fhe boys.

this is the video of my fhe boys showing off their talented dance moves for the ward variety show. this pretty much shows why i love them so much! <3.

click here for video.

talent.

last night we had our ward closing social with variety show. of course my roomies (a few of them at least) and i had to show off our many talents with a musical skit. it was a tribute to the "it" guy in our ward, marc lefevre.

here is a picture of him that i stole off facebook for you all so you can see who he is. ;)

i hope that you enjoy it! <3.

click here for video

giving thanks.

well, i was supposed to write this up and post it a long time ago, but as it turns out i am in college and constantly busy! but, here it is! better late than never i always say! starting about 3 weeks before our thanksgiving break everyone starts asking everyone else what they are doing for thanksgiving. this semester i was staying in rexburg, because i am too poor to go home, and so was not sure what i was going to do for thanksgiving. once i told people this news i started getting offers all over the place of people i could stay with and things i could do. it was nice. it made me feel loved. i had a ton of offers to go to people in idaho falls' houses. offers from people in rexburg to have thanksgiving dinner with them. even a few offers from people to take me with them to utah, oregon, and washington. all in all, i had about a million options of things that i could do for thanksgiving day to choose from. as thanksgiving kept getting closer and closer people kept asking me what i was doing and i'd tell them i had options but hadn't decided yet. the more and more i thought about what i wanted to do i realized, nothing. i didn't want to do any of the things that had been offered to me. i wanted, more than all those things, to spend thanksgiving day, all alone, in my apartment. i know that this may sound depressing, but look at it from my view. i live in an apartment with 5 other girls. from the start of the semester to the end of the semester i never have a moment to myself. there is always someone around, always something to be doing. i wanted a day, where it was just me, in a quiet house, doing the things i wanted to do. so, that's what i did. it was fantastic and wonderful! i really did love it. i am naturally a very private person, i like quiet time, i like not having to talk to people constantly. i mean, i do enjoy people, and i love my roommates, and i love that i get to live with them. if i lived all alone all semester i would be completely bored! but, it was still nice to have a day with just me in my apartment. i made myself a delicious thanksgiving meal, i wasn't about to miss out on that part of the day! i had lemon pepper chicken, twice baked potato casserole, macaroni and cheese, steamed broccoli, rosemary bread with laughing cow cheese, and pumpkin pie for dessert. it was super delicious! my favorite was the twice baked potato casserole, it is definitely one of my favorite things, it isn't really a casserole, but thats just what i call it!

all the food, it took me days to finish

my favorite! twice baked potato casserole :)

the plate of food i ate for my thanksgiving dinner

it was delicious and i loved it. i hope you all had a fantastic thanksgiving yourselves!

scripture of the day:
D&C 59:7 Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.

today i am thankful for:
* quiet time.
* having so many people who care about and love me.
* roommates and friends that  i always have fun with!
* my family!!
* the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
* no snow! it's only snowed 4 times this semester so far, it is fantastic!

<3.

is there a good reason to buy knee highs?.

all my life i have had a firm belief that there is no good reason to buy tights or knee highs or anything of the sort. panty hose? no go! i do not buy them, i do not wear them, i do not like them! however, tonight, i bought a box of 10 pairs of knee highs. black in color. i am sure you are all wondering ... why?!?! and that is a very good questions. so, here is why:

also a good use for knee highs.

super funny.

the girls after the flour fight.

the boys after.

we had a flour fight for FHE!! it was pretty wonderful! it was so funny. we ran around, we hit each other with flour filled knee highs. a VERY good use of knee highs! we tossed flour in each others faces. it was definitely a super fun fhe. i have always wanted to do this, but my fhe boys have always been skeptical, making my girls skeptical. but, this semester, we are all so much fun! it has been so great! i am so grateful for my fhe boys!!

scripture of the day:
2 Corinthians 9:11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.

today i am thankful for:
* panty hoes, tights, knee highs.
* danny, cole, spencer, braden. (dustin and brandon too, but they weren't there tonight).
* the many uses of flour.
* parks where you can run around and throw baking ingredients.
* cameras, to catch fun moments.

<3.

fhe boys.

i am supposed to be running out the door for class right now, but i had to share this with you.  the video found here is a video my fhe boys made. i think it shows very well what i am dealing with this semester. the first 50 seconds are my favorite. all my fhe boys are in the first part, plus an extra. the extra is the kid in the white "war is over" shirt, his name is greg and he is my new little brother. they are all pretty funny, i love them a lot! i hope you enjoy!

a key to the boys:
spencer - grey shirt.
brandon - sunday clothes.
cole - orangey red plaid(ish) shirt.
braden - black quiksilver shirt
dustin - blue v-neck (with the girl)
danny - blue shirt with stripe.

<3.

"montana is all i hoped it would be"

well, just when i thought nothing could surprise me, i was told by my natural disasters teacher that we would be going on a field trip. yes. a field trip. in college. i won't lie, i thought field trips ended in middle school. i am pretty sure that is the last time i went on one. but alas, apparently college likes to bless your life with field trips as well. so today i went on a field trip. yes. a saturday field trip. i was gone from my apt from 740am to 525pm. yes. a long field trip. luckily for me two of my fhe brothers are also in my natural disasters class so they accompanied me on the field trip. plus, when we were waiting for the buses a friend from my first semester up here, patrick, showed up. apparently he is in the earlier class and so he also had to go on the field trip. so i knew a good number of people. first we went up to the teton dam. saw the remains. talked about how it failed. so enlightening. then we headed over to the something something caldera. (a caldera is where there used to be a volcano but when it exploded it fell in on itself so now its mostly just flat land.) here brother clayton did a demonstration with diet coke and mentos to show what a volcano may have been like. it was pretty cool. i have done it before though, so i don't think i was as impressed as some. next we went to henry lake then hebgen lake.  as you go from henry lake to hebgen lake you cross over into montana for a while. as soon as we crossed over i looked at spencer and said, "where are all the horses?" he was a little confused, so i explained to him that i always felt that montana was the land of horses. about 45 seconds later what should we see? a bunch of horses on the side of the road. and then, no more than a minute later we see about a dozen cowboys, on horses, herding cows across the highway. spencer looked at me, expecting a comment i am sure, so i said, "montana is all i hoped it would be." we had a laugh, and left it at that. all day we talked about fault scarps and schist. i really had no clue what my teacher was saying all day. my favorite moment was when my teacher said, "look down at the ground. all of the stuff you are standing on is schist." and spencer mumbled, "i knew it!" haha, i don't know why, i think it was probably one of those 'you had to be there' moments. after the lakes we headed over to west yellowstone, didn't really see anything there, just stopped for lunch. next we went to big springs where we saw, some springs, they weren't very big, at least not that i could tell, but there was a cute little house (as in a tiny, troll sized house) off on one side and i told spencer he should live there, i think he was considering it. after the springs we were off to our final stop of the day ... mesa falls. i was kind of excited about this, because i had heard it was really cool, but, not excited because i knew there would be many stairs involved. and stairs aren't my favorite. ;) but, we got there and headed down towards the falls. let me tell you ... AMAZING!

mesa falls, it was so pretty.

it was so cool. i absolutely love nature, i really do, i just don't like having someone standing there telling me all of the geological features of how nature was created. overall, mesa falls was definitely my favorite, and the stairs really weren't that bad. it was an interesting field trip. it was long, and sometimes boring, but it was also fun. i enjoyed getting to talk to patrick again. i think spencer is hilarious. and i got to learn some new stuff about my fhe brother cole. it was a good time. i tried to get some good pictures on the drive of the leaves changing colors just for my mom. i didn't do too great, but these are a few of the pictures i ended up with on the drive.

good one of the colors.

who knew trees could do this? not people from arizona!

nice close up, not as many colors though.

i love the clouds in this picture.

scripture of the day:
Moses 1:33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.

today i am thankful for:
* spencer and cole. i have really enjoyed having a class with these two and getting to know them better.
* the wonders and mysteries of God. sometimes i like knowing how things happened and how they work, and sometimes, i just like knowing that God created a world that i find so beautiful.
* canada dry. ginger ale has become one of my new favorite things.
* friends and family who text you for 8 hours so you don't get too bored on a bus while your fhe boys are sleeping.
* music. it is fantastic and wonderful and i love it!

<3.

soccer for the soul.

every semester lauren is on one of the ward sports teams. this semester is soccer!

our team. :)

i love going to her games because it gives me a chance to hang out with people from the ward, and cheer them on. tonight  she had her second soccer game of the semester, and being the supportive roommates we are, stephanie and i attended. we got there and found a net to hide in, even though they don't really hide you all that well.

there is a chain link fence behind us and the net infront

once the game started we decided to take our rightful spot on the sidelines to cheer, and coach if necessary. after about 5 minutes my new bestie/little brother, greg, showed up to cheer on some of the boys.

he and i spent the entire game just goofying off and having fun. i love going to lauren's games. it is always such a stress reliever for me. i just get to hang out and spend time with people. no homework to worry about, no school to think of, just me, some friends, and the sideline. needless to say, i can't wait for the next game!

spencer, greg and me after the game.

scripture of the day:
Alma 7:12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

today i am thankful for:
* new (and old) friends.
* an awesome ward.
* sweaters that protect you from the wind.
* soccer games.

<3.

lessons learned at byu-i.

so, for the past few days i have been thinking about how much i learn here at school. usually i learn a lot more about myself, and about the Gospel, than i actually learn about money management, light & sound, or natural disasters. that is part of why i like being here so much! so, that thought coupled with having THIS SONG stuck in my head the past week or so, has made me decide to start a blog within my blog about the lessons i learn here at school. these posts will always be titled the same as this one, and then the title of the lesson will be the first sentence of the actual post itself. rather self explanatory i believe. so let us start today!

kindness is the essence of greatness 

how wonderful is that simple statement? kindness is the essence of greatness. a few months ago i was writing a letter to jayce about this very topic. i was re-reading it in order to write this blog, and realized, i probably can't say it any better than i said it to him, so, i am just going to post the letter here:

May 8, 2011

Dear Jayce,

Kindness is the essence of greatness?

Have you ever just wanted nothing more than to be great? To be awesome and wonderful and fantastic. To have people everywhere love you because of your astonishing greatness? I would be lying if I said I haven’t. And since I don’t like lying, I will tell you. I wish everyday that I was great. I think it would be pretty awesome to be walking around school, or church, or even just walking around town, and have people everywhere know who you are and want to talk to you. I would feel so amazing. I have often tried to figure out what I could do to make myself that type of person. In my mind I had to have really awesome things. And I would definitely have to have a lot of money. I’d have to dress really cool, and have the latest and greatest of any and all inventions. I even tried this for a while. Trying to assimilate and be like everyone else, be what I thought they wanted me to be, and yet, I still didn’t seem to be great. Then, in a general conference, Elder Wirthlin gave a talk and he told me exactly how to be great.

Kindness is the essence of greatness.

It seems so simple. Almost too good to be true. Really? If I want to be great all I have to do is be kind? No. That is far too easy, it will never work. People don’t like people who are nice, people like people who are awesome! Wrong. People really do like people who are nice. I am beginning to realize that this semester. I decided to listen to the council given in conference and try to find my greatness through kindness. Let me tell you Jayce, first of all, being kind, so much fun! I love being kind. I love thinking the best of people, and giving everyone the benefit of the doubt. I love being the person people come to talk to because they know I won’t judge them or make them feel silly. I love seeing people smile when you give them something fun. I love hearing people say “thank you”. I love knowing that I helped someone else feel good about themselves. I love being kind! And let me tell you what else, I have never felt so GREAT in my life before. I feel like a superstar. I am so happy! Life is still hard, and, I will admit, every once in a while my kindness fails me, but I love being kind. There really is nothing else like it in the world!

Kindness IS the essence of greatness!

It really truly is. So, if you're feeling like you wish you were totally legit. The raddest guy ever, the coolest cat on the block, the fly-est homie around town. Be kind. Really, what do you have to lose? What is so bad about being good? You will never feel better than when you are completely kind to those around you. Who should you be being more kind towards? Who should you really be showing your love to? Who should be getting your praise and your attention? Think about it. I promise you, you know who the people around you that you are neglecting are. Don’t let yourself be unnecessarily unhappy or burdened because you aren’t willing to be patient and kind to them. Kindness is not, and will not, always be returned, but as you continue to live your life in kindness, what others do will not matter so much anymore, because you will start being able to feel good about what you are doing. Kindness is the essence of greatness, so, if it’s so simple, why not choose to be great?

I love you.

<3.

Janaya L. Johnson

Also, as i was thinking of this 'lesson learned' i was reading Elder Wirthlins talk and there were some things he said that i absolutely loved, so here they are too.

"Kindness is the fundamental characteristic of the noblest men and women. Kindness is a passport that opens doors and fashions friends. It softens hearts and molds relationships that can last lifetimes. Kind words not only lift our spirits in the moment they are given, but they can linger with us over the years."

"As our Heavenly Father loves us, we also should love His children. May we be models of kindness. May we ever live up to the words of the Savior: 'By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.'"

"Who can tell what far-reaching impact we can have if we are only kind?"

i know that kindness truly is the essence of greatness. i know that as we choose to be kind to those around us that we will be happier, and feel more accomplished than we ever have before. i am aware of the love the Lord has for me and the love that He has for each of the people we come in contact with, if we could only be a little nicer, a little sweeter, and a little kinder to those around us, they would be able to know of the Saviors love for them through our actions. so, make a commitment to be kind. it will make you great!

<3.

happy to you shad!

shadrach smith! yesterday was your birthday! i was so happy you were turning 2 YEARS OLD! 

you are such a big boy now. lots of people wanted to wish you a happy birthday. 

talia came to say happy birthday, she was so excited for you!

shayna did a dance to wish you a happy birthday!

leah really hoped you had a great birthday, she liked your green toy story cake a lot!

stephanie wanted to blow you a kiss and say happy birthday! (you met her when you were just a tiny little baby.)

lauren was so happy it was your second birthday, she sang a great birthday song for you!

even kyle came all the way from his farm to say happy birthday to you! (he drives big tractors and trucks all day long.)

and of course i wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 

i sure love you a lot! i hope your birthday was fun and that you got lots of exciting toys and presents! i miss you a lot!

happy to you shad!

<3.

first flurries of fall.

i know. i am just as shocked as you are. snow? in the first week of october? that is exactly what i was thinking. i woke up yesterday morning and got ready for school. i headed off to class. i mentioned to stephanie as we left that it was mizzling. she told me that there was no such thing, but i knew better. anyhow, we left to school. i got to class and it was still mizzling outside. i went in the building and thought nothing of it. i had my class, which was so good! (i love this class!) at the end of class i left the classroom, started walking down the hall, took my phone out to text steph that i was coming to get her (we go to the temple after our class on thursdays) and when i looked up, i saw out the door at the end of the hall ... snow. it was snowing! what??? i didn't think it was very fair at all. and it has been snowing ever since. it isn't really sticking, but i am still not very pleased. i guess that is what i get for living in rexburg. (p.s. as we were walking towards the temple baptistry this little old couple was coming out and the lady said, "welcome to narnia ladies." it was pretty much the funniest thing ever.)

coming out of the temple, you can't really tell that it's snowing, but it is.

scripture of the day:
Proverbs 25:13 As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.

today i am thankful for:
* having a temple so close, where the workers know your name.
* beauty, even if it is cold and unwanted.
* stephanie, and that she goes to the temple with me each week.
* classes that make you want to be better.

<3.

it comes but once a year ...

no, it is not my birthday! but that would have been a good guess. i am thinking of halloween! it comes but once a year, and we are sure to do some fun pumpkin activities for fhe. my roomies and i are trying to decide what to be, we have a lot of ideas, but can't seem to decide on one. i was just thinking about it and getting excited so thought i would send a little 'pre-halloween shout out' via movie form. :)
http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/kPurDjYIvt9DYVMm
i hope that this link works for y'all (you have to be VERY patient while waiting for it to load). sorry you aren't in it mama, i had to make a judgment call, and trust me, it's funnier with daddy, haha.
love you all and hope you have a great rest of the week!

<3.

fútbol americano.

last friday night
an original play
starring janaya (J) and lauren (L)

L: "we need to be productive tonight."
J: "yeah we do, i have so much spanish to get done."
L: "i have a few tests i need to study for."
J: "plus it's conference this weekend, so we have less time than usual to get everything done."
L: "we HAVE to be productive tonight."
J: "so what's the plan?"
L: "let's go get a pizza, eat it at the park, soak in some sun and fresh air, then come home and get to work."
J: "okay, let's do it!"

J&L drive to little ceasars


J: (to worker) "we would like the meal deal with a pepperoni pizza please."
L: (to J) "do you want rootbeer or orange soda?"
J: (to L) "the orange isn't caffeine free."
L: (to J) "okay, rootbeer it is."
J: (to worker) "do you have cups"

J gets cups from worker, L grabs soda and pizza


Both: "thanks"

J&L leave restaurant and get into car


L: "do you want to go to the park that is less busy?"
J: "good thinking"

J&L drive to smith park


(while getting out of car):
L: "so, after we are done eating we have to ..."
J: "do you hear that?"
L: "yeah, is that ..."
J: "A FOOTBALL GAME!!!"

J&L give each other 'the stare" (if you are wondering what this is, just think of a time when you and another person both wanted to do something, that you maybe weren't supposed to be doing, so you stare at each other as if to ask, "can we?" that is 'the stare')


i think the rest of this story is pretty much self explanatory. 


that is right y'all. instead of being good hard-working college students on friday night lauren and i went to a high school football game. it was so much fun. we felt like complete dorks, and yet, at the same time, we felt like we were pretty cool. after i have thought about it more, i think the latter is true. what can i say? i love me some live fútbol americano! (and yes, i do keep saying fútbol americano to show that my spanish has not suffered from this night of ruckus.)

football games are getting fancy ... hand stamps instead of tickets. :) 

the field ... the lights ... the crowd 

getting ready to play some fútbol americano

scripture of the day:
Psalms 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

today i am thankful for:
* an institute teacher who gave a speech about how all work and no play is a waste of the college experience so that i felt a little better about ditching my college work for a high school football game.
* living prophets and apostles who lead and guide me in this day.
* lauren. it has been so much fun getting to be her roommate these past semesters, and we always have so much fun together!

<3.

cake redemption.

so lauren is a culinary minor, and this semester she is taking a cake decorating class. she is learning really fast. it makes me miss the times i spent with mama and sica when we did our cake decorating class. that was a ton of fun! (not to mention i was pretty good at it too:) anyways, last week she turned in her first cake. it was really cute, she made it for our fhe brothers.

i love the 4 little flower things right under the big flower!

it says, "we love 301." they live in apt 301 and that is why that makes sense. well, after she turned it in and got her grade we took it over to the boys. they were pretty excited. took a picture of it and then dug in. we had to save a piece and take it home for stephanie. so she got some. us girls had just eaten and weren't really in the mood for cake so only the boys ate it. we hung out with them for a while and just had fun. then we went home. no sooner had we gotten home than stephanie tore into her piece, and no sooner did she take a bite than she spat it back out. lauren was confused. so lauren tasted the cake, a look of horror and disgust crossed her face. so i took a bite. the cake was really gross. i don't know what it was or how to describe it, but if cake can expire, than i swear that is what this cake had done. it was not good at all. lauren was humiliated. all of those boys had eaten that cake, all of it, and they hadn't said anything. the next time we saw them, we brought it up. they all admitted that the cake was gross, but said they didn't want to hurt her feelings so they just ate it and didn't say anything. well, lauren vowed to get cake redemption! her second cake came around. she decorated it very masculinely, seeing as her first cake was a little girly, and we made sure to cut a tiny piece out of the back and try it before delivering it. needless to say after she turned it in for her grade she brought it home and i made a little sign to put near the lake.

very manly.

what a perfect little sign. :)

lake redemption (for cake redemption). we took it over to the boys. they were a little hesitant, but tried it anyways. success!! they ate the entire thing, and we joined them. we had a fun night with them and hung out and talked. i love our fhe boys this semester! they were our friends before too, but now i feel like we just have an extra bond with them, and its fantastic! they are so great and i am excited for the rest of the semester with them. (and for the rest of the cakes that are sure to find their way to our house or their house during the semester).

scripture of the day:
Alma 36:24 Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

today i am thankful for:
* an awesome bunch of fhe boys!
* talents and abilities that help us help others.
* learning.
* patriarchal blessings.

<3.

lets swap.

so, last monday we had our ward opening social! haha, this usually isn't very exciting, we eat some food, meet some people, and the most important event, we get put into our fhe groups. this semester they decided to make it a little bit more exciting than just shouting out "nauvoo ### is with brooklyn ###" so the saturday before people came around and asked three people in each apt some random type questions. and they did the same for the boys. and then they typed them up, gave them to the apt you were to be in an fhe group with and made you run around the gym trying to figure out which group was yours by asking the boys (or girls, if you were a boys apartment) if any of them had answered the answers on your sheet. (sorry for that really bad explanation of what happened, i'm not sure there is a simple way to explain it. haha.) but so they called our apartment and we got our paper and so i read it ...
1. This boys car is a 1996 mustang.
2. This boy wishes he could make a career out of living in the woods.
3. This boy is a social work major.
and instantly, i knew. 1. buddy, 2. zach, 3. matt ..... we were with the same fhe boys we had last semester. what? i mean, don't get me wrong, we love these boys! but, it is just fun to get a new fhe group, and get to spend time with people you haven't already spent every monday in a semester with. so, needless to say, we were a little bummed. how in the world had this happened? when we got home from the activity we decided to try our hand at getting a new group. we didn't think it would ever happen, but we decided to try anyways. we started off by visiting one of the fhe coordinators, who informed us that she actually had nothing to do with assigning fhe groups, and that she thought the bishopric did all of that. so, we pondered, and pondered and decided our best course of action was to call brother kuhns, the second counselor. now, we decided on brother kuhns because it is a well known fact that, we are his favorites. :) we decided that all of a sudden we had a pretty good chance of this actually happening. so we called him on up and he informed us that it was JUST THE BISHOP who put together the fhe groups. hopes shattered! we thought for sure that bishop was going to tell us to just suck it up and accept the will of the Lord. we prepared ourselves for disappointment. three days later we get a phone call. from brother kuhns. he tells us he did his best, and that he warned us not to get our hopes up (we were set for failure) but it was okay if we'd gotten them up because bishop changed our group!!!! what?!? seriously?!?! we could not believe it! we were so happy. so we swapped out nauvoo 304 for nauvoo 301! i am pretty excited! i think it is going to be an excellent semester for fhe!

scripture of the day:
Jacob 5:59 And this I do that, perhaps, the roots thereof may take strength because of their goodness; and because of the change of the branches, that the good may overcome the evil.

today i am thankful for:
* change.
* blessings from the Lord.
* bishopric members who do their best to help you.

<3.

time for change?

so, first day of school i am sitting in my d&c class, listening to my teacher teach. everything he said was so powerful. everything he taught made me feel so ... excited. as i sat there watching him teach i thought to myself, "that would be the most amazing job." and then from somewhere else i heard someone say, "you could do that." i didn't even think anything of it. i went on with my day. my last class that day was one of my MAJOR major classes and i sat there the whole time thinking to myself ... i don't want to do this. this does not sound like what i want to be doing or teaching. but, i just tried to suck it up and keep going. but, the rest of the day i kept thinking back to my d&c class. i could not get it out of my mind. then, tuesday, i woke up and headed to my classes. my second class was another MAJOR major class and again, i sat there feeling so bad, feeling like everything they were talking about were things that i didn't want to teach or do. what? what was this? where was this feeling coming from? i was so completely confused. and that d&c class kept coming to my mind, and those words, "you could do that," wouldn't leave my mind. so i did some pondering, called my mother, went and spoke to some people, and wednesday i dropped most of my classes and got all new ones. that's right people. in the course of two days. and with much thought, much deliberation, some worries, and a whole lot of faith ... i changed my major. i am no longer a family & consumer science education major, but i am in fact a university studies major with a minor in home & family, general education, and spanish ... and the end goal? i hope to be a seminary teacher. i am taking an intro to teaching seminary class and i must admit, it is completely amazing. i love it so much, and every day i go to class and leave feeling like i am exactly where i am supposed to be. i am really happy about the change, even though it popped out of no where and completely threw me off guard. looks like sometimes the plans we make for ourselves aren't the plans the Lord has for us.

scripture of the day:
Psalms 37: 4-5 Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

today i am thankful for:
* prayer.
* promptings from the holy ghost.
* powerful teachers.

<3.

well, its that time again ...

i'm sure you have all been waiting with baited breathe for the first blog of the semester. if that's the case then you most likely passed out a long time ago due to lack of oxygen. sorry it's taken so long!! this semester has already been so crazy, yet so wonderful! i arrived in rexburg officially on the 8th of september. lauren and i moved in (most of our stuff). we had some things in a storage unit belonging to our former roommate caty, now known as the beautiful mrs. jolley. we got all that we could unpacked. visited the grocery store. and met one of the new roomies. i didn't get my room fully unpacked and set up until sunday, and between thursday and saturday the rest of our old/new roomies showed. we have a great bunch this semester! i am excited! as per usual, here are some photos of my room:

the letter picture i made last semester.

in previous semesters i have roomed with stephanie, but we decided to change it up a little and so i am rooming with lauren this semester. we decided our room needed a little more pizazz and rearranged the whole thing. i really like it the way that it is right now. it's different, but works really well actually. i am really excited for the rest of this semester and hope it is as good as i think it will be!

scripture of the day:
Isaiah 19:20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.

today i am thankful for:
* good friends and roomies.
* an amazing ward where i know people and feel comfortable.
* cool weather that isn't too cold yet.

<3.

friend? ... or foe?.

last night for fhe we decided to play some water balloon volleyball, however, i am pretty sure by the lack of room at all well know parks that every other fhe group at byu-i decided to do the same. we finally remembered that we knew of a tiny little park, park saint park, hidden away in a quiet little neighborhood, so we headed over there. luckily for us, we had the space we needed to play the game. this park is more a small field than a real park, but they do have 2 swings, a really old metal slide, and, my favorite, an old metal merry go round. after we were done with the water balloon volleyball some of us decided to re-live our childhood and take a whirl on the merry go round.

not the actual merry go round.

we were all doing great and loving it. one of our fhe brothers decided that we were not going quite as fast as we should be going and told us to hold on because he was going to make it go as fast as he could. so we all took a tight grip and there he went. let me tell you, he wasn't kidding when he said he was going to go fast. it was super fast. after a little bit of him twirling us he stopped and i thought, here we go, just ride it out to the end, so i loosened my grip a little and began to enjoy myself when i feel a sudden burst of speed, he was pushing again. as soon as i felt that little burst of speed i knew it, i was going to be coming off of that merry go round, and not at all in a pleasant way. my tuck and roll method wasn't quite as effective as i had hoped. i ended up having my head and shoulder scrape along the ground for a little bit. (my roommate caty described it like this, "you know in the movie cool runnings, when the bobsled flips over and the sledders heads are all scraping along the ice and they look all bent funny and you are sure they are going to break something, thats what you looked like, only your head was in gravel." needless to say, as i sat up from my glorious fall my entire fhe group surrounded me asking if i was okay. i was. i really was. i mean, i could tell that it hurt, and that i was probably scraped up, but other than that, i was good. they weren't sure i was telling the truth, but i was fine. all in all, i left wondering if merry go rounds were really as fun as i had always remembered them, or if really, they were death traps waiting to happen. after a little more time of being able to ponder it i've decided, as long as you don't let derek spin you really fast (or know he is going to double spin and not single spin) and you maybe choose a really good spot where you aren't likely to slip off, merry go rounds are still pretty much wonderful. after everyone had finally decided i was okay derek did his best to make the situation less awkward by saying, "who wants me to spin them next?" seeing as i am a good sport i replied, "me!" only thing is, i really did kinda wanna go again, but of course my roomies wouldn't let me. boring. haha. all in all i was glad that i was okay and that i didn't break my neck or anything. i'm always grateful when the Lord looks out for me and keeps me safe.

scripture of the day:

Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.

today i am thankful for:

* protection.

* merry go rounds.

* priesthood holders who were ready, worthy, and willing to give me a blessing if necessary.

* friends who care about me.

* that i didn't end up with a bald spot on my head.

* ice water.

<3.

swiss steak?.

so, i called my mom the other day and asked for a recipe for "that stuff you sometimes make on sunday." well, she told me what it was called, but i still don't know. so, i got the recipe and decided to make it. this is mostly for her because she told me to let her know how it turned out. so here goes ...

it was delicious! i cooked it up! and it was so tasty! and we put it over some mashed potatoes that i also made. accompanied by some, very delicious, corn on the cob. it was a very tasty sunday dinner. i am becoming quite the cook up here at school. maybe if my momma is nice it will stay that way while i am hope for the 7-week break! here are the pictures!

cooking is fun! its the dishes after that aren't such a happy time. but i am enjoying being able to cook!

scripture of the day:

Acts 14:17 Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.

today i am thankful for:

* yummy food.

* roomies who like to eat sunday dinner together.

* momma's, and how they give you tasty recipes to make tasty food.

* revelation.

<3.

birthday bonfire bash.

so, as it would happen, stephanie and i both share a birthday week. this makes life pretty exciting come our birthdays. we decided to have a birthday bonfire bash to celebrate. my birthday was on Sunday and stephanies on monday, so we decided to have our party on either friday or saturday. after lots of decisioning we decided on friday because there was a school music thing on saturday that a lot of people go to, and we didn't want to be competing with that. so we invited our friends and found a good place and had our BIRTHDAY BONFIRE BASH!

the bonfire.

s'mores.

gabe in the middle of a wink (brandon in the back).

my roomies!!! (minus cathy, she left earlier).

brandon wanted us to carry him around, personally i think he should have been carrying steph and i around seeing as it was our birthday party.

tyler thought it would be smart to cook his hotdog and toast his bun at the same time.

cathy with a s'more.

spencer wore my mitten to roast his stuff because his hand kept getting so hot.

hyrum by the fire.

so ... this picture i decided to put up because my roommates think it is hilarious because apparently i spent the entire night talking to boys only. these two particular boys i didn't meet until that night. they were hyrum's friends and came with him. they were both super nice and funny and i didn't want them to feel awkward or left out so i had to be nice to them, right?? :)

the birthday cards tyler, kyle, and spencer got for stephanie and i.

it was extremely fun! i seriously love all my friends up here so much! they make my life so much better than it would be without them. we all had a blast, and i finally got to enjoy a bonfire in rexburg, next time we will aim higher and get a real big bonfire going out at the sand dunes. or maybe we will just do something else. i hope you all had a fantastic fathers day! i love you all!

scripture of the day:

D&C 98:18 Let not your hearts be troubled; for in my Father's house there are many mansions, and I have prepared a place for you; and where my Father and I am, there ye shall be also.

today i am thankful for:

* awesome friends!

* fantastic roomies!

* my daddy, he is amazing!

* bonfires.

* birthdays.

* boys.

* roommates who go to the temple with me every week!

* friends in classes so you have people to talk to and are able to feel more comfortable and more likely to share.

* rain.

<3.