Labor day weekend

Can I just say this weekend was fantastic? Because it really was.

Highlights:

Friday: I stayed up late with Maddie and Debra, watching movies and such. Then I stayed up until 4 AM reading The Hunger Games. I couldn't put it down until it was done.

Saturday: Maddie and Debra and I tried to go the whole day without quoting Nacho Libre. See, Nacho works his way into our lives with almost every sentence that we hear or speak. So people thing we don't know a buttload of crap about anything besides Nacho, but we DO. . . . Needless to say, we failed pretty miserably. Debra and I were going to go get pedicures, but they were booked up. So we have appointments for this Friday! I am so excited. I read the first 1/3 of Catching Fire and only put it down because I wanted to spend time with the girls.

Sunday: Fast and testimony meeting. The Spirit taught me some really amazing things about myself and my goals. Some uneasiness that I have felt about my post-college plans was alleviated, and I was reminded again of the love my Father in Heaven has for me. I also got called to be one of the Activities Committee co-chairs in my ward. Especially since I have more time to be social this semester, I already love my calling and I can't wait to serve in that capacity and hopefully expand my creative outlet and have some fun. After church, we had a break-the-fast, then my good friend Matt Street came to visit. The last time I saw him was almost three years ago, and it was a blast to be with him again! We spent the evening laughing, catching up, and cooking food with my roomies. We made enough food for us to eat semi-healthily throughout the week without having to spend time cooking every night. Also, I discovered that if you season chicken with cinnamon, your barbecue chicken will be nothing short of bangin. I started reading Catching Fire again around 12:30 AM and read until 5 AM. I couldn't put it down until it was done. I should learn to be less obsessive about books, yeah? (I refuse to start Mockingjay until all my homework is done for the week. We'll see if that works out . . .)

Monday: Labor day. Oh, and my birthday. :) I woke up around 8:30 and dilly-dallied around the house. Debra refused to let me make my own birthday cake, but I helped a lot anyway. The cake was AWESOME. Let's just say that we wanted to make tie-dyed shirts for my birthday, and I felt like the cake and chip dip would have felt left out if they didn't get tie-dyed too. So they did. I'll post some pictures once I get them from Maddie. We went to the park and made shirts that turned out awesome! Then Debra treated Maddie and me to Wendy's. I gotta hand it to Debbles, she puts up with a lot from the two of us. We were pulling faces and making weird noises and stuff, but she handled it with her usual grace and poise. And she loved watching us make fools of ourselves too, I'm sure. ("I looked like a fool last night!" -- Nacho) Later on we had FHE, where we played a few get-to-know-you games. And I held hands with two boys. At the same time. Boombaby! Happy birthday to me.

You know those times in life where you just feel so good about everything? When things are going well all the time? And even though there are things that you wouldn't mind having happen in your life, you're so happy about the good stuff that the bad just doesn't matter as much as it could? Well that is how my life has felt pretty much all the time ever since I came back to Provo, but especially this weekend. There have been some frustrations and uncertainties, minor disappointments and stresses, but the good elements of my life have been so stinkin' gratifying that those other things don't phase me. I know that my Heavenly Father has blessed me in unimaginable ways for me to feel this way. Now, I'm no stranger to happiness, but I feel like God has truly blessed me with joy here lately. I think that, through all the doubts I've had about various things the past few months, this joy is His way of telling me that He is proud of me, and that I am where I need to be. It's an addictive feeling; I want to feel like this forever! I'm so glad to know that I can.