Merry Christmas!

I absolutely LOVE this clip. Today was truly a wonderful Christmas and at the end of the day with family and friends, I realize even more what Christmas is really about. It's love, the love we have for family, the love we have for friends, the love we have for the Christmas season, and most importantly the love we have for a Savior. He is the reason for the season. I feel so blessed to know of him in my life. I will continue to constantly strive to be like him everyday. He is my Redeemer and my friend and I am so grateful for his example and birth into the world so many years ago.
Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Home For Christmas

SOOOOO good to be HOME!!!! Finals go by SO slow but it is always so much more enjoyable to be home afterwards. To be with the family, snuggle with the dogs, dance around to christmas music in the kitchen, eat way too many christmas treats than is healthy, party around the oregon place and crust some days. Really so so great to be with the family and back at my home! Love this time of year!

Life is a VERB

So I started reading this book called "Life is a Verb"...it basically is a 37 day guide to making life more meaningful and adventurous. Obviously I immediately fell in love with the book, and started my 37 day journey yesterday. It's been pretty good so far. I just hope i can stick with it...especially with finals around the corner. I might be off and on for a couple weeks but I'll come back to it! So for today's reading, it suggested to make a list of random, everyday things that make you happy. So these are just some of the things I came up with:

APPLES...I eat at least 1 every day, sometimes 2! They are a staple in my daily life and my favorite to eat are pacific rose, pink lady's, jazz, and honeycrisp. You will be my best friend if you give me a  great apple.

EXERCISE...I love working out. It keeps me sane. If I''m stressed, this is my way of handling it. The gym could be called my second home. You'd find me running, cycling, kick-boxing, doing zumba, yoga, pump...I love it all and am willing to try just about anything!

THE OUTDOORS...I love being outside. I love hiking, boating, snowboarding, camping...everything. I again would do just about anything that requires exploring or going on an adventure! I love the smells, the views, the exercise, and just being secluded from the world.

HOT COCOA...I could have some of this any time of the year. It warms my body and my soul.

SNUGGLING IN BLANKETS...yes I do appreciate snuggies but blankets in general make me really happy. A rainy Sunday, wrapped up in a blanket, while reading a book...umm ya love it.

PEOPLE...weird picture I know but I truly love all kinds of people. I love learning from them, hearing their stories, how they live their lives, how they grew up, traditions they have, etc. I just love being around different people and realizing how different we are but yer there is still so much in common.

SPOON ME SMOOTHIES...the spoonin in the dark with dark chocolate and strawberries has changed my life. I could have one EVERY DAY and not feel bad or get sick of them. They are amazing. Try one and you won't be disappointed.

GILMORE GIRLS...I forget how much I love this show. Yes it's cheesy, yes their town is not realistic, yes the people may seem crazy, and the acting might be sketch at times but I love this show and always will. It makes me laugh, it makes me cry and just makes me happy.

 

 RINGS....I love rings, I love getting new ones any time I can and especially want to learn how to make these bad boys (spoon rings). Pretty cool stuff, and I am definitely obsessed.

So this was my random list. Short and sweet and is definitely missing a lot of other things I'm grateful for but it's a little taste of me and what I appreciate! : )

Barbara Cage really knows her stuff.

This quote made me cry today...
It really put my life into perspective and made me realize I have a lot to do and a lot to face to make my dreams come true. They are going to happen tho don't worry. It is beautiful.
"The path to a dream is paced with sacrifices and lined with determination. And though it has many stumbling blocks along the way, and may go in more than one direction, it is marked by faith. It is traveled by belief and courage, persistance and hard work. It is conquered with a willingness to face challenges and take chances, to fail and try again and again. Along the way you may have to confront doubts, setbacks, and unfairness. But when the path comes to an end, you will find that there is NO greater joy then making your dream come true!"

-Barbara Cage

Look out world! That's all I can say : )

someone called me a hippie today and it made me REALLY happy

Sometimes I want to go back in time.
For a lot of reasons actually.

I'd love to meet Beethoven and jam out to some tunes with him.
I'd love to shake hands with George Washington...thank him for all he's done and then maybe try on his wig (in a completely respectful way).
I'd of course love to meet Christ and any other church leader...

BUT my recent thought of time travel has been because I've weirdly wanted to pay a visit to the 70's.
Mostly because someone called me a hippie this week...
and I liked it.

I realized at this moment that I would thoroughly enjoy just a week to really indulge myself in hippie life.
Buy the best polyester suit of all time (lime green preferrably),
Cover my arms in bracelets,
Disco dance the night away,
Wear the best headband of all time,
and finally go to the coolest concerts of the era.

Ya it would be a pretty good week.
And that is my random thought of life.
PEACE.
(and yes this is my hippie lover)

wasn't planning on crying this morning...

Every one has those days (especially in Provo for some reason?) where life just seems to weigh you down. Usually there's not a huge reason or specific event that makes me feel this way its just life in general. You're stressed about a test, worried about a sibling, boys are driving you CRAZY, you forgot to turn in a hw assignment, someone stole your parking spot, or you don't have milk for your cereal...the list could go on right? These are all stupid little things but some days they just put you over the edge! But today was not one of those days. I was having a pretty good morning. I surprisingly enjoyed the snow that I woke up to, got a little more sleep than normal, had an excuse to wear my uggs, AND found some really good music..which always makes me happy.

But  as I did my usual morning facebook check (why is it so addicting?), I had a HUGE wake up call. One of my best friend's old roommates, hopefully that made sense, had a status that just completely ripped my heart out. I have met her numerous times but really don't know her that well but through my best friend I found out that this past summer she lost her baby sister to cancer. I had heard that she had a sister that was sick but it wasn't until recently I found out that she had passed away.

Her status today was just merely saying how much she missed her sister and thought about her every day. One click led to another and I found myself reading her mother's blog about her daughter, found here. I read of her sister's story and the many experiences their family went through and I just started crying. This cute family lost their beautiful 13-yr old daughter and here I am having an occasional bad day, feeling sorry for myself over things that truly don't really matter.

I was completely moved by their story. It made me realize how selfish and consumed I get in MY life and just how there are so many people who go through these HARD, horrible things that you don't even know about. It doesn't seem fair. This family's just supposed to move on and live their life without someone who is so important to them. They have every reason to give up and be angry at the world and every one it but they keep going. They keep living. They have faith that everything will be ok.

They had days, I'm sure, that were not easy but have found light in our Savior and loving Heavenly Father and know that this life isn't the end. My heart just goes out to this family. I cannot even begin to try and imagine what they are going through but I know with Heavenly Father's help they will feel peace, love, and comfort that they can find in no other way.

I just was very humbled this morning and realized how blessed I am. I have so many wonderful people in my life that are so wonderful that I take for granted. I have so much to be happy about. I realized how I need to be doing so much more in my life for other people. I have been looking at everyone I pass today wondering what they are going through. Wondering what they are thinking about, what they are worried about, what makes them happy, what are they passionate about, what makes them laugh, what makes them angry, what is stressing them out, what's bringing them down, what keeps them going?? 

Every one has a story. We usually don't know what people are going through but we can do our part by loving everyone and doing more for them. It just hit me so hard today of how beautiful people are and how everyone is a child of God. EVERYONE on this earth was important enough for a Savior to suffer and die for us all. I want to do more to make people happy and feel loved because the sacrifice Christ made for all of us.  Our Heavenly Father loves us more then we can comprehend. He knows us personally. He knows the details in our lives and truly wants us to be happy. 

Sometimes horrible things happen in life. scratch that. Horrible things DO happen in life. Life isn't easy...it was never supposed to be. But it definitely is worth it and can be wonderful if we choose for it to be. It can be wonderful because of what we fill our lives with and spend our time doing. It is all in our attitude. There's a magnet on my fridge that says, "You do not FIND the happy life, you MAKE it." This is my motto...life IS what you make it. 

It is in the hard times you truly see what you are made of but we are NOT alone and never will be. All we need is to have faith in our Heavenly Father that he truly knows what is best, we must find happiness and beauty in everything around us, we must make the most of life and not take what we have for granted. There truly is so much to be happy about. 

When storms come, which they will, rely on the things that matter most. Put first things first and TRUST that things will always work out if you are doing everything you are supposed to. Find JOY in the journey...that is what leads us to the best destination!

my favorite

Today was a good day. The sun was out. The air was crisp. I could wear a jacket (notice I did not say COATS...there is a difference once snow comes into the picture). AND the trees are finally changing colors. It is finally fall.

Fall is my favorite. and Although, there is NOTHING better then fall in Oregon, Utah can come kinda close sometimes. Happy Tuesday!