Words.

(It has been brought to my attention that I put a period at the end of EVERY blog post title. This goes back to my extreme overuse of periods. It's a problem I need to get worked out. But I really tried to refrain from putting the period after the title of this post. Really, my finger hovered over the key for a good 10 seconds while I had a debate in my mind. I tried to convince myself of the pointlessness of punctuating a title, but my habits got the best of me, and as you can see, it is clearly punctuated. I apologize. Now on to the actual post...)

trickery, ostentatious,

And then suddenly 2013 was gone.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Why yes, I did just quote Ferris Bueller.

Despite the palm licking, borrowing Ferrari's, jumping atop a float and convincing people to let him lip-sync Twist and Shout, and making the whole community think he is dying, Ferris Bueller is actually a pretty smart guy and has a handle on this whole "life" thing. These last 2 months, I have been so caught up in the minute details of my busy schedule and the little things I have to get done each day, and I have forgotten to stop and look around. I've missed the importance of LIFE and the small details that make it exciting and joyous. Let's take a moment to look at another important, and probably more reliable, quote:

"Isn’t it true that we often get so busy? And, sad to say, we even wear our busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an accomplishment or sign of a superior life."
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf - find the brilliant talk HERE.

I do this, folks. I unintentionally let my busyness define me and I let it become the focus of my life and my conversation. I rattle off lists of everything I have to do and I sometimes even try to one-up others when they say they are busy. This is not okay! Who is to say that my busy life is any more or less busy than yours? And what makes my busyness something to boast about? Instead of letting it weigh down on me and be the focus of my life, I need to look at the bigger picture and understand WHY I am doing everything I am doing. Being busy is fine, as long as that busyness is for the purpose of helping others or bettering myself or other various positive goals - not just to be busy and impress others or make them feel bad for me.

Okay, Hi. I'm being incredibly reflective and that's boring, you don't need to hear the intricate quirks of my thoughts. But in sum: 2013 was a beautiful year. I learned an unfathomable amount about myself and about the world and about the truth of the Gospel. Some points have been struggles and I've felt kind of lost, but this year I realized that I am 100% capable of just moving on. I've grasped my own independence and gained confidence in moving forward in life.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. Calm down. Breathe. Appreciate the beauty around you, even if it's just the wall of your bedroom - there is beauty in that too. Don't miss life.

Bending at it's finest

Have you ever seen Avatar? Not the blue people running around like Pocahontas meets The Matrix one. But the good one, the airbender one, the cartoon-anime one. Yeah, Avatar: The Last Airbender. One of my favorite tv shows of all time. It is SO good. And the newest Avatar series is just as good.
The Legend of Korra. It is in its second season, and it is so great. Not as good as the original Avatar series, but still fantastic.
Bending is so cool. You bend the elements and rule the world. If I could have any "super power" I would want to be a bender, and I don't even have a preference of which element.

And here in Provo this last year or two, I've connected with some fellow Avatar fans. And converted others to becoming Avatar fans. It's been glorious. Seriously, this show is like my guilty pleasure. Except I have no guilt about it. It never gets old.
Three years ago, my wonderful mother bought us all three seasons of Avatar. Little did she know how obsessed and in love with this show we were and how absolutely sick of it she would get. There have been more times than I can count in these last few years that we've sat down and had an Avatar marathon. If you watch it without stopping, you can finish the entire series in less than 24 hours. About 22 hours to be exact. Not that I know...

Honestly, I have never found a show that is just as funny and entertaining for me as an "adult" as it is for my 8 year old brother. I wish I had this show when I was a child. Best cartoon ever. My children will love this show.

I tried to find some video clips of the best and/or funniest scenes, but it seems that nickelodeon has a lock down on Avatar scenes on youtube. So let's just say: Look this show up. It is hilarious and you won't be disappointed.

A French Elder

So... I have many brothers, we all know this. And it looks like I'm making this a mission tradition, so look forward to more posts about my brothers in future years. And here is a shout out to my dear brother Adam.

He is currently on his 2 year mission for our church (click here  or here for more info) in the West Indies. What an adventure! I am so excited for Adam but I did not want him to leave back in July. He is the sweetest dear boy in the world and I love him with my whole heart. He always takes my side in arguments (much to Ryan's frustration) and we are equally crazy and loud together. He is always up for an adventure and he is super creative. He has got to be one of the funniest people I have ever met in my life, though I may say that about every one of my brothers. I'm just all around a big fan of him. And I know he is being an incredible missionary and touching so many lives!
Here's some photographic proof of the amazingness that is Adam (also the model that Adam thinks he is). I tried to cut down the number of pictures, but they were all too good:

He tried to tell us that there was a mustache there... False.

This is for his cardboard cutout at my wedding (because he's convinced I will wed while he's gone)

You can see where he gets his good looks and model tendencies.

The dos of them or missionarying now. I'm so proud.

Awkward family photo?

This was when we dropped him off. This is the adorable face of an incredibly nervous missionary who is about to embark on an adventure of a lifetime and has no idea what to expect.

And he's off. There he goes ladies and gents, there he goes. Love him.