Happiness of Home

Ohhh where on Earth do I start?

First off, I'm back home in Cali. Yep. Buh bye Rexburg for 4 months! Quite bitter sweet but I know I am where I belong for now. Mom, Dad, and Spence came up to the Burg to pick me up along with all of my belongings. I have found that my father hates driving in snow. Sorry Dad, you're a trooper.

Anyway, coming home was really hard for me and until Sunday, my attitude about it was pretty sour and made everyone at home feel bad. I'm a fixer. So naturally, I tried to fix myself. On Sunday, I was at Sarah's ward and in her young women's they all wrote down gifts to give to Christ for Christmas. Snazzy right? I chose happiness. College is amazing. But so can be being home. There are so many things about home that can call for a "shouting of joy". For all who know me well, you know I'm a big "list" type of gal. If you didn't know that, well, now you can feel like you have a special connection with me.

Here's my Reasons Why I'm Happy To Be Home list:

1. Being able to see my parents.

2. Being crazy (not in the head) with ma Sister.

3. Seeing snails on the ground.

4. Driving a car.

5. Seeing the world go to bed at 9:30. (Okay maybe I shouldn't be happy about this but it amuses me.)

6. TiVo

7. Hearing the rumors spread about me. (No I don't get mad about them. I find it amusing that people have nothing better to talk about than me.)

8. Candy making

9. Good Sushi by legit Asians.

10. Not buying all my food.

Good list. I know. Because I have nothing better to do, I'll explain some of them.

Sarah is my crazy partner. Goofy crazy. It's a treat. Tonight we were making candy with Grandma Hogge and I started singing "What you said" to the tune of "Jingle Bells". Sarah refused. I'm proud of her. But I can always count on her for a good "Up", "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" or "Nail Salon" quote. Glorious.

Snails. Carma. It's a female perro. While taking stuff out to my car today, I saw a snail on the ground and thought to myself, "Heh, heh. Someone is gonna step on that and it's going to be hilarious." After putting some stuff in the car I was running back inside and "Smash/Crackle/Pop"! Yeah. Crap. All over my mocs.

TiVo. I'm not a big "watch it while it's on" fan. It must be convenient. It doesn't tend to be convenient in college so I'm catching up on all my favorite shows.

Rumors. LOL. Literally. If any of you are reading this--I am not dating anyone. Nor have I been close to dating anyone since Ry. Sorry to burst your gossipy bubble. My life isn't a big secret. Ask and you shall receive.

Candy making. 7 hours of it? No big. Well, yes big. But it wasn't a bad thing.

My wonderful roommate and best friend, Lisa, got me in this bad mind frame of thinking I can be crafty when really, it's just me copying her steps and calling it good.

Oh and I'm also a horrible photographer. Can't ya tell?

The weirdos of the World Dance Team.

Love.

Them.

The new BYU-Idaho Center!

Boo yahh.

Yeah, we know.

It looks like the Conference Center

Roomies at the Dedication!

Alyssa and Jaronia.

They are kind of special.

And we love them anyway.

P.S. I got excited about getting a platter from my grams. Domestic much? Yes.

Joy to the Hilary!

Sometimes when your life gets so busy that you feel like locking yourself in the closet and crying... It's good to stand back and list some of the things that make you happy. So here you go folks.

Hilary's List of Joy.

1. Pysch Quotes.

2. See's Candy.

3. Bouquets of flowers.

4. Choreographed dancing.

5. Dancing like a crazy on the counter/couch/floor/sidewalk.

6. Skype dates with Hailey.

7. Pillow talks with Lisa.

8. Texts from attractive men.

9. Dates with attractive men.

10. The fact that I have a prayer pillow.

11. Missionary mail.

12. Making a big snowman. (I've never done it but I'm pretty sure it'd make me happy.)

13. Watching Christmas movies with the entire family.

14. Dogs.

15. People who lock their cats outside.

16. The last 10 minutes of a long road trip.

17. Being so happy that I lose my appetite.

18. Knowing that Heavenly Father knows me better than I know myself.

19. Being at BYU-Idaho.

I'm only 19 so apparently I have to stop at 19. Enjoy!

When Change is the Blessing

Isn't it wonderful how we are blessed with just the right people in our lives? My roommate, Lisa, went through the exact thing I had to go through with my best friend and knowing that she knew EXACTLY how I felt led me to be more open with her. She also helped me fill up the empty spaces on my wall with pictures of herself. I love her! My other roommates have been so supportive and know how to put me in a good mood. I came home from dance practice many days just feeling fatigued and wanting to go to sleep but the energy of our apartment led to me making a fool of myself with craziness. I love it and I love them.

What’s going on in my life you say? Just trying to survive my 3^rd semester up at BYU-I. Extravadance is just around the corner so dance practices now consist of costume run throughs and cleaning up numbers. My 2^nd graders are as adorable as ever. There are so many funny things that happen in class each day I’m in there. I love those kids. Anyway, that is what is new in the life of Hil.

Pictures of the semester thus far....

We thought it might be nice to spend 3 hours trying to get Sky's car out of the mud.

No worries. We enjoyed our muddy selves.

The lovely Collegiate World Dance Team

Me and my new bangs with marvelous Lisa!

Supporting the FHE bros at a freezing cold football game.

Never again.

FHE Pumpkin carvin' activity.

The downside of hot frosting.

(It slides when you tilt it.)

Me and Lisa were feeling bold one night.

It resulted in a date and a phone number. ;)

The things I do for my roommates...

Conference Weekend

2 weekends ago I had the opportunity to travel down to Utah to see my family and go to conference. It was such a great weekend. It was ALMOST our entire family. Everyone except Sarah and her family. It was sad not having her there but she was going to Oregon to see my great grandma West so travelling time with the girls was precious.

I got there Friday night and grandma had made tamales. Yum! It was a nice night hanging with my best friends. It's great having friends that you know you can be with forever. I know that a lot of people say "I'm going to be with my family forever anyway, why do I need to be with them now?" But c'mon. Why would you want to be stuck with people you don't want to be around all the time? I am so incredibly thankful that I have been blessed with people that I WANT to be with.

Saturday, the girls went to the morning session of conference. I invited my lovely roommate, Becca, to join us since shew as down for conference as well and so we all went. It was fantastic. President Uchtdorf's talk about "Slowing Down" was music to my ears. I really needed it and I am thankful that I was there, in person, to hear it.

Mom and Grandma Buck

Me and Becca! :) Love her!

The girls minus Sarah

(oh did I mention that Julie is engaged to Joey?

YEAH. I'm so excited for those too!)

Some people call me Mini Mindy. Yeah. I know.

After we went to conference we listened to the 2nd session at home and the boys left for the Priesthood session in the conference center. The girls got to go to Momma Niu's house and enjoy a Girl's Night. Mom treated us to glitter toes and of course there was a delicious chocolate foundation which I took full advantage of. After that, we went to Kohl's and did some shopping. I scored some rockin Keds and a pair of groovy earrings.

Spencer's birthday was the weekend after conference so we celebrated it altogether the week before. Mom and Dad made ribs and Mindy made a yummy cheese sauce with mashed potatoes and broccoli. It was a lot of fun! I had to leave after dinner but going down for the weekend was entirely worth it! I love my family!

Me and Pops

My brothers love me soooo much!

Happy 18th lil bro!

Drinking Foundations

Drinking Foundations. I have noticed two things.

1. People generally don’t use the shorter one and if there is someone using the taller one they will wait. This happened to me earlier in the semester. I’m not too tall… 5’2” and there was no one at the drinking fountains so I went and began to fill up my water bottle from the taller one. While doing so a girl comes up behind me. My height. And waits. I thought it was ridiculous so I moved to the shorter one and what does she say? “I’m sorry.” Girl. You aren’t sorry. It’s shear laziness that led you to waiting and there was no empathy in her eyes. I chuckled all the way to class. So from then on I have been doing just fine using the shorter one every time. Take that other short blonde girl. It is possible to bend down a couple more inches.

2. How do you drink from the foundation? This morning I went to take a drink and found myself making a kissy shape with my mouth. A fine stream of water going into a little passage in your mouth. At first it didn’t make sense to me but then I figured that if you didn’t purse your lips then all the water that goes into your mouth would drop right back out.

Another thing. Do guys want us girls to think they are super sensitive? While walking to class today I saw these two guys sitting on a bench. One of them saw and spider and said, “Smash it!” The other fellow gets his foot up ready to slam the little thing and then looks up, sees me, and says “No, you do it.” I definitely gave in to a chuckle. From my point of view it looked like his response was a reaction to seeing me but hey, I might just be conceited in my thinking.

Days turn into weeks. And weeks turn into Months.

I am back at BYU- Idaho and it’s great! I am taking many classes pertaining to my major in Elementary Education. One class requires me to go off campus and spend 2 hours in a 2^nd grade classroom. I haven’t had an opportunity to official teach but I love it nonetheless! The teacher is awesome and the kids are amazing. Seriously. They are so good! It’s fun seeing the techniques the teacher uses in teaching and in discipline. I think I’m going to enjoy my profession. I am taking Clogging Tech II once again with Gary Larsen. It’s fun of course!! I made it onto the BYUI Collegiate World Dance Team. It has been so much fun! We just finished an Aboriginal number and we moved onto an African/Hip Hop dance. The girls, all 13 of us, are funny, unique and outgoing. There is definitely never a dull moment at rehearsal.

My elementary school!

ROOMMATES! Okay, this semester my beloved Hailey is in China but that didn’t stop me from receiving rad roommates. There are 6 girls in the apartment including me, Lisa, Melissa, Becca, Alyssa, and Steffani. Me and Melissa have been roommates since our first semester up at BYUI. Bec was with us last semester. Lisa was our FHE Mom last semester and is now my room roommate (I’ve never had such a consistently clean room). Alyssa is new to us. She is the sister of one our FHE bro’s last semester and is engaged to a stud in our ward. Steffani is a fresh out of high school freshman. I think it’s safe to say that we all enjoy Steffani with her pink cooking supplies and her serious commitment to football.

Me and the Beccers.

I have found that something I enjoy about many other things is sending and receiving missionary mail. Writing 4 of my missionary friends on a regular basis, I am the unofficial mail checker for the 504 and don’t worry, you won’t see me missing a day checking the mail. I LOVE MISSIONARIES.

I get to visit some of my family next weekend when I go down for conference to Yay!

Well!!! I love my life and when I start to feel sorry for myself then I know I’m not thinkin! I have so many things to be grateful for!

Love, Hil

Goals for July 11 - July 23

I am horrible as keeping the goals I make.

Here are new goals till the end of the semester:

• Exercise Monday - Friday
• Don't leave homework for the morning of

I figure I should start small with two and grow from there.

Good Luck to me!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for... Calzones?

Calzone are delicious,

Calzones are fun,

And when I eat them

I like to say "Yum!"

~

As you can probably tell.. I've made a calzone. For those of you who do not know what a calzone is... It is a "glorified" pizza pocket, or an inside-out pizza.

Yesterday, I was home all alone trying to write an essay for my Book of Mormon class and needed a big time break. So after calling my mommy I made pizza dough (I included the pizza dough recipe below.) and cooked up some chicken, shredded some cheese and put it all on a spreaded out piece of dough. Then rolled the dough over the mixture and folded the sides over to seal it. Dropped a few Tbl. of sauce on top and plopped it into the oven.

Today, I took out some leftover dough I had packed tight in the refrigerator and let it thaw to room temperature. Marinated some chicken in a soy sauce, oil, brown sugar mixture and waited while it soaked in the flavor. After that, I cooked the chicken with some garlic and placed the chicken in the shaped dough with a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella cheese. After baking for 10 minutes, I took it out and glazed the top with some teriyaki sauce and let it continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes. It was very good! I actually liked it better after it had cooled a bit. Anyway, Yum yum yum! I want to try a more desserty type of calzone. I'm thinking marshmallows and chocolate would be a good pair but we shall see... The joys of experimental college cooking!

TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!

Pizza Dough

1 c. very warm water

1 Tbl. yeast

1 tsp. sugar

Mix together and let sit till bubbly

ADD

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbl. vegetable oil

2 1/2 c. flour (less if you use bread flour)

Shape and let rise for 15-45 minutes

Bake 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes

*When I'm making an actual pizza I like to let the pizza cook in the oven without any toppings on for about 7-9 minutes , then add the toppings. This way, the bottom on the pizza has time to cook and you don't have problems with a doughy under side.

HAPPY CUATRO DE JULIO!

What an awesome picture. It looks like Alice stole all my dad's hair.

Last weekend I made another long journey back home to California. The only difference about this time was that I didn't feel like I was going to crash and die while in the car. My friend, Meredith, from my ED 200 class (and who happened to be baptized with Ry when they were 8) told me that she was going down a day earlier than my ride was going and that she had room for another! I jumped on the opportunity and left the next day. We drove down to SLC to meet up with a friend of Meredith's then journeyed home. I got into Elk Grove around 1 am Friday morning safe and sound.

I fell asleep in the guest room my mom had prepared for me and woke up promptly at 6:15. I have no idea why I was so awake after not having slept in the car and receiving about 4 hours of sleep but there I was. Awake and alert. Not wanting to lay in my bed till a more reasonable hour I "frolicked" into my parents' room and crawled in between my mom and dad. I don't think Dad appreciated that too much but Mom talked to me in the bed for about an hour. After chatting, we got up and did Denise Austin's "Boot Camp" workout video. It was a fun, kickin' workout.

I was supposed to meet Ry to go swimming at 10:30 am but I stopped at Arden Fair Mall to buy a pair of cheap sunglasses (I had forgotten mine at college) and a cute little toe ring. I've been eye-ing toe rings for a while and think that they are so adorable. So I waltzed right in to The Icing and purchased a simple three wired toe ring. Yes, I had to stop and put it on right in the mall... Then stop 2 times on my way out to readjust it. I'm still getting the hang of it but it was a good buy.

Around 11:00 I picked up Ry and we went to the clubhouse pool to lay out and swim. I'm grateful that I'm comfortable enough with Ryan to go swimming with him. It makes these activities that we do I a lot more fun. Anyway, we swam a bit (me without getting my face and hair wet) and then laid in the sun on the pool chairs. Ryan is one of the biggest sun babies I know. Any chance he has to get out in the sun he does. ha, ha.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at my sister's watching "New Moon" and getting psyched up for seeing "Eclipse" the next day. We then went to my parents to eat the traditional Friday pizza and called it a day.

Saturday morning, Sarah, Aaron, Ry, and I went to the early bird showing of "Eclipse". Did I love it? YES. Mucho. But I'm a sucker for those kinds of movies. After the movie nap time came for me and Ryan. We sure do love our naps.

That evening, the Hogge clan got together at Gma and Gpa Hogge's house and had dinner, dessert and fireworks. Ry walked onto the patio area where the dinner was set up with the chargers and goblets and fabric napkins and said "Wow, this is nice" (or something to that extent). This doesn't seem humorous but anyone who has ever been to a Hogge dinner at Gma's knows this is a very common scene. That evening was extremely fun. After dinner, Natalie, Josh and Tarzan showed up after driving all the way from Texas. What a fun treat!

A lot of us got to sit around the table and chat, chat, chat! I loved it!

Earlier that day, Mari helped my mom decorate these red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

Mari and Kendall loved them!

Ryan thought it would be funny to smash the lovely cupcake into my face just as the picture was being taken.

Ry and Manna had time to react. I, however, did not. Boo.

That night was so much fun!

Sunday, I attended sacrament meeting in my family ward then went to the Sacramento Stake's YSA ward with Ry. I got to see Kelsey with her fiance, Corey, or Elder Rich. ha, ha.

After church we went to my house and I demolished Ryan at Checkers. The only game I can beat him in. ha, ha. After dinner, my family played Quibbler. A cross between phase 10 and scrabble. It was a lot of fun! Even though I placed last... Oh well! You win them, you lose them. After the exciting game, Dad made some Fruit in the Season thereof to-go and Ry and I made our way back to his house. We watched some fireworks and played a game of Sorry! with sister, Ellen.

All in all. It was one of the most fun weekends I've had in a long time. Nothing beats being able to spend a weekend with your family and boyfriend. I know a lot of people don't think family time is the most enjoyable time they have but going away to college has really helped me realize how much I enjoy being home!

Happy Fourth of July!

Memorial Day Weekend

I was able to go home to Sacramento for Memorial Day weekend a couple weeks ago. The drive down was pretty terrible. We were driving through the night and the two guys driving didn't want to give the girls a chance to drive so unfortunately they got very tired. Never again will I go with people who aren't willing to let others drive. Eek! One stop for snow chains and one ticket later (not for me) I was home! When I got home my parents were up and greeted me. It felt extremely good to be home! Dad went back to bed but Mom came into my room and chatted with me. Mari joined us once she woke up. She had been sleeping and grandma and grandpa's house since the Sunday before because her mommy and daddy were in New York with baby Alice. So I had my mom and my niece in my room and we had a really nice time. It's nice when you start to grow up and your parents become more of friends than the ones to discipline.

Later that day, I had the chance to go to the temple with Ry and do some baptism. It was wonderful. Sarah had given me names to do which included (I think) my great grandpa West's first wife - So cool!

On Friday, I had some homework to do for my online World Foundations II class. That went on for a good part of Friday and at some point during the day Ry came over and played with my brothers while I worked. It sure is nice to have a boyfriend that is a friend to your brothers. It makes things easier when you need him to be occupied for a couple hours. Ha, ha

Friday night - Mom, Dad, Ryan, Mari and I went to the airport to pick up Sarah and Aaron. Their flight ended up being a bit delayed so we hung around the airport for awhile. I was pretty disappointed when I went to get the Starbucks I had been excited about only to find that the airport Starbucks was closed. Poop. Mari was occupied by "Monsters Vs. Aliens" and Ryan was solving his rubix cube for the millionth time. Around 9:45 pm Sarah and Aaron got in. It was very cute to see the reunion of the little family. Mari and Alice were especially adorable. Alice "kissed" Mari but it looked more like she was trying to eat her. Sarah was very happy to have Mari with her. She said something about how it was nice to be with her talking daughter.

On Saturday, Joey and Julie came into town. Joey was intent on playing a game of baseball so all the boys went to the park. I tagged along to play and Julie came to watch Joe do his thang. Of course, I was the last to be picked for the team but it was a very fun game. I was given a handicap of being allowed 5 or 6 strikes but I did not need it. I may not hit the ball very far but I'm pretty good at hitting it. The game went on till the sun started going down. I think I should know it is never good to play baseball after the sun starts to set. Just ask Bradford if you need anymore clarifications.

We all went to the Elk Grove ward to hear Bradford give his talk. He did a very nice job on his topic of Honesty. After sacrament meeting, Ry and I went to Sarah and Aaron's so that I could curl Sarah's hair. Whenever I have my curling iron in town I like to curl Sarah's hair. It is always fun bonding time for us. After going to Sarah's we headed off to grandma and grandpa Hogge's house. Grandpa had been having some health problems so we wanted to make sure we went to see him and how he was doing. He was in good spirits and showed us the "hockey puck" in his left shoulder, otherwise known as a pace maker. Ha, ha.

Sunday dinner was delicious of course. RIBS. How can ribs NOT be good? We usually have them on Christmas Eve but I guess this was a special occasion.

Going back to school is usually a sad thing. Not this time. Monday morning my family went to the park to feed the birds and to play some frisbee. Me not being a frisbee kind of girl stuck with the ducks and geese. The cute little babies were out getting some food. Ryan found a tree he thought would be fun to climb. It took him a while to get up but after he did he was a little monkey. I wanted to get up there with him but couldn't without the help of my mom. Mom made sure to get pictures of us up in the tree. It was super cute.

Finally, around noon, my ride arrived in Sacramento. Mom and Dad drove me AND RYAN (yayayay.) to Fry's and dropped us off. Leaving isn't as hard when your boyfriend comes and you'll see you family the next week.

Yay Memorial Day!

Sarah and Aaron reunited with Mari.

Alice's uh... "kiss".

My 19th Birthday

So bear with me because I have a lot of catching up to do. Last month I celebrated my 19th birthday up at college. It was a really tiring day for me and I ended up taking a nap for half the day. My roommate Melissa make this delish pasta dish with Italian sausage and cheese. Then my bestie, Hai, made a chocolate on chocolate cake. One of my favorites! After dinner, some of our Family Home Evening brothers came over and hung out with us in 504 for more of the evening.

Some of my brothers thought it'd be funny to smash cake all up in my face and practically shove it up down my throat. Thanks boys. My hair smelled like cake for the rest of the night.

Me and Michelle

Hailey's cake was super good! For those who don't know, Hailey is an excellent baker. Her cake and frosting is really good!

Before I left for college my family threw me a birthday party with pumpkin curry and egg rolls. Thai food is my absolute favorite type of food. My best friend growing up, Rachel Mullen, is half Thai and I grew up eat her mom's yummy yummy yummy food. So I have a place in my heart for this food.

Goals for the rest of June

Well the whole avid blogger goal didn't work so here are my new goals for the rest of the month:

- Blog once a week

- Exercise during class break Tuesdays and Thursday for an hour

- Go to the library Monday - Thursday

Good luck to me!

Hil

ED 206

Hello everyone!

My name is Miss Hogge and I will be your student's teacher for the next school year.

I graduated from Brigham Young University - Idaho in 2012. I am one of six children and from Sacramento, California. I love singing, and dancing (particularly clogging).

I am so excited to be teaching your students this year! There are so many fun things planned for this year such as field trips to the local petting zoo, "Olympic Games", a trip to the history museum and plenty of in class activities! I believe in helping children discover their passions and in experiencing new things! I hope that I will be able to make a lasting impression of your child's life.

Love, Miss Hogge


*This is for my ED 206 Technology class =]

Continuation of Hilary's College Adventures

PLASMA
During college I was able to give Plasma for a couple weeks at the donation center conviently located on main street of Rexburg, a 15 minute walk from my cozy little apartment.

Plasma is 55% of the blood total volume. It pretty much looks like apple juice , as shown to the right (sorry if I ruined apple juice for you). The body creates more plasma quickly resulting in my trip to the plasma center twice a week = $50. For any college students wanting to make a bit of extra cash - this is how you do it, as long as you don't live in California (it doesn't sell). Up until November I was able to give. After that, my pulse became too high to give and continued to be for the rest of my time in Idaho for the Fall. Bummer? Yes. But I'll survive.



Clogging
Hailey and I took a class together this last semester. It was more like a stress reliever three times a week. Our teacher was Gary Larsen and it was the most fun I have ever had earning an A for a class. We learned what seemed like a hundred different ways to do pull backs. Totally awesome? I believe so. If you are dying to see a clip of this clogging it is online at Facebook.com. =]

The New Year's Resolutions

I think that all of these are fairly reasonable. And now that I have made them public I think that they will be easier to keep.

• Become an AVID Blogger (once my computer gets fixed)
• Become an AVID letter writer
• Learn to type with the correct fingers
• Exercise with my mom at least 4 times a week

So, I have spent the last three and a half months up in the frigid cold of Rexburg, Idaho. I took 14 credits and recieved a decent GPA for my first semester. I was able to enjoy the pleasure of walking outside and having my nose hairs freeze... And our eggs would freeze in the fridge... It would get a bit frustrating yet we managed to find it to be comical at the same time. Despite our dumb refrigerator our apartment was very nice. We were the girls of 403 and earlier in the semester we had a beautiful landscape in front of our door.

Pretty isn't it?

Now it is just a pile of snow.

Snow, snow, snow... and ice.

Halloween of 2009:

Ryan and I were an older couple.

I was tired of seeing all these girls use Halloween as an excuse to wear lingerie in public. So we were the exact opposite of sexy lingerie. Clever? We thought so. And I was still able to get a couple of whistles. ;)

~ Makeup was compliments of one of my roommates, Amanda Roundy.

She was in a Stage Makeup class.

More of my first college experience is to come but now it is time for sleep. Goodnight everyone!