Is It Worth It?

My high school best friends got married to each other in early November and I was lucky enough to fly out there to be a part of it. Now, they got their pictures back. It's easy to have amazing pictures when the bride and groom are so beautiful. Enjoy.

















So, is it worth it?

Ashlynn sent you a message.

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Subject: hey!

i just have to tell you that you r so BEAUTIFUL! i saw the
pict's of the wedding u had told us about n i just wanna tell
u how much of an EXAMPLE u r to ME!!!!! u looked so wonderful
in the dress n im just so proud that u were MODEST girl! like
u have no idea how much that ment to me to see u surrounded by
the other girls and u just stood out because of the wonderful
example u were to those ppl! i love you so much n miss u so much!
thank you for being who u are.thank you for being the daughter
of God the u NEED to be! u r beautiful inside n out n i love that
about you! thanks for showing me who i NEED to be!
YOU ROCK MY FRIEND!
much love to you!, u will be blessed, i PROMISE you THAT! <3>

Ashlynn was my EFY participant. Thanks, Ashlynn, for reminding
me--Yes. It's worth it.

An After-Christmas Adventure

My Provo roommate and I decided to go on an adventure to the luxurious land of Los Angeles. I drove to Corona to join forces with Meggie. With the help of Meggie's parents VERY nice car and a GPS that we named, actually, I don't think we named it, we made it all over the place.

Part 1: We met up with my friend Greg (naturally we didn't take a picture) in La Miranda. He treated us to lunch at this little Mexican restaurant. It was great and Meggie was hilarious, entertaining us as always. I won't tell you what she told us about (you are welcome Meggie), but if you know Meggie, I am sure you will be entertained just thinking about it.
Part 2: Griffith Observatory which happens to overlook this sign. Hollywood, CA, here we were.

Here is the Observatory, which reminds me of the BYU Jerusalem center. If you've been to Jerusalem (and I haven't), apparently you don't need to go here...

An amazing overlook of the city.

Part 3: We were driving to our next destination when we accidentally drove by these random stars on the ground. Naturally, we stopped to see what all the commotion was about. Here we have Janet.
And the Three Stooges...

After this photo, a homeless man stopped us to talk and give us some pages that appeared to be torn out of a Bible. At first we fended him off (two girls alone on the street!), but he was very persistant. I then remembered that I had a Book of Mormon in my purse. Apparently, that is all you need to fend off lone men on Hollywood Blvd. We shared our faith with eachother for a little bit and then seemed to agree to disagree. Actually, I'm not really sure what we agreed on. It was an odd situation. Meggie said there was a doorman watching out for us. Thank you, doorman. It was a fun little experience.

Part 4: We continued on our journey to find the Vanilla Bake Shop which was highly recommended by Kristen. We absolutely loved Georgetown Cupcake (see below) when we lived in DC but Kristen always talked about this place. I will now insert Meggie's explanation of what occurred at that blessed little shop...
Says Meggie, "

We didn't even know if Vanilla Bake Shop was going to be open, but we made it just before closing. As is customary with fancy cupcake shops, they offered the amazing deal of 3 mini cupcakes for $5. A steal, right? While the price wasn't ideal, we didn't mind splurging for high quality (which usually means the frosting is really really good). To our surprise and delight, the lady at the counter let us each have SIX for $5 because the shop was closing. We got our boxes, and when it was time to pay she changed her mind about the deal.

She gave us all twelve for the price of three. Vanilla Bake Shop, I love you."(Don't tell Kristen...but I loved Georgetown Cupcake infinitely more. Or maybe we just needed Kristen to show us the ropes...)
Part 5: We met up with Adam and Aaron McKell at the LA temple to see the temple lights. It is such a beautiful temple and we had some good talks.
Thank goodness for timer settings on the camera :) Very useful. (Notice how there are NO gloves, hats, scarves, etc. in this picture. Thank you 60 degree weather.)
Also, thank goodness for parents and siblings who will always take 42 pictures of you. We love you. The McKells then treated us to hot chocolate which was a perfect way to end such an amazing day!

A Few of My Favorite Things...

In my family, it is tradition to watch Sound of Music around Christmas time. I think this is the first year I've actually enjoyed watching the four hour movie. Usually, I'm playing Monopoly (and getting killed) by dad. He wouldn't play this year, so I watched. Naturally, this movie leads me to reflect on a few of my favorite things...

My wonderful, beautiful, and entertaining roommates...

Family...

Summer Family--EFY Team. That's love right there.

If you know me, you definately know this is one of my absolute FAVORITE things... I LOVE Remember the Titans

I love Wendy. I love this picture of Wendy. And I love the road trip we took when this picture of Wendy was taken.

I love my old house. So many memories... (unfortunately tons of them took place while mowing this lawn)

Old High School Friends...

My best friend, Coralie, and her cute son, Jaden. I just love him.

My Family (and BYU)

Charlie the Civic

Checking things off to-do lists. I always create my own boxes so I can check them off. It's true.

My beautiful EFY girls...The temple (this is the Orlando Temple, my childhood favorite)

Jan, she's going on a mission to OrlandoMy Savior. I love this picture.

MRW. I do not love this picture. Flashback to freshman year...

The sun. Especially the Hawaii sun.

Kristen and our Hawaii trip :)

Cream cheese. Delish.

Of course, I have a ton more Favorite Things but the song can only fit so many. Now go through and put all of these to music. Practice until you get it right. Then memorize it, record it, and sing it to me next time you see me (preferably on top of a green mountain top with seven children following you. Oh, and see if Julie Andrews is around).

Ok...don't really do that. Unless you really want to impress me. ;)

This is What it's All About

It's been a good day. Lot's of memorable experiences.

--First of all, I'm sick and my classes have been so great to me. We were in the middle of playing a review game, and this one kid offered to lead the discussion/game playing for me so I wouldn't have to talk. They're good kids. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow (again). I just HAVE to get better. I'm dying. I'm coughing so hard that I gag and feel like I'll pass out (as tears trickle down my face). I'm in a lot of pain but also really stressed about missing work.

--Next experience. Today, during our starter, this little group of guys were raising their hands fighting for me to call on them so they could list "reasons why In-N-Out would locate itself in Utah" (we're talking about spatial distribution in Geography). My eyes bounced from each of the three guys and I called on one of them. This student just transferred into a different period so he could attend Seminary. I liked him in my other period better, but I was really glad he is going to attend seminary. I always assumed he wasn't a member. He wears a shirt with a girl with a bikini on it all the time and one day offered me some of his Arizona tea. When I responded, "I don't drink tea" his shoulders shrunk and he said, "oh, I usually don't either." Still, I wasn't sure because of a few other reasons. Anyways, I called on him and not this other kid. The other kid mouthed, "What the F---." I called his name and said, "get out of my room right now," he resisted for a moment but eventually left. After I finished going over the starter, I met him in the hall. I said, "What's the problem? Why would you mouth those words?" He responded that he didn't say those words and that he said, "Freak man," (which he did not) and he was very defensive (as he was the other time I talked to him in the hall) after battling back and forth for a few seconds, I tried another method. I whispered (partly for effect and partly because my voice is so shot), "Listen. It's just you and me. I know that you don't swear, you're a good kid. I know that. But to me, what you mouthed looked like some strong words and if they look like that to me, they probably do to a few others. What do you think?" He nodded a little, eyes a bit glazed. I continued, "to be personal, I know that we believe the same things, and I know that you are trying to be good and fit in at the same time. I'm proud of you and secretly I'm routing you and the other Mormons in your class on. I know ya'll get picked on a lot and that hurts my heart to see that. You're a good guy--I want you to work a little bit more on what you're saying. What do you think?" Wow. He crumbled and I think he sincerely wanted to change. It was a really, really great experience and he was a little angel for the rest of the period.

--Experience Three. Jan and I went to Zupas for dinner. We had finished up and were just sitting, talking. Harvey Unga from the football team, walks in alone, goes through the line, grabs his dinner and sits down at a table right next to ours. Actually, it was awkwardly close to ours. We were still talking, kind of quiet, as out of the corner of his eyes, we see him bow his head and pray. It wasn't just a quick "please bless this food, amen." It was a real, sincere, somewhat long prayer. I don't worship this guy, but it was really touching to see someone who we all admire as an amazing athlete doing something so kind and respectful while no one was watching (kind of).

Well, by this time, I have been to the doctor. I have a bit of phenumonia and some bronchitis. I just took a four hour nap and I'm feeling infinately better--and really wishing I could have gone to school. I'm excited for next week. I hope I am back to par :) I'll plan it all. Only 3 weeks until Christmas!!!

Oh, and we beat the U last weekend :)
(Monday, for our Youtube- video- of- the-day, which usually relates to the daily subject matter, I showed the highlight reel of the game. The students were HATING me. And I am fine with that :) I'm tired of them saying/writing "BYU sux!!!" on my things. Thank you for winning BYU. Next time, don't say anything afterwards Max Hall. The End