California Dreamin'

I have successfully accomplished two more of my goals from 18 Things to do Before I'm 18

#8: Take a Road Trip with My Friends

#18: Go to Disneyland

Last weekend (Veteran's Day weekend) I took a nice little road trip down to Laguna, California with my friends Savannah and Sage Elison, Abby Clayton, Rachel Hilton, Kelsey Huffer, and Kendra Ward. We were in California from Wednesday to Sunday. Here's a little run-down of what we did:

Wednesday Night: We arrived in Laguna around 9 (I think...?) and decided to go play in the freezing cold ocean. Surprisingly, we were not tired after a long day of school and travel.

(Pictured Below: Abby and I courageously venturing out into the dark, vast ocean)

Thursday: Disneyland! Thursday morning we woke up early so we could make it to Disneyland when it opened. We were under the impression it opened at 8 when it really opened at 9... We stood at the gates for a little while before they let us in, and then the adventure began!

Please note: Savannah's face

All in the name of staying dry...

I conquered the ferris wheel (fear of heights...)

That night we saw World of Color in California Adventure. It was my second time seeing it, and it was even better than I remembered. Next time you make it to Disneyland I suggest making World of Color a priority!

We stayed in Disneyland until it closed. By the time we left our feet hurt so bad we could hardly walk, but it was totally worth it.

Friday: We got to sleep in, and we were all pretty excited about that. When we woke up and got ready (around 11) we went to this amazing breakfast place called Penguin's. I got some yummy french toast and enjoyed every single bite. Afterwards we hit the streets to go shopping. My favorite place we went to was the record store called Sound Spectrum. It was heaven and I left the store a proud owner of three new (to me) records.

When we were done shopping we went back to the condo and had a few snacks before going to play on the beach.

Oh, we also decorated Rachel's condo with miscellaneous items that have been left behind by other visitors.

(pictured below: Our Santa shrine)

The rest of the day was a crazy adventure. We saw someone get engaged, people getting married, and about four different photo shoots.

(pictured below: the extravagant sand castle that was made for the proposal we saw. Oh, and her name was Shrina...?)

There were so many tide pools on the beach! They were amazing! They were also heavily guarded by these crazy tide pool educators. We kept getting yelled at.

Kelsey, Rachel, and I decided to climb a rock. Then, Kelsey and I got stuck. It may not look too bad but we were in a really tough spot.

Rachel and I were exploring the beach when we found a corner of something sticking out of the sand. We started digging and realized it was a bag. For some reason we thought that it probably was filled with treasure and we were determined to get it out, even Savannah joined in. We spent about a half an hour digging before we decided it was just a sand bag... so much disappointment.

The sun going down in Laguna at the end of a beautiful day at the beach.

We ended the day by watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I cried.

Saturday: On Saturday we basically lounged around for half the day until we took another little visit to the beach.

That night we went to a few shops and went and got some delicious gelato from a store located in this adorable little alley way.

Sunday: We woke up early on Sunday morning so we could get everything cleaned up and packed before church started. After we went to church we were starving so we stopped for a quick bite at Ruby's. They had these great old-fashioned cars out front so we couldn't resist taking a few pictures with them.

It was a very successful trip and we were all so sad to leave. It was really hard to go back to school on Monday after such a fun filled weekend, but it had to be done. I killed two birds with one stone and got to cross two things of my list. I have to thank Abby and Rachel for getting me a free Disneyland ticket, and Savannah for conquering those crazy California roads. I couldn't have done it without you guys!

*Photo Credit goes to Scarlett (Kelsey's beloved camera)

18 Things to Do Before I'm 18

So I have this list of 18 Things to do before I'm 18. I have had it for about six months now so it is a work in progress. Some of the items are already done, some are being worked on, and some are yet to be done. Here is the list:

1. Read 100 books

2. Learn a song on the piano

3. Paint a picture

4. Release 99 red balloons (This also happens to be my favorite 80's song... so cheesy of me.)

5. Finish my personal progress

6. Enter a photo contest

7. Go laser tagging

8. Take a road trip with my friends

9. Make a "movie"

10. Go camping

11. Go cliff diving

12. Go on a zip line

13. Ditch one whole day of school (Ferris Bueller Style)

14. Shoot a gun

15. Finish my journal (this will be a tough one)

16. Paint my wall

17. Run in a race

18. Go to Disneyland

I have already completed numbers 10, 11, 14, and 16. I still have a long way to go. I think putting this on here will make me feel more motivated to complete it. Some of these have been done before (i.e. Go to Disneyland) but not since I made this list. My goal is to complete all of these within the next seven months. It will be difficult, but it is possible.

11. Go camping: I went camping over the summer at Lake Powell. Just for a night at Girl's Camp. One night is the perfect amount of time for me. I am not a fan of camping. I don't have a picture of me camping so you are just going to have to believe that it happened.

11. Go Cliff diving: So scary! And it wasn't even that high!

14. Shoot a Gun: I guess you could call this a gun...

16. Paint my wall: You can read all about this a couple posts down. I basically just painted a wall in my room red because I really wanted to.

17 Facts

Since I haven't posted in awhile, here's one for you...

17 facts about myself

1. I am obsessed with Peter Pan.

2. I can't decide if Coldplay or The Killers are my favorite band.

3. Every time I wash my hands, I almost always have to wash them twice.

4. My favorite number is 25.

5. I love Mexican food.

6. Love chocolate, hate vanilla.

7. I like antiques... a lot.

8. I have to make sure all my doors are locked at night, otherwise I can't sleep.

9. I am obsessed with my dog.

10. My dream trip is Africa.

11. I like re-arranging my room.

12. I like to bake treats.

13. Music helps me survive.

14. I wish I was good at singing.

15. I am a "homebody."

16. I love photography.

17. I love reading. A lot.

More Fall Baking

The other day I invited one of my best friends over (Shea) to make pumpkin muffins with a surprise center (cream cheese filling). They were quite delicious. You should try them out yourself!

Here's the link: http://annies-eats.com/2010/10/08/pumpkin-cream-cheese-muffins/

We ran out of muffin liners...

Room Renovation

I have been wanting to paint my room for a long time, and my mom finally gave in! So I painted one wall in my room red and re-arranged all my furniture this past Saturday. I love it, thanks for helping me out mom!

Before

After

Fall is in the Air.

Fall is finally here! The temperature is finally reasonable, and to top it all off it has been raining! I love it. One of my favorite parts about fall is pumpkins. I went shopping with my mom today and I insisted she buy a pumpkin spice candle, and 12 cans of mashed pumpkin. I love any recipe that has pumpkin in it. I have been collecting as many pumpkin recipes as I can lay my hands on, and I attempted my first one today. I made pumpkin cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting. Needless to say they were delicious. After a few minor mishaps I finally got them in the oven. Let's just say that I have never really baked with yeast before... I didn't quite know what I was doing. However, by some miracle, it still turned out perfectly. I invited a few of my friends over to sample them with me and they were a big success! I will definitely be making these again.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls fresh out of the oven.

My sweet mother making the cream cheese frosting for me.

The final product.

*Sorry for the blurry images. These pictures were taken on a camera phone.

If you want to try out this recipe for yourself you can find it here: http://recipeanatomy.blogspot.com/2009/10/pumpkin-cinnamon-rolls.html

or here: http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2010/10/pumpkin-cinnamon-rolls-with-caramel.html

As for the cream cheese frosting: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cream-cheese-frosting-recipe/index.html

You will not be disappointed. Happy Fall!

And so it Begins...

"Each day we are given 86,400 seconds, make them count." Every single person is given the same amount of time in a day. 24 hours, 1,440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. How that time is spent is what determines the differences among us. You can choose to waste those seconds away, or give everything you have into making them count. I am dedicating this blog to making my seconds count.

I'm not always the most productive person, and I figured it was time for a change. Time is something we can never get back. Once it is gone you will never see it again. Something this precious should be highly valued. I am going to value my time by filling it with things and people I love. I am going to take each day as a new adventure, and enjoy the simple things in life. To quote a movie near and dear to my heart, "I figure life is a gift, and I don't intend on wasting it. You don't know which hand you're going to get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you...to make each day count." Yes, I did just quote The Titanic. Yes, I know it's super cheesy of me, but I think Jack Dawson has made a very good point. Life is unpredictable, so don't waste time sitting around, watching time slip away from you. Get out there and experience life, and make your 86,400 seconds count.

"To make it count."