You'll see. {Week 2}

Not gonna lie, last Sunday started out kinda rough, but a quick little trip to the temple made me feel 100 million times better. You can't help but see a little glimpse of eternity when you're looking at this beautiful place.

After that, the week just kept getting better and better! This week was really a game changer. So many good things happened. 

On Wednesday in my Doctrine & Covenants class, my teacher was telling us about an experience he had when nothing was going right in his life. (It seemed a whole lot like some stuff I've been going through, so I was paying attention like I had never paid attention before.) He just kept asking Heavenly Father, "Why? Why is nothing going right? Why is everything crashing and burning? WHY?" (I have been asking those things a lot too.) And then the Spirit whispered to him: 

"You'll see."

I know I'm not the one who had that experience, but I swear... nothing has ever struck me so hard. I got my answer to my prayers through my teacher's answer. It was exactly what I needed to hear. And I'm so grateful. So, my new life motto is "you'll see."

_________________

Here are some random pictures from my week:

Here are my AMAZING roommates! 4/5 of us at least. {Brooke, what the heck. We need to hang out more!!} Everyone meet Lex, Rach, and Cona! All of my roommates are gems. Every single one of them.

This is me with a name tag because I went to a retreat thing for one of my classes in Driggs on Friday!

That's pretty much it for the school week! Just school, school, and more school.

On Saturday I went with some freaking awesome people out to Driggs to hike up to the wind caves! I did so many things out of my comfort zone and it felt dang good. (One of those things was repelling down a 20 ft wall into a sketchy hole inside of a cave! Say whaaa.) 

Here are a lot of pictures that I stole:

Couldn't have asked for a better group to go with!!

"She wasn't ready..."

Felt like a beast.

Got a little bit banged up from army crawling through the cave! So cute huh?! Haha. So worth it. 

And a little shout out to my wonderful Daddy! Hope it's been such a happy day. Wish I could hug you. 

Anyways, I guess that's all. It's already been such a great week, so stay tuned 'til next time... :)

xoxo,

Lauren

Week 1 kicked my butt.

"Hey Lauren, describe your week in a series of Michael Scott pictures." 

SPOT. ON.

Talk about a roller coaster ride. Imagine everything that could go wrong the first week of school. That's what happened. Haha. It was so stressful. At the beginning of the week, I was registered for 16 credits and taking:

-Mass Media & Society
-English 201
-Interpersonal Communications
-Research Fundamentals
-Career Explorations
-Child Development

Long story short, I had a mental breakdown on Tuesday because I realized that I wasn't taking a religion class--which I need if I am going to be getting my Associates Degree after this semester. And then if I did find one to add to my schedule, that would mean that I'd be taking 18 credits.

After some tears, I found a religion class I could take on Wednesdays from 4:30-6:30 PM. Not my first choice, but oh well! Then I really wasn't a fan of my Child Development class and I don't really need it for my major, so I dropped it and added a class that counts for my major. So nowwww...

I'm registered for 18 credits and taking:

-Mass Media & Society
-English 201
-Interpersonal Communications
-Research Fundamentals
-Career Explorations
-Events Management
-Doctrine & Covenants


And let me tell ya, those 18 credits are kickin. my. butt. It's gonna be an insane semester.

BUT, even though there was so much craziness this week, I am still more grateful than ever to be here. My roommates are absolutely wonderful. I can't even tell you how many tears were shed and how worried I was about not living with any of my bestest, bestest friends this semester, but holy cow. I've got some amazing people living with me. So blessed. I'll get a roommate picture this week. They are babes. ;) 

Now scroll through some photos:

So many mixed emotions when I saw this sign. Haha.

I can't even tell you how long it took me to get unpacked. 

Bang bang.

Got this beaut in the mail! If I was a phone case, I would be this one. 

If my week was a batch of cookies, it would be this one. 

I died my hair again. HOLLA. I'm actually in love.

A random cute boy told me I had cool pants and I was like, "YEAH I DO." Haha actually I just blushed a lot and said, "thank you."

Me, Rachel, Alexa and some other friends went to the Sammy's block party! 

Rach is seriously a gem.

Met some questionable men. Hahaha homeboy on the left was killin' me. 

Went to the dunes twice because bonfires are the best. 

Idaho sunsets are really hard to beat. 

SO YEAH. That was the butt kickin' week. I swear I say this all the time, but I am SO GRATEFUL to be a student at this school where I can feel the Spirit anywhere on campus and where I'm surrounded by so many good people. The gospel is so amazing. I'm super grateful for my Savior who is always there for me when I feel alone. 

In church today during sacrament meeting, I was looking at some hymns and these lyrics really stood our to me. 

"Our Savior's love shines like the sun with perfect light, as from above it breaks thru clouds of strife. Lighting our way, it leads us back into his sight where we may stay to share eternal life."

"O'errule mine acts to serve thine ends. Change frowning foes to smiling friends. Chasten my soul till I shall be in perfect harmony with thee. Make me more worthy of thy love, and fit me for the life above."

"As now we praise thy name with song, the blessing of this day will linger in our thankful hearts, and silently we pray for courage to accept thy will, to listen and obey. We love thee, Lord; our hearts are full. We'll walk thy chosen way."

And then I was feeling a little bit like this:

Have a happy day!

xoxo,

Lauren 

Hardest & Happiest

*Oh man. I've been trying to finish this post since Saturday and I keep putting it off...but I'm getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow morning and I figured I should probably finish it before I am all wack. ;) Ooo, what if I wrote a blog post while I was all loopy?! Now THAT would be a good post.*

  My Aunt Kathy is a sweetheart and sent me a link to "11 Life-changing Quotes from John Bytheway" last week. Go check em out! But here are my favorites: 

  

This past week has been the hardest one I've had in a really long time... yet it was one of the best I think I have ever had. But HOW?! It wasn't because I did anything super extravagant or adventurous, but through the pain I felt, I learned how to experience true joy. 

  This week has made me realize a couple of things:

1. My family is everything to me. I already knew this, but I especially know it now. I know it because of the pep talk and back scratch my mom gave me while I laid in bed. I know it because of the extra-long hug my dad gave me when he saw sadness in my eyes. I know it because of Anthony's random "hi Lauren's!" to me throughout the day. I know it because of the silly conversations I have with Drew on the way to the gym. I know it because of how Trevor can't fall asleep unless I am in the room with him. I know it because of the way my whole family laughs uncontrollably as we quote The Office. I know it because of the incredible feeling I felt when I saw my whole family in the temple together. And I know it because of all of the "I love you's" I hear in this house every single day. 

2. Technology sucks the life out of you. It may have taken a traumatic phone casualty for me to realize it, but now I know. Haha. Three days phone-less was probably the best thing for me. Scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. [usually] never uplifts you in any way... if anything, it can make you feel worse. So what's the point? Why sit on your phone all day when you could be spending time doing things that make you a better person? Now I'm not saying I'm ditching all social media...because I love social media. Haha. But I definitely am going to be wiser about how much time I spend on my phone because I love my life too much to let it pass by.

3. I'm finally starting to figure myself out. Who I am and how to express it, how to be confident in myself, how to become the best me, how to love myself and my [many] flaws, the type of people I want to surround myself with, what I want in my life, "and so on and so forth and what have you." (The Middle, anyone?!)  

4. Jesus Christ is the true source of peace. It's as simple as that. My testimony of Jesus Christ and the Gospel has grown more this week than I thought it ever could. You are never alone. Never, ever, ever. There is one person who knows your pains and heartaches perfectly and He is who you need to turn to for peace. 

"In the gospel of Jesus Christ you have help from both sides of the veil, and you must never forget that. When disappointment and discouragement strike--and they will--you remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection."

Have a happy day and go hug someone you love.

xoxo,

Lauren