A Letter To My 16-Year Old Self

Dear 16-Year Old Elisabeth,

How excited you are to FINALLY be 16. Remember how Kim & Sarah decorated your room with streamers, balloons, and candy? And how they gave you a white rose on your pillow? Yeah. That was really cool.  So why did you stop being friends with them? Oh yeah, that's right, you wanted to be more popular.
And remember how you are completely obsessed with that tall, lanky, black-haired boy? Yeah. That was really dumb. Don't be obsessed. Being friends with him would have been so much better. But it's okay. Everybody does stupid things.
However, remember that one stupid thing you did? How you constantly yelled at your parents and you felt like your siblings were inferior to you? That....that wasn't okay. You need to be nicer to them because honestly, they're the people that matter the most.

(my little sister & I)

They're the people who will be there when you're sitting in your apartment, bawling your eyes out because college isn't AT ALL like you wanted it to be. They'll be there. And guess who won't? Those other people you supposedly called friends.
But remember how much weight you lost?  Yeah. That was pretty cool.  Whatever possessed you to join the cross-country team, I will never know. But you did and running 3 miles every day from June to January changed you for the better. You can now call yourself a runner!

Don't be so eager to leave. Sugar City might be a small town, but it will end up meaning the world to you. It'll be your safe haven in a world of scary things. It'll help you stay connected to your little bubble of a world that only exists in Sugar City.

Be happy in the moment. Stop wasting away your life worrying about that boy who never texted you back. Become concerned with what people need instead of what you need. Just be happy. 
Love, 20-year old Elisabeth

My Family Says the Darndest Things

I walked out of the bathroom looking super fly (see above) and my sister says "You look like a hippie". Before I could even respond, my parents walk in the door and my mom exclaims "You look like a hippie!" Haha! My family cracks me up. I'm thoroughly enjoying my Christmas break. 

Reasons Why I Love My Home Ward

Going to my home ward is always an adventure.   Reason #1: My bishopric loves my guts and because they want to show how much they love me, they like to surprise me with a "...and Elisabeth Gee will now give our invocation.." Talk about a warm welcome.   Reason #2: I love seeing how much it changes. There are so many new families, I can't even keep up with all the new people! Also, they are a lot of young couples who (I just realized) are practically the same age as me. Weird.   Reason #3: All of the old ladies come up to me and tell me how beautiful I am. If I could just have those ladies follow me around all the time, I'd be a supermodel!   Reason #4: Catching up on high school gossip. I know, it's petty. But really, it's SO interesting to see what's happening in everyone's lives!   Reason #5: Okay, I don't have a reason #5, but I feel like stopping at reason #4 is awkward.  

 

Where I Come From

I come from my parents. They just loved each other SO much that their love spilled over and made a baby.
I come from hours & hours of reading parenting books, taking parenting classes, & just sheer good will.
I come from family.
I come from my teasing aunts. I come from my rambunctious cousins. I come from my lovely grandparents.
People that have shaped how I am today.
I come from the small-town breeze.
I come from vacations, laughter, and road trips.
I come from cell phones, Facebook, and high school.
I come from friends: Carlee, Lindsay, Sadie, Shelby, & Elise.
I come from the Sugar 4th Ward.

I come from flouncing around in my emerald prom dress.

I come from high-school crushes and embarrassing moments.

I come from junior high, when all I did was wear sweatshirts & ponytails.

I come from watching too much T.V. & sobbing during Pearl Harbor.

I come from refusing to wear high heels.

I come from being insecure.

I come from hope, daydreams, & pumpkin pie.

I come from sleepovers, chick flicks, and too many infatuations.

I come from crying so hard my head starts spinning.

I come from laughing so hard that I cry so hard.

I come from over-thinking & reading thoughtful, intelligent articles.

I come from a lot of things, because really, they have all made me who I am today.

Girls Need Friends

(Inspired by Little Miss Momma) When I was about 17, I asked my dad who his best friend was. "Your mom is my best friend." was his confident & simple reply.

(This picture of my parents is hilarious.) He also told me that he doesn't really have super close "guy" friends.  He doesn't need them, I guess. My mind was boggled. How could you not have friends?! Then I asked my mom who her best friend was. She was less quick to answer. Not because my dad wasn't her best friend, but because she has lots of friends. Friends from college, friends from the school she works at, friends from our ward, etc. She definitely has friends. I've often wondered why girls need friends and I think I've come up with something. Girls need friends because we like having someone to relate to. Someone to tell us that we're not crazy. Someone to reassure us that we're not alone in this wild, unpredictable world. Someone to be the mortar to our bricks. Someone to tell us we're doing the best we can and that's all that matters. As women, we need that special bond that only other women can give us. It makes us feel loved & cared about in this world.  I have friends because they enrich my life.

(These girls are my best friends in the entire world!)

They make me laugh.

They give me a reason to smile.

They know me inside & out and still want to be friends with me.

They love them unconditionally & have never let me down.

I think that's why girls need friends.

May The Fourth Be With You?

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!

Don't mind my little brother in the background. He likes to pretend he's Harry Potter.

Things I Learned From Changing A Flat Tire

Oh the things I learn from getting a flat tire.
I'm glad I witnessed so many flat tires during my childhood.
I think those moments prepared me for my ultimate challenge.

Here's what I learned:
--Lugnuts are so stinkin' hard to get off. Even using my amazing upper body strength, I couldn't get them off. Then I got smart. Where do women harbor most of their strength? In their legs. Luckily, I have a lot of leg, so those puppies didn't stand a chance.

--I know the terms for all the tools now. Donut, lugnut, jack, hubcap...etc. I feel extremely educated.

--I pinched my finger in the process of putting the donut on. Owie! But I've got a battle wound! I've always wanted a battle wound.

--And most importantly, I now know that I can change a tire all by myself. Holla!!

Dontcha Just Love It?

Oh my goodness!
Last night was SOO fun!!
I went to a rockin' dance party at BYU-I with my BFF Lindsay. :)
I hadn't seen her in SOO long and I friggin' missed her!
We danced our little hearts out to Nicki Minaj, Kelly Clarkson, and 'Teach Me How to Jerk'.
SUCH a good night!!
Lindsay and I got talking about all the crazy memories we have: Sleepovers, songs that we made up little jokes to, the boys that we used to like...
We even talked about the first time we became friends.
I had always known who she was, I just never talked to her.
Then freshman year in Algebra class we ended sitting by each other and we've been inseparable ever since.

I mean, seriously. Who would want to be separated from this?

Gorgeous right?
Dontcha just love it?

Fairytales, Perfection, & Everything In Between

Every once in a while, it's nice to spend a couple of days in a fairytale.

Home is my fairytale.

I don't have to pretend.

I don't have worry about being perfect.

I'm just loved.

There's nothing in the world that compares to the feeling of being unconditionally loved.

These past couple of weeks have been rough.

I have to keep reminding myself to do less of this:

AND

more of this:

Even when I don't feel like it.

I've been getting really anxious about college.

I don't know what my major is.

I don't have a job.

I don't have any boy prospects.

Life isn't turning out as I planned.

Because of this, I've been getting really frustrated and angry because I can't control what's happening.

Then I talked to my dad.

He told me: "You have to learn to embrace your anxiousness and go with the flow. Everything happens for a reason and you need to stop being impatient and let life happen to you."

It was exactly what I needed to hear.

SOOOO

from now on, this chick is going to be a "go-with-the-flow" kind of girl.

It's not going to be easy and there will probably be many tears involved, 

HOWEVER,

I know I can do it.

PLUS

I've got Heavenly Father on my side.

Basically, I'm totally going to win. :)

Farmers & Cowboys

Being an Idaho girl and all, I know a lot of farmers.
There are farmers who are soo old and talk of nothing else but farming.
There are farmers who could swear up a storm.
AND
there are some farmers who are cowboys.
Those kinds are the best.
I kind of have a special place in my heart for those cowboys.
Riding their noble steed across a wide, open expanse of land.
Kind of romantic, eh?
However,
besides the many studly cowboys I personally know, there's one that stands out above all the rest:

Jim Craig

My favorite cowboys of all time!!!
Complete with Australian accent.
MMMMmmmmm!!
What a beauty.

Cupcakes & Old Times Sake

SOMETIMES
I just like doing stuff for old times sake.

Hence, the Cocoa Bean Cupcake Cafe!!

It's this adorable cupcake shop in Rexburg.

I like to self-indulge here. (Ssshh! Don't tell!)

BUT

this place has a special nitch in my heart.

I was just texting one of my good buddies, Kim.

AND

it reminded me of the Cocoa Bean.

In high school, this was where we would hang.

We would get the Love Potion frappe (which doesn't have any special powers, but I secretly got it just because I wanted that special someone to fall in love with me.)

AND

the "Better-than-Whatever" cupcake.

*insert eyebrow raise*

One time,

my friend, Sarah, even answered a guy to a dance with one of their cupcakes.

It was adorable to say the least. 

RANDOM THOUGHT:

I'm totally buying my BFF Sadie one of those cupcakes RIGHT NOW!! She's moving next week & it's kind of breaking her heart.
I'm grabbing my car keys as I'm typing. yeah. I kinda rock like that.

SOOOO There's This Guy....

I really should just make my blog a boy blog.
It's kind of ridiculous how much I talk about boys. I apologize in advance.
HOWEVER
there's this guy...
I won't give TOOO much away because well...this is a public blog and he could totally read it, WHICH kind of defeats the purpose of liking a guy in the first place because you don't really want them to know that you like them..Hmmmm....
ANYWAY..
there's this guy....
Before I knew about his existence, me and my roommate were in my room cuddled up on a bed. We watched two horrible chick flicks in a row. Bleck.
Needless to say, we were both kind of haggard.
THEN
we walked out of my room and BEHOLD
there happened to be an extremely attractive man sitting on our couch.
I almost crumpled in embarrassment. I was wearing sweats. My hair was in a gruesome messy bun. I hadn't showered and I was overall disgusting. Not pleasant.
He was SOOO nice though!! He asked us what our names were and genuinely tried to get to know us.
AND GET THIS!
HE'S BEEN TO SUGAR CITY!!!!!!!!!
Sugar City, Idaho. My hometown, which I cherish with all my heart. HE knew where it was and had been there multiple times. GAH! I almost died. haha :)
SOOOO he was sitting on the couch and he hadn't stood up yet, but right when he stood up, the most amazing thing happened.........HE WAS TALLER THAN ME!!!!!!!!!!!!
My breath was gone. I. Was. Speechless. 'Nough said.

My Girls

As most blog posts are about on Thanksgiving, I want to give thanks as well.
I'm thankful for SOO much:
My family
Utah State
Good ole Sugar City, Idaho
Heavenly Father
Jesus Christ
Free laundry
And the list goes on....:) But there are five girls that I sincerely want to thank...
Shelby Roberts

Shelby: Thanks for always being there. I know your life has been rough and not everything's turned out the way you thought it would, but I admire you so much for your strength and attitude. You are always such a positive, lovely person and your friendship has meant the world to me! I know that we will ALWAYS be friends. You've listened to me, laughed with me, been incredibly stupid with me, and above all else, you've loved me. Thank you!

Marina Zundel

Marina: YOU. ARE. AMAZING!!! You can always make me laugh. You say the darndest things and know exactly what to say to get me to laugh. I love you. I haven't always appreciated the things that you've done for me and I want to try and make up for it by saying how much you've taught me. You've taught me to love others despite their differences because that's how you love. You don't care about what others think and you just love them. That's such a powerful gift and I will always love you for it.

Sarah Luthy

Sarah: I miss you. How much fun we had writing cheesy love stories, playing fortune, and doing everything we possibly could with each other. You might not think so, but I love you with all my heart and soul. I don't think there's anybody in this world I could love more. You always laugh at my stupid jokes and you don't judge or criticize. My life has been heavily influenced by your sweet spirit. You've taught me that friendship is  the fruit of life. You've taught me how valuable friendship is and how losing it can break a heart. I LOVE YOU!! Thank you for all you've done for me.

Lindsay Palmer

Lindsay: Oh Lindsay, Lindsay. :) Ha! I just love you. You understand exactly how my clock ticks. Your wisdom has always been an asset to my life. You are extremely smart and know how life works. I know I can always trust you with anything: Boys, family struggles, friends, boys, my insecurities, my strengths, oh, and boys. :) We are so relateable and I know that I can come to you with any problem and you won't hesitate to help me in any way you can. That's love to the fullest. Thank you and I LOVE YOU!!!!

Carlee Spratling

Carlee: Carlee Barlee, I can't describe to you how much I value you. Sleeping out on the tramp, working at camp together, dancing in your kitchen while making food. Those things I will cherish forever. The memories we have had together will never cease to be an amazement to me. I will look back on the things that we've done together with joy because of their stupidity and loveliness. You have such a special ability to be able to make others happy. I love having you around because you bring me happiness. I LOVE YOU!!!! And I will always love you because you have been a trustworthy, honest, and kind friend.


All of you have influenced my life for good. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! I have no words to describe how much I care about you girls.
Its been real, its been fun, and its been the best real fun I've ever had! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just remember: You will always be MY GIRLS :)