The sum of it all

I finally moved into my apartment. And it is just as great as i had hoped it would be. My roommates moved in today, and I really like them both. I haven't really talked with Whitney, but Megan and I hung out today and made dinner and we are going to go to a movie night in a few minutes. I feel really good about it all. We are going to have alot of fun this year! Tor is moving in on Sun I think.... I am looking forward to having her here, it will be nice to have a friend I already know. I also started school and I am having a great time. Doing homework walking to class, I forgot how much fun it was. Although I am really out of shape. but I have alot of walking to do in the coming semester, so it will get better, and fast, at least it had better :) I hope! i like my classes though, but the classes I am really looking forward to i haven't had, my lecture series and my automotives class. I will have those on Tuesday, and it should be wonderful. I got my new laptop and I love it, it is super awesome. it is so convienent to have it. I am a little sad that Eric isn't around to share in all my fun times I am having right now, but Tor and Mike are amazing! They are so cute together! I just love it! I saw a book of mormon in korean today, it was so weird...

Lifehouse

I love the band lifehouse, they are just one of my most favorites.
So I finally get to take a vacation. All summer I haven't had one. I went camping once, but I didn't actually take any time off for it, so it was only a weekend get away. But now I have a real vacation coming. My cousin is getting married in Reno, NV (aka back home) and so my family, all but Josh and his wife, are flying out there thursday evening and staying until monday. I am definatly looking forward to it. I haven't been back to Fallon in so long, I am not even sure how many years. At least 3 or 4. It should be fun. I always had a hard time going back there as a kid because all of my cousins were so close and I kinda felt like an outcast. I was pretty shy, so I didn't really know how to include myself. The last time I went out there, however many years ago, I had a good time. I went on a date with my cousin's friend and it was alot of fun. I really do like Fallon, it is a nice little town, and it is where my dad's family is. Most of his sisters never left, one did, she moved to Cali with her husband, but the other two stayed. My cousin is actually marrying one of my mom's best friends sons.... haha she was actually the one who drove my mom to the hospital when she was in labor with me :)
I am moving next week. Which I am definatly looking forward to as well. Tor and I are going to have alot of fun. She suggested we have a toga party..... haha, I will let you know if that one ever comes to fruition or not :) A mormon toga party.... almost defeats the purpose of a toga party. Mormon college parties are nothing like regular college parties, we don't drink, ever, at all :) Which I am happy about, but it gives a whole new meaning to college party. We drink coke and that is our big thing :)
The last few months have been interesting for me. There has been alot going on, alot I have learned. They haven't been horrible by anymeans, but also not exactly easy. But I have learned alot. I have also found that I am terribly stubborn :) But that we learn things according to the time Heavenly Father needs us to learn them. not before and hopefully not after. When God wants something to happen, and of course we are doing our part, it just happens. Whether it be learning something, or finding something or being able to accomplish something. It seems that everything around us is on God's timetable. Which is something that is far beyond our comprehension, because he doesn't measure time the way we do. But he does it best :) I went out to spring lake yesterday, it is just down the road from my parents house, but it is a tiny tiny little town. Just barely even there. But the lake (well, almost pond kinda) is just so peaceful all the time. And it is cuddled right up next to the mountains, the ones that caught fire a few weeks ago. And it struck me how much has changed this summer.
The mountains that used to be lush and green are all now black and red from the burned trees and dirt under them. But they are still beautiful, in an almost haunting kind of way. And yet, the lake is the same. Just a few weeks ago it was pure chaos in that same place. Planes and helicopters landing there to get water in an attempt to stop the fires before the reached our homes. But now, it was just quiet and for the most part empty. And it reminded me of a painting I saw once, of a lake, and the caption was "Be still, and know that I am God" The power of that statement just came into my heart. We need nothing more than to know that he is God. Because within that short statment is held the answer to all of our questions and the reason we have peace in our hearts. He is God. He knows and he is in control. What more can you ask for? Than to know that the details of it all, every part of your life is watched over, and it is far from random. The meaning is so profound we cannot always see it. Sometimes I start to think that things are not going the way they should. But things always go the way they are supposed to. Perhaps not the way we intended, but nothing is ever not supposed to be.

Be Still, and Know that I am God.

Peaceful

I have to say the most peaceful place in all of the valley (Utah Valley for those of you outsiders ;)) is just up behind the Provo temple. Everyone says that it is the most busy temple in all of Utah, and it is pretty busy, I am there atleast once a week, and there are always alot of people there, but if you walk behind the temple it is so amazing. The spirit that surrounds that place is so wonderful. There are these stone benches that are surrounded by grass and there are huge pine trees all around and all sorts of flowers and plants and birds and little squrriels, I just love it. And what amazes me the most is that there aren't that many people who take them time to walk back there. It is so peaceful, and it is not just the landscaping :) It never ceases to amaze me how the lord works in such mysterious ways, and just as soon as we think we have it all figured out, he quietly shows us that we don't know quite as much as we think and offers to teach us something more. Elder Holland said "I am convinced that life is not easy, because salvation is not cheap. We must each go through our own gethsemany. Mind you it will be nothing in comparisson, but for you it will be a learning and growing experience" I like that. So many times we think "This is just too hard, and it has been going on for just too long, just makt it stop and make my life easier already" but he can't. Not if he intends to give us the blessings. God tries us because he intends to give us amazing and wonderful things. There is purpose behind every thing. Every bad day is not without meaning. I love how often our leaders remind us of that fact. My bishop gave me a paper the other day called "Why the lord gives us trials" And it explains all about why, and how and everything. And it said that trials are delt just the same as blessings, but the trial must preceed the blessing. And that God will not teach you through something that is foreign, he will build upon the experiences you already have. I thought that was cool. Because often times in life we feel like we are constantly being tried in the same area, but maybe that is because that is the best way for us to learn. Perhaps that is so hard for us because through that is the easiest way for us to learn what we have to. Because there are somethings you have to learn one way or another, and God is a just God, so maybe this is the least painful way for you to learn. I try to think that when things get hard, that it could always be worse.
I am so truly blessed in my life, and the Lord has always provided for me. I have never been through something I couldn't over come, and I have never found a trial that was too hard. They seem insurmountable at times, but then I make it through and I always come out on top. There have been a few I felt as though I came out even, but even then, what more can you really ask for? Life is amazing, and a huge blessing, and it is important for us to remember that. Just spending time with your family on a lazy sunday afternoon is much more of a blessing than we often realize.

Mondays...

I am not particularly fond of them to be honest. For the most part they are just another day, but this one, came too soon. My weekend simply wasn't long enough. I worked late on Friday afternoon, and then on Saturday I went shopping for some more stuff for my new apartment with my mom, and then I went up to a Bridal shower in Pleasant Grove. That was so much fun! My best friend Kyle's younger sister Tiffany is getting married this week. I cannot believe she is old enough to be getting married, I can't believe I am old enough for her to be getting married! But I am definatley excited for her! It was good to see his family again, I have really missed him and so catching up with them for a little while was good for me :) I am suprised at how much I miss talking to him. And mostly, I am sick of missing people. It seems like it never ends! I miss talking to Kyle, I miss living in South Carolina, I miss Eric quite often, I miss the kids I used to take care of in SC, and I miss not having to work 4o hours a week! I am pretty well sick of it :) But I don't suppose that really matters, because I will continue to miss all of it :) However I am planning on going back out to SC in October, Kyle comes home in March, and Eric.... Well that's still TBA ;)
But life is good! There is a country song that says "It's a goofy thing but I just gotta say, I'ma doin all right!" And I feel that way! Some things are complicated, some are hard and some are sad, but I have a great life. Torie and I are moving soon, I get to go out and see my family in Nevada next week, I have a really cool training thing at work next week (almost sounds oxy moronic huh?) and school is starting soon! I am excited for all of those, so I really don't have much to complain about. Although I do anyways :) I am happy, heathly and a bit tired, but extremly blessed. Life is crazy ain't it?

Fire on the Mountain, run boys, run!

You ever heard the Charly Daniels song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"? That is a line from it, and it seems appropriate. Becasue my mountains caught on fire. Now of course I don't own them, but they are less than half a mile from my parents back yard, and they all went up in flames last friday. I came home from work on Friday around 3 and I saw a fire, so I drove a couple blocks over to see what it was, it was small enough, no big deal, so I went home. About 2 hours later when I let my dog out side, it had climbed up the better part of the mountain. Now keep in mind there are several mountain sides within close proximty to one another. And of course they aren't smooth. There are ridges and ravines and all kinds of stuff. So at this time it was still pretty far from my town, at least half a mile, no big danger. Well it kept growing, and fast too. By nine my dad sister and dog and I drove up the road to see how our neighbors were doing because they fires were getting really big, and really close and the wind was blowing alot. Well, they were all being evacuated, and then all of the sudden, police cars were blocking our neighborhood and we couldn't get to our house. We had literally just walked out, no purses or wallets, my dad was in his pajamas. So we drove over to our steak center, where the mayor was talking with the fire cheifs. Well, we spend the next five hours hanging out at the church, making sure our friends and family were safe and wehre they should be. The fire's burned all of the mountain face, from clear past the small farm next to my house to the mouth of the canyon about a mile away. That may not seem like much, but it also burned from the top of the mountain clear to the bottom. Now in Utah, if you didn't know, we like to build our houses right on the mountains, close to the bottom and right up in there. Which proved to be a bit of a problem when the mountains were on fire. Long story short, no one died, no houses were lost, and they got the fires out. But it was pretty intense. It was raining ash, and it was 100 degrees at 1 in the morning. It's a good thing I don't live in southern california......