Picture Taking.

I really enjoy taking pictures, so I thought I would share a few of my favorites! 

(Warning: some of these may just be my favorites because of the memories attached, not the photo quality)

Overjoyed.

I am so incredibly happy right now. Nothing particularly fantastic has happened. In fact, this weekend I haven't really done much of anything. But I made a choice to be happy, and I am! It makes me really sad for the people who choose to focus only on the negative in their lives. Every single human being has bad and good things that happen to them. It's part of life. Whether we are going to love life or hate it, is ultimately our decision.  

Over this past year, I feel like I have grown as a person in many ways. I no longer care what people think of me, and I don't try to change myself to 'fit in'. I want to surround myself with people who like me for who I really am and not who I pretend to be. I imagine that gets very tiring. I have more self confidence. I believe in myself, if I have a dream or goal, I believe that I can achieve it even if it takes a lot of hard work. If I fail, which I know I will many times, I will get back up and try again. Going to Sweden and being away from my 'normal' life for 3 1/2 months really helped me put everything into perspective. So many things that upset me were meaningless. It was so refreshing coming back realizing I can be who ever I want to be. I don't have to worry about the same things my friends and classmates worry about, I can try to help them, but I don't have to get involved in any sort of drama or contention. 

Happiness, there are many things that make me happy. I found myself thinking quite frequently last year, I will on be happy if........ But if I kept on thinking that way, I would never be happy. I would always be waiting and waiting to be happy. Now, everyday I find at least one thing to be happy about. Maybe it is sleeping in one extra hour, going to get frozen yogurt with Kaya and having a good talk, singing in the car with Katy, teaching Boston a new trick. Yesterday I got to hold this adorable baby girl, and that just filled my heart with joy. 

I guess what I am trying to say is, there is happiness everywhere. God made beautiful flowers, and the ocean, adorable baby's like the one above for our personal happiness. Not his, ours. He wants us to be happy.

My sister Kaya just came back from India, and they live in such terrible poverty there, I can't even imagine what it is like. She told me they have nothing, yet they are so happy. We have so much and yet so many people including myself sometimes have a difficult time finding happiness. I encourage everyone reading this to just take a few minutes every day to find happiness. It makes such a huge difference in every aspect of your life and everyone who you interact with. 

BE HAPPY! :) 

8 things I love this week.

I have had such a great week. I thought I would share a few things that added to its greatness! 

I love painting my nails in fun ways, and I found a way to do newspaper print nails! I love them. To learn how, go here.

Kaya came home from INDIA! :)

She brought me back beautiful clothes that I love! Thanks Kaya! 

.... More things from India that I love. 

Cuddling in a blanket and sipping hot tea on a rainy day. 

Eating a delicious chocolate bar with cute wrapping. 

I love looking outside and seeing all the blossoms on the fruit trees, reminding me summer is just around the corner. 

And last but not least... Boston. Although he can be very obnoxious, he always brightens my day. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Remember that you can always find happiness, whether your situation is good or bad, it is always waiting to be found. Sometimes you just have to search a little harder. 


"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places." ~ Roald Dahl

Spring Break #2

When spring break came along on Monday, my mom and I decided to go on a spontanious road trip.

It started out by driving 8 1/2 hours to Fallen Nevada.

 To visit my great grandparents! They have been married 71 years! That's right seventy one years!

On our way to Nevada, we decided we were so close to California that we might as well visit there too. So off to San Francisco and Oakland we went. (Unfortunatly I didn't take any pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge, so I stole one off google)

While we were in California, we visited both of my uncles and my cute cousins.

We went to the beach..

and went to Goloden Gate Park, as well as visiting Oakland

On our way back from California, we stopped at lake Tahoe, it was stunning.

When we got back to Nevada, we went out in the desert and visited some old indian ruins, and found petroglyphs!

I love how you can find so much variety in the U.S. not too far away from eachother. To sumit all up, I had a fantastic spring break!

Countless hours of.. bleh..

It is frustrating trying to find a job for next year. I have spent countless hours trying to find something that I will enjoy and that I am qualified for. Everywhere wants 18+ year olds. The only problem is I will still be 17. I want to enjoy my first year on my own, and I am just as qualified as any 18 year olds, yet it is much more difficult to find a job. But I will find something good.... I'm determined! 

People Watching

I love going to public places and just sitting and watching people as they do their own things. Most people find it boring, but I find it fascinating. Now that I think of it, I think that is a big contributer to why I enjoy traveling so much and why I get excited when I have a layover in big airport. There is so much diversity in this world and we can all learn so much from each other. 

Powerful.

I love this video. We could really change the world with kind, encouraging, and positive words. 

People often think they have to change the world in some big miraculous way. But really something as small as changing the way you think and speak could really change the world and the people around you for the better.

Speak kind words :)  

Merit Academy Dance Off!

Hahahaha, Yay! Juniors won! 

Saturday Mornings.

I was listening to this and it turned my mood upside down. Music never fails to make me happy, I love that.

-- I took the ACT this morning, I hope I will never have to take that test again. And it might have been a good idea to study. Oh well! -- 

Good Things.

This evening was really great. It started out by going on a march to raise awareness. Almost 50% of the people in the world to walk barefoot every day of their lives because they don't own a pair of shoes.. If you want to donate shoes, they are collecting them at Merit Academy until Friday!  

After that, I went to the city counsel meeting where Kaya was awarded the Youth Service Leadership Award by the Mayor! I am so proud of her. :) I finished off the evening talking with some wonderful people. I am so grateful for my friends and family. I really am so blessed.

Kaya is leaving for India this Friday! She will be working in orphanages to teach the children basic health and sanitation skills and core school subjects. She is only a couple hundred dollars short, so please donate if you are able to! Every little bit makes a difference! Go to this link to donate and learn more about why she is going and what she will be doing. 

I hope everyone has a fantastic evening! 

The Festival of Colors

Every year the Hare Krishna Temple has a huge festival with music, dancing, food, and lots and lots of colorful chalk. Thousands of people come and throw chalk at each other, sing, dance, and crowd surf. Once you get too much chalk in your eyes/ mouth/ can't breath anymore you leave very colorful! It was a little bit cold and muddy this year, but we still had a good time! :)

Lets we do something.

SMILE

As I was driving yesterday, I saw a young guy on the corner of the street holding up a small cardboard sign. I immediately thought to myself before I even read the sign, "Why is he asking for money? He could go and get a job  if he wanted to." As I pulled up close enough to read the sign it said....

SMILE

It could be worse.

I had a few thoughts pop into my head after I read this:

1. I felt terrible for immediately judging him. It made me realize how easy it is to judge people when you really have no idea what their background is. 

2. It made me smile and realize, wow, I have so many things to be grateful for. Everything could be SO much worse. 

3. I really admired him for spending his own time to try to make everyone who drove past days a little bit better. :)

May 25, 2011

This is what I am shooting for on May 25th 2011 

Graduation. High School Diploma. The start of my adventure. 

I have had some really fun times in High School, but I am very ready to graduate and start my very own adventure! So, as of right now I am currently taking 13 classes so I can graduate this year. Am I crazy? Probably...

I take 8 classes during school and 5 out of school. I am so excited to graduate, it is giving me all the motivation I need to finish and do well. 

I have been looking into a lot of different possibilities for the next couple of years. I won't share them until I have them set in stone or at least close. Just because I tend to change my mind almost every other day about what I want to do with my future. I am so grateful I have so many different options and I can do what I love to do and make a career out of it. It makes me so excited just thinking about it! 

A Sunny Afternoon

This week has been lovely. The weather has been so nice, I have spent a couple of my days outside soaking up the sun and enjoying every second of it! 

I have started a horrible habit of going out for lunch almost every day. It is a terrible because 1) It is really unhealthy 2) and the $$$ adds up. 

So! Today Katy and I decided we would go to my house and cook a healthyish meal. So we made soup, grilled cheese, and my favorite beverage... tea! It was pretty delicious if I do say so myself.  

Spring Break #1

This year I have two Spring Breaks, which is fantastic! Plans changed from my last blog post and I ended up going to Saint George with Katy! St. George is a city in the very southern part of Utah, so the weather was just perfect and the scenery was beautiful. We stayed at the Entrada Resort, and laid pool all day long. Doing this made me overly excited for summer.

 I am so glad I am able to travel even if it is only 4 hours away. I love having a change of scenery every so often, it makes me feel refreshed and energized, and when I get back to good ol' Provo it helps me appreciate everything more. Like the spectacular mountains right outside my window. Cheers to a much needed Spring Break! :)

Disaster in Japan

My heart and prayers go out to all of those in Japan. Hearing about the disaster that hit has really made me think about what is truly important in life. In the end all material things have no importance. What truly matters is the healthy relationships we have formed, people we have helped, if we have worked towards being better people, and our relationship with God. 

I hope that Japan will be able to recover quickly, and all the people who have lost loved ones will be comforted. 

Fun Stuff!

Today we got out of school at 12:00 because... It's Spring Break!

I can't believe how quickly this year is going by.

Above are pictures from tonight. We didn't end up doing anything too fun. All of our ideas involved WARM weather, which is just around the corner. hopefully. Also, having a best friend that owns the best Italian Restaurant in Utah is not good. I always end up eating way too much. I think it's worth it though. ;) 

               Things I am looking forward to in the near future:

• Going camping with friends this weekend at Arches National Park.
• Warm weather... (summer in particular)
• Only 48 more school days until I graduate!
• I'm excited that Kaya is able to go to India in April! (click here to go to Kaya's blog) 

Italy, Sweden, France

 Video clips from my trip to Europe....enjoy! :)

Song: Skinny Genes by Eliza Doolittle

Skumtomtar anyone?

Video filmed and edited by: Liv Andersson 

I miss these girls.

Graduation Pictures

Today I took some photos of one of my best friends Katy today. She will be graduating this spring! I had so much fun taking these photos! I am going to start taking pictures more often. Maybe one day I will get a nice camera. In the meantime, I am happy with what I have. :)