Because I Have Been Given Much

Whate'er Thou Art, Act Well Thy Part. 

It seems as though every time I reach a point where I start to think I know exactly where my life is  headed, Heavenly Father reminds me that He has a plan for my life and that He knows what I should be doing much better than I do. In fact, more often than not my perspective is so limited that my plan is lacking some key elements. 

Also, this is not helped at all by the fact that I can be very stubborn at times and refuse to acknowledge that I may be wrong about something. 

And with that...the most recent (and so far possibly most life-changing) thing that I finally recognized is in Heavenly Father's plan for me...and which I finally realized I have been fighting and avoiding thinking about for over year. 

I will be serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

This realization (and it was without a doubt and realization and not a decision) came quite suddenly and surprised me, however from the responses I've gotten in the last day and a half, evidently I was the only one who didn't see it. Although, looking back on the last year I can identify several moments where I could have realized I am supposed to serve a mission if only I hadn't been so certain I knew better than Heavenly Father. 

Funny how that's never ever true. He ALWAYS knows better than me. 

To make a long story short, my cousin Stephanie was teaching Relief Society on Sunday, February 23rd, and I was sitting there just thinking and out of nowhere I just thought "I am going on a mission" followed quickly by "what?? Where did that come from??" But as soon as that thought ran through my mind I knew that it was true without a doubt. And that's that. 

I will be submitting my mission papers as soon as I get home from London, at the end of August, and anticipate leaving after this Fall Semester. Stay tuned for more.

I could not be more excited about this amazing opportunity, nor more humbled by the incredible responsibility that missionary service is for me. I am so blessed to have the knowledge of the true church on the earth today and to have a testimony of the truth of the gospel and it's teachings. I look forward to sharing this gospel with the people wherever I am called to serve. 

Until then I will be humbly preparing myself physically, mentally, emotionally, and most importantly spiritually by serving as much as I can now while I await my opportunity to hasten the work on a full-time basis. 

Cheesy Dates

Ah dating. The quintessential activity at BYU. That mostly awkward, occasionally enjoyable thing that humans, for some weird reason, thought would be a good idea to make into a social norm. 

Yeah... that. 

Suffice it to say I haven't really done much of it here due to the lack of males in my ward (that would be 29 to the 140 girls)...and well my roommates and I were just kind of bored of that. So we decided that it would be a good idea to ask guys out for a big group date. (Spoiler alert: it was.)

The road to getting to this date, however, was kind of a crazy one. Because of certain frustrating personality flaws that I possess, I have at various times claimed to be against dating (yeah, um, I'm NOT), but I came into the room on Monday night to find my roommates discussing plans for this date that we had kind of talked about a few times before. 

It didn't really take them long to convince me to ask someone, but our first couple ideas got killed before long for various reasons. After having discussed it for some time, we all decided who we wanted to take and proceeded to ask them (it may or may not have been around midnight when this happened..) They all said yes and we were in business!

And then everything kind of started to fall apart.

 

Thursday both Michaela and I found out that our dates had forgotten something that they had going on and wouldn't be able to go. She got another date right away...but due to a lack of planning, I had absolutely no back-up date ideas. None at all...and by now it's the day before and it's a long weekend so everyone is out of town. 

By Saturday morning (the day of the date) I still don't have a date and the only prospect was possibly getting set up with one of my roommates friends from last Semester, and they haven't even started trying to get ahold of him. Basically I was 101% positive that I was going to be chilling in my room for a few hours while my roommates had a date in our kitchen. (Spoiler again: I was 101% wrong).

After yet again having the joy of visiting the testing center on a Saturday afternoon at 2 pm, I came home and decided it would be a good idea to go play the piano for a while. That was definitely a wise decision, as while I was playing one of my good friends from last Semester came in and said hi, and then ended up inviting me to hang out with him and some of his friends right exactly then. I almost said No actually, but then I stopped and realized that it's not like I had any other plans (still no date), so in a moment of "eh, why not?" I went. 

I had soo much fun just playing pool and basketball and hanging out and not worrying about anything for a while. Turns out Michaela's date for the night was there too and while we were talking about the date he was about to go on I get a text- at 5 pm I found out that in fact I DID have a date at 7 pm, with a guy I had kind of met twice but never even talked to before. So there was that. 

Cue minor freak out. 

Cue MAJOR freak out. 

Ok. Fast forward to actual date. There was no better almost stranger for me to go on a date with. We all had SO much fun just doing the most random things. 

Of course food is a must, so we made pizzas. Hunter and I's was a little indecisive. Half alfredo, half red sauce, cheese that didn't melt, pepporoni, and a few random meats and vegetables that kind of just got tossed on there. But it was good regardless.

While we were making Pizza, someone opened a bag of the dollar store cheese and it kind of exploded everywhere. My date's natural response was to start throwing cheese in the air....and what could follow after that but a cheese fight? (Don't worry we took it outside) I will admit, that is one of the stranger things I have been a part of it, but for anyone who has never participated in a cheese fight, well... I highly recommend it :)

The whole gist of our date was playing Minute to Win it games and basically that just required a lot of spontaneity. I fit 16 pieces of dubble bubble chewing gum in my mouth (that stuff will never taste the same again), we stacked dice on top of a fork that was stuck in our mouths, and Hunter had to try and get a penny out of a pair of nylons using only one hand. Also we drew our cheese fight out in chalk on the ground outside and somehow that escalated into leaving our numbers on the ground for the general population to find and call/text (more on that later....maybe, just know it became an adventure) 

After our adventures we headed to one of the guys' apartments and watched the Croods. Hunter and I had quite an enjoyable time watching as everyone else cuddled and we awkwardly slightly touched. 

Suffice it to say that good times were indeed had by all :)

A Brief Discussion on the Necessity of Sleep

I think it is common knowledge that humans need sleep to survive. 

However, I think that someone forgot to inform college students about this fundamental need. 

Or else we just don't care. 

Either way, I'm pretty positive that the amount of sleep I am currently getting is perhaps a little less than the amount that I should be getting. The fact that I have to mentally peptalk myself into getting up in the morning, and then routinely fall asleep during both important and interesting lectures (not to mention the dull and unimportant ones). 

I admit that the lack of sleep that I am getting is partially my fault, but I also would like to point out that it is not ENTIRELY my fault. I blame having friends. 

Because I don't get off work until midnight (for the next two days at least, after that I will be working a shift that ends at 9 *brief rejoicing*) I try ... TRY... to get all my homework and projects and readings and blogging and pinteresting and eating (especially eating) done before I leave... inevitably this fails and I have just one more reading quiz, or homework assignment, or email to send, or minute to spend on social media...and inevitably I end up abandoning whatever it is that I still have to do in favor of a midnight snack and post-midnight chat with Michaela and Tanisha. I've pretty much gone to sleep at 2 am every night for the past week. 

According to research, I, as an 18-year-old student, need between 6 and a half to 9 hours of sleep every night. I am living proof that 6 hours is not in fact enough sleep to keep from utter mental exhaustion..and also sleeping until 3 both Saturday and Sunday does not make up for lack of sleep during the week on any level. ANY level. 

Anyway, I am not complaining, because I certainly do love our late night talks and bonding over crazy things that happen. :) I just think it should be noted that there are NOT enough hours in the day. Also taking 18 credits and working 20 hours a week may not be a life plan that reallly allows for much sleep. So I suppose that such is the life I have chosen to live. 

Round Two

Here I go, semester #2 of college!
A lot has changed for me this semester... New classes, new roommates, new friends, new job,new goals.. etc. 

It's been kind of a whirlwind first couple of weeks. Lots of crazy exciting things have happened, lots of adventures, but also lots of stress and not a lot of sleep. I guess that's college though. 

BIG NEWS!
I got accepted to the Summer 2014 London Study Abroad Program!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So I will be gone for 7(ish) weeks and as soon as I get back it will be right into Fall Semester. Ah!

Getting the final decision on that pretty much cemented my Spring/Summer plans in regards to work/school/vacation, and so that was both good and bad. GOOD because now I can start to prepare accordingly, find a new apartment, look for another job or two before London, plan and trips wherever need be (April is kind of a big month: I am getting a new sibling and a new cousin-in-law in the same week....). BAD because now I have to prepare for all those things. C'est la vie. 

The semester is already almost a quarter of the way over.. I have two midterms (already??) coming up this week, and I just had a test in German yesterday (do not ask how it went). In an attempt to keep my academic life in check I have managed to neglect a few parts of my personal life (please note emphasis on personal life and not on social life). Showering, for example, has been determined to not be a daily necessity, I figure three or four times a week should suffice, right? Also laundry. I mean I am actually pretty good about making sure that I have clean clothes, and am fairly good at making sure that my dirty laundry doesn't spread all over everywhere.. but the whole folding and putting away part? Ehhh.. maybe not so much. I haven't managed to find time to put the sheets back on my bed in about a week, and I ended up dumping all my clean laundry on top of my unmade bed yesterday, and then I had to go to work.. so uh it is possible that due to a combination of sleep deprivation and lack of motivation I just curled up and slept on the couch last night. No complaints. 

Work actually is kind of terrible. Not the actual work, that's fine. Also I really really like my coworkers, they are pretty much awesome. But for anyone who thinks that having a shift that ends a midnight will help you get your homework done before work, THINK AGAIN! Instead I have now moved my official bedtime to somewhere between one and two in the morning, because realistically, there's just no way around the fact that I will never, despite and attempts to convince myself otherwise, go to sleep as soon as I get home from work. Trust me. If it isn't homework that needs my desperate attention, it's roommate chats until 5 am or walking in to the apartment only to find my roommate doubled over in pain and unable to hear out of her right ear (yeah that was an adventure hopefully not soon to be repeated). 

That just about sums up the first month of this semester. Despite earlier claims otherwise I don't actually have much of a social life. I mean I know that there are people in the world somewhere, but I haven't really gotten around to locating them just yet. (Please note that this is also an exaggeration, I do indeed have friends.. I am not a complete social outcast.. yet.) However, maybe waking up before 2 in the afternoon on weekends would help me actually be able to both have adventures with friends and maybe even (gasp) get ahead on homework (jokes). I also someday hope to progress towards eating 3 meals a day, instead of the current options of 2 meals a day, 1 meal and a large snack, 6 muffins and several bowls of cereal, or 5+ meals a day. #collegelife 

Giving thanks

So I really just want to share this fantastic gem with you. I have shared this on Facebook, and via e-mail to several friends. I kind of love it.

Now I can't take any credit for this at all (except I edited it a little bit for my friends in the mission field). The link to the actual post is right here: http://iwouldratherbecold.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-i-give-thanks-for.html.

I highly suggest you read this, it was written by a friend of mine from Montana who is currently volunteering/adventuring in Nepal instead of going to college right away. It's really fantastic actually.

And in the spirit of giving thanks I just want to share with you what I am grateful for in this holiday season:
 (cough cough..it is possible that it  has been somewhere around 2 months since I started this post, but I will continue it regardless)

I am thankful for life. For the beautiful opportunity is to be alive and to live on this Earth every single day. Our lives truly are miracles and each and every day I am astounded by how amazing life is. I honestly can't even wrap my mind around it.

I am thankful for my family and friends and the people who I am blessed to have in my life.. especially those who have stuck it out when things have gotten more than a little rough. And especially my wonderful, amazing roommates this Semester who I could not do without.

I am thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, for the power of His word. I am thankful for the many blessings of the Priesthood and for the worthy Priesthood holders in my life. I am thankful for the opportunity to go to church every Sunday and feel the Spirit and learn more of the teachings of the Savior Jesus Christ.

I am thankful for the incredible university that I have been SO blessed to attend. I am grateful for the many opportunities that it has provided to me already, and the opportunities which I know will continue to be available to me in the remaining two years of my undergrad studies.

I am thankful for all of the many experiences that I have already been able to have in the short time I have been on this earth. Traveling through Southeast Asia and getting to experience the culture of Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore while spreading friendship through music. Living with my second family, the Wenigs, in Kulmbach, Germany, and falling absolutely in love with that country. Having so many chances to see different parts of this amazing country that I am proud to call my homeland, and being able to meet different people and learn about them without leaving the USA. I look forward to the time I will spend in London, England, this coming Summer, and for the many opportunities that will give me to meet new people, learn new culture and try new things.

I am thankful for the home in which I was raised to treat other people with kindness and to respect everyone. I am thankful that my parents taught me independence and the ability to make my own decisions, and that they taught me how to serve from a young age. I am thankful for the 5 fantastic siblings I have, and the sixth one that will join our family in April, even if he and I will be more than 18 years apart in age. I am thankful for my extended family who have supported me throughout my life and given me the encouragement to pursue my dreams.

I am thankful for music. Music is my lifeline and without it I am missing a part of my soul. I am so incredibly blessed to have been raised somewhere where I had the chance to learn many different instruments and to grow in many different styles of music as I grew up. I am thankful for the opportunity, and responsibility, that I have had in my ward here to work with the music in church meetings and to be able to uplift others through my talents, and to be able to help others foster those talents.

I am thankful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and for my Heavenly Father, who has a plan for me and who knows exactly what I need in my life at any given moment. It may not always be easy to trust in that, but I know it is true. And I see every day the ways in which he is influencing my life and giving me the opportunities I need to get to where I need to be. Without that guidance I know that I would be lost.

This is a thanks that I strive to always keep in my heart. The entire year, and not just during a certain season or around a particular holiday. Thanks never expires.

Home vs. Home

So over the two vacations that we had last Semester, I noted several differences between my home in Idaho and my home down here at college. I'm sure those of you who are or have been college students are familiar with these differences but here are some of the ones I noticed most:

Family Home: Don't have to pay for food. Also food is much more balanced and healthier.

College: Spend as little money as possible while trying not to starve. Occasional splurging.

Family Home: Have to manually turn on lights.

College: The bathroom lights are automatic and it's pretty much the best thing ever. 

Family Home: Get to drive places farther than two blocks.

College: Pretty much I walk everywhere..which theoretically is really healthy but still waiting to see that play out for me.

Family Home: Get woken up by siblings at approximately 8 a.m. because they think its time to get up.

College: Wake up to my and my roommates alarms and both of us snooze them for at least half an hour if not more. I should probably work on that. 

Family Home: Everyone goes to sleep at like 9:30 so I just sit in my room and Pinterest or read until I fall asleep around midnight.

College: Well I work from 8-midnight on weeknights, so I typically don't go to sleep til 12:30...1 or 2 on weekends.

Family Home: I don't talk to anyone or go anywhere. Over Christmas I saw like two of my friends from home, and both of those were within the last 24 hours I was there.

College: It's kind of hard to not see people.. I mean it's possible but that's boring. I meet new friends all the time. A few days ago a bunch of boys brought us our mail and one thing led to another and now we're friends. And they came over last night just for fun and stayed until curfew. That was exciting.

Family Home: I get lazy and sit around all day in my pajamas and only shower every other day.

College: Oh. Same thing actually. Sometimes I even go 2 or 3 days before showering. 

Family Home: I do homework. Haha that was a a joke. Once over break I had a paper due and I managed to get it done the night of. 

College: HAHAHAHAHA what is school? (to be honest I actually did pass all my classes last semester with pretty good grades, so obviously I do SOME homework..but yeah.)

Family Home: I do things like read and play the piano and play with my siblings.

College: I watch movies. SO MANY MOVIES! (Les Miserables at least once a week).

How to be the coolest Sister... Ever.

Well.. First off you can't.. Because I already am. But that's altogether besides the point.

Really it's simple: tell your family that you are coming home the day before Thanksgiving, and that you'll be there until Sunday.

And then come home 5 days early.

But really, getting to spend 9 days with my family was fantastic (if slightly chaotic and mostly mad craziness the whole time). 

To be honest, I made a mental list of all the things that were completely different at home from other home. And some of them were really fantastic...but that post will come later, probably during Christmas break when I have both time and can remember all the great comments I had. So that's cool.

Thanksgiving is fantastic. I love food. Gosh I love food. Also my birthday was over break, and since I am now a legal adult that was kind of a big deal. Just a tiny bit. 

Our Thanksgiving celebration was a little different than usual. We ate dinner together just as a family, and then I made a key lime pie and a pecan pie, my sister made a pumpkin pie and my mom made a blueberry cream cheese pie. Then we took said pies over to our friends house. They are from Rwanda and had just had their fourth baby girl the previous Saturday which was also very exciting. Anyways, we went to their house, and they had friends also from Rwanda up visiting them-so we shoe-horned my family of 8, their family of 6 and their friends family of 8 into this small little house and ate pie. 

Now let me just pause and talk about how Thanksgiving works in my family: 

We cook all morning. 

Then we eat ourselves silly. 

Then we take naps.

Then we eat pie.

Then we lay around and digest our food.

Then we go to bed. 

That's it. But our friends from Rwanda have a little bit different tradition. That we got dragged into. 

After we ate pie they showed us a bunch of traditional African dances...but they didn't just let us sit on the couch and watch. No no. We were up dancing with them. For an hour and a half. 

Suffice it to say that I was sufficiently exhausted when we left. 

I do miss my family a lot, and it was good to be able to be with them for so long.. but right now my life has taken me to Provo and right here is where I need to be, for however long that will end up being. It's good to see them, and I wish I could visit them more often, but I know I'm in a new phase of life now and it's only going to get crazier from here on out.