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!! :)

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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 :)