It is what YOU make it.

This past week was spring break. I can honestly say that I loved every second of this adventure. My roommates had a change of plans and went to St. George a day early. I was a little upset and stressed that once again I would be out of the loop because I wouldn't be able to go with them. The next day I found myself leaving with Megan M. and Nicole. This was a blessing in disguise. The girls of 404 have become some of the greatest friends I have ever had. It's no secret that this past semester I have spent most of my time either in class or hanging out with Megan F. and Kalli. This drive gave me a chance to get to know the other two a little better. Even though I slept for half the ride (no surprise) I loved being silly with these girls.

Wednesday: We arrived at Megan F's house to find Kalli and Megan in absolute hysteria. Seriously, I've never seen them more excited.  We unloaded the car and headed for the thrift shops. We found a few quality items but really were just having fun embracing the sun and each other. We hadn't heard from the other girls so we just kept doing what we had originally planned. Megan showed us a cool soda shop and park. After a little more shopping, modeling sexy black dresses in TJ max, and using hair products that looked like testers, we went to dinner. It was yummy Mongolian food and you got to make your own dish. One of the waitresses was from Vietnam and I couldn't get enough of her. It made me a bit Vietnam sick. The rest of the night was spent buying me a new phone and hot tubing.

Thursday: Time for hiking! We got a little lost and apparently the other girls couldn't wait so we went along without them and figured we would find them eventually. The hike was incredible! I forgot how much I love hiking. Megan M. wasn't a fan but we somehow got her to the top! The hike was about three hours. Oh too fun! Pictures and videos were taken at the top including singing the Scotsman. My hair looked awful from lack of shampoo but I love all the pictures! Megan showed us the legendary Swig that night. Those sugar cookies were too good! To be honest I don't remember what happened after that.

Friday: The other girls never showed up at the temple like we had all planned so we continued doing our own thing. The St. George temple is beautiful! Kneaders French toast is free if you go after the temple. This was a deal we just couldn't pass up. After the temple, Megan M. and Nicole headed to Vegas while Megan F. went shopping with her mom. Kalli and I didn't know what to do with ourselves so we threw on some roller blades and tried to look like we knew what we were doing. We somehow ended up rolling around a parking lot talking about life. Loved it. Megan got back from shopping so it was time for a picnic and croquet. The croquet didn't end up happening. Instead we started a music video and played with chalk at the park. The camera battery died before we had a chance to finish so we'll save that for later. It's probably better unfinished. Kalli and Megan took me to Costco for my very first time. It was pi day yet Costco didn't sell pie. I wasn't impressed...Megan's amazing mom made us another awesome meal then we headed to the D (letter on the mountain) we finally saw my roommates here but they didn't want to go up so we went to Swig instead. After, we thought we were all going to Dixie rock but the other girls had other plans apparently. Me and the girls of 404 went anyway and were not impressed by the sea of high school kids there. Yuck. haha We went back to the D and had some good laughs. More pictures were taken then I was more than ready for bed! Even if it meant being squished between Kalli and Megan F. :)

Saturday: This was our last day so all we had time for was a little laying out in the sun then it was back to reality. The drive home felt like two minutes (probably because I was sleeping again).
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I'm majorly lacking pictures because you will see my whole week of adventures in the video Nicole made. Click on the link and check it out!

 

http://vimeo.com/89687512

Safe Haven

The temple has been running though my mind a lot lately. This temple in particular. Ladies and Gentlemen, you are looking at the Gila Valley, Arizona Temple (It really is Hila Valley if you pronounce it like it's spelled your roommates will laugh at you). This is the one and only temple in my mission! I've been called to serve in the Tucson, Arizona Mission! Reporting for duty on June 25th. I'll be honest. Preparing for a mission has proven to be harder than expected.

Everyone was right. As soon as your turn in your papers you grow a huge dart on your back for everything to get crazy. I don't all of a sudden have cravings for coffee or beer but my mind does play tricks on itself. I am constantly in a panic doubt about it I made the right decision to go and serve the Lord for 18 months. I feel like I haven't stopped being tested and tried since I sent in my papers. That's were the temple comes in.....

  This has been my safe haven. My go to. My break room. It kills me how easily the temple can make everything feel so simple and insignificant. When I'm in the temple I finally feel peace from everything that's happening. Being in the temple is somehow silences all the worldly worries. All of drama of being a freshman in college is simplified until I walk out those doors and back into the real world. Those short breaks from reality is exactly what keeps me going.

Next there is this temple...

This temple is my next step. You are looking at The Jordan River Temple. Every Tuesday morning of my senior year in high school was spent doing baptisms with my little sister here. Now I'm planning on taking out my endowments here as soon as summer begins. I've been so blessed to be surrounded by temples my whole life. I cannot wait to take this next big leap. The thought of taking out my endowments at 18 years of age is crazy to me. I don't feel old enough! How did everything fly by so fast?

 

I have a testimony of this gospel. The more that I learn about Tucson, Arizona the more right it feels. I know this church is true. I know my Heavenly Father lives and loves me. I know the temples should and always will be the ultimate goal. I'm not settling for anything less. My brother is getting married in the Salt Lake City temple this weekend and I couldn't be happier for both he and his fiancé. The temple is the happiest place on earth. It is my safe haven. 

 

Another Hobby for the Books

When a ward ski night was announced in church I felt like I was the only one in the room that wasn't jumping for joy. Skiing? What's so great about skiing? My winter sport has been picked out for a long time. Figure Skating or die. Well....Megan talked me into going tonight and that's where the laughs began...

The ride up the canyon was fantastic. I took the 45 minute drive to catch up on my much needed beauty sleep and apparently missed a lot of freak outs about being lost or going too far up the canyon. Whoops. Seriously, I was out in 2 minutes.

As soon as we got there we rushed to get our skis on and get on the hill. We stuck to the bunny hill for a good 5 minutes before Megan was pushing us to be big girls. Kalli, Amanda, and I were a bit skeptical about the real hills but hopped onto the lift. I was by far the least experienced in the group but with Megan and Kalli pushing me, I was able to keep up just fine. WHO KNEW? SKIING IS ACTUALLY FUN! CARLY BARTON CAN ACTUALLY SKI!

We didn't get the hang of it as quickly as I'm making it sound. My first time down the mountain was a bit rough. Here's what happened: Kalli and Megan were a ways ahead of me while I was experimenting my pizza, fry, and "s" skills. All of a sudden I see Kalli crash into the trees with one ski flying behind her. She was rolling in seconds. I decided I'd better see if Kalli was okay but my skis had a different idea. Within seconds I was going full speed down the mountain! I was uncontrollably zooming down the mountain completely passing Kalli and Megan. As I picked up speed I realized there was no way of stopping. Behind me I heard Megan screaming "Pizza! Carly, Pizza!" That wasn't happening so I got creative and decided to put my physics knowledge to the test. I zoomed full speed down the mountain and started skiing up the second mountain. I finally stopped screaming half way up the second mountain when I came to a halt in the dark. Megan came to my rescue dying of laughter. What a rush!

The best story of the trip was when Kalli, Nicole, and I tried to get on a ski lift.. The guys working the ski lift would make joked with us every time we saw them but this time we really gave them a run for their money. Kalli and I stood side by side ready to sit down when Nicole accidentally got her ski caught in between Kalli's legs. They went to sit down and ended up on top of each other in my spot. I had nowhere to sit so I tried to get out of the way. Suddenly the ski lift man picked me up and threw me onto the pile. Alarms began going off. Once again I was screaming and trying to hold onto Nicole! Everyone waiting in the ski lift's line was in shock. Before we got too far off the ground the lift stopped and we got situated. The next time we went on the lift the worker just looked at me and said, "We should hug now."

Our night really was successful for the most part. I fell in love with the rush of skiing down a mountain and wasn't too bad at it by the last run. It felt good to get a little farther off campus with my friends and do something different. Skiing will definitely be in my near future.

The Waiting Game

This games is getting more and more real.

Thinking about the unknown makes it impossible to breath.

What lies ahead? I wish I knew.

I cannot describe this combination of emotions.

When will the of waiting, wishing, stressing, over-thinking, and doubting be over?

My letter is too close to resist yet too far to touch.

I've resorted to blocking out the words and people around me.

All that is in my head is one simple sentence...

I'll go where you want me to go.

The Ultimate Valentine

 No. A cute boy didn't show up at my apartment with flowers and take me to a fancy dinner. I didn't go rent a puppy and eat ice cream while watching a chick flick with a dozen bitter girls. This valentines weekend was unlike any other! After a week consisting of four dance parties, meeting random new friends in a parking lot, True Aggie Night (not for me), and hot tubing...my valentine finally showed up. Ladies and Gentlemen meet Chloe Jayne Olsen. This baby girl has completely stolen my heart. I absolutely love this precious angel. She is everything I could have ever expected and more. I am officially Aunt Carly! 

Best of the Best

There is no question that I have the greatest parents on the planet. Being away at college seriously makes me realize how much I forget to thank my parents. They do so much for me and ask for very little in return. I wouldn't who I was today without those two crazies.

I need to thank them for....

1. All the times they had to double as best friend/counselor/therapist/costume designer/hair stylist/coach/all-around-solver-of-every-problem-ever/math tutor/911 hot line/homecoming date/missionary/financial advisor/technician. I remain unconvinced that they aren’t actually superheroes in disguise.

2. Forgiving me when I forget to call or check in. (or fall asleep at a friends house)

3. Listening to so much rambling when I do remember to call.

 

4. Showing me how to be the person that I one day hope to be.

5. Giving me something to smile about always, especially when I really don't want to.

6. All the one on one time they set apart for me. I think my favorite memories are going to dinner with my dad or shopping with my mom.

7. For all the home cooked meals or pizzas we didn’t have to pay for ourselves. Equally phenomenal. Equally missed.
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8. Putting up with that awful middle school phase.

 9. For giving me my siblings, whom I simultaneously once wished to sell and now am best friends with.

10. And oh yeah, for that whole “giving birth to us” thing.

11. For being my first, and at some points, only cheerleaders, who were and are proud of even my smallest accomplishments.

12. All the time spent bending over backwards to make sure I went to school happy, fed, and feeling as confident as possible.

13. Doing their very best, even when things were most difficult in the family.

14. Treating each other so kindly. I think their examples have really set the standard ridiculously high for me and my future companion.

15. And for being living proof that there are people out there who can honestly just do it all.

Nobody will ever compare to my parents. They are some the best of the best. I am grateful to have parents that I can literally tell anything to. It is because of them that I have decided to serve a mission. I love them more than words will ever express. Thank you parentals. For just being so darn great. You mean everything to me. I might be a big college kid now but there is no way I would survive without you.

 

And we are back!

Wow! It already feels like I never left my cute dorm in Logan. As soon as I got home I was swarmed with hugs from three of my adorable roommates. With a little bit of help I finally got everything from my car, up four flights of stairs, and back in their rightful place in no time. It is time for the 2nd semester of my freshman year to begin! I'm predicting that this one will be even better than the last.

My classes started today and I'm so pumped to jump right in to everything! I actually know people in my classes this time around and it takes me half as much time to get around campus since I no longer get lost everywhere I go. This new semester is bringing so much to look forward to.

-FINALLY RECEIVING MY MISSION ASSIGNMENT!
-MY BIG BROTHER GETTING MARRIED!
-MY NIECE ENTERING TO PLANET!
-do I even have to mention THE BACHELOR STARTING UP AGIAN?!?

There is simply too much to look forward to. How could I not be excited? I'm positive I'm in for way more adventures than I'm planning. 2ND SEMESTER. HERE I COME!