There's nothing like a good day in Virginia!



I am absolutely in the best place right now for me! I got to Virginia last Friday (which was perfect!) I was able to stay with some counselors that night. However, they were at EFY so I just went to bed because I got only like a few hours of sleep the night before. Saturday morning was filled with fun adventures! Whitney, the health counselor at EFY invited me to go to a waterfall with her and some of the EFY counselor gang. It was absolutely beautiful. I became instant friends with Whitney and also her friend Kristen...who is a building counselor. Kristen is fun loving, loud, and makes me laugh so much! We totally hit it off. Afterwards I moved into my dorm room and then a few hours later we headed to Indian Food. It ended up being around a 35 ish minute ride, but was my first experience with Indian Food. I ordered some yummy chicken Tiki Masala and Naan. (This delicious flat bread!) Natasha, I thought of you and took a picture for you! During dinner I was laughing so hard, making connections to all the counselors, and I was honestly SO HAPPY! I can't really describe the feeling other than saying I was seriously almost in tears because I was feeling so happy. I know this is where I'm supposed to be for these next few weeks! On the way my leftover container spilled all over my shirt so I was smelling Indian for the rest of the night! Oh well, you win some, you loose some!  We went out to get some delicious Italian Gelato afterward. The drive back lasted over an hour because we missed the exit. However, I didn't mind because I was seriously riding with some very fun people! And lovely Whitney, when she came to come get me, she said "We'll have to squeeze in because all the cars are full...but I promised you could come so I still came." What a sweetheart! Sunday was a great day too! We had church and a lovely fireside with our session directors. I made some more friends as well.  I have met so many fun people and have awesome experiences here. EFY CRAZINESS started on Monday. I am seriously so busy every day! From 6:15 in the morning until at least 10:35 at night. It's so crazy. We have devotionals, firesides, free time, classes, variety shows, lunch duty, dinner duty, scriptures study...and let's not forget the crazy dances! We had a dance Tuesday which was a blast....but the downer is we have to wear pants...no Shorts. And believe me when I say I love my shorts! Wednesday was a fun day because that's when my girls and I started really bonding...along with the rest of my company.  Today was a wonderfully spiritually uplifting night because we had a fireside and testimony meeting. And I had the privilege of singing with two wonderful girls this song called he is the one. It strengthened my testimony of Jesus Christ and his love for us.  I also loved today because we got to dress in Sunday clothes. Yes, no polo for today! I cannot wait for tomorrow, another dance and fun activities. The time is warped her at EFY. I am making great friends and I feel like I've known them for so long, yet it's been less than a week. It's refreshing to meet people from all these eastern states and hear of their lives and their stories. Here are some pictures from my adventure so far!

PS. Let's just say one more thing...remember how I love to talk in accents? Well I've been picking up a southern/gangsta accent. So don't be surprised if you hear me saying ya'll or sounding a bit different when I get back. It's becoming a part of me. And I love it!
 BEAUTIFUL PANTHER FALLS!
 delicious indian experience!
 yaya... my first day as a couselor!

I be loving the free ice cream at lunch....delicious! It reminds me of my days at Cherry Hill....


My old roommate Jessica and I waiting to be stage crew for the variety show.

Hello Summer...

Let the packing begin. Let the goodbyes commence. Le the summer fun begin....

 4 days until my adventures back East  for EFY  in Virginia and visiting friends and family in Washington DC, NYC, and Boston! I can't wait! Stay tuned for more adventures:) 

Break the Silence

Hey to all of you readers out there!

The Center for Women and Children in Crisis is a center for those women and children suffering  left their home because of domestic violence. Several tap companies have agreed to perform for this cause in Salt Lake City on August 12th to help raise money to help secure the center with safety for those women who have already suffered so much. Please check out their website Break The Silence to find out more information on tickets or if you would like to donate, to help for this cause. You can also search for the group "Break The Silence" on face book for more info. Let's unite to BREAK THE SILENCE.

What Spring Brings...


Take time to smell the flowers....but Hurry!! That is how I have felt lately during this Spring term. It's a great time to take classes- only 7 weeks and your done with the subject. However it means that you move extremely fast and spend a lot of time in class. I have been going to school during this Spring semester which I have absolutely loved! I am in some wonderful classes. First, my Doctrine and Covenants class (which may i add is fabulous!)  My teacher is a visiting professor and get this...she lives in Palo Alto California and flies here every week to teach! She comes Monday through Wednesday and goes to live at home for the rest of the week. She is so enthusiastic about the gospel and I am just loving my class. I am also in a geography class. My other two classes: tap dance and piano. It has been so fun to lace my real classes with these fun ones.  I am learning so much with my tap class, it's so cool! I really am a tap dancer! Other than that, just one cool thing: I got to go repelling last weekend! Some boys in my ward have really gotten into rock climbing and so I went with them last Saturday. So much fun!  Life is busy, but so great!

crayons, eggs and life's secrets...

You may be wondering what the connection is between these two seemingly random items. Well here it is! Tonight my friend Travis and I decorated Easter eggs...solely with Crayon! Now these colors may or may not rub off a lot quicker than dye, but it was so much fun designing them. We got very creative might you say!  
 
 Can you see that zebra!
 "The big question. Are zebras black with white stripes or while with black stripes?"
 Proudly named Spot the Egg.
 8 ball anyone?
 Double Rainbow!
 The first egg....a tester and not as cool as the others...
 This egg needed three shots to captivate it's full meaning! 


Be the change! (that you want to see in the world - Ghandi)

One of my favorite quotes and I think what I am going to designate as my life mantra is

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Isn't that great? We really just need to find our passion and live it! That's how we can make a difference in the world. Tonight after decorating eggs Travis showed me this: 

 

50 Life Secrets and Tips | High Existence - StumbleUpon

 


and I loved it! It has some great ideas on how to live life more to the fullest. Check it out if you've got a few spare minutes, it will be well worth your time!

meet my niece....emmeline!

Emme is so adorable! I was babysitting her today and she put her pajamas on her head and was running around like this! 


 Then at the bowling alley earlier today, she couldn't get enough of the wind blowing on her.

 Plus, listen to how she says octopus. She's just too cute!


I love my niece! She's adorable!

feast or famine.

No. I'm not talking about the olden days in the bible, but my dating life! Say hello to one of my favorite principles:  Feast or Famine. How is it that you can go from having no plans, no dates in months and then BOOM. you have so many plans that you have to say no to some! It's crazy how it works at times. But this week has been my time of Feasting! Casual dates are a fun way to get to know each other. Listen to these fun date ideas!

- Painting with Bob Dross- my date Tyler looked up youtube videos and got paints/brushes in order to paint a wonderful landscape! We learned how to paint "happy trees" and what Bob says is the favorite type of mountains..."snowy mountains".  So fun. We finished and then played a game of chess. Surprisingly a way fun board game- I've never known how to play so the strategy was fun to learn!

- Racing Ducks down the stream on the BYU campus. Travis had a few rubber ducks that we raced down the stream on campus. So fun because we just got to casually stroll and get to know each other. Afterwards, we went to Earth Fruits, a delectable frozen yogurt company. Because Travis was one of the first 100 people in line when the shop opened, he got 52 frozen yogurt coupons...free frozen yogurt for a whole year! So we enjoyed a delicious cup!

- This saturday i'll get to go with Jonathan to Comedy Sports- I'm looking forward to this good, clean fun comedy show!

- Date with Tyler- frozen yogurt at the gas station with his 40 dollar gift card won randomly in one of his classes and then talking for like 3 hours afterwards!

I don't know if it is because of all the talks during conference about the importance of guys dating or what, but I have enjoyed getting to meet new people and go on some dates!