"Choosing a path meant having to miss out on others. She had a whole life to live, and she was always thinking that, in the future, she might regret the choices she made now."

 

Paul Coelho, Brida

'Tis the season

I am utterly in love with this time of year.

-At work, we're buying Christmas presents for a family with some cute, chubby childrens.

-I can't help but let my mind wander [every 3 minutes] to the fact that all my family will be here in 8 days!

-It snowed pretty decently today for the first time this season.

-Paid time off from work is the best thing everr. Basically, it's like I'm getting paid to open my presents, sleep in, and have an insane amount of fun with the boyfriend and family. 

-mistletoe. :)

-I am so excited for the presents that I got everyone this year! People will love me so much more now. :)

-Christmas music is constantly playing in my ear from my iPod during work. I never get sick of it.

-People are happier than they usually are. 

-Cuddle weather! (not too cuddly, mom. don't worry.)

-Family talent show contest. My family is so funny! I can't wait for mine and Nathan's surprise!

-I love seeing all the happy children in line to see Santa Claus whenever I go to the mall. 

-Having every right to eat all the sweets in the world, because they are decorated in Christmas colors so it's okay.

-HOT CHOCOLATE.

-Today I actually wanted to go snowboarding again...??? What the!? weird. I know.

-Watching Christmas movies! I could watch The Grinch every. single. day.

-Beautiful Christmas lights are up all over the place, and I get so giddy whenever I look at them!

Even though it's so, so cold out, there is just so much happiness wherever I go! I love it.

What's your favorite thing about this time of year?

chaos.

so I guess that means I can expect a great change coming up.

guess who...

MATTHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FINALLY STARTED HIS MISSION PAPERS TONIGHT?!

An Ally...

More than a friend.
More than a lover.
More than even a partner.
In this life, I think I am on the hunt for ally.
An ally in this world seems like it might be the best gift of all.
And since I believe myself to be more of a warrior than just a woman,
I'd say an ally is closer to what I need in this life.
Some one to take this world on with me.

The one from the BYU devotional.

Look how cute he is!

Thanks to this girl's tweet this morning around 10:30, I learned that president Thomas S. Monson was speaking at the BYU devotional at 11:00. I stayed at work until 10:58 and then rushed home to watch the devotional on TV. Fortunately, I made it just in time to hear the choir sing "Nearer My God To Thee" and hear the prophet begin his talk. It was exactly what I've been needing lately. Although his entire talk was amazingly sweet and special, here are just a few of my favorite quotes.

If we change our lives and our hearts and take advantage of the atonement, our sins and our shortcomings will be forgiven and forgotten.

Light: something that illuminates

It is up to each of us to develop the necessary faith.

Our opportunities to shine are limitless.

"Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than you have become. Remember who you are. Remember." --The Lion King.

You wanna know something funny? As a little girl, I used to not like President Monson, because I thought he was trying to steal President Hinckley's spot as prophet. It's so wonderful being older knowing without a doubt that our prophet(s) are called of God. I absolutely love being a Latter-Day Saint.

Gosh,  love our prophet.

The one with the update.

If an "update" is what you want to call this. 

Basically, here's what you've missed/what I've neglected to blog about as of yet.

1: Papa had his gala for Mentors International. I wish you could all hear my dad ask billionaires for money. He is the most eloquent, classy guy that I know. The benefit show was amazing, complete with Elder Oaks daughter on the violin and some other fantasticly talented woman whose name I can't recall.

Matthew won this plant, and he was one proud father of it.

2: I hung out with all of my roommates for the first time! All four of us are crazy busy and I'm never ever at our apartment and this was the first time we all got to hang out together. We went to dinner at the cutest restaurant in the Riverwoods and we saw that actor from The Best Two Years! I really, really like my roommates. I know that in some other life, if I wasn't juggling school, work, AND a boyfriend, that we could have become really great friends.

3: Matthew and I went to Hee Haws. haha. I was craving a hayride, and Matthew enjoys all things haunted, so we went down the street for a haunted hayride at Hee Haws. It was the scariest one that I have ever been to, and we really enjoyed it.

 

4: We also carved pumpkins! We took Nathan down with us to Maceys to pick out the best pumpkins in the bunch, and carved away. It was the first time I've ever carved something other than two triangles and a jagged mouth into a pumpkin, and I was pretty proud! 

5: and last, but definitely not least, we all flew up to Disneyland for my birthday! This girl has now entered a whole new decade of life. Disneyland was so much fun. I got to go on all of my favorite rides and spend time with my favorite people. I'm the luckiest girl in the world. Oh, and p.s. For my birthday, Matthew gave me two good books, and a deep tissue massage at a local spa! I just got to go to the massage today, and it was my first real massage. It. was. glorious. I'm thinking I'm going to need more of those in the future.

Adam and his fiance, Kenzie. She's hardcore, as you can tell.

Hopefully I'll be blogging more often!

Tonight I'm off to see Footloose with the boyfriend!

What are your weekend plans?

The one with the new girl!

Ladies and Gents,

might I give a warm welcome to one of my dearest friends in all the world, Brielle Porter! 

She has just joined the blogging world.

Follow her here to hear all about her adventures in DC next semester 

and be inspired by her optimism. 

Love you, Bri!!

Hello, again.

It's been a while.

Sometime soon I'll tell you about all the fun stuff I've been up to.

I've just been thinking...

Everyone I know is having a much different college experience than I am.

and I really miss hanging out with friends that are girls.
I think I need to travel.

The one where you all think I'm gothic.

Today I ran out of my favorite nail polish.

It's the only bottle of nail polish that I've actually used the entire bottle.

And I'm feeling kind of weird about it.

Because it was the black bottle.

The one about Thursday's Hero with the BYU football team.

Did you guys know that every Thursday the BYU football team celebrates a "Thursday's Hero"?

They nominate special needs ladies and gents and then they get together and celebrate them.

It is the sweetest thing ever. 

One of our family's close friends is Rory Eyring. He used to work with Nathan, but he had to quit because he is now the BYU football team's go-to guy for if they get hurt on the field at practice or a game. You may or may not have seen him on TV. 

Anyway.

He nominated Nathan to be a Thursday's Hero.

Let me tell you a little bit about this privilege.

First we all toured the student activities building, looked around Coach Mendenhall's office, sat in his chair.

  

We watched the short video about Nathan that the football team got to watch to learn about Nathan and his life.

Then we watched about an hour of football practice, and then the guys came over to meet Nathan.

It was so adorable.

They just all started clapping for him and giving him presents. 

Nathan got BYU stickers, hats, shirts, posters, flags...they spoiled him.

But I know that Nathan completely loved it. It was so cute seeing those big football boys getting all 

excited for Nathan. I'm really glad that he got to experience that.

The thing is, Nathan really is a hero

You can catch family interview and see the whole thing on Monday at 6:00 or 9:00 in the evening on the BYU channel. :)

The one from Jazon Mraz.

"Go be that starving artist you're afraid to be. Open up that journal and get poetic finally. 

Volunteer. Suck it up and travel. You were not born here to work and pay taxes. 

You were put here to be a part of a vast organism to explore and create. Stop putting it off. 

The world has much more to offer than what's on 15 televisions at TGI Fridays. Take pictures. Scare people. 

Shake up the scene. "Be the change you want to see in the world."

I love this.

It totally speaks to me.

The one about being a grown up.

I really like coloring with crayons. You know what else I really like? SpongeBob-shaped Mac&Cheese, cutting my PB&J's in cookie-cutter shapes, sandboxes, and finger paint.

Why do I bring that up? Because some people can't handle that. Well guess what: alongside my 5 year-old love for life, I (mostly) financially provide for myself, pay bills, cook dinners, do well in school, and try my best to bolster forth with a positive attitude. Yeah, I act childish. I'm 19; not 61. I hate when people expect me to put on my pearls, cross my legs, and sip my tea Shirley Temples with my pinky in the air. (I'm also not British - har, har, har.) Life's too short to spend it acting like you're overwhelmed with responsibilities. We all have them.

Point being: I am me. Kalynn Petersen. Take it or leave it. Au revior.

p.s. I've asked for a trip to Disneyland for my birthday. Take that.

The one where the world meets Kenzie.

Apparently my brother reads my blog.

And when he saw that I hadn't posted any pictures of him and his woman from the weekend,

he was upset. 

Yes, yes, you're right. He DID tell me NOT to. 

"I just meant on Facebook, Kalynn."

And then he proceeded to invite (force) me to dedicate a blog post to him and her.

These are the only pictures I got of them. 

Not that she doesn't look good in this picture, but they really don't do her justice.

She is seriously so pretty. 

The wind was just blowing here and it was awkward.

But I really like her, and I know you will too.

p.s. Adam's fish was smaller than mine. 

p.p.s. Matthew wants me to let you know that he also caught a really big fish, 

and it was only captured on Jon's phone because my camera died, or else it would be pictured here.

The one about lost friendship.

I don't know why,

but every time I see a 

White Toyota

it makes me think about how

it still hurts.

And sometimes I cry.


But I can't surround myself with people
who can't be happy for me.

The one with all the cabins.

The last two weekends have both been spent away. 

Last weekend it was up in Oakley with Matthew's entire family for the Anderson side reunion. 

We shot shot guns, made s'morittos, went biking and kayaking, and played way too much nuts.

 

Friday I went to the RASCAL FLATTS concert!!

It was spectacular, to say the least.

I love hearing my favorite songs live!

At 2:00 in the morning, I picked up Matt from his house and we drove down to Panguitch.

Don't worry, we got there at 5:30 in the morning.

We spent the rest of the weekend with Julie and her family, Adam and 

she who must not be named. yet.

Not because she is anything comparable with Voldemort.

Adam just says I'm not allowed to disclose information about her yet.

Borrrrring.

She's actually super cute.

Do I dare say she's the one?

We went four-wheeling, horseback riding, and fishing!

I caught my first fish ever, guys.

I was freaking out.

I always miss Julie and her perfectly adorable family.

They are 4 of my 6 very best best friends.

Heavenly Father has blessed me with the most beautiful people and opportunities. And for that, I am grateful.

The one about family.

Do you know what's cool?

"what?"

I have two families. 

basically.

and sometime soon, 

I will try to find the time to tell you all about 

the family reunion with the second family.

a.k.a: Matthew's family.

I'm one incredibly lucky girl.

The one about my first two days at BYU.

I get up at 6:00 a.m. and don't stop until 9:00 p.m.

It's work from 7-4, class from 4:30-9.

But it's okay because my physics teacher plays jazz music for the first five minutes of class.

And the seal on the refrigerator in my apartment makes the most satisfying noise when you close it.

Today I broke a string of 256 consecutive days of seeing Matthew.

& I don't like that one bit.

As of now

Officially living in Provo. Officially loving life.

I'm just chillin' alone in my new apartment right now. Our contract began on Tuesday, so that's when I thought everyone would move it, but it's just been me so far..I'm all set up and the rest of the place is empty except the cupboard I decided would belong to my food. It's kind of lonely.

I told my mom that this would be the last time I'd move out of her house. It's weird that I'm officially on my own for the rest of time. I thought it might feel different than this. I think I just have some getting used to to do.

I feel like living 27 minutes away from Matthew is going to make a huge difference in the amount of time I get to spend with him, not that a full time job and going to school full time will have anything to do with that...

Here goes nothing.

And it was great.

Last night my old roommates and friends from SUU came down and we had a sleepover!!!

The night was filled with endless conversation. Although some of us didn't get along well while living together, we were always able to have really good late-night talks and it felt really good to do that again. These girls really are stellar, and I know I still have a lot to learn from all of them.

*Disclaimers on the picture: 1: We forgot to take pictures the night before, so the only picture we had time to take was right after breakfast..that's why we all look our best. 2: Kelsey is not pictured because she only had about 45 minutes to spend with us because it was either her little brother's brother's birthday party, or her boyfriend had a family thing she had to go to. She claimed both excuses. 

[ha. love you anyway, Kels.]

SO good to see and hang out with these girls whom I've been missing all summer long.

We were up until three thirty in morning, which pretty much goes without saying, and then I got up at eight o'clock to feed Nathan, so I've been kickin' it zombie style all day long. 

Matthew, however, insisted that I go mini-golfing with him and Nathan at Trafalga. 

So that's exactly what we did.

I know Nathan loved getting out of the house and we all had so much fun.

Wanna know something else that's great?

Matthew hit a grand slam at his game today.

We talked about our dream life of him going pro and playing in the MLB.

We'll move to Texas and I'll go to every game with our 6 children all dressed in his team apparel.

Hopefully he'll play for the Braves.

{slash the Indians. :] }

Cross your fingers for us!

oops.

I guess I spoke a leeeetle too soon yesterday, because pretty soon after I clicked the 'publish post' button, things turned, to under-exaggerate, a tiny bit sour. 

Now, no one needs, nor, I'm positive, wants to hear every detail about my perfectly ruined Sabbath, but I will say this: going to bed very emotional and sad leads to waking up very emotional and sad, and it's not a mood easily left throughout the day. 

However.

God gives girls big brothers. I'm not sure how, but my brothers always know when I'm down, OR...they don't, and they are simply wonderfully thoughtful at the most meaningful of times. What I mean is, I came down to my room after, what I felt like was, the longest day thus far in my life, and I found this on my bed:

They're bright and yellow and mine.
It's amazing what support can do.

Thanks, Derek. 

They completely made my day.

Love, Kay.