Smile at the rain

Today begins the week countdown until I move to Maryland,

All my clothes fit in one suitcase/one overnight bag,

I can go through my clothes one day and still have things to give to DI the next day,

I hate organizing things at work...I'd much rather actually be doing my job,

I hate saying goodbye,

Sometimes I wake up at night thinking I smell gas and roam the house sniffing it out,

I wish I could marry Graham from the Bachelorette,

I can find enjoyment from watching even the most predictable/unrealistic of movies,

I'm tired pretty much all the time (especially when I stay up much too late),

I can't wait for Mama Mia to come out,

I need to go to Target today but I don't know if I have the energy,

I love getting compliments on my shoes.

Anyone out there?

One time last year I answered the phone at work and said, "Deerfield Elementary, this is Nicole!"  What kind of person forgets their own name?  Makes you wonder.

Cafe Rio diets

Yesterday I went out with my cousin Emilie (one of my favorite people in the whole world).  We went to Cafe Rio (one of my favorite places in the whole world).  It was mostly interesting because about 2 weeks ago I decided to start weight watchers and have you ever tried figuring out the points value for a Cafe Rio salad?!?!  It was out of control ridiculous.  I searched online for different estimates but that only made me more confused because the estimates ranged from like 500 calories to 1500 calories.  I still have no idea exactly how many calories I consumed with dinner last night.  If I don't lose weight this week, I'll know why!  No, but seriously, I was so good.  I didn't get any of those little delicious crunchy things and I didn't pour my dressing on, I just dipped my fork in it every once in awhile.  And I only ate half and saved the rest for tonight.  And it was still delicious.  The good news with weight watchers-I've already lost 5.5 pounds and I've only been on it for 2 weeks.  Hopefully the rest of the weight loss will go just as smoothly.  And does anyone have good ideas for exercise?  I'm struggling.

Sleeping Beauty

Have I mentioned yet that my garage sale went great?  It was depressing to get rid of all of my things, but at the same time it was very renewing.  Why did I have all of that stuff that I couldn't possibly need?!?  Bad news...I also sold my mattress and box spring as well as our living room couch.  So in order to compensate for the lack of seating, I moved my sister's futon into the living room and now I sleep there after everyone has retired for the night!  It will be interesting starting Friday when I have to give my sister back her futon.  I guess I can just sleep on the floor for the next week!  The good news is that actually packing up my car and moving should be pretty easy considering I don't have much left!

The people you meet

The countdown to leaving Utah is now down to 2 weeks.  I seriously can't believe how fast the time has gone by since I made the decision to leave.  As with most big decisions I have made in my life, I have started to question whether I am making the right choice.  I will love living near my mom and sister again but it suddenly hit me that I have no friends back home.  Plus, there isn't a singles ward so I won't have that built in group of friends.  The thought of moving has just suddenly made me feel very lonely.

I like to be around other people, I like not having too much time to think about myself.  And while I'll be surrounded at home (with 5 people and a dog already living in the house), I know that at least for a few months I'll feel awfully lonely without all my great friends.

Here's a quick run down of the friends that I've made out here at the BYU and beyond:

Megan-My very best friend and quite possible the person who knows me best in the world.  We understand each other perfectly and she has helped me get through some of the most difficult times in my life.  And she has also helped me have some of the most fun times in my life!

Texann-Another one of my best friends from college as well as a roommate for all 4 years.  We have one of those friendships where we can not talk for months and yet when we get together, it's like no time has passed.  She's great at helping me keep things in perspective.

Eliza-Another friend that I met in the halls of Taylor...we always had fun together and I still do some things that remind me specifically of Eliza (jumping on the bed with my arms and legs flung out to the side).  She always makes me feel good about myself.

Ellie-Okay, so some of my best friends were from the dorms!  She always makes me laugh and I will never forget sitting in the dorms with our doors open and im'ing each other.  I'm still not sure why we didn't just talk.

Cyrus-He is probably the person that I spent the most New Year's Eve's with (besides Megan) and most of them involved doing absolutely nothing!  I will always think of him and the other boys from Brookview 6 with fond memories.

Heidi-My friend from this year who is one of the sweetest people I know.  She is great at always including people and making sure that they know that she cares.  She's also always happy and upbeat.  She keeps my moods in check!

Aly-Someone who has more in common with me than anyone else...I think we may secretly have the same mom.  Aly is always fun and super stylish.  I've learned a ton from her and we've had a lot of great times.

Nicole-We met because we worked together and because I knew her husband but we stayed friends because she is the one person that I feel like never, ever judges me.  I can tell her the worst thing that I have ever done and she'll still look at me and tell me that it isn't that bad.  I never run out of things to say to her and she has quickly become a life long friend.

Laura-My friend from grad school who helped me survive those 5 and a half hour classes that I would have never survived otherwise.  Remember how we totally got called out in front of everyone for talking?  Another person who let's me be me without judging.  I feel like I can always call her and tell her anything.

I am so grateful to the people that I have met while in Utah (as well as the people I met in other places...I'll give you a shout-out in another post!).  I love you guys.

Am I Crazy?

I decided late last night that I better have a garage sale on Saturday.  Originally it was planned for the 24th but then I read that it is supposed to be rainy and chilly next weekend.  So I decided in a brief moment of craziness that I should move it up to this Saturday!  I should mention now that I have never had a garage sale before so I had no idea how much work it was going to actually take.  Before you start to think that I am truly insane, I should mention that I have already gone through a bunch of my things, marked them, boxed them, and stored them in the garage until this inevitable day.

The good news...I took inventory of all of my stuff and we are looking at a couple hundred dollars.  Which is great news to me.  Mostly it will give me money to actually get back to Maryland. 

So today I am freaking out.  There is too much on my plate and I am going crazy.

Words to live by

"We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."~Aristotle

I've been thinking about this a lot lately-that we are what we repeatedly do.  Sometimes I like to think that who I am is not defined by the things that I do on a day to day basis.  But if I'm not defined by that, then how better to define me?

It's a scary thought to me because it means that there are a lot of things that I need to work on and some bad habits that I need to quit.  This week has been the beginning of my journey to self discovery.  I have tried to resume my scripture study and have started on a healthy eating plan.  I know, those steps don't get me everywhere I want to be, but they are steps!  I'm hoping that each month I can add some new steps to help me reach the goals that I want in my life.

Now I just need to have faith in myself and encouragement from my friends!

Being a Utahn

Things I'll miss about Utah:

-Living close to all of my extended family

-Leaving behind some of the best friends that anyone could ask for

-Having a church on every block

-Mountains

-AF 28th Ward

-Superbowl parties at Grandpa's house and Halloween parties at Crandall's house

-Apartment-living (at least for a little while I'll be living at home to save up some money!)

-Weekly (sometimes daily) trip to Target

-Meeting new, young, single people all the time (Brunswick isn't known for the singles crowd)

Things I won't miss:

-Not having snow days even when there is tons of snow on the ground!

-Living far away from my family

For those of you that haven't heard yet...I'll be moving back to Maryland in a few weeks and while I am really excited for what lies ahead...I'm incredibly sad to be leaving behind the place that I've called home for the past 8 years.  I'll miss you Utah!

Thoughts on a Sunday

Yesterday was an amazing day.  I usually enjoy Sunday's but this Sunday had that extra something that made me realize how lucky I am to be where I am.  I also realized that there are a lot of things that I still need to work on in order to make my life better.  My friend Josh spoke in church and he is such an amazing person.  He truly inspires me by the way that he lives his life and the things that he has done to become the person he is today.  As I listened to what he said, I was reminded of how important one person can be in changing someone else's life.  There have been hundreds of people that have had effects on my life and I hope that someday it will be said that I had an effect on hundreds of people's lives.  

On the same thread, I was reminded how important it is to have good friends.  I am thankful for the friends that I have in my life that inspire me in a million different ways.  Each one teaches me something different about the world and about myself.  Thank you.

I hope that I have a million more days like yesterday.  And I hope that all of you do too!

Quizzer

I have a confession to make...I secretly love all of those quizzes and things that everyone sends around over email.  This one isn't quite as long or as boring as others, so I thought no one would hate me for posting it!

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. Learning to drive (and on stick shift!)

2. Falling in love for the first time

3. Playing miniature golf almost every weekend

4. Hanging out with the Fabulous Five every free second I had

5. Getting my first job

5 Things on my to-do list today:

1. Get through work without getting too bored

2. Go through all my books and CD's in preparation of "the move"

3. Go shopping (just because I want to)

4. Go to the bank

5. Finalize birthday plans for tomorrow

5 snacks I enjoy:

1. Peanut Butter M&M's

2. Chips and Cheese

3. Sweet and Salty Granola Bars

4. Soft Pretzels

5. Trail Mix

5 Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

1. Pay off all my debt (which with school loans is getting ridiculous)

2. Buy myself a huge house and then buy my mom a big one next door

3.  Travel on a private plane to all those places I've always wanted to go

4. Take my siblings on a sweet shopping spree

5. Pick a different charity every year to donate time and money too

5 Bad habits:

1.  Biting my nails

2. Gossiping (something that I'm trying to quit)

3. Talking constantly about what is hurting (usually either my head or my stomach!)

4. Repeating funny jokes incessantly

5. Allowing myself to get hurt by other people

5 Places I've lived:

1. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2. Provo, Utah

3. St. Anthony, Idaho

4. Brunswick, Maryland

5. American Fork, Utah

5 Jobs I've had:

1. Learning Tree Day Care

2. Assistant recruiting facilitator for BYU

3. Nanny

4. Secretary 

5. Counselor 

5 Things people probably don't know about me:

1. I used to have a collection of stuffed cows (don't ask because I don't have any answers)

2. I once had to have a piece of metal removed from my eye

3. I secretly (okay, maybe not so secretly) love teenage drama shows...Dawson's Creek, One Tree Hill, The Hills, The Real World

4. I am obsessed with writing lists

5.  I constantly get mistaken as a junior high student, even when I wear my "grown-up" clothes

On This Day....

Okay, so here's what has happened on May 7 in past years:

1982:  I was born!  Yeah!

1833: Apparently so was Johannes Brahm

1945: Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, to take effect the following day, ending the European conflict of WWII.

1881: This appeared in Harper's Weekly (apparently this is a cartoon about the New York National Guard)

1994: Norway's most famous painting, "The Scream" by Edvard Munch, was recovered almost 3 months after it was stolen

1966: "Monday, Monday" by the Mamas and Papas, hits the top of the charts-the first hit by a coed group

So in other words, May 7 is not the most exciting day in history.