Especially For Me!

This summer I got to go to EFY!!! It was a completely amazing experience. I went to Utah State with my friend Chandler and we had a blast! We had a completely awesome group and counselor and company! EFY changed me completely and was definitely the best week of my life. Me and Chandler got really close to two other girls in our group, Caitlyn from Wisconsin and Roxanne from Alaska. They are total sweethearts and I love them! Roxanne was super goofy and completely hilarious and made it so I was ALWAYS laughing. Caitlyn is so compassionate and genuine and has the strongest testimony I have ever seen. She makes me want to be a better person. I kind of think that the reason I went to this particular EFY is because Heavenly Father knew that I needed to meet Caitlyn and learn from her. She is my hero!!

Anyway, me, Chandler, Caitlyn, and Roxanne spent all our time together and had a total blast! Some guys from our company even nicknamed us the Fantastic Four because we were always together. We also spent a lot of time with these guys named Glenn, Tom, and Tyler (Tyler is the cute one who looks like Joseph Gordon-Levitt :]). It was really inspiring to spend time around teenagers who believe like I do, who love the Savior, and who want to be children that our Heavenly Father can be proud of.

My counselor's name was Natalie and she was completely awesome. She was really funny and made me feel right at home so I wasn't homesick at all. She also really showed me how much I know about the truthfulness of the gospel, even if I sometimes doubt it. I want to be just like her when I grow up! She's funny and beautiful and honest and completely awesome!

Our guy's counselor was Ed, and we won't even go there. Let's just say he was quirky. Really really quirky.

I loved going to the classes at EFY and there was this one teacher named Stephan Taeger who I really really liked. He knew exactly how to explain the principles so I understood them. He was really humble and powerful, and it was incredible listening to his obvious passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The dances were also really fun!! Roxanne is the coolest kid I know, and she was always dancing crazy, so I wasn't afraid to bust a move :) During one dance, Roxanne stepped on my shoe and it broke so I had to back to the dorms to change shoes. When I got back, Roxanne was just interpretive dancing everywhere and it was so hilarious. I joined in, and ended up accidentally smacking a medical counselor in the face. So that ended my career as a world famous interpretive dancer. . .

But EFY was definitely a memorable and cherished week. I will never forget the people I met and the spirit I felt. Most importantly, I will never forget the love I felt from my Father in Heaven and the person He showed me that I can be. I love Him so much and I'm so glad He gave me this wonderful opportunity!!

Mi Familia y Mi

One of the best parts of summer is getting to spend tons and tons of time with my family!! I have a completely awesome family and I'm so thankful for all they do! Since pictures are worth a thousand words, here's just a few of my many many incredible memories.

Boating At Pine View on our new boat: The HMS Dilley!







Taking pictures at the Bountiful Temple with Amy and Kate







And so many random times!

A Summer of Wardies!

One of the reasons this summer has been completely awesome is because of my INCREDIBLE WARDIES!! They rock my socks. The summer started off with Youth Conference at Snow College!! It was totally fun! An entire week of water fights (where the 20th ward WASTED!!), rockin' people, incredible dances, Badger Blast, the Manti Pageant, being unofficially adopted into the 14th ward, and awesome car rides. Whether I was playing "The floor is Lava" in me and Shanni's room, or making "Snow College Faces" every day with Danny, I had a completely AWESOME time!! I'm so glad I got to go!







And then, who can forget GIRLS' CAMP!!! I was a youth leader this year, and our camp theme was "Part of His World" from the musical The Little Mermaid. It was a total blast!! We did lots of fun crafts, had a totally fun hike, where me and Jessica sang The Sound of Music and went goat hunting, not to mention discussed every encounter I have had with the beautiful Parker Lemon. We had a hilarious skit, where I played "Don", the studly and desirable boyfriend of Jessica. Me and Melissa also bought matching windbreakers, and me and Denali had matching "doobner" glasses. Speaking of Doobners, you have never seen so many in one place as the 20th ward Girls' Camp!! It was completely awesome. Camp was great, thanks to the hard work and effort of our INCREDIBLE camp director Cally! I am so excited for next year!!

The Prodigal Daughter Returns. . . to blogging.

Hey, remember me? I used to blog on here? Well, at the beginning of summer, I decided that I was going to stop blogging because I was no longer being graded on my blog posts. Well, I sort of miss it. Kinda. A little. So I'm back!! School starts in a week, so I have to hurry up and get caught up before the mayhem of junior year begins. My summer was so completely awesome! Here it is in a nutshell :) Let's see if I can do it in two minutes or less. . . well, actually that depends on how fast you read. . . so read quick! No, I can see how that's not going to work. I guess I'll just have to blog every day before summer ends about each of the most important sunny season events.

Summer started off with an AMAZING trip to Washington D.C.!! I had a blast! I got to visit all of the major sites and we even took a day to visit Colonial Williamsburg. My favorite things were: The Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space, The Newseum, the bus rides, and especially the Holocaust Memorial Museum. It was especially cool, because there we met Martin Weiss, a Holocaust survivor. He was just there in the silent room for the anniversary of his little sister's death and agreed to speak to our group. He was the fourth of nine children, and out of his family of eleven, only he and his older brother survived. It was incredible. I also really loved the FDR memorial because Eleanor Roosevelt is definitely one of my heroes. She was an incredible woman. My trip to D.C. was filled with wonderful women. I got to learn about so many of my heroes: Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earheart, Nellie Bly, Sakakawea, Helen Keller (that's for you Ames), Anne Frank, and so many more. I am totally grateful for the opportunity I had to go.














Those are just a few of the wonderful memories and friends that I made! I also got to speak at a fundraising gala for the organization who sent us. It was this super nice dinner and I had a blast goofing off with my sisters, especially when Melissa burped and Amy freaked over the corvette we saw. Wouldn't trade 'em for the world!! D.C. was great and I will NEVER forget it!!

Going Green :)

Okay, so this is basically the coolest thing ever!! My friend Tiff showed me this awesome site where you can make your blog carbon neutral! Just follow a few simple steps, and they'll plant a tree for your blog! It's like the easiest thing on the planet. Here's how you too can help make this world a little bit of a better place!!

1) Blog - All you have to do is blog about the program and what they're trying to accomplish. Then you just pick your favorite "Carbon Neutral" button from their website. You can take a peek at them by going to http://www.kaufda.de/umwelt/carbon-neutral/how-you-can-join/

2) Email - Then you just have to email the link to your blog post to the administrators of the site, just to show them that you did post and you do have your button up. You can contact them at CO2-neutral@kaufda.de

3) Enjoy! - With literally five minutes efforts, you have helped make this earth a little better. The program will plant a tree for your blog in the Plumas'!

It's so easy and so worth it!! And it's the least we can do to give back to this beautiful earth we've been given! Tell everyone you know, and hurry up and become carbon neutral!!

Sidewalk Chalk Festival

Every year our city puts on a Sidewalk Chalk Festival on Main Street. People everywhere come to draw amazing pictures and some of the local businesses even sponsor particularly talented artists. I went with Lissa to see them on Monday. Can you say wow??! It was possibly the most amazing thing I have ever seen! I fell in love with some of the pictures, and luckily Lis thought to bring the camera to take a few shots. These are only some of the amazing masterpieces!! The little underwater pic is Dakota Sea Monster by Kylie Kelsch, a girl in my ward. Isn't she talented? Stuff like this makes me wish I could draw!

In loving memory. . .

MAXIMILIAN
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, English, Scandinavian
Pronounced: mahk-see-MEE-lee-ahn (German), mak-si-MIL-ee-ən (English), mak-si-MIL-yən (English) [key]
From the Roman name Maximilianus, which was derived from MAXIMUS. It was borne by a 3rd-century saint and martyr. In the 15th century the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III gave this name to his son and eventual heir. In this case it was a blend of the names of the Roman generals Fabius Maximus and Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, who Frederick admired. It was subsequently borne by a second Holy Roman Emperor, two kings of Bavaria, and a short-lived Habsburg emperor of Mexico.

This is in loving memory of an adorable dog and loyal friend, Max. Max was the dog of my mom's cousin Cindy, who loved him very much. He was always so cute and friendly! I loved this dog. He would cuddle right up to you, and make you feel so loved. I am also very close to my dog Marco, and Maxy would help me not get homesick for him while I was in Vegas. It's impossible to imagine a more friendly and trusting dog than Maxy. I'll always remember the kisses he would give me on the cheek and the laughs he would give me as he tried to lick up the lotion from my legs. A few months ago he was diagnosed with cancer after he had been experiencing difficulty walking. He was given two months. He was a most beloved dog and will be missed. Love you Maxy!