So recently I came to a conclusion: true love exists. This may or may not have stemmed from Taylor Swift's quote above and/or her new song. I have this tendency to be really really cynical about all things related to love. Like I'm the girl who loves the ending to 500 Days of Summer because they don't get together. (Also I LOVE that girl he meets is named Autumn) It gives me hope. Even though let's be honest. They are totally cute:
As a random side note, why the heck are these two not dating?? Seriously. But I have a secret: the phrase "True Love Exists" is always my mantra when I am doing yoga breathing. Every time I am cynical, I look down at my ring (it's two hearts entwined) and remember that Joseph Smith once wrote to Emma, “My heart is entwined around yours forever and ever.” People fall in love. And stay in love. Happily. Last night I begrudgingly went to FHE at my bishop's. However, it turned out that my roomie Marisa gave a boss lesson about the importance of the temple (and it wasn't just great because of the President Uchtdorf quotes she used!) . Anyways, then I heard my bishop talk about his sealing to his wife. He said that he had married above himself and that he was privileged to have the honor of being trusted with one of Heavenly Father's daughters. He then talked about how he always opens the door for her and how he is more in love with her than the day he married her. If that's not true love, I honestly don't know what is. So this is my declaration to the world: TRUE LOVE EXISTS. You have to believe it does, or else life is boring! Also I just happen to adore T-Swizzle's new song "Begin Again." You should listen. And love love love.
"You
pulled my chair out and helped me in, and you don't know how nice that is but I
do.
And
you throw your head back laughing like a little kid.
Ithink
it's strange that you think I'm funny cause he never did.
I've
been spending the last eight months thinking
all
love ever does is break, and burn, and end
But on a Wednesday, in a
cafe...I watched it begin again."
I just absolutely adore the quote from Mark Twain because I am so set in patterns and routines. I woke up the other day and just decided I am going to make my dreams come true. This sounds weird, but I am completely serious. I am so sick of thinking about things I want to do (my bucket list can be found here) but I never seem to make any progress towards. Anyways I always see all these opportunities to do fun things and I just think "Wow I have no money. I can't do anything." But alas, that is NOT true. My friend Jess has a sign on her wall that says "Dreams don't work unless you do." So I decided if I want to go to exciting places, I've got to take the time to work towards achieving goals. That being said...
It's official. I just turned in my application to go here:
aka Washington D.C.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We'll see what happens, but basically if I get into the program (it's called the Washington Seminar) they will help me get an internship in Washington D.C. I'll find out on October 1st, so wish me luck!
Now onto some highlights of the last couple of days:
Thursday was Berg's birthday. Can I just say that I love this girl??? She turned 19! Jess and I went to Target and found the cutest cupcake card/magnet and we went over to Sam and Chloe's apartment to eat cake. What actually ended up happening was Berg, Jess, Chloe and I were discussing boys, wedding plans, and everything else while laughing hysterically at how the boys were drinking pop, lying on the couch watching the football game. It was super great. The night ended up with us screaming the lyrics to "As Long as You Love Me" around the block and Bergen serenading me out the moon roof to "Forever and Always" by Shania Twain. Needless to say, I am pretty sure it was one of the best birthdays ever.
Friday was just one of those amazingly awesome days that come out of nowhere. Work with Michal was just great and class was great. I ended up walking into the Washington Seminar office to look at their internship data base and two awesome things happened: 1. I found like a zillion and a half internships I would love to do and 2. The student employee found out that I had a possibility of an interview and he told me I needed to set up a meeting with the director of the program (who makes the decisions on whether or not I get into the program!!!). So I did! Then Marisa and I went on a solo roommate "date" to Target and it was SO MUCH FUN!! We blared One Direction and just were laughing. It was so refreshing. Linds, Marisa and I then expanded out of our comfort zone and went to Lowe's Extreme Sports which is basically like a Jump On It place. It was pretty fun and I even jumped off the trapeze into a foam pit. So you can see that was a successful outing! Then it was off to Berg's surprise party. It was a blast!! Loud music+people I don't know+blinking lights= a successful college party. Afterwards, I hopped into Marisa's car with Linds and Alex (my current roommates if you are confused) and we drove WAY into the mountains blaring music. It was probably one of the cathartic hours of my life. It was so liberating and refreshing. I just absolutely love drives in the mountain because they clear my head in a way that nothing else can.
Today has been pretty great as well. It started off with watching Miss Congeniality and then homework. Then Berg, Jess and I went to Olive Garden to celebrate Bergen's birthday. We even got bread sticks to take home! :) We then went to Wal-mart singing "Firework" by Katy Perry and picked up some snacks and white handkerchiefs because tomorrow is the Brigham City Temple Dedication. I have only been to one dedication before and that was for Nauvoo and I do not really remember it. Afterwards, Linds, Marisa and I watched the first episode of Downtown Abbey (Yes. Don't ask me how though!) and it was sooooooooo good!
Anyways, life is so grand, isn't it?
This is my new favorite song because it helps me believe in the beauty of my dreams. Love you all!
Today I just kind of woke up in a funk. So I decided to get out of that funk I would make a thankful list. I was only going to write ten but that quickly became insufficient so here it is:
107 things I am thankful for in this precise moment-
My rock solid parents.
My beautiful, perfect siblings.
Both sets of my perfect grandparents.
My whole extended family who puts up with my craziness.
My roommates, past and present, who held me together when I fell apart.
Madison. She has been my rock since I was 12. Everything I have ever gone through, she’s been there for me.
My health. To wake up and have a heart pumping blood and four limbs that function perfectly is one of the best feelings you can wake up.
The opportunity to have a temple less than a mile away from my house. I can have blessings of the temple literally any time I want.
My Heavenly Father’s love
The Book of Mormon (and all other scriptures)
Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Being a daughter of a divine being
The power of the priesthood
Priesthood blessings
Sun light streaming through the clouds
Rainy days/clouds
Walking around the lake by my house
My job
My co-worker Michal who literally is my soul sister when it comes to knowing things about who I am.
Having the opportunity to attend BYU
The power of fasting and prayer
Stake conference sessions where their main motto is "Willing and Worthy to Serve," not "Get married."
The prophet
General Conference talks (especially President Uchtdorf's talks)
My curly hair
Music
Pop Rocks
Sunsets like the one in the picture below
My letter from President Uchtdorf
Driving in cars blaring songs like "As Long as You Love Me."
Instant communication (i.e. phones, Skype, email, etc.)
Missionary work
Anything written by C.S. Lewis
The ring my parents gave me for my birthday last year
Shouting off balconies
Sleepovers
Painted nails (especially when they're purple!)
Passing a test when you think you've failed
The ocean
Surprise letters in the mail
People who literally lend you the clothes on their back
Time
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
Eternal Marriage
Changes
Big dreams
Guys holding the door open for me
Skype conversations with people you've known since elementary school
Hugs (especially the ones where you can feel their soul bearing into yours!)
My english major classes where I feel free to be a nerd
Nutella and Graham Crackers after a long day
I could have expanded on all of these things, but hopefully you get the idea that no matter how hard my life get, I can still come up with over 100 things I am thankful for in a few minutes. Anyways, onto a brief weekend highlight: Friday night was spent with my girls Berg and Jess. We went out to Zupa's and I expanded my horizons and tried their crab sandwich which was soo delightful. We then headed over to DI in Jess' car blaring Bieber. After striking out on a lot of items, I found a gem: Mindy Kaling's book for ONLY $4!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES! It was the best! I love those girls! :) Saturday was spent by me sleeping in until noon (don't judge) and going on an excursion with Jess to purchase some straighteners off of Craigs list. It was pretty much as sketch as it sounds. This huge black guy with muscles the size of my thigh pulls up in this black Sedan, asks us "pink or black?" hands us the straighteners and we leave. So that was fun. haha Stake conference was PERFECT for me. Seriously. You know how I am always saying that singles wards should be preparing us for the TEMPLE, and not marriage, well yeah, our stake motto is "Willing and worthy to serve," and our goal is the temple. How perfect. It was the perfect spiritual enlightening moment that reaffirmed to me that I am supposed to be in this stake. Saturday night was spent at a bonfire with Lindsey, and her friends (who are now my friends!) Bri and Sarah. We ate and sat on the beach of Utah Lake and it was gorgeous! I LOVE LAKES! Sunday was our regional conference and it was perfect minus the smooching sneetches in front of us. Elder Oaks presided and made a hilarious metaphor to those who were single in the church were like members of a star gazing club who didn't have "jackets." I also very much appreciated the part where his wife, Kristen, spoke about how long she had to wait for the blessings in her patriarchal blessing to come true (She didn't get married until 53). So this is my new back up plan. Wait until I'm 53 and hopefully marry an apostle. Then Marisa and I joined some members of our ward for a nice little picnic in Vivian Park and it was GORGEOUS. It was perfectly refreshing and I am so glad I went. Here are some pictures of my adventures as of late:
Me, Lindsey, and Bri at Utah Lake.
Me in the mountains! I LOVE FALL!
Marisa and I at our picnic!
Provo at night!
Utah Lake sunset!
So anyways, like the song below this, "it's always a good time." I hope you took time to reflect on everything you have to be thankful for! It is so refreshing to look into everything you are doing and realize that there is always, always something to be thankful for! I just love life! :) I can't wait to see what this week brings (and by that I mean I hope there is a new man in my life haha). Love you all!
Have you ever had the best day of your life? I mean those
days where you wake up and the sunshine is just fabulous and you walk up the
hill and you’re not even out of breath? And the rest of the day continues that
way? And you ride on the elevator with a gorgeous black man who is like 7' and he talks to you? And you feel like singing “Confidence” from Sound of Music and jumping
around swinging your guitar? (As a side note, I really do wish I was Julie
Andrews. Hence why is my grandma in my celebrity family tree. And yes, I do
have one of those. Lauren Graham and Colin Firth are my parents in case you
were wondering)
Well I have. That day was yesterday. Let me just tell you what happened (besides the things I already mentioned!) I AM
GOING TO NEW YORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ever
since I was around 15 (the year I believe I started watching Seinfeld
consistently with my dad), I have wanted to go to New York. I want to do it
all! I want go see a play on Broadway, see this restaurant:
Which honestly, if you don't recognize that it's the restaurant from Seinfeld, I don't know why we're friends.
And I have always, always wanted
to have a frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity 3 ever since I saw the movie
Serendipity (which you better believe I will be watching right before I go).
Look at how cute the restaurant looks!!
Yeah, I'm going there in oh 49 days. No big. It's not like a huge dream come true or anything!
Anyways, let me explain. I am
going to that conference in Princeton and we will be flying in the night before
the conference starts (Thursday, November 1st) and our conference
doesn’t start until Friday evening! SO I WILL BE IN NEW YORK! (I really could
care less that I won’t be there that long because this is a dream people!) We
leave on Sunday night which means I will also have time on Sunday. HUZZAH!
Also as another random side note,
yesterday I took those “twenty seconds of amazing courage,” and I talked to a
new guy in our ward who is cute. So
yeah. I am awesome. I would give you details because I don't know if he'll eventually end up reading this! :)
In addition to all these great
exciting things, I have finally found a study abroad-esque program I want to
do- the Washington Seminar. Basically what happens is you intern for someone in
a government office in WASHINGTON D.C. and you also have school. It's almost the same price as living in Provo for a semester. But you live
in Washington, you’re paid and you get to go on day trip to places I have
always wanted to go like Gettsburg and Philadelphia! HUZZAH! So I don’t know
what more to say, but I am going to research this bad boy up and get it going
because wouldn’t that be so spectacular? Can’t you just picture me in my power
outfit, working for a senator or something? Because that would be utterly
fantastic.
Anyways, many of my dreams are
literally coming true and I am so excited about it! (Also, I had the best night’s
sleep I’ve had in around 3 years last night. Probably because I was so happy).
I am going to make a playlist with songs all about New York which starts off with this bad boy:
"New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of. There's nothin' you can't do.Now you're in New York.These streets will make you feel brand new.Big lights will inspire you.Let's hear it for New York, New York!"
Which reminds me of an embarrassing story. One time Mason and I were jamming in our nice black Honda Civic to this song and I roll down the window and sing "Hallelujah!" because I didn't know it said "Now we're in New York." If you listen to this, please validate me that it kind of sounds like...
Life is good. Life is happy. And
more importantly, God is good! Love ya all!
First of all, Selena Gomez' song "Who Says" has been my jam this week. If you are a girl and haven't listened to this song, shame on you! (I have posted the video below). It is on my "Self Esteem" list where I listen to music that just makes me feel happy about who I am.
I love the line that I posted as the title! It is so true! LIFE IS GRAND!
Anyways I am blogging twice in 24 hours because I have some exciting news!!!!!!!!! I, Kelsey Marie Davis, will be going here on November 2-3:
In case you don't know where this (which is possibly because it's very ambiguous), it's Princeton!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes you read that right. Princeton. In the fall. Can anyone say dream come true? One of my biggest dreams in the world is to be back east for at least a day during the end of fall. AND IT'S HAPPENING!!!!!!!!
I am going because one of my professors (Dr. Cope, who is the absolute best) just found out that the religion department in our school has a small grant to take students to a Sexual Integrity conference located at Princeton and she invited me to attend! One of the religion professors here, Doctor Kerry, will be speaking, which is probably why we have the opportunity to go. Anyways, my airfare and housing will be entirely paid for! HOW EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's all. Except to say only 55 days, 20 hours, and 38 minutes until I get to leave. Wahoo!
So recently I have once again renewed my love for Maya Angelou. This may or may not have happened due to my stupid GE class Humanities where we watched this video of her reading "Still I Rise" (which happens to be one of my favorite poems of ALL time):
Seriously watch it! It made me cry. In class. So that's awko taco... My favorite lines are:
You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise
She impresses me so much! While reading this speech , I came to realize how incredible she is. Although she had a terrible childhood and circumstances, she rose above it! She is a great reminder that you can always turn your situation around. Anyways, here are a few of the lessons I learned from her (or you can skip to what's happening in my life after all these quotes):
"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.
"I also like people who love themselves. I don't trust people who don't love themselves and tell me "I love you." No. If they don't love themselves, not, uh-uh. There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt."
"In the course of staying alive, I always love to hear people laugh. I never trust people who don't laugh or who act as if they put airplane glue on the back of their hands and stuck them to their forehead. No. No. They have not come to stay and to make a difference and to be a rainbow in somebody's cloud. So I like to hear people laugh. "
"I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow."
"I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights."
"I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance."
"I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back."
I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one."
"I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back."
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
"The truth is, each of us has the incredible ability, not just as members of organizations, not just as members of families or people with positions high and mighty, but each one of us has the chance to be a rainbow in somebody's cloud. It's amazing."
While all of these are incredible, I want to focus on her last idea, that we each have a chance to be a rainbow in somebody's cloud. It reminds me of the first time I learned about the enabling power of the atonement and how it struck me so much when in my Marriage Prep class last year. If I have the chance to make up a loss in someone's life, shouldn't I do it? After thinking about this heavily (there goes my "T" in my INTJ personality!), I have decided to make this one of my new goals. I am going to be a rainbow in someone's cloud EVERY day. This might be challenging, but I think it will be way beneficial.
Anyways, I have decided to start a tender mercies journal which was inspired by this quote:
“Ask yourself, 'How did God bless me today?' If you do that long enough and with faith, you will find yourself remembering blessings. And sometimes, you will have gifts brought to your mind which you failed to notice during the day, but which you will then know were a touch of God’s hand in your life." – President Henry B. Eyring
Today's tender mercy stems from my lack of planning. I work every morning from 8-12, so I pack my backpack with everything I need at 7 in the morning. I have zumba (which as a side tangent, I ABSOLUTELY love. It is seriously my favorite form of exercise because a. it involves music b. it is dancing and therefore does not feel like working out and c. there are a lot of movements that are reminiscent of kickboxing) and I forgot my pants! Luckily for me, one of my co-workers offered to swap me pants for the day! How nice is that? It seriously made my whole day!
Life is good my friends. Last night I had a reunion with my V5 girls and I just love them! It was so nice catching up with them and just laughing! They're the best!
The weekend involved mostly watching season three of Gilmore Girls (the Jess years!) and lots of food. Marisa, Linds and I ended up going to The Chocolate and got cazookies as sort of a welcome back to BYU. They were possibly more delicious than I have ever tasted.
I got to attend the first devotional (by President and Sister Samuelson) with Daniel Scott Carney and Michal! It was a weird moment when I realized that Danny was old enough to be here because it made me realize I have been in college for 3 years. Yikes! It was good to see him though.
One last random tangent and then I swear I will be finished. Recently I just realized how much I love my parents. They are my best friends. The other day some girls in our ward talked about how their dads were seldom home because he was working. I felt so sad for these girls! My dad was home, ready to hear about our days, every day around 5:30. I never realized how much I valued this until I didn't have it anymore. My dad ALWAYS knows exactly what to say. Always. Almost all my quotes that make me feel better are from him when I have a sad moment. My mom is also my rock. I can cry, I can be frustrated or I can crack laugh and she puts up with every emotion. She is the Lorelai to my Rory! :) She is honestly the best mother I could have ever received. I am so excited that I get to have my parents for eternity!
I LOVE MY LIFE! If you read this, congratulations. Also, if you think I am a freak because of how obsessed I became with Maya Angelou, so be it! Anyways, I am excited because tonight one of my good friends, Race, will be trying out for Divine Comedy and I get to see him! Good luck! Til next time...
Oh man! I just absolutely adore Joseph Smith! He always words things just so! I love that he asserts that God is our friend because I have never really thought about it that way! Anyone who knows me knows I absolutely LOVE Joseph and Emma and their relationship, but more on that later!
I survived the first week of school! Huzzah! I actually really like my classes. I went to my first Zumba class and I absolutely LOVED IT! I cannot wait to shake it out every Tuesday and Thursday. It is the most cathartic form of exercise I have come in contact with since I found out about kick boxing. On Thursday, I had the opportunity to go the first football game with Berg, her roommate Sarah and Jess! I forgot how much I love the energy during a football game. Plus, we were winning which makes it that much better!
Yesterday was one of the weirdest/most fun Friday nights ever! Linds, Marisa and I did the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader work out and then proceeded to go to Jamba and the Cocoa Bean! It was delightful! Then Jess, Berg and I headed to Costa Vida and somehow ended up at Target. (I am pretty sure that there was some divine intervention because I needed a cheer-up). These girls are just so fabulous! They always just make me more happy and more positive about my life! We then ended the night with Mean Girls, so obviously it was super fun!
Today was the best. I woke up at 11:30 and then proceeded to eat Nutella, graham crackers, and my chicken salad sandwich from Target and watched 7 episodes of Gilmore Girls. :) My girls Jess and Berg and I ended up sitting up by the Y just gazing at the beautiful lightning. Being in the mountains is my happy place. As Jess stated, "It's like all our stress is down there and up here, nothing matters." This pretty much sums up how I feel both in the mountains and the temple. It was just so great. :)
Now onto some photos:
Jess, me and Berg at the first football game!
Sarah (Berg's roommate), me and Berg!
Marisa, Linds and Madison at Bridal Veils on Sunday!
The whole group at Bridal Veil Falls.
Linds, Marisa and I!
Roomies!
Cute feet picture!
Anyways, tonight I had the opportunity to watch the Emma Smith movie. From anyone who had read my previous blog posts, you know that I cry my brains out from the very first sentence of the movie to the closing titles. I just absolutely love Emma Smith. Whenever I have a day where I feel like my troubles are too hard, I just think about everything she had to go through.
Trials that Emma Smith had:
Her husband was almost always in jail, away doing church business or just flat out not with her! Can you imagine not being with your husband most of your married life??
So many of her children died! And she had to go through several miscarriages which although I have not personally experienced, I can still sympathize how sorrowful that must have been for her.
She never had the experience of actually seeing the plates even though nearly everyone around her had seen them.
She hardly ever had her own home and even had to live with members most of her life.
She always had to worry about her husband's safety and her own children's safety.
She had to move her children across the frozen Mississippi without her husband, carrying the transcripts.
When she remarried, her husband cheated on her and had a child with that woman when she was in her 60's.
Anyways, she was an incredible woman and she will always be my example. I just cannot wait to meet her in heaven! I feel like we could be really good friends! :)Also, while watching the movie I just had the reminder that I need to wait for my "Joseph." No, this does not put me on the same caliber of a woman as Emma, it just means that they had a divine relationship which I really look up to. Joseph stated of her "my heart is entwined around yours forever and ever," and that she was "the choice of his heart." They were absolutely perfect for each other and I don't care if I have to wait until I am 99 to have the type of love that they fostered here and continue to develop in the eternities. No matter what, I will wait for that type of love. Yes, this is cheesy but I just wanted to establish my love for them as a couple!
When I was sitting up on the Y I was reminiscing about how much I love Salt Lake. I just absolutely adore temple square!
Look at how beautiful the temple is (and yes I did take this picture before conference my freshman year):
Anyways, I was just sitting there thinking of this strange urge I have to live in Salt Lake and then I remembered an internship I really wanted to do a couple of months ago. I would work as an intern for one of the Church's magazine! I am going to figure out how to apply and get that application in because I believe this would be a great opportunity!
Anyways, I am so glad that my Savior is my friend and I am so thankful for all my friends here! Love you all!
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