Lo lo lo Logan!

This past weekend, Bri and I drove up to Logan to hang out with friends.

It was a much needed trip.

I absolutely love Cache Valley. I love everything about it.

I'm excited to head back and get back to the groove of going to school.

...................................

Not only was it full of great laughs, but also some much needed deep conversations with friends.

I'm blessed to have great friends that I can have serious conversations with and get insights from.

Thank you Betsy and Brianna, you two are some of my best friends.

......................

Ohhh...and I went cliff jumping for my first time yesterday! Can I just tell you how insane it feels to fall 20 feet? Haha. 

.....Without anything to buckle you down. It's sure an out of body experience.

But would I do it again?

Heck to the yes.

Betsy Reeves

This is in honor of one of my best friends, Betsy Reeves, "G6"

She's living in Logan for the Summer, and she said that I don't blog enough.

So...here I am not only blogging, but bragging about how amazing she is.

Betsy and I met back in Mrs. Woolstenhume's Honor's English class in 10th grade. I remembered working with her on group projects and sitting next to her, but I honestly didn't think that we'd end up being friends like we are today. I do remember though, thinking she was absolutely hilarious and had a great personality.

We weren't really super tight that year, but I still considered her a pretty good friend then. 

We got really close during Senior year, when I became really good friends with some of her best friends, Brianna Dickerson and Sara Daw. I had AP History with both of them, and we all ended up getting tied together and got very close.

Betsy ranks up with one of the greatest friends I have. She has high standards and lives a very Christ-like life. She is hilarious to be around and makes everyone laugh. But she's not the type of person that has that "rude-humor." If you get my drift. She is also very caring and loves talking with people. Her and I would meet up at the library on a regular basis to just talk. It was some of the funnest but also some of the best times I've had with her. She always wanted to hear about my life, and put her life on hold. She is amazing and I sure miss having her around. :)

happy birthday brianna

one of my bestest friends in the WHOLE world is turning 19 today.

brianna dickerson :)

things about brianna:

her major is photography & is dang good at it.

she is a great cook. :)
she always look amazing in any picture she is in. of course, she will disagree. but it's true.
she comes from a family of 4. she's 2nd oldest.
her sister just got engaged.
her and i became really tight junior year. :)

things i love about brianna:

she gives genuine compliments.

she's a hard worker.

she always has her hair done. this is the truth.

she calls me laurenita.

she is always so happy when she sees me.
she cares about others and makes sure everyone is included.
she's BEAUTIFUL.

love you brianna!

running & blood & shout out to mckenna

i'm sitting in the tsc right now...

watching people donate blood.

kind of freaking me out.

i'm giving blood next week for my first time....

maybe something magical will happen that i don't have enough iron or something.

or maybe faint?

but that would be WAY worse.

i just don't do well with needles and watching my own blood.

we'll see though right....?

do they have to have this huge massive garbage can next to where people are giving blood?

it makes me think that it's a puking station.

& those chairs...could they look anymore uncomfortable? haha.

anyways.

sorry for my.....blood tangent

to get off the whole giving blood topic, i went on an amazing run yesterday 

with my friends hope and kenna.

they are currently training for a marathon for middle of may!

i'm so excited for them!

i hope to do a half marathon in may'ish.

or later....

i'm not a runner AT ALL.

i ran 3 miles last night...UP the huge hill USU is on.

pain---ful.

but really fun and great!

oh ps. shout out to mckenna drew.

she sent me the sweetest text of my life last night.

i wanted to share it...((hopefully she's okay with that.))

"thank you so much for everything, lauren. you seriously make me feel so much better about myself and i love having talks with you and hanging out with someone with such big goals and is so happy all the time."

i really appreciate that, kenna.

i really hope that you feel and know how beautiful you are all the time.

i love knowing that we share the same beliefs and passions.

i love that you make me feel amazing and special!

i really just can't explain how blessed i am for you.

you are truly one of my best friends.

for the record.....usu is the greatest

last night...
was the crazy hoe down institute dance thingamajig.
now that was a funny one.
they had the full deal.
a mechanical bull, cowboys swing dancing and the stick game ((what's that called again? haha))
even though they are cheesy, they are a blast.

 hillary, hope, kenna and i! :)

 ashley, me, brianna & melissa!

 ashley, tara and i!

i love you girls! i'm so lucky to have fabulous friends!

&

 i went on an awesome run with hope and kenna this afternoon.

it was gorgeous! it started snowing while we were running and it felt like winter wonderland.

okay, maybe that sounded cheesy. but seriously.

it was so much fun!

i've really started to get into running and i'm almost at the point that i love it.

freeeakky...

&

OH! 

.....and aggie basketball is de best thing since sliced bread.

we rocked it tonight.

we played against new mexico state.

& kicked it! 

59-49-final.

i love going to aggie basketball! especially with awesome friends!

it's a BLAST!

read up on the article:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/utes/51103402-89/state-utah-aggies-mexico.html.csp

 

baby mck and i

trevor and jordan

baby mck and sam

i have some killer awesome friends

 

katie "dawn" swain: my bestest best friend in the world. i love her soo much. it's been rough not having her at usu with me. but she's planning on coming up here next year. she is such a fantastic girl. there is so many great thing about her, but some of her best is her smile & her hilarious unique personality. love you sista! (not literally) haha.

 

beth "bethalicous" berry: i love this girl so much. even though we didn't go to the same high school and going to different colleges now. she has always been one of my greatest friends. we were tight in junior high school and we still are. she is from missisippi (yeah messed up that spelling) and just has the funniest personality ever.

heather "heathbar" schramm: i finally got to see heather over christmas break. before break, i hadn't seen in her in easily 4 or more months. i also didn't go to high school with her, but we've still managed to make times to hang out when i'm in town. she is one of the sweetest cutest girls ever.

 

betsy "bethany" reeves: one of my bestest friends in the world. she is sarcastic like me and she makes me die of laughter every time i'm with her. she has a really chill personality and is always understanding. she's the best. :)

 

brianna "bri" dickerson: my gorgeous brianna. another one of my bestest friends.  i sure love her. she is always nice to everyone, even if she has a tad of sarcasm here and there. she always makes me feel great when i'm around her. and she also loves to feed me. hahaha. love you babe!

 

mckenna "kenna"..."baby mck" drew: she is probably my closest friend i have met at usu. she and i are always hanging out and talking. we go to lunch all the time together and i love being around her. i'm really lucky to have her in my life. she's amazing!! we have the greatest talks ever.

 

hope braithwaite: another one of my closest friends i have met at usu. i haven't seen her very much lately  (which is rare) haha. but i guess the whole first week of the semester has us both really busy. i love hope so much though. she is thee nicest person i have ever met. she never talks bad about others and is so genuine.

p.s. there are many more of you that i love, so please don't feel forgotten. i love you all.

the 4 year old in me.

 last night sara, brianna and i went to the riverwoods.

 & then we went to a toy store....

 & then we acted like we were 4.....

\

 

& then i got really mature and joined in with these little kids riding bikes around the toy store. immature much? yes, but one of the funnest things ever? yes.

 & then it got really crazy and we went to see santa. who wasn't there so we sat in his chair and ate his candy.

oh and for a side note...
emotions are hard to share sometimes.
couldn't you agree?

logan in december

 (borrowed from USU's Facebook)

is beautiful.

so i know i blog all the time about my love for Logan.

but gosh dang. it's lovely.

i am going to miss it very much.

some recent happenings in 110:
 

treats from 112 with my ugly Christmas sweater.

homemade Christmas pillowcases from jessica.

cute Christmas socks from our lovely R.A. charity.

so i feel like i have been negative lately due to the stress and studying of finals...so here are some things i am very grateful for.

*wonderful friends. especially...brianna, betsy, hope and mckenna. i love them all soo sooo much.
*that my math final is over.
*Christmas is near.
*scriptures and prayer.
*talking to my family on the phone.
*when my neighbors bring us delicous Christmas goodies.
*laughing.
*swimming at the hper.
*sleep.

you girls complete me.

for the record..
                           i would die without......

betsy

brianna
melissa

hope 

&

kenna

they are such amazing girls. i love hanging out with them.

tonight...our adventure consisted of...

midnight pizza,

DDR dance party,

almost playing Bullshiz at midnight pizza,

laughing...(a lot),

doing hair,

painting nails,

being amazed by this beautiful Logan fog,

boy talk

& 

just great memories.....

Mckenna...Kenna....Bay Bay Mck

I had to write a post about McKenna Drew.

One of my bestest friends I have met up here at USU

Kenna,

You remind me of my best friend back home.

You're positive.

You are Beautiful. To say the least.

You are SOOOO Upbeat.

You put effort into everything you do.

You look at things practically.

You can handle my randomness, blonde moments and freak outs.

You're always willling to run over to my place if I ever need a friend to talk to.

You always tell me how amazing and beautiful I am, which means a lot.

You are SUCH a great friend with high standards and an amazing personality.

I LOVE YOU!

♥

 Just to name a few moments we've had together...

going to the HOWL

red jumpsuit apparatus concert

iron man 2 on old main hill

acting insane

antique shop runs

singing like pyschos

D.I. runs

watching chick flicks and drinking fruit smoothies

talking boys

the mindy gledhill concert

football games

watching cute music videos

blog stalking

making you laugh so hard you feel like peeing yourself

going to breakfast, lunch and din together
the institute dance

 doing morse code to my wall with my "Jesus" rock

going swimming

doing nails

happy bun day!

chillin at old farm

going running
going to AG meetings

talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

the list could have much more, but this is what I could think of off the top of my head. :)

3 AM blog post

So...I can't really sleep.

My stomach is twisiting and turning.

I don't know why.

Jake hit his 1 year mark last week!!!!!

I am SOOOO excited and proud of him.

I can't imagine how much strength and determination that missionaries have to have.

I'm glad that he is loving him time there.

 (Jake sent this picture today, for those of you who don't know, he is the one in the yellow tie.)

Kenna came over tonight and chilled with me.

I love that girl so much.

I've really gotten to know her over the past couple months, and I'm grateful for her more each day.

We went to Midnight Pizza and then shimmied back to my place and watched the Last Song.

She is so open and sincere.

She's the best. :) :)

 (Us at the Mindy Gledhill Concert)

I feel like my math class is purely going downhill.

I went and talked to my math prof today to ask him what else i can do.

I told him what I was doing and he said I was doing everything expected of me.

Which mad me kinda ticked, because I'm doing everything that is required of me and it's not enough.

So we'll see how that plays out.

I really miss Orem.

I painfully miss my family. I haven't been home in 8 weeks, which is REALLY long for me.

I can't wait for break, it will be awesome to see them.

I miss my best friend Katie a lot too.

It's really hard to be away from the ones you love.

(Day before I graduated, we went to Macey's at 2 AM for kicks and giggles. haha.)

Guy friends are the best.

Cameron, a friend from upstairs is an awesome friend to talk to.

It's sure nice to talk to guys rather than girls at times, they really put things into perspective.

Thanks Cameron for our 3:30 AM conversation. :)

I wanted to say though....

that guys that are really caring & care about to ask how you are doing...are SOOO sweet.

Ps. Facebook is super boring.

Jon Schimdt

Jon Schmidt came to USU last night and it was AMAZING.

My friend Jordan and I went and had a blast.

He is an amazing pianist, it takes my breath away.

I just had to close my eyes a couple times because the music was so soothing.

It was nice to go to just a really chill mellow concert. The past couple ones I've been to have been major mosh-pitting haha. So it's awesome.

He played a lot of Christmas songs and ended with Silent Night.

What could be better? I love that song. It gives me the chills.

If you haven't heard him..check him out on YouTube.

 Thanks again Jordan, I had SO much fun! :) :)

 Jordan has "connections", so we got a picture with him. The lady that took the picture was clearly in a rush so it's super blury. But heck, it works. Pardon my chinese eyes. Haha. :)

Day 3: Pictures of you and your friends.

On my last random post I blogged a lot about some of my closest friends that I have up here. These are pictures of my new friends that I have made at USU. Enjoy! Here are some pictures:

80's Dance: Me, Dacy, Hope, Kristy and McKenna:

Bear Lake Retreat: Eunice, Me and Chelsey:

At the Mindy Gledhill Concert: Eliza, Me, Trevor, MINDY, McKenna, Hope and Coonen.

Dacy and I with our Rock Children. Long story. Don't ask. Haha.

ISU VS. USU Football Game: Me, Brianna, Anna, Tara, Betsy and Tyler.

 Ice Blocking down Old Main for FHE: Keeley, Courtney, Brianna, AnJeanette, Mike, Nicole, Kristy, Andrew and Talia.

Photobooth Nights: Shayla, Me, Chris and Kristy:

Dying Betsy's Hair: Brianna, Me and Betsy:

After the Paint Dance: Chelsey, Natalie and I:

 Painting the Street: Nicole, Me and Dave.

At Red Jumpsuit Apparatus: Hope, McKenna, Dacy and I:

Splatter Painting T Shirts: Dacy, Me, Berkley, and Trevor:

Happy.

I just had to write a post.
because...
I'm just HAPPY! :)

happy.

happy.
happy.

I am just loving life. I am loving who I am, my friends, my roommates, and just college in general.

There isn't an exact reason why I am.But here are a few:

Who I am: I'm grateful for me. Is that weird to say? I'm just grateful for who I have become. I feel like I truly know who I am now. I don't care about what people think about me and I dress, act and look the way I want. In High school, I always felt like I had to live up to some kind of social standard and that I couldn't be myself. But when I got to college, I decided to not care anymore. And I love that. I love who I am and I know God' plan. I know I just busted out a primary song. But really, I have never felt so good about myself ever. I'm eating well, working out, and doing the things I need to do. :)

My Family: Oh how I miss them. Dad-I love when you write me emails when you get a minute at work. I love that. It's very special to me and it makes me feel very important. You always give me wonderful advice and have taught me to give my all in all that I do. Mom-I LOVE our conversations we have on a normal basis, even if it's not very long. I miss you more than words can say. You always bring peace to my soul. Jaker-I LOVE getting your letters every week. You have NO IDEA how proud of you I am. You are doing such a great thing and your letters are so powerful. I miss you all the time. Kate-Oh, those texts you send me throughout the day are so great. Even if they are random stuff like what you're doing in class, what you're eating, what your workout was that morning or other stuff like that. I love that you tell me you love me every day. Livvy Lou-You are sure growing up hun. I can't tell you how much I wish I could be there as you go through your first year of junior high. You really are growing up and are continually turning into a beautiful girl. I love when I get you to answer the phone. :) Haha.

McKenna Drew: Bay Bay Mck! Oh heavens. Where do I begin with you? I feel like we have a very interesting but strong friendship. I feel like we spend a lot of our time laughing together about the dumbest things, but then we have our long talks about life. The thing I love about you most is you are a listener. I feel like I can talk to you about anything and you will put in your two cents. And I really like that. I love being around you and I feel so happy when I am.



Hope Braithwaite: Oh Hope, there are so many reasons why I love you. But by far the biggest trait I love about you is how kind you are. I love that you aren't fake about it either. I love being with you because I never feel judged or feel bad about myself. You always seem to bring out the best in me. I feel like you love me just how I am. You are always bursting compliments at me, and I know they are genuine. Thank you for teaching me a wonderful lesson of kindness. Also, thank you for always being willing to drive us around town. :) Love you.



Dacy Pulsipher: Oh roomie, thank you for being you. Thank you for letting me be my crazy self too. You are a great girl. I love our inside jokes and our strange hilarious object hanging above our mirror. Thanks for being a great listener and being understanding. I really appreciate that. Love you.


Brianna Dickerson: My photographer, my friend, my pal. I love you so much. I wish you knew how much I love being your friend. I wish I could describe it. You have been so dear to my heart for a few years. I love going to your apartment and just seeing you. Being around you gives me flashbacks of high school and all the fun memories we have had together. I love that you call me Laurenita too. :) I LOVE it. You have always been a great example to me and I love laughing with you. Love you.



Betsy Reeves: OHH! BETHANY! Okay, I couldn't help it. Haha. You are one of my most down to earth..chillest (is that even a word? haha) girls I know. I love being around you because you don't have any of those fisty personalities and you don't bring drama wherever you go. It's so nice to be around you because you're not one of those, Me! Me! Me! kind of people either. You are very humble and wonderful. Love you.



Sundays: I LOVE them. Even though they seem to drag on for a long time, between our normal block, planning meetings and ward prayer...I still love them. I have started to jot down notes and impressions at church and I have really seen how the Holy Ghost has helped me in my every day life.



Meal Plans: it's nice to get in one good meal a day right? :) Especially when the food is edible. haha.

Snow: Yes, tis wet. Yes, tis cold. But it is beautiful and it reminds me of Christmas. It just makes me jump for joy.

I feel like I'm rambling. Haha. Probably because I am. Okay, I'm going to call it a night. Adieu.

Hey It's been awhile...

Tis true.

I have delayed blogging 

     As some of you know, I am helping out in the Special Needs Institute. There is a kid in that class that is on a “service mission” for the church. He has disabilities, but is still considered a missionary. He has a tag and everything. He got up and shared an experience he had with one of the general authorities. One day, he said Elder Holland came to speak to the missionaries at the MTC, and the service missionaries with disabilities also attended, he said that after Elder Holland spoke, he came up to him and others around him and just told them how grateful he was for them to serve. Elder ****(in our class) said that was a testimony in itself, for Elder Holland to come up to them and take the time to express the love he had for them. Elder ***** said that even though he wasn’t capable to going on a 2-year mission away from home, he is grateful to hold the title of a missionary, to share the gospel to those around him.

      I loved this because he knows that he has disabilities, but he also knows that he can still have the ability to serve a mission. I am grateful for his determination and also yours. I just thought it was sweet. Even though I’m not in an acclereted Institute class, I can have other great spiritual experiences in this class.

     A few nights ago, my friend Trevor came by from next door and hung out with my friend McKenna and I. It was a blast. He went to India his Jr. year of high school and shared some awesome experiences he had there. It was awesome. Throughout his talking, it made me think of you and all of the many customs and culture shocks that my brother Jake is having to get used to in Chile. He talked about how insane the roads were, not being able to understand the language, eating food that he wished he didn't have to. Haha. and other things like that. But, he also talked about the powerful experiences when we got used to the food, fell in love with the kids at the Orphanage and just being able to travel. It was amazing to hear about his life changing humanitarian trip to India. I really hope that I will have an opportunity to leave the country and serve those less fortunate than me. :) Just hearing him talk really reminded me of Jake.

     I went to the HOWL this weekend. It's the biggest Halloween dance held at USU every year. It's considered a little on the crazy side, but we chose to stay in the basement, where the Institute was holding their own little deal, which was really fun! I’m really grateful I have high standards. Not saying that I’m all Missus Perfect, but I am so grateful for the gospel and how to recognize places where the Spirit can/can’t dwell. Upstairs sure was insane compared to the party in the basement. I am grateful for the Holy Ghost and how he has blessed me on a daily basis in my life. I hope I can always keep him close to my heart. Also, WE THE KINGS CAME! It was AMAZING. Oh and we dressed up as Tetris pieces, pics coming soon.

I'm thankful for: 

I'm thankful for my brother's continous example of missionary work. 

I am thankful for my family. I miss them SOOOO much.

I am thankful for great roommmates. Love you guys!

I am thankful for guys that honor their priesthood and feel comfortable talking about the church outside of church.

I am thankful for awesome friends, especially my Cedar friends, Hope and McKenna. I LOVE being around them, and I feel like my standards are kept high when I'm with them.

 

We finished this tonight! :)