just an average day...

so i didn't want to fail on the second day of my promise to blog each day this week. haha. um, today has been so incredibly busy! i didn't have my english class so i got to sleep in and take my time getting ready until i realized that i still had unfinished homework for the afternoon...so of course i looked haggard the rest of the day b/c i had to finish the paper. but, all is well, i wore my new green shirt which i love so much and it was nice enough outside today that all i had to wear was a hoodie!!! wahoo!!! i'm so grateful for the beautiful weather lately.  school is INSANE right now. i have so many projects and things due these last few weeks. all of my teachers have decided that their class is the most important and that they need to cram in EVERYTHING they can at the last moment. They have shortened the length of the semester, but have lengthened the class period, so technically we're getting everything crammed into us in a shorter amount of time. there are rumors that the school will be going back to the previous schedule because the grade point average has gone down, and students are falling behind in their studies. so hm, we'll see. oh well. 

after class today i had a group project and i did some homework in the library for a little bit, then i made dinner for david and i, and then the inevitable happened, i passed artic circle and saw their sign for corn dog bites...i've had the munchies and ahhhh i couldn't resist! i caved in and got some with a drink...totally worth it! little known fact, i LOVE corndogs...if it's on the menu, i'll probably get one...or 2. :) they're just too good to pass up. after that i ended up doing homework at david's work for a little bit and kept him company since he's the only one at the office. it was actually really nice because i had NO distractions whatsoever...he was busy with all of his stuff and i was in my little corner doing my work. got so much done, and i fineshed early so i worked on some things for my portfolio! wahoo!  :) 

later on i got a lovely call from my favorite sister jana, and we chit chatted for a good while and i'm excited to continue our conversation tomorrow! she's the best and so in tune with the spirit. i'm jealous at the level of maturity she is at right now. she also informed me that i have a handkerchief and nightlight waiting at her apartment that grandma wanted to give me. since my back was hurt this weekend i couldn't go down and see her unfortunately, but i sent my love through the siblings :) 

well i am off to bed! 

those beans and rice didn't miss her...

well it's getting late, and i told myself that i was going to blog every day this week...sooooo here it goes-just for today, we get the top few highlights :D 
1. david made me breakfast...again, he is too good to be true and he knows how much i LOVE having eggs in the morning, he'll call and say, i'm coming to get you, or be over here in 5 min and so i rush and think he has to be at school early, but no, he has bacon, eggs and homemade pico de gillo made and ready to eat for our breakfast! it's been a great tradition and it's been getting me to eat breakfast! haha it's a first! 
2. our dear friends jackie and josh got engaged tonight! it was a great surprise and present for jackie's 20th bday! it was great to see them so excited and just glowing! yay for them!!! 
     -for jackie's bday, we sang her an original rendition of happy birthday :) we did a remix, and david beat-boxed, i did a little off beat singing and we shook it and pop-lock-and-dropped it like no other! haha it was great and we're hoping to take our show on the road :) 
3. well, david had to go to the dentist today, a while back he got a filling put in and then this past friday it fell out!! it was crazy! so he's been in so much pain for the past few days but was such a trooper and hung in there until his appointment this morning at 10:30, we get there and his dentist is THE MAN!!!! His name is Doctor Ron, and is so incredible! he comes in and is talking to us and then he asked some questions, and our missions came up, and then Dr. Ron served in Texas, and then in Mexico as a mission president! it was incredible to hear his stories and he told me a few tricks to keep my spanish up! he gave me a free copy of this magazine and it's already great!!! i LOVE reading spanish and i'm doing my best to still stay fresh with it! needless to say, david had a great time b/c his teeth are now fixed, and i made a new friend! 
4. david was just on a roll today and scored big points when he said that instead of making dinner tonight we were going to go out to dinner! we went to bajios and i found out his trick! haha, well usually my eyes are bigger than my stomach, and so i'll get something regular size and lately david's been getting something smaller...i was like david, what is up with your puny enchilada tonight? and he was like, oh i just wanted this...and then later when i begged him to finish my meal he commented "and you wonder why i get small meals..." suddenly it dawned on me, i ALWAYS have him finish my food...so instead of being disgustingly full, he just get's something small and finishes mine! haha he's so smart! we finished our night out with a little shopping where david got this BEAUTIFUL tan jacket by Crew, for like 15 dollars! there was a HUGE sale, and it went from 130ish to 15!!!! BOOOYYAAAAHHHH!!!!!! we snagged that one up real fast! and then after that we went grocery shopping where i noticed all of the easter things! i'm so excited to color eggs!!! :D 
well i must be getting to bed!!! i have a HUGE day tomorrow!!! 

heart shaped pb&j's, coco puffs, and homemade salsa!!

well this weekend has been quite an eventful and productive one! david and i decided that we needed to be grown-ups and get jobs. david has successfully found 2, he is currently only working the one, and will be starting his second once school gets out in april! I was just chit chatting with a dear friend on campus and she happens to be the dean of students for the business and communication college here at school-well, she hooked me up with a sweet job and i started this past saturday! She is the best and i totally owe her a loaf of great harvest bread!! 
so, i started bright and early saturday morning. i reported at 8 am-but i got a call from david at 7:15 asking me to stop by before i headed off to my "first day of work." so i get to his place and he had made me breakfast so i would have enough energy and packed me a snack! he is too good to me! i got a little container of my favorite cereal mix, and then a pb&j that was cut in the shape of a heart-haha oh how i love him! he is always doing the sweetest things, and thinks of everything! so i off i went with a happy heart and stomach to work! i will be a facilitator for this organization called "vision conference" honestly it's like leadership and team building experience retreats that businesses take their employers-we don't do the whole trust fall, but we do teach the importance of why their here at school as students and teach them about the resources here on campus. it's really great, and it's a wonderful way to introduce students to the school and get them going on the right direction. the 1 1/2 hour session is mandatory for all business and communication students, but is open to everyone. well currently, we just took it from a 3 hour session down to a 1 1/2 session, and are trying to organize everything down to the basics and do a whole ad campaign for it. we'll be making a video, power point presentation and will be helping out with the actual training sessions! it's the best job ever-it'll be busy for sure these next couple of weeks, but it's going to the best organization ever! i'm so excited to really get into things and help out :) 


so, for sat i participated in the session, and then we discussed what we were going to change and how we could make things better-at about noon we headed back home and david was all ready to go shopping! for his job he needed to get a few more button up shirts and so we headed off to IF and went shopping, he got some shirts, i got some shirts for work as well, and i got my ring cleaned-that was so great! it sparkles even more now! wahoo!! 
after shopping for a bit, we headed off to my massage appointment. my back and neck had been KILLING me lately and i was just fed up with it and so i booked an apt with this lady named emma who came highly recommended to give me a massage. she ran it out of her home and she was just the cutest little thing! i wish i had gotten my picture with her, her certificates lined the walls with different awards and some pictures from some of her clients and their children-david was so patient and waited and read some magazines and chit chatted with us while i got my massage-well emma was too good to be true, she really helped me out and told me all about her horses and different animals, and how she became a massage therapist and elaborated on what i could do to stay healthy-she was so nice. well, she ended up working on me for 2 hours!!! and she only charged me for 1!!!! i about died when she handed me the bill, she said that we were a breath of fresh air, and was excited to see us again if i needed more work. 
well...david and i had to head back to the mall really quick to pick up a last item for a friend then headed home. after that we stopped by and said hello to my friend tyler and his girlfriend summer since  they were only here for the weekend and then we went and watched a movie with his sister. 
today i took my mom's advice and laid low-i skipped church and slept in till about 12:30, took a nice hot bath and then wore my pj's all day!!! david made me lunch after he got off work (again he is too good to be true and has just catered to my every need and then some since my back's been bad) and we did some homework. well my old mission companion paige came into town for a little bit and so she visited us as well, we had a great time catching up and reminiscing of old times on the mission! it was so funny and i think david was surprised at some of the stories! after a wonderful time with paige, we did some dinner and then david had to go to his audition with his a' cappella group-they did great and i'm going to go see them perform this thurday! david does their beat-boxing and his is absolutely incredible!! he is so talented and people are always in awe at what he can do! i had him try to teach me a little, but let's be honest, i could only get a simple "phef" out and it's taken me like a month to do that! haha little by little, i just tell him that i'm going to surprise him one day and start beat boxing a love rap for our anniversary. 
so after that we headed off to his sister laura's place and watched some burn notice and ate some homemade salsa with some chips!!! it was a great and very relaxing day! i felt so lazy, but i don't care! now, i'm not tired b/c i slept in so much, but i have to get up early so i have to try to get to bed now :/ ugh, i have to go print off a picture for my copywriting class, we did a magazine ad for a company called DBot5-they're pretty sweet and modern with an edge, it was fun doing the ad, i hope we get a good grade on it!! well, i'm off to bed-and hopefully i'll get more than the recent 2 hours i've been getting! i realized that i slept more last night than i had this whole week combined! that's SAD!!! ugh, stupid back! i just hope that i'll be able to stop that trend this week :) 

a picture is worth a thousand words

so i couldn't help myself, i started looking through some photos and it brought back so many memories! so much fun :)  the first one is of my graduation from high school-sometimes it seems like yesterday, but then i realize that it was 5 years ago...crazy. 

Here are some of my favorite shots of bella doing some of her favorite activities. the first being pulling alex on my longboard. bella loved to go on walks, and alex was still learning how to control himself on the longboard, so it was only natural to see if bella could pull him along down the street...i think they made it a few feet then alex had to start pushing with his feet again. :) nice try alex.

now we have bella after her favorite past time: digging. she has this amazing ability to dig a hole about 2 feet deep before you even realize that she's missing and has hidden in the ivy searching for little voles. best part of the day was right after her bath when she would literally RACE around the house trying to dry herself, and then run right back outside and get dirty again. oh that dog. we also have here here with her favorite toy, a frisbee. if there is anyway to get into this girls heart, is through snacks and a good frisbee :) 

here we have bella matching dad on christmas eve. they go on walks twice a day, and dad wanted to match bella during the winter. he also didn't want her to get cold on their walks. :) 

 here she is cuddling with alex and me for a movie, one of her other favorite past times. she has always been ready for a good cuddle and movie. 

now we have our favorite little cousin mallory-she has always been known to cheer up anyone with her beautiful smile, and is always ready for a party. here we have her at her first birthday party, and also a lazy day on the lake :) 

finally, we just have some random ones, from my domestic homemade christmas presents to jana and my mom-it was the thought that count, not the fact that the scarfs were a failure :) let's be honest here, if i remember right they were almost too stiff to wrap around their necks, and they were also quite itchy hahaha. another pic from alex's and my day filled with finger painting and air soft guns, and also a nice reminder of how alex used to be small :) haha kind of. and finally a reminder of what really counts in life. The Ohio State Buckeyes :)
oh how i miss the good ol' days

Today was wonderful!! Things could get any better-it was BEAUTIFUL outside, i have come to realize that by the end of winter i get a little grumpy. i think the whole city of rexburg does-i mean, i love freshly fallen snow, but i can only take so much of the -40 degree weather and wind chill factor, and then it just gets dreadful. But no, for the past 2 days it's been a delightful 40-50 degrees, so delightful that i haven't worn a jacket-and that is a miracle. :) there is no need to mention the rumor of snow tomorrow and friday, but i am just grateful for the glimpse of spring. It has given me HOPE for the ability to walk outside my door and not have the urge to run back into my warm covers on my bed. 


along with wonderful weather, i got ROCKSTAR parking EVERY TIME i went up to campus. I know, i know, it seems very lazy of me to drive the 3 blocks to campus, but,  in my defense, my back has been a little out of wack for the past few days, and to save me from as much pain as possible, i've started driving the 2 mins :) but-currently in rexburg there is a shortage of parking and there are some INSANE laws with where and when you can park certain places around the city and especially on campus. leaving the population a 1 in 500 chance to find a parking space. Well, my prayers were answered and i got front row all day!! either someone was pulling out or i just happened on an empty space! it was GLORIOUS!!! usually i have to circle a few dozen times to find one in the way back corner-but not today-it was the official 'mandy get's rockstar parking' day :) 


also, this week has been filled with tender mercies and miracles from Heavenly Father. Oh how i love Him, and all that He does for me. In my scripture study i've been focusing on the Christlike attributes from Preach My Gospel. If you don't have that book in your house, get it asap-it will help you focus on your studies, and allow you to grow and become closer to your Heavenly Father. Well, as i've been studying, i've realized that at times i'm not very christlike. hehe...but, other than that, i've been able to learn more about my Savior and all that He has done for us, and me personally. I've had a goal to exemplify an attribute of His each day this week, and although at times i fail miserably, i have become more aware of my surroundings, and how i treat others. 


my miracle of the week is my dear friend sister. bergstrom. she is the dean of the college of business and communication here on campus-a few years back i had her as a teacher and we bonded over our love for cookies and talking and have been friends ever since. upon returning to school we've had a few opportunities to catch up and reminisce of the good ol' days when i would try to get her to let us have a class slumber party at her house. :) well...this past week i went in to say hello to her secretary eva who i just adore, and then sister bergstrom called me into her office and we just started chit chatting-she asked if i had a job or was looking for one, and i said i was looking but didn't have one. she told me to email her my resume, and so i did last night at you know, about 12;30...then this morning by 11 she had emailed me 3 times, and called me once to let me know that i had some very promising job opportunities and was wondering when i could start. oh how i love her. she is incredible and is always looking for ways to serve EVERYONE, even me! 


speaking of jobs, david was able to secure 2 very good jobs for the summer so far, we're just waiting to hear back about the third, but that one will just be the icing on the cake. his jobs are another miracle for this week :) i am so grateful that his is eager to work hard and do all that he can to succeed. he is anything but lazy and is always looking for opportunities to either serve someone, or become better in an aspect in his life. 


because of my back being a little out of wack these past few days, i've spent a lot of time laying down, or just resting. you know, laying low :) well...i was organizing some of my photos and i saw some oldies but goodies-the first is alex. oh how i love him-he has always been the most kind boy i've ever known. i do believe that this was the summer after my first year at college and alex and i had made a list of things that we were going to do before i left for college again. finger painting was one of the items on the list and he had drawn me. we eventually ended up with war paint and had an air soft gun fight in the back yard when my dad proceed to come up to the drive and shoot both of us then :) oh how i miss those lazy summer days when alex and i would just play and cuddle, watch elf, and take bella on walks to the park or just chase her around the yard together. we would go get ice cream after his football practice, or go swimming where i would watch him do cannon balls to splash the girls sitting on the side of the pool-i miss alex so much. he's always been my best friend and i love him so much :) 
the second is of bella...also a dear family member. i think we had just found her christmas antlers in a box and decided that she needed to try them on for size again. in the picture she had recently discovered her ability to jump up on the ledge by herself-she would sit there for a while then go to the door to be let out and chase the squirrels. she always has been a great guard dog for our yard. also one of the best cuddle buddies. 


ps. happy st. patty's day :) 

if i were...

my friend melanie sent this to me and i just thought it was kinda fun-it's nice to actually reflect on what i would want to be, or what characterizes me best. 

if i were an animal, i'd be a tiger, or a monkey :) 

if i were a month, i'd be august.

if i were a day of the week, i'd be saturday.

if i were a time of day, i'd be mid morning.

if i were a fruit, i'd be a pear.

if i were an element, i'd be water.

if i were a sea animal, i'd be a sea otter.

if i were a song, i'd be 1,2,3,4.

if i were a car, i'd be a nice one? haha i don't know cars 

if i were a font, i'd be bleeding cowboy

if i were a city, i'd be chicago

if i were a direction, i'd be west.

if i were a material, i'd be a paisley print.

if i were a character, i'd be a mirmaid

if i were a gemstone, i'd be a purple Tanzanite.

if i were a tree, i'd be an cherry blossom tree.

if i were a tool, i'd be needle nose pliers, or a nail gun.

if i were a flower, i'd be a poppy.

if i were a kind of weather, i'd be a hot summer's day.

if i were a musical instrument, i'd be a guitar.

if i were a color, i'd be purple.

if i were a food, i'd be bread.

if i were an actor/actress, i'd be sandra b.

if i were a place, i'd be the coast.

if i were a scent, i'd be black raspberry vanilla 

if i were an object, i'd be a camera.

if i were a season, i'd be summer.

if i were a snowman, i'd be the the one with a scarf and coat.

if i were at the lake, i'd be swimming for a while, then drying out on the beach

while going over this, i reflected back on the lesson in relief society from church today.  I am so grateful for the opportunity that i have here on earth to grow and learn and become more like my Heavenly Parents. I feel that so often we fail to recognize their hands in all that we do. The blessings which we receive and the joy which we get from life, all stem from our Heavenly Father and His perfect plan for each of us. He has a plan of us as His children, but also we are able to know of what He wants us to do as individuals through blessings, or revelation. I wouldn't want to be anything other than a daughter of God-nothing could compare to the joys of being a woman, and the blessings which we receive, and give in return. How lucky we are as children of God to partake of His goodness and divinity each day as we strive to become more like Him and our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Well it has been a whirlwind these past few days. I know i have no room to complain, but life sure gets stressful sometimes! I finally was able to get onto fast grad (i'll be in school all year round now) but previously the office had lost my application 3 times!! It was silly how i had to go through everything over again, but they office people know me well now, and i made a few new friends. :) along with that, i'm changing apartments next semester and i had to deal with some things with that, then classes are busy and every teacher assumes that you are only taking their class, so they feel it necessary to give you 4 hours of meaningless yet time consuming homework each day-then add the daily stresses of college life, lack of sleep and the desire of a decent social life and it's just a big ol' party! needless to say, i've had some pretty library filled days recently and some rather long group projects so we can try to complete our assignments! 

in my free time, I've started looking over online tutorials and have gone to a few workshops to broaden my knowledge of the Adobe sweet-on saturday i learned how to make words look like they're on fire  along with some other cool effects :)  it's been quite an adventure practicing and editing photos with different effects and designs. it has been an adventure the whole time and i have spent many nights playing on photoshop and illustrator rather than getting the sleep i need. haha, oh well-

So this semester i've been the media director for some of the athletic teams here at school and i was taking some photos and i've realized something very important: people act completely different when they don't think anyone's watching. My new favorite thing is to zoom in on people in the crowd and see if i can get a picture of them doing something odd. I have a few good photos which i'll try to post later, but just in general i'm pretty amazed at some of the things people think they can get away with. for instance, picking your nose. one of my biggest pet peeves, and some people just think that they are invisible when they do it in public! no-you're not my friend who has his finger 1/2 way up his nose-get a tissue or go to the bathroom! i swear it looks like they could scratch their brain with how far they have their finger shoved up there! it's disgusting-yet rather humorous as well. 
Since i've been doing photography, i've paid much more attention to small details and to emotions to make a shot better, or unique. because of that, i've been more observant to how people talk, react, and just their emotions in general. it has been incredible to see and to try to capture some of the emotions which we emulate each day and passing moment. And then to amplify them with editing and bringing out the beauty of each picture-oh how i love that even more!!!  i'll post some once i finish editing :) 

other than that my life is pretty boring, there's nothing really new going on but life is great and i couldn't be happier.

mr. sun, sun, mr. golden sun....

Well it's been a while, and i apologize. life has been crazy. absolutely crazy, but i love it and wouldn't have it any other way. well. lots has happened. first off i got engaged to the most amazing man ever and i am so blessed to be the future mrs. gailey. on the mission i realized what it really meant to love someone and to have a desire to serve them with all that you have-you lie awake at night thinking of how you can make their life better and how you can share with them the joy and the happiness which you have-when i was reaching my final transfer, i made the goal to continue that same love and desire to serve throughout my life. in my final interview my mission president, told me that the love which i have had for people in arizona will continue to bless me, BUT i will never feel that fulfillment of that love until i find that special someone who i can serve and devote myself to. now, upon returning home, i realized a difference-i wasn't as happy as i was when on the mission, even though i was doing what Heavenly Father wanted me to do, things weren't the same and it bothered me. so i began to serve and that gaping hole in my heart started to be filled once again-but there was still something missing. and then, david reentered into my life-let's be honest here, right before he came over i was thinking that it would be a quick 20 min catch up-hey how ya doing post mission meet and greet then i realized once he opened the door that there was something different. now after some time i have become just as happy as i was on the mission, and then some. each day he surprises me with a little note or something small and treats me better than i could ever imagine. We love to serve, and look for opportunities to go to the Temple, and serve others and each other. i am truly blessed and still in awe at how i could ever get a guy like david and somehow convince him to marry me! ha :) we have yet to determine a date, but we couldn't be happier and know things will work out the more we plan and pray and rely on our Father in Heaven.  


although my head is in the clouds, my brain is still stuck in my books-school is KILLING me right now, not because there's a lot of work to do, but the classes i do have take a lot of time and a LOT of memorization. not my forte, but eh-i'm getting over it. I have a HUGE project due in 1 1/2 weeks which i'm excited for-it's for my copywriting class, and i just love it, i'll post a few pics as i progress with everything. then there's the opinion/statement paper which will be a blast to write, and finally there's history....good ol' history. i'm grateful for the foundations which my ancestors have laid, and for those men and women who have built this nation from the ground up-but really...this class is making it miserable. oh well-enough griping!!! 


my battleship team is dominating. of course, it's all me-haha not really, i just hold a shield sometimes, or splash water in other people's faces. :) oh how i've missed the water so. i'm super excited because david and i are going down to utah in  1 1/2 weeks to see my lovely grandma laubaugh who is visiting utah. on our way down, or back up, we're going to stop at the lava hot springs!!! :D i'm so so so so soooo excited! it will be a nice detour from the 4 hour drive down :) i just have to remember to bring my towl, and shave-haha i've been horrible at remembering to do that. haha, speaking of shaving, i thought i might be nice to my fellow teammates and shave my legs and armpits-funny how you just sometimes forget for a week or 2...or 3. well...i thought that i had gotten everywhere...but no, i missed 3 large and noticeable spots on my legs and then i forgot to do my left armpit...not my finest hour, but oh well-i feel that it was somewhat intimidating to the other teams, it was my own unique defense strategy. maybe one day i'll have motivation to shave...


my ipod touch will be the death of me.  it's another current addiction. wether i'm waiting for class to start, in between classes, or just bored-i have found that there are a few games which can consume my time and make it much more enjoyable. now, i've never been one for games-but seriously-scrabble is addicting, i never knew how competitive i could get over a stupid word game! it's a networking game, so i can find my friends on it and play against them, or have a random opponent. well my friends know me and know for a fact that my vocab isn't the greatest and so i play fair with them-but seriously, there are some fiesty characters out there! pulling out freaking 89 point words on me-you gotta find the cheats! thank goodness for scrabblecheat.com haha i know it's a low blow, but sometimes it's the only way you'll win! haha how pitiful-but really, it's still FREEZING here in rexburg, so playing a friendly game of scrabble will have to do for now. 


speaking of rexburg-the weather here is insane. really-it can be like 40 degrees in the morning and then by lunch it's down to 25 and starting to snow!! it's been tricky b/c i'll walk out to see if i need a jacket, and then like today, i opted not to have one, and then BAM! we get blasted with some more winter wind and about an inch of snow! we're in march mother nature, please get the seasons right! 


along with these festivities, i went to a delightful concert and have had a few more sunday dinners with some close friends and future family-we also have started to have a mini FHE on sunday nights-it's been so great. I love being able to study for specific topics and people. I think i'm going to revamp my scripture study for a little bit and study by topic and question. I have loved learning and growing from reading and recognizing the hand of God in all things, but I am ready for a change and to spice things up a little more. 


The other day i was reading and i accidentally closed my Book of Mormon. i reopened it real fast and it turned to 2 Nephi 2: 25 which read:
"Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have JOY." 
and it hit me. I had an overwhelming peace come over me, and i couldn't deny the love which my Heavenly Father has for me personally. how pure and how calming it is to know that we are all spirit children of a divine heavenly family. I love knowing that in all that happens here on earth, our purpose is to have joy. so when i'm in a difficult situation, i try to remember-how am i going to receive joy from this experience, now...or later down the road?  
life is good-and that's how Heavenly Father intended it to be. 


well, i am finally getting sleepy...but for another post i have a few comments on blessings. oh how i love blessings, and being a blessing for someone else. goodnight :)