My 30 Day Photo Challenge

This post is dedicated to the pictures for my photo challenge. Here is the simple idea of this challenge: you have a list of 30 things, and each day you take a picture of one item on that list for those 30 days. 

Before I started this I thought it would be a lot of fun, as well as a good time to make month 15 go by quicker. :) Not only was it exciting and made the month fly by, but I had the best time really looking at my life and seeing what matters most to me through pictures. Not only is this a fun activity, but it's a wonderful exercise for just stepping back and looking at your life. For being grateful for the person you are, and for the exciting adventures you hope to have in the future. I had so much fun working on this challenge, and I would challenge you to take time to do this. 

So. It's time to show you what I've been keeping busy with over the last month. :)

Day 1: My favorite animal

I love pretty much any animal that is white, and I especially love swans. They don't usually come to people's minds when you ask, "What's your favorite animal?", but they are so special. They appear to me to be very pure and elegant, and I just love how two of them can make a heart with their necks. :)

Day 2: My dream home

There are TONS of houses that I love at first sight, but this one is a pretty good example of what I like. I big "must" is having a porch like this.

Day 3: My car

Here it is! My lovely 2002 Kia Sportage. :)

Day 4: The last book I read

A Surrendered Heart by Tracie Peterson & Judith Miller

(I really recommend any book by Tracie Peterson.)

Day 5: Something I would buy with a lot of money

I would buy a corvette, and I would want it to be a deep red color.

Day 6: My favorite color

PURPLE!!!

Day 7: My favorite place to eat

Since I work at Chick-fil-A and often eat the food there, I would say that this is where I like to eat.

Day 8: My favorite place to shop

 I love to shop for clothes.

Day 9: My famous person look-alike

This one was a bit hard for me, because there isn't a celebrity that I look just like. Back when the Harry Potter movies were new, I was told that I looked like Hermione... so I guess I look most like Emma Watson.

Day 10: My favorite season

Day 11: My favorite shoes

Day 12: My favorite crayon color

I physically searched through a box of crayons to find this color. There weren't any exotic colors, so this is the best that I came up with: red violet.

Day 13: Cast from my favorite tv show

Downton Abbey is my favorite show, but now I've watched all the episodes there are and there's no more to watch...

Day 14: Something I did that night

I made this Cinnamon Cream Cheese Streusel Coffee Cake, and it was delicious!

Day 15: My favorite memory

This picture of Matthew and me was taken before our LDS prom in May 2011. It was one of the most special dates we went on before he left on his mission. 

Day 16: My most treasured item

There are so many possessions of mine that I view as "treasured", but ultimately, these binders which contain the letters I've received from Matthew over the last 3 1/2 years, are priceless to me.

Day 17: A picture that makes me laugh

Matthew's sister, Amy, had just changed her profile picture on Facebook to this, and when I saw I couldn't help but laugh, hence the title of this picture. :)

Day 18: Something I love

This is a fudge brownie sundae from Chick-fil-A and I love it... along with all of the other chocolate  candy, cake, pie, etc. that I've tasted in my lifetime. I love sweets!

Day 19: My favorite band

One Direction-- good music.

Day 20: Someone I couldn't live without

My parents.

Day 21: Bucket list item

Put a padlock on the Lovers Bridge in Paris and throw the key in the Seine River below to symbolize eternal love.

Day 22: Something that has had a huge impact on my life recently

For the past 16 months, my boyfriend, Matthew Parks, has been on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Idaho Pocatello mission. Not being able to see him for that long has been hard. We write letters and I got to talk to him once, but that's about all. Yet we still grow closer to each other and our relationship is continuing to become stronger. I love this boy SO MUCH, and couldn't be happier to wait for such an amazing man. <3

Day 23: A letter

Of course I took a picture of a recent letter from Matthew (I chose the one where he wrote his name in Spanish). :)

Day 24: Somewhere I want to travel

Prince Edward Island, Canada

Day 25: Something I wish I was better at

Exercising!!! I am doing better, though.

Day 26: My favorite book

Anne of the Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Anne Shirley & Gilbert Blythe, combined with college life-- what more could you want in a book?!

Day 27: My day

Sitting in my room, studying World Religions, while i constantly blow my nose because I have a cold... blah!

Day 28: Something that means a lot to me

My family! Dad, Mom, Morgan, Mark, and Rachel.

Day 29: Myself and a family member

Me and my youngest sister, Rachel.

Day 30: Something that always makes me smile

I absolute adore this picture. At first I was just going to include a picture of the Washington D.C. temple, because it is my favorite and makes me smile every time I see it. But then I saw this picture... a couple that just got married in my very favorite temple. It makes me smile because that could be me, with my husband, after getting married in the Washington D.C. temple. This picture to me equals complete bliss. 

PINK is the word.

I was enjoying my day off from work (getting productive stuff done), and suddenly, I realized a similarity between the several tasks I'd accomplished in this one single day........ the color PINK was involved with what seemed like everything! 

I put together Matthew's Valentine's Day package this morning and mailed it off. As you can see in the picture, I did a "Heart Attack" and wrote down 60 things I love about him on hearts. I also included pictures and candy, which were beneath all of these hearts. Of course the color PINK was involved...

Then I had to study....yep, good 'ole World Religions. It really isn't too bad. Just keeping all of the eastern religions straight in my brain is going to be the tough part. What do ya know? I used this PINK pen to take notes while studying Christianity and Islam. :)

I was really looking forward to getting some exercise time in today. My arms and legs got a workout and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to stand in the morning, but hard work will get good results! :) I began to take my tennis shoes off and thought "I just love my PINK shoes... wait, PINK? What's going on here. haha" 

Lastly, I told my mom I wanted to try out this new recipe I'd seen on Pinterest (don't you just love new recipes? :) The recipe is titled "Strawberry Brownies". What color are strawberry brownies? PINK! 

side note: These things are SO GOOD! Here is the recipe... (very simple to make)

1 box of strawberry cake mix

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

Mix it all together in a bowl and spread in a greased 9x13 in. dish.

Bake at 350* for 15 minutes.

Glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar & 2-3 tablespoons of milk

So as you can see, I'm really getting into the spirit of Valentine's Day, without even trying! It's great! You know, I didn't realize until this year how much I adore Valentine's Day. There is just something about it that makes me feel happy inside. :D Have a wonderful Valentine's Day y'all!!

Accomplishments Are My Friends!

This week has been great! Here are all of the reasons why...

1. I got to work on front counter at Chick-fil-A on both Monday and Tuesday, and on Tuesday I had my very own register with my name on it! I really, really love working up front and interacting with the customers more. If you would have asked me, a year ago, my thoughts on being up front and taking people's orders, I probably would've said "No way, that's not my thing", but I now feel that it is good for me. I believe it's helping me to be well-rounded and get to know other fellow co-workers better.

2. On Wednesday I was just having an "off" day. A letter from Matthew seemed to be the one thing that could turn my mood around. Not 10 minutes later, my mom came into my room and handed me a letter. I was so surprised and happy because I hadn't heard from him since Christmas. It was a good letter and pictures were included too. (There is one of them at the end of this post).

3. I drove myself down to Brenau University in Gainesville (30 min drive) on Thursday to take my DSST exam entitled "Ethics in America". I had to parallel park, which made me a little nervous, but I didn't hit any cars, so I guess I did a good enough job. ;) The test went well and I passed! I must say that I was relieved to have it completed. I appreciate that there are ethics in the world to set the bar for standards and such, but to study it for school is not fun, whatsoever. :)

4. I was off from work on Friday so I planned out my entire day with fun, yet productive activities. There is nothing like making a list of everything you want to accomplish, and crossing off each item. There was one thing on my list that I didn't end up getting around to, and that was exercising, but I will do better... My day consisted of this:

Take Morgan and Mark to Science class

Go to the store and the post office, all within 40 minutes so that I could be home in time for a coaching call for school

Get home as fast, yet safely as I can to be in time for the call (got home with 3 minutes to spare)

Coaching call which lasts for only 10 minutes

Go back to pick up the kids from their class

Remember that I didn't have time to get a box from the post office before, so drive over there and find out that there isn't the right size box that I needed

Stop off at Walmart and Taco Bell (because my brother and sister needed to get some things-- mostly food :)

Come back home and eat lunch

Walk out with Morgan and Rachel to get the mail-- there's a Valentine's day package from the grandparents and a Netflix dvd (Downton Abbey)

Watch Downton Abbey with Mom, Morgan, and Rachel, while eating V-day candy

Scan the pictures Matthew sent onto my computer

Make a new enchilada recipe for dinner while listening to my music

Go with the family to Mark's basketball game. His team wins with a 7 point lead. (YES!)

Eat cake, watch a movie/tv, try to do some reading of some sort, but feel too tired and decide to go to bed.

(Such a great day!) :)

Basically, I just had a busy week of getting important things accomplished, which is like music to my ears! Two things I love: being motivated, and using that motivation to do great things. 

I've also been working on collecting my pictures everyday for the "30 Day Photo Challenge" which ends on the 12th. I am excited to dedicate a whole blog post to those pictures. :)

I also starting working on Matthew's V-day package (I know it sounds goofy, but I just have this thing for calling Valentine's day, V-day. It's just so much faster to say that way, isn't it?) on Friday. It's an idea I got from Pinterest called a "Heart Attack". You cut out a bunch of hearts and write one thing you love about the person on each one, then mail all the cute hearts in a box. I am doing that, but I will also put candy inside with the hearts. I've been tracing and cutting out tons of hearts already and it's all going beautifully! I will post pictures soon.

My very first "real" parallel parking job

Delicious white sauce enchiladas I made for dinner

My handsome missionary is the one on the right with his face all bundled up. :)

I will end this post with a quote I came across today that is a pick-me-up no matter what kind of day you're having.

Remember to always look for the good in things, and you will find life very fulfilling. Until next time then!

Muscles: Use 'em Or Lose 'em

I love getting the mail, especially when I'm expecting something I bought online. In this case I've been anticipating exercise DVDs and you know what? They came today!!!!!!!! I am so thrilled. 

The other day I had absolute nothing to do so I thought to myself,  "Maybe I should exercise...". I popped in the one DVD (my mom's) that I always use when I get the not-so-often urge to exercise. You know how they say exercising puts you in a good mood? Well, I found that particularly difficult to believe that day. It then dawned on me that maybe working out would be loads more fun if I had my own resources. Soooo, as soon as I finished up, I got on my laptop and bought two "10 Minute Solution" exercise DVDs.

On Saturday night I was at Kmart with my family and I saw these awesome pink, orange, and white tennis shoes that were a great price and I bought those too, because I think they will add an extra dose of motivation.. :) Now I've got my shoes and DVDs and I'm ready to get started! That's the next step-- just getting started. Haha. I can do this though, because I just pinned a bunch of inspiring exercise quotes on pinterest! :) I will give updates.

Today While The Sun Shines

"Wake up with Determination. Go to bed with Satisfaction."

To me, this quote says it all. Since the beginning of the year I've been trying my hardest to make a change in my life. Not just resolutions that will go untouched within a month, or saying to myself over and over "I need to be more positive". I have made the decision to really evaluate my existence here on earth and live my life to the fullest. I have been loving life and feeling GREAT each and every day- from the time I wake up until I go to bed at night. I am so glad I have finally found the key to true happiness, and that is to put Heavenly Father first in your life and trust that everything else will fall into place, because it always does.

I was just sitting here eating my mint M&M's while I read a bunch of blog posts by other Missionary Girlfriends and I am determined to blog more than just once a month. So... starting today, that is exactly what I'm going to do.

Relaxing Sunday, wrapped up in my  High School Musical blanket and eating delicious mint m&m's. 

After expressing my desire to try front counter to my manager at Chick-fil-A, he finally scheduled me a couple days last week to train up front. Monday was awesome! I learned alot (which was a bit overwhelming), but had such a great time. During the lunch rush I was put over desserts. I made soooo many milkshakes that when I woke up the next morning, my arms were sore from pulling down on the ice cream machine lever. :p I am scheduled for up front again this Monday and Tuesday, and I look forward to it.

I got my wonderful "Eternal Marriage" manual in the mail this week and I am just thrilled to have that thing in my possession! Not only do I get excited to read the words inside, but I also enjoy highlighting and marking it up. It's a pretty big book, so it will take me a while to get through it, but I enjoy every minute of reading the counsel of prophets and scriptures on specified topics. I love this book so much that I took it with me to church today and read it during sharing time, and then after church when the rest of my family was in choir. To sum up how I feel about this marriage manual, I would definitely recommend it to any of you out there who took the time to read this post.

In sacrament meeting today we sang "Today While the Sun Shines". I literally haven't heard that song in forever, but while singing the words today, the meaning really became clear: Seize the day!! Make each day count by spending your time wisely, and accomplishing the goals you've set. What a great hymn!

I hope you all have a Happy Sunday and enjoy your week!

"...Seek, And Ye Shall Find..."

I thought I would dedicate a blog post to being thankful to my Heavenly Father for the many blessings He gives me.  2013 has been so wonderful so far and I am really excited for what the next 11 months will bring. Especially seeing Matthew in 9 months. :D

My life has just been great lately. I feel motivated, determined, dedicated, and diligent in the goals I'm working towards. I am happy to say that I am sticking with list of goals I made a few weeks ago and they have proved to be a great blessing in my life. I find all of the spiritual goals the most important to me. Even from the time before Matthew left on his mission, I knew it was going to be important to progress and improve myself over those two years so that I would be at the same level he was when he came home. I actually did really well with that. I started college and I'm now a Sophomore and I got a job that I will have been at for 1 year in May. I have really been progressing and growing through doing those two things. However, it wasn't until the beginning of this year that I realized that as much as this temporal growth was important, I needed to be focusing on my spiritual growth as well. After coming to this realization, I set a couple of simple goals like reading one chapter of the Book of Mormon everyday, and reading a conference talk each Sunday. Since making those goals, I have carried them out every day without fail. I can definitely tell a change in my life. Not just in the overall picture of things, but in each moment of everyday. I believe this is where the extra motivation is coming from and it feels wonderful! Not only am I more driven to do tasks, but I just have a more positive outlook towards life and I've noticed that the little things don't seem to bother as bad (I'm still working on not letting them bother me at all) as they usually would. Because of this effort I've noticed more opportunities for greatness arising. It's not like beforehand I was really off the path and needed to find my way back, but I just didn't seem to be spending enough time being spiritually nourished. I wasn't really growing spiritually. I still had a testimony and everything, but I was continually developing it.

I shared my experiences with Matthew in the last letter I wrote to him. I'm hoping to make those spiritual experiences a bigger part of my letters, especially since he is pretty much submerged in the scriptures and the gospel everyday.

So I am happy to say that with a new year and a new start to everything, I have made becoming spiritually stronger not just a goal for 2013 but an improvement to my lifestyle. I know Heavenly Father has blessed me greatly already because of my desire. I also know studying and learning these doctrines and truths for myself is going to help me to better support Matthew, which is very important to me. :)

"Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you."

3 Nephi 13: 7

Great Start to a New Year: 2013!!!

Tomorrow, January 12th marks Matthew's 15 months out in the mission field. I can't say this month went by quickly, but time is definitely moving along at a steady pace. I can assure you that my love for Matthew has only continued to grow in this past month and I get excited each and every day for the day when he comes home.

To give you an update of what's happened since I last blogged, all I have to say is Christmas!!! It was one of the most wonderful and yet sad days since he's been gone. First of all, that morning I opened one of my presents from under the tree and it was a package from Matthew. Mom and Dad had hidden it and wrapped it as a present without me having the slightest idea! That was just amazing by itself. In his package was a zebra striped electric blanket (which comes in handy quite often actually), and a book called, "Cajun Night Before Christmas" and it is absolutely hilarious! Later that evening, I went over to his family's house to talk to him when he called home. It wasn't nervous, just excited. While awaiting his phone call, me and a few of his family members played the game "Apples to Apples". All of a sudden the phone rang and his younger brother, Jeremy, answered it. Okay just so you know, this is when I became a nervous mess. I would say "wreck" but I would say it would've had to be worse to be called a "wreck". :) Anyway, I pretty much couldn't play the game anymore because I was not the least bit focused. :p When it was my turn for the phone, I was ready! He sounded good, yet our conversation seemed a bit formal at the beginning (which is understandable seeing as how we hadn't talked in 14 months). We hadn't talked but maybe five minutes when I realized we were having normal conversations like we did before he left and for the twenty minutes we talked, it really truly felt like he had never left; like it hadn't been over a year since the last time we spoke. It was indescribable. Amazing is the best word I can think of, maybe surreal... Anyway, getting off the phone was the hardest part, but when he said he loved me, I knew I could make it through the remaining months. I was kind of glad to get in my car and drive home afterwards because I just wanted to have a good cry (which by the way didn't even last five minutes). Unfortunately, for the next week (it seemed alot longer) I was in a slump and was afraid it was going to take forever to get back emotionally where I had been before the phone call.

For New Year's my family went up to my grandparents' house in Kentucky. It snowed on the way up there and there was a light coating of snow on the ground when we arrived. Being there with all of the extended family was nice and got my mind off of things and was a nice way to transition into the new year. I'm happy to say that as soon as we returned home I felt like I was back to normal. :)

I am so excited about 2013, especially since Matthew will be home this October. I know it's still months away, but just knowing I will see him this year makes it all seem so wonderful.

This past week I got really excited about making goals for the remaining months Matthew is away (perfect time of year to do so as well). Here is what I came up with:

Goals for 2013:

 Try a new recipe each week

 Read a "fun" book once a month

 Finish the Book of Mormon

 Try a new hairstyle and makeup technique each month.

 Read a conference/Ensign talk every Sunday-- RULE: Read a talk on MARRIAGE once a month. :)

That is what I have so far. It's a good start, and I'm sure I'll more to it before the year is up. 

In addition to my goals for the year, I came up with some "fun" goals for each month until Matthew comes home. (For example: buy a movie, buy a book, buy something for future home, etc.) I know they're all pretty much buying something, but I don't work for nothing! Haha. :) Anyway, for this month I'm doing this project I've seen people do on Facebook called, "30 Day Photo Challenge". I will start it tomorrow and for the next 30 days I will take a picture or find a picture that corresponds with the item for the day, on my list. I think the first one is something like... my favorite animal... so that's the kind of items that are on the list. I am so excited to get started!!  I will definitely be devoting a post all  to those pictures. :)

I found a treasure in the website picmonkey.com, which is a site for photo editing. Let's just say I've spent a good amount of time editing pictures because it is so much fun!! Well, because my sister likes, actually I should say loves the Beatles, (I like them, but she loves them) we decided to re-create one of the Beatles' pictures. It isn't a perfect match by any means, but I would say it's pretty good for a couple of amateurs. :) I have uploaded it below.

Well, I guess this is the end of my post for today... I'm just living life and doing my best to continue to improve and refine myself through both spiritual study as well as real life situations. As always I try to put my trust in Heavenly Father and stay close to Him. I can say it makes life a whole lot more happy and fulfilling. Until next time!! :D

My comical Christmas present from Matthew.

Re-creation of a classic Beatles photograph.