I Have To..

I'm sorry, but my nephew is just too cute to not post about :) He's so funny, and I get so excited to watch him every single Monday. It's always such an adventure. He's growing so fast, and getting so smart it's awesome! But he is starting to tantrum and get upset when he can't play with his toys, and he eats more and he walks more, but prefers to crawl cause it seems faster. I don't know, it's always extremely fun with him, and I love it :) So here are some videos of the cute guy :)

This is after Evan started laughing when he sneezed.
I fake sneezed the same time as he really did, and then
he kept laughing and talking and screaming. Hahahaha :)

Poor kid chewed on his book, so I had to take it away.
So he cried... Hahaha it was sad.


I have a few more videos to post, but blogger isn't letting me so maybe I will later.
But I love my nephew, and I'm so grateful that I get to spend the time with him, that I do.
I'm learning so much, and he's teaching me more than I feel like I'm teaching him.
Until next Monday...

Saturday

My Saturday was pretty casual, but I still feel like it's worth blogging about. Work has been going good. Friday I covered receptionist ALL day and it was awesome! Such a great experience and I definitely loved every minute of it. Hopefully a future position as a receptionist opens up somewhere! Anyway, so Saturday came and work went by pretty slow. I got 11.5 hours of sleep the night before and it was the best sleep I've ever had. I was definitely tired but it was worth it. I've been getting migraines a lot more lately, so I'm hoping I'll be seeing the doctor soon for my brain scan & MRI. After work, I left and headed to the Temple. It was a beautiful day, but heck, everyone and their dog was at the Temple! Lol it was crazy packed, and I spent about 2 hours but it was wonderful. I got a lot of thinking done, and just got to enjoy the peace of the Temple. It's one of the most humbling, and peaceful places.. it's one of the very happiest. I always feel extremely close to my Heavenly Father when I'm in His Holy House... I can't do anything else but think of marriage, and families being sealed, and work for the dead being done... it's amazing, and I wish that EVERYONE I knew, and everyone they knew, etc. could experience the Temple like I can.

After the Temple I went home and got ready for my YSA's Chinese New Year activity. It was pretty fun :) They served Panda Express, which I usually don't eat, but I tried it anyway and it was pretty good. I had two fortune's and that was pretty cool... then we watched Mulan! I forgot how stinkin' hilarious that movie is! Me and my friend Kim were laughing the whole time.. After which I headed home to then fall asleep and wake up for church :) All in all, it was a pretty good weekend! :) I can't believe January is basically over, but I'm super happy. This time last year, Brady had only been out 1 month, and these first three months of his mission were the worst.... and now I have 10 months left... :) Eek! Love the boy..

Little Guy

This stud and I play together on Monday's :)
I love it! He is so cute, and getting so big.

He points. I love it. It's the first thing he does when he gets here.

He's getting really smart with communicating, but still chooses crawling over walking.

Sometimes, I just try to tell him that walking is much better and cleaner than crawling. But he's a baby, so he doesn't understand. He plays with the weirdest toys, and is extremely fascinated with the show "Dragon Train" Hahaha it's hilarious, but I love playing with baby :)

My favorite part is when he sits up and realizes that he see's himself and then starts pointing at the phone and you can see his cute finger, and chubby feet :) And then when he talks right after that. Ahhh... the kid is a stud :) And he'll be turning 1 next month!! Ahhhh. Where did the time go? I remember when he was born like it was yesterday!! I'm so excited though! I love you baby :)

My 44th Letter & A Surprise!

Long story short, Brady teases.

Like a lot. In a "you're a pest" sort of way.

But it's still cute :)

Anyway, today was officially bumped up to the best mail day ever. The first time I said that, I lied. Let me tell you how my day went first. Woke up at the butt crack of dawn *excuse me* I woke up at 5:00 AM to workout with my father, oh ya know, just some weights and stuff :) Almost couldn't make it down the stairs because I was so sore. Hey, layoff alright? Haven't conditioned in like.... 2 years (XC!) Then I got read for the morning, read my scriptures (on a roll.. eek!) ate food, got dressed and headed to school. Only to get there and realize I left a very important paper at home :( So my wonderful mother, VERY wonderful, brought it to me. My super awesome friend Nick had to sit somewhere else in History this morning... Ha ;) We're going to try and be study buddies now.. but I'll let you know how that works out! Learned about Personality Disorders in my next class, self-diagnosing? Completely. Now I'm scurrred that I have a personality disorder. But let's not get anyone's worries goin'. In my Abnormal Psychology book I found out that the DSM-V is coming out in 2013!!!! Eeeeek :) So stoked. Ordering my DSM-IV-TR now :) (Did I tell you how much I love majoring in Psychology?) Afterwhich I decided it was time for lunch and Institute :) Yes, I'm now taking 4 classes! Whoop whoop! :) I'm in Pearl of Great Price and today we talked about the creation. It was pretty intense. I then left for math, which just makes my brain melt, plus it's at the end of the day. I could feel a migraine coming on and I wanted to go home. We finished a whole hour early so I left. It was raining ? :/ Hahaha, I wasn't sure Gilbert was going to make it home today. I think he might be dying :( So I made it home, and was just HOPING my Valentine's Day package or possibly a letter was in the mailbox, but didn't get my hopes up cause it's Thursday.

But much to my surprise, was I wrong :)

This letter explained a lot, but was so cute. He wrote it Monday and it go here today... it usually comes on Fridays if sent on Monday... or maybe that's Tuesdays.... Anyway, I was still super happy. I looked through all the letters and I thought... bummer :( NOTHING. But as I walked inside, it just slipped right out and I was like... AHH :) It appeared like magic ;)

Here is one of Brady's jokes:
"Did you hear who I ran into at Lenscrafters the other day? Everyone! ;)"
Hahaha, that boys sense of humor cracks me up :) I miss it every single day.

"Have I ever told you how cute you are? Seriously Babe, you are the prettiest girl in the world to me."

I love that he reminds me how pretty I am :) It really makes me feel good about myself.
Now, here comes the best part.
Drum roll please!!

TA DA!!!!
My Valentine's Day package! :)
I cannot tell you how stoked I am to receive this.
He sent me a letter last Monday saying that's when he sent it,
but I wasn't getting it, until today.
So I wonder if maybe the postal system just was slow.
But anyway, I promised him I wouldn't open it until February 14th!
So, stay tuned.... ;)

Ashley is in gray, and I am in blue. Hahaha she is ALWAYS more excited than me.
As you can tell. That is why I tell her things.

Unexpected

So... I got this package. In the mail. Package #2 might I add... Package #3 will be opened on February 14, 2012. It was huge and it just sat in my mailbox and I stared at it. I had no idea what it was. It was heavy, and I already had my Valentine's Day package, so I opened it as soon as I got in side... and much to my surprise..

It contained every.single.letter. I have EVER sent him. I almost started crying. It was the NEATEST thing I've ever seen. I cannot believe he has kept a year worth of letters.. They just sat in my lap for a few seconds and I couldn't believe my eyes. As I went through them all, I found the one (bottom right corner) that I wrote him the very day he left on his mission. I can't believe I could go back and remember what I said, what had gone on those first few weeks he was gone. I also got to read the most recent one, which was only a few weeks prior. I really am so lucky. He couldn't carry these around anymore, so I'm grateful I've gotten them. I'm going to put them in a binder, by date and hopefully I'll get to add the letters from his last letter. :)

Philippians 1:3

I'm pretty sure you've seen this, if you're my friend on Facebook but I have to blog about it. Not just for the picture I posted, (which I'll post here) or for my status, but for the meaning behind the scripture.

I had an Institute meeting tonight, and during the devotional one of the class presidents shared this scripture. And he shared how lucky we are to remember. Have you ever thought of that? How grateful we are to remember things, like faces, memories, laughs, noises, Christ.. I mean, isn't that what we partook of today in Sacrament? That we would remember Him. I'm grateful for memory. That I get to remember my Savior and his Atoning Sacrifice for me. That he loves me, unconditionally. I'm grateful to remember that my Father in Heaven is just a prayer away, and is constantly ready to help me whenever needed. I'm grateful that I get to remember my sweet Andy :) And all the good times we shared, including our phone calls which mean the most to me. I'm so grateful that I remember that families are forever and that no matter what happens, I'll always have mine. I'm so grateful that I get to marry my best friend in the Temple someday, to be sealed to for time and all eternity, and to have my own forever family.

I'm especially grateful that even through all my hard times, I can remember all the good. I can look back on my life through so many different times and smile :) I can sit and look like an idiot smiling out of nowhere, but that's not what matters. Today was a very humbling day, and days like today make me wish Sundays came faster, or more often during the week. I could use them a lot more. This gospel is so true. So true. I read scriptures with my family tonight for the first time in a while and it was nice to get that spiritual feeling again, and with my family. It has become REALLY important to me, to make that a priority in my future family.. I know it'll keep us close. I've seen it keep other families close too. :) The power of the book is incredible.

One thing I'm extremely grateful to remember, is Brady :) Yup, can't have a post without him in it. Hahahaha just kidding ;) But really... I'm so grateful that even though I have really hard days, I can remember him. I can smile and look back on our memories. I cherish him so much, and I'm grateful for him. I love looking back and remembering things between the two of us. Especially inside jokes. I love when I re-read his letters and I just laugh, all alone in my room, like an idiot, because of something funny he said. Ah... I just love him, and he just is silly and I miss his jokes so bad!! I can't wait until he gets home :)

My 43rd Letter :)

It was a pretty laid-back letter today.

But I'll still share ;)

My boyfriend is the best.I love him.
"You little sneak! Opening your Christmas present early.. It's okay, I forgive you ;)" "Did you know that you are the prettiest girl ever?"
"A scripture that I like is 2 Chronicles 32:7-8." "Love you!"
Gosh.It was short.And had a lot of random things.But I'm still so happy about it. :)He also gave me exciting news about something.But that's confidential ;)
10 more months babe.Just 10.

Brady's V-Day Package

So my good friend Ashley decided to help me put together Brady's Valentine's Day Package! :) I'm so excited to send it to him! This is the fastest I've ever put together a package. The last two have been sent late, or didn't really have a lot of effort in them. We got ideas off of Pinterest (Heaven-sent website) and headed off to the stores, where we "oooo"'d and "aahhhhh"'d over items to put in his package.

We decided we were hungry and headed straight to Kneaders.

After getting home, we ate and started right away on the package.

Ashley is always more creative than I am, which is why she's helping me plan my wedding in the near future ;) Hahaha, anyway, we decided to use cute tissue paper instead of scrapbook paper/wrapping paper. I had some extra V-Day ribbon left-over from last year, so we used that. I sent him brownie mix, pocky sticks, bags of candy, a very cute card, some pencils and straws :) Hehehe, all which were red and pink, and some things white! It's small, and I don't know if he'll use/need everything in it, but it was still fun and worth it. (All under 20$ - except shipping :/)

He said he's sending me one,

and that it's better than my Christmas package.

I'm so excited. It should be here within the next two weeks.

But I have to wait until February 14th to open it.

I love him :)

Thanks for helping Ash!
I had fun! :)

Little Black Box

I think I like the word "little" for some reason.. and the word black always follows.... at least the last few posts.
Ha, anyway, here is the point of this post.

So I'm basically in love with this box. I have been since December 2010. My wonderful boyfriend put together a shoe box with notes inside, so that if I ever had a bad day during the 2 years, I could pull one out and "be happy and not have a crappy day." Haha, adorable right? Totally. Well today, I was feeling a bit humble, emotional, moody, overwhelmed, etc. I just needed to see my mom today, and so I left Abby's around dinner time and it was good to be home. I miss Abby already but I like being home when I'm feeling this way; kind of like an escape. Anyway, I went to my room and organized everything, cleaned, wrote Brady a letter and what not. Then I remembered this box, and I pulled one out. It was so cute. Basically he loves me, and told me I'm the cutest :) Hahaha I'm seriously so lucky to have this box. And to have a boyfriend who was so thoughtful, and cared enough to take care of me in ways I never knew about until he left. He is such an amazing person. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for blessing me and my life with someone so wonderful.

Roommate Weekend Day 2

Day 2 went by fast. I had work in the morning, and Abby and I had a really good best friend talk before I left. I got to work right on the dot, which went by SO fast! We were way busy!! I worked with the guys and it was a blast! :) After that was over, I headed home to say hi to my momma, and to my surprise, baby was there (: As well as my sisters! I was so happy, that little boy is soooo stinkin' cute!! He'll be 1 very very soon! I also received a letter in the mail from Brady :) I was so happy! It was so cute, and I'm so in love with him :) I showered, then got some extra things I forgot, and headed over to Abby's!

Homework consumed our time for a little while.

Then I got too frustrated with math.

Abby moved to the island,

put in her earbuds and forcused.

I on the other hand, wanted to break my computer.

Math just isn't my thing... :/

After finishing it we ran to the store to buy batteries for Abby's calculator.

It actually turned into this huge store trip!

We found some,

ran to the other walmart to buy hair dye.

Yes, I did dye my hair!!! :)

And then we searched all over for an envelope opener.

Seriously, NOBODY sells them!!!

Except Office Max,

theirs are like knives.

Dangerous.

So we didn't buy it.

We went home,

finished math homework,

and went straight to my hair :)

Adam and Justin came over to say hi, and get their ice cream.

They just stared as Abby put in this stuff in my hair to turn it colors.

Then Abby and I yelled back and forth as we were trying to wash my hair out,

without getting dye all over the place.

It was quite hilarious,

and Adam said we act like sisters :)

After much bickering and talking,

I finally just showered.

I got all the dye out.

Then Abby took what felt like years to blow dry my hair.

I have lots of it.

Then we moved on to the top section of my hair.

I did a red color underneath, with an auburn/brown on top.

It looks SO cute. It was hard to get a picture though.

Afterwards, I showered one more time,

we cleaned up the place,

and then headed for bed.

Exhausted.

It was such a fun day :)

My 42nd Letter!!!

I got my 42nd, letter today :) Brady is just on a roll here!! I've gotten 4 letters in the past 3 weeks!! This NEVER happens. I'll just pretend he's making up for the months I've gone without. Anyway, he's such a cutie. Still writes in his pink "fountain pen." He is growing so strongly in the gospel, and his testimony is amazing. I'm so proud of him and how far he's come :) He has definitely changed but for the better; he's becoming a man :) Hehehehe

"It's a really good thing that I've come on a mission babe. I'm also better at staying tidy now!"

"Did you like your Christmas present? I thought it would look really cute on you!"

"Babe, when I get home I want to pray with you more."

Isn't he just the sweetest?

He seriously just melts my heart.

I'm so in love with him.

I cannot wait for him to come home :)

Babe, thank you so much for all the letters.

I love every. single. one. of them :)

Roommate Weekend Day 1

So this weekend, my beh friend's parents are out of town, so she needed someone to stay with her, and I decided I would :) I'm so happy! Hahaha, it's been fun! I wish we could be real roommates, but for now, we'll just deal living three streets away from each other.

Anyway, I worked all day :/ And she didn't. I got to her house, we watched Gold Rush with Adam and his cousin, and then left to go grocery shopping for food this weekend. Hehehe, Abby is so cute. Anyway, we got food, came back, and Adam's friend Tyler joined us; which, him and I don't get along very well; in a joking way. Anyway, we all just hungout and Tyler shot me with the dart gun, and I just continued with my math homework at midnight. He first shot a coin at my hand, split the skin open and it bled and bruised. Ow :( After which I punched him and then carried on my way. Math homework is hard :/ Hopefully I'll finish it tomorrow!

We then came up with this idea, well... TJ did. Oh I forgot to mention he came after Tyler :) So the boys brought the bean bag upstairs and we did some stunts and I screamed.. but what girl doesn't? After that we just laughed as TJ shoved it down the stairs and fell after it. I'm now blogging, and I'll show you some pictures, tomorrow is Day 2, and I'll post about that tomorrow night :) Woo! We'll be spending out weekend with Ben & Jerry too ;)

My First Day of School

Well hello there :)
This is how my first day of school went, for Spring 2012.

I had to wake up early to get ready, and then drive to campus because all of my classes just HAVE to be at the campus NOT by my house... :( Boooo. Anyway, I got there a little early, so I just played on my computer... hence the picture to the left. I headed off to my first class: history. Barf. Have I mentioned how much I don't miss history? Last time I had history was my junior year in high school... almost 4 years ago!! Anyway, it was fun because Nick is in that class, crazy right? So hopefully we'll become study buddies, because he knew like... everything. And I hadn't a clue what the teacher was saying... Yikes! After that we both headed to the same building for our next classes. He had gym and I had Psychology (Yay!!!!) My teacher seems..... different. He made those of us who didn't have the study guide (One of them being me, since I missed the actual first day of class.) get up and walk to the book store to buy because "we'll need it every single day." Hahahaha I thought it was hilarious, and so college like. We then got discussing about what we'll be doing in that class and let me just tell you, I'm super stoked!!! :) I can tell I will like my Psychology classes this year! After which I raced across campus to my next Psychology class, where my "grown up in Vegas half my life, and the other half spent in Arkansas" teacher showed up. She's hilarious. I love her accent, her choice of words, and her passion for Psychology.. it really inspires me actually. So I know that will be my other favorite class! :)

I then had an hour and thirty minute break, so I ran to the store to buy some paper, and pencils and some food! I headed back to campus where I just played on my computer for a while, went and bought some books, almost had a heart-attack at some of the prices, and then we to my most dreaded class..... can you guess??? Yup. Math. It's my least favorite subject because I've never been good at it. But, there are a ton of people in that class, and it's downstairs in like, this alley-feeling building... it's creep status. Anyway, my teacher seems real cool and I know I'm not the only dumb one in the class. Thank goodness. That class went by the fastest and afterwards I was on my way home :)

It was such a good first day of school and I'm excited to start learning new subjects!! I can already feel the pressure/stress of these classes, but I'm ready to keep going :) I'm determined to graduate this fall with my AS in Psychology!! Yay!!! :)

Karlee & Briant's Wedding :)

Karlee has been my friend for what feels like forever. We met in our ceramic's class our junior year of high school, and is the very reason we're best friends today. We sat next to each other, we shared a locker, and became the best of friends. We joked, we laughed, we shared clay, we hoarded utenscils, we used my dog picture for our masks, we made the same pots, and we just downright disliked our teacher very greatly. We were always getting in trouble for talking or laughing instead of "working." 

Hahaha then our Senior year, I was looking for an art credit class and I did not want to take photography because I hadn't heard a single good thing about that class. So Karlee told me she was taking ceramics 2 and it seemed to fit perfectly in my schedule. We again, sat by each other when we used the wheel, and we both SUCKED at making pottery. STILL. Hahahahaha, but we just laughed and tried anyway. I've never spent so much time after school in one class. Anyway, she helped me through a lot of drama and heartache that year. She saved me. She truly did. I just want to publicly thank her for her friendship. For her loving, accepting and understanding heart. She was my shoulder to lean on when I couldn't stop the tears from falling in class, she sat at new stations with me in class to avoid others seeing me. She understood and did nothing but love me more when I decided to leave the class at the end of the year. Karlee was such a wonderful friend, and will ALWAYS be one of my best friends. I confide in her a lot!

We ended up having a communications class together in college, and lived near each other at Snow. SO FUN. And now she's married and she asked me to be apart of her special day, and I couldn't say no :) There's no way I'd want to! :) Thanks again Karlee!! LOVE YOU SQUAD!!

Squad ♥

 Karlee looked BEAUTIFUL and Briant looked so handsome! They just fit together perfectly. Watching them come out of the Temple together with big smiles on their faces made me cry. They waited so long for this day, and went through so much and it was finally here. It was pretty cold, but not TOO cold. One of the other bridesmaid and I wore the same dress, which was hilarious, but other than that, the whole wedding party and family was there to support her. 

Later, we had a luncheon which there were toasts said, beautiful words and yummy food!

The reception was beautiful and so fun! She actually had hers at the same place that my sister did! :) So I was very familiar with the place! We took lots of photos, helped Karlee get dressed and prepped for the guests to come! Karlee was standing in line basically the whole time, but still had enough time for everything else included in that day :) They were so happy, and I cried as I gave her a hug when she left. It's always hard when your best friends move on the bigger things in life, you're just so happy and full of love and joy and you want nothing but the best for them, because they deserve it!

Thanks again Karlee! I'll never forget this special day :)

My 41st Letter!

Yes, you read that right!

41st letter :)

I've gotten 3 letters in 2 weeks!

Ah, happy girlfriend (:

Today's letter was pretty long.

Here's why:

1st page was all about some joke.

2nd page was about his new years,

followed by some strange dream he had.

3rd page was about his testimony,

here, I'll share a bit:

"I just want to tell you that I'm so glad I made the decision to come on a mission. I have been blessed so much by it! My knowledge of the gospel was... lacking... I did not know the scriptures at all. But now I've changed a lot. Lots of missionaries that come on exchange say that they can tell I know the doctrine, and they will often ask me questions about a lot of things. And I know that I am a long way from where I was in my conversion process, and that I still have quite a way to go."

Isn't he amazing?

I love when he bears his testimony.

Of anything.

Of any kind.

No matter how big or small.

He loves this gospel.

The last part of the letter was him thanking me for writing him.

It's been a struggle, and I really miss him.

It's extremely hard now that I know he's coming home this year.

I love the relationship we have.

We've gotten on so many of the same levels since he left.

:) I know I can carry on when I get letters like these.

Little Black Dress

So, it's not "little."

But it's black.

Lay-see and I love it :)

I'm wearing it for Karlee's wedding Tuesday.

I'm a bridesmaid and she gave us colors to choose.

And we pick the outfit :)

Hopefully it doesn't look like a funeral dress :/

Anyway, I wore it to church today.

And dang I looked good ;)

But f'real.

I felt so pretty.

Seminary Teacher

Hank Smith, I do hope to be as good of a teacher as you someday :)
Thanks for being the best.

My 40th Letter

I've reached 40!!! I'm so stoked, and let me just tell you, it was one of the most perfect letters I've ever received :) My Valentine's Day letter is #1 and this letter is #2 :) Gosh. I'm so in love it's prolly disgusting. My friend Bubbles told me this tonight (after reading the letter), "If you're this serious, you should not be dating!" And at first I'm thinking, Yeah I know. I tried that and it didn't work out. But the more I thought about what she said; she's pretty much right. If I know without a doubt that I love Brady, and that he is the one I want to spend forever with. The one nobody could beat, why am I even trying to "date"? Anyway, this letter was beyond cute. Lots of melting, oooo's and awwwww's. Lots of screaming, and giddiness, with hurt cheeks from smiling for hours. I actually carried it around with me I was way too excited about it. I also love knowing my mom supports me and Brady. It makes it that much easier when I'm excited about letters :) She's so sold on Brady it's just the best. I'm so grateful I've found someone I get to spend forever with :)

I always thought it was silly when people say, it's amazing when you experience that moment. That you just know you're in love, or that you could marry them. And I always wondered when that was going to happen with me.. And honestly, it's happened more than once, but with one person, and one person only.

Basically I just realized how much I just go on and on and on about Brady on here, but hey, I'm a pretty lucky gal, why not? (: Hehehehe So here is my 40th letter ya'll!

"We're going to be senior missionaries someday, okay?!"

"Seriously, you are the cutest girl I have ever met."

"I've committed myself to the Lord.."

"Hi Babe! I miss you!"

Basically I've got the sweetest guy ever. I love him and I cannot wait until he comes home. 400 days down, 330 to go! :)

Jordan River Temple

I decided to head to the Temple after that feeling you get inside when you should bear your testimony on Fast Sundays. I made it a goal to go each and every week this year. Sometimes I feel silly because I'm almost 20 and I can only do baptisms, but then I have to remind myself that's not the point. Jordan River has a special place in my heart, because they have a prayer room. When I got there this time, they'd changed things. I guess the Temple Presidency wants the "prayer" to be optional instead of the first thing you do, but when I was there, all by myself, I couldn't pass it up and I never will. I almost started crying when I started praying. It was one of the most powerful prayers I've ever said. Sounds cheesy, but I felt like the priesthood do when they say, "It didn't come from me, it came from God." I really felt that way. I was the only person in the Temple at the time, so I felt sort of special. The clothing all the Temple workers were wearing seemed whiter than usual; more holy. I got changed into my favorite Temple outfit (sometimes I imagine us being in pure white when we get to Heaven, and that's what I feel like in the Temple; pure) and when I came out the kind Temple worker asked if I was waiting for anyone else, I said, "No, it's just me!" And he said, "Well I'm sorry." And I said it was okay, but then got to thinking, it's fine that I'm alone. At first it was hard to go to the Temple by myself, but sometimes I prefer it. Temple time is me time. My favorite part is the confirmation room, so when I was guided by 5 priesthood holders, I seriously felt the Lord surround me. That moment when they place their hands on your head, and there is a moment of silence before they start reading the names, that's my favorite part. That's what captures my heart. I'm such a lucky human being; to have this gospel in my life, and the knowledge that work goes on after death, and that everyone has the chance to accept this gospel. When it was my turn to go into the font, there was no one, but me and the priesthood, I felt special then too. I baptized 5 people from the states; it was wonderful.

This experience was different and changed me. I thought I was going to show up to the Temple, have it be busy, wait and hour or two, try to read scriptures and "clear my head." But all I needed was to feel special. That's all it took. No clearing of my head, no getting things off my mind. No trying to read scriptures or magazines, just a simple, in and out of the Temple with the feeling that my Heavenly Father is aware of me. That He knows exactly what I need at this point in my life. It's in His house that we can feel of His love. It's where He communicated with me. It's where I know I can always turn to for peace and comfort. I wonder if that's how it's going to be when we greet him in Heaven. Just Him and I, ya know? That's how I felt tonight, just me, "angels" (aka Temple workers) and Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ, with the blessing of the Holy Spirit. I'll never turn away from the Temple. Nothing is EVER worth sacrificing that recommend. I can't wait to go again next week. In fact, maybe I'll go twice. :)

Thanks Heavenly Father, I know they truly are your houses.

Daybreak Lake

I can't believe the weather lately. It's stinkin' January and I didn't wear a coat today, that's how warm it was!!! I blogged a lot last month, and this month. Honestly, my friend Jenna inspires me. I hope she doesn't think I'm copying her, but the more I blogged the more I realized how important it is to me to record all of my memories since I'm not good at handwriting and such. Anyway, today I stopped by Daybreak Lake on my way home from Orem. That place really means a lot to me. I've brought so many close people to me, there and it's always been special. That lake holds so many memories; good and bad. Today I decided to walk because I needed fresh air, and just to clear my head. I've had so many experiences there, and it felt nice to go there today. New year, new slate, new memory slot, new me, new everything. This year has so much in store for me and I'm really excited.

I'm going to be graduating college with my AS in Psychology. First college graduate in my family; it's been tough, but I'm really happy. My siblings and even my mom are going back to school now so it's really nice :) I'm going to be graduating Institute with my 14 hour diploma. I worked really hard for that one too, but it's made more of a difference in my life than anything else. I'll be leaving my teenage days this year, and Brady will be old enough for anything. He'll come home, and we'll see where my life takes me from there. I have a good job, and I'm learning a lot from it. I sat down today and came up with some really good goals for myself. Instead of "resolutions" I thought I would give myself goals in different aspects of my life: Education, Social, Physically, Spiritually, Financially, etc. They're pretty reachable which I'm happy with and I'm excited to make a difference in my life :) I've been doing good with some already and the one I'm most excited to work on is Spirituality. There is always room for improvement.

I've decided to start going to the Temple 4 times a month, which is basically 1 time a week. And if I miss 1 week, then I have to go 2 times the next week, and so forth. I'm also going to start reading the Book of Mormon and hopefully have it read twice before Brady gets home :) I want to stay at Institute and get to know more people, same with my YSA Ward. I want to start spending more time with my family. We got rid of our cable box, which is going to benefit us so much. I'll have to watch my tv shows online, which I don't already have time for. School is starting next week, so I'm going to be studying like CRAZY pretty soon here. I want to continue saving money, and pay off some things I've purchased. I want to learn how to play acoustic guitar, so if you know how, you should teach me :) I want to start working out, which can happen now that I have my asthma medicine! I've been better about eating sweets too!

Anyway, I can't wait until Brady and I can go to daybreak again. I've brought many boys there but the one I think of the most when I'm there, is him :) Here is to 2012 :)

11 Months Left!

Guess what?

Brady has 11 months left!!!!
I'm so excited!! :)

I cannot believe my best friend comes home this year. I'm in shock, just like I was when his year mark came. I know I still have a long way to go, but I can't believe I'm at this point. My mom was always telling me when he first left, "Girls are going to wish they were in your shoes at some point." And, not to be cocky, but some girls are but mostly because their boy just left. It's amazing how fast time can fly when you're busy with school and work. I have 1 week left of my break, and then I have school Spring, Summer and Fall. Brady should be home before I graduate in the Fall which makes me super happy :) He'll be home for Christmas AND New Years!! I'm excited! It's the beginning of my lasts. 2011 was full of "1 year ago" this, and "1 year ago" that, and so many more General Conferences or phone calls left, holidays, birthdays, etc. Now I'm down to my last holidays, birthdays, General Conferences, phone calls, etc. It's exciting! This year I get to find out his release date :) Which should be followed by his flight plans. I'm just really excited that I've made it this far, and I still am so in love with him, if not more :) I've learned so much this past year and I'm grateful. I have tons of stories to tell him, things for us to do, movies to have him watch, music to have him listen to, places to travel, country swing, etc.

Brady is my very best friend.
I'm very proud of him and how far he has come.
They all say the last year goes by the fastest,
and I'm really hoping that is true!
Keep going Elder, I'm right by your side,
even across the ocean.
I love you :)

(Don't tell him I posted these photos ;) hehe..)

New Years!

So basically I drove down to Jenna's in Orem! Gilbert made it all the way; I was SO excited! It'd been a few days since I'd seen her, but even then it had been weeks! I arrived just in time to make dinner. Jenna's first dinner might I add. We had Top of Ramen :) Then we got ready, as more girls came to join us! After getting all dolled up, we moved our cars, piled in one and headed off to UVU! Their dance was called Newphoria, and there were a ton of people waiting in line! It was freezing and some people were wearing ridiculous outfits!! We got in, some awesome photographer took so crazy shots of us, then we headed to party :)

The music was crazy loud, the stage was full of people (so full of people they were almost falling off!) There was tons of shoving, dancing, yelling, etc. It was fun! Played tons of good music, had dancers, contests, and then the clock almost struck midnight when I discovered if you tweeted and then "hashtag" uvunewphoria, it'd show up on the screen, so I did.... TWICE! :) And they both showed up, it was the coolest thing!! The clock struck midnight and everyone cheered, tons of bouncy balls dropped and the party continued :) We had some strawberry drinks, while Jenna and Kilee had crepes. Ran into some friends and partied on until we were through. The party was good up to midnight, after that it got kind of boring! We headed back to Jenna's place where we then had "Mormon champagne" and made cheers to the new year :) Jenna, Kilee and I had a jumping party on the couch and fell asleep to Friends.

We woke up Sunday, ate breakfast, headed to Church where we learned of goal making, and how the Lord can lead and guide us in this new year. It was really good! I read two chapters in Mosiah, and a few talks from the New Era magazine. We stopped by the bishops office so he could talk to Jenna and her roommate. Met some of Jenna's neighbors and got an invite to ward prayer :) Afterwhich we headed home, had dinner, made premade cookies in the oven, headed over for prayer and some fun games including: hacky-sack, and spoons! Afterwhich one of the fellas and Jenna pulled out their guitars as we sang along to some songs for a while :) It was such a blast! I think I want to learn how to play! Jenna Skyped while I blogged until we both got too tired to stay up any longer. I woke up this morning, and headed home where I ran errands, cleaned and got ready for the week.

It was such a fun weekend, thanks Jenna :)