And Now Life Has Begun

Wow wow wow! The last few months just FLEW by! I really should update this more often, but when I finally find time I end up being social, gross right?

So much to say in so little space! Lets see, Summer was AWESOME!!! I had so much fun hanging out with all my friends. I went on a few dates, which is great because now I can say that I sort of have (or had) a dating life! I went cliff jumping a few times and paddle boarding a few times, zip lining in Park City, celebrating a birthday or two, or six, with some very good friends, and played a radical game of capture the flag with paint guns. Not to mention our late night movies and the million times we played games. There was so much more to this summer than can be said here and now! After being blessed with amazing roommates I think  I was supposed to learn to live with people I didn't get along with. This summer there was the slob, the mom, the rude one, and the workaholic. Luckily, I was rooming with the workaholic and we got along very well. I definitely learned a lot from them, and I will definitely be teaching my children how to live, LIKE ADULTS, on their own before they actually move out so that they aren't the roommate nobody can stand. It sounds rude but if you have lived on your own you definitely know what I'm talking about! Unless you are the one that nobody can stand... ;)

Next on the list: I lost my job at Call Assistant in the beginning of the summer and shortly after that I decided that I was supposed to serve a mission.   I got my papers all filled out and I actually submitted them and my call was on the way when I decided to wait to serve, the timing was not right. So I postponed my call, undid my leave of absence from Utah State, filed for financial aid, and registered for classes. What a trip it has been! After all the hustle to get into school, I accepted a position at Herberger's, a department store in the mall. I'm about a month in and it has been great! It is an easy job and it is nice to have an income again, and I can honestly say that I am very excited to get to pay tithing again because I have such a strong testimony of the blessings you can receive from paying a full tithe.

And now life has begun...

School is great, my grades aren't suffering just yet. I'm taking Anthropology, Religious Studies, Social Work, Yoga, Institute, and FCHD and these classes all work together so well! It seems like every time I learn about a new topic in one class, it helps me understand something better in another class, even yoga! Its been so good so far. Jessica and Kyle FINALLY got engaged! Good new for everyone because now I get to move back into Old Farm next semester. That is if I have enough money to do so... but so far that it what I am counting on. My birthday is coming up fast, just 2 more months! Crazy, eh? I'll be 20 years old, I do wish I could stay 20 forever. I'll probably say the same thing at 21, 22, 23, and 24! Up until like 28 and I'll be wishing I was 20 again. My new ward is SOOO much fun! It is full of a lot of really young guys thins year but that's okay. I have been making lots of friends, even living at home. I am meeting lots of new people on and off campus, at work, at activities, in my ward, in my classes, and it has been so amazing! I wish I would have been this friendly last year because it is so much more fun. It has been such a blast though, I am keeping busy with school and work but I've also been doing all sort of fun things with my friends! Country swing dancing is one of our things we all like to do together, I'm actually getting pretty good. Not to mention all of our movie nights, temple trips, and dance parties that we have.

I love all my friends and I am so thankful for their examples to me and all the love and kindness they show me, especially my "roommates" They are such a blessing in my life and I don't know (and don't want to know) where I would be without them. The church is so good you guys! I love this gospel and the many blessings I receive from being a part of it. I am so thankful for the knowledge I have of my savior and his Atonement, for the knowledge I have of the next life and God's love for me. I love my ward and my calling and I will aways to everything I can to expand my calling as much as possible. The church is true and the church is good.

XOXO :)

Time to Say Goodbye

Today is the day, Taylor is on her way to New Hampshire as we speak! I am so excited for her! I am taking over all her social medias so I just can't wait to start getting letters and pictures. She is going to be such an amazing missionary. I am excited to watch her change and grow as her testimony gets stronger. What a great experience!

I haven't had any awesome summer experiences yet, its just been so great overall. I've been hanging out with the neighbor boys lately for a number of reasons, let me walk you through it:

1. They are boys, and boys are cute! Especially these ones! 
2. Boys have no drama, they just go with the flow and do whatever they want.
3. They are very oblivious, this means I can practice my flirting and see what actually works. So far I  haven't made any progress.
4. They are great company!

AND NOW... FOR THE GRAND FINALE...

I have decided to start my mission papers! I am so excited!! It is the best feeling in the world to have a goal in mind and to have something to work towards. I was supposed to get surgery in May, as soon as school got out but May came and went and I never heard anything. I decided to call the surgeon and see what was going on. I was hoping for him to say something along the lines of, "Sorry it took so long, but we can do the surgery whenever you are ready!" Instead I was told that I had two options, I could wait a year to get yet another bone scan, or I would replace by joint with a rib on top of all the other procedures. At first I didn't even think about a mission, and I was so upset that my mom wanted to wait the year because all I could think about was what happened when I have waited a year and I'm still growing? I just wanted this to be over with already! But then my mom mention a mission. Before I knew I had to get surgery I really wanted to serve a mission, but because of the surgery I just figured that would never happen. When I talked about a mission with Sarah or Taylor they kept telling my that I should plan on a mission and if I felt like I should go on a mission then I should go and I remember always saying that is I was supposed to serve a mission the Lord would make it work out, and he did. What a blessing! The Lord has need for me somewhere in the world and I am so blessed and so excited to go on this adventure! I am so excited to grow and learn and gain a stronger testimony and a stronger foundation in the gospel. 

The Lord can work wonders and he will bless us so much as long as we are doing what he askes and trusting in his time frame and have faith that he can do all things! I have such a strong testimony of this gospel and I am so blessed to be a part of this church! This church is true!

Mich love :) xoxo

S U M M E R T I M E

It's finally SUMMER!! Moving out is almost more stressful that finals, and unpacking is my least favorite thing to do, but summer has already been a blast and it's only been a few days! I have friends to hang out with and cute boys to be around, I am so excited for the rest of summer. There will be plenty of late nights, movies to watch, and lots of bonfires!

This weekend I am going down to West Jordan for Rachel's Missionary shower! I am so excited for her to go on a mission, she is going to be such an amazing missionary! She has always been such a good example to everyone around her and is always so kind and loving. She is always laughing, and let me tell you... her laugh is so contagious! Whenever I hear her laugh, even if I don't know why, it always makes me giggle.

It has been so weird not living with these girls, I spent almost 9 months living with them , they are my best friends and I couldn't have asked for better roommates. I'm so glad we got to become so close. I'm also glad that they don't live on the other side of the country so I'll still get to see them every now and then.  SLUMBER PARTY!

Next week I'll start working the morning shift, 6-2, am I excited to wake up at 5? Nope. Am I excited to double my paycheck? Yep! I am hoping that I will be able to get my sleep schedule on track, but until then caffeine will be my new best friend. I'm going to try to stick with the morning shift for next semester and see how that works out for me. I'm worried that because I'm a night owl I'll still stay up all hours of the night hanging out with friends, even though I have to wake up early. WOW! It just hit me that I'm a sophomore now... I actually survived freshman year! I managed to stay single, and tattooless. I should get a reward for that.  I've also decided to learn to play the ukulele, I'm so dedicated that I bought a cute blue one!

I'm so excited to see what the summer holds, so much will happen and so much will change! Will I survive?! I guess you will just have to hang around and find out!

Much Love :) xoxo

A Lifetime of Conversion

I want to yell at the top of my lungs how grateful I am for this Gospel! Its been amazing week, I've been so filled with the spirit with so many experiences I don't even know where to start!

On Friday Al Fox Caraway, more commonly known as "The Tattooed Mormon",

   

came to Utah State and shared her story and her testimony and I learned some very valuable lessons. She taught me that even though I have "tattoos" of my own, or sins from my past, God doesn't see them. To him, I am cleansed and my skin is no longer marked with my mistakes. I am so thankful for the Atonement for the blessings that I can receive from taking advantage of it and using it as much as possible. Without that I would be accountable for all the tattoos I have and all of the mistakes I have made. How grateful I am that we have been given a way to cleanse ourselves and start fresh every week. She also taught me that the Gospel is a way of life. When we are baptized, or even every time we take the sacrament, we are making a commitment that we will follow our Savior. We are making a commitment to God that we will follow his commandments. My favorite thing that she said was that you either choose to always try, or you don't. She choose for herself that she would always try, everyday! She would never ever stop, and never take a break. When you take a break that is when fear and doubt sets in and that is when the devil tries his hardest to influence you to do wrong. I loved hearing her story and how far she has come. She talked about how much her Missionaries influenced her, even though they didn't feel like they were making a difference at all. I read her blog and follow her social medias but seeing her in person was such a powerful and life changing experience for me.

On Saturday night we had the evening session of Stake conference. We had to elders from the quorum of the 70 come and speak to us, Elder Clark and Elder Porter. I missed the beginning but when I got there they had four college students from Utah State up on the stand for a panel. Two were recent converts and the other two were recently reactivated. They shared their stories and bore their testimonies and it was just so amazing to hear how far they had all come in their lives. It was a great experience to be able to hear the stories of people just like you and me, to learn about all their hardships and everything they had to go through, yet their testimonies were at an all time high. They were still learning and growing and still overcoming hard things but their faith was strong! I want to continue to strive to be more like these people, to overcome my trials through faith and repentance.

On Sunday we had our  general session of conference, and had the privilege to hear Elder Porter and Elder Clark again. They focused on living a Christ centered life, service, and being a good example to all those around you. One thing that really stood out to me was when Elder Clark talked about having a Christ centered apartment. He taught us that we should be preparing now for our future families by having a Christ centered apartment by having apartment council, and apartment prayer. It really stuck with me because if we are comfortable enough to do that now they we will be comfortable enough to do that with our future spouses and our future families. The Gospel is something that we should never ever be ashamed of. It is who we are and what we do and the only person whose opinion matter is our Savior's and our Father in Heaven. Always remember who you are and what you stand for!

One common theme through out the whole week that really stood out to be was that we can never forget why we are here, we can never take a break, we always have to push to be our best and to do our best. Al Fox is a great example of this, she decided that she was never going to stop. She was never going to take a break because that's when fear and doubt sets in and you start second guessing yourself and the gospel. She is going to constantly be living the Gospel and trying everyday to be her best and she is going to become a little more converted each day. One thing that the Elder from the 70 taught was that with each person we have 7 occurrences before we are willing to accept the gospel. Meaning each one of us could be someone else's first, fourth, or even seventh. We could be the answer to someone else's prayers, but what if we decided to take a break that day? We can NEVER stop. We always have to do our best and be our best so we are always influencing good everywhere we go. Elder Clark shared a story about an old toolbox and how it was filled with old bolts,bent screws, and used and tattered tools. However, the owner  never threw anything away because he always found a use for everything in the box sooner or later. We always need to remember that God always has a need for us. Sometimes we might feel stuck, like we are in a rut. But we must always push forward with Faith and remember that God knows our path and as a plan in mind for us. We can never give up or stop trying our best to live the gospel because everyone around us is affected by our actions, words, and even our thoughts. One of my favorite quotes goes like this,

"Your beliefs become your thoughts,

Your thoughts become your words,Your words become your actions,Your actions become your habits,Your habits become your values,Your values become your destiny.”― Mahatma Gandhi

What an amazing lesson we can learn! Every single thing we do affects all those people around us. We must always remember Christ in our everyday life so that we never forget who we are, what we stand for, and what our mission is. We must always put Christ first in our life and if we can do that. then everything will follow. I love this Gospel and If anyone in the world actually reads what I write, I hope you can learn a lesson too.

Much love :) xoxo

Boys Have Cooties

Go to college they said, it will be fun they said. Its crazy how time flies, I feel like it was just yesterday when I graduated high school! So much has happened since I've moved up here. I am now engaged and I changed my major to mechanical engineering! Totally kidding, did I scare you? I scared myself a little bit just saying that! Anyway, forget all this mumbo jumbo, lets get into it!

College has been treating me so well! Its is the new semester and I'm taking more credits than I was last semester but its almost easier than it was last semester! My roommates and I are all very good friends, which is so awesome! Sometimes we have some drama but its easily resolved. We all have very similar standards and views so its super easy to get along with them. I love them all to death! Next year they plan on living at Old Farm but only Sarah and I plan on living together. Its a good thing, that way I will be able to get to know their new roommates and we will all have even more friends! I'm way excited! Next up:

SURGERY! Oh boy am I excited! It is coming fast! I had a consultation and we are planning on early May, depending on if I am still growing or not at the time. Its going to be a very long recovery. Wanna hear? The 6 weeks right after the surgery are the most crucial for healing so I will be on a "No Chew" diet. Meaning I get to eat everything through a straw for a week then for 5 more weeks I get to eat mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs! Then I have to ease myself into the chewing stage so that I don't screw anything up and end up having to get surgery again. Right now I'll just be getting X-rays and waiting for school to finish. It is a scary thing but I have been waiting so long for this, I can't wait! It will be hard but it will be so worth it.

Now for the best part.... my awful dating story! I should win an award with this one! Where do I begin? I'm not going to share names so for the purpose of this story my mysterious man is Johnny! So Johnny and I met at church, at first I didn't have my eye on him but one Sunday he sat by me in Sunday school. That was probably the first time we had a real conversation (Beyond "hi, how are you?") and I realized HE WAS SO CUTE! I didn't make any moves but after he sat next to me in Sunday school a few more times I decided to show that I was into him by inviting him to a movie night! Then we sat by each other at ward prayer and he asked me to go ice skating on a date with him. HECK YES! I'm thinking, "Well basically we are going to get married now because he is perfect." Then after ward prayer we went to his apartment and watched a movie and then just hung out all night long, literally until like one in the morning. So then the next day we go ice sating and get lunch and the conversation just flowed, it was so fun! I definitely thought there was something there. That night he came over to our apartment for a movie and game night, and I was basically drooling the whole time. Things just clicked and I had this small hope that there was something between us. Saturday was Utah State's last hockey game for their regular season so I invited Johnny because he is also a hockey fan. Now I want you to know this was not a date but I did say, "You should come with me to the hockey game." Johnny was going to the temple that afternoon so he just decided to meet us at the rink. We get there and I save Johnny a seat next to me, but guess what? HE BROUGHT A FRIGGIN GIRL. Yeah, you heard me right, a girl. So my first though was. "Okay, this is okay. She is just a friend!" OHHH NO. Definitely not just a friend. Johnny not only completely zoned me out but he held her hand and has his arm around her and they flirted and were all cute while I just sat there. Talk about awkward!! Not only that but after the game they just got up and left and he didn't even say bye to me. Apparently I like guys that are taken because that isn't even the first time that has happened! I decided to just give up on Johnny. That was a HUGE downer to my self-esteem, I felt so awkward and belittled. It wasn't the fact that he definitely has a girl or even the fact that he brought her to the game its that he sat next to me with her. GO SIT SOMEWHERE ELSE FOR GOODNESS SAKE. Come on, Johnny! Anyway, I think that is a sign that nobody should try to date their freshman year of college! (Or that I am just destined to be a crazy dog lady) Either way, take my advice and make sure the guy you want to date doesn't have a girlfriend.

I am so excited to continue to see where life takes me. Its so exciting to see how much I've accomplished in just six months. I hope you stay a while for the journey!

Much love :) xoxo

Strangers

Hello strangers! I think it's safe to say that November and December are CRAZY BUSY! I thought it was supposed to be a break? I'm sorry you had to miss so much of my exciting life of Netflix, Family Feud, all nighters, and plenty of Mountain Dew to go around. Let me catch you up...

November:
I'M FINALLY 19!! Holy cow, I'm old! Its a weird feeling knowing that this year I'll be turning 20... but let's not think about that. Oh it was also Thanksgiving, which happened to be on my birthday this year... cool? Not only that but it was finals week... yay? I did pass all my classes so go me, and it's always fun to have an apartment all to myself for the breaks!

December:
I can't believe that Christmas already came and went and I'm about to start my second semester of school. Things are just flying by! All my roommates and the neighbors left for the break so I just hung out at my house with my dog, parents, and little brothers. We had lots of fun doing nothing and watching Netflix. It was very relaxing. However, I also had tons of errands to run and lots of working to do, no fun! It surprised me how different it was without roommates around and I realized how easy it would be for me to get into trouble if I wasn't surrounded with amazing people all the time. I am so thankful for my roommates and my friends that keep me on the right path to make good choices. Anyway, Christmas came and went and I was sent home with plenty of leftovers, a full tummy, and arm fulls of junk. This Christmas was different than any other though because I was more focused on getting to spend time with my family and giving the gifts rather than receiving them. I love my family and I loved the time I got to spend with them.

January:
NEW YEARS! I can not believe its already 2015! Big things are happening this year, lots of missionaries will be coming home, I'll finish my freshman year of college, get surgery, turn 20, and there is always a possibility of marriage (ew). I am so excited for what lies ahead and I'm so excited to make this my best year yet!

Much love :)

Meet The Crew

I know you have all been wondering, "Who are all these 'friends' Kamille talks about?" Well, today is your lucky day! Now I don't want anyone to get too jealous because I have a pretty awesome group of friends! Where do I even begin??

Lets start with my roomies!

I couldn't ask for better roommates, there are 6 of us in our 3 bed, one and a half bath apartment. It sounds tight, but its not squishy unless we all decide to use the kitchen at the same time. Sarah Scott is my roomie, she is the best there is! She is always in a good mood except at 8 in the morning, but she always has a smile on her face and is so easy to talk to. She can lighten anyone's day and is really good at falling up the stairs! Next we can talk about Rachel and Charity, the terrible twosome. When we first moved in and I didn't know anyone I was pretty sure they hated me or at least thought I was a freak. As time has gone on and we have all gotten to know each other better I have realized that they really do think I'm a freak! I love these two, Charity is very witty and can always find a way to make me laugh. She is super friggin' pretty and is so kind to everyone around her. Rachel is just so great! Her laugh is contagious, it doesn't matter why she is laughing, she can always make me laugh. She is such a great example to all of us. Sarah Isaac and Jessica have a very close relationship, its so fun to just sit back and watch them! Jessica keeps us all on her toes and keeps the apartment in order, and is so much fun to be around! She has a very dry humor, she tells things how they are, its hilarious! Sarah Isaac is the cutest girl you'll ever meet! I predict that she will be the first one in our apartment to get married. She is so sweet to everyone and always has a smile on her face. She is always fun to be around and can make anyone crack a smile.

And now everyone else!

 The boys next door are the best friends that we have at Old Farm. We met them a week or two into the school year and ever since that night we haven't gone a day without hanging out. There is Keagan, Kelton, Mitchell, Tyler, Bryce, Jory, and there was Nate. They are known as "the boys" and we basically do everything together! Keagan drives a Jeep (Yes, I have asked him to marry me) so we are always going up the canyon to find mud! That is probably, no definitely my favorite thing to do. Other than that we are always watching movies, eating sweets, or playing games. They are all a blast to be around and such great guys. They are all freshman and most are planning to serve missions. They are such great examples to all of us and are always keeping me out of trouble! I couldn't have asked for better friends!

The Lord has blessed me so much and I am so grateful for all the people that have entered my life. I learn so much everyday about myself and I am growing into the person I want to become. I am influenced to much be these amazing people and I would never give that up! I love all of these guys (and gals) and I hope that our friendships can last for a long time!

Much love :)