Oops on First Generation Photo

In my "First Generation Roommates" post, I said that the last time we got together was in April '08. I knew there was one other time we all got together, but in the excitement of everything I couldn't remember when it was we got together. So...

For really real, the last time the four of us got together was June '08.
We had breakfast and played our favorite (or not so... LOL) game: Ticket To Ride
It was so much fun :)
Good times, my friends. Good times!

Third of Three Generations

The last set of roommates I had moved in months apart from each other. The first one to move in was Ashley.

She moved in during the second week of Sept. '08
(This picture was taken Oct. '08)

Due to the landlord's renovating the single bedroom, it was just the two of us thru the holidays. During the 'snow' season, we made these snowmen. It took a lot of time - the snow was very wet and heavy. But we had a lot of fun making them. We'd often go on walks and try to knock the other person down in the snow.

Ren is in the back, Stumpy in the front

In Feb. '09 Natalie moved in.
(This picture was taken in July '09)

In April, Ashley and I celebrated our birthdays together (they are 3 days apart).
It was fun. We had sloppy joes and tater-tot 'cake'. As you can see in the picture, the cake really turned out to be a mound of tots. We used the toothpicks to try to get the shape of a cake, but it didn't work ;) Luckily, it still tasted super yummy!

July '09 was the only time the three of us were home long enough together to get this picture taken.

In August '09, while I was on a trip to Wyoming, Ashley moved back home. Natalie also moved back home shortly thereafter. I have been by myself ever since (and absolutely LOVE it!).

Living with these two was, in some ways, more of a challenge than living with Seini and Amber. I discovered what it would be like to live with myself - one of them reminded me of myself way too much. It was a struggle most days to not fight with her. We did have our great times and good laughs, but it was not as frequent as I would have liked.

Points of Interest:

• One was from North Carolina, two from Alpine
• One worked at a school, one worked at River Woods Senior Living, one was a hair stylist
• One was 20, one was 22, one was 29
• One had gone to school for her pilot's license
• We all had strong personalities and sometimes found it a challenge to be understanding of each others' difficulties
  

2010 update:

• One still lives by herself :)
• One has passed away (Dec. 20, '09)
• There is really not a lot of contact between myself and the other one since she moved

As I was typing up these posts, I realized that I maybe should have done them on the same day. It seemed to me that with each group I did, I lost a little of what I had intended... or maybe I did what I was supposed to have done/said about each 'generation'. Who knows.

This I do know: I have learned things from each group that I could not have learned from any other circumstance. There were unhappy times, but many more happy times and good memories that have come from each experience. I have been blessed to know so many good people and have grown so much since knowing them. I am grateful for the opportunity I have now to be living by myself. I am not really looking forward to any new roommates (especially if they're 10 years younger than me!), but I trust that God knows best and if/when someone moves in, then it's supposed to be. Until then, I will continue enjoying my time ;)

Second of Three Generations

In November of 2007, I got two new roommates. Little did I know how my life would change (ha).

• We all were in education of sorts.
• Two worked at a school, and one was going to school
• One was 28, one 19, and one 18
• Two from Alpine, one from Cedar Hills

Left to Right: Seini, Amber, Klara (me)

We did many fun things together. We played in the snow, had a 'sleepover' party in the living room (let me tell you how uncomfortable the floor is LOL) for Christmas, celebrated birthdays (I tried to keep some traditions alive), and laughed a lot.

Dec. '07

For Easter '08 we decided to take 'new' pictures. We came home from church and took some pics, then changed and went out walking.

We ended up being at Moyle Park and took some more pictures

As I mentioned before, the experience of being with these two changed my life. We had many, many good times and lots of fun; but I also feared for life - not only for myself, but for them too. We each had very strong personalities, and being such, there were times of yelling and hating. Many nights of staying up late talking, many tears shed and feelings hurt.

Don't get me wrong, I love them both and I know they loved me back, but it was SO very different than living with Allison, Kali, and Erin. Lots of tension and stress. It really wore me down, not only physically, but emotionally. However, I am grateful for the opportunity I had to live with them. It was a good way for me to experience a touch of what I may encounter (tho I pray I don't) when I have my own children. It also helped me realize what I may have put other people thru while I was growing up and making bad choices.

Luckily, I like to stay focused on the positive things that happened (they had a surprise birthday party for me... balloons all over the floor, cake, full on party decorations and everything!) and remembering all the good times we had.

2010 update:

• One still lives in Alpine
• One moves around a lot
• One lives in Orem
• Sadly, we don't keep in contact with each other much

First of Three Generations

Finally, I have organized my photos enough that I can do three posts which I have been wanting to do for a long time... my "Three Generations of Roommates". For the next two days (in addition to today) I will be posting about all the roommates I've had (but will only be sharing a few photos of each group). This should be a fun 'memory lane' activity for me ;) Here we go:

In August 2006, the four of us met.

• We all were in the 'education' system in one way or another. Two were teachers, one was going to school, and one worked at a school.
• Two of us were 27 and two were 24.
• One was from Utah, one from Arizona, one from Washington, and one from Nevada
• None of us knew each other before we met, but everyone thought that we did!

This was the first roommate picture we got.
We had lots of good times together!

From left to right: Klara (me), Allison, Erin, Kali

We decided to go out to dinner for each of our birthdays. We went to: Carrabba's, Olive Garden, California Pizza Kitchen, and Applebee's.

Kali hosted a Mystery Murder Dinner around Halloween. SO much fun!!

We cut down our own tree for Christmas. It was hard to find the 'perfect' one, but it was so fun cutting it down and putting it up/decorating it at home. We found pine needles in the carpet for months after. LOL.

There were so many fun things we did, and so many good memories we made. Lots of laughing and being silly.

Allison decided to get married... (summer '07)

This is the last time the four of us got together, April '08
Some things didn't change.. we are all still just as crazy as ever! and we love it!!

2010 updates:

• Three of us are teachers now, and the other one still works at a school
• We all live in Utah... one in Alpine, one in Highland, one in P.G. and one in St. George
• To my knowledge, we all somewhat keep in contact with each other - or at least we try.

Since this was my first experience living with roommates, I didn't know what to expect when it happened. Much to my relief, it was awesome! We had some sore spots, but that's to be expected. The good times WAY outweighed the bad! I loved meeting these three and getting to know them. They are great friends and I consider my life blessed because of them :)

Thanks, you guys, for a great time!! Love you!