Try to Remember

As the past few weeks have gone by so quickly,

 rehearsals have gone later and later each night.

My sisters can't come see Honk!, which is a bummer.

Brielle always jokes about skyping

with my parents on the iPad during the show and

I always roll my eyes and say no way!

Can you imagine sitting and enjoying a show

and then all of a sudden an iPad pops up like a daisy

from the seat right in front of you!

So I told them no.

But, I have been really bummed that they can't come.

Sometimes I would play the

"I went to all of your events and none if you come to mine." card.

Sometimes it's hard being the youngest by so much.

But I am guilty of forgetting

just how blessed I am to have the technology

that we have to communicate so quickly and easily from so far away.

Even from hundreds of miles away,

we can send a text and they it will be received just seconds later.

We can put pictures up on facebook to watch old friends and family grow up.

We can get on Skype and within a few minutes 

we can see them at home in their living room. 

So although we may be far away from family and miss them
a whole heap,

may we always try to remember that in this day and age

we are extremely blessed to communicate with them so easily as we do.

I know that if Brielle and Carissa could come see the show,

they would. 

And for that im so grateful!

I sure do love them and can't wait until I can see them again
cause I miss them like crazy!

A Little Bit of Spring

What a beautiful day today!

Today in the Springs, we are 66 degrees and were only supposed to get warmer!

Seriously Colorado is just beautiful. 

I love seeing the mountains frosted white from the snow, 

and at the same time the sun is shining bright with a cool breeze.

Ladies and gentlemen. I do believe its that time of year again! 

Spring is in the air! 

I just love the spring, although i will admit that sometimes I do 

have separation anxiety from the winter only because

I get super cute sweaters when they are like 75% off

(justifying that i will need them in the fall of course - they dont call Rexburg The Iceburg for nothing!),

but in all reality i just want to wear them now! 

In addition to getting super cute new clothes, there is the part we all hate.

Which is spending the entire afternoon going through your closet. 

And yes sometimes it really does take all afternoon.

I have a hard time getting rid of clothes because i always think,

well what if I decide I like it in a few months,

which then turns into a year and another year after that. 

Either way, I still end up never wearing them.

But even knowing that, I dont think that makes it any easier.

Like I said, today as well as the past few days have been absolutely beautiful!d

I am so grateful for the nice weather while every other student in the Performing Arts Department

at DCC are in Disney World.

They left very early on Monday morning and come back on Saturday.

The week started off really hard.

It was an awful day at school, and having all of my friends gone just added to everything else.

But luckily the week got much better. 

Ashley Miller and I have hung out everyday after school,

Emily and finally had time to skype,

She is coming to see Honk!, I cannot wait to see her!

The college shopping trip adventures continue

and because Sarah Lyman did not go to Disney either,

we have been pretty productive on our AP Psych Child Development Project that is due next week.

Plus, my mom has been really awesome and has let me skip a lot of school,

given half my classes are gone. Haha.

But in all reality, 

it is so nice to have a break from everyone and be personally productive, not just on

my homework but in things for college, 

and the end of the year.

And to have extra time to run lines for the show.

Overall it has been a very productive, yet somehow relaxing week.

And for that, I am so grateful.

[For some reason this one didnt get posted until now.. Sorry!]

Celebrating 100

Remember when you were in Elementary School,

and every single year you celebrated the 100th day of school??

Well this year, were doin it a little bit differently.

This past Tuesday,
February 12, 2013
 marks 100 days until..

[drum roll please!]

GRADUATION!!!!!!

WOOO!!

Can you believe it?! 

Sometimes I cant even wrap my head around it.

[So I guess I never finished this blog.. But it's still worth posting!]

THE BOMB.COM

As excited as i am to graduate an start my new adventure in college,

I sure am terrified.

So many questions run through my head each day..

Like how am i gonna pay for school?

Shoot. How am i gonna pay for all my gluten free food!

What am declaring as my major?

And the the list goes on and on.

But the past few days have been a whole new set of thoughts.

I will for sure be going to BYU-Idaho in the fall!

I got onto the fall/spring track, so school starts on september 16, 2013.

Crazy right?? I think so.

I truly believe that no one can emotionally and mentally 

prepare you for your senior year of high school.

For me, it has been more physically, mentally and emotionally challenging

than any other year of school.

But the past few days as I accepted to BYU-I,

 I realized that graduation is coming FAST. 

Graduation announcements came in and were available for pick up during both lunches,

auditions to sing at graduation were two weeks ago.

And we're beginning to talk about specific dates for certain events.

But more importantly, I wanna talk about how my outlook on things like this

were changed.

All because of one school assembly.

A week or so ago, DCC had a motivational speaker come talk to us.

Laymon Hicks has a way  of communicating with high school students on their level. 

He doesn't just stand up there telling people to be better,

he told his story, and as he did he encouraged us to be better people.

His story is incredible and so many of us in the audience could relate to him.

 And in so many different ways. 

I am positive that everybody was touched in some way or another.

He talked about never failing to let the people in our lives know how much we love them.

He had us all close our eyes and think about the people in our lives,

and to think of someone in particular that we may have not said "I love you" to recently.

And when we opened our eyes,

he told us to take out our phones and to text the person.

The past few weeks have been really busy and I realized that I have let

things get in the way of the people I love most in my life.

Carissa and I play phone tag every time we try to talk,

my dad and I are hardly ever home at the same time.

Emily is working 2 jobs,

and Sarah has been gone for a month doing college auditions.

While they are all busy,

I have an absolutely crazy schedule too.

If I'm not at school, I'm at rehearsal, or work.

When I'm at home, I'm sleeping because I'm completely exhausted from school rehearsal and work.

But listening to Layman talk,

I realized that I just can't afford to let days and especially weeks go by

without sitting down for an hour or so with those that I care so much about.

It's not hard to call them up to talk or to go grab some Starbucks. 

So that is a new goal of mine, to never let those that I care most about forget how much I love them.

It's also a two way street,

sometimes we need to make sacrifices for the ones we love.

Sometimes I need to sacrifice an hour of homework or sleep to spend time with them.

What sacrifices do you need to make?

Laymon said "good things do not come to those who wait".

He told us that if there was something we wanted

and we wanted it badly enough, we needed to

"GET UP. GET OUT. AND GO GET IT."

We should all do that.

We all see other people doing great things, like going to the Olympics

or getting a great job promotion or someone looses "X" amount of weight.

Too often, we find ourselves saying, "man, I wish I could do something like that.."

We'll guess what, you can!

He told us a story about a time when he was going to a leadership conference

and he had gotten a brand new suit.

When he arrived at the retreat,
they told him they were going to the beach.
[He told us that he absolutely hates the beach]
But there he was, at the beach. In his brand new suit.
And while talking to students he felt something hit his arm
and as he looked down at it
he saw that it was bird poop.
On his Brand. New. Suit.
(Of course he tells this story much better and its absolutely hilarious!)
But as a side note he told us that earlier he had seen a young man with a long sleeve shirt on and
he thought, who wears a long sleeve shirt to the beach?!
But then he remembered that he was wearing a suit, so he really
had no place to judge!
He had talked to this young man earlier but when he was pooped on
he was talking with another group of people.
Laymon went on to say how mad he was about the whole thing.
He was furious. He hates the beach,
and somehow he got himself into spending the day there,
in a brand new suit.
But after a few minutes of being angry he wiped his sleeve off
and remembered that he was there for the students.
To be talking with and motivate the students.
So he continued on his "mission", his reason for being there.
At the end of the day, he saw the young man with the long sleeves again
and pointed to him and said something along the lines of,
"Hey! You can do it man!"
Later that evening he got an email from the young man with long sleeves,
thanking him for saying that he could do it and for encouraging him, etc.
As he read on,
the guy explained that he was wearing long sleeves because he was trying to hide the cuts on his arms.
The young man was trying to kill himself the night before.
But he decided that he would go to this one last retreat the next day.
In the email, he went explaining that no one has ever told him
that he could do something,
or be someone or go anywhere.
No one had ever encouraged him.
He thanked Laymon for saving his life that day.
So after telling us that story, Laymon went back to the bird that pooped on his arm,
and talked about how much of a distraction that was.
He was so caught up in the whole thing that it took him from what he was really supposed to be
doing that day, which was talking with all of those kids.
He said that if he let that take over the rest of his day,
he would not have said anything to that young man with the long sleeves.
Laymon then asked us,
what kind of birds (distractions) we had in our own lives.
And now I wanna share that same question with you.
What kind of birds are in your life that keep you from doing the things that we are supposed to be doing?
And though, we may never be put in a situation as extreme as savings someones life,
we cannot lose focus of what we are supposed to be doing.
Everyone has birds in their life.
For some it might be media, others it could be friends, and for some it may even be family.
Sometimes, although it may be hard, the best thing for us is to get rid of those birds
and to focus on what we are supposed to be doing.
To focus on our mission.
One last thing that I really loved that Laymon said,
was that he always wanted to be an author
but his mother continually shot him down.
She would tell him that he would never be an author.
He now has multiple books published.
He taught that no matter what people tell you,
no matter how many times your told that you cant do it,
it can never stop you from achieving your dreams
and being "THE BOMB.COM"
Like Laymon, I have always wanted to write a book.
But I have realized that,
as cheesy as it sounds,
I already am.
Im writing my story here.
I am the author, and even though its small,
and not many read my blog,
it makes me feel like a part of something bigger.

I may be nervous to leave home and go to college in the fall,
that's not gonna stop me from anything. I am gonna
"GET UP. GET OUT. AND GO GET IT."
Because I am "THE BOMB.COM"
And nobody can take that away from me.

A special thank you Laymon Hicks for coming to DCC and spending
the morning with us. Keep doin what your doin! Because you are changing lives.
God Bless.

Super Easy T-Shirt Quilt!

A few months ago our laurel class was talking about 

ideas that we would wanna do for our weekly activities,

and one of our ideas was to make t-shirt quilts.

Little did we know at the time,

just how awesome our leaders were.

Before we knew it, 

we were getting all of the materials that we needed to start 

our quilts.

It is so much easier than it looks!

The only materials you need are:

- t-shirts

- low loft quilters batting

- basting spray

-masking tape

and a sewing machine!

So here's how to do it:

1. Cut your tshirts into

12x12 inch sqaures.

2. Arrange them in the order you want them in.

(mine was 6x6 feet)

3. Measure your backing and batting.

(I just ran to target and got a full sized flannel sheet for my backing,

making it easy and avoids having to sew pieces together. 

It was plenty big enough, and nice and warm!)

Leave 2 extra inches of backing on every side of the quilt.

4. Spray the basting spray on the backing in sections and place your batting on smooth.

5. Sew each row (except the middle) together.

The middle has to be sewn directly on the quilt.

To sew each row together, take one square facing up, then the neighboring 

square on top of it but facing down. Tape the two squares together along the edge of the tape.

Take the tape off, and open the two squares. Repeat for each square in the row.

6. One by one, sew the rows directly onto the quilt.

Do the same thing you did when sewing each individual square together,

but do it for the entire row horizontally instead of vertically. Take the tape off.

Spray the basting spray on the batting, and pull your t-shirts flat, avoiding awkward bumps

in your quilt.

7.  Now all the rows should be sewn on horizontally,

so now each column (sewing veritcally between each column).

8. Cut all the excess batting around the edges of the quilt.

But dont cut the excess backing!

9. Fold the backing over evenly twice and sew the whole edging down.  

10. Sew knots every four inches in each square to help keep the batting in place.

Here is my finished quilt!

It covers my queen sized bed!
I love it, I love it, I love it!!

So, when explaining how to make it,

it seems like a lot of work. 

But my entire 6x6 foot quilt took me maybe 8 to 9 hours total.

I'm also not very good at explaining things without being able give you visuals as examples.

I wish I took more pictures..

But I am helping Ashley make one right now, so I will

have to take pictures and put together a video to put up for ya.

This was such a fun project and super easy!
So easy, that I did it all by myself!
Sure, the shirts dont line up perfectly, and the sewing may not be perfectly straight,
but I think thats what gives it character.
Wouldn't you agree??

So overall, I feel really good about it.

Even though cutting up some of my t-shirts was difficult,
this way I can have them forever!

This was an awesome project to do, as im finishing up the last couple months
of school before graduation.

It's a pretty cool thing to see all of the things I have done all smashed onto a quilt.
And to see how putting small and simple things like t-shirts together,
can make great things like a quilt be made!
I am grateful that I have been so blessed to have so many amazing opportunities
the past couple of years and to take so many great memories away from those experiences.

PROOF.

You know its pretty cool how

 doin a whole lot of nothing can actually bring you a whole lot of happiness.

Tonight Ashley Miller and I were gonna go bowling,

 so we headed to Brunswick zone and it was a

 forever long wait!

 Like an hour and a half long wait! For bowling!

 Crazy right?!

 So we decided that,

aint nobody got time for that and headed back to to the car.

 Once we got in the car, we didnt have any idea of what to do.

 But earlier she had told me of some things that had happened

 earlier in the weekend and how our friend Meghan was really upset about it,

 so we decided to go kidnap her for an adventure!

 The funny part is that neither one of us knew where she lived.

 But luckily, I remembered that our friend Alex takes her to school everyday,

so we asked him for directions. (Which by the way, were awful directions! Haha)

Anyways, we werent sure if Meghans parents were gonna

mad if two girls showed up at their house,

at 10:00 at night to kidnap their daughter.

So we tried to get a hold of her and we couldnt so

we just decided to 

follow Alex's directions to the best of our ability.

Haha eventually, 

Meghan had called us back and we got much better directions

and successfully kidnapped her.

Our next problem being that we had no idea what to do.

So we decided to just drive.

We ended up at walmart, 

still not knowing what to do.

So after walking through practically the entire store,

we ended up in the scrapbooking area,

and we sat there for over an hour looking at all of the 

Smash Books and all the cool supplies and stuff to make them.

I already had one, because I got one for Christmas from 

Carissa and Kyle,

and I absolutely loovee it!

Ashley and Meghan ended up getting books and other supplies for them.

So even though we just sat there, we had tons of fun 

just laughing and talking.

Saturday night is PROOF of how you dont need 

drugs and alcohol to have fun.

Just clean fun. 

[Well, the walmart floor wasn't that clean.]

But the fun was.

So even though we didnt do anything besides just sit on 

the floor of the walmart floor,

it was a great night and 

im so grateful we did it because

the three of us became closer. 

I sure do love those girls

and I am so grateful that we share the same standards.

A Little Pep Talk

"A Pep Talk from Kid President to You"

I absolutely love this video..

It is so funny!

Given my last post,

I think this is the perfect way to come back from

that last one because it was pretty 

depressing..

But its what I was going through..

A hard time.

But sometimes, 

we all just need a little pep talk.

To have people tell us that "your gooder than that."

And that's exactly what I got these last couple of weeks.

I am so grateful for the pep talk that my Heavenly Father has given to me.

My pep talk started out with

New Beginnings.

What a stress it was, trying to pull a few musical numbers together

with such a short time of being called as 

the young womens music coordinator.

But we did it!

As a special musical number we had about 12 girls sing

"Stand In A Holy Place" by Jenny Phillips

which had beautiful solos and gradually built to everyone in the group singing,

and the song ended by having one beehive sing the last line

"When your standing in a Holy Place"

It was seriously so beautiful.

For the closing song all the young women came up and sang our

2013 theme song

"Standing In Holy Places"

That song truly has so much power.

The lyrics are really strong to me.

We were then asked to sing the theme song,
"Standing In Holy Places"
for the Skate Priesthood meeting.
its not very common that women get asked to do that.
So it was a really cool experience for me.

I was also presented with the opportunity to give away a Book of Mormon!
I gave it to Sarah.
The prompting to give it to her was so strong.
I hope that one day she will decide to read something from it
and allow it to bless her life like I know it can. :)

For our mutral activity during the week,
the laurels are making tshirt quilts.
I am so excited to get all my tshirts from high school on there.
As I have cut my shirts,
it has been really cool for me to reflect back on
not only the things that I have done,
but also who I am, and how I became that over the past four years.
(I will have to post a picture as soon as I finish it. I have got the hard part out of the way.)
I am grateful for all of the opportunities I have had during high school.
What an incredible time in our lives that
we, myself included, take for granted when we are truly
blessed with so much.
So the tshirt quilts have definitely been a really cool thing for me to do.
Speaking of young womens,
I love my laurel class!
Im not sure what the best way to describe it would be,
but in the Gleneagle Ward I never felt like I fit in.
Almost like I was the odd ball out.
It may seem crazy,
but I really did struggle in that ward.
So the new ward has been a really great move for me.
I absolutely love the young women, especially the laurels.
I am so grateful for my awesome leaders,
Sister Johnson and Sister Rogers.
Gosh, they are amazing women. And always happy.
Shoot. Sometimes Sister Rogers and I just laugh and laugh.
I love having her as my leader.
Girls Camp would be so much fun with her!

This last weekend I finally finished math!!
Seriously, there were times when I really struggled and did not think it was worth it.
But it definitely was!
I am so grateful for the technology so easily available for me
to take that class online and to be done with it before
rehearsal for the musical started..
I love not even having to stress about it.
It seemed like even if I got so much other homework
done, it was never enough because I had so much math to finish.
So with less than 24 hours left to spare,
I finished math.
One day before rehearsal!
[Mom, I told you I could do it!]

Rehearsal started yesterday,
and boy do I have a whole lot of work to do!
I am excited that we have finally started!
I can definitely see some very long days ahead of me.
But lets get this show on the road!
Im so excited, its gonna be a great show.
And I am especially grateful to be leaving with a bang,
ya know?
Its finally my turn to shine as a lead.
I still cannot even tell you how grateful I am
play Ida. Such a blessing.
I am grateful for my talents that God has given me
so that I could participate so heavily in choir and theatre.

And last but most certainly not least.
I got accepted to BYU- Idaho!
WOO WOO!!
You are probably thinking,
"What the?! I thought you were gonna go to Cosmetology school?!"
And if you are,
then you are right.
That has been my plan.
It may sound awful but part of me was hoping that
I didnt get into BYUI because if I didnt,
I would know that Cosmetology was the right thing for me..
But now I have to choose!
I cant help but wonder..
what if I got into BYUI because I need to be there for some reason.
Gosh. Can you tell that I have absolutely no idea
what the heck im doing??
Cause I dont.
My plan has once again been mixed up
like croutons in a tossed salad.
[Sorry, that was a really awful analogy.. but I thought it was hilarious..Hahaha]
Anyways,
I am grateful to have been accepted.
It is a great opportunity and option to keep open.

I am so excited to see where my life goes in the next couple of months.
I know that Heavenly Father knows what he's doing.
Even if sometimes were thinking

I dont know about you but that happens to me alot.
But I am grateful that my Heavenly Father knows me and
so freely gives me the blessings that I need,
even if that blessing is a trial.
So I may have another couple of really awful days or weeks,
but my Father in Heaven would never give me anything that I cant
handle. And He is there for me always, and the blessings soon will come.
In patience, and His time they will come.