Practice What You Teach

Christmas break has always my favorite two and a half weeks of the year, but I've grown to love it even more than I ever thought possible ever since I up and moved across the country to go to college. There's no better feeling than landing at Washington Reagan and seeing the Washington Monument and the Capitol from the tarmac! We have established so many classic Christmas break traditions that are highlights every year! 1. Quality family time. It's quite lucky that my family and I get along so well, because we had plenty of quality time together this break! Whether we were going on fun outings, shopping, or just sitting around the living room talking or watching a Hallmark Christmas movie, we have so much fun just being together! We also made our return to ICE at the Gaylord Hotel at National Harbor, resulting in many quality pictures and rides down the ice slide.  DC Temple Lights! As an added bonus, I ran into my good friend Anna who's serving a mission...

       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 ...