Life is pretty great. Today was just one of those sundays where you get so much out of church and everything is super relatable and your prayers get answered. In relief society we had a really great lesson that followed this amazing talk by President Uchtdorf. One thing that really stuck out to me was the forget not to be happy now. We can always find reasons to not be happy, and often people dwell on the bad things that are going on in their lives, but there are so many wonderful things in life to be happy about! Life is awesome and although there are some dumb things that happen, there are far too many great things to let the bad get in the way. I found a quote on pinterest a few weeks ago that has really been coming up in my thoughts lately, it's, "We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us. (Joseph Campbell)" I think a lot of people, such as myself, have their lives planned out in their head and get disappointed when things don't work out, or don't do certain things because they don't think it's part of what they've planned. I know I've always had a very clear picture of how I want my life to be and I've started realizing how superficial and selfish it all is. You don't need a rockin' body, calvin klein model as a husband, perfect children, fancy cars and a huge house to be happy, all of those things would certainly be nice, but in reality life doesn't work out that way. It isn't the things that we have that make us happy, it's the experiences that we go through, the memories we make.
So far my summer has been pretty chill. I basically just work every week day and try not to die of boredom. I started answering phones at work and it scared me to death the first few days! Mostly I'm just terrible at talking to people. Work is fun though we joke around a lot and hid the cardboard cut out of Flow that we have in the office to try to scare people. Also, one of the girls I work with is pregnant, I'm so excited for her, except the fact that she has terrible not-just-morning-but-all-day sickness that I get to hear, yay.
I've had the opportunity of being able to babysit a lot this summer, whether it be the schaefer kids or my nephew and nieces. Kids are seriously the cutest! They say the most adorable things and are so carefree and fun!
Logan, Kaylee, and I.
Zeke Schaefer and I. He made me paint his nails.
Pageant starts in just under 2 weeks, I'm so excited! I'll be in cast team S4, so basically 19 year old girls and 18 year old, pre-mission guys. Mostly I'm just psyched to be able to take two weeks off of work and be able to be around a bunch of mormons again and all that fun stuff, because pageant is the best.
This weekend, there was a YSA dance in Buffalo that Johanna, Katie and I went to. We met up with our Canadian friends that we met at Gathering in the Grove and they came home to good ol' bloomfield with us and we spent all of saturday together. There weren't many people at the dance, but we still made it a good time. After the dance we went to this huge playground and played grounders, so fun! On saturday, we made breakfast, played tennis, went swimming, watched I Am Legend, and just messed around, it was a lot of fun! They're the champ kind of friends. Too bad they live all the way in freaking Canada, what is with people.
Emilio, Katie, JM, Jo, Me, Jesse. 6 people, 1 couch.
Mostly life has just been pretty rad. I have about 2 months left before fall semester starts at BYU, I'm pretty excited to go back, but also enjoying the whole not having to take chemistry yet thing; and the whole no homework over the summer thing.
Oh goodness I am terrible at keeping up this thing. SO much has happened in the past few months! Here's a little run-down:
I finished my second semester at BYU and am officially a sophomore, ahh yeah. It was a pretty rad semester that went by SO fast. Some of my classes were a little tough, but that's what I get for being an engineering major. Next year is going to be even more rough though, I'm taking chem 105, engineering graphics, material removal, statics, and marriage prep. Super excited, but super nervous as well because who actually ever wants to take a chem class? Not anyone, ever. Luckily I have a good friend from my physics class that's taking chem (and statics and graphics) with me so we're gonna rock it.
Let's be honest, it was so so so hard to say goodbye to my friends and move back home for the summer. I was extremely blessed with an amazing roommate that I miss more than anything! I have honestly started talking in my bedroom expecting someone to be there and talk back, so rough! I can't wait to be back in Provo! Here's some lovely pictures of my this past semester:
For Easter, Rem, Jon, and I went up to Rigby, Idaho
to visit the Paige family, it was so much fun!
Johanna and I got bangs!
Festival of Colors, SO MUCH FUN!
Most of my FHE family, such a fun group!
117th ward.
My lovely roommate Lauren and I.
On one of the last nights of the semester a few friends
and I decided to hike the Y at like 1 in the morning,
such a rough hike!
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Rem, errr Elder Steele, my womb buddy, left for his mission! I'm so excited for him! It was a hard time saying goodbye, but luckily I have amazing sisters, and two of them took me to the mall and hung out with me for the day, while my dad let me take the rest of the day off of work. My family is the best!
Seriously the worst picture of us ever, but this is like two
seconds before he left for two whole years.
Love my womb buddy!
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This last weekend, my brother Jon and I went to a regional YSA conference called Gathering in the Grove. Honestly, I was less than thrilled to go because the ysa in our area are all either too old for me, related to me, or... not my type. It was such a good time though! It really taught me that you can't judge people if you don't know them. Johanna, Katie Jacobson and I shared a tent and camped out in Zion's camp at the Hill Cumorah along with most of the other YSA. On the second day we met these crazy fun Canadians and hung out with them for the rest of the time. We made abc books for the soldiers to give out, played some ultimate, ate some good food, danced our little hearts out, and just had a good time, even though we were hanging out with canadians! Funny story though, after GIG was over I was sitting at home reading/texting on the couch and my dad (who is watching some show with my brother) tells me to be more "social" with my family and asks me who I'd been texting "nonstop" (as he put it, which actually means once every 10 minutes or so). I told him I was texting some canadian guys I had met at the YSA conference, and he told me not to talk to them because all they want is a green card... all I could do was laugh. Another funny story: right before Jon and I left to go to GIG, my dad told my brother to watch out for all the predators (single guys) trying to prey on me. Someone doesn't want their daughter to ever get married.
Love these guys!
Such an uncomfortable way to take a picture.
Ahhh yeah! (disclaimer: not actually engaged, haha)
We got to hear from Alex Boye, the most amazing guy ever! He was seriously so inspiring and insightful, I really got a lot out of his address!
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My amazing older sister got married to a fab ginger named Brandon Steele! She didn't have to change her name or anything, super lucky! She looked gorgeous and his hair was a gleaming, fiery red as always. Everyone kept telling me, "you're next," haha, right... I love weddings though, so tender! (Photo cred goes to Lisa Ruth photography, she did an amazing job!)
Top: Savs and Grams and Jerry. Bottom: The whole fam-bam.
Yeah, I have cute nieces and an handsome nephew.
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I started working at my dad's insurance agency, Stan Steele Insurance Agency. It's weird to be working full time like an adult. The ladies I work with are hilarious. I literally laugh the whole time I'm working. Mostly I can't wait to get back to Provo where there's always some clean, fun thing to be doing.
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One of the first weeks I was back, my friend Hannah and I went to visit a good friend at Cornell (ahh yeah, my friend's are smart!) for their end of the year campus wide party, called Slope Day. It was a lot of fun! So weird being on a different college campus and not be surrounded by mormons though! We got to see Neon Trees and Taio Cruz live, it was so amazing!
Hannah and I on the slope.
Neon Trees! We were so close!
After the concert, SO fun!
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All in all, life has been pretty rad lately. Tonight I watched the vow, so naturally I was crying like a two year old. Here's a pretty sweet cover of a pretty sweet song though:
