One year down a thousand to go.

as finals week quickly approaches (quickly sucking my desire to get anything done with it) i have done a lot of contemplating about this whole year and all i can say is it has been a total blast!!!!! i have had the time of my life this year. i still can't believe a year ago i was sitting on a beach(ish) with my student government family heart broken to leave the past in the past and scared to start this new future. i have thought a lot about my SBO family lately. i miss the time we spent together and the memories created. a year ago i posted on facebook that SUU had a lot to live up to, and it has indeed lived up to that. i have made friends for life and learned many life lessons ( including the fact that i am not a very good big spoon (;  ) i have learned so much about who i am. I didn't have the highest self confidence when i started college, i don't know what changed that exactly but i discovered that i like who i am, i am happy being me and i wouldn't want to be anyone else. after going to orientation with my mother she told me she was concerned about the influence this school would have on me and my testimony. i can honestly say that i was afraid too, not of SUU's influence but of myself. my testimony however has grown so much. i now have a why behind my testimony. i have learned to stand on my own and be my own person, for me that has been the greatest accomplishment of this year; learning who i am and loving it!!
last weekend the community attaches all went camping together. we sat around the camp fire talking about everything and anything. (seriously everything, we spent an hour sharing our embarrassing pee stories) It was such a blast!! the next morning we woke up early and went on the best hike of my life. i love these Ca's they are the cutest thing!!!!
when i was younger tadja showed me this song that i absolutely fell in love with.

it describes everything perfectly. i have had such a good life and i am so excited for it to get even better. i was so afraid of this adventure called college but it has turned into the best experience of my life and if i have learned anything it's this " i can do hard things" i am so much stronger than i thought i was, and for everything i cannot do i have a wonderful older brother who will take care of the rest so long as i ask and do my part. 

I am happy....... what is next?

my life is pretty epic, the end. I am so happy with where i am at, with the struggles i go through, with the friends i have, with the amazing family i have been blessed with, and with this amazing gospel i have the opportunity to be a part of. i was just accepted as a Resident Assistant for the school year 2012-2013. It was the longest, most grueling, most fun interview process of my life. i am so excited and all i can say is eccles C200 get ready for me to rock your world and an amazing housing experience. :):)
i am getting excited to come home for the summer. sister number one is finally getting married to the cutest man around. he treats her not like a princess but like a queen and an equal. he is kind and respectful and i can see the the love flooding out of his eyes when he looks at her. it's our fathers job to treat her, and the rest of his daughters like a princess, but we are not little girls any more,Especially  tia. she is a beautiful, talented, caring, and amazing young women. growing up i always wanted to be exactly like my older sister, i wanted to wear the clothes she wore, take the classes she was taking, go to the schools she went to, date boys like the ones she dated. tia is my hero and she proves that to me more and more everyday (but you can never tell her i said that or she will continue to boss me around, and i just can't have that (:  )
i am so happy..... so what comes next? what else happens after this happiness? trails, hurt, sadness, anger, and more happiness. i heard a great quote "happiness is an emotion, not a destination" we spend so much time focusing on when i am happy that we forget to be happy now. we forget to find happiness before we lose that 15 pounds, before we meet the love of our lives, before we buy a bigger house, before we have more money. why not be happy during these trails. if we keep searching for happiness, keep aiming for it instead of living it we will never be happy. i am happy now..... what is next/ more happiness a greater happiness :):):)