I love my family.

I'm in Thatcher.
I've eaten so much.
So much deliciousness.
I've laughed so much.
My family is awesome.
Richard came too, of course.
I like him.
He basically rocks my world.
He's so good.
And so good to me.
But he had to go home tonight.
:(
Tragic.
But I'm going to have a lovely Christmas, I can tell.
Well, that's about it.
Just thought I'd check in.
Hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas!

Yes, I'm posting again.

Sorry! for all the posts! I'm probably clogging your blogger dashboard. BUT.
I had tithing settlement tonight.
And my bishop rocks.
Seriously.
He is truly inspired.
After he checked if I had a full tithe he asked for a goal I want to work on for the coming year.
One of them was to read a conference talk at least once a week.
And he said he sometimes has a hard time reading them so he just downloads them and listens to them on CD in his car!
Brilliant!
And he had some old conference CDs that he just gave me.
I was so happy.
I got the October 2007 sessions.
I popped the first one in as soon as I got in my car
and the first thing I heard was President Gordon B. Hinckley's voice.
I was surprised by the instant tears that welled up in my eyes.
I had to blink them away so I could see to drive.
I had somehow forgotten how much I love the prophet that I grew up with.
He truly was a great man.



The night my family found out President Hinckley died is very vivid in my mind.
We got the news from a friend on the phone.
I was on the computer when Dad came in and told me.
I was sad.
It was surreal.
Gordon B. Hinckley had been the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints since I was 3.
He was the only prophet I knew.
I didn't cry though.
I wasn't even very sad, only because he was so old and he'd lived such an amazing life.
We gathered our little family together.
Dad, Mom, Kelene, and I sat around the table for our own little memorial service of sorts.
We started off singing
"We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet"
but we didn't finish.
Within the first few bars we all had tears in our eyes.
We sat around the table.
Tears streaming down.
Loving our prophet.



He was a good man.
He was a jokester.
He had a crack in his old man voice which was one of my favorite things about him.
He always had the best stories.
He accomplished so much for the Church.
He loved his wife dearly.
He was truly a prophet of God.

Although I miss President Hinckley, I also very firmly sustain the new Prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I have a personal testimony that he is the Lord's prophet on the earth today and he loves us and gives us guidance directly from our Father in heaven.

I am so thankful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
I am thankful for my Savior and His example.
I am thankful for a loving, caring Heavenly Father.
And I am thankful for living prophets to point us in the way Christ would have us go.

The end.
:)

Rainbows...

...might be the only thing that I really regret about Arizona.
You see, Arizona is a desert.
Meaning we only get a few inches of rain a year.
Meaning we only get rainbows a few times a year.

So instead I must borrow rainbows from other places.

Like here:


and here:


:)


Don't they just make you happy?


Yeah... they're kind of amazing.


Hey thanks, Heavenly Father.

Wonderful

Please listen to this song as you read my post. It makes it so much more magical. Do you ever wake up and just feel magical? :)




Yesterday was a fabulous day.
You all must be getting so bored with how happy I am all the time.
Sorry to disappoint.
I could make up some drama for you.
Something exciting to read.
But I'm too busy being absolutely content that I just don't want to waste the time.

Not that I don't waste time.
I'm just lying in bed because it's warm here.
And soft and lovely.
I've finished my facebook and blog stalking for the day.
And now I'm just lying here.
Being happy.

Do you ever take the time to just
BE
happy?
Just lay on your back and look at the ceiling,
or the sky,
or a tree,
(take your pick, really, God's given us many choices).
And just think about all the things that make your life wonderful,
and beautiful,
and happy,
and worth living.

It's easy.
And perfect.
I'll show you.

I get to feel the sun almost every single day.
On the days that have wind I feel like I could fly.
I think that's maybe why God made windy days... just so we could taste a little what it is to be a bird with the air all around us moving.
I even like those embarrassing Marilyn Monroe moments when my skirt flies up because I feel like a movie, even when no one else is around.
It's Christmas time. Everyone's jolly and everything's festive.
The twinkle lights are my favorite.
And Richard loves them too.
Richard.
I get to go to church today.
I need it. I always need church.
I love that I can feel my Savior's love whenever I need it.
Especially when I need it.
Even when I feel I don't need it right then.
Or I forget about it.
He reminds me in the little things.
I bet the Savior makes the best husband.
Because he's so into the details! :)
Hot cocoa and scarves are wonderful inventions, aren't they?
One makes you warm on the inside and the other the outside.
And now I have to get ready for church.
I love getting dressed up and pretty.
It's like I'm telling life,
"Alright, I'm ready for you today, let's be lovely together."
:)


See?
Now you try!

Mailbagggg

Dear life,
You seriously rock my socks.
Love, Your Favorite

Dear institute formal,
Thank you for such a lovely time last night! Your food was delish and your decorations and music combined with Richard's and my cheesiness made me feel like I was in an 80's movie. A super duper awesome 80's movie. Which is something I love. So thanks.
Love, Me

Dear Richard,
Your dance moves simply slay me, darling. And so does that vest. And your bowtie. Oh yeah, and your face.
Love, Me

Dear pretty purple dress,
Thank you for looking lovely on me last night! ... unlike a certain PROM DRESS that wouldn't fit and will go unnamed. People liked you. Even other girls dates liked you. That made me laugh and then feel bad. But also pretty. What I'm trying to say is you rocked it, pretty purple dress!
Love, Me

Dear room,
I promise I will clean you today. Nasty dishes pile and all. Although, quite franky, I'm a little scared to open those tupperware containers...
Love, Me

Dear Goodwill,
I hope to visit you and find some deals that will make me say, "Hot dog!"
Love, Me

Dear Christmas,
Thank you for making December so very happy.
:)
Love, Me

Dear Me,
That fact that you're so happy makes me so happy. Just keep it up.
Love, Me

Also I learned another song.

I posted it on facebook already.. but for those of you nonfacebookers.. here you go! :)



I may or may not have been inspired by my last post with this song at the end.
It's just so good!

Yesterday was a funny day.

And by funny I mean awesome.
I woke up NOT wanting to be awake, but what can ya do when you have school?
Wake up.
That's what you do!
So there I was at school.
Sleepy and bored.
I wish I was better at public speaking.
Something to put on my to do list.
Then I wrote a missionary letter to my favorite brother in South Africa!
Which I still need to send off.. along with the ones to Nebraska and Romania.
Good heavens.
Then I got to see my lovely.
:)
That's always happy.
I went to Sweet Cakes with Addi, dear.
That was lovely until they didn't have any soup.
I've never been so disappointed at mealtime.
But I got a cookie to make up for it.
They really do have the best cookies!
Shopping on Main Street is always splendid!
And so is finding great jeans that the boyfriend loves for only 20 dolla.
Addi time is always fun.
:)
Then Richard taught me how to not suck at pool so badly.
And it's hard to see where the ball is when your glasses are in the way.
Good gracious.
And happiness.
Then a nap.
Any fabulous day needs a nap.
In my opinion.
Then I ran out of gas on the freeway.
Thank you Andrea for saving me.
I really should feed my car more, let's be honest.
Also I'm a doofus but at least I know it!
Then Skyline with Richard.
That movie was silly.
But he liked it and I like him.
:)
Then conspiracies about the White House and Masons on TV
and snuggles.
And kisses.
And falling asleep.
And waking up to be happy to see each other.



P.S. I adore her hair.
Think I could pull it off?
HA! Just kidding.
:)

I seriously love this.

I'm obsessed!
It will probably wear off in a while.
But the guitar is so fun!
:)

Thank you Michael for having guitars around the house.
Thank you internet for having easy songs to learn.
Thank you fingers for not falling off yet even though I've been abusing you.

Here's my latest!

I might be falling in love...

.... with the guitar.
It's true.
I've always wanted one.
So I could learn.
Because I heard it was easy.
And it would seriously up my hot points. (obvi)
But I just never got one.
Mostly because of how poor I am.

SO

You can imagine my joy at finding my Uncle Michael has one!!
I was going to start learning over Christmas break...
But I had nothing to do tonight so I decided to start!

And it's lovely.
And this guitar and I are going to get along splendidly, I can tell.
:)

First song I'm learning?
You and I by Ingrid Michaelson.
Super generic and everyone knows it, I know.
BUT it's pretty easy and I'm just a beginner for heavens sake! Don't be judging.
Plus it's a darling song and I like it.
The end.

P.S. I decided to record it for you guys!
I know, I know. It's all choppy and disconnected.
What else is new when I record songs for you, huh?
ANYWAY.
Forgive me.
And here you go.
:)

I'M SO HAPPY!

Wanna know why?

:D

I'll tell you.

I was doing stinky math homework.
And hating it, duh.
Because it was due tonight.
Poo.
Just like EVERY OTHER Tuesday ever.



And then I saw THIS!!


MY HOMEWORK'S NOT DUE TIL NEXT WEEK!
So happy.
I felt like crying.
But I just freaked out and did a happy dance instead.

To celebrate further... I broke out the best thing in the world.


Pure bliss in a cup:


No kidding.

I'm so happy.

And I rocked my China presentation today.
Mostly because I made food.
Fried rice and egg drop soup make people happy on a super cold AZ morning, did you know that?

I should have taken pictures.
But Richard was over last night... so I got distracted.
He helped me cook and then we cuddled by the fire.
It was heaven.
I like him.

How was your day, dearies?
:)

Thanksgiving!

I got to go to Thatcher to be with my family for Thanksgiving!
The food was amazing.
My family is awesome and hilarious.
Black Friday at Walmart at midnight was ... interesting. And also hilarious... and slightly terrifying.
And I got some serious, much needed girl time in with Mom, Jade, and Kelene.
Basically it was lovely.
:)

And we did a really super fast photo shoot!

Aren't my sisters BABES?


This picture cracks me up and I look like a tard. But I still love it!
Plus Jade and Kelene look super good. haha








And thank you Nanny for being our photographer!

So since I didn't do a Thanksgiving post ON Thanksgiving... I'll do one now.

I'm thankful for my beautiful sisters and the closeness we share and the laughter that inevitably follows us wherever we go. I'm thankful for all of my family, immediate and extended, for all they do to support each other and show their love. I'm thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the knowledge I've been blessed with. I'm thankful for my Savior and His Atonement and repentance. I'm thankful for a loving Heavenly Father. I'm thankful for eternal families made possible by our beautiful temples and the Priesthood. I'm thankful for living prophets and apostles who give us guidance to help us along the way. I'm thankful for all the little joys in life and the tender mercies. I'm thankful for the warm fuzzies. I'm thankful for this blog and the outlet it's been. I'm thankful for all of my readers! ;) ...I'm thankful for Richard. I'm thankful for all my friends who make me smile and laugh and just make me happy! I'm thankful for education.
Life is wonderful, isn't it?

Think you're not pretty enough? NEITHER ARE THEY.

For some reason I've been hearing and seeing and stumbling across a lot of this stuff lately.

Stuff telling me that women of ALL shapes and sizes and skin/hair color/type and everything in between is beautiful.

Everyone is beautiful.

Everyone.

Even you.

ESPECIALLY you.

Don't believe me?

You're still single?

NEWSFLASH:
There is a man for every woman.
If you like a man that doesn't like you back because
You're too big or
You're too skinny or
You're boobs aren't big enough or
You're butt is TOO big or
SOMETHING.
Then you're liking the wrong men, lady.
Why would you spend your emotions on someone who isn't WORTH it??

And you know what else I realized?
It's usually not the man who's thinking these things about you.. it's YOU who's thinking these things about you.
We get in our own way ALL the time.
Men just love women.
They love our bodies.
And if they're worth it, they'll love YOUR body for what it is and not what the FAKE magazine covers say it should be.
And if you're smart, you'll love your body for what it is too.

Once again,
DON'T GET IN YOUR OWN WAY!
Love yourself.
And show it.
Confidence is the sexiest thing a woman can wear.
And confidence doesn't mean being as slutty as possible.. as some of the new teeny bopper generation thinks.
Confidence is waking up every morning and wearing clothes that LOOK GOOD ON YOU, no matter what size they are, and wearing them with pride.
It's OWNING your unruly hair. (bedhead's supposed to be in right now anyway, right?)
It's putting a beautiful smile on your beautiful face to show that you KNOW how beautiful you are.
Trust me.
People will notice.
And they'll agree with you.

NOW that we've got that out there.
And if you're still not convinced...
Watch these videos.





All the mommies out there PLEASE talk to your daughters.
Tell them how pretty they are.
And help them understand that what they see on magazine covers at the grocery store is NOT a real woman.
And tell your SONS as well.
They need to know as well so they don't EXPECT women that don't exist.


I hope this helped at least one beautiful woman realize how amazing she is.

We are all daughters of God and He does NOT make ugly little girls. He does not even make mediocre girls. He only creates beautiful ones who grow up into beautiful women.

Think of it this way:
We always hear about God's great creations. A gorgeous sunset, beautiful trees and rolling green hills, the Grand Canyon, the great mountain ranges across the world, Hawaii's beaches. All these images can take your breath away.

Those are nothing compared to you.
You are your Heavenly Father's SUPREME creation.
Everything else is just for you to enjoy.
Don't miss it because you're too busy putting down what your Heavenly Father created so carefully.

I hope you feel beautiful.
I do.

The end. :)

Woman troubles...

...are stupid.
Hardcordly stupid.
likeWOAH.
Rude, uterus.
Rude.

HOWEVER.
I get through it.
And you can too!
(If you're a girl, at least... if you're a guy with these problems... you've got other issues I just really don't have time to address. Sorry.)

And so, I have come up with 6 things that make ME feel better at least.
And hopefully will make you feel better, too.
Ready?

#1.
DRUGS!
Hello, pretty white pills.
I love you.



#2.

Dude.
This does not need an explanation.
But I could just KISS the person who invented this beauty.


#3.
Hot chicken noodle soup.
Warm on the INSIDE and OUTSIDE.
Perfect.



#4.
This awesome Princess thermos to eat the soup out of.
...also I'm eating it with my fingers because I'm too lazy/in pain to get a spoon.
But isn't it HAPPY??
:)

... it doesn't HAVE to be a princess thermos though... it could just be ANY happy container.
Just make sure it's happy.
You'll need it.


#5.
The knowledge that you are going through this so that someday you can have adorable, perfect, little babies. :)



#6.
Nap time.

Just sleep it off, girl.
That's MY plan at least!
Nighty night, dears.

Oh snap!

Aunt Charisse and her family were in town today! AND it's Haydin and Randi's birthday.
We went to the rodeo!
...and I didn't get any pictures...
But it was very Mormon and very cowboy and very dusty and very fun!

Then we came back home for cake and ice cream and hot tubbing!! :)




Oh yeah, Jarrett came too. I forgot to mention that. He came to the rodeo just because I asked him too. hahaha he was a little shocked by the hickness of it, I think. It was great.

ANYWAY.

So Jarrett borrowed a swimsuit from us...

And he changed in my room.

... and I may have found some evidence that we are a little too close.

...yup this is his underwear that he just left lying on my floor.
Seriously?
hahahahaha

And then he looked like this. and Andrea thought it was hilarious.
So I documented.


Aww besties. :)
...even if he does fart in my room without any trace of shame.


The end.


P.S. Anyone else see Jake's super duper special face in the above photograph? He did it on purpose and I thought it was hilarious.

It's the little things really...

... like how he wears Old Spice deoderant.
... like how he puts the roll of toilet paper coming over the top instead of under.
... like how he sneak attack kisses me randomly.
... like how he's a terrible speller and it makes me giggle every time I get a misspelled text.
... like how he tells me I'm beautiful almost TOO much. Crazy boy.
... like how he randomly texts me "...hi" just to let me know he's thinking of me
... like how we can be in a big group of people and he'll look at me with that one look and I can't help but smile.
... like how even just thinking about it makes me smile. :)

Bleghh

I feel sick to my stomach.
Like really really sick.
All of a sudden.
No bueno.
I might puke.
Like that one time in Haley Mills bathtub/on her rug/and on her floor.
Naturally, since I feel so sick, I am blogging. ?
I don't understand myself.

And I got lost driving for 45 min trying to find the stupid Mortuary Science building for class tonight. And I may or may not have been on the verge of bawling my eyes out in frustration. But I finally got there.
And when I got there it smelled weird. And there were people's ashes from cremation! ... and my super weird classmate wiped up some of the ash with her finger and SNIFFED it.
.. not gonna lie, I laughed. hahahahaha
She's so weird. All the time.

And then Richard was going to come over and FINALLY watch Nacho Libre with me!
... but then he didn't. :(

So I had to catch up on my hulu and paint my nails instead.

BUT Richard said I looked really good today. :)
That has pretty much kept me going.
And this family that I live with.
I seriously love them.
I love that Jake cries so easily and does his hair in a fauxhawk and actually gets my jokes and laughs at them.
I love that Ethan has long hair and is such a stud with the ladies and is so dang FUNNY!
I love that Lilly is so quirky and weird and she likes my opera music just as much as I do!
I love that Sarah is little mini me and has angry eyebrows and would run down the street with a huge chunk of cheese and make everyone wonder where she was just because, "I couldn't just stand there with a bunch of CHEESE!"
I love that Sam has the prettiest skin on the planet and he's just so darn CUTE! and he always gives me hugs when I least expect and most need them. :)
I love that Mike is basically just a big kid and does the dishes for his wife and makes the coolest cakes ever ever.
I love that Andrea knows how to do basically everything in the world including helping me with my resume and she can laugh at herself and always bounces back.

So basically the first part of this post was just really really whiny.
And my life actually rocks.
But I really might actually puke any second.
So I'll just leave it at that!
Good night, lovelies.
I hope you realize how GOOD you have it!

The Footie Adventures: Part One

Hey remember that one time I bought footies?

Oh yeah.
I made Jarrett go buy some too.


Look how happy he is to have FOOTIES!!



He seriously wouldn't stop modeling them. He loves them.



Naturally we had to take Footie Buddy pictures.








He was freaking out because his Footie was stretched so tight you couldn't see his butt.


FOOTIES!!



The footies turned on each other!! It was scary for a minute. Especially since Jarrett's penguins were pretty much TWICE as big as my lil monkeys.



They resolved their differences though. :)



That's it for now.
But don't you worry! There will be more adventures where this came from!

MAC A LOAF

Oh yeah. I took pictures of this.

I'll tell you!

Once upon a time Kyli Larsonface and I both had boys to cuddle with! Bronson Shipp for her and Austin Burnham for me! AND we were in the same city. Amazing. SO we decided to have an awesome 24 hour movie marathon.

The four of us were deciding what we wanted to make for food.
And of course mac n cheese came up because it is DELICIOUS.
And we were discussing that you must use 2% milk so it can be *creamy* and wonderful.
Then we were speculating what would happen if we used WHOLE MILK!
What if we BOILED it in whole milk??

WHAT IF WE BOILED IT IN CREAM?!?!

... then it would probably curdle and become like a ...loaf.

like a...

MAC A LOAF


And then genius was born.

And we laughed really hard at our silliness.

... but also made these shirts:


Underneath it says cheese, pasta, and cream in latin.
Yes, we are that awesome.
I know.

SO we always planned to actually try this. Just to see what would actually happen.

This was winter of 2008, mind you.

And I finally got around to it this weekend in Thatcher.

And I WISH I took more pictures of the process.. but I didn't.

SO the only ingredients I used were:
1 pint of whipping cream
1 packet of cheese stuff from a kraft mac and cheese box
1 box of noodles from a kraft mac and cheese box

So I poured all the cream in a pan.
Turned on the heat.
Stirred the cheese packet in til it was completely mixed in.
Then poured the noodles in.


I stirred and stirred until it came to a boil.


And then I kept stirring... hahaha

Once it was mostly solid and not so soupy...
I put it in a bread pan.


And then Kelene seemed to think it needed a buttload of seasonings. So she kept throwing in random ones until I finally made her stop!!

It still didn't seem finished to me..
So I put it in the oven for a while.

And it came out looking like this:


Puke!
I thought it was really super gross.
Kelene thought it was pretty good.
And Richard thought it was pretty gross too... but was so hungry he ate most of it.


It was surprisingly sweet.. because of the cream.. but was super greasy too for some reason... and also tasted weird because of all the spices Kelene put in it.

... overall a successful endeavor, I'd say!

Weekend Lovlies

This weekend was fabulous.




To be perfectly honest we were pretty boring most of the time.

Which was a little bit perfect.

..Thatcher has nothing to do anyway.




I felt a little bad... Richard might not be used to the boredom.

I only go there for my awesome FAMILY!
(He got to meet ALL of them at once! He's a trooper.)

But he said he likes them. :)
And they like him. :)
Mmmm.

The one most exciting thing we did all weekend was go shooting! Thanks to Uncle Eric and all his fun guns!

... This also happened to be basically the only time I took pictures.. sorry.

But here they are!


Driving to the shooting place! For some reason Richard got stuck carrying all the stuffed animals we were gonna BLOW UP!



I know, I know. We're the cutest.



We really do like each other, I promise.



See? :)



Hello Mr. Bulldog that Kelene will blow up.



This gun was fraaaaakin awesome.



Hello Mr. Bunny. Where'd your body go? OH I BLEW IT UP! BAHAHAHA



What a stud.



:)



BAHAHAHA we found the nose.



Kelene's before picture:



BAM BAM!



Kelene's after picture:



Oh mercy! Isn't he handsome? :) MmmMMmmmm



My PERSONAL favorite.



Playing with Jade. :)





It was a lovely weekend.
And stake conference was awesome.
And the movie Unstoppable was awesome! I recommend it. Yup.
The end. :)