little tidbits I've written down

-And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious.

-If a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much more the advantage in the world to come.

-The glory of God is intelligence, in other words, light and truth. When men follow the light of their knowledge will always be well used.

-You can be wise and happy or stupid and miserable.

-Charity never faileth.

-Let us not dwell on the negative

-Radiate the light of the gospel

- Love the Lord: knowing about and knowing are two different things

-Live the commandments: give meaningful service, find answers in the scriptures.

-Line yourself up with the best spouse: what you would like to be and be that, easy to live with, easy to love.

-Light a fire under yourself: actively engaged in a good cause. Don't be satisfied with not doing enough. Being obedient to the commandments will make you happy.

-Persist in all things that are good and noble.

-Do what is right

-Let us all speak kind words

-Stay safely on the Lords side of the line, a tug of war between the Lord and the adversary

-Oh say what is true

-True christianity is love in action

-Prayer is the souls sincere desire

-Wickedness never was happiness

-Praise to the man who communes with Jehovah

-Stand ye in holy places and be not moved

-I need thee every hour

-Lengthen your stride

-Dedication, how great thou art

-What manner of man ought you to be? Even as I am.

-Let us all love one another

-Have I done any good in the world today?

-Look for the best in people

-Do your best

-Be persistent in things that are good and noble, dedicated to the gospel of Jesus Christ

First time away from home

I had to write a paper in my writing and reasoning class about a person experience. So, for everyone that has been asking here is a more in depth detail of what has happened. Plus, it's due friday so if you see something wrong before then let me know! haha :)

The first time I had ever been away from home occurred less than two weeks ago. I had never had to say goodbye to my parents knowing I would be away for an extended amount of time. I had never been to an airport, so the entire airplane process was very unfamiliar to me, and the fact that I was in a town that seemed foreign to me didn’t help. BYU-Idaho was my top choice for the school I wanted to attend. Little did I know that I would feel the way I did when I began to venture out on my own.
I graduated from high school in June of 2010 hoping that I would be prepared for college in January of 2011. Waiting seven months to start school again seemed strange to me because I wasn’t used to long breaks. The longest break I had ever had form school wasn’t even three months. However, the time I spent out of school and working gave me time to prepare myself a bit and gave me a little taste of the “real world.” Most high schools tell their students that they are preparing them for college, but in my opinion, they don’t.
High School encouraged me to go to college to become successful but looking back now the classes I took and the teachers I had didn’t prepare me very much. High School was really easy and didn’t take much work to be successful. College is also different than High School because most students like myself was still living with their parents and not really out on their own. I chose a drastic change going 2,000 miles away from home but that was my decision and I was sticking to it.

When I left the airport in Cleveland, Ohio I didn’t know what to anticipate. I found myself sitting on an airplane for the first time more nervous than I had ever felt in my life. I debated on getting off the plane but knew that I had to toughen up and get on my way. I had a layover in Las Vegas and I had never walked through an airport before so the whole process was pretty new to me. I was surprised at all the random stores they have in airports and things that I saw; a jewelry store, a store that only sold crocs, they even had slot machines. I thought to myself, really? What am I getting myself in to? People always called me sheltered and boy were they right, but I was okay with that fact until I had to experience it all on my own.
Fortunately, I met a lot of nice people on my journey throughout the day and I was able to find everything just fine. I think that the people that work at the airports find it fun making you walk half way across the airport to find your next flight. I maneuvered my way through the airports by looking at the giant walls of computer screens and I managed to find the gate for my next flight. My flight to Las Vegas was the worst because it was four hours that seemed to drag on forever. Plus, the farther west I got, the earlier it got so it seemed like I wasn’t getting anywhere.
Once I got to the gate to go to Salt Lake City I checked with the attendant to make sure I was in the right place even though the sign said a different city. She said I was in the right place and ripped up my ticket and gave me a different one. I then found out I would be sitting waiting for a while because my plane was running late. I was excited to get a window seat on my flight to Salt Lake City to be able to see the beautiful mountains as we were landing. I had never been in a valley that I saw mountains around me everywhere I looked before. I had always made fun of people for never seeing snow, but I guess I had never really seen mountains in the winter time either. I was getting anxious for the final part of my trip to arrive in Idaho. In a new place I was ready to get to campus and see what everything was going to be like.
I soon figured out Rexburg was a lot different from my hometown. Roads were different and it took me a while before I could navigate myself to the places I had to go. The first time I ventured through town I got lost. Note to self: don’t call my parents when I’m lost, they don’t take it well. It turns out S 2nd W and W 2nd S make a big difference. In Ohio the roads go East or West or North and South and don’t have the same name like this road did. Even when I got to campus and had a map I was still confused but with time I knew where I was going, thankfully. A lesson that is usually hard to accept is that everything doesn’t always come easily regardless of how much you would like it to.
First day of classes went pretty well and I wasn’t too shocked to see that I already had homework; I knew I was not in High School anymore. I learned quickly that getting my work done shortly after it was assigned would be the best way to go. Procrastinating always gets the better of people especially when they have a big workload. The first week of classes went well and I wasn’t clueless as to what was going on yet, always a plus!
I had gotten to know my roommates by this time and not too many other people. Finding out that my roommates were easy to get along with and live with made things a lot easier. I met people here and there but that was one thing that seemed hard to conquer, nothing seemed to click. It seems like all of the people that I met were married and lived off campus. I got pretty homesick and started questioning what I wanted to do. I asked myself if I would get over this little bump in the road or would I find out that what I thought I wanted wasn’t really what I wanted at all.
I knew with time everything would come together as it always did. As people always say time will tell. I felt much better when I found out that my former Stake Young Women president was in town visiting her daughter. We got together for a couple of days while she was visiting and it made me feel much better to see a familiar face from home. After I got to know more people it made me feel more confident and that I belonged here, knowing that there were others that felt the same way I did. My first night at Family Home Evening helped with meeting people, also. Most of the people in my family are in their first semester and some in their second but we are all basically in the same boat.
Even though things get tough at first it doesn’t mean to give up and go back to what is easy. Stepping out of my comfort zone helped me so much and trying to find the best of my situation. It is so helpful to pray for guidance and call upon friends or family to help during a rough time. The scriptures are also a good tool to use for reassurance. A scripture that always helps me is, “Ask and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Always knowing that I have a loving Heavenly Father that is always there for me regardless is the most reassurance I could need, and that through the Holy Ghost I can receive guidance of what I should be doing and remain on the right path.

school

Wow, I did not realize that I hadn't blogged in so long! I'll start with the more recent things. I have almost been in Idaho for a week now. I left New Years day and flew to Las Vegas, and then to Salt Lake and took a shuttle from there to Rexburg. Classes started Wednesday. I've had all of the classes I'm going to have now. Friday is somehow my biggest day unfortunately.. I have classes until 12:30 on Tuesday's and Thursday's and until 4:15 M W and F. I'm taking 16 credits and it seems a little overwhelming now but hopefully I can keep it all together.

I'm taking American Foundations, Writing and Reasoning Foundations, Science Foundations, Book of Mormon, Science Foundations, Geography for Elementary Teachers and the History of Art and Culture. I was most worried about the writing and reasoning one because it's a 3 hour class and only on Friday's. It actually didn't seem to drag on forever so that was good. The teacher was pretty funny and she's my only female teacher. There's a lot of homework but I'm gonna have to figure out a schedule and keep with it. Most of the homework I'm going to have for the semester is already posted so we'll see if I get that all situated or if I just try to do it in between classes like I have been doing. I'm thinking about coming home for spring break now. I didn't plan on it before because I didn't think it was that long but I could probably be home for a week and that sounds really nice right now. I've talked to my parents every day since I got here.

What to say, what to say? This summer hasn't been the most eventful but it hasn't been all bad either.. Its over now and its already about to be October which is a big shock! Only 3 more months before I'm out of here heading to Idaho :) It's just scary that I don't have everything situated yet.. I guess they're having some issue with their computers or doing something that is putting a hold up on things.. It'll all get situated eventually though and hopefully soon so I can stop worrying about it! I've been working at McDonalds this summer which has been alright. I never thought I would want to go back to school so much though!! I'm just nervous about all the work it will entail.. High school was pretty easy to go through and not have to do too much. I guess I got the feeling in Teacher Academy cause that was A LOT of work but that was only one class.. I guess I'll have to discipline myself! I'm just not looking forward to the basic classes it'll just seem like a repeat of school and I didn't like school in the first place.. I'm just looking forward to the teaching aspect of it :) and that subject not the rest :)

Well, I went to the Relief Society Broadcast last night and it was pretty good :) I had minestrone for the first time yesterday too! It was pretty good too but it was funny someone asked me if I was not eating certain parts of it on purpose and I was like can you tell? Beans and carrots not for me.. :D Anyway, my first RS broadcast because I'm an adult and all now :) I really liked that it targeted charity and not judging others. It was so funny there was a little joke in it. A woman is having breakfast with her husband and looks out the window at their neighbors house and the laundry was our and the wife said she doesn't know how to do laundry its still dirty!! & she continued to say this every time their neighbors laundry was out. Then, one morning she noticed that their laundry was clean and she was like oh look she learned how to clean her clothes. Her husband was like this morning........ I washed the windows! Hopefully I did that justice but it really shows that everyone just sits and there and judges others on any and everything when they're probably no better than the other person or even know the other person. I know I'm not perfect at it as no one is but it really gets old when all someone wants to do is run their mouth about nothing. It brought up a quote from Mother Teresa that said if you judge people, you have no time to love them. When you're being judgemental you're not thinking in a positive way or being loving to others so that is definitely true! We have way better things that we can be doing with out time. Which brings up charity. Charity is the pure love of Christ, charity never faileth. It is through us that so many works are brought forward and how we help others through the Lord. He can't just come down here to help people so he uses us to help others but when we're selfish and don't want to help others that's not really the point. Just thinking about our own needs and not those around us is very selfish and a flaw in a lot of people it seems. Its pretty sad actually but the smallest things to us can be something big to someone else. Even if all we can do is a little bit its more than nothing.

Just some of my thoughts at the moment! :)

Last Year if Girl's Camp!!!

So much to say about Girl's Camp! I figured out like a couple of days before that Sister Lunnen was in charge of Girl's Camp so I knew it was gonna be amazing right then :) Started on Monday I didn't get lost unlike last year it's actually pretty easy to get there. It was a good first day hanging out with the YCL's (youth camp leaders). We had a lot of fun together and I really like the idea of us having a day to ourselves to just bond more. Then it was raining Tuesday morning but thankfully stopped when people started arriving :) I don't know if I'll get every day right but I'm gonna try! The first day we made magnets in craft. We had hour of power which we talked about The Strength For Youth pamphlet and tried to remember all the different topics in there with clues. I didn't do the greatest which tells me I need to read it again! We worked on the 3rd years certification that day and actually got pretty much all of it done. Surprising how much we can figure out ;)

I was conducting for President Kirk that night. He talked to us about parables. We talked about one that the Lord told men that they would all receive the same but some worked an hour and some worked all day long and the men that worked all day long felt they deserved more than they were given. Although, it was the promise that they would receive the same. We receive more blessings when we endure things well rather than complaining about what we think we should have. We are not the knower of all things.. There is a plan for us whether we like it or not but I know it won't be all bad there will be more good! :D He also talked about another parable. One man received 5 talents, one man received 2 and one man received 1. The men with 5 and 2 talents doubled there talents and went back to the Lord and said you have given us 5 or 2 and we have developed 5, 2 more talents. The one that only received one talent was afraid and buried his talent and didn't develop any more talents. The men that doubled their talents and continued to learn and develop more were rewarded but the one that hid his was not. Not everyone has a million talents but we should not hide what we can do and refuse to help others. I'll let ya know when I find something I'm really good at but I'm sure there are things I don't notice and using those and not trying to change myself will help others. Life can always be worse and we need to realize what we have in front of us and how lucky we truly are. That we are special and loved.

Wow, a lot has happened. Tuesday still. We did Night at the Oscars. Each year, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th were assigned a fairy tale to act out and props. We got the 3 little bears. I totally didn't really know this story so I was like okay lets see how this goes. It totally brought out another side to a lot of the girls that I hadn't seen yet. It went really well and the girls had a lot of fun doing it. It was so funny though because we weren't supposed to have phones and I was looking at one of the leaders phones because she had a cool one. A leader yelled my name and I was like "It's not my phone!!!" Haha she wasn't even talking about the phone she was gonna tell me that I did a good job conducting I was like oopss.. We chatted though and it was all good! Oh, plus our YCL leaders I took chairs for our Skit and one of them was our leader's and she got it the next day and had a bunch of bugs crawl all over from it.. The other leader drove another YCL and me to the gate to let people in in the morning and I brought orange juice with me. I forgot all about it and left it in her cup holder and she put her phone in her cup holder the next day to charge it.. Funny, but bad. Thankfully it wasn't broken!!!

Now to Wednesday! We went on a 3 mile hike! Wow I needed something like that to tell me I'm out of shape!!! It wasn't all that bad though. I don't remember hearing any of my 3rd years complaining about it. This was the somewhat rough day for me because I was so tired from not sleeping the day before. I went to take a nap during free time but then a storm came and we had to go down to the lodge. Then a couple other things... You can't stay in a bad mood too long at camp though :) Crafts were washers that we hammered letters into and colored in and made necklaces out of. Really not as easy as it sounds. Mine looks alright. Hour of power was a little different because of the rain and everything but it made me think of things I really never thought of before. I remember that during it I'm just trying to remember details!! We talked about Liahona's and we made a necklace with one on it. We talked about in Nephi when Lehi received a Liahona that helped guide them. It only worked when they were faithful though. Like us having the Holy Ghost but we can only have it as a companion when we are worthy. Like the Liahona the Holy Ghost help guide us. The scriptures help guide us as well as our Prophet. We did a team building that we all layed down shoulder to shoulder and two rows with our heads by each other and put our hand up to carry people across. Wednesday was Bishop's night, We had a little competition with our Bishop's to recieve information about a Prophet from the scriptures that we would have to describe. We got Joshua. I learned more about him because I didn't know that story.. That's where our camp theme came from though. Joshua 1:9 "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest." After that we got to go have snacks with our Bishop and Wards. Oh gosh it was hilarious. I guess Wednesday night Catherine, who I was sharing a tent with asked me to borrow my phone cause hers wasn't working right and I was totally dead asleep and don't even remember waking up but I guess when she asked me I looked right at her and was like I don't know. Then she told me I said something else too but kindof in a mean way. haha I totally wasn't awake.

Thursday. We had another team building activity that was pretty fun. We all had to get in a circle and pass a hula hoop around our necks without using our hands. I must say the group I was in won both times :) We visited the Johnson home first. I think that was the second time I had been there but it may have been the third. Every time visiting a historical site you learn something new that you didn't learn the last time or that you didn't remember. I learned a lot more about Joseph Smith than I knew before camp. If only we could all be like him! I don't know many people that could be beaten, tar and feathered and still preach the next day and continue on with what he had to do. He did so much so that we could have some of the things we have today like the Book of Mormon. Hour of Power on Thursday was making armor. Each armor has a purpose. What, I couldn't tell you but we did it :) Ours looked really good and we had to figure out what each one meant and label it on our armor. Then for the first time at camp I tried out the slip and slide. It was really fun! One of the 3rd years slid all the way to the end so then I was determined to do it too! Just needed a bigger running start :D I really liked crafts that day. We had jars and we chose stickers of different things to put on them and then sprayed them with this white stuff but that you could still see through the jars. You could put a handle on it but I just used the wire and put it around the top of the jar with beads on it. They have candles in them too. We had dinner with our years and made dessert in dutch ovens that all turned out a little funky.. The pizza was good though I was totally wanting pizza all week! The total best thing about any Girl's Camp is the testimony meeting! I love it! Now, the past two years have been good but this year I was amazed with what some of the girls said. The girls varied from 12-18 and was definitely spiritual. I went up of course I had to I couldn't resist :) Plus the majority of the 3rd years went up and the other two YCL's that were over them :) Then everyone pretty much stayed up late that night. Each ward has a camp director and ours was Anna. It was pretty last minute but she got everything situated quickly and efficiently :) We chatted a while after testimony meeting til we wanted to go to bed haha.

Friday morning as well with Wednesday and Thursday we had solo scripture study. I was conducting this and had to share a scripture. I chose Doctrine and Covenants 121:45 "Let thy bowels also be full with charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven." I wasn't sure what I was going to read but I was looking through D&C because Joseph Smith wrote them and just the area we were in. I was looking in my Young Women personal progress book to try to find a scripture and I found this one and it totally worked. Charity is always so, so important. Plus at camp everyone is always willing to help one another and it's great! I just wanted to remind everyone how important it is to carry that on when everyone goes home. Then we had to tear our camps down and do the chores for the day. Pretty sad to say bye to people but will hopefully stay in touch with most of them :)

I was just so glad to go to Girl's Camp. It was better than I ever anticipated. I have somewhat been in a rut lately but it has left me with more knowledge than I had before and more friendships. It's always a good place to be with others that share the same values and beliefs and I totally grab onto that as often as possible, I love that feeling! Everyone had told me that I'm going to love BYU-I. I am so looking forward to it and for that same reason. Wow I spelled receive wrong like 7 times!! I guess I said that a lot. Now I before E except after C. I guess that is somewhat useful ;)

HIGH SCHOOL HAS ENDED!!!!!! My last day was Tuesday and I just had 2 exams in the morning and I was done by 8:30 :) Except before leaving I forgot to turn in my Alg 2 notebook and textbook.. :( Had to go back to turn that in today. This friday is graduation rehearsal and the senior picnic and then next friday is graduation!! I'm so happy for this year to be over. It's been a great year and all but still. Tuesday in teacher academy we all had to write valediction speeches (goodbye speeches) plus brought in food so that was a good way to end it. It was good to hear what everyone had to say.

Some of the things I said were: I started off this year not really knowing what to expect. Before last August I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do as a career but luckily Teacher Academy helped me answer that question. I never expected to learn as much as I did from Teacher Academy or from my internships as I did. I can't say that I have any complaints about this class and I'm really glad I chose it.

How could I sum up what I've learned? That could take ages! From always being the student I never really thought about all that a teacher does and all the preparation they have to do. It just never occurred to me to think about those things. After talking in class about what makes a good teacher good it made me look at teachers in a different light, appreciating what they do and of course sometimes thinking what they could do better. I never really cared for school but being on the other side of the spectrum and being as a teacher was much different. I looked forward to my internships and enjoyed them a lot.

In my teacher academy class we accomplished so much. 24 essays, 11 chapters, 6 internships and lessons. We worked together in class often and scaffolded off one another. It was a lot of work and I totally wasn't used to it but I'm still really glad I did it!

I interned in 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th grade and special education with 5th and 8th grade. I realized that 1st grade was too young and 8th grade was too old for my preference. I liked 4th and 5th grade the best. Each internship has brought different experiences. It really helped to have experienced teachers there to ask questions about anything I was thinking about. Having the feedback they gave me on a weekly basis and for my lessons helped me to know what I did well on and what I could do to improve. Using that feedback to correct problems for the future definitely helped me to be more well rounded and learn what it takes to be a teacher from others perspectives. I could also definitely say that my Teacher Academy teacher knew her stuff and was a great example to us of a good teacher. I said in my speech that she never let us break the rules but she was a good example of what we should be, which is true. :) I can't stand when someone is meant to be looked up to so much and they do not do what they should. Be an example!!!! Just my opinion :)

On a different note, I walked a lot today. Went on the path in Austinburg with some people from church and then met my brother again at some river thing in Jefferson. We walked all around there for a while too. Plus driving around. It's always nice when it's so hot out to drive around with the windows down :D

Plus, I was thinking today I hate how disrespectful people are nowadays. Ha teaching good idea right? It'll be alright though. I just don't understand how people can let others treat them and speak to them the way they do.. I'll tell you right now when I'm a parent there is noooooo way that is going to happen! Not that people do, but I don't let anyone talk to me like some people do and especially not your child. I guess there are a million things that I can't comprehend why people do but I can say that I won't be like them.

Tuesdays with Morrie

Tuesdays with Morrie was such a good book! I read it in a day! It made me think a lot though. I found some quotes while reading that I really liked:

"Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do; Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it; Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others; Don't assume it's too late to get involved." These are all things that most people have to work on. Most people can't get over things from the past but that takes time and doesn't happen overnight.. Plus people hold grudges over the littlest things for so long it's pointless. Those that do not forgive others in him lies the greater sin. (goes something like that) Just saying :)

"Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted."

The first part we just need to decide what's the best use of our time and which will benefit us more. Usually, not what I really want to do.. After reading this book and seeing how well Morrie took everything he had to go through and his sickness it just makes me think I have so many things to be thankful for. Its so easy to just focus on the bad and not realize what you have in front of you. I'm horrible at that.. :( Plus letting little things work me up and just put me in a bad mood. This book has really made me see a lot of things I want to change about myself.

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."

I don't really see the things I do as purposeful or meaningful but I think going into teaching will do that and be for a good cause. Plus I devote myself to others and do the best I can for others :) A quote that I actually live up to :) I don't waste my time on unrealistic goals or something that I can't reach.

"Look, no matter where you live, the biggest defect we human beings have is our shortsightedness. We don't see what we could be. We should be looking at our potential, stretching ourselves into everything we can become."

I think I look more towards the future than the here and now. I'm always waiting for the next thing in life rather than appreciating what I have now. I just always think the next part of my life will be better which is not the best way to think about it. I'll never be happy if I'm just waiting for something else. I'll try to endure school and "try" not to rush through it as fast as possible. It's just never been my thing I'm just ready to leave and do what I really want to do. I have to get over the things that I don't have control over but that's never been my strength, I like to be in control.