Family Finance

This semester, I took a family finance class, and I'm thoroughly convinced that every BYU student should be required to take this class. It's so useful, you guys. You know all the pictures like this out on the internet that are actually super true...?




Well SFL 260 fixes those problems. Because you learn how to do taxes (well, sort of...they're really just insane), you learn how to buy a house and calculate the mortgage and insurance payments, you learn how to budget, you learn how to invest and why you should, PLUS, you learn about money from the point of view of taking care of your family and living happily, with supplemental advice from prophets. How great is that?!
One thing I learned during this class is to just have faith. Even when you literally, truly have nothing. We hear stories over and over again from general authorities about their times of financial hardship and strife (enter Elder Hales--https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/04/becoming-provident-providers-temporally-and-spiritually?lang=eng, Elder Holland--https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/jeffrey-r-holland_remember-lots-wife/, etc.) and just look at how they turned out! My professor told us all, in response to Elder Holland's remarks, "It may seem insurmountable now, but it will all work out." And as Sister Holland reminded her husband, "The future holds EVERYTHING for us."
This doesn't apply only to finances, but to emotional distress, physical pain, grief and loss, and every other form of hopelessness and trying time that we are faced with in this difficult world. As we remain faithful, consistent, trusting, and steady, we can find deliverance and peace. We WILL be happy and successful.
Even in the stock market, when things aren't looking so hot, we are taught to avoid "panic selling" and just stick it out, even if the future doesn't look bright. So must we do in life. God will lead us, He will guide us, and He will help us be happy, if we let Him. So let's let Him.
As we pay sincere attention to our finances and work at them, being full of faith and hope, we will be able to be happy and comfortable, being able to focus on what truly matters in life. Thank goodness for that.

YOUR TALENTS MATTER.

Here's a story: I have always had pretty handwriting. In fact, I'm a little obsessed with it. All through elementary school and junior high, I would change my handwriting on a weekly basis, slightly altering my A's and R's and Y's and W's. When I finished a test early, I would practice different versions of the alphabet...I know, I'm a weirdo.

But then, all of a sudden, here I am in college, and having pretty handwriting is the cool thing. Typography and hand-lettering and watercolor and inspirational prints are everyone's favorite pastimes. And it seems like everywhere I turn, other people are stealing my passion. Everyone on instagram is discounting my talent, making it less rare and less impressive. And my personality is tempted to quit what I'm good at, just because someone else is better, or because I don't want to step on people's toes or look like I'm doing it to follow the crowd.

But here's the reality of it: YOUR TALENTS STILL MATTER. Mine still matter. It doesn't matter if your talent is baking incredible cakes, or being an attentive, compassionate listener, or totally smashing it on the soccer field, or singing like Josh Groban. Or even more mediocre versions of these same things (because let's face it, none of us are really on that level. Haha). Regardless of what your God-given talents are, they are fabulous. YOU are fabulous because you have them. And because you can make them better, and even gain new talents! And because people in your life, be it roommates, family members, cashiers at the grocery store, whomever, can be positively impacted by your gifts. Just because someone else is better in a certain area than you are or is trying to develop a similar gift doesn't diminish your originality or impressiveness. This is something I have to tell myself ON THE DAILY. You don't even know how real that is.

But what I don't realize is that no one else actually has the same gifts as me. Sure, someone else might be able to write pretty, but no one else gets the exact same feeling of exhilaration or satisfaction that I do when I make a beautiful swoop on a "g". Someone else might play the cello and harp and piano and whatever else I play, and they might be 100 times better at it, but they don't learn patience and grace and perseverance like I do. Someone else could totally trash me in soccer, but their body doesn't love the competitive rush like mine does, nor do they offer the same set of skills to their team as I do.

This is not to say that your talents and gifts are better than everyone else's or that their passions don't matter as much as yours do. That is downright absurd. This is simply to say that just because someone else throws a more extravagant party than you doesn't mean that people wouldn't love to come to a simple game night you hosted, or that just because your friend has perfectly straight white teeth and you don't, that people don't want to see your smile shine as you tell them something amazing you've accomplished. Keep being you, and be the best you there ever was. Because goodness gracious, you are spectacular. You are so talented and so bright and you are just what the world needs! Let people get as much enjoyment out of your gifts as you do. Because we could all use a little more happy in our lives.

HAPPINESS. (musings at 2am.)

Something I decided tonight during my study break (aka, eating popcorn and looking at cute couples on pinterest...) is that really, you just need to be happy. People love people that are happy. You love you when you're happy. So why not be happy?? It's really not that deep or complicated, but for some reason, it seems so inspiring to me.
All these couples that I'm obsessed with and I swoon over their cuteness, and what have I realized they all have in common? What makes them so dang adorable?? They are HAPPY. They smile and laugh and love their life.
These people at school that I'm naturally drawn to and admire and love? These beautiful girls that I wish I could be? They're fun and grateful and kind and (wait for it....) happy! Once again, people love people that are happy.
Does this mean that you constantly have to have a smile pasted on and that you absolutely should not  be frustrated or heartbroken or let down ever for one second in your life? NO! Of course not. That is pure silliness right there. The difference is that you don't dwell on that. You don't sit and wallow in your little puddle of grief and wait for some magical experience to resolve all the issues in your life. Because, believe it or not, that isn't going to happen, as much as we all wish it would. And while you're waiting, you are probably missing out on all sorts of beautiful things.
I'm certainly not saying that I don't do my fair share of sulking and wallowing--heck, I do enough for a dozen people combined. But there are better things to be doing with ourselves! So yes, by all means, take the time you need to address your problems and feel sorrow or pain or whatever the case may be. Cry, ponder, write in your journal, talk to your mom. Just be careful about spending too much time there. And when you are out in the real world, leave it behind. Take time to genuinely care about those you are spending time with. Smile at the random girl on your way to class. Say hi to the kid you've only talked to twice. Hold the door open for someone. Let people know that they matter to you and that them existing brightens your day. Because deep down inside you, under your pain or stress or anger, it's true. You love these people and you want to be happy and help them be happy in turn.
When the very best things happen to us, we are happy. And we love it. We love to be happy. It's our favorite thing. So why don't we do it more often? Why do we get so caught up in worrying about our lives that we forget to live them?
Be with people that make you happy. Smile, laugh, be grateful because life is beautiful. Sing out loud, dance in the grocery store, notice the details of life. Just BE HAPPY. It will be great for you and it will inspire and lift those around you. And then we have this nice little chain of happiness and it's great all around! Be like those people you admire and adore. Practice being the best you. It isn't usually easy to keep up, but the point of practice is to make it easier, right?
I feel like this is very redundant and hardly makes sense, but that's kind of just my mind. So I guess it's just how it goes, people. Haha.
Do nice things for people and find things that bring you joy. The end.
Love always:
L

howdy stranger! / freshman year overview.

**Warning: This post is insanely lengthy and has enough pictures to wallpaper the Taj Mahal. You've been cautioned. Now proceed if you dare.
**Disclaimer: This post very well may make my life seem ultra exciting...while it is pretty darn great, it's not so glamorous and eventful as all that. K. Just throwing that out there.

Real post starts here ---> Wowza I'm a slacker. As always, it has been quite a while. Which I'm pretty sure defeats the whole point of blogging...But oh well?
In my absence from the blogging world, I have started and finished my first year at college. I now live in a real life apartment with 6 lovely girls where I am learning to buy my own groceries and toilet paper and all sorts of lovely grown-up things.
But before that, I lived in (and loved) Helaman Halls. I lived with about 36 girls and shared one giant bathroom. As crazy as that may sound, it was wonderful.

Some of those beautiful girls look like this:


My roommate vera--she's great, to say the least. She is so kind and smart and patient and hilarious and great to live with. I even kept her in the move across campus :)

   
   
These are the girls from my hall fall semester (we got to keep most of them the whole year, but a couple girls switched in and out). These girls are gorgeous and hilarious and talented and I love (and miss) them so dang much!


This is my bud haley. She is crazy, and usually makes me crazy (and hungry...), and I love her to death.


EDEN. Is the lovely in the black dress. She was my RA (the BEST RA...), and is one of my favorite people. She's so chill and so funny and we get along marvelously.

   
The beauty just to the right of me (and also modeling the cake...) is Paige. She is a serious gem and I don't know what I would do without her! She also made me a delish birthday cake :)


In the foreground is my across-the-hall neighbor Kalin. I am so missing this girl. She is so random and cracks me up. She also has some real cute clothes.

 
And last, but anything but least, is my best friend Breanna who, as you've probably noticed, is in half of these pictures...we tend to hang out a lot. She is so smart and nice and fun and beautiful and makes my life happy.

    
And us four were the best of friends. And also, conveniently, a set of roommates who lived across the hall. And, may I say, absolutely hilarious. Just sayin.


Our ward and some of those buds even did some fun things:

Hiked the Y...for my first time ever...


Went to women's soccer games...

  
Danced the night away...And also rode in horse-drawn carriages...


Our floor girls valiantly cheered for the Cougs in that insane game against the Utes...


Supported one of our talented girls in BYU's Phantom of the Opera...


Went tubing at Soldier Hollow...(Which was a BLAST!)

All sorts of lovely things.


And then we have my FHE familly...
    

(A good number of us are pictured here, although we are missing some of our spectacular siblings.)

We are nuts, and thereby we did some nuts stuff.

      
We did a slip-n-slide in 70 degrees...SO fun!
 
But so cold.

   
      
We had an all-out-whiteout flour fight...

   
   
Carved some stellar pumpkins...(My first actually successful one in my life, I'm pretty sure...And let's all admit: it rocks. :))


Did some service...

 
Went to Lowe's Extreme Air Sports...(I missed out on this one to be responsible and study for finals...bleh.)

    
And played some messy, fun games...(Messy is kind of a theme with our family, can you tell?)

It was a marvelous year of fun and games with some studying and responsibility thrown in for good measure. Good times to be had by all, for sure :)

But, in respect to length, attention span, and hour of the night, this is as good as we're gonna get on our summary of my freshman year as a Cougar for tonight. Maybe I'll be better at this whole thing and get sorta kinda caught up? .....Yeah, don't bet on it. Have a spectacular night, ladies and gents. Well, what's left of it, anyway!

Love always:
L

i'm so crafty!

so on behalf of my big college adventure (whoo! :)), i made a ribbon fabric picture board thing! and it's adorable. plus, it was fun and easy to make! so i'm gonna tell you all about it :)

we already had canvases from when we were planning on doing this a while ago, so we went to hobby lobby (one of my favorite places ever...i could spend hours there. oh wait, i'm pretty sure i have!) and picked out some batting and some cute fabric and ribbon and brads and came home and got started!
i stapled the batting to the canvas, and then stapled on the fabric. it was a little crooked the first time, and i knew that would just drive me crazy. so i fixed it. and then i put on one half of the ribbon...

then i stapled on the other half...(i had to redo them just a little bit because they weren't quite tight enough to actually hold any pictures up, which is kinda the entire point, so...)

then i stuck in some cute sparkly brads (i poked holes in with a pushpin first so they would go in easier) and painted clear nail polish on the ends of the fabric so they wouldn't fray a bunch, and did some double stapling for extra reinforcement, and ta da! it was all done!

isn't it just darling? i'm excited about it. i'm hanging it right above my bed next to my whiteboard and something else i can't remember at the moment. and it's gonna be great. basically, vera and i are gonna have the best dorm room at helaman...or all of byu. or something like that. :) 

love always:

L

a week from today...

i'll be running off to college! and in a week and 2 days at this time, i'll be done with my first 3 big-time college classes!
now that's just weird. i'm pretty sure it hasn't been that long since i was like this:

since when did i get so old?! it's crazy. 

BUT i am SO excited for byu!!! i'm excited to meet my roommate, vera, who seems super cute and fun, i'm taking some really great classes, and everything about it will just be such a blast! (minus leaving home...we're not talking about that part.)

so i'm packing everything up and running errands and hanging out with friends that are staying home (whom i will miss terribly) and shopping at target (...for college essentials, of course) and all sorts of great stuff! it'll be great! wish me luck! :)

love always:

L