Things I Am Proud Of...

Today's list topic is Things I Am Proud Of...

This one made me think a little bit, but in the end I had some fun with it!

1. I have survived almost 33 years of life!
2. I am a really great big sister
3. I can speak like a fairy.
4. I have a testimony that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true.
5. I am a good listener
6. I have never smoked or drank alcohol...not even once!
7. I have always been a good reader
8. I love to serve others
9. I survived brain surgery!
10. I don't need the validation of others
11. I am compassionate
12. I have done hard things
13. I have a high tolerance for pain.
14. I am awesome at coloring!
15. I am independent even though sometimes it's a real struggle due to my health.
16. I am part of an amazing organization called Ivy Girl Academy
17.  I ran a 5k and didn't die!
18. I am a very non-judgmental person
19. I am a fiercely loyal friend
20. I have a love for family history
21. I'm a halfway decent writer
22. I love to laugh
23. I served a mission for the church...even though I had to come home early due to my health I still served!
24. I'm a very visual person
25. I'm growing out my hair and it's currently the longest I've ever had it in my whole life!

What's on your list??

Positive Thinking

I spend a lot of time with my thoughts. They are with me where ever I go. Sometimes my thoughts are my best friends. They tell me I'm pretty, smart, and funny. They remind me to serve others. They point out all the beautiful things I see every day and they notice things I'm grateful for. They're just plain awesome!

However, some days my thoughts and I don't get along. There are days where my thoughts are mean to me and tell me that I'm ugly and stupid. Once in a while they really beat me up and try to convince me that I will never be good enough. There are nights where my thoughts don't let me get any sleep, and sometimes they only let me see things that are dark and gloomy. They can be real bullies in need of a serious time-out!

Have you ever taken the time to think about your thoughts? How many thoughts do you have in a day? Are they happy, upbeat thoughts or are they pretty negative? What do you spend your time thinking about? Do you always think about yourself or do you mostly think of others? What kind of actions do you take because of the thoughts in your head?

The things we choose to think about make a difference in our lives. Every second of every day we all have something we can complain about and something we can be thankful for, which one we choose to focus on determines our attitude. It is a choice that is ours to make, no one can make it for us. Circumstances that we experience don't make the choice for us either.

I have been sick most of my life. I have had some really rough times as I've struggled through different health challenges. About once a week for the past fifteen years I have experienced something doctors are still unsure about. They don't know the cause and they don't even know what to call it. I simply call them pass out spells. I will be walking along feeling perfectly healthy one minute and without any warning at all will suddenly lose consciousness and fall hard to the floor. I am unconscious anywhere from ten minutes to two hours. Many times during this period of unconsciousness I will shake violently as though I were having a grand mal seizure. Once I wake up from a spell I am very tired, sore, and just plain don't feel good...not to mention the fact that I may have injured myself in the fall. This is my life. It would be very easy for me to experience these spells and be nothing but depressed. I could lie in my room 24 hours a day and do nothing but cry. I could spend all my time complaining about how much my life sucks. However, living life that way would not be very fun. I have to find a way to smile and laugh my way through it.

One afternoon I went to the grocery store to pick up a couple of much needed items...Oreo's and milk, I think. While in the store I had one of my spells. I woke up in an ambulance on my way to the hospital. The paramedic attending to me was VERY good looking! Isn't this every girls dream? Fall asleep in a random place and wake up to a handsome stranger staring you in the eyes! Well, this handsome stranger starting asking me the typical paramedic questions to figure out what had caused me to lose consciousness that day.

"Have you eaten anything today?"

"Yep, had a yummy bowl of Fruit Loops this morning"

"Have you been under any extra stress lately? Did you break-up with your boyfriend?"

"Yep. Do you want to replace him?"

Stunned Silence

"Your going to feel a small poke as I start this IV"

Haha!! I began laughing so hard he had a slightly difficult time starting the IV.

Moments like this are how I get through my daily illnesses. Does that mean that every day is hunky dory and I never have a bad day, cry, or complain about my circumstances. Nope. I'm still human. Some days are harder than others, but on those days ya just take time to cry it out, eat some cereal, and then pick yourself up and keep moving forward with positive thoughts.

Every single one of us have hard things in our life. For me it is my health. For you it may be a troubled son or daughter, you may be struggling in your marriage, or dealing with serious financial stress. For the teenagers that read this blog it may be a bully at school, struggling with grades, or dealing with a parents divorce. We all have the choice to allow our situations to either turn our thoughts into negatives or positives. I can promise you that if you choose the positive your life will be blessed for it, and no matter what you are dealing with you will come out on top!

So, put a smile on your face and go eat a bowl of Fruit Loops. It's going to be a great day!

Add Art

I am not a very artistic person. I can't draw, paint, or do crafts. However, I love the act of creating something. It is very invigorating and at the same time relaxing to my mind.

I love to color. I know that sounds like a little kid thing to say, but I love it. When I was a kid my mom and I used to have coloring contests. She would color one page, I would color another. In the end we would have my dad judge the two pictures and declare a winner. I won a lot and thought I was seriously the best coloring person in the whole neighborhood. As I grew older I realized I probably only won because I was three and my parents were trying to build my self-confidence. It worked though to this day I enjoy coloring and think I'm pretty awesome at it....just don't put me in a coloring contest with a 3-year-old because I will lose every time!

No matter what level of artist we are I believe that we all need to spend time adding art to our life. Art is good for the soul. Unleashing our creativity whether by painting the Mona Lisa or coloring a Dora the Explorer coloring book opens up something within us and lifts us up emotionally.

When I have a lot of my mind, coloring helps me to process it all. When I'm upset or stressed about drama going on in my life, coloring relaxes me. When I'm bored, coloring adds simple joy to my day.

Art can also bless the lives of others. When I'm done coloring I take those images and turn them into handmade cards. I send the cards to friends and family and watch how touched they are by upon receiving it. Their joy doesn't come because the artwork is a masterpiece of perfection, but because it was made with love. No matter your skill level you can bless someone with your artful creations.

Today I want you to go find something to create. Go add some art to your day somehow. I promise you'll enjoy it.

Come Listen to a Prophets Voice

Well, we just had another wonderful General Conference. I love Conference weekend, it lifts my heart and soul every time. I am grateful to have a living prophet on the Earth today. All of the General Authorities of the church are men of God and speak the messages He would have us know for our lives.

I love Pres. Monson! My favorite quote from Conference came in his closing remarks Sunday afternoon when he said, "Realize how close Heavenly Father is willing to come to you, and how far He is willing to go to help you." Too often I picture my Heavenly Father sitting on a cloud somewhere looking down on me. I forget just how close He is to me on a daily basis. He isn't far away. He loves us and wants to be near to us. He will do all he can to help us no matter what we are going through. When life is hard and we are too weak to run to Him, He will run to us. His love is bigger than any trial we could face.

I love listening to the living prophet! Even though it has been years since his passing I miss our dear Pres. Hinckley. Pres. Hinckley was the prophet of my youth and will forever hold a special place in my heart. He taught me many things about the gospel and about myself. I learned how to stand a little taller and be a little better from his example and testimony. When he spoke you could truly feel the love he had for you. I never had the opportunity to meet him face to face, but there was never a doubt in my mind that Pres. Hinckley loved me and believed in me.

Here is a clip I absolutely love from the Dedication of the Hinckley Building at BYU-Idaho I remember watching this live and bawling my eyes out. I left there that day feeling so empowered and like I could take on the world. I still feel that way every time I watch this.

Enjoy.

ABC List

Today's List Post is an alphabetical get to know me type list. Enjoy!

ABC List

A- Addiction -   QR Codes...I use them on just about everything! 

B- Breakfast (what you eat) -    Glass of OJ and a bagel  

C- Chocolate or Chips -  Chips

D- Dessert or Appetizers -   Appetizer     

E- Essential Items-    My phone, scriptures, pillow, and medications

F- Favorite Color-   Purple

G- Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms -   Neither...Gummy things are yucky! 

H- Hometown-   Good Ole' Roy, Utah

I- Ice Cream Flavor -   Raspberry Cheesecake

J- January or July-   July!! Bring on the Summer!!

K- Kids-  Don't have any of my own, but I love all the ones in my life!

L- Life isn’t complete without-  My mom and my sister

M- Most embarrassing memory -  In junior high every teenager is just doing their best to fit in. I was no exception. I wasn't popular by any means, but I wasn't at the bottom of the social totem pole either. I did the best I could to be me, but not stand out in the crowd at the same time. One day I was running late to school. Walking to school I had a lot on my mind. I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I blocked out everything that was going on around me until I took a step up onto the curb and sank! They had just laid down wet cement and I stepped right into it! I was so shocked I didn't know what to do and my first instinct was to get out of there as quickly as possible!! The only way I could do that was to keep on walking....which meant another step in the wet cement! I was quickly past the cement and walking through the park just in front of the school when I heard the construction men start yelling from behind me. I was too terrified to look back. By the time I reached the school classes had started and the halls were empty. I thought this was a blessing in my current state...picture cement that is now beginning to harden covering my feet and ankles. I quickly took off my shoes and socks and threw them in my locker. My first class was seminary, so I ran to class hoping the teacher would let me use the phone to call my mom for some clean shoes. As I walked in the entire class stared at my and then at my bare feet. Before I could ask to use the phone the teacher started lecturing me about how not wearing shoes was a violation of school dress code. My embarrassment just kept getting worse. He made me stand there in front of the entire class and explain why I was not wearing shoes, at the end of my tale the class was in an uproar of laughter and the teacher led me to the phone. I sat on the steps of the seminary waiting for my mom who showed up a few minutes later laughing her head off as she described to me the frantic scene of construction workers trying to fix the sidewalk. I spent the rest of the day hearing giggles behind me every where I went throughout the school, and a week later I was on the front cover of the school paper with the headline "Girl Walks in Cement" 

N- Number of brothers & sisters-  One of each     

O- Oranges or Apples -  Oranges

P- Phobias or Fears-   Drowning. I have a HUGE fear of drowning. 

Q- Quote -   "Focus on the Savior, not on the waves" Tim Carver

R- Reading currently -  The Maze Runner by James Dashner

S- Summer or Spring -   Summer

T- Toenail color-   Maroon

U- Unknown fact about me –  I'm obsessed with school supplies and absolutely love it when I get new pens or colored pencils or markers or stationary or.....you get the idea

V- Vacation I want to go on -  Paris

W- Walking or Running –  Walking

               
X- XRay or Ultrasound -    Ultrasound, they are slightly more fun

Y- Your favorite Food -  Pina Colada Chicken

Z- Zoo or Bowling -   Both sound fun! Who wants to go?