ANNOUNCEMENT: Allyse's Bridal & Formal has moved! (Not closed!!!)

Alright everyone, this really has nothing to do with my personal life exactly..but kind of. In case any of you didn't know, I'm a bridal consultant at Allyse's Bridal & Formal. The store has been located in the University Mall next to Macy's for...well, since probably any and everyone can remember. However, Allyse's has recently moved!!! And it's not one of those "we had to move because we're gonna shut down"...it's one of those "oh, hey, we just upgraded!" So just in case any of you or anyone you know is wanting to go look at any wedding, formal, or semi-formal gowns, don't go to the University Mall because we're not there anymore :). We moved just about two blocks south of the mall on State Street in Orem, so just keep going south on State Street instead of going to the mall. If you know where The Emporium used to be (a different bridal shop), that's where we're at. It's right next to Nickel City. It's a GORGEOUS store with wood floors, two levels, and even a men's lounge if your dad, brothers, fiance, etc. want to come hang out and wait for you (complete with big couch, pool table, and flat screen tv!) Anyway, I myself will be doing some dress shopping there for my wedding, and I'm super excited about the new store so I just thought I'd share the news! Even if you're not shopping for anything, come in and take a look! We are currently and technically open right now, but we're still transitioning into the new building and doing some small construction. The store's number is still the same (801.226.4706) and the new address is 1497 S. State Street Orem, Utah. As I was just searching online for the exact address I came upon some customer ratings of The Emporium (Walker's Eternity Bridal), if any of you have read them, you'll know they're pretty bad experiences. So just to clarify, The Emporium (a completely different company) has closed. Allyse's Bridal & Formal is moving in. We are the same store as we were in the mall, just a new place. Let me know if you have questions!!!

I just love him...and that's all.

          Hello! Alright, so many people have asked for "the story" of Taylor's proposal, so if you were one of those people (or if you just became interested) you're reading the right post!

         On Sunday, November 13th, 2011, we went to my mom's house for dinner. Normal? Yes. Was I getting impatient waiting to be proposed to? Yes. Therefore, I was SURE that there was going to be some sort of a "surprise" when we went to "dinner". Nope. We really did just eat dinner. However, I should add that it wasn't just an average dinner. It was a very delicious dinner (this is not necessary for the actually proposal explanation, but I gotta give the guy a shout out for his awesome cooking). Taylor loves steak. He LOVES it. And I mean he   loves it. Therefore, we had a steak dinner. Taylor cooked the steak and my grandma Galan and my mom cooked the side dishes. I had absolutely no real reason to think/hope the proposal would be on that day, I had just been getting so impatient (I'm kind of not very good at the waiting game. Hence, my hate for online shopping. Why buy it online if you can go to the store and enjoy your new purchase that day?!), so I was looking for every reason to believe that maybe he would propose that day. I was convinced that when Taylor asked me to come out and help him "cook the meat" (nice cover!...so I thought) that he'd really open the grill and a little box with my ring would be in it. Lies. He really did just want me to come outside. So now that you all understand that we most definitely ate dinner that night, we'll keep going with the story. I will refer very quickly, again, to my second blog post that gave you all a heads up that I have A.D.D. and my train of thought is similar to that of an actual train without a train track. Scary right? Haha okay sorry. 
Before we got to dinner Taylor had told me he had brought the movie Selena over to watch with my family. If you haven't seen the movie, go watch it after you read this. I grew up watching this movie, and my grandparents are from Corpus Christi, which is where Selena was from, so Taylor thought it would be fun to watch. After dinner we all went downstairs to "watch the movie" ("watch a movie"...ooooh ok I get it...I was seriously reading way too much into things). I was totally expecting to walk downstairs to find some giant display of flowers or something and a big sign reading "Will you marry me?". Wrong. Again. We all sat down to watch the movie. Okay he's totally gonna put the movie in and it's not really going to be the movie. Do you think I was right? I wasn't. Not totally anyway. Taylor put the movie in and much to my dismay, the movie really did begin. As movies often do when you put them into a DVD player and press play. Okay he's soooo going to have something at the very end of the movie in the credits...Seriously you guys. I don't know what I was thinking. I was really pushing it. At that point I was sure that my final hypothesis was correct so I was super irritated that I was going to have to wait to watch the whole movie. Yes, I was totally being a brat inside. We watched the movie................for about 20 minutes. Right when I had lost all hope in ever getting engaged (I really don't know why I thought if I didn't get engaged on that day that it wouldn't ever happen), the movie changed from the actual movie, to a slideshow of pictures of Taylor and me. I totally started to cry. At the end of the slideshow he put a picture of a ring in a box. Little did I know it was MY ring (I thought it was just a picture from online or something). Taylor and I stood up and he quickly knelt down. He said sweet words and I was just experiencing a combination of laughter and crying. I feel bad because I just kept saying "you're such a liar!" because just the night before he was saying misleading things such as, "When should I go to the ring shop?!". Funny guy. Anyway, needless to say, I said yes. It was an amazing night. Of course, it was on Facebook RIGHT away because of my technologically savvy 15-year-old brother who posted the good news right away. 


         Taylor and I will be married on March 15, 2012 in the Provo, Utah temple :). I love him so very much and I'm so excited to spend the rest of time and eternity with him. He's amazing. I honestly never thought that he'd ever give me a chance. I remember praying (this sounds so silly, but it's totally true) that he'd eventually just give me at least one chance and go on at least one date. My favorite thing about Taylor is that he can just make me laugh. He hates that I love this, but he does the funniest accents. You name the region and he can represent that region's dialect almost perfectly. It's soooo funny. Taylor is such a gentleman, and he is so patient with me. It does make me sad that my dad hasn't met him yet, but I know that my dad would definitely approve (I should add, by the way, that Taylor asked for permission to marry me from both of my grandfathers, my mom, and my little brother, since my dad isn't here for Taylor to talk to). A few years ago my sister Nicole told me that one of the last things my dad ever told her about dating was that he never wanted any of his little girls to end up with anyone who isn't 100% head-over-heels for them. I know that I am not perfect and that I do things that bother Taylor sometimes (because everyone is human!), but Taylor treats me just that way that my dad said he wanted for his daughters. I have so much to work on to give Taylor the wife that he deserves, but I'm so grateful he's at least given me the opportunity to show him how much I love him. I found out when we started dating that Taylor actually reads my blog, so since he does, here's a shout out for him: I love you Mr. Taylor! :)


That's the proposal story. And it's just the beginning of hopefully many other wonderful stories to come. I do just like the "B", but really, I love HIM and that's all. (Plus, I don't really know what to do with the "B" when I get married. Haha :)

              My ring :) Taylor and I picked it together. It's what I've always wanted. p.s. you can't quite tell in the picture, but the actual ring is yellow gold. I love it!

            Right after he proposed....We had both cried (him a little, me kind of a lot) and it was the end of the day, so it's not the best photo. But this is the real deal-not a re-enactment. We'll be taking engagement photos next month so those will be some prettier photos of us together and the ring, too. :) I'm so excited to be Mrs. Hibbs!

...because he makes me laugh.

Okay everyone. I have two posts saved in my drafts that I have yet to finish (complete with life updates, pictures, recent crafts, etc.). However, I am a busy college student so posts have been a little slow. ANYWAY....I just wanted to post real quick about one of the many reason I love my Taylor: I love him because he makes me laugh. So hard. Very often. I have a picture to show why I was laughing so hard but Taylor said he was too embarrassed for me to post it :(. So Taylor has this strange habit of putting things on his head. A lot of times during SOAR Tay would walk around with his backpack on his head. Tonight Taylor was going to go shower while I was supposed to study for a test tomorrow (which I have yet to do because I'm on here!). He had his shorts he was going to change into after his shower and decided to just put them on his head. Now, imagine Taylor with big grey/silver basketball shorts on his head just chillin. Funny, right? He looked like a combination of Toad from Mario Party and someone from the Middle-East. When I told him he resembled a Middle-Eastern he started speaking in a stereotypical middle Eastern voice telling me about his street market and that only "Swen" (my grandpa Nielsen's first name) was allowed because he probably has good credit. I hope you think this is sort of funny because I was dying laughing. If not, just be happy that I am happy....haha. He totally reminded me of my dad when my dad would be all silly and do impersonations of people. I miss my dad a lot and the smiles he brought to me, but I'm so grateful that I have Taylor around to keep that smile on my face and laughter in the air. Even though Taylor is now sitting next to me eating nuts (the worst food in the whole world!), right now I am grateful for Taylor and I love him lots because he makes me laugh. He makes me happy. And that's all.

Barbie&Ken...Kelsey&Taylor

         Okay, so the title of my blog may be random, but not really if you think about it. Barbie is awesome on her own, right? She's got a lot going for her. However, if you were ever a young child who played with Barbies (okay, I'll admit, I didn't stop until I was a pre-teen), you know that it's not as fun playing without a Ken because he's her dream guy! Barbie got to be taken on dates, have new clothes purchased to impress Ken, and you and I both know it was sometimes fun to have them get in an argument here and there so that Ken could show up later with roses and then everything was back to normal. Don't even act like I'm crazy, I know at least SOME of you know what I'm talking about! I may have gone overboard with owning the Barbie airplanes, tourbus, Love Bug, townhouse....etc. But the point is, Barbie's life is so much greater with Ken!

          At this time I'd like to tell a little story about MY Ken, but he has a way better name: Taylor. He's also way better looking that Ken, but I may be biased :)


          Way back in February I applied to be a SOAR counselor at BYU (if you want to know what SOAR is go here. )In march all SOAR counselor applicants were called in for a group interview. At that time I had a boyfriend, so in all honesty I didn't really notice Taylor. However, I do remember thinking to my half-Mexican, half-white self after hearing his Hawaiian/Pigeon accent, "Dang, that kid's like, SUPER cultural"...but that was basically it. The next week I found out that I had been chosen to be a counselor for that summer. I had no idea at that time the blessings that my new job would bring.

          At the end of May, we had an overnight retreat with all 14 counselors and the advisors. I remember of few things of Taylor at that time: I thought to myself, "Why is this kid wearing long sleeves on a camp out? It's super hot right now." I also remember thinking he was a little bratty, because when we went to ropes course and had to figure out how to get all 14 of us across a few tree stumps with only three large pieces of plywood, he kept telling me my idea to get us across wouldn't work. I was like, "seriously, this kid has no idea. My idea is totally gonna work." And you know what? It did :) That gave Taylor a little slice of humility pie, haha. My first time really speaking to Taylor was when he came up to me later and said sorry for not listening to my idea and for not "having faith" (which is what I kept telling him to do when it came to my idea!).

                                  

                  Taylor, his longsleeve shirt, and everyone trying to get across the logs with the plywood we were passing to them.

            From then on Taylor and I were just co-workers. There was a rule given to us by our boss that we weren't allowed to date the students (which apparently has been a problem in the past, creepy, right?) nor the other counselors. I remember thinking that Taylor was super cute and I did have a little crush on him, but I have a testimony of obedience so I decided that I was going to focus on the students at the camp and to stop focusing on my own thoughts or feelings.

          I became best friends with all the counselors that summer, including Taylor, which was SOOO fun. Because we were in such close proximity ALL summer, we all had our up's and down's with each other. There were a few times I thought to myself, "Ugh, I'm sooooo NEVER going to date Taylor." Of couse, this was super bratty of me, and little did I know. I only thought those things because Taylor and I are both pretty opinionated and honest people who share our thoughts and say what we think...which can cause a few heated discussions sometimes. But obviously, those were not too big of a deal. I absolutely loved being good friends with Taylor throughout the summer as SOAR counselors because we got to know each other really well. I also believe that if we had broken G4 (long story..but that's the name of the rule that says we couldn't date other counselors), we wouldn't have had the experiences we both did with our students at SOAR, and I don't think us dating would have worked out. Obedience is important :).


                                   Here are some fun photos of the fun summer I had with all the counselors:

                            During the last week of SOAR we had to hurry and make new posters for the dance because Custodial threw our other ones away :( . Taylor and Josh helped me. This is theirs...:)

                                            This was mine :) (that's Taylor hiding behind it)

            Anyway, after SOAR had ended, Taylor came over to my apartment and told me that he "liked a girl who wears comfy comfy's (my name for sweats :) and who "rocks Mowgli hair" (sometimes when my hair isn't done it looks like Mowgli). He told me of his desire to date me and I told him I shared the same interest. We had gotten to know each other so well during the summer as friends so it was pretty easy just starting to date him.

           Taylor is honestly the best boyfriend ever. He is SOOOO patient with me. He takes me to try new things (guys, I can use chopsticks to eat food now!). He will watch chick flicks with me. He has seen me in ALL of my ways (happy, mad, sad, pretty, homely, tired, awake, EVERYTHING!), so I know I can just be myself around him. He has such a strong testimony, and he is a very good example to me. He encourages me to do and to be my best. This boy can make me laugh. And laugh hard (you should ask to see his Voldemort impression some time :) When I tell him I want to be more healthy he will hide the Kit-Kat's from me...even when I act mad about it because I LOVEEE Kit-Kat's (I am always grateful later when I am feeling "fat").

                                   This is after a 3 hour dance audition I had. Taylor drove up to Salt Lake with me and was so nice and waited outside the audition the whole three hours :)


               So while Barbie has her Ken, I get my Taylor. And I love that. And I love him. And that's all. :)

here making a cameo...

Hi Errbody...  As a disclaimer I'm not an English major like Kelsey so this post will not be as grammatically correct as all the other posts on this blog.  My name is Taylor, Kelsey's boyfriend from Hawai'i, so since I just got back from Hawai'i I'm throwing a shout out on her blog.  We have been dating for about a month now and she makes me happy.  She is so fun to be with and she is an amazing girl.  I'd like to take this opportunity to share a little bit about how we ended up together.  Me and Kelsey met working together this summer as counselors at a program called SOAR and we became very good friends.  Since we were co-workers it was against the rules to date other counselors so I tried not to think about her too much.  The more I got to know her and who she is the more attracted I became to her, but we were still working so I couldn't do anything.  So as we worked together throughout the summer the more I started to like her.  After the SOAR program was over I decided to tell Kelsey how I felt about her, "I like a girl who wears comfy comfy's and rocks mowgli hair." I was very happy to know that she felt the same and since then I my feelings have grown for her and are continuing to grow.  I LOVE THIS GIRL and her blog is fun to read.  For all of you who read her blog, so for all who read this far thanks for reading it makes her happy.  Hope y'all have a great day/night :)
Aloha & a hui hou,
Taylor

on my mind...

okay. I haven't blogged forever. And I have a post saved in my drafts that will take me forever to finish because it's basically my whole summer summarized (and photos!). However, right now as I'm sitting here in my favorite (for the moment) comfy comfy's (sweat pants...and if you're wondering, they're the boyfriend cut VS sweat pants....GO BUY SOME! BEST EVER!!!), and as I just finished my ice cream I got from the BYU Creamery yesterday while watching a new episode of Criminal Minds (one of my favorite shows!)...There are three things that have been on my mind. So, while I wait for my boyfriend to be done eating dinner (Boyfriend---I'll explain in a later post....Dinner--He's in a hawaii..=4 hr. time difference), I will post via pictures the top three things on my mind that I want right now:

             If you know me, Kelsey, you will know that these were a BAD thing for me to discover tonight because I found them on Ebay for $450 (they're Christian Louboutin's..=Designer brand), they're PINK, they're SPARKLY, And they have my favorite things ever on them...BOWS. Oh boy. :(

          Kelsey loves Cheeseburgers!!!!! Yeah...I don't know where it came from. But I just love cheeseburgers. However, lately I've been trying really hard (okay, besides the ice cream cone I just ate...I'm lonely! Give me a break!) to be healthier...Especially because I'm going to be dancing a lot more when school starts. The worst part is....I made Taylor (boyfriend) promise me he wouldn't let me get one even when I tell him I REALLY want one. He agreed with the understanding that I couldn't do what he knows I would normally do and say, "What, do you think I'm fat??? You think I'm fat! Don't you just like me the way I am??" Yes. I am that much of a girl. But usually I do stuff like that in a kidding way. Usually.

                  Taylor. I miss him!!! Taylor is from Hawaii. Pretty cool, huh? Yeah it's pretty cool except when he goes home for a month. Haha :). Well anyway, I miss him lots! He makes me smile and laugh and I always have so much fun with him. But he'll be back on Saturday....YAY!!!! 

                  Well, if you're reading this (if you made it down this far without wondering WHY you're spending time reading about things that I want right now), I'd like to say, THANKS FOR READING MY BLOG! You make me happy. Yes, you. Whoever you are. And I hope that you feel like you got to know me a little better. These are three things I want right now. And that's all :). 

SOAR: New Feet to Follow...

         This is a very special blog post, because this was a very special week! Way back in February I turned in an application hoping to be selected as one of only 14 counselors at a BYU summer camp called SOAR. I went to SOAR three years ago, and it changed my life; That is when and why I decided I wanted to later be a SOAR counselor. After a lot of interviewing, waiting, and prayers, I got a letter that said I was chosen as one of the 8 girl counselors for the camp. I was actually pretty surprised because there were SO many good candidates for the job. However, I was even more grateful than I was surprised. I just finished my first week as a SOAR counselor (there are 3 sessions). It was one of the greatest weeks ever! As far as the title of this blog...the kids who came to SOAR this last week were AMAZING. I learned so much from them and I realized that although I am older than all of them, I learned SO much from them and I now have about 200 more feet to follow because they were such good examples to me.
   

        This picture above makes me want to cry. This is my group of girls: "Kelsey's Krew". From left to right is Brette (Tennessee), Chelae (Provo :), Alexis (Kansas), Bethsy (Texas), Nicole (Chicago), Mikayla (Hawaii), and Larissa (Maryland). I LOVE these girls so much. They were so entertaining and have so much to to offer the world. We had so much fun and had many smiles, laughs, and tears (good ones!). We were able to take a trip to Temple Square on one of the days, and it was so great!

                                    At the North Vistor's Center at Temple Square :)

                                                       Love my girls! "Kelsey's Krew!"

                                         We got to meet BYU's president, President Samuelson :)

                                                    This is Josh and his studly group :)
 

                                    Three of the most amazing people ever: Sam, Estella, and Lisa!

                                      This session was especially fun because Lyd was there!

                                                             Dancing sistas!

      So on the first morning of SOAR, I couldn't find (yeah, I dunno...) one of my contacts. So I got to be glasses buddies with Adam! Don't worry, I found my contact shriveled up on the floor of my dorm later...???

                                          One of my best friends, ever...Mimi, and me :)

                                                                    HSM photo!

                           On our way to the best service project ever. We got to go to a residency for mentally disabled males of many ages. We just hung out with them and got to see some of the biggest smiles of joy that I've ever seen. The van ride was so great on the way there and back. They named themselves "K-dog's Krew!"

                      Another thing I LOVE about my job is my awesome co-workers. Seriously, look how fun!

                                               My funny girls at breakfast one morning :)

             I will be posting ALL the photos from the week on my facebook, so be sure to check there if you want to see more :). This past week really taught me so much about who I am, what I should be, and what I can do with my life. EVERY SINGLE student who came to SOAR was absolutely amazing. I love them all so much and I am SO blessed to have been able to work with them and learn from them. If any of you students are reading this, know how much I love you all, honestly. You all have so much potential; Please work hard to reach that! I'm always praying for you all.

 
          And to the girls of "Kelsey's Krew", I'll continually be doing "head counts".....so yall better keep in touch! You are all so beautiful and you all make me smile like crazy. "Kelsey's Krew!" I love you all, and that's all. :)

"This is why you should drop out of college!"

         

          First of all, don't worry...I am not dropping out of college. Second of all, this post has nothing to do with school. The title of this post is what my friend Emma told me when she saw all the crafts I was working on. And that is why I love Emma :).
          So while the past few months have been a little crazy, I decided to keep myself and my mind busy by starting up sewing again and making new crafts. Let me tell you. I am OBSESSED. I took one sewing class seven years ago in middle school and that is where my passion for sewing began. A few years after that my Grandpa Nielsen gave me my Great-Grandma Jones' Bernina sewing machine. However, I've been so busy with school, dance, and life in general the past few years that I haven't had time to pick up the hobby for real until now.
          My first few projects were aprons. I made one for myself, one for my Grandma Galan, and one for my best friend Macy for her birthday. When my mom first suggested starting with aprons, I thought it was going to be super lame. However, once I got to picking out fabric, I enjoyed every second of making those aprons.

                                   Isn't she the cutest lady ever???


              My second project was making a poodle skirt for my little sister Andrea for her end of school dance festival. She wanted to have a unique poodle skirt (i.e., not pink or purple), so we went all out. She looked adorable in it, and she danced very well!

                        The last Nielsen to graduate from Provost Elementary!

               My next project was a wooden spool wreath. I got the idea off of pinterest.com. Click here to see it. Don't judge because theirs was probably made by Martha Stewart's twin or something. Here are photos of the process:

                                               This is the base I used. From Robert's.

            Okay I know this is creepy, but I found this at D.I. and used it for a means of getting wooden spools. Yes, I destroyed it. haha, kinda funny, right?

           The wreath on Pinterest used real spools of thread, but I didn't want to waste real spools. I used nail polish, stickers from real spools of thread, and I also hot glue-gunned thread to some of the spools to make the spools come to life! I had a few real wooden thread spools, but they were old ones that came with my great-grandma's machine, so I didn't want to use those.

            The next project I made was inspired by a craft my cute older sister made back at Halloween. She got the idea from eighteen25.blogspot.com. To see what she did click here :).  This project isn't technically finished because I want to attach ribbon and hang them, but I don't have anywhere to hang them right now. Regardless, here's what I did:

                            I got these four wooden slabs from Wal-Mart for $1 each.

                           I found this book at D.I. for $1.50. The pages looked old, which is the look I was going for. However, if you do this craft, be careful of the book you use. There were MANY bad words in this book. And when I say MANY, I mean MANNNNNNNY. Haha. :)

            I got a 3" circle cutter from Michael's to cut out the circles. After the circles were cut, I wrapped them around a pen to make little clusters. Then I hot glue-gunned them to the wooden squares after I put lace and the black felt letters on them....See?:

      So these will eventually all have one ribbon behind them and hang on one of my walls in this formation. :)
     
        Last week my friend and old roommate Emma (the one with the famous quote of this blog post) came over and I introduced her to crafting. She thoroughly enjoyed herself. Which is why she advised me to drop out of college and continue coming up with fun crafts. We went to Michael's and found some cute things:

           We found these male and female wooden people, and came up with the idea for Emma to make signs like at public restrooms for her bathroom at her house. We got the wooden people $2 each at Michael's, duct tape sheets (yes, they sell duct tape in paper-sized sheets!), and flowers (one for her hair, and one for his suit) and Emma came up with.....

                                              She came up with THESE!!!! So cute, right???

        My most recent project I made last night until 3 a.m. I'm telling you, this craftiness makes
you crazy and very driven. I like to see results. So it's great :). I got this idea from this website. Now, although their products are super cute, they're also SUPER expensive. I mean, $60 for something that I made for $15? Really? So, I made my own. I have been wanting to buy one of the Vintage Hem slips (they are slips with cute trim on the edge that is meant to be seen, and helps your skirts and dresses be long enough), but I just couldn't do it. So last night I went to Wal-Mart and bought a $5 slip, some cheap white cotton fabric to sew the white eyelet lace that I also purchased on. The slip is 20" long, and the lace panel is about 7.5 inches long. I think the next one I make will just be 6" or 6.5" long because most my skirts didn't need that much extra length. Also, I purchased a size up from my regular size in the slip because I don't like them being too tight. However, I don't recommend going up a size because once the trim/lace is added on the bottom, it adds weight, so your slip will slide down and it will ruin the look. This is one of my favorite new projects. :)

                                                                The finished product :)

                                 It looks better on a real person, because it's really just past knee-length.


             As crazy and obsessed as all these projects might make me look (I might not actually deny those claims :), I've actually really learned a lot from them. I have been developing talents that I've been given, which is something my Patriarchal Blessing advises me to do, I have stayed busy and had things to do when normally I might get down if no one is home at my apartment (I used to HATE being home alone...I'm a people person!), and I've realized how excited I am to be a housewife. Do not worry, I'm not getting married; I'm not even dating anyone. However!....These hobbies I've been working on have helped me get in touch with my domestic side, which has reminded me of some of the responsibilities I will have as a wife and mother one day. I am an English language major, and I'm getting minors in editing and contemporary dance as well. Whenever people ask me what I want to do with that, they usually don't expect what I tell them. Although I love what I am studying, it is my dream to just be a stay-at-home wife and mom. I'm so excited to be able to take care of my family, in any and all ways. Right now I've been blessed to have the opportunity and help to go to BYU and get an education, which I believe and know is very important so that I develop my other talents and become prepared for what I may be required to do in the future. However, I hope to one day be able to just be a wife and mother to my future family. And I hope that I can make them happy.

            I absolutely love my life right now. The past six months have been crazy and thrown many curve balls my way, but I've just learned from all of them. I have just started the best job I think I can ever have--I am a SOAR counselor at BYU (I'll blog about this later). I have amazing friends, family, and co-workers. And right now, I'm especially grateful for the talents and the time that I have right now to develop them. I am happy. And that's all.