This is my temporary home.

I have been living in Rexburg for almost two months. I feel like it's been much much longer than that. It's crazy how different things are here. No target. None of my friends from back home. No car. SNOW. No asians. No panera. It's kind of dissapointing sometimes.

 

I miss everything about home.

 

I miss my parents. I miss how my dad would come in every morning before seminary to tell me it was time to get up; even though he got mad at me half of the time. I miss knowing he was there everyday. I miss my mom. I miss having to make sure she was getting up every morning when i left for seminary. I miss the mornings over summer when she came in asking if I would come lay with Molly. I miss how they would wash the leftover food off my plates for me. I miss how they did my laundry sometimes. I miss taking naps with them on Sunday afternoons. I miss going shopping with them on Saturdays. I miss Cafe Leon dinners every friday/saturday night.  I miss all the simple things. I miss how they were there, everyday of my life. 

 

I miss Lanthan. I miss watching Rookie Blue, Hawaii Five-0, and Love in the Wild with him. I miss watching movies late into the night. I miss the sound of his car pulling into the driveway..letting me know he was home safe. I miss going places together, and people looking at us as if we were a couple. Actually I don't miss that. But I do miss him. I miss how he was there everyday of my life.

 

I miss Nana and Bubba. I miss going over to their house every Sunday for family dinner. I miss enchilada casserole, even if it seemed like we had it every other week. I miss how close we were. I miss all the days I spent at their house over winter and summer breaks. All the mornings Bubba made bacon for me and Lanthan. I miss the smell of their house at Christmastime, and Thanksgiving. I miss watching tv with them at night. Although, I was usually the only one actually watching, while they snored through the shows. I miss living within 10 minutes of them. I miss having them around, everyday of my life.  

 

I miss Kelsey. I miss living down the street from her. I miss our late night talks. I miss our sleepovers. I miss going anywhere and everywhere with her. I miss her family. I miss all the days we worked out. I miss her blue and green room that i spent so many days/nights in. I miss the air mattress that we had to inflate every night I slept over because she refused to share the bed. I miss seeing her everyday at school. I miss being able to talk to her everyday without life getting in the way. I miss being a part of her everyday life, and I miss her being a part of mine. I miss having her there everyday of my life.

 

I miss Kaleina. I miss all the summer days I spent at her house. I miss the multiple nights we spent tp'ing the Lea residence. I miss her house. I miss all the sleepovers with her, Jamie, Kelsey, Cheyane, and I. I miss all the times she was there for me. I miss driving around in my car with her blasting AMEN and relating it and every other song to our lives. I miss her mother. I miss the kids that were there everyday. I miss all the friends I made through Kaleina. (Kelsey, Cheyane) I miss hearing her say "text me when you get home," because it let me know she truly cared. I miss our "twisted friendship" that everyone thought we had. I miss having her around, what seemed like everyday of my life this summer.

 

I miss Molly. Yes, I miss my dog. I miss her soft ears. I miss how excited she was when I got home. I miss laying with her on summer mornings. I miss how she would bark when it was dinner time. I miss how she snored like my dad. I miss taking her in the car. I miss chasing her around the neighnorhood when my dad would forget to shut the gate. I miss seeing her everyday of my life for the past 5 years.

 

It's good to know that I will always be able to go home. I'm glad that this home here in Rexburg is temporary. I can't wait to see everyone in Fresno again. Let the countdown begin...22...

Rainy Days

Well it's official. The rainy season has begun here in Rexburg. I love it. I love the rain. I love everything about this campus in the rain. I love what the rain reminds me of... And boy does it remind me of alot of things. First, it reminds me of the day my parents dropped me off here. I think it's kind of ironic that it rained that day. I have always thought of rain in a sense of starting new. The rain brings new beginnings, washes away the old. So now everytime it rains while I am here, I will think of my mom and dad, and that day. I'm thankful for them, and all that they have done for me. I'm thankful that they let me come here. And i'm thankful for rainy days.

Another thing the rain reminds me of is softball. All the days that Gorton was completely out of his mind. The days that we had to drive out to the middle of Clovis in the pouring rain for a practice that lasted about an hour. Sometimes I wonder what the man was thinking. However, those practices brought forth a team capable of winning a championship. Rain will always remind me of the Valley Championship. I remember everything about that game. I remember thinking this game better not be rained-out. But in the end i thought the rain was so symbloic. I remember telling my teammate about the rain. Central High School had never won a championship and everyone looked down on us. They thought that that would never change; that we had no chance. But we proved them wrong. We won that game and pretty much made history. I'm thankful for rainy days.

Rainy days also remind me of the many days i spent with Bubba over winter break, back when I was in elementary school. I remember the smell of their house at Christmas. I remember the star on the top of the tree that blinked bright lights. I remember the smell of bacon every morning that I walked in. Bub was always good about that. I never doubted if he loved me. He always showed it. I remember curling up in a blanket and watching disney channel and full house and of course the Cosby Show which was one of Bub's favorites. I miss those days. I miss Bubba. I miss their house. I miss going with Bubba eveywhere in his little red truck. He's the greatest. I'm thankful for rainy days.

And last but not least rainy days remind me of home. All the days me and Lanthan would lay on the couch and watch movies. All the times my friends and I planned to have pool parties and the clouds looked as if they were going to start pouring rain. All the mornings waking up to the sound of rain outside my window. The days that me and my dad would go places in his truck and he couldn't possibly see out the windshield, but refused to turn his windshield wipers on. All the days Lanthan would finally wash his car and it would rain the next day. All the days i wore TOMS to school and had to go to Burriss' class so my feet could get feeling back into them , after being numb for so long. All the days I spent with my mom at the mall around Christmastime. I miss those days. I'm thankful for rainy days.

Montana

I am more than pleased to say that I got out of Rexburg this weekend. FINALLY. I mean no offense to this beautiful town, it's just kinda small with not much to do. And boy did I need it. Not more than an hour before our departure I failed an Anatomy and Physiology exam. Happy weekend to me.. but once we got in the car, I felt free of college for the first time in about a month. The car ride was pretty awesome. We (Jaylene, Melissa, Chelsea and I) blasted the music and pretty much sang our way to Montana. We took one of those epic pictures in front of the state sign on the side of the freeway. You know, the ones you see and wonder why the people got out of their car for that? Yeah, we did that. I can now cross that off my bucket list thank you very much.

First experience in Montana..the natural Hot Springs of course. And with that came the "normal" as Jaylene would say, old men hitting on you. She tried to tell us that they were just being friendly but Melissa and I being from California and all, had a real bad feeling about it. But I'm alive and writing so that obviously means we made it out okay. The Hot Springs were actually pretty neat. I was going to say they were pretty "cool" but that would make them sound like they weren't hot, which they definitely were. 104 degrees to be exact. No biggie.

Second experience of Montana..HORSEBACK RIDING. I've dreamed about going horseback riding since I was a little girl and thanks to Jaylene, i fulfilled that dream. FINALLY. And where better than in Montana, right? I cannot even express how excited I was to do this. I wanted to cry of excitement the whole time. Melissa being the lovely friend that she is, decided it would be a good idea to take a "show me your excited face" picture...

 

However...It was quite windy, so this is what it came out to be. I look real excited huh? Well I was. And here are some of the beautiful pictures we got. Props to Melissa Michiale Hansen.

 

 

 

 

Overall, it was an amzing time in Montana. And even coming back to Rexburg was nice. I love the people here. My roommates that welcomed me home, Jacob waiting to sit by me in church today, it was just one of those weekends that made life just that much better.

call me crazy

I have found that it is crazy how fast you can learn to love someone. First impressions are nothing but judgements. Being in college for a month now I still cannot believe how close I am with people I have barely met, how close I am with people I initially thought I would never be friends with, and how much closer I've gotten with people I already knew.

Let's first start out with the roommates. Anne Marie Michelsen. She's awesome. I cannot thank her enough for not hating me after all those mornings of having to get out of bed to tell me about MY alarm going off. I'm definitely glad that we are roommates. We get eachother. We can do practically anything and laugh our way though it by somehow relating it to Mr. Wizard. I love her. Then we have Melissa Myers. AKA seven pounds. Because she practically weighs that much. She's crazy. She has a great amount of sassiness in her that comes out more and more each day. She would be the main reason I wouldn't get fat here, and one day I will remember to thank her. She and I are alot alike i think. We are the really laid back ones in the apartment, not many worries, just living the life of a college student. I love her. Last, but not least, we have Alyssa Pearl Olsen. I'm not going to lie, at first I didn't feel like we got along. She has more of a loud personality, and at first I just wasn't used to it. But over time, I've come to love it. When she's not out with her other friends she's pretty great to have around. I love her. These three have taught me alot about learning to love someone you have barely met.

Then we have the category of people that I initially thought i just wouldn't be friends with. Let's start off with Chelsea Sara Applegate. I remember the first time we met. Honestly I thought she was too "cool" for me. She snowboards and that definitely attracts the guys here. I just thought i didn't have a chance. However, I am pleased to say that me and Chelsea have become the best of friends. We've spent many hours talking about our lives and all the crazy things we've been through. Chelsea is great. She's strong, even if she doesn't think she is. And she can make me laugh like no other. She's kinda the closest thing I have to my friends back home. I love her. I couldn't possibly forget Jacob Huskinson. When we first met i thought he was crazy. He still is but he's great. He has one of those personalities that people are drawn to. Always giving, constantly making jokes. He is confident enough to make fun of himself and I die laughing everytime he is around. I'm thankful for Jake..he's a good guy. I love him. Then we have Hannah Drewery. Known here as "British Hannah". The day she showed up I think everyone thought to themselves, "I wanna meet her". I know I did atleast. And belive it or not, we have become pretty good friends. She can be really calm one moment and completely histerical the next. Because of her i will forever call vacuuming, hoovering. Thank you Hannah. I love her.

Lastly we have the friends that I already knew. Actually, we just have Melissa. Melissa Michiale Hansen. The girl that hated me not too many years back. I think we can both agree that we have gotten over that. I'm thankful for my 5th year of girl's camp, where I had the opportunity to meet her. I'll be forever thankful for having her next door and here with me, even if it's only for this semester. I've needed her. Especially this past week. It's crazy how much closer we have gotten the past few weeks. I didn't think it was possible to be the same person in two different bodies, but we pretty much are. I'm thankful for her strength in the gospel. She has always been a role model to me, even if I have never told her that personally. I love her.