It says "I beat Meryl!"

For our ward Oscar night my FHE group submitted this:

We won 2 oscars for it- best picture and cutest couple for Weston and me. 

I am FHE Mom so I made the costumes, props and edited it. 

It wouldn't have happened with out the help of my amazing group - they are the best. 

We also got more nominations than any other movie. 

When I gave my first acceptance speech I quoted Jennifer Lawrence by saying 

" It says 'I beat Meryl!' "

And just like at the real Oscars no one got it. 

boo. 

So as I walked off the stage I immediate ripped the head off the Oscar and ate it. 

(it was made out of rice krispies) 

Presidentz Day

for the long weekend I headed with my Dad down to our house in St. George. 

we of course had to go ATV riding. 

Dad keeps grooming me into a better and better rider by increasing how hard of trails we do. 

 when getting shaved ice i randomly ran into my BFF 

what a happy coincidence 

 we took lots of naps

 the sisters went long boarding

 the parents + me went on a 8 mile run on some desert trails

and the baby + dog got taken for a joy ride by Jake

it was a really wonderful break

Quite Bostonian

big news, major news, BEST NEWS:

I GOT INTO NORTHEASTERN 

FOR GRAD SCHOOL

we are talking BOSTON here people- BOSTON

Obviously I am over the moon about this and am so excited. 

I still can't believe it. 

 I have till April to decide and am going to wait and see what I hear back from other schools.

But until then I will keep picturing living in this beautiful city:

Who knows? Maybe I will become a Bostonian at the end of summer. 

Feelin' 22

I don't know about you but Lizzy is 22!

Happy birthday to my sweet best friend. 

You mean more to me than I could write about. 

 I have countless memories with you and as I sit here thinking about all of them

 I come to one conclusion:

I look up to you in so many ways. You have taught me how to be gentle AND strong. You are a class act and I count my lucky stars that you are in my life. 

I love you 

and

(of course)

Bonne Anniversaire  

getting ready for Valentines

To get ready for Valentintes Day (my favorite non-Christian holiday) I am re-posting the most precious letter I found from John Steinbeck and his advice on love to his son:

Dear Thom:

We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view and of course Elaine will from hers.

First -- if you are in love -- that's a good thing -- that's about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don't let anyone make it small or light to you.

Second -- There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you -- of kindness and consideration and respect -- not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn't know you had.

You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply -- of course it isn't puppy love.

But I don't think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you wanted me to help you with is what to do about it -- and that I can tell you.

Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.

The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.

If you love someone -- there is no possible harm in saying so -- only you must remember that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration.

Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also.

It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another -- but that does not make your feeling less valuable and good.

Lastly, I know your feeling because I have it and I'm glad you have it.

We will be glad to meet Susan. She will be very welcome. But Elaine will make all such arrangements because that is her province and she will be very glad to. She knows about love too and maybe she can give you more help than I can.

And don't worry about losing. If it is right, it happens -- The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.

Love,

Fa

I want to go to there

it is fun to think back to all the different places around the world 

where i have just felt perfectly and completely content. 

usually it is just a moment or two between the craziness of travel that you taste the complete satisfaction of being right where you are right then. 

when i miss different places, its usually those little moments that i miss the most 

here i called my mom for the first time since being in Pairs. while passing the phone around to different family members we were in a bakery buying pain au chocolate and then stepped outside to this view: 

 i felt really happy that i could finally be in a city that mom lived in and loves so much

here at Versailles i finally found the definition of quaint 

here i decided that real countryside really is as beautiful as it seems in paintings  

i had lunch on a dock and this was our view:

 my first European city i visited and where i had my first taste of gelato, also the first famous site i had ever been to: 

and Venice.... well it is Venice:

 it still shocked me when coming out of the train station to see the 'streets' filled with water.

i almost lost my family because i stopped and stared at the canals while they kept moving on

after a long day of touring castles our family took a night walk around the Austrian country side and farmland. we just strolled and wandered. 

while driving between Germany and Austria we saw this stunning view and pulled over just to enjoy 

(i want to live in that tiny white and red house)

i laid down on this Tel Aviv beach and let the warm waves slash over my legs and decided the Mediterranean Sea is my favorite 

walked through these doors and knew i was in for the biggest adventure of my life

That is just a small collection of all my favorite moments that make me want to keep traveling and create more of those moments. 

triple threat

I can tell its my very last semester at BYU because on my very last first day of college three things happened that never do:

1. Had class AT 8:00 AM IN THE MORNING
(only time it is offered.....i checked.....)

2. Drove to that 8:00 am class
(usually I consider driving to class quite a luxury and most of the time not worth the pain of trying to find parking. but this 8:00 am class is in the Taylor Building, a building so far deep in the boonies about 92% of the BYU student population has never heard of it. that's real. walking there takes a half hour. walking a half hour at seven thirty in the morning in 2 degree weather? - heck no. )

3. Went to class in my sweats/workout clothes/didn't brush my hair so i wore a beanie
(this class is 100% girls. so the need to impress any boy is out and the need to impress the few fashionable girls that i can keep up with their stylish-ness is mute. you can have the catwalk this early morning you print mixing, perfectly curled hair, high heeled bootie wearing missy. also you stay on pinterest the whole time, so we know where your potential is going.)

(also if i wear workout clothes to class i can pretend to that stylish missy, and myself, that i will actually make it to the gym right after class.)

it is the triple threat of senioritis.

4 months people.