hi friends

So i haven't written on here in almost a year, weird how fast time flies, and how much things change. So many things that have happened in the past year that have changed my life for the good and for the bad, but i believe the bad things have made me a stronger person.

First, i finally started college, after taking a relaxing year off which was needed. a lot of people have asked me if it was hard to take time off and return back to school, and i didn't have a problem with the transition at all. I am so glad that i took the time off so i didn't burn myself out on school. I stayed local at Boise State and i LOVE it. If you had asked me a year ago if i would consider going to bsu, i would have said no way in a heartbeat, but i am so glad i stayed close to home and i have come to love bsu and Boise even more.

I got a new job in the summer of 08, at a steakhouse called 'cool hand lukes', which is based in Fresno, but opened 2 locations in Boise. I was hired to be a hostess but have been promoted TWICE and i am now head expo, and received the honor of employee of the month in February 2009! I love my job and am grateful for all the opportunities i have been given there.

Then in November 2008, our house burned down. It is the weirdest feeling to leave your house, expecting to return later, with everything where you left it, and come back and find nothing. I am so so grateful for the outpouring of support from the community and friends who have done everything possible to make this situation feel normal. People who we didn't even know were bringing us dinners (which were AMAZING, btw), clothes, toilet paper, things that you don't really think about until you need them, like nail clippers. I am also grateful that grandpa convinced us to install our dog door a few months before, because it saved my dogs. I am so grateful that there was no loss of life that night, and i am grateful that our neighbors were there and made sure we were all out.

This who experience has made me realize what is really important in life. I know that sounds cliche, but it really is true. I don't miss my shoes, i don't miss the posters on my wall, i don't miss having to clean out my closet, with junk that i don't need. The only things that i wish i still had were some pictures that were in a picture box, my diploma and tassel, and a doll that i got when i was born that i slept with every night, and i still have a hard time sleeping without. About a week after the fire, we knocked down the house in preparation to rebuild. We are still currently in a rental house, and hope to begin construction this month.

Then in January, i decided on a whim to apply for a study abroad program through Boise state to study in Italy for a semester! i don't know what came over me, but since losing the house, i have had an epiphany that life is short, and to take advantage of every opportunity that you are given. I know it will be a challenge for me, to be away from home for 4 months, but i am hoping that i will have the strength to do it. I am going with one of my really good friends, Michael, who i met when i first moved to Idaho on my co ed soccer team! he is a great guy with a lot of energy, who will push me to try new and exciting things, which i probably wouldn't do if i was alone. I recently got my passport and will be applying for my visa shortly, and i couldn't be more excited.

I am now in my second semester to bsu, and i moved on campus, in an 8 room suite with 7 other girls! Taylor, Tess, Kara, Courtney, Lacey, Joclyn, and Becca. can you say LOUD?! holy moley, these girls know how to stay up all night! they are all so different, but i love them all. They do like to party, and they know i don't, and they don't pressure me to do anything i don't want to. But the little worrier in me is always offering to come pick them up, no matter the hour, if they need me to, and i think they appreciate that. The only thing i regret is not moving in sooner! i love it, and i will be very disappointed when the semester ends and i have to move home.

If you asked me a year ago where i thought i would be, i wouldn't be here. It is so weird how much we all mature and all grow up in 365 days. It's weird to think that two years ago, i graduated from high school, and went to Hawaii with jacie. It's weird to see kids i know from school getting engaged and married, but i am so happy for them. It's weird to see lucy driving, and sam graduating. I don't want life to pass me by anymore. Let's just make it stand still.