My 2018 Rewind

List of things that happened in 2018:

• Studied in Vienna, Austria for a spring semester
• Traveled to 5 different countries (Austria, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary)
• Made concert choir ( a dream come true)
• Saw Hamilton (which left me incredibly satisfied)
• Fell in love with a new ward
• Lost a best friend (they're still alive in case you were worried, just not my friend anymore)
• Found out I have a half-sister I  never knew about (that's a pretty wild story)
• Became a sort of aunt (S/O to the Petersons :'D)  
• My first dog I ever owned passed away (RIP Snow)
• Accidentally did the wrong church calling for 3 months (lolz)
• Became a die-hard Phoenix Mercury fan (my new life goal is to convert everyone to the WNBA. Taurasi is the true GOAT)
• Performed my first and last voice recital as part of the BYU music program (hallelujah that's over)
• Dyed my hair twice and cut 7 inches off of it (drastically changing my hair is my go-to solution when I have boy troubles)
• Had my heart broken
• Survived survey of music literature 301!!! #miracleshappen
• Cried in Sister Applonie's office more times than I can count
• Received life-changing council and advice from Sister A more times than I can count
• Got to travel to Santa Fe with some rad people to learn from the Desert Chorale
• Made best friends in my ward by starting a dinner group that I absolutely love
• Learned that you should wear gloves while cutting  jalapeños  or your hands will  burn for literally days
• Can now legally drink!! (even though I never will, lolz)
• Joined the BYU convert club and met some of the best people I know
• Continued trying to learn the violin in practicum (and failed horribly)
• Got to work with a 4th grade class in Herriman which was SUCH an incredible experience!
• Played three intramural sports and loved every second of it
• Fam got a new kitten named Minnie and I love her
• Fam got a new puppy named Daisy and I love her
• Switched majors from general music ed to choral music ed
• Took my first ever conducting class and fell in love
• Saw my first operas ever in Vienna (Aida, blue beard, and magic flute)
• Realized I'm more of  a musical person than an opera person  (sorry to all my vocal performance friends :/)
• Decided to use social media to be more positive as well as vulnerable. I've  really liked the difference that it's made in my life
• Got to visit Yorktown for the first time since my mission! Fell in love with the people there all over again
• Had a broken ankle and a misaligned knee cap (hard to believe that happened in 2018. Feels like years ago)
• Got to sing in a choir for a devotional with Elder Uchtdorf
• Got to perform with concert choir for a devotional with Elder Gong
• Survived the theory core #ohpraiseGodinHisholiness

I think the most important thing I learned this year was how to find strength from myself, as opposed to relying 100% on other people. The hardest trials I faced this year involved people suddenly deciding they didn't want me in their life anymore when I had built so much of myself on/around them. Their sudden disappearance from my life left me without a leg to stand on. Funny how the people who help us the most are the ones who also have the potential to do the most damage. I'm glad those things happened, though. I learned so much through those experiences. 

Writing all these experiences out was therapeutic. It's easy to forget how blessed I am sometimes, it's easy to forget how many incredible things are actually in my life. And honestly, this was just a list of the things I did. If I were to write a list of the people who blessed my life in 2018, the list would be drastically longer. 

I guess my point is that sometimes it's easy to get so caught up in the problems of today that it's easy to forget about the blessings and miracles I experienced yesterday. I mean, think of how many miracles Laman and Lemuel witness only to revert back to their default murmuring state. It's easy to read 1st Nephi and think,  "wow, Laman and Lemuel are such nincompoops. How can they forget the miracles they experienced 20 seconds ago?!" but how often do I do the same thing?  Half of these things I only remembered to write down as I scrolled through the photos I took this year, which blows my mind because most of the things on this list felt like drastic, life-changing things while I was experiencing them! I guess that'll be a goal for 2019: to not be  "...slow to remember the Lord [my] God." To be quick to remember the blessings in my life, and quick to remember to thank the people in my life who make it worth living (including my Father and Brother).

Not really sure how to wrap this post up. If you managed to make it this far, I'll reward you with the picture that's my phone background right now that makes me laugh every single time I look at it: