Two Thousand and Fourteen

Well hello there, you sweet patient friends who actually take the time out of your day to read my blog when I occasionally (very, very occasionally) post a new blog post!

It's been awhile since I've written, so I have a lot to catch up on, but I thought I'd do it by simply sharing some of my most favorite journal entries from 2014. If you know me, you know I'm a crazy fanatic journal writer. I've noticed that I've been a little too pessimistic the past year, especially in my journals, because I often vent in my journals to save my friends and family from having to hear me complain too much (But I probably still end up complaining too much hahah...hahahh)! So anyways, I went through all 4 of my journals from 2014 the other day, and typed up the journal entries that meant the most to me, so I could skip all of that negative rubbish and focus on the good when I look back at 2014 (although, I do think it's good to write about your struggles as well, so that you can see how you've grown and how you handle certain situations)! I can't share all of my journal entries-but here are a few!

 

·      “I’ve been on an adrenaline rush…pretty much all day. EFY makes me happier than almost-actually it may just be everything- in life. I met 4 girls (Alathia, Megan, Rachel, and Kortni) on my first day here and we hung out all yesterday and today, with the exception of mingling with other counselors (especially boys) sometimes. We went to DQ last night to get chilli cheese dogs and other yummy things. We laughed and teased each other as if we had been friends for ages!” –June 20^th 2014

 

·      “I was so excited tonight that I couldn’t stop smiling SO much and exclaiming my excitement.” –June 20^th 2014

 

·      “These girls have doubts, deep thoughts, confusions, trials, and struggles with their testimonies. I thought I’d come into this with a set of perfect girls who had no doubt that this church is true. But they’re so deep and wise and anxiously engaged in trying to figure things out on their own. I’m so proud of them. And of the boys. All of the boys and girls are astounding and I’m going to miss them. The Game Show today was hilarious and I was enthusiastic during it.” –June 26^th 2014

 

·         This is a conversation between one of my EFY participants and I...

       “Georgia: Why would you get soda for breakfast!?

Me: I don’t know.

Georgia gets Sprite

Me: You just got Sprite! That’s soda!

Georgia: It’s not the same.”

 

·      “I turned to the nice lady on the plane (a complete stranger) and said with scared bug eyes, and very seriously, ‘We’re going to die soon.’ It sounded like the engine died and I thought we were going down. She looked really scared, as if I had told some prophesy or something. Then she calmed down and had to calm me down for the next 10 minutes or so." (This is one of my personal favorite experiences from this summer...how embarrassing...what is wrong with me? Hahah)

 

·      “I’m having the best time EVER! I love Provo. I love dances. I love my kids. I love life. I even sort of love myself!” –July 8^th 2014 

·      “Living here feels too good to be true. I really love it here more than the 2 other apartments I’ve lived in and hope I can live here with nice girls for the rest of my time at college. It just feels RIGHT to be here :)” –September 15^th 2014

 

·      “I just got back from Ainsley’s bachelorette party. She has very nice friends, the kind I’d be friends with, and I had a fun time! We went on a bachelorette scavenger hunt and had to do some crazy things!

1.     I spanked a man that was coming down the hallway at North Point and then I ran and THEN I shouted, “Do you want another?”

2.     Had a guy named Chad sing to us and I asked for his # and called him after. I breathed heavy, and then one of the girls I was with yelled at him! I'm sure that made his day? Haha!

3.     Shouted at a guy from the balcony. One of the girls I was with told him she had a dream that she married him, then she got his #.

MORAL OF THE STORY: GET OUT, DO STUFF, AND YOU’LL MEET PEOPLE AND BE HAPPY!” –November 15^th 2014

    

           

·      

     "I made 2 pumpkin pies today. We also made Pecan Pie, which looks delicious. Kate and I made place mats that say, "I'm thankful for" and then lines underneath, on them. We're going to write what we're thankful for, during our Thanksgiving dinner, and then share! It's always so great to think about all the wonderful things in life that I'm grateful for. There's so much to be glad about!" -November 26th 2014

·      “My favorite thing we did this year (for Christmas) was walk down Christmas Card Lane neighborhood streets. I felt so much joy.” –December 26^th 2014

 

·      “There’s no doubt in my mind that coming home for the semester was the right thing to do. It just feels right. I feel so content/happy! Today, Avery reminded me of the slightly mentally retarded man at the pool who said that he went to Sea World that day and had to come home and take a 4 hour shower to wash the smell of Shamu off of him. He was dead serious when he said it too. He was such a funny, enjoyable man to be around! Almost everything he said made us laugh.” –December 30^th 2014

So there you have it! There's a few of my favorite times from 2014. I can't wait for more in 2015! Bring on the new year! :)

Fall, Faith, and Friends

I never really know what to blog about. Maybe when I become a mom I'll suddenly get amazing blogging skills, but right now my skills are lacking! I write in a journal every day, update my Instagram, and somewhat update my Facebook, but I always forget about good old Blogger!

So....Fall semester 2014 has been going pretty dang great! I absolutely LOVE where I live, love my roommates, and love the fact that I have less school work than last semester (see post, "A Splendidly Stressful Semester" haha) And not to mention, fall time is the best time of year (in my opinion), so that adds to the loveliness of this semester. Of course I have my stresses too...but I've done pretty well with trying to focus on the positive parts of life! Because I'm the Relief Society president this semester, I feel like I've gotten a little bit more involved with the ward and with the girls that I live around, which has made a huge impact on me. I think getting involved in the church, the community, or with service, can work wonders.

The fact that I'm Relief Society president is kind of hilarious to me. My Bishop (church leader) wanted everyone in our ward (church congregation) to fill out this form about what callings we've had in the past, what we're interested in, etc. I specifically wrote on the paper, "I do not want to speak in church or teach any classes." I didn't even think about the possibility of being the Relief Society President, or I would have added that to the list! When I was called to come into Bishop Barnes office, I knew I was going to get a calling. Usually they call you by apartment to come in, so I knew something was fishy when they called me to come in right at the beginning of the semester, alone, without my roommates. But I didn't expect he'd ask me to be the Relief Society President. I completely panicked when he asked. I started getting teary eyed and I said I didn't think I could do it. I've been having a little bit of a struggle with feeling inadequate, comparing myself to others, and feeling nervous to get in front of people and talk (hence why I put that I didn't want to speak or teach on the form). The thought of getting up in front of people as "The Relief Society President" sounded like about the least appealing thing in the world. I think at that moment, I would have rather gone dumpster diving or eaten fish (I hate fish with a passion.) But let me also say that I started to feel a sort of peace and Bishop Barnes even said, "You seem very calm now, when before you seemed very panicked." I couldn't deny that, but I was still frustrated that I'd been asked to do this.

I knew I wasn't supposed to go against what Bishop Barnes felt inspired to ask me to do, but I needed some time to think about this, and felt relieved when, without my prodding, Bishop Barnes said I should pray about if I should do it and get back to him the next day. I put off thinking about it that night, but the next day it was ALL I could think about. I felt a peace that I hated to feel! It was so frustrating to feel so much peace about something that was NOT something I wanted to do! I wrote a "pro-con" list in my journal...all the reasons I should accept the calling and all the reasons I thought I shouldn't. I noticed that all the reasons that I shouldn't were very selfish...things such as, "I don't have time." "I don't feel adequate enough." "I hate speaking in front of people." "I'll be stressed all semester if I do this and I'll dread Sundays." It was allllllll about me.

I hadn't made my final decision yet, when I went into Porters Craft Store to get something for one of my classes. I was drawn to the scrapbook paper section and started looking for paper that could be used for a "compliment notebook" for my Relief Society Sisters. I didn't even really realize that I hadn't made a decision yet. It was almost as if I made the decision without knowing. I was thinking about what would make the girls in the Relief Society happy, and stopped thinking about all the reasons I didn't want to do it. That was my answer! I told the Bishop I was happy to accept the call. So anyways, I may not be the most confident, "I love all of you so very much and am here for you anytime you need me," (but I hardly know you), super sweet mushy, Relief Society President, but I'm trying my best and doing what the Lord wants me to do. And I'm sure I'll get better at it with time :)

Other parts of my life that are worth mentioning are roommates, dating, and school (ya know, cause that's why I'm here haha).

MY ROOMMATES ARE AWESOME, YET AGAIN. WHY DO I ALWAYS GET SO LUCKY?

There's Mallory, who is hilarious, confident, talks with a Boston type accent a large majority of the time (for some unknown reason), and is sassy as can be! Right off the bat, I knew I would like her. We see eye to eye on a lot of things, can have deep conversations, and have tons of fun! I'm so blessed to have her as one of my roommates.

There's Sera, who is also hilarious, but is also super sweet! I knew I would like her right away too. She's got one of those can't-help-but-like-her personalities. She always shows genuine interest in other people, is great at comforting, and makes the whole apartment feel a lot happier. When she's not in the room but everyone else is, you can definitely tell somethings missing. It feels incomplete without her!

There's Taylor, who is a football fanatic, has boys all over her, is so fun to be around, and is such a sweetheart. It's also impossible for her to take an ugly selfie. She tries and fails. It wouldn't be the same without Taylor!

There's Jane, who is completely and unapologetically herself. If I had to describe Jane in one word, it would be, "Real." We also relate in a lot of ways, which makes our conversations very interesting and deep! Jane, you're awesome!

Then there's Ainsley, my room roommate, who I absolutely love! I am SO happy that she's my room roommate for so many reasons! Besides the fact that she's the easiest person to live with, she's also one of the funniest people I've ever met. We stay up way too late laughing at each others stories and helping each other out with our various strange problems haha. She's engaged (why do all of my roommates get engaged-I hate you all haha) so the fun is ending after this semester but I'm sure we'll be life long friends!

The fact that I have great roommates makes my dating life bearable. Don't get me wrong, going on dates, playing games (not that I play those...what?), rejecting guys and being rejected is SO MUCH FUN (but not really) but it would be nice if someone right for me would magically appear in front of me so I could skip all this stuff! In the words of my roommate Ainsley, "I'm sooooooooooo glad I don't have to deal with dating anymore." I think we can all relate to this haha.

My classes are going great. I'm majoring in Marriage and Family Studies because I want to be a counselor, so my classes are very interesting, for the most part! I love learning about family dynamics and psychology! I can't wait to be a counselor and to also practice the things I've learned, in my own family, someday.

10 Things I'm Grateful for Today:
1. Fall time- It just feels so happy outside! I love straw mazes, hot chocolate, cuddling, sweaters, not having to wear a coat yet, pretty leaves, pumpkin carving, Halloween, and everything else about fall time!
2. My ward- This ward has been my favorite ward so far. The people are great in it and I love the Bishopric!
3. My family- I'm so blessed to have so many family members that I love and who love and support me!
4. Theme parks- Mallory and I were talking about Disneyland, Disneyworld, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Six Flags, and Universal Studios today and I decided that the world is so much better because of theme parks. Adrenaline rushes, cartoon characters walking around, cheery music, and the general theme park atmosphere....ahhhhh I wish I was at Disneyland right now!
5. Movies- They let you escape away from the stresses and reality of your life and they just make life a whole lot more entertaining!
6. Kind, non-judgmental people- The kind you can say what's on your mind to without them judging, the kind that you can be yourself around, the kind that genuinely care about you and want what's best for you.
7. Pesto- Because it's pesto. Do I even need to explain?
8. Living in an apartment that has an awesome gym- It's pretty cool that it's here so I don't get fat from the 500 meals I eat a day.
9. Ear plugs- Because they make it so I don't need other people to tip-toe around me when I'm sleeping. I just go to sleep and never hear a thing, no matter what's going on around me. Party on, roommates!
10. That despite the fact that everything's not "perfect" in my life, I can choose to be happy.