Eat, Pray, Love.

This topic has been on my mind a lot this week. 

Judgement. 

As people it is in our nature to judge people on their actions, words and features. I will admit that I have judged people in a sense and I have looked back and asked myself, "why?" 

As a girl you feel pressured to be skinny and constantly looking amazing. For what... a boy, your friends. Yes, it is nice that we have the advantage or curling irons, make up and other sorts to make us transform our beauty. But we can't let that become who we are. 

I was talking to my boyfriend on skype this morning and I had no make up on and had just rolled out of bed, yikes, but you know what... I felt sexy. I was cooking dinner last night in my hotel room (which is a full kitchen, how awesome) and I felt sexy. I try to hit the gym every morning or night and damn do I feel sexy. I find it odd that I find my confidence when I just rolled out of bed, cooking in the kitchen and sweating my guts out at the gym. 

Yeah I am no size zero or a two, but I don't want to be that. I am thankful for the skater body that I have because I have worked so very hard to receive it. 

I challenge you to be thankful for yourself this month. Do things that make you happy and don't listen to the things that are a negative. People only judge because they are jealous. Its true, no matter what you think. 

You never know when life will come and take it all away. 

Anyways... back to the things that you actually read my blog about. Tour. Tour, tour tour. 

OH CANADA! 

We are back in British Columbia and it is gorgeous! Reminds me a lot of Utah, which means I have the most amazing home. Erika, Becca, Jackson and I rented a car yesterday and traveled 3 hours away from Abbotsford to Whistler, BC. Whistler held a few of the events from the Olympics. The snow just started to form on the mountains and the frost was starting to cover the cars. It was beautiful! We made a few stops along the way to catch the glorious views. Jackson has a professional camera and it quite good at what he does so most of the pictures are his, but he wont mind if I steal a few for my blog. 

Enjoy! 

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

xoxo 

Essential Oils 101

I have found a new fascination with the use of essential oils; thanks to someone I look up to dearly here on tour. I was having a small issue on my hand since Puerto Rico back in June. I caught athletes foot on my hand, what are the odds of me being infected on my hand. Well... Puerto Rico, so that explains it. I have tried everything to get rid of this itchy infection on my left hand and not only was it getting worse, but it was spreading along my other fingers. I went to the doctors 2 months ago and he just told me keep applying athletes foot cream on it and keep it dry. You try keeping your hand try when your constantly doing 8 shows per week. My biggest concern was that I was just causing the problem to keep occuring with the use of my costume gloves. I asked Kate from wardrobe to wash my gloves weekly, but that didn't seem to help either. I was very frustrated because not only does it itch and hurt, but it is gross and very noticeable. 
Mel Clysdale noticed my infection last week at company meal. I began to explain to her the problem and with no hesitation she recommend I try Tea Tree Oil. She suggested to use gauze to clean it then wrap the infection with the oil. 
I went out the next morning and bought Tea Tree Oil, hoping that this would finally be the answer to my problem. After just a few days of use the infection is starting to heal! I am shocked. After trying everything and even seeing 2 doctors, tea tree oil was my answer all along. It is a very powerful essential oil, but it manages to clear infections and even help with acne. So I decided to try it on my wonderful spots on my face and what do you know. gone. 
I have always enjoyed the smell of essential oils, but I have learned that oils are sometimes the best answer to most common illnesses. Mel let me borrow her essential oils book and I have found a few oils that I now continue to travel on tour. 
Since I write this blog for my family and friends I decided to share a few of my favorite essential oils and what I like to use them for. 


Tea Tree Oil
Like I mentioned above tea tree oil is excellent for fungal infections, but also really great for acne spotting treatments. It is very strong, so I can use a little on a q-tip and rub on infected area. With acne it helps clean the bacteria, reduce redness and swelling. Be careful with too much use because it can dry your skin out when it is abused. 


Peppermint Oil 
Peppermint oil is very good for indigestion, nausea, headache, stress and bad breath. When having digestive problems, I like to put a couple drops in some warm water and drink it down. It helps with motion sickness and removing gas. Peppermint oil has also helped with my ulcers I have noticed. I drink a little in the morning and have began to notice that my ulcers have not been inflamed as often. (Dr. Oz suggested using peppermint oil when stressed and having constipation problems) 


Lavender Oil
I really enjoy the small of lavender and after a long day at work and I return back to the hotel sore and stressed, I like to put a couple drops on my pillow. It helps me fall asleep a lot quicker and I wake up more refreshed in the morning.


Eucalyptus Oil
Feeling the common cold coming on? Well try some Eucalyptus oil on your pillow or drop some into a candle to burn at the office. Applying to the nose of chest to relieve congestion helps loosen phlegm, to help treat bronchitis, coughs and the flue. It also has been known to treat arthritis, boils, sores and wounds. This oil can be toxic if not diluted, so never apply directly without towel or cream based. 


p.s. I am not a doctor. So therefore you should always research before you begin using any types of oils, but I hope this information inspired you to consider trying some. 


xoxo 

Das glückliche Halloween!!!

So last week we arrived in Portland, Oregon. This city is gorgeous! The leaves are changing and our hotel was on the water front, so the views were incredible! My advice... take a road trip to Oregon! They have transportation all over the city which is mostly free. FREE! So I managed to stumble upon a college campus, local coffee shop, a LuLu Lemon and whole foods! AND I managed to find a friend from home. Nick McDaniel moved to Oregon for school, so we were able to get together for dinner after a show one night. It was so good to see him and catch up, no wonder he lives here (Utah you have some competition). 


We had our annual Halloween party in Portland and man did we have quite the time. Everyone was on their 'A' game with excellent costumes! Erika and I dressed up as German Beer Maids (hence the title). Our costumes were very cute and we had a lot of fun portraying German Girls all night. "Da" 

Jessica & Dan
Lion & his tamer 

Adam Loosley
Lexy from Ice Castles  

Matt as Kiss 

Colin as.. himself! 

JoJo
Princess Peach 

Taylor
White Swan  

Ray & Kyle
Rockin' Sockin' Robots 

Katie
Mario :)  

Riikki
Snookie 

Jess, Rose & Michelle
Tamer, Black Swan & Kitty 

oh yeah...
Reba made a special appearance 

We carved pumpkins... 

And I got my first black eye...

I didn't know warm up and Barbie lifts could be so hazardous! Well... I got a pretty nice shiner from Barbie herself! 


xoxo 

Procrastinate!

There are weeks that I am amazing at updating my blog and other weeks... not so much!


We just landed in Portland, Oregon yesterday afternoon to fall weather! It is gorgeous here! The leaves are turning, the air is crisp and there is a Starbucks on every corner! haha


But... Let's recap.


Neil came to visit two weeks ago in Tucson, Arizona! It was so good to see him and spend the entire week together. He came to all the shows and we managed to try some yummy food while he was here. We went to Lindy's on 4th, which is a burger place that serves some pretty interesting burgers. For example, Neil ordered the Texas Belt Buckle, which consisted of large onion rings, bacon, cheddar and BBQ sauce. Garrett ordered the Hawaii five-O, which was pineapple, swiss, lettuce, tomato, onion, teriyaki and Lindy's sauce. I ordered the Blue Suede Cow, it came with peanut butter, pepper jack, lettuce and tomato. I never expected peanut better to be so good on a burger, but it's amazing! Try it some time, your taste-buds will thank you.
Other than the week going extremely fast and myself missing my boyfriend already, we had a really fun week!

California stop #1:


Last week we arrived in Bakersfield, California. Garrett, Rachael Rose, Rachel H and Michelle all invited me to join them in their road trip on the Pacific Coast Highway. Of course I said yes! We left Tuesday morning at 6am and began our two day adventure.
We drove to Monterrey where we went to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, ate at the Harbor and viewed some of the cute shops in town. Afterwards we made our way to Cambria on the Pacific Coast. We managed to capture some amazing views along the way. Once into Cambria we ate at a delicious restaurant named Robins then made our way to our cute hotel. We stayed at the Moonstone suites complete with gorgeous gardens and a fireplace inside. It was like a little cottage and the town reminded me so much of Heber.
We woke up pretty early the next morning to head to Hearst Castle where we toured the first floor of the castle and the stunning grounds. Mr. Hearst was in the movie, newspaper and TV business and well... he was a billionaire. He built this gorgeous home atop the hills looking over the ocean. He called his home "The Ranch" because he was never fond of expressing his wealth. Many different animals lived upon this hill such as, horses, cows, zebras, lions, deer and many more. The house is filled with many antiques and was designed to recreate different countries outlooks. I was blown away by this amazing castle! Definitely over a billion dollars in its worth.
We headed to Solvang, California to check out the Danish town. Michelle was very excited because she is from Denmark. My ancestors are from Denmark along my Grandpa Nielsen's side, so it was very cool to see this city.
We finally made it to Santa Barbara to watch the sunset along the beach. Our trip was so much fun, filled with so many cool pictures. I took over 200 pictures so here are some. Enjoy!

Halloween Pictures to come :)