June Highlights

Oh, well, hello! I haven't written on here in a little while. I mean, I did start a few posts, but then I didn't get around to finishing and posting them.

So, as June is about to end, I wanted to write about some of my thoughts and events from this month!

June is one of my favorite months. My birthday is at the beginning of June, and I try my best to always make that a delightful day. This year was no different! This month has also been full of other fun and exciting summery things.

On my birthday, I went to brunch with Jordan at Bruges. I got a cinnamon waffle with raspberries and cream, and Jordan and I shared frites. The food was so good. I then went to go to the temple. It was an incredibly beautiful day, so I decided to sit outside the temple for a little bit to just enjoy the beauty of the day, and this sweet older woman came over and talked to me. She told me about some miracles that have taken place in her life, and she was so sweet and unique. I loved her. After the temple, I went to Costco. Now, that may seem like a boring thing to do for a birthday celebration, but I was there to buy something that I really love--flowers. Then I went to the BYU Museum of Art. I had been wanting to see the Japanese exhibits there for a while. It was lovely, as usual. I also gave flowers to people I saw, and that was a lot of fun. Some people were really weirded out, and it amused me. I went and read at the park for a little bit, and that was really fun and relaxing. Then, at 6 or so, my friend Taylor was picking me up to go get snow cones. We went, and then, she took me over to my friend's place, supposedly to just say hi, but really, there was a surprise party for me! I've always wanted a surprise party! Jordan was so wonderful to invite my friends, and I just feel so much love and gratitude for all my friends who took time out of their day for me! Man, I could go on for a long time about my birthday, but I'll conclude for now. I received presents and well wishes that made me feel loved, and I just loved it!

So, other things that have filled this month include Yuki shaved ice with Jordan a few times and also with Camilla. As Jordan said, you know it's a good life when the man who sells you snow cones knows who you are and chats with you whenever you come.

I saw Mary Poppins at the Scera, and it was incredible! I really loved the messages of the musical. I again heard a song from the musical this past weekend, and the line of the song has really stuck with me over the past few days--"Anything can happen if you let it." I can make things happen with my actions, and that is really empowering. Also at the Scera, Jordan, Renae, and I saw Sergio Mendes. He's a Brazilian musician. We didn't really know any of the songs, but it was still really fun.

I saw Diamond Rio with my mom. It was so great! I love them! It's like my childhood.

This past week/weekend, I went to St. George with my mom. It was crazy hot, like 115 degrees on Friday. However, we remedied the heat with Orange Peel smoothies and frozen custard and air conditioning and fun. We went to two different shows at the Tuacahn. I had never been there before. I seriously think that whoever envisioned the amphitheater was a genius. I love how the backdrop is the red rock. They didn't just build an amphitheater in the red rock area; they used the beautiful red rocks to be part of the amphitheater. We saw When You Wish and Beauty and the Beast. I honestly expected to like Beauty and the Beast better because it has a more structured story. However, When You Wish was one of the most fun things I've ever seen! It is a whole bunch of Disney songs all rolled up in one show. It made me so happy, and I'd probably feel open to seeing it 20 times. My mom is the best, and it was so fun hanging out with her there, and it was so kind of her to take me down there.

I also went to the pool a few times this month and went to the rodeo. I went to the SLC farmer's market and the Provo farmer's market. It's been a really fun month. I love summer!

Personality tests

Today at church I overheard some acquaintance friends talking about some personality test they had taken. I perked up at this conversation because I love personality tests. I could spend hours researching and learning about personalities from personality tests. I just think they're so fun and interesting. Some personality tests are more accurate than others. Some are better at describing personalities than others. The less good ones can still be fun, but the good ones are just amazing to me. 

And then I sometimes have this moral dilemma (that might actually be a dramatic thing to call it . . . ) about how I shouldn't think about it too much because I shouldn't limit myself to what personality tests say, and I also shouldn't stereotype people into classifications like that. However, I feel like personality tests can be taken and looked at with the realization that people have their own agency and experiences that can shape their actions and thoughts, but maybe some of the best personality tests can help us better understand, at least to some small extent, ourselves and others. I know that with some of the personality tests that I've taken, I'll read the description about myself, and think, "Yes! This is totally how I feel, but I just have never put it into words!" And I feel like that thought is one of my favorite things. Finding the right words feels like something powerful. 

So, yeah, personality tests are one thing on my long list of favorite things. I didn't have the chance to ask these friends what the test was, but I'll have to talk to them and take it!

So much to be grateful for

So, I haven't written in a little while, but I definitely want to write about my fun Valentine's Day sometime. I'll try to make sure that happens. But today, I just want to list some things I'm grateful for! The past couple of days I've felt so full of peace and gratitude! It's been awesome!

• Peanut butter: I don't know. Lately I just love this stuff!
• Justin's dark chocolate peanut butter cups: I ate some this morning! So good!
• Jordan, my roommate: She gave me the peanut butter cups! I love having her as my friend and roommate.
• My wonderful work friends: Last week I got to see some of my work friends, and it was so much fun. 
• My boss and coworkers: I work with some pretty cool people
• Friends: Ok, here's the thing, I don't really feel like I have a lot of friends these days, and this makes me kind of sad. However, I feel so gigantically grateful for the people who take the time to be my friend! I just love them!
• Books: I love books
• Memories: Today my boss had us sign in to our weekly editor meeting as our favorite fairy tale. This brought back bunches of memories of childhood me and my love of stories. I remembered one of my favorite books, The Farthest Away Mountain. 
• My parents: I had such a great childhood thanks to such great parents!
• My siblings: I love my siblings. I also love my sibling by marriage. We all have so much fun together! 
• Snow: It snowed a bit today. I love snow. 
• The gospel: The gospel brings me joy and peace. 
• So many things! 

Favorite media of 2014

I enjoy a good story. Whether it's in a movie, a TV show, a book, or a song, stories are pretty cool.

There are certainly a lot of movies and books and all of the above that I missed out on this last year, but I just wanted to remember some favorites.

Movies

My very favorite movie this year was The Hundred-Foot Journey. It's beautiful and involves cool people and good food. I just love it so much.

My second favorite movie this year was Big Hero 6. How can you not love a puffy, friendly robot!? I just thought the movie was so sweet and funny, and I love both of those things.

The movie I saw and was probably most surprised to like was Edge of Tomorrow. It's probably only like my 6th or 7th favorite movie of the year, but I wasn't really expecting to like it at all, and I'm pretty sure I just went for social reasons.

Here are some others I loved (but I may be missing some):
Captain America
X-men
The Fault in Our Stars
Guardians of the Galaxy
Mockingjay pt. 1
Hobbit


Books

I don't know that I read any books that came out this very year, but my favorite book that I read this year was The Nazi Officer's Wife. It's a true story, and it made me really think about how I would act in that time and place. It made me really think about kindness. And what an insightful and interesting woman!

I think I read more this past year than the year previously, and I think I loved pretty much all of the books I read, but The Nazi Officer's Wife definitely stands out as the best to me. I love reading!

Songs

I'm going to be just like half the world and say that I really loved "Shake It Off" and "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift. They're such fun songs! I also loved hearing "Somewhere in My Car" by Keith Urban.

Also, I have a favorite song that didn't actually come out this year, but I listened to it a lot, and I love it. It is "Compass" by Lady Antebellum. I LOVE that song. It comes on, and I just smile. It's so great!

Another song that I really loved this year and played a part in my life was "Follow Your Arrow" by Kacey Musgraves. That song reminds me of my friends Jordan and Taylor, as both of them love that song, and we'd sing it sometimes.

This isn't a song, but after seeing Brett Eldredge when I went to see Keith Urban back in September (I think?), I decided I love him. What a great voice! And his songs are good, and he doesn't just sing about drinking and things like that.

I could go on and on about songs and artists. Lady Antebellum's new album came out this fall, and I love it. They're my very favorite.

TV

I don't watch much TV these days. I feel like the only shows I really watched much this year were Psych and Avatar the Last Airbender. Those are probably my two favorite TV shows. Also, if I had the ability to watch TV right now, I would so have watched Master Chef Junior. I saw one episode and thought it was the greatest thing ever!

Favorite things to cure the grumps

So, maybe this isn't true for everyone, but I feel like it can be rather easy to be grumpy, but it doesn't always feel easy to cure the grumpy. Same with sad. And I feel like it can be really easy for me to mope. But this is silly. I've been realizing that it can actually be easier than I sometimes feel it to be to cure the grumpiness. Some of these things I've done for years, but others I more recently discovered.

So, say I have plenty of time, like a few hours, here is what I'd do:

• Go on a hike
• Bake and share the baked goods, or go on secret missions (if you know me, you probably know what these entail, usually just doing the sharing but in secret)
• Adventure with friends

What about if I only have one or two hours?

• Work out
• Watch Annie or a favorite movie or just any musical
• Read (doesn't actually have to take one to two hours, but it's preferable for sure)
• Cook

What if I only have 15 or 20 minutes?

• I LOVE clips of soldiers coming home. They are the best! 
• I enjoy clips from Ellen, but I don't as much love the celebrity ones. I love the ones where she gives gifts to funny kids or people who are kind and awesome.
• Listen to scriptures
• Play the piano
• Listen to my favorite songs

     One bad thing about these ones are that it's really easy for the 15-20 minutes to turn into an hour. Really easy.

But what about when I only have one minute or so?

• Googling pictures of seals. They are so cute! 
• Exhibit A:
    
• Not my own picture, from here: http://www.saawinternational.org/HarpSeal09.jpg?0.3153017738370411