Spring Showers

Yesterday we had the Bridal Shower for our beautiful Rachel, who's getting married to Eric in just 4 short weeks!!

Like a lot of my friends who have recently become bethrothed, she was absolutely glowing!!

Rachel is one of the sweetest, greatest girls I've ever had the pleasure of rooming with, and I'm SO excited for her!!

The shower was held by Cydney Allen one of the most creative people I've ever met!! Want proof? Check out her company Afton Photography and tell me you don't want her documenting every moment of your life!!

Well here are a few snaps from Rach's festivities...

Adorable right??

There are also baby showers, and more bridal showers ahead!! Call me a girl, but I just LOVE them!!

SPEAKING of Bridal Showers... not to take away from anyone else's perfect moment, but I cannot wait for the wedding of the year... that of my best friend!!

Literally we've been wedding planning for like 2 years... but now she has a cute boy to fit in the equation 

You should check out more of her adventures at her awesome bloggy blog, To & Fro. Literally. She's a babe.

________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, this little Brit is running around doing school, applying for exotic internships in California and just trying to enjoy life on this side of the pond!

I don't think I say enough how grateful I am to be here, with the opportunity to have an education and be taking big steps in my life!

When people talk about how much the early 20s are a crossroads in life, I didn't fully understand until I got here! Not only are there choices in terms of finding the right career, and knowing what I want to do with my life, but things like knowing where I want to live, who I'll marry and have a family with.... BIG THINGS.

But I feel as though these decisions are coming together rather nicely. It's hard to not know what's coming up in the future, but instead of what I would usually feel.. (fear, anxiety, basically wishing I had  the premonition powers of Phoebe in Charmed... did anyone else watch Charmed?? I'm side tracking...) BUT now, all I feel is excitement and anticipation. It's great.

Well, my New Years Resolution this year, was to be fearless. So I'll let you know how that goes! 

Four Really Easy Steps to becoming a N.E.R.D.

It took almost 21 years, but I have finally come to the conclusion that I am a complete nerd. And that's just fine.

As much as I love fashion and a good Bachelor finale, I LOVE SCIENCE!

I've been a Pre-Med student since the age of 4. Literally. As much as I've tried to act cool, and talk about how much I dread studying, or can't stand the library. It's all lies. I LOVE THE LIBRARY. Why else would I spend so much studying there, then proceed to get a job there. I have even found myself laughing hysterically to science jokes that my professors tell. The kind that you hear and feel sorry for the professor because no-one is laughing except the weirdo sitting on the front row. 

World, meet Weirdo on the Front Row.

As you know, I'm hoping to become a paediatrician, but I've recently taken a shining to Neuroscience. Yes, the Queen Elizabeth of all nerdy science emphases. That fact was really proven today, as I willingly took the time to tell people all about the brain and how AWESOME it is. 

But if you'd like to join me in this realm I call NERDOM, here's how.

Step 1: Join the University's Neuroscience Academic Society, and pose with a human brain in a jar during Brain Awareness Week.

Step 2: Pose again, this time with gusto

Step 3: Buy a brain candy mould and fill it with chocolate.

Step 4: Proceed to made brain shaped candy to hand out to classmates during your presentation on interactionism and the Mind-Body Problem.

Welp. That'll do for now. But more N.E.R.D. tutorials to follow, including How To Scare Away Potential Friends With Shameless Dad Dancing.

p.s. not so nerdy... but I do love a good peplum. 

So this morning, I looked outside and grumbled about the down-pouring snow.

I grumbled some more about the fact that I had to wear my wellies instead of my preferred option that have no friction that would surely lead me to my death, or worse, humiliation.

Then I grumbled about my breathlessness after hiking up to the Benson 

If you are not a BYU-I student I can lie and say it's really strenuous.... but I'm just shockingly out of shape

But as I walked with my trusted brolly in tow, I realised that I was the only person carrying one. It was literally chucking it down with snow, and I was the only person who felt like it was appropriate to carry an umbrella. It was at that precise moment my friends, that I felt completely and utterly British. I had spent the morning moaning, I was cold, wet, and a tad moody. But I was also British. Down to my little quilted jacket and my Wellington boots, I was British.

In my mind I heard the Hallelujah chorus and felt like the happiest girl alive.

Sounds silly I know, but as much as I deny it, I really do miss that quaint little island of mine. 

I thought it should be documented, so here it goes.

Grey Skies

Little Quilted Jacket

Wellies

I even found one of these!!!

Twas a good day

DISCLAIMER:

Now, before you start rolling your eyes and thinking that I'm going to attempt to be a haute couture fashion blogger, I can assure that I'm not; here's why. Firstly, my clothes are definitely not interesting enough. Secondly, I am awful at taking serious pictures. Want proof? Here are some bloopers

(if you're lucky you will someday see me doing the "LA-LA-LA-LA dance that inspired this pose)

(BIG thanks to my roomie Ashley who was long-suffering and took some snaps for me).

Happy Anniversary

Well fellow bloggers. 

Can I call you that? Probably not, seeing as this is practically my one year anniversary since my last post, and I have undoubtedly been chased out of the blogging community with pitch forks and torches.

But in a dire attempt to earn back your acceptance I give you the one year recap to top all one year recaps. 

Ready?

Ok.

Candace and Steve got married

I played with some paint

I wore the same outfit as my friend

 

I wore a British t-shirt on the 4th of July

I returned to the homeland

I saw my friends at a dance

I saw my bestest

And of course, this lady

Then I left again

Took roommate pictures with my new roommates

I finally found some Ethnic Hair Care (please excuse the wretched pixelation)

I spent Christmas and New Years with my Klumpps 

Then I went Rollerblading for the first time

Saw Ed Sheeran in concert with this beauty

And then there's these fellows...

always.

So that's it! You really didn't miss much after all.

Until next year.

Just kidding.

We'll see.

Italia

Here's something that you may not know about me:

I love languages. I love hearing different languages, and I love the way that different languages have such a huge effect on people. One of my favorite things to hear is a prayer in a language that I do not understand.

Why? Well, I know that even if I don't understand the prayers, Heavenly Father does.

When my mum would be really stressed out or praying about something really serious, she would pray in her native language (twi), and this always warmed my heart. Even if it was a simple prayer, the knowledge that she felt like she had to go back to her first language really showed that she was being herself COMPLETELY.

I have taken French and Spanish, and I feel like I can get by in both languages, but....

It's just not enough!

Thus brings me to my next point. I have decided to learn Italian. Now, I'm not usually the kind of person to tell the world/blab about my goals, but I feel like this is one that YOU can help me with. I have a horrible habit of letting myself get busy with school/extra-curricular activities, and I forget to give myself an outlet. Whilst this may seem like a nightmare to most, my outlet is learning languages. So, don't see this as yet another thing that is going on my never-ending to-do list, but more like Leanda's way of taking it easy. Therefore, this is what I ask of you... when you next see me, ask how the Italian's going. Though seemingly simple, this will be a constant reminder to me to keep it going!!

p.s. Another passion of mine= TRAVELLING! Hopefully I'll be able to put the two together :)

Love Month

I love love. Really I do. If there's anything to know about me, it's how much I LOVE love. It's perfect! Sometimes it's awful and hurts like heck, but I am a strong believer of love overcoming all! There are all kinds of love, but to me, February is about LOVE love. you know... boy meets girl kind of love.

Love can, does and will last forever. I think that the notion of loving lasting as long as this life, is the worst thing ever. I CANNOT comprehend the idea of a Heavenly Father who would have us build such amazing relationships, for us to be left all alone in the end!

Another thing I think is that the right love is worth EVERYTHING. Yes there are temporal things in life that might seem more important, but at the end of the day, the things that make this life are memories and the wonderful people that we are blessed to share them with.

Granted, I have never been in love myself, so I can see how I would be relatively unqualified to talk about this subject. But I don't care. This is my blog, and I'm a HOPELESS romantic. For me, love is the one thing that makes everyone the most vulnerable. Why else would it be called falling. You don't step into love. Or skip into love. You have to become dependent on someone and that's scary.

But so worth it.

I think.

I hope.

Well in being the optimist that I am, I'm constantly looking for moments that show that love is real and GOOD.

I recently read about a photographer called Lauren Fleishman who embarked on a project that shows love at it's best. Here are just a few of her images, and I think you should definitely check out the amazing thing that she's doing. It's called love ever after

Now imagine these couples over fifty years ago, in that amazing moment when they realized that they wanted to spend forever with one another. I'd think it would look a little something like this...

 

This would be my roommate Candace Emerson, and this week her best friend asked her to marry him. I have never seen such an AMAZING example of love and two people being so RIGHT. It wasn't forced, or naive, it was just right.

So living with a bunch of girls... you can only imagine our feelings...

So after the excitment of Candace's engagement, and the AMAZING time I had at my friend Carlie's Bridal Shower...

It's pretty safe to say that love is definitely in the air

Just as it should be.

Secrets and Lies Equate to... SURPRISE?

Well it has been an EXTREMELY long time since I blogged last, and yes, I have been very busy, so ready for a quick catch-up?

YES I WENT BACK HOME TO LONDON, ENGLAND!!!

All the whining about missing my friends and missing home, (EVEN ON HERE) was a big act to make sure that NOONE knew that I was coming home! Especially my mother!! I had known since late October, that I would be blessed with the opportunity to go home, but I thought what better way to do this, than surprising my mum! She had absolutely NO idea. Whatsoever!! I will tell you all about the adventures and things that I got up to, so here we go:

I left Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday 18th December with Brittany and Ben Teare, and Rem and Megan Bassett, and we had a blast! Although the flight was FOUR hours to Texas before another NINE hours home, we survived and were met by Dad B at the airport!

So I had planned with my cousin and one of my bestest friends Eliza, that she would tell my mum that SHE was coming over (to make sure that she was at home) and so she was expecting company.

So I met Eliza at a tube station and we got a ride home. Eliza walked to the door, and my mum has this awful habit of opening the door and standing outside before guests arrive... anyway Eliza was in front of me with a camera taking a video, and here are some snapshots of the results :)

JUST BEFORE WE GOT TO THE DOOR!!

SO that was the first day! Pretty great I know, Honestly sneaking around has never been more rewarding!!

So what did I do the rest of the time! Well seeing as I was only there for a short time, I had to make good use of my time and see as many people as humanly possible! So there was lots of visiting family and friends, and really just trying to take it all in! It was pretty overwhelming!

I arrived on Monday, and the next day I was in Camden, and who should walk past but Arinola. Only my best friend! It was so great. Both of us dropped our current plans immediately and spent the whole day together (and Eliza joined us) it was such a great time just taking in the beauty, and hustle and bustle of London!! That night... I surprised Mummy Dot! I don't have any photographic evidence but again, it was a great moment.

On the Wednesday I made the big trip out to Dartford to see another best friend of mine...

The BEAUTIFUL Charlotte Warner! I went to youth with her, then spent the next day with her and some other friends too! It was a day filled with unforgettable reactions, sad goodbyes and special moments that I won't forget! :)

So it was back to London and getting things done like SHOPPING, cooking for Christmas and just enjoying being around my family.. especially these little ones:

Meet my new foster siblings Lloyd and Rosie. They're pretty great!!

And of course there was a VERY important person that I had to see. Oh you know, just the best friend for 11 years and counting...

We spent some time (NOT ENOUGH TIME) but some WELL NEEDED time together which was great!!!

We hit the Stratford Westfield Mall (INSANE) and of course the wonderful Nandos on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Day I went back to my home ward, which was an AMAZING moment!! And I can't express the joy I had in seeing so many people! Especially my gorgeous Mojo twins, Ritchie, and Gee!!

Then we went home, had dinner and I slept for about 8 hours before watching the Eastenders Christmas Special... Proper Crimbo.

My last week home just FLEW by!! I did some much needed shopping and more visiting and more shopping etc, and the week nearly came to an end! But there was no way that I would leave England without some much needed Tzevet time with my Channing Girls!!

We met for dinner at Dim T (the lunchtime classic) and it was SO great to see the friends that I had spent the last SEVEN YEARS with!!! I missed them so so much!

 

Well this was my penultimate night in England, and the rest of the time I spent with my family.

It was such a great experience and I was SO happy!! I had missed London, and it was great seeing how everyone had grown in some way, yet NOTHING had changed in so many other ways!!

I'm pretty glad to be back in the States, but having that little slice of home, really reminded me of all the blessings that I have, and it TOTALLY gave me a reboost for 2012! 

It's a pretty good feeling!