Coachella Blue

Coachella blues are real kids.

Literally still depressed that I'm not at coachella anymore... it's a problem.

I was able to go to Coachella for the very first time with a super rad group of people.

I've been wanting to go for about 4 years now and it never panned out so you can imagine how excited I was when I finally got my hands on a weekend 1 ticket.

(weekend 1 allllll the way)

My mind was completely consumed with coachella for about a solid month or two 

trying to cram in as much music as I could.

I discovered some seriously mind blowing bands in the process, but I will get to that on another post.

The prep process for coachella was insane, besides trying engulf myself in as much indie and dj tunes every chance I could get, searching high and low for original outfits (the amount of hours on pinterest I spent looking for ideas was disturbing), and trying to organize camping gear with a bunch of boys was definitely not easy, but it was alll so worth it.

here are some of the outfits I chose..... so I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted at the festival, but I just so happened to have a mini shoot in the backyard before I went lol

Until next year Coachella

You stole my heart and my voice..... literally for two weeks after.

All Things Lovely

In honor of good ole Valentine's Day creeping up on us just around the corner

I thought it would be nice to share and updated list of a few things I love.

Lets start this shindig off right with some breakfast food! 

I mean who could possibly say no to heart shaped waffles.... sure as heck not me.

Back in the day I would head over to my best friends house before school and her mom would make us the most phenomenal cinnamon waffles shaped just like this, then would make us walk 45 minutes to school....

Hey I never complained about the walk after finishing one of those bad boys.

So this one has two parts

Part 1: Pretty clothes: my mouth not only waters for food, but for gorgeous fabrics and patterns as well. I'm a sucker for anything lace or embellished with fringe or earthy tones.

Part 2: People with style, I had mad respect for people who can rock their own personal style with easy.

hint- Don't worry about what other people think if you like it, then OWN it.... as my mom would say.

Taking pictures during "pretty hour" There is nothing better then snapping that golden shot with the perfect accent lighting

Fresh juice, well more specifically being so darn thirsty and craving some fresh juice so you end up doing everything you can to get ahold of some and then finally your lips press the side of the cold glass and you want to savor it, but the second the first drip hits your tongue you have to refrain yourself from chugging the whole thing.

Well at least that's my constant dilemma. 

I love me a pretty art project, I'm not the best at creating ideas from scratch I can definitely admit that, but I thoroughly enjoy finding something in a funky little store or stumbling on a pin on pinterest and trying to recreate it and make it into my own.

Finding the perfect quote for your situation. Whether it be a inspirational quote about life, that motivational quote you needed about working out, or a sympathy quote for when you find yourself becoming the cliche image of stuffing your face with a bowl full of ice cream and watching How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days......

on repeat.

Come on we've all kinda been there.

Nothing better then the simple action of squishing your little piggies in the sand, nothing.

If you've never done it please add it to your bucket list to come to the beach; catch a plane, take a road trip, hitch hike for goodness sakes just get your bum to the beach asap!

(okay maybe not the latter, lets be safe kids)

Lastly, my camera! It's seriously so therapeutic to sit back and be able to capture the simple and complex beauty that surrounds us. I've just recently started so I'm just in the experimenting phase with my Canon t3's manual setting. Man aperture and shutter speed can be super confusing so if you have any tips let a sista know :)

Photo Credit: Free People Pinterest

Cupid Babies

One of my best friends and Boyfriend are both born on Valentine's day.

I've always despised this holiday because I feel like you should love your significant other all the time.

Like come on, don't think you can get away with just planning something extra cool one day a year.....

 that's just lame.

So I got lucky with celebrating two birthdays instead.

My best friend Adrienne is turning 21 which just seems so crazy to me.

We've been friends since 8th grade and I remember back then thinking turning 21 was a lifetime ahead of us and somehow time just slipped right passed us.

My boyfriend Ryan is turning the big double 2's this year which clearly won't be as exciting as his 21st birthday last year, but we are going to celebrate with an awesome homemade sushi party this year.

We got so excited two weeks ago that we decided to try it our and we made some killllllller rolls

So get ready for lots of sushi pics yet to come after this weekend!

Photo Credit: Marah Johnson aka my mom

Love Is In The Air

So guys and girls my sister is getting married later this year and guess who gets to be the maid of honor.

ME!!!

I feel so honored to take on this role for her and I'm so excited for all of there crazy planning ahead.

Mind you we've already gotten a ton done: Venue, dress, photographer, and now cupcakes.

This post is rather late since she got engaged months ago, but hey better late then never in my opinion.

So let me give you a little bit of background.

My sister Kennedy and her fiance Tyler met back in high school when they were junior and literally been inseparable ever since.

They are super goofy, but the love they share is clearly undeniable I'm so excited to see how their future unfolds. 

My sister is the most caring and nurturing go with the flow girl I've ever met who needs to have a million babies like asap and Tyler is a man who works hard and plays hard and a lover of all things sweet. 

They've been together for nearly 7 years now so it was definitely time for these two love birds to tie the knot.

When it comes to the planning my sister is a rock star budget queen so she has been finding the craziest deals for the venue and dress and some amazing ideas of pinterest that we've already started putting into play. Like using old frames and turning the center into chalkboard and covering bottles in beautiful glitter and so so soooo much more.

Shocking because most people post and it never gets farther then their pin board, but my sister is one driven and organized person so everything is getting done pretty quick.

Are roles are a tad switched I guess you could say because my sister is so go with the flow and I'm so not so I've slightly turned into a "maid of honorzilla" I want it to be perfect for her and me being the feisty little sis it was only time before the little horns came out.

So keep updating for more wedding planning posts!

Blessing In Disguise

Restless soul

caught in an unfamiliar tide

hurt by her past,

struggling with her pride

Stuck in the dark,

but your light prevails

storm was coming,

but you cleared the skies

Tried to resist your enticing desires

then you grasped my hand and took me higher and higher

resting beside you, on your cloud of love

realizing you're truly a gift from above

Captivated by your talent

as you pluck familiar strings

watch as I fall

with every song you sing

By: Yours Truly

Untitled

This Doooood is insanely talented and handsome I must add :)

I figured I would share his newest song with all of you....

called Stay

It's pretty amazing so cha cha check it outttttt

Beautiful

What is beautiful?

Tall, skinny, tan, long hair, and so on.

I feel like everyone has their own connotation of what they believe is truly beautiful.

So, what is beautiful to me......

To me music is beautiful, more specifically the Mormon Tabernacle or an awesome cover of songs.... if it's well done I get chills. Guaranteed.

To me marriage is beautiful, nothing makes me happier then hearing of an engagement or someones sweet grandparents blissfully celebrating their 60th anniversary.

To me children are beautiful, you cannot deny the precious sound of a babies laugh or how sweet it is when an older sibling tried to help a younger sibling. Melts my heart.

To me service is beautiful, especially the look on someones face when you help them so selflessly without expecting anything in return.

To me confidence is beautiful, my mom use to always tell me I needed to "own it" and apply that to everything I do. Confidence is something most of us need to work on and the best way to do that is to help other build theirs! So don't tear people down, that just proves you lack true confidence.

To me nature is beautiful, you cannot deny that God has truly placed us in such a beautiful world. I'm sure you're thinking... um no she's crazy the world is filled with so much negativity and yes you're right there, but when you give yourself a chance to truly be still and take in all that nature has to offer you can really appreciate how beautiful nature really is; the stars, the ocean, the mountains, the animals, the flowers, there is so much to love!

I think it's so important to stray away from what the social norms of what beautiful might be and see what truly means the most to us.

What's honestly the most beautiful to me is seeing how God truly loves everyone of us no matter what color, shape, or size we may be. No matter how damaged out past may be he always loves us as a son or daughter..... now that is truly beautiful.

 

Nothing Better

Nothing makes me happier then General Conference! 

There is something so incredibly special about it. I think the reason why I personally love it so much is because I was baptized on Conference weekend a year and a half ago. 

It brings back so many wonderful memories of the missionaries and all of the special people who helped me get to where I am today. If you don't know what General Conference is and you want to check it out click here.

 I love everything about it, the speakers are truly called of God. I really tried to go into it as prepared as possible with lots of questions with real intent and it is absolutely amazing how the speakers will say EXACTLY what you need to hear..... I'm not kidding I swear!

 One topic in particular that I thought spoke out to me was is the importance of being a good example and having positive self worth this was directed toward Mother's, but since I'm clearly not in that category yet, I just saw it as being a good example in general. When I first joined The Church of Latter-Day Saints many people; both friends and family were a little stunned at my decision. But because my love for the gospel grew ten fold I changed myself for the better and my loved ones noticed and saw me as a great example to them. Lately, I feel like I've been struggling with that a bit. I haven't done anything crazy, but I keep catching myself making little mistake here and there even though I know better! It's extremely frustrating and I get that I'm human and people make mistake, but knowing how important it is to be a good example really makes me what to try even harder especially because Sister Dalton emphasized how amazing a Mother's example is sooo I should probably get some practice in now before that day comes :)

Please listen to this talk to you can better understand what I'm talking about 

by: Elaine S. Dalton 

I promise you won't regret it :)

You Are Loved

Everyday I go through this app called LDS Wisdom (it's free check it out) it shuffles through tons of awesome quotes from the Prophet, Apostles, and other LDS church leaders. It is so inspiring and hey isn't it nice to have a quick motivational pick me up right at your finger tips? 
YES!

 Grant doesn't know it, but he inspired me to get this app because a long time ago (probably 6 months ago) he started collecting these types of quotes to put in his room, but he never followed through with it..... Ever since he left for his mission I've also been collecting quotes that I thought would not only be useful to me, but also to him and his many companions on his mish, in hope of eventually sending a couple his way as a surprise. 

Then today I checked my email while at work (I'm a rebel, I know) and I was surprised by not only one email, but FIVE! What a blessing! 

Quickly I learned that surprising him was not an option, because as  I started reading the first email he writes,

 "I would love for you to send me some quotes like with pictures or something so I can put them around the apt.".... little does he know I've been working on it for a while now haha. So funny!

He managed to constantly pull silly things like this throughout his emails. He sent me scriptures that he felt I needed to read, but I had prayed and stumbled upon those same exact scriptures just the night before!

 There is more, but somethings are just meant for me :)

It's just so crazy how Heavenly Father works. 
He shows his love for us at all times even if our eyes aren't open to it. I'm so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life who constantly push and inspire me to be better. I'm so grateful for my Faith and all the blessings I continue to receive! 

Brother Smart.... His favorite teacher at the MTC

First companion in New Mexico

Elder Snyder's coat rack in his Apartment 

(First one is his)