Friday, December 27, 2013

self-diagnosed.

i have realized that i am a photo-hoarder.
i always take pictures and then keep them to myself for months and months and finally post them when they are way past due.
there, i said it.
does it help that i resolve to do better?
starting now.

i have been home for the past week.
& here are some of the things going on at my house:


{starting from the top left}
1. peyton still doesn't like me.
2. so she hides under the dining room chairs.
3. but at least these guys still like me.
4. mia really likes music.
5. and cupcakes.
6. this is how peyton gets in the christmas spirit.
7. and this is how kenzie does... actually paige got this for christmas. hat, scarf, and mittens all in one!
8. skyping elder beaton. he comes home on april 2nd!

that's all for now.

love,
lo.



recap.

i can't believe how fast this semester has gone.
here i am in the midst of finals, one more to go and then i just need to settle things here before i head home for two weeks.

so a little recap of what's been happening here in p-town.

1. i tried replacing the interior door handle on my car. i just watched a youtube video and did the rest by myself. i ordered the new handle, took off the door panel and assembled the new handle, and put the door panel back on. and it was successful! except that it needed a new linkage so as soon as everything was in place, i tried opening the door without success. i was kinda disappointed, but it was fine.
i brought my car into the shop with the new handle already on and the door panel off so they got pretty lucky if you ask me since i did most the work for them.

2. robby, kenzie, and my dad came to provo for thanksgiving, which was wonderful. it was the first time i had family in provo for thanksgiving.

here are our adventures in salt lake city:









the cutest kids playing their instruments outside temple square:




and in provo:






shameless selfie:



3. it snowed. finally. and when it came it didn't hold anything back. it has been so cold and icy. no bueno.





4. sister cisneros left for the mtc! so glad i got to see her before she became an official missionary. i missed her so. i just hope brasil is prepared for her. :)




5. and last, but certainly not least, christmas festivities!








glad to see my family, but i'll miss my provo people.


happy christmas and a wondrous new year.

love,
lo.

do-it-yourself.

i am my mother's daughter.
i like doing things myself. no help.
and if i don't know how to do something, i will learn on my own and then do on my own.
and usually it works out.

a few months ago someone broke the handle on my car door.
one of the doors is already permanently child-locked so having two doors that were unable to be opened from the inside wasn't the most convenient thing ever.
i hate bringing my car in to the shop so i decided that this was probably something easy enough for me to fix on my own. i found the part on amazon and it was only ten dollars. it came in the mail a few days later. 
of course, the next day it snowed so there was no way i was going change it being unsheltered from the elements.
today, the weather was lovely so i decided to take advantage of it and fix my car handle.
i watched a very well made how-to video and i felt confident in my abilities to remove screws so i just went at it by myself. the door was a little harder to take off for me than for the guy in the video, but after a flexing a few muscles it was pretty easy. i took off the old handle and the door panel. i rigged the new handle into the locking mechanism thingy (cut me some slack- i don't do cars) and everything checked out. the lock was working and it was pulling the rod that is used to open the door. i put the door back on. the last corner of the door was a little harder to get on so i got gena's help and we figured out how to put the door on correctly. i got in the car, closed the door, pulled the handle, and BAM.
it didn't work.
don't ask me how.
everything was perfect.
i followed the video like a pro.
i was feeling so proud of myself for learning something new and succeeding with more ease than i had imagined, and then like a cannonball in the pit of my stomach, my success toppled over with the quick pull of a plastic door handle.
i took the whole door panel off again and i still can't figure out what is wrong with it, so i guess i will be taking it into the shop after all.
fail.
that's two fails in five days.

pictures intended to document my success:

notice the handle is completely broken off.


door panel successfully off.



 door handle successfully back on and handle intact.









now refer back to the second picture. 
because that is what my door still looks like now.

but then i remembered today, that despite having trouble with my almost-success story,
i have a cute sister.



and that makes everything better.

love,
lo.


Monday, November 18, 2013

fall.

love me some fall leaves.
i just don't know why utah thinks snow comes before leaves.


i'll just enjoy this while it lasts.

love,
lo.

Friday, November 15, 2013

fala-fail.

there are a few new things.
my grandma sarah moved from california to georgia last week. the news came quickly so there wasn't much prep time for my parents, but i think everything worked out and now she has officially moved to the east coast!
i'm excited to be able to go home and see my family...

but on the bright side,
i found out yesterday that kenzie and robby on a slight whim are both coming to provo for thanksgiving! this is the first time family has come to provo for thanksgiving so i'm thrilled. that makes my dad, kenzie, and robby. so excited! we're just going to have a nice little reunion here in utah.

needless to say, i'm happy for things to come.

on a completely unrelated note, lately with school i have had little to no time to exercise or cook most of my meals so i have been feeling less than wonderful in terms of health. 
my family is vegan, and when i went home over the summer i was exposed to different foods i probably wouldn't have tried otherwise. one of those new foods was falafel. at the time i thought it was good, but i didn't think it was amazing. 
well, i started craving it a few days ago and so i went to the store and bought all the ingredients to make it. i finally made it yesterday.
i call this one
fala-fail.



i don't have a food processor so i was chopping and squashing things by hand. when i finished following the recipe, it was not pliable at all. it kept falling apart. 
with a little help from the queen of culinary arts, my sister, i made it work.
maybe next time i'll try to find a food processor...
but the recipe is great and pretty easy.
if you're curious, the recipe is
from Oh She Glows
a website devoted to vegan recipes.
the word vegan might scare you, but just try something.
i dare you to not like it.

i'm not a strict vegan myself.
my family has never really eaten dairy or a lot of meat so my diet is accustomed to that. then when i left the house they became more strict vegans. i've tried some really delicious vegan dishes, and i've tried some that were a little less than savory, but overall i think vegan food will surprise you. the one summer i went home after my freshman year at school [where, needless to say, i gained my freshman weight]
i came home to a vegan diet.
i wasn't thrilled, but i ended up losing the weight i had gained and i felt extraordinarily healthy, even though i wasn't even running like i had been doing before.
i'm not saying to go crazy and change your whole lifestyle, though that's what my mother and sister would advocate,
but just add some vegan dishes to your diet.
you'll feel healthier and happier with more whole and living foods.
it's actually not as hard as you might think.

bon appetit.

love,
lo.





Sunday, November 3, 2013

stop.

"In moments of fear or doubt 

or troubling times, hold the

ground you have already 

woneven if that ground is 

limited... 

Hope on. Journey on. 

Honestly acknowledge your 

questions and your concerns, 

but first and forever fan 

the flame of your faith."

-Elder Jeffrey R. Holland,

this is my favorite talk.
it is one that has been very personal to me and has guided me in some way on many occasions.

& if you're like me, life has knocked you around once or twice. it's like this:
life is hard.
you get through.
just around the corner it's better.
you get a short break (maybe) and then something else gets thrown at you.

at least that's how i've been feeling the past several weeks months. people kept telling me that i was doing great. they said to hang in there because after having a hard time for such a long time, there must be something so good around the corner. well, first off, it took forever to get to that corner. second off, i feel like once i got around that corner, whatever was on that first road followed me down the second even though i wasn't facing it head-on anymore.
i know this is very cryptic, and i apologize for that.
bottom-line, life is hard.
it sounds cliché, but it is.
and it seems so easy to let it getcha down.

so let me hop on my soapbox for a sec.
(just one second, i promise.)

yeah, it may seem like you can never catch a break.
but that doesn't mean you are in this perpetual state of weakness. you are getting stronger. you are learning every single second and you are better for it. you might feel alone, but you'll start to see that you never were and never have been alone. Act on what faith and belief you do have and it will only continue to grow.

so stop feeling sorry for yourself. 
stop being afraid to make some mistakes. 
 stop holding onto the past and things you can't change. 
stop trying to be someone you're not for someone who doesn't matter. 
stop holding grudges. 
stop worrying. 
stop thinking you aren't ready.
stop letting people bring you down.
but also my favorite, stop acting like it's fine when it's not.

the other day i rediscovered this gem:
read it.
you might just need it.


you are going to have tough days.
but you are also going to have the opportunity to take those days and be a conqueror instead of being defeated.
empower yourself.

you're a conqueror in my book.

love,
lo.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

lml: part two.

reason number three why i'm never around:
this lovely person.


i guess by never around i mean never at home.
because i'm always around.

happy.

so yes, lml.

love.my.life.

love,
lo.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

lml: part one.

it has been a while since i moved out of the glenhood. it's been a while and i have been slacking hardcore.
everything has changed.

i have officially applied for graduation. 



real world, here i come! i'm so not ready. i've been in school my whole life and now they just think they can kick me out into the real world and i'm supposed to just adjust?
who am i kidding? i live for change so this is a new adventure and it's exciting.


i am in a new ward and a new apartment with new friends.
it's a little weird, and i feel kinda bad because i'm never around. at least i show up on sundays right?

reason number one why i'm never around:
i need to get 150 internship hours this semester at the ELC (English Learning Center).
they didn't have enough teachers so i am co-teaching a class. i feel like i kinda just got thrown into this without any experience, but i love it. my students are wonderful and i love the environment. it is such a lovely place to teach. pictures of my class to come...

reason number two why i'm never around:
as soon as i get back from the ELC, i go to work. i love my job. i'm still working at the telefund. we have a bunch of new callers and they are all so awesome. every single one of them fits right in with the rest of us and i feel like i have known them forever. work is the best when you get to work with your best friends.


stay tuned.


Wednesday, August 14, 2013

fifteen sixty-five north university.

in one week i will be moved out of glenwood.
you know, i like change. i really do.
but this is different.

bittersweet.
one word to describe it.
glenwood has been home. only because the people here have been family to me.
no matter how much the ward changes, people moving in and out, the people in this ward have always been family.

leaving will be good though.
i'm leaving only good behind.
people who know me may ask how i can possibly say that honestly, but i can because everything here has been a learning experience.
good things have come from my experiences here, so those experiences count as good ones.
there have been trials, believe me, there have been some really tough ones. but good always outweighs the bad in my book, and i took something from every second i spent with these people here.
so many good things have happened here. heck, the bulk of my college experience has happened here. and it was definitely what made me love byu.

there are new adventures to be had, future battles to be won, and future hearts to break. [just kidding about that last one.]

love,
Lo.

Monday, July 22, 2013

the bests.




i have the best friends.
i know everyone must say that, but i really do mean it.
sure, we have our differences. 
we have some disagreements.
we all sure have our own issues, and we're sorting those out together or alone as best we can. 
we have our drama when it comes out, but never for long and never too much.
they are the kind of friends who have twenty-minute shakira dance parties in the living room so loud the upstairs neighbors come down to complain. 
the friends who understand my toothpaste talk. 
they are the friends who help me make my cupcakes, because it's so much more fun when they help.
we all have the same camelbak water bottles. silly, but it counts for something, right?
the friends i don't get annoyed with when they complain-
i just join them. 
they are the ones who will stay up for hours for me just because they know i don't want to be alone and i haven't said everything i want to say, even if we sit in silence for most the time. 
they are the ones who know that banana pancakes are a universal solvent, and they don't judge me when i cut the banana too thick. 
their hugs are universal solvents too. 
they are the ones i have cried to the most, and laughed with even harder. 
they are the first people to pick me up when i'm lower than ever. they will hold me when i want to be held and back off when i don't. 
they are the first people i want to tell good news or a funny story. 
they are the friends who sing the harmony for me, or sometimes let me sing it.
 they will sing in the car at the top of their lungs with me, even if it isn't in tune. 
they are the friends i will always stick up for, even if i disagree.
the friends who make sonic runs with me three times a week just so we can get the summer deals and our cherry limeades. 
they will go visit the lovely ladies at the beehive home with me just because they know it means a lot to me.
they can read minds. they know exactly what each look you give them means, even if they haven't seen it before.
friends i tell everything to, just because i am comfortable enough to tell them anything. 
they are the friends i can't lie to. and i have absolutely no desire to. it might cross my mind if i want to keep something to myself or don't want to tell the whole truth, but as soon as i walk in, there is no way that lie is going to leave my mouth. no way. 

they are the friends who will stay friends no matter what.

they always have my back and i will always have theirs.

they are the people i can't imagine living without because they are the people who make life worth living. they are the people who make it easier to live unafraid.

you know who you are.

love,
lo.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

great white.

right now i smell like the sea.
and i have a layer of salt over my skin.







we arrived in cape cod late last night.
the drive was horrible, but it's over and i have a week to recover from it. i slept in for longer than i have in a while, and after i showered we went out on the boat.
i don't know about you, but i'll take a day on the boat over a day at the beach any day.
we rode out to monomoy to go fishing. in case you aren't aware, monomoy island is where all the great white sharks hang out because that's where all the seals are. i guess they have moved to chatham for now, but we did see a few seals. despite the title of this post, we didn't see any sharks. maybe tomorrow.
the fish were kind of scarce so we only caught three stripers. megan was probably the funniest to watch just because it took every muscle in her body just to reel in her fish. so naturally, i took a lot of pictures of her struggle against that thirty-three inch fish.











i know i said cape hatteras was a sleepy sea town, but cape cod feels even more so. it's not because it's as quiet. it's because it's new england. new england towns have such a different feel. there aren't the big, tall, showy beach houses that you see in florida. there are huge houses that happen to be on a beach. houses that just look like they belong to billionaires, and probably do. with house boats sitting right outside and shiny, new cars parked in the driveway. think martha's vineyard.



all of the houses are the same shades of new england neutrals and covered with wooden, grayish shingles for siding. big shutters are a must. occasional pops of red are satisfactory.
i will take more pictures of the houses later this week. 

until tomorrow.

love,
Lo