Blessed.

I was driving my sister to Young Women yesterday. The drive is like five minutes, tops. Sometimes I can make it in like three. But yeah, it's three turns (left, left, right) to get there from my house. Very close and convenient, which I love (especially when I was going to Seminary...) Haha but yesterday there was more traffic than usual so it took a little longer to make that second left turn.

As I made the turn, she said "I love driving this at 6 in the morning when there is no traffic." (She has her permit and not license which is why I'm her chauffeur...) Well, her saying that reminded me about two of my scariest driving incidents.

The only time that I've actually almost been in a car accident (when I was driving) have both been on the way to Seminary. In both of these instances, time froze and I pretty much saw my life flash before my eyes. And then I was pretty shaken up after. haha but anyway...

The first one was the scariest. I was a junior. And we lived at our old house which is a little farther away from the church but still really close... (I'm kinda tempted to put a map in here to show you but I don't want creepers to know where I live...) Just kidding... Ignore the super fast editing out of street names...

Point A is old house. Point B is the church. Point C is my new house.

A --> B = 7 minutes. B --> C = 5 minutes.

Okay, anyway, the first incident happened at the red 'x'. It was a little before 6 in the morning and I was patiently waiting at that light to turn left. Well, I could see the cross-traffic's light turn red and then my light turned green. Well, I didn't really know what to do. haha I kinda sat there for a couple of seconds and then I started to go. As I was about to accelerate into the intersection, I saw a car coming at me from the left. I stopped and just sat there as it blew through the red light. I was so confused. I kept checking my light to make sure it was really green and I was just stunned. I couldn't even honk at them. I know that if I had actually gone through the light when I was supposed to, I would've been in a bad accident because it was going at least 40 mph. After they went through, I drove to Seminary unscathed. And I was had stopped shaking my the time I got to church. haha

Now that was definitely the worst of the two.

The next one, I was driving down the main stretch to the church and there was this car completely tailing me. Which normally doesn't really bother me because I'm always going at least 5 over the speed limit and it's their deal. But that particular morning, it was driving me INSANE. Probably the bright lights all up in my business and probably because I was going a good 10-15 over the speed limit. (oops! haha but it's a 25 when it should be at least a 35...). It's a one lane road almost all the way down until about a little before the church were there is a middle turning lane. Well, once we got to that part, I started moving into it (and signaling!) so that I could turn left into the church parking lot. The guy behind me had other ideas. He moved into it as well and flew past me. It freaked me out. haha and I pretty much would've moved over into him. But it didn't happen (luckily!).

Anyway, I was talking to my sister about this on our short drive to church yesterday and she was saying that she's had people tail her too. And it sort of makes sense because there is a hospital about 2 minutes away from the church, right down the street so it makes sense that there might occasionally be people hurrying over there. hahaha

After dropping her off, I was thinking about this all and I had an epiphany. The two times I was almost in an accident, I was on the way to Seminary. Which is the place that I was supposed to be going. I was obviously being looked after and protected. I realize that my stupor of thought (in the first one) was the Holy Ghost protecting me from a potentially fatal accident. Sure, I might not've died but I can guarantee that it wouldn't have been good. And that morning, I just credited that to being tired. But I now understand that it was more than that.

Satan has ways in which he tries to prevent us from doing what is right. I was doing the right thing (going to seminary) and he was trying to prevent that. I wouldn't have gone to seminary had I been in an accident that morning. I was lucky enough to not have anything happen to me (or my car) on those two early mornings.

Hmmm I don't really have a real reason for posting this, I guess I just wanted to share my epiphany. And, when I was writing the title of this blog, I was singing this song in my head... You should too. :)

hahaha but yep. That is all.

Oh, I got a job today. It's like 1 full day a week and then like 2 part days (as of now... he says it might turn into more...). But that is better than nothing. And it's another CPA's office which is grand. And he's LDS. hahaha I've never not worked for an LDS employer. I feel like I live in Utah/Idaho.

Also, there is new music. Enjoy! :)

I Never Told You.

19. A picture and a letter:

Dear Kafryn,

I miss days like this. I miss how we used to be inseparable. I miss the fantastic four. I miss you knowing everything going on with my life. I miss the days when we were best friends. I don't like where we are right now. And you're moving to NY so soon and it's just crazy. Remember when we would literally count down the days until we would see each other again? And I would spend weeks convincing my parents to let me come and see you? And at EFY, we would do crazy things and it would be awesome? And then all our super fun times at my house. I remember going to the Sacramento Temple (open house I think?) and we were planning on having a double wedding (which we both knew was unrealistic...) but now... that won't happen. I don't even think that you'll be able to come to my wedding ceremony which breaks my heart. Um yeah, I just miss you a lot and I miss the way things used to be... :(

I still love you tons though! :)

18. A picture of your biggest insecurity:

Yep.

17. A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently:

Caption reads: "You reach the greatest heights while on your knees. (See D&C 19:38)"

16. A picture of someone who inspires you:

Gordon Bitner Hinckley.

Tell me he isn't the cutest old man you've ever seen.

15. A picture of something you want to do before you die:

Marry my best friend in the Oakland Temple for time and all eternity. :)

(and yes, I did just steal someone else's wedding picture and put it on my blog...)

14. A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without:

This is cheating and I don't care. I cannot just pick one person. :)

(This is my immediate family, one set of grandparents, a couple of my mom's cousins, one of my cousins, an aunt, and then 12 "cousins" and 4 "aunts/uncles".)

P.S. The littlest boy in the front right (in the blue shirt) is the cutest kid ever. :)

13. A picture of your favorite band or artist:

T-Swizzle. (Surprise, surprise, I know.) Also, I love her dress in this picture.

12. A picture of something you love:

I love THIS pool (at Homestead High School.) SO many memories, plus, I would swim all day long if I could.

11. A picture of something you hate:

Seafood. EW.

10. A picture of the person you do the craziest things with:

Matching outfits to play soccer? Yes, please! :)

love you jaybeecakes. :)

Unfortunately, I can't just say it is one person. It's usually multiple people. Including these girls:

Love (times 4).

(Sorry for cheating!)

Recent Obsessions:

Within the past couple of days, I've acquired some possessions that I am especially fond of.

The first item, might seem like nothing to most people. And in fact, it is kind of a silly thing. BUT I love it nonetheless. (Okay, they're both actually silly...)

Anyway, a couple of months ago, I was at Target and I saw a watch that I really liked. My mom told me she didn't think I would wear it and that I should think about it and then if I really wanted it, I could go back and get it. Well... I had forgotten about it.... Kinda. I didn't really have much need for a watch but I still wanted it. A couple of weeks ago, on one of my outings to Target, I saw the watch again and this time, I bought it. I knew that I could always return it but it was the last one at the store and I didn't want to lose it.

It sat in the bag for a couple of weeks until... yesterday. haha I decided I wanted to try it on and wear it. I wore it for a couple of hours and I loved it. (It wasn't set though. haha) Then I set it and I wore it with me to my 6-hour long babysitting job. In the 4-ish years since it's been since I've worn a watch, I've forgotten how useful they are. They tell you what time it is, at all times. HANDY. haha now this might seem dumb and yes, I understand that I sound like an idiot but it's actually quite cool.

So yes, I am now obsessed with my new watch. Here is a picture of the cute thing. :)

Also, haha as dumb as this sounds, I know that most (if not all) missionaries wear watches... So I was super excited to serve a mission so that I could wear a watch. Because let's be honest, that's the perfect excuse to wear one. And for some reason, I think watches are super... cool. haha

Just another fun fact: I think watches are extremely attractive. If you're wearing a watch, you become more attractive in my book. If you're wearing a watch AND glasses, we should just go get married now. haha

Okay, item number two requires a foreward.

When I was about 8, I traveled to Georgia to visit my aunt, uncle & cousins. Now, this aunt is my mom's only sister and my only aunt I'm related to by blood (i.e. my dad has no sisters and my mom only has one. haha). We visited the Peach State annually so it wasn't a special trip across the country or anything. We had gotten used to the 5.5 hour flight from SF Bay to Atlanta. JOY. Trust me, when you're a child, the last thing you want to be doing is sitting on an airplane/in an airport for the entirety of a day.

Anyway, for some reason, my aunt, had this great t-shirt. It had Tony the Tiger (from Frosted Flakes) on it in a hot air balloon. I don't really remember the specifics about why she had the shirt or anything but she decided that I should have it. I treasured that shirt.

Every time we got ready to go visit them, I hurried to get the shirt and make sure it made the journey with us. At home, I didn't wear it after about the first year I had it because I didn't want it to get thrashed. haha But even to this day, whenever I see Aunt Barbi (that is not her real name...) I have to make sure I have "Tony".

So moral of that story, I kinda have a strange affection towards "Tony the Tiger." Whenever I see Frosted Flakes at the store, I kinda feel like he's my friend. haha but yeah... (also, i just tried to find a picture of my shirt on Google and I didn't have any success... Sorry friends!)

Back to point of the story. I was at the store on Monday and I saw these bowls in these boxes on top of boxes of boxes of cereal. hahahaha I'll give you a second to understand that sentence... I was immediately curious and confused. I didn't understand what they were doing until I read the handy sign next to them... it said that:

If you bought TWO boxes of ANY Kellogg's cereal, you got a free bowl. And on these bowls were like, antique-y pictures of the Kellogg's characters. Obviously I had to have the Tony one.

After buying a box of Crispix and Frosted Flakes, I got to bring home a Tony the Tiger bowl. I've used it the past two days for breakfast and it's wonderful. My younger brother and sister (N&A) have been rather upset and jealous about it but it's my bowl. haha here is a picture, courtesy of google.

Now, it doesn't seem that cool.... and it really isn't unless you love Tony like I do. haha I don't really have anything else to share with you...

Maybe more pictures will be posted tomorrow? We'll see...

Start at the....end.

30. A picture of someone you miss:

(I miss him more now than I've ever missed anyone.)

29. A picture that can always make you smile:

I want this dog, please.

28. A picture of something you're afraid of:

(HA. Not marrying the right guy.... That's what I'm afraid of.)

27. A picture of yourself and a family member:

Twins. (well, almost.)

26. A picture of something that means a lot to you:

Temples & the City by the Bay. :)

25. A picture of your favorite day:

24. A picture of something you wish you could change:

hahahahahaha :)

23. A picture of your favorite book:

22. A picture of something you wish you were better at:

Oh piano... why did I never practice you when I was younger?

21. A picture of something you wish you could forget:

I'll get back to this one... I can't think of anything currently.

20. A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel:

Antarctica. Gorgeous.

More to come. :)

Baby, you're a firework

Sometimes, I hate the radio.

Do they seriously not know of any other song to play besides "Firework" by Katy Perry? I'm pretty sure I've heard it like 8 times today.

Don't get me wrong, it's a catchy song. And if I didn't constantly hear it, I actually might like it a little bit... And the fun thing is that in a couple of weeks, it will be another super annoying yet catchy song.

Anyway...

It's funny how quickly things can change.

(I know I talk about time and such ALL the time but I honestly have nothing else to do... hahaha)

Like if you just think in 6-month intervals, things are so different.

6-months ago, it was July. Spring semester was just about to end. Josh and I had technically broken up but he was still my best friend and I would still talk to him all day, everyday. Actually, in the weeks up until he left for his mission, we were closer than we ever were before. He really was my best friend. Nicole had been gone for 10 months so she was past her halfway mark. So, I was finishing my freshman year of college, without a(n official) boyfriend, and my sister was 5/9 of the way done.

Present day, it's January. Josh has been gone for 4 months and despite the circumstances, he is still my best friend whom I miss daily. There isn't a day when I don't think about him multiple times. Nicole comes home in 6 weeks. (She just transferred today for the last time!) I'm currently unemployed but there are some definite prospects and I've still made a decent amount of money already for being home a month without a job.

6 months from now, July 2011, I'll be finishing Spring Semester and my sophomore year. I'll have seen Nicole quite a bit and it'll be so good to have her back. I'll (hopefully) be getting ready to leave for Jerusalem in the coming months and I'll be enjoying a wonderful summer. Josh will soon reach his year mark which will definitely be exciting. haha

But yeah, I was just thinking about that.

My new adventure is a picture-a-day thing. Here we go! (only I think I'm going to do them in random order, just to mix it up! And don't count on one a day... haha maybe one every few days...)

‎1. A picture of yourself with 10 facts
2. A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest
3. A picture of the cast from your favorite show
4. A picture of your favorite night
5. A picture of your favorite memory
6. A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day
7. A picture of your most treasured item
8. A picture that makes you laugh
9. A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most
10. A picture of the person you do the most ****** up things with
11. A picture of something you hate
12. A picture of something you love
13. A picture of your favorite band or artist
14. A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without
15. A picture of something you want to do before you die
16. A picture of someone who inspires you
17. A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently
18. A picture of your biggest insecurity
19. A picture and a letter
20. A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel
21. A picture of something you wish you could forget
22. A picture of something you wish you were better at
23. A picture of your favorite book
24. A picture of something you wish you could change
25. A picture of your favorite day
26. A picture of something that means a lot to you
27. A picture of yourself and a family member
28. A picture of something you're afraid of
29. A picture that can always make you smile

30. A picture of someone you miss

Also, my neighbor Kuma FitzGerald had a playdate with Dakota Verna today. That wouldn't seem that weird except for the fact that Kuma is a golden retriever and Dakota is some sort of mutt. haha I learned today that it's common practice (well, around here... I don't know about everywhere else...) for dogs to have play dates. Now see, I only know about this because Dakota's owner used to be in our ward and my mom was her visiting teaching companion for a while and so they're pretty close friends. But D's mom called my mom to tell her that if we heard the fence fall down or something to call her on her cell phone because the whole FitzGerald household would be gone all day long. Long story short, the dogs played all day long while their parent(s) were at work all day long. Seems weird, yeah? Thought so.

And the dogs had "a wonderful time". Which is weird because I didn't know dogs could talk. But yes, that is my fun fact for today.

New Year

Well friends, it's now 2011. And it's off to a rather boring start.

I spent the last night of 2010 at Colleen's house at our little party. We are super classy so we wore cute dresses and had lots of snacks. We then played Pictionary and Guesstures. We're basically old ladies. But that's fine. It was the 7 of us (Colleen, Courtney, Katherine, Brittney, Neha, Molly and me) plus Justin (Katherine's boy). It was super fun in a really lame, low-key way. Then, at about 11 we started watching the excitement on TV. Then we counted down to the New Year, drank some sparkling cider, made noise and that's was it.

After a little while, Katherine and Justin left and then the rest of us watched The Proposal mostly so that we could look at Ryan Reynolds. Oh that man. Yummmy.

The party ended at like 3 so then I came home, went to sleep and slept like a rock until noon-ish. Great. The rest of the day was spent doing just about nothing. I ran a few errands and pretty much sat around my house. I need to start doing something. haha

It's still so weird that it's 2011.

2001 was 10 years ago. It doesn't feel like that at all. It feels like that was so recent.

Time is a weird thing once you start getting older. I can't believe that I'll turn 20 in just a few months. Scary.

I don't really have a whole lot to say. I just don't have anything to do right now and so I'm blogging out of boredom.

Maybe I'll go and do something.... Maybe not though. haha

Time.

Time is such a weird thing. It sometimes feels like it moves so slow but then looking back, it feels so fast.

Can you believe that in three days, it'll be 2011? Where has time gone? It is freaking insane. I cannot even comprehend it. haha

Sometimes, when I'm talking to people and they mention that something happened in like 2001 or so, it doesn't feel like it was that long ago... but it was 10 years ago! How has that happened!?

Anyway, I just thought that I would write one final blog post for the year just reminiscing about my wonderfully crazy year that I've had.

January started out rough. I was at home and unemployed. Luckily I got a job which by...

February had turned into a really great job. Plus, I got to visit my boyfriend in Rexburg where I had my first real Valentine's day. hahaha Back on the work front, after Shawn quit and I was on my own for a while, Sarah came along in...

March where we worked pretty well for a while until she decided to take over which was alright because then come...

April, I headed back to school. I saw Josh and Jessica and went to Yellowstone. School started and then...

May was full of school and birthday adventures. I truly have the greatest friends. Before we knew it, it was midterms and also...

June. School was crazy and Rexburg was a non-stop adventure. Always something to do in the beautiful state of Idaho. I got to see my favorite sister missionary on Temple Square and Josh came to visit for too short of a time and then before we all knew it, it was...

July where we (Jessica, Vikki, Josh and I) watched fireworks in Idaho Falls. I said goodbye to Josh for 2+ years. We took finals, moved out, and came home for a couple short weeks. The six-week break started and then we blinked and it was suddenly...

August. Playing in Lake Tahoe, hanging out with the "cousins", working for previous employers, enjoying the break before...

September rolled around which threw us right back into school. New roommates, new professors, a whole new semester. There was also a very tearful missionary farewell and another missionary hitting her year mark. Also, roommate bonding while skydiving and before we knew it, it was...

October which means Rexburg deciding to be cold. Also Halloween and other fun roommate adventures. Those roommate adventures carried over to...

November where we celebrated another birthday for a new favorite 19 year old of mine. Thanksgiving with cousins in Mexico, strep throat on the cruise, and the start of the end of the semester and before we knew it...

December came. Snow, cold, drama, so much craziness. Saying goodbye, coming home, relaxing, Christmas, old friends and good times.

It's been a great year. And it's so crazy to think how so much has changed in these past 365 days.

On to recent news,

Being home has been good.

Christmas was wonderful.

Missionaries are splendid. :)

"Cousins" visiting is crazy.

Temples are joyous.

And life is swell.

:)

Can't wait for the adventures of 2011!

P.S. This is my 52nd blog post of 2010. That means one per week. haha I couldn't have planned that better. :)