Things I Haven't Posted Yet

It's been a while since I've blogged.  I guess I've been too busy living to blog.  Which is definitely a good thing.  Anyway, here are the updates:

• I went to Arizona and was a mother for a week and a half to three children.  What a crazy week and a half!  But I'm so glad that I got to hang out with Sabrina and her adorable children!
• I have been working EFY this summer.  I worked three weeks in Utah and I'm now in Virginia for four weeks!
• I will be moving to Pennsylvania to do a Child Life internship (in the middle of nowhere) sometime in August or September (date still up in the air).  Getting that internship was an EFY miracle.  And it is obviously where I need to be now.
• I love Virginia.  It's so green and beautiful.  And the fireflies!  Oh the fireflies! I am officially obsessed with fireflies!  I had no idea what I was missing but I'm like a little kid when I see fireflies!  And the food!  Oh the yummy, huge portioned, unhealthy food that tastes like a sinful heaven!  I love it!  I'm going to be so fat at the end of this month.  Except for the huge hill (mountain?) that I have to climb several times a day to get back to my dorms.
• And yes I've been wearing yellow all summer.  And I wore a bright pink sparkly headband today.  It's a strange world we live in.

Now for picture overload:

Graduation 2013

I did it! After four years and two universities I'm a college graduate!!  I'm so glad my parents and grandparents were all able to make it to the ceremony. 

My graduation announcements

Grandma and Grandpa Heiner and I.

Me and all of my grandparents.

Grandma Moore and I.

Me and my parents.

Yay I'm Graduated!

As I close this chapter of my life, I'm feeling so grateful.  I couldn't have graduated without all of the love and support of my family and friends.  I would be nowhere without my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  

Hey there May 2013! When did you get here?

Glory, glory hallelujah! I survived!  April is over! And so is my life as I know it.  And at the moment I'm ok with it.  I'm even excited about it?  Maybe.  Weird.

Change.  Bitter sweet. 

I'm excited for this semester to be over.  Spring 2013 Semester was a difficult one.  I had some awesome experiences.  And some not so awesome experiences.  I feel much more grown up now.  I don't want to grow up. 

I'm nervous to be done with college.  I remember back when I was in first grade, part of my ID number was the year I would graduate high school.  2009.  I remember thinking that year would never come.  I mean, we were knee deep in the 90's then my friend.  And y2k would kill us all anyway.  Can you say new millennium?  And computers taking over the world?  And yet here we are four years after that year I thought would never come. 

I remember when I was in Young Women's, it must have been shortly after I turned twelve.  We were asked to set short-term and long-term goals.  Goals for the next ten years.  I remember thinking how ghastly old I would be when I turned twenty-two.  Gosh I couldn't really imagine it.  I knew by the time I was twenty-two I would have my crap together.  Everything would be under control and life would be perfect.  I would surely be married, maybe have a baby, and definitely be a BYU graduate.  Haha life is funny.

But more generally I knew that I would be a college graduate at age twenty-two.  And I graduate on Friday.  And turn twenty-two on Wednesday.  Goal accomplished. 

Accomplishing goals is a weird thing.  I suppose I should feel more accomplished than I do.  I'm glad it's over.  But I don't really know what to do next in my life.  You're supposed to set a new goal after you accomplish a goal right?  But "it's very strange.  I've been in the getting an education/being a student business so long, I don't know what to do with the rest of my life."  And no, I haven't considered piracy (Name that movie). 

But I'm excited.  This is a time of great opportunities and so many options for me.  I feel comforted because I know that I've been guided by a loving Heavenly Father to this point in my life.  And I've had many of my choices confirmed to me today. 

I don't know how it will all work out.  I just know that it will all work out.

"Living In The Moment"

I absolutely love Jason Mraz.  I stumbled across across one of his new songs "Living in the Moment" while listening this playlist on Songza and I immediately pressed the thumbs up button, googled the lyrics to this song, and added the song on Spotify. (Random tangent: It's pretty ridiculous just how many different ways it is to listen to music now.  You'd think between my CD's, car radio, iTunes, Pandora, last.fm, Grooveshark, Youtube, Songza, Spotify,  and my iPhone which has access to most of these music mediums, I'd have enough ways to listen to any song I want whenever I want.  And you'd probably be right.  But should it really take so many different avenues to get music?  I think it's slightly ridiculous, but I've pretty much almost always got at least one of them playing. I may be slightly addicted. I wonder if that's healthy?  But I digress.) Just ask my mother, this song is exactly what I need right now.  This past month have been absolutely insane and I have a feeling the next few months are going to be even crazier.  Now most of the madness has actually been very positive and I am so grateful for the opportunities that have been presented in my life right now.  But as good as they have been, they have also been stressful and I've been feeling really anxious, which I know is not healthy.  I know that I need to "run and hide my crazy and start acting like a lady" and "I wish I could be just a little less dramatic" (Miranda Lambert, "Mama's Broken Heart").  This song helps me to be a little less crazy and dramatic.  Jason Mraz is a genius, there isn't a song of his that I have heard that I haven't loved.  This song is like a grown up version of "Hakuna Mata"  which is perfect because I love that song but I'm not so good at having "no worries for the rest of my days."  But I'm going to try to be better at living in the moment with no worries.

Enjoy!

Video:

Lyrics:

If this life is one act 

Why do we lay all these traps 

We put 'em right in our path 

When we just wanna be free 

I will not waste my days 

Making up all kinds of ways 

To worry about all things 

That will not happen to me 

So I just let go of what I know I don't know 

And I know I'll only do this by 

Living in the moment 

Living my life 

Easy and breezy 

With peace in my mind 

With peace in my heart 

Peace in my soul 

Wherever I'm going, I'm already home 

Living in the moment 

I'm letting myself off the hook for things I've done 

I let my past go past 

And now I'm having more fun 

I'm letting go of the thoughts 

That do not make me strong 

And I believe this way can be the same for everyone 

And if I fall asleep 

I know you'll be the one who'll always remind me 

To live in the moment 

To live my life 

Easy and breezy 

With peace in my mind 

With peace in my heart 

With peace in my soul 

Wherever I'm going, I'm already home 

I can't walk through life facing backwards 

I have tried 

I tried more than once to just make sure 

And I was denied the future I'd been searching for 

But I spun around and searched no more 

By living in the moment 

Living my life 

Easy and breezy 

With peace in my mind 

With peace in my heart 

With peace in my soul 

Wherever I'm going, I'm already home 

I'm living in the moment 

I'm living my life 

Just taking it easy 

With peace in my mind 

I got peace in my heart 

I got peace in my soul 

Oh, wherever I'm going, I'm already home 

I'm living in the moment 

I'm living my life 

Oh, easy and breezy 

With peace in my mind 

I got peace in my heart 

I got peace in my soul 

Oh, wherever I'm going, I'm already home 

I'm living in the moment

New Experiences

"A person who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein

Life is filled with new experiences. That's what life is all about.  Life is a series of experiences, occurring day after day.

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts." -  Eleanor Roosevelt

These past few weeks I've had a series of new experiences happen in my life.  Some of those experiences have been stressful and overwhelming.

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." - C. S. Lewis

Some of those experiences have been sweet, happy experiences.  I guess it's because good always comes with bad and vice versa.  That's sort of what Lehi said, right?

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney

One of the new experiences is sending Mason off on his mission.  I miss him, but I am seeing the blessings that are coming from having a missionary in the family.

"Do one thing everyday that scares you." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Another new experience for me lately has been learning to accept help from family when I need it.  

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions." - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

I feel like I can officially be pronounced an adult.  I have done Jury duty.  That experience won't have to be repeated for at least two years.

"Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing." - Oscar Wilde

Sometimes new experiences are experiences that you have hoped and prayed for all of your life and have always seemed just out of reach.  Then out of no where you get to have the experience for yourself.

"Nothing ever becomes real till it's experienced." - John Keates

There are experiences that you never thought you'd experience, never wanted to experience, and that you wouldn't ever want to experience again. 

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt 

New experiences are terrifying because you never know what they will be like until you have actually experienced them.

“A new experience can be extremely pleasurable, or extremely irritating, or somewhere in between, and you never know until you try it out.” ― Lemony Snicket, The Blank Book

 Experiences are more valuable then things.  Always.

"Know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." - Doctrine and Covenants 122:7

Called To Serve

This weekend I went home for my little brother's LDS mission farewell ("little" doesn't describe him very well anymore, he's taller than I am now, younger would be a more accurate description, but I've been calling him my little brother forever).  It was a great weekend, definitely worth braving the fog and the snow to make it back home for Mason.  I was so glad so many of my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins were able to make the five hour drive down especially with the weather.  It was great to be able to share this awesome occasion with them.  It was great to be able to hang Mason one last time before his mission to Ecuador.  And I was glad I was able to help my parents out a little bit with getting ready for brunch after Mason's talk.

The actual farewell was great.  The opening hymn was "Hark All Ye Nations" which immediately brought me back to EFY.  It was one of the songs that was part of musical program which I got to be apart of for two out of my six weeks.  It was one of my favorite songs in the program, although I really wasn't too familiar with it before that summer.  EFY last summer was all about missionary work, which was perfect for these kids who would soon hear about the new age requirements for missionary work.  Mason's talk was great, even though the night before I had distracted him from working on it by joking about movie quotes that he should put in the talk.  Movie quotes and jokes are how we bond.  It was my last chance to hang out with him.  After Mason finished bearing his testimony in Spanish he, my dad, the young men in our ward, and young men leaders sang "Called To Serve" another song dear to my heart because of EFY.  "Called To Serve" and "I Am A Child Of God" are the new EFY medly.  After Brother Duffin and Bishop Ence spoke and then we sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again".  That song killed me.  I didn't even make it through the first verse before I started bawling.  My mom and dad saw me crying, so they started crying.  Both my grandmothers cried as well.  But I definitely cried the hardest.  I left as soon as the closing prayer was said, hoping to gain my composure while getting ready for the brunch.  In my hurry I lost my shoe, dumped my purse onto my foot and the accelerator while driving home, and got mud from the car all over my leg.  I was a mess.

We got home and I got through the brunch ok until I knew it was time I needed to go so I could beat the snow storm.  Then even the thought of saying good bye got me teary eyed.  I was sad I had to leave so soon, that I'm not coming back home sooner, that I won't be there to see Mason off to the airport.  I was sad that I had to drive five hours away.  I didn't want to say good bye.  I felt bad that everyone was around when I said bye.  I couldn't stop crying.  My family was great, loving, and supportive, sharing their own experiences of saying good bye to brothers, reminding me why it was good for Mason to be going on a mission and I appreciated their love, advice, and caring.  I wasn't crying because I didn't think Mason should go on a mission.  I was crying because I was going to miss him and I wanted more time with him.  We're finally friends.(It's days like today that make me regret what a brat I was during the first eighteen years of my life, especially towards Mason.)  I don't want him to leave me but I do think he should go.  He's not even really leaving for another couple weeks and I've been missing him since the beginning of January.  It just all came to a head today.  And I couldn't stop crying.  We hugged like three times.  We made my aunts cry.  Mason's friends kind of laughed at my crying.  I told them to shut up.   Mason and I said good bye and I drove away.

And I cried all the way until we (my grandmother and I) reached Cedar City.

And then I cried intermittently until we reached Fillmore.

Grandma just kept handing me tissues.

And then I cried while writing this blog post. (Writing this blog post while listening to "Cat's In The Cradle" by Harry Chapin, "You'll Be In My Heart" by Phil Collins, "Don't Forget To Remember Me" by Carrie Underwood, and "Daniel" by Elton John didn't help with the crying.)

And I'll probably cry all the way through February too.

I keep thinking of the quote from the movie The Other Side Of Heaven where the dad says "I don't know anyone in Tonga well enough to love them, and send them my son, but I guess God does."  That basically sums up how I feel right now, I don't know anyone in Ecuador well enough to love them and send them my brother but I guess God does.

Mason's going to be a great missionary.  He's naturally friendly and social (much more friendly and social than I ever have been.)  He's smart, a hard worker, and he has a great testimony of the gospel.  And I'm sure he'll keep his companions and investigators laughing.  Mason is very caring and loving as well.  I'm happy and excited for him and the people of Ecuador. I'm just sad for me. Because I'm going to miss my friend.

Converted to The Lord not the ward

I'm not going to lie I've struggled with my ward this past year and a half and even more so since August. My ward consists mainly of freshmen living on campus and fraternity and sorority kids and I don't really fit into either group. My misfit friends who I used to attend with don't go now for various reasons so I'm usually all by myself on Sundays. My ward is huge and the bishopric is new so I pretty much go unnoticed. This has been very difficult for me and I've felt like an outsider and a visitor in my own ward. As difficult as it has been its been a good learning experience. This experience is helping me to understand and be more compassionate with other people's struggles at church. I have learned how difficult it is to go to church when you don't know anybody and you don't feel like you fit in. I have also been able to prove to myself that I am becoming converted to the Lord and not to the ward. I've come closer to The Lord when my only reason to be there is to learn of Him and to renew my covenants not to socialize. I've also learned not to take offense as I realize that the church is true but sometimes the members aren't. Even though I may be lonely at church during the next fifteen weeks I will continue to attend because my relationship with my Savior and renewing covenants is more important to me then fitting into my ward.

So it's been a while

I haven't blogged much the past few months and what I had blogged I hadn't published. I finally went through my drafts and decided what I want to publish and what I don't. Now maybe it's time to write something new. Yes? Maybe.

I've just started my final semester of college. I really can't believe it. I've got fifteen weeks left of school. It's crazy. This will be a fun and interesting semester. It already has been fun and interesting. I'm taking acting, creative writing, child and health care, racquetball, and tai chi. My first week of the semester has included a blizzard, a snow day, getting snowed in and then rescued by an awesome aunt and uncle, being complimented about being brave like a gryffindor, remembering how much I suck at racquetball and laughing about it, a broken laptop charger, skipping doctors visits, playing the piano for my institute class, skippig a play, a massage from a stranger, and writing. Today I spent about seven or eight hours cleaning my whole apartment and it felt amazing. I just hope it will stay clean. :)

"Republican" vs "Democrat" a.k.a. "Romney" vs "Obama" aka "Us" vs "Them" aka "Good" vs "Evil" aka "Right" vs "Wrong" aka "The Nastiest Divorce I've Ever Seen"

I'm kind of/sort of a huge news junkie.  I'm constantly checking ksl and reading the free newspapers provided by my school.  As a news junkie, I feel like I'm constantly getting flooded with political "stuff". And with the upcoming election I'm getting flooded with even more political "stuff" from "friends" statuses.  I know "stuff" is such a vague term but I feel like vague is a good description of our current politics. It's not specific political arguments about how the city, county, state, or nation should be run.  It's vague finger pointing blame.

Election year 2012 is the nastiest divorce I've ever seen. (Except with most marriages the couple starts out liking each other, I don't think either political party ever liked the other political party.)  You know the ones where when the Mom and the Dad are just arguing because that's all that they do, it's not about whatever the argument was originally about.  They start arguing and they just throw every little grievance over the years and they throw the kitchen sink into the argument and they get so off topic from the original argument.  Those divorces where the couple is fighting years after the divorce is granted.  Those divorces where the parties involved believe that nothing is "their fault" it's all the other person's fault.  Yes the divorce is ugly but if the "other person" would just stop fighting, they would stop fighting, but heaven forbid they should be the one to stop the fighting first.  Those divorces where there is absolutely no possibility of the couple agreeing or compromising about anything.  Those divorces where everyone who knows someone involved in the divorce has to "pick a side".  Those divorces where both sides thinks "I'm right and they are wrong" or "I'm a good person but the other person I'm pretty sure is the devil in a thinly veiled disguise".  And everyone involved in the divorce, but especially children, which is in this case the country, gets hurt.

What makes me even sadder is when politics spills into everyday life and even relationships between friends.  For some reason people seem to think that if they post an angry Facebook post about how whatever political party/politician that they disagree with is the devil himself sent to destroy the country will convince their friends/family/acquaintances that support that devil  politician that the politician they support is actually evil.  Because of their angry and contentious Facebook post everyone is going to vote for the politician/party that they think will save the country.    But what really happens is that they just tick off their friends and start arguments.  And all the while the country becomes more and more polarized and incapable of compromising.  Compromise is exactly what this country needs.

I'm just going to say it.

Democrats aren't evil.
Republicans aren't evil.
Mitt Romney isn't evil.
Barack Obama isn't evil.

Honestly, we need Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.  We need people who think differently and who value different things.  But we also need people who able to work with people they don't agree with and who are able to compromise.  Even if they could just pretend to get along the country would be taking a step in the right direction.  Extremism causes problems.

Please research the candidates, national, state, and local, and vote for whoever you think will be the best for the country.  But don't hate people who vote differently then you.  Honestly, the world isn't going to end because of who is elected.  (The world is going to end because the Mayan calendar ends, duh.)

It's just like Miranda Lambert says in "Only Prettier"

"If you wanna pick a fight, I'm gonna have to say goodnight.

I don't have to be hateful I can just say "bless your heart"

We don't have to like each other but it's sure fun to pretend.

If you just smile and behave you can always get your way

It's a universal plan that'll get you where you can in all societies.

So let's shake hands and reach across those party lines

You got your friends just like I got mine

We might think a little differently but we got a lot in common you will see

We're just like you, only prettier.

I'm just like you, only prettier."

That's all I have to say about that.

My Mantra Every Time I Get On Facebook

The. End.

Rapunzel and I

One of the great things about EFY is that it gave me cause to look at myself in a different light.  I wanted to let my kids know why I'm jaundice, but I wanted a fun and positive way to explain it.  So I thought of something brilliant.  I would tell my kids that my skin glows like Rapunzel's hair in Tangled.  It worked for them, for my fellow counselors, and even for me.  The past four weeks when I've told people they've been like "It's so true, you glow."  It's so much better to be told that you glow rather than looking at yourself like an ugly neon light.  And as we discussed the theme Arise and Shine and how these kids can get the glow of the Spirit by living the gospel I realized that "glowing" is a good thing.  I'm glad to "glow".

Another Late Night

I'm up late again, chilling in the stairwell, making sure none of the EFY Friday night lock down "prisoners" don't escape.  The keys are collected, damage reports completed, I'm listening to my Walt Disney Pandora channel, reading some General Conference talks, finishing up my tenth journal and beginning my eleventh journal.  I love EFY. It's weird to think that I'm not going to be doing this for another three weeks.  EFY has consumed my life this past month and I've loved it.  I'm exhausted and I could use a break, but part of me really doesn't want a break.  It's so cool to actually be making a difference by what I'm doing.  Even if I just touch one or two lives for good, it's so worth it.  I love going to bed exhausted because I've been serving others and my Savior.  And bringing these girls and boys closer to Him has brought me closer to Him.  I've made some awesome friends.  I've learned what it means to be truly respected by men and I've learned what it looks like when a man loves the Lord with all his heart.  I've learned that I need to learn how to work in a partnership better.  I've learned that I hate disciplining people, even when it's necessary and in their best interests.  I've learned that people get scared when you threaten to go all "Lamanite mother" on them.  I've been able to glimpse Heavenly Father's love for these kids.  I've learned how much I've learned over the past seven years of my life.  I've learned a lot since I was fourteen.  And when I'm twenty eight I'll be like "I've learned a lot since I was twenty one."  I want my kids to know that life gets better than it is at fourteen.  It really truly does.

Arise and Shine

Wow!!  I have learned and grown so much the past few weeks doing EFY. I have made many new friends and I've learned lots of parenting skills.  I have also learned to trust in the Lord and He has given me strength beyond my own to do the things that I need to do for my children at EFY. It's so awesome to see the change that happens in just a week with these kids as they learn to apply the gosple to their lives.  This whole experience has really strengthened my testimony too.  My girls strength amazes me, they all have so many hard things going on in their lives.

Not too mention that I feel so much more hip now.  I'm all up on what's cool with 14 - 15 and the 16 - 18 crowd.  I've learned a lot about the Bieb's and One Direction, COWs (crush of the week), and that apparently the music I grew up with in elementary school is cool again, especially Backstreet Boys and N'Sync!  It's pretty much awesome!!

These past few weeks have been some of the hardest weeks of my life.  I've gone to bed every night absolutely exhausted and woken up still exhausted.  But it's the best feeling ever.  I've felt tired for all sorts of reasons but the best tired is tired out from doing the work of the Lord with all your heart, might, mind, and strength.  Because of that these weeks have also been some of the best weeks of my life.  I have seen miracles.  And I can't wait for more EFY weeks.

Basically the moral of the story is that I have the best job ever in the history of best job's ever!!!

'Nuff said.  

Enjoy the pictures.  :)

Cute note from an unknown boy to all the girls at EFY.

The Celestial One's

My Celestial Girls

Amore Girls

My Co-Co Fonzie

My Co-Co Kelsey and I

Me and Fonzie

Josh and Kelsey

Amore!!

Father's Day and Graduation

This post is kind of a combined tribute to my Dad for Father's Day and to my little (or not so little) brother who recently graduated and is soon to head off to college and then on to his mission.  Mason's spent a lifetime being told that he's just like dad.  And I think that's a good guy to be like.  :)  I was recently listening to Brad Paisley's "If He's Anything Like Me" and it made me think of both of them.  So I thought I'd share it.  :)

"He's gonna love me

And hate me along the way

The years are gonna fly by

And I already dread the day

He's gonna hug his mama, he's gonna shake my hand

He's gonna act like he can't wait to leave

But as he drives out he'll cry his eyes out

If he's anything like me

There's worst folks to be like, oh, he'll be alright

If he's anything like me" 

Happy Father's Day Dad!!

And Happy (late) Graduation Mason!!

Happy Mother's Day!

This video is the video I can imagine my dad making for my mom to celebrate Mother's Day when we were little, you know, if youtube had existed back then.  :)

And this is the song that I found for Mother's Day to share to show my Mom I love her!

Holy Spiderman's Tooth Brush!

I'm blogging again!

It's been a while. I've finished another semester and started a new job. I turned 21 and celebrated in the Sunny South when my family.  I got my "adult" drivers license and I went to the temple with an old roommate.

I just finished Heaven Is Here by Stephanie Nielson and it's pretty much amazing, everyone should read it.  Now I'm about a third of the way through the first book of The Hunger Games but it's common knowledge that book is amazing.  I still haven't watched the movie yet.  I've also been reading The Emerald City of Oz which I think is probably one of the funniest books I have ever read.  My favorite part of that book is when the evil nome general is trying to get the Whimsies, strong creatures with tiny heads who wear huge fake heads made out of pasteboard, to join in his evil plot to capture a magic belt.  He tells them his plan which they agree to.  Then comes my favorite part of the book:

"One Whimsie alone seemed to have a glimmer of sense, for he asked: 'Suppose we fail to capture the Magic Belt? What will happen then, and What good will all our fighting do?' But they threw him into the river for asking foolish questions, and laughed when the water ruined his pasteboard head before he could swim out again."

I've been thinking a lot about attitude lately. There are some people who just naturally have a good attitude and are optimistic.  It doesn't matter if life dumps a butt-load-of-crap on them, their still happy and find the good in life.  And some people are really good at hiding their trials, at making it seem like nothing bad ever happens to them.  I'm not naturally like that, I'm pretty open about my problems and I have a tendency and if I get mad or frustrated I'm not good at hiding it.  I have to remind myself to use my filter.  Whether I'm mad about politics, network TV, personal stuff or whatever other random things I get upset about, everybody doesn't need to know about it all the time and life's still good even when things aren't perfect.  I'm trying to give myself an attitude adjustment and I'm trying to learn to be as happy and optimistic as so many people that I know who I so admire.

The chorus of Kelly Clarkson's newest song "Stronger" pretty much explains how I feel about life.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger
Just me, myself and I
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone"

And I've pretty much been OBSESSED with anything and everything to do with Mr. Alex Goot and Mr. Chad Sugg.  Seriously. OBSESSED. I spend hours listening to their covers, their original songs, and watching their vlogs while working on homework, studying, filling out paper work, chilling at the hospital getting my blood sucked out of me, and just chilling doing nothing.  It was hard to pick a favorite to share on the blog, but I absolutely love their cover of Call Me Maybe.  It's way better than the original.  But I also love What Makes You Beautiful, Wizards (love the Harry Potter reference), Pumped Up Kicks, and Stereo Hearts (how many guys can pull of singing in a spider man costume and use star wars references and still make me want to marry them?  not many!).  I can't decide who I love more, Alex or Chad.  I pretty much just want to marry both of them.

And yes, I've shared this video on Facebook, Pinterest, and now my blog.  I'm slightly obsessed.  

(If any of those boys gave me their number, I would call them.  And it's true, all the girls want their babies.)

Community has been renewed (even if it is just for a short season)! Cool.  Cool cool cool.

What Has Gotten Me Through The Past Few Weeks Since Spring Break

1. My parents.  I'm pretty sure I've been on the phone with them a ton the past few weeks.

2. This quote from my Girls State days:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Nelson Mandela

3. "I Have Confidence" from The Sound of Music. Yeah I've been playing this song over and over.

"I have confidence in confidence alone. 

Besides what you see I have confidence in me."

 

Now I'm just hoping to get through the next two weeks.  Two weeks.  I can do it.  

Quick Post

It's been a long time since I've blogged, and my life's been pretty crazy.  Here's a quick recap of the past month or so.

• EFY prep has been really cool.  I've learned a lot.  I'm a little overwhelmed at the thought of being a counselor, especially because I've never really done anything like it before.  It's another one of the many "first's" I've experienced this past year.
• I've got a new job.  I will no longer be calling U of U alumni asking them to donate money to the U.  Instead I will be working with special needs people helping them to get jobs or to work effectively in the job they already have.  I'm excited and nervous for this opportunity as well.  It's going to be another learning experience because I also have never done anything like this before.
• I've started volunteering with a hospice.  The little lady I help is so adorable and funny.  The hour that I spend with her on Sunday's is probably the highlight of my whole week, every week.
• I got a scholarship!  (woot woot!)  Yay for free money for school.
• I got to visit my family over spring break.  :)
• Community is back on NBC!!  :)
• Other than that my life has just been lots of school, homework, visiting teaching, volunteering at Primary's, vampire's stealing my blood (blood draws), roommate drama, and more homework.

Happy News!

I'm Going To Be An 

EFY COUNSELOR

Summer 2012!!

I'm going to go do a happy dance!

YAY!!!

Death and Dying

So I bet you're wondering why I would title a blog post "Death and Dying".  I'm really not trying to be morbid.  I don't have a death wish.  This isn't a "final" blog post.  It's because this is my favorite class this semester.

Now you're probably wondering why I would even be taking a "Death and Dying" class.  It sounds like a morbid, depressing, maybe even scary, class to begin with.  I'm taking the class because it's suggested for future Child Life Specialists, because even though it's a sad thought, some kids in hospitals do die.  And part of the Child Life Specialists job is to help kids get through the dying process and to help siblings of children who have died.

This class has given me a chance to reflect on death.  It's given me a chance to notice how prevelant it is in our pop culture.  I've got a "death playlist" with 28 songs that were already on my iPod that have to do with death.  And there are songs that I really like that I don't even own that are about death as well like Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying" and "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry.  Not to mention how much it's on TV.  And the news.  Oh goodness hearing about the tragic deaths of the Powell boys made me sick to my stomach.

But I've really enjoyed this class on death because it's taught me how to live.  It's reminded me that relationships are the most important thing in life.  Caring about people is the most important thing you can do.  That's what matters when you face death.