I'm not a huge Halloween fan. But it's weird how one of my least favorite holidays can make me miss home. At home the house has smelled like apple cider and cinnamon for a month. At home there are cute decorations everywhere and soup for dinner most of the week. At home my sisters are buzzing around figuring out their costumes and what to wear tonight. At home there is candy everywhere. Literally everywhere. At home they carved pumpkins and they're sitting on the front porch. There's a bowl of roasted pumpkin seeds next to three bowls of candy. I don't even like Halloween! Yet it's making me feel all nostalgic.

I guess it's a good reminder that these are the kinds of memories I want my kids to have.

As much as I miss home I love college. I love my friends and my roommates and my classes (even when they're hard) and my college family (bless their hearts....) and everything.

On another note. I was having a rough night the other night, and decided to go listen to some music. So I pulled up Youtube to listen to the deluxe T-Swift CD (I'm buying it soon. Don't worry.) And then for some reason clicked on a song by Lady Antebellum I had never heard. This is what I heard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY2Yct8LjOo

The Lord is looking out for me.

So while I'm missing home and the angels that I call my family, it's wonderful to know that I'm not alone here.

So this weekend I became a beauty school wannabe. Not meaning that I want to go to beauty school, rather I pretended that I knew what I was doing (along with Alli and Sarah) and we dyed Rachel's hair. Basically it was one of the funniest weekends of my life.

On Friday I went to a Haunted House, a stake dance, went and watched As Time Goes By with Randy, went shopping for some new clothes, did homework, "helped" dye Rachel's hair, went to Lauren's dance competition, and had a sleepover with three of my favorite girls.

Randy finished up his papers and just has to have the Stake President hit "submit" which makes the whole mission thing more real. Hailee is getting her call on Wednesday. Which makes the whole mission thing more real. I'm so excited for all of my awesome friends who are going out to serve the Lord.

ALSO for the past week I've listened to Taylor Swift's new album on repeat, alternated with Christmas music coming from Rachel's computer.

My cute roommates make me so happy, the girls in my ward are so fun, college is hard and I had several melt downs this week trying to figure out what classes to take and trying to get a scholarship next year. But. Life is good.

I'm realizing this post is all over the place...so sorry about that.

But I just had a thought of something I should post on here. My awesome BOM teacher taught a lesson about the Nephites getting into the Promised Land and such. And in that lesson he told us this....

Faith in the Lord also means having faith in His timing.

So I just thought I'd leave that last thought on this wonderful Sunday afternoon. :)

Randy is super into lists recently, so I thought I'd make a list of things I love about Provo...or my life in Provo!

-I love the mountains. Seriously. They are the most beautiful mountains in the whole world. And they are literally in my backyard.
-I love my apartment. Our beautiful window where we creep on people, the comfortable couch with the bloated chair, the kitchen which is always messy because we're always baking something, our tacky TV stand, our post it note wall. All of it.
-I love the weather. It's cool in the morning and warm in the afternoon. Rainy and sunny and cold and warm. GAH it's all the weathers at once.
-I love that I'm close to my family. Yes, I'm an hour away. But it's still close :)
-I love my walk to campus every day. Long enough to make me enjoy the nature, short enough that I don't die and I'm not late.
-I love the temple. It's a weird, 70's temple, but it's amazing. And it's always packed.
-I love going to a devotional every Tuesday. It's awesome to get that spiritual pick-up once a week.
-I also love the spiritual pick-up I get in Book of Mormon every other day :) Gah and my teacher is amazing.
-I love that everyone on campus is so friendly. I think I've never had to open my own door to the library and everyone smiles when you sit down at their table in the library.
-I love the grocery stores. Yes. The grocery stores.
-I love the quick drive to Orem or Lehi or Downtown Provo or anywhere.
-I love that my best friend in the whole world is so close.
-I love my ward and the girls in my Relief Society.
-I love my cute roommates and my brand spankin' new best friends. Those girls are literally too nice to me and make me laugh so hard.
-I love my room. It's not like my room at home, but as my grandma said when she came to visit, it's me. And she's right.
-I love the laundry room in the basement. You can slide around in your socks. Which I do. Frequently.
-I love the BYU bookstore.
-I love the library. The big glass case that let's you feel outside, but still be warm? Genius.
-I love the football stadium and feeling a part of that huge crowd.
-I love the short walk to my church.
-I love breakdowns in the activity room.
-I love BYU

There are literally five million other things I could put but I have to go to school or whatever. So. Have a marvelous day!!! As you can see, I probably will too ;)

I haven't posted in a while, college is just busy! Who would've guessed right? Today I want to give a shout out of sorts. So here's a thank you to the people who bring me hot chocolate or muffins just because they care. The people who send me texts telling me I'm doing a good job when I feel like I'm failing. The people who ask if I need anything when they see me. The people who tell me I look pretty when I don't. The people who are so excited to see me every single day. The people who tell me I'm making the right choice. The people who go on long rambling walks and listen to me give long, rambling speeches. The people who listen to my stories even though they probably don't care. The people who send me links to my favorite music so I can listen before I buy it. The people who send me emails reminding me they love me. The people who always love seeing me when I come home. The people who put for the effort to spend time with me. The people who just want me to be happy. The people who love me.

This list could go on and on. But...for the sake of time (meaning I'm supposed to be getting ready for school...) I'll cut it short.

Basically the moral of the story today is that people can be absolutely wonderful. Sometimes I know I let the few bad things that happen, that people say or do, dictate my whole day. I kinda did that yesterday. Now looking back at all the wonderful things that people did, it was a great day. So that's the goal I guess. To look at the good things people do for me and forget the not so good things.

Our apartment is clean!! It's nothing short of a miracle. The even bigger miracle is that we did awesome on our cleaning checks! She said our house looked wonderful :) After spending most of Monday with vacuum cords in the hallway and everyone smelling like cleaning supplies, we have done it. So. We celebrated by cookies and staying up late doing all the studying we didn't do while we were cleaning. Also....we placed bets on how our lives are going to turn out. They think I'm going to be married first, which isn't funny. Or true. And that I'm going to live in Paris and then Utah and have four or five children and so on and so forth. Basically I love my roommates.

I woke up this morning to chocolate chip muffins.
I love my roommates :)

Also. Taylor Swift's idea to slowly release her album is like torture and wonderfulness at the same time. Because after I listen to the new song 17482447275 times in a row...I want another one. OH WAIT FOOLED YOU IT ISN'T EVEN RELEASED YET. Needless to say October 22 will be a blessed day in this house. Well for Rachel and I anyway :)

Also. I get to see my Grandma on Friday and I am so excited!!!!! I haven't seen her in far too long and I'm excited to spend a weekend catching up and spending time with my whole family together.

ALSO
Our FHE brothers are hilarious. And awkward. OH BLESS HIS HEART.

That is all :)

So It's been almost a week since General Conference. I should've blogged about it earlier, but seeing as I was sick with the stomach flu on Sunday, I feel I have an excuse. (Yes being sick was no bueno, but it was nice to be at home with my sweet family who took care of me and was so good to me.) Anyway here's to my favorite conference quotes and of course, my take on the whole mission thing!

I'm a Mormon, are you?
I'm a Mormon, I know it, I live it, I love it.
God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as he always has.
Trust God and believe in good things to come.
Don't wait until you are ready to die to decide to live
Every woman deserves to be told she's beautiful.


These are just a few but I'm crunched for time this morning!

So the other thing that General Conference got EVERYONE AND THEIR DOG fired up about is serving a mission. Here's my two cents. The age change is an amazing opportunity for more people to serve the Lord. That doesn't mean leaving early for boys or going at all for some girls is the right option. It's still a very personal situation, one that will require much fasting and prayer and study. Don't just go because you can. Ask Heavenly Father if and when you are supposed to go. There's a plan for you and while a mission isn't going to be a bad thing, there is a better and best aspect to every good thing in life. Do what the Lord knows is BEST for you and your life. Anyway that's all really :)

Hehehe, don't judge me. I really like posting on Maddy's stuff. I hope she doesn't mind that i'm telling you guys about the last couple hours. Right now, we are just chilling in her apartment. We just barely got back from the Provo temple. I do love the temple. It's the best. Before we went to the temple, we went to the Pizza Pie cafe. Mmmmm. Tasty stuff. Also, there were a ton of little children sitting around us. They were all so cute.

So, Maddy has been really busy recently. She won't tell you this, but she has been really really stressed. It's been busy up here. She's so tough about it though. She has been really good at handling all the ish coming her way. She also won't tell you that she is freaking brilliant. She's been doing so well in school...really busy, but she's doing great. It isn't really a surprise. She's too smart. :) Anyway, we are going to go make some cookie dough. DON'T TELL MADDY IT WAS ME!!

Randy out. :):)