Families that BOAT together....STAY together

So to start off...I hope my future man knows that a boat is for sure part of the plan because it is my FAVORITE thing on earth to do! I would go every day if I could. Especially if it's on my heaven "Shasta Lake".



This year was our 6th year going to this blessed lake as a family and as usual it was a blast! We got to go with our good friends the Millas and Westies and Bryce and Vicki's family came too. We had a lot of people but such a good time.


I'm pretty sure this week goes by faster then any week of my life...but it is super busy. Here's some highlights of the week...






Tender pro "all-Natural" hats....a true oregonian hat so naturally we posed with them on


So...one day one of the papas forgot to leave keys so we had to fit 12 people in 1 truck. It was tight and megan and i didn't appreciate because we got put in the back


oh HEY family!!!


Tube Wars!!


Knee-Boarding Wars...the best!!


The NATURAL not "Man Made" slide hahaha SO FUN!!


SISTAS & SHASTA = perfection


HOME SWEET HOME hahaha

SO FUN!!! Can't wait to be back there next year : )

believe with your heart that life is happening exactly how it was meant to

So again I have SO MUCH to speak about because with "all the time I have" I haven't updated the blog! But this summer has been pretty fun so far! I started out with two weeks of EFY in Tacoma, Washington and had an amazing time. The theme this year was Courage to Stand Strong with my fav scripture (Joshua 1:9) as the motto. My first week I had 14-15 yr olds who were so great! I love how most of them have never been to EFY before and feel so awkward about it at the beginning but by the end of the week they have grown to love it and wanna come back every year. My second week was truly amazing as well. It was my first week to have 16-18 yr olds and it truly was the perfect way to end my EFY experience. They were unbelievable and I truly learned so much from them. It was the first time I had kids in my group that really felt like my friends. My co Sky was the best and our boys were amazing too. It really was one of the best weeks ever and made me realize why EFY is so amazing. Not only do we get to have opportunities to teach and prepare and study over lessons we're teaching but we get to learn from the youth and kids we work with. Their testimonies and experiences strengthened me more then I imagined and it truly was such an amazing couple weeks and I am so grateful I had the opportunity these past two summers to experience EFY. I definitely recommend it to everyone!

Here's some tender moments throughout the weeks...



All my cute TAC 2 girls <3



dancin with my homies



My cute group TAC 2- Cannot be Controlled : )




oh the crazies...backstreet boy wannabez



My Girl AMANDA GAR!! Love her SO SO much!! This was our 2nd yr working together and I just look up to this woman so much...she truly is amazing.



Me and Kenz love her....i had to add the way cool b/w photo she edited!!



All my boys <3

Some Sunday Thoughts...

OH HEY!! Life has been CRAZY lately!! Just finished my first week of EFY at Tacoma 1 and had such an amazing week!! My group was amazing and I learned so many things about myself, others, the gospel, and just what I still want to become. Experiences like EFY always tend to do that...put my life into perspective and allow me to realize what I need to work on and do in my life to improve. It was truly amazing and I can't wait for this next week of EFY...Tacoma 2!

Unfortunately in order to do these EFY session I had to miss out on the 4th of July festivities with the family. I was SUPER bummed about this since the 4th is seriously my favorite holiday. It's summer, there are fireworks, BBQs, family, tender moments where you realize how blessed you are, and just being together : ( So to feel better about being alone at UPS all day I watched Love Happens on my computer and of course I would have a deep thinking experience while watching it. I honestly forgot how much I love this movie and while I was watching I realized first off just how much I love people. Life to me truly is about the relationships we make with other people and doing everything you can to help others and effect their lives. I want to do more to leave an impression on people and to give more of my time to helping other people. Second...I realized all the things I still need to do in my life. I have so much to live still and I need to make it HAPPEN!

There's a quote the main guy says that seriously cut into my soul because it really is my life. He said,

"Everybody knows what they want...they just have too many obstacles and excuses that get in the way of it."

Oh weird that's exactly what I do! Ugh...NO MORE tho. I'm making a plan and making things happen this next summer and year. Just watch! I decided I wanted to make a post of all the things I wanna do so I can look back here and be reminded and hopefully cross some things off. This time in my life is about making these things a reality and doing something with my life instead of waiting until it is convenient. It NEVER will be convenient so I have to make TIME for them! So here comes the list:

1. I want to TRAVEL THE WORLD...





It's pretty obvious where I wanna go the most : )



Ahhh!! I crave a new experience, a new culture, a new language, new people, and a new way of life!! I have to get out and experience part of this huge world. No more excuses...GET A JOB, APPLY FOR GRANTS, AND GO!!! That's my new motto anyway...I will not regret this at all I know it : )




2. I want to WRITE MUSIC!!





Words really CAN'T describe how much I love music...it makes me feel alive and brings out a side of me that a lot of people never know existed. It describes so much of who I am and want to be. There are few people that truly appreciate and understand music and I truly feel I am one of them. It's more then just a hobby it's part of me and is AMAZING!

I want to make time and write songs that describe me and things I have gone through. The time is now to really write I just need to sit down and DO IT!



3. I want to REALLY get into BIKING...



I will Do a Road Race and Triathlon...i'm scheduling them as SOON as possible : )



4. Make Jewelry and start an Etsy shop with many other cute things...



5. Live in a City for a summer or even a yr...maybe go there for grad school?



6. Do a Humanitarian Trip : ) I wanna work with cute little children!



7. Run a Half Marathon



8. Get into Photography...



And Take Pictures Like These...



9. I want to make my life REAL...I want to be real with people, I want to be real with myself, I want to be me at all times. No more feeling like I need to be certain kind of person at some times and another person at other times. I want to be me all of the time. I want to spend my time with people...serving them and loving them.



Life is beautiful and I want to make it even more beautiful by constantly LIVING my life. Not waiting around for something great but constantly making it great. As Hannah Montana would say...Life's What You Make It! So Make it Count! I may be adding more to this list from time to time so stay tuned : )

a tender provo river float...

So...last year around Memorial Day Tayler, Lilian and I all decided we were gonna float down the Provo river. Everyone decided we were crazy and that we would never really do it. But what happened...we tubed down the river. Not only did we conquer that beast last year but we loved it so much we decided we had to do it again!







This time we talked some more people into joining us...



OH HEY LIZ!!!



If only we could bring a camera along for the ride but it would definitely get ruined. It's about a 2 hour float and basically we become enemies with every fisherman along the way because our huge tubes scare off their future dinner and we maybe sometimes bulldoze them over but its still totally worth it. We also saw some beavers and seriously the most beautiful scenery. It was pretty cold considering it is snow melt, but with the sun shining and our cute water shoes...



it was a little more bearable than last time...we all made it back in one piece!!





Me and Tay's second time of surviving and don't worry we would do it tomorrow if we could!



We had a ton of fun!!!







Definitely a must if you are in the Provo!!

VIVA LAS VEGAS!!

So...sometimes it's necessary to get out of Provo for a bit. So what are the options? Well Vegas is one of them. At least that's what we came up with when figuring out our weekend plans! We (Chucks, Amanda, C, Liz, and Michael) all went to the tender Golden Nugget to stay and it was surprisingly really nice and cheap! Like secretly I would stay here every time.



I mean look at this POOL!!!



We got to meet up with Dee for a bit too! It's always so good to see her : ) Then we got to walk the strip and explore the few good things that are there (cuz there's a lot of nasty haha) WE stopped at NYC...



then Serendipity's...we had to have some frozen hot choco!! Seriously...this is heaven in a cup...



Then Michael began his tender look at us whenever we might've been annoying him...lets just say this was only the beginning of this face haha oh how we love him!!



Then we visited the M&M store...it's always necessary especially when they introduce new flavors!



All in all Vegas was a fun getaway trip! It's definitely not my first choice cuz it does get pretty scummy in the city but with good people and plans it's a pretty fun place to visit!



And as always...what happens in Vegas STAYS in Vegas...