It Has Been Real 2016, It Has Been Real.

You've seen the internet memes and posts about how crappy and awful 2016 has been. 

And do you wanna know what?

Those kinds of posts hurt my heart.

Sure, 2016 has definitely not been 100% smooth, but that doesn't make it horrible!

Here are just a few (out of many) of my 2016 HIGHLIGHTS:

 

I GRADUATED!

 I learned how to paint.

I visited the temple every Wednesday.

 

I pulled my first all-nighter.

(& just when I think that pulling an all-nighter is hard, pulling an all-dayer is even HARDER! College, am I right??) 

I tried sushi for the first time

Our family moved!

 

I went on 20+ hikes

I went on some really good dates. (& some really crappy ones, but it's whatever. ha.)

I lived away from home for just over 8 months...successfully. 

 

I sent my bff off to China and then welcomed her home 

I started COLLEGE (and finished my first semester with straight As!)

 

I worked on my first social media marketing campaign for the Church History Museum! 

Like f'real,

2016 has been the ride of a lifetime and I look forward to the adventures ahead of me!

 

Here's one last 2016 self portrait from yours truly

xo 

dally whacker

Dear Future Husband

Dear FEC (future eternal companion),

Hi, my name is Dallas and I am your future wife.

I am imperfect. I laugh a little too loud for a little too long. I have terrible hand-eye coordination. I am a miserable speller. And I am a terrible cook. 

But I am determined. I am willing to make things work. I am a peacemaker. I listen.

I am obsessed. With weddings, pretty food, and places that I have never been to. Also with you (or at least I will be).

I hope you are patient. Open. And hardworking.

I hope we are ridiculously hilarious. Madly in love. Forgiving. Easy-going. And advocates of afternoon Sunday naps.

But most of all I want us to be happy. Not content, but truly happy. Happy to have experiences together. Happy to help one another. Happy to learn together. Happy to carry each other through hard times. Happy to call each other home.

love,
your future wife

A Place of Love and Beauty

 

The other night as I was scarfing down a delicious freezer burrito, I had the thought "you need to go to the temple." At first I kind of just brushed the idea off because I literally had homework exploding out of my ears. But again, I had the same thought, "go to the temple."

This time I listened and went straight downstairs to change into a dress. 

As I sat in the chapel waiting to do baptisms I read out the the book of Alma. I had read the familiar words a million times before, but this time when I read them I felt as though the words were meant just for me.

"The Lord doth give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my labors."

THE LORD IS PROUD OF OUR EFFORTS.

I often find myself feeling inadequate of the Lord's blessings because I am not "perfect enough."

But that's the beauty of the gospel, we don't have to be perfect!

Elder Holland once said, "With the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength of heaven to help us, we can improve, and the great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don't always succeed."

No concern is to small to take to the Lord in humble prayer. He is proud of our valiant efforts and delights in our small, everyday wins.

ALLLLSOOO,

I finally got new Chacos.

*happy claps*

 

xo

dall

CITY FOLK

 

Sometimes I have such great aspiration to do cool things over the weekend but instead I just spend my week doing normal-people things; like doing laundry and getting my hairs cut. So here is visual proof that I actually got a haircut and got ready for the day.

And sometimes I actually do cool stuff over the weekend.

Last weekend my bff and I wandered around Downtown SLC. IT WAS A BLAST.

10/10, 2 thumbs up, would recommend.

We didn't have a time limit or any commitments for the rest of the day so we could literally do anything we wanted whenever we wanted.

To start the evening off we walked down South Temple and simply enjoyed the fall: city style.

 

We also took like a zillion pictures. And by "we" I mean "me." I took a zillion picture of Ham's cute face. But I'm not even complaining cause she's a freakin babe.

Cotton candy skies, good company, boy talk. The usual.

 

Hanna's apple red lips + red groovy glasses = swooning

If I had to describe Ham with one quote it would be 

"She was too much for most men. She was waiting for a man to match her fire, then they would burn down the whole world together."

We finished the night off with some dinner at Spitz. DEFINITELY RECOMMEND. THE FOOD THERE IS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS.

xo

dall

Conference Weeeeekend

I am literally addicted to the outdoors.

Arghahargah. Just look at those colors.

*swooooon*

There is something so spiritually reviving about being outside and basking in the crisp mountain air.

This weekend has been so spiritually rewarding!

Every 6 months my church has a free religious broadcast about hope and self-improvement. 

The talks are always so inspiring and are written for us in these modern days.

We believe, as Latter-day Saints, that the prophets and apostles are called of God and that He gives revelation to them for us.

You can find these talks, as well as talks from the past, at lds.org. The talks are also published in the Ensign and Liahona.

 

 Also, here is a cute pic of my brother and I.

I am quite "fawn"d of this filter.

This filter "doe"

xo 

dallas

College in real life

Hello internet. I haven't died, I just started school. (which is pretty much the same thing, right??) 

I take that back, my social life is dead. Mostly b/c I have a shload of homework.

So far school is groovy. I love my classes, I love my professors, I love the environment, and I love the location of my school.

SPEAKING OF LOCATION...

Downtown SLC has me swooning left and right.

The other day it was raining and I felt like I was straight out of a movie as I walked around downtown to catch my train. 

Once I was on the train it made my heart so happy to see people walking every-which-way holding umbrellas and wearing their cute little rain boots. 

If I could move somewhere where it rained all the time, I freakin would guys.

Day 1 of college: My little brother brought me the cutest bunch of flowers. When he gave them to me he said "It's about time a boy gives you flowers."

My heart is a puddle.

 

 

In one of my social media classes ATTENDANCE IS TAKEN BY UPLOADING A SELFIE.

This is why my major is the best.

 

Wednesdays are my 4-letter kind of days. (ya catch ma drift?)

But lucky for me, my dad works downtown so we can meet up for lunch every Wednesday. So thanks dad for making Wednesdays suck less. You da bomb.

(...plus what college kid would say no to free food?)

  

My dogs are still the cutest babies in the world.

I'm still a dog mom. (& proud of it)

 

 I watched like 7 minutes of the debate the other night. And by "watched" I mean applied all of the snapchat filters to Trump and Hillary's face. Winning.

I took this pic while running on a whopping 5 hours of sleep.

ALSO,,, 

if you know me well, you know that I hate Twitter. 

Jokes on me because for my SMM class we had to create a twitter acct. & WE HAVE TO TWEET.

So with that being said, follow me on Twitter. 

We also had another assignment to create a YouTube video. Wish me luck on that one. It'll be a doozy.

One of my favorite quotes in my school is by Gordon B Hinckley. It says "Be grateful for the opportunity you have of attending school here. Pray to the Lord for His blessing and guidance as you pursue your academic course."

Beautifully said.

xo

dallas

Existing Aspirations

I aspire to:

keep creating.

try new things.

meet new people. 

hike often.

& live life with happiness and gratitude. 

I've been thinking a lot about goals and dreams lately. Why are aspirations so important anyway?

• The secret to living is giving. When you follow your dreams you develop something that you are passionate about, something that is worth sharing with others. And that passion gives others hope, inspiration, and meaning to life.
• Chasing your dreams builds courage. Everything worthwhile seems to involve some aspect of risk, am I right? (yes, I am) So why not take that risk and let courage fuel you to achieve more.
• When you accomplish your dreams, you realize the importance of failure. This is when you'll have a paradigm shift. You will view your failures as STEPPING STONES, rather than setbacks.
• You are the creator of your dreams! Once you accomplish your goal, you prove to others that they have no say in who you can and can't be. Powerful, right?

So what are your aspirations?

...

ALSOOO,,,

I've gone on like a million hikes this week (okay only 4, but still)

 

Crying bc this will probably be my last year with these Chacos. *violent sobs* 

...which means that I will be getting new Chacos soon *happy claps*

 

This wasn't really a "hike," it was more like "I need to be in a mountain rn or else I'm going to explode." Ya feel? Wellll, check out that lil moose to the left of the river. What a beauty, right? Not going to lie, it was a bit nerve racking to be so close to such a powerful animal, but I'm still alive, so that's always a good thing.

 

Cecret Lake. And yes, that is really how it is spelled. But don't tell. It's a "secret" ;)

 

Bells Canyon, you have my heart.

 

When you are having a bad day just remember that this guy had it worse.

 

 

I've pretty much hit rock bottom in the realm of single-ness. Tonight while grocery shopping I bought this little number. But don't worry, I only bought one because HOLY SODIUM BATMAN. 

xo

dal