The Vetruviron Man

let us all take a moment and bask in the brilliance of this picture :)

GENIUS. pure genius. 

(please tell me you get it.)

we're stronger than we think

People killin', people dyin',

Children hurt and you hear them cryin'.

Can you practice what you preach?

And would you turn the other cheek?

Father, Father, Father help us,

Send some guidance from above.

'Cause people got me, got me questionin'

Where is the love?

Why does it take a tragedy to make us grateful for what we have?

That day terrified me. How could the world be so mean? Only the day before I had learned that a classmate had taken his own life, and now these bombs exploded into my life, shattering my little naive world into broken pieces of hope, love, and happiness. How could I survive in such a scary world? I didn't know that boy. I didn't know those three people that died from the bombs. I didn't even know any of the hundreds, maybe even thousands more who were wounded, both physically and emotionally. But they still changed me.

The first thing I did when I got home from school was run upstairs, find my 18 month old brother, and give him a giant bear hug. I didn't want forget what's really important, you know? He wrapped his little arms around my neck and hugged me back, even though he didn't know why I was so upset. His eyes sparkled and his baby-toothed grin reminded me that there is still love in this world, no matter what happens.

The bombs had not only shattered my little world, but they broke loose a floodgate of tears. I talked to my mom and cried and cried and cried. By the time the tears stopped and my mascara was in black streaks down my cheeks, my mom had calmed me down. She eased the pain and terror I felt, coaxing it back in behind the hastily patched walls at the heart of my little not-so-naive-anymore world to wait until the day when that little part of my heart gets too full again and spills out my eyes.

Sometimes life gets cut short. And when it does, we do what we always do. We weep. We hug. We bond together to give whatever support is needed to buoy up the broken hearts of the nation. And we live on.

We wipe our eyes, though the tears often insist on falling anyway. We square our shoulders and resolve to face each day with a stronger determination to truly live. We will live so that "our dead will not have died in vain." We will live so that their legacies will not be buried with them. We will live so that the world will know that together, we are strong.

Love is All You Need :)

Today has been one of the greatest days of my life :) 

There is no other way to put it; I just feel SO loved. 

It's amazing the things that people have done for me today

- I was "kidnapped" at 5:30 in the morning by my best-est friends of all time, starting off the day with nutella, crepes, and strawberries

- I got to be part of one of the best seminary assembly I have ever been to (and I have been to a lot)

- my friends sang me multiple renditions of "Happy Birthday" all throughout the day

- my Mom gave me a "go-go squeeze" applesauce packet for lunch today - basically that means "I love you" in Ashley-language :) AND she gave me 10 more as one of my presents...haha I guess that is why I am feeling so filled with love today :)

- my friends gave me three plastic cats (I mean, now that I am so old, it is time to start my career as a cat lady! They now reside on my window sill above my desk. If you have any name suggestions, let me know :) )

- practically a bazillion people wished me happy birthday today...ah, it is the best to be walking down the hall and all of a sudden someone calls to you "haaaaaaaappy birthday!" It seriously made my day every time :)

- I was given three of the funniest cards I have ever received today! Here is one of them (from Lewis)...

  haha I was laughing so hard! (my brothers always make fun of me for my teenage "slang" :) )

- one of my best-est-est friends gave me the best-est-est birthday present ever! Oh how I love the Eiffel Tower!

- my Mom made me some great food today :) Hawaiian haystacks with all the toppings, sweet potatoes, rolls, and best of all, German chocolate cake....delicious! 

- I got to go to Young Women tonight....wow, those girls and my leaders love me so much :) I can't even count how many times people told me happy birthday! A Beehive and I share birthdays (yes, we've been counting down for months!) and it has been so fun :) we basically had a mini party at our activity tonight, cake and all!

- I played outside with this little boy today :) he is basically the cutest kid on the planet! As soon as I say "outside?" he is practically tottering out the door as fast as he can! We play on the swings, the slide, the grass, the basketball court...he just loves being in the sunshine. And as a matter of fact, so do I! What a cute little goose :) (this is the only picture I could get of him...he moves so fast that all of his pictures turn out blurry! haha)

- my parents gave me the best gifts ever! How in the world did I come to be so blessed?!

- I got phone calls from my "little sister," my "buddy", and my college friends...seriously, they made my day! :)

- I received "happy birthdays" from all over the world! 

from Brazil....

to Sweden! 

Don't you see what I mean?

I am just SO loved :)

like, hooray for birthdays!

like, hooray for life! 

:)

oh, and I am officially allowed to feel ancient now! I mean, who wouldn't if they could a) buy things off of infomercials, b) get arrested, and c) rent port-a-potties? Let's be real :)

if life was a library

Today, my Mom and I went shopping for a prom dress.

Instead, I came home with these...

Aren't they beautiful? :)

I asked my Mom "Why go to a mall when you could go to Barnes & Noble?"

She just laughed and asked, "So how are you going to explain this to Tanner? '...Sorry, Tanner, I decided to buy books instead of a dress, so how about we spend the night reading instead of dancing'?"

Mm yes, I'm sure it will go over well :)

This is my future life....

like, go life!

And when I walk into a bookstore my heart starts beating fast and I try to breathe deep and act normal, but in reality I want to dance around the store, running my fingers across all of the covers and flipping through every page.

My life's goal?

But really,

I love books. 

End of story.

(yes, that was a pun.)

hearts and things

Did you know I have an imaginary friend?
His hair is the color of sunshine, and his eyes are bluer than the ocean.
He's kind and funny and has the best manners in the world.
He runs like the wind and has the brains of a genius.

and did you know that he's a heart surgeon?
except I think he forgot to pay attention in class when they taught him how to finish the job, because he left my heart wide open.

I know, it's a little dramatic. 

But it's ok because 1) it's Valentine's Day and 2) I'm a teenage girl :)

Dear Future Husband...

Prepare yourself for many bad hair days :)


[click on the one titled "Bad Hair Day"... the link won't work exactly to the video, sorry]

Merry Christmas!