It's Already Time for School?

I don't know where the last month went! As I look back it's basically one big blur of work, campfires, sports (and me totally and hilariously failing at them), friends, mosquito bites, and school prep. And now school is starting in a week.

I've always loved back to school season. It's full of crisp things: crisp sheets of paper, binders, and folders; crisp leaves; a crispness in the morning air. . . It's bright and exciting and full of potential.

This is going to be my junior year at BYU and I think I finally know a bit more what to expect. Sure, there are going to be a few curveballs and surprises thrown my way (such is the way of life), but I'm familiar with my school and how things work there. Which is nice, if I'm being honest.

I know that this year is going to be crazy and busy and probably more than a little exhausting. But I also know that it is going to be exhilarating and amazing and absolutely fulfilling. There is nothing else I would rather be doing for the next nine months than going to school. BYU is where I'm supposed to be.

My freshman year was a year of change: I learned a lot (and not much of it came out of my textbooks). I made new friends and send most of them on missions. I adjusted to living away from home, albeit not far, for the first time in my life. I can't imagine who I would be had my freshman year not been the way it was.

My sophomore year was one of growth. I learned a lot more and made a few more friends. I came to know who this girl named Cambry is, and I was able to see that I have a lot that I need to work on. I love who I am and I can't wait to meet the person I'll become. It wasn't an easy year, but I am so grateful for everything I experienced--good and bad--because those experiences had a profound impact on the person I am today.

And now it's time for my junior year. I don't yet know what this year will be but I'm excited to find out. I think it's gonna be a good one.

Today

Today I am in the most wonderful of moods. I feel a bit like a balloon that's ready to float away. Who knows? I may end up doing exactly that.

C'est La Vie!

Today was rough. I guess I woke up on the dazed side of the bed and I kind of fumbled through my day. I made a lot of mistakes that I definitely wouldn't make on a normal day. I found myself embarrassed several times. But you know? That's kind of the deal with life. Some days are rough. Some days your mouth does run away with you. But the great thing about this life is that it can always get better. And those rough days? You can always go to bed and get another one. When that sun rises, the possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

To me, that's the most beautiful thing.

Right Now

* I bought all my textbooks for this next semester last week. I think I have about twenty textbooks that I need. Thankfully there is the amazing invention of Amazon that made my books a whole lot cheaper than they would be otherwise. I think this is going to be a good semester.

* It's apricot season. We have a tree in the front yard. It's the happiest thing.

* I picked up the ukulele for the first time on Sunday. I figured out how to Silent Night and realized that my life would never be the same again. I'm hooked.

* Change is a little bit scary, but it's also the only way we really progress and learn. So it's also a very good thing. The best things aren't always the easiest.

* I am in the same single's ward that I was in last year, but it's different this summer. Maybe I'm different. I love it. I'll definitely miss it when I go back to school, but I'm also excited to see my friends in my BYU ward.

* Moving is my least favorite thing. I'm trying my very hardest to avoid thinking about that part of school.

* My list of must-see movies is growing more quickly than I can watch them. I have too much to do, I guess.

* I cut out the fabric for one of my dresses the other day. I need to start sewing. I want the dresses done, I just need more time devoted to them.

* I'm very grateful for growth. I love the person I have become so far.

* I started reading The Count of Monte Cristo the other day. I've never read it before. Sometimes I wish I could shun responsibility and curl up by a window and lose myself in a book. Sometimes I do that, but not often.

* Life is beautiful thing and I am so grateful for personal revelation. I don't know where I'd be without it.

* Smile. It makes the world brighter.

Better Than All Right

Sometimes, a lot of the time, I worry myself about how things could turn out. I've done it since I was a small child and it drove my mom nuts. I still have that habit of projecting things that could be on the now. It isn't always a bad thing, and about half the things I imagine up are really good. But it can be distracting and frustrating a lot of the time. I guess I have something I need to work on.

I've been in a stage of projections for the past month or so and it was really starting to worry me. Not a debilitating worry, but it was just that I would think about the things on my future mind and I would get anxious because I don't know how things are going to work out.

Recently I got a glimpse. Not necessarily a picture of the road to get there, but a glimpse of the end result: it will be absolutely wonderful. And I know that, even though I may not know the how, everything--everything--is going to be just fine. In fact, things are going to be better than just fine; they're going to be absolutely perfect.

New Windows, New Imaginings

Well doTERRA moved. We're now in Pleasant Grove and it's a bit more of a drive than I like, but at least the building is nice. There's even a gym that I will likely never step foot in so that's a plus.

The new building has a nice view of the distant mountains, the freeway, and the construction zone of the still-expanding doTERRA building (seriously, it's going to be doTERRAtown or something). In any case, they sat me by the enormous side windows and next to people who are much more content to read comic books than to talk to me. So I find myself staring out the window on a pretty regular basis. But only because the phones are so slow and they don't have any projects for me and we aren't supposed to read or do homework. Yup.

In any case, it's mesmerizing to see the cars drive by on the freeway (way more fascinating than it should be) and I love to imagine where those people are going and what adventures are in store for them. It's also riveting to see the progress the construction workers are making. They're making quick work of the building to be sure. And the other day I saw this:

The forklift was pulling a large flat of bricks out of the back of that seemingly tiny car. They did it and I was so impressed.

Man. And I thought trees were distracting.

Through the Window

I wrote this at work yesterday, right before they let me go home.

I was never that kid who stared out the window during class. Part of that could be that I rarely sat by the windows, but I was usually pretty engaged in learning (or trying to stay awake). But, while I might notice what was outside the classroom, I didn't spend class dreaming about it. So it has been with work.

Again, maybe I haven't been staring out the window because I haven't sat close enough to one for it to really be a distraction. Or maybe the calls have never been slow enough when I have been near a window. Or maybe it was because I was busy talking to my coworkers in my downtime. Maybe it was some of everything. In any case, windows have never provided an engaging distraction for me.

Until today.

Today I was placed by the window. We have large windows and I'm sitting on a side with a more scenic view. Sure, I get a good view of the parking lot and the other buildings, but I can also see the trees and the sky. . . Today I'm sitting by a window. Today the phones are slow. Today I don't know the people I'm sitting by. And today. . . Today is a beautiful day.

The wind is blowing, but it isn't violent. Instead, it makes the world outside a bit friendlier, more magical. It causes the big tree across the way to sway. . . back. . . and forth. . . back. . . and forth. Ever so slowly. It looks like a dance. The trees closer to my window are smaller and their leaves quiver on their branches, giving the appearance of lace on a dancer's gown. The larger branches bob up and down gently, moving to an unheard symphony.

The clouds look like they've been created with watercolors: gentle and light. The sun is shining, the sky is a pale blue. And I can see all of this beauty from my window. Just a few feet away.