Singing in the Tabernacle

This semester I decided to join the institute choir because I thought it sounded like fun. So far I have loved it! We had the opportunity to sing at the CES devotional this month because our school was hosting it. We got to sing in the tabernacle on temple square and wow... The acoustics are amazing in there! It was a really cool experience.

Grandpa's Funeral

In October my Grandpa Tolman passed away. It was a bittersweet moment. I am sad that he is not with us anymore, but happy that he is reunited with his amazing wife, my grandmother. I am so thankful for the knowledge I have of Heavenly Father's plan. I am thankful that I will be able to see my grandpa and all of my family members again someday.

My brother is home!

This post is a little late, but my brother is home from his mission! 2 years was a long time to be away from my best friend. I'm so happy to have him back!

Fall!

I LOVE fall! 

It is hands down my favorite time of year!

Earlier this month my family went to the witch festival at Gardner Village. 

We went shopping and ate at my favorite restaurant, Archibald's.

My nieces got their makeup done like witches and we watched some witches make potions. It was so fun! 

I love spending time with my little nieces and nephew! 

so blessed!

this week has been amazing! i don't even know where to begin. lately i have been stressing about finding an internship for fall semester. in the design program i'm in, it is required to do an internship your 3rd semester. i have always wanted to work set design for movies and tv shows, but i never knew how to get started with that. on monday night my ward went up to ogden for family home evening. it was about a 40 minute car ride and i sat next to a guy i'd never talked to before. we started talking about school and somehow the topic of my internship came up and he said he knew someone who worked for the utah film commission. he texted the guy right then and asked if they would be willing to take an intern for set design. the guy said "yes! we would love to!" so the next day i called him and bada bing bada boom, i have an internship! i am so unbelievably excited! it is such a blessing from heavenly father! i definitely notice his hand in my life when i am doing what i am supposed to. 

the other thing that happened was that i met a boy from spain who is visiting utah for a month. we were walking around temple square the other night because he wanted to go to a bar and i said no, so somehow we ended up at the temple... anyways, he was asking me tons of questions about the word of wisdom and the "super temple" and i was trying to explain it all in spanish. it was probably one of the most difficult things i have ever done in my life, trying to explain in another language why i hold myself to such high standards and why this gospel is so important to me. it was such an incredible experience and i felt the spirit so strong that night. it got me so excited for my mission. i will hopefully be starting my papers within the next couple months. i can't wait! i can't even imagine having this feeling each day as i help others learn about the gospel. it is the greatest feeling in the world! 

i have been so blessed in my life and i am so grateful for the experiences that i am given each and every day that allow me to grow as a person. i love my heavenly father so much and i feel his love for me every day.

~olivia

Awkward Sunday

So I went to meet with my bishop after church today to talk about mission stuff and this is pretty much how it went...

Bishop: So what did you come to talk to me about?

Me: I want to go on a misson.

Bishop: Hahahahaha... how old are you?

Me: 21...

Bishop: No way!

Sometimes I really hate that I still look like a little girl.

Oh, and then I fell down the stairs. Cause i'm so awesome like that. Go me. 

This is my embarrassed face.

So I found this quote on Pinterest the other day and I loved it! It is exactly what I needed to hear that day. Lately I have been feeling so stuck in life. I'm so sick of dating, heartbreaks, homework, my job, etc. Every once in a while I have to take a step back and realize that God has great things planned for my life and I just have to be patient and wait for them to come. My life really is amazing and I take what I have for granted. I am so blessed and I am really excited to see what the future holds.

getting older

i am 21. 

twenty-one! 

WHAT!!! 

how did that happen?!?!

my momma took me to the store but wouldn't tell me why we were going and then she told me to pick out a bike. i was so excited!! i have wanted a bike for a long time because i like to ride around the city. it is so pretty!

 my nieces got me a real salt lake jersey. i was so excited!

me and rilee shae

little girlies helping me blow out all my candles

i had a GREAT birthday! thanks mom, amber&jon, and the rest of my family!

Summer Time and the Living is... Stressful!

I am FINALLY done with my 7th semester of college. Only 2 more to go until I graduate from LDSBC! I can't believe it took me 5 semesters to figure out what I wanted to study. But, by the time I graduate I will have 2 associates so i'm feelin' pretty good about it. 

I was super excited for this summer so that I could finally have a break! I went to school all last summer and it wasn't so fun. Anyways, I had one week off and then I started my new job working as a custodian at Temple Square. It is a fun job but exhausting. I work Monday through Friday so by the end of the week I just crash. Oh, and I just found out this week that I DO have to go to school this summer. I didn't pass one of my classes and I have to take it again... My least favorite class (AutoCad) bleh. So this summer will be super stressful. 

My roommates all moved out last week and the one that was supposed to stay the summer with me went back to Virginia to get knee surgery. So, i'm all alone. It is nice to not have to clean up after other people, but I hate being here alone. I can't wait for Elizabeth to get better and come back! 

These are pictures of one of my final projects. I had to design a retail store and make a 3D model of it in 1/4" scale. It was... not my favorite project. It took forever and was super tedious. But I think it turned out pretty cool looking. It is a vintage children's boutique.

Mormon.org

Check out my Mormon.org profile here and then go make one for yourself!

Kid's Design

My favorite class this semester is Studio 1. In that class we receive a client profile and make a design based on that. For our first project we were assigned to design a bedroom for a child. I chose to design a room for my niece Bella and the new baby that is being born in May. The challenge was making the room more 'grown up' for Bella, who is turning 8, and also gender neutral on the baby's side because my sister isn't finding out what she is having. I had to take measurements of the space and draw a floor plan and a couple of elevations. This is the first project that I have had to color render my drawings and I was pretty nervous but I thought they turned out pretty good. Anyway, here is a picture of my final design. Sorry it is kind of hard to see.

schooled

i have a hard time blogging because my life isn't that interesting BUT i'm determined to be better at keeping this up so i may have to start making stuff up to write about. 

today my 7th semester of college started. gah! i'm so old! just kidding, i'm still only 20 for a few more months. anywho, i LOVE school . love love love. it's amazing how enjoyable school and homework and time consuming projects can be when you actually like what you're majoring in. this semester just might kill me. i'm taking 18 credits... 8 classes!! and 4 of them are drafting classes. bleh. but i'll make it through :)

my project that i was just assigned today is to design a kitchen. i have a feeling i'm going to love this project. so here are some of my inspirations...

A New Year

Wow. I can't believe that 2011 has ended. It was literally the best year of my life. I finished 3 semesters of college, attended 2 different schools, lived in 2 states and moved 4 times. There have been a lot of trials and even more triumphs and through all of these my relationship with the Lord has grown immensely. He has been by my side every step of the way and I know that I would be nowhere without Him. I have never been so happy in my life and I know that is because I am where i'm supposed to be. 

I already know that 2012 is going to be a great year because my brother and best friend, Markie, is coming home in October!! Man, I have really missed him! 

I don't really have any New Year's Resolutions this year... just to be a better person and serve more. I am excited to see what adventures this new years will bring. Happy New Year!

~Olivia

mission prep

 Yesterday I signed up to take mission prep for my religion class next semester. 

I am ridiculously excited.

I LOVE missionary work and I am preparing to go on a mission in a year, after I graduate. 

This gospel is the most amazing thing in the world. 

I am so blessed every single day of my life and I just want to share it with everyone I know!!!

This quote is from Jeffrey R. Holland and it is one of my favorites. 

The Lord knows us all individually and knows what we need and WHEN we need it. 

That's all, just my random thoughts of the day :)

me

I saw this on someone's blog and thought it was cool so i'm copying :)
A-Z ME!

A. age :: twenty

B. bed size :: twin when i'm at school, queen at my momma's house

C. chore you hate :: doing laundry, especially folding it

D. dogs :: had 2 growing up (sasha and mckeila)none right now

E. essential start to your day :: hot chocolate!!

F. favorite color :: purple

G. gold or silver :: silver

H. height :: 5'4"

I. instruments you play :: piano and the vocal chords :)

J. job title :: cookie lee jewelry consultant

K. kids :: negativo

L. live :: in an apartment across from temple square. LOVE IT!

M. maiden name :: tolman

N. nicknames :: liv, livie, liver, olive

O. overnight hospital stays :: once i was in the ER from 10pm-2am so technically? stomach ulcer :(

P. pet peeve :: laziness!

Q. quote :: "When i'm 80 years old and sitting in my rocking chair, i'll be reading harry potter.  And my family will say to me, 'After all this time?' And I will say, 'Always'". ~Alan Rickman

R. righty or lefty :: righty

S. siblings :: 12 (8 real, 4 step)

T. time you wake up :: 9:45am

U. university attended :: currently- LDSBC. Previous- MATC, UVU, BYU-Idaho

V. vegetables you dislike: i love all vegetables

W. what makes you run late :: realizing that it's cold outside and having to decide on a coat.

X. x-rays you’ve had :: on my nose when i broke it.

Y. yummy food :: spaghetti... who am i kidding, any food!

Z. zoo animal favorite :: zebras

Salt Lake City Design Week

I have been lazy putting up these pictures. These are from Salt Lake Design Week. This event was for all designers of any kind in the salt lake area to come and mingle. Me and some other girls who study interior design in Salt Lake go to model these dresses to get people excited about next years Fashion Remix. I explained a little about that here. I loved my dress; it was one of the most comfortable and most modest of all of them. Overall it was a fun night.

 this is the back of my dress. it was really "froofy" and fun.

 they had these really cool lights hanging from the ceiling.

My Family

Being that Thanksgiving is in 2 days, I've been thinking a lot about gratitude. My family is at the top of my list. I have one of the biggest families in the world and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have a strong testimony that I was put in this big family for a reason. I am so thankful that I am sealed to my family for eternity. I love them!

This is all 9 of us siblings at Hank and Danica's wedding about 5 years ago.

IIDA Fashion Remix

So there's this event for IIDA (International Interior Design Association) on Monday called Fashion Remix. Each design firm participating drew from a hat a material and had to make a dress from it. There are dresses made from backsplash tile, carpet, linoleum, etc. Sounds pretty cool right? Well, guess who gets to model one of the dresses? Yep, i'm pretty excited. These are some of the dresses...

This one is made from a chair backing

And here it is lit up.

I'm pretty excited!

Guidance

I just have to say that I am so grateful for the blessing of the Holy Ghost in my life. I love that I can pray about any decision that I am making and I will know for sure whether it is right or wrong. I struggle with making decisions and I get so stressed out and the Holy Ghost calms me down and tells me what to do. I know that I am supposed to be where I am right now, going to school in Salt Lake because I have prayed and prayed about it and felt so comforted about my decision. I love this gospel with all of my heart and I don't know how anyone lives without it.

p.s. I live across the street from THIS and I get to look at it everyday. Amazing!

bring on a new adventure!

so... i start school in less than a month and i am so excited!

i have finally decided my major

and i can't wait to start taking design classes.

in all of my previous design classes the homework

never felt like work because i had fun doing it.

i'm hoping it will be the same this semester.

i am also excited to move into my new apartment in 3 weeks!

it is still being built so when i move in it will be brand-spankin-new!

meaning... a clean shower!!

haha obviously that is what i am most excited about.

(in my very first apartment i had to buy a new shower curtain and scrub the shower for a couple of hours before i would take a shower in it. i'm excited to not have to do that!)

i am also excited to meet my new roommates.

there will be 4 of us girls and none of us has ever met each other so i'm sure it will be a blast!!

i love making new friends :)

well, that's all for now. peace!