So now (since we are starting April!) here is a super long blog about basically the ENTIRE month of March!
The beginning of the month... Thursday night (March 5) I finished my homework earlier than expected and realized I was going to the temple. Which was something that hadn't even crossed my mind until that moment. It really basically went something like this in my head... "I'm done with my homework. What am I going to do now? Oh that's right. I am going to the temple." I hadn't thought about it until that very moment but it didn't ever enter as a question, it was just a simple statement. So I put on a skirt and told Heather I was leaving. And it was amazing, perfect, fantastic, wonderful, and so so so peaceful. I have had a lot of questions and stresses on my mind lately. Not specific things like a test or a roommate or something like that but big life things that got really overwhelming in the last week for some reason. I had a blessing from my daddy when I went home for the weekend which helped me to gain some direction but I was still just seriously stressed out and weighed down by it all. I called Mom on Wednesday to talk and ended up just bawling in the Talmage Building. But the temple was so so perfect. There were lots of people which meant that I had plenty of time to sit and think and ponder and read. So I went in with a prayer, just pouring out my heart to Heavenly Father with everything I was feeling and stressing about and trying to understand and then asked for the knowledge of what I should do. And I was so so blessed. All the cares of the world left and I was filled with peace. I read my Patriarchal Blessing (one line of which tells me that I will find in the scriptures solutions to my problems and answers to my questions) and then flipped open my scriptures to a random page. I ended up on page 12 of the Doctrine and Covenants which is the second part of section 6. I was immediately shocked (although I probably shouldn't have been considering I really do have a testimony of the power of prayer and the scriptures and the Holy Ghost) by the amazingness of what I found and the power with which it hit me. The first part says "blessed art thou for what thou hast inquired of me, and behold, as often as thou hast inquired thou hast received instruction of my spirit. If it had not been so, thou wouldst not have come to the place where thou art at this time." Wow. Wow, Wow, Wow. That just hit me like a ton of bricks. The whole rest of the section was the same. I won't take time to explain it all. But a couple other highlights... "there is none else save God that knowest thy thoughts and the intents of thy heart", "be patient, be sober, be temperate, have patience, faith, hope, and charity", "Behold thou art [Rachel] and I have spoken unto thee because of thy desires; therefore treasure up these words in thy heart. Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of love.", "good desires", "Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you.", "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." Each of those were amazing and wonderful and EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED. I was so blessed. I came home with so much peace and a better knowledge of what I need to do. I still don't really really know. But everything came back into perspective. And that meant a lot.
Friday was just an all around good day at school and work although I made my giant London payment. Savings gone. :(. But it is totally totally worth it. 21 days from today Jordan and I will be getting on a plane. I am so so excited. Although that is a little overwhelming because there is so much to do between now and then!!! Friday night I did my laundry and then Patrick texted me later in the evening. He and Jordan came over, followed by Austin and a random friend of theirs, and finally Matt. They all just sat in the front room with me and Heather and we were just hanging out talking, having fun and then all of the sudden they stand up, Jordan says our work here is done and they all run out. Heather and I were so confused. We stood up to try to figure it out and saw a wallet sitting on our entertainment center. We grabbed it and hid it just in time for Matt to come back to try to get it. The rest of the boys came back and in the process of them trying to get it back Heather's laptop was taken by Patrick (who tried to get into it and failed because Heather had a password... needless to say I changed the settings on my computer that night). So we traded the wallet for the PC and they all left. Heather and I ran down to Lauren's apartment to watch Enchanted but a few minutes later I got a call from Eva and Lyss (they were locked out - didn't take a key with them on their date) but Eva sounded frantic to get in. I ran up, opened the door, stopped to talk to someone and by the time I got inside found Eva lying in the bathroom with no pants on with a huge gash in her leg. The guy's car she had been on a date with had been hit and had metal sticking out and Eva had run into it and sliced her thigh open. It was a pretty good gash so we took some time to clean her up. Funny though, it was barely barely bleeding at all but Eva got nauseous looking at in even though the week before she had taken care of my face covered in blood on the mountain without any problem. During all of this Allie and John came over because (drum roll please) they are ENGAGED!!!! Allison Hines and John Jeppson will be getting sealed together for time and all eternity in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple on June 20, 2009 at 9:00 in the morning. Allie showed off her ring and told us about how he proposed (in the sealing room of the Draper temple during the Open House) and I couldn't help but tear up. I am so happy for her. She deserves only happiness and love and John is going to be everything she needs. He loves her. And I am just so glad she has found joy and sunshine in her life. I love her and am grateful for what she has meant in my life. [Also, I don't think I ever actually mentioned - the other wedding I'll be at this summer is for Jordan Ehlert (the girl I work with and am going to London with!) and Greg Cook. They will be sealed also at the Timp temple on June 27.] After everybody left Heather and I started talking. And we maybe, sorta, kinda, accidentally kept talking... until 4:00 in the morning. Oops. :/. We talked about a little bit of everything. Although by everything I mostly mean boys. :D. We talked a lot about dating (slash the lack thereof), why people do and don't, girls and boys roles in dating, the realities about those roles, and Heather even came up with a great analogy about dating. I could explain it all but it was a really long conversation and it all gets kinda complicated. If you want to hear our opinions and conclusions, ask me.
So Saturday I slept in a little bit (although only til 10:00 which isn't bad considering when I went to sleep). When I woke up I studied for a couple of hours and then went and took a research processes exam. I got a 90. Good enough for me. (Especially accounting for the amount of sleep.) I came home and talked to Mom for a good hour. It was wonderful. I love talking to my mom. She helps me to think and reason so much and I can trust her to be positive and not judge me. The girls and I went to the basketball game - BYU vs. AFA. It was our last game of the season and it was an intense one. We ended up winning 54-49. I love sports. SO much fun! Then we went home and went to go hang out with the boys. We all (7) piled into my car and went up to campus to play a game with someone that Patrick knows but all of the boys disappeared all at once and we were worried we were getting pranked (we weren't) but we ended up just staying in the Wilk and hanging out, talking. We drove home and played scrabble in our apartment til curfew. Then bedtime (during which we lost an hour for daylight savings time.)
Sunday was AMAZING as always. I love love love our ward. Natalie gave an amazing RS lesson. Truly great. I went home and did a little bit of everything for a while and then fell asleep for a few minutes. I ran to choir (there were only a couple of people there... sad!) and we practiced some beautiful music. We are singing a song called The Scent of Wood (about Christ, will be sung for Easter) and an arrangement of Have I Done Any Good (so good- BYU Choirs did this at their winter concert). I went home and was about to make bread when Patrick and Austin came up asking if anyone wanted to go on a walk. Heather and I went with them (Lyss and Eva were gone). They flipped a pen to tell us which direction to go and we just started walking. We ended up on some paths up on the mountain (probably should've changed out of the skirt - ah well) and got to watch the sunset over the valley. I will admit... Provo is not very pretty... especially right now during the winter when everything is brown and grey and dead... but it was just beautiful looking out over all of it. Patrick described it as a feeling of hope. I like that... because it honestly isn't particularly pretty but there is just such a good feeling that come as you look over it all. We walked back to Liberty and decided to play four square. I haven't played four square since I was in about 5th grade and we had SO much fun. We played for almost 3 hours. I laughed and laughed. I was pretty terrible but it was just fun. Apparently I make a lot of noises though. When I would make a mistake I would often make some kind of sound and then Patrick would imitate me. I never realized how much I made sound. Ah well... that's me. Seriously though, it was the best Sunday - walking and four square!
Monday itself came and went just like a normal day. Although I did go to my Advisement centers and actually officially declare my major and minor. I know, I know - You hadn't done that? No, it didn't make any kind of a difference for me at all really so I just didn't worry about it. It was always on one of those mental to do lists but it never actually got done until now. It decided to start snowing (insert wrinkled face here) and I had FHE. My apartment took pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and we had leftovers so we took some down to the boys apartment. They didn't invite us in which we thought was a little odd but we just went back upstairs. Eva was at the gym, Lyss was getting ready to join her and Heather and I were getting ready to do some homework when someone knocked on our door. Jordan was there and said that he wanted to visit. (Yeah, right.) Lyss tried to leave to go to the gym but Jordan went and sat on the couch and told us that he had something to show us. We sat down next to him and Lyss saw him sending a text message. She asked him about it and he said no it isn't on my phone, it is actually on my camera. He pulled out his camera and started video recording and at this point the door opens and Patrick, Austin and Jeff have a box that they set down and out of which comes.... A DUCK. Yes, a duck (like quack, quack.) We were laughing and screaming and freaking and then the boys run out and shut the door. The duck was pooping and waddling around. Heather had the good sense to grab the teddy bear and try to herd it out but when I tried to open the door for her the boys were holding it shut. They finally opened the door and came back inside and caught the duck and put it back in the box (which was labeled Duck Box... Cute, Patrick.).
They took the duck (his name was Gunther apparently) back to its home at the duck pond and then did come back up with carpet cleaner and helped us clean up the mess that our friend had left. (That is the thing. All of these pranks have been done in completely good natured fun and are the boys are super nice and considerate. I really do love these boys a lot.) So that was our adventure for the night. It was pretty darn good. They definitely got us. Tuesday morning I accidentally slept through my nutrition class (Thankfully Alysen took notes for me. She is fabulous.) but I had O Chem, work and Research processes. I came home and Heather, Eva and I (Lyss came later) went to play four square with Patrick and Austin. We played in the gym this time (due to cold weather. grumpy face.) Again... so so so much fun. Seriously I want to play all the time. I just love it. And I love those boys. They are so much fun and so happy and good to be with. When we got home Eva ame out of her room and asked Heather and I whether we could lie or if it would be better if we just didn't know. We were SO CONFUSED but I of course told her that I can't lie... that it would be much better for me to just not know but as we were trying to understand what was going on she just told us that within the next few minutes the boys would probably be up to ask us a question and we would be able to honestly tell them that we had no idea. I was SO confused but I just went with it. About an hour later Eva came out and said that she was pretty sure that they weren't coming and pulled out (drum roll please...) Patrick's keys! He had just thrown them on the side of the gym when we were playing four square and when Eva came in she had tossed her stuff on top of them. She decided to leave a little bit earlier than the rest of us and as she was gathering up her things she realized his keys were under her sweatshirt. So she just scooped them up with everything else and left. Patrick didn't notice when we were leaving and because they hadn't come up looking for them by then she figured that he wouldn't notice until tomorrow. So we plotted for a while and Operation Coconut was born. I spent some time preparing things and then we went to bed. Oh, I also ran downstairs with an invitation to our annual Thanksgiving in March dinner for the boys. I had it ready and we figured it would make it look less suspicious if Patrick's keys were missing but he knew we'd come down just like normal.
Wednesday (3/11) was the day. I took a test early in the morning, had class and work and then Lyss and Eva picked me up from work and we walked home together excited for the adventure we were about to participate in! Everyone except Matt has classes on Wednesday afternoon so we just had to get him out... but in the end he had left to go grocery shopping so we had the apartment to ourselves. Operation Coconut was underway. We were so prepared... we had put together a bunch of things the night before and made lists of the pranks we were going to be doing so that we could get in and get back out. Our big prank was to make the boys apartment look just like ours. So we put there names on the door, moved their furniture, put blankets and a bear on the couches, put bridal magazines on the coffee table, took down their flags and decorated the walls with pictures, put up a gratitude wall, and put flowers on the table and in the living room. It looked just like our apartment.
Then we did some things while we were inside... put confetti on the fan, tied a rubber band on the water sprayer, froze their silverware, took the labels off of all of the canned goods, took their oven knobs. We were pretty proud of our handy work. Heather Jean and I went outside to start chalking the sidewalk while Eva and Lyss finished up inside. While they were still inside though Matt came home!!! Oops! Caught. They were holding the dead bolt and Heather and I were trying to distract him but he wasn't fooled and tried twisting his key harder and it BROKE. Double Oops! As he came to show Heather and I his broken key, Eva and Lyss left with our supplies and the boys' beanbag and banana chair. We ran back down to get Matt's key figured out which turned out fine... we just turned it in to the office and they replaced it for him. Phew. Even though we were finished inside, our work was far from done. We finished the chalk Heather and I had started and it began all the way at campus and then went all the way home with increasing numbers of things relating to the prank war written. On our home block it said "J33" every sidewalk square as well as some "J33>J17" at the very end.
We also attacked Patrick's and Jordan's cars with oreos and window markers.
Our work was finished. We were pretty proud of ourselves. We were sitting by the window talking and watched Austin and Jeff come home. We decided to run down really quick and get Austin's car, just for good measure. The girls were decorating his car and I needed to get one more picture... I'd forgotten about the window. I started to take the picture when... CAUGHT!
I have to admit it created a pretty awesome picture with Jeff and his fist coming out of the blinds but all of the things that happened next become quite a blur. Austin jumped off the stairs and stole the window markers. He ran down into the parking garage so we chased after him. Jeff took a pan filled with water and dumped it on Heather as we were running down the stairs. Austin drew on my car and Lyssa's. We went back upstairs to see what all happened with our handiwork. Austin told Matt to make sure he clean off the fan before he turned it on but Eva turned it on. Somehow Jeff got Eva into the kitchen and he SOAKED her. So both Heather and Eva were both very very wet.
At this point we went home. And we found a surprise waiting for us. Austin apparently had thought we would be silly enough to leave the door open and ran up to our apartment. When he found it locked he left us a messy surprise.
It had been quite a day. Or so we thought. In reality it was far far far from over. Eva and Lyss left to go running (and to turn Patrick's key into the office... "keys that had been found in the gym") and Heather and I started to do some homework. A little bit later someone tried to open our door (luckily we had it locked) and then the doorbell rang. It was Jordan and Austin. We stood talking for a little bit and then they started asking about Patrick's keys. Now, you need to know that I cannot lie. Not at all. So while they were asking I could honestly say that I didn't have them. But I knew where they were. And they could tell that I knew. Heather was doing great covering us but I failed. Then all of the sudden the boys pushed their way through the door. Heather and I obviously could not do anything to stop that. So we did the logical thing and sat down on the beanbag and banana chair so they couldn't take them. But then the boys looked around and... basically I'M A DORK... MY KEYS WERE ON THE TABLE. Again. How dumb can I be?! So they took my keys and ran. Now what!? I stayed because we knew that if we both left we'd be done for and Heather ran down to go try to get them back. I can't say exactly what all happened while Heather was gone because I was just sitting, waiting. Essentially what happened was that Heather agreed to trade Patrick's keys and the boys oven knobs for my keys. So Heather took Austin to the office but the agreement was that my keys would stay with Jordan until Heather had Patrick's. They came up to our apartment, Heather had me get the oven knobs and we made the trade. Heather even threw in the beanbag for good measure.
Sigh. Relief. And then... cell phone beeps... New Text Message... from Jordan Richardson... "By the way, good luck, first off, finding your car, and secondly, starting it with the wrong key. :) love ya! J17." NO WAY.... OH MY GOSH... YOU ARE KIDDING ME.... NO WAY. NO WAY. I grabbed my keys and ran downstairs as fast as I could and to my shock, horror, dismay, surprise, whatever, you want to call it... I found my parking spot... EMPTY.
"HEATHER! MY CAR IS GONE. THEY TOOK MY CAR! NO WAY!!! HEATHER, HEATHER, HEATHER!!!!!" I just about died laughing right then and there. I could not believe that my car was gone. Before reading any further please know that while I can't trust these boys faces or words because of our prank war, they are really some of the best, most honest and trustworthy people I know and I was not for even a second worried at all about my car. I COMPLETELY trusted them to keep her safe. I was pretty impressed. Apparently what happened was that while Heather took Austin to get Patrick's keys, Jordan traded my key for a spare one they had lying around the apartment. It was a Ford key and looked exactly like mine so we didn't know the difference until it was too late. They are so quick. I couldn't believe how fast they had pulled that off. Wow.Right after this adventure, we all left to go up to campus and got to attend The 5 Browns in Concert. They are 5 siblings who all play the piano. It is amazing. I just sat there in awe. Sometimes I'd find myself forgetting to breathe. They were so so good. My favorite part was definitely when they played some of the movements from Holst's Planets. That has always been a favorite because Mom played it a lot growing up and they really performed it well. I really wish that I had spent more time on piano lessons growing up. I took until I could play 50 hymns (that was the rule) and then quit and now I really wish I could play more. I need to make time to just go sit down with a piano for even a few minutes every week. It would be completely worth it.
We got home and I was uploading pictures on to facebook when Eva came into my room so excited. She had a great idea. I have a spare key to my car so all we had to do was find my car and then we could move it. The boys would hopefully think for at least a second that something had happened and then would have to go find it before they could return it. We were pretty sure they wouldn't have driven it very far and would've just parked it on the street somewhere so Lyss, Eva and I started out walking to go find my car. We looked all over and were walking up the last street about to give up. I'd taken my toggle and had been pushing the panic button over and over again hoping that my car would start honking and alert me to its location but no luck. They were trickier than we thought. We were talking and then all of the sudden right next to Liberty... HONK, HONK, HONK, HONK... HOORAY! WE FOUND IT! I was so excited to hear that horn. We jumped into the car and started driving and ended up picking a parking spot about 5 blocks away. We washed off the window paint that Austin had drawn on earlier and then walked back to Liberty. As we were walking back though Jordan drove by. Hopefully he didn't realize what we had done. But about half an hour later Jordan and Austin came to the door. They said that they were nice guys so they figured they should give my car back. They traded Heather for the one that they had put on my ring and then left. I got really worried though that they had given me another fake and that my car wasn't really back so I went running down the stairs to go check and as I reached the bottom they jumped out from behind the bushes. It scared me to death. Holy cow. I screamed and jumped. They really got a pretty good reaction out of me. We all laughed and they asked for a favor. They wanted a ride to go pick up their car. (They had left it where mine was parked.) I took them over, we all laughed together, they ate some oreos off of Jordan's car (GROSS.) and I finally went to sleep. That was quite the day.
Thursday. I don't really know exactly what happened. I was tired... I had school and work. I went grocery shopping. I have come to several conclusions about grocery shopping. First, I'm not exactly sure when I am going to stop calling my mom while I am doing my shopping. I always end up having some kind of question (in this case, how to choose a turkey) or want to know ingredients for something or just have something random to tell her. But somehow I always end up on the phone while grocery shopping. My second conclusion is (and I really don't care what anyone else thinks about this...) that I am going to do my shopping where I want and I am going to buy what I want. As long as I am choosing healthy meals I don't care how much it costs me. My health and sanity are much more important to me than money. This may be a bad thing... I should probably compare prices of products, use coupons, try different stores, and do a lot of other things. And I do that for a lot of things I purchase. But I do grocery shopping often enough that is just not worth the hassle right now. I will probably work to change this when I get married and have an entire fridge and freezer to use how I want and am on a tighter budget. But for now... I shop where I shop and it bothers me when people try to tell me that I am wrong. Because maybe they have found something cheaper or better or whatever but the reality is that when shopping I just don't care. That is basically what that whole rant was about. Sorry.
Friday (3/13). I love Fridays. They just make up for all of the stress and hard times from during the week. This was an especially good Friday. Because I got to go with Lauren J. to the Men and Women's Concert. I don't really know how to explain what happened as I was leaving. Basically Eva, Lyss and Heather all texted a boy telling him that I was marrying him or in love with him or something and told me as I was leaving. I don't even know what emotion to put down for this. Roommates. That's about all I can say. It did make for some interesting conversation later that night as the boys asked me what was going on and what I thought about all of that. Anyways, I got to go to the concert and let me tell you... it was AMAZING. Absolutely FABULOUS. Women's Chorus did a fun set of songs from musicals which just made my night. And Men's Chorus... ah Men's Chorus. I can't rave about them enough. Basically just picture 150 men standing on a stage singing their hearts out. Mmm. Boys who love music make me happy. Any kind of music... I don't care if they sing, play piano, guitar, whatever. It just makes my life. :) They performed some really funny songs as well as some really touching ones and I was just so impressed. I am grateful for the talents of others... and that they share them so that I can enjoy them. I loved that concert last year and I can confidently say that it was one of my favorites again this year. I went home and went down to the boys apartment. We played a question game... fun because of the conversations it brought up and because of the things you can learn about people. We also started watching Hitch but then something happened... maybe we were just tired? I don't remember. But we stopped and decided we would finish it another time.
Saturday was such a good day. I started some preparations for Thanksgiving dinner (Sunday) and then we went out to lunch at Olive Garden with Patrick and Austin. First of all, I love Olive Garden. Salad and Breadsticks are PERFECT. And they never fail me. Lyss and I split (I love doing that) some chicken pepper pasta thing that was SO good. Like really really really good. Mmm. We stopped by the store to pick up some things for Eva and Lyss and somethings I needed for Thanksgiving. Patrick and Austin were funny - just picture them in a grocery store, together, right after a delicious lunch. They make me happy. We are so blessed that they decided they wanted to be friends with us. The afternoon was homework and talking to Mom. Then Sean came over and made us fish tacos for dinner. Now, I'm not usually a fish person but these were really really good. Just a perfect flavor. Mmm. We also played scrabble. I lost. I'm pretty good at making up words but I forget about just putting like one letter down and making three words so Eva totally won. Then we went down to the boys apartment and watched Hitch. We were talking after the movie finished and then Jeff wanted to go to Wendy's so we did. We were there late enough that the drive through was the only thing open so we all piled into Jeff's jeep and went through... BACKWARDS. Awesome, I know. It was super fun. But they made us turn around before we could order. Lame. I got a chocolate frosty. Mmm. There is something so good about a frosty. It just takes you back to being a little kid. :) So happy! We drove home and after talking for a while (we always do) we went to sleep.
We went to church on Sunday and then I ran home to get the turkey into the oven. That was an experience. Last year the turkey just had giblets and gravy in a bag that I just had to pull out before I cooked him. This time though he still had his neck attached and other things that I had to pull (literally) and clean out before I could put him in the oven. Ahh! That is my dad's job! Oh well. The turkey and I had an adventure and then he started baking. Next I made pumpkin cream pie. Mom taught me took make pie crust at Thanksgiving but I hadn't any practice since then so this was my first try by myself. And I am proud to say that my pie crusts turned out fabulously. I was so proud of myself.
I finished my pies and then I went down to choir practice. I really love singing. A lot. It makes me really happy. We were planning on eating at 4:30 but choir practice got moved to 4:00 and since Patrick plays the piano for choir he really couldn't skip. We would've just pushed dinner back but the boys also had a priesthood fireside so we decided to wait until after that. I went home and turned the turkey way way down and then got to work on making stuffing (my favorite part). We were using the boys oven (because ours was full of turkey) to cook the sweet potatoes, stuffing, rolls, etc... but they had to leave for their fireside. They did not want to trust us alone in their apartment (I don't know why :D.) so I gave them my keys and they left. We finished up cooking (salad, corn, mashed potatoes, etc.) and then the boys let us know it was going to be even later so we went and got their table and chairs ourselves so that we could set the table and have everything ready for when they did come up. We finally ate around 7:45ish.
I think our annual Thanksgiving in March dinner turned out pretty well. I even carved the turkey myself! Patrick had volunteered to help me but they were so late that I wanted to be ready to just eat when they got home. So I did it. I'm not sure how well I did. But it tasted really good. I think a good time was had by all. After dinner we talked for hours and did a color code test about personality. It was interesting. I'm not sure what to think about it because it turned out differently than I would have described myself. More than how I describe myself I would like to know how other people would describe my personality. I really wonder about how others perceive me. Do they see the same flaws that I do? Are they more critical? I like to think about how who I am actually comes across to others. I hope it is positive. Super interesting thoughts and conversation anyways. Oh, and Austin was so sweet, we were doing the color code test but he was gone at the beginning so he went and did the dishes while we were doing that. It was a very good weekend.
Tuesday was the day. O Chem exam. It also happened to be St. Patrick's Day. And guess who forgot to wear green?? Yep, that would be me. I woke up just in time for Nutrition and totally spaced it. I walked into class and I remembered. Sad. But too late. I ran from class to class to work to class and then spent the night in the library studying. I took my test around 8:50 and walked home around 9:45. I was pretty sure that I didn't fail the test. I didn't think that I did particularly well. But I didn't think I had failed so I was okay. As I was walking home we got a text from Jordan inviting us all down to have cake at the boys apartment. We went down and they had a bunch of St. Patrick's Day food. It was so fun. Patrick cut out "Patrick" from the cake and ate that for his piece. He makes me laugh. They also showed us some videos they had made in high school. They were fantastic. I laughed so much. We also got to see their friend Isaac who they have talked a lot about but who is on a mission in Australia so we have yet to meet him. It was fun to see how much the same they were and yet that they have grown up as well. :)
On Wednesday I came home and honestly I didn't do anything. Heather and Eva and I talked for a long time and Heather and I talked for even longer and I showered and went to bed. Sometimes that is just important... time to do nothing. It really probably wasn't the best idea but it was so needed at the time.
Thursday was a study day and a temple trip. Heather and I went together and it was a really good night... not that going to the temple is ever anything but good. But I really needed that break from all of my cramming. It was just so peaceful and stress relieving. I am so grateful for temples!
Friday! And what a good Friday it was! Heather and I woke up at 6:45 and left to go running at 7:00. The gym was already full so we ended up going outside... which ended up being a great decision because it was a B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L day. Heather is just starting running again after a 5 week break because of a stress fracture so we started slow and then her legs started bothering her... she has had to fight against shin splints a lot and had built up to where they weren't a problem but her extended break and taken her back... so I jogged while she walked... and then we both walked... but it was awesome. We came home and did a whole bunch of crunches. Then I showered and got ready for the day. And then I wrote a paper. And left for class at 10:00. Yep before 10 I had done all of that! I love using my time well and being productive. It makes me so happy! Then I had class and work and came home and did my laundry. Alyssa and Eva made a split second decision to drive to Wyoming to go visit Alyssa's family so they were gone for the weekend. Heather Jean was on a date so I was just chilling by myself doing homework. Yahoo for Friday nights! Ha. :) I studied for a few hours and then decided it was time to do some baking. So I started zucchini bread and then Patrick actually texted me to find out who was home so he came over to join me. A couple weeks ago he gave me a cd of French electronic music which I had been listening to and so we talked about that a bunch and a bunch of other things too. Heather came home after a little while and we all talked together. It was a really good night.
Saturday (3/21). I woke up early and studied for Nutrition then ran up to campus to take my test. You'd be surpised at how many people take tests on Saturdays. The testing center was packed. Then I drove to Logan where I got to spend the day with my family (Mom, Megan, Karl, Luke, Grandpa, Marianne and her boys) and we had Christmas. Yes, it is March but we never got a chance to see this side of family at Christmas time we got together now instead. We had ham and nauvoo potatoes.... mmm. And then I got a new angel figurine (I really love angels... I have paintings of them and a bunch of figurines that sit on my desk... they just make me peaceful, protected, happy.) and clothes and money from Grandpa. We also got ornaments (yearly tradition!). I really really really appreciate Grandpa for doing that... keeping up what Grandma used to do for us. Grandpa Stuart really is a hero to me. I love him so so so much. Then Megan and I packed up and drove back down to Provo - she was staying with me for a few days during her spring break.
Sunday was a really really good day. Mostly because I had my little sister with me! I love her so much. She really is just my best friend. My favorite person to be with, to talk to. I wish I'd appreciated her more during high school when it was easy to be together. Oh well. I appreciate her now. Sunday was also the dedication of the Draper Temple.
It was so AMAZING. The broadcast really felt as if we were sitting in an extension of the temple because of the spirit and peace I could feel and I was so uplifted and filled. It is such a blessing to have temples!! More than anything in the world I want to be sealed to a faithful young man in the temple for time and eternity. That is my greatest desire.Monday was a busy day full of classes and work but it was really fun to have Megan with me. The funniest thing happened in my Family Processes class. My professor was talking about siblings and said that the oldest child usually is achievement oriented, focuses on pleasing parents and others, really obedient, etc... and that the second child often is a little bit more fun loving, a little crazier, free spirited, rebellious if you will. It was all Megan and I could do to keep from just bursting out laughing because that described us exactly. That is very much our personalities and places within our family. We also had FHE. It was so fun... we built a fort and read children's books. I love the simplicity of childhood.
Tuesday was again kinda of a busy day with classes and work but I got to spend the evening just at home with my little sister. I love her. So much! Patrick also came up and we all talked for a long time. I love talking. I probably do it way too much for my own good. But it makes me so happy and helps me so much.
Megan left on Wednesday morning. Sad. I can't wait for summer time when I will get to spend all the time I want to with her. Wednesday was also an Enrichment activity. I love Relief Society. It is such a blessing to me. The night was on testimony and we were given Books of Mormon to give away. I know where mine needs to go. Now I just pray for the courage to actually do it.
Thursday was homework and visiting teachers. What a blessing visiting teachers are! I am so grateful for them. Lauren and Kristina are always so happy and cheerful and bring the spirit with them. And they always give hugs which means everything to me.
Friday again!!! (3/27) Do you see what I mean about days just going by?!? My life seems to just fly week by week! The girls went to Rexburg for the weekend to see Eva's cousin's mission farewell and to visit other friends up at BYU-I so Heather Jean and I were alone again. We went grocery shopping and then Heather ended up having a date but we had planned on spending the evening together so I got to play third wheel for a while. Hooray. (sarcasm.) He came over and we made dinner at our apartment. It was actually really really good... a yummy yummy salad. Then he and Heather left to go watch a movie and I found myself alone again on a friday night. How do I keep pulling that off?! I texted Patrick to see what the boys were all up to and then cleaned my room and did some homework. I ended up curling up with Aladin right as Patrick texted me back to say that he was on his way home. I told him I would probably come down but I was curled up in a blanket and was so comfy that I decided I really didn't want to move and texted Patrick that on second thought... maybe not. A few minutes later the doorbell rang; Patrick was there. He said "you never came down." I told him I'd texted him and turns out he'd missed both my text that I was coming and that I wasn't. But he came up anyway to see where I was. That made me happy... It is nice knowing that someone cares about you. Patrick sat down and we started talking. He had started his book and so he let me read what he had written. It was good. We talked about the characters and what I thought. And then we talked about a million other things... my understanding (slash lack of understanding) of Patrick, his perception about himself, my fear of being alone, my lack of doing things creative, siblings, differences between boys and girls (specifically related to apartments)... and who knows what else. I love talking to Patrick. When I am around him and talk to him he makes me want to be better, to do things better. Heather Jean came home and we kept talking, the conversation now about dating and all things related. Then I looked up at the clock... "Patrick, we have a problem." "What, is it like 1:50?" "No, it's 2:40!" (For those of you who don't know... as BYU students we have a rule that people of the opposite gender have to be out of the apartment by 1:30 on Friday nights.) So we basically not only broke the honor code... we smashed it. Oops! I felt terrible. We'll definitely be keeping a better eye on the clock from now on.
Saturday I spent at home all day. (Also, a random side note... this was my one year anniversary of my blog. Wow. How fast time flies) Heather Jean was at the library starting around 11:30 until almost midnight so I was alone. Which for most of it, I didn't mind at all. I got a lot of things done, finished a lot of homework and even got to play my flute which I haven't done for a long time. By the evening though, I was kinda done with being alone. I picked up a book my Dad gave me to read while I ate dinner. It is called "Who Moved my Cheese?" It is about mice and smallpeople and about dealing with change. It was really good. And something I need to learn. But it is hard. I called my parents and talked to them for more than an hour. I basically had a complete breakdown (again... seems like March started and ended with breakdowns...) and just cried. I was being extremely cynical and pessimistic. Not like me at all. But my Daddy talked me through it. I love him for just listening all the time. Main conclusion... I need to learn patience. I need to accept who I am and where I am now and while I do need to work to be where I want to be, I can't live my life waiting. So then I curled up and finished Aladin. I love Disney movies. I never realized how incredibly witty they were. It was good. Although, kinda sad. Because I used to watch them thinking that was how my life was going to be... like a fairy tale. And now I know it isn't. It's not a fairytale. There are no princes or fairy godmothers to save the day. You have to make your own dreams come true, fight your own battles.
Sunday was a really needed day. I just love Sundays. I think in a lot of ways they are my favorite days. They are peaceful and the stress of everything else can just disappear. Heather Jean and I went to church. It was a nice walk up, a little bit brisk but not cold at all but then when we came out after... it was snowing. Ridiculous. And totally unnecessary. I wish spring would hurry up and come. I went home from church and spent time on the phone with mom, reading preach my gospel/scriptures and taking a nap. Then Austin asked if we wanted to write to Issac (the one in Australia) so we invited the boys over to make dinner with us and write while it cooked. We made homemade pizza (probably one of my very favorite foods). And then we wrote. It is kinda hard to write to someone that you don't know yet. So Isaac probably thinks that I am kinda weird. But that's okay. Basically I told him that I really want to be friends. Because his friends are some of my favorite people. It was fun. We also had choir practice. I love love singing. I know I write that down a lot. But I really do. I'm not particularly good but it makes me happy.
Monday again... class, class, work, class then FHE. It was a really fun activity. We blindfolded the boys, led them out and spun them around then brought them back up and sat them all down in them kitchen and gave them hand massages, face masks with cucumber, and even a few got manicures. It was fun. Then home for homework.
The last day of March... Tuesday. I had classes, work, project meeting for London, then home for Home Teaching. I am so grateful for my home teachers. They teach me a lot. Like they were a very big answer to a prayer.
I can't believe how fast March went. It was one of the BEST and one of the hardest months ever. Days just go by.
Wow this has to be the longest blog ever! The duck part was my favorite :)
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