One year better? I sure do hope so!

That is right! This past sunday was the day that marked nineteen wonderful years of being on this Earth. My loving, best friend Amanda threw me a surprise party!



This one is just for kicks. I can't help but make ridiculous faces, even in most natural state-laughing! Thanks James for helping out Amanda by distracting me with bike rides before hand!


My voodoo balloon that Amanda made :] It has curly hair, asain make up and the necklace that Jackie gave me for my birthday-my twin for life!



Intense balloon war! We ended up racing them off the balcany :]


The most delicious three layer cake a girl could ask for. Thanks to Amanda, this waterfall of frosting in the midst of crumbling cake was the best birthday cake!


With Buddah on top! Now that completes everything :]


The roommates! (most of them anyways)


Todd-The best guy friend up here.

Now here I go living another year! It is going to be yet another awesome year!

Like Vines We Intertwine

MONEY TREE! It will be the only living organism I will take care of at college....I can't handle anything else!



Now that I have just shared to you my pride and joy, I am going to tell a little story about my life.
Where does time go? It seems today starts the countdown to everything. 5 weeks until Amanda's wedding. 4 weeks untill school is over and I am officially done being a freshman, but still have yet to figure out what major to pick. Then 1 week until my birthday! I read a talk titled "Have I done good for someone today?" by President Monson the other day, and he inspired me to do this....As a birthday present I want everyone to do a kind act- really try to make someone's day, maybe even change their life a little for the better. That is all I ask for. Even though I would love to have another pair to TOMS and a guitar given to me, I have this storng desire to turn the attention away from me on my day of birth and try to lift the world up. Then on the day of my birthday, I would like everyone to report back to me what you did. That would be the best present I could recieve.

Enough about me, lets turn our attention to someone who brought us into this world. He goes by many different names: Father, Dad, Padre, Fasha (pronounce how it is spelled), Papa, Pa, Old man, so on and so on. I know him as the number one Dad I could possibly ask for. I used to be such a Daddy's little girl, and as the years have passed I know my relationship is not as close, but my love for him has grown. I believe my joy for every moment I get to talk to him exceeds the last moment. I love my Father here on this Earth and in heaven. They both give me such great guidance. It seems that Father's day is much under appreciated, lets change that! Remember to love your Dad and treat him extra special on this this day that was designated just for him :] FELIZ DIA DEL PADRE!

Another One Bites The Dust

Last night I got to cross off yet another thing from my to do list! Amanda and Eric set up a date to go shooting. The triple date consisted of Amanda & Eric, Kylynn & Josh, and Me & Erik (Eric's friend-yes there are a lot of Erics up here in Idaho...) I shot 3 clay disks! And it was my first time! I used two really big guns that had major kick (yes I am a girl and do not know the name of guns). I looked at my arm today and low and behold I have two bruises! Not really note worthy and you cannot really tell that they are. I am not sure if I should be proud of them because I don't know if it is a sign that I am not good at holding a gun or if I am just weak..... Anywho, I did enjoy shooting the guns and my camera the whole time :]

^The epitome of me and Amanda, pre-shooting!

^The clay disks we shot at

^The couple that won the shooting match...they hit 4 out of 5 disks

^Me shooting for the first time!

^My favorite gun, it had the most kick tho.....

^Look I captured them as soon as they were shooting! Look at the smoke!

^Boys and their toys

^Tag teaming the disk pulling, BFFAE!

^TEEN GIRL SQUAD! I mean Ni Hao from Amanda, Kylynn and I!

Small And Simple Things

Never have I ever been so sick of cake! I do not think we had a day all last weekend that cake was not a continuous guest in our bellies! I am a week late but I would like to say Happy Birthday to Rachel and Amanda last week and to Brandee this Sunday. May you be one year older and better too :]
I was walking down the sidewalk the other day and out of nowhere on this dark and windy day, the most beautiful pink flower blew past my feet. I quickly swooped it up, carried it home and triumphetly mounted it on my corkboard as a trophy to the rememberance of small and simple things. Unpod, turn off the cell phone and notice the beauty around you. Open up your eyes and you will see a whole new world in the details.
Michelle shared this little quote she found in a coloring book with me.
"To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage." -Lao Tzu
Never forget to love those around you. I learned this week when I forget to love others is when I feel the worst. You can't let little mishaps ruin your persepective. When your heart feels that it needs to close itself to the world, that is actually the time you need to open it most.

We're going on an adventure!

On behalf of rememberance of my nephew's birthday, I thought I would share this silly little picture :] He is an avid fan of Star Wars, so I thought it befitting.

It is strange. This is the first Mother's day weekend I am not home. It's strange because this is the day we celebrate my mom and three births of family members! (one dear sister, and two extaordinary nephews) My family really does come first in my life and I am missing all the loudness our gatherings bring! I love you familia!

But this weekend was an adventurous one! I sure did keep busy! Friday I got to put my newly learned ballroom dancing skills to the test, and sometimes I failed and got my toes stomped on but other times I glided around the room in a wonderful waltz! I love the fact that the LDS faith is so diverse in dancing abilities.

Then comes Saturday. To relieve the stress of the week, my roommate and I explored the near by train tracks, swung on the haunted swings and hiked the R mountain. It was a very eventful trip and we have pictures to prove it.

^TOMS go with me on my explorations of course :]

^Train Tracks!

^I am learning you need to always notice the details, it is the simple things in life that bring you the greatest happiness.

^Hiking R Mountain!

^View from the top! The sunset decided to hide behind the clouds.

"When a woman smiles, then her dress should too."

I made a presentation on Madeleine Vionnet. She is known as the "queen of the bias cut" and "the archetect of dressmaking". She hated the whimsical trends of the fashion industry yet she was the most influential designer of the 20th century. She wanted to stay true to enhancing woman's natural beauty. She perfected the art of matching fabric to flow and enhance woman's movement. Vionnet is my favorite designer hands down, she revolutionized the fashion industry.
She was inspired by dances of Isadora Duncan and Grecian art. That is why her dresses are so fluid. She was a true genius with clothing.

"Happy Girls Are The Prettiest"- Audrey Hepburn

Learned today that you have to look at the world with love. If you want to feel loved you have to love also. Christ loved everyone and so should we. I promise it will make all the difference if you are open to and give love.

Yesterday, Kylynn had the idea to go hike R Mountain. I was all for it too! So her brother, sister, her and I went to that mountain for an adventure. Oh what an adventure we got! While we were hiking we pretty much hiked right into a cloud, which in turn welcomed us with snow and hail! After we treked up the steep mountain we ran/slid/jumped down the mountain in the snow. And with the concoction of the snow and mud it looked like an Oreo cookie pizza from Craigos! :] There was a point on the mountain going down that I stopped and my breath was taken away on how majestic the scene was before me. You could see for miles but it was nothing but fields, more mountains and the occasional lone house. If you held still for a minute you could just feel the elements around you. It was peaceful. It was like a little piece of heaven on earth. After we made it back down alive, we got to capture the beauty of a delightful sunset.

It started to hail/snow half way up, but we are adventure seekers, and this only added to our thrill. I do realize I am making a frowny-face, it was all part of the fun!^

Hiding from the storm in these little caverns.^
We made it to the top!^

Beautiful sunsets we experienced. It was a sin not to watch, so we actually pulled over the car and aborbed the beauty from the side of the road.

(pictures taken by my roommate Kylynn)