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Books I Read // January and February 2017

Reading is one of those things that just lights my soul on fire (too cliche?) and I love it. I think the hardest thing for me has been reading and not reading it with a group. I love to discuss thoughts and theories and philosophies as I read…
angel's landing

Conquering Angel's Landing

Dallin and I spent Saturday morning hiking Angel's Landing in Zion National Park - probably the most popular hike and most photographed view of the park. We only live an hour away from this beautiful place and we finally bought a National Parks…
zion confidence
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Fear, the Impostor Syndrome, and Progress

Every year I make some sort of goal for my blog - blog once a week, once a month, etc. I start off strong with the first week, and then I go quiet. The little voice inside my head keeps telling me so many reasons why I should stop. Among these…

taking over the ward Christmas party

Whenever Dallin is given just a tiny responsibility, he ends up going way above and beyond and everybody loves him for it.  This is why he is the dream employee and also the dream husband. Last month we had our ward Christmas party for our…

sparking joy to 2017

Our first week of the year was definitely a great start to 2017. It consisted Reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.  I can definitely agree that it was life changing.  Doing this the first of the year was ABSOLUTELY…
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thank you

I wanted to start off my writing today with a heart full of thanks.  After writing my last blog post I received countless texts, emails, and calls with words of empathy and encouragement. I must admit that publishing the post was a complete…
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I guess I am one of those people who cries in church now... a lot.

At church a couple of weeks ago I was doing fine.  I was enjoying the talks and feeling good and motivated and humbled and all of the feelings. And while I find it frustrating when people so very vaguely refer to their "trials," I will do the…
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our early Christmas present: Italy

Since we were going to Berlin for  a work conference, I told Dallin we just had to make a quick stop in Italy. And when I say quick stop, I mean very quick. A day in 2 major touristy cities in order to show him all the sights that I could.…
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the necessity of art

I remember when I first fell in love with Regina Spektor's music. I had just turned 16 and had learned how to drive a stick-shift.  My mom had put me in charge of driving my brother and some teammates to football practice every day.  As I…

my year in 5 | blogtember #28

To summarize my year in 5 pictures, I would have to do it like this. School and studies.  I finished up my last semester at ASU. I miss the studying and the homework and the deadlines.  Because even though it was busy work half of the time,…

if I were an ice cream flavor | blogtember #21

I would be cinnamon. Because it's unique, but still plain and sweet. And my cinnamon ice cream I mean that I would be cinnamon gelato with almond gelato in a handmade cone from Edoardo's in the center of Florence.  This is is my absolute…
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stop making excuses

Don't you hate it when someone commits to doing something and then they just flake out and they "get busy" and "something came up" and they just couldn't do it?  We've all been there. It's the absolute worst and we just want to say, "JUST DO…

my favorite part of our apartment | blogtember #8

Our pool.  I will miss this place. It was like a little oasis.  This is all I have time for tonight, but Arizona, you have magical winters. (no apartment tour for me, we're moving and there are boxes everywhere!)
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random joy | blogtember #7

When asked to share 5 things that bring me joy, I wrote down a huge long list and I couldn't narrow them down to only 5. My long list looked something like this: family, sisters, Dallin, stationary, tulips, ice cream, anything Italian, book…
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work vibes | blogtember #6

After a long labor day weekend, going back to work is not exactly my favorite thing to do. This morning I woke up at the crack of dawn to call students in India, so I've been awake way too long.  The only way I have survived from being awake…

currently | blogtember #5

Today (or yesterday's) prompt is about all of the things that I am currently up to. I think the biggest news that our little family is currently up to is actually all on my husband's blog, so go check it out! (He's a much better writer and absolutely…

share goodness sunday | blogtember #4

Today is Sunday.  A beautiful day of rest dedicated to God.  It is 11:00 pm, which means no one will probably read this once I publish it, but I made a goal to write every day this month and gosh darn it, I'm going to stick with it.  I love…

favorite summer moments | blogtember #3

Saturday, Sept. 3: Now that summer’s at an end, share a list of favorites from the season! For today, I'm supposed to write about my favorites from the season!  I'm assuming that means my favorite makeup, blogs, fashions, etc.  And the…