BOWLING AND GOODBYES

Connor, Davis, and I

On Monday night Davis and I joined Connor's family for bowling! It was honestly so much fun! Davis bowled a turkey!! I didn't do so hot, but that didn't keep me from smiling! 

Davis' Turkey! (Three Stikes in a row)

Connor left on his mission today. It was so sad to see these two best friends say goodbye to each other. :( 

He will be serving in Budapest, Hungary speaking Hungarian. We are so proud of him! We love him and will miss him dearly! Connor is going to be an amazing missionary! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had an amazing year because I know I sure did! I decided to hop on the bandwagon and take a look back at 2013. It was fun to go through all my photos and see what an great year 2013 was! Here are some of the highlights.

January

+ ODC half times

+ Watched the vibe show "Floored" at the Scera.

+ Hit my first 100 likes on Instagram

February

+ Had a Valentine for the first time

+ Lost my best friend, Sydney, to suicide

March

+ 18th birthday

+ California with Davis for ten days

+ Watched a lot of basketball

April

+ cuddled lots. (that's everyday)

+ Keys to Success assembly

+ Fun double dates to Nicklecade 

May

+ Graduated high school

+ ODC Spring concert-performed my first solo ever

+ Took Senior pictures

+ One Year Anniversary with Davis

June

+ Went to Lagoon

+ Davis got his diploma

+ Summerfest

+ Cooper's Run parade

+ Started teaching dance class at Dance Showcase Company

July

+ Davis' birthday

+ Laci's birthday

+ Went to the Hogle Zoo

+ Spent the Fourth of July at the Johnson Mill

August

+ Swiss Days

+ Made Davis get over his fear of snakes

September

+ cut my hair

+ BYU vs UT game

+ Louisa left on her mission

+ more Swiss Days fun

October

+ Halloween

+ My nephew Thomas was born

November

+ Thanksgiving with Davis' family

+ started to nanny for my cousin Tiffany

+ Jake left on his mission

+ My niece Ceni was born

December 

+ Christmas

+ New Years

+ Temple Square

+ Saw White Christmas with Davis' family

+ Hung out at the Johnson Mill

+ Winter cruises

+ my best friend Ellie left on her mission. 

2013 was definitely a year I won't forget, but I'm excited to see what 2014 has in store for me. 

SISTER ELLIE MADELEINE SMITH

On Tuesday night I said goodbye to my best friend for 18 months. Ellie will be serving as a missionary in Auckland, New Zealand speaking Mandarin Chinese. I am going to miss her so much! Ellie is my go to girl. She always has my back and is the kindest person I've ever met. Ellie is literally an angel. I am so lucky that she is my best friend. I am so happy for her and excited for her journey! 

I am so grateful for dance. If it wasn't for dance, who knows if Ellie and I would have been friends. From ODC to traveling to Hong Kong, we've gained an amazing friendship through it all. 

I LOVE YOU ELLS BELLS!

ELDER THOMSON

On Tuesday I said goodbye to my dear friend Jake. He will be serving an LDS mission in Monterrey, Mexico for the next two years. Jake has always been an amazing friend to me. He is one of the very few that I still talk to from high school, so it's sad to see him leave.

Jake took me to a dance our Senior year. It was one of the most fun dances I went to. Jake was an amazing date. It meant the world to me that he asked me because I was only asked to TWO boys choice dances through out all of high school. He knew that, and made sure to show me a great time. 

Jake and I at Winter Jam 2012

I am so happy that I have a friend like Jake. I am proud of him! 

Go get 'em Elder Thomson!

SISTER LOUISA MAE JARMAN

Today my dear friend Louisa left for her mission to Colorado Springs, Colorado!

Louisa and I met in the ninth grade when she moved to my jr. high. I am lucky I became friends with her, because she is someone who will be apart of my life forever. We've had some of the craziest times together. Memories that I will never forget. It doesn't matter how long we are apart from each other, the second we begin talking it's like the time apart never happened. She's always been there for me and gives me the best advice for any situation. She is one of the least judgmental people I've ever met. No matter what is going on in my life, I know I can talk to her and there will be zero judgement towards me. I can honestly say that Louisa and I have never gotten in a fight that has hurt our friendship. She is one of the greatest friends I've ever had. 

Here are pictures from Lou's farewell.

& here are some pictures from Monday night when I had to say goodbye to my dear friend for 18 months.

Good luck to you Lou. I love you and can't wait to write you while you're gone!

ELLIE'S SURPRISE MISSION CALL

wednesday morning i was sitting in my kitchen when i received a text message from one of my dearest and sweetest friends ever, ellie. it said, "EVERYONE! i'm opening my mission call tonight at 8. COME." surprised, i texted back, "WHAT? you're going on a mission? why didn't you tell me?" i came to find out she didn't tell anyone, not even her closest of friends. such a typical ellie move. she is such a good secret keeper.

at 8 o'clock i headed over to ellie castle and waited for her to open her mission call. sister smith has been called to serve in auckland, new zealand and will be speaking mandarin chinese! the coolest part, both of ellie's parents spoke mandarin on their missions!

i am so excited for this perfect friend of mine. i couldn't be more grateful for her friendship. she is such an amazing girl and i am so happy that i get to call her one of my best friends.

i love you ellie! congrats!

CALLED TO SERVE

i have a friend named q bailey. he got his mission call, like any other worthy mormon boy, and found out that he was going to serve the lord in salem, oregon, preaching in the spanish language. he was excited and began to prepare for his two year long journey. then something bizarre happened. a few days before our high school graduation, this young boy found that he was being preassigned. no more oregon. q enters the mtc on wednesday morning and for the past 2 weeks he has been unsure where he was going to serve. yesterday was his farewell. i picked up paige and we headed over to his church. we met up with ellie and hunter and had a good time enjoying each other's company during the farewell. q did an amazing job for not preparing a talk and just going off of notes about things he wanted to talk about. he gave a talk on personal peace. it was good to hear a friend speak about something that i found interesting since the last time i went to church was probably over a year ago. after hearing q's talk, we all headed to his house where he opened his brand new mission call. 

{soon to be} elder bailey is now called to serve in columbia, south carolina; still preaching in the spanish language. it is amazing how excited and calm he was about the whole change. he's prepared for months to go to oregon and 2 days before being ordained an elder, he has to refocus and prepare for a whole different area. i'm proud of q for stepping up to this crazy challenge. it's going to be a wild few days for him and his family having to buy the things he'll need for south carolina and returning the things they bought for oregon.

good luck elder bailey. we are all so proud of you!!