BE YOU.

Sometimes in life we get into a path. We start to be who the world expects us to be. We start to be who we think we need to be. We start to become a person who fits into a mold. We start to lose ourselves. This is natural. Everyone feels like they can't be, or aren't being themselves at one point or another. It's okay to do this, as long as we find ourselves again. Recently I felt like I was lost. I really felt like I was becoming something that was not me. Something I did not want to be because it wasn't me. I got told once that I was weird. Surprisingly that did not bother me one bit. I was in elementary school at the time. Being told you are weird at such a young age does something to you, at least for me it did. You may think it ruined my self-esteem, but it didn't. It made me stronger. I took this and formed an identity. I gave myself permission to be me. The person who told me I was weird was my mom. She gave me that permission. She let me go with who I was. She helped me to become me. My message today is to do just that. Let yourself be you! You are the only one you can be you! I mean seriously think about that. I cannot be you, your sister cannot be you, the guy across the street cannot be you; only you can be you! So do it, because, as I was recently reminded by a good friend, "You are super awesome at what you do, and that is being you!" So, be the fruitloop in the box of cheerios. Be the  different person you want to be. Be your own kind of beautiful, but above all else, Just BE YOU.

As always, No one likes a frowny face, change it to a smile--- a smile that fits your face and is unique to you! :)

Here is a picture that I LOVE. My mom says it's me, which is the greatest compliment anyone could ask for in my opinion! :) Be the color in a dull world. Be the fruitloop. Shine like no one else but you can!

And here is one of my favorite songs. I see your true colors, let them shine! :) 

I am thankful for...

Well Happy Thanksgiving everyone! :) Today I am purely going to do a selfish post about how blessed I am. I am thankful for SO many things. I think I'll just list them instead of writing out sentences... :)

I am thankful for:

baby laughter

my niece

my nephew

my other nephew

the sky

Nature

Zion National Park

My roommates

My mommy

My daddy

Skyler

Brooke

Casey

Kyle

Ashley

Kevin

Amanda

Kattie

My roommates from last year

the way grass feels on barefeet

toes

Area Government

SLC AG

Central Campus AG [10-11]

USU

Logan, UT

Snow

the way snowflakes look when they fall

Autism

education

tv

technology

curling irons

friends

Hugs when you are upset

baby kisses

sticky hands

the way my nephew says my name

baby smiles

hugs from strangers

the ability to cook

home-cooked meals

chocolate

white teeth

leaves on the ground

Pokemon

Mario Kart

Blue hair

five fingers

colorful things

Frisbee

Toys

Gnomes

Lily 

the gospel

Lime Green 

blankets

cuddling

nail polish

fireplaces

water bottles

Opportunities

life

clouds that look like turtles

LARPing

Zombies

shopping without spending money

cleaning

yardwork

powertools

green apples

sharing my talents

MUSIC

listening to my nephew sing

ears, eyes, tastebuds

broccoli

The list could go on for ages... and I very well might add to it later :) 

Love is in the air... :)

Love. It is such a powerful thing. The word means so much. It portrays a feeling that is so wildly searched for and so often found. When a lot of people think of love the first type they think of is romantic love, but have you ever thought about the other types of love? The love you feel for and from friends, the love you feel towards and from your family, love you feel for people you don't know, just all types of love?
Love is so powerful. Have you ever been having a bad day and called someone or talked to someone who simply said, "I love you and it will be okay." I have and I can tell you that this one phrase seriously calms every fear I have. It makes me feel empowered. It makes me feel like I can do everything because I have someone who loves me. Love is so powerful. It has the power to change lives. I can tell you from personal experience that once I learned that I was love and really realized that people love me I was able to become a better person. Love is very fragile. It is a strong word with a lot of meaning and it shouldn't be used lightly, but it should be used. By loving others you allow yourself the opportunity to build connections. Connections that will help you when you need it most. Love is an important part of everything we do. I love love. I really do. It has been such a force in my life and will continue to be. I cannot wait for that day when the man I choose to marry tells me he loves me and I can feel that love and then reciprocate it. I treasure each moment I am with my family and I can tell them I love them. I treasure each time I am with friends, and though we may not say "I love you" to each other, I know they love me and I love them as well. I treasure the little things that add up to love. Basically, I just love love. I love everything about it and my advice for today is just to love and realize you are loved. If you do that there will be no reason to have a frowny face and you will be all smiles! :)

Everybody Makes Mistakes

"Everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days" 

If you don't feel like reading through this all, go to the bottom. I've shortened it for you. Hahaha :) 

I really don't care that this is from a Hannah Montana song, it is what this blog is gonna be all about. I surely have had some very intense experiences with this recently. Now, I am TERRIBLE at dealing with mistakes. I hate them. Hahaha They drive me nuts. I don't like the fact that I am not perfect. I know that sounds silly but it is how I feel about mistakes. Funny thing is everything I said is totally dumb. I had to face my issues with mistakes this week and I learned a few things about myself and mistakes and life. The first step is admitting you have made a mistake. This one isn't the hardest for me, but it sure is for some people. For me, I would rather take all the credit for the mistake than have anyone else involved but that isn't always the case. This week especially I learned that other people are there for you. I am very lucky to have a wonderful friend in my life who knows how to deal with me and who, whether he knows it or not, has a very calm demeanor which just rubs off on me. I find that when you make a mistake it is best to talk to someone who will support you instead of demean you. I definitely did this. I didn't know who else to talk to, so I called my mom. She reassured me that it was going to be okay that I was not a dumb person and that I just needed to calm down. The friend I talked about earlier did the same thing. He had plenty of reason to lecture me, but he didn't instead he just gave me a hug, said it would be alright and was there. I had to go talk to someone higher up in position because of this mistake I made and I was terrified. I was so afraid I would burst into tears, but even this person calmed me. At one point he even said, "I apologize for the miscommunication." This statement blew my mind. I was so taken back by how the people I was around helped me feel better about myself. I actually left this meeting feeling better about my day. It was so cool. There are some very interesting things I am taking away from this experience. The first seems to be a reoccurring theme throughout my blog. This is that people really do care. People care a lot more than you think they do. I am constantly surprised by how many people honestly care. Surround yourself with good people and you will be very surprised by how you get treated. The next thing I am taking from this experience is that it's never as bad as you think it will be. As people, I think we naturally assume the worst when a mistake is made. I know I surely do. 99% of the time, the worse that I think will happen NEVER does. So don't sweat it. It will be okay. That is the third point. It will be okay. How many mistakes have you made that you didn't learn from? How many mistakes have you made that you dwell on daily? There may be some big ones in life that you do think about, but the majority of our mistakes become the past. I certainly will be able to look back on the mistake I made this week and know that it shaped me to be who I am. 

Readers Digest Version!

I really truly believe that you can make mistakes and get over them. That is why we are not perfect. If we never messed up we could never learn. So make sure you don't beat yourself up over the things you can't fix. I promise it will be okay, and if you do not believe me, go ahead and find a good friend who will give you a hug and let you know it'll be okay, because after all friends are our greatest support! :) 

Don't let your mistakes weigh you down! Life is going to be okay, just remember, no one likes a frowny face so change it to a smile! :) 

Hakuna Matata... What a wonderful phrase!

So, we all know the words to the song from the Lion King, but have you ever really sat and thought about the real meaning of Hakuna Matata? It means no worries. Now, I know it is impossible not to never worry. Worry is a natural part of life. The issue is when worry becomes excessive. When worry  overcomes us. When worry takes over. That is where we run into issues. That happened to me today. I have a HUGE test tomorrow. I was worrying like crazy crazy crazy! I was crying it was that intense. I let the worry overcome me. I let it take over. Then I remembered this book. My dad teaches a "class" per say for teenagers that involves public speaking and confidence as well as life skills. He gives the kids this book titled "Stop Worrying and Start Living" I am not gonna lie, I only got to chapter 5 but last night I picked it up again for some reason and I am really glad that I did. The part I read gave instructions on how to fix a solution instead of just worrying about it. Tonight I totally used these steps and I can tell you my complete attitude got changed! :)
They are 1. Write down what you are worrying about 2. Write down possible solutions to the problem         3. Decide which solution will be best 4. Take the solution and DO IT.
Seriously this totally helped me! I will illustrate with my example of my test. Obviously, 1. I am worrying about my test and failing it 2. I can study all night, get no sleep and stress like crazy, Or I can study as much as I can tonight, go to sleep and wake up and study, Or I can put the studying away for right now (since it's stressing me so bad) do something enjoyable then sleep and wake up tomorrow and finish studying like crazy! 3. I decided to do the last one, put the studying away, enjoy the night, sleep and study as much as I can tomorrow. 4. I left my room and I came out to talk about music, socialize, watch some Hulu and enjoy my night. After this blog, I am going to go to sleep. Then tomorrow I will wake up!
Now, you don't have to do this process on paper, you can think through it. Just give it a try next time you are worried. It will help I promise! :)
No one likes a frowny face, change it to a smile! :)

Recognize yourself!

Well, as I sit procrastinating studying for my least favorite class, I feel like writing about recognition. Most people don't know this but I HATE recognition. Seriously cannot stand it. I didn't used to be this way but then I just felt so overly recognized and like my real efforts were being forgotten. I dislike it now. A lot. Most of the time I won't even read what people write or what is said if I feel it overly reeks of recognition. Now, don't get me wrong, I love reassurance. I like to be told I am doing a good job and I like to acknowledge others for what they do. I love recognizing others for their work. Seriously it's like my favorite. I do this because it takes the attention off of me and it puts it on who I feel like it really belongs on, everyone else. I also realize that I am a minority. I am one of the few who don't like to be recognized and I am okay with that. I may be a minority in this, but anyways the point of this blog is really to learn to recognize yourself. Let yourself believe that you are worth it. Let yourself believe that you can be who you want to be. Tell yourself you are doing a great job. Tell yourself that you are a great person. Believe in  yourself and all else will fall into place! :)
So advice for today? Recognize yourself. :)

Oh, and PS, here's a poem I wrote...

A smile is a friend to all

It is easy to do whether you are big or you are small. 

Giving a smile is fun to do.

If you give me a smile, I'll give you one too!

By putting a smile on your face

You can make the world a better place!

No one likes a frowny face, change it to a smile!

It's just a balancing act

So, my favorite class this semester is titled balancing work and family. I absolutely love this class. I love the practical skills it teaches. Yeah, I don't have kids yet, shoot, I am not even married, nor am I close to being married, but I have learned to apply the skills they teach to my life and it surely does help.
One of our lectures last week got me thinking. The teacher read something about being super mom. She said that that is one of the greatest problems women have is trying to do everything perfect. I applied this to my own life and tried to think of each role I have and I try to hard to be superwoman. The answer I came up with is no. I don't take on anything I know I cannot handle. I give each segment of my life the time it needs. Do somethings (like AG) need more time than other things? Sure do. But the fact is I try to devote the correct amount of time to everything. Am I perfect at this? Heck no! But I try to do my best and that is all anyone can ask for.
Another thing that goes along with balance is knowing when to say no. I get told all the time that I can't say no. That is false. I can say no and I do say no, I just choose what to say no to. I know myself and I know my limits. I know what I can handle to do in a week and I know what I cannot do in a week. My life is my own and it gets handled in that manner. So, know your limits. You are the best version of you and even if everyone else thinks you take on too much, if you are devoting your time to each thing in the correct manner, nothing else will matter!
So advice for today? Learn to balance. Don't try to be super at a billion things, just be super at what you need to be super at. Spend the right amount of time on each role in your life. Spend your time wisely. Know when to say no, and trust yourself in your abilities to do what you know you can do. :) Remember that time is important and so is balance. Work on what you need to work on and keep doing what you are great at doing.  And as you do all of this, do it with a smile, because, as always no one likes a frowny face! :)