There's a lifetime right in front of you, and everyone I know.

This girl became one of my very best friends at BYU.  We both survived the tortured freshman year in chem 111, chem 112, and chem 113.  We both went on a study abroad at the same time -- I to London and she to Vienna.  I visited her in Austria, and she visited "The Old Smoke" shortly after that.  We took all of our organic chemistry classes together, attended a chemistry conference in Idaho (where we may or may not have fit in, but bowling at Boise State and running in the hills made it worth it).  We snuck into chemistry labs for late night photo shoots and assured each other that we really were smart.  We went on late night runs together and laughed more than students should.  We created memories.

Last week Naomi got her mission call to Sofia, Bulgaria and the next day she left to Minnesota for a killer internship at 3M.  Naomi is such a babe, and I'm so excited for the life she has ahead of her.  I'll miss her my senior year at BYU, but "there's a lifetime right in front of you, and everyone I know" in the words of Vampire Weekend and in honor of their newest CD release.  

Symbols of Love.

Symbols of Love for the engaged girl to Jacob Bryant Hatch...

1.  It's the last thing I take off before I fall asleep at night and the very first thing I put on when I wake up in the morning. 

2.  One confident boy prior to proposing up Rock Canyon.

3.  Each chain link means we're one day closer.
4.  Free dessert, because we just got engaged.
5.  Wanting to make a quilt with me.
6. Offering his socks at the end of April, because it's just too cold without them.
7.  The thought of eternity with one person is absolutely thrilling.

Sunshine and Snow.

"I could lift you up;

 I could show you what you want to see 

and take you where you want to be."

Patterns of Light

"There's brillance and a sense of direction that comes from light... and darkness can not overrule the light."  

Life in black and white and other colors too

In Febuary Kelsie got her call to the Independence Missouri mission and Kristy left for Paris. And now, I find myself going through Kelsie withdrawals.  I realize she's not leaving until May 15th, but I find myself sitting on her bed longer than usual and making her take pictures with me, which is actually a forceful event.  But one day I'll look back at these pictures and be more than grateful for these moments. :)  

Last Saturday night I got home much later than usual (flashback to freshman year?), but luckily my roommates were still awake, which was a pleasant surprise.  They were watching One Tree Hill, which is a frequent occurrence as of late in our apartment.  I'm grateful that my love life was never the complicated in high school (ever).  Luckily, Tiffany was willing to stay up with me and reminiscence on 90s boy bands and Britney Spears music videos.  My love for Nick Carter and his younger brother was unreal.  And 'N Sync was obviously a good emotional investment, because Justin Timberlake was a product of the band.  Britney Spears proved to be another Disney original since The Mickey Mouse Club.  I can't even begin to express my love for Oops... I did it again.  Everything about that music video was flawless when I was nine years old.  Each music video brought back good memories until I fell fast asleep on the couch.  Maybe this weekend we'll watch the first ten years of music from the new millennium.  

  

Celebrity Sundays: Hayden Dixon

The day I turned twelve I was informed by my father of three new rules:
1. You are to do your own laundry.
2. You are no longer allowed to trick-or-treat.
3. You are in charge of mowing the lawn both front and back; you are also to mow your grandfathers lawn.

My father really knows his scriptures. There were many times I found myself the subject of his correction as he said to me, “son, O be wise, what can I say more?”
Or, “Hayden, if ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”

But there was one scripture that-- I dont know if its his favorite scripture or what-- but I heard it all the time. Every time I would do something dumb my father would flip open to the bible in his head and say:
“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1 corinthians 13:11)
This would then be followed by a “grow up” or “it’s time to put away childish things”

I was assigned to be the family landscaper, I was expected to keep our grass looking like it had just been vacuumed. In order to cut our lawn I had to check the mower and trimmer, add gas or re-string the machines, edge, mow, bag, dump, and sweep.

If you know much about the way grass grows, or have had any experience in landscaping, you will know that you can’t cut the grass the same direction each week; because, you see, the grass bends and folds and if you keep cutting it the same way it will start to grow that way. But we want it to grow straight up. So on top of all of these tasks, I had to remember which way I had cut the grass the week previous.

For years I dreaded saturdays. Because I hated mowing the lawn. I hated the grass. I hated every single, solitary blade of grass that I was inevitably going to have to cut. Over the years as I did my job, I realized that even though I really disliked doing the work, I loved how the lawn looked when I was done. I started to have great joy in walking over the freshly zamboni’d carpet of semi-green grass, and I loved being able to use it.

One day, with the previously mentioned scripture in mind, I came to my mother. I was maybe 17 and had just finished the lawn. I walked in and said “Mom, today I became a man.”
“Oh, really?” She replied, trying- and failing- to hide the laughter behind her eyeballs.
“How so?” she added.
“Mom, you become a man when you start caring what your lawn looks like.”

And she did exactly that! She laughed just like you did! But I didn’t care because, I was a man.

I had had a great change of heart. I had learned how to love what I was doing and that to be converted is to do.  I could have said I have a testimony of mowing the lawn, but that wouldn’t mean that the lawn actually gets mowed. Because testimony is knowing and feeling. Conversion is doing and becoming.

I also learned is the value of working hard. I learned that when you work hard, it gives you more options, more freedom. Everyone says they want to be free. But if you take a train off it’s tracks, it’s free, but can it go anywhere? No. I learned that staying on the path will lead me to the destination that I want. And it will give me more options in the long run.

So do the things you have to do when you have to do them, so you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them. Be phenomenal or be forgotten.

A few things as of late:

1. Never eat fast food late at night, but mostly just never. After a long night of studying I made Kelsie go with me to grab something to eat, which meant I had to break my no-fast-food-streak, because nothing else was open!  We couldn't even finish one order of chicken fingers and fries between the two of us -- luckily the shake was no problem for us to finish.

2. I have serious plans to learn the Love on Top dance over Christmas break, but first I need to find at least five backup dancers.

3. Sometimes I like my own photos on instagram -- solely because they make me happy.

4.  My face lit up when I found out about the possibility of buying engineering paper in large quantities (boxes at a time).  I'm not even an engineer, but real chemists use engineering paper too?

5. Sometimes I have 5 half drunk water bottles in various places around my room -- I would like to think that this occurrence mostly only happens during finals week, but I think it's a common trend at any given time.

6.  I finished my last math class ever.  Although this should be a happy accomplishment, I'm a little sad to say goodbye to all my math friends and the highly airconditioned math lab.

7.  I have an obsession for candles, especially the twisted peppermint kind that's in my apartment.  And sometimes its flames make it worth staying up a little later to study just so I can feel of its holiday cheer.

8.  Church around Christmas time is the most splendid.