYC! There is so much to see and do! I was exhausted after 3 days straight of walking, but I have survived this past week more or less. I will post in a couple of days about this weekend, it will be fun, too!

I'll be home for the holidays!

...my Mom posts specifically for me, so this post is just for her...I am so excited to see you in like 38 days, I think it is...I am making a paper chain link to count down the days, too...here are pictures of it. (For those of you that do not know, I will be in Tokyo for 3 weeks for the holidays, and then I will be in Houston for 1 week. I love Boston University, giving me a month of vacation-a genius idea!!! )

Happy 25th B-Day to Me!

The flowers from my mom-thank you so much, I will be sure to enjoy them!

Rachel and I at dinner

So today I turned 25, and I feel great, so hopefully it will be another good year. 23 was weird, it's a prime number, an ugly number if you ask me, and it was a weird year...I have loved being 24, and I feel even better about 25. The day has been wonderful! I have received so many emails, phonecalls, texts, and notes wishing me a happy b-day from family, friends, and people here and all over. Thanks to everyone for remembering me! Special thanks to all my nieces and to my nephew for my birthday song renditions-they were the best part of my day. So all in all, I got sung to about...6 times, not bad. My mom so kindly posted on her blog just for me. Oh, also, Mom-I did get the flowers! They are beautiful. So my day was filled with nice things, but was all in all a normal Monday. I went for a run at 6:30 am, it was cool outside, and just perfect. I went to the school where I help teach PE for 3 hours this morning, then I went to work, then I had a class. After commuting home (by the way, I do my commuting on my bike...I am not dead yet and it's much cheaper!), I went out to dinner with my friends, Alison, Rachel, and Amanda. I have spoken with more family, and am enjoying my evening carefree. Tomorrow is Veterans Day, and since east coasters are patriotic or something, no school and no work for me. Yay!

Cupcake Decorating/Dessert Night!

Last night my good friend, Alison, threw a birthday party at my house for my roommate, Melissa, and I. My birthday was today, and Melissa has hers on Friday. We had lots of friends over for desserts and cupcake decorating. It was a good time, with good company.

Make a wish...I can't tell you what mine is or it won't come true, and I

really need it to come true!!! and soon!!!

My friend, Alison, made a super yummy b-day cake for us.

Here is my living room, filled with fun friends that live here in blessed Boston with me!

My good friends, Andrew (left) and Marissa (right), and I

Fun girls-Victoria, Kristie, Marissa, Cassie, and Melissa...

Cupcake decorating is one of my favorite things to do!

It was a fun night, with fun people coming and going throughout the evening. We had lots of yummy desserts, and boy, do I love sweets! So I indulged, and now I am on with my self-discipline for the rest of the week, and plenty of running! Alison also had everyone write birthday wishes for us on pieces of paper, and we had to read our wishes outloud. Some were inspiring, some were thoughtful, and some were umm...awkward. It was a great night. Happy early b-day to me!