Senior Year

Wow, April was a long time ago. Is it bad to say that I don't really care about my blog? Because I think if I really cared, I would've updated it a bit more. haha. I don't really know what to say. Life is life as usual: stressful, fun, amazing, depressing. Like I said, the usual. I have started my senior year and I can't believe I'm already here. It felt like it'd never come! I have a booked schedule (like that's news). I start my day off going to seminary at 6:25 in the morning (if I get up and get there on time...lol) On Tuesdays I continue right afterwards to my flute lesson with Dr. Ariel Downing. Then, I go to the elementary to work with one of the kindergarten classes. I love them!! Biology 2, the hardest class they offer at the high school, is next. And let me tell ya, they're not lying when they say it's the hardest. Maybe not material wise, but work wise. There's always something to do! The school created a block period where all teachers are free in case students need help; they call this period FLEX, which is the class I have next. Then I continue on to Band, one of my favorite classes. And then right before lunch I have Trigonometry, which hasn't been too bad to me yet...probably because we're still at the "review" stage. After lunch I have American Government with the juniors, Accounting 2 (another one of my absolute favorite classes), and Humanities. At 4:30 I attend play practice. On Tuesdays at 6 I go to my Creative Writing class at the college until 8:50 and on Wednesdays I go to Young Men/Young Women from 7-8. The weekends, which consist of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, are all different depending on the weekend and what is going on. Most of them include a variety of the following: flue lesson, concessions, work at BBM&M, lots of homework, hanging out if I'm lucky, church (Sacrament Meeting, Sunday School, Young Women's, Choir Practice) and sleep if I'm lucky. Then it all starts over again!!! I enjoy the majority of it, and am learning to enjoy the rest. Like I've said time and time again; life is life.

Returning to the Fold

The last couple of weeks have been stressful and straining. You never realize how far away you've gotten from the Lord until you're sitting there, at the end of your ropes, reaching for His saving hand. They always say to read your scriptures daily and to always have a prayer in your heart, and they are absolutely right! Going without these important things has caused more damage to me spiritually than I ever thought possible. Now that I have looked back on the lasting effects, I'm not pleased with what I've seen. I'm so very thankful for Conference and the opportunity I had to listen to the inspired words of our prophet and other church leaders. I am beginning to not look back and to just continue forward! I feel much better all the time and I don't worry about all the stupid things that had me stressed out before. I feel the love of the Savior all around me and I know I'm doing right in repenting for what kept me far away from the Lord. As I wait for the new Conference edition of the Ensign to come out, I read from the last conference edition. I love the talks so much! The love of the Lord truly is the greatest blessing we are given. I'm so very blessed to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and to have the knowledge of the gospel in my life. Without it, I don't even want to think about where I'd be today.

PORTALND!!!

Wow, life is pretty busy right now. I haven't had a free day for the past month and will continue to not have a free day until the middle of February, in which case I'll only have a weekend :D I'll just describe some of the things I've been working on.

Ross's Wedding
It's amazing to think that it was only a month ago that Ross and Melissa were married. But along with that came all the preparation work and LOTS of stress. Not necessarily for me, but for my family in general. Oh, and not to mention all of the things following the wedding! Like dinners and receptions and more receptions *cough* Melissa and Ross *cough* But, it's all good :D

Speech and Debate
This year for speech and debate I decided to try Extemperaneous Speaking. So, I went to my first meet of the year, not knowing what the heck I was doing, and learned the hard way how to speak in front of people. Thankfully I was taken in by another school, so I was able to at least bunny slipper my way through it. (Bunny Slipper is a substitute for B*** S***...you can thank Ben Warder for that.)

All State
This year I was blessed to be able to participate in the Wyoming All Sate Band, which was conducted by a professor from George Mason University in D.C. I had a blast, even when I wasn't playing. Chess, Maow, and wandering around Cody was the only other thing we did when not playing or singing.

National A Cappella Competition
I haven't gone to this yet, in fact I'll be shipping out tomorrow for Portland, OR!!! Our a cappella group at Big Horn prepared three songs to try out for a simi-final a cappella competition round, and we were accepted!! So, for the past 3-4 months, we've been preparing those songs to compete other schools from this part of the country. We will be singing "Change the World," "It Will Take My Whole Life," and "Sou Gawn." I have had a blast preparing for this and I can't wait for this weekend trip!

Okay, so maybe I'm not involved in so much stuff, but I'm sure those around me can testify to the fact that I'm busy, busy, busy! Especially my mother and my teachers.

Wish me luck this week!!! <3