Life is funny like that

I know, it's been awhile. But I decided now is a good time to start sporadically blogging again!

All sorts of changes and decisions have been popping up in my life as of late. I feel like I'm simultaneously making everything uncertain and locking myself into a specific path/future. It's all sorts of fun! But I'm feeling good about all my decisions and it is all working out - so s'all good.

But I was having this deep thought session last night. I had a lot on my mind yesterday, and I sort of expected the day to be pretty rotten. But it wasn't! It was actually a really great day. My awesome team won a simulation game in class, and after that everything just stayed super great!

So I'm having this great day, and then I end up having this conversation with some friends that was a pleasant surprise. It took an unexpected turn, and at first I was less than thrilled. But then I ended up hearing exactly what I needed to hear. I knew I was needing something yesterday, despite it being a fantastic day, but I hadn't realized what it was.

I just think it is THE coolest thing how you can just be going about your life and WHAM! Someone does just what you need or says just what you need to hear. Or something happens that was just exactly what you wanted, sometimes without even knowing you wanted it! Life is funny that way. I just love the little blessings that are always popping up in life. There's just so much good in the world/life!

Story of My Life These Days

But if you wake me up like this ever, you will regret it. Just sayin.

http://whatshouldwecallme.tumblr.com/post/20769041541/when-i-wake-up-and-realize-its-not-the-weekend-anymore

I'm in love

With this kid! The one in the blue shirt. I want one like him (someday).

... Guess I should move to New Zealand. Probably. Or just somewhere with adorable little accents.



I honestly just watched it six times. "Aw, come on mate. Do it yourself."

Words of Wisdom

My best friend Rebecca (my BF4E) has this quote she has shared on her blog/facebook/wherever. She loves it. And I've always liked it, but I thought about it out of nowhere yesterday and it has even more meaning to me now.

"There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Forget the bad, and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don't. Life is too short to... Be anything but happy!!! Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living."

Genius. I love every line of it. And I realized yesterday just how good some people in my life are - and they are the ones I want to surround myself with....Even when they might make me cry instead of laugh. Because they can help me get back up when I do fall down, and life is too short to not have amazing people in your life, influencing you for the better.

One Skip Ahead of My Doom

When I thought about writing this blog posts, for some reason One Step Ahead from Disney's Aladdin popped into my head. Random. (The post title is from this song.)

I guess it doesn't seem quite so weird when I explain that my prevailing thought at this moment is "One Step At a Time." And . . . now the Jordin Sparks song is playing in my mind. It's true in so many ways. When I think about my education, I have to remind myself to just take it one step at a time. Same with my future. And the concept/mantra applies to so much in life!

I feel like people are always saying "Once you take that first step, it gets easier." And I guess that's true a lot of the time. But what people don't tell you is that sometimes the first step is not only hard to take, but it's hard to handle. And sometimes it doesn't get any easier. It takes "one step at time" repeated over and over and over and over before it actually gets easier. It's an interesting thought to me.

And maybe I've still got a lot of steps to take with my education/future career before I reach that end goal, but every step is in the forward direction. As long as that's the case, I guess it doesn't matter how many steps it takes - no matter what the situation.

Pick-Me-Up

I have this friend. He is super nice and super great, and I just think he is the greatest. I haven't talked to him much lately, but he made my day tonight by calling me and just talking to me. I was feeling sort of sorry for myself before he called (oops!), and talking to him was just exactly what I needed.

I love having friends who can just out of the blue make your day. It's one of those little treats of life that we sometimes don't notice or really appreciate fully until you have a reason to take notice. I'm so happy I could notice tonight that I have an awesome friend. :) And that life is just awesome.

Yay friends!

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Older and Only Possibly Wiser

I have this super secret blog. I used to record my deepest (sometimes darkest) thoughts there. I just remembered its existence, so I took a little trip on over to it. I used to be so deep! It was quite enlightening, and I actually got advice for myself from my past self. Figures. The younger me knew more than the old me. It was quite the interesting discovery. And I liked one short and sweet post from years ago. Haha despite how dramatic it is, I will share it because I sound super profound (and sad).

Reality

People leave. Friendships die. Love fades. Hearts break.

Life blows.


Geez. Was I eloquent, or what? :)

"Baby Born With Two Heads" . . . Must be from Brooklyn.

I've gots some news! Lots of it, actually.

A. Wishes do come true!


B. Because I am going to Europe! In 113 days I will be in my favorite city in the entire world. Ah, Paris. I'm doing a two-week International Accounting Study Abroad. And just as it sounds (and looks with all those capital letters), it is going to be pretty legit. Trust me, mes amies. There ain't nothing better than two accounting-packed weeks in Europe. Except maybe two non-accounting-packed weeks. Which conveniently leads me to . . .

C. I get to stay after the program and travel! If you weren't jealous before, you should be now. Pretty much I have the best life eva. No joke. It'll be delightful and I can hardly wait.

D. This should have been first, but . . . I love my major. And all this time I thought I was just doing accounting because it was a smart choice. Turns out I actually enjoy it. Not all of it, but definitely a lot of it.

*Even when I am struggling with filing a fake tax return - even though it should be quite simple really.
Iss-ues.

E. I really, really adore Gregg Sulkin at the moment. It isn't that big of news, and I don't know why I suddenly especially heart him. But dude, is he adorable or what?

E - 2. I might miss Mason almost as much as I miss Justin. True story. Even though the way Mason came back to the show was super lame, it was one of the happiest moments of my life. (Okay, not really. But it was very, very joy-inducing.)

F. It's sort of depressing that no one actually reads my blog. Haha just had to throw that out there.

Country Girl . . . Shake it For Me

I. Love. Country. Music. Seriously. Just throw me on a horse

and call me a cowgirl.

And if you did, I'd love you forever.

I don't know how I went so long (basically the first two decades of my life) not knowing the true joy of country music. I shudder at the ignorance of my old self in thinking country music was lame. I had to ease my way in, only liking fake/semi-country (you know who you are Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift). But then several months ago I unexpectedly took the plunge and now I love it all. Even songs about tractors and . . . tractors. (I couldn't think of anything else that SCREAMED country. Oh no. I've become desensitized.)

I have to publicly thank Scotty McCreery here for being the biggest reason I gave country a chance.

Here are some of my current favies. What an adorable word.

Some are new faves. Some are long-time faves. And some of
my all-time faves aren't even on the list. But I said current, didn't I?

*In no particular order

• Everything Is You - Eli Young Band
• Let it Rain - David Nail
• Wanted You More - Lady Antebellum
• I Don't Want This Night to End - Luke Bryan
• Second Hand Heart - Danny Gokey
• Didn't I - James Wesley
• Tomorrow - Chris Young
• Take a Back Road - Rodney Atkins
• Big Green Tractor - Jason Aldean
  
• God Gave Me You - Blake Shelton
• Somewhere With You - Kenny Chesney
• Crazy Girl - Eli Young Band
  
• Better Than That - Scotty McCreery
• Then - Brad Paisley
• Love Don't Run - Steve Holy
  
• Colder Weather - Zac Brown Band
• Easy - Rascal Flatts
• Country Girl (Shake It For Me) - Luke Bryan
• You - Chris Young
• Consider Me Gone - Reba McEntire
  

Surprise!

I'm sorry to have another rather dramatic post again, but I am having a moment and am receiving some profound wisdom that I want to share with ya'all.

Nobody is ever going to always act like you think they will. Whoa. Did you get that? Nobody is ever going to always act like you think they will.

Is your mind blown? Well, it shouldn't be. It's taken me longer than it should have to realize this. I'm not saying you can't ever count on anyone or anything as ridiculous and cynical as that, but I am saying that people will disappoint you at times. Not necessarily in a big way, but they will. Even if its as simple as them not saying the right thing when you need them to or them randomly being unavailable when you call them because you need to talk. (Neither of which are recent experiences for me - I know you were thinking they were.)

But I guess it's a good thing you can't predict people's behavior constantly. Cuz what would be the fun in that!

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Funny Story

Okay, this post is going to sound sort of dramatic. Sorry about that. But I'm sitting here, lost in deep thoughts that I feel the need to share.

Here's the funny story... Life is ridiculous. Reality almost never meets expectation, and life never turns out how you want it to. Problems arise. Disappointment comes. Basically, excuse my language, crap happens. You get hurt and you get broken, and sometimes you don't get the answers to prayers that you wanted.

But good old Darius Rucker taught me a thing or two about that.

His whole song "This" is great. But I especially like one line.

"Maybe it didn't turn out like I planned, but maybe that's why I'm such a lucky man."

He isn't exactly where I usually get my wisdom from, but I find comfort in his lyrics anyways. Now... More importantly, it's important to remember that it doesn't matter that things don't happen how you want them to. Because the truth is they happen how they're supposed to. Our Heavenly Father knows what is best for us - ALWAYS. Even when we don't. ESPECIALLY when we don't.

Even though I know that, sometimes it's still hard to accept it. Sometimes accepting life's unexpected turns is easier said than done. But it's still possible. :)

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Freedom!

Classes finished. Check. (old news!)
Final Research Paper finished and submitted. Check. (again, oldy-moldy news)
Finals finished. Check.

.......

Wait, wait. Check on finals finished? WOOO!!

I'm free from school for 18 wonderful, wonderful days!

There may be tears of joy rolling down my cheeks this very minute. If not literally, definitely figuratively.

Almost . . .

Almost is a funny word.

It can be used in a good way. Like I am almost done with finals! The thought makes me want to weep tears of joy. This semester has been crazy and I'm so excited to almost be done with it. The word has this feeling of excitement and celebration because a victory is near.

But . . . it can also be a horrible word. I almost won. I almost passed the class. I almost got the job. Instead of talking about how something great is going to happen sometime very soon, it talks about how something really great didn't quite happen.

Really, the word sort of scares me. Because when it comes down to it, almost never cuts it.

Merci! - #37

I'm thankful for . . .

#37 WILLIAM

I love this kid so darn much. It's really not even funny. He is the sweetest, funniest, most adorable little thing ever. Like Janson (I'm SO BLESSED to have them both), he always makes me happy. Always. Hanging out with him is honestly like therapeutic. Nothing seems so bad after spending time with my little man. He has always been such a sweetheart. I still remember one day when I was feeling a little sad for some reason and Will just randomly was all "I like your shirt" or something. And it was so sweet and everything that it melted my heart and I was happy. He said stuff like that all the time, about my clothes or me or my hair. He is incredibly smart and clever. He is adorably (and sometimes not so adorably) stubborn, and this paired with his cleverness makes him quite a force to be reckoned with. He loves to make deals and he usually wins because he is just so reasonable. You can't fight reason. It's just my favorite when he works us all to his will using reason and downright sweetness. Even without the reason I couldn't say no to that child. I truly would not be the same person without him in my life. I am so grateful every day that I was blessed with such absolutely perfect nephews. I couldn't have asked for two better ones. I love them both so much.

Merci! - #36

I'm thankful for . . .

#36 ROOMIES

*Sorry, no collage

I really love my current roommates. For the first time I actually have roommateS that I like spending time with. I've had at least one at a time before, but I actually love BOTH of them at the same time! We actually hang out, and we talk all the time. I tell them more about my life than I am sure they want to know, but it's fun haha. They like knowing what is going on with me and I like knowing what is going on with them. They are both nice, sweet, and totally funny. I'm really so grateful for them. I wish Sharisse (left above) wasn't graduating this semester and abandoning us! Who knows if we will like the next one at all! But for now, I'm grateful for my roomies.

Merci! - #35

I'm thankful for . . .

#35 REBECCA


Rebecca is my BF4E. For those of you who might not understand my genius code (?), BF4E = Best Friend 4 Eva. Sooo much better than BFF. Seriously. Well Becca really is mine. But since she suddenly doesn't like that title, I will also tell you that she is my best friend. She is so great and I don’t know what I’d do without her. (Running theme in these posts… Huh.) After all our friends left on missions, we were all each other had. And she has come to mean even more to me in the past few years than before. We became friends in 8^th grade (busy year for best friend making for me) and we have honestly been the best of friends since. She makes me hilarious and I love that. She is also hilarious and I love that too. Most of the time I’m pretty sure we are practically the same person, and it’s great. We do fantastic things like buying and dressing up in disguises, synchronized stargazing, Eunice creating, basketball player stalking, Disneyland tripping, and Jungle Cruising. She makes me laugh harder than just about anyone I have ever met. We laugh a lot, but we are also friends on a deeper, more serious level. I really heart her.

Merci! - #34

I'm thankful for . . .

#34 (my) MOM/JUDITH

*I'm feeling the Paris pictures today.

Ah, JuJu. What would I do without my mother? It’s the typical, cliché thing to say, but a girl really needs her mom. And mine is pretty much the best. We are very similar. This sometimes created issues when I was growing up, but now we just get along so well. She understands me when I go through my nutso moments and she listens and gives great advice when I babble on and on about my life. Like my Dad, I know she loves me and cares about me. She always shows it and it isn’t something I’ve ever doubted. She even gets teary when I'm happy. AND sometimes she buys me little presents and they are just so great. (Thanks Judith!) Once her and Emily even brought me this adorable little treat bag when I was going through a really stressful time this semester. I know I told her thanks, but I don’t know if she realized how much the little things like that really mean to me. I’m so grateful to have such a great Mom. And I really love her muttley laugh. Just sayin'.

Merci! - #33

I'm thankful for . . .

#33 JONNY

*Again - no recent...sad

Jonny and I were on Student Council together our Junior year at THS. Part of me loved Student Council, but part of me sort of hated it. But no matter what Jonny always made me at least happy that I was on it. And I'm grateful to him for that. I'm so glad that we became friends that year. We are still friends and I love that. He got home from his mission in June, and I've loved having him back. He cracks me up constantly and he is always there for me. He has been a great friend all these years and I know it's not going to change anytime soon.

Merci! - #32

I'm thankful for . . .

#32 JENNY

Jenny is my oldest friend. I still remember when I was this nervous little almost-5th-grader who moved into a new house and didn't know anyone, and there was this girl who lived two houses down who befriended her. I will forever be grateful that she did. We didn't become really good friends until Jr. High, but when it happened, it seriously happened. She is one of the best friends I will ever have. She cracks me up and she makes me smile. I enjoy spending time with her, even if it's just talking. She's married now, but I still get to see her and I love that. It's crazy - I won't see her in ages, but when we do see each other it's like no time has passed. She has been a great example to me and I just love her.

Merci! - #31

I'm thankful for . . .

#31 JANSON

I love this little guy! He is so absolutely hilarious and so cute that it's actually ridiculous. I love how happy he always is. He just loves everyone and everything. At the same time, I adore those rare times when he isn't happy because it's too funny and he is so adorable. He is quite the little drama king and I love it. Every single time I see him he makes me happy. It doesn't matter how horrible of a day or week I'm having. He is (almost) always so genuinely happy/excited to see me and I am instantly completely happy. He's a sweet little spud and I really can't say no when he so sweetly asks me to play with him. Not that I mind. :) I love him so much and wish I got to spend more time with him than I usually am able to. I'm so grateful for the blessing he is in my life.