things that made this day happy

You know those days when there are lots of "oh that's nice" moments? Little things that just make you happy in your heart? Well, Thursday (april 25th) was one of those days. let's count the ways, shall we?

this outfit. Because I was wearing shorts! That I made! And a bright pink cardigan! And leopard print shoes (that I got from walmart--yes, walmart--for only $7...also, I got the cardigan from jcpenney for $3. Bargain hunter, that I am)! And SHORTS! Shorts=warm weather=summer=happiness. Printed shorts that I made=double the happiness. Is that enough math for you? I also loved my fun backdrop for these photos, it was still up from our party the night before (more on that later).

Having a day off! I love my job, but I love days off. They are the best and make me really appreciate my free time.

Seeing my uncle and saying goodbye to my cousin Jenner before he leaves on his mission. That was actually kind of sad, because I won't see him for 2+ years, but it was still a nice moment. Also, we ran into (I say that like we're old friends...which he actually is with my grandparents) Brad Wilcox at Deseret Book and got a picture with him. Sweet!

Spending the day with my sister. We shopped a little at the mall and then tried to sell her books back (no luck) and tried to sell her clothes to Plato's Closet (no luck there either, the money gods were not on our side, granted, this was the second time we were taking her clothes there, just seeing if they would buy anything they'd passed on before). Today she moved back home for the summer, so it was nice to have that day with her before she left for Provo. I love that girl.

Appreciating moments when I'm prepared. I'm really one of the most prepared people you will ever meet (I  always have a "preparedness pouch," as I like to call it, in my purse with anything you might need in an emergency...hair stuff, bandaids, a usb, pens, chapstick, a pocketknife, etc.) and it paid off on Thursday. I had just filled up the oil in my car about a week ago and had two extra oil containers because I hadn't known how much I'd needed when I filled it up before, so I had extra oil (in the containers) just sitting in my car. I was a little annoyed because I felt like I had wasted money on them, but I saw my car on Thursday and the whole front was covered in oil. I lifted the hood, and turns out that my roommate and I had forgotten to put the cap back on the oil when we had changed it about a week ago. Obviously I stink at putting caps back on things because I also forgot to put my gas cap back on a month ago (you are probably wondering who thought I had the responsibility to have a car haha). Anyways, I luckily and gratefully had those extra two full oil containers that I was able to fill up in my car, as well as a towel in my trunk that I used to clean it all up, and then a plastic bag to put the towel in. AND I put the cap back on! I was actually pretty proud that I knew what I was doing in the whole process. I know nothing about cars, so to know something--how to lift the hood, check the oil, and fill the oil--made me feel pretty sweet. Like maybe I can do stuff like that on my own and be okay. I think God has been giving me all these crazy car experiences in my life so that I will be an expert. Anyways, long story, but it made me happy.

Finding two adorable and really cheap blouses at Papaya. Yay for new, cute clothes!

Going to BYU men's volleyball game on Thursday, to see them play and WIN their semi-final game! It was a super intense game...they play five games and have to win three of them. It wasn't looking good when UCLA won the first two, but then we came back and won the third and fourth ones, and then the fifth! It was intense though, we were seriously neck and neck in pretty much every game. Oh and the championship game was tonight (I had work so I couldn't go) and I found out they won! Woo! Men's volleyball games are fun, because there are hot men, the school spirit is great and exhilarating, and it never gets very boring because the games are short and you are always wondering who could win. I loved going with my roommates and also meeting up with our friends Bryan and Nik. Heidi and I enjoyed playing a "where's waldo" type game where we kept looking in the audience and everywhere for people knew. We actually found a lot of people, and definitely took plenty of stalker photos of them. ;)

Hearing this song for the first time. I do love Sara Bareilles and bought this song from itunes within 20 seconds of hearing it. Love it.

Sun. Warmth. Enough said.

And for your personal enjoyment...the fact that I cannot take a good jumping picture to save my life. I'm not even sure why jumping pictures seem like such a great idea, but I am always tempted to take them when I'm doing outfit pictures. Needless to say, I didn't really get a good jumping picture shot. Just a few too many fails.

oops, jumped a little too early!///mmm....look at how I ferociously eat that wild hair of mine

haha my fav...too late for the self-timer, but still feeling obligated to look at the camera for the photo///just an unattractive photo of me in general where my hair flattened immensely and the wind caused me to wrap my feet up in the sheet as I tried to jump

Haha and with that, I leave you.

2012: Another Year in Review

2012 was quite the year...Highlights?

Traveled...to St. George, Florida, a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas and Castaway Cay, the Grand Canyon, spending the summer in Boston and going to Virginia, DC, and New York while I was there (the best summer ever, yes.), St. George again, Idaho, and a quick trip to New York and Boston at the beginning of December.

Saw...awesome movies in theaters like The Hunger Games, Brave, the Dark Knight Rises, Pitch Perfect, the Perks of Being a Wallflower, the Hobbit, and Les Miserables (just saw it and it was really good).

Celebrated...a few of my friends' weddings and engagements, many friends and two cousins going on missions (this also made me sad to see them go), the Hunger Games movie and Halloween by throwing huge parties for them, my 21st birthday, the 4th of July in Boston, and the missionary age changes the church made.

Listened...to music like a new album from Carrie Underwood!!!, new music from Taylor Swift, David Archuleta, Kelly Clarkson, and the Killers; fell in love with artists such as ZZ Ward, Lindsey Stirling, Mree, Phillip Phillips, Kacey Musgraves, Fifth Harmony, and Birdy. Continued to love music from Glee.

Went....to concerts for Demi Lovato, Carrie Underwood, and the Killers.

Received and bought...too many new clothes (haha, though I do love them), my second pair of grasshopper shoes, a new steamer and a dress form, a Carrie Underwood cardboard cutout, the cutest Steve Madden shoes ever, and a smart phone.

Made...plenty of movies with my siblings and cousins, more clothes, headbands with my best friends, my Halloween costume, and new friends in new places.

Watched...tv shows such as Pretty Little Liars, Glee, Modern Family, Friends (favorite show EVER), Lost, Go On, Project Runway, the X-Factor, and Revolution.

Survived...a sprained wrist (that never completely healed unfortunately), getting way too many colds throughout the year, and the end of the world.

Accomplished...moving to the east coast and doing an internship with Anthropologie over the summer, another year of school (graduating in August!), getting into and getting ready to do a fashion show in February, participating in the bible videos the church does, and playing piano for the ward choir this past semester. ;)

Became...closer to my family and my friends, a better self and a better person, healthier, more in-tune with who I am and who I want to be, more confident, wiser, more independent, and happier. :)

After writing all that stuff down, I realize how amazing of a year I've had. I'm so so blessed and lucky to be me and to have my life. I always need to appreciate my life and how wonderful everything truly is.

My only goal for 2013 is happiness. Happiness for myself and for others. I know that if I'm working towards being happy and making other people happy, I'll be doing good things in my life. Happiness really is what it's all about. :)

A Peek Into my Saturday Job

Yesterday was dead at the BYU Bookstore (where I work in the Women's shop). So I was super bored. What did I do? Take pictures. Which solved my boredom pretty quickly I'd have to say..

I have lots of fun. Jealous? You should be :)

P.S. Go enter my giveaway on my fashion blog! You know you want to... Click this link :)

Things That Will Always ALWAYS Make Me Happy :)

• Dancing
• Piano
• Anything to do with Carrie Underwood
• Clothes/fashion (and blogging about it)
• Laughter
• Reading
• Doing schoolwork (as nerdy as that sounds)
• Blogging
• My wonderful, amazing, loving family (especially my mom)
• Helping others
  
• Scrapbooking and making cards
• Taking pictures and editing them
• Dance parties
• English classes
  
• True friends
• My religion :)
• the color Purple
• Making my delish chocolate chip cookies
• Cheez-its, goldfish, pizza, popcorn, shakes, and smoothies
• BYU
• Music
• Singing

That list could go on and on but those made the top. :) And my new goal for this year is to make one person happy every day. Because that will mean that I'll be happy every day. :)

I'm such a Fashionista ;)

So I started another blog (don't worry, I'll still be updating this one regularly)! One of my goals for this school year is to wear a different outfit every school day and make sure it's super cute ha. So I made a blog to record my progress! I would love for you to check it out because I'll be posting every day. Click this link to go to it:

An Outfit a Day Keeps the Fashion Police Away

In other news..school started today! This semester I'm taking 12.5 credits..but don't let the numbers fool you--I'm gonna be reading and writing SO much! Weirdly enough, I'm already a Senior (18 years old and a Senior in college, probably the youngest Senior at BYU haha) so I'm really getting into my major classes. I'm taking 4 english classes (2 of which are 300-level!) for my major and one jazz dance class for fun, because dance is such a huge love in my life. :) Today I had Modern American Usage, Later British Authors-with a focus on Jane Austen and Henry James, and Early British Literary History.

Haha, yep I'm an English nerd, because I'm super excited for all of these classes! They will be a lot of work, especially with reading and writing. I wasn't too excited for Early Brit Lit at first because it's not literature I'm interested in and it's just a required class, but I really like the teacher because she said a lot of people don't want to take that class so she tries to make it fun by giving us a lot of options for writing assignments, letting us work in groups, and doing fun stuff (like coloring in class and possibly going on a fieldtrip to see a Shakespeare play!). It will be a hands on class so now I'm super excited! Tomorrow I have Creative Writing and Jazz Dance. I'm even more excited for those classes! Tuesdays and Thursdays will for sure be my fun days. So wish me luck for the rest of the semester. I hope I do well!! :)

Photo Shoot With my Sisters

So today, my sisters and I decided to go take pictures (well it was my idea, but they agreed to come haha)! So I picked out their outfits, got my dad's camera, and we were off! We just went to a few places around town but it turned out to be quite an adventure. It happened to be raining, but the rain would just come in random spurts. So whenever it started to rain again, we'd just run back to the car and drive to another place! It was great. :) But ya it was lots of fun to take all these pictures, and why wouldn't it? My sisters are BEAUTIFUL. Seriously, take a look, they're gorgeous. I think a lot of them turned out really great, especially with a little editing done. Not to brag...but I think I did a pretty swell job at photographing (oh, and the ones with all 3 of us were done on a tripod with a self timer). But don't take my word for it...look at the pictures! They say a picture is worth a thousand words... (oh ya...they're in reverse order sorry :P. And if you wanna see the rest of them, they're all on my facebook)