I miss this one

Ever have a best friend where if they were of the opposite gender you would marry them in a heartbeat? Well that's this one.

She's 9 months through her mission but she's still the first person that comes to mind when something random happens to me and I have to tell someone. Or when something amazing happens, and especially when something awful happens.

Approximately 237 days until she comes home. 

I don't have a countdown on my phone or anything...

happiness is a choice

i am a firm believer that happiness is a choice

but sometimes i forget that i decided to believe that

i first discovered this in high school

i'm sure that i'm not the only one that thought high school suuuuuuuucked

and was just waiting for graduation to bust out of the prison of anti-morality

but i definitely was not going to last all through senior year in a depressed state of mind

after a mental kick in the butt i learned that 

even when life is not going my way i can still make the most of it and choose to be happy

"fake it 'til you make it" kinda thing

i kinda had this philosophy in cheer too - smile like an idiot until you're smiling for reals

anyways

my life is awesome right now and nowhere near high school status

(even though we both look like we're still in high school)

(ps - this picture was to show how our hairs are the same color, crazy right??)

but holy cowwww what am i doing??

i'm at the point of another mid-college crisis

where i am not enjoying my classes

(well, one i absolutely love) but the rest i'm having a hard time with

adolescent development, the professor reads her slides word for word

which she has copied from the textbook

which i read the night before

what is the point of taking this class again if i can just read the book on my own?

which is SO disappointing because THIS is what i want to be learning and doing in the future

so i just want to be done

i want to stop school, but i want a degree so i won't

i want to change my major to art history, but i don't want to tack on 2 more years of school

 ilovefamilystudiesilovefamilystudiesilovefamilystudies

while going through this mental breakdown of not caring-ness

the pretty cool guy in the picture above reminded me

that even when things aren't going my way

i can still make the most it and choose to be happy

i remember in church this past year someone said that happiness is a choice

because it is a consequence of righteous living

so yes, school is not going how i want it to right now

but as long as i am living my life the way my heavenly father wants me to

i can be happy because He will always be there for me and He wants to bless me

it's a comfort to know that everything works out in the end

#ldsconf

Conference was kewl.

I spent Saturday at home with my roommates and then went up to Park City with some nice friendlies.

Umm... this is us watching conference.

And I took a video of Chylie bouncing gummy bears off the floor across the room into Harry's mouth during the rest hymn, but I can't make it load.

But HERE are the FUN pictures.

Biking around and exploring the all the art galleries on Main St!!!

 Hopping the fence to go on a leisurely walk through the woods and getting yelled at for trespassing!!!

Ancient graveyards!!!

For reals it was way fun Mom.

Californication

My friendlies and I went to California the week before school started. I created a texting group named "Californication" to be funny but got in trouble. IT'S A SONG I SWEAR!!!

We stayed at a friend's family's condo in Del Mar.
The view was just awful.

I mean, we only watched the sun set over the ocean as we ate dinner every. single. night.

(outside the front door, wet-suiting up, walking to the beach)

No but seriously, the beach was an 82 second walk away. Our routine was:
wake up
make breakfast
go to the beach and surf, boogie board, swim, nap, bury people
swim in the pool/jacuzzi
eat lunch
go back to the beach
eat dinner
swim some more
watch a movie
sleep

One of the most memorable things from this trip was probably Evelyn, the woman we were staying with. She is the shortest, fiery-est, sassiest, tannest, most charitable person ever. She was letting us stay for free but kept trying to buy us things and feed us. Seriously Evelyn! Stop being so nice! I'll also remember singing at the nursing home Evelyn's parent's were staying in. Another thing I'll remember is the fact that all 9 of us were sleeping in tiny condo for 5 days, but never got sick of each other or fought. (Jk I got mad at Trent once. YOU CAN'T DELETE PICTURES FROM MY PHONE EVEN IF YOU DON'T LIKE HOW YOU LOOK.) I also loved walking along the water at night.

I love California. And having friends. That are almost like family.