my saturday shoot

Last Saturday Chelsea and I were sitting on her bed, completely ignoring our homework, and feeling super bored. Since it was so perfect outside, we decided to go for a little mini adventure and go exploring up the canyon. We drove up a little ways, parked the car, and started wandering. But, let's be honest, it mostly turned into a photo shoot. I've been really wanting to start playing with my new camera, and I have so so so much to learn, but I figure the more I mess with it the better I'll get. Right? Or some kind soul could just teach me (yeah? anyone?).

I love when candid shots actually turn out.

Snow capped mountains against blue skies are quite possibly one of my absolute favorite things in the world. I am in love every time I see them, which luckily is quite often when you live in Utah.

Oh hello. My roommate is perfect. Get at her boyz.

Can't stop the sass.

Chilly air and sunshine. This was a good day. A real good day. Even if I didn't get as much done as I needed I survived the week, so I guess that's what really counts.

peace. love. and a tad bit of spontaneity.

my snow and sunshine

Who says you can't have snow and sunshine all in one weekend? I've had a thousand things to get done...but I also just really like to play. And if it's nice outside? Woof. Good luck getting me to be productive. So, Friday I ignored homework and reality and hit the slopes because I mean come on, you have to go skiing at least a once every winter if you live in Utah. I'm pretty sure it's actually a requirement.

But, here's the thing, there are many things that I am very good at, but skiing is not one of them. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it. I'm just really really bad at it. So should you ever happen to be skiing with my friend Sarah who I was with that day, don't let her decide which way to go. Don't do it. You will find yourself at the top of a black diamond that is far beyond your abilities, and you will have no other way down the mountain. If you are me, than your stubborn side will kick in, you will refuse to go down, you will take off your skis and walk. You may even shout something along the lines of "I am going to stab you with my ski pole once I get down there." That may seem dramatic now, but at the time it felt like the proper sentiment. 

Despite that one snafu, I was pretty happy for most of the day.

Even if I was real real sore the next day. Should I not be in Utah next year, it might be a while before I ski again, so I'm glad I got at least one day in. I'm a busy girl, I've only go so much time, ok!

So after a bundled up day on the slopes, it only felt appropriate that I spend a sunny day at the park. It wasn't actually very sunny by the time we left, but when you live in Utah, your perception of warmth gets pretty skewed. I had very much intended to stay inside and do homework all day, but it's frighteningly easy to convince me to go out and play instead. The result was an afternoon of croquet and football in the park. It's almost like spring is here, but not really cause it's only the beginning of March.

Mama C has always emphasized the importance of looking good, and sometimes this means coordinating your croquet equipment to your outfit. 

We might have lost, but at least we had fun. You think if I'm not gunna be good at regular sports, I should at least be good at obscure sports. But, alas, no.

Ok, now everyone go watch the Oscars for me because I don't have cable, and they are my absolute favorite. I'm not going to let myself look at Oscar dresses until I finish at least half the work that I must have done for tomorrow. 

peace. love. and outdoors. 

my fresh air

It's no secret that I actually like the winter and snow, and I'm almost a little disappointed that it's kind of already over here in Utah. But watch, now it will snow again, and I'll be mad about it or something cause it's also no secret that I'm insane. Oh well. One of the glorious things about it warming up again is that I can once again participate in outdoor activities. Oh boy! This last weekend I went on an adventure up around Upper Falls (above Bridal Veil Falls for anyone familiar with the area). It was a bit icy, but it was still a great hike, and it was incredible to be outside and exploring new things again. Luckily my friend Austin Terry not only takes me on great adventures, but also takes lovely pictures of adventures and was kind enough to share them with me so I could share them on my blog.

Clearly this takes me much more concentration than most.

Shout out to Ben for making sure that I never slipped and died with all the ice and rocks that really brought out my clumsy side. But, let's be honest, I don't think I have a non-clumsy side.

Glad to have great friends, great adventures, and great places to go exploring. 

I guess if warm weather means more adventures like these, I might not be that mad about it. I might even be excited about it. Okay. You caught me; I am excited about it. (Seriously I just jinxed us all. Now it's going to get freezing again. I'm sorry!!)

peace. love. and hikes.

my spring summer transition

Well...I'm back in Georgia. It is definitely bitter sweet. I had a few moments of wait, why am I leaving?? when I was packing up my apartment, but I think that once the whole family gets together and I start getting my summer plans figured out, I will be a little more reassured of my decision to come home (hopefully). But, at least I had a perfect week to send me off for the next couple months. So a couple of the things that made it so great...

I am so glad that I was in Provo to send off my cute friend Rachel Farnsworth on her mission to Kiev, Ukraine. I still remember meeting her freshman year outside of the Canon Center. Rachel was one of the very first friends that I made when I came out to BYU. I am so grateful for her friendship, but so bummed that I won't get to see her perfect face for a year and a half. She is going to be an incredible missionary, and I am proud of her for her willingness to go on a mission and dedicate a year and a half to serving the Lord. I have so many friends on missions right now. I miss all of them a ton, but I know that they are doing great things. I have incredible friends.

Another exciting thing? I dyed my hair!

Not all of it, just the last few inches, but I absolutely love it. My sweet hair stylist roommate helped me out by bleaching the ends of my hair and then dying them a dark red. (It looks a little more purple in real life than in the pic, but it gives ya a good idea.) I told my roommate that I wanted my hair to have a fox tail look when I put it up in a pony, and she did a perfect job. (If you've read my blog before you know foxes are my favorite.) I figure this is perfect. I get to have a little fun with my hair (which I think more people should do), but when I get sick of it I can just chop off all the dyed parts. But, I don't think I am going to get sick of this anytime soon. I keep forgetting that the ends are dyed and randomly I look down, remember, and get a little bit happier. Haha. 

Well, at first I was nervous about spring semester, and now I can't believe I had never stayed for spring before. Thanks to everyone who made spring so lovely. Stay classy Provo. DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME WHILE I'M GONE!

peace. love. and summer at home. 

my half way

Spring semester is going pretty well I think. But, this blog title is not because I am halfway done with Spring, but because I am halfway done with 21. Yup, on Tuesday I was sitting on my bed doing some homework, looked at my calendar next to my bed, and realized that it was my half birthday. Naturally, I felt the need to celebrate. You may remember that my birthday is one of my favorite days of the year...ok, maybe my favorite (there are some other days that are very close though). Of course the older I get, and the further I get from being 18 (because I think being 18 forever would be absolutely perfect), and the closer I get to being an adult (I might be more already there than I think) the more scary it gets. I think Peter Pan really had it down with that just staying young forever thing.

Anyways, to celebrate I bought some new shorts, ate pazookie (pretty much a half baked cookie cake with ice cream on top) with my friend Chelsea, and then took a scooter ride with another one of my friends. Seems like  a pretty successful half birthday to me. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty close to feelin' 22. Ahhhhhh.

(I never got to blow out any candles on my actual birthday, 

so I thought I deserved to on my half birthday)

peace. love. and pazookie. 

my positive outlook

     I've been really happy the past few weeks. Really happy. Maybe it's all the free time I've had to hang out, the joy of a new job, or quite possibly all the sunshine I've been getting. But, really I think what's most important is that I have been looking up lately, and I have been trying to see the best in everything and everyone. This is something that I have been really working on for a long time now. A really long time.
     Few people know how difficult my junior year was for me. I started my fall semester depressed after leaving India and wanting to be absolutely nowhere in the world except for Thottonoval Village with the kids of Rising Star. It was physically painful how much I missed India. It got easier after time, like all things do, but I still felt like a fish out of water after being away from BYU for 9 months (since I had spent my winter semester on a study abroad). So much had happened without me. I had changed, everyone I knew had changed, and I felt like I was constantly playing catch-up, and all sorts of negatives felt like they were being hurled at me at once. I started to feel a little more normal with the help of some of my close friends, but it all fell apart for me again when my best friend Kari left on a mission. It's been difficult to not be able to tell her everything all the time and instead having to rely on the incredibly slow Costa Rican postal service and emails to let us get in touch. But, at one point in winter semester I realized that I had to stop being sad. I had to stop carrying around a negative energy with me and be positive.
     As I have tried to emit a positive energy myself, I have started to become more aware of the other energies that people give off. I don't mean this is some sort of obscure holistic way, just that we all give off a mood weather sad, happy, apathetic, excited, or whatever you may be feeling, this is the energy that you are emitting, and your energy effects other people almost as much as it effects you. This is why I am trying so hard to be positive. Because if I see the best, I will feel my best, and hopefully my energy that I give off will help others feel their best too. It's still ok for me to be sad sometimes, for me to miss my best friends that are gone for the summer and on their missions, and it's ok for me to send my heart away on my wished for journeys around the world even if my body is here in Provo for the summer.
     We are told so often that happiness is a choice, but how often do we let ourselves choose it? On the best days when there is a lot of positive energy to absorb it's pretty easy to give off a little yourself, but on the worst days you just have to look for the little things that can remind you everything is ok. If only you will grab hold of the positive outlook on life and maybe be just a little brighter. Emit the happiest energy you can today. Allow yourself to absorb all the positivity of your divine and infinite potential, and let it make you happy too.

here is me at my peek positive energy potential. 

driving around, windows down, music playing. oh the joys of spring time.

peace. love. and happy. 

my first editing job

I am employed! I got a job this week as a researching and editing assistant and I am pretty excited about it. It should work well with my school/fun schedule since I work about 20 hours a week and set my own hours. So, pretty much I work whenever I want, but if I don't have time I can cut back for the week, or if I decided to go home for a little bit to visit my darling nephew and soon to be nephew than I can keep working from home.

But...this also means that I am now pretty much a full time Provo resident. Yup. I am pretty sure this means I am staying Spring and at least most of Summer. I haven't talked to the professor I'm working with yet to work out the logistics, but I am guessing that I will need to be in Provo for at least parts of Summer. Oh well, hit me up at King Henry ya'll. 

Here are my new roomies. I went 100% random and I am trying really hard to be a social person (harder for me than you might think. haha. 

#firstsunday

peace. love. and employment.

my day of pies and puppies

This week Provo has finally gotten its act together. It made its way all the way up to the 60s this week, and after a long Utah winter, I think we were all ready for this. It reminded me of the first spring day in Paris last winter semester when I was studying abroad. One day, the sun came out and all of the sudden everyone else did too. It was one of my favorite days in Paris. Everything felt so alive after a winter of hibernation, and the city was in full bloom. BYUs campus emitted a very similar reaction with an outburst of spring clothes, studying on the lawn, and finally the opportunity to enjoy outdoor activities without wearing everything you own. Though, I won't lie to you, putting away my boots for the the summer is always very upsetting to me (I have a secret wish that I will get to wear them just a few more times). Weird fact about me, I hate sandals. I'm on the hunt for a pair that I like, they must exist somewhere out there??

Anyways....this week, the highlights were puppies and pie. How could you go wrong with a week that included sunshine, puppies, and pie? You cannot. You simply cannot.

I've made pies for Thanksgiving before, but this was my first "experimental pie." To play into the summery feeling I decided to make a strawberry pie. It was really good. I found the recipe online (here) when I was searching around and figured I would give it a try (I will admit though that I cheated and used a store bought crust, but I don't feel guilty about it). I made this pie on Thursday 3/14 in honor of Pi Day (3.14 get it?). This holiday is the one good thing that has ever come out of math (ok, maybe there are a couple other uses for that voodoo magic you people call math, but I just won't worry abut those). 

As a lovely little treat on Pi Day, there was also an event down by BYUs duck pond where you could play with puppies. Obviously, Hilary and I had to stop by. Someone asked me a little while ago what I was most looking forward to about having my own house one day, and the first thing that came to mind was getting my own dog. After more thought about the question, I am sticking to my answer. Dogs are the greatest. Can't wait till I have a life that is suitable for me to get my own puppy!

Hopefully your weather is warming up too. If not, wear your boots while you still can, you don't have much time left! And if you get the chance this week eat some pie and pet a puppy; you won't regret it. Both things bring the greatest kind of joy. 

peace. love. and pie.