HAPPY EASTERS.

warm weather + good food + christ + family.. nothin better.

_________________________________________

- taryn & taylor

you know, we really are sorry.

oh. my. word. we've always been good at posting.. until now. people are openly stating the fact that we haven't updated in awhile. we can't believe it's come to this! none the less, there are things to talk about here! even though we've been oh so busy, there are no excuses :)

numero uno. jenSTINK!
he's doing SO well. he was just made a zone leader & only has 5-ish months left! we can't wait to have him home. (p.s. read busy bee lauren's post about the church in her life. love it)



numero dos. we dressed the same... again.

"hey tay, what are you wearing tomorrow?"

"oh... (this)"

"no way.. ME TOO!" great minds think alike, eh?

numero tres. "i'm a rebel!!"

did you know that krispy kreme throws away their donuts at night? & they're completely okay with people dumpster diving & retrieving them? unfortunately other people had the same idea & beat us to it, but once again, we learned that being in a group of girls will always get you prizes. (no sleez intended)

all in all.. we love senior year!

-t squared



can we tell you how much we miss our camera? these phone pics are really crampin our style.

alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, HEY!

efy time!

for the strength of youth activity. sometimes sitting outside makes us sunburned, exhausted, & a little distracted.


game night on wednesday! our company NONE GREATER won 1st in the skit & banner categories! (everytime we've gone to efy our company has kind of stunk. we had never won anything before!) this was a big accomplishment!


we memorized the 13th article of faith! hilary gave us stickers to put on our name tags when we passed it off. seriously, one of the most rewarding feelings! we're not known for our memorizing skills ;)


we moved our beds next to each other all week! usually the beds are spread accross the room, but we love each other so much that we moved them. hooray!


we had some injuries. taryn accidentaly hit taylor in the face & gave her a big lip. (& yes, it was an accident) on monday night at family home evening, our company was playing games maybe a little too aggressively. the pictures don't do it justice, because now we have scars that make us look like cutters.

best believe justin came. no way were we leaving him behind for a whole week!

who's that creepin' out the windoow? oh yeah, it's taryn & taylor during free time. there were lots of people outside. one day, some people put on a concert for us - accoustic guitar & all. best seats ever :)

our friends blakey-poo & michael freaks. they're definitely the most gullible people ever. they basically believed everything we said! eventually we told them the truth, but it was fun while it lasted :)

efy was honestly the best week ever. we made so many new friends & have soo many memories! both of our testimonies grew tremendously & we had so much fun learning new things. our favorite moment was friday after breakfast: our counselors josh & hilary, another counselor jordan, us, & blake & michael just sat there telling stories. at one point we were all laughing so hard that we couldn't even remember why we were laughing, we just were - holding our stomachs, hoping our pants were still dry when we stood up, don't you love those moments? thanks efy - you treated us well!

- tar & tay

we're hooome!

& it's oh so nice. we had the absolute best time at efy. definitely one of the best weeks ever! we can't even count how many times we had to say "taylor is the one with short hair, taryn has the bangs!" & the "OH MY GOSH, are you guys TWINS!??!" comments still never get old & still are said by every person who saw us the whole week. can't wait to share all of our experiences! the church is true & the book is blue :)

- taryn & taylor

2 claps if your name is taryn.

cool story, hansel!

-taryn & taylor

here's your cheesy taryn post for the day.. keyword CHEESY.

my mom found out how much i love butterflies {hence the header} & brought me this home from work while i was on my death bed...



i love it!

mainly because they're all pretty. you know, there are some chammy butterfly pictures out there, but you won't find any on this magazine cover, which is great. :)

i love butterflies not only because they're pretty, but because of their story. they start out as nasty little catepillars that are pretty gross. a certain time comes in every catepillars life when they decide to make a cocoon. after awhile, it's time for them to come out of that cocoon.. & it isn't easy. they have to struggle & fight with everything they have in order to break free. & once they do, they become BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLIES! YAYYYY! :):):)

all jokes aside, life is like butterflies. we all have struggles! they may be different, but regardless, we all have them. & no matter how "big" or "small" they may seem to others, it's still freaking hard for the person going through it. (yes, i dropped the "mormon f bomb") life is rough. sometimes, we can kind of control what goes on by the things we get involved in. the thing that matters most is attitude. i've learned so much about attitude my whole high school career.

it's funny because the times that i've been physically/mentally/emotionally struggling the most, my testimony & my spirituality have grown tre.mendously. & really, that's all that matters. life is the cocoon & we all need to struggle & fight in order to be made into butterflies.

"He never said it would be easy, He just said it would be worth it."

-taryn

another reason why #23 is a favorite number

Day 23 - your favorite radio station

97.1 ; 100.7 ; 103.9 ; 99.5 ;

pandorda!

ke$ha, ry cumming, bieber {obviously}, paramore, tyler hilton, chris brown, the script, jason derulo & the occasional rooftops.

it's funny how fast the radio can change my mood. i love it :)
for young womens we went & did baptisms for the dead. dad was able to come & that was soooo good to have him there with us. i've had such a stressful week with student council stuff & the last week of the term. i love going to the temple. it brings me such peace & comfort! i've been worried about wether or not i'm going to make student council & i know that whatever happens i will be ok! i felt the spirit soo strongly & am grateful for the gospel in my life & that i'm able to attend the temple.

oh, & ..................................................

HAPPY 100TH POST, BLOG!!!!!!!
i can not believe you're 100 already.

i love you, i do!!!!

- tar!

for the love of seminary.

i think i have the best seminary class ever. i hardly have any friends in it but everyone is really nice & my teacher is SO GOOD. brother christiansen, have you had him? cause i love him! he gives the best lessons & makes every day interesting. he makes me want to learn more & more, i think i could sit in seminary all day long. especially today. we had such a good lesson! today was part 1 & friday is part 2. i won't be there on friday (st. geeze, HOLLA) so i'm said i'll miss out.

part 1: the reasons we have trials

part 2: how to find comfort and guidence during times of need.

my journal is FILLED with notes! although i've had a particularly rough year, i've tried my best to find the good in things & go to the Lord when i need His help. i try & read my scriptures every day & by having a good attitude, it makes me happier and closer to my heavenly father. {this is a long post, so bare with me!} i just feel like i need to share what i learned today.

d&c 101:7-8 - we begin to treat God as a plumber or a repair man, only looking towards him when we need help or when we're broken. he gives us trials to test us & see if we really, really trust him.

why we have trials:

reason #1: "king david"

negative consequences from your own actions.

God gives us free agency so we can chose for ourselves. this isn't a democracy & we all need to think about our actions before we act on them. sometimes we don't think the little things matter.. but they do. little things like not reading your scriptures everyday or not praying everyday or even not going to church are the first doses of poison. as the days add up your growing further & further from the spirit & start making bad decisions. you can not blame anyone else for your actions. you can't blame your family, you can't blame your friends. you can't blame your home life for anything. you're the only one in control of yourself & when you make bad decisions there are consequences. BUT, there is always repentence & God will always forgive you if you have the right attitude & are truly willing to change.

reason #2: "the joseph of egypt"

negative consequences associated with others' disobedience & sin.

you can't decide what others do & it's so hard when you see people making bad decisions. you just want the best for everyone & wish everyone could humble themselves & turn to God. the only thing you can control is your attitude. ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING! "a bad attitude will sour the soul but a good attitude will make it sweet." things will turn around if you have a good attitude. sometimes you can't control what is going on at your house, but you can control your decisions & the way you look at things. just say "what does God want me to learn from this?" maybe he's teaching you what not to do. just have a good attitude & things will fall into place. don't forget to forgive. everyone deserves a second chance & if you don't forgive someone, how can you expect God to forgive you? forgiveness is a commandment & by not forgiving someone you're breaking the commandments & that's considered a sin. turn to God if you need help, but your sorrows and burdens can be lifted if you forgive your trespasses. relief & happiness can come from forgiveness.

reason #3: "the abraham"

God is testing you to see if you're faithful.

d&c 98: 12-15 ; d&c 101: 3-5 - this life is a test. God will "prove" us to see if we will remain faithful through difficult times. if we pass these tests, we become stronger & more spiritually refined. in verse 3 when it says "tet I will own them, and they shall be mine in that day when I shall come to make up my jewels."  the most precious jewel is the diamond: clean, pure, & beautiful. the diamond doctrine: you make diamonds by heat, pressure & time. HEAT, PRESSURE & TIME!!! the most beautiful jewels are made from things that potentially break. endure to the end! the story of job- a faithful man. satan thinks if job is given a trial that he will fall & crumble & is faith will be shaken. god disagrees because he knows Job & the intentions of his heart. job 19:25-26 ; job 23:10. job still remains true even when everything is taken away from him & he is left with {physically} nothing.

there is opposition is all things!

god is always there!

have a good attitude!

stay true & have faith.

everything will be ok.

-taryn

this (somewhat) winter season...

i hate the winter. it's too cold & i'm too scared of driving in the snow. butch doesn't like it, he slips & slides & makes me all scared. there hasn't been too much of that white puffy stuff around. {that just means it'll still be snowing in april, according to previous ..801.. weather forecasts} it's just been rainy & brown outside which makes me a little depressed.... moving forward- a few reasons why i've kept myself going rather than curl up in a ball & sleep all day this season.

[p.s. i'm sorry i don't have an expensive camera to make my pictures look nice, santa must be saving it for next year]



1. best friends! as stated here, for sarah's birthday we went to macey's, got ice cream/mustaches, & laughed the whole time. |we get a little crazy when we're together| they're the greatest!

 

2. now, on to these pretty little things.

there can't be Christmas without some ugly sweaters..
am i right, or am i right? name the movie...

we tried to make these pictures as white trash as possible.

3. seminary bowl: yes, my {taryn} class got last place. no big deal. we came to the conclusion that we're more spiritual because we weren't competitive & were nice to fellow seminary students. for other classes, that wasn't the case. i'm suprised we didn't have to call 911. (some people will do anything to win) hooray for scripture mastery!

4. do you not just want to die over this kid? i do. baby haws is the sweetest one out there. seriously, look at him! he's an angel.

there are my ramblings for the day.

now off to bed to awake to a day filled with

basketball & hanging with the fam...

nothing new.

-taryn e.