Oh my! Life is beautiful; busy, but beautiful. Life is glorious.
Remember when my mom was a rather popular DIY blogger before she dropped off the face of blog land? (Seriously... Check out this post from back in 2008 when I wore super cute scrunchies and my mom taught me how to install door frames. This is quality stuff.) Anyways, since my mom doesn't post her fancy projects anymore I thought I would. Her latest included a re-painted kitchen table, as well as several re-painted kitchen chairs in various colors. I'm kinda obsessed with the whole miss-matched color thing so I dragged them all outside and stacked them on top of each other. The pictures above are the result.
Life as been a serious balancing act reticently (see what I did there?!), and by "balancing act" I mean there are SO MANY awesome things happening that they are hard to handle. But somehow I've managed to keep them all stacked in such a way that they have created quite the entertaining spectacle.
This past week has been so crazy. When you can say you went to a homecoming football game, went zip lining, watched conference (which deserves it's very own blog post, so stay tuned), went to school, coached 9 tumbling classes, had three meetings, learned about velocity-time graphs, the primary colors of physics, and jig lines, began filming a campaign video for mock elections in Government, started applications for college, and created a video game all in the same week you know you have a busy life. And oh how I'm glad it's the weekend and that my only tasks for the rest of the day is to finish this blog post and buy myself a new journal.
Me, my cute friends, and our awesome guides after zip lining on Saturday!
So life is busy. But it is so so beautiful.
One of the most beautiful moments of the week was yesterday when my 9 year old sister asked me what the word "apostasy" meant. So I taught her the first discussion from Preach My Gospel. #BOOMBOOMPOW
This was seriously so cool for me. I have practiced teaching this discussion so many times in my mission prep class, but I have never actually taught it to someone that wasn't just pretending not to know the answers. It was such a real missionary discussion, yet it was extra special because she is my baby sister. I am defiantly going to love the missionary life when it calls.
My second beautiful moment came when I asked one of my tumbling classes what they thought I should be for haloween when one of my 3 year old students shouted "PINK PRINCESS UNICORN KITTY!" I think I might just have to do that.
So I'd say it was a successful week! Long and brutal yes, but also glorious.
feel my sunlight
p.s. Isn't David Archuleta just the coolest? That song is from the movie Meet the Mormons that premiered in theaters TODAY! I can't wait to go see it!
p.s.s. For those of you who don't know. I am a Mormon. Nice to meet you!
Well, I am done with EFY for this year and let me tell you it has been fantastic! Now, I won't say it has been the best two weeks of my life because I was told that I should make the week after EFY even better. That is a hard challenge because EFY pretty much rocks, but I accept it.
Now, I won't give you a layout to what happened each day this week because that's not the message I want to share, but I will share with you what I feel upon coming home. I have met so many awesome people this year who have changed my life for the better. I feel blessed, I feel loved, I fill lifted, I feel cleaner, and I feel stronger.
I feel cleaner and more refined in this world of dirt and I feel a need to hand out my "soap" to the world and invite others to use it. These scriptures have been my soap from this week. Learn and love them. {And Amberleigh, that soap analogy was for you. *lifesaver!*}
Today I found a reminder that I need to be careful. Today I discovered that our new search engine on our laptop is called "babylon" Now, this reminded me that while there can be good found on the internet, there is enough bad to equal Babylon and that we must be careful if we don't want our language {or our internet} confounded. I laughed at this, but marveled at its truth. I have already seen the powerful workings of the adversary on Pinterest today and can see that if we aren't paying attention and watching ourselves, how quickly he could pull us down. {*lifesaver* to the internet for that analogy!}
But I have also seen good in the world today. I discovered that the first presidency and the quorum of the 12 now have Facebook pages and I liked every one of them. If you are my friend on Facebook expect some scripture love to flood your feed. Today I used the internet to read a blog post about Lemons that I just loved, and I have also used the internet to watch the Emma Smith movie via Netflix and totally recommend you all go watch it! This just goes to show that there is opposition in all things, and that it is our decision on how we want to use it. Choose wisely.
Now my lovely neighbor just brought us cookies with chocolate chips AND m&m's in them for no particular reason. What a "zion like" thing to do. I don't know about you but that makes me want to go do something good. What are you going to do?
Feel my Sunlight
p.s. EFY, Nationals, Trek, EFY, 4th year hike, girls camp, tumbling camp. Can summer get better? I submit that it cannot.
p.s.s. There are more EFY pictures to come later. :)
p.s.s.s. Just so you know, the term "lifesaver* refers to the fact that every time you came up with an analogy for the gospel at EFY our lovely counselor Amberleigh would throw you a lifesaver. Analogies = Lifesavers
I know I have written about tumbling quite a bit as of late, but I promise I will try to make it something you can relate with today. At least I will try.
Since my defeat at nationals (and no, I'm not saying I was defeated in the sense that I did terrible and I feel like a failure, I was defeated in the sense that I knew I was better than what my performance showed.) I have gotten a new perspective on things. See, when I first saw my ranking among the best athletes in the nation I was quite disappointed. I was mad at the judges, I was jealous of those select few with the opportunity to stand atop the podium and receive huge shiny medals, I was angry with the girls that I believed should have scored lower than I did, but most of all I was angry with myself. I was fuming on the inside and began to deteriorate and downgrade myself with thoughts about giving up because I might not be the golden girl, and thoughts that I might not ever be good enough. I was destroying my confidence and soon realized that it had to stop. In my anger I decided to put on a happy face and follow the advice from Shawn to enjoy the rest of the trip. I put on a smile and decided that it wouldn't make any sense to let this ruin my trip so I didn't let it and I must say It became one of the most fun trips I have ever been on.
When I got home I had a moment of defeat, but I soon had to make a decision. I could either cry and whine about it, or I could turn my defeat into hard work and my hard work into success. I realized that the attitude I bring to the table will be the most important ingredient in my final product and that if I wanted to make something of myself I had to start now. I knew I had the support from many of those around me and that no matter what I was a daughter of God and that if I made the right decisions I would be okay.
I made the decision then and there that I would punch this with everything I had. I made a vow that I would listen to my coaches and do my everything to accomplish what they tell me to do. No matter how terrified I might be. I made the decision that I would train harder than I ever had before.
I have had two days of training since I have made this decision. I have improved my attitude and my effort to listen to my coaches. I have put on tramp shoes once again and called out for help. I even got up early this morning to run with my brother. The results have been great and it has only been two days. The support I have received from Steph and Kodee have helped me regain my confidence and their support helps me push myself to my limits every time I punch off that mat. I love you two and am so thankful for you help! please don't stop what you are doing. You guys rock.
Now I share this with you mostly because it all that has run through my mind over the last few days, but I also share it for another reason. I share this with you as a proof that your attitude determines your outcome. You can make an excuse for everything. There is always going to be something that hurts or something that doesn't feel right, but if you give in to those excuses you will never become what you want to become. Some people have it handed to them with raw talent and never have to work hard, Some people just have the ability to do what the judges what to see. I on the other hand, don't have that raw talent, but I do have a determined attitude. I heard a quote a long time ago that said...
"Hard work
beatstalent
when talent doesn't
work hard."
I intend to be that hard work. What are you going to work hard at?
Feel my Sunlight
p.s. Today Kodee and I legitly convinced one of our girls that Kodee's real name is Friday. I didn't think she really believed us but at the end of class she came up to me and said "Friday said I could have three treats." I almost died.
I’m not sure
where this post is going to go so I guess we will just flow with it and see
where it ends up. It has been a nonstop party for the last three days and I
have had a lot to think about. Last night I had a talk with an old friend. I
had had a talk with this same friend exactly a year before, the subject the
same, but the circumstances very different. We learned this year that the world
hits us and it hits hard. We learned that things aren’t always what we think
and that we are stronger than we previously thought.
I learned
over this last year that my world doesn’t float on a cloud and that that cloud
thought I was floating on wasn’t a cloud at all, but a deceiving mist that
would soon bring a reality check. I learned that boys aren’t needed to be
happy, in fact, they sometimes make you very unhappy. I learned to ignore the
taunting about being a part of the VLs and never have been on a date. I learned
to accept the fact that the world doesn’t always bring a piece of cake;
sometimes it brings a table spoon of “grape” flavored medicine. While this
medicine may not taste remotely of grapes, but the tears of small children, it
is the only thing that will make you better. It is the only thing that will make you
stronger, and we could all use a little more strength to face the world. I
learned that sometimes people are put into your lives for a reason, and
sometimes they are taken out of our lives for another reason. I learned that having
fewer friends makes you appreciate the ones you do have much more. I learned
that sometimes the greatest friendships only last a week, yet still last a
lifetime. I learned that there is a lot more to life than the pictures you post
on Facebook and that the things people pin on Pinterest are both unrealistic
and unattainable, and that they certainly don’t matter in the long run. Because
the things that actually matter in life aren’t things that you pin. They are
things that you feel. I learned this year that you don’t go to parties to be more
popular, you go to parties to strengthen your relationships with the people in
your life. I learned that a party can be 5 girls in pajamas in the morning. I
learned that people aren’t always who you think they are and sometimes their
actions will surprise you. I learned that sometimes people are kind and sometimes
the world is good, and that sometimes people are EXTREMELY kind and sometimes
the world is EXTREMELY good. I learned that blogging is a very good way to get
things off my chest. I learned that while I may not be the greatest singer, and
that nobody would ever want to buy my album, I should sing anyways. I learned
that guitars can be the most comforting when used correctly. I learned that
country music and sunshine make everything feel all right. I learned that fake
isn’t fun and that rude isn’t respectable.I learned to accept the fact that not everyone feels the same as I do
and that it isn’t worth it to try to impress everyone. I learned that the things
I want the most are things the world would laugh at. I have had my worst days,
and I have had my greatest days. While I learned many things this year, the
thing I learned about the most is that the greatest work we could do is the
work of our Father in Heaven. We have a great responsibility. Let’s get to
work.
Feel my Sunlight
p.s. Sorry it has been a few days, like I said, I have been partying hard. Have a fantastic summer!
p.s.s Notice how nothing In this post has anything to do with Columbus or radical numbers? Just saying.
p.s.s.s. I am in a fantastic mood, and have been for three days. Please don't rain on my parade.
I am sitting at my computer tech cubical for the last time this year and it feels a little odd. It feels odd in the sence that it seems like we have been in school for years and haven't had a break, yet at the same time it feels as if the school year has flown by. I am supposed to be working on my final project that is due at the end of class today. My teacher has already entered them into our grades to show us what we would get if we didn't do it. I have an A so we will see how much of that actually gets done. YOLO!
This year has been good, though not my favorite. I have grown a ton this year. {not literally... I'm still only 4' 9.5" tall} I have increased much in wisdom. I survived Mr. Conners class and enjoyed every second of it. And well, I learned to drive a car this year {not an easy task}. I have increased in stature by strengthening myself at tumbling as well as recovering from an injury so I could compete. I have increased in favor with man by learning to talk to people more and to say hi to other first. And I think the thing I have increased the most is in favor with God. It has been a great year for strengthening my testimony and I am proud to say I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints and I know the church is true.
I thought I'd share with you something I thought was funny.
This is my blog.
Scroll down a bit and you will find this.
zoom
zoom
Now notice the thing circled in red.
I find this funny. There is supposed to me a Book of Mormon there. The school district has blocked the Book of Mormon link at the school. I'll show them!
Look at this people! Third blog post in TWO DAYS! I am on a roll! Please check out my fundraiser post! I would love your help if you live near me. Y'all are the greatest.
So can anyone guess where I am? That's right! Computer tech! My teacher just turned off the "internet" little does she know that blogger still works. {muahaha} So I am blogging. She says we have to do extra credit when we are done. I'm sorry, but I refuse... I already have an A. {I know, I know, I am a terrible student.}
So it is Wednesday. Sadly, it isn't Friday yet, but we are getting there. Endure to the end my friends. I can't wait for the weekend to come, why is it so far away? I will stop there so I don't make any of you cry.
I have spent my time in class scrolling through the pictures of blue lily photo at http://bluelily.squarespace.com/. These guys are pro and I can't get over how great they are. I have tried to mimic their photography as of late and my photography teacher keeps marking me down saying "your pictures are too light." Well teacher, all I have to say is "feel my sunlight". {See what I did there?}
I don't really know where this post is going. I guess I will leave you with my favorite poem. Last year I was known for always presenting tumbling powems in theatre. I love them and this was my favorite.
Patience is man’s greatest virtue Or so the saying goes, A gymnast must have said it, For a gymnast surely knows.
That in this funny sport of ours Discouragement runs high, And at times the very best Will find the virtue’s passed her by.
When hands are ripped and throbbing And every muscle sore Can a gymnast still have patience To limp back in for more.
Can you admit you’re frightened Yet not give into fears Can you conquer pain, frustrations And often even tears.
When someone else does something You’ve tried so long to do Can you feel really glad for her And not just pity you.
When you’ve lost old moves You used to do And progress seems so slow Can you still have faith in better days And not feel so sad and low.
And when success seems so far away Your efforts all in vain Can you force yourself to wear a smile And disregard the pain.
If despite these tribulations You can say, “I won’t give in” Someday you will discover That it’s now your turn to WIN.
--Unknown
Snaps and claps people, snaps and claps.
Feel my Sunlight
p.s. Anyone want to buy Fat Boys??? Click HERE!!! :)
I went to the morning side this morning. It was fantastic. We were asked a question that I would like to forward to you.
If you were going to court
to be tried for
being a Mormon,
would there be
enough evidence
to proove you
guilty?
I'd like to think there would be. For starters, I was at the morning side this morning, and I have on a modest dress, a CTR ring, and my young womens medalion. I hope nobody would mistake me as anything else but a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. I'm true, are you?
Now I am in photography on the enterweb network blogging and not doing photography... Pandora is playing my church music playlist {evidence!} and I am loving life! I hope you have a fantastic day!
Computer tech blog time! I decided on Monday night that I am NOT going to scratch my meet this Saturday. I mean how can you walk away from this?
{yes, I did steal Justin's pictures.}
I know... So come what may, I'm competing. It may be rough but I'm not going down without a fight. I even bought a brand-spanken-new leo to wear on FRIDAY when I'm NOT AT SCHOOL and am WARMING UP with athletes from ALL OVER THE WORLD! whew! This keeps getting better! Except the whole taping/acebandaging/bracing the ankle thing. That's not so fun. But you do what you've got to do.
I'm pumped. I'm excited. I'm ready. My body on the other hand, is not. But tumbling is 99% mental anyway right? So my compeditors had better watch out!
Have you ever been so excited about something that you just can't even function. Ya, that's how I feel right now. It's a mix of relief that I am going to be able to compete, buckets and buckets of excitement, and well... nerves. (I know it's kinda early for nerves but AHHHH!) A great gymnast once said "If you loose the nerves, you loose the sport." And let me tell you, I haven't lost the sport.
So I hope you enjoyed that little rant on my meet this Saturday. I doubt anyone but my team mates and my mom have made it all the way through. So congrats if you did! I'm excited and the bell is about to ring. Love you all!
I feel blessed. Not to say I don't struggle because really I do. I struggle all the time. I struggle watching my musical friends be on TV and not being part of it anymore. I struggle knowing the intense pain and sorrows of others I know. I struggle every time my small group of friends shrinks a little. I struggle kowing people have moved on. I struggle when my ankle hurts to much to tumble even when I'm wearing this----------------------->
It pains me to know that in the 6 years I have competed I will be missing my first competition ever this Saturday. All because of this stupid injury. It hurts knowing I might miss the next one as well. The Kalon Ludvigson Invitiational. The "international meet". The one I invited my 9th grade theatre teacher to. That hurts.
It takes everything in me not to tumble. Because I know I could push through it and I could get through my workouts. But by doing this I could risk further injury. I risk being out for the rest of the season. And that would be devistating. I want to but I can't. It's out of my hands now and there is nothing I can do to make this go any faster. But that's life. I will do my best to strengthen it and help it heal as fast as I can, but it is ultimatly in the hands of God now and I just have to trust in his plan. I must wait.
But it helps when you have somebody else with you who also can't tumble. For the exact same injury. Same foot even. {ya I know, weird right?!} Even though it killed me to not tumble today I had a blast while we perfected our preschool skills, our handstands, conditioned, did our "ankle rehab", and worked stradle press handstands until my hip flexers screamed with pain. Lets just say Stirfry and I would die on a beam. It was a rough night, but this lifted my spirits a little bit, and now my hip flexers are crying.... I don't know what I would do without my team mates.
Now it's time to gather up our tears and use them to clean the dirt off of other peoples lives. I was in one of those moods that not even country music can solve. So the only thing I could do was turn to my EFY music {Because EFY music makes EVERYTHING all better.} write a blog post, and turn to my scriptures. The best medicine out there. Hope you will do the same.
feel my sunlight
p.s. Sorry for this somber post. I know it's not really like me.
p.s.s. Well, this basically garentees the fact that I won't be able to attend any school dances this year because State Championships falls on the day of Prom, and Regional Championships falls on the day of MORP. Oh well...
Can anybody guess where I am? That's right! COMPUTER TECH! I just thought I'd write a quick post about kindness while I sit here in my cubical doing nothing.
I have felt much kindness today and it is only the third period of the day. Starting with the wonderful student that stands outside the seminary building and holds the door for everyone EVERY DAY without fail. You are fantastic. Thank you for taking your time to perform a service that may seem small enough to pass unnoticed, yet is truthfully monumental. Then to the people in my seminary class who didn't know me, yet made an effort to get to know me and to talk to me and make me feel welcome. I feel your love and send it right back to you. I also want to say thank you to the kids in my seminary class who talk to me outside of class. This realy helps bring us together as friends and helps me know there is someone else out there in this corrupt world that is living the same standards as me and that I can talk to. Then to the friend in my computer tech class who is always quick to pick up my book for me and is always so free with compliments. Your kindness warms my heart and I just love being around you because you always make an effort to put others first. You guys rock!
These wonderful people have inspired me to pass it on and to strive to be a better person. To try say hi, to compliment people without thinking about it, to be kind. I make this challenge to you. Start a chain reaction and see what happens.
I have this theory
that if one person
can go out of their way
to show compassion,
then it will start a chain reaction
of the same.
People will never know
how far a little kindness
can go.
--Rachel Scott
Feel my Sunlight
p.s. Is anyone else as excited as I am to have school off tomorrow?! haha sorry juniors...
Life is not meant to be stressed over. Okay well, maybe a little... but when you know there is nothing in your control that you can do, the best think you can do is let go and stop worrying!
In English right now we are reading Cry, the Beloved Country and I sometimes truggle to do my reading. We have quizzes every day on the chapters that we read. Well on Tuesday I was in class and hadn't finished my reading. I Read the last question that was something to the likes of...
10. What did the people pray for?
well I thought "I'm going to fail this anyway right? I might as well enjoy doing it." So I answered...
"They prayed that the refreshments would nourish and strengthen their bodies, that all the people that weren't there that week would be there next week, and that when the time comes they would drive home in safety. "
YOLO.
...and then I drew a pineapple...
Which brings me to my second subject...PSYCH! Who watched the season premier? Wasn't it great? I mean what other TV show have you seen where they destroy a blueberry and a cranberry in the same episode?! These writers are genius.
And speaking of berries, I thought I'd share with you a little
conversation I had a while ago. My dad was the ward mission leader and
the missionaries were over for dinner one night. My mom had made a fruit salad berries in it. My sister asked me to pass the fruit salad when I looked at her and said all matter of factly "It's a berry salad."
Then after I thought for a second I said... "Wait, are berries fruit?"
I have never lived that down.
I really am so excited for this season of Psych and I am hoping and praying that they don't pull the whole "lets make a big deal about the new season, then only air 6 episodes before we take a break" like they did last season. I am telling you all the psychos will go psycho. And we sure don't want that now so we.
So this week I have been going psycho with this whole not being able to tumble thing. It's killing me. I tried to jump on the trampoline the other day to show my kids how to do strait jumps with their arms by their ears and well, it hurt. So I have been here. In my house. And that eventually resulted in me watching Snow White and a British documentaries about Anorexia and kids with Progeria {I can't get over how cute they are} ... ya, don't ask. I got my brace yesterday and wore it all day today. The swelling has gone down {after like 6 whole days} and to tell you the truth it now looks flat and weird. Well, that's a good sign I guess.
I have one more story for ya before I go clean. The other day I was talking to my mom and my little sister when we started talking about all the great people in the world who failed and were rejected before they finally became successful. Such as JK Rawling whos book was rejected 12 times before it was accepted and eventually became the most successfull book in history, or the two brothers who were fired from their home improvement jobs before they dreamed up the idea of the Home Depot. So we were all sitting there and my sister says...
"Michael Jackson didn't make his high school basketball team."
I was laughing so hard I was almost crying.
Feel my Sunlight
p.s. I have an "international" meet in 15 days.... AHH!
It's Wednesday... Not sure how I feel about it, seems how I'm home, and not at the gym right now. Ya I don't like it. But I will be back soon enough. My teacher gave us a lecture about how important it is to put an attention getter at the beginning of your writing... so I did. My teacher is so cool. Please don't lay him off.
I just thought I'd give my two cents on the budget cuts that are supposed to take place on the first. {Ya, I'm cool and know about the world and stuff.} First off I'd like to say making these cuts in our educational system will only hurt the country worse. We are the future of America and the quality of our education depends on the funds our school receives. Without teachers the student's will be the ones who suffer. Do you really want to fix the nations economy by taking opportunity from the students? I don't know where you grew up and I don't know where you come from, but I don't think you have ever sat in a classroom that is over full. I have. I have been in a class with over 40 kids and only room for about 30. I struggled in that class because I got almost no help from the teacher. I didn't get to sit at desk for half the year. Please don't take money from my school. I don't think you have ever sat in a school that was so hot it was unsafe because it didn't have air conditioning. I have. There were students that were sent to the hospital because of heat stroke, and we had to do math in the hallways because it was 2 degrees cooler. Please don't take money from my school. I don't know if you ever got involved in the extra curricular activities, but I did. Theatre was a huge part of my Jr. High experience and is a big part of who I am today. These extra curricular activities such as sports and theatre keep kids out of trouble and give us something to achieve. Please don't take money from my school. I know you have never had to use an online text book because "online" was something foreign to you when you were growing up. The online text books don't work. They have typos and errors, and they make it hard for families with several children. I know you think every family in America has multiple computers, tablets, and apple products to use, but the reality... not everybody has those things. I may be fortunate enough to have resources in my home, but I know many people who don't. {I must also note that none of your text books work on Apple products since Apple has blocked these sights, and they don't work on Kindles either, because the Kindles don't read the format of the online books.} It is not fair for these students to have to suffer because you can't figure out the government. I may not know everything, but I know enough to say that the future of America rests in your hands. Please be careful with it.
Now I'm sure that was a long and boring paragraph for most of you. Congrats on finishing it! Now I'd like to leave some thoughts and scriptures with all y'all who, like me, are amazed by these great and terrible thinks taking place in the world. This was from my scripture study this morning. Take from it what you will.
1 Thessalonians 5
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4But ye, bretheren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe these scriptures go along perfectly with our theme schripture this year...
"Wherefore,
STAND YE in holy places,
and be not moved,
until the day of the Lord Come;
for behold,
it cometh quickly,
saith the Lord, Amen"
-D&C 87:8
I believe these are dark times, and that they will get darker the nearer we get to our final hour. We must stand as an army of God, ready to contend with all evil. I encourage you to stay strong, and to keep on fighting.
Feel my Sunlight
p.s. I am going to watch the season 7 PSYCH premiere right now. And AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I can't wait! I can't even contain myself, Psychic forever! <3
p.s.s. What is your opinion on this font? Is it too hard to read? I can't decide.
Hey Bloggers and Bloggetts! How is my world wide network of people that just sits at their computers waiting and thirsting for me to post new pieces of my unimmaginable ammounts of knowledge and my buckets of inspiration?? Wonderful mother that reads every post and occasionally corrects my grammer so that I don't look illiterate if/when anybody else takes a chance at this humble blog of mine. Whew! Wasn't that an introduction?!
Well, really how are you? If you were to ask me I would probubly tell you I'm good, even dandy maybe... But the truth? I'm dying on the inside. And no this has nothing to do with me not going to sweethearts, or me and my always and forever "VL" (more on that later). No. this has everything to do with my wonderful Saturday morning workout and a spill that might just cost me my "international" meet. (You have no idea how hard it was to write that last sentence.)
Well it was almost 12:00 exactly. I was working fulls and my coach asked me if I had one more in me. I did (or so I thought). Well I ran, I roundoffed, I back handspringed, and I did something in the air, and well... the rest is history. So here I am with a swolen ankle and a funny limp. The parts that hurts the most is the fact that I have my last local meet in 2 weeks, and the Kalon Ludvigson Invitational (aka The meet with "out of state/out of country" compeditors) the week after! Yes I know it is part of the sport, and yes, I know its life, but it doesn't make it hurt any less. Now all I can do is pray and hope I am not out too long.
But really, who am I to complain? Compared to several people not too far from me my life is just roses. My heart goes out to the students at one of the other high schools in our district that recently faced the tragic loss of another suicide. To family and friends of this student, I send you my prayers. I learned of this heart breaking news through one of those social media sights that allows you to grow fake food, and "poke" people. My first thought was "again???" Then my second thought was "wow, look at the world we live in." Just think back on the last few months and years we have faced as a community, a nation, and as the human race. Think of the shootings, the floods, the natural desastors, the wars, the broken homes, the broken hearts, and the works of the devil. I don't know about you but I believe the prophecies proclaimed in D&C 88 have begun to come to pass. Now these terrible things are a proof to me that the 2nd coming is inching it's way around the corner, but the wonderful things are a proof as well. The fact that church memberships have gone from 1.5 million to 14 million in the last 50 years, the fact that missionary work has quickened, and the age to serve has been dropped, the fact that with these growing ammounts of missionaries the church has opened 58 new missions. This is in no doubt a preparation for the final hours. We are his later day army. We must prepare, and begin to fight.
Feel my Sunlight
p.s. Oh ya.... I was going to talk about the whole "VL" Thing.... haha fail. Ah well, here it goes! For those of you oldies who don't know... "VL" means "Virgin Lips" aka "Haven't been kissed" Well it is an on-going joke that my sister will have her "first kiss" before me due to her being the lead in the Jr. High musical. Well not too long ago my sister asked our bishop if it was okay if she kissed a guy if it is for a play. His responce... She must either wrap her lips around her teeth, or she must use seran wrap because their lips must not touch. Now just picture that. They are about to kiss when my sister turns away and pulls a piece of seran wrap out of her pocket an puts it on her lips. When the guy gives her a confused look she states "My bishop said our lips can't touch or I would have to repent." He also said that if they do he is going to stand up in the middle of the performance and yell "SUNDAY. 10:00. MY OFFICE!" Now let me ask you, have any of you ever had a conversation with your bishop that was so funny that you were laughing to the point where you were almost crying? Ya, didn't think so. #mybishopisgreaterthanyourbishop
p.s.s. I'm ready for summer now. All in favor pleas manifest by the uplift of hand. Any apposed by the same sign. Oh how I wish it was that easy.
I feel that my blog is lacking some of that deep-though-facebook-link-worthy-stuff. So here you have it. A whole bunch of deep from my mind. Hope it doesn't bore you.
I know I have written about this before, but I believe one of my greatest weaknesses is having to say goodbye. I don't ever cry.... unless there is a goodby involved. There is something about goodbyes that rip at your heart and tear at your soul. They never completely heal. I have a soft spot in my heart for several people that I may never talk to again. The boy from Jr. High that hugged me tight and I cried. Those groups of people I only knew for a week. That team mate that stuck with me for so long but slowly diminished out of my life. That class full of innocent pretenders that became so close. Those coaches that did so much for me I would never be able to thank them. Truth is...I miss you...all the time. Things are different now. They may be for the better, but they never feel any easier. I think about you often, and it saddens me when you don't want to talk. All I want is to talk and laugh like we used to even if it is just for one night. But I have come to learn something about goodbyes. They can never return to they way they were. They will never feel the same. Because the truth is we have changed. We have grown {not literally of course...}. And we have become new and greater people. The shapes of our puzzle pieces have changed, and we no longer fit together the way we used to. But even if we never speak to each other again, I hope you never forget the closeness we had, never forget the inside jokes, or the nicknames, and never ever forget the memories. And if you ever want to talk. I will be here...waiting.
So now that I have proclaimed my feelings towards the people I miss, I thought I might just proclaim my feelings on the people I have right now, since I know that the people I am with today, will be the ones I cry over tomorrow. So why not appreciate what I have?
Tonight was one of those nights where everything in the gym is just right. One of those sweet moments when you remember why you have done this so long and why you love it so much. Today we all came together and hit hard. With the music booming around us, and encouraging words being said you can't help but feel loved. You can't help but feel like you are in the right place with the right people. I just hope my team mates know how much I love and appreciate them. I know what it feels like to tumble in an empty gym and just want them to know how much I crave the days when we all come together. Thanks for being my team. It means the world to me.
p.s. I finished my personal progress!!!!!!!!! I was torn because I like the look of the silver medallion better, but I am a tumbler that always strives for gold.... In the end I picked silver and am not sure how I feel about it... Can't I just have one of each?
p.s.s. I don't like when people bail. It makes me sad.
We arived at the Junior High with a whole team of last years students. The dedicated students that brought me mounds of joy last year. I haven't talked to most of the people on this team in a while, but as soon as we walked through those doors as almni, it was as we never left. Still family, but as teaschers this time.
Hannah and I got there first, and as we were waiting a couple of friends walked in that we hadn't seen in a while. Well, of course we ran as fast as we could so that we could exchange hugs. Well as I was runing in my cowboy boots I rolled my ankle. Hard. I lymped over to them and exchanged hugs. I shook off the pain. Maybe it was the fact that I was so excited to see them, or that I was so excited to relive the memories of Dinner Theatre, or the fact that I am a gymnast and I am used to shaking off pain, but none the less I shook it off and acted like it was all good and dandy. And it was! Well...kinda... helping was a blast today. I remember the feeling of stress at this point in time last year, and all the help the high school students were to help me get ready to perform. Today we were the ones who got to be the directores and we were the ones to help the students fix their scenes. It was fun. I even performed my scene for everybody and I can't even tell you how good that felt!
After that we made ginger bread houses {actually we made hotglued-grahm-cracker-houses} It's a tradition with our family, and the Daniels family. We tried real ginger bread one year, but with 9 kids, grahm crackers are the way to go. We built some funky houses this year! It was fun.
Well, here I am in my bed icing my swolen ankle. Yippe! Probubly sprained.
So I had a request by the girl in the picture above to do a post disecting a song that is very dear to us as a theatre class so here it is!
Long Live
By Taylor Swift
I still remember this moment
{Dinner Theatre 2011}
In the back of my mind
{I am always thinking about it} The time we stood with our shaking hands
{Right before we performed} The crowds in stands went wild
{HUZZAH!}
We were the kings and the queen
{Litterally, we had a queen} And they read off our names
{As we walked in at the start of every performance} The night you danced like you knew our liveswould never be the same
{At the end of every performance...we danced.}
You held your head like a hero
{Because we were confident, and ready.} On a history book page
{Because Shakespeare wrote the best history books.} It was the end of a decade
{Our 10th year in school (including Kindergarten)}
but the start of an age
{The start of our lives.}
Long live the walls we crashed through
{We all had to get out of our comfort zones} While the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
{For a moment every eye was on us} I was screaming, long live all the magic we made
{Never forget the things we did} And bring on all the pretenders, one day we will be remembered
{We are actors, and don't for get us}
I said, remember this feeling
{The feelings we had about this class} I passed the pictures around
{I scrolled through my facebook pictures} Of all the years that we stood there on the sidelines
{watching dinner theatre in years past}
Wishing for right now
{The day when we get to perform}
We are the kings and the queens
{We had a Queen Elizabeth} You traded your baseball cap for a crown
{shakespearean costumes} When they gave us our trophies
{Applause} And we held them up for our town
{Final bow}
And the cynics were outraged
{The principal didn't like us too much} Screaming, this is absurd
{Because we didn't do sports} 'Cause for a moment a band of thieves
{We stole the show from the athletes} In ripped-up jeans got to rule the world
{It was all about us that night}
Long live the walls we crashed through
{We all had to get out of our comfort zones} While the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
{For a moment every eye was on us} I was screaming, long live all the magic we made
{Never forget the things we did} And bring on all the pretenders, I'm not afraid
{Bring all the actors together. I'm not afraid}
Long live all the mountains we moved
{We accomplished some pretty big things} I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you
{This was the time of my life} I was screaming, long live the look on your face
{That look of pure joy. We all had it}
Bring on all the pretenders, we will be remembered
{Never forget this acting class}
Hold on to spinning around
{The final dance} Confetti falls to the ground
{these moments become memories} May these memories break our fall
{When this has to end, it will live on in our memories}
And you take a moment Promise me this That you'll stand by me forever But if God forbid fate should step in
And force us into a goodbye If you have children someday When they point to the pictures Please tell them my name
Tell them how the crowds went wild Tell them how I hope they shine
{my final wish to all my theatre friends}
Long live the walls we crashed through
{The things we accomplished} I had the time of my life with you
{This was one of the best prarts of my life}
Long live the walls we crashed through
{We all had to get out of our comfort zones} While the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
{For a moment every eye was on us} I was screaming, long live all the magic we made
{Never forget the things we did} And bring on all the pretenders, I'm not afraid
{Bring all the actors together. I'm not afraid}
Singing, long live all the mountains we moved
{All the things we went through} I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you
{I had the time of my life overcoming fears with you}
And long, long live the look on your face
{That look when we realized we were finially done} And bring on all the pretenders, one day we will be remembered
{One day we will be back together, and we will remember the memories}
Now if you want to know about the song for the rest of the year listen to this one
So here is the story of my 9th grade year. The year I became a theatre nerd. That time may have passed, and I may never do theatre in school again, but I will never forget, and it will always be a part of me.
Feel my Sunlight
p.s. my ankle hurts.
p.s.s. I got my schedule changed for next semester and GUESS WHAT! I have photography now! YAY! So I will finially start posting pictures on my photography blog again!
