I'm taking this from Kandace's blog...but I've realized something about myself. I've changed. And not just the maturity that is expected from kids who go to college and experience things, but the change that comes when a young women finds in herself the light of Christ and knows she can do anything. Look at this picture on the left of me three years ago. Look how young and innocent I look! Back then everything was a game, a challenge to conquer. I had acne, and boy drama, and was trying to figure out who I was and where I was going.


And then another year went by and I experienced college for the first time. My heart got broken...a few times. I made friends, I did crazy things, I went to institute, I got kissed for the first time!! I established an even closer bond with my family and my Father in Heaven. I made decisions about what I was going to do with my life. I washed my own laundry :) And I matured just a little bit more. I didn't always have the answers, but I knew where to go to find them, and I couldn't wait for more.

And now it's 2011 and I find myself at college for the second time with more responsibilities and more opportunities. My acne left, the boy drama cooled down, and for the first time I looked into the mirror and saw something beautiful. Someone who shone from the inside out. I performed in front of a large audience that wasn't my High School and I learned how to be a good friend. And now I look ahead and see that although I've accomplished a lot, I still have a long way to go. But the difference now is that I'm finally taking my father's advice and am enjoying the journey. Looking at these three pictures, all from the last three years, I feel a great sense of pride in myself as a daughter of God. And although I've made mistakes, and wish I would have done some things differently, I have no regrets. Just big dreams for the future me to come.