Decisions.

Once upon a time
A child was born into this life
Heaven could be seen in her eyes
There was no doubt she was divine
And if you are still you will feel the truth
That the princess in this wondrous story is you

Sometimes in your life
The world will cast a spell
And try to make your conscience fall asleep
And forget the woman God would have you be
But if you are still you will understand
The noble role you play in his plan


When the forests fills with darkness
And wolves seek your soul
Just know
You are simply in the place between
Your once upon a time and your triumph in the end

It's your time
It's your destiny to shine
So arise
Be true to the royal
That's inside of you
Don't settle for the story that
The world would have you write
You were born to reach eternal life
Let faith fill every chapter
Let the Savior lead you to
Happily ever after

Life.

...is so good.
Seriously, I have felt so blessed lately.
I love the gospel and the peace it brings into my life.
I love the knowledge that, even if I feel stupid or inadequate, I'm good enough for my Father in Heaven.
I hope I never forget that knowledge and comfort.

Punch to the Gut...

I'm turning 20 this year.
Wow, right?

Well... I've heard many times that your twenties are the best ten years of your life.
When I heard this at first, I was like 13.
Back then I was like "Nah dude. Being 13 is the shiz."
Ohh, younger me. How much you didn't know.
I don't really know what will happen, because these ten years hold ENDLESS, HUGE possibilities.
I could go on a mission.
Get married.
Graduate.
Have a child. (....Holy CRAP.)
In fact, I probably will do all these things before I turn 30.
(Again... HOLY CRAP.)

But I'll tell you one thing.
I'm going to have the time of my life doing so.
These next ten years WILL be the best ten years of my life.
Consider this an official guarantee from me...

I, Kaitlin Jo, solemnly swear that I will live out my twenties with more gusto, party, spirit, and soul than goes into a well thought out Zumba lesson. These ten years will not go by unnoticed. I will touch lives, hearts, and minds in a way that only I can. I will let laughter, love, and good company into my life and invite them to take off their coats, stay awhile. I will not "wish away these days, waiting for better ones ahead". I will make a difference in this world for anyone I'm capable of helping. I'm ready. My time is now.

Perspective.

Wow, long time eh?

Well I now have a job. Which is nice, because I don't have to be a leech anymore. However, I've had a hard time thinking positively about it. I have to work every weekend, at least friday nights or saturday nights (or both). Not only does this put a cramp on my social life, but I hardly ever get to go home.
This is different for me.
Last year, I did what I wanted. I mean yeah, I had school work, but none that took copious amounts of time to complete so I was free to just do whatever.
Go home whenever.

This work thing has seriously been cramping my style.

However, over thanksgiving break, I had a slight change of heart...
I had talked to my manager about going home for Thanksgiving. She gave me the choice of having either Thanksgiving day or Christmas Eve off.
Duh.

Even though I had the rest of the weekend off and was able to go home immediately after I got off, I was still being grouchy about having to work Thanksgiving. I didn't say anything out loud, but the whole morning I just couldn't stop thinking "I hate this. I don't want to be here. I want to go home. I hate this place. I can't wait to get out of here. I miss my family. I want to go home."
In the midst of my grumbling and moaning, I was helping customers get on their way out of the store and to their families when this friendly-looking, older gentleman comes up to the counter as I'm slicing turkey. He says:

"I need some turkey... Now, how much do you think I need to feed just one person?"

As you can imagine, this caught me off guard. I helped him through the process of the amounts of slices for dinner and the steps of heating said turkey, trying to forget his initial question. When he asked for sides, I dished him up some mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries, and a pound of stuffing that we had been giving away the whole day. When I told him the stuffing was free, his face lit up and he said "Well THANK you! You have a Happy Thanksgiving!" And walked off with a grin on his face.

Thankfully, there were no other customers waiting to be helped so I rushed to the back and couldn't help but shed some tears. There I was, earning money to pay my way through school at a great job with incredible pay, with the promise of being able to spend time with people I loved and cherished with all my heart, and being so ungrateful for the miracle my Heavenly Father gave me to find a decent job in a college town. But more importantly, being selfish and thinking that it was my right to go home to my family instead of it being an opportunity.



I could not be more blessed.

Just to letcha know...

My roommates are so freaking great.
In case you were wondering.
We've only been in school for, what, a month and a half?
And we all get along like we've known each other forever.

These are only two of them, and then I have two more, but they're pretty great girls.
I love the last picture...
Mads looks like a freaking babe and I look like I'm about to push Greg (the "photographer" off the mountain.)
Eh. Typical :)

That's really all I have to say. Classes are good, I love Logan with all my heart, and I love the people in it.

So... Yep.

Come what may and love it.

As many of you know, the Saturday Morning session of October 2012 general conference changed things for some people.
Okay.
More like... Changed their lives entirely.

For those of you reading this who don't know, in the LDS church boys have previously been asked to serve two year, full-time missions at the age of 19. Girls have been given the option to go, starting at the age of 21, on a full-time eighteen month mission. However, they are merely given the option. If they reach the age of 21 and they feel prompted to go on a mission, then they are more than welcome to.

All my life, I have thought about this age of 21. All my life, the mere thought of going on a mission scared me. I always thought "Well... I'll just get married before I turn 21. Then I won't have to go." And I did sincerely believe that I would be married before I got the opportunity to serve a mission, so I'd always tell people "Yeahh... If I get to be 21 and I'm not yet married, and I feel like I should go, then yeah. I'll probably go." and in my head be like "but I'll make sure you get a wedding announcement."

I'll tell you what. The Lord knows what He's doing, what you're doing, what you need to do, and how to get you there. After yesterday, there is no doubt in my mind of that fact.

Yesterday morning, President Thomas S. Monson got up at the beginning of conference. He started off cracking jokes, announcing temples, you know. That old chestnut. And then, he starts into talking about how some foreign countries allow young men at the age of 18 to start into their missions depending on their maturity and their ability to serve. They have had great success with these missionaries, and they turned out to be just as mature and driven as any other missionary in the field.

At this time, I'm camping with my family. We're all sitting around my grandparent's trailer, listening to conference. When President Monson is starting into this, I hear my grandma say "Oh no... He's going to make it 18 to go out..."

Sure enough: "I am pleased to announce that, effective immediately, all worthy and able young men who have graduated from high school or its equivalent, regardless of where they live, will have the opportunity of being recommended for missionary service beginning at the age of 18 instead of age 19."

WHAT a blessing! Missionaries have a hard time trying to figure out what the heck to do before they can leave, and many of my friends have absolutely hated just sitting there and waiting to turn 19 so they could leave.

Then, President Monson "We've also given consideration to the age at which young women may serve."
My dad's giving me this look like "Ooh, they're gonna lower it too!"
I'm giving my dad this look like "I know!!"
And we're all praying that they lower it to 20. They only lowered it one year for the brothers, why not only one for the sisters?

"Today, I am pleased to announce that able, worthy young women who have the desire to serve may be recommended for service at the age of 19, instead of age 21."

I'm 19.

The second he said 19 I just doubled over bawling. I couldn't help it. I couldn't really pin why I was crying so hard. Definitely not because I was sad, angry, or frustrated. As I think about it though, I think I was so overwhelmed with the knowledge that my Father in Heaven knows me so intimately, loves me so much, and has such big PLANS for me. I had been feeling for a while that I needed to get out of my area and gain new experiences. I had been feeling that there was so much more I could be doing. School is great, and a good thing for me to be doing, but there is more that I need to do right now. I couldn't figure it out, cause really. What is there to do for a 19 year old girl from Idaho that wouldn't cost tons of money?

It also didn't help that I was scared out of my mind.
I hadn't planned on having to think about this for about another year... But here it is.

I have a lot of praying and fasting to do. This is a big deal. I'll be putting my life on hold for a year and a half! It's not a decision that can be made overnight. That being said, I would appreciate so greatly your prayers as well. I am overwhelmed with excitement, fear, JOY, and humility, and I want to make the right choice.

I know that this church is true. There's not a single ounce of doubt in my mind of the truthfulness of this gospel. And I know that, whatever I choose, the Lord is going to take care of me if I put my trust and faith in Him.

Now. I'm going to go finish conference.

Utah State, hey! Aggies all the way! Go aggies, go aggies, hey hey hey!

Okay. I'm ready for school to start again.