You MUST Read!

So my mom gave me a book to read when I get bored at work and let me tell you... EVERYONE needs to read this book! Especially during this season. It's one of those books that makes you look at your life and makes you want to be a better person. I almost finished in one day, I just couldn't put it down! It is a BEAUTIFUL story and you better go right to the store and buy it after reading this! It's called "The Seventeen Second Miracle" I can't really tell you what it is about, but all I can say is that 17 seconds can change a life... that's all it takes :) Get reading!!

Decision MADE!... for now.

Alright, after trying to figure out what I want to do with my life over the past few months at college, I think I've come to the conclusion on what my ambitions truly are. For my career I want to run my own photography and video making business on the side, but I have decided I want to shoot for being a fashion photographer. Every time I open a fashion magazine I always gaze at the pictures and imagine what I would have done if I would have taken that shot. Or just how much fun it would be to take pictures of models and CLOTHES in general! It would be incredible!

Ambition number two: I. love. musical. theatre. I love it! It has been my life for as long as I can remember! I can't remember a time when I wasn't onstage! I love theatre so much, both straight theatre and musical theatre and I can't imagine my life without performing. My dream has ALWAYS been to be a young ambassador at BYU, or to at least get into the MDT program. I know it's extremely hard to make the cut, but I'll never know until I try. I'm already signed up to take dance classes and I am still looking for a singing teacher that can help me improve. But I know if I work hard enough and believe in myself, anything is possible. Last year I had some peers tell me that it was a long shot and that I shouldn't get my hopes up. They told me that I had no idea what I was talking about when it came to theatre and I didn't understand theatre and basically that I wasn't as good as they were. They got me so discouraged that I decided I didn't even want to do theatre anymore, and I gave up on it. But you know what they say... "You never realize how much you miss something until it's gone." Well that is SO TRUE!! I realized that I can't give up on it! I missed it too much and I'm not making that mistake again. So I'm going to shoot for it! And even if I don't make it, I'll still audition for musicals and plays at different theaters because I don't think I could ever give up this passion.

So whether I'm going to major in digital media, photography, or MDT... it's all up in the air. But what I do know is that I'm going to work my hardest, take advantage of opportunites, let no one put me down or get in my way, and reach for my dreams, and let myself be happy in whatever I do.

Flowers are a Girls Best Friend

Diamonds are pretty and all but let me tell you... flowers are the way straight to my heart. Roses, lilacs, daisies... I just love them so much! And this boy right here, never ceases to surprise me with flowers at the most random times! Seriously? How lucky am I?! Much love! :)

Only a cheese ball would kneel to give someone a flower... but hey! I love the cheese! ;)

Thanksgiving Break = Way too short!

This break was far too short for my liking! It was an incredible, long weekend filled with hitting the slopes, amusing movies, buying cute clothes, seeing old friends, and spending time with Tyler and my family. So here's the shortest recap of my break I can muster.

Skiing was a blast! I went with my dad, uncles, and cousies. The snow is really icy and pretty much non-existent up there but hey, it was still a blast! I splurged a lot of money on some darling outfits that I adore, as well as some...wait for it... hair extensions. YES! I GAVE IN and bought hair extensions and I... LOVE THEM!!! I feel like Rapuzel! Now I just need a talking lizard ;) Thanksgiving was lovely. I ate way too much pie. I saw Breaking Dawn (Not as cheesy as the other movies sadly) and The Muppets (BEST MOVIE EVER! Please go see it) I hung out with my best friends Jess and Alissa as well as some of my old theatre pals, miss those guys! And of course I loved spending time with my incredible boyfriend/best friend Ty and my amazing, wonderful, impeccable family!  This break was MUCH needed! And now... I'm counting down the days till Christmas Break! Two weeks baby!! And counting... ;) Much love!! :)

 Skating with Ty :)

 The Christmas Tree at the Gateway, so pretty!

Skiing with my Dad!

 Seven Summits Ski Lodge... Classy :)

 Me with my dad, uncle and cousins

 My hair magically grew over the break!! Can you believe that?!

Lissy poo! Love her! I think Jess was getting ready to leave... We will imagine her presence ;)

Simple Things

So I've been thinking a lot lately about all the little things that make me happy, or that I'm grateful for. I love to look for the beauty in everything I see, maybe try to see things in a way that you normally wouldn't. I honestly believe that everything and everyone has a story and learning, discovering, and understanding that story intrigues me. So I've decided to make a list of things that in the past couple weeks that have made me happy or have a certain beauty about them.

Trees that are crying leaves
How the mountains look like muddy buddies after a light snow
Hot chocolate and a warm blanket
Seeing a best friend happy
Getting lost in a book
Seeing old friends
Taking pictures of something you love
Seeing Tyler in the middle of the week
Walt Disney
Warm sweaters, blazers, boots, and scarfs
The smell of crisp air
Calming music

Magical Nights and Lucky Days

So the other day my bestfriend/boyfriend Tyler surprised me with tickets to go see DISNEY ON ICE!! Now I know what you're thinking... isn't Disney on Ice for five-year-olds? But the answer to that is NO!! :) I am obsessed with anything Disney and so is Tyler, so we pretty much had the most magical date ever! (Granted, we DID act like over-excited five-year-olds the whole time... so we blended right in.) OH! and not only did we get to experience amazing disney magic, but we go to see the show on 11-11-11! Ok... you can't get more magical than that ;)

So the show was utterly amazing and I may or may not have cried maybe three or four times out of pure joy. After strolling around gateway, eating asian food (which I almost died from because I'm allergic to peanuts and there were peanuts in the food), watching the most beautiful, magical, disney show on ice ever, Ty and I went back to my house to watch Aladdin. NOW this is where things get pretty crazy! So on 11-11-11 at 11:11 PM we reached the part of the movie where Aladdin and Jasmine have just finished singing "A Whole New World" and then they kiss! SO NATURALLY Tyler gave me a kiss at the same time as Jasmine and Aladdin at exactly 11:11 PM!! It was perfect timing if there ever was perfect timing! I mean... ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! You can't get anymore magical than that! ;)

All the disney princes and princesses... so amazing.

The Favorite Holiday.

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday every since I was little. Dressing up as anyone you wish, the endless supply of candy, the costume parties, the decorations, the smell of dried leaves and pumpkin spice, and even the feeling of being scared with your friends after a classic Halloween movie. Halloween? I  LOVE it!

This Halloween was a lot different than the ones in the past. The Saturday before Halloween I dressed up with Tyler and my friends Alissa, Jessica, and Emily as creepy Zombies. It was a lot of fun getting ready and making ourselves look as utterly repulsive as possible.  After getting zombified we hit up a dance party in Provo... let's just say it was a huge let down and we pretty much left the party after an hour. You know what they say! You learn from your mistakes, and we will not be making that one again! Halloween itself was a lot better! My roommate Emily and I went and bought ourselves bags of Candy and then visited some of our friends! It wasn't the most exciting night, but we both thought it was sufficiently lovely :) Well... can't wait till next year!

Loving Fall

Besides Summer, Fall is my favorite season! It is just beautiful! I am so excited that this year we are actually having a fall that has lasted more than a few days! Usually by this time last year we would have a foot of snow on the ground! So today I'm grateful for fall and the fiery, beautiful, colors, smells, and holidays that come with it!

 corn mazes are always a fun fall activity!

 The mountains are on fire with oranges, yellows, and reds. So beautiful! Reminds me of Boston (where I lived for about five years)

 Ty and I taking a hike in the mountains and enjoying the beauty all around.

I absolutely love walking to class in the fall and hearing the crunching leaves under my feet and watching the leaves gently fall from the trees. It's so beautiful! It's almost as if it is gently snowing leaves.

Long Weekend

It's fall break and I couldn't be more happy that it's here! No school, which means I get to spend more time with this boy right here! Can't wait!!

The College Life...

New home. New school. New friends. And new blog title! So this post is wayyy past overdue! There has just been so much going on that I haven't had the time to actually write a good post! So here it is! Better late than never right?

So living on my own has definitely been amazing! I absolutely love the freedom and fun times that I've had so far. My roommates are just awesome and we always party it up. UVU is alright, but I definitely want to transfer to BYU after I get my generals done. I'm about 90 percent sure that I want to be a performance major/musical dance theatre major. And 100 percent sure that I want to be a young ambassador at BYU one day. As for the apartments I'm living in... I hate it. Don't get me wrong, the apartment is pretty nice but everyone is sooo old here!! There is no one our age so it's been kind of a challenge to make friends that have our same interests. Luckily we found a group of cute girls that are so much fun to hang out with. College is HARD but I actually love the classes! I'm always studying and doing homework but so far it's totally paid off! I'm basically loving the college life! Oh and I totally changed the title of my blog to "simply smiling" so now it's just a fun blog about my life instead of my photography, (there's another blog about that he he) www.emiliewphotography.blogspot.com! Well that's all for now! Get ready for a lot of pictures ;)

 Laundry time!!

 Yes, I wanted to see if I could fit.

 My roommate Ashley! Love this girl

 My two other roommates Emily and Carissa. Chillin' by the pool

 One of my best friends Conner just left on his mission to Ireland/Scotland. I already miss him :(

 Trying on the wedding dresses at the D.I.

 BYU games with the most amazing guy in the world! Love you Ty!

 It was my birthday! 19 years old baby! :)

 My cute roomies filled my room with balloons!

 We like to pretend we can cook sometimes ;)

 Driving around with Em :)

 Nothing's better than homemade waffles!

Cute roommates! Love these girls!

Goodbye Summer!!

Summer is my favorite season. It includes my favorite temperatures, colors, vacations, and above all a feeling of pure, sunny, happiness!! So typically I'm always sad when Summer comes to an all-to-soon end. This summer has been amazing! I've had so many adventures with Tyler as well as the greatest friends in the whole world! Mona, sliding rock, Lagoon, photoshoots, movies, hot air balloon festivals, trek, family time, stargazing, movie making, firepits, swimming, biking, hiking, and so much more! Yesterday was pretty much the last day of Summer for me (even though I have a whole week before college classes start) because Tyler starts school tomorrow! It was the best day ever, and the perfect way to end Summer! We made a picnic lunch, hiked up to a lake, found a shady grove by the lake, and ate our lunch! It was a total blast! We ended up swimming in the lake and then getting yelled at by these two older ladies screaming, "LIVE YOUR LIFE!! Don't let your inner child be locked in a CLOSET!!!" Then they told us we were a cute couple and went away. Pretty good advice if you ask me! I will never lock my inner child away ;) So after, Tyler and I went out to Dinner at our favorite restaurant, Fratelli's, which is an AMAZING Italian place AND where we actually had our first date EVER! :) Then soon after we went and watched Hairspray at Sandy Amplitheatre! It was darling!! I was SOO mad I didn't audition! I'm going to have to audition for something really soon to make up for it! Then after the show we sat in the hot tub with the rest of the gang! SUCH a fun day/night! And it was the perfect way to end the Summer! Spending it with my best friend :)

 Nothing like old fashioned soda bottles and a fun little picnic!

 We tried to take a picture with the lake behind us :)

 The perfect way to end Summer!! :) Can't wait for next year!

"There's No Business Like Show Business"

Well, you all know that I love photography and that I would love to have a successful business in that area some day, but I have another thing that I love to do that I can't just give up. PERFORMING!! :) I love theatre (Musical Theatre especially!)  I'm still in a constant battle with myself on what to major in in college, Musical Theatre or Photography! My ultimate goal is to be a Young Ambassador at BYU in a couple years! It would be so much fun! I've been in many shows and have had many different parts! It's so fun to be someone else onstage and to make an audience laugh, cry, or even think about life in a different way. My favorite production I've been in thus far has been a musical called "42nd Street." It was my high school's fall musical and I was actually the lead, Peggy Sawyer. It was my FAVORITE part of high school and I'll never forget it! It was a musical full of tap dancing, hard dancing, incredible music, hard tap dancing, a beautiful story, and did I mention a lot of really hard dancing and tap? Ya, it was definitely a challenge but I'll never forget how much fun I had! I'm going to keep doing theatre and musical theatre because I just love it! I love singing, dancing, and of course acting! Below are a few of my favorite pictures of some of the shows I've been in! (There are a lot!) :)

 "42nd Street" This was one of the HARDEST dances to learn in the show, the song was called "Go into Your Dance" and it was a killer tap routine! But through blood, sweat, and lots of tears, we nailed it!

 "42nd Street" This was during such a beautiful song, "About a Quarter to Nine"

 "The King and I" I was in the chorus for this musical, but hey! I got to be asian! I can't tell you how much spray tanning and how much black spray paint I used for this character! A LOT!!

 "The King and I" This is me with my "Daughter" Alaina :)

 "Pride and Prejudice" This was SUCH a fun roll! I got to play Lydia Bennet who is a crazy, self-obsorbed, boy-crazy, giggly, bubbly, hyper girl who runs off with Mr. Wickham in the end of the show and almost destroys the Bennet family's reputation! Woot woot! :)

 "Pride and Prejudice" Mr. Wickham and I :)

 "Pride and Prejudice" Kitty Bennet, me, and Mrs. Bennet! Such a fun threesome!

 "Oklahoma!" This was SUCH a fun musical! I was also in the chorus for this one but it was a total blast! This is my best friend Jessica and I getting ready before a show!

 "Oklahoma!" Jessica, Dhane, Conner, and me before the show

 "42nd Street" This is at the end of the show after Peggy takes Dorothy's place on Broadway. Parker and I had a total blast!!!

"42nd Street" The finale! Soooo much dancing and tapping!! but so much fun!

 "A Midsummer Night's Dream" This was such a fun, beautiful play. I got to play a fairy and basically just prance around on a beautiful set that was basically just like a playground!

 "A Midsummer Night's Dream" all the fairies together, gorgeous costumes right?! :)

 "A Midsummer Night's Dream" everyday before the show we would all eat TONS of pixie sticks so we could be hyper and have a ton of energy to dance around the stage and be lively fairies.

 "The Crucible" This is one of the more serious plays I've been in. I got the opportunity to play Mary Warren who turns against her friends in order to tell the court the truth but under the pressure of Abigail she has an emotional breakdown and turns on John Proctor sending him to his death.

 "The Crucible" Mrs. Proctor (Alex) and I in a scene.

 "High School Musical" This was my very first play/musical that I had a supporting lead in, instead of the chorus. I got to play Taylor Mckessie who is Gabriella's best friend. It was such a fun musical! Cheesy... but fun! And I made most of my closest friends that I have today through this musical :)