These are my Confessions

Excitement

2012-03-04T20:19:00.001-08:00

I feel like since my blog is titled these are my confessions it's about time that I made one...and I mean a real one. So shhh!! This is a secret people ;)

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm starting to get a little bit excited for my very own Neal Caffrey to come home. I think I have a right to miss him and be excited to hear his voice. Now don't get me wrong, I don't have any expectations beyond that. I'm just excited to have my best friend home and be able to talk to him.

Oh Neal...

You get me every time.

Happy birthday!

Patience is a Virtue

2012-03-02T08:12:00.008-08:00

"Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come." - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

About a month ago I received a priesthood blessing from a wonderful young man worthy of his priesthood. It was about four in the morning and I knew I needed a blessing, and badly. I'm so grateful that this gentleman was worthy of his priesthood so that he was able to fulfill my need no matter the hour. It was an extremely beautiful blessing which provided me with answers to prayers, some of which I'd been praying about for years. As soon as the blessing was over, I quickly jotted down what was said in my journal and have pondered the words often. It has provided me with great comfort.

I am so blessed to have so many worthy priesthood holders who surround me so that I can have this privilege of receiving blessings when I feel the need. They have given me strength, peace, comfort, healing, inspiration, and provide me with answers to urgent questions. I've seemed to have a recurring theme in my life this past year, "some don't come till Heaven." In my blessing I was told there are some questions that I won't receive an answer to in this life, but in the next. I've felt promptings at certain circumstances letting me know what to do, but not why and for some of these things I know I won't ever know while on this earth. What I've learned from all of this is that I need more patience and faith.

Patience to go through my trials at the pace they come

Faith that there are good things ahead

Elder Holland provides words of encouragement for me:

“Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead.”

And for those who believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and center their lives around him, there is ALWAYS happiness ahead.

Letters

2012-03-01T10:21:00.004-08:00

"We must keep our heads when our hearts are beating so wildly out of control. Give this some time. Don't jump ship - not yet at least." - Grandpa Graf

"I used to expect things to work out quicker!!! I was so frustrated that my will didn't come soon - But Heavenly Father lets us really struggle to learn patience and to learn more about Him."- Grandma Graf

There is something about getting a letter in the mail that is just so satisfying. It's a feeling I never get with a text or an email. Something about the time it takes to write a letter, the process of writing things out by hand, putting it in an addressed and stamped envelope, and then the time it takes to reach its destination that makes them so much more meaningful to me. I've been spoiled these last two years with receiving letters in the mail regularly. It always brings that same satisfaction when I see an envelope with my name on it. I just think, "Wow, somebody loved me enough to take time out of their day to write me." It's wonderful! Now for someone who loves getting letters so much, you'd think that I'd be better at writing them. I mean shouldn't I bring that same satisfaction I get to others by writing them. Unfortunately, I'm a terrible letter writer. It's a shame, but I've been trying to do better this year and it has most definitely paid off.

I'm spoiled, I have three sets of grandparents. My biological grandparents on my mom and dad's side and then an extremely special pair who've adopted us into their family. Every year without fail they send me a birthday card, and I'm ashamed to say that never once have I responded to say thank you. Not until this year that is. It should not have taken me 21 years, but it did. I finally wrote my adoptive grandparents who are so very dear to my heart and within days I had already received a response filled with love and gratitude. Why I never wrote them before is beyond me, but I'm so glad I did. They are so full of wisdom and have a love for me which I can feel in every word they write to me.

They gave me wonderful advice on life.

They encouraged me.

They told me about their past experiences to help me with mine.

Nobody will understand fully what I mean by this, but what is up with flyers using full names and not letting go!? I don't understand it and neither does my grandma, but it's something we've both had to live with. Those flyers...they'll get you every time and they are unlike anyone else. Knowing that she has been where I am and made it through is such a comfort for me.

"Be grateful Heavenly Father hears YOU. He knows your heart and desires and your feelings"

"Always remember - We love you."

And I love them too!

Lessons Learned

2012-02-29T10:20:00.004-08:00

"His Plans are Perfect, His Works are Wondrous, and His Love is Infinite." - KRT

These past couple months have been interesting. Just when I finally was going to be okay with how everything was going of course it had to be dampened. But as I was reading those words I provided above I was humbled. I have felt so much peace, love, and joy amongst all the trials and I should be grateful for it. It is not my place to be upset about the opportunities that I've been given to learn. I should be glad that I have them and I'm learning to appreciate them. His plans truly are perfect, we just need to live them and have the patience to see things through.

I have felt peace in knowing that I did what was best. I have felt peace because I know I have a Father in Heaven who loves me. I have felt peace because I know I have the greatest father on this Earth who loves me. I have felt peace in knowing that I did everything I could. I have felt peace because I know He knows what's best when I don't. I have felt peace in knowing that I will never be led astray. I have peace in knowing that if I do what's right, in the end I will have the greatest prize.

My heart is full and my worries are light.

Always remember Him, for He will help you in all things.

I will not fear.

2012-02-22T17:20:00.002-08:00

"Face your doubts. Master your fears. Cast not away therefore your confidence. Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold for you." - Jeffrey R. Holland

Lately I've been faced with many hard decisions...but I will not let fear immobilize me to do what is right. So what have I done??

Studied...yes it's shocking, but seeing as to how I have basically all block classes this semester this week is finals week for me. On top of that my one normal class has a 15 page paper and a midterm due in the next two weeks. Sooo much fun...let me tell you.

Writing letters to my wonderful "Grandparents" the Grafs and to an old friend whom I love

Spending more time with my roommates

Getting lost in the work

Catching up with old friends

Making new friends

Spending time with family

Planning weekend trips to visit friends

And continuing my good blogging streak :)

A day of LOVE

2012-02-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

Valentines day is the worst! Haha, I have always had a problem with it. I know what you are all thinking, "she is just bitter because she has never had a valentine." This is false. I have had valentine's and I still think it's the worst. Who knows, maybe one day I'll change my mind about it but for now I still think it's lame. I did receive a massive box of chocolates and a Thor calendar this year...so it made life at least a little bit sweeter. :) The best part of the gift is how I got it. Chet kept complaining that his back was "thor" I kept overlooking it because I thought he just had a bad lisp and didn't want to make fun of him. Nope, he was hiding the calendar up the back of his shirt. He is a dork.

Red Rocks and Gymnasts

2012-02-08T13:41:00.000-08:00

"I'm on vacation!!!!" - Samuel Chet Combs

This past weekend was soo much fun :) I'm a lucky BYU student who got a break during winter semester. Lol.

Friday night Chet and I went out to dinner with his friend from high school Sarah and her husband Mike and Laura with her boyfriend. We went to Slab Pizza and it was delicious. We all had a great time talking and enjoying our delicious food. After dinner Chet and I hit the road for St. George. We didn't make it to STG till pretty late, but his parents had waited up for us and had a meal ready for us since they knew we'd probably be hungry. It was such a blast talking to his parents. They are truly just the most kind, loving, wonderful people in existence. I love being in their home. The food was delicious and then we all went to bed. Chet stayed up just a little longer to help me do some reading I brought with me and we of course had a blast and didn't really get any work done. Eventually we all called it a night and went to bed.

Saturday morning I woke up early to catch up on some journal writing and eventually I hear a knock on the door and Chet's voice saying, "room service!!" Haha, he's too cute. So we headed down to the wonderful breakfast that Sis. Combs prepared for us with Kaycee and Chet's brother Aaron. It was delicious and we all were laughing and talking as usual. Honestly the Combs family is so awesome. Every single last one of them are just such AMAZING people. I feel so lucky to know them and that I got to spend some time with them this weekend. It was just so much fun. Chet and I then headed to Vegas to watch the black jack mens gymnastics meet. It was really cool to watch. It was fun to see how excited Chet to watch his old sport and have him explain things to me. For once Chet knew more about a sport than I did!! Lol then we grabbed some lunch and went shopping at the Forum shops in Caesars Palace. Chet took me into some art gallery and we picked our favorite paintings and interpreted what some meant. We were probably having way too much fun. Then we looked around in H&M and he took me into Christian Louboutin so I could just stare at the beautiful shoes I'll never have. Aaron and his wife Nikole joined us for the winter cup portion of the meet and that was AMAZING. So many ripped men! So much talent! Boys were sticking it left and right. It was phenomenal. The boy I picked to win from the beginning ended up in second place so I was pretty happy with my skills at picking talent. I bet he'll be in the olympics! Here is his high bar routine...pretty impressive. Or his still rings...don't worry I am right behind him! Like honestly my mind was blown over and over again at the sheer masculinity and excellence of these athletes. Don't you guys even worry, Aaron was totally recruited by two of the teams present. I was in the company of champions with heavily recruited Aaron to my left and master scorer Chet to my right ;). We got back to STG pretty late but everyone had all waited up for us and we all just sat around and talked and had a party! It was wonderful

Sunday was so AWESOME. Keep in mind that this is the first Super Bowl Sunday that I've ever missed, but it was honestly so worth it. Church was great. Family dinner was great. We watched a home video of Chet doing gymnastics. Then Aaron, Nikole, Chet, and I went to a fireside with Elder Bednar and his wife. AMAZING. It was seriously just like the greatest thing ever. It was such a fun weekend.

21!

2012-01-30T18:27:00.000-08:00

It was just my birthday weekend and can I say that I have the best friends and family ever??

Friday night Chet and I went on a double date with my roommate Megan and his friend Taylor to the BYU v Utah gymnastics meet. It was so much fun. The meet started at 7 and we may or may not have left Provo around 6:40...that's normal though these days ;). The drive up was eventful, we witnessed a 5 car pileup and then shortly thereafter almost died ourselves...oh Chet...but no worries we didn't crash and we are all safe. Once we got to SLC we could not find parking anywhere. We honestly drove around for about a half hour before we found somewhere, needless to say we missed most of the meet. But what we did see was really good. Chet and Taylor are both gymnasts so they were having a blast watching the girls do their tricks. Taylor is probably the most friendly, outgoing person in the universe so we made friends with EVERYONE around us. BYU didn't end up winning the meet, but it was still a lot of fun to watch. After the meet we went to a nice little restaurant called Settebello, it was DELICIOUS. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. If anyone is ever in Salt Lake and in the mood for some nice thin crusted pizza go there. It was honestly just so fantastic.

Then Saturday I spent the morning at my parents house just relaxing. I then came back to my apartment and sat around wasting time until I was going to go out to dinner with my BFFEGFL Aimee. We went out to Rubios and then I came home to a surprise party. It was so much fun. Megan, Mandy, and Aimee are too good to me :). There was a kit kat cake which was delicious and jello shots, I think those were my favorite. Thanks to everyone who came!

Sunday was my actual birthday and Chet and I went up to my sister's place for dinner. It was delicious and we all had a good time. We all just talked and hung out and it was super relaxing so it was perfect. Afterwards Chet and I made it back for ward prayer and then we put in a movie to watch. It was a great night.

Then Tuesday Chet and I went to Tucanos and just walked around the riverwoods. It was so much fun. We saw two little kids with lightsabers dueling and we wanted to join them so bad. It was great.

My birthday was so awesome this year. Thanks everyone for making it the best :)

Now I'm headed south for a little warmth!

Children are adorable things

2012-01-25T13:56:00.000-08:00

"Miss Michelle, you look so beautiful today" "Thanks Angie" "You look so much more beautiful than you did yesterday, this dress is MUCH prettier" "......thank you??" - My conversation with Angie.

This week for my observation class I have the wonderful opportunity to work with 1st graders and they are just the most adorable things ever.

I may or may not have had my heart melted every two seconds when Edward bats his long lashes and smiles at me so innocently and sweetly.

I may secretly want to give all these little kids big hugs and tell them how I love them and they make my day each and every day I've seen them.

I may have wanted to laugh at them as the teacher explains they may have to do something a million times until they get it right and little Windsor yelled out, "Or maybe a dozen times two times!!!" As if it was greater than a million.

I may have had my heart broken when Ivan came in from recess crying with a bloody nose because Justin nailed him in the face with a snowball. Yep, that little 1st grader has an arm!

I may at times have been disgusted by the sniffly noses and coughing but still held their hands down the hall anyway.

I may not understand how it's hard to count by 5s, 10s and 2s but I love helping them get it right.

I just maybe witnessed the sweetest thing when Heather handed Mrs. Boles a little heart shaped cupcake so Mrs. Boles could mend her heart after it was broken by the class' bad behavior.

It may have made my day when Heather and Brookie told me they loved my boots and that I have the cutest shoes.

I felt so loved when Braxton R. drew me a picture of a snowman surfing on a wave under a rainbow.

These little kids are seriously the most darling angels and I'm lucky to work with them. They almost make me want to switch to elementary education...almost...haha.

Yellow Fever Strikes Again

2012-01-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

Comms Majors on BYU campus, can you please tell me whether or not you truly had a class where the assignment was to corner some poor girl on campus and ask her questions about her personal life? My guess is that it wasn't a real assignment. What teacher would assign you to ask a stranger about their dating life? I honestly believe I was just harassed by yet another boy (at least he was extremely attractive this time) with yellow fever. It happens all the time, you can read about more of my experiences here. This is my most recent story...

On Fridays my first class of the day doesn't start till 9 but I usually leave pretty early so I can park by the RB. I was slowly making my way to my class when I saw a boy walking towards me from far away and he was just staring intensely at me. I tried to pull out my phone and look busy but it didn't work, he cornered me in an open area. Haha I didn't even know it was possible to be cornered in a place with no corners...but it happened. The guy quickly asks me if it would be alright to ask me a few questions, I'm sure he noticed my hesitation because he added "it's for a class..." I asked what class and he simply responded oh I'm a comms major. Okay....well I guess I can answer a few questions.

boy: "What is your name??"

Me: "Michelle"

boy: "Michelle........can I have a last name with spelling??"

Um what?? So I give the boy my last name, don't ask me why, my first thought was honestly great he's going to facebook stalk me, then I remembered I have a private profile. Thank goodness. Lol. So the interview continues.

boy: "so how old are you?"

me: "Oh I'm a senior" (hoping this would make him think I'm an old maid and disappear)

boy: "wow, really? Like can I have an age??"

My plans were foiled. I told him my age to which he responded with a "right on" or a "sweet" I can't quite remember but that was generally his response to all my answers. Next came...

boy: "so what's your major??" and "what is that biggest problem you'd say you have in life right now?"

Up until now I legitimately feel as if this could be for his class until he drops the next few questions and comments.

boy: "I notice you're wearing gloves, so I can't tell but um are you married??"

Me: "No"

boy: "Okay, so have you ever been close to marriage or had any serious relationships since you've been at BYU??"

Me: "yes..."

Boy: "so would you say you're ready for marriage??"

me: "............."

boy: "or actually how about you tell some fun dating experiences you've had here at BYU."

Me: "You know, to be honest I think it's hilarious that boys on BYU campus will ask me out on dates just because I'm Asian...complete strangers ask me on dates and say it's because they love Asian people, really?? You really think that makes me want to date you?? I don't even know anything about you."

boy: awkward chuckle "Oh haha that's probably what you thought I was doing here huh??.......hahahahah......ummm......that's REALLY funny......"

(Yep I think I was just a victim of being targeted by a man with yellow fever)

Me: "yeah...so do you have anymore questions??"

boy: "NOPE...have a nice day" as he starts walking away

Me: "wait what class did you say this was for again???""

boy: "I'm a comms major...."

me: "so this isn't going to show up anywhere right??"

boy: "What? Oh...no...I'm just going to use parts of it for a paper....see ya!"

Oh the joys of being Asian :)

Blessed

2012-01-13T18:16:00.000-08:00

"Beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now." - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

The talk "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence" by Elder Holland is so amazing. So as a little background information for this post on Wednesday night I went out with my bosom buddy Mandy. Yes, I just said bosom buddy. If you don't understand what that phrase means you've obviously never met anyone so dear and close to your heart that you call each other bosom buddies. Someone who is so much like you that you know that you two were destined to meet and be friends. We were talking about tender mercies and how we both wanted to start keeping journals so that we notice and remember them in our lives.

Now I've been trying to find an answer to a question that I've had for awhile now. I've prayed, fasted, read the scriptures, studied past conference talks, read my patriarchal blessing, read past journals, asked for a blessing, you name it; I've done it. Now as of about a week ago I was also pretty dang sure I knew what the answer to my question was, but I got really afraid. My answer wasn't something that would be easy. It was going to be hard, it meant a lot of sacrifice, and it meant taking a step into the unknown and putting my future in Heavenly Father's hands trusting that everything would be okay. Now, for me, it was much easier to think okay yeah I'll do it...but later. Maybe next month...?? That will be better timing for me. I mean I know I'm supposed to do this, but I never really got a when...so I can put it off right?

Thursday morning I got the answer to my question on timing. I woke up and immediately that answer I received a week ago was on my mind. It felt like it was taking over my entire body. I was getting afraid again. Then I got to my first class and I could not focus on anything but this answer. I kept thinking, "What am I going to do?!? This is going to be so hard and I am SO SCARED and I just don't know if I'm going to be strong enough to handle it." Then two girls on my table started talking about how they both had times where they were second guessing answers to their prayers, but BOTH of them AT THE SAME TIME mentioned the talk from Elder Holland that I quoted above. I don't think it's a coincidence that they sat by me that morning and that this happened just the morning after I discussed tender mercies. This was my tender mercy from the Lord. I asked the girls tentatively if they could share the title of the talk with me so that I could read it. Those amazing girls immediately asked me what was wrong and if there was anything they could do for me. What a blessing. I said that they'd really done the most amazing thing for me by mentioning the talk in front of me.

There was one slight snag: they couldn't think of the name of the talk. I immediately pulled out my iPhone and tried google searching keywords they gave me desperately hoping to find this talk. I wasn't having any luck. Luckily I am blessed enough to have a bosom buddy who knew exactly what talk these girls were referring to and she immediately provided me with the title. I read the talk and was amazed at how perfect it was for me in that moment. Surprisingly I realized that I've read it before and had forgotten about it. So I read it again...and again...and again. Each time finding something new, each time gaining more confidence in my answer and knowing that I had my answer and I had to act on it.

That night I humbly asked for the strength to do what I knew I had to. Although the thought of this has been scaring the living daylights out of me for a week now I felt and still feel so much peace.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I know God lives. I know he loves me. I know he loves you. I know he answers prayers. I know that He knows and wants what's best for me, He will help me reach that goal, and He will comfort me every step of the way and He will do the same for you.

"Do not fear"

"Do not draw back"

"God will help us"

"Who knows but that something wonderful may happen today. Have faith that it will. After all, every morning is a chance at a new day."~Marjorie Pay Hinckley

SHOES!

2012-01-10T16:31:00.000-08:00

Hey friends!

Check out this website www.heelsupshoes.com. It was started by my friend and there are super cute shoes on there!

They have boots

Flats

Heels

Sandals

Wedges

And so much more!

Check it out!

Goodbye Wisdom

2012-01-08T10:24:00.000-08:00

Well school has started, and I've already been thrown back into the swing of things. I literally am already behind and it's only been three days lol. I taught my first lesson on Friday. It was exciting. You see, I've always been really nervous about my major. I've always known that I wanted to teach, but at the same time I've always been afraid of talking in church and things like that. So all these years I've been thinking to myself, "how am I supposed to teach if I am afraid of speaking in public?" I surprised myself with how comfortable I was in front of my classmates. I don't know why speaking in church is so terrifying to me, maybe it is the subject matter, because I felt very comfortable teaching a lesson on Freud. I'm so excited that I get to go into classrooms this week and observe.

I had my wisdom tooth removed on Friday as well and I have to say all the horror stories I heard were nothing like my experience. I only have two wisdom teeth total, both on the bottom, but only one needed to come out. I showed up to my dentists office and was in and out within an hour. The thing that took the longest was just getting me numb. It was weird watching him pull my tooth out cause he was like shaking really hard and I was getting a little worried the tooth would just not come out. But on his third try it slipped right out and I lost a little bit of wisdom, just like that. I honestly haven't even taken any medicine at all yet. I even went country dancing the day after I got my wisdom tooth out! It was a lot of fun, I kind of want to learn how to do it better and go again. A couple guys did some lifts with me and they were really fun, I was nervous that I might get dropped to my death but I didn't and then I felt awesome I did it. Haha, you see I'm usually a huge wuss about EVERYTHING! I'm just not a dare devil AT ALL, but I somehow just forgot about it and did the tricks. It was a lot of fun!

The worst part of my weekend? I have an eye infection, in both eyes, and so my eyes are bloodshot and I spent two hours at the doctors today. Not fun. But as long as I put in the drops he gave me everyday for the next 7 days I should be back to normal. I just have to wear my glasses until then :(

A confession on flying

2012-01-04T13:21:00.000-08:00

I figure since I just posted about a bad experience while flying I should share my own embarrassing moment I've had before on a plane. Ironically enough this was on a flight from LA to Oahu. You know, I think it just might be flying to and from Hawaii that makes people a little bit crazy. So my brother had the window seat on this flight and I was in the middle seat and some random guy was in the aisle. Now at the time I was 16 years old and the guy next to me was a so. cal surfer dude in his early to mid twenties. He kept going on and on about how so. cal was the best and it's where he was born and where he'd be buried. He clearly loves his home. So I was this awkward little girl and basically just told the guy a few times "oh cool, well I think I'm going to go try to get a little sleep on this flight."

He finally got the hint and left me alone and I drifted off into sleep. Now I woke up and I had this weird thought, "what is my head resting on??" I was mortified. My head was on this guys shoulder. As slowly as possible I moved my head to an upright position and looked over out of the corner of my eye. He was asleep! I let out a huge sigh of relief. Maybe there was a chance that this guy had already fallen asleep before my head made it to his shoulder and he had no idea. Yet I was still super embarrassed. I knew my cheeks were red and I just knew that somebody on that plane had seen what I'd done. I couldn't sleep the rest of the flight because I was so terrified that I'd once again end up with my head on this stranger's shoulder. When he finally awoke he never said a word about my head being on his shoulder. I don't know if he was just being nice or if he really never knew, but I was thankful he didn't mention it.

Now I don't remember the guys name or even what he looked like, but I will never forget that I accidentally fell asleep with my head on his shoulder.

Stay classy my friends...

2012-01-03T20:51:00.000-08:00

So I've just about told everyone at my work about my flight home from HI and everyone said that it was a need that I document this story, so here I am blogging about it :) My family took a red eye home from Kona to LA which is where this story happens. Our flight wasn't full and it just so happened that the row in front of me was completely empty. I told my brother Jason he should move up, but he said he'd just wait till everyone was seated just in case. I guess everyone else had the same idea that I did cause not too long after I told my brother to move a very peppy blonde from LA in her late 20s moved to the row in front of me and sat in the aisle seat. A few minutes later a brunette man in his early 30s moved to the window seat of the aisle. The two started up some casual conversation which quickly turned into a lengthy discussion. Now I'm all about meeting new people and being friendly, but when it's two am and you're on a red eye flight I think most people would prefer to get a little sleep and these two were not talking quietly. I finally put in my headphones and fell asleep to the sweet sounds of Billy Currington, Luke Bryan, JB, and much more.

Two hours later I woke up and realized that the man was no longer in the window seat, but the middle seat and that the two were being awfully quiet. To my surprise I realized they were so quiet because they were full on making out. These people have known each other for two hours. I was just like okay whatever. But then they took a little break to chat some more and their conversation was not anymore pleasant than watching the two make out. They had obviously had something to drink because the blonde's once loud peppy voice was now a little bit slurred as she told this man, "I don't know, I just feel like you are such a rare person. Like you really are just a gem. Like seriously how you dropped out of college and almost failed high school yet are successful is so amazing. And like you are totally so hot (I really think this may have been the alcohol talking)! And I feel like I am just average looking and wow I can't believe that I've met you and I just got out of a bad divorce and this is so amazing." To which the gem of a man responded, "Oh I'm sorry that sucks" and started to make out with the woman once again.

Now as if this isn't enough, this couple started to discuss becoming members of the mile high club. I was thinking, okay, they are just joking around...nothing serious is going to happen. About 1o minutes into the conversation the man got up stating that he was going to make his way to the back of the plane to use the restroom. I just about died. I was just hoping that this lady did not get up and follow him and luckily she didn't. He came back a few minutes later and she exchanged a few sorrys to which he responded with no problem and they continued making out.

I went back to sleep for a bit and then when I woke up we were about to land. She was lovingly nuzzling his shoulder and saying how she was so lucky to have met him on the flight. I was thinking alright you two, your fun is over. Check back to reality, you are from LA and he is from Canada but currently living in Thailand it's never going to work out. Save yourself some dignity and just walk away from the situation without hanging yourself on him. But no, it wasn't to end there. Shortly after the plane landed they turned on their smart phones and looked up the nearest hotel...yep. We landed in LA at 5 am...and they were going to check into a hotel. The man kept reassuring her "oh my layover is long enough to make a stop at a hotel." Wonderful.

So there is my story. Please try to stay classy my friends.

2012

2012-01-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

Time is going by so fast! I can't believe it's already a new year. This past year has definitely been a little too much like a reality TV series for me, but I've learned so much from it all. I wouldn't trade any of it, even the bad. So here's a little review of my year, well just things that have happened that I've learned from.

January

Finally graduated out of my teenage years, it was weird, but it's been good. Focused on school and studied pretty hard. Spent a lot of time writing...if you know what I mean.

February

Still going to school and working. Slowly losing interest in writing, things just weren't the same, but still hoping for the best.

March

Met someone, didn't think anything of that someone, later would realize that someone would be pretty huge.

April

No more writing. Haha, I always swore I'd never deal with all that stuff in my life, but I'm slowly learning that a lot of my "nevers" end up happening and you just need to go with it. Dating. School got out and I finished the semester really well.

May

Spent the month in China. I learned so much while I was there about how blessed I am to live where I do and have the things that I have. Even just the little things, seeing how some people live out there made me so grateful for what I have. Sometimes I really don't appreciate all the things that I'm blessed with. I had a lot of time to think things over while I was away from everything as well, I just wish I would have practiced the things I learned a lot better once I got home. Sometimes it's hard to believe I really was there.

June

Dating. Probably more seriously than anyone really ever knew, but I just didn't really expound all the details to anyone. Everything seemed like it was going to be perfect, yet I still had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind throughout it all. NEVER IGNORE THOSE FEELINGS!

July

Realizing you can't change someone. No matter how hard you try and how many talks you go through, some people won't change. I guess it's my bad, I should have seen the signs, but I ignored my better judgement in the hopes that something miraculous would come of things. In the end it's rough coming to the realization that you will always come second to a pet of sorts...lol...but it was good for me. I learned a lot about my self and about what I want.

August

Fiasco of a dating life to say the least...haha. Basically swearing to myself I'd never date again every other day, yet somehow never following through with it.

September

A continuation of August, with some specks of something good in the midst of all the bad. Learning once again, you can't change people and you can't force things to happen.

October

The start of something exciting. It's when you're not really looking that things find you. Like when you go to the mall without really wanting anything and you somehow find all the greatest deals and cutest things. Then you go to the mall needing a yellow shirt for your best friend's wedding reception and the mall has absolutely no yellow shirts anywhere... Hailey you know what I'm talking about ;). But really, life just comes out of nowhere sometimes, but it's great how it does.

November

Basically failing at being a student...I wonder why...but not caring at all because I am having the time of my life and am so happy. Learning so much about myself and trying to be the best person I can be for the best person I know.

December

Finals...so glad I survived them and a little unexpected twist in my story. But I'm so thankful for it! I never really thought I would be, but I think I've learned so much more from this than anyone. It's been good for me. It hasn't been easy, but so far it has been worth it. For that I'm thankful. Oh and did I mention I took a little trip out to paradise for 9 days?? Hawaii was good to me and for me. It gave me a lot of time to relax and feel the warmth of the sun's rays.

Well I would not have been able to get through this year without my family and friends who always love and support me through all my craziness and freak outs and my begging for someone to slap me. Yes, I am aware of the fact that I'm completely and utterly strange. Also, I have been blessed with the most wonderful roommates. I honestly could not have asked for a better group of girls. I've also been so blessed with meeting some of my new closest friends whom I love so dearly. Life would not be the same without 110...yes I specifically gave ALL of them a shout out. Let's just say 2011 was great in so many ways, but I'm ready to see what 2012 has to offer me!

Thanks for all of you who've been reading my posts, although I don't know why you do. Here's to 2012!!

Volcano

2011-12-26T22:47:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week my family and I visited Mt. Kilauea. It was quite the drive to get there through little winding roads that reminded me of some of the crazy mountain roads we drove through in China. Here in Kona the weather was hot and sunny so I dressed accordingly, unfortunately for me the weather at the volcano was very different, wind and rain! It put a damper on our spirits, but luckily my dad let me wear his jacket and we toughed it out and went around anyway. I mean it was a two hour drive to get there, we couldn't just turn around without seeing anything.

The wind...my dad tried to capture what it did to my hair and never really got it

Here is the crater...

Caution

The sun came out for a few pictures

This area you could really smell the sulfur in the air, yummy...not.

Once again, the wind did wonders to my hair...

We also went into a little museum with this painting on the wall, depending on what angle you look at it the ship either looks like it's parallel to the volcano or going into it. I thought it was pretty neat.

Then we went on a little hike to a lava tube. It was pretty wet and muddy through the rainforest but it was so pretty. The lava tube was pretty cool too! Needless to say our shoes were soaked and covered in mud by the time we were done. Some areas the "trail" were completely lost in puddles of water so we would trek into the forest to try to find a dryer path. Sometimes that would get us into some pretty muddy situations but sometimes it worked out but either way it was fun.

A view of all the smoke from the crater from the rainforest

The entrance to the lava tube

My family in the lava tube...if you are wondering whether or not I have pants on, I don't ;)

Trying to be glamorous in the car after a day of rain, wind, and hiking.

It was a fun day!

Akana Falls

2011-12-26T07:35:00.000-08:00

We made a stop at a waterfall one day and it was POURING rain, but it was beautiful.

I had to...ANOTHER TURTLE :)

And our new little friends

The City of Refuge

2011-12-25T11:07:00.000-08:00

One stop my family made was to this little place called the city of refuge. I guess it is where kings of old would go and stay. It was really cool and the weather was wonderful. On the way there we made a stop at this catholic church that is famous for the paintings inside. To be honest, the paintings sort of creeped me out, but Jason and I got pictures with one painting in particular...

Notice the caption for the picture.

Here is the first sign I read at the city, apparently tanning is disrespectful...lol

Our tiki friends

Yes, we are extremely mature for our ages...

The water was so blue!

My awesome dad

Some of the wildlife in the tide pools

We even saw a traditional Luau which apparently isn't common because even the park rangers were running over to take pictures of the event.

MELE KALIKIMAKA EVERYONE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON

2011-12-24T15:24:00.000-08:00

It's my awesome brother's birthday today. What a lucky guy, we've spent it on the beach and swimming with turtles. Now off for some lunch :)

LOVE YOU JASON

Snorkeling Adventures!

2011-12-23T23:07:00.001-08:00

Well my first little sneak peek into my trip will cover our snorkeling adventures. The snorkeling here is different from both Oahu and Maui. Oahu was so crowded, had plenty of fish, but all the coral was dead due to everyone stepping on it. Maui on the other hand had beautiful coral and not as many fish. I think that here in Kona there is a good combination of both. Jason and I had to swim pretty far out to get to the coral, as in there were only two people out further than us, but it was so cool. Some looked like huge brains, and they had plenty of life on them. Urchins of different shapes and colors and plenty of schools of fish feeding. We found that if you snap at yellow tangs, they will swim right to your hand thinking you're going to feed them. It's pretty neat. We saw parrot fish, puffer fish, these long tubular looking fish, an eel (as usual these things always find me), butterfly fish, reef triggerfish, tangs, these rainbow fish, and plenty more I don't know the names of. Then there are the turtles. When I went to Maui a few years back I was able to swim with some turtles, but we had to take a boat out to a special area they called turtle town. Here on the big island they are all just right on the beach! Here was the first little guy we met :) as you can see I was extremely excited.

A real turtle!

You aren't allowed to touch them, so I kept my distance

Here he is peeking his little head out at us

And a different turtle

So cute :)

I wish I could have taken pictures of all the fish and coral I've seen so far, but I don't have an underwater camera :(. It's been pretty rainy so far on this trip which is pretty sad but it's still warm enough to swim, just no sun for a tan. I'll return to Utah whiter than ever :( haha. But hey I'm in paradise and I really have no right to complain. I still have 4 full days here and you better believe I'll be back at the beach before I come home.

Checking out his cut (Jason got one on his heel, and I sliced open a toe pretty bad on some rock)

Tired

Done for the day

Oh and if you're wondering why I'm blogging instead of doing something exciting, there isn't much to do here once the sun goes down and I've already hit up all the local shops.

I've made it!

2011-12-20T09:37:00.000-08:00

Hello Kona!

I've missed Hawaii so much! Each time I've been to a different island, but I always have just as much fun as the time before. It's wonderful! We are right on the beach and I'm ready for a day at the beach...EVERY DAY...too bad my family doesn't agree with me. I'm sure there will be pictures and stories to come later on.

2011-12-18T11:57:00.000-08:00

"The Lord uses a scale very different from the worlds to weigh the worth of a soul" - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I love this quote and I love that man. He is seriously so awesome. With his always perfectly tanned skin, charming smile, powerful messages, and of course his humor (and did I mention planes?) he captivates audiences. I once took a teachings of the living prophets class at school and when we learned about him we voted on what we loved most about him. Want to know what won? His powerful talks, but only by one vote, second place was his good looks. I once heard from someone that they overheard some primary children saying that he looked like a Ken doll. Needless to say this man is a spiritual giant who is respected by all.

These past few days I've been doing sort of a project. I've been going over a lot of his talks. I just sort of had the feeling that I should. They kept coming to mind and I figured there was a reason why and I needed to just go over them again. I chose to listen to them because I love the sound of his voice, it's comforting to me for some reason. All I can say is his talks never cease to amaze me. Especially now, the talks I chose to look over have been so wonderful for me. They are great and you should all check them out and refresh your memories if you've forgotten them, or read them for the first time.

"FORGET ME NOT"

"OF THINGS THAT MATTER MOST"

"YOU MATTER TO HIM"

They have all been perfect for me. Like literally just perfect. You have no idea.

Oh how the turned tables have...

2011-12-15T21:33:00.000-08:00

"Just keep doing your best and trust in the Lord's timing for things." - A wise friend

I received a letter a couple weeks ago and I'm not going to lie, I was a little bit annoyed and frustrated at it. I didn't understand why I was getting a letter from someone I hadn't contacted in months. To top it off, this wasn't just any letter, it was a letter with a gift enclosed. An extremely thoughtful and beautiful gift. I was beyond frustrated. Why now? I threw the letter into the depths on my backpack and had forgotten about it until now. Well...I had the thought to dig it out and actually read over it, closely. What a wonderful idea this was. I think I know the reason that I received this letter now. It has to do with the quote at the top of this post. I've been having an off week and that sentence really hit me when I read it this time around. I'm so thankful for the people that I've met and for their wise words in times of need.

A thought about love...

2011-12-13T20:24:00.000-08:00

"Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." - President Thomas S. Monson

I know I'm just a college student and probably don't know much, but if there is one thing I know it's that love is a great thing. Although it's great, sometimes, even when you love someone, you have to do something that is going to hurt a little to be better for them. Even at these times when it's hard it's still great. Want to know why? I learned just how great love is from my great friend Harry Potter. Now some of you may have started to snicker at that last sentence, but please read on and let me try to explain myself. You see, Harry took me on a journey with him that took him 7 years filled with battles, loneliness, fear, heartbreak, death, and tears. Despite all this, in the end there was only one thing that really mattered, one thing that truly made a difference, one thing that saved the wizarding world and that was love. It was Lily's love for Harry. It was Harry's love for his friends. It was the ability to love that overcame the greatest wizard the world has ever known. I LOVE this. Haha ironic, I know, but I really do love how this book ended. How something so common, so simple, so real is what can give you the power to overcome. Love is greater than any other emotion. It's not just Harry Potter that focuses on this, it's also in the movie x-men first class. Magneto had so much more power when his inner emotion was love and not hate. He could not reach his full potential without learning and experiencing love. Call me ridiculously nerdy and cheesy, but it's true. Love is what makes this world go round. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Sometimes things happen and you're not really sure why, but as long as you have love it will all work out.

Now this is a wonderful realization because there is someone who will ALWAYS love you no matter what you do or say. Even if you don't remember Him, He will remember you. He will love you through your trials and triumphs. He will comfort you when it seems that all is lost. He has an unconditional love for each of His children. Our Heavenly Father will never stop loving us. So no matter how discouraged you may be, remember one thing: you have a Father in Heaven who loves you and wants you to succeed and be happy. You may not understand His timing in things, but He does. He knows you, He loves you, He does things for you so that you can be happy and one day return to him. You may not be able to see it now, but one day when you're looking back on life it will be easy to see the blessings you've received from your trials.

This message is great: "What Matters Most"

LIGHTS!

2011-12-13T16:11:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Chet and I went on a double date with my old roommate Mandy and her fiance Derek. It was so much fun. We went to the Riverwoods to look at the lights and window shop. The lights were so pretty and there was live music which was fun. We walked around the shops and stopped in Blickenstaffs to check out all the toys. We found pretty good ones in there and ran into old friends. There was also this random massage table in the middle of this loud hectic store. Why anyone would want a massage in there, I don't know, but we did crack plenty of jokes about it. Chet found this like magic light kit thing and was fascinated by the video they had playing to advertise it. He just stood and watched it for awhile, it was so funny he was so excited.

Afterwards we headed over to Derek's apartment for some hot chocolate and watched an edited version of Bridesmaids. It was HILARIOUS. Chet and I couldn't finish the movie because Chet had to get home to hurry and finish up a final, but what we did see was soo funny. I could not stop laughing, it was soo funny. "NO! She does not get a puppy!!!" "And just snowballing off that idea... fight club"

On Saturday Chet and I went to see the lights again and it was great. I guess he really liked them cause he suggested that we go back. We went later at night this time so nobody else was there really. There is this gazebo that's all lit up so Chet and I were standing in it and spinning around and having a battle. It was so much fun, or as Chet would say it was AWESOME!!! I'm positive that we looked absolutely ridiculous, but I didn't care cause we were having too much fun.

We finished up the weekend by having Sunday dinner with my family at my parent's house. The food was delicious and we played some Farkle afterwards which was really fun. Chet started out with a lot of luck, but in the end my mom took the W.

Date Night

2011-12-09T08:59:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Aimee, Colby, Chet, and I all went to the BYU v. Oregon basketball game, and temple square to see the lights. It was so much fun! We had a great time at the game and it's always a plus when your own team wins. Our seats were pretty far away, but it was fine. It was just a little weird for me and Aimee since we've been really spoiled when it comes to BYU basketball and up until now the worst seats we've had were like row 10. So it was weird to witness the boys play the way most the student body usually does. It was still fun though, even if our seats weren't the best. Chet asked some questions about certain rules of the game or why certain players were benched at certain times and it was fun to explain it to him.

After the game we were all standing outside the arena trying to decide where to eat when Chet found "ART!" Haha he threw me over his shoulder to take me closer to the ART!. The funniest part was some little girl had walked up right next to me and was just smiling all creepily at me so I could not stop laughing uncomfortably, but Chet had no idea what was going on and kept trying to make me answer questions about the art. Just imagine me thrown over his shoulder, as he is yelling about ART!, and me lifting my head up expecting to see the art but instead having a little girl in my face. Aimee and Colby could see everything that was happening and were both laughing hysterically. Like honestly, I have no idea what this girl was doing, but she just walked up right next to me and kept staring! After taking like 20 minutes of me and Aimee trying to decide what to eat we finally got some dinner and headed over to temple square.

The ART!!!

The lights were beautiful! I made Chet take a stop in the south visitors center first so that we could watch a video that my dad is in where he talks about temples. It's a tradition of mine that I can't break, I must support my dad's video anytime I'm at temple square. He's great!

There he is!

Then we walked around and looked at all the pretty lights and took a few pictures. Surprisingly, it wasn't very cold. I thought I would freeze and that it would snow, but it was dry and I never got too cold. It was great, it's been a tradition to go to temple square to see the Christmas lights every year so it was fun going with Aimee, Colby, and Chet this year.

The Group

Afterwards, Chet wanted to get a treat so we were driving around trying to find an ice cream place. Thank you Colby and google maps for discovering that there is a Nielsen's frozen custard in the area...well sort of. It was like a half hour drive away to get there, but it was worth it. Chet loves Nielsen's since there is one in his hometown, he took me there when we went to St. George a couple weeks ago. It was a treat for Chet. Colby and Aimee had never been and they were pretty amazed as well. Aimee said that she wanted to cry it was so delicious. I'd definitely suggest the place to anyone, it is seriously divine!

It was a great night!

Aimee got some candid photos of me and Chet

the beautiful Salt Lake Temple

Their best side...

"Oh, you know how we do"

The Temple :)

11 more days...

2011-12-08T09:20:00.000-08:00

I can make it through finals...I can! Once I do, I have this to look forward to...

And possibly a little bit of this as well...

I can't wait!

Happy Birthday Ashlyn

2011-12-06T14:45:00.001-08:00

The Princess is three!!

I can't even believe it. Love you so much princess Ashlyn!

Hot Tub Anyone??

2011-12-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

"And can I get a hot tub?!" - State Farm Commercial

One of Chet's favorite things to do is hot tub, so you best believe we are at the hot tub multiple times a week. Our hot tub visits never fail to be one of the most entertaining things in my life. Here are 10 reasons why

1. Chet insists there is buried treasure at the bottom of the hot tub and will dive for it

2. I always end up having to save him from "drowning" (don't worry folks he's a trained lifeguard and isn't actually drowning)

3. We try and start conversations with everyone...most people don't really respond

4. There's always approximately 4 boys to every girl in the hot tub, and some of the boys are fun to people watch

5. When we venture to the hot tub with Aimee and Colby, Chet and Colby are basically out of control, in a good way

6. "You won't let me live my dreams!!"

7. Mentions of an alien invasion and the defense plan/movie of the event

8. "You tricked me Brock!" Gotta love quoting balloon shop

9. Chet swimming laps....in the hot tub...yes it has happened

10. Just plain being with Chet

Now I'm pretty sure everyone else in the hot tub finds us completely weird and/or obnoxious, but I don't care cause I'm having a great time.

Siblings: The Final Edition

2011-12-01T10:36:00.000-08:00

It's time for my post on...

JESSICA YUAN-JEN BEHLING (the Kim K of our family)

I don't really have many memories of Jess from my childhood years. The most prominent memories I have of her from elementary and junior high are either her teaching me about DNA or making me pay her to take me places (yes, I still remember you made me give you my bag of flipz pretzels I got for my birthday). Now this post may seem like it won't be as cute and heart felt as the others, but I assure you it will. You see, Jess made all of us stay up one night as she taught us all about DNA, what the letters stood for, that it's a double-helix structure, you know all the basics. At the time I just wanted to go to bed, but you best believe once ninth grade rolled around and we started learning about DNA and I was the only one who knew all the answer I felt pretty dang cool. My teacher thought I was such a genius, but I wasn't. My sister was, and she pounded that information into my brain one night and wouldn't let me sleep until I could repeat everything she had taught me.

That story is a great reflection of my relationship with my sister Jess. She claims to be my second mom, and in a lot of ways she really is. We really didn't start hanging out a lot until after she got married. So, my fondest memories of her consist of her feeding me, taking me shopping, getting our nails done, going to movies, talking, laughing, watching sports, watching Fantasy Factory, Bachelorette nights, and of course keeping up with the Kardashians.

Jess and Jackson feed me all the time. They let me bring my friends over to their house to have parties. They listen to my oh so dramatic stories about life. Yes, I am a very dramatic story teller. They take care of me. They really are like a second set of parents. The cool hip parents all kids dream of having. Too bad they probably won't be so cool and hip for their real children...lol. I don't think anyone understands my crazy addictive love of college athletics quite like my sister Jess does. It's only probably cause she loves it just about as much as I do and she'll laugh at me when I make a fool out of myself in front of athletes. Yep Noe, I'm still waiting on that movie...lol.

Being sports fans...

Jess has been awesome to have around these past few years since her and Jackson moved just down the street. I have spent many hours in their home doing absolutely nothing and loving it. Not to mention, like Kim, Jess has stinking cute kids.

My Graduation

Hawaii

Harry Potter 7.2

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

At Kim's wedding

My wonderful siblings

MY BEST FRIEND IS ENGAGED!!!

2011-12-01T09:01:00.001-08:00

CONGRATULATIONS AIMEE AND COLBY!!!

I'M SOOOO HAPPY FOR YOU TWO!!

The happy couple

the rock!

YOU STUPID COW!

2011-11-28T10:11:00.000-08:00

‘You stupid cow! That fence was there to protect you, yet you broke through it and you have eaten so much wheat that your life is in danger.’ - Mervyn B. Arnold

A couple weeks ago Chet wanted to do something, but I had a huge test the next day and told him I needed to study. Being the amazing guy he is he said he'd still come over and help me study and work on a project so we could still be together. So as I'm studying for an abnormal psychology test, Chet is working away on his computer. I was getting pretty discouraged at the amount of slides I still had ahead of me to go through when suddenly Chet started laughing...UNCONTROLLABLY. Of course I asked him what he was laughing at. He explained that he's been trying to prep for an interview at the MTC by looking at titles of old general conference talks and seeing whether or not he could remember the take home message or just a quote from each talk. He started back in April of 2004 and had reached October 2010 when he got to the talk that contains the quote above...and that was the thing he remembered when he saw the title "What have you done with my name?" He kept remembering the quote "you stupid cow" and how Elder. Arnold was so emotional as he was telling this story and he could not stop laughing. It reminded me of when I was watching that talk for the first time, and being totally taken aback that the word stupid was used in conference. Then laughing like crazy at the entire situation.

So I decided that I wanted to look through the titles with him for the October 2010 session of conference and see how well we could do if we worked together. It was so much fun! I love general conference and it was fun going back and remembering old talks. I probably didn't remember as many as I should, but one that stuck out for both Chet and I was “Come unto Me with Full Purpose of Heart, and I Shall Heal You” by Patrick Kearon. It was so much fun talking with Chet about all the talks, and it was a nice break from studying. I later decided to go back and read both the talks that I've mentioned in this post, and I'm amazed at how great they are even a year later.

"Not one of you has thrown away your last chance. You can change, you can come back, you can claim mercy. Come unto the only One who can heal, and you will find peace." what a powerful statement by Elder Kearon. There is always hope! I realized that sometimes I just get way too caught up in school and grades and my studies that I forget about the most important things in life. Sometimes it's more important to kick back, relax, and take a few minutes to review these talks.

After all this I lost all motivation to continue my studies...haha. I felt bad cause I could tell Chet was so bored waiting for me to finish and we got distracted by photobooth on my computer :)

one of my favorites

matching faces

I'm super awkward

I love this :)

pretty much a perfect depiction of us.

It's good to have him back :)

Happy Birthday Kaden

2011-11-28T09:03:00.000-08:00

I love you buddy.

Can't believe I've been an aunt for 3 years now!

The Iron Bowl

2011-11-26T12:51:00.000-08:00

"ROLL TIDE!"

Well it's the opening minutes of the 2011 Iron Bowl and I'm cheering my heart out for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

My niece blows kisses at AJ McCarron when he is on the T.V.

I've taught her well!

Come on BAMA

ROLL TIDE ROLL

Giving Thanks

2011-11-24T17:04:00.000-08:00

It's Thanksgiving! So here are just a few things I am grateful for.

My family

The Gospel

My friends

Food

My car

A warm place to sleep at night

The sound of laughter

Just Dance on Wii (yes I did just say that)

My computer

A job

Beautiful scenery

My man

Warm showers

Flowers

Milkshakes at the hospital

Footlong corn dogs and all the stories that are told while eating them

Sunshine

Justin Bieber (my life would not be complete without his music lol)

Music

Vacations

My iPhone

My roommates (present and past)

Singing at the top of my lungs in the car with my favorite boy

The M walk

Dance parties

Freedom

My childhood

The pretty fall leaves

College football/basketball

...and the delicious meal I ate today!

there are soo many more things I am grateful for...but I'll stop boring you with my list

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Oh, and I never thought I'd say this...but I was even thankful for Movember this year ;)

Trent, Sean, Me, and Cam at work :) (The M Walk Crew) They look great!

Siblings: The Second Edition

2011-11-23T14:40:00.000-08:00

"Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there." - Amy Li

So I know it's been awhile, but I'm finally getting around to round two of my sibling posts.

KIMBERLY YUAN-CHUN CHANG it is your lucky day!!!

Kim and I have been close our whole lives. When I was in junior high she would drive me around everywhere and she NEVER made me pay her like another sister of mine...cough cough Jess cough cough. Beware of your post Jessica....haha jk. We always got along and I think part of it may have been due to the fact that we shared a room growing up.

You see, we shared the best room in the house. It was the biggest, it had a chalkboard (I know this may seem silly, but it was really cool okay!?), it had pink carpet, a nice closet, and cute curtains for our window. It was a grand old time. I don't know why we ended up being the ones to share. Probably because Jess was the oldest so she "deserved" her own room and Jason was the only boy and also "deserved" his own room. There were enough rooms in my house that we wouldn't have to share, but I wanted to. I liked sharing a room with Kim. We had a lot of fun late nights staying up talking, laughs, pictures, and we pretty much did everything together up until she moved out.

I think growing up Kim was probably the sibling I confided in the most. Jess moved out of the house when I was still pretty young so I didn't really talk to her about my life and Jason is a boy so I wouldn't ever think to have girl talk with him no matter how much I love him. Kim was always there. She listened to my stories about my crushes, she gave me advice, and she remembered everything I would tell her.

I don't have very many pictures on my laptop, but here are a few of me and Kim

At my graduation

At Jess' wedding

in beautiful Hawaii :)

LOVE YOU!

...and your kids

Little Kaden

Baby Kolten

Dreams

2011-11-22T09:10:00.001-08:00

"You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one..."

Well here is another post about a dream I have...to be a yoga instructor.

I think yoga is so much fun! I love it! I want to get certified but just don't have the time or money to do it right now, so I can dream right?

My roommates and I used to do the Jillian Michael's yoga meltdown every night, and although I do enjoy that video I prefer normal yoga.

Here are my roommates and I pretending we are yoga pros, back during freshmen year.

stay hydrated!

Zac was not our roommate but he joined us once

I used to be great at staying fit...

we are special...

We think we are cool

I also enjoy (step)aerobics and pilates and have considered getting certified in all these areas on day. I think they're great, fun ways to work out. Now a days "I work out!!" by doing ab ripper x twice a week with Chet, Jonathan, and Ashley. I need to be better at getting to yoga classes and now that Chet has said he'll come with me I think it'll be a lot easier to find time to go.

Some of the sweetest things...

2011-11-20T10:08:00.000-08:00

Candy is not always the sweetest thing.

I woke up yesterday morning to a text from Chet saying good morning and that he hoped I'd have a great day. It was pretty good timing, he sent it three minutes before my alarm was going to go off. So I rolled over in bed to get ready for the day when I looked at my desk and saw this:

Chet left me a surprise with my roommate Aimee. He dropped it off to her and told her to give it to me once he was gone. How sweet is he?? So very sweet! Here he is on his boat leaving Miami. Look how warm it looks, I'm jealous!

Only 9 more days till I can talk to this boy again :)

Oh and while I'm counting down to things....

2 more days until Thanksgiving break

4 more days until Thanksgiving

25 more days until I will be done with all my finals

AND

29 more days until I will be in beautiful Hawaii! I can't wait!

WHICH MEANS...

35 more days until Christmas!

2011-11-17T10:12:00.000-08:00

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!!

Chet will be home in 12 days.

This will be the first night in about 5 weeks I won't see him...

This is going to be a long 12 days, but I can make it. Right?!

I mean who goes on a 10 day cruise in the middle of the semester? Oh, that's right, Chet does.

I miss him already! :(

Sick

2011-11-10T17:59:00.000-08:00

"He is good, so good, and he treats your little girl like a real man should" - Carrie Underwood "Mama's Song"

I've been sick! :( my throat is so sore that I can't swallow and yesterday I had a pretty bad fever as well. I think it all started Tuesday night. Chet was sure something was wrong but I kept insisting that I was fine. I guess the give away for him was that I had on a long sleeved shirt, a hoodie, a winter jacket, and his winter jacket on and I was still shivering. I was in denial. Chet and I had plans to go to a movie and I didn't want to miss out so I insisted I was fine and that I didn't need to miss the movie. Poor Chet, he was so worried! Every five minutes he suggested we leave the movie so I could get home and rest but I was adamant that I was okay and we could stay until the movie was over. We watched Dream House with Chet's friend Taylor and his girlfriend and it was pretty good. I had heard that it wasn't that great, so I didn't have very high expectations and maybe that's why I ended up thinking it was decent. Chet had asked his friend Kiersten if she had heard anything about the movie before we left but she said that she hadn't and gave Chet one piece of advice, "Make sure that you don't get more scared that Michelle does." He failed! Chet and Taylor both screamed so loud. The movie really wasn't very scary, it was more just suspenseful with a couple of jump scenes.

Well...Chet was right and I was terribly wrong. I was definitely sick. I woke up Wednesday morning with an extremely sore throat but made it to campus to take a test and went to my first class of the day. I knew something was not right. My friends Trammell and Jeff were like Michelle you look sick and kept feeling my forehead. I had a fever. They told me to get home and rest. So I did just that, I left class and drove home to my parents house and slept all day. My dad took me to the doctors and they thought I may have strep but I tested negative on all the tests, so they concluded it must just be a viral infection and sent me off with some stuff to gargle to numb my throat. This is about when Chet checked in with me to see whether or not we were still on for our date. I told him the sad news that I was sick and was not going to be able to make it. Want to guess how cute he is?? He came over to my parent's house to take care of me. He was so funny, if I got up to get anything he would freak out and tell me to rest. The thing is Chet doesn't know where anything is at my house so he'd just carry me around and have me show him what I wanted. That boy...he's great. So we put in Green Lantern to just have a relaxing night. I'm not going to lie, just him being there made me feel so much better. As sappy as that sounds, it really did. I'm a lucky lady to have him :)

St. George Weekend

2011-11-08T09:03:00.000-08:00

"Cause I don't want to miss a single autumn evening here with you like this. I don't want to miss all those nights we danced by the moonlight, conversations about nothing till midnight, you and I huddled close till the daylight came. Remember the colors reflected in your eyes, the scene painted golden as the sun rises over you and me, darling." - All Those Nights by Dear Juliet/Chase Coy

This weekend was so much fun. Friday night Chet and I went out to dinner with my family for my dad's birthday. We went up to a Chinese restaurant in Salt Lake called Red Maple Chinese restaurant. Chet said he was super nervous to meet my dad since he knows how important my dad is to me. It was cute, he got dressed up for the occasion in a button up shirt and he did great! I don't know why he was nervous, he really had no need to be. I knew that everyone would love him, what is there not to love ;). We rode up in the same car as my parents and Jason so Chet was able to talk to my parents a bit, but there was really bad traffic so I pulled out my phone so we could listen to music. It was nice just sitting together in the car holding hands, listening to music, laughing, talking, and being with my family. We finally got to the restaurant and had a feast. Poor Chet was probably overwhelmed with meeting my family and seeing all this foreign food being brought to the table. Pretty much everything we ordered he had never had before, but he tried it all and loved everything but one dish: TOFU. Lol. He said he took a bite and it just did not feel great going down. I was glad he was finally able to meet my entire family, especially my dad, and that it all worked out for us to go. Afterwards Chet and I just headed back to his apartment and just talked with his roommates for a little bit before we called it a night to get some rest since we'd be waking up early the next morning to leave for St. George.

The next morning we (Me, Chet, Brad, and CJ) left around 9:30. The plan was to leave at 8:30, but yeah...Chet missed his alarm and slept in. Typical ;). CJ decided on driving so Chet and I were able to sit together for the car ride. We talked and talked and talked! At one point Chet and I got the "boogie fever" and tried to pass it on to other cars...it didn't work. Every car we tried to pass it to was full of old folks who just stared at us like we were weird. Probably because we are, but it's fine cause I love it like that. We got to St. George and the fun began. I somehow managed to not take any pictures at all while we were there. I know, I'm lame. I've gotten terrible at the whole taking pictures thing. First we went to eat lunch and Chet's friend Kiersten caught up with us there. We ate at jack in the box...I wasn't a huge fan. The best part of my meal was the shake that Chet and I split for dessert.

Then we headed over to Pioneer Park, which is just a bunch of red rocks that you can climb on. It was a lot of fun, there was only one problem, I was not in the appropriate footwear. So Chet was carrying me around and pulling me up cliffs. Haha, poor guy! At Pioneer park Chet's friends Tyler, Celeste, Tyson, Mark, and Ron met up with us. We had a big battle where Chet was Thor and Mark was Loki and I was Jane. Mark took me hostage and Chet came to my rescue. It was hilarious and it was a great way to finally meet Mark. It was extremely windy though which made it FREEZING so we didn't stay too long. If Chet had his way we would have stayed another hour or two. We decided to get some limeades at Sonic and then headed back to Chet's to watch a movie. They put in Fun with Dick and Jane which was pretty funny. Once that was over it was time for the BAMA LSU game. I watched the first quarter and part of the second before Chet and I left to go to his friend's wedding reception. It was a lot of fun, we danced the night away. After the reception we went and got some custard and then had a pool/hot tub party. I met his friends Brad and Mike right before the party, but they didn't stay because they said they had a lot of homework to do. The pool party was fun, Chet and I were the only ones that actually got in the pool though. It was much too cold for anyone else to even try it out, and the hot tub felt great.

After the party we all settled down to watch Thor, Chet's favorite movie. Surprisingly enough it wasn't Chet that picked the movie out but his friend Tyler. Chet could honestly quote basically the entire movie so it's really funny to watch with him. It was nice having Kiersten there since she could comment on how handsome Thor is with me. Every other time I've watched that movie has only been with guys...so...they don't appreciate my comments like Kiersten did. After the movie we all stayed up and were talking for a little bit. I guess I fell asleep when everyone was talking, Chet said I twitched really bad a couple times and started grinding my teeth. Haha. Oops. That's super attractive. Then we all decided to go to bed, but somehow Chet and I ended up staying awake a little longer than everyone else just talking about life. Maybe we were able to stay up since Chet took a nap during the movie and I took one after, or maybe neither of us wanted to say goodnight, but either way I'm glad we stayed up to talk just awhile longer.

Sunday we were originally planning on staying in St. George all day and having Sunday dinner with Chet's family, but Chet's mom woke us up to tell us the weather report was not looking good and we should probably leave by noon latest. We headed to Kiersten's sacrament meeting so that we could take the sacrament before we left St. George, said our goodbyes to the Combs family and were on our way back. Chet's parents were so cute and packed us all lunches for the ride home. They are just honestly so thoughtful and kind, I see where Chet gets his sense of humor and positive attitude. I loved being in his home with his family, his house is so full of love. His parents were so hospitable and kind and I loved being able to meet and spend time with them. The ride home was great, we didn't hit any of the bad weather. Well, at least not that I know of, Chet and I slept for most of the ride home. We were EXHAUSTED from staying up late talking, but it was worth it.

Now I'm in class wishing that I was still in St. George. The red rocks are calling my name and I hope I can get back there soon!

The Power of Prayer

2011-11-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

"When I say that prayer is a sweet privilege, it is not just because I am grateful to be able to talk to Heavenly Father and to feel His Spirit when I pray. It is also because He actually answers and speaks to us." - J Devn Cornish

So...this week has been a little crazy. I was invited to go on a Saint George trip with Chet and his roommates and I of course was super excited to go. There was one slight problem. We were going to leave on Friday afternoon, which would mean I would miss my dad's birthday dinner on Friday night. Now I think anyone who has read my blog knows how much I love my dad. He is the best man I know and I love him, but the opportunity to get out and have a little bit of fun was calling my name. I didn't know what to do so I prayed. I got an answer super quick, I felt really calm and good about going on the trip. I'd talked to my parent's and they both said they understood if I went, so I was thinking this is perfect and got off work to go.

Well a couple days later everything was not so perfect. My sister was extremely upset at my decision to go on the trip and miss my dad's birthday dinner. Once again I was torn. I got my answer right? I knew it was a good thing to go right? So why is this such a big deal? So being confused again I decided to pray. Literally two minutes after I prayed and had yet another conversation with my mom there was a knock on my door. There was Chet and he gave me a big hug because he could tell I was stressed. As if this wasn't perfect enough, the next thing that happened was that Chet said, "Michelle I was thinking about St. George and I realized that since Friday is your dad's birthday your family is probably going to do something together that day. So I'm going to go talk to my roommates and see if they're okay with leaving Saturday morning so that you can be with your family and still come with me to St. George. I wouldn't want to take you away from your family, that's important, I'm sure they'll be fine if we have less time in St. George" How perfect is that?

I know that God hears and answers our prayers and this a perfect example of it. I'm glad that I can be blessed in this way and receive guidance, it's such a blessing for me.

After all this seriousness Chet and I wanted to unwind so we watched The Next Three Days. I love Russell Crowe!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

Halloween this year was great. Chet and I went to a few parties over the weekend and we had a blast!

Friday night McCall, Jonathan, Chet and I went to a party at alpine village (hopefully I get pictures from McCall from this night soon). We all got dressed up and headed over to the party. It was pretty fun, but extremely crowded to the point where you can't even move or dance because you are just so squished! It was fun though for the most part, some parts of the night were a bit sketch but overall we enjoyed ourselves. Then I went to Rise of the Planet of the Apes with Chet and his roommates. It was a lot of fun. His roommate Tommy was in LOVE with the movie. He is still talking about it, referring to himself as the alpha male. It was so funny after the movie, Tommy kept acting like an ape and Jonathan joined in as well. I just love this apartment of boys, they always keep me smiling.

Saturday Chet and I went to our stakes Halloween party. Chet was once again Green Lantern and I was cat woman. It was a lot of fun. There was this blow up thing where you are attached to a bungee cord and try to run as far as you can before getting snapped back...Jonathan and Chet on that thing=HILARIOUS. The videos of the event are really dark, but you can kind of tell. I hope I didn't accidentally upload the same video twice, cause one is great of Jonathan and the other is great of Chet. Those boys...so much fun.

Jonathan dressed in all of Chet's clothes (Chet's jeans from when he was 14, his shoes, and his jacket) to make a pretty convincing Justin Bieber. Chet and I went and requested that the DJ play "Sombody to Love" so Jonathan could showcase his dance moves that he had been working on, it was the best. We danced the night away and Chet and I both danced to slow songs for the first time in like 3 years. It was precious. Lol. After the party Chet and I went grocery shopping, made some dinner, and then just sat together at his apartment and talked before calling it a night.

Brad (Scooter Braun), Me (Cat Woman), Jonathan (Justin Drew Bieber)

Me and Chet

Green Lantern and Cat Woman

Sunday Chet and I went to stake conference together and it was such a great meeting. The talks were great and it was so fun being there with Chet as we would joke about talks and how certain things said would remind us of funny stories to tell each other. There was of course a theme throughout the meeting: dating and marriage. HAHA. That's not awkward at all. After stake conference I went home for family dinner and then once I got back to Provo we got together for Jonathan's birthday. We took him for a drive, sang to him, ate cake and watched Anastasia. It was a lot of fun. Hope you had an amazing 22nd birthday Jonathan, you're seriously the best "you filthy piece of trash!"

Monday night Chet invited me to his group's FHE activity since my group decided to not have an activity on Halloween. We all went to his roommate's CJ's parent's house and had dinner and watched a movie. It was so nice of CJ's family to have us and his house is BEAUTIFUL! Chet and I left a little early during the movie to go to one of his friend's party. It was a dance party and it was pretty fun. There were strobe lights, a fog machine, crazy lights everywhere, and of course music. We had a good time, but we didn't stay too long cause Chet's old teammate was also having a party and we wanted to make an appearance there as well. The other party was at this nice house up on a hill and it was pretty fun. We didn't stay too long because it was getting late and Chet said he for once wanted to get me home at least sort of early so I'd get a good amount of sleep. He always gets so worried about how much sleep I'm getting since he knows I have morning classes everyday. His concern is so cute.

Overall, I'd say it was a good Halloween weekend.

Random Fact

2011-10-29T09:14:00.001-07:00

"I've had the best days with you..."

These past couple weeks have been so much fun! I've never been happier and I am just so in love with life right now. Random fact of the day? I used to be extremely weird about holding hands. Like EXTREMELY weird. I seriously would have minor anxiety attacks thinking about it at times. I know it's irrational of me to be that way, but for me holding hands was just too weird. I guess I just took it way too seriously or something, but I don't like just holding a guys hand. It could be because I had some bad experiences with it in the past. One guy who just had these beefy fingers held my hand and I thought my fingers were going to fall off. It felt like he was squeezing my fingers super tightly and it was cutting off my circulation! Or there's always just the super sweaty hands and it just gets wet and uncomfortable. So I've always had the mindset that cuddling was better. There's none of that awkwardness of beefy fingers or sweating hands, so why wouldn't everyone pick that option...right? I just would never want to hold hands with anyone, under any circumstances, but now I've learned to love it. Well maybe not love it, but I actually have found myself wanting to hold hands. How neat is that?! I finally overcame my weirdness. All I know is that life is good!!! :)

My new obsession

2011-10-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

"My MILKSHAKE brings all the boys to the yard"

I think that song needs to be playing on a loop at Utah Valley Regional Hospital's cafeteria. It's great. Chet and I have honestly become addicted to their milkshakes, they're great. Oreo is definitely our favorite. We have been 3 times in the past week. Every time we are there we have the time of our lives.

The first time we went to the hospital was with our friends Aimee, Colby, Nate, and Caitlin. Caitlin works at the hospital and was the one who suggested to go get food there after we had all been hot tubbing. Needless to say, the rest of us were skeptical. We all reacted in a similar fashion, "You want us to eat where? The hospital? Is this a joke?" No it was no joke, the joke was that we never knew of it's goodness. It's inexpensive and the food and shakes are delicious. Between talking, creeping on people getting their drinks, and creating crazy scenarios with cops and getting arrested, I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life. While we were there somebody got wheeled in on a stretcher through the door right next to our table. Of course we all stared, poor girl. That would be the worst to be wheeled through that door. The best quote of the night belonged to Colby, "Oh I'm sorry Nate, I couldn't hear you because I was too busy talking MYSELF!" It was hilarious, but you probably had to be there to understand just how awesome it was. I think the best part of the quote was Chet insisting on repeating it ALL NIGHT. Chet and Colby together, man those two boys are hilarious. Chet and I decided then and there that the hospital would definitely be a place we'd need to visit again, which brings us to...

Visit number 2. Chet and I were bored one night and wanted treats and it was pretty late so we decided on the hospital since it is open all night. This time we brought along Chet's roommates Tommy and Steve to share the goodness of the hospital with them. It was awesome. Those boys are so funny. I even ran into an old work friend Maren while we were there. The cashier had the hardest time with Chet's name. She asked him what name to call on the order to which he responds "Chet" she just stared at both of us blankly and had to ask again what name to call. Once again we responded "Chet" so she repeated it back to us "What? Chad??" No no, it's "Chet, C-H-E-T." Poor Chet, people never know what he's saying when he introduces himself. Right before we ordered, Chet and I were in the middle of one of our slow motion karate fights (I always win, it's in my genes) when the cashier stopped us and said "um, excuse me...." Chet and I froze, we were both assuming we were going to be kicked out for fighting or something, but instead she politely asked us to let a couple nurses that were behind us in line order first. We were both so very relieved, it would have been a shame to get kicked out before our milkshakes.

Now we move on to visit number 3. Sorry this post is so long. After the cougar tip off Colby, Aimee, Mandy, Derek, Chet, and I decided to go get shakes at the hospital. Derek and Mandy had never been, so of course we had to bring them. Once again, my stomach was hurting by the end of the night from laughing so hard. It may have had to do with the fact that the night before Chet and I did an ab ripper x type of workout, but regardless, I was sore. Somehow we got on the subject of putting milkshakes into IVs and lots of other random topics. Aimee and I saw a few people from high school there, proof that it really is a great place to go eat. Then out of the blue a police officer comes to our table and asks "Is there an Aimee at this table?" Aimee jumped so bad, she just froze, Chet and I just pretended we didn't know her...haha. We all assumed the worst, maybe something to do with her car. But the officer simply asked her what her last name was to which she answered and out of nowhere, like some sick magic trick, the officer made her wallet appear out of thin air. It was slightly creepy. It was a relief to know that she wasn't a criminal, but Chet sure did come up with a million hilarious scenarios that could have unfolded when the cop arrived at our table. Like I said earlier, when Chet and Colby are together you just know you'll be entertained all night. Colby's quote of the night that Chet loved? "I had a great childhood, I spent a lot of time alone..." Too good!

Life is great!

Emergency Room Adventures

2011-10-27T09:03:00.001-07:00

DISCLAIMER: THIS POST CONTAINS PICTURES THAT MAY MAKE YOU SICK

So last Friday at work was definitely one to remember. First of all, basically every single employee was at the annual convention. So my coworkers and I were left to hold down the fort at will call for the week. It was pretty uneventful, maybe a bit busier than expected, but not too bad. The worst part was probably having to reorganize the inventory closet which was a MESS and not having time to restock products as we were also helping customers and understaffed. So my precious friend Katie whom I love dearly came and was nice enough to help us stock. That is where my Friday work adventure began. I remember thinking, "I hope nothing bad happens since we've had a few box cutter accidents before." Just as I was turning to Katie to say "Be careful" I realized I was too late. The deed had been done and Katie now looked like she had been suffering from depression and went suicidal. She is neither of those things, but her box cutter slipped and it sliced her arm "upstream." Don't ask me how I handled seeing the cut for a split second and the blood without passing out or panicking, but somehow I got through it. How ironic is it that an Asian girl was picked to drive Katie to the emergency room? I mean that's against every stereotype. A woman who happens to be Asian who is afraid of needles and looking at blood is driving her coworker that has sliced open her arm to get stitches. I'm just glad I got her there safely and could help my friend out. Here is the wound:

It also serves as proof that I indeed was at the hospital. You can see my shoes lol.

And here is yet another picture

While there Katie and I were having a grand time joking with our nurses Paul and Lloyd. I think Katie was probably the calmest person in the world considering what had just happened. I would have been panicking and crying, but she was a tough one and just calmly sat through everything and was looking at her tissues and asking lots of questions. Paul, you are still the hottest nurse I've ever encountered in my life. Lloyd, you are still the funniest nurse that I've had the pleasure of working with. They even helped me somewhat overcome my fear of needles. They helped me build up the courage to watch as Katie was sewn up!

Three stitches

The best indicator of my maturity level was my reaction to seeing our doctors name, I'm so glad that Katie pointed out this board to me:

I could not stop laughing at all! I know, I'm real mature, but that name just killed me. I wish he would have really been the doctor that came in, cause the one we got was a grump. I tried asking him questions about medical school and about stitches but he was not having it at all. He looked at me like I was completely incompetent...well maybe I am...but still. ;) Lloyd came back to dress the wound and he wrapped it up and bandaged it to make it look like she had survived a massive battle. Now that is my kind of nurse. Overall I'd say the trip to the ER was a successful venture. I'm just glad that my girl Katie is okay and now we have a fun story to tell.

I'm feeling a bit cheesy

2011-10-25T09:09:00.000-07:00

Well this is what I have to say about my life lately...

There's been a lot of cheddar cheese

Why? Well because I really have always loved Cosmo...

And I've always appreciated the power of Thor and "his journey to find himself"

So I learned to appreciate pumpkin carving

I've also found an appreciation for We Are The In Crowd and Dear Juliet

I've even discovered some screamo music that I can sort of handle ;) It actually still makes me pretty uncomfortable, but maybe one day...

All I know is life's PRETTY NEAT right now and I'm enjoying every minute of it.

So I'm going to enjoy it and not mess it up like CRAZY MIKE!

It is better to look up!

2011-10-11T19:45:00.000-07:00

"On my highway the yellow lines have disappeared from time to time, and I've wound up on the wrong side of the road. On my highway I've gone too fast, afraid that I might finish last, I hugged a curve too hard and lost control. Oh you never know which way it's gonna go" - Mr. Aldean

Life comes at you fast. One day I'm living life like a carefree college student, the next day I realize I have 3 tests and a huge paper all due this week. Have I even begun to study or write my paper? NOPE. I've been out watching movies, staying up late laughing at absolutely nothing cause we are all just hysterically tired, and having heart to hearts with good friends.

So my good friend at work told me today, "well Michelle, when it rains it pours." As if what I explained about school wasn't enough the dang station KBULL 93 is so cruel to me. I always happen to be listening when it's time to call in for Jason Aldean tickets but gee dang it I can just never make it through on the line. I called in 75 times today. 75 times!!!! Are you joking me??? How is it possible that it was busy every single time. Is my luck just that terrible? Well lately, yes it is.

Then well there are other things in this world that complicate my life. Some of you may know what I'm talking about, if you don't well don't worry too much about it. I'm sure it will all work out soon enough but in the moment it's easy to just think "well, when it rains it pours..."

"Stop raining...oh wait...those aren't RAIN drops those are TEAR drops...weird" - story of my life right?

Now as I'm having this pity party I had the thought..."What are you looking at down there?" And I realized "It's better to look up."

"We must look up and step up and as we do I know we will cheer up for God wants us to be happy."

"He wants to be a part of our lives to bless us and to help us. He will heal our wounds, dry our tears, and help us along our path to return to His presence."

"Sins are forgiven and burdens are lightened as we turn to Christ."

What a powerful and comforting message on a not so wonderful day. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and I am proud of it. I know Christ lives and loves us and that he knows our trials and will always be there to help us through it. What a blessing it is to have access to these wonderful conference talks. And remember, as President Monson told Elder Carl B. Cook, "It is better to look up!"

Music speaks to me

2011-10-04T20:38:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been a little crazy. I break out in song...over everything. Ask my co-workers, I end up serenading them all day everyday. You all know you love it ;)! Music just has a way of getting to me. Nelly's Just a Dream will always bring me back to last fall running around the living room with Mandy and dancing on the coffee table. Jay Sean's Down and Jason Derulo (imagine me singing his name how he always does in all his songs) without fail bring me back to freshmen year. Music just makes me feel so much.

It understands me.

I understand it.

It's simple really.

Sometimes there's no better way to communicate a feeling than with song. It gives the inarticulate a way to express how they feel in a way they couldn't on their own. So when somebody told me I needed to listen to a song, well you best believe I did right away. It brought back so many memories! The lyrics really hit me and have been on my mind for two straight days now. The song is "Somewhere Love Remains" by Lady Antebellum. Here are the lyrics:

Here we go again
Sitting on the edge of leaving
You don’t have to speak
I can see it in your eyes
I know you too well
You know I can tell you’re hiding
Something inside

Chorus:
Baby just breathe in, breathe out
Before you turn around, just slow down
Think of all the love we’ve made
If we give it just one more try
Maybe we could stop this goodbye
I know through all this pain
Somehow somewhere love remains

You say don’t walk away
But baby give me one good reason
More than just a line
You better make it count this time
You told me but you never really showed me
That I’m worth the fight
Oh I’m worth the fight

Chorus

Love takes time to build its defenses
And trust takes time to tear down those fences
And what remains is stronger than ever before
So don’t walk out that door
I don’t wanna hurt anymore

So baby just breathe in, breathe out
The only time for love is right now
Forgive all the mistakes we’ve made
If we give it just one more try
Maybe we could stop this goodbye
Through the fire and rain
Somehow somewhere
I know through all this pain
Somehow somewhere love remains

So baby just breathe in, breathe out

I love music.

It's awesome.

Fail

2011-09-29T18:56:00.000-07:00

"You never stop believing in me when I don't know who I am or what I'm supposed to be, I don't give you no good reason, but baby don't give up on me" - Jason Aldean

I'm struggling. Where has all my motivation gone? Haha. I just can't make myself do my homework. I can't. I try and try and get through a few pages and just hit a wall. Is this normal? I have no idea, but all I know is that I'm usually not this lazy this early in the year. I don't know what it is about this year that has made me so utterly useless as a student, but I have checked out of the whole work hard thing. Go figure. An Asian person not wanting to do homework? It's nonsense.

But I do know that no matter how bad I struggle, there are without fail people who will always be there for me and love me anyway. They will NEVER give up on me. Lately there are a particular few people that I'd love to publicly thank.

1. My family - I can't sing them enough praises

2. My bffegfl Cream- you know who you are :) I should do an entire post about this special lady one day! Now there's a bright idea! It would be pretty neat ;)

3. Katie Jordan :) I could not get through work with out! And you make me a better person! And you sit through my nonsense and ramblings and scattered thoughts and random outbursts and let me serenade you and you don't laugh at me when I do. We even share a special bond over the Teet family. HAHAHAHAHA I AM A CHILD!!!!

4. And two very special other people that will remain nameless. :)

Yay. I just successfully avoided homework for 20 minutes. I'm a genius...

Being an Asian girl on BYU Campus...

2011-09-20T22:17:00.000-07:00

I recently read a blog post about yellow fever and just about DIED of laughter! It's a real problem. All you crazy RMs who have a new found love for Asian girls. It made me think of something that happens to me every year at school, I make the mistake of thinking that I have a lot of friends. Why? I get stopped all the time, by strangers who are overly friendly to me. At first I think wow people must like me, but then the following situation unfolds.

Boy: "Oh hey!!! I really wish I could have seen you last night."

Me: Slightly creeped out, is this his idea of a pick up line..? "Oh really? Well that's nice of you....."

Boy: "Yeah you really missed out, the party was so much fun. I swore you said you'd be there.

"Me: Oh...right...he didn't want to see ME, but another 5'3 Asian. Weird, I totally thought random strangers always wanted to see me. I mean who wouldn't right?? ;) "Oh...I'm sorry but I think you've got the wrong girl."

Boy: "Oh I'm sorry, I thought you were a girl I know..."

Me: "It's okay, honest mistake, we Asians look strangely similar."

You'd think if you were friends with someone, you'd be able to recognize them...right?

Another example, random guy asks me for my number, asks me on a date to which I finally agree, then a couple days after the date I receive a text from him saying:

"Hey Michelle! I hope you did well on your test."

Test?? What test? Did I tell him about a test on our date? So I decide to ask him what he meant by this confusing text. To which he responds:

"Oh, well I saw you in the testing center earlier so I just hope you did well."

Oh, of course! He saw a girl with dark hair and bangs, it must have been me. "Oh sorry, but I guess you confused me with one of the many other Asian women on campus. I haven't been to the testing center at all yet this year, but I guess now I know it really is true that all Asians look the same." To which he helplessly tried to save himself and the situation and then asked me on another date. How did I respond? "Well I'm sure you can find a girl in the testing center, we all look the same to you anyway." Rude? Maybe, but I'm sure he took my advice and has a new Asian love interest.

Another great example of how awesome it is to be Asian on campus? I was in a group playing the game two truths and a lie. The lie I chose to tell? "I am fluent in two languages" Nobody guessed it right. So they all asked oh really, well then how many languages are you fluent in? "Oh, just one. I know I look like I should be in two, but I'm only fluent in one." Then a lovely gentleman asks me a brilliant question, "Oh really? So what language is it that you are fluent in?" Um...I thought it was English?? Maybe I'm terribly mistaken and I haven't really been speaking English my entire life, but I'm pretty sure I'm fluent in English. Genius.

I think the my favorite example of what it's like to be Asian on BYU campus:

Boy: "Hi, my name is blank, I love Asian girls. So I must know, where were you born?"

Me: "Provo."

Boy: "Oh really? So...where exactly is that in China??"

Me: (are you joking me?!) "Pretty sure we are in Provo right now, so figure it out yourself."

Boy: "Oh okay, well can I still take you on a date?"

Me: Just slowly walk away.

Maybe I should put a mark on my arm like Michael Scott does with his date from Benihana. Or maybe I should tattoo my name to my forehead. Either way I think it'd leave the world a less confusing place. Just remember, don't ask me to help you with your Chinese homework unless you want to fail. Just because I have squinty eyes, a small figure, and dark hair does not mean that I can speak a foreign language or make you sushi.

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-08T16:57:00.000-07:00

So....I almost died labor day weekend. Thanks to the crazy who was driving my wave runner. I even have the battle wounds to prove it.

My fingers got shredded!

You can't really see, but I got a lovely bruise on my foot

In all seriousness though I had a lot of fun. It was a nice little break to have right as school started.

Then I watched lots of football and had a lovely Monday spent with family.

The one good thing about school...

2011-09-04T10:11:00.001-07:00

What is the only thing that I can think of right now that is good about school starting?

Watching these lovely men...ROLL TIDE!

Oh and watching these baby boys....RISE UP!

Oh how I love college football!

Summer Pictures

2011-08-29T21:04:00.001-07:00

So I didn't take too many pictures this summer, but here are a few...

Horseback Riding

Pool Days

The Rodeo

Vegas!

The cowboy

Work

Owlz Games

Harry Potter

Ice Cream Runs

Farewells

Learning to be domestic

Movies

and a trip to the zoo

School....WHAT?

2011-08-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

"Take a deep breath and walk through the doors it's the morning of your very first day, say hi to your friends you ain't seen in awhile try and stay out of everybody's way" - T. Swift

Summer is over???? What? Where did all the time go?!? I mean it must have all been spent blogging right? Since I was so awesome this summer and posted...once...? It may have disappeared due to the fact that I was having way too much fun, or maybe all the time is lost somewhere at doTERRA. Who knows? All I know is this summer flew by, but it is one that I will always remember! Why? Well there are many reasons but I think there are a few that stand out.

First and foremost I think my trip to China was definitely something that made this summer memorable. It's hard to describe, but I really had an amazing experience. I really learned a lot, it seems cliche to say it, but I really did. It was exactly what I needed at that time in my life. I just had to get away from everything and look at life with a new perspective and there's nothing like going to China, where you have ultimately no contact with anyone or anything back home, to clear your mind. I definitely recommend it!

Another reason I loved this summer? FAMILY. A wise elder in the MTC once taught me that family stands for "Father And Mother, I Love You." I thought it was clever. This summer was one where I became really grateful for my family, especially my parents. I don't think I tell my family that I love them enough for everything they do for me. They are always there for me, no matter what. They'll stay up with me late at night when I just need to talk or they'll buy me my favorite treats to tend my broken heart. Even if I'm being a bum, there are ALWAYS there.

FRIENDS...need I say more? I have a special breed of friends you see. They are special because for some reason unknown to man they can stand my crazy nonsense. Haha those who know me know that my life is probably anything but normal, some even say I should have my own reality tv show (don't you even worry, we came up with a name for it and everything) but one thing's for sure, my friends are always there. Through the "hots and colds" and "ups and downs" they are there laughing or crying with me. They'll pick me up and talk with me until both of us are hysterical due to how late it is. They will always listen. They will amuse me. They simply are amazing by just being there. I love my friends.

A final highlight? Well...it would have to be acting crazy in love. Unexpected, but wonderful. Even if it all doesn't work out in the end, there's nothing better than love. It has this way of making you absolutely crazy but you don't even care. All you know is that as long as you're with him you'll be fine and nothing else in the world matters. There's nothing better than that.

Then of course there were little trips, being with my friends, soaking up the sun, staying out late, trying new things, and all the usual things everyone does each summer that made this one special.

Well there ya go. That was basically my summer in a nutshell :)

Happy Fathers day!

2011-06-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, I have the best dad in the world. Sorry people, but my dad is better than yours. You may wonder why I can say this with such certainty, well I'll tell you.

1. My dad is the funniest man you will ever meet.

2. I'm daddy's little girl, so he spoils me rotten.

3. He will take me shopping.

4. He takes me out to eat at least once a week.

5. He'll randomly come home with things he bought for me.

6. He admits that I'm his favorite child.

7. My dad is brilliant.

8. My dad is patient.

9. My dad is kind.

10. My dad is loving.

11. He takes me on vacations with him.

12. He will sit through girl talk with me.

13. He actually keeps track of all the guys I tell him about.

14. He'll listen to Justin Bieber with me and watch the JB movie.

15. He always took me to all my cheer, dance, and tumbling lessons.

16. He supports me in everything I do.

17. He is a great example.

18. He always knows how to cheer me up.

19. My dad is super stylish.

20. There are many more things, but bottom line my dad is a stud.

I LOVE YOU DADDY!

Happy Fathers day to all the dads out there

Pictures

2011-06-12T22:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of my adventures (in no particular order). I only took like hundreds and hundreds, but I thought I'd spare you guys and only put up a few.

UVU provided matching sunglasses for me and my dad

At a minority village, they gave me a scarf for good luck

My dad was such a good sport to pose with me

Smart....but very typical

My good luck charm

For some reason that statue made me think of Harry Potter, so I had to take a pic

The Summer Palace, SO BEAUTIFUL! This area was sort of like Venice

Some Princess or something....

:) I had to copy the God, I just had to

With our amazing driver

One monk was kind enough to let me onto the roof of their temple to take pictures, just practicing being a dime piece.

this place went on for miles

The Temple of Heaven

The group I traveled with and our hosts at Qinghai

One of our hosts, Linda

The Great Wall

Another host, Mr. Zhang

The crotchless pants I talked about before...I put up a pic where the kid also had a diaper on. I didn't want to expose a little kid, but I mean seriously these pants are ridiculous

Good Luck :)

Just trying to blend in....

Master Li

My sweet ride with my baby goat

Gui - De

On the banks of the Yellow River

More Yellow River

Fortune

I had so much fun and hope that I can go back to China one day!

Home Sweet Home

2011-05-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I've been home for a couple weeks already! Time goes by way too fast sometimes. I had an AMAZING time in China! It was so much fun. Now, I'm way too lazy to write out everything, but here are some likes and dislikes.

Likes:

1. The food was amazing!

2. The Summer Palace. It was probably my favorite part of the trip, at least in Beijing! Aside from the fact that it was the muggiest day ever that place was gorgeous. Chinese royalty did it right! I also met a cute little Italian man there and it was so fun to talk to him. I told him how my dream is to one day go to Italy and he immediately invited me out...so who knows right??? ;)

3. All the amazing people I met on the trip. We had amazing hosts in Xining that catered to our every need and the coolest driver that you will ever meet in your life. I miss them all so much!

4. Everything there is pretty cheap and there were so many fun trinkets all over to look at.

5. The temples in Qinghai were beautiful!

6. The pearl and silk markets. It's definitely an experience making your way through those two places. The vendors are pretty crazy (some in a funny way and others in a scary way)! If you are a good bargainer than that place can be your heaven, otherwise you may experience a lot of buyers remorse. Although I didn't really end up buying much, it was a lot of fun being there

7. The toboggan ride I took down from the great wall. That day was beautiful! We took a gondola up to the wall and hiked around for a couple hours and took a toboggan down. The wall is amazing. Like everything else in China, it's gigantic!

8. The forbidden city, like I said Chinese royalty did it right. That place was so extravagant! I can't even imagine living in a place like that.

9. The gardens. All the gardens there are so beautiful! I want to have one for myself one day! They were just so relaxing.

10. The driving. HOLY CRAP! Haha there are like no rules there I swear and so it was always an adventure when we were going off for a drive. There are surprisingly not many accidents there and it's probably because people there are always really aware of the flow of traffic and they know their vehicles really well. You can park anywhere you want, just stop in the middle of the street, and drive in the middle of two lanes, against traffic, and even enter the freeway by means of an OFF ramp. Yeah, it's pretty nuts.

11. As crazy as it was I really enjoyed the subway. There is a very specific etiquette for subway riders and once you get used to it the subway isn't so bad. You just gotta know how to work the system :)

12. Magnum bars...simply delicious. They are also now in America, so eat up!

13. Random people talking to me in Chinese and then responding to them in English while they stare at me like I'm psycho and slowly walk away. I had so many people coming up to me asking me questions and most the time I could understand, but occasionally I just had to say sorry and that I speak English and couldn't understand what they wanted. The look on their faces was priceless.

14. Justin Bieber music :) Yep, everyone loves the Biebs. He was everywhere and I LOVED it.

Dislikes:

1. It's sort of smelly there and you'll realize why in my next dislike

2. Little kids, and at least one adult, poop and pee everywhere. For the little kids I understand a little more why they go everywhere. You see, in China they put their toddlers in crothless pants. Yes, that's right, crothless pants. It's so the kids don't soil themselves while potty training instead they just soil the ground you walk on. So if you ever see a puddle or anything on the ground you should probably avoid it.

3. The bathrooms. Those things are seriously a bit horrific in some areas. They are just holes in the ground in a big room. They are smelly and there are flies everywhere and there is no privacy so it's just gross. Oh and there is never toilet paper in public restrooms, so if you're going there one day remember to bring your own.

4. You can only ever get hot water to drink. After a long hot day of walking around outside a tall glass of boiling hot water just doesn't hit the spot.

5. Even in China I'm short. :( haha I thought that maybe for once I'd be tall, but sadly I really am just a shorty.

Those are just a few quick things from my trip, and I'll be posting more soon with pictures.

Dreams

2011-04-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world." - Harriet Tubman

So some days I let my mind wander and think of better things. Like any other person sometimes I like to day dream about things in this world I would love to do or experience. I'll occasionally fill all you lovely people in on some of my dreams I have.

Getting ready to go on a vacation really makes me think about what it'd be like if I was going on my dream vacation. There is one place that I've wanted to go my entire life: ITALY!

I'd love to go to the Colosseum and pretend like I'm Russell Crowe from Gladiater :)

Tour the BEAUTIFUL coastlines

and drift through Venice

There is something about this country that has ALWAYS fascinated me. I'm not quite sure when or what it was that set my heart on Italy, but somewhere along the lines of me growing up I fell in love with the place. The language is beautiful, the architecture is unbelievably breath taking, and I'm sure the fashion is phenomenal. Of course there is one thing I know that I would probably love way too much...the food! In the words of one of my dearest friends "It's the perfect place I'd want to go with my love." Hopefully one day I'll be able to go to Italy, but for now I'll just keep dreaming.

Timing

2011-04-28T22:27:00.000-07:00

"Let me tell you 'bout my best friend...." - Rob and Big

Well, I'm trying to get better at this blogging business so here I am blogging.

Maybe it's due to the slight frustrations I've had lately, but I just feel like letting a few of my thoughts out. Just as a warning this is all a little scattered and extremely random.

First of all, recently at work we got a new seating chart. I sit out in the booneys...facing a wall...joy. I was moved away from all my friends and put next to some guys that I didn't really know too well before. Can I just say it's been a pleasure to get to know them better? I've been working with them for months and had no idea how funny these kids were! And they even share the same love for Rob Dyrdek and Big Black that I do. Needless to say my supervisors plan to have me facing the wall away from my friends, probably to make me focus, has definitely backfired. Instead my days are spent having conversations with my new desk buddies about how Drama became a man dime and the time Chanel was hit in the face playing dodgeball. All classic fantasy factory moments!

I was also recently reminded of how much I love my friends. No matter what I do, how ridiculous I am, or how crazy I am my friends are there. They sit and listen to me vent about how a boy is so frustrating, how work was a bore, or just listen to all my crazy nonsense. My friends are always there to make me smile when I'm feeling down, give me advice on life, and look out for me and try to make sure that I don't get hurt. I am blessed to have amazing friends, and I love them all so much! I honestly don't know what I'd do without all of them. Each of my friends has blessed my life in their own way and I'm forever in debt to them for all they do for me.

Finishing up my second year of college has also been on my mind A LOT lately. I mean, WHERE HAS ALL THE TIME GONE?! How is this possible? It seems like just yesterday I was graduating high school and now my college transcripts are telling me that I'm a senior?! Time is a very funny thing. It's not even real, and yet it dictates everything in our lives. You see, when you're having fun time seems to move too fast. You want it to slow down so you can make sure those precious moments last forever, but sadly time just doesn't like to cooperate. Then when you're at work or on a lame date time could not move any slower. You can sit there and will the hands on the clock to move and somehow they seem to stay still. Yet it really is all moving at the same pace, it's our perception of it that has changed. Timing is even more tricky. It's crazy how leaving your house late one day can completely alter everything that happens to you. The people you'd walk past on campus, what seat would be open in class, whether or not there would be a good parking space, and all types of random things. I feel like time is going by so fast and I'm barely able to keep up with it all. So many important decisions are to be made in these next few years of life and TIMING is the key to all of it.

Siblings: The First Edition.

2011-04-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

"Our brother's not for sale, not for any price." - Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen

I don't know why but for some reason the spacing on this gets messed up everytime I click post even if I fix it...so it's not just me being weird!

I've decided that since I love my family so much I'm going to do a post for each of them...in no particular order. From the quote at the top I'm sure most can guess this post will be dedicated to my brother, Jason. The quote was fitting because my sisters and I used to sing that song to my brother when we were younger. I'm so glad that Jason is my brother, he is totally my favorite brother. My sister's tell me that when I was younger I used to run around following him saying, "Jason show me how!" Maybe it should've been the other way around since I did learn to tie my shoes, rollerblade, and buckle my seatbelt before he did ;). Jason is the closest sibling in age to me and it's been fun being able to go to junior high, high school, and now college with him there. You know, Jason was always the "annoying" one, he was always the one causing trouble, and most certainly he's the spoiled one. I guess being the only boy in the family it was natural us girls to gang up on him. But growing up would not have been the same without him. Believe it or not, I love playing video games with him. I may not seem like the video game type of girl, but I was always playing with Jason. Maybe it was because I was his last hope. My older sister's wouldn't play with him, and he probably figured since I was younger he could just make me play even if I didn't want to.

My brother Jason is brilliant. No, I'm not even kidding people, he literally is just brilliant. He freaks out if he gets an A-, as in he thinks it's a bad score not a good one. Not only is he ridiculously smart, he's also extremely witty. The kid is hilarious. He's pretty sarcastic, but if you get sarcasm then you'll understand he's one of the funniest guys you'll ever meet. No matter what, even if I am the annoying little sister, my brother is always there for me. He'll listen to me complain about boys and tell me that boys are the dumb ones and I shouldn't worry about it. He tells me about his life and well he always knows how to make me smile. I don't know what I'd do without him.

LOVE YOU JASON!

Almost Done!

2011-04-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

"ROLL TIDE"

I just love saying that :) and I love Bama for existing so I can say that. If you haven't seen the commercial based around this saying, then you should check it out here. It's a good one! So I have a point to all this, I promise. As I've been finishing up this semester and going through finals (I've already finished four thank goodness) I've been saying that to myself a lot lately! As I'm about to take a test: roll tide. As I'm studying for a test: roll tide. When I remember a question: roll tide. Anyways I think you get the point. On Saturday I went in to take one of my finals and I was really worried about how I'd end up doing on it, but I walked down the stairs, opened to door, looked up at the tv screen with the score and....ROLL TIDE baby! I let out a sigh of relief when the girl in front of me turned around and was like "Yay, I'm so happy for you, that's a good sigh." I was so happy I wanted to look at her and say roll tide, but I immediately stopped myself realizing that she'd probably have no idea what I was saying. I'm not crazy, I just love my sports okay?

Then there's the down side to the whole "roll tide" thing. You see, I have just one final left...and it's statistics. Blah. I am not looking forward to it at all and I've never really been one to study for math tests. To be honest I really just don't know how you study for a math test or else maybe I would. To make things worse this test will be held in the JSB auditorium! It's awful taking tests in there! It is always hot, it smells like sweating men, there is barely any space, and you have to climb over a million people to find a seat and then they will all climb over you too. All when you are trying to take a test for crying out loud. So as I was thinking about this test that's coming up I heard a little voice in my head that just said "roll tide." :) It'll be alright. Who needs good grades right? Haha, so maybe I'm dumb and maybe I'll regret not studying but...ROLL TIDE!

Reasons to love Bama??

hot quarterbacks throughout the years and one fine coach ;) but in all seriousness they're in the SEC and fans in the SEC just get football. I'd love to go to a game one day, the atmosphere would be AMAZING.

Roll Tide my Friends...Roll tide

P.S. Please choose AJ McCarron as your next QB :)

General Conference Weekend

2011-04-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions." - Dallin H. Oaks

So this past weekend was amazing to be at home! I got to see my newest little nephew Kolten and just spend time with my family. I went home because it was General Conference weekend, and I like being with my family to watch Conference. Growing up, watching conference was always the best because it was just me and my siblings. My parent's help translate the talks into Mandarin so they are usually in Salt Lake for at least a couple sessions. I think that's been such an amazing experience, just knowing that my parent's can help out in that way. When we were younger, for the sessions that my parents were home for, we always had to be extremely quiet and respectful or else we would get demerits. Yes, that's what I said, demerits! And for the sessions they were gone we still weren't off the hook. Don't you even worry, we had to take notes because my parent's would always ask questions about the sessions once they got home. Usually the questions were like "who spoke about this?" "What was your favorite talk?" "Who wore a red tie?" Yep, we had to take very detailed notes. Jason of course was always the one to cause trouble during EVERY session ;). I remember we used to go downstairs in our pajamas with our blankets and call our spots in the family room where we would watch conference. I vividly remember one year where we would tuck each other up into our blankets so tight and claim we were mummies. Yeah, life's interesting in the Teng household. If there is one thing I know for sure, no matter how much I complained as a kid that a perfectly good Saturday was wasted, conference weekend has now become one of my favorite weekends of the year.

Why has it become one of my favorite weekends? Well I'll tell you!

I get to spend it with my family, I love my family so much! I love every minute that I get to spend with them and I'm so glad that I can go to a University that's close to home so I can see them often. I think that's what sold me on BYU, otherwise I might have been a USC Trojan right now instead of a cougar who bleeds blue.

I love listening to what the Brethren have to say. They are so hilarious! I don't even think they mean to be, and they always seem to be speaking to me. I always get something out of the messages and they always are EXACTLY what I need to hear.

Priesthood Session :). It's always something else being out in public in Utah county during priesthood session. There are pretty much no men in sight. It's so funny. If there are ever visitors on that night they must think Utah is only full of women EVERYWHERE. I've always loved going out with the girls that night.

It's always a relaxing weekend. I always seem to forget about any stress or worries in life. All I really need to do is sit in front of the TV for 8 hours and listen to uplifting messages.

There are so many more reasons why I love conference and hopefully one day I can share them all. I think most importantly it gives us the strength to "Face the Future with Faith." I love conference so much and I wanted to do my part to share the goodness of the Gospel in what little ways I can.

Baby Kolten

My AMAZING Family :)

You can read any of the conference talks here