Little sunshines...

        
                Hello! So. This week I've been working hard to get lots done on my to-do list (which I'm not going to go into great depth about because I'm kind of anti-blog-about-everything-you-do,-eat,-and-say-every-day). During the time that I've spent by myself running all over creation, I've had a lot of time to think and observe; I've noticed a lot of "little sunshines" in my week and in my life. First, I will explain what "little sunshines" are. The summer before my senior year in high school I attended a multicultural college prep camp thing at BYU called SOAR (if you want to learn more about this, click here :) This camp is similar to EFY in that you have a counselor who leads your group. One night my counselor Stephanie shared a thought with us about looking for the "little sunshines" in our lives...AKA things you're grateful for, things that make you laugh, things that just make you smile, etc. She gave the examples of when your favorite song comes on the radio and makes you happy, when a stranger says hi, or just anything you notice that brightens your day. She gave us a little notebook to write these things down in. This idea has helped me in my life, especially when I might not have a lot going on in life and when I might get caught up in looking for huge, easy-to-spot blessings and tender mercies from the Lord. This idea has helped me to acknowledge the Lord's hand in ALL things in my life, and it reminds me that He places every little thing that brings a smile to His daughter Kelsey's face in her life because He wants me to be happy. I thought I'd share a few of these things that made me happy this week....or, my "little sunshines".

*FRIENDS. I LOVE my friends. I've been trying to get used to all of my original roommates leaving last weekend (Lauren and Holly went to Europe for a Study Abroad with BYU, and Mary went home to NM to get ready for her mission!). So, this week one of my little sunshines was one of my best friends...MACY! Although she's not technically my roommate, she may as well be. She lives right next door but basically lives at my house (and sleeps there :) We always do fun things, but this week I've been especially grateful since I'm pretty much alone at my apartment otherwise. This week Macy, our friend Bri, and I went to Zupa's for dinner then went shopping for my sister Andrea's birthday. Macy also slept over at my house multiple times in a row to keep me company :). On Saturday night we were both totally ready to go to bed when we realized we had nothing to take to our ward's "Break the Fast" event the next day, so we decided to go to the grocery store, in sweats and me with wet hair, and all. We also ran into my mom and Lydia there....at 1am. haha :). I'm very grateful for all these fun times with my friends..and this week, I'm especially grateful for my little sunshine Macy!

(from top to bottom row...) Holly, Bri, Mary, Lauren, Me, Macy

*Temples! On Tuesday, April 26, my youngest sister Andrea turned 12. Her birthday wish was to go and do baptisms with the whole family. Lydia was out of town, so my brother Chris, my mom, Andrea, and I went to the Provo temple to do baptisms. This is the first time I've been able to go to the temple with these siblings. An extra "little sunshine" was the fact that while we waited to go in, the song "Families can be together forever", which is the song that was played outside the font area when my family and I did baptisms in the Nauvoo temple two days after my dad passed away, was playing. Chris and Andrea weren't old enough to go in four years ago when we did baptisms in Nauvoo, so they didn't know that that song had played when we had gone after my dad had died. I decided to share this story with them and it was a very neat experience. It reminded me that Heavenly Father speaks to us through many different mediums and that nothing is ever "just a coincidence :) .

Provo, Utah temple

*Last night I saw the movie I am number Four with my good friend and old roommate Alli. It was so fun to catch up with her and just have fun.

 

SO GOOD. go see it. PLUS...he's very nice to look at :)

*Spending time with my mom. My mom lives a different life than many other wives her age because of my dad being gone, which means I have a little bit of a different relationship with her than the relationship most girls my age have with their mothers. Her whole life is about her kids, so I've been working on doing things to make her happy. Last night we went to Cafe Rio for dinner and just talked. I decided I'm going to try to better appreciate Jane Austin books and movies...because that would make my mom happy :).

Pride & Prejudice :)

           I feel like my elementary school 5-paragraph essay training has instilled in me a need to have an ending paragraph of any sort of writing that starts with "in conclusion"...So, here it is: In conclusion, life is good. There are so many "little sunshines", which can just be the smallest things that make us happy or smile or help us to enjoy life that we don't really acknowledge as things to be grateful for. I will challenge anyone reading this to try to look for even the smallest of "sunshines" in your life, because life is full of happy little bursts of sunshine that make life beautiful.