Reflections & Resolutions

As I've reflected on the last year and thought about what is coming in this new one, I cannot help but feel overwhelming gratitude for my life and all the love in it.

I knew being married to Austin would be good, but I had no idea how good. It's one of those things that you don't know you are missing from your life until it's in it, and then you have no clue how you lived so long without it. Like avocados or cafe rio, but infinitely more. Austin is so kind, thoughtful, funny, intelligent, hard-working, caring, adoring, and absolutely adorable. He makes every day better and never fails to help me see the good. On top of that, he also does all the laundry, most the cleaning, and half the cooking. So really I am winning BIG TIME over here.

With my new marriage, I have also discovered a whole new level of love for my Savior. Don't get me wrong, I have always been grateful for the atonement and always understood that without it, I could not live with my family again in Heaven. But it was not until I was sealed to Austin that I fully appreciated the atonement meant I could live with HIM forever and ever, and spend eternity becoming perfected, creating worlds, and just loving him. And oh my goodness how my perspective has shifted. I cannot imagine life without Austin in it. I would not want any life or existence that did not include him quite honestly (sounds dramatic, I know). I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father and Savior who provided a way for me to truly have Austin for forever. What a blessing. I can tell you one thing is for sure: I do not deserve it. God really is good.

I am not quite sure what this post is about, but I wanted to start keeping a blog again. Being February, I thought it was appropriate to talk about love as it has been on my mind a lot lately. As cliche as it is, love is what makes the world go round! I think it should be a part of everything we do.

I have also been thinking lately about what changes I want to make in my life this year. The one I keep coming back to is just being more kind. Not that I am a mean person, but I do not want to become a complacent person. I want to actively do good. I want to seek out opportunities to serve, rather than wait until one falls in my lap. I want never suppress a generous thought and just give all I have to give. Because let's be real: I have more than I need, and as Anne Frank said, "No one ever became poor by giving." *mic drop*

So from me to you, Happy Valentines and Happy New Years! I hope you take a moment to appreciate all the goodness and love in your life, I hope you realize where it originates form, and I hope you go find someone you can serve. Whether that is texting an old friend to say hi, making treats and door-belling ditching them, paying for the person's food in line behind you, giving someone the Book of Mormon, donating to the refugee efforts.. there is something YOU can do. How lucky are we that God trusts us enough to serve His children?! Personally, I believe it is one of life's greatest joys.

2017, I am ready for ya.

Love Always, Aimee

Everything Has Changed (?)

You know those times in life where you can feel everything in your world is about to change? You know the why and can see it coming—even can put a date on it at times—but you can in know way predict the extent of the change, speed it up, or slow it down. Instead, you feel you are resigned to sit back and wait for the avalanche to hit.

Or is that only me?

There have been numerous times where I can feel this of  type change approaching—almost as if it is in the very air I breathe, demanding my attention.

Three years ago last week I graduated from High School! (woot woot) I remember leaving the school for the last time with all of my friends, knowing the hours and hours over the years I had spent there were at their close. The nights of fall football games that brought the school together (even if we were never very good…), the classic dance planning and dress searching, the lunch hour after lunch hour spent working on ceramic sculptures, the times between class and after school on the “senior bench” with friends just hoping you get to talk to a certain special someone, the seemingly constant preparing for AP tests (“now THIS is a great AP question!”), joining club after club to look good on college resumes (now I KNOW I am not the only one who did that), Monday lunchtime seminary council meetings, and of course the never ending project of creating the greatest yearbook Viewmont has ever seen (shout-out to myself for designing the cover); my time in High School was well spent and well loved. Not to mention the time I spent outside of school with “the gang” aka the greatest group of friends I could have asked for. But even with all those memories and special moments, I could sense it ending. I could feel it was over--now only be revisited in my mind or in pictures. I just could not foresee what exactly would replace it.

“College” was just a word to me. It meant more school and living away from home and trying to be an adult. But even all of that was hard to fully grasp. It is only now that I have spent as much time in University as I did in High School that I can see the changes college made in me and my life.

Almost two years ago I packed up my life and moved across the pond to England. I remember sitting on the plane after saying goodbye to my parents early in the morning and just thinking “WAIT. What am I doing???” I knew that studying abroad would change me. It would change my life and how I saw the world and who I was in it. I just could not see how it would and what experiences would lead me through that change.

Here I am, five days away from arguably the biggest change of my life.

I am marrying my best friend for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple. I know this event is going to change everything in my life—including myself—but I cannot know how. I can put a date and even a time on it, but the how.. The how evades me once again. These moments of approaching change are always special to me. It gives me time to self-reflect and evaluate where I am and who I am in that moment, so as to better compare & contrast in the changes to come. 

So let me tell you who I am right now, because in five days I will be a different person with a different name living a very different life, never to return to this one. 

My name is Aimee. 

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and I love my Savior very much.

I am a nursing student with a passion for people and creativity. 

I love watercolors, florals, and anything gold. 

I think Anthropologie's dishes are perfect. 

I always wish I was swimming. 

If possible, I would probably choose to live off of salads, fresh peaches, gyros, and indian food. Oh, and smoothies. 

My favorite snack is an apple with peanut butter and graham crackers. 

I like to run; bake cinnamon rolls and applesauce cookies; and visit street markets, arts museums, ancient ruins, libraries, and parks.

My family is my best friends. 

My idea of a perfect afternoon is a bike ride and picnic in the park. 

England holds a part of my heart and is one of my homes. 

My grandparents are my heroes, and when I grow up I hope to be just like my mom.
I will love you forever if you scratch my back. 

I have had 27 roommates, and I am pretty sure they have all been better than yours. 

I would cut off both my pinky toes to see Adele in concert. 

I enjoy school, and if I have free time you will find me reading (probably Harry Potter). 

I love a boy named Austin.   

There you go! That's who I am right now. I will write again in a month and tell you who I am then. I hope to find myself with a greater understanding of my role in God's plan, more patience with myself and those around me--especially those closest to me, and even more love for my boy named Austin. 

Love Always, Aimee 

 

then & now. 

efy never ends

In an effort to start blogging regularly again, I feel I owe it to my kids and my Heavenly Father to write a tribute of sorts of the incredible youth I worked with this summer and the amazing experiences I had.

SB Dream Team

Working efy was a major blessing in my life. It has been a unexplainable dream of mine since I attended four years ago as a youth in Nauvoo. I had a wonderful counselor and company that made me want to be at efy every day, not just for one week. I kept the idea of being counselor in the back of my mind all these years, and last February I was finally old enough to apply (apparently they don't want the counselors to be too close in age to the youth..). I got an interview and felt pretty all right about it, but at the end of it they said something along the lines of, "Well, it was nice to meet you. We will try to get back to you soon, but just be proud of yourself for even getting an interview. With all the returned sister missionaries we have had record breaking numbers of applicants, and we just LOVE all these RM's!". Ouch. Okay, thanks......... I thought that was their nice way of letting me down easy or something.

Harry Potter's birthday. Obvi.

But Heavenly Father hears prayers and must have known I needed to do this THIS summer, because low and behold, a couple weeks later I got an email saying I was hired.
WHAT. It was basically a Christmas miracle. Only in March..

 

I knew efy would be fun. I knew efy would be spiritual. But I was in no way prepared for how incredibly exhausting it was: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I think when I watched my last girl leave on my last morning of the summer, I quite literally had nothing left to give of myself. That being said, it was also one of the most rewarding things I have ever done with my time. I was focused on the youth and (attempting to) facilitate the spirit so they could better come to know their Savior from 5 am to about midnight (if I was lucky..) every day. I was surrounded by laughter and scriptures and brilliant examples of faith and courage EVERY DAY. I got to meet and come to love other amazing counselors. I learned what it feels like to teach with the Spirit, to follow promptings that make absolutely no sense, to bare bold testimony, and to hold crying and broken children of God. I became better acquainted with my Heavenly Father and the completely personal love and devotion he feels for me and each of children. I might have been completely drained, but I was also completely filled.

 

squad goals.

 

when you boy illegally kisses you. 

This summer my testimony of God's awareness of every person increased a hundredfold as I watched tender mercy after tender mercy unfold in front of my eyes. We are each Heavenly Father's hands, and it is incredible to watch how He works through us imperfect people to heal and help all His children on their way back home. I made some of my very best friends this summer, and the youth I worked with had more influence on me than I could ever have on them. I am so grateful I had the privilege of being surrounded by the most strong, loving, and Christlike human beings this summer. My life was definitely changed for the better because of it. efy will never end for me, not really. Those weeks of wearing over-sized polos and khakis will always hold a special spot in my heart. The testimonies shared and spirit felt will influence me in the years to come. I expect I will always miss my kids and who I was when I was with them.

my girls <3 <3 

all these kids are amazing. The Church is in good hands.

I know that my Savior lives. He is my elder brother and best friend. I know the atonement of Jesus Christ not only covers all my mistakes, but heals my heartaches and infirmities. I know that God is intimately aware of the details of my life and cares about me more than I could comprehend. I know His hand is in all our lives; we only have to look for it. I know that faith brings miracles, and I want to spend the rest of my life following the footsteps of Christ. I want to be the hands of God and watch miracles come to pass around me as we all come closer to Christ on this journey home.

Lord, Here Am I.

 

Love Always, Aimee

ps. If you are one of my kids and not pictured here, please do not be offended. I somehow lost more than half my pictures from the summer...? And some weeks all together. I have no idea what happened. But I love you all more than you know! xoxo Aims 

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

I know that my Redeemer lives
oh sweet the joy this sentence gives.
He lives; He lives who once was dead. He lives, my ever living head.
I lives; my kind, wise, heavenly friend.
He lives and loves me to the end.
Oh sweet, the joy this sentence gives.
I know that my Redeemer lives.


I am so grateful to be blessed enough to know that I have an elder brother, Savior, and Redeemer who not only died on the cross for me but rose again and broke the bands of death. He paid a debt I never could have and gave me--and the entire human race--reason to live, reason to hope, reason to feel joy. There is life after death; it is through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love my Lord. He is my light and my strength through every day of life. I am so grateful for His loving arms that are continually reaching out to save me. Without His great infinite and eternal sacrifice the whole human experience would end in nothing. But because of his act of pure, deep, and unconditional love for each and every one of us, death will be the only thing that truly dies in the end. That is the most beautiful irony of all. We will live forever with our families and Savior. All He asks is that we come and follow Him.

I truly stand all amazed at the beautiful grace Jesus offers me.


Love Always, Aimee

MIA

I must have had some theory when I returned to school that my life was suddenly uninteresting and thus did not need to be updated via this blog as often.

But then today I realized it is halfway through March and over a quarter of the way through the year and I have not posted one thing. And sure,  I know longer spend my days wandering London or weekends visiting other countries or castles. I spend my days sitting in classes or studying cadavers in the anatomy lab and my nights writing research papers or reading textbooks, but my life is not inconsequential because of it. Freak. I love my life! Research papers, never-ending classes and all.

First day of class shot. This is home. 

My teachers are amazing. I am learning so so much every day. Anatomy? GUYS. Everyone should take it!! It is so cool to study the body. And really, how can you study the body and not KNOW there was a divine creator? This stuff does not just happy people. It's perfect and beautiful and amazing. Even if the smell is less so.

skully is the only one who understands. 

My other classes are so uplifting. I am so grateful I had an extra semester to complete a minor in Family Life (someone remind me of this in a few years when I just want to be done and graduated).

new desk, old memories. 

Here's what I love about BYU: we accept all truth as what it is: truth. Gospel truths included. Meaning my teachers can testify of Christ and Eternal Families and the Atonement and things the Prophet's have taught us as we study the body or chemistry or family finance. And you wouldn't think those things all relate back to the gospel but holy cow I am here to tell you that they do. Everything is related to the gospel because God created this world and the elements in it. He is the only one who truly understands everything and the one who inspires us to be able to as well. There is no where else in the world that you can get such a good education by the world's standard as well as an education in the gospel. It is unlike anything else to feel the Spirit in a science class. There is no where else I would rather be (even if we don't get a spring break..).

original by yours truly. 

My roommates are bomb. I don't know how I have lucked out every semester so far. I always seem to have exactly the people living with me I need to learn from (it's weird, it's like I have someone watching out for me who knows everything or something).

Just your casual Saturday night jam session. 

Peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth. 

mini London Roommate Reunion. These girls are my favorite humans. 

The weather? Do I even need to explain this one? It has been beautiful. I have never seen a "winter" like this. Sure, we have no water yet for the summer.. But hey. I have nothing against April showers. Those are way better than January or February blizzards in my book.

surprise visit to see my favorite RM in California? YES. YES YES YES.

And that is only the very beginning of the list of reasons why my life is so wonderful.

new favorite place to eat: BAKED. Guys. I am a firm believer that sandwiches = life.

Well. It's almost midnight and I still have some reading to do for class tomorrow, so I will end there.
But just so ya'll know, I am alive and well and still loving life.
Yes, I miss England. I think I always will. But I also know happiness is very much a choice in life. And I will always (try to) choose to be happy.
So come what may and love it.

Love Always, Aimee

 (Sorry I don't have any really cool pictures really to post, just a lot of jumbled up thoughts and shots from real life.. but here's a flashback for your enjoyment and my heart ache)

(this is also home)

There's No Place like Home for the Holidays

Why is it that the cliche is always true?

Leaving London was perhaps one of the hardest and most heartbreaking things I have done. But the saying 'there's no place like home for the holidays' hit home (pun definitely intended) this year. 

Oh, and don't even get me started on Michael Bubble's 'I'll be Home for Christmas' song. It might have almost turned on my waterworks on an occasion or two. 

The holiday season is about our Savior's miraculous birth and beautiful life and the only place I would want to be this time of year is with the people He made it possible for me to spend forever with. 

Kicked off the month with a trip the the MoTab's stellar Christmas concert feat. the Muppets

#sharetheGift

These are my favorite fools to hang with and Temple Square is my favorite place to hang. Put the two together and you have my favorite night of the year!

(I don't think I brought enough chocolate home with me.) 

Just DD giving Minnie some love in her Santa costume.

The Christmas Miracle occurred about midnight Christmas Eve when the snow started to fall after many hours of waiting and hoping. We had a white Christmas after all! It was perfect.

Stay up until 2:30 am playing Settler's and Mario Kart? 

Count me in. Every. Time.

(p.s. yes; I won settler's. destroyed, actually.)

sometimes we are dysfunctional at the photo taking game.

But those are the ones I love the most.

I spent my free time doing two of my favorite things this holiday:

baking and reading.

It was glorious.

A hundred cinnamon rolls done one day,

a thousand pages turned the next.

That sounds like a perfect holiday to me!

Have I ever mentioned my Anthropologie addiction before? No?

Oh. Well, I am fairly certain that me and the Home Decor/Kitchenware section of that store are kindred spirits. The issue in our relationship occurs when I remember that I am poor college student.. BUT. CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT PIE DISH AND ROLLING PIN??

I have been in love with them for some time now and when I stopped in the day after Christmas I got them on a screaming deal. We are talking $30 for the set. 

*cue jaw dropping*

I know, right?

(to give you a relative idea, the pie dish alone is normally $36).

Way too excited to get my own kitchen and beautiful dishes sometimes <3

When I wasn't reading or baking, we were all playing games. One night Charlie just could not take it anymore. He wanted that popcorn so bad, his face was hilarious. He kept creeping closer and closer and when I didn't stop him he would get a little closer until he finally just laid down and stretched is tongue out to eat it. That dog. 

(To be fair, I did strategically place that popcorn in a temptation zone for him..)

We also finally broke out my Harry Potter Monopoly. It is so cute! I love it. 

After a crazy turn of events me and my mom ended up owning the whole board and all the money.

So yeah; it was a good game. 

Definitely a Christmas Holiday to remember spent with the people I love most celebrating the best things in life; our Savior, this lovely world, loads of laughs, and each other's company. 

I hope your season was merry and bright! Mine most certainly was.

Love Always, Aimee