Baltimore

Visiting James this weekend in Baltimore was Amazing! I had so much fun! On Sunday we went to Washington, D.C. to see all the sights! As promised, here are pictures from my trip!

Our drive in...

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier! It was so cool! Every move was down to a Tee. As you can see, they have walked it so many times that the concrete is worn where they step. They do a solute every 30 minutes for an unknown soldier. We saw pictures of them doing this same ceremony in the 1950's...and they are still going strong!

This was my favorite! Abe was WAY bigger then I thought he would be!

Arlington Cemetery. It was sad to see how many people died at war. So many lost there lives for our freedom. It really makes you appreciate just what we have...

Washington Memorial. it was awesome! I just wonder WHY? why build it? It looks like it took FOREVER. and really, what's the point? I guess it looks cool...

Abe!

JFK Grave @ Arlington Cemetery

Last we went to the Holocaust Museum. It was so sad. I was literally depressed. The Jews went through so much! I can't believe some of the things they did to those people. Especially the medical experiments. Those were the worst! It was interesting to see how Hitler rose to power. After we left I told James we had to do something happy....so we got Molten Chocolate Cake at Chilis! :)

I am the saddest girl to be back in Utah. It was so nice to get away, relax, see the sights, and hang out with the boy. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. It was absolutely perfect.

& I'm ready to be in Baltimore again. It's only been one day. boo!

The Perfect Saturday

I've literally been relaxing all day. I'm currently in Baltimore, MD visiting James. During the day, he sells APX and I get the whole day to myself. It's been quite wonderful actually. My day went as follows:

8:00am Woke up & made pancakes
9:00am Went back to bed
1:00pm Woke up
1:15pm Met Kayli (James' sister-in-law) at the pool
4:00pm Left the pool
4:30pm Took a nap
6:00pm Woke up and took my online accounting test.

Pure perfection. After the stressful summer, this trip is just what I needed. I may never go back!

Tomorrow we are going to D.C. to see all of the museums/monuments/awesome-ness.

Pictures to come!

It's called obsession.

Recent obsessions:

RedBull Sugarfree

Eyelash Extensions

The iPhone4. It is beautiful.

Words With Friends (add me! JillConrad)

Skype

Wedges

Cake Boss on TLC

Say Yes to the Dress on TLC

Zagg Skins for my iPhone

Lifting weights

Rethink Possible.

I love this.

RIP Travis McPherson

This is going to be hard for me to write, I know it already. Recently, a high school friend of mine passed away. He was in a car accident. He wasn't drunk. He wasn't texting. It was an accident-plain and simple. I've known Travis for awhile. My most distinct memories are the football and basketball games. Travis would always be out there with me-waving the TVHS flag while I held the spirit stick-or visa verse. He was filled with love, crazyness, and fun. There was never a dull moment when Travis was around. You know that class clown in school-the guy with all the smart ass remarks-that was Travis. He was always trying to make others laugh.

Twenty is so young. Travis didn't get to experience college graduation, buying a house, finding "the one", having kids, a career....life in general. I can't wrap my mind around this-and weeks have already passed. Why him? He was so full of life-had so much to offer-and he was twenty. This isn't how it's supposed to be. Dying is for the 70s and 80s. Dying happens after you've retired from work-living the carefree life of travel and bliss. It happens after you've seen your grandchildren graduate.

This is the second friend of mine to pass. It's hard to deal with. I had only seen Travis a handful of times since high school graduation. Since I go to school out of state, I hardly see anyone from Loveland. Yet, my mind is filled with distinct memories of random times with Travis-going to his house during lunch, spending class time laughing at his ridiculous jokes, a random party, and most of all-TVHS sports games.

I went through my old high school yearbooks-just to see his writing. Sure enough, there it was. Screaming out to me-filling my mind with memories and visions of Travis...It just doesn't feel real. It can't be real-he was so young.

Life is precious. At any moment, it can be taken from us. That's why I've come to realize- we must live everyday like it's our last. Spend time on things your passionate about-with those you truly care about. Live passionately, greatly, perfectly-every single day. Every day wasted is one we won't be able to have back. I'm determined to live my life to the fullest. Travis taught me many things-this is one of them.

RIP Travis. Look after all of us. Soon, we will meet again.

Travis W.McPHERSON , 20, of Loveland died June 3, 2010, due to an automobile accident in Berthoud.

He was born Feb. 15, 1990, in Longmont to William and Sandra (Wacker) McPherson. Travis graduated from Thompson Valley High School in 2008 and attended one year at Western State University.

He worked for Paratex Colo Inc. for three months doing industrial weed control. He liked spending time with his friends and family, going to drive-in theaters, camping, softball and all sports in general. Especially going to the Colorado Rockies games.

He is survived by his parents, Sandy McPherson of Loveland and Bill McPherson of Loveland; grandparents Weldon McPherson, Jacksonville, Ill., and Fred Wacker, Longmont; brothers, Justin Wacker, Loveland, and Jared Wacker, Longmont; many cousins, aunts, uncles; and all his special friends.

He was preceded in death by grandmothers Goldie McPherson and Betty Wacker.

Simple. Honest.

Props to Le Love.

Believing Christ

For those of you who don't know, I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (yes, I'm Mormon). I don't usually blog about spiritual matters. I find it to be difficult because it can be so controversial. However, today I'm going to overcome that fear. Most of this is due a girl I recently met on 20SB, Jamie. Her blog is called Spread Your Wings & Fly (check it out. you won't regret it) She blogs about her life but includes a variety of spiritual matters. To be honest, I was inspired. Her posts gave me courage. So before I chicken out, I'm going to blog about my current feelings.

On the plane ride home from Colorado I finished a book my bishop had given me to read. When he passed it on to me, I figured I would skim through to get the general idea of the book and report back. I certainly didn't think I would get captivated and read the book word for word.

The book he gave me was Believing Christ by Stephen Robinson. Not only was it enlightening, thought provoking, and encouraging, but I actually enjoyed reading it.

There are so many wonderful concepts in this book, I don't even know where to start. The main topic was grace/being saved by grace. It was about the atonement and repentance- something that I recently have dealt with a great deal. I could relate. Stephen does a wonderful job of making sense & getting his point across. His stories are ones that I could relate too. He knew his audience & spoke right to their hearts (well mine at least)

I'll stop rambling about how amazing this book was and give you a sneak peak of what the content was like:

"However the Lord does say to us, 'Given your present circumstances and your present level of maturity, you're doing a decent job. Of course it's not perfect, but your efforts are acceptable for the time being. I am pleased with what you've done."

"God knows our circumstances, and he judges us accordingly. He knows who is standing in a hole and who is standing on a chair, and he does not just measure height-he measures growth"

"According to the scriptures [Jesus] knows more of the dark side than any of us. In fact, he knows more about pain, grief, loneliness, contradiction, shame, rejection, betrayal, anguish, depression, and guilt than all of us combined"

These are random, I know, but for some reason each one of these passages stuck out to me. I'm certainly not perfect. I have had my struggles with the commandants and staying on the right path. I was inactive for my first year and a half of college to experience "normal life," so I told myself. I felt held back by the LDS church. I wanted to be free of expectations. I wanted to be rebellious. I wanted to make decisions based on what I wanted at the time-what do they call it? instant gratification? Yeah, I wanted that. I'm not mad at myself for this decision. I would never take back the experiences I had or the mistakes I made. In a way, they made me who I am today. Now I KNOW what I want. I KNOW who I want to be. I've learned for myself that the church is true-for that I am grateful. My testimony of the church is mine and mine alone. I've been on both sides of the spectrum. & I have no regrets. I've lived and experienced so much-all which have lead me to the conclusion that life with Christ, the gospel, and the LDS church makes me happier. Happy-there isn't another word. I feel peaceful & happy when I think of the life I'm living now.

Ok, back to the book...

What I love about this book is the reassurance that I'm not alone. Christ is there and knows everything I am going through, all the time. The book stresses the unconditional love the Savior has for us. No matter what we do- no matter how far we stray or how much we neglect him- he is always there with open arms.

I am so thankful for Him. I am so thankful for the atonement.

Trapped

Trapped. The perfect way to describe my thoughts. All i seem to think about is my future. To a fault I analyze the things I am doing and how my future will play out.

I'm stressed.

What if I'm studying the wrong major? Instead of marketing, what if I'm supposed to be a doctor, reporter, or teacher? How do I know I will LOVE the marketing industry? What if I'm dating all the wrong boys? Should I study abroud? Intern at a firm? Double major? Grad school?

I think that I'm so preoccupied with these thoughts because everyone around me is getting married & finding a career-growing up. I graduate in one year. Twelve months. It seems so surreal that my college experience is almost over. Did I learn all I was supposed to? Did I take every opportunity I could to better myself-to learn about myself?
One of my favorite quotes is "Sometimes we need to stop analyzing the past, stop planning the future, stop figuring out precisely how we feel, stop deciding exactly what we want, and just see what happens"

Yet, this thinking is one I can't seem to grasp. I need to learn to just see what happens. Quit worrying about the future.

To a fault, I like to plan things. I have endless "To Do" lists, calendars, task lists, etc. But I can't plan for what I don't know. Truth is, I don't know how I'll feel in 3, 5, 10 years. There is NO way to know what will happen. I know in the end, everything will work out how it's supposed to. I just have to have faith that it will.

The Past Three Months.

I really have no idea where to start. I haven't blogged in forever. Normally, I would have nothing to report-my life is pretty repetitive...school, work, pi phi...end of story. But for some reason these last three months have been dramatic. Dramatic in the sense that my life has done a complete 180. I doubt any truth still holds to my previous posts.

So, where to start?

I guess I'll start at the beginning...the beginning of it all.

I went to Cabo with friends for Spring Break...which feels like FOREVER ago..probably because it was. It was literally the BEST vacation I have ever been on. I am OBSESSED with Cabo. I plan on going back every year until I die...it was THAT fun. I even met Pi Phis from CU!

Vacation ended and sadly, I was back to reality. At this time, so many huge events occurred at once...

I broke up with Scott

I became Chapter President of Pi Beta Phi

I took my finals & passed my classes

I realized what I wanted out of life

I started summer school

I moved out of Pi Phi and into an apartment with Molly

Ok, so I guess a few things did stay the same. I'm still in school, still working, and still obsessed with Pi Phi. But, a lot of major events have occurred.

It's shocking to me how insanely happy I am. I've changed a great deal in these past few months. I feel like a whole different person. I promise to keep you up to date, little blog. Just know that I'm happier now than I have ever been. I can't wait to see what life has in store for me.

Here's a look at what else I've been up to (in no order...)

My boss hooked me up with Jazz tickets. Me & Molly enjoyed seeing the Lakers! We even met up with Ali (Pi Phi Alum).

We played powderpuff for a sisterhood! I was on the winning team...no big deal..

I went to Colorado && saw my BFF Jessica! Had the BEST weekend! I really do love & adore Jessica. She's more a soul mate than a best friend. We are SO alike it's insane. Our lives are parallel. I love having someone like her who seems to ALWAYS be going through the exact same things I am.

AJ got MARRIED!!! I'm so happy for her! She was a GORGEOUS bride <3

I went to Colo and waterskiied....in a wetsuit...in JUNE!

We had Greek Week at the U...and Pi Phi took SECOND! :D

Pi Phi Formal was insane & so much fun!! It was at the Raddison Hotel. I love seeing everyone dressed up. It was such a fun night! Leia did SUCH a good job planning it!

Aj had her bridal shower...where we made her a dress from tissue paper! Impressive..eh?

My besties!!!

Dad came into town for Parent's Weekend at Pi Phi! We played Poker & Blackjack & Roulette. It was so much fun!

Mom came to Pi Phi for Parent's Weekend. We had a delicious brunch!

Dad & me @ Pi Phi. I have the best dad in the whole world!

I met a boy named James...&& we went to some Jazz games! (thanks again to the boss!!)

My life, in short, has taken quite the turn. I'm excited to see what life brings next. Although, with all the good news and wonderful things that have happened, something bad is bound to happen. Let's just hope it's not for a long, long time!