4 weeks!

Life should be a party!


-I only have FOUR weeks left till I leave!
-Going to SL this weekend to find more clothes and to play with good friends.
-Going to eat at Zupas and The Pie this weekend. Seriously, STG NEEDS to get a Zupas.
-Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. Seriously guys, I love her workouts!
-Pinterest.  I can't wait till I get back from my mish so that I can start to do all these fun ideas.
-Did I mention I leave in four weeks? haha
-Spending all day Saturday with my dear friend Catharine, loving her little chubby boy, singing hymns and playing the piano, and then eating dinner and watching a movie.  It was so great to be a part of her family for a day! They are so stinkin' cute. I wish I had taken more pictures.
-I'm going to start reading "The Help" tonight. I've heard so many good things about it!
-Currently eating a cinnamon chip muffin, and it is sooo good.
-Finding new blogs that just inspire you.
-BEING ALIVE AND LOVING THE LIFE I'VE BEEN GIVEN. I'm so very blessed. I hope to never take it for granted.

VIA

Just had to share this thought of inspiration. 

I'm very humbled today..

It's been ten years.  I remember going to school, and we watched the news in science class.  We went to New York my senior year of high school, and I've seen Ground Zero.  How humbling that was.  So many people lost their lives right on the ground where I walked.  Even though I saw it six years after the fact, there was still a reverence there.  Something I think, and seriously hope, will never leave.  I'm grateful for the troops fighting for us now.  To keep us free so we can have the freedoms we do.  I'm grateful for all the firefighters and medics and others involved who heroically, with no thought for themselves, fought to save the lives of those in the towers.  I'm very humbled today.  May we never forget, and never let our children forget, and our children's children, forget this day.

GROUND ZERO

 Memorial for all those who lost their lives.

This one really gets me.

9/11/2001

Happy Birthday CB!

I can't believe my baby sister is 20! She's not a teenager anymore.  We're on very different paths of life, but I love her so much and I'm so glad she's my sister.  A sister truly is a forever friend.  We're only 23 months apart, but it still makes me feel really old to have her be not a teenager anymore.  I love you c.  Thanks for always making me smile.  :)

<3

My first crochet project!

Earlier this year, Kc taught me how to crochet. We had a fabulous evening of crocheting, and watching disney. Yes, we watched like four hours of the suite life of Zach and Cody. Don't judge :)
That was April.  I haven't really done anything since with it.  I just haven't had the urge to make something, and to make anything cooler than a straight, square blanket is way out of my league.  But with my mission coming up I knew I needed something warm, and I wanted to have a project to keep me busy for the next six weeks! So I decided to make a scarf! One of the ones where it's a circle and it's a little baggy.  It started out slow, and I forgot to take pics along the way, but here's the finished project.

And because of a 12 hr shift where there was nothing to do, I finished it in less than a week instead of six, buuut guess that just means there is room for another project.  What should I make??

Life is a Party!

Monday's technically not over, right? It's celebratin' time!

Today I'm celebrating..

- the friends in my life.  I don't know how I got so lucky, but I have amazing friends.  One of my really good friends, Braeden, came down this weekend.  We went hiking, then a scenic drive to Cedar breaks, then game night, then hiking again this morning.  It was a fun filled weekend. And he was really patient with me when it came to taking pictures, some of the time.

Haha I tried FOREVER to get a good picture of me blowing one of these and getting the cool effect. It didn't work.   Hence the look on his face below :)

This morning we hiked through Snow Canyon {it was such a lame trail.} If I had wanted a workout by walking in sand, I would have rather gone to the beach. We hiked over 3/4 of the way through this.  At least we got our exercise, right?


-The beautifulness that is our world! I definitely need to go exploring more.
-The temple is open again tomorrow! Oh how I've missed it.
-I only have 6 weeks left until I leave on my mission.
-Game night with super fun people. What a night full of laughter! It was awesome.

Tell me some of the things you're grateful for/celebrating in your life!

Fall Love and Pinterest

I love f a l l .  I love the changing leaves (although STG doesn't have many of those), I love the crisp fall weather. I love fall wardrobe. Love sweaters and scarves, and fall colors.  {my birthday is in fall, that's always a plus ;) } I love playing football outside, and the fact that the holidays are just around the corner.  I love the newness the new season brings and the determination to do great things and start anew. 

Pinterest has become my new favorite thing.  What a way to get new ideas! I refused to get it at first because I knew I would be addicted, but I have been able to keep it in check and just enjoy it when I am on it.  Leave me your usernames, I would love to follow you and see what inspires you!  Mine is CheBaker.  Cheers to fall, brand new month, and to pinteresting. :)

What I think I want now? or what I want most..

I've learned something this last month about true happiness, and the choices we make. 
Richard G. Scott, {an apostle from my church} said it perfectly.

"Discipline is that characteristic which will give you the strength to avoid giving up what you want most in life for something you think you want now."  

August was a month of completely new experiences for me.  Some that have never come up before in my life, seriously. never.  It was amazing to watch myself! Things I had never questioned before started to come up again and want to be questioned.  It made me mad at myself but yet, I almost couldn't help it. It consumed my thoughts.  For at least a good three solid weeks I struggled.  Mind you, this was all in my head. I hadn't physically done anything to make me mad at myself.  For that, I was grateful to myself. Grateful I didn't have to deal with that as well.  But the fact that I was wanting to give into the temptations. That I was dwelling on these things enough to the point of seriously considering.  That was bad enough for me. 

It finally came to a head tonight. I realized that I needed to stop sitting on the fence- go one way or the other.  I wasn't accomplishing anything by doing what I was doing.  And after a few moments of revelation which I did not deserve, I remembered what it is I believe in, what I've always believed in, and what wouldn't let me give into the temptations in the first place..and I jumped back in with both feet.  As much as it makes me mad at myself for dwelling like I did, I'm very grateful for the experience. I now know how I react to different situations, and I know I'll have an easier time disciplining myself and remembering "what I want most in life", and not giving it up for "what I think I want now."

Satan is real. And I know my decision to go on a mission has made him work all the harder on me.  But I also know how real my Heavenly Father and Savior are, and just how much stronger I am when I rely on them, and they are on my side. 

 "And if our God is for us,

then who could ever stop us.

And if our God if with us,

 then what could stand against."

-Chris Tomlin Our God