Thursday, August 30, 2012

Some Nights

   Some nights I have so many emotions I just don't know what to think anymore. And most of the time that's overwhelming for me. But sometimes it just goes like this where I feel so calm and there is no reason other than Christ that I should feel calm.
   My insides should be churning. It sort of is, but overall I just feel calm. I feel reminiscent of the past, sad because I know how incredibly happy I was then and how confident I was, blessed because I just have so much to be grateful for(don't even get me started...I can't stop my list of things I am blessed with!), confused by my own feelings, but just an overall sad/happy combo.
   I kind of hate nights like this-where I don't even have a word for what I'm feeling. I want to cry but smile at the same time. I'm so so happy because I have a testimony of prayers and of the Lord and that I am His daughter and He loves me so much and is making sure I am on the right path. But there is just some sadness under there.
   In the end, I know it will only last for a night. I'll listen to "The House That Built Me" three more times, do my stuff before bed, and snuggle up under the covers of my fake bed. I'll wake up in the morning with the sun shining and the promise of Friday, a day off work, and a three day weekend to make me smile. And this feeling will all be over.
   And yet, as I typed that, it kind of makes me sad that this feeling will leave. Sometimes it's just nice to feel calm and know that everything is being taken care of.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Week One: DONE!

  So I survived the first week of classes. I say survived because this was one rough week! As much as I love school, love learning, love my major, and love my classes it was just hard to jump right back in to the amount of work in balancing school, a job, and getting myself together!
  Now onto each of my classes:

1. Into to Cultural Anthropology: THE BEST CLASS EVER. No, seriously. My professor is about as crazy into this stuff as I am and I start my Monday mornings off great! The class is fun and interesting and we don't have to come to class Friday's so we can watch pieces of documentaries:)
2. Archaeology through World Prehistory: Kind of not as exciting as I expected. If I were an archaeologist, I would die. You just dig up dirt to find rocks. When you find those rocks they could be one of three billion things man used to use. One of those options is just a dumb old rock. Not my cup of tea! But it should be more interesting as we dive into the actual stuff? At least the professor is really nice and quirky!
3. Mythology: I like it. It's a lot of the same kind of themes, which makes it easy. And the professor even said to think of it as story time, so...don't mind if I do!
4. Philosophy (Contemporary Moral Problems): Well, the class is all online. Even the quizzes and exams, which he tells us to use our books and notes for...Also, we have the most hilarious videos to watch to help us learn. Do I see an A+ coming??
5. The World in the 20th Century: Literally have done nothing for that class. He just posted our first assignment Saturday morning, so it will be a little bit of a challenge for me to like that class.

So these are just my first impressions of my classes and how the semester is going to go! Thursday, I came up with a list of goals I want to complete this semester. I hope that if I post this and people read them, they will help me accomplish these!!

1. Exercise every day. Most of the time it will be morning, unless I don't have to work. Then it will be afternoon. And not on Sunday.
2. Read D&C all the way through
3. Make All A's.. :)
4. Volunteer at least once a week!!

So pretty much that's been my life in a nutshell this week! Here's to hoping week two is a little more normal!

Oh, and a picture of me and how excited I am for class tomorrow..

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Independence...And The Likes Of!

    Well this past week has been quite eventful! I went back and babysat Gabby for a few days and had some fun with her, moved in to an on campus apartment, took a road trip to Georgia to say "Good-bye" to some very good friends, went to a Jason Mraz concert, and made it back home to suit 211 in one piece while making new friends:)

    I babysat Gabby on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and we went swimming and had a blast just trying to get back into the swing of things! Thursday I moved in to Suit 211 and met my roommates and went to bed super early! It was a really long day filled with multiple shopping trips, chocolate, and  good feeling about my new home:)
 
    The next morning I woke up and my friend Liz and I drove to Georgia for the weekend. It didn't feel like a five hour drive because we made it so fun! That afternoon I saw two of my best friends before they left the next morning for BYU. Let me just say, these two boys are some of the best guys I know who can make me smile with the smallest things! Matthew and Stephen and I have been friends for a few years, and I hope we can have lots more! BYU is lucky to have them there:)

    The next day, Liz and I decided to try this thing with our hair... We put two egg yolks, a teaspoon of oil and two teaspoons of vinegar in a bowl, whipped it up, and put it in our hair. Yes. We did that. But the result after the wash and shampoo? Shiny, soft, strong hair!
 
    That night was the Jason Mraz concert. Let me just say, Jason is an odd fellow, but in Middle School I fell in love with his music. We had lawn seats and ended up renting chairs there, so when the rain came pouring down in line we had no cover! We had done our hair and everything for the fun night ahead, but only to look like drowned rats after! The concert ended up being a super fun atmosphere and really chill but hyped up at the same time. Definitely worth the half hour drench!

    This morning we woke up and drove 4.5 hours back home, went to church, and this evening I went home for an hour to grab some stuff and hang out with the fam. Let me tell you, I have spent one night in this place, but driving home felt so weird. I love going home, but it will definitely be different. I know it's time for me to move on and grow up and hopefully get married one day! But I'm taking it a step at a time and it means I get to live with some really great people! Tonight we hung out and just talked for a while. We have to make a Roommate Agreement and making one of those means you get really close really fast! I hope we can all keep getting along and everything!

    Tomorrow my Sophomore year of college starts. I am nowhere near who I will become, but looking at myself just a year ago, there is a huge difference. I have grown stronger in my testimony of the gospel and of Christ, realized so much more about myself, changed my priorities and my major, found my focus, and made mistakes as well! This coming year I hope I can find exactly what the Lord has planned for me, serve others in more ways than I can imagine, grow stronger in my relationships with the people around me and God, and grasp every piece of knowledge I can find. I hope this new school year will be great all around:)


Our Egg Yolk Stuff..

Gimpy Really Hates Me

Before the Concert!

After the torrential downpour!

Jason Mraz!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Right Time and Right Place

    I always wonder why I am in a certain place at a certain time. I'm pretty sure that's normal...right? Well for me it is. I know I shouldn't sometimes because it could turn angry in bad situations, but most of the time I try to flip it and say "If I am here, I am here for a good reason, so I might as well just do good things to let that reason come to pass!"(...that was such a Mormon thing to say.."come to pass"...). As you know, I've been volunteering with the Center for New North Carolinians and I absolutely love it! I feel like that is a huge part of why I am here now. I know there are probably tons of little reasons why as well, but this is just something that I feel completely natural doing.
    I walk in and it feels like home. The walls have old murals on them of symbols from different countries and fun colors, the rooms smell absolutely horrid, the children run up and hug you and ask to play tag or have you read to them, the A/C is broken, I smell of dirt the moment I pull up, and there is no place I would rather be. These people get volunteers randomly and from different organizations, but I feel so at home there and so at peace. Nothing else is on my mind but how to serve them. All of my needs and wants are completely out of my mind. And that's exactly the way it's supposed to be.
    I am looking now at filling out an application to volunteer in an Orphanage in Ghana next summer for 8 weeks. I feel like ever since I've been at the Center, everything in my life just falls into place. It's not how I would have pictured it, but I also know that the Lord has better plans for me than I could have come up with. For the past three weeks I have had this stupid, silly smile on my face and I realized last night that my cheeks literally hurt from smiling so much. I spent 5 hours yesterday moving things out in the heat and I couldn't stop smiling all afternoon and night! I feel like a psychotic person. But I know it's supposed to be this way.
    I just can't get over how extremely blessed I have been when I know I have not deserved it. I know the power of service and what it really means now to have love for everyone and only the will of the Lord in my heart. I wouldn't have traded this past summer for anything and I love that feeling.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

I Love Lists Wednesdays: Top 8 Childhood Memories

Okay, as many of you know, my family is quite interesting. And that's probably an understatement. But I love them and I'm part of the crazies:) This week I chose to write 8 of my favorite childhood memories. These memories come from when I lived in Virginia, which means I was 7 years old or younger..enjoy a blast from the past!

1. Playing Indians in the backyard. We had huge berry bushes in the backyard and when you squished them, they would dye whatever article of clothing you had purple. We also had a plethora of costumes for the occasion. Our elementary school did some sort of festival every year for Thanksgiving and we had tons of "Indian wear". So all of us with our braided hair and random feathers and beads would go outside and dye our shirts and hands purple with berry juice and play Indians.

2. Playing Roxaboxen in our backyard. We had a huge backyard with a rolling hill, a creek, and tons of woods. We would pretend the backyard was our city "Roxaboxen" and we would have a baker who would bake treats(rocks and pinecones), a mayor(ALWAYS Danika or Jeff...no I'm not bitter), a banker passing out money(usually leaves), or whatever else our little hearts desired that day:)

3. Sledding. We had a huge yard with a steep slope in the front and a kind of rolling hill in the backyard, so any day it snowed, we had friends over and would sled down the driveway all day, only to take a few breaks and go inside for some yummy hot chocolate!

4. Putting on Plays. Danika, Jeff, and Nicole probably didn't really want me in their plays considering I was really little and just wanted the world to be about me, but they were kind enough to let me in! We would put on plays all the time! I remember a few about Vampires and Princesses, and vaguely remember watching my sister put on a play with her friend about the Little Mermaid in the backyard.

5. Destination Imagination and Oddessy of the Mind. I watched as my mom helped my older siblings through their O.M. competitions and skits and in the first grade, I was able to be a part of D.I. These are competitions where students are put into groups based on school and grade range and given a topic to write and put on a skit about and are judged and given awards. I have so many memories of traveling with my family to watch these skits and go to their competitions at different schools. I loved being a part of it when I got older. I was best friends with my group and I think our skit was about kangaroos and an armadillo or something in a rainforest and I'm pretty sure I was a ladybug and we had a talking rock. But these are experiences that helped me love theater and have fun out on stage!

6. Christmas!! Christmas at my house has never changed, but it was so magical. We would get pajamas on Christmas Eve, most of the time it was matching. We would read the Christmas story, watch a movie, and eat Chinese food. Then we would all grab our stuffed animals and sleeping bags and pack into the same bedroom and camp out for the night. We would stay up late playing cards and games and talking, wake back up around 1:30 after Santa left our stockings at the end of our beds, look through the loot and swap interesting items, fall back asleep for a few hours and wake our parents up at 7. We always had the same picture on the staircase, go to the tree, and the person playing Santa would pass out presents. Then the missionaries would come over and we would have a big breakfast.

7. The Missionaries. I don't remember any of their names or most of their faces, but I distinctly remember their presence in our home all the time! We had a bonfire one time where the Sister missionaries burned a piece of their clothing to mark their one year, one of them gave Jack his first haircut, they took me to the park and pushed me on the swings, and they always had to get a picture in the harry potter glasses and bunny ears. It was pretty much a staple in our home to have them!

8. Our FHE board. We have not been the most consistent family with FHE, but when we lived in VA and had less kids, I remember the peg board we had for FHE. Every person had an animal on a little string and it was under a category- "prayer, treat, lesson, etc".  I just remember that dark green board like the back of my hand and wanting to place everyones names.

Just some memories from the Virginia house!