operation beautiful

last night in the library bathroom mirror, i saw this:

 

usually bathroom walls, mirrors or anything else people think of destroying, are either...

cuss words 

or

those K+B=love and such.

but, this time around, there were numerous sticky notes throughout the bathroom mirror in the library. at the bottom of the sticky note i took at picture of,  was a website link, which you can find here.

this organization is called, Operation Beautiful.

 "The mission of Operation Beautiful is to post anonymous notes in public places for other women to find. The point is that WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL. You are enough... just the way you are!"

-Caitlin, the editor of Operation Beautiful.

Another part of their mission is to stop negative thoughts, often about girls' weight and how self-concouius they are. Through their awesome organization, and through those who are willing to help out, will help us as women, as a nation to love ourselves how we are and feel proud of what and who we are. :)

I just think it's an awesome organization and I am definitley looking into ways that I can get involved.

We all need a little pick me up, to remind us of our infinite strength and abilities.

I'm going to drag a note book and pen around with me and start spreading the love, take the challenge with me. :)

I am still breathing, I swear.

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile.

 It's one of those days that I wish I could just write all day.

There are so many things on my mind that it's hard to write all out.

This year has been amazing. Amazing, is an understatement though.

So many awesome adventures, new friends, trials and life changing experiences.

I'm still bitter about leaving Logan this Summer.

I know I shouldn't be.

It's really hard to think about leaving everything here.

Especially my friends. 

BOO!

But, it's okay, I'll be back here soon enough.

In the mean time, I can live at home...saving money, spending time with my family and having an awesome hot summer!!! 
 ------------------------------------
ALSO...
I've been slacking on my running this week.
Which is super bad.
I've also have ate super bad this week.
Which is extremely bad.
It's all this end of year stress building up.
It's insane how much your eating and daily exercise affect how you feel.

--------------------------

I have to give a shout out to my awesome friend Jessica Harrison.

Jessica and I are both trying to get into the Interior Design Program up here at USU.

She and I have three classes together and we always end up sitting by each other in them. 

She is one of the nicest girls I have ever met. 

We often have "heart-to-hearts" in the middle of classes.

We talk about boys, a lot.

We laugh all the time and end up missing important lectures...whoops.

We talk about hanging out all the time, and here and there...we actually do! Haha.

 -------------------------------------------

Things I love about Jessica:

She always cares about how my day is going and what is going on in my life.

She is always smiling.

She is very Christlike.
She is ALWAYS cooking.

She always is telling me how funny and awesome I am.

She is an awesome worker. She is always trying her best and making all her work look awesome.

She is genuine, she doesn't give out compliments if she doesn't mean them.

And....there is just a tad about Jessica. :)

♥ always,

L

oh logan :)

for starters, one of my best friends, brianna dickerson, just got accepted into the photography program at USU. 

she is the only freshman who was accepted. can i get a woot woot? :) she will do amazing work.

HERE is her photography blog

in honor of brianna's "what i'll miss about logan" list, i decided to write my own. i've been feeling super bad about leaving logan lately and i thought it'd be good to document some of the great times and remember there is always more to come.

what i'll miss about logan:

*random nights with my roommates that we are literally rolling on the floor laughing.

*chillin at the junct.

*treking down the hill to visit my old farm girls.

*the snow (knock on wood?)

*our quote wall.

*movie nights.

*my amazing R.A. charity.

*ALL my girls in old farm.

*meeting hope, mckenna, lisha and my other richards hall girls.

*late nights at the library.

*insanely stressful rapid vis. with joann.

*long but great art classes.

*the interior design girls.
*going on dates w/ jordan.

*going on runs with hope and kenna.

*re-arranging our living room numerous times.

                                     *owing my roommates m&m's.

                                *crazy adventures at old farm.

*decorating our apartment for every holiday.

*dacy buying fish.

*running at the fh  & swimming at the hper.

*going to concerts, plays, movies with my awesome friends.

*bullen hall---especially my floor.

*sunday dinners.

*my amazing ward--especially my relief society girls.

*going to church with my roomies and friends.

*going to bed SUPER late.

*heart-to-hearts with angela.

*dacy and i setting a curfew to be in bed by 11, but end up talking till 1.

*kristy owing us ice cream.

*sort-of cooking.

*visits from neighbors and playing piano.

giving jonathan a curfew.

*aggie football and basketball.

*cleaning the sink at angie's.

*doing what i want when i want to. haha.

*area goverment and the friends i've made through that.

the power of music

tonight i went with some ward buddies to sing at a local rest home.

they go every sunday, but this was my first time going.

usually my sundays are so packed, i have a hard time finding time to go with them.

but i cannot tell you how great it was!

all the old folks were so cute and were so happy to see us.

we sang all of my favorite hymns and i kept tearing up haha.

my favorite hymn is, "great thou art."

and when we sang that...wow, words cannot describe....

what i loved about after we would finish a song, was the smiles and watery eyes the residents would have.

the glow in them was amazing!

the power of music is so strong.

i'm very grateful for hymns and the gospel in my life.

it truly is such a blessing.

i have seen the gospel change people's lives and i love it.

i will be forever indebted to my Savior for all he has done for me.

if you are curious about my beliefs and religion..
go
HERE

or ask me :)

hold your breath

erika dotson is one of my favorite photographers. 

check out her page.

she is breathtaking.

i'm stocked

24 followers??

woooot!

thank you everyone for following!

love always!

half marathon---oct 9

 

my cousin kara wants me to run the rock n roll half marathon with her in denver on oct 9

and i'm really considering it.

scratch that. i wanna do it.

BAD.

i think if i make sure i'm consistently running for the next few months i'll be just fine.

it'll be great to run it with her too, especially because she is so inspiring and is this bad a runner.

haha.

so anyways, there's an update.

fast paced world

we live in such a fast paced world.

everything is always rushed.

everyone wants what they want when they want it.

whether one is waiting in traffic, grabbing fast food, in line at the grocery store or waiting to hear from a good friend.

a few months back, i decided to become a runner.

and i use that term lightly, because i wouldn't consider myself "A RUNNER."

more like a girl that is slowing learning to run and how to become semi-decent at it.

i felt like i needed to run.

a lot of my friends run and they crave for it. it's the time that they let everything go.

which i can agree.

that's how i feel when i run.

free!!!

i've tried to run frequently and its a love-hate deal.

also i love the times when i leave my phone in my room and just go places without it.

this may sound ridiculous, but i love just not having to worry about who is trying to call me or text me.

it's nice.

you should try it.

:)

it's time to slow life down and prioritize.

love,

L

19th Birthday

This birthday was by far the craziest birthday I've ever had.

The night before (Friday Night)....I went to Cafe Rio with my friends Dacy and Angela.

Oh and I finally ventured out from my usual pork salad and went with the pork burrito.

Can we say heavenly? Haha.

We also hit up the DI

Angela and I went and got a redbox and 10:30 at night.

The movie went until around Midnight'ish and then we had a heart to heart chat. Haha. Gotta love those.

Most of our floor went on a huge date night and they all got home around 12:30.

My friend and RA ended up collapsing due to not taking her medicine.

We ended up taking her to the ER at 1:30 in the morning.

She is okay now, which is a big blessing.

Thanks to amazing priesthood holders and a lot of prayers!

 Me, Angela and Berkley in the ER waiting room from 1:30 AM-3 AM

Due to how AMAZING my RA is, she chose to perform in her pageant still and won 2nd attendant! Yay!

 My friends kidnapped me that night (Saturday) and took me to Wendy's. To stall for time.

Back at their apartment they had a lot of my friends hiding in the dark.

Sarcastically I told Lizzie (who was driving) that they should sing happy birthday to me through the intercom.

....and speak of the devil, HE DID! It was hilarious and they gave me a delicious birthday sundae! Woot!!!

 We later arrived at Old Farm (where some of my friends live) with an epic party. We had Mexican food, Waffle cake and ice cream! It was a blast!! We played Just Dance (which I epically fail at) and had presents. Thank you again everyone! I love you all so much! It was a great day!

interesting experiences with my interesting life.

-went barefoot for TOMS 

 (click the picture and check out their page)

TOMS is a shoe company, which for every pair of shoes that they sell, they donate a pair of shoes to a child with no shoes. which i am totally in support of. i'll be buying some this summer. on tuesday of this week, they did a worldwide no shoes day. it was to advocate how much we take our shoes for granted. honestly, it was painful. especially in logan with this crazy weather. my feet were freezing, started to get roughed up with gravel, and other fun things.

i'm glad that i did it though. it really made me see how fortunate i am and how i shouldn't take even the smallest things like shoes for granted. ever.

-signed a petition for all vegan food cafeterias on campus. 

story: i have a reason though, i was under some huge peer pressure. this girl came up to me and bri in the library and did some quiet rambling and shoved us a sign up sheet. of course, i didn't know what i was signing till i actually read the paper...and i don't see anywhere for ALL vegan food? i just thought it was to offer choices to those that like eating basically nothing. ma bad. so anyways, future freshmen and those that live on campus at USU, if we end up with all vegan cafeterias..i'm very sorry. haha.)

-dug through trash to find water bottles for my recycled trash project.

i'm making a water bottle chandelier. wish me luck. sounds trippy right? stay tuned on pictures. it's for my design theory class. i'm so excited. :)

-went bowling with my friend myles.
why is this interesting you may ask? somehow i got super unlucky...yeah, thats the right word. haha. when it comes to bowling. no lie, i used to have some talent. but i guess if you look at this postiviley...i was consistent at gutter balls? haha.

Yeah yeah!

Freshman Review is DONE!

My birthday is this weekend.

I am done with all huge projects for this week.

I feel well enough to work out today. Holla!

& I supported TOMS by going barefoot.

Aiiigghttt.

Later.

warm and tingly

Hello,

Lauren Hillman, On behalf of the National Residence Hall Honorary here at USU, I would like to congratulate you on your nomination for an “Of the Month” award for March. This is a recognition tool used by students and staff living on-campus to recognize those around them that have done an outstanding job and are making a difference. Being nominated and winning on a campus level gives you the potential of also being nominated and recognized on a regional and national level. Thank you for all that you are doing and keep up the great work!

Here is what was said about you:

"Lauren Hillman is an amazing resident and student here at USU.  Just in the month of March, I have seen incredible diligence and hard work from her.  Speaking as her RA, she is one of the strongest residents I have in my community.  Lauren is so supportive of everyone on our floor, and I truly appreciate all of her efforts to visit all of the rooms and attend all my programs.  She is a super busy girl, but somehow she always manages to make sure that I am doing okay.  I know that especially this month she has taken the time to talk one on one with a lot of my other residents.  Everyone loves her, and I am so blessed to have her as my resident.  Along with supporting me as an RA, she works extremely hard in Area Government.  She is the Public Relations Chair, and she is in charge of advertising and bulletin boards.  In the month of March alone, she has done six bulletin boards.  These boards were advertisements for Humans vs. Zombies and the ResLife Pageant.  She also helped with getting volunteers to put up flyers all over Central Campus.  She also is in charge of painting the windows of the Junction for upcoming programs, which she is doing for the pageant.  In addition to all of this, she set up a hot chocolate booth in the middle of Central to recruit residents to join AG.  Lauren always puts everything she has into her work.  She is always willing to help fellow AG members with their responsibilities even when she is crazy busy.  I love how committed she is, and she constantly has a smile on her face.  I love her, and she definitely deserves to be recognized for all of her hard work."

 

NRHH, Big Blue Chapter
Residents Hall Association
Utah State University

i photograph

i haven't in forever.

but here are a few: