Update!

Just wanted to give a quick little update about the things that have been going on and the things that have been on my mind! So here we go!...

First, this is Callie, Me, and Candice all decked out at our Homecoming Game. It was COLD and we creamed the other team! Aren't we just the cutest? :)

Now for the unpleasantry... I have a problem with EAC. What is the problem, Stephenie? I'll tell you. IT'S JUST LIKE HIGH SCHOOL!!!! I really enjoy going to school here, I really do. It's so much easier to attend a small school with literally 15 kids in my classes and everything withing walking distance and I have really enjoyed the experience. Unfortunately, small towns have a tendency to remain in a "high school-like" phase for....ever. The town is not necessarily the problem, it's just that when you know the majority of the students at the school...drama is bound to occur. Therefore, I have experienced more stressful drama in my first 2 months of college than I did my entire high school career. 16 girls living in one community. Go figure.

On a more positive note, the Office comes on in about half an hour!!! And.... CHRISTMAS IS ONLY A MONTH AND A HALF AWAY!!!!! Ok like 2 months but still. I CAN'T WAIT!! I get to see all my cousins and eat 12 boxes of Little Caesar's at my Grandma's house on New Year's Eve and play in the snow and be with my BCF and see all my cousins!!!! It's going to be simply divine.

Oh and as a final note can I just say...viva McCain/Palin!!!! I am sooooo excited to vote next Tuesday! I've never been so invested in an election before, but I feel SO strongly about this one. It will literally change our future. I could probably handle Obama as president (YUCK!), but if Prop 102 does not pass I will cry. I will break down and cry. Because you know what that means? I will be homeschooling my children and they will never leave the house. That's why I care so much about this stuff. I just sit there and think "my kids..." Ugh! Sorry for being a downer again but that REALLY weighs on my brain! I don't doubt that McCain could help us so much more than Obama, but my ideal election would be one with Palin for President! Is it wrong that I want McCain to win and then...die? Hahaha Ok I know it's wrong, but Palin is amazing! We'll just have to wait and see I guess :/ Here's hoping.

My Family is the BEST!!

Ok, I understand that i posted just yesterday, but i have to say this! My family, extended and immediate, is the best family in the world!! Ok i'm sorry i'm trying to calm down.

The thing is... I have missed my cousins so much! It's already pretty clear from my last blog that my attitude towards my sister has completely changed, which is FANTASTIC! I have just learned how much I really care about and miss my family. On that note, I have missed my cousins SOOOOOO much since I got to college! Me and my cousins are all very close. Really really close. So I always miss them when I'm not up in Utah with them, but this is a crazy time! Me and my boys (my twin cousins that double as my best friends :) have started college and they both have amazing girlfriends, which is only appropriate seeing as they are the greatest guys you'll ever meet. EVER! But the thing that hurts the most is that I haven't seen my BCF since last New Years. BCF stands for Best Cousins Forever :) Anelise is my soul mate. We have been best friends, or BCFs, since i was 7 years old or so. I've grown up with her and we've had the best time and she is literally my favorite person in the world. Well, she went to college last year and got CRAZY busy! And like I said I haven't seen her since New Years and we have barely talked since then too, until just recently. Thanks to the miracle of Facebook I have been able to talk to her alot more instead of just hearing everything from her Mom. Anyway, she's been going through a tough time making some SERIOUS decisions about her future, and I am SO glad i got to be involved! Of course I love to be in everyone's business :) but it's different with her too. It's really hard to give her the advice she needs, because it means she won't be my BCF anymore, she'll be my MARRIED BCF. But he is such an amazing guy, I almost don't have a problem with it at all. Ok i'm sorry. The point is I just love her so much! And she tells me that she loves me a whole lot too and I'm almost shocked to hear it because there are so many amazing people in her life that it's weird that she thinks so highly of me. Oh man I am totally just rambling now.

Case and Point: I love my cousins, and i LOOOOOVE the relationship we all have with eachother!! I'm currently talking to 2 of my cousins on Facebook and we all just love eachother! And my boys' girlfriends will tell me how excitedmy boys get when they talk about how I'm coming to visit soon and it makes me feel soooooo good. The other night i was talking to one of my boys, Dustin, and I was like "I love you Dustin!" and he said it back and it made me so happy and then he says "You know, you're the only cousin I say that to", which totally made my night! We are all so close and I can't even imagine what it will be like when we're all married and scattered :( I'm fairly certain that we'll still get together all the time :)

Everytime we have a huge family get-together with all the relatives on my Mom's side, I like to take a few minutes to just sit back and watch and think. And every time I get tears in my eyes as the recurring thought pops into my head "If this is what Heaven is like, I can't wait." And then I cry harder, because I know that IS what Heaven will be like! And I can not wait :)

Just to catch up...

Lake Havasu High School plays Mohave High School every year in the "golden shovel game". The golden Shovel (painted gold) is what both high schools used to break ground when they were being built. Whoever wins the game gets to hold onto the shovel for the year, until they play again. It's the biggest rivalry game in the state. Callie and Danielle are from Lake Havasu so they reeeeeeally wanted to go to the game and see their families and stuff, so me and Sandra joined them! It was soooo much fun! That was 3 weeks ago i think.

Aren't we just the cutest?! :)

We were out on the lake for a good 4 hours and it was sooooo much fun! That was an awesome weekend.

Me, Callie, and Danielle decided to take the Spirit-bus to a football game against Pima Community College. Yeah well...our bus started smoking about 30 minutes out of town. LOL! So we went back to the school, where 2 big vans were waiting to transport us to the game. It was totally fun.

The fair came to town this last weekend!! We all had the day off from school on Friday and everything. Me and Callie went for bracelet night on Thursday and had lots-o-fun!

We were originally supposed to go to Disneyland, but things changed and the four of us decided to go to Julian for Applefest instead!! It was totally fun! This is Ami, Kira, and Aaron standing in front of my dreamhouse in some wonderful small town on the way. It just happened to be having a garage sale that day! We couldn't resist :)

We got some good sister-bonding time on our trip :) It was quite the successful day and we had lots and lots of fun. Good memories.

Well that's what's been going on lately! It's been pretty busy up in here, and i'm going to ASU this weekend to hang out with my Brad!! It's going to rock the casbah. But I probably won't post about it til a month later, after Thanksgiving and such :) Christmas is coming!!! Life is good.

Good Times!

What a night! Well it was the whole week, really. Lots of ups and a few significant downs, but it turned out just fine :) Last night we had an institute dance where we were supposed to dress up as a high school stereotype so... I got to be a cheerleader for a night! And it was totally fun. I borrowed Danielle's (far right) uniform and she did my makeup and put curlers in my hair and everything. Fun fun! On a more random note, the girl right next to me, Callie, and Danielle are from Lake Havasu and came to our Youth Conference in Yuma this last year! Now they live across the hall from me. Can it get more ironic?

Also, I put some blonde streaks in my bangs! Well it's on the underneath of my bangs, so you can only catch a glimpse every once in awhile. Obviously they're very faint, since you can even see them in the picture.

Continuing with the good news, I got another niece on Wednesday! Allison Mae Spencer. She's a total cutie and I think she looks just like Jason. You can go to Jamie's blog for more information. I'm sure it'll be up soon ;)

Oo! I have a really good institute moment. Something happened on Wednesday that had me pretty down. I felt like the lowest of low and just really discouraged. Naturally, I really didn't want to go to Institute, but I was like "well... it always makes me feel better and that's really where I need to be". So I went anyway. I felt like I was just kinda there and still really not in a good mood at all. One of those depression moments. They suck. Anyway, we start singing the opening hymn: "When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost, count your many blessings..." I just started smiling the biggest grin and laughing. Way to be obvious, right? I still think it's so funny. Just like that i did a full 180 and started thinking about my blessings and I had a great rest of the night! It was so awesome. The next morning brought back some of those discouraging feelings, but I just kept making lists of how I had been blessed and my sadness was sent on it's way. Music is the best. Needless to say I'm that much more excited to start conducting the hymns in Sacrament Meeting this Sunday!

I had a thought while I was typing that story. Is it weird to anyone else that we use "crazy" terms for our church programs? I mean we have a "ward" and "institute".... Seems a little too coincidental if you ask me :)

Home

The other thing that's been on my mind lately is that the feeling of Home is unreplaceable. I had no idea what I was getting myself into :)

College is not bad. It's actually been quite a relief. I always imagined it would be one huge stress and that i'd be continuously running around like a chicken with it's head cut off because of all the insane homework I'd have. Maybe I just haven't gotten to that point yet and it's still to come, but I've quite enjoyed how relaxing it's been. I've grown quite comfortable in my dorm room, I have great roommates, and everyone here is generally pleasant to be aroung. I quite like it here. However...

I have learned, the hard way, that there is a certain feeling or spirtit in the home that cannot be found anywhere but the home. I was really impressed with Candice's apartment because it felt so home-y, and I wanted that in my dorm too. However, I came to find that although Candice's apartment felt home-y, it was definitely not a home. I don't know how to explain it. All I can say is that I can almost guarantee that I will never be able to match the feeling of my home, no matter where I go. I could live in the same dorm for 4 years and it still wouln't come close.

I miss my home. If there's one thing I've learned from my whole week and a half of being away it's how to appreciate. I appreciate how hard my parents work everyday. I always figured they did things so that we would learn and grow up right, but they really do it solely because they love us and they want nothing but the best for us. I appreciate the people around me that were always cheering me on and helping me when needed. I never realized how much a simple deed could impact me. But the hardest lesson I had to learn was how much I really appreciate my family. I have always loved my distant relatives so much and anticipated being sealed in Heaven together, but I can now say that I love my Mom and Dad more than anyone else. I miss them, and my sister, more than I ever expected to. I'm Stephenie Spencer; I don't need anyone's help, I can do it myself. Yeah, well... I found that I CAN do it myself, but I would so much rather not. All those dumb fights we had! I seriously can't remember what a single one was about. Because I don't want to. I only remember the things I miss about them.

My family and my home are the two things I miss the most and I thought it was about time I admitted it :) Turns out Heavenly Father really does know what he's doing ;)

I made a funny!

Ok so this morning I put on a brand new shirt that still had the tags on it and everything. I took the tag off but there was still a little sticker on it. Luckily I noticed it before I left. It's a large shirt so the sticker has a big L and little words around it saying "large". Anyway, the sticker was right on my boob! So it was like a lable for my large boobs! HAHAHA well i thought it was hilarious. I had to share :)

Friends... uhkay!

Ok. I know i totally posted like 2 days ago but i have been getting home too late at night to write in my journal so... this is a good substitute :)

Being away from home has made realize just how amazing it is to have friends. Since my family is M.I.A. i've had to turn to peers for company/comfort, and let me tell you something: they're amazing. I have met more people in the last 3 days than ever before in my life! And once you meet someone here it's like you're cool for life. That's something i really appreciate about thatcher. Plus there's not really cliques and everyone's just friends with everyone. Good again. The new friends are awesome, but the old ones have proven top of the line as well. First of all, the friends i left in Yuma have been really good about making me feel better about being alone. On my first night here, Brad, Jessica, and Zach all talked to me on speakerphone for a little while, and i thought that was so sweet! Kira's busy but she's been amazing about keeping me up to date with all the juicy stuff as well :) But most importantly, Candice Lundgreen has saved my life. When we were about 10 years old, she and I planned out our college years. We were going to NAU and living in the cabin her parents owned. We didn't talk a whole lot about it, but the day her parents sold their cabin was a sad one :( Who would've guess that she and I would end up at college together, in a completely different town, living across the street from eachother. She has been so nice to me, showing me around and introducing me to people and letting me hang out at her apartment. I picked a good best friend back in 1st grade :)

Anyway, that's what's been on my mind for the past few days. There are more good people in the world than i thought. You just have to keep your eyes peeled.