Engagement

Cannot wait to marry this man!

Would it be weird to use this as our announcement picture? 

Cookies!

This week for work I was in charge of the July Birthday Treat!

I made my signature Rolo Cookies and tried a recipe for Cookie Butter Cookies I found on Pinterest:

Cookie Butter Cookies (click here for the recipe)

Rolo Cookies:

1 cup butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup cocoa
2 ¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 packages Rolos (40)

In a large bowl mix butter, 1 cup of sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. In medium bowl mix flour, coco, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture. Roll 1 tablespoon cookie dough into a ball; flatten into palm of your hand. Place 1 Rolo in the center; bring sides together and roll into ball. Roll ball in the remaining ¼ white sugar. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes.

Lessons from Church

"The purpose of this life is to not only get a body and be tested, but also seek examples of eternal happiness in this life. What a great blessing it is to seek the positive and find pure happiness" - Markae Evans, Relief Society Lesson 07/07/13

What a great blessing it is to seek happiness! I think sometimes we focus too much on the hardships in life and the trials we face. Instead of dwelling on the negative we should focus on finding the positive in life.

I'm Baaaack!

Hello blogging world! It's been forever since I've last blogged... partly because I didn't like my blog design and partly because I felt like I didn't have anything to blog about!

I owe a HUGE THANKS to Ms. Kylee who has the cutest design and ideas! I mean, look at this blog! Totally revamped all thanks to her! She is the best! Go visit her blog here: little girl in a big world.

Here's a picture sum up of the last couple of months:

Life in the Past 3 Months

2012 sure went fast! Here's a sum-up of the most exciting parts:

The only picture I took during the Motab Christmas performances (and it's blurry)... Not going to lie, Motab last year was such an incredible experience that I had too high of expectations for this year. But it was still amazing! My friends and I also scored a pictured in the newspaper. You can find the picture and the link to the article here.

 

Some of my favorite girls! We went to lunch the other day, and it was so fun!

My new sewing project with grandma. We're making a Happy Birthday banner. I love this fabric!

My new golf shoes I got for my birthday. I love winter and the snow, but I want to go golfing so bad!

And last but not least... I'm going here in two weeks:

St. Thomas! I cannot wait to get away from the cold!

Sewing with Grandma

Almost every Tueday I get to spend time with my grandma. She is an amazing woman and I have learned so much from her. We recently completed the cutest skirts:

Polka Dot Skirt Outfit:
Top - J. Crew
Shoes - Modcloth
Tights - Unknown
Jewlery - J. Crew, Ily Couture

Striped Skirt Outfit:

Top - Thrifted

Shoes - Modcloth

Jewlery - J. Crew, Ann Taylor Loft, Claire's
 

Learning to sew is so fun with my grandma! I love her so much.
 

My grandma also made matching skirts for my sisters. They are so beautiful!



Scuba

My brother and I did our scuba certification dives! First off, it is a gorgeous ride past Park City and into Midway/Heber. I love it up there. I want to own a cabin somewhere in the Park City/Midway/Heber area.

 

 

 

We did our dives at the Crater. At first I was really uncomfortable breathing underwater in a giant hot-tub. But, I got used to it and now I love scuba-ing!

 



 

Jonny posing just before our first dive. My brother is so cute!

 

Inside the Crater.

 



 

Our Scuba gear... it was heavy to carry, poor Jonny had to do most of the lifting.

And the best part, getting shakes afterwards as the Dairy Keen! Yum Yum!

Nostalgic

Nostalgic (adjective) - a sentimental or wistful yearing for the happiness felt in a former place, time or situation.

Soooo... It's been almost two months since I've last blogged. To be honest, I've been avoiding blogging on purpose because it makes me all nostalgic. But, I have a ton to catch up on, so here it goes:

On August 18th I came home from one of the hardest (emotionally and physically) but most rewarding trips of my life. Going to India was quite a different experience than I was expecting. I guess I was expecting a trip similar to my study abroad, but experienced something completely different.

I think about those Indian girls every single day. When people ask about my trip, I literally cannot describe all of my feelings into one short explanatory sentence. Those girls are the epitome of the pure love of Christ. They have such humble circumstances, and yet are the most loving, charitable, and happiest girls. I'm sure they taught me more than I taught them.

Here is our awesome group:

Photo Credit: Kylee Rowley

I particularly miss this cute girl:

Her name is Sapna, and she is my adopted sister. And I'm not just saying she's my adopted sister because I fell in love with her - she really could be my sister. We have the exact same personality and she would fit in like a glove with my family. I miss her laugh, I miss her quiet attitude, I miss her witty answers to questions, and I miss her hugs. Leaving her was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. I actually had the opportunity to meet her mom, so I know she is being taken care of and loved.

Photo Credit: Kylee Rowley

By the way, Kylee Rowley takes the best pictures. You should visit her blog here.


Neeext.... My baby brother came home from his mission!!! Except he isn't a baby anymore. It is so good to have Jonny home. He's still a little deer-in-headlights RM, but he is super great!

I had the opportunity to go to the Utah/BYU football game. I stood by him and had a blast! Big thanks to Jocelyn for the ticket. We were both an answer to our prayers the day before the game. ;-)

 

I am so grateful for a brother who served a worthy full-time mission. He has been such a blessing in my life. We are actually taking a Scuba Certification class together, I'll post more about that later.

Finally, my BEST friend Melissa Biesinger (now Melissa Bowen) got married! It has been so fun going to her showers, the bachelorette party, and her wedding! Weddings make me super nostalgic, just because I see old friends and reminisce about the good-old times.

 

Congratulations to the Bowens! It was such a beautiful day and a perfect wedding. Melissa is the best friend a girl could ask for, I am so excited for her!

 

Jessie and I... You can read about her wedding here.

 

 



All the bridesmaids, I have such pretty friends! The wedding dinner and wedding day was so fun. I had the opportunity to catch up with these girls about life. Can you believe that two of them live outside of Utah and all of them have professional jobs? It's crazy we are so grown up.

 

 

Well folks, that's a really small summary of my life in the last two months. Get excited for some upcoming posts: Scuba with Jonny, Motab Choir Christmas Concert (yay! I made it for a second year!), my funny Pinterest board, and sewing projects with grandma. Lovies!

New Sister and Art Day

This is my new sister Sapna. She's been my little shadow since yesterday. Today she told me we are sisters now. I love her so much.

Today I was in-charge of art. I'm so relieved that it went smoothly! I stole this idea from my friend Gail when we used to work in Purchasing together:




The cutest flowers!








Working hard.




The finished product! Today was great day.


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India Update

So, today is August 9th. We finally made it to the NHPC government complex in Chamba. Here we will stay for the remainder of our service mission. Internet is really flakey here, part because it's India and part because it's controlled by this semi-grumpy Indian warden. I think someone on the team brought bribes like chocolate and cologne to soften his heart and allow us Internet. He randomly turns it on and off and we are at the mercy of his control. I bet I won't even get to post tonight, which is fine because I already sent an email to my family which is the most important anyway.

To update, after staying at the Cricket Stadium we drove to Chamba to spend a night at one of YMAD's friends houses. Mr. Dharmi helps organize all of our drivers who transport us around India. He owns a private tourism business. So, if anyone wants to tour India, he is a safe an trusted tourism company who will show you around.

He lives right out of Chamba up on the mountain side. You have to hike to his house, which is very strenuous but worth every step. His house is amazing and has incredible views. I've always been a mountain girl, so I felt very at home.




This picture doesn't do the view justice.




Lindsay and I on one of the floors of Mr. Dharmi's mansion hut. I loved it here.




A spider friend in our bathroom. Apparently this is a "small" spider in India. I didn't bother killing it because 1. I didn't want to miss for fear of it coming after me and 2. If he had any additional family members who would seek revenge on me. These spiders will supposedly leave you alone if you leave them alone.



Another view of the house.

We spent an amazing night and morning just relaxing. We definitely went swimming in his natural spring water pool and spent lots of time hanging out and writing in journals.

After hiking down from Mr. Dharmi's house and settling in at our NHPC rooms we drove into town and met the girls.

I cannot express the emotions I felt meeting them for the first time. It was such a humbling experience seeing the living conditions of these girls. India does have extreme poverty. But it hits my heart harder knowing and already falling in love with these sweet, beautiful, and happy girls.




This is their house. It holds about 25 girls and a few madams (adults who supposedly take care of, and watch over the girls). Seeing their house and where they live makes me want to fight harder to try and make a difference in these girls' lives.




Here's a picture of their shoes outside.

It amazes me at how happy and grateful these girls are, despite how they are treated and how they live. They don't take advantage of anything and were so happy to see us. My heart has been stollen. I can't wait to build a relationship with them and I'm so excited for this next week. I fear it's going to go by fast... I just want to spend as much time as I can learning from these girls.

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India

So Internet here is super scarce! So I'm just going to post some pictures and do a big blog when I get home.




View from our first hotel in Manali. We drove 12 hours through the Himalayas. The drive was hard because of the windy roads ad crazy Indian drivers. Even I was sick (probably a combination of the food that does not sit well with my stomach and motion sickness).




The yak I rode. Yes, that is a giant furry cow.





All of our luggage piled off the floor. We saw a mouse scurrying around. We could never find the mouse, it was hilarious.




View of the Himalayas. It's gorgeous here.







View of our hotel room in Dharmsala. We are staying in a Cricket stadium. Hahaha




Our room is a box in the Cricket National Stadium.




View from our city in Dharmsala. This is where the Dahli Lama lives. We also drove today for 8 hours to get here. We drove through a monsoon storm. It was terrifying. The roads were flooded and I thought we would be swept up in a flash flood. But we got here safe!

Hopefully I'll be able to blog soon!


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