Adolescence caught in a whirlwind.

Ghandi said it perfectly. "There is more to life than increasing its speed." Let's be honest. Us pre-adult, post-teens are stuck in a sticky situation. Tv shows move too quickly, life is changing by the day, and we are having to make crazy big decisions on a weekly basis. I mean, eating Froot Loops for breakfast could TOTALLY stunt any hopes of me growing in the next few years. I still have time to do that right? Or don't I? AH! We are pushed at this stage in our lives to make big, big decisions: pick a college, pick a major, pick your breakfast, pick a husband..you know. Big stuff. We are caught in a whirlwind of decisions, frantically trying to make the right one. I realized something tonight though. We are all going to screw up. We're going to make mistakes, and that is totally okay. Take TIME to mess up. Enjoy your life. There is more to it than increasing its speed. There is no need to rush our lives ahead. Be proactive and progressive but not hasty. ENJOY college. ENJOY high school. ENJOY. LIFE. Make the best of every single day. Don't try to rush into things. The right things will come, and you will know and love it. :) That doesn't mean you don't have to stop looking, it just means that you don't have to keep chasing and running. So, as for me, I'm going lean back in my seat and just enjoy the ride. Come what may and love it. 

We create chains from fishing line.

Confusing title? Let me try and explain. So, my family has been preparing for a camping trip in the past few days (yay!). We've been grocery shopping, cleaning, over-analyzing, and stressing. A few of us ended up in the kitchen tonight, and someone started arguing with somebody else. It erupted from there, and I think there are four people in their arguing now. I am on the back porch enjoying the lovely 7:00 breeze and luke-warm shade. :) I came out here so that I would not start arguing, and then it got me thinking. We have SO much to do still, and my family is in there bickering away their time! (Don't get me wrong, this is natural. Everybody argues every once in a while) Packing for a family of 9 is no easy task, especially when the four youngest can't pack for themselves. :) This is where the fishing line comes in. Satan is so good at working his havoc unnoticed. Had I not come outside to avoid the arguments, I wouldn't have realized what he was doing. He started that argument in there, and that is now putting us behind in our packing and preparation. Being behind in that is going to cause massive amounts of stress tomorrow, which will just lead to even angrier conversations. He ties us with the fishing line, first, and then we make it into chains by letting him provoke us into making the first mistake. We are the ones who continue to argue and let time slip away doing so, and that is what creates the chains that he holds onto us with later. So, it's been about half an hour now. They might be wrapped in twine in there by now. ;) I guess I just want to say WATCH OUT!!!!! Don't let him get ahold of you. Figure out how to spot his temptations from a mile away, and then RUN in the other direction. That way you can make it out the door to camp on time and prepared. :)

Broken drawer for a prayer.

I am laughing while I write this. Really. As I was crawling into bed tonight, I decided that I would write in my journal before I went to bed. Well, I didn't have a pen handy, so I naturally went nosing in my little sister's nightstand drawer to find one. The dresser drawer wouldn't open. That was my fault too. I took it upon myself to do some serious organizing while she is at girls camp, and a book that I had placed in that drawer was keeping it from opening. Flustered, I started pulling at the drawer and wiggling it in every which way in an unsuccessful attempt to get it open. Finally, I surrendered and dropped down on my knees. "Heavenly Father, please just let this drawer open. I really, really need a pen. Also, I don't want Holly to be mad that I organized her drawers so well that they won't open." My prayer was answered. When I went to pull the drawer open again, SURPRISE! The WHOLE FRONT of the drawer popped off. I sat stunned for a minute while I questioned the way that my prayer was answered, and then had to laugh before I went downstairs and sheepishly admitted to my mother what I had done. Needless to say, I am going to be learning how to fix a broken dresser drawer this week. :) Now, I suppose I could look at this situation two ways. First case scenario: Heavenly Father was punishing me for messing around in my sister's drawers and trying to organize them (without her consent). Second case scenario: God is trying to teach me that prayers aren't always answered how you think or wish that they will be, and He has a sense of humor. The latter sounds a little more appealing, so I think I'll go with that one. Anyhow, I just thought I would share my thought for tonight, and that is that our prayers will most likely not be answered in the way that we expect, but they can oftentimes be answered in the ways we want. I wanted the drawer to open, but I was certainly not expecting the front of it to break off in order for me to get that pen. Be on the lookout...be aware of when and how He is answering your prayers, because he will ALWAYS answer them, even if he has to break a drawer to do it. :)

Good morning, sunshine. :)

I woke up to those three words today. Good morning sunshine!! It was the best start to my day. :) And now, as I'm about to go to sleep, I started thinking about what I'm going to do tomorrow after I wake up again. I am going to teach a cello lesson, probably mess around on my computer for a while, paint a playhouse, do some weeding, practice my cello, and then maybe try and motivate myself to exercise. Then I realized that it is now 12:24 in the morning, and I'm not in bed yet. That means I am going to be tired tomorrow when I wake up.... I don't really want to think about waking up. Finally, just barely, the bomb hit me. How lucky am I that I WOKE. UP. this morning? That means that I am living, breathing, and laughing. I'm still enjoying my life. There are so many stories on the news these days about young deaths--suicides, car accidents, drug overdoses. I really am blessed to still be alive right now. Right here, typing on my computer. I suppose you never know when your time will come to go, but I hope that mine won't come for a while. I want to wake up to good morning sunshine many, many more times. I want to practice my instrument, exercise, and paint playhouses many more times. Even though my days all seem to mush into one big, long trek through work and life, I am grateful to be here. I'm grateful for my friends and family and for the wonderful life that I am leading. So here's to tomorrow morning. Here's to good morning, sunshine. Here's to making tomorrow great and appreciating every single minute of it. 

:)

I was feeling a little bit of cabin fever today, and so I went on a walk. Naturally. To avoid my cabin. Get rid of my fever. ;) I was walking down the little quaint road out of my neighborhood, and something struck me. Like hard. Why is it that nature that has been untouched by us is so beautiful, raw, and perfect? Why is it that families like to take their pictures outside? Why is it that pictures outside with people in them are the best kind of pictures? I think I figured it out. At least a little. Untouched nature is God's space. It's His creation and the details that He understands and we don't. It's His beauty and a sign of love for us--something for us to enjoy and appreciate. God creates beauty and peace, right? That's where the whole people in the pictures comes in--family. It's beautiful. It's from God. God creates beautiful things for us. Why? Why do we deserve endless fields of tall grass and wildflowers and loving people in our lives who hug us while we push them away? Truth is, we don't. None of us have lived perfect enough lives to deserve any of it. I guess the only way to give back is to appreciate it and treasure it. Always carry your glass half full, and notice all of the amazing things around you. :) Life truly is beautiful. 

This is an "us" thing.

The inspiration for this post comes from a talk that was given in my Stake Conference a while back. Our stake president gave a message to us, and one line of it really stuck out to me. Life is not an "I" thing, but an "us" thing. Is that not so true? We are here on this earth for each other. We are here to help each other, to teach each other, to learn from each other, and to progress together. There is a reason God didn't send us each to our own planet by ourselves. We need each other to be tested and to help others through their tests, also. My shout out today goes to Estelle Carr. Yes, I know. My facebook has been covered with posts about her for the past few days, but what can I say? She is an inspiration to me, and one of the very best friends I have ever had. She knows how to make everyone around her happy, and she is so good at making you feel important. She really grasps the concept of the "us" thing. Maybe we'll all figure it out one day, and the world will be a better place. :)

Brownie Pan. :)

The other night I had a sugar craving at midnight that landed me in the kitchen making brownies. :) When they were finished, I was dishing them up, and the different kids who had mysteriously woken from their deep slumbers were telling me whether or not they wanted a corner, side, or middle piece. Well, when you have a family of 9, the brownies disappear pretty quickly. Finally, there was just one brownie left--a corner one. My little sister asked if I wanted it, and I told her no. I don't like the corner pieces. She does, so she took it. That is where my thinking began. Each member of my family likes a different brownie. That is what makes each of them happy and what gets rid of the entire pan. I mean, if we all only liked the middle pieces, someone would either always be unsatisfied, or there would always be a layer around the edge that didn't get eaten. It takes all sorts of people to make the world go round, to make an entire pan of brownies disappear. It takes a wide range of personalities to make a family function and learn from each other. Lately, I have been worried that my major isn't really going to get me anywhere big and successful in life. My mom, who usually sheds light on the situations that need shedding light on, reminded me that I didn't have to be big and successful to make a difference. The world takes all different sorts of people to make things work. If we were all big and successful, no one would be! There would be no motivation to work harder and progress. Even if I never become some big name cellist, I will be content with just working as hard as I feel I can and maybe teaching future big name cellists. I guess I'm content with being the person in the world and my family who likes the middle brownie. It's okay not to have some huge, important career or dream. My dreams are to get married, be a mom, teach cello students, and play in the OTS someday, and that is enough. Everyone else can finish off the rest of the pan. :)