my own anniversary.

Next week Im coming up on a big milestone in my life.
This time last year I was living in Provo, about to be unemployed at the end of the month, my Lanai Crew had broken up, my two best friends had moved away, and my at the time boyfriend was moving to California.
I found myself more and more annoyed with Provo post-grad life. And seemed to cry more and more about my life plan. My mom suggested moving back home but that seemed totally out of the picture.
However, the more I thought about it, the more I talked to the boy about it, the more I prayed about it, the more I wanted it.
So I sold my contract, packed up my things and made the journey home.
I didnt think I would stay long.
I didnt think I could last long.
But next week marks me,
living the LA life
for one year!!
Its crazy how fast that time has flown by.

I have to admit the one thing I dreaded THE most about moving home was attending the Northridge III Singles Ward.
I literally cried about how much I did not want to attend the ward. Its a tiny ward and I may or may not have been a little prideful about wards coming from BYU and Lanai.
When me and the previous mentioned boy didnt work out, I realized that I was gonna have to suck up my pride and make friends here if I was going to be happy.
And I am so glad that I did.
I love my NR3 Crew.


I feel like I have always been so lucky in making the most amazing friends wherever I go, and my luck did not run out here.

I have been able to grow closer to friends I already had, rekindle old friendships and start more friendships than I thought possible.

Beach Trips.
Karaoke.

Dance Parties.
Movie Nights.
Volleyball Games.

Batting Cages.

Dance Parties.
Girls Nights.

Game Nights.
WHAT IF. 
Hanging out at the Boys house.
and did I mention Dancing?
we love impromptu dance parties. 

One friendship that I have made has been the most important. 

It all started with our bond over the Dodgers. 

And our stealing and sharing someone else's garlic fries.

When I told Rudy Herrera that night that he was gonna be my new best friend, I was partly being sarcastic.

I didnt even know the kid yet. 

But thats exactly what happened. 

Becoming friends, and best friends at that, was one of the greatest things that happened to me moving back to the valley.

He is THE person to know in the ward. 

Once I was in with Rudy, I was in with the greatest group of friends I could ever ask for.
I love our long chats in my car, bugging him when he doesnt text me back fast enough, calling him 98234 times in a row when he doesnt answer my phone calls, "she hates her laugh, but I think its so sexy", literally running to Dodger games, "why do I put up with you?" getting out of the car to push the cross buttons, honking my car horn way too often.

Sometimes I dont even understand how we are best friends,

most of the time we drive each other absolutely crazy. 

and fight like we are some sort of old married couple.

on the brink of divorce.
where we have to make a pact to be nice to each other. 

and I think our friends enjoy watching us bicker. 

I hear too often "dont touch me" when I start poking his face.

I give him laser eyes as he flicks me. 

He blames me for spilling hot chocolate and ruining his shirt.

I cant stand it when he wipes his sweat all over my arm or on my car.

But in the end he is my BFF.  Sometimes its crazy to think that we have only been friends for a year cause it seems like so much longer.

He is leaving us here in GH and moving to Burbank. Which will SUCK. But at least it is closer than Rancho Cucamonga. 

He is one of the closest friends I have ever had and I am ever so grateful for the amazing friendship we have.
Even if we fight all the time and sometimes struggle being nice to each other.

Its interesting that what I dreading the most about  moving home has turned out to be the greatest blessing in my life and brought me the most happiness.
Other than my family of course. 

I left Utah a year ago with no plan.

And well, a year later, I still might not have the greatest life plan, BUT I am happy. And I know that Im suppose to be in California,
living this LA life. 

im not the only one.

My older sister Kelly texted me this morning. 

About Justin Bieber.

Informing me that I needed to watch his movie because it's"right up your alley."

I told her that I have yet to catch Bieber Fever.

And I will not watch the movie.

Cause I know it will suck me in and I will be diagnosed with the fever.
We then continued to have this conversation:

I sat there and laughed so hard.
My sister and I were literally debating who was better.
JB vs. JB
Dont get me wrong, I like the Biebs
I just dont like that he is stealing all of the limelight from my Jonas Brothers.
I will always be the Joe Bros #1 fan.
At least Kelly and I agree on our love for Zac Efron.
All im saying is that im not the only tween in the family.

Valley Ventures: The LA Zoo.

After my family and I did some service, we took off to the Los Angeles Zoo. 

I have probably not been since high school and have been wanting to go for awhile. 

Luckily, Laura had some free passes so we all got in for free. 

And it was really fun to be there with the whole fam and the kids. 

Chase and Laura were our zoo gurus. 

They know that place like the back of their hands. 

Chase loves the elephants, giraffes and lions. And got real excited about the snow leopard. 

Unfortunately they dont have pigs at the zoo for me to look at.

And so Ive realized my favorite zoo animal are giraffes.

They are crazy cool. 

This little girl was giving me sass all day long. 

But with a face that cute, and a shirt like that...

I still cant resist her. 

Our family had fun venturing to the zoo, admiring the animals with the kids, enjoying the amazing So Cal weather and enjoyed our dinner at Fudruckers even more. 

Mormon Helping Hands.

Two Saturdays ago, my fam and I got to participate in Mormon Helping Hands. 

A day of service put on by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Last year my family told me about them participating and I was extremely jealous and have been looking forward to participating for myself ever since then.

With the rest of our stake we had to pick up trash and clear a ravine that was recently flooded in the massive rainstorms that hit So Cal a few months ago. 

It was crazy the amount of trash, plastic bags, styrofoam, shopping carts, clothes, furniture and other half deteriorating trash we had to pick up. 

However. It was fun to be there with my whole fam, do some service and sport our little Mormon vests.
and Im not even joking, I really liked those vests, I was really excited to wear one.

   Chase was an exceptional little helper and loved picking up all of the trash. 

I kinda loved it too cause it made me feel like an archeologist finding all of these artifacts that had to be dug out and discovered. 

I dont really know why, but I love me some archeology digs.
And secretly wish that was my full time job.

I was so grateful for this opportunity to participate in a service project offered by our Church.
And I will definitely think twice about ever littering. 

oh hey T-HO!

Last year at this time my BFF Taylor Hoyt took off to New York for the summer.
We had a big going away dinner for him at Terra Mia with all of our Lanai friends.

And I wrote a long blog post all about how much I loved him and was going to miss him.
That night I drove him to his sisters as he was flying out the next day and we had to say goodbye.
We both cried and I bawled during my whole drive back to Provo.
 I had never been in Provo without him before and I didnt think I would be able to survive there without him
Turns out I didnt know how as I ended up leaving Provo myself about three weeks later...
I also cried because I thought he was gonna fall in love with the concrete jungle and we would forever live so far away from each other.
Turns out I was wrong.
This handsome gent just moved to CA. 
And as much as I wish he wasnt in Orange County
It is a lot closer to me than Provo, New York or Italy.

Welcome to California TAY!
I think Ill be making lots of trips down south this summer. 

LA Dawgs: The Stand.

 Some time in my life between eating Downtown LA hot dogs after every Laker game I attended,

and the week where I ate FOUR Dodger games in the span of five days,

I realized I love hot dogs.

And proclaimed them my #1 favorite food. 

you can keep calling me the all american tween. 

I love me some..

Dodger Dogs

Downtown LA Dogs

Costco Dogs

NY Central Park Dogs

J-Dawgs

And because of this love I have decided to become a hot dog connoisseur. And plan on trying all of the best hot dogs that LA has to offer. 

My first stop on this journey was The Stand. 

I ventured there last week with my dear friend Lillie. 

Let me just take a sec and share how much i love this girl. 

Lillie and I became closer friends when we shared a bunk in our London flat!

She recently came home from her mission and I could not have been more excited to see her. 

She has the hottest dance moves I have ever seen. 

I love how she says "suuure"

We match constantly!
(hopefully this doesnt jinx us)
We will show up to church, dances, activities, parties or just us hanging out in either the same outfit, or matching colors and styles. 

And we love matching!

I think my favorite thing about Lillie is that we are constantly experiencing the same life situations at the same time. The transition of being an adult, the struggles through finding a job and working full time, and our biggest similarity--boy problems. 

Because of this, we are able to talk about everything and anything and I am so appreciative of our chats. 

And so...we went and got hot dogs for some much needed Leigh and Lillie time. 

We were there for THREE hours. 

I think they got a little sick of us. 

But our verdict on The Stand...

we loved it!!

I loved the layout, design and especially the classic and vintage NY feel of the restaurant.

BBQ dog.
corn salsa and grilled onions dog.

and sweet potato fries. 

to.die.for.

We were also a huge fans of this outdoor seating with the trees and lights.
Ill enjoy some summer time hot dogs here.

and i loved these dogs. 

And they have $1 monday hot dog nights. yes please. 

I will be going back there often.