It's been another great week here at BYU-Idaho. =] Last Tuesday for devotional Sister Elaine S. Dalton was the speaker, and I was so excited to have her come to Rexburg! She is RADIANT. The light of Christ shines so brightly in her face. She talked about her experiences running marathons and encouraged us to dream big, move out of our comfort zones, and to go forward with faith. The dream big part really made me think about Ultimate Frisbee; I want a championship this semester!  She is a hard core lady and ever since I came to know who she is, I've grown to love her. Her strong conviction and testimony of the gospel make me want to be a better person. She also threw in a few jokes about dating and encouraged us girls to play hard to get!

I had Frisbee practice after devotional that day, and that night I had a rec game. We are "Team Snugly Ducklings and Friends" (name derives from the pub on the movie Tangled) and we played "The Lawn Gnomes." A while back, Preston and I bought yellow jerseys from D.I. to play our rec games in since our coach thought it'd be fun if we all wore yellow. His jersey looks fine, but everyone thinks I look like a referee when I wear mine, so I think I need something different! We won (I can't remember the score: 13 - 5 or something like that) and I had two points and one assist. I took my camera to take pictures, but I didn't sub out once the whole game so I couldn't take pics!

Jamba Juice had a "buy 1 get 1 free" deal going on through the 15th. My roommate Lauren and I along with our neighbors went there Wednesday night, and I went again with Chase Friday afternoon. We never see each other anymore, and I thought we needed some bonding time. =] His new truck is sweet! He'll be married soon for sure. Girls don't like boys; girls like cars and money!

Thursday morning all competitive players had to attend a morning-side at 6:30 in the Taylor Chapel. These people are seriously Nazis! I had to go to this "first response" training about a month ago, and they failed me! Good thing my assistant passed, or else I couldn't be coaching and my team couldn't even be playing right now. They've also lost tons of my team's paper work and I've had to re-do it like 50 times. IDIOTS! But anyway, that was a big pain in the neck. Here is a picture of the sunrise after the meeting.

Work has been just fine and dandy. My boss told me to set the schedule I want, so that is pretty awesome. All the surveys are tallied, so now I'm writing different components of the application for a Block Grant that will go to the Idaho Department of Commerce. I'm writing different parts in the Arco and Salmon application, and they are due November 18th. They want me to work until the middle of December though...so I have no idea what I'll be doing when the application process is done. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I took a couple pictures of the office so you can see what it looks like.

my little office

Friday night Preston took me out and we went to Idaho Falls. We went to the mall and then met Benji and his wife Becca at Olive Garden. Benji used to work there, so we got hooked up with tons of bread and mints to take home. After dinner we went to Benji and Becca's apartment and played marbles. Benji's grandfather made the board for this game, and I want it! It's basically like sorry, but it is way more fun. We played with teams which made it fun for Preston and me to try to beat the other two!


Saturday morning Preston had his game at 10 and my game was at 11 so I got to watch him play for a little but then I had to start getting ready for my game. My parents, my brother Chase, and my cousin Conrad came to watch me play which was so fun! I could tell my dad, Chase, and Conrad were itching to watch the baseball game just down the hill, but they resorted to tossing the football while they watched us.

We played the Vikings and lost 10-5. I was excited about this score because the last team that played them lost 2-13 so we at least scored more and held them from scoring too many points. My girls played hard, and I didn't feel too bad about the loss. That team is very good and they will be tough to beat, but it is so doable. My old coach is the coach of the Vikings, and after the game she texted me and told me she was impressed with my coaching. She said we ran them harder than she had ever been run before, and that we were the right kind of competitive with the right kind of nice at the same time. =] That was so kind of her, and it makes me excited for my team. Once we get our offense down, we will be tough to beat. I had 1 assist and 1 point, but I had like 6 knockdowns so that is sweet. My goal is to get 20 assists and 20 knockdowns this semester, so I'm getting there.

Today the weather has been gloomy, but my partner and I got 1/2 of our visiting teaching done and I've been reading Spencer W. Kimball's book "The Miracle of Forgiveness." I also had the opportunity to go sing to the residents at the rest home with a bunch of people from my ward. That was a great opportunity for service. The first hymn we sung was How Great Thou Art which really touched me because we sang that at my grandpa's funeral several years ago, and now my grandma is in a rest home so it just made me think about my grandparents and how much love I have for them. I am making a goal to go every week and to also go visit my grandma in Idaho Falls at her rest home. We ended our ensemble with Have I Done Any Good? which I felt was very appropriate!

I'm setting a goal to do more service. I've been struggling with a few things lately, and I can honestly say that singing to those folks at the rest home today was the best I've felt all week. It was seriously healing for me. If I can immerse myself in service to others, I'll stop thinking about myself so much and my own problems. It will help me feel better and I can be an active disciple of Christ by serving others. In the book I'm reading, President Kimball said that this life is all about our performance. Part of our performance is definitely how we treat each other, and I believe Christ will judge us heavily in this category. A wise friend once said to me that you can tell how close someone is to Heavenly Father by the way they treat other people.

I love the gospel with all my heart. I know that it's true and it is the only thing that will bring us happiness. My boyfriend told me that I'm the happiest person he knows, and I know that that happiness comes from living the gospel. I feel very close to my savior, and like President Monson, I've developed a strong relationship with Heavenly Father through prayer and faith in His time and His will. I know that when we choose the right we will be blessed...especially when choosing the right is very hard to do.

Well that's my story. See you next week. Here are some pictures of King Mountain and our yard/farm just because I'm feeling nostalgic.

Good Boy Duke!