Child Labor

This is what happens when you let me babysit your children.....I put them to work.
Ok, not really. It's usually all fun and games with coloring, puppet shows, hide and go seek, riding bikes, taking walks, etc. But yesterday when I got called to babysit for my aunt Leah's sister, Shelly, I was exhausted. I had hardly slept the night before, I got up at 7:30 to go into work because of our crazy busy sale, I was suppose to work until 10am but I was still there until 10:30, I got a text from Shelly asking for me to babysit from 11am-3pm, I said sure but I had to be back at work by 3pm. So I still hadn't showered, but I ran home threw on some clothes and ran up to Shelly's house to watch her adorable little girls. The first few hours I was just running on some caffeine but by the time Hazel went down for a nap, I was exhausted. I was afraid of falling asleep so I decided to start cleaning her house and precious little Goldie asked me if she could wash the windows. I said :"OF COURSE!" What child asks if they can help you clean the house? I know I never did. So off to work she went on all the glass doors and windows while singing Christmas songs. It was so adorable.
And then back to work at 3 I went and stayed until 10:30m. It was a crazy day.

You Know It's Finals Week When.....

It's 1:30am and you are in your living room with all the lights off and you hear your roommate ask you......

"Ummm, Britni? Why do you have sunglasses on?"

Sunglasses. They come in handy when you have been staring at your computer screen for 10+ hours and your eyes just can't take it anymore.

Happy Birthday Shout Out

To my dearest grandmother:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(don't we look so much alike?)

This pretty lady is probably the coolest person I have ever known.

She makes me laugh....constantly.

She is always laughing constantly.

She introduced me to my love of horses.

If I ever want to go to a country concert, she is the first person I ask to go with me.

She introduced me to Garth Brooks. Anyone who knows me, knows my undying love for Garth.

We also share a love for tree houses (she built me my first one)

She's really awesome at building things.

She knows more about places like Home Depot than the employees probably do.

She is the most patriotic person I know. I mean, look at the cast! So awesome.

Some of my fondest memories are laying in my grandmas heated bed early in the morning watching the Early Morning Show.

This is how cool she is....

(yeah. That's Regis &Kelli and my grandparents)

She also takes pride in my ethnicity.

She likes to think she speaks Spanish. One time I got a voicemail from her that started with, "Hola! Que pasa mi amiga?!?"

Overall, my grandma is amazing.

She is someone I look up to and miss every single day.

She's beautiful.

She's self-less.

She's a cowgirl at heart.

She's my soul sister.

I love you, grandma!

Happy birthday :)

Wedding Receptions and Bridal Showers

Friday night was spent with some of my favorite people all attending another one of my favorite persons wedding reception. All of these are employees or were employees of DownEast Outfitters. My manager, Julie, drove me, Eliza, Tiffany, and Peter (our old manager) to Whitney's wedding reception out at some military base. Her husband is in the military...obviously. She was gorgeous.

The pumpkin cheesecake was amazing. The father-daughter dance was a tear jerker. The country music was the best. And the slide show of pictures just made me want to get married...right now.

Yesterday I threw another one of my friends a bridal shower with a few of her roommates. I was in charge of food and decorations. We decided to throw her a Hawaiian style party because she served her mission in Hawaii and that is where she is getting married as well. Lucky for us, her fiance had a TON of decorations so we didn't have to buy any of those. As for the food. I made:

Samoa Girl Scout cookies

Avocado Deviled Eggs (seriously so good)

7-Layered bean dip

And then I bought:

pumpkin pie

and

spinach-artichoke dip

from Costco-obviously the best place for such foods

I know what you're thinking. That is the most random bridal shower menu ever. Yes. You are correct. But that's just what you get when someone doesn't know how to feed 20 girls on a budget haha. (i'm talking about myself) But it all was great......and their was fruit.

We had her fiance come in as a surprise and gave him a white rose and he had to pull of every petal and for each petal he had to state a reason why he loved Kalleen. It was adorable. He is definitely a keeper for her. It was a lovely night. Marriage is wonderful. Love is cute. Now I need to go work on my Marriage Prep homework.

Are You My Mother?

So it's the month of Thanks-giving and all and I thought I would give a shout out to my mother.

I am so grateful for her and the fact that she puts up with me and my phone calls I make to her every other day......or every day.......or multiple times a day.....

sorry if I bug you, mom! But she really is the best at answering my calls and listening to my rambling nonsense and is so patient with me....unless she has to go to the grocery store.

Don't ever call her if she is about to walk into the store. She cannot multi-task like that ;)

I love you mom!

You are wonderful. You are beautiful. You are amazing.

THANK YOU

Can I be 21 yet?

Usually one would be wishing to get a fake I.D in order to buy alcohol, go dancing at clubs, ect. I, on the other hand, would like a fake I.D in order to go on an 18 month LDS mission. June 3rd could not get here soon enough. There is so much I want to learn and so much I wish to teach others. Here in Provo, Utah there isn't a ton of variety of people. The main population are Latter-Day Saints aka Mormons. So whenever I go beyond the Mormon border, I realize how many people are out there in this world who don't know the fullness of the gospel. I see these people and I can tell that their spirits are just aching to hear the truth. They want it, but they don't even know it. Or they know it, but they aren't sure exactly what it is that they want. Make sense?

They are children of a Heavenly Father who LOVES them and they don't know it.

They have a divine nature and so much worth but they don't even know it.

They have an elder brother who sacrificed everything for them so they can feel peace and they don't know it.

They have the access to the Atonement that can help them rid themselves of so much pain yet they don't even know it.

They can be happy truly happy but they don't know how.

I used to listen to a song by Kenneth Cope all of the time. I haven't heard it in years until just recently. I actually listened to the words for the first time. It was about missionary service. It totally touched me. It's called, I Will Not Be Still.

"I've never been the kind to testify. I don't have the words His truth deserve, but its a simple thing He asks; a worthy heart and wiling hands. He says if i'll make the choice, He'll help me find my voice. He calls me serve and I cannot fail Him, the one who has given me all that I have. I place my trust in Him alone, He knows the yearnings of my soul. Because He believes in me, I will go willingly. How can I keep this gift to myself when I can lift somebody else? I am a witness of His miracles and His mercy. I put my future in His hands knowing He's made me all I am . When I put my faith in Him the truth begins to speak. His power is real. It moves me until I will not be still. Lifting the hands that hang down in sorrow. Strengthening knees that bend in despair. Reaching the hopeless hearts that do not know His love. Seeing their lives begin to change, I know that ill never be the same."

I don't know what brought on this sappy/spiritual post, but I am excited to serve. I love the Lord, I love His gospel, and I cannot wait to help others love it too.

I Hate Halloween

I realize that a year ago, I wrote a blog about all the reasons why I loved the Halloween season. Now, basically all of those reasons are why I dislike Halloween. I'm not really that into candy anymore and I don't believe in giving children pounds of it-diabetes and cavities, people. Hello. And trick-or-treating after you are 12 is just weird. I think scary movies are awful and they are not something that allows the spirit to be in your house and usually those disturbing images are in my mind for like...ever. I don't think that dressing up as something super scary or slutty or both is cool by any means. It's just gross. Basically I think the Halloween season is just a way to let everyone worship the devil while being dressed like skanks...or scary people.

With that being said, let me tell you how I spent my Halloween night.

I dressed up like a Zombie

I went trick-or-treating

I ate a bunch of candy

and I watched a scary movie

I'm still trying to figure out how I got coerced into doing all of this and how I managed to actually really enjoy myself.

Meet Brad (Eliza's boyfriend), Eliza (my really cool friend and co-worker), me, and Chris (Brad and Eliza's friend). Just a bunch of your every day zombies. No big deal.

Grand

Grand-Parents and Grand-Children

This is my family. Well, the grandparents and all my cousins at least (minus baby Axel). Does it look like my brother and I come from a completely different family. Yeah, well, we don't. We are for real in the same family as all these cute blonde kids. These kids are awesome and adorable and crazy. My grandparents are my favorite. I miss them all of the time. I am constantly thinking about how I can get to wherever all of my family is. I wish we all lived closer. But, we manage.

I love you guys!

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

No, folks, it's not Christmas time.....it's FALL.

My roommates and I took a drive up the canyon on Sunday because the trees here are absolutely gorgeous. Seriously breathtaking. The weather is incredible and fall food is one of my favorites.

I love Provo.

Read My Lips

I have this co-worker......ok, I would call her a friend that I work with.

Her name is Eliza. Pronounced: (Ooo-Lie-zuh)

Ok, not really. But doesn't Ooliza just roll off the tongue a little bit better?

I thought so at least.

We got bored today at work so we had to give ourselves something to do.

Naturally, we decided on learning how to read lips.

She told me what she did last night without making any sound.

I basically translated the whole thing. I should be in the FBI or something.

Is this a pointless blog entry?

Probably.

I'm just distracting myself from the mounds of endless homework I keep procrastinating. I have been so good at not procrastinating this semester....up until this week.

But I made good soup today, enough to feed an army!

Lentil soup with sweet potato, spinach, tomatoes, celery, carrots, and other good stuff.

Eliza and I also went bridal shower gift shopping today.

We're pretty good at this stuff. You should invite us to your bridal shower, will give you good stuff.

Enough rambling.

Back to the H-double U (aka:hw, aka: homework)

An Unexpected (much needed) Lesson Learned

Today I had an incredible experience at work. (I work at DownEast Outfitter Clothing Outlet) Some of you may be wondering how I could possibly have such an experience by being a humble and lowly Sales Associate.

Let me tell you my story from today.

This morning was s..l..o...w. Sometimes these days can be boring but I also love them at the same time because I can give more one-on-one time with my customers thus up-ing my customer service.

On this particular slow day, a lady walked in this afternoon and at first glance I knew that her self-esteem and self-image were quite low. Her clothing was baggy, plain, and worn out. Her body language showed that she tried to appear as small and as out-of-sight to the world as she could. My heart sank a little. She walked up to me and asked if I worked here. I replied with a "yes, is there anything I can help you look for?"

Her response, "I don't know how to pick out clothes. I have no sense of style. I don't know what I'm doing and I need your help. I'm going on a first date tonight and I haven't been on one in years. I need you to pick out an outfit for me."

I was ecstatic.

I asked her what her sizes were. After she gave me her answer I looked at her and could clearly tell that she had given me a size or two larger than she actually was. Again, my heart sank. I knew that she was going to be tough. I knew that her self-image was completely altered. I immediately realized that this wouldn't just be a mission of finding her a cute outfit for a first date, but a mission to also help her find a part of her self-worth. To help her realize that she is beautiful despite the negative thoughts that, I so personally know, are running through her head constantly. I saw a huge part of my (past) self within her.

I got a few outfits for her and put her in a dressing room. We started getting ideas of what colors worked best for her and what types of style were most flattering to her figure. She slowly started warming up to shopping. After a few minutes she remembered that she had to be somewhere and would be back soon to finish.

Within the next hour she was back and I could see that she was excited. She couldn't wait to find something that she liked and she started to believe that cute clothes actually looked good on her.

After almost trying on half of the store, and after my constant reassurance, we settled on multiple outfits that she loved. When I was ringing her out at the cash register, I could tell her countenance had completely changed. She couldn't stop smiling. I could tell that a small seed was planted that will help her realize her worth and beauty. She walked out of our store in such a different mood.

As she left I realized how much I actually really love my job. I don't just fold jeans and clear out dressing rooms. I help women feel confident in themselves inside and out and it makes those long boring days so much more worth it.

Homework on the BLOG

So you are probably wondering about my latest post. Let me tell you a story. I am currently taking 14 credits of online classes because Rexburg just isn't my town anymore and Provo is where it's at. With that being said. One of my classes is D&C 325. One of our weekly assignments is to to answer a bunch of questions from that weeks readings, then one of our options is to post the questions and answers to our blog. I picked the blog option for one of two reasons.

1. I didn't feel like picking the other option of writing an essay

2. I felt like it would be good missionary experience or something like that.

As for your questions Melissa.

Yes I am planning on serving a mission but I cannot turn in my papers until next year sometime.

Sharing the Gospel

Several sections of the Doctrine and Covenants call particular people to missionary service. In section 80, Stephen Burnett is called upon to “declare the things which ye have heard, and verily believe, and know to be true” (v. 4) and told “Wherefore, go ye and preach my gospel, whether to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west, it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss” (v. 3).

Why do you think the Lord would say it didn’t matter where Stephen Burnett went to preach? Could it be that so many people were hungry for the gospel that Brother Burnett would find someone wherever he went? Or could it be that, at that time, the Lord was more focused on Stephen Burnett and how he would be changed through testifying of the gospel? (Or maybe there is another reason entirely?) I think the Lord told Stephen that it didn’t matter where he taught because he truly could not go wrong. There were so few missionaries, back in 1832 when this revelation was given, and there were also next to no members and no people who knew about the gospel. I believe it wouldn’t have mattered where he would have gone because anywhere he went, there may be people who wanted/needed to hear the gospel at that time. It could have quite possibly been tailored to the fact that Brother Burnett needed a missionary experience altogether to increase his testimony and love for the Atonement and teachings of the Book of Mormon so it wouldn’t have mattered where he went. I don’t know if we will ever know the true meaning of why the Lord told him to serve wherever he wished. But I know the Lord knew that Brother Burnett would have grown spiritually and would have bought others to the light of the gospel wherever he chose to work as a missionary.

What experiences have you had with missionary work? I have had a few experiences with missionary work, mostly with close family members and friends. All of which I had because of promptings of the Spirit. One of my experiences was several years back. I had this really close friend that I had known for 3-4 years and knew my family and I very well but knew little about our religion and what we believed. He lived directly across the street from me and we would be inseperable during the summer times. I often felt like I should invite him to church, a church activity, or FHE but I never did. A few years later he moved about 30 min away and I hardly saw him. His birthday was coming up, I always sent him something for his birthday, and I kept getting this strong feeling to give him the BofM. I finally gave in. I wrote a long 4 page letter to him bearing my testimony of the gospel and of the BofM. I had the package with the book and my letter addressed and ready to go……but I could not get myself to mail it. I was so afraid of his reaction. Would he be mad? Would he never want to be my friend again? Would he ever talk to me again? But I sent it. A few weeks later I get a phone call from him. He was so grateful for the package I had sent him and he absolutely loved it. I was shocked, in a good way, by his reaction. I pray that someday he may come to find the truthfulness of the gospel for himself.

Who has the greatest change wrought upon them? Why? I feel like this is a trick question. Both the one receiving missionary work and the one giving it has great change come upon them, but on different levels. The one who is receiving missionary work is receiving truth that they had never heard before, truth that could bring so much happiness and fulfillment in their lives, but their “great change” will only happen to them if they allow it. Their heart needs to be softened and they need to be ready to receive those messages for it to change them. As for the missionaries, they will have change wrought upon them as they seek out and study the principles of the gospel that they need to know in order to be able to teach. They will also gain the experiences and testimonies that come when listening to and acting upon the promptings of the spirit. They will grow a great love for those they serve and teach and a love for the Lord.

What is the importance of declaring “the things which ye have heard, and verily believe, and know to be true” in coming to know something? What is the point of knowing something to be true without a doubt in your mind, yet keeping it to yourself? That is the question I often ask myself. I feel that it is important to declare what you believe and know to be true because others may not have had the opportunity to have been taught what you know. For example: when I learn things (from any of my classes) at school while doing assignments or listening to lectures, I will often times share those things with a close friend or two and especially my mother. My mom never went to college; she never had the opportunity to learn some of the things I am learning so I love to be able to share some great principles of truth to her from a variety of subjects. I know she benefits from it as much, if not more, than I do.

How might what you have observed effect your efforts to teach one another in this course? I think it affects my efforts because I have realized that some people could greatly benefit to learn what I have learned. Sometimes I get caught up in thinking that everyone knows exactly what I know because we are taking the same course. But the thing is, that isn’t always the case. I know that some of what I have learned has come about inspirationally, others in the course may not have received that same inspiration so it would be good on my part to share my thoughts with the rest of the class

They made me do it.

I finally got a web-cam. FINALLY. But only because I had to. Seeing as I am taking my 14 credits all online, I have to have a web-cam so I can do online group discussions and such. So after setting it up my brother and I decided to have some fun with it.

(oh yeah....I'm in Boise for like...2 days)

Boise update coming soon to theaters near you.

Globetrotter

That makes me sound so much cooler than I actually am. Globetrotter. I wish my globe-trotting consisted of a little more of exotic places, but we will start small and simple instead.

If you haven't already heard, my cool friend Alyssa and I went to Denver over Labor day weekend.

Why?

Because we could.

Both of us had never been before and we heard you could get cheap tickets from the Provo airport. So one night we just decided to buy some tickets.

Luckily for us, she has some awesome family that lives there who graciously let us stay with them for those 4 days 3 nights.

The first day consisted of eating food, hanging out with her aunt and her kids, shopping at Nordstroms Rack, California Pizza Kitchen, and more shopping.

Sunday was chill and splendid. We went to her cousins single ward, babysat her little cousin, then went over to her other aunts house for dinner.

Monday we hit the city. Alyssa and I took the light rail into LoDo (lower downtown) Denver. We went to "Taste of Colorado" where we ate free food, watched cooking demonstrations, walked around to all the different vendors, and ate more free food. Then we rented bikes and biked around the city for the rest of the day. Let me tell you, it was SO incredible fun. I don't know how we would have done it without the bikes. We spent time in a super cute bookstore, talked to natives, saw the Coors baseball field, ate the best ice cream at the coolest ice cream stand, ate crappy food and a cafe, and just basked in the city life.

Tuesday came with driving around and seeing more of Denver and the Red Rock Amphitheater. The Zac Brown Band may or may not have (ok they definitely were) playing that night, sadly we were flying out that night so we couldn't go see them.

It was such an awesome weekend. Alyssa is for sure a #1 traveling partner. Now I am trying to figure out where I want to go next. Seattle? Chicago? New York? San Diego? Italy? :)

Oh and this definitely counts as one of my new years resolution. I think I have basically crossed off every one of my NYR's, but that is for a post on another day.

Blue Lemons and Crazy Vegetarian Food

Don't let those pretty beads fool you, they will break a tooth. Seriously.

Balsamic grilled chicken Sandwich

Best pita bread and hummus.
Alyssa and I share this affinity for food. Surprise Surprise.

On Saturday we made our way up to Salt Lake to visit our wonderful long-time friend Hailey Clements. After touring her rad new crib (her cool new house), we ventured off to find good food. Good food that we could only find in Salt Lake. Alyssa had heard about this place called the Blue Lemon (right across from Temple Square).

It. Was. Amazing. Fabulous. Delicious. Mouth-watering. Scrumptious. Ect.

And they gave us all free cookies because they thought it took too long to bring out our entrees. I'm always down for free food.

Last night we (ok, Alyssa) made food. Good food. Healthy food. New food.

Black Quinoa, lemon curried broccoli, and curried tofu. Mmmmhhhmmmm

It's been a Crazy week

Let's just sum it up to say.....

our electricity got shut off= no lighting, drying your hair with your car windows rolled down, spoiled food (the day after I go grocery shopping)

I had to be moved out by noon on thursday, i was suppose to be at work by 8am, and had no idea until 6am that we were suppose to be moved out by noon that day.

I made a record moving-out time for 1hr 15 min. go me.

On friday we thought we lost our tickets to a free dinner/theater show up at Sundance Resort to see The Sound of Music. We barely found the tickets in time. (God answers prayers, ok)

Later that night my phone fell out of my purse on the shuttle at sundance. I didn't realize this until I already dropped Alyssa off and went back to my apartment. My new apartment that I was locked out of. I pounded on a neighbors door until someone answered. They graciously gave me their phone to use so I could call Alyssa. Guess what? Alyssa's phone was dead.

I headed back up to Sundance (about a 20min drive) and finally found my phone. (Again...God really does answer prayers)

Still locked out of my apartment.....so I go to my old work...Sammy's. I knew they would be open until 2am. And they have free wifi. and good shakes :) and cool people to talk to.

I finally got into my apt around 1am.

This week is over.

Finally.

Let's think happy thoughts, and get motivation to unpack all my junk. At least I have signed a year contract so no more moving for a while.

Have a good week all of my imaginary friends who read my blog :)

See You Later, Alligator

The best two years of Jayson Sevison's life starts......tomorrow. 1:30pm we will be parting ways as he heads into the MTC for 3 weeks then down to San Bernadino,CA he will go.

2 years=

24 months

104 weeks

730 days

17,530 hours

1,051,896 minutes

63,113,852 seconds

Two years ago is when we first met. Those past two years have been filled with crazy adventures, delicious food, and a lot of learning and growing about ourselves and each other. His next two years will be filled with basically the same thing....just with a lot of dudes.

This whole mission thing is a bittersweet kind of deal. Along with being a fabulous boyfriend, he has become one of my best friends, no doubt about that, so it will be hard to see him go. But I applaud him in his decision to give up so much to serve the Lord. Even though I wont be able to talk to him on the phone whenever I want, I will get to write him letters. How cool is that?! I LOVE writing letters.

He's a pretty awesome person so I have no doubt that he will be a pretty awesome missionary. I am excited for his future experiences he will have.

GOOD LUCK ELDER SEVISON!

Baked....thongs?

So I know I was going to try to make my next post NOT about food.

But....too late.

So Alyssa's friend is getting married this weekend and they are throwing her a bridal shower. What does one do to prepare for a bridal shower?

Make thong/bra sugar cookies. Naturally.

I love it. I thought they were a hilarious idea. Some girls said they were "so cute".....that's a good description too, I guess.

I tried to help Alyssa with the icing, but she was just way too professional for me, and I get too stressed out with all the detailing.

Baking Day

It was just one of those days where I needed to bake. So today's adventure was Soft Baked Fig Cereal Bars. Yeah, they're pretty good. And I have enough left overs to make another batch of these beauties. (They taste better than they look. I promise. Hopefully the next batch will be prettier.)

Now that I have finally finished at 1am, it's off to bed.

Goodnight.

Maybe my next blog will have another topic besides food. Maybe. Hopefully.

Target Sales and Lemon Bars

So I went to Target a while back and bought a cup-cake stand for $5. Ever since I bought it, I feel like I constantly have to have something placed on it. I soon realized that I had collected 6 lemons over the course of a few grocery shopping trips. Why lemons? I don't know, I just like to buy them but then forget to use them. So after I made lemon poppy seed muffins, my friend Emily had a fabulous idea to make lemon bars. They were ten times better than any muffin, that's for sure. I think we lived off of those beauties for a sold 4 or 5 days.

Alone

So for about a week it's just me and one of my roommates holding down the fort at Oake Point #357. My other two roommates are partying it up with their families in exotic places. One good thing that has come with an empty apartment.......

A whole vegetable drawer and a whole fruit bowl all to myself :)

A Week of Birth Days

Maya Kate Madsen(cousin)-9 years old-May 20th

Matthew Ward(uncle)-????-May 21st

Danielle Ward(aunt)-half my age-May 23rd

Axel Emmanuel Hensley(cousin)-brought into the world-May 31st 2011

ME(britni)-20 years old-June 3rd

Jacob Matthew Ward(brother)-12 years old-June 4th

My beautiful aunt Jenny had her first baby on May 31st. I am so so excited to meet this adorable baby boy. I'm thinking a visit to Monterey, CA is a MUST. Congratulations to Jenny and Jerid Hensley and their new addition!!!!!

This past Friday was my birthday. It was a grand one. The first part of the day was spent at the mall spending gift cards then going out to lunch to Zupas Cafe. In all honesty I had forgotten about my birthday so I forgot to take off work. But it was totally fine because as I walked into my work at DownEast Outfitters I saw that my awesome co-workers had written on the sidewalk outside with chalk saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITNI! WE LOVE YOU!-she works here, tell her happy birthday". Needless to say, I had customers telling me happy birthday all day long. They also decked out the back room with signs and balloons. So sweet. and Alyssa Ball came to visit me at my work bringing gifts of donuts. I love work visits and I enjoyed hers.

When I got off work Alyssa, Emily, Jayson, and I headed to Malawi's- just the best pizza since Flatbread. Then we went and saw the X-Men movie, came back to our apartment, and ate some scrumptious lemon-raspberry cake that emily made me. I loved it. I love my friends. I love my family. I love my life.

Sleeping

I love to sleep.

I especially love naps.

But lately I have been waking myself up because I will start acting out my dreams. For instance, I have woken myself up twice from laughing so hard, the other night I woke myself up because I was literally trying to dance while laying down, and today I woke up from my usual Sunday nap with my mouth wide open because I had a dream I was at the dentist. I've never slept walked, just everything else that doesn't involve getting out of my bed. At least I wake up in a good mood :)

Italy

Lately I have had the most insane desire to move to Italy. You'd think that because I am half Puerto Rican, that I would want to learn Spanish. No. Wrong. I want to learn Italian. To me, it is the most gorgeous language. So what better way to learn it than to go live it.

.....and their delicious food and incredible culture are big bonuses too.

Anyone up to go live in Italy with me?

Changes

As most of you probably already know, I have made a move to Provo,UT. It has been a great and smooth sailing move. It took me all but 2 seconds to find an apartment because Alyssa Ball and Emily Scoggin had an open bed in theirs. My favorite part are mine and Alyssa's blue and green walls. Then I had to find either a full time job or two part time jobs. I landed 2 sweet jobs within a few days of being here. Sammy's and DownEast. Discounts on food and clothes. Need I say more?

Basically I just love it here because it is actually civilized with a plethora of places to eat, large bookstores to sit and read all day in, and many malls to (window) shop in.

And the MOUNTAINS. I cannot wait to climb and explore them.

Past, Present, and Future

PAST

This past weekend was fantastic! Let me just tell you a little bit about it....

Friday night= 2 chick flicks with a bonfire* at Beaver Dick (yes that is the real name of the park) in between them.

*Note: If you are a guy, please know how to build a fire because I really don't feel like teaching you. It's weird. And not attractive when you don't know how.

So it was general conference weekend. I basically get more excited for for general conference weekend than I do for Christmas morning. I LOVE it. There was only 3 of us in our apartment on Saturday morning, well technically 4 because Shae's sister stayed with us for the weekend. And we celebrated the first session of conference on Saturday morning with crepes! So delicious. Later that night after the second session we hit up the gym then went and played volleyball. So so so fun.

Early Sunday morning I headed to Pocatello where I met up with my good friend Riley. He drove up from Boise so we could head to Salt Lake together. Oh how I always miss this guy. We had an eventful trip to SL to make it to the Sunday afternoon session of conference. Before we headed to the conference center we went to check out my friend Dustin's new house. And get this...he just bought a cobra...and he has a wolf puppy. Yeah, I had a lot of fun playing with his wild animals.

We then went to the conference center where we met up with our friend Cameron who is going to school at BYU and we ran into the Hruby family and Bryan Nockleby (both of whom we sat by) It was so fantastic. Did I mention that I just absolutely love General Conference?

PRESENT

Currently I am done with classes, have one last final test to take....online, and one project due. Then I am FREE!

FUTURE

On Friday I am homeward bound. And I am a little terrified because I am getting my wisdom teeth pulled next week :/ You can bring me Jamba smoothies and watch movies with me if you would like :) I will probably chill in Boise for a few weeks then move to Utah (see you never Rexburg) last week of April. Get settled in, do some serious job hunting, then head to CALIFORNIA for a week or two where I will get to see my amazing family from around the world (aka the Aussies). Sounds like a pretty good future to me.

Utah Weekend Get-A-Way

On Friday at 1pm, my roommate Shae and I headed to Provo for a weekend away from Rexburg and the stress of our upcoming finals.

That night we went to the BYU Men's Volleyball game vs. Hawaii. My friend Jayson and her friend Daniel joined us for the 2 1/2 hour game. Watching the nations #2 men's college volleyball team was so legit. I did get tired and felt like the game was never going to end, but all in all it was incredible to watch amazing volleyball.

After the game we all parted our ways. I went to Alyssa's apartment where we chilled for a while then made our way to Coney's and got ourselves some delicious strawberry custard. Oh baby. The rest of the night was filled with hanging out with her roommates and friends and catching up with life.

Saturday morning was started out right. Homemade banana chocolate chip pancakes courtesy of Chef Alyssa. They were SO good and held me over until another tasty meal with Jayson at Spicy Thai. Mmmmhhmmm. When I got back to Alyssa's apartment we got our white t-shirts on, went and got our good friend Hailey Clements, went to Sammy's and split a pie shake, then made our way to Festival of Colors. Needless to say, it was just that-colorful. It was also slightly painful to a certain degree when you couldn't breathe because the air was chalk full of...well...chalk. It was a great time filled with great memories.

After we got back to the apartment we scrubbed ourselves clean, got a redbox movie, and conked out. It was a long fantastic day.

On Sunday, Shae and I drove around trying to find a place to take the Sacrament. It wasn't that difficult, although the first place we tried was actually a chinese ward. We got a kick out of that. We eventually found a place then headed to Salt Lake where we walked around temple square for a while then headed back to good ol' Rexburg.

Love Letter

My awesome little brother sent me this cute message on Facebook yesterday...

"hey brit guess what................... you might be asking what so i will tell you what I LOVE YOU :) so now you know what is what"

I love him.

He basically rocks.

And he makes me laugh. A.Lot.

Things I LOVE

I have recently grown a fetish for making lists. Lots of lists. About anything and everything. Probably just a phase. But this list is the beginning of an endless list of things that I love. Not in any particular order.

I LOVE...

1. The smell of books
2. the sound of people (or myself) typing on laptops
3. having my nails painted-I basically feel naked if they're not painted
4. blank pieces of paper-either lined, plain white, ect.-to me I just see a paper that has endless possibilities to show your creativity or express emotions through words
5. blankets! Lots and lots of blankets-big heavy comfy blankets
6. naps. no explanation needed.
7. journaling- feels so wonderful and I love being able to see how certain events or experiences change me and what I learn from them. It would be hard to do this without my journal- even though sometimes I read through old journals and am embarrassed by myself and the weird things I would get worked up about.
8. bookshelves- one day when I have my own house, I will have a huge library with walls and walls COVERED in bookshelves that are filled with good smelling books :)
9. mascara- I go through about a tube a month.....
10. talking on the phone-I have this thing where I have to constantly keep in touch with friends and family. Going too long without having a conversation with them is a no go for me. And it can't be a good conversation if it's over text. No way. Must be on the phone. I love it a lot.
11. Quite. It is extremely rare to get those quite moments at college. So when I do, I am forever grateful for them and will usually squeeze in a good read from general conference talks.
12. Sundays-my favorite day of the week- a calm, relaxing, emotionally physically and spiritually rejuventating day.
13. Geography-by far my favorite subject. ever. and has been my favorite class. I loved learning about the things of the earth:above, beneath, and on. I especially love learning about cultures and religions.
14. The dripping sound of melting snow.....

Well that is certainly not all of the things that I love but it is a start.

Have a fantastic week. 6 more days until another bomb roadtrip to Utah!

Monday Night Volleyball

Every day gone by is a day closer to Monday. Yes, I have gotten a little obsessed this semester. I spend all day long in class just day dreaming about playing volleyball every night. But Monday nights are different. This is the night when all the LEGIT players come out. I'm not saying that I am one of those legit players....but I can keep up, my right knee can prove it to you. I have the sickest purple, black, and blue knee because I like to throw my body all over the court so that ball doesn't touch the ground.

Let me just tell you how fun these Monday nights really are. Some of these dudes could have seriously played awesome college v-ball. They are monsters and just tear that ball apart. I love it. They have perfect passes, sets, and insane kills. But I think what I love most about playing these pick-up games, is that they can get super intense, but yet be super chill at the same time. Make sense? I think that the end of my volleyball career in high school came because the competitiveness of it all made me lose the love of the game.

Well folks, that love has come back. Full force. In fact, my roommate Shae, who is also just as obsessed as I am, and I have just bought our tickets to go see the BYU Men's team play in Provo at the end of this month. We. Are. STOKED.

A Real Man

The other week I finally sent in my netflix movie that I have had for 2 months and received another one......The Good The Bad and The Ugly

I had just 3 things to say about that movie:

1. It was legit

2. It was insanely long

3. Clint Eastwood was a HUNK back in the day. (and he knows how to handle a gun and ride a horse)

Although there was nothing special at all with his acting skills, it didn't matter. Because he was a good looking cowboy. I love old western movies. They are just awesome. And the theme music has been stuck in my head all week.

If you've never seen it, go watch it.....but be prepared to have to watch it several different times because you may fall asleep. (or maybe that was just because I always started it at 1 in the morning)