All gold everything.

The latest adventures:

Spring break in St. George, Bear Lake, and good old Draper. Macklemore, best friends, and soccer soccer soccer.

The end of winter means the beginning of the hiking season. And that means driving for half a day to get to Zion, locking the keys in the car, waiting an hour on park rangers, and finally going on a little hike.

Car unlocking magic!

My friends are kind of obsessed with 2 Chainz. And Trinidad James. And giving me nightmares with the latter's hideous face.

So we dyed Easter eggs in honor of bad rappers.

Oh you know, 2 Chainz B different

And then Marissa and I peaced out to, you guessed it: Color Fest! Where we sucked at taking pictures but you know it's all about the memories.

Of course I can't do anything these days without soccer being involved. Réal Salt Lake is where it's at.

So yeah. Happy Easter!

Why running is better than almost anything.

I ran track in high school... or so I say. In reality, I just ran my sophomore and junior years, the 100 and 200 meter races, and quit halfway through the season both years. So yeah, I ran, more or less, and it was fun, more or less. Recently, though, I have found a new love and appreciation for distance running which is something I definitely have never liked before. Basically I want everyone to love running as much as I do, so here's a list of ten of my favorite things about running.

1. Calves. Running gives you great calves, and let's be real, people with solid calf muscles are hot. One time, in high school, I voted for a boy for student body president just because he had nice calves. I wish I was joking.
2. Stress relief. I've said this before, but honestly there is nothing better to do when you're stressed than slip on those Nikes and hit the pavement. When you're mad you can run even farther than you ever thought you could. Especially if you picture that the person you're mad at is waiting at the end of your run so you can beat them up. Not that I've ever imagined that...
3. Endorphins. The feeling you get after you finish a long, hard run. You feel so good.
4. Scenery. If someone finds something prettier than a jog along the beach or a trail run up a canyon in the autumn, I'll be amazed. Any beautiful view is improved when you have running shoes on!
5. Music. Everyone loves music and if you're anything like me, you're constantly looking for excuses to listen to music. "Oh, I'm going outside to get the mail, I can totally listen to at least half of 'I Knew You Were Trouble' on the way there." I mean, at least until it gets to the screaming goat, right? Anyway, you can listen to a ton of songs while running. And then try to throw in a little dance move and end up falling off the treadmill/sidewalk/hill. Not that I've done that either...
6. Therapy. I remember a time last summer when I was really overwhelmed by life, so I went for a run and ended up running up this massive hill. The whole time I kept telling myself, "I can do difficult things." And guess what, I did!
7. Energy. Surprisingly, waking up early to go for a jog gives me so much energy for the rest of the day. Like, what on earth, I feel better when I get up and get active than when I stay in bed till ten eating Nutella? Weird.
8. Conditioning. Running is more of a mind game than anything. The human body is an amazing thing and could probably run for an indefinite amount of time, especially if there were zombies chasing you or something (just saying). The only thing holding you back is your own brain! The more you challenge it, the more you show your mind: that's what's up.
9. Clothes. Workout clothes are the coolest ever. Admit it boys, you love girls in yoga pants.
10. Appetite. Notice the title of this post is "Why running is better than almost anything." Which obviously means the only thing it's not better than is food. When you run, you can eat even more and it just counts as "fueling your run." Win, win!

Shanwow.

This thing went around on Instagram, like, a month ago, where if you got tagged you had to post a picture of yourself along with five facts that your followers might not know about you. So I thought I would expand this to my blog and let you guys learn a little more about me! I'll even include five bonus facts just for you. You should feel so special.

Pic of yours truly!

1. I lived in South Carolina for 5 years. I always tell people I'm from there but really I just lived there in elementary school and one year of middle school. It was a great time and I miss it!
2. My favorite movie is Star Trek (the new one). You probably already knew that because I'm literally obsessed with it. I can't even tell you how pumped I am for the new one coming out in May!
3. I speak French! Kind of! You know this from all my whining about my French classes.
4. If I could afford to eat sushi for every meal I probably would. I love sushi. But I'm also a little picky about what sushi. Like tempura sushi is a no-go.
5. I don't grow hair in my armpits. (Laser hair removal is heaven!) TMI? Maybe. But for real, if you have the chance to get it, do it.
6. I'm obsessed with zombies. It started with The Walking Dead and has since progressed to Zombieland, Warm Bodies, Left 4 Dead, zombie 5Ks, zombie themed haunted houses, and this game called Zombies, Run! that simulates zombies chasing you when you go running. I think I might have a problem. Don't underestimate me when the apocalypse actually happens though cause I know everything.
7. Things that I do to de-stress include: running, painting, writing in this blog, running, playing guitar, going for a drive, and more running. Nothing helps you work out frustration more than running.
8. The first song I ever learned to play on guitar was "Teardrops on my Guitar" by the lyrical genius herself, Taylor Swift. The second was "Hey There Delilah." Ninth grade me had some real quality music taste (not).
9. I have a reputation for being able to eat a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean like a "whole pizza by myself, plus an appetizer and dessert" lot. Super attractive I know.
10. Probably the best day of my life thus far was the day I got to swim with dolphins. It will remain this way until the day I get to play with and/or ride an elephant.

Shout out to Insta for giving me yet another blogging idea for when my life is boring! Lates.

Things I miss.

Warm nights. Drive-in movies. Baguette tuna sandwiches. Watching Lost on the floor in a blanket fort. Caving for the first time. The Lion King in 3D. Playing guitar at the park. Improv shows. Lighthouses. Poison ivy. Screened-in porches. VCRs. Lockers. Swim team. Sledding on cookie sheets. American Girl dolls. Sunday nights in the dorms. Catching tadpoles. Neighborhood-wide yard sale day. Volleyball class. Field trips.

The tree of life. Making videos. Choreographing dances. Service projects. Special needs mutual. Babysitting. Sneaking out to the lake at camp. Dashboard Confessional. Stargazing on golf courses. Playing Uno on road trips. Computer games. Fantasy novels. Ice skating. The neighbors' trampolines. Wallpaper. Power outages. Blonde hair and tan skin. Playing the clarinet. Friendly competition. Innocence. Imagination.

Hair constantly in a ponytail. Co-ed soccer games. Prank wars. Hide-and-seek and sardines. Riding bikes all summer. The bridge made out of padlocks. Country music. Trunk or treat. Pool parties. The Nook. Saturday mornings spent playing tennis. Sleepovers. Making pajama pants. That's So Raven. Running alongside the Mediterranean. Simple friendships. Yearbooks. Roadtrips to Las Vegas. Snorkeling. Family parties. Late night phone calls. This one boy.

Halcyon.

Halcyon (adj.): calm, peaceful, tranquil; prosperous; carefree.

Also known as the title of Ellie Goulding's most recent album. And a pretty good word to describe my weekend and life in general. I'll tell you why:

Friday:
There was a leadership weekend this week, and since I'm an ambassador I signed up to be a Personal Development Group leader. This meant that I got my own group of nine kids to party with for 24 hours and teach them about being leaders. I started at noon on Friday and was basically with them nonstop until midnight, and then from 8 am to noon the next day. We played games, watched gymnastics, built contraptions, had dance parties, tried to win candy, and talked a lot (mostly about how to not get bucked off a wild bareback horse, because I was very interested). It was sweet.

My PD group!

My best PC friends were here as well!

Saturday: 
Finished up with the leadership weekend and then hopped in the car with Tommy to make the drive to Salt Lake. By the time we got there, it was t-minus 4 hours until the concert I have been looking forward to for, um, my entire life: Ellie Goulding. Then, suddenly we were there and it was t-minus 30 minutes. And then this awesome opening act was playing, St. Lucia (check them out here, they're way good!) and then they were gone and we were all screaming "ELLIE!" and then oh my gosh she was there and she was singing and it sounded just like on her album and I think I was crying on the inside because I was so happy. Seriously, if you are not an Ellie Goulding fan, go listen to her music now. Not only is she incredibly talented and unique as an artist, she is equally as charming and down to earth as a person. I'm obsessed with her and could go on forever but I'll stop now.

Sunday:
Unfortunately the concert of a lifetime was over all too soon, so we woke up early and drove back to Cedar in time for church. Then, of course, was the Superbowl, where I think I ate my weight in ribs, peanut butter rice krispie treats, and chips and dip, while simultaneously fangirling over Beyonce with Marissa, Tommy, and Shaun and making some really hilarious jokes about power outages and babies that probably should never be repeated. I don't have pictures of this portion... sorry.

So, all in all, a pretty halcyon weekend. I don't know if that's how you use that word in a sentence but it sounds cool to me! In the words of Ellie, "This is a really beautiful place, so thumbs up to that!"

January.

It's been a while, since usually I am a blogging addict and it's been like, 23 days since my last post. Over three weeks? What the...

Probably because I don't have anything exciting to say. This year has gotten off to a pretty good start. I quit working for the University Journal and now have an internship at Braun Books in downtown Cedar City. (I think it's funny that Cedar has a downtown. It consists of like, one block of stores.) I'm the Author Liaison there. It's fun.

In other news, all my friends have left on missions once again. It's an endless cycle.

Tyler's cousin, Spencer, that I became great friends with.

And of course you remember my friend Sydnie from my trip to France!

This semester I'm taking my capstone class, aka Mass Media Theory and Effects, aka the class where I write my senior thesis. I'm not even a senior. So that's cool.

I'm also taking Communication Graphics, and Intro to Broadcast Production (radio class). I'm auditing a French class, since I finished my minor but I don't want to lose all my skillz. And... drumroll... yoga and badminton. Best/worst decision I have ever made had to be taking badminton. Basically it's super embarrassing, but fun. Except when you play people that are really good and take it really seriously. Then it's just embarrassing.

Oh, and I'm taking the "Preparing for Eternal Marriage" institute class. Don't worry, I'm not getting married. This class is hilarious though. More on that to come.

Other than that, not much exciting is going on in my life. I feel like I'm writing a letter to a missionary because I swear all I do in those is ramble on and on about nothing important... so, sorry. Hopefully I will have a good story to tell sometime soon!

PS: I feel like I should issue this warning to all girls. 80s night (or anything else) is not a good excuse to curl your hair with straws. It will take hours out of your life, make you look like a poodle, and tie your hair into a giant knot when you try to wash it out. Resulting in you ripping half the hair out of your head and crying yourself to sleep. NOT WORTH IT. This is not a joke.

This belongs on the Internet, right?

Beginnings: 2013.

Welcome to 2013! So far I have spent most of the year sleeping or eating so I'd say it's off to a good start. Anyway, time to make some resolutions.

1. Keep working out. Let's up the stakes to five days a week with at least 30 minutes of cardio each day, plus strength exercises or whatever.
2. Only drink soda on special occasions. Now that I have proven to myself that I can go without it, I decided treating myself once in a while is fine. Although I had a Coke last night and I felt like I was pouring black poison into my body. So I'll probably do alright.
3. Spend less time on my computer/phone and more time reading, writing, and outside doing things.
4. Eat healthier!
5. Get back on track with visiting my great grandparents. Once every two weeks!
6. Take time to do things for other people.
7. Continue to take risks, come out of my comfort zone, and grow as a person.

As my mom has been saying for the past week, "I'm hoping 13 is my lucky number!" I'm excited to find out what this year holds for not only me, but all of us. Things can only go uphill from here!