A ton to say the least...

So it has been way too long since last posting in this darn thing! I had completely and totally forgot about it until the other day when I saw Michelle has updated hers after getting engaged!! So today since I had the day off and I have news to share I thought I would post something new on here.
First of all since the last time I have posted I finished another semester at college in a new apartment and all new roommates. I learned after the first semester that part of my OCD and being always grossed out was the apartment itself because even when I had just cleaned I still felt like the place was gross. My own fault that I am so picky but sometimes you have to learn new things. So I moved to the IVY and it was a good experience living there but I don't plan on living there again. The only reason why I say that is that it is not realistic living at all. I felt like I was in a hotel as I walked the halls or around the building. I know that I will not have that nice of a place as I start my life outside of my mom's home so I want to live in more realistic places for when I do graduate and move to a more permanent place. I loved my roommates in the IVY though, it took some getting used to of course but I learned that happens with all places. I also had the best FHE family a person could ask for. Of course it was awesome just because of the girls in our apartment but the guys were pretty cool too! ;)
Now being back home for the past two months I just work most of the time. I nanny for an awesome little boy, Wesley, he is four years old and smarter than I feel he should be! haha I can't even keep up with him sometimes because he asks so many good questions! He also knows how to manipulate me pretty well, not a good thing but it gives me some good stories to tell and keeps me laughing. I get to teach him all about math basics, reading, writing, art projects and hopefully much more as I go full time in November.
Along with being a nanny I work part-time at Payless again. I must say as much pain and annoyances that place gives me I just can't seem to quit. I love the people who work there and getting to socialize while working. Because lets face it, most of my socializing is with a 4 year old during the day. Plus its not the worst thing getting to be surrounded by shoes all day.
As far as my family goes my mom had surgery on her hand because of work. She is doing good now and just getting back to the routine of work, cooking, cleaning and the rest of her long list she maintains. (I swear she is crazy but she is still awesome.) My oldest sister Alysha has been married for almost 7 months now and is pregnant with a bouncing little boy. She is so happy to be adding to her family and I am not complaining a bit about it! Little Zeke will be here in January to join the crew, but I hate knowing that I will be back in Idaho when he comes and I won't be able to go down and spend some time with them. I plan on going down as soon as I can though and maybe spending time after I get done with my school year down in Phoenix. My other sister Melanie is doing good still living in Seattle and working two jobs. It sounds like she is doing pretty good and her apartment is pretty cool I must say.
I love being back home in some ways because I get to spend time with my family and experience the pre-college living again, without cooking for myself, cleaning as often or homework, but I do miss school a lot as well. A couple things I don't miss about school though is the lack of children I get to play with! At home there is a ward full of adorable kids that I get to see in primary, my favorite kids (Naama, Hussein, Touli and Ali), as well as kids of friends ( Chloe and Alex). Another thing I don't miss is the lack of rain. Although it hasn't rained a ton since being home, actually it only rained one day I believe, the last two days it has been nothing but rain and it is so refreshing and beautiful outside.
All in all, I am just living my life the best I know how. Saving money for college, trying to entertain myself at home, patiently waiting for my nephew to come to the outside world, enjoying spending time with family and friends and counting down the days until I go back to school.

P.S. I am also feeling a little accomplished for actually writing in my blog for once... I'm sure it will be short lived haha

Not too much..

Not a lot has been going on lately and as you can tell I have already broken my "I am going to blog at least once a week" idea. I feel like this is how it always works, I get this great idea and am so excited to follow through and then I just stop. I don't ever really know what happens really, it might just be that I come up with another great idea and forget about the first... But this time I am going to blame it on studying and homework because honestly I have been doing a lot of that lately.
Other than the regular homework and studying I have just been spending time with my roommates and things have been pretty great. Last weekend it was just me and Kimber chilling most the time, and of course KJ (Kaitlyn Johnson) was here visiting. Then on Monday with most of the roomies back we went to IF and I am excited to say that I have finished my collection of Fast and Furious movies. Except the third one because who even likes that one? I mean Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are not even in it so what is the point of wasting my time watching some guy from Texas fail at driving? That was most of last weekend... not too exciting but I think that is what I needed. It was nice not having to worry about school, cleaning, or doing something right now because none of that mattered.
What else.... I have been missing home a tad and looking on Pinterest is not helping haha. I hate seeing all these cute cats when I know my kitty is sitting at home. Also the food on Pinterest looks good and always reminds me of things that were made for me at home. I must say that I have been rather lazy about cooking lately and don't really feel motivated to change that...
The only exciting news is that my sister Alysha got married today to a great guy. I am really happy for them both and she looked beautiful in her wedding dress. As excited I am for her I am also really sad because I was not able to be there. Not only that but I know my mom wanted to be there more than anything and because they eloped we thought that it was a just the two of them thing. I guess it wasn't though because my aunt and grandparents flew down for the ceremony. I know that it is devastating to my mom that she won't have pictures of Alysha and her on Alysha's wedding day. I just wish there was some way to make her feel better and solve the situation, even though it is too little too late. I also just hope that Alysha's day was all she was expecting and even better for that matter because this should be one her best days. I wish them both all the happiness in the world and lives full of love and good times.

That is all I can think of for now but hopefully I will have more exciting news later this weekend or the beginning of next week...

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!