My friend and I had a good chat last night
about this whole "crush" situation,
(I'm making such a big deal about it, I know-
I'm at fault for being a drama queen sometimes)
but I felt inspired when she shared this with me:

"In most languages there exists a phrase as magical and full of promise as perhaps any in the world — "Once upon a time," said President Dieter F. Uchtdorf during the General Young Women Meeting on March 27. Those words "promise something: a story of adventure and romance, a story of princesses and princes... It may include tales of courage, hope and everlasting love. In many of these stories nice overcomes mean, and good overcomes evil. But perhaps most of all, I love it when we turn to the last page and our eyes reach the final lines, and we see the enchanting words 'and they lived happily ever after...In that story, the main character may be a princess or a peasant; she might be a mermaid or a milk maid, a ruler or a servant," he said. "You will find one thing all have in common — they must overcome adversity."

Sandwiched between their "Once upon a time," and "Happily ever after," they experienced hard times, he said.

'"In stories as in life, adversity teaches us things we cannot learn otherwise. Adversity helps to develop a depth of character that comes in no other way. Our loving Heavenly Father has set us in a world filled with challenges and trials so that we, through opposition, can learn wisdom, become stronger, and experience joy."

"You will suffer, be tempted and make mistakes. You will learn for yourself what every heroine has learned: through overcoming challenges comes growth and strength. It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself that determines how your life's story will develop."

"Happily ever after" is not something just found in fairy tales. "You can have it. It is available for you. But you must follow your Heavenly Father's map."

Boy oh boy,
do I wish I would have been able to see the whole thing,
because I already love it so much!
(and if you're interested,
you can read the news article online here)

My favorite part (which I all-too-easily identify with)
was when he explained,
"Was I disappointed? Yes. Was I defeated?
Absolutely not!"

Well, President Uchtdorf, you stole the words right out of my mouth!
Have I been disappointed so far? Perhaps slightly,
but I have not (I repeat) have not been defeated just yet;
And these words especially excited
(slash motivated, slash determined, slash encouraged)
me for my class tomorrow with the boy that I just can't seem to stop thinking about...

and clearly,
can't stop talking about, either.

photo via.

love/hate relationship.

i have somewhat of a love/hate relationship
with "having a crush" at the moment,
and even typing that makes me cringe because
i sound like i'm in the seventh grade again;
but if i'm being honest with myself,
this matter-of-fact is frustrating my heart
and i thought it may be worth writing about.

this isn't love, this isn't anything like love -
but it is a crush and it feels like it's just
"as big of a deal" as it did when i was 12.

and this morning as i woke up with my stomach in knots,
butterflies going nuts,
and a complete lack of any control over my train of thoughts,
i decided that this is most definitely a love/hate relationship.

and depending on the hour (even down to the minute) of day,
i'd say that the "hate" part of the relationship
ranges from either 0-90% of it;
but then again, the same goes for the "love" part of it too,
i suppose.

is there any correlation between springtime and hormones?
i'd like to think so.

{photo via.}

what love means to me today.

"Think the best of each other,
especially of those you say you love.
Assume the good and doubt the bad."
- Elder Holland, "How Do I Love Thee?"

I heard this yesterday in one of my classes,
and that phrase kept repeating itself over and over
and over again:
"Think the best of each other,
especially of those you say you love."

Unfortunately, I do not always follow this wise advice;
and lately, it feels like I have become especially imperfect.
So after class, I inwardly promised
myself to do something about it,
And honestly,
within 24 hours I've already noticed a miraculous difference.


Doesn't love just make you feel really, really good inside?
It just seems to always make everything alright again.

photo via

it's not what you know, but who you know.

I feel that if I were to try and describe this past weekend,

"March Madness" would be enough said.

Final papers, projects, assignments to be done -

Reception centers that either do not exist or MapQuest is at fault,

Concerts too loud to enjoy,

Politics, Healthcare reform bills, (and so on...) that frustrate me,

Cutting my finger.

But despite my rising blood pressure,

and my tendency to stress out too easily,

Blessed sunshine made everything okay -

it provided enough warmth to keep a smile on my face,

giving us an excuse to pull out our
summer hats and paper bags,

the three dollar picnic basket, the red and white checkered bow;
surrounding myself with bridges,
baking cookies and wilted flowers.

And with friends like these,

"it's not what you know, but who you know" that

really makes life so much sweeter.

Worlds Best Dad.

"Any man can be a father,

but it takes someone special to be a dad."
I know most people think that they have the worlds best dad, and I happen to be no exception; my dad is the worlds best dad.

And one day, I think I would like to totally devote an entire book to the wisdom of my father; some of the greatest lessons I've ever learned was while I was sitting in his little office, across from his desk in the big leather chair. No matter where I was in life, whether it was a good day, or a not so great one, he has always taught me the importance of loving myself, of working hard, of being good and doing good.

___

I have the worlds best dad,

Who,

even when he lives across the world,
and works harder than anyone I've ever known,
Always

has enough time in the day
to call me and tell me he loves me.


Happy Birthday Dad!

I hope one day I grow up to be like you,

And by the way,

I think the gray hair is starting to look rather suiting on you.

March Madness

I've officially lost my voice
after going into two over-times,
and I've never been a die-hard fan by any means,
but today was definitely an exception.
Go Cougars!


(ps. i think this makes up for no spring break.)

Happy After All.

Tonight,

I feel like skipping,
I feel like smiling,
I feel like jumping up and down on my bed,
or like falling in love all over again.

Tonight,
I was reminded of the way I felt when
they sang Auld Lang Syne on New Years Eve
and the fireworks lit up the sky;
Or the night my family sat in the living room,
before I moved away for college,
before my parents moved to New Zealand,
and we recounted all our favorite memories:
Like when my mom stayed up late with a plate full of cookies,
because she was just as excited as I
to go to the homecoming dance with the
cute boy in my English class.

I think about the sleepovers we spend laughing
til three in the morning and I secretly wonder why on earth
we weren't put in the same family,
when we happen to be so much more like sisters at heart?

Or that afternoon, when I felt like giving up on life,
and my dad came in and gave me a hug,
and let me cry in his arms, just like I did when I was little.

Tonight,
I feel like life was reminding me that
good things are meant to work out,
and that we're meant to be happy after all.

because it's seven, and still sunny outside.

i feel like summer is on its way,

and that long awaited spring is almost "officially" here.

so to celebrate, i just had scrambled eggs and cupcakes for dinner.


and i think from now on those two will go hand-in-hand;
just like ferris wheels and caramel apples,
or like tennis and tuesdays,
(or like me and zac efron...but that goes with saying)


i have had a big smile on my face all day today,
and i don't think that its going to go away anytime soon.

balloons.

one day,
when my daughters have become teenagers,
and they're ready to move off to college,
i will tell them what life was like when i was their age:

so much fun.

one memory will now include
the night we blew up 200 balloons,
for a party with no reason whatsoever.

(ps. as fun as it was,
my cheeks still hurt from blowing up so many.)

letters.

"...and my breath catches in my chest until I hear three little words: You've got mail. I hear nothing. Not even a sound on the streets...just the beating of my own heart.

I have mail. From you."

-You've Got Mail

If you were to ask me on Monday what I love, I might have said Gossip Girl.
If you were to ask me on Tuesday what I love the most, I probably would have said bottomless fries at Red Robin.
But if you were to ask me what I love today, I'd have to say letters.

a love list.

yesterday i found out that my friends' sweet little sister is going to be getting married this summer;
and as she flipped through wedding magazines this morning, looking at different rings,
a smile spread across my face;
and i became really, really, really happy for her, for him,
and for me and mr. someone else,
someday too.

in honor of this exciting news, (because i think the two of them are absolutely adorable together!)
i have some advice i'd like to pass along from miss diete's third grade class.

advice for a happy marriage.

.you need to kiss every once in a while.

.i think you should wear something beautiful.
.get bunnies.

.take turns doing the chores.
.take breaks from each other once in a while.

.mostly say yes (like if you're going to have hot dogs for dinner and you really don't like hot dogs, it's okay to say no.)
.sleep together.

.when your husband is grumpy, smile at him.

.to show you love each other, take the smallest cookie.
& finally...
.do not marry another person.

i think this list is absolutely, one hundred and ten percent, undeniably fantastic.
(and i think that marriage will be the same way, someday too)

photo via.

believe.

the errors of my life have profited me one great truth.
it is this:
believe.

________


we read that last night;
over and over and over again.

it is special to me.
it is special to people who are special to me.

and i hope it may be special to you, too.

The Love Map Results.

Remember this little thing?
The little wager we had going for those who wanted to cross a step off their love map?

Well, it's been a month,
We've each had 31 days of possibilities,
And these were the results:
*Anonymous Person Number 1: Their "love-map-worthy" candidate is actually already in a relationship.
*Anonymous Person Number 2: When they called their "love-map-worthy" girl, she never called back.
*Anonymous Person Number 3: Crashed and burned completely and totally after their 3rd conversation.
*Anonymous Person Number 4: Stopped liking the person anyway (we call her Fickle-McGickle).

So our conclusions, after noticing a 0% success rate?
We'll never draw another love map again.
The world must be ending.
And we all owe each other dinner this weekend.

photo via.

Confession Session. Round 2.

New Month.
New Thoughts.
A New Round of Confessions for today, March 1, 2010.

1. I don't know how much I love the president, but I still love Wes Jurkatis.

2. I learned the hard way, (yet again today)
That life is a lot of great things, but "being fair" isn't one of them.

3. Night at the Museum 2 made me want to be remembered.

4. Although I'm not proud of this, I haven't watched a smidge of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Nope, not even a second of the opening ceremonies.

5. It takes me 6 months to wash my jeans.

6. I have only painted my fingernails with red or pink nail polish. I will never paint them any other color either... (It's an OCD thing, I think)

7. Growing up, my parents were right 99.7% of the time.
However, the many times my parents mentioned: "Once you graduate high school, things will change and your friends will all go their separate ways..." falls into the .3% of being false. My best friends will always be the friends I made in the 10th grade.

8. I wrote 3 separate 300 page stories on the band Dream Street in the seventh grade, and one of my stories took "first place" on a Dream Street website. I'm still proud of myself 8 years later.

9. If you were to ask me what I like about myself, I might pause for a moment -- But deep down I'd really be thinking, "I really like my laugh."

10. I spend a lot of time on this blog talking about things that make me happy: picnic baskets with checkered bows, watching people in love, falling in love myself...But to be honest, my faith makes me happier than anything else.

wishing you all a happy month of march!

image via my life book.