"Seeing isn't believing. Believing is seeing".- Judy

Currently watching: Santa Clause aka Best Christmas movie ever.

Highlights of Fall 2013 Semester:
-Shooting with Jacob and Ryan at R Mountain
-Lots and lots of long boarding
-Sledding!
-White Elephant Christmas Party where there were... interesting gifts;)
-Civil Defense Caves
-Potatoes from Bishop Jeppeson
-Dressing up as a bumblebee just for Dani
-Ice caves with Chris and Chaun driving
-Haunted Mill
-Group date to Dr. Slaughter's House of Terror
-Reading. Thanks Taylor for the new addiction
-Literacy Practicum, love my kids!
-Decorating for each holiday
- Friday night Ultimate Football
- Bonfires
-Video games at Ryan's apt
-Premiere of Catching Fire in St. Anthony
-Plenty of roadtrips
-David Nail Concert in Boise
-Telling stories when the power went out
-Roommate date to see Thor 2 after we ate Mongolian Grill
-Table Topics
-FHE: Buffalo Wild Wings, Corn Maze, lots of consuming food, bonfire
-1 YEAR anniversary
-Pranks: I have a reputation now
-watching Christmas movies on ABC channel
-Starting with miniature golf and  end up playing hot lava at Fat Cats
-I ended the semester with 3 A's, 2 A-'s and 1 B

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! :)

"There's an endless road to rediscover."- Avicii

Currently listening to: Hey Brother by Avicii

THINGS THAT MAKE MOLLY HAPPY :]

- Sledding at the dunes

-Christmas parties
- The snow looks so pretty stuck to the branches

-Passed Doc's final inspection with flying colors! No more cancer for me haha.

-Shopping

- Playing card games with FHE brothers

-Donuts near the dunes

-4 days until I'm done with Finals!

Winter Bucket List

Everyone complains about the cold and the snow, and while that is understandable...

I just want to enjoy what I have right now! You can't do half the things on this list in July!

- Sledding
- Hot Chocolate
-Give someone a whitewash
-Decorate Christmas Tree
-Watch Santa Clause and Home Alone
-Christmas Party
-Eggnog
-Read Luke 2
-Roast mallows on the stove
-Bonfire
-Build a snowman
-Make New Year's Resolutions
-Christmas Countdown
-Read Christmas books
-Picture w/ Santa Clause
- Decorate Gingerbread House
-Make sugar cookies
-Watch snow episodes of Gilmore Girls
-Sit in a hot tub

You ARE ready. You ARE prepared. So Rise and Shine.

This video is so fantastic! Just what I need for Finals Week.

"For YOU the Laws of Physics are Merely a Suggestion"
THINGS THAT MAKE MOLLY HAPPY:]
-Fantastic teachers who prepared me for State Exams so I can be certified to become a teacher
-Talking to my siblings on the phone, even if it is only for a few minutes
- Diet Coke w/ Lime
-When I am up late and the apartment is sooooo quiet
-Going to Utah this weekend!
-T minus 7 days until I come home and cook up a storm in the kitchen with the family
-The rose some random lady gave me at the store last night
- Between the moon and the snow, you can see clear at night, even though its midnight.
- Tori. You make me so happy that you are my friend(:

Tori won this beauty at my bowling lesson in PE. I told her to sign her name next to mine. Now we are one :)

Ummm yeah that's it.... Off to take my Literacy State Exam #2 and #3!

"Do you wanna build a snowman? It doesn't have to be a snowman..."

Currently listening to: Christmas at 22 by the Wonder Years, Frozen Soundtrack

Guys. December 6th was my one year anniversary! (my roommates called it my birthday :) It took me about 10 years to find all these pictures, and then I realized I switched two of them backwards but whatever. It was worth it.
I asked my doctor, and she said I could choose my "anniversary" date, whether it be the day of my surgery, or the day of my last round of chemo. I chose my surgery, because it makes me closer to the 5 year mark, and 'cured.'
So December 6th was really fun. I went with my roommates to see Frozen (lovelovelove) and giggled the whole time. Then we went to Costa Vida where my awesome friend Dani hooked me up and loaded my nachos up with sweet pork! and horchata mhhmmmm yummy. Then later Kate Harward Bise took me out to McDonalds and we just sat and talked for.. like an hour. Every time I see Kate, we just pick up where we left off and it's like no time has passed. We talked about China amongst other things (but mainly China ha)

Throw Back to one of the best semesters ever- when we were roomies!

Some of these pictures need explaining... So while I was still smooth bald, I went to an old roommate's house to hang out for the night. Well, her current roommate went to hair school, and is a beautician now, and they talked me into trying out fake eyelashes. I laughed when I saw the pictures. While the overall experience was fun, I will never try fake eyelashes again. They did not stay on very well, and kept getting in the way of my vision.
It's kind of weird to think about all that happens in one year! I am so thankful for modern medicine.
One year ago, I found out the pesky cancer was gone, AND I can still have kids! So basically, my life is freaking fantastic.
THINGS THAT MAKE MOLLY HAPPY:]
-Redneck sledding! (we covered ourselves in trash bags and threw ourselves down the hill. Epic night, one for the books! (thanks Jacob and Ryan for dragging me out of my apt) 

this may possibly have been the 5th try...

- my hair is curly, and while I am still figuring out how to style it, I love my hair!
-CHINA. It's getting real. I have been stalking places to go, foods to eat, clothes to bring. I am flying out February 4th, and I am getting excited!
- I"m doing the polar dip on New Year's Day at CDA lake, and I talked others into going with me!
- Home Alone 2 and Santa Clause- greatest Christmas movies ever.
-Listening to the Frozen soundtrack as we're all in the kitchen making dinner
-Moments with the roommates (like when we all see what Disney princess we are...http://www.brainfall.com/results/which-disney-princess-are-you/) I'm Jasmine, apparently I'm adventurous
- Snapchats!
-Eggnog
- My Star Wars snowflake
-Reading Books for pleasure! (Thanks Taylor for letting me borrow your kindle so much:)
- Christmas music: be it Punk goes Christmas or the traditional Carol of the Bells, I love it.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas :)

-

A Good Teacher

I wish I could give credit due, but all I know is I got this essay from my Literacy class, and it is written by an 8th grader.
But I love it.

To be a good teacher: one must love kids, love education, be caring, dedicated, cheerful, etc. Yeah, we've all heard it before. We've been writing this essay since 2nd grade. It's what we're expected to tell you in our big, colorful words for our big colorful grade. Sure, I agree. It does take all that. But maybe it takes a wee bit more hmm?

Maybe a good teacher needs passion. Not necessarily for teaching, but for life. Perhaps they need to be rebellious and independent, as opposed to standard issue model A.

I think a good teacher should teach what's in their hearts. They should be outrageous and have fun with their subjects. They should be there to give advice but they should not force it upon those who don't want it. 

A good leader should understand that being free spirited doesn't mean you're stupid and that being shy doesn't mean you have no opinions. I think a good teacher could could let loose and be casual. Let us have our freedoms without losing control. 

They must realize that I am not 4, nor I am 40. A good teacher should never fear a good idea. They should never fear a new idea. They shouldn't be afraid to make mistakes. they should respect me and my privacy, understanding that this will bring respect to them.

A good teacher must realize that we are individuals. They should involve us in discussions and teach us about reality and things that are relevant to us. They should understand that we don't need to be sheltered as much anymore. Now we need to be taught. 

A good teacher listens.
A good teacher learns.

Things that make Molly happy :]
- I get to see Catching Fire tomorrow!
- Snapchat
-Kiwi Loco with long time friends
-my curly hair
-free pizza
-good books
- getting handwritten letters in the mail
- got my visa application sent off in the mail, and filled out my deferral! china for the win!

Civil Defense Caves

Bonfire

Feeling my way through the darkness, guided by a beating heart. I can't tell where the journey will end -but I know where to start

Currently listening to: "Wake me Up" by Avicii
So you know how everyone does there "I'm thankful for...." for every day in November? I'm just going to do it all at once. I don't take life to seriously, so some of them may seem silly. That's just me and my personality :)

David Nail Concert in Boise

THE ABC'S of WHAT MAKES MOLLY HAPPY :]
Apples, Adventures
Books, Brothers

Costa Vida, country music, concerts  
Doctors! They're sorta my best friends:) Dancing
Education
Family, fruit snacks, friends

Yeah in this scenario I'm Ryan Gosling

Grandmas!
Hair! (I've had 2 haircuts since the whole bald thing!) Hummus, Henna
Icecream
Jobs
Kindle
Letters in the mail, longboarding (still learning but I freaking love it)
Mountain Dew: Code Red, Making New Friends




Notes ,
Opportunities
Pop (NOT soda), Pranks, Parents
Reading, Road trips
Steak,  Star Wars, Sisters
Traveling, Trees, Teaching, Tan lines (because that means I spent some time in the sun!)
Under the stars
Video games
Washington (love my home state!)

Yoga


I am so grateful for all the opportunities that I have had over this last year. This was the year I started going to real concerts, going on more road trips, and visiting more places: Minnesota, Oregon, Boise. And in the upcoming months I will be traveling to Seattle, Texas and China.  I want to have no regrets in life, especially the college part of my life.


Something else that makes me really happy is not putting too much thought into my adventures. They can be random, and sometimes spontaneous.  It makes life fun, because you are too caught up in the moment to worry about the future.

I am so grateful for my summer job that I have every year to go back to. It helps finance my adventures for the rest of the year.

This semester has included some of the best teachers I have ever had in attending BYU-Idaho. I actually enjoy going to class because of their preparation and the way they present the materials and help me to become a better teacher.

This may seem obvious, but I still feel the need to say it. I am creeping up on my 1 year anniversary from my big nasty surgery. It's a little weird looking at my scars and remembering what my life was like this time last year. That's not really what I want to talk about... The point is: my health makes me happy. I am now a healthy 21 year old woman. With hair.


Teaching is my passion, and I am so thankful for the fact that I have found my passion in life. I love helping other people figure out their own purpose. I love helping the underdog, or giving people chances that other people normally brush off. It gives me reason to even get myself out of bed in the morning. Even when I feel like this:




I cannot fully describe the love affair I have with long boarding right now. When I look outside and it is a sunny afternoon, the first thing that comes to mind is that I want to go long boarding. Its so peaceful, just you and the board going somewhere, anywhere. It's so satisfying, becoming better every time I go out.

Do these pictures have anything to do with anything? Not a bit. But I was looking through some pictures taken this time last year and miss my long hair- And I had lots of fun just messing around with Photoshop :)

                                 

Whatever She's Got

Currently listening to: David Nail
This last weekend some of the roommates and I went to a  David Nail concert in Boise. I was excited to go because: 1. I love concerts 2. I have never been to Boise 3. I am always down for an adventure with the roomies

 Starting out the road trip, about to listen to everything from Randy Houser to Fall Out Boy, the drive was about 5 hrs.

 After stopping at Kylie's dad's place to drop off our stuff and get ready for the concert. All ready to "get our country on". We were so excited for Kylie, it was her first concert ever!

 Downtown Boise

 I hang out with babies.... 

 During "Whatever She's Got" our favorite song on Pandora!

 David Nail himself 

 We passed the Boise temple on our way home from the concert. 

I was so excited. It is a widely made joke that I am just a child at heart, as was demonstrated when I was so happy to jump and play in some leaves.

*Funny note. Kylie brought a bunch of these leaves home with us, planning on doing a "craft". The leaves ended up molding, something she was not particularly happy about.

Kylie's dad is a cop, and they have one of those drug dogs. I was terrified of him the whole weekend, so thankfully they kept him outside. They told me not to look the dog in the eye, so of course I was paranoid every time I even looked in his direction. 

All in all it was a great weekend! I also want to come back to Boise. We had fun shopping, the weather was great (I mean I was in shorts the whole time!) and ate some delicious food. I am very content with life right now :)

The Future Belongs to the Brave

                               There are moments that cannot be completely explained by words.

I was cruising through the internet and found this video, it's epic.

THINGS THAT MAKE MOLLY HAPPY :]

- My roommates aren't crazy like some other people I know

- Horkley's pop (YES pop, not soda!)

- Long-boarding

- Warm Sunny days so I can do said Longboarding

- I get to go on a field trip on Thursday with my practicum students!

- Roommate Taco Tuesday. It's gonna become a thing

-Sleep. I seem to never have enough of it these days

I'm not listening to any music... so I don't know what to name this.

So the last few days of school have been really tough. I had a lot of tests, observations, group projects, as well as tutoring sessions. Long days on campus. I am still alive which is good, and hopefully life will die down a bit.
Just one of my many spectacular pranks, this kid tried to declare open war on us so we stole his mattress... over night. And his left shoes. He insisted we return it or he would "get us back 10X worse." (he hasn't... all talk no action). So, we decided to saran wrap his mattress to the pole outside his apartment. Basically, we're geniuses.



 The days of my faux hawk are coming to an end. I am a little bit sad about this, it fits my personality quite well. But alas, I must move on and get a grown up hair cut.                                       
 We decorated our apartment for Halloween! Our apt complex is having a door decorating contest, so we did ours like a mummy.So then, we decided the inside needs to be as festive as the outside, so we kept decorating.  

So I think we all know that I am a kid, and below is further evidence. We had to unroll the streamers so they could fit around the door. So we had long rolls of streamer. Ere go, I run down the hallway with them.... multiple times. It was fantastic. 
THINGS THAT MAKE MOLLY HAPPY :]

• Face timing Brandi who is back in the motherland!

• Being scared out of my wits at the Haunted Mill with Ian,Tori, and Cooper. One of the better Saturday nights I've had in awhile:)

• New friends! Jacob and Ryan sat and talked to me so I wouldn't be lonely when I was accidentally locked out of my apt. And then we went long boarding(I didn't even biff it this time!)
• Seeing my now-married roommates and catching up at Cocoa Bean
• G's Dairy- best ice cream in all of Rexburg.

• I passed my observation! I am basically done with my block Practicum class, just one more paper then 2 less credits to worry about

• Watching Little Mermaid with the roommates

• I will forever and always be a Summer girl, but Fall is growing on me

Adventure exists anytime we tiptoe across the line between our comfort zones and the unknown. It is not defined by the activity we are doing or the place we are in. It is not something that happens out there. It burns inside each of us every time we take that leap."

Life is pretty freaking fantastic :]


- This morning in my practicum, my cooperating teacher told me I was a natural, and I was ready to have my own classroom. It made me so happy because while I still have a little while, I am actually terrified of having my own classroom. But I was reminded today that I am where I need to be. I'm ready to do this!
- I'm going to Texas in January to see my sister. Six Flags, fantastic shopping, and sunny weather: can't wait! 


- Then I am going to China. Finally! I get to go after all. I can't express in words how excited I am. I just had this feeling that if I didn't go I would regret it for the rest of my life.

Great Wall

Li River

The Leshan Giant Buddha, Chengdu, China

Shangai

Just a taste of what I will be experiencing :] 

Taking big leaps might be scary, but so worth it!

It's a shame, we don't know how much we have. We're scared of what we do not know

Currently listening to: "What are you so scared of?" by Tonight Alive

                        Cheers to making important life decisions!

"If you want things to be different you must change what you're doing."

Best Day Ever

So this is extremely late because I am always so lazy to pull my cord out and actually download all my pictures.

Buuuut this summer I went on an adventure. I went to Warped Tour. Not in Utah, which would have been the logical choice. No, I went to Minnesota. Shakopee to be exact.

I drove from Rexburg to Williston N. Dakota where I met up with Trevor and Ethan. Then they drove the rest of the way.

My assessment of Montana after driving through it for several hundred miles:

• Eons of fishing signs
• More road kill then I have ever seen in my life
• Turning your lights on at sunset seem to be optional
• Lots of camping places
• I saw my first legit cornfield
• You can drive as fast as you want
• They do not need any 'talking on the phone while driving' laws because if you don't pull over you will lose reception anyways.

  

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  Ethan can never take a normal picture ;)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Saturday we went to Valley Fair which is an amazing amusement park. A lot like Silverwood, but bigger. And better I think. There was a lot of roller coaster options. And their "log ride" got me absolutely drenched, which was fantastic since it was so bleeding hot outside.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  After Valley Fair we were all sufficiently tired and dehydrated so we went to dinner at Olive Garden. It was delicious! 
  
  

  

  This sign made me giggle. Even if they are just talkinga bout OJ

  We walk into Warped and who is the first person we see? We Came as Romans selling their albums that didn't come out for another 2 days! I didn't have my camera out yet, but I did get them to sign my album cover! Seriously, best moment of the whole day. There they are, just trying to sell their music like any musician when they are actually really famous. It was cool to see them all humble.
  
  Right before the most epic mosh pit ever. And I was only in it for about 3 minutes. Then I had something spill in my backpack and didn't want it to spill all over my electronics so I bolted for the outside. The musicians just stare at the crowd, rotates their fingers in a circle and all hell breaks loose.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This was only one of the areas for porta potties. Yeah, I held it all day. I have a gift. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

I got to the very front of Sleeping With Sirens, it was fantastic. I definitely got lost from Ethan and Trevor three times (I am fairly certain they were annoyed.)

Kellin from Sleeping With Sirens said: " Make a difference in this world. Do something with your life. It doesn't matter where you came from, its what you are doing from now on."

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  My all time most favoritest band ever. Yes, they are fantastic live :]
  
  
  
  Glorious isn't it? Nothing but music all day long. 
  
  
  
   The last concert we went to was I See Stars. They opened with End of the World Party which was fantastic. They actually started a mud fight which was fun until idiots starting throwing it on stage which was ridiculously stupid. The band had to stop half way through a song to tell us the equipment was too expensive and they would have to get off stage if the crowd didn't stop throwing the mud.
  
  
  

After a day of moshing in the mud, my feet are both dirty and tired. 

Detoxing myself from Monsters was one of the more horrific things I have done in my life

Ethan is probably one of the most hilarious people I have ever met in my whole life. Just a few things that he said on our 10 hour journey to Minnesota:

• As he's driving across the road "I'm sorry guys, I just cant straighten my hair and stay on the right side of the road. They are two contradictory movements.."
• "If my chest hair could talk, it would be screaming." It was so hot!
• "The ghost is being good to you... " as Ethan withdraws his feet from the open window. 

I never have any desire to crowd surf. I saw too many dropped and got kicked in the head several times from other people. 

The whole drive home my seat belt killed my sunburn, even though I wore tons of sunscreen.

After a day of sweating, moshing and listening to great music, we get back into the car for another 10 hours. 

Was this trip reckless of me? Yes. Was it worth it? YES.

THINGS THAT MAKE MOLLY HAPPY :]

• Ultimate football, I actually like it more than ultimate frisbee
• Afternoon naps
• 6 month checkup. Still in remission!
• I lost my favorite shoes and got them back!
• Fall is coming, which means scarves, boots and spiced cider
• Being back in the Burg, and seeing all my adorable married friends
• This time next year I'ma be a teacher. What what?!?
• Orange juice
• Pandora
• I work outttttt