cool, crisp air

the weather is changing. the ground is wet. the air is crisp. winter is coming.

i love it.

it snowed today. not just a little. but a good, blizzard-like snow. it didn't stick, but it made the sky look majestic.

this is in no way what it looks like outside. but its pretty.

it is time to break out the boots, hats, mittens, hot chocolate, and christmas songs. (not yet...but im getting excited)

moral of the story. life is good.

on the flip side.

it's funny how stress can ruin lives. and procrastination. meet my tuesday night and wednesday morning. it's the worst because I knew it was completely my fault. I had a paper to write, and rather than taking advantage of the weekend or my monday without classes, I waited until tuesday. I was tired. stressed. and the biggest grump. and it penetrated everything. roommates' dishes in the sink that normally cause slight frustration were driving me up a wall. i wasn't feeling loving. and just wanted to quit school. BIGGEST. GRUMP. EVER. It was amazing how in the moment I finished the paper, and realized I had time to go home and shower and get ready for the day I instantly felt better. it was a miracle. but I don't want to be that person, and have prided myself on not letting school affect those around me, however, I let it creep in. It always gets done, it all always works out- so why let stress ruin your life? end of my random musings. also I apologize for anyone I was a grump towards...

random tidbit.

i saw weston goggins while writing this. he is the greatest and brings joy to my soul.

we had an EFY debrief meeting last night. oh how I love all the other coordinators, and miss efy. one of the administrators asked me if I was coming back next year... I paused before responding. they are sneaky at making you want to come back. but for those of you planning on working efy this summer, there should be lots of good changes. happy day.

visiting teaching is my favorite. and we visit the most wonderful girls.

the list keeps growing.

the list of "drafts" keeps growing and growing. and the more it grows the less I want to convert those "drafts" into actual blog posts. which results in no posts ever. lame.

i have recently become obsessed with Rachel Koller. It's bad. She is Becca's friend and absolutely amazing...listen to her. love her.

life in color.

i am in love with fall.

i dont know how else to describe the joy I feel driving through the canyon and seeing the bright colored trees. the cool evening air, meaning it's cardigan weather. the crunch on the leaves under your feet. it's perfect.

last Friday was a perfect fall evening. a football game (you can't get any more fall than that, go cougs) and then it was up the canyon for a moonlight chairlift ride at sundance with a group of friends, something that has been on my provo bucket list for a while now. The chairlift ride was perfect, all that was missing was a cup of hot chocolate and a boy to cuddle with. As I sat there, climbing higher and higher over the beautiful mountains I couldn't help but notice that I was missing all the colors. In the dark of night, with nothing but a full moon the world had literally turned black and white.

how had I gone twenty-two years of my life without realizing this simple fact? without light there is no color. it is simple, and makes complete sense, but it seemed to take over my thoughts at that moment.

the next morning I woke up early for yet another long saturday run. this week in was provo canyon. 16 miles. we drove up past sundance, parked the car, and started the decent (after a 30 minute nap so we could have more light- its amazing how much time you save by staying in provo). We past sundance with the sun starting to illuminate the earth. The mountains looked as if they were on fire. It was absolutely beautiful. They were the same mountains i had seen the night before, however, now the black and white blurrs were replaced with magnificent details.

so as I ran down the windy canyon road i could help but think about how this perfectly parallels the gospel. how often have we heard Christ referred to as the light of the world. He takes seemingly black and white things and makes them beautiful. I look at my life, and how it is full of color, and feel so blessed. As I talked with Jace, the boy who was a saint and ran with me when Mary couldn't, he made the profound comment. He mentioned how if we had only ever seen the world in black and white we would have no idea what we were missing, and then he simply stated, "it makes me wonder what else we don't realize we are missing." what blessings is Heavenly Father just waiting to give us. Where I think my life is wonderful, and at times wonder how it could get any better, he has buckets of blessings just waiting to pour down if I turn to him. it is so amazing. so so amazing.

so, the take home message, live life in color. have light in your life. and it will be magnificent.