nifty fifty

Ever heard of a nifty fifty? If not, it's a dance party that lasts exactly 50 minutes. Last night, I experienced my first one. At USU, there is a nifty fifty club, and only those who know of it can go. They send out a text with the time and location and basically if you don't get the text or know someone who gets a text then you don't know about it. Lucky for us girls in 402, our lovely neighbors across the hall know all the happenings at this school and they invited us to come with them! It was in a parking garage and there were crazy lights, loud music and lots of people having a great time! One of the best parts of nifty fifty nights is it is generally the more "polite" crowd at USU so you don't have to worry about someone trying to get their grind on with you. Haha anyways, our group of girls we went with were probably the coolest people there because we were all dancing our cares away and laughing the whole time. While this is all happening, I'm just thinking to myself "We have been at school for basically 2 months and we have never hung out with our neighbors because...????" Seriously they are so nice and so much fun! [Side note: apparently they were thinking the same thing about us and we decided afterwords we are going to team up and pull pranks on rooms in our building and also hang out tonight for Halloween!] Back to the dancing: it started at 9:30 and ended at 10:20 and can I please get a drumroll for the most hilarious moment of the night?!............. Near the very end of the dance the music cut off and we were all thinking HEY at least finish the song! So guess what we started to do? We started singing the rest of the song "Low" and kept dancing and I am pretty sure any one who didn't know us probably thought we were drunk.... now guess why the music was cut off in the first place? Yep, the cops showed up. So there we were, probably looking like little wasted freshies with the cops right there. Oops! Haha when we figured that out we quickly scurried away. I am sure it looked really suspicious, but eh we got away without any questions and have a funny story to laugh about!
And that is my first experience with a nifty fifty and not to be the last I hope!

Have a Happy Halloween

HOWLin good weekend!

This past weekend was the infamous Halloween dance party- THE HOWL- put on by the one and only Utah State University! Out of our roommates, me and Carl were the only ones daring enough to check out what our school is made of. We had all heard it was pretty sketchy and for that reason none of our other roomies wanted to join us. However, I am totally happy I went because there was not a moment that I felt creeped out! We talked to some people who went last year and they said the school had done a good job at cleaning it up a ton so we got lucky that it really wasn't as wild as we heard it was going to be! The highlight of the night was Shiney Toy Guns! They are so good and I am sad no one really knows them very well because OH BABY I was having such a good time singing along and dancing to the music but none of the girls I went with knew who they were so I hope they were having a good time! Also, our great friend Baylee came over before we left to do our make up and let me tell you, that chick's got talent! I told her we have to be friends forever and whenever I get married she is going to do my makeup for the occasion (: She is such a sweetheart for doing that for us! Plus, she told me I have a good face for make up (probs my black lips) so she was just making me feel so good about myself and I decided even though she's the sassiest woman I know, I love her to pieces because she is always straight forward and honest and so when she tells you something, you can believe her! Another awesome thing about Saturday was the fact I got to see some familiar faces I miss and love! My bestie Emily came up, Haley Roberts and her roommates came up from BYU (I miss Haley so much! She is one of the funniest girls I know. Even though I am bummed I didn't know her very well most of high school, I am soooo happy I got to know her my senior year because she is so great!), even my brothers friends came up, Travis and Murph, and gave me a quick visit before the dance!
Alright, so now you know about my Saturday, let me tell you about Friday and how I kick started this HOWLin good weekend! Friday was beyond gorgeous up here and I had made plans with myself to study that afternoon (even though it was so beautiful out), BUT my plans changed when my friend Josh invited me to go climbing up the canyon! Do you think I was going to miss out on that opportunity to be cooped up indoors and study?! Heck no! So after I got back from Institute I hurried and changed and ate and scurried out the door! We also picked up 2 of his friends who are super nice and proceeded up the canyon (after I met their kitty cat that they are harboring in their dorm :) ) The place we went looked pretty tough, but I was with three cute guys so I just went along with it! When they told me I was up next I was pretty nervous because it looked really hard but I harnessed up and started climbing! It did take me a little while and some advising from the boys below, but after a while I made it to the top and felt so victorious! One of the guys told me I was the third girl he had seen make it to the top so that is pretty cool! (Here's a secret, there were several places on the climb I was tempted to say I was good and be done, but hello I didn't want to look like a noob, so I kept going and that worked out well because making it to the top of a hard climb is one of the most rewarding feelings!) Haha sometimes it is easier to push yourself when you have some motivation, know what I mean?! Haha anyway, even though I should have been studying, I am so happy I took advantage of the beautiful weather because guess what?! Yesterday... IT SNOWED! yikes.
That ended up being quite a ramble of things, but there ya have it! My HOWLin good weekend! (:

Let's Go On An Adventure!

As promised, I have a cool adventure from the other night. Before I begin, let it be known I was totally safe and clearly I am alive today so it isn't a big deal. Alright, here we go
Tuesday evening, 6 college students were looking for an adventure to spice up their night. Naturally they decided to go explore the Concrete Jungle (this sick location up Logan Canyon that is all tagged up and cool lookin'). However, this wasn't the average trip people normally go on. No; they decided to make it more interesting and go rappelling!
You could say I was pretty nervous at first, but hey, we had some expert strong young men helping us out so #YOLASWEG.
Up at the Concrete Jungle, there is this water tower thingy (I just say that because it reminded us girls of the water tower on Aquamarine) and that is what we rappelled off of. To get up there, we had to harness up and hoist ourselves to the top because there is nothing to grab or step on. Let me tell you something, Tuesday night was FREEZING and extremely windy. So my hands were not functioning normally. Haha that made the climb that much more interesting.
Anyway once we all go to the top, we took a moment to lie down on the very top and look up at the stars. Holy smokes, stars are cool. The sky was so pretty and even though I was close to hypothermia I was happy to be there with those cool people. We kept ourselves warm by thinking about the following things: Big cups of hot coco, hot tubs, saunas, electric blankets, and Hawaii. (it only helped a little).
Next thing I knew, we were all harnessing up to get back down. I had rappelled a couple weeks previous in my rock climbing class, but even then I hesitated for quite a while. I probably looked like a weeny at first but give me a break, that initial lean off the edge is freaky deeky! Once I got going though, it was a piece of cake... UNTIL... my hair got stuck in the belay device. :( Yes, sad day. I had to just man up and rip my hair out. You can't really tell (fortunately!) But still, for a girl trying to grow her hair out that was a hard thing to do. Oh well! I am all good!
After a while, everyone made it down and it was time to pack up and go. We had some good laughs during the whole process and that continued as we made our way down the mountain. School is cool for 2 reasons. 1) meeting awesome people is an endless adventure up here! 2) Spontaneous activities happen on the daily, so when you are done with homework for the night it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to find something fun to do!
Sadly I don't have a picture of this adventure, but believe me when I say it was friggen cool!

the right track baby

Soooo I have about 5 minutes before a study group and I am the only one here, so what can I do with 5 minutes?! Share some exciting news! Yeah!
The exciting news... I'm on the right track baby! Why do I say this? Some may think it is small, some may think it is insignificant, but for me it was a total confidence booster!
You see, I just had a meeting with someone who works with "The Writing Fellows", an editing program here at USU and guess what she said about my paper?! She found nothing that needed to be improved! For a college paper on comparing two minor characters in two different Shakespeare plays, I would say that is pretty neat. And I am pretty happy about it. (:
Yep, that's it. I have some other stories from this weekend and a pretty crazy adventure from last night, but those will have to wait til another time.
 Have a Happy Wednesday people!

Good Weather & Big Smiles

This pic has nothing to do Saturday, but this is from when me and Rachel went on a double date Thursday to the Rock Haus and it just makes me happy to look at (: We are both just so happy! It is probably because we love to climb our cares away. Not to mention Rachel is some kind of climbing prodigy! She kills 5.12's. NOT KIDDING. What a babe. It is no wonder she gets a number everywhere she goes!!!

Honestly, the wind caves are SO SICK

I love how free Rachel looks!

Can we just take a moment to look at how cute we all are?? I LOVE these girls.

This is our "Strangle" dance

And this picture folks is my latest obsession. I am so so so incredibly blessed to have these two girls as roommates. I got so lucky. <3

This is another good one. It is just way cool okay??

Candid photos are the best kind of photos

I love Fall. I don't know if it's because it's the current season, but it's kind of my favorite lately.

Logan is gorgeous 

Happy Hikers!!!

I miss taking and editing pictures like this every week :(((
Missing my camera TONS. Can't wait until I can snag it when I head home this weekend!

Now that you have a taste of my Saturday, let me gloat about how fantastic it was.
We decided to go on a spontaneous hike Saturday with our new friends Brenton and Garrett. Those two boys are awesome. I like hanging out with them lots. Maybe the very first picture of the post is relevant because they are the boys we went on the date with! Anyways, they are just lots of fun and we all have a great time together. We just play silly games and laugh the entire time. For example, on our way down the trial we played follow the leader and it got pretty intense. There was lots of jumping, yoga postures, running, and weird noises. Haha me and Kenzie might have both had our struggles too. On one of the challenges I fell down a cliff and Kenzie broke a giant root she was doing a handstand on! Hahahaha we definitely fell to the ground after both incidences and laughed histarically until we cried (and maybe leaked in other areas too... hahaha!)
The Wind Caves are seriously way cool. I love that hike. It is not a stroll up the mountain, thats for sure, but it is a very fun one! I can't believe they were made from the wind, but nature is a beautiful mystery and one of my all time favorite pass times is spending time in it!
I am also stoked I got to do this hike when all the leaves are changing colors. Every second I felt so blessed to live in such a beautiful area and I cant count the number of times I commented on how incredible the view was.
ALSO, Logan has been getting pretty stinkin' cold the past couple weeks and this past Saturday could not have been a more perfect day for a hike! It was warm and sunny and had just the right amount of breeze to cool you off from climbing up a mountain!
All in all...
 Logan is gorgeous, the wind caves are cool, I have the best roommates ever, everything is better when you are laughing, and college is the funnest.

FALL in love

The Logan Cemetery 

I snapped this way quick on my way home from my first class this morning. Holy moly this place is gorgeous, my iPhone SO doesn't do it justice.

Tis the season for changing leaves, big comfy sweaters, pumpkin spice hot coco at 7-11, apple cinnamon compote, beanies and corn mazes! <3 <3 <3 <3

The Saratov Approach

Last night Carly, Saige and I treated ourselves to a roomie date to go to the movie The Saratov Approach. You guys, this movie IS INCREDIBLE! If you haven't heard of it, it is a true story of the two missionaries who were serving in Russia and were kidnapped about 15 years ago. Here is a taste of  it...

It was intense, inspiring, emotional, personal and true! I highly recommend it.

While I was watching it, I was thinking of my friends who are serving their missions right now. I know they are going to be protected and kept safe but it just makes you realize the realities of a mission that aren't spoken of. Honestly, I am sure missionaries go through things similar to that all the time. Fortunately, if they are there for the right reasons and are doing their best work, nothing should happen to them.

The most inspiring thing about this movie is the faith the missionaries exhibit. They are in one of the worst situations possibly imaginable and they are still able to talk to each other like friends and learn more about the other. They share their testimonies in ways they never would have before, they keep their calm through talking about passions such as basketball back home, and the coolest thing is one of the kidnappers who is in charge of keeping watch over them overhears all of this and he is changed as well. He even asks the missionaries to pray for him and his family.

One of the coolest quotes of the movie is this: Light always shines through darkness.

Through their faith, they shine through the terrible motives of the kidnappers. If they hadn't been willing to continue to "teach someone everyday of their mission" they probably would not have made it out alive. But because they shared their testimonies through action they came out victorious and changed the hearts of some of the darkest people. 

So if you are looking for something to do in the next couple months, go see this movie! There is no way you would regret it. 

1,477. 8 miles

You know who I have so much respect and love for? My home girl Abby Parish. That's who. She is always there for me, no matter what. Even though she is 1,477.8 miles away from me, I know she will answer when I call, listen to me when I need to talk, and laugh with me about everything and anything. In my mind, she is the epitome of a good friend. She accepts who I am in all forms and I am eternally grateful for that. Seriously, she is one of the few people I have in my life who I can tell anything and I don't have to worry about being judged. How cool is that? There are not many people willing to share your trials but she will listen to me for hours even after I have totally overstayed my welcome or reached the limit on how much you should say about something. She is there for me in my happy times and she is there for me in my hard times, which is equally as important. 

The reason I just really need to get this out is because I just had a solid conversation with her for 1 hour and 1 minute and I was able to pour my heart out to her and she gave me the perfect feedback and told me just what I needed to hear. And no... she doesn't tell me what I WANT to hear. She gives her opinion honestly and genuinely. This world lacks those qualities and I am so blessed to have a friend who radiates both flawlessly. 

Basically, I just really love her. And I miss her to pieces because 1 hour 1 minute isn't nearly enough. All I am saying is why should someone get to share the happy times with you if they aren't willing to be there for you when you desperately need a friend??? That is something to think about when you are choosing who you should be spending your precious time on life with.

One last thing...

If you don't HAVE a friend like this, BE a friend like this. Honestly, there aren't many people I could say this about. Be willing to understand the people around you. Don't be judgmental; you have no place to say what is and isn't a big deal to a person because to them, it could mean the world. Listen. Give advice. Be honest. Laugh. LOVE.

A Personal Favorite

Recently, one of my friends told me they admire my confidence... I was just like whaaaaaa? I have never felt like a confident person, but you know what? You don't have to feel confident to be confident! Seriously, I tell myself this EVERY day....

Its true, it is easier said than done. But once you get in the habit, it will start coming naturally.

When you feel sad, SMILE. Eventually you will find yourself laughing about something for real.

 When you are hurt, BE STRONG. Don't let yourself shrivel up, that is exactly what the world wants. 

When you are embarrassed, OWN IT. Just laugh it off. Be the person who isn't afraid to make fun of themselves.