Life...

Life = Stressful!

College life is the greatest.. it really is. You learn SO much about every point of your life. But MAN that is stressful business!

This year so far has been a blast. I (once again) love Utah State! I'm actually loving my classes, (minus one) and I'm loving both of my jobs! I love all of my roomates, and I have met lots of new and fun friends who keep me always going.
YET.....the STRESS never....goes...away!
I have a class called "Balancing Work and Family" and we've been talking about your personal needs, and how important it is to take time for yourself to do the things YOU love to do, in order to be pleasant to those around you. It's an interesting concept. So I've tried to take some more time just for myself lately by doing things like:

*Going for a drive to the temple by myself.
*Writing in my journal more (blog included)

*Taking a nap (I don't do this often)

*Driving! I drive to Brigham a lot and actually enjoy the alone time!

*Dancing- my only form of exercise..

And so on.......

But the problem with this is that it doesn't take the stress AWAY. (Bummer!) But it does help overall. There's a song that I've never enjoyed too much for some reason. But it came on my i-pod the other day and I realized what GREAT lyrics they are, and how it applies SO well!

"Life ain't always beautiful. Sometimes it's just plain hard.
Life can knock you down, it can break your heart.
Life ain't always beautiful. You think you're on your way,

And it's just a dead end road at the end of the day.

But the struggles makes you stronger, And the changes make you wise.

And happiness has its own way of takin' its sweet time...

No,life aint always beautiful, Tears will fall sometimes.

Life aint always beautiful, But it's a beautiful ride.

Life aint always beautiful, Some days I miss your smile.

I get tired of walkin' all these lonely miles. And I wish for just one minute,

I could see your pretty face. Guess I can dream, but life don't work that way.

But the struggles makes me stronger, And the changes make me wise.

And happiness has its own way of takin' its sweet time.

No, life ain't always beautiful, But I know I'll be fine.

Hey, life ain't always beautiful, But its a beautiful ride.

What a beautiful ride!"

Ya.....Life is awesome, and Life is STRESSFUL. But in all its ugliness......It's still a beautiful ride =)

Major....catch-up!

Holy smokes! I haven't posted forever. I was laying in bed last night thinking "I need to write in my journal SO BAD!" But started to justify by thinking "Good thing I have a blog too...." Till I realized that I haven't done EITHER in a super long time. Shoot..... :( So here is a quick run through of my entire summer!!

#1 ST. GEORGE!
My friend Kristen and her husband (Fiance at the time) invited some friends to go to st george. Kristen invited her girl friends, Bryce invited his guy friends, and we all got along great! We had a blast just goofing off at the condo, swimming, hiking, and all sorts of fun.

#2 MY 20th BIRTHDAY =)
This summer, my friend Hillori who I've been living with all while being in Logan, and I lived in a cute house with two girls Morgan and Shaylee. We decided to throw a big party for my birthday and had a bbq and dancing and such. It turned out really good, and was lots of fun! My mom got me this cute cake for it, too!

#3 KRISTEN'S WEDDING!
My long-time friend Kristen got married :) Kristen and I became really good friends in 6th grade. She moved to Texas not long after, and we kept in touch! She then moved to Virginia and then came to college at BYU while I went to UVU! We've always kept in touch and I love her AND her new hubby bryce, so much! What a sweet couple! Congrats Kris :)

#4 BEAR LAKE!
I'm not a huge Bear Lake fan. But some friends and I went up and went camping and swimming, and just kinda hung out. It was a fun weekend adventure :)
#5 - 4th OF JULY BEES GAME
There were lots of people getting the opposing teams autographs. I jokingly said to my mom and brother "I'm wouldn't get their autograph, I'd get their phone number!" Following that, my mom replies "I'll give you 20 bucks if you do it. And 50 if you actually get a number!" So I made a deal that if I got a number, she has to buy my Tim McGraw, Lady Antebellum concert Ticket.........

#6 TIM MCGRAW/LADY ANTEBELLUM CONCERT
Clearly, I won the bet with my mom, by getting a players number. So.....to the concert I went :) Thanks mom! BEST concert ever. I am obsessed with Lady Antebellum, and just so happen to love Tim as well. I went with My friend Toree, and we saw Jacquie there, too!
# 7 FOURWHEELING IN COKEVILLE

Our yearly tradition continued, and my family (My whole dad's side) went fourwheeling. This year we went and stayed in Cokeville, and did some trails around there. It was a blast as usual, and I'm so glad my dad puts this together each year! (He is taking the picture)

#8 FISHING
My dad has taught me to fly-fish. We've gone lots before, but this year I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it, and really enjoy going! Now if I could actually HOLD the fish for more tha 2 seconds......

#9 CRAFTY?
Sometimes I get in a crafty mood, but I can't do much. Jacquie (Who is also now a new roomate of mine, which I LOVE) and I decided to make headbands one night. LATE one night. We made a trip to walmart at 1:30 am and got the materials and made these cute headbands! We made several more, but I've got too much to post, to post 10 pictures each :)

#10 ISLAND PARK/YELLOWSTONE
My friends Jake and Jason were going to Island Park to Jason's mission friends cabin, and invited me. We left one friday night and came back Sunday night. Short trip, but it was so fun to meet everyone that was there and make such good, new friends and have a good
weekend get-away :)

#11 FISHING DATE!
Hill, Jac, and I decided to do a little triple date and go fishing and bbq and have a fire at my dad's fishing club. It was really fun to mess around fishing with a bunch of friends. I'll definately have to do it again! (Kevin, Hillori, Shad, Me, Jacquie, and Brandon)

Last but not least.......
#11 ISLAND PARK/YELLOWSTONE/TETONS!
My family went over Labor day weekend and camped one night in Island park, stayed in a hotel in yellowstone the next night, and camped in the tetons for the third night! I guess this didn't really happen this SUMMER. But close enough! My dad took all the pictures and I don't have them yet, so sorry no picture!
I've decided that the Tetons are my very favorite. We saw more things there than yellowstone, and it was GORGEOUS! We saw lots of deer and elk, buffalo, a coyote, and the coolest.... a PACK of wolves! Blake had been talking about it all weekend that he just wanted to see a wolf. And that we did! It was so neat :)

Well, I would love to go on and on about all of these, but this is a huge post.
I need to do better, and I will!
As for now, I'm living in a really cute apartment with Hillori, Jacquie, and Taylor. We were all friends before and I LOVE knowing all my roomates. They are all so fun and our place is so cute! Pictures to come!
That's all for now!