Utah State

The last adventure of my week was heading up to Utah State for "SOAR".
I was supposed to head up on Thursday -- the day after I had returned from St. George. I was so overwhelmed on Wednesday night. My dad was supposed to take me, but things fell through and he wasn't able to. Luckily I have a very nice best friend who offered to take me. But I still didn't want to go. At all. Said best friend convinced me to go and Thursday morning at 5:45 we were off to Logan.

The was long and hard and crazy. I had been waiting for college for so long, but didn't understand how I could have gone from a care-free high school student to college bound overnight.
That day I had to take a math test, was shown around by overly excited student body officers, had a bunch of orientation, and finally met with my adviser and registered for classes. Boy was it a scary time.

Finally, the day ended. Though I was exhausted, I felt great peace. From the moment I walked onto campus to the moment I left, I knew everything was right and good. As we were driving up, I felt so much fear and doubt. I was second guessing my judgement left and right. I didn't want to be a grown up anymore. I wanted to runaway, never go to school, and start the first Mormon convent. But I thankfully got a reminder that what I was doing WAS right. I love this quote from Elder Holland.

Don't doubt yourself. I made the decision to go to Utah State months ago. And I prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it. And it is still right now. 

The church is true my friends. Don't you forget it! 

If you have any questions, feel free to comment below. 

And if you read my blog but aren't an official follower, please follow me!

Saint Jorge

Sunday afternoon, a group of my girl friends and I headed down to St. George for a few days. These girls are so fun, so hilarious, and so kind. I've known all of them for all of high school, but was only good friends with a few of them. However, despite me randomly jumping into their friend group towards the end of the year, they welcomed me with open arms and made me feel like a part of their crowd.
The best part of the week was that there was no drama! I'm still not quite sure how we managed to do that with 16 girls in one condo...but it happened. That just proves to you how FANTASTIC these girls are!!

We went down on Sunday afternoon once we arrived, a few of us decided to swim. The pool was a little warm and was a little more green than blue. But our hot, travel worn bodies didn't mind. We even composed a little synchronized swimming routine!

Monday morning we woke up early to head to Zion's National Park for a day full of hiking. Unfortunately, our group of 16 girls didn't make it past the parking lot before getting separated. We spent some time looking for each other, but with little service and no direct meeting point, it was pretty much useless. ((side note: yes. I live in a technology age. Take our cell phones away and communication is nearly impossible. How did you people do it??)) Fortunately, we are all old enough and mature enough that we went hiking on our own and figured if anything we knew how to get home.

We ended up meeting each other at the end ((it was a miracle)) and snagged this beautiful picture. Aren't we a smart bunch?

That night we had some pizza and played games/chilled. We were hoping to swim, but the pool was closed. If you'll remember, Sunday night it was less than welcoming. They had put some chemicals in and it wasn't "swim ready". 

Tuesday we went to the St. George Temple to do Baptisms for the Dead. One of our friends, Lulu, is a foreign exchange student from China. Since she isn't a member of the church, some girls stayed with her and took her around the Visitor's Center. I was able to go do baptisms and I think the consensus is that it was a wonderful experience for all. ((Other side note: Having a glass shower in the locker room is not the wisest of ideas. It kind of defeats the point.))

After baptisms, we rushed home so we could go swimming. Unfortunately, the pool was STILL closed. I guess the chemicals could not reverse the putrid green color of the pool so they had to drain it. ((Thank heavens I'm still alive)) So instead we all took turns taking cold showers and playing games. 

Tuesday was also Eva's birthday! To celebrate, we went to Olive Garden for dinner. I saw this super hot waiter...his name was Tucker....I got a picture of him..then a picture with him...and eventually left him my number. ((sometimes I'm just a little #desperate)) 

I was REALLY excited about it.

I have to admit, it was pretty fun though. Though this situation could have ended badly ((for example, stalking)) I figured "If not now, when? I am in the prime of my life!!" So I did. And it was fun. And I'll probably never do it again. YOLO.

Wednesday, we had to pack up and leave earlier than we expected. So we pawned of ridiculously large amounts of food on people, hopped into cars and left. I think it was one of the few vacations when I wasn't ready to leave. When I got home, reality hit me hard and I sobbed for a good hour. But that story will come in a different post. 

For now, thanks for reading my post and if you frequently read my blog but aren't yet a follower, please do so! Just a few clicks is all it takes. 

Thank you muchly!

Graduation.

This past week has been CRAZY! From graduation to the "singles ward" to a senior trip to college registration....life is happening and it is happening FAST!

Graduation day was probably the best day of my life. Graduation is sort of that one thing you look forward to your whole life. I was thinking that I'd be pretty disappointed with how it turned out, but it exceeded my expectations. The ceremony was great and walking through the "O" was extremely satisfactory.

That morning, feeling quite smug in my cap and gown.

And of course, I had to sneak a "Miranda" picture in ;)

These beautiful people who got me through it all

Satisfaction? Check!

My last performance with my choir. It's crazy how something that I was so involved with during my high school career is just over. And yet, I am completely okay with that. It was a good part of my life, but it is time to move on.

I love these girls more than anything!

 And my sisters and my best friends. 

 We're pretty goofy.

One of my sweet YW leaders MADE this beautiful flower head piece. It pretty much made my day.

My YW President who kept me alive this year. LOVE HER. 

So proud of my best friend who was able to graduate. Even if it required several late nights and some tears, he pulled it off. It was worth it!

And...then we switched robes...

Proudly showing off our "State Superior" medals.

One of my sisters who wasn't albe to attend the ceremony left this on my porch. ((thanks Julie!!))

This post is plenty long already so I'll pause here for now. That night my family had a BBQ for me and they each shared some wise graduation advice. High school was great and I'm so glad that it happened, but I am so excited to move on to bigger and better things. Life has more in store for me than this and I cannot wait to see what that is!

Stay tuned for the rest of my crazy week. ((I may possibly be posting the rest today so...be prepared and don't judge me.))

LOVES!

acceptable.

It is officially acceptable to wear white again. 

You know the saying, "Never wear white after Labor Day." Well, what nobody ever told you was that it is alright to begin wearing white after Memorial Day! I've lived my whole life thinking that white was simply unacceptable all together. 

Mostly I wanted to post this to sound snarky and snobby. And I wanted to show off my graduation dress. Which is, on fact, white. Sort of. ((It's actually peach but, when edited, looks white. Don't judge))

Enjoy. 

Hello Stranger

Dear blogging friends,
I AM ALMOST DONE.
This day has been the weirdest one of my life. All year I wanted nothing more than to be done with high school and get out. But then today was my last time in Seminary. And my last time in Kerry Downs's class. And my last time in choir. And I just cried. What the crap? I hated high school! Why am I crying?

I have a lot of regrets, my friends. Things I should have done, friends I should have made. It sucks. All of the sudden your time is out. You can't say, "Oh, I'll just do that next year," anymore. Next year I'll be in another town, two hours away, in a place where I don't know anyone and they don't know me.

A clean slate is so appealing to me. But so scary too. I can finally work on what is most important in life. ((Heaven only knows what that is))

Soon enough I'll give you updates on everything that has happened in the past few months, but for now I'm going to tell you a little bit about this dance called Spring Fling. ((Yes, I will be venting here))

Once upon a time, choir was in charge of Spring Fling and that meant that Carly and I were in charge of it. Mr. Keyes wanted nothing to do with the planning process and left it to the two of us who were already tired, worn out, and unmotivated. Not a good situation. We did decide on a good theme, had some fun decorations planned, and things seemed to be going alright.

The day before the dance, I was supposed to work at both my jobs. I had hoped that we could rally enough people to help us set up, but such was not the case. I ended up begging to stay home from one job so I could help get the dance set up. ((Yes, I am trying to sound a little bit like a hero here. Get over it.)) Setting up the dance was stressful. People can be very frustrating to work with. The best part about setting up was when Mr. Keyes just left. 20 minutes after we started. Yeah, that's really professional, right? WRONG. Here we were, a group of unsupervised teenagers trying to set up for the dance. So we're working our hearts out and a janitor comes and yells at us. HELLO? So stressful. So frustrating. YOLO.
I had to leave about 30 minutes before we were done setting up so that I could get going to work. At work, I'm texting my date to finalize plans and it turns out that he can't go anymore. It was a mutual agreement, but I started to get a little worried.

The next morning, I find a date, go to a surprise birthday breakfast for my BFF Katie, and then run to a work meeting. All before 10:00. I find a dress, take a nap, do some chores, all that fun stuff.

At 4:00, Carly, Haley, and I were supposed to meet Mr. Keyes at Macey's to pick up the things we needed for the punch. Well, at 4:00, guess who didn't show up? You bet. Mr. Keyes. SO professional. Finally he gets there and is complaining the whole time about how he doesn't want to go to the dance and everything is bad and bla bla bla bla bla. WELL SORRY MR. SASSY PANTS!! ((side note: I understand the complaining part. I didn't want to be there either and it was really stressful, but it's not like we could change the situation at all so...get over yourself.))

We take everything to the school ((after Carly, Haley, and I single handedly put all the groceries in my car. No help from the teacher.)) and put it in the faculty room. Just as we are about to leave, Mr. Keyes says:
"We'd better make a lot of money tonight, because I'm missing my daughter's dance recital tonight."

HELLO???? Guilt trip to the MAX. As if we didn't feel bad enough, he has to drop that one on us. I was so mad.

After that, I was running super behind. I was supposed to start picking people up by the time I left the school and I hadn't done my hair yet. So I hustled my way home, finished getting ready and picked up Makenna, her date, and my date.

The date was so much fun. We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner and took some pictures at an old train yard.

The dance was a whole different story. Basically it was horrible. I blame the DJ. This particularly annoying group of people ((you know, the popular ones who dance right next to the DJ)) kept moshing. Or at least what we call moshing in Utah. This upset the DJ and he ended up kicking them out. This was a 50-50 good/bad situation. First of all, the DJ was playing music that people were OBVIOUSLY going to mosh to. However, stupid, arrogant teenagers should have stopped the first time. They ended up getting kicked out which is SUPER embarrassing for them. 

Unfortunately, when the popular people leave, everyone leaves. So there I was. Required to stay because I was in charge. 

I was so embarrassed. I have this problem called I worry what people think about me. And all I could hear people saying was, "Man that dance sucked." and it was over my head. MY fault. Poop. 

The worst part was, that everyone left, including half of the choir members who were supposed to stay and help take down the dance. So we had hardly anyone helping at the end of the night which meant it took super long and I was super agitated. 

I'm over it now ((let's be real. in one week I never have to see any of these people again)) but I am still baffled by the situation. GROW UP. 

Be normal. Don't be a brat. 

I can't wait to graduate. 

I. Do. Not. Care.

Please enjoy this clip from Remember the Titans. And then you will adequately understand how much I want senior year to be over with.
3 more months:)

These Days.

So here's the deal. Maybe I haven't updated in 700 years. Cool. I wish I could say I've been super busy..but I really haven't! I've been super relaxed these days. Not being in a show has made me realize that I do actually have the ability to have a life and it's kind of amazing. I'm currently in West Side Story as Rosalia, but rehearsals for that have been sparse and super chill.
I really don't like to blog unless I truly have something to say. What I'm really trying to say is, I'm not going to blog just so my 12 followers can gobble something up about my life. :) And I don't even have that much to say tonight other than life is so good. I am so content with my current situation, I am living relatively drama free and even if there is drama, I don't feel attached to it and I feel okay separating myself from it.
I don't want to sound like I'm better than any of you, but for those of you who are struggling with that stuff, know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and the second you stop caring about yourself. It all works out really nicely.
Really though, I've been trying really hard to focus outward instead of inward and that has made all the difference. I found that even when I was doing something with and outward intention, I still was only focusing on myself and how I would feel when I did it. It's the other people that matter. Not you.
Anyway. Enough of my rambling. Here's some pictures to tell you about the past couple of weeks.

I'm doing this on my phone so I'll explain them here. First is Solo and Ensemble...sort of. It happened and both my solo and ensemble made it to region. Woot.
Next...I found that sweet bubble of water in the bathroom and saved the whole house from water damage. Sort of.
That sweet picture of Asians is next. A bunch of students from China came to our school and the Chamber Choir got to sing with them. We sang this super inspiring number called "We're Not That Different After All". And by inspiring I mean cheesey and a little embarrassing. But it was sweet and fun. We were each assigned a Chinese student and at the end we all got little gifts from them. Mine of course was a set of note cards with their communist leader on them. Best gift ever.
The next few show Valentine's Day. That was a fantastic day which included going to a Valentine's party at the elementary school I intern at {complete with Valentines and a Valentine box}. It also included getting gross waffles at the waffle truck with Aaron and a nice dinner with Mom and Dad.
Then last is today. Since we had the day off, Aaron and I decided to go try out our luck skating on the ice by the waterfall. It was pretty dang fun, I have to admit. We also stopped at the Lehi outlets and a quick trip to the Dino museum. It was quite the day! But so much fun.
And for those of you who are wondering, no we are not dating, but rather just best friends. And for those of you who don't think that is possible, just spend an hour around us and you'll get it. We're both at a place where really a best friend is all we need. It's fun times I tell you!

Thanks for reading a ramble! Happy President's Day!!