During my stay here in Florida, I had the blessing of having my amazing parents visit, as well as my big sister, Katie and her friend Mike.  We had some wild adventures during our get togethers and here are a few pics as proof!

Papa and I at Animal Kingdom

Mama and Papa at Hollywood Studios

The parental's and I at Magic Kingdom

Parents at Epcot

Gator Stew

That's a real live gator, folks.

We are sisters and we love each other.

Also a live gator...But not really.

Nobody warned me about the birds...

As you can see, we had some dandy adventures and I'd love to post every awesome pic we took.  Alas, that would be a lot of pictures.  I'm so glad everyone was able to visit and I look forward to seeing them soon!

The Sunshine State

Weeeellll, it would appear that I've just about failed miserably at this blogging business.  What happened, you ask?  Life.  Life and the fact that Blogger wouldn't allow me to sign into this blog for MONTHS!  Whew.  What a hassle.  Hopefully we've worked out the bugs.   


I suppose I could fill you in on the said life that has been happening.  Boy oh boy, did everything shift unexpectedly.  In the time since I last wrote, I've packed up and moved to Florida in pursuit of a internship with Walt Disney World.  I began my adventures back in April when I applied for the Disney College Program on a whim after other summer internship plans fell through.  Within six days, I'd completed the online interview, the phone interview, and heard back from Disney that I'd been accepted to participate in the 2011 Fall Advantage Program; a 7-month internship 2,000 miles away from home.  Six days is all it took.  I had no idea what kind of adventures would be awaiting me in the sunshine state.


I entered the college program in Merchandise at The Emporium, where I trained and worked for the first two months of my program.  After I was just getting into the merchandise swing of things, an Entertainment opportunity presented  itself.  Again, on another whim, I attended the audition with my roommates.  To my surprise, I was selected to stay, along with ten other girls out of about 250.  Luck was absolutely on my side, and the Lord clearly had a different plan for me here in FL; one that would bless my life immensely and challenge me unlike anything else.


I was able to transfer departments in the middle of my program, and I'm so thankful for the job I have now.  Though details cannot be disclosed, it's one that's tested my patience, my emotional and physical strength, and provided blessings that words cannot describe.  Though homesick at times, I will forever be grateful to my Heavenly Father to guiding me to where I am, even when I was completely blind at times.  The people I've met in my adventures are individuals I'll never forgot; individuals who may never know how much they've touched my life.  The experiences I've been able to have are those open to a select few and I'm honored be to among such a group.  


I'll be returning to Utah in eight short weeks.  Part of me is completely giddy to return back home, while the other part remains slightly apprehensive of the life I left back home.  I think I'll enjoy the comfort of home...but I also think I'll miss the magic here at Disney.  Hopefully, I'll be able to return for a summer program.  That's the plan, anyway.  But it's been very apparent in these past few months that life doesn't always go as planned.  And for that, I'm grateful.

To Be Or Not To Be

"When people go to work, they shouldn't have to leave their hearts at home."

 - Betty Bender

So here I am, taking a break from writing, and what am I doing? Writing.  There's just such a contrast when it's done for pleasure.  It so happens that I'm writing a paper for my Career and Life Planning class on three potential career options.  It truly took everything I had to narrow it down and stick with three to write about because I kept changing my mind.  At the beginning of this year, I had my life completely planned out...for four years, to be exact.  But boy oh boy, did my plans soon change.  College opened up dozens of opportunities that I didn't even know existed and my career class has shown me two dozen more.  Goodness gracious, my life planning isn't working so well.  I was so 1) irritated that I couldn't make up my mind and 2) just plained flustered with all the options.  So, I complied a list (me and my lists...) of the things that I enjoy doing and things that my dream future career would include.  Here are a few I came up with.


Childbirth.  Yeah, that's right.  I seriously find it fascinating!  I attended a birth class with my sister-in-law when she was pregnant and I left feeling so educated and giddy because the information was just so...awesome!  I have since discovered that you can be certified to teach these classes and it's probably the number one career in my mind.  This week, anyway.


Helping others.  I truly want a career that I can interact with people of every kind and hopefully leave a little footprint in their lives.  There's just so much satisfaction that comes when you assist others.


Creativity.  I think it's essential for my future career to involve some kind of creative expression.  I'm a very hands on, artsy gal, and have a strong appreciation for the arts.  I do not enjoy sitting in a cubicle staring at documents.  No sir, that's not for me.  Give me song, give me stage, give me art, give me anything!


Visual achievement.  What I mean is, I like projects that produce an end result that I can actually see.


Working as a team.  I love working together with people to combine ideas and compose one end goal.  There's just something so rewarding about it.  However, I also enjoy freedom and independence to work on my own.  So this one is kind of a half and half thing that requires balance.


There's my list so far.  I'm sure it's really of no interest to you, but these posts are helpful to me.  It's better to work out my thoughts in writing.  So, if any of you have a sweet idea as to what my future job should be, you just let me know.  I'm simply looking for something that keeps me pumped and that I enjoy waking up and going to every day.  Is that so much to ask?

Don't Curse The Darkness...Light A Candle

This past Friday, I went to a movie that just came out this weekend titled, "The Adjustment Bureau."  I'll just start by saying that this may be a bit of a plot spoiler, so only read on only if you'd like.  This movie was completely different than my expectations, and I throughly enjoyed it, so it comes highly recommended by Yours Truly.  However, there's a deeper aspect of this movie that I'd like to ponder on if I may.  In this film, there is a "bureau" of mystery men, a sort of league.  Some people on Earth call them angels.  They are here to make certain that we stick to the "Chairperson's" plan and that every move we make corresponds with the map that has been drawn out for us.  I found the concept totally exciting.  Throughout the movie, this special group of gentlemen have the ability to open any door on the street - a cafe door, a bookshop door, anything with a doorknob - and have it open to where ever they need it to take them.  Without giving too much of the movie away, the lead characters are faced with a challenge in which these doors are involved.  On a few occasions, they turn the knob only to be faced with a location that was not intended...


For the past little while, I hit a bit of a dark place.  I had overwhelming feelings of inadequacy, loneliness, and confusion, brought on by various factors and events occurring in my life.  I knew what would make me happy...yet I did not seek it out.  I think it's safe to say that I'm not the only one that's experienced this.  I'd become exceedingly sad and not understand why, and then think about those who have so much less than I and become upset with myself for feeling selfish.  I mean, if the only thing I have to complain about is my back aching, or a challenging school assignment...then I need to count and re-count my blessings.  And if you're like me, it takes a heck of a smack in the face to realize how much you have.


Today was my smack in the face. I was reminded that I have been given so much.   Lately, I'd been cursing the darkness, unaware of the plan that had been mapped out for me by my Heavenly Father.  Too often I'd feel like another door was being opened for me, only to find out that it didn't lead to where I had expected, and tumble down to pits of discouragement once again...discouraged because life was not going according to my plan.   But it was going according to His.  My ideas are different than those of the "Chairperson's" because I do not carry the diagram of my life, and only He can lead me to the proper doors.


I'm extremely grateful for the angels on Earth that are here to guide us.  I'm thankful for friends who literally let me cry on their shoulder; for family who endures through my grumpy fits; for individuals who have no idea how much they affect my life; for my Heavenly Father who has blessed me with all these things to be grateful for, and been patient with my stubborn soul.


Here's to lighting a new candle...one that hopefully burns brighter and longer than any before.

Bucket List

"The question isn't who's going to let me; it's who's going to stop me." -Ayn Rand

I know, I know.  I do a lot of list-making on here.  Yet here I am, blogging about another list.  If you don't approve, don't read on.  Simple as that.  I'm that person that loves making lists just for the pure enjoyment I feel when I check something off.  So let me now present my Bucket List.  Feel free to join me in any of these adventures. 

1. Make a furry friend at Build-A-Bear (I've never been, ok?)

2. Skydive

3. Ride in a sailboat

4. Donate my time to a charity

5. Eat seafood in Maine (Mmm, lobster.)

6. Swim with dolphins

7. Ride in a hot-air balloon

8. Donate my hair to Locks of Love (Probably scarier than skydiving...)

9. Write (and complete) a song

10. See a Broadway show in New York

11. Eat Max and Minnas Ice Cream in New York (Corn on the cob flavor, anyone?)

12. See the Eiffel Tower...in person

The list continues to grow, but it's a start. 

Now, who's up for some lobster?  

"Top Ten" Poem

I created a (dorky) challenge for myself.  I wanted to see what would come about if I complied lyrics from the top ten songs on my Itunes and meshed them into one "poem."  Well, here is my slightly sad attempt, but I had fun.  You should try it sometime.

I wasn’t there the moment you got off your knees, but you give me hope, in spite of everything. 

Are you tired of the pain? If your heart wears thin, I will hold you up.  I’m the girl, I can make you smile.  I’m lost without you, here’s my hand if you’ll take it. I’m a sucker for that feeling...

When the words you want are out of reach, don’t throw it all away.  We don’t need to trust a single word they say because your smile is overdue. When I need a place to hang my heart, you are near. The light at the end is worth the pain, so send me away with the words of a love song…

I can’t make anything out of “might’ve been’s,"  I’m still crazy for you.  I can’t imagine where I’d be if you have never rescued me, but the words are out of reach.  Can you promise me if this was right, don’t throw it all away. The hardest thing I've done is have to live without you.  Will tomorrow bring all into light? Maybe then you'll hear the word's I've been singing...

So, maybe I need a hobby.  The songs used come highly recommended by Yours Truly.

• The Hardest Thing - Tyler Ward
• Bubbles - Biffy Clyro
• If I Die Young - The Band Perry
• Prove You Wrong - He Is We
• Like We Used To - A Rocket To The Moon
• You Give Me Hope - Between The Trees
• When You Are Near - Carolina Liar
• Beside You - Marianas Trench
• On My Way - Boyce Avenue
• Every Breath - Boyce Avenue

The Time Has Come!

Tomorrow.  The day we've been waiting eighteen months for.  The day daughter #2 returns from her religious sabbatical in the Ireland/Scotland mission.  I'm giddy with excitement!  I hope she's weird and I hope I can laugh at her.  I hope we're best buds.  I hope the best for her.

I have nothing else to say.  You would just get sick of all my giddyhappyexcitementness!

Oh, I guess tomorrow is my day of birth, too.  Enter my last year as a teenager.

A Vent of Sorts

The Pessimist Personality says...
My heart is, as the saying goes, worn on my sleeve.  It's quite a flaw, actually.  A heart exposed to the destructive elements gets a good beating when it's not properly hidden inside where it should be.  Things get messy, my heart gets plucked off my sleeve without permission, and chucked back to me slightly bruised.  


The Gratified Optimist says...
My heart is, as the saying goes, worn on my sleeve.  It's a gift, really.  Though my heart is taken very easily, it's returned complete with lessons learned.  It's a complicated process, but heartache, well, makes the heart grow stronger. 


People and life may swing a couple punches to our hearts, but ultimately we choose to either leave the wounds open, or patch them up with a sweet Barbie Band-Aid.  I'm out of the Barbie sort, so this week I chose a Band-Aid in the form of a serious cry-session, great friends, and awesome big sisters. 


To life and people who think hearts are something to be toyed with, I say bring it.  I'm still feeble, but armed with one heck of a first-aid kit.

"I invented the cordless extension cord."

Since the wheel and fire have already been invented, I'll invent something else.  Something amazing.  Something the world will not be able to live without!  Here's what I'm thinking...

• SPF Eyedrops

How they work: Pretty self-explanitory.  My eyes always suffer from sunburn in the summer, but what fool would put sunscreen on their eyeball?  This is where my eyedrops come in.  Just a little *drop, drop* and you're ready to stare UV-rays in the eye!  Oh.  That hurts, don't do that.  Just use the eyedrops.

• Snow-Be-Gone

How it works: If you're like me, you dread the winter for various reasons, one of which being the painful task of scraping snow and ice off your car in freezing temperatures.  Snow-Be-Gone would do the work for you!  It's a magical spray that melts ice and dissolves snow on contact, leaving you with a frost-free car in half the time!  Then again, you'd still have to take the time in the bitter cold to spray the stuff all over your car...Hmm.  I'll work on this one.

• Lightweight Textbooks

How they work:  I would imagine that in the near future, textbooks will cease to exsist.  They will all be electronic, like so much of our world today.  However, I like having tangible text in my hand...It's the weight I dislike, and so does my back.  Somehow, I would figure out a way to make textbooks literally light as paper.  I'll accept insight on this one.  That's all I've got.

• Self-cleaning Shopping Carts

How they work:  I know I'm not the only one that absolutely hates touching the shopping cart handle.  Can you say "ew?"  The self-cleaning shopping cart would clean itself after each use with a little sanitizing buffer wheel that would wrap around the handle and sweep across it to throughly sanitize the nasty carts.  Do you see my vision here?  It would be much better if I could use sound effects in my descriptions...

So there you have it.  The world would be a better place and I would be a wealthier woman with these simple, yet brilliant (haha) inventions.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

While raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens are quite lovely, I'm more of a sunshine on daisies and fluffy fur on puppies kind of gal.  Mostly for my own enjoyment, here are a few of my favorite things.


1.  Laughing until I cry is definitely at the top of my charts.  Who doesn't love to laugh until "you come dangerously close to falling out of a chair...but you don't"?  I know I do.
2.  You know when you're lucky enough to get the potato chip that is folded over so it just adds a little extra *crunch* to your salty snack?  That makes me happy.  Folded chips.  Ah, the simple pleasures.
3.  Music that expresses how you feel better than you ever could.  A favorite pastime of mine is scouring for tunes, by no specific genre, that easily describe any emotion.
3a.  Music that I can sing at the top of my lungs in the shower that expresses how I feel.  That's such a great stress reliever for me...singing.
4.  Dancing until I'm sore.  In the next life, I'm going to ask to be a dancer.  A really good one.  I mean, I'm a mediocre dancer now, but with past injuries, I was unable to continue to participate in dance like I would've liked to.  So basically any dancing I do now makes me sore, but I love that feeling the day after you've danced like a wild thing where you just say, "Dang, that wild thing dance made me sore."  That's awesome.
5.  A good book.  These days, all I really have time to read are textbooks, but when I sit down with a book that's more than just paper and text, I wonder why I don't read more often.  I love books.
6.  Candy.  I have a major sweet-tooth, and adore anything chocolate covered, caramel filled, and sugar coated.  Let's name a few!  Raisinettes, Cow Tails, Muddy Bears, Ice Cream...oh.  I greatly appreciate Ice Cream.


So these are just a few of my favorite things, not nearly all of my favorites.  A post like that would be entirely too long...

Another Chance To Get It Right

Yeah, yeah, I'm a little behind with the New Years post.  I actually wasn't going to do one at all considering I made no effort to make any kind of resolution this year.  I feel like I always set myself up for failure when I do and so I figured I would just avoid the guilt all together.  But here I am...feeling guilty that I didn't make at least some attempt to make 2011 a memorable year.  


If there's one thing I learned this year, it's that life simply doesn't go as planned.  I was born a planner.  I plan get-togethers with my friends, I plan my daily activities, heck, I plan yearly activities, I plan my outfits, I plan which color of pen I'll use for my notes the next day...but as I began college, I also slowly began to realize my 4-year life plan (yes, I had/have one) was simply not going the way I'd intended.  So for my first resolution, I plan (ha) to take life as it comes, one day at a time, and not worry too much about the future.  Mostly because it scares me too much.


My next resolution is to cook more.  I've always enjoyed cooking, I simply just don't have many opportunities to try out new recipes and improve my skills....and they truly need some improvement. I enjoy nutrition as well, so hopefully I can create some awesomely healthy masterpieces!


Next, I'd like to live a little more this year.  I've been feeling a tad trapped in the bubble of Cache Valley, and I just have the urge to escape for a bit.  Ideally, I'd like to spend a semester or even a summer outside of my hometown.  I figure there's no better time than now! 


Lastly, I'd like to give a little more.  I would honestly love working in some way with the Make A Wish foundation, or some kind of humanitarian project...just anything to help me focus on others instead of so much of myself. 


Big things are going to happen for me this year.  I'll make sure of it.