Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas my dear friends. I hope that your Christmas is merry and bright, shared with those you love. Here are a few smiles from my friends Calvin and Hobbes. Enjoy! And of course, Merry Merry Christmas. Love you all. (Dbl Click to see full strip :)

Finals Week and New Adventures

Hi friends :) This week is finals, which is actually kind of relaxing, believe it or not. Last week was such a roller coaster of emotion, so this week feels like a breeze. I feel relaxed and happy, which are probably ideal emotions to feel before approaching an exam, so I'm truly grateful for that. :) OK, so new adventure!!! Um, yesterday happened to be Bread and Soup Nite, a lovely occasion where SUU students partake of bread and soup, mingle, donate food to the HOPE pantry for needy students on campus and get entertained by various groups, local and not so local. Since I volunteer, I have the opportunity to meet some cool bands. Last night, I met the coolest guys named Nick, Matt and Derek from the band Double or Nothing. We hung out for the evening and they spent the night because the roads were so bad. It snowed over a foot last night in Cedar City alone. I don't think either parties were upset at that fact, because we enjoyed ourselves so much. In a couple weeks, Johanna and I are doing a temple tour of Northern Utah. They're playing at first night in downtown Salt Lake and wanted us to come. So hopefully we'll be able to go to the temple with them and see their show New Years Eve. Its so odd, it's like I've known them for a long time already. They all have goofy, fun personalities like the guys I hung out with in high school. I'm pretty dang excited. Anyways, I'm doing well! I'm so excited to finally go home for Christmas!! I'll keep you posted on my life. :) Later!

I command you....Creative juices flow!

Oh hey! :) I'm posting at this unearthly hour, trying to get my creative juices flowing. You see, I have this horrid English paper due tomorrow morning that I haven't even began working on. I have no clue how to tackle this monstrosity or what to even say. I have to write about a legitimate problem and Cedar City and propose a solution to that problem that is cost effective and will be good for the citizens of this city. UGG!!! That man. YOU propose a freaking solution!!! haha That's the extent of anger I have energy to portray at this point in time. Anyway, I digress. Life has been pretty insane lately with classes and drama. Despite procrastinating, running away from boys and various responsibilities, the Lord has blessed me in so many ways. I've been blessed with the wonderful knowledge of the gospel, and the ability to show others around me that I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I've been blessed to live in such a beautiful place, surrounded by good friends and a great ward family. I live in close proximity to a temple where I can help perform his various ordinances for those that have passed on and feel the wonderful influence of his spirit as I serve Him there. I have a testimony of the restored gospel, Jesus Christ, and the Book of Mormon and know personally of Heavenly Father's love for me and know that he has a plan specifically for me. I have a roof over my head, clothing, food and my health. What more could I ask for? I'm truly blessed. This is such a wonderful time, a time of thanks, gratitude and reflection. Let us not forget what the Lord has given us, what He does for us every second of every day. Without him, we wouldn't be. I'm eternally grateful for him. Thank you all for your love and support always. xo

I LOVE THE GOSPEL!!!!

I just want to shout it from the rooftops!!! The Lord is such an amazing, incredible man. I am so blessed! I've been so fortunate lately because the Lord keeps showing His incredible love for me. He probably sends me those opportunities to see His hand in my life everyday, but I can't help but notice now! My life, by no means, has been a cake walk lately. But because of my willingness to let Him in and my desire to do His will is changing me. I am finally beginning to understand the lightness of taking his yoke upon me. When things seem as if they might not work out, as long as I do my best, the Lord will take on the rest. The Lord truly wants to be happy. He might have to teach me some difficult principles, but He has a plan for me and wants me to succeed. He is simply showing me how by trying my faith and showing me that I have to put my trust in Him in order for things to truly work.
I know that this gospel is true with all my heart. I know that Joseph Smith saw God, the Father, and His son, Jesus Christ in the sacred grove and was called to restore this wonderful gospel upon the Earth. I know that my Savior lives. I know he took upon all the sins, afflictions and pains of this world and through the Atonement, we all can be saved. I know he is my advocate to the Father and knows me better than anyone. He is always there. As one of my closest friends sings in a song she wrote, he's "right where a best friend should be, buried deep within my heart. Your name is perfect, your name is beautiful. I wish I could be more like you." I know that my Heavenly Father lives and that He loves me. He listens to the pleas of my heart, comforts me and answers my prayers. He wants us to succeed, be happy and live righteously so we might return to him. I know that the scriptures are true and that by studying them, our path will be lit back to our eternal home. I know that Thomas S. Monson is the true prophet of God on the Earth today and that he receives revelation specifically for us. We need to follow the counsel he and his wonderful apostles give, so we can deflect the firery darts of the adversary. I know the importance of timing and how intricately woven the tapestry of our lives is. We must have continued patience, faith and trust in His hand, especially when things don't go exactly how we planned, especially when things are very difficult to swallow. I love this gospel with all my heart and hope that, through my faithfulness, I can return to live with my family, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again. I leave you with the lyrics to my favorite hymn.

Savior, Redeemer of My Soul Hymn #112
Savior, Redeemer of my soul,
Whose mighty hand hath made me whole,
Whose wondrous pow'r hath raised me up
And filled with sweet my bitter cup!
What tongue my gratitude can tell,
Oh gracious God of Israel.

Never can I repay thee, Lord,
But I can love thee.
Thy pure word, Hath it not been my one delight,
My joy by day, my dream by night?
Then let my lips proclaim it still,
And all my life reflect thy will.

O'er rule mine acts to serve thine ends.
Change frowning foes to smiling friends.
Chasten my soul til I shall be in perfect harmony with thee.
Make me more worthy of thy love, and fit me for the life above.
~Orson F. Whitney
1855-1931

This is my hope and my wish. Love you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aPtzR1svzU&feature=related
(This is the link to hear the song. )

Euphoria when one shouldn't exactly be euphoric

Hi guys!! :) Guess what!? I got an email from CLARK JEFFERIES WILKEY TODAY!!!!!!! I was so excited!! I still am, cant you tell?!? He's doing so well, saving the world, preaching the gospel one lesson at a time. The Lord is truly blessing him for his faithfulness. I'm so proud of him. He always makes me want to be a better person. I'm so blessed to have him in my life, even if he is thousands of miles away. My mind has been everywhere lately, but not on school work. Which is awful. I'm so upset with myself. But tomorrow is another day that I don't want to screw up. I get to go do baptisms, so I'm so excited. So here's hoping. I'll talk to you all soon. xo

Blogging Infidel and Lousy Laundress

I realized today as I was parusing through former posts. I'm downright lousy at telling people about my life on the world wide web. lol . So, I'm not making any promises from this point forward. Just from reading all the times where I promised I'd update peeps, I look like the biggest flake in the history of blogging. Anyways, today I'm going to tell you about my laundry. Doesn't that just sound exhilarating?! Well its everywhere, piled up to my ceiling; just looming, ready to drop and crush me unexpectedly like the wicked witch of the east. I've created a top ten list for this particular topic. Here it goes.
"You know you need to do Laundry when..."
10. your pants can walk out of the house by themselves.
9. you change the name of the ever-growing mountain of clothes weekly
8. you forgot you even had a hamper
7. you cant find said hamper when you actually get around to it because its buried in the mountain with your textbooks and cat.
6. you've had the same box of dryer sheets since last year
5. people start noticing that ketchup stain from two weeks ago
4. the only thing left hanging in your closet is that revolting dress from great aunt betsy's funeral
3. it looks like a secondhand store threw up all over your bedroom floor
2. your roommates stand at least a yard away from you at all times
1. when you start looking worse than your old pal hobo joe down the street.

Haha, so those were exaggerated a tad. But I really have to do laundry. Three weeks of not doing laundry isn't the best idea. So, I must tackle the mountain and at least wash my dark articles of clothing and conform to the cult of domesticity once again. :( Here's a revolting illustration of what I must do. :( haha. Anywho, hope you're having a great day!

Tender Mercies

Hey Guys...Sorry its been such a long time. I just wanted to tell you a little about my weekend. Well, the good news is that I got a letter from Tyson and Teren and Derek ACTUALLY sent me an EMAIL!!!! ( crazy, huh?) It also was a very difficult one, fraught with drama, tears and mayhem that I am greatly surprised I lived through. Before you hear my ginormous shpeal, I want to tell you about a little experience that happened to me this morning. Due to my emotional and frazzled state, I forgot a scantron for my ridiculous chemistry exam this morning. Luckily, my professor was kind enough to provide me with one. So I finally sit down and start to take my test and realize I need my calculator. My calculator ran out of battery last week, so I proceeded to use my only other option- my cell phone. If you weren't already aware, cell phones round up to only two decimal places, so my answers weren't as accurate. In that instance, I prayed that Heavenly Father would somehow make my other calculator work, so I wouldn't totally crash and burn on the exam. I had an impression to take it out and wiggle the back up batteries. I'd done that several times the week before and it hadn't worked, but I followed the impression. I nervously turned the calculator over and pushed the power button. TADAH!!!! It worked!! So I was able to get approximate answers and get SOME questions right. (hopefully) It was such a miracle. I just thought I'd tell you about that. It was a miracle in itself that Deek actually wrote me an email, but He made my calculator work too! The Lord is such an incredible man! The fact that he takes time to listen to me and help with little problems is so incredible! I love him so much! Anyways, I thought I'd share that really quick. Hope all of you are having a great day!
(Ps- I thought this Calvin and Hobbes Strip summed up my feelings toward my exam today. )

Labor Day Exploits and Inspiration

This past weekend I went back to St. George for some Labor Day fun and to do some laundry. Friday evening after attending a birthday party for my dear friend, Brian Leo Bennion, I went over to Kristal Kay's to help her pack her things for another year in Boston. After some goofing off, paroosing through old pictures, documents and memories and a good old fashioned Disney sing along, we decided some epic memory making needed to happen. So we piled in the car after making momon champagne (lemonade) and toast and climbed Dixie rock.
We "toasted" away our summer while dining on toast and lemonade and talked of things we wanted to do better, old memories and shared a bunch of laughs. We also took great pleasure in the flight of young lovers who happened to be within five feet of our giddy toasting celebration. The sky lit up in every which direction as lightning struck across the valley. It was beautiful. Haha, I guess it was God documenting the silliness of teenaged girls in the late hours of the night for posterity's sake. We left the mountain top and Maddie went home,while Kristal and I returned to finish up some packing. After deep conversations, mad packing manuveurs, and speculations on the future, Kristal and I made our way to my car. It was raining, lightning struck all across the valley and she and I said our tearful, bitter-sweet goodbyes. She wont return until a few days before Christmas, but luckily we still get to keep in touch.
This goodbye was oddly very difficult for me. I keep on having to see my friends leave me, and now she's gone. I dunno...I probably just need a shrink. lol But I just thought I'd update. :)
OH!! I almost forgot! My family and I went to this All Halloween store yesterday. It was pretty epic, if I do say so myself. We were looking at all the costumes and I saw the most incredible boots of LIFE! They were checkered, tall stilleto heeled boots bedecked with buckles and zippers...very cool. Anywho..I digress...but I believe I have an idea of what I want to be for Halloween. I believe its very fitting for me. I am going to be.....a nun. And Miss Madeline is going to join me. It should be incredible. Anywho, I better go. Hope you enjoyed the update.

Crap... its been three months.

I'm sorry. I'm an awful, horrible, no-good person for not posting in such a long time. For your information, I'm NOT dead, lying in an alley, being identified by my dental records alone. I'm back at SUU starting my sophomore year in college-loaded down with heaps of homework already. I'll update this weekend. It's labor day! and I really could use a break already. until then, adieu!

Happy Homecoming....and HELP!

KRISTAL'S FINALLY HOME!!! WOOT!!! I cant tell you what a great relief it is to have her here. I felt like I was trying to assemble a jet engine without my right arm for a while, but I'm so glad she's here. Now everything can get underway. :) Even though Kristal is here, we are still in need of lots and lots of help. We hit a major road block because we weren't able to pass out fliers to kids while they were still in school. (it's a long story) So we really have to hit home with advertising, and it wont happen on its own. We need people to help us recruit volunteers by passing out fliers and telling people who we are. If you'd like to help out, please call me!! we'd be ever so grateful to you! Thanks again for reading a following along. My blog is so sporradic and random, sorry for not being as faithful as I should. :S I know that things will work out because we're doing what's right. I just wonder if there are more measures i could be taking. lol. Anyways, talk to you all soon!

The Summer Project

After a couple turbulent weeks, it seems as if things are starting to fall into place and I'm beginning to realize how incredibly blessed I am. The Summer Project, the community service organization my best friend and I are starting, is finally starting to come together. We got authorization, liability coverage and sponsorship from the Washington city recreation center, and we get to advertise at the high school tomorrow in an assembly. Things are beginning to roll and I'm so excited!All we need now are volunteers and we can begin to do the good we wish to accomplish. Thanks to all of you for your support and we hope to continue to do awesome things! If you're interested in helping us out, email us at thesummerproject@live.com or visit our website at www.pineview.org/service for more information.

Freshman Year Finale

Hi readers! I'm so sorry I haven't posted in ages. Hopefully i'll have more time because SCHOOL IS FINALLY OVER!!! I cant believe it! I've completed my freshman year of college already. :) I'm so glad the drama and stress are over for a while and I can come home and start something new and great. I'll post tomorrow and tell you more about that. Until then, I'll be unpacking my crazy room. talk to you soon!

Update: I'm Still Kicking! ;) ....And plan to for quite some time!

Hello my dear friends. I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written. These past few weeks have been horrendously busy and stressful. I was lost of in a sea of stress, emotions, drama, medical terms and math problems; each crashing wave bearing down, tossing me deeper and deeper into the drink. Thankfully, my weary head broke the surface multiple times amidst the torrent, allowing for insight, redirection and motivation to keep furiously swimming toward my end goal. I'm so grateful to be surrounded and supported by many people who love me, care for me and want to help me down this difficult and rewarding road called life. Most importantly, words cannot describe the gratitude I have for my Savior; for His patience, incomprehensible love, and tender mercies He shows me everyday. Even though I've experienced turbulence lately, life is truly wonderful. I'm breathing for the first time in weeks, Spring Break is next week, Clark got his mission call last Wednesday and Ken will hopefully receive his within the week, hopes for a dream are starting to really seem like a possibility, I get to see my amazing girls soon and I get to go buy food today! :D Life is difficult, challenging, rewarding, exciting, and totally worth it. I'm so glad to be apart of this magnificent learning experience and start a new effort each day (or adventure) to become better. I hope that all is going well in your lives and that you will be blessed for your goodness in all that you strive to do. Thank you again for all that you do for me.

I love you all. xoxo

Half Birthday

Today is my half birthday...a day after my mom's. In six months from today I'll reach the ripe old age of 19. Its so hard to believe. AHH! Anyways, It is also Abraham Lincoln's Birthday....What a good soul. *nods* i love that man. Its been snowing like crazy today....either softly falling or huge blizzard waves. I love it! anyway...just ramblings, but it IS an update. I'm sorry for wasting two seconds of your life. haha. Have a great day! oh! and a very merry unbirthday to you!

WOOT!!! I passed!!!

After an exhausting week and three exams, I finally get to relax for a bit. haha. I managed to pass my bio exam with a high B+ (88%) and I got an A- on the anatomy exam of the century. Actually, only five people out of 75 got above a ninety percent in the exam, and I was one of them. I couldn't believe it!! I'm relieved, if only for a week or so. I hope that all of you are doing well. Talk to you soon! xoxo

I need one of these.

Hi. I should be studying, but I'm finding excuses not to at the moment. ha. I realized I havent posted for a while, so I figure I should. If you havent guessed, school is crazy at the moment. My stress-o-meter is freaking out, especially whenever my anatomy class is mentioned. I have a major exam next week that i'm FREAKING out about...it's epic...and I have to pass it. I also have a biology exam, a psychology test, not to mention a ton of math assingments. But, that's college, right? *sigh* So, I just wanted you all to know that I am probably not going to post for about a week or so. Its not because I died or I hate the human race, I promise. If you would like to talk or get a hold of me, my email works really well :D. I hope you are all doing well. Have a good week. xoxo

Calvin and Hobbes- insights for a new year.

Here are a few of my favorite calvin and hobbes snowman strips. I hope you enjoy them!

ok, mrs. J, this snowman's for you! Hooray for Hamlet!

Dbl click to see full images!