New Years Resolutions and the Year in Review

"I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the technique of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When you learn to master the principle of setting a goal, you will then be able to make a great difference in the results you attain in this life." --Elder M. Russell Ballard

Everyone goes around setting goals at the start of each and every New Year. And then those goals get abandoned a few weeks into the year, if not sooner. I really hope that I will be able to stick to mine. I don't care if I miss a few days of some, or struggle with them, I just hope to struggle, and really care to achieve them, you know? So here goes, my list of goals for 2009.

-Set a daily scripture study plan, and stick to it! Try to implement in Preach My Gospel when possible.
-Limit my internet time - by a lot!
-Do my homework THE NIGHT IT IS ASSIGNED. That will save a lot of stress and heartache later.
-Go to the temple once a week.
-Magnify my calling! I love my calling! Why not do all I can do magnify it?
-Budget. No, really, I can do this.
-Perform more service. I often find myself thinking of things I can do, but not doing them. I've got to change that.
-Get my GPA above a 3.0 this semester. (Yes, my grades fall semester were that bad. Don't say anything.) KEEP it above a 3.0 next semester, and try to get it above 3.5 in the semesters to come.
-Pray more for others, and for me to be an instrument in God's hands.
-Watch what I eat, cut back on fast food and sweets. Yes to veggies!
-Write in my journal more.

I know this is kind of long, but I think I can do it. I think I'm going to break each of these down into smaller goals in my journal, but for my blog, this is sufficient :)
I am so excited for this new year. Just for a fresh start, and a fresh change. There's always a crisp newness in the air in January, and I like it. I am so grateful for the things in my life. Friends, family, my ward, my calling... Life is going so well right now, and I have nothing to really get down on myself about. Things happen, and I just need to take them as they come... I feel like making another list, entitled, Things I am Especially Grateful for at the End of 2009.

-Ayisha. Hands down, she is my best friend. She has gotten my through tough times this year. Without her, I would be a complete wreck! We've always been close since 7th grade, but our friendship has been kind of sporatic, but we've always known that we're there for each other, and we always drift back together. We've gotten increasingly closer this year, and I'm so grateful for her. She always knows what to say, and what to do. Everyone needs a best friend like her. I love you Ish!
-Dani. How many people have a best friend they've known since they were 10, and then get to live with them in college? Dani has been great... We've been going through some of the same things this year, and I truly think we have been placed in each others lives for this moment. I love her to death.
-Aaron, and Collin. These boys can make my day, even from Washington and New Caledonia. Aaron is the twin brother I always wanted, but never had. Collin is like... the dog I never had. Just kidding. He's so great! I miss them both, and can't wait for them to come home. In the meantime, keep those letters coming!
-Caleb, and his leaving on a mission. We've been through so many things together, and I love him. We're truly stonger because of each other, and having him gone has strengthened me a lot spiritually, mentally and just all around. I'm so proud of him.
-Mom/Charity. What an awesome family I have. It may be small, but I love them.
-My MG's. Oh girls, if I hadn't meet you, I don't know where I would be! These girls always know what to say, and what to do. We're a support for each other, and best friends as friends could be. I'll love these girls forever.
-My job. Thank goodness for Joe Baxter who told me to apply. I've made so many great friends, and just had blast working at Seven Peaks in the summer, as well as now. I've learned so much, and am contemplating making HR my career. I've been blessed to have been moved up in the company, and to have a contract signed through the end of September. Upper management is wonderful, and I get lots of perks too :) I absolutely love my job, and the people I work with.
-My ward/calling. This ward has been amazing. I love Bishop Jeffs and his family. This ward has been fun, and spiritual, and exactly what I needed. I couldn't ask for better girls to be in the presidency with me - Corinne, Mal and Lili. How I love them!
-My ward besties. Emily, Natalie, and Landon... (As well as Leah, Riley, Josh, Amy and apts 33 and 36.) But most those top three... They have been a great stress reliever and support to me. I'm so glad I met them! I love these guys! College friends are like family.. You go through so much together!
-My testimony. It has been tried and tested this year, to be sure. At this time last year, I was at a spiritual low, and now I can say that even though I'm not at a complete high, my testimony has grown SO much stronger this year.
I love this Church, and Heavenly Father, and Christ so much. I'm so grateful for EVERYTHING. Even though this has been an incredibly hard year, I have been so blessed! New friends, new job, a new faith. No matter what stands in the way of me this year, I know that I can make it through.

Girls Night Madness, and other thoughts

I just found out that my cousin Katrina is expecting her 5th baby! And my cousin Joe's wife Nikki is pregnant with their first! I'm so excited for them! I'm the baby cousin on the Galbraith side, and all my cousins are married other than my cousin Marissa who's 24 (I think?) I guess I need to get married and have kids to keep up with my cousins. Haha, jk. Marriage? Ah, that's such a big word. Full of so many implications... I'm not old enough for that! Or am I? Weird....

Anyway, today is... Tuesday? The days all blend together during breaks from school and work.
Sunday night, me and Aubs had a girls night. We're pretty adventurous, I must say. I was feeling sick (see previous post) but I decided that I really didn't need another night to sit around and feel sorry for myself, so I had Aubs come get me. Dr. Aubrey took care of me, and gave me a Mountain Dew and 2 Advil's. I had another one or two cans of the Dew before the night was over... We ventured around Walmart at about 1 am. Grabbed some temporary tat's and some eggnog. We drove around. Took some sweet pictures with our tat's, and then more awesome pictures with Photobook on Aubrey's Mac. We ate her leftover Cafe Rio at like 3 am. Really - we were a bit crazy, and out of control. We feel asleep at like 3:30 am in Aubs' bed, watching Rent. And don't worry, we woke up at 12 noon the next day. It was pretty great. I'll put some pictures on here, but for full coverage of the nights events, go check out my album on facebook entitled "Girls Night Madness." You'll love it.

Last night I slept on my couch, partly due to the fact that I have a huge, enormous pile of clothes on my bed, and partly due to the fact I was watching crazy/beautiful until like midnight. Then, I had a miniature breakdown, but I'm doing ok. Life is weird, isn't it?

Ill

I am so ill.
Like, seriously, sick.
Not with a hacking cough or runny nose or anything..
But I have the worst stomachache ever, my insides are trying to tear me up. My back feels like it's broken, and my head is threatening mutiny. I haven't done anything but trying to sleep, blog and facebook all day. I did take a shower, so that's kind of productive, right?
Seriously though, I'm dying here on my couch. I've barely eaten, and I'm supposed to go to a girl's night tonight with Aubs, but I'm not sure if I'll make it. Why would this happen after such a wonderful night last night??
Now excuse me as I make myself comfortable on my couch.
What am I going to do? I have no idea.
None of my movies sound good, and TV is lame.
Boo you sickness. Booooooo.

The Holidays!

It's been a while since I've blogged. What with finishing up finals, and partying, and going home for a week, I've been busy! The end of finals went... well? I think. We'll see when grades are uploaded....
Thursday, after my last final, I went down to #4, talked to Nat, and then proceeded to fall asleep on their couch. Nat left while I was sleeping, then Em came home from work, and gave a little scream as she saw me laying on their couch. Ha. That's how much of a second home #4 is to me :) A little later, Jordan came and picked me up, and we went to Trafalga, where we experienced the newest attraction, the 3-D ride! It was awesome. Since I have the hookups there, we got to go on all three rides for FREE! And it was only us, and the accountant for my company Jim, and his family. It was so great. After, we drove around a bit, and met up with Colton and Nat at Muse Music. One of Colton's mission companions was doing a show there. He was way good, we really liked him. Then, we went over to their other friends house and watched Casablanca. Good movie!! After the movie ended, the boy took us home, and Nat and I stayed up late, watching movies, making cookies and mac and cheese, and just talked. It was so great. I love Nat so much!! We've become such good friends this semester :)
The next day, I went home, and spent the next week hanging out with my cute mom and adorable little sister. Chari was so excited for me to come home, and she slept in my bed every night I was there. I felt like a mother I was woken up by her so much during the night. 'Britt, I need a drink.' 'Britt, I need to go potty.' etc etc etc. She lost her two bottom front teeth! Crazy... She's growing up! Christmas was great... The best present I got was.... TALKING TO MY BEST FRIEND AARON ON THE PHONE! His dad called and wanted me to be in on the conference call, it was amazing! Oh how I miss him. 45 minutes of him, me, and his immediate family. I loved it. His family is so amazing, they're definitely like my second family... Maybe third or fourth, after Dani and Ayisha's. Or maybe I just have 3 different second families :)
Let's see. Friday, Ayisha came to get me, and we moved all my stuff home to my apartment, and then had a party/sleep over night. Watching Mr and Mrs Smith, eating delicious pizza, making (and burning) cookies, playing Guitar Hero for hours.... I love my best friend! She's great. She really is a life saver. Yesterday we went to the mall, and I got a gorgeous dress for Adrianne's wedding!! I spent more than I wanted to, but I was in love with it!
Anyway... Then, after I got home, Jordan called me up, and he came and got me, and we headed up to Sandy to hang out with Mike and Colton. We went to Burger King (first time eating there sicne I was 5... I didn't throw up, although, I do feel sick, but probably because I ate a massive double whopper, haha). We played Left 4 Dead, where I got to kill zombies for an hour. I really enjoyed it actually... Haha. Then we went and saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was so so good!! There were no loose endings, and I couldn't see it being any different in anyway. Everything tied in so well... I was worried about that for a while, because the movie is like 3 hours long, but it was so great. Loved it. Plus, Brad Pitt is an amazing actor, and very good looking :) I got home at like 1:30am because me and Jord had to drive back down to Provo after the movie ended. It was just a good time. And Jordan is broadening my music knowledge (?) haha. Good times.
So, I think that's about it. I have one more week before school starts. I'm excited for the new year. I feel like I've been kind of stuck in a rut lately, and I'm ready for a fresh start. I have to clean up my apartment too.. It's so messy! And we're getting a new roommate, I'm kind of nervous, but it will be good :)
Oh-a few quick updates. Katie and Jason got engaged, Camille and Logan got engaged, M'Recia and Brent got engaged, Adrianne and Jed get married on Friday, and my cousin Rex and his wife Megan had their baby - Mia Mae! It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks... I'm excited for all of them!!
Love you guys!

Procrastination

It's finals week.
I only have 3 finals - French, Humanities and Modern Dance. French and Humanities I have to majorly study for, and for Modern, I have yet to finish my choreography or start my written final. Bah. It's not too bad though. Well, I hope not. The actual studying isn't that bad - it's just getting me to do it. I decided to update all my loyal blog readers on my week. It was pretty crazy busy. I was finishing up extra credit and papers and projects for my classes.
Wednesday was Leah's birthday and me, Trev, Landon, Nat, Leah, Natalie, Becca, Emily and Brad went out to Chili's for dinner. Soo good! Then we went back to #4 and had cake and ice cream, and a bunch more people came over, like Nathan, Brenden, Kyle, Amy, Garyn, Lili etc. Leah got her fishies for her birthday! Dolce, Gabbana and Esquire Lamar Georgie Landon. (Such a big name for such a little guy! Haha.) It was a super fun night.

Let's see... Thursday, I went up to SLC with the MG's. We walked around Temple Square and got hot chocolate. It was so great! I love the MG's so much, they truly do save my sanity. And as you all know, I absolutely LOVE the Salt Lake Temple. I just feel such a strong connection to it. I love it.

It was such a good night. Friday was a reading day. That equals SLEEPING IN. Oh my goodness, it was so great to sleep in. I didn't get out of bed until like 11:30. It was great.
I went to the temple with Sara, Corinne and Lili. I hadn't been in a few weeks, so it was really great to go again. We go at pretty much the same time every Friday, and we've made friends with the regulars. There's a man who is super happy all the time, he's so great. There's the baptistry coordinator, who will crack jokes to us sometimes. There's the sweet old man who is usually a witness who looks like he's asleep most of the time. There's the woman who is very on top of everything and makes sure that everyone follows the rules. There's the young man who sometimes baptizes us, that furrows his brow when he says the prayer, it's so cute. There's the woman who brings in her handicapped daughter to do baptisms, they're both the sweetest things. I feel like I'm going home to my Temple family whenever I go there :) It's so great. Friday night me, Dani, Garyn and Andrew went and saw the Broadway version of A Christmas Carol. It was hilarious. We were laughing the whole time.. But you probably had to be there. Later that night me, Nat, Brad, JJ, Tyson, Andrew and Dani watched the Dark Knight in the lounge. That movie is incredible. Then after me, JJ, Nat and Brad stayed and talked until like 3 am. Saturday morning, me, Mal, and Lili got together to make our presidency Christmas treats to take to the girls in our ward. We made pretzels with hugs melted on them, and red and green M&Ms in the middle. We talked, and danced around and sang to Christmas songs and it was snowing. I really felt like Christmas was here. I love those girls, they're so amazing. Nat cut my hair on Saturday, to even out my A-line. Later that night I went and hung out with Landon and Riley for a little bit, then I went and hung out with Taylor and (a different) Riley. We watched the new X-Files movie. It was.... weird. We'll leave it at that.
Yesterday was Sunday, and after church, I played a bunch of Rock Band with Kyle, Garyn, Sam and Jay.... And we watched Fletch! - an old Chevy Chase movie. It was pretty hilarious. So, like I said, this week has been crazy. But it's also been lots of fun. I go home on Friday, and I'm excited to spend time with Mom and Chari :) Charity lost her first tooth! She called me up all excited.

And as a finale to this blog post - I ran across this great article yesterday. http://cityguides.msn.com/citylife/cityarticle.aspx?cp-documentid=15819667&GT1=24000 It's about a Chuck E Cheese's in Wisconsin, and it totally cracked me up. I doubt it will be as funny to some one who hasn't worked there... But you might still enjoy it at least a little bit.

Weekendness

Here I am, procrastinating yet again.
No worries, I only have three tests, one paper and 2 finals I should be studying for. It's not a big deal, haha. So, I think I blogged early Saturday morning. Well, let me fill you in on the rest of my weekend. Britt came over and we went to Wendy's for lunch and caught up on each other's lives. Then, we went over to Jake's for like 3 hours and watched football and hung out. Oh boy, it was fun. Then, I went home, got ready and Leanna came and picked me up. We went shopping for Adrianne's bridal shower - at Victoria's Secret of course! Then we headed on over to the shower. It was so fun, and it was so good to catch up with my MG's. I haven't seen them in such a long while. We're planning on heading up to Temple Square this Thursday night which I am so excited for! I love the SLC temple, and I absolutely love the lights up there, so gorgeous. Pair that with my favorite girls ever - it's going to be a fantastic time :) After the bridal shower I went over to Amy's where Mel's birthday party was in full swing. We had a dance party, got a little crazy, you know, the usual for my ward. Me and Honka had a good (and serious!) conversation about 'intimacy in marriage' haha, and Brad showed off his mad dancing skills - to Britney Spears of course. I got home around 1 ish, then talked to Dani until like 2.
Sunday was awesome. We as a presidency gave a lesson about Visiting Teaching and the importance of it. It went really well, and each of us got across the message we wanted to, and in the right mood. The Spirit was definitely there. During Sunday School, I caught up with my ward besties (Riley's now officially in the ward!) and we all sat together and kicked each other's chairs and tried to be reverent. Sacrament Meeting was Fast and Testimony meeting. I wasn't planning on getting up this Sunday, but while the Sacrament was being passed, and I was praying and rereading my Patriarchal Blessing, I got some answers to prayers, and my heart was so full, I just about sprinted down to the pulpit as soon as I could. Ok, not really sprinted, but I just felt like I had to bear my testimony.
I really am so incredibly grateful for all that the Lord has done for me.
He helps me through each and every day. I have come to rely on Him so much in the past year. It's really amazing just how much He knows each and every one of us. He loves us so incredibly much. I hope to be the daughter He expects me to be. I'm also so grateful for the Atonement. SO grateful.
Testimony's are amazing. The power and Spirit they bring into a room are so strong. My ward is so amazing. I love it so much.
Anyway, so after Church, we had our Presidency meeting. It had been a few weeks since we have all been together, so it was so great to catch up with each other. I absolutely love and adore those girls. Lili, Mallory and Corinne. Each of their spririts is so strong, I love these girls. And Sister Jeffs also, she is a huge example to me.
Then of course, later that night was the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, which is always great. I love our Prophet, and other Church leaders!! Jay came over and watched it with me and Dani, then later Kyle came over just to say hi. Thank goodness for Home Teachers!
Wow, I think that's about it. I was really on a Gospel high yesterday, I loved it!
On a more temporal note, ONLY THREE MORE DAYS OF CLASSES!
Yes, I am excited. You should be too.
Ok, on to studying.

Recent Happenings

Let's see...
Thursday night was French Cheese night!! It was so fun. It was me, Whitney, Megan, Jourdan, Lana and M. Le Prof. Haha, it was pretty great. I LOVE French bread and cheese. Heavenly. Just not roquefort, or any of that blue cheese stuff. Nope. I especially love Boursin - basically garlic cheese. YUM. Then I went and hung out with Nat, Leah, Emily, Landon, Trevor and Riley. We hadn't all hung out together in so long, it was so good to see them again!
Then, last night was my work party. It was pretty sweet. The family that owns Seven Peaks own like at least 4 other companies, and so this was like, the Corporate Christmas party for all the top people in each company. And, yes, I was invited. You could bring a date, but me, Aubrey and Malae decided to go as a threesome. I'm pretty sure we were the only single people there, it was awesome. It was like a dinner party, so we got all dressed up, and had a dinner buffet with beef, chicken, fish, pototoes, veggies, rolls... etc. And for dessert it was crepes. It was so good. Then we played this trivia game (table against table) and I won a George Foreman grill! I am so excited to put that to good use! After the party, me, Malae and Aubs went over to Jake's - well, his friends house apartment - and watched a movie and just hung out. It was way fun. Jake cracks me up, he makes me laugh all the time when I'm with him. Good times...
And that was my weekend so far. Me and Britt are going out to lunch today, and then it's ADRIANNE'S BRIDAL SHOWER! I am so freaking excited. Leanna and I are getting together before to go get her stuff. I have missed my MG's so much. I'm way excited to see them all, and to celebrate Adrianne's upcoming wedding, woohoo!
I guess that's all... I'll blog later, no worries.

New Career Option

So, a quick note. I decided today (in yet another one of my Intro to the English Major classes) that I think I want to get an MBA in OB/HR (Organizational Behavior and Human Resources.) Random? Absolutely. Scary? Beyond terrifying. Exciting? Uh, duh. Random, because what the heck? Me, go to the Marriot School of Business to get my Masters? What the? Where am I and who took over my body? Scary, because that means I have to super apply myself and get good grades. And I'll have to take the GMAT. And that means I have to remember Math, and lots of other stuff too. And then, apply to get in. And then if I get in, taking all the ridiculously hard classes and applying myself and getting good grades, and not procrastinating and ..... etc. I'm such a procrastinator/does-not-apply-herself kind of person. But, I know that I am smart enough to do it, I just need to get my study habits under control. Holy crap, what am I going to get myself into? Exciting, because... Well, I've really enjoyed working HR these past 5 months, and could really see myself doing it as a career. Plus, hello? Getting an MBA? How awesome would that be.
I'm glad that class is good for something. Turned me away from being an English major and made me want to get an MBA.
Anyway. I'll let you know how that goes.

Last Night

So, yesterday was H-night, as me and Landon dubbed it. We went to Hip Hop club, watched Heroes, and contemplated other H-words such as hamburgers, hot dogs and hibiscuses.
Anyway. I was going to go to bed early, I had finished my homework that needed to be done the next day (shocker, I know) and I was going to not waste anymore time on facebook, and get much needed sleep. So, around 10:30, I had brushed my teeth, and was sitting in bed, reading my scriptures and texting Jake. I was about to switch off the light when this guy called Dani. I won't give any background, because it really doesn't matter. Anyway, she came in, and we discussed what had been said. Then Adrea came in and we discussed that somemore with her. Adrea left. Me and Dani got in bed, lights out and everything. By this time it was about 11:15. So then, we talked a bit more, and I was almost asleep, when Adrea came in with Kenny on the phone. He got put on speaker. Alright, I was pretty awake now. I tried to go to sleep. Started thinking about Caleb.. Teared up, started crying. I heard Dani get up, grab her book/journal and head out the door. I wasn't anywhere near sleep at this point, so I went out to the living room, told her (with tears streaming down my face) that I wasn't going to bed yet either, so she could come back in. She did. It was 12 am. We both sat and talked and read our scriptures and wrote in our journals. I wrote Caleb a letter. We talked, and reminisced. We were laughing our heads off at some points, and at others we were bawling. We both took some all natural anxiety pills. We were pretty out of control at this point. Like really, we were tired and emotional and anxious... Oh boy. Finally, at about 1 am, we switched off the light again.
I fell asleep almost immediately.
I'm so grateful for a good roommate (and best friend!) who pops pills with me, cries with me, talks with me, and stays up late because we're emotional wrecks with me.
I love my Danielle Elena Israelsen!!!

Mumble Jumble

First, I just realized that I basically copied Anna's lastest blog title. Sorry Anna!!

Also, I'm kind of doing what Anna did on her latest blog post, which is a random assortment of thoughts.. Thanks Anna for giving me a good and random idea for a blog post :)

1. I freaking want a Wii.

You have no idea how bad I want one right now! Really. I would buy Guitar Hero, and RockBand, and play Wii Sports and Wii Fit and MarioKart. Oh my... I would spend so much money on just the freaking games if I had a Wii (not to mention the Wii itself.) Basically because I would have to have every edition of RockBand and Guitar Hero.

2. I finally figured out why I thought I couldn't move my pictures around on my blog posts. I was on Edit HTML, not Compose. Duh Brittanny!

3. This is my first post in December! Woohoo! I love new months!

4. It is currently 12:54 pm, tomorrow in Korea.

5. Names of my future children: Joshua Kay, Daniel (or Matthew) Blake, Emma Leigh, Madalyn Elise and Sophie Belle.

6. I still don't like Twilight.

7. There's only 1 1/2 weeks of classes left! I'm excited, but ah! Stress!! I should probably be studying instead of blogging... Oh well.

8. I am so freaking excited and full of energy at the moment! Not for me, but for someone else who shall remain un-named. I'll let you know when I can tell you.

9. I just played RockBand for FHE. That's right, my family is cooler than yours.

10. I want to see some fireworks.

11. I should really be done now....

What I Did Over Thanksgiving Break

I ate two whole apple pies. No really, I did.



I got a fabulous letter from Caleb :) And I wrote to him, Collin and Aaron.


I reread all of Harry Potter #7. Yes, I am a HP junkie, so sue me.



I watched an all day marathon of What Not to Wear. It's my new addiction.

Looking Forward To....

1. This semester to be over!!
2. To finally get started with my major classes
3. Aaron coming home in November 2009!!
4. Mine and Caleb's 2 year anniversary April 29, 2009.
5. Caleb's year mark July 30, 2009.
6. Working all summer. (Ok, that one is kind of sarcastic... Haha.)
7. Graduating from school either December 2010, or April 2011.
8. Caleb coming home July 2010!!! Woohoo.
9. Adrianne's wedding!! January 2!
10. All the other MG's boys coming home and their weddings :)
11.December 2010
12.Christmas!!
13.Wedding/Honeymoon etc etc etc
14.My 20th birthday - August 28, 2009.

Hmm. If I think of any others I'll let you know. I got a wonderful letter from Aaron yesterday. Oh my goodness I love my best friend. He's doing so amazing. He's now a trainer! Woohoo. His letter made me cry, I'm so grateful for this wonderful 'big brother' of mine :) Caleb's doing great too... I haven't gotten a letter this week, but I'll survive. Haha, I sort of have to.
I hung out with Ayisha last night, man that girl saves me. We ran errands and bought the boys their Christmas presents. I am so lame and unoriginal. Haha, and can I just say that I hate going into Missionary Mall to buy stuff and then all the nice young men who work there question my motives. Blah. One day I will be able to go buy things in there and say, yes, he's been out more than a year, now kindly shut your mouth. One day. Me and Ish also reminisced on the old days of junior high and all the ridiculous things we did. We're not sure how we made it through alive, haha. We also are like the same person. We go through the same phases at the same time, we think the same thoughts, we can basically read the other persons mind. I don't think there has ever been a second of drama between us. It's amazing. I'm so grateful for her! Best friends for 8 years, and counting...
Well, I believe that is about it.
I love my life, and the possibilities that are endless.
I love the Gospel.
I love my friends and family.
I love Caleb.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone :)

Maneater

That's what I feel like right now.
Blast it all.
I need to get myself under control.

Landon was mean to me last night, but I needed it.
I need to take a break from boys.
(Ha, me? Take a break from boys? Let's get real here.)

Oh, I miss Caleb.
I love him I love him I love him.
And he loves me.
Completely, holding nothing back.
He loves me for me.
I wish he were here.
To hold me, calm me down.
To look me in the eyes and tell me that he loves me and everything will be alright.
I miss that.

I miss him.

I Want This.

Life Goes On

Only 3 more days of class until Thanksgiving break. That in and of itself is something to give thanks for! Basically, if I can make it through Tuesday, the rest of the semester will be a piece of cake. But I have first got to make it through Tuesday... And 4 papers that have yet to be written. Yes my friends, I am a major procrastinator. I am also the epitome of a college student. Stay up late, don't do homework, and don't go to class. At least, that's how I feel today. Next semester I'll do better, I swear.
Hmmm. Last night I finally hung out with the MG's - Adrianne, Leanna, Nikki, Kaley and Lindsay. And of course, Just Jed. Him and Adrianne are sickeningly cute. (That is so not a word....) But we still love it. It was Leanna's year mark! And B posted the cutest thing on his blog about it. We were all crying... But it was a good cry, mostly. We miss our boys though. How could we not? I got a wonderful letter from Caleb on Tuesday. Man, that boy knows exactly the right words to say. I don't know how he does it. It's amazing. He told me how much he loves me and is grateful for me. He said that the language is coming along slowly, but surely. He's doing great. I'm sad that he doesn't get my letters very regularly though :(
Let's see... The BYU vs UofU game is this Saturday at 4:00 pm!! Ah, I can't wait! We will slaughter them! (...I hope...) I missed the finale of ANTM because Landon and Nat had to go on a date, and so we were all threatened with death if we watched it. For real... We love them though. Tonight me and Trev are going to make Muddy Buddies. Yum. Those things are delicious. My bamboo plant at work is growing nicely. I don't work again until December 2. My life is great.
I am however waiting on a letter from dear Elder Rog himself. The boy told me he was being transferred and would write me asap. That was about 3 weeks ago. His letter's only take a couple of days for me to get. So my letters to him are stuck in limbo at my house, because I don't know where to send them. Sad day. And his blog is suffering also.
I think that's about all the news I have for today.
The Church is true, I have great friends and a great ward, and I love Caleb.
Can life get any better? ... No. It can't. Except, of course, Caleb could be here with me. But that's ok :)

MVHS - the best!

1. DID YOU DATE SOMEONE FROM YOUR SCHOOL?
I sure did :) Zach sophomore year, Braden junior and part of senior year, Caleb end of senior year!

2.WHAT KIND OF CAR DID YOU DRIVE?
Did I drive? Ha. No.

3. DID YOU PASS YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE TEST YOUR FIRST TRY?
Heck yes I did. But do I have my license? No.

4. WERE YOU A PARTY ANIMAL?
Hahah. Yes.

5. WERE YOU CONSIDERED A FLIRT?
Yep, I sure was. I was a huge flirt...

6. WERE YOU IN BAND, ORCHESTRA, OR CHOIR?
None of the above.

7. WERE YOU A NERD?
Yeah, but I was a cool nerd.

8. WERE YOU ON ANY VARSITY TEAMS?
I was on Dance Company and Drill, that counts, right?

9. DID YOU EVER GET SUSPENDED/EXPELLED?
Psh, no.

10. CAN YOU STILL SING THE FIGHT SONG?
Heck yes!

11. WHO WERE YOUR FAVORITE TEACHERS?
Nr. Rich - junior year English teacher. Basically my idol, the man was amazing.

12. WHERE DID YOU SIT FOR LUNCH?
In the hall outside of the lunch room by the lockers...

13. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S FULL NAME?
Mountain View High School

14. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S MASCOT AND COLORS?
We were the Bruins - female bears for those who don't know. And our colors were Cardinal, White and Gold.

15. DID YOU GO TO HOMECOMING AND WITH WHO?
Sophomore year I didn't go - not 16! Haha. Junior year I went with my friend Scott Carlson (that's the night I met Caleb!) And Senior year was with Braden Hellewell - my then boyfriend, it was an awesome night.

16. IF YOU COULD GO BACK AND DO IT AGAIN WOULD YOU?
Hm, no.

17. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT GRADUATION?
They split up our class boys and girls - but since I was in Bruin Crew (like Student Council) we all got to sit together. Me and my best friend Ayisha were both in Bruin Crew so we got to graduate together :)

18. WHERE DID YOU GO SENIOR SKIP DAY?
Ha, we had an 'unofficial' one. My group of friends went to the mall and to Jamba Juice and drove around like crazies.

19. WERE YOU IN ANY CLUBS?
French Club, National Honor Society, Bruin Crew, Dance Company, Drill.. Probably more, I was super involved.

20. HAVE YOU GAINED SOME WEIGHT SINCE THEN?
Yep, I have. And I'm not as toned anymore :(

21. WHO WAS YOUR PROM DATE?
Again, not 16 for sophomore year. Junior year was my friend Zach Stocks and senior year was my dear Caleb :)

22. ARE YOU PLANNING ON GOING TO YOUR 10 YEAR REUNION?
Heck yes!

23. DID YOU HAVE A JOB IN HIGH SCHOOL?
I worked at Chuck E. Cheese's my junior and senior years. I absolutely loved it!!

Random Tidbits

I'm pretty terrible at updating my blog sometimes. A lot has happened, and I've been busy. Ok, I lied, not a lot has happened, at least, not anything that is really worth writing about. I guess I'll just start talking and see what happens - that's what I usually do. Anyway. This past week was a weird one. Ayisha was gone, problem number one. I don't function very well without my best friend here to vent to, haha. Also, some things have been going on that I am confused about. Except not really. Confused isn't the right word... I've definitely been struggling a little bit though, and I don't really know what to do. My letter that came last Monday made all the difference - but... Well, it's sort of a complicated mess. I wish Caleb were here to help me, but then again, if he were here, I wouldn't be going through this. Weird how that works out. Suffice it to say I'm madly in love with Caleb though - there's never been any worry about that. Gah, I miss him so much. After certain events happened on Thursday night, I just came home and cried like I haven't for a while.
What else... On Friday I was able to go to Caleb's little sister Janell's dance concert. I love her to death, so it was really fun to go watch her dance. Afterwards, she came back to my house and we just chilled for a little bit. Later that night, I was talking to my friend Mike, who I hadn't talked to in forever and he said he had an extra ticket to the BYU choir concert, so we went to that. Loved it. I forgot how much fun we have together... :) Then I hung out with ward friends. Oh how I love my ward. Seriously, they make all the difference in my life, I'm so lucky to be in this ward!! I finally got to see Ayisha on Saturday night. She's the only one that I can tell anything and everything to (other than those great boys who are on missions right now.. aka Caleb, Aaron and Collin). I was so full of emotions and stories, I thought I was going to burst.
Oh!!! This is important.

Friday, November 14th, was Aaron's YEAR MARK.

I only have to wait one more year for my best friend to come home. Then the next 8 months will be a breeze. I can hardly wait for that airport scene.... Haha. And I'm talking about with Aaron, not Caleb. I mean I can't wait for that one either, but ya know. Love Aaron, love my best friend/twin/brother from another mother. Ha.
Well, I have more things I could say, but I've gotta jet to class. Maybe later.

Back from class... Well, I have been for a while. And I'm wondering why I am so not motivated this semester. I usually at least want to do something. I have been so apathetic. I don't undertand, because it's not really me. Even last year when I was going through my rough spell, I wasn't like this. This year I'm incredibly happy, have great friends, and love life, but am apathetic. How backwards is that? Oh brother. Oh well. I love life, I really do. I am so incredibly lucky to be going to BYU, it's such a good school. ... Hm. I need to get motivated somehow, I hate it though, because I feel like it's so close to the end of the semester that I should just not and wait for next semester. Procrastination is obviously a weakness of mine. Haha. I'm ridiculous. And now I'm just rambling. K, I'm stopping. Hopefully the next post will have some sort of point :)

Here are the rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Answer the six "8" items.
3. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

8 Favorite TV Shows:
1. HEROES!! My favorite ever. The only show I watch religiously. Mine and Caleb's fav.
2. The Office - my kind of humor. It's hilarious.
3. The IT Crowd. It's a British comedy about nerds. Love it. Me, Caleb, Collin and Aaron would watch it over and over and over again.
4. 24. This is the show that brought me and Caleb together, we would have 24 parties.. And most of the time it was just us, haha.
5. ANTM - I've recently gotten addicted to this because of Landon and Leah. Love it. This seasons top 4 is great, they are all so nice.. I'm rooting for Analeigh!
6. CSI - just the original, non of this Miami, NYC stuff.
7. Uh, I don't think I watch any more.
8. Ditto.

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Skipped two of my classes in order to study and take two tests
2. Went to Janell's dance concert. (Caleb's little sister).
3. Hung out with her at my apartment until her mom came home from visiting Frannie (another sister).
4. Went to the BYU Concert Choir/Singers concert with my awesome friend Mike Morrell!
5. We then went to Chuck E Cheese's in order to reminisce... And we talked to Matt E. for like 20 minutes.
6. Went to a crazy dance party at my apartment complex.
7. Watched Baby Mama with my good ward friends in the lounge - I was most defintely asleep for most of it.
8. Went to bed at 2:30 am.

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. This semester being over
2. Aaron coming home in November!
3. Getting started on my major
4. Adrianne/Jed's wedding. Ah!
5. Caleb coming home... And all that that entails... 20 more months :)
6. The day I will finally go to Paris and see the Eiffel Tower for myself.
7. Being besties with the MG's forever as we compare baby notes and marriage notes and have big group dates... :)
8. Finally getting married, and getting to plan my wedding! Yay!

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Los Hermanos
2. Macaroni Grill
3. Wendys
4. Panda Express
5. Pizza Factory
6. Wingers
7. Red Robin
8. Applebees

8 Things On My Wish List:
1. A car
2. More money
3. A never ending supply of jeans
4. A shirt/purse/scarf/anything and everything from Paris
5. Caleb
6. To own an infinite supply of scrapbooking items
7. A closet just for my purses/scarfs - and more of them.
8. Eternal life :)

Gimme Gimme

I need MG time.
Badly.

Love my MG's.

A Montage of Thoughts

Today is going to be sort of a montage of lots of different thoughts and things. I've had sort of an interesting week. I've been really struggling with missing Caleb as some others things have been happening in my life. Things are just so difficult without him here. I depended on him for so long, it's hard for me to not be able to call him up, and get advice from him, or to just sit in his arms and think. I refound an old favorite song of mine this week. It's titled "Waiting" and is by Maren Ord. The lyrics are as follows:

I'm sitting here
And I'm waiting patiently
For the clock to turn
It's not all that fast today
So I'm on my own
But I know I'm not alone
I'll be witnessing
A happy ending

chorus
I'm sitting here in silence
I'm waiting here patiently
And I'm wondering
if you're waiting too
I'm sitting here alone now
And I'm waiting here on my own
I'm wondering
If you're waiting for me too

I'm watching now
And I'm seeing
others as they pass me by
It's not a pretty sight
But it will be someday
And it's not that I
It's not that I'm afraid of losing you
I'm afraid of me
And what my choices might do

All the time I seem to wonder
How all this is gonna end
Will you stay with me forever and
Tell me that you'll never go away

Pretty much her entire CD is ideal for MG's. Other good songs include "All I Want" "Everyday" and "Tonight". I highly suggest you go check her out, she's great. She's LDS and the song "Everyday" was featured on the Singles Ward soundtrack.

Moving on, my most wonderful friend and fellow MG Sarah recently published this on her blog - she's amazing, and captured the feelings of an MG perfectly.

Definition

wait |wāt|
verb [ intrans. ]
1 stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or until something else happens
noun
1 the hardest thing I've ever had to do

patience |ˈpā sh əns|
noun
1 the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset
2 something I relearn every day

tolerate |ˈtäləˌrāt|
verb [ trans. ]
1 allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of (something that one does not necessarily like or agree with) without interference
2 an act that is difficult when others around me ridicule my decision

ache |āk|
noun
1 a continuous or prolonged dull pain in a part of one's body
verb [ intrans. ]
1 the way my heart feels

unselfishness |ˌənˈselfi sh nes|
noun
1 the willingness to put the needs or wishes of others before one's own
2 a quality I have to attempt to possess

support |səˈpôrt|
verb [ trans. ]
1 give assistance to; enable to function or act
• give comfort and emotional help to
• approve of and encourage
• be actively interested in and concerned for the success of
noun
1 something conveyed in a letter, email or tape, and shown in every day activities

hope |hōp|
noun
1 a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen
2 the feeling that keeps me alive

optimistic |ˌäptəˈmistik|
verb [ trans. ]
1 to be hopeful and confident about the future
noun
1 the reason I don't give up

love |ləv|
noun
1 an intense feeling of deep affection
2 the strength that God gives me to follow through with what I know is right

mg |ˈem jē|
noun
1 acronym for "missionary's girl"
2 a girl who waits with patience, tolerates unfeeling comments and people, aches inside and still must show unselfishness in all of her pain, exhibits support with every word and action, hopes for the best, is optimistic about her future and loves a missionary and her Heavenly Father with all of her heart.

It is so well put. Simply wonderful :)

I got a wonderful letter from Caleb today. This letter was exactly what I needed after my hard week. Basically it was 3 pages of him telling me how amazing I was, how much he loved me and how grateful he was for me in his life. He said that he is not feeling homesick at all. He also sent me the most recent edition of the newsletter from his mission. It was pretty neat to read about the things that are going on in his mission. He also sent me a letter that his companion wrote to him. (They wrote letters to each other this past week). Just because I am so proud of him, I want to put a bit of that letter here. "You're a Christlike elder! The first thing I noticed when you first came to the mission is your ability to love. You're always smiling and loving others. It's really impressive... Also, you have a combination of patience and humility. You know you have weaknesses, you recognize them and you work and study hard to eliminate them."
I'm so proud of him. And it makes me happy that others recognize how great he is.
I love him, so much.

:)

First, I want to say that I am glad Obama won, and that I think we all should just stand behind our new president and not threaten to move to other countries or bash on those who have different views than us. The last few weeks I have been getting more and more upset at all the vicious mudslinging that has been going on due to the Election, and Prop 8. I think we all need to just calm down a little.

Anyway. I got another letter from Caleb today! It made me happy, and there were even a few photos in it, yay!! He's amazing. He hasn't gotten any of my letters though.. :( I've written him 3! So hopefully he will get them soon. I got a kick out of his letter... He wrote about the first time he ever saw me - I guess it's pretty much engrained in his mind, he can remember everything. That was at the very beginning of junior year... We've come such a long way, it's crazy to think. We have been so so blessed to be in each other's lives.

I guess that's really all I have to say today. Oh, and it snowed. And me and Landon went to Hip Hop club last night. It was pretty awesome. We rocked it. Oh boy. I miss Caleb. I love the boy. Love love love love.

So last year, you only had to be 19 to be an EFY counselor.
This year you have to be 20.
Which means I can't be an EFY counselor.
Because I don't turn 20 until the end of August.
I am so angry.
All I wanted to do next summer is play with teenagers all day and teach them the Gospel and I can't do it because I don't turn 20 soon enough? I'll be a junior in college for goodness sake.
Anger anger anger anger.

Also, it's Election Day.
Boo.

I miss Caleb.

Halloween!

Well. I just woke up, and it is 1:35 pm on Saturday, November 1st. Get ready for my wild insane Halloween night story.
First though, since I haven't blogged in forever, I have to tell a couple other details. First, I got my first letter from Caleb in Korea!! He is going really well, and I love him. It only took a week to get here! So... Hopefully I'll be getting more letters than I originally planned on :)
Let's see, what else did I do this week? I partied with Ayisha and Noel. We went to Macaroni Grill... Oh yum. It was my wards Halloween party, which was out of control since it's my ward. We're always going crazy when we're together. I've hung out with Amy, Mel, Kyle, Brad, Nathan, #4 of course.. And other crazy folks this week. So fun. Uh, I think that's about it for this week. Ok, on to Halloween.
First, after class, I went to the temple with Corinne, Lili and Mallory like we always do on Fridays. I love our temple trips :) Then, after I showered and stuff, I went over to Landon's. Landon, Leah and I watched Scream Queens on VH1. It was way funny.. So we're just chilling until the rest of everyone comes over. We went to a party that Riley helped with and then to one at Alpine Village. We got back and were going to go to an abandoned house, but then noone remembered where it was, and people were lame, so we just stayed at the Riv. Me, Nat, Leah, Landon, and Trevor were the ones that stayed up all night. We watched Prom Night, Billy Madison, and She's the Man. We talked and were crazy and a bit cranky and just had a good time. At about 7:30 this morning we went to Kneaders to partake of some of their wonderful, delicious french toast. Then, we got home and went to bed... And that leads me to now.
Ok, so it wasn't super exciting, but we had a good time. Love my friends. It was probaby the best actual Halloween night in a long time.
I'm not going to lie though, I was missing Caleb a bit. First in the temple, while we were in the chapel, I almost started crying because I wanted him to be with me so bad. And then during Prom Night I almost started crying, because the last time I watched it I was with Caleb and... Well, you know. Memories and all of that. But it's ok, I forced myself to not think about it, and I had a good time.
Speaking of missionaries, JED PROPOSED TO ADRIANNE TODAY!!! I am so freaking excited for them, they are so cute. Oh man, and her ring is gorgeous. Love them.

Decision, and a party

Well, I have made my decision, for now. I am going to major in Family Life: Human Development emphasis, and minor in English Teaching. So. Yes. I feel really good about it... Yesterday I was at the temple and I prayed and said, "Heavenly Father, you always say to make a decision and move forward in it, and so that's what I am doing." My mom was pretty supportive in it too. And, if I decide I want to do a Master's program, I might do Social Work. I still think it is crazy that I am going to do a degree in Family Life, something I never wanted to do. I mean, how Mormon is that? "I went to BYU and graduated in Family Life." Please. And now, here I am.
In other news, I went to the sweetest party EVER last night! Basically a bunch of us got together and dressed up as our different 'sprit animals' and had a dance party. It was awesome. Everyone got way into it, and there was an awesome turn-out. Major dance party going on, wow. I'll put up some pictures now, just so you can see how awesome it was, lol. After the party me and Nat went over to Landon and Josh's and watched What Lies Beneath. I always say I love scary movies, but then, even if they're not scary (and I've seen them before), I freak out during them. Josh said he was really entertained and it made it scarier for him, haha. I guess that's all. I'm hanging out with the MG's tonight, yay! I love them.

Identity Crisis

I had one of those this week. It's actually still going on. I was sitting in my Intro to the English Major class, when all of a sudden, an idea popped into my head. I should be a counselor/social worker. That should be my major. So I was pondering on that the rest of the day. I went home and looked it up on MyMap, and low and behold... Nothing. They got rid of the social work major. Where does that leave me? Even earlier this week, I was contemplating not having French Teaching/Modern Dance as my minor. So here I am, half way through my sophomore year.. and I am stuck. I have wanted to teach English/French since... Well, since I can remember! But now.. All of a sudden that has changed and I don't know why. I was looking throught the list of majors at BYU, and none of them seemed interesting to me. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I can't tell if it is because I am lazy, or if I genuinely want to do something else. I am remotely interested in Psychology, Humanties, and... I hate to admit this, a Family Life degree. (I would do Human Development as my emphasis). What? I mean, I don't look down on those girls who get those degrees, but really? I thought I wanted to do something with my life. I think part of it is that recently, I have been hearing a lot/learning a lot about my divine potential as a woman.. And a mother. The older I get, the more I look toward my future marriage and family with excitement, and I want to do all I can to prepare for that. I am caring less and less about having a degree that will take me in a direction to make money, and more about what the Lord wants me to do with my life. (Not that I was fully into making lots of money before.. But...) I just don't know. I'm freaking out. I would probably still do an English Teaching minor... I just don't know what direction my life is taking right now. And it's a scary thing for me. I am a planner, and now, basically, my plans have fallen apart, and I am not sure how to rebuild them. Oh my.
So that is my rant of the day. This is when I wish Caleb was here so I could just talk to him. He always could calm me down and give me good advice, and help me look at the pros and cons of different decision. I miss him. But he is doing so well in Korea, and I am so excited for him. Yeah. I don't know what to do with my life and I am a 19 year old sophomore at BYU. Oh goody.

Recently...

20 (more) Minutes in Heaven

Yes, that is right. Caleb called me yet again!
At 4 am.
I was most definitely asleep. The first thing he said to me after hello was, "you are dead asleep!" I tried to convince him, that no, I wasn't. Haha. Oh my, it was so good to talk to him, yet again!! They had just arrived in the airport in Korea after a 13 hour flight from LA. It was about 7 pm Korean time. I told him that I was so glad he called again, and he said something like, you won't be in the morning. Yeah right. I am still so happy :) He told me he just had to call me, and that he loves to hear my voice... I can't believe he is in Korea,and neither can he. I told him that the hardest part for me is that I try and try to picture where he is at, and I can't do it. He said he can barely picture it himself, it's like a dream. He told me I was "too cute." (His favorite thing to tell me, haha.) After another 20 minutes of talking... He said he had to go.... He told me he loves me, I told him I love him, and then it was goodbye.
Oh my. I love him. I love his voice. I love that he could call me.
I just love him.

20 Minutes.

Today I had the best 20 minutes of my life. I am not even exaggerating. Well, I suppose all my moments with Caleb were some of the best moments in my life, but now that he is gone... Amazing.
I was waiting and waiting. And then, my phone rang. I squealed. I really did. And then I answered the phone. He sounded just the same. I almost died I was so happy. He is so beyond amazing. We talked just like normal, no awkwardness or anything (not that I thought there would be any.) He told me I was just too cute. And he told me he sent me off another package on Saturday! I am so excited to get my package :) I checked the mail like 4 times before Debbie told me it was Columbus day and the mail wouldn't come. Blasted holiday. But anyway, he told me that he had to go, they were moving to the international terminal. He told me he would try to call me back, which he didn't, but that's ok. He said, "in case I don't get to call you back, I love you." I told him that I loved him too, and that was the end. Those 20 minutes flew by, and I was practically in shock the whole time. But I was so wonderful to hear his voice, especially to hear him say that he loves me. I love and care about him so much, it is such a big feeling. Leanna explained it so well in her blog. It's just amazing how things happen. Yes, I shed a few tears after hanging up with him. But it will be ok. He is the most amazing person I have ever known and .... is just everything to me. The people of Korea are so blessed to have him coming, and I know that Caleb is going to be blessed by the Korean people, as well as being blessed for his decision to serve the Lord. I say this all the time, but I am SO PROUD of him, and the decisions he has made.
I love him.

TODAY

I GET MY PHONE CALL FROM CALEB TODAY IN APPROXIMATELY 40 MINUTES.
I am freaking out.
I had a terrible dream about him not calling me last night. So I am even more anxious for him to call me.
I love him.
I love him I love him I love him.
I will post an update of what words were shared later.
:) YAY!

PACKAGE!

Looks like Caleb did follow the example of his companion!! (Thomas sent Catharine a package today full of stuff too.) Ah. I love this boy so much! No, I take that back, I love this MAN so much. He has truly grown so much since he has left, and will only grow more in the next 21 1/2 months.
So, in my package, I got a shirt (it says South Korea on it, you know the shirts I'm talking about), a 7 page (front and back) letter, tons of pictures, pages from his journal, general conference notes, his drivers license, the collection of songs he sang at conference, a bunch of random papers (like a TRC paper and a cleaning check paper for example) and he sent me a sealed letter that says this on the front of it, "only open on a really miserable day. if reading my other letters dont help and the whole world seems to be against you, give this a try." So cute! (Leanna, I know you and I can just see you saying, I'm not patient enough for that, I'd tear it open! Haha.) Oh my gosh, I am so happy right now. I don't know how many of you know this, but in the 2 1/2 months he's been gone, he has never written 'I love you' in a letter. He's said super cute things, and implied it, but never said it straight out. (** To clarify, he has told me he loves me before. Before the mission we said it to each other all the time. It's just since he has been gone that he hasn't written it to me.) He said it about a million times in this letter!! :) He also told me about the talk on women in the priesthood session, and about how the speaker described the perfect woman. Caleb writes, "You were everything he said. It was an amazing feeling to realize how perfect you are. Sure we both have our faults but with the Lord in both our lives we can become perfect, for him and each other." He said he thought about me through out most of the talks. He also said that before the morning session Motab was singing the song about where love is God is also. He says, "It just really touched me for some reason and I was thinking a lot about you. Just about how our love has God in it. It made me smile but then I wanted to hold you. Oh, well that time will come. I'm glad that I have those memories of you that I can look back on and remember the thoughts and feelings. I guess that will have to do for now." Also in Caleb's conference notes, by the talk about temple marriage, he wrote, "It is so important that we get married in the temple to someone I can be with forever." And the by the side of that there is simple 'B'. You can argue with me, but you can not tell me that that meant anything other than me.
At the end of his letter he wrote a PS. It says, PS I love you so so much.
I literally bawled through this letter. I am so proud of him, and am so lucky to have him in my life. He has made me a better person. He never ceases to amaze me, even though he is not here. I can not wait for him to get out there and to start bringing people unto Christ. That is all he wants to do right now, and I love him for it. Some people say that being apart makes you fall out of love, yet I fall more in love with Caleb every day.
I love him. I love being an MG.

My Personality

ESFJ - "Seller". Most sociable of all types. Nurturer of harmony. Outstanding host or hostesses. 12.3% of total population.

Free Jung Personality Test (similar to Myers-Briggs/MBTI)

Extroverted (E) 55.26% Introverted (I) 44.74%
Sensing (S) 61.54% Intuitive (N) 38.46%
Feeling (F) 61.11% Thinking (T) 38.89%
Judging (J) 62.16% Perceiving (P) 37.84%

-does not like being alone, thinks life has purpose/meaning, organized, values organized religion, outgoing, social, does not like strange people/things - likely intolerant of differences, open, easy to read, dislikes science fiction, values relationships and families over intellectual pursuits, group oriented, follows the rules, affectionate, planner, regular, orderly, clean, finisher, religious, consults others before acting, content, positive, loves getting massages, complimentary, dutiful, loving, considerate, altruistic

-favored careers: wedding planner, social worker, pediatrician, public health employee, kindergarten teacher, business consultant, nurse, human resources manager, office manager, executive assistant, public relations specialist, medical employee, human resources, office worker, social services, child care worker

-disfavored careers: artist, author, filmmaker, philosopher, video editor, musician, poet, tattoo artist, game designer, philosophy professor, international spy, film director, astronaut, art curator, scientist, computer consultant, cartoonist, graphics designer

10/05/08

I feel like I should be blogging. But I'm not sure what about. I guess I can blog about Conference, and about how freaking amazing it was. Really. Most of the talks were about missionaries, or enduring to the end, and have joy and hope. Perfect topics for a girl waiting for a missionary. Some of the talks made me cry... I was able to go to the Saturday afternoon session. I love the Conference Center (thanks Caitlin!). However, I had a rush of emotions. Caleb sang in the MTC choir for the Priesthood session. Knowing that he would be in that same building within a couple hours of me made my heart hurt. I wanted him to be listening to conference with me so I could discuss it with him. There were all these cute couple sitting in front of me, and I wish that they could have been me and Caleb... One day. I didn't get to see the Priesthood session. Of course, the only way I could have seen it would have been to sneak in to a church somewhere, but still. Then I got texts and messages from guys who had seen Caleb, and it made me cry. Why could I not see him singing? Even on a TV screen. It breaks my heart. I love him singing, I love it. In my most recent tape from him, he sang me hymns, and it absolutely melted my heart. I love him. I just finished his calendar. It's so cute, I sort of want to keep it for myself. Haha. I only have three more Conferences alone. I can do this.
Saturday morning I had breakfast with some of the MG's and we watched the morning session. I love them so much, we can just be ourselves and chat about our boys and how much we love them. It's great. I went up to Dani's house (my best friend/roommate). It was her little sister's 16th bday (I've known her since she was 7, weird!) and we had a surprise party for her. It was super fun, but tiring. Those 20 or so sophomores were crazy! Then we slept over and just watched Conference and chilled with her fam. They are like my second family, and it was so fun.
Freak, my internet is so slow.
Um.... Nothing else. My life is great, yet sort of boring. I love alone time. However, I love Caleb time more. But I won't get that for another 22 months. I can do it. I just hate it. I hate it I hate it I hate it. I miss him. I hurt. I ache for him. I might be dramatic, but you would be too if the love of your life was gone. I long for him ALL THE TIME. It consumes me sometimes. He is doing so wonderfully though. He loves the MTC, and is so excited to head out to Korea. He is learning the language well, and is just amazing all around. I'm so proud of him.
I guess that's all for tonight......

TAGGED

6 Random Things About Myself -crap, this is going to be difficult...

1. I'm a Paris freak. I collect pictures of Paris and the Eiffel Tower. I WILL go to Paris for my honeymoon. I own a miniature replica of the Eiffel Tower and a mini French flag. I've taken French for 7 years. I often spell words in French. If people even mention France/Paris I freak out. I love it. Love it love it love it.

2. I make lists for everything. Sometimes they help me, sometimes not. But whenever I'm bored in class, in church or at my house, I start to make a list. A shopping list, a to do list, a things I want to do list etc. Doesn't matter. It's just a list.

3. I facebook stalk and blog stalk. If you're uncomfortable with that, I'm sorry. It's just what I do.

4. I'm in love with a missionary. My missionary. Ok, so that's not random, but is in an important fact of my life :) He is amazing, and he is my hero. I would definitely not be where I am today without him in my life.

5. I am going to double-major in English Teaching and French Teaching. Psych. I'm way excited, but nervous as well! Check back with me in a year to see how that is going.....

6. I don't often get mad, and if I do, I don't usually vocalize it. It's so hard for me to talk when I'm emotional; sad, mad, embarrassed, whatever. I can't talk. It's sort of ridiculous.

I love my life, can I just tell you?? And I got the greatest package from Caleb today :) A letter, pictures, a tape, a drawing and some pages out of his planner... Oh how I love him. He's so amazing.

MG Love, and other events

Wow. Can I just say that I love my life? I had a crazy, busy, incredible weekend, and week! So yet again, this will be another post of me catching up on my life, but I know you'll all love it.

So first, last week was super psycho crazy. I had so much going on.

I got a new calling (Relief Society Secretary) which has been so fun, but it definitely time consuming. I love though. I went out with some MG's (Missionaries Girl's, in case you didn't know) on Tuesday night, and it was so fun to get together with girls going through the same thing as me. That nice, Kevin and Jeni came over. I just love them. Kevin was Caleb's roommate last year, and Jeni lived in their building and we've gotten to be good friends :) They totally support me and Caleb, and they are so good to talk to... I was so happy to see them! On Friday night, I went with Peter to The Rocket Summer Concert! Oh my heck, it was amazing. They are so great live! Pete is such a great friend too, and we just partied and it was awesome.

Saturday I went with the MG's to the Wedding Expo at Thanksgiving Point. We all registered as brides, and got tons of free stuff and had such a good time being with each other and obsessing about our weddings. This probably sounds like crazy talk to all of you, but the MG's know what I'm talking about :) Then we went out to lunch at Chili's which just made for longer bonding and talking. Really, these girls are so amazing. We all understand what each other is going through, and it is so great to have a support system :) We think about the same things and can just talk freely with out others jumping on top of us for waiting. I love them so much and am so glad I have made these friends :) And on top of that, I found a beautiful ring, that I want, and I fell in love with two dresses from Alyse's Bridal, they're pretty much the most beautiful dresses.

Then I went to the MoTab/Utah Symphony concert on a date... He's my friend Mark's roommate, and it went pretty well. My favorite part was just being able to go to Temple Square. I LOVE Temple Square. It is so gorgeous up there, and I feel the Spirit so strong. The Salt Lake Temple is my most favorite ever, it's so beautiful. I am in love with that temple. I loved seeing it. We also went into the rennovated Tabernacle, which was great. The concert itself was amazing, as is the Conference Center. I love the Gospel :)

Other events.. Hm. Last week was an AWESOME week for missionary letters :) I got an amazing one from Caleb (his letters are always amazing... ) and a hilarious one from Collin. I got one from Dan, with pictures! And then I got my belated birthday package from Aaron. It made me so happy to hear from him, since I haven't since before our birthdays! He is such an amazing person. I LOVE MY BOYS!! Missionaries are the greatest :)

Last night Ayisha came over and we made brownies and just talked. She's such an amazing best friend.. Kudos to her for listening to me 24/7. One exciting thing that I must mention... HEROES starts tonight, a 3 hour event! Oh my goodness. I can't even believe it. I am so freaking excited for it to start. It's the only TV show I watch, and I am obsessed with it. Oh my.

I think to close I'll just put a picture of me and my Caleb finger puppet up, so everyone can see him. He's the cutest thing, and the closest I'll get to Caleb for 22 more months... I'll take what I can get :)

Looooong Post

Soooo. Let's do some more catching up. Once I remember how to balance my time, I'll be sure to update more regularly :)
I moved out, and I love it! My roommates are amazing (Dani, Linds and Adrea) and so is my ward! It's all turning out so great, and I know it's where I am supposed to be right now. For my birthday, I got a tape, pictures and a letter from Caleb :) Best birthday present EVER. I love him. He's doing so great... He's been there 6 weeks now! And only has 5 left, and then he's off to Korea. How crazy is that?!
What else.. School started, so that's kind of exciting.. I do love school, I just don't love homework. Homework is pretty much my nemesis in life. But I'm doing pretty good so far, and most of my classes don't have too much homework, so that's good. French has the most, of course, and I've never loved French homework... Ugh. It's nice to have a change from working all the time though... I only work 2 days a week, and it's great. More time for myself, and school. I have early classes though (MWF at 9am, and TTh at 8am) so that's kind of a bummer.
I ran into my old EFY counselor yesterday! She was my counselor... Hm, June of '06. Her name is Kris, and she was/is amazing! She inspired me a ton that week. She went on a mission, and we wrote a couple of times, but lost touch the last months of her mission. So, yesterday, there I was walking down the hall of the JKB when I see her. I was like, 'Kris?!' and it totally was and we talked and it was so great to see her! She's in the same major as I am, so she'll be a good resource for me :)
I went to dinner at Aaron's house a couple of Sunday's ago. That was so much fun. I had missed his family so much. His brother is getting married in a week and a half, so I got to meet his fiancee and 'approve' of her in Aaron's absence. Haha. She's great though. And his sister got a little pomeranian named Sophie. Craziest thing I have ever seen. She looks adorable, but is quite ferocious. I went up to Aaron's room while I was there, and it looks exactly the same. I almost started bawling as I looked around and so many memories came flooding in my head.... Us just hanging out and talking in there... Seeing the framed picture of us right next to his bed.... Seeing the stuffed monkey I bought him in Disneyland, wearing the little green hat we bought for St. Patricks Day, displayed by his bed along with the little stuffed gorilla that I gave him for Valentine's day, with the keychain we got at Sweethearts that says 'Wild Thing' on it. More pictures of us on the wall by his bed... Our photo booth pictures and my senior picture stuck on his mirror... Oh how I miss that boy. So much. He has been gone for 10 MONTHS on Sunday. I can't believe he's hit double digits. In one of his last letters to me, he said that he loves it out there so much, he doesn't really want to come home. How I love him, he's such an amazing guy, and I am so lucky to have him as my best friend...
*sigh*
Now that I've rambled about Aaron for forever and a year...
Life is going great. I miss Caleb like none other. I really wish he could just hold me sometimes.. But it's ok, everything will turn out ok :)
It's been really sad seeing all my Seven Peaks friends go off to school... I miss us all just hanging out. We had such good times. I love them all... Oh, and Peter, wonderful Peter leaves on his mission next month! I can't believe it. He's such a great friend... We're going to the Rocket Summer concert next Friday night, it's going to be a blast! I can't wait!!
Well, I think that's about all I can think of for now... Today is letter day :) So when I get home from work, I should have a letter from Caleb waiting for me! Yay! I love love love letters. They make me so happy... He's wonderful, and amazing. And I couldn't ask for anything better.
Oh, I did think of some more things, wow, this is going to be a long post.
I went to the temple two days ago with my roommates to do baptisms. It was amazing! I haven't been to the temple since my senior year, seriously. It was great to go again. I just feel love. That's the only word I can think of to describe it. And peace. Love and Peace. It's so wonderful.
Also, I went to Kav to get my hair done. A really dark brown window... Except it sort of turned out purpleish. Haha. Gotta love it. I'm going back there today to fix it... But it's kind of entertaining while it's lasting. Oh man. I'm also going shopping with Ish today for scrapbooking stuff.... Yay!
K, that really is it, I hope.
♥

Catching Up.

Wow - a lot has happened since I got that first letter from Caleb :) I've gotten two more from him, and he is doing so great. He says he misses me, but is having such a good time. His companion is having sort of a hard time though. He also has a girlfriend, and has told Caleb he wants to leave and go marry her; and then just last week he tore his MCL, so he might have to have surgery and stay in the MTC longer than the anticipated 12 weeks, which has made it even harder for him. I think he will pull through though. I've 'met' his girlfriend on facebook, and she is a sweetheart, really worried. I think everything will be ok.

Me, Brittany, Jeremy and Joe (my friends from work) took a couple of days off earlier this month, and went up to Britt's cabin for a mini vacation. It was soo much fun! Basically, we just were four-wheeling for two days straight. I had only been once before, so this was kind of crazy. I thought I was going to die a couple of times -haha. But, I survived! We also just hung out in the cabin, and ate, and watched movies and the Olympics. It was great to get away for a while.

Jeremy, Me, Britt, Joe

Jeremy and Me

Me and Britt

Oh man, what else. I've just been hanging out with Britt a ton! We have become best friends this year and I love her to death. She's moving up to Logan to go back to school (Utah State) today, and I'm gonna miss her a ton!

So, I've been keeping myself busy, and I still feel so at peace with Caleb and everything going on there. I've had a couple hard days, but really, would I not?? I miss him so incredibly much, and he still influences all I do. I'm so glad to have Ayisha as my best friend. Bri left the week after Caleb, and we are going through the same thing. We share the same opinion about lots of things - so it's always so great to talk to her. She's always been there for me :)

And, I move out TOMORROW! Yay, I'm so excited. Living with Dani is going to be the best. I love her so much, and I am way excited to actually keep up to date with my best friend for 9 years life, haha. Yesterday was her bday (19!!) and tomorrow is Aaron's birthday! (20!!!) I can't believe it. I sent off Aaron's birthday package yesterday, I'm excited for him to get it :)

I think that's about all. Love you all.

LETTER

I got my first letter from Caleb today!!
:)

Elder Anderson

Caleb entered the MTC yesterday.

I'm doing ok, thanks for asking. It turns out that I hate people asking me how I'm doing, what they can do to help, and telling me that they're there for me. It drives me crazy. I appreciate all of your concern, but there's no need to shove it down my throat.
Anyway, so on to our last activity's.
Let's start with last Saturday.
That week before, we had just been spending time together, not doing a whole lot, which was nice. It was great to just spend time together.
Saturday night, me, Caleb, Brian and Ayisha went out to dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. Neither me or Caleb had been there before, and it was pretty good! This was a date that I took him on, so it was nice to spend some money on him for a change :) Brian leaves next Wednesday, so it was nice to take our boys on a double date, the last in two years. Then we met up with Jessi and Katie and The Quarry and went rock climbing. Now, I'm not a big sportsy, outdoors person, and I'm terrified of heights, but I went rock climbing, and rather enjoyed it. This was my first time, but it was still a good time. Caleb was a very trust worthy belayer, every time I would start to freak out he would say, Britt, don't you trust me? That was enough for me, as I trust him with my life, so on I would go.
The next day was Caleb's farewell. He gave a really good talk about friendship; being friends with peers, with family, and with God. After church, we went back to his house for his open house.. We ate tons of food. A Korean couple that used to be in their ward came over and we talked with them. We just spent time together with friends and family, and it was a good day.
Monday, we just hung out a little bit after I got off work. His sister's inlaws came over for dinner, so we ate, and talked with them. Later, me and Caleb went and saw Wall-E, which I hadn't expected to like, but I ended up liking a lot...
Tuesday, our last day. He picked me up from work, and we went to Tepanyaki with his family. It was really good, so much food! Then we went to Pudding on the Rice, and then home. We drove his dad's '67 Camaro, we love that car so much. (Almost as much as Caleb's '69 Camaro that is in pieces, and will be for the next two years...) We talked with the family, and then helped Caleb pack up.
It was about this time that I started to... Well go downhill. Up until then, I was in denial, and happy about it. But as we started to pack him up, I just sat on the bed watching him. This was probably the 6th or 7th time that I have watched him pack to go somewhere in the last year, and I could almost pretend he was just packing for another trip. (Which he is, but with mostly suits). But two years?? That's a long time.. I was starting to get tearing up, and freaking out inside. When all that was done, he just came and sat on the bed with me, and held me for about a half hour, as I steadly built up to tears pouring down my face.
Not much was said, just a few 'I love you's,' but not much need to be.
He took me home, and I was just bawling. He had seen me cry a lot before, but this time, there was no escaping some big sobs coming out. He just held me, told me he loved me, and that he was only a letter away. We said 'good night,' not good bye.
Finally, he broke away.. Walked half way down the stairs, to see me still standing there, looking at him. He blew me a kiss and walked to his car. By this time, I was completely breaking down. I dried my eyes as well as I could, went inside, said good night to my mom, and then proceeded to cry myself to sleep.... Not the first time. Crying myself to sleep has almost become a habit in the last few months.
Yesterday he was set apart and entered the MTC.
It was an ok day for me, as was today. I'm strangely not too emotional about it right now. I feel like he's just gone, like he always was. Certain things set me off though, and although this sounds really matter of fact.. Writing this down is making me miss him, so much.
I'm getting ready to start making his mission scrapbook, which is something I'm really excited about. I went and got some supplies today, and printed off pictures. His mom gave me the scrapbook and pages, which was way nice of her. I also sent off his first letter from me today :)
He is so wonderful and amazing, and is going to be such a great missionary. Half the time I cry, it's not because I'm sad, it's because I am in awe of how amazing he is, and am so proud of him, and because I know he is going to make such a great missionary, and bring many people to Christ. At his farewell, so many people were talking about how strong he is, and how wonderful he is. And it's true. He has such a strong testimony, and is optimistic and loyal and ready to work. Nothing is going to stand in his way.
So there it is, the blog entry of Caleb leaving. I miss him so much, and am terrified of what is going to happen with out him here. I know I am not alone, but sometimes it feels like that. He is so wonderful, and I am so excited for him to grow, and for me to grow, and for us to become the man/woman that we can be and that we deserve from each other... If that sentence even made sense.
I love him, so much. He makes me incredibly happy, and I can't wait to hear from him, and to see him again.