4 Weeks Down...

It has been a crazy busy last few weeks! As you can see, I have had lots of fun already :) Training was soooooo busy! From door decorations to welcome letters to office training, we were going going going all day long. To be honest though, I loved it! All of the LLC staff got to know each other a lot better and I actually miss getting to see them all the time! Here are some of the updates of things that have been happening in the past month:

1. Got my food handler's permit and drivers training certificate (I'm safe to touch food and a steering wheel!)

2. I joined the Swing Dancing Club!! Every Wednesday I go swing dancing with some other friends at the local Fun Park :) It's my escape off of campus every week.

3. I'm loving my art classes. There are some times that I think that I'm not good enough to be in an art major and that I seriously lack artistic talent compared to other students, but then I add glitter to my assignments (like in the Beehive pieces), and it's all good again ;)

4. Danie sent me a package!!! It had princess fruit snacks, mega stuff oreos, a snuggly blanket, and a letter that made my entire day! I'm sure spoiled ;)

5. I've started classes (DUH). They are going good so far, but not going to lie, the 7:30 AM accounting class leaves a lot to desire sleep-wise. 

6. I've gotten to know some pretty fun and incredible people already! My residents have been so awesome and I'm so excited to see how we all get to know each other through the rest of the year!

Those are some of the highlights from the past month. Lots has happened that's been exciting, but the best way to let you in on the excitement is to share lots and lots of pictures! Enjoy :) Love you all!

Tractors and Trials

I wanted to share a story about an experience I had at the beginning of this summer. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and I think it has a great tie-in into a spiritual realization I've received.

                At my home, we have a very large amount of grass that needs to be mowed every weekend during the summer. Because there is so much lawn, we have a  John Deere riding lawn mower that we use in order to cut down on mowing time (so we don't have to spend the ENTIRE day mowing!). Running down the middle-ish of all the different lawn sections runs a ditch that is home to Blue Creek during the rainy months of the year, otherwise it is dry as dirt in the summer.

                It was the middle of May, and I was just following my typical pattern of mowing the lawn. I got to the backyard portion of the lawns and started going along a strip of grass about 9 feet wide that is between the side of the house and the creek ditch. While I was mowing, I decided that I could get a closer mow right along the edge of the creek. Normally I would avoid this area but I was confident I could make the lawn look really nice right by the creek. I started mowing along with the left side of the mower on the ditch side.

                Right when I was nearing the end of the grass strip, I came to a dip in the ground. It isn't a significantly steep dip, but with the mower, it could make the mower roll right into the ditch. Well, that is EXACTLY what happened. I got dizzy for a second (due to some health issues), and in that moment I came to the dip and lost control of the mower. I tried pulling back on the steering controls but only ended up turning the mower a little bit since the wheels were rolling right into the ditch. Next thing I know, the mower is facing the opposite direction and is upside down on top of me in the ditch, smoking because it was still running. I manage to reach back and find the key to turn off the machine and was able to wiggle free out from underneath the mower.

                Now, here is the miracle of the story: I was not wearing the seat belt. I had forgotten that there was a seat belt on the mower just for situations like this one. I did not have the seat belt on, so I should have been severely injured by having this massive and heavy tractor roll on top of me. BUT I WASN'T, because of the roll-bar. On the back of John Deere's mowers they have what is called a roll-bar, designed specifically for what the name implies...when the mower is rolled. Earlier I had been mowing along in the backyard and this roll-bar kept catching on low-hanging branches or hitting tree trunks when I would be mowing close to the base. I had been thinking how annoying the roll-bar and was even considering putting the bar down while I mowed so I didn't have to worry about it getting caught on more trees.

                Thankfully  I decided not to do so. I avoided a trip to the hospital because I kept the roll-bar on the mower. When I rolled, that bar is the only thing that kept the mower from rolling on top of me completely and crushing me underneath. Without the seat belt, the steering controls kept me in on the seat, which was a blessing in itself. But, the roll-bar was the ultimate blessing. Now I don't ever mow the lawn without having that roll-bar attached and up. I also avoid dips, ditches, and close edges!

Now, how does this story relate to us in a spiritual sense? Well, let me fill you in on the thoughts I've had floating around in my head!

In the story, I was going about doing what I needed to in the normal way that I do. I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. Then, I decided to do something I normally avoided. I let my guard down. When I was still doing something I shouldn't have, I lost control. Because I wasn't in the right place at the right time, I risked potentially serious harm. Add onto this scenario that I wasn't protecting myself with the seat belt provided to help me in case of an emergency. I hadn't taken all of the necessary precautions. Luckily, I had done one thing right: I kept the roll-bar on the mower.

Comparing this experience to your life, how does it relate? Do you do what you know you should be doing? And while going about your daily activities, how often do you let your guard down, lack judgement, or loosen your hold of personal values? This is important to be watchful for, because as soon as you let down your guard, it is SO easy to lose control. It does not matter how strong you think you are, how good you are at doing what you should be doing; if you are doing something you know you shouldn't, you lose the power to control what happens. Lastly, do you take the necessary precautions to protect yourself against the occasional lapses in judgement we all as mere humans experience? If scriptures and prayer are ways you are spiritually uplifted, do you consistently engage in the study of those scriptures and communicate with your Heavenly Father? What about other ways you personally worship and experience spiritual enlightenment; do you hold yourself to a consistent standard in those ways as well? Only through consistency are we able to remain spiritually strong. We cannot rely on simply ourselves in order to get through challenges, we need the help of someone greater and stronger than we can imagine in order to make it through.

Lucky for us, we have a spiritual roll-bar of sorts: our Heavenly Father. Even when everything is out of sorts and chaotic, He is ALWAYS there to support you and help save you from yourself. Just like in the story where the roll-bar protected me when I hadn't fully protected myself, God is there to do the same for you in every-day life. Of course He expects you to do all that you can do, but when you fall short, He is there. His plan does not always involve saving you in the ways you expect or want him to, but his plan is perfect and He will only do what is best for you.

Please, NEVER forget the value of having a personal roll-bar in your life. Because I had a physical roll-bar in my accident, I was spared having to be hospitalized. Heavenly Father, your personal roll-bar, wants to help you and be there, but He can only do that if you do not decide to ignore how important a role He really does play in your life. If you do not believe He has a role, I sincerely hope you can come to the same realization that I have of how much He loves you and desires to be a part of your life and save you when you experience many of life's rollovers and accidents.  

#MontanaSummer

   I can't believe it's already been 3 1/2 months since I moved back home for the summer! The time has flown by much too quickly. This time next week, I'll be starting my training for my Resident Assistant position. I'm so excited! Here comes 2 weeks of office training, procedures, and door decorations :) (Fun fact, my floor theme this year is Monsters Inc./University!) Here are some pictures from my hometown summer:

On Wednesday, my best friend and I celebrated our birthdays together with dinner at Olive Garden (mmmmmmm breadsticks!)  followed by fro-yo at Spinners. Of course we had to take some selfies, and this one perfectly captures our friendship ;)

In the middle of the summer, some friends and I went on a group date :) We made homemade pizzas (picture taken at Walmart) and played Catch Phrase. Such a fun night with awesome people!

I got hold of a sharpie pen and went a little crazy making cards and then door decorations like this one for my new roommates that have the name and then the state where each person is from. #toomuchfreetime

The new building for Olsen Ortho Studio was completed! I feel just a little cool having a rock with my name on it ;) The new building is incredible and has changed the whole experience for patients!

After working as an ortho assistant and babysitting 2 awesome boys all summer, I have to say that I will definitely miss Montana. This summer turned out so much better than I thought it would, and I'm glad I'll be back in a few short months for Christmas! So long MT; don't cry, I'll be back soon ;)

Catching Up

Hey, everyone! Gosh, it's been a bit since I've posted hasn't it? About 9 months! So much has happened since I last was on here and while I can't go through every single thing that's happened (because who wants to read a blog post for 3 hours?), I can for sure give you the highlights, random tid-bits, and the run-down of this dorm diva's past few months. You can check out some pictures HERE too, but lets start from the top:

1. You should have seen my Halloween costume! My friends and I dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz :) I was the Good Witch, Glenda, the Sparkle Queen if you will :) Sorry the picture is pretty blurry, but you get the idea.

2. Finals week.....finally ended the 1st semester of college! Not going to lie, I cried when I thought about my business stats final. I studied my butt off for that dang test! Thankfully, God helped me get through that test and now I no longer have to take a "math math" class ever again (because, really, accounting doesn't count). Passed the class with a B-. I'll take it!

3. Christmas Break: saw my parents, sister, and new dog for the first time since I moved down to school. It was so nice to be home (albeit in the cold) and with family. After 3 weeks of game nights, Christmas decorations, Christmas FOOD, and good old family time, I returned back to my reality of school.

4. 2nd semester started with me trying to find a job. I had so many job interviews this year that fell through for one reason or another, whether it was because I wasn't "mature" enough or my class schedule simply couldn't accommodate the job schedule. Finally, I saw an ad for a mother's helper for this awesome lady who needed help a couple days a week looking after her 5 year old TWINS and 2 year old TRIPLETS. It was crazy! But in a good way. I absolutely loved that job and I got a pretty good workout biking 2.5 miles to get there and then the 2.5 back uphill to my apartment (*gasping for air just thinking about it). 

5. I also started the process to become a Resident Assistant for this upcoming school year. This is something I decided towards the end of 1st semester was something that I really wanted to pursue, not just for the nice perks of free housing and food that come with the job, but I wanted to make an impact and help people this upcoming year and hopefully make a difference :) In January I had my job interview with some of the Pro-Staff (can you say AAAHHH?) and then found out I made it into the ResLife class you have to take to actually become an RA. I went through the whole process of the class, mentorship, and placement bids and presentations and was eventually placed in the Honors Program housing (Honors House) with 3 good friends of mine! I don't even have to switch my address on anything important because I'm actually in the same apartment I was in this year, just in my roommates room. Bonus! Anyways, so this summer I've been working to come up with ideas for programs, door decorations, and bulletin board themes, which I know is going to be a part of the job that I love :) 

6. The 2nd round of finals week approached and there was only one class that I was truly worried about: Econ. Seriously, that class killed me! It was the honors program version, so the teacher was a great guy but he moved so quickly and I was still trying to catch up after Econ during 1st semester! I know that it wasn't my amazing studying skills that helped me get through that final exam, it had to have been help from my Heavenly Father because I was in the dark during that class, but I managed to pull out with a C in the class, meaning I barely passed and don't have to retake the credit! Wahooooooooo!!! 

7. I met my 1st ever boyfriend Marshall! While we aren't together anymore, we are still very good friends, we are even working together this next year since he will be an RA too! You never know when you are going to meet someone that will end up becoming a significant part of your life, and that was Marshall. I'm so grateful that I still have a great friend because he is an amazing guy and it's rare to find people who will be as good a friend as he is!

Well that's the top 7 things that happened. It doesn't sound like much, but those 7 things were very big for me this year in terms of creativity, love, self-esteem, and success. Looking back on this school year, there were A LOT of 1st's: first kiss, first time trying fry sauce, first time falling off of a dorm bed, you name it, it probably happened! 

I can honestly say that I love college. I have learned so much about myself and grown in ways that I wasn't expecting at all when I first moved my boxes into my apartment on Day 1. Isn't it AMAZING how our lives pan out in ways we could never imagine? This was a great first year, but I can't wait for this next semester to finally start!

Also, I owe a huge thank you to all of you for your influences in my life. I wouldn't be the person I am today without your love and support. <3

My Higher Education...

I've been here at USU for about 2 and a half months now, and I've learned so much! Some of my classes are really tough, like Econ 1500 and Business Stats 2300, but I also love some of my classes, like my Words of Isaiah institute class and my Zumba class (so basically the important ones;)). I really wanted to share one of my projects I worked on with my friend Wryn for our Econ class. Our professor gave us the class the options of either taking the exam planned or we could make an educational video that taught 2 economic principles from the exam chapters. Of course, Wryn and I made a video! Let's just say this is the result of putting Psychology and Marketing majors in the same group haha :) I'm loving the college life so far...hope you all enjoy the "educational" video we made! 

Video: "Insert Title Here" By: Kaitlin and Wryn

The Generals of Conference

Hey, everyone! So this weekend was General Conference weekend, but if you don't know what General Conference is, let me fill you in :) General Conference is the event that happens twice a year (every 6 months) where the prophet and apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints deliver messages with guidance and counsel from God that will bless our lives. This weekend was especially inspiring for me since, a week ago in Relief Society, I wrote down 3 questions that I had. I prayed to receive answers to these questions this weekend, and I definitely received the answers I was looking for. Below are some quotes that I really enjoyed and took to heart from the messages that were shared in the past 2 days. This first quote is by President Uchtdorf, who is my favorite speaker of all time:)

This is a quote by the prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. He is always such a great speaker and is so inspirational while teaching us important gospel principles!

Technically this quote is from the General Women's Conference that occurred 2 weeks ago, but I still love this quote!

And last but not least, from one of my favorite talks of the entire weekend from Elder Bednar:

I had so many more favorite quotes that I would love to share, but now you have an excuse to go and reread these and many more excellent messages when the conference Ensign comes out! I strongly encourage you to explore these messages from our modern-day prophets and apostles and grow your own testimony like mine has this weekend! 

<3, Katie

Happy Sunday!

     I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Today, I got the chance to go to the Ogden Temple dedication. I couldn't go to the actual dedication but what happened was the live dedication was streamed to the LDS Institute building next door, so I was able to go to that. In order to go, I had to get a yellow temple dedication ticket, which involved showing a current recommend to a bishopric member. The only way you could get into the church was if you had your ticket and showed one of the men at the one of the 2 open doors, everything else was locked. The reason that you had to have a ticket and only were able to go in through certain doors is that since the dedication was being streamed to the institute then the building was an extension of the temple. It was a great experience! The temple matron and president both spoke, along with 3 other general authorities, and then President Monson spoke and gave the dedicatory prayer. After that, there was the Hosanna Shout, which is done at every dedication and you have to have a white handkerchief for it as well. I've never been to a temple dedication before, so this was a really awesome experience for me :) If you ever have the opportunity to go to a temple dedication or an open house, GO! I have never been to an open house, so that is next on my bucket list :) If you want to see what temples are in the building process and how far they are along in construction, you should check out this link to see all of the temples in progress, their locations, and they also have pictures showing what they will look like, which is pretty cool, too. Anyways, happy Sunday, and I hope ya'll have a great rest of your weekend :)

<3,
Katie