Words of Wisdom.

So today I've been thinking about a lot of things, but there's a dominant idea that keeps coming back.

"Let it be...Speaking words of wisdom..."-The Beatles

What I have learned over my lifespan. Most of it being from high school and college.

I guess now that I'm turning 20 on monday I've been going back lately in seeing how far I've come in wisdom and overall progress. What I'm going to talk about is in no particular order of importance, but what came first to my mind.

1. Relationships, (like your 1st job) aren't all they turn out to be. Okay, so I probably don't have the proper authority considering I haven't had an "intimate" relationship with a guy for more than a day but there are a few things I have learned for myself. I guess from what I've been hearing about from a plethora of places has influenced what I know. Basically, don't have over the top expectations. It will save you later from unnecessary pains. This will also apply to friendships as well. Just remember that people come and go, but the ones that are meant to be in your life will find a way to stick around.

2. High school is a huge joke. Depending on who you talk to, anyway. If you were an individual who was very active in school sports, clubs, or student government, then you were probably one of the lucky ones who really enjoyed the high school years. I will say that I'm not bashing too much on high school-there really were some good times (I played tennis with some pretty awesome individuals). Mostly for me it was a very long journey of trying to figure out where I belonged. Yes I struggled with depression. I'll be honest. Despite everything, I'm glad I went through it. It's definitely a one-time experience though.

3. College is so much better than high school. In my opinion, it is. I will admit that higher education is not for everyone. There are plenty of very successful figures that dropped out of college and ended up being famous and happy with their lives. For the rest of us it is quite a ride. If you're the typical college student, you move out and away from your family and your home town. I'll say again that I don't have the proper authority in expressing how different it is, but I think I have a pretty good idea of what it would be like. Even though I still live at home with my family, I face pretty much the same challenges as everyone else.

Ain't that the truth!

Like the above picture suggests, you can only pick two. I cannot tell you how true that statement is. It takes skill to balance out everything. Myself, I balance working part time, time for sleeping, personal time, studying, and then my social life outside of work and school. When I first started college, I quickly came to find out why sleep was a precious thing. There's a very limited amount of it. You'll never really fully understand until you try out the college life yourself.

4. Institute is a god send. I am here to tell you right now that attending institute as minimally as twice a week makes such a large difference in your week. Honestly, I feel like I get more things done when I take that extra hour out. Contradictory? Maybe. It's worth it. I have learned so much from all my instructors. Institute really is for your benefit. Right now I'm serving as class president for my Book of Mormon class. I haven't had a more meaningful call, I think. I feel so important and I contribute to the lives of those ten people in my class. Institute=happiness.

5. Always be true to yourself. No matter what. Don't leave your religion at the door. Sure peer pressure is hard sometimes. Don't let it get to you, though. Because later, you'll be glad you didn't. Do what you want to do! Who the heck cares what they think? Being yourself is a whole lot easier (and more fun) than trying to be someone else. You're special. No one is exactly like you. Not even twins are the exact same. Everyone is their own person who has much potential to contribute good into this world.

6. Church keeps us on track. It's definitely there for a reason. For me, it reminds me of why. Why is it that we live our lives the way we do? What is the whole purpose of our lives? What happens to us when our time comes to a close? These things are things I hope to be able to share with people one day on a mission.

Sorry about the long post. Hopefully you enjoyed it though!

Today's the Day!

So I'm driving myself crazy here. I'm tired of waiting. The mail is taking FOREVER. Haha. Yeah my camera is scheduled to be here today sometime. Thankfully I don't work or have school today. I actually have a pretty fun day ahead of me. And it will all start as soon as my buddy gets off work. We plan on taking a short trip to St. G to look around in le mall. :)

One week from today I chronologically turn 20. I already feel like I'm that old though. Yeah I'm getting old. No longer in my teens and man it does it feel good. I don't know, I have been pretty excited to turn 20 for awhile now, mostly because I'm getting closer to I don't know, a lot of things I guess.

On a random note, I'm thankful that I'm not an only child. My mom and I were just discussing this. It's pretty cool that I was born nearly twenty years ago. I mean she was younger than me when she had me. Oh my gosh. Weird! Then my brother was born four and a half years later. I'll admit that sometimes he was a girl at times. Because sometimes the things he and his friends do...oh boy.

This morning Mels shift was at FREAKING (haha) 7:15. So yesterday I spent about four hours just sleeping. I went to bed at 10:30 and woke up at 5:30. Not too shabby, actually. I felt very awake. (Probably because I was and still am excited). So I got completely ready this morning and ended up getting there around ten after seven. Would have been there ten minutes earlier if my car wasn't so frosted over. Oh well. So now I get to wait for the mail and for her to get off so we can go. Until then I'll probably end up doing a lot of homework and possibly pace around like crazy. WHY CANT IT COME SOONER!!!! (haha).

So anyways. Thanks for those of you who actually read these lame posts. I personally think that I'm not that great of a writer but whatevs. TTYL!

I know I'm supposed to write something like Happy Valentines, babe, love, blah blah whatever. But I'm actually not going to :) I'm not bashing on this holiday either. I do like it. It's basically an entitlement to free gifts and such from my family. Ha. But seriously. Those homemade sugar cookies get to me.

No, I actually really like the holiday. Like, alot. The whole month is just awesome. It's short, it's the month of LOVE, and my birthday is at the very end. Sure, I'm kind of jelly of how many people are spending valentines/have gotten valentines with/from their boyfriend/girlfriend (or even husband).  What I have come to accept is that a relation will come in time. (Hopefully soon, that'd be nice).

Is it a coincidence that every song I've listened to via ipad today has been about love? I honestly didn't plan it out that way. It's like the shuffle is reminding me that it's valentine's day.

So I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Like tomorrow. Tomorrow should be a pretty good day. Then we don't have school on monday b/c of president's day. Then my CAMERA is supposed to come that day via Fedex, and I also don't work that day. YA YA. :)

Lately I've been really enjoying school. Like, more than usual. I like waking up everyday and making something good of myself. I just love how college works. Sure, it's challenging. Yeah, there's those days when it's tough. But tough times don't last, tough people do. It's funny how quickly a semester goes once you get going into like the third week. What makes class fun is those you befriend. Honestly, I would probably hate biology if Rachel was there to keep the grin on my face. Another advantage to that is that you have a study buddy and you can help each other. I've been making it a priority to have a few friends in each of my classes. I kind of fail in institute, though. There's like ten people including me. Everyone also kind of insists on sitting by themselves so whatevs.

Fact: I'm a Beatles fan. Like, really getting up there. I've been listening to whole albums on youtube. Why wasn't I introduced earlier in life? I'm up to about 40 songs by them on my music collection.

Come Wake Me Up-Rascal Flatts.

Feelings and Impressions

So yesterday was a pretty great day.

 Mostly because my day was made much better after I got out of school.

 Have you had someone that no matter what made your day better? I have at least two of them. It doesn't matter what we do or what happens. As long as they're with me I'm the happiest.

 Anyway yeah I spent a few hours with Harmony yesterday, mostly shopping. We went to Bealls (spelling?) to look around for potential missionary clothing. Aaaaaaaaaaaand...nothing. Then we went to Christensen's. Aaaaaaand nothing. Haha but we had a lot of fun regardless.

 We paid a spontaneous visit to DQ. I got an Oreo shake and she got a chocolate covered strawberry blizz. After which we spent the next two hours at my house just hanging out in my bedroom. We messed around with my camera accessories that came in the mail just days earlier. I cannot tell you how excited I am for that. :) I randomly wanted to curl my hair before I went to dinner with my family, and she offered. I have to say I really like how it turned out. :) I curled hers in exchange. Truth be told, that was the first time I'd ever styled anyone's hair other than my own. Not gonna lie, it was a lot of fun. :) 


We must have spent a good two hours at Ninja last night. That was the first time I climbed out on a limb and tried something new. Tofu and seaweed soup to be exact. Delicious. And I'm completely serious. I went out with my extended family to celebrate my cousin's return to the mission field in Russia. She doesn't actually go back until March, but hey it's worth celebrating anyway. At first I didn't really click with her and her sister, Hailee, but once we got going, we got going. :) We quoted the entire Mean Girls movie. And yes that is the way to my funny bone, my friends.

Got home around 8:30 and exercised harder than I had in awhile. Thank you treadmill, for basically being my best trainer. Now I can't really move my lower half of my body. It's good though. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I really do enjoy working out :)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Today...has been pretty awesome as well. It started well and ended well, I thought. I had another presidency meeting for institute today. At 7 am.

Freaking 7 in the morning. At first that was really weird. But in reality, it's like me leaving an hour earlier. So I've kind of gotten used to the routine. They're held once a month and we have a fabulous perethera of breakfast galore items after. It's a good way to start the day off. :)

I went to psychology right after and casually looked around on ebay for D90's in my saved list. There was one that didn't have any bids on it and had about an hour remaining. Then I checked my bank statement transactions. And wouldn't ya know? MY TAX RETURN CAME. HAHAHA YES! :D So I went to bid on it. I was the only bidder til the last 5 minutes. Then someone else bid. Scariest thirty seconds of my life. Thankfully mine was still bigger and....I GOT IT! I'm super excited to get it. The delivery is on or before Valentine's Day. :) Awh....

It seems like a lot of good things have happened to me because I paid more attention to my Father in Heaven first. Like the taxes thing. I went out of my comfort zone and went to the meeting I didn't originally want to attend. Then like today I got off work an hour early and I had read two chapters in Alma prior to that. I've just felt good all around. So I have the impression that what everyone testifies of in church...really is true. I have learned that now for myself. He works in interesting ways. I know He'll take care of you if you just acknowledge Him through the little things.

Anyway yeah, thanks for reading! :)

Soupa Bowl

Happy Sunday! SO thankful I get to go to church every week and renew my baptismal covenants. I'm also thankful I get to go with my best friends. It really helps me to go every week when I have people to go with.

I really don't care for football. Just a random note. So while my family is watching the game, I'm also with them, but just doing other things. :) I got on Pinterest for the first time in months and I actually had a lot of fun with it. It's a nice break from Facebook. That gets old really fast.

So today was fast/testimony meeting. I was probably 10 millimeters away from getting up on the podium and pouring out my soul to my ward. While I was getting ready today I thought for sure I would, but no, it didn't happen. That burning feeling you get in your chest while you're sitting there in dead, awkward silence is enough to kill ya. Haha not really but seriously though, in the singles ward tis much different than the family home ward. It's extra quiet, for one. There's not really anyone that's super consistent with getting up there every month; it's pretty random. I even thought of what I was going to say too.

This week was a little different than most weeks. Instead of sunday school, me and my buddies all went to mission/temple prep class given by the bishop. The class is intended for people that are either engaged, getting engaged, or going on a mission. I didn't really fit too well into either of the categories, but I went anyway. I am getting pretty serious about serving a mission so I thought it'd be good for me to go.

It was. :)

We talked about the plan. I will say that I appreciated Blair's comment when he talked about his testimony. The fact that we can be sealed to our families forever. It made realize just exactly how much I miss my grandpa Dan. I miss Pa. *tears up slightly*. His birthday is coming up here pretty soon. I'm sure my Grammy is going to visit like she did on Christmas. I think I'll go with her.

Anyway I liked what the bishop had to say as we read the assigned versus. I was able to mark a few new ones and be reminded of some very good old ones. Needless to say, I've been thinking a lot about things. Mission and what it's going to take of me. I don't feel ready. Like, at all. But that's okay! I feel like I need to do a lot of things before I up and leave for a year and a half. I have to improve myself even more than I already have.

-Testimony-

Right now I'd like to take the time and say what I would have liked to in testimony meeting. This is in no particular order. The plan. None of anything would exist like it does had there been no plan. Which brings me to the next point, the fall of Adam.

"Adam fell, that men might be, and men are, that they might have joy." -2 Nephi 2:25.

Those versus where it talks about in the beginning, God made things spiritually before physically. That made lots of sense to me, seeing how we were spirits before we gained our physical bodies. The point being, I'm grateful for the fall because without it, there would be no reason for the Atonement. The Atonement saved (s) us. Life certainly wouldn't be how we know it had that not happened. Because of the Atonement, we can essentially save ourselves from our sins because we are able to repent and be forgiven. This in turn allows us to be worthy to go back home.

Home. With Father. With everyone that passed before.

I don't know about you, but I think it will be the neatest thing to meet those famous figures in history. Like all the statues of those in front of the centrum for say. How I'd like to meet madam Curie. The family I never knew and be reunited with those I did. I often think about exactly how that will be like. Never will we have to be separated from them ever again because we will all live as a big family all located in the same place. (Minus the lower kingdoms). Someday I hope to share my knowledge with those who are looking for it. Happiness will be a constant state. We'll be restored to our perfect selves with no temptations.

Anyway yeah, I have what I believe to be a strong testimony of the plan. It gives my life meaning and purpose. Makes me want to be better. I want more than anything to live my life knowing I did everything I wanted to and in turn have my (our) Father be proud of me. I miss Daddy. I know I lived with Him as did the rest of us. And He sent us here to be tested and prove ourselves. We were each given our tasks we were to accomplish while we were here on earth. I also hope I can find my companion who feels the same way. But that's another chapter I have yet to live.

Another note I want to write about is friendships/companions. I honestly and truly believe that God our Father influences our lives by putting those we meet to either:

1. Teach us something
2. Provide us with what we need
3. Help us

I'm proud to have had/will continue to have those friends of mine throughout all my life. You all mean the world to me. I don't tell people very much what they all mean to me mostly because I'm afraid that they won't be able to say the same in return. And sometimes I think I care too much. Believe me, I do. I want to personally thank my family, my closest friends, and probably most importantly, my Father for putting up with me. I'm kind of complicated and frustrating. I also have many good qualities, it just takes the right person to see that.

Thanks for reading this long post. I guess I had a lot on my mind I wanted to talk about.

Drink on it-Blake Shelton

Just a Dream

Happy February! :D SO EXCITED. I just really happen to like this month for a few reasons.

1. First and foremost, I turn another year and another year wiser.

2. It's the month of love. Haha oh if only. Valentines is overrated.

3.  It's also really short :)

4. Tax returns!

Dreams vs. Reality.

So last night I had a frighteningly realistic dream. There was a lot that happened. Most of it scared me. I have quite a few dreams, although by the time I wake up I don't remember most of them. There are a select few that stay with me when I wake in the morning. This was one of them. 

To sum it up, I was leaving. Me leaving my home. As in all of us where moving because because things around here simply weren't working out anymore. From what I remember it had quite a bit to do with our business although I'm not completely sure what happened. In real life our business is stressful yes, but it's still very successful. We were definitely moving out of the state. Like I said, in real life our D.Q. is very successful so I really don't know what would have happened to make us completely walk out on it. 

One detail that was kind of a heart breaker was when this person whited out my name, my moms, and Brenda's names from the schedule. The feelings that I felt...sad is an understatement. Being forced against my will doesn't sound like much, but the feeling is one I can't describe. I remember I was hysteric as were my buddies (who happened to be with me) and my co-workers. 

While all that was going on, I went outside and found my buddies. Before we even said anything, we held the other in a tight embrace. I remember whispering that "this happens a lot, but this time there's a possibility that I may not be coming back." The hot tears stung my eyes.

Then we somehow end up on a beach somewhere with lots of buildings around. Basically like a city and the buildings, but no roads or anything. We're walking around in a big mall, then we're hanging out on stands or something when I noticed my mom come looking for me. Of course I didn't want to leave. This is my home. And it always will be. So me being stubborn I hid from her as long as I could. Finally the time came and I had to say what could've been my last goodbye to not only my home, but to all those who shared the memories. After the last farewell, that was it. I left with her, not sure if we'd ever come back. 

That's where it ended before my super mario ringtone on my phone went off and woke me up. The dream was oddly exhausting and I fell back asleep multiple times to see how it would end. Maybe it did. I don't remember if it ever continued after that. 

The point is, I'm very thankful that dreams aren't real. There's only been a select few times where I wish ed they were. To me, dreams are wishes that your heart makes. It also serves as a connection between you and our Father when he wants to tell you something. Not necessarily always, but I do believe it sometimes. 

Just a Dream by Carrie Underwood.