Its How I Roll

So, graduation is in about a month, and I don't know quite what to think of that fact.  I need to start working on a grad school application and studying for the GRE. This summer and this semester has been full of firsts. Most good firsts, some not.

• Went to Cafe Paesan. 
• Tried cream cheese on a bagel and loved it. 
• Made homemade bread in the oven. 
• Failed cleaning checks.
• Worked at and went through some very scary haunted houses. 
• Went to a football and a basketball game by myself. Yeah.. I love the cougars that much!
• Watched Tommy Boy.
• Snorkeled with Sea Turtles and other tropical fish.
• Went to Hawaii
• Bought a Blu-Ray Player
• Tried Cereal with Milk again, and remembered why I hate it. 
• Tried Grilled Cheese and decided it was ok.

List TBC...

Childlike Fun

Ok, so your birthday is like the one day of the year when you get to feel like a little kid again and it is just fine! Its that one day of the year that you can expect to be treated like you are in elementary school again, but in the best way possible. Girls get to dress up like princesses if they want for another day and parade around like they world revolves around them, and guys get to revert back to the days when the cool little gadgets and Tonka trucks were enough to waste hours on, at least I still see birthday's that way. Its a day when people get to celebrate you, and this week, not only do I get to celebrate me, but I get to celebrate some amazing friends I've made and friendships I've strengthened who just happen to share the same magical 7 day span with me this year, so like another friend who is honoring September birthdays, I've instead chose to honor the magical 7 day period in which I get lucky enough to share my Birthday with multiple of those who I'd like to think of, reverting back to elementary school again, as "BFFs."

Joey, I hope you don't mind I copied you on this one, but hey, Birthday buddies forever right?
Let's start at the very beginning, the very best place to start...(Points if you can name that movie)

Megan Riney and Tia Burton: September 23 & 25- Wedding dress and far right :)

Not very many people can say that they met their best friends when they were in Kindergarten, or even earlier, however lucky of us, we can.  You are two of the best friends I've ever had. I hope the following memories will bring a smile to both of your faces. Cabbage Patch Club, Christmas Parties, Madrigal Dinner, Band/Color Guard, Show Choir, Scary Movies, Hayride Birthday Parties, Lunches at Shana's and many more to come I'm sure. Thanks you two for so graciously sharing your birthday week with me every year. :)

Joey Whitaker: September 29- Far Left

Ahh, Joey, I thought it was cool having two of my best friends with birthdays so close to mine, but if 2 is awesome, why not add a third right? I've heard that shared experiences and memories connect people not only across time but space as well. I hope that the memories we have had together mean as much to you as they do to me and that we have many more. Thanks for being a great friend and for never giving up on me. We met at a hard time for both of us, and what better way to become friends than to help each other out. Thanks Joey for the good times and I'm excited for more to come.

Don't be afraid to dream big, your dreams will take you far.

A Few of My Favorite Things

• Bubble bath
• The sun shining through the windows, warming the world
• Rainbows
• Chocolate
• Notes from Friends
• Back Rubs
• The Ocean
• Cute Shoes
• A Blanket and Pillow
• Popsicles in the Summer
• Smiles
• When a Cute boy smiles at me
• Learning about the World
• Sand between my toes
• Sandcastles
• Ice Cream
• Dove Chocolate
• Good Music
• Singing and Dancing in my apartment/room
• Reading
• Realizing that someone or something is extraordinary
• Perfectly sunny days
• Thunderstorms with Lightning
• People who aren't afraid to just be who they are
• Sunday afternoon naps
• When the leaves change
• A Dress or Jeans that fit just right
• Mexican food
•  

My Top Ten (Part 1)

Since I am coming close to getting to all of the 50 United States before I hit the age of 25 it is about time to expand my horizons and let you all in on a little secret..so here it goes. These are the first three of my top ten (or eleven) places I would love to visit most in the world outside of the United States (they aren't in any particular order). I got my love for traveling from my Grandparents who went nearly everywhere in the world before my grandpa passed away in his mid 70s.

1. Santorini and Athens, Greece: I mean who wouldn't want to visit the beautiful white buildings and cathedrals, green rocky cliffs and the bluest ocean views, quite possibly ever. Ancient Athens and the Parthenon are nice perks as well. If that isn't enough, how about the mountain of Olympus or the beautiful beaches.  I used to want to study Archaeology and with all of the ancient Grecian ruins and artifacts, this place would be a truly amazing, historical place to get lost in.

.

2. Germany & the Netherlands/Holland-  I chose to group these into one because I discovered that if I don't, I really have eleven places I would absolutely love to visit, but then it wouldn't be a top ten list now would it?

German Chocolate, the name Heidi, my family, German Pancakes, all of the delicious pastries and deserts I have heard about and the green rolling countrysides with little towns settled in between them. Hamburg, Cathedrals, the list goes on and on of the great things that are in and come from Germany.   What more could you want?

Holland: Tulips, Windmills, Amsterdam, Haarlem, Futbol (aka Soccer!), canals, old, wooden shoes, riding bikes through fields of flowers, castles, the port cities. Everything is easy to love when its Dutch..

Fun Fact: Did you know there is a city in Holland in which there are no streets for driving, you have to travel from place to place, and house to house on the river ways in a canoe or paddle boat! Love that!

3. London, England. The REAL land of Harry Potter, Big Ben, London Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Abbey Road, Double Decker Buses, a beautifully large ferris wheel, small towns and the beautiful countryside, castles, museums and cathedrals. Enough said.

4. Rome and Tuscany, Italy.  A picture is worth a thousand words, and I have two that I believe are worth about twice that many. Decide for yourself.

5. The Igazu Waterfalls on the border between Argentina and Brazil. Once again in my opinion one picture says it all.  Bonus: In Argentina I can kind of speak the language and there is so much untouched beauty in both of these countries, I will never get bored.

Rainbows over Provo

I got the chance to teach Relief Society today in my ward and our lesson was on covenants. It made me think of all the wonderful promises God has given us if we just keep the covenants we have made with him.  We talked about Noah and the sign of God's covenant with him to never flood the earth again, which is manifested over and over again with the sign of the rainbow. 

As I get older I don't know if I notice the little things more, or if I look for them more, but lately I have noticed the hand of God in my life almost daily.  I was reading in the lesson I gave about how if we do what we say we will, the Lord is BOUND to do what he has promised us in return.  These rainbows can be daily reminders that God has not forsaken us and that he will never leave us alone or comfortless.

One last quick thought.  Rainbows remind me of my brother, Kevin who is currently on his mission to the Las Vegas Nevada West Mission speaking Spanish. I don't know if he knows this, but the day I dropped him off at the MTC, as I drove away a rainbow appeared in the sky over Provo and in the year since he has been gone I have seen more rainbows than any year previously. The Lord knows each of us individually and knows what we are going through. That rainbow was my little reminder from God.  There was a double rainbow today.

Thanks for the Memories...and for Friends

I have had a hard time focusing on the positive in my life lately and recognizing the support of those around me who love and want to help me.  So here it goes, a thank you to all those who have helped me so much these past few weeks, I'm sorry that some of you will probably never see this post, but for those 2 or 3 of you that do, Thanks for your support. I am going to word this in the form of a Gratitude journal. Enjoy. 

I'm grateful for the time we had.

I'm grateful for the memories we made. 

I'm grateful for the pictures we took and the friends we made together. 

I'm grateful for your courage and strength. 

I'm grateful for your knowledge and growth.

I'm grateful that you let me be a part of your testimony that will some day influence hundreds if not thousands of people. 

I'm grateful for the blessings from Nick Purse, Ryan Rodriguez, Shawn Loftin, David Felstead and John Christensen.

I'm grateful for the blessings from Dad, Doug Hamilton, Mario Aguirre, Wayne Manning.

I'm grateful to have Kevin as my brother who has helped our family by the blessings we have received from his willingness to share the message of our savior Jesus Christ.

I'm grateful for friendships that I have made and that continue to be improved and strengthened through this experience and old friendships that have been rekindled and that remind me that God truly loves me.

I'm grateful for true friends that have shown me that they will always be there no matter what.

I am grateful for flowers, ice cream, cookies and nice notes.

I'm grateful for family that never cease to amaze me.

I'm grateful for the heroes in my life.

I'm grateful for those willing to pass it on.

I'm grateful for those whose attitudes and outlook on life never cease to amaze me.

I'm grateful for the Dahlin family who took me in as their own for a time and supported me during the times I felt alone.

I'm grateful for my job.

I'm grateful I am blessed with the chance to be at BYU learning and making friends.

I'm grateful for the friends I have who make all of these lists. You know who you are.

I'm grateful for phone calls and notes from friends.

I'm grateful for those wise enough to follow the spirit. 

I'm grateful for anyone who I failed to mention but who has been a part of the healing process I have experienced. 

I'm grateful for parents who support me in everything I do even if they know I will fail. 

I'm grateful for the smiles in places I don't expect and for the little happy places in God's creation. 

I'm grateful for the chances that have been put in my place to be a friend to others, and I will gladly reciprocate the kindness shown to me by any who need it, in any way that I can. 

Changing modes for those of you who are sick of hearing about the things I'm grateful for...

I love the smell of rain. I love rainbows and the promise they bring. I love butterflies. I love the scriptures. I love forgiveness and repentance. I love brightness. I love the world. I love missionaries. I love the piano. I love music. I love playing the piano. I love service. I love sacrifice. I love blue skies. I love friends. I love chocolate cupcakes. I love cookies warm from the oven. I love knowing I'm loved. I love words. I love making a difference. I love changing lives.  

I know many of you are about done reading this post, but if you made it to the end, I want to hear your comments and stories about those who have changed your life and what they have done to help you. I love hearing stories of friends or loved ones who have had struggles and those who have stepped in to help. 

Romeo and Juliet

Two movies that I have seen in the past month that I loved and, of course, are about Love. Young Victoria and Letters to Juliet. Both are fantastic stories of love and how it doesn't always come as you had dreamed it would.  I also, of course, would love to pay tribute to the fantastic Pride and Prejudice and Phantom of the Opera, both of which are also fantastic love stories and are appropriate for any audience, as long as you can sit through 3 hours worth of movie.
Young Victoria:

A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert. A love that doesn't die is always worth seeing a movie about.

Letters to Juliet:

An American girl on vacation in Italy finds an unanswered "letter to Juliet" -- one of thousands of missives left at the fictional lover's Verona courtyard, which are typically answered by the "secretaries of Juliet" -- and she goes on a quest to find the lovers referenced in the letter.