My Splendiferously Fantastical Week!

Monday, I got to see Skylar! I was so excited! I went and picked him up after he sold his car and spent a lot of the day with him! We went and saw Super 8 and then he took me to Costa Vida afterwards and got me to eat..... NACHOS. Yes, nachos. With cheese and pork and black beans and guacamole. For those of you who know me.... I'm a really picky eater and don't really care for cheese at all. But I do have to admit that it was pretty good! I'm getting better at branching out and trying new things :) It's an adventure and a thrill to me! After we ate, we went on a walk and window shopped. It was fun to catch up and just have a playful afternoon as friends! I can't believe he'll be in the MTC in less than a month!

Tuesday was so amazing. I can't even describe how amazing that day was. I spent the whole day with family :) I woke up early and we drove to the Bountiful Temple for my cousin's wedding. I was wishing that I could go in with everyone, but I know my time will come :) I just love Cami and I'm so excited that's she's in our family now! We're gonna be best friends, I can tell already! There was an unbelievable peace at the temple. Just extraordinary. The reception was fun too! LOVED it. I felt the Spirit all day. Such a wonderful day.

I worked on Wednesday morning and packed for Logan. I called Shaun to tell him I was going to be in Logan and we talked on the phone while I packed. :) "Girl, that shirt to the left of that one.... don't even think about it." HA HA HA HA!!! Oh man... Shaun is hilarious! I was so exhausted that night that I decided to go to bed and wake up early to pack.

I woke up on Thursday morning and finished packing. Around 9:15, Joseph called me to tell me that he and Brad and Brad were on their way to come pick me up to take me to Lagoon!!! We got to Lagoon around 11:00 and our first ride was the Bombora. Totally anticlimatic. So stupid. So then we made our way to Rattlesnake Rapids to get wet! We rode a ton of rides! We had to hit up all the good roller coasters! Joseph had us close our eyes when we rode the white roller coaster for one time and it gave the ride a whole new thrill! Ha ha ha :) We had In-N-Out Burger afterwards and then Joseph drove me to Logan and dropped me off at Brenna's!

Friday, Brenna and I went on a walk around campus. She had to show me the French Fry Statue! It is now GREEN! WHAAA?? Lame, I know. I'm so upset, as you can see by the picture below ;) Instead of the French Fry Statue, Brenna's mom called it the Jenga statue! That'll work for me! :) We took pictures by it and had a blast! After the walk on campus we went to Allee's apartment and hung out with her, Shaun and Mckinsey :) We met up with some more people and went to Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner. That was delicious! Then we split up to get towels and ice blocks and met at Old Main hill to ice block! It was so much fun! I had a blast! I hadn't been in forever. Afterwards, we went to Shaun's apartment and watched Spiderman. Such a wonderful day!

The old French Fry Statue.... the new Jenga Statue!

Ice Blocking :)

Saturday, I went to the Temple with my Singles ward from back home in Ogden! It was very fun :) Later that night, Brenna and I hung out with Shaun, Allee, Mckinsey, Michael, and a bunch of people. We went to Smith's and visited Jessy and then Brenna and I went back to her place to chill with Lauren!

The Girls :)

Shaun and I sittin' in the backseat rockin' the kissy faces ;) ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!

Visiting Jessy at Smith's :)

Today has been fun :) Joseph picked me up and we went to Brad's farewell! He did such a good job! He also sang I Know That My Redeemer Lives and sounded gorgeous! He's going to be a great missionary! Afterwards, we went to Joseph's home ward meetings and then went to Brad's luncheon and visited for a few hours. Joseph drove me back to Brenna's place and we sat and talked for awhile before Joseph left. Brenna and I have been relaxing and talking all day. It's been nice :)

Joseph, Brenna and I :) My besties!

It's dawned on me this weekend that two of my closest friends are going to be leaving on their missions in two and three weeks. Joseph leaves on the 13th and Skylar leaves on the 20th. So crazy! I'm going to miss them both so much! Good thing we can write! Joseph will be going to Los Angeles, CA and is speaking Spanish and Skylar is going to the Chile, Conception mission also speaking Spanish. Spending time with both of them this week has been special to me. I will only see them a few more times before they leave! I know they will be blessed for serving a mission as well as me. I have a lot of friends out on missions right now and it's been fun to see them change. One of those friends is my best friend from high school, Justin Marriott. When he left, I was a little afraid. I didn't feel like I had a lot of guy friends up at Utah State at the time and I was worried that I wouldn't have guy friends for awhile. But then Heavenly Father blessed me with Latter Day Voices and my guy friends multiplied! That has been my biggest blessing since Justin has left on his mission. With these two young men leaving, I will miss them too, but I know that all the people that they know will be blessed as well.

I'm so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Gospel. I don't know where I'd be without it. I would definitely not be the same person I am today. I'm grateful that I have a Father in Heaven who loves and cares for me and that knows me better than anyone else on this earth. I'm grateful for a brother who suffered, died, and now lives for us. I'm grateful for the Temple and the blessings it brings to me. I hope to be married and sealed for time and all eternity with my future spouse there. I'm grateful for the friends that my Heavenly Father has placed in my life and for the lessons I'm learning now. I'm extremely grateful for my brave guy friends who have left and will be leaving on missions to willingly serve the Lord. I leave you my testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Testimony with a Song :)

I felt I needed to explain this :) The song that I posted on Sunday took on a whole different meaning when my sweet previous young women leader, Michele Robertson, pointed out to me that they are singing about my Heavenly Father. After I received that text and listened to the song again, I began to realize how much my Heavenly Father has picked me up recently and also in the past. It made the song even more special to my heart. I really started to realize how blessed I am and how much I have to be grateful for. No matter what happens to me or around me, I know that Heavenly Father will stand by me and help me through. He sends us exactly what we need, whether it be angels that can be in the form of friends and/or family, scriptures, promptings or answers to prayers, etc. He will truly always be there for you. He'll help you make tough decisions and even easy decisions. He's there for you in the happy times and in the dark times when you feel as though nothing could ever get you out. He's waiting. All you have to do is ask. :) What a blessing. He's the ultimate example of the perfect father, and I'm so grateful to have a knowledge of the gospel. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true and complete church on this earth today. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and restored the Gospel upon the earth today. I know that the Book of Mormon is an amazing book full of beautiful things about the Gospel that can only strengthen your testimony. I know that Jesus lived and died for us and took upon him our sins and our heartaches and sadnesses. He truly knows how we feel and what we're going through. I know that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet on the earth today and guides us and directs us in the paths that we should go. I'm grateful for all these things and more in the name of my Savior, my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Here it is again :)

Expect the Unexpected

I've been thinking a lot lately about how uncertain the future is to me. I just can't get my mind off of it. Nothing is ever set in stone until it happens in our day to day lives, but Heavenly Father knows all. We know we will win in the end, but our memory of heaven is temporarily taken from us. The whole concept of the future is just weird. It boggles my mind that Heavenly Father knew just when to send us to earth, when to put specific people in our lives, when to let us have certain experiences. The Plan is so carefully weaved..... I can only see a small portion of the whole thing, which is frustrating at times and so exciting in others. President Dieter F. Uctdorf says, "We must learn that in the Lord’s plan, our understanding comes 'line upon line, precept upon precept.' In short, knowledge and understanding come at the price of patience."  such an amazing thing to ponder about. I've also been thinking about the potential of human beings. All of us have the potential to become Gods and Goddesses and have the power that Heavenly Father has. How special. I can't even fathom how huge that is. Bigger than my imagination! I'm so blessed to have the Gospel in my life and to have a wonderful eternal family!

I woke up Monday morning, honestly not in the best mood at all. I looked around at my room and knew I needed to finish organizing and cleaning my new room. So I got out of bed, had breakfast, and shut myself in my room all day. I started with one corner of the room and just kept going. I'd stop and take a break, but I actually did productive things during my breaks. I'd been meaning to de-junk one of my email accounts and started doing that in-between as well. Later that night, we decided to go to Rio at the $3 theater for family night and my sister's birthday! It was a really cute movie. After I came home from that, I still had the drive to clean, so I came back up and pretty well finished. There's still a few little things that I need to do, but the big majority of it all is done!! It's such a relief to be so close to finished. That night, I relaxed and redesigned my blog! I'd been wanting to do that for a time now, and I'm happy with how it turned out :)

Tuesday was Brittany's birthday! I can't believe she's ten years old! How time flies! It's nuts! I remember the day she was born. WEIRD. The family got her an iPod Touch and she played with her new gadget all day! She'd always ask Mom or Marissa to play on their iPods (she knew I wouldn't let her, ha! ;) and now she has her own! YAY!!! :) we visited with Grandma and Grandpa too.

I also did something else on Tuesday that I, shamefully, haven't done in awhile. I  ran on the tredmill. I was dreading it but once I got on, it wasn't so bad! For those of you who don't know, I have asthma, so running isn't on my list of fun things to do. But today.... I didn't really have a rough time breathing at all. It felt so nice to just run and sweat! Normally, when I run I have the hardest time breathing, even when I take a full dose of my inhaler. But this time I only took half a dose before I started and it was amazing. I've never felt that good WHILE exercising. It gave me the boost to continue!

Wednesday, I got up and ready and took Marissa to voice lessons! I have missed Leigh and wanted to see her, so I invited myself along. It was great talking to her :) I can't wait until we get together! Her and I can talk all day. It's awesome! After voice lessons, I took Marissa to Smith and Edwards to get her stuff for Trek and then came home, helped Brittany with her new iPod Touch and went to work. Work was really good! I got a nice shift and worked with some awesome people, including my friend, Ashlee! We had some fun talks!

Thursday, I slept in and then decided that I needed to work on my room again and run stuff that will be used at college that I won't use here downstairs to my little pile. I also reached a big personal achievement while working out.... I ran a whole mile without stopping. To me, that's huge. Usually, I have to stop and walk for a bit, but I didn't have to! My next step is to improve on my time :) Working out has been such a big self esteem booster! After dinner, I was sitting on my couch and a guy asked me to work  his midnight shift for Green Lantern. I had a morning shift on Friday, but I knew I'd still be up even if I didn't go to work, so I just took his shift. It was the most pointless midnight shift I've ever worked. SO slow. Hardly any guests. I guess Harry Potter will make up for that! I don't know if I really want to work the midnight for that. I can see them selling out all thirteen theaters for that. Oh snap.

Friday I had work in the morning. When I got home from that, I ate and worked out! It was a pretty nice day.

On Saturday, I had work in the morning again. We visited my dad's parents that night for Father's Day. :)

Sunday, I went to church with the family :) It was fun to visit people from my home ward! Then I got my temple recommend, went home and took and nap, then we headed down to SLC to see my mom's side of the family! We had just about everyone over at my grandparents house! SO FUN!!! I loved it :) My cousin is getting married on Tuesday, so we're all excited about that :)

This song really touched me. I love it and thought I'd share it with you :)

I have a fun week ahead of me! Tomorrow, I'm going to see a movie or two with Skylar. Tuesday is the wedding.... which I'm super excited for! Wednesday I work and Thursday..... I'm going to Lagoon with some friends from Logan! Super stoked! Then riding back with those friends from Logan to spend the weekend up there! AHH!!! I'm so happy to be able to see everyone. I've missed everyone so much!!!!!

My Life!

It's kinda interesting never knowing what's going to happen the next day. It's so weird. I'm still getting used to the concept. I wonder if I ever will get used to the concept. Ever since I graduated from high school, I feel like I never know what the future is going to hold, even if I do plan it out. It seemed like it was all set in stone when I was in high school. Then all of a sudden I graduated and the world changed. HA! It's always fun to see what surprises and random things happen in your life :)

Last Friday was fun! Since it was my parent's anniversary, they went out on a date and I stayed home and watched my sisters. I cooked them dinner. Made them delicious stroganoff, all by myself, without a recipe. I felt pretty awesome. I was in one of my random moods. You have to realize that me wanting to be experimental in the kitchen is a once in a lifetime thing. HA! ;) but really. It doesn't happen a ton. But I admit.... it was fun :)

I worked all day last Saturday. Didn't have the greatest morning.... I had a few ornery guests at the theater and forgot some stuff at home, but the day got better when I received a text message on the way home from work. Joseph told me he was five minutes away from my house and wanted to come visit me in an hour. I freaked out! I miss him so much!!! His visit meant so much to me, to take time away from family to come see me. I miss my best friend! I can't wait to see him and Amanda and everyone else in Logan! That night I fell asleep really early in my street clothes on my bed. I think I got a total of twelve hours of sleep that night. It felt good.

Sunday, I got up and took my time getting ready. It was nice. I now have 1-4 church.... cuz I'm going to my Singles Ward! I didn't think I'd be able to attend the Singles Ward at home because of some of the rules the Stake Presidency had set. But things have changed, and I'm now old enough to go. I went for my first time in this ward on Sunday. The ward is great! I can't wait to meet new people and spend time with old friends!

Monday I worked and hung out with Carlee. We chemically straightened my hair! YAY! And FINALLY watched the Season 1 Finale of Vampire Diaries. Oh man. Did it end in surprise! AHH! I'm excited to see the second season!

Tuesday, I worked for a few hours in the morning and then took Brittany to see Kung Fu Panda. I came home and spent some time outside, helped my mom cook dinner, and visited with the family for awhile. Then I called Angie Holdaway and we went to see Thor that night. I hadn't hung out with her for a really long time. I missed her! Love her to pieces!

Wednesday, I worked. After work, I went and watched Super 8 with Carlee and my co-workers. Crazy intense movie! I screamed. It was so embarrassing. If you like intense movies, you'll like it. If you don't do well with them, don't go see it.

Thursday, I had an interview with Icing at the mall, so my family decided to make it a shopping day and get some errands ran. That night we went to Grandma and Grandpa's and had dinner with them and my aunt and uncle and cousins. My aunt put some more feathers in my hair! I love them :)

Friday, I worked. That's about it. Seriously. Ha! :)

Saturday I had the day off of work, so we finally moved rooms! I'm now back in the room I started in when we moved into this house, ha! :) It's nice though. Forces me to de-junk and stuff. I like my new set-up a lot! I live in a hot pink paradise!

Today, I got to go to two farewells :) Stephen Gordon's and Spencer Buswell's. They are such amazing young men that I look up to so much and are going to be wonderful missionaries! So happy for them!

That's my update.... :) Pretty good week! I can't believe how fast time is flying! My sister turns 10 this week and I realized I only have two and a half months left at home before I go back to school. How weird! I can see what older people mean when they say that time flies when you get older, because it's true! There's no time to hate life. It's so short! "Come what may, and love it." Some of the best advice I've ever heard :) My life is an adventure! Looking back at the past year of my life, it's so weird to see how many people have left on missions, how many people are married. I sit and wonder what's going to happen to me in the next year. I could be married, could still be single.... New people are going to be in my life with the new ward and the change in LDV, new classes..... It weirds me out that the class of 2011 is graduated. So much change in my life right now, but it's so good! It's a lot to wrap my head around! Ha ha! So excited for the journey up ahead :)

Missing Logan.... but living it up!

I'm having a lot of fun and adventure at home.... but man, am I sure missing Logan.

Last week, since I have been living in a town for the past eight months that doesn't have a ton of good radio stations, I just barely discovered Lady Antebellum's "New" Single! Just A Kiss. I've fallen in love with this song! If you haven't heard it, you better listen to this song, RIGHT NOW. Super SUPER cute song!

Sunday.... Wow. Neat day. I went to two Farewells. Matt Lund and Billy Edmunds, both good friends of mine. They both had such strong testimonies and it was great to see them so prepared and so ready to be servants of the Lord! I admire them for their strength and courage to leave everything behind for two years. Amazing, wonderful, spectacular men. :)

Monday I went to work and got paid time and a half because of the holiday! Yipee! :)

Tuesday night was great :) SURPRISE! I went and got feathers in my hair! Never done something like that before, it was fun! I have five feathers in my hair, a black one, a zebra hot pink and black one, a blue one, a salmon one, and a white one. It's been fun to have a change. Later that night, Marissa, Carlee and I went to see Pirates 4! It was so fun! Marissa got to see some of my friends at work and spend some time with the big sis and one of the sister's best friends! I loved having Marissa with me that night! Brittany's turn will be next :) I'm guessing I'll take her to Kung Fu Panda 2 when I can see it for FREE! Rock on! :)

A picture of me with my feathers! I dont' know how well you can see them from the picture though :P

Wednesday was a relaxing, random, interesting day! :) I woke up, got ready and went to Carlee's house! We watched Vampire Diaries for the majority of the day! It was so great. It was good to just take a whole day and chill on a love sac with a blanket and watch a show with a lot of very VERY attractive men and just relax. We went on a drive and talked and just had a chill girls day. It was what I needed!

Thursday.... I worked for the majority of the day. After work, I rushed home and jumped in the shower to get ready for.... BRANDEE'S WEDDING RECEPTION. Holy cow. That girl and I have the same birthday and we've been friends for about two years now... and she's MARRIED. She looked gorgeous. Beautiful! I was so happy for her! Her colors were fun, the reception center was perfect, the pictures were stunning, it was perfect, from what I could see. I wish her a spectacular honeymoon and a wonderful eternity together! :)

Can I just say that the Bachelorette.... made me a little mad?? She kept Bentley. Oh boy. No good. He's a jerk. She should have trusted her source and let him go the first night. No worries, the dummy will be gone next show, finally.

Tomorrow.... Well, I should say, this morning.... Friday will make it less complicated- I don't have to work! So.... because I have a whole day free, I'm switching rooms! It will be good when it's done!

Just realized that Harry Potter comes out in about a month! STOKED. So excited! It's fun to see people come in all excited for the movie they're watching. Even after it being a few weeks since Pirates 4 came out, I still see people come in with Pirates shirts on and stuff. So fun. :)

It's pretty surprising that it's already June! In some ways, it feels like it's gone so fast! In others.... not so much. I miss my friends in Logan terribly. It's been only two weeks since I've seen them, but that two weeks seems like so much longer. I miss being able to call Amanda and/or Joseph up to just chill and have a great time. I miss going to the other room to talk girls stuff with one of my roommates. I miss LDV and the people in it. I'm hoping that meeting some new people this Sunday in the Singles Ward will help me a little with this Logan sickness. :)

On a happy note.... It's been 23 years today, June 3, since my parents got married in the Salt Lake Temple. :) I want to congratulate them and let them know how much I appreciate them. They mean the world to me and I love them dearly. Such great examples to me in my life. I wish them a fun date tonight and an amazing weekend sometime soon! :)