2012.

This year has been full of wonderful things. So many wonderful things in fact that I don't know how to start to count or list them. However here are some of the highlights... and by highlights I mean favorite things that come to mind quickly...

• Deciding on a major and absolutely loving it (after trying a few wrong ones...)
• Finding a job in the field that I want to end up in
• Loving my job more than I ever would have imagined
• Making it to nationals with the BYU lacrosse team
• Getting to have my whole family visit and watch me play lacrosse at some point
• Loving my ward
• Watching one of my best friends get both engaged and married
• Watching one of my cousins get married
• Watching Julia play soccer in Italy
• Going to Lake Powell
• Currently being in Puerto Rico
• Spending Thanksgiving in NYC (and maybe, might have seen Snoop Dogg who now is apparently going by Snoop Lion)
• Discovering new bands/music
• Jumping out of an airplane
• Loving (and being extremely humbled by) being Relief Society President
• Getting to go home
• Went to the Bountiful Temple open house and dedication
• Surviving anatomy - and being surprised by how much I loved learning about the human body
• Survived getting hit by a car
• Didn't finish my first triathlon
• Dyed my hair a few too many times
• Went zip-lining for the first time
• Spent many Sundays playing with my adorable cousins and getting fed by my wonderful grandparents
• Watched my cousin play in the State Championship lacrosse game
• Went to General Conference at the Conference Center for the first time
• Grew and learned in ways I'm sure I don't even know yet

I'm 99% positive that I'm forgetting lots of things, but these seem to cover things pretty well. To anyone who was a part of this year and everything it involved, thank you. I was so blessed to meet and grow closer to so many people and I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store :)

Blickenstaff's

So the other day I went into Blickenstaff's to visit my roommate Brittany and I had SO much fun!

They have a huge bulk candy section which I obviously loved and a bunch of cool old-fashioned sodas.



We LOVED the peach gummies and I can't wait to have more.

They also have tons of fun toys you can play with. There's a rockboard, easy rollers, fun board games and so much more.

It's the best place to escape from finals and act like a little kid again :)

PS - If you write a blog post about them too before Dec. 31st you get a free pound of candy!

Christmas Spirit

Let me start by saying finals are rough. Even when I think I'm going to be super motivated and want to study for hours it somehow doesn't quite happen. Which is unfortunate because it's made enjoying the gorgeous snow that we've had a little bit difficult. Yes, finals are easier than midterms in that I don't have to go to class at the same time and that people understand when I have to say no to things better, but there's really no true escape from finals... or so I thought.

I have the pleasure of working at the New Haven residential treatment center as a PE Teacher. Now some mornings are harder than others, but honestly who really wants to get up and work out at 7:30 in the morning? I don't hold it against my girls at all that they don't always want to be there, but it sometimes makes my relationships with them interesting (I'm not sure anyone's their best at that hour...). Between school and lacrosse and living half an hour away from where the girls do, I don't get to see them outside of class too much.

Today I got to go ice skating with them. I should probably admit to the fact that I'm not nearly as coordinated as I should be for being a PE teacher, and skating does not come naturally to me. I had girls skating in circles around me almost the whole time. Then I got to watch while the girls did a gift exchange with the staff that's with them almost the whole time. It was so fun to see the little things that they got so excited about.

In the two hours that I spent with them I saw more of the Christmas Spirit than I have in a while. It was incredible to watch them help each other gain confidence in their skating, while they danced, or even just connected more with the people around them. I caught myself just watching them multiple times as they'd grab another girls' hand as they skated by to include her in the group and helped someone get up after they fell on the ice. The generosity and thoughtfulness of the girls in their gift giving was incredible. I was so impressed. At the end of the gift exchange I was getting up to leave with everyone else and was kinda distracted (even though I couldn't tell you by what). One of the girls came up to me, put something in my hand, gave me a hug and wished me a Merry Christmas. As I looked down I realized she had opened up her own gift and had given me part of it. I was blown away by her attention to the things going on around her and the kindness she showed in sharing with me. It wasn't expected of her to do anything like that and definitely wasn't necessary - which made it that much better. 

Along with the rest of my girls, she was such a great example of what the Christmas season is and what it should be all about.  

I love my job. 

I love my girls.

I love the Christmas season.

I love seeing Christmas Spirit in the least expected ways.

I want to challenge you to surprise someone with the Christmas Spirit and share any cool experiences you have, I promise to do the same. Merry Christmas everyone! 

Giving Thanks

I was lucky enough to get to go home and to NYC for Thanksgiving Break and got to do so many incredible things... Here are a few:

• Saw Lincoln in the brand new theater back home
• Went to seminary with two of my siblings - so great
• Worked out with Til (ouch but thank you...)
• Watched J-Fly play basketball
• Saw two Broadway plays (Newsies and Annie - SO good)
• Had the "best Thanksgiving steak dinner EVER" - direct quote from Papa Haws
• Ground Zero memorial
• Museum of Modern Art
• Helped Julia with her photography project (flashback to me doing the same thing four years ago)
• Warm, pretty, long drives up and down the east coast (passing TC Williams High School - which my dad was incredibly excited about)
• Stayed/shopped on Times Square
• Saw Old Towne Alexandria
• Got to catch up with my mom and picked up a small supply of her secret brown sugar
• Talked to my grandpa on the way to and from the airport

I feel so blessed and so lucky to have gotten to spend my break the way I did.

And just because November isn't over, here are a few more things I'm thankful for:

• Girls that I teach that say thank you
• Every girl participating in class today
• Jokes that the temple workers make to me
• Snapchats with my siblings
• Leftovers
• Teammates
• Roommates
• Christmas music

I apologize for the lack of pictures... I can't seem to find my phone cord (which might have something to do with the fact that I haven't unpacked yet. Oops).

Two Cents From the Haws Family

"I could take your car because it's Tuesday and I don't like your clothes."

"Nice grammar."

       "Yeah Grandma loves Mountain Dew!"

This is the nonsense I've come home to and I love it.

Happy Monday :)

I hope some things never change.

Getting into the Thanksgiving spirit

Now that we're less than two weeks away from Thanksgiving, here are some things I'm especially grateful for today:

-- Girls that make me love my job
-- Caramel hot chocolate
-- Having time to get all my homework done before class
-- A sore body that lets me know I played hard this weekend
-- Technology that keeps me in touch with my family
-- Diet Coke runs drop-ins
-- Hysterical teammates that make me drop to the floor I'm laughing so hard
-- A good study spot (that wasn't right next to a door letting in freezing cold air)
-- Not spraining an ankle or face-planting because of the ice today
-- Seat warmers in my car
-- Patient people willing to teach me things I don't understand
-- The nice person who gave me Jolly Ranchers to wish me luck on my test
-- Homemade bread (made by people with talents I don't have)
-- Trips to the temple
-- The cute old men that work at the temple and ask me the same questions every week without fail
-- Seeing the Lord's hand in my life in both small and big ways
-- Good examples all around me
-- The realization I had that I will be back in Charlottesville in less than a week

"Much More To Come"

I feel like this is especially pertinent to my life after watching one of my teammates and good friends open her mission call last night. So proud of her (and all of my other friends making the same decision). I'm so proud to be a part of this church.

"Mormons rise in this life because it is what their religion calls for. Achieving. Progressing. Learning. Forward, upward motion. This is the lifeblood of earthly Mormonism. Management, leadership, and organizing are the essential skills of the faith. It is no wonder that Mormons have grown so rapidly and reached such stellar heights in American culture. And there is much more to come."

Read the whole thing here...

Best Intentions...

Despite my best intentions sometimes things just don't turn out. Last night for example:

I had every intention of going to FHE

... but conditioning started and ended late and I hadn't gone grocery shopping yet. Oops.

I meant to have dinner done by the time everyone got home

... but not making it to the grocery store earlier in the day made that a little difficult.

I really wanted to clean up and put away all the laundry

...but the day was over before I realized what had happened and other things took priority.

I was really excited about dinner

... and then I caught the garlic bread on fire (yes, actual flames coming out of the oven), and couldn't even think coherently enough to put the fire out myself (thanks a million, Syd) . 

But

... luckily I have great roommates that not only are great at putting out fires but also make me laugh incredibly hard at funny situations and my incompetence when it comes to cooking. 

I love these girls...

I love these girls for their ability to bring out the truest version of myself and for loving me for all that that version includes.

I love these girls for their patience with me.

I love these girls for loving the same things that I do.

I love these girls for listening to me even when I ramble about dumb things that won't matter in a week.

I love these girls for their dedication and drive to be their best.

I love these girls for not letting me accept less than my best.

I love these girls for putting up with my quick temper on the field.

I love these girls for the healthy competition we have with each other that pushes us to be better.

I love these girls for the funny team pictures we take.

I love these girls for the way they've taught me to laugh at myself.

I love these girls for the example they are to me.

I love these girls for all these reasons and so many more...

Monday Motivation

"Every one of us has times, when we need to know things will get better..."

This reminded me (yet again), that they will and that there are good things to come.

What I've learned...

... in a day of forced bed rest because I somehow managed to contract mono:

• being sick means you can eat whatever you want (maybe over-justification, but I'm ok with it)
• people at doctor's offices and pharmacy counters have very interesting senses of humor
• I am very good at taking naps
• you don't actually have to kiss anyone to get mono
• you'll still get made fun of for having the "kissing disease" no matter how many times you deny kissing anyone recently
• sometimes people make really awkward jokes about the kissing disease
• having the kissing disease doesn't make you not hit pipe
• cough syrup is, and always will be disgusting
• Friends is one of the best and funniest TV shows ever
• I have the best friends in the whole world... that make me dinner and offer to bring me all of my favorite things
• my desire to play lacrosse even if I'm sick is difficult to comprehend... even for me sometimes

On that note... Come watch us play Saturday at 4:30 at Westminster or Tuesday at 5:30 at Utah :) Season openers and we love our fans!!

Celebrating the Little Things

We were at practice last week and as always with this time of year we've been struggling with our basics. We spend a majority of practice working on our passing and catching - which to be honest is frustrating. And boring. So while lacrosse is always one of my favorite times of the day it's been something I've had to gear up for. Then Juj came up with a great idea for us as we were trying to hide our frustrations...

She told us to celebrate every catch. That simple. To celebrate the little thing that we've done right in that moment. These were no small celebrations... we had roaring (since we are the cougars), loud yelling, over the top compliments, cartwheels, and lots of laughs. You would be surprised what a difference this made in the tone of practice. Instead of getting frustrated by not reaching our goal as quickly as we wanted to we shifted our focus to highlighting the happy things. Which in turn helped us relax, smile and do better.

As I got thinking about it I decided I wanted to implement this into my everyday life. So this is my way to hold myself accountable... to myself and to anyone who reads this.

Even if I have a frustrating day I am going to focus on the little things that went right and celebrate those. Things like bonding with one of the girls at work, catching up with someone I didn't expect to, getting all of my homework done, not hitting pipe at practice, keeping my room clean (ok... not such a little thing), getting to bed at a decent hour, doing well on a quiz in class, getting to the temple, understanding a new concept, pretty colors on the mountains, getting awesome packages from my parents (who have spoiled me like crazy recently - love you both!), finding a new scripture I love, etc. These are the things worth celebrating. And they add up fast.

...

On a similar note I listened to one of the best devotionals ever on the way to the work this week. They don't have it available for reading right now but I promise that it's worth watching or listening to! Here it is. Thanks Si :)

Weekend To-Do List

• Take Grammar Test
• Parent-Teacher Conferences
• Go to the temple
• Visit Brittany at Blickenstaff's
• Go see the Chalk Festival at the Riverwoods
• Try a new restaurant
• Get extra miles in
• Lacrosse practice
• Lacrosse team bonding
• Drive the Alpine Loop (before the leaves start to fall)
• Girls' Date Weekend with Si
• Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's

It's going to be a great rest of the weekend...

You know those days...

... when everything goes right?
... when all the girls you teach participate in class?
... when the mountains are perfect colors that remind you of home?
... when you actually feel like you've taught someone something?
... when someone gives you a compliment that is exactly what you need to hear?
... when your internet and cable come back on?
... when the weather is absolutely perfect?
... when you make it up the stairs without being out of breath?
... when you feel on top of all your school work?
... when you're the best kind of sore that lets you know you had a great workout?
... when you have enough time to go early to lacrosse practice and shoot?
... when you don't care how busy the next couple weeks are because this day is great just the way it is?

Yeah... today was one of those days. And I couldn't be happier about it.

4 for Kay

Now that I'm more settled in Provo, I make it back to VA usually three times a year. Once for Christmas, once over the summer, and once for the Women's Four Miler. There are more and more participants every year and I'm always so impressed with their dedication to such a great cause. My mom, sister and I all run the race in honor of my grandmother who was a breast cancer survivor. As always the best part of the day is hearing the inspiration stories that come from survivors, family members, friends, and all the people there that day.

Here are some pictures from the day!

Even the sky was pink!

Right before the race...

After the race, with Grandma's name from the Motivational Mile

Weekend well spent? I think so...

Fall

... is here!

And this is why I'm happy about it:

• I love my classes (even if anatomy is going to kill me)
• I love my job (even if it means that I have a 30 minute commute at 6:45 each morning)
• Lacrosse started today!
• Despite all the traffic, lots of my favorite people are back!
• Football is starting again
• Lacrosse started today!
• I love my major and feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be
• It's starting to cool off at night
• Lacrosse started today! Yeah... I'm that excited about it.
• I get to go home this weekend to see the beautiful fall colors and to run a race for my grandma and on top of all that get to spend the whole time with my family

Until then I guess this view everyday can't hurt...

The trees are changing here too!

Life is pretty darn good right now :)

Grace.

I stumbled upon this speech today thanks to a friend's recommendation. And I couldn't not share... Enjoy :)

Lake Powell

... is hands down my favorite place on earth. And here's why:

1. No phones, no computers, no outside world.

2. Getting to spend all day, every day with these people:

This week would not work
without this man! Love you Grandpa!

Isn't he the cutest?

Ever fit 34 people on a houseboat at
the same time?

 3. Tubing (especially with people who have never been before)

4. Card games. Pounce, hearts, speed, kemps, phase 10...

5. Sleeping under the stars.

6. Watching my cousins do things I will never try...

Right before landing a flip

Tanner mid-flip...

7. Laying on the back of the boat

8. Cliff jumping (ok maybe not but I did it!)

Julia talking me into it... or maybe calling me a chicken

Yeah... I panicked.

And finally made it!

9. Finally making a rooster tail!!!

10. These people:

I can't wait until next year!

Italia

So my sister Julia is an awesome soccer player. So awesome that she made a team this year that travels to Italy to play European teams. I was lucky enough to go with. We went to so many beautiful cities and saw so many incredible things, and I got to cheer for her while she played... and yes, it was as incredible as it sounds. Here are my favorite parts from the trip...

Milan was gorgeous, even though we were exhausted. The inside of the Duomo was just as intricate and gorgeous as the outside.

We loved the tower of Pisa. We counted the steps all the way up and laughed as we almost fell climbing back down. The views were incredible.

There were gorgeous sunflower fields that we passed on one of our long drives... all of the places we drove past were beautiful.

We got to stay in San Marino and this was the view from the top of the mountain. The girls kicked butt at the tournament, won their division and came back with a huge trophy! So proud of them!

No big deal, just a statue of the world's fattest man courtesy of the curiosity museum in San Marino.

Love these girls.

This gorgeous cathedral was in Florence. I love this city and would go back any day!

We love gelato and ate it every single chance we got. Even if people thought we were crazy Americans... It's probably true anyway, right?

We ended the trip with a very long, but incredible day in Rome. We got to see the Vatican and St. Peter's Cathedral. We ate incredible food and walked until our feet hurt.

And we plan on going back...

Here We Go...

My day started with a drive to Rio Tinto stadium to watch the USWNT play Canada in their Olympic send off game. I never thought I'd say this, but I LOVE watching women's soccer. Seriously such a great game to be able to watch in person and I can't wait to watch the team play in London in just one month!!

After coming back to Provo and taking a much needed nap, Shawna and I got ready to head back up to Salt Lake to watch Brittany crown her successor as Miss Utah.

Britt did such an incredible job and I was so proud to be able to support her! She looked beautiful as always and the next Miss Utah has very big shoes to fill... I have the greatest roommates!

Love you Britt!

It's now past 2 in the morning and I'm still not done with my laundry and am even further from being packed. I realize how crazy this sounds, and every trip I promise myself it won't happen again, yet here we are. I guess I inherited this capability from my mom, packing late at night is strangely when I end up forgetting the least. Or maybe it's that I know I'm going home where there's extras of anything I might forget. Guess we'll never know...

I leave tomorrow night for almost a full month and I couldn't be more excited. In less than a week I will be in Italy watching Julia play soccer (hopefully adding to my new-found love for the sport) and exploring a country I've always wanted to go to. After I get home from that I get to catch up with some of my favorite people while visiting home... and of course stop at all my favorite restaurants too (Bodo's, Christian's, Dumplings, Sal's, Arch's, Zazu's, and I'm sure many others that I'm forgetting - dang it this is not making Fast Sunday tomorrow any easier...). I'll get to go visit Ragged Mountain Running Shop, Total Performance, the Downtown Mall, my high school, and so many other places. You could say I'm a little excited to go home. After coming back to Provo my family will turn around and go straight to Lake Powell. This trip is easily one of my favorite weeks of the year. It feels like a piece of heaven on earth. Who wouldn't want to spend an entire week in the sun skiing, wake boarding, swimming, tubing, eating, and sleeping under the stars?

By the end of that week I will have spent an entire month away from a place I'm starting to call home. I can honestly say I'll miss Provo a little bit, especially after an awesome day like today. In the end though I think I'm about to have the best month ever and can't wait to get it started...

Lessons Learned

Things I'm learning to not take for granted:

• Air conditioning
• Good weather
• A functioning fridge (that doesn't leak water all over my food)
• A car that works
• People that are patient with me on the phone
• Neighbors that will drop anything and everything to come visit me
• Neighbors that will offer anything to help me
• Roommates who will spend all day doing nothing with me
• Being healthy enough to go for a run
• Being about to wear clothes that don't touch my road rash or press against my bruises
• Having family away from home
• Having friends that are like family away from home
• Knowing that I'm being watched over
• Siblings and parents that call and check on me
• The Priesthood and it's healing and comforting power

I'm feeling extremely lucky and blessed the more I think about what's gone on this past week or so. Thank you to everyone that's helped make this easier or helped me laugh through it all. I couldn't ask for better people to have shared all of this with!

Birthdays, Triathlons, and ER/Urgent Care Visits

Yesterday, I turned 20 years old. I can't believe how fast time flies. To celebrate I thought I'd try to cross something off my bucket list - doing a triathlon. Luckily, one of my teammates and best friends told me about one that was the morning of my birthday that her husband was doing and she said I could borrow everything from her that I would need. Couldn't be more perfect right?


So... at 6:45 I left my apartment and met Shelby and Andrew at their house and we set on our way. The triathlon was being run backwards so we started with a 5k run (followed by a 12 mile bike and a 500 meeter swim). I felt great and actually ran pretty fast. The biking part was what I was most nervous for... I haven't ever been in a bike race and couldn't tell you the last time I tried to bike faster than a leisurely pace. After about a mile in I found a rhythm. 


At mile 2 there was a big dip in the road right before a decent sized intersection. As I came out of the dip and looked up I saw a car out of my peripheral vision. I realized 3 things all in a split second:

      1. I couldn't brake fast enough to get out of the way

      2. I couldn't speed up enough to get out of the way either

      3. I was going to get hit by a car

I can honestly say I've never been that scared in my life.

The car was slowing down and was going about 20-25 MPH as it hit me. The bike slid out from under me and I hit the ground - don't worry... I was wearing a helmet. I took most of the impact on my hip and shoulder. After being loaded into the ambulance (check that off the bucket list too) getting checked out, and turning down some morphine, I was urged to go to the ER to make sure I didn't have any broken bones, cracked ribs or other serious injuries.

The neck brace was just a precaution, I promise...

We got to the ER and were taken to the back right away, where the doctor checked everything out. Diagnosis: no broken bones or back/neck injuries, lots of road rash and bruising that will feel worse over the next couple days.

Sorry for showing so much skin... But here are the scrapes up to my shoulder

The hospital found out it was my birthday and gave me a basket full of candy

As we were eating after I got discharged from the hospital my roommate Shawna called saying she needed a ride to the doctor's office because she felt like crap. We ended up spending two hours there for her to get diagnosed with strep and get the antibiotics that she needed. 

We've spent the weekend in the apartment trying to let our bodies heal themselves and being taken care of by our awesome friends.

There are a couple things I'm extremely grateful for after this weekend:

• Awesome friends who are actually more like family
• A miraculous body that will heal itself
• Memorable birthdays
• Neighbors who stop by and bring me some of my favorite things
• People who love and worry about me
• The fact that I didn't get seriously injured (still trying to figure out how that happened)
• The Priesthood and the comfort it has given me
• Family members that are worthy Priesthood holders and are willing to give me blessings
• Neosporin, Advil, and medicine in general
• Otter pops

Here's to starting my 20's off with a bang...