This Week

Ok, here are this week's lists.

People I'm especially grateful for this week:

1. My guidance counselor for always answering my questions and getting things done for me, FAST! She does her job well.
2. Andrea for keeping me company.
3. Mal. I enjoy chatting with her.
4. Sister Kennedy for simply making me happy.

Things I'm grateful for/made me happy this week:

1. That I was able to drop a really hard class and add an online in its place. I was going to die otherwise.
2. That I'm done with all the formalities and weird stuff in high school and now I can be a normal college student (as normal as I can be anyways!).
3. That I understand Valentine's Ethics lectures. I don't know how, but I'm glad I do.
4. That its summer!!!! Even though I'm in school. And in 4 more weeks I'll be even happier that its summer because I'll be able to enjoy it!!

Happy Sunday!! Have a great week!

I'm DONE!!

After a week at college I came home for my high school graduation. We had the smallest class they've had in 20 years (according to Mr. Martin). 147. Last year was about 100 more than that!

Let's play Where's Waldo. Can you find me?

My parents and me afterwards:

It's over! I'm done! Woo hoo!

So after graduation we went to dinner at the Chinese Buffet in town with my sisters, parents and Ella. At which I stuffed myself until I was sick, and then went to see UP with Mallory and my mom. It's a tear jerker.

Now on to my last year of undergrad!

Lovin' Life

It really is a wonderful world. I spent the past week deep cleaning the house I live in at school, and for some reason I loved every minute of it! I don't know why but I love cleaning and organizing and dancing and singing to music while I do it. That may be why it takes me so long. I often take dance breaks(only when I'm alone of course).

So for this week, people I especially appreciate are:

1. Hilary Weeks for commenting on my blog and making my day!!!!!(See below post)
2. Brittany and Phil for giving me some much needed human contact even though I was stinky and gross. We're going to have a fun year!
3. Mindy for taking so giving so much of her time and talents for my graduation stuff!!

And things I'm grateful for/made me happy this week:

1. That I have a room at school that I can stand up straight in and has a door and a closet and windows!!!!!!
2. That I have my piano in my new room.
3. That I have a plant table in my new room.
4. My new room!!!
5. That I can get my textbooks for free!
6. The shuffle setting on my computer's music player. You never know what's coming next!
7. That I'm done with seminary! It's great, but it's nice to be done.

Life is great. I start summer semester this week. Wish me luck! In 5 weeks and I'll officially be a college senior. Awesome.

Doesn't Get Much Better

So my weekend was wonderful in every way!
It started out with a trip to Cincinnati for Time Out For Women, which was excellent. When we got there we were all hoping to meet Hilary Weeks who is one of our favorite LDS singer/songwriters. We went to lunch before Time Out started and as we walked I saw every one's faces tense up as we realized Hilary Weeks was there and sitting RIGHT NEXT to us!! So Mindy very smoothly asked for a picture with her and the speakers she was with. Feast your eyes on this:
I know its hard, but try to control your jealousy. The speakers with her were Kris Belcher, Emily Watts, and Kim Nelson, who was taking the picture. We chatted for a bit, then went on our way. It. Was. Awesome. That pretty much made all of our weekends.
After Time Out we came home to a wonderful family filled weekend with lots of family and lots of fun. And lots of noise courtesy of 4 nephews and 1 niece. But it was worth it :) I can't wait to do it all over again in July!

Slacking

Sorry for missing last weeks grateful lists. But now I have double the things to put in this one!
So the people I especially appreciate this week:

1. Bekah(my sister in law)- every time she comes I talk her ear off because I feel like she is genuinely interested in me and my plans, and if she's not she does a really good job at faking it. I'm so glad I got her as my sister-in-law. I wouldn't have wanted anyone else!
2. My sisters(including in-law) and mom- we had a really fun and peaceful time this weekend.
3. Hilary Weeks- I'll explain in an upcoming post. Prepare to be amazed.
4. My whole family- I love family weekends.

Things I'm grateful for/ made me happy this week:

1. Time Out For Women!
2. The neon sign outside of our hotel room window.
3. That the woman at the front desk though Mindy said "sour cap" when she said "shower cap."
4. The whole weekend!
5. That I got to spend time with myself.
6. Everything because my biofeedback made me a bit loopy this week.
7. Adjectives

Have a spectacular week!

The Good Life

My past week and a half has been unbelievably busy. What's great about this is none of it involved school! Part of it should have, but didn't, which resulted in a B+ in one class. But I can handle that, and it was worth it!
One of the things my week consisted of was my very first voice recital. If I was braver I would post the video, but I'm not, so a picture will have to do. My roommates (minus Mal) came to watch me:

I spent my last official night with these girls last week because they all graduated on Saturday

:( I will miss them. We had a great year!!!

Friday was Mallory's birthday so after the "party" we threw her, and way too much cake we went to see Earth which Mal has been dying to see.

We were the only ones in the movie theater so naturally Mallory needed a picture:
SPOILER ALERT: Good movie, however everything dies!! That's the only disappointing part. That plus the subtle plugs for global warming.

Saturday ALL my roommates graduated :( On the plus side, now I'm getting a room with a door and a ceiling tall enough for me to stand up straight! Here's Mal and me:

Let's be honest, we all know she's going to miss me like crazy. Who couldn't miss a face like that! I don't know why, but I love this picture. I think it says so much about us. Hahahaha!

Here's a better one:

So Monday after a fun, people filled week, I jumped in the car(I think without anyone knowing) and pretty much drove all over Ohio just to spend some time with me. It was great. Now I could use a week of boredom before I start school again. I wonder if I'll get it.

Monday Fun

My Mondays this semester have consisted of grocery shopping, cleaning, and HOMEWORK. With classes being over, I had no homework and had lots of fun instead! I started the fun by going hiking with the sister missionaries(it was their preparation day) and then out for ice cream.
I had no idea there were such pretty places around here. And after talking with them of course I want to go on a mission even more, but I've still got a while. That evening I went to finals breakfast and then played my first game of Ultimate Frisby. Not well, but I played. It was pretty fun. I'd definately play again. Don't you love it when the worst day of the week (Monday) is jam packed with fun?!

The View

For the past year every time I turn on my computer I see this beautiful picture:
It brings a smile to my face every time I open my laptop! For those of you who I haven't bragged to, Eliza Marchant is pretty much my favorite non-family girl alive! Sorry to all other living non-family girls, but its true. I love this girl! Who else would join me in not showering for week?

My New Pals

A few months ago I bought onions for a recipe not knowing that I already had some. Since then, the new onions have sat on the kitchen table, undergoing extreme makeovers. These are my new friends:
If you grab the onion part they are full squish on the inside :( I thought about using them before they rotted but how could I after they grew hair? They look like mini Wilsons. You know I don't have any friends around if the one's I spend the most time with are mohawked onions. I like the little guys. And I'm sure my roommates appreciate the lovely onion smell that's taken over the kitchen :)

Once Again

Hopefully, I get time to blog and things to blog about in the near future. I've got 2 finals and a voice recital left to go then FREEDOM! So here are this week's lists.
People I especially appreciate this week:

1. Ella, Preston, and Brennen for just beings little sweeties this weekend (Mindy might not agree however).
2. Eliza!!! Because she is absolutely wonderful and I love everything about this stupendous girl!
3. My mom for being a huge example of strength.
4. My gender soc teacher for giving a take home final- how awesome is that?!
5. Mallory for saying some things in FHE that really helped me.

Things I'm especially grateful for/ made me happy this week:

1. I only have a little school left!
2. That in driving back to school today I should have absolutely been late to church, but I wasn't! They hadn't started yet!
3. My last day of volleyball class was a blast!!
4. The rain held off on Friday long enough for me to make my 2 1/2 drive with the windows down.
5. The two mourning doves that land on my bathroom window sill every morning.
6. That my camera randomly decided to start working again!

I hope you all are lovin' life and are enjoying the little things! By the way, I don't say this because I'm great at it. I'm not, that's why I started these lists. Just thought I'd put that out there. Happy Sabbath!

One Is The Lonlinest Number, Actually, Not Really

Note to reader: this will probably be a VERY long very Mormon post, that I doubt anyone has time to read. But here goes anyways.
This week I had a really good conversation with my roommate about being alone, which I have pretty much been since about January. Yes I have people around me and friends but I don't really have anyone around me that I tell everything to and really connect with like I have had in the past. If you don't know this about me, I'm kind of a people person. Or a least a person, person. I've said a few times, I don't need a lot of friends, I just need one. I was dreading moving away from my best friend in January, but it's not that bad!

Over the past few months, and especially weeks, I've felt alone a lot, but I haven't really been lonely. Which, by the way, is one of the worst feelings so I'm pretty glad I haven't had to deal with it much. I learned, I enjoy being by myself (meaning more than just alone time). I still enjoy being with people of course, but I'm okay not having someone to talk to all the time. This is good considering the number of active members at my college is going from three to two next year (my sister is graduating).

But sometimes of course it can be challenging being by yourself. The thing Mallory mentioned in FHE that really helped is that when Elder Bednar came to this stake before I went to school here he said something along the lines of, you may feel alone because you are few in number but know that all around the world are millions of other people who are doing the same things, so really you're not few in number, you're just spread out. That was the gist I got anyways.
I think its really easy for members of the church, especially in the east where we are relatively few in number, to feel like we are alone in living the gospel. But it is really comforting to know that although there may only be one other person at my college that knows what I know and is doing the things that I do, there are tons of people in the same boat who are trying to live the gospel without many others around them doing the same thing. And strength can come from those unseen people.

By the way I have family and friends who love me, who are just not in the general southern Ohio area and that's why I'm by myself. So, don't think I'm alone alone. It could be a lot worse and I'm grateful its not! But, if you're feeling alone, hopefully you're not lonely and if so realize that you of course are never alone. And hopefully you know the person that's always with you!