100th post

wow.

i'm pretty stoked.

not gonna lie.

100th post....i love the sound of that.

((a few weeks ago at the hockey game.))

sorry i haven't updated y'all in awhile.

life is pretty packed lately.

i have tons of huge projects i have to finish before SPRING BREAK next week.

you may wonder where i'm going.

California....

yeah....pretty much estatic.

sledding down old main. :)

last night....betsy, brianna and i went sledding down Old Main.

it was awesome to spend time with just the three of us, which we haven't done in forever.

we went sledding, snowball fight, tried building a snowman, broke a cookie sheet, "borrowed" some sleds we found, and laughed our faces off.

i love them so much. they are my best friends. :)

    

lovely followers, family time, some inspiration

first off, thank you followers. i love you. thank you for taking time to read, it really means a lot to me.

thank you becca for your shout out on your blog. i am glad to know that you check out my blog daily.

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 my brother jake just hit 15 months in the mission field.

insane if you ask me.

9 more months.

blows my mind.

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things are nice.

i got back to LOGAN today after my short little trip back home...

which was wonderful.

family is amazing.

especially my extended family that just make me laugh & makes me want an even bigger family.

especially my grandma who just makes me smile & always supports me.

especially my grandpa for his constant guidance and passion for the gospel.
 
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i love talking, helping and going places with grandma.
she is such a lovely woman.
she is always so positive and supportive of all i do.
she, along with my grandpa, have been there for me in huge stepping stones in my life..
my baby blessing, my baptism, graduation and many others.
she is just a blast to be around.
i look forward to family get-togethers because i know that she'll be there.
she is just amazing.
she is so willing to help me out when money is tight, being a college student.
always willing to take the time to talk with me and listen to me.
she would do anything for me. and i know it.
thank you grandma.

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i love talking religion with my grandpa.

i asked him about guardian angels and if they were persay, "real"

i mean growing up and things i've heard that we all have our own guardian angel, but i wasn't 100 percent sure if that is just one of those sayings people always say. haha.

he shared with my 2 personal stories of guardian angels.

what a powerful experience to hear those.

it's one of those times that your body goes through chills.

you know?

he shared a story of when he was proselyting on the street on his mission.

there was a big meeting/celebration of sorts that day, 

so it was a clever way to meet a lot of people in a short time.

various people were very harsh towards what my grandpa was preaching and it was getting heated.

all of a sudden, a man hollered out in the crowd and said,

"listen everyone, what these men are teaching are true. this is the restored gospel of jesus christ."

my grandpa and his companion appreciated this man's help & released a lot of pressure.

later after the crowd died down, my grandpa asked everyone around who that man was.

no one had ever seen him or met him before.

no one.

grandpa believes that was a guardian angel, one way or another.

stories like this are so neat. espeically when they are experienced by a family member.

not your friend's uncle's cousin's daughter or something like that. haha.

i wish i had all the time in the world to tell you more, but here is just one that i thought was really neat. :) thank you grandpa.

it's time.

it's time for me to kick it in gear and get training for a 10k.
the past month or two, i've been hitting the treadmill/running around logan 4 or so times a week.
sounds good right? yes, but i usually run between 2-4 miles, so i need to kick it up.
i have wanted to get into that die-hard stage for sometime.
i've been feeling it though.
last week, i didn't go running one day during the week and i felt droggy.
i felt disappointed in myself.
but...this next week i will run my good 4-5 times a week and get training.
:)

my bucket list

((more to come...))

*design my wedding dress.
*go to a third world country for humanitarian work.
*donate blood-february 1, 2011
*visit all 50 states.
*do a study abroad. ((greece, please.))
*build a tree house.
*read all four gospels.
*pet a peacock
*do a challenge sudoku puzzle. ((yes, i tis nerdy))
*zipline through the amazon.
*grow a huge garden.
*marry a faithful & honest rm.
*go on a mission.
*paint in europe.
*go surfing.
*get in interior design program at usu.
*design my future home.

relying on prayer and loving usu

i dropped my ra class ((resident assistant for on campus housing)) today.
it was one of the hardest decisions of my life.
it may not seem like it to some of you, but really it was.

it was taking over my life. it was requiring too much time and the class expected me to put it as #1, which that i honestly couldn't do. physically and mentally. even though there are many bonuses like, free housing and a free meal plan. i really just can't do it. i am too overwhelmed with my classes that require so much time and applying for the interior design program here. i was distraught for about a week. i couldn't think. i had breakdowns often and just wanted to go home and run away from it.

i talked to my mom one day and she thought it would be best to go meet with my bishop. which really helped. i told him i had prayed about it and made numerous pro/con lists. his biggest advice was to tell me to listen to myself. he said, "lauren, can you hear yourself talking? you are already in over your head and it's tearing you apart. eliminate it." he also told me to make a decision for myself and decide what was right. he told me to call my home teachers for a priesthood blessing. my home teachers weren't answering, so i decided to ask my friend trevor. what an awesome experience. i love having friends that hold the priesthood and are willing to step in when needed. thank you again trevor. :)

so there it is. life is good now. i cannot wait for next year...roughly planning, i will be living off campus, probably in hillside with one of my best friends mckenna drew and my pal lisha moffit and possibly my bestest friend katie swain. i cannot wait for what the future will bring.

ps. i am in love with utah state.
here are a few of my best moments....

    

walmart run with ugly sweaters              elder ballard fireside.

                                                              funny institute dances

  

                                         area government                      red jumpsuit apparatus concert

mindy gledhill concert                       amazing friends

     

singles ward fhe...ice blocking        saying bye to missionary friends

   

                                           institute dances                 at the HOWL/we the kings concert

     

           aggie football                         picnics during week of welcome

valentines day.

i honestly don't get why there are so many haters of valentines day out there.
people view valentines day as either the chance they have to spend with their girlfriend/boyfriend..or
point out "single awareness day.."

don't get me wrong, it would be nice to have someone that loved you more than the world and would be there for you all the time. but honestly, i don't HAVE to have that right now in my life. i'm only 18! i don't HAVE to have a boyfriend to like valentines day. it's a wonderful day to have LOVE in the air.

i want to use this valentines day as a chance to thank all those wonderful people in my life that show unconditional love to me. :)

here are just to name a few....

my best friends:

                  

       

my family....oh how much i miss you guys. thank you for always being there for me. thank you for teaching me the importance of hard work, service and love. thank you for teaching me the gospel of Jesus Christ. thank you for your unconditional love.

 

my wonderful katie swain....my closest friend since i entered this lovely world. we have been friends all my life. she is the sweetest, lovliest girl in the world. i am sooooo blessed to have her in my life. i miss her more than words can say. i wish she was at college with me...next year baby!

my cute hope braithwaite...sweetest girl of LIFE. no i'm not kidding. thank you hope for looking at life positively all the time and always having a smile on your face. i'm very blessed to have you in my life. thank you!

my amazing mckenna drew...we have shared SO many experiences over this past awesome freshman year of college. i am so grateful that we were able to meet. honestly. i don't know what i would do without you. you are my greatest friend i have met at USU. i love you and i'm grateful that you are always there for me.

my lovely betsy reeves....you are such a great example to me. your love for life is empowering. you care for those around you and you always love to party but also know when to stop and focus on more serious things. you have many christlike qualities that emulate from you. thank you for that. you are one of my bestest friends in the world.

my sweet brianna dickerson...my great friend that pulled me out of my dumps in high school. you have no idea how much i appreciate our friendship. you, along with betsy and sara made my high school experience. you are so in tune with the holy ghost that you knew when to reach out to me. you are amazing. thank you for always caring about me and making me feel wonderful. you are by far one of my bestest friends. i love you.

i would also like to include my roommates, my awesome friends back home, my people on my floor,  angela wood, becca fitzgerald and many others. :)

i'd like to apologize for the last post.
that definetley defeated my purpose of having a blog.
my blog is a place where i can talk about uplifiting things, people & things that inspire me and ways that i can thank those amazing people in my life.

so sorry about that last negative post.

do brighten up this post. i just wanted to say how grateful i am to be at utah state.
it is such an amazing experience.

school....

 

saying that this week SUCKED

is a huge understatement.

((*pardon the not so lovely word, but it sums up my week))

to give you a taste of a typical day this week...here is a sample of yesterday....

9-2:30-class
3-lunch

3-5-homework'ish

5-7-working out and dinner

7-9:30-ag

9:30-10-roommate agreement

10-10:30-more ag

10:30-11:30-test studying

i'm sorry to have such a stupid post, but i felt like releasing some stress.

hope you loved it.

hockey

i went on a date tonight with my friend jordan to an awesome USU hockey game.
                                            such a blast!
& we went and got hot cocoa after. delish.

((oh and wyman is an AMAZING player.))

someone's got a planner

it's about time.

i hate the school planner they give me.

so i stopped using that.

and then i resorted to a homemade calendar on a notebook piece of paper.

and then that paper disappeared, of course.

so now...i got a shnazzy new planner to keep track of my insane life.

HOLLA!

i'm thankful for...

a planner.

my mom...i called her 3 different times today. what a sweet woman.

text from a guy friend that i haven't seen in forever, saying he misses me.

becca fitzgerald's blog. sooooo great.

my roommate

new people in my life.

my best friend telling me i don't need to worry about getting into my program because, and i quote, "i'm confident you'll do great. you are the most creative person i know." katie, you're amazing. :)

people that stay true to their beliefs.

sleep.

ag retreat, running, TOMS

 
i went to bear lake this weekend with  my AG ((area government)) for a leadership retreat. which was really awesome! even though i don't have super close friends on AG with me, it gave me a chance to get out of my comfort zone and to get out of my bubble.

we had multiple sessions about...

how to be effective communicators

incorporate service into the activities we've planned

importance of advertising, programming and getting everyone involved

 make sure all the commitee members feel included

&

how if you choose to serve, you need to serve HORIZONTAL compared to VERTICAL, because if you are VERTICAL, you are looking down on those you are serving and may seem superior.

oh as i've roughly mentioned...i have begun starting up running again.

i want to run a half marathon sometime this summer/fall.

and here is my reward...

 

ahhh what a beaut.

do you agree??

wow.

it's one of those days...

                      that i just want life to freeze, because there is too much to do.

                       sssssstress.

oh and ps. i HATE windchill. worst thing ever. logan is talented at having it all week. thank you...NOT!

but to end this post on a good note.

shout out to...

my mom for being understanding and forgiving.

enrichment...even though only 13 of the 70 of us showed up. it was awesome to better get to know some of the girls. i feel like that is a great thing to continue to work on.

 my great friends who understand that sometimes they just need to be a listening ear for me.

my roommate dacy, who is willing to help me out with anything. she has tied up my ice-packs for my bruised arms from giving blood numerous times and making sure i'm okay. she even came with me to give blood for support. what a sweetheart huh? yeah, i'm super lucky to have her as a roomie.

when friends shoot you a text to see how you're doing.

donating blood

 bucket list item "give blood" has been checked OFF my list!

what an awesome opportunity to save lives. i'm very lucky that i was able to.

...even if it did hurt a tad.

oh from the picture below, you can see my killer painful bruises. the pictures don't even do justice, it's even grosser in person.

:(