no bueno

So last Tuesday we had some crazy weather! Luckily no one was killed by the tornadoes- it really is a miracle no one died- so many people lost their houses, but at least no one seemed to even have a serious injury. crazy. Texas has been so beautiful lately- it seems nuts how quickly the weather turned bad. Luckily I have an awesome sister-in-law who texted me a heads up on the tornado warning, I had no clue! But when I turned on the tv every channel had a guy on saying there were tornadoes all over the place and to get to a safe place asap. great. I knew I was supposed to be on the first floor so I went down to our only friends in our complex but they weren't home so I went back to my apartment and got in the bathtub with my laptop. I literally typed into my google toolbar "what to do during a tornado if you live in an apt on the second floor" lol, love me some google- and I got a lot of hits- that all said that staying in the bathtub on the second floor wouldn't cut it and to get to downstairs unit asap. poo. by now the weather had gotten really really bad, so I decided to try my luck with the people that lived directly below us. It was hailing pretty hard, and when I opened the door the legs got pelted- so I grabbed a thick pillow, strapped it around my head and ran outside and down the stairs- I probably looked like a crazy person. oh well my head was nice and protected.win.
Luckily, my downstairs neighbors were home and super nice. They let me in and we all got in the back closet/bathroom and watched the news. Unfortunately I couldn't understand a single word anyone was saying since my neighbors only speak spanish and my high school spanish really wasn't cutting it. I stared at the spanish station's weatherman and tried really hard to figure out what he was saying and looking at all of the cartoon tornadoes that were spinning around on the map. My neighbors kept staring at the tv with big eyes, shaking their heads and say ohhhh nooooooo, ohhhhhh nooooooo. Every now and then I would look at my neighbor and say,   good? with a thumbs up- ha, and she would always say no, with a thumbs down. oh well fantastic. The hail was coming down, the sky was dark and every now and then lighting would flash outside. The weather guy kept saying stuff I couldn't understand and then he would say my city and the little city right next to mine so I got a little nervous. Thankfully the tornado that was supposed to go right through us never did- it like went the other way or just stayed put- not sure. The whole time I was texting people and trying to get them to tell me what was going on in case I was missing something. My dad just texted me to look out for the wicked witch lol
 Luckily, the only damage to my area were some downed trees and a few roofs missing some shingles. We also had a lot of cars whose front and back windshields were completely shattered by the hail. Jeff was at school during all of this and wasn't even phased. This was supposed to be my one day off from work and I was a little ticked that I spent it in my neighbors bathtub, but I am more so just thankful everyone is okay and that it wasn't worse- in all, there were about 13 tornadoes with two bigger ones. Hopefully things will settle down now- but I'm a little frazzled and keep checking my new weather app for extreme weather updates. Thanks to everyone who called/texted me during all that, you guys were on  top of things! My friend in Colorado seriously knew what was up more than I did lol love ya Elise! 

the weekend

Last weekend was pretty great. We lounged around, watched conference, hung out with friends- it was all pretty great. Saturday morning I went to Zumba, and even though I'm super uncoordinated and did none of the steps right- I had a lot of fun! I also couldn't stop laughing the whole time because all of the middle aged moms around me were kicking my trash and adding extra shimmies and booty pops between the moves.

Sunday evening Jeff and I went to this giant park in Coppell to get out of the house and walk around. The weather was amazing, and the whole park was full of people.

The park had a patch of these flowers and people were taking pictures in them like crazy- like, every ten feet there'd be a different fam getting their pictures done. They are pretty though!

Jeff getting his study on 

blurg- I'm so white- but I'm working on it-

while I was walking around I found this little river I never knew existed- I got super nervous though, because ever since we moved to Texas I've become convinced that snakes are in every type of wooded/grass area- so, I took a picture of my discovery and got the heck out of there.

We also found some sand volleyball courts, so I'm sure we'll be back :)

good to keep in mind

sometimes, I need a pick-me-up...

“The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.” 

-Marjorie Pay Hinckley

<3

“In all of living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured.”

 -President Gordon B. Hinckley

it's all about the attitude

- life should be good people-

I love all of these quotes from President Hinckley and his wife. These are quotes I've been reading for years, but I've really taken them to heart lately- especially this one-

“It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don't worry. I say that to myself every morning. It all works out in the end. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers."

 -President Gordon B. Hinckley

and I can never hear or read this one without smiling-

            “True love is not so much a matter of romance as it is a matter of anxious     

                                    concern for the well-being of one's companion.” 

― President Gordon B. Hinckley

when Jeff and I had been dating for a few months we read this quote from a handout that was in my scriptures or something, and Jeff turned to me and was like, "I have a lot of anxious concern for your well-being" and umm we kind of just looked at each other all nervous, and then decided to brush that convo under the rug and play five rounds of mariokart instead

we took things slow, kept it real lol

and now whenever I see that quote I can't help but smile at our awesome nervous dating love moment.

back when we were just a couple of mariokart playin fools

Happy Monday!

It's 80 degrees outside right now and I'm loving it! The other day Jeff and I were going for a walk, but it was like, 65 degrees out so I had to rush back inside and grab a full on coat. I swear I'm from Idaho, but I might be turning into a wimp who's been spoiled by all of the warm weather we've been having lately.

 In other news........ half of my fam is off to Paris this morning and I'm a little bit jealous.

It's my youngest brother's last spring break while living at home and my parents surprised him with a trip to Europe. Best parents ever right? My parents have a thing where when it's your senior year you get to pick where the family goes on spring break- but generally it's understood that you have to stay in the U.S.- think, New York or Hawaii, but Matty lucked out! Initially my parents had told him no way- but then surprised him by driving him to the passport place, where he freaked when told he was headed to Europe. He was pretty excited:) My parents have always been pretty good with the surprises. Anyways..... for the next ten days they'll be running around France and then going on to spend some time in my favorite city....

......London



I know this picture is dark, but it's from when I was in London for a semester during a study abroad. Love this city! and I know they will all have a great time, can't wait to see the pictures!

I'm also in charge of setting Matt up with housing this week at BYU! I'm so excited for Matty to go to my alma mater.

in other news.... I'm all alone at work today and just got an email from the building/complex manager saying the cops were hunting for two guys who are apparently "on the loose in our building" ?! and to exhert "extreme caution," So yeah..... that's one way to make a Monday less boring right? No worries though, I just locked the front and back door and turned the radio up so maybe it will sound like there's a ton of people up in here.

 and on a much less serious note- I've been making goals for myself lately, some are more serious, and some are more fun- one of my more fun ones is to keep my nails in check. I need to break my habbit of tearing at my nails until they're bloody little nubs- i'm 24 now, and in my mind a 24 yr old has nice nails, also, bloody nubs are gross. To help me break my habit, I thought I would keep up with painting them and then I would be less tempted to pick at them.  I'm not digging the pastel trend so...I'm pretty much ignoring it, and went for a bright and shiny red that I love.

anyhoo....here's to a happy and safe (in the air and in my office!) Monday.

pictures from last weekend

Last weekend Amy, London and Madison came to Texas for a visit. They stayed out at Ann's and on Friday Jeff and I headed out there to see everybody.

Jeff literally had his hands full with his nieces all weekend long- he loved it.

I was excited to catch up with Miss London

We hadn't seen Madison since she first came home from the hospital so we were psyched to play with her all weekend. She is such a happy baby! Everytime time you would pick her up, her face would light up- who doesn't love that?

such a cute little face

the girlies

they were born about a week apart- and I actually remember when they were born bc Jeff and I had been dating for a few months by that time- and now they're turning 4! crazycraziness!

oh yes.... and in other news I made my very favorite dessert- tres leche cake. I didn't make it last weekend, but a couple weeks ago- but  I was kind of nervous if it would turn out- and it actually was super good! so of course I have document that since so often the things I try out in the kitchen don't turn out :)

What I Love About Spring

When I think Spring- I think new clothes! 

new weather = new wardrobe, or so I would like to think. 

Since Jeff's going to be in school for three more years, I can't exactly go all out in the shopping department, but I can work with what I have and make use of the back of my closet.

 

Everyone who follows me on pinterest would know that I've been diggin colored pants. Colored skinnies are totally cool again (I swear I only wore pink, yellow and purple pants the whole year I was 5) and thanks to a semester in London in 08' where I reverted back to my 5 yr old self and bought and wore only clothes that just made me happy- I have blue, green and purple skinny jeans. I was tempted to go out and buy a new pair, but hey- digging around in our storage closet works too :) 

I haven't been into using anything on my hair lately- no straightener, curling iron or blow dryer. It's just been such nasty weather lately- and any hint of humidity turns my hair crazy and makes me look like Fabio- it's true, just ask my old roommates.
However, I don't want to look homeless, so headscarves have been making a comeback. I also was able to dig these out of storage- and they do actually look a lot  like the ones pictures above. Pretty sure I got mine during high school, and may not have worn them for five years now, but hey, I'm sure glad I didn't throw them out!

Another thing I'm diggin- and by no means am I a style expert, I just know I'll get a hoot out of reading this when I'm old-old, is this button up chambray shirt

I kind of have to stop myself from wearing this everyday. Except for a while I was wearing it 90s style, unbuttoned and over another shirt- I thought it looked good lol until I saw a pic of myself in it and realized it looked really horrendous. I think it's bc of my broad back. Anyways...I still wear it all the time, just not as a shirt/jacket a la BoyMeetsWorls/SavedByTheBell.

oh yesss. I don't have this one yet because I don't have a closet full of brand new Nikes...that would be Jeff :) However, I told myself that I'd have to stick with running for a couple months before I upgrade to something newer and prettier. And yeah...after upgrading/reassessing my closet- it finally feels like Spring!

so overdue

Over Christmas break my mom gave me this baby.

I meant to post about it earlier- but totally forgot- oh well, better late than never!

It is literally everything about me from birth through age 6! It contains photos of me, cards my mom got while she was in the hospital giving birth to me, name lists of what she was thinking about naming me, letters written to me through those years from my mom/dad/brothers/grandparents, valentines, drawings, songs I made up- there's even a baggy containing my hair from my first haircut. 

Everything is in perfect chronological order- and when I say that everything is in here- I seriously mean everything. I even have a copy of my "abilities test" from kindergarten.

It is huge- and color coded :)

She says she's still working on the other years, but I am so glad I have what she already put together. This thing was A LOT of work! 

I really didn't have any of my own baby pictures so I love having so many at my fingertips. I also love when Jeff starts cracking up when he's looking through this- it's so fun to have someone (other than your mom) enjoy looking at your baby pics :)

I also loved being able to see pics that I'd never seen before- so I snapped a few (a ton) shots to put on the ol' blog

party baby/eskimo baby

Jordan dangling me over the side of the top bunk

chilling with my dad

playing tether ball with Chris... and I'm totally about to get blasted 

creepy child with a bowl cut alert

me and my mama :) /me and my mullet

I look like such a little show off, but I loved that bike

I was into frogs and robots

Chris, Jordan and me

me and my bowl cut holding Matt

*Jeff saw this pic and was like- "you look just like I did! we could've been twins!"

Jeff also had a giant bowl cut lol

Big thanks to my mom for putting in all of the work and for actually caring about every drawing I did and note that was written- I LOVE the letters in there from you and dad and from the grandparents. 

so yeah, and since I know everyone was totally fascinated by this post and is dying for more of me, me me, I'll totally let you look at it if you come over, 

lol-and I'm totally kidding....unless you're serious.