you lift me up

I have the best friends a girl could want. I wont even say ask for, because I wouldn't have even thought to ask for such amazing people in my life. I'm ridiculously blessed! You know those days where you feel totally alone? Or like there's absolutley nothing in your life thats working the way you wanted it? And sometimes your just avoiding every mirror you cross because you just feel like a cow and don't really want to look at yourself at the moment? Well I would be a liar if I told you I didn't have days like this. However I would also be considered a liar if I didn't told you that I felt like this for long, because it seems like every time I start feeling like any of these things one of the angles I get to call my best friends will call...or text....or take a spontaneous beach trip with me....or picnic with me with all the good intintions of working out after ;)....or delet that number for me....or make me laugh till I cry.....or dance like an idiot with me, perferably at whatab at a random time in the morning. With all these things that these friends do for me, I would be considered selfish to not be as happy as I am! Lindsey Robinson, your the better half of me, you are my twin of life, I don't want to picture my life with out you and I love you! Kristen Dunn, it doesn't matter what is happening in my life, all I need to do is hang out with you one day and I will be sore in the stomach the next day from laughter, and I love you! Lauren Dunn, there is absolutely no one like you, you make me think in different ways, and I love you! Brooke Hurley, I owe so much to you. The person I am today, my best friends, countless unforgetable moments, thank you, and I love you! Cydni Gardner, you are simply what the doctor ordered, your alwasy exactly what I need and when I need it! and I love you! There are so many others who I am so blessed to have in my life, but these people can bring tears to my eyes. And oh...by the way, your my best friends....and I think I forgot to tell you....I love you.

Improve The Shining Moment

Time flies on wings of lighting; we cannot call it back.
It come, the passes forward along its on ward track
And if we are not mindful the chance will fade away
For life is quick in passing.
Tis as a single day.

Our bodies, minds, families, friends, this beautiful earth. All these divine gifts we are given remind me of Christmas. And life is like the day after Christmas. Or the week. Then the month. Eventually it becomes the years. I'm sure we all do the same thing on Christmas morning. Rush down stairs to meet the glorious sight of Christmas morning. The presents shinning and wrapped under the decorated tree, and the glowing lights that surround it. As soon as we unwrap these gifts we've so anxiously been awaiting we are over joyed! We hug our gifts close to our chest and then proceed to pose in some ridiculous way for a family member pointing a camera at your face to capture the moment and embarass you later. The day after we receive this gift, its still something that can put a twinkle in our eye and love to tell people about every chance we get. The week after, your still trying to imagine what the heck you were doing before you got this! Months later, you find a place to put this gift because you don't really feel the need to carry it around anymore. Now years have passed sense you had that joyous moment of opening it, and you begin to forget how excited you were about it. Now you cant even remember where you put it, and are asking for the next best thing this Christmas. This is a common trait that we as a human race posses. Today in sacrament i felt like i should read our opening hymn, Improve the Shining Moments. Improve the shining moments; don't let them pass you by.
We need to improve this shining moment of life. Because that's all it is. A moment. A moment our loving God gave us as a gift. We need to remember, go back to that day we unwrapped it, time to take that embarrassing picture out of the trash and look back at how excited we were to use this gift to the best of its ability. Lets use our gifts of family, love, the Gospel, and share them. Let us place these gifts in a place of honor and never forget them. Because these are the gifts from our God, who "will love and bless you, and help to you impart."

Improve the Shining Moments, don't let them pass you by.

BUCKET LIST!!!

(P.S. these aren't in order)
1. write a book
2. Join Peace Corps
3. have at least 3 kiddo's
4. get married
5. help convert someone
6. finish the Book of Mormon
7. pet a lion
8. make a pizza in Italy
9. have someone quote me (preferably in a book, but Lindsey counts ;)
10. get into BYU-I
11. hike a mountain
12. catch a fish
13. donate a Christmas to a family in need
14. sing in public
15. ride a subway in New York...and live to tell the tale
16. see Greece
17. see Rome
18. see Scotland
19. ride a horse on a beach
20. scuba dive
21. motivational speak somewhere
22. tell John Bytheway he's my hero
23. meet a prophet
24. play hide and seek in the rain
25. ride a two person bike
26. ride on a motorcycle
27. surf
28. pick up an old couple's check at a restaurant
29. go to a fashion show
30. go to a Broadway show
31. be Bell for Halloween
32. learn how to do a hand stand
33. take a picture under the Ifle Tower doing a hand stand
34. get called on stage at a concert
35. be happy
36. name my children one of the following, Creed, Caron, Preslie, Paige
37. have a happily ever after
38. successfully match make someone
39. send my parents on a romantic get away for a big anniversary

He Lives, So I Stand All Amazed

"I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me. Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me. I tremble to know that for me he was crucified, that for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

Easter is a time of gratitude. Nothing changes on this day. We receive no special, glorious gift on this day, nor do we have some kind of elite ceremony. The miracle of the atonement is something we have at all times due to our loving Savior. So what is this day for? Sometimes as humans I think we need a quick swift kick in the pants to remember. Let us all take this one amazing day and devote it to thanking our Savior, Lord and King in any and every way we can. Let us never take what he endured for granted. He did it because He loves us, "that for me, a sinner, he suffered he bled and died." He Lives. He lives for us, and He died for us. So let us live for Him, and when we die, let us die to return to Him.

"We are born. We live. We laugh. Sometimes We cry.'

As you know if you're reading this, cause your either one of my best friends or my seester, I work in the book store on Saturdays. I've been doing this since this summer and at first it made me want to eat cardboard. However my feelings towards the book store have been changing. I've come to relize just how big of a role my Hevenly Father plays in my life. He knew that this was the job that I needed, and exactly when I needed it. This past Saturday when I was working, in between the five customors I had in an eight hour day...I had some time to kill. So I began reading an amazing book by Chris Stewart, and he had the most interesting point of views. We've all heard time and time again how we are the "chosen generation" and how the times that we live in are some of the most challenging. Well I'm not trying to cut us down, but I think It's about time we stop trying to compare ourselves to the pioneers who in the most remarkable way paved the way for us. Our Heavenly Father knows us each. He knows what lessons we need, and how best we would learn them. This is why we were put on this earth at this time. Each trial we go through is a blessing that He's just waiting to give us. So when we truly look at it, how different is our lives, and our trials, compared to those before us? " Our challenges may be different, but our lives are basically more similar than we sometimes suppose. We are born. We live. We laugh. Sometimes we cry." We must always take comfort in the fact that whatever we might be going through, someone else has been there. If not the same trial you seem to be in, something that tried them just the same. Pushed them to the point they thought they couldn't handle it anymore. We can never forget, He has faith in us. Let us have faith in ourselves. And let us help build eachother, because we are all going through this life with the same goal.

Let It Rain

The sound of rain. A simple noise that seems to sound different to each person. Some people shy away from rain. The sounds it makes against their rooves, the chill it gives them as it runs down their faces, or the puddles it makes in their front yards. Just because its not the sunshine they're use to, they run inside and lock the door to rain. Then there are those who in place of shutting their blinds to rain, take off their shoes and go charging through every puddle they can find! They embrace each drop that glides down their cheeks, and when it stops, they ring out their hair and go wash the smell away looking forward to the flowers they can now anticipate. Life is alot like this. Sometimes it rains. Its up to us however to decied if we want to take off our shoes and play, or stay inside trying to drowned out a sound that's only natural. Last night I tried to drowned out that sound, and all I can say is you can only turn your music up so loud. It took me till about half way through writing this to decied I want to make a splash in a puddle, cause tomorrow, or maybe even next week, I know theres gonna be beautiful flowers.

Learning To Laugh It off...

You know that time old question..."wow, haha that SUCKS! Does stuff like that actually happen to people?" How many times have we asked this to our buddies about some ridiculous story in between our laughs? I'll tell you how many times we've all asked this question. ALOT! And you know what...I'll do you one better, I'll even answer the quesion for you! Yes. Yes they do happen. And they happen to ME! I stayed home sick today and for some reason I started thinking of all the things that have happend to me that I could have easily sold to a 17 magizine for the embarassing moments page that people like to look at to feel better about falling on their face in Spanish class that day. Well I thought I would go ahead and take a moment to say your welcome. Your welcome for taking one for the team and being "that girl" that everyone can look at and say...well. At least THAT didn't happen to me! Your also welcome for being the same very girl who doesn't start crying, at least in front of you, and making it all awkward. Who even lets you make fun of her for days to come and laughs along with you. Cause if theres one thing I've learned through countless times of saying the wrong thing, landing on your face with the whole football team running behind you on the track, and completly flashing people with your skirt....is that you basically have two options. Laugh, or cry. I'm sure the day will come when I finally do the one thing that no amount of laughter will fix, but until that day...I chose to laugh. So feel free to laugh with me!