Pink.

 Today was a pink kind of a day. Who knows why, I just wanted to wear pink. And I've loved it because I've been so giggly...... And yes, I blame it on the pink. :)

 Pink reminds me of so many happy memories! It reminds me of my completely pink room that I shared with my cute little sister until I was 16. I was sooo excited to get out of there, but now I kind of miss it...
 Pink also reminds me of when I bought my very own pink bike with my very own money when I was 13. I was so darn happy. :)
 Pink also reminds me that I have a little niece coming in 34 days. And I just cannot wait to meet the girl. :D

Sometimes. Just for fun.

The other day I realized how blessed and happy I am.  So I will now grace you all with my list of "Sometimes...".  :)
Sometimes I like to call my family during FHE and hear their beautiful voices singing on speaker phone.
Sometimes I like that I only have one class today.
Sometimes I don't make my bed, hoping that I can get back in it to take a nap.
Sometimes when I don't make my bed I don't have time to take a nap.
Sometimes I drink lots of hot cocoa with hazelnut and get so excited for the snow.
Sometimes I get sick of glitter.
Sometimes I love that I live here.
Sometimes I go on walks to parks with cool playgrounds.
Sometimes I love watching my dysfunctional "family" of roommates.
Sometimes I go on the bus even though it takes less time to walk.
Sometimes I love driving through the canyon to see the fall colors.  Mostly all the time I love that. 
Sometimes I hate waking up to go to work, even though I love working.
Sometimes I decorate for Halloween with cheap decorations and feel like a poor college student.
Sometimes it's fun living the life of a poor college student.
Sometimes I get annoyed when people break vacuums.
Sometimes I hate the thought that tomorrow brings Pranksta Wednesday.
Sometimes I love the thought that tomorrow brings Pranksta Wednesday.
Sometimes I just get really confused about so many things.
Sometimes I get letters from a friend in Hawaii and it makes my day.
Sometimes I get so excited to go see my family this weekend.
Sometimes I also get so excited to see Utah State dominate BYU. Heck ya. :D

Sometimes I try to stop and enjoy life as it comes. Just for fun. :)

A Change of Color.

I absolutely LOVE color.  Color plays a very necessary part in our lives,  especially in mine lately.  The trees are changing color for fall and it looks so beautiful! Especially driving through Sardine. :D My hair color has also changed.  Quite the life-changing experience for me. But it now looks lovely, thanks to my amazing sister! :) And the color in our living room was just so bland, and it needed a change.  Living in a virtually colorless apartment was just not working for me...

So I made it colorful!! :)  Thank you, Pinterest and very patient roommates that tolerated the mess for a few days. :)  This was quite the time consuming project, but every time I go in our living room/kitchen now it makes me happy. So it was definitely worth it.  :)

Sometimes life isn't always colorful though, and sometimes it's hard to break through the dark to see the color. Here on my own in college has made that extra difficult sometimes. IE bad days at work or school or even just rainy days that I lock my keys in my car can frustrate a girl. So I made a challenge for myself that changed my outlook on these potentially dark days, and it's worked extraordinarily well. The big secret is... drum roll please! Laugh it off. Be happy and let the good times roll. :) So, when life is getting you down, make sure that you stop and take one second to smile.  I promise, it'll do wonders. :)

Big Kid School.

So, once upon a time I was 5 years old. I was getting ready to go to my first day of Kindergarten and I was SO excited. I feel like that today... :) And I wanted to dedicate this picture to my mother, who so faithfully took pictures like these on the first day of school for 13 years straight. Love you, Mom! :) I just got back from my first class at the "big kid school". It was by far my easiest class, but comforting to know that every class will not be out to kill me at the beginning of December. I'm off to another class now! College is great, I've loved every minute so far. I'm such a typical, cliche little Freshman so I'm just going to go now..... :D

Following the Yellow Brick Road.

This past month has been absolutely PACKED with things I've had to do to get ready for college and moving out and yada yada yada. And now here I am, all moved out and UNpacked into my lovely new apartment! :) Let me tell you, people, it is quite exciting to say the least. Hectic and stressful and overwhelming and different and completely new, but mostly just exciting.
I had the opportunity to go to the wonderful musical Wicked with my family in July. It was simply incredible. If you ever get the chance to go, whatever you do, you MUST go. Yep. :) So naturally, I had to watch The Wizard of Oz before I went. Glinda the Good at one point says to Dorothy, "It's always best to start at the beginning -- and all you do is follow the Yellow Brick Road." So, here I am. It's 8 pm, I'm sitting all alone in my apartment, eating pizza and salad, and so excited to follow the Yellow Brick Road ahead of me. All life is is a bunch of beginnings. The road never ends, it just sometimes takes you on a few turns here and there. Right now, college is my new "turn". My new beginning.

Patient Perseverance.

Brian writing all his letters for me :)

The new job has begun! I am now officially a Preschool Teacher's Aide. I work with 3 to 4-year-olds for two hours in the mornings and they are just the cutest little kids in the world.  Three of the kids aren't native English speakers, so it makes it a little bit difficult, with one of them especially. This boy's name is Brian.  He has been at the Preschool for a year, and his previous teacher said that she didn't hear him say a word all year long. He follows his two other friends around a lot, but doesn't respond to what we tell him. He isn't disruptive at all, just a huge case of, "I don't feel comfortable talking to you, or anybody for that matter". We wanted to test his knowledge to see where he was in the learning process. So today, we were in "Centers" where they get a little bit of one on one time; I was over the "Alphabet Center" today and little Brian showed me that he knew all of his letters and he ended up being the only one in the class to do the whole alphabet and then continued to the "Math Center" where he told Mrs. Holdaway his colors.  Spoke them. Out loud. That, my friends, is a humongous deal. It's the second day of class and he has already started talking! I'm really excited for this summer, because I feel like we will be able to help him get much more comfortable talking in English. I have been reminded that patient perseverance is key.
      A few of the preschoolers:

Benjamin

Amelia

McKay

Just Because.

Petting the Sweaty Stuff:

Last night I caved. I watched a movie for the first time in a while. It was after a long (but super awesome) day at work, so who can blame a girl? I went old school. Not as old school as black and white, but from my elementary days. The First Daughter came out in 2004 staring Michael Keaton (Mr. President/Sam's dad), Katie Holmes (Sam) and the beautiful but not terribly well known Marc Blucas (James). Sam is going off to college far, far away and her mom tells her, "Don't sweat the petty stuff" and her dad adds his two bit by saying "Yeah, don't pet the sweaty stuff either". For some strange reason, that was the last bit of inspiration I needed for starting a much-needed blog about my everyday life. Why? Because I just want to, and it's not a hard thing but it does seem a bit overwhelming to get going. Because I hope that it can be a journal of sorts. Because I want to be able to keep people back at home updated on little things that are going on when I'm at college (GO AGGIES! :)) And because when I offhandedly told my daddy this morning that I was going to start going to single's ward tomorrow he got teary-eyed and said, "I'm missing you already, and you haven't even gone anywhere yet." So this is for you, Dad. Because I want to be able to show you pictures of what's going on at college. Because no matter where I am in the world, home will always be where I have you and mom and my family.