I just can't wait....

To be king.....

Just kidding, just when I wrote the title "I just can't wait", the Lion King popped into my head! What I really can't wait for is to go on my mission! Each day that passes is one day closer to putting my papers in, and one day closer to leaving! Last night I had a dream that was SO REAL about me going to Denver on my mission, and just a couple of days ago I finished Preach My Gospel for the first time. I have been reading that as part of my scripture study in the morning, and WOW... best book EVER!!! This morning as I was getting ready for church, I put my EFY music on shuffle, and the song All Times, All Things, All Places came on first. Here is the first verse and chorus;

It's not in the letter, i can't wait to open.
It's not in the badge that will carry his name.
It's not gonna in just three weeks of study
Or magically come when I get on a plane,
So today I'm becoming who I'm meant to be,
The worthy unshakeable witness he needs

At all Times, All things, All places,
I will sing and shout His praises,
I will tell the whole world that I know what his grace is
At all times, in all things, in all places...

If you haven't heard that song, you need to look it up and listen to it. Its a good one!

I have always known that I wanted to serve a mission, but this, "one day I will..." dream is now a, "in the next couple months I am going to..." dream! And I really need to start preparing! Worst thing ever would be if I am out there telling everyone that this is something I have wanted to do since I was 14, and not be prepared to actually do the work! So I started to read Preach My Gospel for the second time, I am reading the Book of Mormon daily, and I am attending the temple weekly, (but the next two weeks the Temple is going to be closed! I might just have to road trip to Idaho Falls!) I am going to take a Mission Prep class through school next semester, and through Sunday School. And a huge way I need to prepare is physically! I am doing the Biggest Winner program through my school, which is basically like the Biggest Loser show. Also next semester I am going to take a Military Fitness Class at 6:30 in the morning. I heard people leave that class able to run half marathons. (Thats not really my goal, but if I can run and not be weary, maybe I can bike all day and not be weary, which would be very helpful on my mission!) I just want to be prepared every single way for the best 18 months that are ahead of me!

Now for another song to close the blog:

I hope, they call me on a mission! [Now that] I have grown a foot or two!!!! I hope, by then I will be ready, to teach and preach and work as missionaries do!

2011

Usually this is the time that people would say... "I can't believe this year is over!" or... "This year has gone by so fast, its been a blur." Well... not for me! My blog is going to start like this...

IT'S FINALLY OVER!!!!!!!!
2011 was a long year, and not my favorite if I'm being honest. A lot of great things happened this year, don't get me wrong.

• Babies were born

3 day Abby isn't as much fun as 7 month Abby, but I still like this picture!

(although I haven't met Baby Brinley yet, I already love her as much as I do the others!)

• Weddings were attended
  

This is Keri and I at Alexa and Tophers wedding in their photo booth.

This is Keri, Alexa, Natalee and I at Grant and Alyssa's wedding in their photo booth!

(P.S. I decided I wanted a photo booth at my wedding!!!)

And there were more cousins weddings that I didn't go to, and the Royal wedding, and the Kardashian wedding... so all in all it was a good year for weddings!

• Vacations!!!

Park City with the family and Amy!

San Diego with my mom! (Also... I turned 20 years old!)

And I went to Denver, Colorado, but my camera was broken so I don't have pictures of me there.

• And I got to see David Archuleta preform for one of the last times before he leaves for his mission! Woohoo!

Also in 2011, I did a lot of school, and even more work. 2011 was a working year it felt like. Winter and Spring I worked a lot of hours, more than I ever had, and then I worked all summer break, and then my internship was a 40 hour a week job. (So you would think I should have a lot more money since I worked so much, but I don't!)

All in all, I loved my internship, but that is most definitely the reason the year went so slow for me. Since July all I have been doing is working 8-5. Then I would come home and do a lot of nothing. I read books, I watched movies, hulu and TV, I worked out occasionally, I shopped (a lot), I went out to eat, and I took naps. I even started donating plasma this year, not because I needed the money, just because I needed something to do!

I'm really really looking forward to 2012! This year is going to be non-stop crazyness! For the next 7 months, I am going to be the best student this school as ever seen. For about 1 week in that 7 months I plan on going to Ohio so I can meet that Baby Brinley, and then after that 7 months... I'm moving. I will probably be gone for about 18 months, and I'm not sure where I'm going to go. But I do know that wherever I go, I will LOVE it! I am going to start my mission this year, and I will be a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and I have never been so excited about something in my whole life! I will start my papers in about 3 months, get my call in about 4 months, and ship out right after I graduate! I can't wait!!!

2012... HERE I COME!!!

Rexburg Fall

Today as I drove home from work, I found myself looking at the trees more than the road (Don't worry, I was still driving safely). I was just hypnotized by the colors of the fall! When it snowed a few weeks ago, I was so mad that winter was approaching. But that was just a little fluke, and it is back to fall as it should be. Then I realized that this is the last fall I will spend in Rexburg. I only have 277 days until I graduate. (I know that might seem like its a far way away, but I know it will come fast!) The winter will be long, I know this for a fact, and then by the time spring rolls around, I will basically be done! I figured out today which classes I'm going to take in the winter, and then in the spring I will only have to take 3 classes. And even though I won't be taking 14 credits, the school will still give me a scholarship and I will be able to work too! Anyway, what I'm most excited about right now is for my 21st birthday... because (drum roll please........) I will go on a mission!!!!!

My roommate Tamazine just got her call last Thursday! She is going on a cruise with santa... oh wait, I mean she is going to Santa Cruz, Bolivia! How awesome is that! I have been extremely covetous the last couple days as she went to mission prep and received a copy of Preach My Gospel and made an appointment with the Bishop to get her temple recommend! I have been wanting this since I was 14, and I'm so close, and yet still so far! Ahhh....

Tonight for FHE we shared our favorite scripture with everyone. I thought maybe I could share it with ya'll. I read this in the 10th grade in Brother Goettl's D&C class. When I read it for the first time, I marked it up and wrote next to it: My Missionary Scripture. I decided that day that I was going to serve a full time mission and that when I do, this scripture would be on my mission plaque that would hang in Vintage Ranch's ward for 18 months.

D&C 15:6
And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father. Amen.

I can't wait to be a full-time missionary! It's more exciting to me than anything else right now! Only 178 days until I can submit my papers! Then I will be off to Mesa to go through the Temple for the first time, and then I will be off to where ever I am called!

So anyway, I started to write this blog about how pretty the fall is right now, and got a little off topic! Maybe I will get called to serve in Pocatello and will be able to see the fall again! Maybe not ;) Either way, I'm excited!!!

BYUIC

Tonight I cleaned the BYU-I Center, or the BYUIC (sounds like Buick). Lots of people just call it the I-Center, but when I hear that I think of an eye doctor, so for the most part I just call it the BYU-I Center! Anyway, this building is AMAZING!!! It has a conference room where devotional is held each week which seats 15,000 people. (Only 6,000 less than the conference center.) And in the same building there is a huge gym that has 10 full size basketball courts on it that can be separated for 10 different games (basketball/volleyball/indoor soccer/badminton/etc...). It is the biggest building in all of Madison County. I'm not quite sure what this beautiful building of huge magnetism is doing in little ole Rexburg, but I sure love it!

Every Tuesday they have devotional in it. And today I learned that every Tuesday night they clean it! I mean they have regular student janitors that are always cleaning the bathrooms and other parts, but we cleaned the whole conference room in it today! I was one of the lucky ones with a vacuum. Since it is such a special room, they have reverent vacuums. There was probably 20 going but you really couldn't hear them. They are backpacks (think of ghost busters) and they just suck up the gross skin cells on the chairs left by all the worthy devotional goers! I cleaned an entire section on the bottom, one on the middle layer, and two on the top! Basically I was vacuuming chairs for 2 hours! But it was such an amazing experience. I am really glad I signed up to do it last Relief Society. There wasn't nearly enough people there, but it was really cool!

I couldn't find a picture facing out, so you can't see all 15,000 seats, but you can imagine if this is the front and there are two balcony levels just how amazing this building is! Honestly, if you come to Rexburg, go here and find some senior missionaries to give you a tour. Because they will, and they will tell you some amazing stories about how excited the President Hinckley was about building this place! So cool!!!

So embarrassing!!!

Something this embarrassing should not be posted online, but since I'm pretty sure the only people who read this is my family and dear friends, I feel like it is okay to post. If you are not a family member or a very close friend, please don't judge me! haha

So I am a RS teacher, and have been for a couple semesters now. I got to teach the last two weeks since no one else had been called yet. So I am up teaching for the 2nd time in front of a bunch of girls that I really don't know all the well. My dress that I was wearing is a really cute strapless dress that I wear my white cardigan. Sometimes the cardigan doesn't stay exactly where it should and you can see my bra strap (gasp!!!) So I asked my roommies to really be on the look out for outfit misconducts so they could let me know while I was teaching. So I asked the girls what are ways we can make fasting enjoyable, and I started writing them on the board. Well when I turned around, my roommate gave me a sign to pull my shirt up, so I pull my undershirt up so there wasn't any cleavage showing. Well she kept doing it with a very concerned face. So I looked down, and my strapless dress had fallen, pretty far too. So now my dress is looking like a high skirt, and I was terrified. So before I do anything else I just reach down and pull it up! Then I realized I should have done that turned around, so no one saw. I said.... Well that was embarrassing, and I started laughing so hard. So just imagine this random girl you never met trying to be all spiritual teaching RS with her dress falling off!!! Ya... that was me. :(

Lets just say, my fear of teaching has now reached an all time high. And as for the dress... well does anyone want it?! I'm not going to wear it ever again!

But looking at the bright side, at least I wasn't giving a talk in Sacrament meeting or teaching Sunday School!!! hahahaha

Best Day Ever!

Friday, December 17th, was one of the best day's I have ever had. Lets forget the little fit I threw in the middle of the day when I had to pack up my apartment and car, but lets focus on the beginning and end.

Ever since I got to BYU-Idaho there has been construction all over campus. Well as of now, it is finally OVER!!! The BYU Idaho Center, (BYUIC, pronounced Buick) is finally done! And to top it all off, President Eyring came to dedicate it. This building is incredible. It looks just like the conference center on the inside. I had no idea something of this magnitude and beauty could fit inside little Rexburg. Everything about this building is fantastic. Elder Bednar and Elder Nelson gave a talk, and then President Eyring spoke and then he dedicated it! When these men walked into the room, everyone stood and it was silent, and what a powerful feeling and spirit filled the room.

I got to have that same exact experience later that night, but this time in Salt Lake City in the conference center there when President Monson and President Uchtdorf walked in. You may ask, "Tara... whatever were you doing at the conference center?" Well I will tell you, I was listening to the most amazing voice of all time. No I am not talking about Finn Hudson, I am talking about David Archuleta, singing with the astonishing Mormon Tabernacle Choir! My good friend Terra scored 4 tickets and she gave me 2 of them. So Gaby and I headed down to SLC after we were done in Rexburg!

The new building was astonishing, the spirit I felt was amazing, and music I heard was unforgettable. And now to top it all off, I am home! Oh how wonderful Gilbert is! I am here for a whole 2 weeks! I love being here with my family! Oh, speaking of them... you should all check out Keri's blog! I made her make it... She doesn't like it now, but one day she will, trust me! haha!!! You're welcome Keri!!!

Hurry

–verb (used without object)
1. to move, proceed, or act with haste
–verb (used with object)
2. to drive, carry, or cause to move or perform with speed.
3. to hasten; urge forward
4. to impel or perform with undue haste: to hurry someone into a decision.
–noun
5. a state of urgency or eagerness..
6. hurried movement or action; haste.

—Synonyms
rush, hasten, accelerate, quicken; expedite, hustle.

Think about the things you hurry to. I hurry in the morning to be ready on time for work. I hurry to finish all my assignments before they are done. I hurry to the kitchen when I haven't eaten anything all day. I hurry to my car at the end of the day to get home! I hurry my studies so I can play with my friends...

Today as I left the temple, the temple worker told me to "Hurry Back!" Hurry back, I thought... I don't think I have ever thought about hurrying to the temple in the way I hurry to other things. And why not? Being in the temple is my favorite part of... life! haha. But honestly, I don't know why when I am not in the temple I think, I don't have to go today, I will go next week... Why do I put it off?! I really need to HURRY to the temple, because once I am there, all the other things I am stressed about, all the things that consume my busy life, they all melt away as I focus on the what really matters. As I was there today, I thought about my family, my current and future one, I thought about the scriptures, and how much I love studying them each day, I thought about the kind of person I want to be, and the person I am striving to be, and the person that is my number one example, my savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for a temple that is so close to me, that I can attend as often as I can! I'm so grateful for the Gilbert temple that is going to have a groundbreaking soon, and I look forward to one day going there with my best friend! I can't wait!

The point of this blog post was not really to give you the definition of what it means to hurry. But mostly for me to express how much I can't wait to hurry to the temple for the rest of my life!