"There are two ways to live life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." -Albert Einstein

So the reason I chose the above quote is because lately I've realized all the miracles in my life that I have received. For example:

My Family- Seriously, could I ask for a better family to come from? Not only do I have the greatest parents on earth, I also have a great extended family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I am so thankful for them and believe them to be miracles in my life. Many of them have helped me on my journey in ways they probably do not even know.

My Friends- Friends are very important to a college girl who lives 480 miles away from her home and family. Since attending BYU, I have not only retained crucial relationships, I have discovered new friends who are as deeply rooted in the gospel as I am.

BYU- Yes I know what you're thinking Dad. But honestly, coming to BYU was a miracle. When I first got accepted, I was not sure I would be able to come because of financial reasons. Yet for something beyond my power, I ended up getting the chance to attend BYU. I am thankful every (okay let's put it frankly, most) days that I have had the opportunity to be here where everyone has the same core of beliefs and I don't have to worry about my roomates coming in drunk. Seriously, that's a miracle in itself.

And now off of my cheesy pedestal. Life has been pretty hectic in the 84604. (That doesn't flow as well as 90210 but oh well). Recently I got to go home for Thanksgiving. But I did not go by car or plane. In fact my traveling caused less pain. Okay, I'm done embracing the Dr. Seuss persona for a while, I promise. But really, I got to travel on a train to Colorado! How cool is that? Well let's just say that Madison made me stay up all night (we had to be at the train station at 4:00 a.m. Yes you did read the correctly. FOUR IN THE MORNING!) So Madison, being brilliant and all to smart decided we could just stay up all night on the train. Which was a great plan until later, but let's explain the fun part. We ended up hanging in Helaman Halls which is where apparently all of the super hott guys live because honestly many of them were smokin'! It was nice and then we headed back to her apartment where I cursed her name for making me stay up. (Those of you who know me well know I can get a little, okay MASSIVELY grumpy when I'm tired.) When we got the train station though, my hyper streak came out and Madison and I had a great time running around the little waiting area and we even took a picture on the tracks. (For those of you reading this and thinking "Holy cracker. Kelsey, that was WAY dangerous," I feel the need to mention that the train wasn't due for another 40 minutes.) Anyways it was great and when the train finally got to the station, I was excited to sleep. But when I got on the train, sleep did not come because my life is sadly fully of cruel ironies (I'm sensing a future book about my life entitled "Kelsey's Cruel Ironies" in the future haha I'm kidding). But I couldn't sleep, thus thwarting Madison's crazy plan. Eventually, I fell into a fitful sleep and when I woke up, we only had 8 hours left. (Did I mention it was going to take FOURTEEN hours? Because, it did). Anyways, we watched numerous movies, read books and went to the viewing cart where you can just sit and watch the scenery. We finally got home around 6ish and I could not have been happier to be home.

The first part of my vacation was awesome. I got to visit with past high school teachers and tell them how much they prepared me for college and even had to tell a few that no, despite being in Provo, Utah for around 5 months, I was NOT engaged. I also got to eat lunch with Danny and pull a traditional "Clarissa-Madison-Kelsey-Custard" night. I also got to (finally) see Harry Potter. Which seriously, what was with that one awkward scene? Life was going great it seemed. Until Tuesday night. When my ears started hurting really bad. But, knowing that Cassie and I had our epic picking up Kelly from the airport day the next day, I suffered through it.

Wednedsay, although I was sick, was absolutely fantastic towards the evening. I had pumped around 6 total Ibuprofen in my mouth during the day, and was starting to feel a little better. Cassie and I made it to the airport really quickly and we totally didn't get lost. (Which was MASSIVELY surprising as Cassie and I have no sense of direction.) While we waited, we tried to figure out where to pick her up and ate pretzels. The former being a massive fail because we eventually had to meet her by the baggage pick-up. But nonetheless, a 'run-across-the-airport-and-hug" was a success. It was WAY awesome. But on the way home, I felt like I was going to die so I made them take me home haha.

On Thursday, I went to my Omi's house for dinner but felt like crap the whole time so I basically slept on the couch like a lame skadoo. But the food was delicious, and I enjoyed the trivia. Friday was, hmm how shall I phrase this? Weird. I'm just going to come right out and say it: I went to a pediatricin. Yes I know very peculiar as I am 18 but I thought I had an ear infection and I have no other doctor. So yes, I was in a waiting room with an average age of 3 year olds. Yes, I did get a popsicle after they swabbed me for strept. (Which was totally random because I thought I had an ear infection. Turns out, I had strept!) It was totally lame to be sick still, but I survived.

Saturday, I felt a little bit better until the stupid University of Utah Utes beat us in football.  and so we had a family evening where we ate Five Guys and put up the Christmas tree. It was awesome! :) (And we totally only had one minor fight while decorating the tree!)

Sunday morning, I woke up and felt like death. Now normally, I hate when people say this. How can one know what death feels like? But now I know. I was an emotional wreck at the Carneys (Katy and Kyle were driving Madison and I home) and felt like a big blubber. Luckily, they love me and don't think I'm a psycho. Anyways, we made it safely home.

The last week of school has been crazy. Last Thursday, I, along with a few other girls in my class,  went with Professor Cope to a live nativity. It totally got me in the Christmas spirit and afterwards we went to the Cocoa Bean and I ordered the best steamer on the plant. This weekend was pretty nice as well. I watched lots of Gilmore Girls with my roomate Kristina and did laundry. On Saturday, I went with Kristina to Walmart, purchased some awesome food and then Madison's roomate Hailey picked me up. We went to the mall and ate Red Robin. So delicious! We also went to Michaels and it was super awesome.  On top of all the craziness this week, I lost my cellphone on Thursday. I pretty much died. Literally. After continuous prayer for three days, and fasting yesterday, somebody turned my phone and I got it back! It was awesome! So yay for prayer and fasting.

Anyways, I love life. Sometimes, life sucks. (Mom, please don't yell at me for saying that when I call you later!) But sometimes it does. Sometimes life is unfair and cruel. But as my new favorite quote (shared during American Heritage) states:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

So although life is full of cruel ironies and bad moments, I've decided there are also momets of greatness and love. (Like when you realize you still have a chocolate for the day stuck in your chocolate advent calendar your mom bought you). I've experience both victory and defeat which leads me to believe I have experienced a successful life thus far. So whatever life throws me, I'm determined to be the girl "who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly." Love you all. Lots. xoxo

"There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny."

So the quote is from FDR's Democratic National Convention speech. It was quoted today in a forum and it made me think. What is our destiny? Will be the greatest generation that ever lived, or the weakest? What is our responsibility> Anyways, I LOVE this quote! It really makes me think. (And make me appreciate Democrats a little bit more :) (emphasis on the words "little bit")


So life has been pretty busy in the little town of Provo, Utah. Recently, I've had a bazillion and a half papers due which has made me stress beyond belief, but I'm almost done with them, which makes me super happy! (And super insane because now that I'm almost done with papers, I'm writing a really long blog post...)


Now onto some highlights:

• Skyping with Clarissa/Cupcakes. So this past Saturday, Madison and I were finally hanging out and we decided to Skype Clarissa. It was hilarious. I felt like were were actually hanging out. (Probably because I ended up falling out of my chair while I was laughing. This seems to happen quite frequently). Anyways it was like old times. After Skyping Madison, Michal, Michal's roomate Ariena, and my roomate Kristinia and I all went to the Cocoa Bean which sells the world's best (and probably the most expensive. It was 1.75 per a tiny cupcake!) cupcakes! Madison and I got the "Phat Monkey" which was like chocolate chip banana bread, or in other words, HEAVEN on steroids! So delicious. We also got a really good frappe! It was an awesome night! :)
• Going to my first college basketball game. First of all, I'm glad that it's cool to go to games. It's also cool to wear white for a whiteout. (I totally got an official basketball shirt!) You know what's not cool at basketball games? People stealing your seats! Ah it was so frustrating. I had been there an hour before to save seats for a lot of people and yet people continued to encroach on my territory! GRR! I wish I wasn't such a push-over sometimes. Anyways, it was soo much fun and it reminded me how much I actually liked the sport and not just the players ;)
• Getting a B+ on my church history exam. So I have the coolest church history professor EVER. Her name is Rachel Cope and she could seriously be my sister. First of all, she loves the color purple and icecream. Second of all, she has a PhD. (We have a lot more in common than that, but that's the basics. And I want a PhD, not have one, just to clarify). Anyways, she is super awesome and hilarious and is seriously going to be one of my best mentors here at BYU. (Seeing as I am striving to get my PhD in Psychology at the current moment.) Anyways, we only have two tests in the class and they're both written. Seeing as how I LOVE writing and love history, I was kind of excited to take the test. ( Call me a nerd, I already know I am one) So I took it, thought I did great until the day when she handed out the test. Can I just tell you how much I HATE getting tests back in person. SOO AWKWARD. Well that is unless you get an 87%! :) So that was happy. I can't wait to take Professor Cope's Mormon Church History class next Fall. ( I told you we were way similiar and you didn't believe me until now, did you?)
• Bomb procedures. So at my work, we have a directory and so I was flipping through it and noticed this little gem:

This is not a joke. You seriously are instructed to fill this out before calling someone. I find it really hilarious.

• Habitat for Humanity! So I just want to let you all know that I helped build a house and didn't kill anyone or anything. So on Saturday morning,I woke up at 7 (which should be illegal in college life) to go help build a house because I need to do 10 hours of service for my American Heritage class. (sometimes I regret coming to BYU. Who else has a class where one of your grades is service?) Anyways, Kristina and I dragged our lazy butts out of bed and helped out. I got to use a staple gun and a nail fun. (Again let me repeat, I did not do harm to anything, I did however almost fall off the roof...) Anyways, it was super fun and fulfilling!
• Starting a book club. So Michal and I, being the literary nerds that we are decided to read a lot of classics. So we're staring with Wuthering Heights (which is excellent by the way!) Also on the list? 1984, A Tale of Two Cities, Moby Dick. That sort of thing. Because we don't do enough reading as it is...
• Learning to hula. Yes, I Kelsey Marie Davis actually attempted to Hula. Luckily there were no boys around... it was super fun. These two girls in my ward are from Hawaii and they were incredible. I wish I could move my hips like them. (Cue "My Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira)
• Coming up with a new anthem. So since I'm normally a man-hater, I usually like man-hating songs. But I've found a new song that displays my dilemna perfectly: "Where have all the good men gone? And where are all the Gods? Where's the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?... I need a hero. I'm holding out for a hero til the end of the night. He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast. And he's gotta be fresh from the fight." So basically, I've decided I need a hero and I will wait for one. (Just in case you couldn't read between the lines)
• My job and classes still continue to be great. My favorite quote of this week actually comes my co-worker Michal who literally stated "For the rest of my life, I want to dress male mannequins." It was hilarious!
• Planning an epic airport reunion. I cannot wait to go meet Kelly at the airport with Cassie!! It is going to be so epic and full of craziness. (Yes, we will film it for your enjoyment!)

Anyways, I am still loving life. College can be tough sometimes, especially being 480 miles (yes I did google that) away from home. But I am so blessed to have excellent friends and family that support me. You guys are awesome! I can't wait to come visit forThanksgiving!Thank you for everything you do. Look for my bucket list soon! xoxo

"You need to hear me out and they said speak now"

So I haven't blogged in a zillion years. So here's a recap of the best moments of the past month:


10. Taylor Swift's CD "Speak Now" came out. To say I was excited would be an understatement! I love the whole CD hence why the title of this blog is part of the title track. I've always decided that I'm going to always try and speak my opinion, not in a confrontational manner, but I am not going to stand on the fence about my beliefs! Also, I totally cried the first time I heard the song "Never Grow Up" because it totally talks about how she never wants to grow up. I'm kind of feeling the same way.


9. Gilmore Girls/Bones/Pizza Party with my roomates. Yes, it was in a fort made from our couch. Yes, it was much needed. Yes the pizza man was an attractive RM who was not engaged.  Seriously I love those shows and I loved being a bum!


8. My bosses' costumes for Halloween. So apparently last year my bosses dressed up like Polygamist wives with Tad being the husband. (And yes, they were all surprised they still had their jobs after that!). So this year, not to outdo themselves too much, they decided to be the Jamaican bob sled team. It was freakin' hilarious. Also, work continues to be fantastic. I love my co-worker Michal probably because we are both blue-reds for the color code! Or maybe it's because she's hilarious and tries to scrape 'dirt' off of our computer screen... yeah, it wasn't dirt, it was definitely the microphone the person giving the devotional was speaking into.


7. Jason Derulo/B.o.B/Iyaz concert. Well let's just say the night didn't turn out as planned... but I loved it. I finally got to see my future husband in concert and let's just say, I would have been ok if he had proposed to me on the spot! SOOOOOOOOOo attractive and such a great dancer!


6. Corn maze! So once upon a time, Carrie, Lindsay and I went to a corn maze. Let's just say it was a thousand times better than the one in Littleton. It had a magical horse and a carriage that looked like something straight out of Cinderella. And we totally dominated that maze! And I conquered my fear of the day by walking through a haunted house while clutching the hand of a six year-old. (Yes, that sadly is a true story!) It was fun though and we ended up getting smoothies at McDonalds and watching a movie with Zac Efron in it!


5.  An amazing bike ride. So when I say the words 'bike ride' I used to think of a nice leisurely all down-hill ride that burned no calories. But then I went on a bike ride with Madison. I went on numerous of these rides during the summer so I was used to them by now but this time we decided to bike up to a water fall. It was sooo pretty! Seriously, it made me feel really thankful for the beautiful world we live in. (Plus burning 800 calories/biking 20 miles was also worth it!)


4. Going to a game where we actually won! So when the last football game was about to start, it started raining massively causing me to not want to go... but I had Madison's ticket so I had to bring it to her... so I ended up staying. And we totally won! It was awesome!!! Also, my friend Katie texted me during the middle of the game saying she was engaged which is totally exciting! So yay for being a bridesmaid and yay for Katie getting married!! :)


3. Planning my epic airport run with Cassie when we pick up Kelly from the airport. So my friend Kelly is in Ohio for college, so we're going to go pick her up. And of course on the way there we will be playing Taylor Swift. And then Cassie is going to do an epic run-across-the-airport hug while I video it. So yes, it's going to be epic.


2. Classes! I know it's a shocker that I mentioning classes, but seriously I LOVE them. It's pretty stressful sometimes, especially during midterms, but ultimately I love it! Seriously I love that we can talk about religious aspects and I just had the best lesson about the allegory of the olive tree. My favorite quote from my Book of Mormon teacher, who is AWESOME by the way, is "So put that in your spiritual pipe and smoke it." Yep, I go to the best school ever.


1. Going home! So Carrie, who is in my stake back home and my ward here, decided she wanted to go home so I hitched a ride with her. It was so much fun driving because we were listening to crazy music and Scott's obsession with 'shooting the gap' was also interesing. I was sooo excited to come home! And then I got home. And no one was there. So that was cool. Just kidding I love my family and I did get there earlier than expected thanks to Scott's driving! So I got to hang out with Danny for like two seconds that night. (But it was still totally worth it!) Saturday was family day! I got to witness my brother winning his second ever football game and got to see my grandparents all in the same few hours! We then drove up to Loveland and saw my other grandparents, carved pumpkins and went on a hay ride! So that was super excellent. I also got to go to church which was totally like old times. (By 'old times,' I mean I was super loud and distracted everyone in Sunday school...) Anyways, I loved randomly visiting my family and ward family! :)


My favorite quotes of the week: "Victory, victory." This one's a long story... and then there's the whole discussion we had at work about marijuana which involved Shawna telling us to 'roll our own.' haha My favorite serious quote that I discovered was "If we did all the things we were capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves."-Thomas Edison. It made me think...


So, to sum up, I love life. A lot. Seriously (seriously). Love you all!

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference"

So I absolutely love the last line of "The Road Not Taken" because it totally describes my life. Looking back on it, I've always taken the "one less traveled by." Sometimes it was due to something totally out of my control, like coming to summer term at BYU. But now looking back at it, coming in summer HAS "made all the difference."
Here's a list of things I would have missed out on had I not been here:

• My job. My awesome job full of great co-workers,hilarious boss, my awesome Friday sonnets and those darn Costco muffins! (I'll explain that later!)
• Meeting all of my the people I did. I don't know what I would do without these girls.
• Creamies. These are the most delicious ice cream popsicle known to man. I don't know how to explain them. They're just delicious.
• Cream of Weber Chocolate Milk. (Yes I do realize that the last two items involve food. But seriously I wish I could drink Cream of Weber choco milk every day of my life)
• Seeing like a zillion apostles in a matter of a few days.
• Participating in the World's largest water balloon fight. And the shaving cream slide.

This is just a brief list, but I am seriously so thankful looking back on it that I got to be here for summer. I remember being so disappointed at first that I was not admitted to come in fall. But for some strange reason I felt like I was supposed to come here in the summer, and now I know why. I am so thankful that I took the road less traveled by.


And now onto my past couple of weeks...


Two Fridays ago, two of my friends came down from BYU-I. I got to see Katie for only a few minutes but at least I got to see her beautiful face. Clarissa was here for the whole weekend and it was soooo good to have her back! It was totally like old times. We ended up getting these really awesome milkshakes from a really disgusting malt shoppe. Like seriously people it SMELLED horrendously like oil. And uncleanliness. (This is not an exaggeration). We also decided to walk around campus around midnight where we conveniently found this litle circular things. I really don't know how to describe them. But anyways, Madison, Clarissa and I decided to sit in the middle because you can hear your echo if you do. Let's just say hearing your laugh being echo is reason to become more hyper. That's all that will be said for now.


Saturday, which was technically General Conference, we went to the mall because Madison had to work and her work is right by there. So we walk out into the hallway of Madison's dorm and proceeded to be given very dirty looks from all these girls around a TV. That's when we remembered it was General Conference. Yes, I do know that I'm either going to Hades or getting kicked out of BYU because I did not watch conference on Saturday. Don't worry about me though. So we shopped anyways. And I bought the cutest grey boots. They are adorable. If I could marry an inanimate object, it would be these boots. Anyways,we had a great day and ended up going to Chilis with Casey, Sam and Makayla. WAY FUN! :) We also planned our big feast for our General Conference meal.


For General Conference on Sunday, we went over to Casey's (in my pajamas of course!) and watched General Conference. During the break, we colored my hair and ate the beautiful feast of Roast Beef and Sam's rolls. Seriously, I think I gained ten pounds.Anyways, I looked like an idiot with my hair all greased back with dye and my mistmatched pajamas. Needless to say, I'm glad a hott random stranger did not come in. (I'm pretty sure that's the only time I will ever say that, so document it!) So the time came to wash my hair. And as I was watching it, my hair was falling out. Now I know I have a lot of hair, but this was a crapload of hair falling out. So I'm sitting there thinking "Holy cracker! What if I go bald?" but luckily it ended up all good because I realized that was just the normal amount of hair I lose all the time after showering. Clarissa ended up having to leave because she was sick, so that was sad. It was almost as tragic as the time came for me to leave. The weather had been beautiful all week until I opened the door. I had barely walked three steps when it started raining and became windy. I love my luck sometimes.


Monday was a busy day. It all started off beautifully with a poppyseed muffin from Costco. Those puppies are soo delicious. I also got to eat a chicken salad croissant which is like love in a package. (Seriously, I've had one every day for like the last two weeks and they will be served at my wedding!) Casey and I decided to go on an adventure. Actually, Casey wanted to on an adventure. My idea of an adventure is watching Bones in my pajamas while eating 12 gallons of Earnestly Chocolate ice cream. My Family Home Evening was cancelled for the day so I decided to go. We bussed to the mall and I was literally freaking out the whole time thinking we weren't going to get off at the right stop. And then when I saw our stop, I pulled the cord to signal the driver. And realized it was a mandatory stop. So I felt like a massive loser. It's all good though, I'm totally used to this feeling. It was fun and I'm glad I went.


The only really fun thing I did on Tuesday was to hike the Y. This week is homecoming, so they had all this free food and events every day. Carrie, (a girl from my stake back home who crazily enough is in my ward here) , Kristina, Michelle (my roomates) and I hiked the Y. Boy was that a doozy! I felt like I had been transported back in time to when Bishop Carney made us do these crazy "easy" hikes for youth conference. But we got cookies and cocoa afterwards, so it was totally worth it.


Wednesday night was spent at Mr. BYU. Holy cow it was soo funny. I think my favorite part was that they had to complete  service project in order to be considered. What other college would have their contestants partcipate in service?


Thursday I just became so overwhelmed about everything. First of all, I got an overdraft fee which totally should not have been my fault! (Well, I guess I should take responsibility. But I did have enough money for my housing... it was just in the wrong account haha) So I called my dad so he could help me process it. Which he did. I love him for that!


Friday was the best day ever. Besides writing an awesome Friday sonnet, I got to go to a pumpkin patch with Casey, Jacob (Casey's boyfriend... ahem I mean friend that's a boy). It was super fun minus the entirely disgusting porter potty! We got to play in a corn pit. Need I say more? I also got shrimp burrito from Rubio's which is seriously the BEST thing in existence. I went home early though like the loser I am and watched Bones.


Saturday was spent writing a stupid seven-page essay for Anthropology and doing my laundry. (My sheets now smell like my house! YAY!) Then it was game time. The football game was soo ridiculously fun. First of all we had really good seats. And second of all, we were actually winning!! It was soo fun. Afterwards we had dessert and watched part of a scary movie at Caseys.


Today has been excellent. Church was good and I got a lot of homework done. I also got to talk to Kelly and Cassandra. How I have missed those two. Kelly, Cassie and I are planning on doing a Mormon Soap Opera. So stay tuned for that sometime in the future. Also, Cassie and I have decided that we want to stand on the equator. HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE?!! You could always trump somebody's story. For example: "I've been to England." That's when Cassie and I would say "Well yeah. We've walked on the equator" and then thanks to Kaitlyn (one of my friends from summer) I would probably say "Zing!" We also had breakfast for dinner with these two crazy guys in our ward which was fun.Anyways I love those two. Another random tidbit, there's this RM in my ward who served in Scranton, Pennslyvania. So yes, I do want to be friends with him.


Another random tidbit. BYU's library is ranked number three in the nation, behind only Harvard and Princeton. How cool is that?!? I mean I knew our library was awesome, but wowza. And second random tidbit. Our testing center is the largest in the nation. So basically while analyzing this in my brain, I came to the realization that BYU students must study longer in the library and take more tests than anyone else in the nation. Just saying...;)
And last but not least, my favorite quotes of the week. My favorite was probably my dad. We were talking about when he finally get his porsche when he said "When I get my porsche, the garage will be like the holy of holies. Nobody wil be allowed in." My second favorite is courtesty of Kaitlyn, "He's such a tool. Atually no, he's like all the tools. He's the toolbox."


Well this has been super long and not funny, so I'm sorry you had to read through that. I love you all. I can't wait to come home for Thanksgiving. I LOVE IT HERE! :)

"Sometimes there's stuff that don't work out, but please tell me what there's to complain about?... oh this has gotta be a good life!"

So the title of my blog comes from a song called "Good Life," which is literally all about how life is great. And it is.
The past week has been fully of excellent awesomeness. On Monday, I finally got the chance to donate blood! Which of course I absolutely love doing! I got to the Wilk (the student center here) and was sooo pumped to  finally have my blood taken from me haha. And I totally got this WAY attractive (and not married according to the left-hand glance!) guy who talked to me the whole time. And as we were flirting, I realized this guy must have just learned how to do this because he had to put the needle in twice. So here I am, flirting away and my blood stops coming out. So he's trying to figure out why and eventually he just had to take it out. And so I make my way to the snack table, slightly disappointed that I don't get to talk to him when I suddenly feel really warm and dizzy. And apparently I looked way sick because he comes over and gallantly (yes, I did just use the word gallantly for a real-life experience and not a dream of mine) says "Kelsey, are you ok?" To which I responded something along the lines, "Uh not really..." So my little knight in a medical lab coat leads me over to a chair, helps me sit down and recline. And I felt WAY better after that ;) haha so that was a good day minus the HUGE bruise I have now.

Tuesday was somewhat boring until that night. But on Tuesday I did get the chance of hearing quite possibly the best pick-up line ever! "Is your name 'Virture?' Because you've been garnishing my thoughts unceasingly!" (Sadly, this was NOT used on me, but that's totally ok). Tuesday night I found myself randomly at Zuppa's with Madison, her roomate and Sam. They serve paninis there, but you know my aversion to cheese. So I asked the guy "I know this might sound really dumb but can I have it without cheese?" And luckily, he was very chill about it and tried to pretend they got that request all the time. And then, this really awesome girl named Liz invited me to watch the premiere of Glee at her apartment because she has a tv! It was soo fun to finally get to know people from my ward! (And watch Glee!)

Wednesday was pretty busy, but I really got a kick out of my Anthropology teacher talking about the "Triumph of the Nerds," which was a video we watched about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.  I also went and visited Katy Carney to see her apartment. (I want to try and live there next year!) I got to see her way cute engagement ring, plus it was nice to be around a Carney!The only other random thing I remember about Wednesday was Michal, my co-worker, made the most delicious cream cheese brownies. Seriously, it was like love on a plate!

Thursday was a great day! You know why? BONES PREMIERED!!! Work was super busy and I didn't get to see Michal like all day! (Which is really weird because we work 20 hours a week with eachother. I did NOT like this!) And then I studied for my Human Biology test which I took and it was WAY easy. (Now that I say that, I'm going to get an F!) I then decided to watch He's Just Not That Into You, which happens to be one of my favorite movies because one of the main characters totally reminds me of myself. So I ate ice-cream and had a chick-flick afternoon!(Thanks Casey for letting me borrow it!) Anyways, I coerced Carrie Ford (who was in my stake back home) into letting me come over to watch Bones! (ok, coerced is the wrong word. She was totally ok with it lol) So I got to watch Bones while it premiered which was uber exciting!!

Friday was awesome!! First off, we got catered food randomly for breakfast. It was also great because I wrote another sonnet which was pretty good if I say so myself!( I'll post those tomorrow) And then I went home and watched Bones again and The Office. I then had labs from 3-5 (seriously sometimes I hate being a freshman. Labs until 5 on a Friday? NOT cool!) And then I went to our first ward activity. Which was soooooo much fun! We had different stations where we made root beer, s'mores, and rock salt ice cream. Music was blasted the whole time and we got pizza. It was really fun! Afterwards my roomates and I and two of our FHE brothers went to the Helaman Halls dance.... which was kinda lame so we left.

Saturday was awesome as well. I got a lot of work done and stumbled upon my new favorite quote courtesy of President Uchtdorf: "It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life's story will develop." I LOVE THIS! It is soo true! I then went to the football game where this time I was dressed in capris and NOT my way cute Buckle jeans. (It was still so freakin' hot. Stupid Utah desert!) And we lost. So Sam, Jezelle and I decided to leave and eat chicken at Sam's! Jezelle and I both live in Wyview which is supposed to be 'on-campus' housing but is like a mile away! So we were going to take the bus home... but apparently the last bus comes at 7:45 so with groceries that we had just gotten from the Creamery on Ninth, we walked all the way home. (Don't worry, we made it fun!)

Today was good so far as well. I'm the ward bulletin person, so I made a very beautiful bulletin, copied and folded every single one by myself. (I know, I'm amazing!) And then we got the very awkward, once-a-year "Chastity" lesson. Which involved diagrams. And VERY clear lines drawn! (Who knew French kissing was not on the "acceptable before you're married" side?) Anyways, I did some homework and ate a beautiful chicken pot pie while talking to the best person in Ohio right now, Kelly. ("I think I might have a mild concussion. But I'm always kind of proud of myself when I get hurt." Yes, that is a direct quote. Which is why Cassie and I have to keep her in shape!)

Anyways, I am LOVING it here. This Friday my favorite Californian Clarissa is coming to visit and I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!! I am soo pumped to see her.

My favorite quotes of these past two weeks? " My dad just spelled my name wrong!" (This was said by my co-worker Michal. It was soo funny because like an hour ago she was talking about how bad spelling ran in the family!) And my absolute favorite, also courtesty of Michal and I. "What exactly is a silver fox?"- Michal "Well you know. An attractive old man with grey hair... like President Uchtdorf. And yes, I did just use an apostle to explain what a silver fox is!"- me. We had a great laugh over that.

So, this post has been super long and boring. Sorry about that. But I love life. I love BYU and it's crazy rules about not being allowed to touch trees. Really, this is "gotta be a good life!"

"Rise and Shout, the Cougars (and Apostles!) are Out!"

So two Saturdays ago, I got to experience one of the craziest/funnest (I know I'm majoring in English and should use better grammar, but this is a blog people!) events: attending the first football game of the season!

Game day is apparently a bigger deal than I realized. Eveywhere I turned I was surrounded by BYU gear. And the good old phrase "Go Cougs!" I was reallly excited to go but boy was I naive. First of all, I did wear my BYU shirt which was a win. Wearing my cute new Buckle jeans that are dark blue? Not a win. In fact I'd go so far as to call it a failure. Why may you ask? Because the student section directly faces the sun. And it's Utah, so it's like a trillion degrees. And I'm decked out in dark blue. It was SOO hott!! And because I didn't have my mom with me to make sure I had my water bottle, I totally forgot it. So I was dying of thirst! But despite all of this, it was soo much fun! (Minus the creepy arm raising played to the Star Wars theme song. Seriously every time Washington didn't get a first down and we got the ball, the band played the Star Wars theme song and every body marched. It seriously looked like a Nazi convention in my humble opinion!) Oh and when it's a 'Cougar first down' this really creepy cougar sounds plays haha.

The last week was so much fun as well. My co-worker and I decided to write a sonnet for the afternoon girls and we even made a shield for our protection! It was so much fun. I also got to watch Gilmore Girls with Casey and Nicole which totally made me miss my mother! (We are sooo Lorelai and Rory!) Friday night was spent at Sam's apartment where I totally was lame and fell asleep at like midnight. (Now that's the Kelsey you know!) Anyways it was good! :) And then this week began...

On Sunday it was our "Regional Conference." And guess who was there to speak to us? Why yes, it was two Apostles, a member of the Seventy, and the General  Relief Society president. (Elder Holland, President Packer, Elder Snow and Sister Beck all spoke). It was WAY incredible!! I loved it! And then later on that night it was a CES fireside with Richard G Scott. I'm pretty sure he is now one of my favorite Apostles. He was hilarious! Favorite quote of the night? *Right after this guy tells how he takes his wife to the movies for date night* "That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. I guess it's alright if you're married, but if I hear about any of you single young men taking girls to the movies, I will be disappointed. You can't get to know someone at a movie." Soo funny!!

Anyways, I then had a long crazy hectic morning. I worked at my awesome job, and then met Sam for lunch because it was her birthday! Fast forward to Tuesday and guess what? Another apostle came! (Yes, that does bring the total to four Apostles in the space of 48 hours!) Anyways, Robert D. Hales came for devotional. Michal and I were working, but her roomates saved us seats... on the floor! So we got permission from our awesome boss ( I love her, seriously she's like the best boss EVER!) to leave early. His talk was soooo utterly fantastic. I loved when he said "The world tells you to get a life. I would like to change that to get an eternal life." Soo good! I worked out like a champion as well. And then proceeded to trip up the steps. And that's when something crazy hit me. This was so symbolic of my life! The reason I tripped was because I was so focused on getting to the top that I forgot I was still walking. And now, I realize that while it is good to plan for the future, it is also good to love and live in the present a little too! After all Eleanor Roosevelt once said "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is history. Today is a gift, that's why they call it the present. "I also got invited to go to a Safetysuit concert on Saturday, so I'm going with all of my favorite people here in Provo! Soo excited!! I also got to hang out with Sam and eat ice cream! :)

At last but not least, today. Today I had like zero hours of sleep because I just couldn't fall asleep. And then I got consumed with the idea of moving off-campus, so I've been researching places to live. Best part of the day? Eating chocolate covered cinnamon bears. Those things should be illegal they're so good! I was on campus for 12 hours today which literally almost killed me. I NEED to be at my house most of the time! But, I got to text my aunt Sierra, so it was all good! I also lost my best friend... my water bottle. I guess I'll have to substitute water with my new love,those darn cinnamon bears! I got home totally exhausted to find a letter from my Omi (She's my grandma. It's German for grandma or something like that haha). It seriously made my day. I am soo proud to be in the family I am in. Both sides of my family are soo supportive and love me so much.

To everybody who has in some fashion helped me come here, thank you thank you thank you! I love it here! I miss you all, but I know this is where I'm supposed to be. Go cougs!

"The clouds opened and God said, 'I hate you Alfalfa..."

When they said that line in Little Rascals, they made a mistake by inserting the name Alfalfa instead of Kelsey! Just kidding, life hasn't been that bad.

Ever since my birthday (August 10 in case you forgot!) I've been sick. I've had this horrendous cough that makes me sound like a dying goat choking on a piece of cheese. (ironic, because i HATE cheese, but I feel like that's exactly the sound I make when I'm hacking up a lung!) So I went to the doctor finally last Monday, but they basically laughed at me and gave me cough syrup. And strong allergy pills. And a bill. Because that's exactly what I need... I still have my cough. I haven't eaten breakfast or dinner in like a zillion years and I haven't worked out in a trilion years either! So I basically feel like crap!!

But now onto a funny/embarassing awful moment of my life. So I decided to go to the New Student Orientation because being the undernourished college student I am, I decided to go get a free burger. It was fun, but WAY packed. And I pretty much hate crowds, so I left deciding to take a 'short cut.' Well anybody who knows me knows that I have no sense of direction and got lost back in Littleton. So this 'short cut' of mine led me about a mile away from where I wanted to be. So I, freaking out because it's getting dark and I have work in the morning, call my dad. Who doesn't answer. So I call the home phone and beg Mason to tell him to call me. And thankfully, he does. I embarassingly have to tell him that I'm by the Taco Bell we had eaten at the previous week. And through the miracles of Google maps, he guides me home. And how thankful am I for that! So yay for dads ALWAYS being there for you.

This past weekend, I got to go home!!! Which was seriously the best birthday present ever! I got home, said hello to my parents, and then straight to Daniel Scott's house and hung for a little bit. I also got to go to an adoption party and hang out with Lacey and Cassie, where I finally got to taste the yumminess of Yogurtland. And, I got to spill my guts out to Clarissa!! On Saturday I got a mani/pedi and haircut with my mom and sister! (Yes, the lady doing my nails did NOT know English!)  Then I hung out with Sofia and got more fro yo at a place called Pink Berry which was delicious as well. I then hung out with Danny at his house and got an unexpected visitor. (Nothing more will be disclosed about this at this time!) Anyways, I also hung out with Katie for her goodbye party and gorged myself with ice cream. And then I ended my Saturday the way I had previously before I came here-watching a movie (Star Trek) in Danny's basement. Sunday was reserved family time even though church took up three hours and I left at 3. But, I got to eat my favorite meal (Ranch Chicken complete with my mom's potato salad which is seriously Heaven on earth and ranch bread!) But then, it was time to come 'home.' :( It was actually uber sad to leave again!!

On Monday, I started classes. I LOVE all of my classes. I'm taking American Heritage, Book of Mormon, Church History, Anthropology, and Human Biology (which is seriously easier than honors bio so far!) Anyways, even though I'm sick, I'm doing well. College life is busy with work and class, but I always find time to hang out with the best roomate ever, Sam.

Best things about this week? Well, coconut dum dums, reading Mockingjay, seeing a guy wearing a "that's what she said shirt' on campus ("the horror, the horror" yes that was a Heart of Darkness reference!) (I didn't think anybody at BYU would watch The Office), sending my dad a picture of a "I heart BYU pin" telling him it was his Christmas present, complaining to my mom and her listening NO MATTER WHAT! (I love my parents. I really do!), and my favorite quote of the week: "I started counting calories yesterday. But it was WAY too much work, so I just stopped after dinner."

So, life is great in reality (minus the whole sick thing!). The first football game is on Saturday, and I will be there, fully decked out in Cougar pride gear! I love it here! Yay for an awesome mormon-centered college! :)

Welcome/Highlights of Summer at the Y

I recently decided to start a blog because I feel like I don't want to overwhelm everyone on facebook with my constant updates!

So to begin, I'm going to sum up my awesome first summer at the Y in just ten short excerpts (In really no particular order):

10. I recently turned 18 on August 10. Which of course happened to be a reading day, or the "everybody-be-quiet-it's-the-day-before-finals" day. But my awesome roomates went with me to Chilis. And when I came home, it was an epic surprise party complete with balloons, streamers and cupcakes! It was soo awesome. It was like the best birthday you could have in Utah. I got the best presents ever as well, but those are going to remain anonymous at this time...

9. Getting a job was quite the process as well. I applied to a gazillion jobs until I finally got a job interview at the BYU MBA (the business school here). I can still remember being in physical science when Debbie called offering me the job. It was an incredibly awesome moment. I started on August 9, and I have loved it! My job is never the same every day which I love. I also love my awesome co-workers and all the craziness that comes with them. My boss is incredible as well and is so nice it's ridiculous! I LOVE it here!

8. While here, I also got called to serve as service co-chairman. It was so cool to actually hold a calling, but it definitely was NOT cool to have to be at church at 9, which is an hour and a half earlier than everybody else, to be at ward council! But it's all good. I absolutely loved doing this. While being the chairman, I got to help facilitate a blood drive and service project, which we did at DI.

7.The first day of church was really weird. First of all, you barely know anyone. And then you walk to a 'conference center' which turns out to be all these lecture rooms. So yeah, I didn't really know anyone and I had sacrament in a theater seating room. It was WAY weird. I then went to Relief Society for the first time which was uber weird as well. But I survived, and my ward turned out to be awesome!

6.  The first day being here was stressful and chaotic but once I got rid of my mom (just kidding, I love you!) Sam and I headed to the New Student Orientation at the Wilk, where we proceeded to joust. With fake jousts stuffed full of air. We were the only girls. So yeah, it was a bit awkward, but this random guy came up to us and convinced us to do it. And I, having NO physical ability whatsoever, was pretty much dominated by Sam, my 4' 11" roomate... We then participated in this Win a Date thing. And the guy who you could win a date from was actually in my ward. But I'm not going to mention any more about him because he was a jerky, arrogant BYU boy. (As so many of them can be!) Anyways, the rest of the night, Sam and I had a blast talking about Seinfeld, and that's when I realized I had an incredible roomate!

5. I think one of my favorite moments was the first week our FHE group met.(Family Home Evening groups. Basically they take a girl's dorm of six and a guy's dorm of six and they become a 'family' and they do activities on Mondays). It was soo fun. We made up a rap to introduce our 'family' to the ward. It was soo fun and I loved my FHE brothers. They were hilarious. Check it out here :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bXG2UUqawc

4. Randomly going to Five Guys with Taylor, Madison, Makayla and I was also another great night! Taylor is from Colorado as well, and Madison and I were craving those darn Five Guys burgers. So of course we coereced him into taking us! So we went to Five Guys where they had Fry Sauce!!! And then being random, we decided to go to Sub-Zero icecream. Sub-Zero is this awesome icecream place where they take raw ingredients and nitrogren freeze them into icecream. It was delicious! :) I do believe we watched a movie underneath the Bell Tower that night as well. And somehow we wound up at Walmart at 2 in the morning where I bought a badly needed iTunes card. Anyways, it was good night!

3. On July 23, we didn't have school due to the crazy Utah holiday called "Pioneer Day," so BYU decided to stage the world's largest water balloon fight. Holy cow! I did not know what I was getting into. We all got there, got shirts (which are super cute!) and then kind of waited on a HUGE field. And then, all 4,000 of us each got a bag of 30 balloons. At around noon, we were allowed to start throwing them. Let me tell you, I will NEVER appreciate a measley water balloon fight anymore because that was just so fun. My roomate Makayla and I were in the second row and seriously got drenched in like thirty seconds. After the epicness, we got to go and get a free lunch complete with creamery icecream. It was a great day!

2. I got to meet the "New Spice" guy at Denny's at one in the morning. For those of you who don't know, some guy from Humor U decided to do a video advertisement for our library here, and it was in the Old Spice style. It's hilarious! Anyways, we were at Denny's at one in the morning (yes, I do know that for some of you who knew me before college, you're thinking no way would Kelsey stay up that late. But I did!) I REALLY wanted a picture with him, so I asked my waitress to ask him. So he came over, introduced himself to me and then we took a huge group picture. And sadly, in the above mentioned picture, I'm not standing right next to him. But right before that picture was taken, he totally patted my head. Now, if he was taller than me, he totally would have been the perfect man!!

1. And finally, the best part of my summer was meeting my awesome roomates. Sam, who was my actual roomate was incredible! She likes seinfeld and icecream so she's pretty much my best friend. Makayla, Hannah, Chelsea, and Sara Grace were also uber incredible as well. I was so lucky to be blessed with the best roomates ever! LOVE YOU GIRLS!

And now, you're probably sick of me. But it's hard to sum up a fantastic summer at the best college in the nation (that was for my dad) in the summer. Anyways, I can't wait to be a returning freshman in the fall! (That's right, I have 18 credits!) BYU COUGAR PRIDE ALL THE WAY!! :)