Pick an Adjective.

I was trying to pick an adjective to title this post. Happy came first, then I thought of Busy, a little Sad, next Tired, followed by Excited. And there would probably have to be a Silly in there somewhere. :). So I couldn't really put all of those into one title. But I will explain each of those.

Happy. Last night was W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L. And amazing and fantastic. First, I went to Men's Chorus with Allie. They are incredible. It is amazing the amount of emotion and power they can put into music. There were a few times I had to remind myself to keep breathing and once I asked Allie to pinch me and make sure I wasn't dreaming. Mmm. I love them. And their conductor... Sister Hall... is sensational. I loved it. And Anthony was there and I got a big hug... which meant the world to me. I could not have been happier. Except that next Allie and I went to the temple. It was so perfect. Just what I needed to take a break from my whilwind life and just be. The temple is so peaceful. I love the beauty of it and the simplicity that life has when I am there. The things I felt were also very powerful. And then for the perfect ending to a happy night out Allie and I went out to Zupa's (It is a soup/salad/sandwich place found only here in Utah that is just incredible). I had the Tomato Basil. Mmm. So so good. It was wonderful to be with Allie. She is such a fantastic person and I am so glad to be friends with her. And then I went home and did my scripture study on Lyssa's bed with her and Eva. I love my roommates.

Busy. But now we come to the busy part. I had to start studying. I have a Nutrition test to take which thankfully I don't have to do until tomorrow (they moved the late day!) but it is a lot of information and I really can't afford to start out with anything but a good grade on the exam. So I studied that for a long time. I also got lucky because my O Chem quiz won't be until Tuesday. Phew. But still. I have an exam and a paper due tomorrow. That O chem quiz to study for plus homework in my other two classes. Yeah... homework. Since when? Normally I just have exams and papers. Period. But this time my teachers are all about reading and homework. Bleck. Not that in the end that is a bad thing. It often helps me learn better but it keeps me busier. So I will be working like crazy tonight and I think that Saturday I have a date. With the library. Like all day. :)

A little Sad. We don't get to go to Cheyenne this weekend. Alyssa's dad is worried about the roads and so they don't want us to drive. I was really looking forward to meeting her family. But in the end that rally does help with being so busy so it probably will actually be better to go another time.

Tired. I don't want to whine. I dislike people who complain. I'd much rather just be happy. But to be honest... I am tired. I'm not really sleeping well recently. I'm not sure why or I'd just fix it but getting up has been hard and I'm just not quite at my best all day. I need sleep!

Excited. Tonight will be intense studying and so will Saturday during the day but things look good. Tomorrow night I am going to the Choir concert with Allie. Saturday night I am going to a dance with my ward ( I am not really sure whether I am excited about this or not... but my roommates are and I want to be with them so I am sure it will be fun if I want it to be). And Sunday will be a letter writing day and I'm sure some other happy things too. And best of all just 85 days until London!!!!!! I can't believe how fast it is coming!

Silly. This morning as Alysen and I were climbing up the stairs to campus I lost my shoe, just like Cinderella. As I stepped onto the cold cement with my stocking foot I screamed and I felt so ridiculous. I must of looked like such a dork. :) Also, today as I was walking to the TMCB there were 6 or 7 boys standing outside the library singing about BYU at the top of their lungs. I love BYU. I really really do. :)

So pick an adjective to describe me today. Chances are one of them will be right! :)

Whirl.

Whirl. Verb. To move rapidly.

Whirl. Adjective. My life.

I feel like my life is a whirl right now. So fast. So crazy. It just goes and goes and goes and goes. Rapidly is the perfect description for it. I cannot believe January is almost over. The month went by so fast! Here is a little whirlwind update since I wrote on Saturday.

Another Party. I kinda feel like my life is a non-stop party. :) It was Sara Michael’s birthday (she lives diagonal) and so her roommates threw her a surprise party. It was so fun… we’d been hiding stuff for them all week (piñata, cake, etc..). I love those girls. Anyways it was a massive dance party. Love it. Dance parties are a necessary part of life. :D. We had so many people there. When we have these kind of parties the floors kind of move. A lot. Like if you are in the apartment underneath the ceiling moves about 6 inches up and down. And on Saturday at a different dance party in another apartment at Liberty the floor/ceiling actually cracked. It didn’t split, nobody fell in or anything but people took pieces of it. Crazy. We had always wondered if it could happen. Apparently it can. After we got done with the dance party we went over to Patrick’s apartment and played Apples to Apples with him and two of his roommates – Jordan and Matt. It was so fun. I love that game.

Sunday. I love Sundays. Although this one was cold, cold, cold! It was slushing or sleeting or whatever you want to call it but it was gross and it covered the ground in wetness. Brr. And walking through it in heels. Not fun. However, church is always wonderful. The talks in Sacrament meeting were on being happy And were so fantastic. We had choir (I love the chance to sing!) and a roommate dinner. And I talked to Alyssa a lot. I love talking to her. I learn so much about life and myself. It is so so helpful to me.

FHE. Monday was just school work and library but the highlight was Family Home Evening. We were with a new group ( I am sad, but excited) and we drove to Brother Garfield’s (our 1st counselor) and got to be in his home for our night. It is so wonderful to be in a home and with a family. I miss home just a little bit. Don’t get me wrong. I am perfectly happy and so so blessed right now. And my roommates are the best people in the world to live with. But there is something about family that you just can’t find anyplace else. Driving back to Provo was a little sketchy. We took my car and it was snowing quite a bit in Springville so we slid a bit but it was all good. We made it back safe and sound.

The Bat Cave. We got new furniture in our office yesterday. Now we have black overhead bins, a really big black filing cabinet and a black coat rack. It makes our office dark and small so Jordan named our office the Bat Cave and decided she is Batman and I am Robin. :D. I love her. We leave for London in 86 days. I am so excited and so happy to be going with her. It is going to be amazing!

Test. I took an SFL 290 exam last night. I got a 90. It was good. But I studied like 2 ½ hours for a 40 question multiple choice test. It really shouldn't be that hard. I am good at tests. But since I got a 75 on the last one I needed that. And I will need to keep getting 90s.

Dinner. Jenni and her roomies came over and made me dinner! It was so fun. Thye were thinking about living at Liberty Square next year and wanted to come and look at the apartments and they asked if they could come eat real food while they were here (they live at Helaman - aka Cannon Center everyday). They loved the apartments and are pretty sure they are going to come here next year! I really hope that they do! I love Jen and her friends were so so sweet.

Taylor Swift. After I dropped them off I was listening to Taylor Swift in my car. I love her music.

Date. I have a date on February 11!!!! Hooray! And it is going to be the best kind because... it is with MY DADDY!!!!! I am so excited. He has medical meetings in Salt Lake the next day and so he is going to come down and watch the basketball game with me!!! I am so so so excited. I love my dad so much.

Jealousy. My little brother (Karl -12) is going to Hawaii with my Grandpa in two weeks. Just because. I wish I could take a vacation from life and go to Hawaii. Really. But. I am going to London. I guess that will have to do. :)

Coming days. Temple trip with Allie tonight. Nutrition exam O Chem quiz tomorrow. History Paper due Friday. Trip to Cheyenne with Lyss this weekend.

There is my whirl of a life right now. I hope I slow down enough to appreciate how amazing it truly is.

Mocktail Party!

Last night was SO much fun!  Heather Jean and I had a BLAST!  We showered and cleaned up and got all dressed up and then went to a Mocktail Party!!!  3 of the girls in our ward have birthdays this month and so they threw a mocktail party to celebrate.  It was so much fun.  I tried a strawberry margarita (non-alcoholic of course!) and it was SO good!  I had never tried anything like it before and I just loved it!  I tasted the pina colada and didn't really like that one at all and Heather Jean said that the martini was sour which I don't think that I would've liked so I was was happy with what I chose. 

Then was that awkward point in the party when people are starting to dance but not really and you've finished your drink and are just standing there awkwardly.  The music is too loud to talk over but there really aren't enough people dancing to go join them.  Heather Jean and I were at that point last night but we stayed around and I am so glad that we did.  We started dancing and then a whole bunch of people from our ward started dancing to and we just had the funnest time!  The boys in our ward are so fun and nice and a blast to dance with and the girls are just so sweet and wonderful.  Seriously... we have the best ward EVER.  I love them all SO much. SO much. We danced forever to a little bit of everything and there were only a couple of times when I thought I was going to be squashed.  :)  The boys were all in the middle jumping and I was so worried they were going to land on us.  So much fun though.  And having everybody dressed up was SO fun. :D 

Heather Jean and I called it quits around 11:30 and then came back to our apartment and watched Lion King.  Alysen and Scott joined us and Eva got back from her date late.  I crashed and went to bed first and am so glad I did because the girls didn't end up going to sleep for another hour and a half and I needed sleep badly!

I felt so bad though.  This morning I was going to pick up Scott and Jodi and have breakfast with them since they were down here in Utah but I didn't wake up and didn't hear my phone and I totally flaked on them.  I felt like such a bad person.  I really wanted to go spend time with them.  Scott joked that it was probably a hangover from the party. :D

But a comment on that note.  Seriously, Mormons do not need alcohol to be crazy.  We just are and act like it on our own.  In fact I couldn't imagine how crazy our parties would get if we had tipsy/drunk people around.  And I am really glad that we don't drink for several reasons.  One, it is safer.  Bad things happen when people drink too much.  Second, we have SO much fun and we get to remember it the next day. Third, we don't have hangovers :D.  Fourth, it is healthier.  Really I am glad to be here at BYU.  We have SO much fun!

We had a breakfast party for Enrichment this morning.  It was so good, crepes and amish oatmeal.  Mmmm!  The Amish Oatmeal was made by Anna who was at the London Centre last Winter.  It is a recipe that the live-in directors make and was so good.

And speaking of London... I leave in 3 months!  90 Days!!!!!!!!  I can't believe it!  I am so so so excited!!!!!

However before then, I have a lot of homework to do!

13.

So last night we signed up for housing for next year.  We are staying at Liberty Square again, actually in the same apartment.  We love basically everything about it here and are so happy so we figured why change? So we signed our contracts.  As a nice bonus, they gave us dinner, $20 applied to next month's payment and a parking reservation. The parking reservation is what makes me the happiest.  Parking is normally first come, first serve and last August check in started at 10 and I got there at 7:30 to be in line and I wasn't even at the front.  And their process was ridiculous.  Like insanely ridiculous.  And chaotic.  So I am so happy to not have to stress about that now.

After that we went to the men's volleyball game.  They are tall. But it was way fun.  I love going to sports games.  I get really excited and into it.  Super fun.  Although it was a little bit awkward.  I was sitting between Eva and Alyssa which was fantastic but they were both sitting by attractive and talkative boys so they were turned and talking with them most of the time.  Thus, I was sitting in the middle by myself just watching the game and cheering alone.  yahoo.  I did have fun.  It was just kind of weird.  They men did win the game 3-1 but we actually left a little bit early.

Because... we were having a PARTY!  Actually originally it wasn't a party, it was just going to be a get together with someone that Alyssa wanted us to get to know.  But she invited some more people and Eva  and I invited over some people and in the end we had 16 people come over for brownies and games.  The only thing was that Lyss, Eva and I were the only girls.  That is right.  We had 13 boys in our apartment last night.  We really did invite some girls but none of them came! So we just had a lot of boys over to play with.  It was a blast though.  We played psychiatrist and just laughed and laughed and laughed.  So fun.  And the best part was that all 13 of those boys are just fantastic.  Each of them are just the best in their own way.  So happy! 

We ended up in bed late again... Oops!  But SO worth it!  And I love talking with Alyssa.  She is just fantastic.  I love and respect my roommates SO much.  They are just some of the best people in the entire world. 

Today was first sleeping in. I had a crazy dream last night.  It was about an evil Cosmo and some boys coming to my rescue.  Then class, class, work, run home to grab forgotten homework, turn in said homework, talk to mom, eat and then blog.  It was just a good day.  I love Fridays at work because Jord works the same shift as me which makes it SO much happier.  Yesterday we were talking about how we wouldn't get anything done because of it and then Ruth walked in so she covered it up by saying that we aren't going to get anything done together in London. :)  Which is true.  There is just no chance of it.  But for sure we are going to have the happiest trip.  I am so excited!

Eva is on a date with Patrick tonight and Lyss is up with BYUSA doing something.  So Heather Jean and I are going to clean up and go have a blast.  I can't wait.  I LOVE Heather. 

Although I don't know if tonight could possibly measure up to last night with 13 eligible and attractive boys all in our apartment. :)

Not that I am counting. :)

Exactly,

92 days from today...
13 weeks from tomorrow...
and 3 months from saturday...

I will be leaving for LONDON!!!!!!

Not that I am counting.

I am so excited. Seriously I cannot wait. Granted, I have a lot to do between now and then. A semester to finish, money to earn and packing to do. But I am so looking forward to it!!!!!

Last night was a blast. We had a tailgate party (hot chocolate and donuts) in the parking garage and then a bunch of people in my ward when to the basketball game. Sadly, we lost. And it wasn't even a good loss. We should have creamed UNLV and we were until... well I don't even know what happened. But BYU fell apart. It was ridiculous. I was so stressed. Anyways, point is we had so much fun! I LOVE my ward. I know I say it all the time. But it is the absolute truth. We were with Patrick and Austin and Scott and Tennyson who are all super great guys. Then Natalie and the girls diagonal were with us too. It was the best. I was so happy to be there.

We came home and Lyss and Heather and I ended up talking... oops! but it made me think a lot. I'm kinda getting old. And life is getting faster and faster and faster. I can't believe how much I am growing and changing. We were kinda talking about life and planning and futures and I just WISH that I knew what was going to happen, what to expect. Then I could prepare best for just that and do the things that will make that happen easily rather than planning like 5 different lives all at once. I wish that I could see just a glimpse of what is going to happen and even better, when. Okay, actually, not really. I love living life just how it is and what would be the fun if you didn't have surprises. But it sure would be different. And I really am perfectly happy to be where I am and who I am RIGHT NOW.

It's been raining today. I don't really know how I feel about the rain. I think we have kinda an on again off again relationship. Sometimes it is beautiful, so refreshing and it just cleans the world and leaves it smelling incredible. But sometimes it's just wet and sloshy and slippery and kinda annoying. That's kinda today. Although this should help with the inversion... so its probably worth it!

Those are the random musings of me today. Not very connected. But still just little bits of the happy girl that is me. :)

I know.

I've said it before and I'll say it again : Going to the temple is the BEST way to start a morning. Our ward had a 6:30 am temple assignment this morning. Yes, early for college students but oh so worth it. Eva and Heather couldn't come... they were taking Eva's sister Nicole to the airport. (I am going to miss her SO much! She was so funny and sweet and just fantastic. I love her.)Anyways, but Alyssa and I did go. We were outside at 6:10 and oh my goodness it was cold! But... have no fear... the elders are here!!!!!!! Because we were actually scheduled some of the boys in the ward were coming with us to be the priesthood (normally they just go and do a normal temple session) and they had gotten up even earlier and had started the cars so they would be warm and ready for us! I know... Amazing. We drove to the temple and Lyss and i were some of the first ones ready. It was really wonderful to watch our ward come out all dressed in white. There is such beauty in the temple and such a spirit of peace and happiness that comes from being there. Having the boys in our ward do the work with us was such a neat experience. There is such a power that comes from them. It was just a WOW feeling to be surrounded by such wonderful men. I also have a great love for the girls in our ward. They are some of the sweestest, strongest girls I have ever had the opportunity to be surrounded by. I am so grateful for the peace that the Gospel has brought to my life. I have such a testimony of temple work and its power for families. I have a testimony of the priesthood and I am so grateful to be here, surrounded by men who hold it worthily and use it willingly. I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I have a testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ and of his Atonement. He truly loves me and you and everyone. And not only that, but he knows me. He suffered for me and because of that I have the chance to fix all of the stupid things I do wrong and someday return to live with him and my Heavenly Father. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God and that he translated the Book of Mormon. I know that Thomas S. Monson is God's prophet on the earth today. I am so grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It truly is Christ's church on the earth today. It is because of this testimony that I am who I am. I know exactly where I would be without it and it is not a place where I want to be. I am the happy girl I am today because of the Gospel. Just a little later in the morning I found out that a friend has a brain tumor. This has brought me to a lot of reflection. First I thought about Why? He is young, strong and has so much life to live. His life has been one focused on giving to others, on serving. He was attending BYU, preparing for a mission, being a son and brother. How could and why would something like this happen to him???? It just doesn't seem fair. But as I was always told growing up... Life isn't fair. And that is true. At least not by our standards. Things don't work out the way we think they will. Bad things happen to the best people. Bad people seem to be happy. Good people experience hard things. But in the end it isn't our standards that matter. Heavenly Father has a plan for our lives. We can't see the full picture, nor understand everything that is happening. But... he does. And for now that is all that matters. If we are doing our very best to do the things that are good and right, things will work out according to Heavenly Father's plan for us. That doesn't mean they will always be what we expect. It doesn't mean they will always be happy or easy. But it does mean that no matter what we can put our trust in our Father in Heaven and KNOW that he loves us and will take care of us if we do our very best. We will be guided and directed as we go along. He will answer prayers, we can have priesthood blessings, the scriptures are full of truths but in the end, we just can't understand it all right now. And my friend will definitely be in my prayers. But I know that ultimately Heavenly Father has a bigger and better plan than any I could imagine and so I will just do my very best to be the very best me and from there I just have faith and trust. All of that has made me think about some other people in my life. My grandmother and my uncle died a few years ago. Again, I questioned why. And I didn't understand then quite as much as I do now. Which made it hurt a lot. But gradually and slowly I am learning and understanding more and I can understand a little bit more of the Plan that I have had a testimony in for so long. The hurt that I feel now is still very real. I miss them. A lot. Probably more than words could express. But the hurt is more just because I want them in my daily life. I want my uncle to see his sons growing up and being oh so cute. I want him to see his silly nieces growing up into young women. I want him to hug his wife. I want him to see my mom and tell her how wonderful she is. I want my grandma to be here to help plan my future wedding and to sew for me. I want her to sit on the porch swing with my brothers and tell all of the things she knew. And I want her to teach my mom how to hang a picture and redo furniture and do family history. And most of all I just want hugs from both of them. But. I can't have those things. And they hurt a lot. But it would hurt even more if I did not KNOW that I will see them again. I cannot fathom the pain that someone would feel without the understanding that this life is just a moment in the great plan from our Father. That death is not an ending. That as we continue through this plan everything will be worked out and made right. That eternity is real. I know all of those things. And because of that I can understand not why they died when they did but at least know that it was according to a plan that I believe in that was designed by someone who loves me infinitely. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. I know.

bliss.

I started this post and then never got around to finishing it. And I hate not finishing things but I just got farther and farther behind so finishing seemed more and more daunting so I just never did finish it. And now it has been sitting for almost two months without getting posted. And because of that I also have felt like I couldn't post anything new because I hadn't finished this one. So without further ado... I give you my unfinished blog titled bliss for that was the kind of week I had when I wrote it.




Friday (November 21)

Fridays are always good. No classes, just work. But this friday was particularly amazing.

Because... it was a g.n.o. (girl's night out!) Yahoo!
I went to Salt Lake City with Jordan and KateLyn and Caitlin and Beth.
We shopped and shopped and shopped (I got the cutest bag for 2.50!!!) And we saw twilight (good. not great. but good.) And we went to dinner and blasted music in Jord's car. It was exactly what I needed. It was so so much fun. I love Jord. She is one of my most favorite people in the whole world.

Then when I got back I ran up to Sean's apartment where he and Heather Jean were playing guitars. Earlier though they carved pumpkins left over from halloween and Sean wanted to take them and throw them off the canyon. So we did. :D Sean drove us up to Rock Canyon and we climbed up the mountain and Heather and Sean threw their pumpkins off the side of the mountain. It was so fun. I laughed a lot. And it was wonderful to be up in the canyon. You could actually see the stars!!!! Then when Heather and I got home we played guitar for a long time. I can play three entire songs now... plus random bits of lots of others. So fun. I really would like to get a guitar and learn more. I have such a blast with it.

Saturday.

All morning I spent working on my papers and I FINISHED! my Human Development paper before game time. I went over to watch the game with the boys in 37. It was fun but a sad game. Max Hall just didn't have it together. Really it was kind of a bummer. Although Utah will go BCS now which will be good for the conference. So there is the silver lining. But still a depressing game. I came home and worked on my papers some more and then Heather Jean and I went with our ward ice skating. I had SO much fun and I didn't even die. I really thought it was going to be bad. The last time I went ice skating was when I was a senior and I went with Jessica and Aly and AJ and I spent 90% of the night (no joke -ask Jess) on my behind. I fell every few yards. It was miserable... I just went home bruised and cold. So I was kinda expecting a repeat of that this time. But to my happy surprise... I did great. I fell once... but as Dad says if you don't fall you aren't learning. I spent the beginning right along the edge and then after a little while was confident enough to be in the middle. I was slow... but it was super fun. Heather and Sean were way faster than me but they would come and pull me around super fast sometimes which was so fun! I love our ward though! I had a blast. When we got home we played some more guitar and then crashed.

Sunday.

Sundays are always so wonderful. They are peaceful and quiet and calm and I can take time to slow down and think. Life gets so busy and crazy and even though it is happy sometimes I forget to sit down and BREATHE. Sundays are my escape. My home teachers and visiting teachers came to visit me and I went visiting teaching and was once again reminded about just how much I LOVE our ward. We had tithing settlement so Heather Jean and I walked back up in the beautiful fall weather together. I love her. We had the best weekend together. It was just the two of us since Lyss and Eva went home for break early and it was so much fun. I love her with all of my heart. I am so grateful to have her as a roommate. We had choir and I got to sing Christmas music and then I had to spend the evening finishing my other paper. But I got it done at a decent hour.


Monday.

I proofed my papers with Mom before and after work and turned them in. And then I was DONE! Free! Hooray!!!!!!!!! Happiness. Joy. Bliss. Whatever good emotion you can think of. We had FHE. I don't know if I've mentioned how much I love my FHE family. We have
some really amazing people who are just great. I love spending Monday nights with them. Heather and Kelsey and I were sitting on the couch really close together so that someone else could have another spot on the couch but we were about ready to start and no one had sat there and so I turned to Kelsey and said " I like how I'm sitting really close to you even though there isn't anyone else sitting here." And then Josh jumps up and says "I'll sit there!" So Josh sat with us. He is such a nice guy to have as an FHE brother. I gave the thought. I gave it on gratitude since Thanksgiving week was upon us. I used a couple of thoughts from President Monson's talk "Finding Joy in the Journey." I think I've linked it before but if not... you should read it here. Then I had everyone go around the room and share something they were grateful for right then. I wanted them to think of a small thing they were grateful for. We had family, finishing school, FHE, girls, and Josh said he was grateful for me...my thought. :D How sweet - that meant a lot. And then I finished with Alma 34:38 which says "That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you." and that was my challenge to them: to live in thanksgiving daily... to let the spirit of gratitude that fills us at this time of year continue with us daily. We played I have Never for FHE and had some amazing cookies made by Tennyson. Mmm. They were SO good. Then Heather Jean and I ran to the store for something and then came home to pack. I packed pretty light for me. :) And then we watched Emma Smith. It was really really good. I had been dubious of a movie about Emma... I have such a love and respect for that woman that I couldn't bear it if they portrayed her at all badly but I was impressed... It was well done. We also got our Monday letters. Heather's sister Brittany and my really good friend Craig are in the MTC together right now (same district!) and their P-day is on Friday which means that we get letters from them on Mondays! We love love love going to the mailbox on Mondays! I love getting letters from missionaries. They are my happy thoughts. I love their spirit and testimonies and devotion and service. They are such great examples to me!

Tuesday.

Heather Jean and I got up at 4:45 (only a couple of hours after going to bed) and left at 5:00 for the airport (We also took another guy in our ward). I dropped them off and then drove to Grandpa's house. We jumped into the motor home and he drove me home! (Actually I drove part of the way! And we didn't die!) It was so great to be with my grandpa for 6 hours... I love him so so so so much! He is the best person to talk to.
The kids didn't know exactly when I was getting home so
I picked them up from school and took them out to dinner and we rented movies and we had a kid's night. It was so fun. I love my siblings so much. I cannot even tell you how much they mean to me. I miss them so so much when I am off at school. My cousins came up to watch Kung Fu Panda with us. Seriously lack of kids is the one downside to college. They are the so fun. And they were so sweet too. The picture is Skyler and Colt curled up together.

Wednesday.

This was a great day. I Slept in. Relaxed. Took care of the kids.
Probably cooked something. Talked. Basically Just soaked up home. I also helped totally clean the little boy's room and totally cleaned out and organized Megan's room. I am really good at cleaning and organizing so I had a lot of fun. We had homemade pizza for dinner and then watched August Rush as a family. Basically I just was blissfully happy with being at home and with my family.


Thursday. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

I love Thanksgiving. It is probably my favorite holiday of all, although it is followed closely by Christmas. I spent the morning cooking with Mom. We made the dressing (we don't stuff the turkey) and pies. Mom taught Grandpa and me how to make pie crusts. Mine was definitely better. :) We also did the mashed potatoes and then took it all over to Grandma's house for a massive family dinner. And I got to sit at the adult table! I guess it is official now... I am old. We spent the day together just being family and in the evening we went home and watched Penelope (a really cute movie). I was so full of gratitude. Here is a tiny list of things I am grateful for.

I am thankful for:

my family: mom, daddy, megan, karl, and luke
my extended family
my home
health
the gospel
the atonement of jesus christ
BYU
my roomies: heather jean, eva and lyss
my beautiful college friends: allie, sarah, lauren, rachel jane, wistie, amanda
my favorite coworker & to-be travel companion: jord
my caldwell friends who i miss a lot: jen, jess, tonya, ken, jill, aly, drew, jaron, gab, tina ree
my missionaries: craig, ty, brittany, paul, joey, kyle, kasen, curtis, calvin, troy
people who blog: jordan, allison, lauren, jessica (and her roomies), mcintyre family, rachel jane, mandy & mitch oliver, amber, wistie, amy and mark, layne, amanda, and ESPECIALLY BETH.
home teachers: Garrett and Andrew
visting teachers: Lauren and Kristina
my relief society president: Courtney
my FHE family!
actually my whole ward
sunshine
technology: MY CELL PHONE, internet
silliness
pictures
books
scriptures
general conference (and the conference edition of the ensign)
pigs
christmas lights
turkey dinner
monday mail
movies
music!!!!
above all else: my life.

I could go on for a long time... we have a gratitude wall in our apartment that is full of things we are grateful for. But those were things at the top of my mind right now that I am very very grateful for.

Friday.

Friday was kind of a lazy day. I woke up late. Ate leftovers for every meal and mostly just spent the day with mom. I did organize my closet since when we moved my stuff just kinda got piled in there. We cleaned out the front room getting ready for Christmas decorations and went and chose a TREE! And of course starting first thing in the morning I blasted Christmas music through the whole house! (Literally since we have a speaker system that connects the whole house!)


Saturday.

Saturday was first shopping. I am not a Black Friday shopper but what would Thanksgiving break be without some shopping with mom? I got smaller jeans (!), new sweaters (I love Dressbarn) and new shoes. But mostly I just love being with my mom. My mom is my hero. She is the best listener in the entire world and is so patient with me. She doesn't laugh at me even when we both know I am being ridiculous and she goes out of her way to take care of me. She is incredible to me. She tries to fix things that she doesn't like and is just wonderful. I love her. Then in the evening we decorated the Christmas tree together as a family. Although dad was late getting home which meant that I had to do the lights and tinsel which are normally his job. It was fun. Kinda difficult since I am slightly shorter than a Christmas tree but fun. I love spending time with my family!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday.

Sunday was mostly just packing and driving. Grandpa and I left decently early so that we wouldn't be rushed and listened to Christmas music on the way home. I LOVE Christmas music... it is one of my most favorite things! I spent a couple hours with Grandpa at his house and helped hime figure some things out on the computer. Then I drove and picked up Sarah and Amanda who were also in Cache Valley and then we drove to the airport and picked up Heather Jean. We got back kinda late and so after giving Eva huge huge hugs I just dumped my mountain (literally - I had SO much stuff that I brought back to Provo with me) of stuff in my room and went to sleep!

Monday.

Back to school. Bleck.



That is where I stopped. I was busy and trying to get ready for finals and having way too much fun at the same time.

Here are a couple December pictures. Maybe someday I'll put some more up but no promises.

Finals finished out well. I did well for the semester. I had an incredible Christmas break.

And now I am back and school. And since I am "caught up" I will try to blog a little bit more often. At least more often than once every two months. :) Ha.