Lady A

Well, let's just say this week has been SOOO crazy to say the least! Tuesday was the beginning of the craziness! I had school all day, had to stop by the school for a coaches meeting, and then met up with some of my FAVORITE people in Salt Lake for an AMAZING concert! We went to Lady Antebellum! Oh my goodness they are soo RAD! I loooved it! Seriously listened to the CD over and over afterwards. I went with both of my sisters, Devin, Shannon's babysitter, and my personal date: TRUDY! Loved going to a concert with her! She is a professional "concert goer", so we were bound to have a good time! Although it was general admission and we had to stand the whole time, I didn't mind AT ALL! The opening act was reaaalllly good as well. Can't remember his name though...David?? ANYWAYS, we were shakin our little booties the whole time! By the end of the night, my ankle was seriously HUGE from standing at that, going through basketball plays for an hour, and running 8.5 miles on a trail the day before! But it was all so worth it! I am all for living it up if you couldn't tell! That night, I stayed down in Orem and went to the Paragon lunch the next day at La Jolla....loved. Love my summer job + my coworkers. It really is so fun to catch up with them! Wednesday night, my family did the annual tradition of going to Park City and picking out what we want for Christmas (more in another post), and then at 10:30 I left for Logan so I didn't get home until 12:30 and woke up in time for spin class at 7 this morning! Woof! Didn't have any time to rest, as I have had a HUGE test today (wrote a 5 full page essay about how to counsel a client through a foreclosure...so exciting) and then I have been catching up on some pretty pressing assignments! So as you can tell...life is NOT slowin down anytime soon! I can't wait for the weekend to put together 2 very big projects due on Tuesday and prepare for Basketball tryouts on Monday....eeek!

Sugar Crash

Wow. What a weekend! As you may or may not know, Halloween is my VERY FAVORITE holiday! I LOOOOVE it! Although people don't share my same love, who doesn't love having the ability to be WHOEVER you want to be one day a year?! I just think it is so fabulous! So here's some pictures from my weekend....

On Friday, we went to Cornbelly's. It was SOOO much fun! Although I am a total wuss during the haunted things! Braden designed the cornmaze. How rad is that?!

The cornbox. It was SOOO yucky in there!

Can you guess what we were for Halloween?!

Russell and Mr. Fredrickson from UP! Jessa and I decided to be something Legit, rather than some dumb skanks like the rest of Utah....but then I realized that it was too hot to dance in all that...

So we made the quick transition to skank! Okay, we weren't nearly as bad as other kids at BYU though! You would think BYU dances would keep it clean...false. SO VIOLATED. Yuck!

All in all, I would say it was one of my favorite weekends of the semester! I always know that I am bound to have a good time when I go to see Jessa. We have soooo much fun together and are constantly laughing! It was perfect!

New Blog Character

Soooo much to blog about, and I WILL catch up. BUT, I just wanted to introduce someone new to my blogging friends...this isn't my favorite picture of myself but here he is folks. This is Vinnie and he is super rad. We have a lot of fun together and I hope there will be a lot more of him on here! Goodnight!

Betcha didnt Know...

Kelli Julia Young

Well, I have an unexpected extra hour of free time today! That would be great, if I didn't have to go to class in an hour. I would just go home and get things done. But, it is quite inconvenient to go to and from campus. Woof. Soooo here are some random facts I bet you didn't know about me...let me think...

1. I love reading LDS romance novels.

2. Number one creature that terrifies me the most: Alligators

3. I will never go on another cruise as long as I live.

4. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a professional ice skater.

5. I love Wingers...but I don't have a regular thing that I like. Just the popcorn alone has me sold!

6. When I was younger, a little boy jumped in the road and my mom slammed on her breaks but still hit him (he was fine). But I STILL have anxiety when I cross the street.

7. I will only listen to country music in the summer. If I listen to it in the winter, it just makes me depressed that it isn't summer.

8. I have only done baptisms for the dead twice in my entire life.

9. I was in musicals as a child. Most famous role: Aunty Em in Wizard of Oz. I had a solo!

10. When I was younger, I reallly wanted to do Karate, I wore my Karate uniform everywhere and told everyone that I took lessons. Never did.

11. In first grade, I cheated on spelling tests.

12. If I have a whole stick of gum, I get nauseated.

13. I have a REALLY good lisp.

14. I absolutely HATE chinese food.

15. There is nothing that gets on my nerves more than when people use the word "Epic" or wear peace sign things and do peace signs in pictures.

16. I am awful at hand-eye coordination sports (besides bball).

17. Favorite Holiday: Halloweeen. Hated Holiday: Christmas.

18. The first time I remember swearing, I warned Rachel to cover up her ears and told these boys to get their asses off our sledding hill. When Rachel uncovered her ears, I said, "Don't worry I will repent later."

19. I once was chased by three Samoan girls because I made fun of their weight in 7th grade.

20. There is NOTHING I hate more than receiving the Silent Treatment. Like seriously. I stay up at night worrying, get stomach aches, and have even thrown up from feeling so bad that I caused someone to completely shut me out.

21. When I was younger, I met a Japanese lady on an airplane going to Hawaii. She didn't speak any English. We were then "Pen pals" for the next few years and she would send me Japanese gifts.

22. I have honestly always believed that I was allergic to DI and Savers.

23. I am TERRIFIED of teenage girls.

24. In 3rd grade, I killed the class pet.

25. My middle name isn't really Julia.

So there's some random facts off the top of my head. I always think of good ones to share, but never write them down. I will start writing them down, cause they are pretty funny. I am full of surprises!

Brain Dead

Oh my goodness. So much goes on in such a small amount of time in my life. I have been SOOO busy! I had a super intense finance exam this morning that has taken up most of my time trying to study and prepare...even though I don't think the combination of waking up at 5:30 to cram and my lucky pencil even did the trick! It was SUCH a tricky test. Why am I in a graduate student finance class? Stupid stupid stupid!! Anyways...things I have been up to:

Shannon and her cute little family came up and stayed in Layton. We went shopping, out to eat, to Lagoon, and then they came up and saw my house and school up here in Logan. It was such a fun weekend to spend with them and I am really glad they came up. That little Allie...for being such a small person, she sure is a BIG handful! I don't know how people have kids...they are a piece of work! But so fun! I really think she might be starting to like me! It might have something to do with buying her a BIG chocolate ice cream while Shannon and Patrick were on a rollercoaster and letting her dive face-first into it.....

Basketball season is less than 2 weeks away, and we are gearing up BIG TIME! We have been having a lot of meetings about how we are going to coach, what we want to teach, our goals, philosophies, plays, drills, etc. I have a feeling it is going to consume most of my time for the next 4 months, but I think it will be worth it! It's soooo intimidating though. I think about my coaches growing up and the big impacts that they have had in my life and it terrifies me that these impressionable kids will be looking up to me. My how the tables have turned!

I made the step from a GIRL to a WOMAN yesterday. Yep, that's right. I am officially growing up. I picked up my packet for my senior practicum. It is a HUGE packet! I have to do this whole application process to get into my 2 internships that are required to graduate. I was stoked to already get a recommendation from one professor, now I just need one more!

It is officially winter. Am I bummed? BIG TIME! I have been wearing all black to mourn the loss of summer. I had to wear thermals under my jeans this morning. Woof. I HATE the cold more than anything. I hate the feeling of being stuck inside all day. I hate wet jeans. I hate getting a stiff neck/back from being cold. I hate wearing shoes. I hate having cold hands/feet. Basically I hate everything about the cold. I still don't know why I live in Logan....

Well, I am not a huge fan of lengthy, boring posts which is what this post has kinda turned out to be...so I will wrap up. For your amusement....my childhood....

I really was so unfortunate looking...

Man wasn't that sooo funny when you made someone look like a bunny?

This is just classic...

I think my face might have stuck like that?

How sad would that be if you didn't have a twin to dress up with on twin day?

This describes my childhood perfectly

I think I still have that dance memorized if ya wanna see it

I never did like people gettin in my space

Man, I should have modeled

How awful is this picture??

I think I REALLY tried dressing like a boy

The famous short hair days...

Wow! Those shoes really add to the whole ensemble

High School

Girls Camp

So I always got made fun of for being friends with old people. I never believed it was true, until I saw this picture of me hanging out with all the old people...

Can't forget this! Serenading the famous Dana Robison!

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Five Years, Five Lessons

As I have said in previous posts, this week is the fifth anniversary of when Byron died. So crazy to me. I think a lot about him this time of year, along with the things that I want to learn and take from the experience of losing a loved one. I decided to write down the five main things I have learned since Byron died as a result of losing him. It is crazy how much the lord can teach us through tragedy and pain, when we have nothing left but to listen and learn from him.

#1. The very first thing that I learned back when I was sixteen was to always remember the big picture. When I heard that Byron had died, everything else that had weighed on my mind seemed so insignificant. It didn't matter if that certain boy liked me back or if I got asked to the school dance anymore. As busy humans, we tend to get caught up in the things that are directly in front of us. And then we choose to make them bigger deals than they actually need to be. If we just took a step back and thought, "is this going to matter in 1,5, or even 10 years?" probably not.

#2 Unconditional love. I learned this from a very good young woman leader that I had after Byron died. I am still working on it, but I have definitely learned a lot about it. Love people no matter what. And let them know. Love who they are at the time, not who they used to be or who they could be. There is something SO comforting and peaceful when you know that no matter what mistakes you make, there will be at least one person who will love you for you no matter what.

#3 Forgive and forget. I am still working on this, but lately I have tried to forgive quickly. It can be so exhausting holding on to anger and grudges. I used to get so angry and stay up at night thinking about how mad I was at that person. How I could never forgive them. The only person that I was hurting was myself. There is no possible way that a person can have a peaceful spirit if they are holding onto anger towards another person. And why? Why hold onto your pride and allow yourself to have hateful feelings towards someone? The longer you let it fester the harder it will be to let it go. Put yourself in the person's shoes, try to understand where they are coming from, and let it go. There is nothing better than telling someone you forgive them and letting the relationship heal.

#4 Trust in god. We don't know why things happen. Sometimes that is hard. It is hard to let go of the "why". But if we trust in god and put it in his hands, things will work out. Earlier this week, I was having a really hard time with different things. I finally knelt down and said a prayer. Basically I told god that I didn't understand why things had to be the way they were, but I was putting it in his hands. I wanted him to teach me what I needed to learn from my trials, help me be grateful for them, and mold me into the person I was supposed to become from them. The next 2 days after I said that prayer, I felt the most peaceful I ever have since Byron died.

#5 Serve Others. There is so much power in service. Being able to forget about yourself by helping others has so much healing power. This past summer when I volunteered at Primary Children's Hospital, I gained such a testimony of service. I loved Fridays when I got to go up there and forget about the world for a few hours. Serving others is what this life is about. The happiest people aren't the people that sit around thinking about themselves all day. It is the people who wake up and say, "Heavenly father, help me know who I am supposed to help today" and then they listen to those promptings and act. There is always someone that you can serve, you just need to listen to the promptings of the spirit to guide you to those people. And when you do serve them, you will develop a stronger testimony and develop an "attitude of gratitude" like the prophet spoke about in conference.

So there you have it. 5 lessons that I have learned in the past 5 years. Do I wish that I didn't have to go through the trials that I have gone through to learn them? Sure. But am I grateful for trials? Yes. Because, they aren't just trials. They are opportunities for us to humble ourselves and look to god to mold us and teach us from these hard times. Life isn't fair and there are a lot of things that we can't control, but we can control how we react and get back up and fight. One of my favorite quotes goes something like this, "When life gets too tough to stand, kneel".

Pumpkin Carving!!

Okay- so I feel like I am blogging WAAAY too much lately. Am I becoming annoying? Cause I am starting to annoy myself. BUT, there is ALWAYS something going on! And since this is what I use as my journal, I want to stay on top of things!

Anyway, last night we decided to go out and buy some pumkins and carve them. I am very pleased with how well they all turned out (considering how our whole house isn't very artistic)! But they turned out great and I love going past our mantel and seeing our pumpkins! Halloween is my favorite holiday, so I love it all!! Here are the pictures...(I just got back from the gym, don't judge!)

The Group cleaning out pumpkins (I skipped out cause I hate that part)

My extremely artistic carving partner- Ally

Takin a little Halloween cupcake break...

The final product! I am so pleased by mine and Ally's pumpkin! (In case you were wondering, it's the North Carolina sign...bringing good karma to the tarheels in the upcoming bball season!)

Vanessa looked at this little pumpkin and thought "that poor pumpkin looks like a butt, nobody will want it"...but she had a vision for that poor pumpkin...and made it into a THONG! The "quick n' dirty" is the tattoo on the butt...only Vanessa...

Jentry's Pumpkin

Kaylee's Pumpkin

The group outside on our porch! FINALLY all the roommates in one picture!

My carving partner and I!

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