A birthday!

My sister's birthday is coming up and so I just wanted to talk a little about how grateful I am for her in my life. So Bri, here's a {very limited} list of some of the reasons why I love having you as my sister:

• I've always had a hard time with decisions (but only the inconsequential ones. With the big ones I seem to do just fine. What's up with that?) and I could never choose what to wear. So she would pick out my outfit pretty much every day. Something so small, but it really meant a lot to me

At a girls photo shoot.

• Growing up whenever I was upset and crying she would take me and let me lay down and just play with my hair while I cried and told her about my woes. She's always been so good at taking care of me.

Bri and Andy in Bear Lake this summer.

• Speaking of taking care of me, just this weekend she spent a few hours on the phone with me helping me study for my exam on Monday. I know that she had better things to do with her time on a Saturday night, but she took time to listen and help me understand. So thoughtful.

I love this photo of Bri and Daner in St. George.

• She's such a peacemaker. I've never in my life heard her even raise her voice. She's so even-tempered and patient. I've always admired that in her.

Bri and Andy in Jackson Hole.

• Bri is always willing to share her time and talents. Whenever she has a fun project she always shows me how to do it so I can share in the creativity that I lack :)

Bri's graduation from Nursing School.

• She's always so good at making people feel loved and included. Even from our childhood, she has always asked me how I'm doing and what she can do to help and would do little things without me asking to show she cared. 

Basically, she's the best. Bri, I've always looked up to you and I am so grateful for you in my life. I can't wait to see you so soon! Happy Birthday honey!

Positive Affirmations

My classmates and I have a Boston College Master's Entry group on Facebook where we can post activities, ask questions, and just generally connect outside of class. Yesterday my classmate posted this:

Told you my classmates were awesome :)

iLove

It's November! Hooray! That means I get to go home in 15 days......not like I've already been counting for 2 weeks or anything.....

And going home means I get to FINALLY meet the two newest additions to my family: Lucy (my adorable new niece) and Arya (my sister's gorgeous new puppy). Yay for family!

I've decided to dedicate this post to some of the things I am lovin' right now.

That being said, I am in love with New England in the fall.

Campus was already beautiful, but I think the changing trees make it even more so.

More things iLove:

• Hot cocoa
• My mom for letting me call her and "teach" her the material I've been studying to help me remember it better
• My space heater
• Spontaneous stress-relieving dance parties with my roommates
• The fact that I got a 98 on my last Pharmacology exam
• My classmates
• Did I mention I get to see my family this month?
• My favorite pair of red boots
• The fact that today I got an extra hour of sleep. Thank you daylight savings.
• Skype. Such a wonderful invention.

In good company

I really love the people in my program. They are all so nice and wonderful to be around. It's also good to know that we're all in this together. We're all having similar doubts about our abilities and going through similar trials. We've had a few conversations this week about how to deal with stress and just generally motivating each other to keep doing our best and know that it will all work out in the end. It's comforting to know that there are people who are going through the same things as me and who have got my back. We're a team and we're in this together until the end. It's really wonderful to be surrounded by people like that.

And on that topic, I appreciate all the love and support I've felt from family and friends as I've been trying to figure out this new phase in life. Thank so all so much for your love, support, and encouragement. I couldn't do it without all of you! It's challenging every day, but it's absolutely worth every single second. I love knowing that I am finally in a place to be doing what I've always wanted to do. And that's a good feeling.

A pick-me-up

Sometimes when I need a pick-me-up (on days like today), I watch this video and I'm happy again. Seriously, how can you not have a smile on your face while watching those little kids? They're amazing, and their singing is enough to take your breath away. I adore them and I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to meet them and learn from them. And it's moments like these that remind me how good life really is. Even when you're home on a Friday night studying :)

Packages from home make Mique a happy girl :)

Have I ever mentioned how amazing my mom is? Cause she is. A.MAZ.ING.

Today I got a package from her with all sorts of goodies inside. Delicious things like recipes and cinnamon that resulted in an amazing dinner of pumpkin waffles. (To die for, right? I know. And I'm not usually a huge fan of pumpkin, which just tells you how dang good they were.) And things like warm socks because I randomly told her the other day that I was planning on investing in some to keep me toasty warm this winter and some hair products to try to make my hair behave in this humidity. And that isn't even the end of it!

It just goes to show you how thoughtful and wonderful my mother is. And I hate to break it to you, but she's just the best mother in the entire world. She really is the greatest. And I'm so grateful she's mine :)

When Mom and Daddy came to visit me in Jerusalem.

LOVE this pic of Mom and Bear

She's a dang cute grandma too.

Thanks Mom, for always knowing how to make my day. I love you!

New Hampshire

There's a kid in my program who's from New Hampshire and every time I hear about New Hampshire I think of a shirt he wears that says, "New Hampshire: better than the old one."

A few weekends ago we had a tri-ward campout in New Hampshire at a campground the church owns up there. It went Friday, Saturday, and Sunday but I drove up with two of my roommates Saturday afternoon and we stayed overnight and left on Sunday. It was only like an hour to an hour and a half away which was surprising to me. It was way fun though and we had a skit night on Saturday that was highly entertaining. The weather was nice during the day, but my heavens, I very nearly froze to death that night. I was wearing so many layers, but still I couldn't sleep because of the cold. So that wasn't the most fun thing of my life, but what can ya do? Just a note to anyone who wants to go camping in New Hampshire--you really will need a sleeping bag. Really.

Saturday night watching the BYU/Utah game. Still a touchy subject.

The dock at the lake

Sunset over the lake