happy halloween, in two parts

PART ONE:
In honor of Halloween, and the candy it supplies, I have decided to dedicate part this post to Gourmet S'mores.

A Gourmet S'more is when you use different candy instead of just a chocolate bar. I'm sure many people have heard of Reese's S'mores; same concept. I have tried it with Reese's, Milky Ways (my favorite candy bar), Snickers, and Mounds. I haven't tried it with any non-chocolate candy, and I wouldn't suggest it. I look forward to also trying it with Whatch-ma-call-it's, 5th Avenues, Crunchs, 100 Grands, 3 Musketeers, Health Bars, and Fast Breaks.

How to make a Gourmet S'more without starting a fire:
1- Obtain 1 candy, 1 gram, 1 mallow
2- cut candy to fit gram (I like to cut the fun size candies [Milky Way, Snickers, 3 Musketeers, etc.] in half)
3- microwave mallow on half a gram for 15'ish seconds, or until it starts to expand
4- squish gram with mallow onto gram with candy and let sit until chocolate starts to melt
5- CONSUME!!!
6- repeat it desired. and you will desire!

PART TWO:
Have you ever sat back and looked at the last week, month, or year and thought, "Wow, a TON has happened!" For some odd reason, lots of epic things tend to happen in my life during the month of October. As this month has progressed, I have been thinking back to last year and what I was doing then. And now that it's Halloween, the most epic of all October days, I have been slightly impressed by how much I have changed. This side of a year ago, I didn't have a specific favorite color and now I do; it's sky blue. I didn't have a favorite band or genre that I loved and now I do; Led Zeppelin and Classic Rock. I was also struggling with a career choice. I was dancing back a forth between journalism, horse training, and something medical. I have now settled on Marriage & Family Therapist. I didn't have tons of thoughts on politics and I tended to be a little bit of a flip-flopper when it came to a lot of things in life. Over the last year or so, I feel that I have cemented as a person, which I am very grateful for.

So, happy Halloween :P

itchy feet

Have you ever been driving around town or walking down the street and you suddenly get the urge to hurry home, pack your things, and move to somewhere completely different? Maybe it's because I'm having a hard time dealing with the death of my horse, or maybe it's because I've lived in the same town for over 20 years, or maybe it's because I'm under so much stress that I get heartburn so bad I can't move! I don't know!! But I really want to move away. I want to find a job in tourist/recreation town like West Yellowstone or Jackson Hole or Park City, work as a waitress or in a bookstore and then just work and meet people and be surrounded by lovely mountains. I want to live somewhere I've never lived before and be free to dance and go to movies and date.

I hate the cold but for some really odd reason I can totally see myself settling down in a small town in Wyoming. I don't like being cold and I don't like it when the wind messes up my hair, but as I'm driving around town, or working at the barn I can just feel Wyoming calling to me. I've been working towards going on a mission but now I'm scared that isn't the correct route. I still headed in that direction though. I've considered doing a study abroad semester or just taking a semester off to work (like in the aforementioned situation). I don't know why my feet are so itchy but I can't shake the feeling to runaway.

the apple tree

Every young woman who has ever been involved with the LDS Mutual Program has heard the analogy of the apple tree. We are the beautiful apples who are high up on the tree and very hard to reach easily but because of it, we don't get lots of attention from boys. We need to wait for a boy to come around who will be willing to climb the tree and pick us, rather than pick up one of the fallen apples from off the ground. I have often wondered if the young men ever get the same type of story. I bring this up because I have realized something as of late: this story goes both ways! If I want a really good guy, the kind of guy my dad wants for me and the kind of guy I want for my children, then I need to be willing to crawl and scrap and climb to the top of the tree and find him. This will require patience, courage, perseverance, and a few of those other hard to practice virtues.

Another applicable quote is this: "Every time we give in to our short-term desires, we put off reaching our long-term goals." Granted, I read this is in a chapter about dieting, but I think that it still applies. A friend of mine told me this morning that I seem to be a little bit of a "douche magnet" and that makes reaching my long-term goal (a really good guy as a husband) hard to reach. These fella's I seem to attract are cute, fun to cuddle with and seemingly nice, but very few of them have the qualities that I want in my partner, so the question is, "Why do I pick them up?" The answer, "Because they are easy to reach." Shallow, yes, but it's the truth. That's not saying that every guy I've ever dated is "easy to reach," it is saying that as of late I am not climbing high enough.

I can think of three guys off the top of my head that I would love a chance to get to know better, but they are VERY high up on the tree and will take lots of work with no guarantee of a reward. Again, shallow, I know. As I have been contemplating this, I have come to a crossroads. I can either keep my eyes on the ground, searching for the easy to reach apples and satisfaction of my short-term desires, or I can look up, put on my gloves and start climbing towards the beautiful apples and my long-term goals. Another downside to aiming so high up on the tree is that if I fall, it is a long way back to the ground and it will hurt when I land. So the next question I have for myself is, "Is it worth it?"

be who you are at all times and in all places

Don't you love it when people act one way with one group of friends and a completely different way with another group? I'm a pretty good girl, I try to keep my cussing in check and I know how and when to be respectful. But on the same side of that coin, I'm kinda crude in that I do have some colorful language, and I'm not ashamed to talk about the kitten I dissected for my 19th birthday (it. was. awesome!) or things like that... you know, non-girly, nerdy type things. Not too long ago, I would try to be more girly around guys I liked and I wouldn't be my real self, because I was told that it was "too tomboy." Well, I got into a relationship and since I hadn't really been myself at the beginning, it was hard to be myself once I was in the thick of things. I eventually lost my mind in that relationship because I felt like I couldn't be "me" and that was entirely my fault. Since the end of that relationship, I have been striving to be me at all times and in all places. That means holding my tongue when I really want to just let the colors fly, and speaking up for what I believe in when it might not be the "popular" thing.

I love it when I find people who aren't afraid to be themselves and who stand up for what they think, no matter what those thoughts may be. Sure, I may not agree with you 100% of the time, but I'll admire you for having the guts to be you. I love it when people are upfront and honest from the start because then it makes it so easy to get to them and learn to trust them, which is the basis of any good relationship. I'd rather people were themselves and we find out that our personalities just don't jive than end up being friends or friendlier and emotionally involved then find out we don't jive.

If you don't know how to be yourself at all times and in all places, then write down your values- decided what you like and don't like and what you support and don't support then look at your list. Think about all the places you go each week, school, religious services, social activities, and review your list- do you like and support the same things in each of those places? If not, figure out why! Do you support one thing at church and not at school because it's the popular thing to do at the time? If so, that is no bueno. Have confidence in yourself. If you're afraid of losing friends over letting your real self show, then those friends weren't true friends in the first place.

I will stipulate that some mannerisms offend some people and you must make the very personal decision of whether or not those people are worth changing those mannerisms for. If they are worth changing for, than there is no shame in changing. If they aren't worth changing for, than there could be shame in changing anyway.

At the end of the day, are you proud of yourself? Do you like who you are? Can you sleep peacefully at night?

And so it begins

I love my life, that is fact. Even though I am young by most peoples standards, I have seen and experienced my fair share and I have many thoughts on these things. Most of what I write will have a rambling feel to it and may seem incoherent. I like to pretend that someone will read this and find it slightly hilarious.

I am a student at Utah State and I hope to one day complete a degree in Marriage & Family Therapy. I love to go country swing dancing and horseback riding. I also love to read and to learn. I like science fiction and action movies. I eat more fruits and vegetables in one week than most people eat in one month and I don't like the smell of meat. I am also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and I value and believe in my religion.