HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!! :)

GUYS.

life.

life. is amazing. :)

I. LOVE. THIS. KID. :) :)

nephews. simple joy of life. :)

I like to dance.

I've always been somewhat extremely flexible.

Limbo?

I win.

ALWAYS.

except on Friday...

there was a guy that was INSANE.

CRAZY!

Wicked good. Better than me.

He won the limbo contest at our stake institute dance.

BARELY.

I took second.

And I wouldn't have a problem with this at all,

except that

this was a YSA stake institute dance.

YSA.

Emphasis on the SINGLE.

HE WAS MARRIED.

What the heck was he doing there??

It's not like he was a chaperone or stake leader or anything...

He was like our age!

I don't know for sure if he has any affiliation with my Young Single Adult stake,

but I'm pretty sure he doesn't.

And I'm pretty sure I should have won.

whatevs.

Perry would have wasted him. :)

 life?

life is good. :)

Food Network!!! :) MAJOR points if you read this whole thing.

...hhhhhi. :)

I've decided to come back to the blogging world!

My sincerest apologies for leaving... I actually love blogging

[if you can call it that- my posts are a little less than traditional. :)]

and I just got out the habit of keeping up any of the

THREE

blogs that I have.

What happened?

Well, for a while my absence was due to crazy busy-ness.

Heard that one before?

Take a small glimpse of what I was looking at:

FALL SEMESTER
 Mondays and Wednesdays:

6:00AM: Running with brothers and sister-in-law.
6:30 - 730: Get ready for classes. Usually just wore sweats or basketball shorts. Ate breakfast, gathered materials, tried to do something quick but not completely sloppy with my hair. Gotta impress the boys, you know? ;)
7:30: Walk with roommates to campus.
8:00: Flexibility Class (disclaimer... my classes this semester were fun classes... long story. basically I was in between majors and couldn't do much else.)
9:00: New Testamant (LOVED.)
10:00 - 11:00: Homework time. There was always a plethora.
11:00: Weight Training. Teacher was BOMB. :)
12:00: Living with Plants. yes. Living with Plants. Filled my GE biology requirement.
1:00-2:00: Homework break #2.
2:00: Bowling. So much fun in this class. :)
3:00: ASL (American Sign Language) LOVED!
3:50-4:15: Walk home.
4:15-5:15: Take a cold shower. Literally. After walking 25 minutes to and from campus, Flexibility (we actually did get sweaty in that class, though minimally), Weight Training, walking up and down a 105-step staircase four times walking to and from classes, and doing this all in 85 degree weather, you tend to get a little... gross. hence, sweats/basketball shorts. hence, cold shower (which was DIVINE) with blasted music. more fun that way. :)
5:15: Back to campus. Usually drove.
5:30-7:00: Samoan (LOVE THIS LANGUAGE!!!)
7:00-7:30: FHE (on Mondays)
7:30: Leave for work.
8:00-12:00: Work


The other days of the week were just about as marathon-ish, but these were my worst. And, if you can imagine, Winter Semester was WORSE. Absolutely a nightmare. I still took 15 credits, but my class schedule was actually a lot more consolidated. However, due to opportunities that opened up, I found myself working a new job from 9:00-1:00, (with running and an 8:00 class before that on Mondays and Wednesdays), class almost nonstop from 1:00-7:00 on Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:00-5:00 on Tuesdays or 1:00-8:00 on Fridays, and then work at my original job until midnight except on Mondays and Thursdays. And then Fridays I had Lu'au practice from 6:00AM-8:00AM. Then Saturdays I had Lu'au practice #2 from 2:00PM-4:00PM. Mix in planning activities for my ward in there with its respective meetings and responsibilities, and you get crazy busy-ness. There was one week in particular where I had 5 hours of unscheduled time. FIVE. THE WHOLE WEEK. (not including the few hours of sleep I was getting every night) I constantly had to be somewhere! I will NOT be doing that again.


So that was my school year, and summer has not been much different as far as being very scheduled. I do have LOTS more unscheduled time now, but my days are still pretty full. However, they are filled with fun things like rock climbing, baseball games, FHE, ward activities, work, Zumba, Institute, movie nights, and spontaneous fun times! I'm usually doing something, and it's usually something I love. :)

So. I am now incorporating blogging into my schedule of fun. Because I like blogging. And quite frankly, I need to come back to my little realm where I just spout off whatever the heck I want to without fear of judgment because

let's face it.

you all love it.

:)

And I love it!

bloggers,
it's good to be back. :)

what's green and has wheels?

...grass. I lied about the wheels. :)

I CAN FINALLY DO THIS BRAID!!! Learned this on Youtube. Took me forever. So. awesome. I love braids! :)

ladies and gentlemen,

life? life is good. :)

HOLY BLOGGER. I've obviously been gone for a while.

ROCK CLIMBING.

holy cow,

I'm obsessed.

Bouldering?

goodness-

it's a blast. :)

So I go to work,

get viciously waved at by people 

that make me smile SO big,

buy a Jamba,

sit outside on a bench 

underneath a beautiful tree with purple buds

and write love notes.

Then I go to work,

get a ride to my car by a beautiful loved one,

drive home on a gorgeous spring evening,

and go rock climbing with my siblings.

5.9 and V2 = my max.

makes me happy. :)

Pitching practice on the front lawn follows

until the sun goes down,

and then a chocolate cookie 

with Farr's vanilla ice cream on top.

Run-ins with viciously waving people again. :)

and all the while I can't help but think to myself:

(you know the words)

life?

life is good. :)

I took these a couple weeks ago,

but look at the gold on the branches on this tree! SO beautiful!

this is beautiful. :)

Good news! I'm not dead! :)

Not like I was anywhere close, though. :)

Dearest Bloggers.

I want to tell you about this little notebook that I've started:

[insert picture of book here]

Sorry, that'll have to do for now because I am at work

(when it's been 50 mintues and 43 seconds since your last call and you're off soon anyway, I say it's ok to blog. What else am I going to do? sleep, if blogging didn't keep me awake. bam. :) Don't worry- I don't abuse my internet access unless we are completely dead. like now!)

and I can't bluetooth a picture I could take with my phone of this book to this computer.

(or at least, when I wrote this, I was at work.)

So I'll put it in later. :)

But pretty much, I found this book at the bookstore one day and almost didn't get it.

But then I decided to.

It has a sun on it. :)

Sooooo I bought it. :)

Then I decided to put things that make me SO happy in this book-

anything that makes me smile REALLY BIG. :)

It's the best thing ever!!! I love this!! :)

I don't have much in it now,

but one day,

it's gonna be full,

and Imma have to go buy another book.

One day,

or some days,

it could lift my spirits when I need it,

or just want it. :)

One day,

or some days,

my beautiful kids could stumble upon it and

1: think their mom is crazy. cause I am. and

2: smile just as big as me. :)

but who knows? :)

I have letters/texts/notes in this book,

pictures,

scriptures,

and favorite things in here.

Even some song lyrics on the title page.

I anticipate adding much more.

Maybe some grass and flowers and even dirt or sand or rocks when spring/summer comes.

Maybe I'll even catch some sun inside.

don't doubt my abilities. Do you know who I am? ;)

Maybe I'll take apart a Hallmark card and add sounds into my book.

SWEET!!! I'm doing it. :)

Funny stories.

Songs.

Sweet memories.

I'll paint my lips with lipstick, or maybe even some chalk, or maybe even some real paint and stick my smile straight in there!

But this book will be tangible evidence of the happiness and blessings the Lord has blessed me with.

evidence that

life?

life really is good. :)

Are you a "Rock, Paper, Scissors" or a "Paper, Rock, Scissors" person?

Also.

Today is my 3-year mark of the day when I met Captain Jack Sparrow at Disneyland.

Autograph first.  In the time of this picture, that autograph book was 9 years old. I still have it. :)

 Picture time.

Me: "Can I get a picture with you?"

Jack Sparrow: "Sure, love *drapes arm around my shoulders ready to pose*- where are we looking?"

Me: *turning around to face my mom, who has my camera ready.* "Right there."

Picture one. :)

My mom didn't know if it had taken a picture or not, so we stood in this position for like 2 minutes.

Then he started to flip my ponytail around. Notice in this picture:

I was so happy.

You can tell when I'm seriously so happy in pictures because my eyes get all squinty.

Dreams do come true, guys. :)

ALSO.

I have yet another blog.

Also for a class.

Also, I'll probably keep it even when the class is over.

But it's a self-directed project for my New Testament class.

A blog about my study of faith in the first half of the New Testament.

So no, posts won't be random like they are on this blog and on f150 fRESH.
Click here to find it. Also, the link is on my sidebar of both of my blogs. :)

Right now, there's only a kind of "intro" post.

But feel free to take a gander.

It'll most likely be updated at least once a week.

guys,

even when life sucks,

it doesn't.

it never does. :)

life is so good. life is such a beautiful thing.

and family?

family is better. :)

please can you tell me what you love about life? I just want to know! It would make me so happy to hear about what makes YOU smile and fills YOUR heart with joy and makes YOUR eyes sparkle! I want to hear about the things that YOU love so much! just for fun. :)

My views of the environment are totally conflicting.

So Avril Lavigne.

Your opinion?

Here's mine: I love her.  I also don't love her.  I'd say it's a love/hate relationship, but I don't hate her.  Therefore, I don't refer to it as a love/hate relationship.

I currently have one of her songs stuck in my head.

Also:

life? life is good. family is better. :)

(READ THIS ONE!) So I like this kid. BUT... I'm kind of a wuss. ugh.

K.

So whenever I'm about to do something scary, I just stop thinking.

Remember how I'm kind of a wuss?  So jumping off of cliffs at Lake Powell does scare me a bit when I look down and see how high up I am.

So I stop thinking and jump.

And I love it.

Same thing with this rope swing that I just went on.

I was terrified.  I kept saying that I didn't want to get cold (the water was FREEZING!), which was true, but I was terrified.

So I stopped thinking and jumped.

And I loved it.  ...after I wasn't submerged in ice water anymore... ;)

Also loved some other things that happened... :)

So I was thinking today:

Why is it that I can just stop thinking in order to do something scary that is so rewarding after?  Aren't we told to think before we act?

Then I realized.

When I stop thinking, it's because I trust those around me, and I trust the situation.  If it was really something dangerous, don't you think that someone would stop me?  I put complete trust in these people and then I just go and then realize how much I love doing scary things.

Same concept:

When we trust in our Savior completely, and we do everything we're supposed to be doing, when something scary comes up, we can just jump.

So like when you're afraid to go sit by or talk to this boy that you really like (for example, of course), you can know that if you're doing everything you're supposed to, and you trust in the Savior, you can just go.  

Jarom 1:9

 9 And thus being prepared to meet the Lamanites, they did not prosper against us. But the word of the Lord was verified, which he spake unto our fathers, saying that: ^aInasmuch as ye will keep my commandments ye shall ^bprosper in the land.

Just jump!

JUST DO IT.

Learn to put complete trust in your Savior.

Hebrews 12:1-2

1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the ^asin which doth so easily ^bbeset us, and let us run with ^cpatience the race that is set before us,

 2 Looking unto Jesus the ^aauthor and ^bfinisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him ^cendured the cross, despising the ^dshame, and is set down at the right hand of the ^ethrone of God.

Learn to lay aside those things in life that weigh you down, and the sin which just harasses you from all sides, and run the race with patience.  Look unto Jesus and trust in him.

Think about the person on this earth that you trust more than anyone else.

If you can trust them completely, you can trust your Savior and Redeemer completely.

Everything will work out once you do it.

1: Lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset you,

2: Run the race with patience,

3: Look unto Jesus and put all of your faith and trust in him,

4: Go. :)

I can promise it will be rewarding.

life? even when I want to say that I suck at life and even when things are a wee bit hard to figure out and deal with,

life is good. :)

I love this kid. :)