Puzzle Pieces

Isn't it funny how sometimes you are given pieces to a puzzle, and then you look at the picture and you are able to put it all together. Story of my life today. The puzzle all came together. It was a crazy day but it was so great. For the last few weeks I've had the feeling of an upcoming calling. I met with the bishop last week and then this week, it became official. It is going to be a lot of work but it is a great opportunity to serve. I will do my best and give it everything I've got and pray for the help of the Lord with the rest. So, ready or not...here I come Relief Society, let's do this.

Break Time!

So I am currently between winter semester and spring semester. I am taking complete advantage of these few precious days.

I started early on Thursday morning. I picked John up at eight and we came and made breakfast and chilled and caught up some. After we ate McKay met up with us and we looked with a large portion of his pictures from Samoa. Such a beautiful place, and it was so fun to hear some of his stories. Following that, we headed up to Bridal Veil Falls because the three of us all have summer fever really bad and just want to be able to play in the mountains. We went up there with the intention of just walking up to the falls, but once we got there we just started climbing. So we bouldered up the muddy mountain side to the top. Note to self: Never wear nice clothes going into the mountains with those boys, they don't really care if you are wearing an $80 pea coat (because yes, that is the most expensive item in my wardrobe) you'll get dirty anyways, so dry cleaners, here I come. It was totally worth it though. It was beautiful and we found a really big snow cave that was awesome. Don't worry, on the way down, we found a trail. No mud, not steep, but hey, we made some good memories hauling it up through the mud. (But the trail down was very much welcome.)

McKay and I on the trail

John, McKay and Me in the snow cave

McKay, John and I starting up the muddy slope

John and I at the base of the falls

McKay and John on the trail up

Once we got back down the canyon, we went to In-N-Out because John hadn't been there yet. I introduced the boys to putting grilled onions on instead of animal style, so much better, they loved it.

We came back to my apartment and then hit the park for some frisbee. I successfully broke three nails (on one catch might I add) and have a bruise on my thumb along with about five little cuts at the bottom of my thumb, all just from catching. That is how legit these guys are when they play frisbee, it's so fun. I'm not as good as they are, but I hold my own well enough to still have fun with them. We had a BLAST.

McKay in the air

John in the air

More than anything I just loving having some of my best friends back. It is so fun to spend time with each other and just laugh and joke around but still be able to talk about anything and everything in life. Also, Marissa just got back into the states from Jerusalem, I will get to see her when I get back from Cali, and that will be so great!

Yesterday, I worked from nine to six, but then I took off to Salt Lake and went to the Jazz playoffs game against the nuggets. We had pretty decent seats in the lower bowl and they won, go Jazz!

So that is my semester break in a nutshell. I have great plans for Boondocks and Cali, but those are technically after school starts again, but still...super fun!

(Side note: There is a highly obnoxious boy here trying to win my roommates heart. Katherine, you are a better person than me for tolerating all the boys that come and try to show off their talents to woo you.)

Academic Binge and Purge

Academic binge and purge as my tenth grade honors english teacher called it. Basically you cram as much information into your head as you can right before a test and forget it all within 24 hours following said exam. Story of my life. I have actually done a lot better at trying to absorb the materials the last few semesters because I will be dealing with these topics for the rest of my life, so it's important. However, my coaching/athletic administration final is not terribly applicable to my life. So, I crammed like crazy. I didn't excel by any means on my final for it last night, but today our teacher sent out an email saying that she was going to curve it heavily in our favor because everybody is doing poorly. We didn't cover any of the material in class because we had a million awesome guest speakers like Bronco Mendenhall and she felt bad that she didn't teach us very much. I feel pretty good about this curving business. :D

My women's health issues final went much better. I studied for a few hours last night and then probably close to six hours today. I actually stayed up on the material through the semester and then just spent all that time reviewing and solidifying everything. The bad part was that it was scheduled for eight o clock. On the last day of finals, super lame, but that's ok, I'm done now. And I aced that final, it was so easy. It wound up being all multiple choice and true/false. I was expecting at least sixty points of free response so that was a nice surprise.

Moral of the story: I'm done with another semester and one step closer to graduation. Spring semester is going to be brutal so I'm having a hard time being excited that this easy semester is over, but hey, it's only six weeks right. Oh, and tomorrow McKay and John are coming to Provo to play all day long, I can't wait!! Boondocks is getting closer, and...one week from right now...I will be on my way to CALIFORNIA!!!!! Life is so great. :D

One of My Favorite People

Welp...another one of my all time favorite people came home this last week. Due to my work schedule and school...I didn't get to see him until today.

John and I go way back to a water fight over spring break in the 6th or 7th grade. Over the course of high school we became great friends with each other and with all our other friends. He has spent the last two years serving his mission in Samoa, and it sounded great! He spoke in his ward today, oh and he sang, it's been too long since I've heard him sing, when Spence comes home, I plan on spending hours singing with them.

John and Me

I've come to the conclusion that missionaries getting home is one of my favorite things. Ever. End of story. I love getting my friends back. I am so proud of them for serving so faithfully, but it's so great to have them back and to get great big hugs from them all the time, I love it! So much fun!!

Shay and John

(And just for the record...Spencer comes home in 3 weeks. Another great hug two years in the making. This one will involve twirling through the air, and lots of it.)

Two of my favorite people

John and McKay

An Annual Favorite

Spring boarding is a yearly must. If you go in April and time it right you can hit some pretty good snow and warm sunshine all at once! Yesterday, McKay and I timed it just right. We found some pretty good powder for this time of year and we wore t-shirts and shorts!! Ok, McKay was the only one wearing shorts, but I went with short sleeves and no coat, it was glorious!! We went up to Park City Mountain Resort for a few hours and had a great time, did some black diamonds, not well, but I did them. I love snowboarding, I get better and better each time I go, I love it!!

I got a pretty great sunburn, I remembered sunscreen on my face thank goodness but didn't even think about it on my arms so I have a line where my sleeves ended and then it is red to wear my mittens were. It looks really funny, but oh well, totally worth it.

Also, funny story of the trip. There is a lift called Thaynes. As we approached the top, I noticed it was a really steep drop off the lift. Then I got slightly distracted and forgot to put the nose of my board down. All of a sudden, I realized I was still on the lift and McKay wasn't. I panicked and jumped. It was hilarious. The liftee walked out and laughed to ask if I was ok, I was totally fine, just super funny. When all else fails, jump off a lift hanging in the air, why not?

Lift Picture

We looked like nerds

I love my snowboard!!

McKay rockin' the shorts

Spring Success

The last few days have been excellent. I have had a lot of things on my check list, here are a few.

• Get my hair cut - check
• Go out to lunch with Checko - check
• Visit Froot/Wash my car - Check
• Pay a visit to Det. Jeff Maglish (old boss) - check
• Play catch with a friend in the sunshine - check
• Hear Egypt stories from my parents - check
• Find iPOD cable - check
• Write my second to last paper for the semester - check
• Order new shoes, skirt, shirt, and purse - check

Spring is rocking my world right now. I love getting in my warm car and putting my shades on and jamming with the windows down. I am doing good on my goals, they haven't all happened, but they are coming along nicely. It was so great to spend a day in Murray on Wednesday and be with people that take me back to my roots, so much fun!! I only have one more class to go to on Monday morning, and that's it!! For my class on Tuesday our teacher is just taking us all to the Pizza Factory for our final, so excited!! I can't believe it's a another semester down, crazy!!

Maglish, Me, Ris, Coley and Zach

Ah the good ol' days, it was so fun to visit Maglish

Leaving Neverland

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, clearly. I have come to the conclusion that it is time to leave Neverland. Neverland is a magical place where you never have to grow up, you can stay a kid forever. So...this means it is time for me to grow up. I feel like I am a fairly mature person and that I have always taken on a lot of responsibility for my age since I was in the seventh grade, but I have decided that I need to make some changes. I am graduating in eight months and will be heading out to the professional world, leaving the college scene behind, not the BYU is exactly what I would call a "college scene"...but you get the idea. I have spent a lot of time thinking about goals and organizing them. Since September I have been working on one goal at a time and letting them build on each other, because I believe that goals typically work best when you bite it off in small pieces. However, this time, I am going big. Full fledged. And although I won't be perfect at them all right away, they are goals that are designed to help make my life slightly more fulfilling than it is right now. They are as follows:

1. Go to bed by midnight every night. Yes, I understand that to some, this is not a big deal, but to those that know me, you know that I am very much a night owl, I am highly productive in the late hours of the night. But I know it is healthier and more responsible and will be key in goal 2. (There can be exceptions to this rule if it is a legit reason, but not often.)
2. Wake up between 7 and 7:30 each morning. Again...to some this isn't a big deal, but given that I stay up til two-ish each morning, it isn't very often that I see 7:30. Although I am productive at nights, if I get a good nights sleep and start my morning out right, I can be highly productive in mornings as well, better choice. The plan is to get up and go exercise either at the gym or running/biking outside, then go to classes. (perk of being an exercise science major: it is completely acceptable to show up to class sweaty.)
3. Use free time between class and work productively. AKA: don't just come home and take a nap. Get cleaned up and ready and work on any homework that can be accomplished in the alloted time period.
4. Eat Healthy. My eating habits as of late have been exceptionally terrible. Eating is a very social activity for me, it always has been. So not having somebody to eat with or to cook for makes it almost not even worth it to eat to me. I mean, I'm surviving, just not eating as much as I should and the healthy things that I should. I know better. So...three well rounded meals a day. Fruits and vegi's are a must. Don't buy them so you feel better about yourself and then let them spoil in the fridge anymore. Meat...necessary. I hate cooking it, but I must do it. Dairy...not an issue. My sister Kristi is the only person I've met that drinks more milk than me. Grains...not a biggie, I get lots of those, just make sure at least half of them are whole. :D
5. Create. I love creating by music, crafts, memories, etc. Pres. Uchtdorf says it best in this talk. Women have been given a divine gift to create. I love doing it, but I don't do it often enough. I want to spend a little bit of time creating each day, at least a few hours a week.
6. Offer service to others. I have a tendency to get wrapped up in my life and to not search out service opportunities. I mean if they smack me in the face, I'll do it, but I LOVE service activities, they make me so happy. No matter how big or small or how big of a difference I make, I just love to serve. My goal is to do small acts of service every day and a piece of meaningful service at least once a week.
7. Attend the temple more frequently. I go to the temple at least once a month, but I feel like that is really selfish of me. Saints all over the world give everything they have to make the journey to go to the temple for just one day of their lives. I have one two blocks away and can't make time to go more than once a month? Not ok. My goal is every other week but I am hoping to go weekly. Possibly one of my morning activities.
8. Sunday afternoon walks. I took my niece for a walk last Sunday, good life choice. Even if it is only for 10-20 minutes, it is a great opportunity to just take a moment to breathe. It allows time for reflection. And it provides an opportunity to take in your surroundings. I spend so much time just cooped up in class, work or my apartment. I love getting outside and taking in the magnificence that surrounds me. For whatever reason, it inspires balance.
9. Less internet time. I waste entirely too much time on the internet. Way toooooooooooo much time. Recently that is all I have done after midnight, thus shooting down my productivity. Most of my time is spent on facebook. Problem. My goal with that is no facebook creeping unless I am going to make some sort of contact with them. I need to spend more time expressing love and friendship to those I care rather than just facebook stalking them. Not ok. E-mail, not really a huge time consumer. Blog, justifiable. This is my journal, I can spend as much time on it as I feel necessary.
10. Continue on other life long goals. Daily scripture reading, morning prayers, bedtime prayers, making my bed every day, keeping my room clean, etc.

So childhood, at this point, I bid you farewell. I am opening a new chapter in my life and as much as I have loved you and as good as you have been to me, I must leave parts of you behind. At heart, I will always love to play and enjoy myself, but I feel like these goals will take those two things to an all time high in life. I am so excited about these goals. They will take time, but I'm gonna give it my all.