Christmas

Welcome to my blog, where everything is special. And different. 

And it's Throwback Friday.

On first look, you could label this blog as a wanna-be Pinterest, 

but it's so much cooler than that. Let me tell you why.

I come up with an original idea. 

Something I want to create, whether for myself or others. This idea rolls around in my mind for a long period of time. I think about it every once in a while, and every time I do it gets better.

More inclusive. More complete. 

Eventually, the idea comes exploding out of me.

I create.

This Christmas, I chose to create a wall hanging for a great family that I have come to know,

The Wilson's.

They have lived in several places across the country. 

Naturally, a piece mapping all of these places seemed like an appropriate gift.

 Here's how it started. Cool, right?

I found some awesome, old, weathered pallets in the corral and went 

to work measuring, cutting, and sanding them to perfection. 

Well, artistic perfection. 

The map itself came next. I printed an outline of the United States, taped it onto the wood, and easily filled it in.

Genius.

 The next step involved making sure this piece would stay together!

My friends at Home Depot supplied me with brackets and hangers. 

Love those friends..

Chris and Abby supplied me with the cities

where their family had lived, and Google Maps

helped me find them.

Still not sure whether I got

all of the cities correct,

but hey. 

It's the thought that counts.

All that was left was to package it, and ship it off to its new home in Louisiana. 

I heard it arrived safely, and now hangs in the Wilson home. 

I love Christmas.

OKAY all, Throwback Friday is over. All over. 

Look forward to this tradition every Friday!

Actually... probably don't. We all know I'll forget about it. 

(my favorite past time)

Junior Year.

Is this real? Am I seriously old enough to be in my junior year of college?

Yep.

Last week, I worked on putting my room 

together in my new apartment. 

I love finding (or more often making) decorating 

items to fill space efficiently, and stylistically.

This year's theme? Bright, but not bubbly. Feminine, but not girly. Peaceful, but not traditional. And, of course, a theme that represents me.

 It began with these innocent looking circles. 

Okay, so it really began with these cute animals that Chris helped me cut out. 

What a nice guy he is.

I decided to have all the major animal groups represented. 

You know. 

Land, air, water, cats. Perfect.

In the end, I'm really happy

with this set up. I finally

get to display my tea cups and

painting/quotepaintedonacanvas.

Admittedly, it looks like a child lives here. 

Or at least a cute 12 year old. 

I'm 21. Nbd.

--a few of my favorite things--

halloweeeeeen.

I've never been too into Halloween, but this 

one has been pretty great so far.

I dressed up as Miranda Sings, 

the famous YouTube star.

                 



        Haters, keep on hating.

found some strangers to take pictures with, obviously.

Definitely got a lot of strange looks.

okay. lastly, I want to share the -best- 

YouTube video ever made. 

Best of all? It's appropriate for Halloween.

ENJOY.

~ favorite Halloween ever ~

it's a wonderful life.

Oh hello, long lost blog. It's been far too long. 

Fortunately, my life has been perfection

 while I've been gone.

 Let me catch you all up. 

Taking things WAAAAYYY back to May, lets

chat about Beijing, China.

For a girl who hasn't been east of Colorado, 

flying halfway across the world was quite a step. 

As you know, The USU Chamber Singers was invited to an international choral festival in Beijing. 

I have been blessed to be a part of this incredible 

choir for the past two years, and this trip 

is the culmination of all that hard work.

If you want more deets of this trip, you're gonna have to sit me down and ask. 

Old-fashion-style.

NEEEEXXXXTTTTT!!

Pine Basin.

a place where all become children again, laughter abounds, and dreams become reality.

If you haven't heard of PB before, 

your life is missing something really serious.

As the head girl's counselor, I got to see every single girl who came to Pine Basin blossom. I was with them when they woke up, played with them all day, and then sang them to sleep. What an experience. 

If you told me in May what I was going to learn and be a part of this summer, I would not have believed you. I would have laughed in your face. However, I would not be who I am this semester if it wasn't for this summer-- if it wasn't for all of the sweet 9-11 year old children that changed the way I viewed the world.

Laugh out loud, and often.

whew. made it though with minimal tears shed.

And now,  I'm back in Logan for another semester of school. My new major is Public Relations, and I am more happy than can be expressed. 

In the last six months I have gained two new sisters-in-law, 360 children, a stronger testimony of the truth in the gospel of Jesus Christ, a new supervisor position at my university, a new major, and a new -wonderful- man.

can life get better than this?

I submit that it cannot.

[ a few of my favorite things ]

Oh rats.

Confession:

I am beyond terrified of rats.

We're talking major fear, here. Like worse than spiders.

Anywho, I was innocently walking home from school today, when who did I see?!

SETH! We had a lovely reunion. Lovely.

Then, he got really excited and said he had some friends to introduce me to, 

so we walked home together. 

Then I met Abby and... (admittedly, I cannot remember the other one's name..) 

Not awkward to meet them. The awkward part? 

They are eight inches long.

with seven inch tails.

and cream and brown bodies.

plus, they live in a cage.

You probably can't tell, but I'm freaking out in this picture.

I don't mind them, except for their tails.. EW. 

And, when they run on the back of my neck.

BBBBbbbbbBBbBBBbBBBbb YUCK!!

Here is the proud Daddy with his new baby.

seriously. sick.

Okay, so basically I overcame a big fear tonight. All I have to say, is the sooner these rats move back to SLC, the better.

-- not my favorite things, but getting there --

Strength.

Friends.

I have an important announcement.

I'M ENGAGED!!

it's a ROCK, right?!

tee. tee hee hee.

In truth, that is a big fat lie. 

I did get a sweet new infinity ring at an antique

store today, but no diamonds. false.

Okay, bear with me on this next part.

Regina Spektor once wrote a beautiful, layered song.

It is called Samson.

"You are my sweetest downfall..

Your hair was long when we first met.

Samson went back to bed, not much hair left on his head.

He ate a slice of wonderbread and went right back to bed.

Oh I cut his hair myself on night, a pair of dull scissors in the yellow light, and he told me that I'd done alright."

So what I'm trying to say with this is..

I chopped my hair off.

I now have an awesome pixy cut, which I rock. Literally.

The faux hawk is my favorite. 

Samson. He, unfortunately, lost all of 

his power when Delilah cut his hair.

I, on the other hand, have gained it.

I feel like a million bucks. I have a

new confidence that is born from my

hair. I realize how ridiculous that sounds,

but it's the truth! My style is finally appearing. It's about time.

My strength is in my hair. 

I should have done this years ago.

DISCLAIMER.

No matter what you may think,

the chorus is def saying

"Oh yeah, I'm awesome, awesome, awesome."

This is a little silly, but I literally hear this 

song in my head when I'm walking sometimes.

It is my new theme song. 

I'm awesome.

Possibly sacriledge.. but He likes it too. See the shine? 

Sometimes I talk while being a model.

^^ Favorite Hair. Hands down. ^^

Adventure is out there!

Spring Break. I must be doing something right.

First, let me say that my plans for this evening

were quite different from what ended up happening.

I had just finished packing my rice crispies into the 

pan, ready for a quiet evening at home, when

 the apartment door opened and one

of my roommate's friends came in.

She poked her head in and told me she needed help putting a canoe on top of

her car. And told me to dress warm. 

Yep. We def just went midnight canoeing.

In a borrowed (stolen) canoe.

This gives you an idea of what I was seeing. Just a lot darker. 

It was so worth it though!

The water was like glass, and the moon was so bright.

We could see the mountains reflected in the water.

mmmm.

Now I'm home and getting warm in my bed, 

but I'll never forget this adventure. 

Sometimes we have to give up the monotony of our comfortable lives and do something spontaneous.

Let go. 

Allow yourself to get crazy.

Laugh.

Remind yourself that you are alive.

|/ A Few of my Favorite Things \|