do you have a name along with all those rippling pectorals?

number a- I should possibly learn to use patterns when I'm sewing, otherwise, things don't tend to turn out quite right. Which then leads to me getting frustrated. Therefore, patterns are good. Anyone wanna teach me? I'm really stubborn, I like doing things my own way, and I can't promise I'll be a great student. :)

number b- you know that "bah! I just texted that guy and I'm nervous about his response but he's taking seven billion years to text me back" feeling? Welcome to my evening. It's ridic, that's what it is. (Note: if you're married and reading this, go right ahead and roll your eyes at me and then go smooch your husband, you lucky duck.)

number c- some of my favorite Mill Hollow friends are coming up to visit tomorrow. I'm stoked.

number d-  last night at country swing I ran into a girl with my head in mid-dip. Step up from kicking a guy in the head? Perhaps. Just pray for me that I won't ever send anyone to the ER with my out-of-control country swing moves.

number e- it's nearly Halloween! Is anyone else as stoked as I am? I'm going to dress up as Meg from Hercules (that is, if I don't kick my sewing machine in the shin... do sewing machines have shins? There is a reason I shouldn't blog after midnight.) Anyway, wish me luck. :)

What are you dressing up as for Halloween?

mmm, thursday

My only class today was cancelled, so I've spent the day relaxing and editing some photos of a fabulous family. You say you want a sneak peak? Okay, okay. You've convinced me.

that height thing

Because it has come up at least a billion times today (okay, really only 4),
I am tall. Just a fourth of an inch away from 6 feet. Did you know that?

I wear heels. Number a- I love them. Number b- there was one time that my great uncle told me "tall girls should wear heels and not care what other people think."

I've complained a lot about my height in my life. Though, I really only have two complaints. Pants and Boys. They just never come long enough, and if they're long enough, they aren't cute. ;)  (I'm teasing, I've managed to find boys and pants that are both tall and cute.)

Lately, I've been learning to embrace my height. Models are all tall, tall-ness is generally recognized as a sign of beauty. So, I should like it, right?

Today, a funny teacher stopped me on my way to institute class. He said to me "it's so refreshing to see a tall girl." I kind of chuckled and thanked him graciously. Then he said "And you won't have to marry a short boy." Three cheers for that plan. Just now, I was reading my favie blog, BBL, and she commented on awkward tall hugs in this cute guest post. I thought "touche!" and promptly came here to blog about it.

One more thing: no, I don't play basketball. And if you ask me if I do, I'll ask you if you play mini golf. kthxbye. :)

'cause dave went to norwegia...

Last night I went to see the Murder Room at The Old Barn theater. Today, we're going out do to an avant garde kind of a photoshoot. My stake is having a tailgate party for the homecoming game. Later, a cute family from my home ward is coming up for a photoshoot. And tonight we're gonna watch How to Train Your Dragon over at Matt and Ry's.

Loooooove the weekend. :)

P.s. the title? that's my cute roommate. She's brilliant. ;)

happy thursday

I am having such a happy thursday. Would you like to know why? Of course you would!

I'm wearing this rockin' new shirt.

Don't mind my weirdie hand position.
It's not like I'm a photographer and I practice posing people or anything...

 and these cute shoes that always remind me of my cute friend Jessie 

 I've spent some quality time staring at my photo wall today

My roommate, Janielle, and I made a goal poster last night.

Some cute house had tomatoes from their garden up for grabs on a table outside of their house.

My roommate's fish, Sushi.

I know he looks like he's dead, but he's not. He just likes to swim sideways near the top of his tank.

What a legit fish.

 Look at all these Fall-y colors outside my window!

My favorite part of this one is the Mr. Rebel green tree there in the back.
Don't worry, he'll cave soon.

Also, I'm going to this place soon.

Picture taken from Ryan Houston Photography

What is making you happy today?

painting the town

Or maybe just ourselves? :)

This week is Homecoming week, so they've planned a super fun activity for every night of the week. Last night's was the paint dance. If you've never been to a paint dance, you should probably go.

Basically, there is a huuuuuuge crowd of people dancing and people take cups of paint and throw the paint out into the crowd. Or, sometimes they throw the paint right onto your neck.

And if you go into the middle of the crowd, you can hardly even stand up because everyone is running into each other. Plus, if you're wearing flip flops people will step on your feet and the bottoms of your pants with their painty, muddy feet.

Eventually, you come home looking like this. 

shop til you drop

Genes are funny things. You can inherit some pretty interesting things through genes, strange quirks and habits. You can inherit yucky things like super vulnerability to lame-o yeast infections. And you can inherit some super great genes too. My mom says I got my sewing abilities from her mom who was an incredible seamstress. I'm down with that.

Today I am here to tell you about my favorite inherited gene though. It's called the shopping gene. I am a big fan. Both my grandparents on my mom's side were big shoppers. My grandpa probably owned more pairs of jeans when he passed away then I have owned in my entire life. (And I loooove me some jeans). He sees things on clearance and has to have them. And my grandma, she rocked the socks off getting a food storage-she had her years supply of food. Then she tried to convince her husband that she needed a years supply of fabric. 

So, my mom was raised a shop-a-holic. Now, on my dad's side, they aren't quite as big shoppers, but they are mighty good at being frugal. Especially my grandma. She can out-DIY pretty much anyone I know. (And I blog-stalk a fair few DIY-ers). 

So the combination of the two? Yep. I am a pro clearance shopper. I thrive on it. 

Note: I do not shop in heels. As quaint as this picture is... ow!

This weekend is Fall Break, which roughly translates to one whoppin' day off of school. For a month or two, my mom and I have been planning some serious shopping for this break. So, I've been stoked. 

Today, I got 8 new shirts and didn't spend more than $10 on a single one of them. I also got some cute jewelry, some bogo headbands, a new purse, and 2 jackets (all of those also under $10). 

Tomorrow, we're jeans shopping. You know why? 'Cause it's in our genes. :) 

seeing

I sustain all General Authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as prophets, seers, and revalators.

D&C 1: 38

  38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my ^aword shall not pass away, but shall all be ^bfulfilled, whether by mine own ^cvoiceor by the ^dvoice of my ^eservants, it is the ^fsame.

I believe that. I know that.

Some may say that it's silly, that I'm blindly following. I say, there is nothing blind about it. In truth, I am seeing.

You know a certain route you've driven so many times that you're certain you could drive it with your eyes closed? Or even your home- you frequent it enough that you could likely get around blindfolded, right? Now, it's not that you would ever test those ideas [let's be honest, driving with your eyes closed? Not wise], but you know that you know that route without question. Because you are familiar with it, you know it, you trust it, and it has never done you wrong before.

Now, maybe that's a rough comparison for you, but it resonates with me. I've followed the prophets and I've followed my Heavenly Father before. I have never been led astray. Therefore, I am willing to follow "blindly" whatever they say. Because I know it's not truly blind but, to the contrary, it is visionary faith. I am seeing because I know.


It's a tough subject that is frequenting the news today. And, I don't want to make a big deal out of it. I don't want to tell anyone that their opinion is wrong. I don't want to judge anyone. I simply am stating that I sustain President Boyd K. Packer in what he said this last conference, and in everything he has said before. We all have different opinions and beliefs, these are mine.

i can haz?

Okay, seriously, the man who proposes to me with one of these [preferably cinderella or belle] is the man who will win my heart.



Read the story here.

i'm on a cow

New post over on themerriteliseproject. I made a knockoff of Noodles and Co's Butter and Garlic noodles. Mmmmm. Also, if we're really lucky, Merrit will have time to post her amazing enchilada recipe before she leaves the country for 18 months.

This weekend was phenomenal. Friday night was our ward retreat up at a cabin in Bear Lake. We had a delightful cafe rio dinner and plenty of time to bond and make new friends. 

Doesn't this cabin just look awesome? It was super packed though. This isn't even half the group.

Cute Darcy in the middle and our new friend, DJ, on the right. Oh yeah. And me, pullin' a face as always.

Janielle, me, and Allie cheesin' it up. Plus some new and old friends in the background. And an awesome photobomb on the left. (I wish I could remember his name!)

Allie and I became the queens of I SPY. You know you're jealous.

Saturday morning Janielle, Beckah, Sage, and I got up at 5:15 am to drive back to Logan. We all had to be at the institute early that morning. But, let me tell you, it was worth it!

Funny story though. Sage's phone died and he didn't wake up, so after waiting for him for 15 minutes we decided we were going to have to find him and wake him up. The boys were all sleeping in the basement and when we walked down there it smelled like a ZOO. [Sorry, boys. It's the truth.] The good news is, we found him pretty quickly and didn't wake up too many boys. I'd like you all to take a moment to picture Janielle and I standing in the basement surrounded by 30+ sleeping college boys, using the light of our phones to try and find Sage. Our friend, Jason, woke up and stared at us and said "uh, what are you doing?" 

So, Saturday was great. And, great enough to merit its own post. Stay tuned for that one.

In short, I looooove weekends. What did you love about your weekend?

P.s. I also am loooooving this video. Have you seen it yet?

story time

Can I tell you a story?

Last night I went to one of my favorite places ever. Where is that? Oh, country swing. I had a blast. I am incredibly sore today, if that tells you anything. That's not the point though.
So, there I am dancing and minding my own business, right? The guy I'm dancing with dips me and my leg goes straight up in the air and lands oh so conveniently on another guy's shoulder. While he's dancing with some other girl.

Yes, you read that right. I kicked a guy in the head.

coolest blog eva

Have you heard of this cool blog? No? That's probably because it's brand-spanking new!

thedatingdictionary.blogspot.com

This is a collaborative project between my friend, Brad, and I. For years, as we've discussed the joys and sorrows of dating and we've always said we should write a book. Since we're lacking that motivation, we settled for this sweet blog. 

Enjoy. :)

one hundred

Well, here it is. My 100th blog post. This is supposed to be a big important something or other, right? I've been saving the post for a day or two because, well, I just didn't know what to blog about. Some people share 100 things about themselves, I could do that [I'm pretty much my favorite topic of conversation, let's be honest], but I'm not going to. Instead, I'm going to tell you about one big thing that has changed my life.

I've mentioned it before, every year on the anniversary I re-post the youtube video of the news story. And some of you know the story well [or have it memorized you've heard it so much, or were even there to experience it.] Either way, here goes:

It was March of 2007, my second semester of college. I decided to go visit some friends in Tremonton for spring break. Christina had suggested that we go to a privately owned park called "Marble Park". She insisted the barbed wire collection was a must-see. So, we went. The park is a sculpture park and has lots of cool things:  swings made from old tractor seats, chairs made from barrels and wheels, and the infamous barbed wire collection. We decided to gather the group together for some pictures and we all climbed up onto three platforms. Ashli, Mac, and I were on the middle platform [probably 5 feet or so] which had a flag pole coming out of it.

While taking the pictures, we noticed that the flagpole was kind of wobbly. Mac started pushing on it, and just as I said [teasing, of course] "wouldn't it be funny if I fell off?" a bowling ball fell from it's perch on the top of the flag pole and onto my head.

I was knocked unconscious instantly and fell off the platform. Long story short: I was taken in an ambulance to the Bear River hospital where they were worried about my spinal fluid leaking into my brain, so I was then lifeflighted to the UofU neuro care clinic. My skull was fractured from front to back. You know how babies' skulls are in two parts when they're born and that's why they have a soft-spot? I just broke that open again. I also had a severe concussion. After four days in the hospital and eight staples in my head, I got to go home. I was on loritab for a week, and then I went back to school. Shortly after, the staples were removed and the doctor told me I was doing surprisingly great and the concussion was gone. To this day, the only lasting damage is the quarter-sized scar on top of my head. [If you ask my mom, she'll say "nope, no brain damage, she was that way before the accident."]


Now, here's the important part of the story. The day of the accident, I had two priesthood blessings. One from Mac and his friend, Jake, at the park. Another from my Dad, grandpa, and uncle at the hospital. Both blessings said that I would make a full and complete recovery. And the one from my dad also said that the experience would be sanctified to me for my good. That's why I'm sharing all this with you. It's not about the bowling ball actually falling on my head, it's about the ways my life has been blessed because of that.

After the accident, I had so many friends praying for me. Through that and through the two blessings I had received, I am here today. I am perfectly fine and loving life. My Heavenly Father kept me on this earth for a reason. That's why I get up every day. To serve him, to share his love with others, to bless their lives and care for them.

Don't get me wrong, there are days that I forget my motivations and I get selfish. I start to get down on myself and focus on less important things. But, when I remember what is really important, I am happier.

Recently, I learned that the word "sanctified" means "set apart for a holy purpose". This experience is extremely holy and close to me. I am so grateful for the many many things I learned and the ways that it changed my life. I've worried about this post. It's wordy, and honestly, I'm surprised if you're still reading. Besides that, it's something that's very close to me. This experience was for me, for my good.

My hope in sharing this is that you'll count your blessings, that you'll look at your life and see the experiences you've been given that you could maybe change your perspective on and let them bless you, that maybe you'll remember that this life you're living is a gift, and at the very least that you'll get a little chuckle out of it. [Cause, honestly, I think it's dang funny. Who has a bowling ball fall off a flagpole on their head? Really?]



So, here's to 100. And bowling balls, and blogging, and life. :)