San Antonio

Sometimes I decide it's a good idea to be more involved and take a more active approach in trying to figure out what to do with my life.  So I joined the Financial Planning Association.  Ever since high school when I took financial literacy class, I have been super interested in money...like having it obviously, but also like managing it!  That's what led to me accounting, which I also love, and now financial planning.

I've recently decided to add on one more semester of school so I can add on a minor in financial planning.  Anyways, enough about my life plan that changes day by day, let's get down to the exciting stuff.

This weekend, I'm in the beautiful city of San Antonio working as a student volunteer for the FPA Conference.

Okay, can I just say that I am obsessed with San Antonio?

We're staying in downtown San Antonio, which is lovely.  The river walk is lined with cute, fun restaurants, the architecture is unique and nice, and the river is obviously a great feature.

Brightyn and I by the river walk in our nice business clothes.  

Eating lunch at one of the fabulous restaurants.

Our "Crappy Coladas" at the Texas Tech student social.  Yum!

Okay, so let me just paint you a picture of the hotel we're staying at.  It's called the Menger, located right across the street from the Alamo.  It is HUGE.  Or at least seems that way, we still haven't found the quickest way to get up to our room, we just wander through hallways until we find it.  It's super old, and they have display cases filled with old things and black and white pictures in the lobby, where there's always old jazzy music playing.  Oh, and let's not forget that the Menger Hotel (according to wikipedia) is the most haunted hotel in Texas.  Which I'm sure everyone could guess is my favorite feature (not...)  Oh, my actual most favorite feature is the bed...I don't think I have ever slept so well in my life.

Brightyn and I in the old elevator.  

Anyways, it's been lovely.

Keane

This is one of my favorite songs by my favorite band, Keane.  Check ‘em out.  (I tried to find the most normal video with lyrics...not so easy.)

 “I don’t know why I waste my time, getting hung up about the things you say when I open my eyes and it’s a lovely day.”

Life is beautiful.  It is easy for me to forget about all of the lovely things I have around me when I am upset or discouraged or frustrated about something.  I find myself wallowing on occasion about all of the things that aren’t going my way.  And then in one shining moment of the day, I’ll realize just how great my life really is.  I shouldn’t waste my time being unhappy, I should embrace the day.

Lingering

Most often, life isn't easy.  Usually I have some vision in my head about how my life should be, it seems possible, but just out of reach.  I'm not saying that real life is awful, in fact, usually I find myself pretty dang happy.  But there are some days when nothing seems to be going the way I want it to.  And it's so frustrating, because in my head, I know that the plan that I have is the best plan, and I just want it to work out my way.

When things seem to all be going the "wrong" way, I get into this mode where I'm just unhappy and frustrated.  I can't snap out of it, and probably the bigger problem I find is that I don't want to.

"O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?" -2 Nephi 4:26

Yes, life isn't going to be easy.  But when I look back on my life and remember all of the blessings I have seen in my life, I realize that the Lord plays such an active role in my life, and does so many amazing things for me.  Even though I think I know which path I want to be on, He knows the path that I'm actually on.  He's shown me time and time again that He knows what He's doing.

So, what reason to I have to allow myself to "linger in the valley of sorrow"?

"Oh Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever." -2 Nephi 4:34

Everything's gonna be okay.

Why Being an Independent Woman is Hard

Because fixing my car has caused me so much trauma in my life, I've decided that it is better to learn to fix your own car.  Mostly all I can do is fix brakes, and let's be honest...I even need help to do that.

I try so hard to be independent sometimes, but usually it just ends up making everyone's job harder.  Luckily my dad will usually help me.

Right now, my speedometer is broken.  I tried to be all independent--I did some research, figured out the problem, found out what kind of part I needed, and even checked out some instructional YouTube videos.  I  thought I had it pretty much figured out, probably.

Instead of calling various auto parts stores, I decided to just drive down the road and stop at every auto parts store I saw.  I thought I knew what I was looking for, but it turns out there are like 15 parts called practically the same thing.  I think I might have ordered a part at some point, just hoping that it was the right one.

So after I tried out the independent way, I made my dad come with me.  After one stop, we figured out which part we needed, and determined that I had previously selected the wrong one.

I love claiming that I'm an independent woman, but the truth is, sometimes, I'm real bad at it, and it's just easier to make dad help. 

Opportunity Cost

In all of my econ classes, we'd always talk about opportunity cost.  Opportunity cost is what you are losing when you make a choice, like the benefit (which you are not receiving) of the option you choose not to take.

In life, I find that often the opportunity cost is what makes it so hard to make decisions.  Often, you have all of these great things in front of you, all of these amazing opportunities.  The only catch is you can't take all of them.  

Choices really are a blessing, we have this great gift of agency, so we can make our lives what we want them to be.  But sometimes, I wish that choices were more clear cut--if they're only one good option, obviously that's that one you're going to take.  

So, the hard thing about making decisions is all of the things you are leaving behind when you pick which one you think is right, and go with it.  Even though you know that you've made your choice, and you know it's a good one...you also know the potential of the the choices you didn't make, and you'll never know the full potential of what could have been if you had taken a different road.  

But the good things is, as long as you are making choices that feel right, and that you're happy with, eventually you'll end up somewhere you want to be.  I think there are many places where I could end up, and I'm determined that wherever I end up, I will be happy.

Some opportunities are lost when others are chosen, but ultimately, the one you pick is the one that makes you who you are, and it's worth it.      
  

The Best Parts of College

Freshman year of college was kind of a joke, if I'm being completely honest.  Classes were not hard, and we had freedom and free time that we took definite advantage of.  I think about freshman year, living in Richards Hall, eating at the Junction and Marketplace, staying out until 3:00 AM, and going on adventure after adventure.  There are so many great memories, and I had the time of my life!

Focusing on the Adventure of Summer, Sam, and Rachel...here's a brief recap.

The time we snuck a cantaloupe and played with it all night. 

The paint dance..

The first time I met Sam, we went to FHE and went slip 'n sliding.

Midnight Cereal at the Junction.

Richards Hall and the 2 1/2 Lounge. 

I'm pretty sure if I lived now like I did back then, I would be failing out of school, and probably dead from exhaustion.  But they were good times.

Since then, we've had other great adventures.

Namely, Planet Earth Class.

Our epic trip to Bear Lake.
Yes, we did manage to tip the canoe over in 6 inches of water.

The night we went up to Rachel's ranch,
and put on as much  orange as we could.
(Rach, do you find it appalling how much orange we wear in all of our pictures?)

And don't forget the 80s Dance!

Now that we've taken that nice walk down memory lane...

Last night I finally got to hang out with these two best parts of college.  We're all a lot busier than we were freshman year.  We no longer do crazy things all night, but we definitely still enjoy getting together and having a good time.  Last night, we went to Chili's, then cruised around Logan, blasting the music, singing along, and remembering all of the good times we have had.

They're the best.

Yup, I love these girls.  I'm so glad I met them freshman year.  The memories I have with them are some of my greatest memories, and they continue to be there for me.  We don't see each other as much as we used to, but I know that they'll always be there for me.  And whenever we get together...

...we're sure to have a good time!

YouTube Workout

Obviously, there are lots of reasons I love living with Alexis.  

One of them being that she will do things like this with me.  

We both thought it would be a good idea to go running, but we didn't really feel like actually going...

So we decided that best thing to do would be finding a workout video on youtube.  This one came up first.

Just imagine Lexi and I doing this...and you can imagine how much fun it was.  We're real tired now.  

A Tutor or a Therapist

Sometimes, homework is just so dang hard.  Actually, it's usually only hard if you don't quite know how to do it.  Tonight, and pretty much a lot of this weekend, I've spent time just sitting and staring at my excel sheet for my cost accounting class.  No matter what I do, it just doesn't seem right...not that I would know what actually seems right.  The more I try, the more answers I get, and the more confused I become.

It's overwhelming.

Like overwhelming to the point where my brain isn't even processing any it, and even the problems that I thought I had a handle on are becoming twisted in my head.  Nothing makes any sense.  Until it makes perfect sense, and then all of the stress just disappears and once again I love accounting.

So...I feel like a tutor would be helpful.  But I feel like at this point, I would probably just have a complete melt down so maybe I should just go to therapy, because all I can right now is freak out about how I can't do accounting.  

DI Gems and Expensive Cheese

For $10, you can buy...

Both of these cute dresses at the DI!

or...this $10 Gruyere cheese to make Aelplurmagronen.

I'd say both are worth it.  

Not Quite a Month Ago...

I was going to post this forever ago...but I forgot and finally added my pictures!  Here's how awesome my first night back in Logan was.

My first day back in Logan did not disappoint.  To celebrate Rachel's birthday, we started off the semester by making Moroccan Couscous, which involved chopping quite the assortment of vegetables etc., and was absolutely delicious.

Then we went to the Dirty 30--which is the best kind of dance party.  Thirty minutes of straight dancing until you are so disgustingly sweaty, then you go home!  If today was any indication of how the rest of the semester is going to go...It's gonna be just as good as I've been hoping.

I stole this picture off of Rachel's blog.
Somehow I missed it so I've been putting off posting this post until now!

Journaling

Something I have tried to consistently do for quite a few years is keep a journal.  There have been times when I haven't been very good at writing daily, but for the most part, I have a near daily journals that I have written in since about 9th grade.

It's so fun to go back and read what I wrote about.  It's been a long time since I've touched my high school journals, but I made sure to bring up my journal from my first two years of college.  It's crazy to read and remember the drama of freshman year.  There were things back then that were really hard for me, but today, I don't even remember them!  It's weird how something that consumed nearly every entry for days (or even weeks) is something that I haven't even thought about in more than a year.  

I'm glad that I kept a journal during those times, because it is neat to look back and see what I overcame, and how truly insignificant things can be in the long run.  

Of all the things I wrote down though, I wonder what things I left out.  There are plenty of entries filled with play-by-plays of Suns games, what I ate for dinner, and what homework I did...But those aren't really things that are going to be impacting to read years down the road.  Sure, people reading it may be entertained that those are the things I chose to write about, but what were the important things going on around me then?  

I've been trying harder to write things that will remind me of important things I have learned and experienced.  A lot of times, it's hard for me to write about the things that might be the most important, whether it's complicated or hard to express, or something that I think could be WAY embarrassing to look back on...

Keeping a journal of some sort is better than keeping no journal at all.  But I hope that my journaling skills will improve, so that one day my journal can be an even greater thing to look back on and read.  

And we're back!

Recap.  My old roommate Clare and I have awesome adventures.

One time, we bought the backseat at the DI.  

Another time, we quickly scaled a mountain before our home teachers came over.

We went caving.
Ha, just kidding.  We found a hole.

I have missed this girl.  Tonight we went and saw Chloe's (our other roommate) play, West Side Story.  Clare and I aren't big theater people, that's how much we love Chloe.  

Last year, I had to make rice for Clare.  Actually, I even had to cut an apple for Clare.  That's why this next picture shows how much Clare loves me.  

She prepared a feast.  I was so impressed.

It was dang delicious, and it was a great night.  

Also, I stole all of these pictures off of Clare's facebook.  And she didn't yet add the awesome one of us with Chloe in full costume, which would make the perfect end to this post.  

Aggies all the Way!

The first half of nighttime Aggie football games are always real sunny.  The sun is in just the right place to blind all of the student section, so the minute the sun sinks behind the west side bleachers, the game automatically gets a whole lot better.

This is Alexis and I freshman year.  See how bright and sunny it is?  Hence my sunglasses.

The game tonight was against the University of Utah.  I felt like there's a pretty intense rivalry, especially because Utah State hasn't beaten the U in...years.  So we were hoping pretty hard that we would pull off a win.

It started off well!  I'd try to give a nice play-by-play of the game, but this is football, not basketball.  Let's just stick with the main highlight.  The fourth quarter ended with the score tied at 20.  In overtime, we scored, and they didn't.  That sentence makes it sound like it was a pretty calm thing, but even Alexis was getting real nervous!  It was super intense, but that made the win even more exciting!

Victorious.  We were too afraid to actually storm the field.

So we just walked down and took a picture by the stormers after it calmed.

Yup, Utah State is a great place to be.

Also, we made some new friends at the game, but there's no photographic evidence of that... But I've decided games are great places to meet new and fun people.  Tonight was definitely a success.

Meeting the Firms

In the past, I've kind of passed up the opportunity to go to accounting events.  Partly because they intimidate me, and I don't feel old enough to be considering a career, but mostly because I thought they just really interfered with my social life...  Anyways, this year I made the decision to incorporate accounting into my social life so I can better prepare for life after graduation.

Tonight was "Meet the Firms" night.  The accounting staff at USU kind of stressed us out a bit about this one.  They were very specific about us needing to dress nicely, be professional, network, and get internships.  

Naturally, I wasn't going to go to this event by myself.  I feel like we've got a little accounting gang going on, and it's great.  

Don't we all look sharp?
Also, I should probably work on standing closer to people when taking pictures.

I'm really glad that I went to this event.  It was neat to meet professionals from so many different firms, and to talk to them about their jobs and their companies.  I talked with some companies that I hadn't heard of before, and found a few that sound very interesting to me.  I gained more knowledge of what is out there and what I want.

Oh, I also gained a whole lot of what my accounting professor calls swag.  

Oh yeah.  It doesn't get much cooler than this.  

You Dumb Cat!

Tonight, I was sitting by Alexis, trying to do some homework about internet abuse, and she's going off about how if anyone needs to take a break from the internet and facebook, it's her.  (Probably all of us could cut back on internet time...)

I hear Alexis say, "You Dumb Cat!"  I just keep facebooking and not doing my homework, and she goes, "This is a cat game."

Yup.  We should probably cut back on internet time.  

Doxycycline

Every day for the last four months, I've had to take a malaria pill every day.  Today, I took my last one!

It was a pretty exciting day.  I also cleaned my apartment, did some homework, and folded paper with Rachel and Ashley.  I'd say Labor Day was a success.  

Labor Day Weekend

It really irritates me that Labor Day Weekend happens the same week that school starts, because three day weekends are great opportunities to leave town.  So even though there are fun activities going on because it's the first weekend of everyone being back in Logan, a good majority of the Logan population leaves the Valley.

The 80's dance was on Friday of Labor Day weekend.  I was planning on going, because we had a ton of fun last year. 

As you can tell, we had a blast.  Last year.  This year, at the last minute I decided to drive up to Swan Valley a day early to hang out with my family.  Less than five minutes after getting in my car, I began to question this decision, as my card didn't work at the gas station, so I drove off without any gas and without my gas cap.  Luckily I found it, broken, in the parking lot.  It still works.

At this point, I was bawling.  I calmed down as I headed up to Idaho, and the weekend ended up being fabulous.

Uncle Shane's cabin is beautiful.  That whole area is just beautiful.  I got to spend the weekend doing some reading, relaxing, boating, and hanging out with family.  My cousins are getting older, which is really fun, because they are pretty cool.  A bunch of them got really excited about playing my favorite game, Bang!

I have such a wonderful family, and I am glad that I got to go up to Idaho to spend the entire weekend with them.  It was refreshing.  Unfortunately...I didn't take any pictures.  Fail.