Cute Hair!

So, I love doing hair.  The only problem is I have the hardest time doing cute things on myself. A really hard time.  But lately, after becoming addicted to Pinterest! {CheBaker} and looking at  so many different hairstyle tutorials, I decided to just do it till I can make it happen.

Have you guys read Running On Happiness? This girl is BEAUTIFUL, and always has a myriad of different posts and I just love reading her blog.  Well, she has THIS hair tutorial and for awhile I just looked at it, wanting to try it, but never having the courage. I can't do a fishtail braid on anyone else {even after many tries} let alone myself!

But tonight, I decided, it doesn't hurt to at least try, right?

drum roll please!!

YAY! And first try too.  I couldn't be prouder haha.

It's not quite as loose and pretty as hers, I wish I had longer hair. But I love the way it turned out.  And it's seriously not as hard as it looks....

I'm ready to conquer the next hairstyle :)

I don't feel good. . .

Soooo, I made cookies.  :)

We didn't have any chocolate chips, so I made yellow cake batter cookies.
We didn't have any frosting, so I made some from scratch.

and it actually didn't taste that bad! Remember my epic food fail???
Well, this was a success. I'm moving up in the baking world. :)

I made a little mess, but that's the fun of it right? 

They were supposed to be fluffy and yellow, but even though they're brown and flat, they were still soft and chewy and delicious :)

They were actually so good!  

I still don't feel the greatest, but these definitely brightened things up a little.

Yes, going on a mission has made me more fashionable :)

Last weekend my mom and I traveled to Orem to the Sister Missionary Mall to find my mission clothes..( i Leave in SIX weeks! aH!) I was having a hard time finding longer, cute skirts, and from snooping, I realized that this place actually had cute stuff!  I also met the most ADORABLE girl who helped me to yes, become more fashionable on my mission. 

 *Wait!!*, 

aren't sister missionaries only supposed to dress in dark colors with frumpy vests and suit jackets with no cuteness at all?  

That's what I thought at least.  

WRONG!

The handbook says pretty much that you can wear whatever you want as long as it's modest.  The skirts just have to be covering your knees when sitting and standing, and not revealing up top at all, and a little longer on the sleeves than a short cap sleeve.  

As awesome as this is, there are so many options!!  I had picked out a couple things before we went up north but we definitely hit the jack pot.  They had some cute stuff, and with the help of some cute girls that worked there I seriously feel so good about my wardrobe.  

I've never been one for scarves, or belts, or high heels or anything like that. I mean, I don't feel like I dress frumpy or anything, but I guess I'm just not confident enough to pull those things off.  But going on my mission has made me change my mind about those things.  I want to be more fashionable, and wear those things and know I can pull them off just like any other girl. And after trying on a few things, I can!  I have never felt more cute in my life.  

As I was looking in the mirror after trying on one outfit, I was telling the girl how I want to be more stylish, and a mission is making me do that. 

She started laughing and said, 

"I love how a mission is making you more fashionable."   

{referring to how most girls think they are still pretty strict/frumpy on their missions. even with these new rules}

We both laughed.  My mom and I were in there for 4 1/2 hrs.  But I've not had that much fun shopping in a long time.

 Shoes...SOOOOO expensive.  But, if my feet aren't going to hurt for the next year and a half then they're worth it.  they're not tooo bad right?

 Belts like these!  I need a black one, and a cream one I'm thinking?  I have fallen in love with belts, I used to not care for them.

 Here are most of my clothes... I just need a few more blouses!

 All my scarves!  Does anyone know where to get ones that are just for fashion? That hang around your neck loosely but aren't super long?  They're almost a full circle I think, then a scarf.  I would love to know!

Only six more weeks. . . the time seriously could not be going slower.

nuff said.

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.

I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.

I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.

I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.

I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

What an inspiring lady.  Everything that comes out of her mouth is so uplifting, and gives you strength to go another day.  May we all look after her example.

:)

Catalina love

Last weekend I was so fortunate to be able to go to Catalina Island to see mi sista from anotha mista.  She works at a boyscout camp (yes, no typos there) all summer on this gorgeous place, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see her.  There are two main parts to the island..one is the big tourist spot that everyone goes to, Avalon, and then Two Harbors.  Two Harbors is a smalllll little town (only a general store, and restaruant) but this side houses all the coves that have the boy scout camps etc.  So less populated, but freaking gorgeous.
 I wish I would have taken more pics, but I was having so much fun.  I seriously haven't had that much fun in a weekend trip in a long time.

This is what gets those huge thing that go on semis off of the big liners that come in from all over the world. It was right by where the ferry was leaving. It was really cool to see them at work.  It's a big magnetic arm that lifts them up and sets them down on a ship.

A lighthouse just as your getting out of the bay into the open ocean.  gorgeous.

These are EVERYWHERE. People live to sail on Catalina.

The girls.  We had so much fun.  That night we danced it up, and seriously just had a great time.  After walking/jogging/sprinting to the general store to buy a hoodie before it closed.

The sweetest guy took me on a hike around a part of the island.  It was so much fun to talk to him (he's been going here for a LONG time, and just got back from iraq so he had tons of awesome stories.  He was a pretty cool kid.)

 AW becks. :)

The boyscouts hard at work :)

 Isn't she so gorgeous?

     This was a last hike we went on before I left. We didn't get too far, but it was so pretty and relaxing!  Then Kayci and I sat on a ledge and talked for at least a good hour.  We stared out over the waves at the great expanse of the ocean and just talked about everything. (pretty sure there was a whale or dolphin or seal or some big creature playing around in the water below us, but it was too dark.  But fun to hear it splash and jump) We definitely have experienced opposite things when it comes to our lives, but we only grow closer instead of it getting between us.  <3

   This weekend was an eye opener for me.  I've never been so confused and happy at the same time. I didn't know what to do with all the information I had processed during the trip, and it honestly freaked me out a little.  But now that I'm home, I have figured out how to take all I learned and incorporate it into my own life, my life that I love.  And use it to help me be a more well rounded person.  It doesn't mean I have to drastically alter the course of my life all of a sudden, but I can take bits and pieces and make it a new part of me, a part that I'm so excited to mold and develop and see what I can make out of it.

Never give up the opportunity to try anything new. No matter how scary it might seem. Life is way too short.  I've been being taught that my whole life, but what I've learned while I was in my last relationship and then this weekend, really solidified it for me.  The mind is a stronghold, but it can also be a hindrance if you let it get in the way from it telling you your scared.
Carpe Diem.
but don't forget who you are deep down, use those experiences to refine you, and I can only imagine the happiness that can come from it.


P.S......
We sailed right through a pod of dolphins!!!!!  Don't believe me???? Well you should.  No pictures because our little sailboat was not the sturdiest and noone wanted to risk tipping (which was very likely) and ruining the cameras.  it was AMAZING though! There were at least 200 or more.  No joke.  And then to top it off, I'm pretty sure I saw a whale surface and then go back down.    There is nothing more legit than that.

P.P.S........

I went paddle boarding.  This is SO fun.  Everyone should try it.

P.P.P.S.....

DId I mention I seriously want to move to California when I get off my mission? Jus' sayin. Jus' sayin. Who's with me? haha :)

those moments..

       Ever have those moments? ya know when either you read, see, hear, witness, or in any way that information can be relayed to the brain something that changes your life for good?  I don't think it's ever just one huge, mind-boggling, event that only happens once and the rest is history.  I believe that whether they be big or small, there are MANY moments that change us. That give us strength to go on. That remind us how much we are loved. That remind us just how special each of us are.  It recharges our "batteries", so to say.  Because even if we are happy, and nothing is really going wrong, I still think our "batteries" slowly lose energy.  and it's those moments, most of the time when we don't even think we need them, that bring us back up to full, and give our lives even richer meaning, and even more confidence to go on and be the best we can be.

      That was a long introduction.  But I had one of those moments tonight.  Four thirty in the morning.  After a night of so much fun, and then pondering, and then tears, and then sadness, {it all came on so suddenly.  Isn't it crazy how life works?} I was just going to go to bed. I am exhausted, in all forms of the word emotionally, and physically.  {remember my day of wakeboarding? haha yaaaah, definitely paying for that one. can barely move any muscle in my body!}

     But I decided to check facebook, first.  There is a very special lady in my life, and I have only known her for a little over a year, but she is more of an example and means more to me than she'll ever know. I look up to her.  But I had written her a message a couple days ago, just saying hi.  And the message I got back tonight, was exactly what I needed, and I didn't know I needed it.

     I won't say what the message said, but I guess the point I'm trying to make, {sorry if I'm rambling, I just really feel I need to get this out} is that I was at a low, and something so simple as her message {which related hardly nothing to what I was upset about earlier tonight} made my entire out look change again; one of those moments. I didn't realize i needed my batteries recharged, until I read it.

       It's a testimony of how we are not alone. A loving God is in heaven watching out for us.  And He works through others sometimes, no-most of the time, to remind us that He's there.  How much of a win-win is that for us? Our relationship grows stronger with Him as we recognize His hand, we grow as individuals, and also a sweetening of the relationships we have with the people He works through.  Have you ever had a stranger smile at you? Ever had a close friend or family member say they love you? or write you a little note? or do something for you that they didn't need to do?  I could name many more examples.  But I believe that they are being instruments for the Lord, when He can't be here Himself.

       I heard somewhere, Never let a good thought go undone. (or something to that effect.)  You never know when the Lord is going to use you to be a moment for someone else. Most of the time you won't realize the effect that is produced, but do your good thoughts anyways.  I've tried to live by that, and I can tell a difference in my own happiness when I don't act as much as I should on those thoughts.

        And even though she'll probably never read this, I just want to tell her thank you.  Thank you for acting on that good thought to say what she did.  {because she said some things that normally she doesn't elaborate on, but she did tonight.} coincidence? I don't believe so.

If you made it to the end, wow, and thank you!  The Lord knows what we need, when we need it.  We are never alone.  <3

       

Life is A Party

It's Monday, and time remember life is still a PARTY!

Lately I've been reminded more and more of how much I love life, and how blessed I am.  No matter what trials you're going through, keep moving on.  The light will come.  But only if you look for the light, look for the good in all things.  Have faith, and hope. ♥

Anywho, off my little soapbox for the day...{But I needed to say it! }

Things I'm celebrating in life right now...

          ♡ WAKEBOARDING!! I finally got to go for the first time this summer.  It's amazing    what our bodies can do! I love getting better each time and trying harder stuff.  {definitely not amazing or anything, but I'm learning to become less scared to jump.}
          ♡friends.  I could not have gotten through these last six months without my amazing support group.  i'm making so many new friends, and getting closer to the old ones.  I hope I can keep those friendships up while I'm gone.  I will write!
          ♡phone calls. I love getting phone calls from friends. Which goes back the friends. I have AMAZING friends and people who love me, and I love back.
          ♡the sun.  I am loving the sun this summer. SO wonderful.
          ♡The temple.  self explanatory. {going to the LA temple on Tue. Whoo!}
          ♡CATALINA ISLAND! can't wait to see my sista :)

Please let me know what you are celebrating today??