Faith...

Faith is not without worry or care, but faith is fear that has said a prayer. ~Author Unknown

Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens. ~J.R.R. Tolkien

Faith is like radar that sees through the fog. ~Corrie Ten Boom, Tramp for the Lord

A little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but a lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul. ~Author Unknown

Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to. ~George Seaton

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Faith makes the discords of the present the harmonies of the future. ~Robert Collyer

Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death. ~Author Unknown

Faith is believing that the outcome will be what it should be, no matter what it is. ~Colette Baron-Reid

Faith can move mountains, but don't be surprised if God hands you a shovel. ~Author Unknown

Reason is our soul's left hand, Faith her right. ~John Donne

Faith makes things possible, not easy. ~Author Unknown

Faith is courage; it is creative while despair is always destructive. ~David S. Muzzey

Faith is a passionate intuition. ~William Wordsworth

To me faith means not worrying. ~John Dewey

Faith is reason grown courageous. ~Sherwood Eddy

Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother. ~Kahlil Gibran

Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. And lo, no one was there. ~Author Unknown

Tis the season...to be a MINION!

I was at the hospital on a delivery one day.

Saw a pumpkin that was painted as a Minion

from despicable me...

I sent a picture of it to aubrey..."Costume?"

She didn't hesitate to say "YES!"

Off to walmart I went that night.

After a few trips to different stores,

our costume was completed.

We went to a party in Salt Lake

last saturday.

It was so much fun!

Some people thought we were bumble bees...

We would just say, "Whaaa??"

Then they knew exactly who we were.

Elsa and her roomie Jace came toward the end.

Their costumes were fan-freaking-tastic!

Hoops and Yoyo!

Els and I LOVE Hoops and Yoyo!

It was fun to see her and Jace in their creative costumes!

Go on facebook onto my profile and "LIKE" their picture!

They are in a Sammy's Costume Contest for $200!

Anyhoo...

Aubs and I went to another Halloween party here at our apartment complex!

Our roomie, Kat, won most creative costume...

Heck ya she did!

She was charmander!

Our other roomie, Hoa, dressed up as little Agnis from Despicable Me.

She was sooo cute! She even had a little unicorn!

We had a blast!

By Small and Simple Things...

"By small and simple things are great things brought to pass..."

This has been my little motto for the past few weeks.

About a month ago, I was having bad luck in life.

Bad days at work.

Mean professors.

Sickness.

And just crummy days.

I decided to make some changes in my life.

Going to bed a little earlier.

Eating healthier.

Studying harder.

Praying every night.

And making better choices in my life.

These small choices made HUGE changes in my life.

Things are going very well and I couldn't be happier.

I find myself having more energy.

A bigger desire to be adventurous.

More willing to meet new people.

And draw closer to my Savior.

I'm not the only one who has experienced this in my life.

I hear about stories from other people who have experienced this too.

I heard one today.

It was living and walking proof that by

keeping the commandments,

being more positive,

communicating with your Heavenly Father,

being healthy,

etc. etc.

you will be blessed.

I don't know what this year would be like if I hadn't made the decision to move out.

It was a scary decision because I still wasn't 100% sure if coming to UVU was the best choice.

But after these past 2 weeks...

I am 100% sure of my decision.

I've gotten to know Aubs in a different way.

I got lucky with 4 other incredible roomies.

My relationship with my family has improved.

And my relationship with other people in my life has improved as well.

I'm stronger in testimony.

I'm more independent.

I'm more motivated to do well in school.

I'm working on going to the gym.

I'm working on managing my time and money.

I'm working on my confidence in myself and others.

But I know I am blessed to be where I am at in life.

Yep...

"By SMALL and simple things...are GREAT things brought to pass."

Miracle Monday...

To start off....

I'm not a huge fan of Mondays..

I don't know anyone who is.

But today...

I LOVE MONDAYS!

I woke up and I looked at my phone to see that I had received a facebook message from one of my best friends..Trent.

Everyone deserves a message early in the morning saying good things about you and to have a good day.

I know that I definitely needed one.

Work was work.

While I was out on a delivery, I received a phone call from my friend Brian.

He gave me same good news and I was on cloud 9 for the rest of my shift.

Came home from work to head off to school.

Lo and behold...

A post-it note from my roommate Aubrey...

Me and Aubrey leave each other post-it notes for each other a lot of the time.

Aubrey knows just what to say in her notes to me.

It's TRUE!

Best friends are like sisters God forgot to give us!

I was already blessed to 2 sisters...Bethany and Jessica.

But God decided I would need more...so he gave me 2 more!

Aubrey and Elsa!

Anyhoosers...

Got ready for class and headed off to campus.

I received a strong impression to text a dear friend of mine...

Stephanie Wood.

She is one of my old dance teachers and one of my best friends.

All I said was, "Hey Steph! Sure love you!"

Turns out...Steph needed that text.

We both did.

We are both experiencing something in life where we can relate to each other.

Talking to her about her situation helped me forget about all of my problems and just focus on her.

I needed that.

Thanks Steph!

I had a good 45 minutes to kill before class.

So I got some studying in for my psychology midterm.

As I started studying, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I looked up and saw a complete stranger.

He was an older looking man with a baseball cap, a UVU t-shirt and a bushy brown beard.

He said,

"You have a beautiful smile!"

Weirdly enough....I teared up a little bit as I thanked him.

Then I watched has he walked down to another desk and said to a stranger,

"I hope you have a wonderful day!"

I sat back in my chair and observed this man.

He walked down the hallway and said "hello!" to every one he passed.

It's people like him that inspire me to be more friendly and happy.

He will never know how much he changed my life today.

It took me a while to focus back on my psychology notes.

I just smiled the whole time.

Went to class and then came back home.

Sat and talked with Aubrey and Addison for a bit

and made myself a BLT.

I can honestly say that I am happy with where I am at right now.

This year is incredibly different than last year.

This is just a small testimony builder to me that prayers ARE answered.

That there IS someone on the other side listening to me.

Crying with me.

Laughing with me.

Blessing me with days like today.

Yes yes...

Rainy days and Mondays get me down....

But not today....

Miracle Mondays bring me up.

Eternally Grateful...

Today we had an interesting lecture in psychology.

Abuse.

Tonight I heard horror stories.

Stories I wish wouldn't be true.

Not only did I realize how big of an issue abuse it.

But I realized how amazing my family is.

I sat there in class thinking about my fam damily.

My parents who are incredible.

My sisters who are my bestest friends.

My brothers who are my pals.

My brother in law who is more like a true brother to me.

My future brother in law who adds a lot to our family.

Even my dog, Oscar came to mind.

We often take our families for granted.

I am so grateful to be living in a church where

the main concept is family.

My dad is a worthy priesthood holder

and not only caters to the needs of his family

but the needs of the members of his ward.

He is the best bishop I know.

My mom is one of my best friends.

She calls each one of her kids EVERYDAY.

Just to say "I love you."

Whether we live at home, in provo or even New York.

That phone call comes without failure.

I have 2 sisters. Man.

I can't express how much I love those 2 girls.

Jess and I are 7 years apart.

Beth and I are 5 years apart.

When we are all together,

You would think we were triplets.

I am so lucky to call my sisters my best friends.

My 2 brothers are hilarious.

I can always call them up for a good laugh.

I actually just got off the phone with Hugh 5 minutes ago.

What a blessing is it to be able to call Hugh or Stephen up just to say hello.

My brother in law and future brother in law are the best things that have happened to this family.

Seeing the love Jake has for Jess and

the love Andy has for Beth,

brings nothing but joy to my heart.

Sound so cliche and cheesy, but there is no

other way to describe it.

I have had amazing talks with both of them and the way they talk about my sisters

makes me want to find a future spouse who will talk the same way about me.

Jake, officially being in the family has become a legitimate brother to me.

I call him up often times to get a hold of Jess...but we usually end up having our own conversation for quite some time.

I look forward to getting to know Andy even more.

In Rosemary Beach, we had some good talks about life in general.

Of course, Beth was brought up.

But I got to know Andy as a brother.

Bottom line all you followers of my blog...

my family is the best.

I am so blessed.

I will never take them for granted.

We are eternal.

The Lord blessed me by putting me in this family.

He knew that I was going to go through some pretty rough times down here on Earth.

There is no way that I would have been able to get through some of them without my family.

My family takes my side in any situation.

I specifically remember Junior year of high school...

Drama was going on with some people.

I was an emotional wreck.

It was late late on a Tuesday night.

I was in my bed in tears.

Surrounded by...

Jessica

Bethany

My mom

My cousins, Kim

Missy

Steph.

They had my back.

They held my hand.

They cuddled with me on my small bed.

They wiped my tears.

They got me laughing by the end of the night.

I will never forget that night.

I will never forget the love I have for my family.

I am the luckiest girl in the world.

Argue all you want...

but..

my family is the best family out there.

The Ending of a Good Week..

Thursday came around.

Work went well.

Nappy time with Aubs!

Then off on a double date!

Started out with dinner at Rumbi.

Ice cream at Coldstone.

Then off to iceskating...

Well...

Not really.

The rink was booked for hockey practice.

We ended up watched a hockey game at another rink.

It was quite enjoyable!

This is was fun date with Todd Sorensen and Aubrey and Carlos!

Friday started out a little rocky.

But got better thank goodness!

Work was good.

My dear friend Trent came down!

He surprised me with SANUKS!

We saw them at the mall a few months ago.

I fell in love.

He was so sweet and bought me a pair!

We both say it's like wearing sweats on your feet.

Me and Trent both LOVE sweats.

So why not wear them on your feet?

Trent is pretty darn amazing!

Later me and Aub's friend, Addison,

treated us to dinner at Legend's Grill.

Thank Add!

Friday was a wonderful day.

Saturday.

Woke up to:

"Hey Annie...I have a zit on my foot.

I'm going to pop it...do you have a band-aide?"

Gee....Thanks Kat...9:30 and I already lost my appetite..

No cereal for me.

Then me and Aubrey went on one of our favorite things!...

ROAD TRIP!!...To salt lake of course.

But every time Aubs and I go on a drive together..

whether it's just to class or home...it's always so much fun.

We blast our music and sing just like the artist....or atleast attempt to.

We have a playlist called, "Aub and Ann's Jam"

Long Live...

Stereo Hearts...

Dare to Dream... (favorite)

Forever...

Larger Than Life...

Single Ladies...

and of course...

Cheers (Drink to That)...

Ya...it's pretty fan-freakin-tastic!

After dropping off Aubrey,

I met up with my mom and bethany at Mary's Bridal.

Beth was getting her dress fitted!

Then I hear my mom say...

"Hey Ann...try on some dresses!"

ooookay mom...why not?!

It got me really excited for when it really is my turn!

Buuuut....I got nothing but time!

After lunch with mom and dad and beth,

I headed over to the Paulsen's home!

This is like my second family!

I had a good talk with Lori!

She is my second Mommy!

I painted Olivia, Ana AND Kambria's nails.

The 3 little sisters I never had...

Got to see James for a bit too!

Always good to see an old friend.

Picked up Trent and went to Zupas

to pick up a pay check!

I love getting $28 checks.

haha

Off to "Annie"!

My little brother, Stephen, is in it.

So we enjoyed watching him!

It was an amazing show!

I highly recommend it.

AND I got to see some old high school friends!

Lizzie Carter and Sarah Funk are some of my favorite people.

Sunday came around.

PRIMARY PROGRAM!!

Best day to choose to go to the home ward!

Came home.

Nap time for me, Stephen and Beth!

Best home cooked dinner made by mamacita.

Steak, mashed potatoes, corn bread, salad....and peach cobbler to finish it off.

Came back down to Orem.

Shortly after, Brian and Jamo came down.

We watched Lord of the Rings.

They are going to come down again and we are going to have a marathon this week.

I love those guys!

We have some fun Halloween and Christmas plans.

Couldn't have asked for better friends.

Someone Loves Me...

So I mentioned in an earlier post that last week was pretty darn miserable

Well it's the total opposite this week!

Holler!!...Me and Aubrey say that a lot.

Monday started off pretty well.

Went to science.

Went to work.

Went to Student Success.

Went to psychology...

NOT!

Our ward had FHE and I was stupid and signed up for Monday night classes.

I had the feeling to go to FHE so I followed that and went!

We went to Cornbellies at Thanksgiving Point and it was fantastic!

Me, Aubrey, Carlos and Kat drove together.

We did the corn maze first.

Nailed in. 10 minutes flat.

I will admit that we did cut corn...oops.

Losey and I "lost"

BUSTED!

The crew!

We ran into our friend Aimee from Clayton!

We also met her friend Jesse!

They came over to the apartment after FHE with their friend Daniel.

It's always fun making new friends!

"I'd drink to that!"

We love jamming in Carlos' stang!

Tuesday was a new day!

Woke up to go to work.

Work is getting a lot better compared to my first day.

Lots of change for me this year.

After work, Aubs and I were off to photography!

We took a quiz on an article we didn't read.

Luckily it was open laptop...so we dominated.

We left a little early...

My friend Trent came down for the night.

We dropped Aubrey off at class.

Off to the mall..

You know how much I love shopping..

Luckily we were only there for a good 7 minutes.

We bought Aubsie new guitar strings.

Trent is a pro so he noticed that her strings were worn down.

Then to panda!

Can I eat any of that food?..

NOPE.

But I was craving me some panda so we got some dinner.

Shortly after getting back, I left to go get Aubrey.

She took her psych test.

I know she aced it.

Always does!

We watched Across the Universe for a bit.

Then Trent re-strung the guitar.

I helped...sort of.

Saying goodnight to a dear friend is never fun.

I'm so blessed to have so many amazing people in my life!

Bed time came....at 2:30 AM.

Woke up as a zombie this morning.

Went to science, work and student success.

Mondays and Wednesdays are not my favorite days.

LONG.

Work was good today!

On my delivery, I noticed that I was missing an earring.

Not just an earring...Aubrey's favorite pair.

I told her about it and she was super great about it.

I offered to buy her a new pair.

As luck would have it, I didn't have to.

I got back to the store and the first thing I saw on the counter was the earring.

Blessings.

Then I turn around and guess who I see??

The one and only MINDY GLEDHILL!

She is one of my all time favorite musicians.

I taught her niece, Becca Winkle, last year at Clayton.

We actually danced to "Hourglass"...one of her songs.

I really look up to Mindy.

I ended up talking to her about her music and how wonderful her family is.

She was so darling!!

First person I had to tell was my best friend Elsa Jensen!

We talked on the phone about it.

Els is the one that got me into loving Mindy Gledhill!

I knew it was her because of her cute freckle under her left eye :)

Came home from work.

Opened my laptop.

Aubrey had left a post-it note on my screen.

We do that a lot to each other.

Today's note was extra special to me.

I was talking to her earlier today about some stuff that was on my mind.

She was nothing but supportive and amazing to talk to!

The note just made my life so much easier.

It's stuff like this that makes me so happy she is not only one of my best friends....

But my roommate AND little sister.

I look up to her in so many ways.

Now the title of this post is called "Someone Loves Me..."

That someone is my Heavenly Father.

Ya last week was lousy...but he is giving me this week to make up for it.

I've said my prayers every night without fail since I moved down here.

I feel His hand in my life every day.

All I need to do is live my life right so that I can continue to feel His spirit.

I'm so thankful for my amazing family and friends.

I've never been so happy.

I have amazing friends down here in Orem

I have amazing friends up at BYU-Idaho

I have amazing friends up in Salt Lake who come visit me down here.

I have an amazing and supportive family.

Ya...Someone Loves Me...

A Sunday full of Diversity!

So Aubrey and I got back to Orem late late Saturday night..

This resulted in us sleeping in on Sunday...

BUT! We did make it to sacrament meeting.

Where me and Aubrey were sustained for our new callings.

Aubs is on the Relief Society weekday activity planning committee...

She will do amazing things. haha

I am the ward choir pianist..

Wow...didn't see that one coming...

I've only had 4 other music callings.

But I am happy with it.

And every one sustained us! Hooray!

We came home to do some relaxing.

Our friend Kib came over and started making pupusas!

It's a Salvadorian meal.

My dad served in El Salvador and so we've had those a few times.

They were DELISH!

We enjoyed our pupusas while watching Modern Family.

I LOVE this show now!

Our other friend Jeremy from upstairs came over.

He started making us enchiladas.

I thought I would never have a home cooked Sunday meal while living down here.

Man we got it good!

They took a long time to make.

So worth it though!

We had a load of diversity in apt. H-1149 tonight!

We enjoyed the company of an:

asian

honduran

mexican/bolivian

mexican

and an indian

How awesome is that?

Aubrey, Elise and I were the only white girls present haha

Then I found a jabbawockeez mask on our counter after ward prayer

Kept me entertained for a bit!

Everyone decided to watch a scary movie.

Carlos, Aubrey, Me...not fans

So we sat in our room and played the guitar and had some good talks with our friend Losey!

(Carlos)

We took some fun pictures.

So much better than wetting my pants from a scary movie.

Then we had a visitor!

Our friend Todd.

Him and Carlos spoke in Espanol throughout the night.

Aubs and I spoke to each other in German.

It was great.

Just kidding

But we all had a grand ol' time in the room of Annie and Aubrey

I'd say it was a good Sabbath for H-1149!

An Amazing Weekend of Love....

This past week was really lousy due to

work, school and other stuff...

Started off my Friday with a hope for a good day.

Did I get that good day?

Not at the beginning...

Came home from work in tears to my roomie Aubs.

She did nothing but comfort me and hug me.

Much needed.

She is amazing!

We went to our photography lab which was great!

Our instructor is HILAR!...as Aubsie would say.

Aub was the class model for "awkward, distorted face" pictures.

She still looked beautiful!

Met up with our friend Sarah Howard.

Off to Salt Lake!

Best part of the drive was talking on the phone with our dear friend.

Carlos.

He is a new friend of me and Aubrey.

Upon our arrival, Brian Wilder came over.

He treated me and Aubrey to Zupas!

Aubs got the TBA and I got a salad.

Oh ya...I can really only have salads from there now...

This darn Celiac disease!

Stories were shared and tears were shed...

K no tears...but good/okay stories were told.

We love Brian!

Last year Aubrey and I went to Freaky Fridays.

It's a Halloween show that Clayton puts on every Friday in October.

Highly recommend it!

Before Freaky Fridays last year, we visited our beautiful friend Sophie at her grave.

She passed away last summer and will never be forgotten.

To keep this tradition living, Aubs and I decided to go to Freaky Fridays.

It gets better and better every year! We saw Aubrey's brother Austin!

He did amazing!

I also saw 2 of my old dance students I taught last year!

Mikala and Shanay! They were good looking zombies!

Before we went to the show, we visited Sophie.

It was such a sweet experience to have with Aubrey.

They have dozens of roses set up.

An angel statue.

And a garden sign with her name in it along with a laminated picture of Sophie and a scripture from Proverbs.

Aubrey and I just stood there in the rain.

Hugging each other.

Crying.

And telling memories of Sophie.

It's moments like that where you learn to appreciate life and loved ones.

I've never been more grateful for my best friend Aubrey.

Sharing that moment with her was life changing for us.

"Feel the fear and do it anyways."

-Sophie Rose Barton

After dropping Aubrey off at her house, I headed over to visit my dear friend Trent.

On the way over there, I talked with my best friend Elsa on the phone!

I miss her.

She goes to BYU-I.

It was good to just talk to her and catch up!

Trent treated me to Cafe Rio.

Thank goodness I can still eat that!

Then off to Target!

We got some food for Trent for his Saturday meal.

I saw Boo Berries...Brian's favorite cereal.

I couldn't help but throw a box in the basket.

We went back to Trent's and watched a food TV show with his fam.

It was great!

Gotta love the English family.

Then Trent got me into Modern Family.

Never seen it.

Loved it?

YES!

Trent and I enjoyed a fun talk full of random questions and laughs.

Good day!

Woke up Saturday morning to a busy busy day!

Ran errands for my mom. (She was out of town)

Stephen had homecoming that night so I had to get his shoes, tie and flowers!

Stephen and I before Homecoming

He looked so handsome!

My mom is a rock star.

I don't know how she does it!

Then off to the temple to watch my best friend Megan Brock walk out after getting sealed.

Steph Dowse and I drove together and had an amazing talk!

I love her!!

Then Megan and Garret came out!

Megan and Garret were glowing!

Stephanie Dowse and I were "unofficial bridesmaids"

What an honor??

We were able to spend the whole day with a beautiful bride!

Her reception was amazing!

Greg Dowse was my date!

We were early so we stopped by a pizza place and got a pizza!

Did I eat some?

You betcha!

Did I feel sick after?

You betcha!

A photobooth+yummy treats+dancing+Jordan & Denise Sinquefield=an amazing night!

!

Good ol' Clayton friends!

Catching up with childhood friend-Brynnie Bug!

Me, Steph and Camille!

So happy for Megs and Garret!

Our best friend's wedding!

Steph, Greg, Garret's friends and I had the honor to decorate the car!

Window markers, oreos, TP, balloons and streamers were our weapons!

Came home and got some laundry done while I had a visit with Trent!

Family came home from Arizona!

So happy to see them!

Aubs came over and we headed back down to Orem.

Was it was lousy, busy week?

Yep.

Was is an amazing weekend??

Oh ya!