deceived by the board

On my Pinterest board I have read all kinds of books, and seen all kinds of movies. On my Pinterest board I dress like a fashionable cowgirl and have 100 pairs of cowboy boots. On my Pinterest board I have a pink tractor and live the country life. On my Pinterest board I quote many wise people. On my Pinterest board I know every lyric to every country song. On my Pinterest board I own a bunch of huge expensive homes. On my Pinterest board I spend my summers on a private island and get awesome tan lines. On my Pinterest board I build dressers, and paint mason jars. On my Pinterest board I do creative things for the holidays. On my Pinterest board I am friends with all of the celebrities. On my Pinterest board I throw fantastic parties. On my Pinterest board I bake mouth watering desserts. On my Pinterest board I am an amazing writer and blogger. On my Pinterest board I do intense workouts to burn off those desserts. On my Pinterest board I am a professional nail artist. On my Pinterest board I travel the world. On my Pinterest board I read Shakespeare and listen to Broadway music. On my Pinterest board I buy all kinds of perfumes. On my Pinterest board my hair is ready for a wedding every day. On my Pinterest board I am a skilled guitarist and own all kinds of beautiful instruments. On my Pinterest board I own a huge wardrobe. On my Pinterest board I am having a very large wedding. On my Pinterest board I am a professional photographer. On my Pinterest board I get strait A's. On my Pinterest board I competed in the Olympics. On my Pinterest board I get whatever I want. On my Pinterest board I have children and am an awesome mother. On my Pinterest board I am the perfect tumbler. On my Pinterest board I am a genius. On my Pinterest board I have hand writing good enough to sine the declaration of independence. On my Pinterest board I know everything there is to know about history. On my Pinterest board I re-live my childhood every day. On my Pinterest board I visit Narnia and Hogwarts often.  

My pinterest board has deceived me.

Feel my Sunlight

p.s. Summer is so close I can taste it.

all the times

{My sister and I six years ago}

Well, I caved. I cut my bangs again. I tried growing them out but I got tired of braiding them so here we are. I have recieved mostly good comments, however, my favorite comment came from one of my four year olds yesterday durring class. She said "You look pretty and beautiful with your bangs, but you look kinda weird." I just laughed.

I have had a few experiences with kids in the last couple of days that have made me think. This specific girl shook me awake and made me realize how much kids are watching me. They are always watching. Yesterday at the gym a little girl came up to me as I was taping my ankle and said "I saw you when you were a teacher {I had just changed and put my hair up for tumbling} I liked your hair." Then she continued to talk saying things like "It's cool how you are a teacher and you still do tumbling. I want to do that when I get bigger." Then she showed me all of her tricks and asked me more questions. It just made me realize that I am being watched by the kids that I do know, as well as the ones I don't. I just thought I'd share that with a warning to you. Think about what you do. You never know who is watching you, and who wants to be just like you.

Yesterday on the drive home from the gym I listened to my little sister tell me a plot to an episode of Good Luck Charlie. She didn't know I knew it was Good Luck Charlie so she explained every aspect of the show. She told me what each character looks like and what they did. She told me everything she thought was funny. I just let her tell me. It made me laugh because it seems like that was me a few years ago, it also made me laugh because it made me think "is this what being a mother is like?" That freaked me out a bit. I mean, I only have two more years of high school, then we are released into the real world.

Oh how short these last 10 years has been, an oh how much I have learned. All the people I have met, and all the strangers I have talked to. All the groups I have been a part of. All the days I made my way to school. All the math problems I have done, and all the spelling tests I have taken. All the performences I have been a part of. All the tumbling class I have taken, All the tumbling classes I have taught. All the times I have laughed, all the times I have cried. All the times I have sat around the Christmas tree to oppen presents. All the rides in a car seat, to all the times behind the wheel. All the Sunday nights. All the songs all the blog posts, all the pictures. All the bikerides, all the TV episodes, all the times with friends, all the "hellos", the "goodbyes", the "I love yous". These have shaped me. These are me. And I love it.




Feel my Sunlight



p.s. Only 33 days until National Championships. Only 33 days until I can eat sugar. See you on the flipside.

Stand firm

{Have y'all signed up for EFY yet? I promise you won't regret it!}

            "Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft,      

                  and did wax stronger and stronger in their               

humility,         

                  and firmer and firmer in

the faith of Christ,         

                             unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea,

even to the purifying                

                              and the sanctification of their hearts,

which sanctification cometh because of their             

                 yielding their hearts unto God."

                              -Helaman 3:35





 The only way to find true joy is through staying firm in the faith. I know that in these later days the influences of the adversary are stronger than ever. The pressure to be pretty and popular is more prevalent than ever before. We can not yield to the adversary. Not even a little bit. Because it is in those moments when we let our armor down when the piranhas jump out of the water and bite on to our flesh. While our wounds can be healed with the Band-Aids and stitches that Jesus Christ has provided us, we will still feel pain. Repentance does not come without pain and heart ache. Our wounds may heal, but we will always have a scar as a reminder to never let down our armor again. Because it would be much easier if we would have just kept our armor on in the first place.

Today Satan's tactics are different than they have ever been before. He targets us with strong bate that dangles in front of our eyes every time we turn on the TV or computer. You can not walk the hallways at school and not see the influence he has had on the world today. You can not avoid everything he has to throw at you, but you can avoid much more by the decisions you make. You have the power to steer clear of much of the nasty that he has to offer. If you make an effort to avoid his temptation you will have an easier time when faced with it.

I'm not saying you must all quit listening to music, or watching TV, but I am challenging you to re-think what you chose to watch. I am not perfect, and I have my faults, but I will give my best effort to do the same. Because when you really think about it, Is listening to that one song really worth it in the end? Would that new outfit that shows off your shoulders and the exact shape of your legs really make you feel beautiful if you were standing in front of the Savior?

I am not trying to tell you what you should or should not do, because It is not my place for that. We are all human and we all make mistakes, that is why I am encouraging you to strive to be better. We can all benefit from being a little better. We can all benefit from being a little stronger when it comes to the temptations of Satin.

Our strength does not come in the same way that the world thinks it does. It does not come from running long distances, or lifting large weights. It comes from constant prayer, and regular scripture study. I have learned for myself that the more I do these two things, as well as attend church and other things like that, I become stronger and am more able to resist the temptation of the devil.

Let us all band together as an army ready to fight. Because we are already at war. We are fighting a fight where the enemy can't bee seen. We are fighting a fight that will prove fatal to many souls. It will not be a physical death, but a spiritual death that will come when we yield to the temptations of Satin.

Lets make an effort to lift our brothers and pull them to safety. I think we worry too much about what people will think of us if we talk to them about the gospel, but we should be worried about what will happen to them if we don't .

Our time is now, and we must fight. Stand firm in the faith.

Feel my Sunlight

p.s. So I haven't blogged much as of late because I have been spending my time trying to link my blog up to Facebook and Twitter. So far I have accounts on both, but haven't decided if I want to hassle linking up and using them. Would this be beneficial to my readers or would you all rather just read strait from my blog? Just a thought.

My contact info has changed!

Email me

feelmysunlight@yahoo.com

Follow me on Twitter! 

Follow me on Facebook!

Arise

I know it's early but I just had a wonderful realization and thought I should share.

I woke up to my alarm and all of its alarm goodness. I started to get ready when I realized that it is Sunday. It is only Sunday in my three day weekend. I don't have to go to school today. I can go back to bed! {after I blog about it of course} Happy Sunday my friends. Go serve God today.

The EFY music was put up on the EFY website and I have listened to the first thirty seconds of each song only about a bazillion times. EFY please come faster!

This post will be short because I want to go back to sleep, but I thought I'd share this awesome video with you.  It just so happens that this song is my alarm. Fitting right?

 

 

 

 

Feel my Sunlight

10th grade lament

{My friends and I with Shannon Hale at the beginning of the year.}

 

This year has been a lot, but it doesn't seem like it should be ending yet. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for this summer to come and won't miss school a bit while I am chilling in Missouri, or meeting attractive warriors of Helaman's army at EFY this summer. But there are things I have learned this year about myself that I hope I can carry with me for a long time.

One thing I learned was that popularity absolutely doesn't matter. In Jr. High I was popular enough. I had tons of friends and I knew everyone. This year is very different. I began this year eating lunch in the park every day with a group of about 9 friends. This was minuscule compared to the huge friend group I ate with last year, but it was still good and I felt like I fit in. Now I don't share my lunch time with quite so many people. I still eat at our little gazebo in the park, but we never have more than three or four of us. There have been times when I wished I was back in that lunch room at Fairfield where our group would fill two and a half tables and we would still have people standing around the group. I wish I still talked to boys as often as I used to. But even though my friend group has shrunk in size, it has grown in how close we are.

I may have much fewer friends this year, but I have spent much more time spending time with friends than I ever have in my life. Part of this is the fact that we can drive now and that it is much easier to plan a get together with three of us than it is to plan a get together with thirty of us. But it is more than that. I have grown closer to several people this year and it has been fun to have someone to tell your embarrassing stories or your thoughts about boys to and have them there to laugh with you. Carina, Nayethzi, Marissa, Katie and Hannah in particular have been a few friends that I have grown closer to this year and have loved every second of it. I have grown closer to my young women’s group so much that the other night the three of us that were there sat with our leader and had a boy confession session for a good three hours. It was a blast and I love hanging out with those girls.

And finally, I must talk about my team. I have grown so close to my team mates this year. This year we struggled when several of our team mates and best friends left the gym to go peruse other things in their lives. I had to say goodbye to a few people who had been a part of my life for a very long time. It was hard for me to think that I wouldn’t see them every day as I had in the past. But in doing this I gained many new friends. I became closer to Teri and we became great friends. I became closer to the other coaches and we now have a lot of fun together. I became closer to the rest of the team. This year has been a switch for me from being one of the young ones last year in my group of tumbling friends, to being one of the oldest on the team. Being one of the oldest and one of the only few competing at nationals automatically puts you in a position of leadership for the team. Though I may not have been voted in to any official position, I feel like I must take the team into my hands and be a friend and an example to my team.

This year hasn't been my favorite, but it has been good and I learned a lot. I am ready for summer... too bad I still have two more weeks.



Feel my Sunlight



p.s. Um the church is true and I love it a whole lot.

p.s.s. EFY is calling my name. I can feel it drawing me in. Can I just go now?

perfect.

 
I know I am supposed to be doing homework right now, but my mind is filled with words and I am afraid I will loose them If I don't record them now.

I learned something today. I learned about perfect. True perfect is not what the world sees. Today wasn't perfect. I heard a few swear words, and had to do some homework, but there were moments that rocked my perfect world.

There are moments in life, though they may be but little, have a great impact on your life. Today as I stood at the end of the mat preparing to do a skill I have been doing for years, I heard a little voice. Little Kennedy, the little girl I coached once, the girl I convinced that she was good enough. Said the words "Lets go Whitney, you've got it." And in that moment all was perfect. I did that skill better than I had ever done. As I walked back she said "good job Whitney". At that moment, all flashed through my head. I was suddenly the little girl watching Shawn throw his big skills and wanting so badly to be like him. I realized that while It may be hard, and it may not have been what I thought it would be, It still is. I am one of the only 5 competing at Nationals this year. I realized that it matters less the medal you receive, or the score you get, but the impression you leave on the younger team. I realized that I cannot and I must not fail. I can't fail them. But with them, success doesn't come from a medal or trophy, it comes from accepting them, and making them feel good. That is why I looked up so much to B, Ashlie, Stirfry, and Shawn. Not because they did cool tricks and won shiny medals, but because they made me feel good about myself and made me feel wanted. They made me feel like I was worth something. I can fall and break my leg at Nationals, but if I am excited for the little ones when they land their back tuck, I have won. And that is the greatest award I could ever ask for.

I also learned something about goodbyes. If you know me at all you know that they are my greatest weakness. While goodbyes may be bitter and they may hurt. While they leave a sour taste on your tong of unfinished words, and unspoken love, they are never truly lost. It may never be the same, but you will always have your memories to hold close. While you think it may be the last time you will ever hold them close, they may come back, even if only for a moment, and it can be exactly how it once was. For just a moment. For a perfect moment




Feel my Sunlight



p.s. Morning side TOMORROW! Ya'll better be there!

Blog Swap! {Hannah}

Today is the day I said goodbye to sugar. I got up this morning to the aroma of a  cupcake scented scentsy. This may prove to be harder than I previously thought. 44 days my friends, 44 days.

So my friend Hannah and I decided to swap blogs today. She is awesome. Read this post then go read my post on her blog HERE.

Blog Swap!

Hey guys! I'm Whitney's over dramatic, slightly sarcastic friend Hannah Hancock. Whit and I are dong blog swap! I'm writing on her blog and she's writing on mine! It's gonna be so fun! :)

~~~~~

When you are a little girl, you dream about being a princess, finding your prince, and living happily ever after in a castle. Now, this has always just been considered a fairy take, something that you could only achieve in your wildest dream. I mean for goodness sakes we can't all be Kate Middleton! (But Prince Harry is still available so there's still hope!) ;)

However, we Mormon girls are lucky. We are daughters of a King, our Heavenly Father, so we are all princesses! We can have it all! Once you find the prince you get to pick which castle you get married in. That's right. There's more than one, actually more like 141 and counting!

The temple is a sacred place where the Lord teaches, guides, and blesses us. It is the Lord's house and on the outside of ever temple is inscribed, "Holiness to the Lord. The house of the Lord." Temples are the most sacred place on earth and I love them so much!

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has built these beautiful temples all over the world and I feel the need to share their beauty with all of you! And so, without further a due, here are just some of the gorgeous temples from around the world!

Campinas Brazil

 

Logan Utah

Manhattan New York

 

Manila Philippines

Melbourne Australia

Oakland California

St. George Utah

Guadalajara Mexico

Bountiful Utah

Hong Kong China

Vancouver British Columbia

Salt Lake City Utah

{All images from lds.org}

I love the temple and I love sharing about it too!

If you want to know more about temples, click HERE

If you want to know more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, click HERE

Thanks for letting me take over your blog, Whit! Love you!

~Hannah~

Saturday Night

Most people go to see a movie on a Saturday night, I spend my Saturday nights photographing them leave the theatre. Because YOLO.

Feel my Sunlight


p.s. My little bro was super awesome to tag along with me all weekend when I had no one to hang out with. Love you bro!

Al Fox

{ In The Head Of Al Fox }

{picture stolen from her amazing blog  HERE}

I know it is past midnight but I have words in my head that just need to get out.

Tonight I had the chance to go to a fireside given by the lovely Al Fox. It was fantastic and just the thing I needed to give me that extra push to help me survive these last painful weeks I have to spend at the great and spacious building school.

High school is rough. I know it may seem that in Utah I should be surrounded with God's angels and Helaman's army as I walk from health to math every day, but the reality is far from that. The reality is that high school is a nasty place. I often feel as if nobody wants to talk to me and I am often ignored during class. It is in the classes with an abundance of bad words and suggestive sayings that I usually remain to myself and keep my head down. Because in a class with 18 loud, obnoxious, less virtuous boys, what is the little 4'9" girl going to do? Now, This isn't every class, and this isn't every person. There is plenty of Helaman's army roaming the halls at the high school, but there are many that want to make it known that they are on a different side.

Why do I tell you this? Because of the story of Al Fox. The way she learned the church to be true, the way she left her home, her family, and everything she knew to pursue a reacquiring thought sent from God. The way she pressed forward during the hard times and kept going. The way she knows the church is true and wants the world to know it. This is inspiring to me.

Now I may not have had to leave my family, or move across the country, but I did find the church to be true as I prayed that one Thursday night. I came to know that true happiness that Al spoke so strongly about, saying "I love that". And I love it too. But sometimes I forget about that when the kid next to me is swearing, or when my health teacher makes me write poems about sex. {No joke, this happened today. Last week she made us draw "pictures"...} I forget what I am really fighting for, and why I am doing what I am doing. I forget that I should be standing as a witness of God at ALL TIMES in ALL THINGS and in ALL PLACES... even in my health class.

The story Al told was about overcoming something hard. This is my hard. Your hard may be something completely different, but we all have our very own hard. Our hard can and will be overcome if we rely on the Lord for guidance. If we rely on him every single detail will workout in his timing. He will not let us fail if we do everything we can possibly do.

Al Fox has this enthusiasm about the gospel that shows that she truly knows it to be true and loves it with every ounce of her being. She is generally excited about telling others about the gospel. I relate to this. When I came home from EFY the first time I think my family was annoyed with how weird and spiritual I had become. When I cleaned out my iPod of the garbage taking up gigabits and became obsessed with EFY music my family knew something was different. I felt weird showing of my new self to the rest of the world because the world didn't like what I knew to be true. Even at church I felt that many of those around me didn't have the same enthusiasm and would think it was weird that I refused to listen to anything but music that was worthy to be played at an EFY dance. I felt weird at times, and am sure I will always continue to feel weird about being different, but the example of people like Al who are so enthused do live their lives in a higher manner make me realize that it's not that weird at all, it's awesome.

Now I am in no means perfect, and I have lots of areas to work on, but through God, things are a heck of a lot easier.

I am super glad I went to the fireside tonight and that I got to hear the story of such a fantastic person. If any of you ever get the chance to hear her speak, listen. You won't regret it. Thank you so much Al for being such a great inspiration. You rock!




Feel my Sunlight




p.s. Um I am going to EFY all by my self this summer. I am freaking out, but am so excited I can not even stand it.

p.s.s. Do you like the new "look"? I adore it. I just wish I could get rid of that ugly blue strip at the top without ruining my layout.

p.s.s.s. Oh, and did I mention that Al was a graphic designer, and is now a motivational speaker? My two professions that I dream of doing. I feel like we should be BFFs. Just saying.

no sugar

I've been slacking on this blog lately. Guess it must be getting close to the end of the year.


    My time has been preoccupied lately by nothing but tumbling, coaching, and the occasional school. Now that Regionals are over we have begun our Nationals training and it has been kicking by butt. I have been to the gym every single day this week and have tumbled all but one of those days. I have done 6 times the conditioning I usually do. This is why I am in workout clothes at school today. Because who am I trying to impress really? My best friends are at the gym and they see me at my very worst state and they still like me right? I will impress the kids at school when they watch my videos of National Championships this summer. This is the pep talk I gave myself this morning. And low and behold, I am in workout clothes.

Next week I am going off sugar for the next 46 days. 46 days until National Championships. I am going off sugar. Who wants to do it with me? And I would also appreciate it if all y'all wouldn't try to make me eat your sweetened deliciousness because that makes it hard. If you don't want to drop that sweet stuff for the whole 46 days I challenge you to try it for a month, a week, or whatever you can. Because we could all eat a little less of that stuff.

On an entirely different note, has anyone ever heard of this awesome lady?

 

 

Her name is Al Fox and I get to hear her tonight if it doesn't rain. Oh please, oh please don't let it rain. You can read her blog HERE.


Life is good.




Feel my Sunlight



p.s. Did I mention Nationals are in 46 days? I did? AHHHH! I freaked out a little bit.

Vegas and Regional Championships

I'm home now. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. Vegas was fun. St. George was partly pukish. I have to go to school tomorrow and I know how I feel about that. {pukish}

I had a good meet. I hit my passes okay and ended up in 8th overall out of 10 different states. I wasn't pumped about my ranking, but wasn't disappointed with it either. It was a good meet and I had fun running around with my comp friends. I'm not kidding when I say I make more friends at tumbling competitions than I do at school.

Sid and I made a new friend from Washington. His name is Stephen. That is Marissa in the background. I met her at a tumbling competition as well. We are BFFs now.

Here are a few other pictures from this weekend. Notice how there are no pictures of me on the podium. This is because someone had the bright idea that only the top 6 should get awards. Ya, I know.

M&M world

Midnight dinner on Friday {because that's how Flipside always rolls. At least it wasn't Denny's.}

Gene Simmons, Iron man, and a ninja turtle I think... not sure.

Well I guess I should be done now. I have a few essays to write, and a whole bunch of stuff to unpack. Oh and it's a school night. :/  Read your scriptures, say your prayers, choose the right, return with honor, and so on, and so forth, and what not, and what have you. Love y'all

Feel my Sunlight

p.s. I'm ready for a good long session of EFY. Kj? Randi? I need some EFY inspiration. Vegas deprived me.

actually Friday

{This is me pretending to be table legs. I'm supper cool guys, don't worrie!}

Today my callender says Wednesday, but it is actually Friday, since it is the last day I have to come to school this week. Yay for Regional Championships! I leave tonight after work and it couldn't come sooner. The bags are packed and sitting in my bedroom.

I. can't. wait.

I don't have much else to share, expect many posts this weekend. Thanks so much to everyone who reads! I love you all.


PEACE!



Feel my Sunlight



p.s. Twitter and Facebook are both boring right now.

p.s.s. Why is the school so freezing today?

happy thoughts and only happy thoughts

This picture has nothing to do with this post, I t just makes me happy... then again, maybe it does.

It is going to be a good week. I know what you are thinking... "It's Monday, I'm tired, and I want to go home" or something of that sorts. But I won't have it! It is going to be a good week dangit!

It is meet week you see, the week where I go all crazy and think about nothing but tumbling tumbling tumbling. I have been stuck in a rut and all that has occupied my mind over the last few weeks were plots to avoid schoolish things. Well, I have decided to change my attitude about that, and well, everything else for that matter. There is going to be no complaining this week. Not from me, nor from anyone. If I hear anyone complain about anything to me you will be ignored. And slap me if I start to complain about something. No joke, do it! It will be hard, but we can do it! Only positive thoughts allowed. "I will do well at regionals, I will do well at regionals, I will do well at regionals..." 



None of this...

I am super pumped about this whole regionals thing thanks to USA Gymnastics for uploading all of their old gymnastics footage from way back when. I will be eternally greatful! It is a gymnast-fenatics heaven. I have been rolling in world championship and magnificent 7 footage all weekend. {ha, I have a pretty fantastic social life!} And my cool coach who competed at the Elite Challange as a SENIOR ELITE! Love you Steph!

As soon as Regionals is over we begin the thing we call Nationals Training. I am ready, and I am prepared. It will be hard, and I am excited.

"You've got what it takes,

        but it is going to take

everything                 

          you've got."

 

BOOM! Let's do this thing!

 

I am in one of those moods.{can you tell??} My friends can testify of that. We spent our lunch dancing atop the picknic table at the park to Hannah Montanah like nobody's buisness. Because isn't that what we all thought would happen when we first caught a glimps of High School Musical? What else would four teenage girls without cars or dates supposed to do durring lunch? YOLO people, YOLO. And life is more fun when you don't care what people think about you.

 

 

"Life's          

   what you

make it,         

      so let's make it

ROCK!"

                     -Hannah Montanah   

 

 

It is a good day.


 

Feel my Sunlight

 

 

 

 

p.s. I am a rediculusly good mood considering I just finished taking TWO tests... happy thoughts can do that to a person... "You're a trueueueue friend... put on my old blue jeans... You've got the best of both worlds!"

Almost going to go insane

Well my friends, It has been four days since I last wrote. I know you have all been sitting at your computers waiting in suspense for me to post. Now where to start?

Lets start with the fact that we are almost done with this school year, when I say almost I mean I am almost going to go insane. I am ready for The Color Run, and mission farewells. I am oh so ready for EFY, 4th year hike, trek, girls camp and the US Power Tumbling National Championships. I am ready for summer training and I am ready to have the opportunity to sleep. These final weeks in school are just painfull. I can hardly focus on anything. Sorry Teachers.

This weekend starts the Elite Challenge. The Elite Challenge is well, just that, an elite challenge. My fab coach, Steph, is competing and is going to do fantastic! Texas had better watch out. We love you Steph! Good Luck!

On that note can anyone guess what next weekend is? That's right! Regional Championships! Whoo! Flipside is going to Vegas! This will be our final step on our road to Kansas City Missouri for National Championships this July. Ahhh! Oh and if anyone would like to help support our team in fundraising for National Championships click HERE. {And no, I am not going to Morp, incase you were wondering, I will be in Vegas.}

I was going to post a cool video here, but I guess it will have to wait until later. I'm at school you see, and at school the fantastic thing called YouTube doesn't exist.

So my mind is pretty much stuck on tumbling right now and I'm pretty sure it isn't coming out. So I will end here. Enjoy this picture of my team being super awesome at City Creek. I am the one on the far left. Admire my perfect handstand.







Feel my Sunlight




p.s. Congrats to all of you out there going on missions or getting married! There are lots of you and I am excited. Congrats! I love you all.