Babies having babies...

LAYLA --> The love of my life. My baby. My gorgeous Golden Retriever.
(You've been introduced in an earlier post.)

Last Thursday, January 20, 2011, my lovely baby had babies!
My love for skype grew immensely as I was able to witness the event for half the night.

Much to our surprise she only had 4 puppies this time around, (as opposed to the 9 she had last summer). Two big fatty girls, a big fatty boy, and a tiny little boy that didn't make it. Since this puppy extravaganza was unexpected, we are just extremely grateful my Layla is healthy and happy!

This is the baby daddy, Elway. He belongs to my family and is Layla's soul mate.
They are seriously the cutest together. Constantly snuggling, wrestling, and running.

My baby had babies...again. :)

Cha cha cha Changes.

-Minnesota-

This past July through December I returned to the lovely Minnesota, just north of Minneapolis and St. Paul. I am quite ecstatic to announce that I have fallen completely in love.

A few highlights from my time spend frolicking there.... I was blessed to be with my lovely family, I was blessed to have the opportunity to nanny for a couple of the cutest boys on the planet, I was blessed to see some wonderful doctors, I was extremely blessed to attend the best ward ever...(I mean, with a name like Dinkytown how could it not be incredible? haha), and I was blessed to be with the greatest people on the planet. In a nutshell, I am the most blessed person on the planet.

-Christmas- Wedding -New Years-

We went on a massive roadtrip this December (massive due to the scenic route my father chose and the road blockings trying to contain us.) Looking back now, it was quite awesome! I got to spend 4 days in the car with my awesome little brother, Matthew. He is seriously such a stud and I am so grateful to have him in my life. It was such a treat and a blessing.

This wonderful Christmas season I was blessed to be able to spend in Utah with my immediate and extended family. It was wonderful! I was able to meet up with friends, spend much needed time with various family members, and talk to my best friend on Christmas Day. I would have to say, this Christmas has been my favorite of all time. It was spectacular.

On December 27th, 2010 my amazing big brother, Ryan, married my lovely roommate, Kimberly, in the Salt Lake Temple. There were fabulous receptions in Salt Lake City, Utah and then Kuna, Idaho. I am so happy for them and hope them the happiest of lives with the cutest of kids.

I celebrated the best New Years ever with my Uncle and his wonderfully awesome family at Bear Lake. It was beautiful and fun, and let me experience snow and lakes one last time before heading back to Idaho....land of the man-made lakes. haha. I love my family!

-Now-

I would love to tell you I am traveling the world or backpacking through some unknown land... but alas I am back in Rexburg, Idaho.

I go a fabulous University (Brigham Young University - Idaho). It is seriously a great place to be and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be here. I am surrounded with great friends, roommates, instructors, mentors, coworkers, and am once again close to my amazing Grandpa.

This year I have been extremely blessed to recieve an academic scholarship and a BYUI grant, meaning that almost all of my tuition has been paid for. It has been such a blessing to me and I am trying to keep my grades up so that I will qualify for the academic scholarship again next year. I am blessed to be in a great Economics program full of tools for future success. I am trying to re-find my love for Rexburg, due to the fact that I still have around 3 more semesters left. I have faith in my ability to do so.

:)
Life is grand.

Identity.

I feel as though the topic of "finding yourself" is constantly attacking me via society (mainly peers and movies.) As a result of this nonsense and the fact that I haven't blogged in ages, I am going to dedicate this post to a rant pertaining to identity.
:)

** I am NOT claiming to know the keys to life. I am simply stating who I am and how I feel about that. :)

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My theory, in a nut-shell....

1. "Finding yourself" is not a one time thing, it is a life-long process.
Perhaps life wouldn't be important if we learned everything at once, perhaps we have come to earth to grow and develop, "trial upon trial, experience upon experience." While this makes perfect sense to me, this fundamental to my theory has previously tagged me among the 'youthful inexperienced' by those who contradict. Perhaps that is not a bad thing, I believe I am still youthful, and have no problem admitting that I have not experienced all life has to offer yet. Personally, I feel as though a main problem in society today is the refusal to let life happen in a process. Society is constantly throwing doubts in our minds, telling us that we need to know everything about ourselves right now, telling us that we can never make ourselves or anyone else happy without fully 'finding ourselves.' This is me challenging that. This is me saying, lets allow life to happen. As long as we have determined our moral foundation, the rest is fine to come with time. As for making yourself happy....I strongly believe happiness is a choice. Let's choose it, my friends.

2. Changing throughout life is a wonderful thing.
We grow and change through experiences throughout life. Some of the most influential factors I have found in my life are people, trials, and just experience in general. At least in my life, I add to my list of likes and dislikes upon experiencing things. While some things are new in general, other things reshape preconceived notions and previously decided feelings. I feel this is what keeps life exciting. I enjoy experiencing new things, I enjoy finding new joys, I enjoy trying the foreign. Let's allow ourselves to change, lets use our knowledge to reconstruct our ideas about the world around us. Lets enjoy life. I mean, how frequently do we let new found pleasures become passions? We go through this messy yet blissful life gathering new loves as we go along. I find no shame in that. Love doesn't have to be so complicated. I feel as though we should give and receive true love freely. I always want to live with life and love as my passions.

3. Once you realize you have gotten something very right, you should embrace it and love it.
This particular fundamental to my theory pertains especially to our top priorities. For example, being a 'Mormon' is something that I hold dear in my life. I know that the church is true, and that it is how I can follow God and become my best. Family is another top priority in my life, and I believe that loving family is right and good, no need to change that. Why throw out things in our life that are right, in order to simply 'spice things up'?? Some things are magnificent just the way they are.

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I know who I am at the moment, and am constantly working towards who I want to be.
Join me. Let's be the best at being us.