my magical trip with Mama C

What better way is there to celebrate finishing college than by hitting all of the Orlando theme parks with your incredible mama? There is not one. There just is not.

I texted my mom a couple months ago and said: We should go to Disney World. Her response: Ok when?
So what followed was a perfect week of theme parks, laughing, happiness, diet coke, selfies, good food, magic, and just me and my mama having the best time.

Day 1 and 2 were spent theme park hopping at Disney World doing stuff like...

 hanging out with Chip and Dale...

taking selfies with Cinderella's castle...

 doing two of my favorite things in life: eating ice cream and riding carousels...

 getting caught in the rain (every single day we were in Florida)...

and of course riding ALL the rides.

I think that the absolute best part of Disney was our second night there. We were riding Thunder Mountain while the firework show was going off. I am obsessed with fireworks and watching them while zipping around on the little roller coaster was so so perfect (it almost made me actually enjoy riding a roller coaster. a rare rare thing for me.)

Day 3 was spent hanging out with my boy HP (Harry Potter for those of you who might not be quite as well acquainted with him) and running all around the rest of Universal Studios.

 You know we figured since we were in the neighborhood we might as well see how Harry, Hermione, and and Ron were doing.

There seemed to be this fun pattern of my mom and me getting stuck on rides during our trip. We hung out on the Harry Potter ride for a good five minutes. Five minutes feels significantly longer when you are harnessed in, you are facing the ceiling, and you are in the middle of trying to save Hogwarts.

Guess who just got accepted to the graduate program at Hogwarts University? Looks like I'll be taking the express train to school from now on.

You may have seen my instagram or facebook post about butter beer. It was not a great experience. Last time I went to Harry Potter world I didn't try it because it just didn't really look appealing to me. I got a lot of flack for this and was told that I HAD TO TRY IT. I tried it, and my mom caught my lovely reaction to this monstrous drink all on camera. It's pretty much butterscotch flavored cream soda. I mean if that's your thing? Cool. But, I'm gunna stick with my muggle diet coke from now on.

The rest of the day was spent romping the rest of the park. My mom made me ride Jurrasic Park twice. Maybe because I cried the first time. Oh shoot, did I really just admit that? It's ok, it wasn't as bad as I had remembered, and my mom bought me a new tank as a post ride prize.

Day 4. After Universal I thought that the fun was over. LITTLE DID I KNOW! My mom had planned a surprise day for me?!?! I have long been promised by my parents that I would get to swim with dolphins after a failed attempt on a previous trip. Well, Mama C came through, and the experience did not disappoint. We spent our last day doing the Trainer for a Day program at Discovery Cove and making best friends with dolphins, sharks, sting rays, and sloths, and it could not have been more amazing.

 You guys. I'm on the sloth train now. This little lady (the sloth not the trainer...but uhh she was nice too I guess) was adorable. 

 But I mean, this one time, me and a dolphin fell in love with each other.

 No seriously, look at all that happy.

 SO MUCH HAPPY!

 So satisfying to check things off of the life list.

 Should you ever have the opportunity to be propelled through the water by dolphins, do not pass it up. I repeat: do not pass it up.

So pretty much the takeaway message here is that I love my Mama and I could not be more grateful for this trip she took me on. And I know even though he wasn't there, Papa C was a big part of this trip too, and I am grateful for him also.

Happy Mother's day to this amazing woman and Happy 30th Anniversary to the most amazing parents in the world. I am not just lucky, I am blessed.

peace. love. and magic.

my Oregon joy

My mamma grew up on the Oregon coast and some of her family still lives there, so it is always such a treat to go visit every summer. I even got to cross three things off my life list while I was there. Oh boy!

So one of my favorite places to go to in Oregon is this wild life park in Bandon where they let you play with the baby animals. Even at 21 I beg my family to go here. Haha. nothing makes you feel like a child like family vacations. But, I mean you KNOW how I love my baby animals...

Just hanging with a baby black bear...

 and a baby fox!!!! My favorite animal. When they told me they had a baby fox I was going to get to play with, you cannot comprehend how excited I got. This little guys name was Todd, and I loved him, and I wanted to take him home with me. (life list check 1)

But, the fun didn't stop there, a baby bobcat!

 Ok this is just a regular baby. But, that face!

and last but not least, a baby caracal. 

The coast of Oregon is seriously one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. I just absolutely love it here and it's always nice to get a little cool weather in the midst of a hot Georgia summer. I didn't to go to Oregon last summer for the first time in forever, and I missed it so much. I can't imagine not making my way to the other side of America (at least every few years) for the rest of the my life.

 Yes, I am so obsessed with my dog that we brought him to Oregon. 

Aren't my parents cute? They take me on the greatest adventures.

It was pretty much the first not windy day ever in Oregon when we decided to go fly our kite, but it turned out brilliantly with just enough breeze to get our sharknado into the air. (life list check 2)

And to finish off my trip I had my grandma guide me through making one of her famous blackberry cobblers. Blackberries picked that day, homemade crust, and lots of sugar, I was pretty proud of the results. 

Can't wait till my next trip out west. This place is so perfect.

peace. love. and coast to coast.

my life list gets shorter

For starters, General Conference. Which part of that doesn't scream awesome. Two days of hanging out in my pajamas and listening to beautiful messages from the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Score. Check out some of the "highlights" here!

Ok, but also this week...I crossed two things off of my Life List!!!

1. I went and saw a movie by myself.

This probably seems like a weird thing to have on a Life List, but I've always wanted to do it. I'm not exactly sure why though, maybe to assert my independence, maybe because I have a taste in movies that doesn't always align itself with the common crowd, maybe because I am a closet film addict, or maybe because I have some sort of need to prove to myself that I can be by myself and that that's ok. Really it was probably a combination of all of these. 

So I finally did it. Last Monday, since it was rainy, and I was in a bummer mood, and I felt a desperate need to get out of my apartment, and I have been wanting to see Silver Linings Playbook for awhile now I checked my movie app on my phone, saw that my movie was playing in about an hour, and I went. Lucky for me, movies in Provo at four in the afternoon on a Monday are pretty empty. In fact, I was the only person in the theater. It was awesome. Should you ever have the opportunity to have an entire theater to yourself, do it. Sprawled out across as many seats as I wanted, texted shamelessly during the movie, and laughed with no embarrassment. Plus the movie was really good and the message of looking for a silver lining in the worst of situations was exactly what I needed to reminded of. 

“If clouds are blocking the sun, there will always be a silver lining that reminds me to keep on trying...Most people lose the ability to see silver linings even though they are always there above us almost every day.” 

No one behind me....

No one in front of me. 

In the words of our dear friend Kelly Clarkson, "Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone." At least that's what we all tell ourselves right...Anyways. I actually loved this, and if I disappear for a few hours and you can't find me, I might just be catching the latest film...by myself. 

2. I filled an entire journal.

I love pretty journals. I have a bit of a collection of them. Unfortunately, I like to look at my journals more than I like to write in them. But, thanks to General Conference this weekend and all of the notes that I took, I have now filled one. I really do love going back and looking at old things I wrote. The line in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest when Gwendolyn says, "I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train" cracks me up (I am clearly feeling the quotes today...). 

I started this particular journal back in the Fall of 2011 and it is dedicated to all of my spiritual experiences and thoughts. 180 pages worth of spiritual progress in the last 2 years seems pretty good to me. 

But, another cool thing that I realized about this journal? It has a super cool Indian-esq design on it (which is probably what attracted me to it in the first place). When I was reading the inside cover this Sunday, I realized that just this summer had I traveled to the Tibetan monastery in Ladakh, India that this journal was designed after, and I hadn't even realized it. How cool is that?!?

Can't wait to cross more things off the list. I probably need to start adding more to it! 

If you want to see my full Life List, there is a tab underneath my blog header.

peace. love. and life lists. 

my new year

First of all Happy New Year ya'll!! I would like to say that I was waiting till the year started to write this post and that I just wanted to really think about my past year and what I want to say before putting it in writing...but I was in my basement watching Downton Abbey. So, whatever (but, seriously. Downton Abbey-- unreal how good it is). 

Anyways, 2012 could not have been more filled with blessings. I lived in Paris and backpacked through Europe where I indulged in everything! (and because of this there was a little more of me to love following the first third of the year...thanks French pastries). I learned so much about travelling, planning, remembering to relax, and taking time for the little things. Next came India. I don't think I ever feel as happy as I do when I am in India working with the people there. I love the kids at Rising Star Outreach with all my heart and three months there just wasn't enough, but I know what one day I will be back there (I will run, swim, and climb my way back to India if I have to). I discovered in my time there that it is the lowest lows that make the highest highs so beautiful. And then comes the last part, back to Provo. Which seemed like it could be a big let down after romping around the world, but you can find adventures anywhere as long as you are willing to look for them.

And now we are onto 2013. A new year with new things to be discovered, new trials to face, new blessings to be grateful for, and explorations everywhere. My goals to make this year the best one yet?

cut back on social media (I have a problem)

stop waiting till the last second to get everything done

remember to write all my wonderful friends serving missions

go on more adventures

let no one I know or no one I meet not realize how much truly I love them 

and everyone else

and, be my best. always. 

Seems simple enough, eh? Now go make some goals for yourself and don't forget to be realistic and keep in mind that your goals in January will probably be drastically altered once you've hit December, and babes there is nothing wrong with that.

so, here's to another year of....

peace. love. and adventures

my quickly moving time abroad

I have only been here for two weeks, but it is settling in how long/how short of a time that I am going to be here. Two weeks down, which also mean that half of one of the three months that I am going to be here has already flown by, which is just a little bit insane to me. From my time that I spent in France, I know how it can seem like you have been somewhere your whole life till you are leaving, and then you are practically positive that you got there yesterday. You know that I absolutely hate to give a laundry list of what I did in a day, so I will bust out some highlights from this past week...

We had originally planned on going on an overnighter this week, though it got canceled due to a gas shortage in Chennai, and I feel a little guilty saying that I am so happy that it did, but you know how I like to shoot for honesty. I just couldn't bear the thought of a gazillion hour hot car ride. Plus! Staying behind meant that the volunteers got to stick around for Sports Day at Rising Star. It was so fun to see the kids in their races and games, but it seemed a little cruel that they had to perform in 100+ heat.

We also visited a hospital, that had lots of fans, that kicked up dust, that gave me angry eyes, which I hate having (and if you don't know what "angry eyes" are, go talk to someone who has contacts and they will know exactly what I am referring to here).

For the weekend trip, we took the volunteers to Auroville and Pondicherry. Auroville is a small religious/meditation...something like that town that was rather uneventful and featured a large dome/temple that looked mostly like a golden Epcot to me.

this is two of the volunteers Sarah and Hannah, hanging with me in front of the...golden temple?

After our adventures in Auroville we moved onto Pondicherry, where we discovered an Italian restaurant owned by a the funniest Italian man ever. But, the best part was the cold diet coke. I had two. Of course.

double fisting like a champ

 In Pondicherry we also enjoyed a lovely Gandhi statue and witnessed the filming of a Tamil Movie. Good times, eh?

Another big highlight! I got to cross "cut somebody's hair" off my Life List today after one of the other long term volunteers allowed me to shave his head. He does this every other week so it probably wasn't too tough for him to hand over the clippers, but I appreciated that he assisted in letting me cross something off of the list. It's getting a little too short now! I'm might have to start pondering a few more things that I should add on.

peace. love. and Gandhi

p.s. excuse the frightening grammar errors that you are probably finding in these past few blog posts. I take whatever short amount of time I can to write these. 

my Venetian travels

This weekend I went to Venice!! Twas' quite incredible and I loved every second. I think that the best way to tell my story will be interspersed with pictures. More fun for you anyways.

To get to Venice from the airport you have to take either a water bus or a land bus, and then cross over a bridge. Being poor backpacking students, we chose the cheaper land bus. I have no regrets about this decision, because walking over the bridge was absolutely magical. I was in awe of how stunning Venice is from the moment that I peaked over the bridge. We are so lucky that our first day there was sunny.

These are the two girls that I traveled with. Hillary and Phoebe. Winners for sure. 

If you have ever been to Venice you are probably aware of how incredibly confusing the roads are. You have to wind through all these back roads to get to anything and even maps are confusing because there are so many small alleyways and you often end up dead-ending at the water. It's a little like a giant maze. We stopped and asked a lady in a museum at one point, and when we asked how to get to San Marco's she just told us, "you walk out of here, you turn left, and then you ask someone else because it is too difficult for me to explain it all." It took us a good hour to find San Marco's Basilica, but luckily some kind soul spray painted directions on the wall, so we didn't have to ask too many more times. We joked that following this graffiti was probably leading us to some drug lord S. Marco instead of to the Basilica, but what do you know? We made it there eventually. 

And here it is. San Marco's Basilica. It was beautiful inside and out, covered in Byzantine mosaics. I wish I knew a little more about it, but I did have a guide book that provided me with some handy facts. 

After hunting down some lunch, we moved on to the Doge's Palace. Once again quite beautiful and a treat to be inside for a little while and warm up. 

Next...I WENT FOR A GONDOLA RIDE. Not a romantic one with an attractive Italian man...but a gondola ride all the same. So there is another thing crossed off my life list :) Always a joy when I get to do something that I have longed to do! 

Over on the right is our gondola rower. Despite the fact that he assured me that he was the best gondola guy ever, his English was rather questionable. But, we did a get a good laugh that every time he wanted to point something out to us he would start shouting (and I am going to need you to read this with your best Italian accent, I'll imitate at request if you are having trouble here) "look at me. look at me. hello? look at me." And then he would tell us something about Marco Polo or Casanova that we didn't quite understand. 

 Yup that is the look of a girl who just crossed something off her life list. Happiness.

Naturally I ate gelato every chance I got. Five gelato's in a 48 hour time period. That's just impressive. 

Here is the view from one of the water buses that we used to get around on Friday when we discovered how much easier that was than to follow graffiti signs. We loved the water buses so much! You got to warm up and you got a little tour of the city from your view out the window. We might of actually just sat on one for an hour at one point so we could rest and warm up. haha.

In the square in front of San Marco's there is a tower that you can go up. We heard the view was incredible so we had to do it. We also saw the sign that said "caution windy and cold at top." We chose to ignore this and discovered that the warning sign was not kidding. It was miserable, but at the same time we were having so much fun running around and shrieking every time we literally almost got blown over. When you were walking with the wind up there you just automatically started running, because it was so strong that either you were going to move quickly with the wind, or your were going to face plant.

And of course, who goes to Italy without enjoying some incredible pasta and Fanta (It tastes better there. Don't know why, but it does.) We decided to treat ourselves to dinner at a nice restaurant for our last night there, and it was well worth it. So good.

And that is all. If you want more pictures, check out the ones that I uploaded on Facebook in the album "Asking for Directions in Venice"!

pace. amour. e gelato

my week of freezing

This post somehow got deleted...my apologies. But, I mean hey if you had read it on the Sunday when I posted it we wouldn't have this problem...no no just kidding.

But really...I refuse to write this again. Here's the Readers Digest Version...

The whole group went to St. Denis where all the French kings are buried.

I took a weekend trip to Fontainebleau and it was quite lovely (you wanna know about it or what it looks like...you best hop on over to Wikipedia).

I am currently living off hot chocolate cause it is insane cold here.

I rode my first ferris wheel on the Place de la Concorde and it was awesome. It also means that I get to cross that off my life list.

I also announced that I would be traveling to Venice.

paix. amour. et technological difficulties. 

my life list revealed

Since I have mentioned my Life List quite a few times in the past couple of posts, I figured its probably time that I actually show it to you. This is actually the remastered Life List. The old one got lost in some files somewhere and it was a devastating day when I realized this. I have slowly been recreating my list.

read 100 books in one year

live in Asia

live in Europe

ride a camel

volunteer in Africa

go on a safari

ride in a hot air balloon

get married

plant a garden

ride an elephant

see Saint Basil’s cathedral

apply for (and hopefully get on) the Amazing Race

learn how to make grandma’s blackberry cobbler

fill an entire journal

take a cross country road trip  

get published

travel to every continent (even Antarctica if possible)

get my own puppy

see Coldplay and Jack Johnson in concert

have my picture taken for a fashion blog

perform on stage again

vote

cut someone’s hair

ride in a gondola (in Venice) 

go sailing

ski down a black diamond (without dying or injuring myself..)

swim with dolphins

see the Pyramids in Egypt

frolic through a field of poppies

I add to this list regularly, but everything that I add is something that I truly want to do. I try to be careful to not just add something because it seems cool "at that moment." 

You may have noticed that a lot of the things on my list involve traveling. This is because traveling is truly a passion of mine. Maybe that seems like a ridiculous or expensive hobby, but it's completely addicting and I have the craziest desire to see and experience everything. 

"To move, 

      to breath,

            to fly, 

                to float,

                    to gain all while you give,

                        to roam the roads of lands remote: 

                            to travel is to live."

                                -Hans Christen Andersen 

peace. love. and big dreams. 

my peek into 2012

Obviously this is the time to be creating New Year's resolutions, but instead of creating resolutions may I present my New Years Manifesto. Although a manifesto is generally thought of as being a political thing, it can also be a deceleration of life-stance. So here is my New Years Manifesto, what is most important in my life and how I plan on committing to it and living it.

This year has the potential to be the best one yet, and since I am young and 20 and ready to seize the world, why shouldn't it be? You may recall that I previously established my new motto as "be bold," but instead of changing that up and moving in a new direction, I think I am only getting started here. Spending half my year abroad only gives me the chance to grab on to life in a whole new way and to branch out as I have never experienced. 

I want to try everything this year and let no opportunities get away from me.

 I want to take control of a clear path in my life and face what is up ahead of me prepared and emboldened.

 I want to grow closer to my Savior Jesus Christ, who has gotten my this far in my life, and let Him and everyone else know that I love Him through every action I take. 

I want to start tearing through my Life List (I'll share this with you soon) so fast that I'm taking away from it faster than I can add to it.

I want to live so that my passion for life and exploration shines out from me.

I want to discover, and adventure, and play, and learn, and teach, and grow, and run, and blast to potentials that I never thought possible.

I want to not put limitations on myself.

I want to be the best and brightest. 

Stick with me this year as I try to enact these things in my life, and as I try to blaze a new path for myself through studying in Paris, working with the leprosy afflicted in India, and bust through my classes at BYU. 

peace. love. and boldness.

my fifteen seconds...sort of

Last week I was just minding my own business, walking to class (a little late obviously since it was my first class of the day), when I well dressed young gentleman came up to me and asked if he could take a picture of my for his fashion blog. uhh yeah you can! So cool, cause I had actually recently added to my life list that I wanted to have my picture taken for a fashion blog. obviously this is no world renowned blog it is just a kid on BYU campus looking for people that he thinks have good taste. But you know what, I'll take what I can get. So if you want to check out what I was wearing that day, here is a link to the blog (http://www.systematicdeparturefromnormality.com/2011/12/early-winter-cardigan.html)

Let's be honest, the picture was taken as I was rushing to class and I wasn't quite sure what he wanted from me, so it's not my finest photo, but you know what it means enough to me that at least someone out there thinks I looked good that day.

and as an extra bonus, just remember that after finals L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N (and I love Noah and the Whale obsessively so that also seemed like an appropriate reason to post this video)

(I'm thinking of starting to post a song every week. or possibly a midway through the week song or poem or something. yes? we'll see I suppose.)

peace. love. and fashion.

my new skill

before you begin to read this post please start listening to this song, and then proceed...

     This week I reached a major second grade milestone and learned how to ride a bike. I know you are probably wondering the same things that everyone else is. You have really never ridden a bike? Why? When was the last time you tried? Did you have a childhood? and the questions after this just get kind of ridiculous.
      But that is all beside the point, because now I know how. Sort of? Ok, so I have only done it once, but I can still now claim that I have ridden a bike, so lets just all be excited! ok?! Another thing to cross off the life list. AND I can say that I did it before I turned 20 (which happens in a month. November 14. mark your calenders.) Anyways, so that you can all share in this splendid moment, it was captured on film.