I Am Thankful For. . . #6

We are headed to Las Vegas!!!

Need I say more?

I Am Thankful For. . . #5

Good Drivers?

This may sound silly to most people, but today I could not have been anymore thankful for having a car drive in front of me, who was driving slowly and cautiously through the snow storm. I had to drive home from work right in the middle of the blizzard, and I am not kidding when I say that I could not see a single thing outside, except for the car lights in front of me. Luckily for me, the car I ended up leading me almost exactly to my house. It was such a relief for me. What a crazy storm that was to drive in.

I Am Thankful For. . . #4

Em. . .

She went to Bear Lake for the weekend, and I could not wait for her to get back so we could set up our Christmas tree together. Ha we listened to Christmas music as we were decorating. It was so fun!

Also, my family makes comments about how Em and I act like we are a couple. Whenever we go anywhere they joke because everyone is with their husband and wife, and we have each other. I do realize that this post definitely does not help the situation at all.

I Am Thankful For. . . #3

IT'S FINALLY SNOWING!

Today has been such an enjoyable day. I love that it has been snowing outside all day. It makes my house feel so warm and comfortable. I've been home alone all day so it was fun to sit on the couch with a blanket and watch the snow out my window as I was doing homework and then later taking a break to sew :)

I Am Thankful For. . . #2

LETTERS!!!!

I have absolutely loved writing a missionary! I am so lucky to be able to write such a great guy, and get these letters in return. I am a little anxious for him to get back here though. 26 days left!!!!!!!!

I Am Thankful For. . . #1

THANKSGIVING IS COMING!!!

I really wish I had thought to do this at the beginning of the month, but I thought that since Thanksgiving is coming up, it would be nice if I actually looked and saw how blessed I am in my life each day. I am a very lucky girl :)

I am so thankful that I have a job, let alone a job that I enjoy. I love working in a law office and learning all about that line of work. I have learned so much from the 15 months I have worked there. I have great bosses, who are very patient with me and are always very willing to work with my schedule.

GIRLS WEEKEND

In the middle of October all the girls in my family (we missed you Cordie) went to Salt Lake for the weekend to play. I always love when we get together. I love that we are all able to get along with each other and have fun. One of my favorite things we do is exchange our favorite things with each other. Everyone always has such cute stuff to give and it's always stuff that I love too, just never think to buy.

They went and visited the Humanitarian Center, which they said was amazing!

(I didn't join in until Friday night I had school and work)

Shopping at the Gateway

This is Emily and Katie excited for favorite things

All of us girls together

Eating at P.F Changs

David and my dad didn't want to miss out on the fun,

so we told them they could come to dinner as long as they paid.

Cordie, I have to apologize. I know I promised I would take lots of pictures for you, but I might have lied. I only joined in on the fun the last day, so I didn't get all the fun activities they did, sorry. I hope you enjoy these few though :)

Fun Times Lately

I have had so many fun things going on lately. I am most definitely not ready for school to start and to be busy with all the homework again. Here are a few pictures of what has been going on.

My momma and poppa took Em and me fishing on the Teton River. It was my first time ever going fishing and I loved every minute of it (even when it was pouring rain on us).

Look at how cute my parents are :)

It started out as a bright sunny day, and then about 45 minutes before the boat ride was over, it started to storm quite badly. It was lightning and thundering and pouring rain. It even started hailing on us for a little bit, but that didn't stop us from enjoying the trip. It was just part of the experience.

I also went to "That Famous Preston Night Rodeo" I had forgotten how fun that rodeo really is. I just sat there with a big smile on my face the whole time.

My best friend Ruby and some of her friends came up to visit me. We went out to eat, went to a block party, and then country swing dancing. I even wore cowboy boots for the first time ever dancing, but it probably wasn't the best idea, I was sliding all over the place.

Then Em and I headed up to Boise the very next day

We went up to Boise to see this wonderful lady that we stayed with while we were pages for the Idaho Senate. She is one of the sweetest lady's I've ever met, so it fun for us to go back up and visit her.

When we went to Boise we went to the funnest farmers market. They had a parking garage full of local artist's work on the wall. They were having a competition so each person got to vote for what was their favorite. Some were really good, and some were really bad.

We also got to see our friend Jamesy while we were there. He made sure to take us to the "Ranch Hand" of Boise. It was a hole in the wall, but the food was sure good.

My New Motto

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a cild of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

-Nelson Mandela

I have been thinking about this quote a lot lately. I heard it for the first time a few years ago, and I thought it was really good, but I never took it for what it is worth. I thought to myself, "How could I possibly be afraid of being powerful beyond measure? That's just crazy. It's not that I'm afraid, it's just that I can't do it." I can't do it? Now that's just crazy.

I've learned a lot about myself and the world since I've been on my own. There is so much variety out there, that I really can do and be anything I want. Just thinking about that makes me happy. Right now in my life, is the time for me to shape my character into the person that I want to be, and that I have always seen myself becoming as I got older. I want to do great things, and I will do great things. My playing small will not serve the world. I am so excited to see what the future has in store for me, and to move along with the confidence that I am a child of God, who is brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous.

Best Thing About Summer. . .

Sleeping on the tramp :)

Country Girl for the Weekend

This weekend I went up to Twin Falls to visit my friend Ruby. Ruby lives on a ranch all summer. The ranch is about an hour away from civilization. So I had the pleasure of getting the full ranch experience.

We woke up at 6:00 a.m. to get ready to head out for the day. We rounded up our horses, loaded them in the trailer, and took them up to the mountain.

(This was my horse, T.J., we became quite good friends by the end of the day)

Once we were on the mountain, we rounded up all the cows in the field so we could fence them in and sort them from the branded calves and the non-branded calves.

Once they were all sorted it was time for the scariest part of the whole day, branding.

I mainly tagged their ears, while Ruby's brother, Levi, branded, but he let me brand a few. I didn't like it so much. Tagging their ears was pretty bad for me too, but I got used that pretty quick. I didn't, however, ever get used to the smell of burnt skin and hair from the branding.

(This calf was too small for the shoot, so they had to tackle it to brand it)

After we finished branding, we went back out to the fields just to move cattle to a different spot on the mountain. Moving cattle was my favorite part of the whole day. I was out in the middle of a beautiful field, on a sunny day, just sitting on my horse.

It really couldn't have gotten any better.

I had such a good time on the ranch with Ruby. I had a lot of new experiences and learned a lot. I probably drove Ruby crazy with all of my stupid questions, but she put up with me. Kyle, a worker, even told me he was going to make me a harness, so I would have to come back up and have a reason to use it :)

100 Things I Love

Every Summer it is tradition for me to write a list of 100 things that I LOVE. It is so fun for me to make the list and then go back and read previous lists. It's neat to see the things that ALWAYS make the list and the new things that show up as I've gotten older. So. . . in no particular order, here is what I have come up with for the SUMMER of 2010.

(Katie, Em, and Me on the beach in San Diego)

#1 BEING BUSY

#2 POLITICS

#3 DRESSING UP NICE

#4 BEING PROUD OF MY MISSIONARY

#5 TRAVELING ESPECIALLY TO NEW PLACES

#6 THE OCEAN

#7 RUNNING

#8 BEING ON MY OWN

#9 MAKING NEW FRIENDS

#10 THE GOSPEL

#11 MY SEWING CLASS

#12 WORKING AT A LAW FIRM

#13 BEING CONFIDENT

#14 ACTING LIKE I HAVE POISE

#15 GETTING MY HAIR DONE

#16 GETTING NEW CLOTHES

#17 BEING told I HAVE GOOD STYLE

#18 ANY COMPLIMENT FOR THAT MATTER

(Yes we bought matching sweaters)

#19 READING SOMETHING INTERESTING

#20 MY BEST FRIEND RUBY BRACKETT

#21 BOISE

#22 GOING TO COLLEGE

#23 DeCiDiNg WhErE mY lIfE iS gOiNg

#24 MY YELLOW PURSE

#25 RED FINGERNAIL POLISH

#26 DOING STUFF WITH MY FAMILY

#27 HAVING DINNER EVERY WEDNESDAY WITH MY FRIENDS

#28 BOYS

#29 FUNNY PEOPLE

#30 MY SINGLES WARD

#31 GETTING CUTE SMILES

#32 DRESSING PROFESSIONALLY

#33 INFLUENCING OTHER PEOPLES LIVES

#34 HAVING OTHER PEOPLE BE PROUD OF ME

#35 DATING

#36 LONG CAR RIDES AT NIGHT

#37 BIRDS CHIRPING

#38 SKIING

#39 TRYING OUT A NEW RECIPE

#40 LIP GLOSS

#41 AIR FRESHNERS

#42 HAND SOAP

#43 SETTING GOALS

#44 LETTERS FROM MY MISSIONARY

#45 FEELING INSPIRED

#46 SWINGS

#47 WATCHES

#48 WATER

#49 SHOES

#50 ALL MY FRIENDS

#51 MY MOM & DAD (of course)

#52 HIKING

#53 MY JOURNAL

#54 FIREWORKS

#55 COLOGNE

#56 MY PERFUME

#57 GETTING REACQUAINTED WITH SOMEONE

#58 THE GOSPEL DISCUSSIONS I HAVE AT MY PARENT'S HOUSE

#59 OLD COUPLES IN LOVE

#60 THE SCRIPTURES & PREACH MY GOSPEL

#61 BLOGS

#62 FARMERS MARKETS

#63 JEWELRY

#64 MUSIC

#65 MY TWIN :)

#67 THE SUNSHINE

#68 GOING ON WALKS

#69 MANGOES

#70 GETTING TEXT MESSAGES

#71 BEAR LAKE

#72 HAVING A CLEAN HOUSE

#73 SUNDAY AFTERNOONS

#74 COUNTRY SWING DANCING

(i can't believe this made the list)

#75 LITTLE KIDS

#76 WAKING UP EARLY

#77 MAKING CRAFTS

#78 SUNGLASSES

#79 DOING A GOOD JOB AT WORK

#80 DOING GOOD ON A TEST

#81 MY BROTHER ALWAYS CALLING ME TO TELL ME TO STILL BE A LAWYER

#82 LOSING IT WITH JILLIAN

#83 LEARNING NEW THINGS

#84 TRYING NEW THINGS

#85 MY DAD'S WONDERFUL ADVICE

#86 MY MOM'S SWEETNESS

#87 DR. MARIO

#88 CaMpFiReS

#89 COSTA VIDA

#90 ANIMAL PRINT

#91 LONG HAIR

#92 SUN DRESSES

#93 GETTING NAILS

#94 GOING TO PLAYS

#95 LONGBOARDING

#96 BIKE RIDES

#97 PONDERING & DAYDREAMING

#98 MAKE-UP

#99 SPEED SCRABBLE

#100 ME