1.30.2013

EVERY DAY IS SATURDAY


since being home, my life seems to be moving in slow motion. it seems like every day is saturday. lemme just say,

limbo. is. driving. me. INSANE. 

i want to go to the MTC NOW.
however,

i've been thinking about how hard it's going to be.  saying goodbye to my friends and family for 18 months is going to be the hardest part.  yesterday i got my hair cut and we were talking about how hard that part of a mission is.  why don't they just make it so you can talk to your family?  why can't i just call up my mom and tell her how my day tracting went?  that would make it so much more bearable for me!

and then janelle, cutting my hair, made a comment that i had never before considered.

"you can't talk to your parents or your siblings or your friends or anyone else because the Lord simply wants to give you the experience of total sacrifice." 

i had never thought about it that way. but of course that's it!  anything worth doing in life is hard.  incredibly so!  if i were just going to hong kong to spread the gospel and still had comforts of home -- cell phone, computer, talking privileges to my family and friends -- then i don't think it would mean the same to me.  i am not going just because i feel duty bound to do so.  i am not going on a mission because everyone else is.  i am not going on a mission because i feel that others want me to go.

i am going to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to show the Lord what i am giving up for HIM.

2 months and counting! .... :)

by the way, ^ this guy is the new stake president!
he is going to be SO great.

1.14.2013

I'M DONE WITH YOU, JANUARY


today i put on my favorite jeans and a hoodie and, after working for a few hours, spent the day snuggled up, writing letters, listening to music, and being grateful that i don't have to go outside in this -18 degree weather. {nothing worse than being outside when your boogers freeze, your legs don't want to work, and you can't even breathe. ugh!}

winter is NOT my favorite. at all.  cold, cold, go away!

1.07.2013

PATHS


mina and i -- reunited once more!! <3

i went down to provo on saturday night to see my friends who are all back from the break.  i expected everything to feel the same, and it did... and at the same time it didn't.  i mean, with my friends, it felt exactly the same.  seeing melina and rob and jewels and brey and amby and kevin and erin and jen and tanner and tom and mike and dennis and brandt.... i could go on.  but that part was the same.  it felt soo good to see them again.  but my apartment no longer felt like my apartment.  i guess that was to be expected but i didn't expect to feel that way.  it was sad feeling like a stranger in what used to be the most familiar place to me.  my ward - who i love to bits and pieces - felt a little more like "home."  but i still felt as though i no longer belonged there.

i guess that's because i don't.

odd how we travel down paths with different people/experiences during our lifetimes, isn't it?  it's not that we have different lives.  my elementary school life and high school life and heber life and provo life and byu life are all the same life.  they're all just different paths that interconnect and make up who i am.  but the friends that i've made on these different paths are different, too.  some are the same and i know they'll stay the same for a long time to come.  but others have fallen away as i've continued to move forward in my life and pursue different experiences.

as i continue to grow and learn, i've realized that's what life is.  people fall in and out of our lives at different points, and that's how it's supposed to be.  sometimes -- might i venture to say most times? -- it's painfully hard.  we become attached to people we care a lot about, and it's never easy to say goodbye.

i'm not looking forward to the many, many goodbyes that are waiting on the horizon of my future.  but i am looking forward to the beginning of a new path.  and as i look back on the many paths i've traveled so far, i feel extraordinarily blessed.  each path has allowed me the chance to meet wonderful people, do amazing things, and unlocked another piece of who shaylee k really is.

here's to preparing to travel down my new path.  i think i'll start tomorrow.

1.02.2013

THE TRAVELING SCARF


my best friends and i will be apart for almost 2 whole years.  morg to chile, haley to vegas, me to china, melina to byu and arizona.  i don't know if anyone else knows how hard it is going to be (and already has been) for us to be apart.  a few weeks before morg headed into the MTC, we decided to do something that would keep us all a little closer for the next few years.

the traveling scarf. 

at target trying to decide which scarf to get

we went to target and bought a scarf that we all loved.  and now we're sending it to each other.  {yep, just like in sisterhood of the traveling pants ;) } we have a log that we keep all our adventures in and the things we're learning and how we're growing.  and of course, how much we love and miss each other.

morgan wearing the scarf into the MTC!

me wearing the scarf when the 4 of us went to SLC to see Savior of the World right before morgie left

2 years is a while.  but we're all going to be becoming better people.  and for that, i am so grateful!

bring it on.  with my friends/sisters, the traveling scarf, the Lord... i can beat anything.

1.01.2013

TWENTY THIRTEEN


two. zero. one. three.

guys, we made it through the end of the world.  woot woot!! 2012 was a crazy year and i feel like my life took a LOT of unexpected turns. i think i've grown up in a lot of ways. let's see...

  • grew a lot closer to my bestest best best friends in the whole world.  seriously, they save me every single day.  i don't know how i got so blessed to have such wonderful friends.  i know i talk about them on my blog all the time, but they truly are wonderful.  it's hard to imagine where i'd be without them! 
  • so of course after growing closer to them, we had to say goodbye.  probably the hardest thing i've ever done was say goodbye to morgan as she left on her mission, chile-bound.  but i think this is a blessing in disguise.  our friendship will grow stronger as we're all apart these next 2 years, and i am excited to see what it brings to us! 
  • i've lost touch with some friends and regained friendships with others. how lucky i feel to have so many people i love. 
  • being able to work at red ledges was so much fun.  i'm so grateful for the people i met there -- michael, chris, chris, will, kacie, abigail... they have blessed my life and i'm grateful for their influence! 
  • third semester of college -- check!  it feels so weird that i won't be going back until january 2015.  i absolutely LOVED my ward this semester and i miss so many of them so much. i met so many wonderful people who i already love with all my heart.
  • mission age changed!!!! the chance to serve a mission {especially in hong kong!} is the biggest blessing of my life.  it scares me, i'll admit that, but i'm so excited to get out there and serve. i know it's what the Lord wants me to do. 
  • being able to go through the temple is by far the best thing 2012 has brought to me.  i love the temple with everything that i am, and i feel extremely humbled that the Lord sees me worthy to be in His house.  i want to go weekly before i leave for hong kong.  
i hope to soak in as much time with my amazing family as i can before i go on my mission.  twenty thirteen will see me fly across the world and immerse myself in a culture and language i know nothing about, but i am excited to see what else the new year will hold! 

happy 2013 to you all! :)