A Much Needed Catch-Up

Holy cow folks, has it really been that long since I've updated?!? Well... I guess that's not REALLY that long, but my last post was a filler... more of a Tumblr Tuesday, and those are posts for me to do because they're fun and I have nothing better to publish on here.

So while puppy pictures ARE fun and adorable, they're not what have been actually been going on in the life of Lady Jane, and that is what this blog is here to document, right?

So geeze, sorry for not being better about keeping up on my life lately... things get crazy and before you know it you're swamped with work, extra babysitting jobs, musical numbers, chores, being sick, dates, and what not and things can get a little bit lost in the thick of it all!

But no more!

This is a post to catch all of you lovely readers, and myself... seriously, on everything that has been happening in this past eventful month or so.

 

1. I Hiked Flat Iron... No Really! I Did!

This sometimes comes as a bit of a shock to people... but I am a pretty outdoorsy person! I love hiking, or taking nature walks, or stargazing, or going to the lake, etc. My favorite place to read is in a tree for crying out loud! The problem arises when anything skill-related comes into the picture. I'm an outdoorsy person, but I am in NO way a sporty person. Outdoors, however, are often associated with sport-related activities which is why I am therefore labeled as being a homebody. :) But people. I love nature. I love the great outdoors. I love being outside in the rain. I love all that great chiz!
So... when my best friend Mimi shot me a text inviting me to go on a family hike with her I was like, "Whaaa?? A family hike with the McPeeks?? Of COURSE I'm coming!"
It was a wonderful time. Wonderful.
Little did I know, however, that this hike was not going to be the easy-going post-Thanksgiving nature-walk-esque hike that I was expecting. We went straight for the big kahuna!
That's right. They were hiking flat iron.
Ladies and gentlemen, may I just take this moment to congratulate myself on the sheer impossible-ness that was this hike? And for having not conditioned myself in the slightest, may I just pat myself on the back for not passing out mid-hike? I made it to the top with Mimi's two younger brothers (whom I forced to pose with my in the picture... who wants to pose alone?) and let me just say that the view and the feelings of accomplishment were all worth the pain and struggle of getting to the top.
On my way up I kept relating this hike to the gospel and my journey here on earth. On the way up it was hard. I couldn't see the top, I didn't know what I was working towards, but I had heard about it. From the people who were going down and passing me I heard reassuring words of the beauty that awaited me at the top. The encouraged me, and cheered me on as I went, assuring me that it would all be worth it at the top. I struggled and struggled until I felt like I couldn't anymore, and suddenly I was there. I was on top of the world, looking over my state, my city, my home, and it was more breathtaking and beautiful than I could have imagined. I had done it. I related this to my goal of reaching the temple. Inside of the temples we learn eternal truths that deepen our spiritual understanding, you are sealed to your families for eternity, and you are able to receive spiritual revelation and peace. However, the years before you reach the temple are some of our hardest, and often where people give up or stray off the path. However, it's not over once you reach the temple and make your covenants with God, because guess what's still left? The hike back down... and as hard as it was hiking up the mountain, hiking down was about fifty times harder! My joints ached (especially my knees) and my legs quickly turned to jell-o on the downward journey. It was only when we reached the trailer back at "base camp" where I felt true relief, and this is what I think it will be like once we complete our entire journey on the "mountain"...and there is my little metaphor on enduring to the end. :)
Now here are some pictures!

Isn't it gorgeous? Gosh, I love the desert.


Even though she didn't make it to the top with me, Mimi was the best bestest support the whole while long! I felt so bad for "leaving her in the dust", but she was textin' and sendin' me good vibes the entire time. We even took pictures to document our awesomeness together and to prove that we indeed hiked like tough big girls. I sure love my Mimi!

 

2. Yes, It's True, Jeffrey Reid IS Home
And this is the only nice picture that I have of us. Please excuse the terrible lighting and the double chin I have going on, but here is your proof. It was either this bad boy or this...

...this slice of awkward... one of these things is not like the others, one of these things is standing awkwardly off to the side holding every-body's stuff *facepalm*.


*clears throat* Anyway, yes. Jeffrey is home and doing well! It's been an big adjustment having him home and has been wonderful and hard all at once, but hey! We're young, we'll see what happens, no pressure... right? :/
And speaking of awkward, guess what???

 

3. I Made a Movie!
That's right!! For my terrible interesting Psychology/Women and Films class (words can't describe how happy I am to be done with that class!) our final Honors Project was to create a film on a psychological disorder... yikes. But guess who was paired with the BEST GROUP in the entire class?!? That's right, I was. :) My two friends (as pictured in the lovely webcam photo below) Austin and Sydney were pretty much the two people who kept my sanity all semester and to be paired with them for our final project? Lovelies, words cannot describe my happiness! It was perfect. And the project was pulled off splendidly last minute, and we kind of really rocked it.
So there.

5. I Cried Tears of Joy Upon Seeing This...!
Oh and speaking of which...?

School has always been a bit of a challenge for me. It's something that I have to work extremely hard at and devote a lot of time to in order to succeed. I have never been a "straight A" student (except for once... the first semester of my Freshman year of High School).. not because I slacked off, but because it was challenging. So when I received the news that my scholarship was contingent upon my cumulative GPA my heart sank... that meant that my High School C's would count against my college GPA and that in order to keep my scholarship I had to have straight A's. I knew it wasn't going to happen. I was taking 16 credit hours AND working... it couldn't be done, not with me.
So after finals I felt sick to my stomach knowing that I had to check my grades, but dreading seeing a C or a D. I had tried so so hard to keep my grades up, I stayed up so many nights, I said so many prayers, skipped so many lunches in the library, said no to so many hang-outs, and when I finally plucked up the courage to check what I had earned I weeped. Those A's that I had dreamed of and worked so hard for were there! They were mine! I had earned them! I have never been so proud of myself, and so thankful to Heavenly Father for some of His most tender mercies. He is real. And I can now afford a second semester of college.

 

6. I Rode Public Transportation For the Very First Time
So this was a fun adventure! Taytum and I decided to get together for a MUCH NEEDED catch-up lunch before Christmas and since we were all graduated and stuff, and since we were mature adult women, we decided to be cool and ride the light rail to lunch. Boy was it an adventure! We got hit on, creeped on, and even sarcastically threatened by the cops whose ticket scanners were malfunctioning!

I always have the crazy best times with this girl! :)

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Stay tuned for a Christmas and New-Years post! And thanks for being patient with me lovelies! I hope you all had a Happy Christmas!