Hello Friends!

It has been awhile since my last post and I couldn't keep you waiting another minute! I have been enjoying my time here at BYU-Idaho, what a lovely school it truly is! I honestly couldn't see myself anywhere else right now. But, it is hard work, college is! And I can't believe my first semester is coming to a close so soon. I am very grateful to have met some really great people up here and it is slowly coming to the time of goodbyes. I will be moving back home for a few months while I wait until I can come back for the spring semester. It is so very cold up here right now that I don't mind leaving until the spring. But that means that I won't be able to laugh, talk, make inside jokes, sing, cook, walk, grocery shop, eat, watch Once Upon a Time or Grimm, clean, make crafts, take pictures, and just goof around with my newest best friend and room mate Kaitlin Rose! It is sad, but we are planned to live together in off campus housing durning the spring! It will be so fun to come back and see her as well as make more new friends! Also the friends I have make in some of my classes have been amazing and I couldn't have asked for better people to be surrounded by!! The people up here are amazing, I can't wait to see what spring has in store.

But I can't get ahead of myself! I still have the winter season to enjoy! I am so excited to go home and be with my family for a few months!! I will hopefully be working at Xango and I will be doing 7 credits of online classes as well as helping around the house!

But right now I am in a bit of a hard time as of right now but last night I had a grand revelation and I posted it on facebook nd now on here:

"One day we will look back and say, "See that wasn't so hard!" One day we will see the wisdom, strength, and comfort that came out of our battles and hardship. Stay positive now and forever, life's rewards are sweet for those who practice patience until the end."

Love all of you!!

The Time of Thanksgiving is Here...

Well, it seems that another Thanksgiving is upon us---but let us not forget the reason why we celebrate this most gracious holiday. Though the food and company are more than delightful. It is more than that. It is where our hearts are. It is about the smiles we share and the laughter that rings through the comfort and joy of family and friends. It is the prayers and kind words that are given. It is about being humble, and most important: Grateful.

I am most grateful for an abundant list of things that could go on for millions and billions of years about. But, instead of listing them all, I will simply share a few:

I absolutely love my family and there is no doubt whatsoever about it. It is wonderful knowing that no matter how old I get, I am still my parents baby girl. That there could ever be so much love in this imperfect world that I am worthy of. My parents are so dear and precious to my heart. They are my ultimate best friends and they will be forever and ever. And my sisters are the sweetest angels anyone could ever encounter. Oh, how their voices, their smiles, their laughs, make me feel like I have died and gone to heaven! They too, are my ultimate best friends and I am so blessed to know that with my family, I will never be alone.

My faith in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is tied for first place alongside my family. No one can even begin to imagine the pain, and suffering that My Heavenly Father, Mother, Brother (Jesus Christ), Prophets and many others went through so that I would be able to be a part of this gospel, and have it in my life as a guide and be able to know exactly why I am here and where I am going. It is an incredible feeling to know this, that is so sweet that it is hard for me to even begin to describe in mortal words. My whole heart and soul is embodied in these most marvelous of marvels.

Everyone I meet and come into contact with, is important to me. They mean the world to me. They teach me things I would have never thought of before. I feel what they feel and they trust me. I am so grateful that there is trust, and love, and friendship in this world. It is what I thrive on and what makes me the most happy. Especially when all three are active at the same time. I love everyone, no matter where they came from, who they are, or what they have done. I forgive because hate and grudges are ugly, and destructive, and that is not my nature. I am very grateful for the friendships I have made and how my friends love and trust and care for me and I know that no matter what I am going through, they understand me and they support me.

Now, I hope I haven't bored you out of your mind. I just have been seriously thinking the last few days about life and meaning, and it got me thinking about the season that we are in and I wanted to share this message and my thoughts before I let it slip by. I am so grateful to my followers and readers and fans and random strangers that mistakenly wander onto this page. Thank you so much for your love and support. Without you guys I wouldn't be doing this and expressing what I love to do which is write! I cannot even express how much each one of you mean to me. So in the most simplest of words....I am grateful to you!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

xoxoxoxoxo

Inspiring Quote Day:

"The only way to get positive feelings about yourself is to
take positive actions. Man does not live as he thinks, he
thinks as he lives."

-- Vaughan Quinn

Letters!!

In the last 2 days I have received 5 letters!! Thank you so much Makenna and Brynlee and Mom!! You guys are the greatest! I love my family, and my wonderful friends too! I am so grateful to my support team! And I can't wait to come down to Utah next week and spend some time with everyone I love!! Soooo, in honor of thanksgiving next thursday I will be posting one thing a day on what I am thankful for until Thanksgiving! And then after Thanksgiving I am going to start Grateful Friday Posts because for some reason those are my worst days, so to keep smiling I will think of things I am thankful for! I feel that music is huge in my life, I can not live without music playing constantly (even when i am sleeping) so Mondays i will post the song of the week. Also I am starting Quote Wednesdays where i will post a quote, scripture, song lyrics, any short little bite of inspiration to get us through the other half of the week :)

So here is my Posting Schedule:

Monday: Song Of the Week Day

Tuesday: Regular Posts

Wednesday: Inspiring Quote Day

Thursday: Regular Posts

Friday: Grateful Post Day

Saturday: Regular Posts

Sunday: Spiritual Insight Day

A New Addition!

Hey guys! If you love me, will you go check out this blogs sidekick, The Food Scientist? It is a blog I just created to show case my love of healthy food. It is going to be great! It will have recipes and pictures and you can email or comment on the posts with questions or requests for me and I promise I will answer them all! I would love to hear from you!

ALSO, Please, if you haven't already, become a follower of this blog as well as my food blog and you will make this girl very happy. As well as share these blogs with people you know and would be interested in reading my stuff, that would be great! Thank you so much! Hope to hear from you guys on your input, suggestions, and comments! Love you all!

P.S. The sidekick blog is linked on the right side of the screen!!!

Thinking of Someone Very Special...

(Me and My Missionary)

(Saying One Last Goodbye)

Lately the thought of Eric keeps coming to me and I feel like the image of his smile, his eyes, and the sound of his laugh won't go away. I fall asleep wondering how he is and hope he is well and working hard! A few nights ago I finally felt like I couldn't take it any more and I wrote my missionary for the first time. I couldn't sleep because I wanted it perfect, so i didn't go to bed until about 2:30am and when i climbed into bed that late night, I felt that what I had written was silly so after church the next day I rewrote it. Then, I stuck it in the mail, and ever since i have been really nervous for his response, if it will be a good one or something other. I am so anxious and now he really isn't leaving my mind, I don't know why i can't let him go. So this song is for him because when I hear this it reminds me of him.

100 Workout Challenge....Experimental Food

Okay so I absolutely love Saturdays because I get the whole day to myself where I have no homework and my day is very relaxed. I woke up fully rested and decided that I didn't feel like leaving the apartment very much so the entire day I spent in exercise clothes and I did what I called the 100 Workout Challenge. It consists of:

100 Jumping Jacks

90 Crunches

80 Squats

70 Leg Lifts

60 Jumping Jacks

50 Crunches

40 Squats

30 Leg Lifts

20 Jumping Jacks

and a 10 minute run.

I Am so sore now because of it but I know I am building muscle and creating a healthier and stronger body!

Then for dinner I wanted to try a new Vegetarian Recipe now that I have completed 5 days to being vegetarian :) It is called Polenta with Mediterranean Vegetables!

Here we have the sliced Yellow and Green Squash...

And the sliced Eggplant and Sweet Red Bell Pepper...

Making the polenta with the broiled veggies in the back ground...

Layering the polenta, spinach, and roma tomatoes in a pan...

the finished product, straight out of the oven:) ...

A yummy helping!

After eating the dish I concluded that it was better than I expected but the recipe needs some modifications and alterations. But in all it was pretty good! Then, I was still feeling adventurous so I whipped up a "dessert" of some sort (still off sugar) which was made of:

Dates

Almond Milk

Yogurt

Ice

Frozen Banana Chunks

AND

Nutmeg

The finished product:)

Now this was a SUPER delicious, healthy, and sugar free "treat" that even my skeptical room mates LOVED!! It smells and tastes like Autumn... yummy in my healthy tummy!!!!!!

A Fresh New Start

My whole life I thought that I wasn't any good at sports. That I couldn't achieve success in any sport. No one would pass the ball to me, and I thought that it was because my team mates thought I was terrible which only made me feel that I couldn't do anything-- that I was no good. So as I grew up I just accepted the fact that I was no good. You may be thinking to yourself right about now that this is a sob story, but don't worry, it has a good ending.

Well, fast forward to five days ago, I am in a Personal Achievement class here at BYU- Idaho and the subject is one that I have never thought much about: "Self-Talk." Which is where we are in a constant conversation with ourselves 23 out of 24 hours a day. Think of all the messages that are being sent!! Any way, one thing hit me, and it was that our sub-conscious will believe lies the longer you tell your self them. So for this story, it was the fact that I kept saying that, "I am bad at sports," which led to me not being a lazy non- exercising, no sport playing girl. And now I am see effects of that. So from that moment on, I decided that I really wasn't like that, and that I was going to reverse what all my self-talk had done to me. Now, I am on my way to a fresh and wonderful new clean start! I have dedicated myself to being the best I can be to my body, because as a matter of fact, it is the only one I get and I want to treat myself well. So I have completely changed mentally and I have prepared and studied out what it is that I need to be my very best self.

I have become vegetarian (with the help of TONS of research), I have gone completely off sugar and soda, and I am going to start running. I promised Shaelie I would run a Half Marathon with her next Halloween and I really want to do it and be able to say that I finished something that I never thought that i would be able to accomplish. I want to do it for myself, NO MATTER if people say I can't do it, because inside I know that I can do it. I can do hard things. I just want to feel alive, and clear and free from all the bad that I was doing to my body. I want to know what the healthy Alyssa feels like.

** The picture that I put with this blog post is a quote that kind of gave me my main source of inspiration besides my college class, Personal Achievement.**

A List of All my New Favorite Songs:

(In no specific order)

I Found a Reason-- Cat Power

*Raindrops-- Regina Spektor

That's Beautiful to Me-- Jaron and the Long Road to Love

Almost Paradise-- Victoria Justice & Hunter Hayes

*Holding Out for a Hero-- Ella Mae Bowen

*Never Alone-- Lady Antebellum

Angel by Your Side-- Francesca Battistelli

Carousel-- Iron & Wine

Swans and the Swimming-- Iron & Wine

The Day I Fall-- One More Girl

Hold On to Me-- One More Girl

Hey Princess-- Allstar Weekend

*Domino-- Jessie J

With Your Love-- Cher Lloyd

Perfect-- Hedley

*The Prayer-- Celtic Woman

Spanish Lady-- Celtic Woman

Someone like You-- Adele

Stealing Cinderella-- Chuck Wicks

Cinderella-- Steven Curtis Chapman

*God Gave Me You-- Dave Barnes

See No More-- Joe Jonas

*Superman-- Joe Brooks

Listen To your Heart (Slow Version)-- DHT

Just a Kiss-- Lady Antebellum

I Want You-- Fefe Dobson

Ghost-- Fefe Dobson

Broken Arrow-- Pixie Lott

Need-- Hana Pestle

Skyscraper-- Demi Lovato

*My ALL TIME favorites, as of right now :)

Hope you like the list. They are all great songs for different reasons to me.

Once Upon a Delicious Weekend...

My Room Mate Amy and I Cooking Dinner

Italian Stromboli

Mexican Tamale Pie

Oh the Joys of Thunder Storms on Sundays...

Today has been a marvelous day!! I made chicken salad for lunch, helped taste test my roommate Kaitlin's greek cookies (because i am off sugar--again-- so I could only "taste"), I made sugar free white chocolate pudding (to distract me from all the sugary treats laying around our kitchen. We had a 5 minute thunder and lighting storm and I got to wear my cat hat :) So it has been basically great!!

..............................................................................................................

Also this weekend I didn't have much homework so I decided to bake and cook A LOT so I will post pictures of all the yummy goodness that I made :) But now I am off to the Smith Building on BYU-I campus so that I can play around on the pianos in the practice rooms because i have missed playing so much. I just wish I had my Jim Brickman and Sheet music binder with me so i could play a lot more songs sight reading! But oh well!! Tchao!!

Rainy Day...

Today I woke to the sound of silver droplets. The sky was like smoke and the air felt as heavy as lead. My head pounded, my nose ran and my throat felt like it had an eternal burning itch. I now officially have a cold. To think that I had told myself that I wasn't going to catch a cold is an understatement-- I planned to avoid it like the worst plague that anyone could ever imagine. Did that plan work in my favor? Far from!! I have no idea how it came to be, I have been doing everything possible to stay far away from sickness. I guess I just can't run and hide, sickness seems to always find me-- no matter how blended i may appear. I declared to my room mates that today was to be called a doom and gloom kind of day. It seemed that the weather had sucked all the happiness and sunshine from the world, never to return again. But let us pray that the sun has just enough strength and courage to show it's beautiful shining face tomorrow. I feel if the sun came tomorrow, that it would appear as a saving angel.

Also, my friend Eric went in to the MTC today. It's weird, he said that he wanted to talk to me, he had a party last Friday that he asked if i would come before so we could talk, and yet i found myself hugging him goodbye at the end of the night and he, whispering in my ear, "We never talked..." BOOM!! There were the awful words that I wish i could delete. Tragedy has struck, I will now, never know what he wanted to tell me. We left fate and destiny to the unknown. I have people telling me to forget and move on-- that it's silly to think that there was something there. While others are telling me that he will write me and all is well-- that what happened this summer is true and real. I am lost, I try to push all that deals with him out but I am always reminded. So I am going to see if he writes me or if he forgets me.

I know what happens is all for the best and that I will be okay. One day Love will come knocking at my door, with a warm embrace and a simple bouquet of flowers and all the care in the world.

So may everyone be fine and dandy-- Be well my oh so dearly loved friends!

xoxoxoxo

I'm coming home!

Tomorrow afternoon i am coming down to Utah to visit my family and friends for Conference weekend and I am so happy!! I love Rexburg and i consider it my home now, but i am too happy to go back to my hometown and see everyone i love dearly! PLUS i get to see Eric one last time before he goes on his mission to L.A. less than a week from today. i don't know how it will go but I hope it ends well. I like happy endings and I want this to be one of them.... But what will happen is very unpredictable. I am so happy to see my sisters and parents, my cousin Britt, and all my best friends except Adge, because she decided that going to Cali is better than seeing me! hehe Just kidding Adge--you know I love you :) I wish I was leaving today so I could have more time with my family but that is alright. My parents are going down to St. George so my dad can run his annual marathon down there :) GOOD LUCK DAD!! So I won't see half my family until a day into being home. But i'm glad my siblings will be there so I can play with them :) awww I am just so very much excited to go home and see everyone! I leave at 1:00 pm tomorrow and I just can't wait!!

Lazy Saturday Afternoon

Hey everyone! I have passed through my second week of college and I feel great! What is even more, is that I just got back from the gym and I feel AMAZING! Today I went on the Elliptical for 3 miles and then I went over to the bikes and got 2.68 miles in ten minutes before I had to go. Oh and did it feel soo good :) I also have officially been off sugar for 5 days now. It feels so empowering to take charge and do what is right for your body. I took for granted exercising and eating healthy. I thank my mom for teaching me how to live healthy, even if I didn't take it seriously until now. I also thank her for getting a trainer, Kristi Attaway, to come teach and motivate me to become healthy and make healthy choices and decisions. I have fully come to understand how bad an attitude toward everything i had up until a week ago and regret it so much. But, you will come to see that I am doing much better. I am eating the right way and exercising as much as possible. I drink so much water that it is ridiculous how many times I have needed the bathroom in a day :) (sorry for the TMI moment) but I feel so good about my life now because of what I am doing, I have been changing for good. I am taking life in both hands and I don't plan on letting go.

ALSO! I am so excited to be getting my new vitamins next weekend!! I can't wait! It may be weird to some that I am excited about vitamins but they are so good for you and I just can't wait! I am too excited!! haha

Life life to the fullest! It is too precious a time to waste, live strong and for a purpose!

Me after my work out, just being silly :)

Last Night: Block Party, This Morning: Yummy Breakfast

Last night was a week since being in Rexburg and since it was the first friday since school started the restaurant, Sammy's Cafe, had a huge block party. It was so much fun, my room mate Kaitlin and I didn't have anything to do last night so we walked down there around 7:45 and listened to the live bands that were playing and Sammy's is famous for their PIE and CUPCAKE SHAKES, so we just had to try them :) They were SO good! At first we were really skeptical and didn't know what to expect so Kaitlin asked her cousin what her favorite was. She said the Banana Cream Pie Shake was really good so we ordered two of those. They were overflowing and were surprisingly really good!

Here is my more-than-eaten-shake. It had chunks of pie crust and bananas...SOOOO good!!

My room mate Kaitlin and I with our delicious shakes :)

Also, after we had finished our shakes, we walked back to our apartment, got our PJ's on, pushed our couches together, grabbed our pillows and quilts and watched, Two Weeks Notice :) I had so much fun last night, Kaitlin is awesome and a good sport since I kind of dragged her to the block party :) hehe (Amy was with her family preparing for her marathon the next morning, and Chelsey was with her sister for the night, so it was just the two of us--and I had a great time!)

THEN! This morning I woke up and felt like a cooked breakfast so I made fried eggs and toast!! Ahh it's like my new favorite thing:

Don't they look like faces that are going to kiss??

Me with mi eggs :) (don't I look beautiful in the morning?)

And here is my finished product, Yummmmm!

I want to wish everyone a most fantabulously amazing Saturday! Have fun, relax, and stay safe!

Loves, hugs, wishes, and everything else!

Alyssa :)

Another Video Post: Rambling Friday :) hehe

Disclaimer: This video post is totally random and i am basically rambling but just wanted to post something for friends and family where they can actually see me and not just words. It also is kinda long so I apologize for that in advance but i hope that doesn't scare you off from watching it. It is just how i roll :) Enjoy!

Video Post: Happy Birthday Mom and Lots of Love!

So I haven't seen my family in almost a week and they haven't seen me either so I thought I would make a video of my self doing a shout out to my family, but ESPECIALLY to my beautiful, wonderful, caring Mommy because today is her BiRtHdAy!!! So hopefully my family will see this video and know that I love them TOO MUCH! So here is the video:

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoLOVExoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoLOVExoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Quote Day!

"Life is too short. Grudges are a waste of perfect happiness.
Laugh when you can, apologize when you should and let go of
what you can't change. Love deeply and forgive quickly. Take
chances. Give everything and have no regrets. Life is too
short to be unhappy. You have to take the good with the bad.
Smile when you're sad, love what you got, and always remember
what you had. Always forgive, but never forget. Learn from
your mistakes but never regret. People change, and things go
wrong but always remember... life goes on!"

-- Author unknown

The Second Time is Better than the First

Well beautiful people,

I have made it through the second day of college. I have to say, Life is a roller coaster for sure! And an exhausting one at that! But I am slowly easing myself into what life is really. I still feel like I am alone at how lost and stressed I am and that I don't even know what I am even doing here. But, I have been listening to calming music, talking to family and friends, and trying to stay positive as well as keeping the Lord in my heart and always looking toward the scriptures and prayer for guidance and safety. I hope and wish that one day I will feel like I am strong enough and have a good sense of what I am doing that I won't fall to my knees in agony because I have no idea what I am doing. I want this time in my life to be fun and wonderful like everyone talks about it being. I want to love this time like others say I will but I miss my home and family and the support of my family being able to hug me and tell me it's going to be okay with them sitting next to me but instead i am 4 hours/a state away.

Even though I know deep down inside that there are probably hundreds of kids that feel the way I do, I feel like I am the only one. I feel like I am one of the ninety and nine--The lost sheep that needs saving. I feel angels as I sleep, but when I am awake and there is so much going on around me, I am scared and I am lost.

I'm sorry that I sound like a debbie downer and a worrier, I just feel like I needed to express how i feel at the moment to help me feel at least a little bit better. i actually went to my class called: Personal Achievement-- which seems like it is a really fantastic class, and I am thinking it could possibly help me out. I think I am just seeing all the holding hands, kissing, wedding rings, and cute guys that are taken that make me sad too that no guys have come up to me yet. I feel like I really will end up an old lady with 20 cats. And you may tell me that I don't need to worry right now, just have fun! But, it's hard to ignore. So again please forgive me, you might say this was a bit of a venting session for me. But I guess it's good to let it out before bed so I sleep better.

Loves, hugs, kisses and more

xoxoxo

My first "home cooked" meal and the first day of college!

So yesterday after church I decided that I needed to make an actual meal that I cooked my self so i put some brown rice in the rice cooker. Then, while it was cooking, I cooked some chicken tenders, sauteed some yellow onions, green onions, and squash. A dash of salt and a tablespoon of Italian dressing and I had my first meal that I cooked in my new home! :) it was great and there were leftovers that I put in the fridge for another time when I don't feel like cooking! So below is a picture of the end product before I mix it with the brown rice:

Does it look yummy?? I thought it was, but maybe that was because I was so hungry, eating lunch at like 2:45 is really late!

Also it was the first day of COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was really good, my professors are funny and seem really good, I am still not sure about the class yet but right now they seem interesting and good. I did have a bit of a breakdown a few hours after my first class because my printer isn't working and so it's stressing me out and I am trying to put a brave face on but I am struggling a little bit trying to transition into being own my own and away from family but I will learn to survive and I just have to tell myself that it WILL get better!

I got this taken right before I left for my first class :)

BYU-Idaho!

Well folks, I made it to college and it's not bad. I mean, I had my meltdowns and my frustrations, but in all it's pretty good! I think I will be able to survive on my own, and all my room mates are super cute and really sweet! And, my room looks so cute! I will do an all picture blog post on my new little home in little ole' Rexburg! It is really a cute little town and the grocery store is just down the street and they deliver! So, I can walk to the store, buy my week supply of food and then walk home and they will bring it to my apartment!! I was so excited when my mom told me, actually I was more like giddy but there isn't much of a difference!

So yesterday I moved up and got everything settled and now today I am going to walk around campus and get myself familiar with everything so i am good for monday when classes start! The campus is small enough that you can walk everywhere no problem! And, where I live, campus is exactly 2 min away, walking there, which is really super-duper nice! Everyone is so friendly and happy and I love it! Plus there are people everywhere that are so nice to help you find things and get you to where you need to go, it really is quite charming--once you have left the moving in and school supplies shopping behind, and had a good nights rest :) But, seriously i think I am going to love it here! The landscape definitely reminds me of being home so I guess it's is alright that I am here instead of in Utah. I really do feel at home finally. I might have just been a little too worried to enjoy Rexburg yesterday, but I am enjoying it now.

Mom and Dad, if you are reading this:

I love you SO much, you have no idea how grateful I am to you and all the lessons and care that you have given me and for all the love in the world that you have shown me. You really did a wonderful job in raising me and helping me become who I am today. Now it's my turn to show you that all your hard work has payed off.

Shaelie, Camille, Makenna, and Brynlee:

I also love you girls SO much! You have been wonderful sisters and I love each and everyone of you too much, you have no idea. Shaelie, I may be away but we will always be sisters but most importantly you will always best my bestest friend EVER! What do you call an ill camel? CAMILLE! Do I love you and miss your teasing me? Yes I do! I hope you know how much I love you even if I don't always seem like it, I really do. You are amazing and smart and talented! And I dearly miss you! Makenna and Brynlee, my sweet little sugar bugs! I hope you treat your sisters and mommy and daddy very nice while I am gone. Don't ever stop giggling and being silly!

Alyssa loves all of you so much and misses you too! I will be home soon, but I am meant to be here right now and I know that I will be okay on my own but that doesn't mean I don't want lots of phone calls, text messages, emails, and hand-written letters! Loves, hugs, and kisses!

Less than a week....

Okay, it's crunch time people. I move out of my parents house and leave to go to Idaho next week!! I can't believe I will be living on my own so soon, it's come so fast! It is really exciting and crazy and slightly scary but I think I am ready. This time next week I will have woken up in a new home with new people and I would be doing all new things, by myself. It is too crazy, can you believe it? I am all grown up, I guess. haha I have to pack up my ENTIRE room this week so that Shaelie can move into my room. How sad! I won't have a room here in my house anymore! But it is okay because:

"Just because everything is changing, doesn't mean it's never been this way before."

--Regina Spektor, The Call (lyrics)

Positive thinking here :)

SWEET 18TH BIRTHDAY :)

Well this is a little late but I had my 18TH Birthday about two weeks and I had so much fun! It was spectacular and I have been wanting to get some pictures up of my party, it was beautiful, fun and everyone I loved was surrounding me, it was PERFECT!!

So I had a tea party and I wanted to take my closest friends to England; so i did! By making crazy, cute, British hats!! It was so fun! Here are all of the end results...

...Kendra's hat...

...Lindsey's hat...

...Alexandria's hat...

...Kaycee's hat...

...Brianne's Hat...

...Brittney's Hat...

...and Adrianne's Hat...

Aren't they SO cute?? And they reflect everyone's personality so well! We had a blast and the Tea Party was great too, everyone tried the Herbal Tea that we had and most of the girlies LIKED it! My 18TH was definitely magical!

AND THIS IS THE CAKE I MADE FOR MY BDAY!! ISN'T IT GORGEOUS??

I am obsessed with butterflies so it was a must! PLUS it matched my outfit exactly, the color scheme was amazing too! Black, white, pale pink=Perfect girlie party colors!! :)

......................................................................................................................................................

I would also like to say thank you to a few people as well:

My Mommy for everything she has done for me through out my life, she is the best mom I could have asked for!

My Daddy, for everything he has done as well and for all the support, also the best I could have asked for!

AND...

A special thanks to Lauren Magleby Reid for putting everything together, The tablescape, hat making and cake were AMAZING and I couldn't have done it without your expertise! It has been lovely getting to know you, you will also be missed when I leave for college next month :)

First real day back home...

So I had my first day back to work and back to regular day things and it all just makes me wish that I was back on Heritage Tours with the music and people and places. It's hard because you live a certain way for 20 days 24/7 and then all the sudden it just stops and it feels weird. When I woke up Sunday morning I thought that Heritage Tours had all been a dream which only made me want to go back to sleep to the best dream I have ever had... But it wasn't a dream but it was the best thing EVER! We were one big family and I miss my "brothers" and "sisters" and my "parents" they were all so great! Especially Brother Toone, Brother E, and Brother Pelo, I miss every one :( Hopefully in time I won't be so sad but right now I am trying to cope back to real life stuff and I also have to start thinking of what I have to pack up for college. I leave in 6 weeks!! Its crazy how time flies when you are having so much fun that you can't keep track of the days! But I plan on spending the rest very wisely (with lots of fun stuff too).

WELCOME HOME!!!!

I am really happy to be back in my own bed... Almost. I miss my roomates-- especially Kiley! Aww and I miss everyone else too that was on Heritage Tours. I miss the music and the scripture time and the testimony time and everything else about the trip! It was the best thing I could have ever done! I had such an amazing time and I break down every so often because I wish i was still on tour ( no offense to my family ). Also while on tour I met someone very special, his name is Eric and to be honest he was the on;y guy that has ever made me feel visible. All other guys I knew in my life paid me no attention but he could see me! He is so nice and friendly and I had so much fun being around him. But, while on the tour he got his mission call and when he opened it I was so nervous that I could stop shaking! He was called to the Los Angeles, American Sign Language Speaking!! He was so excited! But, now that the tour is over I pray that we will see each other one day again (hopefully soon). I miss everyone on tour but especially him and his warm smile and bright eyes! But in all, the tour was fabulous and it was exactly what I needed in my life right now! And I also now know that there truly is hope for us all-- to be loved by someone special ;)

Goodbye Utah!

Well, you are probably curious as to why I named this post the way it is named. I named it that because tomorrow morning at 5:30am I will be leaving my home and my family and will be riding a bus all across the U.S. and visiting LDS church history sites. The trip is about 20ish days (3 weeks) and the whole time you are on a bus with 60+ kids all my age. I am super duper excited but I am also really nervous, mainly because I have never been away from my house or my family for more than a couple of days so it will be quite the adventure!! The funny thing about this whole thing is that I leave in less than 24 hours and I have not even packed and it is a 3 week trip, you need a lot of stuff! It is crazy but I am actually surprisingly calm about this whole ordeal. My mom though is super stressed and she isn't even going! I think it's funny, but that is one of the many things mothers do, they worry and the stress when they don't need to. But, I am sure that tonight I will be stressing about everything and the house will be in crazy havoc but I might as well enjoy the calm while it lasts!

P.S. I am warning you right now that you will not be seeing anything posted for about 20 days because we are not allowed to bring any electronic devices other than a cell phone- which we can't use until night time- so no laptop to write posts. Sorry, but I will tell you all about it when I get back!

P.P.S. Also since i won't be able to say it tomorrow, I will say it today:

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!!!!!!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful, safe, happy fourth of july, have fun for me will you?? Thanks!

Camp Trip

So last night a few of the graduated seniors in my ward went up to visit girls camp and it was a lot of fun and it was nice to see my sisters and see how they were doing, even if Camille did badger me about how I smelled good and she didn't! But last night was their testimony meeting and it was really interesting to see how when you are 11/12 like Camille how your testimony is very short, sweet, and you say a lot of the things that your parents tell you to say. Then you have the 14-16 girls who had a little bit longer testimonies and you could tell that they were growing and trying to find themselves in life and in the church. Then you have us seniors who know exactly where we stand and what we stand for and there was a plead from us to the younger girls to keep strengthening your testimony in the church and this wonderful LDS Gospel and that we want everyone to come unto Christ and learn of him like we have grown to do in our short 17-18 years of life.

Also I was, for some odd reason, thinking about love--though I haven't experienced love yet in my life (other than familial love-because I love my family dearly) so this is kind of odd to think about. But, as I sat at that campfire looking at the blazing fire roar in front of me I thought of the stages of a fire like unto eternal love.

Which is that as you start to build the fire it is small and sometimes hard to start which is like when we are little we are learning how to love and to trust and find connections with people and as children that's sometimes hard to do because we only want to trust our mom and that's it.

Then you have when it is starting to build but there still isn't much happening; that is like when we are young teenagers who have not a care in the world and just want to have fun but as for the love status they are looking for more friends than a lover so there is a lot of playing and teasing that is more for the attraction of friends than of something more.

As the fire builds it becomes hotter as it builds and much more intense. This is where we are in our upper teens to thirty's where we want love and companionship. Just like the fire, as it grows it gets more exciting and often very showy and playful. I think of love at this stage much the same way that as we find love and romance and we start looking for a companion, our love is much more strong and intense which is why this stage could be called the honeymoon stage because we are still young and want to have fun but we want to love and the love at this point is extremely passionate.

But as time goes on and the fire starts to calm down, so does love as we get older. We learn to love deeper and with true love, we care and yearn for the other person's safety and well being. And though the fire shrinks and appears as if it is dying it really isn't. It really is gaining heat because in the last stage it becomes embers and the heat is what is intense-- not the show of the fire-- and so just like the fire love is the same way but in the sense that you are so loving and understanding of one another that you only want to see them happy and comfortable as the passion may not be so strong but the sense that you have been married for 40,50,60 years you were able to see that love is more than passion and more about caring for one another.

And that is my analogy about fire to love, I hope I explained it well but again i do remind you that I am only 17 and I haven't even been on very many dates so please forgive me if I didn't get all of it explained well or not very good. Plus it was really random anyway but I hope you enjoyed it!

Just Thinking...

You know lately I have been thinking about my future and what is happening in my life and how everything is about to change and it will never be the same and it is frightening, refreshing, exuberayting, and quite frankly an intangible idea that my future is behind the next corner and yet I have no idea what to expect.

Plus, as of right now I am planning on college and going into an English Major so that I can write fantasy/fiction novels because it has been a passion of my for a long, long, long time but no one can really plan for what the future truly has in store for an individual and that is something that is exciting but also extremely terrifying all in one small seemingly sweet package.

I mean, what is there to say? Other than I put a brave face on when looking into the eyes of uncertainty and change but in the back of my head I picture my knees knocking together and my whole stature shaking in fear as I try to believe that everything will be alright and that the journey--that I am milliseconds away from-- will be a fun, thrilling experience.

I try to believe that I can stand on my own two feet and brave the world by myself with my fists up and take everyday with stride and confidence. I ultimately want to know that I can find confidence, love, fun, and true friends who can ultimately be kind, caring, charitable people who know who they are and where they stand.

To be perfectly honest with who ever you are-- whether you are a stranger or someone i've known for ages-- all I can ever think about is the phrase:

"Just because everything is changing doesn't mean that it's never been this way before,"-Regina Spektor.

Which means basically that things have been constantly changing and we should be used to it-- but it doesn't stop me from worrying, because of course I have my mother's gift of extreme worry. That may seem strange to some of you but its true, I worry even though I know deep down that things have always been changing, I'm just not used to it and I don't think I ever will be.

So wish me luck and give me your love and help me know that I will be okay in the end, Thank you for all your support.

xoxoxo

SUMMER UPDATE :)

Well hello friends!

Its been a while since I have posted anything so I thought that before I give myself a manicure that I would update everyone on what has been going on in my life and what is soon to be ;) First of all I just got back from Cancun, Mexico yesterday, which i spent most of my time laying by the pool relaxing and enjoying a good book and very hot weather (I was burnt to a crisp on tuesday so hence why I tried to stay out of the sun with my book). OH! And by the way the beaches in Cancun are to die for! They are the most white-sand-crystal-watered-beautiful beaches I have ever experienced! It was like a dream! Second order of business was that on Friday while traveling to Xel-Ha, pronounced 'shell ha', I found out that I GOT A JOB! I am so excited! It is in the call center/data entry at Xango and I can't wait to start! HA! I start tomorrow morning and I can't stand waiting but I'm also very nervous. I've never had a job so I hope I am good at it!

Hola Amigos! From SPAIN!

Hey everyone,
So this morning we got up, had breakfast, and then headed to the Charles de Gaulle Aeroport to fly to the beautiful Barcelona, Spain. It was pretty chilly this morning in Paris because of wind but it is warm and humid here in Barcelona-- there is even palm trees here and my dad and I decided that Tennis and futball (soccer) are the top sports here in Spain. We counted 29 tennis courts and 5 soccer fields just outside our hotel window.

Now I need to back track a little because I was too tired to write last night about my day... So yesterday my dad let me sleep in which was very nice of him. After getting ready and buying some water and 2 pain de chocolat (bread with chocolate) we headed out to the Metro to see the Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower). It is better than I imagined and it had a very long line to go up the ascenseur (elevator) so we decided to take a river cruise on the siene river to see all the really cool sites right on the river. The boat ride took an hour and was absolutely fabulous! I recommend doing the boat tour because it is so cool to see so many sites in a short amount of time. Afterwards we went back to the Tour Eiffel and walked up 674 steps to the second floor and then rode an elevator to the tip top and you could see everything from the top. Its so high up that you feel you are looking at the city from a birdseye view! Its wonderful! We decided to go to the sacre-coeur (a Catholic cathedral) which is at the top of a giant hill and see the city from there. They had little street shops there and it was beautiful. The cathedral was breathtaking and quite magnificent. It was a lovely site to see. After that we went through a candy and clothing shop and got a few things for our family and a little something for myself as well. After that we decided to go back to the Champs d'elysses and visit the Arc de Triomphe which was so cool to see and walk under it.
We took lots of pictures of all these places, so don't worry, I will put them up in the next few days when I get a chance. My dad has meeting here in Barcelona the next 3 days, so it will be one of the days that I don't go with him that i will have a chance to do it. I love and miss my Mom, my sisters, Shaelie, Camille, Makenna, and Brynlee and hope they are doing well. I thank you for your love and support and can't wait to see everyone. I will definately keep you posted on what is happening here!
Hugs and Kisses xoxox

Bonjour! From Paris!

Bonjour mon amie (hello friend)!
At this very moment I am sitting in a hotel room in PARIS! Can you believe it? I am at my dream destination at this very moment with my dad for my senior trip. We left on Tuesday the 24 of May 2:15 pm and we landed in Paris at 10:54 am on Wednesday the 25 of May (there is an eight hour difference between Utah and Paris.) Paris is absolutely lovely, the architecture, the history, the food is all amazing! I love it, but today hasn't been all that glittery and fun because I only got 2 hours of sleep and I have a monstrous headache at the moment, but truly don't get me wrong, I am very excited and appreciative of this trip
, its been quite an adventure already! So it all started when we were trying to find the metropolitan-- Metro for short, aka the french "subway"-- and we got terribly lost and were walking everywhere before we finally came to a cafe/pub and asked for directions. Unfortunately none of them spoke English except for one who could only say "right" but then one of them walked us through a map and then we finally found the Metro. Once there we had to ride a train to the rue rivoli (rivoli road) and then got lost trying to find Le musee de Louvre (the Louvre museum). But we finally found it and all was well. But after when we had walked all the way down the Champs d'elysees-- which is the road that has the arc d'triomphe and the shopping on it-- we had gotten dinner at pizza pino and dessert at Laduree we found another entreance to the Metro and again got lost... lucky us huh?? Any who, we finally made it back safely to our hotel where I washed my feet, put my pj's on and am now eating a religieuses rose which is fabulous!

I found a video!

So we were really tired one night quite a couple of months ago and decided to do something with my baby sister Brynlee. So the video was taken by me and my younger sisters shaelie and brynlee are the ones being filmed. (It is a piece of cookie crisp on shaelie's tongue by the way) P.S. I saw MIDWAY TO HEAVEN recently and it is really cute I reccomend you all should watch it :)

It's been a while... and it's random stuff time!

Okay so, I have been uber busy lately and haven't been able to put an update post in quite a long time so here is what you have missed... I have 30ish school days left until I graduate high school ;} I am going to the bahamas in 3 days to go on a Disney Cruise I am going to Europe the second to last week of May for my graduation trip with my dad My 3 week road trip across the U.S. of A. is in 2 1/2 months (Heritage Tours; I leave on July 4th) I have been accepted to BYU-Idaho and start September 12, i have the spring/fall track That is it for now...( I will elaborate on each when they are closer) I hope that satisfied some of you out there that were wondering what was up :) I will write soon, I promise! P.S. stay tuned for more about my life in the current.

Today's Quote:

"Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to dodoesn't mean it's useless." -- Thomas A. Edison
I love this quote because right now I feel sometimes like things in my life are not going how I wanted or planned them to be but this helps to see that it's okay if they aren't going my way because they are happening for the benefit of my personal well being. This is very comforting to read and then take a minute to pause and take a deep breath and say that everything will work out just fine, because in the end it will be.

Random SideBar...:)

So I was going through my pictures in my dad's computer and found a few pictures of me and they are all at different times during last year and it's funny to see my hair and how it changes :)

Here is the first: My Seventeenth Birthday in Rexburg Idaho, right across the street from BYU-I and the Rexburg LDS temple.

Here is the second: The morning that my senior year began (YEAH)!

The last but definately not least ;) This was at family photos, my singles shot. (My hair is getting SOOOOOO long you should see it now!)

P.S. I had Preference yesterday so I will put pictures of that up in the next week or so. I looked so pretty and so did my gorgeous BFFL Alex. And the boys looked very handsome as well, I had a lot of fun and I will have to tell you all about it when I put pictures up!

It's Been Quite a While

Well another year has past and I am breaking yet another promise to myself (as you may recall from a few posts ago). I promised to blog everyday and I didn't hold up to it. But surely in the new year spirit I can redeem myself. I have been putting it off, being lazy, and just plain making excuses of being too stressed and loaded with homework and school that I haven't written in a long, long time. But, that is about to change, because I pledge to be devoted to writing. Many people lately have been asking me if I am still writing my novel that I started years ago and the answer was always "no" and then they proceeded to question why, again I would respond that I was just too busy, when in reality I really wasn't. I was just lazy as can be, which that part of me is done with--gone for good, I'm ready to take on new challenges and write with a refreshed passion. I am growing and changing and today marks the beginning of a new day and a new way :) I hope you have a lovely day, I know I will!