Confessions of a Non-Partier

College, friends. It's a thing.

Movies, books, media; society in general presents college as kind of a non-stop party. Drinking, dancing, flirting, kissing, fraternities, sororities, getting busted by the cops, having dramatic and romantic adventures. Pretty awesome.

Of course, here at BYU-Idaho, the number of students who get THAT crazy is significantly lower than at a non-church school. It still happens, but on a much smaller (and more discreet) scale.

Then there are the people who go out every single Friday and Saturday night. Whether it's to a bonfire, some off-campus party, dancing, etc.-- nothing against the rules--just always SOMEthing. 



And then there's me.



I used to have a problem with this, think something was wrong with me: I should be 'out'! Partying! Having soo much fun!

Then I realized a very important thing about myself.

I'm not a partier. 

I love having fun, laughing, eating (yesssss), being with friends, playing games, going places, etc., but I don't like being in a big group that I don't really know, trying ineptly to flirt with some guy I just met or impress a bunch of people I'll never see again. I'm not going to go into the 'show-off circle' at a dance or do something crazy all in the name of 'living a little'. 
I have the most fun doing something relaxed like playing games or cooking brownies or buying pizza (food is happiness).


(I just wanted an excuse to put this ^ in a blog.)



I've chosen to stop making comments like "I don't have a life" "I never do anything fun" "I'm boring". That kind of comment is negative and only serves to reinforce the idea that the only way to be 'cool' is to be and act a certain way. Friends, that idea isn't true. 

Just because you do homework on a Saturday night (like I do), or don't have the sweetest dance moves (or any dance moves), or just wanna curl up with a pan of brownies and watch some (a lot of) Netflix after a long, stressful school week does not mean that you're a social weirdo. It means that we can do those "boring" things together, if you want company.

Moral of the story: Know thyself. And to thine own self to be true. And eat pizza and brownies, bros. Because...Yumminess. And hey--WE [most of us, at least] ARE IN COLLEGE TO LEARN. So yeah, do your homework every freaking night of the week.

57 Reasons Why My Mom is Freakin' Legit (with #Hashtags)

 My mom.

She's kind of insane.

Insanely cool, that is.

Here is a list of some of the things that I love about my mom. She amazes, inspires, and teaches me constantly. #RoleModel

1. She had ten kids (no epidurals)
2. Raised them--#BeastMode #ForLife #MomMode
3. Homeschooled us--she's crazy
4. Makes 6 loaves of bread every single week for the past 25 years
5. Makes huge batches of granola all the time (and it's dang healthy, too)
6. Makes peanut butter
7. Knows how to make home made yogurt (weird, but good)
8. Can sew literally anything
9. Tried to teach me to sew some things
10. Stayed patient when I whined, cried, and ripped out the same rows of stitches 5 times 
11. NEVER EVER EVER got involved with any of her kids' drama. THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM. 
12. She's seriously the smartest woman I know. She took physics for FUN in college, guys. And her grade? "An A, of course." (In her own words.(: ) I often make fun of elementary ed majors but ya'll, guess what major the smartest woman in the world chose? Elementary ed! And rocked it, of course.
13. She is not only the smartest woman I know, but she still learns all the time. She's constantly reading all kinds of books on literally everything. (A few great ones she suggested to me: The Happiness Project, Mindset, and Christy)
14. She was so so so encouraging to me throughout all of my schooling. 
15. A lot of you guys know how much I want to be a nurse. Guess whose idea that was? She suggested it to me several times before I finally realized that #MotherKnowsBest
16. She never made anything surface-y a priority. I never ever felt self conscious about my clothes, body, hair, or makeup because she never talked about those things. She didn't talk about beauty a lot, not because she didn't think I was beautiful, but because she knows that there's much more to a person than how they look. 
17. She's so practical it's crazy. She's seriously no-nonsense and very honest. I HATE being talked down to and when people sugar coat things and guess who has never done that to me? #MyMom. When  women try to be super-sensitive and overly sweet all the time I'm like "WHERE'S MOM WHEN I NEED HER." She gets straight to the point and it's the best ever.
18. She is so humble!! SO HUMBLE! 
19. She can dance, guys. You would never guess it but she's got moves. Granted, they're 80s moves but she got 5 stars on Just Dance 4. And looked good doing it.
20. She's sassy. She would never own up to it ....but where do you think I got my sass from?
21. She's super funny. 
22. She taught me to love salad. Especially with great tomatoes.
23. She made health a priority. Natural health, too. I've never had any prescribed medication. The recommended cure-all for literally anything was: a cold pack, a warm corn bag, garlic, vitamin C, Neosporin, and sometimes Tylenol. I'm very rarely sick and when I am, it lasts a day or two. #Legit
24. She instilled me with a strong conviction about...basically everything important.
25. She is a wonderful example of honesty, kindness, passion, hard work, patience, unconditional love, unending selfless
26. She's a beautiful singer and made me want to sing, too
27. She never gossips
28. She made me memorize things when I was young, thus allowing me to discover my talent for it and 
29. She made me play the piano
30. Taught me how to clean a house
31. Taught me how to take care of a baby
32. Taught me how important family is
33. Taught me how important the gospel is
34. Taught me how to cook
35. Knew exactly how much lenience and how much discipline I needed to feel both trusted and worried about
36. Taught me how to do laundry
37. Listens every time I call her to tell her about a test or a roommate or money or advice or boys or recipes or when I'm just feeling bad
38. Tells me I'm beautiful
39. Gave me my curls. (:
40. She's so freaking thrifty. I definitely learned that one from her. #CostcoTrips #BuyItInBulk #PricePerOunce
41. Taught me to drive. (: That was an adventure...
42. Encouraged me to go to college and helped me make it there
43. Provided me with all kinds of wonderful learning experiences that I would never have had without her
44. Helped me get my first job #HarrisTeeterWin
45. Taught me how to grocery shop
46. Gave me a strong appreciation for good ice cream #BreyersVanilla
47. Gave me a strong appreciation for dairy products in general...yum.
48. Taught me how to make cheese on toast. And now that I like tomatoes again...#TomatoesOnToast
49. Taught me how to do the dishes and made me do them. :/
50. Didn't punish me for being late for curfew...#Thanks
51. Put up with so many of my tears. For so many dumb dumb things. Geometry comes to mind first...
52. Never stops working
53. Never stops teaching
54. 18 years of free haircuts (She's really good at them)
55. Never stops loving
56. Never stops being the wisest person I know
57. Taught me what matters most

Mom, I love you so much. I miss you a lot, too. I think about you all the time and I love that I can call you and you listen and give advice even when I'm an irrational 18 year old (which is basically all the time). Thanks for being everything that you are. Happy mothers day. (:

Dating

Dating is overrated...

#PBBF




I'd say yes, but in the absence of any requests, I'll settle for some creamy peanuts.