These Next Twenty Years

September 29, 2011 is my 20th birthday... I don't even know what to say to this! How did it come so fast?!? I am really that old?!? I have one week left as a teenager and I'm freaking out because I haven't fully completed my "Teenager Bucket List". I'm not going to share that list with the whole blogging community but instead I've listed my top 19 favorite things I did during my teenage years, in honor of my last week as a 19 year old:

1) Fell in love
2) Had my first kiss
3) Got my Drivers License
4) Graduated High School
5) Became an EMT-B
6) Helped deliver 2 babies
7) Went on my first date
8) Went to Prom
9) Started college
10) Traveled to Japan and Hawaii
11) Had my first boyfriend
12) Went skinny-dipping (shocking, I know!)
13) Got my Young Women's Medallion
14) Went snowboarding for the first time
15) Got my first cell phone
16) Made a Facebook
17) Made my first sandcastle
18) Took a ride in a submarine
19) Realized you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl


I guess it's really not that big of a deal turning twenty, but I feel as though I am saying a final goodbye to my wonderful childhood and greeting my new Adult Life. Of course there is so much to look forward to and I know this is only the beginning of my bright future, but I will always embrace my teenage years and all that time I spent with my family and closest friends in the most wonderful place on the planet: HOME. So in honor of my 20th birthday next Thursday, I've made a list of 20 things I want to do in the next 20 years:

1) Graduate from BYU
2) Go on a mission
3) Fall in love, again
4) Get married
5) Get a PhD
6) Have kids! Lots of kids!
7) Make a medical discovery
8) Live in Texas
9) Travel to Australia/New Zealand
10) Learn to play the piano
11) Have medical profession
12) Complete P90x
13) Go to Yellowstone
14) Attend a Masquerade Ball
15) Go on a cruise
16) Learn to cook
17) Train a puppy
18) Own a house
19) Buy a John Deere tractor
20) Conquer the World! (ok kinda a stretch haha)

These next twenty years will be the best years of my life... :)

Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful

Well I'm back at Brigham Young University in Provo Utah studying my brains out. Majority of my friends attend a college or university where drinking, smoking, drugs and sex seem to be the only courses they get an A+ in. As for me, I'm not doing any of that. Oh, quite the contrary. Not only am I being a "good" college student who actually shows up to class sober, I'm currently taking Molecular Biology, a Molecular Biology 3-hour lab, Physics, a Physics 3-hour lab, 5+ hours of mentored research each week in a worldwide PhageHunters program, a New Testament religion class and a Music 101 class as my "blow-off" course. No Humanities or Philosophy for me. I'm pretty much the nerd you picture in the white lab coat with the HUGE goggles on getting super excited about finding green furry bacteria in a petri-dish... Yep, that's me and my college experience.

I'm going to be completely honest here- sometimes I wish more than anything I could have a "regular" college experience. It seems so easy and carefree and they still manage to come out at the end OK with a diploma. But here's the difference between me and them: I KNOW who I am, I KNOW where I'm going and I KNOW how to get there. I know my WORTH and what they are doing is not worth my time, energy or money. Believe it or not I still have fun in Provo Utah. In fact just this morning I hiked up a 6,000 ft mountain to the Y. Cool picture huh? :)

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I can be my own kind of Beautiful, physically and spiritually, no matter what's going on around me. I might not beautiful or popular to the world, but I like who I am and I can't wait to see the girl I'm going to be after all this hard work in a few years.

Not This Again...

The best summer of my life has finally come to an end and during my last few hours in my most favorite place on the planet I find myself thinking, "Not this again...". Why am I doing this to myself? I hate leaving my family to go live with a bunch of hormonal and over dramatic girls in a too small apartment. I hate stuffing myself into 4 layers of clothes just to walk 20 minutes in the snow up a flippin' mountain to get to class. I hate the enormous amounts of homework I do just to go fail a test and get a C in a class I've worked my tail off all semester for. I guess I just kinda hate college, or maybe just the college I go to. So why am I going back?

I've always been taught that faith precedes the miracle, or in other words, you have to endure the rainstorm before you can enjoy the rainbow. I'm going back for my reward at the end of this long road. My dream (currently, might change) is to become a Pediatric Oncologist and I'm sure there will be lots of rough spots in the journey to come but the thought of me living my life by helping people and saving their lives makes any mountain seem like a grain of rice. I just need to remember that tough times don't last, but tough people do.

It's a new school year in a new apartment with new roommates and new classes. Freshman year was absolute hell and if I could erase one year from my mind, that would be it. After a summer to clear my head I am ready to give it another chance. So here goes nothing. Wish me luck and watch me shine!

Country Girl

Some girls dream about moving to New York City and becoming a famous celebrity while other girls dream about going to LA and becoming a gorgeous actress. This girl dreams about being a doctor and living on acres of green fields in Texas. I finally found the place I belong... 6 months before I left it for college.  My favorite place on God's green planet is an open field with cows just under the big blue Texas sky.  I love the fresh, clean air, the open fields, the country roads, the hot summer days, the common courtesy and respect every true southerner was raised with.  Family is the most important aspect of life and patriotism flows thick through your veins. And above all else, love conquers all.

Yes, I'm a country girl. As Jason Aldean says:

"She's country from her cowboy boots to her down home roots , 

She's country, from the songs she plays to the prayer she prays, 

That's the way she was born and raised she ain't afraid to stay, country 

Yea she's nothing but country..." 

Amen brother. God bless Texas!