It's Here!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep. The big week. It's here, right now, today.

Finals Week

So, I will continue to be MIA, but I have some fun things to blog about that maybe I will get around to this weekend, so stay tuned, because well this drought is over! :)

For now, enjoy some things that are making me laugh this week.

I love this band. They are great.

also this one, but the video... kinda weird...

Please Excuse My Neglect

It's been awhile, I know. To my credit, school is kicking my trash right now. It seems like its essay after essay after project after essay anymore. Oh, and I went to mexico, celebrated my nieces 5th birthday, my mom's birthday {I won't include her age because I guess after 40 it's a sensitive subject....}, my grandma's 91st birthday, Halloween, and a participated in a whole slew of other fun activities.

I am sorry though and I solemnly swear I will get better....

.....in a few weeks. because I only have like 6 weeks left in this semester! YIKES!

For now though, I will treat you all to a glimpse of my October.

Grandma's 91st Birthday! This woman is great. She has pretty advance dementia, and doesn't remember much. While we were there, she kept asking where her mom and dad were at. I never even knew them, they've been gone for quite awhile. She just kept asking though, and finally my grandpa just pointed up and said "they are up there." Not appreciative of that answer she defiantly said "No they aren't!" I was feeling sad and a little awkward at that point but my grandpa just laughed and pointed down and said "well then they are down there..." ha. {I sure hope that if I live to be 90 years old, my sense of humor is as sharp as his is!}

These are all from our trip to mexico last week.. well two weeks ago. It was so good to get away for a little while, but in the morning it was so cold! I got up SO early because one of my favorite things to do there is watch the sunrise, well as you can probably tell, I'm a wimp and it was cold! My nose was frosty, and that was the best way to keep it warm. hehe...

Happy Birthday to my favorite and the best mom EVER! She is probably one of my best friends these days, and I regret not talking to her more when I was younger. She always gives me sound advice and is looking out for what is best for me all the time. I meant to devote a whole post full of funny stories and fond memories, but the time escaped me. I love you mom and I'm so blessed to be your daughter! 

You see that blister on my 4th toe? Yeah.. that's from roasted starburst drippings..don't ask, but it did leave a pretty nasty scar. awesome.

S'mores. nothing better. 

This is from Mexico too, but I am just so proud of it. I'm no photographer, but pat me on the back because this is one good photo!

A bunch of other exciting things have happened too like getting letters from a certain special missionary :) and  plenty of other blog worthy things. But I have to have stuff to talk about next time right? 

I almost forgot! Today I was trying to be scholarly and read an article about diversity in education. Well I came across a phrase that implied high standards are discriminatory. I know you're all thinking "wait what?!?" I know I was. No wonder the US is in the condition it's in... sheesh. I was so mad I could barely finish the article. 

I want to finish with this last funny little gem. This weekend my mom and I were both sick. We both laid in bed most of the day watching excessive amounts of Netflix and taking long naps. Well when my dad came home and realized he was probably on his own for dinner guess what he did. Most men I know would just go to the nearest fast food chain and get something quick and easy. My dad? No, he microwaves himself a polish dog. {barf!} Classy, right? Just wait it gets better. a few hours later I hear him rustling around in the pantry. I guess for a snack he had a bowl of Cap'n Crunch.... If you know my dad you know that he has the same sense of humor as a 13 year-old boy, and I guess he eats like one too! What a funny guy! I sure love him!

Oh and no worries Momma and I are both on the mend! :)

xoxo

-E

Gets Me Every Time.

This video touches my heart.

The truths testified in it make me cry every time I watch.

I hope it brings hope or peace to someone that might need it today.

Feel free to share it with the world :) 

Enjoy!

xoxo

-E

*I promise my next post will have lots of fun pictures of my fun weekend. but first ... midterms... barf.

Oh I just can't wait...

...for Christmas.

haha. but really, lets be honest. This hot weather? Has got to stop. I mean tomorrow is October for Pete's Sake. 

It's a joke right? I wish.

Some other things I'm excited about.....

School, kinda. It has been so hard, and is pushing all of my buttons right now, but I really do love it. Aaannndd, I changed my major.....again.... but I think I'm done changing.

I colored my hair for the first time! I guess I should say I put a little color in my hair. Its kind of the ombre? look. It's very subtle because I was so nervous, but I la la LOOOOVE it!

See, you can hardly tell, the ends are lighter mostly.

I'm excited for November, because my sister is coming home to visit for like a day... WOOT!

And mostly for Wednesday. You see, I have this friend, that I care dearly for, and in April he had to come home from his mission because his companion messed up big time. I know everyone is always like whaaa?? but it was sad. He has been such a trooper for the last six months and has faced this challenge with such determination to get back out and finish his last ten months. Well, this week he finally gets to. If you knew some of the junk that has happened this last little while you would be doing the same happy dance I did. I cried I was so happy.

Well last night he and I went out. While I am SO unbelievably happy and proud of him, I find myself feeling sad (for myself). It's bittersweet, but mostly sweet.

This is the most recent picture I have of us, it's from prom in 2010 but it will have to work. That seems like forever ago. 

Good luck Elder, you'll be getting my letters soon! :)

XOXO

-E

essay frustration

Don't worry. I've only been staring at this screen for the last 45 minutes... 

bghghgthyt5665trt6 <-- the result of me beating my head against the keyboard....

Someone please put me out of my misery. or write my essay. either one. 

not feeling the x's and o's this time.

-E

heavy heart

How do you make someone feel loved?

How do you show people you appreciate them?

Today I was talking to my parents and we were joking around and my dad said something like why should I care whether or not people like me. I don't even like me.

whatever sounds/images/feelings you can associate with a breaking heart, insert them here. I was am so sad. How am I supposed to change that? 

Please. any input helps. 

xoxo

-E

Overcome

Do you ever feel so blessed that you don't know what to do with yourself? Like you're about to burst at the seams with gratitude/love/happiness/joy/every good feeling imaginable?

Today that's how I feel, but I also am feeling so humbled. What have I done to deserve such blessings in my life? I don't know, but I know that I am going to dedicate my life to the Lord to attempt to repay such a glorious debt. My heart is so full of gratitude and love, and my thoughts are turned to a beloved hymn. How Great Thou Art.

{via}

"And when I think, God, His Son not sparing,

Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in.

And on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,

He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee!

How Great Thou Art, How Great Thou Art."

{via}

Happy Sabbath! :)

the past little while

So things have been a bit crazy {as usual} around here. But I am going to make up for it right now with some highlights, and snip-its from the last little while.

I'm going to put these like they happened in my head, so if they don't make sense I'm terribly sorry.

Last Thursday: That moment when you come home and the truck is in the driveway the car is in the garage, but no one is inside or outside, and then you find a plate with that nights dinner sitting on the table and there is till half of it left....... Panic. luckily they walked in soon after that.

also he is a little bit ridiculously good looking.

I think I've been watching The Mentalist too often. It's messing with my head.


Fall Decorating is done! Can I tell you how happy that makes me? Probably not. It's so great. especially after it's been SOOO hot here for the past few weeks. Now that my inside looks festive it's time for the outside to get that way. Jump on it mother nature! Here's a little peek :)

My classes are kicking my trash a little. Normally I love reading, but I HATE being forced to read, especially those textbooks that are worded for people with abnormally high functioning brains, which I will admit I don't have... but I'm learning, and that's a major plus.

HA! I wish!

I've been getting to know some pretty awesome people both at school, and in my ward. I told my mom the other day that I'm so grateful to be who I am. For some reason or another I have discovered that it is easy for me to converse with others. I bet some people think I'm crazy or annoying, but I just LOVE meeting new people.

And now, Labor Day Weekend. I must be pretty crazy. My parents went out of town for the weekend, and left me here alone. I'm talking house all to myself. PARTY? yeah, no. What did I do all weekend? Friday I stayed up late (like midnight, pathetic right?) and watched movies, Saturday I cleaned most of the house, did some laundry and then went out with some friends. Sunday I went to church and stuff and went to bed at about 9:30ish. This morning I got up at five, and now I find myself doing some more cleaning and laundry and then I'm going to do homework. Yay for no life.

also I made myself a legitimate breakfast for champions! check it out.

Potato, peppers, eggs, bacon, YUM! I feel a new hobby coming on... oh no.. 

If you have any good recipes you'd love to share, I'm open to ideas :) 

Oh and happy Labor Day folks! I hope everyone had a fantastic 3 day weekend.

Summer lovin'

So I guess now that summer is over I should post about how I definitely didn't finish my bucket list. oops. I did, however, do a bunch of other fun things that aren't on that list. So lets begin with this list.

I actually am surprised at how well I did.

I kind of learned to sew, meaning I started a skirt, and then put it on hold when the zipper I got was too long. But I made a cute one for a friend, I will have to get some pictures.

the gym? What? ha I'm a little embarrassed about that one.

So read 3 good books can also mean watch the entire/most of 3 good tv series on netflix right? because that definitely happened...

I'm in 3rd Nephi of the Book of Mormon, so I'm pretty close

apparently girls don't like geo-caching. whatever. I think its cool.

Go out for breakfast? I don't even know what I was thinking.

Also take tons of pics should probably not be crossed off. I slacked a little bit... 

But at least now you all have a pretty good idea of what I did this summer. I also worked on the farm, I helped renovate a super disgusting house, I spent lots of time on the computer.. haha, and ummm just relaxed? I don't know.

Summer was good to me. Now i'm ready to be done with 110 degree weather. Bring on the 60's-70's. I LOVE Autumn. 

And now back to my mountain of Homework. i love college... 

I didn't even do this on purpose

So I was just going through some music, trying to decide what I felt like listening to. Well, I just picked songs and put them in a playlist and this is what happened.

I think my subconscious is trying to tell me something...

I PROMISE I didn't do this on purpose. It got better after that though, don't worry! :) But I definitely had a good laugh after this.

{should I be embarrassed for listening to the Tangled Soundtrack? haha. nah. it's cool.}

TGIF! 

Yippee for productivity!

{ That rhymed and I didn't even mean to. Call me Dr. Seuss. :) }

Anyway! Today I vacuumed, mopped, and dusted my house, cleaned my room, washed my sheets and two other loads of laundry, folded and put away said laundry, and watched Harry Potter. All before lunch! I was feeling pretty good about myself. I guess my family should leave town more often.

Also last night a friend of mine did my fingernails with this really awesome gel-polish. I think I have a new obsession. It feels normal, looks amazing, and stays on for two weeks! The brand of polish she used is called gelish. and I love it. Right now they are super cool Hot Pink. next time I'm thinking this color.

opinions? I just really like glitter.

Also life is just so great. I mean really. There have been a few issues in my life that I have been a little stressed about, like school, jobs, friends, you know the usual stuff. Until recently I had the mentality "I can handle this." I spent days thinking out scenarios, and worrying if things would work out. I have been doing some reading mostly in the scriptures, and I came across a quote I had written down.

Whatever the difficulties confronting us, the weaknesses confining us, or the impossibilities surrounding us, let us have faith in the Son of God, who declared, “All things are possible to him that believeth.”

Elder Neil L. Anderson

What Thinks Christ of Me? April 2012

read the whole article here.

I am letting go of the worry, relieving my stresses, and having faith. I can't even tell you the difference I feel. It was practically immediate that I felt relief. Go ahead. Try for yourself.  

And just remember.

{pinned here}

xoxo

Confessions

So recently I have come to several somewhat shocking realities about myself. I'm going to share with the hope that no one judges. mmk? cool.

1.     I'm slightly obsessed with online shopping.  Really it's unhealthy. but I CAN'T STOP! Just this week I bought this dress. I mean it's so adorable. You can never have too many dresses right? Well I also bought these shoes... I couldn't help myself! I find myself on websites with the cutest clothes all the time. it's a good thing I don't have my credit card number memorized, because the only thing that stops me from buying stuff sometimes is the fact that my purse isn't within my arms reach. yeah... it’s a problem I'm working on...

2.     I spend WAY too much time watching the dumbest shows on Netflix. So I'm a movie-a-holoic. sue me. {is there a support group for people like me?}

3.     Sometimes when I am out in public I like to smile at people. When they actually smile back, well that is one of those moments when the world feels like a good place to be. You know? Smile more often. It's good for you.

4.     I use words like "adorable" and "cute" and sometimes "precious", punctuation like "!!!!" or ".....", and often correct people's grammar in my head WAY too often. future teacher right here.

5.     I'm a chicken. I sincerely don't like trying new things. it's scary. I mean what if I actually like it? What am I supposed to do then? Yep. issues. right here. 

 

Well now you know some of the things that contribute to all this crazy. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. and remember no judging. I know some of you are secretly like "oh man I totally do that too." :)

xo xo

I don't usually do this

BUT, I'm sure everyone in America is aware of the upcoming elections, and if you don't then shame on you and get yourself educated. Well since this is the first time I will actually be able to vote, I have been trying to keep up with each party, news, and articles from various sources. I don't like to trust just one source. Especially the biased ones. Sorry Fox News but I'm pretty sure everyone on the West Coast knows what direction you lean...

anyway. I heard the hosts of a radio show talking about this awhile ago, and found this later that day, but I didn't think about it again until I started seeing Obama adds. I pulled it up again and will post the link. I don't like posting political things because everyone has some sort of opinion and really I don't care what everyone else thinks. I am only posting this because the stupidity of the campaign managers is really quite ironic.

Please, if you don't have anything nice to say, keep it to yourself. We love everyone here. :)

Article titled: New Obama slogan has long ties to Marxism, socialism

enjoy!

California

So its been a couple of weeks since I've been back, but I have been busy. sorta.

No worries. I'm now fully prepared to show off all of the great fun I had In CA with my fam!

{treats for your eyes}

Day 1

So on the first day we went to the county fair. I love fairs. they are all dirty and scary and the food is way too expensive but delicious, and carnies are everywhere!! It's glorious. We watched some cute little pigs race, and secretly we wanted to take one home. they were so cute. and then we watched little 4-year-olds ride sheep! It was tragically entertaining. It's called Mutton Bustin'. Pretty great right? After the park we went straight to the mall. I bought pink jeans. I'm so rad.

Day 2

On July 4th, we walked around Pleasanton and looked in all the little shops. Lots of things were closed because of the Holiday but it was still fun. The architecture was enchanting. I love California! We went home and watched junk on Netflix until Jacob got home and BBQ'd us up some corn and chicken. it was delicious! We ended with s'mores and a giggly baby. Good day.

Day 3

San Francisco! Mostly we walked around and saw the sights, smelled a plethora of gross things and ate a delicious cookie. Seriously that cookie was huge. and incredibly great. 

It was a great trip. I already have big plans for next time ;)! But maybe when Clarkie boy gets a little bigger. He had a rough time because our adventuring messed up his napping. that was tough. But I'm so grateful that I got to go! It was a blast! 

Big thanks to Jake and Nat for letting me come!