2009 in Review

• I went to a Jazz Lakers game! Which the Jazz lost by the way! :) A playoff game no less!
  
• I got to spend a lot of time with one of my best good friends and got to hear all about the amazing things my other best good friend is doing in the mission field! :)
• I went to a Jazz OKC game! Jazz lost that game too! :) But to top that one off, I got to meet Kevin Durant! :)
  
• I went to England!!!!!!!!!! For a week!
  
• I became close friends with one of the most amazing families ever! I am grateful I have such wonderful people in my ward!
  

Wishes

Don't post the big wishes, just ones that others might already know about you.
For instance I wish:
*That I could play a musical instrument
*That I knew sign language
*That I could drive a standard better
*That I could go to the OKC Thunder game in Utah on November 24
*That I tried new things more often
5 simple wishes that you are ok with other people knowing. So now for the tagging!
Brittany, Cortney, Logan, Jan, and Alisa Lets see your wishes! Have fun!

Gotta Love Basketball!

Best opening 2 days of the NBA!!!!
Cav's lost twice! 0-2-haha LeBron!
Mav's lost last night! Can't stand them!
Thunder won tonight! Kevin Durant's team-everyone should cheer for them!
Spurs won!!! gotta love 'em!
Lakers won last night! Slow start but awesome finish!
And to top it off....Jazz LOST!!!!! Denver did what I wanted them to!
Fantastic couple days of basketball! :)
Love it!

Just Say Hi!

I was once taught in Young Women to just say hi! It had been a lot of years since I had thought about this until a few weeks ago when I was talking to the girls in my class and I was reminded of that lesson. I thought about how much of a difference we can make in someones day by just saying hi. That two letter word can make all the difference. We may not see it or realize we made a difference but the person we said hi too can feel it. We get the opportunity to feel the effects when someone just says hi to us! We can feel the improvement. After we have felt this improvement why wouldn't we want to do that for someone else? With this said let me tell you about this amazing neighbor that I have; we are good friends and she and her family are ABSOLUTELY amazing! When I left my house today I had a message waiting for me outside on the sidewalk...Such encouragement! Some days it is something like this that we need just to get out of bed. It is things like this that make it worth getting out of bed! The rest of the day might not be what you wanted or what you expected but no matter how the day goes this message is there for us to know that someone was thinking about us and they wanted us to have a good day! All she did was say hi and my day was so much better! Anyone walking by can take this note to heart and they should! Maybe my neighbor was directing it to me but I am sure anyone else who saw this note had a change in their day! So when we do say hi to someone else it makes their day but how do we know that someone else didn't over hear it and take it heart? For all we know they passed it on! The person we just said hi to, well they probably passed it on too because of the way they felt!
Although its been years its nice to know that a little reminder can bring back amazing truths. So just say hi! It makes a difference. Don't let the day pass without saying hi to someone! You never know how it will make them feel and you won't be sorry!

My Foreign Adventures in Color!

The London Eye!

Big Ben!

Big Ben viewed from the London Eye!

Westminster Abbey!

Big Ben, St. Margret's Church, Westminster Abbey!

Windsor Castle!
(Part of it!)

The Underground!

Fish n' Chips!

In my map of London!

My Foreign Adventures!

Wow I am really behind in writing an update about my amazing, life changing trip! I don't even know where to begin. It was by far the best thing I have done in my 21 years!
I was able to spend a couple days in London, which was so much fun. I got to go on the London Eye! Best Farris Wheel I have ever been on, also the biggest. The view was amazing! You could see how big London really is. On a clear day you can see France from the London Eye. I went on an overcast day so if I saw France I don't know I did. :)
They have clocks everywhere and guess what Big Ben is believe it or not, really big! I came off the underground at Westminster and when you walk out of the platform one of the exits is right next to Big Ben so you see up close just how big it is! It is amazing to walk out, turn your head, look up and see this giant clock that millions go to see every year.
Westminster Abbey is really cool. I didn't go inside of it but I walked around it. I did go into St. Margret's Church that is right next to it and it was beautiful. The architecture is so beautiful and it never gets old to look at it!
I spent an evening walking around Oxford. The number one place in England that I wanted to go. I am very grateful that I got to go. There was a group of us walking around, kind of an FHE after FHE. The universities were amazing! Better than any we have in the states. :)
Windsor Castle wasn't a place that I had ever really thought about visiting but Kate told me before I even went over there that I should, so I did. I LOVED IT! I can't even say how much I did. Every bit of it was amazing! I took so many pictures that day! Just of everything that I could. I took a tour inside, no pictures allowed, but it was so cool being inside a real castle. One that has and is still being used. The history that you learn while inside is priceless, and since I'm a nerd when it comes to history, I loved it!
Reading was the town I was staying in and I was able to walk around there and see some amazing things there too. It is more of a business town and not really many tourist sites but still a lot of fun to go see. At least I thought so.
I got to ride trains and buses almost everyday. That was a lot of fun. Experiencing it was really cool. Not something we have a lot of in this area but something they have everywhere.
English food is so GOOD!!! I loved it. I don't know that I could pick a favorite but how I wish we had more of it over here or if my mom made those types of meals. Yum! It would be fantastic! I had fish and chips over there and they were so good. Way better than any I have ever had, but it was so much food. It fills you up! Worth it though!
My favorite part was spending my evenings with Kate and her family. The Turney's are the most amazing family! They welcomed me so easily and they would treat me like I was one of them. I never had to worry about anything while I was there. They took such good care of me. I just love them!
I did most of my traveling and site seeing on my own but it didn't bother me. I wouldn't have let that stop me from going. Plus I learned a lot that way and I definitely had my eyes opened! No fears anymore either! Visiting a foreign country on your own at age 21, why would I ever be afraid of anything again? I know I changed my outlook in more than one way while I was over there. So I say to any challenge, bring it on! :)

Life is Full of Questions

Life is full of questions. Questions about everything. Questions that fill our minds and tug at our hearts. Questions that always need answers. Questions that determine our future and help shape who we are.
If life is full of questions, when do the answers come? Are these answers as easy to find as your favorite moment in a book? Or as hard as trying to find a lost purse or wallet?
Does it happen this way to teach you a lesson? A lesson in timing? In patience? Or in understanding?
The question now is: will we open our eyes in time to see the answer? Will we open our minds and hearts to learn the lesson? Will we search diligently, making every effort, and laboring endlessly looking for our answer? Will we become lazy, careless, or even lethargic waiting for the answer to come? Waiting for someone to tell us the answer like a teacher answers a student's question?
Will we accept the answer we are given? The lesson we were taught? Will it be what we want to hear or will we be waiting for something else? Something we think is better? Will we see the big picture through the answer we receive? Will we use the lesson we learn in other aspects of our lives?
Life is full of questions...it is what we do with the answer that matters!

Hope, Faith, and Desire

We all have that one person in our lives that when we are around them we become the person we want to be. The person who provides us with hope, faith, and desire. They help us realize the little things we want to change to become a better person. And it is when we are around them that we strive to be better. That positive atmosphere they help create is one we don't want to be rid of, one we wish we could have with us at all times. Being around this person can change your outlook, even if only a little, but big enough to make you want to do better and be better all the time. But the minute you leave their presence you feel yourself slipping back to the person you were. To the person you don't want to be.
Wishing we could be around them all the time but knowing we can't, why is it we don't strive to do better when we aren't around them? Why don't we do our best to keep their spirit around us even when they aren't around us themselves? To do what we can to remember how we feel around them? To endeavor to be the person we want to be? The one we become around this person. Our person who fills us with hope, faith, and desire.
I have recently been able to spend time with the person who provides me with hope, faith, and desire. The person that when I am around them I want to do better. To be better. This person helps me to see the change I want to make in myself. While it may not be a drastic change it is a big enough one that it would make a bigger difference in me than some people might realize. I know it is something I can change. It is something I have done once before but as we all know, old habits die hard and can come back easily if we let them. It came back and it is only around this person that I realize how far I let it back in and it is only around this person that I realize just how much I want to have it gone again.
So to this person who provides me with hope, faith, and desire I say this: I don't want to be the person who sits back and lets what you show me pass me by. I want the person I try to be around you to be the person I am all the time. A person I love being. While I know it will take time and effort to become that person, I look forward to the lessons I will be taught in this situation. I look forward to becoming a better person, a better me.
I also say this: thank-you for being a person who provides me with hope, faith, and desire. For being a person I can confide in. A person I can turn to. A person who is my friend. Thank-you for being you!

Counting Down the Days!

WAHOO!!!! ENGLAND HERE I COME!!!!
After years of waiting I am finally getting to do the number one thing on my list of goals, go to England! I am so excited! I have my passport and my ticket! No turning back now! 21 days until I am there but only 20 before I leave! I fly out of Salt Lake on August 8 and get to England on August 9. From there I will get to spend a week with one of my very good friends! She is letting me stay with her and her family, so I am very grateful for that! I leave England on August 15 and get back to Salt Lake on August 15. That is going to be weird because by the time I get to Utah it will be 4p.m. and I am leaving England at 1p.m. I guess we'll see how that goes! I'll take it though because I can't wait to go!
Well I guess that is the biggest update I have in my life right now, one of the best ones I've ever had too!
I'll be counting down the days!

Hmm..Interesting

So I know I love Superman, because well He is the greatest. But Smallville comes in 2nd behind.....CSI. Sorry. CSI is a cheap education. I love what I have learned from it! I'll think of a new question soon...

New Poll

Here you go Logan, New Poll!

Poll Closed

Nice to see that some of you guys know the answer! Well 3 of you guessed right. Lion King is the correct answer! So tell me should I do another one? Congrats to those 3 that got it right!

Stupid Facebook!

I don't need facebook to have questions about myself! Answer the question on the side!

Heading Into the Unknown!

Two weeks ago I was asked if I would be willing to take on the calling of being a primary worker. Teaching the 11 and 12 year old's to be exact. I said yes. I was very nervous about it but the fact that we had general conference last weekend helped me because I knew I had time. I didn't give it to much thought. But the thoughts I did have about it were nerve racking. I have never had a calling like this. I barely know anyone in this ward. I am to shy to teach kids I don't know. I have no idea what to do!
Well today came around and I knew I was going to get set apart. Rather than being nervous all day I was relatively calm. SURPRISING I know! The time came to be set apart and since my dad is in the bishopric he is the one who set me apart. The calm feeling I had all day stayed with me. Just like the last time I had a calling, instead of being really nervous about it, I was calm. I guess that means that this is what I am supposed to be doing for my ward right now. We'll see what happens with it!
I am a little nervous about having to give my first lesson next week because I've never had to teach a lesson so I'm not sure where to begin and I don't want to wing it to bad! :) Any advice for me?

Jet Lag Without the Plane!

I had a friend coming to Utah from England and we had plans to meet on Thursday around lunch time so I decided it would be better to leave Wednesday night. So I made the trip to Brittany and Sean's on Wednesday. I left around 5:30 P.M. which was sooner than I thought I would be getting out of Idaho Falls! I needed to be in Layton before 9 so I could pick some stuff up for Linette. Don't worry I made it to Layton around 8! So from Layton I headed to Brittany and Sean's. I had plans to meet up with my friend in Salt Lake on Thursday. Thursday morning rolled around and our plans were changed. I went to Orem instead. I got to Orem between 11:30 and 12. When my afternoon in Orem was wrapped up around 5 I headed to Linette's and because I left during rush hour it took me an hour to get to Linette's. So more driving! After my night at Linette's, I had to head to Lehi to pick Aimee up from work at 10. I stayed the night at Chris and Aimee's that night. After being woke up by my 5 year old niece, Riley, Friday morning and due to weather conditions I decided I better get on the road sooner rather than later so I was gone by 9 in the A.M. Stopping only once because I needed a drink, I should have got one before I left Lehi, I reached Idaho Falls around 12:30 P.M. The roads weren't as bad as I thought they would be! They cleared up around Layton and didn't get bad again until I reached Blackfoot, but even then they weren't so bad that I was going really slow. I decided to stop in at my mom's office to say hi and let her know I was home. Then I went to say a quick hi to my neighbor before my parents and I left for Montana! I was back in the car before 3 and before I wanted to be to take the 4 1/2 hour trip to Missoula to visit Brianne and Charlie. At least this time I got to sleep since my dad was the one driving and I didn't have to worry about a thing! Saturday we spent a little bit of time in the car as we drove around Missoula looking at the city my sister lives in. Thank goodness it wasn't that much time. Sunday came around all to quick and before I knew it we were in the car again making that drive back to Idaho! Why is it that the drive home always seems to be longer? We got home around 7 P.M. You may think this tale is over but its not. I get about 3 days of normal day to day activity, 1 day will be different from the rest. Well technically 2 because Thursday night I will be back in the car headed to Utah again! My parents, Logan, and I will be headed to Utah for the majority of Easter weekend. We will be headed back home again on Saturday! We will be visiting Chris and Aimee and their new little one that should be coming soon! Tomorrow if not today! Then either Friday or Saturday we will be spending a little bit more time with my friend from England and her family! So even though it is a lot of traveling, it is all worth it! I am so very excited for this weekend!

Random Pictures!

I decided to post a blog of some of the random pictures from my phone. I have many more so I might just do another blog about them! I basically took all my pictures that aren't of Kenadee off my phone to do this!
Harry Potter clue. I had to take a picture to show Logan what the board looked like!
Dove candy wrapper that is stating the obvious!
Box full of Superman stuff that I own. I was letting Brianne know how much I have!
Cort and I found this at Wal Mart. We wanted to know if this piece of chocolate would cure anything?!

I guess more to come later. I have many more and I am sure I will be bored again soon! :)

Writing!!!! Part 2

I finished my online writing class!!! Passed my final with a 94%!!! These past 8 weeks flew by. I feel like I just started it. I guess that means I was enjoying it right? I am really glad I chose to take that class. It definitely opened my eyes to new ways of writing! I am excited to start using them!

New Adventures!

The pains in my shoulders, neck, my sit upon, and arms all seem to be caused by the same thing. No not that! Surprisingly enough its not from trying to play basketball for the first time in months or from running up the stairs either!
I decided to be brave and try something I have never done before but that I had always wanted to learn to do: Logan took me snowboarding!
I have to say it was a lot of fun! I'm not good at it at ALL but I had fun and thats the point right?! I want to go again so I can hopefully get better. I do know that the time I was probably doing the best some kid got in my way and I was a lot bigger than them and I didn't want to hurt them so I had to stop. DANG IT!
I feel bad that Logan, who is a pro, had to deal with teaching me. Hopefully it wasn't to bad for him. That would make me feel bad. I sat out one run so he could actually snowboard instead of having to stop and wait for 5 minutes for me to get back up again from one of my many biffs! He is a good teacher! Maybe he should take it up as a profession! I bet he would be one of the best teachers ever. His patience is amazing! I am glad that he would laugh at me, I laughed at me too! At least he got some humor out of the night right?
Thank-you so much Logan for taking me! I hope you had fun!
I look forward to going again someday and if all else fails at least I can say I attempted it!!

Writing!!!!

I JUST SIGNED UP FOR AN ONLINE WRITING COURSE! YAY ME!!!! I'M VERY EXCITED TO SEE HOW IT TURNS OUT!!! WISH ME LUCK!!!

Entertaining Me From A to Z

Entertaining meaning entertainment! You might say I was way bored and this is why I am doing this post. A list of things from A-Z that I like, well that I could think of, and reasons why:
A-August Rush-Never give up!
B-Brad Paisley-Love his music!
C-C.S.I.-I learn so much from this show!
D-Daughtry-His songs are good and clean!
E-Eagle Eye-I love Shia LaBeouf and does technology scare you?
F-Friends-These 6 friends will never let you down!
G-Get Smart-I love the comedy!
H-House-Something my dad and I watch together, plus I love it!
I-Iron Will-I grew up watching it with my dad!
J-J. K. Rowling-Her books let me escape from everything!
K-Kellie Pickler-Cortney took me to her concert and I loved it!
L-Lion King-It is my favorite Disney movie!
M-M.A.S.H.-I love good classics!
N-National Treasure-My Grandpa Hardy and I love this movie!
O-One Tree Hill-It reminds me of Shelby!
P-Pride and Prejudice-Never settle for whats not for you!
Q-
R-Rascal Flatts-Need I say more?
S-Superman/Smallville-Duh, he is my hero!
T-Thirteen Going on Thirty-Its ok to act like the kid in you!
U-Urban, Keith-Hot foreign singer, mmm!
V-
W-What I Like About You-A favorite sitcom!
X-X-Men Trilogy-I love these kind of movies!
Y-
Z-
Not bad if there were only 4 letters I couldn't think of. I did have more than one for a few of them! Ah well! Ya I think I was bored!