List 21

A little explanation for the things on The 21 List

While I'm 21 I will...

1. Become the person I want to be

“You become what you want to be by continuously being what you want to become.” I absolutely love that quote. That’s kind of what this whole list is about – a to be list. These are the things that I want to become.

2. Become an early riser

There is a reason this is still on the list. I just hate to get out of bed. Waking up – not a problem! You can come in and talk to me. Just don’t expect me to get out of bed.

3. Dress up every day

It’s a proven fact that you do better on tests if you dress up to go take them. So why not apply that to everyday life? I feel better about myself when I dress up and get ready. So no more rolling out of bed, throwing my hair in a ponytail and running out the door.

4. Finish reading Jesus the Christ

I started this book a few weeks ago. Oh man! It is one of the hardest books I have ever read. It’s a really good book. It’s just that it’s so hard to read that the thought of it makes me run in the other direction.

5. Exercise more

Well, there’s a reason this is on the list again this year too…

6. Volunteer more

I want to start volunteering with children or the elderly.

7. Finish my bachelors degree.

I only have 3 more semesters left. So I’ll actually finish right after my 22^nd birthday but the majority of it will be during year 21.

8. Eat less fast food!

I eat so much fast food! It’s sick! And not healthy. And it’s breaking my bank. So it’s got to stop.

The 20 List

Being 20 was fun. But now I'm on to bigger and better things. Here is a look at how I did on "The 20 List"

1. Learn to live without a plan.

2. Take life as it comes.

I feel like I’ve done very well with these two. I don’t think they are things that you can accomplish and check off the list, I think they are things that you have to continually strive to do. But I feel like this year I’ve been able to step back and say ‘It’s okay if my life doesn’t go according to plan. It’s okay if the plan changes. As long as I am having a good time along the way.’

3. Finish reading the Doctrine and Covenants.

This one didn’t go so well. I got about half way through and then I just found it to be so boring. But I did continue to read my scriptures! But like living without a plan it is a work in progress!

4. Learn a new craft.

I learned to sew. I’ve always known how to sew a little bit. But this time I really learned. I even made my own pair of jeans! (Yes I can actually wear them). I really enjoy doing it too.

5. Eat healthy.

HA!

6. Exercise more - yoga!

HA!

7. Be spontaneous.

This is one that I want to keep working on.

8. Talk to strangers.

9. Be independent.

I think I have done very well with this one (I think I always have). Sometimes I do a little too well and I have to remind myself that it’s okay to let people in.

10. Volunteer more.

I need to work on this one more too!

11. Become an early riser.

HA!

Sometimes in life we feel stuck, as though our lives are not going anywhere. That's how I feel right now. I feel like I'm ready for a change - a big one! I'm just not sure what that change is!

I think during times like these it's helpful to look back on the past at all of the amazing things that you've accomplished. So that's what this post is, a reminder to myself that I am progressing in life and that I'm not leading a stagnant life with no direction.

Since I've graduated high school...

I moved away from my parents house.

I graduated from BYU-Idaho with me A.S. degree in general studies with an emphasis in early childhood education.

I moved down to Hawaii and studied international studies at BYU-Hawaii.

I moved back to Idaho and am now 3/4 done with my bachelors degree in child development.

I've made so many amazing friends along the way. And I'm so grateful for the experiences that I've had.

Praying for Snow

Today just seems to be a posting day!

I've had a few really cool experiences this semester that I need to write down before I forget them. I am taking a sewing class from an amazing lady. She has some of the neatest stories and experiences that have really helped to strengthen my testimony.

One is involving the earthquake in Japan and the nuclear reactors. After everything those poor people had been through they had to face horrible weather conditions. My teacher has a brother who works with nuclear reactors here in the U.S. He told her that the snow and rain that Japan was getting was the only thing preventing the nuclear reactors from going into a complete meltdown (or whatever it's called when people would have started dying from it). He told her to pray for snow. Sometimes the things we think are the worst possible things that could happen are the things that are keeping us alive. I am so glad that we have a Heavenly Father who knows what He is doing.

Home!

I'm going home this weekend!

Oh how I wish that I was going home for good.

But...just the weekend for Spencer's high school graduation.

I can't believe that one of my baby brothers is graduating high school! He'll be coming to college out here in the fall! That's just scary!

Only a month and a half until I get to move back home though! 6 weeks. 46 days. So exciting!

The Unexpected

Some things in life are unexpected and that is what makes them hard.

But I am so glad that I have a Heavenly Father who knows what he is doing.

I am glad that he knows what is best for me in the long run.

I am glad that he is willing to let me go through hard things to ensure that I will be the happiest I can be in the end.

Changes

I have a feeling there are about to be some big changes in my life! :)

I'm a Junior?

It recently dawned on me that I am a second semester junior in college. That means I'm almost done. And that's scary.

I feel like I was just barely graduated high school. Spencer, my little brother, is a senior this year and is getting ready to come out to college. It feels like I just went through that process.

Somehow I decided to come back to BYU-Idaho. I spent an amazing semester down in Hawaii and make great friends and memories but now I'm back up here. Since I had to reapply to Idaho I now go to school during winter and spring semesters and I will be back home for the fall. I'm not too sure how I feel about that yet. Depending on if I play my cards right, I have three semesters left. I am enjoying school more than ever now that I am taking all classes for my major. I'm taking a sewing class this semester and I absolutely love it. And since I need a minor I have decided to be a clothing construction minor. This means a few things, 1) I'll be able to make a ton of awesome things and 2) I'll be taking fun, hands-on classes and not lectures! I'm really excited for that.

We've hit midterms, which is always the point in the semester when I start to lose steam. Usually this would be my last semester and then I would go home for a break and make some money. But this year, I have another semester before I go home. This means 1) I'm not going to have a break to gain more steam and 2) I'm running out of money. I've heard Rexburg is really fun during the summer so I'm excited to stay and do the things I've never gotten a chance to do before because of all the snow.

Kool-Aid for Your Toilet?

I stumbled across this fun blog and thought this post was interesting -

We've mentioned in the past over at Unplggd that Lemon Kool-Aid is a great cleanser for your dishwasher, but we never really thought about using it in our toilet before.

Although lemon works great, check out the ingredients in orange... it's the citric acid that helps to clean your bowl! All you have to do is sprinkle the contents of the package in before you head to bed, swirl it around with a toilet bowl brush, and let it sit over night. The acid in the drink mix will go to work cleaning away tough stains and build up if you don't have the best water conditions.

It's eco-friendly, so if your favorite pooch is a toilet drinker, they'll receive a happy surprise next time they go to take a lick and find out their regular "agua-de-bano" is now fruit flavored! Don't believe us? Give it a try!

Alma

One of my Year 20 goals was to finish the Doctrine and Covenants.

I'm about halfway through right now but lately I've felt that I need to be reading the Book of Mormon instead. I pretty much have the first book of Nephi memorized since I've started it so many times. This time I decided I wanted to start with Alma.

I'm only a few chapters in but I've already found so much that I've missed when reading it in the past. And I'm excited to learn more.

How To Do Scholarly Research...

Remember how I'm a junior in college in a 300 level class sitting in the library learning how to do research?
Awesome.
If you're a junior and don't know how to do scholarly research you may need to go retake your ENG 101 class.

5 Things I Love

Legwarmers!

The Cocoa Bean!

Philosophy!

Footies!

Nutella!

Idaho!

Last April I swore I would never return to Idaho.

But...here I am!

Hawaii was an amazing experience and I loved it! It was so much fun and I have a ton of memories that I'll never forget. I met some really awesome people too!

But I came to realize that Idaho is where I needed to be. I want to go into early intervention, and Idaho has the best program (out of the schools I can afford that is!). So I'm back! It's definitely a bitter-sweet thing. Mostly sweet though - definitely a good thing! Really the only bitter thing is the weather. But...weather does not determine my happiness (as long as I get some sort of vitamin D...thank you tanning and pills!!) and so I am determined to make the best out of the winter!

I'm excited to see what life has in store for me here in Idaho!

More to come...