Families

You're probably sick of me posting churchy stuff.
i will never not post 'church stuff'.

I'm a Home and Family Studies Major, with an emphasis on professional preschool education.

AKA: the "I can't wait to be a mom" degree.

I am more excited now than i ever have been about school in my LIFE. because i'm learning everything that I want to learn and everything i know i will need. and i'm just really happy about it.
And since i go to a church school, I get to learn all the doctrine that goes hand in hand with my secular education.

I'm taking religion classes this semester, which is technically not allowed. ha. and the more i am taught in these classes, and the more i study the scriptures and words of prophets, the more i realize that this church is all about families. Everything. all of it. it all revolves around the fact that we are sons and daughters of God who wants us to return home to him. we're put in families so we can have help. we can have people to teach us, guide us, walk with us.

I'm grateful for my family. they're honestly the best people i know. I am so lucky to get to be with them forever. literally. and i could not be more in debt to them for helping me all along the way. I love them.

and that's all.

Since I've been in Rexburg

I've been in Rexburg for two weeks. it's been pretty slow. but here are the highlights:

Donny and Christine had a beautiful baby girl! Evelyn Kay Hansen. she is tiny and perfect and i love her! 

excuse all of our squinty eyes, the sun was really bright! Also, I LOVE that there are 3 sets of twins in this picture! how often does that happen?! Christine's two older brothers are twins, and 2 of mine are twins.  Christine's two very handsome Canadian cousins were also there, they're standing on a bench in the back.

too cool.

We stopped in Provo and picked up Derek on our way to Rexburg so that he could be there for the baby blessing. (by the way, a mormon baby blessing is just when the dad and his male family and/or best friends all stand at the front of the congregation, holding the baby and the dad says a prayer for the baby, pretty much welcoming him/her to the world. It's not a baptism or any kind of saving ordinance, it's just a sweet tradition.)

Derek braids rather well, actually.

Last Sunday I became friends with a praying Mantis in front of my apartment. It was good fun.

pure joy, i tell you

there have however, been a couple bumps:

 "The Day the Changed Our Lives Forever"

 puke.

okay, i really should not be making fun of it, it's a good idea.

This 'novel' is about 3 fictional BYU-Idaho students who were dramatically affected by last year's announcement that the age for missionary service in our church had been lowered. 

I WAS ALREADY WRITING A BOOK ABOUT IT 

It was the secret of all my secrets. I hadn't told anyone, mostly because i didn't want anyone to steal my idea -_-

and also because i felt like people would be like, "pfft, that's dumb."

mine was different though, it's the true story of me and four of my best friends from church. 

how our lives were turned upside down by the announcement, and the events that followed. I was going to be mostly about me, obviously. haha. actually it was mostly about me and Janelle. but Mary Elizabeth, Mallorie and Nicole had big parts, too. 

It was going to be made up mostly of journal entries, with the occasional omniscient viewpoint when two or more of us were involved. 

and it would have been flipping great and everyone would have dang loved it and they would have cried and laughed because we're hilarious. and there are boys in the story, which i mean come on, everyone loves a good bit of gush, right? and we're all like best friends but there are different dynamics. and there are twists, though predictable. 

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN PERFECT

now i would just be a copycat.

i hate everyone.

on a lighter note, i ripped my pants on one of the first days of school. that was awesome.

 finally, the random things:

1) there is a BEAUTIFUL boy named Nick in my writing class. he is perfect. I decided to be brave and sit a couple seats away from him instead of across the room. So on the day i decided to, I got there early and sat two seats behind and one to the left of where he sits. and when he came, HE SAT RIGHT NEXT TO ME INSTEAD OF HIS NORMAL SPOT.

and he has a dimple and an adorable laugh. kill me. 

I also crept on him on facebook and he likes Superman more than Batman so i mean, we;re basically perfect for each other, obviously.

2) I was in the Crossroads (the school dining area) the other day and one of the WIFI options was "DOOM VIRUS". yeah, i didn't choose that one. didn't feel like triggering a nuclear explosion or something.

3) doing my math homework. thinking to myself, "wow, these numbers are getting huge, i hope i'm doing this right..." when suddenly:

nope. i was not doing it right. at all.

4) the Sherlock season premiere has been pushed back until late November

*cries*

so all i have to hold onto is this picture of John Watson's Mustache.

and the knights of the round table for good measure:

Tonight is the Relief Society Broadcast! Yay!

the Relief Society explained: here

the link to the live broadcast: here

Fanny Pack

"They say you can tell a lot about a woman by the contents of her purse, so uhmm, why do you have this in there? what is this, why do you even own this, what does it do? How do you use this?"

I was on a date months and months ago, and i was rummaging through my bag for my car key. couldn't find it so i dumped the contents of purse - in their embarrassing entirety - onto the roof of my date's car and sorted them until i finally found the key. the above quote is from the boy as he was examining my mascara. ha. his only sister is a lot younger than him and doesn't wear makeup yet so he was intrigued.

as i was packing to come to rexburg, i set my fanny pack aside because i knew it was already packed, as it always is. and then before i knew it i had dumped everything out and was taking pictures. so here you go:

my wallet (the old one):

 my wallet contains all of my ID and card things. money (hardly ever, haha) and exactly one picture of Jared Hughes as Horton the Elephant. i don't know why, there just is, okay? makes me happy.

Now let me explain the fanny pack system. 

i have my everyday fanny pack:

Her name is Franny, and she's technically my mom's. whateva. MINE NOW, MADRE. hahaha.

Then there's Charlie, the fancy pack. 

Derek gave me this one, for my 18th birthday. it has leather, so it was dubbed fancy. i wore it to prom like a champ, and before i got a purse i would take (not wear) it to church.

My Stallion Fanny Pack, 'Stal". It's purple and Jonathan got it for me for my 18th birthday.
I only wear it to Stallion things. So i haven't worn it in a while. It also only has one large pocket, so i don't wear it too often.

Then there's my "exercise fanny pack" that mah home skillet Zane Veater got me last summer on a whim. it looks exactly like this one, but purple. it is perfect for exercise and it's reflective, so i can wear it at night. and it holds my phone, deodorant and chapstick. it's like a mary Poppins bag! oh and it's name is "Pizza".

This is stan. my mountain climbing fanny pack. He has three pockets (2 zipped, 1 clipped) AND two stretchable water bottle holsters. heck yes. He also has a wide band, which i like because i feel safe that he won't fall off mid-hike! oh yeah, and a chapstick holder. Yeeeeees. Stan was my dad's. *was*

And Shakira :) 

My good friend Ernesto Lopez got me this in Guatemala this past Christmas and i wear it when i'm feeling sassy or particularly outgoing. also she's super comfy. 

I have one other fanny pack, it's huge and blue and it's called, "the YAK PACK". My nephew Caleb got it for me two Christmases ago and it is PERFECT for traveling. seriously. it has one billion compartments, a GIANT wide strap, it buckles AND has velcro. it's the best, ever. I don't have a picture of it though.

And, this past February i bought a purse. a reeeeeal purse. because i felt like i needed an option for the rare times when i was wearing a dress or an actual blouse instead of a t-shirt or an ugly sweater.

so yeah, those are my bags/fannys

and here is what i keep in my everyday fanny pack:

things i keep in every bag/fanny pack:

Deodorant, feminine products, hair things, gum, inhaler, a pen, chapstick, tissues and mascara. and a picture of the me with the person who gave me tht fanny pack. (in the above case, i keep a picture of my childhood best friends because this fanny pack reminds me of them, and high school and all that jazz. and the fanny pack from my dad has a picture of me with both my parents.) that way no matter which one i use, i have all the diddly do dads that i might need, no matter what. 

so my phone, my ketchup bottle, my temple recommend, and my camera, i transfer depending on the bag or fanny pack i choose for the day/event. 

also, each fanny pack/bag has an item specific to that bag based on the first place i took it. I included them all in the above picture.
my purse has this paper stack clip thing. long story.

Franny has my lucky penny from San Fransisco when i went to see Billy Elliot on stage. and my "smash" compliment book. for the spur of the moment note i need to leave, because a friend gave me a nice note on that trip. 

Charlie has my prom ticket 

Stal a stallion sticker

Pizza can't fit a special item, so the picture of me and zane will have to double.

Stan holds a rock from the summit of Limestone Peak in dear Hiko, Nevada.

Shakira a coupon from the Madera Thrift Store :)

and the Yak Pak, a rock from Montana (not it's inaugural event, but i was always forgetting to put one in it)

and there you have it, invisible internet friends. 

The inside of my fanny packs. 

and therefore my mind.

End of Summer

Right before i came up to school i spent 2 weeks with my sister Allison and her family. I love them. I helped Allison with the kids while she was very very very pregnant. I got to help out at Natalie's 6th birthday party (it is NOT okay wit me that she is growing up, by the way.) which was adorable and 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe' themed. and a bunch of other things. these kids. i can't. 

i honestly can't say how much i love these little wiggle worms. 

SO excited for little baby to have joined the family since i've come to school, but more on him later :)

here's a bunch of random pictures. what else do i post?

MY little twin, Natalie Jean Jumping bean. love her. 

this was at her birthday dinner. her shirt. "I wear this shirt periodically" she picked this out. 

her LEGIT birthday cake. Allison and I made this and i am so flipping proud of it. hahaha I painted the backgrounds, and then i did the wardrobe side and the lamp. Allison did the Narnia side! 

sadly, we left the cake out over night and ants got ALL over it. so we didn't eat this cake. luckily we had taken pictures with natalie and the cake the night before.

still a bummer.

Bub's tough face.

TELL ME JENNA'S CURLS ARE NOT THE MOST ADORABLE THING EVER

that pout, though.

In other news, Caleb is slowly becoming an actual kid. he's three and he needs to stay that way, okay?

Also, on like one of the last nights at Allison's i slipped on a blanket and tripped up the stairs and fell right on the edge of one of the stairs with one shin. like, 100% of my body was in the air, and then all 100% of the force fell onto the edge of one stair via my right shin.

SO. PAINFUL.

I kind of yelped/gasped/shouted. well, i made a really weird sound. haha. Jenna was near me and her eyes got huge. she looked at me like she was gonna cry, so i tried not freak out too much while calling for Allison. i immediately grabbed my shin with both hands, applying pressure to distract me, i guess. Well, when Allison ran over, i lifted my hands away from my leg to see if i was bleeding and i was already swelling so badly that there were clear puffs formed into triangles fro the spaces inbetween my fingers. I was shaking and trying not to groan because Jenna looked waaaay freaked out, but i was crying. Allison helped me to the couch and then she ran to the kitchen to get a bag of ice. I gritted my teeth and pressed hard against the swollen skin to feel my actual shin bone, because i just wanted to make sure i hadn't broken it. It hurt to touch at all, and it was so swollen that i couldn't even feel my bone at all, so i didn't try. but i just figured if i had broken my bone, i would know.

the rest is kind of a blur of me trying not to let Jenna see my face, and then not being able to hide it because i was like, hot and sweaty and shaking. finally, the ice got the swelling down enough that i could feel my bone if i pressed hard enough. i knew i didn't break it, but for some reason i just HAD to feel it to be sure. 

that night, after the swelling had gone down considerably, thought to take a picture. 

this looks very mild. ha. but those two bumps were on the edges of a long red line that marked exactly where the edge of the stair hit. once my shi was numb from ice and medicine, my pinky toe was on FIRE. i hadn't noticed how swollen it was, or how tight the whole right side of my foot felt. I pulled on my toe (probably a dumb thing to do) and it popped back into what felt like a right place, and immediately my foot felt (well, not good but better) not...tight. if that makes sense. and since then, my toe will like, send a little tiny *sPREEEE* up through my foot. haha if that makes sense. like, it hurts every once and a while if i step weird. 

i should ave documented the rainbow progression of my bruise, but it was gross. haha and i HATE pictures of bruises. ugly and weird. but literally my shin has been every color possible in the past two weeks. and It's still really sensative in one area, i'm guessing the initial impact spot. the skin on my shin was like, ripped off, too, so the new skin is really shiny and sensitive and pink. 

kind of cool, over all, though.

it was an interesting addition to my Khazad-dum (which is a bridge in the LOTR, by the way) summer.

I went home a few days later, because i needed to pack and get all ready for school.

just so you know, my room and the bathroom right next to my room have been without power the whole summer, which was interesting. lots of candles and flashlights.

Finally, I replaced two beloved items of mine. My Rapunzel watch and my wallet.

I won a disney store gift card at a good friend's birthday party last summer and i used the money to buy a super cute purple rapunzel watch. BUT it's a child's watch. hahaha so it cuts off my circulation if i wear it too long. My grandpa gave me a new watch, so i was going to give this one to Natalie. Natalie wasn't too impressed with my old, torn up watch, but she thought it was cute because of rapunzel. haha. but then it broke! the insides just all fell out! sad day! so i retired it.

 and my wallet (on the left), that i got at the thrift store for like 25 cents, was ripping on the inside like crazy. i was worried that my debit card or license would fall out and i wouldn't even know. so i got a new one. the one on the right at same thrift store,  for 25 more cents. i like it.

SO LONG, KHAZAD-DUM SUMMER.

good riddance.

you were rough, but i learned a ton and that was the point, and your namesake. 

yesterday was the first official day of Fall and BOY, did i welcome it with open arms.

and now, i'm in Rexburg, Idaho and my heart is happy.

He came unto His own, and His own received Him not

I'm taking a class this semester about the first half of the New Testament. The four Gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I was reading today, and in John 1: 5, 9-11.

It lists a few things that Jesus has done for the world. Reasons why we all ought to rejoice in Him, shout His name, but points out that instead, He is rejected, ignored, inconvenient. I thought that was sad and ironic.

And then i wondered, "well i mean, do I rejoice in Him? Do I praise Him for the infinite things He has done for me? not as well as i should be. no, not really."

I want to recognize His hand in all that i do, and in the world. I want to have His light shine through me, I want to bear witness of Him. I want to know Him. receive Him into my heart.

I want to.
I will.

It is my newest and proudest goal.