"But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?" -Albert Camus

                                                                                

well FIRST order of business...

Last Friday was Anna VanBuskirk's Birthday!! :) If you didn't tell her happy birthday.. you should. She deserves to of had a pretty darn good one!....

Just a little bit about Anna... our mom's were friends before we were born so I've been SO blessed to have her my whole life! She's the best best friend anyone could ever ask for and I love her with my whole heart. If you don't really know Anna you should get to know her.. I promise you couldn't find anyone who will be a more true friend to you through the thick and the thin. I'd be pretty lost with out her..

 My Annnnna Bannnnnna I love you! :) & miss you alot!

Soo noww.. just a little recap on whats been going on.. :)

This last weekend I went ice skating for the first time... ever!

Beautiful thing about moving to a place with a lot of ice and out of the desert?!

You get to play in the snow and ice alot!

[Ask me how beautiful it was when Shelby and I slipped on our porch walking to school last week! ha]

Although Blake thought it was an ingenious idea to push me around the ice.. and I may or may  not have been scared for my life for the first ten minutes of my life.. I survived! & I have an extrememly expanded appreciation for figure skaters...

The "ice skating rink man" informed us that figure skates are extremely uncomfortable and have no ankle support... so how do those beautiful ice skaters make it look so effortless?!

I don't know! But they are my hereos because I sure was not born with that gift.. :)

Also.. this man is awarded for most knowledgable ice skating rink owner I've ever met..

[is he the only skating rink owner I know? well.. yes. but if I knew more of them I'm sure he'd still know the most.. ha]

& luckily for us! Blake talked to him for 50 million hours.. so he's probably really knowledgable now too ;) haha jk blake! (Kind of.. ) they had a bond that I didn't get to share because I was blonde and he explained that that doesn't make me very intelligent... [it didn't help that I may or may not have fallen off the bench as I was unlacing my shoes... ha but that was after the initial judgement.. so I don't know where that came from!]

But.. anyway.. my New Mexico friends.. I will be a pro ice skater by the time I graduate college just you wait :)



Now this beautiful newly married couple is Dave and Gaby Bowen <3

Saturday Blake and I went over and played with our new "married" friends... and they made us dinner and dessert and we enjoyed appartments that were clean and roommateless! :)

I can't even remember what those days were like.. ha jk 

<3

ha I love you Gaby and Dave!

Oh! & this isn't in chronological order at all.. but last week I made dinner for the downstairs of our house and it turned out really delicious!

I made Apricot Chicken... and it says to cook it in the microwave but if you cook it in a big pot I think it works better. Also.. I add broccoli and mushrooms and double the sauce.

Its so so easy and so good promise.. if you try it let me know how it goes :)

[oh and.. because it took me a little bit to figure it out.. ha for those of you who don't really blog if you click the purple words the recipe will come up so you can use it!)

 So just kind of a summary! Besides that.. I just want everyone to know that I adore my job <3

 haha & I hope everyone is doing well! I really love and miss you all!

 Have a wonderful rest of your Tuesday!

<3

"Expecting life to treat you well because you are a good person, is like expecting an angry bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian." -Shari R. Barr

I got an Internship! I got an Internship! I got an Internship!!

And if that weren't enough to completely make my day... I got it at the Family Crisis Center! :) :) :)

For those of you who don't know, I've wanted to get an internship at the Family Crisis Center ever since I knew I had to get an internship.

This internship is actually a business internship, but since this is more the field I want to go in to, the wonderful supervisor said that they could make my internship work for what I needed.. and then started mentioning what I would do when I had to my Psychology one.. (which I'm hoping means I get to come back!)

So yesterday was my first day.. ha nope they don't waste any time getting started (kind of since I got a late start looking) and it really is everything I could ever hope for.

I was the first one there! & I was very close to being on time! ha A dream come true.. A job where no one cares if you're there a little late! (to all of my teachers who put me through so much grief, and detention, singing in front of the class, standing, and so much more just for being a littttle tardy.. I was just preparing for my future job!) & then I learned a little about how the business was run, payroll, grants, and things of that sort for my first morning. It was amazing to see all of what I learned in class actually being put in action.

So its decided. No more college.. I'm just going to stay at the Family Crisis Center.. show up to work a few minutes late.. help people everyday.. and love my life. <3

jk.. I wish. Don't tell my parents I was joking like that! They will die.. haha I enjoy my education.

But did I mention I was getting paid to learn about my dream job!? Yeah.. my life is complete.

Another thing that I am deeming "blog worthy" is a meditation seminar I went to this afternoon.. it was amazing.

<3

Breathe. Be Still. & Let Go.

"Meditation is the language of the soul. Meditation is a form of prayer. We can say prayers without having any spiritual response. Meditation is one of the most secret, most sacred doors through which we pass into the presence of the Lord." -Presiden David O McKay

Physical Benefits of Meditating

Decreases stress-related cortisol ( google cortisol if you don't know what it is!)

Strengthens Immune System

Helps with numerous psychological disorders [depression, insomnia, fibromialgia, & alot more those are just what caught my attention]

Deep Rest- Measured by lowered metabolic rate and heart rate

Decrease in High Blood Pressure

Lower Cholestral

Easier flow of air to lungs- better breathing (great benefit to asthma patients)

Higher levels of DHEAS (DHEAS is correlated to aging.. so more youthfullness! Slower aging.)

So after I heard all of that good stuff.. I said count me in! How do you do it?

There are lots of types of meditation so here are a couple I learned about...

Concentration Meditation

focus on peace & stillness of mind

still still and focus on an object such as your breathing, mountain scences, the beach.. and just let yourself relax. Thoughts will come just try not to focus in on them.. dismiss them and let yourself be full of peace.

Mindfulness Meditation

emphasizes insight through awareness of the present moment

completely focus on a present experience such as your thoughts, why you're thinking that way, or how your body is feeling, or just take in the things around you.. this can also be when you REALLY listen to a conversation with someone.

Think of the difference between really experiencing events and just going through the motions.

[This is the same idea as the Budha's meditation, kind of, Budha means welcoming the moment]

The therapist said that the problem with meditation is that.. "we have to do it!" don't let yourself think you're too busy!

The purpose of meditation is to be able to bring spontanous thoughts unter better control and obtain a better spiritual well being. By meditating you are able to deeper concentrate and learn and achieve "equanimity" (1- eveness of mind especially under stress, 2- Right Disposition-Balance)

So I hope that inspired someone like it did me and you will try it with me! :)

Hope you're all having a good week!

"Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in everyway.." - Isak Dinesen

Okay so I promise not to give you a play by play of everything that I'm doing.. because quite honestly my life is not that interesting.. and I don't want to bore you to death! :)

ha butttt.. this week started about pretty darn good..

Saturday Blake threw a big birthday party for his cousin Brooke... She's from Arizona and it's her first semester here in beautiful sunny idaho.. so he thought it'd be nice to introduce her to more people.. :)

It was quite the event.. ha there were people everywere! Thank goodness they have a big house! Brooke was a very loved girl! & it made it really fun for everyone else too..

All of my SWEET rommmates came with me.. and they had a great time.. ignore shelbys cute little happy face.. haha she hasn't been very happy about being blogged.. but she'll warm up to the idea i'm sure ;)

<3

Then Monday.. I had the Best.Date.Ever. I love it when everyone is out of school.. :)

I was informed monday morning that Blake had a suprise for me.. & i lovvve suprises..

First he picked me up and we went to DI.. and he started picking out way scary hats and I was a little worried he'd be expecting me to wear that.. but when he started looking for a scarf I realized we were totally going to make a snowman!!

Then he took me to Albertsons and we found a huge carrot nose.. and we were off to a hidden snow packed park! It was sooo cold.. (good ol' idaho) but it was so much fun. Poor blake had to pretty much roll and lift everything haha but he was a good sport..



After completely frozen bodies we had Earl! :) I just want to clarify.. I did not name him.. ha I thought it sounded like an old man name.. but I guess 'not old men snowman' might be standing.. so maybe it was fitting.

how cute are they... <3

Then after we were completely frozen.. we went back to his house and made mint hot chocolate and I made Blake watch Eat Pray Love with me.

& we ate his awesome gummy butterflies..

&&& after the movie blake made me homemade enchiladas!

Blake you are the besssst. {hearts}

I wish Martin Luther King Day was everyday. :)

But unfortunately.. its not.. so today it's back to reality.. and job searching. Wish me luck..

.::back to idaho..back to school.. back to the snowww.. ::.

SO.. in the last couple years with school and moving 12 hours away from the town that I grew up in its been hard to keep in touch with everyone I grew up with and LOVE. I know that I really enjoy hearing what my family and friends are up to, thats why I decided that maybe if I started blogging it would keep everyone feeling like they were still an important part of my life. (Because you so are!)
Unfortunately I've never done anything really like this before so.. its could be scary for a little while! haha but hopefully eventually I'll get it worked out and it will be fun to look at.

This semester I moved into a house with 16 girls!! ah.. So far though they've been really sweet and it hasn't been too overwhelming.. :)
Also.. I hope you enjoy the snow in this picture as much as I enjoy walking through it everyday!! :) haha jk.. it's not ALWAYS snowing.. it just snows alot.

 This is my room.. and my cute roommate Shelby in the background! We've been roommates now for 4 semesters and I lovvve her. She just got into the nursing program so she's going to have a busy semester.. good idea we had to move into a house full of girls huh..

But anyway.. so this winter I have to find a job/internship so that I can take my next Business classes in the Spring.. So far things are looking really good. :) haha

Luckily it's only been a week though so I'm not giving up yet.. Thank you to my family and friends who have listened to me vent about the stressfulness of job searching, it means a lot to me!
Thats kind of a summary of the big things going on... so I think that is enough for this post.. but I will be writing soon!
Happy Martin Luther King Day! Hope everyone had a nice start to their week. :)