Running People and Noses.

Volunteer work.

Sounds like a good thing right?

Not so much when it's from 8-3 in the cold when your at the peak of a flu that feels like the plague.

Buuuut on the bright side, don't we look great in traffic cone orange?

Do I have the cutest roomates or what?

 Setting up and lookin sassy.

 Jumping pictures are always a must.

 All the runners want to date us.

So believe it or not, even though I felt like I was on the edge of death and my nose was acting similar to niagra falls.... I had a pretty fun time! My roomates and I pumped some tunes from our phones and danced on our street corner and made our own fun. We cheered on those poor runners and had a grande old time.

So even though I was sicky sick sick

and even though Rexburg feels like an Arctic wasteland at 8 in the morning...

I still had a day full of laughs, good music, great dance moves, and wonderful company.

Today (sickness and all) is a good day guys.

Happiness.

Oaxaca Mexico.

 Spanish Speaking. I head to the Provo MTC on January 22nd 2014.

Happiness is opening your mission call.

It's the kind of happiness that makes you want to jump for joy and burst into tears all at the same time.

I did both. Jump around and cry I mean.

And it was great.

Thank you to the best family and friends a girl could ask for supporting me in this big change.

I am who I am because of who you are.

(confusing but true.)

The Journey from Good to Great.

(The how and why this letter came)

One super snowy day in Salt Lake City Utah I made the trek from my school to the seminary building in almost knee deep snow. I didn't want to go to seminary that day. It was cold, it was snowing like mad, and just about everyone and their dog was ditching to go do something more appealing like get hot chocolate from the nearby gas station. When I walked into my seminary class I found a sub instead of our usual teacher because the road conditions were so snowy that our teacher couldn't make it. Anyone who has gone to public school knows that a substitute teacher of any kind is basically a glorified babysitter and little to nothing is usually accomplished when they are present. People were dropping like flies and I almost went home myself, but something told me to stay, so I did. I decided to help the sub out and put my name down for the scripture thought. We started off class just like we always did and then came my turn to share. I stood in front of the class, read my scripture, and sat down. The sub then stood up and walked to the front of the class. He stood there in silence for an unusual amount of time and just stared at me. "You," He said pointing right at me, " are going on a mission."

Never has anything hit me so hard.

And once I heard him say that, there was no going back.

Going on a mission was never part of my life plan. It was something that other people did, not me. But on that super stormy winter afternoon I knew that some way some how, I would serve a mission.

I still have my old seminary notebook with a quickly scribbled note in the upper left corner next to a large amount of doodles that says

*Serve a Mission*

Haha, just a friendly little reminder to myself. Little did I know that this scribbled note to myself would mean changing in ways I never thought I could. It meant giving up a previous way of living that was good and moving onto one that was great. It meant hard work, early morning mission prep, going out with the sister missionaries and putting my testimony out there for all to criticize, and much more. At moments I became overwhelmed with the enormity of the task. If I was to be a representative of Christ I needed to be on my A game not just at my church meetings but in every interaction and in every thought. It was scary, it was hard, but as I opened that white envelope it became so incredibly worth it. 

I know that when I live a Christ like life that I am happier. I know that when I live a Christ like life those who I come in contact with  are happier.

And isn't that what we're all working towards?

Happiness?

Well let me let you in on a little secret...

Happiness is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Happiness is a God who loves you and me no matter what choices we've made.

Happiness is opening a large white envelope that contains the name of a place you can't even pronounce but you love more than life!

Happiness is today guys.

In the words of my dear Momma, 

Happiness is now.

Today is and forever will be a good day guys.

Today is SO DANG GOOD.

Pie Shakes and Pretty Nails.

 Word to the wise:

If you ever have the opportunity to have a pie shake...

DO IT.

Me and my dearest roomates felt a hankering for sweets this afternoon and treated ourselves to just the right amount of sugar, fried items, and of course some fry sauce.

This whole college thing sure is fun.

Feeling so lucky that I get to live with these beauties!

Ever tried painting your nails while you got blasted with icy Rexburg wind?

It's not as easy as it looks.

Today I painted my nails pretty and had an out of this world shake.

Today is a good day.

Forts and Marshmallows.

My roomate's niece came over today and we made a fort.

Then we went inside it and ate mallows. 

It goes without saying but we had a good ol' time.

Cuddling with the bear is always a must.

Lookin' fresh as always. #fortselfies

Today involved forts and fluffy sugar.

Needless to say, 

Today is a good day.

Canoeing and Movies.

Went on a date this weekend and had a blast.

We went canoeing and ended our paddle down the river with dinner around the campfire.

I got home around 11 and then went to go see Wolverine with my roomates.

Nothing like a little shirtless Hugh Jackman to help us roomies bond.

Gosh college sure is a good time.

Today is such a good day guys.

The First Days.

My first ever day of college went so smoothly and wonderfully it was kind of unreal.

I found all of my classes easily, made friends in every class, saw people on campus I met from the game night I went to the day previous...

It was great.

However, the homework load and blisters from walking uphill all day wasn't so great.

My second day went just as well with new friends and cool classes around every corner!

Aaaand the second day brought the heaviest rainfall I've ever seen. Resulting in a very soaked very cold Ruby.

But ya know what? Not even monsoon-ish rain or incredibly long reading assingments could dampen my spirits. Because even with the ups and downs that come with it, 

I love College.

 Never have I ever looked good in an ID picture. I was hoping I could turn a new leaf in college...haha maybe next year!

 Made my roomate take a first day of school picture of me in front of our apartment.

The rain that rolled in and out in about 10 minutes and got me drenched in less than 5.

My dear roomate who spilled her veggie sticks all over the floor and continued to snack regardless of her misfortune.

So even when you have to walk 20 minutes to class and even when your online assignments don't make sense it's all ok because

Today is still a good day.

College.

College guys.

I'm in college.

Weird. Like really weird. But good. Like really good.

My roommates.

(Minus one of em that we couldn't find for the picture...)

So many new people, new places, new living spaces.

And I couldn't be happier.

Ya know why?

Because even though saying bye to your best mom is real hard and even though you don't know how to get from your apartment to campus yet and school starts tomorrow...

Today is still such a good day.

Haircuts and Hamburger Buns.

I started off this fine day with a "haircut." Haircut is a strong word for it though considering only a few small inches were actually taken off. I want my hair looking nice and healthy for school next week.

(Did I mention I start college this coming Monday? Weird stuff.)

Before

After

For dinner my mother and I made garden burgers. I was in charge of going out to buy ingredients. I came home with gelato (which was not on the list) and I accidentally bought slider buns instead of regular ones...

This whole grocery shopping without your mom is still a work in progress.

We had a good chuckle about it though. The patty looked massive in comparison to the cute little buns.

(tee hee)

Today I got a hair trim and made dinner.

It may sound uneventful,

But sometimes it's the little stuff that makes today a good day.

Temple Day.

Today a very dear friend of mine went through the temple for the very first time.

I tagged along and did baptisms while I waited.

But of course no trip to the temple would be complete without taking a million photos before leaving.

And if your a Matesen....well a jumping picture is just something you must do.

I sure am one lucky kid to have such a great friend like Ella Rae.

Today I went to the temple.

Today was a good day.

Fancy Nails and Cheesy Photos.

Today my beautiful and oh so talented friend Ella painted my nails.

I feel so pinterest I can hardly stand it!

Then me and these two lovelies went to the beach and had a grande old time.

(Just embrace the cheesy photos k?)

(Please take note of the atrocious face I'm making and feel free to laugh openly.)

Today I rocked some serious nails and relaxed at the beach.

Today was a good day.

Butlers and Bonding.

Today I ran errands with my mom. 

Sounds pretty average right? Maybe even boring. 

But if you think errands are boring then you haven't run your errands with Ruby and Julie Matesen.

Who knew going to the car wash and the water store could be so much fun?

We talked, laughed, and took A LOT of pictures.

So sit back, grab a snack, and enjoy.

Waiting for the car to be washed:

When we went inside to pay for the carwash we found the most terrifyingly realistic looking butler dummy I'd ever seen.

Fun fact about Ruby: I HATE fake people.

(Ya know those fake rubbery plasticy things, not "oh my gosh that girl is SO fake!" type deal.)

But being the person that I am I recognized a prime opportunity for a funny instagram...

So I overcame my fears and stood next to the frightening thing for a few short seconds while my mother shot a few winning shots.

After the car wash came the water store...

I tried to get a nice action shot of my mother shaking/dancing her new water container around but I only succeeded in capturing a whole lot of unattractive laughing pictures.

Another fun fact about Ruby: I'm not a cute laugher.

I don't know about everyone else but when I scroll through apps like instagram and facebook my feed is blown up with people posting cute laughing pictures. 

How do they do it?

Does anyone know of any tricks or techniques I could practice?

I may not take a cute laughing picture but I sure do take a funny laughing picture and that counts for something, right?

Today I ran errands with my mom.

Today was a really good day.