Another Christmas, Come and Gone!

I can hardly believe another Christmas has come and gone in the blink of an eye. This Christmas season passed far quicker than I hoped it would! I've been able to spend my break in Phoenix (as usual) with my dad's side of the family. What a blessing it is to be surrounded by people you love, even when you only get to see them once a year.

Through trials and changes, I've realized how much of my life I spent focusing on myself, instead of on the Savior. As I read the story of the Savior's birth, I realized just how little I understand. Christ was born in the most humble of circumstances. Yet, He was perfect in every way. Who am I to blame my imperfections on a situation or environment? So, this Christmas I've decided to recommit. I want to keep the spirit of this season with me throughout the year. As each day passes, I find more and more imperfections that I have, more that I can improve on, more that I can become. I am overwhelmed by the amount of footage I need to cover to become like the Savior. But I have an increased desire to know my Savior. Not just know about Him, but to KNOW Him and love Him. So as this wonderful day of peace and joy closes, I am humbled by the progress yet ahead of me to become like the Savior. But I am learning, as Mary did, that "with God nothing shall be impossible".

Finals Week

• 9 Hours of Statistics in one day
• Two 7 page papers due in the middle of finals week with 14 sources each.
• Eating only PB & J's so I don't have food left here over the break
• Singing ridiculous camp songs out of insanity
• Much internal conflict about next semester...

Christmas Break, please come soon!

Day 30: Gratitude

Welp, my thirty days gratitude are up! What a joyful thirty days it has been! I realized just how much more optimistic life seems to be when I think of what I'm grateful for. Reminds me of the song (from A White Christmas-my favorite movie!) Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep. Also, the hymn Count Your Blessings, of course! It really is true how surprising it is what the Lord has done for us. So, in conclusion I'm grateful for gratitude. It definitely brightens my day. When I sit and think about it, I have absolutely nothing to complain about. Even on the worst days, I am still so blessed! I hope to be able to be at least a little more grateful in my daily life because of this.

Day 29: Oakcrest

Seriously, where would I be without Oakcrest. Also, why does no one understand!!! Working at Oakcrest was one of the single-most life changing events I've had. I'd like to think I'm a new person because of that camp. Who would have thought that 11 weeks in the mountains with a bunch of girls would do what it did. I miss absolutely everything about that place! Okay, maybe not the homesick girls, camper cards, or Monday mornings. I have a problem and cannot express my feelings without a list... AH! Oh well. So here it is. Things I miss/love about Oakcrest (brace yourself).

• Receiving cards Monday morning and reading things like "doesn't work well with groups", "doesn't like having a schedule", or worse-the blank ones.
• Trying to act as ridiculous as possible in Aspen Grove, even though we were all exhausted.
• Teaching FHE about self esteem and the importance of the Savior.
• The Monday Night Program, especially the video "Our True Identity" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiiadnMvm20
• TEACHING UNIT PRAYER!!!! Favorite part of Oakcrest.
• The sound of girls hitting the mat at the end of the zipline. Never gets old!
• Staff meetings, where counselors show how tired they really are.
• Making up count-offs.
• Singing the theme song, "Stand With The Savior".
• Broken down buses and lingering campers.
• Coloring! We were the "Scribblets" after all....
• Sitting in the bathroom just to have 2 minutes of peace.
• Free time with the girls.
• The smiling faces of the Kitchen Staff. 
• Tuesday night party with costume (made of butcher paper) parade.
• Craft time=nap time.
• Painting finger nails, even if it meant my nailpolish never lived again.
• Realizing on Friday that your girls really do love you! 
• The staff mission statement. 
• Hairy's chicken costume 
• Blank stares from campers. Hourly.
• Side ponytail Tuesdays. 
• Dance parties to Hannah Montana (but the girls would only dance if JB came on). 
• Walking outside to find girls lighting their hands on fire at 2 am. 
• Waking up the first morning to snow.
• Sunday nights with the staff.
• Ticks. And campers thinking every bug in the world is one.
• The attractive attire on hike day. 
• Praying 20 times a day.
• Hike. Mostly seeing girls who wouldn't sit in the dirt.
• Chasing moose off the mountain without the girls noticing.
• Roasting starbursts over the candle.
• Dead mice in rolled up carpet.
• Testimony meeting-even though it was the most nerve racking and most awkward by far.
• Conveniently having the whiney girls clean the toilets during kapers.
• Late night chats with roommates.
• Rainboots. Period.
• Scattering sunshine.
• Girls guessing counselor names.
• 3 page get-to-know you papers from campers when most girls wrote 3 sentences
• Thinking we were cool for learning the Hoe Down Throw Down.
• Salamanders in firepits (with Nesquik).
• Bathroom quotes. 
• The birthday song.
• Painting rock friends.
• Notes from campers (Probably my absolutely FAVORITE part!)
• Jedi braids.
• Tucking campers into bed.
• Girls trying to take pictures of the north star. 
• Successful testimony meetings when they're least expected.
• Oakcrest miracles, where do I even begin???
• Guhnat covering me in cake batter and powder sugar.
• Girls collapsing at the sound of Justin Beiber.
• Campers that tell me they're breaking up with their boyfriends after camp! YAH! 
• Watching girls change their hearts in 5 days. 
• Thursday night fireside from the Womens Committee.
• Foam slide. Mostly because it meant shower time. 
• Overflowing toilets.
• Camper skits, especially the ones about counselors. But even more so, the ones that made no sense at all. 
• Power outages
• Spraying girls with water in the face during human foosball.
• Cookouts! =Counselor bonding+fire+dutchoven-even when its raining.
• Friday scripture study  (especially with Guhnat) and testifying of the Book of Mormon.
• The sunsets at Oakcrest.
• Gospel classes by the directorship. 
• Not having a cell phone all week! 
• Daisy and Aunt Polly in the Trading Post.
• Guhnat wetting her pants weekly.
• Flour fights.
• Waka Waka.
• Mail from the Womens Committee.
• Receiving revelation on how to help campers.
• Listening to the sound of a smile! (When 500 people smile at the same time, you really can hear it!)
• Staff Serenade every week!!!
• Eavesdropping on camper conversations.
• Finding bear poop on the trail between the cabins and Dogwood (bathrooms)
• Watching other counselors with their girls. 
• Listening to the girls singing Lone Tree only on Stake Night so their leaders knew how cool they were
• Alex, the camper who hated me.
• The rivalry of love with Buttercup.
• Cinnamon roll hugs.
• Screaming "Best Friends FOREVER".
• Singing the Beaver Song.
• Singing to the girls are they leave camp.
• Dino nuggets.
• The directorship!

If you've never been to Oakcrest, I'm sorry. One, because none of that made any sense to you. Two, because you're missing out on the greatest opportunity of your life!!!! Oakcrest was definitely the HARDEST 11 weeks of my life. But they were even more so the great 11 weeks of my life. I know I'm still leaving out a million things! No list can be composed to demonstrate my whole summer. But aside from the laughter and fun, Oakcrest strengthened my testimony of faith, prayer, the atonement, and the power of love. As we say at camp, THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!! I know this because over the summer, I saw miracles happen daily that would not have happened except through the Savior. I'm am incredibly grateful for the friendships, trials, laughs, and lessons that Oakcrest has brought into my life. I will never EVER forget those 11 weeks.

Day 28: Education

What a blessing it is to have the opportunity to further my education. Attending BYU has really been one of the greatest things of my life! It has been completely opposite of what I expected it to be. It's so wonderful to have professors who feed me temporally and spiritually. The great thing is they don't just tell us information trying to blindly lead us into the church's point of view. They help us challenge the way we think. I never thought that in a History of Psychology class I would learn about how I need to be more altruistic, approaches to missionary work in different countries, the role of the Atonement in change and therapy, the list goes on. But BYU is just one source of this learning. I've realized everything provides us the opportunity to learn!


There are times when I get so depressed thinking that my college life will one day end. Not just because I love this lifestyle, but I love that everyone day I get to learn something new. I really love learning about pretty much every subject under the sun. But the great thing is that we get to spend the rest of our lives learning! It never has to end! There are billions of books with millions of subjects that can always be studied deeper. There are seminars and speakers, neighbors with stories, never ending information! I'm so glad that we get to learn! Even though I hate finals and homework, I love having the opportunity to further my knowledge.

Day 27: Visits Home

Boy, do I love to go home!!! It's always so rejuvenating to be surrounded by people who love you, a room to call your own, and in a home that feels like heaven. I love so many things about visiting home! (Warning, list in the near future. I can't resist!) The smell of alfalfa-I really can't get enough!, my comfy bed, real food, waving to the neighbors-and everyone else in the county, actually being able to see the stars and sunset, girl talk, sleeping in, the porch swing, hugs, playing the piano, cows (yes, I admit it), visiting the home ward, driving the truck (and riding in the back), the smell of food baking, walks around the block. Home really is a heaven on earth! Although it was hard to come back to face finals, I have to say that visiting home has given me new energy to face these last three weeks of the semester. I really can be myself at home, and that's what I love most about it :)

Day 26: Life in a Bubble

I've recently realized that I've lived my entire life in a bit of a bubble. I went to high school in a dominantly Mormon community with a graduating class of 75, moved to Snow where I rarely had roommate problems and everyone had the same beliefs as me, I then worked at Oakcrest where we couldn't wear anything but pants and t-shirts, didn't say anything resembling anything negative or similar to swearing, and only listened to approved music, and now I'm at BYU living in Happy Valley and surrounded by people just like me...

While many people would absolutely hate the narrow-mindedness and lack of variety, I am happily living in my own little bubble. I grew up in a town that shops at Wal Mart and writes letters to the editor about Repulican candidates and four wheeling trails. Don't get me wrong, I love learning about absolutely everything and live to travel, but I'm quickly learning how much there is that I don't want to experience. Take for example Black Friday or our skip over Thanksgiving to focus on consumerism...what has society turned into?  Or The Twilight Series. Who writes a novel geared toward teenage girls and then introduces scenes blatant sexuality and a baby covered in of flesh and blood? I often find myself longing to live in the mountains in a cabin far away from the world (Yes, I saw Breaking Dawn...).

Maybe that's a little dramatic. What I'm getting at is that although many would find my "lack of living" naive and ignorant, I view my lifestyle as refreshing and safe. I don't mind one bit that I live in what some would call a bubble. In fact, I enjoy it! That doesn't mean I'm judgmental or uneducated. I just choose a lifestyle that separates me from so many things that bring misery and discomfort. As they say "ignorance is bliss" right?