Am I REALLY this old??

Well, after graduating from seminary and from High School, and purchasing items for college, it has now hit me.

I AM OLD.
AND I AM GOING TO UNIVERSITY.
IN 3 MONTHS.

A few days ago, I was thinking about when I was little and was walking with my dad to a BYU basketball game. He said, "Brittany, do you want to go to college when you are old enough?" I of course answered, "Yes! I want to go to BYU!" He smiled, and we kept walking and were figuring out how many years it would be until I would be able to go. I think we had said it was about 6 1/2 years at that point. Now, 6 1/2 years later, I am at that point. I am going to college in the fall. And it still is taking its time hitting me. Maybe that's good though--I don't know if I could handle a full on transition from a sheltered high school life to being on my own for months at a time. I'm glad I'm slowly transitioning. Thank heavens.

I am so glad my high school career is over. I know some people say they would go back to high school for anything, but I really don't want to. There might be some classes that I liked the teacher or a few days in class that I actually learned something, but I would not go back to being in high school again. Ever. 4 years was plenty enough. But I am so thankful for all the many lessons it has taught me and for the "growing up" it has made me do. Looking back, I remember going into 9th grade and thinking I was so grown up--being the oldest grade in the Junior High, starting High School the next year, having great grades. Yeah--wasn't really grown up. :) I look back through all the years with all I have done with my life--comparing who I am now to who I was then, and I realize I have really become an accomplished person. I don't want to sound braggy or stuck up, but really, I think I have grown up and I see myself as a woman now instead of a teenager, girl, etc.

I'm growing up.

And I like it.

Speaking of growing up, I have college registration on Wednesday. It starts at 6 in the morning--I'll be up bright and early sitting in my pajamas with the computer ready to go on Wednesday. Don't really know how that will go over, but I'm super excited/nervous for it! When I am done, I will post the classes I will be taking on here. :) I am going into Elementary Education, and each time I think about it, I get this overall warm and exciting feeling--a feeling that I'm moving in the right direction. I know that over the past several years I have had a "right feeling" about many majors, but they were "right" in the sense that they shaped me and have molded me into the person I am today. They have led me to where I need to be. Being interested in Interior Design led me to the choice of BYU-Idaho and helped open so many doors that needed to be opened. It was the right major at that time. But when Interior Design closed its doors, several other majors also seemed to open up for me, and I think I've already talked about this in previous posts, but with prayer, and several scriptures, I have had answer after answer, and warm feeling after warm feeling that Elementary Education is what I need to be doing. I can see myself in a few years as an Elementary School teacher, helping educate young children the very basics that they can all expand on as they grow. I know that sounds horribly cheesy, but I really feel that that's what I need to go into. Whether that may have to be my career for a few years before I start a family, or whether I need to do that while I have a family, I don't know right now, but I know that I'm heading in the right direction. And the feeling and security of doing the right thing is priceless. It really is.

I am also really starting to buy things for college. And it's really exciting! I just recently bought silverware with a gift card that my aunt and uncle gave me for graduation, and it's the greatest silverware I have ever seen in my life! :) The handles are different colors for each utensil--and they're bright! For example, the knife handles are yellow, the fork handles are green, etc. I'm really excited to see them. I also got new pajamas, slippers, and even a pair of rain boots for college. I got a pair of owl pajamas (I absolutely LOVE owls!), sock monkey pajamas (LOVE sock monkeys!), sock monkey slippers (my old ones were falling apart), and my rain boots are black with owls on them. I am so excited and can't wait for them to arrive! I also bought a new backpack that should last through the 4 years of university with big textbooks, a laptop, etc. It's a JanSport backpack and it is super cute. I never would have looked at it and bought it, but after some thought and more researching, I think it's a little bit more grown up than maybe a flowery bright colored laptop that would be cute for teenage girls, but not really for being a grown up girl. :) That probably didn't make a lot of sense, but I tried to explain. :)

I also am looking at laptops for college! I have also been counting down the days until I can purchase my own laptop since about 8th grade, and probably even a little earlier. I will probably be buying one next month later into the month, just so I know I have all the latest programs, software, etc. My dad is helping me figure out which one to buy, and yesterday he told me to make a very detailed list of ones I like. I thought I was so set on a MacBook Pro or even a MacBook Air, and I didn't want to consider any other possibilities. But it seems like whenever I'm super set on something, it doesn't turn out that way. :) I made a list of 9 laptops that I would be interested in buying, 3 of them being MacBook Air, MacBook Pro (the smaller edition), and MacBook Pro (the more loaded edition). While I was doing the MacBook detail list, I thought to myself, "This is ridiculous. I know I want a MacBook Pro. Why on earth am I making a list of other possibilities?" But then I started looking at HP laptops, and I suddenly felt like I was on a good start. I found 5 HP laptops that I made a list for and 1 Toshiba laptop I was considering. While I was making this detailed list for all these laptops, I suddenly started realizing with some of them, that I liked them more than the MacBook Pro. They were more what I was looking for. It really is amazing what a pros and cons list, a detailed summary research list, etc. can do when you are making a big decision--even when you think you know what's right and what you think is best for you. I have had my eyes opened and have been humbled time and again because I have researched it out in my mind in heart, just like the scriptures say. And just like the scriptures say, after you have researched it out in your mind and heart, the spirit of truth will testify if it's right for you. I definitely have been influenced by it, and I am so grateful for the many great things it has taught me.

Well, this past week was also difficult for me physically. I had ingrown toenails, and I have had them for the past several years. They were super painful, and finally we went to the doctor about them. Dr. Berg was so nice and friendly about it, but he told me we would have to remove my entire toenail. I won't go into specifics, but I will just say, IT HURT. Really bad. It wouldn't have been as bad if I was knocked out or unconscious, but I was awake the entire time. Man alive. That hurt. So this week I have been hobbling around, trying not to walk, but whenever I lied down and was in pain, my little brother Steven was ALWAYS right by my side. Whether he was watching tv with me, getting me water so I could take my medicine, getting me Cheez-Its and juice boxes, putting in movies that he didn't even really like, but so I could enjoy being stationary and laughing along with me, and even sleeping right next to me at night for 4 nights in a row. That kid is a trooper. And he's my very best friend. I am so thankful for all he's done for me. I don't think he knows how much of a difference he made in my week, and the motivation he was for me to get better so that he didn't have to do all of that for me anymore. I love you Stevie! :) I guess I really appreciated all he did, because it was only my family that was doing things for me. I did have some friends text me get well messages, but not even my best friends did anything. I don't want to sound selfish, but it really bugged me that even when I had gone through a traumatic experience and was in so much pain, they didn't do anything for me. No get well messages. No friendly visits. No cheesy presents. Not even a card. It's not that I wanted something from them, but I wanted to know that they wanted me to get better. I don't know. Maybe I was just in a cranky mood since I lost two toenails, but that has bugged me a lot lately.

I think that's about a wrap on these past few weeks and the next couple of days. I will be posting again on Wednesday--don't worry, it'll be much shorter...hopefully--about class registration, getting ready for other things coming up, etc.

Stay posted!

Live. Love. Laugh. Grow.