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????

Happiness

This post is purely about things that have made me happy this past while and things I am so excited about!!!!!

1. HIP HOP. Yes I'm in a hip hop dance class and have become a Wangster! (white+gangsta) haha it is so much fun and is a great stress reliever.
2. RASPBERRY JAM. It is just SO good and reminds me of summer.
3. FUNNY MOMENTS. Well I'm not sure if there is a time when I'm not laughing, but there's always something random that happens in my life and a good quote to go with it!
4. LETTERS. Nothing like a letter from a missionary to make your day!
5. GIRL TALKS. Sometimes... you just need 'em.
6. HATS. They are fun.... and save you from a bad hair day.

 Now for what I'm counting down the days till....

A road trip down to Orem to see my best friend since 6th grade for their MARDI GRAS bash! (3 weeks away)

and... 

Spring Break with some friends and soon to be friends down in (hopefully warm) St. Geezy!!!!! AHHHHH cannot wait!! I need me some sunshine BADLY!

P.S. Is it already Mid-semester next week?! HOLY COW!!!!! Time sure does fly.

Oh shout out to Madi Dodd who's leaving on a MISH soon!! I am so so excited for you girl. Can't wait for you to blow me away at your farewell :)

The ROOMIES aka CRAZIES

SO.....

I moved out again!!!! WAHOO exciting right?! I was very excited and lucky to move out this semester! My parents are so great and supportive. It's nice to be so close to campus and the hospital (for clinicals, hopefully not for my own personal problems anymore LOL), especially since I have to be at the hospital at 4:30 AM. Yeah it's sick I know. But what can ya do? Oh the life of a nurse :)

Anywho so I moved into the apartments across from the house I lived in last year. I am still at the COMPOUND. (Yes I'm aware that when I tell people that they think I live at a rehab center. Still makes me laugh.)I'm back with my old roomie Hailey Wankier, which I love and I also have two other roomates.... Nikita Krebs and Amanda Price. I've known Nikita for forever through dance, high school, and our dad's work together so we're pretty tight and then I just met Amanda and she is absolutely AWESOME! Talk about a freaking model she is gorgeous! Anywho I have the BEST roomates and we all get along really well. It can get pretty crazy and loud at our apartment. I feel bad for the boys above us ;)

I also have a great student ward that I moved into. Everyone's really active and involved and there's tons of people so it's just a really great environment, especially since I don't get out much with school :)

Anyways life is as crazy or crazier than ever, but things are good. Even with it's sudden twists and turns, I am loving all the new experiences I am having!

COLLEGE IS SO FUN!!!

(Here are some roomate pictures we took a few weeks ago)

enjoy :)

All of us with the apartment's "Boyfriend"!

Random shot... haha love it!

CUTE girls :)

*silly faces*



Happy Spring Semester!! (I'm hoping for the SPRING part soon!!!!)

School is in Session!

Nursing school never fails to hit you hard! I went into this week thinking I only had class a couple days this week and they were nice enough to surprise us with orientations at the hospital every day this week. May I mention all day things as well.... so work definitely isn't an option.Whoops.... Thanks for the notice! Oh well just an opportunity to wear my sweet purple scrubs I look fabulous in!!! ;) haha wow.....

As you can tell by my sarcasm, this week is wearing me right out! Not to mention it's confusing the crap out of me! It would help if someone like our teachers knew what was going on..... I guess God thinks I need to learn patience. Obviously :) Definitely something I need to work on this year as one of my New Years goals.

Another thing I need to work on this year, especially if I want to become a nurse is controlling my facial expressions and emotions. We've started learning about labor and delivery and holy cow it makes me not want to have children!!! haha. (Don't worry after talking and worrying about all the details, my mind was instantly changed when we walked through the NICU nursery and saw all the super cute little babies!!! Oh I wanted to take one home so bad!) We watched some videos today and it scarred me for life. Pretty sure my jaw was on the floor! LOL. It was so hard to keep myself under control. There is so much I had no idea about! But I'm sure after I'm exposed to all these medical procedures as I'm on different wings of the hospital, I will get more used to it.

It's just so crazy I actually get to follow nurses around in the hospital this semester!! I am so excited and so nervous. It's very intimidating going in feeling like you know nothing. Especially, when we'll be doing stuff like catheters, helping with labor and delivery, working on the mother/baby, medical and surgical floors, PEDS, transitional care, etc. I just feel so young! (probably because I am :))

Nursing school is probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but I'm sure it will be so rewarding. Later on that is... :) The good news is that after this semester I am HALF WAY done and will only have next year until I can take my boards to become a RN!!!! Until then....

I'm hitting the books!!!!