A Few Pictures A Little Late

 The San Diego Temple with some of my "family". That temple was beautiful! The inside was even more spectacular than this outside, if you can imagine.

 Baby K's first time in the ocean! We were both nervous!

You can't tell but my feet are freezing cold. My "sister", S, made me take this picture so I had something to send to N. 

A Healthy Dose of Over-Preparation

Life is too short for me not to prepare for the next fifty years. I have an addiction. I like to know exactly what, when, and where I will be five years before I am there. The other day I saw a little quote by a Mr. or Mrs. (I'm not really sure) Lao Tzu it said "If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present." Now, this made me think for a few reasons first off, I have acute anxiety and sometimes it makes me sick to my stomach with worry over things I mostly can't control. Also, I began thinking the other day (as I was planning my wedding and how many kids I was going to have and in which month my first child was going to be born [ya, I told ya!]) about how so much of my, and I'm sure others, happiness lies but only a few steps into the future, but we will never get there. We will take those few steps and realize happiness is really only a few steps more. I believe very strongly that my thinking this is due to over preparing myself for life. The thing is you can't prepare for life, at least not to the extent I try. You have to take it how it is and love it! Otherwise, your happiness will always be a few steps ahead of you. It's my new goal to let go of the future just a little and try living a little bit more in the present.

And They Walked and Walked and Walked and....

This past weekend my car was feeling a little down. The weather outside was so hot, we are in a heat wave right now and it was triple digit temperatures. Well, I was feeling a little down so I wondered if it was just normal for Carlos (my car) to also be feeling a little slow. After, asking my "dad" about it we decided since I needed to get an oil change we would just have the shop look at it, just in case. So, Monday morning Carlos and I took a trip down to the repair shop. Now, the repair shop is on 3900 North and I live on 1000 North. I'm not sure where my brain was on Monday morning but it definitely wasn't in my head because for some reason I thought I could walk home and survive the venture. That is more than just some little jaunt! I began my walk home and after fearing for my life a few times on the main road (there is no sidewalk) I decided I needed to take a side road, where there are no bus stops. I made it to 2200 and had no idea how I was going to make it the other 12 blocks. Now, these are not normal blocks, these are country blocks that last FOREVER. My "sister" lives up 2200 and I decided her house seemed a lot more appealing than my apartment at this point. I turned up the street and headed towards her block but when I got there she wasn't home! Someone must have been looking out for me because by some miracle the back door was open. And that is how M came home to me crashed out on her couch watching Cake Boss. It was a really long walk.

P.S. Carlos is fine. I paid them an extra 40 dollars to tell me nothing was wrong with him and that it was just the heat but, at least I didn't have to pay for a huge repair.

The Tyranny of 3" Godzilla

Last week as I was sweeping the kitchen Ka and I noticed a village being built on the foundation of popcorn. It was a dilemma, indeed. To the small, mostly innocent ants beneath Ka's feet (I was supervising on a nearby chair [and yes I do use supervising and squealing synonymously]) she must have looked like a giant dragon whose only joy in life was tap dancing on the unsightly souls of hungry insects. Actually, that pretty much describes her-just replace unsightly with beautiful and insects with Felicia. The poor ants went running for their lives, their children's lives, and their grandchildren's lives, but to no avail because the foot of Ka is all powerful and it leaves no survivors. As she swept up there little corpses and I "supervised" some more she noticed something black, ugly, much bigger than an ant, and zombie looking. Godzilla of the insect world had been living, breathing, eating, and crawling all over our kitchen for who knows how long! And now he was dead, just lying there all over our floor. Needless to say Mr. Centipede caused a lot of "supervising" on my part.

Is There Even a Way to Title This?

I work at a call center, most of you (the two people who read this) know that. It's a lovely job consisting of mostly getting yelled at, occasionally having someone cry into the phone at you, some swearing, and some very incredibly awkward personal confessions from people you don't know and have never met. It's awesome! Even better is our company's recent decision to conduct surveys that clearly invade the huge personal space bubble that exists in ones mind. You know, those things that exist but you don't want to talk about? Well, I might call you and ask you to talk about them! Example One: We have a new survey for Stanford University called "Couples". Basically we call and ask questions about your relationship. My favorite questions: How attractive would you rate yourself? How attractive would you rate your partner? Yea, because people are going to tell you the truth when their gf/bf/spouse/intimate lover/dog/whatever floats your boat is sitting next to them. Yea... Example Two: This one is my favorite! It's a survey called TP Study. If you are thinking "no, tp stands for something else." You are wrong, it stands for toilet paper. We call and ask people when the last time they used the restroom was and how they would rate the flushability of their toilet paper. But that isn't the best or worst part! They have been asked to record the flushability of their toilet paper. Like video record. I guess somebody has to do it, right? I'm just glad I'm not the person who has to watch all of those videos....

Running is for Runners. Driving is for Drivers.

My "family" ran Ragnar this last weekend. For those of you like me who don't run or have any idea what it is runners do or find joy in you may not know what Ragnar is. Ragnar is a relay race with two teams of six people each. The one my family runs is called the Wasatch Back; it's from Logan to Park City. Crazy, right? Yes! Well, each year they run we have a little party in Huntsville in between vans to play and eat; or if you're a runner to sleep. It's way fun, and really the greatest part of my family's tradition. So, I went on my merry way to drive to Huntsville, which I, myself have never driven by myself. And got lost. I get lost a lot guys, it happens to everyone, just to me more often than is ordinary. I don't know what it is. I think the road signs have it out for me and so they change when they see me coming so that I go the wrong way. It isn't my fault. Eventually, my "dad" called and directed me in the right way, after figuring out what exactly the right way was. I was on the right track, though! And then the road I was supposed to take was blocked for runners. Why?!?! I get it runners gotta run, but hey drivers (AKA Felicia) gotta drive! I got there...eventually. But it was a stressful, very scenic drive.

Good Byes & Blessings

This week one of my favorite people will head out into the world of gospel spreading as she enters the MTC on Wednesday. Yay! And Boo! It's a confusing feeling to be excited for your friend and sad she will be gone at the same time. But I am very happy for her and she is going to make a wonderful missionary. And she gave a fabulous talk on Sunday!

I have fun friends. :)

I learned a valuable lesson this week and built a stronger testimony of tithing. I fully believe in and support the saying "fake it til' you make it". This is not gospel doctrine so do not quote me on it. But it is something that has beneficial in my life especially with the principle of tithing. I have never experienced the amazing miracle or blessings that come when you pay your tithing. I have heard the stories and I know deep down that paying my tithing is the right thing to do. I have to pay my tithing in order to attend the temple, and I know the temple is where I need to be. But tithing has always been a principle that I have followed blindly without a real testimony of. Wherein lies the "fake it til' you make it". I knew that one day I would gain a testimony of the principle of tithing but how was I supposed to gain a testimony if I didn't live it? So I did. It has been hard especially this last year when money has not been in surplus for me. And especially this last month. My rent for next semester is due in a week. I am almost three hundred dollars short of having enough. I didn't know what I was going to do. So, I paid my tithing having faith that the Lord would take care of me. And did He ever! I received an email today with my contract for housing. My payment is not only not due until August but it is also almost three hundred dollars less than I expected. I know I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and is always blessing me if I but only obey, and I am so grateful for that knowledge. 

My Mid Year Update

2013: the year my entire world goes, well there isn't really a word for it. It kind of feels like this: a;sdifjoajfiojdsofiosuiowrjowndkhoiuglkwefnjhuj. If you are saying "Felicia, that isn't even a word. That  doesn't make any sense, it's just a bunch of garble," then I have captured the emotion perfectly. Towards the end of my Junior year of high school, that's three years ago for those of you who are counting, my life turned upside down. I didn't think anything could be more stressful than changing schools, changing jobs, changing friends, changing families. And indeed at the time it was a most stressful time in my life. But looking back on it I felt completely at peace with everything that was happening. I knew every decision I had made was under the influence and loving hand of my Heavenly Father and that He knew exactly where it was I needed to be. Do not get me wrong that was the hardest year of my life, up to this point. I knew everything would be fine though because I was laid a very direct path to happiness with little obstacle besides my own emotion. 2013, I'm finding, is yet again to be a year of change. We are halfway through and the best is yet to come. I, again, know that a path has been laid and that if I follow in it I will find at the end, and perhaps through the journey, happiness. But this path looks so much scarier.  Sometimes I wish someone would make all the choices for me, then I could blame them if it all went wrong. But that's not how it works, and I'm finding that worse than receiving the answer you don't want is receiving one that tells you to decide for yourself what is right. It's all a little overwhelming. I am so excited for the change that my life is going to take, but I am also terrified. It's going to be a very interesting year folks. :)

My 2013 "Visual" Updates:

My best friend found someone worth leaving the single life for, that guy on the right is one extremely lucky fella.

 This awesome woman, who also happens to be my amazing friend, is going to Arizona in a few short months to serve her LDS mission. So proud of her! :)

That righteous, beautiful, friend of mine on the left is leaving in just two (ish) weeks to serve in the lucky state of Washington D.C./Virginia. She is going to be amazing! And the one on the right  has left our apartment :(, I will still see her lots though. :)

I don't think this picture needs an explanation as to how it has affected my life, and will affect my life in 2013. I love this school I will be really sad to not have the chance to be on campus everyday in the fall, but I'm very excited for my Brigham City adventures!

Just a few months ago my roommates decided to make me this super awesome Christmas gift, which stretched around our entire living room at the time. It's a countdown chain for the homecoming of one of greatest, most important people in the world to me and as you can see it's gotten a lot shorter since Christmas. What once used to stretch around our living room is now occupying only the tiny space that is the corner of my bedroom. It has 145 links today. It's incredible how quickly time flies without your realizing it. 

It's me! The most up to date picture anyone on the planet has of me, it was taken last night. Enjoy it,

because it's a terrible picture. This year is going to be the most interesting, by far, but hopefully it will be pretty great too.

It's Drop it Hot

The air conditioning at work has been broken for who knows how long and no one seems to want to fix it because, well there isn't really a reason, mostly people are lazy. The other day it was especially hot, it was probably 85 degrees outside and 10 degrees hotter inside our building. Fortunately, I had been seated by a window and so it was hot but bearable. The people sitting across from me weren't having such luck, they were baking like potatoes on a grill. One moment everything is as dandy as it can be inside a microwave and the next I hear a thump as the girl across from me decides to take a mid-afternoon nap under her desk. I work with really odd people so don't sound totally shocked and surprised when my first thought was that she really was taking a nap. It's weird but I work with weird people. I stopped thinking she was napping when the guy next to her, who was on a call, started kicking at her feet. I should have been concerned but the scene was so funny that I couldn't help but laugh. Yes, I know, I'm a terrible human being, remember that if you ever feel like passing out around me.
P.S. The girl is fine, and they are now fixing our air conditioning. :)

A 4 A.M. Surprise

Last night I went to bed around like 11:30, pretty close to normal any other day of the week, and I slept like a small child. Well, not exactly I kind of got hot so I pushed all my pillows to the bottom of the bed and my head was dangling off the side of the bed while my blanket was still wrapped around me all the way up to my neck because I HAVE TO HAVE A BLANKET. Yea, I sleep weird. But that isn't the point of my story. I laid dreaming a great dream. I can't exactly remember what it was I was just dreaming that I was plotting a very sneaky, very complicated, very awesome plot of some sort. There was a lot of thinking going on in my sleep last night. In the middle of my plot planning a hear a high pitched constant beeping of some sort. It wasn't my dream. I woke up to the smoke detector at FOUR IN THE MORNING. I look over thinking "well, somebody has to save K, since she could sleep through the apocalypse" and a throw something at her. It actually took her a second to register there was an enormously loud noise echoing through our apartment. Then I opened the door slightly hoping there was a good reason for the intrusion on my dream but knowing that would probably mean a fire and I was okay if there was no reason at all. Good news, no fire. Bad news, our smoke detector is clearly broken or going through it's terrible twos.