We're Gonna Make You Topsy-Turvy

We're gonna take you to a demolition derby! Well actually we're not, we already went and it was awesome! I love anything redneck but demolition derbies are probably my favorite. This year there were three fires and two or three rollovers and one car made it about five minutes with a missing a tire, it was great! However, I'm pretty sure my hearing is still suffering.

The Reflection in the Water

A couple of weeks ago my stake had an activity of which included a keynote speaker and some workshops. The keynote speaker was Paul Cardall and he spoke a lot on his heart condition he has battled his whole life. During his talk he shared a video that featured President Dieter F. Uchtdorf and a talk he gave in November 2009. I remember when President Uchtdorf gave this talk entitled The Reflection in the Water, I loved it then and it has been one of my favorite talks since. I've thought a lot about the message in this talk and how grateful I am to have a knowledge of who I am and where I'm going. With all of the challenges that we face here in this life, I can't imagine going through life without knowing that there is a purpose for those challenges and that each of us are divine beings with a Heavenly Father who loves us.

You can watch the whole talk by President Uchtdorf here or enjoy more Mormon Messages here.

Happy Birthday, Little Brother!

Today is my little brother's birthday. The big 2-1. I can't believe he's that old, mostly because I don't feel like it was that long ago that I turned 21. I also can't believe that in 16 weeks he will be coming home from serving a mission in Carlsbad, CA. I can't wait to see him!

A Few of My Favorite Things

I've always been pretty picky about the hair products I use and have been willing to spend a little more because I definitely notice a difference between professional products and products that can be purchased at the grocery store. However, when it came to skin care products I just used whatever it was that I could find at Target that didn't make my face breakout. Ever since I started school I have discovered the beauty (literally) of using professional skin care products. One of the things we get to do at school is participate in product knowledge classes on the different skin care lines we carry and use on our clients, my favorite by FAR has been Image. I have been blessed with pretty good skin overall but even after a couple of days using these products I noticed my skin just looked brighter, tighter and overall just healthier. I've also noticed my breakouts (even my hormonal acne) have decreased significantly. There hasn't been an Image product that I have tried and not liked, I definitely recommend it to anyone.

Some of my favorites:

Ageless Total Facial Cleanser

Ormedic Balancing Facial Cleanser

Vital C Anti-Aging Serum

Vital C Hydrating Repair Creme

Daily Defense Universal Moisturizer SPF 30

It's Been a Long Time!

So it's been a really long time...I think for a time I forgot I even had a blog. This last year and a half of my life has been an interesting one. I think it has been the hardest year of my life but I'm grateful for it. I've been able to learn a lot about who I am and what I can do and I'm grateful I've had that opportunity. This past year I have made a lot of changes all of which I think are for the better, though it's not until recently that I have felt that way about some of them.

In January I started Esthetics school. This is something I had wanted to do for a long time but I didn't know how I would have time or where I would go. I started looking around at different schools earlier last year but I couldn't find one that I liked that also offered financial aid. Then, late last year the owner of the school I liked the most called me to let me know that their financial aid went through and they would be starting night classes in January. I have loved school from the start. I especially like that it's at night because my class is smaller and everyone gets along really well which means NO DRAMA! The hardest part about being in school has been my schedule. I work full-tim during the day and have class three nights a week until 10:00 and school every other Saturday. Needless to say, outside of work and school, I have very little free time. The great thing is, I'm about halfway through and in eight months I will DONE!

In February I moved. I had lived at my place in Orem for two and a half years and I needed a change. I loved my house in Orem and my roommates were great, I also loved my ward but I knew it was time to leave. I found a little place in Pleasant Grove with great roommates and so that's where I moved. It's been a bit of an adjustment with not knowing anyone in my ward and not really having time to get to know anyone but it's improved a lot. I thought the guy to girl ratio in my previous ward was bad...this one is probably six girls to every guy, no joke. Aside from that the few people I've gotten to know are great and overall I'm pretty happy here.

Probably the biggest change I've made this last year was in December when I went through the temple. This wasn't really something I changed but it has definitely brought change to my life. I always thought I would go through the temple when I got married or because I was serving a mission but I guess things don't always turn out how you think they will. I'm so glad I was able to do it and I think the other things I have gone through this last year or so would have been way more difficult if I didn't have the temple as a part of my life. This has given me a much better knowledge of who I am and my purpose here. I've also been able to better understand that the Lord has a plan for me and even though I can't see how things will work out, everything will work out for my good someday.

So now that I've updated my blog, my goal is to keep updating it...we'll see how that goes. I will consider it a success if I manage to post agian before the year is over. :)