Expect the Unexpected

I like to plan.

Anyone who knows me well is well aware that I like be in charge of myself and in charge of my schedule. I have had my life mapped out to this point since... well, since I could read a calendar, I suppose. I always knew I would graduate high school in 2013 and begin my university studies at BYU. I would then spend Fall of 2014 on the study abroad program in London. When I came home I would then allow myself to start dating people, be an efy counselor summer of 2015, and get married summer of 2016 right after I turned 21--just as my mother and sister had done. When you are young it does not seem so silly to plan things such as when you are getting married, or the exact time and place you will do a study abroad. I did not consider factors such as "What if I don't get into BYU?" or "What if I can't actually go on study abroad? It's competitive and expensive" or, the real shocker, "What if I have not yet found a person I want to marry/a person who wants to marry me by the incredibly young age of 21??" No. Haha, those thoughts did not come to me until applying to colleges, interviewing for study abroad, or getting to school and realizing how many relationships fail. Call me naive, but I prefer to call myself a dreamer. Even more and a dreamer, a doer.

You see, all my life my parents have taught me that if I want something bad enough, plan for it, and work hard, I can have it. Here I am, days from turning 21, in complete awe of the path my life has taken.

Yes, I have been at BYU these last few years and am whole-heartedly in love with my university and the unique opportunities it provides. There is no where else I would rather spend my days studying and growing.

Yes, I did spend four months living in London last fall, but I have dedicated enough posts to that incredible experience.

Yes, I was an efy counselor for the summer. It was awesome. And hard. But mostly awesome.

Yes, I am getting married in two months. June of 2016, just as I always planned. What?!

And what have I learned through it all??

Expect the unexpected.

While these major events in my life have (miraculously) all gone according to plan, I have found that it is the minor details that have made all the difference. For instance, what am I actually going to study at school and do for the rest of my life? Or why spend copious amounts of money for four short months abroad? What's the point? Oh. Also, turns out it is really competitive to be an efy counselor and they prefer RM's.. Which I am not. What if I don't get the job? Or the real big one: who am I going to marry and spend the rest of my life with?!

I have found over and over again that Heavenly Father is willing to work with me. A few weeks ago at General Conference, something was shared that has stuck with me since.

"You can have what you want, or you can have something better"

That has been my overwhelming experience these last three years in college. I NEVER planned on being a nurse. Not in a thousand years. Never planned on the lessons I learned in England or the ways I changed. Never expected the heartbreaks and miracles of efy. Above all, I definitely never planned on marrying Austin. Those things were not part of my plan. Lucky for me, Heavenly Father is patient. He loves me, stubbornness and all. He has lead me by the hand and said, "Look Aimee. You can have what you want, or if you will just trust me and let go of some of your need for control, you have have something infinitely better."

Gaye Ray fan club

Love me my Ellen

Santa Barbara for life

(I said yes)

Today as I sat with friends from elementary, jr. high, and high school and listened to my closest childhood friend speak of her experiences these last 18 months in Africa as a missionary, I could not help but marvel at how much we had all grown up and changed. From returning from missions, studying in college, marriages, and even babies, big things have happened for each of us. Heavenly Father has a perfect plan for each of us. Now, that does not mean we have to give up all our dreams and goals. Not even a little bit. I have done everything I hoped to in my life! But Heavenly Father knows I am capable of so much more than I think. He has stretched me and pushed me farther than I could go alone. He has led me down paths I was much too terrified to follow. He has strengthened my faith and enlarged my mind and world. Everything He does, He does to benefit me. Simply because I am His daughter and He loves me with a perfect love. It is not because  I am somehow earned it; I am far from deserving the beautiful life I live. It is there purely because He loves me.

Nursing cohort - love these fools.

Looking for Mr. Darcy...

Oh wait. Austin is better than Mr. Darcy.

I know God lives. I have seen his hand in the small details of my life, day after day. All He asks is that I have the faith to follow Him. That I will allow Him to bless me, to lead me, to guide me to the wonderful life He so desperately wants me to have--and above all, the life that will bring me home to Him. I am so grateful. Grateful that He trusts me enough to become a nurse and care for His children in need of healing on this earth. Grateful He let me go to my family's 'homeland' and meet some of the most influential and lifelong friends there. Grateful He allowed me to spend my summer learning from the incredible youth and working with amazing people. Grateful He led me to my best friend; someone who loves me even knowing I am imperfect. More than anything, I am grateful that I can be with my best friend and family quite literally forever. 

God is real. God is good. It is a beautiful life, and I am so lucky to live it--even (and perhaps especially) when it does not go according to my plan. 

Love Always, Aimee 

I am in love with life.

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