Ah the memories

Temple Trip

My mom and I decided that it would be fun to hit all the temples in Utah. So that is exactly what we did. We visited from Northern to Southern only missing the 3 that were closed for cleaning. We started off early Monday morning. We drove down to St. George, and did a session. It was nice.

Then we headed to Gunnison to spend the night with my Uncle Dallas and Aunt Shelley. On Tuesday morning, me, my mom and my aunt went to the Manti temple for a session, and I fell in love with that temple!! It is amazing!

We left shortly after and went to the Provo and Mt. Timpanogous temples and did inititories.




Then we went home and on Wednesday morning, we drove up to Logan and did a session there.

Then we drove to the Bountiful temple and did inititories.

Then on Thursday we went to Jordan River and Salt Lake temples and did inititories there too.

And that concluded our temple trip. We're going to try and hit the other 3 sometime... perhaps on our next temple trip. It was a lot of fun to see all of the different temples and it was a spiritually uplifting week. I'm so glad that I have someone like my mom to do this stuff with!

Time Flies!

Well, as of today, it has been 2 years since I came home from my mission! Can you believe it?! It was just two years ago that I was taking off my Hermana Horrocks missionary tag and saying goodbye to Miami Florida.

In some ways I think "wow, it's flown by!" and in other ways I think "has it really only been 2 years?" Anywho, I thought I would just say happy 2 year day to me!

Being a missionary was one of the greatest experiences I've had and I'm very grateful to have had that opportunity! I've met so many amazing people and had so many experiences that have made me into who I am today. I'm just so grateful that Heavenly Father was patient with me in my decision to go on a mission. It scares me to think I almost missed out on that opportunity! I sure learned a lot about listening to the spirit, because when Heavenly Father wants me to do something... it's going to be in my best interest to do it! So hooray for the gospel and for missionary work!

The scale must die

Well, I have come to the conclusion that the numbers on the scale are a little bit scary...so I have made a plan, and so far it is going quite well. I want to lose 20 pounds by the end of October. This goal has been in the back of my mind for a while, but was put into effect when I went to visit my sister, Missy. We both want to lose weight so we decided to support each other and do it. My plan is to work out at least 3 times a week at Curves, and on the days I'm not doing that I'm going to kick back with Billy Blanks and his fabulous Tae Bo workouts! I'm also eating a lot healthier and trying to eat a lot of salad.

I've been at it for about 2 weeks now and I've lost 6 pounds! Wahoo!! I have to say I quite like the feeling of losing weight. It makes me happy, and it motivates me to do even better. I've decided that if I succeed my goal, I will reward myself with new clothes for Christmas...or perhaps a trip to Hawaii with a new swim suit. Whatever it is, It's going to be great! So I would appreciate all of your support and encouragement as I embark on this adventure to kill the scale.

Who'd a thunk?

Well, I have a confession. Growing up, I've never been a reader. It would take me anywhere from 3 months to eternity to finish a book. In fact, I'm sure there are books that I gave up on all together...that was until I was introduced to a very popular series of books. Yes, I was sucked in to Stephenie Meyer's vampire books!

I couldn't believe it when I first picked up Twilight... I read the nearly 600 page novel in one day! I couldn't put it down... I read and read until I was done, and I wanted more! So, as soon as I could get my hands on the next thrilling adventure of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, I did.

New moon was read in 2 days.

Then, as soon as that was done, I got my sweaty Palms on Eclipse. I read Eclipse in just 2 days!

Then, I had to wait... I waited for months for the 4th and final book to come out. Wondering what would happen to Bella, Edward and Jacob. Wondering how it would end... then finally, August 2nd came and I bought Breaking Dawn.

I started reading as soon as I could... I stayed up reading until nearly 3 in the morning when I finally told myself I had to put the book down and go to bed! I then picked it back up as soon as my eyes popped open the next day. I read as much as could while babysitting, and then stayed up to read it some more. Then Monday, my mom and I drove to St. George and I read the whole way there. I finished the 750 page novel Monday night. I was happy the way things ended and I closed the book. Only to realize the next morning that I had the urge to re read all of the books again! Am I doomed? Am I really addicted to books? What should I do???? I am grateful to Stephenie Meyer for getting me into reading. I actually really like it and I have a whole list of books I'm going to read, and I actually think I will get through them in no time. So there you have it. Who'd a thunk that I'd be reader?!

My Artwork

My friend, Anna, suggested that I show you all some of the artwork I worked on over the past semester. So here it is.

Color Photography

I did quite a few projects in this class, I didn't really feel that challenged though. A lot of the stuff we were learning, I already knew, however, here are a few projects I did that I rather enjoyed:

This was an abstract piece. I covered my lens with a piece of plastic wrap and took a picture of a tulip. I really like how it turned out.


This was a semester long project. I had to go to the same spot several times during different times of the day and take a picture of the same thing. It was really cool to see how it changed as it got later into summer, and the lighting changed it as well. I chose a spot out by a waterfall, it was very peaceful and quiet, so it was nice in the early morning hours.


Graphic Design

This is my first project. We had to design shapes into something pleasing. This is what I came up with:


My second project was to come up with a logo. I had to come up with the company idea and name, and it had to do something with reptiles. I then had to design the logo for it. I was really shocked when my instructor chose mine as one of the strongest in the class!! I also had to do stationery for the company.

This was my final project. I had to design a poster for an art exibit of the works of Buckminster Fuller:

I was very proud of myself. I got a B+ for my final grade for the class. This is quite an accomplishment for this class! He was a hard grader and if you did exactly what he asked you to do, no more, no less... you got an average grade of a C. So by getting a B+ it meant that I had gone above and beyond! Wahoo!!

Cute Little Madeline

Over the past 2 weeks I got to spend some time with my sister, Missy and her family. We spent a lot of time taking pictures of my cute little niece, Madeline. We had a lot of fun trying to come up with creative ways to take pictures... and boy was she a wiggley one! It was a lot of fun though, and here are just a few of the pictures I took:

I'll write more about my trip a little later.