Smile :0)

What makes you grin? You know the kind of grin that literally goes from one ear to the other. The kind of smile that you can't control. It comes simply because at that moment you are so happy you can't hold it all in and the happiness shows up on your face. C'mon I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about...think about it for a minute...does remembering the moment make you grin again?

I just had a moment that apparently brought this kind of grin to my face. I was sitting with a bunch of my girl friends chatting when someone knocked on the door. Whitney jumped up to answer it for me. I wasn't expecting company so I had no idea who it could be. I listened as she answered the door curious as to who was here. When Haylie looked at me and whispered, "Shut Up!" it was at that point I realized who was at the door. I jumped up and ran to the door.

Now, rewind...Last Friday I had a date with a guy that I'm pretty interested in. We had a great time and I really hope we go out again sometime soon. He's such a great guy. He's incredibly sweet and kind. He is goofy and just makes me laugh. I was in the middle of telling all this to my friends when lo and behold that is who shows up at the door. On our date Friday we had bought some plums and never ate them, so he brought me two of them. We stood in the kitchen and talked for a minute before he left.

As I walked back in to where my friends were waiting they were instantly a buzz with giddiness. The first thing they pointed out was that I had a huge smile on my face. I couldn't help it. I couldn't stop smiling. The more my friends pointed it out the more I smiled.

These are the kind of moments I love in life. Smiling is such a wonderful thing. Studies have shown that smiling can relieve stress, boost your immune system, and even make you look younger. Smiling is contagious and easily spreads among friends. Not all smiles have to be the huge ear to ear grins I experienced today. I believe there is huge power even in a tiny smile. The simple act of smiling can change everything. It's really hard to be sad when you're smiling. Have you ever tried it?? I have. It's kind of like trying to keep a straight face while someone is mercilessly tickling you. I know things go wrong in life and you can just smile your way through everything, but I do believe that even the bumpy days can be a lot smoother if we try to see things from a happier perspective instead of a melancholy one.

So, go laugh and share a smile with someone. It will make you both happy!

I Have Internet!!

Ok I know a lot of you probably think that I fell off the face of the Earth, but I really didn't. I just fell off the planet called internet. I have not been able to afford internet access at my house since I moved out. This is why my posts became very scarce. I could only update my blog when I was either at the library or my mother's house. This became very inconvenient. It got to the point that when I logged on I had so much stuff to update and check on that I didn't have enough time to do it all in. I had to prioritize and this blog just got lost in the shuffle.

This has all changed now. Today a very nice man from Qwest came and set up wireless internet at my house! I am so unbelievably excited about this. I can now get back to doing all the things I used to do and that includes keeping this blog up to date.

I love writing and hope to fill this blog with all my random words and thoughts. I hope you are all doing well and that you'll come back and read some more. I promise I won't leave you hanging for months like I have before.

Love You All!

Sunsets are Free!

I was reading today in a book by Mary Ellen Edmunds called, You Can Never Get Enough of What You Don’t Need. I read something that really got me thinking. She used a quote from Elder F. Burton Howard where he said, “We sometimes discover too late that God’s greatest gifts cannot be purchased with money.” I loved that statement! MEE went on to say, “When was the last time you got a bill from the sun? The moon? The stars? The rain? I saw a poster once that had this message: ‘Good news! Sunsets are free!’”

This made me think about what gifts I have in my life that were not purchased by money…what are the great gifts God has given freely to me. Of course the ones that MEE mentioned, the sun, moon, stars, and beautiful sunsets. I think I would have to add the first snowfall of the winter season, when big fluffy snowflakes fall in silence and blanket the world in white. The ocean waves; I love to sit on the beach and listen to the waves crash against the shore…to me there are few things as peaceful as that. I love going to the park in the summer and sitting on the nice cool grass, under a shade tree, looking at the flowers and reading my scriptures. It helps me to feel the spirit of what I’m reading when I’m surrounded by the peaceful beauty of that scene. The mountains are a huge gift to me. I love living here in North Ogden at the base of the mountain. I love being able to walk outside each day and look up at Ben Lomond Peak in all its majesty whether bathed in sun or snowcapped; it is a beautiful sight. These are all things of nature, yet not all of God’s gifts are from the Earth. God has given me a kooky but great family. He has given me great friends. He’s given me the gospel. There are so many people in this world who do not have the fullness of the gospel in their lives. I am extremely blessed to be a member of this church and have the testimony that I have.

I am so grateful for all of these gifts, and a loving Heavenly Father who gives them so freely!

Boondoggle

I was browsing through the dictionary today (I was looking up a word not just perusing the dictionary for fun) and came across the word boondoggle. It caught my attention because I was surprised that the word would be in a dictionary. Boondoggle is something I used to do when I was 12 or 13. You take different colored plastic strips and weave them together to create cute little key chains, zipper pulls, and things like that. I know it is still a popular hobby among young girls today because I know a 13-year-old and an 8-year-old who have proudly shown me some of their finished boondoggles. So, as I glanced at this word in the dictionary I got a good laugh at its definition...Boondoggle: a useless activity; a waste of time. Ha ha! It still makes me laugh. I'm sure if I were to call up my 13-year-old friend she would whole heartedly disagree with that definition. I know at her age I would have argued against it as well. To me boondoggling was a fun craft and not a waste of time. I actually still have a boondoggle I made when I was young. It is a pink and blue zipper pull. I'll admit I glance at it every now and then and wonder why in the world I still have it, but then I always tell myself that it's for posterities sake. One day when my kids ask me what I did for fun as a youngster I can pull out my zipper pull and show them. However, now that I know the official definition of a boondoggle I'm not so sure they will think me and my little zipper pull are all that cool. So, thank you Mr. Webster you have just dashed my reasonings for hanging onto a boondoggled zipper pull for the past 16 years!!

Wait and See

Alright for the three of you that responded saying you actually read this blog, I'll try and update it every now and then. I can't be sure what I will write all the time. My life is either boring or full of too much negative drama, stuff I don't want to blog about. However, I just made me the cutest little journal jar to give me ideas to help liven up my personal journal. I filled it with hundreds journal and writing prompts so I may post some of those on here as well. We'll just have to wait and see..LOL

Anyone?

I am just wondering if anyone reads this? I haven't posted for a while because I don't see the point in taking the time to post my thoughts if no one reads them...I can just keep them in my journal.

So, if by chance there is someone out there who reads this blog and wants me to keep writing here then post a comment so I know.

Otherwise...goodbye blogging world.

Catching Up

Wow. I have a lot of catching up to do. I'm sorry it has been so long since I posted. Life somehow got very busy very fast. So much has happened that it would take me forever to post about it all. Here are a few highlights:

Thanksgiving was great fun! I found out my favorite auntie is pregnant again which was way exciting. This year was also my first year to do the all night shopping deal. We hit Fashion Place mall at 9:30pm, was at Park City by midnight, and at Walmart somewhere around 5am...we got home about 7am. It was a night of craziness and lots of laughs.

In the beginning of December two of my friends and I went on a trip to Moab. It was the first time I had ever been there. We had a blast! We spent some time in Arches National Park. Wow, what an amazing experience. I loved it! I also just loved hanging out with the girls we created some pretty great memories.

Finally there was Christmas. What a good Christmas this was. I was able to go home and spend some time with my family. Tara loved it and kept telling people I was her Christmas present. Thanks to my brother this year was the first year I have ever cried on Christmas morning. He gave me a tile with the phrase "First my Sister, Forever my Friend." Wow...that pulled at the heart strings! Tyson got an electric guitar for Christmas and that night we all sat around the Christmas tree as Ty played a few songs for us all. It was fun. My brother has such a talent for music and singing I could just sit and listen to him forever. It was a great way to end day.

Next up is New Years, I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do that night. Hopefully it will be one last party before I have to get back to hitting the books for school.

So, that is the update. Sorry for the readers digest version. I will try to be more diligent in updating things as they actually happen.