4 months

Well, I promise I'll give an update on my Christmas festivities when I find the chord to my camera. Today what's been on my mind is missions.  More specifically Nik's mission.  The first thing I thought when I woke up today was, OH MY GOSH NIK MIGHT GET HIS CALL TODAY.  That was pretty much the only thought on my mind until 2 pm when it switched to OH MY GOSH NIK HAS HIS CALL.  So lucky me, already got to Skype with him twice today, once to figure out if he had gotten his call and again when I got to watch him open it.

Nikora was called to the Germany, Frankfurt mission, he reports to the MTC May 1st 2013.  I have 4 months left with my best friend.  He leaves the day before my 19th birthday.  I'm so grateful for such a wonderful example, he will be a wonderful missionary.  

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Christmas time is here.  In other words, Happiness is here.  The two words are most definitely synonymous. 

Awesome fact about Christmas time: No School

 Finals week was fun, hard, painful, rewarding, and best of all it is......OVER.  

( This is what we do in our study time.  My cousin Nate joined in too. )

Second awesome fact about Christmas time:  Everything looks beautiful

Nik and I went and saw the lights at Temple Square last night.  It was another one of those best dates ever.  I looked like a two year old the whole time driving up because I freaked out over every falling snowflake and twinkling Christmas light we saw (This is a season long phenomenon).  We stopped in daybreak to open the Christmas presents that we gave each other.  I might have cried a bit, I'm going to miss him while he's in New Zealand over the break.  Then we went to the Roof in Salt Lake.  I love the Roof, everything is so yummy and the view is breathtaking.  It was really fun to see how far we had both come since the last time we went there in July.  

One of my favorite things about Christmas is just walking around looking at everything and anything with Christmas decorations.  Nik and I walked through City Creek for a while, I couldn't help smiling everywhere we went as I thought about the blessing Nik has been in my life and how that all started right there in SLC during our International DECA competition. 

 I am so grateful for the peace felt at Christmas as I reflect on all of the many blessings I have! I have had such a fun and enlightening first semester of college and I look forward to another one!

PS for more updates on fun times with the Sampson family, visit our joint blog Girl Talk!

Priesthood Power

I am so grateful for this wonderful gospel!!! I'm so grateful for the knowledge I have the God loves me and is watching over me.  I really got to experience that yesterday.  After taking some finals and studying all day I was hanging out with Nik, and I started feeling really shaky and started getting fever-like symptoms.  Haha I just ignored it and blamed it on the fact that it was my lovely time of the month. After a while I realized that sadly I was not only suffering from the visit of Uncle TOM and Aunt Flo, but that I was indeed getting sick.  So I went home and tried to sleep.  It didn't work so well and I woke up after an hour when I realized my roommate Cassidy had come in and I was keeping her awake by moaning subconciously like a dying animal.  She kindly brought me some ibuprofen and water and I spent the next hour (which felt like a lifetime) trying to get to sleep.

At 1 am I decided this wasn't going to work, I had gone to bed early to be properly rested for my finals and all I was really doing was sitting in my bed shaking trying to get comfortable enough to at least get my mind off the burning and freezing sensations pulsing through my skin.  And then I remembered that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me, he wants me to do well on my finals, and I have priesthood holders all around me that are ready and willing to help.  I called Nik and with tears asked him If he could come give me a blessing.

  He was there in 15 min and he gave me a wonderful blessing with the promise that if I had the faith to be healed I would be able to sleep peacefully through the night and I would be healed.  I am so grateful to have a wonderful boyfriend that is worthy to hold the Melchizedek priesthood. And for a Heavenly Father that has given the priesthood to worthy men.  I gave Nik probably 50 hugs before he left and I couldn't stop crying.  When I finally climbed into my bed I said a quick prayer of thanks and I told Heavenly Father that I knew that with his power I could be healed.  I drifted to sleep 5 minutes later and woke up with out a trace of sickness.  Guys, the church is true.  I know it without a doubt.  I love this gospel with all my heart.

What a Day.

Wow today was....an adventure? terrible? amazing? stressful? Probably a combination of all of the above.  I woke up earlier than I have all school year to finish up my computer programming final (hopefully the last c++ program I'll ever have to write?) I expected it to take 3 or 4 more hours.  Not exactly fun, but reasonable right? Wrong.  It took me approximately ten hours today.  Plus the two or three hours I'd spent from the days before.  I was not a happy camper.

(this was pretty much me) 

This is when I'm so very incredibly thankful for a fantastic boyfriend.  He drove up to BYU and we had lunch together.  I was planning on going back to the lab to continue my never ending CS 142 final but as my lunch hour passed I started feeling more and more like I was going to throw up and I started getting dizzy.  So he walked with me and held my stuff while I uploaded my files in the lab and he drove me back to my apartment.  He is basically the greatest.  This would be the third time this week he has picked me up from school due to some difficulty.  

So I got home and napped.  It was great to get some sleep.  Then came the storm.  I'm sure my roommates thought I was crazy, ranting about cpp files, polymorphism, and pointer vectors (if you don't know what that means, don't ask, I don't think I even know haha).  At one point I'd yell to my program about my hatred for it, and then I'd do my best to lovingly convince it to run.  It never did.  There goes 10% of my test score down the tubes.  But I turned it in.  Errors and all, who needs a working program anyway? I just sat on the couch and felt my brain melt. Then my fantabulous boyfriend knocked on the door.  I opened it to find my best friend holding flowers and my favorite white chocolate Lindor truffles.  Nothing cures a sick girl with a fried brain like flowers, chocolates, and a handsome boy. What a day. 

Shooting

Today, or uh I guess technically yesterday I went shooting with Nik and his dad.  Have I mentioned how scared I am of guns? If I have I don't think I've emphasized it enough.  I AM SOOOOOOO SCARED OF GUNS!!!!!!! I only shot a few times before the gun kicked back and I jammed my thumb. Yet another example of why guns scare me. It doesn't help that it was so loud I still can't hear out of my left ear.  Even though at first things were a bit rough it got much better and I really did have a lot of fun band-aides, ringing ears and all!

Break Time!

So I woke up at 2:00 pm today. I know thats so bad. I promise I'll try not to do it again. But hey, its the break, in fact its the first break BYU has had since august. This is my first chance to catch up on some much needed sleep.  Im so excited for thanksgiving and to see both sides of my extended family this week, it will be a blast :)

Loving Winter

I am absolutely loving winter.  With winter comes beautiful snow, thanksgiving, breaks from school, hot chocolate, cuddling while watching movies, and Christmas (my personal favorite).  I'm obsessed with Christmas, it really is the most wonderful time of the year. Recipe for instant happiness: Listen to Christmas music while drinking hot chocolate or eating something peppermint flavored.  Trust me, it works.  

P.S. Remember this post? Well, it just so happens that we are officially dating now. He's a pretty great boyfriend :) (sorry its pretty blurry)

He Cares.

I'm so incredibly grateful for a Heavenly Father that cares. I'm grateful for the people he sends into our lives to teach us what he needs us to learn. I'm grateful that when we have a bad day he knows just how to fix it.  The gospel is amazing.  I felt like every testimony, talk, lesson, or thought given in church today was catered directly to me.  The Lord speaks to his children and He loves them completely. I know it without a doubt.  I'm also grateful for the people He sends in our lives to watch over us and comfort us.  I have the best roommates anyone could ever ask for. I came home to this on my door, and a whole lot more of it all over my apartment.

God loves you. I promise. He cares.

1 Year

It's been a year since my sweet grandma passed away. I miss her more than words can express.  As this year passed by there probably wasn't a day that I didn't think about her.  I knew she was with me at every choir concert, every temple trip, every family get together, every growing experience. Its a wonderful blessing to have a knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation. But even with that knowledge it's hard. I really miss hearing her familiar voice say "I love you" when she came over for dinner. I miss smelling the familiar scent of her purple coat every time I gave her a hug.  I miss learning to crochet with her when I was a little kid. Grandma I love you. Thank you for the wonderful example you set for me. You are missed.

Rainy Days

I woke up this morning to rain.  It was lovely.  Today was pretty cold. It felt wonderful.  I got to wear my rain boots and my coat, I went to the temple, and I watched my first opera (for IHUM 101) with my cousin and friends.  Its been a wonderful day. 

It's Friday

Fridays always seem to be really really loooooooonnnnnggg.  Today especially. Doing my hair was a bit of a dilemma, and I think I missed 3 or 4 of the buses I was planning on catching in order to get to class on time.  So yeah.... I didn't quite make it to the first 20 min of my lab.  Finally I just threw on the first sweater I could find and decided to rock the I look-like-I-just-woke-up/pony-tail look. 

When I was finally running out the door to catch the bus I realized I left my keys. So I ran back and missed another bus.  After 15 min of searching I ran out the door again and at last I made it onto a bus.  Only to realize I left my laptop. What a wonderful beginning to my day.  After falling asleep in two of my classes I decided that its nap time.  Yay Friday.  

Spontaneity

School.  You can plan on the tests, you can plan out your schedule, but you can't plan on the spontaneous things that are really worth remembering.

Did you know there are like 7 verses of "You are My Sunshine?" Yeah. We got to hear them all at ward prayer. Good thing Kevin brought his banjo.

Gangnam style flash mobs anyone?

This is what my roommate and I randomly do when we get bored:

College life is a little different, but its extremely fun, Im loving every minute of it.

Home.

Sometimes I just love the wonderful feeling of coming home.  I love the familiar view of the lake, the town and the mountains. I love the memories that seem to flood back every time I drive home, and the breath taking moments every time I stand on my driveway in the rain for a while simply looking at the sky and the valley.  This weekend I couldn't wait to go home and listen to general conference I literally jumped out of my car and ran inside my house.  And oh my goodness could yesterday's conference session be more mind blowing? My whole life has flipped upside down.  In seven months I could be out on a mission!!!! I guess we will see!

Picturesque

Life has been good. So good that I haven't been blogging about it. Or maybe my internet connection dies every time I feel like blogging. So I guess its high time for me to post an update. Lets just say that my life has been full of laughs, smiles, tears (usually from laughing), and cupcakes. Life for the past two weeks has truly been picturesque, which is why I must warn you now that what follows could be classified as death by pictures, so continue at your own risk.

Above is a day in the life of me and my roomies, random fast food runs, taking crazy pictures, and laughing 'til we cry.

This is my most recent project.  I printed off 120 pictures of my favorite moments and put them all around my bed.  Every time I crawl into my bed after a bad day I just lay there and look at all of the good days I've had.  Every unhappy moment I've had shies in comparison to even one of the 120 good moments I have all around me.

Roomates. Are. So. Great.  Nuff Said.

Sweaters, stripes, and polka dots.  Just a few of my favorite things. Must be a good day.

Yet another wonderful football game.  Of course, what made it so wonderful was probably the fact that we were able to squish ourselves into the front row, being that close feels like you are watching a whole different ball game. 

Any who, thats all I really have to say for now..... life is good, I couldn't possibly ask for anything more than the wonderful friends, family, and opportunities that I have right now :)

A Great Place To Be

Maybe we aren't always great at sports. Sometimes we lose the "Holy War". In some cases we may seem too restrictive. But it doesn't matter because BYU will ALWAYS be a great place to be.  I am so lucky to be here in a place of continual self improvement. I am so lucky to have challenging classes that expand my views of everything. I am so lucky to be able to pray with my classes, attend weekly devotionals, see and hear apostles speak, and be among thousands of other people that believe in the same things I do. I'm so grateful to be close to so many temples. I'm grateful for my wonderful roommates, my awesome ward, the beautiful mountains, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so unbelievably grateful to be here.

Freshman 15?

Food. Its so good. Especially junk food. And I have discovered that now I can eat WHATEVER I WANT.  Agh freshman freaking 15, its killing me.  I need to do better but have you seen the cupcakes and frappes at the cocoa bean?!? (They are as cute as they are yummy! and they have edible sparkles!) And whats a girl supposed to do with a gallon of ice cream waiting in the freezer? Certainly not leave it there!!! Ice cream is made to be eaten!! And a food plan solely for the purpose of shopping at the Cougar Eat and the Creamery? Could things get any better?!?! Its a good thing I have such great roomies that are always up for a last second cupcake run and an Icecream study party, lets hope they will be just as enthusiastic about running it off with me haha.

I also discovered the wonders of cheese/bacon/mayo/pesto paninis and cherry chocolate ice cream. Eating a delicious lunch and people watching is the perfect way to spend extra time on campus :)

My Deepest Apologies

Im extremely sorry for failing at blogging. I feel like I fail at life. So much has happened and I didn't even write about it!! Fail fail fail fail fail!!!!! I moved out and started college and I didn't even write about it? yes Im terrible. BUT, I did have an excuse, my internet decided to not work.  Unless my internet connection shapes up I don't think HousingSecure wireless and I are going to be very good friends. So anywho, this is the first thing I've been waiting to write about:

I made a crayon melting project yay!!!!!!!!

I painted a girl with an umbrella, covered it with tape and some tinfoil to make the wax runoff the umbrella, hot glued crayons to the top of my canvas, held a hair dryer to the canvas and voila! 

I would definitely recommend putting trash bags or newspaper around the canvas, the wax sprayed EVERYWHERE.

My final step was painting the letters up at the top of the canvas! Now its hanging in my dorm room :)

Well, thats all I'm going to talk about for now, college life is good, I'm having so much fun!! I will tell you more of me and my roomies' adventures in another post!!!

Good times :)

Aaagh I haven't posted in quite a while but this has been the best few weeks of my Summer by far! I even completed a few things on my bucket list! Mud fight? Check. Dance in the pouring rain? Check. Learn to water ski Slalom? Check. I had all of these pics to put up of our Lake Powell and Cedar City trips but then my sister Mallory made some videos!!! Enjoy! (And I apologize for those of you that follow both blogs because we basically have the same lives and do the same stuff until we move out, so our posts are always similar)

Other than that, Ive just been Pinterest craftin' for my dorm.  I'm sure I'll post all about it so get ready for a whole ton of crayon melting, spray painting, and glittering fun!

Bored.....

The day before a vacation = THE LONGEST DAY EVER.  Im so bored right now I might cry. Not really, life is great, Im just tired of waiting around until tomorrow comes.  I might just go to sleep super early.  But for now, let me update you on the latest Pinterest craft my sister and I tried.  It was a success if I do say so myself.  (Forgive the crappy picture quality, it didn't upload too well)

Traditionally the Sampson girls always wear something matching on the first day of our Cedar City trip, which is usually white or black shirts with jeans. But this year we decided to get creative.

Brynn, Carli, Mallory and I had a blast making these!

 

We started with a bunch of wide legged white pants from Savers and Plato's Closet, then we sewed up the inside of the legs, and cut off the extra fabric. We had a great time using our sewing skills (which are basically non-existent) to make 8 of these beauties:

The dyeing was a whole new adventure. We had absolutely no idea what we were doing.  We stayed up just a little later than expected. Or maybe a lot. As we waited for the dye to wash out we curled up on the hard laundry room floor and inside the laundry baskets and fell asleep.  It hurt, I do not recommend it.  But it was all worth it when we woke up to 8 pairs of mint skinny jeans :) 

Well I'm checking out for the week, here I come Lake Powell!

Wicked

I do believe I mentioned that I was going to Wicked, and..... I went!! It was pretty much the best date I've ever been on. Thank you Nik Anderson! We started by going to the Roof restaurant. Have I mentioned how much I love the Roof? I don't think I have yet, let me fill you in: I LLOOOVVVEE the Roof restaurant.  The gorgeous view, the pretty clear piano, the great food, a great date, and all the Creme Brûlées that I could ever ask for, what more could a girl want?

Then we went to the Capitol Theater to see Wicked.  It was AMAZING. I cried, I laughed, and I loved every minute of it. 

So that was all that we had planned for our date, but probably the most fun adventure of the entire night was when we got lost driving home.  I have no idea how you can get hopelessly lost driving home on a familiar route but somehow it happens. I blame it on construction, because I swear that is the cause of all driving troubles. Anyway, reeaaaallly long story short we got lost for an hour and a half, ended up on some obscure road by the Salt Lake, practically got attacked by some bat/bird/flying creature (literally one of the most terrifying moments of my life, there was lots of screaming involved) and we drove until suddenly the road completely disappeared and we were driving on dirt and weeds.  I was laughing the entire time (except, of course, when I was screaming).  It was a fantastic night.

Tradition

There are two traditions in my family that I look forward to probably as much or more than Christmas (Which is a HUUUUUUUGGEEE deal for me considering the fact that I am that person everyone makes fun of for listening to Christmas music before Halloween) The first is our Lake Powell trip, the second is our Cedar City trip.  Guess what? Two weeks.  I have waited precisely 342 days to say that.  In exactly two weeks I will be on the road to Lake Powell sitting in Stan's Burger Shack eating the best dinosaur chicken nuggets anyone has ever tasted while reading stupid signs about lazy people and mother-in-laws.

  And exactly one week after that I will be sitting in a hotel room with 8 of my very best friends eating Jelly Bellys and basking in pure happiness.  

So here I come sunshine, tan skin, sunglasses, swimming, late nights, and Denny's

Yay for traditions, I love my life :)

Friday

I have basically been freaking out for weeks. Five more days. Im going to see this:

 in Salt Lake on Friday. Thank you to the nicest kid in the world for inviting me to come with him. I might die from excitement (Don't worry I just knocked on wood because that would be terrible).

M-I-Double L-E-T-T

Last week was full of family, fun, and TONS of food. As my aunt Jessica would say, "We LOVE the F words!" (of course we kindly reminded her that we didn't, in fact, love ALL of the F words). The fun started with another parade, this one was really long and hot, but I had a blast spending time with the girls and we won another Grand Prize/Sweepstakes award!!

Then, we had a great kick-off to our Millett family reunion with our traditional 4th of July celebration, which always includes homemade ice-cream, a slip n slide, volleyball, great food, and lots of laughs.

(Mal and I were pretty much matching all week)

The rest of the week was spent at my uncle's cabin by Strawberry Reservoir. We rode 4-wheelers, played games,went boating, went swimming, played games, took a day to visit Duschesne where our parents grew up, went bowling, and played more games.  

Overall, it was a great week! I, of course, cried as we left because that what I do.  This blog could accurately be called "Life of a Cry Baby" but its not, because that would be embarrassing. And thats it, goodbye!

One of "Those" Days

So far this summer has been..... different. Different in a good way for the most part.  I've been spending a lot of time with these girls:

It has been such a fun experience!! Other than that my life has been full of work, which is usually just fine. I work at hang time almost every night. Its pretty much same old same old, but today....... was different. Weird different. Fun different. Embarrasing different. It was one of "Those" days. And by that I mean the type of day when:

1) A really large man yells at you for ten minutes and all you can do is politely laugh because he thinks he's funny. 

2) Your manager tries to cut your hair, so you turn around and accidentally call him ugly. 

3) The mucho attractivo guys that you gave the wrong wristbands to twice came in again to give you a third chance... And you finally get it right.

4) You choke on your drink.... for the fourth day in a row.

5) You add Dirk, Gunnard, Shimmery, and Facundo to your list of things to never name your child. 

6) You learn about fifty incredibly stupid knock knock jokes. 

7) Five people comment on your extremely blue mouth. (Word for the wise, don't eat a slushy before work)

8) You have a super embarrassing moment. (For example: At the end of the day right before leaving you and your coworker jokingly put your foot on the front counter for a split second and start stretching, only to turn around to an attractive customer asking you what time it is..... and don't worry he saw the whole thing and walked away laughing before his question was even answered)

This was definitely an interesting day. 

No Big Deal

Well, here it is. My first blog post.  I finally created a blog, its no big deal. So hey heres my new blog, and this is crazy, follow me maybe?

And thats it, sorry I have nothing more to say for my first post except that I promise all of my future posts will be more interesting.