And my mind wanders.

#1: Five ways to win my heart.
-Hiking. I love hiking, and I respect anyone that loves it.
-The Gospel. Most important. It's my life.
-Music. Great taste in music=great taste in life.
-Reading.
-Education.

#2: Something you feel strongly about.
-Okay. So last week was my first week of college, and right now I'm feeling the need to say this: college is the best thing in the world. I LOVE IT. I thought I loved highschool,  but this is like highschool put in heaven. You get to CHOOSE your own classes,and how many you take, and at what time! So you're in and out as fast as you want to be, and learning what you're actually interested in!

#3: A book you love.
-Right now, I'm studying the classics in one of my classes and so I really can't choose one book I love. I've grown to love and respect so many authors throughout time! Most all books have an incredible background behind them. However, if I had to choose one that summed up what I've been reading year after year, loving more everytime I read it, it would be "Into the Wild". I know, I know. I talk about it a million times, but I'm serious. It gets better everytime!

#4: Bullet your whole day.
My usual day? Okay.
-Drive to school.
-Get to school at 7:15.
-Read until class starts.
-Get out of school around 12.
-Go home, do homework.
-Go to work at 3, get off at 5:30.
-Homework.
-Institute. (If it's a thursday.)
-More homework.
-Sleep.
Does that sound boring? Probably. But I promise you, it's not! I asked for schooling, work, and institute, and I couldn't love all of them more! I get to meet so many people and learn new things everyday--while getting spiritually fullfilled all the time. :)

#5: Things you want to say to an ex:
Eff off. Is that too harsh? My best friend told me that phrase solves everything. I have a feeling she's wrong, but I also have a feeling that it'd be a nice phrase to end with. :)

#6: Your views on mainstream music.
-I could literally go off about this forever. And since it's my blog, I may do so. Okay, so I'm in Rock and Roll History (did I mention college has every class you could want?) and we're going back in history to see where rock began. Music is highly competitve and always changing to what "will make a mass group of people love it." Basically, much of the music industry forces pop artists, especially, to sing what the "people" want. So, really. I have little respect for mainstream music because a lot of the artists have forgotten what music is about. I respect anyone that keeps singing and doing what they love because they LOVE it, not because "it's what the people want."

#7: Five pet peeves:
-When kids smear their hands (or faces, yes I've seen it happen) across glass windows. To the children of Weber High School: I know it looks like SO much fun to see how oily your hands and face are, but please, try to refrain.

#8: What you ate today:
-It's 11:43 in the morning, and I haven't ate anything.

#9: How important you think education is:
I'm spending over 2,000 dollars for a semester on education. I think that tells how important I think it is to be educated.

#10: Put your music player on shuffle and write the first ten songs that play.
-What Have They Done to My Song Ma by Melanie
-Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash
-Wake Up by Arcade Fire
-Angel in the Snow by Elliot Smith
-Nicest Thing by Kate Nash
-Awake My Soul by Mumford & Sons
-Wild Horses by The Sundays
-The Chain by Ingrid Michaelson
-Catch Hell Blues by the White Stripes
-For Emma by Bon Iver

#11: Your Family
-Jay Cunningham=Dad.
-Christie Cunningham=Mom.
-Alex Cunningham=Sister.
-Cassidee Cunningham=Sister.
-And I think I can add Kord Brown to this list because he's going to be my brother-in-law!


I love them. :)

#12: Five guys whom you find attractive:
-Marcus Mumford is the most attractive man on this planet because of his songs. I'll marry him.
-Ben Gibbard, you are equally attractive. But, you're married.
-Daniel Radcliffe? OKAY. I know. Everyone is like, "he's so ugly!" But this attraction has started from SIXTH GRADE. I'm a freshman in college now and I can say, crushes like that don't just end.
-Hayden Christensen. He was just so good looking in Star Wars...
-It's safe to say James Franco is one thee best looking guys out there.

#13: Your opinion aobut your body and how comfortable you are with it.
I love who I am and that's as simple as that.

#14: What you wore today.
Sweats and a T-shirt. I love Sundays.

#15: Your zodiac/horoscope and if you think it fits your personality.
I'm Aries! My best friend and I are nerds and we check it everynight. And I'll be honest, most of the time it's right. But I don't believe horoscopes are real. :) I think whoever writes them makes them broad enough to where anyone that read it, it could fit what they were dealing with.

#16: Something you always think "what if..." about.
What if missionaries hadn't came knocking on my door and taught my dad. Where would I be? I defintiely wouldn't be active in the church, I can tell you that. Which is super scary, but at the same time. How cool is that, that the Lord is so actively listening in our lives that He knows exactly what we need and at what time we need it for everything to fall into place. God is great, you guys. :) 

#17: Something that you're proud of.
I thought graduation day was something to be proud of, but when I experienced the first day of college, walking on to campus... yeah. I'm dang proud of that to be honest.

#18: A problem that you have had.
Um, is studying considered a problem? Because that's what takes over my life as of right now.

#19: Five items you lust after.
-Clothes. I love new clothes, especially accessories. Those are the greatest.
-A really nice camera. Like the one my sister has. That would be so fun to carry around and take pictures with.
-New school supplies. A weird one, I know. I just really love new pens and notebooks! I would have them year round if I cared to spend my money on them, haha.
-I really like expensive purses for some reason. And that's a problem for me.
-An iPhone. Everyone has one! Except for me.

#20: Your fears.
-Missing an important test.
-Failing a class.
-Not being happy.
-Not ever getting married.
-Not fullfilling my dreams.

#21: How you hope your future will be like.
I hope it will be full of happiness. :) I want a life worth living. I want to have my Masters degree someday, and teach highschool kids. I want to have a beautiful, happy marriage and children that I adore. :) Could you want more than that? Life would be perfect.

#22: Your academics.
I love school. It's a hobbie. The end.

#23: Something that you miss.
I miss my best friend who's hundreds of miles away. I'm so content right now, it's hard to miss much of anything except the people very dear to my heart.

#24: Five words/phrases that make you laugh.
Pardon my language, but I giggle everytime.
-Shitting hell fire.
-Oh, H.
-Douche bag.
-"Tell them to eff off." -Kadee Esplin
-Black widow.

#25: Something you're currently worrying about.
Will I get through my finals and still love school?

#26: Things you like and dislike about yourself.
I don't feel the need to brag about my qualities, or diss on my insecurties and flaws.
I love who I am.

#27: A quote you try to live by.
"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

#28: Somewhere you'd like to move to or visit.
Switzerland during Christmas. :) just like Heaven.

#29: Five weird things that you like.
-I like oysters.
-I like learning a lot of useless information.
-I like corn nuts.
-I like scribbling things out.
-I like the smell of old books.

#30: One thing you're exciting for.
I'm so excited for fall!!! :)

I've been roaming around.

Age: 18
Book: That changes daily. :) Today? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows
Color: Changes daily as well! Today we'll go with peach.
Dessert: Cupcakes and apple beer. :)
Exercise: Running and hiking.
Favorite artists: Mumford and Sons and Bon Iver.
Gold or silver: Gold. Definitely gold.
Height: 5' 5" and a quarter! Yes, every milimeter counts.
In love: With my life? Yes.
Job title: I'm your average college-going-dirt-poor-janitor. :)
Kids: Someday.
Live: Daily. :)
Must have item in your purse: debit card?
Nicknames: Tay... I guess. ONLY a select few get away with that.
Overnight hospital stays: Zeeerrrooooo.
Pet peeve: Let me just say this: To all of those great students who go to Weber High School: PICK UP AFTER YOURSELF. Idiots.
Quote: "I became totally absorbed into this forest existence. It was an unparalleled period when aloneness was a way of life; a perfect opportunity, it might seem, for meditating on the meaning of existence and my role in it all. All the time I was getting closer to animals and nature, and as a result, closer to myself and more and more in tune with the spiritual power that I felt all around. For those who have experienced the joy of being alone with nature there is really little need for me to say much more; for those who have not, no words of mine can even describe the powerful, almost mystical knowledge of beauty and eternity that come, suddenly, and all unexpected. The beauty was always there, but moments of true awareness were rare. They would come, unannounced; perhaps when I was watching the pale flush preceding dawn; or looking up through the rustling leaves of some giant forest tree into the greens and browns and the black shadows and the occasionally ensured bright fleck of blue sky; or when I stood, as darkness fell, with one hand on the still warm trunk of a tree and looked at the sparkling of an early moon on the never still, softly sighing water of Lake Tanganyika."
Righty or lefty: Right.
Siblings: Dos.
Time you wake up: 6. Every single morning. The joys of being a janitor...
University attended: Attending Weber State. :)
Vegetables you dislike: I love all of them!
Wardrobe item must have: Shirts. I like shirts.
X-rays you've had: None?
Yummy food: Mexican fooooood.
Zoo animal favorite: I like deer.

Mumford and Sons.

"And after the storm, I run and run as the rains come.
And I look up, I look up on my knees and out of luck, I look up.
Night has always pushed up day.
You must know life to see decay. But I won't rot, I won't rot.
Not this mind and not this heart,
I won't rot.
And I took you by the hand, and we stood tall.
And remembered our own land--what we lived for.
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
And now I cling to what I knew,
I saw exactly what was true.
But oh, no more. That's why I hold,
That's why I hold with all I have.
That's why I hold.
I will die alone and be left there.
Well I guess I'll just gome home, Oh God knows where.
Because death is just so full and man so small.
Well I'm scared of what's behind and what's before.
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair."
-After the Storm, Mumford and Sons

If I could have ONE song to describe who I am, what I've been through and what I believe, this is the song.
I. Love. Mumford and Sons.
Thee end.

 

I will follow you with my whole life.

I really need to start this up again! Not for anyone, but for myself.
I'm a strong believer in letting your emotions go with writing, so here it goes.

"So this is my life, and I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be." -The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I want to start reading again! So badly. I miss it. This summer has been so insanely busy for me. With eight hour days of work four days a week, and trying to hang out with my friends that are leaving for college. However, this is probably the best summer I've ever had. I've found out so many things about myself and have been learning so many things from others! I absolutely love it.
However, the books I have read this summer have been:
-127 Hours
-The DaVinci Code
-Into the Wild

All incredible books, but I need more!

ALSO. Music. Music has been huge for me lately.
-Mumford and Sons=absolutely incredible. I would marry Marcus Mumford

"Can you kneel before the king and say, 'I'm clean?' I'm clean..."
Heavenly voices and lyrics.

-Bon Iver
Love. Love. Love.

"I toured a light. So many foreign roads. For Emma, forever ago."

-Lissie
SHE'S SO GOOD!

"And I fall on my knees; tell me how's the way to go. Tell me how's the way to be to envoke some empathy."

Hiking. I've done a lot of hiking this summer and I absolutely adore it. Being in the wild puts me in complete bliss.

-Also. You know those things that happen and you hate it... And then a couple of days later something happens and it turns out if that bad thing didn't happen to you, you wouldn't be able to experience this other wonderful thing?
Yeah, I've had a lot of that this summer. I'm learning to be grateful for all of the experiences I go through and all of the trials I accomplish because those things really shape you into who you are and who you are capable of becoming.

 "Noble and great. Courageous and determined. Faithful and fearless. That is who you are, and that is who you have always been. Understanding that truth can change your life, because this knowledge carries a confidence that cannot be duplicated any other way." -Sheri Dew

This quote explains perfectly what I've been through this summer. Understanding where I come from, who I'm supposed to be, and what I can accomplish. It's been one great summer. And I'm sad it's coming to a close! However, I'm completely excited for this fall and all of the possiblities it holds in store for me.


"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." -C.S. Lewis

"Got lost in the places I've been."

Okay, so it's been awhile and I have a LOT to say.

First, please listen to this song. INCREDIBLE. I've never seen anything like it.
They are seriously inspiring and so passionate about this song. I love it.

Second, new goal? I want to have as much fun as possible this summer.
Third, singles ward? A little strange, but I'm going to give it a try...

Fourth, work. I'm working TEN HOUR DAYS. And I'm dying from it. However,
I'm very determined not to let that get in the way of having an awesome summer.
Lucky for me, I work with incredible people.

Fifth, I want to do the most amazing art piece I've ever done. I'm going to search this
week for a picture. I want people to feel passion, emotion, and inspiration from this
piece. I'm not sure what it is yet, but I'm looking.

Sixth, college. Weber State, here I come. I've signed up for some of my classes
and I've also declared a major. First off, I'm studying Secondary Education. My hope
is to one day be back in highschool, doing what I seriously LOVE. Teaching.
Which, probably doesn't seem even that cool, or inspiring, or passionate. Which is
what I'm all about. But, if you think about it...there are some pretty dang intelligent
kids out there, and if I get to be apart of their life? And perhaps make a difference?
That's an astounding thing. Teachers can be amazing individuals.
That also means I have  A TON to get done. I've had to declare a major FOR teaching.
I've decided to major in English and minor in Fitness. Random? Probably sounds it.
The teachers I remember most though have been my English and Fitness teachers.
English is an incredibly deep thing to cover. And a lot of people don't understand
how a single author, journalist, poet, or even a simple sentence can change the WORLD.
Also, fitness. I LOVE to run and be active and just be out there doing something
physical. It releases endorphins and makes people happy. Who could want more than
that? And in the world we're living today, and what we're EATING today, everyone could
use a little more physical activity. And I want to teach that. :)

Seventh, I want to go on a mission. IF I obviously don't find a husband first. Not that I'm
looking or interested. But again, I love to teach and I absolutely love the Gospel. And
if I'm serving the Lord for a year and a half, my husband has got to be pretty hot, right?
KIDDING. But... really.

Eighth, Happy Fathers Day. I love my dad and I'm extremely grateful for all he's done for me.

"Any thought could be the beginning."

"As one of a thousand elements of my own testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon, I submit this as yet one more evidence of its truthfulness. In this their greatest—and last—hour of need, I ask you: would these men blaspheme before God by continuing to fix their lives, their honor, and their own search for eternal salvation on a book (and by implication a church and a ministry) they had fictitiously created out of whole cloth?

Never mind that their wives are about to be widows and their children fatherless. Never mind that their little band of followers will yet be “houseless, friendless and homeless” and that their children will leave footprints of blood across frozen rivers and an untamed prairie floor. ⁹ Never mind that legions will die and other legions live declaring in the four quarters of this earth that they know the Book of Mormon and the Church which espouses it to be true. Disregard all of that, and tell me whether in this hour of death these two men would enter the presence of their Eternal Judge quoting from and finding solace in a book which, if not the very word of God, would brand them as imposters and charlatans until the end of time? They would not do that! They were willing to die rather than deny the divine origin and the eternal truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

Now, I did not sail with the brother of Jared in crossing an ocean, settling in a new world. I did not hear King Benjamin speak his angelically delivered sermon. I did not proselyte with Alma and Amulek nor witness the fiery death of innocent believers. I was not among the Nephite crowd who touched the wounds of the resurrected Lord, nor did I weep with Mormon and Moroni over the destruction of an entire civilization. But my testimony of this record and the peace it brings to the human heart is as binding and unequivocal as was theirs. Like them, “[I] give [my name] unto the world, to witness unto the world that which [I] have seen.” And like them, “[I] lie not, God bearing witness of it.”