Excited because . . .

This weekend:

It's Fall Break!

I get to go HOME!!

I get to hangout with my family

I get to hangout with JOY AND COURTNEY

I get to see so many people I love so dearly!

I am going to a Harry Potter party!!

Paul Speil gets home from his mission! (Haha don't even know if I'll see him, but still-exciting!)

Erika is getting married!

I get to chill. I am going to chill so much that I might need to thaw out before school starts again.

I am loving this weekend already.

So I had an eye appointment today to check out this cute lil' tumor I have in the back of my left eye! But it was scheduled before school started, so I didn't really know what my schedule looked like, so I ended up having to cancel it. Sad day

Then my eye doctor came into my work, random! And he rememberd me, then I pulled down my lower eyelid and showed him how good my eye looked. I realized later that that was probably really awkward looking to everyone else in the store. Haha.

I feel so good!

Have a nice weekend!

General Conference & Stories.

I finally have some pictures to post!!!

This past weekend was General Conference, my favorite weekend of the year. I always love hearing the words the prophet and his apostles have for us. It is so cleansing, refreshing, exhilarating, all those fun words:)

Another thing I love about conference is being around SO  many people! I love people watching at conference ha ha , it is the best.  The last thing I love about conference is being with my family. It has been kind of a  tradition for us to go to at least one session of conference the past few years, when we are lucky enough to get tickets. Fortunately, my dad works for the church so sometimes we even get seats that are really close! It is always cool to actually be able to look at the speaker instead of watching the screen.. in the conference center. This weekend was especially nice because I just needed to be around my family, school and the social scene has been hard for me to pick up this year. Imagine that!

So here are a few pictures from conference weekend. I don't have too  many since I no longer own a camera :( I will try and fix that soon. Like when I am done with college.

(Before the Saturday morning session)

(Just sitting)

(Two of my favorite women...)

(Jill, me, Jenny & Preston at The Olive Garden for lunch)

(I love my brother! We love taking pictures!)

(This is a random picture taken in mid-September. Yes Emily and I are on a date.)

Now I will tell you a few stories . . .

So Friday, October 1st was the day of the USU vs BYU game. That's cool and everything but it meant I couldn't park in the stadium. Bleh. I knew this beforehand, but I completely forgot. So Friday morning I go to park my car at 8:15 am, and I realize I can't park in the stadium! So I hurry and park in a church parking lot across the street, run to Oak Ridge and try catching the 8th East Express, and I barely missed it, by fifteen seconds. By this time it is 8:23 am and I am breaking out into a cold sweat because I had  a statistics TEST that started at 8:30 am. So I am standing there and this girl starts talking to me, probably trying to calm down my apparent state of agitation. She was asking me what class I had and I told her I had a test in five minutes, I was going to be late and I didn't know what to do!!

Enter, boy on the sidewalk. He looks up at me, I notice him for the first time, and he says,"I'll give you a ride to campus, I am just going to study at the library and I don't have class until 10:30."

My response, "I don't even know you! But if you're sure..."

Boy on the sidewalk says, "Yeah it's not a problem at all, I hate being late so I know how you feel," he said as we got into his shiny silver Volvo. Yes, I found my Edward Cullen.

So we get into the car and I'm like, "So.. what's your name?"

"John, whats your name?"

"I'm Hayley, thanks again for doing this I can't even believe it. This is seriously so nice of you."

"Oh no problem, I took stats last year and failed."

"That stinks! I"m sorry, anyways it was really nice to meet you John! Thanks again have a good day!" as I get out of the car.

"It was nice to meet you too Hayley, good luck on your test."

Brothers and sisters I was RIGHT ON TIME for my test. He was my angel that day. And its also weird because I got onto Utah States website to check my e-mail and there sat a picture of him on the homepage. John is on the USU track team. What a kind soul! Never mind that he could have driven me up the canyon and left me for the mountain lions, I will forever be grateful to him. And if I ever see him on campus, I am just going to awkwardly look the other way, for I can't bear to look in the face of such kindness. Ha ha just kidding.

Oh and I got a B on my stats test!!!!

___________________________________________________________

Today I went to biology, which is always a treat. Today was an especially tasty treat because about three minutes into class this man walked in, tall, dark beard, with a pop belly. He had just a normal plain white T-shirt on, with a KHAKI SKIRT. Kids, I am not joking he had knee length flowing khaki skirt on. It was not a kilt, or the strangely attractive skirt things Samoans/Tongans wear. There was nothing cultural about it, he had a khaki skirt on. I wanted to laugh but I didn't. Instead I took a picture of him with my phone and continued to learn about how Meiosis II and Mitosis are the same thing. It was ridiculous.

So then I took three tests, and came out alive. Hallelujah! I got on the Stadium Express to get to my car so I could hurry and go to work. It was a leisurely ride with lots of people to watch. Finally it was my turn to get off so I grab my backpack from off the ground, swing it around to my back and whip a boy right in the face with one of the around-the-waist straps. I felt so bad. But I had to get off so all I could do was say, "Oh! I am so sorry!" And walk away red-faced and ashamed.

Folks, that is all for now. But first, I have met so many new awesome people this semester!! A couple of those people came over tonight and it is so fun to sit around with your peers that have the same standards, go to the same school, and just chill and get to know one another. I love it!

Making new friends is always fun but I MISS all my friends from home!! Joy, Courtney, Alli, Jake, Bracken, and Ryan just to name a few! Luckily we all call and talk quite often so it isn't as painful.

Anyways I really need to go to bed, it is late. But first I must finish watching Glee.

Thanks for reading and be sure to comment!

5 Sentences from Hayley

I LOVE THIS SONG.

It has an excellent message for all of us women.

Tonight at FHE we had Marshmallow wars and it was so awesome.

GLEE STARTS TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woo hoo.

This week . . .

I have never been to the doctor more in my life than this past week. After Friday, I hope I don't have to go back for a long long time! I even had to put a hospital gown on.. ick!

MOCKINGJAY comes out soon! I am so so so excited for this wonderful book. I can already tell it's going to be my favorite. August 24th!

Jimmy Eat World is coming out with a new CD on September 28th. I am also STOKED for that.

Oh and Aj leaves September 8th :( He is going to be a hard one to say bye to. I seriously have the coolest cousins! We are all getting together this weekend in Idaho Falls to jump off bridges, blow bubbles, fly kites, build fires, and anything else we can think of. It should be fabulous.

Isn't he handsome? Ladies, I have a few cute, single cousins!!

This video made me cry. So good!!

Some Thoughts From Something Inside My Cranial Cavity

Lately I have been missing pageant A LOT. Like my heart would just ache whenever I even heard the word 'hill' haha. I would automatically think of the pageant.

So the other day I was going through some of my stuff and I found the note that Brother & Sister Gonda (our housing parents, I guess you would call them) gave us on the last day of pageant. In Sister Gonda's note was a scripture, which made me feel so good about my time at the pageant.

"Behold I say unto you, how grreat reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we started that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?... we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.  Blessed be the name of our God; let us sing to his praise...for he doth work righteousness forever." (Alma 26:1-8)

I was so luck to have been part of the Pageant, and I will treasure my time there for the rest of my life!!

Okay now onto other things.

This summer I have realized two things that I want to write about:

Money is not  that important. I have always felt like I needed to have a lot of money, like large amounts when I grow up. But this past year at school and this summer I realized that I can live on so little and still be happy. Seriously, as long as our needs are met and I have a happy family, husband, and comfortable jeans on I will be fine! I just want to be happy!

This is speaking of the future by the way, the very very distant future. Realizing this has made me more excited than nervous about my future. Weird, but that's just how it is!

I have learned how valuable good friendships are. And how you need different types of friendships! You have those friends who agree with you, and are always encouraging you, even if you are wrong, or being dumb and irrational. Sometimes you need those friends!

Then there are those friends who bring you back to reality. Sometimes it really STINKS to have reality thrown in your face, but sometimes you need it so you don't go babblilng your psycho ideas to other people.I love friends I can laugh with about anything. l love sitting there and laughing my guts out, throwing jokes at each other. Such a good time!

Anyways this past weekend I went to IDAHO!! It was a grand weekend. I had to go home to speak in my home ward : / Lovely. I think it went okay except I went over like 3 minutes! I could have died.

Kellan Riggs homecoming was also on Sunday! Kellan has been one of my dearest friends since High School and I am excited he is home so we can be real life friends again! His talk was awesome, he loved his mission SO much. I think it's awesome these young men go out and teach the gospel for two years! How crazy. And they love it! I really admire all those handsome young men.

So Monday night we went to the pier and chewed gumballs! We each had four, and it was disgusting. Each gumball had 11 grams of sugar. After we were done chewing we spit them into the River! How exciting.  I loved being with my friends this weekend, they are fun, hott, and exciting. And I always miss them when I leave :(

Anyway this was kind of a random post but it's all good.

Remember to buy bread with atleast 3 grams of fiber per serving.

A Bit About the Best 2 Weeks of My Life, Thus Far

Most of my pictures are on my parent's computer, so here are a few I have! I will post more about the pageant later :)

Hokay everyone! I am finally back home and it feels great but super sad at the same time. July 1-18 I was in Palmyra, New York participating in the Hill Cumorah Pageant, and all I can say is, is it was one of  the neatest, best, fantastic, spiritual, fun, life changing, attitude changing, excellent, sweaty experiences I will ever have in my entire life. 

So for those of you who have never heard of it before I will go over a few things. 

The Pageant is basically a theatrical performance, and everything is pre-recorded and we (the cast) act out different scenes from the Book of Mormon leading up to the restoration of the gospel. It ends with Joseph Smith bearing his testimony to the audience ( my favorite part). Some of the scenes acted out are, Nephi and his family going to the promise land, Abinadi (Abinidi?) and King Noah (yes it really does look like they burn him, sweet!). A battle scene between the Nephites and Lamanites.

There is also a descending Christ scene (when he comes back after his resurrection) which brought me to tears every night! It was so amazing. The boy cast as Christ was  only 18! But he did a fantastic job.

Okay so more about the scenes later..

The first night (July 2) everyone gets to the hill and is cast. They cast 700 people with in 2 hours! It was bascially a madhouse, but it was done very efficiently I must say. Most of the directors are professionals, like they have done Broadway and a lot of them are on staff at BYU in the theater dept. 

July 3 was when rehearsals start and they were GRUELING. You had 3 or 4 hours of rehearsals a day in 95 degree weather with 80 % humidity. I have never sweat so much in my life, I was sweating like a man! After 4 days of rehearsal we had the official dress rehearsal, in costume. After that we had a media day performance, then opening night! During the day of opening night, it RAINED so hard, it was basically a flash flood, but we played in it, and it felt marvelous after being so hot and sweaty all the time.

After opening night we performed seven more times!! And I loved it every time!

The show started around 9:15 every night, but we had a devotional at 6:30 and then started PROSELYTING to the audience at 7. When I heard the word proselyte I almost fell over. How could I teach people about the gospel in costume for two hours straight?

Honestly...

I LOVED IT!!!  I didn't think anyone would be able to take us seriously since we were in costume, but it wasn't like that at all. It was so fun to talk to people and see how far people had come to see the pageant. Most of the people Kirsten and I talked to were already LDS so we would give them a referral card and ask them to fill it out for any of their friends that maybe wanted to hear the message the missionaires have to offer.

Besides proselyting during that time, a lot of people want to take pictures with you, some even want your autograph!! Surprisingly, that was the first time anyone has ever asked for my autograph. Haha jokes. Seriously thought, that was the first time.

At about 9:10 we would line up for the processional, we walk up on the stage, so some arm movements, and then the show began!

Besides just participating in the show, we had quite a bit of down time with our cast teams, and I LOVED my cast team! They were all so great and I really feel like I made some life long friends during the pageant.  Everyone there is so friendly, and so well rounded! I was very impressed by how talented everyone was.

And I know now, more than ever that the church really is true and it is the greatest. I feel so lucky that I got to be part of the pageant, it strengthened my testimony so much and I needed that experience! It hit me one of the nights we were proselyting that I am trying to teach people about the gospel in the very spot that the restoration began, and we are putting on a performance about the Book of Mormon, where Joseph Smith recovered it!  How crazy is that? I am so grateful for the church and for the great leaders that keep all of us hopeful, and make the pageant possible :)

So now I am going to post a few pictures from the pageant.

 (I lost my camera the second week, so I lost a lot of my good pictures, but luckily I was able to take more with my mom's camera!)

This is Christ talking to the little children during the descension scene

9,000 chairs!

Holding up the Nephites battle banner at the end of the battle scene

My grandma and cousins!

Hayley, me, and Kelsey! I love these girls so much! Hayley just got married :) Cute, cute.

Cast team skit

Grandma, mom, me before the show!

Dos Lists

I don't know if you know this about me, but I am a list maker. Most people schedule their time, but I just list my duties for that day and put little boxes by each task. I do this with everything, even my homework assignments. I always make lists before I go to bed, any kind of list. Like what my favorite colors in order are, bills I have to pay, maybe I am rating how goodlooking I think you are. Haha just kidding. But I take great joy and pleasure in making lists.

So last night, I decided to make a list of all my friends/people I went to high school/college with or just people I know that are getting/got married -OR- going/already on missions within the past year. Here is the list, just first names.

Married/Almost married folks

(http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jleatham/Rachel%20temple.JPG)

Jessica

Natalie

Rachelle

Julie

Katelyn

Kara

Brittany

Erika

Ali

Hayley

Jan

Grace

Joe

Tausha

Audrey

Jennie

Breylan

Janice

Austin

Ashley

Brooklyn

Chelsie

Erika

Karly (I know its gonna happen!!! Hahaha)

Heidi

I feel like that's everyone. Isn't it awesome and slightly disgusting?

Missions!!

Brandon

Tyler

Austin

Teddy

Jake

Jordan

Nico

Dillon

Dan

Justin

Brandon

Tyson

Dallin

Brady

Morgan

Destiny
Brett

Ryan

Evan

Steve

Kyle

Travis

Brian

Riley

Dan

Chris

Kade

Tye

Keagan

Aj

I know there are more, but I cant think of any at the moment. How fantastic is it that there are so many young men willing to serve!

Some of my friends are coming home from their missions too! Like within the next six months, and I am so excited!! Jason, Paul, Kellan, Cory, Jordan- they'll all be home soon enough!.

I am going to post a REALLY long blog with lots of pictures about the hill cumorah pageant! Or maybe I'll mix things up and post a few different ones about the pageant. Just so you know.. it was AMAZING! Oh and my cat Roach died. I will definitely put up a post about that :(

Have a fabulous day!