25th Birthday!

This is sad that I am already planning my 25th birthday on the day of my 24th birthday, but I am working all day today and that to me is just sad, so I am planning my birthday for next year.

I will have breakfast in bed, even if I have to get up to fix it and then hop back into bed to enjoy it. :)

I will get a mani-pedi with a few of my girls.

I will at some point get dressed up and go out to eat (lunch or dinner) with a few of my girls.

Who knows what else I will do. I may go to the pool, I may go hiking, heck I may go out of town and do something crazy like bungee jumping or zip lining.

All I know is that I will not be working and I will be having a fun and relaxing time.

I am sure I will have more ideas as the day goes on so stay tuned.

Blessings

I am so amazed by the blessings that Heavenly Father provides for us, especially when they come in packages not seen as blessings.

Every trial that has occurred in my life, I can give reasons to why they occurred or at least why I think they occurred. I have always been able to look at the bright side of life. The last few years, the intense trials that occurred were so tough for me. Though I have come a long way, I still struggle.

One trial that I am going through that still effects me to this day (though not everyday). I've never seen the good or the possibility of the good that may come from that trial. I was struggling more than I could imagine this afternoon and normally I would text people to help distract me from my thoughts. I tried that and was not getting the results I wanted so I started reading scriptures. From my few hours of reading, I am realizing that even though the good may not be occurring in this moment (and maybe it is and I don't see it) there are possibilities of blessings that I choose not to see before.

In D. Todd Christofferson's talk during last conference titled, “As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten” he talked about many things, but one item in particular was about a current bush. This bush had grown quite tall, over 6 ft. to be more exact. The gardener, who was new, had trimmed this current bush to nothing but stubs. Out of the stubs came what looked like tears and the current bush had asked why had the gardener done this to him. The gardener replied with this powerful quote, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.” 

The days I feel that pain, I tend to change... I get stronger. It's taken me months to realize this, but I am a better person because of this trial. My life is constantly changing for the better. No matter how this trial ends, I will be exactly what Heavenly Father would like me to be. As long as I show Heavenly Father my gratitude, I know I will be blessed.

4th of July

... was amazing!

I stayed in Vegas and celebrated the day with my roommates and some friends.

Me, Kim, Sarah, Cindy, Jasmine

I spent most of the day cooking and baking. I made my mom's potato salad, deviled eggs, and some very delicious banana bread. I also helped Kim make snicker salad. Surprisingly, snicker salad is good.

Most of the food to the side...

Later Sarah and I grilled for the very first time! We had a bucket of water on standby just in case we messed things up! We were a little scared at first, but all was well. Our food turned out pretty amazing. :) We grilled hot dogs (my fav), BBQ chicken, and smoked hamburgers.

Grillin' :)

Sarah grillin' :)

The weather was spectacular! We sat outside to eat. We were in the shade and there was just a slight breeze. BEAUTIFUL is all I can say.

Yummy food and camping chairs!

We played some Jungle Uno, had dessert, and listened to the neighbor kids light off fireworks. It was such an amazing day. :)

I hope everyone had an amazing and safe 4th!

Mary Jane Falls


I should have wrote this earlier, but oh well... I am getting to it now.

So I went hiking last weekend up in Mt. Charleston. It was much warmer than expected. Of course I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt... I was wishing I was wearing shorts and a tank.

Parking was a pain... and I get nervous in my car with tight spaces. I was freaking out just a little, but with a little help I found a spot and was able to park.



Linda, me, and Estee

We started hiking and our large group was then separated into small groups. There were tons of people on the trail. The small group I was in stopped several times, but that was fine by me! There were zig zags to the trail which reminded me of Angels Landing in Zion. It was a nice hike.



Group Picture



Mary Jane Falls



We made it to the top and WOO-HOO! It was fun to play in the water. I totally missed the group picture because I wanted to run around the water for a while. The ice-cold water felt so amazing!The hike down was so much easier! I was making jokes about jogging the end. Towards the end, I spotted a lizard with a bright blue tail. It was pretty amazing to see. Once the hike was over with, we went to the Cabin and had an awesome lunch! The drive back to town was not so fun...my a/c decided to not work for that drive. Feeling the heat with the drop in elevation... :(

Playing next to the snow!



Overall, it was so much fun! I got to spend some time with some friends I have not got to spend time with in a while.



Oh, and my 24th birthday is in 24 days! I seriously can not believe how quickly the last few years have flown by. I can remember the last 4 Fourth of July's and I can remember the last few birthdays. I keep wondering if this year, July is going to be low-key or just as memorable as the last few. I'll soon find out! :)

Have a happy and safe 4th!!!! :)