Lessons of life...

taught by three year olds:
If you fall you will get your fingers stepped on.
Hope up, brush it off, and move on.
It is good to be friends with people who are bigger than you.
Love yourself.
Share a wish with someone special.
Kisses make everything better.
Everyday find time to stop and pick a flower for a friend.
Remember to always tell someone you love them, even if they are upset.

All good things that come to an end with tears

I am no longer a Freshman. I just finished my last two finals today. I cannot believe the year has gone by as quickly as it has. Leaving to go back home is bitter sweet.

I am not going to miss: all those stairs at the RB (no matter how much time you take to climb up them, you will be out of breath), grocery shopping with my own money, cooking for one, having to climb up into bed and hitting my head on the ceiling when I wake up, being away from my family, not having a dog to protect me, climbing up three flights of stairs when I am super tired, doing my laundry at a laundry mat, not having a car and having to rely on others when I need to get somewhere, wearing holes in my shoes because I walk so much, having to call to talk to my family and not having their full attention when I am talking to them, not being able to sing along with the radio in my car, not having kids around, food not sounding good because all I want is my mom's homemade dinners, cramming for tests,

I am going to miss: BYU's beautiful campus (Flowers are just starting to bloom), the mountains topped with snow, BYU's environment of kind people who share my same standards, being able to make new friends anywhere, being able to make food to make others feel better, throwing newspapers up stairwells, making funny faces and waving like crazy out our kitchen window to our neighbors in the building next to us, random adventures going no where in particular, fun events that are located in close proximity, being so close to friends, being able to serve in the relief society presidency in the 94th ward with the most inspiring leaders, Bishop and Sister Davis who have become my parents away from home, the sidewalks that you can take to get anywhere, quick runs to the Creamery to get ice cream with friends, running to the temple with Hannah and Natalie, having so many friends that I can always have someone with me, knowing I have someone to talk to when everything else is going bad/having a total support system of friends who are always willing to comfort me and bring me chocolate let me cry and whine about my "troubles", living within 30ft. of some of the most amazing inspiring dedicated loving friends that I have ever had, I am really going to miss all of the people that I have come to love and all the fun times we have shared together.

I am sure that there are some things that I have missed that I realize how much I will miss when I pull out of the parking lot in a car full of my things...tears streaming down my face, memories of the past flooding my mind.

I may be gimpy, but I am going to be a buff gimp

(yes it was very cold and wet and cold, but so worth it!)

A visit with the doctor, a knee massage, and 4 x-rays later the doctor still wasn't able to tell me exactly what is wrong with my knee so I get to have another appointment this Friday. This time with a specialist (I thought I was seeing the specialist this first time...oh well). For now I am left to hobble around on crutches, which are not the funnest when you walk almost everywhere you go... and school is a campus full of people, stairs, and snow.

Regardless of my "gimpiness" I had a FANTASTIC weekend! I drove up to Salt Lake City with Hannah Rackham (who was the reason I made it through the weekend because she was constantly catering to my needs and making sure I was comfortable and not in pain. So thanks HJR!) We attended General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was amazed by how much was said that was just what I needed to hear. Including a talk by, Elder Kent F. Richards about pain (imagine that). I am sure I will be blogging about some of my favorites.

As for here and now, I am going to crutch over to the Wilkinson building to see if lost and found has my phone. It would appear that I need a crutch for my brain because I am being forgetful and scatter-brained. Hopefully a long summer will be the cure, but I have 5 papers and 4 finals before that comes...wish me luck!

I think I will just get fat

Monday started my third week of being fit and running 2 miles a day with ab workout and extra leg work (lunges and squats). I don't think that I have ever been so motivated to run. It might be that I have two faithful running buddies. After a nice weekend I started Monday like any other, a little bitter, that just happens on Monday, right? Then out of no where my knee started to feel quite funny. Now I am flat on my back icing my knee. I have been limping around for a few days and my knee is kinda elephant-looking. I haven't wanted to stop running because if I stop I am afraid I won't be able to start again, but maybe this injury is a sign that I need to stop all exercise and become FAT! I guess I will see tomorrow.

Numbers on the clock

On September 11th 2001, the lives of many Americans changed. I am not sure that my life necessarily changed that day, other than the fact that I became aware of the fact that America wasn't the big invincible country that I had always assumed. But as I have grown and have learned more and more about the terrorist attack it has had a bigger impact on my life. The "image" that I chose is one that I see quite frequently, a clock that reads 9:11. It is strange how I always seem to glance at a clock only to see 9:11. The numbers, when on a digital clock, seem to beam brighter and say remember. My mind then floods with the images that I saw on the news that terrible day. The faces full of fear and confusion, the billowing clouds of smoke, and the broken towers. When I read 9:11 on the clock, I always seem to stop for a minute as I remember the shock and the sadness that I felt as though I am back in time watching the news reply those shocking scenes over and over in my head. I know that as a child, I wasn't able to fully grasp what was happening other than the fact that people were dying and it was sad. But the memories of what I saw that day on the news and the numbers 911 mean so much more to me and will forever hold a special place in my heart.

Rent a Tattoo?

This is actually more like what really happens at a four hour review session...
(We made tattoos for each other and then needed a sign for marketing, so we used our textbook. And yes we spelled tattoo wrong, I am not sure why, but we did).



Four straight hours is a long time for a bunch of college students to sit and try to listen to a teacher's assistant jog the memories of the students in an American Heritage class. Lucky for me, I have a very entertaining roommate who came with me. We were also very lucky to have a roll of tape on the table with us. We took advantage of that and started to make funny little tattoos for each other. (We were staying occupied and quiet so that was good.) Chelsea's tattoo was a heart with "Karee" written inside. (I was going after those ones that say "I love mom" that you see all those "tough guys" on their log of an arm.)



After the tattoo business slowed down, we broke out the food and found more fun.



Chelsea thought the cookies looked like a Mexican wearing a sombrero so of course we had to make him a face. I am sure the other people at out table thought that we were strange or just sleep deprived.



As the semester is coming to an end, I have seen an increase in the amount of sleepy student. I am ready to be done with school for the summer, but not sure I am ready to leave all my new friends.

Sticky notes of love

I am just amazed by the tender mercies of our Heavenly Father. He knew I was having a hard time and He knew what I needed to get through.



Whoever these cream colored sticky note people were, are such kind and caring people who I am glad to know. They not only decorated my door with sticky notes of encouragement and love but they also left me some cookies that are delicious!

I am not sure exactly why they wrote some of the things that they did, but all of them put a smile on my face and the warm fuzzy feeling of being loved.



I am not sure who put the post-its on my door and I am sure they will never know how much the little words of encouragement meant to me, but it sure brightened my gloomy mood.











I wish I would have gotten a picture of the door when I opened it, because it looked pretty amazing. But I didn't want any of them to blow away in the wind so I hurriedly grabbed them all and brought a huge stack inside. I taped all the post-its inside my cabinet door (they will later be taped into my journal) to remind me how lucky and loved I am here! This is certainly what I needed to bounce back from a sad homesickness! I wish I could find out who it was that did this for me because I would like to give them each a big bear hug and a cookie!