first snow.

for the last couple of days everyone has been talking about how it is supposed to snow, so i guess i cant really say i was surprised when i woke up to this:

although, i was still a little surprised. snow has always been something almost like a fantasy to me, i mean, i have seen snow before in my life, and i have definitely heard about snow, but i have never walked out my door to head to class in the morning to find that everything i could see was covered in a blanket of fresh white snow. i was a little scared, and walked about 12 times slower than i normally walk, to make sure that i didnt fall on my face, or my butt. and i drove just a little bit more cautiously to make sure i had time to stop without hitting things, and people. and i was a little afraid that by the end of the day i would have decided to pack up my things and head home right then and there, but as the day went on i found that, not only did i not really mind the snow, i actually quite liked it!! there is just such a beauty to the earth and its surroundings when you look at it and everything you see just twinkles. i never knew that snow twinkled before, it is so amazing. it was a great day, but apparently, a miss fire. i am sure it will snow again one day, and i hope that when that day comes i still like it as much as i did today!

scripture of the day:

Ephesians 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

today i am thankful for:

* the thought God put into making a world that was changing and beautiful.

* the fact that i liked the snow.

* alarm clocks that help me wake up on time so that i can make it to my 745 am class.

* a car (yes again) that allows me to not have to walk to school in the snow, because i dont think i would like it nearly as much as i do if i had to walk up and down a hill in it.

<3.

general conference.

this weekend my roommate kate invited my other roommate stephanie and i to come down to General Conference with her.

her grandpa is in the quorum of the seventy, and so he gets about 6 tickets to each session. so we went down to salt lake friday night, and stayed at "grandpa dickson's" house. it was so much fun. we got to meet grandpa dickson and his wife as soon as we got there, it was so amazing to meet a member of the seventy. then we played apples to apples with kate and her mom and aunt. we had a great time. then we went down to where we were staying, (they had a basement house), and we watched while you were sleeping and talked and stayed up late, it was a blast!! the next morning we woke up and watched the first session of conference with kate's family and had toast. then after conference we had roll sandwiches and frog eye salad. haha. it was good, no frog eyes were actually in it. then kate, stephanie, jane (kate's little sister) and i got ready to go to the second session down at the conference center. it was jane's first time going to conference because she just barely turned 8, and it was cute to see how excited she was about finally being able to go to conference! we left and got there and we got to park under the church office buildings, which was way cool, and then once we got inside i realized where we were sitting, and i was so excited.

now if you couldnt tell by the pictures i provided, we were on the plaza level, in section 6, we sat a little less than half way up the section. i could have literally punted a football to President Monson. it was one of the most amazing experiences getting to be that close to the Prophet and Apostles of the Lord as they shared new revelation and testimonies to us. it was such a powerful and wonderful experience, and i was so grateful to be there, and so grateful that kate invited us to come with her. after conference was over we went over and walked around Temple Square. i found Sister Zarate, and got to talk to her for a while, and stephanie found her friend tatiana from back home and got to talk to her for a while, and then right as we were leaving steph looks to my right and says, "uh, i think thats for you." and i when i turn i see my old roomie caitlyn running at me. it was a great surprise. it was weird to be there with tania (Sister Zarate) and caitlyn. it seemed like it had been forever since the three of us were all together. it was great. then we went back to kate's grandparents house and we talked for a bit, got our things together and left to come back to rexburg. it was a great little vacation and a wonderful experience!!

scripture of the day:

Deuteronomy 30:9-10 And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

today i am thankful for:

* the gift that we have of being able to have a Prophet of the Lord at the head of the true Church to lead and guide us in our lives, and the ability we have to hear His council during General Conference.

* time to take little vacations that help people, who didnt even know each other two weeks early, grow closer and form greater bonds of friendship.

* a car that helps me get around a tiny town or to a city 4 hours away.

* faithful servants of the Lord who are willing to serve others by letting them stay at their house.

<3.

BYU ... its how we do!

Well, today I finished my second full week up here at BYU-I. And I am still loving it! I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to be up here. I haven't quite figured out yet what the reason is for the Lord telling me to be here, but that is ok, I am still happy I am here. It is crazy how much life can change and yet feel like nothing has changed. I mean, here I am. In Rexburg, Idaho. Going to school again. Living with 5 others girls that before 2 and a half weeks ago I didn't even know. And meeting so many new people, and yet, it feels like this is how my life has always been. Or maybe I just see it as how my life should have always been, and so now it feels like it has always been this way. I remember when I was told to stay in the valley and go to MCC and I was so upset, because all I really wanted to do was grow up, get away, have adventures, do things I wasn't used to or ready for. I wanted it so badly, but the spirit told me I was where I needed to be and so I stayed. And I became so grateful that I stayed because it gave me so many chances and opportunities I wouldn't have had otherwise. And I was able to see the way my decision changed other peoples lives for good. And it was a wonderful blessing that I had stayed, but at the same time every once in a while I would think back and remember how I had thought my college years would be. How I remembered them being for Jessica, and I had wanted so badly to have my life be like that. And I always imagined in my mind that that was how it was supposed to be, and yet that was not how my life was. But now that I am here, my life is how I always thought it should be while at college, and I love it! And I am so happy that I now have the opportunity to have that life that I always wanted. Sure it is hard, and sure I have a lot of work, and yeah I usually get 4 to 5 hours of sleep a night on average, but I absolutely love it! I love getting to meet new people. I love being able to explore a new town. I love having a temple so near to me. I love knowing that I can still depend on my family for help and support, but also know I have the freedom of being so far away on my own. I love having roommates, and problems with them, and having fun with them! I love figuring out how things work here. I love it. And I almost can't believe that this is my life. I had become so comfortable where I was, I didn't want to change anything. I had become happy in my life and what I had made it. And I am sure I could have been happy with it forever. But even though I thought staying home in AZ was what I wanted, I now realize that it wasn't what I wanted. My life really wasn't the way I wanted it, yes I had learned to love my life as it was and be happy with it, and I was, but I realize now that it really wasn't the life I wanted. I wanted this life. And now I have it, and it feels great! Anyways, school is really hard, and I am trying my best to do everything I need to and still have time to do other things so that I don't get too stressed out about school. Tonight my roomies Stephanie, Jill and I, and out friend Lauren, are going to go out to the swings in the middle of no where and eat pizza and watch the sunset and then star gaze. And I am going to be so cold and I am going to love it!! Well, I should really be doing work right now, especially since no one else is here to distract me, but I just wanted to give you an update.

"Scripture" of the day:

So I am taking a class that is called, Family Foundations, and it is my Religion class, and it is all about the Family Proclamation and how to build strong foundations for a family, and in this class we, over the course of the semester, will be memorizing the Family Proclamation and so today I am going to use as my "scripture" the first part of the Proclamation I memorized.

"We the First Presidency, and the council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God, and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children."

I know that it is of extreme importance that marriage be, and remain to be between a man and a woman. God has made this earth, he put thought and planning into the order of everything. If we go against His plan, then we go against Him. Minorities, through name calling and the use of words like, intolerant, bigot, ignorant, prejudice, and so on have come to be more of a minority majority, if we give in to sin because people call us a few incorrect words then we are letting the world, God's world, fall apart, and become a world of sin, and disgust. I personally know that nothing is more important than to trust God, even if you may not understand why you are doing it. God has given us laws and commandments because he wants us to be happy. We must learn to be obedient. Obedience is not a bad thing, in fact, it is a divine gift to be able to be obedient. Marriage is eternally sacred and we must stand up to anyone and everyone who would try to convince us otherwise. I know that it may be hard, and I know that we may be looked down upon, and mocked, and scorned, and ridiculed, but I know that the Lord will bless us for our efforts. He will raise us up, and in those last days, he will come to us, and he will thank us, personally, and He will be eternally grateful to us, for protecting the sacred sanctity of His house, and His plan. Never let anyone convince you that you are wrong when you know you are right. And I know I am right when I say that marriage is for, and ONLY for, one man and one woman to be joined for eternity.

Today I am thankful for:

* the knowledge that I have been given by my Heavenly Father, and the laws that He has placed before me so that I may be happy.

* my ability to be obedient. I used to wonder why I always had the need to be so incredibly obedient, and I got fed up with it and tried so hard to be so disobedient, until I realized that, my obedience, is a divine gift, one that I am eternally grateful for, and one that has saved me from much sorrow in sin.

* classes that start with prayer. I never realized how much a prayer can really change an environment of learning, but it can, and I would invite everyone to say a prayer before each class they may attend, even if it is a silent prayer for yourself, it will change the way you learn.

* my roomies even though we may not get along all of the time, I am still so grateful for each of them.

* being taught true doctrine since I was little.

* the opportunity to serve, like at the Special Olympics. And for the special olympians who are able to make me feel special!

This was my Special Olympian Jason.

<3.

beaver dick park.

this afternoon i was sitting around wondering, "what do people do here on sundays?" i know back home i would take a nap, watch a church movie, go see my family, go to dinner at grandma johnson's out on the rez, etc... so, here i am in rexburg, idaho, what should i do? no sooner had i thought this when my door opened and jill asks, "want to go to beaver dick?" now, i dont know about you, but i was extremely confused, and quite sure that, no i did not want to go to beaver dick. well, jill quickly explained that beaver dick was a park, no joke, only in idaho, beaver dick park.

after she clarified i decided that i did want to go to beaver dick. well, it turned out that beaver dick is less of a park and more of a recreational/camping area, but it was really pretty. jill, kate, jared and i were the only ones who went, but it was fun. we just walked around and took pictures. it was so nice and pretty outside and was a great way to spend my sunday afternoon.

scripture of the day:

Luke 11:23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

today i am thankful for:

* roommates that ask me to do things with them and are willing to be silly with me.

* people who are creative and come up with interesting names for parks that make me laugh.

* weather in september that is nice and makes me want to be outside walking around a park.

* cameras with the ability to capture amazing moments for you to keep forever, and keep for, and show, your children and family.

<3.

BYU-I.

Well, hello there everyone. I just thought I ought to write a blog and let ya'll know how things are going up here in Rexburg, ID. Well, my parents and I got here about 830 Monday morning, and by about 3 I was done unpacking and getting things I needed and, then they left. It is crazy to think that I have only been here for 4 days!!! It feels like I have been here for so much longer than that. I live in an apartment with 5 other girls, but we each get our own room. My roommates names are, Stephanie, Kate, Vanessa, Shalene, and Jill. Stephanie and Kate are my next door neighbor roommates, their rooms are on either side of me. Stephanie is from Cali, and Kate is from Nevada. Along with being my neighbor roomies they are also the girls I share a bathroom and fridge with. Vanessa and Shalene are both from Illinois, and they actually grew up together and have been friends since about the 3rd grade. Jill I have not meet yet. She has an exciting story. For some reason I am not sure of, her parents live in Russia, so she went to Russia to see her parents for the last 6 weeks while she has been out of school. Well, her visa expired while she was in Russia and so the Russians wouldn't let her leave, or something, so she has been over in Russia trying to figure out her visa and how to get back here for school. Kate has lived with her before and said that when she talked to her yesterday she said she should be here sometime today. So well just wait and see! I love my roomies very much! I consider myself extremly lucky, very literally. It was not until after I had signed a lease and paid for my semester of rent that I was told that the apartment complex in which I was going to be living was known for being home to all the rich girls, and that everyone there was snobby, and mean. So I was pretty much terrified that the girls I ended up living with would be snobby and mean, but I got so lucky because my girls are amazing!! They are so fun, and nice, and it is great to have such amazing people to live with. I love telling people where I live because every time they say, "Oh, do you like it?" all skeptically, and I love being able to say, "Yes, I love it, my roomies are amazing!". I think it catches them off guard every time. Anyways, the weather here is a little chilly, for me. I met a girl from Utah yesterday who thought it was beautiful, and then today I met a girl from Colorado who thought it was a little hot!! I cannot imagine this being hot! I guess I just really know what hot is, haha, or I just really don't know what cold is, either way, I guess we'll find out! Today was my first day of classes. I had my Spanish class, my Family Foundations Class, and my lab for my Zoology class. They all went very well, and I hate to say it, but they got me a little excited about being in school. School has never been my most favorite, I just don't like it, but, here I am, and ... I think I may like school this semester. No guarantees, but it is looking like a very real possibility. I am most excited for my Family Foundations class I think. It is a religion class and it just seems like it is going to be amazing. I won't lie, today, at the beginning of all my classes, we started with a prayer, and in one class we even sang a hymn, and every time I couldn't help but laugh to myself a little bit. It was just so different, I have never started a Spanish class with a prayer before! Haha, anyways, I just thought I would share that bit of info. So everything is going good. I cannot wait for the rest of the semester! Who knows what may happen! There are so many things to do, haha, not really, but kinda. Anyways, I will update you more on what is happening as soon as I get a little free time. I stay very busy with homework and spending time with my roomies!!

today i am thankful for:

* roommates that are amazing and that i get along with.

* my parents and all they do for me and all the help they gave me in getting me up here.

* the ability and chance i have to be here at byu-i.

<3.