Monday, December 26, 2011

Families are Forever

For Christmas this year I decided to make my mom and dad a movie of a bunch of family pictures from when they got married until now.  It turned out to be quite a project, but I think it turned out pretty good.  

Here is it, but fair warning:  it's a good 20 minutes long!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

It's that time again...


Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing, without any presents at all!
He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming, it came!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Grinch, with his Grinch feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling,
"How could it be so?
It came without ribbons, it came without tags,
It came without packages, boxes or bags!"

And he puzzled and puzzled, til his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store,
Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more."

-Dr. Seuss

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Can time please just pause for a moment?

Live had just been whizzing by over the past few years!

I am only one month away from finishing my student teaching,
and 4 months away from graduating from college.

Where has the time gone?  I remember being in elementary school thinking the jr. high kids were sooo old,
then being in jr. high thinking high school kids were sooo old,
then being in high school thinking college kids were sooo old,
then being a freshman in college thinking college grads were sooo old,
then realizing I am going to soon be one of those college grads and am getting sooo old!

I was in provo on Monday, and had some time to kill before meeting some friends for dinner,
so I went on a quick drive down memory lane...

Freshman Year at King Henry





Sophomore Year at Belmont







Junior Year at Campus Lane





Senior Year at The Avenues





and Now...



looking forward to what life brings next!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Let Your Freak Flag Fly, My Friend

I love Lady Gaga.  I know she's crazy, but I love belting out her songs in the car!  I love this commercial of hers with my favorite song!


Sunday, October 2, 2011

I Love to See the Temple...

My testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, and of the divinity of temples has grown so much over the past few weeks.  As many of my close friends and family know, I have been on quite the roller coaster ride recently.  I am writing this because I feel a need to share what I have learned, and express my thanks to my Father in Heaven for the support and love I have been blessed with.  I hope I don't come off as preachy or anything, I just feel a great need to share this with whoever may read it.


I was dating a wonderful man.  I honestly cannot say a bad thing about this guy.  He is the kind of guy every girls would love to be with.  We decided that we wanted to get married in December, and began the plans of all that go into that.  We were both so excited, and loved each other a lot.  I was aware that this boy had some concerns with the church and things it teaches, but nothing had ever been said or come up to make me really worry.  One day, he confessed to me that he did not have a desire to marry in the temple, and wasn't sure if he could go on being a part of this church that I love dearly.  We had already called the temple and set a date and time to be married in it.  Getting married in the temple has been something that I have wanted my entire life, and I have never pictured myself getting married anywhere else.  I believe it to be the house of God, and although I have never been through the entire temple yet, I have a strong testimony that it is a place that brings people to God.  I was shocked and devastated to say the least upon hearing this news, but I didn't want to give up on this boy so quick.  I spent hours talking to people I trust, reading scriptures, finding talks, pondering and praying about what I really believe.  I asked him to do the same as I was doing, and I had hope that he would regain that testimony he once had.  I thought hard about whether or not I really believed in the things I have been claiming to believe.  I on more than one occasion contemplated giving up my dream and goal of getting married in the temple, but knew that if I did, it would never leave my mind and would only cause a rift in our marriage.  I have never had so many witnesses and confirmations of my faith in this gospel and in temples as I have had these past few weeks.  In my scripture study, in my prayers, in my Book of Mormon class, in my conversations with others, during General Conference, and so on.  Everything testified to me that this gospel is true, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that temples are the house of God, and above all, that Jesus Christ is the head of this church.  It all came crashing down this weekend as we both realized our beliefs are too different.  That neither of us are going to budge, and our relationship had to be over.  I was devastated.  But in the midst of my devastation, a strange comfort and feeling of peace has been with me.  I know God wishes for me to be happy, and I know he wishes for me to be married in the temple.  That is something I know now that I will not compromise on, because I cannot deny the overwhelming confirmation I have been given of the truth of the gospel.  I know God loves me, and that He has a plan for me.  And I know He will take care of my every need, and keep the promises He has given me.

So the phone calls have been made, and the dress sent back.  But the last think I want is for anyone to feel pity on me.  I am sad, yes.  But I am not alone.  The Lord will not leave me comfortless, and I have a peace in my soul that has given me so much strength to carry on.  I will always love this boy, but I love the gospel and Jesus Christ more.  I know that someday I will go through the temple and be married there.  And I know now that my faith is unshakable.  We are told that we are here to prove to God that we will do whatsoever things the Lord has commanded of us.  I have proved to myself, and hopefully to the Lord that I want Him to be first in my life, and that nothing will come in between me and Him.  He is my Savior and Redeemer, and He has a plan for my life that I know is so much more than I could ever plan for myself.

A couple scripture that have stuck out to me in my study recently are these:

D&C 121:7-9
My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment.  And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all they foes.  Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

2 Nephi 2:24
But behold, all things have been done in the wisdome of him who knoweth all things.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Londoner's Reunion in Cali! Laura Clayton's Wedding

This last week was so much fun!  I went with two of my roommates from London, Niki Huntsman and Brittany Austin for our other roommate, Laura Clayton's wedding in Newport Beach.  It was such a gorgeous wedding.  We ate lots of yummy food, danced and laughed all night long!  Congrats to Laura and Austin Pulsipher, they are absolutely perfect for each other and I couldn't imagine any two people more perfect for one another!




















Since we were in California for the wedding, thought we might as well make a whole trip out of it!  We went to Laguna Beach, out to eat, Balboa Island, visited the Newport Beach Temple, and of course went to DiSnEyLaNd!

































It was such a fun trip!  I love my London girls so much!!! We always have such a blast together!