December 2013/2014

Let me spam you with all the pictures.

I know it's cliche but I love going to Temple Square during the holidays. It's crowded and busy and there's too many people and sometimes the lights aren't that great (eh hmm 2014) but you just can't help getting wrapped into it.

And sometimes you have to wear a boot while you hobble around (2014).


And sometimes you see people get proposed to (2013).

 I mean okay, Mr. Reindeer.

And sometimes you are able to check off some bucket list items, like seeing an outdoor rink or finding the best Christmas lights.
 (2013)

 (2014)

And sometimes you go to the MoTab concert and the LDS Christmas devotional in the same week with your best friend. #theChurchisTrue

And don't tell anyone. But I'm actually starting to like the snow. 

It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

November 2013/2014

So I need to play catch up. It really has been too long and I should at least get all the major details down in my life to look back on. Luckily, I have a running list of things to write about and hopefully I can get them done over Christmas Break. But for now there will be a little bit of overlap!

This November and last I was able to check another state off my list and extend the farthest place I've ever been east! Camp Kesem has a national summit where we get to meet up with all the other chapters across the nation and attend training meetings and make connections and it is just so so fun.

                                   

Detroit 2013

It really re-energizes me and remind why I do Kesem. Saturday night they have a family of MSU/UM campers and parents come and ask questions and it reminds me that Kesem is helping so much more than my 100 campers at BYU. It is CHANGING lives across the nation and maybe someday across the world.

I'm so incredibly grateful to be a part of this movement. I can only imagine where CK is going to be in the next few years! One of the coolest things at THIS year's summit was the rebranding of Camp Kesem! The national organization will be known as Kesem now and Camp Kesem is a project of that organization.

Camp Kesem National says:

We know that supporting children through and beyond their parent's cancer can include programming beyond our flagship Camp Kesem. In the coming years, we'll be exploring some of those options for growth. So to prepare for that growth, we've created an umbrella organization - which we have proudly named "Kesem." Kesem will serve as the parent organization for all of our programming, including Camp Kesem. (But rest assured, there are no changes being made to our signature Camp Kesem program). We're thrilled with the new logo for Kesem - which is reflective of the colors found in Karl. We hope you see the same meaning we do in the shining light rays bursting "through and beyond" in the new Kesem logo.  

Camp Kesem is a nationwide community, driven by passionate college student leaders, that supports children through and beyond their parent's cancer.

Detroit 2014

Sometimes I'm so pathetic

Like those moments I just spent like half an hour stalking my favoritest missionary/roommate HPen's blog because I just sat and watched the Notebook and my rommates are slowly disappearing and I sat without pants on for a couple hours today and I don't know what I'm going to do for the rest of the summer.

I think it's time the mission gives back my friends.

Meanwhile, I have a lot of blogging to catch up on apparently! Just now realizing how far behind I am. Like extremely.

You people don't even know that I lived with my best friend for the last 6 weeks! Or that I wrote a grant! Or that I declared a major! Yeah, I'm hot stuff. Lemme tell you, Provo is looking good on this girl.

Except for when it decides to snow in June. WUT.

It's Oren Michael's Birthday!

He's pretty cool I guess. And I kinda like him. I'll keep him around - mainly so I have someone to go to Disneyland with.
In reality he's the best. He's my brotha from anotha mother and he's one of those people I don't want to ever leave my life. I'm so grateful for all that he does for me and I hope I'm half as good of a friend/person as he is. He's one of the most inspirational people I know - always looking for positives and taking care of others before himself. We've had some crazy memories and I cherish them dearly.
I miss you tons Oren and I hope you're having a fantastic, wonderful, over-the-moon day (but also that you miss me just a little bit and that kinda puts a damper on your day. That'd be awesome.)
I love you so much! Thanks for being you. And being born. And living and all that. Happy 19th birthday, yo.

I have these really awesome people in my life like... {six}

Jason K!

He's going to be in America. Like today. What? Two years already past? I can't wait to see this wollengabba. He spent two years in Brazil on his mission and now will be attending BYU-Idaho until he can transfer to Utah and we can have soso much fun! He's an amazing person and an even better friend. Love love love him!

Pretty much the story of our lives.

I can't even take how hideous this is but the fact that we're both crying shows he kinda likes me too, right?

Tutti Frutti

This summer and the last I've a job working at Tutti Frutti - the only frozen yogurt shop in my home that is the treehouse. And I will whine about it until the day I stop working there. My hours are awful, there's often a lot of downtime, sometimes people aren't that friendly when they come in, I do more dishes there than I do at home, and I swear I come home covered from head to toe in yogurt. Oh, and don't forget the 824473947 pounds I'll gain by the end of the summer because it is so dang good!

But every once in a while I have some really great moments. There's a lot of people that come in that just crack me up (I mean, this is Lake County). There's also plenty of people that come in regularly, some doing the walk of shame because they might come in just a little bit too often, that I feel I ave a responsibility to make their day just a tad brighter. Plus, they tend to tip more if I'm friendly ;)

There's two little twin boys, probably 3 years old, that come in with their dad and tell me about their hunting and fishing trips and how they love the "salmon eggs" in their yogurts.

There's a little girl who comes in with her mom and is 4 going on 14. "I don't need your help, mom." "Mom, why are you doing it for me?"

There's the lady who came in and complimented me on my red hair and then said how whenever she came in I had a smile on my face and it made her happy

There's the families I knew from before I worked there that make me perk up when they come in.

There's my friends who come in when it's slow just to make me laugh. And take pictures of me. And play with the puzzle books.

There's the SUPER CUTE older couples who you know have been married forever and come in for date night to get frozen yogurt.

There's the people who commend my efforts for higher education and know that it's not easy to fund it on your own.

There's the teenagers on their first date.... and the ones that come in with the munchies.

There's so many reasons to smile

One lady found out I was a BYU student and got excited and asked me all about Utah because she was heading out there soon and wanted to know if she should fly or drive and what she could do and what I loved about Utah (Made me anxious to get back!) She left last week and came in before she did to tell me she decided to drive per my recommendation.

Then, yesterday there was a guy who found out I lived in Utah and asked if I was Mormon. (Pause: there's a lot of Mormon terms coming up.) After a brief introduction I found out he was recently baptized and that he just received the Priesthood and was attending a ward in my stake and he knew a lot of people that I did and we shared our love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives.

When I look at it this way, it makes working there not so bad and I actually wonder if my next job will be as enjoyable as this one with the way I get to interact with people so closely.

It also makes me really excited for that time in my life when I finally get to work at Disneyland - it's gonna happen.

I've Been Thinking

I know that's kinda scary. But isn't crazy to think about how people come into your life? And the ones you think will be important aren't and the ones that are you don't realize it until late.

(Heads up, this might end up being me talking in circles and making absolutely no sense.)

Take H for example. Her name alone made me think we weren't going to get along right off the bat. I emailed her timidly because that's what you do when given a roommate's email address right? I didn't know at the time how important she would become in my life or how much we would need each other. And neither of us really understood how tidy we were (We both said somewhat. I'm definitely more than somewhat and she is most definitely less. But I love her!) And now, a year later, I miss her more than dieters miss candy and we text each other funny things that we used to be able to say across the room and now there's an ocean dividing us.

Or A. A admitted to me later on that she hated my first impression and thought I was really stuck up when she first met me (I think I need to work on that... haha). We always joked about our first times hanging out. One day she tried to find me and there was another Britt on the floor but she was Brittany and I'm Brittani. We had our names on the doors courtesy of our RA and Amber knocked on Brittany's door and asked, "Oh, is Brittani here?" and she said "I am Brittany..." How awkward for her right? That led to me sleeping on her extra bed almost every night until K moved in and even then I moved my mattress in. Lucky I have her while K is going to be in London and nearly all of our other friends are going on missions.

And then there's Lady K! K and I met the summer after my junior year. We got in trouble for being rebels without a cause at EFY and keeping the whole building up. We yolo'd so hard even then. Fast forward two years and we find out we're living on the same floor of the same building or Freshman Year at BYU... COINCIDENTALLY.  The universe was definitely trying to tell us something then (HIMYM reference, anyone? Anyone? K will get it.)

Where there's Lady K, there's a Lake - the second half of the blondtourage. L and I had our ups and downs but we make a good team. She reminds me not to take life so seriously and she needs me to take her phone so she actually gets her assignments done. And she started as that girl down the hall who wanted us to come see her on Halloween at Sonic because she had to work. Oh, she likes Little Mermaid too so that's kinda bonding.

Can't forget about A and O. Met because BYU put us together in a Y-group because we signed up for the same class our first semester. Take a picture together the first night and it's like you're destined to love them forever. A is on a mission and I talk to him weekly and can't imagine not having his friendship in my life. He truly was an answer to my tear-filled, lonely prayers. And O - we may not have seen each other everyday of the school year, but we finished where we started and made sure there were lots of laughs and memories along the way and are able to pick up where we left off when we are together.

Or my bulldogs. Did you know that when I first moved to Lake County they all picked on me relentlessly? Not like they do now where it's a joking thing. But to the point where I would go home and cry. (I was pretty weird individualistic in the middle school in their defense.) And then in high school I started checking their collars to make sure their ties were covered because I think I might have OCD. And one day Kyle called me Momma Goose and that's how that started. And now I love and care about them like my brothers and I pray for them and worry for them and get excited for them and they are some of the greatest friends in my life. Even if they agitate me without end.

There's the friends I thought would be my friends forever in high school and now we hardly talk or I see their Facebook statuses and that's how I keep updated.

There's the friends who come into your life and leave and come back until you realize how much you love them and need them around. And no matter what life brings you through or where you are or how many times you fight or say "I hate you" deep down you always still care.

There's the friends that I feel obligated to make things work with and I try really hard but I know that in the end I have to do what's best for me and sometimes that means going separate ways because we have different life experiences and we grow in different ways and sometimes that means that we grow apart. But that's life.

What I'm trying to say I guess is that there are so many things that happen in our lives and we don't always take time to appreciate them or write them down or ponder them. And I always tell myself I'll get around to it at some point but tonight I just knew I needed to write it down for me because it's been something I've been thinking about for a while. In the end, I just feel grateful. And that's possibly the best thing.

Things like these

First of all, click here.

Did you click it? Yes?

If you just watched a crappily recorded video of a few kids dressed in purple doing the Harlem Shake, you just watched something I'm very proud of.
I wasn't a part of it, I didn't witness it, and I wasn't there. But when I saw it I was touched.

Those are kids at my high school - Clear Lake High School.

They're supporting Relay for Life, an event that raises money for cancer research and funding for cancer patients through the American Cancer Society.

And they got involved. Two years in a row, CLHS has been the host of the event. And participation has skyrocketed, funds increase every year, and I am continually amazed.

I'm so grateful to have come from such a wonderful place where people are so giving and teach their children to be giving. They recognize needs in the community and seek to fill them. That's something I have yet to find here at BYU and I feel few people could ever truly understand the impact of that small town.

I'm loving my new life here in Provo, but there isn't a day that goes by where I'm not thankful for my little lakeside town in Northern California that taught me some of the most important values in my life.

CLHS IN THE NEWS

Operation Tango Mike
Photo Credit: Ginny Craven

CLHS Grads Helping at OTM
Photo Credit: Ginny Craven

Credit: CLHS Newsletter

Credit: CLHS Newsletter

Paint the Stands Pink - Breast Cancer Awareness
Credit: CLHS Website

"Just because something doesn’t last forever, doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth your while."

Sometimes, Becca sends me links.
And then I sit and procrastinate.

Sometimes they're just to make me laugh.
Inside jokes and the like.

But sometimes they make me think about life.
The good.
The bad.
The ugly.

But mostly, they make me realize what a lucky girl I am to be living this life - MY LIFE.

Check out this one. 

Tuesday Night Letters

Yeah, I decided to do it again. But I didn't get them done last night. And I've pretty much lost all motivation to do anything right now so here I am blogging. Obviously.

Dear Chipman Chunkers,
CLEAN UP YOUR CRAP. I thought I made it clear ya'll needed to stop cooking in the last letter. But if you insist, could you please at least do your own dishes. That mac n' cheese is going to be so gross three days from now when you finally decide to wash it out. Not to mention the fact that it is a communal kitchen and when I have the urge to, oh I don't know, make some cookies for FHE, I don't want to have to feel like I need to deep clean myself and the kitchen after cooking.

Dear Elder Lichtenberg,
I'm so glad that I got to see you before you left. You're the best and have helped me through so much this past semester. I'll see you in two years!
PS. I forgot the camera. Luckily I have the best roommate ever who remembers these things.

Dear Friends,
I love you and that is the only reason why I allow you to make jokes at my expense. Just remember that.

Dear Roomie,
We're the best. Need I say more?

Dear Econ Book,
You are so boring. I don't like you. You steal the little bit of sunshine out of my soul at 1 am. Why do you hate me? Treat others as you wanted to be treated.

Dear High School,
I don't miss you.

Dear Math,
I don't miss you either.

Dear Hobos,
I have a newfound respect for you. Your life choice is looking more and more promising everyday.

Dear Weather,
Thank you for being so cooperative for this California girl. I really do love and appreciate it. (But seriously).

Dear College,
You are completely and totally the epitome of a love/hate relationship. You'd be a whole lot better if you lost the whole school part and focused on the social aspect. A lot more people would love you if that were the case. But for now you're stuck with me.

Dear Scholarship Funders,
Thanks for paying my tuition so that I can sit here and whine about it. Truly, you're the best.

Dear Life,
Thanks for this journey. It's one heck of a ride.


Love,
Brittani

Monday Night Letters

I've seen this on a couple blogs, and it looks like fun. Maybe it'll become a regular thing? Maybe not. #toomainstream #likehashtags

Dear Ladies of Chipman Hall,
Please stop trying to cook in the basement. There's a reason why you live here and you are stinking up the whole building.

Dear Poetry,
You're really just creepy and cryptic. Just come out and say it! Isn't that what all the magazines say to do anyway?

Dear Professor Kearl,
Stop being so crazy. You overcomplicated your class so much!

Dear Anatomy TAs,
Thanks for screwing me over. But thank you more for showing me that I need to step up my game. Thanks for supporting me and truly caring about my learning. It reminds me of home and that makes me comfortable and confident that I really can conquer this class.

Dear 3103,
We nap too much. Luckily we have so much beauty up in this room I feel like sleeping gives some of the other girls a chance. (And so much humility, too.)

Dear Mickey,
Can I come live with you and Minnie in Disneyland? I'm sorry I left so quickly last time. I really do miss you.

Dear Helen Keller*,
Thanks for trying to solve my BYU dating problems. And putting a smile on my face today.

Dear J,
Thanks for listening. It means more than you'll ever know.

Dear K, A, and L,
You're the best things that have ever happened to me. SO BLESSED. I'd kill/castrate with a fork anyone who tried to hurt you. Don't ever leave because I love you so much!

Dear Treehouse,
You have made me me and I love you, the memories, and the people who have been placed in my life because of you the last 8 years. Thanks for letting me have a few of them here with me.

Dear Bulldogs,
You taught me to value myself better than almost anyone. I love you all and I miss you and think of you every single day. Thank you for your love and most of all, the jokes. You changed my life for the BEST and I pray for your successes. I can't wait to see you all this summer.

Dear Family,
You're the best. Do I need to say more? I mean I'm sure I could write something cheesy and cliché all in movie quotes, but I think I'll save those reading this from trying to decipher it.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this life. For the beautiful views around me. For all the people, experiences, and challenges placed before me. Thank you for every moment I have to prove myself to you. Thank you for change. Thank you for perspective. And thank you for being there, every step of the way.


All my love,

Brittani

*(DISCLAIMER: This is an alias)