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.