I've never had so much to be thankful for

As the semester draws to a close and finals week begins, I cant help but think I have so much to be thankful for. This semester has been the best of my life. My classes were all amazing, I met so many amazing people, and had some really incredible opportunities. here are the projects that have been keeping me busy lately:

Mirror Portrait:
this was the student film that I designed the costumes for this semester, and I have to say, working on this film was a life changing experience. I learned so much, and accomplished something that I never would have been possible. When the whole process started I literally had no idea what I was doing. not a clue. but with a mixture of asking questions, working really hard, and pretending like everything was fine, I was able to end up with something that I was really proud of.  and I made the director happy, thats always a huge plus.

Henry V:
this is the play I was assigned to be the costume designer for at BYU this season. Ive been working on it for a couple months, and it opens in February. I will have to do a post just about this project sometime soon, because it has been an amazing experience so far, and I cant wait to continue working on it next semester.

thats really about it for now. it looks like Ive got some really awesome classes and projects lined up for next semester but Ill write about those when I know a little more. this is a lame post, I know. but its been WAY too long since Ive written and I felt like I needed to catch the blog up with where Im at in my life right now. So I will try to come up with some better posts in the near future.

Mid-Semester Craziness!

Well, its been a month since I posted last and I kept meaning to keep up with the blog but it just didn't really happen this month. so for anyone who is wondering, here is a little snapshot of what my life is currently like:

Class:
I am completely loving all of my classes. I was a little nervous about a couple of them, but I'm having a blast. I'm taking 15 credits and I'm in class/meetings for around 28 hours a week during a normal week, which keeps me super busy, but I absolutely love it.

Projects:
I just finished up assistant costume designing Sleepy hollow. It started touring to elementary schools last week, and will come back to BYU in 2 and a half weeks. It was super fun to work on, and since they still have to to tech rehearsals and stuff for the performances here on campus, I guess my responsibilities aren't actually done after all on this project. Mirror Portrait is a student film that I am designing the costumes for. the costumes aren't going to be super big or exciting necessarily, but I'm having a really fun time figuring out how to dress real people and figuring out who the characters are. we are going to film over two weekends in November which is crazy! I cant believe its coming up so fast! it is going to take crazy amounts of organization to figure out which costume pieces are in which shots and all of that, but the stress is something that I thrive on so I'm excited for the challenge. And last but not least, Henry V, which opens next semester is starting production meetings soon! I'm so excited, I have a little bit of an idea what the concept for the costumes is and I have been completely obsessing over it for the past few weeks, I cant wait to get started!

Friends:
I absolutely love living in an apartment. It definitely comes with different challenges than living with the dorms, but there are also so many things that I like better about it. my roommates are amazing, I seriously couldn't have found better girls to live with. over all our complex is fun too, we have made some good friends and we are really just having a blast here at liberty.

Family:
I miss my family of course, and I really miss Alex. it is so weird being here and having a whole life that he isn't a part of and hanging out with people that have never met him. sometimes its sad to realize just how far away he is, but I love getting his emails and over all, I'm just so excited for him and proud of him.

Well, that's about it. I've been busy with class, designing, and friends. I've met some great people and I miss my brother, but over all life is so great right now, I feel so blessed.

I Got To Talk To My brother!!!

So today I got to talk to Alex on the phone! He left the MTC to fly to Australia so he got to call my parents and I from the airport. He sounds like he is doing great. He is with about 7 other Elders I think, four of which are going to Perth with him. He told me more about the MTC, he asked me about living in an apartment, my classes, and was sure to remind me to stay away from returned missionaries. He said it was a little weird to be out of the MTC and in the real world and that he was sad to say goodbye to some of the friends he made but he sounds like same old Alex, although maybe a bit more talkative than normal since we havn't talked in a few weeks. I really do miss him a lot. I didn't realize how different this year would be without him. But he's excited and I'm super excited for him.

A new school year

So I really can't believe I haven't blogged about everything that has happened to me lately. It has been such a busy time, full of so much change, and I have just been putting it off. I guess the first big thing that has happened is that my twin brother Alex left on his mission. It was an amazing experience to finally have him leave because not only is this something I always knew was going to happen, but he got his call to Perth, Australia a long time ago and has just been waiting to leave. It was sad of course to know that I wouldn't be able to see my twin brother for two years, but I know he is going to have so many amazing experiences and I am just so exited for him. Dropping him off at the airport wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Of course it was sad but there were two other missionaries  that were going on the same flight as him to salt lake and seeing him go through security with them made me feel considerably better. We finally just heard from him which was so exciting.
The other huge thing that happened to me was coming back top BYU! I have seriously been waiting to get back to Provo since the day I left and I'm really bad to be back. I'm living in an apartment this year with some amazing girls. I am so excited to be living with them and I know I am going to have a blast. I is definitely weird being back though. Almost all of the guys i knew last year are on their missions now, so while I am so excited and proud of them all, I can't help but be pretty sad that things this year are definitely not going to be the same as last year. But although that's a little sad and I miss some of my friends and my brother a lot, I know that this year is going to be full of great opportunities for me and I can't wait to see what happens

East Coast Travels

Well I think its about time i post about our family's recent trip to the east coast. it all started with our annual family trip with my dads whole side of the family. we all took a cruise together out of boston to Canada. Over all it was a really awesome trip. It only had two stops which meant that we had lots of time to hang out on the ship, rest, read, and eat...we did a LOT of eating. It was fun to be able to hang out with my aunts, Uncles and Cousins and to get away from home. The day we got off of the cruise ship we spent some time in Boston. I had never been to  Boston but I completely loved it. It was a beautiful city full of some amazing historywe all had a great time walking around the city. after our day in Boston, some of stayed to spend another week on the east coast and most people went home. me, alex and my dad stayed but my mom went home to go to girls camp the next week                                                       .

The next day we did a ton of driving. we drove out of Boston, through 9 states and DC to get to Williamsburg. we drove right by Manhattan, through tons of huge cities and made a stop for a few hours in Philadelphia to see the sights there. The next day we went to Williamsburg and Yorktown, it was really fun, and super hot out, but we had a great time.



after spending time there we spent a few days with our cousins in DC. I had an amazing time. DC is a beautiful city. the buildings are gorgeous, everything is within walking distance (sort of) and there is just so much history there! we took some great tours, the best of which was of the capitol building. Our hotel was in Georgetown which is a beautiful neighborhood in DC.

the two week vacation was so much fun, Ive decided that Im in love with the east coast. I knew I loved new York, but it looks like I love the rest of the East Coast too, and I hope to be back before too long!

missionaries

Well guys, yesterday I had to say bye to one of my best friends, Seth who leaves on his mission to mexico tomorrow! and about two weeks ago I had to say good bye to another friend, jarrod who is leaving for his mission to canada a week after seth. It was sad having to say bye to these guys. so this post is a shout out to them, my brother Alex who leaves at the end of the summer, and all of the amazing guys I met this past year at BYU that I had to say goodbye to.


I knew seth before college and Alex is my brother but other than that I met all of these guys this year and I came to love all of them so much. I saw each of them prepare to receive their mission calls and was so excited for each of them when it finally came. Until this year I had never been very close with anyone who left on their mission and this year I really began to understand the amount of sacrifice that is required to leave everything and everyone you know to serve for two years. It amazes me how excited and willing they all are to do this and I am so proud of all of the missionaries/future missionaries in my life.  saying goodbye is so hard but knowing that they are leaving to serve heavenly fathers children all over the globe makes it so worth it.


Here is a picture a guy in my BYU ward made that has pictures of the guys where they are going to be serving thier missions. how cool is this. guys from just the BYU 111th ward are going to be all over the world next year!
well I guess thats about all I have to say right now. Im really just so incredibly proud of the guys in my life and the amazing things they are doing. Im sad their going (so so sad to have to go back to school in the fall without them) but I know that they are doing what they are supposed to and I love them all for that.

my trip to NYC

so I know its been a few days, but Im finally getting around to telling you guys about my trip to new york. I told you about my first two days there, so I am going to start with what we did monday. to give you guys a little bit of background on the trip, it was with my sewing professors and some other students. they did this trip back when there was a clothing and textiles department. that department doesnt exist any more but we still have all the same types of appointments that are focused on the clothing industry for the most part. our group had about 22 people I think. most were students. we had two professors. a few moms, a dad, a grandma and a tour guide. so here we go, Ill start with monday.


Monday:
our first appointment on monday was the Tobe report, which is a fashion forecasting service that has been publishing upcoming trends for retailers for almost a hundred years. they have a fairly small team, so one of the editors talked to us, and she was surprisingly young. our next appointment was with an interior designer. he showed us around a show room and talked to us about what type of stuff he does. my mom and I went with some other students and one of the professors to the fashion district to do some fabric shopping which was so much fun. first let me make it clear that the fashion district is not where all of the shopping is, its where lots of clothes and stuff are made so it isnt exactly the nicest part of town and ive got to say that the front windows of some of these fabric stores were a little scary, but it was a billion times better than going to Joans for fabric and I ended up finding some great stuff

Tuesday:
this was probably the best day of the entire trip. we started by going to Parson-Meres costume studio. this is one of the places that costume designers will send their designs to be build for shows. we got to see all kinds of things including the costumes for the dancing statues from Mary Poppins, the flying monkeys from Wicked, and all sorts of things from the Lion King. They tend to do the crazier costumes and it was really cool to be able to see the process. Our next appointment was with Womens Wear Daily. I didnt know what this was before we visited them but found out that its a daily fashion newspaper basically, and the guy talking to us was really interesting. the next stop we made was the Fashion Institute. they have a museum type of exhibit that had some really awesome pieces, but even cooler than that was we got to go into one of the classrooms and have some more things shown to us. the oldest piece we saw was a corset from the late 1800s and she showed us lots of really cool vintage pieces from the 20's the 50's and up until the 90s. we also got to see wicked on this day which was awesome. somewhere in there my mom and I went to mood fabrics too which was awesome. thats the fabric store the contestants of project runway use and it was so much fun to look around. I even found swatch, the dog which was so exciting for me. he was in a few episodes of the show and so cute!!

Wednesday:
The first thing we did on Wednesday was go to Soho and went to the Anna Sui boutique. we talked a little bit about merchandising and the store manager told us her story about moving to New York from china, which was actually really inspiring. after a little time in china town we took a tour of macys where we talked even more about how stuff is merchandised. next we went to Anne Klein Suits which was interesting because we  got to see their show room as well as some of the sample making rooms and stuff. from there we walked through central park to the metropolitan museum of art. after my mom and I finished up there we caught a bus back towards our hotel. we got tickets for newsies which was an amazing show. Ive pretty much been listening to the music non stop since ive been back and I love it!

Thursday
we were just in new york for the morning on thursday and could do whatever we wanted so my mom and I went to the empire state building, then did some shopping on our way back to times square, did a bit of fabric shopping, went to Rockefeller center, then got on our bus to go to the airport.

this trip really was such an amazing experience. last time I went to New York I thought I completely loved it and now I love it even more. I dont know when Ill be back again but hopefully its not too long because I already which I could go back now!

I couldn't be happier

So i am currently on a field trip to one of my favorite places in the world...new york! I first heard about it in my sewing class last semester. The school of family life takes this trip every year and we get to visit quite a few places that have to do with fashion, costume design, and interior design.I'm back in the hotel after a day and a half of walking around manhattan and I am so tired! We landed at JFK at about 3 yesterday got on a bus and came to the hotel which is about 20 steps away from times square! We are surrounded by theaters which is so awesome. Like there are literally two right outside the front door of our hotel. After a night of shopping and walking around times square we went to bed and got up early to go to church today. I took the subway for the first time! Which wasn't really scary at all. After church we met up with our tour guide and went to battery park, the statue of liberty, Ellis island, and the 9/11 memorial. It was pouring all day and we walked so much we are all exhausted. So after resting for a little while in our room my mom and I got some dinner at this tiny pizza place next to the hotel which had really amazing pizza and cannoli too!

some reminiscing

well guys...I made the bad decision to look back at a ton of my photos on facebook from the middle of my senior year to the present and now I just feel like reminiscing. (so there will be a lot of pictures in this post, and it will be long, but stay with me here, I think I have a point) as my freshman year of college draws to a close, all I can think of is how crazy it has all been. I loved high school, and college is even better. but its scary to think that life is hurtling ahead without slowing down.

I mean it feels like not too long ago that this was all happening

But Senior year went by fast and soon enough summer was over too and it was time to leave for BYU, It was where I had always wanted to go and I was so excited but I was also terrified. but I packed up and left for this strange place filled with people I didnt know

And although it was scary and took me a little while to get comfortable, I met the most amazing people here and had the best experiences of my life. I ended up loving my room mate, making some best friends, and meeting two wards of people that I absolutely adore. I went to football games and sports events, stayed up all night talking to the other girls on the Taylor 1200 hall, went on dates, took hard classes and classes I loved, and just had some crazy times here.

The beginning of the year was so much fun because we were all getting to know each other. the girls would all hang out together in someones  room practically all night, the football games were fun, I met all the people in alex's ward.                                                                                                  

As the year went on I did so many fun things, going to dances with my girls, going up to temple square, dressing up for halloween, going on dates, celebrating my birthday. I made so many unbelievable memories with so many awesome people who I love so much.

I still cant believe how lucky I got with the girls in my hall. I love all of them so much. they made my stay in 1207 Taylor Hall memorable. and Im so excited that Im living with three of them next year. We are going to have an awesome time together

and these guys right here. oh gosh it feels like they are my family here at BYU ( well... one of them really is my family) and I love them all!

So now Ill get to more of a point. Im pretty sad that school is ending. Ill miss my girls this summer, and I think what really makes the end of this year sad is that almost every single guy I met this year is going to be leaving for a two year mission and wont be back next year. some of them I may never end up seeing again, others I may see but never really hang out with again because so much will happen in two years. But I really am so grateful for all of the awesome guys I met this year. It has been so amazing seeing you all prepare for your missions, get your mission calls and be so excited to leave. Im so proud of you guys.

well I guess thats it for me for now. Ill probably do another post around the time I am packing up and moving out because I wont be able to contain the sappy post that will inevitably occur but, for now, I'll just be studying, taking my finals, and having the best 2ish weeks I possibly can

Its coming to an end

With the end of Loves Labors Lost I have a bunch more free time now; that has pretty much just been filled up with all of the work I've been puttin off for the past 3 weeks, but I'm definitely happy to not have to spend 5 hours a night in the HFAC anymore.
Now that the show is over it has finally struck me how near the end of the year is and all I can think is when did the happen?! Is my first year of college really almost over? It seems like not too long ago that I was getting lost on campus and meeting people. But at the same time it feels as though the people here have been my friends forever.
So these next few weeks are going to be busy with studying and trying to make the best of these few weeks with my friend and as I really start to think about it, I don't want this semester to end. I've had the time of my life my freshman year of college and even though I had a great high school experience and I loved it, college is SO much better.
Well I don't want to make this too sad. Ive still got plenty of time left here in college. It's just crazy to think about going home and leaving all of the amazing people I've met. Especially when I think about all the guys I've met who are leaving on missions this summer.
Well, that's it for now! I'm still so happy here and having so much fun. I registered for my classes for next fall so I'll have to post about that soon

Loves Labors Lost opens this week!!

Well guys, it's been a long few months and LLL is opening this wed! It's been such an amazing opportunity and I can't believe that I get to be so involved in such an amazing project. When people ask me what exactly my Job is as a designer I never know exactly what to say because I've done lots of different things, I had to go to most of the fitting with the actor to help out, I did a few hours of paperwork, pulled most of the jewelry for the show, did hours of research on world war two inform insignia for all of the male characters, and did some crafty type things like build a head and and a necklace.plus lots of other little things that i can't remember.
This past week I have been to dress rehearsals almost every night which have been fun, but left me exhausted. Tuesday through Saturday I was at rehearsal for probably about 5 hours each night. It was so much fun getting to see the show so many times. I was thoroughly entertained and there were some hilarious moments.
So I thought that after the last dress rehearsal, I would be able to let ho of the show and my couple months of stress would come to an end, but it never really ends up working out like that does it? Because on Saturday Janet asked me of I could help with hair during the show because everyone assigned to this show dropped out. So what does this mean exactly? It means that for the next 3 weeks I have to be at 6 shows a week and help with wig changes, reaping mustaches and fun things like that, I'm actually pretty excited because I get to be backstage, plus I get credit. This is a "class" that I would have to do eventually anyway. So the next month will be crazy I don't think I'll get to sleep again until April, but it will be a good experience.
Working on loves labors lost has honestly been such an amazing experience. I'm still not sure what I want to do with my life. I'm actually more confused than ever, but whatever I end up doing, this was a large first step. And next year I get to work on two shows! One of which im going to be the head designer.
So obviously I'm a little biased, but for any of you who are in the Utah area,you should really come see the show. Like I said its really awesome. It's entertaining, romantic, hilarious ad sad all at the same time plus it has some really great singing and dancing too!

Here is the video preview that was made for Loves Labors Lost as part of the Ad campaign. not all the costumes are their real costumes, but it gives you an idea of what the show is like

Dream Big

So I read a really awesome quote the other day that I thought I would share with you guys:

"you cant do anything interesting with your life until you are willing to fail spectacularly"

I think thats a pretty cool quote and reminds me of some awesome advice my mom once gave me.

well Ive been doing good. Im busier than I have been in a long time, but absolutely loving it. spending time in the costume shop is so much fun, and going to rehearsals and seeing the show come together is so great. Lately ive been a little down. just feeling frustrated and wondering what Im doing with my life. Today at my floor meeting we did this thing called mind mapping which is pretty much just a really cool way of setting goals for yourself and writing down things you want to accomplish and why. I usually find it pretty scary to write down goals because then you are accountable for them. thats why I made a bucket list page on this blog then left it empty for about a year before finally getting rid of it. but despite how uncomfortable I am with writing down my serious goals outside of my academic life, im feeling good now. Im feeling like Ive made a reevaluation of the things that I want, they haven't changed at all, but its nice to re look at them. and now I feel like Im ready to take on the world again and make things happen.