Different than I imagined...

Whoa... I can't believe that my first semester of BYU is almost over. I will be done with my classes this week and then it will be time for finals! It's crazy!!! These past few months have gone by so fast. I never could have imagined how much my life would change in just these few months. Guys, for real... Things have turned out a lot differently than I thought. I had made so many plans and had so many ideas of what my life was going to be like here, but those were not the plans that were meant for me, I guess. One of the only things that I did plan on happening that has happened is that I am happy... SO happy. SOSOSOSOSOSO HAPPY! Sorry to get a little carried away, but there is no other way I could express it right now. I always knew I was going to be happy here, but I figured I would find happiness in different ways than I have.

Before I came out here I figured that I would have a roommate or two that would not like me or would be grumpy just because of all the horror stories I had heard about roommates from people, but my roommates have been one of the biggest sources of happiness if my life. I cannot say enough how amazing my roommates are. They have become some of my best friends. We all get along and we sit around telling stories about our days or our lives. We are always laughing. There have been many nights that involved me laying on the floor of my bedroom, laughing until I cry or I am literally in pain from laughing so hard. We have gone on quite a few adventures, which are always fun and exciting. They listen to me and they love me despite my craziness. I am always excited to come home everyday and see their smiling faces. I love them so very much and I could not have imagined having such perfect roommates to make my experience here even better.

This is only 3 of the 5 roommates I have, but I just love this picture.

School has actually been a source of joy in my life, too. Sure, it's still school and there are plenty of things that I don't enjoy about it like homework and projects and papers, but I have learned so much from my classes this semester. The only class that I really don't enjoy is Political Science, but really... who would enjoy that class. I call it my nap class because that is all I do. Anyway, I have really come to love the rest of my classes. I have been able to learn so much. I have learned a ton more about the Book of Mormon in my Book of Mormon class and my teacher is super fantastic and interesting. I have learned more about theatre and acting that have helped me to better my talents. I have learned so much about myself, my voice, and how I live my life. All my professors are amazing and I cannot express how thankful I am to be at a university that creates an environment that allows the Spirit to be present. I have learned so much more here than I could have at any other university. I freaking love BYU, end of story.

I have made some pretty good friends here too who have made me really happy. We have people at our apartment a lot and we always have a good time. We have gone on many fun adventures, some of which I will never forget... for many reasons. My ward has been so fantastic, too. My testimony has been strengthened a lot because of my ward. I have also made friends in most of my classes, too. They make my classes much more entertaining and even give me more insight in classes. They all make me very happy and cheer me up when I am down just by being themselves. I am very thankful for them all.

This is my Family Home Evening family and they are so fantastic. :)

I have learned so much about myself and what my weaknesses are and what my strengths are. I have gone through some interesting experiences. There have been bad days and hard weeks. There have been moments where I wish I could have gone home and cry to my mom, but those feelings passed and usually pretty quickly. I had a hard couple weeks when a lot of things came crashing down on me and things ended and I was a little down, but I learned a lot about myself in those weeks. I was able to get over things and move on. I gained a lot more confidence in myself and I just realized that I am kinda really awesome and that I can do anything I want to do because I am capable. My testimony was strengthened and I have been so much happier since then because of all those reasons above. I have learned that things don't always turn out the way you plan, but they always turn out the way they are supposed to. I believe that with all my heart.

Overall, I am just so dang happy and I am loving my life. I have honestly never been this happy and I have so many people to thank for that. Only a couple weeks until I get to go home and I am so excited to see my family and my friends, who I have missed very much and I get to snuggle with my sweet little nephews, who are the cutest things ever. Oh, those precious little boys!! Anyway, that is all for now. Thanks for being you! :)

-M. Philly