Finals Friday= Fantastic. But really.

So...Friday was like the best day ever. Which may be hard to believe considering it was the first official day of finals. I took my first final in the morning and started to plan how I was going to finish all of them. I was planning on taking another on Saturday, and had something in the afternoon and I got all antsy because I usually go to the temple on Saturdays and I have to go once a week and I was going through everything I had to do in my head and I just didn't see how it would work out! I thought I could go Friday night but then I remembered I had agreed to cover at work for a friend. Dang it! I was getting a little desperate and probably a little sassy so I just said in my head to God, "Well I'll go tonight if you get me off work!" And then I realized I'm not really the one here who sets the terms and I would just need to make some time somehow Saturday. Literally a couple of hours later my friend texted me and said she had found someone who was willing to take the whole shift if I wanted, um YES I want! God is good.

So I pedaled my bike up that hill and went to the temple. Which reminds me, WHY do we use the phrase "it's just like riding a bike" to  describe things that are supposed to be easy. Like, is it just me or is riding a bike actually real hard? Like, first of all, where do you go? I feel bad taking up the sidewalk because that's for pedestrians but I feel slightly terrified to ride in the bike lane here in crazy Provo town! And has whoever invented that phrase ever rode a bike in a dress? Or did they ever ride a bike on anything other than perfectly level, flat ground? Seriously. I like to think that I'm in pretty good cardiovascular shape. NOPE. Either that hill is killer or I am a wimp.

But the temple looked so beautiful, as always.

 It was so great. The temple is definitely the place where I feel closest to the Savior and sometimes I wish I could stay in there forever. There is a beautiful painting of Christ in the Celestial room. I love to sit there and just look at Him and think of Him. But the time always comes to go back out into the world. This time the song popped into my head, If the Savior stood beside me( this version is soooo good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I8QCqaaP4A). And it reminded me that although I can't see Him, the Savior does walk with me and watch over me! He is never far away. :)

I love the last picture because leaving the temple you see Utah Lake and with the mountains and everything it reminds me of Lake Titicaca and another very special place for me.

Also, I made these meme just now to describe how I feel.

Also, just as a side note, I'm pretty sure this guy is drinking a refreshing bottle of cream soda.
Ahem. So anyways, I got out of the temple and responded just in time to see my favorites! Taylor, Jenny, Carson, and Nolan who were in my neck of the woods. They gave me an awesome surprise!!

This is a bowl. It contains( or at least contained haha) brownie mix, a water bottle, flashcards, a note, pens, chex mix, candy ( oh they know me so well) and drumroll.....

Unicorn and kitten pencils. Can life get better? I suggest that it CANNOT!

That is a picture of my face describing how I felt instead of trying to describe it with my words. Did I take a final with one of those pencils the next day? Yes! Did it break? No! Did it smudge? No! Did it give me immeasurable emotional strength? YES! And I got a 96 so yeah. Thank youuuuu!

And then the other texts where from Alex telling me we were going to the Chocolate? Remember how at the beginning I talked about how busy I was? Yeah. Disregard that. There is never not time for the Chocolate. Not now, not ever! As grandpa promised, " ice cream fills in the cracks". And because Friday was pretty crackless, it was just like putting a delicious scoop of french vanilla ice cream on top of a hot, gooey, melty chocolate chip cookie. Actually, that's really what it was. That's literally what we ordered. So it really was great.