In The Details

Tuesday was a rough day. and i didn't get to sleep until well past three in the morning. All of it was my fault though, completely mine. procrastination mixed with other bummers is like, the worst combination.

So today, (I'm writing this on Wednesday, but it probably won't get posted until Friday) after i'd woken up late and was frantically brushed my teeth, i had a tiny prayer in my heart that Today would be a good day. 

Boy oh boy does God answer prayers. I love Him. It's incredible to me that any time i pray to see His hand in the details of my life, I become overwhelmingly aware of all the tiny blessings that add up to a good day. Here are some small things I was grateful for today:

1. The chance to learn about L. Tom Perry in my Teachings of the Living Prophets class. what a great guy!

2. L Tom Perry's son wrote my favorite Hymn: "As Now We Take the Sacrament"

3. On Wednesdays, for my Teachings of the Living Prophets class we only meet in small groups of 4-6 students and discuss. It's really effective, i actually really like it. but anyway, one of the boys in my group is probably the most intimidating person I've seen in real life. I think his name is Richard? He's gotta be 6' 3", and he is unbelievably ripped. I mean like, this fish on the left? His body looks like that. not his face, richard is handsome. but crazy buff right?

So yeah. but today, he gave the greatest lesson! He was reading from a talk given by L Tom Perry about The Restoration. Richard told us his conversion story and just bore simple testimony of Joseph Smith and the Restoration. The spirit was so strong!

4. I LOVE my school. seriously. I love going to a school where we start each class with a prayer and where the scriptures are an everyday resource in all of my classes. 

5. Finding bits of relate-able knowledge in Isaiah. 

6. We listened to Handel in my Book of Mormon class today. I LOVE Handel. I was so happy. 

7. We watched an excerpt from This  in Book of Mormon also.

8. Rain. I love rain.

9. I love making people laugh. Today in my children's literature class i was giving a book presentation on "Grandpa's Teeth" by Rod Clement. and people laughed at all my jokes and it made me feel confident. 

10. I live on campus. If i didn't, i wouldn't have been able to run home quickly and grab a paper I'd forgotten. and i definitely wouldn't have been able to do it in three minutes flat. 

11. I like kind people who give compliments, even though i'm a stranger.

12. I love learning about other religions. I think it is really interesting! Right now in my world foundations class we're studying Hinduism and learning about the principles of their religion makes me respect Hindus so much more than i did. I just admire people who follow a set of standards and who have firm beliefs. no matter their sect, it shows commitment and outstanding character to me when someone is devout to their religion.

13. I get to watch a bunch of movies that i love for extra credit for my world foundations class! (ex: The Truman Show, Lagaan, Gattaca) 

14. My roommates are seriously so amazing. I like them a lot, and i'm totally serious. It's such a blessing! They are kind and supportive and they are chill, but not lazy. We get along really well, the four of us. 

15. Christopher Michael Moen. Aka tree frog. favorite. hahahaha

One day I told him the story of my hampster, Dodgeball, that came back to life and he freaked out because he basically has the exact same story. but his dying pet was a tree frog whose dirt had, unknown to Chris, become too dry. so the frog was drying out too? i don't know how these things work. but apparently Chris has to like soak him in mud or something and rub water on his legs? what a devoted pet owner. I would have probably just said, "sorry little guy" and buried him/ flushed him down the toilet maybe. Anyway, so as he's telling the story he says, "and then, as i was stroking water onto him, he just went spread eagle and gasped for air like...." *does the face shown above complete with frog sounding gasp* "and came BACK TO LIFE!!"

I didn't know human mouths were capable of intimidating frogs so adequately. I also didn't know that i knew what sound a revived frog made, but i do. because Chris sounded just like one.

Also Chris played catch with me. 

but the reason why i was grateful for him today was because he loves Church History as much as i do and he will sit and debate with me for hours. literally. and most of the time he rebukes me with superior knowledge. Seriously, it's impossible to cram that much information in one person's head, right?

16. Southern Accents. 

they make me so happy.

17. My child development class is a lot of work, but i'm learning so much! 

18. My child Dev teacher doesn't believe in "tests". HALLELUJAH. so he gives "assessments" which i feel are much more accurate of things that i actually know, and not just regurgitated vocabulary, you know? So for example, for this unit's assessment, I have to watch a documentary about infant development and track the development of one of the babies in the doc using theories and conditions i already know. I don't use my book. but if while we're watching the movie in class, i see something displayed or hear something explained that i know about, i write down my thoughts. the end. SO much better than multiple choice.

19. rain. but seriously, i love it. 

20. a Sister-in-law with hook ups on the job front. honestly Christine is saving my life right now. 

finally, this little guy:

Ryder Phillip Craven! 

My sister Katrina has a son! look at that smolder!

I love baby cheeks! ahhhh he looks so squishy, i can't wait to meet him!

I love it when everything comes together so obviously. I love when i can tell something happened just for me. The tulips on campus all bloomed on my birthday. BEAUTIFUL. My teacher brought up the church humanitarian program. what? yes. i LOVE talking about my dad's vineyard.

I love feeling like God knows just what to give me to cheer me up, because He does.

He knows me best.


Today's song:

 

Illinois pt 4

Nauvoo. Honestly, My heart is pounding thinking about it. I fell in love with this place. I don't know how t describe the spirit there. I'm so jealous of my sister Rebecca who got to spend an entire semester there!

I wish i could tell you how much i loved Nauvoo, but how do i express this?!

I felt like a part of me belonged there. 

Like there's something i need to do there, or learn about or connect. I don't know. 

but there is a pull. like a physical pull on my heart. dragging me to Nauvoo.

that doesn't make sense but i'm goin' with it.

I love Nauvoo so so much. 

the early Mormons were kicked out of Ohio, and several places in Missouri until the governor actually gave an order demanding that the Mormons leave Missouri all together or else the militia would "exterminate" them. Finally they came to Nauvoo. A swamp off the Mississippi. they were safe. it was a refuge for almost a decade. remember that for the next post, when i weep about leaving.

I have very tender spot in my heart for Emma Smith. I've always admired her, but oh, man. I can't even imagine how difficult her life was. What an inspiring woman! 

and this song, oh my goodness. the trials she endured. i honestly cannot picture living through so much persecution, burying my children, husband and many friends, moving from place to place, in the broiling humidity and in the freezing cold. I respect her more than i can say.

Oh, Nauvoo.

 Dear Rebecca, please please please post about your semester in Nauvoo. I'm aching to hear your stories!

Memorial Day

 First of all, Tegan and Sara are one of my favorite groups. Their new album is uuhhhhhhmazing. and this is one of my favorite songs, it's real fun to sing to. well, the whole album is. they all rock, okay? this one is just in my head the most. haha.

 

moving on to the meat:

My ward (congregation) had a last minute Memorial Day barbecue at Smith park for all the kids who were in Rexburg yesterday. It was SO much fun. I love hamburgers and Watermelon more than 97% of all other foods, so my tummy was happy. Also I like laying on warm blankets when it's windy. and like, the sun is warm but the wind is really cold, so it's this weird feeling? i love that. I laid on my Aladdin blanket watching everyone else play ultimate Frisbee.

And then we ate lunch and talked and laughed and giggled over our friend Jeremy and his new girlfriend. I also screamed, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MADISON" to my roommate like every five minutes.  

 that's my roommate Madison on the left. And this is Mark right here. HA. he's in our ward, and he came with us to the pianoguys concert on my birthday, and has since fallen for madison and is over at our house every single day. He's a riot.

He's taken to calling me mom because i kick him out at 11:45 every day and because i am constantly making sure that there is something gluten free in the house for him to eat so he isn't starving. even if it's rice cereal. haha. He has also taken to speaking to me through caveman grunts/ pointing as a way to make fun of madison. He also likes to sing pokemon songs. so yeah. that's mark.

After lunch, everyone resumed their ultimate Frisbee and i resumed my spot on the blanket, cheering. designated phone/shoe protector and grass ripper.

Then something strange happened. you guys won't care about this but i thought it was hilarious. 

First of all, I have this friend Hannah who is engaged to a boy in my ward named Dakota. Dakota and Hannah came to the picnic yesterday and Dakota brought his guitar. he was jammin'. it was cool.

There are a group of ....older (26-30 years old, guys. for BYU-Idaho that's ancient.) .... boys? men. in my ward who we affectionately refer to as the Bronies. hahaha. they're interesting. and a couple of them also brought their guitars. so they decided to jam with Dakota. Dakota is like one of the nicest guys ever, so he let them. but then...they actually sounded good. So they kept jamming. and some other bronies were singing backup to Dakota and this little band hatched. what? I was dying.

"Dakota and the Bronies" is what we (the observers) named the band. they're gonna make it big, i promise.

Then something else amazing happened!

So my friend Chris is a baseball addict. He brought a ball and a couple mitts to the park and he somehow convinced me to play catch. HA! so i played my first game of catch ever. EVER. i felt so american and cool! hahaha i felt like a boy gaining manhood by playing catch with his dad. and the amazing part? I wan't horrible! I mean, woah woah calm down, i'm not good at all. but i wasn't terrible! Chris caught all of my throws, and most of them were aimed toward him! and i caught like 75% of Chris' throws. I felt so cool.

Also, Madison and Mark have gotten into a Harry Potter kick because our roommate Rachel hasn't seen any of them before. So every weekend they watch another Harry Potter movie. I tried to watch Prisoner of Askaban with them last night because it was Maddy's birthday and i wanted to like, support her? but no. i can't do it. I cannot watch movies with big groups. there is always someone talking and i just want to punch every one in the face. so i left before i got rude. haha.

How was your Memorial day?

Illinois pt. 3

This part was us touring the Joseph Smith places in old Nauvoo. I'll leave you mostly with pictures. sorry not sorry for the 1,000 pictures of the Mississippi river.

This was actually cool. The graves of Joseph, Hyrum and Emma Smith.

and oh my gosh an actual inch worm! I've never seen one before! It was so cute! it inched around just like in the cartoons! I was laughing like a mad man because it was literally like folding in half and then unfolding and that's how it moved. hahahahaha

I love Lilac bushes. 

I love windows made to look like old windows, so the glass is all warped and bubbly. 

This was above the old Red Brick Store in the room where the Relief Society was created! So that was special. a lot of other special thing happened there. Our awesome professors gave a really good lesson about temples and nauvoo in general.

Nauvoo was just an absolute dream. old dirt roads and red brick buildings. Green green green trees. 

so gorgeous.