Faster Than the Blink of an Eye

HOLY COW.

I am so sad that by how long its been since I have blogged.

I guess I will just start at the very beginning...

[Prepare yourselves this is bound to be a pretty long post.]

First off,
I wrote this after my first week of school and I guess
I never finished the post and so here it is! Haha
I feel like it fits right in perfectly with the rest of this post:

Holy cow!

I cannot believe that my first week of school has already come and gone.

I have a heard time realizing that it went by so fast

because seriously, it was such a long week.

The first week of college is so overwhelming.

All of your teachers are throwing tests and quiz's and syllabus's

at you and you just dont even know where to begin.

My roommate Cassie and I decided to skip out on the whole I-team, get connected

thing but we did go to the talent show and I-night which was the weekend 

before school started and way fun.

After the talent show we hooked up with Allison and Kelsey

(two good friends from high school),

and Kelsey;'s roommate and decided to go grab some

froyo from Kiwi Loco.

 [Left to right: Stacey, Cassie, Allison, Kelsey and Kelsey's roommate]

We were so excited for the semester to start!

 The day before classes started,

Carissa, Kyle, Klyer, Mom, me and Scotty went on a walk around campus

to find each one of my classrooms.

It was definitely a huge help the next day

as I was so nervous for my first class!

If you were to tell me a year ago,

if my mom and I would share the same first day of college

I would have never believed you.

My mom has always wanted to go back to school

but it was just a matter of doing it.

And she did!

We both started college on Monday September 16, 2013

Pretty crazy if you as me,

but I really am so proud of my mama for deciding to go back to school

and so far shes been kickin butt,

so go her for working so hard and being successful!

It is a cool oppportunity to be able to be chasing my dreams along side my mom.

[Left to right: Kristen, Sydnee, Cassie, Stacey]

I was asked to speak on the second Sunday of the semester,

and Carissa, Kyle, Kyler, and Scotty

all came to hear me speak.

It meant alot to me actually.

I guess I could introduce you to all of my roommates!

Left to right: Cassie, Sammee, Ashley, Kristen, Stacey, and Sydnee

I am grateful for the chance to get to know these girls.

They have all affected my life and I sure have learned quite a bit

from them and for that I am grateful.

Sammee and Ashley are sophomores and the other four of us are all

first semester freshman.

There is a gas station called Horkley's,

(well thats what it used to be called but it was recently bought out

is now called Great Scott's)

and it's way cheap for us poor college students,

so we go quite a bit.

We especially love Thirsty Thursday's

when you can get a refill for only 60 cents if you have a plastic cup!

(We have lots of plastic cups.. Haha)

We love our snuggle time!

At the beginning of the semester,

we all made predictions for when we thought

our first dates in college would be and when

we though we thought we would all be engaged and married.

Its been a fun game throughout the entire semester!

We love October and we love pumpkins!

I havent has as much time to skype as I would like,

but when I do its been so great catching up with the best friends

I could possibly ask for.

I miss Sarah Nelson SO MUCH!!!

Dont worry, we were both physically and 

spiritually fed during General Conference,

and both were so great. 

I am so grateful to have living prophets who

lead and guide this church everyday.

It is an incredible blessing to be able to

hear from them every six months

There was a bee (and I am terrified of bees) in Kyle and Carissa's apartment during conference

everyone got really crazy all of a sudden so

I huddled under a blanket right in front of the TV

and everyone found it to be funny,

as they thought I was joking about hating bee's,

but I was terrified

but Scotty took a picture and

created this meme which

every one thought was quite funny,

and i'll admit it is pretty funny.

We love decorating and being crafty in apartment 113!

We made a super cute set of signs.

The grey chevron goes in the middle and it says,

"Home Sweet Home"

The idea was super cute,

but confession,

we still havent put them up on our living

room walls yet.. Haha

This was taken before we actually finished the signs, haha

Our craft night may or may not have turned into

us painting war paint on our faces

and attacking our FHE brothers apartment and

without realizing that it was after cerfew! Oops!

Haha anyways,

it was a way fun night that created great memories!

Sydnee and I have lots of little dates together,

she is so great!

In our apartment

we love to hashtag and

on of our favorites is

#our500poundlife

and you cant get a better description than this picture

haha - I love this girl!

Guess who is movin up to Rexburg in January!

Jentrie is! I am so excited to live near her again,

I think she is going to love it up here.

Well...maybe not the freezing cold weather,

but other than that she is going to love it!

I am so blessed to be here at BYUI,

and whenever I am feeling down,

it seems like its always the smallest things that remind me

of just how blessed I am.

I have fallen in love with the leaves during Rexburgs fall,

(No pun intended, haha)

I have found that I am obsessed with hot chocolate

as it is absolutely freezing in the Iceburg,

as I like to call it.

And I have made an awesome new friend this semester

through work, his name is Todd,

and he never fails to make my day with perfect timing

by sending little random texts.

He's a pretty great friend!

One of the last pictures I have before...

DYING my hair!!!!!!

I was seriously freaking out the entire time.

I really do love my natural hair color,

and so it was extremely nervous,

It was pretty spur of the moment,

I did it within a few days of thinking I wanted to do it,

but I really wanted to do it,

so I did it!

And I am so glad I did!

I decided to a

Ashley went with me, 

and was so patient as I freaked out the entire time!

We decided that it would be kind of fun to leave

the end product to be a surprise...

And Ashley took pictures as I turned around,

they are so funny! Haha

My FHE brother Colby snapchatted me during church when

he first saw my hair.. Haha he's the best!

It looks so dark in this picture!

Kyler now knows who Jesus is and its so stinkin cute!

Scotty and Sammee! :)

Allison and I get together about once a week to catch

up with each other

This girl is hilarious.

Laura is in my English class and im pretty

sure that the teacher hates us because we are constantly

laughing in that class. Im so glad that we got to know each other so well

throughout the course of the semester.

I got a a 92% on the hardest assignment ever!

(At least it felt like it.. haha)

I was the happiest girl in the world that day haha

I hate math homework so much!

My FHE brother Isaac,

he is the best! :)

I am so happy that I captured this face!

Kyler boy is getting so big!

He always keeps us laughin!

Im thinking this will be a wedding video picture... Haha

This world lost an incredible young man on October 10,

 my lifelong friend Andrew was serving the Lord 

as a full time missionary in California.

He and his companion were on their bikes and he was hit by a car.

I am so grateful to know that families can be together forever 

and that God has a plan for each and every one of us.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Maggie and the rest of his family,

and other friends that were close to him.

Andrew, may you be "encircled about eternally in the arms of His love." (2 Nephi 1:15) 

I Love You.

Sometimes we just need a little R&R

in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of the semester.

I am pretty proud of this edit,

I feel like its something you would find on Pinterest.. Haha

In case you were wondering, I live in Iceburg, Idaho.
It is so bitter cold ALL the time!

Brielle had her baby!

Brooklynn Jeanne Rucks

was born 7 pounds and 6 ounces at 4:05pm

November 2013

Isn't she so beautiful?!

Gramma and Brooklynn :)

Parker LOVES Brooklynn!

Haha I absolutely love these two pictures!

He is so stinkin cute!

Parker lovin on Brooklynn haha

She is SO cute!

So I was sitting in the kitchen one day and I got
this snapchat from Sammee and I dies laughing so hard.

Our cute little FHE family.
We love each other :)

I LOVE getting Emily's letters!

She is doing great and loving the work

in Russia.

Although I miss her more everyday I

know that she is doing incredible things in Russia

and the Lord is watching over her.

Again, I dont think she can get any cuter!
She is just so tiny and cant even get enough!
I cant wait to meet her!

 Setting up Kyle and Carissa's Christmas tree!

I still cant believe that I got see Anna Starnes!
Even though we only had a few hours to catch up,
it was so much fun!
Oh how I have missed this girl!
I am so happy that she is loving her life in California
(Even though I wish she was here with me!)

 When Carissa, Kyle, Kyler and I flew to Colorado
for Thanksgiving break
I got to board the plane from that little ramp thing!
That might seem lame but I have always wanted to do that!
It was so cool!

Once I got to Colorado,
I had planned to surprise my best friend
in the world Ashley!
Here's how it went down:
So I had an appointment at her mama's salon
the night that I got into town and she called Ashley and
was like hey can you bring me something from home?
It was completely random like a curling iron
and Denise just told her that she needed it for her client and so
Ashley came in and I turned around
in the chair and Ashley
FLIPPED!!!! 
Her reaction was even better than I had hoped it would be!
That day marked my five month mark since I moved
to Rexburg which means I hadn't seen her in five months!
That is such a long time!
It was so good to catch up with her.
I sure do miss her everyday up at school.

Within like 3 days of being home,
mine and Cassie's room exploded!
I promise that it hasnt been like this all semester
but Cassie was like
"You know finals are almost here when a bomb hits
your room and you dont even have time to care."
Hahaha
seriously though it was so bad. Haha
clean checks were the next day
so we had some serious cleaning to do that night.
And we got it all done that night which is crazy but we
managed to get it all done that night!

So this post definitely does not sum up the entire semester

but I think it gets pretty close!

I am so grateful for all of the opportunities I have had this semester.

I am grateful for everything that I have learned

not only in school but about life itself.

Heavenly Father has placed people and events in my life to learn

and grow from them.

And although it may not always be easy,

I am so comforted to know that I am not doing it alone.

I am grateful for my Heavenly Father and

all that he does for me because I know without a

doubt that I would not be able to do any of it without his

help every single day.

I cannot believe that in less than a week,

my first semester of college will be over...

It went by Faster than the blink of an eye.

What an incredible journey it has been.

So here's to finals week!

May the odds be ever in my favor... Haha

No More Wisdom

I realize this post should have been up a while ago,

but I always seemed to forget about it.

I got my wisdom teeth out  back in June,

things were kind of crazy that week

because of the Black Forest Fire,

but my mom happened to get quite a bit of it on camera.

I dont remember anything,

so it was kind of fun so be able to see

what I would be like on drugs.

I was actually very sad which is not like me at all,

but its hilarious.

Heads up, it is kind of long, but totally worth it.

 So I hope you laugh as much as we did!

Enjoy :)

Out With The Old And In With The New

[I wrote this forever ago and I guess it also didnt get posted..
I should really get back into the full swing of blogging again,
but anyways here it is!]

Hi guys!
What do ya think?
Looks pretty great right?
I've been tossing the idea of changing up the look of the blog
for a while now and I finally decided that so many things are changing in life
everyday, and I thought that I am always posting exciting new things
on my blog, but how come I've never changed it?
Finally I said, "Why not?"
So it was out with the old and in with the new!
A new name, new features and all together a brand new look!
There are so many new additions and I will continue to add things,
to only make things better.
I am so excited about the new look,
and hope that more and more people will like it too.
There are so many new things to explore.
So get to it!
I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do!

Hope your having a great week!

Worthy

Many who know me know that right after going gluten free,

I struggled going to church because I hated knowing that everybody could have the

bread during the sacrament and I could not.

I hated feeling different.

I felt like everyone saw me as different.

I absolutely hated bringing a cracker,

it was so stressful to me.

Eventually though we got the hang of it,

we, actually being my dad, he always brought a cracker for me to have for the sacrament

and took it up for them to bless along with the bread.

When I moved to Rexburg,

I didnt have my dad to take my cracker up to those blessing the

sacrament for me anymore.

I was so nervous to take my cracker up because once again,

I didnt want to be seen as different.

But after a few sundays, I got the hang of it and

planned my time right that I would get to the church early enough to give them

cracker and to take a seat.

I gave myself enough time, which made it less stressful for me.

But this past sunday,

I pulled into the parking lot and there were only two trucks in the parking lot

and they were pulling out.

One of them was my Bishop!

Little did I know that my ward was meeting somewhere else because

our building is being renovated or something.

Anyways, I called Carissa and told her I was just gonna come home,

but just as I hung up I got a text from Scotty

(who happens to meet in the same building as me, just the ward before me)

so I decided to call him and see if his ward met somewhere else,

I explained the situation and he told me,

"Hang tight for a minute,let me make a few calls."

When he got back to me,

church had already begun,

so I told him I was just going to go home becuase I wouldnt be able to

take the sacrament anyways because it was too late to give them my cracker.

His response really got me thinking.

He told me that I should find a ward to go to because

even though I couldnt take the sacrament,

I could sit through it knowing that I was worthy to take it,

and would if I could.

So I decided to go look for a ward to attend,

even though I was going to be late.

I asked if he would come with me, and he did.

He met me at a building down the street,

and we walked in and the ward had just ended.

Long story short,

he was determined to get me to sacrament meeting.

So determined that we went to

SIX different buildings to find a sacrament meeting to attend.

[I went to seven if you count the building I usually go to which I went to first.]

After the fifth building, we even help a guy jump his car!

We got to the sixth building at 12:34,

luckily that ward met at 12:30!

So I attended sacrament meeting.

It was hard for me to not take the bread,

nervous that everyone would totally notice that I didnt.

But I was overcome with peace, from what Scotty told me earlier.

I knew that I was worthy to take it,

and I knew that Heavenly Father knew the intention of my heart.

I am so grateful that Scotty was so determined to get me to sacrament meeting.

I am grateful that he went with me,

it was comforting to have someone I knew right next to me

that I knew supported me.

He may not know that by coming with me so I wouldnt be alone,

and telling me

I could sit through the meeting knowing that I was worthy

really helped me to overcome a fear that I have had for over a year.

 I am beyond grateful for him helping me get passed that,

as it might not seem like a very hard thing

but for some reason I really struggled with it for a really long time.

I am grateful for my friendship with Scotty

and his example to me.

I know that if we do all we can,

even if its attending sacrament meeting even though you cant take the sacrament,

Heavenly Father will notice our efforts and bless us for

making the right decisions.

I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father

who knows me and loves me with a perfect love.

I am grateful for the sacrament and the role that it plays in my life.

The Greatest Blessing

I know that I have shared this video in previous posts,

but I love it and know that its message is true.

Three weeks ago,

I hit my one year mark of being gluten free.

I promise you that the past year has been by far

the hardest year of my life

physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

It might sound crazy that a small change in diet

would have the ripple effect

to effect every part of my life,

but it completely flipped my world upside down.

Everyday seemed to take a lifetime,

and I would never think that 365 days later

I would tell everyone that going gluten free was one of

the greatest blessings

God has ever given me.

I cant remember the last time I have felt this good.

Although it was difficult,

I know that without a doubt

my Heavenly Father was by my side every step of the way.

He has shown me that with Him,

I really can do anything.

Going gluten free has blessed me in ways that I would

have never imagined.

I have been blessed with confidence. 

Confidence to be different,

confidence to be me 100% of everyday.

I have been blessed with strength.

Strength to go day to day feeling better

than I have felt in my life.

I have been blessed with happiness.

Happy to be healthy,

although it may not be a cure,

happy to know a way of treatment.

I have been blessed with a support system.

I could not ask for better friends and family

as they have made sacrifices for me,

and encouraged me to keep going.

I have been blessed with a greater testimony.

A greater testimony of the atonement,

and that Christ has already gone through this for me,

and wont leave my side as I go through it and

that one day I will be perfected and will no longer

have this trial.

A greater testimony of God's love for me.

All in all, I have been blessed.

The Greatest Blessing

has been my support system.

Whether they realize it or not,

there are quite a few people who have

really touched my life and I will be forever grateful to them

because of their efforts to help and support me in anyway they can.

First, my mama, she made so many adjustments to her schedule,

and her cooking. She always tries gluten free things with me

so I dont feel so left out. She is still sending me awesome recipies to try.

my daddy, just like my mama he adjusted his cooking,

to find a yummy gluten free gravy, bread, rolls, all his famous sunday dinners.

Sarah Nelson, for going gluten free for an entire week.

I dont know many others who would do that.. it was by far one of the

nicest things anyone has ever done for me,

and still brings tears to my eyes.

I still dont know how I got so lucky to have a best friend

who would make that kind of a sacrifice,

to understand even a fraction of what I have to go through each day.

Jake Goodsell, for always checkin up on me and always asking me what he can do to help me.

Becky Bailey, for being the first one to encourage me to go gluten free,

at Daughters of Virtue, and for always checkin up on me to see

how im doing and if she can do anything for me.

Mrs. Tina Lattanzi, for making me so many gluten free meals during rehearsals.

She is a pretty incredible woman if you ask me,

so generously helping someone she hardly knew.

Kyle and Carissa, for putting up with me and my totes GF food while I live with them.

Scotty Renner, for buying way more gluten free food than he needed to just to make

sunday dinner, which he made a whole pan gluten free.

The rest of my Family and Friends,

for all the love, support, and prayers

throughout the last year.

I know that there are many more people who have been a great

help throughout the last year,

but those are just a few instances that have really stuck out

to me and touched my life.

The past year has been the hardest year of my life,

but I can promise you that it has also been one of the most rewarding.

Going gluten free is without a doubt,

and Beautiful Heartbreak

and has been the greatest blessing

in my life, and I am grateful for that.

Hold Tight and Carry On

Sometimes when things slow down after being crazy for a while,

you are given way too much time to think.

So I apologize for this post in advance,

as it will probably sound like one giant pity party.

During the 7 week break,

Rexburg is pretty much a ghost town.

With it being my first summer here,

I haven't had an opportunity to meet new friends.

All I have right now is work.

I know it probably sounds like I am ungrateful for my job,

which don't get me wrong,

I could not be more grateful for my job at Kiwi Loco and Skeeters!

 But sometimes, especially this week it has been a little rough.

Last week was the Allred Family Reunion

and it was awesome to see my family,

and it felt good to come back to Rexburg because

I know that it's where I am supposed to be,

but that doesn't necessarily make it any easier..

By seeing my family I felt like I was supposed to see my friends too..

The people who know everything there is to know about me,

the ones who know just what to say at all times,

the people who I've laughed with,

cried with, and grown with over the past 7 years.

It's been hard to come back to a place where

I don't have someone who just randomly calls you to go on a walk,

a drive, play at the park, to watch a movie,

to go get frozen yogurt at lulu's.

I know what your thinking, it's exactly what everybody else is thinking,

"school will start before you know it and you are going to make so many friends! You'll see, just wait."

And for a long time I believed that it would start

before I could say "here we go"

and I'm sure I will make plenty of new friends when I start school,

but what about right now?

It's hard.

It's hard to wake up knowing your hundreds of miles away

from your best friends as they are having a great summer together.

It's hard to see people come into kiwi to get yogurt with their best friends.

Its hard to sit alone at church.

It got to a point where I was just frustrated

that God would send me to Rexburg early when I was just going to struggle.

But you know, it's been an eye opener for me.

It has allowed me to grow so much closer to my Heavenly Father,

and he has already taught me wonderful things here.

He has reminded me that I am never alone,

although I may not have a friends who wants to go on a random adventure,

I have a loving Heavenly Father who calls me everyday,

and he asks me everyday to do everything I can to become closer to him, to

carry on.

He has reminded me that it's okay to just fall down and cry,

he will pick you up and brush off your, as Parker would say, "ouchies".

I'm sure this post seemed like I was just complaining,
but I hope you can see the lesson I have once again been reminded of,
you may at times feel all alone,
even when you are surrounded by wonderful people,
but you aren't alone.
If you turn yourself over to The Lord 100% he will bless your life.
Yes it would be nice to have a friend in Rexburg who plans a random adventure,
but isn't that what Heavenly Father is doing?
He has a crazy adventure planned for each of us
and I am so grateful I get to go throughout my adventure with him by side the entire time!
I know that I will find another best friend,
as I have so many back home.
My Heavenly Father is looking out for me,
He knows me,
He knows what I struggle with everyday,
He is in the details of my life.
He is my best friend.
I am so grateful for all he gives to me everyday. 

My mom shared this quote with me and I absolutely love it,
I think it is very applicable to me right now,
and its a pretty good perspective to have
during school.
I hope you love it too.

"Learn new things.
If they're hard, great.
If you have no aptitude, keep working on it.
The struggle may offer the greatest benefit."
- Alvaro Fernandez

To all my friends far away, know that I miss you more than words can say!
I hope you are all doing well and may God bless you until our adventures cross again.
May we always remember to hold tight and to CARRY ON.