Holy Smokes!

Wow, I think it has to be said that I am probably the worst blogger on the face of the earth. My whole purpose in doing a blog was to keep people updated with what I am doing and I have epically FAILED at doing so. So, I would like to apologize to all of my three readers for being such a slacker.

Off we go with a huge update in 30 seconds...haha just kidding it's 32 seconds actually!

Well, I am back at BYU and am having the best year so far! I moved into an apartment with 2 random girls named Brooke and Ann and I absolutely LOVE them! They are such sweet girls and we get a long really well! I definitely lucked out with getting fantastic roommates. And I must say that it rocks only living with two other people rather than 5! I mean don't get me wrong I loved me roommates last year, but let's be real for a second, 6 girls in one apartment can get a little crazy! So 3 is very nice.

As far as school goes, I have officially declared my major which is... Family Studies with an emphasis in Human Development. With that I am also going to get my teaching certificate! As you can imagine, I am super stoked that I actually have a plan now for school and I am not just walking around with my head in the clouds. It is time to crack down and get serious and I have every intention of doing so. ( I mean I have already started but you get what I mean ) :) I love the classes I am taking and just love being back in school surrounded by all these crazy college kids and their shenanigans! That is definitely my scene!

I love my ward, also. It is a group of older kids which I like because they are a bit more mature than the kids who were in my ward last year. These kids are a bit more serious too about school and working, which helps me be more serious. But, they are still really fun people and ewe always have a super time when we get together.

I do have a church calling and it is Sunday Activities Committee! Yes, I plan ward prayer and break the fast...so as you can imagine it is a very high demand job ;) I love it though. I am excited to be on the committee and make some new friends.

Speaking of new friends, a lot of you will be so proud when I tell you that I have totally busted out of my shell this semester and have made so many new friends. I made friends in my classes and with people in my ward. Now, I know what you all are thinking, "Jennie is so outgoing why is this such a big deal?" Well I will tell you why. Because I am outgoing once you get to know me. I can be pretty shy at first, believe it or not! But, I stepped out of my comfort zone and nothing but good has come of it! :D I thought you might like to know that ha.

I think that about wraps it up for me as of now. Just school and working. Oh ya, I am nannying my nephew Kaden again which is so wonderful! He is so big now and has the cutest personality EVER! We always have a good time together. He is just crawling everywhere and will probably be walking soon which is so exciting. He will be one in a month which is crazy. I can't believe it has already been a year! It has been such a cool experience for me to watch him grow and to learn all these new and exciting things in life. You can't help but absolutely adore him! I am the luckiest auntie in the world! Love you Kader bug! :)

Okay, now I think that really wraps it up!

But, I just want to give a shout out to my mom and dad who are in Cali! I love you so much and miss you tons! But, I am so glad I got to spend the summer with you both! Soak up the sun for all of us here about to freeze our little buns off ha :)

Moving On!

Families Can Be Together Forever!

Holy moly! I know, I am probably the worst blogger ever. Sometimes I forget that I even have a blog because I don't think it is necessary to blog every single day. I mean I don't think people want to hear what I do every single day, that just gets boring right? Anyways, let me catch you up to what I have been doing the past little while.

So, I have been living with my grandparents in American Fork for the past few weeks. These are my mom's parents Ruth and Craig Anderson. Let me just tell you that they are the greatest! They have been so wonderful to come let me live with them! I think it has been a bit of an adjustment having a 20 year old living with them, after being empty nesters! Grandpa gives me grief for listening to my music. As you may know, I love music. It is a BIG part of my life and I am always listening to it whenever I can! Ha! Anywhos, it's pretty funny when he makes a comment about my music.

It has been really fun living with them because my Grammy always has something fun for me to do. Just last week she taught me how to do needle points! ( It's like cross-stitching for those of you non-crafty people out there) ha! Along with that, today she was substituting for a kindergarten class at Alpine Elementary School and I was able to go along with her. It was super fun! I forget how much fun kindergarten was! All the coloring and reading and chasing the boys and all that fun stuff, man I miss those days. :) Seriously though, these kids are pretty funny! They are just so young it is very fun to watch them learn. I love kids, they can definitely be a handful, but they keep me on my toes. I get to go back tomorrow again which I am excited for. I had a few of the little girls come up to me and ask if I was going to be there again. One even asked if I wanted to be friends with her. Of course I said yes, but it was just so sweet how she came up and asked me. :) So, we will see what tomorrow has in store for me!

As the days come to a close, Grandpa picks a movie for us to all watch. It is usually something that I haven't seen and so far he has picked really good ones that I have liked. It's fun to just be together and watch a movie.

Oh and I don't know how many people can say this, maybe a lot haha but, yesterday I was able to go to the temple with my Grammy! It was so great! She did initiatory's and I was able to do baptisms. I have had some amazing experiences at the temple in the past few months, but I am not sure if I should share them or not. So, I will just share that they were wonderful! I think that everyone who is temple worthy should go to the temple as often as you can. I can't say it enough but the temple is the most amazing place you could ever go. It is so peaceful and it is a great place to serve our Heavenly Father. I always leave there feeling so good and calm that I never want that feeling to go away. I am so grateful for the temple and all the blessings that come along with it. I am also grateful for the opportunity I had to go with my grandma. Even though we weren't doing the same things in the temple, we were still there together and that is all that matters. :)

That about wraps up what I am doing for right now, as always I will blog in a couple weeks with another update. KIDDING! :) I will be better at blogging I swear. My sister-in-law Lauren always gives me a hard time for having a blog and not blogging very often. So, Lauren here and now in this post I am telling you that I am going to do better and keeping up on my blog!! :)

Random Thought For the Day:

Recently I have kind of become obsessed with Celine Dion and her AMAZING voice! Her voice has stayed pretty much the same since she started singing, I dare say it has even gotten better! She is amazing live as well! So here is a video that you should watch. Her vocal range is fantastic and I am just in awe whenever I hear her voice because it is flawless. So enjoy! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbO3dfF9uuE

The Power of Love!

MY WONDERFUL FAMILY

(Sorry my nephew Kaden is not pictured, however he is in Lister's belly in this picture)

I have to start off today by telling my family how much I love each and every one of them! I have been blessed with such an amazing family! I have the greatest parents in the whole world, the greatest older brothers, greatest sister-in-laws, the cutest nephew, the greatest grandparents, the greatest aunt's and uncle's and, last but not least, the greatest cousins! I don't know if you can tell but I think they are pretty great! They are all such great examples to me and I couldn't be luckier to be part of such an amazing family! I love them all more than I can even say and I want them to know that I am so grateful for them and for all they do for me. I can sometimes be a big pain in the butt and they are so great to put up with me. So thank you my sweet family for everything!

OK, I know it has been a few weeks since I have blogged and my cute sister-in-law Lauren reminded me of that last night, so here I am blogging again. So get ready because this weeks post is going to be a dooozie! Haha just kidding it's not that exciting but hey, sometimes blogs aren't that exciting. So deal with it! :)

As I am sure you all know this past weekend was conference and boy it was a great one. I mean every conference is great, but for some reason this one really stood out to me. Not only the fact that there were so many wonderful messages, but the fact that President Moson reemed the young men for not getting out there and dating! Ha I hate to say it but the boys needed to hear that! So thank you President Monson for

addressing that issue that all girls my age, who aren't dating, were worried about. Hopefully the boys listened and will kick it in the butt and start asking girls out. There are so many wonderful girls in the world that any guy would be lucky to take out. Also, here is a little tip of my own for all you single guys reading my blog (which I don't think is any but I am going to throw this tip out there just in case). Dates don't have to be expensive. I know this is a huge concern for single college guys because, let's face it, us college kids are poor. It's just a fact. So boys, instead of thinking you need to take the girl to dinner, make her dinner instead. If you both are cooking together then that is a fun way to interact with each other and talk and just have a fun time. It's not awkward like if you were out at a restaurant waiting for your food and you have nothing to talk about. If you both are engaged in making the dinner then you are staying busy and in the process making something yummy to eat. Crazy idea I know, but trust me a girl loves a guy who can cook :)

Another tip is if it is nice outside, go to a park and play catch or go for a walk or drive up into the mountains and have a campfire and roast mallows. Now who doesn't love that? I know I do! I am a huge fan of the outdoors and love me a yummy smore too :) All these things don't cost any money which is great because you're not then worried about the money but yet you're having a great time! Great tip, right???

So there are a few tips from me that I think are really fun date ideas. So, if any single guy is reading this, or even if you are not single maybe try these ideas out if you haven't. They are inexpensive and a lot of fun!

Random Thought for the Day:

Go to the Temple as often as you can! The temple is such a wonderful place and if you live in Utah, like I do, we have temples pretty much around every corner and I have definitely taken that for granted because there are so many people who don't have the opportunity to go to the temple because they are so far away, or they have to travel 5 hours one way for their once a year temple trip. So, my advice is that if you are able to go to the temple, go as often as you can. You receive so many blessings at the temple, plus it is a great place to go and get away from the world. A place that is peaceful and safe and a place where we can do the work of the Lord. I can't think of anything better to be doing with my time. So get out there and get to a temple near you!

Here is a great Mormon Message Video about temples if you are interested!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLXYxmaHWQs

Bad Drivers

HOW CAN THEY IMPROVE THE NEW FORD TRUCK OR CAR?

--Put a CHEVY engine in it!

OK, I'm thinking that after almost getting hit by like 4 different drivers in the past week it is a sign that I needed to blog about it. I swear some people should just not be allowed to drive. No offense to anyone reading this if you are a bad driver. But then again, no one thinks that they themselves are bad drivers, which is another issue in it of itself. Anyways, it all started when I was going to see my cousin Dallas in his Jr. high play. I drove up there with my cousin Mallory and her boyfriend Tyler. We were getting on the on-ramp by Thanksgiving Point and if you are familiar with that on-ramp it is two lanes that eventually merge into one. So, we were turning left to hop on the freeway and a big Ford truck was getting on the on-ramp as well. For some reason Mr. trucker man thought it was a good idea to take his turn SUPER wide and at 65 mph. When I say super wide I mean so wide he was 2 inches away from the side of my door. I just thought to myself, "Umm hi? Hello? Sorry we got in your way Mr. Ford."

As a side note, CHEVY'S are so much cooler than Fords. I mean that is a sweet ride! Just throwin' that out there. Now, if this Mr. Ford man was driving a Chevy and took the turn a little too wide, I wouldn't have cared really. I would have said, "OK Mr. Chevy come on over, take all the space you need. We wouldn't want to scratch that pretty truck of yours." Haha okay, okay, I wouldn't really say that but that would be funny if I did! No offense to those of you who like Ford trucks. :) Anywhos, that was my first experience of about getting hit.

The second experience was the other day I was driving to the store, minding my business, yada, yada, yada next thing I know this guy in a little Honda just starts comin' over into my lane. Of course I lay on the horn and it takes him about 8 seconds (8 seconds too long) to even realize I am honking and that he is getting close to my car. Come on buddy! Let's open your eyes a little bit and look a little more carefully. I mean I know it's hard to see my big black Jeep but I mean let's be real you're probably not a good driver in the first place. Sorry! The best part of this whole thing was that when I passed him his arms were stiff as a board and his hands were clinched so tight around the steering wheel. Obviously I was going to give him the stare down after he tried to pull a Jeff Gordon on me, but I couldn't help but laugh when I saw how scared he looked. Poor guy. Good times though! :) So those were some of my fun driving experiences this week. I'm sure you all can relate and hopefully it makes you laugh a little bit :)

Random Thought for the Day:

My home teachers just came by for their monthly visit and their message hit me really hard today. Their message was on President Uchtdorf's article in this months Ensign. It is about looking at the glass half full. Sometimes when you are struggling it is easier to see the negative side of things rather than the positive. So, I would challenge all of you readers to try to look for the positive things in life, whether that be in a friend, a spouse, a situation, etc. I promise that if you do you will be happier! There are so many wonderful, good things in this world that we might overlook if we are looking at the glass half empty. :)

A New Beginning!

So, a lot of my family members all have their own blogs. Of course they are married and some have kids and what not, but I thought to myself, "Hey, people are always asking what is going on in my life so why don't I start a blog?" I know that I don't fit the stereotypical blogger in my family, being that I am still single, but hey I figure since I am not the best at keeping a journal a blog might be a better way to remember my experiences in life. So here I am, venturing out into cyberspace to share my story with the world. OK, maybe not the world, but to those who are interested in what I am doing.

I thought I would start out with a little background info about myself, for those of you who might not know what kind of mischief I am up to these days. For starters, I am in my second year at BYU down in Provo. I really like it here. I had a bit of a rough first year, but hey who doesn't? I mean, you really have to step up your game in college. This is the big leagues people, and for me, it took a swift kick in the butt to step up my game. I am still learning a lot and still adjusting, but I know eventually I will get to the place I want to be. I really do love BYU. I love being out on my own and experiencing the "grown up" world (even though I still call mom and dad for help all the time ;) ) It is fun being an adult sometimes. Other times I still wish I was back in kindergarten coloring and learning how to read. Although I must say that I am still learning to read in college. Is that weird? I swear I didn't learn the "college" vocabulary in high school. BYU especially has its very own vocabulary and let me tell you, it is not easy. College is hard! I mean really hard! I think I'll need a few more swift kicks in the butt, but college wouldn't be the same without them. :)

I am living with some girls I met last year in the dorms. My room roommate Bailee, whom I just absolutely love to death, was on my floor last year and we met an instantly became best friends. We always joke that we are each others opposite twin. Meaning, we are exactly the same except I am the blond haired blue eyed twin and she is the dark haired brown eyed twin. It is great! She is such a sweet girl, and for those of you who know her, you would all concur with that statement. My other roommates names are Erin, Brooke, Caitlin, and Maria. Maria is new this semester and she is super cool. As for the

other three, what can I say. They crack me up! Probably some of the funniest girls you will ever meet. If you ever come to our apartment I guarantee you will leave laughing your head off because we are all so crazy. It's a good time! Really, it is!

Besides going to school and doing the whole college thing, I get the privelage to nanny my sweet nephew Kaden. He is the sweetest little boy in the whole world and I love seeing him as often as I do. I usually watch him for a couple hours twice a week while my sister-in-law Alise goes to school. Kaden and I have so much fun together. Yes, I know he is only 4 months old and all he does is eat and sleep, but when he is awake for play time it is a party! He is so cute, as you can see by his picture, and I am so grateful to Chris and Alise for letting me take care of him during the week. I love being an aunt and I love our little Kader Bug!

Well, I think that about sums it up for me right at the moment. If I think of anything else I will be sure to post it on here. After all that is what this blog is for isn't it? :)

Random thought for the day:

Take 15 minutes out of your crazy, busy days and just go outside in the sunshine and enjoy the beauty of nature. I promise it will help you relax and you will feel so much better after!

Just to make you laugh, check out this video!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/223362/saturday-night-live-snl-digital-short-zach-looks-for-a-new-assistant