Things i am thankful for right this moment

the Gospel of Jesus Christ and everything in it,

medicine, fruit and vegetables, my hearing, my, professors, My Siblings, an oven and stove and refrigerator, Sports Camps, a mother who taught me to cook for myself, Tithing, a background in theatre, Madera Unified School District, Crocs, skirts, my hair and eyes, the queen of England, clean television shows, The Beatles, movies that make me think, My Parents, my glasses, puppies, my grandparents, My nieces and nephews, who landscaped BYU-Idaho, snow, living in a tiny town, warm coats, Harry Potter, tights, my roommates, Mallorie Lane and Jaylene, guy friends, bright flowers, cheese, packages and letters, purple potatoes, missionary friends, my Preschool Curriculum class, BYU-Idaho, HOT GLUE GUNS, the internet, lotion to keep y hands from cracking in the dry air, Provo, Utah, the days when my phone works and i can communicate with other humans, indoor heating units, Reeses Puffs

Happy Thanksgiving to you, friends.

Patrick

Continuing my 'grateful' posts, i decided to make them all people.

Today, Patrick

He taught me how to communicate like an adult, aha. Also He just made me super happy. The first time we talked just us, he was comforting me, and i feel like that's what he did every time we talked after that, too. He's a pretty confident guy, and i like that. He's hilarious, some days i feel like all i did was laugh when he was around. He is brilliant. He is kind. He sings 10x better than me. His friends are fun.

He introduced me to Asian food. He truly embraced me for me, and even encouraged it. That for me is what distinguishes my friends from my acquaintances. He is the best listener ever. I talk a lot. He tells me what i need to hear and not what i necessarily want to hear. He calmed me down when i'm getting nervous, scathing, or too hyper. He supported me and believed in me. 

He made me want to be the absolute best i could be. I could talk to him for hours, and i did. I could tell him anything and everything, and i have. He bought me pizza, so he earned a permanent seal of approval, haha. He taught me a lot about sharing my beliefs. His faith in God inspires me. He was totally okay with me being brutally and embarrassingly honest, and he liked that i don't beat around the bush or play mind games. He has a fanny pack, so obviously we were pals. 

(hahahaha^ the most awkward picture.)

His eyes. they're a million different shades of gold everyday depending on his shirt.

I'm grateful for all the things that Patrick taught me. And i'm glad i had him as a friend in the winter when i was worried i would be alone. I'm thankful for his happy example in my life. 

I regret not staying in better contact with each other when i left for school in mid-April, but we both had goodish reasons and i think it was for the best. I'm grateful for his friendship.

I'm excited to have thanksgiving dinner with him next week and be real life friends again, because he's just a really good guy.

Rachel

Last semester i had THE BEST roommates. i loved them all but today i am grateful for Rachel, who i became unexpectedly really close to. She is wonderful and there are a million things i could say about her. here are just a few of my favorite memories:

the MOST movies. we both love them, and there are a lot she hasn't seen, so that was a favorite past time. 

 we went to almost every. single. one. of Chris's rec games, and he played 3 sports, so it was a lot of cheering. haha. but Rachel gets crazy. this was at Chris' baseball game, where we both unknowingly wore baseball tees and thought we were hilarious.

whispering in big groups about people we don't like. haha we're awful. 

making 3 am pizza together and watching Les Mis at full volume BECAUSE WE CAN. 

watching the sun rise with her. alot. hahaha. Veeeeeerrry often last semester i didn't sleep at all. i don't know how or why, but at least twice a week i wouldn't sleep at all, so instead of spending the enTIRE night tossing and turning in bed, i just started staying up until i was actually tired which usually ended up being at sunrise. so there were a lot of mornings when i would be heading to bed and Rachel would be just waking up, and we'd watch the sunrise together from the kitchen table. 

she creeped on boys for me when i was stuck at home doing homework

 Rachel + Chris = my unexpected spring best friends.

puzzles, and FOOD, and Harry Potter movies and the deepest most uplifting talks of my life. they force me to leave the house, so that's good.

[excuse me in these pictures. no makeup, wild hair, and an old dingy t-shirt. I had an unhealthy obsession with 'Merlin' and these pictures were taken at a goodbye bonfire that Chris used as my intervention. ha.]

can we pause this ode to Rachel for a second and acknowledge the fact that me and derek look alike in these two pictures? kay.

 toward the end of the school year, it got HOT. (okay like 90 degrees max but we had no air conditioning.) so everyone in the dorms bought giant fans and had them in their kitchen windows. honestly, every apartment had one or more of these bad boys. (ours was purple!) so every once and a while there were brown outs. one day we're sitting in the kitchen and it was the HOTTEST day of my life. i ran a shirt under the faucet and then stuck it in the freezer. i was sitting at the table drinking Kool-aid, Rachel and I were discussing Julian Assange and homeschooling and Richard G Scott's life. and may i repeat, it was HOT. and the power went out with an audible *druuuuuuuuuuuur* Rachel stopped mid-word, and her already doe eyes grew three sizes. her mouth curled into a grimace and she frantically glanced out the window and then at the fan and then the fridge, and then she threw back her head and screamed like the girl from Avatar when the humans were destroying Hometree. 

and then we looked at each other and busted up laughing.

later that evening, it was still hot, and the power was still out, so we laid on the balcony with our feet over the edge, and i was wearing my frozen shirt, and we talked for hours that night. that's probably my favorite memory of her. just laying there talking about nothing and everything. we were both frustrated that there were a million people in our house that no one invited over, so we just stayed outside. and ignored all the people trying to walk past us. the power eventually came back on but we stayed outside and watched a freak lightning storm, and it was bittersweet because it was finals week and we were all going home soon. I love/hated that night. 

 I just love Rachel, okay? we'll homeschool each other's kids, and spend forever laughing at our hilarious selves. that's another thing, Rachel could make me LAUGH. and that is my favorite thing in a person. 

to end, here's a picture of Rachel on top of a mountain where she was almost bit by a huge snake and we rolled our eyes at a prissy girl asking to be given a piggy back ride down fro a cute boy. HA. 

Rachel, i love ya. and if i stay in Rexburg for the winter, we WILL be rooming together again. 

Dear Katie,

I have ten nieces and nephews, and the oldest is Katelyn. My Dear Katie Rose. I just love her. and for some reason this week I've been thinking a lot about her. How much i love her and how smart she is, all the things i hope for her and the experiences i'm excited to share with her. 

Today I'm grateful for little (big!) kate.

I love her big brown eyes and her beautiful hair. she's such a good sister and she is so gentle.

she's HILARIOUS. seriously, she's so clever and spunky!

I love her voice and her height. She is brilliant, as well. SO smart. I love that we both play the piano and i love that she loves Star Wars and Harry Potter like i do. 

(THOSE PAJAMA PANTS, THOUGH.)

she is so spirited and i love her very distinctive personality. i love her smile and her happy little self.

I LOVE that she reads. I read Harry Potter for the first time in first grade and she's not much older than i was and she's started the series. *tearful sniff* Hermionie Granger for life.

I love her freckles, i love her mix of baby and adult teeth. i love her voice and her laugh, i love that she is such a quick thinker and so strong. Oh, Katie. I just love you. Next summer you're turning 8 and i don't know how i feel about you growing up so fast. it seems like yesterday that i first held you in Provo, i was 12.  later, I played with you in the grass in front of your apartment with the dogwood trees and you were still so little, and you couldn't even talk yet but i knew you loved me like i love you.

I'm grateful for our matching brown eyes and our mutual love for literature. i can't wait to discuss my favorite books with you! I'm grateful that i get to be your aunt, and your friend. 

My favorite memory of you was in the back of your parent's mazda, at our family reunion 2012. we were driving to the springs and you were reading a book about pirates. I asked you what it was about and you related the whole plot with emphatic expressions and hand movements. your eyes were bright and your smile was undeniable. i love your freckles so much! haha. it was then that i realized you were no longer a little kid. you were so big and tall and you were reading an actual book. i rustled your hair and you looked at me like i was crazy, but i just laughed. you're so beautiful katie, and i hope you never ever doubt that. you are beautiful inside and out. 

I think of you a lot. because I've realized that i need to be an example to you and how i hope you will be proud of me and i hope i can always be someone you can look up to. 

I love you so much, and i always will, no matter what. 

love love love, 

Aunt Melissa

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!

Thanksgiving Day

I'm sure you've seen dozens of these by now. But i am more than happy to hop on the band wagon for this one, because i love cliche things.

ready for the longest blog post ever? sweet because here it is in list form. I am SO so thankful for:

- My AMAZING family. they are literally the best people, and i feel like everyone says that about their own families but really, my family is incredible and i love how close we are. I love that we are protective of each other. I love that we have inside jokes that are too obscure for anyone to ever understand. I love our name, I love our heritage i love our traditions. 

I just love us.

-The Gospel of Jesus Christ. Really. It is my whole life. everything i do, everything i want to become, it's all for Him. I love everything about His gospel and His church. my church. Because I believe it is one in the same. There comes a point when you have so much faith in something that it is no longer believing, It's knowing. I know i belong to Christ's church. I know He loves me and died for me and was resurrected for me. I know He lives. I know He is God's Son.

I know it, I live it, I love it!

-teachers. Mine have been fantastic over the years. And I'm grateful for my college professors who give up SO much time to teach here. 

-my school. I explained this today at dinner when we were all going around saying what we were thankful for. I LOVE this school. I love everything about it. even the Honor Code. Especially the Honor Code! I love the atmosphere and the people and the campus and Idaho and my classes...I just love BYUI. I'm so thankful for all the members whose tithing helps to fund it. and I'm actually grateful that it's so far away. It's helped me learn A LOT about myself.

-enough food to eat

- a safe warm dorm room apartment with a heater

- good coats (holla at Allison at Katrina for those. without them, i'd prolly be dead.)

-All the wonderful people back home who gave me scholarships in June, because I'd be dead without those as well. ha. But really, I was blessed in the financial aid department of my schooling.

-I'm just happy for Thanksgiving! what a wonderful Holiday! too bad it's attitude and feeling has to be ruined by crazy black Friday. oh well. everyone likes saving money i guess.

-Also? I'm grateful for the Christmas lights that My roommate is bringing home from Montana to light up our window every night. I'm so happy to be here.

tonight was great. Derek came up from Provo to spend Thanksgiving wiht Donny, Christine, Jonathan and I. Two of Christine's cousins and their roommate joined us as well. I would just like to point our that Christine is only a year older than me and she flawlessly executed a perfect Thanksgiving dinner. 

*applause*

There was SO. MUCH. FOOD.

and laughing, lots of laughing. 

My borthers are pretty much the coolest people on the planet, so when all three of them are together in a room, It's just a non-stop party. I'm SO excited to see our sister Rebecca and her family tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving!