Summertime!

Woo! Life sure moves along :) It's exhausting and wonderful :)

I have a new job! (Internship.)

I'm interning at a residential treatment center and I'm amazed.

The students here have been through hard things, and they are working on making hard changes.

They are in an environment specifically designed to help them understand themselves better and recognize changes they need to make. WOW!

Really, we are all in such an environment. It is just usually more subtle. Feedback and consequences in the "real world" aren't always consistent or obvious.

Watching the students look at their issues makes me really think about how I react...to everything. To other people, to myself, to everyday situations.
When something isn't going how I would like it to (whether because I'm not acting correctly or because the details around me aren't ideal), what do I think/feel/do?

Withdraw? Shut down and think it isn't worth it to work through the situation? Smile and nod but seethe inside? Feel frustrated but decide to make that hard, good choices? Take my feelings out on others? Choose to look at what I can change about what is going on? Hmm!

I am so impressed by people. People go through rough stuff! But we can do it! That is why we are here--refine ourselves and love others. Awesome :)

:)

If You Can't Say Something Nice..

I love this! Got chills at one point.

Little bit reminds me of this:

http://thedoghousediaries.com/4503

This happens all the time with singers, actors, politicians, etc.
Crazy how sometimes we rationalize why we can be rude!
Of course we can have opinions and preferences. But remember we are all people :)



:)

Lotsa Pretty :)

The other night I watched the Life of Pi with my roommates :)
I'll admit I was skeptical before the movie began ha. After seeing the trailer, I wondered how the movie could last more than ten minutes. He gets shipwrecked and he is in a boat with a tiger. How do you stretch that out??

Well, I must say I was thoroughly impressed!!! My roommates and I got really into it haha--yelling and oohing and aahing.

The scenery was gorgeous, astounding. Breathtaking, even! Seriously incredible nature shots.

With this on my mind, and another bike ride up to Deer Creek Reservoir, I couldn't help but think how great this earth is. I feel God through his beautiful world!

I love the sky, I love the mountains, I love trees. Tis all great :)
Pretty nature makes me happy happy happy :)

(Wanna hear another pretty thing I will see today?? The Oquirrh Mountain Temple :) I am going through, and I am not sure I could be more excited than I am at this moment :) :))

Eek! :)

:) :) :)

Motives

I don't think we realize everything that has been done for us.

Sacrifices made, times people held their tongues when we were being dumb, efforts they made to make themselves better.

Makes me want to give everybody the benefit of the doubt, think kindly about everyone. Who knows why they are doing what they are doing. 

It reminds me of a Christmas story! A family was really struggling for money--they literally could not buy any Christmas presents for their young children. To their joy and surprise, someone dropped off a generous supply of gifts on their porch Christmas Eve. 

They went about their days, finding themselves acting kinder to everyone! They had no idea who gave them the presents--what if they were sour or judgmental towards someone who had presented them with an unspeakably wonderful gift?? 

I love that! We really don't know everyone's full story. I have found that the more you know (about circumstances or people!), the easier it is to understand and love people. 

So until you know more...love anyway :) Think the best of people!

Pretty much...I'm feeling really humble today. We all fall short, yet there is so much good going on. Life rocks.

:)

Super!

Hello world!

Can I show you something super pretty?? :) :) :)

This is where I did my homework yesterday :) 

I am in a mountain biking class and for homework we go on an individual ride once a week. --This is the Deer Creek Trail. Lotsa ups and downs but a wide trail so I never feared falling off a cliff :)

Mountain biking is super fun! I'd never done more than road biking before this semester, but I like it a lot :)

Ready for some more super happenings in my life?

General Conference this weekend! (Plus going to Colton's mission reunion--woot!)

Next week I am going to the temple!!!!!!!!!!!! (insert a million happy exclamation marks)

Three weeks from today I will take my last final, which means....

Three weeks and one day from today I will marry Colton in the Salt Lake Temple!

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

I feel really great this week. (Which is nice because last week was insanely stressful. I can't remember ever feeling as stressed as I was! Three cheers for school ha)

Luckily I had an awesome weekend to help me recover :) I joined the Kilmer clan in Mesquite for Easter weekend. 

The whole trip was a blast!
-A sweet hike,
-Easter egg hunts,
-pool time,
-and even a stop at a Cove Fort--a pioneer site where our missionary guide instructed Colton's uncle to marry us (complete with a prairie diamond--a bent horseshoe nail ha!)

Who needs Vegas? ;)

Twas great. Super great! :)

This guy may have been my favorite part of the whole adventure ;)

 (I do realize I look slightly stoned in this picture. Sh sh sh. I'm just happy :))

Anyhoo, life is super busy. And super awesome :)

:)

Jojoba

"On bleak days, with leaden skies,
when you don't know where to begin.
Your head hurts and your heart cries,
look for the sunshine within.

After dark dreams of panic and fear,
when you almost break, almost give in.
All hope smashed, dreams far from here,
look for the sunshine within.

On foul days, with no rest in sight,
and you cannot force a grin.
Remember be calm, it will be alright,
you have the sunshine within."

(What is it with poets having the coolest names ever? The author of this poem, The Sunshine Within, is Jojoba Mansell! Sweet!)

:)

Rocks

Guess what! I'm taking a mountain biking class now! (I ride with the slow--ahem, I mean fun--group.)
It is a blast! In a challenging sorta way ha.

Wanna hear one of those life lessons random activities can throw atcha? :)
I thought you might ;)

When we were approaching a part with a lot of twisty downhills, our teacher told us,

"Now don't look where you don't want to go.

If there is a rock you want to miss, don't stare at it. 

Look ahead, where you want to be."

(I admit, I really didn't think it was impossible to conquer some of the up-hills we went on ha. 

But we did!

No, this isn't a pic from the class. Tis a random one, courtesy of google) :)

Ya catching my drift? If there is something you are working on in life, don't concentrate on the ways you can fail. Don't stare at habits you want to stop. 

Like they say in rehab for people with addictions--you can't just stop your habit, you have to replace it with something good.

Such is life, eh? :) Focus on the good. Look ahead, where you want to be. 

You might just hit less rocks :)

P.S. Today is a country music night for me :)