Love.

So. It was Valentine's day last week. As I was napping in my usual spot on campus last week, I overheard a girl wishing every single person who walked by a happy Valentine's day. After one small surge of traffic had gone by, she turned to one of her friends sitting next to her and said, "Don't you wish we could just celebrate love and friendship EVERY day?"

To that enthusiastic girl on campus I say yes, yes I do wish we could celebrate it every day! :) Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm some super-cheesy romantic who wants to fill the world with chocolate and balloons and slow love ballads (well, okay maybe the chocolate part wouldn't be so bad...), it's just that Valentine's day is such a great opportunity to tell people in your life, "You matter to me. I am grateful for who you are. I care about you." And shouldn't that be something worth celebrating and expressing to the people in our lives everyday?

Anyways, I decided I'd try and go all-out for Valentine's day this year. And my efforts were mostly successful. :) I found out that, even though they look really simple online, homemade fortune cookies can actually be very difficult to make. But the joy of delivering pink fortune cookies drizzled in white chocolate and filled with cheesy LDS-themed pickup lines? Priceless!

I spent Tuesday afternoon delivering Valentines. My family sent me some beautiful gerbera daisies and a rose (gerbera daisies are my favorite flowers EVER. my family knows this ^_^). I got a flower from my visiting teacher and one of my close friends. And just when I thought things couldn't get any better, someone decorated MY door with Harry Potter Valentine's and a box of chocolate frogs... Who could possibly know me so well to give me a Harry Potter-themed Valentine?! Thank you! ;)

And then to top off the week, two of the little seeeesters came into town to watch state wrestling competition. Doesn't Bumblebee look adorable in her cheer uniform here?

Life's pretty good, ya' know? Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin once said,

"Kindness is the essence of greatness. … [It] is a passport that opens doors and fashions friends. It softens hearts and molds relationships that can last lifetimes."

Thank you for YOUR kindness in my life. I hope your V-day was fabulous.

Heaps of love,

me

Sick.

So. I was sick this week. Not like the black plague or anything, but still, I was half-a-box-of-tissue sick. I'm not sure I would have minded that much, except that being sick is best enjoyed sleeping in, eating good food, and getting caught up on every single episode of your favorite tv show on hulu. Between my 3-hour chemistry class, the lab report I had to finish, and the Biochemistry test to take later on Thursday night, however, I was unable to do any of the appropriate sickly activities mentioned above. *sigh* What poor timing on the part of the university! ;) A very big 'thank you!' goes out to Eric, who brought me Chicken and Stars soup (yum!) and several doses of Dayquil to get me through the weekend... thanks, Eric!

Friday I was able to take my roommate V on her first ever trip to D.I.! Am I the only one who enjoys a good thrift store? I guess for me, the allure of DI is in never knowing what oddities or treasures you might find... it's a little bit like going to a museum where you have to search for a series of constantly changing exhibits that range from glittery knitting needles (one of my finds from sophomore year) to glass cake stands and bags of ribbon and lace (some more recent discoveries). Silly, I know, but fun.

Later that day we had our Tri-Ward Valentine's Dance. It was formal, so everyone got all spiffed up (haha, that word always makes me think of 'Spaceman Spiff' from Calvin & Hobbes) and got their groove on! Our dance committee decided to pair everyone up with a date, so yes, we all had people to dance with :) I went with a guy named Josh from one of the other wards. We ate Brazilian food at his apartment beforehand, then hit up the dance with a couple of his roommates and their dates. He's taken a couple of dance classes here at BYU so I got to learn some new steps. I'm a terrible dancer, but it was still lots of fun!

My dad brought me our extra sewing machine this week (thank you, Dad!), so Saturday I finally got around to a project I've been drooling over on Pinterest for a while--a ruffled, recycled t-shirt skirt! I am in no way a seamstress, but fortunately it was a pretty foolproof activity. Check it out:

And yeah, that's about it for this weekend. I've been working on a few things for Valentine's day, but that will have to wait until a later post... ;) (↓oh my gosh, is that a sneak peek???? ^_-)

Keep smiling--I'm sending ya' lotsa' love,

me

As of Late...

So. The first batch of midterms is starting to hit. Blegh. Sometimes I wish the University would grant me educational immunity based on how many credits I have at this point (uhh... something like 180) and not require me to take midterms. Of course, I also wish that "educational immunity" was a real thing and not just something invented my my homework-weary soul :) Still, lack of educational immunity considered, this semester is turning out pretty awesome... I have amazing friends, I have really funny and chill roommates, and I am graduating in APRIL! This month alone has been oodles of fun--I've already made several yummy treats, including panda bread for Chinese New Year,

and miniature lemon bars (for fun).

I played dress-ups at the mall with Casey & Dares,

(hahaha... my nose crinkled in this shot! it happens sometimes when I laugh...)

and I watched the boys play an excellent set of dodgeball games.

Oh, and today Eric called and woke me up in time to catch women's gymnastics vs. Boise State. Amazing. I am constantly blown away by all the talent out there in the world!

Fun stuff, right? :) Anyways, I found this song today and it made me happy so I thought I'd share:

So cute... it talks about how sometimes you have to put yourself out there a little and take a chance in order to get somewhere in life, how sometimes you have to have faith and courage to stop holding yourself back and live the life you've always dreamed of. It reminded me of a talk given by Sister Elaine Dalton in the General Young Women's Meeting of April 2010. Sister Dalton said:

Young women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, remember who you are! You are elect. You are daughters of God. You cannot be a generation of young women who are content to fit in. You must have the courage to stand out, to “arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations.” ¹⁰ The world would have you believe that you are not significant—that you are out of fashion and out of touch... If you can be dismayed, discouraged, distracted, delayed, or disqualified from being worthy to receive the guidance of the Holy Ghost or to enter the Lord’s holy temple, [Satan] wins... We simply cannot do the work we have been reserved and prepared to do unless we can access the strength and confidence that comes by living a virtuous life.

Wow, don't you just love our church leaders? And don't you just love the message of the gospel? For me, the gospel is such a beautiful message of faith and optimism and courage and strength and the resounding belief that the best is yet to come. I think sometimes I get a little bit overwhelmed at the idea of growing up and accepting new responsibilities, and I'm grateful that I have the gospel to remind me that as long as I am doing my best to keep the commandments, the Lord will help me and things will work out.

Anyways, sorry, didn't mean to get on a soapbox there...

Have an awesome weekend,

me