2015.

I've never really been into New Year resolutions for a couple reasons. One being that resolutions are hardly ever kept past February, and the other being that you can set goals for yourself anytime of the year not just January 1st. It's just always funny to me how big of a deal everyone makes this time of year when it is really just another day. However, I do feel a sense of optimism about 2015 that I haven't really felt about past new years. 2014 was kind of a weird year for me. I went through a lot of life changes, some fun and some not so fun. Strangely enough, graduating high school and moving away from home were not the most dramatic events of this year. I've had to really relearn who I am and figure out how to live a new life- a life of adulthood and self-understanding. Because of all these changes in my life and within myself in 2014, I can make 2015 a year of building and bettering. I have exposed my struggles and imperfections so blatantly that I can now learn to improve and grow. It's kind of how you have to tear down a foundation in order to rebuild something stronger and better. I have hope that in this year I will learn to feel comfortable with my life and become a happier person. I think no matter where we are in our life, this is something we all can do. All of us go through trials that help us understand ourselves in new ways. We can always take these type of experiences to become better, kinder, and wiser. I have set New Year resolutions this time around, and I feel determined to continue them past February. I hope all of us take this year to improve ourselves and become a person we've always wanted to be. When it comes to character improvement, nothing is really impossible. We can all become the person we dream of being. I'm cringing at how cliche this all sounds, but it is true. I just want to be a good person with a satisfying life, and I hope 2015 brings me one step closer to that. 

christmas.

So Christmas has come and gone, and I still haven't written about it! I hope everyone had as an amazing of a Christmas as I did. I'm so glad I got to spend it at home with all of my family. I made a quick video of our Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. The reason I haven't posted this yet is because I've been waiting to return to school so I have fast enough internet to upload the video, haha my parent's house has the worst internet in the world. A tradition that isn't shown in the video is delivering food at the hospital. Ever since I can really remember this has always been a tradition since my dad has always worked at a hospital. We deliver a Christmas dinner to the employees who have to work on Christmas Eve. It is always really fun even though we are just walking around the hospital handing out food. Things that are shown in the video are our Christmas Eve dinner, playing What's In My Box off of Jimmy Fallon, a money dice game, opening presents, and just being with family. If you don't watch Jimmy Fallon, the game is two people sitting across from each other with a barrier so the opponent can see your face but not your box, then one person looks at the contents of their box and describes what is in it and the other player decides if they are telling the truth or lying. It was hilarious. Anyways, I had a lovely Christmas and a lovely break! It was great to take time away from the stress of normal life and focus on the Lord and all our blessings. I'm so grateful for our Savior and his love for all of us, and I'm so grateful for my family and our love for each other. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season as well!

one semester done.

I FINISHED A SEMESTER OF COLLEGE! I'm alive...pretty poor...but I'm alive. Finals wasn't terrible, but I mean I wouldn't love every week to be like that week. I'm so excited to be home for almost a month! I haven't had a real Christmas break since probably kindergarten. I'm always swamped with homework during break, but homework isn't even an option in college since the semester ends. It's wonderful. I'm planning on watching every episode of Gilmore Girls and reading a few books. If that's not a perfectly planned break than I don't know what is. 

I'm going to miss living with my roommates so much. I've been ridiculously lucky to have amazing roommates who I was in no hurry to leave. We threw a Christmas party/ birthday party for Kiana and Laura/ end of finals party on our last night together, and it was really fun. We wore Christmas sweaters, made gingerbread houses, exchanged presents, and had a low volume dance party because of quiet hours. It took a lot of self control to not belt out Toxic by Brittney Spears, but I practiced some self control.

 I am honestly so proud of my gingerbread house. Normally my gingerbread houses look like crap even when they're made with a kit, but I did pretty good with graham crackers and Walmart candy this year.

 Caroline got really excited about these balloons...

 These are our really beautifully wrapped presents under our really fancy tree.

 Already miss these weirdos bucket loads, and I can't wait to continue our really long sleepover in January.

givin' thanks.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Not only did I not have to go to school, but I got to spend time with my family. So it was a good week. This time of year is dedicated to being grateful, and I definitely have a lot to be grateful for. I have the most incredible family who double as my best friends. I used to hate being the youngest child, but I love that we can all just be friends since we are all "grown up" now. Even back when the age difference seemed more drastic, they have always been my closest and most understanding friends. They put up with my annoying adolescent behavior and taught me how to become a better person. I'm grateful for a family who loves each other unconditionally and always treats each other with kindness. I'm grateful for my opportunity to receive an education. Although school is hard and expensive, it is still the greatest gift I could ever receive. Regardless if I work until I'm 65 or not, I know my life will be blessed by earning a degree. I'm of course grateful for the gospel and the privilege I have to be apart of something that makes me so happy. I'm grateful for my testimony and the ability we have to share it with others. I am grateful for patience- people who have it and share it with me. I can be a lot to handle at times, but the people in my life are masters of patience and have helped me in countless ways. I am grateful for my amazing friends. They keep me sane and keep me happy. I don't know what I would do without their support, love, and humor. I am grateful for good music and good books; they keep my life intriguing, meaningful, and inspiring. I am grateful for photography and the blessing it has been in my life in every way. Not only has it helped me financially, it has helped me emotionally and creatively. I love capturing moments and raw emotions, and I'm very lucky to do it as my job. I am grateful for my cat who is the most perfect little thing in the world. I'm actually just grateful for cats in general. Things that don't seem as important but I am still grateful for are: holiday mint m&m's, honeycrisp apples, socks that are tall enough to cover my ankles because my pants are always too short, pillsbury seasonal sugar cookies, aux chords, caroline's ability to wake up on time so she can wake me up when I sleep past my alarm, diet coke, Netflix, and the Kardashians. All in all, it doesn't matter what you have or what your life is like- there is always a lot to be thankful for. Our lives are magical and significant, and I hope you don't take your blessings for granted. 

(I'm also thankful for squishy family snuggles in my bed while watching The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)

100 days.

I have officially survived 100 days of college! It seems like I've been here forever, but it also feels like I moved in yesterday. Strange how time works like that. I would like to celebrate this wonderful day by dedicating this post to the people who have made these 100 days the greatest. They are my roommates. Here are just a few of the many things I love about each of them.

Kiana: 

I feel so lucky to have gotten this girl as my roommate. It is kind of creepy how similar we are sometimes. We both love adventuring and doing strange things in public and buying large tubs of ice cream at midnight. We both share a weird sense of humor that is equivalent to a 12 year old boy. We have the same taste in music-so similar that it's sometimes hard to tell who's iPod is playing. We have enough sass between the two of us to last a lifetime. I just always feel like we are on the same page, and that she really understands me. Kiana is also an incredible cook and is always willing to make us food. I don't know if it's because she's from Idaho or not, but she can do a million things with potatoes. She gives magical back rubs and won't except money when I try to pay her for them. She appreciates my honesty, and I appreciate her sincerity. I love that she is really good at rave dancing and is ready for a dance party at any moment. I love that she wears hammer pants and chick-fil-a shirts. I'm in love with her curly hair and high energy, and I'm so glad she sleeps on the other side of my bedroom wall. 

Laura:

Laura is pretty much my mom here at college. She has this sense of maturity about her that is so comforting to be around. She is genuinely the sweetest and nicest person ever. I know that if I need help with anything at all, she would be there for me no matter what. She is a great listener and lets me sit on her bed and talk about life. She works so hard it makes my head hurt. She's majoring in music therapy which might as well be rocket science because she is always at school, always practicing, or always studying-but she never complains. I swear this girl never lets her stress of school affect her personality. Even when she has a million things on her plate, she still has a smile on her face and time to watch a movie with us. She is the best fiddler in the nation, and after a couple minutes of me begging she'll always play me a private show. I love how she knows what she wants, and she dedicates her whole soul to those things. I love having a stable friend like her to balance me out. 

Carly:

This girl is bomb. (I say that because Carly describes everything she likes as "bomb") I swear everything that comes out of her mouth is hilarious, even when she's not trying. I can never be around Carly and not love life. Whenever we are together we bring out the strangest sides of each other. She never ever causes drama, and she is literally the definition of chill. She drinks more Coke than anyone else I've ever met. She always lets me cuddle with her, and she shares her really soft blanket with me. I love that she was a french fry for Halloween, and I love how excited she got when chocolate oranges came in season. She is always ready for a good time and always makes the best out of everyday. She has had to deal with a lot of hard times up at college, but she never lets it get her down. She's always shaking it off and remaining positive. I know without a doubt she always has my back, and she would take a bullet for anyone she loves. I hate that she's in a sorority, but I love that she completely breaks the sorority stereotype. I'm so blessed to have such a close friend who makes life so much better. 

Caroline: 

Well we all know how completely obsessed I am with Caroline. I could probably write a novel on how much I love her, but I'll spare you from that. There's no other way to sum up my relationship with Care other than simply saying, she's my person. She is everything for me. She's my best friend, my sister, my roommate, my other half. I can't think of one aspect of my life where I would not need Caroline. She understands my heart in the deepest way possible. She knows my fears and my dreams. She knows my intentions and my motives. I love that we don't think of each other as friends anymore, we are 100% family. I know her family is there for me, and she knows my family is there for her. We can enjoy our time together without talking. We can understand each other while still disagreeing. We can be completely different while still being the same. We know each other inside and out, and we never have to worry about losing each other. At this point there is nothing either of us could do that could break this relationship. We are too close to have anything change our minds about each other. I know all her flaws and weaknesses, and I still think she is the most perfect human ever. She's my person, and I don't know how I got lucky enough to have her. I'll love her forever.

halloween.

What day is empty hot dog day? Hollow weenie. (lol)

Alright to start this post off I would just like to take a short trip down memory lane. I was looking through my scrapbook today to find some old Halloween pictures from my childhood and boy did I find some good ones. I would like to formally apologize to any of you who knew me as a young kid because based on these pictures- I was a weird looking child. Not a cute kind of weird, but a straight up terrifying kind of weird. These pictures are from Halloween of 2000, which means I was 4. Next to the pictures my mom has written "This year I couldn't decide so I was a cat and a princess!", so clearly at age 4 I was already aware of my two identities. 

 Okay well this is me as a princess, which may be misleading since the look on my face says serial killer. I'm also holding my wand like a baby, which adds to the weirdness.

Look at that winning smile...

And here I am as a cat trying to seduce you with my 4 year old body. 

And here's just a personal favorite of my sister who apparently is the one who passed on the cat obsession to me. (sorry Karli)

Caroline and I came home for the weekend which was super fun because my siblings did as well. The twins were Mario and Luigi, and they looked so stinkin' cute! They loved toddling around with their little pumpkin buckets and playing with the candy. I love trick or treating so much, so it was awesome to finally get to go again. 

Even though I was the "adult" instead of the kid this time, I obviously didn't miss the chance to live out my fantasy of being a unicorn one last time. 

Caroline ruins everything...

I always love Halloween and this one was definitely not a disappointment. Glad I got to spend time with my cute family and my cute Caroline. Already can't wait for next year! 

howlin'.

If you are from around here then you have probably heard of The Howl, if you have no idea what it is, it is just a giant Halloween party/concert/rave/circus/strip club that Utah State puts on every year. It has acquired quite a rep for being pretty crazy, but to be honest I was a little underwhelmed with it. Yes there were tons of people and lots of craziness, but I didn't feel unsafe or like I was somewhere super sketchy. I didn't even really talk to strange men (but that was probably because of my unattractive costume). Last year for Halloween Caroline and I were cats because cats are my favorite animal and I am completely obsessed, so this year we decided to be her favorite animal which was....a unicorn. I found us these ridiculous hats from Zurchers and they became the center piece of the most magical costume I have ever seen. The rest of our costumes consisted of a feather boa tail, glitter body tattoos, and bright blue eyeliner. Clearly looking "cute" was not our first priority here haha. 

Lots of friends from back home got to come up for The Howl, and it was really fun to party with them again. We spent most of our night with Chelsea and Maddy, which makes any dance party 150% better. They go full out the entire time, which is admirable and inspiring. Also, Rockstar energy drinks sponsored this thing and were handing out free drinks the entire night. This caused for the most intense and embarrassing mental/physical break down ever. So apparently I'm not supposed to combine significant amounts of caffeine with the medication I take, and having two Rockstars definitely showed me why. Long story short, I pretty much passed out, had a tingling body, lost my mind and thought I was going to die. I have never really had an energy drink before and even though mango Rockstars taste so beautiful, they lead to unpleasant feelings. Anyways, these lovely friends of mine carried my to the car and put me in bed and bought me some chicken nuggets. I don't think friendship gets better than that. So thanks ladies for not hating me when I wouldn't shut up about Greg Kinnear and Matthew McConaughey and how hungry I was and how I didn't want my mom to find out. 

Oh and on Friday we went with some friends to Angie's and cleaned the sink! Forget about kissing on the A, I think this officially makes me a true Aggie. Even though we had six people, it was still enough ice cream to make me feel nauseous for 24 hours.  

 So all in all, it was freaking great weekend! Thanks to the nice people in my life who help me have the best nights ever. MY HORN CAN PIERCE THE SKY. (high five if you understood that reference)