Bravery And Putting Your Trust in the Lord

"Brave doesn't mean that I'm not afraid." "Brave is just acting in faith."

Dreams Really Do Come True

I think the picture pretty much speaks for itself. I start August 21st 2012, and I couldn't be more excited

It really is about the simple things. Like finding baby fruit. HOW COULD YOU NOT SMILE?!

Lovingly borrowed from here http://inspower.com/7-deadly-habits-that-kill-your-happiness/

Pray and seek for strength to change our circumstances rather than praying for our circumstances to be changed. We will become agents who “act” rather than objects that are “acted upon."

- David A. Bednar

Lovingly borrowed from here http://www.flickr.com/photos/stockmanphoto/5023457715/in/photostream

Sometimes we think, "life will be better when" or "if this happens, then I'll be happy." And I have to admit, I'm probably one of the biggest culprits! It's as if there is something missing and I need to go and find it. Often times we pray, and we don't get the answer we want, but we always get the answer we need. On lds.org under the "guide to the scriptures" tab, it says, "The purpose of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but we should ask for." It's hard to know what God's will is and sometimes, when we do know, it's hard to swallow. But I think the most important thing to understand is that our Heavenly Father loves it. It's easy to forget that and look at all of the things in our life that are going wrong, but as my dad says, "Focus on the positive, no matter how hard things are, and that's how things will be." 

A lot of us have a really hard time with this, me especially. We get stressed out, we get discouraged easily, or we have a very low self esteem, which results in thoughts to ourselves such as You can't do this, why are you even trying. You're too scared, etc. But we CAN. WE CAN DO HARD THINGS.

If you notice in the picture I chose for today, the train tracks stop and straight ahead, the way is blocked. A big wooden door stands in your way, and you have to look closely to see that on either side is a small road. One has a bicycle, one has a walking stick. (Alright, I know it's a pole, but let's use our imagination). At first glance, this is the end of the road. The beaten path ends, and a wall blocks our way. But there is always a choice.

They Were Wrong

This man has been circling the internet for a while now, and I wish I could speak as well as he did, and express things the way he did. But really I can't.

He is living proof of the poem that he recites. Look at him now bullies. He's a world-wide phenomenon. People love him. Why? Because of exactly what he says. "We grew up learning to cheer on the underdog because we see ourselves in them." They were wrong! No what anyone told you you aren't, who you can't be, the things you can't do, they were wrong. We can be what and who we want to be. No matter how "silly"or "stupid". No matter how many people tell you that you aren't good enough. Or that everything you do is a mistake. Many bullies have these same feelings, and the only ways they can suppress their feelings of loneliness, self-hate, worthlessness, is to inflict the same emotion on others. They are just as lost and scared as you are.

I'm not saying this makes it okay for bullies to do what they do. It is cruel, sick, and very, very real. I think we all need the perspective on life that Shane Kayczan has on life. It's not the Taylor Swift, "Mean" way of thinking. Where you are saying, "Ha! In your face bullies, I am so much better than you now. Look at all of my riches and fame. In your face. Nany-Nany-Boo-Boo." (Though we all know Miss Taylor is notorious for singing about others). The Shane way of thinking would be "I am a better person because of what I went through. I went through a lot. I've grown and learned and now I will share what I have learned with the world so that they can learn. No more will I 'hide my heart under my bed'. People of the world, we need to take a stand against bullying. Find out who you are and what you want to be, and stick with it no matter what any one tells you." Dr. Seuss said, "You are you, it is truer than true. There is nobody else who is youer that you."

A Hike A Day Keeps the Doctor Away

As this blog goes along, you'll come to realize how much I live nature. I've been called a save-the-whales tree-hugger many a time, but I dont care. I love the earth and all of it's beauty! We are so blessed to live on such a stunning planet. Three cheers for earth! Hip hip, hooray! Hip hip, hooray! HIP HIP, HOORAAY!
Me and my mom took a little hike up battle creek falls. Who would have thought there would still be snow?! Sheesh weather! Leading us astray with your false warmness. But the snow made the canyon absolutely stunning (my mom kept slipping in her sneakers. I have to admit, it was pretty funny). What's kind of embarrassing is that false warmness I talked about earlier... 53 degrees. If you're somewhere warm you might be thinking, "Are you crazy?! That's snow clothes weather!" Well, once you've been in -2 degree weather for a few months, 50 degress sounds pretty dang good. I can comfortably wear shorts and a light jacket!
Me and my friends actually went to California in December and we got some weird looks, lemme tell ya. Maybe it was due to the fact that I was wearing no jacket, my friend Lindsay was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and my friend Esther was wearing a skirt. Oh ya, and it was 50 degrees. Some people there were wearing big winter coats! It was fun to see the different way people reacted to the same weather. Silly Californians.