Pinterest Addict (10)

I made a Pinterest account quite a few years ago and I just loved it. I would check it every day and pin new things but eventually it kind of made its way to the back of my mind.

But people. My love for that dang website has come back. And it's bad. Now I just constantly want to be finding new pictures to pin, clothes I wish I had, hairstyles I wish I could pull off, food I wish I had the skill to make, my future wedding dreams, and dream children.

But then a couple of days ago I took a step back and thought. Wait... none of these pictures are real life. Well sure, they were real for those who originally "pinned" them but they were not at all a representation of my life. Sometimes I find myself looking at the beautiful people strewn throughout the popular feed on Pinterest and I start judging myself. I start thinking things like "why can't my hair be that thick?" or "why can't my nose be that small?" But then you know what I realize? I am incredibly blessed. There will always be people out there that I think have it better than me, but then I remember that everyone has their own set of trials in life and we should not be basing the quality of what we have been blessed with based on what they have.

This is not me saying that I am going to boycott Pinterest, cuz come on you just can't deny that it has some great ideas on there. But I am going to start looking at it with a new perspective. 

Colorado Lovin (9)

When I was only five years old, my family made the move from Utah to Colorado. It didn't really affect me because after all, I was only a first grader and it was a cool experience to meet knew friends and live somewhere new. As I grew up, my love for that state just increased more and more.

The people and environment that I was surrounded with was unbelievable. Any time I was outside, I was always amazed by how beautiful everything around me was. The ward that I was a member of was filed with so many leaders and people that made positive influences in my life and taught me such valuable lessons.

I am so grateful for where I grew up, and I hope that someday I might be able to return to live in that state that I love.

People Let Me Tell You Bout My Best Friends (8)

I am so grateful for friendship. I do not know where I would be today without the support of my friends and they are all amazing. I was always surrounded by an awesome group of people and I know that I developed friends that will last a lifetime. There is one group of friends in particular that are definitely my closest friends that I have had for the longest time.

Lucky for me, this entire group of friends are also members of the Church so it was great to always be surrounded by people who I knew had the same standards as me. I'm just gonna go ahead and give a quick little description of all of these amazing girls.

Michaela: She was the very first friend that I made when I moved to Colorado when I was only five years old. She lived across the street from me and we loved to make up super weird games where we pretended to be horses and yeah... we were a little weird. She was there with me when I snapped my arm in half and she tried to calm me down by saying that "maybe your arm isn't broken" as it was dangling mid forearm. It's fitting that we used to pretend to be horses because she went on to be an awesome horseback rider. She just began her first semester at BYU this January. 

Cheyenne: Cheyenne and I have known each other since first grade. She was king of infamous for having hair that went to her hips and being friends with the class mean bully. Cheyenne herself was not as mean natured but it took us until about 3rd grade to really become best friends. We have are practically connected at the hip and she is currently my roommate here at school. She is a convert to the church and just so cool. She loves to dance and is super good at it, and she also loves to sing... not as good at that one. She is practically a member of my family and we all love her so much!

Anna: So pretty much Anna is amazing at any and ALL sports. Seriously I have never seen her try out a sport that she just didn't already have amazing talent at. She has signed with BYU to be on the women's golf team and she is just gonna rock it. Anna is probably the nicest person you will ever meet in your life. I don't think that I have ever heard her speak poorly of anyone else and she is just so friendly to everyone he comes into contact with. And not to mention her entire family is also so much fun. Almost every night you could find our group of friends over at her house just chatting with the whole family.

Haven: Haven is crazy hilarious. She is a very loyal customer to Sonic (and actually we all are... that was out night everyday over the past summer). She is currently the student body president at my the high school we all attended. She is very hardworking and dedicated and just such a great girl. 

Addy: Addy is Anna's little sister and although I wasn't around her quite as much, she still became one of my closest friends. She is a fashionista and seriously just the cutest little thing around. Her smile and laugh is so contagious.

Left to right: Addy, Haven, Michaela, Anna, Me, Cheyenne

I am so blessed with these friends and I LOVE them.

"True friendship is like the asphalt of life. It fills in the potholes and makes the journey smooth." -Richard G. Scott

Just Keep Swimming (7)

As I grew up, I quickly found out that I was not the most coordinated of children. I played a little soccer, tried out a little volleyball, dilly-dallied in basketball but seriously I could not catch on to any of it. I wasn't the worst one on the team but I just was not improving and my lack of coordination came as a struggle. I realized that I didn't really have a passion for those sports, so I did not really find reason in trying to perfect them. When I was about 8 years old my best friend (who also happens to be my roommate now) was an awesome swimmer, and her mom suggested that my mom put me on the summer swim team. There was only one little problem. I didn't even know how to swim. I entered the swim team and when the coaches saw the lack of ability I had they decided to place me with the 6 and under age group. Ouch. But throughout the season those coaches pushed me and by the end of my first summer, I was able to make it all the way down the pool and I even got the award for the most improved swimmer (wasn't very hard considering I didn't know how to swim in the first place haha).

A few more Summers passed and I continued to participate on the community swim team. I really enjoyed it, but I was by no means the fastest one. As I was entering 8th grade a family friend suggested that I try out a club swim team. I really enjoyed my summers on the swim team so I decided why not? I ended up joining the Aces Swim Club of Colorado and let's just say, all of those kids on my team had practically been swimming since they had been out of the womb. I had to try out to find out where I should be placed at the beginning of the season, and they considered putting me on the team with kids who were generally around the ages of 8-10 years old. Talk about a blow to the confidence. They decided that solely because of my age they would place me in a higher group, but I was still definitely one of the older ones in the group. When I began that season I started as one of the last swimmers in the lane, and just trailed behind others but as time passed by, I miraculously caught on to the whole swimming thing. And I caught onto it quickly. 

It seemed that every few months I was being moved up in my level on my club team and as I continued to push myself hard, I became one of the top swimmers on the entire swim team. It was fascinating to me that I was now swimming with those kids who were multiple levels above me when I joined the team. When i returned to my summer swim team that next summer, they were all amazed at how much I had improved.

When I entered my Freshman year of high school I decided I wanted to be on the team there so I joined and surprisingly just after that one year on the club team, I was one of the top swimmers at my school. By my sophomore year of high school I was able to qualify for the 5A State Championship Swim Meet in Colorado. As I put hard work into my club swim team and my high school and summer league swim teams, I was able to really improve and I saw that improvement with every time I was able to drop. As my times got faster, I was able to move up in my ranking in the state both my Junior and Senior year of high school. I even got the opportunity to race against Olympic Gold Medalist Missy Franklin (no... I did not win...)! It definitely was a test for me because it was hard starting out at the very bottom of the group, but it showed me that with hard work and dedication, anything can be accomplished. Swimming was such a great blessing in my life because i made so many friends and learned so much about dedication and hard work.

As I was striving to get better and improve, I just always kept the good ol' Dory quote in my head "Just keep swimming".

Senior recognition night 

My relay team for my last State Competition 

P.S. I apologize for how scary looking some of these pictures are... swimming is not the prettiest sport haha.

I'm Going There Someday (6)

Okay seriously, the peacefulness and tranquility of the temples amaze me. This past Sunday my roommate Savannah and I decided to take a little walk on over to the Provo Temple and it was an amazing experience. The spirit was practically tangible as we sat outside and just were in awe about how amazing it is that we have the blessing of this Gospel in our life. 

It is such a blessing to have a house of the Lord so close to us here in Provo, and I think that it is important that everyone takes advantage of that. Even if you feel that you are too busy to go perform Baptisms for the Dead, just go and sit outside and you will be able to have a great experience. If you are looking for answers to questions or even just want to feel peace, just go to the temple. I promise you that it will brighten any gloomy day and will be a great experience. I know that I am going to make it my weekly goal to visit the temple so that I can feel of that amazing comfort every week.

"The temple is a point of intersection between heaven and earth. In this sacred place, holy work will be performed through selfless service and love. The temple reminds me of all that is good and beautiful in the world." —David A. Bednar

Power of Prayer (5)

Lately I have been thinking a lot about prayer and how great of a blessing it is that we have the ability to communicate with our Father in Heaven. I can't think of many gifts that are greater than that. It is amazing that He is always there to listen to any concern I may have or any question that I am looking for some guidance from. Recently I have felt that so many of my prayers have been answered and I am so grateful for that. Things have been seeming to fall into place, and I have felt so much joy in my life and I know that it is because of the comfort I have been receiving from my Heavenly Father.

Something that I have to always keep in mind is that the answers to our prayers may not always come as we expect. A quote that I love by Marvin J. Ashton is "Sometimes we fail to recognize answered prayers because we are expecting more than quiet answers." We have to remember to have faith that in due time our prayers will be answered. There is no doubt about it. If we pray with sincere intent we will always get a response, even if it is small and sometimes hard to recognize. 

I also think that it is important every once in awhile to take a step back and instead of simply asking for things, we just focus on thanking our Father in Heaven for all of the blessings he has given us. David A. Bednar said, "The most meaningful and spiritual prayers I have experienced contained many expressions of thanks and few, if any, requests."

Whenever I am having a bad day or am feeling down, I always know that I have the power to prayer wherever I may be, and that knowledge is very comforting to me.

Families are Forever (4)

I decided that I am going to make a post that talks a little bit about my family because they are all rad and amazing examples to me. I'll just go ahead and start going down the list...

My dad is one of the greatest people have ever met. Like seriously, the guy is amazing. He somehow balances starting up a new insurance company, being a bishop, and spending time with the family and still manages to stay sane. he loves my mom unconditionally, and has shown me how a husband should respect and treat his wife. I would consider myself very lucky if in the future I found an eternal companions with a personality and testimony like my dad's.

My mom is indeed another one of the greatest people I have ever met. She has always been willing to do anything for me and my siblings. She has spent hundreds upon hundreds of hours attending every single one of my swim meets, my older brother's band competitions, my older sisters cheer competitions, and my younger sister's choir concerts an plays. She has sacrificed so much in raising me and my fours siblings, but I have to say that she has done a pretty fantastic job. I hope that one day my children can look up to me with the respect that I have always looked at my mother with.

I have always looked up to my older brother Taylor because he did a pretty phenomenal job dealing with four little sisters. I can't recall a time where he treated me or any of my sisters poorly. He is quite a bit older than me, but I have still always felt like he is willing to talk to me about anything, and he gives such good advice. He always worked hard in school and he worked hard serving the Lord on his mission in Mexico City. He married and amazing girl named Lynnea, who might possibly be the sweetest person to grace this earth, and I am so proud of the hard work he puts into school and into the gospel.

When I was little I always looked up to my sister Britta as this really cool popular person and I aspired to be like her. Now that I have visited with her about high school and her experience in college, she has assured me that indeed she was not that cool, and she was pretty weird. I guess it's just something about being older that automatically makes the younger sibling feel like they are the coolest person of all time? But nonetheless, she was still always an amazing example to me. She is now married to a fantastic guy named Austin, and they have a little baby girl named Scarlett. Seeing Britta with her family has made me so excited for what the future has in store for me.

My sister Lexee and I have always been very close. She was the only sibling that I got to experience any part of high school with. We have had many long random talks, but I love every second of them. She attends BYU-Idaho but she lived in Provo this last semester, and I was SO grateful that she did. It was so fun (somewhat) getting to experience college with her. When I am with my sister Lexee the laughing never stops and the good times never end. She is engaged to an awesome guy named Jason, and I can;t wait for him to be another part of our family.

And now on to the baby of the family. My little sister Mauri has always been a spunky little gal. I remember from the time she was a baby being a little firecracker always getting into trouble: rubbing Vaseline all throughout her hair and into the carpet, sneaking out of the house in the dead of winter with no jacket and going to our neighbor's house, scratching "MOM" into our brand new leather couches, and the list could go on. She definitely kept us on our toes. But as she has grown she has become one of the most amazing young women I have ever met. While my mom had to stay persistent with me and my two older sisters to get our Personal Progress recognition, Mauri got her done just after she turned 14. She is insanely good at singing and all things musical, and she is just so passionate and happy about life! I am amazed at how much I have learned from my sister who is four years younger than me.

See what I mean with the whole mischievous thing?

I am so grateful for the knowledge that families can be together forever. I am grateful for the amazing example each and every member of my family is to me. Heavenly Father's plan is so amazing, and the fact that he gave us families to make it through our life on earth is one of the greatest blessings I could imagine.