And..........She's BACK

Wow, two months with no blogging. I have SO much to catch up on.

Europe was

A M A Z I N G

Seriously the best time ever. I can't wait to tell you all about it! I'm still going through my pictures. I took thousands. literally.

Even though my wonderful trip is over, I'm going to relive it through my blog for a couple weeks :) because I miss it a lot!!

So I hope you're ready.

E to the Europe

Don't worry everyone, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.

I've just been in Europe having the time of my life.

When I have time to post pictures, i will :)

i heart art...among other things

So, graduation is coming up

And while I'm so very excited to celebrate my amazing accomplishment,

I may be slightly more exited to see this face:




I'm trying to stay motivated to study for finals. heck I'm trying to stay motivated to do anything this week. other than watch Veronica Mars (and plan my week with Jantz and dream about Europe). I'm only a little bit obsessed...



It still hasn't sunk in completely that I'm leaving to another country - another continent - in

9 days.

No seeing my friends, no talking to anyone (well, except for the brief "I'm here, I'm alive, I miss you, and I really love you" phone calls), no time to think, no break from the horde of girls I'll be spending all of my time with (not that i don't love girls, i am one after all, i just don't pride myself on befriending them), no familiar comfort foods/places/people to turn to.

Of course, there are about a million amazing things that I will be doing. And I can't wait for those parts :) such as.....

seeing my most favorite works of art
walking on ancient ruins
walking through hundreds of museums and churches
eating delicious culinary creations
being immersed in different cultures
really feeling like an art historian - like i'm finally legit
did i mention looking at art? that is by far going to be my favorite part. because

I heart art
(with an extra emphasis on the heart part)

on a side note...
i keep wanting to spell
among, "amoung".
what is up with that?

Song of the Week: Today was a Fairytale by Taylor Swift. So cute. And, well, a girl in love can't really not love this song I think.

dear shopping

I miss you terribly.

having no money has torn us apart.

Lately it's been dresses I envy. Now that summer is finally creeping around the corner, I'm getting antsy to wear dresses and skirts. Here are just a few that have caught my eye...

un-twill we meet again dress

crewel to be kind dress

chocolate chip dress

corner booth dress
(love this one)

bronzed goddess dress
(LOVE brown)

all of these lovlies can be found here

So shopping, I hope we can soon meet again. Perhaps in Paris? or Italy?

EurOpe

My summer adventure is quickly approaching. I think I have 22 days left. whoa. I'm getting more and more excited. My backpack finally came and I'm looking forward to cramming all of my belongings into it:




I'm most excited for the food. In case you didn't know, I LOVE FOOD. I'm planning on making these apart of my regular European diet:




Oh, and you can be jealous now :)

I could really go for some....

cheddar broccoli potato soup
(in a bread bowl of course)

right now

this schizophrenic Utah weather really needs to go away

Song-of-the-week: goodness, it's been a while. I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes by Dierks Bentley. yes i know the subject matter, but i don't even care. i love it too much. his voice is so nice. plus his name is Dierks. enough said.

one month

I will be landing in Athens exactly one month from today. Then I get to spend the next 8 weeks traipsing around Europe (with 23 other girls). I'm getting more and more excited to go.

Museum's everyday.
Pretty much my dream come true.

I've been doing some "research", aka picture-looking, of each of the places we're going. Maybe I'll post some a little later. So you can be even more excited for me :)

For now I should probably focus on finishing up the last few weeks of my undergraduate career...

why oh why

Why do I love procrastinating so much?
I'd like to tell you that I hate it, but,
I kind of like waiting until the last minute,
when the deadline is so close i can feel the excitement
of finishing something and not having to think about it ever again.
because then I get motivated to get things done
.....well, motivated, but much more vocal
about hating myself for being such a slacker.

On the other hand, I also love not having
to think about the due date.
I just have to pull it out and turn it in.
that's pretty good feeling too.

Every semester I tell myself that i'm going to be SO on top of things and finish way early.
(It's the research papers that get me the most)
And every semester, i find that i put it off again, somehow.
Well ok, I've gotten a little better over the years.
It's more fun now. Less miserable.
But I need to get much better at it if I'm ever going to survive another two years.

SO..............................I guess I should get back to finishing my awesome senior thesis

and here's a cute picture that i'm quite fond of, just for funsies
(someday I'll figure out why Jantz loves his moccasins so much)

sometimes the impossible happens

by some miracle...

I GOT ACCEPTED INTO THE MASTER'S PROGRAM FOR

I'm pretty much still in shock!

I'd like to thank everyone who has helped me along :)
I wouldn't have gotten this far without lots of love

Graduating with a bachelor's is one thing
that i'm very grateful for

but getting a master's degree
is definitely something
i won't be able to do alone

so thanks for the past,
and a special thanks for the future :)


I CAN'T WAIT!

cooking night = most excellent idea

Saturday was quite a day. I had to say goodbye to Jantz, which just about broke my heart (but more on this later....)

A bunch of my amazing girly friends got together and made our own version of PF Changs lettuce wraps. They were so good. I thought they tasted exactly like the real thing. I think it would be a most delicious weekend meal to make with some super awesome roommates....when i get them, of course (can't wait for summer!).

maybe along with with an equally amazing dessert. but what?

i'm no addict, but i sure do love it

tonight I got me some diet coke. and let me tell you,
it was the best beverage decision i've made all day.
all week maybe.
i can't deny that i love it.

it just makes me so happy..........well, as happy as a diet carbonated drink can.

i mean, it's certainly no person.

baking does crazy things to me sometimes

Today I made some chocolate chip cookies. I didn't realize how excited I was to make them until I started dancing.

in the kitchen.

yeah, it was special.

I'm not what you would call a "dancer", and with good reason.

But, the little girl in me wanted a Cinderella moment. And so I let her have one. because making cookies is just that exciting.

Next step is getting Prince Charming by my side.

Song-of-the-Week: wow, I haven't had one in a while. Paparazzi by Lady Gaga. Because, how can you not dance to this?

P.S. I love your clothes

I watched P.S. I Love You the other day, and I remember how much I love Hilary Swank's clothes in this movie.

I love her shoes (and hair) most of all, but i couldn't find any good pictures of them, so you'll just have to watch the movie to look at them :)

I love her coats. so classy

I love her dresses

not to mention this guy. so adorable

full

I'm so happy right now. Words can't even express it. I'm just,
happy.

I feel so incredibly blessed, so incredibly loved, and so incredibly full of love. I don't know if I deserve all of these feelings.

But I wouldn't give them up for anything in the world.

I must really like Colorado....trip #4

I'm going to Colorado tomorrow until Sunday to party it up with Jantz. I must say I'm really excited. We're going to have so much fun. Plus I won't have to work or go to class, which is extra nice. Oh and the fact that I'm going to see an amazing boy doesn't hurt either. On the agenda so far is (in no particular order)....

eat at Chipotle
go to the gym (preceded by buying me some better gym clothes)
maybe watch the chronicles of narnia (yep, never seen them)
get cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. yum
go see Lovely Bones
eat at Guatalajara. so excited for this
watch CSI:NY. it wouldn't be right without some of this.
oh and....have tons of fun the entire time.

Hopefully I won't die on the plane ride over there...



Speaking of flying...I'm buying tickets to Europe this week. This study abroad thing is getting more and more real. In exactly 3 months from today I'm going to be one of these people (but hopefully not the lady in the white pants. tacky):

muse

Lyrics. Do you ever hear lyrics that you instantly fall in love with? That repeat in your head over and over again. Maybe because their catchy, but maybe because they fit you almost perfectly. Here are a few to share:

"I know I feed your desires
to wear red lipstick and be dressed for the kill.
I'm sorry I fed those desires
because I've been murdering your soul"

-Dressed to Kill by Landon Pigg

"If you let me have my way
I swear I'll tear you apart"

-Me vs. Maradona vs. Elvis by Brand New

"I wanna kiss you
But if I do then
I might miss you, babe"

-LoveGame by Lady GaGa

"Something must've made you say that
What did I do to make you say
That to me?

Something must've made you so mad
What can I do
To make you say
Come back to me?"

-Stay by SafetySuit

"How 'bout you don't,
don't even move
Let me hold you, show you
that I still love you"

-How 'Bout You Don't by The Lost Trailers

20 + 10 = 30

...just making sure I can still do math in 2010. apparently I can.

So. new years resolutions. I've mostly just been thinking about all that has happened last year. So much happened, all in one year. A lot bad, but so so so much good. I really think it's been my best year yet. I'm even grateful for the bad stuff. because it made me stronger and led me to the good stuff. I was reading my "new years" post from last year and I realized that I actually did accomplish some of the things that I wanted to (which is extra surprising because I haven't looked at those "goals" probably since I wrote the blog). So, I chose a choice part from each goal to sort of check off to myself (and to you) that I did it.

I wanted to be "'fine with whatever happens in my life because I can be happy no matter what or who is in my life". I feel like I did a pretty good job with this. I found ways to be happy without relying on anyone else but myself. I got to learn more about what I actually enjoy in life. Of course, I also realized how much I need my friends. Friends fill a place in my life that just can't be replaced. I've made so many new friends this year that I hope to keep for life. For this year, I want to work on making the gospel a constant in my life that I can really rely on. Because no matter how lonely and hard life can get, I can always turn to that. And if Heavenly Father can't bring happiness, then nothing can.

I wanted to "maintain this "healthiness"". I must say I'm very impressed that I still look the same as I did last year. I haven't even tried. In fact, I still eat a lot. But I haven't gained any weight (I hate girls like that by the way. ha). So, I guess this year I want to keep it up. Maybe even throw some healthier food in there and maybe even some trips to the gym (....maybe). Actually, another goal this year is to cook more (like actually cook) and eat more fruits and vegetables.

I wanted to "read more books and research more about things I've always wanted to learn about". Yeah, I didn't do too great with this one. I mean, for school I do a boatload of research. But, I wanted to do that stuff when it wasn't for a class. And this year, I even more want to do that. I feel like if I really want a career in the Art History world then I need to prove it. I need to learn as much as possible. If is this really what I love to do, then I should probably be doing it even when I'm not told to. And I want to. I'm just lazy sometimes (ok a lot of times). This year I want to do my own research on things that really interest me. I think I'll enjoy learning a lot more if it's for myself.

I wanted to "stop worrying so much about other people and more about myself" specifically concerning "this whole decision-making problem". Oh decisions, how you haunt my life. Ha. But really. I've done so much better with making my own decisions. Mostly because I told friends about it and so they helped me (and continue to do so :). Granted, I'm still nowhere near where I want to be. But, I've made a lot of progress. And with that came a focus on myself. Not on being selfish. But on (as cheesy as it sounds) listening to what I want. And making decisions based on that and not on what other people want me to do. It's been....weird. But also, nice. This year I want to work on being even better about making decisions and being more assertive. Mostly just, I want to be happy.

So, there's my resolution post. Glad that's out of the way. Now onto an amazing year filled with so many changes and even more fun than last year.

look how happy

I know it's a little late, but last last Saturday, the 19th, my best friend in the whole world got married. She was such a beautiful bride and she looked so happy standing next to her new husband, Jared. Of all the guys out there, I'm glad it was him who won her heart.

I'm so happy for you Deb!

go to bed

Yep, it's 3:30 in the morning. I went to bed at 4 on Sunday night. And like 5 last night. Woke up at 2pm. I know. madness. I really need to go to bed. I have so much grading to do tomorrow. 40, 5-7 page papers and 40 essay tests. I'm spending all day just grading. You should ask me about it to make sure I'm really doing it.

I saw Invictus on Monday. It was really good. That rugby is crazy. Like, whoa. And Morgan Freeman does an amazing job. Inspiring. And the corn dog and ice cream cone I had whilst watching it definitely didn't hurt.

I saw Avatar in 3D too. That was really good. I was iffy about it, but I enjoyed it a lot. And the main guy? really attractive. just sayin. I think I would even be ok seeing it again. all 3 hours of it.

Song-of-the-Week: Happy by Leona Lewis. I really like this song and especially the music video. It's a good one. And, I think we're all just trying to be happy.

bloggy blog

So much has happened this week. A lot good and a lot bad. I don't know which to focus on. The good I think. The bad makes me too sad. So, the good:

I got offered to be a TA next semester (woot woot!) for our dear Professor Magleby. I'm really really really excited. I didn't think they would want me again.

I finished all my papers and such on time. Finals should be a breeze compared to my last week.

I still haven't adequate sleep since.....I don't even remember, last Tuesday or Wednesday I think. Yesterday was a beasty tired day. Today is a little less....this sounds like a bad part haha. The good part is that my body is amazing for staying awake and not hating me too much for not taking good care of it.

I get to throw Deb a bridal shower tonight. I'm super excited. I hope it's good. I don't think I'll ever compare to the friend that she is to me. I feel so priveledged to be her bestie and maid of honor. I feel like such a loser friend. She's just so amazing. So, I hope she loves the shower. Because, I love her :)

I've had so much fun this week with friends. They're worth getting less sleep for.

And speaking of being a TA, I better not be late to my Review Session, which starts in 12 minutes.

OH!! AND, I got accepted to go on Study Abroad in Europe during Spring term!!! I'm ecstatic! but, more on this later :)

loves.