happy things

Today was the most beautiful day and I don't even know why. Everything just feels right.

Isn't the Ogden temple just gorgeous?

I had an awesome opportunity to speak at stake conference on Sunday. My talk was about family history work. It went well and It was such an awesome experience. When I was talking to one of my friends about speaking at the tabernacle I said "IT SEATS LIKE A THOUSAND PEOPLE...."  and she said "That's okay because you're short so only 100 will be able to see you." And then when I got up to the pulpit I was so short that I couldn't even see the front three rows unless I stood on my tippy toes. So I shared that joke and got the loudest laugh of the entire conference. And my talk went really well and I know the spirit was the actual speaker of that meeting because that was defiantly not me talking.

I need you all to go read this post right now. It's not long and it will only take you two seconds. It is one of the happiest things I have read in a while. Marie-Rose is the author of the blog Hope Always and Pray Constantly and we have become blog friends over the last year. She is a convert to the LDS church and her blog is her conversion story and her life as a convert to the church. This is my very favorite post of hers because it announces that SHE WAS BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY and I am so excited for her. Congrats girl! Welcome to the single thing that has brought me the most happiness to my life. I hope it brings you the same joy. I have such a strong testimony of this gospel and I know that Jesus Christ loves me so much and that he loves Marie-Rose, and that he also loves every single person reading this. He loves you. Congrats again girl!!

This month our seminary council has had the seminary students send gratitude grams to their friends to let them know that they are thankful for them. I don't know if it is because I spent several hours sorting them today, or the fact that Thanksgiving is next week, but gratitude is in the air and I think I've come down with the grateful-flu. Here are some of my happy things.

Like I said, I spent several hours in the seminary building today. Sometimes it feels like I live there. Which is a happy thing because it is one of my very favorite places to be. I just need to say that I am so very grateful for the opportunity I've been given to serve on seminary council with such incredible people. I cannot express how much I love each person on the council. I am humbled everyday at how much good comes from the people in that building. You bring me so much joy and there is never a boring moment when I am with anyone from the council. Thank you for your greatness. I love you all so much! ahhh so many feels. Dearest, Adam, Kami, Haden, SaBree, Fletcher, Alli, Matt, and Ginny... you rock my socks. If you want to know what it is like to be on sem council with you, imagine a midget at an amusement park where none of the rides have height restrictions. Also, the food is free.

I also had a kick-butt workout with Emily today. Shout out to Emily and Mckenna for being the very best gym friends! I always have so much fun and I always enjoy working out with you two. You always motivate me to do my best and I also love that the conversations with you two are always clean and positive. You are both so very awesome.

I am so extremely grateful for my job as a tumbling coach. I taught a class yesterday where five girls learned how to do their back handsprings alone for the first time. I also taught a class of two-four year olds where I got attacked with hugs, and I also had a little girl tell me she loved me and that she loves coming to tumbling. I seriously am so grateful that I have been blessed with this opportunity to teach such amazing angels. If I'm ever having a bad day or I feel like I'm not good enough my children always make me feel better.

I also need to express my sincerest gratitude for Raegan and Kenley who are two of my very favorite people. They are always able to make me laugh so hard and I always seem to end up singing when I'm around them. They are always so happy and they make me happy. Tonight for Young Men/Young Womens we quilted blankets for the church's humanitarian effort and Raegan and Kenley were the greatest entertainment. I love you guys!

Today was such a good reminder that things are actually good in the world. That even though sometimes life happens, and sometimes we still have to do math homework, I can chose to be happy. And I'm thankful for that.




feel my sunlight



p.s. What makes you grateful?

Gratitude Grams

mmm... The world has left me breathless lately.

The way the seasons change is enchanting and I love it, even if it does mean I do have to double and triple layer all my clothes.

I've reticently created a new portfolio site, which is still in the works, but if you feel so inclined you can CLICK HERE to check it out!

Yesterday we had a party at one of my young women leaders house and one of the leaders, Sister Hartvigsen, walked in with a plastic grocery sack. When we inquired about the contents she replied, "I brought my favorite treat..." Being sure to leave dramatic suspense she then added, "MEN!!!" As she pulled out an assortment of ken dolls in scout uniforms. We died. Each of us now have a new bæ and I couldn't be happier about it.

Aren't they the cutest?!
 
And in other exciting news, shout out to Briana and Allison who are both turning 18 today!!! I hope you guys had the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!! :)

This week has been awesome and I'm finishing it off with speaking at STAKE CONFERENCE tomorrow. TOMORROW! I'm freaking out, but it all the best ways.

On an unrelated note, my life has been centered around gratitude lately. Gratitude grams that is. I am on the seminary council at my school and for the month of November we've been having the student body write gratitude grams, which are little slips of paper that students write notes to their friends to tell them how grateful they are for them.

We had a lunch activity this week where everyone came and ate graham crackers (see what we did there?!) and wrote gratitude grams. It was a blast and I must say that I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve on seminary council. I absolutely love the people I work with and I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Here are some cute pictures I took at the lunch activity.

So in spirit of the month of the month of thanks I want to challenge everyone at my school to keep sending gratitude grams, and I want to challenge everyone else to send a text or leave a note for someone you are thankful for, because they need to know.




feel my sunlight



p.s. Go read this blog. Exciting things are happening over there.

Future Sister Missionaries, Al Fox, and BYU Vocal Point

DISCLAIMER: This was the coolest day ever!

I am a part of a Facebook group called Many are called.... but few are sisters and this group is specifically for future sister missionaries and RMs and it is full of some of the coolest people I've ever met. Everything regarding serving as a sister is talked about in this group and I have learned so much from the comments and testimonies of these lovely sisters.

Every once and a while they have a meet-up at temple square. Where they get together and take pictures and sing songs and share excitement about serving missions.

I attended the meet-up today and it was a BLAST! I have never been with so many people that were so excited to serve the Lord. You could just feel the excitement in the air and I can honestly say that I fell in love with each of these girls even though I didn't know most of them. They are truly God's army and Satan had better hide because these girls are mighty! Here are a few pictures from the meet-up courtesy of the awesome photographers that came to take pictures of the group!

Me and my BFF/XTEAM MATE/CO-WORKER Teri

Kaitlyn and her cute flag

 

 

But wait! The excitement doesn't stop there!

After the meet up a few of us were walking around temple square when I recognized a familiar face. {Spoiler: This face can be found at the bottom of my left column!} In case you are too lazy to scroll down that far we saw AL FOX CARRAWAY!!!  With her husband Ben, and their cute baby girl Gracie.

It took us a second to register that it was actually them and then as soon as it hit that it was ACTUALLY AL FOX we flipped out. For those of you who don't know who Al Fox is you should really read her blog. She is my very favorite blogger, and my very very very favorite speaker. (remember when I went to a fireside she spoke at HERE?) She is seriously the kind of person I want to be when I grow up and she is a HUGE inspiration for my motivation to be a blogger.

So naturally when one sees one of their biggest idols they begin to panic and freak out. As did I and the cute girls I was with. And by the time we had contained ourselves enough to be able to go say hi she was gone...

BUT!

I tweeted her and this conversation followed...

So we ran as fast as we could over to H&M and found her in the men's section. I went up to her and was like "Hey, I'm the one tweeting you!" and she was super cool and talked to us for a little while and then took a picture with us. She is seriously so fun and I am so grateful I was able to meet her and talk to her today!

But wait! The excitement doesn't stop there!

When I got home my family notified me that we were going to go see BYU Vocal Point! They were incredible and I loved every second of their concert! If you've never heard their music click HERE!

So I'd say it was a successful day! Went to a future sister missionary meet-up, met my idol Al Fox, and went to see BYU Vocal Point in concert! I'm on cloud 9.




feel my sunlight




p.s. SHOUT OUT TO ADAM DUMMER WHO TURNS 18 IN 3 MINUTES!!!

p.s.s. Okay... Watch this video. <3

Letters from Heaven

 

Sometimes you just need days like today to remind you that the world is okay and that pieces of it are rather magnificent. Yup. That about sums up my day.

We were sitting in second period today when we received word that school would get out at 11:15 thanks to broken water pipes. WAHOO! 

There are beautiful things happening people.

And before I get into my post I have a few birthday shutouts, because apparently the next few days are popular days for awesome people to be born.

so...

S/O to Makena who is turning 19 TODAY! I am so happy I was able to meet you last year at EFY! You are one of the funnest people I have ever met and you were a fantastic roommate. Thank you for your strong testimony and for being so fun! I miss you bunches and I hope you had the grandest day ever! 

S/O to Adam who is turning 18 on Sunday! You are seriously one of the very coolest people I know. You are a fantastic Seminary council president and I am so happy I am able to serve on council with you. You are such a great example to me and the rest of the school. I hope you know that people look up to you. Thank you for your testimony and for being my friend. I hope you have the greatest birthday ever!

S/O to Raegan who is turning 17 on Monday! I love you so much Raeg! I couldn't have asked for a better friend to fly to New York with me! New York with you was seriously one of the very best weeks of my life and I will never forget it! You always brighten the room with your happy outlook on life. Thank you for being such a great friend to me for all these years. I love you so much girl! Have the happiest of birthdays!

  

Since I can't think of an efficient transition from birthdays to what I wanted to post about I will just jump right into it.

I've been busy. And by busy I mean I have such a long list of things to do that I probably shouldn't be blogging right now. I have three callings, all of which have provided me with many many great things to do, I am teaching a leadership training lesson to the seminary class presidents next week, and next Sunday I am speaking at stake conference. I also teach 9 tumbling classes (which I love!) which also require intensive lesson planning outside of work. And all of that in addition to school and homework have provided me with quite the "to do" list, and while I absolutely LOVE everything I am doing and wouldn't change it for anything, I was feeling a little overwhelmed.

I was sitting in my seminary class the other day when we came upon a verse of scripture that hit me really hard. It was exactly what I needed in that moment. So I replaced the name written in it to say "Whitney".

"Behold, verily, verily, I say unto my servant Whitney, 

I have looked upon thee and thy works. 

I have heard thy prayers, and prepared thee for a greater work. 

Thou art blessed, for thou shalt do great things."

-Doctrine & Covenants 35:3-4

The part that hit me the very most was phrase "I have heard thy prayers."

I see it like this:

I am sitting here on earth writing "letters" (aka saying prayers) to God about the things that are happening in my life. And I am then tossing them towards the ceiling in hopes that they somehow make it to heaven. However, sometimes It seems that these letters just hit the ceiling and fall back down. Because obviously paper can't fly through ceilings. 

However, the contrary is actually true. Not only do your prayers make it past your ceiling, but they actually make it the God's office. It would be efficient for God to have a secretary read all the letters and respond to them, but instead I believe he has his heavenly secretaries deliver the letters right to his office and he reads each one individually, and he responds to each one individually.

He reads your letters.

My most resent letter to him was that I was stressed with everything to do and I didn't feel that I was good enough to get it all done with the kind of quality that he expects. So he sent me a letter back to let me know that he has looked at the work I have done, and he has read my letter. He reassured me by letting me know that I was prepared for all the things I am doing, and he also let me know that I will do great things.

I'm grateful for letters sent from Heaven.




feel my sunlight



p.s. I just want to live on a cute farm with lots of trees and have a horse named Starlight and listen to country music and wear cowboy boots and go to hoedowns and marry a cute cowboy like in the movies.   #WhitneyThoughts

6 things that make life more beautiful

Hello my darling people!

Could somebody please tell me when October happened? This has seriously been one of the quickest months I have ever experienced. It's like I blinked and now it is almost over. What happened?

Life is joyous right now. No, I'm not saying that there aren't rotten things in the fridge, or that difficult things aren't happening, I am saying that there is joy in the world right now and that you can reach it. Here are six things that have made my life more beautiful lately. I'm not promising they will do the same for you, but I hey, give it a try and let me know!

#1 Scripture Study

I know, I know. You've heard this before. But when was the last time you sat down and studied instead of simply read? I promise it will make life taste sweater no matter how bitter life tastes right now.

#2 Mindy Gledhill music

Seriously. I have been obsessing over her stuff all week. It's all 100% clean and 100% beautiful. I mean, how can you not love this?

Also, I tweeted about my current obsession with her music the other day and she favorited it. I was a happy camper.

#3 Other Happy People

In the words of Kate Bratskeir, who was quoted by Hank Smith at BYU education week: 

"Happy people surround themselves with other happy people. Joy is contagious. People are four times more likely to be happy in the future with happy people around them."

My "happy people" right now would have to be the seminary council that I serve on. I have hundreds of other people who would be included in this category, but the other students on seminary council are the very best at this. When I'm with the council there is an abundance of laughter and smiles even though we are doing work. I can honestly say that I never hear complaining when I'm with this group, which is something I don't think I can say about any other group of people I've ever associated with. As humans we like to complain. And these people make me see the joy in the world.

#4 Gifts from Children

Two of my cute tumbling students gave me this elastic bracelet today. There is nothing like a handmade gift from a child to make you feel loved. I have the best job ever. 

 

#5 Old Journal Entries

I was going through the notes on my phone the other day and I found this gem that I wrote back in 2012:

"Television characters have everything. A perfect life, minimal problems, a good romance, and sometimes even fantastic events that are unlikely to happen. 

I've always watched TV in awe at how perfect the lives of the characters are, and in turn sat in awe at how perfect my life is not. 

But what I've never seen on a TV show is a character laugh so hard they end up on all fours so they don't wet themselves. And I've done that twice today. So I'll take my imperfect laughter over any perfect tv show life any day."

I am a journal junkie. I love writing and my very favorite thing is to go back and read old journals, notes, and blog posts. It's my favorite thing.

 #6 Family Time!

I went with my family last week to go see the witches at Gardner Village. Hanging out with my family is my very favorite thing. I don't know how I'm going to be able to leave them to serve a mission in a year. They are truly the greatest. 

I carried around my fancy pants camera like the good photographer I dream of being. The results were the epitome of a blogger's paradise. I love fall!

What makes your life beautiful?



 feel my sunlight

I'm gonna run right up this hill.

I just thought I'd bust out a quick post while I wait for the washer to finish so I can switch my laundry. No I did not procrastinate my laundry until the last minute, I simply planned not to do it until it was absolutely necessary. So here I am at the end of a near perfect Sunday night waiting for the suds machine to finish so that I don't have to wear dirty socks tomorrow. BUT ENOUGH ABOUT LAUNDRY! Let's talk about Church. (my favorite topic!)

Tonight was our ward's Young Women in Excellence. This is a night held once a year in which the girls are recognized for their accomplishments in Personal Progress. I need to make a HUGE shout out to Rylee, Raegan, and Meagan for getting their young women medallions today! Wear them with joy ladies! Seriously, I'm typing congrats so hard!

For those of you don't know, earning a young women's medallion is a big deal. You start this project when you are twelve, and it often takes until the end of your young women years (around age 16-18) to finish. That's 4-6 years of incredibly hard work. It takes over 80 hours to finish the 8 projects alone, and that doesn't include the 60 other smaller projects you have to complete. And when you are done with that big feat, you have the chance to earn an Honor Bee, which requires you to re-read the Book of Mormon, as well as complete 40 hours of service.

So as you can imagine, this is a big night for these three awesome girls. But what about for me?

I didn't receive any awards tonight. I didn't get any special recognition because I've already been awarded these great awards. I received my medallion back in February of 2013, and I received my Honor Bee not long after that. But what I didn't realize until tonight is that I've already begun my next big project. And when I receive this next award it won't be a charm to hang around my neck, but a badge I will wear on my chest. My next big project will look something like this...

So the project begins now. I am in the race to prepare to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. I have roughly 160 days (ABOUT 5 MONTHS!) until I can begin my papers, 220 days until I can submit them, and 340 days until I can leave, and everyday in between will hopefully be filled with striving to become the kind of person that the Lord would want to have wear his name over their heart 24/7. It will take a lot of hard work, but I am so excited for this next big project. I'm gonna run right up this hill.







feel my sunlight



p.s. This song by Mindy Gledhill is my theme song right now. It was in the movie Meet the Mormons which I went to go see last night. It was serously so incredible! Go see it!
p.s.s. My laundry is done! Peace out world.

glorious

 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!