Skip to main content

A Happy Happy Blog Post!

I don't really know why exactly, but I am just SO happy today! Well, I went to church which always makes me happy. Then I came home and Skyped with my mom and Amy, with a brief appearance from my dad before he had to leave to go home teaching. I then broke my fast with some leftover Cafe Rio, I mean what could be better right?! I then lay down to take a nap for the first time in ages. I had been asleep for about an hour when I was awakened by my phone ringing. It was a call from my lovely sister Jenn who had been asleep while I had been Skyping the rest of the family. So, I lay in bed and talked to Jenn for another hour. She was cracking me up by explaining to me how she was becoming a "Directioner" which is apparently the cool clique on Twitter for One Direction fans, and explained to me that Amy was copying everything about her love of One Direction. Not 20 minutes later, my dad called to tell me about an AWESOME job he had found that I should apply for and we talked for awhile! So I guess, long conversations with my family, minus my poor sister Abby who is sick, put me in a really good mood. Then during visiting hours (I swear my dorm's not a prison) the birthday boy Matthew came over! Julie had given me some money to get some cupcakes for his birthday and I gave him the BYU t-shirt I'd gotten him from my family and we talked for awhile! Then I went to ward prayer. After ward prayer, a few of my friends and I went to the vending machines to put an end to our starvation. The stairwells in our dorm have these huge ledges that are perfect for sitting on, so we sat in the stairwell and just talked for an hour and a half! So yes, it was a good Sunday.

This week is going to be such a good one as well! My grandparents are coming to visit! I am SO excited to see them!! On Tuesday night we are going to dinner at a Brazilian restaurant called Tucano's for Matthew's birthday. I'm hoping we'll get to see them other times throughout the week as well, and then we are spending Saturday with them in Joseph where Grandpa grew up, and then going to the Sunday morning session of General Conference! I am SO excited! Matthew and I have never been before! I'm sure it will be an amazing experience!

Today I realized that I am going home in just 25 days. I'm completely torn about this. I miss and love my family SO MUCH and I can't wait to spend the next few months in Virginia with them. At the same time, BYU has become a second home. I have made the most amazing friends in the world! We have so much fun together! I have learned so much from them and gained so much strength from their support, their testimonies, and their examples! I have learned so much from my first year here at BYU. I feel that I have developed a close personal relationship with my Heavenly Father. The experiences that I have had here have brought me to the realization that he has a plan for me. I am the kind of person that likes to know exactly what is ahead of me. I have come to learn that everything will fall into place, but in the Lord's time and not mine. As much as I want to understand everything, it's just not the way he works. It's so comforting to me to know that I have a Heavenly Father who sees the big picture. He sees me for who I've been, who I am now, and who I will become. I have been wondering lately what it would be like to see myself the way that he sees me. For now though, I am content with the sure knowledge I have that I am a daughter of God and that he loves me more than I could possibly know. So, I guess that is why I am so happy right now. I am looking forward to this week, and looking forward to continuing on my journey to discovering my Heavenly Father's plan for me. I have already hit some bumps along the way, but I know with the guidance of my Heavenly Father, I can get through whatever trials come my way.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life Changes and New Adventures

          I thought that I had the next couple of years of my life all figured out. I am a prime example of a chronic over-thinker, and the queen of the pro/con list. I had carefully thought out every recent decision I had made. I was settled at the school where I had been working, I had a good apartment and ward, and I had just been accepted to a 2 year long Master's of Education program, which would fulfill one of my long term goals. Yet something still felt off. Despite the fact that I thought I had a good direction in my life, I felt confused and unsettled. It felt like I was trapped inside a box. I would walk in one direction, hit the wall of the box only to turn in another direction and hit another wall.          The problem was, I just could not figure out what it was that wasn't right. I started taking the long way driving home from work each day and praying about my concerns. It took a couple of weeks of this before seemingly o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shipps on a Ship Part 1

        It truly feels like just yesterday my grandparents gathered our family in the living room of our rented beach house and told us that they were taking us on a Disney Cruise. In reality, it was a year and a half ago and at the time it seemed like November 2014 would never come. It still almost felt like a dream even as we boarded our plane to Orlando last Saturday after MUCH airport turmoil, i.e. Michael forgetting his carry on at security, Jonathan getting a bloody nose, and me almost losing my debit card. Against all odds, the Shipp cousins made it to Orlando in one piece. I always get teary-eyed when I see my family after a few months away, and this time was no exception! Just as we were getting settled into our hotel room, we found out that our toilet was broken, so we had to move rooms! Once we were finally settled, Uncle Dave was kind enough to take as many cousins as could pile into his van for a McDonald's run. We spent Sunday in Downtown Disney, visiti...
Post a Comment
Read more

Until We Meet Again

           On Friday, my Grandma Freeman passed away. She was almost 90 years old and lived a long, full life. She was kind, loving, a hard worker, and fiercely loyal. She taught elementary school, and I've always loved the fact that both of my grandmas were teachers, and good ones at that. We joke in our family that teaching runs in our blood, and it's an honor to be able to carry on her legacy.            For most of the years I was growing up, she lived in New York, in the small, small town of Hornell. My dad would take us on weekend trips to visit during the summers. In fact my first time driving on the highway with my learner's permit was on the way up to visit them one summer, and I remember proudly announcing that when we walked into the house. We would always start off our visits with a trip to the ONLY restaurant in town (Pizza Hut) and then stop by the ONLY grocery store in town (Wegman's) for ice cream to take home,...
1 comment
Read more