'Tis the season to be THANKFUL

When the holiday season comes around I just have to go think about all of the people I am thankful for and blessed with.

My family is numero uno on my list:

The kids with Nena: I will always be thankful for her, my grandma. She was the most polite, beautiful and elegant lady. I hope one day I will be like her.

The Hopkins girls (besides Darci): I love my sisters and my mom. I have been SO blessed with being born into an amazing family who are strong in the church and great mothers and friends!

My mom: I don't know where to begin with this lady. Even though sometimes we get annoyed with each other we will always be there for each other. She is such an amazing woman and so awesome (especially for putting up with me). I love you mom and I hope that one day I'll be a mom like you!

My dad: I love this guy! He is one guy who will always be there for you. He is so strong in the church, so generous, thoughtful, a great provider and he is a great listener. I love you dad and hope that I can marry a guy half as great as you!

Brandon: This guy will always make you smile. He is always in a good mood and it is contagious, you will never be in a bad mood when you are with this guy. He is great and he will always be there for you, day or night and he will always make you feel like someone cares for you. Thanks for being a great boyfriend!

Emily and Hanna: I love love love these girls. They are my best friends and they have been for a very long time. Each of them and super sweet and don't have a mean bone in them (unless you get on Emily's bad side). They are such great friends that both of them even came out to Utah to visit me this year!

Lindy, Blaire and Andi: I love living with these girls but not as much as I love each of them. We always have fun together and surprisingly we don't have drama.. only when it comes to our own drama (mainly boy drama) but they will always be there for you when you are down. Thanks for accepting me for who I am and loving me. I loves each one of you girls and you are all my best friends!

All of us girls with the hottie, Zac Efron. We are thankful for you and your good looks!

These people are just half of the people I am grateful for. There are many many more people that I am grateful for.

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all will have an amazing holiday.

Tomorrow Is Another Day

I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and most importantly, I believe in miracles.
-Audrey Hepburn.

"Tomorrow is another day" how true that little quote is. You know when you just have one of those days when you just think life would be better if you just shoot yourself? Well, I had one of those days this week. I swear everything went wrong that day... went to bed late (first warning), woke up late and didn't get to shower, got to work late, all my appointments went past time, and it took about a little over an hour to get home when it only takes about 25 minutes. You get the point, it was just a day. When I was driving home I was just stressed to the max... wanting to get home, shower and get ready for a date I had. I just had to turn off the music, roll down my window and just breath.

When I was just sitting there in traffic I realized right now I'm learning patience. I need to not get mad and be grumpy all day just because of little things here and there and it was my fault for going to bed so late and it was just a domino effect after that. I also realized we get to choose if we are going to be happy or mad. And why choose to be mad and make your day terrible when you can be happy? There is a famous quote by Mildred Barthel that says, "Happiness is a conscious choice, not an automatic response." How true that quote is, at least for me. When everything is wrong you just have to take a step back and breathe and remember tomorrow is a new day and this stress, hurt, pain and worry is just temporarily here. And even though the world and some people are really negative we can choose how we respond to it.

Another thing that has been on my mind a ton is not knowing the ending of my life story. One thing that I do whenever I first get a new book or about to buy one is read the very last page to figure out the end of the story. To see if it's a happy or a sad ending. I just like knowing everything that will happen. And I can apply this to my life in every way. I like to know everything that is going to happen. I am one that will write out what I will do that day, what stores and errands I need to make... sure I love being spontaneous every once in a while but most of the time I like to plan everything out. And with my life I don't know. I don't know what I will be doing in a year from now and that scares me so, so bad. I want to know if I'll be happy, have a new job, my friends, if I will have a boy and if we will be in love... and who knows? I know I sure don't! And I hate not knowing. I want to know. And during conference I heard a talk about having faith in the Lord is also having trust in him. And to trust that everything will turn out the way it's supposed to. You need to have constant faith in the Savior and faith will help you trust in him."We cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord's will and the Lord's timing." And when we have that true faith and trust we will be a lot happier and I'm still developing that but as I am seeking it I already am feeling so much happier. I'm just trying to take one day at a time and not stress about what's going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month or next year. You just have to work through all your struggles. Your struggles are defining character. If y'all are LDS and have time look up my favorite scripture- D&C 58:3-4 it's a perfect scripture for my life right now.

Summer, you will be missed.

"Summer is where the girls go barefoot and their hearts are just as free as their toes"

I had an amazing summer. Went to California for a weekend to visit my best friend, Andi who I missed dearly over the summer. Went to St. George a lot.. saw Brian Regan (comedian), Tarzan, soaked up some of the hot desert sun and just relaxed. Went to Missouri to visit my family and to see my cousin get married. I also experienced my first "summer love" Even though it was just a summer romance it was a lot of fun and I don't regret one second of it.

Getting some ice cream after soaking up some sun in St. George

Tarzan.. Great show!

Brandon teaching me how to swing.

Spanish Fork rodeo!

Kelsi's first 4th of July!

Just hanging out with good friends.

In San Diego with my best friends

Strawberry days Rodeo in American Fork

Dancing up at Squeak Peak

Mine and Brandon's first date. Thanks for making my summer a great one!

"I never promised you a happy ending.
You never said that you wouldn't make me cry
But summer love will keep us warm,
Long after our autumn goodbye"

What would life be without girlfriends?

"A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are."

What would life be without girlfriends? I was just thinking how when I first moved out here to Utah I felt like I had no girlfriends and life was miserable. But now look at me... I have been out here for two years and I have lots of girlfriends. You all are amazing and I love each and every single one of you. You all have been such an inspiration to me in different ways.

Here are a few of my girlfriends(sorry if you aren't on here these are just a few from this last year):

All the girls in San Diego. I love my best friends!!

This is my best friend Andi. Without her there wouldn't be an Amandi and everyone loves us. We just met back in January and I feel like I've know her my own life. She has such a fun personality and everyone just loves her. Just look at her, how could you not?

Kailee. She is probably one of the most amazing girls I know. She has been through so much in her life and she is still so strong. She inspires me to be better every time I'm with her.

Oh Emily! I don't know where to begin with her. We have been there for each other for years. She knows me better than anyone else in this world... Well did, but we are still pretty close even though we haven't lived close to each other in 2 years.

This is for Carrie. She is another amazing woman. She was baptized in the church about 3 years ago(I think) and she is now married in the temple.. She has come such a long way!

Kelsi, Blaire and I. Kelsi is just so cute, she is from England and I just love the way she talks with the accent. She is very fun and happy... never seen her upset! Blaire is so fun. She is like the mother of all of us. She is so strong in the church, just received her endowments and is helping be a better person and I love her for that!

"This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days. Smiles when the sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth. Love to complete your life."

St. George and Brian Regan!

"Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget."

This weekend some friends and I went to St. George, UT to get away from Provo relax, get some sun and to see Brian Regan! If you don't know who Brian Regan is... go look him up. He is a comedian and he is hilarious. I had a blast this weekend and want to say thanks to Blaire for getting us free tickets to the show.

All of us before the show! Aaron, me, Blaire and Kelsi

Brian Regan!!

After some pool time. We went to WalMart and saw Polygamists... we were a little excited!

The girls!!

We got to go behind stage and up in the spotlight room, we are so cool!

Me and Aaron.

We had fun!!

Aaron and Blaire at dinner.

Me and Kelsi! I love her. Glad she moved into my apartment! :)

Parents

"Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands."

Nothing too much is going on in my life right now... just working, hanging out and so excited to go home in a couple of weeks to see my new nephew and family!!

So this past week since it was mothers day some friends and I were talking how much we care about our parents and talking about that one day when you realize everything your parents ever taught you was true. Man, I hated that day! Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a brat to my parents and I feel so bad for all the crap they had to put up with me. I will be the first one to admit I was the worst and hardest child in my family. I'm so glad my parents (especially my mom) put up with me and still loved me after all I put them through. They are truly the BEST parents anyone could ever ask for and I love them so so much. I owe everything to them, without them I wouldn't be who I am today. I love you guys.

Over the past couple of years since I've moved out to Utah my mom and I have grown to be best friends and I'm so grateful for that. She is one person (besides my sisters) who I can always turn to anytime and she will just listen. Love you mom and Happy Mothers Day!! (I know, a little late but better late than never)

"A daughter is a little girl who grows up to be a friend."

New Hair!

So I got a new haircut/ some more blonde.. tell me what you think!

Besties!!

We have the same nails!! I almost bought it because I loved the color but Andi got it so I just borrowed it.. haha.

Carrie's bridal shower!! I can't believe she is getting married. But I'm SO happy for her!! :)

Life is good. I can't really complain about anything. I'm just excited for the next couple of months!!

I have become a groupie!

Groupie: A person who seeks emotional and intimacy with a musician or celebrity. Usually a younger woman who will follow their favorite band/musician while on tour. They can sometimes be the band/musician's muse. They will do anything to be closer to the band.

Somehow, I don't know how I have become a "groupie" okay, okay not really. But lately I have been going to a TON of shows and have the biggest thing (crush) on performers. My favorite right now are just going to the local shows out here in Utah. My good friend Andi went to the Velour last week for her favorite, Benton Paul and one of the opening bands for him was Truman and she fell in love with them and got me hooked!

I have the biggest crush on the Truman brothers.. and guess what, I met them last night and that's not even the best part of it- Ben Truman (one of the brother's) came over to my apartment!!! I was soooo excited. He is way cute. He personally invited Andi, Blaire and I to go to their concert at Sammy's in a couple of weeks. How awesome is that?! I'm so excited. I promise I am NOT a stalker.

Ben signed their CD for me and Andi!

Chad and Ben Truman with me and Andi!!

Aren't they cute?

Amandi!

So my good friend Andi and I were bored one day and decided to go to the pet store because we were bored... bad idea. An innocent trip to go "look" at the cute fury things ended up costing me money on a $10 hamster. But she is so stinkin cute we couldn't help but buy her, plus there were some evil hamsters there who were picking on her because she was the smallest (and I know how that feels) we just had to save her from them.

Andi and I were trying to decided what to name her and decided to combine our names together and name her Amandi. Amandi is probably the coolest, cutest, most popular and most spoiled dwarf hamster there ever lived. I love her.

Valentine Day!!

My lovely valentine was my amazing friend Kailee and for Valentine's day we went to Irvine, CA.. not just for valentine's day but we were there during that weekend. We got each other presents and it was a lot of fun! Thanks for being a great valentine Kailee, my best one yet :)

My mom also got me some awesome presents.. the monkey/monster thing dances and sings to the cupid shuffle and she also got me candy and a perfect boyfriend thing.. so funny.

Overall it was a great Valentine's day this year!