Growing Up

I just realized that in a few short months, all my guy friends from high school will be home from their missions. Also, I'm graduating with a bachelor's degree in less one year. ONE. One is not a very big number. You know what this means? I'm growing up. I'm going to be a real adult soon. Yeah, I've been a "legal" adult for a few years now but it's really not the same. I've still only been working part time jobs, am on my parents' insurance plans, and just going to school with a bunch of other undergraduate students. In just one year I will have taken the GRE, have finished my bachelor's degree and be finishing up my internship. At this point I will have to decide if I'm going to get a full time job working in my chosen field or go on to graduate school right away. The skills I've learned in college will no longer be applied to random case studies with text book answers. Instead, I'll be using them to help REAL people in REAL life situations. Yes,  I will be helping change people's lives. Weird.

Love life :)

So I'm really inconsistent with this whole blogging thing, oh well. I have all sorts of exciting new to share, though!

1. Missionaries really DO come home after two years! My cousin, Josh, came home last Thursday; my friend, Sam Whitworth, came home last Saturday; and  another friend, Kendall Hatch, comes home this weekend! I never thought this day would come. I can't wait to see them in a couple of weeks!
2. I get to go home to see my family in just two weeks! TWO WEEKS! I haven't seen my cute little sisters in over three months. I'm so excited to see them along with my parents and extended family for Josh's homecoming talk.
3. My roommates are just fantastic :) Karaoke nights, drinking mass amounts of hot chocolate, group dinners, watching Friends, creeping on the mailman, and baking are regular activities at our apartment.I didn't know a single one of these girls when I moved in, but you would never guess it now! We've become so close and I really don't know what I'd do without them!
4. I'm making friends! One of my biggest fears when I first moved down here was that I would have trouble making friends and being social. Luckily, this has not been the case.
5. I love my job and the people I work with! I feel so blessed to have a job in an area where unemployment rates are fairly high, especially one that I enjoy so much! It helps that my co-workers are lots of fun, too :)
6. School is going really well. I LOVE my public health classes and am learning so much. I'm getting excited to find an internship and eventually a real job where I'll be able to use these skills and help others every day.
7. I'm starting to learn a little bit more about my Heavenly Father's plan for me and my future. It's definitely not the exact path I would have planned for myself, but I know it's going to be so much better.
8. It's finally fall. Fall is my FAVORITE season :) It was even cold enough for me to wear my yellow pea-coat last week. 

Big Changes...

Well, I did it! I'm officially a college graduate. It's so weird to think that a whole two years has gone by already. This afternoon I'm moving out of my apartment and saying goodbye to my roommates. I sure am going to miss those girls. They are honestly some of the most incredible people I know and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to get to know them this semester. I've had so much fun getting to know them and I've learned lots! Here are just a few of the things I've learned this semester:

1. If you microwave a hard-boiled egg for too long, it explodes and makes a big mess.
2. I am capable of driving a standard. Thanks to Sariah and her patience in teaching me... I know it was probably a difficult and high-stress task :)
3. Applebee's maple pecan blondies are incredibly delicious. However, if you go to Applebee's at 11p.m. in your pajamas and order a blondie with mozzarella sticks, your waitress may think you are a little strange.
4. Never forget about your bananas. If you neglect them too long, they turn radioactive, leak juices, and bubble all over your microwave and refrigerator and it's not easy to clean up.
5. Oregano and spearmint smell great...
6. It's okay to pray to fine a lost earring/i Card
7. The Lord hears and answers prayers and is constantly guiding our lives. Sometimes he asks us to do hard things, but he always finds a way to help us get through them if we ask.

In one week I'm moving out of state. I was able to get a job and so I'm moving down earlier than expected for training. I will be living with my great uncle Daryl and aunt Mary Jo for a month until my apartment contract starts. I'm so excited to get to know them and am grateful for their generosity and kindness. I won't have any friends down there for a few weeks, which is kind of scary, but I have amazing family down there and I'm sure I'll be able to meet lots of new friends through work.

Oh yeah, and my friends are coming home from their missions! Two of them come home in less than 100 days!! It's crazy how fast two years goes by! I'm so looking forward to October, November, January, and April! I'm so proud of my friends and their willingness to serve, but I still can't wait to see them again.

These next few months will bring all sorts of exciting new experiences and I am so excited to see how things work out! Life is just so great :)

Wonderful week :)

Pretty much I am SO blessed! Here's a list of things I'm grateful for this week (obviously not in order of importance)...

1. Missionaries. In the last two weeks I have received 5 missionary letters!! I've gone like over a month without a single one and they all came at the same time :) I love missionaries so much!!

2. My roommates. They are seriously the best! I love all the random things we do together- like grow beans in a cup (which is actually working very well). They are such amazing girls and I love them all more than I could ever express.

3.Sunshine. In fact, my shoulders got a little burned at my track meet today! I'm so excited to have the sun come out! I love summer. I love all the beautiful flowers everywhere. Believe it or not, I actually had the urge to mow a lawn yesterday. SO weird. I think it was the sunshine and the smell of spring

4. My family! They are so supportive of me! I couldn't ask for a more wonderful family. :)

5.My Heavenly Father. For the last year or so I've been trying to plan out my life and it hasn't really been working. He kept telling me to just be patient and things would work out... Well this week I was guided to the right places at the right time and a whole life plan was thrown at my face. It was so perfect! It's definitely not an easy one, but I'm so grateful for the opportunities I'm going to have along the way :) I'm grateful for the opportunities my Heavenly Father gives me to learn and to grow- that he doesn't always give me what I ask but instead gives me what I need.

6. My body. Being a somewhat science-oriented person I've been taking lots of science classes and have had the opportunity to learn quite a bit about the human body. I will never cease to be amazed! I can't believe how wonderful our bodies are! They can see and feel and touch and taste and hear and move and so many wonderful amazing things!  I'm grateful for exercise and healthy food and how wonderful it makes me feel.

Here it is! The moment you've all been waiting for... My first post

My life is... weird. Random/awkward encounters with strangers, tearful Sunday nights, and self-caused drama aren't out of the ordinary. :) I make every single day an adventure and it's the best. I can find a bit of joy in each day- hence the title of the blog. Here are a few of my recent experiences...

1. Grocery store adventure with Candice. We originally went to get one simple thing. Well... we ended up running into an old man with a microphone. He gave us a raffle ticket and told us that if we stuck around for less than three minutes we would get a fruit/veggie peeler priced at $5 for FREE. Every college student's favorite word. Naturally we hung around, ended up getting conned into some ridiculous demonstration and after like 20 minutes ended up getting some pretty crappy peelers that should probably be priced at 5 cents, not 5 dollars. After the demonstration we decided to get some strawberries and toppings to go with. Most people get chocolate to put on their strawberries, but not Candice and me. We get marshmallow cream. We picked out some generic brand and were going to buy it, but Candice didn't like that it had air bubbles in it. We proceeded to the ice cream toppings aisle and were looking at hot fudge when all of a sudden I found the perfect addition to our strawberries. I got so excited that I screamed and basically jumped onto our cart and reached awkwardly in front of Candice. What was it? Liquid marshmallow cream- NO air bubbles. Yes, it was worth it because liquid marshmallow cream + fresh strawberries= AMAZING.

2. 1/2, 3/4, and whole birthdays. Pretty much I have amazing roommates. We celebrate everybody's half, three-quarters, and whole birthdays. I have eaten so much cake these last few weeks it's insane. And there's still more to come in a couple weeks. I love it :)

3. On a more serious note... This last year has been so weird. Basically it's just been a little unstable. I've had my heart broken, got braces right before college (which by the way will be coming off sooner than planned), worked so much it's crazy, started college, survived general chemistry (although I will be retaking it because I got a C), made new friends, got separated from other friends as we moved on with life. It's been hard, but I've learned so much and I wouldn't change any of it. With all the trials come even more blessings. Because of the braces, my jaw isn't a total mess and once they come off I will have a beautiful smile. My wonderful jobs taught me valuable lessons I never could have learned without them and I am able to pay for my own school with minimal financial help from mommy and daddy :)  Although all my friends seem to go separate paths, I know they're still there for me. I am so blessed to have ten (and counting) of my very best friends serving LDS missions. I get to write them all and watch them grow. It makes it easier to let them go when I know that they're doing what they're supposed to and changing lives along the way. Having most of my friends gone has helped me to grow closer to my family- especially my wonderful mom. I'm so grateful for her.

4. Time management. This is something I have really had to learn this semester. Why? Because I'm taking 16 credits, working 9-12 hours a week, and running track. The greatest part is, it's all going really well. I'm not even stressed and I'm really succeeding. My grades are fantastic and I've never been happier. My secret? Put the Lord first. Seriously. Lots of praying, lots of scripture study, and going to the temple once a week. It's funny how when you put Him first everything else falls perfectly into place.