cats outta the bag.

truth is, i'm not sure I've ever been as sure of myself and what i'm doing than I am right now in my life. I have decided to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and my papers are officially submitted as of last week. it's amazing to me how the Lord takes care of us. The day I received my patracharial blessing was the day I knew a mission was what was in my very near future. It was a hard day and I made some big decisions. But ever since I have decided what i'm going to do, the Lord has never left me. I've never been happier than I am right now and I can already see blessings left and right from my decision to serve. The support I've received is unreal and the good feeling that's been with me since I've submitted my papers is completely undeniable. life is just too good and I always want to remember how I feel about this right now because i'm under no delusions that this is going to be easy. I do know that it's going to be possible and there's no better place for me to be.

that little announcement aside, this last weekend has been the BEST. tonight I went to a Christmas party with the whole crew from highschool. a lot of us have gone our separate ways and we're all doing different things with our lives and I haven't talked to some of these girls since graduation and saying it was good to see them and laugh with them about old times is the understatement of the year.

this is after a couple girls had to head out, but you get the gist of it. such a good night with my favorites (:

 I guess the point of this whole thing is that I know that what i'm doing right now is exactly what i'm supposed to be doing. i'm absolutely scared to death because I hate not knowing where i'll be serving and thinking about being away from my family makes me teary just thinking about, but all that aside I know. there is nothing better for me and I can't wait to serve the Lord for a year and a half where he needs me. basically I just love everything and it's never been so obvious how blessed I am :')

thanksgiving break and too much snow.

guess how much it snows in hurricane? MAYBE an inch a year. and it pretty much shuts down the town. that's why I am so confused why I am sitting in class right now. it snowed over a foot LAST NIGHT ALONE. woke up this morning, looked out the window and saw all the snow and checked my email to read the emails that surely came telling me class was cancelled because of extreme weather conditions. the thing that really stumped me was that there were no emails and I still had to go to class even though the temperature is in the negatives. toto, we're definitely not in hurricane anymore. 

to be fair I will include that me and Haylee did have fun in the snow a couple weeks ago. 

we bought snow boots and a sled and made this snow family. and it was a great day, don't get me wrong. but after that I had my snow fix but it just keeps snowing. I guess you can't win them all. 

thanksgiving break was the best. I got out of school Tuesday and loaded up my car with enough stuff to stay a month and headed home. that night me and my mamma and Kristen went and saw catching fire (BEST MOVIE EVER PEETA NEEDS TO MARRY ME) and went out to dinner! the next day we headed up north for the rest of the weekend. 

our week consisted of shopping, 

 

ice skating, (excuse the red eye I couldn't fix no matter how hard I tried) shopping, 

going to the jazz game with the fam, shopping, 

seeing brigadoon at hale theater, (which turned out to be really good. definitely gave Tarzan a run for it's money) shopping, 

going to see the temple lights (there were exactly one million and one people there. that is an odd number because I was the only one without a date. holla) shopping, 

and hanging out with the whole fam (: 

oh yeah, and we went shopping. me and Jordan and Kaden went to the mall at midnight for Jordan's first Black Friday experience ever. there were definitely enough people there to get the whole feel for it. the one thing we bought wasn't on sale, so you could say we failed. it was fun though! 

after the jazz game me and Jord and Kaden went to mcdonalds. there was a homeless man sitting outside on his suitcase so we decided to buy him a couple burgers. he was so grateful and it was so humbling. he had literally nothing, barely even a coat to live in snowy salt lake. and all we had to offer him were two mcdonalds dollar menu burgers, yet you would have thought we handed him a hundred dollar bill. it made me think about how much I really do have to be thankful for. so in honor of the holiday season and thanksgiving last week, I'm gonna make the typical 'things I'm thankful for' list. 

1. I am so so so so so thankful for my family. they are my favorite people in the world and it's been so fun growing up with my brothers. my parents are amazing people who have showed me through example how it looks to be genuinely good people. 

2. even though it's hard someone's, I am thankful for the opportunity I have to attend suu. yeah it's cold and snowy but it's been good to experience college and living away from home (if you consider going home for Sunday dinner every week living away from home haha) 

3. I am thankful for my roommates emilee and madasyn. I don't know how I lucked out to get normal roommates but I did and I love them and all our crazy moments. 

4. I am thankful for the example of all my friends on missions and all those with calls waiting to leave and those that are preparing to leave. they are the best examples to me and I really look up to all of them. 

5. I am thankful for my job and my boss. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, but I have the best job and I am really blessed to work there. 

and 6. I am thankful for the gospel and all the opportunities it provides for me. I don't know everything, but I do know I am thankful for the influence it has on my life. 

this is just the tip of the ice berg and I am so lucky to have everything I do.