Sunday, March 16, 2014

Spring. Puppies. Sunday. All things Good in Life.

Well. To be totally cliché, spring has sprung! And I am loving it.
Basically the only thing that could make it better would be if BYU would extend wifi to outside of the buildings.
Am I right or am I right?
Because let's be honest. It is totally unfair to ask college kids lacking in vitamin D to decide to sit inside and study all day when it is gorgeous and perfect weather outside.
Because I, as I am sure many others, have been taught you do work before play. Which means by the time I am done studying it is dark outside.
It's an issue. To study or not to study…

Also. This weekend we did one of the best things yet.
Rented a puppy.
Yes, you read that right.
You can rent a puppy for however long you want here in happyville and they will drop it off and pick it up. It's a win-win situation because you get to play with a puppy and then before it destroys anything or pees on your carpet its gone! Genius.



Sunday has also become my favorite day of the week this last year.
I love the break from school and love just listening to church music, talking to my roommates, writing missionaries, and listening to old conference talks.

Speaking of conference! It is almost here again. I've created a sort of countdown in my head. Ready?
1 week until I see my best friend Jae Col and go home for the first time in five weeks and have family dinner and celebrate Morgan's birthday and Skype my brother for the last time on his mission
2 weeks until the festival of colors
3 weeks until General Conference
4 weeks until both my brothers birthdays
5 weeks until finals and my birthday
6 weeks until my week off of school and my brother's last transfer starts and I hang out all day every day with Jae before she goes.
Yeah.
Time is going to fly. Wahoo!

Happy Sunday everyone! I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father and for Eternal Families and Temples.
Love Always, Aimee

Friday, March 7, 2014

Voices for Courage

This week as part of BYU's Voices for Courage Campaign, Elizabeth Smart came and spoke. FOR FREE. So of course I went.

It was actually an all day process for me.. I didn't have much homework so around noon I got ahold of her book and started reading. (IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS BOOK GO DO SO NOW.)

It took my by surprise how captivating it was and how attached I felt emotionally to Elizabeth Smart.
Maybe it's because I remember when she was taken and remember seeing stuff everywhere and remember people in my family volunteering for her and remember the day she was found? Or maybe it's because the way she described her personality and life prior to her abduction so closely resembles my own?

Either way I only barely managed to put the book down long enough to attend my last class.
Then on I went! I got in line about an hour and a half before doors opened for admission and almost 3 hours before the event started. I sat on the floor and continued to read. I was almost to the end of the book when it was time to go in.

Listening to her tell it was incredible.
It is one thing to read something. But hearing it firsthand? It made it real. This wasn't just a story of a girl kidnapped from her home, raped every day for nine months, and forced to do a number of other horrific things. This was HER story. It really happened. And she was a survivor. And she was normal. And she was happy. And she was incredible.

I really can't even fathom what she went through, even knowing her story. The sympathy is there. But empathy? I've never experienced anything remotely similar. It just.. It is amazing.
It made me think a lot about how I would have acted in the same situation. Would I have even survived? Or would I have lost hope? Or lost my faith?

I am so grateful for my hope and faith.
Every day it is what helps me be happy and keep going.
Because, let's be honest, life is hard. School is stressful. People are frustrating. The world is confusing. But there is something that never ever changes, and that is God's love.
It is there for us whether we deserve it or not. No matter who we are. No matter what we do. Our worth does not depend on our worthiness. And that in and of itself is incredible.

I am so grateful for the life I have had so far. Really, I am beyond blessed. I have a family that loves me and parents who have given me every opportunity to succeed and more than I could have ever deserved or asked for. I have some of the best friends in the entire world who are all worthy and willing to serve around the world. I go to my dream university and I love it more and more every day. I know what I want to do with my life and know how to work hard for what  I want. But most of all I am grateful for my Savior and Heavenly Father. I am grateful that I know they are there. I am grateful that I never have to feel alone because Christ suffered EVERYTHING and understands me completely. I am grateful to know the truth and be able to stand as a witness to others and to my God that I will always follow him. I am grateful for my life and I am so excited for the adventures yet to come in it!

Love Always, Aimee