MY NEW ERA

I believe it was an episode of Friends that taught me that an era is any significant amount of time. It could be a semester of classes, ten seasons of a great show, Springtime, the time you spend working at a certain job, the years you live at home, or even how long you spend crammed into a car driving with your family around the state. In my life I've had many eras. There were the years I spent in the era of living at home, the three years I spent in the era of high school, the summer eras spent with my best friend, the era of Jr. High, the era of childhood, the era of my Gilmore Girl Obsession, the eras spent with certain boys, the era of growing up and so many more.

The era I've been pondering the most lately though is the one that I feel is currently coming to a close- it is the Era of Great Change...

Because 1 picture tells 1,000 of these words I keep tying I'm going to put my great love of pictures to use and try to remember this Era that is now ending. It was only one year. But I never knew a year could be so long, so hard, contain so much change, hurt so bad, teach so much, hold so many tears, bring so many people into my life, and take me from who I was to who I am.

A year ago....

It was an Era that began with endings, that started with a finish...

It was an era that involved exploring new, exciting things and places, and forced me to make some changes....

That taught me that beauty exists in many different forms, and that real beauty is being able to spot it...

It was an era that forced me to go out into the world as an individual for the first time, and learn who it is I really am...

It was an era where I learned how to face and experience loss and hurt as I've never felt before

Where I learned to put on a smile and more importantly to admit when I couldn't do it alone...

An era where I made plenty of mistakes, but learned from each step I took...

An Era where I said goodbye to so many, but at the same time had new friends settle into my heart...

An era where I was reminded what really matters in this life, and how we achieve that...

An era of moving, settling, and moving again, but through the moving learning to appreciate the place called home...

An era where I came full circle, yet will never made it back to where I started...

The girl I see in the mirror now doesn't recognise the one in pictures staring back. I've gained pounds, and shed tears. I've lost friends, and found ones I feel like I've always known. There were days I couldn't get out of bed and face life, but for every one of those there were seconds of laughter where I remembered why I keep going. There were classes and life experiences where I learned more than I will in any class. It was an era full of dreams in the day and the night that came true, of prayers cried, uttered, whispered, spoken, sung and thought that always were answered and of conversations with those here, and gone that were always heard. It was without a doubt the hardest year of my life, but because I made it through I will never be the same...

And, who knows what the next era will bring, but if it turns out to be twice as hard as the past one, I know that I can make it through...

A Marathon of Thoughts

My battery is going to die, very soon, like 38 minutes soon! So I can't take time to be a perfectionist or import pictures and if this gets really down to the wire I may have to even cut my dear best friend spell check from the process. So.. here it goes.. Whats been on my mind lately... In less than 37 minutes and using only a words I'm positive I know how to spell. Ok-on your mark, get set, GO: Why is it that shows have to end with cliff hangers? Why can't they all just end with lovely songs about oh I don't know, a kidney? The world would be a much better place, and my sister and I wouldn't be crying on a Thursday night. Don't know what I'm talking about-you are missing out!! (youtube it- 30 rock give a kidney-I would link but due to a much needed text message and a yummy cake I'm down to 34 minutes!) Next, why are there no seasons of Friends at the library except for the one's I already have? Seriously did everyone just go and decide that all of a sudden they wanted to watch the funniest television show ever on the same day? Hello people I'm sick, like lay around all day watching TV sick, and therefore deserve to watch the one show that NEVER fails to get a laugh from me, just ask my roommate Rachelle, lets just say it's no use wearing headphones when you laugh as loud and as often as I do. Don't feel sorry for me though, I put em all on hold! (Are you now craving to watch it? If so thewb.com puts seven new episodes up every Monday. New as in different from the week before, obviously! Check it out!) Next, I'm really loving our new garden! Mom and Dad, you did AMAZING-sorry I wasn't so much help, but really, it looks beautiful! There is something about new flowers planted and blooming that really makes me smile! Something else that makes me smile-random text messages from dear friends telling me what I know and have always known but forgot to remember now that it's applicable and have forgotten to remember for a long time. Thanks for reminding me :) Also on my mind is how much I love these great new kleenexes I bought (there is one of those spell check needed words! Is it kleenexes or kleenex? I just don't know!) They are Puffs with lotion and Vicks and every time I go to blow my nose(which has been like seven million times a day since Wed) I forget about the Vicks and it's like the Hallelujah chorus going on in my head! Seriously one of the most amazing feelings! Love it! Ok, 24 minutes now! Where does the time go? Speaking of time, tomorrow at 9:00 am I become a working woman! Thats right I start my job tomorrow(probably with a box of Puff's with Vicks in my purse) and I can't wait! I have really loved spending my days laying around watching ANTM and doing such things as double-feature-movie-day with my mom, and driving to the ghetto for lunch with my dad but I'm excited to have something to do. Now, ask me how I feel at the end of the day tomorrow and it may be different! As for now-I'm very excited! Also exciting is the book I just read by Kristen Chenoweth. Very interesting life and no matter how much her speaking voice can bug me at times, I really admire her faith. Reading it reminded me of how when opportunities, trials or events impact our life, the Lord always makes up the difference. Her book reminded me of that but where I've really noticed that lately is in my own life, and in the life of my grandparents. Throughout there lives there were losses, but no matter what happened or changed, the difference was made up because of their faith, through our Heavenly Father. He is always there to help us, and really that has been the most important thing on my mind lately. So as I ponder this, and the warning little arrow thing at the bottom of my screen tells me my battery life is waining, I'm off to bed. Excited to see what tomorrow brings, and grateful for the help that I will undoubtedly receive from him.

Dear Mom:

Mom, Mother, Hero, Best Friend, Chauffeur, Chef, Audience, Biggest Fan, Lunch Date, Fashion Consultant, Personal Assistant, Entertainer, Chocolate-sharer.....

No matter what role you play, you do it with all you have. You're always there for me, and I love and appreciate you more than I can say! I hope your Mother's Day and has been memorable and that you feel our love for you in all you do!

PS-Happy Birthday Mom! I hope it's been all you could wish for!

For the Beauty of the Earth

For the beauty of the skies

For the love which from our birth

over and around us lies

For the beauty of each hour


of the day and of the night

hill and vale, and tree and flower

Sun and moon and stars of light

Lord of all to thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise

Deep Dark Secrets

It was a night like any other. And by a night like any other I mean since I've moved home. And by night I mean evening because despite it being 8:00 we had still not eaten dinner. And by not eating dinner yet I mean that our favorite take out Italian was not ready yet. And by not ready yet I mean... Ok so it was not necessarily a night like any other but it was a night at home. My dad and I sat with two computers passing the time by exploring youtube. Anyways after listening to our new favorite singer and finding out what Taylor the Latte Boy really thinks I moved on to some Facebook stalking. As Dad and I were talking this whole time I realized a shocking thing...that my dad has (duh duh duh)..... a DEEP DARK SECRET!!!! Thats right people, a DEEP DARK SECRET! I didn't even think Dad's could have secrets! Ok well the secret really was just some little thing he knew I would tease him about(very true)! Still though I was in shock that my Dad even had a DEEP DARK SECRET! Then I got to thinking though, don't we all have DEEP DARK SECRETS?(don't you think the capitalization really adds to the excitement?) And wouldn't life be so boring if we didn't? After all if no one had secrets there would be nothing to discover about each other! Secrets add excitement and intrigue! And allow for us all to keep learning a little more about each other! So, although there are definitely things that should NOT be a secret, I've started to embrace DEEP DARK SECRETS! And can I just tell you how darn mysterious it's made me feel?!

Has It Really Been A Month Since I Last Posted?

A month? Really? Wow time flies when your having fun, or um.. studying for finals... yea right! Anyways these have been the happenings in my life the last little bit:
Easter weekend with Abbie:
My parents and Meg all went to California Easter weekend for choir tour, leaving me and Abbie here in the cold! We managed to have lots of fun though! Highlights of the week include introducing Abbie to J Dawgs, going to the Hannah Montana movie(twice!), eating dinner at Aunt Debbie's(also twice! She is amazing), having a big kid Easter egg hunt with the cousin.s, cosmic bowling, going to Color Me Mine, visiting Grandma, learning about bubble gum pop in my music 101 class, buying $ store gifts for each other and watching Friends while playing Skip Bo!

In the car... No doubt driving back and forth from Sandy to Provo-which is how we spent almost the entire weekend! Good thing we had the Hannah Montana soundtrack to keep us entertained!

Easter with Grandma... "I'm just surprised we're having a party today!"

School:
Well finals came, and much to my disbelief, went! There is such relief that comes with the end of finals! And so it is that I finished my first year at BYU. It was a very long one(and not just because they don't sell Diet Coke on campus) but I learned a lot and made many good friends! I loved this first year and I'm so grateful for all the opportunities it provided me with!

Shell and I after the most intense game of red rover I've ever played.. I'm going to miss my singles ward FHE

Life:
I'm official moved home for the Summer now! The plan is to live here with my family and find a job(hopefully real soon) and work a lot! It's good to be back home where a big smile a few kind words gets you Cafe Rio and movie tickets paid for by the parentals! More than anything though I love being with my family so much. My mom keeps telling me that I'll be more than excited to head back to BYU in the fall but for now I'm just enjoying where I'm at. Dorthy got it right-there really is no place like home! Now if I could just get a cute pair of red flats and an adorable puppy...

Gotta love Chili's girls night out during Priesthood...

Life really is good....

Weekend Getaway...

WELL-Pretty much my friends are awesome. Not only are they hilarious, put up with my crazy loud laughter no matter the time of day(or night), and often have brilliant ideas(well at least some of them...) they also have very strong testimonies of the gospel, and are great influences to me of how to live my life. So because they are so awesome when they first invited me to come with them for a weekend to go to the Manti and St. George temples I knew it was going to be a trip I'd never forget... And I was not disappointed

We left Friday afternoon and drove to Manti. There we ate dinner in the temple cafeteria before doing baptisms and confirmations. It was such a beautiful experience and I loved being able to share that spiritual time with these friends. After finishing there we drove to St. George, well we drove until about 5 miles out of St. George, turned around and drove back to Ceder City, and then turned around and drove back(long story..) That was only the beginning of our night though.. We were up late watching the boys sumo wrestle, joke about the Boston Couch Part, and listening to them giggle. Eventually they quieted down enough and we fell asleep.

Being crazy on the drive home

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to get to the St. George temple. Actually our alarms didn't go off and had it not been for Ryan we probably wouldn't have made it. On my way into the temple I tripped, on a curb, and broke my favorite pair of bright pink high heels. It was tragic, but their is no rest for the righteous and we kept on running into the temple. We had another amazing experience there that morning serving these people who did not have the opportunity to do these ordinances in their lifetime. The spirit was so strong, and I loved being there.

Playing the marshmallow game Saturday night

After going to the temple we went to breakfast, ran to home depot, took the boys to a buffet, went shopping, took naps and went swimming! We all had so much fun just hanging out together, and laughing nonstop! Highlights of the afternoon were playing volleyball in the pool, Stacie having a 'bagel' at McDonald's, and watching the skinny beautiful girls at the pool when Mitch started acting like a whale... good times

The gorgeous Manti temple. I loved the temple workers at both these temples and decided that I so want to do that when I grow up!

After a fun afternoon at the pool we came back, showered and went out to dinner. We chose Iggy's so we could all watch some March Madness (Great idea Stacie!) and as an added bonus enjoyed some great buns made by a wonderful baker! After that, and a quick picture stop with a tumble weed that is bigger than an elephant in the wild, wild west, it was off to Fiesta Fun to race in the go-karts! Later we went to target, got frozen custard, and played the marshmallow game! It was such a fun night!

Car and I are pretty crazy sometimes... Congrats on winning the race Car-even though you cheated-they are not bumper cars!... :)

Sunday morning we slept in-which was very much needed! After waking up we went to Sacrament meeting, cleaned up the van and the condo, went to In-N-Out Burger and headed back to snow in Provo.

I had so much fun with my friends! More than it was fun though it was such a neat experience to go to these temples and feel the spirit so strongly! Thanks to my friends for inviting me, and making it so fun! I can't wait to go back again sometime soon hopefully!