Blessed.

This past semester of school has been crazy but I have been so blessed through it all. I've learned new things, gained new knowledge, and had fun with what was thrown my way.
This semester I tried to learn how to longboard. Successful? I probably wouldn't go THAT far...I can get on the board and go straight but hey, I'm still learning!
 

 

I got to see some old friends that I haven't seen in years. Jackson was on an LDS Mission and I hadn't seen him in about 3 years. He is an old friend from Georgia and was visiting Utah and dropped by! So good to see an old friendly face! Harry is an old friend from dance. I got to see him when I was in Georgia visiting the family. Love these people and so glad I got to visit with them.

 

Jackson

 

Harry



Speaking of friends I met some good ones this year!! I basically lived with these crazy girls all semester. Having the same Major and same program meant we had all the same classes together. Early mornings, late nights, and long days with these crazy ones but I love them to death! Funny talks and awesome date nights! I have definitely made life long friends this semester!
 

Raquel, Lindsey, and Me

Being an Education Major, our classes rock! We get to build things, paint, color, play with play dough, and get children's books read to us! Basically it's the greatest thing ever. I loved these classes and I loved these girls. I fell in love with Kindergarteners this semester and I love teaching them. Those sweet little 5 and 6 year olds will forever have my heart. I love them to pieces!  

Lindsey and Raquel



The rest of the crazies!!
Teachers gone WILD


Lindsey, Raquel, and I decided that we would run to be on the board of the Council for Exceptional Children. Why not!? We needed to join the council for our program in school anyways so we decided why not be on the board for it? Well...we actually ALL THREE of us got on it! Woohoo! Raquel and I are on the activities board and Lindsey is State Rep! So that was pretty sweet!
 
Also did I mention I got all A's AND got on the Dean's List...?
WHAT'S UP WITH THAT!? I guess all the hard work paid off.
 

 
Even with all the craziness of school I still made time for lots of fun!
Late night Motorcycle rides with my boy NEVER get old! Always have to make time for those.
Love this boy!





 Camping outside of Al's Sporting Goods for their big open sale. We brought a tent to sleep in and we were 1st in line! Lots of people said we were crazy but we got tons of free stuff and had a blast doing it!

 

One of me and Tyler's good friends got married! So awesome that we got to be there for the wedding! <3 Congratulations you two! We love Shawn and Kelsie P.

 

BBQ's with my girls and our boys! Grillin' whatever we can find and watching Lindsey start fires (or trying to). Summer breeze and playing with the cutest puppies. Good people and good food! So glad I met these two.

 

 

And lastly, I got accepted to be an EFY COUNSELOR this summer!! EFY stands for "Especially for Youth." It is a week long youth-oriented "camp" that focuses on the teaching and the principles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). I went to EFY when I was a youth and I went for 5 years. It was so much fun and I always thought that being a counselor for it would be amazing. Well folks, looks like I'm gunna be one for 8 weeks this summer!

 

I have been incredibly blessed. 2014 has been good to me so far. I can not wait for more adventures to come and to share them with the people that I love.

 

Signed,

Counting more blessings than I deserve 



California Adventures.

Spring Break.
I've had the most work load I have ever had in one semester in college this year. So spring break was definitely a NEED. Tyler, Nels, Kenzie, and me went to California for the week! It was a week full of adventures and experiences.

We started off the trip getting pulled over at 4am in St. George on our way to Cali. Ty got his first ticket. Minutes after, we RAMMED into a deer lying in the middle of the road. There was a semi in the lane next to us so we were unable to move out of the lane we were in. We hit the dead deer so hard we were AIRBORNE. The bottom of the car was covered in deer. Luckily we were all okay but I can't say the same about the poor deer. Great way to start off the trip!



Beaches. We went to so many beaches on our trip but our very favorite was La Jolla beach. We all became pro kayakers and got to go kayaking in caves!



After the kayaking adventure, the boys rented wet suits and went snorkeling with Leopard Sharks.
Best friends forever.

 

We hung out on the beach and relaxed while the boys were off trying to play with sharks.

 

 



We all had tons of fun on other beaches too. Found lots of sea shells. Went in tide pools and found starfish, crabs, and enemies.

 

Boogie boarded in the freezing cold water. Danced on the beach while the sun was setting and watched the sunset in blankets

 



We all went to see the beautiful San Diego Temple. It was so big and bright, it was definitely an amazing sight to see.
We love to see the Temple.

On our way home we went to Venice Beach. So much entertainment there and full of so many people. The boys found a shop that had tons of longboards.
They ended up buying new longboards to take home!

 

This trip was so much fun! Good friends and awesome places with great weather!
Spring Break was definitely a success this year.
Well needed trip and one that will go in the books!
California, I will come back to you some day.

Signed,
Slightly burned and happy friends



Page One

Think about it. Look back. Your life has changed so much from just one year ago. Life happens a little bit at a time, not just all at once. But when you look back so much has changed and you sit there and you wonder how? Where did the time go? How did all of that change? How did I change so much?
A little bit at a time.
Did you do all that you wanted to this year? Did you accomplish everything? Did you do something crazy that you wouldn't have normally done? Did you cross anything off your bucket list? Did you live it? ..Or were you just present through it all?

Did you meet anyone, a stranger that changed your life?
How many strangers did you meet? That now, you can't see how you ever lived with out them. I can count quite a few. And to think, you didn't know them a year ago..

 

Think back, think of this year, 2013...What was your favorite memory? What made you the happiest? What made you smile the most? When did you feel most alive? Hold on to that memory and don't forget it. We forget so much of our lives that we forget just how blessed we really are.

 

If you look back and you didn't do everything you wanted to, GOOD! You have another year to do whatever you put your mind to. Take that class that you've always wanted to take. Go to that foreign country. Buy the pair of shoes you know you shouldn't. Start a new tradition. Forgive that person, you know the one. Stop looking through the window, go inside! Be someone totally new. Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book.

Someday they will all be stories, so make sure they're good ones.

 

Signed,

A girl still writing her story.



Only the Best Time of Year

Family traditions, hot chocolate, ice skating, gingerbread houses, cookies and milk, warm fuzzy socks, presents under the tree, kisses under the mistletoe, twinkling lights, and being with the people you love the most. Who doesn't love this time of year!? Gosh I love Christmas. Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. It's about love and caring, spreading that spirit around everywhere we go. We should do this all year round but unfortunately we only try around Christmas time. Even though its cold outside and snow is everywhere there is still a warmth that comes from the spirit of Christmas. 
This year has really felt like Christmas for me! Boy have I been blessed.
I went ice skating with some friends and let me just say we are all oh so very good at ice skating that we don't fall...ever. Haha

You can't forget about making gingerbread houses! Couldn't be Christmas time with out making a mess and getting frosting everywhere! We made a gingerbread house and a gingerbread train. It was messy and yummy and oh so very great!

Took a trip down to Temple Square in Salt Lake City! Gosh it was beautiful! The trees were all twinkling in any and every color you could think of. It was freezing and crowded in Temple Square but still in some way you felt warm inside. I love those lights and how they make you feel. I love the way you can see how beautiful the Temple is and how lit up it looks with all the twinkling lights around it. Such a fun night.

This time of year is wonderful and magical all at the same time. Keep in mind why we celebrate it and what's most important. Christ. The birth of a man who is perfect and our brother who loves us unconditionally. Merry Christmas everyone! I hope its full of people who you love dearly and the spirit of Christ.

Refining Ourselves

Change. People change everyday. We make decisions that change us as individuals whether we realize it or not. We can do it with out realizing it or we can do it on purpose for a reason. Gosh I sure hope we can change! Change for the better. If we all stayed the same we wouldn't learn anything. But do we really change? Do we change ourselves entirely? Or do we just make ourselves better? That's for you to decide, I haven't quite figured that out yet. I'm still deciding. We do change. But how much of ourselves do? I believe fully that a person can change, they change for the better or for the worst. We stay who we are though. We just modify who we are. Mistakes and choices play a big role in change. Our trials change us. They shape who we are and who we want to become. But they don't make us who we are. We are not the mistakes we've made. They don't define us. They refine us. There is a difference. Don't let your short comings define you. Don't let others tell you they define you. Show them who you really are. CHANGE their minds. We do change. We change everyday. How much of yourself are you willing to change?

Signed, Still Refining.

Life Racing By

Most of the time we see our life through a see of images. We look back on all the memories and wish we could be in the moment again. Life is like a slide show. A slide show full of pictures and all the good times we had. It just goes by so fast. Where did the time go?! Life is going by scary fast! I wish it would slow the crap down. I can't believe that its already November! I have done so much in these past 6 months that I just need to share. Let me catch you up on my life that I have been so unbelievably blessed to have.

I have gone on many motorcycle rides these past few months and I have loved every bit of it. The wind in your face and the smell of the air. The freedom you feel riding through the canyon on a hot summer day. Doesn't get much better.

Ty's bike on Halloween

Laying in fields and looking up at the stars with out a care in the world. I love star gazing and just seeing all the beauty we have in this world. Cuddling up to the boy watching the stars, now that's the life. 

I went and saw Luke Bryan in concert!! Now that was super cool! I went with a bunch of friends and we had a blast. Florida Georgia Line and Thompson Square opened for him. I will always remember that night. People around who you love, good music, and good times.

Waking up at 4 in the morning to go four wheeling up a mountain for an hour to watch the sunrise with the boy and two friends. Only sounds like a fun time! Especially when breakfast is donuts, pepper jack cheese, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Orange Juice.

Crossing stuff of the bucket list by going fishing! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Ty got his hook stuck on a wire and almost fell in. Everything else he had fell in the water: wallet, keys, credit card. Luckily they were saved. But that image of him scaling across the wires hanging above the water will permanently be engraved in my mind forever.

Country Swing Dancing every Wednesday night with out fail. Go with our group of friends and get all dressed up and have a blast! Dance our hearts out and learn new moves. Wednesday nights are my favorite.

FOOTBALL GAMES! Front row most of the games and cheering on our Aggies! Whether we win or loose we still have our Aggies back more than we probably should haha Utah State Aggies all the way.

Aggies are definitely loosing here. We are not the happiest campers.

Speaking of camping...We are way too dedicated for our own good to the Aggies, so for the BYU vs. USU game we camped out so that we could get in early to the game so we could have front row seats. Dedication. But it was so incredibly fun! Did we win? No. Were we pissed? Extremely. 

My parents came to visit all the way from Georgia! Now that was such a fun weekend! My parents got to be in my little world that I have here and they got to be right in it. It was so cool. Literally I wish they could visit more. We took my parents shooting and my mom shot a gun for the first time. She also got to ride on the back of Ty's motorcycle. Now that was a funny sight. AND she rode it with out a helmet..can't be mad at me now! I love my parents!

Halloween parties and carving pumpkins! You have to love the fall season! Ty was Captain America for Halloween and I was a baseball player. We went to a bunch of Halloween parties and events! Gosh I can still smell the roasted pumpkin seeds.

Fall season. Walking around and crunching on leaves everywhere you step. Smelling the cool air with the different color trees everywhere you look. Fall is the best season of all. Me and the boy went on a walk in the canyon through all the trees and I remember just looking back on the trail and trying to take a mental picture because it was so beautiful. I love this season.

Went to Lagoon again and it was still terrifying! Gosh I wish I liked roller coasters haha it would be so much easier and probably a lot more fun. I still had tons of fun though! Went on a double date and there were haunted houses and everything was spooky because it was October. The haunted houses were legit! So cool! I went on all the scary roller coasters too! Super fun night with great people.

And last but DEFINITELY NOT least!! I got into my program at school! I am officially into the Special Education Early Childhood specialization area at Utah State University!! So excited! Its what I've always dreamed of! 

I have a very blessed life. I look back at all these memories and think of all the feelings and good times I had with all these amazing people. Life is short so make the most of it! Remember all the good times and bad. Remember all the memories. Remember the people you shared them with. Remember how blessed you are. 

Three Little Words

I have said before that I believe you can fall in love with bits and pieces of people in your life.  That everyone can have a little piece of your heart.  I have a lot of people in my life that I can point to and say that they have a part of my heart but never before have I had someone have so much of it.  Someone once before has been very close to having a huge part of my heart but nothing like this.  To be in love with someone is such an amazing feeling.  Its easy.  Everything is better.  Things don't upset you as much.  You smile more.  Days feel better even when they aren't in them, because you know that even though you didn't see them that day, they are still yours.
Love is a powerful word.
Some people are scared of it, other use it often.  Love to me should be around all the time.  Shown or by being said.  You never know when you're going to see someone again.  Wouldn't you always want them to know how you felt, just in case?  I'm totally in love and I am so unbelievably blessed.  It feels amazing to be loved and for someone to feel the same about me as I do them.  Every time I think about it, it makes me kind of chuckle to myself.  I think in my head the quote from Elf  when Will Ferrell says, "I'm in love, I'm in love and I don't care who knows it!"  I'm just so happy and content with life.  Don't take your family, friends, or any others that you love dearly for granted.  
Say "I love you" to those who have bits and pieces of your heart.  
Say it to the ones you really do love.

Signed, A Very Blessed Girl

Me and Tyler