An update of my life.

It has been four months since I updated this (I'm really bad at it and need to get better), so here we go.

AUGUST: I quickly realized how awful it is to work at Walmart. Working two jobs every day quickly got tiring, and I hated not being able to go to any of my ward activities and not being able to hang out with anyone if the opportunity presented itself. But I suffered through it anyway because I needed money for my mission. (I did eventually quit in October, however.) I signed up for an institute class on receiving and understanding personal revelation (which just ended this past Tuesday), and it was really awesome and eye-opening.

SEPTEMBER: I still suffered at Walmart. I was able to go to the home opener of BYU Football, which was amazing and I'm super thankful for the games I was able to go to this season since it was my last one for a while. I (sort of) spontaneously drove up to Rexburg...I say spontaneously because it was a day before my family was going up there go to Island Park. But if I had waited to go with them, I wouldn't have been able to see all of my friends. I also got to attend the devotional that Elder Holland was speaking at! The family and I went to Island Park (as a last hurrah before my mission), and it was so great to go back to my favorite place on Earth. We went into Yellowstone (even though it was cold and rainy), and even though I've been in that park at least 20 times, it is still magical to me. I love that God has blessed us with such beauty. At the end of the month my mission papers were FINALLY opened.

OCTOBER: I had finally had enough of Walmart and put in my two weeks notice. My last day was on the 17th. I also began the process to be promoted to management at Taco Bell (which helped influence the decision to quit Walmart). Due to Taysom Hill breaking his leg which resulted in NO ONE wanting to go to BYU Football games, I went to the game on the 18th for $10, as well as the other games. The last one I went to for $5! It was so much fun. I was finally able to start going to ward activities at night, and I've been able to meet some new people. I received my immunizations for my mission papers, which sucked, but I'm glad I got them over with. (Perk: they didn't hurt as much as I thought they would!)

NOVEMBER: Halfway through the month, I became a team member trainer (the lowest level of management) at Taco Bell [and received a pay raise, but that's not important. (Yes it is.)] and it has been interesting working on training people, but I love what I'm doing and everyone says I'm good at it, so it all works out. I got my dental work taken care of (which required numbing my mouth and me sounding ridiculous/hilarious). We went to Idaho for Thanksgiving, and I participated in my first Black Friday shopping in five years...and I don't want to do it again. We took family pictures while up in Idaho, and I used one of them for my mission papers.

DECEMBER: Not much has happened in the first six days of this month, except for the fact that I SUBMITTED MY MISSION PAPERS TO MY BISHOP TODAY. I have an interview with him tomorrow, and after that I'm going to figure out how to get an interview with my stake president so I can FINALLY submit my papers to Salt Lake City. My mom is hoping for a mission call by Christmas (and now that I think about it, opening my call while on Skype with my missionary brosef would be flipping sweet). This is all becoming very real and I'm going to be honest and say that I'm getting a little freaked out, but I know that this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

As I said in my last update, I'm going to try to be better at blogging, especially with my mission getting so close, but we'll see what actually happens.

This is going to be long. You have been warned.

I don’t even know where to begin.

First, please allow me to apologize for being an absent blogger since New Year’s Day…not that anyone really reads this but oh well. Life has been crazy busy with school and having two jobs during my off-track, two jobs during spring semester, and I just got a second job that will put me at working approximately 60 hours a week between the two jobs I currently have, so once I start working there I’m not going to have time for anything except food and sleep.

I guess I should give an update on my life for the last eight months…

JANUARY: For the first time in my entire college experience, I moved home for just the three-month off-track (in the middle of December, but it’s going to count as January for this post). It sucked packing up all of my junk I accumulated in the year and a half I lived in Rexburg. I put as much as I could in my car and still had to put stuff in my then-boyfriend’s truck just to get it all home. I took a week off work and all responsibility whatsoever to enjoy Christmas with my family and then went on a trip to Island Park with my then-boyfriend and his family. Island Park is my favorite place in the world because my family goes there almost every summer, but it is flipping GORGEOUS in the winter. Just look at these pictures I took. (Thank you, Sheldon!)

When I got back I immediately began working for Domino’s down here in Utah (which was the actual worst because reasons) and began the hunt for a second job. I went out with my then-boyfriend one day and gathered applications EVERYWHERE. We spent an entire afternoon filling them out while watching Iron Man 3. Ultimately I only had to turn in two applications before I was essentially hired on the spot at Taco Bell. They gave me an interview just to give the new assistant some training in that area, and I was officially hired just a few weeks into January. I loved working there for the few months that I was in Riverton and am back at that same store now that I have moved home.

FEBRUARY: The major thing that happened was I broke up with my then-boyfriend. I had a feeling that it needed to happen, so I prayed and fasted and talked to A LOT of people (including the poor guy) about it, but ultimately it needed to be my decision. We’re still friends, though. I discovered Tinder, which is dumb…yet I continuously feel the need to re-download it. I need to go on a date and soon. I made the decision to go on a mission…but didn’t tell anyone. I wanted my decision to be for me, and I wanted to be really sure I wanted to go before I told anyone. I told a few people here and there, but ultimately no one knew (even my mom and dad) until June.

MARCH: I legitimately can’t think of anything significant that happened in March, except for the one time I drove to and from Rexburg in one day because I missed everyone so much. My hours increased phenomenally once the official breakfast at Taco Bell started (my store had been serving it forever)…so I started working 40 hours at Taco Bell and 15-20 hours at Domino’s. Basically I was like a zombie. But at least now I know what to expect for working at Taco Bell and Walmart.

APRIL: I learned my lesson when moving down to Utah and miraculously got all of the “random junk” I wanted to take with me to Rexburg to fit into ONE bin. Obviously I had dishes and other stuff to take with me, but as for notebooks and paper and pictures and stuff? One bin. *thumbs up* I was put on a leave of absence at Taco Bell and quit my job at Domino’s (I will never return) and moved back to Rexburg. I started my SEVENTH semester at BYU-Idaho, started back at Domino’s in Rexburg (hallelujah) and started my other job (yes, I worked two jobs and went to school full-time…it wasn’t fun) as Assistant Copy Editor for Scroll, the campus paper.

MAY: Uh…yeah. I don’t really know what happened this month. I bought a MacBook Pro :) it was slightly terrifying signing over that much money, but it’s been one of the best purchases of my life, and I’m still learning new stuff every day. They started selling Baja Blast (which can once again only be found at Taco Bell) in stores, and I was able to get my hands on a 12-pack of it…which I finished about three days later. I wasn’t able to find a 12-pack again and settled on the bottles. I got addicted to the stuff when I worked at Taco Bell, so I was able to cheaply satisfy that addiction during this limited time offer. Now I have to buy it at Taco Bell again…and it isn’t cheap. :( I got to Skype with my brother the day before Mother’s Day! It was the best! I can’t wait for him to be home, even though that will be when I’m on my own mission :( still looking forward to it, though! He’s about to hit his one-year mark, which is so crazy because it doesn’t feel like that much time has gone by but at the same time it does? I don’t know. I won a Taco Bell t-shirt via an Internet scavenger hunt. It took a billion years to get to my apartment, but now I can wear the gloriousness whenever I wish. I got to see my family for Memorial Day, where I also got the worst sunburn I’ve had in years. It hurt to have my backpack on my shoulders, as well as any tank top or bra straps. Thank goodness for aloe vera gel. I also got to see my sisters in their dance concert :) they did so well!

JUNE: I gave my first talk in church in SEVEN years. I’m 99.9999999% certain that’s some kind of record somewhere in church. I talked on keeping the commandments. I didn’t pass out or stumble over my words, so I’d say it was a success. As mentioned before, I finally told my parents (and the rest of the world that didn’t already know) that I was going on a mission, and my mom was definitely surprised. For a link to the video of me telling my mom (on her birthday!), click HERE (but you have to be my Facebook friend). Once I told everyone, I basically immersed myself in the planning. It isn’t going to be cheap…guys have it so easy. All they have to do is buy a few suits and BAM! done. Girls have to buy skirts and shirts that are modest yet fashionable, but not too fashionable. Add on top of that the fact that they don’t make skirts long enough for me that don’t cost $50 each…yay. This is why I got a second job. At the end of the month I went to a family reunion for my mom’s side of the family. It was so great to be able to go, even if it was only for two days because I never get to see that side of the family. I have more cousins around my age on that side, so it was awesome to hang out with them.

JULY: I wrote a column for Scroll, and it was on how people needed to tip better when it comes to waiters and delivery drivers. I think I did well on it, but it got a lot of negativity…to the haterz I say TOO BAD. I wrote a thing and I’m proud of it and it’s never going away…at least, not until the people at Scroll delete it off the archives page. The Fourth of July happened and it was the most chill Fourth of July I’ve ever had…which upset me. Fourth of July is my favorite holiday, so because I couldn’t celebrate it to the fullest (especially because this was probably the last one I’ll be able to celebrate for two years), I wasn’t all that happy. I went to Texas Roadhouse with my roommate because nothing is more American than steak. THEN IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY. I turned 22, so T-Swizzle’s song finally accurately applies to me. I reenacted several lines from the song, such as eating breakfast at midnight and dressing like a hipster. But I didn’t make fun of my exes or fall in love with a stranger. Said birthday was also chill. I went to class (ugh) and worked on Scroll for a little bit, but then I went to lunch at Olive Garden with my Nana and cousin Dani. We also went to the mall where my Nana bought me a cardigan that I can hopefully wear on my mission. I also got perfume AND my Taco Bell shirt showed up! Woo! I finally saw “10 Things I Hate About You.” It’s an alright movie, but nothing to really be super excited about. Heath Ledger’s hot in it though. After my birthday I finally had my friend Nancy change my social media passwords so I could focus on school. It was only for about three weeks but I basically died. #addicted. Then my mom, sister Laura and I went to a RASCAL FLATTS concert! We saw them at Country Explosion, so we also saw Easton Corbin (I’m in love with him now). Country Explosion is a four-day event, and we had to buy wristbands for all four days, but we sold them because we only wanted to go to Rascal Flatts…well, my mom sold them because she only wanted to go to Rascal Flatts. I wanted to see Florida Georgia Line, but couldn’t because school. Lame. It was still awesome to finally see them in concert. I finished school and passed all of my classes and that’s all I care about so yay. Then I moved home so I could focus on preparing for a mission, and I won’t be returning in the fall…which is weird. I still haven’t decided if I’m going to take an online class or not. If I don’t, I won’t be able to hold my enrollment and I’ll have to 100% withdraw from the school and reapply when I get back from my mission, which is a huge downside…but I’m kind of thinking I won’t have the time or motivation for an online class. We’ll see. I have until September 22 to decide. Not even a week after moving home, I went to Vegas with my grandparents and my cousin Dani! We went to two Cirque du Soleil shows, saw the Bellagio fountains (the video to my favorite one is HERE), walked the strip at least three times, went to the Hershey’s and M&M stores, ate at the Hard Rock café, saw the “Bodies” and “Titanic” exhibits at Luxor as well as the Shark Reef Aquarium in Mandalay Bay, and rode the New York New York rollercoaster. We also saw Tournament of Kings in Excalibur. I also got to see my old roommate Kori! We went to lunch at a place called Raising Cane’s. It was SO good. I wish they had one in Utah.

As mentioned before, I’m now home and waiting to begin working at Walmart so I can make and save a bunch of money for my mission. That’s basically it ha.

And that’s what’s been going on these last seven months. I’m going to try to blog more, but it isn’t guaranteed due to working so much and my brain can’t ever think of something to post on here.

Hope everyone’s been doing well!