The next few weeks are going to be ... FANTASTIC! Here's why:
On Thursday afternoon I was notified that EFY would like to hire me on to start working as an EFY counselor starting that following Monday (that's today folks). I applied for this job ages ago but never heard back so I completely forgot about it. Most people find out 3-4 months in advance so they have plenty of time to prepare for it, I got 2-3 days. Not to mention those were the days of finals and white glove clean checks.
I was also scheduled to attend a family reunion that very week and then travel home with my family and get started right away on some other things as soon as I got home. It was VERY unlike me to completely drop everything that I had planned and scheduled for something that spontaneously showed up, but I did- and I feel very confident about that descision.
I went to EFY once with my best friend Emily the summer before our Senior year. However, we had some plane troubles and missed our entire first day and had to spend the rest of the week catching up, but we sure did enjoy ourselves.
I was just reminded of the EFY term "COW" or "Crush Of The Week". I definitely had a Cow, his name was Jon and we were adorable together ;) ask anyone. Annnnyways. Here's some pictures from way back when I was a participant. The next post will hopefully have some pictures of efy from the perspective of a counselor.
Gosh I'm excited. Did you ever go to EFY? Any tips, suggestions?
My two amazing counselors, Michelle and Erica. I ADORED them.
Emily and I went together, best decision ever!
I loved making so many new friends. This is Kelsey, she's married now :) (ha apparently I wasn't big in to make up back then!)
The strapping young men. We got pretty lucky with our guys :)
The ladies!
Our threesome counselors, usually there are only two, but we got three that time, and I'm in a threesome this time around too!
Gosh I liked those boys :)
And the moment you've been waiting for... Jon!!! We hung out and went on a date or two after efy, this was taken at one of them. He's a cutie :) (Currently on a mission in SINGAPORE!)
And that's all I've got time for right now folks, I meet my girls in two hours, and I am seriously SO excited. I love them already.
Love, Noelle
Oh. P.S. I got the job on campus working at the Information desks in the Kimball and MC, super thrilled about that one. Ahhhh how I've missed working. Life is good. Oh yeah and.... Josh Turner. (Just had to throw him in there)
I read this quote the other day and fell in love. I'm sure Mr. Tolkien meant something very deep and profound when he said this, but I took it very literally.
I am such a wanderer. I didn't even realize it until my roommates kept bringing it up and teasing me about it.
First of all, I like to walk everywhere. I was out with a boy the other day and we were talking about having cars up at school and I realized that I would pretty much NEVER use my car even if I had it up here. I love walking or riding my bike way too much.
Here's where the wandering and complaining roommates come in :) When I walk somewhere and I don't have to be there at a certain time, I love to take my time on my journey. I will most definitely take the longest route possible, just to make the trip last longer. This is especially effective in the springtime when I just love being outside. But even in the winter, I used to drag Claire with me through every single building on campus and then some just so we could wander around for longer. If someone needs something delivered or turned in somewhere, I jump on the opportunity (No promises that it will arrive in a timely manner though)
So if you ever see me wandering around, there's a good chance I'm not lost and I'm not on my way to or from anywhere in particular, I'm just out and about because that's what I like to do. Weird? Uh yeah. But we're each entitled to a couple weird qualities right?
I feel like Winnie the Pooh kind of validates my argument with his quotes:
“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”
“Don't underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering.”
President Kim B.Clark (President of BYU-ID): Tuesday, July 12, 2011
"Students, you've spent this semester studying and preparing for this upcoming finals week. And you've spent your whole lives preparing and studying for the second coming. Well, lucky for you, we're combining the two events and your "Finals week" will actually literally be your FINAL week on earth. Surprise, the second coming is here! Hope you're ready for this."
Ok, so this was said over the pulpit during devotional...in my dream last week :) Let me reiterate that for just one second, just so there's no confusion. This was a dream. President Clark said no such thing.
And that's when the bombing/earth-quaking/fires began. It was all pretty exciting to tell you the truth. Trucks were lighting up and floating in the sky (Kind of like a dark mark/Harry Potter type of thing), there was loud noises, bombs exploding everywhere and lots and lots of shaking (I later found out that my roommates were in my room shaking my mattress that night, which only added to the madness I was experiencing in my dream. Bad roommates. Bad, bad roommates.)
These are the two little stinkers that were provoking me during my slumber.
It made me think about which "Finals Week" I'm spending more time and energy preparing for. We are all sooo swamped with tests, projects, presentations, trying to fill blog post quotas :) etc. We're putting in long hours and hard work to make sure that we are confident and prepared for finals next week. It's exactly what we're supposed to be doing.
What kind of effort are we putting in to make sure that we are confident and prepared for our actual Final Week?
Just something to think about, Good luck with finals!
Love, Noelle
P.S. I'd also like to note that I just had a really great day today. Super great. I'm a happy camper :)
(How funny is it that it has two negative, awful meanings and then it also means something so lovely? Which definition do you think of first?)
Once upon a time I was at a boy's apartment in which most of the boys who lived there were home and in the living room. Enter roommate named ... for the sake of the story,and to protect his identity, though I doubt he will ever see this, we'll call him Henry.
This is said "Henry", with a knife...thinking about the movie Charly...don't ask :)
So Henry walks in, and I believe this was the day that everybody was coming home from various places after General Conference weekend. I don't really remember exactly what happened, what I do remember is that Henry had met a girl that weekend and he had fallen for her. His exact words were, "Guys, I'm smitten!"
I think I died that day. It was so funny and so sweet to hear him go on and on to his roommates about how he was completely smitten by this girl. Smitten! Of all words! It's not one you hear very often anymore.
Here's one website's definition of Smitten:
More than like, but not quite love yet, its that feeling in between the two. That feeling of butterflies in your tummy. Its that feeling that makes you smile whenever you think about that special person.
I remember telling my roommates this story and we all sat there and thought, "Wow, I can't wait til I find a boy who meets me and can't help but go home to his roommates and express enthusiastically how smitten he is with me!"
Now I have no idea what, if anything, happened between Henry and this girl. But I don't think I will ever forget that "smitten moment". And to make sure I never forget it, I had to publish it in the blog of course.
You know how when you see a couple that's dating, you can get a good feel for their relationship just by watching them for a few minutes. You can tell whether or not the couple likes each other, or if their SMITTEN with each other.
Smitten? I think yes.
It also makes me think of my relief society adviser and her husband. Brother and Sister Herbert. They are both in their... 60's maybe? And you can just tell that they are still so smitten with each other. You can see it in the way they act around each other, in the way they talk about each other, in the way they talk to each other and in just about everything. They are SO SMITTEN. And it is soooo cute. We just love them. They are a great example of how a husband and a wife should treat each other.
Brother and Sister Herbert:Smitten
Photo Courtesy of Anna Freeby
Smitten. Good word Henry, good word. I'm putting it on the list.
So I was out on a run last Wednesday evening. It started off as a great run, beautiful weather, pleasant breeze and I was just feelin good all around.
By the end of the run, my eyes were practically swollen shut, I had tears streaming down my face, I couldn't stop sniffling and I thought I was going to die.
What happened you ask?
Hay-fever happened. Allergies got the best of me.
I guess I just forget that I get allergies really bad every spring. So they came again and snuck up on me this semester. And let me tell you, they sure have been kicking my toosh. The sneezing, the watering eyes, the runny nose, the foggy thinking, the energy zapping etc etc.
Anyways, back to my story, so I'm walking up the stairs to come home from my run, and I run into my dear friend LeeAnn. I was so very happy to run into her because she was leaving for home (Ohio) the next day, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to say goodbye.
This is LeeAnn and I on a group date. She is seriously one of the most gorgeous girls I have ever met.
Anyways, I had a nice chat with her, during which she noticed my apparent allergy problem. Well, I woke up the next morning only to find this on my kitchen table:
IT says: "Noelle, hope this helps! And they say that a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down, or in this case, some chocolate. Feel better! Love, your fairy GodMother"
My first thought when I saw this was, "This has visiting teachers written all over it!" Wrong, this was simply a good friend who went way out of her way on a day where she could have been doing a million other things (seeing as she was preparing to fly across the country) to help out a sniffling, sneezing friend.
I couldn't believe it.
It made me think of this talk given by Sister Cook in the April 2011 General Young Women's conference. SUCH a great talk, I highly recommend reading it. In it, she encourages us to become benevolent.
Benevolent:"A lovely word that we don’t hear very often. Its roots are Latin, and it means “to wish someone well.”To be benevolent is to be kind, well meaning, and charitable."
LeeAnn Riggs is benevolent. She and Sister Cook have given me a new found desire to become more benevolent. To be a little kinder, to be more selfless, to forget my own needs and desires for a moment to focus on the needs of others. Benevolent. Gosh, that is a lovely word isn't it?
Running and blogging go hand in hand with me. When I run I think about lots and lots of things, and I usually blog about those things that I think about. And then it comes full circle because I usually work on my blog right before I go out on another run where I think about more things to blog about. It's a beautiful cycle :)
Here's a question I was asked a couple of days ago:
Since I end each post like a letter, "Love, Noelle" I've been asked who the letter's/posts would be addressed to. Or in other words:
"Who do you blog for?"
That's the question that I contemplated on my run today, and now I'm back and have it all figured out, so I thought I'd share.
1. I blog for Bro. Embree: As many of you know, this blog is an assignment for one of my Communication classes. Without it, I would fail miserably, which would be sad because this is my favorite class ever!
Is it creepy that I have a picture of my professor on my blog? Kind of! Oh well..
2. I blog for myself: I just spent a good chunk of my free time this morning reading over every single post in my blog. I'm so glad I've kept it, I've been slacking a smidgen on writing in my journal and this has definitely helped to fill in the blanks. I blog so that I can look back and remember the little things like oatmeal and Aldean :) It's also nice to have a place to sort out my thoughts and feelings about things. It's an outlet for sure.
3. I blog for Claire Ruth Salmons: From day one she's been the 2nd main reason (aside from the fact that it's an assignment) that kept this up. She's constantly asking, "Have you updated your blog yet? No? Update it!!!" It's encouraging :)
4. I blog for my family: They like to stay updated on my happenings, I know they appreciate a good, jam-packed blog post.
Anddd that's all the specifics I can think of for now. But while I was running, I realized that while I'm writing each post, I keep in mind certain people who could possibly be reading it. This greatly determines the content that goes into each post.
My Stats tab shows me how many times each post is viewed and then it tells me what kind of device it was viewed on and what country it was viewed in. I have no idea who exactly reads it, but this tells me I have some faithful German and Puerto Rican friends :)
I always think, "Do I feel comfortable knowing that so and so is possibly going to read this?" These include people like my parents, the lovely ladies I'm over in relief society, my grandma, friends from home etc. And then I thought to myself, I wonder if my future husband is reading this blog post! So if you are, here's a shout out just for you, and when we're old and married we can talk about how I blogged for you even before I knew you... how romantic! Oh gosh haha I hope you can sense the sarcasm. Either way, I definitely keep all these people in mind while I'm writing, and I hope I haven't let them down thus far.
So is that weird or do you do the same thing while writing your blog posts, your facebook status' or whatever it might be?
I wish I had a picture of her, but I can't figure out an unawkward/appropriate way to get one.
This is as close as it's going to get, her hair is a lot curlier than this though.
I found this online, for the sake of the blog, it'll have to do
I've spent every Friday morning for the past two semesters with Patsy Peterson. She has short blonde curly hair, pretty blue eyes, and has the perfect "grandma" stature. She works in the baptistery in the Rexburg temple at least every Friday morning, and she simply brightens my day.
Rexburg, ID Temple: Isn't it pretty?
I can't even really put a finger on why I adore her so much. I just know that I do. She has the softest, sweetest voice and always greets me with a big smile. She does whatever she can to make my visit to the temple as enjoyable and comfortable as possible. And whenever I leave she always expresses her gratitude for my coming and for taking the time out of my "hectic, busy college life schedule" to do work for those who can't do it themselves. She says it so sincerely and it really helps me to remember why I come to the temple.
Every single week without fail, I see Miss Patsy and without fail she guarentees that I don't leave with out a smile on my face and a better appreciation for the temple.
So when I grow up, I hope that one day I can work in the temple and help others have the same experience that Patsy Peterson help me to have each week.
This is a blog post simply to say that I am too busy to blog! The end of the semester chaos is upon us already I'm afraid. The fact that I had a jam packed 4-day weekend does not help the situation either (Had lots of fun and got NO homework done) Alas, enjoy the following pictures from my lovely 4th of July weekend:
My mom and dad and sisters came up on Friday afternoon
After they arrived, they quickly scoured my closet and each picked out one of my shirts to wear for the day, not bad eh?
We attempted rollerblading around town, and saw much of this :)
And my dear ol dad was able to save my bike and got it up and working again. Thanks for the tools Kyle!!
We finished off the night at Sammy's where I introduced the rest of the Rust's to my favorite dessert Pie-shakes (actually, i decided I don't really like them anymore, go figure) and we enjoyed our favorite band, Harper's Harping, rock out.
We were all about Rigby lake on Saturday, the weather was perfect!
Glenn Beck paid us a visit... no big deal
We watched the fireworks in Driggs that night. Best. show. EVER!!!
Sunday was the GREATEST! I had the possession of the car :) Something I haven't had in AGES
After some incredible meetings, we headed off to Grandma Foster's in Ashton where we reunited with our beloved Boltons.
And ate the most delicious food!
We brought along Abigail, Blake and Colleen
Photo courtesy of Ally Bolton :)
I couldn't believe how big Daniel had gotten!
We all had a great time... some perhaps a little more so than the others ;)
After stuffing ourselves in Ashton, we came back to Uncle Kevin's in Sugar City and bee lined to the freezer
And there was much rejoicing
Monday morning started off with the parade, a walk in the park and duck feeding at Nature park
I don't have pictures from the next part of the day, but we went to Uncle Kevins and had the most amazing bbq ever. Brats (sp?) with mushrooms onions and peppers, hamburgers the size of my face, watermelon, dutch oven bean deliciousness and much more. Oh. my. goodness. SO Good. And then we (or at least I) fell asleep (or perhaps a food coma) on Uncle Kevin's floor and slept until the family left. They dropped me off in Idaho Falls while they continued to home.
I met up with these lovelies at the temple
And this lovely as well. We also went to ANOTHER BBQ in Idaho Falls and had more yummy food!
And then it was firework time. Look close and you can see the cutest construction worker couple that sat in front of us. I love them!
After the firework show we sat on the street corner and played with sparklers!
And then we got really tired and slept while the boys got the other fireworks ready.. ok this is totally staged, we didn't sleep :)
And then we enjoyed fireworks round two. We got home at about 2 am due to traffic.
Pretty much it was a great weekend and holy cow, the Fourth of July is my new favorite holiday. Seriously BBQ's and Fireworks (I have a new found LOVELOVELOVE for fireworks!(Katy Perry may or may not have soemthing to do with this)) and Family and America, does it get any better than that? Probably not. Except for the fact that I probably consumed enough calories to last me ... oh at least the rest of my life... but it was worth it, and running starts back up.. right now!
Hope you all had a happy 4th as well!
Love, Noelle
P.S. This post took me way longer than I expected, oh well :)
