Blast from the Past!

i've been doing a lot of soul searching lately because i'm kind of lost right now in my life! i've just completed a major milestone in my life and i'm trying to figure out what this next stage will bring! in my search, i've been doing a lot of looking at my past and trying to compare who i was then to who i am now and who i want to be in the future! this has lead me to find some really amazing gems of my past! this video is one such example! during my sophomore year at BYU-Idaho, i had the BEST roommates a girl could ask for! we were all so close and they are still my best friends to this day! Shanny, Kay, Becca and Megs- i love you!! i love this video because it reminds me of all of the good times that we had, but really, how much fun we did have! Everyday was a party and i loved every minute! Today i have been missing those times, thanks to many memory texts from Becca today :) and some other conversations i've had this past week, i'm remembering the good times and hoping for more!!

this video is just a brief glimpse of the fond memories i have in 308!

some of my favorite things from this video are:

Shan'tel's sweatpants that say, "You can't afford me" which she took a permanent marker to so that they read "You can afford me"!

Our winter lights in the background!

Shan'tel belting out "EGGGGSSSS"!

OUR HICK ACCENTS!

Kayla's laugh in the background!

Megs riding in on her horse! and her karate cartwheel!

and let's be honest- Becca's excellence as a director!

Above is Part 1 and below is Part 2 of this skit!

oh...how i love these friends! my life is forever better because I know you!

there are so many more videos i wish to post but i might crash my computer trying to put them all on! we had too many good times and i'm so glad that we documented so many!

i love you Megan, Kayla, Shan'tel and Becca!

this one's for you!

p.s. this last video is just a bonus! because i remember how much fun we had this night! and i'm missing our brothers like nobody's business! There is little i can say to make this video make sense- i have only three things to say, 1) John, 2) the Pope, 3) the KKK! :) Listen to those laughs!

To...

My Dear Friend Heather Hughes!

(pictured in the middle)

Today i found out that your father died, and today i have been thinking of you! You have known that this is coming for a while now- your dad had cancer and it came back again. But you were selfless and wanted him to go quickly so that he wouldn't suffer anymore!

How lucky we are that we have the Gospel and know that he is not gone, how lucky you are to have the Spirit and the peace that it has brought you in these last couple of months

and will continue to bring you!

How loved you are, by me and so many others-

your family, your friends and your Father in Heaven.

How blessed I am to know you! You are such a strong woman, and i admire you! i have always admired your close relationship with your Heavenly Father. When you pray, I know that He hears you because you know that He hears you! How blessed I was to be your roommate and to be your forever friend! From talking muffins and prodigal bamboo, to late night talks in my room, to sobbing fests in your room, to trips and adventures, to moving and moving on! You have been the truest friend to me these 4 years, and even though our paths have gone different directions, we are still friends!

You are going through a hard time right now, but you will get through with flying colors! because you have already showed me the strength that you have, because you know that

" death isn't as horrible as I thought it would be. It's really quite easy with the spirit."

You are so amazing! Only a strong, independent, humble person like you could feel that way! You help me realize that life is hard, but so good! I have my father with me, and my mom and my four brothers! I have a loving family and a nice house to live in. I have food and water and a job to go to. I am happy and healthy! and i have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life! and you have showed me that life is worth every minute that we have! I'm so glad that i have you in my life and i wish i could be there with you now!

but know that i love you dearly and am praying for you!

2010...

is off to a less than ideal start! here i am, a college graduate...living at home, unemployed and all of my future plans have come unraveled! so what is one to do?? a wise friend told me "write down things you are grateful for everyday and that will give you hope"! (or something like that) and Sam, you could not be more right! so at the end of my drab week and the beginning of a new, here is my list of wonderful things in my wonderful life!

BLANKETS!

my parents keep our home at a colder temperature than i did as a college student who didn't have to pay utilities! so because of that, we have blankets all over the house! we are always curled up in blankets, if we were not fashion conscious we would all own snuggies, but i think i can speak for all of us when i say, i would not be caught dead in a snuggie!

MY NEW LAPTOP!

this was the best graduation present! i am so glad that i don't have to use my grandpa laptop anymore! wireless internet is the best thing ever! at least with nothing else working in my life, i can always count on my laptop to come through for me! now if only i had some money to get her a new laptop skin...

A HOME TO LIVE IN!

quite honestly, i am glad that i am not homeless right now! my parents are kind enough to let me live at home until i figure out what i'm doing, which considering how much neither of us want it, is a huge thing to be grateful for! even when we were talking about me going back to school locally, they said that i could live here! never thought i would hear those words! that is how i know my parents love me...the fact that they haven't kicked me out yet!

MY BOYS!

as perhaps lame as it might sound, i am so glad that i have my little brothers! these guys are the only guys that i want to hang out with! this weekend, my parents went away for a night and i hung out with them! we had pizza and watched movies and did whatever we wanted and it was wonderful! Yes, i like hanging out with my 11, 14 and 17 year old brothers!

MY FRIENDS!

i have like zero friends in Nampa, but i do have some other places out there in the world! there are too many to name but all of you have been more than encouraging to me over the past couple of months! those of you who know me well know that i love school and the thought of finishing college was unnerving! but with all of your help, i feel that i can do this, i can make this transition and i can succeed! you all have such hope in me and it makes me almost believe it about myself! so thank you!

BABYSITTING!

Betsy, this may come as a shock, but i love babysitting your kids! ;) the other day I was holding Max and he got sleepy and fell asleep in my arms for a few minutes! it was at that moment that i realized that i REALLY want a baby and a family, and although i might not have it right now, when i always thought and hoped that i would, i will someday! and when that day comes, i will have beautiful babies like the one asleep in my arms and that's what i'm preparing for! and Heavenly Father must know that i need more preparation! but He also sends me a little girl to sit on my lap during church to tide me over in the meantime!

FAITH!

i don't know all the answers, heck, i don't know any answers! in the past week, i have found what i thought was a great job, turned down the job, questioned my whole career path, changed my whole career choice, gave up on a career, bawled my eyes out, hit half way to rock bottom and wanted to give up. and then i rerealized that if i have faith, everything will work out! i have no idea how, but i know the Lord does and that will have to be enough for now!

i'm sure that there will be many more times i need to make a list like this because i am nowhere close to being out of the woods for this trial... but i haven't hit rock bottom until i have to put that i'm grateful for guys that wear socks with their sandals on my thankful list! when that happens, know that i'm officially insane! until then, i'm thankful!