Feeling Loved

Graduating from high school was something I looked to as being so far away it wasn't something to really stress over. I never really considered a whole lot of my options simply because 'I had time'. Well then something crazy happened on May 22nd, I walked across Toro Stadium and got my diploma partied with my friends til 5:45 the next morning! It was so fun but when I woke up I  just laid in my bed and thought:

'Well now what?'

That question has haunted me so much in the last 5 weeks since graduating.

(side note) Since the middle of my Junior Year my cousin, Amy, and I go to the Mesa Temple every Thursday. It has been one of the biggest blessings and I am more and more grateful for it every time I go. This last Thursday Amy was in Utah at BYU swim camp and so I got to go all by myself. As I sat inside reading the scriptures I was thinking about how unsteady the future was to me and how unsure everything felt and then suddenly I was overwhelmed with the love, comfort, and peace I had spent these last 5 weeks on my knees praying so hard to find. I felt Heavenly Fathers love for me so strongly and was reassured that everything would work out, and that he has a plan for me and if I trust him he will help me figure it all out. How grateful I am to know that I am a daughter of God and that he knows me and has a plan for my life!! and as crazy as these last 5 weeks have been, I look back and see that I have grown so much closer to my Savior and Heavenly Father! I am reminded everyday that we are sent here to learn and grow and that sometimes it feels like trials are never going to get resolved and things are never going to turn around, but I know that if I am patient with God, He knows better than us all and he gives us trials as an opportunity to improve and become better.

Today I am grateful for trials, temples, and my testimony.

 

 

Where did April go?

Is it really April 30th? So obviously April has been a month of craziness! Birthdays, senior pictures, wedding prep, studying, picking schools, institute registration, etc. Doesn't that list seem a little overwhelming? Just maybe! :) Anyway craziness and all April is my favorite month for many reasons but,  Especially because its my Birthday Month :) it still completely freaks me out that i'm now 18. When did I grow up?

I went to Oreganos for dinner <3

 Tyler Ward tickets: YES! (thank you Mom)

Flowers from my Dad :)

and No I have not purchased anything that I couldn't before I was 18, but I might be buying a fish in the near future... :) anyway it was a great day and I have so many wonderful people in my life who made it special!

So not only is it my Birthday month, but also my brother, Eric's as well!

yeah we are pretty cool :)

and this kid is getting married in 36 HOURS! crazy stuff!! So there will obviously be a post on Saturday or late Friday night! :)

I also got super lucky and got to attend 2 plays!! Mountain View put on a show called Curtains, a whodunit show within a show kinda deal! It was pretty good and I everyone in it did awesome!

Well then Heritage Academy put on The Phantom of the Opera I cannot tell you how much I love that play in the first place, but they did an amazing job!! I actually got to go TWICE which is hard because even with 5 shows, they sell out every night!! So thank you to my Mom for the family trip, and thank you Maddie for the birthday ticket :)

this is Maddie, isn't she lovely?

Kaylan ROCKED at being Christine!

Go Mckay for being an awesome Raul!

It was seriously so fun to go the first time and it was even better the second time around!!

The pictures are all from Saturday night, because I got my senior pictures done just before the performance! I will upload some when I get them back :)

I FINALLY got my hair fixed, as shown below I was basically blonde and the picture below is the only time besides the day I got it done that I wore it down. The second one is after, and needless to say I've decided I am definitely a dark hair girl! 

Another lovely thing about April I got my Boot off!! I cracked my Sesamoid (under the ball of your food google it if you want) playing basketball back in December and the podiatrist was not happy with me. I don't blame him since I walked around, ran, and worked out on it for 4 months. Go Me! We have been super close for these last 4 weeks, but I'm glad its gone! The last picture is of my new best friends. I call them my Optimus Prime shoes :) no more bendy running shoes for me! oh well it could be worse!

We also got to go through old family pictures for Eric's wedding slideshow and I found these lovelies and let me tell you I was quite the cutie, but the pictures with my brothers are seriously the cutest! I love old pictures!!

So this all pretty much sums up April and if I think of anything else I'll add on to it but really its was a fantastic month! looking forward to all that May brings!

~ Kim ~

CONFERENCE

I seriously LOVE General conference and espcally after the General Women's Meeting last night, my heart is full and I cannot wait to hear from the Prophet and other leaders next weekend! IF anyone is looking for cute handouts for conference go and download these they are too cute!



All Things Bright and Beautiful: General Conference 2014 Reminder: I.CANNOT.WAIT.FOR.CONFERENCE. Nuff said. It seems like general conference always rolls around the corner when I need it t...





If you would like to know what went on in the General Women's Meeting here is the link to watch it: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch?cid=HPTH032714628&lang=eng



Here is a video to explain what General Conference is about: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/invite-others?lang=eng

Spring Break: Mexico addition!

So it's been a while! (ok not really but it feels like it!) this week was spring break and first off, being a Senior in high school it hit me like a ton of bricks on the way home that this was my last official break until I graduate, and let me tell you, it's kind of a scary one! I almost cried! If anyone has a way to contact Peter Pan could you please give it to me? I need a quick place to go and not grow up ( I could be a Lost Girl right?) but it's ok graduation is still pretty far away so I'll worry about that later!

So back to MEXICO! When I was younger my family and I would go almost every school year to Mexico with our good friends the Alders. Well it had been 8 years since we last went and we thought it was the perfect time to go.

You know how you remember places or things from when you're younger and then you go again and it wasn't how you remembered? (total autopia moment for me; driving fake cars isn't as fun as the real thing!) Well Mexico was nothing like that but EXACTLY how I remembered it! From the cute little house we stay in to sand dollars and sea shells!

this is the "backyard" of the beach house!

 

I decided I would take pictures of the sun set each night and they were all beautiful!!

Tuesday Night

Wednesday Night

 

Thursday Night

 

It was absolutely breath taking!!  Last night all 11 of us were outside taking pictures, filming, and watching the sun go down over the water! How blessed we are to live in such a beautiful world!

 

ACTIVITIES

Every morning we all got up and when to the bay during low tide and found all kinds of stuff! Clams, starfish, sand dollars, assorted shells, sea slugs (probably one of the coolest things ever!) and octopus  and since we got back at 10:30 tonight I haven't had a chance to get everyone to send me all of the pictures but they are going to come!

We also ate at this little taco shop and it was sooo yummy!! There is something about homemade Mexican food that just gets to me! I loved all the food we got!!

So for now I will leave you with a few of my model shots and I'll add my pictures as they come to me!

water shoe tan lines :)

some shells and a sand dollar

these are probably my two favorite pictures :)

 

Thank you Mexico for being all that I remembered! Until next time!

 

- Kim

 





Roadtrips, Basketball, and Sunsets :)

Over the weekend I have the opportunity to go to California and watch my brother play basketball for the first time this season! I was really excited in fact so excited I forgot to pack shirts! (go Kim!) but my sister-in-law-to-be lent my some of her cardigans/ sweaters while we were gone!

 thanks Ellen!

anyway the weather was gorgeous and on top of a basketball game (Eric twisted his ankle pretty bad and his team lost so needless to say we had a ton of free time!) We picked up my aunt and went shopping for a bridesmaid dress for me! we didn't have much luck :/ oh well! We will eventually find one!! after a full day of the outlet mall, My parents and I got together with one of the members of the mission presidency in Ryan's Mission and it was so fun!! Glad to know that the people he are serving love him just as much as we do!

( picture to come! )

it was a short lived trip but fun to go and do all that stuff! I have lived in Arizona my whole life, so maybe I'm bias, but Desert sunsets are the most beautiful thing in the world! Why you might ask? because each one is always different! The colors are so beautiful!! Well on the way back my dad interrupted me and my book and pointed out the gorgeous sunset behind us and it was beautiful!

I snapped a couple of pictures of it reflecting in the review mirror and the side of the car but it's still stunning! Just like a desert rain storm this is one to put on your bucket list!

 

 Not the highest quality but still captivating!

Happy Monday everyone! :)

 

 

 

My Just Good Day :)

Today was just one of those days where is was just a good day. No particular reason for it being good either it was just good.

So one of my policies in life is that everyday is a new opportunity to improve. When I wake up in the morning I can decide to be better than I was yesterday. So many people say things like " I'll be happy when I blank" or "I'd be happy if blank" and on occasion these phrases have slipped from my mouth, but being happy is a choice. Everyday you decide who you are and what you are going to do, so just be happy! and yes I know how hard it is to be happy, but being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect it simply means that you find little things in your day to day life that make you happy. I promise that life is never going to be easy, but with a positive outlook towards what you can find to be that light you will come to see the ease of the burdens just lighten. and here's my bug secret: The more happiness you look for you find. The more you find, the more you are happy.

Remember that "Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manor of traveling" - Margaret Lee

So here's a happy picture of me and my just good day :)

and I almost forgot my strawberry :)

 

HAPPY TUESDAY LOVELY'S



Rain + Sadies = Great Weekend!

LIFE

So this past week I fought a cold that hit me hard on Saturday. My mom thinks that my body finally had a moment where it could shut down for a little bit because basketball ended. So that was a bit of a struggle but none the less I LOVED this week!! Half days Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday Schedule, and an Assembly on Thursday, school was good! And it rained. Arizona rain is probably one of the most exciting, amazing, beautiful smelling things in the world! There are very few things I love more! Naturally I played in it and took some pictures of the dark sky and my beautiful flowers!

ahhh I just love it!!

So grateful for rain and for those of you who want to smell the best rain ever wait for it to rain in Arizona and come play in it because its life changing.

Part II

SADIES

So for all of you lovely people, if you attend my high school or have in the past, dances are insane!! Girl ask guy ones are typically more crazy because lets face it, girls have this image that everything must be absolutely perfect or it is a disaster. Well I after asking my date a week after Winter Formal (yes I know! I found a date at such a "late" hour!) and our group planned everything to be as simple as we could! It was so fun! The theme was Out Of This World so naturally we got neon shirts :)

We took some pictures, went to Venezias Pizza, Danced (even though we didn't know most of the songs!) and then we went bowling!

Cosmic bowling is probably one of my favorite things and it was so fun to basically light up because of our shirts!! :)

 my date was pretty great!

definitely one for the books! :)

All in all it was a successful weekend so glad I got to share it with my friends!