"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