Slow Down

"Always remember to slow down in life; live, breathe, and learn; take a look around you whenever you have time and never forget everything and every person that has the least place within your heart."

Sometimes I just need to slow down. I'm starting to realize I've got to enjoy where I'm at and slow down as much as I can so I can enjoy every little piece of my life before it passes by. Me and my roommates.....

... well we like to have fun together... and soon we won't be teenagers anymore so we'll HAVE to at least pretend to be mature all the time... It's made me think, I just want to slow down and enjoy every little gem of life..... I am sort of borderline obsessed with this song right now by Enya called Wild Child and it just makes me want to slow down and relax and "let the rain fall down and wake my dreams" (Hilary Duff shout out right there) but this other song by Enya is just sooo good, probably one of my favorite parts is

"Ever close your eyes

Ever stop and listen

Ever feel alive

And you've nothing missing

You don't need a reason

Let the day go on and on

Let the rain fall down

Everywhere around you

Give into it now

Let the day surround you

You don't need a reason

Let the rain go on and on"

I think sometimes I just need to remember to let the day surround me and just enjoy what life gives me and live by Jenny's advice...

"sometimes, you've just got to take what life chucks at ya, tumble with the kicks, and live life to the outermost."

It's a Great Day to Be Alive :)

So it may just be because I almost killed my roommates/died of Carbon Monoxide poisoning two nights ago because I left the oven on at night and then didn't even wake up to the alarm at 5 in the morning(my roommates weren't very happy but they still love me :) ) or maybe because yesterday morning my roommate Megan woke me up to a bathtub full of rising water that she was trying to bail out but for whatever reason I feel like today is just a great day! I think it may have a little to do with the fact that it wasn't anything like yesterday but also because of these things:

1. Today is the perfect fall weather, there is not a cloud in the sky and it is one of those warm breezy 72 degree perfect fall days. I really do love fall, I mean I could do without the chilly mornings and nights, but they really aren't too bad when the days are so gorgeous :)

2. I went to an application meeting for the Elementary Education major and it just got me so excited :)

3. Today is Thursday so I had my favorite class... Living Prophets(my teacher is so funny, he said today he thinks unblank could be a cuss word and one time he showed us the "all apostle football team he organized) but we learn all these awesome things about he 15 men in charge(apostles and first presidency) and I have that class with Megan and Michelle

4. My favorite song right now that always put's a smile on my face... "Love Like Woe" by The Ready Set came on the radio on me and Megan's car ride home...

5. Did I mention the windows were down and the weather is great??

6. Me and Megan went to Walmart and bought food and well... Walmart trips are always just fun and unpredictable... on this trip some girl who was a strange shade of orange and had a blue slightly large sparkle/dot to the the left of her left eye(like between her eye and ear) told us we should be models and come to the place she worked at and then seemed hurt when we said we were too busy and said rather forcefully "Well take it as a compliment, you guys are really cute" haha

7. I got a donut :)

8. We went to the Farmers Market... and the weather was great... and it was so cute/fun... I got some homemade peach raspberry jam, honey butter, and soap that smells like NATURE! it was a great trip-- here's a picture... it even LOOKS like fall

9. I've got a date tonight! :)

10. I really should have ten but I can't think of a tenth reason right now... oh wait, I'm getting some laundry does... and in this weather, I love doing laundry... and my detergent smells like Mountain Springs... at least it says it does, I personally don't think mountain springs smell this good

It's been a while

So I realize I haven't posted a blog in a while and I actually have a good reason for it. I always just want to say the same thing. That I am just happy and I really have realized that happiness is a choice because I have found that it is and just keep finding that out every day. Actually I just thought of something different to write about and any normal person right now in their train of thought would go back and delete the first part of this post or maybe even change the title... but not me... it's probably because of a mix of laziness and because I don't really care if it's there or not because let's face it, after I post this, I probably won't read it, and if I do, I'll just skip over that part :) But one thing I have realized from talking to some of my sisters, my mom, friends, and just observing people, girls in particular, is that most of us view ourselves as our worst self. We have the uncanny(not even really sure what that word means but it seems to fit) ability to look in the mirror or think of our personality, pick out the worst in it and think that that is how everyone sees us or that is what everyone else notices. In reality, that is not what people notice. It sort of upsets me when I see girls walking around campus with their heads hung down day after day because they just don't realize that they are so amazing and I don't even know them but everyone has something to offer and nobody should ever feel like people only look at them for their flaws. I used to have this problem where if people were whispering or talking quieter when I walked by or was in the room that they just had to be talking about me and it had to be about what I was wearing or something I did that was weird or just anything negative about me. One day I just thought about it and realized I'm not the center of everyone's conversations so I just needed to stop worrying about it and live my life! haha It sounds ridiculous but it's true. I feel like we concentrate so much on our faults and what other people might think that it imprisons us in a way that we don't focus on what is good in each of us. I tried to find a quote on this but was unsuccessful and got tired of looking... but I think each one of us has the power to decide how we want to live our lives and we choose how we look at ourselves.

I feel like many times each of us looks at the scripture about the worth of souls being great in the sight of God as a verse about service and helping those in need, which is great but to me it also means that I'm important and I'm great :)

Happiness is...

My Mom and Grandma often say that the title of this picture should be "Happiness is..." and I find that to be a fitting title. I found myself recently looking back on these days and thinking why did it seem so easy to be fully immersed in being happy with what was around me. It was a simpler time in my life when the worries and stresses of life didn't get to me and I could just sit with my favorite teddy bear(which I still have) and two of my sisters and one my brothers with the window open and the serene cornfields in the background.

Lately, I've found myself split in two in a way because I have felt like half of my life now is out at school and the other half is here at home. When I'm at school I miss my family and the Florida life with my house and nearby beaches but I have noticed this summer that when I am home, I miss my friends and my school life. I was getting myself down and thinking that it was just great that for the next for years of my life I was never going to be fully happy in one place. You can imagine after realizing this I was pretty down and I think that once you're upset about one thing it's like you look for other reasons to be more upset or make your brain get more upset about something else so the first thing doesn't seem as bad. You can bet that's what I subconsciously did and it was terrible. Don't worry, it gets better right about now.

After a few weeks of being upset and listening to my depressing cd in every car ride(my sisters tried to stop me but I felt like it's all I wanted to listen to) I decided that I needed to shape up and stop worrying about other people and their lives and focus on mine and just being happy like I was when that picture was taken. I've decided that happiness is a choice and I'm sure everyone can find at LEAST one reason in their life to not be happy but man, that would be one depressing life with a whole bunch of depressed people. In the past week or so that I've decided to just forget about the things that make me sad and instead of being sad now just enjoy my family time now because I know I will miss it and then enjoy my school life and friends out there when that time comes because now I know I'll miss that too. When I'm happy it's like everything sad in my life is forgotten or if it somehow creeps into my mind I just kick it to the curb, or something like that haha.

I guess what I'm trying to say can be summed up by Mr. Franklin himself:

"The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself."

I'd like to add that you also have to "keep" it yourself :)

Fairytales.

I've been thinking a lot lately of love and fairytales and I'd just like to say that I believe in love and fairytale endings. I feel like the world today is getting so cynical and looks more at love as something for a time and not something that lasts forever. This is seen all over: in movies, in celebrities, and even in our friends who we come in contact with everyday. It frustrates me when I hear people talking about how love is finite, and can't be infinite. I agree that hearts will break and that's a part of life. Yeah, it's not fun but it happens. I may still be young and some would call me naive but I really think that there is someone, maybe even more than one possibility out there who I will fall in love with and he will fall in love with me and we will live happily ever after. Many would call this ignorant but I think that as long as both people are working towards the same goal then they can be truly happy together and stay in love with each other forever. It's upsetting that our society is becoming more and more set on the next best thing that sometimes people look at love like that. When you truly love someone, you don't think of anything as better than the person you love because they are the best, to you anyways. I heard some people talking about how many times they think they'll get married and many people look at this as the realistic approach but that's really sad. I just hope that when I fall in love and find that special someone who loves me back that I'll realize that this is the person who I always want to be with and we'll be able to live our fairytale. Life's as good as you make it, sometimes we'll have trials but it's all about how we deal with them that can bring people closer together or tear them apart. Attitude is an amazing thing.

Life Lately....

OH the things that happen in our apartment.

Good Mornin' Life

So today was just one of those good days from the beginning. I woke up and as I was getting ready I was just in a good mood. I even sat down to my computer and decided that I would listen to the song Good Mornin' Life by Dean Martin and that's sorta where it all began. I then had to go to English and I got an Analysis paper back and I got a 95 on it! I was pretty happy about that. Then I had to study for a child development exam that I had to take before 2 and I was thinking I got a grade way better than I expected. I have decided that days can be just as good as you want them to be. I was stressing thinking about today earlier this week when I was planning it all out but it turned out to be a great day and mostly because of my attitude towards it. I think it also has a little to do with the fact that the days are going by fast and soon I'll be back in warm Florida.

For right now though, I'm happy where I am. I was thinking about it the other day and I was even talking with one of my roomies and I was saying how I would miss them over the summer. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm so excited to be going home but it's weird to think that after living with these girls for 8 months I won't see them for like 3 months! haha I guess that just means I got lucky with who my roommates are... I mean there aren't many people who late on a Monday night will just jump around and sing/scream along with songs loudly in the kitchen, or on a Friday afternoon have a dance party in the kitchen standing on furniture with the back door wide open to the laundry room, or tie my shoes whenever they come untied, or add "your baby daddy" after anyone says "oooo", or watch/laugh at the same youtube video a million times and then keep repeating the joke, or watch 18 minutes of a how to do a weave tutorial and be honestly intrigued... I could go on and on... But seriously, in the roommate arena I think I would say I definitely made out like a bandit, and I didn't even have to steal anything! Crazy the things you come by these days...

Antsy

So basically I'm to the point where I am just getting so excited to see my family again. It seems like every time I talk to any of them on the phone I just think that I'll be there in a little over a month. That kinda sounds like a lot of time but I'm sure with tests, papers, and finals that it will go by superfast! :) I've also realized that I'm at such a happy time in my life and I just want to enjoy everything. This may have happened because I have been planning my future, in a way, by planning out which classes I'll be taking next semester as well as the one after and I can't believe that after only two quick semesters I'll be ready to officially start the Elementary Ed program. I feel like I'm getting so old sometimes but that's a good thing because life is for living and time has to pass to live. So this planning and getting excited about my major and future combined with the excitement of seeing my family soon have just made me such a happy person lately. Anyways, back to my family, I am just so excited to be seeing them soon. My little sisters are some of my best friends and my little brothers are just so funny and entertaining and I can always count them all to cheer me up and make me happy. I feel like the baby though is getting so old! I keep hearing stories about his accomplishments and I just can't believe I'm missing these but oh well I'll be there in the summer and will enjoy the "growing up" then. Anyways, I just can't wait to be in Florida and back with the fam!

Comfort Food

After being away from home for about eight months now I've realized the things that remind me of home. I realized most of these reminders in times of stress... like tonight. So, I just finished one paper analyzing an article for english and then yesterday and today I worked all day on another paper for child development which was analyzing what a socially competent adolescent should look like and then looking at the role of the family in it all, needless to say, my head hurts and i think i was going crazy. I then decided that I would make banana nut pancakes, which i actually haven't made in the eight months I've been out here yet (I mostly just make chocolate chip or plain). Just to tell you how insane I was going, as I was slicing the bananas i was thinking I should just slice the tips of my fingers off so I don't have to type anymore. Obviously i didn't do it, but I was thinking it. Anyways, as I was making them I realized that it was my comfort food, pancakes in general are my comfort food. It's not even that I ate then that much at home, it just for some reason makes me happy. I also realized during finals week last semester that country music is another one of my comfort foods. I know it's crazy but country music just reminds me of home and makes me happy. Anyways, for now these two things are my comfort foods, pancakes and country music. I guess I can't help it though ha :)

Parental Pressure

So I guess the title is misleading because neither of my parents actually pressured me into getting a blog. I was actually talking to my mom today and she was telling me about my siblings/cousins/aunts and uncles who all have blogs so I decided... why not give it a try? If I never post again then so what? who cares? right? So basically my blog is titled One of Ten because I am in fact one of ten children and I had always thought about writing some book like a biography of me and my family and I would call it One of Nine but have the Nine crossed out and Ten written above it. Since that's never going to happen, it's the title of this blog. I don't really know what else to put in this first post so this will have to do for now, plus I'm real sleepy so that's what I'm going to do.