"The Help"

I just watched what is now my new favorite movie.... 

I listened to this book last summer during my long runs and was SO excited for it to come to theaters, but somehow I never went. This past week my dad bought it on tv and let me watch it. OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! It was incredible. I sobbed (which is saying a lot for me because I'm pretty sure the last time I cried was two months ago and it wasn't really crying and can't remember the last time I really cried before that...) Anyway, the point of that all is- it was amazing- if you haven't watched it yet.... do! I love movies about independent and strong-willed people who do not care what others think but will do what they believe to be right, even if it's at the expense of "fitting in". This movie re-emphasizes the knowledge that there is something special inside every one of us and if we allow it to work and work for it, we can accomplish great things. 

When I grow up....

So, I was reading this blog and found....
 idea. I want to do it SOOOO bad! You can find instructions here. I want to do it this year, but something tells me my mom would be upset with all the confetti all over the floor after all the presents have been piled ;) so, this is how I want to wrap presents for my future family and I think I might do it for my roommates this year.

On another note, I had to share with you my latest obsession. Apparently everyone on the earth knew about the "tim tam slam" but me and my roommate Kate and other roommate Ashley. Ok, story time... So, Ashley had a friend show her the tim tam slam and she couldn't do it- tragic. Then, it was our friend's birthday and to celebrate he did the tim tam slam (his favorite). So, our friend showed Kate and I how to do it and we were SOLD. We did the tim tam slam almost every day for a week (went through about 1 1/2 boxes per day), then we decided we were going to get rather large if this love affair continued, so we had to put a stop to our obsession, but before we did, we made a movie for our dearest Ashley to show her how to do it...Ps: don't judge- I have a rough time keeping a straight face for more than 1 1/2 seconds and it was a bad hair day, but just go with it...

"It's Better to Look Up"

I am a very level-headed person. I do not get overwhelmed very easily, but when I do, I am very overwhelmed. Last night I went to bed around 9:15 and layer in bed until around midnight. It felt like everything had combined against me and I just felt overwhelmed. (It doesn't help that it's finals week). I felt like I had failed at school, wondered if I would be able to achieve my dreams of attending law school (BYU's law school hopefully), and many personal things in my life seemed to be falling apart right now. Some people I love very dearly are not doing what they know they should and it is breaking my heart. As I was laying there thinking of how I could ever help these people I love so much, accomplish everything I hope for in school, succeed in my job (if I'm going to succeed in school), and of course just wondering what life holds for me after I have done all that I can. This was so overwhelming and luckily about two hours into my little crisis, my roommate came home and just listened to me vent for about an hour.

My Nana (grandma), who is one of my heroes, has a saying of a good nights rest, a good meal, and a good work out can brighten any situation. When I woke up today, I felt a surge of motivation- I knew I could still achieve my dreams of school and law school if I was willing to work for it and felt so much better. I had a very long study of the Bible, and then read two talks by authorities of my church. This talk made me feel so much better and do you know what I realized? Life is hard- Duh. THIS is why I am here- I KNEW that life would hold it's challenges, but with challenges brings great growth. This is a great part from the talk We will not feel incapable of doing what we are called to do or need to do. We will be strengthened, and our lives will be filled withpeace and joy.³ We will come to realize that most of what we worry aboutis not of eternal significance—and if it is, the Lord will help us. But wemust have the faith to look up and the courage to follow His direction.
 I know that we will encounter difficult times and there will be times when we wonder how we can accomplish all that our heart yearns to accomplish and how we can fulfill what we are called to do, but I know that we can. I know Heavenly Father asks things of us beyond our capacities so that we can turn to Him and so we can grow. He would not ask anything of us without knowing how we can accomplish it. In the Book of Mormon one of the ancient prophets said, "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7). I know this to be true. I am grateful for challenges above what we can accomplish so we can turn to our Father in Heaven and accomplish them. 

Ok, I just had to say that, but now I have to get back to studying for finals. Yay!

Ours

finals week!!! Therefore, I can't really blog for long, but I heard this song the other day and LOVE it- listen- it's great!

Daydreamer

So, I've always been a pretty hardcore daydreamer, but lately I've been feeling a little panicky like I'm doing enough to progress towards them or I'm going to forget them. I have the craziest dreams and that's alright with me as long as I am willing to progress towards them or they are replaced by dreams which mean more to me. Soledad is one of my favorite songs about dreams-listen you'll love it. Click on the link, then click on Soledad and you can listen :) So I have a bucket list on my phone, computer, and in my head, and in my journal but none are completed, so I'm going to put part of my bucket list here to compile those lists- but I'll leave some things out that are too personal :)

• Get married in the temple and be so in love beyond what I thought was possible
• Have a family (these first two I recognize will never be completed but I want to progress towards them and constantly be striving for it)
• Run the Boston marathon 
• Read biographies of all the Presidents
• Move outside of Utah (Hopefully to the east or south :)
• Read all of Jane Austen's books
• Start a non-profit organization
• Learn to play the guitar 
• Practice piano and get to the level where I can play on the spot
• Overcome my awkwardness of singing in front of people that are important to me and be able to sing on the spot 
• Get season tickets to the Yankees (I realize this one is a little far-fetched but a girl can dream right?;)
• Continue on to some form of graduate school 
• Learn how to paint

• Haha this is a painting I did for a class today as a replica of Pollock's painting but don't worry I wasn't serious haha, but I really want to learn to paint because I REALLY love it- paintings move me so much more than photographs so I would love to participate in that.
• Run the cliff to cliff or whatever it's called across the Grand Canyon
• Read biographies on all the prophets
• Do triathalons 

I have many more on my bucket list- but I won't bore you :) Anyway, hope you have a great day! And good luck with finals!

Observant? I think not...

So, some of you may have noticed- or not, but I used to have music on my blog and I wanted to listen to it today and just realized it isn't there!!! AND I have no idea how long it hasn't been there and no clue what the site was where I made the playlist because I did it so long ago on a different computer! haha so maybe you were grateful you didn't have to listen to my country music anymore, maybe not, but I'll get music back on here! As of right now, I'm listening to lots of songs because I have a paper due tomorrow on 3 pieces of music and my reactions- cool right?! I'm excited to write this paper!! So, I had to choose from public radio's top 100 songs that were the most important for American 20th century and here are the three I chose :)
1) I have always loved this song, but reading the background story made it even more great!

2) This song is so cute!!! I had never heard it before- this will be at my wedding reception- LOVE IT!!

and 3) "Don't be Cruel" by Elvis Presley- I am a HUGE Elvis fan-ps: I just found this out from having to watch his stuff in my class- anyway- I like it :)

Yikes- I should start my paper now!!

Coldplay - Fix You (Boyce Avenue feat. Tyler Ward acoustic cover) on iTu...

Ps: love this song- there are some songs that are so pretty that they make you want to cry. This is one of them- it's beautiful!

Beck - The New Pollution

The above movie is not really my style, but it did make me laugh a bit. I was required to watch this for class. Even though it's not my style AT ALL, I love seeing how people use their creative selves and what they like!

THIS below is more my style- it's one of my favorite songs and makes me SO happy every time I hear it!