Day 10

Wrapping paper:

We already have presents under the tree. Christmas is coming!

Day 9

Something your reading:

Do textbooks count? The only thing I've been reading lately are textbooks. I'm gonna "ace" these finals!

Day 8

Ornament(s):

I love my Mom's cookie and candy ornaments. Our tree is filled with delicious looking sweets!

Day 7

Bright:

Stole this one from Cheryl, but this is the first time in YEARS that my dad has put up Christmas lights. I am loving them.

Day 6

Shopping:

Bad picture, but we bought all the little packages of Lindor chocolates. They were on sale for a good price, and they will make excellent gifts. 

Day 5

Today's temperature:

This is chilly weather for us Arizona folks. I'll just say, I'm glad it's not snow!

Day 4

Joyous:

These are joyous little gingerbread men that have been put out this year. This year we decorated with Cheryl's candy houses and Mom's cookie and candy tree.

Day 3

Red:

My pictures are not very high quality, but this is the nativity scene that was cut out on wax paper. My very talented sister, Faith, did this. 

Day 2

My favorite Christmas movie:

Yes...this is the original VHS I still have from when I was tiny!

December Photo Challenge!

This is the photo challenge I will be doing for December!Today is MY VIEW TODAY:

This is my view. Cheryl's lovely candy houses are decorating our media center, and normally a hallmark movie would be on the t.v. 

The Holiday Season

This year I've decided to take a break from Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for the Holidays. I'm actually pretty excited. Hopefully this will give me a chance to update my blog a little more and keep in touch with the people I really care about through more meaningful ways.
Tonight I was brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed and I overheard my mom reading a book to my dad. I'm not sure what book it is, but it was talking about true friendship, and thanking the people who have always been there for you, even when you've been a jerk to them. The author stated that we need to be honest to them, call them up, email them, text them, do whatever is needed to let them know that you were reading a book that said that friendship was a gift and it made you think of them. I have a lot of friends in my life, but when I heard that sentence it made me think of one person: my Heavenly Father. I would say that, yeah, I've been a jerk to Him sometimes, I think we all have. We doubt Him, stop talking to Him, blame Him for things we bring upon ourselves, and we are so ungrateful towards Him. I heard my mom read that sentence, and I thought, Heavenly Father needs to know that He is that one person in my life who will always be there. He will always cheer you on, even when you stop talking to Him and your a real jerk to Him. So, I'm starting out this holiday season with a challenge for myself: I am going to let Heavenly Father know that I appreciate Him and everything He does for me by telling Him everyday by any means possible. If this means stopping my car and helping an old man with his trash can, or picking up a piece of litter on the temple grounds, I'm going to do it. I challenge you to do it as well. He needs to know that He's always been the one to be there, and you need to notice that.

Let the holidays begin! Xo

October Break...Among Other Things

This year October break was great because we were able to start it off with General Conference. I woke up the Saturday morning and I had hives all over my legs!

We think it was a weird reaction I had to the flu shot this year. Luckily it only lasted for Saturday and by Sunday the majority of the hives were gone.

Over October break Faith and I went to the Dentist. Let me just say that I HATE the dentist. They poke your teeth and expect you to be able to talk to them while their hands are in your mouth. This is how I felt afterwards:

I had some fun adventures over October break. Cheryl, Faith, and I went to the Butterfly Wonderland which was a lot of fun. And Haeley and I went to Sedona for a day and had a lot of fun going to the Annual Sedona Arts Festival.

And the best part of October break was seeing this every night when I went to bed:

I have become obsessed with this song. I bought the sheet music and I play it on the piano all the time!

Yesterday Cheryl and I went to 2 Goodwill's because it was half off day. We found some awesome things, one of which was this awesome bunny shirt. Cheryl found it and I fell in love with it. The little bunny has a tutu. Who wouldn't want it?

 And finally, last night was Sarah's Birthday party. She turned 18 today. So proud of her and thankful she's been there for me.

Stake Conference

This year we had Elder Anderson from the Quorom of The 12 came to our Stake Conference. The Laurels and Priests were invited to a special mission prep this morning where Elder Jones talked from the Seventy about preparing and serving our missions. And Elder Anderson's remarks were awesome. We saw a missionary friend, Nick, who sat by us. And it has been raining for a good part of the day. Needless to say, today had been an awesome day and we ended it with an awesome fresh Dove dinner!

Fun Saturday Night

Last night was the adult session for my Stake Conference so I watched 2 little girls in my ward so their parents could go to the session. The quote of the night came from the oldest girl who is only about 4. She looked at me and said, "Hey Julia! Can you see my uvula?!?" She got very excited and then promptly wanted to see mine. It was very entertaining. It made my night.

Labor Day Weekend

Last weekend was Labor Day and my family decided to go to California. Mom, Dad, and Cheryl picked Faith and I up from work on Friday and we were on our way. We made it to our hotel and the next morning Cheryl, Faith, and I headed to Disneyland. We got 2 day park hopper tickets! We did almost every ride (all except for some of the little kid ones like Snow White). I had such a blast with my sisters. On Sunday all five of us drove to the L.A. temple and took some really fun pictures there, the La Brea Tar Pits, and the beach. Then on Monday Cheryl, Faith, and I headed back to Disneyland and did almost everything again. Mom and Dad picked us up around seven and then we headed home. 

An awesome Ghost Busters car we saw driving to California

And then up drove this creepy spider car

Us sleeping on the way there

A before Disneyland Pic.

We stopped at the new Cars Land in California Adventures first. It. Was. Awesome.

The cars ride was so fun. We went back on Monday to ride it again.

And this is our lovely picture from the ride. 

TOWER OF TERROR

Speak no evil. Hear no evil. See no evil. (I made Faith and Cheryl ride it twice on Monday).

Faith meet Sophia, her favorite princess.

This is us on California Screamin'. The best face is the stranger who is sitting next to Faith. That had us cracking up for awhile. 

My first time on the Little Mermaid ride.

We went to the resturant that the Pirates of The Carabien ride passes by. It's called The Blue Bayou. The food was very yummy.

We told our server that it was Faith's birthday so she got a special birthday treat.

There's the castle in the background.

We got this really yummy ice cream called Dole Whip! Yummy, yummy!

The Castle

This is us burning to death, waiting for the Peter Pan ride.

Teacups!

THAT IS PETER PAN! I WAS THAT CLOSE!

California Adventure's on Monday

They have Cozy-Cone Motel hats!

Tower of Terror is my favorite ride.

California Screamin' and the Ferris Wheel.

Our crazy faces on Space Mountain.

And this was a delicious cupcake that Faith and I shared :)

This is us after Disneyland soaking our feet.

At the Temple:

La Brea Tar Pits:

The Beach: