Put On Your Big Girl Panties

Wow! Where has the time gone?

I cannot believe that my mom left almost 4 weeks ago to help 

Brielle and Carissa,

Gramma's and Granpa.

In all honesty, every day has gone by so slow,

but looking back on the last few weeks, 

it has gone by so fast as I have tried to keep myself as busy as possible.

Between homework (Yes, mom and dad I actually do it, just slower than you would like.. haha)

working, babysitting, Girls Camp, The Allred Family Reunion,

and getting ready for...

*DRUM ROLL PLEASE*

SENIOR YEAR!! WOOP WOOP!! 

The time really has flown by. 

But just because it has flown by, doesnt mean that it has been easy.

I have a new found respect for my Mama.

"I mean, she's has the mommy hair cut, she's super mom!"

(Name that movie! ^)

I have always known that my mom does a lot,

but man. She really does A LOT.

From cooking dinner, cleaning, and helping me with everything that I need.

(It's no secret that I am very spoiled and that she has very good patience)

But its hard work to cook dinner every night! 

A few nights ago, I was making chicken,

which should have only taken about a half hour.

But it took an hour and a half!
I felt like by the time it was done and I was cutting the chicken,
I might as well had one of the moments like
the sister in the movie, "Just Like Heaven"
when she's cutting into the lasagna, and she finds a plastic sponge bob in it.
It was just that kind of day.

As you can probably easily tell,
 I dont really have the best patience with cooking,

especially when I have no idea what im doing.
So bless my great husband that he may have a HUGE amount of patience with me
when it dinner time rolls around.

By the time my dad got home that night,

I was pretty frustrated.

And as great as he is, he helped me finish dinner

and it was pretty tasty if I do say so myself.

But thankfully, dad has cooked the last 3 nights.

It's been pretty nice.

After finding out that I cant have gluten,

Its been even harder trying to figure out what I can eat.

And even though she is far away,

my mom is still trying to help me as much as she can as far as finding things 

to cook. And let me tell you,

it has been a huge adjustment.

It feels as though my entire life has been flipped upside down.

But I am feeling better than ever.

So much in fact, that I wont ever go back to eating gluten.

Next up on the list for "playing mommy" is cleaning.

Alright. Here's what I have decided.

I hate cleaning, but I love clean.

Even though my room is a disaster more often than not,

I ask myself 

"Why do I let it get so dirty?"

Because I hate cleaning.

So if we just kept things clean we wouldn't have to clean them,

because they would just be clean.

Too bad that is simply impossible..

because a lived in house is obviously gonna be, well lived in.

Well, it was a pretty nice thought though, I think.

There are 3 things that I hate most as far as cleaning goes:

1. Doing Laundry

2. Doing the dishes

3. Sweeping/vacuuming

And I have to do all those things before school starts.

Really lame, but they all need to be done.

In fact I think my laundry stopped just a few minutes ago..

Bummer..

This whole experience has made me realize that eventually we all need to put on our big girl panties.

I am just grateful I get a little test run, before going to college and truly have to grow up.
And I've had a pretty great example of that to me my entire life.

Though it's hard,
She's strong, so I can be too.
She works hard, so I can too.

I have realized how incredibly blessed I am,

because over the past few weeks, 

I have been thinking about just how grateful I am that

I know that Families are Forever.

So even though we are apart now,

We will be together forever, 

and that makes me so unbelievably happy.

I LOVE AND MISS YOU LOTS MOMMY!! <3 <3

And just in case I dont tell you enough,
I think that you you are pretty incredible
and I am so grateful that I get to call you my mom. <3

[Sorry if this post was all over the place!, I tried to organize my thoughts to make sense. Hopefully it worked!]

"Go in Peace"

So for the last year or so, I have been praying for peace.

And though I have been very happy, I have not felt completely at peace for a really long time.

And so by the time Girls Camp rolled around, I knew exactly what question I was going into my solo experience with.

 Through out the week leaders and other girls had told stories about how they had experiences where they needed to have faith until the very end. Some its was a week some a month. Some only a few days. But I was so confused on where my end would be.

Trying to have faith until the end of something that you dont even know what it is,

is so difficult.

I was really struggling with what I was doing wrong because I just could not recieve

that peace that I had been praying for over a year.

I was doing everything I needed to be doing.

Praying, reading my scriptures, keeping my standards, going to church and mutral.

I was so confused.

So friday came around and it was time for our solo experience.

I got my letters from home, and headed off to find a place by myself.

I pleaded with my Heavenly Father,

asking why? Why haven't you given me peace.

I was angry because I didnt understand.

As I was flipping through my scriptures, I read a quote that I had written in,

that says:

"please understand that what you feel and experience now, is not what will forever be."

and at first I kept thinking like,

yeah right.

But as I thought about it, it did bring comfort to me.

But still not peace.

Bishop Hart came by and whispered, time to go.

And he turned around to get the rest of our ward.

But I just could not believe that Heavenly Father left me there.

After doing everything he has asked me to.

I was mad that he was just gonna watch me walk away from my solo experience,

with not even a hint as to when this trial would be over.

So I looked back down to my scripturesto close them and decided to read one more verse.

(I was in Judges 18 by the way)

And the last thing that I read was, verse 6 and it said,

"Go in peace"

I was immediately overcome with peace.

I got down on my knees and said a prayer of gratitude.

I know that I was promted to read that last verse so that I  could recieve that peace that I needed.

I know that my Heavenly Father hears our prayers and I am so grateful

for my Saviors atoning sacrifice, so that He can know exactly what im going through.

I know that if we hold stong until the end, he will help us through it.

Even if it seems like he doesnt.

I know that I am a daughter of God,

who loves me and I love Him. :)

Snickers

OKay this might seem kind of dumb,

but a few days ago,

Emily and I got into a fight

which is weird because we dont fight.

But both of us were on edge.

It was a totally dumb fight, but it got the the point when we

even started arguing about who got the last exaggerated "UGH"

And it seems so stupid and I kind of laugh about it now.

Not really about the fight, but just how stupid it was.

Anyways, the point of the this crazy story,

is that the next day I was shopping with Caylee and Allison,

and we were at Old Navy and Emily came and met up with us after she got off work.

And I was so excited to show her this cute top we found that matches a skirt that we have been looking for, for a long time.

I mean, I was so excited that I had almost forgotten about the whole fight.

And so I showed her the outfit and I decided to get the top.

But before we walked out of the dressing room,

she pulled out a snickers bar out of her bag,

and

(Oh, side note. I love love fun size snickers because its the perfect bite.)

But anyways, as she was pulling out the snickers she was like

"I know that its not bite size like you like it, but here. I got you this"

And she handed me the snickers and went on to tell me sorry about the fight.

And let me tell you,

I am so so so grateful for Emily, she is the best friends that I could ever

ask for. And she is always so thoughtful, and definitely a huge example to me in so many ways.

An even though she works alot, we have done so much together.

And have done so many fun things!!

Like ride a tandem bike, Bought toms together, shopped like crazy together,

went bowling, had lots of sleepovers,

every week we make a calender and coordinate our schedules. I write in blue, she writes in green and the things we do together we write in red. It might be nerdy but i like it.

watched almost 7 seasons of "Gilmore Girls"

gone to haircuts together,

played games, baked,

made lots of new Friends,

gone to church together,

gone to the temple,

gone to the outlet malls in Castle Rock,

Okay so you get the point.

Emily and I have become even closer than we were before she moved in.

I love love love her.

She is the absolute best and its these kind of friendships that you know will last a lifetime.

And I am so grateful for it.

I have no idea what im gonna do when she moves out and goes to school. Im going to miss her like CRAZY!!

But at least Krista is finally coming home and staying until she goes to school in January.

So ill have her back! EEE!! She comes home on Thorsday!

So anyways, I just wanted to let Emily know that I love her a lot and she means so much to me.

And I love her alot.

Oh and the snickers was really yummy, so thanks Emily.

You are the best.

Just like puzzle pieces

Well who cares if I just blogged a few days ago!
I like to keep my posts only about the topic they are about.

So thats probably why sometimes there is like 6 posts in only a few days.

Anyways,

I have been working on this quilt since the fall of my sophomore year of high school
and guess what! Its finally almost done!
I have completed the whole front, now I just need to get the middle and the back put on,
and stitch it all together.
So I guess the best way to show you would be in pictures, so here we go!

This was the very first sqaure I did, and it took me FOREVER.
At least it felt like that. I cross stitched Joshua 1:9 on the fabric which was the
2010 mutual theme.
KNOWLEDGE

INTEGRITY

PINK

(Haha I neded a 9th color so of course I just chose pink)

DIVINE NATURE

INDIVIDUAL WORTH

VIRTUE

FAITH

GOOD WORKS

CHOICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

All of these sqaures were completed in the order that they are in.

So a week or so ago, mom and I headed over to the Bradys,

and let me tell ya.

I really do love Sister Brady.

She is just so fantastic.

She was a HUGE help and without her I would never be able to finish my quilt.

So I am so so so grateful to her and her help.

Plus she is so much fun to be around!

She is hilarious always so nice.

Anna was alot of help too, she would press everything for me.

So first we layed out all of my squares.

Then mom and I had to go get black fabric to put in
between the squares and the back.
And wanna know a little secret?
We just went to target and got a really soft king size sheet!
That way the back can be all one piece.
Pretty great idea huh??
We thought so too.
So we headed back to the Bradys and we used the serger which made
everything 100 times faster and easier!

 She sewed some and I sewed some.
And together we got it all done in one day!
(Well, except for we have to out the middle and the back on.)

So after we sewed all of the rows together, this is what it looks like!

So this is whole front, and I absolutely LOVE IT!!!

I have painted on each sqaure waht value it is.

Looking at all of the squares together,

they are literally puzzle pieces to my life.

Things that I have done, and its kind of really cool to see all of it together.

Kind of like, after everything, my senior year its going to be the best year, and my life is finally coming together and I know who I am and what I want to do and who I want to become.

Who knew that all of this could come from just a quilt?

I guess it all seems really cheesy, but thats okay with me.

I'll post again later once its all complete, ya know, the whole thing. :)

Beautiful Heartbreak

I absolutely love this song, it's so beautiful.

But the past few weeks I think that it ha really hit home, as we

have watched our beautiful mountains burn to the ground

because of the Waldo Canyon Fire.

Here are some pictures of what we could see from our house:
DAY ONE (Saturday)

Emily even got evacuated from work cause she works at the top of pikes peak.

So you can see it get worse but I guess the best way to show the whole thing is this video:

Pretty scary huh?
It gave me goose bumps and made me tear up more than once.
It is absolutely heart breaking to see our home, our beautiful mountains burn.
My heart goes out to all of those who were affected by the fire.
And I am praying for all of those peolple.
May God bless and watch over them as they try to get back on their feet.



Happy Birthday America!!

So its a few days late, but

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!

 I hope everybody had a fun and safe fourth of July.

Ours was alot different this year as we couldnt have fireworks,

and the parade that Emily and I were supposed to be in was cancelled because

of the Waldo Canyon Fire.

So that was a huge bummer, but we still found things to do and had a good time.

We slept in a little bit, and then Emily and I went to get her hair cut.

Then we came home and decided it was way too not not to be in water,

so we decided to play in the water while we washed

 all the cars in our swimming suits

(hoping to get a tan), and then layed outside.

It was SO HOT.

And we later found out that we got toasted!!

We were so red.

Shoot. We still are. Haha

But it was still a really fun afternoon. 

We are best Friends :)

 We went out to Rudy's for a nice yummy "linner"

MM MM MMM. I sure do love me some Rudy's.

(I can handle their barbeque sauce but I like the taste of their sissy sauce better)

After Rudy's, Emily and I were gonna go bowling with Allison

so after getting lost on the base and drving around looking for it for like 30 minutes we finally found it and it was closed!! :(

Shoulda known their "holiday hours" did not include the fourth of July because its the base and they would do that kind of thing. Haha

And of course the fireworks were cancelled because of the fires.

The funny thing is that we found these popper things that we thought didnt have a spark so we used those and there was a spark!

So we technically broke the law.. OOPS..

OH! And Emily and I got those $5 shirts from old navy that say fourth of July.

She is so great. I love her and Allison lots lots lots!!

So I hope everyone had a fun and safe fourth of July!

I definitely did. Even though it was different,

It was a great day :)

Come Fly With Me

Wow. I am SO behind on this one but I didnt just want to skip over it.

Prom was a month ago and im just now getting around to blogging about it.

Our theme for Prom was "Come Fly With Me" by Frank Sinatra

 It was so much fun. Everything from getting asked and every minute after that. :)

Prom was absolutely fantastic.

It was literally the perfect night, I dont know know any other way to describe it.

And what other way then with pictures?

And theres no better place to start then the very beginning right?
I got asked by Billy Burckel.

He is a Senior. Actually he's senior class president. Haha
We know each other because of theatre.

He asked me with bananas :)

"What do you call two banana skins?"

"A pair of slippers!"

"Why do bananas wear suntan lotion?"

"Because they peel"

"Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like an arrow."

"Be Dum Tss!"

"How is a banana peel on the sidewalk like music?"

"Because if you dont C sharp then you will B flat!"

So thats how he asked me!

I got a banana on my car, in some classes,

and from some friends.

It was awesome.. I had an idea that it was him,

and I wanted it to be him but I didnt want to get my hopes up too high,

but I was really glad that he did. :)

And this is how I answered him!

His little sister Jessie (shes my age) unlocked his car for me.

I hung monkeys from monkeys in a barrel from the ceiling,

I cut out bananas and hung them from the sun roof,

I filled the barrels with the candy runts,

and put big banana laffy taffys all in his car.

Krista and I were still decorating when we saw all these people walking out..

turns out it wasnt him but it was still a really close call!! Haha

So moving onto spirit week!

Our spirit weeks are really awesome, and it only makes it even

better if you go all week.

Of course Billy and I went ALL out. It was so awesome.

Also during spirit weeks at DCC,

each night there is an event and they are always fun too.

Monday was "Wing Day"

Monday night the Dodgeball Tournament.

Tuesday was "Lazy Day"

(they made it that because all Juniors had to take the ACT that morning haha)

Tuesday night was Movie Night, they showed UP.

Wednesday was "50's Day"

I think Wednesday might have been my favorite because

Billy and I did more for it than any other day.

Wednesday night was Swing Dancing Night!

And because Billy is a really awesome dancer he was the one teaching it,

so i quickly found another date!

I took Matt Norton.

He was awesome and im so grateful that he came with me.

I even got to dance with Billy for a little bit. :)

Thorsday was "Skydiving Gone Wrong Day"

(Which is Injury/Crazy Hair Day)

 But I had a choir competition that day so I wasnt at school.

Billy didnt do it either. Haha

And that night was International Cooking Competition,

Billy was one of the judges but he was so great and came to my Choir concert

that night, even though he hadnt been home since 6:00 that morning.

I was so happy that he came. :)

Friday was "Thunderstorm Day"

Which is basically just spirit day.

That night was Mr. DCC.

Billy was in it and he did awesome.

Oh and he won Mr. Congeniality.

Kevin (middle) won Mr. DCC, which the judges from other schools vote for.

Aaron (right) was runner up.

And Billy was Mr. Congeniality which is what the whole audience votes for.

And of course, Saturday night was Prom! :)

It was at The Garden of the Gods Club.

I got ready with my two best friends Sarah, and Anna.

And our great family friend Kirsten Waite did mine and Sarah's hair.

Both Sarah and Anna helped me with my make up too.

They all made me look to pretty, so im grateful for that. :)

I absolutely loved my hair. It was gorgeous, and even stayed in place all night.

Shoot even when I woke up the next morning it was still all in place!

So thank you thank you thank you to Sister Kirsten Waite!
She did such a great job on mine and Sarah's hair!

                                            

 This is my best friend Anna. I love her to death.

She is so cute and fun to be around.

And of course she is a really great friend.

I love these girls with all my heart!

We got ready together, but we werent in the same group..

It was a bummer, but it's okay.

I love Sarah with all my heart.

We've been best friends since 8th grade.

She's always been there for me.

She is so beautiful and I can imagine where I would be without her!

 My mommy is so great! She made the sleeves on my dress, and the the back!

She is basically the best mom ever.

I love her! I love her! I love her!

Thanks for all you do for me mommy! :)

So whne Billy came to pick me up,

Brielle and Carissa were on skype!

Haha so they got to see me make my grand entrance down the stairs,

and they said hi to Billy andthey saw us do flowers.

It was kind of cool actually because I love and miss my sisters alot,

 so it was kind of cool that they  were kind of there.

 I even got his boutonniere on on my first try!

Can I get a WOO WOO?!

Haha I didnt even stab him!

NO BIG DEAL,

But I was pretty proud of myself. :)

(Maybe it was just from watching Carissa do it for so many years. Haha)

One of my friends teased me by saying that he got my flower on the first try too.

Haha it was funny.

 Yay! We were successful with the flowers!

So here comes the pictures! Prepare youselfs casue there's alot.

I dont even have his yet! But I want them! So hopefully ill get those soon. :)

I really like this one.. 

 I think I was telling a funny story here..

Billy looks so concerned about something.. Haha

That day it was SO windy!!

Haha I love this picture! Its so funny!

 (Look you can see my cute tennis shoes!)

Hahaha AWKWARD stairs pictures!

Hahaha so funny!

We had some time to kill before we were supposed to meet up with our group so we just

had some fun on the piano :)

I think this is actually my favorite pictures.. :)

<3 <3 <3

Watch and Learn

Dont be too jealous of our awesome piano playing skills.

 The whole "SAVE BILLY" thing is a long story.

But basically he has a condition wher he is just too attractive and we (all of his friends)

are all trying to save him from it.

Hahaha he absolutely hates it but its freaking hilarious.

Ohh these boys..

There is never a dull moment.

EVER.

This is their hokey game while we were waiting for some other couples in our group to get to the park.

The boys decided to have a hockey game, and they were al in these positions in like less than 30 seconds. It was hilarious.

:)

Trying to protect me from the freezing cold wind!

Skipping :)

Our whole group!

 The whole gang!

So windy!

I love the swings <3

Wearing white tennis shoes to Prom was the greatest decision ever. :)

Im gonna miss thse crazy boys next year.

 Wow. This post was LONG!! But I didnt want to leave anything out!

Haha anyways, Prom was the best night of my entire life.

Everything was absolutely spectacular.

Add swing dancing was a blast, Billy is a pro at swing dancing.
Plus, he made me feel like an absolute princess.

Billy was crowned Prom King of course.

 After Prom we went to our friend Cody's, he has tons of land in the forest and played night games and watched movies and eat. It was so much fun.

We ended up falling asleep. And when we woke up, it was 7:30AM!! Haha

So we headed out and I got home and I thought I would be in so much trouble!

My mom came own to my room and first thing that came out of her mouth??

"So tell me all about it!!"

I was soo tired, and there went that hour that I would get before going to church was passing fast.

But of course, I told her all about it and still got about a half hour of sleep before going to church at 9:00.

haha Anyways, im glad I got caught up on all of this.

I kind of wish that I could just live in that night my entire life.

Im so glad that I got asked cause it was a blast, and I by far had the best date ever.