Some Audrey Hepburn Love...

" Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds us down or polishes us up depends on us. " Thomas L. Holdcroft

So I LOVE the above quote. See recently I've learned that life is all about attitude. For those of you who know me, you know that I am a pretty positive person. But those of you who know me super well know that I can get stuck in this rut of self pity and grumpiness (usually this occurs when I haven't had food in some time or when I'm super tired). I've decided I need to change my attitude from a "why me?" to a "What can I learn from this?"


Another favorite quote I rediscovered this week:


 "We are creatures of our thinking. We can talk ourselves into  defeat or we can talk ourselves into victory."


So what a great quote by President Hinckley. I miss that man! I love this quote because it places it all on us. It is our attitude and decisions that make us the people we are. It's our reaction what life throws us at, not the events themselves. I found this quote when I was reading Standing for Something. (Great book by the way). So since I've last blogged, I decided to have a lot better attitude about my life.


So this week was pretty epic! I've been continually busy with work, working out like a champion, reading like the whole Ilad in a week (seriously I cannot believe I am taking so many English classes! All I EVER do is read. And this isn't like the great literature. This is like the 'classics,' many of which should be burned in my opinion! Seriously how the heck is Beowulf a classic? Basically what I'm saying is that I miss my AP lit class!)


I pretty much hang out with my friend Casey every night. Which is very happy because I freaking love her face! So on Wednesday she calls me at 9:50 telling me that I cannot go to sleep because we are going to say goodbye to Jake. (Jake is her friend that's on a mission and he was leaving the MTC the next day!) So we get in her car, cranking "Pretty Girls" by Iyaz and we drive past the MTC honking and yelling out "Good luck Elder Williams!" So I don't know how many people have ever just yelled out a car. But let me tell you what happens. A. Your hair becomes very lionesque because of all the wind. B. The couples (yes, they were all couples because it's freaking the city of love. Not like I'm bitter or anything...) that are walking on the sidewalk look at you like you're this crazy freak. And C. (the most important lesson learned during this random excursion) yelling is fun. I don't ever yell. I don't even like to raise my voice when I'm frustrated. It was the greatest release EVER! I seriously recommend everybody go get in your car and yell out your window for a minute straight. (Although, you probably don't need to do it in front of the MTC.) It is soooooo fun and I am planning on doing it a lot more!


Also, my friend Cassie and I have decided to communicate through letters. Can I just say how much I LOVE handwritten letters? They seriously make the world go round (seriously). There is just such a nice element to a handwritten letter. My mom was telling me that her friend Lora and her had to mostly communicate through snail mail. I don't know how I would survive with JUST letters!! This is just a supplemental thing and I freaking love it! (By the way mom when you're reading this, just disregard how many times I've said freaking).


Friday was an awesome day. It was one of those days where "fun Kelsey" not "responsible Kelsey" was alive. Work was pretty fun because Michal is AMAZING!! Anyways, I went home and it started raining while I was working out. Rain=happy Kelsey. Seriously, I think I am one of the only people who can be happier when it is rainy! Madison convinced me to go to this dodge ball game with her. And it was not just any dodge ball game, it was THE dodge ball game. The game was supposed to be the World's largest and I'm pretty sure it broke the record (so yep, since I've been hear, two world records have been broken!) Anyways, it was great pelting the Utah Utes with some dodge balls (okay that's a lie. I totally got hit four times in the face and ended up getting a bloody nose haha.So I wasn't really the one that was doing all the hitting). Anyways we then decided to go home and go to the hot springs!


Okay so let's just review what kind of person I am before I tell this story. I am your abnormal college student that is antisocial and goes to bed at ten. Keep this in mind as I tell you this. So we get home around 10ish and we decided we're going to hike to the Hot Springs in Spanish Fork because these are super cool party people (Gilmore Girl reference for the win!) This is all fine and dandy but we didn't have flashlights so we grabbed those at Walmart on our way up. Let me just tell you that it is WAY in the woods. So we're driving on this windy road going further and further into the mountains and it's like super dark and creepy. It was like the Blair Witch Project. (Actually I have no clue if that's what it was like because I've never seen that movie)  Good thing we had RM's with us otherwise I probably would have died. Anyways we get there and start hiking. And hiking. And hiking. It was like the song "Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked" in real life. Luckily, it was not so much steep as it was long. (I wasn't even out of breath!) There were some sketchy parts that were pretty narrow but luckily none of us fell off the cliff. Anyways, we finally get there at like 1 in the morning and there are NUDE people drinking. So we hiked even further to ones up higher and we met some other guys from BYU who had decided to camp there. It was soo fun! But then it started to rain and it took us FOREVER to hike in the sketchy way back part of the mountain. By the time all was said and done, we didn't get home until 3:30 but it was SOOO fun. I LOVE the hot springs. (and praying for safety on the middle of the trail haha)


Yesterday I slept in until noon then went ring shopping for my friend/co-worker Casey King. It was fun but I don't think I need to be in that position anytime soon! I also got some WAY cute jeans that make me look fantastic! So that was good. Last night we ordered five pizzas and watched the game against the Utes. I'm not going to say anything but wow. I knew it was going to be bad when they scored a touchdown when we had the ball originally within the first minute. Oh well, you win some and you lose some!


Random other tidbits from this week:

•  Dallin H. Oaks' secretary called the MBA office and I answered! I about fell off my chair when I was talking to her because how cool would that be? I want to be an apostle's secretary. 
• Speaking of which, I am really interested in doing an internship for the Church Magazines. I am going to apply for it soon, so wish me luck! 
• Also, I ordered a sample of Taylor Swift's perfume Wonderstruck because I'm a loser. 
• My new favorite song is "Paradise" by Coldplay. Seriously listen to the words because they apply so much to me! (And don't read too much into it. I'm not going to like jump off a cliff.) I just like how it talks about how she didn't get everything in life but it ended up okay. "Life goes on, it gets so heavy" is my favorite line! Listen to it and love it as much as I do so I don't feel like such a fruit!

So this week as a lot better than last week. This week I have two tests and a paper, so I might be pretty stressed. However, this weekend I am going to Arizona with my roommate Sam and I hope to have tons of fun.


xoxoxo

"Never be discouraged. If I were sunk in the lowest pits of Nova Scotia, with the Rocky Mountains piled on me, I would hang on, exercise faith, and keep up good courage, and I would come out on top."-Joseph Smith

The above quote is stated by one of my favorite people in the history of the planet. (Well second favorite because his wife is my absolute favorite) And it's pretty applicable to this moment. But let's start off how my first week of my sophomore year of college went:

So I decided I was going to take 17 credits.  And work. And have a social life. I had it all planned out. Life was going to be great this year. So I go to my first class of the day, New Testament and it is GREAT! I have not really studied the New Testament, so it will be a great new experience! And then I went to Spanish... See, I thought "Hey I'm a brilliant individual and I've had spanish for three years in high school. I don't need to start with Spanish 101." Yeah.Not so much. I am not the brilliant individual I thought I was. See, my teacher introduced herself in English and then proceeded to tell us that we would only be speaking in Spanish from then on. Guess who doesn't remember as much Spanish as I thought I did? Yep, me. So I dropped that class immediately after getting out of it.  And added Biology. I know, crazy right? Anyways, I went to my next class which is American Christianity with Professor Cope (she's like my favorite person on the planet and this is my third class with her!) So needless to say, it provided a better way to end the day. 


When I got home, I about died of pure exhaustion. But I went to FHE which was your typical Mormon BYU thing- an ice cream social. We met some pretty cool people, and I was only minimally shy compared to how I usually am. 


Tuesday was a GREAT day. I have two of my English major classes. My first professor walked in wearing a yellow suit coat and a sunflower tie. And my other professor was originally a businessman, then chef and now has decided to be a professor. So needless to say, they are the great eccentric English teachers. I am really excited for those classes. I also got to go to my Classical Traditions class (which is going to be great!) It was during this class that I met some really great people. And we're leaving it at that because I don't want to be a creeper. (yeah, I bet you never thought you would read those words from me. But it's true. Let's just say I met a very nice young man) 


Wednesday was my first official day of biology. And for those of you who know me, you know I was NOT looking forward to this class. My teacher is absolutely fantastic! I love her already! However, at the beginning of class she asked everyone to raise their hand if they were a freshman. And EVERYONE except a few select raised their hand. So that was cool. Nothing like being in a class full of freshmen. (seriously, now I have NO guy prospects in that class. Talk about lame!)


Friday was a day of sadness. I had a great day at work but then was walking home and it seemed like EVERYONE and their dog was holding hands. And then I looked down at myself. Guess who was NOT holding hands/dating? Yep, me. Yet again. So I was a bit discouraged. But it was during this moment of self pity (after I had called my mom and cried for a few minutes! Thank heaven for parents!) that I was reminded of what President Uchtdorf (aka the Silver Fox) said in a recent general conference: 


      "There is a beauty and clarity that comes from simplicity that we sometimes do not     appreciate in our thirst for intricate solutions. My dear brothers and sisters, we would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most."


How profound that was. Instead of focusing on the tiny details of my schedule and personal life, I need to focus on the bigger picture and the basics. I am often so far ahead in planning my life that I forget to 'focus on the significant."  So for the past couple of weeks (thanks to Michal! She definitely pushed me!) I have read the Book of Mormon every night. It has been such a blessing. It has helped me to push back down to the 'things that matter most." I have made it a personal goal to finish it by New Year's Eve and am already in 2 Nephi 24! I have come to find a great love for the scriptures. 


To begin this journey of finding things that matter most, I decided also to smile at EVERY single person I walked by. Before I started to do this, when I was walking by someone, it would go like this:


1. See someone coming up in the near future. I estimate I have about thirty seconds until we pass each other awkwardly.
2. Smooth hair, fix wrinkles, make sure I wipe the sweat off my face after climbing the HUGE crackermuffin hill I have to walk up every morning at 7:30/
3. Look at them. This way, they are still far enough where you feel like you're being nice and giving them attention, but you're not close enough to be a creeper.
4. When your paths are about to intersect, you have a few options. A. You can look down. I prefer this option to most because you have already given them your few seconds of approval. B. Dig around in your backpack for something. C. Get your cellphone out and pretend to text or D. Take a sip of water. All of these methods have worked pretty great for me in the past because I just find walking past people awkward on all levels. Maybe I have over thought how awkward it is, but I truly find it awkward. 


So anyways, I decided this week that I would smile at everyone I saw. And can I tell you that it produced fantastic results?! I felt better (seriously, you know how when you smile, your mood just instantly increases ten fold?) and I even got smiles and greetings back. It was a simple thing that has made a huge difference in my life. I suggest everyone try it. Even those shy, awkward walkers like I used to be. Trust me, it works. 

So anyways, life continues to be great on the BYU campus. I love it here! I hope that I can continue to have a positive attitude through my moments of weakness and sadness. I hope we can all truly find the things in life that 'matter most."

Also, anyone who is reading this, really really really needs to watch this video because it's adorable: 

 (Also I totally want a child that looks like her, because she is cute!)


For now, I'll just continue to read talks written by President Uchtdorf and eating Subway weekly so I feel a lot better about myself. LOVE YOU ALL! xoxox