Florida

I just got back from an awesome family vacation in Orlando!

There were 10 crazy people anxious for a break from the snow and ice. My whole family went plus two cousins plus grandma and grandpa. With that many people, it was definitely a party!

The Orlando temple is so beautiful.

I even got to {kinda} meet Taylor Swift!

 We spent a day at Universal Studios riding rides and making memories.

Hogwarts and Hogsmeade were very cool. The ride through Hogwarts was definitely my favorite ride. I highly recommend it.

We drove to the beach where it was super windy...

...and where we were attacked by seagulls...

... and where we saw a beautiful sunset!

xoxo,

sam

Selfless

The other day I was sitting in my institute class when I heard something awesome from a girl a few rows back.

The teacher was talking about the ups and downs of marriage and how it is not always bliss.

A girl raised her hand and this is what she had to say:

"You know, marriage is the one time when you can be truely selfless. You don't need to think about what you need because there is someone who has your back completely. Another person is looking out for what you need and you can focus all of your attention on others. Someone is always there for you and you are always there for them."

Isn't that good? Can you imagine being in such a place where you can be perfectly selfless?

I can't wait to have someone in my life I can depend on so completely.

xoxo,

sam

Refresh

I am so excited about my new blog!

I have spend a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to do with it. I knew that I wanted it to be personalized to me but I wasn't sure how. So I pulled up InDesign and played around with a few ideas and finally narrowed it down to this. Read the "About" tab for the inspiration behind the new title.

I hope you like it as much as I do. Leave me a comment below and tell me what you think.

xoxo,

sam

This is not goodbye.

A new year generally brings changes and fresh starts. And I figure that now it a good time to give my blog a face lift. This is something I have been thinking about for awhile now and decided that 2013 would be as good of time as any. So I will be closing my blog for a little while while I redo it. I have had this blog for over two years now and I want to redesign it to better reflect who I am now; not who I was two years ago. Now I ask for you patience as I begin this project. I can't make any promises as to when it will be done but I am hoping within the next couple of weeks I will have it back up and running again.

This is not goodbye.

What a year!

So 2012 was a big year! There were happy and sad times. Laughing and crying. As I sit at the kitchen table at my parents' house, I can't help but reflect on the year and smile at the memories. I have changed a lot this past year and I am so different from who I was a year ago. Progression is a good thing and as I look forward to 2013 and all it has in store for me, I get a little excited. The year 2013 is going to be even bigger and better. I am graduating, (hopefully) getting a job and moving out of Logan where I have lived for the last three years. But the good doesn't come without the bad. Leaving Logan also means leaving some of the best friends I have ever had and that will be incredibly hard to do.

And so I sit here at the table staring out the window at the freshly fallen snow and thinking about the past year, I notice the light bouncing off the white snow and it catches my eye. And as much as I don't like snow, I have to admit that it is beautiful outside. And I realize that everything that has happened - good and bad - is in the past and my future is as bright as the snow out the window.

And with that, I'll leave you with this picture. The view from my window of the peaceful and snow covered world outside.