LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

today i heard no less than 5 {not even kidding} people on campus singing to themselves.  usually, i look at those people like for real? are you 2 or are you 20, stop singing, we're in college let's get real. but today, for some reason, it was kind of beautiful.  those people don't care about what people think about them.  they are going to sing if they want to!  they're going to skip and shout and sing and even if people think they're insane, they're going to do it anyway.  


seeing those people be so completely themselves made me notice other small beautiful things today.  like the Christmas decorations all over campus.  and the couple that was holding hands walking to class.  and the smiles on people's faces.  and the free hot chocolate by the wilk.  and the awesome majesty of the mountains surrounding this campus.  and the few stray leaves on the trees.  laughter.  color.  music.  friendships.  text messages that make your day.  cute guys.  warm clothes.  best friends. a cute apartment.  a job.  low stress.  visits from friends.  good grades.  nail polish....

and on and on and on.

all these little blessings make life just beautiful. 

SO THIS IS CHRISTMAS

in apartment #54 :)

HOME

so i've been listening to phillip phillips' song "home" like constantly for the past little while.  because i absolutely love it.  and i was thinking today,

this song is so perfect for me.  check out the lyrics:

hold on to me as we go {i'll need to hold onto the Lord as i go to hong kong}
as we roll down this unfamiliar road {hong kong will be the most unfamiliar place i've ever been!}
and although this wave is stringing us along {yeah, there'll be hard days}
just know you're not alone {the Lord will never leave us alone!}
cause i'm going to make this place your home. {hong kong. my home.}

settle down, it'll all be clear {put my trust in Him who knows best}
don't pay no mind to the demons
they fill you with fear {satan will try to fill me with fear!}
the trouble it might drag you down
if you get lost, you can always be found

just know you're not alone
cause i'm going to make this place your home. 

and boom.  here come the tears -- but happy, grateful, full of wonder tears.

:)

ON GIVING THANKS

there is so much in my life to be thankful for.

a wonderful family comes at the top of the list.  my dad, who works so hard to provide for us and is funny and caring and understanding and forgiving and wonderful in every way.  my mom, who is the glue that holds us all together and sacrifices everything for her family and is fun and makes any situation better and is my best friend.  my sister, who is beautiful and perfect in every way and is so good at making me feel loved and understands me in everything.  my brothers, who are both so fun and add so much to our family and love to be around me and even though they burp and fart and stink, i love em. to death.  along with countless aunts, uncles, cousins, and on and on.  i have the BEST family.

two places to call home -- provo and heber city.  and soon, hong kong.  i'm so thankful for the places i have to live where i feel safe and warm and loved and protected.  i'm thankful for the people that make it so.

my friends are amazing -- i have the best friends on the face of the earth.  julia, who has stuck through high school and now college with me.  melina, morgan, and haley, who have become my family away from my own.  i seriously love them so much.  new friends and old friends and young friends and older friends.  i have so many people there to support and build me up and love me for who i am.

attending BYU has been such an immense blessing in my life.  i absolutely love going to school where the Spirit resides.  i love walking around campus knowing that everyone there shares my standards.  i love praying and singing before class, and learning more about the gospel to enrich my life. learning and the chance to learn at such a wonderful university is so amazing.  i know so many people who don't have the privilege i do, and i am so thankful that i can be at the Y.

the chance to serve a mission has come as the most unexpected -- but absolutely wonderful -- blessing.  everything is falling into place for me to serve: my contract has sold, my call has come, i have a job until then, i have so much support.  my grandpa said it during thanksgiving, "i'm doing better than i deserve."  i truly believe i am.  the Lord is so good to me.

the list goes on and on and on:  good food, whenever and wherever i want.  eyes to see and ears to hear and hands to feel and legs to walk and run.  living in the united states of america where freedom rings.

giving thanks this holiday season means so much more to me, because for the next 18 months i will be away from most of these blessings that are so dear to me now.  i guess that's why i'm most grateful for the one constant in my life:  my Savior, Jesus Christ.  His mercy and love and sacrifice means the world and more to me.  i know He will be with me every second of my mission.  although apprehension has started to set in, i am not afraid.  my Savior knows me.  He loves me.  He will help me.

this i know.  and i am so thankful.

AND HERE'S A VID

props to abby snow for putting this awesome video together! makes me cry everytime!!

COUNTRY GIRL GOES TO BIG CITY!

i'm sure everyone who reads my blog knows by now where i'm going on my mission.  but for anyone that may have missed it, here it is:

I'M GOING TO HONG KONG CHINA!! CANTONESE SPEAKING! APRIL 3RD!!

it couldn't have been a bigger shock to me.

i had the BEST support group there cheering me on.  my grandparents on both sides, friends from high school and college, neighbors, and of course my incredibly amazing family.  oh, and the cardboard cutout of spencer of course. ;) haha

words can't really describe what i feel right now.  SHOCK.  that's the emotion.  there is no fear; not yet at least.  there is some excitement, but mostly it's just complete shock that i am going to CHINA.  i mean, look at this: 

this is hong kong.  i am a country girl, from teeny little heber city, utah.  my own little bubble.  i am now going out into the real world, into a HUGE city, into china.  it's insane.  i haven't processed it yet. but the Lord will bless me, i have no doubt of that.  

look out, hong kong!  here i come!  ready to do HARD things!  

HOTEL RWANDA

last night i watched Hotel Rwanda for the first time for my racial/minority group relations class.  having done a report on the genocide back in 8th grade, i knew what an awful and horrific experience it was.

sort of.

i knew the movie would be so sad.  i thought i could handle it.

i was wrong.

these things should not be talked about lightly.  all these deaths, these awful things.... please read this with respect.  

Hotel Rwanda was the most sickening, disturbing, sorrowing, awful, humbling thing i have ever seen in my entire life.  as i watched fathers, mothers, children, babies, grandparents, aunts, uncles be brutally murdered before my very eyes, i felt like throwing up.  i watched these people cower under machetes, sob for family members and friends they had lost, live in fear of being found, cradle their children close to them, desperately place phone calls for help, and pray to God that they would be delivered from this awful genocide, i couldn't help but sob out loud.  even now, i can't help but be choked up at the merciless things these people did to one another.

when the movie was over, i felt numb all over.  i went back to my apartment alone.  it was late, and all the lights were off.  i sat on the couch, hugging a blanket, and fell apart.  i bawled.  my heart literally aches for the million people that were killed in this horrific event.  i feel frustration for the United Nations who evacuated all the white people and left these Africans to deal with it themselves. i feel so much compassion for those people -- both the perpetrators and the victims.  how can people have so much hatred in their hearts?  how can they get to that point in their lives?

i feel so humbled by what i have.  i live in the United States of America.  i will probably never have to deal with anything even close to that in my life.  we are so blessed here. 

and so, i ask you.  please remember what you are blessed with.  perhaps we are unhappy with who was elected.  perhaps we think we do not have enough.  perhaps we feel hatred for others.  perhaps we have hard trials.  perhaps we ask God, why this? why me? why now?  

think of those that had to go through this awful genocide and put all this aside.  let love govern your actions.  let peace enter your heart.  love, forgive, be selfless, and show gratitude.

i know i will.

TAKING GUESSES NOW!

you guys, the day has arrived.

MY MISSION CALL IS HERE!

good news:  ahhhhhhhhhhhh it's so crazy!!!!!!! i can't waiiiiiit!! :) i had it sent home to heber, so at least i'm not sitting here with it in my hand.  pretty sure i'd rip it open.  i think my family is doing their best not to rip it open themselves!

bad news:  i can't open it till FRIDAY NIGHT.  why, you may ask?  my dad is out of town.  as much as i want to know where i'm going, i want my daddy to be there when i find out.

sooo, now is the time to guess!  where in the world am i going?  please please please comment below with your guesses.  i want to know where you think i'm destined for the next 18 months!!

GOODBYE FOOTBALL SEASON

this will be up there on the list of things i'm gonna miss when i leave... byu football games with GREAT friends.  honestly, looking through these pictures, i think to myself,

how did i get so blessed with the best friends on the face of the earth?? 

goodbye football season 2012! you will be greatly missed! see you in 2014!

SUNDAY NAPS & MISSION CALLS

we are religious about our sunday naps over here in apartment 54.

like, when we get home from church, we walk straight back to our rooms and sometimes don't even change our clothes before rolling into bed, chatting about the sunday school lesson or the talks in sacrament meeting or relief society for a few minutes, and crashing.

it's great.

you know what else is really great?

my mission papers are IN. 

today, my stake president called my house and my mom gave him my cell phone number.  45 minutes later, he still hadn't called.  i was too impatient.  so i called him.  the conversation went a little something like, "well hello there, sister wilcox, when can i meet with you this week?"  "how 'bout tonight, president, are you too busy?"  "no, actually, tonight is great!"  "awesome, i'll be there in an hour!"  haha that's the gist of it anyway.

and what happened when i got off the phone?  haley and i, jumping on our beds, screaming our heads off with excitement, hugging each other and basically freaking out.

i can't wait!! :)

WHY I BLOG

i'm a blogger.

i don't pretend to be the best photographer -- heck, most of my pictures come from my canon camera and iPhone pictures!  i don't pretend to be the best writer.  i write whatever comes to mind.  i don't pretend to have the best blog design, or the greatest sense of humor, or the most followers.

but guys.. i love to blog. 

i blog about real life.  about my thoughts, hopes, dreams, fears, day-to-day happenings, and embarrassing moments.  i blog for my friends, for my family, but mostly for myself.  i blog because sometimes this little brain of mine can't contain all the thoughts that go on up there.  sometimes i just gotta spill 'em.  i'm honest, crazy, and maybe a little silly.  or a lot silly.

but hey, you really wanna know why i blog?  because.  i love hearing about everyone else's experiences.  i love following new blogs.  i love getting to know a little bit about someone else's life, and being able to relate to them.  i feel like i have friends all over, and i don't even know most of the people whose blogs i follow.  also, i want to contribute.  i want people to read and relate to my experiences.  the things i have to say are usually nothing too important.  i don't expect to change the world with my words.  i don't expect my blog to be earth shattering or life-changing.  but maybe i could make a little bit of a difference.  

and that's why i keep it up.

thanks for continuing to read this crazy lil' blog.  honestly, it means a lot. 

HAPPY HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

halloween is so fun.  dressing up, seeing people's costumes, candy, treats, scary movies, dance parties, playing pranks, getting scared... really, it's a great holiday.  this year was no different.  from winning the costume contest at our ward halloween party to kickin' it gangnam style at a dance, and finishing it off with shakes, curly fries, and a movie, this year really couldn't have been any better.

hope yours was just as happy!