Say Whaaat?!

Yes, It is true ladies and gentleman. Yours truly has been called to serve a MISSION! I know what your thinking...Kelcey, the girl who can't make up her mind about anything (except what her favorite brand of popcorn is) has actually made a life changing decision and is actually going to stick to it?! What is this world coming to?!

Trust me guys, I pinkie promise I am telling the truth. I know my past has defiantly proved that i have anxiety emotional and mental instability when it comes to making any life decisions. But this one time, I swear, is the only time I have ever felt so sure about what I am suppose to be doing. 

It's like everything in my life has lead up to this point.

The past year I felt like I have been wandering up and down a street with lots of turn offs and I couldn't decide which one I should take. I cried alot, stamped my foot, bit my nails, got lost, sprinted back and forth to the streets I thought I should take, and then said screw all of the streets and just walked forward with out making any decisions at all.

Back then it seemed like a HUGE deal. I felt like I was going nowhere with my life if i didn't make a decision soon. I had my life planned up to December of 2012 then I had no idea what to do after that.

When conference came around I was excited. I could just feel that the speakers were going to tell me something inspired and I would know exactly what to do. At least I prayed they would...This is the first conference I feel like I remember Every single talk. They all were really inspirational and I could really feel the spirit. But it wasn't until Elder Utchdorf and Elder Holland's talks that I connected the dots of what the Lord was trying to tell me.

Basically He just came out and told me, "You are going on a mission young lady." 

Whaaat?! At first I couldn't believe it. I mean I have been thinking about a mission, but not too seriously. I was pretty much in denial for a 3 days.

The more I thought about it the more I started realizing I couldn't see any other streets to choose from any more. All I could see was the mission road. There was only one thing to do really... and that was to accept it. Once I did I felt Complete peace and total happiness. 

So it doesn't matter all the confusion I felt before because everything feels perfectly fit together right now. This is the happiest, bestest feeling in the world! I wish I made the right life decisions more often ;) 

I will be reporting to the MTC in 29 days and I'll be hitting up Denver Colorado South for the adventure of a life time!! 

Highlights and Lessons of 2012

Well, I'm a little late on posting this but I wanted to pay tribute to the lovely year of 2012. This post is dedicated to the highlights and lessons I learned during this year.

January

Highlight: Celebrating that 2011 was OVER!

Lesson: In case you didn't know 2011 was a REALLY rough, miserable, and hard year for me. I finally figured out in this month it was mostly because of my bad attitude. This is the month I tried my very best to see the light in every situation. So glad I made this decision because it totally changed my entire year. 

February

Highlight:If you can't tell from the picture we are trying to spell Moab with our hands, bless our hearts haha. Our random road trip to Moab was hands down the funnest trip EVER!!!

Lesson: I am a sucker for a man with a tucked in, button up shirt with flowers. Oh and likes to do laundry, I'll basically marry them on the spot.

 March
Highlight:Spring Break!!! Went back up to good ol'moses lake. It's always a party when I visit.
Lesson: I am capable of making enormously stupid decisions. And that our choices DO effect those around us.

April
Highlight: My BIRTHDAY! Of course ;)
Lesson: I heart being 21

May 
Highlight: Mother's day weekend. Went back to Moses Lake! 
Lesson: This was the month that tried my patience. 

June
Highlight: One of my very best friend's boyfriend called me up to help him with a secret mission...putting a ring on Andrea's finger. Haha it was hilarious and super successful.
Lesson: This month I tested the power of prayer and was pretty dependent on the Lord to help me through this month. 

July
Highlight: Our annual Yellowstone trip with the Jones family. This year we hit up Sun valley too. It was a blast like always :)
Lesson: Still learning more patience. 

August
Highlight: Our kick off Safari Saturday weekend. Who knew we could cram so many fun things to do in 3 total days! Seriously had so much fun. Except when Rachel almost died on Big Kahuna. Gave me a heart attack!!
Lesson: I learned that everybody has problems and I should stop worrying about what people thought of me because of mine. 

September
Highlight: Our Safari Saturday weekend down in Park City at Joe's house. We swam, ate pizza, golfed, shopped, hiked, took pictures, watched two movies, went to church, sat around the fire, tried to teach rachel how to "sink", laughed, four wheeled, hot tubed,  played chicken, tried to sit in a sauna, got matching tiger shirts, embarrassed Joe  laughed some more all in about 2 and a half days. It was a fantastic weekend. 
Lesson: This month I realized that you can laugh or cry about your troubles. The choice is yours. 

October
Highlight: Conference weekend. Spent almost the entire weekend with Marc. We basically goofed off, listened to the sessions, shopped at city creek, ate, and made fun of each other. It was such an uplifting and fun weekend.
Lesson: Heart break is the worst pain. 

November
Highlight: Thanksgiving at the Jones' house in Malad, Id. Hung out with the fam, ate, ate, and ate some more. Then we sloshed our full bellies around by playing some football and some soccer up at Malad high school. Fun times
Lesson: You can't rush recovery from heartbreak, it takes time. Just let it run it's course. 

December
Highlight: Being home for Christmas and getting my mission call. I seriously cherish, so much, the time I get to spend with my family. Since we live so far away from them it seems like the time apart is always way too much. This Christmas was very much needed family time together. Also getting my call and knowing where I am going with my life (serving the Lord) for the next 18 months brings joy I can not describe. 
Lesson: Family and the Gospel are really all that matter in life. 

Looking back on this year I can definitely say that it has been THE BEST year of my life. This year I started off by trying really hard to focus on the good. I tried taking every day and lived it to the fullest. I wanted to do this because I realized that life is such a blessing and shouldn't be taken for granted. Very shortly after I made this effort it wasn't hard to see the good at all. It was hard NOT to see the million reasons why we should be happy. This year was the happiest I have ever been. Happiness seemed like it was going to explode out of me. 

But I'll admit that this year definitely wasn't completely filled with butterflies and sunshine. I don't know if you could tell from the lesson's I learned this year. But this year was, by far, THE HARDEST year of my life! Ask my mom, she will tell you haha. There were countless nights I called her in tears. Many nights I spent praying/begging for help to make it through my trials. The Lord and I became close because I literally was counting on him to help me make it through some days. I don't really want to elaborate on the trials I went through to learn these lessons I did. Because, above all else the hugest, biggest lesson I learned this year is that I can only focus on the highlights/happy times in my life and what I learn from my trials. Then everything will be ok. Actually, everything will be more than ok, I can't help be anything but happy and absolutely nothing can get me down.  

 I read a quote this year, "The best year of your life should be the last one you lived, if you are doing things right." I want to make this the center goal of every year I live.

So Thank you 2012. I'm not sure I would like to live you all over again. But thanks for the good times, thanks for the bad times, and above all thanks for everything you taught me. 

Progress

Progress, oh that is a lovely word. I didn't really appreciate this word much. But after spending about 7 months in a rut this word rings joyous bells in my heart.

If you remember from my previous post, I have a huge pile of paper work to sort out in my brain. For the longest time I just let it pile up and I was  a little nervous, TERRIFIED to even look into that room. But I am happy to report that not only have I stepped into the room, but I took it upon myself to do some fall cleaning. I even removed some of the paper work.

A file that has been collecting for FOUR years has been put into a box and literally been buried into the ground. 

With the help of Kurt and Terena's wonderful family we had a burial service for this paperwork (memories). I said some words, wiped away a few tears, and let go.

It feels fantastic. 

So fantastic

To be making progress...

Here are some pics of the service

I'd like to thank everyone who helped make this possible for me. I couldn't have done it with out you.

Love Kelcey

The Kick off Weekend for Safari Saturdays!

Rachel, Jacy and I discovered one day that we all had a pair of safari pants. It went something like this...I was sitting at Jacy and Rachel's apartment kitchen table, and Rachel walks out stating that she is going to wear her safari pants (the ones her mother hates) to her Planet Earth class that day. She said it would help her be more intimate with the biosphere. I laughed and said hey I have a pair of pants like those and I think so does Jacy. WE should get matching safari sandals! Then one thing lead to another and we came up with the idea of making every Saturday from here on out a Safari Saturday. Basically we do awesome outdoor, fun, adventures while wearing safari attire. Here is our kick off weekend in Jackson Hole, Wyoming over Memorial weekend. 

Cliff Jumping into Phelps Lake (Me)

Lexi and the girl who Mooned us (I forget

her name haha) are  on the left. 

Jacob flying like an eagle on the right with Samari Marc :)

The water was fre-re-Freezing!!

Marc

                            Nacho Dive!

  

  

 Marc totally fit into jacy's board shorts haha We all died laughing. I can't laugh to much cause Jacy is two sizes smaller than me haha.

 Joe, you can almost hear his war cry. haha

 

Marc and Kelcey, being sexy as usual.

This is Rachel. Oh man I was so proud of her for jumping. She was scared out of her mind and she was last to go but she DID IT!!! We all owed her a bag of peanut butter M&M's. I don't think there are many things Rachel wouldn't do for a bag of those Delicious treats ;)

Then we almost got eaten by a bear. Seriously! We were walking to Phelps lake on this little dirt trail when all the sudden these people were shoos-hing us and tell us to stop walking and then literal ten feet in front of us a big black bear walks on the path right in front of us. We all were quiet and watched what it was doing. It started heading towards us and Marc told us to go back. We booked it back to the road(which you aren't suppose to run haha but we panicked). Then these random strangers in their truck opened their doors and yelled "Get in!" All twelve us scrambled in, on and on top of this truck. Then the bear walked on its merry way down to this tree that it started chompin on it. It was CRAZY! I have never been that close to a bear before. Man It could have been bad if those people didn't stop of us from walking right on top of it.

Then we floated the river in our lifejackets

Devin, Jacob, Jacy, Kelcey, Rachel

We have no idea how cold its gonna be haha

This is our Fantastic Safari dinner! So Delicious! 

And here is the rest of the pics of our adventures :)

oh i forgot to mention we hit up an 80's dance on friday night. We look Hott! 

So, obviously you can tell that our first Safari Saturday (plus Sunday and Monday) was a complete success! We had a blast and there will be many many safari Saturdays to come!!

peace and blessings love 

Kelcey