Update

I have really been slacking in this lately. I could say that it had to do with all the studying I had to do towards the end of the semester or I could say nothing important happened to post about. However, both of those would be wrong. I was just lazy. But I am going to post again before the end of the year. I just have to think about what I need to write about.
Until then... good night and good luck.

Thank you to those that still read this and have a very Merry Christmas!!

Dating

Today for Priesthood/RS lesson we had our Stake President do the lesson. He took questions that anyone had. I knew at least one would involve dating. The last one he talked about was in fact about dating. Someone asked if he had any suggestions on dating members of the church because it seems at times it is easier to date out of the church. He had all the guys stand up and ask if they remembered the covenants they made in the temple. They all nodded. He said that it was all the guys responsibilities to date and to be the ones asking girls out on dates. He said that he thought that Christ would hold the guys responsible for what they did and did not do in regards to dating. (We'll be held accountable for a lot more than that but that's what he focused on.)
He also talked about having a long term perspective on life and more importantly dating. He asked us how long we existed before we came to the earth. It was a long time and in that time we were single. In this life, in the context of eternity, we are single for a short while- no matter when we get married, next week, next year, in 10 years or even in 50 years. This life is short. We have all of eternity to look forward to. Eternity is a long time as well. That is a time that we won't spend as singles.
So I guess what I took out of his message was to live in the moment. I know that I have all of eternity to look forward to. So whenever that happy occasion does happen for me, and I know it will happen, I know that it will be when it is supposed to happen and with the person it's supposed to happen with. I love this gospel and the peace it brings me on days such as today.

Spiritual Thought

So one thing that I really liked that we did in my old BYU ward was to read a Conference talk every week and then have a talk on it during Sacrament Meeting the following week. I miss that.
Well tonight I was in charge of the spiritual thought for FHE. I was asked to use one of the talks from this past General Conference. It got me wanting to start doing the reading a talk per week thing again.

For my spiritual thought I used the talk from the Sunday Morning Conference session- Trust in God, Then Go and Do by President Eyring. Here are some snippits that I liked.
"Each of you is a unique child of God. God knows you individually. He sends messages of encouragement, correction, and direction fitted to you and to your needs."
"The Savior invited Peter to leave the safety of a boat to walk to Him across water. We ache for him and see our own need for greater trust in God as we hear the account:
"And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
"And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
"But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
"And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bud me come unto thee on the water.
"And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
"But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sing, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
"And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"
"We can take courage from the fact that Peter came to trust the Lord enough to stay faithful in His service all the way to his martyrdom."
"Be still, and know that I am God."
"For me it began in 1820 with a young boy in a grove of trees on a farm in the state of New York. The boy, Joseph Smith Jr., walked among the trees to a secluded spot. He knelt to pray with complete trust that God would answer his pleading to know what he should do to be cleansed and saved through the Atonement of Jesus Christ."
"The Father revealed to us that He lives, that Jesus Christ is His Beloved Son, and that He loved us enough to send that Son to save us, who are His children."
Joseph Smith trusted that his prayer would be answered. He didn't know the gospel but he knew that one scripture that got him to the grove- he knew that if he asked with sincere faith that his prayer would be answered.
"He can and does place people in positions of influence who want what is best for the people and who trust in the Lord."
He also puts people in our lives at certain times to remind us that He is mindful of us as well.
"You show your trust in Him when you listen with the intent to learn and repent and then you go and do whatever He asks. If you trust God enough to listen for His message in every sermon, song, and prayer in this conference, you will find it. And if you then go and do what He would have you do, your power to trust Him will grow, and in time you will be overwhelmed with gratitude to find that He has come to trust you."
Elder Scott, 2003, "Trust in God... no matter how challenging the circumstances... your peace of mind, your assurance of answers to vexing problems, your ultimate joy depend upon your trust in Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ."

One Tree Hill

So for those who know me, my lovely roommates Charlie and Sam introduced me to the show One Tree Hill. I know, I am so behind. It's been on for like 8 years and I have just started watching it. I actually watched the last 2 or 3 shows of the 7th season and really liked it. So I made Sam and Charlie start back at the beginning of season 1 with me. I knew a little of the story lines because I caught a little here and there in the 2 years of living with Sam and Charlie. Plus if they wanted to tell me something that had happened in the current episode some times they would have to go back and fill in story lines that I had no clue about. So I knew some of the big events like... *spoiler ahead* Keith dying. (Like you didn't already know that! :) )
Well this past weekend was Fall Break here in North Carolina. So to celebrate not having school Jennifer and I headed to Wilmington. Partly because we wanted to go the beach and partly because I wanted to see the sights of OTH. I was hoping to see cast members, I'm not going to lie, however, I did not. I think they were in Atlanta filming for an upcoming episode. Not that that matters. But there is a studio tour that they do on the weekends when they don't film so Jennifer and I did that. It was so much fun and I found out some things that I didn't know. This is the studios.



Well we went in and saw only OTH sets. The sets that they let us see were Nathan and Haley's downstairs of their house, Brooke's house and Red Bedroom Records. I just have to say that I have stood in the same areas as James Lafferty. (It doesn't matter if everyone and their brother has as well because of the tours.) The whole downstairs of Naley's house is all one set. It was set up for Thanksgiving. So there were gourds all around, pumpkins on tables, 2 tables set up for the big Thanksgiving dinner, pots on the stove that had been used to cook the food for the episode. We found out that there really isn't working electricity or water on set so when they use the sink- it's a hose hooked up to the faucet under the counter. When they need light in the frig when they open it- it's little battery powered lights on the top inside of the frig. The food that is in the frig has been there since Dawson's Creek and it's expired. There's someone that goes in to rearrange the food in the frig so that it looks like they actually use it. There are tons of pictures of the cast together all over the place to make them look like family pictures. And... there is actually a pool on set. To look like the real one at the real house. So you can see it out of the back french doors of their house. It's actually a pool with water in it and with pool toys on the side and everything. I thought that it was so cool that they actually had it on set. It must be awesome to be the Scott's!!
Brooke's house is on set too. So the back drop that you can see out her windows is just that, a back drop. They have 2- 1 for daylight and another for night. They have amazing houses, even if they are just sets.
Red Bedroom Records- not much to say besides that the brick wall isn't actually a brick wall. It's concrete and it's hand painted to look like brick.
One last thing that I learned... is that Chad Michael Murray, Lucas Scott, didn't play basketball but instead knew how to play football so in any scenes with basketball it's not him. He had a stand in that apparently looked exactly like him that did all that for him. Including the opening titles. In one episode Charlie, Sam and I actually saw his stand in and found it pretty funny.

So needless to say, I had fun. Not sure if Jennifer did. And all I got to say is that the 2 people that got me into this show need to come out here and I'll do this all over again with them. I wouldn't want them to miss out.

Oh, and the interns that did the tour for us said that they were hopeful that they would be picked up for another season because the ratings are up. Not that I'm holding my breath but it would be kinda fun to see where another season would take these characters.

New study area

This is my new desk. I had to find one that was cool enough to sit underneath my awesome pillow case that Charlie and Sam made me as a graduation gift. Lets just say that if I have a hard day it's in the perfect spot because I can just sit at my desk and look up and immediately remember all the fun times we had together.
Some of the cool items that were chosen to make it onto the pillow case were: Hiiisssss, Glee, midnight runs to McDonald's, Eventually..., Avatar the last airbender, clothes over bro's and BYU sports.
The desk is a corner desk and it basically has spots for everything. There are 2 filing cabinet things on one side and shelfs on the other. The back behind the computer is magnetized so that's fun. It's a niffy little desk. But this blog isn't about the cool desk it's about the even cooler pillow case that is tacked up to the wall above it.

Thanks Charlie and Sam!!!

I miss you more than words can express! I love you!

Running

As many of you know I am now living in a different state than what I have been for the past 2 years. I am now in North Carolina. It's humid, full of moths and apparently the world capitol for all things basketball. Yes, One Tree Hill does not lie about that fact about this wonderful state. So in the process of graduating from BYU, moving across the country and living out of a suitcase and in hotels until the end of August- needless to say I did not run at all. Not that I ran every day in Utah but I did have a support team there encouraging me to do so. Well this week I decided that it was time to put my butt in gear. I did my usual 1 mile on Monday night and it killed. Tuesday I was so sore so instead of being consistent I did not do a thing. I know, good job Jannette, top notch!! So then Wednesday came and I was feeling a little stressed after getting all of my course schedules so I went and ran another mile. Not too bad I thought. Well apparently last night I felt even more stressed or excited (take your pick) about the fact that I had just finished my first week of nursing school and had not died or killed anyone (mind you I am not even in clinicals yet so that one would have been hard to do) so I went to the gym later than I had hoped, but we're still looking for furniture for our apartment so that's what we were doing all day, and low and behold- RAN 2 MILES!!!! Now before you get too excited I did walk at some points. So I didn't run 2 miles exactly but I like to think I did. Now I am not going to share with you my time for that particular milage because it sucked. But hey I did it!!!!
Not sure if I will do another 2 miles tonight or if I will stick to my 1 mile. But there is a BYU football game on tonight. BYU vs. Washington. Wish I could be there. It was always fun to listen to the roar of the fans in the stadium. Good luck tonight boys!!! Make us alumni proud!!! :D

Days like today

I love days like today because I can see that the Lord has a hand in my life. Today my roommates gave talks in Sacrament meeting and I have a feeling that their talks were more for me then them. I learned so much from them and they are such good examples to me. I am proud to call them my roomies and I will be so sad when I have to leave them in August. Thank you Charlie and Sam for being there for me and having the patience to live with me for 2 years. You guys have helped me out in ways that are unknown to you. I love you guys!!!
After church I was on facebook and I have a certain few people hid on my live feed because I could care a less what is going on in their lives but I'm still friends with them. Maybe one day we will be again. Who knows. But I tell myself that I have them hidden for a reason and then I don't listen to myself and go on their page. Which that leads me to people I am not friends with and I look at their page and I think to myself, "Gee, I am sure glad that nothing happened with them back then." That's actually happened a couple times, there were these boys that I used to like back in YW and thought that there should be something happening between us and there never was. I question things like that and then I see pictures and go, "Wow, I totally wouldn't be happy if I were with them." Then I think that the Lord really does know what we want in an eternal sense not just a here and now sense.
Today I have learned lessons on reading and really studying the scriptures and also that the Lord really does know me and where my life is taking me and what will make me eternally happy.
There are trials in our lives for a reason. If I had gotten into the BYU nursing program then I wouldn't have the chance to go to Duke. I'm sure there is a huge reason why I am going there and I may not know the reason now and I may not even know the reason in this life but if I continue to have faith then blessings will come. I know that I am known to Him, that I lived with Him before I came to this earth, that I was instructed by Him on how to come back to Him, that He watches over me now, that He loves me more than I know, and that He wants me to find joy and peace in this life by living His commandments and learning of His Gospel.
I know He is watching over me and that I will not end up where I am not supposed to be if I heed to His will and to His counsel.

BIG news

I don't know how I failed to post anything on this when I found out my BIG news. But here you are...
I got Accepted to Duke University's School of Nursing!!!!!!! AHHHHHhhhhhh!!!!
I have been waiting for years for a school to finally say yes to me and it happened.

It's an accelerated program, which means that all applicants must have a previous bachelor's degree in something. Mine will be in Family Life from BYU and it will be recieved about 15 days before I start this program. Crazy!

The program goes from August 2010- Decemeber 2011. It's only 16 months and there are no breaks in between semesters except for little ones like Fall break, Thanksgiving, Christmas (which I would like to add is like 3.5 weeks long) and I even get a Spring break. It's the little things really that make me happy. See, I've never had a Spring Break because BYU doesn't have them because we get out early to mid April as it is. No need in pushing that back any further.

So my new home will be located somewhere between Durham and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (We're still apartment hunting.) Plus, we are having to do it from 2,000 miles away which doesn't make it easy. I love the east coast and I'm glad that I get to move back. Plus, NC is only about a 10 hour drive from my house in Florida so I should expect my parents more often than they visit out here... which might be a good or bad thing, haven't decided.

Plus, being in North Carolina means closer to a Publix- I will be making that 4 hour drive to the nearest Publix, don't think I won't! Also, there are Panera Bread's!!! The only place that I love to eat that I will be leaving in Utah is sadly In-N-Out but who knows they are in Utah now so it will only be a matter of time.

I'M GOING TO NURSING SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to all my roommates who have had to put up with my emotions every time a rejection came my way, or those that had to put up with my intense studying and constant nose in text books. Your patience has meant everything to me. Thank you from the depths of my heart!!

I'M GOING TO NURSING SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe One Day

I feel as if I have been saying this a lot lately and I feel it's true (either in my heart or in my mind but never at the same time). But maybe one day it will be my turn. Today was Kierstin's wedding and I couldn't be happier for her. It is truly a huge step in her life and I couldn't hope nothing but the best for her or Kent. It just seems like every wedding lately I can't help but think that I want it to be my turn. But instead of focusing on all the negative things that I need to fix in mylife in order for this event to happen I would like to focus on the positives of Kierstin and I's relationship.

I first met Kierstin moving into Kensington Apts in Rexburg, Idaho. One of my first memories of her was the fact that she spilt laundry soap all over her room. It was pretty funny.
She was best friends with Jessie and Lindsey and I felt that I would never fit in with them but Kierstin made sure to make me one of her friends. And I appreciate that more than anything.
I remember doing her geography homework for her or with her- depends on how you would like to look at it.
We had jello eating dates just her and me. A different color each time.
I could walk into her room on various occasions and find her in her robe laying on her bed eating popcorn.
She loves naps.
She loves the gospel and set the example of reading scriptures to me.
When she had a bad day or was going through a horrible break up I would always drop everything and give her an ear and a shoulder. Then we would head to Little Ceasers and get 2 pizzas. One with cheese for me and one without for her.
She has some serious allergies. She can't eat anything. :)
I tried pasta with bbq sauce on it so she wouldn't eat alone. It didn't taste awful but it wasn't my favorite and I haven't had it since.
When her asthma got the best of her I would pound on her back and help stuff loosen up inside her. I felt like I was going to break her but she's still in one piece.
She was there for me when I had emotional breakdowns about friends from back home or the nursing program and how screwed up it is.
She drives a manual car and I love that about her.
She loves children and will be a fantastic teacher to her 2nd graders and to all those children that she will come into contact with.
I will not forget the talks that we had about the wedding night and how scared she would be and that the fact of marriage terrified her. (It no longer does thankfully)
I know that, because of our friendship, she will be a fantastic mother whenever she decides to have kids.
The fact that she asked me to go wedding dress shopping with her. It made me feel special and I was glad that I could provide company for her.
The memory that I will have of her and Kent walking out of the temple after getting sealed together for time and all eternity.
The hug and the picture that I got with her at the reception will mean more to me than she'll realize.

Today I gave over one of my best friends to a boy and I am more than glad to have done it. I hope that one day I will be able to follow in her footsteps. Kierstin thank you for being such a good example to me.

Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning Jannette and Sam style. That doesn't necessarily mean that we clean anything. It just means that we rearrange all our furniture. It is also reading days and that means that I am supposed to be studying for my finals that I have coming up but that didn't happen either. I found out though that moving furniture in 4 rooms is tiring and I would not be a good moving person.
So this is my new arrangement. That thing under the window is actually the top part of my desk but I decided that I didn't like it like that so it is now my new window table. It's great for pictures and flowers in front of an open window.

bridal shower

Jess, Linds, Kierstin and Me at Kierstin's bridal shower tonight. It was so much fun to see Linds again... it's been too long. We'll get the opportunity to see eachother again together at the Draper temple when Kierstin gets married at the end of this month.

The bridal shower was fun as well. We played games and Kierstin opened presents.

It made me want to get married as well. Out of the 8 girls that lived in Kensington my sophomore year... all but 3 of us are married. Sad day. Saying the word 'EVENTUALLY' won't help.

Oreos anyone?

Since Christmas, Jennifer and I have been looking for this oreo cookie cake mold. The mold came seperately from the cake and frosting mixtures. It was supposed to come out looking like an oreo and taste like one as well.

It sorta worked. The lady at Williams Sonoma told us that in order for it to work then you had to liberally grease the molds. I thought I had done that well enough... apparently not. The cakes came out in about 2 or 3 different pieces. I tried to reassemble them and it worked well enough for this picture. It was very crumbly but it tasted so good. I think it tasted better as it sat and hardened a little. I think that after a day or so it did actually taste like an oreo. Just sweeter. But it's a cake, what can you expect. I think I will try it again in a couple of months after I have lost the pounds that this cake made me gain. I will do like the lady at Williams Sonoma said though- "Throughly grease the molds."

That was my excitement of this past weekend.

your mind and your thoughts

Last night we had our own FHE at our apartment because Sam and Charlie's mom is in town and I think it has been one of the best FHE's we've had. By having their mom here this past week I have learned where they get their humor, spiritualness, personality and love from. It's from the example of their mother.

Our lesson at FHE was on the mind and how our thoughts make or break our days. I have had a very hard last couple of months not knowing what I should do and August will be here before I know it and it terrifies me to no end. But, if I have trust in the Lord then I know that things will be alright and everything will fall into its place at the proper time. I don't know when things will happen for me but the Lord does. I can only change the things that are in my grasp not the things that I can't control. I need to stop focusing on those things and focus on the things that I can change.

Now if anyone knows we at all, they know that I love celebrity gossip and watching what celebrities do on a daily basis. I always look at people mag online. But I am trying to refocus on things that are important and will now be taking a break from that website. It might seem small but it will be hard for me. Maybe I'll get more time in my day and get more things accomplished. I was orginially going to take a break from facebook but I decided that that would have to wait until a later time.

I am also trying to read more books. A lot of them lately have been from General Authorities. I am currently reading The Promised Messiah and Change your Questions Change your Life. Both are so good! I would recommend both to you.

salsa or pico de gallo?

Here's my first post to this blog with what I actually wanted to do with the blog. Food! I used to like salsa until I was introduced to the wonderfulness of pico de gallo. I like it so much better because it isn't as watery as salsa and it has big hunks of tomato and onion. To make my own I did bigger chunks then I should have but what can I say. All that is it is roma tomatoes, jalapeno, 1/2 of a huge onion, a bunch of cilantro, lime juice and salt. I have to say myself that it is tasty. I got it from the pioneer woman. She's a genius.

weddings

so Char wanted to sit down and watch a hopeless romantic movie...

i pulled out all of the good romances that i had here in utah and we ended up choosing "Father of the Bride"

i love this movie, i could probably say that it is my favorite movie

i can see my father reacting the same way as steve martin's character when i tell my parents when i get engaged.

however, as much as i love this movie- i want to hate it right now because i am no where close to getting married and i want to

i want to get married- I DO!!!

but somehow i can't seem to make it happen.

ahh love, romance, weddings, and marriage... how i long for it.

a decade in the making

Because I have nothing else to post about thus far in this new year. I have come up with some very good highlights of my past 10 years (2000-2009). This does not include everything... if it did- you would not be reading it anymore.

2000: It was the freak out of Y2K. I was in the 6th grade- my first year out at Space Coast Middle School. I was the low man on the very small todum pole of middle school. I started band class and enjoyed playing the flute. At the end of 1999- Jennifer was gone off to college out at BYU for her first year so that means that I had the room at the house to myself for the very first time. I was a beehive and one of a few girls in my class. My 13th birthday happened in this year and I officially became a teenager. I finished the year in the 7th grade.

2001: 7th grade… I finally knew my way around Space Coast and wasn’t at the bottom nor the top of the food chain there. I went to my first concert with Jennifer and her friend Heather- it was the *NSYNC PopOdsessy Tour. We drove up to Jacksonville, FL to see it. Twin towers got hit and it was all over the news. I started the year off in Beehives and finally made it to Mia Maids on my 14th birthday. There was the excitement of Youth Conferences, EFY and stake dances. I had the biggest crush on Chase Hill and little did I know then that it would last several years. Started the 8th grade in this year.

2002: 8th grade and all the glory that surrounds being at the top of your school. This was also the year that they announced that they would be turning our middle school into a Junior/ Senior High School and adding one grade each year. This was the year of my very first EFY and Youth Conference. The theme for EFY was We Believe. For Youth Conference we went over to Orlando and helped out parents with children who had spina bifida. It was my 15th birthday. I got my drivers permit and started to learn how to drive on my dad’s mustang which was a stick shift. I quickly gave up and declared that I would not be driving any more. My mom quickly came to my rescue and told me I could use her car. Started my first year out at Space Coast as a high schooler… as a freshman but the highest grade in the school.

2003: Made the decision to stay at Space Coast This was the first year we had marching band- but it was small and we didn’t compete, just went to the competition and played the Star Spangled Banner. Jennifer graduated from BYU and the whole family came out to see it. I remember that I felt so sick as we circled the Great Salt Lake. For the other semester of school in this year I was in my 10th grade year… and as I’ve said- still on top. I finally turned 16 on my birthday and was so excited that I could start to date- I was legal. Nothing different happened… and still hasn’t on that front, but I have come to some sort of terms with it. I got my driver’s license and didn’t have to have the driver’s test for 2 reasons… I had taken driver’s ed and my dad took me to get my license in his TPD patrol car. I moved on up to the Laurel’s.

2004: I was in the 10th and 11th grades and still on top at school. For our first competition in marching band- we did a Movie themes themed half-time show (Jaws, Superman, Star Wars, Jurassic Park). We got a superior. Competetion was held in Palm Bay, FL. I was still attending youth conferences, EFY and pretty much all the stake dances. Started the 11th grade and was taking dual enrollment courses. It was my 17th birthday.

2005: Went to my very first Josh Groban concert. It was up in Louisville, KY and dad was so good to drive Jennifer and I up there and spend time in the hotel room as we went to the concert. Was in the 11th and 12th grades and already knew that I was starting to feel like I wanted to get out of Space Coast (or senior-itis as it is called). I turned 18 on my birthday. It was my last year competing in marching band and we did a pretty good half time show. The judges thought it was too fun and gave us an excellent. It was a Latin themed show. It was held in the Orange Bowl in Orlando, FL. Girls camp, youth conference and EFY were all still pretty good and I enjoyed being at them.

2006: I was a senior and would graduate in May. I was taking dual enrollment type classes in order to get my C.N.A. license. We were the first graduating class from our school and it felt so good to get out. I was able to attend girls camp as a youth leader and was able to go to my last EFY and youth conference. In the fall I headed out to the wild west- to Rexburg, ID to be exact. Where I would start my college education in the frigid cold. In the fall would be my one and only semester at being a college freshman because I came into college with so many credits because of dual enrollment. It was this semester that I had the roommates of Dafni, Heather, Larissa, Mandi and Carrie. We lived in Chapman Hall. I turned 19 on my birthday. It was this year that I was able to see my first official fall and my first snow fall. I spent Thanksgiving break with Mandi and her family. I was able to go home to FL for Christmas.

2007: This was my sophomore year in college. For the winter semester I moved across the parking lot to a cooking dorm… Barnes Hall. Here I would live with Mandi again and meet two girls named Katelyn and Kaitlyn (or Katelyn squared). Jennifer came out and picked me up (after quitting Target) and she had a surprise for me. She wouldn’t tell me where we were flying to and why we were going. We ended up in Vegas and we stayed at the Aladdin/ Planet Hollywood hotel. And we went to a Josh Groban concert in the MGM Grand hotel. It was pretty much a-maz-ing!!! For the summer I went home and worked with Kelly Home Services. I went to visit Jennifer up in Baltimore before I was to fly out to school out west and because we had bought tickets to see another Josh concert from the 2nd row. We couldn’t pass up those tickets. This time the concert was in Pittsburgh, PA. We drove up there in Jennifer’s car. It was the Pittsburgh concert that I was able to touch the hand of Josh 4 times. Not only that but I was able stand at his knee when he sat down on the stage and sang “NWIA”. That is the 1st C.I.A. trip that no one knows about. The following weekend we drove all the way up to Toronto, Canada. That also was a fun trip. Jennifer and I had a huge timetable because we were due on a plane in a couple of hours after we arrived back in Maryland. The weekend before BYU-Idaho started dad drove me up to North Carolina to meet Jennifer for our 3rd Josh concert that year. We stayed at the same hotel as Josh and Jennifer swears that she walked past him in the hall as she was going to the elevator. After all those wonderful trips, I went back out to school and this time lived off campus in Kensington. I lived with Katelyn and my new roommates were Lindsey, Jessie, Kierstin, and Kelsie. Jessie ended up moving out and we got Becki. It was a very nice apartment and I loved everything about it. Jared was now gone on his mission to India. That Thanksgiving I flew out to Baltimore, MD to be with Jennifer. Christmas we were both able to go home to Florida.

2008: The winter semester of 2008 was still up in Rexburg, ID. I was a junior now. Now the roommates were Lindsey, Kierstin, April, and Katelyn. I decided to reapply to BYU in Provo, UT along with Kierstin. She got in, I did not. Mom came out this time to pick me up from school and we were flying into Maryland to see Jennifer around her birthday. While in Baltimore, Jennifer got an email about this special PBS taping concert with Josh up in New York City. Being the hacker that I am I hacked into Jennifer’s email and sent an email saying that we could go. This concert was on a Thursday night I think. Jennifer got a call from someone on Josh’s team and said that we would be there. She started freaking out because she had clinicals that day and didn’t think she was going to be able to get out of them. We thought of so many possibilities on how to get up there. Jennifer skipped her clinical to go to New York. I bought Amtrak tickets and we headed up to New York, it was probably the fastest trip we’ve ever been on. It was a good concert and now that concert is out on DVD. It was my first time to New York. (2nd C.I.A. trip) Mom flew out and I followed a couple days later. I went home to FL for the summer and worked at SeaWorld Orlando and lived with my half brother and his wife so I wouldn’t have to commute as far every day. I got my first car- a Toyota Camry and I named him Fred. I checked my email and got one from BYU in Provo, UT that said that they had reevaluated my application and that they would see me in the fall. So the decision was made to head down to Provo in the fall and to defer that semester up in Rexburg, ID. For the fall semester I felt like a freshman all over again. I had no clue where things were in Provo. I moved into Moon Apartments and my roommates were Hailey, Charleah and Symantha. Thanksgiving was spent up in Salt Lake City with Jennifer. Christmas was also spent up in Salt Lake City and it was my very first Christmas away from home. I made my first huge snowman that was about 3 feet tall. We headed down to Vegas again to go to the Las Vegas Bowl Game to see BYU play Arizona… and because Jennifer was there we didn’t win. I decorated my car and that was fun when the bus full of BYU football wives saw and starting pointing at it.

2009: I started the year in Utah. I was declared a senior at BYU due to credit hours I had. I was still living with Sam, Char and Hailey at Moon. In April, Jennifer and I went out to California!! It was so much fun. We went to San Diego, Los Angeles, Anaheim (Disneyland and California Adventure), Manhattan Beach, San Francisco, San Jose, Sonoma, Napa, Malibu, Santa Barbara and others. We got to see the Golden Gate Bridge, vineyards, LA temple, Oakland temple, San Diego temple, LA live and a “house”. I got a job as a nanny for a family in Draper, UT. They had 4 kids and they were lots of fun. Started my 2nd semester as a senior and was taking lots of fun classes and ended up with a 4.0 GPA for the first time in college. Jennifer and I went to Boston one weekend. We were able to go to Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. I was again not selected for the nursing program at BYU so I changed my major to Family Life. I decided to apply to Duke for their accelerated program and found out that I was selected to get an interview. I was able to go home for Christmas break and it was cold in Florida the entire time I was there. We put off having Christmas until Jennifer got there on the 28th and it got further put off until New Years Eve. Jennifer and I went to Disney for part of our Christmas presents to ourselves and we were able to upgrade them so we’ll be back in 2010. That is when I saw my hot rugby boy from Durham, England. Ah, good memories! We celebrated the New Year with Chinese food and something that resembled Welsh’s sparkling grape juice (kinda). My parents were also awake to bring in the New Year, which is very unlike them. We didn’t last very long in the New Year- as we only stayed up until 1am or so.

With reading this... you would think that a) I like Josh Groban, b) I like to travel c) I've been in school way too long and d) my life has become a lot more interesting once I started college.

I can't wait to see how much my next 10 years will change. Hopefully lots of exciting things are going to come my way.