Sometimes...

I choose to pull out my $3 animal print skirt from a thrift store. And then I choose to take a crappy picture of my outfit so you get the idea. Now excuse me as I go spin around in my flowy skirt.

Do you hear the voice?

We hear the voice!

 EFY this year was absolutely amazing. I went to Santa Barbara with my sister and her friends, but I roomed alone in order to meet new people. We rode the train to Santa Barbara and back after the week was over, and I think the train made it so much more fun.

 My roommate's name was Margaret and she was pretty cool. She was training to hike the grand canyon rim to rim, and she completed it on Wednesday of this week. 

All of the girls in my company(which usually consists of 13 girls age 16-18. There are a lot of companies to make up one group)had come alone which made it easier to make new friends and not be cliquey. It ended up being super fun! One of the girls in our company pretended she was Russian the first day and I totally believed her the whole time until they made her tell the truth.

It ended up being a fantastic week filled with lots of fun/random events!

Escorting is a big deal for EFY... Everywhere you go you basically have to be
escorted by someone of the opposite gender haha

It was my counselor Greg's birthday the week before on the 4th but we celebrated it again

Funny story about my guy counselor: The first day we had our "welcoming" meeting where all of the counselors dance and sing, and basically make it seem like they are really cool(even if they aren't, but they usually are). He was sitting next to me during one of the videos and there was a beat playing in the background so he started free styling and coming up with his own words making sure that only I could hear. From that point on, I knew he was going to be the best.

The food was delicious...

This is my friend Max, he and I matched almost everyday but it wasn't on purpose

Ice cream every freaking meal. Mmmm

Before getting on the train to go to Santa Barbara

Reenacting Breaking Dawn

The girls in my company. They were all so amazing

My favorite girls, Courtney and Lora(she was the girl with the Russian accent )

This was basically all we did on the train because Brigham is super talented

Courtney and I with our counselor Cali on the last day

A bunch of kids during free time.
(From left to right: Jessica, Hunter, Emily, Me, Max, Lora)

We go crazy during lessons
(From left to right: Lora, Taryn, Hunter, Me)

No explanation, but we match again

We didn't know each other before this week but we had learned a bunch
about each other before from our friend Brandt, this kid's name is Blake

My roommate Meg. We almost forgot to get a picture together

Kory taught me some cords on the ukelele. He felt really cool

Some of the boys from my company
(From Left to Right: Max, Bailey, Me, Cole)

This kid became one of my favorites on the last day. His name is David
and he wants me to let you all know that he has swag

My Adventure at Mormal..

WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD

Mormal was the absolute best. I had never been before, but seriously, it was amazing. About 4 days before the big night, one of the dad's in our group sent out a mass itinerary. Boy was it ridiculous(like a good ridiculous, not bad). It had everything we were doing from the time we met at 3:45pm until we came home at 1am. The basic agenda included:

Pictures in Laguna Beach at a restaurant

Pictures at the art gallery next door

Pictures in this alleyway in Laguna Beach

Eat at the restaurant we took pictures in

Eat delicious and nummy Gelato in Laguna Beach

Then we finally go to the dance

We ended up taking some pictures outside of the dance, which was at the beautiful SOCA University

Leave early from the dance to go Cosmic Bowling in dresses and suits!

The whole group outside of the dance... It was freezing cold!

My date, Xander, and I

Getting delicious Gelato(Italian Ice Cream)

Xander and I at the art gallery

The whole group at the art gallery(I really liked the effect it added to the pictures)

My date and I at the restaurant

The group having some laughs while the girls have the boys hats on

All of our personalities together

A nice picture of all the girls with the boys hats on

Xander and I

My hair done by one of my good friends Sam

Lexi and I before the dates arrive

It was a crazy night, but so worth being sleep deprived!!

A HUGE thanks to Brother Cook for taking all of the pictures, driving us everywhere, and organizing the whole event. It was an absolutely fantastic night!!

Being Sixteen...

Sometimes I think about my life. Today I have thought about it a lot today. As of today at 11:58pm, I will be 16 years old. For some reason, this birthday has made me think a lot about the decisions I have made in my life. Being Mormon, 16 is a HUGE year. You can finally date boys... yes, real life boys!! To be honest, I didn't necessarily "date" but I have had a few guy friends whom I have had a "thing" with(basically an innocent way of saying you are going out). I never thought much of it, and we never did anything bad. I was with a guy, and ended things with him because I felt the need to keep the standards I set for my life when I was younger. I was really glad I made that decision, but looking back today, I wish I had never made the decision to like any boy at all. Now that I can date, I am extremely excited to go out and get those boys to ask other girls on dates but to be honest, it would have been the greatest JOY to be able to say "Yes! I can finally go on dates since I've never done anything like it before!" So if there is one thing I learned from this whole Sixteen-years-of-age experience, it's that you need to follow the standards. I know they lead to true joy and happiness when the time comes when you are able to finally enjoy whatever you refrained from in the beginning. Well, now that we got the seriousness out of the way... I'm SIXTEEN years old!!! Which means I'm gonna go kiss some random guy(ha. ha. Jut kidding, that's Disgusting). If you wanna check out some cute pictures of me as a child, go over to my mom's blog and look at this post.

Now, I can officially date these boys ;)

I'm gonna go practice for my driving test now!! I better pass :)

Fashion is a BIG deal

One thing I absolutely love about California is you can pretty much wear anything you find. Of course though, being one of the main fashion districts, you HAVE to look Good! HEAT+MODESTY=UNDETERMINED SUMMER WARDROBE... Over the summer it is so hard for me to find clothing that is appropriate to wear with the weather and my standards. Well this week it has gotten pretty hot so I've been thinking about what I'm going to wear, and I have my full summer wardrobe planned out. Just a few basic clothing i

tems such as:

Swimsuits like this make me excited to go to the beach! I love the bold color, so I will stand out :)

I love these shorts a long with many others from Gap which I pair with a mini belt, and a tucked in patterned tee

I have a feeling you'll see me in baseball tees a lot this summer because they are cute and affordable!

This skirt from Lands'end Canvas(a store I have recently fallen in love with) is personally one of my favorites and I can't wait to get it!

I have similar gladiator sandals like these Steve Madden ones, which I love!

I would die to have this skirt from Shabby Apple

Where I am headed..

Growing up as a Mormon my biggest dream was to be headed to the temple. It was and still is my "castle". I always have a picture of the temple in my view, so that the world won't take away that dream from me. When I get married to a worthy man in that castle, I want him to share the same standards as me. One thing I really look for in a guy is their values. Three of the BIGGEST values a worthy husband of mine should and will possess are: 1. The importance of Education- Without education my dad would not have a nice job to support his family, and one day I want my husband to be able to support our family. 2. Integrity- Me and my friends have the saying of "Honest is Hottest" and I can tell you that this is true, nobody gets hurt if you are just honest with yourself and everyone else. 3. The importance of holding to your Standard-If my future husband does not hold to standards as a child I can't trust he will hold our kids to them either, and that can just end horribly. Now I'm definitely not getting married anytime soon, but if I don't stand for something now, I'll fall for anything later!!