166!

I gave my mother some home baked pink lemonade cupcakes for her birthday, and let me tell you, they looked nice. Proof is forthcoming.

52!!!

For girl's camp we hit that Green River hard. Nobody fell out of my boat, but 4 people fell out of my mom's. IT WAS SO FUN!!! I LOVE WHITE WATER RAFTING. I'm considering becoming a river guide, as it seems the perfect pre-mission job for me -- low maintenance, lots of adventure, gospel, being in the water, meeting cool people... yeah. Awesome, right?

An unexpected triumph: Item 73 whilst also accomplishing item 53

So I went to Lagoon with some buddies on Friday. On Thursday night I read my bucket list and realized the time was at hand and I had a fear-conquering opportunity at hand here. Cool, right? Except hey... I was still terrified. So after lots of fretting, I decided once and for all that I was not wriggling out of this one. I decided to turn it into a faith builder. Which it so was. Let me just say, the thought of roller coasters in general has made me weak in the knees for some time now. So I got a bunch of friends together who vowed that they would, at all costs, get me on the biggest, baddest ride at the park; the jet-propelled, huge, straight-up, straight-down tower that is christened, quite appropriately, Wicked. Also I had my dad give me a blessing that I wouldn't fall off and die. Good thing to ask for. And so, at exactly 11:11 in the morning, I foudn myself in line for the biggest scream-provoker I've ever seen in real life. I was really afraid I would lose my cool in front of a bunch of really cute teenage boys... my main worry was keeping control of my bodily functions and not peeing my pants right then and there. But hey, I made it through the (massive, might I add) line and sat down in the seat. I was probably pretty pale, because my wonderful friends Ashley and Seth offered me their hands to hold as I waited for what seemed like Judgment Day, but was really just a huge roller coaster. And then I was being jet propelled from a dimly lit tube into the shocking, warming, blinding sunshine.

IT WAS AMAZING. It felt like riding a broomstick. All my Harry Potter fantasies came true then and there. AMAZING. And so now, I have no huge, fun-restricting fears.

We have some serious diem to carpe, folks.

UPCOMING EVENTS!!!

#175: Go to NEW YORK CITY AAAAHGHGUREISRJGNKLDFJ in the summer of 2014 I'M SO DANG EXCITED YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW...

#92: See a Broadway play

#107: Go on a Sasquatch hunt...my friends and I are so doing this in the summer.

#109: Bury a time capsule

And that's what's coming up....

I'm going to die.
This is so exciting.
I'm living!

Item 62

My grandpa is very, very close to dying. Let me tell you what I've gained from this: I have gained an understanding of one of the most beautiful principles of the gospel. I know that my grandpa will live again and that we will be together eternally. I know that Heavenly Father is real and knows his children, loving each one on such a personal level. I know that through Christ's suffering and Atonement, all things shall be perfected. I know that with God all things are possible. I know I can repent and I know that my grandfather will be happy when he graduates.

Advice: The loss of a loved one is hard. Really hard. I mean I haven't even lost him yet, but I still can feel the sadness. The kind of pit in your stomach? The one that never really heals? Yeah, that one. But here's my advice: to those of you who are worried about or are going through this now, pick up your scriptures. They will provide you with so much comfort. The other night I was super distressed about the whole thing. I prayed for comfort from God, and I felt like I should read my scriptures. I picked them up and went straight to Psalms, which is kind of obscure but one of the most peaceful books in the Bible. Only I wasn't just reading this time, I was seriously looking for an answer to my anxiety and despair. Page 722 came up -- and I just couldn't flip the page at all. I couldn't do it. My eyes fell on Psalm 18.
1 I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
...
4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God; He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry came before him, even into His ears.

SKIPPING DOWN TO VERSE 28

28 For thou wilt light my candle; the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

That was honestly the most powerful experience of my life. God will bring light to our darkest of hours. He loves us.

Never forget it.

Item 99 of the Bucket List Completed

The fabulous people of the Sneaky Fitch cast gave me flowers on closing night. (I stage managed the play. It rocked.)

Like, lots. Roses, daisies, mums, all my favorites in the mix. Plus one yellow rose with streaks of pink. It was truly breathtaking. I'm gonna start taking pictures of all the flowers I get.

I love you all! Thanks for helping me accomplish just one more goal! You have no idea what this means to me!

Solidifying the Purpose of this blog.

Most of everyone has heard of my fairly extensive bucket list.

I will try to solidify it.

It might take a couple weeks.

There's a lot of them.

Crossed off items:
1. Dance in the rain with someone I love.
2. Go on a long adventure
3. Buy my own camera
4. Ride a wheelchair cart through WalMart
5. See a shooting star
6. Win a contest
7. Play the title role in a play (Peter Pan)
8. Make a half-court shot
9. Wear high-heels
10. Kiss someone not related to me (on the cheek)
11. Start a campaign of some sort
12. Go out of the country
13. Visit Yellowstone
14. Go to the Four Corners thing
15. Go to the concert of a famous person (Josh Groban)
16. Learn another language (Spanish, and I'm still learning)
17. Have a pen-pal from another country.
18. Witness a meteor shower
19. Hug someone famous (Michael McLean)
20. Take someone's wedding pictures (not officially but it counts.)
21. Visit a different religion's church
22. Have a guy best friend
23. Star gaze with the guy I like/my boyfriend
24. Put flowers on a stranger's grave
25. Go rappelling
26. Go to an out-of-state zoo.
27. Fall in love and be loved back
28. Go to a foreign festival
29. Go to a flea market
30. Learn to play chess
31. Have someone tell me I'm enough
32. Walk a llama
33. Meet someone who changes my life
34. Be myself (I'm proud that I got this one.)

The Ones I'm Still In the Process of Getting Checked Off
1. Go on a mission.
2. Go to a temple in a different country.
3. Visit ... Paris
4. Venice
5. Russia
6. The Vatican
7. Rome
8. Athens & Sparta
9. England
10. Ireland
11. Australia
12. Tokyo
13. Bangkok
14. Hong Kong
15. Babylon
16. Jerusalem
17. Samoa
18. Tonga
19. Germany
20. Switzerland
21. All 50 states (42 more guys!!! Woot)
22. Finland
23. Brazil
24. Argentina
25. Macchu Picchu
26. The Pyramids
27. The Thailand light festival (like in Tangled)
28.  Run a mile in less than 6 minutes
29. Go to the festival of Colors
30. Go to a real life haunted house
31. Kiss someone in the rain
32. Take someone's engagement pictures
33. Do senior photoshoots
34. Graduate from college
35. Learn to play guitar (I'm not quite finished yet)
36. Live in another country
37. Cuddle during a movie
38. Be kissed under the mistletoe
39. Jump off something
40. Go paragliding
41. And parasailing
42. And go on a cruise
43. Record an original song in a studio
44. Write my will
45. Buy an entire outfit from DI
46. Go to senior prom
47. Direct a play
48. Knit something
49. Learn to knife throw
50. Go to the Grand Canyon
51. Go to all the National Parks in Utah
52. Go white-water rafting (Summer!!!)
53. Go on Wicked at Lagoon (Only a few more months!)
54. Own a dog
55. Have something I've written be published
56. Sleep under the stars
57. Have something named after me
58. Perform in Carnegie Hall
59. Eat lunch with a famous person
60. Dance in the snow
61. Be held somewhere cold
62. Survive the death of a loved one...almost
63. Learn to surf
64. Learn to dance
65. Read the entire Canon
66. Go skiing
67. Horseback ride on the beach
68. Get a makeover
69. Go on a blind date
70. Go to the airport, ask for the cheapest, soonest departing flight to anywhere, and then just go there. Stay a couple days. With no beforehand plan. (I hope this is my honeymoon.)
71. Bake someone a cake
72. Try vegetarianism for two weeks.
73. Conquer my biggest fear (roller coasters.)
74. Go on a vintage picnic (All the girls in dresses, all the guys in dress shirts/polo)
75. Learn to do the splits
76. Ride in an airplane first-class
77. See the Mona Lisa in real life.
78. Visit a castle.
79. See fireflies
80. Swim with dolphins
81. Eat a fish I caught myself
82. Fall asleep in someone's arms
83. Go to the Library of Congress
84. Meet Wyn Wiley
85. Have my picture taken by Wyn Wiley
86. Win a fake Hunger Games
87. Learn a martial art
88. Get a pilot's license.
89. drive a nice car
90. Watch the Superbowl (never done that. it's always on sunday!)
91. Learn to fence
92. See a Broadway play
93. Name a star
94. Be in Les Miserables
95. See the Northern Lights
96. Stay awake for 72 hours
97. Make homemade donuts
98. Own a diamond
99. Be given flowers by someone not in my family.
100. Go snorkeling
101. Go to Mardi Gras
102. Attend a masquerade ball
103. Street perform
104. Be in Times Square at New Years
105. Be kissed on New Years
106. Go to Loch Ness and look for Nessie.
107. Go on a Sasquatch Hunt
108. Fly around in a helicopter
109. Bury a time capsule
110. open it five years later.
111. Learn to drive stick shift
112. Learn to ride a motorcycle
113. Eat at a five-star restaurant
114. Sleep in a hammock
115. Learn to golf
116. Learn to weave
117. Visit a third-world country
118. Do charity with a famous organization
119. Learn to play badminton
120. Learn how to shoot a gun
121. Beat someone at Call of Duty
122. Get CPR certified
123. Learn how to say hello in 50 different languages
124. Learn Latin
125. Build a classical music library
126. Learn how to do Ballet
127. Ride on a massive zip-line
128. Ride a massive Ferris Wheel
129. Experience 0 gravity
130. Go on safari
131. Hold a tropical bird on my arm
132. Rescue an animal
133. See sea turtles in person
134. See a whale in person
135. Go to the Everglades
136. Go to Cologne Cathedral
137. Be an exchange student
138. See the Sydney Opera House
139. See Mount Rushmore
140. Become first aid certified
141. Be an extra in a movie
142. Plant flowers and watch them grow
143. Learn the constellations
144. Learn to draw
145. Learn to solve a Rubik's cube
146. Do a picture a day for a year
147. Participate in a giant photo scavenger hunt
148. Make a scrapbook
149. Collect over 30 salt shakers
150. Become a cheese and chocolate connosseuir
151. Discover what makes me truly happy
152. Spend every day watching the sunrise for three months straight (Summer)
153. Learn to take compliments
154. Take a cosmetology class
155. Go to a rain forest
156. Go on a massive DI shopping spree
157. Buy a dress that costs a whole lot of money (But no more than $5000)
158. Get married to a returned missionary in the temple
159. Have an eternal family
160. Stay active and strong in the church
161. Own a house
162. Stay relatively out of debt for a long time
163. Have a pool in the backyard
164. Write to my children what I want them to learn from my long and lived-out life
165. Plant a garden
166. Bake some good-looking cupcakes
167. Raise a puppy from its birth
168. Go to the Kentucky Derby
169. Sew a ballgown
170. Have a fantastic wedding day
171. Get my car vandalized on my wedding day
172. Have a party of a reception
173. Watch a terrifying movie
174. Have a picnic in the mountains
175. Go to New York City
176. Get a job
177. Go to the Festival of Colors
178. Find someone I can literally talk to about everything
179. Have a massive spa day
180. Have an all-night party
181. Write a song that I'm proud of
182. Fake out my little brother in soccer.
183. Learn to play the ukelele
184. Go a week without crying at all
185. Get into the habit of praying every morning and night.
186. Ride my bike to Orem


Just so you all know. I'm scared to want some of these, just in case I don't get them. I plan on getting all, if not most of these. Does it seem ridiculous? Maybe, but I want to live life.

This Blog is a Revolution!

This is a blog of my experiences as a photographer and as a person and as a daughter of God, prospectively.

So basically I have the best hobby ever. Which is to take pictures of beautiful people. And I don't think I've ever had a "client" who I haven't learned some life lessons from.

So to a few of them now.

Libbie taught me that to be a professional, you have to act like a kid sometimes.

Dallin taught me that it's easier to be completely oblivious to the people who don't treat you right.

Emily taught me to figure out where I stand.

Ashlyn taught me to pick myself back up when I fall.

Ashley taught me that you can cry if you want, but it doesn't solve much.

Cole taught me lots of things, one of which is that dead people in sombreros are very odd things to find in your coat closet.

Sheridan taught me you don't have to be loud to be noticed.

Whitney taught me that laughing makes a person really attractive.

Rylie taught me that a person's outer beauty may be astonishing, but it's the inner beauty that makes someone an astonishing person.

The Ward Gals taught me that it doesn't take a good place to make a good picture, it takes a good person.

Ellany taught me that trying something new can open your future.

Sydney taught me belief.

Kenna taught me that people are better than they think they are.

Bridgette taught me that to laugh is to love.

And I'm so excited for what the McEwans, Courtney, and Brooke have yet to teach me.

Life is fantastic.

Live while we're young.