My Eternal Family

My home teachers asked me the other day what I am most thankful for in the gospel.
Without thinking I said that I can be with my family for eternity.
As these words left my mouth I had some words come to mind that overwhelmed me with happiness and joy:
"You will never go another day in all of eternity without your family."
Oh it is such a comfort to be sealed to them and to know that I can be with these amazing people that I love like nothing else forever and ever and ever.

The gospel is true, folks. I can't say it loud enough or with enough feeling.

We love each other.

We support each other.

We cheer each other on.

We talk to each other.

We are best friends.

What I did to deserve to be in such am amazing family, I don't know.

But I am forever and eternally grateful for whatever it was.

*Oh man, here come the water works.*

Is it ridiculous that I make myself cry just thinking about how much I love my family?

Gratitude #24

You know those days when you know the worst part of the flu is over because your appetite comes back in FULL FORCE?

Or those days when your pink eye decides to clear up so you can wear your contact lenses again?

How about those days when you quite possibly didn't get all the way through Othello (like not even close) and then your English class is cancelled?

Yeah, I'm grateful for those days :)

I just hope my English teacher didn't cancel class because she came down with like...tuberculosis or something like that.

The Most Exciting News of My Whole Entire Lifetime!

Okay....maybe I over-exaggerated that just a smidge, but I got some SERIOUSLY good news today.

Yesterday I took my first Organic Chemistry test and I left feeling pretty confident.
[I may have been just a little nervous too]

Today I got my test back {HOORAY for speedy test graders!} and I got...

AN A!!!!


XD I can't even express how happy happy happy HAPPY I am at this moment XD

Now if only my brain would magically start understanding Physics my life would be set!

Look what I bought!

A shelf!

And the food on it!

I love payday!

Guess who's back!

BERT!

(Ignore the crappy parking job)

Seriously, my first thought was, "I never thought I would be so happy to see that car!"

He drives like a dream now! No joke. 

I said to myself, "Wow, this is what it's supposed to feel like to shift gears!"

Yay!

A legacy

I got a message on Facebook from my friend Allison saying that she and the rest of the stake heard a story about me at seminary graduation last night.
I found this a little odd because I haven't lived in Moscow for almost four years.

She later informed me that Brother Banks was speaking about how sometimes God makes divine signatures on certain times in our lives.

He shared the story about how I met Brianne Kline, the girl who changed my life.
If you don't know there's a watered down version here. It's down toward the bottom. Reason number 8.

I honestly didn't think that this story would make such a big impact on anyone's life but my own.

Brother Banks got up and told everyone that he had asked my permission to share this story 

(It was YEARS ago! It may have actually been right after I bore my testimony about it at Youth Conference)

I don't think he would have taken no for an answer anyway.

He also told them that he had been waiting three years to share this story.

Why he waited that long, I don't know. 

He must have felt impressed that someone needed to hear my story at that time and not before.

It's crazy for me to think about:

Did I really make a difference? 

In my hour of despair, did I maybe change someone's life?

And without the knowledge of it?

All I can say is I don't know, but I hope whoever needed to hear it that night did.
I hope my legacy will live on in the hearts of those who heard it.
And I hope you all know what a big impact this has made on my life.

Crazy night!

Photo Challenge Day 2: A picture of a crazy night.

This one was easy!

Mystie, Jeff, and I went out late one night and roamed campus. 

We took pictures with all the weirdo statues and had a ton of fun!

But on a more serious note...

Today is Easter Sunday and I am very grateful for all that has been done for me.

My Brother, my Savior and Redeemer died for me but he rose again, breaking the bands of death many centuries ago.

He loves me...

He gave me the gospel...

He gave me an eternal family...

He cares for me...

He hears my prayers...

And I KNOW He always will.

Last night as I was saying my prayers I asked Heavenly Father to help me understand a question that has repeatedly popped up in my mind in the last few weeks.
Before I could even close my prayer I had my answer clear as day!
"You already know that."
That was all.
I lay in bed thinking about what it meant because I was obviously confused...
But then I realized that it was true.
I always knew the answer, I was simply thinking it had to be more profound.

Can I just say I love my life?
A lot!

Basically, this is my life

I feel like I have been very adequately named.
Wanna know why?
Well, I'm gonna tell you even if you don't!

My life can most definitely be a dilEMMA!

(I feel like I should mention that I haven't seen this movie)

And I also feel like this song describes my life most of the time, which STINKS!

I guess it's gonna have to hurt

I guess I'm gonna have to cry

And let go of some things I loved

To get to the other side.

I guess it's gonna break me down

Like fallin' when you're tryin' to fly

It's sad but sometimes moving on 

With the rest of your life

Starts with goodbye

However!

I have made a commitment to myself to be happy.

So no matter how bad things get or how much I wanna quit

and run home to my mommy...

I'm gonna be happy.

See past the bad things and focus on the good.

I'm gonna get through this...

1. I have an amazing Heavenly Father.

2. I have an amazing religion.

3. I have amazing roommates.

4. I have an amazing family who sticks by me no matter what.

5. I have an amazing job with amazing kids who teach me more and more and MORE every day.

6. Jeff let me have first dibs on his Reed's Dairy Chocolate Milk

7. Ryan left me half a chocolate bar on my bed (where the other half went I could only guess)

8. Mystie left me a letter on my bed that made my day.

9. Megan made me laugh at myself for toasting a corn dog on the toaster.

10. I got to walk home in the middle of a rainstorm.

Life.

is.

good.

Why is he my hero?

So, in my last post I expressed that Michael McLean was my hero, so now I figure that I will explain why.

On Sunday March 14, 2010 Michael McLean came to Soda Springs to speak at a fireside.
Maci and I went half an hour early to be sure to get a good seat :)
I don't remember much about the actual fireside except for one thing.
Let me remind you that I had been broken up with a little more than a month before...
This is what he said.
"I'm going to go off on a tangent here for just a second because I feel like this needs to be said. Someone here came with an exceptionally large burden. I don't know what it is, if you're feeling inadequate or heartbreak or what, but this song is for you." 
He then sang Ninety and Nine, which is my favorite song by him.
Then he came to this part:

You are one of the Ninety and Nine

Have you any idea how brightly you shine?

You are safe in the arms of the fold 

And it's time you were told 

That I know where you've been

So I know where you'll be

Because all of your life you've been following me

You are more than just one of the sands of the sea

Or just one of the ninety and nine

You are mine!

I know that these words could apply to so many people in so many situations, but at that moment he was speaking to me.

It was certainly what I needed to hear at that moment :)

Just exactly what I needed!

It's no secret that for the last little while I've been caught in something of a FUNK!


I hated school,
    I hated being in Pocatello,
        I wasn't too pleased with how work was going,
             I was getting bugged by things that normally wouldn't bug me and,
                 I felt like I had let some people down in a big way, which made me disappointed in myself.

In other words, that ecstatic feeling I had just a couple of weeks ago was GONE-ZO!

...All I can say is thank goodness I have a Heavenly Father who loves me.
...He cares for me and even when I am at my weakest I am upheld by his righteous omnipotent hand.
...And I know that Jesus has felt these exact feelings, so he knew exactly how to succor me.

I went home this weekend for two things.
1) Conference
2) I really needed a hug from my mommy.

Before I made it out of town I made a stop.
I went to DI first to look for a tape player for Mystie (hers was eating her tapes).
  While I was there I decided to look at the books and see if there was anything worthwhile.
     That's when I saw it...
         Hold On: The Light Will Come, a book by none other than my hero, Michael McLean.
         I had never even heard of it before, but I knew I had to have it.

Here are a couple of quotes from the book:

"Somewhere between holding on and letting go, between love lost and love found, between promises made and promises kept, between those who build us up and those who let us down, our lives are lived and our lessons are learned."

"I've had the extraordinary blessing of getting not what I thought I wanted, but what I need." (This was followed by a little bit of a song he wrote):

All I ever wanted, all I ever dreamed of,

Everything I hoped, and all the things I prayed for

Couldn't hold a candle to what I've been given,

I've been given what I need.

You're Not Alone:

You're not alone, even though right now you're on your own.

You are loved in ways that can't be shown,

Your needs are known

You're not alone.

...Well, I know that it's not easy, but I know that it won't last,

'Cause one who loves you more than me

Is sending blessings fast

...And even when it's hard to find the words,

Your prayers are always heard.

You're not alone.

"Who are you doing this for?"

"And on the days when being good didn't come as naturally as I would have liked, I didn't need to obsess over the failures, but rather than get back on track and keep moving forward."

"If you're good, and you're doing what you're doing for somebody else, you won't fail."

"...that doesn't change my passionate belief that God knows us, and loves us, and has a plan remarkably tailored to help us figure out how to live happily."

"...my happiest moments...come when I've acknowledged Him."

I was already feeling a little better after reading these words...but then it was time for conference.

Elder Kent F. Richards of the Seventy spoke about pain in the Saturday Morning session.

He said that pain was a gage of your patience...

   That Christ is not a silent observer in our lives...

       That Christ chose to suffer pain so that He could understand us...

            That healing comes in many ways-each according to our individual needs...

               That our circumstances might not immediately change,

               But we will be encircled by the arms of His love.

Then he said this:

"Behold, ye are all little children and ye cannot bear all things now. But fear not, ye are mine."

It took all of that to finally make me realize that I was being pretty stupid.

I realized that I hadn't really let anyone down...the situation was out of my control.

I realized that I was hating Pocatello because I just needed a hug from my mom.

I realized that I am hating school not because I have years to go, but because my classes are just legitimately boring right now.

I realized that I should be working for the kids and not for me.

And I once again realized Heavenly Father's love for me. In a very VERY strong way.

Needless to say...my happy is back :D

Pie and Moustaches!

First of all, Happy Pi Day everyone!
This is quickly becoming my favorite holiday ;)
One of my good friends, Kyle, was feeling ultra ambitious today...
So we ended up making eleven pies.

Yes, you read that correctly. Eleven. As in one one...11...Once...you get the picture.

Here are a few pictures of our evening:

Derek was "Maria" today. Maria is their dishwasher.

Lauren and I took care of most of the pie fillings.

Mastermind and pie crust maker

As well as making fillings, I also rolled out lots of dough. I find that hilarious because I'm not particularly gifted at it...

Here they are all done! Melissa also helped peel the apples :)

Nice face Kyle ;)

Cheesecake, Lemon Meringue, Coconut Cream, Pecan, Apple, Pumpkin, Two Chicken Pot Pies, Fudge Ice Cream...thing, And I think there was another Coconut one too.

At around seven we took a break from our pie making and went to our separate FHE activities. 

Actually...I think I'm the only one who was in a different FHE group...lame.

Anyway, guess what the activity was in my group?

Yep, you guessed it. Pie making. 

I guess you could say that I'm a little pied out right now.

Cody cutting the Key Lime Pie. (Kinda amazing that they came up with ANOTHER flavor of pie that Kyle didn't eh?)

And this is what we did while we were waiting for the pies to be done. 

Yes, we made moustaches.

Jeffrey trying to look "subductive".

That's a direct quote.

He's kinda brilliant haha

This is Jim...affectionately called Jimberly. 

He will probably kill me if he reads this.

Overall, today was a good day! Lots of laughs and memories made.

I love Pi Day

♥

3.14.11

The Best Feeling

You know...sometimes things just don't go the way you originally picture them going.

And at the time it stinks.
   And you wish things were different.
      And you want to go back and fix things.
          Make them go the way you pictured.

But then you remember that God has a plan for you.
And he knows the end from the beginning.
This is just a bump in the road and you just got new shock absorbers!

No sweat!

It's a strange feeling...
I'm actually happy with where I am...and it's not where I thought I would be.
I didn't think in a million years that I would be happy when things didn't go according to my plan...
Yet I am.

And not just happy, ECSTATIC!

I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders.
I'm back to the point I was at in my junior year of high school.
Happy.
Light.
Amazing!

I could get used to this :)