spring semester

so... what to say. spring semester has started, and I am enjoying all of them. Advanced swimming is a challenge. (I'd like to think that it's because of the elevation up here than me actually being out of shape.) I think it is a good combination of both actually. One of my roommates talked me into a competitive ultimate frisbee team. Which of course I joined and I would feel bad for backing out when I already committed to it. Turns out that I am no good at throwing a frisbee... Which is quite funny i guess, cause my team rocks!!! and then there is me, which is completely fine :)
I also joined a co-ed grass volleyball team for the ward, which i am excited for... but not at the same time... cause i am so very very rusty on my volleyball skills. And my bad shoulder has been acting up ever since i've started swimming. so... BLEH! haha... wish me luck!

my cousin elle :) i'm up there at least twice a week to hold her

SO... We got super hyper. This is about 3 in the morning... we watched forever strong and wanted to be all tribal

Yeah... I have no idea what we were doing. It was one of those intense moments that only pictures can describe.

home sweet home...

I went home this past week and had the best week ever!! I should start by saying that I didn't even write about General Conference! It was such a great experience and I sat really close to the front and my all time favorite part was when President Monson walked in and everyone got completely silent and stood up. That was so cool to be a part of. I really enjoyed the talk by Dieter Uchtdorf on waiting on the road to Damascus... That was a super great talk.
So... I flew home, and my brother and sister didn't even know that I was coming. I hid in the trunk of my mom's van and they opened it and I popped out, they were so shocked that they just looked at me for a while before they comprehended that I was really back, then they attacked me with hugs and many many stories. They both tried to fill me in on what I missed the past 3 months in less than ten minutes, and IT WAS GREAT!!!We just talked about everything and went out to eat.

Brittany Murray and I one night went to Krispy Kreme and got a whole dozen donuts (no, i didn't eat all of my half, I brought them home to share).  That was super random and fun, then we went back to my house to watch a movie with my mom, and my mom and I fell asleep in the first 15 minutes, so poor Brittany had to watch the movie all alone until my little brother got home from the stake dance and watched the end with her.
I had an amazing week and I don't even think that I can put everything into words. I think what made it so great is that we just all spent time together and didn't really have to do anything super fun and exciting. The important thing was that I was there and I had a week to spend with my family.

 I attempted to lay out and tan, but I always get bored. I only lasted about 30 minutes, but i do have a noticeable tan line :)
 On my last night with my family, we went all out in our Bradford craziness with our puppy Rio.
OH MY GOSH!!! I almost forgot to say... Rio remembered me :) My parents and I lined up and were super quiet and Clay and Ash let Rio off and she started running for me, and then my mom and then my dad and then realized who I was and she completely went crazy!!! SHE REMEMBERED ME!! Which everyone told me she would, but it was still super stressful. It was super cute and she went crazy. So that was a random side note. Back to my last night... Oh where to begin. We were playing with a glow in the dark frisbee, which I am horrible at and I threw it in my pool and had to jump in and get it. Holy cow that pool felt amazing!!! I miss swimming and everything.

My siblings ROCK

MY RIO!

sit, stay.................................stay........................stay.........................GET IT!!!!

inner tube wars... us Bradfords don't need to have stuff to be entertained... we'll just find whatever is laying around the yard!

She doesn't like to be held... can you tell? I think she has some claustrophobia issues... hmm...

His attempt was to try to touch the ceiling... Isn't he CUTE??

I had to leave last night and it was so so hard to do. I absolutely LOVE my family!!! I want to go on and on about how amazing my family is but honestly, I can't even put into words how amazing my family is!!! I'm so happy I got to spend time with them:) Can't wait for July!

dOnE!!

I am officially done with my first semester of college! I am so excited!!! Tomorrow I fly home for a week to see my family! Clay and Ashlin dont know that i am coming, so its going to be a complete surprise and I can't wait to see their reactions. Overall the semester went well, Holly is leaving and it was pretty horrible. We got all teary, back to Ohio she goes! I loved our late nights and all we went through together... The good and the bad. I absolutely love going to this college. So this past last week has actually been quite eventful for me...

I had my first Jamba Juice and I am SO glad that Megan and Holly got to experience it with me

After Jamba, we went to the movies and saw Beastly which i have to say, my favorite movie ever is beauty and the beast, so i definitely loved the movie because it is super cute!

OH MY GOSH.... here is the story behind this gorgeous hole in our wall. It was super late at night and it was really early in the morning. I had the random urge to do something stupid, so I decided to climb the wall and see if I could reach the ceiling. So I got up there, and as Megan started to climb up the wall, her foot went completely through the wall. We laughed for Hours! It was a way to end the semester with a "bang".

This morning,we went to the Crossroads and had the last meal of the semester together. Breakfast!!! BISCUITS&GRAVYY!!

I horribly photoshopped an arrow in the picture just so you can see this ridiculous YAK! My aunt took me to see a yak farm by her house and so i went up to pet one and as two started to warm up to me, the one that the arrow is pointing at charged me from across the field. I ran the fastest I think that I have ever ran before!! I was absolutely terrified.

I am NOT a fan of yaks.

GENERAL CONFERENCE

This is me with my friend Nicole Peters and her roomates in front of the temple before conference on Saturday

If you can see behind us, all of those suits... yepp you thought right... MISSIONARIES!!! there were so many of them!! We had to hold Ellie back and remind her that they were serving the Lord.

Ellie and me in front of the temple

Nicole and me

We were on the trax and thought it was the coolest thing ever!!

We both left our coats in Elle's car so we were just in our dresses. When we got off the trax, it wasn't only cold and snowing, but it was hailing!!! so we had to document this moment in time.

A New Me

 I AM GOING TO GENERAL CONFERENCE for the Saturday afternoon session!!!
 anyways...
Let me start out by saying, my Facebook is officially gone. I feel such a relief that i don't have one anymore. There is something about being disconnected with everyone that is such a great feeling and it gives me a sense of privacy. There are about 200 people that i don't even really know that well that had access to basically my life story. I was looking at statistics about Facebook tonight. The problem with facebook, is that i think my generation is horrible at communication. I have noticed that a ton of my conversations have been over Facebook and i felt like it would be in my best interest to delete it and be old-fashioned in my way of meeting people and getting to know people. Did you know that 1 in 5 divorces are over facebook? That is just crazy intense. Even though when i get married, i will plan to spend eternity with him, Satan works on our weaknesses. I think that technology is a good thing for us to have but honestly, i don't even think that i want the temptation there. I think that people in my past have influenced my life, but i don't think that it is necessary to completely stay in contact with everyone that we have ever met. Just my personal opinion.
There is an amazing talk that I love by David A. Bednar entitled "Things as They Really Are." I would definitely recommend it if you haven't read it. Our bodies are temples and Satan is trying everything that he can to defile them. Eternal relationships are VERY important to me and an important part of our religion. It is a sacred bond that we have to be pure to have. This world that we live in now, it demeans our relationships and the importance of them.
I am currently reading a book by Sheri Dew entitled "No Doubt About It". There is a part in it that i have been thinking a lot about. It says, "Am I the woman I think I am, the woman I want to be? More importantly am I the woman the Savior needs me to be?"
This got me thinking about who I truly am, and who I truly want to be. I try to be the best that I am. I am a daughter of God and I do my visiting teaching and I participate in my church calling and I try to reach out a helping hand to anyone that needs it or just needs someone to listen to. I am confident that I know the woman I am, but I am always looking for growth and I think that I can become so much more and with the help of my loving family and friends. What had me truly thinking though was am I the woman that the Savior wants me to be? Am I the person that I need to be so that the Savior can use me to bring others to the church, or to do whatever the Lord needs of me and to be completely receptive to the spirit. I want to continue to try my best to be all that I need to be to be an active member of our church.
Have you ever had the experiences where you ask for an answer to a problem or you just talk about having a hard time and then you find answers in the strangest ways? Well this week has been a great experience for me. I have been working on rededicating myself to the church and doing all that I can do to live like Christ would have me live. There is a song that I try to listen to almost every Sunday and it is on the I walk by faith soundtrack. Some of the lyrics say, "Have you received his image in your countenance, does the light of Christ shine in your eyes?"
Random connection to Disney, because i just have a LOVE for disney movies. In the Lion King, when Simba runs away, there is a part when he grows up and he sees his father in the sky and his father says, "You have forgotten who you are, because you have forgotten me, you have become less than who you are."
Is that what Christ thinks when we make bad decisions? He knows our potential and how much we mean to him. I want to grow and become the best disciple of Christ that I can be. 

Life for the past little while

I am absolutely loving college, but the thing is, i am totally missing my family. My little brother and sister are getting SO big and i feel like i am missing on taking them on ice cream trips and going riding with them and playing with my dog. My parents have had such an influence in my life and i couldn't ask for any better parents. Whoever i marry is going to have big shoes to fill. My dad is absolutely amazing and is such a strength to me in my life. My mom is such a strong person and if i could measure up to her in my life, i would be set forever.
 My friend Brittany Murray came to visit me this past week, and we took amazing cute pictures and she looked at the college up here. I really hope she had fun up here with me :)
 So i have been thinking a lot about my life lately. I absolutely love the gospel and i have no idea where i would be without it. I have learned so many things that have helped me through my life.I have been thinking about what i would like to do with my life. I would love to be able to serve a mission, but if i don't make it, then its not Gods plan for me. If i do happen to get married, i would love someone that loves being outside and the gospel and helps me become better and being able to be completely random and have SO much fun with life. Honesty and communication are definitely top priorities. I want the same type of relationship that my parents have with each other.
I love this opportunity to come to this college and be able to have the gospel as such a fundamental role in my learning. Devotionals are the best part of my Tuesdays. I love being able to go to the temple all the time and having it so close, and especially on a hill above the city. 
There was an amazing devotional that i heard this past Tuesday. Sister Ann M.Madsen spoke, and she talked about the importance of standing in holy places. I definitely would recommend it. I loved when she talked about the direction that the world is moving and how we need to keep the important stuff close. What hit me the most was when she called them hidden treasures. I have been thinking about that a lot this week. The gospel is such a treasure to us and i am so grateful for the gospel in my life.
I am so grateful for the atonement and knowing that no matter what, Christ always knows what i am going through and for great friends that i had in high school, so i was able to keep my standards high and keep the spirit close all of their years.
General Conference is this weekend.... im looking for a ticket, but i have been unsuccessful so far
I am so excited for the next semester coming up... I have the BEST schedule for next semester. I'll be done by 1 almost every day. and i am looking into different jobs and such.
Maybe this time a guy will actually ask me on a date!! if not, then i am one step closer to a mission... haha. Wish me luck!

BYU-IDAHO!

I absolutely love my roomates and have so much fun with them... from taking crazy pictures to going to see scary movies and making glow stick figures, we are inseperable! My classes are going good. I dont have a major yet, but i am looking into counseling or psychology or something in that field.

I miss seeing my family all the time and wish that they lived closer.

The love of my life is my yellow lab named Rio. I have had the hardest time being away from her.

I love the snow and am kinda sad that it is already melting up here!!! I have yet to go and play in the snow and go skiing, and i am realizing all the snow is melting super fast. Oh well spring is just around the corner :) and then i can go to the park and have picnics!

2 nights ago me and my roomates walked around Rexburg and took pictures at porter park and then we all went to a movie and saw red riding hood, and we liked it... a lot. And then we walked home and got all decked out in glowsticks... oh how i love college.