A Lot Has Changed....

WOW...... I mean wow. So much has been going on and I haven't been able to keep up my blog so I apologize.

So where to even begin? Summer ended way too quickly, but it was one I won't forget. I learned so much and gained a greater confidence in myself. I finally feel comfortable with where I'm at and think I've gotten the hang at the whole college thing. (Good thing I'm about to graduate right?) Change is inevitable so all you can do is roll with the punches.

I am now done with my third semester of nursing school!!!!!! It was definitely challenging. It wasn't as rough as my first semester, but I feel like it was the most time consuming. I was able to work on most of the  floors in the hospital and I started to feel like a nurse. I am still gaining knowledge and experience, but I feel like I was actually able to put my skills to use. I'm preparing to go into my last semester of college. I will have one class, an online project, my internship in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), and then just studying like crazy to prepare for the NCLEX (state exam to get my license). I am still in shock that I am already to this time in my life. I honestly thought it would never come, so it's been interesting to see how far I've come. Who knows what will happen within the next year.

In my ward, I served as a gospel doctrine teacher for 6 months. I feel like I learned more than I probably taught, but it was a real test to follow the promptings of the spirit and I felt like my testimony has grown a lot from the calling. I also feel it helped prepare me for my new calling; relief society president. I am still in shock and very humbled by this calling. I just was sustained last week and honestly still don't know what I'm doing. I'm trying to find a balance between fulfilling my calling and enjoying church and socializing. I just feel like there is so much pressure and everyone is watching me. I have to remember I'm not perfect and people have to make their own decisions. I just have to do the best I can and rely on the Lord for comfort and strength. I hope that I can make my Heavenly Father proud and do whatever I can to meet the needs of His church and those sisters I have stewardship over.

I am very blessed and happy. I pray that this Christmas, everyone will remain safe and healthy. After last Christmas, I have gained such a greater appreciation for the little things. I'm excited to spend time with my family and remember my Savior. I hope everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Life is like a roller coaster....

I swear I cannot stick with just one emotion and be happy with it. I guess being a girl doesn't help with that either. I feel like life can throw so much at you sometimes and to be honest, I don't always know the best way to handle it. Something I've struggled with lately is the frustration with thinking there is a reason something happens in my life that I think is an odd coincidence and must have a reason for. So of course I go for the opportunity and then it ends up leading me no where. It ends. Dies. Ceases. And I think to my self, "Why was this placed in my path if it didn't work out?" The situations may be based on a job, dating, school, or just simple things. I have a hard time with change and when I don't exactly know the reason for it, it makes it even harder so I've really had to see if I'm trying to line my life up with what the Lord wishes. Boy is it easier said than done!!!! Having to fully rely on your faith that things will happen. Some things you may be anxiously be waiting for, but you have to trust that when the timing is right, the Lord will grant you the things He/you so desires.

Sorry for my rambling, but this has been on my mind for the past little while. I'm sure we can all relate to this on one issue or another. It's life and we have to take it with our best foot forward, with hope in our eyes, and a smile on our face.

Until next time.... :)

Yes.... I am a slacker.

Wow time sure flies when you're having fun! I cannot believe I start school in a month. I am very nervous about this upcoming semester, but I'm excited to see what the change has to bring to me. But anywho.... SUMMER!!!! I have lots to update on....

I've been on a couple vacations with the fam. One to California (mainly Anaheim and San Diego) and then our annual camping trip to Bear Lake. Both were tons of fun! In Cali we went to Disneyland and SeaWorld, Seaport Village, La Jolla Cove, and did a bunch of site seeing. It was a lot of fun and I'm grateful I was able to go! Bear Lake also was a blast! It was fun to be lazy for a couple days, read, relax, good food, campfires, sun tanning, and we got to go on waverunners! I am lucky to be a part of such a wonderful family!

My brother and I also have had a lot of fun! We got season passes to LAGOON so we've been trying to take advantage of that. We also went to the Parachute Concert in Salt Lake City and were also on Channel 2 news!! Hanging with my bro is the greatest! He is too good to me and I love him lots!!

Since it is July, I've been to a bunch of fireworks and it has been a party! The Mendon Celebration is also this week for the 24th so that should be a good time as well! My birthday was also a couple of weeks ago so I am no longer a teenager anymore!!! It is such a great feeling and really weird at the same time. I'm getting soooo old ;) hahaha I ended up going to Bear Lake on my birthday with a couple of friends and then came home to a "surprise" party. I got to celebrate with tons of friends and just have a good time. I am one lucky girl!

I just love summer soooo much! I'm sad it is winding down, but I plan on taking in all that I can! I've been on a lot of fun dates and have met lots of new friends. What a fun summer this has turned out to be!

One Happy Girl :)

Can I just tell everyone how HAPPY I am!!!!!!! Man life is just so good to me right now!!! I don't remember the last time I was this happy. I have an optimistic nature, but lately I just feel like dancing and rejoicing all the time! Everything seems to be going great and I've just had this new confidence come over me. I finally feel like I fit in somewhere and the college life is finally going my way. Just thought I'd share that with everyone :) Hope everyone is enjoying there summer as much as I am mine! :)

Confession Time

So lately I've felt like I've ate a ton of humble pie. haha there's just been things I've had to admit to myself and have had to own up to. It's been good for me and has helped me realized a lot. I guess I'm starting to grow up.... I am almost 20 afterall :)

Anywho... one thing I realized this week is that hanging out with people from high school can be pretty fun! Never thought I'd say that. Not that I don't have friends still from high school, but last year I was just all for meeting new people and hanging out with people not from the valley. I just had this weird phase I guess :) I wanted something new! I hung out with a bunch a people from high school the other day and it was a blast! Not that I really hung out with any of them really in high school, but you just have this connection/bond from going to the same school and can look back on a lot of memories. It is so much more fun hanging out with them outside of the high school setting! People are getting back from their missions and I'm really excited for all the new change!

The other thing I decided is I'm actually excited to go back to my home ward's single ward and not the one up at the university. That's something I never thought I'd say either! It's hard driving 20 minutes to church to go out to Hyrum, but I think there will be a lot of cool people in it to make it fun and enjoyable!

Life is just funny lately because I had some people ask me the other day who I hang out with usually and I had no response. I have certain different groups I usually hang out with in rotation, but I really don't have friends I hang out with every time I get the chance. I like hanging out with lots of different people and meeting new friends. That is something that has definitely changed since I was in high school. I had a hard time adjusting to change. I guess that's something college has taught me. Now I can't plan anything longer than a month in advance because plans are always changing. It's kind of annoying but I can be a pretty spur-of-the-moment person. I guess it's nice that I'm flexible or life would be even more challenging than it already is!

Well it's funny how random life can be, but that's what's makes it interesting. I'm so excited for summer and all the adventures that will come with it! :)

Move, Move, Movin' On

WOW...!!!! Even though I didn't have finals this week like everyone else in Logan, this week has been so crazy busy! And it's only Wednesday....

So I moved out today from my apartment. That was sad because I've had a good semester with some fun roommates, but once again CHANGE IS INEVITABLE and it's time to move on. Instead of moving back home I had a slight change of plans suddenly. I moved into my aunt's apartment while she is in Hawaii to house-sit for her. I'm very excited to live by myself for a bit! I think it will be a great experience for me. I'll probably be there for a month and then I will move again back home. Don't worry that will have been 3 different moves in 5 MONTHS! I hate moving! Packing... unpacking... there is nothing fun about it! No wonder I have never moved until I started college ;) I guess it's preparing me for real life ;)

I have now been a hostess at Cafe Sabor for 1 YEAR now!! It's crazy. I have really fun people I work with and it's been able to work really well with my school. I wish I could serve, but I find it a blessing just to have a job. It is starting to get stressful though because all of the other hostesses are quitting besides me so it's a whole new system we have to figure out with all the newbies (yay me...) I'm trying hard to be a good trainer so I hope things go smoothly. All of the new girls seem to be pretty nice.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about what I'm gonna do after I graduate next spring and to be honest it's freaked me right out... I've had some serious anxiety about not knowing what will happen. I've calmed down a bit because I realize the Lord knows and is aware of my capabilities. He knows the desires of my heart and wants what's best for me. I don't know if I'm supposed to work, continue my schooling, get married, go on a mission, or even a few of those options. I've just learned lately it's not worth worrying about tomorrow because you miss out on today. Life is to be enjoyed and not dreaded. I'm so grateful that the Lord is there to help me in times of uncertainty. I swear I cannot plan my life more than a month in advance because things are constantly changing. I've always known what I've wanted to do with my life, but the Lord has gotten me to where I am in the way I was not expecting it to happen. I have definitely been blessed for it and it has helped prove to me things I thought weren't possible. Life can be very scary and grueling at times, but looking at life has a whole has so much more meaning to it. You see how trials and challenges shape you and strive for that person the Lord wants you to be. I feel like God is helping me to be more independent and has implanted that desire within me. He has helped me see things more through His eyes. I am so grateful for this gospel and His grace. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ, I am becoming a woman whom I hope is worthy of those eternal blessings and promises. I cannot wait till I am able to step through those temple doors and to sit in the Celestial Room. How great will be my joy!

Well.... until next time. Peace and Love :)

SUMMER IS HERE!!!!!!

That's right I said it! I am DONE with school for 4 months and am HALFWAY done with nursing school!!! I couldn't be happier for summer to be here and to have a break from the craziness! (Hopefully now the weather will cooperate) Even though I know I probably will need to do some studying and preparing for next semester, I'm happy that my stress level will go down a bit and I will feel less guilty about having some more fun time spent with friends and family ;) Everyone be ready!!

I seriously never thought this day would come and it is still hard for me to believe that in a year I will be graduating from college! (NO, that doesn't make me old, but smart ;) haha) There is still a lot of work to be done till I get to that point and there is always the option of furthering my education (that is still undecided concerning a BSN degree) I guess time will tell what will be a reality or not. For now, I'm happy with a break from school... I'm not a big fan of school and would prefer to work. Besides college is expensive sheesh! I hope I'll be able to make a lot of money this summer to pay off some of my loan and maybe save up for a trip to Hawaii this December!! (Doesn't that sound wonderful?!)

As this semester/year has come to an end, I've been reflecting a lot on what's happened the past few months. One thing is for sure. I am so excited to now be called a SECOND YEAR student!! It's still the whole status thing like in high school.... first years are just kinda lame compared to second years ;) I'm excited to be able to get to see and do a lot more things this upcoming year and just have a change! I'm still trying to decide what area I want to do my preceptorship (internship) for next spring. Any suggestions are welcome :) Where do y'all think I fit the best in the hospital? As for now my top 3 choices are the NICU, OR, or the Surgical floor. I think those areas would be very cool and fun! I will learn a lot wherever I am placed though.

Something that will change though is we will have more students entering the program whether they are Bridge students or other LPNs. It will be interesting how we all get along and how our teachers will juggle all 45 of us! (compared to the 28 we have currently) I like the group I'm with now. I feel like we have bonded and have gone through a lot together. A bunch of us got together this week and went to breakfast at Angie's. It wasn't planned, but we ended finding each other at the restaurant and talked for a couple hours! It was a lot of fun and a nice venting session. Nursing school is seriously SO hard. It's nice to have people to relate to who understand what you're going through. We've had some good laughs this year and I've met some amazing people who I now consider to be some of my good friends! Speaking of funny times... we had to do a presentation for my mother baby class recently so we decided to do a video on sepsis of a pre-term infant. We decided to have some fun with it and be creative and so here's a blooper from part of our video. We had the hardest time being serious! (Not like I can be serious normally :) haha)

Anyways...... now it's time to CELEBRATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:)

Words cannot express...

I have found recently that it possible to feel every emotion all at once. I guess that's a gift girl's have.... well me at least. :) Seriously.... life lately has just taken me for a spin! I'm happy, sad, scared, anxious, excited, THE WORKS!!! I guess my mind can't decide which one it likes better so it decides to put me through all of them ;) haha but even though my life has been crazy hectic recently, I take a step back and realize how truly blessed I am. It is the hardest thing to have to take risks with certain decisions and rely on the Lord to see what He wants you to do. I am having to test my faith more than I ever have in my entire life! It is so terrifying not knowing what will happen in the future, but it is such a comfort to know that the Lord will not let me fall. He'll most definitely stretch me and I have seen me do things I never thought were possible, but he won't let me go astray. What a powerful gift the atonement is! I'm grateful for the power of prayer as well. Being able to share every thought and worry with my Heavenly Father is so relieving and strengthens my testimony. I'm grateful for the gospel in my life. It's the one thing in my life that doesn't change. I am still in awe as I reflect on my life and see where I've been and where I'm going. Did I mention I have the best family? :) They help me with so much! They are a great support system to me and bring me so much joy. As long as I have them, I know things will work out.

I love my grandparents so SO much! They mean the WORLD to me and I owe them so much for all they've done for me.

Festival of COLORS

Well here it is 3 AM, I'm exhausted, and yet I can't sleep. Probably from being so stressed with school. (3 weeks left!) I have found that writing is one of my ways to relieve stess, which can be surprising since I wasn't too fond of writing a couple weeks ago when I had 2 research papers due ;). I'm also a music addict and I'm pretty sure I almost always have music on. Anyways, so I guess I'll blog about my fun weekend I had recently...

So last year I heard about something called the Festival of Colors. I saw all of these pictures on Facebook and I thought to myself 1) What in the heck is that? 2) That looks way fun! and 3) Why wasn't I invited?! So this year I told myself I had to go and try it out. I struggled with figuring out plans of getting there, but it all worked out and I had a blast!

I went down with my roomate Hailey and her friend from work Stephanie. We met some of her friends in Salt Lake and then drove down to American Fork for the celebration. We stayed for about 3 hours and enjoyed the music, participated in the throwing of chalk, avoided getting killed by the crowd surfers, looked around the temple, and inhaled so much chalk that I think the incense started messing with my brain function... ;) haha yes I started getting loopy by the end and apparently was very entertaining when I started singing songs! :)

In the end, we were successful in completely covering ourselves in numerous colors of chalk! It was super fun and there's something about getting all dirty and acting hippy-ish that is awesome! It was cool to see another religion's practice. They were all about the "PEACE AND LOVE!"

You're probably wondering how I cleaned up after all of that mess? Well it took a lot of scrubbing. Funny story: so I came home to my parent's house to shower and change and when I walked in the door my dad looked at me funny as I casually said hi and started walking in and said, "What in the hell happened to you?" It was super funny! My dad thinks I'm crazy :) But hey.... it's college! haha

Here's some fun pics from the trip!

Before...

The beautiful temple!

Hailey and I

The group!

LLAMAS!!!

Well to end this post I guess I could complain about how much I hate this cold weather.... haha but my buddy up in North Dakota reminds me that it could be worse!

Check out this goof who I miss a ton! :)

Anywho.... let's get on with APRIL!!! :)

*Time for a Change*

So I know people have thought I've been all talk when I've said, "Oh ya, I'm gonna chop off my hair and donate it." Well I can now say I have OFFICIALLY done it!!! Yes, sadly my long hair is gone. I will miss it, but it will always grow back. I'm glad I could help those who need my hair more than I do. After my neighbor's daughter passed away from cancer, I knew I wanted to donate to locks of love. She was my inspiration and I miss her so much.
 So I ended up cutting off 15 INCHES!! Can you believe it?! Yeah I was pretty shocked. I haven't had my hair this short since my soph/junior year of high school so it was a change, but a good one. If you still don't believe I would actually cut off my hair, here are some pics to prove it :)

BYE-BYE long hair!!!

Spring Break Fun!

Last weekend I was lucky enough to get away for a little bit with Jordan and Jennifer to St. George for a few days! We headed down Saturday morning and got there late afternoon. With the long drive, we had some interesting experiences and tried to keep ourselves entertained. We kept a documentation of the drive on a piece of paper that we taped onto the dashboard. haha We got the duck tape to hold down part of Jen's car that kept flapping in the wind so we used some extra :)



Oh the crazy things that happen when 3 college girls get together!

After getting settled into our hotel we went swimming for a little bit and then headed to the Pasta Factory for dinner. We met up with our friend Stephanie that was also down for the weekend with some friends from BYU. Dinner was yummy and it was fun to catch up and get together like old times in  high school.

So after dinner I found out that the little red phone booth that everyone always get pictures with was right by this restaraunt so we decided to have a little fun and take some pictures in it!

Next we decided to stop for some groceries and then headed back to the hotel to watch Stardust. I don't think I lasted 5 minutes before I fell asleep, but I'm sure the other girls enjoyed it :)

On Sunday we decided to find a YSA ward to attend and ended up at the Bueno Vista YSA ward. The ward was super friendly and welcoming and we had a great time! My cousin actually knows quite a few people in that ward since she grew up in St. George so I thought that was kind of fun. It's amazing how many different connections you can make with people. After church we went to the pool again to try and get some sun. Sadly for us, the weather wasn't super warm when we were down there and was kind of stormy, so we didn't get much sun. I did get a little bit of a tan line on my legs so I'll take what I can get! It was much warmer than Logan though and it was nice to wear spring clothes and flip flops! Sunday was a very relaxing day and we spent most of the day watching movies and we went for a nice drive. Jennifer is a scary driver though :) We did survive! haha

Since it rained most of Monday, we spent the day shopping. I love going to the Outlets and looking around! We bought a lot of fun things and had a great time! Here are a few pics from shopping.

Jen is a babe! But 2 belts? Definite no! haha

We thought this was a fun store for our missionaries :)

Engagement rings? haha aren't they fun to look at! ;)

For dinner, we met up with my cousin Heather and went to Outback Steakhouse! It was delicious :)

Heather and I

After dinner, we decided to go see Unknown at the movie theater. We had some extra time before the movie started so we decided to play some arcade games and then took some fun pics!

The movie was awesome! It kind of reminded me of the Jason Bourne movies, but the main character that's also in "Taken" did a great job!

Tuesday was our last day in St. George and we were all super sad to be leaving so soon. We packed up all our things and checked out of our hotel.

We were fortunate enough to be able to go do baptisms for the dead in the St. George temple. It was a really neat experience and the temple is so beautiful! Here are some pictures we took on the grounds.









I love palm trees!

After visiting the temple, we did some final last minute shopping and before we departed we headed to Fiesta Fun! We played some arcade games, rode go-carts (which I won ;)), played some mini-golf, and then had a picnic lunch! Of course it was a beautiful day the day we were leaving, but we enjoyed as much of the sunshine as we could. I am grateful for the chance I had to go and for such great friends who provided a lot of laughs and memories.



Love these girls! Thanks for a fun trip :)



*Road Trip*

So this time of the year is when I really start getting cabin fever and I become sick of everything. It's not because of anything in particular, but always seems to happen to me in the winter time. Seasonal depression or Vitamin D deprived? You pick :)

Well FINALLY after 2 months or more, I got out of Cache Valley!! I hadn't left since a few days before my emergency appendectomy so it was nice to just get away, even if it was just for a day. I went down to visit my friend Riley in Orem to go to the UVU Mardi Gras dance party. We went last year and had a blast so we thought we'd make it a tradition and go again this year. I drove down with my friends Janessa and Kim and my other friend Kaylee also came up from SUU. It was so fun to see and hang out with all of them because it's amazing how many months go by without seeing some of your good friends. Something funny I noticed since I graduated high school is that the people you didn't really hang out with in high school, you see them in college and can all hang out and have a great time! That's happened a few times and it's funny who you hang out with after high school. I've known all these guys for a pretty long time I'd say, and some of them I'd hung out with individually and not together so it was cool we could all get together and have a blast! That's the great thing about college I think. No one really cares and it's all about having fun!

Anyways, we ended up going to the party and we went to the hypnotist (which is always hilarious), did some dancing, and then went to the comedian. The night was full of laughs, fun, and some interesting stories! I'm glad I was able to go and take a break from work and school. Well worth the trip :)

All of us before the dance!



We are dorks! But I love it :)



Is anyone else ready for this week to be over and for Spring Break to be here????