Happy

There's a lot of things in my life that make me happy...namely

-Ice Cream

-Family togetherness

-Gap

-Sleeping In

-Putting pajamas on long before bedtime

-Soup on a rainy day

-Snuggling

-When a dog puts their head in your lap

-Christmastime

-Going to church

-Milkshakes

-The beach

-Hugs

-Kisses

-Taking naps outside

-Endorphins from working out

-John Grisham books

-Christmas lights

Basically I could go on and on, but really what makes me most happy is Scott Jennings. That's why I'm going to marry him. :)

Photo evidence of happiness.

Lights/Nativity at Temple Square

St. Louis Arch

Last Easter's Egg Decorating

No Comment.

Thanksgiving in Santa Barbara

Mawage

Lately its hit me that I'm getting married. Like for real this time. I'm getting married. Up until now its been kind of this happy thought, but now the planning and hype is in full swing, especially as I have been home. I had a WONDERFUL bridal shower last Saturday, which was a blast. I am so lucky to have such great friends and family that love me and support me in the marriage fiasco. My cheeks were definitely sore after much laughter, smiles, and pictures. The ice cream bar was a hit, at least for me and the added goodies were perfect as well. In my mind, there's never a good party without good food. Thank you cards are now in full swing as well. It's all so funny how these everyday objects are so exciting to get. In case you didn't know, they now make pyrex pans with multicolored lids and handles. Genius. Oh, and registering at REI was the best decision we've made together so far. My outdoor adventures are about to get a million times more exciting. Well, hopefully I get good at this wedding planning stuff in time. Also, Princess Bride has forever hindered my internal saying of the word, "marriage."

The Impressive Clergyman: Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam...
[cut to Westley, Inigo, and Fezzik]
The Impressive Clergyman: And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva...
[cut to the trio again]
The Impressive Clergyman: So tweasure your wuv.
Prince Humperdinck: Skip to the end.
The Impressive Clergyman: Have you the wing?
[cut to the trio once more]
The Impressive Clergyman: ...and do you,Pwincess Buwwercup...
Prince Humperdinck: Man and wife. Say man and wife.
The Impressive Clergyman: Man an' wife.

Happy weddingness.

All the high school peeps

Halloween

This Halloween Scott and I decided to dress up as "Bradgelina" aka Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. It was soo much fun!! We went to my ward's Halloween party last Saturday and it was so neat to see the creative costumes. I feel like Halloween has turned into a creative costume contest because everyone was something so unique. The Mad-hatter won the costume contest, of course, but there was also dice, the tooth fairy, Clue characters, The Downey man, etc. I was very impressed.

Anyways, here is some pictures of the night. Enjoy!

Zero Bridezilla

I recently (as in last night) watched an awesome movie, Bride Wars. It was just to keep the happiness of wedding planning alive. (not that it ever died or did die, but you know.) I bought 3 wedding magazines, got some sherbet in a waffle cone, and snuggled with my boy, I mean fiance. tehe. It was a great night to say the least.

I feel like the general population stresses a lot about wedding planning, completely understandable. But I, Karalee Fuller (Jennings), commit to never stress about wedding planning period. However, I do give myself permission to stress about wedding planning when it is in fact, not my wedding as in my daughter's. How, you might ask is this going to be done. Well...

1. Watch wedding movies and laugh and fictional character's misfortunes.

2. Remember that mom is really the one that is stressed, not me. (sorry mom)

3. A wedding is only one day, a marriage is a lifetime and on to eternity.

4. Droll over wedding magazines.

5. Only make one major decision every week, when needed.

6. Make lots of wedding lists because lists are my best friend. hense the list

7. Continue to walk around glowing with happiness that I get to spend eternity with my best friend.

Here's a Bride Wars quote for your entertainment:

Marion St. Claire: A wedding marks the first day of the rest of your life. You have been dead until now. Were you aware of that? You're dead right now.
Emma: I understand.

Alarm Malfunction

On Monday night I was setting my alarm as usual...5:45am. I went to bed and got up when my alarm went off. I felt more tired than usual, but I went through my routine nonetheless. I said my prayers (don't ask me what I said I have no idea) washed my face, brushed my teeth, went to the bathroom, and started getting dressed for swim practice. At about this point I checked the clock out of habit only to realize that it was 1:06 am on Grace's speedy clock!! I couldn't believe it. I had woken up in the middle of the night and started getting ready. It was the strangest thing. I put a t-shirt on a hopped back in bed just thinking that a text message or something woke me up, too tired to realize that I had actually turned off my alarm. In the morning when I was more coherent I pieced it all together and apparently I had set my alarm clock for 12:45am instead of 5:45am. Maybe I should get more sleep. Haha

October 21st, 2011

This day was pretty memorable I guess you could say...just kidding it was the happiest day of my life so far!! On October 21st, 2011 Scott Jennings ask me to marry him and I said yes! So here's the story according to me. (maybe Scott's will appear here sometime)

HER STORY:

So for about a week we had been talking about driving the Alpine Loop in the convertible Beamer (thanks future father-in-law :). Scott switched out cars about Wednesday, I think so that we could enjoy the fall beauty that much more. As an FYI the Alpine Loop is a curvy, narrow, somewhat two lane paved road that goes up past Sundance over the mountain to Alpine, hence the name. Most of the trees are Aspens and on October 21st every single one of them had bright yellow and yellowish/orange leaves covering them against the bright blue sky. We couldn't have asked for a better day. It was a bit chilly, but I was perfectly content with a blanket over me enjoying the crisp fall air. Anyways, enough of the details.
We packed a picnic lunch beforehand equipt with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (for Scott), a peanut butter and honey sandwhich (for me), goldfish, an apple, some Reese's, and some water. Pretty simple so I thought nothing of it. I mean, if he was going to propose why would we make the lunch ourselves right? (point 1) We packed it all into the car and I evaluated his clothing of which was pretty fitted, no awkward ring box type shape anywhere to be seen. (point 2) We brought Scott's fancy camera, of course just to take pictures of the trees, which came in handy later. (point 3) I did in fact take quite the plethora of pictures of trees so if you're ever short on tree pictures, I got you covered.
As we drove we stopped every so often to take pictures/"look for a place to have our picnic." (point 4) Eventually we got to the top of the mountain and started heading down the other side a bit. We still hadn't found a good spot to have our picnic, but Scott thought we should just "keep looking." I had figured we would just have to pull off on the side of the road somewhere and ignore the road behind us. But somehow we came upon this little pull off that opened up into a fire pit area. I mentioned how that looked like a good place as soon as I spotted it. I didn't realize til afterwards, but Scott was already turning when I said it. However, I thought it was my idea. (point 5)
We got out of the car and got our picnic stuff out of the trunk. I thought maybe he would have the ring box in the blanket, but no. He swung the blanket over his shoulder like a rag doll. Most definitely not in the blanket. (point 6) So then we ironically found this nice little dirt path that lead into the woods and we decided to search for a "log" to sit on to eat our lunch. Scott went first down the path and I followed. I found a cool log, but apparently it wasn't good enough so we kept walking. The path went down the little hill and opened up into a field. In the middle of the field was...just take a guess.....well if you guessed CUTE LITTLE TABLE WITH FLOWERS, LACE TABLECOTH, AND CUTE PLACE SETTINGS you were right! Now you see, I saw the table from pretty far away and pointed it out to Scott. Scott responded, "What table? I don't see a table?" in his goofy, dumb voice. Silly Scott.
We walked up to the table, which had raspberries, grapes, pink lemonade, roses, the works. Soo cute! (point for Amy and point 7 for Scott) I was taking pictures of the trees and stuff, trying to ease the tension because suddenly I got really nervous because I knew it was coming. Then Scott kissed me, put his hand in his pocket, got down on one knee, and said, "Karalee, will you marry me??" I said YES! Happy kisses and hugs proceeded as well as an unnecessary amount of happy giggling from me. (ten million points)
We took lots of pictures and luckily we left our phones in the car so we just got to enjoy the moment for a while. I'm sooooo excited to marry Mr. Scott Nathan Jennings and be the luckiest girl in the world!!
Sincerely,
The future Mrs. Jennings

HIS STORY:

Well it all started about a week before once I had bought the ring. I had suggested to her that we borrow my dad's bmw and go drive the Alpine Loop with all of the beautiful fall colors the following week. Once I had the ring (Friday) I then started brainstorming up different scenarios of how and when to ask Karalee to marry me. Deciding I didn't want to wait too long, the Alpine Loop presented itself as the perfect opportunity.

So Wednesday I drove up the loop in order to scope out the perfect spot. After stopping at least half a dozen times I finally found the perfect spot. There was a little pull off, a bit away from the road with a little path that lead through some trees and down onto a meadow.

On my way home I called Karalee's dad to get his permission. He answered and after some small talk I said, "Well I bet you've been expecting this call for a while now." He laughed and after asking his permission he said yes. phew.

Thursday was my prep day. I first went and bought flowers 1 red, 4 white, and 3 pink (1 I, 4 love, 3 you). Then I got in contact with my sister Amy asking if she happened to have a folding table that i could borrow (that was how I ended up roping her into helping me). Turns out she did and so I went and checked it out. While we were shooting the breeze she offered to do the set up for the following day so Karalee wouldn't be able to suspect a thing. I showed her on google earth where the spot was and the plan was set.

Friday morning I went and bought fruit and lemonade for the picnic (and cold cereal as a cover story for why I was running late for picking up Karalee from the pool). I then dropped off the stuff at my sisters and went back to my apartment to grab the ring. I couldn't figure out a good way to conceal the box so i called my mom and she suggested that I tie a ribbon around the rings and just put them in my pocket. I of course didn't have any ribbon so i just stashed the box in my car and figured somehow I'd make it work (this comes is later).

After picking up Karalee from practice I had some good dead time waiting downstairs just waiting. While I was eating my cereal realized that the dried flowers on her wall were all tied around the middle by a little piece of ribbon. instantly putting 2 and 2 together I went into the kitchen grabbed some scissors and snipped off a piece (I figured she wouldn't mind too much). then i snuck out to the car, grabbed the rings, tied them together with the ribbon, and stashed them safely in one of the (zippered) pockets of my jacket. Soon my sister texted me that things were running behind up on her end and that I needed to buy some time. So after Karalee was done getting ready I ate some more cereal, we made our lunch together, and read an entire magazine sitting on the couch while eating yet another bowl of cereal. As we were walking out the door I texted Amy again to double check we were good to go and there was no reply. So trying to buy just a little more time we pulled off and filled up the tank before heading up the canyon.

On our way up the canyon we stopped for a second to let the big truck ahead of us get ahead, as we stopped I noticed my sisters car pulled off the road ahead and hopped that Karalee didn't (she didn't). We then continued on up the canyon up to the fork in the road where I knew we needed to go right. I said, "Which way should we go? We went left last time so let's go right." We then continued down the road and soon enough came the pull off. I suggested we pull of and we did.

After parking we grabbed the blankets and food for our picnic and started off down some random trail (wink, wink). As we were walking down the trail Karalee suddenly said, "Hey there's a table." I rebutted, "What table" (smooth I know). Karalee, "Is that table for us?" I just smiled and kept on walking.

Moments later we got to the table and Karalee started just snapping off pictures, I figured this was my opportune moment so I opened up my pocket and slid out the ring. We gave each other a hug, I gave her a kiss and interrupted with, "Karalee.." kneeling on one knee and showing her the ring, "will you marry me?"

-Mr. Jennings

Sicky

The pros of being sick:

1. Boyfriend brings beaUtiful flowers. (my favorite kind at that)

2. Boyfriend brings yummy clam chowder.

3. Boyfriend snuggles when everyone else runs away.

4. Abs are sore from coughing. (more sore than Tim's "ab" workouts)

5. Don't feel bad wearing sweats and not doing my hair all week.

6. It's much easier to do a deep voice for my frog sock puppet performance in drama class.

7. Get to use my cute little, colorful tissue packets.

8. Coughing keeps me awake in class.

9. Got to try a new flavor of cough drops.

Hey, at least there are pros right?

Fish-like

I often wonder why I became a swimmer. Of all the sports that I am aware of (sorry if I offend) swimming takes the most time and effort to be good at it. I've done it year round for about 12 years now with only August as a break or an occasional ankle surgery. Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I had chosen a different sport. Anyways, needless to say, my life is going to be very different when its all over in a couple of months. I'm so grateful for the talents that my Heavenly Father has given me, especially to swim. I'm pretty sure my life would much more miserable without those much needed endorphins that I get on a daily basis. Although I may complain from time to time about my sore muscles or lack of sleep, I really do enjoy swimming. The people that I have met because of swimming have been great influences in my life and I love the many happy memories that come with it all. Hopefully my athletic motivation continues throughout my life. I don't know if I'll be a stellar triathlete, but we'll find out. :)

This past weekend I went to Stockton, California for a swim meet. It was so much fun to swim outside and get a tan! I feel more confident in my racing then I did last year. Training during this past summer certainly helped with that. My times were much better then last year at this time, probably due to my recent ankle surgery then, but still good nonetheless. Hopefully the meets to come will be just as fun and successful!

Peace. Love. Swim.

Weeord

Sometimes I feel like have a lot of weird tendencies, just insignificant things. Like how I always have to push 22 on the microwave instead of 20. Or how I randomly get a cramp in my pinky or second to last baby toe. I always have to put make up on my left eye and then my right eye and I'd much rather pluck my right eyebrow than my left, it's just easier for some reason. My toenails are always painted no matter the season, I just can't stand to have bare toes. If "Party Rock" is on, I have to sing no matter where I am, it's just one of those songs. Supposedly I leave the kitchen cabinets open all the time, I think its just sometimes. Turning off lights are more automatic to me than closing cabinets I guess. My unique fact during get to know you games is that I can pogo stick. I bet lots of people can pogo stick, its just that they've never tried it before so it makes me look more awesome. And of course, there are countless other instances of weirdness. It make life interesting.

But the best compliment I've gotten from Sterling lately is when he told me, "You're weird and he's weird." Yes, Sterling I do have a boyfriend who appreciates my weirdness and I appreciate his. It's fun.

How Many Lbs to Drown?

So I recently discovered how many pounds it takes to make me drown...about 20 pounds and 15 yards in a dive tank. This was not a grand discovery, you see. I just happened to go to swim practice one day. Two bricks were handed to me, practically strapped to my chest and I had to kick, not swim to the other side of the dive tank. You don't dare drop a brick because 14 feet below is quite the distance when you're gasping for breath and have another brick to carry. Instead there was an unnatural desire to glue myself to those bricks even as I sank below the surface despite the ferocious kicking. I choked a few times and looked a lot more vertical than I was horizontal. Needless to say, I understand the concept of drowning quite a bit more, unfortunately. Oh, how I dread Tuesday and Thursday mornings. But need not fear, I'm sure I'm getting stronger...hopefully.

Wish List

Sometimes I make wish lists in my head. I know its not a very good thing to do because I can never have all the things I want nor should I be wishing them in the first place, but then again it's healthy to dream right? So I decided to write down a very short wish list so as not become an unhealthy wisher.

I wish...

1. I had jeep liberty. They're really cute, ya know.

2. Ice cream was good for you.

3. My family lived closer to me.

4. I could dry instantly after being wet. It would be an awesome super power.

5. I could remember everything a teacher ever said to me.

6. I was instantly an amazing photographer with all the expensive gear.

I Can Do It

So I have a crazy life, pretty much like a lot of college students. I work 12+ hours a week, I swim 20 hours a week, and I go to school. Sometimes it gets overwhelming, but not too bad so far. I just have to take one day at a time. Recently I had to write a paper for my health class about consciously observing my positive and negative actions and thoughts. My paper was pretty honest and I just put down what happens to me on a daily basis. Sure I have my ups and downs, but I think its more important to concentrate on the ups. I had a couple of rough days during my observation, however, and it showed in my paper. At the end of my paper my teacher wrote, "Wow--how do you do it all? work and swim and school?" It was so nice to have a professor of all people to notice my busy life as an outside observer and respect me for my hard work. It was such a nice comment to me for some reason and really perked up my day and attitude. I like the motto that Sister Susan W. Tanner said, "I can do hard things." It makes me feel so good when I accomplish a "hard thing" and just reflect on it.

Teaching

Surprisingly, I feel like I'm becoming a better teacher. I miss my gospel doctrine calling and LOVED it when I got to teach relief society. I taught my drama class a poem today and it totally flowed naturally. Things come quickly to me and I just feel like be a teacher was a life calling for me.

I wrote this little list for my TELL 430 class based off an article I read for fun. I feel smart. :)

Important Things to Remember When Teaching ELLs:

(according to Karalee Fuller)

1. Repetition is key. Just like you and me, they don’t understand everything the first time. Mix up the ways you teach important concepts to help it stick. (multiple contexts)

2. Just because a student can speak to you does not mean they understand the textbook or certain academic vocabulary. (BICS vs. CALPS)

3. English words are hard. Sometimes a word can be deciphered, but often times not. Would you know what the word interpretation means by just looking at the word?

4. Every ELL needs help outside of the classroom. In order to catch up to their peers they need more academic time. Ex: after school programs that support academic learning

5. Visual support helps ELLs. Pictures are the universal language.

6. Every lesson should be engaging and motivating.

7. Practice, practice, practice.

8. Relate new concepts to things they already know/prior knowledge, whenever possible. (scaffolding)

9. Group work has been seen to help with confidence and learning. The teacher doesn’t have to be the only one teaching.

There is not one “right way” to teach something.

Pool People

I've recently started working at the pool at BYU, lifeguarding. So there are many "types" of people at the pool. Let me just share a few of them with you.

1. The Fanatic Freshmen--99% are freshman boys who are showing off to each other/ the one girl there on the diving boards. They are literally fearless and most often not very smart when it comes to jumping off high objects.

2. The Chatter Boxes--women who come to workout and swim laps, but you most often find them standing at the wall telling stories. I'm sure they have really great stories.

3. The Flirtatious Few--There are a couple-three people here and there that tend to dunk and splash towards their opponent (aka girls) more than actually playing basketball. Rarely is a shot made.

4. The Overachiever Pregnant Lady--I'm pretty sure this lady is about to pop any day now. She comes and swims with her husband occasionally, who tries to surf on kick boards. It is quite a sight to see a VERY pregnant lady do backstroke. I'm sure it throws off your balance.

5. The Consistent Faculty--These are usually men who are there right at 11:58, waiting at the edge of the pool for two minutes until Faculty swim starts at 12:00. They stay right until 1:00 and always go in the same lane.

6. The Lifeguards--Probably the coolest people at the pool. We occasionally plank, drink smoothies, eat popcorn, and become computer zombies on break.

7. The Daring Grandpa--He comes with his daughter and grandkids and jumps on the 5 meter with them. He's still got it!

8. The Kick Boarding Boards--people who kick with kick boards with their bodies completely straight. Arms straight, legs straight, left pinky straight. So much in fact, that they don't move hardly at all no matter how hard they kicked. Some even move backwards.

9. The Non-Swimmer Instructor--The people that are teaching their buddies how to swim, yet they have interesting technique of the their own.

More to come I'm sure...

Planking

[The art of planking is to lay horizontally across any object or the ground with their arms by their sides, aiming to occur in daring situations or a brotherly display of core-strength...Planking is a great pastime for people who get bored easily and have friends willing to take pictures of them looking like retards. Public planking is more adventurous and is harder to pull off especially on things like: cop cars, public toilets, and in the middle of six way highways.] Urban Dictionary

So planking is one of my new past times. It's great fun, especially on dates or at work. I suddenly look at random objects in a different way. Could I balance on that ladder? or Will that bucket hold my weight? Very fun. Planking adds a lot of variety and spontaneity to your life.

Wacky Wednesday

Today was a bit wacky. Here's some of the adventures.

1. On the way to swim practice at 5:45 am this morning I was greeted by a very very happy/giggly couple walking together, arm over shoulder. I have no idea why they were so awake and what in the world they were doing. Strange.

2. I had a cookie for breakfast along with my cheerios.

3. Our warm up involved a 400 yd kick. For those who don't understand lengths in swimming, that is an unnecessary amount of kicking for a warm up. Most of the time we do about a 100 or 200.

4. My math tutor is a bit wacky. He was walking behind me for quite some time before I saw him to say hi while walking around a corner. I hope he wasn't there too long.

5. I actually participated in math today. Very wacky if you know me at all. Math and participating in class scares me.

6. There is a 20 year old girl in my math class who is 6 months pregnant. VERY WACKY. (she was married, but still wacky nonetheless)

7. I had breakfast for lunch thanks to Scott. It was awesomely wacky.

8. I'm wearing my balloon shorts because it was too hot to wear my jeans anymore. I really do feel like I'm wearing a pair of balloons on my lower half.

9. While walking home earlier today I noticed that I could not see a single cloud in the sky. That is how beautiful it was.

10. An old man at the Creamery randomly came up and started talking to me and Scott. I couldn't really understand what he was saying. Maybe his hearing aid had something to do with that. He gave Scott a high five.

[CHAT swim meet in Salt Lake City, UT]

[studying in the park for finals]

Smile

"Smile, cause you are happy, cause you feel like it, cause life is good. Feeling down? Write a list of good things, call a friend, go for a run, draw, write anything and everything down, turn up a song and dance like crazy, yell, jump on your bed, dress up like a rock star, put on crazy amounts of make up on for the heck of it, just smile." [Urban Dictionary]

And I'd like to add...make cookies, scrapbook, go swimming, try a new hairstyle, write a letter, take pictures of random things, eat ice cream, and call your mom.

"I just like to smile, smiling's my favorite." -Elf

"A smile is a curve that sets everything straight." -Phyllis Diller

"Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been." -Mark Twain

"Always remember to be happy because you never know who's falling in love with your smile."

"A smile is like tight underwear--it makes your cheeks go up." -Unknown

"Smiling is one of the easiest ways we can serve others." -The Friend

The Highs and Lows of Spring

[a relaxing Sunday afternoon in the park]

Highs:

1. Warmth. I love it. AND its not the kind of "warmth" I'm used to in the midwest where you walk around with your clothes sticking to you or your rearview mirror falls off because the glue melted off the inside window.

2. Flowers. The purple ones are especially appealing or when they are brought by a nice boy or helping grandma plant them.

3. Outside activities are highly enjoyable. Bike rides, hikes, swimming, volleyball, picnics, you name it, I've done it or have plans to do it.

4. I learned that Utah actually turns green. It was a little bit of a shocker.

5. Fun people. Provo is FULL of them, in case you didn't know.

6. Shorts. I love wearing shorts and my legs like them too.

7. Getting tan. It's a very fun thing because ironically I feel healthier, healthier looking that is. I'm sure the ghost look in the winter isn't very appealing.

8. Flip flops. They're in style because of spring.

9. Walks are bearable for once. You don't freeze or have a fear of falling due to cold precipitation.

10. Studying outside is much more fun and bearable than studying inside next to a person chomping on their gum.

11. It's light outside when I go to swim practice. Pretty cool stuff.

12. Utilities bill is lower.

13. Random road trips to Arizona for Memorial Day weekend.

[taken on a hike with Scott up rock canyon]

Lows:

1. ***ahh chooo***ah, ahh choo*** excuse me. The allergy season is here. It's not very fun.

2. Lots of rain. It's not very cool because it doesn't POUR or lightning very often, just spits all day long.

3. The nasty worms that appear ALL over the sidewalk after/during the rain. It's gross and I'm sure I've stepped on a good hundred, at least.

4. Spring semester classes. Boo, I would just like to play all day. Finals week starts tomorrow!

5. My room [loft] gets really hot due to the fact that hot air rises. I worship my fan.

6. Fuzzy slippers are too warm. They are keeping the bottom of my bed company.

7. Missing my family. They are tooo far away. This is the one and only time I have ever wished I grew up in Utah.

8. I'm taking a summer class and there is unwanted anticipation for its arrival.

9. Hard swim workouts that occur often. The ridiculously boring ones are the worst, however.

10. Having some of my friends gone for the summer because they went home.

[on road trip to Flagstaff, Arizona]

Family Photo

On May 9th, 2011 we had our latest family photo together. It was quite a momentous feat to get us all together and smiling, but it worked. As you can see we are one happy family and I love them all very very much! Let me analyze it for you.

Rachael is very happy as can be and beautiful as ever. It is appropriate that she is in the center of the picture.

Devin is the sweetest boy I know and for some reason never went through an awkward stage. Lucky. Maybe it'll catch up to him ;)

Mom is the pride and joy of our family and is gorgeous. Pure happiness from that face.

Dad is a goofball. Enough said.

Sterling doesn't quite know what he likes about his family and thinks we're all weirdos. (which we are)

And I'm just overjoyed to be taking a family picture! (especially with my new camera!)

Fuller Family Funness right there everyone.

Photography

If I could have a second major, it would be photography. I love it. I took a couple of classes in high school, a film class and a digital class. I looked into it when I came to BYU, but soon discovered you can't even take a single photography class unless you're in the photography major. So that bridge was burned pretty fast. I didn't feel like I had enough experience or talent to compete with the amazingness at BYU without even taking a class yet. SO my photography "skills" per say have been used just for fun as a hobby. Hopefully one day I'll be able to take some photography classes at a community college or something. My dream is to have all the pictures in my future home be ones I have taken myself. I'll probably need a cool camera one day for that to happen though. Here are some of my latest experiments.

Picnic by the Alpine Loop

My fun new sunglasses!

During a photo scavenger hunt. I liked the car.

Swim Meet in Logan, UT.

Spontaneity

Being spontaneous is one of my favorite things in the whole world. Why you may ask...well, because its just fun to relax and never know exactly what's going to happen next. I have some very good friends that will join me in my spontaneity outbursts. My life would be very boring if I had to have everything planned out in advance. There would never be any episodes of a last minute homework assignment that had to be laminated or as many trips to Grandma's. The way to absolute funness and great memories is through spontaneity.

Not everyone will try a random shirt on in the middle of Wal-Mart.

Why College Is Better Than High School

This post is dedicated to my sister, Rachael, because she is graduating from high school in a few weeks and doesn't quite realize what she's about to experience.

Here are some reasons why college, specifically BYU is better than high school.

**Rachael-prepare yourself for amazement.**

1. You'll meet new, amazing, quality people and you wonder how you survived before without them in your life. It may be scary at first to put yourself out there and form new friendships, but in the end it's totally worth it. (Chelsey, I love you.)

2. You feel more "adult like" when you suddenly have you're own little dorm or apartment and have to go grocery shopping at stuff like that. It's quite a wonderful adventure. The grocery story is actually really exciting, especially at 11:00 at night. Click here for proof.

3. You get to have and go to random crazy parties that mom and dad would think you're crazy to go to and try to convince you otherwise. Like laser tag, silly string, theme dances, country dancing, safari, costume, etc.

4. Religion classes are bomb and how many schools do you know that start each class with a prayer? Pretty cool.

5. There's no one to tell you to eat healthy or go to bed on time. This could actually be a bad thing, however, but we'll just pretend it's a good thing.

6. You actually get to choose if you want to take a Biology class or whatever. It's even more awesome when you're done with GE's and you can take classes pertaining to your career. Yeah for agency!

7. Going to Grandma's. That in itself should be enough excitement to want to come to college. Hello! There's love, homemade food, soft beds, hot tub, playground, fire pit, four wheeler, etc. Plus Grandpa will make you pee your pants from laughing so hard. And Grandma will help you find cardboard boxes to slide down the stairs with. How many grandmas would do that eh?

8. Deciding when you want to do something or not do something. Wanna take a nap? Sure, go right ahead.

9. Being close to family. Namely a sister, is pretty neat and convenient. :)

10. You have more fun in college. Main reason. It's work of course, but you have 10 times more fun. :)

Get excited lil sis!!

Love these girls!!

How to Survive Finals According to ME

Everyone handles the stresses of school differently, but these are the ways that I found make finals bearable. They may or may not work for you, but they work for me.

1. Get a stash of candy that is easily assessable in your backpack. Make sure its candy that doesn't melt or get swished easily. Cream Savers are one of my favorites.

2. Take one day at a time. Plan out and stick to the plan of when you're going to take each final. Procrastinators like me do not like this one.

3. Wear whatever you want, you can get away with it only during finals week. Got a navy blue shirt on with black pants? Go for it. Sweat pants strongly encouraged for comfort.

4. Switch up study locations. I go crazy if I stay in the same spot for too long. Different environments help, especially if its nice outside and you can grab a blanket and lay out in the grass.

5. Relax a little bit during reading days and let yourself do something fun. Too much pressure and stress never did anyone any good. Mulan is a great movie.

6. Create a relax playlist and devote your ears to it. Jack Johnson, John Mayer, and Coldplay are my top relaxing artists.

7. Take breaks. Even laying my head on the desk for a couple minutes can work wonders for my concentration.

8. Have a study buddy. Even if you aren't studying the same thing its nice to have company and know you're not the only one cramming your brain full of information you'll probably forget tomorrow.

9. Stay positive. It's the best medicine for anything in life. Don't let one test effect another test.

10. Be grateful for the little blessings in life. Too many times I find it easy to get caught up in the big, hard things that I have to do and I ignore the little happiness things around me.

Countdown to Relaxation

Here is a list of things I want to do between April 21st and April 26th. 5 whole days of no school.

1. Read a book. (preferrably outside)

2. Fix my bike. (help will be needed)

3. Go on a bike ride with my fixed bike. (All can join)

4. Organize my room/spring cleaning. (Label maker will be busy)

5. Scrapbook a few pages. (maybe)

6. Bake a cake. (happy unbirthday)

I really want spring to be here permanently. It keeps coming and going here in Utah. It's a new surprise everyday! My cardigans are still in use.

I Have A Say

So I found this really good quote today in a talk by President Packer. Here it is:

"The Lord is voting for me, and Lucifer is voting against me, but it my vote that counts."

This really hit home to me because it is so true. Satan tries everything to bring us down, but it is ultimately up to us whether or not we are going to be happy. We have our own agency to choose right or wrong.

Need an Umbrella

So these new bangs I got. They're pretty cool. They cover up a lot of unwantedness up in the forehead region. They dry nicely (sometimes) and I feel a little bit more fashionista. One day, I will be a fashionista. Let's hope. It'll probably be the day when I don't have to teach for the salary, if that day ever comes. But yeah bangs, I highly recommend them because they're awesome! I feel all cutesie when I wear them correctly instead of hiding them under a headband, which happens a little too often. They may even make it look like my sweat pants aren't as grungy as they really are. Magic. The only down side....here comes the truth...is that when it rains or snows they are the only things stickin out of your hood. So when you get to the library or wherever you're going, you take your hood off and low and behold your bangs are the only things that are wet and you're praying that they dry semi decently while you constantly run your fingers through them a million times. And then, you have to pull up the rest of your hair so that it doesn't look as silly that only your bangs are wet and nothing else. BUT I have come up with a solution: buy a new umbrella if yours breaks. Umbrellas cover your entire head pretty well, even if the hood doesn't. The next thing I need to do: buy a new umbrella.

But besides the rain, I really do LOVE my new bangs. :)