Today is a Special Day!

I know it's a super old picture, but this pretty much sums up my awesome mom.

Happy happy birthday to my favorite person in the world! My mom!!! She is just such a great person, and I'm so blessed to have her in my life. She is crazy and fun and is a mother to all of my friends, which I love. She is so selfless and is always willing to help anyone she can. She is considerate, patient, loving, trustworthy, happy, talented, and just all around incredible. She really is my hero and such a great example of living a Christ-like life. I love you mom! Happy Birthday!

What hard work will bring you

I'm sitting on my couch, listening to beautiful Christmas music (say what you want, I don't care, I'm gonna listen to it anyway!), just pausing for a few minutes in the midst of my homework to celebrate the fact that I got a 94% on my Anatmony test!!!!!! AHHH!! I'm seriously so excited! This semester hasn't been the easiest to say the least...and neither have been my grades. And I've been studying non-stop like all week long, but it paid off!!!! Hooray!!!

And speaking of hard work, I ran my half marathon last Saturday! And I finished in 2 hours and 19 minutes! I have to say that it was A LOT harder than I thought it was going to be, but it was worth it...even though I literally was walking like a pregnant old lady for the next 3 days. haha. But I'm serious...people got some good laughs out of my inability to walk. I'll try to post some pictures soon.

I look back a how far I've come and I'm amazed. Two years ago pretty much to the day I was running the Snow Homecoming 5K, and I was dying, and now look at me! Running half marathons, triathlons, 10Ks, and running for fun! Ah! Love it! I can't help but be a little proud of myself.

Anyway, totally random post, but life is great! Love it! :)

This weekend has been so great! So great!

Friday I went to a sleepover with some pretty awesome people. And we played MASH...and mystery phone....and made cake waffles....and watched Newsies. It was a classic girl sleepover that I feel like I haven't had since I was 14, but those were when sleepovers were so much fun!

Then on Saturday, I spent the morning with Ed and Mak, something that we don't get to do very much anymore because we're all so crazy busy with school and work. And then I went and played with my cute little neighbors during the football game (where we totally whooped Idaho State!). Then I made these awesome embroidered Christmas ornaments-really, they're so cool.

Then I hung out with my good friend Jill, and we met up with some other friends and went and saw Dream House. I was pretty nervous, because if you know me at all, you know I don't do scary movies, and this trailer looked CREEPY! But everyone promised it wasn't scary, so I went. And they were right, it wasn't. It was one of those mess-with-your-mind kind of movies and you have to figure out what happened. I haven't really decided whether I really liked it or not though...I'll let you know.

And then today......I got to see one of my favorite people in the whole wide world for the 1st time in 2 years!!!! Yes, that's right people. Darren Faber is back in town! Hooray! Seriously, this guy is so awesome! His talk in church was like a conference talk and he is just bursting with love for the Gospel and for people. And he's so smiley and happy and ah! Just such an amazing guy. (and me makes me act kinda silly sometimes...which I love.)

Life is just happy right now. Even though school is still super hard and work consumes all my time, and there's rough stuff happening, I'm finding joy in the journey, in the every day. It's possible my friends! Life is good! Be happy!

Oh the love of youthful memories

Over the last couple of weeks, my lovely twin Becky and I have been diving into a movie from our youth...the kind of movie I would watch time and time again with my Grandmother and never get tired of it. Unfortunately, in the last decade that I have been growing up and didn't have so much time to spend with my grandmother, I had forgotten how much I loved the shows I used to watch with her.
But, Becky and I are bringing one of those shows back into my life....Anne of Green Gables! Oh my goodness, I am constantly swept away by the romanticism of the whole thing, and the way Anne talks makes me want to write again, and wish that I lived back then!


If you haven't watched Anne of Green Gables in a long time (or ever), you totally should! It is hillarious! Anne is always filled with some dramatic comment or poem. Here's some of Becky's and my favorites:
"Not now Marilla! I'm in the depths of despair!"
"My life is like a perfect graveyard, full of buried hopes."
"I'm absolutely positive that this night will ruin every day life."
"From now on, we shall be secret bosom friends."
"And we would eat ice cream and chicken salad."
"I shall bear this wound forever."

You might not understand how funny these are....which just means you need to watch it!
As of now, Becky and I are about an hour into the 2nd movie, and I am DYING! Because of school and such, we only have weekends to watch, and every day I think about Anne Shirley, and how she needs to acknowledge the fact that she's in love with Gilbert Blythe!!! He is so wonderful and patient with her, always trying to be her friend; even when she is snooty and won't give him the time of day. *sigh* Where's my Gilbert?....ah, well, he'll come someday. haha. But they HAVE to end up together, they just HAVE to!!! AH!
Call me cheesy, weird, quirky, odd or whatever you want about loving and being so excited about this movie. I don't care. I love it! p.s. I'm pretty sure I'm going to the Parachute concert next Friday and I'm STOKED!!! :)

Well folks, I did it!

Okay, so remember that post a few weeks ago when I said I was going to chop my hair? Well...I did! Here it is! I love it! I'm having a lot of fun with it, trying new styles and such. :) If you have any ideas, let me know!

School is going well, I'm finally getting a handle on my busy schedule. And although it's a lot of hard material, I'm loving what I'm learning! I held a brain on Monday...a real one! It was pretty sweet.

Anyway, just thought I'd give you an quick update. Life is good! :D

In A Nutshell

I have to remind myself of this sometimes....okay, a lot. But I love that it is as true as it was when I first learned it. When things aren't going the way you want, plan, expect, or can even stand, just remember this. Everything is under control.

Just keep your head up, look at all of the beauty around you (like red leaves on the mountains, running with your best friend, and the cute face President Monson made when he announced all of the new temples today). Happiness is all around. Look for it and you'll find it. And remember, it's all under control.

On Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and......Mud?

On Saturday morning, bright and early, Kristy and I drove up to Soldier Hollow and ran the DIRTY DASH!!!! Oh my goodness, it was insanely fun! There was mud everywhere and we had a great time too, which was a nice bonus. For those of you who don't know what the Dirty Dash is, it is a benefit race/obstacle course. It was a 10K, and you run some, and then there is an obstacle course that involves mud (like climbing over wooden walls with water spraying in your face, all the while hoping that you don't twist your ankle as you trudge through the mud on the ground...or crawling through muddy barrels.....or wading through the outskirts of the deer creek resivoir....). It isn't really about time at all, but it is all about getting down and muddy! But it was so much fun and I fully plan on doing it again next year....and so should you!!! So save up and plan on it! :)

Before......all clean. :) We're so fierce!

One of the obstacles, rope swing...where the guys decided (out loud, so I know it was on purpose) to spray me right in the face all the way through the swing.

I love running!!! :)

Jumping in the pool of mud at the end to get to the finish line

We did it!!!