Happiness is a Form of Courage

So here we are again. Another Monday. The sky is full of dark clouds that look like they will burst any moment and the chilled wind comes and goes. Just your typical Logan Spring day. It is the last Monday of classes. This time next week I will be finished with my first Exam. That was fast. Two weeks today I start working at Rice and Strand Interiors in my Internship...and with that I'd better back up a little bit.

Friday I had an interview at Rice and Strand Interiors in North Salt Lake. Remember how I said before - things have a way of working out? A friend of mine had been offered the internship there ... and long story short, she decided to accept another internship ... so mentioned my name and gave me the contact info. Fast forward a day or two - I had an interview and was offered the position. I think it will be a really good experience. It is a smaller firm so I should be able to be involved with many aspects of the business. Some of the projects I will be able to help with are the Colonial Court in Ogden UT -(the Condos by the Temple and Farr's Ice Cream), a show home for the annual Parade of Homes. My internship will be the first 6 weeks of summer break - so I am also hoping to be able to get a job of some sort afterwards for the rest of the summer to pay for my housing and things for my last semester of school!

After my interview I went back home and watched an episode of Man vs. Wild. We watched Bear Grylls survive in the Sahara desert. Pretty intense - now I know that if I ever find myself in that situation, that I can eat the spiders and make sure to avoid a certain plant that can cause blindness if I get part of it in my eye. Good skills to have. The my darling cousin made it up to Ogden and I met her at our Grandparents house. We stayed the weekend there. Festivities included a mini Doctor Who marathon. The Christmas Carol Special was on, then a recap of last season and finally the long awaited Doctor Who Season 6 season premier....part 1! (The best part is - we set up a timer on their TV to record all of the Doctor Who episodes for this new season so we can watch them when we go to visit.)  Saturday also included sleeping in, a yummy brunch, playing Apples to Apples, dinner at Chili's (I got the Cajun Chicken Pasta yum!), shoe shopping and Farr's Ice Cream!

Easter Sunday was very nice. We went to Church with our Grandparents and then had a family lunch. After wards I packed up my car. My cousin drove back down to Payson, and my brother and I went over to our Aunt and Uncle's house in Clinton. We had a little message, dinner and then played games. It was really great to see everyone.

Such a good weekend. Life is good. I really like the picture that I started this post with. "Happiness is a form of courage"... I also believe happiness is a choice, independent of circumstance. It's an attitude, and yeah, I think it takes courage and confidence to be happy. I think happiness is also linked to faith and hope. Happiness is a beautiful thing.

Marvelous Monday

So this weekend wasn't quite as exciting as last weekend. I was good and stayed up in Logan so I could study and get a bunch of homework done. It was pretty successful, and I also made time to watch a couple of movies with my roommates. I finally saw Harry Potter 6. I think that is my favorite movie so far. I liked the Deathly Hallows Part 1.. minus the few seconds before Ron destroys the locket.

Anyway so that was fun. Church was really good this week. It's been a while since I have been to church up here. I have traveled a lot this school year. Always some family gathering, or a trip down to the Provo area. But it was a good thing that I stayed up here because I was made aware that that night was Institute Graduation and that I was going to be awarded a certificate of 'Advanced Achievement'. (I graduated from Institute before my mission, but I have been continuing to go to classes since I have been home) So that was really nice. I wasn't able to go to my Institute graduation when I did graduate because I was in Alabama at the time, visiting my Dad and Brother.

But what really prompted this post was my Monday. Monday was a fantastic day. I know that is hard to believe with the stigma that Mondays usually have but just this once, I had a fabulous day.

My FAFSA info was processed, I was awarded Student Pricing for the LEED GA exam which will save me $50 (now just need to schedule a time to take it), I registered for my LAST Semester as an Undergraduate at USU!! Next semester I get to look forward to taking: Business Correspondence; Managing Organizations and People; Power Yoga; Interior Design Seminar; Aerobic Kickboxing, Principles of Management Information Systems and Topics in Interior Design(the Capstone Course for Sales and Marketing students). Institute classes aren't up yet, so I will have to wait and see what class I want to take.  Aand quite possibly the most exciting thing that happened on Monday was..... I turned in my Graduation Packet!!! I am graduating in December!!! (Of course, if I want to walk I will get to come back next May and do that)

So basically I am feeling super grown up now with graduation on the horizon. ;) Life is still good. I am little stressed with studying for a quiz and exam this week, and ever searching and waiting for an internship....but I know one way or another it will work out. Things have a miraculous was of turning out exactly as they are supposed to. 

Adele One and Only - w/Lyrics

I have really enjoyed discovering Adele's songs. I heard this one today for the first time. It's amazing how music can take the words right out of your mouth... or the thoughts straight out of your mind ;)

Weekends are fabulous

I have a fantastic life. I really do. Perfect? No. Easy? Nope. But amazing none the less.

April has been a wonderful month. Starting off with General Conference, and my birthday. Then last week my roommates took me out to Texas Roadhouse for my birthday. Yes I rode the saddle – it was great. Then afterwards we had a party for my birthday at our place. My darling roommates made red velvet cake and funfetti cake, and we made the cran-raspberry + pomegranate 7up slush. Due to the spacing of the candles... two needed a second go to be blown out. What makes me laugh is next year I will need more than one box of candles to cover it. Hehe. Then afterwards epic Just Dance 2 ensued. ^_^

The rest of the week went well. I got my homework done and my Roommate and I went country swing dancing at the Fun Park Wed. night. It was a great night. We stood in a different spot than usual and we got asked to dance a lot. It was great! I love dancing so much. (hehe living up to my name) 

Thursday when I came out of Pilates it was snowing... hard. It made me so sad! Mainly because it snowed the rest of the day and the day after!! Good thing I kept a pair of snow boots up here... kinda wish I didn't need them though. My friend and I got together and did some homework up at her place on campus and then she had made some Korean BBQ for me. DELICIOUS! When she has time, I'm going to have her over and make some Malaysian food for her. 

Friday - more snow, but I braved driving anyway. Thankfully it was warm enough that the roads were clear albeit wet. I made it down to Ogden and stopped long enough to go to Jamba Juice with my brother and do a load of laundry, then I drove down to Provo. I'll be honest it was kind of scary. Again, the roads were fine but visibility was terrible. In South Salt Lake there had been an accident so traffic slowed to 10 mph. Once I got past all of that, around draper things cleared up and it was smooth sailing from there. 

I went to dinner with some Elders from my mission. We went to the Indian place on Center St. and then went to a cello recital that another Elder from our mission was having. He was amazing! I was very impressed. Afterwards we had a mini 'Just Dance 2' party over at Ee's.  Then when he went to bed I went over to my companion's apt and stayed the night.

Saturday morning we went to the library and did homework for a few hours. I wasn't planning on doing any homework, but it was a good thing that we did. Afterwards I grabbed a quick lunch and then went to the MTC. I got to see my cousin there. The Fijian speaking missionaries go to the TRC right before the Indonesian/Malay speaking missionaries so that worked out well. I also met up with some missionaries that I served with and was paired up with an Elder that I don't think I had met before. He finished his mission a little while after I arrived in Malaysia so I don't think we crossed paths but I had heard his name before and seen pictures in other people's BRs. So that was fun, we had the sisters teach us. I love speaking/hearing Malay! It was hard to leave, I was having such a good time chatting with everyone. Mission memories are the best.

After leaving the MTC, I dropped by and picked up K. then we met a couple more sisters and went out to eat at the new Thai place on 400 N. in Provo. Everything about Thai Village was delightful. We ordered the Masamam Curry, Yellow Curry and some Pad Thai. Yum!

I love getting together with the missionaries from my mission. I would love even more to be able to go back to Malaysia and Singapore. (That's one reason why I am so excited to be graduating so I can start saving money for travelling)

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So here we are... Monday again. It has been a good day. Just a couple weeks left until I am out for summer. Still working on the Internship. Still waiting on a couple of firms... maybe I should start looking for places in San Jose.. my friend just got an internship in San Fran. It would be fun to stay with my Dad over the summer.  It'll work out, I know it will. :)

india arie - video

Hari Jadi Girl

So the day finally came. But with my birthday falling on a Sunday this year, I got to party all weekend long!
My class was cancelled on Friday so I went home Thursday afternoon. It was great. After class I packed up and drove down to Ogden. That night I just hung out with my brother. Friday morning I made a wonderful discovery! I found the games for the XBOX 360... definitely rocked the moves on Dance Central - such a fun game! It's legit. Friday afternoon I popped over to Kohl's and bought some shoes. Darling black flats, hoping to wear to an interview soon. Then I went and got my hair cut short.

That night I got to go out to Sandy's for dinner with my Mom, Brother and Grandpa. I got apple pie and ice cream for dessert. I love Sandy's pies!

Saturday morning I went over to my grandparent's house to watch conference. My cousin came over too and brought her little guy. He is so darling! Can't believe he will be 4 months old soon. I can usually get him to smile. ^_^ Once the morning session was over, my grandparents, brother and I drove up to Maddox! We met my Aunt, Uncle and two of my cousins there for lunch. I LOVE Maddox! I ordered the chopped lamb with mashed potatoes and of course had to get their Cream Soda. Delish! Because we were there for my birthday I got a piece of pie. This time I got Banana Cream. It was a massive piece... and it was amazing. I wish I could make banana cream pie like that.

When we were finished eating, we drove back down to Ogden and watched the afternoon session of conference. Then we had a light dinner... actually I didn't eat much - still super full from Maddox. :) Then the guys left to go watch the Priesthood Session and us ladies (Grandpa, Aunt, and two of my cousins) stayed and watched Tangled. My other Aunt came over for a bit too. So fun!

Right before the guys got back, we jumped on skype and got to talk to my cousin and his kids over in Okinawa, and my other cousin over in Kansas. Skype is pretty cool. Then in true family gathering style we stayed up late talking. It was so great to see everyone!

Sunday morning my Dad texted me at 8am - he wasn't sure what time I would be waking up and wanted to be the first to wish me a happy birthday (although my uncle was the first right after midnight). He didn't wait an hour before calling me. So I got to talk to him and open the presents from him and my stepmom. They got me a sweet bag and a couple of summer dresses from Thailand. Love them! My darling cousin got me a claddagh necklace and a Celtic Thunder t-shirt - we have matching ones! (And the best part is we are planning on seeing them when they come to Utah in October!)

Claddagh pendant

Celtic Thunder ^_^

Sunday after Conference was over we went to my Aunt's house for dinner. It was so fun to have everyone there. My cousin made me a cake so everybody sang to me and I blew out my candles in one. There was a little mishap with the candles so technically I was turning 20 again. Haha they were arranged in a 24. Man... I am still having a little bit of a hard time coming to terms with that. I can't believe how fast time goes! Maybe it would sound better in Pride and Prejudice style ..."I am now 4 and 20". Hmm. Or I suppose now I can say that I am 20+ when someone asks how old I am. In all seriousness, I am not ashamed of my age. I think this is going to be a great year. :)

I drove back up to Logan that night. Most of my classes were cancelled today, but I was up on campus doing homework. I did go to Country swing and Institute, then stayed and did some more homework. 

Tomorrow we are going to party it up some more. Roommate dinner at Texas Roadhouse, then cake and ice cream with everyone at our apt. at 9. It'll be grand. ^_^