Surprises [insert verb here] Plans.

Sometimes, life surprises you.

Like when you realize that you are going to be twenty in less than six months, and you were not even expecting this to happen so soon.

Or when you find yourself planning a bridal shower and buying lingerie for one of your best friends, and you feel like you are playing a game rather than actually living a life.

Or when your baby sister gets baptized, or your little brother is taller than you and talks like a mannn, or your other little brother can outrun and outshoot you on the basketball court without even trying.

These are all some little surprises I got when I went home to Maryland for a month. It was the best time I've ever had going home! I nannied during the day, almost every day except weekends. Then, when I got home every night, I would help my mom make dinner or play basketball with Jacob. After dinner, I usually hung out with Caitlin or my sisters, or Betty, or all of the above. Whether we were playing Nerts, making no-bake cookies, or just talking, it was so fun and relaxing.

I planned this trip back in February. I realized that summer was coming up, and I needed to find a job. I started applying to nannying jobs all over the US and Canada. I got two offers, one in Alberta, Canada, and the other in Put-in-Bay, Ohio. The darling family I nannied for last summer also asked me if I would nanny for them again this summer. After many prayers and pros-and-cons lists, I made up my mind: I would stay in Provo for the majority of the summer, but go home for a month to see Nicole's graduation and Sarah's baptism. And just like that, everything fell into place so that my plan was executed perfectly. I loved my trip home. I'm loving this summer in Provo so far.

But a part of me still wonders. What if I had gone to Put-in-Bay, Ohio, to nanny those two adorable kids? I would have lived on an island in my own apartment separate from the family I was nannying for's home. I would have taken a ferry anytime I wanted to get to the mainland to go to a shopping mall. I would have spent the summer loving two new kids and learning how to live like a big girl, on my own. I would have called my family at night and made friends with the store owners in the small town.

Parts of the offer were kind of scary. The parents wanted to pay me under the table, which means they would have no real accountability to pay me. I would have been all alone if anything happened to me. So yes, something really bad could have happened.

And then again, what if I had gone to Alberta, Canada? The job description promised lovable children and $600 / week. I would have lived close to Danielle and Natalie, some of my friends from my freshmen ward, and maybe gone to their same singles ward. I would have lived in a setting totally different from anywhere I've ever lived. Either nannying job appeared bright with adventure and spontaneity.

I like the idea of spontaneity, but as fun as it sounds, I'm not very good at living spontaneously. I have the next 4 years of my life planned out. I picked my wedding date when I was still in Young Women's. I've known I wanted to be a teacher since I was in kindergarten. And strangely, in a way that surprises even me, my plans have yet to fail.

I guess I'm just wondering when they will.

So you fill in the blank. Surprises aren't always good for plans, but sometimes you just can't plan for how great things are going to be. I was surprised by how absolutely wonderful my trip home was (good surprise). I was surprised when I got sunburned a few days ago (bad surprise; I would have preferred a tan). I was surprised when I fell in love with a boy who I knew would be leaving in a mission soon after I met him (good or bad surprise? I'm not sure. Question mark). I am still surprised by how much I miss my roommates from last semester (sad surprise).

Do surprises enhance plans?

Or do they ruin plans?