Tonight... tonight I am grateful for miracles.

I really should be sleeping. But I decided that I need to write something since I am really grateful for this evening. 
Back story: I had decided I was going to go do a session at the temple with a friend's ward tonight at 6:30.  But about half way through the afternoon, I got a crazy idea that I really wanted to go with my friend to get yogurt.  Then I had planned to go visit teaching at 5:30.  I kept thinking that I should push up visiting teaching so I could make it to the session on time.  But the thought kept occurring to me that I shouldn't rush visiting teaching and that I should give the girl enough time.  Then I thought well if I am out by 6 I could still go do sealings and it wouldn't be too late. But I didn't get out of visiting teaching until almost 6:30 and by then I just decided I needed to go home and finish some stuff.
Well come to find out my friend sent me a link to a news article. A really sad thing happened. A man committed suicide in front of the temple this evening between 6:30/6:40ish, right as I would have been walking through the temple doors if things had gone as planned.  I really don't think I would have been harmed physically, but I think I would have been hurting mentally and emotionally right now if I had seen it happen.  So I am grateful for the little promptings that don't seem to be big deals or really matter in the great scheme of things but sometimes actually do.  I am grateful I wasn't put into a situation that would have actually made life harder on me, as I am already stressed out majorly. I am thankful for my Heavenly Father's protection. But that's enough for today. Just remember to be grateful for the small things, because you never know how they really do affect you.  I am going to be thanking Heavenly Father and also praying for the young man and his family and others affected by the events tonight.

Link to the news article.
http://m.lvsun.com/news/2013/nov/19/man-kills-himself-outside-las-vegas-mormon-temple/

Autumn Came to Visit Me! (Not the Season... my Friend!)

My friend Autumn came to visit me in Las Vegas this weekend! Yippee!! We went to Hoover Dam, the Mob Museum, ventured down to the Strip, an amazing donut shop, and a bonfire.  (we didn't take photos everywhere we went though...)  and she is still here... hmmm. I'm working on it.

Lets just remember my small huge ginormous love of Pennsylvania everything... Yep thanks.

Autumn couldn't fit in the BOX! We couldn't take her sad day!

Yes you can see my arms in the reflection in my glasses... the important thing is who cares. This is the bridge over the dam! It's so high! and you can still drive across the dam. Prettttty amazing.

MOB MUSEUM!!! Pretty awesome place. Want to go again. When we took this picture someone said it looked like I had practice taking mug shots. Of course because I've totally been arrested before... not! Too many crime shows?! (Nope that can't be possible)

Bellagio! Lovee it there!

Donuts!!!! Yummy!

This was at Canes. yummy food and I felt like taking pictures and this one turned out great! So yeah. I like my eyes in it. :)

Where has all the time gone?!

One year ago my life was about to change forever in a good way. One year ago, I got on a plane that took off from Pennsylvania leading me toward my future.

My last evening in PA.

My last comp in the mission field dropping me off at the airport with the elders.  I love her dearly. I am so thankful to her in a way she will never know.

Never could I have imagined what life had in store for me. This last year has probably been one of the hardest years of my life. There were days/weeks/months when I thought my trial(s) were never going to end. It was hard, so hard. But looking back now I am SO grateful for what I learned and how I grew. I consider that not having the last year of my life be the way it was would be like cutting off my right arm. That is just how much I needed it. I am so grateful to a Heavenly Father, Who knew exactly what I needed and when I needed it. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Without the Atonement, I could have not made it through the trials and I would have have been in a much different place.

My mom was trying to take a picture of me coming down the escalator... but I ran down the stairs instead... haha. Expect the unexpected Mom!

Once I finally made it to my house. My mom made me a really nice banner. I have the best most supportive parents. :)

My Summer in Review

So I am re-posting this because I accidentally deleted my other post about my summer. Here it goes...

It all started with my birthday. :D oh the joys of having a birthday right as summer starts.  (but I lack pictures on my computer of my birthday party... sad day!) It was celebrated with Brave in the park and homemade pizookies at my house. Yum!
I also went to Zion National Park with my brother for the first time. It was so much fun! I loved all of it.

Trail to Angel's Landing. My mom thought I would fall off and die. (which I kinda thought to...so we only got to this point... but STILL that's a feat if you have ever hiked that trail!)

Then off to EFY I went. Originally when I left for the summer I was only contracted for 5 weeks. But within 2 weeks of leaving for Utah I had a total of 10 weeks! It was amazing. I love love love efy. (I want to do it for the rest of my life. But we will see how life works out for me eh?) So just some of the highlights because I could go on and on but I don't think you want me to! 

Provo 2A: Me and my girls. Such a great group to start of my summer. I learned and grew so much that week! It was definitely the first week that I could have needed!

Provo 3A: Love these 2 girls. Rachel the middle one was roommate there in Provo and we become instant best friends. Perfect planning on whoever put us together.  Then Amy the redhead was my roommate at BYU-I my freshman year! It was so much fun to be a counselor with her! (Hard to believe we have known each other for 5 years now!)

Provo 3A: Dani! My friend from home who doesn't live in El Paso anymore... but she came to see me during free time one day! It was so much fun! :)

Provo 3A: My girlies. Love them to death! They were my most favorite older group of the summer. They LOVED to tease me. It was great fun!

Provo 4A: Colored pants day with my cute girls! I only had 8 that week. learning their names was easy!

Nauvoo 1: You are never lost when you can see the temple. The temple will provide direction for you and your family in a world filled with chaos. It is an eternal guidepost which will help you from getting lost in the “mist of darkness.” Elder Gary E. Stevensen   I love this quote and this photo. I loved those girls so so much. Even though when they had boys complaining of girls being loud above them it was them. That's what you get for sticking 6 girls in a hotel room all together for a week. Dance parties and silly 'morse code' conversations with the boys in our group beneath them.

Nauvoo temple. Can I just say Nauvoo was just AMAZING?! I want to go back so BAD! (If I can hopefully I'll get chosen as a counselor to go there again next year!) Nauvoo brought out such tender feelings in me. My testimony of Joseph Smith was strengthened so much. I could go on and on about Nauvoo too. But I will stop here.

SLC 1: Smile! :D Such a fun group of kids. They were super strong and I am confident in each of them.

SLC 1: all of our favorite scriptures spelling EFY. Best idea from a co counselor yet!

SLC 2: My girls! This week was... interesting to say the least. Lots of challenges happened. But a lot of miracles were seen because of those challenges. I probably saw one of the sweetest change of hearts that I have ever seen in my whole entire life.

SLC 2: Some of my absolute favorite boys on the face of the planet. I just love those kids! They really impressed me and continue to impress me now.

SLC 3 My girls and me. aren't they cute?! We had some fun adventures. ha! Oh that week was entertaining!

Rexburg 1: We were a crazy group of kids and I loved it.

Rexburg 2: Have you noticed my crazy streak? if you want to see more refer to facebook pictures! It made it more fun when my girls were crazy with me.

Rexburg 2 Company Dig a Pit! Best company name ever.

Rachel is the blonde and Sarah is the brunette. We met at new counselor training in June.  Then worked Provo 2A and Rexburg 3 together. So we started off the summer and ended it together. They are some of my favorite people of the summer.

Rexburg 3: Noticed my craziness again? ha! Obviously we weren't ready for the picture! I don't remember having my hands in the air either....

Well that was my summer adventures so here I am changed by 200+ youth, 14 co counselors, 10 session directors, 8 building counselors, 7 coordinators later, 1 year older.... Life is good. I have changed in ways I didn't plan on and I am so happy about it. Here you go folks. Now I am off on my next grand adventure which is grad school!

Trailer for Stake Day of Service

VIDEO!!!

So click on the link above labeled video (I'm original I know). So my stake is having a stake day of service this weekend and some people in my ward decided to make a video preparing us for it. It's hilarious. You will understand my ward if you watch it.  Enjoy. Oh and I really don't know where my Bishop came up with the whole ghetto blast thing. It was hilarious having him say it in Relief Society on Sunday.

Ramblings for Mother's Day

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been thinking about the definition of home because of a conversation I had with my mom.  And the other night I had this thought come to me: "They say home is where you hang your hat, but I believe home is where you give your heart."  And as I thought about that, all the places I consider to be  my home are with people who I gave my heart and I received theirs in return.  I haven't always just called my parents house home.  I have called friend's houses as a second home at times or my apartment at school I referred to as my home a lot of the time.  Even though I had many homes, it was okay because they were all places I felt loved, welcomed, and as someone should that mattered. I am grateful to have been able to give my heart to many people.

Then immediately I started thinking about my wonderful, kind, and loving mother.  She is someone who has always given her heart regardless. She has definitely given her heart to each of her children.  She is always concerned with our well being, and has always been there for us(whether we were willing to turn to her or not). She has guided me through some of my most difficult trials and celebrated with me in all of my happiest moments.  She has always been there and will always be there for me. Because she loves me and I love her in return, wherever my parents will live someday will always be home to me.

Me and my momma in front of the LDS Las Vegas Temple.
Isn't she beautiful?! Now you can all see where my good looks come from! ;) 

But anyway that is my story for the night.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!!!!!!!

UNLV! woo!

I have had a crazy week. I found out on Monday that I was accepted to UNLV for my master's program. I have been emailing people like crazy trying to jump through all of these hoops so that my start can be as smooth as possible. I have had some insanely annoying obstacles with their website. Grrr. But thankfully waiting until the next day I have been able to fix most of those problems. I was able to register for classes today which was exciting! I am really excited for fall!

Now I'm officially a Rebel! I am so excited for all of this.  I feel so blessed to be able to further my education. :) 

April Fools

Enjoy. The first time I saw this I cried from laughter. Anyway. Have a happy april fools!!

Bull Riding

I"m fearless!! :) (don't listen to my screaming... they were of excitement not being scared.)

This was from the PBR World Championships. Woohooo!!! :)

Best.FHE.EVER!!!! :)

We had a flour fight for FHE yesterday. It was so much fun!! :) I love my ward. They are awesome.

People in the photo...(the girl on the left I actually don't know... this is awkward.), the  girl behind me is Sarah (she's serving a mission in Houston!), Michelle (she's one of my favorite people ever!), then Oliver (he's pretty fun.)

FAKE it until you BECOME it.

So one of my friends shared this on Facebook. I decided to watch it because there were positive comments on it. and oh. my. goodness. It was so worth the 20 minutes I spent watching it. I could hardly wait until the end of the video because I just knew this was something I needed to share. It is something I am going to watch again and again.  But seriously it puts a whole new perspective on life for me. It puts a whole new perspective on faking it until you make it.  Because no you don't want to just make it, you want to become it. Enjoy. :)

Will of God Mormon Message

I think this is a video that all of us need to watch.  I think it is a good reminder that sometimes when we are going through a trial/not having things go our way, Heavenly Father is pruning us because He knows what He wants us to be!!

What I thought this week would be

This is a picture of me at my last district meeting of my mission

Well most of you probably know but for those of you that I don't, I came home from my mission about 5 months ago. I came home about 10 days after my year mark. My "official" release date was supposed to be Feb 20, 2013.  So I thought this week would be full of being a newly returned missionary, chuck full of awkwardness, confusion, and happiness that only comes when returning from your mission.  But due to some things out of my control (things of which I am not going to go into particulars here), I was fasting and praying about coming home all of August and into September and  finally decided returning home was the best thing for me.  Don't get me wrong coming home early was an extremely difficult decision. I did NOT want to leave Pennsylvania early.  But I knew it was the right thing to do. At times I felt like it led to more trials, which frustrated me to no end. It has really taught me a lot about myself though and about my relationship with my Savior and Heavenly Father.  Also I have followed some more difficult promptings from the Spirit which lead me to move away from home.  But as I have followed the Spirit, I am AMAZED at what has happened in my life!!! I have been blessed in more ways than one. Tonight I got some exciting news and as I thought about it, suddenly every disappointment and frustration I had felt over the last few years was explained.  I could see how Heavenly Father had lead me to where I was supposed to be at this exact moment. I could see how I was never forgotten with things that I wanted to do, I just needed to wait on God's timetable. Also I could see why Heavenly Father had chosen to send me home 5 months early.  I wouldn't be where He needed me and done what He wanted me to do if I had stayed on my mission. Knowing I am where God wants me to be is the best blessing of all. So I am excited to see what happens next.

Happy Beautiful day

So let me start with a week ago. As a few of you know, I moved to Las Vegas a week ago. Woohoo! And I am trying to find a job.  Well I was really scared in my adventure that I wouldn't... But albeit I don't have one yet but today has made me very optimistic that I will be finding one soon!!
Back to my story so yesterday I filled out this very difficult application. There was a math part to it and it was HARD!  (I couldn't use a calculator) I left with my head hurting no joke. But I also left wanting to thank all my math teachers for forcing me to do math without a calculator my whole life.  So they called Thursday afternoon wanting me to come in for an interview on Friday.  I went in today and the interviewer said he was impressed with me because of all my volunteer experience on my resume.  He said he was also impressed because of how well I did on the math portion of the application and most people don't do that well. The rest of the interview went really well. Then he gave me the idea of looking on Craigslist for a job.  So I started doing that and I have another job interview lined up for Monday! And quite possibly another one next week. Woohoo!! Heavenly Father has been blessing me so much!!! Well that's my life for now folks. Hope you all are doing great!! :)

The Parable of the Bookshelf

So tonight I was assembling a bookshelf because I have a lot of books and one bookshelf is just simply not enough for me. (If you only knew anyway...)

So I got to this point and I thought I was almost done then I looked at it.

The wrong side of the wood is everywhere! Ughh it looks so bad!!

I don't know if you can see all the mistakes that I made. I was pretty frustrated cause I just wanted to be done and have it over with. (the directions were confusing) As I was reading the directions it was talking about the backing(to the left of the photo) being important to keeping the whole thing together and I thought "Yeah right. like this flimsy piece of nothing could keep the whole bookshelf together."  So I kept moving forward to finishing my bookshelf.  Then I got to thinking well this doesn't look it's best and I might be leaving this at home at some point and I don't think my parents would appreciate this kinda ugly looking thing in their house.  Then I started thinking about sin and how it kinda makes us kinda not so great looking spiritually. It taints us. And how sometimes we think well it doesn't look that bad. But to our Heavenly Father it is an eyesore because He can't look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.  So I started taking the bookshelf apart to fix it.  and it was NOT easy, it was frustrating and I just wanted wanted to be done cause I was hurting.  I had to be patient and not give up and just work on it and eventually I was able to fix it.  And that's how repentance is.  It's not easy and it often hurts a lot.  It takes time depending on what it is. But eventually after it all, we end up with what Heavenly Father wanted us to look like: clean and pure of sin. 
And also it is a lot easier and saves us time in the long run if we just spend a little bit of extra time studying the directions.  Same with keeping the commandments, it saves us time in the long run. 
So there you go. The parable of the bookshelf. Who knew that putting that together would give me all of that?

 

The finished project

December!

My friend Kim and I at the lights in downtown El Paso! It was fun to
go see them cause I'd never gone down before. :)

  So I was sitting at my computer today realizing it has been a while since I blogged and I decided I needed an update. Well December was an awesome month for me and an awesome way to end 2012. I got to see the rest of my family for the first time since getting home. Which was great!! I love them so much!! :) Also I have worn contacts too much and was causing my eyes problems so that is why I'm wearing glasses in all the pictures...

Going sledding for the 2nd time in my life!

Who can resist this adorable face?!

My good friend/old roommate Jaime got married in the Idaho Falls temple. It was so much fun to see her and our other roommate Sena.  Sena also served a mission so we both got to go to the sealing. Which was awesome! :)

  Look at this cute little girl! She didn't like the wig much. but I got her to wear it for this picture!

My niece Emma and I.  I surprised her when I took this picture. haha. :)

William and his crown

 Abbie and I. Abbie is always ready for a picture!

My nephews on their date with grandpa and grandma to buy presents.

Salt Lake Temple I got to go to my first live session ever. Pretty cool. I got
to ride the frontrunner up to Salt Lake from Lehi which was a pretty fun experience. :)

I couldn't resist getting this t-shirt for her!

 Well that was pretty much my month. It went by way too quickly!!