Malfunction.

I seriously have so much to update on but I honestly cant think of anything, which is really sad. However, this last weekend something exciting happened. I overflowed my dishwasher! And my mom was in town! (Not at the same time)

Yes. This happened. Who knew that dishwashing soap cant go in the dishwasher...? Obviously not me! This was the result. And the funny thing is that I was turned away from it for maybe 5 minutes cooking myself some dinner and then I turn around and it looks like this. I was right there the whole time!

Behind the Scenes

I found this on a friends blog and HAD to share it! Thanks Sarah!

Behind the Scenes

You're at a play sitting in your seat waiting for the show to start. You're bored. You are tired of talking to the person next to you. The audience is whispering in the hushed tones. Its chilly, of course. WHen is this thing going to start? Did I stand in line forever to be on time just so that I have to do more waiting? Are the actors and actresses on coffee break? Why are they taking their sweet time? The show is supposed to begin now.

Behind the scenes, it's a totally different atmosphere. Everyone is rushing around, getting the last minute details perfect. The crew and techies are set up, waiting for their cue to begin the opening music. The actors and actresses are putting on their final touches to costumes and make-up, and they are beginning to take their place on stage. The opportune moment is here.

The curtains begin to arise just as you are wondering if you should just go get some popcorn. Being impatient has once again gotten the best of the audience.

The lights finally fin. Let the show begin.

This is us, right now in life. Sometimes we are impatient. We put forth our best effort, yet nothing exciting happens. We wonder why God isn't giving us that perfect moment to meet someone new, become extraordinary, do something incredible, or be the person we thought we would be.

Behind the scenes though, God is hard at work. He is meticulously making sure that every detail is in order for your life--just so you can experience that opportune moment. He is always busy, hard at work. He knows what lies ahead in your life. He knows your weaknesses and strengths. He knows your sorrows and happiness. He knows exactly what you need exactly when you need it. He wants you to be happy.

So if you are every wondering what is going on behind the scenes and why its taking so long for that curtain to rise, just remember, our Father in Heaven is busy making sure you can lead a happy life. Have faith and be patient.

Lately.

BYUSA RETREAT
So I've been helping out with BYUSA and I'm an event lead which is kinda a big deal so I am in the office from like 3-5 every day! It's so fun and definitely keeps me busy so thats good. I get to work with a lot of really great people. Im planning an event that we are doing with UVU in march. Its all in the works right now so Im not exactly sure how to explain it to you but just trust that it's going to be amazing and you should go! Since I am an event lead, I got to go on a retreat with all of the other event leads, the executive directors, and the vice president over activities. It was the best. Probably one of the first times I actually did something on the weekend this semester. Yay! haha. So we stayed in a cabin up in the canyons by Sundance. We goofed off, made a fire, roasted marshmallows and starbursts, had a variety show, played group games, and stayed up until 4 listening to Robert serenade us on his guitar. He is seriously SO good. He had a concert last weekend that I really wanted to go to but I couldn't make it (which I will explain later). This retreat was like 2 or 3 days after I got started with working with BYUSA so I really only knew like 2 people. I just got thrown into like everything! It was the best and I feel so lucky to have been able to go! Im so glad that I decided to get more involved. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Expect updates on the event! It's going to be awesome, I can feel it!

I REALLY don't like this picture of me but the B/W version looks a little better,

PUMPKIN CARVING

So about a week before Halloween, Lindsay, Spencer, and I drove up to Aunt Martha's to carve pumpkins! The trip there didn't turn out how we expected. We had been on the freeway for maybe 20 minutes and there was a ton of traffic, and all of a sudden my car shuts off. Let me remind you that this happened about a month prior while Aliese and I were in the In N Out drive through which I told you about already. Freaking out, I pulled over, put my car in park, turned it on and kept driving. We were able to make it to Martha's. My whole family was sitting outside getting the pumpkins ready to carve. We went inside and snacked on some bean dip that my aunt made and Lindsay's amazing pumpkin cookies! Then we got started on our pumpkins! I don't remember the last time that I carved a pumpkin and apparently it's a big deal in this family. They had all the fancy tools and books full of designs. I chose Chester the molester...at least that's the name we gave him. It was a lot of fun but took FOREVER. I love my family and I am so glad that they are just a 30 minute drive away!

My amazing family.

Brody loves me.

Chester is on the top right...just so you know :)

HALLOWEEN WEEKEND

So this is the weekend that Robert had his concert that I couldn't go to! Saturday we had Stake Conference and after that Aliese, Kyle, and I were either going to go to the concert or Zombie Fest. Right after conference I got a call from my friend Sam asking if I wanted to go on a date to a corn maze at thanksgiving point! Obviously I said yes, so I didn't get to go to the concert but the corn maze was super fun! After the corn maze, we went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner and then went to the other guy Steven's apartment and played catch phrase, It was a really fun night. Probably one of the best dates I've been on (there haven't been that many to compete with). So that was saturday. On Sunday, we had Stake COnference again but Aliese and I went to the wrong building because we assumed it was at the same place as it was on Saturday. We walked into the wrong stake conference looking everywhere for Kyle and then realized that we were in the wrong place. So we walked into our conference late, which wasn't a big deal, it was just funny. Sunday night I spent the night at Lindsay's. I had to stay up until midnight to register for my classes for next semester but in the end I was able to get pretty much everything that I needed! I couldn't decide between Mission Prep and Survey of World Religions, but its pretty much impossible to get into Mission Prep with the awesome teacher that everyone wants so Im taking Survey of World Religions with Taylor! Im actually really excited for this class. I've heard a lot of really great things about it. MOnday was Halloween and I had class. That night, we (me, Aliese, Kyle, Brandon, and Kara) went to Kyle's family's house in Salt Lake because they were making donuts! They were so good! Then we watched a couple episodes of The Munsters and then drove back to Provo. Thats pretty much the gist of Halloween weekend. A lot of spontaneity but thats the way to live! No pictures from this weekend :/

SNOW

So it's pretty much officially winter. It snowed today and its been snowing at night a lot but mostly in the mountains. AND THERE'S CHRISTMAS MUSIC ON THE RADIO! I love this time of the year. My family is driving up (in my new car :) ) in a couple weeks for Thanksgiving and Im seriously so excited to see them! All of my cousins will be there too! Im exciting for my new car too since my current one is obviously not safe to drive. I love the car...like a lot, but its old and starting to break down and it's not a good car to have in the snow. I honestly cannot believe that they got me a new one. It's not brand new, but it's a 2008 Nissan Versa. Its cute and I feel so lucky and blessed to have such amazing parents! I don't feel like I deserve such a nice car, considering my family like never has really nice cars, but it is what it is and Im so grateful for it! I believe thats it for the updates with me!

Quotes of my life.

Couldn’t agree with this more. I have to constantly remind myself that everything happens for a reason and there is no use n trying to force things to happen such as relationships or anything else really, because everything is going to work out the way its supposed to. Its not worth it to get stressed or worried about things because chances are that it wasn’t a problem in the first place. We tend to over think a lot. Get your mind out of it and live life freely. Everything worlds out the way God has planned it for you.

Another good one. You will never be put through anything that you cannot handle. Always keep that in mind when you are struggling through something. Know that you will get through everything that comes your way.

This one is just funny.

Withdrawals.

My girls.

I miss cruising with reggae blasting in the background.

THE Karla Antivilo.

Free matsumotos anyone? Thanks Olson and your himsh child!

Instead of updating you on all of the things that have happened recently here in Provo (which will happen soon, I promise), I've decided that I need to vent my Hawaii withdrawals to this computer screen. I miss hawaii so much. It's a Friday night and all of my roommates are gone, so Im left alone to think. And we all know what happens when I think too much. I got looking through all of my pictures, and the ridiculous videos I had to take for my online bio class with a couple friends. It brought back so many amazing memories that I wish I didn't have to leave in Hawaii. I was so comfortable with myself there. My hair was always perfectly curled and volumized from the humidity, I never had to wear make up, I was always tan, I had amazing friends, loved school, and had the best, most rewarding job anyone could ask for. To this day I often wonder and wish I would know what would have happened if I had stayed there. I would have continued to make wonderful memories that would last a lifetime, while living on a beautiful island with nothing to worry about. The culture made me feel so welcome, wanted, and loved. I miss that. Provo is wonderful, but I don't get the same feeling that I did there. Although Hawaii was great, it's not where Im supposed to be right now. There is a plan for me, and I believe with pretty much everything in my heart (there is a little bit of doubt, since BYUH will forever hold a place in my heart) that this is where I need to be. Yes, Im sure I would have survived in Hawaii and found an amazing career and possibly a husband several years down the road, but why settle when I know that having faith in my decision of coming here, knowing that  its God's plan for me, will provide a life 1000x better than that I could get from being anywhere else even though it's not the easiest option to be here. I am SO grateful that I am able to make my own decisions. It has made me grown in ways I didn't even know possible. My life continues to change every day, and continues to surprise me as well. Despite my withdrawals, I feel so blessed to be able to attend such an amazing University with other students from all around the world. I hope and pray that BYU will greatly influence my life, and my schoolwork will go as smoothly as I hope it to go. I am blessed with a lot of things and couldn't be more grateful for the friends and family that I have that have supported me through everything in my life starting from day 1. Life is beautiful and I cant believe where it has taken me. One day, I hope that I can return to Hawaii where I spent a year of my life learning to become the best that I can be.

Eyebrows. You kind of need them.

Dating vent session.

Ok. So problem. Guys don't ask me on dates. I've been on one blind date this semester and thats it. As great as they are...they're not. To me its like 'Hey! No ones asking you on a date so Im gonna have my friend take you on one.' I don't find blind dates flattering because it's not like they asked me on a date because they think Im cute or they like my personality...they don't know anything about me! So thats blind dates. Now theres the ward date box. Can you say desperate?! Someone put my name in the date box which to me is kinda degrading. Sure, it might go really well, but still. Its like ok... I cant get dates on my own so people decide that it's their responsibility to find people to like me. Awesome. Why cant the guys that Im actually interested in take a hint? Im sure they do sometimes, but they don't do anything about it! This needs to change. Saaaave me.

HELP NEEDED!

I really, really need help finding a good haircut! Im getting it cut on saturday and I have no idea what I want to do! If you have any thoughts or ideas of what you think would look good on me, let me know! You can send links of pictures too!

Update overload.

Its been too long. Oh gosh, I don't even know where to start. The farthest back I can think is last tuesday when Aliese, Adam, and I hiked the Y for the "Hike and Light the Y" homecoming event that has been a tradition for 90 years I think. We booked it up that mountain no joke. We didn't really stop ever. We got to the top and ran into some friends from the ward.

Thursday I woke up and was walking to class FREEZING. Ok, I wasn't freezing. I kinda actually like the cold. It's really refreshing. Anyway, it was like 37 degrees or something and I was wearing a long sleeve shirt. I went to Spanish and then I studied for a bit then I went to my Spanish conversation lab. The whole morning there were just grey clouds all over the mountains. Didn't think anything of it. I walk out of class and BAMM! This is what I see...snow. Let me remind you that I was on that 'Y' on the mountain less that 48 hours before this happened. It also actually snowed on the ground that day too, not just on the mountain.

That same day, I was talking to my mom telling her how cold it was and she told me to go shopping...so I did. Never would I ever turn down that command. Aliese and I went shopping for winter clothes but weren't very successful, however I did find some lovely jeggings and a blue and white striped cardigan (cougar pride). We were going to go to Mr. BYU but that plan failed miserably. We were hungry and decided to go through the In-N-Out drive thru. We didn't make it that far. We ordered our food and then my car just shut off. We were both really confused. I turned it back on and it shut off. So I got out of the car and went to the people behind us and they said to put it in neutral so that they could push me out of. I did as I was told, got out of the turned off/in neutral car and it started moving without anyone even touching it! I started to freak so I jumped in and put it in park. The whole time, the workers in in-n-out looked super confused and were all sticking their heads out the window. It was pretty funny. It all of a sudden started working again so I got up to the window to pay, got our food and it turned off again. The people behind us pushed us out while I steered into a parking spot. HILARIOUS. It was actually more difficult than you would think. The steering wheel wouldn't turn like at all. Anyway, thats the story of the week. It was an exciting 5 minutes of my life. Oh and then there was this random man who apparently was a know-it-all about cars that explained what might be the problem and then left. Aliese and I just sat in the car and ate while we waited for Kyle to rescue us. The man appeared like 10 minutes later to tell me to go to the Japanese auto shop on center street and then left again. Umm....ok?? haha.

My car works now. Don't worry.

Thursday night was Devery's surprise birthday party. We had cake and played the game of things. If you know what it is, cool. If you don't, I don't know how to explain it but its hilarious haha.

Friday I have no recollection of what happened. Saturday...all I can remember is that we went to the football game. Oh, just kidding. Saturday I went shopping with one of my roommates Jessica and another friend Alena to make up for not being successful on thursday with Aliese. I found a really cute pea coat at Costco for $50. It was more than I wanted to spend but for a Michael Kors red wool pea coat, it was definitely a $50 well spent. MICHAEL KORS people. Designer. Yes.  Wait. Shopping was Friday. Maybe not. I don't remember now. Anyway. Saturday night was the homecoming football game against San Jose State. We dominated. I went with a bunch of people from the ward and then Aliese and Kyle showed up later. They went to the outlet mall in Park City before. Heres a picture from the game!

Since True Blue was cancelled during homecoming week because It was so freaking cold and snowing, it was postponed to yesterday. Aliese and I helped out as part of BYUSA. We stood at the top of the slides to hold them down so that they wouldn't fall down the hill. We were next to the DJ so I had my own little dance party the whole time. After everyone left, all of the volunteers got to have our own time on the slide. It was a ton of fun. 

In the moment of taking this picture (below) I was just thinking, 'man, life is good'. My days just get better and better and I love being here. 

I couldn't be happier with where my life is at right now. Everything seems to be falling into place. I have great roommates, I love being around my sister and Spencer, I love having a car and being independent. Im so excited to be more involved with BYUSA. I got a call from a girl today asking if I would like to work with her in Admin. Im official now. Legit. Watch out everyone, Im taking over! Also, I got an email back from the Graphic Design head professor and got an appointment with him for next week to talk about my portfolio! So pumped! Everything is coming together so nicely :) I love my life.

On a more spiritual note. Keep the faith rollin' people. It will change your life immensely if you rely on the promptings of the spirit. Wouldn't be where I am now without it!

Oh glorious day.

I have taken 18 quizzes/tests in the last 2 days. That my friends, is a little thing called procrastination. Thank you physical science and spanish (but mostly physical science).

Live.

You miss 100% of the shots that you don't take.
Wayne Gretzky

I've always thought that this was very clever, and so true! I can look back on my life and remember multiple times when I had the opportunity to do something, but passed it up. I may never get some of those opportunities ever again in my life only because I just didn't take the shot. It makes you really take a step back and analyze your life. Are you being productive? Taking every opportunity that comes by? Meeting all the people that you can? Exploring the world? Learning new things? You are given opportunities to do things pretty much every single day of your life. Are you taking advantage of that? Do whatever you need and want to do so that when you're old, you can say that you lived a great life full of adventure, knowledge, and happiness. Don't waste your time sitting around thinking that something will happen and you will experience everything. It doesn't work that way. Live your life.

One day at a time.

So this weekend was a good one. Day by day, things are starting to get better. Thursday I went to a meeting for ILP (International Language Program). Taylor is in the program right now and I really want to do it! I would like to go to Thailand so we'll see what happens! Friday I went to class and took 2 tests and then I went with Aliese and Kyle to a stake activity. It was pizza and a dance. It was all fun and games until they started doing slow dances. That was my cue to leave the dance floor. After the dance, I went on a blind date with a guy named Nathaniel. He is Tanners mission friend, so thats how it was set up. We went to Red Robbins for dinner and then he took me back home. It was just a short date. My voice was a little off, but I figured I was just a little congested or something. I got home around 10 and Aliese and Kyle came back to our place along with like 5 other people. I had no idea we were having people over! We all watched Limitless. I think I fell asleep for a little bit but I don't think anyone noticed. Then we sat around and talked/listened to Austin practically run his own comedy show. I swear that kid cant go one sentence without saying something funny. Oh man. The next morning Aliese, Kyle and I went to a service project at 9am. I met a guy named Ryan and he and I kinda stuck together the entire time, while Aliese and Kyle were ''partners". At first we were all shoveling new dirt into the flower bed thing and then the second half of the time we were there, we pulled weeds. I don't think I have ever had as much fun pulling weeds as a did on Friday. But anyways, Ryan and I talked like the whole time. He's an awesome guy and super hilarious! We just got along really well. It felt like we had known each other forever, but it had only been like 3 hours. He's actually the President of BYUSA, which is awesome and automatically makes him a good guy haha. My voice was still a little weird that morning at the service project. I got back home, took a nap, woke up and my voice was gone. Awesome. Its even more awesome when I tell you that when I woke up I had to shower and get ready to go to the very first home football game of the season. Perfect timing Zoe. So I had no voice AND I didn't take any pictures! Whats wrong with me?! I didn't get my voice back completely until today (Wednesday). Not fun.

I am putting off my Physical Science reading because it is seriously SO boring. I cant take it. Oh man. Oh and in my drawing class, we've been working on the same drawing for 3 days (3 hour class) so 3daysX3hours=9hours total...and Im not done yet! But I have never done a better drawing in my life! Im so excited to finish it! It looks awesome and Its gonna go into my portfolio.

Does anyone know a place that you can order 10X10, 8X8, 9X12, and 8X10 pictures prints from? I've looked like everywhere. The only one most places do is the 8X10.

...

I've been meaning to write for a while but as of a couple minutes ago, the last 2 weeks of my life have been completely erased out of my mind. I don't remember anything haha. I guess not a ton has happened aside from this last weekend (Emily's Wedding). I've just been getting settled into Provo, getting used to my classes, thinking about applying for jobs but wondering if I have enough time for that. I really want to work, but I don't want to overwhelm myself with too much work because I also need to put together a portfolio for my application into the Graphic Design program which is HUGE. If I don't get in, it's going to set me back in school and I really don't want that to happen. So as much as I want a job, and need a job, I wonder if that could be a bad idea. Oh a positive note, I love living with Aliese and I love my other roommates. Laura and Jessica are awesome. They are super goofy so we get along great. WE all have a good time together. Lindsay and Spencer just got a puppy and they named him Brody. He's the cutest little thing. He's a miniature pinscher/pomeranian mix and only weighs like 2 pounds right now! He will stay small and only get to be 8-10 pounds. Ahh I love that little guy.

Emily got married yesterday and it was an amazing wedding. I loved every minute of it. It was a party!  It makes it hard for me to not want to get married anytime soon after seeing her and Jeremiah so incredibly happy. I want that for myself so bad but there are so many other things that I want before that and Im still 19, except I feel like a granny, with no money, that has been going to school for 10 years and isn't getting anywhere. How does that sound? haha. But anyways, yes, the wedding was great. Im so glad that I was able to go and even happier that I was a bridesmaid :) Although I wore 4 inch heels, I was surprisingly confident in how tall I was and it didn't really bother me. So Emily...thank you for that. It was super hot at the temple so by the time me and the rest of the bridesmaids got to the luncheon (which by the way took forever to get to because we kinda got lost. Don't know how that happened because its on the same street as the temple) we were super thirsty. Thankfully, the waitresses placed giant classes of cold lemonade in front of us. It was so good. We downed like 5 cups in like 15 minutes. Kinda sad. The food was delicious and it was fun to talk to the girls and get to know them. After the luncheon we had a couple hours to do whatever so we went bowling! But before we went bowling we went to walmart to get socks and decorations for the car. Everyone gave us weird looks because we were all wearing the same thing and the guys were too haha. It was fun though. So we went bowling and it was girls against guys. We won...both times! I hadn't been bowling in forever. I loved it. All the people in the wedding party were so fun to be around. We had a good time. Then came the reception. Everyone had their own jobs and mine was to take charge of greeting people and telling them to sign the guest book. I did that for about an hour. It had started raining so everyone went indoors but it made it very memorable. I still think that it was an amazing reception. When it stopped raining, people went outside again. Emily and Jeremiah cut the cake and threw it in each others faces (cutest thing ever) and then we did dancing and the bouquet and garter toss. Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE weddings?! They are the best. I could go on about this wedding but wont. And they lived happily every after....the end.

So my parents dropped me off at the airport like 40 minutes ago and I don't know why but I just started crying. Have you ever just started crying out of nowhere and had no idea why but you cant control yourself?! Yeah thats what happened. Its weird. And right now I just feel weird. I don't know whats gotten into me. Maybe it's the idea that i'm sitting in the airport on 9/11 and a bunch of creepy old men keep looking at me? I don't know. Oh, ok, so Im C 22 in line to board which means that Im going to be like the last one on with no place to put my bags and Im gonna be stuck in the middle of two big old fat guys. Thats normally how it goes right? haha. Or maybe Ill sit next to the nice missionary. We'll see I guess. 

Oh and you know those high heel toms that are being sold? I thought they looked kinda strange online but I just saw a lady wearing them and they were actually super cute on! You probably just have to find the right color. I think some colors would be weird. I don't know, thats just me.

OHHH! I remember something big that has happened to me in the last 2 weeks. I hiked Mount Timpanogos! Thats a big deal. It was the first weekend here. It was kind of a spur of the moment idea. Aliese was on a date that night so I hung out with the roommates. We talked, got to know each other, went to Panda Express and then came home. Danny (a friend of my roommates) said that she had been invited to go hike Timp with some random people so...an hour later we got picked up by people we didn't know and drove to the bottom of the mountain. We got picked up at like 12:15 and started hiking at like 1:00am. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into until we had been hiking for a couple hours already. I didn't think it was that intense of a hike. Turns out it is a 6 hour one-way hike. I had no idea. I actually thought it was a joke but I was wrong. So we get closer and closer to the top and it gets colder and colder. The higher we went, the more layers I put on. The entire time it was pitch black and i had no idea what my surroundings were. We got pretty close to the top and took the wrong trail and started trekking through ice haha. It was an adventure. It wasn't till we were in the middle of an ice bowl till we realized that we went the wrong way because we saw other hikers lights shining from a different trail. We were probably 30 minutes from the top so we were a little sad haha. We just chilled there to wait for the sunrise. The boys had brought blankets and food. They were so prepared. They gave the girls like all of it while they suffered. It made me realize that there really are good guys out there! We waited for a while but it was taking forever so we starting walking back and thats when the sun came out and it started warming up and OH MY GOSH was it gorgeous. Green everywhere, streams, lakes, mountain goats, flowers, waterfalls, trees...you name it. It was like the sound of music or something and you could see for miles! Im so sad that I didn't have my camera. On the way back, the group kinda split into a fast group and a small group but not on purpose. I was in the fast group and my camera was in a backpack with my roommate in the slower group. Oh well. During the hike I told myself I would never do it ever again because it was so long but when I could actually see what I was going through, and now after finishing it, I think I would go again. I would go just for the pictures haha. It was amazing. We got back at 10am and Aliese was really confused because she woke up and we still weren't home! She thought we died or something. So after pulling an all nighter, hiking for 10 hours, we got home, I took a shower and then Aliese and I went to a ward activity at Rock Canyon Park. It was just a BBQ but I was so exhausted. I wanted the good free food though haha. I met a ton of people in our ward so Im glad I went. When we got home, our house was dead for the rest of the day. I think Aliese got a little bored. Oh well! So that was the Mount Timp adventure!

This post was all over the place and Im pretty sure there were a lot of errors but Im so done with it so Im not going to fix anything. Sorry haha.

Guilty.

So Im back in Provo! Yesterday I drove up with Erika Vasquez. It was pretty fun. She slept a lot and I just listened to music quietly but it went surprisingly really fast. It goes faster when you're driving...at least thats what I experienced. So yeah. It was great. But the thing I really wanted blog about is my near out of gas experience. It was probably one of the freakiest things I have ever experienced. I figured that it was safe to fill up at a quarter tank and no lower so whenever I drive, I fill up my tank when it gets to a quarter tank, so thats what I did the first round of gas in Las Vegas. I called my mom just to say hi and tell her that we were in Vegas and the drive is going fine. I was going off about how we got all the way to Vegas and I still had at quarter tank of gas but I was filling it up right then and she got a little upset/frustrated and was telling me how I should always keep it over half full just to be safe. I thought that was ridiculous because I think that a quarter tank is safe enough. Little did I know that when I got back to a quarter tank, within like 1 or 2 hours till Provo, there was not a gas station in sight. I hadn't seen one since I was at like a half tank (moms know everything). So Im driving, driving and nothing. There isn't a gas station in sight and we are in the middle of NOWHERE! I wasn't worried until like an hour later and there still wasn't a gas station. The gas meter thing is getting pretty close to E and I was slightly freaking out. Kept driving, and nothing, so I looked up where the closest gas station was on my GPS and it said 13.6 miles. That is when I really started freaking out because at that point, I was basically on E. This is when I started praying hard haha. Erika probably thinks I'm so irresponsible now but Im not! I promise. So we get down to a couple miles away from the gas station and I am on the verge of a heart attack no joke. I had a good feeling that we would make it but I was still unsure. So we come around the side of the mountain and off in the distance we can see the gas station! Hallelujah. A minute after we saw the gas station the car kinda started bumping but I thought it might be a bad road or something, but Spencer told me that that meant the car was sputtering, and out of gas haha. Miracles ladies and gentlemen. We were still on the freeway at that point and somehow (miracle) the car stopped doing that the last mile and we safely made it to the gas station. As a side note...Saturday I got a 5 hour energy thing for myself just incase I got tired. So when we pulled up I was completely drained. It was insane. So I drank my 5 hour energy. We got back on the freeway to finish the last 40 minutes till Provo when all of a sudden the song Jesus Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood came on. Can you say ironic?! Holy cow. The best line of that song is 'fifty miles to go and she was runnin low, on faith and gasoline....Jesus take the wheel'. Umm yeah, this is when Erika and I came to the conclusion that I am an awful person because I just prayed my little heart out that we would make it to the gas station and we did, and then I drank a caffeinated drink (breaking the word of wisdom...on a sunday). Basically yeah. Guilty.

What's been said on this blog...stays on this blog. Thanks haha.

Short hair?

I've wanted to cut my hair for SO long but have never gotten the guts to do it because I love my long hair! These are some pictures that I like. I told myself that if I go to Utah Im going to cut it but if I stay in Hawaii I'll keep it long. Im going to Utah but Im just not ready to cut my hair! Im so afraid that I wont like it short! I wouldn't go straight to the 3 shorter ones but I really do like these cuts! I don't even know if I would ever even go that short. I don't know if it would look good with my face shape. I would probably start with the first picture of Kelly Clarkson thats a little longer, but maybe some more spunkiness (word?) like the others, but I don't know! What do you think? I've got a lot of hair to work with. I just want other peoples opinions before I do anything crazy.

Too much time to think.

You never know what you've got until its gone.

Ive had a lot of time to think while I have been home. Mostly thinking about things in my past, good and bad, and things that I want to change in the present and future. Im talking to Taylor Aiono right now and we've been talking about Hawaii and Provo and their differences. She's helping me feel confident in who I am and my decisions. I am super confident in Provo and I know that Im going to have an amazing experience, but it still breaks my heart that I am not going back to Hawaii. No matter how BADLY I wanted to go back, doesn't beat the feeling that I get when I realized that going back just doesn't feel right, which makes absolutely no sense to me at all. Being there did nothing but good things for me. I would definitely not be who I am today without it. I wish more than anything that I could still be there with all of the amazing people I met, and still working at Gateway with the best co workers ever and eating Taylor's butter rolls, and Yuna's cheesy potatoes! Ahh good times. I gotta remember stuff like that! Those are almost the most important things you need to remember from experiences like this...the little things! Ok so we traded jobs every week. I loved being a greeter because all you do is say Aloha and Mahalo and throw up a shaka and take pictures with people who think you're like a celebrity. I secretly loved working lines because there were these guys that would drive carts in the back and give us more things of food and I just liked talking to them and getting rides from them to go wash the untenstils (as long as Aunty Vonnie wasn't around). SPEAKING of washing utensils....I actually hated it because I would always go alone and right when I walk into the kitchen, all of the dishwashers start speaking samoan or tongan or whatever they speak and it was completely obvious that they were talking about me but I couldn't do anything about it because I had no idea what they were saying! Every.Freaking.Day. I dreaded that, but I liked getting rides there! Fun little memory. I liked serving drinks because all you had to do was set out like 6 of each drink and fill them in as they would be taken and you got to hear all the asians say 'cola' and somehow it sounded like 'wata' (water) so you never knew what they actually wanted. Oh man. I could go on. To be honest, bussing wasn't that bad at all. Especially when people mistake you for polynesian and european. I was anything but white to these people! It was great! I definitely went way off subject...however I am very happy I was able to blog about that. Now I will never forget about the little things I loved about Gateway. Gateway was bomb.

Heres my plan. Well theres 2. Plan A is to move back in the summers to work just so I can be a part of the culture again since I loved it so much and be making money too. The only problem with this is that it is much easier said than done. There are so many things in the summer that I want to do or have to do. For example, I need to get shoulder surgery, I want to do a study abroad, and I also want to go to Panama as a volunteer! Obviously, there is a lot going on and there is no way it can all happen in one summer. Plan B is to move back after graduation and start working on an actual career maybe. The problem with this plan is what if I am married by that time? I like to think that I wont but honestly, you never know when its going to happen.

Anyway, back to wanting something that I just cant have...I read a quote just now and it said "When you want something you can't have, consider that it's still better than having something you don't want." So true. You're probably thinking, well you can go back if you want...yes I can, but just wont let myself. Like what has gotten into me?! This is me trusted in the Lord. Its crazy how you can be so sure of something but the Lord has something completely different in store for you. Obviously there is something in Provo that is waiting for me, whether it be a job, a class, a person, or just one little moment that happens to me, theres a reason for it, just like everything else that happens in our lives. "Everything happens for a reason." If there is one person that has lived by that saying the most...that would definitely be me. I never doubt it. I still have a really good life, one that a lot of people would do anything for, and I am very grateful for that. I am so blessed and continue to be every day of my life. I have so many amazing, supportive friends and family that are always by my side.

I can tell that this is going to be a good semester for me. I know what I want to study, I know where I want to work, I know who I am, and I know who I want to be. Moving away from everyone I knew for a whole year taught me to open up to people, to be more outgoing and social. Yes, it has definitely changed my life for the better but one thing is still missing. I have always been afraid of relationships and Im not completely sure why. Im starting to come to a few conclusions as to why I have avoided it for so long, the biggest reason being lack of confidence. I come off as a really confident person, but thats just me holding back everything that I don't like about myself and not doing anything about it. Im the type of person thats always trying to help other people out and never themselves. Im starting to realize how hard I am on myself and I need to spend more time making myself happy too. When it comes to dating and relationships, I just haven't ever cared because I never have been able to think that guys see anything good in me. I have never thought that I was good enough for anyone. Harsh, I know, but thats what I've been thinking all these years. Thats about to change. When Tanner and I talked the other night, he gave me several tips and suggestions when it comes to dating. He said that the most important thing a girl can do to get a guys attention is to smile. I have definitely noticed that this is true and have been smiling a lot more recently because I have come to love myself a lot more than I used to. I love to smile and laugh more than anything in the world, which I think is a very attractive trait, and anyone that appreciates that about me is a winner. Also, I used to think that just making eye contact with a guy is enough to get their attention, but if you don't smile at them after making eye contact, then you might come off as almost like sassy or something. Thats not the right word but it's the first word that came to mind. The next time you make eye contact with someone and then look away without smiling, try to think of the facial expression you had and what the other person was thinking...probably nothing too pretty. I have definitely been working on this. Im ready to let other people into my life, at least I think I am. Im more ready now than I have ever been, so it's a start. I deserve to be cared by someone and I want it so badly. No, Im not in any way, shape, or form ready to get married. No thank you. But then again...who is?! Not a ton of people. Provo here I come!

Lately...

Ive had a lot of random thoughts lately so this post is going to be composed of a lot of random things...

So today I decided that I want to minor in Spanish, so Im taking Spanish 101 this semester and I really hope I like it or else Im going to have to find something else! I feel pretty good about it though! You know Im dedicated when the class is at a really annoying time but Im still going to take it haha. Its not that bad actually. Its from 4-5 I think but what else am I gonna go from 4-5?! So yeah, random, I know. Im excited though! Ive always wanted to be fluent in another language and I know that thats not going to happen (like I wouldn't teach myself) unless I take classes...so Im going to minor in it haha.

Also, I really don't understand how people spell my name wrong...especially when they're talking to me on Facebook. Its like....ok Im sure if you are talking to me on facebook, my name is within a 2 inch radius of where you're looking and it obviously doesn't say Zoey. I don't get it! Its not that it makes me mad, because it doesn't. I actually think its really funny. It cant be that hard! Especially if I have known the person a while.

I read this on Sister Paolacci's status today and got really confused because it didn't sound like something she would do AT ALL. Then I realized it wasn't her and she just thought it was funny so she posted it. So here it is:

Oh my heck! I was in the public bathroom and had just sat down and heard a voice from the next cubicle say "Hi, how are you?" Embarrassed I sad, "Im doing fine." The voice said, "So what are you up to?" I said, "Just doing the same thing as you, sitting here." Then he said, "Can I come over?" Annoyed, I said, "Rather not! Im quite busy right now!" Then the voice said, "Listen, I will have to call you back, theres an idiot next door answering all my questions."

Hahahaha. I would laugh so hard if I was either person in that situation. I thought this was hilarious.

Random update #4 I went and played indooor soccer with a bunch of people from the singlesward like kirk, tanner, brad, allen, and a bunch of other people. It was so fun! I think I like playing on a field more but I do like that it was a small area because there was more going on and the game moved a lot faster. I lost some of my skills though :/ I played a few times, but then I started talking to Tanner. We basically had a heart to heart conversation. We talked forever. But it was good. I like to have people to talk to like that...especially guys like him that Im good friends with but we would never date so we both feel comfortable saying anything about whatever and its ok. We pretty much just talked about dating and relationships and he gave me some words of advice and encouragement. He's a good guy.

Anyway...enough random for the day. Im out.

So much going on!

A lot has happened since I last posted. Atleast it feels like it has, so Im going to try to break it down into days. I cant remember everything.

Thursday: We had a HABOOB! First of all, I had no idea what a haboob was and my dad called me from New York saying that a haboob was coming my way and I was really confused. Then I found out what it was! It was crazy! It wasn't as bad as the one like a month and a half ago but it was still cool to see! Im pretty sure I didn't do anything thursday night because I was going to go to Tempe but it wasn't safe with all the dust and storms everywhere. Oh, and most importantly, I found out that I PASSED ECON! I have never been so happy to get a C- in my life. I am so incredibly happy that I don't have to retake it. If I had studied even one hour less than I did, I could have run the risk of getting a D+ and having to retake the entire class. Everything counts. All the work that I put into that class kinda payed off in the end. I don't normally shoot for C-'s in classes but this was an exception. Im so glad that I didn't give up. There were several moments when I wanted to but I didn't. Make that a life lesson. We are going to come across several trials in our lives that we may think are completely unbearable and impossible to get through, but if we just stick with them and have faith that everything is going to be fine in the end and do everything we can, then everything will be fine! That is exactly what happened this semester for me. There was a lot of stress involved but it was all worth it.

Friday: This was madness day. I had 5 zillion things to do. I had to go to the grocery store to get a bunch of things for Emilys Bridal Shower, and then I had to put together her gift which was a picture frame with 6 photos in it each with a different letter spelling out d-e-n-t-o-n, which is going to be her last name. I found some in my yard but I ran out of things so I had to drive around my neighborhood creepily driving really slow looking at everything I saw very thoroughly and taking pictures. I thought someone might call the cops on me haha. Well I got that finished and then I went to the grocery store again and on the way there, I barely missed this car accident that was in the exact same spot as where I had mine. Same thing happened. It was super crazy. Im kinda glad I didn't see it, but it would have been crazy to see too. The ambulance had just gotten there when I drove past. Then I went home and showered and then picked up sierra from volleyball practice. We went to Maries wedding reception! So fun to see her again! He looked so gorgeous and happy and I haven't seen her smile so much in a really long time so that was great to see. After that, Laura came over to my house and we watched You Again and ate the cookies that I made a couple days ago that sierra wont eat because they look funny. They taste good though!

Saturday: Woke up early and got ready to go to Emilys Bridal shower. Sierra and I went and got flowers and then went to Bri's house at like 9 to start getting ready. The shower was a lot of fun and she got a lot of great gifts! I hope she enjoyed it, and I think she did. Its more fun with friends than old people from the ward haha. After the shower I was supposed to go to the lake with Aliese, Tanner and Chase, but it kept getting postponed because Tanner and Chase were out job searching, and then it was like 8pm so I assumed we just weren't going anymore. Taylor called me and we went to Buffalo Wild Wings with Seth. SO GOOD! Honey BBQ boneless wings...the only ways to go. After dinner we went over to Kirk Fairbanks house because he had a bunch of people over. Im pretty sure everyone there was in the ward. Allen Cooley was there and I haven't seen him in like 5 years. Allen Cooley was one of Lindsays really good friends growing up so thats how he knew who I was. Here is what happened. He looked at me, then gave me this look like 'hey, I know you', and then he says (and Im ready for it because I get it all the time and I already knew what he was going to say) "Are you....?", I was like "Yes, I am haha". On countless occasions people recognize me because I look a lot like Lindsay. Its great haha. So yeah. The last time he saw me, Im pretty sure I was this really unfortunately awkward looking child in like 7th or 8th grade. Oh man, I was hideous. I find it really funny that I know all these people that used to be Lindsays really good friends now, like Kirk and Allen and a bunch of other people her age. This is a good age to be. I enjoy it a lot. I love meeting new people. I love life! But Im sad that Im going to be leaving all of these people that Ive been meeting!

Sunday: Went to my wards sacrament meeting so that I could say hi to people in the ward and then went home and cleaned a little bit then picked sierra up from church. I went to Singlesward at 1 and there were like a million people there. Way more than normal. Aliese, Tanner and Chase decided to just stay for sacrament meeting but I wanted to say so I sat in the Chapel and read hymns for the last 10 minutes of sunday school because we were talking the entire time, then I went to Relief Society by myself. I didn't really think it through that Aliese was leaving and that I would be going to everything alone but I am glad I stayed. After church, I talked with all the guys for a bit like Brad, Zach, Seth, Nathaniel and Hyrum and then got a ride home with Nathaniel and Hyrum. They're nice guys. It was fun to get to talk to them for a bit since Nathaniel just got home from his mission so it had been a while. So I got home and cleaned the entire house with Sierra. I went to tempe for a couple hours to say hi to Nick because its like 5 minutes away from the airport and I was supposed to pick my parents up at 11. Then didn't end up getting in till 2am because they're flight kept getting delayed so I just stayed at Nicks the whole time. We ate dinner with his roommates. We had steak and potatoes. I was very impressed. I would like never go that all out for one dinner haha. And then I creamed him and all of his roommates at super smash bros. They underestimated me haha. It was fun to see him for a couple hours. Then I picked up my parents and went home and went to bed.

Now it is Monday and a bunch of other people started school today, like all the community colleges. It kinda hit me. Im not going to school in hawaii anymore. I know I talk about this a lot but how can I not?! It was an entire year of my life that impacted me as a person greatly. Its a weird thought. I don't know what to expect out of Utah. Kinda overwhelming and I cannot put it into words. Its sad. I miss Hawaii. Im super excited for Provo though. Its kinda a bitter sweet situation. Its hard to believe that a whole year ago me, my mom and sierra were all on a plane flying to hawaii for the first time (not for my mom). We were all so excited. I specifically remember the first time we went to Sunset Beach. It stole my heart. It was gorgeous. Man, this makes me want to cry haha. Im pathetic. Just looking back on it now, it makes me realize how much I have grown in the last year. All I can say is I'm having a lot of overwhelming feelings right now and I have no idea how to explain them. I have so many things to be grateful for, and so many things to look forward to being grateful for. This is a great time in my life and I am very happy with where I am. I have accomplished a lot. I am already a year ahead in school. Im practically a junior. Crazy right? I cant believe it. Im definitely looking forward to this year and living with Aliese. We have a lot of fun together and just work really well together. Its really easy to meet other people with her. I think Im driving up on saturday and Im giving Erika Vasquez a ride. I was going to caravan with Zach but I want to stay home longer that he does so that didn't work out. Anyway, Im going to make the most out of the last 5 days that I have at home! Duces.

Need more time.

Gosh I love being home. I wish I had more than 2 weeks and I wish I didn't have to do summer school! School was fine but I know I would have had a ton of fun if I had stayed home. Yesterday I sewed a skirt for myself out of my tall tee that I got sophomore year from the soccer skit. Its super cute! I wore it last night to fhe. Aliese and I just watched the ping pong tournament and talked. After that, me her and tanner went to DQ and got blizzards then went over to tanners house and watched casino royale with the roommates! That movie is so long! I had no idea. It was way goo but it just dragged on forever! This morning I woke up and made some of my left over cinnamon roll pancakes and then laid out for about 20 minutes because I couldn't handle the heat any longer, then I ran some errands for my mom. Tonight I went to HandlebarJ's with Brad, Seth, Zach, Matt, Kevin and a bunch of other people from the singlesward. We did some country dancing! It was so fun! They go every tuesday night. I had to leave for about an hour to take my mom to the airport but I went back after and danced a little longer. After HandlebarJ's, they always go to this bar that does karaoke. Technically I wasn't supposed to be in there since I'm only 19 but no one noticed haha. I didn't gain enough confidence to sing anything but it was fun to watch everyone else! Maybe i'll sing next week! I wish I was home longer so that I could go to more of these but thats ok I guess. Winter Break! haha.

Church overload.

I took the sacrament three times today. Holy cow. At 9:00 I went to Nathaniel Mosley's homecoming talk, then I went to Seth Price's homecoming talk at 11:00 and then I went to the singlesward sacrament at 1:00. I love my singlesward though. It just has a good feeling to it! I don't know why! Because a lot of people don't like it haha. oh well! Im exhausted, but they were all very good sacrament meetings. I sang like 10 hymns total and now they are stuck in my head.

I love being home and seeing all my friends. Ill probably just kick it for the rest of the day. Maybe watch a movie, maybe start organizing my things so I don't do it last minute before I go back to utah. I've got a lot of stuff Im taking and Im not quite sure what Im going to do with it all yet. Ill figure it out. This was a boring post but I felt like typing so there ya go...

Home!

I got home yesterday morning and I have already done a bunch of things! So yesterday Shelley drove me to the airport. While waiting for my plane and when I was on the plane I watched Step Up 1... so good. When I got to Phoenix, I was standing with my suitcase on the escalator going down to baggage claim and out of nowhere my suitcase somehow fell over and slid down like half the escalator until a man stopped it. Oh gosh, It was hilarious! I couldn't believe it was happening in the moment haha. It flew past a bunch of people too. Thank goodness it didn't hit anyone! It was the funniest thing ever. Then I had to wait forever for my other bags and thenIwent home. I went to lunch with Kalene and Alexandria. We went to 2 hippies...tradition. After that we went and played volleyball at Shadow. We were helping out with the tryouts. It was fun to see a bunch of people I knew andget to play some volleyball for the first time in a while! Afterthat I went home and showered and went over to Brad Romney's house with his brother Zach, Trevor Greene, Raquel Willman and her friend Haylee. We watched this really ridiculous movie. I don't have any idea what was going on. So we finished that and then went to QT and I got the most amazing mango smoothie thing. It was so good. Then we just talked for a bit at his house until I left and went over to Cody's house with some other people. We played a card game called Kemps, then Cody crushed me at ping pong and then we went swimming and played submarine. It was a very good day. Thismorning I woke up around 10 and my mom had already left for work. I made cinnamon roll pancake for me and sierra because I saw a picture of them on pinterest and I wanted to tryit haha. They were so delicious. Literally tasted like a cinnamon roll. Then we went to the Hyatt Regency in Scottsdale and got some sun :) just what I needed. I love having a car. The DJ at the pool was doing a music contest thing and sierra guessed a song right and won a blow up guitar haha. Everyone else got bead necklaces...too bad. It was fun to hang out with her for a bit. It was insanely hot today though. We stayed in the pool like the entire time because we couldn't handle laying on a chair. After that we went to Target to get her a planner and then went to Carolinas for lunch. I ALWAYS see someone I know in there but not this time. Now we're home and Im about to do laundry. So far this break has been excellent and I gotta keep this momentum going! Tata for now.

Homeward stretch.

Guess who failed every test she took this term?! This girl! Yes. You better believe it. I know, I know...you thought I was a good student, and I am. I am so insanely happy that econ is over but I cannot say that Im happy with my grades. It's not that I didn't put forth the effort, because I definitely did. I had no social life because of this class. Thank goodness its a curved class. I could pull off a C, which would be lovely. All I need is a C- (I hate the sound of that. Im shooting for an C-!? that is unlike me...). If I don't get a C- then Ill probably have to retake it, which is not what I want to be doing. I hope that I never, EVER, have to even say the word econ ever again. On the upside, Taylor and I went to the temple and I go home tomorrow morning! Im so pumped. I haven't packed yet, but I could care less if my stuff is organized in my suitcase. Im just going to throw it all in because it's going straight into the washing machine when I get home. There are a lot of things that I want to do when I get home. I have a really cool idea for a birthday present for my mom, so Im going to figure that out when I get back, and I have some clothes that were given to me, and others that I just don't wear that I want to transform into something that I will wear! I have a lot of different ideas and Im really excited to experiment with them. Then theres Emilys bridal shower and Maries wedding reception. I LOVE WEDDINGS! Also, Utah sucked all the color out of me so I will definitely get as much sun as I can to last me through the winters here! Im so excited. I have never lived in snow before! I have no idea what it will be like! And I have never personally driven in snow, so that will be a new experience too. So much stress has been taken off of my shoulders now that the term is over, and Im getting really excited about all these things because I actually have the time to think about them now haha. So pumped to go home! Later Provo.

So close, yet so far.

Oh wow, where to start? Well. The term is coming to an end. There has definitely been several ups and downs throughout the last 7 weeks. Definitely. The only thing that separates me an phoenix, arizona is my dang econ final. I studied for 8 hours straight today and Im probably going to study more tonight before I go to bed. I guess you could say it was a productive day! I also took a nap and went to the gym. Oh, and Im currently blogging which is another accomplishment. Today was a good day now that I look back on it. I got a lot done. Go me haha.

So Marie got married last thursday and now its practically wednesday which means that she's been married for 6 days already. WEIRD! But I am extremely happy for her. She looked beautiful. Im going to post some pictures that were taken. Some are from my camera and the others are from Melissas. She wouldn't let me post them on Facebook (not sure why...I can never tell if she's being serious) so Im only going to post a couple of my favorites in hopes that she never see's this blog which she probably wont. But if you're reading this Melissa...I love you! You're the best haha. Don't hate me for posting these. So yeah, thursday was the wedding. We got there around 11:30 and waited around until like 12:30 (I think) when she and Steven came out of the temple. They looked so good and happy! I had only seen them together like twice before they got married so it was fun to see how the interacted with each other. They're currently honeymooning in California right now. Don't think about that too much haha. After the wedding and pictures we went to her luncheon at The Canterbury Place. I loved it and it was exactly what she wanted! We ate and listened to funny stories and then watched Kelsey catch the bouquet and Jared catch the garter. Deborah was happy about that haha. So that was that. And then we watched Marie and Steven drive away. Gosh I love weddings. Up next....EMILY! So pumped. Im actually kinda excited to wear the 4-inch heels that she picked out for all of the bridesmaids. I may be taller than everyone in the world, but Im ok with that! haha. It will be fun. Well here are some pictures from the wedding...

I think this shows our personalities pretty well.

Oh William.

Newlyweds! Fresh out of the temple.

Shelley somehow didn't make this shot...haha.

She wanted a picture showing our hair and it turned out way cute!

So much love in this picture.

When my artsy side came out. I love this.

So there it is. Beautiful wedding! Everyone thinks that Im next to get married, which kinda frightens me but whatever happens, happens!

How is it already August?

Will someone please explain to me how it is already August 1st?! Unbelievable. Today was definitely a Monday. Woke up late, couldn't shower, late to class, TA's never showed up to the lab, didn't get anything done in between classes, starting pouring and was late to my other class because I didn't want to get my project wet and ruin it, didn't go to the gym because I fell asleep, and then I couldn't find my debit card, BYU ID and license and freaked out a little bit because I realized I hadn't seen them since Friday night. HOWEVER, Praying works like a charm and I found them :) I still really want to go to the gym because I ate so much yesterday but I feel like its too late now because FHE is at 7:30 and I don't know if I will have enough time and because Im buying the all-sports pass for me and Aliese right now which is taking forever! Anyway, happy note of the day is that my teacher really liked my project and I got a good nap.

Anyway, this is my last week of classes before finals and I could not be happier. This term needs to be over. My brain is fried. I feel like I've been going to school non stop since high school. That is a really long time might I add. Just one more week to push through Econ. Wednesday is my last day of class because I have to skip Thursday for Maries wedding! I haven't decided how I feel about skipping my last class of econ but Im gonna have to feel good about it haha. Econ is tough, but I feel pretty good going into the final. I need to keep a positive attitude because I need to do really well and if I say that Im going to fail, then I will. But Im not going to fail!

So pretty much Im super excited for winter. Realizing that it is already august made me think how soon winter is going to be here! I have never lived in snow, or even a place that gets relatively cold. Im excited to be able to wear boots and big coats! I love winter clothes! Now I have a reason to buy them! Its crazy to know that Im going from the sunny topical beaches of Hawaii to cold snowy Utah but right now...I wouldn't have it any other way! I feel pretty good about where I am in my life right now, and although I miss Hawaii more than I have missed anything in my entire life, and left an amazing life to be here, I know that being here Im going to have just as many amazing memories. Something that helped me get through my rough patch of Hawaii withdrawals, was the idea that instead of having one amazing cultural experience in Hawaii, I want to travel a lot more and have multiple cultural experiences. Ive probably told myself that a lot but Im serious about it now. This summer I want to do a study abroad in Australia/Fiji/New Zealand (its all one trip) and I also want to go to Panama with Katie Salgado and whoever else signs up to help at orphanages and clean up different parts of the country. She did it this summer and had an amazing summer. Before I heard about Katies trip, another friend went to Ecuador and did very similar things. I want to be able to go to atleast one of them. Taylor is going to Russia this fall to teach english and I really wish I was going with her but we talked about doing the same thing in Thailand sometime in the next couple years as well. I know that these are big adventures and will definitely cost some money, but I cannot imagine a better way to spend the money that I have been and will be saving from working. Im excited for next summer!

Employed!

There were a few good things that happened this weekend so I'll break it down by the days.

Thursday night I went with Shelley and Melissa to Marie's Bridal shower up in Layton. It was so fun to see her! I still cant believe she's getting married but the more I talk and watch her, the more I realize that she's ready and this is going to be really good for her. She is definitely someone that I look up to. We spent a few hours talking and enjoying each others company, then we had to make the long trip back home to Provo.

The girls minus Taylor.

Friday is when I studied for hours and hours then bombed my econ test. That night, Melissa and Shelley were in Salt Lake so I had to find something to do. I went with Lindsay and Spencer to see Captain America (WHICH by the way was amazing), but before we went and saw that we stopped at coldstone because Lindsay was craving cotton candy ice cream. FYI...NEVER try the strawberry basil ice cream. Im scarred for life it was so disgusting. It tasted like I just went into someones garden and started eating leaves. So yeah...for future reference, do not try it.

Saturday Spencer and Lindsay told me they were going to pick me up at 8:30am because we were going to go work (which ill explain in a minute). I woke up at 8:45 freaking out thinking that I missed them and couldn't go with them. I jumped in the shower and right when I got out Spencer called and asked if I was ready. All I needed was 5 minutes. He said thats fine and that they were on their way but I needed to get in the car right when they got there. I was fine with that. So I booked it into the car with dripping wet hair to find out that we didn't need to be there until 12 instead of 9 now. WHAT A PUNK! He made me think that I was making everyone late when in reality, we were 3 hours early. So here's my job. Spencer and a couple of his friends started this business called jumbas.com and what it is, is a website that consolidates all of the current coupon/deal website into one website. One of the best things about it is that its only the deals that are 50%-90% off. Also, another thing that I really like is that you can update your preferences, so if you only want to hear about restaurants and spas, then those are the only coupons that jumbas.com will send you! Isn't that awesome?! That way, you're not getting all that crap that you could care less about! So my job is to inform people about it and get their email addresses so that we can send them a welcome email so that they can start getting really awesome deals. So actually, if any of you are interested in this, just put your email in the comment box :) Its totally free! So yeah, we spent the whole day talking to people and getting the word out. Saturday night I did some grocery shopping, made some banana bread, watched part of Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 with Melissa and Shelley and then went to the creamy and got some raspberry ice cream! I splurged for once.

Sunday (today) I woke up and got ready for church, then skipped sacrament because Shelley and Melissa left without me and I didn't feel like walking into the meeting late all by myself. I got enough motivation to go to sunday school and relief society. I am so happy I did because relief society was amazing today. This summer has been pretty tough on me. It kinda got off on the wrong foot and set a bad impression on BYU for me. I know that its going to be great in the fall as long as I keep my faith in the Lord because he knows where my life is headed. I always have a hard time focusing in church because it's so much easier to doze off and think about other things that are on my mind. One of my roommates taught the lesson today and it was on a talk called "But if Not..." by Dennis E. Simmons. The whole talk was about faith and it was exactly what I needed to hear. At the beginning of the lesson I was just thinking about everything that was going on, the things I was stressed about and the things that I was looking forward to. I wasn't really paying attention at all. We started taking turns reading parts of the talk and I had the best section of the talk. If I had any other section, I probably would have continued to not pay attention. One of my favorite lines of the part that I read is this: "Faith is believing that although we do no understand all things, He does. Faith is knowing that although our power is limited, His is not. Faith in Jesus Christ consists of complete reliance on Him." As I was reading this during church I was just thinking...."woah". It hit me. It was definitely a reminder to me that everything is going to be fine as long as I keep my faith in Him. I transferred here because I have this gut feeling like I should be here even though I don't understand why and want so desperately to be in Hawaii. I know I'm being sort of vague as to why I've had a bad semester but its probably best to keep that out of the blog haha. You should definitely read this talk. Its from the April 2004 General Conference and its called "But if Not..." by Dennis E. Simmons.

Well right now I am currently waiting for Lindsay and Spencer to pick me up. We're going to my aunts house for dinner and Im really excited to see everyone!

Never take Econ 110.

The worst part about taking a test in any class is thinking you did absolutely amazing on it and then you find out you totally bombed it. Another thing I hate is that professors try to make you bomb it, but they curve it so you leave the testing center feeling hopeless but you probably actually did better with the curve. They just want you to feel like you suck! I walked out of that Econ test thinking that I was on top of my game and did really well...turns out I got a 30%. WHYYY!? The kid I sit next to in class got a 40%. Why do teachers do this?! Now I have to think about my 30% and pray like theres no tomorrow that the class average was below 30% which is hard to believe it could be. Its so frustrating. Ever since I started this class I've been non stop thinking about econ. I have no life because of econ. I study all day because of econ, and what do I get....? A flipping 30% on the test! As long as I don't have to retake it I will be fine.

My electricity sucks.

The lights in my room go off at least once a day. Everything else works in the house. Im so used to it now but Im always studying when it happens so it makes me mad. Ive noticed it happens around 11 pm but its already happened twice today and its only 9:30! haha. So this is what I do instead of study until my light goes back on. I got to see miss Karla Antivilo last week! They're staying in the Residence Inn until they find a place to live because her family is moving to Salt Lake. I got to meet her family and we all talked for a while and then we all went to see hoodwinked in the dollar theatre. It was cute! Then we went to yogurtland and got some frozen yogurt. It could seriously be like my favorite thing in the world. Then we went to the grocery store to get some stuff that they needed. Her family is awesome. They are from Chile but they've been living in the Dominican Republic for a while because her parents are mission presidents. I don't know how the do it but they trade off speaking english in spanish in the same sentence all the time. I can never follow. And they're all like 5' tall so I definitely fit in with the fam haha. It was fun though.

So recently I discovered that I really enjoy taking pictures and that I want to get a really nice camera and eventually, when I have kids, Im going to take awesome picture of them haha. I know I sound silly, but I would love that. I had to do a project for my 2 dimensional design class and I took some really cool pictures and had a lot of fun with it. We had to focus on structure and repetition. I didn't use all of them but these are some my favorites and I took them with my little point and shoot camera...not even a high quality one!