Something great about college is how much I've been able to learn about myself. I have made some huge life decisions over the past few months and have also enjoyed discovering (or rediscovering) things about myself. Just this past week I have started to rediscover my love of drawing and writing. What better way to jump back into something I used to adore than with one of my favorite things: elephants! When I was younger, elephants were my favorite animal and the same is true today. I think elephants are both awkward and majestic and I find that incredibly endearing.
 I'll be honest, I used pictures from pinterest as reference, but I'm still pretty pleased with how my drawings turned out.

No, this is not an elephant.
My roommate requested a giraffe. :)

I feel like part of what I need to do here at BYU is discover, explore, and enjoy my experiences. Before coming here in the Spring, I received a father's blessing. I thought for sure that the message would be something along the lines of "gird up your loins" or "go get to work." I was wrong. The message of the blessing was essentially this- the Lord is pleased with me, He is grateful for the lives I have touched,and I am to continue to be a light wherever I go. As I go to BYU, I will find happiness in this new adventure. Every blessing I have received since then has given a similar message. God really does want me to enjoy my time here! I have the whole world in from of me!

On the drive to Utah, I wrote in my journal the following words, which I find extremely applicable: "Something I've learned is that you don't have to know it all. You know enough. You have the Spirit to guide you always and constant access to the Man who knows it all. Let Him show you the way. He can see a lot better than we can." Taking those steps of faith has been a real challenge in my life, but it has been a great adventure. I really have seen how the Lord lights the way for me, one step at a time. It's amazing!

Today I went to a devotional for the first time in a long time. I walked in by myself and stood by the door awkwardly, glancing around for somewhere to sit. "I could sit by myself on the side row... or I could go and sit by the girl over there..." Something I have learned about myself that I have had to fight through is how much other girls intimidate me. I find it a lot easier to talk and become friends with boys, but after some unfortunate experiences with misleading people during the Spring, I have decided to veer away from a boy-dominated friend group. Which means two things: 1. I have to make an effort to reach out to other girls and 2. I have been somewhat lonely so far. In that moment at the devotional, I was honestly scared to sit next to this person. So this was the perfect opportunity to get outside my comfort zone! I walked up to this girl and asked if I could sit by her. She got a conversation going and it didn't take long to see that we have quite a bit in common! She and I are both the oldest kids in our families, both play the guitar, were both homeschooled in highschool, both write, and are both freshmen. I could tell pretty quickly that she's a gem. We swapped blog addresses, listened to the devotional, and went our separate ways. I'm hoping that our paths will cross again soon!