(:

There is nothing like a crisp October day that makes me want to be outside,

 all day, every day.

It is so beautiful!

 So I went on a drive, along the beautiful twisty Blue Ridge Parkway,

It was so beautiful!

 I stopped to take pictures, because it was so gorgeous,

 although none of the pictures ever do it justice.

 I even stopped and spontaneously trekked a mini hike along one of the trails.

 I discovered a gorgeous cobblestone path, sunlight peeking through the trees, the smell of the forest (which I absolutely love. If they made a cologne out of that, or a candle,

I would have my whole house smell like that! Not perfume though, it's more of a manly smell...)

and some abandoned boulders. It was awesome (:

Besides that, it's been midterms week. so that's always pretty stressful! but I made it without too much hair pulling and a fair amount of sleep, so I consider it pretty successful (:

I went to a VMI game! Which checked off a major thing on my buckest list for this semester.

 Because of a very nice cadet, I was able to go in & see the barracks - which are so cool!

They have an amazing view, and it's the neatest building. Kind of like Hogwarts (:

 It's really like walking inside a real castle.  We also got to eat a free lunch & attend the football game, for free! yeah, that's right! my pocketbook & I were happy (:

It was so fun! We sat in the middle of the band, so we had lively music the whole time. It was so fun being with the cadets & my friend. The guys around us were so goofy, I almost felt like I was with my brothers back home. I also got to meet the mischevious, funny kangaroo mascot, and he flipped my hat around and had me do a gang sign picture. I also attempted, and failed miserably, to play the trumpet & the trombone, which was hilarious. 

It was a fantastic time (:

 

That night was also stake conference, which was amazing

. The speakers spoke so well and taught me alot, and the Spirit was really strong. There was one odd moment where I saw the first counselor in the Stake presidency, and found he looks exactly like Captain America! I mean, they could be brothers! So that weirded me out for a few minutes, haha. But he did a great job as well, and it was just awesome. I love my Church (:

 

Then I had the whole day free, so I decided to find a place to paint.

I listened to the Reflections of Christ soundtrack (if you've never heard it, go get a taste here. it's amazing.)

I found a cute little place in downtown Lexington, and sat down with everything I needed - brushes, canvas, mineral spirits, everything! So then I opened my container for my oil paints.. and there were none in there :( It was so sad! I left them all at home. So, instead, I used acrylics, and tried to rinse the brushes with mineral spirits anyways, which didn't work out too well... haha.

But it was so lovely, and so peaceful.

I got to talk to a few people, and a little Japanese tourist family came and took pictures of me.

It was a lovely afternoon!

 

I've been learning so much, and can tell already that I've grown from living out on my own and from the experiences I've had in the past months.

I'm so grateful for my life. I am so, so blessed.

I can't describe how thankful I am to know that no matter what happens, no matter what lies ahead, I have full assurance that things will work together for good.

Alrighty, that's the end for now (:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hello, October

I love fall. (:
It's so, so beautiful.
Absolutely breathtaking!
Sometimes, when I'm driving, I just have to stop & take a few pictures
& enjoy the crisp, cool, cozy weather
That makes me feel like cuddling up in an old sweater & drinking hot chocolate (:
love October.

love the fall colors

 

 

sometimes you just have to stop driving & enjoy the moment (:

 

 

one of my favorite things to do! ever! drive in autumn, down the winding roads of Virginia

 

cute pumpkins @ school (:

 

love SVU (:

 

 

 

the library decorated outside (:

 

 

 

notes on a crazy, awesome weekend (:

This weekend was SO crazy. Honestly.

Sometimes in life, all the greatest things happen all at once.

Then, when all these great things happen, all the weirdest little problems come up.

It's like my mind and emotions get so filled up and focused on all the awesome things

 that it slackens & sometimes totally spaces out on normal life

 and I forget to do, or do random things, I usually wouldn't forget or do.

That was a confusing sentence, but hopefully it got the idea across, haha.

What I basically  mean to say is, my life is awesome! But the weirdest, most random problems have been popping up!

 I tried writing about all the crazy things that happened, 

but my writing was turning way too long & detailed.

Nobody needs to read a novel about my life, haha.

So, basically, these things happened:

I ate breakfast with a nice, friendly Australian guy.

I found I've developed a problem at school -

Whenever I talk to a handsome guy, I look at his face while I talk to him, and then I just start feeling super happy. And then I start grinning, and get this urge to just laugh a happy laugh. And I'm sure I'm smiling with this gigant, silly smile on my face, while I'm talking to him, because I just feel so joyful inside. How silly is that? Haha.

Despite my newly acquired weird habit, or maybe because of it haha, my dating life is virtually nonexistent right now... so I guess it doesn't really matter. But it's pretty weird!

Anyways. That happened recently.

Then my contact fell out during my math test, so I completed it half blind.

A giant, freaky bug crawled right in front of me during the test, but I prevailed in successfully finishing the math problems despite the inconvenient distraction.

 I lost my dorm key, so I had zero access to my room - or replacement contacts.

Luckily I had my glasses & all my weekend necessities in my trunk

(thanks to some inspiration that morning - tender mercies everywhere in my life!)

 I drove home - through the breathtakingly beautiful country hills -

barely in the nick of time for Adam's baptism.

That was such an awesome experience (:

 It was so sweet seeing him get baptized, and being able to see him feel the Spirit

and feel so happy on that day. He is such a great little brother (: I have the greatest family.

I watched the Avengers, with the brothers and sisters. Awesome.

Then I woke up and watched conference.

Wow.

I mean, anyone mildly aware of the LDS community I'm sure has heard the news

Virtually every LDS girl on facebook has declared her intentions to go on a mission by now, haha

But the fact that I could go on a mission now is, in an understated word, quite exciting (:

I'm going to start doing the work to see what I can do to prepare, and see if it's the right thing for me.

I feel like it's a really great path

It's hard to explain the feeling I got when I heard, but I just felt so excited and happy and knew that what President Monson was saying was directed from God.

 My testimony was strengthened, and I feel more strongly converted to the gospel then I have for a long time.

So many of my prayers were answered,

including things I've been struggling with and asking and pondering about for a long time.

 Especially about school, and the paths I'm taking for my life...

So it was just incredible.

Conference is always so good,  but I don't think I've been so strongly immersed and overwhelmed with the Spirit & the messages as I have in that one, ha.

 It was so awesome!

More than words.

Seriously. Ha.

So then I came back to my cute little home in SVU on Sunday, and watched the last few sessions-

which were equally profound and uplifting and inspiring as the ones before.

Conference went so quickly.

That night, I still didn't have my room key.

I watched Hercules with my friends.

And then I was locked out of my dorm,

So I decided to go for a drive, to kill the time.

10 minutes down the road, not even off campus, I got my first ticket.

Parked in front of the library, where everyone could see me and the flashing blue lights and the two serious, tough cops talking to me.

 Including some of my other friends, of course.

Ticketed for not stopping completely at a stop sign.

Luckily, it's a really small ticket. They were really nice about it, & I'm grateful ha.

 I will definitely be more careful driving!

It's the worst feeling in the world getting pulled over, I always feel so guilty!

Anyways.

Today, I got my room key again.

And got the picture retaken on it, so my hair isn't sticking straight up (:

It's an improvement.

So life is back to it's not as hectic normalcy.

But my mind is still recovering from the amazingly spiritual, mentally overloaded, busy weekend.

This morning in class I raised my hand to add some insight to a question the professor had asked.

As soon as he called on me, my brain was so tired that I just completely spaced.

I thought about what I was going to say, stammered, said um, apologized and told him I was tired, wondered why I was saying these things & apologizing, while he looked at me incredulously the whole time, and I finally spit out my point to the argument.

It was just embarrassing, haha.

All day I have been so out of it, and the weirdest things have come out of my mouth.

But, oh well. Tonight I'm off to bed, and I'll get a great night sleep.

My post major spiritual experience & busy-weekend-overloaded mind will settle down, get some rest, and be able to think clearly in normal life again. So it will be good (:

And.. that's another day in the life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

those days

kinda crazy, just woke up, stressed day hair.. haha

You know those days.
Where pretty much everything just seems to go wrong.
At work.. at school.
even driving. Just random bummer things keep happening?
And then, of course, it happens on those days where your extra emotional.
And that makes it extra hard not to fall into the pity-party pit of despair..
 This week has held a few of those days.

Sometimes all you can do is cry, call your Mom, and go buy a pair of teal pants.
Then you can say a prayer, and just keep on moving.
you can always see the bright side of life again after that (:

(:

I've decided that I'm going to get Captain America baptized and marry him, after he goes on a mission of course. It will save me so much trouble!

Seriously, if anyone has advice with dating (or even just talking to) guys you could possibly really care about, and letting other guys know their awesome friends in a really, really kind, not awkward way, please let me know. Asap. 

Besides those crazy experiences which I won't go into, life has been so great. 

I feel like I've covered all the basic things in the past, and would just be repeating myself on how great SVU is, for all the reasons I've said before. But here are some random things maybe not so many people know!

First - the stairs to The Lofts. Yes, I live in the majestic Lofts, on top of the hill. It has a gorgeous view, overlooking the whole campus and valley. It's also a great place to live, and is a million times better then the guy's dorms. However, this awesome abode comes with a steep price - a staircase that is  f o r e v e r  long. No matter how athletically muscled your body is, at the top of those steps you will be out of breath. Seriously. Add on a 15+ lb backpack and you've got one serious workout. There is one great perk, however, and that is that I'm getting some great definition in my legs! Haha.

Second, the people. I feel trite saying everyone here is so friendly and fun, because I've said it so many times. But it's so true. I love how people sincerely smile and say hi when they walk by, even if you don't know them. There are also so many amazingly talented people. Honestly. This weekend my friends and I got a private concert from this guy. I was expecting him to be pretty good, like someday he  might develop into a really professional, good artist. Hearing him pretty much awestruck those expectations! It was so good. It was like hearing someone such as Jack Johnson or Jason Mraz play in person. So much emotion & great rhythm, pretty melody & just so, so good! Seriously, go check out his music! The band is called elephant shortcut. The song 'two toned' is my favorite, I completely relate (: Anyways, that is another thing I love about SVU, and just people in general! You would never guess how much talent & potential is in that person sitting right next to you in class, or walking toward you across campus. It's just so cool!

I am so blessed. There are so many people who are just such awesome examples & fun friends & so much to do and learn and experience. I am so, so blessed. (:  

Alrighty, I've written enough for now. Off to do homework (: life is great!

roses from the parking lot (:

the stairs!

silly mood (:

life of a knight (:

So the last week has pretty much been the bomb.com.
College life is so fun (:
Classes have been amazing! I can't decide which one class is my favorite.. probably Spanish (mucho loco, right? haha) or Western Political Theory. Or Institute, of course! Or Math, even more surprisingly. Last week we got to bring pineapples to class.. for math. Yeah, it's legit. haha. My Professor is from Germany, and she is such a fun lady. She reminds me of my Farmor (:
In the times when we're not studying, or working out, or eating, or sleeping, my friends & I do all kinds of fun things!
Like hang out with our unofficial ping pong club.
Or go to parties (honor code friendly, of course). or laugh at Raquel cheering"Let's Go Boys!!" at the top of her lungs at soccer games. or dancing & chilling at concerts. or painting faces & cheering at football games! or dressing up & heading out to the dances. or we just hang out and talk about boys & random stuff.
It is soo fun (:
I also got a job, finally! And my boss is a slightly scary but really sweet lady. We're becoming friends! 
This weekend we went to the VMI Parade! That was so fun!
It was really cool to see - they do some of the same training routines & exercises (not sure what their officially called) with their guns that the troops in the 1700s learned.
They also marched up and down the field, and had a big marching band.
My awesome friends & I started talking to some of the cadets during the parade, and we learned some cool things about VMI! And about them! I guess it's a much different experience being in the parade then on the sidelines, haha. I'm glad we could talk to them!
Anyways, it was super fun, and in the end we got some pictures to memorialize the great afternoon.
It has been a great week (:

go knights! (:

cute friends! & I suck at taking pictures! poor Raquel.. haha

Funny story - I wanted a picture just me with them. So I awkwardly walked around, trying to figure out how I could position myself to make the picture look okay! Suddenly the NY cadet said "Hey! How about we carry you?" Thus this picture was born!

cute friends (:

ow ow!

chapel @ VMI

the parade (:

SVU Days (:

It's the first day of classes today!!

SVU has been amazing, ever since I moved in.

Awesome:

It's absolutely beautiful. The rolling hills, the fog in the morning, the awesome view from the Lofts...

My roommates. Their super cute, fun girls - really different from each other, but really fun.

My first class this morning. I was soo nervous for Spanish. I had a pretty intimidating experience with it at Mary Wash. But my Professor turned out to be this really cute, friendly old man, who is not intimidating (phewf!).

We're going to begin class each morning by singing a hymn in Spanish. How awesome is that?? I love having the gospel in my everyday classes, and being able to feel the Spirit wherever I go.

That class couldn't have gone better (:

There have been a few awkward moments -

Like, the very first dinner I eat here, the person from my past came and sat right at my table! Awkward! Really, what are the chances? Even at SVU? Haha. But she was super nice, and it hasn't been awkward since!

Also, I ran into a guy I went on a few dates with last summer at the YSA branch. I went up to talk to him, because it's good to see a familiar face! And we were friends back then. I always liked him as a friend, nothing more! Anyways, he was nice to me, but seemed rather uncomfortable ... and then he introduced me to this really pretty girl next to him, who turned out to be his wife. She was really nice too, but seemed like she thought I was going to try and steal him away or something. That was so awkward! I would never, ever do anything like that, obviously.. even if I had been completely infatuated with him. And we were just friends in the first place! But ever since then he's totally ignored me.

I guess that was my first experience with that really, really awkward feeling that comes in situations like that.. haha.

I promise, when I'm married, I'm definitely going to be kind to the people I went on dates with! And not be awkward!

Aside from those awkward moments and those cheesy get to know you games they always play with new students, school has been awesome.

I'm so excited for my classes - jogging, Western Democracy, College Comp, Math.. okay, not so much Math. But I met my professor there as well, and she was the sweetest lady ever too. She gave me a hug after I met with her! So I know she'll be happy to help me, and my mathematically-challenged brain.

I'm especially excited for Institute, and football games! 

Another awesome thing is Lexington, which is about 10 minutes away from Buena Vista.
It is the prettiest town! It feels like a mix of Fredericksburg and Boston to me.. the streets are very twisty and beautiful, with lots of cozy little shops.
Washington & Lee University & Virginia Military Institute are there, right next to eachother.
Today while job hunting I took a few hours to explore those campuses too.
Their also very beautiful!
VMI looks like a castle - it's so cool.
All the cadets wearing their uniforms are extremely handsome, and super polite.
They always tip their hat and say hi quite charmingly when I walk by!
It's so fun (:

And now, off to class again (: SVU is great!

Soccer game w/ the roomies (: We won!

My cute little bed, with no pictures on the corkboard.. yet.

first day (: