2012

well, I totally stole the format for this post from Jessica Marcum. 

She probably did't even know i stalked her, haha.

it's interesting how much i love each year when it's almost over. I'm always thinking, "that was my best year yet!" which is great! because it means I've only been getting better, and that's exciting.

I've absolutely adored 2012, so here it is in review:

January:

I went to Yosemite with some friends from church and we had a grand ol time. It was my first time sight seeing there, and it was gorgeous. I got a new Nephew, Owen Eric Murray, on the 27th. 

and I screamed ridiculously loud at some Stallion basketball games. 

February:

Jonathan came home! I resigned from ASB because it wasn't a good place to be.

I went to Winter formal with my best friends. I wore lots of sweaters, showed everyone up in my ceramics class, started learning ASL, and rode my bike a lot. Donny and Christine got engaged! I auditioned for Seussical and got the part of my dang dreams. And I got a new niece! Jenna Lee MacKay on the 11 of February.

March:

I had a crush on a freshman. a tiny crush on a fourteen year old boy, no big deal...yeah that stopped. ha. 

instead i dated an alcoholic whose intentions with me were questionable and well, not one of my smartest moves. I got to play the role of a lifetime in Seussical the Musical. I was Gertrude McFuzz; i had a one feathered tail and i was so into that role, Gertrude just became me. and i became Gertrude. 

Donny married the girl of his dreams and the whole family was together for the first time in more than two years! I thrifted a lot, and i sang more than i ever have in my life. 

April:

I spent almost the entire month of April preparing for the Mother Load Drama Festival in Amador, California. It's the state competition and it's a big deal. Only two schools from the valley made it to Amador this year, both from Madera. the boy i dated was also my scene partner, and while I don't agree with his lifestyle, he's a great actor, and we kicked butt in Amador. also, my closest cousin on my mom's side got married! So we drove down to Gilbert Arizona to be at Marla's wedding. She's my hero.

May:

EVERYTHING happened in May. I decided for some reason, that i would take a billion pictures like a crazy person. I went insane  with purple like i never have before, and I loved my school SO much, and I spent everyday with the people i cared for most. I ate a lot of Frozen Yogurt. I wrote almost 100 personal essays for scholarships. I went to more baseball games than i ever had before. I won miss Madera South High School in our Mr.Stallion Miss MSHS pageant. I turned 18 and had the best birthday ever, complete with an incredible surprise birthday dinner from my 3 best friends since Kindergarten,  they gave me my first polaroid camera. I got my first ever pair of crocs. I won 6 local scholarships, totally around $3,000 which is a fantastic blessing. I got a half scholarship from BYUI. I found out that federal Aid would give me the other half, so my freshman tuition was paid for before i even graduated high school and i cried when i found out. i was so relieved! All the essays were worth it. I got asked to prom by my scene partner right before we preformed our Drama showcase. I drove for two hours with Stephen to watch Jason and Brandon in their last playoff game. I went to my one and only prom. Derek came home from BYU. We had our drama awards night and i got way more than i expected. I went to 6 flags for grad night. I creeped on some friends grad parties even though i wasn't technically invited. I cried when Travis won Champion for Life. oh yeah and then i graduated high school.

June:

This summer was endless. In the best way possible. I ended school on the 30th of May and didn't leave for Idaho until the 3rd of September. so i had the entire months of June, July and August for summer. which hasn't happened since i was four years old. It was incredible. and absolutely filled to the brim with happys.  I graduated from seminary and went to more graduation parties. i also got some sweet graduation presents. Derek, Jonathan, Jenae and I went to see brave. It was amazing. We cheered for Travis in the City-County football game. we squashed the city team. Derek, Jonathan and I hung out with a group of guys that was here selling dish network for the summer. I got dumped, which was actually really great. haha. liberated. I had a lot more free time and I was back to my normal self. we had what might have been our last reunion at the family ranch, which is tragic. I climbed Limestone Peak and made a life transition. We all cooed over the grandbabies and we played a lot of Kub. I said goodbye to my cousin chase who is now on a mission in West Virginia. and i gained five pounds.

July:

We celebrated the fourth of July with Family and fireworks, as usual. 

I got my first real job! I worked at a Law Firm, some times i left at 1:00 right after lunch, and some times i stayed until 5:30. depended on the mood of the legal secretary who was over me. Maria the angel. I loved working there. I got free snacks, I learned a lot about law and all the white collar of Madera. I got countless paper cuts from filing cases. I became friends with attorneys, which was ridiculously fun. Everyday I would do everything on my list from Maria within an hour or two and then i would read for the rest of the day. I read the entire Harry Potter series and 30 of the 100 best children's chapter books. I ate licorice a lot and learned many new braid variations. and i got to talk on the phone to clients, i loved that. i love being helpful. I loved doing all the odd jobs and being the invisible hand that always kept enough staples in the stapler and toner in the copier. and i got paid 9 bucks an hour to do it all. it was heaven. 

We went to the drive-in. we hung out with the dish boys every Sunday and a lot of weekdays in between. I went on two dates, one was fun. way to go Zane. and one was creepy. Ryan. I threw an octopus Party, which failed kind of. I gained five more pounds. I read a whole dang lot. I watched a lot of sappy movies. I played the piano and put off packing for college.

August:

The Twins had their birthday. I tried to throw them a party/bonfire at the vineyard. It was fun once the stupid girls from Clovis that didn't know us finally left. ugh, WHO INVITED THEM?!

haha anyway...

The rest of the bonfire was fun. we still have hotdogs in our freezer. I roasted starbursts for the first time. Dad told cool stories from Australia. Tommy was the only Dish Boy who came, love that guy. I crept on a friend and her crush. I also crept on Jonathan and his crush. the next morning we randomly drove to the beach! Derek, Jonathan and Jenae played in the waves while i read the Deathly Hallows and took pictures. We ate dinner with my Grandmom and Granddad who live there in San Louis Obisbo. We went to their house for desert and chats. we drove home talking about funny things and books we'd love to write. I was the ward chorister, and i was terrible at it. We watched the Olympics all day every day. I cried during the closing ceremonies because i have been completely infatuated with Michael Phelps since Athens in 2004. there was a YSA conference and two girls stayed at our house, they were so fun! The conference was great, we made new friends and i learned so much. I made a t-shirt quilt that I'd been planning since 2008. ha. go stallions. Derek went to school. I had my last day at the Law Firm, I drew them a picture on the giant white board and the threw me a party where we watched Trale Lewous and Maria cried. Dave let me set up the zen garden for the first and only time. It was a good day. 

I said goodbye to all my friends here, which was quite possibly the strangest thing i've ever done. I gained five more pounds. I packed everything up in boxes and sat, just waiting to leave, waiting to start over, waiting to begin the next chapter.

September:

I cried from stress. i gained five more pounds. I cleaned Dunes. I saw the Mormon Tabernacle Choir live. I discovered Classical music. I also got really bad news. I got robbed. I wanted to kill everyone and i wanted to be home. I missed my friends, I missed my family. I even missed Jenae. I even missed Jenae's Eye sty that we named Steve! September was pretty awful. I was lonely and nostalgic and angry and stressed.

October:

General Conference couldn't have com at a more perfect time. I was stuck, and trying hard to get some direction. I got guidance  I got called to the relief society presidency. I was praying more than i ever have. I actually befriended people. somewhere along the way i realized that i was happy again. I had completely fallen in love with the school and the town and the people. I loved Rexburg. I spent most of my time in my apartment doing homework. I gained three more pounds. The only times i left the apartment were to go to class, church and to buy groceries. except for when i went to Montana one weekend and Utah another. 

November:

I wasn't kidding when i said i was a hermit. November came and went. I went to Utah again at some point this time i only went to Salt Lake.  I wrote a very important letter to a boy in Russia. Derek came up to Rexburg for Thanksgiving. Rebecca and Eric came up the next day to visit, and it was just the break i needed. I read Les Mis in 24 hours and absolutely fell in love with it. I ate dozens of pumpkin muffins. I gained five more pounds. I successfully made it through my first semester of college without getting engaged.

December:

I killed myself studying for finals, and experienced the most stressful week of my life. I met my brother's girlfriend. I FINALLY CAME HOME. i cried sleeping in my own room after so long. I became totally enamored with my nieces and nephew who are living here. I went to Disneyland with my Best friends. I celebrated a wonderful Christmas here in Madera with 5 of my 7 siblings and my parents, obviously. got some great news, more great news, and even more great news. 3 people wrote me the Christmas Letter i asked for, so I'm thankful they did. I love those three women! Thank you Edith, Andria and Jazmine! I saw Les Mis and cried. I was mad that Hollywood added unnecessary sexual situations. I was so happy that Eddie Redmayne played Marius, because i have loved him for years. I lost three pounds and started a serious acne treatment finally, which makes me ridiculously happy. We coached my niece Jenna to respond to "favorite".  I unpacked since i'll be here until April 2013. I didn't receive a reply to my letter, so i am forcing myself to move on from that. I applied for some jobs. I watched the Holiday bowl. I said goodbye to my friend Leah who will be serving a mission for our church starting next week. I spent some of New Years at the Pender's as usual and then went to my best friend Marissa's house for the actual midnight part.

As for my "Goals of 2012"... well... they were a living thing, i was always adding onto them.

Graduate as a CSF life member from high school         DONE

get into BYU           nope. I'm going to BYUI, though.

Go on five dates post high school. 1 2 3  4 5        ( haha. boys hate me.)

get moon boots         CROC  moonboots soooo...check check.

See The Hunger Games

Make people laugh as Gertrude in Seussical the Musical.

Have an amazing birthday

Go to prom

Go to Grad Night and sneak in my fanny pack and not die on a roller coaster

at some point in the year, have all twenty rocks in the wagon

document my last month of high school like a crazy person

write lots of letters           (pretty sure I am single handedly keeping the US postal service alive)

go to the beach

smile EVERY day

have an AMAZING summer

GET A DANG JOB

Not cry on my first day of college

All 'B's my first semester.          4 As 2 Bs

Meet Tyler Ward on Nov.5         nope! missed the concert. my life is over.

Go to Salt Lake and see the lights in Temple Square before Christmas

Meet my Brother's new girlfriend.       she's awesome.

Go to Disneyland during Christmastime       AMAZING

Have an amazing Christmas

Bring in the new year fully satisfied with 2012.        done. satisfied. 

ALSO, I've written more posts this year (121) than in the past 3 years combined (I first blogged in 2008, and between that summer and the end of 2011, i had written 62 posts! )

I loved 2012. It's been fun.
peace out.

Christmas

We had a pretty simple Christmas here. no little kids, because Natalie and Caleb are with their Dad in Illinois. We have a tradition of watching this video every Christmas morning. 

then we lined up in the hallway youngest to oldest and one by one we go out to look at our stockings. 

Every Christmas Eve one of us makes a little map of living room for Santa  showing whose stocking will be on which chair or couch cushion. For what ever reason, i wasn't in the best mood when Jenae came around asking which chair i wanted to put my name on on the map. So i sarcastically said, "I want Santa to hang my stocking from the ceiling like a dang cherub." and that was that.

Christmas morning when i came out of the hallway, i looked around confused, "...where's my stocking..."

my mom: Well....where did you ask Santa to put it?...

So i looked up:

And of course died laughing.

Ready for the most unattractive picture of me on the face of the planet?

I mean really, like this could definitely be used as blackmail if you hated me enough.

okay...here it is....

there I am.

beaut. 

mid-laugh glory.

deal with it.

mmm. dat double chin.

We knocked it off with a broom.

 Our Christmas was simple and happy. Just lots of love and good news. 

Oh yeah and Jenna is the most dang adorable thing in the world.

Disneyland

There are no pictures of us making gingerbread houses, because when we made them, we only had an hour time slot.barely enough time to plan and build! no time for extra pictures. when the hour was up, Dad, Mom, Donny, Christine, Derek, Derek's best friend Justin, Jonathan, and I piled into the car to see the Hobbit.
The movie theater, Edwards Cinema, has this advertisement for lobby refreshments that looks like a roller coaster. They play it after all the previews right before the movie starts and I never gave it much thought. But Christine is hilarious, and she convinced us all to pretend like we were on a roller coaster. so we did. all eight of us. complete with screaming and wild swinging of the arms. it was fantastic.

on the 21-23 I went to Disneyland!
 This trip had been a small pipe dream for me for years. Me and all of my best friends alone in Disneyland. how fun right? I threw the idea out this summer to Stephen, Oscar and Marissa. and we agreed it had to happen! while planning a date to go, there was only one day between now and july 2013 that all six of us could go, so we did it!

It was completely random and expensive and hardly thought through. I begged my parents to let us use our car, and I forgot to pack half of my things, but i am SO glad that we did this!

Friday morning i went around picking everyone up and it was really exciting because i hadn't seen any of them since summer. I saw them in the order that they left too, ironic. That evening we got to Anaheim after a long fun car ride full of talks and laughs and good catching up and secrets. We ate dinner at a super nice Italian place and we saw the life of Pi - Really good movie!

The next morning we woke up early, said Happy birthday to Marissa a thousand times, and we were off!

oh yeah and Marissa was in a wheelchair hahaha

MY FIRST CHURRO EVER!!

We saw Aladdin Live, we ate in Radiator springs, I had my first churro ever, brandon didn't let me use his pillow in the car. oscar got me sock monkey slippers. Marissa made me dang beautiful scarf. we saw the christmas parade, our hotel room was awesome. We watched the wonderful world of color light and water show - AMAZING.

I went to church in Anaheim on Sunday morning and an adorable old woman gave me a candy cane and thanked me for joining them. the trip was a giant success!

DONE

welp. one semester down, seven to go. sigh.

I didn't have a boyfriend. I only went on one date. but i'm actually relieved. I already didn't have enough time in the day to get things done, i can't imagine throwing a distracting boy into that mix. *shudder*

The first week or so of the semester, I just wanted to cry all the time. it was so stressful and scary and i swore i'd never get through it all. Everyone comforted me, telling me it would get better. I don't think it ever got less stressful, i just got used to it.
And then I got called to the relief society presidency, which was an extra couple bricks in my backpack. (in the best way!) and after i got used the stress, i started freaking OUT about money. every cent was like this precious part of my very soul, and every one i spent was like a hammer to my face. I hated grocery shopping, i didn't want to leave the house, i wanted to kill the school bookstore for being so expensive and one day i cried because i realized Jonathan was having to buy EVERY single meal at the cafeteria. I literally thought i was going to faint each month paying the rent. $300 is really cheap for rent, especially because it covers like everything. but golly i couldn't breathe handing in those checks.


-Don't worry if you don't make friends right away. the best relationships don't usually happen right away. they take time to become sweet.  so don't be discouraged. you can just stay in your apartment all day every day and have no friends besides your next door neighbor. like me. be a hermit, you'll get good grades.

-those oreos look really good every shopping trip. my weakness is the ones with holiday designs. but don't do it. just don't. especially not every time. or you might come home 30 pounds heavier than when you graduated high school ...haha...
see before and after picture below...

OM NOM NOM NOM

-go to your classes. even if it's not required. just go. and go on time, even if it's early.

and well, that's pretty much it.
I do want to say though,


BYU Idaho is an amazing place. I know i already ranted about it in my last post, but it is exactly where i was supposed to be, and the people i met were supposed to be in my life.
and I loved it. not every minute, but most of the minutes...ha.

also, Frank Lloyd Wright rocks my world.

I'll post about Christmas soon, I promise. It was a good one.

The Burg

So i had planned this great sassy post about everything I've learned and how much weight I've gained and the lack of a boy in my life. But I'm feeling pretty humbled today. So my sassy post can wait until i get home. which is a weird thought...


Tuesday i turned in my final paper in my parenting class and then took my American foundations final. no curve, and i got a 92% thank you very much. and i stayed up until about five finishing a bunch of other essays. one science paper which was pretty easy, that got done before midnight. and then i wrote my final essay for Book of Mormon on Shiblon, because he's my favorite person in the whole book.
My humanities (Beauty and Creativity) final was in 3 parts: a 35 question multiple choice test which i took in the testing center on Tuesday morning, an essay that we wrote on our own and handed in on the last day of class, and the final music and art quiz in class. and only in class. He played songs and we wrote down the title, composer and style.

well like i said, i was up until five writing my essays. I took a nap and was going to wake up at 6:30 to study for my humanities final. so i did. but i fell asleep while studying. and i slept through my alarm - which i literally NEVER do. i woke up at 9:30. my class started at 9:00. I sat straight up like they do in the movies, looked at my watch and started sobbing. 2/3 of my humanities final down the drain...so i put some jeans on, slipped on my crocs and literally ran to class but on the way there i saw the girl that sits next to me, Ashley  and she was like, "hey, what happened?! He let us go when we finished..."
I wanted to flop onto the ground and die.
i ran to his office, and before i could even open my mouth he looked me up and down and and said, "come to my 10:15 class and you can take it then" with a pitying smile.
It was probably because tears were frozen to my cheeks, my hair was a leftover pony from Tuesday. whatever the reason he decided to be so uncharacteristically angelic, I'm grateful for it. I shook my head yes and somehow got a thank you out before i scrambled to the bathroom to cry with relief and fix my self.


So i took the test, pretty sure i only got two wrong. and that was because i couldn't remember if Millet's 'Gleaners' was realism or not. pretty sure it was though. and because for the life of me i could not remember who wrote "Jupiter". It was Holst -_-
then i had Book of Mormon.

so my teacher, brother Garmon is amazing. like, seriously amazing. I can't even begin to explain.

I love that class for a lot of reason. I love that my row makes a perfect four part harmony, and that we're all loud singers. I love that I've never been this into the scriptures before. I love that Brother Garmon loves my dad -even though they've never met - because my dad farms the church's raisins. I love that I've become such good friends with Terrin and Tyler who sit on either side of me, especially Terrin, she's incredible.
I thought i knew the scriptures pretty well before college. I thought i understood them and i thought i read them often enough.
nope
nope
nope
I have learned SO much, and felt so much and i have a greater belief of the Book of Mormon's truths now than i ever did before. It's so insane to me that this much happiness and peace and understanding can come from one book. I love the Bible more now than i ever have, i understand it so much better and i see so clearly how the Bible and the Book of Mormon work together as two testaments of Jesus Christ.

So my teacher.
He's moving to Salt Lake to take an amazing Job there, and when he told us that he wouldn't be teaching anymore, I was devastated. I had already planned out that i was gonna take first half of Book of Mormon with him next semester and the New testament after that. And then we had our lesson, and they're always amazing but this one was crazy good. I'm taking second half of the Book of Mormon, So today we read and discussed the very last chapter. Moroni 10.
It. was. so. powerful.

Because it was the last day of class, it just made us tender. There is a part in the chapter that talks about gifts. Brother Garmon went around the room giving examples of people's gifts, and when he bore his testimony at the end of class, there literally was not a single dry eye in the room. (there's about 25 of us on any given day) And he shook each of our hands as we left the room for the last time. I never ever thought i would cry because a class ended. haha. but i did! but they were sweet tears, and one of my favorite songs popped into my head:

"In the most sincere prayer I've ever prayed, I thank my God for each and every day."

and the whole way home - i know this sounds cheesy- everything looked really pretty. the sky was foggy and it was freezing cold, and all the grass and flowers are dead haha but everything looked beautiful. and right then i was just so overcome! I''m so thankful for he time I've had at BYUI!
I love it here. I love the people, i love the school, i love the spirit here and my classes. and i love the cold. and my ward - I LOVED my ward. I loved my bishop and my relief Society president, Andrea, for being so good to me even though i was an awful counselor and visiting teacher. I loved teaching relief society, but don't tell any of my future bishops that...and i loved the dorms, and the temple, and the chance to grow so much, and be with such amazing people.
I love Rexburg!
I'll miss it for sure.
This is right where i was supposed to be this fall, I don't doubt that for a second.

aaaaand done.

Christmas letters

first of all, shout out to my homeboy Rory Hutchings who is taking my bike home for me. I LOVE YOU RORY, YOU'RE MY HERO AND YOU SAVED MY LIFE.


alrighty, so i have a proposition for y'all.

Christmas is coming up. in 16 days to be exact. that's not very long!
This year for Christmas instead of any gifts i want to ask y'all to do a huge favor and write me a letter. a little memory. It can be as long or as short as you want. It doesn't need to be fancy, you don't have to be Edgar Allen Poe or anything, any writing is acceptable :)
you could have met me 10 years ago or last month, i don't care. We only met once? cool. don't feel creepy. go right ahead. write me. I'd love it.

It doesn't need to be deep, but i just want to hear your favorite memories of me. I know that sounds conceited...but I'm obsessed with remembering things. ask Brandon, I'm a dang elephant. And I would really love to have little things to re-remember with your help.
so tell me how we met, tell me why you hate me, why you forgave me. Tell me that I'm the funniest person you've ever met, tell me i have awful taste in shoes. tell me about the one thing that stands out in your head when someone says "Melissa Hansen". If i became famous, what would you tell people about me? If you were explaining me to a friend, how would you describe me? tell me literally anything you want. If there was ever a time when you wanted to say something but thought you shouldn't, or couldn't, do it now. because i want to hear it.

I have about 500 friends on facebook, and i have no idea who reads this blog, but I'm hoping at least 10 people can do this for me, because it would really mean the world to me. It would be the best Christmas gift ever!!

SO.

if you're interested, please take five minutes and type a quick email about me. sort of like a letter of recommendation, but way more personal, and straight to me. and you can email it to my little sister Jenae at:

funtogo9@gmail.com

with the subject, "Melissa's Christmas letter" and be sure to leave your name and date in the letter.

she won't read them, i promise haha. but it's just so i won't be tempted to read them before Christmas. then on Christmas day she'll print them all out and I'll read them and weep. literally. and I'll keep them forever and ever. to read when I'm sad or happy or just feel like loving y'all. and I just....yeah. don't judge me!

IF YOU DO THIS, I'LL LITERALLY LOVE YOU FOREVER!
but don't tel me if you're doing it...because i want to be surprised! :)
if you don't, I'll still prolly love ya.
thank you for making this the best Christmas ever!
-Mel

Salt Lake

This is a mash up of all the things I've done the past couple weeks. Things got really busy all of a sudden!

Thanksgiving was SO much fun! I love my family! Exactly half of us were in Rexburg this year :) we missed Allison and her family, Katrina and her family, Jenae and our parents, but it was really nice to see everyone. this was the only picture of the ten of us while we were up here! It was fun to have everyone in my apartment for Dinner Friday night. and then Saturday morning. I love them so much!

Don't you just love being around people that get you?

I love this picture of us. 

p.s. Look at dang Owen! He's so adorable! Eric was tickling him to make him laugh, which made us all laugh too. He's such a cutie, and Katelyn and Whitney were such a breath of fresh air.

I love us.

small tidbit.  I have a pretty straight nose. My neice Whitney accidentily head-butted me satuday afternoon and it was swollen for a day or two. It's still kind of tender, and  still have a wee little bump. haha! I held a pillow up to my nose so you could see the bump distinctly.

My roommate Donna has the sweetest step mom who seriously loves us. She bought us tickets to see "The Forgotten Carols" by Michael Mclean.

OH. MY. GOODNESS.

SO flipping good.

And I listened to a couple of the songs on youtube after we got home and i was kind of disappointed with the original cast version, the guy we saw was WAY better than the original. pfft.

Bradley Quinn Lever, guys.

He was amazing. I literally cried.

Last Friday Mallorie, Jaylene and I drove down to Salt Lake City to see the Christmas lights on Temple Square. SO worth the five hour drive in pouring rain.

The lights and the city were beautiful. they had the coolest floating nativity set up!

We spent the night at Mal's grandma's house. I love Grandma Carol! she is the cutest! 

we spent Saturday at Mallorie's Aunt and Uncle's house in West Jordan. Jaylene spent the day with a friend who was getting married. 

These kids were SO adorable, this is my second trip to salt lake with Mal this semster, so it's my second time hanging out with them and going to church with them. I honestly love thier family like it's my own.

I took pictures of us with my Polaroid because  the kids had never seen one before.

We went to a tree smelling party with them! Haha apparently no one gets real trees anymore? because this awesome family invites a bunch of friends over every year at the beginning of December for a tree smell. It's basically a regular christmas party, but with an emphasis on smelling the tree as you come in the door. 

I smelt it and guessed correctly that it was a Douglas Fir. My dad would be proud.

The Woman who hosted the party is adorable! Her name is Nora Mair and she is INCREDIBLE. 

she does tons of crazy, inspiring things and next year she's doing this "12/30 project" where each month she tries something new for 30 days. AND each month she's going to do something off her bucket list!

I will most likely be posting a link to her blog soon, and you should definitely all go read it because she's great.

I'm grateful for family, and people who feel like family because they just love you without hesitation. 

I'm grateful for temples, because they are beautiful.

I'm grateful for Christmas and the good it brings out in people.

I'm SO incredibly thankful for this semester and everything I've learned.

I'm thankful for prayer because sometimes it literally stops your car from going off a cliff in a rainstorm. 

I'm grateful for happy places, and happy friends that make five hour car rides seem like nothing.

I love Rexburg, I LOVE BYUI and I really and truly love life here.

Buuuut Christmas is literally so close i can taste it. Last night i envisioned us caroling in the Elmo's living room and Mrs.Elmo crying when we sing Joy to the World. And I pictured looking out  from my bed and seeing the Christmas light colors all hazy and blurred by sleepy eyes and the foggy window.

I miss home, for sure. Pressin' on. ONE WEEK LEFT!

I can do it!