Ivy Van Dusen: September 2013

It's Not Supposed to be Cold Yet

By Ivy - 9/26/2013

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Weekend Greatness

By Ivy - 9/23/2013

Well, this weekend was pretty much a straight up blast.

It began with a cute soccer player asking me to go watch his off-season game against Utah State.

And when a cute soccer player asks you to go to his game, you go.

And you drag along some of your friends, of course :)

I am so glad that Renee and Heather came along. Those girls are so much fun!

I left the soccer game early to go on a little mini-date with my friend Daniel.
It was a glorious night, you see, because I finally had my first bottle of real-life chocolate milk from the BYU creamery. It was way too good. Do not ever try it unless you plan on drinking it for the rest of your life.

Then came Saturday.
It was the BYU vs. Utah football game!
Me and Ashlin got to the stadium around 11 and waited in line all day for the game that started at 8:15.
We played cards, did homework (not really), had snacks and met lots of random, fun people!
BYU lost but I had so much fun, and I would totally do it all over again!

Ashlin (my roommate) is serioulsy SO much fun. We get along so great, and I am so happy she is crazy like me and doesn't mind waiting all day in line for football games! :)

Sunday was a rough day for everyone.
Nobody really got much sleep and it seemed like everyone dozed off at least once at early morning church.
But naps made everything better :)
Plus I finally got around to checking the mail, only to find another wonderful letter from Elder Skousen. I miss that guy so much. E-mails and letters from him (and his funny companion) just make my day all the time, even from far away.
I had a few church meetings that went great, and the day ended with some wonderful tunnel singing, which I went to for my first time! If you're at the Y and have never gone, do it! It is pretty much just a bunch of college kids singing hymns under a tunnel that echos and sounds super neat.

Now it's Monday, and it's time to get back in the swing of things!
I am off to the creamery to buy food, because I practically have none.
Thank you Mama, for always shopping and making sure we didn't starve. I am beginning to see how much you really do for everyone.
I miss that cute lady.
Oh and the JunieBlake giveaway goes until Friday, so go enter now!
Just scroll right on down... :)

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Modesty + Giveaway

By Ivy - 9/16/2013

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Week{end}

By Ivy - 9/15/2013

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Friday

By Ivy - 9/14/2013

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A God Of Miracles

By Ivy - 9/11/2013

//via//

On my phone, I have a little document saved entitled, "Proof that there is a loving Heavenly Father." On it, I'll periodically get on, and list something that I have seen in my life that "proves" there is, indeed, a Heavenly Father. Some things are great, HUGE blessings in my life, such as being a part of a wonderful family, and some things are just small and simple, even random things, like the smell of rain or the way you feel when you see a cute little baby asleep.

With so many people these days trying to steer everything away from God, it can be a little bit challenging to always remember that He is real, and that He really does love us. We read in the scriptures of so many miracles that took place in ancient times. Moses parting the Red Sea, Nephi being able to obtain the plates, Samuel the Laminate dodging arrows that should have killed him...I could go on and on. I think we often forget that God today is still the same God who worked all of these mighty miracles back then. He is always, always working a miracle. In your life, in mine, everywhere and in everything. From the sun that rises in the morning, to the rush you feel when you're driving around with the windows rolled down, He is in everything big and small, you can just feel it.

In the past year, specifically, I have been able to see a countless number of miracles that have happened in my own life. Things that, if there was no God, never would have happened. I usually don't write about super, super personal stuff, not that this is too personal, but I feel like it's something I should write about. Warning though, it's a little bit of a novel, and it will probably be a little bit boring.

About a year ago, I was starting to think about college. I decided, just for the heck of it, to apply for lots of schools, including BYU, which I originally wasn't even going to waste my time with because I didn't really even want to go there, and I thought I had absolutely no chance of getting in, but I felt, for some strange reason, that I should anyways, so I did. As time passed, I decided that I would probably do what I originally planned and go to a university that was nearby. Cool.

Months passed, and I got an e-mail saying I had gotten into BYU.

Okay. Uh, what?

And then I just stared at my computer screen for about five minutes, looking kind of like Mia did on Princess Diaries when here grandmother told her she was a princess. You know exactly what kind of face I'm talking about.

I still sometimes make that face when I think about it all.

Anyways, I looked at the tuition, and housing and all of those other great costs, and because it wasn't an in-state school, there was no way I was going to use grants/scholarships and stuff to pay for it, so basically I wasn't going to be able to pay for it, and therefore, not go. Okay, whatever.

A few weeks later I get a different e-mail saying I was awarded a full-tuition scholarship.

There must have been a different girl named Ivy that they were getting mixed up with or something. Again, I had no idea how all of this was happening.

From there came several more miracles.

I was able to get an awesome place to live.

I was able to get a little summer job (that I may not have loved but, I am still go glad I did it).

I was able to get pretty much everything I needed to be able to go away and go to school.

Then, about 4 days before I was going to head on up here, my mom found out that she had skin cancer. They didn't know exactly what they were going to do, when they were going to do it, or how. Now, I tend to seriously over-react to everything in life, so needless to say, I was a complete mess that week.

How on Earth was I going to get all ready and move to another state right now?

I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to go live with random people. I didn't wanted to do any of it.

But I did. And Heavenly Father helped me do it.

(My cute mom had surgery today, and so we are just waiting to see more results of everything, but so far it isn't as bad as I had originally thought, so that's good).

It definitely has not been easy. None of it. I can't tell you how many sleepless nights I (and probably my parents) had, worrying about all this college stuff, let alone the doctor stuff.

But every time, every single time that I, or when anybody, even ancient prophets, took a little leap of faith, did my best, and Heavenly Father took care of everything else, just like he always has. He has constantly held my hand through everything, sometimes even pulling me to do something that I didn't want to do.

I am so happy that I am here at BYU right now. I still don't know what I have done to be blessed so much.

So the next time you find your self feeling overwhelmed by the rest of the world, or just feeling a little bit down, make a little list of all the miracles that you see in your life. The things that, without any explanation, are just good.

They are everywhere, I'm tellin' ya!

1 day 'till Friday :)

xoxo