It's Her Birthday!!

 Today is my little sister's birthday, although she's not so little anymore. This birthday is her Sweet 16! I can hardly believe that she is now officially able to date and drive. How crazy is that? 

  I love Meagan. She is the best sister ever! She is so sweet and wonderful. She is a great friend and is absolutely adorable.

When I was little I always wanted a sister and for 8 years I was fortunate to have 2 brothers but no sister. When I found out my mom was going to have another baby I couldn't help but hope that I would finally have a little sister and when I found out that I was gong to have a sister I'm pretty sure I shouted for joy.

I loved holding her as a baby and helping my mom take care of her. As she got older I loved playing with her hair and painting her nails. Now that she is older we have fun going shopping together and hanging out.

I am so lucky to have such a great sister. 

Meagan I hope you had a fantastic birthday. I love you!

Hairspray

 

 Free tickets

+ 

quality time with my mom and sister

= 

best girls night out ever!

Hairspray is one of my favorite musicals so I was extremely excited to see it performed locally. The Hale Center Theater always does a great job and Hairspray was no exception. The music and acting was fantastic!

If you have the chance to go take it!

Elder Michael McKell

I seriously love this boy! I can't believe that he is almost done with his mission. We just got his release date, he comes home June 14! That is less than 4 months away! I am so excited to see him and I am even happier that my departure date for Taiwan is after he comes home. 

I have missed Michael so much, he is one of my best friends. He has been such an example to me while he has been on his mission about working hard and living the gospel to live a happy life.  I can tell that he loves the people of Samoa and truly wants them to come unto Christ. I am so proud of him and all he has accomplished. 

There have been some scary times, like when tsunami hit a couple months after he arrived in Samoa, luckily I know that Lord has been with him and it helps that we were able to talk to him and hear that he was safe. I have loved being able to talk to him on Christmas and on Mother's Day, haha he even has an accent now! I love it. He has also given me valuable advice, some serious and some not so serious. When I was working at a day care center and was so frustrated that I literally would come home crying because the kids were so bad, Elder McKell said "just punch the little kids" not very practical advice but it made me laugh and helped me get through a tough time. 

I may be a little jealous that he got to spend the last 2 years on an island paradise but I have loved the stories he has told my family and the pictures he has sent. I know that this mission has been a blessing, not only in his life but in my family's life as well. I am so grateful for missionaries around the world that are serving the Lord and spreading the gospel. It truly is a blessing. I am also grateful for both of my brothers and also my parents for their willingness to serve missions. I love missionaries, and I can't wait to see Elder McKell!

6 Dozen Cupcakes

You read that right. 6 dozen cupcakes. That is the number of cupcakes that I have made this past week. So to say that I like cupcakes would be an enormous understatement. I love cupcakes! Monday I made chocolate cupcakes with homemade peanut butter frosting(the best recipe ever, compliments of my dear friend Jacque) and then today I made some double chocolate cupcakes and white cupcakes with pink cream cheese frosting in honor of Valentines Day-don't worry these were not all consumed by me. To make this cupcake week even better I not only made a ton of cupcakes and had a blast doing it but I also got my favorite cupcake from the Cocoa Bean yesterday absolutely free. Chocolate raspberry cheesecake cupcake = pure joy.Who doesn't love cupcakes?

Sick

Being sick is the worst. What I hate the most is that I never seem to have any warning before I am completely run over by a cold. I don't have any time to fight it before I am almost completely incapable of functioning. Tuesday I was hit with a sore throat and did all that I could to prevent it from going further, but unfortunately on Thursday I woke up with the worst head cold of my life. Seriously, by the end of the day I couldn't breathe at all. Thankfully I am feeling better today but I am definitely over being sick. Here's hoping that this cold doesn't stick around.

Missing Dance

So this past week I was able to attend a dance performance of the company I used to dance with. I haven't been to a performance in a while and I had forgotten how much I miss it. I was blown away by several of the performances and the choreography was absolutely beautiful. Dance was a huge part of my life for ten years and whenever I go to any dance performance my body aches to dance. After attending a show all I want to do is take a class or just dance in my living room. Dance is one of those things that just makes me happy, so I'm thinking that I need to find a way to do just that and possibly perform again.

A great thing about my dance past is all of the friends that I made.  This past weekend I was able to catch up with a group of some of the greatest girls that I know.  I absolutely love these girls! Whenever we get together I always have a fantastic time. Everyone is in different places but I feel like we are are still as close as we ever were. There is always lots of food, laughing, and talking.I am so lucky to have such great friends.