February:
My friend's younger sister (Madeline Hales) suddenly contracted bacterial meningitis and passed away on Valentine's Day. She was a wonderful girl who was loved and adored by so many! I didn't know her personally, just from afar, but she was also the best friend of some of my close sophomore girlfriends.
I saw one of these sophomore girls' parents at a grocery store on the friday night that Madeline was fighting for her life in the hospital. They told me that a whole group of the sophomores were gathered at one house to pray for her and lean on each other for support. My good friend and I (both seniors at the time) went to this home and found 30 or 40 sophomores there... and I will truly never forget what I experienced that night. This group of friends (some members of our Church, and others not) were singing hymns acappella, taking turns kneeling on the floor and saying prayers, hugging, crying, waiting for phone call updates from the Hales family, and yearning to feel some comfort from Heavenly Father. The spirit that I felt that night from these kids was overwhelming. I went there as an "upperclassman", and the "Seminary president" trying to offer hugs or uplifting words to my younger friends, and I left hours later completely affected and changed forever. Within 3 days, Madeline passed away. But she left behind her amazing example, and gave to her friends something to become, and a reason to better themselves. I heard over and over from them that they now know they want to live worthy of seeing her again.
I learned and experienced many more things during that weekend of fasting and praying with those sophomores and the Hales family... too many things to share. I will never forget Madeline and look forward to finally meeting her on the other side of the veil and thanking her for being the example to her friends (and myself) that we all needed.
April-May:
My Madrigals choir performed in our final showcase/concert. It's supposed to be a really big deal, and as a Madrigal it's what you work towards all year long. We were so full of ourselves and had all kinds of names for ourselves... like "Madri-gangstas", "Drama-drigals", etc. Yeah, we thought we were awesome... and every year the community and passed Madrigals members expect a great show.
my 4 best friends in madrigals with me... we thought we were cool and
called ourselves the "mad-5"
Well, a month or two before our showcase, our teacher decided to quit. In the middle of everything! We were completely unprepared for our concert coming up and we were too unfocused to get it together on our own. After a couple of weeks of substitute choir directors (such as parents or vice principals who knew a thing or two about music) they finally found someone to replace our old teacher. He was crazy... but that's a whole other story. He did help us get ready for our concert and it turned out alright. Not great, not even close to great, but alright.
The expectations I had leading up to my year as a Madrigal second-soprano were so high and I still feel a little sorry for myself that it didn't turn out the way I always hoped and expected. haha Sad, right? My older siblings were all in "small groups" (choirs of 24 singers) as seniors at East High, and they all had an AMAZING director who had been there since the beginning of time. But she retired the year I was a junior... of course. So we had to become the experimental year with a new teacher who was SO so different and ultimately quit on us half-way through. A bit of a disappointment, but I'm grateful for the positive experiences I had during my Madrigals year.
May:
I won a car. Seriously, I did. I only had the car for a few months, so the whole thing feels a little surreal even now. Here's the short story... The Ken Garff Automotive Group in Salt Lake gave 1 free car to 1 student in about 50 schools along the wasatch front. It was part of a give-away called "Keys to Success". The idea is that whoever wins the car can either have a much-needed car (no strings attached) for college, or their job, etc, or they can sell it and get the funds they need for school or whatever their individual situation may be. I entered the contest because I went to a lot of after-school sports events and I was involved in some extra-curricular things. Other kids wrote great essays, or did community service, etc. At the end of the year, in May, 50 students were chosen (for having the most points), and were given a chance to win the actual car. I was one of the 50! We picked numbers out of a hat that morning, and stood in line in order of our numbers, 1-50. I picked the number 22. As I stood in line in front of the news cameras and most of the school, I watched 21 students ahead of me try their key on a padlock, with the car keys inside a locked box. I was sure that each time someone tried theirs that would be it! But none of them worked. 18...19...20...21... And then all of a sudden it was my turn! I put my key into the padlock, turned slowly, and then POP! The lock popped open right inside my hand and I literally froze. The next few minutes feel like a dream even now. I was handed the real car keys inside the box. I somewhat remember floating slowly towards the car, opening the door, sitting down in the driver's seat, turning the key in the ignition and literally not believing it was real. I had won a 1992 Mercedes Benz!
picture of the moment the lock opened... complete shock
I kept the car for a couple of months, not having to pay a single cent for it. However, even paying for the gas and the car insurance was still too much for me at that time. My wonderful Grandpa Brent Goates bought it from me... for more than it was worth... and I was able to pay for my first semester of college. (which is where and why I was able to meet Ryan... that story comes later...)
It was such an amazing blessing!! I don't know what I did to deserve it, but I know that it was a blessing from the Lord.
June:
Graduation! I learned so much in High School... maybe not a lot of "information" or "book-smarts", because really, does anyone remember a whole lot of stuff from high school?! But I learned a lot about who I was, what I wanted, what kind of people I wanted around me, how much I love and need my family in my life, and many other things. I especially had the time of my life serving in the seminary building as the co-president. It was one of the sweetest experiences of my life and I truly feel like it was my very own little mission on a small scale. I was in the seminary building everyday helping, serving, meeting students, making friends, planning future assemblies or devotionals, and learning from the incredibly amazing teachers we had there. I also had a wonderful seminary council full of great friends and examples to me and the other students. Unfortunately one of my biggest regrets is not getting a picture with all of them together! Or if I did, I don't have it anymore. :( So sad. But anyway, serving in the seminary was the best thing I did during all 4 years and I was sad to leave it when I graduated.
my wonderful parents and me at graduation
The night of graduation was our big senior class party and it was so much fun! We were bussed over to a big activity complex where there was roller skating, a pool, a big blow-up toy playground area, and some other things I'm sure I'm forgetting. Cafe Rio catered a late dinner. YUM! A couple of injuries occurred, such as a broken leg and a broken arm... people were just having too much fun and playing too hard I guess. But it was such a great night! Our very last party together as the class of '05.
Later in June:
25 of my closest friends and I went on our senior trip to HAWAII!! It was magical, to say the least. We felt like we were in a movie, and I will never forget the fun memories we made there together! We stayed in our friend's grandparents' hotel in Waikiki and spent about 10 days touring around and playing in the ocean. We had paid for 2 huge vans to drive us all around the island of Oahu and we had some great parent chaperones. Some of the activities we enjoyed were swimming with dolphins and turtles, spending a day at the PCC, getting henna tattoos (they wash off and then the outlines were tanned into our skin all summer), seeing the Dole plantation and running through the maze, pearl harbor tour, lots and lots of time at the beach, swimming with just the girls at night (the one and only time I've skinny-dipped...hehe), and simply enjoying being together with our best friends in a magical place.
Jamie Vanorden and me at the PCC
our whole group!
I still to this day am grateful I was able to go at all. To be honest, I originally wasn't going to be able to go because I was the only one who didn't have the $$$ to pay for it. When some of the other parents found out, they each chipped in some money (even after helping their own kids pay for it) so that I could go. I don't know which parents they were because they wanted to stay anonymous, but I will forever be grateful to them. They claimed they wanted me with their kids to keep them "safe" (morally)... can you tell the kind of person I was in high school? I am just grateful that they trusted and appreciated me enough to want to help me have that great trip with my best friends. :)
August:
This month brought someone extremely special in to my life. My husband! I met Ryan Quinn Turner at the University of Utah Institute building in a meeting. My cousin was in charge of setting up a classroom leadership committee to help the institute class presidents feel like they had more of a job than just assigning prayers and scriptures each day. During our first meeting together, I was already seated at the table waiting for it to start. I only really knew my older cousin and was feeling really small and young (fresh from high school) among all these big-bad college students... and in walks this extremely handsome, tan, clean-cut, sporty-looking young man with the most incredible smile. And oh my goodness. I'm being completely honest when I say that I was immediately attracted to him. And his name was RYAN. One of the few boys names I've always, always loved. I spent the rest of the meeting trying to position myself in my chair so that he could see me, and I could quickly glance over and see him. But he never looked over at ME! At least I didn't think he was... come to find out later, he was trying to do the same thing because he had also immediately noticed me at that meeting and wanted to find out who I was.
We finally met and talked... flirted it up quite a bit... Ryan got my phone number from my cousin (leader of our committee, THANK YOU MEL SHARP!), and he finally asked me out on a date a couple weeks after we met. In fact, our first date was 4 days after I turned 18. hehe. Ryan didn't know at that point that I was a "young" freshman and I was a dreading telling him the truth about my age. I was sure it would scare him away. When the subject came up on our date, I told him... and waited for a bad reaction... but there was none. He wasn't freaked out and I sighed in relief.
one of our committee meetings, Ryan in the front middle in blue. What a sexy man!
Within a month, we were already talking about "the future" in general terms because we knew this was more than just dating around. A few weeks later we were talking about getting married, and I told my parents about it on Halloween night while I was out to dinner with them. They must have been listening to the Spirit or something because they were extremely calm and positive about it... I still wonder to myself how they were ok with allowing their young 18-year-old daughter get engaged to someone they'd only known for 2 months. A few weeks after that, I had a ring on my finger... and it's all history from there!
the night we got engaged
WHEW! What a year! I told you that 2005 was full of some incredible times, great memories, ups and downs, and learning experiences. I wouldn't be the person I am today without that SINGLE year of my life happening the way it did. I truly know that I was lead and guided by Heavenly Father to make the choices I made, accept the blessings that came, and to have been blessed to know the people I did.
Since then, I've been married for 4 years, moved several times, had a baby, am now living in LAS VEGAS of all places, and we're half-way through medical school. I never would have believed you if you'd told my newly-graduated-self that I'd be here 5 years later, with all that under my belt. What a ride that chunk of time has been! What an amazing ride. I'm grateful for it, and hope that the next 5 will be full of wonderful memories and experiences that I will always cherish. I just have to remind myself to make them happen and enjoy the moments while they last. :) Otherwise they'll be gone like THAT and I'll be sadly missing these moments I have now.
A couple of sundays ago, I got a phone call from an old friend. He and his dad and siblings were on their way to California and got stuck in Las Vegas with car troubles. They literally couldn't get the help and parts they needed until the next day (monday) so I invited them to come and hang out with us and stay the night! We had such a great time having them over for less than 24 hours (wish it could've been longer). Grace was totally LOVING the attention. I tell ya, she's a little social butterfly. Thanks, Jolley family, for stopping in! Even though it was a frustrating situation for them to be in, we had a great time with you and we're glad everything worked out in the end. 
We didn't have a doctor's appointment this month, so I just did my best at measuring and weighing her. She is roughly 26 1/2 inches long and 16.5 lbs. My scale rounds to the nearest .5 lb, so it isn't exact. 
Grace is getting more and more hair. Slowly but surely. There isn't quite enough to put a clip into and stay, but there's enough to make a faux-hawk after bath time.
I've mentioned before how much she uses her toes and her feet, but seriously, they're like an extra set of hands. I've never seen a baby use their feet as much as she does! She grabs things with her feet, or puts things in between her toes. Or the funniest thing is when she puts toys between her feet while sitting up and rubs the toy with her feet. Silly girl...
Grace's eyes are still really watery and goopy. People are always commenting on it, and it's getting a tad bit annoying haha. Her tear ducts are still clogged which means that she'll most likely have to get them opened up by an optometrist when she's closer to turning 1. I'm not nervous about it because it's just a quick thing and shouldn't hurt her... and I look forward to not having to wipe her eyes every 5 minutes!
Gracie is such a great sleeper these days! She goes to bed just after 8pm and wakes up just after 8am. If she does happen to wake up sometime during the night, I don't have to get up anymore. I let her cry and whine on her own and she falls asleep within 10 minutes. If there is a random morning where she wakes up at 6 or 7 and refuses to go back to sleep, I will bring her into bed with me ('cause really, that's way too early!). She'll either play happily, or relax and fall asleep for a little while longer next to me. In this picture, it was a sunday morning. I got up to take a shower and Ryan and Grace slept in for a few minutes longer. So cute!!
Grace's gums are bugging her, but there is still no definite sign of teeth pushing through. We had some awesome watermelon this week and I decided to try out the mesh teething toy thingy... not really sure what it's called. I put some juicy watermelon in it and she LOVES it! What a great invention.
I still nurse Grace every 4 hours or so, and dream feed her at 9:45pm. She eats solids at dinner-time, and sometimes first thing in the morning. She likes rice cereal, especially if it's mixed with breast milk. She likes apples, apple-banana-strawberry mix, carrots, pears, blueberry-apple mix, squash, sweet potatoes, pretty much anything I offer her! We've been trying a sippy-cup with some watered down apple juice but it's the kind of cup she has to bite and suck at the same time. I don't think she gets it yet, because she obviously doesn't have to bite while she's nursing. So how could she know? I think I'll go buy the kind that she only has to suck on. Since it's so hot here I want to make sure she has some liquids to drink while we're out swimming or running errands. 
Grace still takes 3 naps a day. She'll sleep from 9-10:30am, 1-3:30pm, and a short evening nap around 5:30-6:30pm. If I cut her morning nap short and we go to the pool for awhile, she'll usually end up taking a 3 hour nap in the afternoon! Life is good over here. haha
I saw one of these sophomore girls' parents at a grocery store on the friday night that Madeline was fighting for her life in the hospital. They told me that a whole group of the sophomores were gathered at one house to pray for her and lean on each other for support. My good friend and I (both seniors at the time) went to this home and found 30 or 40 sophomores there... and I will truly never forget what I experienced that night. This group of friends (some members of our Church, and others not) were singing hymns acappella, taking turns kneeling on the floor and saying prayers, hugging, crying, waiting for phone call updates from the Hales family, and yearning to feel some comfort from Heavenly Father. The spirit that I felt that night from these kids was overwhelming. I went there as an "upperclassman", and the "Seminary president" trying to offer hugs or uplifting words to my younger friends, and I left hours later completely affected and changed forever. Within 3 days, Madeline passed away. But she left behind her amazing example, and gave to her friends something to become, and a reason to better themselves. I heard over and over from them that they now know they want to live worthy of seeing her again. 
Well, a month or two before our showcase, our teacher decided to quit. In the middle of everything! We were completely unprepared for our concert coming up and we were too unfocused to get it together on our own. After a couple of weeks of substitute choir directors (such as parents or vice principals who knew a thing or two about music) they finally found someone to replace our old teacher. He was crazy... but that's a whole other story. He did help us get ready for our concert and it turned out alright. Not great, not even close to great, but alright.
