30 Things I am Thankful For.

Well, there are 30 days in November, and it's basically the month of thanks. And I'd feel completely selfish if I didn't express my gratitude for the things I have, and things that have happened this year. So, here goes! And there will be simple, silly things... but I am super thankful for those too.

                                                                   1. My Family

 

2. My Sister Maren

 

3. My Best Friend, Liza B

 

4. My Horse Preza

 

5. T-Swizzie

 

6. My Wonderful Roommates

 

7. Having Chayla at College With Me

 

 

8. My Brothers that I Miss Terribly

 

9. The Rexburg Temple

 

10. My Home

 

11. My Dear Mom

 

12. My Amazing Dad

 

13. My Dog Zeke

 

14. My Beautiful Friends

 

15. The Portland Temple (Because I'm getting married there someday.)

 

16. BYU-Idaho. Yes, I'm thankful to be at college.

 

17. My Glory Days

 

18. My Grandpa Who Survived Some Major Health Problems & Surgery

 

19. My Little Sha-Rae-Rae Whose Getting Baptized This Month

 

20. Dove Chocolate.... Not just for the chocolate, but the quotes.

 

21. Cows, because they give me steak.

 

22. My Roommate Kelsey, For Setting the Example and Going on a Mission! (Her call should be here VERY SOON).

 

23. SO GRATEFUL for Graduating High School. Peaced Outta that Place.

 

24. My Extended Family

 

 

25. Both sets of Grandparents. I Don't Have a Picture of My Other Grandparents, For Some Odd Reason. I Love Mimi and Bampa, and Grandma and Pa!

 

26. Getting Care Packages, Oh so Often. (From so Many Family Members.)

 

27. Kid History, For It's Clean and Hilarious Humor.

 

28. Olive Garden, For It's Tasty Food.

 

29. America.

 

30. My Savior Jesus Christ.

 

This one is probably my favorite...

 

There are so many other things I am grateful for in my life, and I know that I cannot count them off because there are so many. I am so blessed. Happy Thanksgiving Month!

 

Ps. I can't wait to be home with family in 10 days!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somehow survivin'.

Well, I started to write a blog about when I went home two weekends ago, and I got all the way to the end of that blog (and might I add, I worked SUPER hard on it, and put a ton of effort into it) AND IT SOMEHOW DELETED ITSELF. I was very upset. Soooo, lemme try again?
                                             THE WEEKEND I WENT HOME.

 

Supermodel shot at Butte, Montana rest stop. Hah.

 

 

I am so grateful that these girls let me tag along.

 

 

After surprising my family at the Moses Lake football game on Friday night, I got to sleep in the next day, AND my little brother Landon made me some breakfast. :)

 

 

Got to visit my sweet little Preza. Or as Maren says, Prezzy Dezzy.

 

 

Caught up with my grandma, she makes sure I got some snacks in my belly.

 

 

Got to see just a lil' bit of our home sunsets. Tugged at my heart a little.

 

 

Meet my best pal, Daddy.

 

 

The always handsome brother Joshie on his big night. So glad I got to come home to see him all fancied up.

 

 

My beautiful cousins. (I was all dressed up from a baptism.)

 

 

The truth about our relationship. I adore him, and well, he adores me too.  ?

 

 

bwahaha. (yes Maren, sound it out.)

 

By far, it was one of the best weekends of my life. I got to go home, surprise the family, be with family, and just enjoy the comforts of home. I got a spiritual reboost, and found peace there in which I had needed. Families are forever. I am so blessed. Knowing that I have this home to return to, and this amazing family to call my own, makes everything all better. I may not necessarily be "homesick", but I'll be more than happy at anytime to go home. In fact, I'm going home in two weeks. :)

 

Now. Not only did I get to have the home weekend, I got to have the Maren weekend. Just about 42 hours ago. And may I say, what an amazing weekend it turned out to be. I'll let the pictures speak for itself!

 

 

Reunited. <3

 

 

The long, awaited hug.

 

 

She's still the cutest lil' girl.

 

 

I got to meet this amazing girl Miry, also known as... Mae Mae. This is the sweet girl who took care of my Mare during their summer semester. She is the coolest. I was actually REALLY sad to leave her. Hence the saddness in my face. I love Miry Mae Mae. Maren was right, she is one of the most awesome girls we'll ever know.

 

 

I even was able to spend one night, all of us together, minus some, but still together.

 

 

And then the weekend was over, and it was time for me to go. :( Saying goodbye is STILL hard.

 

 

But... on the way back to Rexburg, we stopped and admired this new, beautiful temple. Brigham City. Moses Lake next?

 

 

Just feeling thankful and full of gratitude!

 

It's strange, I've been having a lot happen to me in my first year of college. Whether it's hard things or happy things, or just flat out dumb things that I can't control- Heavenly Father hasn't been letting me suffer. Like at all. I've had a lot change in less than two months. More just less than a month. Different things have broken my heart, or put me to the test, but for some bizarre reason, I'm okay. Guys, I'm surviving! Haha. Just recently my life has become hectic and things that I never saw coming are just happening left and right, but Heavenly Father has just been handing me opportunities to feel okay. I got to go home and recieve guidance and love from my family, and this past weekend I got to have fun with my friends and meet new people and know that there IS life outside of mine. Life goes on. And through it all, I've had Heavenly Father to lean on. If there is one thing that I learned from General Conference this weekend, it's that OUR time isn't the LORD'S time. He has a plan for us that we can't see, and we just need to put our trust in Him and that's exactly what I've done. I've left it up to him. He'll take care of me and keep His promises, if I will continually try to better myself and have full faith in Him. I do not need to fear or be unhappy, because Heavenly Father is stirrin' up some big plans for me. And I can't wait to find out what that is. He knows what I want, and He will wait til He sees what is fit for me at the right time. My testimony is growing stronger and stronger by the day, and I know He listens to me. I may think that a certain something needs to be in my life at this time, but He might see it a little different. He knows what's best, and that is all I want. I am extremely grateful for the power of prayer, and for the blessings and answers I recieve. Life is just fine. Life is good. I'm growin', I'm survivin'.

Somehow.

 

 

 

 

New Zip Code.

Hey! I'm alive! Wierd huh? I've been living her for about two weeks and two days. But I seriously feel like I've been here FOREVER. No joke. Well, an update on me. The first week was rough, second week was better, and the weekends are very good to me. I remember in high school, on every sunday night, I DREADED going to school the next day. But here, at college, every Sunday night I don't really dread, I sort of look forward to it, but only sort of. The difference is that seriously every night here, is always an adventure. I'm sure it's probably going to take it's toll on me, but I don't ever get into bed until midnight. Curfew is midnight every night except Fridays, which is 1. I get up pretty early every morning, but luckily on MWF's I get done at 11:15 each day. AND I LOVE THAT. Tues and Thurs are a different story. I don't get done with school until 4:15 :( Buutttt that's only two days a week, during the week, so I ain't complaining. Besides, Tuesday my last class is canceled for the day. That makes me happy happy to be done on Tuesday at 1:45. Well, a little on my roommies. They're absolutely great. I'm a lucky ducky. My roommie roommie is really sweet, and I love her because she talks in her sleep. Every single night. Haha. I get excited to go to sleep just so that I can hear what she has to say for the night. Some nights she talks to invisible people, some nights I have conservations with her and she doesn't remember, and some nights she cries out random stuff. I just lay there and laugh. I love her though. The Carriage House (where I stay) is actually like perfect location and I really like it. It only takes me about 4-10 minutes to get to different classes, I go home after every class and nap before the next... or else I won't stay awake. Haha. But classes aren't too hard, just I have been learning how to be truly responsible. Bleh. The apartment is really nice. Very home-like and cozy, and everyone here in Rexburg is super duper nice. You can literally walk up to anyone and your friends with em, instantly. No joke. It has been soo nice to have Chayla here, we've grown pretty close and I absolutely love her roommates. I'm there at their place more than mine. Haha. I walk everywhere, by the way. Everynow and then I get to be in a car, but I forgot what it's like to drive everywhere, and just driving itself. There's lots of fun places nearby, and there's kinda always something to do. For the first week, I didn't sleep very well. But I sleep pretty good now! I don't have church til 1, so I get to sleep in. My ward is pretty nice. The bishop is absolutely awesome! And I went and got myself a calling. Baha, not really. But I guess that's what I get for always hanging out with Chayla's roommates, which one happens to be the Relief Society President. Soo, yeaa. I already have a calling. Relief Society Compassionate Service Leader. I guess I'm all grown up now! I miss home. But I'm not too homesick. I email home every sunday, and sometimes I'll just call home. Whenever I hear my dad's voice I get really teary eyed. I miss my dad. Sometimes I feel like all I need is a daddy hug. I miss my mom's food, and I miss hearing her yell at the boys when they're being naughty. I miss Josh being annoying, I miss wrestling with Landon, and I miss hearing Kyle talk ENDLESSLY and his little girlish squeal. I miss my dog and my horse. I miss my room, singing in the shower, and I REALLY miss singing in my car out LOUD. I miss the farm, and the country and the smells. Okay, so maybe I'm homesick a little. But I'm having fun. I can't wait to get a package from home. It'd better be here by Monday. I like having familiar faces and things around me, so that I don't feel so alone. Tyler and I hit our four months yesterday. Baha. He's been such an amazing boyfriend, and I look forward to whatever is next. We went on a date last night and it was really good to be the old us for one night, because I don't see him at all during the weeks. I miss him and love the kid. But life is life. College is college. I enjoy the moments that I finally get with him. I miss summer too. That was such a good time. But Rexburg is being good to me. And I like it alot so far, and I still can't believe that it's only the end of week two. Welp, I just wanted yal to know I'm doin good and college ain't too shabby! Love you all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miss yal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boxes and suitcases.

Holy moly. My room is becoming empty. Boxes are full of my shoes, food, decorations, and random small things. Suitcases contain all my clothes, except the ones I am leaving behind. My bed is bare, no pretty blue comforter, not one pillow, and basically everything... is sort of ready. I am leaving behind a lot in my room, but I still feel like I am taking way to much! It is so hard to decide what I need, because I really won't know until I'm in Rexburg and I need it! So, I'm just playing it safe, and taking lotsa stuff. Today, while my brothers were gone at school, and parents at work, I did the last of the packing by myself. I will admit, I got a little teary eyed and had to stop just so I could breathe a little bit. I am so anxious and so excited, but it really doesn't cover up how frightened I am. I'm already homesick. I was texting Maren about some things that were troubling me, and she said something that applies to every little thing that is worrying my mind right now. "Don't try and figure it out. Let Heavenly Father figure it out for you." I stared at the words for a couple of seconds, and thought. It's so true. I'm about to go off and experience a completely different stage of life, and this is my only chance to mature on my own. I just need to woman up, and trust that Heavenly Father is going to take me where I need to go, and help me do what I gotta do. As scary as it may be to see my room emptying out, to know that tomorrow morning is the last morning I wake up in my bed, to know that today I have to say goodbye to people (heck, I ain't putting ANY make up on today, I'm just gonna cry it off anyway), and just knowing that I leave tomorrow bright and early... it's okay. It's scary. But I need to remember; my life starts tomorrow morning. Like, the real thing. I need to remember that it's going to be FUN. So much fun. And it's going to be hard. So so hard. But I will have the time of my life, and before I know it, it'll be time to pack up my apartment to move for the next semester. And then, it'll be time to come home for a summer. The only thing that brings me comfort to leave; I always will have a place to come home to. And that makes it alllll better.

 

 

 

 

Freaky.

 

 

 

She came, and she went.

So, I figured since I made it such a HUGE deal that Maren was coming home, I need to explain how AWESOME it was to have her actually here. Those 8 days, were pure bliss. Haha ;) She got home on Saturday, and I was bummed out that I was working a nine hour shift that day, and all I wanted to do was book it home right when I was done so that I could see her. I was makin snow cones when she was home and that killed me. So, you can only imagine how excited I was when my boss let me off 20 minutes early. I didn't even care that it was fair. I wanted to go HOME. I sped walked to my car, hopped on in, turned the key and drove as fast I could to her house. Maybe a little too fast. I couldn't help but get teary eyed driving. Happy tears of course. I couldn't contain my excitement that whole week. Tyler had come to accept that I'd probably make him feel a little less important for a couple of days haha.
          As soon as I pulled up to her house and parked, I raced to her front door, saw her sitting at the computer, swung the door open and just stood there and started bawling. Happy, happy, HAPPY tears. I think if there's anything I learned this summer, it's how much Maren actually meant to me. I also realized I was a clingy little girl. :) We hugged for a loooong time. And then snuggled, for a looooooonnnngggerrrr time. And basically, every single night, we spent in each other's beds and watched movies and ate junk food and rubbed each other's backs and talked and laughed til no end. It was most certainly the happiest days of my summer. Not that Tyler isn't great, because he IS. But because I could be the Makenna that ONLY Maren knows ;)
           We were able to go to Silverwood with all of our friends, which was really fun. We were able to just hang out with each other whenever we wanted, which was so convenient and relaxing because it's not like we ever had to do anything drastic or get all dressed up. Really, we just hung out in sweats and ate really fatty popcorn.  I think my favorite night of all, was the night before Silverwood. We stayed up really late eating that fatty popcorn I was talking about (try air pop, lotsa butter and salt, and white chocolate chips. oooooh my. delish), and we watched the movie Charly in Mer's bed. We've always been those friends that think it's funny when I'm going the bathroom, brushing my teeth, and hiccup. Well at least Maren died of laughing, and then I just caught on. If you've ever heard Maren laugh, it is SO contagious. We stayed up very late talking and being silly, and once we finally turned the lights off to go to sleep, we heard some sound in the kitchen. And then the hall lights went off. And then someone, something.... shined a light into the bedroom and we about lost it. She made ME close the window, she made ME turn on the lamp (which was NOT easy), and then she made ME close the door! She like, took cover underneath my arms and covers. Gee, thanks Mare. She even did that once when we were house sitting during the school year and she got scared. Baha. I'm pretty positive I woke the whole house when I slammed her door shut. We thought Chayla or Sharaysa was just messing with us. But the thing is, NO ONE owned up to it. Hmm. Bahaha. Great night.
          The last night Mare was home, we took blankets and layed on my trampoline and star gazed. We talked forever about how truly blessed we are to have this place to come to. To see the stars, have so much space, hear the field sprinklers and frogs, and to just smell home. It scares me to think what my life would be like without Maren. If I had never been a Hirz. If I would have never had this place to call MY home. Really scares me. Then it was time for her to go, and I really wasn't dreading it as bad as I did in June. We both still cried and hugged each other for a while, but just knowing that Maren and I will have eternity to be best friends, and once these college years are done and all the exciting stuff is coming, it was easier to let go. Because it's not really letting go ;)
          I am just so eternally grateful that I have someone like Maren. And call it tacky or cheesy or whatevs, I know that in the pre-existence Maren and I chose to be best friends. However that works. If that was even possible. It's just something that Maren and I will always be. And mannnn oh man, did I pick a good egg! I am grateful for the life that I live. It is so not easy, but it is still oh so good. And things are just about to get better! My new life begins on September 5th. So if ya wanna see me or tell me how awesome I am before I leave, lemme know ;)
         I am the last one here out of my friend group, except the ones that are going to the same school or going on missions. It really is a wierd feeling, but it is very exciting. Maren got me excited, all the stories and experiences she had. I love knowing that she's loving it. I may not have the same stories to tell or the same experiences, but there are some of my very own, just waiting for me.
         Accomplishment of the day : I GOT MYSELF MY VERY OWN CROCKPOT. Woah. Haha, well, here are just a couple of pictures of my little eight day journey with Maren. Oh, and don't worry, I didn't neglect Tyler too bad. He was so good about it all. He won a couple points, and it made it that much more exciting to see him after "a long time". Life is good, you know?

On the way to Silverwood, packed car, willing girl.

 

Mare, Dyl, and I at Silverwood. I look like a boy...

 

 

                      Stole this from Maren's fb, but I just love it so much, and it sums it all up.

Bottom one is my absolute favorite. First night together.

 

Andddd, our last night together.

 

 

 

 

Friendship isn't about whom you have known the longest... It's about who came, and never left your side... WORD. See you in a couple of months my little Mare. :)