I Submit that it Cannot!!!

I can not even tell you how fantastic this week turned out to be! It started with a lot of rain and a little bit of happiness. (If you know me, one thing that I really hate is the rain, it just ruins all happiness in my opinion!) So Monday and Tuesday were non-stop rain and I did NOT appreciate it. But then, something amazing happened. I was walking to class from work on Wednesday and I realized that I needed to get something from my apartment, so I run home and I leave my jacket there. It was nice enough outside that I didn't need a jacket on! That hasn't happened since... last August! haha... So I'm walking around Wednesday just with short sleeves and I'm thinking to myself... dang, I love life right about now!

So here is where the real fun part of the story begins...

Its Thursday, I attend all 5 of my classes, and its approximately 1:50 p.m. So I go to the crossroads and get myself a sandwich and a bag of doritios and I walk to work. I get to work just before 2 and I see tons of people leaving the office. I'm really confused, because I saw the physicians, the administrator, and the medical assistants leave, but I didn't see any receptionists leaving. So I go to my desk and sit down. Pull up the schedule and there are no patients scheduled until 4! There was an all employee meeting that everyone had to go to, so they closed the office. But all the receptionists were still working. I didn't want to be the annoying girl always asking for time off so I didn't say anything about leaving early. But my supervisor says, Tara do you want to go home early? And I'm like... YA! Of course! Like now? And she says, ya, take the rest of the day off!!! So I clock out and hang around until I'm done eating lunch, and then I go take the test I was planning on taking that evening, and then I get home, and its like 3:30. So here I am, home super early, and it is just a beautiful day! I lie down on my bed and ask myself out loud, what should I do? My roommate answered me telling me to go to the park to do homework! So I pack up my backpack, get in my car, roll the windows down, and drive Christine to Porter Park. I find a nice place in the sun next to my other roommate doing her homework there, and I just crank out my homework! When I get back in my car 2 hours later, Sheryl Crow is singing to me as she says, "I'm.... gonna soak up the sun..." So I blast the song and sing at the top of my lungs as I drive back to my apartment.

Then Friday comes along and I have a great afternoon! I got off work at 3:30, went to the farmers market with my friends, and then went out to dinner, and then came home and watched Tangled! Then we stayed up really late (well they stayed up, I think I fell asleep around 11 or so) and just had a super fun night! Today I am going to meet up with Lauren and we are going to go see Something Borrowed! And want to hear the best part of all... I'm not doing homework this weekend! Because I DON'T HAVE ANY!!! (well I do... just none that is due on Monday... haha)

So I ask you this question... Can life get any better? I submit that it cannot!!!

Checklist

Every single day of my life I make a mental to-do list! While I'm getting ready for bed I like to go through it and check things off:

Did I say my prayers today?
Did I read my scriptures?
Did I go to the gym? (Usually this is a... oh dang it, followed by a... I guess I will just try again tomorrow! haha)
Did I finish all my homework due tomorrow?
Did I tell somebody that I love them?
Did I write in my journal? (Also followed by a... well, I will just write tomorrow!)
Did I tidy up my room?
Did I take time for myself? (Best way for me to take time to myself is to watch one of my shows on Hulu!)
Did I laugh? - I still have yet to come across a day (in my memory) that I haven't laughed!

Did I have a good day?

My roommate asks me every night (usually RIGHT as I'm falling asleep) what my best day ever was! And that just means what the best part of my day was. I noticed at the beginning of the semester almost every one was when I saw a certain person. Then I realized... am I really basing the goodness of my days on if I saw a certain boy that day! How lame is that?!?! Answer: SO LAME! So I decided early on this semester that I was going to take control on wether or not my day is good, regardless of if I saw a boy or not. So I go through this check list, and pretty much if I do all of these things, then my answer to the last one is always yes! Except sometimes I feel guilty for not doing the third thing on my list. Its a really hard thing to do!

Point is: YOU CAN control if your day is going to be good! Just make your own checklist of things that make your day good, and follow it! I'm not gonna lie, basically if numbers 1 and 2 are done, my day is good. Its funny how something so simple can change your attitude. Last semester (or as I like to call it the dark Winter of 2011) I found myself slipping on numbers 1 and 2... well mostly 2, but ya, I was in a bad mood more than 75% of the time. Therefore I made it a priority this semester, and even though I have not been perfect, I most defiantly have seen a difference!

8 years, 8 months, and 26 days

That is how long it had been since I saw my Yuba City best friend Lauren Kent. I left Yuba City, California on August 11, 2003 (the day before my golden birthday) I left all my friends and moved to the desert. (Not exactly what I wanted for my birthday!)

Well earlier last week my good friend Lauren (Kent) Madsen wrote on my facebook wall. I messaged her with my number and told her we should get together. So later I got a text from her, and we planned to meet up for lunch on Saturday. Later she asked if Janessa Tenney could come, and of course I said yes! So I woke up Saturday all giddy and excited for a catch up lunch with two of my best friends from an old life I had.

12 hours after lunch, I got home! We spent the whole day together. About 3 and a half hours just sitting at Subway talking about everything we remember from elementary school to how Lauren met her husband! In the middle of her story about her hubby, Lauren stopped and said, "You don't have glasses anymore!!!" I laughed and was like, ya I got contacts! hahaha... It was so much fun we didn't want it to end. So we got ice cream and went back to Laurens apartment. We got all our homework done together, we ate dinner together, we watched some House together, and then we went to a bonfire! It was one of the best Saturdays I have had this semester!

It is so amazing that we still had so much in common after all these years. We were 11 year old girls and didn't have a care in the world. And now we are all grown up and still are really good friends! I went into the day thinking that we would have lunch and then maybe casually see each other around campus or something, but we decided that we need to be real friends again! We already started planning our next date! We are so excited!!! It has been way too long and we still have so much to catch up on!

We also planned a cruise that we are going on sometime in the near to far future... We just need to get our other best friend April to join us! Then it will be the best YC reunion EVER!!!

The only thing that has really changed is what we look like. She is now super blonde! She told me I look just like a grown up version of myself (not sure what that means!) She did say I looked a lot hotter now than I did when I was 10! haha!!!


This was the last picture I found of me in Yuba City!



And this is just one of my favorite pictures! haha

Spring!

I was so mad when I saw that my favorite sister in law had updated her blog with this...


this blog now has an new post :)


Really Natalee?! Really...

Anyway, I thought I would blog about my new semester! I realized while I was talking with my dad last night that I am already 3 weeks into the semester! So far its just flown by! I am keeping really busy, but still have time to watch all my shows! haha...
So... my semester so far...

Classes = Awesome!
Homework = Not too bad!
Roommates = Coolest People EVER!
Job = well...

Seriously though, I really love this semester! I have classes that I am excited to go to everyday, and I am keeping up with my homework pretty well! Taking 15 credits + 20 hours of work a week can make for a busy busy girl. Lets just say, Mon-Fri 8-5 is completely booked... but thats life! I'm surviving!

Here is the most exciting part of what this semester holds for me...



I'M GOING TO DENVER!!! Here is whats happening. I got accepted to do an Internship Expedition in Denver next month! So I am going to meet with a bunch of healthcare professionals in Denver and try to set up an internship with them! I'm so so so excited! I think about it every day! I got my flight information today!!! YAY!!!

Spring Break

I know it is a little delayed, but I had the best break ever! I got to go home (for about 10 hours) and then I flew to Ohio with my mom! I got to see my favorite little girls in the whole world, and I got to win a few hundred games of Settlers! Then I went back home and shopped with my favorite little sister, went to dinner with my best friend Staci, and helped my brother and his very pregnant wife move into their new place. Here are some pictures of my nieces! About 5500 miles later, I am back in Rexburg with my new roommates ready to kick this new semesters butt!!!

I'm a Senior!!!

I logged into my BYUI page this morning and saw this! Notice carefully the very top line...

Classification: Senior!

Thats basically all I wanted to blog about today! hahaha...