I'll never understand why Aveda refuses to give us days off, but I went ahead and took Monday off anyway. It's my last phase, I thought, I'm just gonna have fun! So I spent a night down at Gared's family's Cabin... is that punctuation correct?

It was refreshing to get out of Provo and into some mountains. Seriously, the pollution this winter has been terrible. Some mornings when I'm heading to school, pollution that has frozen during the night starts to fall in the form of small, dry, flakes from the sky. It's disgusting. The air is extremely hazy, and visibility sucks. And to think that I'm breathing all of that into my lungs!
Anyway. It really was nice getting out of Provo and breathing some clean air for a minute. 

It even felt a little warmer out.

 We spend the entire day sledding on Monday. I had the privilege of wearing this beautiful snow suit. It kept me quite warm :)
I wish that I had some pictures or videos of us sledding. It was some of the most fun I've ever had. We drove a snowmobile up to the top of a mile long, steep and windy road, and then we'd sled all the way down. We got going so fast, the snowmobile tracked us going around 23 mph. It was so great :D
I biffed plenty of times, and I think my butt is still recovering, but it was totally worth every bump and bruise. I had the time of my life!
We also spent a lot of time with Gared's wonderful family. We ate delicious food and played lots of games, watched movies, and drank Hot Chocolate. I really love that cabin. I think I'll own one some day :)

Holly and I ventured out into the pollution and went to the Temple today. It was lovely, as always.
Also, I dyed my hair again. I swear, Mom, I'm ready to be done coloring my hair. It's back dark, but not too dark. It's verrrryyyyyyy red... I really had no say over the matter. I was having my trimmed on Friday, when all of the sudden my educator started asking my classmates around me what color formula they were going to use on my hair. They really hated the blonde, and they've been trying to convince me to go back to brown for a long time. So before I knew it, I had color on my hair, and I was back dark.
Don't worry, Mom, it's going to fade a few levels, and then I'm going to make it a little more neutral brown. I'm done coloring my hair!

Check out the brand new addition to the living room! Sweet, huh? Gotta love $20 TV's from the D.I. Can you tell what movie is playing? It's one of my favorites :)

Not to toot my own horn and sound obnoxious, but I've been pretty pleased with how well my new year's resolutions have been going! I've been wanting to read and exercise more, eat healthier, all of the usual ones, and so far I've been having success. I'm almost finished with this book called Touch the Top of the World. It's an autobiography about a blind man that has summited all 7 of the highest peaks on every continent. It's the first book I've read in a long time, and it's very well done, and very insightful. It makes me want to go climb mountains and set world records.
I still eat junk food, but I'm limiting the intake, and I've been cooking more meals at home. Real meals. Not just whatever I can scrounge up. I'm actually enjoying cooking!
I've been exercising a few times a week, and a couple days ago I ran 2 miles :) Now I know that's not a lot, but to me I practically ran a marathon.
Another resolution this year is to see a Moose. It's a weird one, but last year I saw my Bald Eagle, and now I really want to see a Moose. I got a couple books from the library about Utah Wildlife, and the best places to view different animals, and I've also been studying a book about tracking animals in the snow. I'm gonna find my Moose, guys.

What a week!

 Wow, it has been quite a week. Christmas and New Years are over, and they were absolutely wonderful. I got to spend a lot of time with some old friends, which was total luck. I had no idea that they were planning on coming down to Texas this year, so it was wonderful seeming them again. I got a good long break, nearly two weeks, then I had to be back to the big ice block. Utah is literally frozen right now. It's terrible. Most days don't get above 5 or 6 degrees.
But, I am happy to be back at school. New phase, our last phase actually, new year, new apartment, and also new hair...

 What a better way to start off 2013 than with bright orange hair?

I was excited, as you can see from the black and white photo, but not as enthused with the final result. It was supposed to be a nice copper blonde... I did manage to fix it, and it looks much better now. No need for the hat anymore hahah.

So I arrived in Salt Lake from my break on a Thursday. The following Thursday, I was back on a plane headed to Los Angeles. One of my educators at the school won the RAW Hairstylist of the Year Award, and needed some assistants to help her at the awards show in LA where she had a small runway segment. I happily volunteered of course. I'll do anything to escape this cold!

I landed in the morning, and my first item of business was the beach. I hadn't been to the beach in almost two years, and it was killing me. I need a little salt water now and again.

 It was cold, but I couldn't resist getting my feet a little wet.

Mom and I discovered a quote that may be one of my favorites now: "The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea." - Isak Dinesen
 

We ate at the Admiral Risty that night. I've never been able to tie those cherry stems with my tongue, but Mom's still got it :)

The next morning we went for a walk along the strand.

We walked all the way to the Redondo Beach Pier. These Pelicans were everywhere, and one almost attacked me. Yeah it was pretty scary.

Then it was off to the Aveda Training Center in El Segundo. I mostly did model prep work. I colored a lot of hair. That's pretty much all I did for those first couple of days. Nothing too exciting. But I did learn a lot!

One day we got out a little bit early, and a couple of other girls and I got to the beach in time to catch the sunset...

...and snap some pretty pictures.

 Then we visited Santa Monica Pier; did a little shopping, saw some street performances...

 

The next morning, Mom and I went to church, and then to the Balasco Theater downtown for the show, but first we stopped by Little Tokyo for some Mochi. Yum :)

I was able to do a little bit of styling on this day, mostly flat ironing and some crimping. I also handed Heggy (the educator) clips and combs, and held random things for her...

...like her purse. Yes that was my job for about an hour that night. Just before the show she decided she needed someone to watch her purse for her while her segment was going on. It reminded me of the movie The Devil Wears Prada, when Andrea, the hardworking assistant, is always having purses and coats flung at her.

Here's a shot of the models all lined up, just before they went out onto the runway. Look at all the color. It was just like a rainbow.

 These are just a couple shots of some of my favorite hairstyles of the night.

 Here's Heggy, giving her acceptance speech.

RAW is actually an Indie Artist competition, so there was more than just hair. There was makeup, dance, art, photography, some music groups, ect...

 There were some booths set up in a lounge below the theater for the artists to display their work. I especially loved this one of Jimi Hendrix.

The next morning I had to make one last trip to the beach before heading back to Utah. I bundled up and enjoyed the dolphins :)

 This has always been my favorite part about flying out of LAX. I love flying over the water.

 It was a busy, tiring weekend, but it was a great experience. I learned a lot, not just about hair, but about professionalism (mostly from the fellow students), and what it takes to work back stage at runway shows. I loved every second of it :)

Welcome to my humble abode

Jenna got home last night, and look at this beautiful gem she brought back from her home in MD. A picture of me when I was 15. Don't I look like I belong in Led Zeppelin?

Now for a tour of my new apartment, starting at the front door. The apartment is divided into an upstairs and a downstairs, which makes it feel a little more like a house. I love it.

 The lovely kitchen, where I am currently cooking some Minestrone soup.

 It's not as good as Mom's, but not bad for my first time!

 Here's our wonderful bedroom. The beds are very high, and I have to jump to get on top of them, but the mattresses are really nice. Not like the rocks at Raintree.

We have two fairly spacious closets...

...and a lovely view out the window! As well as a very bright florescent lamp. We're getting curtains soon.

 And now we get to the best part. This, my friends, is a fitness center. I am SO happy I won't have to run in the cold :)

 That's it! It's nice, it's roomy, it's warm (too warm sometimes, the roommates like to keep it at a nice 80 degrees). I think I'll like it here :)