CHRISTMAS!!

I love Christmas. It is literally my favorite holiday. It's just such a good time to remember family, charity, and most important of all - the man whom the holiday was named after :). It's just that one time of the year when everything seems bright and cheerful, even though it's technically the coldest and darkest days of the year.

Yesterday was good :). My brother woke us all up at 7 in the morning and showed us all his new bike he got from Santa haha. Santa gave the rest of us Kindle's, which I've been messing around with for the past two days. I pretty much knew what all my presents were, since I picked them out with my mom, but it's nice to get them and know that someone cares about you anyway. I especially like giving presents, but I never know what to get for people. I over-analyze, I think :/

Anyway, it was just a chill day, dinner was really good, I made ornaments, listened to some TSO, watched A Christmas Story, and just had fun spending time with my family.

It's also been good to see all my friends again. We all pretty much go to different colleges so it's always nice to catch up on each other's lives. It's interesting the things some people have been through. As one of my friends puts it, "High school doesn't prepare you for how crazy life is after you leave it." So true.

Here are a few pictures of my break so far.  But you should wait for the family portraits we took at JC Penney hahaha. My mom is such a portrait Nazi. It's insane. They turned out pretty good though.

Syd, Katie, Emily, and me at Newport

on a horse carriage! it was really cool to get a tour of downtown in a carriage. very wintery

Mitchell and his new bike from Santa!

My new Kindle!

 Us kids in front of the Christmas tree

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

I'm Home!

So good to be back in grand ol' Loveland. Even though my family fails at Christmas decorating. Lame.

Finals were annoying, and I'm glad they're over. Still have to work on A Htg this break, which stinks. I never get a break from school, it seems.

In other news, I got accepted into the study abroad program!!! I am so freaking psyched to go travel the world this summer. Ahhh! I can't even believe it. New York City, Switzerland, France, Italy, China, AND India :))

Still have Christmas shopping to do. No idea what to get for my family.

It's colder and snowier here than it is in Utah. Weird.

I'd also like to thank Shirley for driving me to the airport today. I owe her lots of hugs. Also, this was one of the more enjoyable flights I've been on. I knew 4 people on my flight today and even sat next to one of them! Nice to sit next to a friend instead of a creepy old man which is usually the norm :) Yay for BYU Cincy kids haha.

Here's hoping everyone has a great break!

Finals Mania

So I know I haven't posted for quite a while, and that's because the semester is ALMOST OVER and I've been crazy busy. I probably shouldn't even be posting right now. But oh well.

So last week after the (not as treacherous but still pretty scary) drive back from Washington, my family came down for a few days! My aunt Brook was holding her wedding reception in Salt Lake, so my family came down for that. It was kinda cool to see them all here, as opposed to me always traveling to see them. They came and saw my apartment and we ate at Sconecutter, Chipotle!, and Wingers, which is a really good wings and burger place here in Provo that my mom's friend's husband owns. The reception was really great and it just amazes me how much their kids look so similar. Congratulations Brook and Dave! We also went to the BYU basketball game, where we dominated, of course.

Other than that, though, I've mostly just been studying for finals. Bradley had its final trade show on Thursday, where GEM came in 3rd place. That was a surprise, but pretty cool :) Thursday was also the last day I mentored Triniti. We decorated sugar cookies and made snowflakes, and she gave me the most adorable Christmas kitchen towel. I'll miss that girl.

My roommate also had her birthday yesterday, and one of the presents she got was a Ryan Reynolds poster on our apt door. I know this post has been a little text heavy, so I'll give you ladies what you really want :)

Giving Thanks

One more hour until Thanksgiving. I love this holiday - the good food, spending time with family, and most importantly, taking the time to remember all the things I am grateful for. Here are just a few:

• The fact that I am in Washington right now. It may have been one of the dumbest decisions in my life to decide to come up here in the middle of a snowstorm - all the way up. I seriously thought I was going to die several times, like the time we were driving straight through the blizzard and inches of snow, spinning into a ditch, driving through a mountain with about 10 feet of visibility, getting only one hour of sleep in 48 hours... not the funnest moments of my life. Let me tell you, hell will not be fiery and hot, it will be a frozen wasteland. And I feel like I just drove through it. It was a miracle I survived, and I'm so grateful for all your prayers and I know I know someone greater was helping me along the way. But I'm here now! And so grateful to see my family in just a few hours!
• My family and friends. They support me through anything. I feel like I have someone I can talk to concerning all the different facets of my life, and it's so comforting to know that. 
• Technology. I would feel so alone if I didn't have a way to stay in touch with everyone.
• Food. It's delicious. 
• That I go to BYU. Best decision I ever made. 
• That I'm in the PR program! Check out my articles for the newsletter on my PR portfolio page. 
• My church and the gospel. Feel bad this was lower on the list. I don't know where I'd be without it. It's really one of the best comforters I have. I know I complain about some of the culture surrounding the church every now and then, but let's face it, there are much worse cultures I could be complaining about.  
• Movies and television. Am I sinful for saying this? I just love them. In addition to being a source of entertainment whenever I need it,  film and TV are also just great art forms that display the different emotions and experiences of the human condition in the most wonderful ways. They tell stories and lessons about life in a way that no other medium really can. They literally show us how great or miserable life can be and give us great examples of ways to deal with our circumstances. Of course, some movies and TV shows are more valuable than others.
• My room! It's seriously amazing. A huge closet, a bookshelf full of stuff, a vanity dresser, a desk, a comfy bed, a clock, sweet decorations, awesome chair, rug, movie posters... all to myself :)
• corny jokes
• sarcasm
• inspirational stories

Deathly Hallows Review

Unless you live under a rock, you probably know that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 came out a few days ago, experiencing an opening night of $61 million. And it was amazing. I've seen it twice already (Yes, I'm a nerd. So what.) and I have to say that I think this one is my favorite so far. Here's a few reasons why:

• the most faithful to the book and good quality HP film so far. The previous films have either fit into two categories: there were either really faithful to the books but not the best quality film (1 & 2) or good quality films that left out a lot of important plot points (3, 5, & 6). (Movie 4 was neither. That's one I block out of my memory.) But HP7 Pt. 1 was the first film that was both. The things it left out (Lupin's scene, Kreacher's tale, Dudley's stupid line) weren't missed at all. Some parts were even better than the book.
• the ministry scene, the locket scene, the dance between Harry and Hermione, the Godric's Hollow scene (I jumped both times I saw it haha) and the Malfoy Manor scenes
• Dobby
• that this movie felt different from the others - they weren't in Hogwarts anymore, the trio had to fend for themselves, it was slower paced, etc.
• the acting of the trio. Dan's been solid for a while now, Rupert finally had a chance to show his acting chops and show a side of his character we haven't seen before, and Emma - oh my goodness can that girl act. Totally stole every scene she was in (which was pretty much the whole movie). When she cried, I cried. So good. 
• I LOVED that they had things in there only book fans would understand and made no apologies for it. For instance, the shard of Sirius' mirror. At this point, I could care less if you're confused and have no idea what's going on. The books have been out for more than 10 years now. Learn to read.
• Makes me SO excited for Pt. 2. Is it July yet??

So yeah, I would definitely recommend this film. Let me know of your thoughts on it. If you agree or disagree, etc.

In other news... yeah there isn't much other news. I worked all day today. Getting sick of school. Only two more days until Thanksgiving Break and then I'll see my family up in Washington! So excited.

I Love PR

I get to be the social media expert for The Vanguard and Voices of Courage and write a letter to Hilary Clinton asking her to come to an event. How awesome is that?

In other news, I was supposed to have my study abroad interview today but it got rescheduled for Tuesday. So now I'm wearing this interview outfit for nothing. Lame.

Oh and I bought dominoes and sidewalk chalk for Triniti today. Gonna be an awesome time.

Friends?

So I've been thinking lately about the power of friendships and what exactly it means to be a friend. I've never had a "BFF" - you know, the one girl with whom you are inseparable, who you share all your secrets with, the girl everyone knows is your best friend. I've always had more of big group of closer friends, where each know a little part of me but none know everything about me.

This used to depress me a little bit. I was always jealous of those girls who just had that one girl they could do everything with. But I've also seen quite a lot of those friendships go down in flames - over really stupid things, too. These girls who once seemed so inseparable don't even talk to each other anymore. And that's just really sad.

So is there such a thing as being too close of a friend? Is there a danger in only having one close friend who knows everything about you? I think there is. I may not have a "BFF," but I have a lot of best friends. And I'm ok with that, I think.

What do you guys think?