In the Furnace of Their Affliction

There was a fire in Black Forest. 

MY HOMETOWN!

It was so sad...

A few weeks ago the youth in one of the wards in Black Forest built up a border of pine needles around the church building  as a fire precaution. 

 That activity was truly inspired.  The church building was saved! Over 500 homes were burned.  And only one house in the our old ward was burned!  It was our old house...  So many good memories in the house and in that yard.  I'm really going to miss it.    

I realized, from facebook and such, that the people who have been affected by the ire have stayed so positive about it.  This huge trial confronts them, 

and the majority of them say they are thankful for what they have; 

they are glad they have their families; 

families are the most important thing; 

"a house is just something that holds all our stuff while we go buy more stuff";  

God has a plan; etc. 

 How could these people react this way?  It makes me wonder how I would react...Obviously they must be devastated to lose their homes and things they care about, but it seems that most of them are looking at the eternal perspective of things.  It amazes me. I am so thankful for these kinds of people because they set such an example for me.

  My heart goes out to all of the families who have been affected by this fire.  Please pray for the families who have lost their homes, or have had to evacuate, or even those who have been mildly affected in the slightest.  They need your prayers.

Heavenly Father loves you and cares so much about your well-being.  He has a plan for you and you may not be able to see what that plan is now, but it will be revealed to you as things get better.  As one door closes another opens.  I Promise :)  

Colorado pt. 3: Wrapping It Up

Jessica's last sunday at church before leaving for the MTC.  She will be an amazing missionary in Florida and she will missed here. 

Picnic in the park with Matthew.  Always a good time with this one:) 

Starbucks with Stacey! :) Iv missed this girl.

Pinkies up!

Tuesday night Matt took me to dinner at Amanda Fondas. It was so yummy! 

Wednesday I went to say goodbye to Stacey. I also went to Starbucks with Matt and said goodbye to him.  I tried the most delicious hot cocoa ever! It is definitely my new favorite! White Chocolate hot cocoa with peppermint.  Go try it if you havent! So yummy! I'll see these two soon:) Its never really goodbye. I have to keep telling myself that when Im saying "see ya later" to all my friends (stacey and matt as I go off to school again, and jessica as she goes on a mission!!)

Iv always wanted to snap a pic of this sign! Finally did it!

Semis along the backroads lined up  waiting for i80 to open.

 So... funny story.

Ashley and I start driving to Rexburg Thursday morning.

Everything looks hunky dory til we get to northern colorado and southern wyoming. 

Then, things get hairy. well, icy i guess.

I have NEVER been more stressed out while driving in my entire life.  not even as stressed out as the very first time I ever drove. EVER!
there were parts where we were going literally 5mph on the interstate!
not to mention we were closed in by Semis the entire way.  THAT was scary.
While Ashley was driving on this 2 lane highway a semi slid right as it was passing us. THAT was also scary.
Anyways...we make it to cheyenne and then they closed i80. perfect!
Im glad they closed it though because it was death out there.
So they sent us back to Fort Collins so we could take a different route to Laramie where we stayed in a hotel all by ourselves and waited for the road to open up which it did the next morning.
And we were off again! Still a very scary drive. Super windy, icy, and blown snow, but definitely not as bad as it was the day before.
Apparently Wyoming didnt want us to leave because a few miles before crossing the border into idaho poor Cleatus started making weird noises and all of the gauges started shaking, and flying up and down and so we pulled over and turned the car off thinking he only needed a nap.
So about 10 minutes later we tried to turn him on again.
nope.
 didnt start.
  So there i am waving Jumper Cables in the air, while cars are flying down the interstate in middle of the woods with no cell phone service.
OH! and its raining.
of course.
Soon enough two nice guys pulled over and jumped the car for us.  It was so nice of them! and we were very grateful.
 SO! we set off again and made it to Rexburg safely and on time to check into our apartment.
What a DAY!

Cleatus still makes this weird putting sound which I am still kind of worried about, but other than that he is running great:)

Cleatus was a mess! this does not even begin to capture the thick nasties caked all over him!

Stuck on the side of the road...in the woods

We are safe now! 

I am so thankful for the time I was able to spend in Colorado Springs with my closest friends.  and I can't wait to come back after my mission.  It's weird to think I probably wont be there again til then.  This trip was  a fantastic way to wrap up my offtrack semester.

I am so thankful that me and ashley made it safely, even if things did go wrong, I knew Heavenly Father was watching out for us and keeping us safe.  

And the Spring Semester begins! Goodluck with this new semester everyone:) It is sure to be a good one. 

Colorado pt 2: Shows

While in Colorado I had the opportunity to see some really great shows.

Pine Creek put on an amazing production of Les Miserables.

It was absolutely incredible!!!! And i still cant get over it. the actors were amazing. the vocals were amazing, the tech was amazing.  amazing. amazing. 

They brought many people to tears.

Caylee and Allison were great prostitutes;)

Rylee was an outstanding Fantine--made me cry!

Morgan played the part of Eponine soooo well!!!!

Matt was incredible with the part of Jean valjean. No words can even describe how much talent this kid has!

Everyone, the ENTIRE cast, did fantastic.

The prostitutes

Me and Jean Valjean

The next night Ashley and I went to see Discovery Canyon Campus's musical, Honk.  It was a really great show! and Stacey did incredible.  She was fantastic for the part of the ducklings' mother. The little kids loved her!!! She blew everyone away!

Colorado pt. 1: Being Children

 So I'm finally in Colorado, and it has been the funnest trip ever.  I have gotten to spend so much time with friends.  But it was weird thinking I wont be back til after my mission.  Bitter-sweet. :)

Matt and I took a trip up to Denver for the day.

16th Street Mall, Einstein Bagels, exploring, and goofing around etc.

Baptisms at the Denver Temple

The Aquarium

Back to Matthews house for dinner and stories with his family

Stuck in morning traffic...blah!

 The Hat Shop.  Something I'd wear to a tea party (or apple juice party) in England.

 Shark/Ray thing

 Sting Rays--their eyes look so creepy! and I can't get over the fact that they can't see what they are eating! WEIRD

We decided that this is the ugliest fish in the sea.  He was probably made fun of a lot in school.

 HUGE FISH!!! Im thinkin it was bigger than me.

 The Grumpy Fish with Jumbo Eye Balls

 Shark Boy

 Sting Rays, my kinda men ;)  MWAH

"Im. a. parana.  I. live. in. the. amazon."

 The tigers came out! They are so so cute!!

 Jellyfish are gorgeous.  Absolutely beautiful creatures

 Petting the Rays was definitely the best part of the aquarium, at least for me.  They werent as vicious as i imagined.  They were actually quite cute and slimey and snuggly!  They like to flap their...flippers along the sides like they want to be touched!

Funny Story:  At the temple, we were mistaken as a married couple.  hilarious, but awkward. 

OH! we went to this Orange juice place that had the BEST orange juice I have ever tasted!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously. The. Best. 

It was also fun hanging out with his family.  They are all so much fun and so hilarious!  Always joking.  We got to listen to Matt's grandparents tell stories.  That was awesome! I hope I remember all of the little things so I can tell them to my grandkids someday.

I had the best day ever with my best friend! We are such children. :)

Anyways, more trip details on the way!  I love Colorado!

Alongside Purple Mountains

I went to Colorado!!!! 

For those of you who don't know, "America the Beautiful" was written from Pikes Peak in Colorado...
so that explains the title....that's the end of that story.

 And I have forgotten how much I really loved always having the mountains RIGHT THERE.  They are constant, dependable.  I mean, obviously they are constant. They're mountains.  I just mean that the world is ever changing and there are very few things that will always be there.  The gospel of Jesus Christ, my eternal family, some friends, and the Mountains.

The mountains were not the only things I missed while I was away.  I got to see my very best friends!!!
Okay hold up. Lets take a step back.

Can I just say that I am very proud of myself for driving Megan and Bryson 12.5 hours across states by MYSELF!? Yeah.  I did it.  My butt has never been so numb.  Except when I did it again on the way back.  I also figured out that you can plug the little DVD players into the tape pluggy thingy so that I can listen to Gilmore Girls with surround sound to keep myself awake.  Genius!

My first adventure while in Colorado was to go see Stacey at the Lamoraeux's house! And I got to hang out with the kiddos.  It was so nice to see them all again.

Adventure Day with Matt.

We went to the park, Panera to spend giftcards that my wonderful mother gave me, ice skating for free because of a toy drive, starbucks for hot cocoa, and then his wonderful mother gave us Gift cards to this Mexican restaurant that for the life of me I cannot remember right now. but it was delicious! We walked in and the hostess was like "You guys can take a seat at the bar, or if you'd like I can get you a table." what the HECK!? Apparently we look old or something.  I figured its probably because of Matthew's beard...

And then I hurt my neck skating and put stacey's heating pad on it while I read my scriptures :)

it felt better than it probably looks.. and it did the job!

Also, Stacey and I never finished the last few episodes of Gilmore Girls over the Summer, so we just HAD to.

Finishing a TV series gives me the most annoying feeling.  I get really sad, and frustrated because I have gotten so attached to the characters.  I want to GO to Stars Hollow and stand under the gazebo and walk into Luke's Diner and Dosey's Market and get the gossip from Miss Patty, and a "Suga" from Babbett.  Too bad none of that even exists.  Which is very frustrating.  What I love about Gilmore Girls though is that none of the episodes get old.  I can rewatch the series over and over again.  I just love it that much.

Also!! The Allreds taught me how to play Trains. (A Ticket to Ride) and I was so addicted! I wanna buy it!

New Years Eve I went to Red Robin for lunch with some friends. My Favorite! and then we saw Les Mis. It was so amazing!!!!!!!!! I loved it! I do wish that the voices were more...opra-y.  But it was amazing anyway.  AND! Anne Hathaway really did do a great job. I was very impressed. 

Every year at the Goodsell's house for new Years Eve, they do predictions for the year.  I have never actually done them before this time though because I usually go to the dance.  Sooo... here are some predictions: 

1. I will serve a foreign mission.

2.  Stacey will go to BYUidaho (which isn't happening anymore because she chose Evans and I am so happy for her!!!!!)

3.  Matt will serve a foreign mission.

4. I will do more art pieces. (I think that one is more of goal...oh well)

5.  Dang..I cant remember any more...but there were a lot!

Stacey and I decided that we would take Krista out for one last LuLu's date before she left for BYUidaho. And we put together a college survival kit for her!

"Hey Krista, Yo like a sista.  Yo gonna find a lovely lil mista.  All the other girls are gonna get pissed...a.  Becuz yo so cute, never put yo phone on mute.  Cuz yo won't wanna miss out on a date...cuz he might be yo soul mate <3.  So here's this college survival kit...we hope it's a hit!"

Vitamin C cough drops, 4 packs of ramen noodles, chapstick because of all of the boys she'll be kissin', gas relief tablets, "PS I Love You," Gloves, Hot cocoa, and stress relief masks.  

 

I just love my friends so much! :) Oh how I have missed you 

We are going to miss you Krista!!!! Best wishes in your first Semester of College! See you when I get there!!!

We are very excited for Stacey to Graduate High School!!! 

We went to Bath and Body Works Semi Annual Sale and I fell in LOVE with twilight woods.  Never thought I even liked it.

Matt and I also went to paint the town with Jake and Morgan and we traded again.  This is going to have to be a tradition now :) 

 

The owner of the shop has these little dogs--SO ADORABLE!! I wanted to take one of them home. 

When we grow up we wanna be flight attendants! Thrifting.

Girls Day at Manitou Springs <3 love these two gorgeous girls

Creepy Alley. EEE EEE EEEK 

Precious <3

I spent Friday evening with Matt and his family. We were the chefs for the night! We made chicken and veggies and...kuskus? Whatever it was, it was so good! and sparkling cider.  Then we just lounged around and watched Despicable Me AND Monsters Inc. with the family. i love them <3  

All fun things must come to an end... But I am so thankful for the opportunity to take this trip! It was perfect :) Thank you to my parents for letting me do this, to the Allreds for letting me stay with them, and for my friends for a wonderful time!


I <3 COLORADO