ILFT

if there's one thing you should know about me, it's that i love free things. seriously, i'm that girl who will stand in line for hours to get a free sandwich JUST BECAUSE it's free. it gives me such a thrill!!!!!

most likely this stems from my childhood. i had to pay for almost everything that wasn't necessary to my survival since i was like 14. i appreciate my parents for instilling in me a love for saving and for teaching me the value of a dollar...however it wasn't until college that i realized what a monster i'd become. it also doesn't help that my BFFL growing up was the infamous bethany ogletree, the greatest moocher known to mankind (except for my brother, dustin). seriously, we would spend hours walking around, trying to get free stuff--conning boys (JOSH ERICKSON) into buying us things and seeing how much fun we could have on a friday night with only $3.

the bottom line is, i have a problem. last night, adam and i went to macaroni grill (ironic that i married such a spender. #mfeo) and discovered that they were lighting up the Shops at Riverwoods! FUN! a little elf gave me a golden ornament (boo yah) and told me if i waited around in the freezing cold for an hour, i might win a prize.

of course we stayed. poor adam.

and it paid off because look what i won! woot!

so the moral of the story is:

i accept donations.

for time and all eternity

will this count for last week's blog? hopefully? cuz i definitely forgot. and the REASON i forgot is because i was all wrapped up in this:

for rills tho, it was the most magical day of my life, besides my own wedding. which is a DANG GOOD THING because i poured so many hours and prayers into it the week before. i don't even know how to describe the joy i felt all day, or how magically beautiful the reception was! leave it to Grace to pull off the most fabulously vintage wedding of the year.

in other news, Adam went to Chicago for his final round interview with Sears and the verdict is....drumroll please....

WE GOT AN OFFER! BOO YAH!

this is sooooooooooooo exciting, it's the perfect job for him, i love Chicago...not to mention it pays really well ;) we are ecstatic. good thing we got it, because we might have some slit wrists on our hands otherwise...we've been planning like he already got an offer for a few months now. haha!! i always jump the gun.

all my procrastination because of exhaustion and wedding planning will bite me in the butt this week. i didn't get anything done this weekend. lets just say wedding+Castle+NZ reunion+THE alex ingersoll+contagion+too much food and not enough sleep=FUN but UNPRODUCTIVE weekend.

oh well! such is college. as the country song goes...i can sleep when i'm dead :)

this is SOOOOOOO good.

The essence of all religions is love, compassion, and tolerance. Kindness is my true religion. The clear proof of a person’s love of God is if that person genuinely shows love to fellow human beings.

~Dalai Lama

LOVE THIS.

fall.

despite my best efforts, it is apparent to me that fall and i were not meant to be together. here's why:

1. i can't pretend to like the cold. why would anyone want to wear multiple layers of clothing but still have a freezing nose? why would anyone want to wear anything but a swimsuit is what i'm really wondering.

2. fall=crafts, which i hate.

3. fall=cooking yummy soups, pumpkin things, cookies, etc. i have tried all these in the last week. all have failed miserably.

4. fall makes me want to throw parties, which i am, but i don't really know what i'm doing. so far my halloween party has turned into a fall party with random mismatched foods and costumes. HAHA!!!!! i'll be sure to take pictures.

i think arizona is calling my name after graduation. the midwest is great, but i'm a summer girl!

BUY YOU A DRAAANK

ok, ok. bad song reference. my apologies.

my weekend assignment for MCOM was to buy someone a coke (or something of equal or greater value) then blog about it. i put it off until Monday right before class. here's the story:

i was hanging out in the testing center, creepin' around the vending machines waiting for some unsuspecting student to buy a snack.

eventually, i walked up to a guy and said, "i'm supposed to buy you something for my advanced writing class. here's a dollar." haha! he tried to give me a dollar back, but i wouldn't accept it. then he could buy a POP TART instead of just some crackers. what a great day.

so...not really a cool story, but i felt warm and happy inside :)

i like ten dollars.

today at the bus station (random, i know) a mexican man came up to me and said, "you are very beautiful, you know?"

SO NICE, RIGHT?

wow, thanks random mexican man.

#truth

you guys, general conference is so great!!! and the weather is perfect. gooood weekend. funny story, i was unrighteously browsing my twitter account when i realized the current talk was about not abusing social media. i am well on my way to becoming obsessed with social media, a "you-twit-face" as my husband calls it. lol.

well this week was a little crazy, and i disappointed myself multiple times. ever since i started caring about grades, my life has been stressful and my confidence in my future career has been a rollercoaster ride. BOO grades are so overrated. please come back, freshman and sophomore years. anyways, i went visiting teaching and ended up getting way more out of it than the chika i taught did. i love this quote by president gordon b. hinckley:

“I believe in myself. I do not mean to say this with egotism. But I believe in my capacity and in your capacity to do good, to make some contribution to the society of which we are a part, [and] to grow and develop. … I believe in the principle that I can make a difference in this world, be it ever so small.”

moral of the story: i don't need perfect grades or a perfect career to be good enough for my Heavenly Father. i am here to do follow HIS plan. no matter what happens, if i do my best (D&C 123:17), it's gonna be ok!
so if you find yourself asking, "what am i to the Lord?" here's your answer:

ENOUGH.