Black and White

I know it's been a while. But don't you worry. I'm still very alive.
And well.

And I'm going to be writing on this thing more often. 

For a catchy tune, click here. 

Until next time. 

Welcome to our World!

I know I have multiple weddings and a cruise to post about... buuuut I'm going to put those things off a little longer and write about something far more important. And much cuter.

My brother, Griffin, and his wife, Ashland had their second little girl on June 18.

Welcome to the world little Darcy Lynne! 

So precious.  

On another note, how do you work Playlist these days?? I do not know. So instead I'll just give you a link to this song that I have had on repeat for a week because I love it so much.

Just close your eyes and listen to his perfect voice and guitar playing.

So good.

  

Yes, I'm That Girl.

You know, the one that takes pictures of herself in the dressing room stall.

But it was too funny.
I couldn't help it. 

Maybe there are a few very choice people in this world that can actually pull this off... maybe. But lets face it, if you happen to own this little piece of work it's probably time to reevaluate.

And quickly. 

Seriously. What is the world coming to?

Good News!

I'm officially done with school.
And I passed my classes.
And got a job lined up for the summer.
And it's actually warm enough to do this!

Life is good and just getting better.

"A happy home is but an earlier heaven"

(This was an assignment for my Family 100 class that I really enjoyed. I put it on my blog for the class, so I thought I'd put it on this blog too. Enjoy!)

I have always been a photo junkie. I love finding new old pictures and having old memories come flooding back. I have always told my mom that I wish she would have taken more of us when we were growing up.

Well, one day last month as I was digging for something in the storage room, I came across a very large storage bin. I opened it up and found literally hundreds (if not thousands) of pictures. I spent the next several hours going through each one.

I found pictures from my parent's childhoods, their teenage years, and their wedding. I found pictures of my siblings as babies, and some of us playing and laughing together. I remembered family vacations that would have otherwise been long forgotten, and I was reminded, as I looked into the happy eyes of my family members, just how good life can be.

"Our most important and powerful assignments are in the family. They are important because the family has the opportunity at the start of a child's life to put feet firmly on the path home. Parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles are made more powerful guides and rescuers by the bonds of love that are the very nature of a family."

-President Henry B. Eyring

With each picture I realized how lucky I am to have the family that I have. To help me remember the feelings I felt that day, I put together a slideshow of just a few of my favorite pictures. 

In these pictures,
you can see the light in the eyes of children playing,

the bonds shared between siblings,

the love in the eyes of husband and wife,

and the looks of pure affection between parent and child.

(to watch the video full screen, click on the youtube button on the bottom right.)

"A happy home is but an earlier heaven."
-President Thomas S. Monson

Until next time,

So long

A Grand Announcement

Hey ya'll.

I was going to wait and take a nice picture to go along with this post, but we all know the chances of that actually happening are not very high.

So instead, I'll just tell you.

I got into the social work program.

Yay!! My fear of being one of the first students to ever be turned away from the BYU-Idaho Social Work Program have been put to rest.

I will officially start in the fall.

(Maybe a picture will come later :)

...And Then There was a Knock at the Door

We've all heard these stories.

"I was down to my last dollar... and then there was a knock at the door."
"I didn't know who to turn to... and then there was a knock at the door."
"I hit rock bottom... and then there was a knock at the door."

In each case, the knock at the door implies that the day was saved.
Problems were solved.
Spirits were lifted.
Money was received.
Things turned around and got better-- if only for the moment.

I have secretly always been a little bit jealous of these types of experiences. I always though it would be so cool to have my day saved by a knock at the door. What a story that would be!

Well, folks, today-- just a few minutes ago in fact-- I had my very own "And then there was a knock at the door" experience. I'll tell you about it.

For the past while, I have been going to my parents house during the day to sneak in a quick meal. This is because the only thing I have in my apartment is a block of pepper jack cheese. Literally.

Tonight, I was laying on my bed trying to do my homework, but I was so hungry. My stomach was growling, and I was easily distracted by anything around me. Finally, I went through my stash of coupons, hoping to find just one that offered me something completely free... nothin. I stuffed all my coupons back in their bag. I was a little let down, but, naturally, I made myself feel better by thinking rationally, Who eats anyway? I mean, really... Just ignore that burning in your stomach. It's not a big deal. It'll be fine. I sat back down and told myself that I could just push my hunger aside until tomorrow afternoon.

And then there was a knock on the door.


Me and Lulu answered it and saw three attractive and nicely dressed men standing at our front door. The one in the middle stood with his hands in front of him, where a perfect little taco lay. He gave us a big smile. The first words out his mouth,

"Would you like a taco?"
Confusion...
They continued, "We are in a persuasion class, and we want to persuade you to buy this taco from us for one dollar."

It turns out, they really didn't have to convince or persuade me. Before they could finish explaining, I ran to my room, scavenged up four quarters from my bag of change, and soon had that little taco in my hands. It sounds a little sketchy, I know. I have no clue where that taco came from, who made it, if it had been spit on, dropped, poisoned, etc.

But I trusted it.
Because I was hungry.

And, boy, was it good.

So today, I am thankful for that knock on the door. I am thankful for those boys, and I am thankful for that taco.

It really did lift my spirits.
And fill my stomach... if only for the moment :)

Almost Done!

Today my class was cancelled because my teacher got sick. I hate to say it... but what a blessing! It was my only class today, so I have the whole day to do other things, like start on my research paper, study for tests, run some errands, and possibly even play tennis. Yes. That's right. I think it is officially tennis season! I have already played a few times outside, and I even got sunburned on Saturday! I could not be more excited for summer. Only 18 days left of school and then I'm done!

The other day, I was picking up someone's dishes off the floor, and I dropped my phone directly into their cup of water. It acted weird for a few days, randomly turning off and what not, but it still works! The past few days it has been completely back to normal. Amazing, I know. I tell you what, that phone is invincible. It's been completely submerged in water twice now, and dropped hundreds of times, but it's still going strong. Yet another blessing in my life.

I have been feeling giddy about summer for a few weeks now. I have big plans, and I am really excited to get started on them. I hesitate to share some of them though, because I have this weird thing where if I tell people my goals and what not, I lose motivation. I know that seems backwards, but it's just the way I work. So, I guess you'll all just have to be mostly surprised.

I will say that I am going on a cruise in June with my family for my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. Sadly, none of my siblings can go, but there will be cousins and aunts and uncles, so it should be a good time. We will be going to Cabo San Lucas. I cannot wait!

That will be me in three months

I don't have much else to write about. Life is just moving right along. The beginning of this semester was kind of horrible for me. I was sick of Rexburg. So sick of the people here and how everyone knows everything about you. And how I know everything about them. I just wanted to pick up and move to a big city where no one knows me (ok...we all know I probably couldn't handle that in reality, but that's how bad it was. And I think that maybe I could handle it...) 

Fortunately, things have been getting better lately. I am really enjoying school and friends. I like my apartment and my roommates. Me and my room roommate, Lulu, get a long really well. We are a lot alike. 

Together, we have made plans to start a band, and a bowling league of our own. She's fun. My ward is also great. I'm serving as the first counselor in Relief Society right now, and it has been so fun to get to know some of the girls in my ward. It's good to push myself to initiate friendships. I really enjoy it.  

Life really is good, and I am thankful for everything that I have. But, I have to admit... I am still a little bit sick of Rexburg. I am feeling a little bit wedged into a rut, and I really want to get out of it for a while. I have been wanting to escape to the wilderness for a while, just to get out and breath. I think this week I am going to go with some friends on a hike or something. I am also going to head down to Utah on the 24th. Yay!  

I am currently working on being nice to people, and not so blunt/realistic.

I should also work on using my camera every once in a while :)   

Until next time,

So long

A Once in a Lifetime Love

Meet Greg and Nancy

This is one solid (and classy) couple that I have always looked to as the perfect example of how to treat the one you love.

They still look at each other like this daily. And I'm lucky enough to see it. 

It's cute.

Happy Valentines Day 

Flashback to 6th Grade

(I had to write a story for one of my classes, and I have decided to share it. This memory was pushed to the back of my mind up until last month when it suddenly all came back and has been haunting me ever since. I feel like there's so many things I could've and should've done differently to help "Sam." Believe it or not, it still hurts my insides to think about this story.)

________________________________

     I started playing the cello in 5^th grade. I was lucky enough to start that year in the school’s orchestra, and I quickly made friends within my class. We all had a good time learning together, and we seemed to share interests. As the year progressed, everyone began to develop genuine friendships with each other. Everyone, that is, except Sam.

       Sam was a boy in our class that was known as the “trouble-maker.” He had been given that label on the first day of class, and in spite of his efforts, he couldn’t get rid of it. He wasn't the cleanest boy, and it was obvious that his clothes weren't the newest. He was very active, yet he kept to himself. Because the teacher was always getting after him, I guess some of the students thought that it was okay if they also treated him badly. I honestly tried not to be mean to him, and looking back, I don’t think I was. However, I also can’t say that I remember being particularly nice to him. I don’t remember helping him feel like he was a part of the crowd.

       One day during our second year of orchestra, I got to class, got out my cello and my bow and began to get ready for class to start. Sam was my stand partner, and the day seemed to be going along just fine. The end of my bow was wrapped with a silver wire, and it was starting to unravel. Because student cellos and bows were already lacking in the quality department, I mindlessly grabbed it and started to unwind it even more until a long strand of wire was bouncing off the end of my bow. I then set it on our stand and went on talking to my friends and joining the others in noisy pre-class activities.

       All of a sudden the whole class went silent when we heard our teacher yell, “Who did this?!” I turned to see him holding my bow in his hand, high above his head for everyone to see. Before anyone responded he turned to Sam, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. “Sam! Did you do this? This is a $1,500 bow, and it’s mine! This is real silver!” he screamed, pointing to the unraveling wire. The class was silent as Sam profusely tried to explain that it wasn’t him, but the teacher would not hear anything he had to say. “I will be setting up an appointment with your mother and you can explain to her what you’ve done!” he shouted.

       Everyone in the class stared at each other with wide eyes. I sat still and silent. I had to say something, didn’t I? …or did I? After all, isn’t Sam used to this kind of treatment? He’s already got the reputation, it’s not like this is going to break him. It’ll just be another thing added to the list. For me though, this would be horrible. I don’t want to embarrass myself and ruin my “perfect” reputation. That’s $1500 dollars, and everyone would know what I had done. Besides, it’s not my fault that his bow was in the student case, how was I supposed to know? I’ll just stay quiet and eventually this will all pass.

       I tried that. It didn’t work for more than two minutes. My face was hot, and my scalp was literally tingling (something I had never experienced before or since. Kind of strange, I know.) I quickly realized that I had to tell my teacher that I was the one who had ruined his bow. I had to be honest because that was the right thing to do. My mind flashed to those little stories in the New Era, and I got a little braver. :)

       I casually told my teacher that I needed to talk to him privately in the other room. As we walked together, I repeatedly told myself to speak confidently. I turned around and looked him in the face and said, “I’m the one who ruined your bow. It was me. It wasn’t Sam.” I’m sure my face was bright red and my eyes were watery. I’m not sure what I was expecting him to do, but I definitely wasn’t expecting him to be so calm and understanding. He simply told me “thank you for being honest,” and then we turned and went back to class. I remember thinking, That's it? That's all? I have never understood why he was so hard on Sam and so easy on me. It didn’t seem fair to me, even then; but I took what I got and stayed quiet about the whole situation.

       I don’t know if the teacher ever apologized to Sam. I hope he did. He didn’t know the facts, yet he blamed and humiliated Sam based on an assumption. I have always been glad that I made the choice to be honest that day. Looking back I can see that Sam did not have the best home life. His mom had died shortly before this situation, and his family struggled financially; on top of all that, he had to go to school everyday where little was expected of him, and he was labeled as the “annoying trouble maker.” He did not deserve that, and even though I quietly stood up for him on that day, I wish I had stood up for him on a daily basis. I wish I had made him feel more welcome and involved.

      The next year, Sam didn’t come to our school anymore. In fact, I don’t know where he went. But I have always wished that I knew so I could see how he is doing. I have a genuine interest in his life, and I think it is mostly because of this experience.

      This may seem like a very juvenile story to some, but it taught me a lot. It taught me that being honest is not always easy. It can be hard and scary, and it definitely requires courage. Above all else, I learned that it never hurts to be nice.