fallen thoughts

Another semester is over! Which means it's time for the traditional semester review post. As I was cleaning today I kept thinking about how glad I am for how this semester turned out. The beginning seems so far away. I'm grateful for inspired decisions and the many wonderful friends I've made. Each semester I try to make new goals. There's always room for improvement. Last semester's goal was pretty much to be brave. See that post here. 

Goal one: getting up. Everyone is pretty prone to falling in Rexburg. Either if it's on ice or for people. I fall very easily in both cases. This world is full of many lovable people. In the spring I tripped and got a nasty scar. It was the exact morning I thought to myself "yep, really time to move on from this guy" then I thought the exact same thing before I slipped and cut my hand on the ice Wednesday. I always hurry and get up and laugh at myself. Then I thought of the lyrics “I get knocked down but I get up again. You’re never going to keep me down”. That was one of my very favorite songs when I was little. It seems to get easier every time you get back up. I’ll never quit getting up! Life would be so boring if it weren’t for falling.

Goal two: good language. This semester started with a class project where we had to choose somewhere to improve. My favorite class this semester was comm 150 (Interpersonal Communication) I loved it so much. As we try to improve our language our thoughts also improve. Language doesn't just mean swearing. (I've never had a problem with that) Language means only having kind things come out of our mouth. Gossiping is super pointless and hurtful. I'm definitely not perfect, but I've felt such a difference in my life as I've tried to brush off the bad. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Searching for the good in people makes me a happier person. There really is at least one good thing we can say about someone. Don't waste your breath on pointless words.

Psalm 30:5

In my Family Foundations class we had to choose a project. For mine I chose to read one of the best books ever. It's called For Times of Trouble by Jeffrey R. Holland. If you ever need a pick me up just read a couple pages from this book and life becomes much easier to deal with. It's a good reminder that we each have a plan and have no need to worry.

Reflector

Another year of college is coming to a close. Every four months I like to analyze my life and reflect on myself. We never ever quit learning. Even Michelangelo said at 87 "I'm still learning." Each semester there's always some kind of new challenge. You can just scroll through the pictures and skip these words if you'd like. This will contain more details of my life than you might care to know.

Even though this was fifth semester not living at home it really hit me that I'm becoming more  of an independent adult. There were experiences where I had to take all care of myself and my car all alone. This semester was really the loneliest.

Man, I really missed my sister and one of my best friends. Family is the best. I'm so glad I was able to be at byui with her for three semesters. (She's the one in red pants in this post.) It's so nice to always have someone to do something or nothing with. The best thing about family is they love you no matter what. I hadn't realized how much I relied on her until this semester. At the beginning of June I tripped and fell on my run. It didn't even hurt much. Thought it wouldn't even be a big deal. I don't know how kids deal with skinned knees all of the time. Mine got infected and hurt like crazy. It looked disgusting and scary. I may or may not have broke down having to limp back and forth to the store to pick up antibiotics and gauze by myself. There were lots of tender mercies during those weeks though. It was the best when there was someone to talk and walk with to campus to distract me. Then a few weeks later I got to take my car in to get the battery replaced. Lots of realizations this semester that I'm really an adult now ;) I'll not be a teenager in about three weeks. I'll be twenty. 

I don't know about you, but I love to make little goals for myself that I can keep. A year ago I made a goal not to buy pop tarts and I've kept that goal! Ha ha. This semester I ate more vegetables than any other semester. Frozen peas are the best:) Another silly goal I made was to keep more to myself with my roommates. Usually I think I drive them nuts telling them too much about guys from classes or whatever ha ha, I definitely succeeded at that goal. It's kinda odd to not really be friends with anyone you live with except one. In a way it's really good though. I don't double check with them on any decisions I make or ask them what they think I should do. I make my decisions completely on my own. 

Many great things happened this semester! I definitely got out of my comfort zone. Have you heard this song? I've kinda lived by it from the beginning of the semester and really don't regret it at all. It's fun to surprise yourself doing things you didn't think you would ever do such as: going up to an extremely good looking stranger because you need someone to be in your final portfolio. We Bought a Zoo is my most favorite move ever. I used my twenty seconds of courage;) What's the worst that would happen by taking a chance? They would say no and you'd still be strangers and I'd just pretend I still didn't know them when I passed them, or I'd make a cute new friend. You can't get an out come if you don't bother to ask so, why not?

The other day I finally got the courage to figure out my grad plan. Being a college graduate has always been a little daunting to me, but I went and did it and feel just fine! Ha ha. It's weird to see an end in sight. I'm at the half way point. The two years I've been here have gone so fast so I'm going to do my best to enjoy the time I have left. Exactly two years from now I'll have a Bachelors in Studio Art with a Minor in Communications.

imperfections

 Sometimes life's a struggle for us all. Tonight I looked out the window and the sky honestly took my breath away. I hurried to grab my camera. I got a little distracted from the engagement photos I was editing and did this instead. Sometimes a little break to do personal work is needed. 

Lately I've been having a hard time seeing past the imperfections and just enjoying the journey. In about three weeks I'll be finishing up my second year of college. Wow. Today I was looking back on my old blog and read the post I wrote when I finished my first year. That really doesn't seem that long ago. This semester I've missed two of my greatest friends, my sister and my old roommate, they aren't up here with me. No one can quite replace them, but thank goodness for technology so that I can email or call them. 

Today someone gave me the most genuine compliment telling me that they admired me and loved my work. It really was what I needed to hear. This week my studio class was a humbling experience;) I'm so grateful for the people that are kind and help me out. 

Where you are

I love it when I find great quotes on Pinterest. I'm moving up in the world one repin at a time;) Ha ha I'll take what I can get. I get excited whenever anyone repins the photographs I've taken or the quotes I've made. It's so much fun to play with typography. I'm definitely studying the right things. Next semester I'm taking a digital imaging class where I get to go to a abandoned ghost town and take pictures. I'm really excited. I'm a communications minor.