Wandering Thoughts

I made pasta today and I thought of you.

To All, I Give Thanks

Thank you to family for love and support.
Thank you to teachers who inspire and encourage me.
Thank you to roommates who supply laughter and smiles.
Thank you to friends who give hugs and keep in touch with care.
Thank you to the boyfriend who brings peace and cuddles.
Thank you to co-workers who understand and give help.
Thank you to strangers who leave long-lasting imprints unknowingly.
Thank you to all.
Thank you dear Father for everyone in this world who has touched me in some way or another, and has made me a better person since the day they found me.
Thank you.
To All, I Give Thanks.

Here-- Have a Dancing Doughnut!

I just had a lovely night! After getting out of my last class of the semester, I went to what we call a "Doughnut Break". Finals are upon us, and sometimes we humans just need a break, and some time to just eat a doughnut and drink hot cocoa. And that's what we did :) Because I am a Residential Assistant, I helped hand out doughnuts. But guess what else we had..... MUSIC! So pretty much I was there handing out doughnuts and dancing. It was legit. I had a ball. So every now and then, I'd be dancing and handing off a doughnut to a resident, and the words "Here-- have a dancing doughnut!" would pop out of my mouth. Oh well :) All in all, it was a lovely time. What more could I ask for?! :)

An Update :)

So I made it into the dance major, yes? (I believe I mentioned that a month ago...) Well, last week, I auditioned and made it into a dance group called Kinnect at BYU! I am very excited! This group has many, many performance opportunities, and everyone in the group gets to choreograph things.... AND we get to go into elementary schools to perform and do little workshops with the children! This is an incredible opportunity. And as if it couldn't get any better... I also got accepted to be a part of a dance that the Graham Company is coming to place on dancers next semester! Amazing!!! I am hopeful that I will be able to fit all of this into my schedule, but I definately feel blessed to be accepted to be a part of it.
Aside from dance things, life is wonderful! The end of the semester is drawing near, and I'm just trying to stay on top of things (work, school, social, spiritual... the hole shabang). I've recently been in an open relationship with this one guy... yeah, he's cool ;) His name is Lee, and he's Chinese, so that makes things fun, haha. Hmmm... what else.... Christmas is just around the corner!!!! This is very exciting! My family started a new thing last year where we now draw names for Christmas. This is good so that we can get actual good presents without going broke, haha. This year I drew my older sister. Since she will be getting married at the end of the school year, I got her some things that she can use in her future home (kitchen stuff), and some jewlery. I'm excited for her to open her gifts!!! :D
Okay, that is what I call an update!!! Okay, maybe not the best form of an update, but it has good stuff in it :) As I get back into blogging again, I will probably remember things that I want to mention.
For now, make it the best day ever!!! Peace ;)

"Best Day Ever!"

Question: How ya doin?

Answer: Best day ever!

Life can be overwhelming sometimes, but what makes it the "best day ever" is the way you look at. :) So go ahead, make today and the rest of your days the "best day ever"!

Lady Macbeth

Last week, I was in the Faculty Showcase. The dance I was in was based off the story of Lady Macbeth. It was amazing! I would try to explain the dance in depth, but I don't think I could do it justice!!! Let's just say, I was Lady Macbeth, and there were two evil spirits that I called upon to help me so that I could commit these murders in order for my husband to be king. That's it in a nutshell! It was the perfect dance for Halloween, because it brought forth eerie feelings and a creepy plot. Perfect.
Thank you Kori for such an amazing dance!!!!
(This picture is of me wearing a cloak from one of the evil spirits.)

In The Leaves of Autumn

There's nothing like a beautiful fall day when you can walk around wearing some of your favorite fall time clothes, and carry a pumpkin carved to look like an infant Harry Potter. Nothing like it at all :) About a week or so ago, one of my lovely roommates took these pictures for me. We got a few funny looks from people walking by, but in the end it was completely worth it!!! Later this day, some men came around and vacuumed up all of the festive leaves... We were very lucky we took the pictures when we did!
I love autumn :D

A Gift for Mom

For my mothers birthday, I painted a little train and a little box for her :) It took me weeks to get the project done just because I had problems finding the time to paint, but it is now complete!!! Tomorrow I hope to give it to her :)

Happy Birthday Mom!!! I know I'm a month late, but I hope you understand, haha. I love you!

Yellow Canaries

Over the summer, I developed this insane liking for birds. They are officially my favorite :) Ducks were my favorite animal, but I have now broadened my favorite animal to all birds. Something that sparked this interest was this article by President Thomas S. Monson, titled Canaries with Gray on Their Wings. If you have not read it, READ IT!!!! It is so wonderful, and inspiring. As a Residential Assistant, I based the theme of my hall off this article. It has been wonderful. Just yesterday, we decorated yellow t-shirts with silver spray paint. Wonderful.
I hope you all are having a fabulous Sunday! Much love

Flying Ballerina's

Leaping. Soaring. Extending. Floating. Fly ballerina, fly.
Today I am merely a student of dance. In the tomorrow's of the future,

I will fly as the great ballerina's do fly.

Broken

Have you ever done something that you deeply regreted later? We all have, right? I had one of those experiences this past week.
There is this movie that has been out for years, and lots of people have referred to it since it's release date. This last week, I had the opportunity to borrow this movie from a friend. However, before watching the movie, I was told by other's that it was a crude. While they may not have seemed like warnings at the time, I look back on that and recognize that they were flashing red lights. As I started the watching the movie with my best friend, I felt these promptings telling me that it wasn't worth it-- that the movie was not worth watching and that I'd be better off stopping it before it even started. I pushed these promptings away. I regret that deeply. While the movie wasn't terribly evil, there was still enough material in it to make it innapropriate, and to drive the Spirit away. Upon finishing the movie, I felt empty. The next few days that followed contained that same empty feeling. The Spirit of God was not as close to me as it had previously been.
As I have been working on repenting, I have have come to gain a greater testimony of the Holy Ghost and how powerful and important it really is in our lives. Those days that felt empty, I will never gain back. However, I have devoted myself to do all that I can to make sure I never go through that experience again. I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost. It helps me gain joy in my life and stay close to the gospel so that I can recieve eternal blessings. Through this, I have also gained a greater testimony of the Atonement, and understand it in a whole new light.
To help take a stand for my decision to get my life on a better track, myself and the girls that live in my building broke the majority of my CD's today. I don't own an iPod, or anything of the sort, so my music supply is in CD's. While my CD's contained wonderful songs, many had at least one song that was innapropriate. In order to get rid of that one song, I would have to destroy the whole CD. It was worth it. While my collection of CD's is now incredibly small, I feel more joy in my life. As a dancer, it is hard to imagine not having a good stock of music on hand to dance to, but I know that what I did was for the better and that I will be able to move through this with peace of mind.
I love the gospel with all my heart, and I never want to do anything again that takes the Spirit of the Lord away from me. I know that God the Father lives, as well as the Son, Jesus Christ. I know that they love each and every one of us and that they want us to return to live with them. Be strong, and remember-- "God did not send us here to fail."

Swagga of a College Kid

First off --- Happy Homecoming Week to all you BYU peeps! It has been a great week :) Tonight, we won our football game, so that was pretty much awesome.

Today, I was in the Homecoming Parade with Club Style; the best club in the world! ;) We are the official Hip Hop club at BYU. It was so much fun spending the morning with everyone, just handing candy out to little children along the parade route, goofing off, and dancing. What a spendid way to spend a Saturday morning! Here are just some pictures of those of us that were the in parade. (The actual club consists of at least 3 times this many people.)

Marci and Me with our Matching Shoes :)

Hanging Picture Frames

This past summer, I went to a wedding reception with my older sister. It was darling! The reception took place in the brides parents backyard. Lights were strung around the tree's, tables scattered throughout the yard for guests to visit and eat their refreshments at, a dance floor with a band, and my favorite-- picture frames hanging from the trees. While many of the frames had pictures of the newly wed couple, there was a fair share of picture frames without anything in them. My older sister plans to be getting married in the next year, and at times I wonder what type of decorations her reception will have-- what will the staples of it be? That's neither here, nor there, through. Once she has the engagement ring on her finger plans should start being finalized :) (So what's with her wedding dress in the closet? This had better be official!)
In the end, let's just say I love wedding receptions. While some may be a bit too traditional for me (the colors, the cake, and the location), I tend to find little things at most receptions that catch my eye and I fall in love with them. Who knows when (or if) I will get married, but when I do, I know I will have a very hard time settling on the little things. I find that it's the little things that help pull together the wedding (i.e. how the wedding announcement and staples of the wedding fit together). I'm no wedding expert, yet I think it's fun to analyze weddings (mainly the receptions) and pick out what I do and don't like about them.
Have a lovely Sunday day! Remember, families are FOREVER! What a beautiful blessing to have the knowledge that we can be together with our loved ones forever :) Much love

Trials

(This is a picture I took years ago at Payson Lakes-- I'd say about 5 years ago)

Recently, I have heard stories from many friends that make my heart ache. From one, a story of problems at the health center; from another, a story about being heart broken; and from another, a story of wanting to take their own life. Each of these stories, and more, leave me contemplating the variety of trials we all face in our lives. Life was not meant to be easy. However, God did not send us here to fail. We all experience hardships on different levels, and it is comforting to know that we will never be handed a trial or burden that we cannot carry; and even when our trials seem to heavy to carry, it is wonderful to know that God is there right along side us, helping.
While some trials can seem overwhelming, it is also important to remember to turn our hearts and minds to Christ. As we do this, we can feel of his love, but also learn from his example which will help us through difficult times. Christ experienced so many horrific things during his life here on earth, yet his character stayed strong. His integrity, and loyalty to God the Father was immovable. He is perfect. We can all learn from his example when we are facing trials. Will we leave them with negative attitudes and a sour outlook on life, or will we keep our integrity in place, and do our best to act as Christ would?
To whoever may be reading this, ALWAYS remember that God loves you. At times, life may seem to hard to stand. In fact, times are going to continue getting worse in this world until the Second Coming. While we look around and think about how even the worst were sent to this world, we must remember that the best were also sent here as well. Stay strong. Remember, God did not send us here to fail. (I love that quote, "God did not send us here to fail".)
Much love, and best wishes to all of you. :)

Happy Hershey

In my room, I currently have three bags of Hershey Kisses. Of course, I am using these yummy chocolates to encourage the girls that live in my building to be involved in our weekly discussions. However, I find myself sneaking some of these treats for myself throughout the week. I love Hershey Kisses. They are like a little piece of happiness. Of course the fact that they are chocolate is an impactful factor, but also the shape and size of the chocolates is delightful.

I am starting a new habit. Every time I eat a Hershey Kiss, I like to think of one moment that day that has brought me joy, or a time that day that I was able to bring joy to another person, and then give thanks to Heavenly Father for that experience. When I do this, I am able to more fully see how many blessings I really do have in life. Of course, I don't eat Hershey Kisses all throughout the day, but it does make me think of happy things when I do eat one.

So the next time you are eating a Hershey Kiss, think of at least one happy moment that you have had that day personally, or a moment that you were able to make another person happy. Then you will enjoy that delightful piece of chocolate so much more!

The Happy Stuff :)

After ranting about the swearing that was displayed at the concert on Saturday, I thought it would be nice to share some pictures of the awesomeness of the concert :) Here are some pictures of 30 Seconds to Mars and Neon Trees (and one picture of me and my date, Kevin, holding our tickets:)
Enjoy!

Swearing is NOT cool

(This is a little clip from the concert)

New Politics, Neon Trees, and 30 Seconds to Mars. They are all pretty talented :) On Saturday night, I went to a concert that featured all three of these groups. The main band was 30 Seconds to Mars. The lighting was awesome, the energy was intense, and the performance was phenomenal. I'm actually not all that into rock-- it's not my favorite genere of music. However, I was pleased, this being my first legit big concert.

While the overall concert was great, I was disappointed with one thing. Swearing. The cuss words. The bands didn't use many swear words in their songs, but in between numbers, they would throw out a bucket of foul language. It irked me! (Sam, I used the word 'irked' for you ;)

What makes them think that swearing is cool? I know that there are many people that could rant about this just like I am; I just wanted to take a moment and rant about it myself.

#1. Swearing bothers me because it is clearly a commandment not to swear. Plain and simple. As we strive to become more like Christ, we learn that patience truely is a virtue, and that obedience is basically the most important lesson we can learn here on earth. By swearing and using foul language, we are sending the Spirit of the Lord away from ourselves and allowing the influence of the adversary to join us.

#2. It's just not cool. I get the feeling that some people think swearing is cool because it makes them sound hardcore. It doesn't. There are so many other vocabulary words that can be used instead of foul ones. By choosing to use those other appropriate words, you are showing more intelligence, and control of your own emotions. You sound smarter :)

Anways, aside from all of that, the performance was cool. LOUD, but definately a cool experience.

Peace, and much love

As they tip-toed through the pages of my life, everything turned into a dance party

Two people...

Emily

Samuel

My life is so funny. Serious. Last night, I went to a dance party, and there I got to party with a group of friends, including Emily and Sam. It had been a while since I had danced with these two angelic people, but I'll tell you what-- it had been far too long!

(Dance History: Emily taught me how to dance. Sam is my soulmate in dancing. The end.)

Years ago, I would not have been able to tell you that these two beings would be stars in the plot of my life. I would have never considered them 'extras', but who knew that they would be such bold characters? Needless to say, I love them to pieces.

After spending a healthy amount of time at the dance party (actually, I don't know if it was that healthy-- there were people smoking close by and it make my throat burn...), we made our way to a friends apartment where we took pictures of everyone holding hands and jumping on mattress's so conveniently placed in the living room. Epic. Simply epic. And of course, we spent some time playing with silly string and boogying to music.

So this is a shout out to Emily and Sam. Thanks for being such awesome dance buddies and hand holding friends.

(Hand-holding history-- Emily taught me how to hold hands. Sam is my soulmate with hand-holding on the beach and at other select locations. The end.)

Dancing, hand-holding, Emily, and Sam. What else do I need in life? ;)

Much love ())-%--

We got a new bathtub!!!!

So.... we got a new bathtub! Our old one had a 3 inch crack--- who knows how much growth was under it! So earlier this week, the maintenance people came and installed a NEW BATHTUB! It's so cool :) We were very happy to have it. I mean, how often do you get to use a new tub?

The Lion King on Broadway - He Lives in You (Reprise)

This song has been my theme song all week. It is sooo beautiful! A couple weeks ago, I went to the Broadway show of The Lion King in SLC. It was so wonderful... I cried, it was so beautiful. I just wanted to share this song with you because it's so powerful, and it just has a neat message that you can relate to the gospel and the influence Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have in our lives. Amazing.

Madly In Love With You- Sean McConnell

Love, love, love this song. I like to think that the message in this song is somewhat in line with how Heavely Father feels about each one of us. Here we are on earth, fighting this war against the adversary, and Heavenly Father is there, never giving up on us, and always offering us his love in our lives. Beautiful.

It's a new dawn. It's a new day. It's a new life. For me. And I'm feeling...... good :)

I've been trying all day to upload a video from my dance class, but it just won't work! Perhaps tomorrow I will be able to share that :)
Instead, I guess I will be posting about my high school dance company my senior year :) Here is just a pictures of all of us at the beginning of the year. It was such a joy dancing with all of these girls! They are all so talented, and it was wonderful learning from all of them through the school year. Each girl brought something unique to the group which made it so exciting. Go SFHS Dance Co.!!!

99 Red Balloons.... ?

I ...... love ....... balloons. They are so fun :) On my birthday a week ago, my mom came over early in the morning to bring me muffins and balloons. The balloons are still floating around in my room, and they just make me so super happy :) There's just something about balloons that just immediately lifts my spirits when I see them. A girl in my student ward talked about how when she was having a bad day, one of her roommates went out and bought her a balloon of her favorite color and then gave it to her. How happy!!! If only everyone had that experience whenever they were feeling sad. So the next time one of your friends or a family member is feeling bad, consider going out and buying them a balloon of their favorite color ;)
Much love!