focus on the happy

1 2 3 4 or find all here

Attitude is a funny thing.  Depending what yours is like, it can make or break a situation.  I'm not always overflowing with optimism, so sometimes I have to remind myself of the good things in life.

I could be upset that school is starting and it's my senior year, that I'm in an apartment complex where I know next to no one, and that the majority of my friends are getting married, going on missions, or just not in Logan.

However, everything can be looked at with a different light.  It just depends on my attitude.  I can be *excited* that I only have three more semesters left of school {still working on that excitement though...}.  I can be grateful for the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends and appreciate the ones who are still in Logan with me.  I can be happy that my friends are doing great things with their lives and grateful that we all have our own timetables.

I had actually started writing this last night, but I've learned you have to let real life take priority.  Why would you want to replace free food, a free movie, and getting to know some pretty cool new people with the Internet?  Beats me.

Seize opportunities when they come.  Focus on the happy.  Life will be so much more enjoyable if you do.

happy list april

Once upon a time I stole an idea from my SIL Eryka.  She would make these cute little happy lists at the beginning of each month...and I decided to do the same...except well...I haven't been as consistent.  Anyway, here's this month's!

• it's the last FULL month of school left :)
• don't get me wrong....i love school and logan...but this year my heart has been in bountiful
• general conference
• lagoon is OPEN!
• {i've had a season pass since i was four}
• {it's also my job.  and i love it.}
• springtime flowers
• seeing little high school kids on campus {i can't help but feel EXCITED for them!}
• discovering my love for twitter.  
• my new phone!  {i don't know how i lived with my old one...} 
• this also means more distractions in class....
• encouraging myself to make time for working out {i'm much more pleasant}
• the best teachers make all the difference!
• watching a goose walk up and down stairs {hilarious}

If you do a happy list, let me know!  I love hearing what people put on their lists :)

beauty

Snow.

In my vocabulary, snow is usually a word letter word {okay....so it is a four letter word}.

Today my roommates and I were unable to drive to a Linger Longer {awesome food + socializing after church} because our roommate with 4-wheel drive went home for the weekend and the roommate with the best tires was unable to make it out of the parking lot.  So we hitched a ride to the church...but this also meant we were left car-less up there.  Instead of mooching a ride back {which I'm sure someone would have gladly given us}, we decided to make the journey home on foot.

And I'm so glad we did.

Beauty surrounds us every day.

Sometimes we don't realize it.  Or choose to complain instead.

• "It's too cold"
• "I hate shoveling"
• "People drive too slow"
• "Can it just be summer already?"
• "I am so tired of the snow!!!"
• And a myriad of other complaints floating around

Normally, I'm quite guilty of this and would have a hatred of snow building inside me too.  This week I'm deciding to

Appreciate More, Complain Less

I do wish sidewalks and roads could shovel and plow themselves though...

I sure do love our pretty little winter wonderland we've been given :)

Don't Worry. Be Happy.

Sometimes people post on Facebook just the thing I need to read...and today it happened twice.

“So often we get caught up in the illusion that there is something just beyond our reach that would bring us happiness, a better family situation, a better financial situation, or the end of a challenging trial. The older we get, the more we look back and realize that external circumstances don't really matter or determine our happiness. We do matter. We determine our happiness. You and I are ultimately in charge of our own happiness.” - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

and 

It's a bad day. Not a bad life.

I won't lie.  Today has been a rough day.  Not sure why....just a lot of little things adding up.  And I'm not sure how it goes for everybody, but I know that when I'm having a bad day, it's so much easier to see my flaws and all the inadequacies in my life.  And that was just making life worse.

But what's nice about life is that a day can only last so long.  After twenty four hours, a new one is given to us.  So no matter how bad it may be, it can't last longer than that.  For me, sleep helps a lot of things.  So I'm kind of excited to go to sleep tonight and leave today behind.

Semi-related side note:

As I was flipping through pages on iTunes,  I found this gem.

Fun Fact For Ya {triple-F-Y}:  This song totally reminds me of family road trips to Boise.  We had a cassette tape I feel like we always listened to.  And I'm pretty sure this was the first song.  I only remember a handful of other songs on it....and even though the road trips felt long, this tape is a good memory :)

attitude of gratitude {days 9-19}

I'm super behind with this project...but here's the next section anyway.  {click here for part 1}

9 - friends - I'm grateful for all my friends, no matter the length of the friendship.  They have gotten me through the good and the bad times and have shaped much of who I have become.  They teach me things I never knew about myself.  They keep my thoroughly entertained.  I love them.

10 - indoor plumbing - Who honestly wants to squat over a hole in the backyard?  Or run outside to an outhouse?  Especially in the middle of winter.  No thank you.  Whoever invented toilet paper?  Genius.  Also, never having to share bath water with siblings?  Awesomeness.  I like showers.

11 - government and military - I am so blessed to live in a place where I am free to choose what to do with my life, have guaranteed rights and liberties, and the opportunity to have a say in how our country is run (aka the right to vote).  I grateful for those who sacrifice their time, and even their life, to serve this country and its citizens to protect their freedoms.

12 - cell phones - I complain about how much I hate my phone often-- how slow it is, functions it doesn't have, and just how crappy it is in general.  But really, it does so much for me.  I take pictures on it more than I do with my real camera.  It helps me to keep in touch with family and friends through phone calls, texting, and social media apps.  It prevents me from getting completely lost with navigation and answers stupid questions with Google.

13 - ducks {and geese} - Ducks are pretty much the greatest animal on the planet.  They are definitely in my top three favorite animals.  For some reason, they make me unexplainably happy.  I haven't been infatuated with them as much this school year, but I still think they're pretty awesome.

14 - zumba - So if you know me, like, at all, you know growing up I was not athletic at all.  I hated sports.  I hated gym.  Being athletic was NOT my forte.  Then, one of the summers after high school, I decided to give AquaZumba a shot.  My mom and her friends (who are pretty much my second and third moms) were doing it...so if middle-aged moms could do it, a nineteen year old could, right?  Right!  I fell in love.  The next fall I signed up for a normal Zumba class for school and the love has continued.  Who knew exercising could be fun?

15 - shameless self-photos - If somebody was to look through the pictures on my phone, they would probably tell me the amount of pictures I take of myself is obscene.  Honestly, I just get bored....so this occasionally provides a form of entertainment.

clothes AND shameless self-portraits....embarrassing eh?

16 - clothes - Granted, a small percentage of the population could probably walk around without clothes and nobody would complain...but for the majority clothing is a good great thing.  Clothes cover up some of the scars, flaws, and imperfections I don't wish to share with the world.  It allows me to express myself.  I definitely am not a pro at throwing outfits together, but knowing how I used to dress, I can say I am significantly better at it.

17 - Aggie Athletics - I don't care if you have a card proclaiming you are a "True Aggie" because you kissed somebody on the A at midnight the night of a full moon.  You are NOT a True Aggie if you do not support Aggie sports.  Last Saturday some of my roommates and I sat in the Spectrum for over six hours watching the football and basketball games.  The football game was crazy.  I'll admit, I got worried.  I lost hope even. The last half we weren't doing so hot, so how could we win?  Whelp, we went into overtime, and guess what?  The Aggies pulled through, won, and now are ranked #25.  Basketball did not disappoint either.  I love screaming and cheering on my Aggies.

18 - parents who love each other - It's often easy to take something like this for granted.  It's just life to me.  But then life sinks in and I see friends whose parents are divorced.  Or have friends say they think their parents should divorce.  As a kid, I know I played out the scenario of "which parent would you live with if they got divorced?" in my head (did other people do that too? or was I just a weird kid?), but ultimately, I knew I would never have to choose.  Ever.  I was certain.  I always knew my parents loved each other.  I still do.  And I hope that one day, I'll be able to have a forever marriage like theirs.

19 - creativity - My creativity lacks a lot of times.  But I'm thankful for those who are creative...and even more thankful for those who share their creativity on the internet.  Because, then it allows others, such as my only-semi-creative-self, to get ideas and do awesome things.  Pinterest has allowed for new crafts ideas galore.  Every once in a while, I do create something with my own imagination, but, by golly, others have such nifty ideas!

sombreros, gangnam style, and a cardboard cat

So, minus the fact I've been sick, this weekend has been pretty stellar.

Highlights include:

• Scoring a super comfy, super cute hoodie for practically half price
• Olive Garden {salad and breadsticks?!  mmm..and pasta :) super delish}
• Aggie basketball....and even better because we won! {there were some moments the score was WAY too close for comfort}
• Hanging out with these cool kids

photo stolen from Alyse

So...we pretty much had a mobile dance party.  We all dressed up {too bad you can't see the back of my jacket...it's a party of its own}.  Basically Sombrero Man {Blake} would knock on an apartment's door, make up some story which involved plugging his boombox into their wall, and start dancing.  {apparently people's initial reactions are pretty funny.}  We'd all pour into the apartment and party it up!  Some people would just stare at us...but others would hop up and dance too.  As we made our way from apartment to apartment our group doubled {at least!}  Most additions were just in normal clothes....but about halfway through we had the silly Old Farm gorilla join in!

I'm pretty sure I made myself sicker by screaming for my Aggies and dancing around all Saturday night....but I would do it again in a heartbeat!  I love my neighbors and the crazy shenanigans they think up :)

happiness is...

happiness is....

• pretty autumn trees and leaves dotting the earth

• holding hands with a cute boy
• pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
• Diet Coke.  especially if it's giant.

• clean bedrooms
• spending time with family
• new music
• Chick-Fil-A

• awesome coworkers
• amusement parks
• finally completing an outfit how i imagined it
• peacocks at dinner

• playing with my sister's puppies
• an unexpected letter from a missionary
• hot chocolate on a chilly day

happiness is life.

what i've been up to - life dump

Honestly, I don't know what I've been up to lately.

I remember once upon a time I was going to post about my spring break adventures.  And then I never did. 

So let's back track to March.

Creighton, Kevin, and I got sushi.  Delish.

 And we went on an epic zoo adventure.

And I went out to three movies that week:  This Means War, Chronicle, and The Lorax.  I had heard mixed things about the Lorax, but I loved it.  And we {Angie, Kevin, Creighton, and I} went up to North Salt Lake and just ended up staring at the city.  I love city lights :)  The rest of the week was made up of yoga, Killer Bunnies, and a slurpee run with a talk on the Boulevard.

The next week consisted of Humans vs Zombies.  After half-heartedly signing up, I ended up having a lot of fun.  It looks like the stupidest game...but if you allow yourself, you will have good time! :)

Some of the roommates and I decided to go to Festival of Colors.  We'll let pictures do the talking.

That same weekend we saw the Hunger Games.  Love, love, LOVE that movie :)

One day I decided to have a "Make Kelly Happy Day" and did so by dressing up adorably.  Then instead of going to class as I had planned, I decided to ditch.  I ended up spending two hours going to the bank and finding flowers and a vase.  Honestly all the flowers sucked.  That is, until I found tulips at Maceys.  Tulips are pretty.  I kind of have a thing for them.

Probably this whole past month I've been under a ton of stress.  Or maybe anxiety.  Either way, it was no bueno.  I would wake up each morning feeling so sick.  Sometimes I just let the big things...and even more so, the little things...take a toll on me.  

On one of the bad days Kevin surprised me with flowers.  They're super pretty :)

Thankfully I'm feeling a lot better lately.  I think much of the stress has subsided, although I know priesthood blessings and a trip to the temple were helpful too.

I've seen and fed plenty of ducks lately too!!!!

Oh and I have not seen my cute duck couple in Logan since I have seen them in Bountiful...I think they must have gotten lost.

We also went on a...not-hike up Logan Canyon.  It was more of a walk.  We went back later that night and had a fire with s'mores

Odds and ends:

considering I thought I was going to fail that test...I think an 89 is super awesome :)

Oh and I found out that my English essay was one of the top in my class.  I get extra credit because of it and Thursday I'll get some award at our assembly/ceremony/whatever it is of all the English 2010 classes at that time.  It felt pretty awesome being told that my essay was one of the top just because I know what went into writing it.  There was a lot of effort behind it...and even more heart.

Tonight I went to Kevin's choir concert:

I listened most of the time!  I lost focus in the middle though...

And this is my attempt at a sneaky photo of the cute old couple next to me.  It was a fail though.  But I decided I want to grow up and be like them.  They were cute and holding hands and just being adorable.

Sorry it's kind of a picture dump and awful writing...but sometimes...okay a lot of times that's just what happens.  It feels nice being as caught up as I'm going to get...although I've missed a lot of details, but that's okay with me.

saturday night

It's a Saturday night.  And I'm home alone.

Not that I'm complaining.  Okay, I am a little bit.

Dumb work, home, and boys.  Stop stealing my friends.

My Friday night almost met the same fate.  But it was saved by Kylee and Janie!
I really need to remember to carry a camera around with me more.  Or at least take phone pictures.  Something!

camping last summer

Sometimes in college you forget you can have sleepovers....but last night we remembered that little fun fact!  So I grab my blankets, Augustus the pillow pet, and Richard the duck and carry them across the street and through a parking lot and a half.  The night consists of:

• Nearly walking into the wrong apartment {Kylee told me the wrong neighbors' apartment. oops!}
• Kylee telling/trying to teach Janie and I how to catch boys
• Semi-awkward questions
• Lots of laughter
• Pizza eating, soda drinking, muddy buddy scarfing
• Breaking Dawn part 1
• Drifting off to sleep on the plaid couch that reminds me of this one

old plaid couch...and oscar :)

I love these girls a lot - they really are tons of fun and I know I can be 100% myself around them.  I can talk to them about so much and I feel like they understand my mind a lot better than most people.  As long as everything works out they should be my roommates for next year.  We just need to have a chat with a gal named Mallory...and possibly bribe her :)

Oh!  And I had other things that made my Friday!

I was doing homework and was in a rather grumpy mood.  I clicked on a link...which I guess didn't exist or something because it redirected me to this:

I laughed for quite a while.  I wonder how many people actually e-mail him.

And then Shayna checked the mail and I had a letter!  There's this funny German guy who posts videos on YouTube and he said if you e-mailed him your address he would send you stickers.  Well I did it...but totally forgot about it.  So it was a nice little surprise when I had an envelope with my name on it.

I got 4 stickers and a postcard :)  Check him out here.  {some of my favorites here, here, here, and here}  Why yes, he is an interesting fellow...but he entertains me :)

I hope y'all are having a fabulous weekend!

excited

There's this girl who lives nearly 2100 miles from me.  Even though she's eight years older than me, I still think she's pretty rad.  Well, I found out just the other day she is coming to visit!  My sister is coming to visit! :)

sisters: stephanie, heather, and me

You see, I haven't seen her since last July.  Seven and a half months is a looooong time.  Okay.  Some people may not think so...but when you have a family as awesome as mine, it is!

The last time we saw Heather
{steph's wedding}

I've joked that the next time our family would get to see Heather was when I get married {the last two times she came to town were for siblings weddings}.  Oh wait!  Am I spoiling the surprise?  Do I get a surprise wedding?  Thankfully, no!

{dan's wedding}

It'll be great having us all together again...even if only for a few days :)

gone

Life has been a bit crazy lately...I really need to be better about writing stories before I begin forgetting the details haha...anyway...we'll time travel back to last week for a minute.

On my laptop I have a folder of all my pictures prior to this computer.  Last week I opened it to look for pictures for a project and instead of being greeted by a plethora of pictures I am greeted by this message:

Now don't get me wrong.  I was sad that these pictures were gone.  Family vacations, nieces growing up, choir trip, graduation, etc.  My family computer I had them all stored on crashed a few months earlier and stuff was only partially recovered...so I was pretty sure everything was gone.  I ended up being okay with it all.  I figured I had a decent amount of pictures on Facebook, many pictures were dorky self-portraits of a funny looking girl, and everyone in the pictures was still in existence so I knew I would be able to get more even though they wouldn't be snapshots capturing the old memories.

Thursday I am looking on Pinterest and show my roommates this picture:

Source: dwellstudio.com via Kelly on Pinterest

The owl bedding is adorable...but what I was really focused on was the cute dachshund pillow on the bed.

You see....from about age 4 to age 18 my family had the cutest little wiener dog.  See?

Yeah.  Adorable, I know.  He wasn't very good at listening though.  I remember telling him explicitly before my choir trip he wasn't allowed to die while I was gone.  Yeah.  He failed at listening.  The night I got home and found out I bawled pretty much all night.  He was the friend who was always there no matter what was going on in life.

Anyway, back to the owl bedding.  I started googling dachshund things.  I'm sitting in our cute little grandpa recliner with my cute little green laptop resting in my cute little lap.  And suddenly, something in my brain clicks.  I scream NO!!! and have curious glances directed my way from inquisitive roommates.  I race to open the folder..and sure enough, my worst fear is confirmed.  The folder still looks like this:

EMPTY.  GONE.

I start laughing.  I start crying.  I am just a mess.  Those are the two dominant ways of dealing with my emotions and both decide to manifest themselves at the exact same moment.

"Kelly, are you okay?"

"I...I don't think so."  I sit, staring at my computer in disbelief, tears welling up in my eyes.

I sat for at least ten minutes staring at the screen.  Then, I notice button in the top right corner.  It says something about arranging the pictures by different things.  I click it and change the settings...and miraculously all the pictures fill the screen.  I was beyond excited.  I felt beyond stupid.  I knew how ridiculous I looked and sounded.  He was just a dog.  But really, he wasn't.  He was much, much more.