THE fruit ninja

lauren, my older sister, is a true fruit ninja for sure! she doesn't get the high score at all, but she rocks at it! whenever you see her with my mom's ipad, you'll definitely see her fingers moving smoothly across the screen in her attempt to be the best fruit ninja ever! I think yesterday she played it the whole time i was visiting with them at home after lunch.

lauren is one of the coolest, bestest people in my life!

this may be just one of the most favorite songs my older sister, lauren, loves to rock out to! i had the rare opportunity to go see one of lauren's PALS performances yesterday with my mom and can i tell you i just love going to see my beautiful sister dance her heart out! she's always got her headphones plugged in and is listening to Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, or some other poppy singer from the Disney channel. they are her favorite things to watch and "work out" to! :)

i love you spud! you're the best!

back to school i go...

so I've completed a whole week and a half of school! its amazing how i've survived 3 semesters, in a row, and i'm still going! i'm always entertained as i walk down the halls at school because there are diverse amounts of people and i'm sorry to say, but i'm VERY expressive of my thoughts and its very likely they appear on my face in this manner:

(the term "diverse people" can be defined as people dressed as elves, the very clearly obese people wearing spandex and trying to be very flirty with some guys sitting next to them, even some people approaching their friends in the library at the computers with the greeting: "hello my drunken friend!").

also, just FYI, i bought me some very stylish spectacles from here for the new school year! i also just bought a pair of sunglasses, to arrive fairly soon, because i liked my new pair so much!

these glasses cost me a whopping $17!! how awesome is that?!

happy wednesday!

welcome 2012

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow."

~ Albert Einstein

A new slate to be written on! This is how I see the new year! I'm excited for the new prospects I am facing, the new challenges I'm to meet this year, even though I have NO clue what they will be! I decided to be a little less extensive with my resolutions, thinking in a more "slow and steady wins the race" kinda way. of course, as always, weight loss is one of those, only in a eat more healthy stuff, less junk food sorta way!

I'm also excited because I finally moved out of my parents home! (I do miss y'all, I promise)! I love my new roomies: Lauren, Laura, and Brittney! Their all lovely people and I'm so excited to be starting this year being a little more independent and being out on my own!

Jude Matthew Walker

...was born today at 1:17pm, 10lbs 10oz and 22 inches long! We love him and are so grateful Gretchen, the ever beautiful mother was able to pull through the home stretch safe and healthy! Welcome to the world beautiful boy!

kicking my butt...

yes folks, my determination to become fit is kicking my butt! not only are the ever increasing amounts of sweets to tempting, but i'm just admitting i am a very out-of-shape homegirl! :)

my friend erica and i are embarking on a no-sweets 21 journey starting tomorrow...you heard me! no chocolate, sweets, biscuits or cookies, cakes, donuts, muffins, pastries, white bread, chips, fast food, nutella, peanut butter (or other naughty spreads, and last but not least, no ice cream for 21 straight days! i'm hoping this helps my inherent craving for anything fattening decrease significantly, and we will put it to the test! :)

another lovely thing i'd like to share is this very simple looking yet grueling workout!

i tried it on for size tonight when i discovered the gym is closed on halloween! my arms are achy and my abs feel like they've been worked!

i'm sure this is why you all ready my blog, to hear how slowly my jiggly body is losing weight. the truth is, i'm a little more determined than i've been in the past and i've seen awesome results, but for some reason, i can't get rid of the thoughts of chocolate or bread that reside in my brain on a permanent basis. i'm wondering, if anyone reads this that is, if you yourself have been able to get rid of those thoughts or what you've done in response to one of those urgent cravings. please, do drop a line if you have!

happy halloween!

to the pursuit of happyness :)

(photo via)

Here's to 10 things that bring me happyness at the moment (in no particular order):

1. the changing of the season's, who doesn't love those fall colors

2. a crush i may have on a certain boy :)

3. only 21 more days until we have our nephew!!

4. my sweet older sister telling me "i think you're the greatest sister ever."

5. the warmth from rich chocolatey liquid in a mug, aka hot chocolate!

6. fall break from school!

7. progress, progress, progress

8. enjoying the sweet, calming spirit at the temple!

9. being close to family and friends

10. dancing and singing to tunes like "Moves Like Jagger" in my car!

Oh conference weekend!! It was wonderful! I couldn't help but remember where I was a year ago, sitting in the small chapel in Fredericksburg, watching my companion fall asleep as Elder Cook spoke marvelously on...well, maybe I did a zoning out as well!

This conference was a little hard for me to catch. I did catch the last part of saturday morning and Sunday morning I had the opportunity to go watch conference live! (Probably my last, I was getting a little annoyed with those dang people who wouldn't shut their mouths!) I have to say all the talks were good, because they were! They were all very specific to the needs of the members and everyone else around the world, however, the ones that touched me the most were Sister Thompson's, President Uchtdorf's, and President Monson's talks.

I've been asked to talk with the high councilman in December and the topic is covenants and how they relate to the Atonement. When he gave me the topic, I couldn't help but think to myself I wouldn't know the first thing about that, since I've been doing such a horrible job this year of keeping them! I went to the temple for the first time in months last Friday. I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to get back when just a year ago, that's all I wanted to do but the feelings I had when I went were wonderful and calming, I'd completely shoved those out of my mind! Sister Thompson quoted her grandmother's patriarchal blessing, which I found so beautiful and it touched me deeply:

“Thou wast chosen from before the foundation of the earth, and a chosen spirit to come forth in this day. … Thy testimony shall be magnified and thou shalt be able to testify. … The destroyer has sought to destroy thee, but if thou wilt cleave unto thy God, he [the destroyer] shall not have power to harm thee. Thou through thy faithfulness shalt have great power and the destroyer shall flee from before thee because of thy righteousness. … When the hour of fear and trials come upon thee if thou wilt retire to thy secret closet in prayer thy heart shall be comforted and the obstacles removed.”

Comfort comes and obstacles are removed...I love it!

The Gospel is too true! The wonderful Spirit that fills my heart and life when I partake of the goodness of it reminds me that I'm loved and I'm worth every drop!