Cheesecake, Men, and Fries

Friday night Ashlie and I got some friends together and went to a new dessert shop in Alpine Village.

 This place has amazing desserts! You should go! Click here

Saturday, the VanGenderen brothers came down and we all went to the Men's Volleyball game. It was awesome!!!

Images from byucougars.com

Sunday, Ashlie, Erin and I made homemade french fries and pretzels. Both were amazing!!!

Grateful

Over the past few days I have realized how truly blessed I am. Blessed in small and large ways.

I have friends that trust me and come to me with their problems.

My roommates are my closest friends.

I am completing my goals to meet new people.

My family is in good health and safe.

My job is awesome!

I have a great relationship with my extended family.

My ward is full of incredible individuals.

I am happy with who I am and who I am becoming.

Flowers Make Me Happy

The Last Few Weeks of My Life

I spend every Friday in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City doing research for my Capstone Genealogy class. I am proud to tell you all that I'm ahead on hours for that class.

The file cabinets where the Microfilms are kept. I live here

A few weeks ago the girls went out on the town to celebrate Lizzy's Birthday. We went so Sparks Lounge. A alcohol free place of fun-ness. Seriously - It was nice to not feel like I was in Provo for a bit. And these girls are awesome!

Ashlie (my roommate) and Rachelle (my neighbor)

The girls: Me, Hanna, Shalene, Maren, Lizzy, Ashlie and Rachelle.

The cheesecake dessert we got.

Sunday I went for a drive to Utah Lake, one of my favorite places in the winter.

I am in a floral design class at BYU. Yes, that's right. It is awesome. We made bouquets this week in our lab. Here is mine. I LOVE FLOWERS!!! THEY MAKE ME HAPPY!  I was walking around campus with them yesterday and just couldn't stop smiling.

Letting Go

I learned it is ok. It is ok to be upset about things. It is ok to be mad at people who have not treated you as well as they should have.

I have been struggling with actually being mad and upset with people who have hurt me. I have tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. I have made up excuses for them. I have tried and tried to think kindly of them. However, instead of the expected feeling of relief and peace I found that the things they have done to me just ate at me. It was hurting me more to be kind. Last night after having good conversations with a few close friends I finally allowed myself let it all go. I'm not sure what it was. Just a shift in thought I guess.

I am tired of guys using me. I am tired of being lied to. I am tired of being hurt. I am tired of people not caring. I'm tired of people killing my trust.

The moment came when I realized that things people have done to me in the past were not nice. People can just be jerks sometimes. I do forgive them for what they have done but sometimes the pain still remains. The trust has been broken and it is hard to let that go.

After having a good think about that I began to let things go and 'look up'. My friend Laura sent me a link to President Monson's Conference talk from April 2009. It fit perfectly.

Be of Good Cheer

Today, however, I’d like us to turn our thoughts and our attitudes away from the troubles around us and to focus instead on our blessings as members of the Church. The Apostle Paul declared, “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” ¹

None of us makes it through this life without problems and challenges—and sometimes tragedies and misfortunes. After all, in large part we are here to learn and grow from such events in our lives. We know that there are times when we will suffer, when we will grieve, and when we will be saddened. However, we are told, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” ²

How might we have joy in our lives, despite all that we may face? Again from the scriptures: “Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you.” ³

There will be challenges and misfortunes. But be positive. Look forward... and step into the dark.

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown!” And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than [a] light and safer than a known way.” ⁷

-M. Louise Haskins

Copyright

This blog is copyrighted just by being online. I had NO idea that was how this all worked.

This means that I have published. I always thought that sounded so official. But apparently a blog and possibly Facebook counts.

Not only is that pretty awesome but terrifying at the same point. I've quoted several different people or sources in the process of writing this blog and I feel terrible that I didn't properly cite my sources (remember I'm a genealogist and footnotes are my life). Anything not sourced could be considered plagiarism.

With these discoveries I have decided today to be better at documenting everything.

I also learned that everything on Twitter is stored at the National Archives! CRAZY!

I'm Back

I've finally recovered from Jet Lag. My eating habits are back to normal. My sleeping schedule is good. My body doesn't randomly get cold anymore. It is nice to be back.

On Monday I went and bought my books and for the first time since I've been at BYU I waited in a line longer than 10 minutes to purchase my textbooks. I ended up having a really good conversation with the guy behind me about school and the Air Force (which he was joining after graduation). It was so nice to just have a conversation with someone without having to worry about if he will read into anything. It was just that, a conversation. It is kinda hard to explain - but just know it was great.

My classes are going well thus far. My floral design class will be a lot of fun. The print publishing class will also be fun and very beneficial, though a bit more work than my floral design class. My capstone genealogy class is going to kick my butt. I always knew it would be a lot of work... but this is TONS more than I was thinking. It is doable. Just a lot. My statistic class will also be good. I was super nervous about it - but after my first class I feel that I'll learn a lot and it will be beneficial to my genealogical work. I'm feeling good about the start of this semester. I have a lot to do, but it will be worth it.

An End and a Beginning

Monday Erin and I flew back to Utah. It was a long day but pretty uneventful. I ended up staying away the whole time which I was impressed with. But after 23 hours of being awake my body starting feeling really weird. And traveling all day didn't help much. When we arrived in the Salt Lake Airport we ran into my aunt Jill who was just getting of work at the airport. It was good to see a familiar face. She walked us down to the baggage area where we met up with my cousins Heather and Clark. It is so crazy to think about how far we traveled and that we are back in the United States.  I find it incredible.

In the past day or so I've been amazed by several things about America:
-The roads are HUGE! Really wide and spacious. It is amazing!!!!
-Americans talk louder. That's for sure. Not a bad thing. Just different.
-Restaurants are everywhere!!! Not sure where to go first.
-There is STILL construction on I-15. Will it ever end?
-Stoplights and 4-way stops are annoying. Where are the roundabouts?!
-American people are bigger. Taller and a bit thicker.

I'm sure there are tons more but those are the ones that stuck out to me. I've been up since 3:30am getting organized and such. I'm running out of things to do this early in the morning. Jetlag is tons of fun.

England: Week 26 Christmas

Christmas with the Queen!!!! 

Yes that is right.... we saw Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of England. AND the rest of the family!

We went to Sandringham House where the royal family spends their Christmas. (We went there back in October with Patty) On christmas day people can come and watch the royal family walk from the house to the local Parish. The Queen, of course, rides up in her Bentley (and makes her husband Philip walk... go figure).

The Queen in her car. She's in the back seat.

 The rest of the family walked. The group was apparently pretty small. A lot of them were out of town. William was away on military assignment and Kate spent her last Christmas as a non-married woman with her family. BUT HARRY was there!!! 

Harry and his grandpa Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Philip aka the Queen's husband)

 After they attend church (which is broadcasted over a loud speaker) the royal family comes out and the queen accepts flowers from the children in attendance while the rest of the family visits with the people there. YES that is right, I said... VISITS as in talks with us.

The Coleman's children in line to give the queen flowers.

The Royal family behind the Queen as she accepts the first flowers. First off the Queen looks FANTASTIC!! Ok and now I'll tell you who everyone is. The Queen is obviously in the front accepting the flowers. Behind her in the green is her husband Philip. Behind him from left to right is Camilla (Duchess of Cornwall and married to Charles) and Prince Charles (Prince of Wales) and the daughters of Prince Andrew (son of the queen), Behind them is someone I don't know and Prince Harry. Behind Harry is Prince Edward (son of the Queen and aka Earl of Wessex). Prince Andrew is here somewhere but just not in the picture.

Prince Charles was super close to us. He was very familiar with Lakenheath base which was AWESOME! The royal family was very kind and very good about making conversation. I was really impressed.

We chased Prince Harry down the walk so we could get close to him. He seemed to talk to everyone who had a dog. He spent a lot of time with these puppies that were dressed up.

Prince Harry was really nice and very good looking. He is a lot better looking that William. :)

Over all - a really great Christmas :D