My Last Hoo Rah.

So, me being me, I had to go on one last HOO RAH
before I leave for my mission. St. George it was (of course).
I loved it. It was exactly what I needed.

Since I was young, I have been OBSESSED
with the music from The Phantom of the Opera.
I know every word to every song, and
have sung the music to this play my entire life.
The funny thing is, is I have never seen the play.
So, one of my lifelong dreams has been to
see the play live. On Friday, Patrick told me
he would drive down with me to Vegas to see
it with me. Seriously, I have the best brother EVER!
We drove down, ate dinner, saw the play, and were
completely amazed. I teared up as I watched the play.
It was even better than I had ever imagined,
and I sang along the entire play to every word.

Cookies.

My boss sneaked a picture of me shooting my last wedding.
Although I look really lame, I do have a smile on my face.
Someone asked me why I love my job so much.
Imagine capturing the best day of two people's lives
who are so much in love they want to spend eternity together.
Everyone is so happy, and I get to be there first to see it.
I want to thank my boss for capturing my moment
of the happiness I have while working.
I'm not going to lie, I cry at least once
every time I shoot a wedding.

I played tennis today for the last time before I leave
with my mom and my 2 sisters, Whitney and Annelise.
When I am with them, there are at least 3 occasions
in a 4 hour time frame where I laugh so hard I can't breathe.
They are all hilarious, and always have the funniest stories.
Although we all played horrible because we haven't played
since Thanksgiving, we had the best night laughing our heads off.
I am going to miss those moments for the next 18 months,
but those moments are one of the things I am looking
forward to the most when I get back.

I visited my wonderful Aunt Carol today,
and she said the best quote...
"My cookies are good for you!
They are made with LOVE!"
I will never forget that when I decide to eat her
cookies at 8 a.m.

My Last.

Today I shot my last wedding before I leave.
It was one of the best weddings I have ever shot.
I seriously soaked in every second,
and loved the fact that I was there.
I am going to miss it so much.

I went to a friend's wedding reception
tonight, and I HAD to look good
(for certain reasons), and my dad
was wondering why I was stressing
out so much about it. I told him,
"Dad, because I HAVE to look GOOD!"
He then replied,
"You always look good, Elizabeth."
My dad always knows what to say
to make my day.
Love you Dad.

Rooftops.

I have taken a liking to sitting on my roof
and just sorting through all of the
many thoughts that run through my head.

This is something I have never done,
because I am one of those people
who can never just sit;
I always have to be doing something.
Since I have started doing this,
I find it one of the most peaceful
activities EVER.
It is nice to just take a break
from LIFE sometimes.

Rain.

Although umbrellas are one of my
top 3 favorite things in the world,
I love standing in the rain.

As I was making a movie today,
I looked outside and it was
pouring rain. A rush of
excitement came over me
and I got up to run outside.
I just imagined the feeling
to be able to stand in the rain
with my eyes closed and
feel the rain soak up my body.
As I opened the door, I looked
to see hail was streaming down
out of the clouds, hitting my
foot and causing enough pain
for me to change my mind.
I looked up the weather, and
it is supposed to rain tomorrow.
I cannot wait for a second chance.

New Blog.

I made a new blog for my mission!
It will be updated while I am gone.
To see it, click here.
Clever right?

Sunday.

My favorite Sunday activities:
~Laying on the hammock
~Going on Sunday walks
I did both today, and LOVED it.

Today is August 1st.
I remember when I got my call,
I wondered what I would feel like
when today would come.
I wondered what the month of
August would bring for me.
Its finally here, and I couldn't be
HAPPIER.

Mr. Charlie's Full Moon.

Procrastination is a good friend of mine.
And when it comes to buying concert tickets
at USANNA where I know it won't sell out,
I definitely take my time in going to
Smithstix to make my purchase.
I get a friendly text from Caitlin
saying Steph had gone to buy her ticket
for the Tim Mcgraw/Lady Antebellum concert
and they were completely sold out.
Oh cool, little known fact that USANNA,
a massive field of grass that fits an infinitive
amount of people, sells out of tickets.
So, being the adventurous, spontaneous
type of people that we are (NOT),
Steph and I decide to take a little drive
out to USANNA to see if they have tickets.
No big deal it took us 2 hours to drive
out to USANNA only to get 2 blocks away
and find out Lady Antebellum has already
started, and the cheapest ticket is $76.50.
So, Steph makes a U-turn, and we
have our own Lady Antebellum concert
in our car and blast the music. We decide
to go see Charlie St. Cloud (or Zac Efron
with his shirt off for almost 2 hours).
I guess that is a good alternative, right?

We ate at an awesome pizza place and
of course had to stop at Rocky Mountain
Chocolate Factory.
After the movie, we were both in interesting
moods. Maybe we were contemplating how
hott Zac Efron was the ENTIRE movie, or how
random our night had turned out, or maybe
it was the insanely gorgeous moon that night.
It was just as I would have imagined it if I was
in the Pacific Northwest sailing on a sailboat.
The moon had a beautiful, soft clouded mist
hovering that gave it a glow that no camera
could capture. Steph taught me many things
in our hangout, but one thing was how to take
a mental picture of something so gorgeous
when your camera just isn't good enough.
I can imagine the moon and how beautiful
it was without even looking at any picture.

Tonight, some of my best friends and I
climbed on the roof of a church and
enjoyed the brilliant view of the entire city.
The lights were incredible, and I tried to soak
in every second considering I won't be seeing
such beautiful lights for 18 months.
Such simple things that make me realize
how lucky I truly am, and how beautiful
the scenery of Utah really is.

A close friend of mine told me that in Ecuador,
the mothers tell their children the same phrase
every night before they go to bed. The phrase
translated in english means,
dream with the angels
I am going to tell my children that same phrase
one day, because it is adorable.
And I think to myself,
what a wonderful world!

Excitement.

I cannot even express how
EXCITED I AM!!!!
Aubree called me this morning
and told me she is going to be
going into the MTC in Provo
on August 18, SAME DAY AS ME!
Her visa hasn't arrived, so
they have postponed her mission
2 glorious weeks.
I seriously cannot wait to spend
3 weeks (or until her visa comes)
with Aubree in the horrid MTC.
I will have one of my best friends
with me during one of the
scariest parts of my mission.
I seriously cannot wait.
I told her I am going to hold her hand
as we walk in together.
Hope she doesn't mind...

7.22.10

7.22.10 was one of the best days of my life.



The first thing I did today was go SKYDIVING.
Yes, it was completely unreal, and I don't regret one second.
The feeling of flying cannot be compared to anything
I have ever done in my entire life.
It is something I have always wanted to do,
and luckily I was able to go before I leave.



The reason we went, was because it was
Patrick's birthday present from Kimberly.
I have to thank her, because otherwise
we probably wouldn't have gone.
Surprisingly I wasn't scared at all,
and had the most amazing experience.



I love this picture, because the skin
on our faces and legs are rippling.

The second thing I did was go through the temple.



It was something I have been looking forward to
my entire life, and it was the best experience.
I was able to be with my whole family (besides Alex)
and it was such a blessing to know that all of
my family could be there with me.





7.22.10 was quite successful, and one of the
best days of my life.

Yoga.

So for Family Night, my sister Annelise
had her friend teach our family a Yoga class.
It may have been one of the funniest nights
I have ever witnessed.
My family has a hard time being serious
when we are all together. We all have so
many different personalities, so when we
all get together, we all laugh hysterically.
Even my brothers and my dad participated,
so it was quite eventful watching them
try to attempt to do the balancing poses.
At the end of the class, we all performed
our favorite poses for a picture, and my
dad's favorite was laying down on the ground.
My family is so awesome, and I wouldn't
trade any of them for anything in the world.

Cod Fish.

Well kids, I leave in 1 day less
than a month. It is going by
way too fast. So scary, but I
am so excited for this adventure.

Today my boss told me
I will be eating a lot of
Cod Fish.
I hate fish, but can't wait
to try Cod Fish just because
Peter Pan calls Captain Hook
a Cod Fish.

Just a random thought,
but my boss is extremely
knowledgeable and is
usually right. I am hoping
my terrible fear of eating
fish will disappear while
I am gone. Bring it on
Cod Fish.

St. George.

This past week my friends and I
went to St. George and Vegas.
Needless to say, it was
completely awesome!

We boated, swam,
rocked in Vegas
and best of all just
CHILLED.

Being with some of my
best friends for an entire week
was the best way to have a great time.
It was so relaxing and a
great way to start the
end of my summer.

The Good Life.

My favorite song this summer,
and maybe even jumping to second
with my number one favorite song
is The Good Life by OneRepublic.
I highly recommend listening to it.
You will be in the best mood
because you will realize what a
GOOD LIFE
you really do have.

The Girl In The Glass

The Girl in the Glass

When you get what you want in your struggles for self
And the world makes you queen for a day,
Just go to a mirror and look at yourself
And see what that girl has to say.
For it isn't your father or mother or man
Whose judgment upon you must pass,
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.
She's the girl to please, never mind all the rest
For she's with you clear to the end
And you've passed your most difficult, dangerous test
If the girl in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you've cheated the girl in the glass.

Sparklers.

Yes, that says Lil.
And I did it with
a sparkler.
I was very proud
of myself, and
I am in love
with this picture.

What To Do.

As I am getting ready to leave on my mission,
I always want a fun activity to do every night.
I was telling one of my close friends all of
the crazy fun things I want to do, and he
agreed that they all sounded awesome.
The one thing he told me that stuck out
was what he remembered most
before he left on his mission...

"I don't remember all of the
activities I did before my mission.
What I remember most were the nights
where I just sat and talked with my friends
and all we did was just chill all night.
We didn't need to have an activity planned,
we just enjoyed the company of friendship."

I have thought about this quite a bit
the last few days, and although activities
are so much fun, and good times are
always a must; I always cherish the nights
where great chats happen, and I am in
the company of my closest friends.
Not worrying or needing something
important or fancy to do. Just enjoying
the good life.

This Is Our Adventure.

Back in high school, my friends and I
(ashley, nicki, emily, rachel & I)
would film everything we did when
we would hang out together.
Since then I have kept the
video tape and I finally decided to
turn it into a DVD.



We all got together and went to dinner
to catch up on all of the new things
going on in our lives, and laughed
harder than I have in a long time.
We came back and watched the
famous DVD, and before it even started,
we were all laughing our heads off.
We watched the movie, and could not
believe the things we did back in high school.
Luckily we had each other, because
we were all a bit... interesting haha.



Our personalities in high school are
depicted perfectly in this picture.
We were all so different, yet we
were such great friends.
We had the funnest/best times
by doing literally the most
random things. We never had
a plan, but always had the best
nights. I often wish I could go
back to those days when it
didn't matter what we did,
but the fact that we were
together made us all so happy.



It amazes me that we could all
get together after such a long time
and it felt like nothing had changed,
and we were all back in our innocent years.
I guess that is what true friendship is.
So thanks to you guys for giving me
true friendship during one of the
best times in my life.
This is our adventure.

Ashley blogged about our night,
and she said it PERFECTLY!
You can read it here.

Diet Coke.

Dear Diet Coke,
I just want to let you know that there is nothing like the feeling of craving you, walking into Sev, grabbing a Big Gulp, a chocolate donut, and taking that first delicious sip that makes my body tingle. With that being said, I have something to tell you.
I have decided I cannot see you anymore. I have become addicted and dependent on you, and in about 6 weeks, I won't be able to see you every day. I know, I cannot even think of the thought but I think it is what is best for me. You have been there for me when I have needed you the most, and I thank you for that. But I sometimes think you aren't the healthiest thing for me, and I should stay away. My mom keeps telling me you aren't good for me, and I am finally going to start listening to her. Maybe in 19 months I can start seeing you again, but for the time being I am going to try to stick with water. Today is day 2 without you, and I plan on adding to that number. Thanks for the many years of great times.
Lil

Photograph.

Once again, I am going to talk about
how much I adore my job.
I cannot even call it a job, because it
is the love of my life.
I can take a camera and with one snap,
I can capture some of the most
precious moments and be able to
remember them for the rest of my life.

These special angels are why I
smile so often after capturing
their moments.