summer!

hi! well, it definitely has been a long time since i've posted anything new!

last semester was great: classes were tough but i did pretty well. missed california at times but got used to utah. got accepted to byu and byu-hawaii. had my first calling as a teacher. had wonderful roommates (whom i miss very much). and lived next door to my best friend (miss her too). such a great four months!

i learned so much and i definitely know i was supposed to be there last semester. i am transferring to hawaii in the fall... which is of course WAY exciting, but it's also hard. i mean i just got used to provo, had a wonderful roommate, lived 2 seconds from one of my best friends, finally got into the school i've been wanting to go to for 2 years... and now i have to start all over.

-sigh-

oh well. i am excited for what my new adventure has in store for me. :)

it's so good to be home!!! i just love southern orange county. a lot. it's been gorgeous; between 70 and 80 degrees and perfectly sunny and breezy for the past three weeks. no more worrying about a freak snow storm. yay! i'm just hanging out with friends and looking for a job right now... i need a job, bad!

that's it for now.
i'm off to the beach. <3

burnt out.

oh, i am so tired. so so so so so tired. i have two more finals tomorrow and i don't know how i'm going to get through them. well, biology won't be too bad. but math, ughhh math. math is gonna be the death of me! i did some extra credit, and there's a curve at the end, so i'm banking on that to help my grade. without those things i'd be toast. in 24 hours i will be done with the semester. (21 actually). oh boy. that is exciting.

on the bright side, i've had a nice relaxing day with my roommates... becky, whitney and i went out to lunch (britany was already on campus studying so she couldn't get sucked into our plot to not study). then, whitney and i went and laid out by the pool. it's such a lovely dayyy! we laid out for almost 2 hours, got some color... and studied a little bit.


as a nice study break, (okay i'll be honest i wasn't even studying) I GOT TO SEE ELDER HARDER! yep, cody's been set apart as a missionary for the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints :) he was up on campus today so i got to see him for a few minutes. how exciting.

and then, i bought us some german chocolate fudge from the byu bookstore. since he's going to germany i thought it was appropriate. and i just wanted chocolate...yeah. it was delicious.

so, now that it's 7:30 and i've done about an hour of studying all day, i'll wrap up this blog post so maybe i won't fail my finals tomorrow...

(disclaimer: despite all this complaining, i really am happy. no worries :) life's great.)

oh, you know.. just.. going crazy.

Hello!

so last weekend was general conference. and easter. and some friends from home came up to utah. it was a great weekend! saturday, i went up to salt lake for conference. saw both the saturday morning and saturday afternoon sessions, and hung out with drew, cody, and our new friend louie in between the sessions. it was great fun. my favorite general conference talk was "You Are My Hands" my President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. It was about love, and how we as disciples of Jesus Christ are called to love and serve others. watch it! it's a two-part video on you tube, or read it at http://www.lds.org/ :)


on easter, i watched conference at home, and then went up to salt lake to have dinner at drew's grandparents' house with a few friends. it was way fun. it was nice to be with a family on easter; this was the first easter i wasn't with my family. it was a great weekend and a great holiday, though! cody code is going on his mission in t-minus 9 days! how exciting. he's gonna be so great, but i'm gonna miss him tons!! here's a picture of our last hug (for two years)!






(okay i lied. i actually snuck in one more after this was taken.)

this past weekend, i got a whole lot of nothing done. i did go to the temple twice, to a volleyball game, and saw the last song and alice and wonderland... but not so much homework or studying. oops. yeah, it's good now and then to have a fun, relaxing weekend... but i start finals on thursday so maybe this past weekend wasn't the best time to take a break. ha. i'll make it through finals.... i think.

i have a 7-page biology paper i just started today due tomorrow, two math assignments also due tomorrow, two finals on thursday, teaching a lesson in relief society sunday, and two more finals next tuesday. hahaha. crazy 9 days. but after that i am done!

okay. i should probably stop blogging and get back to all the stuff i need to do!

seven things!

Okay so my wonderful best friend Annie tagged me (do you call it tagged? well, she linked me, or something) in this award thing... Which is kinda cool...

Here are the rules: List seven things about yourself. Link back to the person that gave you the award. Pass the award on to seven bloggers.


Okay so, seven things about me, here i go.


1. i'm pretty much obsessed with planning. i have a little day planner that i would not live without. i say would not, because technically i guess i COULD live without it. but i would just go crazy and not know where i was or what i was supposed to be doing, it would be ridiculous! any chance i get to write something down in my planner i do it. it's kinda a bad habit, especially cause when i'm bored in class, i look through the upcoming weeks and see what i need to do and write it down. ha. i do plan on channeling this weird passion of mine, though. i want to be an event planner! i do it on a daily basis for myself, and i did plan a bunch of the high school dances for my group, so why not do it for big corporations and get paid? i'm hoping to do mostly corporate planning. but maybe some weddings on the side :)

2. i'm an only child. yup, boring, huh? i don't think i'm spoiled... but i guess i would have less things and attention if there were 3 or 4 or 10 more kids in the family. i love family, and i wish i had siblings. but it's not too lonely, cause i have a lot of really good friends that i pretend are my family. my parents are so great. they're divorced, and they have been since i was four, but they are still best friends. i know, weird. i'm so lucky, though! i love being close to both of them. although they are different, and by different i mean like polar opposites, i truly admire them both.

3. i've lived in the same house my entire life. in beautiful southern orange county. my parents bought the house in mission viejo and my mom still has the same house. my dad moved out when they got divorced, so i have lived with him in san clemente and dana point, which i am super happy about. i love it down there! i think that is why i have such a love for the beach: i've lived less than five minutes from it (w/dad anyway) since i was four. i think i'm the only person i know that's been in the same house their whole life... i moved up to provo, utah at the beginning of this year. so i don't technically live there right now. but i will again in 4 weeks!

4. i'm a member of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. :) and if you know me, you know that this is a huuuge part of who i am! i'm a convert, i joined the church a little over two years ago. i was raised catholic, went to a non-denominational christian church for a little bit, and had a lot of confusion in my life until i found the lds church. i always wanted to be really religious, but i felt like something was in the way, something was stopping me from progressing. anyway, long story short, i joined the church november 17, 2007 and my life has improved in every way since then. i'm much happier, i'm nicer, i love and appreciate my parents more, i know what my purpose in life is, and i know my savior jesus christ and my heavenly father so much better! the church is TRUE and i know it with everything in me!!! (if you are not lds and you have questions, i would looove to answer them for you. or, you can go to mormon.org to check it out.)

5. along the same line as that last one, i want to serve a mission for the lds church. i won't be able to go until i'm 21, so a year and a half from now, but i want to go so bad. it would be an eighteen month mission and it could be ANYWHERE in the world. alabama or peru, south carolina or indonesia, you get it- anywhere. there is nothing i love more than my heavenly father, and i want to share the restored gospel of jesus christ with my brothers and sisters, wherever that may be! i've still got some time until then, many things could happen. so i'm not saying i'm for sure going, but i for sure want to! ...i'm going on a mission unless the lord has other plans for me :)

6. i LOVE theatre and dance. i've acted in lots of plays and musicals, and by lots i mean like... 25 ish in 6 years. i haven't acted since my senior year of high school and i miss it soooo much. it's really sad. whenever i see a play or a dance performance i enjoy it, but i get really depressed because it hasn't been ME up there for years! ugh! but i kept up the dancing... until i came up to BYU this semester. i miss that too, and i'm probably really bad now cause i haven't danced in 6 months. i'll get back into it in the summer and i will start taking polynesian dance for sure, maybe some others in the fall. (oh yeah, i'm going to BYU hawaii in the fall, failed to mention that ;) )

7. i think i'm crazy. i think too much, worry too much, plan WAY too much. i stress more than is necessary (especially since i've been going to BYU), i over-think everything, and i'm just weird. like a super big dork. i often wonder why people are friends with me, i dunno, i just think i'm really weird. i'm naieve, for sure, which is bad and probably gonna get me hurt sometime. but i just think since i'm pretty much an open book, everyone is. i assume everyone is nice and has good intentions until their actions prove otherwise. and even then, i'll try to give them the benefit of the doubt. i get distracted easily and there isn't any skill i'm really good at.

but while these things are definitely true, i guess i'll have to give myself some credit... i am a loyal friend who truly cares. i try my best to be nice and to be the best person i can be. i try to show people i care by asking about their lives and i love being the person my friends call when they need help or just someone to talk to. i love my life and i strive to be a good person and to be happy :)


well, now that you've read entirely too much about me, let's pass this on to some others, shall we?



the game said to link it back to the person who linked you, so, Annie, you're first. one of my best friends, whom i currently live across the hall from! it's been sooo nice being able to see her almost every day up here.

her roommates, who have also come to be my friends, Alicia and Lauren . i am really glad they're annie's roommates or else i wouldn't know them! they put up with me.

my friend from home, Nicole . i miss her!! she has a blog that i really enjoy reading. and a smile that i am always happy to see.

Brooke . so her blog is mostly pictures (she's an amazing photographer!), but maybe i can get her to actually post something about herself for once.

Rebecca , this great girl i got to meet back home who has since gotten married and moved off to new mexico. i love reading her blog and learning about all her new adventures!

Sister Starr ! one of my favorite moms for sure. i'm super close friends with her son, drew, and so therefore she sees a lot of me around their house. seeing her blog makes me feel not quite so far away.



well, that was fun :)

oh, life.

my life is crazy and stressful and unpredictable and amazing. yep, all rolled into one. i have been learning this semester that things DON'T work out as planned. and that's a problem for me, cause i'm a big planner. i love planning. i do it all the time. way too often. heck, i even want to be an event coordinator for a living. so when something i've planned for my life turns out, well, completely different than i'd planned it, i tend to stress out.

this semester there's been about 3 or 4 major changes, and a ton of little ones, but i'll spare you the details. just know that it's been weird. but so so good. everything that hasn't worked out my way has turned out great all the same. this experiences are helping me learn to trust my Heavenly Father. He really knows what to do with my life better than i think i do. it's been a great comfort to me, seeing His hand in my life as He guides my decisions and circumstances. yes, i still stress. and i think way way too much. (unfortunately for my roommate, it's not just thinking, it's rambling on and on to her about my crazy life, almost nightly... i don't know why she puts up with me)... but at the end of the day, i know that God loves me and He will make things work out for me.

a scripture that i love (from the book of mormon):
"and i have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and i do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me."
- alma 36:27

i love this scripture so much because i have a testimony that it is true! i see it happen in my life literally every day. there are so many little things that just should not work out for me, but they do. like getting to school right on time even if i'm stuck in a ton of traffic. like having enough energy to make it through all my classes even when i'm up way too late the night before. and literally hundreds of little tender mercies every day. i KNOW God loves me. and i know that because i do my best to do what is right, He blesses me! it's a wonderful little exchange we've got goin. ;)

school, of course, is a significant chunk of my stress. but i'm finding that although i'm so excited to be home for the summer, i also don't want the school year to end as quickly as i'm sure it will. in five weeks from today, i will be done with all my finals. and be ready for summer. it's so exciting, but truly bitter-sweet. i miss all my friends back home but i don't know what i'll do without my roommates :( i never thought i could live with three girls and see them every day and not get tired of them. i am an only child, after all, and i've never had to share a room or a bathroom or anything. also, when i'm around one person for too long i almost always get sick of them and need my space. but i've come to love these girls so much in the short time i've been here. i'm going to be so lonely this summer in my own room with my big bed. i'll take a twin bed and a shared room anyday, to be able to chat with britany WAY too late every night. we literally do not know how to go to sleep. we fail. but i love it.

well, it's not quite time for the "end-of-the-school-year-wrapup" yet. but thoughts of my life these days definitely include school and my roommates, so there ya go.

life's nuts. but it's so, so good. :)

california girl at heart

last weekend, i got to go HOME! my mom had surgery on her shoulder on the 19th, so i went home to take care of her a little bit. my mom lives by herself so she's been pretty stressed out about this surgery. but my friends from church have been SO amazing and have helped her every day with things she's needed around the house. THAT is the definition of a christian. not in word alone, but in deed. thank you, friends. :)

drew and cody... love them.

<3

i didn't get to see many friends while i was home, but spending some time with three of my closest friends was just what i needed.

i loved being home. i've realized i'm definitely a california girl.. ha. but the weekend away did make me appreciate provo more. i was glad to come back. i am enjoying my time up here- i'm learning a LOT and seeing why i'm supposed to be here this semester.

i'm loving life and i'm so glad i'm in utah. i will miss it when i leave. but i am so excited to be home in sunny southern california for the summer. i miss the beach. and my tan. -sigh-

i love sundays. and my roommates :)

so today was a great sabbath day. all the talks and lessons at church were so great and it just brought the spirit into my day and made me feel so calm. i was really stressed before church because i taught relief society today. the lesson ended up going well, better than i thought it would, because of the great comments from the wonderful girls in my ward. and mostly because of the spirit.

my lesson was on agency: our freedom to choose. i love the topic of agency, it is such an amazing blessing to us. our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He won't force us to choose what is right; He loves us so much to want us to make our own decisions. we are free to choose our actions but we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions, however. i know that the commandments are to make us free, not to be a burden or to restrict us. when we choose to keep the commandments, we are then free to do so many other things that negative choices may have prevented us from doing. for example:
"if there is a sign that says 'no swimming, whirlpool' we might think that this is a restriction. but we still have many choices: we are free to swim somewhere else, we are free to walk along the beach, we are free to go home. but once the whirlpool has us in its grasp and we are pulled under, we have very few choices. we can try to escape, or we can call for help, but we may drown" (gospel principles, lesson 4).
i have a personal testimony that obedience brings blessings. i have seen it in my own life and in the lives of others. it is truly an amazing principle and as we are obedient to some commandments our desire to please God only increases as we recieve blessings and feel good for our righteous actions. :)

after church, my fabulous roommates and i FINALLY took roommate pictures! (we've been meaning to since the beginning of january). here are a few of my favorites:







i feel so blessed to have these crazy girls as my roommates. they're the best. <3