Today, I am grateful for so many things.
For prayer.
That I have a best friend who I can confide in.. who I can tell anything to. [:
That I have someone who loves me for me.
For Sundays.
For warm blankets.
For stars.
For music.
That I am loved.
Today, I saw the hand of God in my life.
This morning during my prayers, I was prompted to ask a certain question. So I did. I had no intention of asking this question when I woke up this morning, so the prompting came as a bit of a surprise. But I asked, and I am so very grateful that I did. I didn't get an answer right away, but as the day went on my mind kept going back to the question that I had asked. And at one point, I received an answer. And it felt sooo wonderful! The spirit that I felt was so powerful that it almost brought me to tears. [:
Today, I felt.
The spirit.
Remorse.
Comfort.
Gratitude.
Peace.
Anguish, Sorrow.
Joy, Gratitude.
The spirit!
Love.
Lucky.
Contentment.
Sorrow.
Forgiveness.
Love.
Wonder.
Peace.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Gratitude Journal 10/30/10
Today, I am grateful for so many things.
For the gospel.
For friends who truly care for me.
For missionaries.
For people who accept the gospel and become members of the church. I'm grateful for their testimonies.
For my testimony.
For eyebrows, and the fact that I have more than three hairs on my head.
For the knowledge that I don't have to search the world over to find my "perfect match".. the one I'm "destined" to be with.
For my parents.
For love.
That I can go a month without having to put gas in my car.
For personal revelation.
For the Plan of Happiness.
For family.
... for the Atonement.
That I can see.
That I can choose to be happy!
Today, I saw the hand of God in my life.
The classes I was prompted to go to.. were exactly what I needed to hear. I felt that each of the speakers were talking directly to me.. that they had prepared their whole presentation for my benefit and no one else's. The YSA Conference is exactly where I needed to be today. I woke up this morning and thought.. "I could just not show up. I could sleep in. I could use the day to clean my room, or do the dishes." But I got up, and I went. After lunch, I thought to myself "I could go home.. I don't have to stay." But I'm so glad that I was prompted to stay. I would have cheated myself if I had left early. I also thought "I wish Ben were here. I wish he could experience what I'm experiencing." (He had work) But.. if he had been there, would I have gone to the classes that I did? Would I have heard the messages that I really needed? My Heavenly Father was guiding every step I took today, and I realize that. And I'm thankful for it.
Today, I felt.
Anger.
The spirit.
Joy.
Sorrow.
Remorse.
The love of my Savior and my Heavenly Father.
The spirit.
Complete.
Annoyance.
Embarrassment.
Confidence.
Happiness.
Determination.
Sunshine.
Love.
For the gospel.
For friends who truly care for me.
For missionaries.
For people who accept the gospel and become members of the church. I'm grateful for their testimonies.
For my testimony.
For eyebrows, and the fact that I have more than three hairs on my head.
For the knowledge that I don't have to search the world over to find my "perfect match".. the one I'm "destined" to be with.
For my parents.
For love.
That I can go a month without having to put gas in my car.
For personal revelation.
For the Plan of Happiness.
For family.
... for the Atonement.
That I can see.
That I can choose to be happy!
Today, I saw the hand of God in my life.
The classes I was prompted to go to.. were exactly what I needed to hear. I felt that each of the speakers were talking directly to me.. that they had prepared their whole presentation for my benefit and no one else's. The YSA Conference is exactly where I needed to be today. I woke up this morning and thought.. "I could just not show up. I could sleep in. I could use the day to clean my room, or do the dishes." But I got up, and I went. After lunch, I thought to myself "I could go home.. I don't have to stay." But I'm so glad that I was prompted to stay. I would have cheated myself if I had left early. I also thought "I wish Ben were here. I wish he could experience what I'm experiencing." (He had work) But.. if he had been there, would I have gone to the classes that I did? Would I have heard the messages that I really needed? My Heavenly Father was guiding every step I took today, and I realize that. And I'm thankful for it.
Today, I felt.
Anger.
The spirit.
Joy.
Sorrow.
Remorse.
The love of my Savior and my Heavenly Father.
The spirit.
Complete.
Annoyance.
Embarrassment.
Confidence.
Happiness.
Determination.
Sunshine.
Love.
YSA Conference "nevertheless at thy word I will.."
Today was amazing. Today, I've felt the best I have in a while. Every single class I went to today.. I felt was geared right at me. Like the speaker had prepared their talk for me, and me alone. It was exactly what I needed to hear. A couple of the classes that I attended weren't the ones that I have picked to go to initially. But I'm so glad that I went to the ones I did. There was laughter, there were tears, there were smiles, and there was the spirit. So strong. I love this gospel. I love everything about it. It is the truth. I can't even pretend to think that it's not. I know that this is the true gospel. That I am exactly where I'm supposed to be in my life right now. And I'm so grateful for that knowledge.
I'm posting the notes that I took during the conference today, because I feel I need to.
But before I do that, I'd like to share a couple of things that I'm going to start doing. Today.
1. I'm going to keep a gratitude journal. I'm going to write in it every day. (I might post it on here, I haven't decided yet.) I'm going to try to recognize the hand of the Lord every day in my life.
2. I'm going to get more familiar with the scriptures. In one of our classes, we were asked "How many times have you watched your favorite movie? Six? Twelve? More?" Why do we keep going back to our favorite movie? I think it's because it touches us, it strikes a chord in our hearts. And we want to come to know it the best we can so that we can better understand it. Then, we were asked this question: "How many times have you read the scriptures? One? Six? Twelve? More?" We should become just as familiar with the scriptures as we are with our favorite movie. Or book. Or song. The more we read the words of the Lord, the more we will become familiar with them and come to appreciate them and understand them. They will strike a chord in our hearts, over and over again.
3. I will remember the story of Bailey, and the first time she saw the Savior, every Sunday during the Sacrament.
4. I will become the type of person who I would want to be with for eternity. I will prepare to be someone else's best friend.
5. I will grow my relationship with my Heavenly Father by:
a. Reading. Studying. Knowing my scriptures.
b. I will pray, instead of "saying my prayers." I will hold on the line
and wait for a response, instead of dialing, calling out "hello?" and
hanging up.
c. Keep my attitude positive. You don't have to be sad. You can choose to
cheerful! "Misery is optional."
d. Practice listening to the Holy Spirit's promptings. "The spirit
transforms us to have the strength to do what we need to.
6. I will remember that my savior prays for me. That he wants the same kind of relationship with me that he has with our Father in Heaven.
7. I will never, ever let the adversary convince me of the lie that my Heavenly Father doesn't love me.
:D
And now for the notes. [:
I'm posting the notes that I took during the conference today, because I feel I need to.
But before I do that, I'd like to share a couple of things that I'm going to start doing. Today.
1. I'm going to keep a gratitude journal. I'm going to write in it every day. (I might post it on here, I haven't decided yet.) I'm going to try to recognize the hand of the Lord every day in my life.
2. I'm going to get more familiar with the scriptures. In one of our classes, we were asked "How many times have you watched your favorite movie? Six? Twelve? More?" Why do we keep going back to our favorite movie? I think it's because it touches us, it strikes a chord in our hearts. And we want to come to know it the best we can so that we can better understand it. Then, we were asked this question: "How many times have you read the scriptures? One? Six? Twelve? More?" We should become just as familiar with the scriptures as we are with our favorite movie. Or book. Or song. The more we read the words of the Lord, the more we will become familiar with them and come to appreciate them and understand them. They will strike a chord in our hearts, over and over again.
3. I will remember the story of Bailey, and the first time she saw the Savior, every Sunday during the Sacrament.
4. I will become the type of person who I would want to be with for eternity. I will prepare to be someone else's best friend.
5. I will grow my relationship with my Heavenly Father by:
a. Reading. Studying. Knowing my scriptures.
b. I will pray, instead of "saying my prayers." I will hold on the line
and wait for a response, instead of dialing, calling out "hello?" and
hanging up.
c. Keep my attitude positive. You don't have to be sad. You can choose to
cheerful! "Misery is optional."
d. Practice listening to the Holy Spirit's promptings. "The spirit
transforms us to have the strength to do what we need to.
6. I will remember that my savior prays for me. That he wants the same kind of relationship with me that he has with our Father in Heaven.
7. I will never, ever let the adversary convince me of the lie that my Heavenly Father doesn't love me.
:D
And now for the notes. [:
Saturday, October 23, 2010
A Month?
Has it really been that long? On one hand, it seems like it's been so much longer. But on the other hand, it feels like I've only been dating Ben for a few days.
He's been such a blessing in my life. I'm so grateful to have him.
Last weekend, we were out at Tuachan with Ben's good friend Jay, picking up a drum set. On the way back to the car, we were being silly and running/skipping around. I was about halfway down a set of stairs when Ben came zooming past me.. sliding down the railing. I thought, "I wanna do that too!" So.. I hopped onto the rail, but quickly lost my balance and toppled over backwards, and slammed into the concrete stairs. I tried to get up, shake it off, laugh it off.. but my foot started hurting super bad. Ben picked me up right away and started carrying me towards the car. I hurt, but the independent side of my personality fought it's way through. I insisted that I could walk, so Ben set me down. I took two steps and just about fell over. So, Ben picked me back up and carried me the rest of the way to the car. We got to Jay's house, and Ben carried me inside. After they wrapped up my foot and put some ice on it, they gave me a blessing.
I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world. That at anytime, I am only minutes, if not seconds away from being able to receive a priesthood blessing. I have had two blessings in the past month or so, and I'm so grateful for that. The last blessing I remember getting before these two was when we lived in the town house in Dixie Downs.. that was such a long time ago. I had forgotten how wonderful a priesthood blessings can be. How much peace and comfort they can bring. I'm so very grateful for the fact that I can receive one whenever I need it. [:
Over the next few days, Ben became my superhero. He brought me crutches to use, picked me up for school, drove me to my classes and was consequently late to his own classes, and walked with me every step of the way. I don't think he knows how much that meant to me. I felt so bad that I was silly enough to hurt myself doing such a dumb thing, but I am so incredibly grateful that he was willing to take such good care of me while I was a cripple. I owe him big time.
I love absolutely every second I spend with him. He's my best friend. [: I'm so glad that we're together, and I'm so grateful to have him in my life.
I love you Ben! Happy "One-Month Anniversary!" haha :D
He's been such a blessing in my life. I'm so grateful to have him.
Last weekend, we were out at Tuachan with Ben's good friend Jay, picking up a drum set. On the way back to the car, we were being silly and running/skipping around. I was about halfway down a set of stairs when Ben came zooming past me.. sliding down the railing. I thought, "I wanna do that too!" So.. I hopped onto the rail, but quickly lost my balance and toppled over backwards, and slammed into the concrete stairs. I tried to get up, shake it off, laugh it off.. but my foot started hurting super bad. Ben picked me up right away and started carrying me towards the car. I hurt, but the independent side of my personality fought it's way through. I insisted that I could walk, so Ben set me down. I took two steps and just about fell over. So, Ben picked me back up and carried me the rest of the way to the car. We got to Jay's house, and Ben carried me inside. After they wrapped up my foot and put some ice on it, they gave me a blessing.
I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world. That at anytime, I am only minutes, if not seconds away from being able to receive a priesthood blessing. I have had two blessings in the past month or so, and I'm so grateful for that. The last blessing I remember getting before these two was when we lived in the town house in Dixie Downs.. that was such a long time ago. I had forgotten how wonderful a priesthood blessings can be. How much peace and comfort they can bring. I'm so very grateful for the fact that I can receive one whenever I need it. [:
Over the next few days, Ben became my superhero. He brought me crutches to use, picked me up for school, drove me to my classes and was consequently late to his own classes, and walked with me every step of the way. I don't think he knows how much that meant to me. I felt so bad that I was silly enough to hurt myself doing such a dumb thing, but I am so incredibly grateful that he was willing to take such good care of me while I was a cripple. I owe him big time.
I love absolutely every second I spend with him. He's my best friend. [: I'm so glad that we're together, and I'm so grateful to have him in my life.
I love you Ben! Happy "One-Month Anniversary!" haha :D
Friday, October 22, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Pageantry and Such
Sorry it's taken so long, but here's the post about the pageant I promised!
The whole experience was awesome. Even more awesome than Miss Washington County, even more awesome than Miss Dixie last year. I had so much fun! I love every single one of the girls who competed, and I'm so glad for the winners. Jessica Baird won the crown, Shanae V. was first attendant, Kelby Tyler was second, Jessica Derrick was third, Mandy Stout was fourth, Jill Dallon was "Miss Dixie Spirit" and Clara LeFevre won the platform award.
I didn't win. But that's okay. I had fun. I learned about myself. I'm getting better at speaking my mind. I'm not the timid, un-opinionated little girl I was a year ago. And I think I like it. I totally rocked my interview. I didn't stumble over my words, and I think I only said "um" once. (Last year, I'm sure I said it about twenty times in the ten minute interview, and twice in my on-stage question). I nailed my talent, I sang my heart out in front of a full house. All by myself. No nerves, no stumbles, no butterflies. I was totally and completely confident. And it felt absolutely wonderful!
But the very best part.. was what was waiting for me in the lobby of the Eccles after the pageant was over. I was swarmed with hugs and smiles and flowers and "good job!"s from some of the most important people in my life. I was so grateful for that. I'm so grateful for everyone who came to the pageant. Whether they were there to support me, or to support someone else. The important thing is that they were there to support one of us girls. And by supporting one of us, you were supporting all of us. I really grew quite close to these girls, and I love them all so much!
Well.. enough of the mushy stuff.. and time for some pictures!
I love this boy [:
The whole experience was awesome. Even more awesome than Miss Washington County, even more awesome than Miss Dixie last year. I had so much fun! I love every single one of the girls who competed, and I'm so glad for the winners. Jessica Baird won the crown, Shanae V. was first attendant, Kelby Tyler was second, Jessica Derrick was third, Mandy Stout was fourth, Jill Dallon was "Miss Dixie Spirit" and Clara LeFevre won the platform award.
I didn't win. But that's okay. I had fun. I learned about myself. I'm getting better at speaking my mind. I'm not the timid, un-opinionated little girl I was a year ago. And I think I like it. I totally rocked my interview. I didn't stumble over my words, and I think I only said "um" once. (Last year, I'm sure I said it about twenty times in the ten minute interview, and twice in my on-stage question). I nailed my talent, I sang my heart out in front of a full house. All by myself. No nerves, no stumbles, no butterflies. I was totally and completely confident. And it felt absolutely wonderful!
But the very best part.. was what was waiting for me in the lobby of the Eccles after the pageant was over. I was swarmed with hugs and smiles and flowers and "good job!"s from some of the most important people in my life. I was so grateful for that. I'm so grateful for everyone who came to the pageant. Whether they were there to support me, or to support someone else. The important thing is that they were there to support one of us girls. And by supporting one of us, you were supporting all of us. I really grew quite close to these girls, and I love them all so much!
Well.. enough of the mushy stuff.. and time for some pictures!
The night before the pageant
Opening number!
On-stage Interview
Talent! "True Love's Kiss"
All the girls [:
The Aftermath
I love this boy [: Wednesday, October 6, 2010
woooooosh!
The sound of stress exiting my body, and relief filling it back up.
Pageant = Over.
Room = Clean.
Homework = Done.
Time to get back in the groove. [:
(There will be a post about the pageant, complete with pictures, very soon.)
Pageant = Over.
Room = Clean.
Homework = Done.
Time to get back in the groove. [:
(There will be a post about the pageant, complete with pictures, very soon.)
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