a clean slate!

happy new year erreybody! but seriously it's such a great feeling! it's like when you buy new notebooks at the beginning of the school year and you just have that fresh start feeling. it gives you the motivation to take better care of your skin, work out more, and be so much kinder.  

this blog has been such an amazing outlet for me to realize how wonderful and happy life is.  even when i crashed my car, or i was unsure about the reality of my mission, i was able to see how happy my beautiful life is.  

as i am preparing to serve my mission and this is the begging of a new year i feel a greater strength as i try to be better.  i feel the need to reach a little higher and try a little harder (you've heard it before right?) 

i have 3 commitments that i am going to make this year and i want to put them on the blog so everybody can see them and i'll be better! 

1. work out 5 days a week-- i hear that australians are quite athletic also i truly believe that when your body is strong so is your mind and spirit 

2. go to the temple at least 2 times a week-- president taylor challenged me to go 30 times before i leave on my mission so if you wanna come along lemme know 

3. write in my journal every day -- i love blogging but there is something special about writing in a journal and i can be a little more personal in my journal.  i need to be better about writing and recognizing the lord in my life every single day.  

2012 was an amazing year i honestly can say i don't have any regrets.  2013 is going to be even more amazing! AUSTRALIA HERE I COME!!!! 

here are a few pictures from the festivities the past couple of weeks <3 

wednesdays

wednesdays are a special day. on wednesday june 24th, 2009 i decided it was time for me to change my life.  i took control. i made a conscious decision to be happy. it was the hardest decision i had made up to that point.  it was the decision to end a relationship that was toxic (and not the brittney spears toxic... name that movie?!). i wasn't happy immediately after making that decision, in fact i cried more that summer than i think i ever have.  but i learned a lot about myself, and what i was capable of.  i learned that i was strong. i learned that i can get whatever i want if i  put my mind to it, and if it is what god wants me to do.

this picture was taken the day after i made that big decision, it was the dress up day at efy

the next wednesday that was significant was wednesday november 24th, 2009.  it was in the first minutes of that day that me and michael held hands for the first time.  it was the beginning of a relationship that literally changed my whole outlook on life.  it was when the bar for guys that i would date in the future was raised. it was one of the happiest, most nerve racking, terrifying days of my life.  i didn't know what was going to happen but i could tell that life was never going to be the same. 

the essence of us

on wednesday august, 25th i left everything that i knew, my family, my friends, my house, my ex-boyfriend michael, and moved to provo.  i started college at brigham young university. i grew up to an extent that day.  i used what i had learned over a year before i knew that i was strong.  i knew that i could do this. it was the hardest year of my life, emotionally. i had never felt so insignificant in my entire life. i kept going. i never gave up. and i made some of the best friends i have ever had!

me and my freshman room mate siri on the first night of college

wednesday november, 16th 2011 was a wonderful day.  i woke up and went to work but ended up leaving early because me and michael were meeting at the draper temple to do baptisms.  then we went to ikea and walked around pretending we were newly weds picking out our furniture (all michael's idea.... and apparently we were really well off newly weds because we were buying new furniture at ikea).  we followed that up with lunch at zupa's where we found out that michael's visa didn't come through and he would be reporting the next day to the provo mtc.... the provo mtc where i work.... awkkkiiiieeee. the day ended with us sitting in the car overlooking draper. we said goodbye that day. we got in our cars and drove our separate ways.  i have never had to depend on my savior more.  i knew what michael was doing was so right and so good it was hard for me to be sad.  i didn't want to be sad.  he was so excited and SO ready to get out there.  i learned so much about the atonement during that time.  i knew that i wasn't alone, and i knew that the best thing i could do was to grow and learn from this experience.

while me and michael's day ended at draper my day continued on with an andy grammer concert that night see look at how much fun i was having!

now i am waiting for another wednesday.  a wednesday that is terrifying, exciting, and slow to come.  wednesday march 13th, 2013.  this wednesday is going to change. my. life. after that day i will never go back to being kalli wyatt, i will forever be improved by being sister wyatt.  sister wyatt the missionary for the church of jesus christ of latter day saints.  i cannot wait! it's finally my chance to give back to the lord for all that he has done for me! 140 days. 4 months and 17 days away. wednesday will come.

they called me on a mission

so yesterday i called my mom at work and was like "mom! go check and see if my call is in"  and she was like well it's been made but you'll have to wait until wednesday to get it..... i was so frustrated! i really wanted my call right then! so i went on with my day and i ended up going home because i needed more food and had to do laundry (oh the college life) me and my sisters didn't get home until 9ish, and we were exhausted because for some reason the night before we felt like it would be a good idea to stay up till 1 am.... weirdoes. so i was falling asleep on the couch when my dad was like ok lets have scriptures and prayer, which is absolutely unheard of on friday nights (parent's date night), so we were all sitting around in the living room when my parents dropped a big. white. envelope. on my face. it was my call. i was FREAKING OUT! immediately i started shaking, and crying, and acting a little like a maniac.

you guys i can't believe that this is real. i can't believe that i am going!!!!!! I AM GOING ON A MISSION. to AUSTRALIA!!! i leave march 13th! this is going to be an adventure of a lifetime!

withdrawals

so it has been approximately 2 full days of my diet coke challenge. i miss diet coke! not drinking diet coke is the worst! mostly because i have had the worst possible headaches ever the past two days... i guess it's just my body getting over its breakup right? i've always hated breakups..... yep always have. i miss the way diet coke kinda burns your first sip, or when you get a bottle out of the back of the fridge and the beginning of it is slightly frozen mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!
jonathan's room mate alec and i had a great conversation yesterday about diet coke and the joy that it brings to our life. alec couldn't understand why I would make not drinking diet coke my goal... and come to think of it neither can i.

i was laughing so hard at this conversation

right now i'm riding the front runner out to ogden to meet my grandpa so he can drive me up to idaho for a dentist appointment... exciting news coming up!!.... hopefully.

it's been a funny week.  i've spent a lot of time trying to be productive, and i mean to some extent maybe i have been but i feel sort of like a small hamster running in one of those exercise wheels... speaking of which i have got to get exercising more i'm not getting any younger!!!!! i turn 21 4 months from monday! OH MY GOSH! 21 is sooooooooooo old... i might as well be dead.

other than diet coke my favorite thing this week is that john david peach (michael's trainer) posted pictures on Facebook of good ol' elder jarman.

this is a conversation between me and "elder" peach and emily (michael's little sister)

there is nothing that makes me more happy than to hear what a great missionary michael is!!!! missionary work is so important and the lord needs so much help knowing that my best friend is giving it everything he's got and is loving every second of it.... there is no better feeling!

a challenge!

it's no secret that i have a favorite drink..... diet coke is probably the best drink on the face of the planet.  however the drink can be very controversial. some haters are gonna hate.  but last night jonathan was like "kalli if i challenged you to not drink diet coke for a whole month could you?" (very missionary-esqu right?) and i was like "of course i could!"

so there you go i'm not going to drink any diet coke for an entire month! it's going to be a great adventure.  it's not because i think that diet coke is a bad drink, and i really don't think i'm that addicted.

i like this idea.  i need to be more healthy, but more than that i need to start making and keeping some goals.  it's time for me to step it up.... ya know on the path to becoming a better person and everything?

words last.

so the past couple of days i have been shown how lasting words truly are.  i've been spending a lot of time with soccerbry and gigi (imagine that since she's my room mate) and soccerbry mentioned something along the lines that he thought during winter semester that i hated him.  then gigi mentioned how someone had said that I had said that I wanted her and soccerbry to break up.... which i truly never remember saying... BUT that is the point! WHAT IF I HAD?? what if at some flippant moment i had off handily said that i wanted two people who are madly in love with each other to break up.  those words, whether i had said them or not, left a lasting impression. i never hated soccerbry during winter semester, instead i was trying desperately to get my GPA up and to pull an A in some really important classes.  my lack of kind words, or friendliness left my friends with an impression that i thought i was too good for them.   

lately i have been haunted by a memory from when i was a senior in high school (i think... i don't think i was in college yet).  me and michael were hanging out (whoda thunk?!) when my mom asked me to drive my sisters and some of their friends down to the rec center. my sisters are young and so naturally their friends are slightly annoying (as are my sisters sometimes) and for some reason i was in a particular mood that day. 

 her friends were driving me CRAZY.  when we got down to the rec center and they were out of the car, i turned to michael and said something about one of my sisters little friends that I WILL NEVER say again.  it was something that goes against everything i believe, and everything i strive to teach and be. oh my gosh i just shudder thinking about what i said. 

to some people what i said wouldn't be that big of a deal...  in fact people said it to me when i was in elementary school.... and oh how it has left an impression on me... i am SO grateful that the little girl i said that about was not there to witness my indiscretion, but michael was there. michael the person who always pushed me to be better, and who i wanted to have a good opinion of me forever, was the person that witnessed me being so cruel!

michael turned to me and said "kalli that was so mean!" and i didn't say or do anything, i just brushed him off, and went on with our afternoon.  lucky for me michael didn't seem to think it was grounds for breaking up with me (even though it really should have been).  that little girl doesn't know what i said about her, and i don't even know if michael remembers this experience, but what if it was his only impression of me.  he would have forever thought me an intensive, judgemental, mean, shallow girl.... which i really hope that i'm not.....

that was a small experience.  but the words that i said... they are lasting... and they are haunting. 

when i was a little girl in primary my mom made me memorize a poem

what a little thing a tongue is but what damage it can do

by spreading little secrets and things that are untrue.

for words when once they are spoken, especially when unkind;

are never quite forgotten, they linger in the mind.

so always keep your tongue on guard, and watch the words you choose

and there shall never cross your lips the kind you shouldn't use.

when you are little the things that you memorize don't always connect in your brain.  such as the words to i am a child of god, or a poem about watching what you say.  sometimes it is not until you are older when the words from deep in your subconscious ring out and the meaning of those words that you memorized so many years before finally have a meaning. 

words easily slip out.  i am easily the most sassy out of all of my sisters.  i know that i have said things to the people that i care most about, before i was able to keep my tongue on guard.  and i am so embarrassed.  so it's time for a change.  it's time to bridal my words, which will ultimately lead to me bridling my thoughts AND my actions.  it's time to use those lasting words for something good. 

happy tuesday everybody!!

xoxo kal

me and my sisters at temple square this last christmas <3

a new kalli... here goes nothing

so i've been thinking a lot about what to post next.  this last weekend was full of growing experiences and has caused me to think a lot about what i really want in life and where i want to end up.  i went home this weekend because it was general conference.  i just LOVE that weekend, i would say it even rivals christmas.... but any way it was great to get to spend some time with my sisters (adorable as ever) and my bffs syd, em, and jen (thanks to syd for making some seriously BOSS cookies and sunny for the texas sheet cake)  

photo credit to sydney dietrich also here is the recipe for those of you who are interested <3
click here

i had a lot on my mind when i came up, i am trying to get this fall planned out with school and such and lately i have been feeling very strongly about serving an LDS mission (if you don't know what this is click on the button to your right to check out what i believe) 

this would be a huge sacrifice because i would need to save up as much money as i could and i would be leaving all of my friends and family for 18 months! i would miss Rylee's graduation, Emma turning 16, Kim's wedding (let's be honest we all know it's going to happen), my other friend's weddings, my guy friends coming home from their missions, and that is just the social aspect. i also would be putting all my education on hold and leaving a job that i absolutely ADORE! 

but i digress, the purpose of the post is not to discuss me serving a mission.  whilst (great word right?!) at home i found myself nagging my little sisters, especially rylee,

isn't she beautiful!?!? (this is rylee btw)

 and trying to run the entire weekend.  this tends to happen because when i come home i try to cram as much funtivities into the smallest amount of time (it's a symptom of being a funbuncher).  pretty soon the whole weekend consisted of me trying to settle arguments that i started with my family.  IT WAS SO FRUSTRATING. and the truth is that i just say these things not to be rude or judgmental or annoying i do it because i love them so much and i can see what they can become.  

any way the weekend didn't end very well and i ended coming back to provo with a pretty crappy attitude about my life.  i was scared, frustrated, and stressed.  but then i started thinking about some of the talks that i listened to this weekend at general conference.  one that stood out in my mind was President Uchtorf's talk about not judging each other. 

i started thinking about how much i had been feeling judged lately and how i have just been feeling sorry for myself. but then i took a look at myself and realized i have been doing the same things to those around me.... i criticize and judge and try to tell others how they could be doing something better.  i don't know about y'all but when somebody who always criticizes me tells me that i need to change something i tend to roll my eyes and disregard it and their usual nagging.  however, if someone who usually is on my side mentions something that i could work on i really take that to heart because i know that they genuinely care about me.  

i hate to think that i could be one of those people who is constantly criticizing and nagging those around me.  so i've decided that is my newest goal.  i used to be someone who was compassionate to all those around her, and someone who rarely said anything mean.  i need to get back to that girl.  so here goes nothing.  i'm going to start small, but i know what my ultimate goal is.  i want to have a house when i grow up that doesn't criticize but lifts and grows those who enter.  its time to make some changes kalli.