Do you like my decorations?

I hate doing laundry, it is the bane of my existence. I especially hate doing it when I have to feed quarters to a machine. The dryers at La Jolla are awful...they just eat my quarters, so after 4 I usually just hang dry my clothes...


But Arlee and Stu are absolute life savers! Sometimes they let me do my laundry at their place while I play with their adorable daughters!(LOVE THEM!) And when I come home I can put my clothes straight into my drawers...it's lovely. And I can't wait to go home and have a washer and dryer at my disposal any time of the day oh, and of course is free!

Antonio Machado- PROVERBIOS Y CANTARES - XXIX

Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino y nada más;
Caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace el camino,
y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante no hay camino

sino estelas en la mar.

This is a poem that we read in my Spanish Literature class today and I absolutely LOVE it. The words are beautiful and I love the way it is written. Even though the first time I read it I didn't understand it completely I still felt it's power. What this poem says is basically we make our own paths as we go through life. There isn't a path laid out for it. The line "Al andar se hace el camino" is my favorite. In English it translates, "through walking the path is made". It is similar to faith. We can't just wait to feel faith, faith is an action, a choice. Our paths in life are the same. Sometimes the path isn't laid out for us we have to take that first step and make our own path. Then in the end we can look back and see our footprints and see where we've come. I envision walking on the sand, there aren't any footprints ahead of you but when you look behind you can see your own and you see the progress. It is also, as the poem points out, like the wakes left by a boat in the ocean.
Someone pointed out in class that the Savior says in John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the light..." This means there is a path, Christ is the path. And I completely agree, but I still believe that we make our own path, we can choose to follow the path of Christ and even then we still have to have the faith to take the step. And sometimes Christ doesn't give us all the answers and we have to figure it out by ourselves.
I just loved the message in this poem. I believe that our footprints are the path. We've got to have the faith and courage to take the step and press forward. And we can always look back and see how our challenges and choices in life have led us to where we are today.
Here is the poem in English because I know so many of you probably couldn't read it and understand it in Spanish. I hope you enjoy it, but it doesn't sound as beautiful in English as it does in Spanish ...

Traveler, your footsteps are
the way and nothing more
Traveler, there is not a way
the way is made by walking.
Walking makes the way
and looking back at the view behind
shows the path that never
is treaded again.
Traveler there is no way
but wakes on the sea.

Happy St. Patrick's Day...yesterday

On Monday I received a St. Patty's Day package in the mail full of green odds and ends from my Mommy. And inside were not only treats for me but for my roommates. There were a pair of socks and a little bag of candy for each of us. So we all had something green to wear yesterday...Thanks mom! from all of us...

The Weekend is Finally Here!!!!!

I have been waiting all week for this weekend! I am at the point where I am so done with school, so I have to give myself something to look forward to so that I will keep trucking! And this weekend is going to be great because it's just me and Kimberly. Our roommates all decided to go out of town this weekend so we are going to party it up! haha Here is the agenda:

Friday Night:

• Get all our homework done so we can party tomorrow
• maybe make dinner together(I'm feeling stir fry!)
• Watch a movie, most likely Chocolat because KP still hasn't seen it and Johny Depp is a HOTTIE!
  
• Eat the Cadbury eggs that Elise left us, yum!

Saturday:

• 10-11 am-I have kickboxing and KP has organ practice
• Shower, get ready, and hop in the car and drive to Idaho Falls
• First stop will be Red Robin. We both want the yummy fries I had last time we went. They are seasoned with Parmesan and something else so good!
• Hit Old Navy, our favorite store
• Be back by 6 for Stake Conference
• 8:30- PARTAY!!! We've got about 6 or 7 guys coming over. 7 guys to 2 girls, I like that ratio! ;)

So that is the plan!!! Don't worry, I'm sure there will be pictures later! :)

Tortuga

This is Tortuga, our turtle. We grew him...

We bought him because we missed Cora our pet cobra who, after being placed in my roommates toilet to freak them out, disintegrated. A turtle is much easier to keep then a cobra, she required lots of little animals to eat but Tortuga is vegetarian. :)

Lately I've been thinking a lot about my favorite girl...

Kennedy
Let's hope that I get to spend all summer with her again!

Oh and I miss my tan :(

Can you say WINDY?!

Rexburg has been having beautiful weather! It feels like spring and I am enjoying every minute of it! Today is 31 degrees, a little cloudy but you can still see the sun. So perfect? I thought so till I stepped outside my apartment. 28 MPH winds! I kid you not! That is what my google weather informs me. And of course it's Thursday so I wear a skirt because I'm headed to the Temple after class. My goal became "get to the nearest building quickly without your skirt blowing up!" I never seemed to be going with the wind, always against it. The wind is so bad that they can't keep the boiler going at the Temple so the water in the font was little chilly...a new experience for me. But as the temple worker said, nothing different then from what our ancestors had to experience and we're lucky because we aren't chipping ice. So true! But I wasn't blown away to the Land of Oz! A nice old man at the Temple was finishing just as Kimberly and I were, and offered us a ride. I know you shouldn't accept rides from strangers but the other Temple worker said we should and it was nice not to have to walk. I'm safe in my little apartment now watching the trees bend in the wind.

Happy Birthday MOM!!!!!

My mom is my absolute best friend. I call and talk to her everyday and I can tell her anything and everything. I've always been close to her and as I've gotten older we've grown closer. I think this is because I am the only girl and didn't have a sister to be close with. Instead my mom became my sister. I used to be jealous of my friends and their sisters but now I'm glad I'm the only girl and don't have to share my mom with any other sisters(I know that may sound selfish, but oh well.) I've had friends who've envied mom and mine's good relationship. She is my greatest example and support. Here are a few reasons why my mom is the best and why I love her:

1. She can always tell when something is wrong with me, even if it's over the phone and she won't hang up until she's helped me figure it out
2. She always writes me little notes. She would leave them on my bed, in my lunch, or in luggage when I leave home
3. She sends me random care packages with chocolate and other fun stuff
4. She always recommends good books to read and they become both our favorites(Constance, The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society, Mary Higgins Clark, and others)
5. She always remembers others birthdays and puts together a little gift for them
6. She gives of herself and sacrifices for her family and others
7. She listens to her Ipod sometimes while making dinner and sings along out loud(it's so funny!)
8. She is so crafty and has so many creative ideas
   
9. She let me paint over the yellow and blue checkers in my room and paint grean, blue, purple, and black polka dots.
10. She is computer handicapped...and yes I love her for it. It gives me a good reason to be helpful...oh and it's sometimes a good laugh
11. She has a great taste in movies and I love so many of the ones I love because of her
12. Whenever I hear the song "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" I think of the day we were riding around in Thelma with the windows down and that song blaring on the radio. :)
13. Her testimony of Jesus Christ and the Church is so strong and apparent in her everyday actions and love.
14. She makes delicious caramels at Christmas time.
15. She is like a mother bear, defensive of her little cubs
    
16. She would let me cuddle on the couch with her even though my point elbows dug into her side
17. She started a book club and a craft cult ;)
18. She doesn't have a facebook
19. She picked me up from school everyday during high school because there wasn't a bus and I had a fear of driving
20. She came down for mother's weekend and we got the whole weekend together
21. She cried when the neighbors tore down the old rock wall(We created the 11th commandment Thou shalt not tear down the rock wall!)
22. She irons everyone's clothes Saturday night, I hate ironing, so she's practically a saint!
23. She'll dance around the kitchen with me.
24. She'll go TPing with me and my friends at midnight
25. She helped me to become who I am today

THANKS MOM FOR ALL YOU'VE DONE! YOU ARE THE BEST EVER(and I'm not just saying that)TE AMO CON TODA MI ALMA!