All moved in.

So I just moved from Hanford, California to Provo, Utah. For those you that don't know that's about 748 miles away and almost an 11 hour drive. I would know because I just made that drive on Wednesday evening. We left Hanford around 5ish and arrived in Provo around 5 or 6ish because of stops and traffic and such. I have moved to attend Brigham Young University which is a LDS endorsed church so when I got to Provo on Thursday morning I moved in and attended orientation at 8.

It's hard moving.

I am all settled now but I'll tell you all about my college experience so far... okay so that's only 4 days.. but still.

Okay so during orientation I decided I was going to skip some of the workshops that way I could go get some paper work done for my job and try to put away some of my stuff in my dorm. And I had a map on my phone therefore I thought I could find my way around. WRONG. I got so lost. I finally found the building that I had to turn in my paperwork after an hour (it should only had taken 10 minutes) and then I tried to find my way back to my dorms and by then it was super hot and my phone was down to 10%. My dad texted me asking me if I had been able to take a nap and clean up and by then I broke down in tears because I had no idea where I was (and I was running on a couple of hours of bad sleep) so my parents had to drive around the campus and come find me.

The next day was better during the day but I knew in the back of my mind this was the last day I was going to be able to see my parents. Throughout the day I would break down in tears. And then came the time when my parents took me around Provo to show me around before they left and I cried literally the whole time and then we came back to campus to look around when I saw my roommates and they told me that I needed to come fast so we could get to this party thing. I wanted to go so then I had to sad good bye and sobbed in front of my roommates and my parents left. First things first everyone cries when their parents leave. I don't care if you aren't close with them it's hard because everything familiar is gone. I cried. My roommate cried. Some random boy that we know he said he sobbed. So don't feel bad we are all in this together.

Now some things about BYU.

1. BYU is also known as "The Y" because of the large Y on the mountain. The reason there is a Y on the mountain is because a long time ago when there was BYU and Brigham Young Academy (a church high school) the BYU President decided that they were going to put a large B-Y-U on the mountain. A brigade of men marched up the mountain with cement and limestone and they thought it would only take then 6 hours. After 6 hours they finished the Y and came down with the idea that they were going to do the B and the U another day but in the end they never did so know the Y is a big icon of BYU.
2. All the buildings are named after Church Leaders and other important folks so the have super long names like The Spencer W. Kimball Tower, the Joseph F. Smith Building, the Harold B. Lee Library so everything is labeled by acronyms. SWKT, JFSB etc. and that's what everyone calls them. The SWKT (it sounds like swi-kit) or the HFAC (it sounds like Ach-Vac) so sometimes I don't know what to call them.
3. Everyone here is so nice. People just randomly talk to you all the time.
4. There are so many Mormons here that on Sundays we don't go to churches we are split up into groups called wards (I'm in the 109th ward) and we meet in classrooms. And students teach the classes.
5. There are just so much Mormon-ess. NCMO's and Book Of Mormon jokes can be found all over the campus. And the other night they played the dating game with like a million people. The bachelorette was sitting on side of the curtain and the boys on the other side and she and all the boys that wanted to participate filled out a questionnaire. THERE WERE HUNDEREDS OF BOYS THAT PARTICIPATED. But when you put something different you had to leave the stage until it got down to like 10 and she asked individual questions and eliminated people. THE CRAZY THING IS THEY ACTUALLY HAD TO GO ON THE DATE. Am I the only one that found that really awkward? But the orientation people paid for the date so...? Still weird.
6. Since everyone goes to church everything is closed on Sundays except for the cafeteria but it's open at 10am-5:30pm and on the first Sunday of the month (also known as fast Sunday because the church encourages you to skip 2 meals and pray and all the jazz) its open from 2:30-5:30. Awesome...
7. BYU is like a small town. BYU campus has a bowling ally, a club called The Wall, a hair salon, a Creamery which is like a small grocery store and the BYU Store is like a Wal-mart. Which is great for me because I have no car.
8. Everyone at BYU can sing. We have all been going to church where we sing all the time SO EVERYONE CAN SING.
9. The cougarettes are freakin awesome. Click here to view BYU's awesome dance team.
10. Last one for now Cosmo is the name of our mascot and he does flips and backflips off the stand so he is pretty legit.

That's all for now comment or share! Till next time :)

10 Tips For Mormon Girls Who Just Turned 16 AKA Dating Advice

For those of you who aren't Mormon it is advised to the youth of the church that they don't date before they are 16 and many families and teens abide by this rule. Therefore when a girl turns 16 she is usually expected to date. This post is geared toward these girls but if you are in need of some dating advice read on.


1) You don't have to date - Just because you can doesn't mean you have to! If you don't want to then don't. And people shouldn't pressure you to do so especially when you are at this age.

2) Think before you say no - If you want to date, think before you say no. You do have the right to say no but if you are saying no because they aren't ideal you might want to think twice. If you say no to him, he is going to tell others and in the end boys aren't going to ask you if they think you are going to say no. BUT if you think he is creepy and perverted you have every right to say no.

3) You can always ask - If you want to go on a date with a boy... ASK HIM! But if you ask I believe that you should pay or better yet just do something that doesn't take money. I asked these boys to do a double date with me and my sister and we went to the park and had bought a bunch outdoor toys from the dollar store and had a picnic. But I had to ask and they were more than happy to go.

4) Sometimes you don't get asked - Just because you don't get asked doesn't mean there is anything wrong with you. You can not, I repeat CANNOT let that get to you. I thought for a long time that I wasn't pretty enough, funny enough, or normal enough because no one would ever ask me on a date. Not getting asked out does not mean that something is wrong with you. Who knows you could be so amazing that the boys that would like to ask you out are intimidated.

5) You will be turned down - Ugh. This is just another hard lesson. I liked this boy he was not interested. I gave it a shot and moved on. Don't force a relationship.

6) Dating is super fun - If you play your cards right you can see so many movies and meet so many guys. Boys are fun to get to know so just try it!

7) Group dating is super super fun - If you are scared of dating try group dating. It's easier to get to know a guy when you have your friends with them and it dramatically decreases the awkwardness by 100% and you can have everyone paired up or just invite a bunch of boys and girls to hang out. You can even set up a "blind group date" where the girls actually know who their date is, it just means their friends can set it up and the date doesn't have to ask.

8) Relationships are hard - This isn't just for boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, but any relationship with a friend or a parent this advice is versatile. Relationships require work. Think of it as a living thing it needs love and care or its just going to die.

9) The first time you break up you're going to cry - no matter what actually happens once you break up you are going to feel confused and lonely and you are going to cry. Tomorrow is a new day. Don't wait for him to text you, just go out and have fun. Don't stay home.

10) People move away - Teenagers and Twenty-year-olds move around a lot because of work and college. My advice don't get too involved into someone when you know you are going to move away unless you want to do the whole long distance thing and I have a friend who does that but its really hard on her. Just know what you are getting into.

This photo was taken during a group date where we had a Taco Bell picnic and a picture scavenger hunt! Yeah I know we are cute ;)
Till Next time!

Amatuer Photography

I was one of those girls who thought they were a photographer and would post pictures on facebook like these.

 

And obviously they weren't the greatest. But I had to start somewhere.

So I just kept taking pictures.

 

And then I ended up with pictures more like...

 

 



 

Which are okay but I still kept taking pictures and editing them myself.

And then pictures like this happened.

 

 

 

Pictures started to be more interesting. As you can see these pictures are  a lot better than when I was first taking pictures. So unlike a lot of people when others post pictures on social media like they are photographers it doesn't bother me. Because that's how you get better. Practice makes perfect right? But in addition to just taking pictures make sure you read and look at other pictures for inspiration. And look up tutorials! I have a Pinterest board dedicated not just to photography but tips and advice on how to take good pictures!

 

Here is a link if you want to look!

http://www.pinterest.com/michaellas/photography/ 

 

My college roommate who I am going to see in less than 6 days is also very interested in photography and now has her very own photography and shoots wedding, seniors sessions and more.

 I asked her if she also had any advice this is what she said

 

"Well, Practice. Also shadowing a professional photographers is a great way to learn more. I offered to be an assistant for a few professional photographers and saw how they did things and learned so much from them. I also found different styles from working with different photographers that I felt connected to me and what I wanted my photography to represent. Another thing would be to feel confident in your own artistic ability but still be open to others ideas and suggestions"

 

So keep shooting! As long as you are using a camera and not a gun!

 

Yeah I know I watch too many random crimes shows! Till next time.

To Feel Love. To Feel Pain.

Mormons (I am a Mormon just in case you didn't know) believe that before we lived on this Earth that we lived as spirits with God in a spiritual world which we call Premortal Life. We believe that God asked for a plan and Jesus proposed that we have agency and we are able to make our own choices whether they be good or bad and the plan of the atonement and how he would pay for our sins and the Lucifer stated that if he was given all the glory he would make sure that everyone would make the right choice and we would all return to live with God. As it goes on there was a war (there is lots of speculation about whether it was a real war or more of a discussion) but we were all given a choice between what plan we want and it is said that 1/3 of the spirits chose Lucifer and were cast out with him creating Satan. We believe that if you are here on this earth with a body that you chose Christ's plan.

I believe this. And maybe you don't. But this plan that I believe we choose is based all around agency. The power that you can do whatever you want. This being said it allows us to love and care. It also allows us to be cruel and hateful.

We are on this earth with a body that was given to us and we are able to feel, think, and experience the world around us. Sometimes we hate feelings and the pain is too much. But think about never being able to love someone and no matter what happens whether you break up, move away, or they pass away you were able to experience love and those memories can never be taken away. Love, happiness, pain, and sadness all exists and you will feel all these things but for every bad time there is a good time.

This is your life. Make it count.