Little Grads

So.  My little sisters graduated from high school last week.  Yikes... when did I get so old?  I mean seriously, it doesn't feel that long ago that I was graduating from high school:

And yet here we are, four years later, and now it's the little sisters who are graduating and getting ready to head off into the great unknown of college life this fall:

Crazy.  Not to mention that they look better graduating from high school than I did ;)  Anyways, it was fun to see them graduate and to think back on my own high school experience and the things I've done and the person I've become since then.  A whole heap of good memories.  A couple of sad ones.  And the realization that no matter how old we may feel or how much we may learn, the best (and sometimes the hardest) is yet to come.  And that is a marvelous thing.  But confession:  there are some days that I get frustrated by this whole "line upon line" aspect of life–I find myself wanting to know everything now, be good at everything now, have life figured out NOW.  And at this point in my life (okay, at ANY point in life), that's kind of an impossible goal.  So you can imagine how this talk by Elder Neil L. Anderson helped me reflect on the TRUTH.  He says:

••• Our spiritual journey is the process of a lifetime. We do not know everything in the beginning or even along the way. Our conversion comes step-by-step, line upon line. We then remain steady and patient as we progress through mortality. At times, the Lord’s answer will be, “You don’t know everything, but you know enough”—enough to keep the commandments and to do what is right. Remember Nephi’s words: “I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.” •••

To all you new graduates out there heading to college this fall, I hope you remember that even when you feel inadequate or when you wonder how you suddenly became so average in the transition from high school to the real world and you feel like you just aren't cut out to succeed in adult life, YOU KNOW ENOUGH.  I believe in you.  And I know Heavenly Father does, too.  Best wishes as you begin your new adventures!

Love and party hats,
me

Other People Run

So.  Sometime in between me leaving for college and the last several years, my mom has got into running in a big way.  At this point, I think she has run maybe five or six marathons.  This is a particularly astounding feat, given the fact that after she ran her first 10K nine years ago, she swore she would never, EVER run again.  hahahaha!  Good one, mom! ;)

Well, raising five girls while teaching 2nd grade full time tends to fill one's schedule rather rapidly, so this year my mom didn't have time to train for a spring marathon.  So instead, she got her fill of runner-culture (make no mistake, runners DO have their own culture...) by volunteering at an aid station in a local marathon.

There was water.  There was gatorade.  There were bananas and oranges and packets of GU and IcyHot.  Oh yeah, and there were me, my mom, and my little sister all chillin' at mile 23 waiting for those runners to get in.

The first runner–get this–came past our aid station at 8:25.  The race started at 6 am.  He ran a two and a half hour marathon people!!!  I am in awe!

It was fun to see the variety of runners who came to our station... our youngest runner was 16 I think, and our oldest was in his 70s!  Some people showed up to our station looking like they could run another 23 miles without breaking a sweat, and some runners showed up looking... ready to be done with the marathon already.  I was so very impressed, though, with all the effort and training these runners put in for this event–I think only one person was unable to finish due to injury!

Oh yeah.  And there was a guy named Hajime from Japan.  He is trying to run 1,000 marathons with at least one in every continent of the world.  But did I mention... he's an ecoMarathoner?  That means he runs marathons... FOR THE SCENERY!  He participates in marathons because he likes visiting new places, so he stops and takes pictures along the way when he feels like it.  He visits with the race volunteers.  He really enjoys himself.  So much so, in fact, that he was the very last runner to come through our aid station.  A little over four hours after the start of the race.  We sure enjoyed having him, though!  I think he was by far the happiest, most friendly runner we saw the whole day!  :)  His happy, slow-and-steady pace reminded me of a scripture quoted recently in general conference.  Hebrews 12:1.

"Let us run with patience the race that is set before us."

That's about it.  We had some trouble with the Excursion after the race, but everything worked out and we were able to get back to our air-conditioned house by about noon.  To all you runners out there, whether you be marathoners, half-marathoners or 5K-ers... you guys ROCK!

Love muchly,

me.

BYU Blanket

So.  I moved home for a bit.  I've heard it's a fairly common post-grad phenomena, so yeah.  So far it's been a blast.  Crazy truth... I kinda sorta like spending time with my family!  :)  Anyways, moving meant packing up and downsizing some of my stuff, and after careful consideration I decided I didn't need quite so many t-shirts.  But you know me.  I have a hard time letting go.  So I decided to turn all my old BYU t-shirts into a blanket.

This is what it ended up looking like:

It's strange to think that there are quite literally five years of memories sewn into this quilt.  That's nearly a fourth of my life right now, people!!!

↓This "SOAR" t-shirt came from a summer ACT prep camp I went to at BYU the summer before my senior year of high school.  Way back then, my life plan was to attend the University of Utah and become a doctor.  And then I went to this summer camp and I decided maybe BYU was cooler than I had originally thought.  So in a lot of ways, this t-shirt symbolizes the first step of my four-year journey at BYU.  If someone would have told me way back then that my decision to go to BYU would lead to three years spent studying chemistry,  my current career goal, up & down dating stories, and best friends who have honestly become just about as close as family, well, I don't think I could have even imagined it.  That's why this t-shirt is so special.  It's like the t-shirt that changed my life (a bit dramatic, I know, but still...)

↓This t-shirt was the official game day shirt from my freshman year.  This was the year that I learned about roommates, figured out how to cook for myself, realized what an awful idea 8 am classes are, and changed into the major I would go on to graduate in.  It was the year I met one of my very best friends, mentioned in previous posts under the pseudonym Ellie-BellyButton.  This shirt represents a year of laughter, dishwasher slip-n-slides, dance parties, meal plans, pranks, fights, dirty dishes, late nights, eating at the creamery, and learning how to date RMs (or in my case, how to not run screaming from RMs).  Pretty epic year. :)

↓This t-shirt is from my junior year.  Free t-shirt from the management at Glenwood, where I was living. This shirt... ^_^  It's hard to describe everything this shirt reminds me of–in a good way, of course.  This shirt is from when I met the Idaho Boys—another event that changed my life! :)  I look at this shirt and I have flashbacks of late nights playing "Left 4 Dead", of listening to Matisyahu, of showing up late to physics labs, of watching "Vampire Diaries" with Casey, of going to Molecular Biology class with Camille.  I see this shirt and I have to smile, because even though Glenwood may not have been the fanciest apartment I've lived in, the friends I made there and the experiences I had are some of my very favorite from my entire time at BYU.

↓This shirt is a more recent acquisition.  One of my friends won Front Row Fanatic tickets, and since he was going out of town, he was kind enough to give them to me to use.  The name kind of says it all–we had front row seats to a men's volleyball game.  As I was telling my little cousins earlier today when they saw this picture, I was so close to the game I could have reached out and touched the players!  Also, if you see this t-shirt in person, you'll notice a small reddish stain on it.  Guess what it is... J-Dawg sauce from the J-Dawgs we got right after the game!  And come on, what BYU experience would be complete without a little J-Dawg sauce, right?

Anyways, there are more squares than blogger would let me upload... and the crazy thing is that I have a million memories for each one.  Maybe that's why I have such a hard time letting go of these old t-shirts–because each one reminds me of the people and experiences from the past four years that have made me who I am.  And that's something I don't want to let go of, ever.  Thanks for being a part of those happy memories.

Love you lots,
me

Other Stuff

Katie-cakes ran at BYU invitational.

↓ She did an awesome job! :)

↓  I got to go 4-wheeling with my dad.  We drove past a

whole bunch of new calves... they couldn't figure out what

sort of strange monsters we must be, so most of them

ran away...

↓ J-bug made a pizza with tiny pizzas on top... she was

so proud of it, and couldn't wait to eat it for lunch!

↓ Katie-cake's homemade eclairs... if that's not incentive

for a girl to go home, I don't know what is!

(Other food related activities as of late:  chocolate-coconut-

caramel double-decker cake, coconut thai soup, falafels,

enchiladas, and cream-slushes at Sonic.  Oh yum!)

↓ Oh yeah, and I saw Avengers... AMAZING!

Lotsa' love,

me

Hot Water

So.  We went to the hot pots while I was in Provo.

↓Look, I found a little snake!

 ↓Mattie and Tim like the hot pots...

↓But they don't like the cold waterfall!

 ↓We hiked this skinny, little trail to get there!

↓This is me hiking.

The end.

Life Is a Highway

Okay, okay. Final post. It's not my fault there's been a lot going on lately and that I fell behind in updating during finals. But I couldn't go to bed without finishing my report of the major events of the past few weeks. And this one is a doozy, albeit a very small doozy. My car broke down. On the way home. Katie-cakes and I thought we were going to be stranded in the middle of a great big Utah desert. But we ended up getting lots of help. First from a state trooper and a tow truck who both just happened to spot us along the side of the road...

And then from the policeman who stopped to check on us because he thought we were trying to break into a bank when we got lost and stopped in the parking lot at 10pm to let the engine cool off... ^_^ Katie-cakes and I had fun pushing each other around doing doughnuts in a church parking lot, even though she claims I didn't push as fast as she did.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that I made her hide with me any time a car drove by when we were parked on the side of the road? You can't be too careful–you never know when you might encounter an axe murderer, or worse, an overly helpful passerby who offers you a lift (STRANGER DANGER!!!!). ;) Sorry, I shouldn't joke about such things...

We ended up staying with some college friends of my mom, and my dad and grandpa drove 3 hours at the crack of dawn the next day to come rescue us from our stranded state. Have I mentioned before what an amazing dad I have??? Or how very talented my grandpa is at solving any kind of car problem? A girl doesn't get much luckier :) Very glad to be home.

Love,

me

Graduation!

So. I graduated this week. And I know that probably means I should be all grown up and have all the answers to the universe or something. But I don't. Bummer. ^_- On the plus side, I did get to hang out with some of my most favorite friends and family members.

V, me, & Eric. He has a great smile when he decides to, just fyi. ;)

My familia!

The grandparents.

I thought about cropping this last one down so I could have a graduation picture with a baby like my mom and all my aunts did, but I decided that might raise too many questions with my bishop... ;)

Anyways, graduating brought a bittersweet sorta' feeling... it's strange and more than a little bit scary most days to think about all the big changes this will bring. I mean, I have to find a job and fall housing and start applying to PA school, and only heaven knows where I'll be a year from now. Lots of big decisions. And moving. And having to make new friends. And did I mention big changes?!?! Yikes! But I guess it's exciting, too. I get to finally WORK. And not do homework (yay!). And make new friends. And have new adventures. So yeah. Bittersweet. But as daunting as "real-life" seems to me right now, I know things will work out. I guess it's like in Jacob 4:7. It says:

"The Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things."

There's something about growing up that has made me increasingly aware of my weaknesses... I remember feeling a lot more awesome as a little kid than I do now. On second thought, maybe that's a really good thing–I was probably a little TOO confident as a child :) Anyways, the point is, the older I get, the more I realize how far I still have to go before I figure life out. And I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who is willing to compensate for my shortcomings and help me overcome my weaknesses. Speaking of, if you get a chance you should go read THIS talk.

To my family and friends, thanks for all your love and support the past four years. I am so grateful for all your help in getting where I am and becoming who I am today. You teach me daily what it means to be a better person.

Love you muchísimo,

me.