Christmas Thus Far

I have had the most wonderful Christmas break with my family! It has been so much fun to have every one under the same roof... even though there are 12 of us in a small apartment. We figured we all end up in the same room any way so why not make that 24-7. Me and Freddie got to New Orleans first and we spent the first couple of days going to Thibodeaux and looking at beautiful Christmas lights and just spending time with one another. Next came Emily and Jeremy and they are so much fun to have around. We went to my favorite restaurant in the French Quarter, Palace Cafe, and walked around the French quarter and ended our day by going to Cafe Du Monde to eat some Beignets. Next pulled up Jessica and Scott and their 3 kids who drove from Cincinatti. The Kids are getting so grown up and we have been having a jolly ol' time! I think one of my favorite nights in New Orleans was when me, Ethan, Jacob, Amy, and Freddie went to City Park to the Amusement Park. You should have seen Ethan's face when he rode the Cups for the first time. You would have thought he would be scared, but he was laughing so hard and he LOVED every single ride. I felt like a little kid again especially since we were with Ethan who just loved every thing. City Park had the most majestic feel and was so magical that night-- pretty much like all of New Orleans. I just love it here and I even thought about moving here when I'm older. I am so blessed to be here for Christmas and to have such a loving and caring family. I have enjoyed every moment with them.

Gotta love Louisiana juicy good finger-lickin' strawberries.

Me and Jacob's photo shoot behind Paw-paw's barn

Cute little Sophie

Lil Ellie

Shane's Girlfriend, Brianne.

Isabella trying to keep up with the big kids.

The babies in the Chicken coupe haha

Brianne and Isabella

This is me trying to hold one of the chickens.  What was I thinking??? FYI that's all of the dust circulating or whatever.

Ethan was loving it

My Cousin Becca on Christmas day.  They have tons of chickens and cows and horses.  

Trying on masks in the French Quarter.
Graffiti in the french quarta.
The beautiful candles in the St. Louis Cathedral.

Jacob swinging on the big swing in Thibodeaux.

Beautiful house uptown on St. Charles.  I love the Oak trees here.  I always thought of them since a little girl as frames framing all of the streets and houses.

Me and Amy looking at all of the beautiful Christmas decorations Uptown.

iShake

Do you ever have trouble deciding things that are meant to be simple?  Maybe you are trying to decide what to wear or you don't know what to make for dinner, or even picking a movie to watch with your friends.  iShake has a solution for you.  If you have an iPhone old or new, dowload iShake now.  This phenomenal shaking device is a triple application package designed for you.  iShake is part Magic 8 Ball, part slot machine.  You just shake your phone and it finds a solution for you- at work, at home, and at play!  Shake all of your worries away.

Billboard Ad:

Tired of spending way too much time in the morning trying to decide what to wear? The Clothes Organizer application will do all of the work for you! Take a picture of all of your clothes, shake it, and iShake will choose an outfit for you based on color, style, and texture.

You know all those cooking ingredients you have that will make endless meals but your not sure on how to put them together? Simple enter the cooking ingredients that you have in those cupboards and shake away to endless combonations of meals. 

The Movie Finder application helps you choose a movie in a matter of seconds. No more wasting time trying to make up your mind to watch a movie with your friends. iShake lets type in your favorite genre, director, and actors/actresses. Shake it and iShake will choose a movie that would fit your interests. The Movie Finder also shows movie ratings and summaries as well as checks the availability of the movie in nearby rental locations. Happy movie watching! 

Business card:

Letterhead

Click on the link below to see the demo of how to use iShake:

http://www.et.byu.edu/~krew06/FINALPROJECT/ishakeflashnonstop.swf

Click on the link below to see the website:

http://www.et.byu.edu/~fhfo/Website/homepage.html

Turkey Bowwwl

This year, me and Freddie spent Thanksgiving at Freddie's room mate Sam's house in Alpine.  They are some of the nicest and most gracious people and we felt right at home with them since they have a big family just like ours.  It has been a lot of fun, but I have come to really appreciate all of the traditions that my family has and I have missed them a lot!   Fortunately, we will all be together for Christmas in a couple of weeks and I am so excited.  Here are some of the pictures I took at the turkey bowl thanksgiving morning...

These pictures are actually in reverse order, so the first picture is of us walking home from the game.  I loved the grass and I couldn't resist to take a few shots of it.

Osama, I mean Freddie and Reagan.  

Sisters, Reagan and Bryan.

The whole gang after the game.

Kick off.

Fall Love

It is such a beautiful time in Utah right now so we decided to take some pictures.  I love these girls!  They are my neighbors and I pretty much feel like their 5th room mate.  

Scripture of the week:

D & C 84: 88 

"And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

Meekness

Lately I have been curious about the word meek.  I decided to do some research of the word for my mission prep class and there is so much more to the word meek then we might think!  The virtue of meekness is so vital that Moroni warns, “none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart.” (Moroni 7:43-44)  The lord knows us so well, that he knows that in order for us to be truly happy, we need to be meek.  When we are truly meek, we are less easily offended and we are less likely to give offense to others.  When we are meek, we have less concern over being taken for granted and more concern over being taken by the hand. That to me, is an incredible solution to happiness! Meekness is more than self-restraint; it is exhibiting “kindness and gentleness, reflecting certitude, strength, serenity, and a healthy self-esteem and self-control.”  

“When we are truly meek, we are not concerned with being pushed around, but are grateful to be pushed along.  When we are truly meek, we do not engage in shoulder-shrugging acceptance but in shoulder-squaring, in order that we might better bear the burdens of life and of our fellow beings.”   The Savior said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt 5:5)  A meek person is teachable.  Those who are willing to listen can learn a lot.  Those who are unwilling to listen deny themselves great blessings.  He recognizes that he is dependant on God and wants to submit to God’s will.  He recognizes the great value of other people.  

In my exploration of teaching class today, we read the first chapter in the book called, "Bonds That Make Us Free."  I was immediately captivated when I read the first couple of pages.  This book answers why we get so caught up in ourselves and why we are so ready to take offense at what others do?  You don't hear about this topic very often, because I think people really don't want to admit that they are having agitated feelings or are unhappy.  It gives me comfort in knowing that every one has those feelings.  Sometimes when I get frustrated with people, I think it's them that need to change, but I have got to realize that it is actually me that needs to change.  "The feelings that we blame on others, and that seem to ruin everything, rudely refuse to be evicted once they take up residence in us."  Frustration can contaminate every project we undertake.  It is difficult to overestimate the corrosive power of agitated feelings.  "Those times when we feel most miserable, offended, or angry are invariably the occasions when we're also most absorbed in ourselves and most anxious or suspicious, or fearful, or in some other way concerned about ourselves."  This is ironic that we learned about this today, since I just wrote a paper on meekness in mission prep.  I learned that meekness is a christ-like attribute that is essential for those who want to stay on the path of righteousness.  If we are meek, then we do not get offended by others or take offense.  If we are meek, then we do not get agitated easily because we are not absorbed in ourselves.  Instead, we are thinking of others and loving our neighbors as God sees them instead of as objects.

 

I guess it all comes down to what we want.  Do we want happiness or do we want to be miserable?  We can be happy by simply not letting ourselves get frustrated.  We can be happy by developing our relationships with others and focusing on the now.  We can be happy by not focusing so much on ourselves.  It all comes down to what Christ would do.

Sorry for rambling, but I learned so much this week!

 

Family

I'm trying to learn some cool effects in photoshop and I decide to make a family picture look old-fashioned. 

I love my family and I can't wait for all of us to be together at christmas time!!!

Chicken Little

http://www.et.byu.edu/-laura5/chickenlittle.swf

Ethan wanted to play this chicken game that I made on flash. HAve fun!

"A child's life is the most precious thing in the world."

I made this awareness poster last year in my design class and I decided to post in up here.  Can you tell I photoshopped everything in this picture- from the background, to the fence, to the body, and the child's face.  

When rebels attack the small villages they leave no adults alive and steal the children away from their families.  Most child soldiers are abducted.  World wide more than half a million children under the age of 18 have been recruited into government armed forces in more than 85 countries. Help stop the use of child soldiers.

How to Design a Logo

Hey all!  This week had to make an instructional video using the program flash.  Just click on the link and you will be a design pro in a matter of minutes!

http://www.et.byu.edu/~laura5/Flashvideo.swf

Happy Sabbath Day ; )

It snowed today.  It was freezing cold, but it was beautiful!  I have really come to appreciate the beauty of the earth.  We had a ward fast today for Dave Chalk, a guy in my ward who has cancer.  He has the most positive attitude and is so strong.  I felt the tremendous love of our Heavenly Father today at church through the spirit and through the testimonies that were given.  First of all, I felt His love through my bishop.  He is amazing and you can feel his love radiate to each person.  Imagine Heavenly Father's love for me. His love for you.  His love for Dave Chalk.  His tremendous love for each one of His children. I gained an even greater appreciation today for Joseph Smith and that even though he had many imperfections, he brought about so much good into this world, in fact, he restored the only true gospel to this earth.  This really touched my heart today because lately I have been focusing so much on my imperfections and flaws that it was starting to eat away at the spirit.  I know that despite my imperfections, I can bring much good into this world. 

President Uchdorft gave a wonderful talk to the women of the church:

"My dear sisters, I have a simple faith.  I believe that as you are faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, as you draw closer to him in faith, hope, and charity, things will work together for your good.  I believe that as you immerse yourselves in the work of our father-- as you create beauty and as you are compassionate to others-- God will encircle you in the arms of His love.  Discouragement, inadequacy, and weariness will give way to a life of meaning, grace, and fulfillment... You are choice daughters of our Heavenly Father, and throughout the things you create and by your compassionate service, you are a great power for good.  You will make the world a better place.  Lift up your chin; walk tall.  God loves you. We love and admire you."

Have a great week everybody and I love y'all!

Brunettes have more fun.

That's right. I said it.

Brunette's have more fun.

Photoshoots and Randomness

This was the funnest week ever!  We had a photography unit for one of my classes and we got to borrow one of our major's digital slr cameras.  Mine was a cannon rebel xt which = very expensive camera.  Anyway, what better way to take pics then to have photo shoots!

We had Jambalaya for dinner and had all the New Orleans peeps over.

These next ones are of Freddie and his room mates...

I took these next couple of ones after church at the Maiser building with a couple of friends...

At fat cats and costa vida

If you want to check out all of the pics I took, go to my facebook page : )