4/13/14

Just when you think your plate will be a little lighter... you get called into the relief society presidency. Gah. When Travis got a text from the new second counselor we thought for sure he was getting a calling (cuz he doesn't have one) or we were getting a calling together. Nope, for the second time in this ward the calling was extended to me.

I am excited to be in a position where I will be out of my comfort zone and will be required to meet new people and make new friends, but I am also terrified. The next few months were going to be hard enough without having a calling that takes up a couple hours a week. Travis says the Lord knows how much work I can do, and so he is probably just trying to stretch me even further. Maybe.

I am nervous about the next two months. I am nervous that I can't handle as much as I have taken on. I wish my MPH project was just done, but it's not. I think I can handle everything, but I am gonna be more stressed than I would like.

On the other hand I have been feeling lately like I have been in a rut spiritually. I haven't felt close to the savior. I know this calling will bring me closer to him as I have to rely on him more and understand the love and compassion he has for the women in my ward.

4/12/14

Today was A WONDERFUL DAY!!!

I finished my systematic review. This means one of my 4 jobs is basically over. HALLELUJAH.

Another great thing is that I got to see lots of people I love. I had two bridal showers this afternoon.

The first was my amazing Friend Jaimie's shower. My friends Stacia and Marisa planned it brilliantly. It was the cutest shower i have ever been too, and with the best food. So much to choose from! I haven't laughed so much in a while.

Next I headed over to my cousin Bryce's fiancé Melissa's shower. Melissa and I are actually friends outside of that. We took ballet together about a year ago, and have been friends through the thick and thin of Bryce and her relationship. I got the happy surprise of seeing my Aunt Karen who I don't get to see very often. I also got to meet a bunch of Melissa's family and friends.

When Travis got home we headed to try Mountain West Burrito, people have been raving about it and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I don't know if we got the wrong things, but I did not think it was that great, especially for how expensive it was. Then we cleaned and watched house while I worked. Wonderful saturday night right?

4/11/14

Today was a BLAST! Well it didn't start out that way. I went into my lab at 9 am to work on a project for my last class!! My friend Amanda and I worked together and pretty much realized we had learned nothing in this class. We finally figured out with the help of two pros who had already taken the class (from a different teacher I may add) how to input simple data. Which means I'm probably gonna have to change my whole project because the data set I have is so complicated!

Anyways at noon we had a graduation banquet which was a lot of fun! Good food, good friends, and my husband came too! After that we ventured to the graduate studies office to get our sweet tooth fait cookie since it was National Graduate Student Appreciation Week (what?) went to the Bijou market. The bijou market is put on by a store on center street in orem and brings together around 50 vendors that all handmade their stuff. It was a lot of fun! I bought two bows for my hair and a fun little gift for my favorite baby :)

After the market Travis and I came home and I totally zonked out. I fell asleep for like an hour and a half and was SOOO grumpy when I woke up. Yikes. It took us like an hour to decide where to eat and what to do. We finally decided to head to Zupas, play some soccer, and watch House M.D. I worked whilst watching. I have SO MUCH DUE BEFORE GRADUATION. Why do I do this to myself? ugh.

To do in the next 2-3 weeks

Finish Systematic Review
Finish GIS Project
Take GIS Final
Present MPH Project findings at UPHA conference
Send first draft of MPH project paper to committee chair
Get trained as a Shine Rep
Submit two more grants for work
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

After that it'll be smooth sailing right?

The Shine Project, my new venture

It's not like I have enough jobs right? With school ending I wanted to find something fun to do on the side haha I am so excited! I am officially a Utah State Representative for The Shine Project.

This is an organization I was introduced to about a year ago when my awesome friend and amazing photographer Anna Gleave photographed Ashley LeMieux and her family for Ashley's Blog. 

I started reading her blog and really got emotionally invested in her project. I think you will too (read below or look around her blog)

Basically, it's a fun company that has a social venture side to it, a good percentage of the profits go towards scholarships for inner city youth to go to college. I am a HUGE advocate of Education, and education as the pathway out of the poverty cycle.  The Shine Project not only provides these kids with money but Ashley holds a weekly club meeting at their high school where they perform service throughout their community. She is very involved and invested in the success of these amazing kids who didn't get to choose their situation and are working hard to improve it.

I never thought I would ever want to do anything related to sales by choice. This cause has changed that. This is something I am doing for fun and believe in. Let me know if you are interested in buying jewelry, donating to the charity, or hosting a threads party!

Here's a look into some of the jewelry, cute right?? Great gifts. They also have some apparel as well!





This video does a great job explaining The Shine Project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbsHKqvfVRQ#aid=P9qdFvoIsmY

Here is a little background on The Shine Project from Ashley's blog:

The Shine Scholarship Project is a non-profit that was created to put our beliefs in action. Its mission is to improve the lives of at-risk teens through service, education, and family involvement. We do service projects with inner city students every other week to teach them the leadership skills that are necessary for them to succeed. The money we raise goes to sending these leaders to college, so they can give back to society.You can read more about how to get involved HERE.

Threads is a company Ashley founded to help finance The Shine Project and Shine Scholarships:

We just launched a new company, Threads. Your purchase helps give at risk youth a job and allows them to pay their way through college. You can shop here. 


I will be attending events and hosting parties and selling these wonderful goods to those who are interested :) Please let me know by texting me if you have my number or emailing me at jexii91@gmail.com if you would like to hold a private party in Utah or just want to buy some beautiful product from me, I will come to you if I can!

4/9/14

Today wasn't very picture worthy, which is okay.

I got up at 7:30, travis woke me up all night and finally my body apparently just gave up. I worked on some stuff until I got ready and headed to the mall to buy some lovely bridal shower gifts, and to take another peek into Thai Pan Trading (I love that store). Too bad I couldn't find anything I wanted to buy and was mostly just overwhelmed. Then I moved onto gifts and it took me like an hour and 4 trips up and down the mall to decide. Sometimes I need to not overanalyze how much people will like my gifts. Whatever.

I came home, ate some lunch and started in on my analysis of my MPH project. Whew. I am about halfway done. I need to crank the rest out by monday since I am giving a presentation on this stuff at a conference on Tuesday. Talk about cutting it close. I took a short bike ride in the middle of the day and went back to analyzing. It was actually pretty fascinating when I was paying attention. I am excited to share my results with the world (seeing as this project has almost taken up a year of my life.

After work I headed over to my friend megans where we ran/walked 3 miles around Provo talking about life. These are the good times. Travis cooked a delicious dinner and then we discovered all 8 seasons of house were added to netflix. I watched most of the seasons in high school/freshman year of college but Travis hasn't seen more than the spattering that randomly came on tv when he happened to be bored. Welp I guess we won't be socializing anytime soon :)

Miles today: 3
Miles this year: 7

What the last two years have taught me

As I contemplate graduating in a couple of weeks I've been thinking a lot about the lessons I have learned over the last 2 years:

1. Life is unexpected no matter how hard you try to plan it

I am a planner. I have a planner. I tend to forget things if I don't write them down, and get frustrated when things don't go the way I planned. The let two years have been strewn with unexpected decisions, and events. I never expected to stay at BYU to complete my graduate degree (in fact it was my last resort, my safety school if you will), I never expected to marry my 15 year old crush whom for most of the rest of high school I had a pretty strong romantic aversion to, I never expected to get a job at a tech start up.

I didn't plan any of this, but its made my life the most fulfilling thing imaginable. I couldn't have planned my life better if I had tried. I have learned that most of the time I don't know what is best for me and that I have to trust the Lord and the path he has for me. I know I will learn this lesson many times throughout my life as I have difficult and unexpected situations come up.

2. Passion keeps me positive

I am an extremely passionate person. I love life, I love school, and I love work (maybe a little too much). I think having things that you are passionate about and/or throwing yourself 100% or more into something allows you to do it well and be proud when you succeed. I also think it allows you to stay positive when other things in your life aren't going too well.

School and friends kept me going when I went through a hard break up two years ago. Work kept me going when school was getting mundane and frustrating. My husband and love of exercise keeps me going when I am stressed at my new job.

3. Good friends can make everything better

Good friends are a must at any time in your life. I was lucky to meet the most amazing people in college. I've made friends at BYU that I will have for a lifetime.

4. You can "make time" for things you didn't think you could if you prioritize and use time wisely

I always hear from people oh I don't have time for reading, I don't have time for exercising, I don't have time for cooking. Which I have found myself saying at some points during these last two years. Then about a year ago I realized something: we are lying to ourselves. We do have time for those things, we just decide to use that time for other things whether it be tv, hanging out with friends, or whatever else. I think it was important for me to realize that when I "don't have time for something" its really just not a priority. I've realized that it is pretty easy for me to shift my priorities around and incorporate something new that I want to focus on.

5. My family is one of the best things in my life

My family is incredible. I have an amazing relationship with both of my parents. My mom is one of my best friends. We don't always see eye to eye on things, and have gotten in some of the stupidest fights on the planet, but she is always there for me and gives really great advice. The great thing is that I get to be there for her too. Sometimes we just call each other to talk, its the best. My dad is one of the goofiest people I know, and he makes me laugh so easily. On top of that he knows a lot about the world and about life. I love going to my parents and discussing life and decisions with them. My little sister is also one of my best friends. We are completely opposite in so many ways, but she is tuna and so wise for her age. She loves helping people and often shows me things I want to develop in myself. And if you have met trev you know he is the most hilarious little thing. I am so lucky to have had them close for the 5 years I have been in college.

6. I don't have all the answers

I think when I graduated from undergrad I was very sure that I had all the answers. I knew what was going on and so many other people were clueless. There is a stereotype that young people come out of college know everything and I carried that one like a champ. I have since realized that I do not have all of the answers. I realized how important it is to know both sides of an issue before deciding which one I believe in. I realized its important to hear from young and old alike because both perspectives are important. I realized that I am EXTREMELY stubborn and sometimes its hard for me to let go even when I know I am wrong (working on it).

7. Be grateful for everything, none of this was me alone

Sometimes I get a little high on myself. I get prideful. I think most people do, but its very easy to do when you are going through higher education. I've realized that I couldn't do any of this without my Lord and Savior. I have made many mistakes along the way and am so grateful for the opportunity to repent and become clean again. I have prayed so many times throughout this journey for peace, for help, and for a positive attitude. I know the Lord won't leave us. He wants us to succeed and wants us to be happy.

Going through this program was extremely challenging and frustrating at times but I am very glad for the people I have met, the memories I have made, and the experiences I have had as a result of it. My grad program was where I learned a ton of life lessons.

4/8/14

The most exciting part of the day was heading to scoreboard sports and buying myself some soccer gear. We are really excited to be on a coed team this summer with my cousin. We decided it would be a good idea to start my training so that I am not an embarrassing teammate when the time comes.

I got the cutest, and really comfortable white/purple cleats, grey socks, and white shin guards. We also brought a brand new fancy soccer ball to practice with. 

After we headed home to change and walked over to the park next to our house. Luckily there were huge soccer goals already set up! 

Travis taught me how to dribble, kick, pass, etc. It was really fun, it was cool having him teach me something. We practiced for about an hour and a half and boy am I sore. My body does not know how to do sports with mostly my legs. I am excited to keep practicing, especially if it stays in the 70's the next few weeks :) 

4/7/14

So I scare Travis on accident all the time. Apparently I make no noise when I walk, especially on our tile. It's funny and sad at the same time. haha

Today I headed up to the Health department to get some direction on a project for my GIS class that I am doing with the tobacco program. As I rolled up all of the feelings from my first day of excitement and hope of working there came flooding back. Then the feelings of frustration of the last couple months came on. It's amazing how much emotion one place can bring. I loved my time at the health department and loved my supervisors, but I am so happy that I will not be working there after I graduate.

Then I headed down to Orca, my happy place. The environment is so fun, positive, ambitious, and progressive. I love it. I wonder how I will feel in a year. Hopefully the same way.

After work I headed to my house because Travis and I forgot our laundry there yesterday. Woes of not have a washer and dryer. Don't judge us for doing it at our parents, pay judge away, I would. haha

Then I went on a hunt for some pretty flowers for a friend who needed them. It took me like a half hour to decide. hahaha I'm pathetic.

I came home and was antsy. I told Travis that I would help him with the laundry and then I needed to go ride my bike for a bit before we left for his soccer game. He smiled at me and said i'll put away the laundry you go ride your bike. Yeah my life has gotten way better since we got married.

After the soccer game we got some Chinese and watched NCAA championship.

Also, Travis and I have been married 100 days! :)