Grown-up.

I am feeling particularly adult today. Maybe its because I am almost finished with my second year of college. Maybe its because I am now twenty and the feeling comes with the territory. Maybe its because everyone I know is married or pregnant, and just the association make me feel old. Maybe its because I'm not going home for the summer. Maybe its because I have a real job now, not one handed out to me by someone I know-not that I don't appreciate that mom and dad- but I got this job on nothing but my own merits and skills, in my own field, and that feels really good. So today is just a mature kind of day.  

Here is a funny picture that kept very entertained the other day to counterbalance all the serious grownup stuff:

Last Week I'll be a Teenager.

I turn 20 in a week from today. 20!!! I'm not ready to be that old, and to no longer be a teenager. I feel like I should have it more together and more figured out by now. But that's how its been with other milestones. I thought I would have had way more figured out when I joined young women's, and then when I started high school and turned 16 and could drive, and then when I graduated, and then when I started college. But here I am in my almost third year (yikes!!) and everything is so different than I thought it would be. I've realized that you can watch people close to you accomplish things like graduation or college and think you know how it will be for you because of how it was for them, but when you actually reach that point nothing goes the way you thought. Not to say that it still isn't great, because it so is, but when you reach those points, you aren't even as old or as mature as you thought others were. Here are some pictures I found that I just really love. Sorry about the randomness and the super paragraph. Hopefully the pictures make it better.

The Little Things.

Just got back from my tenth trip to the bathroom in about two hours. I find that when I study on campus, I position myself close to a bathroom just cuz it makes life easier #smallbladderproblems.

But today I'm grateful for the little things. I'm grateful for a reliable printer that works everyday, without me wanting to cuss it out. 

I'm grateful for tissues, and most importantly, the little pack of kleenex my mom put in my backpack when she moved me into the dorms a thousand years ago. It has come in handy today, and has save my poor little nosey from scratchy campus paper towels. 

I'm grateful for the sun for melting all the terrible snow. 

I'm grateful for music because it makes boring and down-right miserable tasks like studying for physical science bearable.


I'm grateful for good hair days and cute outfit days because NOTHING can ruin one of those. 

I'm grateful for accomplishing little goals and that keep me on track when the big ones seem so far off. It makes those huge achievements seem that  much closer, and sometimes that's all you need to get back on track. 

I couldn't choose which quote I liked best, so its a double quote kinda day :)

Sunday Thought

Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody! Hope everybody wore some green today. But on a more sunday centered note, I taught in relief society today. While I was preparing, I was looking for videos and decided to watch My New Life, Stephanie Nielson's story about her crash. This video is an oldie, but a goody. I have seen it a bunch of times, but I still love it and feel the spirit every time I watch it. I decided to start her memoir Heaven is Here because I have heard wonderful things about it and so far its very engaging and uplifting. Her story reminds me of when we first watched it on journey which seems like forever ago. And I hope someday I can have a cute little happy family like her. But watch the video. Its one of my favorites. 

It's Official!

I know a bit of time has past, but I found out a few weeks ago that I got accepted into my major! I couldn't be more thrilled and ready to take only classes that I'm good at and that I enjoy -- well maybe except for accounting. But yeah. It's official. I'm on track to becoming a public relations person (they need a better name for my job...). SO EXCITED!!!!!!!

State of the Union

Sorry for the twice-in-one-day posting, but 1) I'm exited about my new design, and 2) I had to post about the State of the Union.

Anyway it kind of surprised me how excited I was to watch it! Kass called me a politics nerd. And I am. I don't know why but it is so exciting to me! Every experience I have with Washington and  with government makes me want to be a part of it more and more. 

Also, I love Michelle Obama, but who doesn't? She is so classy and hip. Between her and Kate Middleton, people are seeing how modest can be trendy. 

I'm all energized now and want to help get things accomplished! But then I remind myself that the State of the Union makes all changes sound so easy and obvious, but it still is exciting.

I am a politics nerd, I have accepted it. Hey, at least I'm not a math nerd.

Ambition.

What a title, I have to say. It's one of those qualities that everybody wants to say they have, and to say they understand, but the truth is, very few people do. Don't get me wrong. There are some ambitious people out there who have done some amazing things, but more often then not, people either have to little or too much ambition. Too little, and you never amount to anything. Too much, and you never focus on doing one thing the best. Now these are the extremes. I'm not saying you are either a loser or a busybody. There are many different in-betweens and middle-grounds, and sometimes people can be incredibly motivated toward one aspect of their life, and totally blasé toward another.

So those are my thoughts. 

Now that I have philosophized a bit, here's why its on my mind today:

My roommates and I today were discussing majors, careers and the future -- typical topics in Mansion 22 -- and we were discussing where we would like to end up someday, and I realized I have two visions for my future that don't really coincide. 

One vision is a successful LDS one, where I get married at BYU and move back to Arizona to be near my family, and am a perfect little stay at home mom in a super cute Pinterest house where I cook interesting meals and have adorable genius prodigy children and a husband who rakes it in. 

The other is a successful worldly one, where I graduate from BYU and move to Chicago or New York or Boston or DC and become a sought after public relations specialist or communications advisor for a political campaign and live in a beautiful apartment in the city and do cultured things like attend the ballet and all kinds of galas.

Both of those scenarios I want desperately, but I don't see how they can coexist, on the simplest level, that one is set in a brownstone in DC, while the other is located in a house with a yard somewhere in Mesa. 

The most important part there, though, is that I don't see how it will work out. There is a quote from on of my first devotionals by Sister Oaks that says, "the Lord will provide a way for you to balance your ambitions." Short and sweet, but that simple phrase helps me realize that Heavenly Father knows me and knows my desires and has a plan that will allow me to be happy and the enjoy the best parts of each eventuality. 

I thought the cityscape was particularly fitting.

End of the Year.

Many things have happened this year that have surprised me. Coming to college its self was shock, and figuring it out was another thing entirely. Looking back, I can't believe how swimmingly things have worked out. I made some of the best friends I could have ever imagined. I handled some of my hardest setbacks more on my own then ever before. And it makes me realize that it wasn't just a coincidence that I met who I did, and that I couldn't overcome those obstacles without help. Those realizations allow me to notice the hand of the Lord in my life and the overwhelming impact He has in my life, and I am incredibly grateful. 

So those best friends I mentioned, some of them I will be living with next which I am overly stoked about, but the rest are all awesome young men who will be leaving on missions for the next two years. I am so happy and excited for them, but at the same time, I'm going to miss them a ton! I found this quote on pinterest (story of my life, I know) and it instantly become one of my favorites.

So I know its pretty depressing to have to leave at all, but since goodbye's are inevitable, I am trying to keep this in mind. Along the same lines, whenever I think of goodbye's, I think of the rainy car scene in Parent Trap, and the song they play during that scene is the epitome of sad goodbye songs. So here it is. My sad goodbye song for my going home playlist :(

If any of my college friends happen to read this, thanks for an awesome year and I really am going to miss you all. Have great lives!

Sunday Best

I hate Utah wether. Today, it dropped 30 degrees and snowed. Snowed! Last week we had relief society outside and this week we ran up the hill to church in a blizzard. 


But on the upside, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Twelve Apostles came and spoke in my ward today. It was a very special experience to be sitting so close to an apostle of the Lord and have him tell us specifically what my ward needed to hear. My favorite quote he said today was following the story of the woman in the old testament with the blood disorder who touched Jesus's robe and was healed without Jesus consciously knowing. He said "the power of prayer and the power of faith are independent of cognitive recognition." I thought that was a very insightful and comforting comment that really resinated with me that if I have enough faith in line with righteous desires, I can blessed and healed and comforted simply by having faith and praying. That's how closely those commandments and promises are tied. 


I also want my family to know how much I love them. Someone close to me lost her grandmother unexpectedly and I want to make sure that if I ever was confronted with such a situation, that I wouldn't be wondering if they knew how much I love them. Mom and Dad, thanks for the great influence and support you are in my life. Jacquelyn, I know we butt heads, but you really are a great sister and so smart and pretty. Kristen, I always say we would be friends at school if we were the same age, but in fact you would be WAY cooler than me Ms. Stu-ent Body President. Gus, I miss playing Wii and seeing you grow taller before my very eyes and I can't wait till you come up for conference. Lauren, I love you, my crazy baleelee. I know its cliche, but I really don't say these things as often as I should. Just know, I love you all very much. 

Happy Wed-nes-day!

It is 55 and sunny out today. More than that there was a warm breeze. Catch that? WARM! And the grass is starting to grow back in green. We walked past a patch of it the other day and Maeser got so excited he ran over and grabbed a big handful and made us all smell it. Smells like spring :)


More about the weather:  I still can't believe I said 55 is warm. At home 55 was coat and boots weather, but here it is shorts and sandals! I am worried that I will come home in the summer and not be able to handle AZ heat because I am acclimated to the Utah cold. Anyway...


Today is officially the half-way point of the semester. This semester has flown, even faster than the last. It will be very bittersweet when it ends because I get to see my family (yay!) and it will feel nice to have a year of college under my belt, but then I won't see my college friends all summer, and for the case of most of them, two years on top of that. 


I am also in the process of patching a hole in my pants so wish me luck. I have no Mom here to fix it if I mess up.


On the more serious side, a while back I was feeling very frustrated and helpless and struggling to keep my head above water, so to speak. I found this quote on Pinterest and it reminded me that I am in control, even when it feels like I'm not and to stay focused on what I really want. I told this story so 1) everyone can know I am doing well, 2) I just really like this quote and wanted to share it, and 3) to show my mom how awesome Pinterest is so she will just get on already!!

Hope everyone's lives are going well. Everything is great up here  at Utah. Have a happy Wednesday!

Better Late Then Pregnant!

So it's been a while. And a lot has happened. So this post might be a little bit on the spastic side... brace yourselves. I have come back to BYU for my second semester. GO COUGS! 

My family came skiing right after I came back to school and that was a lot of fun, even though there was no snow. 

The Allison. A classic.

Then it was time to sign contracts for apartments next year. AHH!! Scary right?? And somebody (Kass) thought it would be a good idea to camp out! Worst idea ever. Nobody slept because we had six girls ins a four-man tent and it was January so it was naturally freezing. I woke up--and I use that term lightly since we didn't really sleep--with frozen hair from the side of the tent. But the good news is we got our apartment! Mansion 22 baby!!

Tarleigh is legit with her head-lamp.

Don't we look so excited to camp??

Then we had a super awesome ward activity at this tubing place in Heber. It was a blast... until it started snowing when had to drive home through the canyon. I was safe in Kass's little blue bug, but we did have a couple kids spin out and crash into eachother. But still a super fun activity. 

These big events are a blast, but what makes college fun on a day to day basis are the little things. I now it sounds sappy but its true. We are just silly.

Gotta love Jordan's BYU Christmas stocking shoes!

I'm a Who from Whoville!

And about the title? I was going to write better late then never but this popped into my had from this funny thing I read on Facebook. Its little kids finishing popular sayings. Enjoy.

What Am I Doing With My Life?

I have been stalling for about all day today to not study for my test and now I am down to the wire and I just can't make myself focus. I think the problem is that it is a nursing class which I am staring to doubt as my major and its like as a sign something is keeping me from working on it. It probably sounds like a lame excuse but that's where I am currently. 


I had an epiphany today in interior design class--well maybe its not an epiphany because it has been slowly building in my mind for a while--that the perfect job for me would be to renovate old buildings and mansions because it combines two things I love:  history and design. But I'm still faced with the issue that BYU doesn't have an interior design program and that I always saw myself as doing something academic. The problem is I can't seem to get it out of my mind so I feel as though all my down time is spent mulling over my options and fantasizing about designing. I feel so restless in my design class an it eats me up being in there. So there is my predicament.