All New Things

If you were to ask my family if I am an outgoing person,
they would tell you that I have never met a stranger.
And that would be the truth.
Growing up in the military forced me to make new friends
pretty quickly after moving to a new place.
But my dad retired from the Air Force and
I havent moved anywhere for almost 7 years!
Crazy right?
Anyways you would think that I would still be quick to make
friends here in Rexburg
but for some reason I am so shy!
For example, I went to the singles ward I am supposed to go to on
Sunday and I didnt introduce myself to anybody unless they talked to me first,
luckily though Jentrie was in town and I made her come with me.
I think I also got freaked out when the opening speaker
got up and said "my name is 'so-and-so' and I teach at the highschool
here in town."
I leaned over to Jentrie and was like
"We just graduated from high school... she's old enough to be one of our teaches.."
Anyways, at the end of sacrament meeting
the Bishop got up and was like "if anyone is new to the ward
we would love for you to stop by my office and we can take your picture and get your
information, etc."
Needless to say, I didnt stop by his office..
I got way to scared. Haha
In Relief Society, they asked for anyone new or visiting to stand up
and introduce herself,
and I didnt even stand up!
Seriously, I was so nervous to talk to anyone!
I just keep thinking about how this is not me.
I am not a shy person,
I love making friends, and making sure everyone is included.
But it was so weird that I couldnt even include myself, let alone anyone else.
So this week, I think I am going to go to Scotty's ward
until I move into my apartment in the fall and get into that ward with my roommates,
but I just think it would be nice to have a familiar face at church, ya know?
There is a girl that I work with that is from Rexburg and she just graduated high school too,
but she doesnt wanna go to the singles ward either, so
I am trying to convince her to go with me,
that way we would have each other,
and wouldnt be alone.
Granted, she still has her family here and their ward..
So I completely understand if she doesnt come with me,
but I hope she does!
I love the qupte from "We Bought A Zoo"
that says,
"All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage,
and I promise you something great will come of it."
That is my motto for making friends here,
although, it hasnt gotten me very far.. Haha
I love the idea of it, I guess I just need to put it into action,
because the friends I have here, are leaving because the semester is ending this week!

Even  though I have few friends here right now,
I am so grateful to know that I am not ever alone.
I am grateful to know that I always have Christ with me,
where ever I am, no matter what I am doing.

I am also so grateful for the technology that we have
at our fingertips.
We have access to so many great things to always stay
in touch with friends and family even from hundreds of miles away.

Leap of Faith

Well as most of you know...

I MOVED!

And the craziest thing about it,

is that I moved out of my parents house!

Looking back on it,

it all started on Graduation Day.

I woke up that morning,

having the impression that my summer wouldnt 

turn out like I had planned it.

I had planned on finding a job quickly,

doing so much with my friends,

we even planned a road trip.

And I planned on being the last of my friends to

go off to college,

because they all start in August and I dont

start until September.
 But I quickly found out that it really wouldnt
turn out the way I planned!
I could not find a job anywhere in the Springs!
I applied to so many places, and nothing ever came of it.
So Carissa and I began joking around with
the idea of me moving up to Rexburg early,
and within a few days
the idea became real!
We decided that I would move up early and live
with Kyle and Carissa until I started school in
the fall.
It worked out that Granpa Lundstrom was
turning 90 and we were having a big celebration
on the the June 27th,
and because Kyle and Carissa were coming down to Utah,
and mom and I were driving over from Colorado
we decided that I would drive over with mom,
spend the weekend there,
and leave with Kyle and Carissa to head up to Idaho.
So that only gave mom and I just under three weeks to get all our
shopping and packing done for me to leave,
and some how we managed to do it!
Although, not everything that we were able to fit into moms car,
made it into Kyle and Carissas - haha..

It made for a tight ride up to Rexburg but luckily its
only about 3 hours so it wasnt too bad!
So we had to leave some at Gramma Allreds for mom to bring up when she comes for Carissa's
graduation in a few weeks.

But we made it!
Say hello to my to my home for the next four years!

I hit the ground running
and had a crazy, but fantastic first week here!
We got here on Sunday afternoon
and I unpacked and began to get settled into my new room
and was finally reunited with Emily that night!
On Monday, Carissa and I did a huge grocery shopping trip and
finished up getting me all settled in.
Tuesday is when the craziness began!
Carissa has really long days on tuesdays between school and her internship
and Kyle had a long day ahead of him working on Kiwi Loco's float
for the fourth of July, so I was the babysitter for the day!
When Kyler boy woke up from his nap
we headed over to Kiwi,
and we ended up being there all day!!!
The owner of Kiwi was coming down to Rexburg for the week
for the holiday and they needed to hire a few people,
luckily I was able to get an interview not long after he got into town.
Kyle asked when he could start me and how many hours he
could schedule me for and
he said that I tecnically already started because of that float,
and he said that Kyle could schedule me for as many hours as I want.
SO I have been working like crazy ever since I got here!
The fourth of July parade was so much fun
and our float looked awesome!

It was so much fun that Emily was able to do it
with us, although it was a little bit crazier than
the parade we were in last summer. Haha
It has been an absolute blast to live so close to Emily
again, she has been one of my best friends for a long time!
Im sad to see her leave in a few weeks,
but she is going to be an incredible missionary
and I cant wait to hear all about the great things she does in Russia.
Good Luck Em!

 
THis is the after math of the parade,
we were SO hot and sticky from the unfrozen otterpops
popping all over us.

Of course it wouldnt be the fourth of July without Family!
It has been a huge blessing in my life to be living with Carissa,
its definitely been a learning experience to not have my mama
around but I do love it up here!
its been 4 years since Carissa and I have lived together,
and I am so grateful that her and Kyle will still be here in the fall!

It so much fun to be so close to Janae and Reggie,
and see them so much!

My favorie Kyler boy,
He is so stinkin cute!
I love being the favorite aunt. He is in such a fun stage,
and is getting such a fun personality,
its been so fun watching him grow.
I love him, I love him, I love him!

And we love Kiwi Loco!

 

Later that day, we had a BBQ with Janae and Reggie
and Emily invited me to go to Idaho Falls with her
and her friends to watch the fireworks.
It was so much fun getting to know them
and I am so grateful that they have included me so much
ever since! Its nice to have a few new friends.

The firework show started late because
they were searching for a missing person in the Snake River
(the fireworks are shot off right above the river)
that had gone swimming around 8:30 or 9:00 PM Thursday (the 4th)
that evening. There were three swimmers but only one was missing.
Rescue divers found his body around 1:30 AM on Friday (the 5th).
Many thoughts and prayers go out toward his friends
and family at this time.
The firework show was awesome, and it was a
great night with a few new friends!

By the end of the day,
I was completely exhausted.
It was a long, hot holiday
filled with friends, family, food, parades,
music, adventure, and lots of laughter.
So happy late birthday America,
I am so grateful to live in a free country.

I ended the week off with my first official 5K!
The color in Motion gave Kiwi Loco
free entries to run the race.
So we got to run in it for free!
Im bummed that we forgot to get a before picture,
but here are the after pictures! Haha
It was so much fun!
And I think I did pretty good for it being my first 5K.

I am so grateful that things have been falling into place so quickly
here in Rexburg!
If they hadnt I would probably be feeling a lot differently about the
decision to move, but I know that I made the right choice
to move up here early.. Its still bittersweet as I am missing my friends like CrAzY!!
I am so grateful for all the
love and support that I have recieved from everyone
around me through out this transition in my life.
I know that God has a plan for me,
and for everyone. He knows each of us as individuals.
He knows our struggles and our successes.
I know that sometimes we have to take
a leap of faith
to see what he has waiting for us.
I promise that if you keep your faith and your head up high,
he will take care of you.
I know that its hard to trust that he will catch you,
but I promise he will.
Throughout the last month and half or so,
my motto has been
"Keep calm and carry on"
because sometimes thats all you can do.
Just taking life one day at a time,
I know that if we do that,
that God will bless our lives and something that might
not have made sense to us before,
like moving to Rexburg, Idaho three months before school
starts for example, I did not have a job waiting for me, or any
knowledge of why I was coming at all.
But I know that I moved at the exact right time that I was supposed to.
I know I am where I need to be for this time in my life,
and I cant wait to see what else God has planned for me
in this crazy little town.
Stay tuned for more adventures from Rexburg!