Sunday, December 9, 2012

blogging isn't as fun without pictures

Lately I have gotten really bad at taking pictures. I guess it's good because I am a little bit too busy having fun to worry about whipping out my camera, but then it's all words and no pictures.

Anyways, this post is dedicated to my wonderful family and how excited I am to see them in a week! Christmas break is going to be awesome!

so here's some random pictures for you!

chemistry presentation

my lovely brother

 caught in the act

not quite sure what is happening here

brother sister love

awesome rainbow

shopping with my lovely sisters

Guy Fawkes party

lights at the Riverwoods with the FHE family

one week until finals is over and the fun begins! I can't wait to be home for Christmas :)

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

some inspiration for the week.

Said one well-known author: "Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend … when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth."

"We have the agency to choose which characteristics will define us; those choices are not thrust upon us."
-Dallin H. Oaks

"Don't sacrifice human relationships because of virtual distractions that have no lasting value."
-Elder Bednar?

"People are not their thoughts. They think they are and that brings them all types of sadness."
-some inspirational movie

Monday, November 19, 2012

selflessness

My trials and struggles this semester are nothing compared to this girl. and yet, she has completely forgotten herself and gone to serve others. I think I need to more of that to make my trials seem not quite so overwhelming. I had the opportunity to do some pretty awesome service this weekend and it was actually quite amazing taking the time to think first of someone else and try to meet their needs. One of my goals for the coming week is going to be to not be so selfish and to try and meet the needs of others. I often pray for service opportunities, maybe I need to pray for a change of heart to help me build a desire to lose my selfishness to and to see the needs of others.


Sunday, November 4, 2012

loving life?

This last week has been crazy! thank goodness I am done with tests until finals week! I'm not sure I want to know how I did on my chemistry test, but I am so happy to be done!

In the past two weeks, I did a lot of studying. and a lot of fun things:

making chocolate-covered bananas with my p-chem study buddies. halloween dances. spending a whole afternoon making a haunted house for the ward party. the Zombie run... best race ever. going to a Shakespeare play my friend was in. the play was themed for Halloween and there was lots of blood. that got sprayed on the audience. it was one of the best plays I have been to.

The best part of the week was deciding what I wanted to do this summer. There's this church history "study abroad" that BYU is offering summer term. You spend three weeks learning and preparing for it and then you fly to New York and spend 4 weeks driving around to different sites and learning about Church History and then end up back in Utah. I am so excited and I hope I get in!

I am also going camping with my family this weekend and can't wait to see them and go to Zion's again! who cares about school? :)

and here's some pictures... since that has not happened in awhile!
(mostly of FHE and other fun stuff with friends!)









Saturday, October 27, 2012

probably one of my deeper blog posts

I learned a very important lesson today as I was pondering over something that upset me a lot. Basically, to make a long story short, a guy from my ward told me that the reason I never went on dates was because I was not social enough and I did not hang out with other people enough. Naturally, this was upsetting to me because I don't enjoy being super social most of the time and what he saw as not enough effort on my part was me putting in a lot of effort to be around and to hang out with people.

It got me thinking about how we are all different and how there will always be people that will not understand our feelings, our motives, and the things we do. Even if we have a lot of things in common with a person, they will never be able to understand everything about us. I think this may be one of the hardest challenges of this life... learning to serve people and to help them in the ways they need when we may not even understand why they feel a certain way or do certain things. We may judge them and try to blame the things we dislike about them on the actions they take, but we will never truly understand how they think and how this changes their actions.

So that's my goal this next week. to stop judging people so much and to give them the benefit of the doubt. that they really are trying their hardest to be the best they can be in life. because I know sometimes I am trying my hardest, and to others it may not seem too impressive.

I'm grateful for hard lessons sometimes. and for realizing that even though there will never be anyone on this earth who completely understands my every motive and interest and desire and struggle, that I have a Heavenly Father who knows all of that and yet still loves me infinitely and cheers me on. what a glorious blessing.


Friday, October 26, 2012

hooray for the weekend!

Weekends are the best thing that ever happened to me. I always want to jump for joy that I have made it through another week! This weekend is going to be great... a zombie race, a delicious lunch at Tucano's and some Halloween partying! and hopefully some studying for my two midterms somewhere in there!

some highlights of the last two weeks:

*hanging out with the lovely Sharon
*murder mystery party
*signing up for the last classes I will ever take at BYU (getting super weirded out)
*celebrating my 20 pounds of weight loss with a new pair of jeans! (that might change after Tucano's!)
*a lovely ward temple trip

Here's to a great weekend! This semester has been so stressful and crazy, but I am grateful that taking the time to count my blessings every day, to enjoy the little things, and to ask for help when I need it has helped me to remain happy. 


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

weight loss

My effort the last couple weeks was only so so. After a few weeks of eating what I wanted and not really caring, I decided it was time to get serious again. the last two days have been full of healthy food! Now to keep it up!

Current Weight: 147.8 pounds

Thank goodness for my cycling class to help keep me in shape and to help me see results!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

life...

yesterday was quite a crazy day.

the worst part of it all being that I spent a fair amount of money getting my iPod fixed and seconds later it fell. to the ground. shattered again.

there were a few other things that were just a little crazy. mainly dealing with some changes in my life. like the fact that one of my best friends just left on a mission. I am so happy for her. but seriously, she was one of my best friends. the one I could call about everything, especially when I was stressed or having a bad day. and writing a letter and waiting for one just isn't the same.

and then another one of my friends said she might be getting married soon. what? I already had one of my good friends get married. I am NOT ready for this to happen all over again.

I've learned in my individual development class that it is okay to be sad. as long as it's not every day. and overall, I am happy. I have learned that part of being happy is allowing myself to feel these emotions, to recognize them and allow them to happen and to take time doing things that make me happy.

Thanks to a hangout session with a long lost friend, some pumpkin smash Jamba Juice, the nice people that gave me a discount to fix my iPod the second time, reminiscing with some high school friends, and prayer, life is going to be good.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

General Conference

I loved every minute of it. There were lots of small questions and ways I wanted to improve that I got some good answers to. I am so grateful for this church and for the opportunities to hear from the prophet and general authorities.

One of my favorite things to do is pay attention to what topics are touched on more than once. I feel like those are pretty important things that I should be focusing on. The ones I noticed were: \

*conversion is a process
*we need to become as a little child (I think this was in at least 4 talks)
*the home should be the primary place of religious instruction, not the church
*analogies using the apostles after Christ's death. we need to show we love Him through our loyalty and we need to stay with the Savior.

A couple other good quotes (one from conference and one not):

"Don't wait until you are about to die to truly learn how to live." -Uchtdorf

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” -Winston  Churchill

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

ups and downs of the day


delicious pears for breakfast.
lots of studying. 
getting a migraine and not being able to focus on anything.
taking a test.
doing only subpar on said test.
my teacher noticing I showed lots of improvement on my chem paper. those papers take me forever to write! 
getting a call from a friend that is long since overdue
dinner at Bombay House

School is truly taking over my life right now and some days I just wish I could take a break to relax! Instead, I am bombarded with a new assignment due every day, more tests to study for, and not enough time to rejuvenate, sleep, or even go grocery shopping! 

Monday, September 17, 2012

Monday check-in

I had a great and slightly crazy weekend! We had Foster Care Camp at Aspen Grove and I got to spend all day Saturday playing with cute little kids! The rest of the weekend was full of homework (though I still did not get enough done!) and a little bit of fun at the Nickelcade including the awesomest game of Laser Tag!

The best part of the weekend was that I managed to stay mostly on track with my healthy eating. I didn't overeat a ton and I avoided most treats. I think I managed to succeed becaue I decided that my weigh-in day is going to be Mondays, and remembering that I want a good weight to show my success helps me stay strong on the weekends.

Starting Weight: 158 pounds

Current Weight: 154 pounds

Goal Weight: 140 pounds.


I also came up with some weight loss goals this weekend. just to keep me a little more motivated.

5 pounds: haircut and a new pair of shoes or $10 to spend on new music
10 pounds: a new gamecube game or movie
15 pounds: pedicure
goal weight: a new wardrobe! and I will probably pig out on a ton of delicious foods that I have been wanting to have for so long! 

Here's to another week of healthy eating!

Friday, September 14, 2012

healthy eating.

For the next little while, this blog might become a weight loss blog. yes, I will still post fun stuff, but I need a way to track what I am doing and to keep me motivated. especially something to hold me accountable on the weekends.

I am going strong with 5 days of lots of fruits and veggies, 30 minutes of exercise at least 4 days a week, less treats (I am aiming for one a week), and an average of 1500 calories a day.

starting weight: 158 pounds.

goal weight: 140 pounds.

here goes nothing!


Sunday, September 9, 2012

busy, busy life.

*feeling like I am on the Biggest Loser in my cycling class. it's that hard.
*seeing friends back from their missions and being weirded out
*shopping and partying with the family
*Makayla's reception--being rained on and all
















*Seven Peaks
*eggroll party
*starting work and remembering how much I love it
*making paninis, Rooftop concert, and Cocoa Bean
*farmer's market with Katie and Jen (where I ate the most delicious pizza of my life)

Katie and the most delicious pizza ever. 

*Aspen Grove reunion dinner... so fun to see everyone! 
*Katie's kindergarten party (circus animal cookies, coloring books, temporary tattoos, Disney games and music... it was pretty much the best!)
*Aspen Grove game nights. 
*quoting this video every day (it's a guy in our FHE group after he got his wisdom teeth out getting a little too violent.)

this is the random photo of the day. my friend lives at
Miller apartments and they have these super sweet dressers!
It might be hard for you to believe that I have time to have fun. I have anywhere from 24-30 hours of homework time a week, on top of 8 hours of work. Thankfully, in my Student Development class, we are learning good time management schedules and honestly it makes life so much better! I don't have to be stressed about having fun because I have scheduled hours for study time AND fun time! 

goals this semester: eat healthy and exercise at least 3 days a week, strengthen my testimony, and keep my life balanced (as much as you can when you are going to school and working!). yep, that's pretty much it. 

eats this week: quinoa salad, fake mashed potatoes, a lasagna I didn't like that much, and this delicious chicken salad. more delicious (healthy, and occasionally not so healthy) recipes to come next week! 

P.S. I can't wait for fall. 

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Sunday Quotes

"But when it comes to our own prejudices and grievances, we too often justify our anger as righteous and our judgment as reliable and only appropriate. Though we cannot look into another’s heart, we assume that we know a bad motive or even a bad person when we see one. We make exceptions when it comes to our own bitterness because we feel that, in our case, we have all the information we need to hold someone else in contempt."

"May I add a footnote here? When the Lord requires that we forgive all men, that includes forgiving ourselves. Sometimes, of all the people in the world, the one who is the hardest to forgive—as well as perhaps the one who is most in need of our forgiveness—is the person looking back at us in the mirror."

"The more we allow the love of God to govern our minds and emotions—the more we allow our love for our Heavenly Father to swell within our hearts—the easier it is to love others with the pure love of Christ. As we open our hearts to the glowing dawn of the love of God, the darkness and cold of animosity and envy will eventually fade."

"Lay your burden at the Savior’s feet. Let go of judgment. Allow Christ’s Atonement to change and heal your heart. Love one another. Forgive one another."

-Dieter F. Utchdorf (The Merciful Obtain Mercy)




 "First, I mention a signal which is basic and essential: believe. Believe that you are a daughter of Heavenly Father, that He loves you, and that you are here for a glorious purpose—to gain your eternal salvation. Believe that remaining strong and faithful to the truths of the gospel is of utmost importance. I testify that it is!"

"Each of us can be true for just one day—and then one more and then one more after that—until we’ve lived a lifetime guided by the Spirit, a lifetime close to the Lord, a lifetime of good deeds and righteousness. The Savior promised, “Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life."

-Thomas S. Monson (Believe, Obey, Endure)

33 days until General Conference!!!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

no more fear

let's just say that I have a few REALLY hard classes this semester.

two words: Physical Chemistry.

I started the semester out so worried that I would not pass the class.

It was stressing me out so much that I needed to do something. so, I thought about what would happen if I failed the class. would it be a little hard? yes. Is it the end of the world? no. Even if I fail the class, it's not the end. I'm still a worthwhile person. There are still other options. and there is always help to ensure that I pass the class.

Today in one of my classes, we went over the concept of wholeness versus perfection. we talked about how we need to stop comparing ourselves to others, and try to change ourselves slowly. how we need to work our hardest, but not give up if we think we will fail. and so much more amazing things that made my day so much better. it only cemented my desire to give up my fear of failure. I already feel so much happier.





so, take a walk today. relax a little. If you don't control your stress now, then it will control you. once you are overwhelmed, life just seems so much harder.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

life's going to be a little crazy for the next little while....

I definitely been thrown in to a semester of chaos.

we don't have an ironing board, so all my clothes are wrinkly and I have nothing to wear.
I'm still not unpacked all the way and sometimes can't find the stuff I need.
I am already lost in my P-chem class.
I spent the first 3 days eating sandwiches and fruit. oh how I miss Aspen Grove.
and I am already spending all of my days and nights doing homework. on the second day!
and I have not even started work yet.

It's gonna be great once I get into a routine. but right now I just don't have a good schedule and everything is super chaotic. and I'm annoyed at the girls upstairs that put on super loud concerts every night. what are they doing with their lives? 

haha really though life is quite good. I have super good roommates and I am doing so well at being productive in many parts of my life and that just feels amazing!

General Conference

I'm not perfect about rereading my notes and talks and trying to apply them to my life. but I am trying to get a little better.

In the last few months, I have had a few specific places in my life where I have felt the need for extra guidance and revelation. Both of these times, I was able to find conference talks from the most recent conference that said exactly what I needed to hear. If that is not a testimony building fact, I don't know what is. I think it also goes to show that sometimes answers to our prayers come later. I certainly wasn't needing answers to these questions in April, when conference was on. But now, they are exactly what I needed to hear.

"Our doctrine is clear; we are to be positive and of good cheer. We emphasize our faith, not our fears. We rejoice in the Lord's assurance that He will stand by us and give us guidance and direction."
-Quentin L. Cook

Friday, August 24, 2012

endings and beginnings

school starts in three days.
Aspen grove ends tomorrow

I am quite unprepared for school.
half of my things are still in boxes.
I don't even know half the math I will need for my p-chem class.
I don't like the idea of having homework again.
it's my last year of classes. I am not prepared to think about graduation. at all. sadly... this year is forcing me to do that, with only three or four semesters left.

speaking of which... we have a reading assignment due before my first Political Science class. that is just evil.

but I am excited to meet my new ward.
and I love to learn.
and I can't wait for my sister's reception.
and I love seeing all my old friends.
and Arianne is my roommate!!!
and BYU is pretty much my favorite. It will be nice to be back.

most of all... I am mourning summer's loss. It was too short, though it was a blast! here's to fall semester 2012... it's going to be great!

Monday, August 20, 2012

my sister got married this weekend. it was so fun and she made a beautiful bride! 

 playing at the beach in San Diego
just married :)
 prettiest temple ever!
love it.
the girls.
hungry and a little too excited?
ring and vow exchange. so cute!
wedding ring boxes make fantastic earrings.
sweet car decorations by the sisters.
 and a few lovely jokes from the trip: 

plus:
YOMO (you only marry once.... hopefully.)
respect the elderly. 
singing Starships too many times whenever anyone said 
"let's go to the beach"

Saturday, August 11, 2012

summer should be neverending

time is just flying by and I am left wondering where my summer went. The last few weeks have just been so amazing. so much is going to happen in the next couple weeks. I'm excited and freaking out at the same time! 

happenings from the last couple weeks:

obsessively playing Robo Rally... we're addicted
the usual bedding standby shenanigans + pranks on maintenance
learning how to fix a vacuum (could be useful someday)
Olympic watching parties 
looking forward to cleaning days so we can eat wild raspberries
Hunger Games in the dollar theatre
random Thai food outing
cubs that just loved to do my hair. and paint my face. best thing ever. 
an angry parent because her son got lost at the pool. I felt bad.
Fiddler on the Roof...and leaving early because Arianne and I couldn't sit on the grass any longer. 
and the oh so common drives back to AG with Arianne where we obsess about boys. 
life couldn't be any better.

except that I see my family in less than a week.
and I get to go to California.
and I move in to my new apartment soon. 
and I get to see tons of old friends and hopefully make some new ones.
and all the new TV show seasons start. 
and school starts. which I am dreading. 


Saturday, August 4, 2012

bucket list for my life!

I know I just published a BYU bucket list recently, but it got me thinking about all the other cool things I wanted to do.

so, without further ado... I present the beginnings of my bucket list!

1. visit the following places: the Netherlands (Summer 2015), Norway, Belgium, Austria (Summer 2015), Italy (Summer 2015) , Spain, France, Switzerland (Summer 2015), London (done-summer 2013), China, Russia, India, New Zealand, Japan, Scotland (done-summer 2013), Bali, and Thailand.

2. take a trip to New York/Boston/DC.

3. grill a pizza

4. go to Harry Potter world

5. pull an all-nighter doing crazy fun things and actually enjoy it

6. eat at the Blue Bayou at Disneyland (done-March 2013)

7. swim with dolphins (yes I have done this once, but I want to again!)

8. camp out during a meteor shower

9. go on a cruise (done-January 2014)

10. own a dog

11. meet a movie star (I saw one in London in June 2015! - Channing Tatum and Matt Bomer)

12. have a garden

13. do a mini triathlon

14. catch a fish (done-May 2014)

15. run Disney princess enchanted 10k

16. Watch a space shuttle launch.


Tuesday, July 31, 2012

random thoughts

I loved Christmas in July. ice blocking, donuts, gift exchanges, and lots of Christmas music made my week.

Watching the Olympic Opening Ceremonies with Katie and Jen was a blast. especially because Katie brought me cookie dough. and the fact that she locked herself in Jen's closet made the night hilarious.

I miss my family a lot and can't wait to see them in two weeks.

I also miss having a car to use.

I am so nervous for fall semester. mainly because I am moving to a new apartment complex and I am taking some crazy hard classes. I hope I make new friends and don't fail my classes!

randomly going to see Hunger Games with some people from my old ward on Monday was a blast! I had been wanting to go and when I found out they were and I was already down in Provo I was so happy! 

Some guests this week were baptized in the fish pond up here because they love Aspen Grove since they donated a lot of money to it. gross. and weird. also, their mom intimidates me because she pretty much threatened me that I had to make sure they won Aspen Follies, even though they were cheating on every game. that definitely did not help their case. 

working bedding standby is my favorite. we always have the most fun delivering linens to people, oddly enough.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

loving life. and being more daring.

let's just say that I am crazy. one of my goals this summer was to be more daring. and I am doing quite good. Last weekend, I somehow ended up doing the ropes course again, even though I pretty much hate it. slowly but surely I guess I am working on overcoming my fear of falling off of it.I even rappelled down this time! and it was fun!

This past week at Aspen Grove, we recreated the Hunger Games. At the reaping, I was chosen to represent district 7! On Sunday night, we all had interviews, preparing for the games and judging each other's strengths. The actual event went down on Monday night... plastic spoons, PVC pipe/foam swords, homemade spears, and nerf guns were all used in an epic battle to the death. Unfortunately for me, I was trapped by the Tracker Jackers (two of the manager's kids that could run around and tag us)  and was forced to miss out on most of the action. When I headed back to the field for the killing finale, I died quite quickly as everyone had two big weapons and all I had to defend myself was a measly spoon. it was great fun though!

My new game at frontier night this week was fishing for mousetraps. the kids use poles with weights on the ends and try to get the mousetraps to clamp on. It's quite a painful job for me because I have to keep setting them up and sometimes they just snap on your finger!

Last night, I went to my first rodeo! I loved all the country music and seeing people hold on and try not to get bucked off. I did not enjoy waiting forever in between these performances. especially when the stupid clown comedian came out. I didn't think he was that funny. After the rodeo, Arianne and I drove back to AG after another run to Walmart... it is so fun hanging out with her all the time! We have so much in common because we are in a very similar stage of life and it's so great that we get along so well and have so much to share and talk about! Hopefully even though we are both going to be soooo busy in the fall, we can still hang out because I will miss it! 


last but not least...here's a gem from this week. one of my girls singing opera in the bathroom. She was so hyper all week but we had a lot of fun!



It's crazy how fast and slow at the same time this summer is going by. I really want to be in California for my sister's wedding because I am sooooo excited for her and also to see my family (it's been awhile... at least for me!). At the same time, I NEVER want this summer to end. I am getting burnt out, but I love that there is not a lot of stress. Just play with kids all day and relax when I am done. Not to mention I am really starting to love hanging out with the people up here! I am trying to just enjoy it and love every minute because I am going to miss it so much in the fall!

and here's one of my favorite moments from the week. It was Harry Potter day, so naturally when they saw the broom, they all wanted to pretend to ride it!