So, one of my friends on Facebook posted the 100 Days of Happy Challenge. Every day you post a picture of something that made you happy that day! You share them wherever you would like (I have picked Facebook, but you could do Twitter, Instagram, etc.) and submit it with a hash tag. For example, mine will be #100daysofhappy. Crazy simple, yeah? I will also be posting them here on my blog. I am excited to do this challenge! I am a happy person as it is, but there are a lot of times when I don't take the time to recognize God's hand in my life and the things He does for me. I feel that this is a great way to get into a better habit of doing so. Even during the toughest times in our lives there is something to be happy about! Not only that, but to document it and be able to look back and remember those times.
If you take the challenge, let me know! We can support each other! My 100 days starts today (March 22, 2014). Which means I will be posting pictures daily until June 30, 2014.
Let the posts, begin! :D
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
"Into the Woods" Part 1
Man, this has been such a great
experience! Not going to lie though, if
you had asked me a week ago if we were ready I would have said a big, fat
NO! Some people still weren’t memorized,
we were still learning dances, and we were working on blocking a few of the
scenes as well! No, one week ago we were
totally not ready! And, you know what, I don’t think we were
ready opening night. There were a lot of
technical things that had we hadn’t worked out and we just, again, weren’t very
confident on notes, entrances, etc. But,
after we had that completely bomb performance
Friday night, we started picking it up!
Not going to lie though, tonight (March 17th) has been the best performance by far! It is the fundraiser so it is the dinner theater. We have such a wonderful audience! They laugh at everything. That isn't an exaggeration either! Even things that we didn't find funny, as a cast, the audience would laugh at! It was incredible! Their energy is so easy to feed off of, it is absolutely wonderful!
Not going to lie though, tonight (March 17th) has been the best performance by far! It is the fundraiser so it is the dinner theater. We have such a wonderful audience! They laugh at everything. That isn't an exaggeration either! Even things that we didn't find funny, as a cast, the audience would laugh at! It was incredible! Their energy is so easy to feed off of, it is absolutely wonderful!
A few of the funny moments that has happened since the first
performance:
- Christie (Lucinda) and I (Florinda) were tying ourselves together during the second act (we are blind and led by a rope). Natalie (Cinderella) was running back to change for her next scene. Christie and I were standing far enough apart that Natalie (Cinderella) thought she could run between us. Well, she did and we totally clotheslined her! We also made her late for her entrance. Oops! :)
- Seeing Mr. Reynolds as the Mysterious Man . . . he is freaky! I knew there was a reason I was scared of him in high school!
- “Nailed it!” has become the theme of this musical! Whether it has been sarcastic or sincere awesomeness.
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| L to R: Cinderella (Natalie), Florinda (me), and Lucinda (Christie). Our opening scene! |
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| Here is one of the "Nailed" it things I was talking about. L: Professional make-up artist R: My poor attempt at recreating that make-up! A sarcastic "nailed it" |
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| L to R: Lucinda (Christie), Stepmother (DeAnna), Florinda (Me) Second Act, "Children Won't Listen" |
Sunday, February 2, 2014
It is not the end
I've been thinking a lot of about trials lately. Why? I'm not quite sure, but I have! Why have trials? Is there really a point? Are there other ways that I can become refined?
Fortunately, as I have asked myself these questions the Lord has blessed me with answers! I have been able to go to institute twice since I've been home and both lessons have been about faith. Honestly, God knows me so well! Brother Aardema mentioned several groups of people:
Brother Aardema pointed out that each of these people were virtuous, faithful, and completely devoted to God. So, why did the Daughters of Onitah and Abinadi have to die? Couldn't the Lord have saved them? The answer is yes, He could have saved them! So, why didn't He?
As we discussed this in class I thought about my experiences last year! Last year was not at all what I thought it would be! I had plans to go to Ghana, Africa and Nauvoo. I wanted to student teach in Arizona and travel around a little bit! What ended up happening? I stayed in Idaho! Not just Idaho, but Rexburg and Boise, Idaho! I was outside of Idaho for about six weeks, and that was when I was down in Utah! I was confused and upset! The desires of my heart were not bad! I wanted to go to Africa so that I could share my testimony through song and help uplift others! I wanted to go to Nauvoo to learn more about Church history! And Arizona . . . well, that one was a little selfish! I wanted to escape the cold in Idaho! :)
Again, not bad reasons. But the Lord knew that I needed to be in Idaho. There were (and are) people there who have touched my life and changed me for the better! I don't regret being in Idaho at all! I have made so many friends, had so many opportunities to learn and grow, and have become a better person! Not only that, but I hope that I have been able to help some people as well! God knows so much better than I do what I need!
There's a quote by John Lennon that says, "Everything will be okay in the end. If it is not okay, then it is not the end." I know that that is true! I know that no matter what trials we go through they will end. God is with us helping carry us through these trials.
Fortunately, as I have asked myself these questions the Lord has blessed me with answers! I have been able to go to institute twice since I've been home and both lessons have been about faith. Honestly, God knows me so well! Brother Aardema mentioned several groups of people:
- The Daughters of Onitah: they were sacrificed to false gods because they were virtuous and they ". . . would not bow down to worship gods of wood or of stone . . ." (Abraham 1:11)
- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: because they refused to bow down and worship King Nebuchadnezzar's gods. (Daniel 3)
- Abraham: when he was a boy was offered up upon the same altar as the Daughters of Onitah (Abraham 1)
- Abinadi: he preached the word of God and repentance unto King Noah and his men. Because of the truth which he spoke, he was killed (Mosiah 11).
Brother Aardema pointed out that each of these people were virtuous, faithful, and completely devoted to God. So, why did the Daughters of Onitah and Abinadi have to die? Couldn't the Lord have saved them? The answer is yes, He could have saved them! So, why didn't He?
As we discussed this in class I thought about my experiences last year! Last year was not at all what I thought it would be! I had plans to go to Ghana, Africa and Nauvoo. I wanted to student teach in Arizona and travel around a little bit! What ended up happening? I stayed in Idaho! Not just Idaho, but Rexburg and Boise, Idaho! I was outside of Idaho for about six weeks, and that was when I was down in Utah! I was confused and upset! The desires of my heart were not bad! I wanted to go to Africa so that I could share my testimony through song and help uplift others! I wanted to go to Nauvoo to learn more about Church history! And Arizona . . . well, that one was a little selfish! I wanted to escape the cold in Idaho! :)
Again, not bad reasons. But the Lord knew that I needed to be in Idaho. There were (and are) people there who have touched my life and changed me for the better! I don't regret being in Idaho at all! I have made so many friends, had so many opportunities to learn and grow, and have become a better person! Not only that, but I hope that I have been able to help some people as well! God knows so much better than I do what I need!
There's a quote by John Lennon that says, "Everything will be okay in the end. If it is not okay, then it is not the end." I know that that is true! I know that no matter what trials we go through they will end. God is with us helping carry us through these trials.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Luke 2:52
"And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and man." ~Luke 2:52
Well, it is that time of year where everybody makes New Year's resolutions! I'm pleased to say that I actually accomplished a lot of my goals last year, and I believe this scripture truly helped. Two things happened when I started using this scripture:
1. It helped me organize my goals into smaller groups so I didn't feel ridiculously over-whelmed by the goals I was making!
2. It helped remind me why I'm making these goals; I'm trying to be like Jesus! If Christ increased in these different areas, why shouldn't I strive to do the same?
So, I have some new goals that I would like to start and some that I want to keep going!
Wisdom:
* Find a full-time position (preferably teaching)
* Get back into the habit of practicing 60+ minutes a day
* Open up my own voice studio here in Heber
* Practice piano more.
Stature:
* Run a 5K and a 10K!
*Exercise regularly
*Eat healthy foods (starting with giving up fast food)
*Do something every day that scares me!
*Get at least eight hours of sleep a night!
Favour with God:
*Finish the Book of Mormon before my birthday
*Daily scripture study (30+ minutes)
*Attend the temple weekly
*Prepare to receive my endowments
*Change my mentality on Visiting Teaching!
*Visiting Teaching isn't just a once a month thing!
*Daily prayer (morning and evening)
*Spend more time with God!
Favour with Man:
*Go to YSA activities as often as possible.
*Date more!
*Don't gossip!!
*Change the subject if it comes up!
*Continue to discover more about who I am!
*Have some game nights at my house every few months!
These are subject to change (grow) as the year goes on! But, these are a few of my starters! Here's to another great year!
Well, it is that time of year where everybody makes New Year's resolutions! I'm pleased to say that I actually accomplished a lot of my goals last year, and I believe this scripture truly helped. Two things happened when I started using this scripture:
1. It helped me organize my goals into smaller groups so I didn't feel ridiculously over-whelmed by the goals I was making!
2. It helped remind me why I'm making these goals; I'm trying to be like Jesus! If Christ increased in these different areas, why shouldn't I strive to do the same?
So, I have some new goals that I would like to start and some that I want to keep going!
Wisdom:
* Find a full-time position (preferably teaching)
* Get back into the habit of practicing 60+ minutes a day
* Open up my own voice studio here in Heber
* Practice piano more.
Stature:
* Run a 5K and a 10K!
*Exercise regularly
*Eat healthy foods (starting with giving up fast food)
*Do something every day that scares me!
*Get at least eight hours of sleep a night!
Favour with God:
*Finish the Book of Mormon before my birthday
*Daily scripture study (30+ minutes)
*Attend the temple weekly
*Prepare to receive my endowments
*Change my mentality on Visiting Teaching!
*Visiting Teaching isn't just a once a month thing!
*Daily prayer (morning and evening)
*Spend more time with God!
Favour with Man:
*Go to YSA activities as often as possible.
*Date more!
*Don't gossip!!
*Change the subject if it comes up!
*Continue to discover more about who I am!
*Have some game nights at my house every few months!
These are subject to change (grow) as the year goes on! But, these are a few of my starters! Here's to another great year!
2013: The Year of Change and Trust
Well, it is officially 2014! I cannot believe how quickly this last year has gone by! I have been thinking a lot about the things I have gone through and the things I have learned over the course of one year. I have met so many wonderful people who have changed my life for the better and I cannot imagine my life without them right now!
2013 brought a lot of challenges. Whether it was laryngitis, not making it into choir, heart break, stepping out of my comfort zone, or suffering from culture shock! Yet, from all of the challenges that were brought, strength accompanied it shortly thereafter.
Along with those challenges came a lot of success as well! I had my recital, I was the student conductor for the BYU-Idaho Collegiate Singer's for the first few weeks of spring semester, I finished my student teaching in Nampa, Idaho, I performed with a semi-professional choir, went on a lot of great dates, my first niece was born, and I graduated from BYU-Idaho with my Bachelor's Degree in Music Education with a Choral Emphasis. My life has changed so much and I am so looking forward to more growth over the next year!
Every year, I feel like I have a theme that can sum up the entire year. This year, I'm not sure if there was just one theme! Because of all of the experiences I have had I'm not sure there is one theme that can sum them all up. However, there is a theme that I think can cover most of it: God knows better than I where I need to be, what I need to be doing, and who I need to be with. At the end of 2012 I thought I knew exactly where I would be at every point this year! God probably just laughed at that! He kept me in Idaho most of the year! In fact, out of the 52 weeks this year, I believe I spent between 6-7 weeks at home in Utah. The rest of the time I was either in Rexburg or Nampa, Idaho. Yet I would not have wanted this year to pan out the way I wanted it to. If it had, I would not have grown the way that I have; I would not have met the incredible people I have been blessed to come in contact with. But, most importantly, I don't think I would have gained the testimony that I gained had I not gone through what I have this last year.
God is great, He knows best, and I will follow where He sends me! Here's to 2014, another great year full of change and growth!! :)
2013 brought a lot of challenges. Whether it was laryngitis, not making it into choir, heart break, stepping out of my comfort zone, or suffering from culture shock! Yet, from all of the challenges that were brought, strength accompanied it shortly thereafter.
Along with those challenges came a lot of success as well! I had my recital, I was the student conductor for the BYU-Idaho Collegiate Singer's for the first few weeks of spring semester, I finished my student teaching in Nampa, Idaho, I performed with a semi-professional choir, went on a lot of great dates, my first niece was born, and I graduated from BYU-Idaho with my Bachelor's Degree in Music Education with a Choral Emphasis. My life has changed so much and I am so looking forward to more growth over the next year!
Every year, I feel like I have a theme that can sum up the entire year. This year, I'm not sure if there was just one theme! Because of all of the experiences I have had I'm not sure there is one theme that can sum them all up. However, there is a theme that I think can cover most of it: God knows better than I where I need to be, what I need to be doing, and who I need to be with. At the end of 2012 I thought I knew exactly where I would be at every point this year! God probably just laughed at that! He kept me in Idaho most of the year! In fact, out of the 52 weeks this year, I believe I spent between 6-7 weeks at home in Utah. The rest of the time I was either in Rexburg or Nampa, Idaho. Yet I would not have wanted this year to pan out the way I wanted it to. If it had, I would not have grown the way that I have; I would not have met the incredible people I have been blessed to come in contact with. But, most importantly, I don't think I would have gained the testimony that I gained had I not gone through what I have this last year.
God is great, He knows best, and I will follow where He sends me! Here's to 2014, another great year full of change and growth!! :)
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| Final Barbershop Performance at BYU-Idaho (l to r: Kyrsten, me, Miranda, and Nykele)--February |
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| Sending Deborah into the MTC--April |
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| The day after Scarlett was born!! --May |
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| My Senior Recital with my lovely accompanist and dear friend Sheryl--July |
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| Collegiate Singer's in SLC--June/July? |
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| Graduation--walked in July, officially graduated in Dec. |
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| Madrigals singing with Critical Mass--September |
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| Tyler and I performing with the Critical Mass Choir--September |
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| Reader's Theater and Final Skyview High School performance--Dec. |
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| "I'll Run to You" group that sang at the REader's Theater performance--Dec. (l to r: Matt, me, Joie, and Nick) |
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Final Week Pictures
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| These are our lovely stockings that were hanging up for our Christmas Choir Concert! The pictures above this are of us setting up for the concert!! |
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| The Reader's Theater performance! My final performance at Skyview High School!! You guys did great! Props to Camerata to making me cry in their performance of: "Through the Eyes of a Child" |
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| This is Joie's little girl, Solana! She can't pronounce my name, so she calls me "Wawa!" |
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| L to R: Matt, Me, Joie, and Nick. We sang Pentatonix's "Run to You" for our final performance of the semester! Loved working with these wonderful musicians and even better friends! :) |
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| Joie and I in our "ugly" sweaters |
All of these pictures are just a few of the students that I had the opportunity to work with! They were all such blessings in my life! Love you guys!!!
"Never say goodbye . . ."
"Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.”
~J.M. BARRIE Peter Pan
Well, it is done I have finished my student teaching and therefore my Bachelor's degree! So many different emotions have run through me over the course of this last week, but the one that is most prominent is gratitude. I have changed so much over these last few months; I truly believe that God knew that the people of Nampa could teach me just as much (if not more) than I could teach them! I cannot think of a single person there that did not change my life in some way or another! I'm so grateful for all of the people in Nampa and all of the wonderful things they have taught me!
The last few days of classes were some of the hardest for me. I'm one of those people who HATE with a fiery, burning passion to say goodbye to people! I just don't like it! And yet, that was what I was having to say to a lot of amazing and incredible people the last few days. I had students coming up to me and giving me hugs, cards, flowers, candy, and one student even gave me a blanket that he made! Through all of it I don't think I actually said the words "goodbye" to any of my students! Barrie summed it up perfectly in the above quote; I don't plan on forgetting any of these people. Even if I tried, I don't think I could! I wish I could put into words what all of these wonderful people have done for me and have taught me, but there are far too many lessons that I have been taught! These are the five that popped up the most during my time here:
1. Accepting people is different than accepting their lifestyle. I met a lot of people who didn't live the same standards that I live and who have different opinions on lifestyles. That is okay!! I can accept and love people and not accept their lifestyle! There is a HUGE difference! God accepts all of His children; He does not always like what we are doing, but He loves and accepts us. If I am "trying to be like Jesus" then why should I be any different?
2. All bad days come to an end. I had a lot of bad days! "Bad days" include things like: bad vocal day, bad teaching day, I broke my tail-bone bad day, and the list goes on. But, all of those days are in the past; they are done! I had days where all I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and never come out! But then that day was done and another day came and it was usually better! We all have trials in our lives, some more serious than others, but I testify that they come to an end. God is watching out for all of us and will provide strength to get you through that "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day"!
3. God knows better than I! This is one that I keep learning over-and-over again! I wish I would remember it! I did not want to come to Nampa! I wanted to go some place besides Utah or Idaho because I spent the majority of my life in both places! I love to travel and I was excited to get to go someplace besides Utah or Idaho! But, God knew where I needed to be. He knew that there would be people there that I needed to meet to change my life (and I hope the other way around). God knew that, in order for me to become more like Him, I needed these people in my life! Note to all: God knows better than you do what you need and when you need it!
4. "You are doing better than you think you are doing; but you can do better!" This is one of my favorite quotes of all time, and it is 100% true! Going back to the "bad days" thing, I would come home from school some days feeling like I had picked the wrong profession! I felt like I had made the biggest mistake of my life and that I had wasted 5+ years of my life preparing for something that I was never going to do! I will be the first to admit that I was not the perfect student teacher! I made a lot of mistakes! But, I also know that I worked really hard to do all of the things that I could and to try and be the best student teacher I could be! I worked my hardest every day and strived to become a better teacher every day! Every day, I came back a better teacher! Again, I'm not perfect (nor will I ever be) but I got better! This same principle applies to every aspect of my life! I'm not perfect, but I'm striving to be better every day. I'm doing better than I think I am, but I can also do better!
5. The Power of One. This really is summed up in the first few paragraphs of this entry; these people have changed my life! Each person has changed it in one way or another! I have also been privileged to hear from some of my students the things that I have done to help them. As a reader, may I just say that YOU have the power to change peoples' lives! Just by smiling at somebody, by helping them pick up something they have dropped, by buying somebody's dinner at the drive-thru, it doesn't matter! You change peoples' lives every day! You matter!
It has not even been a week yet and I miss these people terribly! Thank you for making me a better person Skyview and Nampa! :)
~J.M. BARRIE Peter Pan
Well, it is done I have finished my student teaching and therefore my Bachelor's degree! So many different emotions have run through me over the course of this last week, but the one that is most prominent is gratitude. I have changed so much over these last few months; I truly believe that God knew that the people of Nampa could teach me just as much (if not more) than I could teach them! I cannot think of a single person there that did not change my life in some way or another! I'm so grateful for all of the people in Nampa and all of the wonderful things they have taught me!
The last few days of classes were some of the hardest for me. I'm one of those people who HATE with a fiery, burning passion to say goodbye to people! I just don't like it! And yet, that was what I was having to say to a lot of amazing and incredible people the last few days. I had students coming up to me and giving me hugs, cards, flowers, candy, and one student even gave me a blanket that he made! Through all of it I don't think I actually said the words "goodbye" to any of my students! Barrie summed it up perfectly in the above quote; I don't plan on forgetting any of these people. Even if I tried, I don't think I could! I wish I could put into words what all of these wonderful people have done for me and have taught me, but there are far too many lessons that I have been taught! These are the five that popped up the most during my time here:
1. Accepting people is different than accepting their lifestyle. I met a lot of people who didn't live the same standards that I live and who have different opinions on lifestyles. That is okay!! I can accept and love people and not accept their lifestyle! There is a HUGE difference! God accepts all of His children; He does not always like what we are doing, but He loves and accepts us. If I am "trying to be like Jesus" then why should I be any different?
2. All bad days come to an end. I had a lot of bad days! "Bad days" include things like: bad vocal day, bad teaching day, I broke my tail-bone bad day, and the list goes on. But, all of those days are in the past; they are done! I had days where all I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and never come out! But then that day was done and another day came and it was usually better! We all have trials in our lives, some more serious than others, but I testify that they come to an end. God is watching out for all of us and will provide strength to get you through that "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day"!
3. God knows better than I! This is one that I keep learning over-and-over again! I wish I would remember it! I did not want to come to Nampa! I wanted to go some place besides Utah or Idaho because I spent the majority of my life in both places! I love to travel and I was excited to get to go someplace besides Utah or Idaho! But, God knew where I needed to be. He knew that there would be people there that I needed to meet to change my life (and I hope the other way around). God knew that, in order for me to become more like Him, I needed these people in my life! Note to all: God knows better than you do what you need and when you need it!
4. "You are doing better than you think you are doing; but you can do better!" This is one of my favorite quotes of all time, and it is 100% true! Going back to the "bad days" thing, I would come home from school some days feeling like I had picked the wrong profession! I felt like I had made the biggest mistake of my life and that I had wasted 5+ years of my life preparing for something that I was never going to do! I will be the first to admit that I was not the perfect student teacher! I made a lot of mistakes! But, I also know that I worked really hard to do all of the things that I could and to try and be the best student teacher I could be! I worked my hardest every day and strived to become a better teacher every day! Every day, I came back a better teacher! Again, I'm not perfect (nor will I ever be) but I got better! This same principle applies to every aspect of my life! I'm not perfect, but I'm striving to be better every day. I'm doing better than I think I am, but I can also do better!
5. The Power of One. This really is summed up in the first few paragraphs of this entry; these people have changed my life! Each person has changed it in one way or another! I have also been privileged to hear from some of my students the things that I have done to help them. As a reader, may I just say that YOU have the power to change peoples' lives! Just by smiling at somebody, by helping them pick up something they have dropped, by buying somebody's dinner at the drive-thru, it doesn't matter! You change peoples' lives every day! You matter!
It has not even been a week yet and I miss these people terribly! Thank you for making me a better person Skyview and Nampa! :)
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