It's a Merry Christmas

Just soaking in this Season of Christmas this year.  I've gone caroling 3 times this weekend...I love it! Haha and other wonderful parts of Christmas time...

Roomie Adventure at City Creek!

 Love this girl.  Roommates and friends for life.

So...I have a question...does everyone love gumballs as much as I do??  Cause I love them.  Too bad these ALL belonged to the little brother. Or else they'd be gone by now.

pretty decorated tree

    snowage!!

My favorite Christmas Decoration we own, by Sarah Jane Studios.

First french braid I've ever done on myself!  It's only taken me 18 years to learn how...Oh well never too late!

"The Dikkensoo"

   My awesome Mom has been working for a while on this project to give as a gift to Dick and Sue Jacobsen.  They run the ranches Sky Mountain and Quickwater Ranch located in in the Teton Valley near Victor, ID.  We got the chance to give it to them last night and they absolutely loved it! The poem especially combined with the pictures really capture the spirit of these two and the amazing things they've done!  Here's pics of each page of the book. 

   

If you've ever been to the ranches, you know the value of having fun. You know the value of working hard, of working together.  You know the value of relationships.  You know how to make great food.  You've experienced life without the media and loud things from the outside world.  You know how to write in a journal, read scriptures, and grow closer to your Savior.  You've learned some kind of craft- whether it be photography, woodworking, horseback riding, or guitar.  I'm so grateful for all my memories at the ranch!  

{sidenote: If you click on the pictures you can go through them like a slideshow and can see them a bit better}

It seems like everyone and their dog..

...Are blogging about the Connecticut Newtown shooting.  So I turned to my dog and said, Hey dog do you wanna join everyone else and blog about Sandy Hook Elementary?  He said ok. So here I am.
   This incident really hit home for me.  I'm sure if I actually had kids or were even slightly close to that (which I'm not) it would've a lot more, but in relativity to my life up to this point, it did. I can't even imagine.  Talk about definition of a broken heart is what these parents and family members must be going through. 
  Today me and my friend drove past the elementary, and there was a class of kids on a sidewalk going on a Field Trip.  A pair of bright blue eyes with curly brown hair waved at me and I recognized James, I babysat him up until he was like 5 years old.  And he's probably seven now. The same age as these darling, angelic kids.  And he waved at me and I almost broke out in tears...cause I can't believe emptiness it would leave behind if a little boy of mine like James left this world.

  


  This interview makes me so amazed and so glad that Heavenly Father is looking out for his children.  Ya for courageous parents who are this strong and amazing! Wow.

http://youtu.be/A4rwdriJpkc

A taste of the weekend

Had to get rid of this so I decided to take a picture for remembrance...My first design project ever!! I didn't do so well on it, but I printed it, cut the matte and the paper, and sprayed it all myself, so with that I don't think it was too shabby.

{background = our pre-moving clean check messy aparmentage}

 And second subject of interest is, well, Fall Semester was one of the best times of my life, and I'm gonna miss it.  A lot.  I love all the people I've met and the times I've shared.  Like pro'lly more than anything else I've ever done in my life.  I don't know what the future holds but I probably won't see a lot of these people again and that just makes me bummed.  But it's all good.  And these pictures just contain a fraction of a piece of the good times we've had at the Berg!  

Yup Rexburg I'll MISS YA!! <3

Crazy

With finals, presentations, and all the other crazy stuff going on right now.

...I still had time to make this.

A couple things

First off, I found this post from former BYU-I student and enjoyed it, my major being graphic design and all.

"Why are Mormons so cool?" | the daybook



Second of all, This morning my mom called as I was getting ready for my 8:00 class (she has weird schedules, but so do I so we're sorta telepathic), but I didn't have time to glance outside as I was busy trying to talk to her and apply mascara simultaneously.  It was right after I told her I better go, that I opened my front door to....

 yes, IT SNOWED  :) about 8 inches!

And my last subject of interest has to do with the snow downpour.  Because I've been feeling wonderful and Christmas-y all day.  Tonight we celebrated Sari's Birthday by going to Big Jud's. 7 of us crammed in a 5 person car and drove out, fogging up the windows, with the beautiful Idaho sun setting, the drifts of snow crowding everything from telephone poles to farmhouses.  Big Jud's was warm and inviting, with Large fry orders, big hamburgers, and most of all, a 15-scoop ice cream buffet that we ordered.  It made me feel like going home and snuggling with blankets and watch Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.  I was craving that movie.  Luckily, Sari had it.  So we did just that. Couldn't have gotten better.

Have I done Any Good?

What makes you feel good?  Is it surfing your favorite social media websites?  Eating junk food while watching movies?  I know I highly enjoy both of these activities.  But does it really make me feel good?  The more I think about that question, the more I think of the hymn, Have I Done Any Good In the World Today?  This hymn's lyrics are truly applicable and it is so true.  So I've decided:

Doing good = Feeling good 
and
Feeling good = Doing good.

So a little after sitting on a couch munching on candy and chips to my hearts content and browsing Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and watching a movie all at once, I decided, No, this is not what feeling good is like. It's about serving others, putting others first, doing the most important things, being sincere & honest with others, and as a result and along with it; living life to it's fullest.  

This is not easy.  But it's so, so worth it. 



"May our lives of service always affirm that God forsakes no one."
Elder Robert C. Gay, LDS Conf Fall 2012

"If we adapt that question to ourselves as we serve and ask, “Am I doing this for the Savior, or am I doing this for me?” our service will more likely resemble the ministry of the Savior. The Savior asked, and so should we, “What will ye that I shall do unto you?”"
Sister Linda K. Burton, LDS Conf Fall 2012...(Really, just read this whole talk. So good.)

   I'm going to start a quest for this by doing simple steps like running and avoiding bad foods, maybe even trying to get more sleep.( Although I make no promises on the last one)  I think it's possible to find true happiness by doing what's right, and serving others!!!

Love Mads.

Update - The Berg

A few of our recent ventures...

Rebels with Root Beer.

the Dunes with friends! aka. the duneskies

Neon Dance Party.

I love these two 

Roomie Adventures--Chinese for Lunch! Yum

Me and Amy got the oppurtunity to sing with Women's Choir in DEVO in the I center.  For those of you who dont know, BYU-I has devo every other Tuesday, it's kind of like a second Sunday but with classes--at first I thought it was weird but I'm starting to love it and wish every day were a devo day.  Anyways it's in the I-center--which is almost as big as the Conference Center--It has about 16,000 seats and huge jumbotrons and teleprompters and the works! And a loooooottt of students are always there--probably about 8500 or so on an average week.  It was a super cool experience and we even got on the screen for about .7 secs or so we hear. (that's a big deal)

Backstage before we sang.

First Day...

On the job.  Workin' at the Student Technology Lab helpin people with their computers.  It's so fun I really like it!  And I even have spare moments to take pix on my webcam obviously. 

Fruit

...is something i've really missed up here at college.  I mean ya, I can get it, but I either have to constantly worry about eating it at home before it goes bad or I pay an amount equal to the worth of my soul for it. But I was really needing some today.

So I did the latter of the two choices. 

And it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good.  And worth it.