go pick out a white dress

My life consists of graduate school applications and wedding mood boards.
I have chosen to illustrate the prettier of the two. I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!! June 21st y'all. Washington, DC, party in Lancaster, PA. I am giddy with excitement. While I was home, I tried to take care of things that would be impossible to do without me actually seeing them aka my dress. And I booked the temple. The most important thing. I got a letter with a
checklist and stuff from the temple and I was like, "Look- the opposite of a mission call!" :) My dress is being made and I am in love with it. The one pictured above is a little bit like it, but not really. I'm secretive about it,
so if you want to actually see it, text me. Pink and green. I don't want a wedding cake. I almost have a reception venue. I know what my
first dance song is. I've chosen a photographer. Bridesmaid dresses
are ordered. Picked out a tie and bow ties for the groomsmen. Tan suits. I don't know. What else? My mother is an angel and is pretty much
planning everything without me. My biggest worry was planning
without her, but I feel like she's been preparing for this her whole
life. Our phone calls sound like business meetings. I am very, very
excited to marry my best friend in the whole world in my favorite
temple in the whole world with my favorite people in the whole world.

Here are my goals for 2013:

1) Read the Doctrine & Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. Once I have done this I will have read completely read the standard works.
I don't think it will take me the entire year to read D&C and PoGP,
so when I finish I'm going to read the Book of Mormon again.
2) Be healthier/more fit than last year. This is vague but I have specific numbers, goals and diets I want to achieve/do but I like to
keep those to myself. Luckily I am only taking 12 credits this semester
so I have huge blocks of time to work out. I actually love it. I hate
going to the gym, but love the feeling and results too much to quit. I
just want to look the best I ever have in my life this year (and naked). Sorry.
3) Start my day with a prayer.
4) Serve once a month.
5) Buy less, buy better. This is a cool way to say, "save money." The majority of my frivolous purchases are clothes. I want to minimize these purchases and the few times I do make them, I want them to be quality pieces that I will wear forever. And generally just be more
responsible with money.

okay? okay.

I wish I read this in 2012 so I could say that it was my favorite book I read that year, because it would have been. But I read it this week and the year has a barely started and there are so many books to be read, so I can't make that statement.

I read Looking for Alaska in high school and fell in love with it, so I have wanted to read this since I learned about it. This was another Tumblr-frequently-quoted, but it wasn't a disappointment. John Green writes for teenagers and maybe early 20-somethings, but The Fault in Our Stars is a love story that can be appreciated by all ages. It tells the story of two teenagers, Hazel and Augustus, both diagnosed with terminal illnesses, who fall in love. My favorite part of this book was the wittiness in the banter exchanged between Hazel and Augustus. Therein lies my only criticism as well. It was hard to imagine two teenagers talking the way the two main characters did. It was too smart and too well-read for a 16 and 17 year old. I laughed, cried and smiled while reading this. If I were to count only the hours it took for me to read, without factoring in the times I put it down to do other things, it would probably total less than 10. I didn't necessarily fall in love with either character, but I was enamored by their relationship. I think you should read this because it's incredibly sweet, honest and smart, and there are not enough realistic love stories anymore. Here is my favorite passage of the book. I'm sorry if this is a spoiler, but I read it before I read the book and it made me want to read it more:

I'm in love with you and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed, and that there will come a day when all our labor has returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you.

I MEAN REALLY? If I still listed my favorite books/bands/activities in my Facebook profile, I would add this book to favorite books.