I'm a Big Kid Now!

Good news! I'm officially DONE with my first semester of college! And let me tell you, it was a crazy one.  I mean I guess I don't really have anything to compare it with, but it seemed pretty crazy to me! I learned so many new things about myself that I never knew.  Apparently I have a sassy side in me that I didn't discover until I met Nahiomi.  Also, I can actually survive subzero temperatures! Who knew?! I sure didn't think I could do it.  I also didn't realize that I can sing opera.  Now just because I can sing opera does not mean that I can sing opera well or that I enjoy to sing opera, but I'm trying to learn to enjoy it.  I learned that Heavenly Father truly does hear and answer all our prayers, even if it isn't how we expect.  And finally, I realized how much I am truly blessed.  Even in the middle of trials, I could always reflect on my life and see endless blessings from my Father in Heaven.  So here are just a few of the things that I was blessed with this semester (in no particular order).

1. The Rexburg, Idaho Temple

Even though I didn't attend the temple nearly as much as I should have, it was amazing for me to be able to look up and see the temple each day as I was walking to class.  It was so amazing to have that constant reminder of why I need to do my very best each day.

2. Lauren and Nahiomi

I love these girls so freakin much. I don't know what I would have done this semester without either of them! Lauren is such an amazing example to me in so many ways!  Even if she didn't know it at the time, she always helped me by to remember to say my prayers each night.  She is so in-tune with the Spirit and I admire that so much! Not to mention how gorgeous she is.  She will never ever admit that this is true, but Lauren could wear no makeup at all and still look flawless.  And she's pretty dang hilarious too.  Especially when you get a little Red Bull in her system (;  Then there's Nahiomi.  She just cracks me up every single day!  Only Nahiomi and I can make fun of each other as much as we do and still know that we love the crap out of each other (;  I'm so excited to see everything she accomplishes in Guatemala and on her mission wherever she goes!  She is going to be the greatest missionary ever, even if she does go to Georgia (;

3. Tender Mercies

 

It's the little things like cupcakes on a bad day, new fuzzy socks when it's cold outside, packages from your sister, and President Monson shaking a little boy's hand after General Conference that you don't ever forget.  There are so many tender mercies in our lives; all we have to do is look for them and we will realize how blessed we are.

4. Tickets to Wisconsin

If you've never lived a thousand miles from home, let me tell you, it's hard! Obviously I loved it in Idaho, but there were days where all I wanted to do was go home and even though I didn't get to do that, I was lucky enough to get to fly out and see my family in Wisconsin for a weekend.  I had such a great time and after that, it was so much easier for me to push through the hard days.

5. Devotionals

Maybe it's just me, but I think it's so cool that at BYU-I we have the opportunity to all meet together every week to hear from inspired men and women.  Even though sometimes I had to drag my feet to devotional, I never once regretted going.  The Spirit you feel in a room full of thousands of disciples of Christ ready to learn about the Gospel is incredible and each week I learn something new.  I also got to sing with my choir in devotional several times which gave me an entirely new perspective as I got to look out and see all of my fellow students in the audience.

So basically, I think it's safe to say that I go to the greatest school ever! I know I just got home, but I already miss Rexburg and the people there. BYU-Idaho truly is an inspired school led by inspired people.  That being said, it is so great to be back home again! I missed everyone and everything about Fishers like crazy!  Rexburg is great, but Fishers will always be my home.  I'm so excited to spend the next 4 months here (:

♥♥♥ Grateful ♥♥♥

Happy Thanksgiving!

So as you all know, last weekend was Thanksgiving and since I live a bit far from home, I went to Logan, Utah and spent Thanksgiving with my grandparents, my dad's sister, and her family. It was really great to spend time with them.  I love that even though I don't get to see all of my family that often, we still know each other so well and have such a fun time together.

I got to spend time with these precious cuties.  Ruby (left) and Lucy (right) were born several weeks early, so they're my little miracle cousins. I absolutely loved hanging out with them! I also got to play with their 3 older brothers that I met for the first time last summer. The youngest, Max, kept telling his brothers that he only wanted to play with "the girl" (me) haha. They crack me up! So we all had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner together and then on Friday I met up with Lauren and Nahiomi in Salt Lake City to see the lights on Temple Square.  I'm so lucky to have been able to see the this beautiful city all lit up 2 years in a row.   Everywhere you look you see hundreds of millions of lights.  They cover every inch of every tree and light up the entire square. It's so breathtakingly beautiful.

After we walked around Temple Square, I met up with my mom's youngest brother and his wife who live right by Temple Square and we went to get hot chocolate. I wish I remembered the name of the place we went to because it was some of the best hot chocolate I have ever had! It was also great to catch up with my aunt and uncle since I don't see them that often.  Once I went back to Logan, I just hung out with everyone some more before I had to go back to Rexburg.  I just love these sweet little girls so much and I miss them already!  They're growing up so fast!

Back to the 'Berg

Sadly, vacation couldn't last forever and I had to come back to Rexburg, but I still got to do some pretty fun stuff this week! On Monday our FHE group got to go for a ride in Bishop's helicopter! I have now decided that when I'm married my husband will own a helicopter and we will travel America in it (; But seriously, the view of Idaho Falls from a helicopter is beautiful!

That huge building you see is the Idaho Falls temple.  It was so cool to see a temple of the Lord from this perspective and it reminded me that no matter where we are in life, physically or spiritually, we can always have the temple in our sights.

But really. I want one.

It also snowed like a crap ton here this week.  And for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to go take a picture like this in the snow.  Also, it was about -10 degrees when I did this. I'm obviously not the brightest kid on the block...but as fun as snow can be, it has definitely caused some problems.  If you don't know anything about the city or Rexburg, picture it like this.  It's like a giant hill with the temple at the top, then BYU-Idaho a little below that, and my apartment complex is pretty much at the bottom.  So to get from my apartment to anywhere on campus, I have to drive up a hill.  Now I've driven in snow before, but that was in Fishers, IN...the flattest place on earth.  I'm sure you can imagine my frustration as I'm struggling to drive up an ice-covered, unsalted, unplowed, uphill road in 2nd gear going absolutely no where.  I was about to give up when I thought to say a quick prayer to myself. It was nothing fancy, just a simple "Heavenly Father please help me up this hill". Next thing I know I'm moving.  I looked in my mirror to see what was going on and a group of guys pushing my car up the hill.  Only at BYU-Idaho.  What a great reminder that even though Heavenly Father might not physically be with us, He can and will always send us help through His servants if we just ask for it. I am so grateful that I go to a school where students are so willing to serve, even in below zero temperatures. It is truly a blessing and I wouldn't want to be at any other school.  It's definitely been hard here and I'm more than excited to be back home in less than 2 weeks, but this school has blessed me in so many ways and I know that I was put here for a reason.