a night {or many nights} at the ball.

 My life has slightly turned into Cinderella!

Ive havent necessarily been scrubbing lots of floors or gotten carriage rides but I have attending more fancy Balls then I ever thought I would. 

Our culminating events for our Amabassador program at school is the school ball. 

Now this is no ordinary school dance. The students dance the waltz, foxtrot and the cha cha.  

And its always go big or go home with the decorations, set-up and fun for the dances. 

Within the three APA Schools, we have successfully had EIGHT dinners and balls in the last three weeks for five different grades. 

That means lots of late work nights doing prep work and then doing the actual event! 

 One thing that I have a love/ hate relationship with about our events is that we are on a very tight budget and so we are responsible to make all of our decorations! So in the past few weeks, I have gotten more DIY savvy than I ever thought. 

Hot glueing boxes with glitter, making decorative pillars, spray painting till my fingers were sore and black and flowers! Geeze! In the past month we have assembled boutonnieres and corsages for about 600 students. Hence I have become an expert on floral arranging. 

We had two formal four course dinners for the 8th graders at my campus. Making me in charge of all the decor and set up and assuring the night went as smooth as possible! The only bump in the night was when my heels broke. 

The last two nights have been our grand finale ball at the La Caille Restaurant for our 9th grade class. I felt like I had been transported to the Swiss Alps or was on a date on the Bachelor...

 

We had a a five course meal with escargot! It was my favorite ball yet because we have a stellar group of 9th graders. With only 28 students in the 9th grade class it has been so easy to get to know them and just love each one of them. Especially when the boys showed up in their tuxes and the girls in pretty dresses. 

Our school does an amazing job in the dance department. They attend dance classes each week and at the ball are able to do the waltz, foxtrot, cha cha, cowboy cha cha and the best one--Gangnum Style line dance which is so fun! Having these dances makes it so that each student is included (they have to dance!) they all know how,  so avoiding awkward dancing situations and builds their confidence.

 I loved watching them dance and see their talent, excitement and enjoying being there. 

Now with the dances over I am so exhausted and a little sad. I have loved working with my Ambassador Team so much the last few weeks and of course I don't mind ever mind dancing and having a party to attend!

 It has also been such a great accomplishment to work hard on something and see it come to fruition and better yet--the students love it! 

Now, only three weeks till summer! 

#LDSconf

I was just telling my niece and nephew this weekend about how when you get older your perspective changes on a few things...

Like how candy cant be your preferred dinner choice 

or like when I finally realized the tips of asparagus is the best part

and that Sunday naps really are necessary 

and when General Conference isn't a break from getting to go to church

{or when its really not just one session that they rebroadcast over and over again. which is what I really thought}

Every six months we are fortunate enough to gather for General Conference and hear inspiring word's from the Lord's Prophet and Apostles.

Although there are many times during the 8 hours of viewing that I want to take a nap, the talks are always uplifting messages of faith, service, love, patience, hope, gratitude and peace. 

"Prayer is one of the most basic and important foundational building blocks of our faith and character. Through prayer we are able to express our gratitude, love and devotion to God. Through prayer we can submit our will to His and in return receive the strength to conform our lives to His teachings. Prayer is  the avenue we can follow to seek His influence in our lives, even revelation."

--Bishop Dean M. Davies

"God's light is real. It is available to all! It gives life to all things. It has the power to soften the stink of the deepest wound."

"Understand and accept that darkness exists--but you do not have to dwell there"

--President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"As daughters of God we are each unique and different in our circumstances and experiences. And yet our part matters--because we matter. Our daily contributions of nurturing, teaching and caring for others may seem mundane, diminished, difficult, and demeaning at times, and yet as we remember that first line in the Young Women theme--"We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us"--it will make all the difference in our relationships and our responses."

--Sister Elaine S. Dalton

"Obedience is a hallmark of prophets; it has provided strength and knowledge to them throughout the ages. It is essential for us to realize that we, as well, are entitled to this source of strength and knowledge. It is readily available to each of us today as we obey God's commandments."
--President Thomas S. Monson

"I am asking you to be true to the faith you do have."
--Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

 "If you're not a full-time missionary with a badge pinned on your coat, now is the time to paint one on your heart--painted, as Paul said, 'not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.'"
--Elder Neil L. Andersen

I feel so lucky and blessed that not only was I able to attend Conference this year with good friends but that I live in walking distance to the Conference Center.

I loved being able to drive to the end of the avenues, park my car, walk for a few minutes and enter inside. Leaving was easy, traffic free and I was home in no time. I absolutely love being so close tot he headquarters of the Church. 
I am grateful for our Prophet and the opportunity to apply all of these messages to my life as I strive to be more like the Savior. 

the STG.

Oh spring break. 

How I have missed thee. 

Having days of during the year is always the plus for working at a school. And spring break could not have been more anticipated. 

I went down to St. George with Auby and Chelsey for a few days. Our only escape from some cold weather of the wasatch front. 

We hiked Zions. What!? I hiked! Getting outdoorsy only has its moments. 

We hiked Angel's landed. Which I didnt know that it took four hours long (which I compared to a marathon) nor that fatalities have occurred here when I agreed to it. 

But it was fun and adventurous and I had my camelback so I felt pretty legit. 

Other activities in STG included Dixie Rock to talk about feelings and breaking down Aubry's walls. 

We hit up the St. George Temple, had a little photo shoot (pics to come!) and talked about wanting Chick-fil-A ... a lot.  Laid by the pool at the attempt to get some rays and ate a lot of Easter candy. 

Oh and stopped to get graham canyon from the creamery on the way back..

When we got back Aub dawg and I continued to do fun things everyday for the rest of our break. Including going running together (or longs walks...), getting a pedicure, and finding the best quesadilla cart SLC has to offer. 

Needless to say it was a great spring break. 

Now only 7 more weeks till my next day off. I dont know if I can handle that.

15 hours of Disneyland.

I went to Disneyland with my family. And then like three weeks later I went back. 

But this time with my SLC friends.

Abby was on Spring Break and had never been to Disneyland. 

Wait, what!? That’s crazy. 

So when her and Aubry posed the questions of taking a roadtrip to California and going to Disneyland…how could I refuse that?

Abby and Aubry are probably my funniest friends. Especially combined. 

The thought of a 10 year car drive with them and Disneyland in the same trip was the best idea. Ever.

We had to wait and leave on Wednesday when I got off work. Which ended up being around 4:30. Needless to say it was a long car drive with a 3 AM arrival time to Granada Hills.

Coming back home is always a little difficult. And especially since I drove my car there. I was pretty close to just keeping me and Lulu in the valley and having Abbs and Aubs finding a new way back to the SLC.

Thursday consisted of going to the Santa Monica Pier and then laying by the pool cause we didn’t know the beach was going to have sub zero temps. 

We strolled Hollywood and then the Temple at night.

Friday was our Disneyland day! It was the happiest of days.

 We ate lots of fried food and went on every ride we wanted to. I will say—I love going with nieces and nephews and large groups of friends, but there is quite the difference of going to Dland with just two other really close friends. It was so fun and more manageable with just the three of us.

We laughed so hard and were completely exhauseted by the end of the day.

15 hour Disneyland trip.

We took it like Champs.

Except Abby when she got sick. Or slept. Depending on how you look at it. 

Saturday we were in Aubry’s hometown of Torrance. She gave us a great tour and we hit the beach for a bit so that Abby could feel the water of the Pacific Ocean. 

And allowed for this moment…

{This West Virginian redneck hick was really excited for the ocean}

We hot tubbed it up later and hung out with some of my NR3 crew. I am so glad they stopped by to say hi. I love them so much and miss them daily.

Some great moments and definite highlights of our road trip to CA:

-Abby eating all of the pretzels before we even left Salt Lake.

-Coming to the realization that Aubry has a really strong personality.

-Hearing for realsies every 10 seconds. 

-The break up song.

-eating everything fried.

-screaming “make it stop” and literally crying on Tower of Terror.

-making the worst decision ever of our Dland adventure by waiting till 11pm to get in line for Tower of Terror. Ok, actually Id like to forget that buuut we were super delirious during that wait and it was kinda hilarious

-Abby eating all of the Quake rice quakes by herself.

-getting made fun of for wanting to ride the Mater ride and yet it was probably the most fun we had on a ride together.

-getting stuck on the Mater ride. Like literally. We couldn’t get out of the seats.

-Abby and I riding the new Cars ride together after Aubry declaring she needs no friends at Disneyland.

-Abby sleeping the whole trip.

-Blaming everything bad on Mickey’s Fun Wheel. Worst ride ever, and really not fun at all.

-Janky.  Everything’s Janky.

-Practicing our Spice Girls lip sync for about 5 hours of our car ride.

-Did Aubry even go on the trip? Doesn’t seem like it from the photos.

-“Happy Birthday Abby!”

-Aubry talking to herself for TEN minutes while Abby and I laughed.

-laughing. We laughed a lot.