Watched Over

My family has really been looked out by Heavenly Father for the past few days

^ (this is Tash, me, and Jordan)

My aunt Jill posted this about my cousin Jordan:

"Jordan was in a car accident last night, but luckily, nobody was hurt. He was out doing missionary splits, and they were hit by a sweet older woman in her 70's or 80's. She didn't see them coming and pulled out from the stop sign, clipping the tail of the truck as he was going 60 mph (speeding up to avoid her) down the highway by the Benjamin exit. The truck actually turned around 180 degrees and ended up on the other side of the road. They almost went over the drop-off, but stopped just in time. If Jordan hadn't seen her coming and sped up a little, she could have hit the passenger side further up where the missionary was. There were several other cars in the area, and it was good that no other cars were involved. Everyone was wearing seat belts. He feels that they were watched over."

My grandparents were on their airplane to Chile for their mission when the huge earthquake hit. The plane turned around to Miami and now they are waiting in Dallas. They were a few hours away from being hurt, killed, or stranded. Not only were they lucky in not being there during the earthquake, now they will be able to help a lot more when they get there!

And other such small incidences in my immediate family too. I know these are not coincidences! If you're doing what's right, you'll be watched out for. Especially with missionary work. Once again, I love missionaries

Birthday Boy

HAPPY 17TH BIRTHDAY,

QUENTIN!


Isn't that a cute Sesame Street looking cupcake? I took my forever to line up those sprinkles. We had the Funfetti cake mix, and lots of left-over sprinkles from making Funfetti cakes in the past, but no frosting. We didn't realize until after we sent dad to go buy cupcake wrappers. So I had to make it homemade. But I made icing instead of frosting without realizing it. Hmpfh.

Well, I hope he had a good day. Birthdays are big things. And I shouldn't have had 2 cupcakes today.

Well I should go study for my algebra 3 test now. I hope you all had a good day. And I have exciting news for tomorrow.

Surprise Package

This is what I got in the mail from my cousin Stephen! He's on a mission in Japan, and will come home in September. We're the 2 oldest cousins on my mom's side of the family. He has always felt like a brother, and seriously looks like he is my brother. I didn't see him too much (growing up in Japan and all), but there's always been that connection. My heart broke when he left on his mission...I just broke down and cried. It was weird. Because I was proud of him going and stuff, and it's not like he died or anything haha I'm just a drama queen.

But I have been faithfully writing him letters. It is stinky that because I'm not his immediate family, I can't email him, and have to write snail mail which takes forever to get to Japan.

We were assigned to give each other Christmas presents this year, but it had to be something handmade or used. Well, I couldn't think of something used to send to a missionary, so I wrote him a letter. But to make it more special, I only bore my testimony and had all my friends do it with me. I never got his gift, and found out from this letter that then longer he's out, the busier he gets, and the last letter he was able to send was one for his dad's birthday back in October. And he's been working on my Christmas present this whole time. He says this isn't even the real deal - this was to say sorry and to give me something for Vday. I've been craving Japanese candy lately, and so I was SO happy to get a box full. And isn't the letter folded all cute? You can tell he's been in Japan haha.

I can't wait for my gift now!

I love missionaries. I want to be one someday.

School

I applied to 6 different places for college:

BYU - Provo
BYU- Idaho
U of Illinois - Springfield
Southern Utah University
Utah Valley University &
Southern Virginia University

I got accepted to all. I applied to all by Halloween and heard back from all of them except BYU Provo by the middle of November. But I just heard back from BYU Provo this past week. I was really starting to think I wasn't going to get in. But I did! The only problem is...I got accepted to summer term. I wasn't expecting or planning for that. I didn't even know that could happen.So here are my dilemmas:

1. I didn't think I was going to get accepted to BYU Provo, and was looking more towards SVU
2. I was planning on getting a summer job and saving a ton before I left. Yes I can get good jobs at BYU, but still
3. I was going to be in the Nauvoo Pageant with my family this summer
4. I don't think I can get any scholarships from BYU
5. I'm not sure if my dual-credit classes will transfer over to BYU
6. Virginia is way prettier than Utah (you know it's true)
7. People do go to BYU just to get married
8. My dual credit classes transferred right over to SVU and I've tested out of my language classes because of my Japanese
9. So I could finish my bachelor's degree in 3 years at SVU
10. I have a admissions counsellor and somebody setting up my class schedule for me at SVU that keep in touch with me all the time and are very reliable and helpful
11. I got a free tshirt from SVU (that's all that matters, right?)
12. I'm having a freshman study group being set up for me at SVU where all the kids will have the same classes as me
13. General authorities and such won't come give talks at SVU like BYU
14. SVU is expensive
15. The closest temple to SVU is the Washington D.C., which is a bit more of a drive than from BYU to the Provo temple
16. I will be surrounded by American history in Virginia (which I love)
17. They serve good southern pie in the cafeteria at SVU (gotta love the South!). That sounds much more appetizing than Mormon jello salad (haha jk jk)
18. I will have less time to spend with friends and family and get everything situated before I leave for BYU (June 21st for BYU vs. August 30th for SVU)
19. I will have relatives and friends in Utah that I already know and can help me if I need it (even though everybody's moving or going on missions all of the sudden haha)
20. Virginia is on the East Coast which is very cool for many reasons
21. I don't know anybody personally that has gone to SVU so it will be an adventure and I won't just be following the crowd by going to BYU-Provo or Idaho
22. Virginia is a closer drive. And the campus is older and cooler
23. It will be a small liberal arts college that doesn't sound as intimidating or competitive or lonely as BYU
24. I have a better chance of getting scholarships at SVU
25. Whether I go to BYU or SVU, it will be pretty far away from home and make me more indeiependent
26. I have a better chance of going to go study abroad at SVU
27. It would be less competitive to be in the clubs and extracurricular activities at SVU
28. Both schools provide the major I'm thinking about
29. No matter where I go, I'll always be a Cougars fan

Do you see why I'm so confused? I thought once I got my BYU acceptance letter I would just go there and everything would work out perfectly. And of course everyone's telling me to go to the BYU's because they went or their kids went and liked it. But nobody close to me is giving me feedback on SVU.I danced with a kid in my stake last night that got accepted to BYU-Hawaii. Craziness.

So I'm still thinking and praying.

Wives and Daughters

I just finished watching Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters. I've seen North and South too, and now I want to read the books. Unlike Jane Austen, Gaskell got married and had a bunch of kids. Charles Dickens and Harriet Beecher Stowe were visitors in her home. And it's not just about romance like Jane Austen. The environment and culture around them gets pulled into the plots, like the industrial revolution and trips to Africa, and British men not being allowed to marry French women...I wish Jane Austen had a little bit more of that.

I can't believe I didn't know about her before. I like good stories. I hate going to the bookstore lately and everything is vampire. Ew. Twilight was more than enough. And what's up with books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? And all these other people who go off of Jane Austen? Please be original. And no, immortals are no better than vampires in originality. Why does it have to be a contest to see who can write the grossest, sickest, twisted book lately?

I'm just tired of feminists lately. I'm all for women's rights and being free to do what you want to do, but what if you want to be a mom and a housewife? Not because you're ignorant, and think that's your only option, but because you've actually looked into it and studied it, and decided it will make you the happiest? Why are those people looked down on? Why does nobody want to get married or stay faithful or stay married lately? Gah.

Wives and Daughters was a good one. And I like the story in this better than North and South. It shows the complicated daughter-stepmother, daughter-father, son-father relationships that we have. I just like the fact that the people act like real people, unlike books today where everything has to be extreme. You can watch it for free on the Netflix site. It's definitely worth watching!

Southern Virginia University

I went to the Southern Virginia University campus at the very end of January. Dad drove me and Tash out. That was the farthest east I've ever been! We got out of school early on Thursday, and then dad drove us to Monmouth so he could teach his class before he left. Me and Tash read in the library and dad let his class out early. We drove all through the night both ways. We got to Buena Vista, VA early Friday morning. But it was too early to check into our motel. We had to kill osme time before the Visitor's Center opened too. Then we drove an hour and a half to Appomattox. We took pictures and took the tour. It was depressing. I could tell that Virginia would be very pretty in the spring, summer, and fall. It was a lot more hilly than Illinois. And there were mini mountains.

And I realized just how historic this state was. It had Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg. It was one of the original 13 colonies. Robert E. Lee, Geroge Washington, and Thomas Jefferson were all from Virginia. Most of the major events in the Civil War happened there. Al lthe buildings were really old and smelled old too. 90% of them were made from dark red brick and had white columns. We passed Virginia Military Academy and Washington-Lee University. We didn't go u pto visit, but we could see the flagpole that the students tore down the flag from in "Gods and Generals". We also passed the cemetary where Stonewall Jackson was buried.

The SVU campus was really old. It was an all girl's school founded in the 1860s. It looks like Hogwarts on the inside. The school colors are green and black and reminded me of Slytherin. It snowed a lot the day we visited the campus. I guess they never have that kind of weather and everyone was freaking out. A ton of professors didn't show up. And I missed some of my talent scholarship auditions. I had to walk to one of the professor's houses for one them. I was really nervous.

We paid a refundable downpayment to SVU, and they're already having me take lots of surveys and giving me lots of calls to see what classes they should put in my schedule. It would be cool to go there. They have great service. But I'm hearing back from BYU at the end of this week! Gah!

Happy Valentines Day 2010!

We got a lot of snow on Valentines Day here. It's been snowing all week. The roads are terrible! But I guess all of the US has been getting a lot of snow. Me and Tash wanted to have a photo shoot. But we didn't want to go out in the snow. And the whole house was a mess. So we kind of failed at that.

Tashi fixed our big flower pin! We bought it off etsy, and it broke the first day we wore it. It was lame. But I didn't really have enough hair for it anyways. So I kept not having the umph to fix it. Luckily Tashi did finally.

I wish I had the time to curl my hair everyday.

This is my mom's valentine:

This is Tashi eating her boyfriend. She got asked to prom this weekend (not by the chocolate cake)! Squee! We shared a dateless weekend together. The chocolate cake became our best friend.

Daddy bought us dark chocolate roses. They were hollow though, which was a disappointment,

I needed a new Facebook profile picture haha

This is my favorite neckalce (besides my YW medallion of course!) I have a necklace obcession right now. And I had too many valentines choices of clothing and accesories this weekend.

Well I hope you had a good Vday, whether you had a shmexy date or not. I hope you had lots of chocolate. I don't think people should be depressed, it doesn't matter if you have a significant other or not! Don't let other people determine your happiness! You eat that chocolate! haha

Vday Preparations

These are the Vday cards I made. I am not super artsy or good at drawing, and my resources were limited. I didn't know what to do to make valentines that didn't look like a 3 year old made them. But my mom had a huge scrap pile from fabric sets she'd cut for her business. And I got the idea to cut little hearts and sew them to the colored paper with a sewing machine. It made me feel very artsy.

And Amber went and got me a carnation for Vday, because she knew I was feeling down. It made my day.

Kansas Twister Quilt

This is my kansas twister quilt. Do you see how it's different from the one in the post just below this?


I have 18 blocks so far, and I've been finishing half to a whole block a night. None of the blocks are sewn together yet. But I've had experience with hexagons from my grandmother's flower garden quilt.


The back of a block:


I only have orange, red, turqoise, and purple right now. But I plan to have light blue, pink, green, and yellow too. I'm going to take 7 of the same color blocks to make a flower (1 for the middle, and 6 around), and connect the "flowers" with a solid block. I know it doesn't make much sense right now... I love holding up blocks to a window and making it look like stained glass.

Piles of fabric or colorful quilt blocks make me happy. Quilting takes my mind off things. It keeps me busy and pull me out of sadness because I'm doing something productive.

Tell my what you think :) Will my future husband like it? haha

For My Future Husband

I'm back in a quilting mood. I am not the best cook, cleaning is not my favorite thing to do, but creating and decorating is. I really want to take a interior decorating class when I go to college. I know cooking and cleaning are more important on becoming a wife, and it's not like I CAN'T do it, and I do need to prepare more in those areas...but...

Most girls my age are pretty close to getting married. I don't want to. I want to go on a mission first. I love missionary work. And a mission will prepare more me for a marriage spiritually, being with somebody all the time, and and all those household chores. Quilting won't help me much on a mission I'm a afraid.

And going through all this wedding stuff, I've found people writing letters "to my future husband". I thought it was really interesting. People had blogs with hundreds of letters posted. I don't know how you could write that much to someone you don't know. And in a way it was cute and romantic, but in a way kind of stalker-ish. And it just seems like a waste of time to me. Not if you're writing to a real person, I think that's cute later in life to go back through those letters together. And I think it's good to have the type of person you want to marry in mind.

But it got me thinking. So now I'm making a quilt for my future husband. Because quilts are much more useful than letters. And if I end up an old maid, I can still keep it for myself or donate it to charity or something, and it won't be a whole bunch of awkward letters, always reminding me I wasted my time. It's not very manful I'm afraid. But it's the pattern in the picture above.

The quilt in the picture IS NOT mine. I got it off the internet. I just wanted to show you the pattern because I haven't taken pictures of mine yet. It's called "Kansas Twister" with pinwheel hexagons. People think quilting and sewing is grandma stuff, but I can prove them wrong. Yes if you use grandma fabric it is, but my quilt is bright blues, yellows, oranges, reds, turquoises, greens, purples, and pinks for the pinwheels with a white background. I like bright colorful quilts.

I'm hand piecing it, which is nice because I can sit there and do it while I watch a movie or listen to music, unlike a sewing machine. Quilting is like my meditation. It clears my mind and I feel refreshed after I'm done. It takes all my anger away. I'll post pictures of it soon!

My house

I want my bedroom to look like this:

In a house like this, in florence.

Or a red brick and white pillar mansion in Virginia

or a pretty pink apartment in paris

With a vintage 30's or 40's style kitchen, and a room full of piles of fabric.

Honeymoon/Jewelry/Photographer

Really, all I want to spend money on my wedding is: my dress, honeymoon, and photographer. Those are my necessities.

My parents got married in the morning, and went straight to their honeymoon. After being gone for a couple of weeks, they came back for the reception. They said it was way less stressful, and recommend it to everyone, though no one has taken their advice yet. But I will. I can see how you want to get it all over and done with in one day, but it gives you more time to get everything for the reception right. And it seems like when you cram too much into one day, bad things are more likely to happen. And nobody's exhausted or having meltdowns. More time to relax and focus on you and your groom and close family before you face the rest of the people at the reception. Who cares about the other people, right? haha

And I want to go somewhere very warm and beachy for my honeymoon. I don't want a super long plane ride or a ton of jet-lag though. Let me tell you, that can ruin a whole trip. So maybe somewhere in the Caribbean? Hawaii might be too far...


I want Gloria or Heather to be my photographer. Keep it in the "family". Haha Gloria's my second mom. Take a look at some of their skills.


I just want simple classy pearl jewelry. They can even be fake for all I care.

Gah. Shoes are important to me. And I love the lace at the bottom of her dress

Ring and Dress

I want a simple feminine manicure, no extreme colors or fake nails

And I want a ring with a silver band (gold is ew). But I can't decide if I want a square or round cut diamond. And I just want the big main diamond in the middle.





And I've narrowed my dress choices down to 4:

1.

(i like the old-fashioned lace)


2.

(I like the A-cut-line on this one - but it is a little trendy)

3. Choice 3(I like the bows and the chapel train, but it might be a bit much)

4. Choice 4 (It's the simplest and cheapest, but I likethe sleeves)

The two above wouldn't let me copy the pictures, so sorry about that.

Tell me what ya'll think!

More reception

I would love to have my hair look like this for my wedding (man, that girl is skinny!):

But...because of my hair issues, it will probably end up looking more like the one below (minus the tan) haha

I love this Japanese-styled name card shoji stand. But I think it would also be fun to have people write wishes on them.

I love those big white Japanese lanterns. I have them in my room.

Koi is probably a far reach...but that would be so COOL to have at the reception somehow.

Dang these shoes are hot. I'm all for expensive heels at a wedding. What's up with everybody wearing converse and thinking their so original? I think it's ugly, cheap, low-class, and not original at all (not to offend anyone, but it's not for me)

I'm no super in love with these pink butterflies

Another cake idea