Kind Kari!

Well today is December 22, 2012 (no the world has not yet ended..imagine that!) and it just so happens to be the 21st birthday of my sweet roommate Kari! As usual this post is dedicated to her and the 21 things I know about her! Kari Rae Lopez grew up in Fountain Valley California...she is so lucky! She is the youngest of five her siblings are Aubrey, Ronnie, Aleesa and Katie. Kari graduated from Fountain Valley High home of the Barons in 2010.

(I realize this is a very old picture but Kari's face is priceless..plus it's the only one I could find)

She then moved to St George and started attending Dixie State College with a major in graphic design. Because of her major she has to be partial to all colors but her favorites are pink and purple. She is the faithful owner of a Honda accord and even likes the LA Lakers..? Nope she only keeps the sticker to irritate her brother-in-law...total Kari move. Kari really isn't a picky eater (at least compared to others) the only thing she cannot eat at all is pork! Her favorite places to eat out in Utah are red robin and wingers. Her favorite candy is basically chocolate, but she especially likes Snickers and Reese's. She loves Starbucks hot cocoa, dirty dr peppers and mango mountain dews from Swig too! She loves to watch TV especially the series Friends and Once Upon a Time. Her favorite movie and super hero is The Amazing Spiderman. Her favorite holiday is Christmas-she loves the lights, music, and good old holiday cheer. She loves nail polish and painting nails. She had the opportunity of a lifetime last summer when she did an internship at wet 'n' wild she loved it!

Just like any girl Kari loves to shop and buy clothes! The best part is most times when she gets home and realizes she doesn't need an item she takes it back. I have easily seen her get back $60.00 from one store. Since Kari is the youngest she has a lot of experience being an aunt and loves every minute of it! Along with doing a great job on any kind of graphic for any event, Kari is an amazing photographer and has even become the honorary photographer of our young single adult ward. Kari is definitely the night owl in our apartment and she hits the snooze button an average of 10 times every morning.

The reason I chose the adjective kind for Kari is because the definition fits her perfectly! She is sympathetic, friendly, gentle, tenderhearted, and generous. I am so grateful for the time I have had to be Kari's roommate and look forward to the time we have!

Happy happy birthday my dear friend , I wish I could celebrate with you but we will when you get back...don't even worry!

I stand all Amazed!

I don't know why I missed yet another week but I have. I just hate it! So here is to another horrible 2 week catch-up. The last two weeks I have been very busy with things happening every night! 2 Mondays ago after FHE a group of us went to Megan's house to play games for her birthday. After that we went to Yogurtland and then walked around the Temple it was very cold but very beautiful! I love the Temple lights and wish I could visit every Temple at Christmas time. Tuesday I went to institute-I really have loved my New Testament class and have very much enjoyed learning about the Saviors life. Wednesday I had a play date with Tiana and Brandon, we had Hungry Howies for dinner, played games, and then watched the lighting of the big tree in New York. It really put me in the decorating mood so I hurried home and decorated my apartment with the roomies. It was very fun and depressing at the same time because my sister and Randi are moving out in two weeks!! I am holding back tears right now...I hate loosing roommates! 

Thursday Tiana, Lindsey and I went to the Temple. I love the Temple and can never get enough of it. Friday everyone was gone except Kari and I so we went to dinner at Jimmy Johns (it was Kari's first time and she is hooked) then went shopping for hours. We also went to Arctic Circle and got strawberry cookie dough shakes! I am addicted and have already gone back for another one this week. Saturday was a day spent cleaning and organizing...literally! I got up went to the gym then cleaned the church and my house, organized my cluttered closet and other things too. I went to lunch at Red Robin then hung out with Kari, Holly, Aubrey, and Tiana. We went to look at the place of Holly and Dustin's reception and it will be so pretty I cant wait. Sometimes we go through phases where we really want to go to Mesquite and Saturday night was one of them. We have always wanted to play bingo there but never had until Saturday. Let me tell you we loved every minute of playing! We even stayed late to play another round. Plus we have joked every night about going back to play! I secretly wanna play right now...I may have a bingo problem. Since you have to be 21 to bingo we couldn't exclude our young friend so Holly and Dustin met up with us and we played two games of bowling! We all kind of sucked, I mean we had our moments but still didn't do so hot. We got home during the wee hours of the morning but I had to go to Walmart for Sunday dinner items so Kari and I went. Lets just say that it is a dead zone at 230 in the morning. 

Sunday was hard because it was fast Sunday but it was also uplifting! Fast and testimony meeting was good, I learned a lot about the members of my ward. I want to share my testimony but I will do that at the end of this post! Last week was as equally busy as the week before. Monday for FHE we went to a Christmas dinner provided by our stake. The place was decorated and looked awesome, the smell was marvelous too. It was just very Christmasy. The food was delightful and the musicals were good too. Tuesday was my last night of institute for this semester! It was a very very good lesson and one of those 'walk out of class a much better person' nights. I also found out that upon completion of this class I can get my institute diploma! That sounds nerdy I know but I am so happy! Wednesday after work I headed over to big O tires and bought myself 4 new tires. My car drives much better now that it has four equally balanced and filled tires I love it. That night we went to a relief society activity, we had a devotional then decorated and ate sugar cookies with hot cocoa. We then picked three inactive girls and delivered plates of cookies to them and let them know that we missed them. I also stumbled upon my favorite E-card on Wednesday, I think it is freaking hilarious! 

Thursday we went to tithing settlement and watched glee, it was an alright episode. The last ten minutes were the best and this week is the mid season finale which is depressing. I hate that shows have this finale and break until January or February what am I supposed to do without my stories? After glee we went to get treats of course. Lately we have had the worst luck with things being closed when we want treats, this week was no different. We went to Arctic Circle and the lobby was closed so we had to use the drive thru, we needed three separate orders but the worker could only do one. Weird I know. So what do we do? Yep we drive thru 3 different times...take that Arctic Circle. Friday night I went to the Temple with Lindsey, I love going with her every week. I am so very blessed to have the Temple so close and the opportunity to go so often. Saturday started out very busy-Aubrey and I had a lot to accomplish. We went to the gym, then cleaned the church, then ran some errands. We went to lunch at the Brick Oven with Kari, Tiana and Brandon then we went and did baptisms at the Temple. It was very busy but definitely worth it. After the Temple we just hung out and watched the Guardian it was amazing!! It is all about the US coast guard and has Ashton Kutcher in it. I laughed, cried and just loved it! We ended the night driving around town looking at lights, drinking hot cocoa from Maverik, and playing phase ten. 

Church today was awesome it was all focused on our Savior! In sacrament all we did was sing songs that we loved about the Savior it was very uplifting. Tonight since all our shows are not on, and because everyone is either going home or moving out this week we have decided to do our roommate present exchange. I love giving presents to those I know the best it just makes me happy to see their face when they open the present. I love the Christmas season, it brings out the best in people. I love my Savior and need to remember that this month is about him. I know he died for me and that he is always there for me whenever I need him. He knows everything about me my weaknesses, pains, desires and intents of my heart. I love and trust in him and know that everything will work out for me how it is supposed to. I know that if I put him first in all things I will be blessed in ways I could never imagine. I know he died for me and I have been pondering the Atonement a lot lately! Remember him always and never forget what he did for us!