THANKSGIVING BREAK!!!

I am so glad that I was able to go home to visit my family over the Thanksgiving break. I had such an amazing time. My family is the best. I am so grateful for them and the great laughs that we share together. Sarah was able to come home with me and spend a few days with the family. We had a great time!


Here we are in front of some random Casino at Stateline. The drive was very long, but we made it fun by playing random music games with our iPod.


My little nephew is SUCH a stud. This was taken in LA when we walked around Olvera Street. For the drive home Sarah and I got dropped off at a hotel an hour away from home. My dad came and picked us up and surprised me by having Jeremy in the car. I was really happy to see him!! I cant believe how big he is getting.


Me and my mommy. I have missed my mom so much. She is such an awesome woman. She gives me so much support and encouragement in all that I do. It was so good to be home and goof off with her.


SEEEESTER! I am grateful that I could spend some time with my sister. She is so amazing! Her and I have been able to have a close relationship as we have gotten older.


I am so glad I got to see my Grandma. She always has the best stories to tell us of her past. They are so wonderful to listen to.


We had the opportunity to go to Hollywood and walk around Hollywood Blvd. It was way fun. We found these glasses in a souvenir shop. This picture came out pretty awesome!


We HAD to take a picture with Mickey Mouse. This is sitting right outside a window where there is a restaurant. I bet the people who sit in the restaurant laugh at the tourists who take pictures of a Mickey statue.


By an Elvis statue.


I gave Jeremy a ride on my shoulders as we walked around LA.


We stopped in Utah on the way home and stayed there for the night. I hadn't seen my cousin Erin in over a year, so I called her up. I am so glad that I could visit with her.


We stayed with Sarah's friend CJ who she hadn't seen in over 3 years. We went bowling and met up with some of his friends. These guys were crazy fun!


CJ, Sarah, and I at the bowling ally.


The theme of the night seemed to be taking pictures while shaking our faces. It gave us a pretty good laugh.


More shaky faces. I end up laughing while trying to do it... this picture it just looks like I am about to sneeze.


When we woke up, there was snow EVERYWHERE and it was so cold! I definitely miss the California sun already!

Overall, Thanksgiving break was SO much fun. I enjoyed my time off of school. It was nice to relax and take it easy and be around friends and loved ones. I look forward to the Christmas break to spend more time with everyone!

a little inspiration.

so for some reason this week has been REALLY hard for me. maybe its the anticipation of going home in a couple days. maybe its the fact that i have an exam to take. maybe its the fact that i have watched 2 depressing movies that reflect real life events. not sure. but needless to say... feeling down has not been that great. tonight... a favorite quote came to mind, so i thought i would share.


When in the pursuit of happiness, one should stop and just be happy

WINTER is HERE!

Fall is gone now... and winter has set in. It has basically been snowing ALL week here. Last year I was SUPER excited for the snow. I woke up and saw the blanket of white and I was completely enthralled because I had never really been in snow. However, this year after surviving an entire winter in Rexburg... I was not too excited to wake up and see snow everywhere. After going out to a delicious pizza dinner on Tuesday, Sarah, Michael, and I thought we should "warm" up to the snow and go play in it... I think it might have helped!

Sarah and I making our snow angels.


After making our snow angels, playing in the snow turned into a full on war of Sarah and I trying to attack Michael. Needless to say, we were pretty much a failure at doing so. We tried picking up snow and throwing snowballs at him... but he was just to dang fast. At some point he picked me up and ran with me... lucky for me he had mercy on me and didnt throw me in the snow.


Since I did not wear gloves.... my hands were really cold! Michael let me warm my hands under his arms. A little weird... yes... but hey it works! Sarah, Michael, and I had a blast playing in the snow... it makes me a little more excited for winter to be here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ME!!!

SOO I pretty much had an AMAZING birthday!! It all started at MIDNIGHT with a phone call from my roommate Sarah because I wasnt home just yet. We decided to go to Denny's in Idaho Falls at 1:30 in the morning because I got free breakfast.

Our waiter was a total hippie! Here he is bringing us our water.

I honestly cant say what happened in this picture... but it just looks typical of me and Sarah.

We went in our PJs... real classy huh?

My FHE brothers left this on the door for me. They are way awesome.

Here is a close up of the sign that they left me.

So my friends took me out to dinner. There was a lady making balloon creations. OF COURSE they called her over and told her it was my birthday.... so she made me this ridiculous Viking hat....

Even more embarrassing...they brought out a saddle... and I had to sit on it (in my hat) while they sang happy birthday to me. Even though it was a little awkward and embarassing it was fun!

Michael and I

The whole group who I got to spend my birthday with. LOVE these people!

Nico and I

Halloween FUN!

Halloween is a fun time! However, this year I dont feel I really got into the whole Halloween thing... I dressed up Friday night. We went to a dance party, but we did not stay very long.

SO HOW COULD I NOT POST THIS PICTURE? Its a classic picture of how weird Sarah and I are.


We dressed up as 3 fairies.. someone gave us the idea to say that we were Flora, Fauna, and Meriweather from Sleeping Beauty.... we could go with that!


The best friend and I.


So Sarah and I were kind of over the night, and we were just driving around... and we saw THESE walking down the street. I had to get out of the car and get a picture of them. Best costume ever? I kinda thought so.


We went and saw our friend Michael who we hadnt seen in awhile. It was fun.

bucket list

So I got this idea from my friend Leigh's blog... and I thought it was a good idea. Here is my current list of things I want to do before I die.

I want to go to Italy.
I want to get married in the San Diego Temple... or Los Angeles.
4 kids. I really want to be a mom and to have a family.
At some point I want to get my PhD
I want to work with special needs kids and make a difference in their lives.
I want to go to New York and buy something at an expensive store. Its ok to splurge at least once in your life... right? I will also see a Broadway show while there.
I want to go to Paris.
I want a dog. and a cat. and a horse. and a pig. basically I should just live on a farm.
I want to be a park ranger for a summer.

Is it sad that this is all I can think of right now?

LOVING the Fall!

So this is my favorite time of the year! All the colors are SO beautiful. The weather has been perfect lately. However, it is starting to get cold--and snow is on its way soon. Sarah and I had some friends come visit us this weekend from Oregon... so us girls decided we wanted to have a fall photo shoot. Here are some of the pictures we took.

It was a little bit chilly, but it was still a nice day.


We wanted a picture of all of our boots togehter--but we were by ourselves so we thought we would be artistic.


As we were driving away, there was a couple, so we pulled over and asked them to take our picture. The wife pulls out a nice camera and said "how bout we take some pictures of you girls." Her husband took our camera and shot a few while she was taking pictures.


BESTIES. I am so blessed to have Sarah as my roommate. We have so much fun together! I am glad that we will be able to be roommates again in the winter... and hopefully the spring.


This is one of the pictures that the lady took for us. We were so lucky to have bumped into the couple. They were such warm-hearted people! It was awesome.