Flo.

Hello everyone, meet Flo....our toilet.

She is sick. and throws up, almost everyday.

seriously. we've had to clean up after her multiple times, and I'm tired of it.

Maybe maintenance should fix this problem? because obviously something is wrong with the plumbing in our building.

ugh.

No Shave November?!

What is No Shave November you might ask?

According to Urban Dictionary No Shave November is:

"A celebration for males & females that startes November 1st and ends the last day of November. This is the only time when it is acceptable to not shave, hence the name No Shave November."

"When ladies decide not to shave for the entire month of November, sometimes in response to the Men's No Shave November."

And my PERSONAL favorite:

"A college tradition that involves avoiding shaving because it's no shave November, or usually because you're just too lazy. Fortunately, every month can be made into a no shave month."

Other months:

Don't shave December
Just don't shave January
Forget shaving February
Mustn't shave March
Avoid shaving April

etc...

Gross, right? yup! it is.

Truth be told, I honestly wasn't planning on participating in this tradition...until Spencer brought it up :) I'd never gone a whole month without shaving, and I decided I really wanted to try it. I don't really remember how the conversation went..Ok, maybe I said that we should both attempt it..:) and in the end it was decided if he did it, then I would do it. Sounds like a good plan, right?

Let me outline the month for you.

First two days: This is kind of nice not having to shave! (not a big deal at all)

3rd, 4th, and 5th days: Eww..this is kind of gross.

6th day: Umm...my legs are starting to itch. really bad.

7th and 8th days: MY LEGS FRIPPIN ITCH! "can I shave, please?"

-The Next 15 Days- SOMEBODY STOP THIS RELENTLESS ITCHING!! *may or may not be going slightly crazy*

24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th days: Avoids looking at bare legs for fear of seeing my manly nastiness.

30th day: "ITS THE LAST DAY OF THE MONTH!!" ...oh wait. that means I actually have to take time to shave. :/

...yup. that about sums it up. My poor legs have been through a lot this month.

Since the other thing November is kind of famous for is Thanksgiving let me tell you a couple of the things I was thankful for this November.

1. Tights

2. Long Dresses

3. Long Socks

4. Skinny jeans that are tight enough that its almost impossible to roll them up.

5. Lotion

Now that its the end of the month Am I glad I did it? Heck yes! I proved a point. :) Will I ever do it again? Probably not. at least, not intentionally..;)

Will I be shaving at midnight tonight?

MOST DEFINITELY.

A Typical Tuesday.

I really love Tuesdays.

NOT.

Take this Tuesday for example. I slept in, woke up to realize I'd fallen asleep on the floor NEXT to my bed, had to run to class, was still a couple minutes late, and then had the hardest time staying awake in my Book of Mormon class. Came home, was starving, so I actually made lunch, but then felt sick afterwards, so I decided to take a nap.

....well, I woke up from this nap at 4:24 P.M. and realized that I had slept through devotional AND my English class.

awesome.

So to make myself feel better I made some chocolate chip cookies for dinner and ate them with some frosted mini wheat's and applesauce. (not mixed together though, don't worry..)

And then my visiting teachers came over and reminded me that although we may have lots of thorns in our lives, the roses are always bigger.

and then I decorated my apartment with Christmas decorations, and that was happy.

but now its time for Tuesday to be over.

Goodnight!

Halloween Weekend!

What do you get when you mix 3 best friends, 3 awesome roommates, a trip to the D.I., green hair dye, glitter, Halloween makeup, pizza, scary movies, late nights, frozen yogurt, a Halloween dance, pumpkin chocolate cookies, the Joker, a zombie, and 4 Jazzercise girls? The best halloween weekend EVER!

Last weekend Spencer and Felicia drove allll the way up from Ephraim to visit me up here in Rexburg. They're just the greatest aren't they? :)

anyways...they arrived friday night, and as soon as they got here I made them get right back in the car so we could drive to Walmart and get some ingredients for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (yummm...) we also stopped to rent some movies to watch, and then we went back to my apartment to make the cookies and to watch The Village. We all cuddled up under a blanket on the floor to enjoy the movie. :)

The next day was probably the best! After sleeping in a LITTLE longer than we'd planned Spencer came over to our apartment and we made yummy omelettes and bacon for breakfast and then started trying to figure out what we were gonna wear for our Halloween costumes...trust me, this was quite the dilemma. Eventually we realized we weren't going to figure anything out until we'd taken a trip to the D.I. So, we piled into the car and set off for

downtown. The D.I. is a wonderful place, really, it is. After looking around for a while Alexsa found this HOT purple jacket that worked perfectly for a Joker costume. So Spencer got a green shirt to go with it and voila! He became the Joker. :) The D.I. is also a fantastic place to find old 80's jewelry so we got some sweet earrings and then set off for the next greatest place in the world, Walmart!! I love that place :) While we were looking at makeup stuff I found the greatest pair of glasses EVER.

Aren't I just the cutest thing you've ever seen? Spencer obviously thinks so ;) hahaha. Anyways, Felicia and I got some sweaters to match the ones Alexsa and Ashland had already bought, and our costumes were ready to put together.

80's babes here we come!

We bought some pizza, and went back to the apartment to get all fancy for the dance that night. It took some time, and a whole heck of a lot of makeup, but the final result? well, I'll just let you see for yourselves. :)

Work it Ladies!

The whole gang :)

Yeah...He was kind of scary. :)

Originally we'd planned on going to the straw maze, but one step outside in the cold Rexburg weather and we knew there was NO way we would survive, so instead we went to the Twizlberry for some frozen yogurt, and then headed over to the Hart for a dance that BYU-I was putting on.

Enjoyin' some frozen yogurt.

Ready to Party!

The dance was a BLAST. We had so much fun. :)

But the night wasn't over yet! oh no...the night was still young!

Back at the apartment we started to clean off the now sweat streaked makeup, and attempt to comb through the rats nest that was our hair. In the middle of cleaning off our faces I remembered that Spencer and I hadn't taken a picture together in our costumes! well, this just wasn't acceptable so I made him take some pictures with me that turned out just lovely! He was a good sport about it. :)

We think we're cool. Its fine.

Hahaha, I don't know if the full Joker makeup or if the half gone makeup is more scary!

After we were back to normal we snuggled up on the couch to watch The Corpse Bride.

It was a wonderful night. :)

The next morning we took a walk around the Temple. What a great way to start out the Sabbath!

The sun was a little bright though....:)

Ahh..they make me happy :)

Me and Felicia. I just love her!

They came with me to Sacrament Meeting and then it was time for them to head back to Snow. Yes, there were a couple tears shed(on my part of course) and then they left.

I am SO grateful that they were able to come up, and I'm SO grateful that I have them in my life.

It was a GREAT weekend. :)

My Bestest Friend :)

So basically Ashley Nichole Jacobs is my bestest friend ever. Sometimes we talk on skype for longer than an hour, and its great. She told me that I need to do a better job of updating my blog(whoa, that rhymed!) and, she's right..sooo..this post is dedicated to her. :) I was looking through old pictures this morning, and found some really awesome ones of us. here ya go! :)

Ninth Grade!

Sophomores!

Juniors!

Seniors!

Graduates :)

Yeah, we're super cool, and these are only some of the MANY adventures we've had. I kind of love this girl. A lot.

"No love, no friendship, can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever."

Eating Oatmeal.

Life is hard. School is hard. Friendships are hard. Being away from home is hard. Living on my own is hard. Waking up so early in the morning is hard. Missing people is hard. Responsibilities are hard.

And sometimes life becomes so overloaded and stressful that I feel like I'm going to explode. What do I do when this happens?

I eat oatmeal.

I make myself a big, HOT, double serving of strawberries and cream/apples and cinnamon oatmeal, and stir in big helpings of milk and honey. When its ready I sit down on my couch, turn on my "favorites" playlist with the volume on low, close my eyes, and let myself relax.

No distractions can get to me. I close Facebook, and turn off the t.v. My phone goes on silent, and my laptop is shut down. I turn away from the dirty dishes, and the remnants of our latest apartment disaster(the flooded toilet) and instead face the window and watch the wind blowing through the trees. I close all textbooks, music books, and notebooks, and for the moment, I forget about whats due in a few hours, the next day, or even two weeks from now.

I slowly begin to eat the oatmeal, savoring each bite. With every bite taken I contemplate life, and all its complexities. I take time to think about old memories, some that bring a smile to my face, while others bring a tear or two(..or maybe three or four). I think about life as it is now, with all its joys and frustrations. I take the time to sort through problems, and try to come up with solutions. At this point the faces of the ones who are most important to me pop into my head and I thank my Heavenly Father that I have been blessed to know so many wonderful people.

...and slowly, ever so slowly the bowl is emptied.

As I take the last few bites of my now almost cold oatmeal, my thoughts turn to the future. Whats going to happen? Am I following the path I should be? Whats going to change? And while these thoughts are frightening most of the time, for the moment, I'm not scared.

I take the last bite and realize its almost time to face reality. Its time to go back to the drudgery of everyday life. My feelings are a strange mix of melancholy, joy, and peace. I stand up to take my bowl to the sink and realize that I feel a lot better.

A quote pops into my head.

"Life is just like an old time rail journey...delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride." ~Gordon B. Hinckley

Tears of gratitude come to my eyes. Life may, at times, feel like its full of bumps and bruises, but I am so grateful for this journey I've been allowed to take.

And for the opportunity to slow down and eat a bowl of oatmeal.

A thought for your Sunday.

You know how you can be taught something for your whole life, and not fully understand it until much later?

I had one of those moments today.

In countless Sunday school classes, young women lessons, and sacrament talks, I have heard that you love those you serve. I've always believed that, and have even had opportunities too feel that love for those I've served. But it has never hit me as strong as it did today.

Two weeks ago I was called to be the Relief Society chorister in my ward. Now, this isn't a hard calling, or one that takes much time, or even one where I felt that I was really "serving" anyone. However, today, while I was standing in front of my relief society leading the music, I felt an overwhelming love for every girl in that room. I only know about half of their names, and I've only known them for a month, but the love I felt for them was so strong.

This experience taught me a really important lesson.

It doesn't matter how big or small, significant or insignificant what we're doing may seem. If your serving someone, with your whole heart, you will feel that love, and be grateful for the opportunity you had.

Remember, Nothing you do is insignificant to our Heavenly Father.

"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson.