Birthdays are the Best

This week I turned 20!!! That's right, the big two-oh. I have been alive for two decades and am no longer a teenager. oh yeah. As stated above, birthdays are the best. really.

First off, the day was absolutely gorgeous! I could not have special ordered a better day. 80*, blue-skyed, cloudless, and sunny with a cool breeze.

When I got to work, one of the ladies that I work with brought donuts for my birthday. YES! boston cream all the way.

As my present to myself I took a half day off work. best decision ever. I sat outside under a tree and finished the book I've been reading for the past forever. My parents took me to Panera for lunch and I got a delicious turkey and artichoke panini. My mom and I went to the grocery store to get stuff for my  birthday dinner and cake and since it was my birthday my mom let me get chocolate milk AND peanut butter jumble ice cream. win.

The rest of the day was spent chillin at my house. My mom made my dinner and my dad made my cake (with a little help from me on the frosting). I had chicken and veggies with potatoes for dinner and then coconut cake.

My parents got me The Proposal (one of my favorite movies ever!) and a cookie dough scoop for all my baking needs :)

My  parents and I (and my puppy) finished off the night with a walk around the neighborhood under the stars.

With another year of life under my belt, I've been thinking a lot about my future and the journey that is life. Before I went to bed I listened to two talks by President Monson: Finding Joy in the Journey and Be of Good Cheer. They are two of my favorites and are even better when you actually listen to them. There's just something so uplifting about hearing the words spoken by the Prophet himself.

"Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future."


"Fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith."

Life Late(ly)

So I remembered the other day...oh right, I have a blog. Not only do I have a blog, but it needed to be updated...badly. My sincerest apologies.

Two weeks ago I got to go to Girl's Camp with my mom for a couple of days. It was weird being there as an "adult leader" especially since I'm pretty sure everyone thought I was like 15 or something. I absolutely love girls camp: you don't have to worry about looking good, surrounded by nature, s'mores, crafts, service projects, naps, and sleeping in cabins. I sure was glad to be there.

{on the bus to the service project}

{nature!}

The weather seems to be a bit confused of late. We've been alternating between deathly hot and really stormy.

{ginormous cloud}

Last Saturday my dad and my brother and I ran in the Spirit of Gettysburg 5k. There were over a thousand runners and the course went through part of the battlefields. It was pretty sweet.

{after the race}
[with my new Nike Tempo shorts (which are awesome by the way)]

Saturday night I went to the drive-ins with my dear friend Monica and my family. If you have never been to a drive-in, you NEED to go to one at least once in your life. They are awesome. 7 bucks for 2 movies and you can bring in whatever outside food you want...you seriously can't beat that. This weekend Brave and The Avengers were playing. They were both so good. Brave is great and the new Pixar short is adorable.

I also made these little goodies Saturday afternoon:

{salty caramel oat bars}
[I really just wanted to sit down and eat the whole pan of them]

I've decided that I need to get my first aid/CPR certification this summer so I can be legit and help people and stuff.

Andy Grammer, Train, and Mat Kearney are touring together this summer...ahhhhhhhhhhhh...yes, Yes, YES!!!

Saturday is the day people. It is official: I am chopping my hair off. 

I have a good post planned for this weekend so stay tuned :)

Happy Father's Day!

Today is el dia de los padres and here is my padre and me.

For father's day I made dinner and found this awesome card for him:

{it even had argyle on the back and everything}

For dinner we had oven-baked chimichangas:

Then our family went on a walk with my puppy at Pinchot Lake:

My dad is pretty cool. not gonna lie. We're running buddies. He lets me drag him to the farmer's market every Saturday morning when I know he'd rather be asleep. He taught me how to change the oil in our car. He knows an awful lot about history. We take my dog on a nice long walk every Sunday.  He's a BYU dad, which is cool in and of itself :P We play guitar hero together and go driving around in the jeep. Obviously, there's a lot more but I guess that will have to suffice.

Love you daddy :)

June!!!

 -I am so excited that it's JUNE! Best month of the year :)

-We've been having some lovely stormy weather this past week. Menacing dark clouds, thunder that makes the dishes rattle, and the soothing sound of pouring rain drumming on the roof. On Sunday my dad and I were at the local boy scout camp taking a walk with my dog and it started to pour. It only lasted a minute but we decided it would probably be a good idea to start heading back to the car. We were walking down the road, car in sight. There was just the quiet rustle of trees but it started to get louder. We thought it was just the wind in the trees but as it got louder and windier we realized that it  was the storm moving down the mountain towards us. That's when we started to run. We made it to the car just as the wind picked up to about 30 mph and the sky opened up. This is the kind of weather I live for :)



 - We got to go down to the D.C. temple on Saturday. The weather was gorgeous. As was the temple, of course.

- I applaud the man who wrote this article. It is an essay about prejudice in academe against Mormons titled: "An Acceptable Prejudice?". It is a great non-LDS perspective piece.

-Saturday night I made this white bean turkey chili

and Sunday night I made this buttermilk-blueberry breakfast (and lunch and dinner, for that matter) cake:

-I've recently rediscovered the tv series Bones. I can't stop watching it. Last night alone I watched 4 episodes. So much for exercising or cleaning my room or doing anything else remotely productive.

song of the week:

"Things Are Gonna Get Better"

The Enabling Power of the Atonement

I read this devotional address by Elder Bednar the other week that really struck a chord with me. I think it may very well be my favorite talk ever. It's titled "In the Strength of the Lord." It is a talk about the Atonement that goes deeper than the usually talked about aspects of it. Not only is the Atonement available to us in order to gain forgiveness but it is also there to enable us and to provide us with the strength and courage that we lack. Through Christ we are able to do those things we cannot do alone.

This quote from the talk sums it up really well:
There is no physical pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, "No one understands. No one knows." No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life. He can reach out, touch, and succor--literally run to us--and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying only upon our own power.


Also:
The Atonement is not only for people who have done bad things and are trying to be good. It is for good people who are trying to become better and serve faithfully and who yearn for an ongoing and mighty change of heart.

It is seriously an amazing talk. Make sure you READ IT!