so here's the thing.

I woke up this morning to cloudy skies, biting wind, and sprinkles of snow rain.  And you know, I would be perfectly ok with that if it weren't for a few things.

1. I am on campus all day, which means I had to put on human clothes and do my hair and wear makeup.  No top buns and yoga pants for me just yet!

2. I don't own this

3. I'm not at home watching An Affair to Remember.  And if you're not at home watching it either, then I suggest you get home so you can do so.  Seriously, make any changes necessary, and watch it on Amazon instant stream. You're welcome.

Other than those (semi) important things, I'm a happy camper.  I'm listening to Frank Sinatra radio and enjoying this dreary weather.  And dreaming of yoga pants and top buns.  But trust me, being in this office is actually pretty great despite my daydreaming.  Here's why:

A fellow student sat himself and his overabundant joy for the piano down on the bench outside my office and was playing to his heart's content.  And others, apparently.  He was shortly joined by another student who was more than happy to share his vocal talents.  I've never heard so much emotion, bad timing and innocence in my life. But oh the guts it takes, so I had no problem with it. 

Someone dear delivered hot chocolate to me.  Yes please? Thanks and why?  Can this become a trend?

Jamie showed up in a GREAT mood and showered me with compliments.  Always makes for a good morning.  Oh, and then he ran out to join the local musicians.  Uh, can I keep him forever?

Lastly, because I'm surrounded by service and therefore, great people.  No complaints there.

Ok. That's all.  And if that wasn't enough for you, here are some website that will unfortunately make your house, clothing, hair, and life feel inadequate.  Don't let it get you down!

Pretty Stuff by Patterson Maker  

Pinecone Camp  

sadie + stella 

Obviously I'm doing too much daydreaming over here.  One day I'll own a house. Right?

best weekend.

Some pretty amazing things happened this weekend. I embarked on a journey to the happiest place on earth, which was perfect!  We made it there and back (almost) safely! We had some minor major encounters with spiders in the car we borrowed from my brother (our intention was to save money on gas, not to have night terrors from spiders nesting). There was a total of three spiders seen, but many more felt.  The first sighting was about an hour into the trip, as one crawled right by me on the driver's side and up into a crack by the window.  OHMYGOSH I freaked.  I actually think I was bawling, yet somehow managed to get us safely pulled off the freeway.  Jennae was so sweet and calm, she searched for the spider - to no avail - and took over driving.  Needless to say, it was an interesting trip with some lengthy stops to do anything we could to rid our car of the slut spiders.  Just outside of Vegas, after the second spider sighting, we stopped and got a deep cleaning car wash then vacuumed out the entire car.  In our minds, the car wash would send them all running (even the thought makes me want to hurl) into the car, where we would all smash them.  So we went through the entire car was with lights on and weapons in hand. You think I'm joking.   Unfortunately (or fortunately? I can't decide) they decided to keep hiding out.  I hate them.

On our drive there, however, as we were driving through the middle of California, I get a call from this girl and she got her mission call?!?! I am so excited for her and all the other girls that have waited for this moment their whole lives.  Perth, Australia is going to LOVE her!

Anyways, here is a photo dump.  Sorry, they are all from phones, so don't expect too much out of them:

mimi comforting me after the first spider made his debut

right outside the disney gates (before our hair turned afro from the rain)!

cars land

just eating our weenies for first lunch

hanging out with adam

best.ride.ever

i love this place so much

brer fox needed some loving.

as we got off our last ride - haunted mansion - we were dancing our way off the moving walkway and one of the workers slipped this into my hand so...

of course we had to use it.  yolo,right? free pass to any ride!

and it's sunday.

Rules for a standard Sunday:

Wake up too late for church, and never understand how you can't find anything in my closet to wear for Runway Sunday's (singles ward problems).

Settle into Sacrament Meeting - after taking in everyone's outfits and checking to see if your future husband is sitting in the vicinity - and make sure one of your friends has brought the community gum.

Pull out your phone after the first 20 minutes.  It was a valiant effort, but if you really wanted to stay away from your phone, you would have left it at home.

Press refresh on instagram feed every 5 minutes. I mean come on, I know it's early on a Sunday morning, but not a single person has something interesting to post?

Mingle between church blocks. You've got to be social for a couple minutes a day at least, or you'll forget what the sound of your own voice sounds like (here is where you ask the designated gum roommate to break it out...stale breath=no EC's).

After church, IMMEDIATELY change into a baggy shirt and shorts, then literally stuff your face with every random piece of food on your shelf. This is an important part of your day, without this step, you will not feel like a fat slob.  You must not miss this.

Take a nap. Like, forever.

Watch movies on movies on movies.  It doesn't even matter what they are, because you will be on your phone the whole time, wrapped up in a blanket, thinking of what more baked goods you could fill you stomach with.

Go to bed feeling very unfulfilled yet also satisfied...? See, normally you don't get much done on Sundays, but it feels so good. Feel free to elaborate on those steps at your own risk.  Today, we had ward choir after church which ROCKED (have you ever heard of 40+ people showing up to ward choir when they could be indulging in Sunday afternoon activities? See above list for details).  We bonded with so many people and even CRIED when we heard the piece first come together.  We also had a good time at ward prayer and beyond bonding about choir even more - guys, we're seriously obsessed.  The following terms came up: "choir club", "choir parties", "choir jackets", "tall tees".  Then we came home and were paid a visit by our favorite engaged couple (Mimi's brother and his fiance) and company.  Company stayed later than engaged couple, and we laughed and laughed and didn't have a serious conversation once.


These are just some of my tips to making the most out of your Sunday. Take it or leave it. Oh, and enjoy these beauties from various points at church.

disclaimer: I LOVE church. So much, and I do get amazing things out of it.  I enjoy everyone there, everything that is said, and all the thoughts and inspiration I get. Sometimes...my phone just gets in the way.

the countdown begins!

I can't count how many times my roommates and I have said, "We need to get out of Provo!" or "Why haven't we gone to California yet?" or "Let's just take a spontaneous trip!" Well, we were tired of not doing anything about these comments, so...we did something.

We did some booking last night for a suite hotel motel in Anaheim.  Yes, we are going to

 I have nothing else to say.  Really, I don't. Halloween at DISNEYLAND?? I could not be any happier if I tried.


Fun things at #29:

• Disney, duh.
• Watching movies while studying the past two nights.  So much better than regular, smart people studying.
• The amazing bra I bought last night for $20. Seriously. So. Happy.
•  A picture is worth a thousand words. We had a lot to say in our moments of boredom (sorry Jennae:

thus far...

It seems like all I ever do is catch up on this blog. Woops, sorry?  This summer/school year has just gotten away with me!  But I'll do my best to fill you in on the glamorous life of yours truly.

I don't know how, but I escaped CP without any diseases (as far as I can tell, but let's give it a couple more months. Maybe I should go get checked just in case? I mean, we are talking about Campus Plaza here...) and moved into a darling little place that feels more like a home than anything.  You know, like it has a wreath on the door and yummy candles inside, cute decorations and even cuter roommates? It's wonderful.  The great thing about Junior year - or the downfall, in some cases - is the fact that you can justify not being social, because you're a junior and juniors are studious and have serious boyfriends  and are all partied out from their first two years of school. Right?


Anyways, here are some pictures from my phone that will just have to hold us over until I decide to use a real camera that doesn't make my skin look gray.

my bestie boos came to support me at my first/last triathlon

september 11 memorial #weloveamerica

you're not really friends until you've been to a wedding together...

this lady had a birthday!

we attended the dedication for the brigham city temple!

we had a good time spectating at the hockey home opener...

obviously we were there for the players, not the playing.

papa smith came into town and i indulged in a little football with him!

up to date

You know that ancient Gavin DeGraw song "I'm In Love With a Girl"?  Well yesterday, I caught myself singing it with the words "I'm in love with the world!"  Totally sneaked through my subconscious, that little devil, and made myself laugh.  I had never once practiced those lyrics to the song, or - to my knowledge - had ever sung that before...um? Quite the surprise.  Here's why those lyrics of my version of the song made their way into Summer 2012:

I believe in this program so much.  It changed lives these past two weeks, including mine.  I was a counselor for the two sessions it currently enrolls, and each week I had twelve amazing girls!  It's a camp similar to EFY in the sense that it's spiritually uplifting, built around the Mutual theme of the year, wonderful speakers come, and we are involved in so many fun activities!  But it's different, of course, because it is an all girls camp. I was a participant at Retreat for Girls back in 2005 and again in 2006, and I encourage all girls between the ages of 11 and 15 to save their money and go, it is so absolutely worth every penny.  I can't wait to return next year! 

However, it was an exhausting process getting ready for it (extra: I went home to prepare and bought a car from my parents! my mom drove back to utah with me...and my five million bags and buckets of supplies.  So blessed to have a car!) and even more exhausting living it.  I was up hours before my girls and up hours after them, and the hour a day I wasn't with them, I was in a meeting talking about them, and how to better myself for them.  It was a really interesting experience, living such a selfless life for that little bit, that returning to regular life was a challenge.  I was so used to counting 12 little heads behind me (or, like most times, counting 10 and going on a wild goose chase to find the missing 2), and constantly praying for patience and love, and crying over sweet things my girls did.  It was amazing.  Here are some pictures:

some of my cute girls (1st week)

all of my chic chicks (1st week)

last day :( (1st week)

we got SOAKED as we left the dorms for the weekend. but, we went to texas roadhouse to get out of the rain. good thing? yes

some of us spent the weekend in between at Bo's beautiful place in Idaho!

Go Team Kenton! (counselors, 2nd week)

counselor roomies (love them, duh)

my girls relaxing with "green goop" (they'll learn the importance of it one day) on their faces (2nd week)

Last day! (2nd week) Miss them.

 I love and miss all 24 of my girls so much!  I've received a few e-mails from them, but I just want them all back!

I wasn't in Provo very long after this, but I had some exciting things to look forward to for the few days I was in town!  A very important one being:

That was an exciting, emotional three hours in our apartment.  Jennae, who was away from us visiting her family, texted me and said, "Watching the bachelorette proposal and fully sobbing right now." Oh yes.  I know exactly how you felt, bbyJ.

we wanted to world to know how excited we were to talk about the satellite...not. (stop hitting on us, you're 31.)

I also just took full advantage of being a new car owner (let this be known: the car is not new, the ownership of the car is new) and ran errands around Provo.  Monday night was full of trying to pack, seeing my brother, reuniting with Cafe Rio, talking about astronomy and watching a satellite make it's way across the sky (weird experience), catching up with fellow CP-ers, and then doing some REAL stargazing.  The kind I like.  You know, with a boy.

This is really all I have to leave you with, that life is wonderful.  And, as I've been telling my girls the past couple weeks, you don't choose the happy life, you make it.  Even if things are hard, if you keep waiting for the good times, that's exactly what you'll spend your life doing: waiting.  Choose to be happy, especially when it's easier to choose to be sad!

ox/C

i am not yet in love, but i'm in love with love (st. augustine)

Lately, I have been trying my absolute hardest - mustering every strength I can - to have a positive outlook on everything.  (tangent: there has been a stereotype floating for the past millennium or so that girls hate other girls just out of pure jealousy. This is sadly true, whether we as a gender realize it or not.  Why do we hate girls we don't even know so much??)  This has consequently led me to see all the good and happiness that is all too apparent in Provo right now, and I yearn so much for that happiness to illuminate from me one day in the near future.  In a favorite book of mine, The Great Gatsby, Daisy utters these words to Gatsby: "I wish I could do everything in the world with you." So, although it will be so hard because my apartment - NOT due to mine or my friends' faults but...the other ones - is filthy and not very inviting, I am going to think nice thoughts. 

In other news, this is what I'm trying next week: Bountiful Baskets.  Have you heard of them?  I'm so excited.  I heard of them from a friend today and I absolutely cannot wait to sign up.  Here's how it works.

1) You sign up (it has to be on a Monday or Tuesday though so they have time to grow and pick little healthy friends just for you)

2) You select a location to pick up (there are SO many in the valley, including multiple locations just within Provo)

3) You pay $15 (folks, you can't put a price on healthy decisions.  You just can't). 

4) You wake up early on a Saturday morning and drive to pick up your treasures, which just happens to be a LAUNDRY BAG full of half fruit and half veggies! 

The coolest part is, they are all locally grown, and you can even choose to get organic.  I'm so excited.  Don't forget to sign up on Monday or Tuesday (closes at 10 pm Pacific Time)!


p.s. Don't forget to watch this.  And then invite me to it (December, come fast!)