September and October Life

Just some random stuff that's happened in September and October!

My little brother Cee Ryle is a sophomore in high school and on the cross country team. He had an invitational at BYU and none of my family could drive down and go, so I went and supported him. He did great!

I realize my fifteen year-old brother is taller than me and we look the same age (especially in this picture)! Haha it's kind of ridiculous how young I look in this photo. But I swear I'm eight years older and not one of his classmates. Nonetheless I love him so much and am glad I got to see him race.

My aunt Zildy face painted at the State Fair and was able to get some free tickets so I went with my parents and sisters to it. Haha it was a pretty regular state fair...dirty, lots of rides, crazy people, booths, photo ops, interesting animals and vegetables, a very ...interesting freak show, and an awesome face painter! Haha. We had fun.

I got to go to Chalk the Block with some of my best friends (l to r: me, Lauren, Jessica, Alyne, Cameron (alyne's husband)) and we had a great time! The chalk was cool but the company was even better.

I face painted a TON during August and September, which was really great considering I don't have another job, and I face painted at Tracy Aviary three times, so I got pretty good at doing birds hah.

I got to go with my mom and my sister Sidney to the General Women's Meeting! It's held by our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (we're also known as Mormons!), every six months for every girl and woman eight years and older. It was fabulous and we had a really fun time going! It also rained like crazy getting there so that was definitely an adventure too.

After the meeting, we met up with the rest of our family to go bowling. We had passes to use at this one place and it ended up being kind of lame and crappy but we made memories and had fun, which is what really matters. Also, I bowled the first strike I have ever bowled in my life! It only took me 23 years to get there.. ;)

I often force my family and friends to take pictures..sometimes on self-timer haha!

 I'm taking a public speaking class right now and we had to do a demonstration speech. I decided to show how to face paint a skull and my roommate Carli was kind enough to let me practice on her! We also had to give a handout so I put this picture on there too. If you want us to come face paint for you, you can go to our business's website HERE!

This past Saturday was the Cougar Run at BYU, due to it being homecoming. My parents, Cee Ryle, and Gracie all signed up to run so I went to cheer them on (clearly there are some fun times to be had at the BYU track). Sidney and I weren't running so we each ran a lap of Gracie's race with her. That poor girl was dying by the end of the race but she was a trooper and ran and finished the whole thing (it was twice around the track--I think that might be a 400 meter? Don't count on me for that though!)! Cee Ryle and my parents all placed in their divisions which was pretty awesome of them! My dad got first in his, and my mom and Cee Ryle both got third in theirs.

Later that day I took a test and did poorly on it :( No worries, I'll scrape out a good grade in the class! And then I met up with my mom and Sidney again where we volunteered at the US Junior Figure Skating Championships! I think it was for like the Pacific Northwest division or something like that but some of those girls and guys were really really good! We volunteered for a bit and then when they didn't need us anymore we got to watch which was fun.

I took a picture of this because I LOVED the back of her costume! Isn't it gorgeous! It inspired me :)

On Monday, my roommates surprised me with a PUPPY!! You're probably like, wait what?! No, I don't own a puppy. Here's the story:
Jessica asked me I was going to be home on Monday at 7 and I was like "do you want me to be home?" and she was like "yes!" because apparently her friend Reese was coming and she thought he and I would get along well. And I was like ohhh a set up, but okay, whatever. So Monday at around 7:15 this guy came to our door and I thought it was Reese, but then he left and Jessica brought in a puppy! My roommates rented me a puppy for an hour for a birthday gift! (Can anyone say best birthday gift ever?? Yes!)

Haha Reese actually turned out to be a girl (and a dog, but whatev) and she was so cute and fun! She peed twice under our watch and she was quite a handful, but so much fun. We were all sad when she left. But we had fun watching her tug on Jessica's shoelaces and putting her head into a mug on the floor and just being so darn adorable. I took some pictures, but the lighting in our apartment is terrible, so I had to use the flash.

I made a little video too! The lighting was terrible and since I currently just use Windows Movie Maker, there was no way to correct that, but you can watch it and get an idea of Reese's cuteness.

Other fun little things from these past two months that I unfortunately have no pictures to document:

-School is grrrrreeeat!, as Tony the Tiger would say. I'm glad I have more time to focus on it now that Provo Fashion Week is over. I really do love all my classes to death and am really happy! Also I got a 93% on my last Statistics test, a 98% on my last Doctrine and Covenants test, and a 94% on my demonstration speech (that I did the skull face for above)! Boo ya! I don't always post about my grades, but when I do...they're pretty darn good!

-I discovered this wonderful thing that Carrie Underwood actually did TWO demo albums before American Idol. Which, can we all realize what this means? 31 NEW SONGS! They are albums of covers and some of them she did when she was 14! Geez she's so good! If you are wanting to know what they are, they're listed here and here and most are on youtube! Also I found out she waited until marriage (awesome!) and had a third nipple (interesting..and a bit weird, but we've all got our quirks). Learning new things every day, people.

-Have you seen Meet the Mormons?? I saw it last Thursday with Jessica and it was so fabulous! Maybe I cried... because yes it was good! If you are person living on this earth, you will like it. Oh hey, that's you! It's great. :)

-Provo Fashion Week has gotten a ton of press since it happened, and I got featured in two different articles! Both for BYU stuff so that's fun. One was for my department's (Family, Home, and Social Sciences) magazine here and the other was for the BYU newspaper The Universe here. I think that may have been my third time being in the BYU newspaper! haha.

-In public speaking, we have to make a video of a news report type thing and my group is doing it on Ebola. We filmed some stuff today and let me just say 1) I love my group and 2) I can't wait to edit the video because we got some hilarious responses!

-From Amazon, I ordered for myself The Parent Trap (Lindsay Lohan version, one of my favorite movies ever in this world) and Project Runway Season 4! (its the one with Christian Siriano and I'm dying to see it because I know his designs will inspire) The only problem is I haven't had time to watch them! Hopefully I'll get a break in the next few days that I can start.

Oh also on October 10, this one little thing called Provo Fashion Week happened :) and it was awesome! I can't wait to tell you all about it...later haha. It was a blast though. Man :)

Because of Him

I have literally watched this video every day since I first saw it. It was posted 8 days ago and now has almost 4 million views on youtube. No matter who you are, I hope this video will speak to you like it has spoken to me. Just watch it, it's less than three minutes long and definitely worth your time.


Let's face it...life is hard. My life is hard, so soooooo hard sometimes, and whoever you are reading this right now, your life is probably hard too, or has been, or will be. Saying it never changes the fact, but sometimes it feels nice to just get it out and say LIFE IS HARD. Sometimes it's never enough, like I will never be able to explain the magnitude of the hardness of life to someone.

It's so easy to lose hope, to want to give up. I know a lot of things in my heart, but when life gets in the way and things are difficult, I have trouble making sense of it all in my head. It feels like I can't do it and sometimes I feel like I don't care anymore. It's hard. It's hard hard hard.

I'm beginning to realize that the only way I can have peace and be whole, is through Him, through His atonement. It's because of Him that I can mess up a million times and still somehow stand up and try again once more. Because of Him, I have hope.

I hope you know that because of Him, you can feel the same way too. He can heal you the way I am trying to let Him heal me. No matter your struggles, faults, weaknesses, or addictions, you can be free because of Him.

I hope you know that. Or at least I hope you feel that one day, you will be able to know that. You are loved.

Because of Him.

Oh HEY!

If you aren't busy today at 10 or 2 (mst time...convert for your time), you should watch some general conference. It's a great way to hear some inspirational words and if you aren't Mormon, it's a great way to learn about us. Seriously, I am not trying to convert you, I'm just giving you something that would make your day happier and more uplifting. Check it out! And have a great Sunday either way. :)

What I Believe

So a few weeks ago, I went to church, like any normal Sunday, but it somehow turned out to be one of the best church meetings I've ever been to. Every meeting, I found myself listening with this intentness I didn't know I had in me, and I was fighting back tears because I felt the truth so strongly in there. Ever since then, I haven't stopped feeling that amazing joy inside of me.

I'm a Mormon, and while I don't talk religion on here too often, I want you to know that I know it. I know how true my church is and I feel it in every bone of my body. I feel it so strongly. I suppose that this knowing and this feeling has slowly creeped up on me in ways I didn't expect. Life is hard, and when I think of mine, I feel like it's been especially hard--although I'm sure if I heard about everyone else's I'd realize how easy my life actually is. And through those hard times I've had two choices...do it by myself, or do it with God's help. While the choice may seem simple, I went at it alone a lot, only to realize that it was basically impossible. So then I'd change my mind and go at it with God, finding out how it was so much more possible to live and get through the hard stuff.

I don't know what you believe, but whatever you do believe, I respect that. I believe that God is very present, and that he knows me--better than I know me, better than anyone else knows me. And I believe that everything that happens, happens for the good of our lives and for a reason. Some reasons we find out soon, and some we may not find out for years, but there is always a reason. A good reason.

God loves me, and He loves you too, whether you choose to believe it or not. He gave his son, Jesus Christ to the world to suffer for all of us, flaws and all. Christ knows every single thing that I feel, and if that isn't love, I'm not sure what is. To end, I'd like to share this quote that makes me cry every time I read it, because it really can't be said better than this (I know it's long, but it's worth a minute of your time to read):

"We know that Jesus experienced the totality of mortal existence in Gethsemane. It's our faith that he experienced everything-- absolutely everything. Sometimes we don't think through the implications of that belief. We talk in great generalities about the sins of all humankind, about the suffering of the entire human family. But we don't experience pain in generalities. We experience it individually. That means He knows what it felt like when your mother died of cancer--how it felt for your mother, how it still is for you. He knows what it felt like to lose the student body election. He knows that moment when the brakes locked and the car started to skid. He experienced the slave ship sailing from Ghana toward Virginia. He experienced the gas chambers at Dachau. He experienced napalm in Vietnam... He knows about drug addictions and alcoholism...On a profound level, he understands about the hunger to hold your baby that sustains you through pregnancy. He understands both the physical pain of giving birth and the immense joy. He understands about rape and infertility and abortion...He understands your mother-pain when your five-year-old leaves for kindergarten, when a bully picks on your fifth-grader, when your daughter calls to say that the new baby has Down's syndrome. He know your mother rage...when someone gives your thirteen year old drugs, when someone seduces your seventeen year old. He knows the pain you live with when you come home to a quiet apartment where the only children are visitors, when you hear that your former husband and his new wife were sealed in the temple last week, when your fiftieth wedding anniversary rolls around and your husband has been dead for two years. He knows all that. He's been there. He's been lower than all that. He's not waiting for us to be perfect. Perfect people don't need a Savior. He came to save his people in their imperfections. He is the Lord of the living, and the living make mistakes. He's not embarrassed by us, angry at us, or shocked. He wants us in our brokenness, in our unhappiness, in our guilt and grief." –Chieko Ozaki

Know that no matter where you go, what you do, or what happens to you, you are loved. Someone knows how you feel, and someone truly does care about you. Always.

Your Inspiration for the Day

I know I've been a little behind on posting, but don't worry, I didn't forget that the 30 for 30 starts today or about my outfits the past few days. I've just had so much homework and as a student....school comes first (lame, I know :P). But for now, watch this video that my friend Jenna made. She is so amazing. Seriously, just watch it. :)

Happy Turkey Day :)

I'm thankful for lots of stuff...being able to go to BYU, Carrie Underwood, clothes, lotion, purple stuff (and just the color purple), guitar hero, my amazing friends, school, cardigans, my cell phone, dance, music, pizza, books, blogging, everyone who reads and follows this blog (really, thank you!!), and my job. :)

But most of all, I am grateful for my family and for my church. Obviously I've loved my family my whole life but they've really been there for me this year and I've come to appreciate more than I could have ever known. They really are my best friends and I have no idea in the world what I'd do without them! Whenever I go home I have the best time in the world and I cry every time I have to leave. So if any of my family members are reading this (esp. my parents): I love you guys! You are my life and I am so grateful for you! I don't tell you thank you enough but really, THANK YOU. For absolutely everything. Daddio, Mama Llama, Rina, Siddy Biddy, Buddy, and my BFF Gracie...i love you all lots and am so happy we can be a family forever. :)

And my church. It's amazing. I am LDS. I'm a Mormon. :) I don't know where I'd be without my religion. It's true and it's everything I believe in. It is who I am. All I can say is that with it, I am utterly happy and know that I always will be. And it lets me be with my family forever. That, folks, is amazing. It's just wonderful. :)

Happy thanksgiving! Christmas (my absolutely favorite holiday) is next! 27 days... :)

Cardigan: Abercrombie and Fitch (thrifted)

Shirt: borrowed from Carina

Jeans: Bubblegum via Ross

Flats: Payless