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

Press Forward, O Ye Tired Ones!

Okay, so I'm not gonna lie, I am super tired right now. If feels that so many people, especially teens, are finding themselves in "downer" moods. We're always tired, always hungry, always complaining about how little sleep we get (again, referring to the tired thing). But the thing I think most teenagers don't realize, is that they're the ones making life so tiring! With the right outlook, anyone can switch that unhappy, tired mood without using so much energy that you crash after the "peak" of your happiness. It's different for everyone, so I'm not gonna tell you how to do it, but once you find that sweet spot where you can live life happy and energetic with limited amounts of rest, you're find how much you truly enjoy life! Besides, it tires one mind to be pessimistic, so why look at all the bad in life if you're already tired as it is? Take a step, be optomistic, be happy, and forget about living a "Sorry, I'm too tired" life. :D SMILE!!

Time: Of Great Essence

Isn't it interesting how fast time flies while it seems to drag while we're in it? AMAZING! I think back to all the things I've done within the past couple of months and can think of so many things and yet I almost want to answer "Not a lot" to a question posing what I've been up to. There have in deed been many things that I've accomplished over the last few months, some of which are great things, and other, much smaller, that are only great in the retrospect of all that is good and right. Many lessons have been learned. Always remember to DO YOUR HOMEWORK!! (or in cases of others, housework, or work-work, or perhaps mom-work) Whatever the case, understanding priorities in life is one of the number one things all people should take into consideration as their most prized possesion. All things will turn out if we have our priorities straightened out. For me, I need to always remember to put the Lord and my family first. I find that when I am not, I'm more stressed, I feel overwhelmed with easy tasks, and I don't get along easily with those around me. Who wants to be around a snob who only thinks of themself? NOBODY! So, at this time, I'd like to apologize to all those who I've wronged in the past couple of weeks. I haven't been very thoughtful in being so selfish and pessimistic.

Take time to SMELL THE ROSES! ...haha to Rebecca who takes this phrase literally and replies, "It's cold outside, there are no flowers!" Exactly our point, Rebecca. <3 you.

Never forget to tell your family how much you love them. Truthfully. Sometimes you don't realize how much you love them. For their benefit, and yours as well, showthem how much you love them!

Enjoy the brisk winter while it lasts! (I hope you sense the heavy sarcasm)...it won't be really winter until about March anyways!

Read it and Weep

Since we're studying the Doctrine and Covenants in Seminary this year, I've been introduced to a lot of things concerning not only Joseph Smith, Jr., but also his family and the first members of the church. One of those members has always inspired me and continues to do so as I search his teachings and the life he lead. This miraculous individual is Wilford Woodruff! The more I learn about him, the more he inspires me to do good and to be the best I can be. Reading the Teachings of the Presidents: Wilford Woodruff I've gained so much knowledge of who he was and how Christlike he truly was at heart. I now look at the phrase "read it and weep" differently. How I love Wilford Woodruff!

Interesting things that I've learned about W.W.: He had 17 sons and 16 daughters!!!! (no, not all from one wife). He was the first prophet of the church to have sound recording. He was the last living person that was apart of the first Apostles of the church in this dispensation. He had always loved the word of God since he was young, which got him to search for the true church. He hardly ever asked people to do stuff that he could could himself. He wrote, "The Manifesto" (for those of you who don't know, it was an article written about the ceasing of polygamy in the church). He received information from the Lord concerning the ceilings in the temple and being "adopted" to our own individual families and NOT members of the church. He was 90 years old when he died. His favorite hymn is 285.

Procrastination: A horrible sin

Well, as I'm sure you might have assumed, school has started, and with school; homework. This past weekend being Labor Day, I felt cheated in time to do my homework, and of course, procrastinated some of it to the extent that most of it hasn't or didn't get done. This is NOT the way to start off the school year!!!! Although it might have sounded good at the time, I'm not pleased with myself thus far. Not only will my grades suffer from this which I have done, but the habit from which I have formed will soon catch up to me in areas other than school. My goal for the coming school year, and especially this semester, is to finish my homework ASAP so I won't have to worry about procrastination and the awful consequences that follow.

Lessons Learned: 1. No matter how fun something sounds at the moment, it MUST wait until more important things are finished 2. Don't fall into a pattern of procrastination, or it will bit you in the butt (figuratively and literally speaking).