LAST POST

Wow....this is blog post #42. This has been a looooong semester. Normally this is when people say “oh this is such a bittersweet moment” or “I am going to miss this.” Great for them. For me though I am thinking, “hallefreakinluiah! Freedom!” So anyways…back to the whole blog thing, even though these posts were kind of annoying to do so often I felt like they made me a better writer. Why? Well let me tell you. Since I was writing 3 times a week it made it so that I was constantly writing.  Between writing in my journal, publishing blog posts and writing papers for other classes I was writing at least once every day. I noticed that as the semester has gone on writing papers has become easier for me because I am used to it. Sitting down and just typing on my laptop is not that big of a deal. The more you do it the more comfortable you are with it and the less scary it becomes. I also quite enjoyed reading my classmates blogs because it was fun to see what they had to say on certain topics and what was going on in their lives at the time.  

High School vs. College

What are some of the differences between high school and college? 

Oh PHS...good old ghetto Provo High School. Man I miss that place! Things back in high school were so much easier than college things in college are.  In high school you could finish your homework in class, college...no way. In high school you could study for a test the night before and do awesome, in college after hours of preparation you do not so awesome. In high school you could hang out with your friends AND get adequate sleep, in college if you want to have a social life then either your school work or your sleeping suffers. Boo. In high school when you walked through the hallways between classes you recognized basically everyone you saw, even if you didn’t totally know who they were, in college you're lucky if you see two people you know between classes all day…plus there is not really hallways here to walk through from class to class. In high school all your teachers knew you by name, whereas in college you are just a number in some classes. So basically I miss high school. But I have learned and grown so much from my first year at college than I have the first 17 years of my life pretty sure.

DANCE

What would you say is your passion in life?

Well this is an easy one. DANCE!  I have been dancing since I was 3 years old in all types of styles: Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, Ballroom, African, Modern, Folkdance, and Tap, but my favorite of all time is HIP HOP hands down. There is just something about the beat in the music and the hard hitting moods that just gets me. I am currently in the BYU Hip Hop Club and love every minute of it. I am also a part of a team at my studio called JIVE-I’ve been dancing there for 12 years, and teaching for 2. I used to teach at Westridge Elementary and but now I am at Lakeview Elementary. I also recently got hired as a private dance instructor at another studio a couple weeks ago. So basically dance is my life…and I love it. I wouldn’t have it any other way. But seriously when I hear music my body can’t help but dance! Dance is what relieves me of stress and worries and is something that can always make me feel better. When I dance it’s such an awesome experience! I wish I could explain it but I can’t. All I know is that I couldn’t survive without dance.

Amy Adams playing ME

What actor would you hire to play you in your movie biography, and why?

I would hire Amy Adams to play me because she is awesome! Basically she looks like me…well kinda. She has got the whole red hair thing going for her and of course the actor playing me has to have red hair since I have red hair. But I also think would choose her because her smile is similar to my own, as well as her laugh-kind of loud but not so loud that it is obnoxious.  She does not have freckles like me, or green eyes...but I know that with some make up and contact lenses that would be cleared right up. I also am just very impressed with Amy Adams overall. I feel like she is an attractive, amusing, humorous, outgoing character that is enjoyable to watch. Some of the movies that I have absolutely loved her in are: Leap Year, Enchanted, and Julie and Julia. Because she has done such a wonderful job in previous films I know that she would do a great job playing me in my biography movie. But we all know that this would probably never happen….but if it did….she would be my gal!! 

Longboarding

What is something you’ve accomplished?

Something that I have accomplished is learning how to long board two weeks ago!! This was something I always admired that people could do because to me it was the coolest thing you could do! You could do alone, you could do it with friends, and you could ride to the grocery store, down the canyon or just around the neighborhood. I never pictured myself even putting my feet on a longboard because it was always classified in my head under…. “The things I will never be able to do because either I am so scared or don’t think I can do it”. But I can do anything I put my mind to. I am not going to let myself get in the way of myself anymore! I am going to be open to new things, try new things, experiment, get out of my comfort zone, etc. Because who knows….maybe I’ll actually enjoy it-like I did when I learned how to long board! I borrowed my brothers and taught myself how to ride it as soon as my feet touched the board. Now I’m addicted and I love longboarding. I’m not super great at it but I just can’t get enough of it (: 

Totaled 4-wheeler

What was the scariest moment of your life?

I am going to twist this question a little bit into what my most recent scary was.

On Saturday I went 4-wheeling with a group of friends. We took a side by side and two 4-wheelers. Came back with a side by side, one 4-wheeler, and one totaled 4-wheeler.  Here’s what happened. We had been riding around about 45 minutes when one of my friends wanted to tackle a big steep hill with his new 4-wheeler he had gotten recently. He made it to the top, however when he started to turn around the 4-wheeler started to tip. He jumped off but it rolled over him once and then it kept rolling a good 100 yards. At the bottom of the hill lay his absolutely crushed 4-wheeler, at the top of the hill lay my friend in shock with tears rolling down his face.  It was a miracle he was not hurt and I don’t know what I would have done if he had. It’s hard to get that moment of the 4-wheeler rolling down the hill out of my head. It just keeps playing itself over and over, and I hate it. I am soooo glad he is okay! But….I think I am going to take a little break from riding 4-wheelers.  

Journaler

Do you keep a journal? Why?

I used to be a journaler. I would write every day without fail all the details of my life. Ya….that lasted about 3 years and then I went to college. There was not much time for a journal anymore. So I decided to start doing something else…well more like continue on with something I have always done. Ever since I was little I was a pack rat. I would keep anything and everything! A few years ago I decided to start scrapbooking all of the stuff I had been keeping. I have four books full of all of the stuff I have kept over the years. Here are some of the things that make it into my scrapbook. Movie tickets, pictures, cards, concert tickets, brochures, stickers, wrist bands, notes, fortunes, name tags, business cards, wrappers, appointment reminder cards, tags, handouts, flyers, etc. I really love doing this because it is definitely more fun to look back on these books than it is to read about it. It is a visual journal (: I hope that I continue to do this throughout my life because it will be exciting to share with my future family and friends.  

10 Weird Things about Me

1: Everything in my life is color coordinated. From my closet, to my dishes, to my school stuff, to the decorations on my wall, it’s just what I do.

2: I hate using metal utensils! Always have. The only time I will ever eat with metal utensils is at restaurants and when I’m eating ice cream.

3: Sometimes I catch myself thinking in a British accent. I don’t know how. I don’t know why. It just comes to me.

4: I have a habit of sucking on the end of my pens! Take a look at them and you will see bite marks on every single one of them.

5: I really like mixing cereals together. The most I have ever had in one bowl is 5! It was pretty good.

6: When I was in high school I hated using pens because you couldn’t erase and they would leak through the page, etc. But now I hate using pencils because they aren’t very dark, and they smear.

7: I hate eating bread crust and pizza crust. But I love white bread crust…weird

8: I never wear matching socks. One because I’m lazy and don’t want to take the time to look for the other one, and two because it’s more fun that way. My grandma even agrees with me.

9: I love being home alone.  I love how quiet it is. I love how clean it stays. I love that I can stay up as late as I want with all the lights in the house on. I love that I can eat whatever, whenever I want and definitely where I want! But my favorite thing of all time is sleeping in my parent’s bed!

10: I name vehicles. ATVs, trailers, cars, boats, side by sides, etc. But my friends do too so I don’t stick out too much there.

Boys vs Girls

Do you think it is possible for a boy and a girl to be best friends? Why or why not?

Growing up I loved Barbie’s, Polly Pockets and the color pink…and then I turned 7 and grew out of it. Since then I have always hung out with boys and done boys things. I would go play basketball with the boys, go to scout camps when my dad was the leader, yard work with the boys, etc. Girl stuff just never appealed to me ever. In 7^th, 8^th and 9^th grade I played football with all the boys in my ward, every day after school, on the grass in front of the church. My group of friends all throughout high school were Conner, Landon, Caleb, Christian, Alex, Trevin and then Analisha-the other girl. I have always gotten along better with boys, I don’t know if that’s because I have two little brothers or if that’s just me. So my best friends are all boys and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It was a real challenge for me to move to the dorms because there were GIRLS! EVERYWHERE! Geez…they get so excited about the littlest things. Seriously. But it’s whatever. I’m cool with it as long as I don’t have to hear it (: 

Slow to anger

Name one thing about your life you would like to improve this year.

In my psychology class we talked about a quote by President Hinckley, “ I plead with you to control your tempers, to put a smile upon your faces, which will erase anger; speak out with words of love and peace, appreciation, and respect. If you will do this, your lives will be without regret. Your marriages and family relationships will be preserved. You will be much happier. You will do greater good. You will feel a sense of peace that will be wonderful.” This is something I would like to improve on over the course of this year. I want to be slow to anger. By giving people the benefit of the doubt and simply putting a smile on my face; I know I will be happier. In this same class my professor mentioned that when we become masters of controlling out anger, we will eventually not have anger anymore. What a great blessing this would be in all of our lives. I am going to work for it but I know that I will need heavenly help because I cannot do it alone.  Thank goodness for the power of prayer.

Scripture Journal

 D&C 54:10

            “And again, be patient in tribulation until I come; and, behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, and they who have sought me early shall find rest to their souls. Even so. Amen.”

            It is hard to be patient, whether it is standing in line at the grocery store, waiting for a new CD to come out or dealing with people who like to go slower than the speed limit. Patience is a virtue and one that we can all work towards becoming better at.  In trials and devastations we face throughout our lives they are there because we live in a telestial world where bad things can happen to good people. The Lord knows this and asks us to be patient, because He would not give us something we couldn’t handle.

Last semester I was hoping that homework, life, work and everything else would stop for 24 hours and let me sleep in late, stay in my PJs all day, watch Netflix, read a favorite book, and eat in bed. Unfortunately this did not happen during fall semester, but over Christmas break it did. It was awesome the first couple of days and then I realized that I was the happiest when I was with around other people, when I was serving others, and when I was productive. Having a lazy day pays off immediately, but hard work pays off in the future. I loved this scripture when it said “they who have sought me early shall find rest to their souls”. We may not get to have those lazy days when we physically rest from everything, but I know that when we are searching and have faith in Christ, He will bring rest to our souls.

Issues Paper

For my issues paper I am writing it on sex education. I have learned a lot since writing this paper. Like how to find reliable sources, how to research, that it is okay to ask for help, and that I can write a 9 page paper even if it first it seems impossible  Below is the first paragraph of my paper. Enjoy. 

Artasia Bobo is a girl from Mississippi who got pregnant when she was 12 years old. She recalls that she never received much, if any sex education and wishes she had. "What I went through is nothing any girl would want to go through, it changed my life. I love my daughter, but if I could go back in time, my life would be a whole lot different" (Coz, Emily Le, 2012). Imagine for a moment that Artasia was your little girl, and think of all the hardships she is facing physically, emotionally and socially. Don't you wish she had received sex education and learned of the consequences and dangers related with premarital sex? Throughout this paper my main topic will be addressing why sex education is so important and why abstinence is always the best option. 

Missions

      Wow! All of my friends are soon to be leaving on their missions, and even more are turning their papers in the next few months-including myself! It is crazy how fast it came to this. Whenever I saw boys in my home ward leave on their mission they looked so old and grown up, and now that it's almost my turn...I can't believe how young I feel! I don't feel as old as I thought I would when I got to this point in my life.
       I am sort of dreading the day when each of my friends leave to the MTC, but I need to be grateful that I have so many friends who are willing to serve the Lord. It will be hard to say goodbye but I know that a mission is the best place where they can be and it will be so beneficial for them. They are going to come back stronger people and I am so excited for them.
       My roommate opened her mission call last night and she is going to Brazil Santos Mission (right on the coast line!) She leaves August 7th and she will be speaking Portuguese. She is already in love with her mission and is so fanatic about the whole thing. I hope that I can be as ready for my mission call and as happy about it as she was for hers.  

Lead foot syndrome

What is your pet peeve? Why?

Okay so I will answer this question but in doing so I am straight up admitting a huge weakness of mine.  Let me tell you about this weakness before my peeve. I have the worst road rage, like ever. I am very impatient and I want to get to places fast and I want to get there now. I have driving down to a science. I know where all the policeman are, I know what areas to slow down in, I know where I can get away with speeding, I know short cuts, I know what lanes are the quickest, and I know how fast is too fast (aka when you can get a ticket). You may be thinking that if I would just give myself more time to get places than I could reduce my stress on the road…but that’s not it. I give myself plenty of time…I just have this thing called: Impatient lead foot syndrome. 

            My pet peeve is slow drivers. I cannot stand them one bit. If anyone is driving 2 mph under the speed limit…then they just made it onto my list-which is not a good place to be. I get super irritated with people and I can’t help it! I wish I could control this problem of mine and become a more patient chill driver….but I’ve given up on that and I have accepted my problem.

No Money Service

Describe three ways you can serve others today without spending any money.

1: Help my roommate by taking out our trash and recycling bin.

2: Go to work and sincerely ask my co-workers how they are. Be engaged in their lives and do the listening, not the talking.

3: Give out at least five compliments.

Actual Experience:

1:  My roommate is very good at filling up our recycling bin and then letting it overflow. I wish she would take it out because she never does but I decided that it wasn’t that big of a deal and if it could help her out even a little bit than it was worth taking the time to do.  

2: I did not completely fulfill this one but I got pretty close. I talked to ¾ of the girls I work with and I really enjoyed conversing with them. They are awesome girls and I know that when someone asks me how I’m doing it always makes me feel better. I want to make other people feel the way I do, so I am going to start doing this whenever I see them.

3: I thought this one would be super easy to do but I kinda forgot which is okay because I did give out 4 compliments anyways (: From now on I am going to try to give out five compliments a day. When you look for good things, you find good things.

Everything Counts

What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

The best advice I’ve ever received was from my dad a couple of years ago and since then it’s been one of my most valuable assets. Here it is, “Everything counts.” So simple…yet so powerful! Now this advice did not come from me asking my dad a question, I just randomly noticed one day that my dad tended to say those two words to me a lot! Especially whenever I was complaining or said, “Oh man that was such a waste of my time!” I never understood fully what he meant until he explained it to me one day.

Everything counts. Everything we do in life adds to our experience and knowledge and helps us in some way. Nothing is waste of our time because we can learn something from everything no matter what the situation is.

Now whenever I think “that was such a waste of my time”  I stop and think back to what my dad said and I realize that even though I might not have benefited a whole lot from what I just participated in, I did get a something out of it. Sometimes you just have to look for the good in order to see it. So whenever you are frustrated or upset that you feel like you wasted your time…just think, everything counts. 

Oahu

What is the greatest vacation you have taken and why?
The answer would definitely be Oahu, Hawaii!
        I loved this place for several reasons, but to start it was because I was with my awesome family. No matter where we go the memories and adventures we are have are incredible! I love my family and I value every moment I get to spend with them.
       Another reason I loved Oahu was because of how beautiful it was. The palm trees, mountains, greenery, flowers, plants, beaches, oceans, waterfalls,etc truly made that island paradise. God loves us so much that he put us on this incredibly beautiful earth where we have the opportunity to enjoy what he created for us. I know that only God could have made something so perfect and wonderful.
       I loved doing baptisms for the dead in the Laie Temple! It was incredible to see that no matter where you go in the world the gospel is the same everywhere. This was a great lesson for me to learn because it taught me that this gospel is constant and true.
       I could go on and on about this vacation but these are my top 3 reasons for loving that island.
         

That one time I met a celebrity...

Have you ever met a famous person?

Yes I have! David Archuleta (: The first time I saw him was on American Idol and ever since then I have been one of his number one fans! I have every song, every cd, pictures all over the door, etc. I have been to four of his concerts: American Idol tour, Stadium of Fire, Tabernacle Choir and the Other Side of Down (when he announced that he was going on a mission).

One day I heard from this girl named Jayme that he was at Deseret Book in Orem, UT that day signing books, t shirts, cds, etc! I about lost it I was so excited. Me and my friend went and wow that was the longest two hours of my life! The wait was absolutely totally worth it. I will admit that when I caught a glimpse of him through some of the bookshelves I about starting to cry…I may have even shed a few tears. When it was finally our turn we got to shake his hand, take a picture with him and he signed three things I brought with me (Cd, book and a magazine). It was such a fun experience to meet him and I will never forget it! 

Getting my License

     When it came time for me to get my permit I was so excited and so read to get out on the road! I never felt little growing up, but as I’ve watched my two younger brothers I always think “Wow was I that small when I did that too?" So it is getting around that time when my little brother is starting to get his permit just like I was a couple years ago. Again I find myself asking, "Wow was I that small when I did that too?"   

       Anyways it all started with reading the dreadful required permit book. All I remember is that it was long, boring and that you had to park 15 feet away from a fire hydrant. Who even does that?

The next thing was going to the DMV to take the driving permit test. If you failed you had to come back another day and try again. Luckily I passed the first time and got an official white papered permit with an awkward picture of myself on it.

      After you had a permit you were required to take a Driver’s Ed course. I did mine during the month of June every day from 6:30-8am. I am a crazy person. At the same time as this class you did something called “Simulators” which lasted about a week. You sat in a dark room behind a fake wheel, fake pedals and a fake seat belt and you drove, if you can call it that. You learned how to use your blinker, use the brakes and gas, watch out for pedestrians, follow the speed limit, etc. You had to pass a certain amount of these to complete this requirement. I only failed one…and that was because I might’ve fallen asleep at the wheel. But you gotta give me break because it was early and when they turned the lights off I had no control over my eyelids.  

     Next was what we called “Range” and it lasted two weeks. You got into a car with an adult in the passenger seat and two other students in the back. You drove around on in a random parking lot with weird lines all over the place. This is where they teach you how to parallel park, diagonally park, make a U turn, make a left turn, make a right turn, etc. I was never very good at the whole parallel park thing and the adult might’ve said that I had a lead foot, but hey I passed!

    After Range you had to get 40 hours of driving time on the road with a parent. This part was pretty easy, as well as pretty scary. I give a lot of credit to my dad for this one because ever since I was a kid he always let me drive the car when we would take trips down to Moab and go jeeping. He also let me drive all the way down and back from St. George one weekend. Bless his heart.

   Driving is awesome. I love it. Follow the rules and you’re good to go.

Places

       Places I have been: Boston, New York, Washington D.C., Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, San Fran, Idaho, Las Vegas, Washington, San Diego, Los Angeles, St. George, Moab, all the State parks in Utah, and Hawaii. So I am definitely not deprived of traveling...I just have never left the United States! 

       If you could travel anywhere in the world…where would you go? There is no way I can choose just one place, so I am going to list a few of the places I would LOVE to go and why.

-New Zealand. It is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I love looking at pictures of the mountains and oceans, and I want to see it all in person! Not to mention that Lord of the Rings was filmed there (:

-Scotland. Is super pretty and would be incredible to see, as well as hear the accents of the people.

-Sweden/Canary Islands. These two places mainly because this is where my dad and mom served their missions. They both loved their missions and loved where they served.  I would really like to see what their life was like during those 18-24 months.

-Jamaica/Caribbean. Wow these places are gorgeous. The ocean and the trees and the weather are just perfect. Living there would be like being on vacation every day!

-Egypt. Pyramids. Mummies. Sphinx. The end.

-China. Watching Mulan just makes me want to visit this place! To see the amazing architecture and the Great Wall of China and the crazy tightly spaced cities. I mean come on….this is where everything is made! I want to see this place!

-England. This place is so beautiful, especially the country side! Just like out of Pride and Prejudice (: To be able to see London with the red telephone booths and double decker buses would be such an amazing experience.

Canada. Niagra Falls! And to see what the big deal was about Hockey!