Summer Vacation!

School ended crazy, and I am so glad that it is over. I was so busy for the last bit of it, and then I started work here at home in Colorado just 2 days after I got home, so it's been a crazy few weeks. I work for the City of Golden as a Park Maintenance seasonal worker. I am very lucky to have such a great job! It is a lot of hard physical labor and it's pretty much all outside work, but it is a lot of fun and the people I work with are great! Soon I will be working 4 10hour days, and I will have 3 days of weekend, but that hasn't happened just yet. I am excited to have those longer weekends.

When I am not working I have been doing a lot more crafts and such, than I have before. I have made a few different necklaces, and fixed one that hadn't been working out, but that I do regularly anyways. The new thing I have been trying is sewing! Now I have done sewing in the past, but not consistently. This summer I decided to make maxi skirts and dresses! I don't have a lot of money for new clothes, and this way I know that I will like the fabric (cause I picked it out!), and I can customize them to fit the way I want them to! So far I have a maxi dress and one skirt done. I am loving it! I plan on making two more maxi skirts and one pencil skirt.

These are just a few of the necklaces that I have made or fixed this summer so far: 

This necklace had some trouble staying flat while around my neck, but that problem has been remedied!

This took quite a bit of time, and originally I did it on some string, but when using the finding that makes it into a multi-strand necklace that would break and slip. Now I am using a beading wire (it's more of a thin cable) and it worked wonderfully! This also helped it stay in a prettier shape.

This was a Mother's Day gift for my mom along with the earrings above and the ring below.

 These are my maxi skirt and dress:

This maxi skirt has a 2 inch elastic for the waistband, but I made a sash with the same kind of fabric. It is a super lightweight fabric that I love! I also got to experiment with elastic thread when I was making it.

This is a super simple boho dress, and it is made out of a knit, so it doesn't fray (means I didn't even have to hem it!) I am going to change the neckline, but the rest of the dress is great, and super comfortable.

This was the left over from the bottom of my dress, it makes a great infinity scarf!

 I am super excited about all these crafty things! I am also planning on trying some recipes I have found on Pinterest! It's definitely keeping me busy!

I'm Mormon, I know it, I live it, I LOVE it

I have been thinking about this post for awhile now (it's been a long time since my last post). This is a very special topic for me, and I want to say it the right way.

I became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when I was 8 years old, my dad baptized me in Cedaredge, CO near my grandparents home. Even back then I loved this church, but I didn't have the best knowledge of it myself. I know a lot more now, and I love it even more. I know that there is a God, who is my Heavenly Father and he has a big hand in my life.

There are a few reasons why I love my religion, and know that the doctrines and teachings are true:

1.) The first thing that always comes to my mind is the doctrine of the Plan of Salvation. I won't go into it too much, I am not the best to ask about it, but I have a knowledge of the love that is shown through it. Our Heavenly Father is the father of our spirits, we were with Him before this earthly life, and He is who we will return to. He has given us our agency to let us go through this life and learn. He has His hand in all of our lives, and He loves everyone of His children. As children of God, we all have divine qualities and potentials to become just like our Father. After we die, it is not over, we simply go back to heaven to be with our Father and our family. We can be with our families forever- "whatsoever ye bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" (Matt 16:19)- this is probably the thing that is most important to me. I love my family, and I cannot imagine an eternal life without them, it wouldn't be heaven without them. It is a loving Father that understands that and has made it possible for us to never have to be without our family. Another name for this plan is the Plan of Happiness, and that is the state we can be in forever, a state of everlasting Happiness.

2.) I love the morals that the church teaches, and that they expect you to live up to it. Some think that they are restrictions and hurt our lives in some way. They can think that if it makes them happy, but they really make me happier. I know, how could I know that if I have always lived them, right? Because my life is so full, and there are so many blessings I have from the way that I live. I have a respect for myself and my body that I don't know I would have if I didn't have my values. Satan is trying to tear down our world, and weigh it down with sins. I am not judging anyone, because I am by no means perfect, but just because I am not perfect doesn't mean that there isn't a moral standard that we should be held up to. Jesus Christ was perfect he never sinned or even had a bad thought, and that is the one who made it possible for me to repent, and be washed clean of my sins. He is the one that I answer to and I have made a covenant to keep his commandments, and follow him. In the end, he will be the one to judge us of our works, but he also loves each of us perfectly. Part of taking all of our sins was him feeling all of them, and that includes our sorrows and pains as well as our sins. There is no one who knows what we have been through more than he does, and I am so grateful for his love in my life. This is why I keep my standards high, because the ultimate bar has been set and I have to try and measure up, even though it is impossible.

3.) We have living prophets. President Thomas S. Monson is the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints today, and he is Heavenly Father's mouthpiece. God has always called prophets, and we are no less His children than those back in Moses' time, and He loves us just as much as He loves them. To me that is why it really makes sense that there are still prophets, but I have also had a testimony born to me from the Holy Spirit (John 15:26).

There are so many more reasons, and things that I know are true. I love my religion, and I believe that it is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love my life that I have been blessed with and all of my wonderful blessings. It is the "good news" for our day!

Have a Wonderful day! 

Quick Disclaimer: I am in no ways a spokesperson for the church, and these are my personal thoughts, feelings and interpretations of the doctrine, and I may have said something wrong, but it cannot be used against the church. I am just in college. :)

A Tumble of Thoughts

I apologize if this post seems to be rather jumpy, but it's how the thoughts are coming.

I have been thinking a lot about what to post in this blog regularly, and I'm still not positive, but I just want a place to post my thoughts on my life.

Today, I was reading some postings on the web about Michelle Obama's dress choice for the inauguration, and something surprised me about the comments. The picture was of her in the dress and then a picture of a Romulan (Star Trek) photoshopped on the top half of her dress. The pattern of the dress and the Romulan outfit are very similar. It was the comments that surprised me though, the person who posted the picture was republican, and somehow that meant they were being mean because they have different political ideas. My thought was that I think a lot of Republicans look weird sometimes too, so my dislike of Michelle's dress had nothing to do with her being liberal. I found the picture amusing for merely the fact that the dress was not attractive, and could've been mistaken for the Star Trek outfit if it was a little thicker, and maybe slightly shiny. In my mind people jump to the conclusion that you are judging the person and simply because she is the president's wife makes me look at the dress in a displeasing manner. It is sad to me that that is how the world has turned. We cannot just have opinions on clothing or other minor things without having a poor opinion of the person behind them.

So off of that horse.

Martin Luther King day allowed us to have a long weekend off of school. I got to sleep in, and make pancakes every morning. My older brother came to visit me, and we had a lot of fun. I made fish for the first time, salmon and tilapia, which turned out better than I expected. Then we went and watched Taken 2. I was worried that it was just going to be a remake of the first one, but it really wasn't, and I really enjoyed it. It was intense, just like the first one. Liam Neeson beat people up like crazy. Then we came back, and played video games. Sunday we had pancakes, and then went to church. It was a great day. We had desserts at a ward party and just had a good day. Monday my brother left at noon, but we went and played some bowling before that, which is always really fun. I then went to work and then had FHE with my Family Home Evening Group. We played a game called "not so musical chairs." Super fun, and an easy way to break some barriers in a completely not weird way.

I started working at the MTC cafeteria last week. I am in the dishroom, which can be dirty and wet, but I really like it so far. It is going to be very helpful with my finances. Everyone I've met there is really nice too, so that is always a bonus. The jobs are repetitive, and in the "pit" it is rushed, and a little stressful.

Life is good, basically.

End of a Vacation

It's been awhile since my last post, but that's what a good vacation does. Keeps you from posting on a blog.

I can hardly believe that school is starting back up on Monday. I am not really ready for it to. That probably has a lot to do with my wonderful vacation I have had.

Christmas and New Years were wonderful! I spent a lot of time with my family! I got a lot of really nice gifts for Christmas. I was also able to go skiing 5 times (that was one of my Christmas gifts)! I love skiing, and even though the coverage was a little spotty, the quality of the snow was amazing everytime I went up! My family and I ski at Winter Park but really on Mary Jane side of the resort. If you don't know, that is where all of the fantastic bumps are! It is ranked very high for its moguls and we love it. I am not ready for my season to be over, but I have a lot of other things to do now here in Provo.

I got to go see Pitch Perfect and Wreck it Ralph at the theaters with two different friends. They were both great movies. Pitch Perfect was very amusing and the a capella singing was really cool. I was in an a capella group last year, and it is really fun. Unfortunately for my group, I am not experienced and not as good as the people in this movie are, and so I never sounded like them. It was a super fun experience, and I learned a lot from the others in my group. This movie made me miss singing a capella. While there was one character I found unnecessary, the overall cast and storyline were entertaining and very fun. Wreck it Ralph was also very fun to watch, and not quite what I expected, it goes into an arcade system and tells the story of how the "bad guy" in an arcade game comes to grips with his role. It was cute, and fun. A good movie for all ages I believe.

My brother and sister-in-law were able to come visit with my niece as well! She is 5 months old, and just such a cutie! I am a huge fan of babies, and so I tried to hold her as much as they would allow me, while trying not to hog her, I know the rest of my family loved to hold her as well. It was really great to have their family with us. We played a lot of games together, like Bananagrams! It's like scrabble but you play on your own words, and try and use all the letters you get before everyone else. You can also rearrange as much as you want. It is very fast paced, and Brandon and Andrea are very good at it so there was a lot of exasperation at trying to keep up at first.

I removed a mole from my face, and got the stitches out yesterday, so now I just have to tend to the scar. It wasn't anything dangerous, just ugly. I am really excited that it is gone.

There was a lot of other great things I was able to do this break too, but that's the basics. I am excited to be back in Provo, but school is always a little hard. Here's to a good semester though!

The End of the World

So apparently the world has ended. I'm really confused how I can still be writing this, but since I have started I might as well finish, right?

How do things like this get to the point that people believe? Is it like inception where they become implanted into the deepest realm of our dreams? It has never ceased to surprise me. Anyways, want to know how I spent my last few days? This is of course rhetorical. You can either read it or not, either way it is being written.

I went into a room and there were people there that I knew, but they didn't really look like themselves, at all. But I knew it was them. A dangerous person was on the lose and we were deciding what to do. After looking around we found that it was really a bear, and it became my friend. Some people that were bad tried to take it away, but I stuck up for my friend. Then it turned out to be a very rare and beautiful flower that helped the whole forest grow better (did I mention we went to the forest?). The bad guys (that I didn't recognize) were looking to pull the flower up, and I tried to stop them. In the middle of chasing them around I remembered that I could fly. So I think I caught them. Oh, wait, that was my dream last night. Hmm, that's weird, it all seemed pretty real to me.

I was able to spend some quality time with my family, which was fantastic! I love the holiday season when I get to see a lot of my family, and just be reminded about how amazing they all are! I am so glad that I have them. We went to the rec center and rock climbed and worked out, we were there about 3 hours. It was great to work out again! My sister had a band concert, and we went to listen to her play. Let me just say, she did awesome! First chair flutist, and she did an amazing job, it was so fun to watch. Even my niece (4 months old) loved it, although she jumped whenever the music started too loud. What a sweet little girl, it has been awesome getting to spend time with her and my brother and sister-in-law, cause they are also phenomenal.

We took family pictures today, first pictures with my shiny white teeth, so that was SUPER exciting. I can't wait for more fun things coming up! Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season!

Trying new things

I have never written a blog before, so this should be interesting, and I am hoping that it will be fun!

I just got my teeth whitened today, and decided that new things are fun, and exciting sometimes. In my case it was a new way (or fairly new way) to whiten teeth. The procedure is called ICON teeth whitening. It's a simple 2 step process that takes about an hour or so for the dentist. They first use micro abrasion to take out the intrinsic stains. Micro abrasion is a kind of paste that grinds down the tooth. I think that it has bits of diamonds in the paste, but they use a polishing tool to apply it and then a little bit rougher tool as well. Then in the second step is where ICON really changes it, they add a gel that looks green and I think that colors the open pores in the teeth. They rinse this gel off and cover the teeth in a clear gel, and dry it with one of those lights that are blue. Obviously I am not an expert, and I am merely describing it from my perspective which was from the patients chair. In any case, I am really very happy with it, and it is supposed to not need to be redone. I've had fluoride stains on my teeth practically my whole life, and let me just say it is a HUGE relief to have it finally gone. This isn't the first thing I have tried either, but I am hopeful that it will be one of the last. I have tried the whitening strips, paste, and most recently using a gel peroxide in teeth trays. The last worked well enough after having it on my teeth everyday for an hour, for a few weeks, but it isn't permanent. I really am very happy with my teeth (you know something is wrong if you aren't happy with it the very first day though). The worst part was having my mouth open for a whole hour almost, and sometimes I could feel some stinging in the micro abrasion step, but really this was a very nice experience.

Anyways, I am in such a great mood that I wanted to find a way to tell others about it. Starting a blog has been on my mind as well, and it was a great way to achieve both!