You know its almost finals when...

You know its almost finals when your whole hall starts to go crazy. But you still love them!



You know its almost finals when Sunday night you are sprawled out on the floor, still in your dress reading some conference talks. Then around 11pm you start to fall asleep. You are quite comfortable and wrapped in a blanket. So in stead of going to bed because that is way to much work, you set an alarm for 11:30pm and take a nap. Then at 11:30pm you finally get up, brush your teeth, change out of your church clothes, and go to bed.

You know its almost finals when your brain starts to think of all sorts of questions that have nothing to do with anything.

"When do leaves just decide to start growing?"

You know its almost finals when you see this picture and can relate.

You know its almost finals when its 88 degrees and you can't decide if it is just worth it to sit outside or actually study.

You know its almost finals when you crush your Fitbit goal because you are constantly going back and forth all over campus meeting with people and turning things in.

You know its almost finals when you decide to order pizza at 9:30pm because you have no money and so much homework.


You know its almost finals when everyone starts playing games outside.


You know its almost finals when you decide to go out to eat with friends instead of studying. (It was absolutely delicious!)


You know its almost finals when you get your vacuum back and it works and it brings you pure joy!


You know its finals when you go for a walk at 10pm because studying is obviously not the thing to be doing...


You know its finals when even the dinning hall starts to hype you up on sugary goodness. 


You know its finals week when one of my girls can't find their keys and they are searching through their whole car and then this happens.. 

You know its almost finals when this picture of Prince George makes you giddy.


You know its almost finals when their is another senior recital to go to. Good job Jeremiah!


You know its almost finals when you work the game room and someone brings you candy.


You know its almost finals when Heidi comes and sleeps in your room for two nights and you watch Downton Abbey while eating pizza.


And when she brings you chocolate cake as a thank you!
 

You know its almost finals when you talk to Kadee for three hours and take lots of pictures with people you love as they walk by.




You know its almost finals when the weather is warming up and the Virginia fog makes a reappearance.


You know its almost finals when you have to go to Roanoke Saturday and Sunday for a performance with the Roanoke Symphony and Orchestra.
The view of the Cathedral from the window was just a plus.


You know its almost finals when its time for the annual 5k and Luau!



Yes. There was even a proposal. 


This week has been absolutely crazy. I keep realizing how much I will miss everyone over the summer and the ones that are leaving.

Something that has been on my mind a lot is plans. I always make plans that never seem to follow through. Homework plans, life plans, stuff like that. But what I have to remember is that there is one correct plan, and that is the Lords. What a blessing that is.


Wish me luck for finals!

The Simple Miracles April 11-17

This semester has flown by. It makes me sad.

Mainly because that means tests, finals, projects, presentations, etc.....

And because it means a lot of goodbyes.

Although this week was stressful, its been fun.

Monday was my adult day. I paid a housing deposit for summer and got a job. It was a scary moment. But I lived. 

Monday for FHE we played a whole bunch of team games. We played reverse musical chairs, a blindfold challenge thing, and we had to see how many balloons we could squish in between two people. My team won.

 

This week I was trying to finish a ten page paper about Dante. It was the most stressful and hard essay I have ever had to write. 

Tuesday we went to the Fading Point Concert. They did a really good job! It was a lot of fun.

Facebook had this thing going around that it would tell you "your" quote. Mine was "Spend your time with people who love you unconditionally, not with people who want you to fulfill all their conditions."

I like it!

Wednesday was crazy! It was the last day I could finish my paper so my stress level was high. I went to all my classes, than worked on the paper, went to the last home softball game, went back to the Library to work, ate food, worked the game room, than finally finished my paper! All I had to do was edit.

All day I had been craving chocolate cake. Kadee texted me after dinner sometime and told me she had cake for me. It was very nice!

 

I woke up early to finish my paper and print it off. I was so happy to have it done!!! I basically took the rest of the day off. I couldn't do any more homework after that!

Facebook reminded me that its been 6 years since Alley and I became friends! So crazy!

Friday was quite fun. The choir is performing in Roanoke next Sunday with the Roanoke symphony so the choir director there came and worked with us. He is hilarious and it was good to get some new energy in there. 

I went to the orchestra concert which was lovely. They played a lot of fun songs this time around including Pink Panther, Prince of Egypt, and my favorite.. Disney!

After words John John and I got ice cream and walked around Washington and Lee Campus. 

Saturday was another kind of lazy day. I went to lunch and cleaned my room. I then drove Kaylee and Heidi to work. Lexie, Kaylee and I all ate there and then Lexie and I headed back home. I went down to the dinning hall though and got an ice cream cone. It was absolutely beautiful outside so I just sat in front of main hall. 

It was Stake Conference this week and we had a wonderful first session Saturday night. The member of the seventy that was there focused all on how the Lord's hand is in our life. I absolutely loved that reminder. He shared a lot of stories of simple miracles. 

In Institute we did an in depth study on the first 24 verses of Ether 12. It was amazing. That whole chapter is on faith and hope but it also talks a lot about miracles and it reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from April 2015 conference by Bishop Gérald Caussé.

"To marvel at the wonders of the gospel is a sign of faith. It is to recognize the hand of the Lord in our lives and in everything around us."

Don't ever stop marveling at how amazing the gospel is or the miracles that are happening everyday. 

I really love these crazy people of mine.

The Beginning of the End April 4-10

The "lasts" are starting.

Monday for FHE we played General Conference Jeopardy. Have I mentioned how much I love General Conference?

Everyone should be very proud of me. I actually ordered scrambled eggs in the dinning hall. They were delicious!


I got a surprise package from Grandma Lambert on Wednesday. She must know me really well because inside was chocolate and a coloring book. It completely made my day!

I really love this scripture.

Trials come from God, and the Lord gives us strength to bear them. We must go through life being cheerful and full of patience.

Thursday was our last big group RA meeting. It was really sad. The Hiatt's had us all submit one word to describe every RA. Then they compiled the list and gave it to each of us to remind us that each of us are extraordinary. It was a lot of fun and as we got down on our knees to say our last "family" prayer together, I got really sad. This amazing group of people is going to be all over the place next year. We have quite a few getting married, some transferring, and some going on missions. I have loved working with them and getting to know them. They are truly amazing.

This was the start of all my crazy tests and projects coming up. Friday I had a macroeconomics test and a Spanish test. I had accepted late Thursday night that if I didn't know the information, I wasn't going to know it. John John's advice was "As Squirt (from Finding Nemo) once said, "You're going to rip it, roll it, and punch it!"
It definitely made me laugh.


I felt good about both test though, especially macro. So we will have to see how I actually did!

Friday Kaylee and I sat and colored while watching Lizzie McGuire. Can't get much better than that!
 

Saturday winter made an appearance. It was snowing which you definitely cannot see in this picture..


My RA from my first semester is amazing! Merissa definitely took care of me all the time and just let me follow her around. If she hadn't taken me under her wing that first week, I don't know how I would have survived. Second semester she went on a mission. She had to come back early for some medical reasons, but Saturday she GOT MARRIED! 


A group of us all headed up to the temple. Most of my friends did a session and Nicole and I did conformations. 
 

It was a lot of fun to just sit and catch up with Nicole. She asked me an interesting question at one point. She said "What is the biggest change you have seen in yourself this past year?"

Uh....well.....hmmm
Where do I even begin? 

Merissa looked absolutely stunning. It was so good to hug her and be with her quirky personality again. 


I rode with Brigham, Alayna, and Jordan but Nichole, Lainie, John John, Lucy, and Cory were all there. There were a few moments throughout the day that I sat and thought, "I am so grateful for these amazing people in my life. I'm grateful to have come to SVU so I could meet them. I love how we can have gospel conversations and go to the temple together. I just really love my friends."


Please ignore my hair. This was after a very long day of running around, snow, and wind.


Three "generations" of RA's 


We were starting to drive home and we turned a corner and there was the temple all lit up! It was beautiful! What a great reminder of its guiding light.


Its hard to believe the semester is ending. A lot of changes are coming next semester. Job wise and people wise. 

Sunday I bore my testimony on change. I am grateful that we change and can grow. Its so important to remember that we are children of a Heavenly Father and as we stay close to him we can change for the better.