The Flight annd...The. Best. Christmas. Ever.

Hey, girls, hey!!! I'm back! Sorry it's taken so long but I'm finally settled in here in Arizona. Saying goodbye to my family was hard and we all cried as if one of us had just died...luckily that's not the case. I just won't see them until May. Anyway, once I flew into Mesa I was greeted by Misty, James, and the girls. They were excited that I was there and that made everything so much better! It makes such a tremendous difference when people can't wait to see you. And I've skyped people every night so that has made things easier too! (My awesome old roommate Stephanie...cried saying goodbye to her too, my sister Sapphire and the rest of my family, and Candice!) So, long story short, the move went well and now I'm just chillin down here enjoying the 80 degree weather.
Now, I'm ready to tell you all about the Best. Christmas. Ever.
Are you ready?
Here goes...
So, as you know, Christmas was on a Sunday this year. We decided that we weren't going to open any presents before church that day and so off we went on our merry way. Our church Christmas program was awesome and the spirit was super strong! There were some really beautiful musical numbers that just about made me cry. Then we came home and opened gifts and I received a beautiful Canon T3 for my birthday/Christmas present! (Thanks, Mom!!..er....Santa) After everyone was done opening their gifts I told them to hang on, I had something to give them all. So I went and grabbed what I have been working on for awhile...poems I had written for each one of my family members. I handed them all out and, as they read them, my family began to cry. Omygoodness. Can I just say how much I love my family? It was one of those things that you will never forget and, though it sounds cheesy, now it's definitely the most special Christmas memory that I have. After a few more hours of just spending time with my family I received an amazing surprise, a phone call!!!  That was the cherry on top of my awesome Christmas.
It was just a really incredible day filled with all things good.
I can't even express what a great Christmas I had.
I love my family.
And I'm going to be sharing the poems I wrote for each one of them so that you can get to know them a little better and love them too. Keep your eyes open for them and enjoy!

Stay Tuned!

Sorry I've been such a bum when it comes to posting! Between being home with my family and starting to pack for AZ I haven't had too much time to blog but let me just say, this was The. Best. Christmas. Ever. I'll tell you all about it as soon as I have a free moment. And then I'm going to be sharing a year in pictures and some writings which are pretty special to me. So stay tuned! The next few posts are going to rock your socks off! Because, believe me, this week has definitely rocked off mine! Be back ASAP!

I Need This

Seriously.

Love. Love. Love.

So today I'm looking outside and it is BEAUTIFUL!!! Fall is so pretty!! I love how the trees are turning red and gold and are still speckled with green. I love how open and natural and gorgeous it is here at home. (I came home for fall break.) Also, last night I was just overwhelmed with how pretty the sky is here. I never realized how much I loved the wide open spaces and star-filled sky until I went off to college last year and light pollution ruined my view of the constellations. Anyway, I just thought I'd share some of the things I love with y'all!

I LOVE:

my family.

my friends.

my awesomespice roommate.

our apartment.

the country.

Husker football.

all things lace.

purple.

animal print.

dancing.

unique dates.
sunsets.
rain.

being spontaneous.

anything from the 1920s-1950s.

weddings. i am a hopeless romantic.

babies/kids. LOVE.

Disney.

writing.

photography.

random pawn shops.

my converse shoes.

shoes in general.

getting my hands dirty.

being outside.

singing to myself.

my siblings. I know I already said family, but it deserves more attention b/c they're my best friends.

my parents. they're seriously awesome. best mom and dad in the world.

I could go on and on and on. So I'll stop there before you fall asleep. Buut here are some pictures of a few  things. Just for good measure.

^ This picture^ represents two things i love: my awesomespice roommate and being spontaneous. The night this picture was taken we randomly decided to have shopping cart races in the Walmart parking lot...in the rain. 

^A little girl who I made friends with yesterday. Her name was Faith and I'm pretty sure she loved getting her picture taken more than anyone I've ever met. Pretty freaking adorable right? =)

My favorite pair of shoes. 'Nuff said.

My daddy, greatest man I know, with my little cousin Cambri. Isn't she just the cutest thing you've ever seen!?

One of my random pawn shops. I was actually on a date when we drove by this and I got pretty excited about it...don't ask why, I think the name of the store just intrigued me. Anyway, he was a pretty awesome guy so he pulled a U-turn right there and we went back and looked at it. Pretty sure it's a place meant for druggies...but I still like it.

Beautiful Fall!!! This tree was exactly half red and half green.

Okay this wasn't actually on the list, but it's something else I love. This is a sculpture of a silver tree here on campus and it's right in the middle of a bunch of normal trees. You can't really tell how cool it is in this picture but let me tell you, it's awesome. Probably one of my favorite sculptures of all time. I always wonder if a squirrel (we have tons of those on campus too) has ever tried to jump from a normal tree to the silver tree...b/c if it did that would be an epic fail.

Did I ever mention that we raised 5 baby raccoon? No? Well we did. And I loved them too.

I also love my dog, Rue. She's a sweetie...and here she's burying a piece of pizza which makes me love her even more because that's just awesome.

Another little cousin I watched this summer along with her brother. I cannot even express how much I love those kids!

Nebraska. LOVE where I'm from.