favorite childhood books

When I saw Allison's post of her top ten childhood favorites, I had to join in and share my favorites. I love children's books. I remember so many books that I loved as a child and still love today. Narrowing the list down to ten may be a little difficult, but here are some of my favorites.

1. Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene. Around fourth to fifth grade I was obsessed with Nancy Drew. I think I have something like 30 of them on my book shelf at home. I wanted a blue mustang convertible just like Nancy. I recently learned that Carolyn Keene is a pseudonym and the books were actually written by lots of different people.

2. The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper (pseudonym). I loved this book growing up and I love it still. The popularity of this one at my house probably had to do with the fact that my brother was really into trains. I picked this one to give to Kelsey for her baby boy.

3. The Pain and The Great One by Judy Blume. This is a great book for big sisters with little brothers. I remember reading it when I was eight and my brother was six, the same ages of the brother and sister in the book. The story of The Great One is told by the little brother about his sister who says his sister things she is so great and the story of The Pain is told by the sister about how her little brother is such a pain, but there are some very sweet moments. I loved it.

4. Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson. This book is a must-have for all little girls. Princess stories are great and all, but they don't really send good messages. Cinder Edna is Cinderella's neighbor. She works hard and takes care of herself rather than moping around in the cinders. She doesn't wait around for a fairy godmother to solve her problems- she puts a dress on layaway and rides the bus to the ball. She ends up falling in love at the ball and having a lovely happy relationship with Prince Charming's younger brother. All this is in contrast to the boring, self-centered, and shallow relationship that we see with Cinderella and Prince Charming. This book is clever and fun with great pictures and a great story for little girls.

5. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. This is one of my favorite Christmas books. Lovely illustration, the ride to the North Pole, Santa, the bell from the reindeer that you can only hear as long as you believe. Beautiful, magical, wonderful.

6. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. I bought this book in Hebrew when I was in Jerusalem because I just love it. It's a great bedtime book and I love the pictures. And the colors. It's sweet and simple.

7. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone  by J.K. Rowling. I love all of the Harry Potter books, but the first one is probably still my favorite just because it was the first and the beginning of this new world. I don't remember how old I was when I first read this, but it was beautiful and I loved it. I was a seriously over-achieving child and I connected with Hermione from the second that I met her in this book. It's hard to describe the huge part that the Harry Potter books played in my childhood.

8. Anthem by Ayn Rand. Definitely not a children's book, but a part of my childhood, Anthem is still one of my favorite books. I read it for the first time in fourth grade and I have read it many times since. I just love it. It's only about 100 pages and I think it is really an interesting story with a great message about the value of individuals. Everyone should read it.

9. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I read these books with my dad growing up. I love the characters, the stories, and the allegory of Christ. C.S. Lewis is fabulous and I will definitely read these with my children. They have great imagination and teach good lessons through exciting stories.

10. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. I read this book in my fifth grade language class and I think it may have been the first time a book made me cry. It may also be the source of my love for dogs. It's a sweet story about love and loss for this boy and his dogs.


Honorable Mentions:
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Alexander, and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
American Girl Addy books.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr.
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Basically anything by Dr. Seuss, especially Oh the Places You'll Go and Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book

thankful

things i'm thankful for:

visits to colorado 

mint-waxed floss

old pictures

warming up with a big mug of hot chocolate

new psych episodes

texts from my parents

girls nights

thai food {greeeeeen curry}

watching movies with my roommates  

sweaters
the book of mormon

staying up late talking to kelsey

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
the plan of salvation

phone calls from my sissy

laughing

notes from becky

byu

fall leaves

internet

christmas music 

books

holidays

photo via rockstar diaries

dance it out

Tonight is a home alone, wear thick tights + oversized sweater + uggs, dance like you just don't care kinda night. 

One of my fave pastimes. 

If there's one thing Grey's Anatomy has taught me, it is to DANCE IT OUT. 

Goodbye, stress!

awkward

I think the very best thing about leaving Provo will be not running into people I have dated. I will be especially happy to not run into those people in awkward places, such as the temple.

P.S. I am going to really miss Provo when I leave. I'm already feeling very nostalgic.

buddies

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my siblings? My brother Parker has been gone on his mission for 13 months now and I really super miss him a lot! While I was at home I pulled out some old pictures of us. We are buddies. He's one of my best friends. He totally gets me and we have the best time together.  When I find someone who gets me like my brother does I will marry him in a second. {I promise that's not weird or anything, my brother is just awesome. Boys have a lot to measure up to.} I love these pictures of us when we were little. So precious.

food

I've been realizing lately how much my life revolves around food. Food just makes me happy. It makes everything better.  As I was looking through some pictures the other day I also realized how many pictures I have of myself with food or in the process of stuffing my face. I think I have a seriously abnormal number of these kinds of pictures.

Here are some highlights, in no particular order:

 J Dawgs with Parker the day before he left on his mission.

 Making brownies at our Foxwood apartment- decked out in a sweatshirt, scrubs & uggs, fyi. I'm super classy. 

 Chipotle!!! Just about my favorite ever restaurant, which is sadly so far away in Utah.

 The best nachos in the world in Costa Rica last summer. I think I have a picture with almost every meal I ate there. The food was killer, ok?!

 Maddi's bachelorette party at Spark. I actually have some seriously disgusting pictures of myself eating from this night, such as actually scooping up guacamole with my finger because we were out of chips. I decided to spare you all the horror of that picture. 

Yet another picture of making brownies at our Foxwood apartment. We probably made brownies about once a week back then. I also had to include this picture because of the tongue and, of course, the CRAZY EYES, which seem to be present in most of my food pictures! 

Since we're on the topic of food, let me tell you a few of my favorites:

• Chipotle
• GREEN CURRY!
• Brownies made from scratch (I don't believe in box brownies)
• Any and all ice cream
• Cookies- especially chocolate chip and pumpkin chocolate chip
• Lindt A Touch of Sea Salt dark chocolate
• Who am I kidding, ANYTHING that involves chocolate!
• Dr. Pepper
• Pesto pasta with red bell peppers
• Coconut Korma
• Mangos and sticky rice
• Raspberries 
• And the list could go on and on. . . 

little buddy

Meet our new little buddy: Ryan Gosling!

 a.k.a. Ry Guy

 a.k.a. Reggie

a.k.a. Gossie

perfect fall weekend

My weekend was just about perfect. My dad came out to visit me and we had an awesome day on Saturday.

In the morning we went to the MOA and saw some great paintings and then walked around campus. I'm obsessed with the new path on the south side of campus. 

It's so pretty.

Then we went to lunch at Spicy Thai, my favorite. I love me some green curry! 

My dad and I are both big Thai food fans. 

This picture is a lot blurry, but look at that yummy food.

After lunch we went for a drive up Squaw Peak Road. It was so perfectly beautiful. The red, orange and yellow mixed with some green and the blue sky was fabulous. We went for a little hike up at the top and saw two wild turkeys.

We lounged at my dad's hotel and watched BYU beat Oregon State, which was lovely. Then we went to Sammy's for some dinner and pie shakes!

After dinner we went to see the movie Contagion. I had been dying to see it and I loved it! It was so exciting and full of epidemiology stuff. It was so fun spending lots of time with my dad. We're buds. 

On Sunday Becky and I went for a drive up by Snowbird and then to dinner at her parents' house. It was lovely and the canyon was so pretty. 

It was a perfect weekend and Saturday was an especially perfect day. 

Perfect weather, perfect activities, perfect fall colors, perfect food, and perfect company- my papa!

artistic

"The more I think it over, 

the more I feel 

that there is nothing 

more truly artistic 

than to 

love people." 

-Vincent van Gogh

Mountainous Landscape Behind Saint Paul Hospital, Vincent van Gogh

sometimes

Sometimes when things just aren't working out and you feel totally lost all you can do is put a good song on repeat for awhile, watch some grey's anatomy, have a good cry, and remember:

tomorrow is another day. 

song lovin'

Some of the songs I've been lovin' on lately:

Atlas Hands- Benjamin Francis Leftwich

Big Jet Plane- Angus and Julia Stone

And Run- He Is We

Canvas- Augustine

Travel In Time- Marching Band

I seriously can't get enough of these songs, probably especially Atlas Hands.

some smart quotes from some smart people

I'm working on a paper about microfinance for my international political economy of women class. In my research I have stumbled upon some great thoughts from some smart people. Here they are:

"A man filled with the love of God is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race." - Joseph Smith (History of the Church Vol. 4., p. 227)

"Our idea of charity, therefore is to relieve present wants and then to put the poor in a way to help themselves so that in turn they may help others." - Joseph F. Smith

"All human beings have unlimited potential. We just never have the opportunity to discover ourselves. Each one of us got stuck in whatever station of life we got stuck in. And because that is what we are, we never try to find out the greater reality. Those little monies (micro-credit) give people an opportunity to discover their worth. All the fears they had from years and year, layers and layers of fear that bound the individual are removed one by one, and she finds out who she is. That is what makes all the difference in the world-- to that individual and to the world." - Muhammad Yunus

"Poverty is not created by the poor. Poverty is created by institutions that we build. Poverty is created by the mindset we have created for ourselves. One of the things we assume, is that poor people will be part of the scene. They will be there anyway. This mindset has created the existence of poverty. If we somehow change our minds, then maybe there will not be any poor people in the world . . .
If we believe, if we imagine, if we dream about such a new world, then we will create it. That is the first point. That is the first step. Believe in the kind of world we want to believe in. Then we can put our minds into it. We create it. We cannot create something that we cannot imagine. Imagination is the first step. Once you imagine, once you dream, and once you start believing, the dream comes true."
 -Muhammad Yunus (both from a speech given at BYU on November 13, 1997)

single

I love being single. I love it so much. I love it too much. I know we're supposed to be dating and getting married, but it bums me out that so many girls are so focused on marriage and not really enjoying being single. Comments in Relief Society tend to revolve around marriage, with topics such as faith (that you will get married some day), trials (still being single), and talents (cooking and such- the ones "needed" for marriage). It seems like people are waiting for a relationship or marriage to make them happy. My opinion is that you can't find a way to be happy while you're single you won't magically be happy as a married person. I think I personally will mourn the loss of my single days.

Of course I want to have that awesome relationship/marriage where you want to talk all the time and do everything together, but right now I am loving just being me! I love doing whatever I want whenever I want. I love being alone and doing things alone. I can't imagine spending SO MUCH TIME with another person. I can't imagine wanting that. I have my own schedule. I like to go to zumba at night or watch TV with my friends or just do homework. I like to read before I go to bed and unwind with some more alone time. I get to make my own plans for my life and not worry about fitting around someone else's plan. I love all of this stuff. I'm so happy and comfortable on my own. Like I said, I may love being single a little too much. The guys I go out with are generally pleasant and nice and . . . fine. Maybe that's just my disinterest talking, but really. I can't sustain a dating situation more than about three dates before I lose interest. But here's the deal. I don't see why I should try to sustain something I'm not really interested in. At some point I may need an attitude adjustment, but right now I am going to enjoy the peace and contentment of my single life, free from the disruptions and frustrations of men. {Happiness}

human

"We must not see any person as an abstraction. 

Instead, we must see in every person a universe 

with its own secrets, with its own treasures, 

with its own sources of anguish, and with some measure of triumph."

- Elie Wiesel

from The Nazi Doctors and the Nuremberg Code

I'm reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot right now. This quote from the amazing Elie Wiesel was at the beginning of the book and I can't stop thinking about it. I'm only about 80 pages into the book but I'm loving it so far. We always learn about HeLa cells in science classes and they have been used for thousands of experiments, but we don't talk much about Henrietta Lacks, the source of those cells. Henrietta died from cervical cancer at age 31. I feel so much more appreciation for those cells when I consider Henrietta's life, her suffering, and the family she left behind. We must always remember the value of each person. 

home

I'm sure I will have many homes in my life that will each hold a special place in my heart. So far I have had three homes. Colorado is special because my family is there and I grew up there. It is a place where I feel perfectly comfortable. Utah has come to feel like my home in the past couple years. This is the home where I have made a life that is all my own. Today is three years since I left for my third home, Jerusalem.  This home may hold the largest place in my heart. Sometimes I think it sounds silly when I say that Jerusalem changed my life, but it really did.

I was thinking today about the first time we drove into Jerusalem and about leaving. As we were driving in from Tel Aviv that first day I remember as we were getting close Brother Skinner told us that it would be a moment to remember because we could never again see Jerusalem for the first time. I wish I could describe the feeling I had as I saw the city for the first time. It felt like coming home, only somehow so much better. I've been totally emotional today as I think about Jerusalem. I know I brought a lot of Jerusalem back with me, but I feel today like I left a part of myself there, like a little tiny piece of my heart is missing. I know I will go back someday and it will be wonderful, but nothing can ever compare with the first time- the Jerusalem Center and the friends {family} that I met there. Today I am feeling so much love and so much gratitude {and more than a touch of homesickness for the JC}.

Next year in Jerusalem! 

body image

I've been thinking a lot lately about self esteem, and especially about body image. It seems like we are never satisfied with our bodies. There are days when it seems like I am able to find an endless list of things to criticize about my body, and I've never considered myself to have a poor body image. Driving between Salt Lake and Provo there are tons of billboards advertising breast implants, liposuction, tanning, etc. Women are expected to have these perfect bodies and faces and hair. And even if others don't actually expect that of us, I think we too often expect it of ourselves or put ourselves down because we don't look like Victoria's Secret models.

You've probably seen or heard the phrase, "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." Apparently Kate Moss told a magazine that this was her motto. I saw this for the first time couple months ago and have heard it many times since, and, honestly, I'm more disgusted by this phrase each time I encounter it. I was looking at pictures of Kate Moss, and when I searched on Google I saw the Wikipedia entry, which says: "Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularizing the heroin chic look in the 1990s, which made her a supermodel. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use." This super-skinny, unhealthy, drug-addict look seems to be making a comeback with the hipster crowd. I don't think this level of skinny is the main-stream ideal of beauty, but it still troubles me. And let me just say that anyone who believes this has never tasted my brownies. Having some love handles and being able to eat brownies is so worth it! Food is one of the great joys in life, in my opinion.

I spend {too much} time to pinterest and I've noticed how often people have pinboards about "being fit" where they post pictures of scantily-clad women with 6-pack abs and skinny arms. How depressing is that? These boards are supposed to be about inspiration for "getting healthy" but I don't see that at all. That body type is not attainable by all women and you certainly don't have to look like that to be beautiful or healthy. I wish we could all love our bodies for what they are. Of course, everyone should exercise and eat a healthy diet and try to be healthy. But health should be the goal. We need to let go of the pressure to look like the photoshopped pictures in magazines or the models who have personal trainers and chefs and spend all of their time working to look like that, in addition to having the genetics for that look to begin with. I learned from my psychology text book this summer that some contestants in the Miss America pageant work out as much as 30-35 hours a week. If you don't include Sundays, 30 hours a week means 5 hours a day. I think I would like to do something more valuable with my time and I also think it's not fair to compare my body to their bodies.

Have you heard the Regina Spektor song Folding Chair? She says, "I've got a perfect body but sometimes I forget. I've got a perfect body because my eyelashes catch my sweat." I love that! I think we can all find a reason why our bodies are perfect. Our bodies are so different and special. Every body is beautiful, and it's wrong that we have such a narrow view of beauty in our society.

Now, a final thought that sums up my feelings perfectly about what I want for myself and my future daughters:

"I've got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don't want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I'd rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny - a thousand things, before 'thin.' And frankly, I'd rather they didn't give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons. Let them never be Stupid Girls." 

- J.K. Rowling

fall

Fall is my favorite season. I absolutely adore it. The changing colors, the crisp air and cooler temperatures, pumpkin cookies, even football. I actually don't care much about football, but thinking about football games is always exciting and so perfectly fall.

This is my final fall semester at BYU. I hadn't thought about this until today, my last first day of fall semester in Provo. I was feeling a bit nostalgic today as I thought about the wonderful times I've had at BYU. I was remembering my first day at school as a freshman and how desperately homesick I was and the friends I found who gave me a second home in Provo. I was remembering traveling to Jerusalem and and finding a new family in my friends there and the feeling that I would never be the same. I'm still basically the same person that I was four years ago, but I've changed and grown so much. BYU has been such an incredible part of my life. This semester will be crazy with school and getting ready for graduation, but I am going to try my best to do as much as I can and enjoy this last year of school. I was really dreading starting new classes, but today I'm just so glad that I have a fifth year of school. I'm not ready to leave BYU and I'm so happy to be here.

controversial opinions

I'm a rather opinionated person, although I often keep those opinions to myself due to my aversion to confrontation. Anyhow, I've been noticing lately how many silly little things I have opinions about, and how controversial those opinions may be. They make me laugh, so I want to share a few with you.

Words: The word 'swoon' is one I truly can't stand. I have no rational explanation, but it drives me bonkers every time I think about it. This word seems to be all over the blogging universe these days. Everyone is *swooning* over shoes and dresses and nice looking men. Ugh. Hate. The word 'bestie' is another one that irks me. I may be the only person on the planet who is bothered by this word and who doesn't use it. Again, no real explanation, but sheesh. I just have a few plain ol' best friends. Nothin' wrong with that. Conversely, I have no problems with the word 'moist.' I actually quite like it. There is no other way to describe a deliciously perfect, rich, moist, chocolate cake. If you consider how many people feel about the word 'moist' that is how I feel about 'swoon.'

NPR: Why is everybody obsessed with NPR? I consider myself a pretty cultured and educated person, but I honestly can't handle it. How do people listen to that? I tried listening in the care once during the early stages of this NPR craze and I lasted about 3 minutes. I read The Week, which is definitely my favorite news source. It gives you quick info about lots of issues and presents varying opinions on current issues, which I very much enjoy. No NPR for me. Music please!

H&M: In a way I hate to say it, but I think H&M is seriously overrated. They've had some very cute things at times but when I've shopped there it feels a little trashy to me. It's about a baby step up from Forever XXI for me. The first time I went to H&M was about 6 years ago in Amsterdam and our friend from Switzerland who was with us aptly described it as European Old Navy. "Semi-fashionable, relatively cheap price and cheap quality." Amen. It's alright and I would definitely look around, but the obsession is out of control. I bet it will die down eventually after the new store opens in Utah.

Five Guys: I know a lot of people who think Five Guys is the best. burger. place. ever! I personally think the hamburgers are very average and the fries are a little gross. Plus, they don't have shakes! If I go out for a burger I want a shake and yummy french fries. As soon as I learned they didn't have shakes I knew I would never be a big fan.

Summer: I have to tell you, I realized this year that I am not a great lover of summer. On facebook people are always hating the rain, wanting summer to come, and enjoying the sun/lake/pool/etc. I think fall is my favorite. I prefer my fall/winter clothes. I prefer the cool weather. I hate being hot. Also, I really don't enjoy swimming {the quintessential summer activity!}. It feels good when it's hot, but usually I go to the pool and I'm thinking, "Why am I here and why am I not wearing clothes?" Plus I'm opposed to getting sunburns. I haven't been to the pool once this summer. I would rather sit in the shade and read anyway. I think I may be the only person in Provo who thought the long spring with lots of rain and a little bit cooler weather was the best thing ever.

Well, I hope you will laugh at these silly thoughts and opinions of mine. And I hope you won't be offended if you are a lover of NPR or if swoon is your favorite word. I certainly won't be upset if your favorite thing to do is shop at H&M with your bestie.
:)

the more boys i meet . . . the more i love my dog.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Men are idiots. {Ok, let's be honest, I say this just about every day} I've had plenty of moronic encounters with men in the past few months, but none of them were terribly entertaining and some were downright depressing, until tonight. I have a winner for you, folks! All the single ladies, gather 'round. You will want to fight me for this guy. First off, let's rewind a few weeks.

So three or four weeks ago I went to concert with The Vibrant Sound at Provo Town Square with Becky and some girls. After the concert we continued to a house party. I had never been to such a party, and if we can have another honest moment I will admit that I was having feelings of losing my youth. I needed to do something fun and crazy for once! The party was packed and wicked lame, and we were standing in the back yard talking about leaving when a young man approached us. There was a bit of small talk and as we exchanged names I told him that it didn't really matter because I couldn't see his face so I wouldn't recognize him if I saw him again. He replied with something like, "Well, I'm very attractive {handsome?}."  I don't recall the lead-in, but a couple minutes later he handed me his phone and said he would "let" me put my number in. {Pause. "LET" me?? Seriously? Oh yes, I was DYING to put my number in your phone. THANKYOUTHANKYOU!} I wanted to say something along the lines of a straight-up "get over yourself" but I put my phone number in anyway. He texted me after that party and then a couple weeks ago about going to another party. I didn't respond to that one. Fast forward to tonight.

Ok, so Becky is out of town and I'm alone in the apartment for almost two weeks. My life is boring, so I was home tonight watching some Grey's Anatomy and studying for my anatomy lab final. Yay! At approximately 10:30 I got a text from this character {"Hi"} and I responded {"Hello"}. It was probably dumb to respond, but I was bored, and if I hadn't responded I wouldn't have gotten this GEM of a story! There were a few chatty texts {"Do u remember you I am" -He used "u" & didn't use a question mark, yuck} and he told me he was at another party {"I'd tell u to come to the party I'm at right now but it's way boring"}, at which point I told him that I actually don't really go to random parties. He said he was probably too much of a "partier" for me and I asked if he just goes around to parties getting random girls' phone numbers. This is where it gets good. Prepare yourselves.

"Yes. I make out w a different girl everynight" {*every night}

I responded, "You have got to be kidding me."
This was followed by the real winning text of the night:

"You can be #1,647 haha"
Response: "Gross. Nice try, pal."

Seriously?! Seriously!! {Grey's Anatomy? Anyone?}
This guy actually has an ego the size of Russia.

So anyway, this is exhibit #1,647 of why men are idiots. Nobody would expect a strange man from a house party to be a nice guy, but still. Attempted booty call? I don't think so. I honestly don't know how anyone ever gets married. I'm surrounded by morons!

Disclaimer: I fully understand that not ALL men are mean or stupid and I don't actually regard the entire gender with disgust, but it's much easier to say "men are idiots" than to give a list of all the individual dopes I have interacted with this year.

to-do list

So here I am. It's currently 12:57 am and I recently returned from a fun-filled evening at the library. Today was one in a string of very long days. I didn't eat anything resembling a real meal, unless you count the couple pieces of left-over Little Caesar's pizza and the mint brownie+milk that I had to get in the afternoon to make it through the day. I did fit in some fruits and vegetables, but still. I was in class for 7 hours today and had a pre-PA club meeting this evening. I spent nearly all my free time speeding through my take home exam for immigrant and refugee health. It was a doozy. I would wager it took me about 8 hours to get through. 6 pages, single spaced, .5 inch margins, 11 pt times. That was my fifth exam since last Tuesday. It's been a long week.

That brings me to tonight. Here I am, sitting on my bed, 1:03 am, exhausted . . . blogging. I got home and suddenly felt like there was no way I'd be able to fall asleep. My mind is completely occupied with to-do lists. I do feel some relief that all these exams are over, but now I'm thinking about all of the reading and assignments I put off while trying to get through those exams. 50 pages of organic chemistry reading, here I come! I also have a disaster of a bedroom and an overflowing hamper of dirty laundry that needs to be tackled. Sometimes I really wonder how people do it. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed by all I have to do.

At BYU I sometimes feel like everyone is working a bajillion hours a week, going to school full time and getting a 4.0, going on 12 dates a week, training for a marathon AND a triathlon, volunteering with 7 different groups, playing intramural sports, being a domestic goddess, mastering 5 instruments, etc. I think you get my point. I know that is some major hyperbole, but seriously. {ha!}  Remember those facebook groups about BYU from back in the day? I am referring to "I used to be _____ but then I came to BYU" and "BYU- Where your best hasn't been good enough since 1875." Those are both a little dramatic, but truly, how do people find time to do everything? I am shocked and amazed, I tell you. Now on a more positive note. BYU is fabulous. I can't imagine being anywhere else. I love that it can be so ridiculously competitive but so friendly at the same time. I love that people here are so excellent {even though it can be discouraging sometimes} because it encourages me to be better. I love that I am able to push myself so hard and find out what I'm really capable of. When I'm wishing that I had some more free time to do fun things, maybe I can remember that all this hard work is hopefully making me better. Now I just need to figure out how to stop running through my to-do lists so I can get some sleep! :)

achy breaky heart

Sometimes {like today} I look at a picture from Jerusalem {like this picture looking out from my bedroom} and I just cry because I can't even handle how much I want to be there. My heart aches when I think about it. Oh my achy breaky heart. Seriously guys, I'm crying right now. Ridiculous. So much love.