"Maybe if we're really good we'll get TWO marshmellows one day"

I have failed to update in a while even though I find myself with so much free time... ha! Last weekend was wonderful. I went up to Utah to see my honey and go to conference! Another perk was getting to see Papa R, I really miss my family. I had a wonderful time at Ryan and Meagan's and am thankful they let me stay there. I drove Zack and I out two nights and thankfully we made it back alive although we did get lost pretty much everywhere we went. I wish I had a better sense of directions. Sunday before Conference we did a quick tour of temple square- beautiful. I took about a million pictures (not really though) and Zack was a trooper.
Nothing too eventful happened this week..hm... except I got my first calling! I am on the Stake Young Single Adults commitee, I'm pretty sure we plan activities and try to reactive members in the stake. I'll tell you when I actually know more. Last night Becky and I watched Letters to Juliet, such a cute movie. We are headed into town to explore a little bit. I leave you with some picturesss :)
LOVE!
Lauren

Just a little somethin somethin

I wanted to update my blog frequently so it'd be like a journal (which I have way too much trouble keeping) but my life is pretty not exciting this week. At least it's friday....right? I have my first French exam on Monday and I'm going to be spending most the weekend studying for it since I said I'd get an A and dedicate it to Zack. His birthday is on Sunday. It feels like it was only a couple months ago when Sierra and I got up early to put balloons at his house, how nuts. I'm really excited about going up to Utah next weekend, not only do I get to see my love, but we are touring temple square and going to conference Sunday afternoon! PUMPED :) I'm really thankful for Mamma and Papa R for getting me a ticket to come up there. Zack and I skype a lot now because it helps with the distance I think. We like to leave the webcam on and "act natural". We read the scriptures or work on our homework and get to look up and see each other! I got a package from my mom today with a superrr cute shirt. I'm glad she has cute style haha. Sighhh, gotta go finish my math test!

Lauren

Sunday Afternoon

I thought I would give a quick recap of this week. I think week three has been the hardest so far. I'm starting to miss home and I'm really missing Zack (although I get to see him in less than two weeks!) My classes are all going well. I find biology the most challenging, maybe because it's so hard to pay attention. And the only class I am really enjoying so far is French. Oh! And my institute class. It seems I've been spending more and more time studying and lounging around my room but I hate being stuffed up so this afternoon I took a blanket and my scriptures outside. There was a nice shady tree right by my dorm :) - just what I needed! I bought a bunch of cute stickers at Michaels the other day and I would LOVE to write you a letter. So if anyone wants to be penpals let me know :)

Love and miss you all
Lauren

A Day In the Life of....

6:58 - wake up, it feels to earl since I've been sleeping in. Take our my make shift "curlers", am appalled by the site of my hair so I try to fix it.
7:30 - realize I still have to get ready! Brush teeth, puts on make up
7:40 - off to Institute!
8:00 Get to Institute on time, we talk about Prophets and how they different from other Church leaders.
8:50 - decide it's time for breakfast, so I try to find the south campus dining
9:10 - Twenty minutes later realize it was just around the corner. Get a bagel and begin to eat peacefully
9:15 A girl comes up and asks to use my phone really quick for an important call, she forgot hers. I say sure, why not.
9:25 - Get my phone back from the girl. Ten minutes is not "real quick". Leave the dining area and head for the bus stop
9:30 - Get on the bus, for the first time. Find a seat and listen to two guys talking. One of the guys thinks he knows the other. They figure out they don't
9:35 - get back to room and prepare for next class, Bio 181 Lecture

Institute - D&C

As some of you know I'm taking an institute class on the Doctrine and Covenants Mondays and Wednesdays at eight in the morning. So this morning I woke up at seven to a very unattractive hairstyle. Unfortunately I left my flat iron in Utah so I had to quickly hop in the shower and we out of the door by 7:45 because it takes about fifteen minutes to walk to the other side of campus. No time for breakfast! As I'm walking along it starts raining...great. By the time I walk into the institute building I have a feeling my morning is not going to turn out. I plop down in my chair and Brother Leisek asks for someone to say the opening prayer, my hand shoots up. Now, not everyone knows about my anxiety of having to do the prayer in a group but it's definitely not something I raise my hand for. So shocked I go up and say it and when I sit back down my morning starts feeling better already. We began talking about the apostasy and restoration. Countless missionary discussions and Sunday school classes and I never realize till today why it is so important to the LDS church. We talked about how privileged we are to have to gospel given to us and how sometimes we don't take advantage of it as much as we should. It made me think of some of my ancesters who maybe were searching for the true gospel but never got it here on this earth. Now that we have it I think it's important that we share it. I know that the true church of Jesus Christ has been brought forth in these latter-days by the prophet Joseph Smith. Because of the dark ages, a reformation was not needed to bring back the gospel but a restoration. A restoration was needed so that we can have the real priesthood authority and true prophets. I am thankful that I am living on this earth at this time and that you are all here with me. I know everyone is here for a reason. I love talking about what I believe and why I believe it so if anyone has any questions please ask. And have a great day!

<3
Lauren

Enough Love for an Eternity

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Thursday morning I was sitting on my bed and Becky and I were casually talking about the upcoming three day weekend. All of a sudden I belted out "I should go visit Zack!" When I said it I didn't actually think I was going to but the next day after classes I am sitting in the Flagstaff airport about to embark on my journey. The first week of school was (secretly) really hard because barely knowing anyone and being in a completely new place is scary. There is no one to come home to who can give you a hug, only phone calls and text messages really make the people you love feel near. I was definitely in need of some loving from my sweetheart. It is not the week apart that motivated me to go but knowing that we both needed each other. I am really glad I made the trip and I feel emotionally refueled and ready to take on the semester. One of my favorite parts of the trip was when Zack and I walked in the blazing hot to the Provo temple. It is the perfect place to sit in the shade and think about life. It made me think of the quote " A life loving is a life well spent. " I couldn't agree more.

Do you give your college professors apples?

My first day of college classes was yesterday. Wow, that is really surreal saying that... my first day of college classes was yesterday. I figured if I wrote it twice it would sink in more but it didn't really help. I'm posting what I wore today and yesterday because I told Zack I would and I think my mom will get a kick out of it. The weather has been beautiful so it's made it easier walking to so much. I think it's a little insane how much I've been walking, way more than any other time in my life. On Mondays and Wednesdays I have to be out of the door by 7:45 because I have my D&C class at the institute at 8 (it starts tomorrow!) then from there the two days vary but I'll tell you about what I'll be going through.. I mean enjoying, tomorrow. After institute I get to come back to more dorm till around ten then I'm off to my Bio lecture class - which has two hundred and forty people in it! Crazy. It's only fifty minutes though, so not too bad. I have some time between that and math which starts at 12:40. Here is the killer, at two thirty I have a three hour biology lab! YIKES! It ends at 5:20 and my french class starts at the same time. So I really have to move my little legs on over to class. I'm sure it'll be fine though - my French teacher is very laid back. My life over the past two days has been really busy. I'm looking forward to getting a massage next week ;) On another note, I talk to Zack every day and I miss him dearly. It's really hard being away from him and I sound really clingy haha. But he is doing great at BYU! It makes me feel better knowing he is having such a good time. Whenever I call it sounds like him and Allen's room is the party area. He is enjoying church and his favorite classes is Book of Mormon studies, how cool is that?! I am just so proud of him I had to put it in my blog. All this just makes me fall more in love with him...

For now,
Lauren

It's raining.. It's pouring

Yesterday we had a really bad storm. It was hailing yesterday for a while and the rain was coming down. As I was walking from across campus (which really is quite a walk) I noticed there is snow on the San Francisco Peak! Snow in August! That's crazy. Becky and I woke up this morning and decided to drive up and see if we could play in it :) We didn't make it all the way up but we did find some pretty areas!

Moving on Up

Today I moved in to my COLLEGE dorm. Pretty surreal. Having barely any friend and being in a completely new place pretty much by yourself is not very fun. But this is my first night here and there were some highlights of the day. Like exploring the breath taking campus. I can't wait till it gets a little cooler though, when it's in the eighties here it's HOT! Not having my own bathroom is really weird too. I guess everything new takes time getting use to and I know eventually I'll love being a lumberjack. Also, everyone should send me letters and/or cool things. I need some lovin :) And I'll write lots back!!

All my love,
Lauren

Cutsie room pictures

Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end.

One week left in Ramona. How weird is that?! It feels like summer just started and here I am, packing up my entire life in a dozen (or so...) box. I hope everything I'm bringing fits in my teeny tiny room. I've collected quite the array of clothing over my eighteen years. I blame it on my mother. :)
The living room is filled with boxes and my room is filled with, well, everything. It is quite the mess. I was telling Zack one upside of moving is that I'll get to start out with a perfectly organized room, something I haven't had in a while, if ever. I like to think of it as organized chaos.
I'm looking forward to all of the learning and adventures I'll have in Flagstaff but I'm still sad about not having everyone there with me. Please keep up to date with me on my blog and leave comments about your lives too.
Pictures of the mess coming soon!

<3
Lauren

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Like a Rainbow

I just got back from the baptism of Brother Plantz. It was pretty amazing. I told Zack that baptisms kinda remind me of weddings, in an odd sort of way. He didn't really get the analogy (it's one of those things that just makes sense me to me when I say it - haha). But I said it's like when you watch a wedding, the bride and groom look so happy as they commit to spend their lives together. That's my favorite part - the look of happiness on their faces. It's the same with a baptism. After someone goes under the water they come out with the same look of happiness, joy actually. That person not only committed their life, but all eternity, to keeping a covenant with our Heavenly Father.
Sister Plantz gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and she use an analogy I really liked. She said something along the lines of ", Describing the Holy Ghost to someone who doesn't have it is like trying to describe a rainbow to a blind person. You can say that it is majestic, that it stretches from one side of the sky to the other. But you really don't know what a rainbow is until you go outside and smell the freshly fallen rain and see the beautiful colors streaming across the sky."

with love,
Lauren

Romero Family Reunion; Going Granola

Okay so the title might be a little deceiving to some extent. The Romero Family Reunion only consisted of three days of camping. But there were now showers or running water during those three days!
I spent ten days with most of my second family and got to meet a lot of their extended family. I think that was my favorite part of the trip, getting to meet so many nice warm hearted people. With lots of energy, can't forget that. We camped up on Grandma and Grandpa Romero's property in the Idaho mountains - so beautiful! The fresh air was, well, a breath of fresh air. Zack and I rode one of the quads up on top of a hillside. We could see for miles rolling hills covered in pine trees and valleys of luscious green grass. The beauty of the landscape is truly a testament of the love our Heavenly Father has for us. I am thankful for this beautiful earth He made for us!
Two of the days on our trip we went to an amusement park called Lagoon in Utah. I already feel like I'm getting too old for roller coaster but I still had a really fun time. The second day there we spent at the water park for a couple of hours. A nice escape from the Utah heat. Zack and I mostly just enjoyed floating around in the lazy river. Halli joined us for a few laps too :)
On Wednesday we stopped by BYU, where my sweetheart is going to school starting this fall (which is almost a week away?!). It's going to be hard being away from him... I won't get started on that. But I enjoyed seeing where he is going to live - it sure is pretty up there.

This is probably the shortest summary possible but I've got to go get ready! I'll be posting pictures later tonight :)

forever young,
Lauren