Practice What You Teach

       After a gorgeous day at Castaway Cay, we got back on the ship to start sailing back towards America. We discovered when we got to dinner and were the only family not dressed in elaborate pirate costumes (I'm not exaggerating we really were the only ones), that Wednesday night on the ship was Pirate-themed. After dinner we popped into the movie theater to see Guardians of the Galaxy (a fantastic movie, highly recommend it if you're into the whole Marvel thing), and then headed up to Deck 11 for a pirate-themed show and fireworks. After the fireworks ended, a DJ started playing music and the Shipp cousins immediately became the life of the party! We laughed and danced and laughed at how ridiculous we looked dancing. It was one of those spontaneous moments where I wished I could slow down time and make it last a little longer! After the dance party, we headed over to the Cabanas where they were serving the strangest combination of food: tacos, crepes, cookies, an...

Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas         By the time we woke up on Tuesday morning, the ship was docked in the Bahamas. At breakfast, Matthew speculated that the island was just going to be a tourist trap and that we'd be back on the ship within an hour. We all called him a cynic, but it turned out he was exactly right. We went into this incredibly overcrowded market where I almost got all 21 of us signed up for a bus tour of the island (oops) and then walked down the streets and saw everything there was to see without dropping any money in about 30 minutes. So, just as Matthew predicted we got back on the ship, changed into our swimsuits, and headed up to the Cabanas for lunch and quality tanning time. Glamour shots on the spiral staircase while we waited for everyone to come downstairs. At the port with our ship in the background! It's the one with the blue base! Couldn't resist the ultimate tourist picture.  My personal favorite moment of Tuesday was a...

        It truly feels like just yesterday my grandparents gathered our family in the living room of our rented beach house and told us that they were taking us on a Disney Cruise. In reality, it was a year and a half ago and at the time it seemed like November 2014 would never come. It still almost felt like a dream even as we boarded our plane to Orlando last Saturday after MUCH airport turmoil, i.e. Michael forgetting his carry on at security, Jonathan getting a bloody nose, and me almost losing my debit card. Against all odds, the Shipp cousins made it to Orlando in one piece. I always get teary-eyed when I see my family after a few months away, and this time was no exception! Just as we were getting settled into our hotel room, we found out that our toilet was broken, so we had to move rooms! Once we were finally settled, Uncle Dave was kind enough to take as many cousins as could pile into his van for a McDonald's run. We spent Sunday in Downtown Disney, visiti...

When I first came to BYU, my heart was SO set on being a music education major. It never really felt right, but my mind was made up and nothing was ever going to change it. It never even occurred to me that the Lord might have another plan for me. However, he was patient and let me go through the application process and come SO close to being accepted. He let me travel down the wrong road until I hit a dead end and was humble enough to turn to Him and find out what He wanted me to do.      Elementary Education seemed like a natural "second choice". I had always wanted to be a teacher, and I knew that I loved kids and that I absolutely love to learn. I prayed about my decision, but never got an immediate answer. I decided to go through with it and started taking El Ed classes. Over the course of the past few semesters, I have received small reassurances that have helped me to know that I had found my correct path.  I've still had moments where that nasty voice in my...

This is a picture of me almost exactly three years ago: And this is a picture of me now: Now, you might be thinking this is one of those stories that you see in Weight Watchers ads on T.V. endorsing a diet. I promise it's not. This journey was about so much more than a number on a scale. It was about working towards being able to recognize my divine nature as a daughter of God. I'll start at the beginning. When I started my freshman year at BYU, my self-confidence was at an all time low. I would try on about five outfits every morning, look in the mirror, and then immediately change. My low self-esteem was reflected in the way I talked to people, the way I dressed, and just the overall way that I carried myself. I compared myself to everyone else around me and was constantly tearing myself down. My lack of self-esteem seemed so obvious, yet it seemed like no one truly understood how I felt. I knew I needed to make some changes, but I just didn't know how. Af...

It's now been two (almost three) months since I returned from London, which means it's been two (almost three) months since I last blogged. I'm making a goal to blog more this semester. I know I won't be perfect at it but I'll try my best. So here's some of my favorite things that have happened since I've been back in the U.S.A. 1. Summer Job.  Literally the morning after I got home from London, my jetlagged self showed up for training for my summer job working as a camp counselor at the Herndon Community Center. I was the head counselor over the 10-11 year olds and I absolutely loved it. It was a summer filled with intense games of dodgeball and knockout, getting to know my campers' interests and their sweet personalities, story time, weekly trips to the Farmer's Market/Dairy Queen, and of course field trips! As an added bonus, I had the best co-workers ever!  One day a bunch of us were wearing light blue and we had to take a picture!  My ...

    First of all, I am eternally grateful to everyone who made it possible for me to spend the best seven weeks of my life travelling around Europe and living in London. I will cherish the experiences I have had and the friends I have made forever! Anyways, enough with the sappiness and onto my last few experiences abroad!     After our last Monday of classes, my friends Daniel, Olivia, and I ventured to Leicester Square to try and get tickets to Phantom of the Opera for that evening. The prices were a little outrageous, so we ended up booking for Tuesday night instead! We ended up just walking around for an hour and a half trying to find these book stores I wanted to go back to. Though we were ultimately unsuccessful, I love just walking around the different parts of London! The city is breathtakingly beautiful. On Tuesday, we were able to go to the London Temple! It was so neat to travel there as a group and be in the temple together! That evening Daniel, Olivia, ...

This past week we did two of my favorite things that we've done the entire time I've been in England: attending a church service called Evensong at Canterbury Cathedral and going to afternoon tea at Kensington Palace. Canterbury Cathedral is an Anglican church, and Evensong is a musical service that they hold I believe every night, but don't quote me on that. Before we went to the cathedral for the service, we had quite the adventure. We had the chance to walk around the cathedral, and then we were given some time to explore the shops in Canterbury and find a place to grab some dinner before we returned for the service. I left the cathedral with three of my friends, and just outside the gates we were stopped by this lady who started asking us millions of questions about our clothes and where were from, and then insisted that she needed to take a picture with us. Naturally, we were a little suspicious and were clutching our bags. We finally were able to end the conversatio...

So much has happened since this slacker has blogged, so I'll hit some of the highlights/funny stories from the past couple of weeks complete with some pictures of all of the neat stuff we have done! Time just flies when you're having the time of your life! 1. The Bird-Peeing Fiasco. So we took a day trip to Bath. It was a lovely, charming little city. We were having a delightful time, but we were starving so we went to find some food. My friends Sarah and Daniel and I selected a delicious-looking cafe to buy a sandwich and decided to enjoy the beautiful day by eating lunch outside. This was a critical mistake. Very critical. We ordered our food and were chatting while we waited when all of a sudden I felt some drops hit my head. I touched my hair and when I looked down at my hand there was GREEN goo on it. Sarah and I left our purses with Daniel and made an emergency trip to the bathroom to wash my hair out with soap and water. It was everywhere. Needless to say, my hair went...