and then there was one.

Freshman year, as I will always recount, was so kind to me.  I made the best friends a girl could ask for, and while us females have kind of stuck together (marriages tend to limit girl-time, Jazz and Mere), we have dutifully sent off all but one of our cute boys to harvest the field throughout the world.  And although come March they will all be gone, several will actually be coming home within the next few months.  Last night, we bade adieu to one of the last.

We love this boy.  I can't believe that while he's leaving, I am writing some of my last letters to other boys (now MEN...yummy RM's).  So, here's to all you boys doing the dirty work while we stay at home and husband-hunt and try to be students.

domesticity and the life i have yet to live.

This semester has been too good to dear little me.  Srsly people I KNOW this is finally it, the one, the best, the favorite.  I can just feel it in my too-padded bones (winter treats have been better to me than even 2012 has yet been).  I made an unofficial pact with myself to just be nice (see last post's rez's) and so far I'm reaping all the kindness benefits I could possibly imagine.  Do you ever have those life-changing moments when you're sitting in a classroom on the first day of school and you have to make the decision to lean over and introduce yourself to the boy next to you - cute or not?  Well, I honestly felt those hesitating seconds before the professor made his debut in each of my classes.  But folks, I did it in every single one of my classes and I have so many new friends.  So what if a couple weirdos now have my number in their phone?  So what if I go on a couple dates that don't end in marriage/relationship/any kind of attraction/any kind of anything including fun?  So what if the one boy I actually want to ask me out never does?  At least I'm out of the apartment in something cute and not checking my phone in anticipation.

I promise this post is screaming desperation.  In my mind, though, this is a totally normal approach at finding an EC.  If I'm too picky, I will never find someone perfect for me.  Right?  Ok.

On top of all this socializing, or maybe in spite of, I have been working on my skills on the home-front.  I have taken an obsession with the 50's, as Mona Lisa Smile will always be an inspiration to me, and although it's the exact opposite of what the movie is promoting,  I want to develop my cute-housewife-skills for the day that I will make house&home with my one and only.  Whoever he is, I'm sure he will deserve the best this little lady has to offer.

Ok moving on.  Want to see what I have been up to while I haven't been blogging (which is almost all the time)?

giving lotus garden some love

enhancing my acting skills

breaking in marshall 5 with some lava tag

dressing up for wedding receptions

enjoying young ambassador's "harmony" (we had dates, i promise, but we looked cuter without them)

spending a weekend in PC at kelly's cabin

working on our domestic skills. per usual. 

celebrating our boy MLK with some milk and...

cookies.

getting ready for the weekend. together.  

taking full advantage of our lazy, blustery-turned-blizzard saturday.  

configuring our mighty kid's meals toys.  

matt costa concert at the wsc (again...we had dates but we take better pictures when us marshall girls are solo.  weird)

and the man of the hour, MC himself.

this little snow bunny needs sleep.  stay warm and social!

auld lang syne.

Well folks, it's come to an end.  I spent the magical night with a good friend here in the deep south - she was kind enough to extend the hand of friendship and brighten my night.  We had a jolly good time porking out on pizza, shopping at Target for various items (she bought adorable shoes, I bought red bull), sweating a little too much whilst enjoying the art of Just Dance 3, making darling earings (now that I'm a big girl and can actually wear them), honoring the incredible work of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, and, of course, watching the ball drop.  No New Year's kiss for me.  No sir.  My rez for 2012 is to have a New Year's kiss this December 31st.    

the ingredients of the night.

thanks for the glamour shot, B <3

But that's not all.  In the past, I have never really been one to sit down and think about what particular things I want to change or improve during the next year and make a list.  I'm more of a roll-with-the-punches kind of girl, and I jot down daily goals in my journal or on a scrap of a church program.  Those goals, however, accumulate, and late one night last week, I had an epiphany of sorts.  If I sorted through all those goals I wrote down regularly, I was bound to find a pattern.  So, here is an accumulation of goals and thoughts  I documented throughout 2011 and that I have yet to accomplish.  Let's go, 2012, prove me honest:

Learn Patience

I tend to let the little things bother me.  Of course I realize that the weaknesses I pick out in others ail me too.  I know I'm a hypocrite.  Deep down.  But on the surface, I stress out and crack.  This past week has really given me the opportunity to realize how damaging that is.  People cut me slack daily, so I need to do the same for others.    

Be Kind

There has forever (forever meaning 7 years, of course) been a large influence in my life, and I'm sure she has no idea the affect she has had on my life.  But I strive and long to live my life as she does.  She is the girl that all people love immediately because she demonstrates such a genuine interest in other's lives and I never once saw her act in a cruel or beguiling way.  How many people have I turned off in my life because of petty comments or fake encounters?  I hate to think of that.  So, from here on out, I want to show people I care.  I could make their day, in turn making mine.  Kill two birds with one stone.  Bam. 

Become Who I'm Meant to Be

I can't count the times I've collapsed on the couch and dramatically proclaimed to my roommates my first world problems.  Haha.  The list, I'm sure, includes comments such as:

"Why do no boys like me?"

"Why do I have no clothes?"

"Why can't I lose weight?"

"Why do I have to go to class?"

"Can I drop out of school?"

Wow I'm embarrassed even reading this (this whole resolution/reflection thing is all it's cracked up to be, guys).  I am so lucky to have all the opportunities I do!  I have no idea how I got into BYU, but I did, so it's time to take advantage of that.  I don't know how I was lucky enough to be born into a family that could supply for all my needs and more, but I was so I need to stop complaining and give back.  So here's what this all boils down to.  If I want others to be attracted to me and, most importantly, if I want to be happy and pleased with myself, I need to get my priorities straight.  This is perhaps the most important of my goals, for everything after this will fall into place.  I need to put Jesus Christ (and this is where I'm starting to sound like all those Facebook weirdos that always post about their love of Christ and God and blah blah blah...we get it, so stop.  But I promise, I'm different from them) first and do all that I'm asked to do in my church.  I need to say my prayers daily, giving thanks for all I have and asking for help in my daily life.  Yikes, this is getting way too long.  And too serious.  Summary: live the most righteous life I can and be happy. 

I would love to keep going, but these three were a condensed version of everything I thought I needed to work on.  They include a lot, sure, but I'm so excited to get started!  I know this is kind of an unconventional, broad way of approaching NYResolutions, but if it works, then I'll be proud.  I'll keep you updated throughout the year.