A wonder weekend

Oh my! This week went by so quickly it is amazing! I think it is mostly because I didn't have too much homework and I had different activities going on but it was nice. Then this weekend I had a blast!
So we will start from the beginning haha. On Friday I went to this open mic night at South Gate and listened to some cool music but we had to leave after only 30 min! :( But it was to go watch as two people opened their mission calls. That was a really cool experience because I have never been there when people get the news where they are going. After we did that we went to a party at the Ivy, my new home for Spring Semester. That was a lot of fun as well because it was my first party here and it was with all my roomies. After we finished at the party we went and got ice cream and then came home to our apartment and watched a movie. Overall a very busy and fun day!
Then on Saturday I got to leave Rexburg! (Only for Idaho Falls but still!) Emily, Sarah and I went to the mall there and I got some new jeans and a light zip up as well as some Victoria Secret spray for only three bucks! I call that a steal! After the mall we went to Walmart and got some groceries and help some of the cutest puppies ever! Too bad I couldn't take one home! On Saturday night Emily, Sarah and I saw the movie "We Bought A Zoo" and that was a really cute and fun movie! Then I went to another dance only this time at the Hart building. It was really fun again and I spent most of my time with Emily, Sarah and their room mates.
Then today, being Sunday, it was fast and testimony. It was a really emotional Sunday, in the best way possible though! I solved some problems with friends, I felt the Spirit so strongly, and I heard a very touching Relief Society lesson. The funniest part of the day was that I bore my testimony to only be asked to give a talk next Sunday for being brave. Ya that made my day all the better! But in all reality I don't mind giving a talk because I feel I have a lot to share. Haha
All in all I really enjoyed this week and weekend because I was busy and never had time to stop and worry. I should have more weeks like this here! Challenge Accepted!!

A new leaf...

Okay I say this every time but I want to blog more and I want to make it a new goal to blog once a week. That should be pretty easy as I see it and I know that when I go to look back at my first semester at college this will be a good journal. I still am loving college life although I find myself getting a little homesick now. It has been almost a month of being here so I feel like this is pretty good for having gone a month before feeling this way. I try to focus on the positives of being here as much as possible but sometimes it is so much easier to think of all the problems. So I am going to take some advice of my room mate and make a pro-con list haha, she would be all too proud to see this!
Pros:
There are awesome people here!
All my classes and teachers are very helpful and good
It is kind of fun to just be away
I have an amazing ward and Bishop and counselors!
This is going to be one of the biggest growing periods of my life
I get to live in a different area and experience more of the world... if you could call Rexburg the world haha
I get to appreciate the people at home more and they get to appreciate me more :) I must admit I like the second part more because I get more compliments
I am getting lots of stories to tell!

Now I am pretty sure that there are more pros than this for college life but of course when you want to think of things nothing comes to mind...

Cons:
My room mates and I have very different standards of clean (besides my room mate that I actually share a room with)
I miss my family, friends and pets at home
I have to actually do everything myself haha it was nice not having to cook every meal and also having a laundry room in the house!
I have no car here and I am having some serious withdrawals from driving!
Oh did I mention that my room mates are messy?! Cause I can not mention it too much! I know that they are not trying to do harm, but come on who wants to live in a mess?
And one minor detail, the water sucks here! I am very glad that I got my filter station for Christmas!

I know that most of the things on the list look petty in the long run but like people always say it is hard to have them not bother you when you are in that moment. I know that my family is here to support me as much as they can from Seattle and I am so grateful for that! No matter what I need they try and help, whether it is advice, to send me something, and of course my mom sending me baked goods that are too spendy to make myself!
This all seems crazy as I write it all out, but sometimes you just need to clear your head by seeing it in writing, well text in this case. That is basically my point in this blog, I need to blog at least once a week to clear my head and record all the things that I do so that I can have peace of mind and have a record of college.

Now that I have that all typed up, onto what I actually did this week! It should be pretty short as this week was pretty boring! I went to school of course and had some great discussions in BOM and Education. Elder L. Tom Perry gave a devotional this week and it was amazing to have someone so influential at school! Then over the weekend I went to Megan Bigelow's wedding reception and she looked so Beautiful! I got to meet her new husband! Sounds weird! I also met Emily's other brother-in-law, and got to see her family. It was great to see people from home as I feel homesick. Makes all the difference to see people who care for you when you need it! Now I only need my cat and my mom to come out and we will be good! haha

That's all I have to tell for now, as you can probably tell I was bored most of the week! I will report next week! After all this is a new leaf!

College life

So I have been super lazy lately when it comes to blogging and I have had so much happening that I can report! I want to start with the good and move to the not so good just because I know that the good most definitely out ways the bad.
Being at BYU-I is a blast! I love being here and all the freedom that comes with it. I know that I had tons of freedom at home but there is a certain freedom that comes from just not having my mom there all the time for me. As much as I loved her there and all the help she gave I am glad to have this experience and the chance to grow from it. My classes are really easy and some even fun, all the teachers are very nice and willing to help you anyway that they can. Which is more you can say for high school teachers! Haha. Most of my classes I have Annie in so I have study help and we get stuff done fast and well together. The only thing that concerns me as of now is that I have two research papers that I need to do and I am not motivated at all to do them! I guess that is just how it goes in school though.
Church here is quite a bit different than at home! I don't mind the difference but I do miss that I had my own bathroom to get ready for church in! This morning I enjoyed an iceberg  as a shower! But once again that is how college life goes.
My apartment is pretty nice for the most part, I love my room and the size of it! I am glad to have the room mate that I have to share a room with. We both like things organized, keep things where they need to go and don't mind the smell of nail polish and nail polish remover as we are always doing our nails! Haha
The only not too good thing that I am struggling with here at college is that six girls in one smallish apartment is not working so well. I was really looking forward to having a whole bunch of girls to get to know and love. The only problem is that all of us don't have the same standards of clean. For most people this wouldn't be too much of a problem but I pride myself on a clean kitchen and a good smelling place. As of right now I do not live in one. I love to have no dishes in the sink, the garbage taken out, and to not have to do anything but enjoy a clean kitchen! I am disappointed in ways that I can't seem to find my voice in this situation but I also don't want to be that girl who is always nagging. The only way that I see lately to solve this problem is just to clean it myself. But even then I am cleaning two or three times a day. I thought this was college! Not kindergarten where kids don't know how to load a dishwasher or even wash a dish! I guess I was just given this challenge to teach me something and as I try to search for it I will have to hold my head high and be happy for this opportunity at all.
Overall I enjoy college life but like with any other change there comes challenges. I will just have to learn and grow from it. As of now I just trying to stick with it and have some fun!

The success and the AZ

So I am currently half way through my trip in Arizona visiting my sister and also a good friend that I used to work with. And as I have finished my project I can now talk about my successful quilting! Yes my previous blog was entertaining for the pure fact that I struggled so much to figure out how to work a sewing machine. Thankfully I got it finally and found out that I had it all set up almost perfect and all I needed to do was put the strings in the back of the machine... Oh well though! I got the sewing machine working and after that I had my quilt done in two days! I felt so accomplished and so I started another quilt! And now I am working on a third quilt for another good friend for her baby. Pretty soon I am going to be a sewing addict (or maybe I already am!)

Anyways, I got the quilt all done and delivered it to Lindsey and her beautiful little boy Alex yesterday in Mesa. I couldn't believe how little he was and how much I missed holding little babies! It has been quite a while since I have known someone with a baby that small! Well actually just about a year!

Other than going to visit Lindsey and baby Alex, I have just spent a lot of time talking and traveling with my sister Alysha. As she still has to work I normally just tag along and make myself invisible when she has meetings or visits with her clients. She also has an awesome job because she gets to see all sorts of children of different ages all week long. It must run in our DNA to love children and want to spend all our time with them. Although Melanie wont go near a child with a 50 foot pole. I think she would rather eat bugs even!
I can't believe that I go home in two days though. It seems like time is going by so fast lately and that I will be leaving for school in no time. I guess that is just part of life though. I know that school will be fun and good for me but I am still nervous to go.

Anywho, that's all the news I have for now. More sweet lemonade moments to come I hope!

Sewing Mishaps... Oh my!

So if you know me well enough you know that I am always getting myself into new situations. Well this time I decided that I wanted to try making a baby quilt. And let me also let you know that I never finished my senior quilt that we started in Young Women's like a year ago! I try to be all crafty and creative in the things that I do but I now know that sewing machines are definitely not my forte...
It all started like this, I went to JoAnn's and got all these cute fabrics in flannel so that it would be nice and soft for baby Alex. Then I remembered that one of my favorite people, Robyn, has a sewing machine so I asked her if I could borrow it. She kindly agreed to and I am also guessing that she figured I know how to use them... my bad, I forgot to mention that I am totally useless! So I cut out all my squares and pieces for the blanket and then I went to get the machine. I came home all excited to use it and the string kept on getting tangled, and I couldn't figure out why the string wasn't even catching the fabric and making a stitch.
Then I turned to the trusted Internet and You tubed how to use the dang machine. After three hours of doodling on a sewing machine I still did not even touch my fabric for the blanket. Luckily I was smart enough to use the scraps to practice before moving onto the real thing. Although at this rate, I don't think I will ever get to the real thing.
So moral of my story, if you know how to use a sewing machine please HELP ME! I need to get this blanket done before I leave for Arizona!

Other than that adventure today, I learned that I will not be receiving FAFSA for school. This is a major set back in my plans because even though I never expected a lot from federal funding I thought that I would at least get something to help out. Now I am looking into anything that can help me! My mom has been a major help in this whole process as well. She didn't even hesitate to take out a student loan for me even though it would add more stress to her. I love her so dearly and could not imagine my life with out her. All she wants for me is to go to college and be happy and she will do anything to make it happen.
One final note, I have to say that Annie Emswiler would be very proud of me today. I do not even know if she bothers to read this blog or not but I don't care, I am still putting this in here. My mom made cupcakes yesterday for her dinner party that are chocolate with cinnamon and chile pepper, with a cream cheese frosting. I thought they looked delicious when I noticed the frosting was tinted slightly tan. Then I put what I think is a superpower nose to the test and I smelt coffee. Yes indeed, my nose was right, the frosting had espresso powder in it and so I did not eat the cupcakes! No coffee for me! Too bad though, I really do miss it, two years is a LONG time to not have any coffee...
All in all, my day was kind of crazy! I definitely got some lemon juice in my cuts but it was only because I wanted to taste the amazing citrus!

Turning sour lemons into sweet lemonade

I have been thinking lately about all the things that I have in life and I have so much while taking it all for granted. This post may seem different and more spiritual so just prepare yourselves (especially those who follow that are not members, just open your mind for a minute.)
I feel like lately I have been lacking in the spiritual category as I find myself wrapped up in the worldly matters and cares that are so often taught not to be caught up in. I am constantly on facebook, working, or just doing pointless stuff like watching television. Why must we always do the things that matter so little in this world? I mean who cares who is getting arrested, who is getting millions of dollars while we are getting only hundreds! None of this matters! So like Bishop Reeves said in his lesson today I am trying to change something one line at a time instead of trying to work on the list all at once.
All I want to do is not take things for granted and as I am sitting here pondering this it can mean many different things. It seems like a big task for some reason. I mean how do you not take things for granted when you know different. This is where I am hoping a change happens.
I want to start with something small, not taking the scriptures and the gospel for granted. I feel like me of all people should realize this because I have only been a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for a year now. I made this change for a reason, this church is TRUE! I don't care what any politic leader or any other person may say. We are no cult, we don't gather people for the purpose of being the biggest church. We are building God's Kingdom. I do not know everything there is about this religion and I don't want to sound all high and mighty but I am firm in my foundation and my plan is to know build my house strong and mighty so that I do not falter.
I feel good doing things that are so simple lately like attending church and listening and taking notes during my doctrine classes. I feel the spirit so strong as I listen to my Sunday school teacher with his undying faith. Institute is also helping me learn things that are so mind blowing that all happen in the Bible. Even though I went to Catholic school and I try to read the Bible I know that I know very little and it is so great learning the stories from the apostles of old.
I want to keep going on this path so that I can make a change for the better in my life. I have a strong testimony of this church and all those who oppose it can, there is nothing stopping you. But I challenge all of you to just listen. We are not who most like to portray us, we are just doing what we know what is true. Some of us may to pushy I give you that as I have experienced it in my life recently as well. But most you will find are some of the nicest people around and we will do almost anything to help anyone, another thing I have experienced lately. We are just like any other people so why must we be so ridiculed? My thought is that they just don't want to listen. And I have been there before, I know how they are feeling. So for those people reading this that are a part of the church, be patient, be kind, and do all the things we are taught to do. Let others come as they may. It took my years and now I can see myself nowhere else.
We all get lemons in our lives that make things sour, but through experiences we learn that if we add a little sugar we can get something amazing.

Cut too short

Ok I have been completely lazy lately when it comes to my blog, but I promise I will be better as I get a new routine down. I know if I keep telling myself this it might actually come true, but we will see... As for now not much has changed expect my new found love of the Hunger Games. Other than that life is good and I will post at a later time when I am not tired and working the next day.

Ta ta for now as my time is cut too short for now. I must suck up my lemons and move onto bed. :)