Fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith.

President Thomas S. Monson

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Hey, I know I just barely blogged....but here's another.

Today I am moving to....(drum roll please)....OAKCREST! I will be there for the next 11 weeks. I am so excited and grateful to have this incredible opportunity. It is going to be a blast and I love the people I will be working with. I will, however, miss my lovely family and friends. I will be home on the weekends and will not have cell phone or internet during the week. BUT, I can receive letters! Three cheers for snail mail! This is my address if you feel inclined to write me a letter or send me a note:
Lauren "Coconut" Kasteler
5850 E Benchcreek Rd. 
Kamas, UT 84036



I would really love to receive some letters and I promise that if you write me, I will most definitely write you back.


Love you all!


Oh, and I will be home on the weekends so you can expect that I will still blog then. In case you were worried.

The place.

The place where little girls can run around in princess dresses.
The place where little boys can walk around with plastic swords in their belt loop.
The place where adults can wear ridiculous hats and ears.
The place where you can have ice cream everyday.
The place where time doesn't really matter unless you're dealing with fast passes.
The place where the rest of the world doesn't matter.
The place where strollers have parties in the middle of the street.
The place where dreams come true.














Monday, May 21, 2012

Dear.

Dear Blog Readers (yes, all three of you),

I know you are all quite jealous, but I am departing to Disneyland this afternoon. I'm sorry that lately I haven't been too good at updating you on what as been going on. How about I sum up the weekend for you??

Saturday. Wow. Third day of Oakcrest training. Incredible. So fun. We cleaned and took our staff picture. We also found out our first set of roommates. I'm sure all of the non-redheads are quite jealous that they didn't end up with us in The Casa de Rojo. I am so excited to move up to camp on Sunday and start camp! I don't even think you can begin to understand how I feel about this opportunity. Unless of course, you do have this opportunity.

After training I went to dinner with my momma. Then I caught up with Lex and Tiff. That was great. Oh, and I love Cold Stone.

Sunday. The day of rest. Oh, how I am grateful for a day of rest each week.

Sunday Night. I'm sorry to say that I missed the solar eclipse. But don't worry, I was at my brother's Eagle Court of Honor. Eight other boys also received the rank of Eagle. What a sacred and beautiful ceremony. A wonderful tribute to my incredible father. And I know he was there in spirit. He is proud of every single one of those boys and is especially proud of Spencer.

So proud of you, Spencer.
What handsome young men they are.
Yes, He is fourteen years old. Yes, he is tall.

And now, I need to continue packing and getting things ready. Thank you so much for reading. I will talk to you on Saturday!

Love Always,
Lauren

Friday, May 18, 2012

Line Soup

There are a few items of business that need to be addressed.

First, I got my wisdom teeth out on Monday. My face is still swollen! That wouldn't be a huge deal except tomorrow we are taking our Oakcrest staff picture. Erg! Oh well...

Second, I am going to Disneyland. Next week. Yes, we did plan it on Tuesday. Yes, everything was finalized on Wednesday. Hah! I'm so excited! I will always be a Disney girl.

Third, six months. Has it already been six months?? Has it only been six months?? Boy, am I grateful for the wonderful Plan of Salvation.

Fourth, I get to see Jer tonight. Gee, whiz it has been too long!

Fifth, wasn't the rain beautiful?

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

What's your excuse?

Got my wisdom teeth out yesterday.
Am I going to use that as an excuse to be completely lazy today??
Yes, yes I am.
That is my swollen face.
Feel free to come be lazy with me. :)

Monday, May 7, 2012

Summer 2012

So today. I went running. And in the middle of my run I stopped at a certain house. And talked to two certain people. For about an hour. And can I just tell you that it was so great to talk to those two people? It was. I also ran an errand. For my momma. Then we ate delicious salads. I cleaned. And unpacked. And cleaned some more. All I have left is some laundry. And some bathroom stuff to put away. Oh. I also need to vacuum. I helped my mom make dinner. Chinese. Yum. After dinner was kind of a blur. Oh. And it's Monday. I love Mondays. Because it means I get emails from a few incredible men in suits who are all around the world. Also, I didn't get ready today. Shhh. Don't tell. Gotta love summer.

Alrighty. Here is the list.

The Things-I'm-Going-To-Do-This-Summer List
go to the temple once a week.
get my wisdom teeth out. next monday. eek.
read 5 books.
visit teach every month.
go boating.
go on 4 dates. we'll see how this goes considering I will only be home on the weekends.
go stargazing.
go on a night hike.
put together a recipe book. with my mother's help. of course.
read The Rescue. I don't know if this counts towards the 5.
stay caught up in my journal.
give a Book of Mormon to someone.
go to 7 Peaks.
apply to student teaching. CRAZY. right??
do something nice for someone every day.
go to Draper Days.

there might be some added at a later time.

Aren't these so pretty?

Sunday, May 6, 2012

refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought

"We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues."
President Thomas S. Monson

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Better.

Two years of college....in the BAG!!!
I really wish you could hear me say that because it sounds so much better than just reading it.
I'm still waiting to see what the grades in a few of my classes will be. We will see. Overall, a very successful semester.
Sorry for the scatter-brain-ness of this blog post.
I moved back to Sandy yesterday. I still haven't unpacked all of my stuff. My room is a disaster.
I've been working on making a list of things I want to do this summer.
I will post it on here another day, but the objective of this post is goodbye.

Goodbye to Logan. I miss you already. I will see you in three and a half...ish months.
Goodbye to the new friends I have met. I can't wait to see you again!
Goodbye to my UTF job. Thanks Dr. D!
Goodbye to Jones Hall. Sorry I didn't always say the nicest things about you.
Goodbye transition classes. Bring on level III!
Goodbye to being a sophomore. Has it really been two years?
Goodbye to the 1st ward.
Goodbye to my amazing roommates. I can't believe how blessed I was to live with you.
Goodbye to the things I could have done better.
Goodbye to some painful memories.
Goodbye to things I wish I could have changed.
Goodbye.

Although I just finished a year of school I feel as if a chapter of my life is ending. I'm starting a new phase of my life. I'm going to be better. Stronger. More faithful. Healthier. Less judgmental. More patient. More helpful. Happier. Better.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Fortune

What happens when you are moving in two days and you have a whole bag of fortune cookies?

You open all of them.

They tasted yucky.

We didn't eat them.

We just read a lot of fortunes.

Got some repeats.

Even some doubles.

How many total?

128

That's a lot of good fortune.