Oh Brother..

I could write an entire book about the adventures of me and my three little sisters. Filled to the top with inside jokes. "It's all your fault. It's all your fault" "There's homies in the kitchen" "Come, come, come. Are you in good hands?" "Hi is Claire here? Let's try that again. *Door Slam*" (p.s. if you haven't heard the story of that last one, you MUST ask Natalie to reenact it, I've never laughed harder in my life!)

I could also tell you of the good times I've had up at school with my two brothers that are closest to me in age, Daniel and Travis.

I could go on and on and on about my amazing parents and about how good they are to me and my sibs.

But I won't, because this post isn't about any of them. This here post is about my two eldest brothers, Derrick and Brandon. I don't think I've mentioned them all too much on this blog, probably because they were both moved out of the house before I was even in middle school, so I don't have too many memories of growing up with them... but I do know a bit about them now and think that these are two of the finest men I have ever been privileged to know., so this post is for them.

First of all, Derrick.

 I think that he and I have a lot more in common than first meets the eye.  He's the oldest of the boys, I'm the oldest of the girls, so we've got that goin' for us. I love his desire to succeed and make something of himself. I see that same desire mirrored in myself and love the example that he has set of it.

Derrick brought his wonderful little family to our house these past few weeks. Oh how I loved having them there! I noticed that whenever Derrick would talk, I felt like I should pull out a pen and paper to start taking notes because what he has to say is important (usually :) and I know that I could learn so much from this kid.

Another thing that I noticed about Derrick in the few days that he spent with us is that he truly loves and cares about his family. When I see him interacting with our siblings, asking questions, giving advice, just talking about life etc., it makes me want to do that with my siblings too. It makes me want to follow his example of being an interested, caring older sibling. ( Even if his idea of being "interested" is mortifying you by posting super embarrasing, yet slightly hilarious things on your fb wall) Gosh, I am just really grateful for his example and the kind of person he is. I am also oh so incredibly pleased with the fact that he brought two of the greatest ladies I know into the family with him, Brittney and Molly. Double bonus!



Now for Brandon.

Is he not the cutest?

Confession: Whenever I get asked who my favorite sibling is, about 50% of the time, my answer is Brandon. I don't really have a good reason why, because of course I don't have a favorite sibling, but if I did, he'd be a pretty good one.

Let me just tell you why I love him so much today.

I have a car. It is a beast. It has given me so much angst lately. It has made me late for work. It has made me miss my activities. It has made me have to run home from work in shorts a tshirt and cold, cold weather. Needless to say, it has been a stressor in this life of mine.

Ok back to Brandon. This is actually the car that Brandon has been using (why it worked nicely for him and not me... the world may never know) So, super nice thing #1gggg: Brandon is letting me use the car that he has been using, leaving him without a vehicle so that I might have one to get me to and from work. What a nice guy no?

Super nice thing #2: He spent his Saturday afternoon in Riverton with me trying to fix my car. He borrowed his buddies truck so that he could bring my bike up to me and then got to work on trying to get my car running a little smoother, or at least getting it to start on command. Being here in this brand new city  and knowing absolutely no body, it was so comforting to know that just 30 minutes away I had a brother who was nice enough to find a way into Riverton and spend several hours working on a car in my behalf. What a good guy huh!

Me, Brandon, a car. How fitting, no?

As I'm writing this, I'm realizing that Brandon reminds me a lot of my dad, who is just an all around stellar guy, so maybe that's why I dub him as my favorite sibling. Either way, I am one lucky girl to have such good, kind big brothers who are always willing to take care of their little sis.

And I will be forever grateful for that,

Love, Noelle

Will Somebody Please Tell Me What I Was Thinking...

.....When I stood in the Kimball building waiting to be interviewed for a position that I had no clue about what-so-ever??
Confession: As I stood waiting for my interview, I came this close to canceling it THIS many times.

And would somebody please enlighten me as to why I kept interviewing for this said position that I STILL had no clue about?
Confession: They were phone interviews, and everytime my phone rang, I came THIS  close to ignoring the call, and throwing it all away.

And while we're at it, will another one of you please tell me why I'm packing up everything I own to do something that scares me silly?
Because as I sit here, I cannot for the life of me figure this one out.

Here's a whole lot of "Never Have I Evers" that I'll be able to check off in the next three days.

Never Have I EVER

• Lived in Utah
• Moved somewhere all by myself with no beforehand knowledge of ANYONE I will be living with... or even near for that matter
• Worked 40 hours a week at a REAL job where what you do actually matters
• Taken online classes
• Worked 40 hours a week WHILE taking 14 online credits. Kill me now.
• Had a $5.23 balance in my bank account.
• Driven on the freeway by myself (I know, it's pathetic, but I think that last time I even drove on the freeway was when I had my permit!)

Ok, ok. Now that that's out of my system..

Ready or not Riverton, Here I come!

It would be a lie for me to say that I'm excited for this next chapter in my life, because I truly have never been so scared in my entire life. I just have to document how totally freaked out I am. Leaving for Peru  seemed like a breeze compared to this and I think it's because I had Brittany and Abigail to rely on. I am for the first time, officially and completely on my own.

Wish me luck!
Love, Noelle