After a LONG week of finals and a full day of driving, I am so happy to be home. The time home has been so nice so far. 

 Sunday night we went over to the lights that were put up at the temple. It is one of my very favorite things to do at Christmas time. It was beautiful as always!

 I've missed these two sooo much!



 Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! 

Also, Haley U. won the infinity bracelet giveaway! Congrats girl! E-mail me so I can get that to ya. :)

xo

It is a crazy time for everyone right now..for me its taking finals. They are driving me crazy. For you it might be getting shopping done, or traveling, or working or whatever. But to make this time of year a little sweeter, Blue Nile is doing a giveaway on the blog today! :) They have some of the best quality jewelry out there, and today they are giving one reader a suuuper pretty Stirling silver Infinity Bracelet, worth $50.

I have one and it is beautiful and I love it. 

Whoever wins it will love it too. Promise!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winner will be chosen on Sunday, good luck and Merry Christmas! :)

xo

Getting ready for finals has been making me go crazy.
But it's okay. In less than one week I'll be all done, and I'll be driving home where it is supposed to be a toasty 79 degrees. I got this. 
I am still getting used to these less-than-perfect Utah temperatures. 

This past weekend it got to -3 degrees. 

Sometimes I look around and ask, what on Earth am I doing here?!

But I still think the snow is absolutely beautiful, so it's okay.
This fun week consisted of lots and lots of studying, movie nights, and more studying.

Then last night, me and the roommates and some other cool people hopped on the train and rode to temple square/city creek mall and it was great. The best part was probably the train ride. And, of course, the temple. It is beautiful there and I just love it.

 
 Kody came with us and we had so much fun with him and his sick panda shirt :)

Aren't my roommates just the cutest girls of all time??

  Isn't it the most gorgeous thing ever??

Finals start tomorrow. And my brain is about ready to explode. Prayers, treats and wishes of luck will be greatly appreciated. 

Oh and stay tuned for an AWESOME giveaway tomorrow :)

 xo

Yesterday morning I woke up, looked out the window, and everything was covered in white.

It feels like I live in a giant snow globe. 

It is absolutely freezing. So cold. Half the time I can't feel my hands or face. 

 But it is soooo beautiful and Christmasy and I kind of love it.

For now. 

Last night at about midnight, me, Danielle and Megan decided that instead of doing homework and getting ready for finals, it would be a good idea to go out and make snow angels and have a snowball fight.
And now today I am slipping and sliding around all over, and walking to class takes about 3x as long.
So many weird, new things to get used to here in P-town.

Life is cold, but life is good. 

xo

College is so expensive.

Paying for tuition, a laptop, and food can be a lot, especially when you are right outta high school.  

And on top of that, all of a sudden, you actually have to BUY textbooks. When each class requires up to four books, things can get very, very pricey.

Ya, it's rough.

Luckily, this year, I decided to rent a few of my books, and oh my goodness you guys, it is THE way to go. 

Instead of buying my $300 geography atlas book, I rented it for the semester for like 14 bucks. Because lets be honest, I will never open that thing again after this class is over. Renting books can literally save the average college student hundreds, even thousands of dollars a year. 

The book I rented this year was from CampusBookRentals.com. I like them because they have free shipping both ways, you can highlight all you want in them, and they donate part of their proceeds to a sweet organization called Operation Smile. Plus if you do buy a book from somewhere else, you can sell it to them with their new program on RentBack.com.
Renting books- it's a total win-win. If you are a college student, do it and you will be so glad you did. 

Annnd now it is time to read some more about cells and all that fun stuff.
Peace!
xo

I am so grateful that I was able to go home this past week and have such a lovely time with my family.

They are my very best friends, and, quite honestly, the funnest people that I have ever known. 

I just got back about an hour ago, and I am so sad that it is over. Seriously, I absolutely despise goodbyes. At the airport I was fine. But now that I am back, it stinks all I feel like doing is crying. 

But in less than 3 weeks I'll go back, so I guess that it's okay.

The past five days have been filled with lots and lots of eating, playing/watching/talking about/hearing about football, talking to mom for hours (b/c we had SO much to catch up on), hanging out with cousins, walking around the mall, hiking in the desert, laughing at stupid things, and just enjoying life.

-----------

 The airport was an adventure in itself.

The last time I flew was when I was like...2? I think? So basically, it was my first flight.

 Driving to the airport...I could hardly contain myself.

I waited in the wrong line for like 30 minutes, and kind of felt like a dork, but I figured it out eventually so it's okay. 
It was everything I imagined. It thought it felt like a roller coaster when it took off. Why everyone wasn't putting their arms up and screaming? I don't know either.
Some people thought I made way too big a deal of it, but come on people. You are literally FLYING at about 400mph through the air, 30,000 feet above the ground. If that's not exciting, I'm not sure what is.
What was even more exciting was who was waiting for me when I got there! :)


 The tree is up!

Can I just take some time and say that my parents are the coolest ever?

Now that Gunnar is getting older, we can all go do super cool things together, like go on crazy hikes and stay up late watching Jimmy Fallon and movies and stuff, and lemme tell you, it is awesome! My parents do cooler things than most people that are my own age. I just love them. Anyways.

It was absolutely awesome.
Bye, AZ, I miss you already!

Now me and Megan are in our cozy living room being classy and watching star wars.

And now.

It is the most wonderful time of the year.

Youguysiamsoexcited :)
 Happy December!!! 

xo

November is such a wonderful month.
I could do without the awkward, creepy mustaches that come with No Shave November which, at BYU, are getting pretty bad.
But other than that, it is a beautiful time of year.
The past week has felt like a giant weekend. I have gotten a minimal amount of sleep, and I am not sure how clearly I am thinking, but it's okay. 

There is constantly something going on around here. Which can be a good or bad thing.

Whether that be basketball games to go to, papers to write, tests to study for, boys with motorcycles to hitch rides with, yummy food to eat, cold weather to walk in, an apartment to clean, midnight premiers to be seen,  awkward first dates to go on, disco-skating to be done, chick flicks to be watched, and everything in-between. 

Basically everything that could possibly happen this week, happened. 

I also got a job at a cute little cafe on campus, which I absolutely love, but it makes things even crazier.

Trying to balance school, work, sleep and social life can be very tricky, but I'm learning as I go.


^^My first couple basketball games of the season!

 ^^The last home football game of the season. Can't believe it is over! Me and Ashlin (and usually Lindsey, Haley, Megan and Danielle) successfully made it to every single home game, rain or snow, and they were so much fun. This last one, however, was FREEZING cold. You think by now I wouldn't be surprised, I mean, this is November in Utah.


 ^Cosmic bowling with Spencer (don't mind my awkward snapchat). So much fun! I still haven't broken 100, but I'll get it soon!

A few weeks ago, we were talking and we were saying that even though we were so excited to go home for Thanksgiving, we were kind of sad that we didn't get to have a thanksgiving here. So then some of my roommates decided that we should have one the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
We decided to also invite a few friends. But, to our surprise, there were waaaay more people there than we had planned. I didn't know half the people there, but whatevs!
It's okay. It was fun, and we ate very, very well. :)

Life is good, but it sure is filled to the max. 

I am so grateful that today is Sunday.

Then I get to go home in a few days and be in my warm desert with my favorite people, and stuff my face. 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, folks!

xo

On Wednesday, my best friend turned the big 2-0. 

He wanted me to get in a box and mail myself to NC, but that is very illegal, and I don't know what the mission rules are on that. So instead, I put together a box with peanut butter m&m's, scripture markers, spiritual thoughts, a BYU sweatshirt, and lots of other things he likes, and away it went. 

He also hit his 9 month mark on the same day.

I cannot believe it has been that long since I last saw him. I can't even tell you how much I miss him. 

Happy Birthday sweet boy!!

xo

After one of the longest weeks ever, me and my cute roommates decided to move our mattresses into the living room and have a big sleep over.

The 5 girls I live with have become some of my best friends and I have SO much fun with them. 

The night also consisted of me coloring Megans hair (she is now a brunette, and totally rocks it),

ordering Papa Johns delivery,

watching 27 dresses, 

and staying up till 3:30am talking about our most embarrassing/greatest moments, our favorite clothes and of course, boys. 

Sometimes you just need to act like you're 12. 

xo

After the longest week I have had since beginning school, I went up to SLC to the "Family and American Constitutionalism" conference.

I was one of very few students that weren't political science majors.

 The next evening I ran (literally in heels and a dress, carrying all my stuff) to catch the frontrunner back to Provo, and made it with about 3 seconds to spare. The sunset on the way home was to die for. It reminded me of Arizona and of how excited I am to be there in a few short weeks. 

I ran into my apartment, changed and then left to hang out with Spencer.

We went and looked at the Mt. Timpanogos temple (which is absolutely beautiful, by the way), saw Thor 2, and then drove up the canyon and got to see tons of shooting stars for hours.  

So good. So fun. 

Sitting through early morning church today? Not so fun. But still good, as Sundays always are around here.

Basically, this weekend was the greatest one yet. 

 xo

Greetings from a comfy hotel room in downtown SLC.
Right now I am at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute conference at the Grand America, and boy, is this awesome.

The classiness level here is through the roof. 

More to come on all of that later.

I came here and found out that something got mixed up, and unlike everyone else, I don't have a roommate! 

So now I have this giant, beautiful hotel room all to myself, and it is the life. 

I can crank up the heat as high as I want (b/c Utah is freezing), I can take an hour long shower just because I feel like it, and I can spend the night watching Seinfeld and laugh myself to sleep.

It is a wonderful Friday night. 

xo

{p.s} there is still time to enter the giveaway, so get on it and scroll right on down :)

To start this fabulous week off, I get to tell you about one of the cutest little Etsy shops of all time.

It is called SeasideSparrow, it is based in beautiful San Diego and it is absolutely adorable. 

For less than $12, you can get your very own customized set of 3 darling hairbows. They have sooo many to choose from.

They are really, really cute little gifts to send to people too. 

And today they are doing a lovely little giveaway right here!

The winner will get their own set of 3 bows (stripped, Tiffany Blue, and Winter White).

So go on and enter the giveaway and have a look at their shop and your day will be filled with cuteness. 

Oh, and don't forget to have a happy Monday!

xo

One lovely (and freezing) Saturday morning, I got to hike up a beautiful waterfall with my friend Devon, and some other cool kids.

Before we left, the boys made us a pancake breakfast and it was super yummy.

xo