take time to realize.

"when there's something you really want, fight for it. don't give up no matter how hopeless it seems. and when you've lost hope, ask yourself if you're gonna wish you gave it just one more shot. the best things in life don't come free."

this week has been hard. this week has been stressful. this week has been long. this week has been tiring.

HOWEVER

this week has been enlightening. this week has been full of realization. this week has been fun. this week has taught me a lot.

it's amazing what you can learn about yourself and others if you actually pay attention. becoming more acquainted with myself and the people around me is definitely one of my present goals. letting your guard down around people you don't know is hard, it's necessary, i think, if you want to grow and nourish friendships. what's harder, i've come to realize, is figuring out how wrong you can be about yourself. but in reality you know the truth all along. trying to convince yourself of something that just won't work is counter-productive. accepting reality is something i've been struggling with lately. but just recently, i figured it out. i figured out what i was missing. i figured out how right everyone else was. i figured out that there's a time and place for everything and everyone. i figured out me...sorta. :]

ladies and gentlemen, college is hard. and scary, to boot. but what's more pertinent than that is that i love it at the same time. yeah, there are 800 people in my american heritage class. and sure, i don't really understand the special theory of relativity right now. but guess what? i'm okay with that. i'm figuring it out. i'm figuring me out. i'm developing habits, or attempting at this point, that i know are going to benefit me in the best way possible. i've started listening to instrumental music when i read for my Living Prophets class. it's magical. :] Jenny Oaks Baker is an amazing violinist and does covers of a bunch of the hymns. so really, when i read the Conference talks for my class, i'm feel like i'm getting a doubly spiritual experience. it's great and i love it.

life lately.

it's been quite a while since i've done a post. partly because of my new and crazy schedule.

[thank you, college.]

seven things that have come to my attention or that are worth mention...

1. i'm a college student now. [yeah, i know...weird.]

2. there are 30, 000 students at BYU. sometimes i feel like i'm swimming in an ocean with a bazillion other fish. especially in my biggest class which has a whopping 800 people.

3. provo is just as beautiful as ever. and it's starting to get cooler. ahhh, fall. :]

4. i got to see John Mayer in concert last week. he is a musical genius. and amazing live.

5. i went home to tennessee for the labor day weekend, along with my other brothers and sisters, to surprise my wonderful and amazing mother for her 50th birthday. and trust me, she was surprised.

6. i have the coolest, most beautiful, amazing little neice ever. yeah, you can be jealous. :]

7. i'm back at school now and i feel like i've been gone a century, and that i missed a lot this weekend, and that no one knows me anymore...yeah, i gotta work on that.

but, hey! college is fun. college is cool. college is a party.

but i also am really enjoying learning. even though i sometimes dread getting up for class, college classes are so different from anything i've experienced. we'll see how all that pans out after my first visit to the testing center. ;]