Theres no place like home....

*There's no place like home*
*There's no place like home*
*There's no place like home*

For the past 4 months, thats all I could think. I couldn't wait to get back home! And now... I'm here.. and I want to go back to school. But I'm not going to. For the next few months I'll be here. Working. Saving money.

It'll be good to be home for a while... I think :)

I love my family. I'm happy to be here. Even if I don't act like it a lot of the time. I need to work on that...

What I've learned lately.

I've been emailing one of my old EFY counselors for the past 3 weeks or so and this is what we have figured out together.

We are given friendship to uplift us, not drag us down.

You pick your friends. Don’t let them pick you.
-You need to WANT to be your friends friend for some reason other than the fact that they want to be friends with you.

“He that loveth not knoweth not God” John 4:8

-Apply this to your life. Love everyone and try to see them as your Father in Heaven sees them. Everyone deserves to be treated as a child of God, because we all are. It’d not just you and it’s not just me-try to see His children through Heavens eyes- not just your own. Also remember to look at yourself in this regard as well. Because you are His child. You deserve to be around people who treat you this way. Also remember that to have friends you have to be a friend. So live the golden rule, but don’t let someone walk all over you. Friendships and Friends are not perfect.

Sometimes you get burned out and other times you really just don’t feel like helping people (everybody gets this way) because after a while if seems like no one will help you. But don’t think that way. Father in Heaven is always there for you.

When you help others, you help yourself. Charity is the most essential thing you can ever learn to practice in your life. It’s hard and its not something you get worldly rewards for. But when you help others, you help yourself. And someday someone will help you. Actually I’d rather phrase it this way. Someday someone will save you. They’ll save you from yourself and you’ll save them from theirself. That’s what love is about. And love isn’t just about romance. It’s about everything. We were given all the opportunities we were given so that we can excel and those oppertunities were given to us because HE LOVE YOU. If you don’t remember anything else I’ve said remember that. Love is the key ingrediant throughtout life. If you don’t, you have nothing. But you have to make that love for yourself.

Life Hurts. It’s always going to hurt. And its never going to stop. But that’s what makes it so incredible. I feel alone more than ever, even when I am with my friends here. But it’s ok. It is completely ok.

Life is sticky. It’s a mess, But learn to love it, because it you don’t you never will.

A few weeks ago I reached a point in my life when I realized that I am never going to be the smartest, the prettiest, the fastest, the most talented, and since then, everything has started to go a lot better. Because no one is all of those things.

The Lord doesn’t make mistakes, and He made ME.

Mother Dear I Love You SOO

While I was growing up, it was completely normal for me to come home from school to a plate of warm fresh baked cookies and a glass of milk. To hear "I love you" at LEAST 15 times a day. To get a hug and a kiss EVERY single time I got out of the car, no matter how embarrassing it was at the moment. To have a lunch sitting there all packed up and ready for me to take to school, ofter times everything in the lunch had a common theme like... circles or red, with a little note on the napkin saying how much I'm loved. To be able to come to my mom with homework problems and somehow, she always knew the answer.

To have a calender every summer that was completely hand made, with something fun to do on each day. Mondays= service day, and there would be a specific thing we would do for someone written on the day, Tuesdays= Library day, and there would be a topic we would find books on that day and we would study them until the next Tuesday. Wednesday= field trip day, where would go to the zoo or the museum, or the park, Thursday= activity day, making mud pies in the back yard, playing in the hose, stuff like that. Friday was friend day. Then there were themes for weeks. such as CRAZY CEREAL WEEK.

It wasn't a surprise for me to see at least one member of my family at pretty much every single performance I have ever been in. Then of course, afterwards it was a given that we would go out for ice cream.
Eating a home cooked meal together as a family happened pretty much every night.

I thought it was normal. I thought thats how all families were.

But then I came to college and I'm finding out how rare that actually is. I've always loved my mom, but I never actually realized how incredibly amazing she is. How she manages to go above and beyond the call of duty in her mommy job, and still have time to do other things. like being the young womans president, having a social life, somehow finding time to cut out coupons and then actually use them, to be able to go shopping with her teenage girls and know all about the lately styles and trends, and even dresses herself amazingly well too. And she runs marathons. And spends time with each child to know what is going on in their life, and tries to be as supportive as possible.

My Mom is without a doubt the most wonderful woman in the entire world. And I want her to know that. To know how much I really do love her. And how amazing she is, and what a great job she is doing at being the best mom in the world. I know I wasn't the easiest kid to raise, and that is probably why she got me. because she is the perfect mom for me. if anyone else was my mom, I would probably have ended up...well... not where I am right now.
Moving away from home is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but I'm ok. I'm doing ok because I KNOW that my mom loves me, and she taught me how to love everything, and to choose to have a good attitude about things I don't like. I know that she is always there for me. Even when I text her at 3 in the morning to tell her that the entire dorm building has been evacuated because someone threw smoke bombs down the hallway, and now I am standing outside FREEEEZING to death and just thought I would tell her, she texted me back. (and again, Sorry about that...)

Mom, I LOVE you!!!!!! VERY VERY MUCH!! and I just wanted you to know.


I love you more than I love putting limes in a bowl.....

You know you're in college when....

quarters are like gold
two meals a day is standard
ROAD TRIP whenever possible
going to the mailbox was never an ego booster/breaker before
you will begin to nap again.
your bookstore bill will almost equal your tuition
squirt guns=stress relief.
e-mail become your second language
college students throw airplanes too!
you never realized SO Many people were smarter than you!
Western Europe could be wiped out by a horrible plague and you'd never know, but you can recite last weeks 'America's next top model' verbatim.
you will never rent more movies in your life
No one is too old for video games.
care packages are right up there with birthdays.
Campus is only clean for family weekend and freshman orientation
it never sucked so much to get sick!
nothing you want to register for will be open.
beware of the freshman 15
be creative in the dining hall!
classes: The later the better
You are no longer thankful that fire alarms are here to protect you.
Asleep by 2:30 AM is an early night
cereal makes a meal any timeof the day
New additions to food groups: Sams club soda, Ramen, an dPizza
ATMs and the devils advocate.
Duct tape heals all wounds
Keys have never been so important, yet you seem you seem to lose them more.
Showers become less important, sleep becomes more important.
you realize College in the ideal life style. Except for those pesky classes
Procrastination is an art form.
Jeans may be wore as many times as the wearer desires
the only time to dress up is when all your jeans are dirty
you'll eat anything if its free.
Cartoons are for all ages
No matter how Hard you try..... You are Never Alone.
A canceled class is almost better than christmas.
You will need to buy air freshener. Period.
Caffeine is an addition.
You can Never have enough snacks or money.
you can go trick or treating again!
You can go into wal-mart at any time of the night and see at least 10 people from your school shopping there too.
white boards become cool again.
you swear someone keeps stealing your socks.
skittles now count at a serving of fruit and potato chips are servings of vegetables.
Mom's home meals never looked so good.
the only time you meet a lot of people in your building at only is during a power outage.
you hear everything thats goig on in your neighbors room.
you would rather buy more clothes than wash them,
Febreeze is a MUST HAVE!

TP

How much toilet paper would you guess 4 18 year old girls would go through on any given day? A roll, many a roll and a half? I think that seems pretty reasonable...
The FOUR of us together are going through close to 5 rolls a DAY. I wish I was kidding. The only reasonable conclusion we have been able to come to is that Someone is actually EATING the toilet paper....





This is the sign that is now posted in the bathroom:



1. 4 squares at MOST.
(If you poop, fold it over. NO exceptions)
2. No blowing noses. Tissue is in Trish's room on top of the microwave!
3. Use Every Last Bit! change the role when you have used the last of it.
4. NO EATING
5. Use only for potty purposes. (no makeup, spills, ect.)

Moving-out Moving-In

Walking into my Dorm building for the first time was probably one of the most scary experiences of my life. all around me were people unloading cars, hauling stuff up the stairs, hugging parents, crying, and laughing. I grabbed onto my moms hand and held on tight as we walked in and got into the registration line. After receiving my room floor and number a girl wearing a black "Adams State College RA" shirt came bounding out of nowhere, grabbed my hand, and took off up 3 flights of stairs, pointing at random buildings out the windows, talking about a mile a min. as if she only had 10 minuets left to live and she needed to pass on every single bit of information she had ever learned or suspected about the schools history, campus, and its teaching staff. When we arrived on my floor, she pointed out which room was mine, and went running off down the stairs again to go help some other poor unsuspecting victim.

I looked at my mom, who was looking back at me with an expression similar to having just gotten off a roller coaster ride at 6 flags. We walked into the room and looked around. there were men carrying massive amounts of stuff into on of our rooms but I didnt see any college looking girls. We went back downstairs and began unloading all my suitcases, boxes, and bags. I guess you never really realized how much stuff a girl can accumulate through out the first 18 years of her life until you need to drag it all up 3 flights of unconditioned stairs...

By the time I got back upstairs and begin unpacking, 2 of my roommates had arrived, both of them with SO much stuff I was amazed it could fit in the room. About one hour and 2 Wal-Mart trips later our last and final roommate checked in. Her and her mom brought up all of her stuff in a grand total of 2 loads, and were completely done unpacking within the hour.

After helping me get settled in and making sure I had everything that I would need for the next 3 months I said good-bye to mom and dad and watched them walk down the hall and turn the corner. I went back into my room and sat on my bed. So there I was. An 18 year old girl, completely alone, in a town the size of a peanut shell.... So now what?
I heard my roommates laughing in their room, so I went over to see what was going on. They had successfully managed to fit 2 refrigerators, 2 microwaves, 2 computers, 2 fans, multiple shelves, sporting equipment,a television,an xbox, a game cube, and their entire summer/fall/winter/spring wardrobes into their room along with their Beds, dressers and desks. Wow. When they saw me, they immediately ran over to me and hugged me as tight as possible as we all fell onto the bed laughing. Then we got out the guitar and began playing the never-ending game of guitar hero.........
This year is going to be....interesting.

Tips for working at Taco Bell

10. Chihuahua's do not actually eat at Taco Bell
9. You're pretty much either a Burrito person, or you're not. Get over it.
8. When you come through the drive through, we just assume its 'To Go'. you don't need to tell us.
7. Supreme = with sour cream
6. Drive through is RARELY the fastest way to get your food
5. Learning spanish is not necessary. To communicate with the back room workers, just add el and O to everything. As in "I need el wiping towelo " EL WIPING TOWELO!
4. Talking louder will not make people understand you any better.
3. Beano doesn't work All the time
2. If you make static noises while talking to people on the Drive Thru speaker, they will automatically begin talking very loudly and slowly.
1. Even the most normal caucasian whitey-tighty Americans suddenly develope an accent like they just jumped that non-existent border fence from Mexico while ordering their food ("I'd like a Burrrrrrrrrrrito Suprrrrrrrrrrreme por favor!")