Life's What You Make It

So let's make it ROCK!

Sorry for the Hannah Montana reference...it just worked. Anyways, life has been pretty good lately! I kinda realized that if I want to have fun and be happy, I can't just sit around and wait for great things to happen to me, I have to put myself out there and just HAVE FUN! One of the biggest things I think we can learn to do is to create our own happiness.  Bad things are going to happen and there's really nothing we can do about it.  Life sucks sometimes! But we can still learn to find the good things in every day.  For me, I'm lucky enough to have a temple that I can see every day as I'm walking to classes and that is my little reminder that life is such a blessing! So even if you don't have a temple that you can see all the time, find something to be your little reminder of how blessed you are.  Maybe it's a little note in your car or a picture in your room or a CTR ring.  It doesn't matter what it is, just find something! Once you can start thinking of your blessings as much as, and then even more than, your problems and trials, life becomes so much sweeter! 

Anyways, that's my two cents on being happy. Now here are some of the things I did this week that made me happy!

On Thursday night, Lauren and I decided we'd done enough homework for the week (don't worry we finished it) and needed to just GET OUT. So we went to this little block party that a new apartment complex was having and it wasn't the most exciting party, but we made it fun! Plus, anything is more fun than homework, right?  We got to go on a limo ride around the block which was pretty sweet.

They also had a pretty awesome photo booth at the party so of course we had to take advantage because who doesn't want to go hiking/canoeing/camping in flippers?

I also totally conquered that rock wall, just saying... (;

So now for the real fun part. I promise I do love Rexburg and I'm not just trying to escape every weekend haha.  But we had a long weekend and I had to take advantage of the fact that half of my dad's family only lives 2 1/2 hours away!  And let me tell you, it was so worth the drive! I love my family so much! My grandpa is one of the most spiritual people I have ever met.  He knows so much about the gospel and is so close to the Savior.  And then my grandma is just the sweetest lady ever!  I swear it's physically impossible to be hungry when she's around, and she never complains about anything.  Whatever anyone asks her to do it, she'll do it with a smile.  I'm so blessed to have such amazing grandparents on both sides of my family!  I also got to spend time with my dad's sister, Dianna, and her family.  I love Dianna (aka Aunti Di). She's my dad's youngest sister and she is such an amazing example to me of someone who is strong, hard-working, loving, positive, and patient.  I always look forward to spending time with her, and it's even more fun now that she has to ADORABLE little girls that I get to play with. 

  

Lucy and Ruby are my little miracle cousins.  They were born about 2 months early, so it's extra special to get to see them grow and become happy, healthy big girls.  They have the most contagious laughs and sweetest smiles ever.  It's so fun to see how different twins can be.  

Lucy is very thoughtful and always wants to observe everything whether it's flowers, birds, sand, or your face.  She almost always has a very concentrated look on her face and it just cracks me up! I wish I could hear what she was thinking about sometimes.  

Miss Ruby is a little more carefree and loves to laugh.  She isn't quite as comfortable as Lucy when it comes to walking, so she always wanted to hold my finger when had somewhere to go.  Also, both girls love to cuddle with people and stuffed animals, which I think is the most adorable thing in the world.  There were a few moments where I just wanted to freeze time with those precious little girls.  Who needs school when you can play with babies all day??

Then today it was back to Idaho again, but I got to have a little more fun before I went all the way back to Rexburg.  We all drove up to Preston, ID (home of Napoleon Dynamite) where my grandparents grew up and we brought flowers to their parents' and grandparents' graves.  I only got to meet one of my great-grandparents on my dad's side of the family, but I'm so glad to know that families are forever and that I will get to meet all of my ancestors one day.

And finally, what's a trip to Preston without lunch at Big J's?

So that's basically how my week went! Every week has its ups and downs, but I'm just learning to focus on the good things and I'm so much happier when I do that.  I'm sure that's pretty much common sense, but it's so much easier said than done! So I'll just end with a little happy reminder (:

So Far So Great

Hey friends! So I've kinda sucked at blogging so far this semester...sorry! Actually the only people that probably care are my parents haha so sorry mom and dad! Life is busy. But it's a good busy. Usually...so anyways, here's what I've been up to!

I got my mission call a couple weeks ago! I'm going to Cali baby!! I've never been to California so I'm pretty pumped.  I did a separate blog post about my mission that you can read right here! I figured most of you have already heard plenty about it, but just in case anyone wanted to read about me going gaga over my mission, there ya go!

Also, I'm being more social this semester! Yay me!! (London Tipton anyone? No one? Ok.) Lauren and I got to go glow-in-the-dark shooting last week and let me tell you, I'd never been shooting before, and you could tell haha.  But that's ok, it was still super fun!

They gave me the headphones because every time someone shot a gun I nearly peed myself...

Also Lauren looked pretty legit with that gun.

Then last weekend Lauren and I decided to go on a little adventure so we went on a quick trip to Provo. I got some new clothes for my mission, which was super weird and made me feel really old, but it was nice to be able to go to the mall and find so many modest clothes! It was like the mecca of missionary clothes haha.  And I got a California shirt cuz I just couldn't say no (;

Obsessed? Maybe.

So then that night I got to see my luvah Kenz Hall and some other artists from her producing company perform at a concert to raise money for their Europe tour and holy dang they were all so good! You can check them out on YouTube right here. Go listen to them. Right now. And then buy Kenz's album, Hands On, on iTunes.  She was on American Idol and she's so flippin talented! She should have won, but even though she didn't, she's gonna go far in her music career.

Also we stayed with Lauren's cousin's family while we were in Provo and they had horses in their backyard! So a horse selfie was a must...

And we drove past the MTC which was super weird, but we couldn't get any good pictures because it's surrounded by big trees and it's all fenced off like a jail... We did get some pictures outside the Provo Temple though!

So that's basically all the interesting things I've done lately, but I also just have to say a little bit about a few people who have made my semester great.

1. My choir! 

I don't have any pictures of them right now, but I should soon.  I am so blessed to be a part of Collegiate Singers.  Every time I go to choir, my day gets a little bit better.  I love being in a choir where we can sing hymns and sound so beautiful at the same time!  I was so lucky to have Mr. Johnson as a high school choir teacher because he was so passionate about music and was never afraid to talk about his belief in God. So take that love for music and faith in God and apply that to every person in the group and you have my choir. It's pretty fantastic (:

2. Granticus!!

Oh my goodness I don't even know where to start with Grant. He FaceTimes me just about every day and never fails to crack me up and make me feel good about myself.  He has this amazing talent for making girls feel beautiful and I have always loved that about him. He has been such a blessing to me and my family and probably anyone who has ever talked to him. He's just one of those people that you never forget.

3. Nahiomi!! 

So I know she's not even here this semester, and I don't get to talk to her nearly as much as I would like to, but she still makes me smile every time I get to talk to her.  She's just such a sweetheart and I love her to death! I've only known her for less than a year but she's already made such a huge impact on my life.  She's such a great example to me and I hope I can be half as amazing as her one day. She's gonna be one of the best missionaries Chile has ever seen.  I think that's where the Lord is sending all His best missionaries right now because David Archuleta just got back from Chile and Jake Jensen is about to go there too. So be prepared to see some amazing things happening there. Anyways, Nahiomi is incredible. Plus her family is just the cutest thing I've ever seen and I haven't even actually met them but I love them so much.

4. LAUREN FREAKING BURNS. 

I love her so much.  I have no doubt in my mind that Heavenly Father put her in my life for a reason. The day I found out that I didn't get into BYU was pretty tragic, but within a few hours of finding out I didn't get in, I had this random thought to ask Lauren if she had a roommate yet.  And when I say random thought I mean straight up inspiration haha. Lauren and I went to church in the same building for like a year but we never really hung out, so there's no way I would have thought to live with Lauren on my own. That was all Heavenly Father. And boy am I glad I listened because she is just incredible! She's one of the greatest examples to me of someone who is constantly striving to be more like Christ.  She influences me to be a better person every day and I don't know what I would do without her.  Although it is kinda hard sometimes to live with someone who is so dang GORGEOUS. Ugh. But I guess we can't all look like a model...haha (;

So anyways, this semester has been going so much better than last semester, and even when I have my bad days, Heavenly Father always sends me someone or something to cheer me up.  I also think that going to the Temple to do baptisms every Thursday before classes is helping me to be closer to the Spirit and just happier all around.  I wish I took advantage of having a Temple so close last semester because it truly is such a blessing. This whole school is just such a blessing! Well I'm probably going on and on so I'll be done now, but here are some pictures of the beautiful place where I live.  I've kinda had this obsession with mountain sunsets and Rexburg clouds lately, so here ya go! Have a fantastic week!!

2 Nephi 2:25 - Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy

Carlsbad? Carlsgood.

"Dear Sister Norton,

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You are assigned to labor in the California Carlsbad Mission."

So I'm sure you've already heard about this (maybe a little too much) but I got my mission call and I couldn't be happier about where I've been called to serve!  You can click here to watch a video of me opening the call. From what I've heard, Carlsbad is, like, one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Just to give you a little glimpse, here are some pictures of Carlsbad. 

Is that not just the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen?? I'm so excited to serve the people there! Also, my friend Landon Smith (Jake Jensen's best friend) is serving in that mission, so it'll be super cool to see him! I'll report to the Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC) on September 24th (so far away!) and learn how to be an effective missionary for 2 weeks. Then after that they'll send me off to Cali for 18 months! And just a little side note, I'll be in the MTC during General Conference so I might get to go to Conference in Salt Lake City and, if I'm SUPER lucky, I could end up getting to sing in Conference! It all just depends on who they decide to have sing for that session.  But I think that would be pretty dang awesome to sing in General Conference. Like a dream come true actually...but I'm trying not to get my hopes up haha. So anyways, I love Carlsbad already, but if you've been watching the news lately, I'm sure you know it's not exactly at its best right now.  There have been some crazy wildfires in that area right now, so please keep them in your prayers!

Maybe it's just me, but that looks like some pretty scary stuff! Luckily, the fire is totally contained right now, but there's been about $10-$15 million of damage. So I have a feeling the missionaries will be doing a lot of work to help restore everything that was damaged. Also, according to Landon, some of the fires were actually intentional which is really sad. I don't know why anyone would do something like that, but he pointed out that even though bad things happen, God lets those things happen for a reason so that we can gain experience and learn from them.  I think that's a good thing to remember with life in general.  Bad things are going to happen, but there's always a purpose and God will never give you a trial that you can't handle.  So back to Carlsbad...I'm just super excited to get there and finally start what I've been waiting for so long to do.  I've wanted to serve a mission since I was probably about 12 or 13, so the fact that it's actually happening now is just so crazy and exciting!

So I just have one more thing to add before I finish this blog post.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true!  Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, in person. He translated the Book of Mormon by the power of revelation and was a prophet of God.  Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today and he has the authority to speak for Heavenly Father.  By following the teachings of the prophets, the Bible, and the Book of Mormon, we can make it back with our families to live with our Father in Heaven for time and all eternity because Jesus Christ died for us and atoned for all of our sins. Because of Him, we can be forgiven and made perfect again no matter how many times we mess up.  I am so blessed to know these things and to have the opportunity to teach these things to the people in Carlsbad. And if you have any questions, just check out mormon.org or ask me. Have a great day everyone!