Gemma Annabelle Howell

I meant to post this days ago... but life got pretty busy!! Anyways, On July 29, 2011 at 4:05pm, my beautiful new niece was brought into this world. She weighed 6 pounds and 7 ounces and was 19 inches long. She is the newest addition to the Howell Family and is very very precious. I like to call her my precious gem. Her name is Gemma (pronounced like Jemma) Annabelle Howell. She (and babies in general) are amazing miracles and are such a blessing. Chris and Laurie are such great parents. I could tell from the very first day. I'm so excited to be a new auntie again!!! YAY!!

3 Years Today

3 years ago today a great husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather passed away. He was a great man who is greatly missed. Auburn Howell is now in heaven and better than ever. I am SO grateful for the knowledge I have of what happens after death. I know that I will be with my family forever and that we'll all be happy! I know that I will see my grandpa again. Its what makes the whole "death process" so much easier. Even though we didn't see my grandpa Howell as often as I would have liked anyways, I knew he still loved me and supported me in everything I did. I only wish I could get to know him a little bit better and express my love for him more. After he died, I was really upset. I was so jealous of my older siblings at their weddings with pictures of both sets of grandparents. I always imagined that part of my wedding and was pretty sad about it after. However, I know that my grandpa is always there and looking out for me and is always with me in spirit. I cant express enough how much I love this gospel and the comfort it brings on so many different levels and so many different aspects of life.

I'm sorry I haven't posted lately. I'm hoping that will change.

Keep smiling and enjoying life!!

Back in Colorado

It's odd how quickly I can get back in the swing of things in my hometown. Not that I wasn't spiritual or anything, it's just a different atmosphere from Idaho and it seems like I have to work extra hard to stay my best self that is expressed in Idaho. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a student of BYU-Idaho. That school seems to bring the best out in me and I can tell. My testimony has grown so much and I never really thought that a school could do that. My teachers, friends, and family all helped me grow. The church is the same wherever we go and I think that is the best part. When I meet LDS people, I know that they have the same standards as me and I feel like I can be myself right away. I've only been home for 2 days now and I feel that I'm already being tested. Not in a bad way, but in a way to help me keep good habits. Knowing that I always need to be improving myself helps me along the way. I may never be perfect at scripture study. I may not always say my prayers everyday. But I know that my Heavenly Father still loves me and will help me along the way. I can only hope that the things I've learned in such a short amount of time will be recognized by others. I pray that I will have the courage to share my testimony more and feel proud of it. I love this gospel. I know I probably say that a lot, but why not say it all the time? It's completely true. It blesses me and comforts me everyday.

May you recognize the spirit and listen to it. Have a wonderful day!

I Need Thee Every Hour

(1) I need thee ev'ry hour, most gracious Lord,

No tender voice like thine, can peace afford.

I need thee, oh, I need thee; Ev'ry hour I need thee!

Oh, bless me now, my Savior; I come to thee!

(2) I need thee ev'ry hour, stay thou near by.

Temptations lose their pow'r When thou art nigh

I need thee, oh, I need thee; Ev'ry hour I need thee!

Oh, bless me now, my Savior; I come to thee!

(3)I need thee ev'ry hour, in joy or pain.

Come quickly and abide, Or life is vain.

I need thee, oh, I need thee; Ev'ry hour I need thee!

Oh, bless me now, my Savior; I come to thee!

(4)I need thee ev'ry hour, most holy One.

Oh, make me thine indeed, Thou blessed Son!

I need thee, oh, I need thee; Ev'ry hour I need thee!

Oh, bless me now, my Savior; I come to thee!

We sang this song in my Book of Mormon class the other day and I felt the spirit so strongly while singing it. I later pondered why the spirit spoke to me so strongly during this song rather than the rest of the class. I came to the conclusion that since finals are coming up, I need my Savior more than ever. I need His comfort and His love while I'm struggling through this time. I love this song more now that I have had before. I feel like it has more personal meaning to me now and I really love that! I hope that all of us recognize that everything we have comes from our Heavenly Father and our Savior and that it's okay to feel like we always need Him. Let us all think about this daily.

God Bless America

In the spirit of the holiday (I realized its passed now) I thought I'd share my thoughts on being blessed to live in America. We are sooo blessed to live where we do. We have houses, food, clothing, malls, cars, bikes, and so on. I could go on forever probably just saying what we have and how we're so blessed to have all these wonderful things. I thank my Heavenly Father as often as I can of how much he has blessed me with. He's blessed me with a wonderful family, the privilege to go to school to gain an education, wonderful friends, trials, mistakes, just everything and anything you could think of. Everything we have comes from Him and it's so awesome! I would be a horrible person if I never thanked my Heavenly Father for all of this. Just living in America is an amazing blessing. It was really fun to get together with my family for the 4th of July weekend last week. As I was just sitting at different times throughout the weekend I realized how much I love my family and the craziness that goes on. I cannot say enough how blessed we are to live in such a well developed country. When you think about Africa or the other countries that suffer, we have it all to them. We have food on our tables every night. We know where we're going to be sleeping every night. We have jobs that we know will support us. Just because we have these things, doesn't mean Heavenly Father doesn't love the people of the other countries. Just have faith in the Lord. Trust Him because he knows what he's doing. We're in good hands!

God Bless America and I hope you all had a wonderful weekend like I did :D

Organize Your Time

So I know that I said I would post everyday... but lets face it, there is no way a busy college girl can post on her blog everyday. Wanna know why? Well because I've been prioritizing my time! I had two tests this week to study for and I'm hoping it paid off. If not, oh well, I did my best. And that is that. I also have a draft of my research paper due online this week and I honestly don't know when I'll get that done... I could have been working on it now haha but I need to add relaxing in my busy schedule. Some weeks are busier than others but thats life no matter what. Work, play, and school. I think it's so important to manage and prioritize and organize your time smartly... or healthily? I don't know if I like those words but I think you get the gist of what I'm sayin lol. I think I would be a mess if I didn't make my lists of things to do or discipline myself to stay off facebook and the TV. I'm glad the Lord blessed me with the talent to prioritize my needs and wants. It's not easy for a lot of people to tell their friend they need to stop texting in order to have a successful study session or turn the TV off and what not. I am so so grateful for my Heavenly Father and I'm grateful that He knows what to throw at me when I need it to challenge myself but also be there along the way to help if I ask for it. This gospel is so amazing and I love every bit of it. I can't even imagine what life would be like without it!

Prioritize your life and have a wonderful, beautiful day!

Laughing

Today I realized how much I have laughed this semester compared to last. I've really enjoyed this semester with my wonderful roomies and their crazy personalities ;) We laugh all the time and I love it! I've laughed more with these girls than I have all year long.... Laughing is good. Smiling is good. Laughing and smiling are thehighlights of my day and I love it! I love having the feeling of happiness and joy. Whenever I'm happy I think of why and realize I'm blessed in so many ways and I owe it all to my Heavenly Father.

Here are some pictures of some good times and good laughs lately!

These pictures are of me and my roommates. Jamie Greenall, Marie Sheranian, and Samantha Bruns!! Love you girlies!!

Keep Smiling and Laughing!!