CELEBRATION!!!!

I finally finished with my first, and hopefully last summer semester! For those of you who may not know, you have less time in the summer semester, so they condense the work more so than they would during fall or spring. Man it was pretty intense! The summer has flown by, and now I get a two week break from school, then the fall semester starts up. I'm taking eleven credit hours, it was only supposed to be nine, but two of my classes have one credit hour practicums where I have to go into schools so many hours over the whole semester.
I was talking to my dad the other day, because I'm putting together my application for the teaching program at the U (you have to apply for the final two semesters, which include student teaching and all of that) and I realized that I only have FOUR SEMESTERS LEFT OF SCHOOL TOTAL!!!!!!! To get my Bachelor's degree anyway, who knows where I'll go from there, but four semesters? I got SO excited! There is an end in sight! I can't believe it! I am slightly worried though, because I won't be able to work during my last two semesters, so I'm not 100% sure how I'm going to live...I have to get my car paid off by then, save money to have during the time I'm not working, and I won't have health insurance. My mom asked me the other day how I was going to pay for my car insurance during the time I'm not working...I don't know mom, I haven't thought that far ahead! :(
I'm not going to let that dampen my spirits though!!! I'm so close, and all my hard work is finally starting to pay off! I'll just have to find a rich boy and marry him for his money before fall of next year! :) Ha ha!

This last weekend was the Young Single Adult Summit. It's a big thing where they get all the YSA's in the valley together up at the U of U institute building for a weekend of activities. They've done it the last couple of years, and I've gone to every one, and they are so much fun! Friday there is a Barbecue and entertainment, Saturday they have a keynote speaker in the morning, and then you go to four one hour classes of your choice, with lunch in between. They have a lot of classes to choose from, and you get to pick the ones that appeal to you most. Then Saturday night they have a carnival/dance, and Sunday they have a fireside where they usually get somebody big/famous to speak. The first year it was Sheri Dew, the next year was John Groberg, and last year was Steve Young.

This year all of the classes really seemed to hit home. They all helped teach me, and help me in some aspect. I REALLY enjoyed them! I think that overall this was my favorite year!
The speaker at the fireside this year was Jane Clayson Johnson she was a reporter for KSL, and went on to work for 48 hours, Good Morning America and such. She was completely wonderful, and I just wanted to share a few things she said that stood out to me...

She said that sometimes the path that we have mapped out for ourselves isn't always the one the Lord has planned for us, or may not be the safest way back to Him. We need to trust in the Lord, because it is a test of our faith. I'd never really thought of it that way before, I know that we need to trust in Him, even when it's difficult, but I never thought, "Oh, this is testing my faith." but it TOTALLY makes sense!
She talked about how we need to use our lives to fulfill God's purposes, we may not understand, but don't question it, allow him to guide and direct you. We cannot escape the influence that our lives have on others, so we need to be living in a way to influence them for good. She reminded us that we will experience sad and difficult times no matter how righteously we may be living, and that the gospel isn't insurance against hard times, it's a resource during them. I love that!
She told us to Come unto Christ, and how that really is such a simple request.

Alright, I'll stop with my novel, I just wanted to share some of the things she shared, because it was so wonderful!
I have some more summer pictures I want to put on here, but I seem to have misplaced the wire that connects my camera to my computer, so as soon as I can find it, I'll put up some more pictures! :)