settling

It's been a while once again... oops. Haha I'm pretty sure way too many of my posts begin with those words. Anyway, I just had to write what I am feeling today... I am feeling such a strong sense of hope (that makes it sound like I'm usually depressed or something- I am just fine- just realizing some things). There are some things that you know so clearly but do not really resonate until later. The feeling that I have experienced that just began to resonate with me is the feeling of knowing I should not settle in any aspect of my life and realizing what settling would be. I have always had this hope of what my future will bring, but it has always somehow seemed so out of reach. Today I was speaking with my Dad (many of my realizations come when speaking with him haha) and I realized that many of the things that I hope for in my future are not too much to hope for. It really resonated with me today that I should not and cannot settle in any aspect of life... education, relationships, time goals with running, or in imagining what I can be. I love that we have the power to do or be whatever we choose. I believe that if we are willing to work towards it we can feel that we are taking life and savoring every moment and live it to the fullest and become who we want to be.

Christina Perri - A Thousand Years (Official Music Video)

ok, so I know I already posted the above song, but I'm a little obsessed with it, so I just had to emphasize once again my love for it hehe

The above song I heard on this blog (which I love) and I loved the song so I had to post- enjoy :)

The Latest and Greatest

Wow, I have not posted in forever- it has been a little crazy!!! I just finished the busiest semester I have ever attended. It was so great though and I learned so much! This semester I took New Testament, Doctrine and Covenants, and Communications 101 (dealing with media and all). I know I say this all the time but I really am so grateful to attend BYU- I love it so much and my education there has changed my life forever.

Now, catch up... first, my birthday... I have the most amazing friends in the world! First, at midnight, my roommate had some of our really good friends bring me flowers, gummy bears, confetti, etc. etc. :) Here are the flowers :) (if you know me, you know flowers are my very favorite thing in the world!!

Then I woke up to

 After all that, I went to school and then went home for a BBQ with the family (my favorite way to spend my birthday). When I got home my sweet roommate bought me my favorite ice cream! A couple days later they threw me a party at her cabin which was so thoughtful and meant so much!! Here are some pics from the party.

 Elysse and Kate :) (Kate is who organized it and it is her cabin)

 Kaylie and Sara

 Lots of awesome people

 me and Amanda

 Me and Paul- it looks like I put that in his hair and am torturing him- but he just did it and I was laughing (had to clarify haha)

me and Elysse :)

 They also took me out dinner and dessert later that week- I have the best friends in the world!!!

Ashley, Kate, and me

Two weeks ago, I ran my second marathon with two of my best friends!! It was so fun!!! I ran it in these new shoes. They are Brooks, Pure Cadence. These are my favorite shoes I have ever run in- they felt like I was running on pillows. The way they are laced helps the high arch in my foot and the way they are formed helps you to not heel strike as much and run more towards the middle of your foot (which is a good thing). However, I was a little stupid and only did one 5 mile run and one 20 mile run in them before the marathon. Because of this, my muscles were not used to the different kind of running and my feet not used to the shoes and I got a blister half the size of my foot (not exaggerating) and was in pain in the marathon. It slowed me down by half an hour because it came on around mile 6 but started to really get bad after about mile 13. Despite this, I absolutely LOVED the shoes- I just have to break them in before I run 26.2 miles in them. Duh Christianne...

Here are some pics of me and my friends- I forgot to take some with my other friend who ran it with us (ps: one of them is from my friends instagram so some of her pics are on there too :) 

 my Dad and brother came to cheer me on (just like at the last race) and it meant so much to me- it's crazy how much it helps having someone you know and love cheering you on

 Paul came to cheer us on- even wrote Ashley and I funny notes the night before to give us laughs before the run!

Our old roommate got married and here is a pic from that...

I read this talk last night and it was so great. It really made me evaluate what sacrifices I am willing to make for the things I believe in that are most important to me. Hope you're all having an amazing day!

life and recipes

Hello!!

 First off, not that this is important, but I just wanted to tell you all because I was super excited- I love to cook and I love food, so it's always really exciting when I get new food, anyway, the reason I'm telling you all of this is because I have some new meal ideas to share :) First off, I made this sandwich the other day which I'm sure everyone else on the planet knows about, but I put all my favorite things together and was happily surprised... anyway, I made a sandwich and it had avocado, scrambled eggs (I tried to do a fried egg, but we don't have a skillet so I broke the yoke trying to get it out of the sauce pan and had to turn it into scrambled eggs haha), anyway, I put veganaise, fresh sliced mozzarella, tomato, and the egg and avocado on it- I kid you not, this now one of my new favorite sandwiches- I loved it so much I made another and then ate another for breakfast the next morning (overkill?) haha, anyway and the other thing I made today-sounds super nasty but bear with me... I blended up  an orange, strawberries, 1/2 avocado, cottage cheese, and almond dream (unsweetened), and it was one of the best smoothies I have ever had. I thought of it because I went to Banana leaf and had the most amazing avocado drink and have wanted to drink something with an avocado ever since. Anyway, it was delicious- try it!

Second, I have super funny stories to share- I have pictures to go along with it, but it was a long night, and I was wearing two layers of pants and lots of layers of shirts, so be charitable in your comments about me ;) It's a bit long- beware.... so a couple weeks ago, our friends called us and asked us to come over, as we were walking over, who is on the balconies above us but them, pouring buckets of water on us, anyway, this made us laugh super hard, so we decided to get them back just to know exactly who they were dealing with so we decided to seranawrap (I hate that word- I have no idea how to spell it) their door and fill it with popcorn so it all dumps out when they open the door. First thing you need to know, me and my roommate LOVE to go to bed early and wake up early- we are by no means night owls, so at 9, we were so tired and decided to go to sleep and set our alarms for 2 to wake up and do it, but I said we should probably just pop the popcorn real quick so we didn't even have to think when we woke up, so we started- needless to say... we ended up popping popcorn from 9 PM-1 AM. We were EXHAUSTED!!! Who knew popping four garbage bags full of popcorn would take 4 hours? Then we went and garbage bagged their door (it was stronger than the other stuff), and filled it with popcorn,

 but to our dismay, it did not fill the whole door like we so hoped,

so naturally we went to the store and went to buy more (go big or go home right?) But all the store had was cheetos and cheese puffs, so we bought lots of that.

Then, we got back only to find out our duck taping job had failed and it had all fallen out, so I give my keys to my roommie and she goes back to get bowls to scoop the popcorn while Ash and I start cleaning up, so we have to clean up the whole thing and start over again. However, after we have barricaded the door, and filled it to the brim with popcorn, I look over and was like, "where are my keys?" And Amanda says, "uh oh- I put them in that bowl" (which was now empty). We search everywhere- no keys, we have to finally arrive at the sad conclusion that my keys were simply mixed up in the popcorn in this door

There is the empty bowl and as you can see, we kinda gave up on the last cleaning up parts... so we go back to our apartment and try desperately to pick the lock, and it's a no go- so, so we start calling everyone we know to see if they would love to have us as roommates for the night starting that night at 2:30 AM, but strangely enough, no one answered their phone (weird- I guess some people like to sleep at those hours rather than filling people's doors with popcorn), so finally Ashley calls one of the boys from the apartment and he was so sweet and said he'd come over and pick our lock but after she hangs up, we felt super guilty waking him up at that time to do a good deed only to have popcorn fall all over him, so she called him back and said nevermind- don't open your door!! So, long story short (not really though), they figured it out, opened their door and searched for my keys (first off can we just say how nice of them? Who nicely looks for their keys after they've woken them up at 3 in the morning with popcorn, cheetos, and cheese puffs pouring in their apartment?!?) Anyway, so they can't find my keys :( so they come try to pick our lock-result = close, but no cigar. So finally we tell them they can go home, we'd just sleep in the hallway on bags of popcorn, so we all lay down and try to sleep but it's not happening, the boys come back up, keep trying to help us and help us think through our options. We think of sleeping in my car, but wait, we don't have my keys haha, so one of the boys tells us we could sleep in his car if we wanted, so we all happily agreed (much better than the hallway) and he brought out their couch cushions and let me and my 2 roommates sleep in their car (that's right folks, we slept in a car- but a very comfortable one at that). By this point it was 4 AM, and it took us a while to fall asleep because we couldn't stop laughing. Then they woke us up at six and had found my keys (seriously, nicest boys ever to even give them back and do all that). Anyway, there's my story and I'm stickin to it. Moral of the story.... keep your keys with you at all times and popcorn takes a while to pop so start in the middle of the day :) Hope you're all having the best day ever and enjoyed my never ending story ;)

fantastic talk

This morning I read a talk entitled, Seek Learning: You Have a Work to do. This is exactly what I was talking about yesterday in my post- enjoy!

thoughts, talks, and recipes

Hello! Finals are over, the sun is out and it is a BEAUTIFUL Sunday!! I have so much to say today so bear with me- it'll be a little jumbled. First off, today I gave the lesson in Relief Society (a women's organization in our church- we meet for an hour every Sunday as part of our church service while the men meet together in their own service for that hour). I had so much fun teaching it- I had never taught a Relief Society lesson, but I have taught other things- anyway, it reminded me how much I really love teaching- it made me wonder if I am taking the right path for me. I think I am, but I think I will remember to pursue it differently. As I was choosing a future career and educational path, I wanted to teach high school history or be a college professor and teach, however, my only concern is that the only time I am ever planning on working is to put my husband through schooling or until I have children or as a safety net in my back pocket in case something unfortunate happens in the future and I need to be the sole provider for my family. All I want is to be a stay at home Mom and touch as many lives as possible. When I thought about this, I realized that if I was going to be the sole provider (hopefully never but just in case), I would not be able to provide the way I hope to accomplish the dreams I have for my family with just a teaching salary, so I decided I am fascinated by law and the Constitution so I would attend law school and get a law degree and emphasize in Constitutional law then, I could teach a couple of days a week at a high school or at a college. Anyway, at the beginning of my education, the sole purpose of it was in case I ever needed a career- I didn't plan on graduating if I got married in college, however, as I have gone through college, I have realized how much I LOVE learning. I realized that even if I never plan on being a lawyer and never "use" it in that sense, it will be of use to me in everyday life- as I write this, I am reminded of all these things I have forgotten and it is made obvious to me that I am pursuing the right path, however, I cannot forget the teaching side of it and I want to always strive for opportunities to be a teacher (even if it's teaching English in foreign countries- another dream). Anyway, that was a lot of rambling- haha oh well.
Then, I came home from church and read this talk. It was so great- I love the constant reminders I always receive to remember who we all are- children of God destined to do great things because we are truly children of a divine being.
So, I decided today I need to clear out my food interest board, because it only grows daily haha and I have 787 pins so we may be getting excessive here? Anyway, so I decided to share the links with you and let you know my opinion :)Click on the links to see the recipes :) First off, cake batter rice treats. I did not try these because I cannot eat gluten and picked them mainly because I have a slight obsession with sprinkles (I think it's because I wasn't allowed to eat them on a constant basis growing up haha), anyway, I asked my roommates and they said you couldn't even tell they were different and no one seemed to go crazy over them at the party, so I wouldn't recommend these (although take that one with a grain of salt because I didn't actually try it), next we have cookie dough dip- gluten free I may add- this was AMAZING! I am sure I will be making it for every next party we host- everyone loved it and it's always fun to have something a little different to serve at parties although I wouldn't recommend eating it the day after for breakfast (not that I would know by experience or anything haha). Anyway, you put out vanilla wafers and pretzels (my favorite with it which you can also get gluten free) and anything else you can think of that would be delicious with it :), next we have no bake vanilla cake batter truffles- these are not gluten free, but completely delicious, so much so that I was willing to be sick to eat them haha TMI? ;) anyway, I really loved them, and last Peanut butter banana cups. I LOVED these!!! They were such a good, healthy snack to have on hand. I used almond butter instead of peanut butter (peanut butter is good for you if you get it fresh ground, however I just wanted to use almond butter) and you need to keep them in the freezer or fridge until you are ready to eat them and I wouldn't recommend taking it anywhere unless you have a way to keep them cool because I brought it to school as a snack and it completely melted into a pile of almond butter banana goodness and I ended up sneaking away to the bathroom to eat my nut butter mush in peace so I didn't look gross digging it out of the plastic wrap haha anyway- loved all of these- more recipes to come- sorry for the novel (pretty sure I say that every time though)

Hola

Hello lovelies! So I started on my summer goals list and have been doing great, but then forgot I wasn't eating sugar and ate a delicious dessert-haha oops. Oh well, what can you do, so I figure I should probably finish my day by eating some other divinely delicious sugary treat right ;)? Anyway, I just got back from Florida a few days ago- can I just say it was so so fun. A) I LOVE my Grandparents. I want to be just like my Nana- she is seriously my role model. B) I LOVE the beach- I will live by a beach someday and go running on it daily and have cute little dinners with my family on the beach (that's what my Nana did when my Dad was growing up. My pappy would get home from work and there would be a note on the counter that said meet us at the beach and he'd come and they'd all eat dinner together on the beach- adorable right?) I love everything about it- the smell, the sound, the look, the sunsets, the dolphins, etc etc. C) I love family vacations- they always consist of eating sugar, staying up late, cuddling up and watching movies, and going on family walks late into the night and D) I LOVE the South. I really hope I get to live there or the east someday. My heart kinda hurts whenever I leave either of those places to come home. I will post a full recap with pictures once my Father gives them to me (because I don't think enough on the spot to take pictures)
In the mean time, funny story and some songs to show you :) So, I got back my paper for one of my classes today and I already knew I was most likely going to get a bad grade when I saw the cover sheet and my name on it- are you ready for this?... I spelled my name wrong!!!! THAT'S RIGHT PEOPLE- MY NAME. I understand I was rushed and trying to be on time to class when I printed it out, but you'd think I would be able to handle my own name. To make matters worse- my teacher noticed and corrected it for me. Haha so, there's that.

Next... some songs I'm loving lately....First be warned, I am shamelessly all over any song, book, movie, etc. that has a cute love story, so these are ridiculously cheesy but I love them haha




Ok, so this music video is slightly creepy and the song is a little angry, but I really love it (not totally sure why haha)


and for the icing on the cake- I have always loved this song, but I just heard it on the radio today and remembered it!!

catchup, goals, and dreams

Hello blogging world! I am back! Oh how I have missed you! Life has finally slowed down (which is strange because it is finals, but it's nothing compared to the past few weeks). I love crazy times because it shows how much we are capable of with God's helps. I never could have gotten through those few weeks without Him and have learned a lot! Get ready for an overload of thoughts, etc.

So, first off, I am running another marathon in June. I am so very excited (get ready for an overload on running info and recipes because it's running/cooking season)! And on top of that, I finally have time to train! Wahoo!!! And want to hear the best part!!! Two of my best friends will be running it with me!! Could it get any better?!?! In addition to this, summer is almost here!! I will be going to school and working three jobs until June then it will just be the three jobs and no school until end of August :) I can't wait.... I will be nannying for one of the families that I nannied for right out of high school which makes me so happy- I have missed them so very much!! I will also continue nannying for the adorable family that I've been nannying since Freshman year of high school which makes me so happy! (I haven't been able to watch them the past two week and I'm going through withdrawals!!), and I will continue my current job at a restaurant by me. I am so happy- it's going to be a good summer :) so, for the summer goals (not because you really care but because I will probably stick to them better if I've published them on the world wide web :) )...
1) I'm going off sugar just until the marathon- not for a diet or weight (I very anti-diets for me and will never go on one -ever- the very thought makes me not so happy). But I am going off for a little experiment... the last marathon I ran I got a pretty long time (which I was happy with), but I'm hoping this year maybe I can improve it by doing more speed work, more cross-training, and NO SUGAR). I'm really curious if it's slowing me down- I've heard/read a lot about it and used to never eat it in high school when I ran really fast, so hopefully it works and I'm a speedy bullet and can improve my time!
2) EARLY TO BED EARLY TO RISE. I am TERRIBLE at this- especially when ANYTHING fun is going on (I guess I'm kinda a yellow in that way) and especially when summer comes, but I am a true believer that yes, while I may miss out on some fun things (which kinda makes me a little sad), I will be much more productive and have very peaceful mornings because I will be up at the crack of dawn before others show their faces- which will enhance my "me" time
3) Cook one appetizer, main dish, and dessert a week (probably on Sundays). If you knew me in high school you know how much I LOVE cooking. I think it is so fun and therapeutic and even more- I love cooking for people I love. In high school I did so much cooking for my family, was on cooking teams, and had a scholarship to attend the culinary school at UVU, however, it didn't feel right and ever since I came to college my budget has been way too tight to cook the things I like, but this summer with the three jobs, I'll be able to eat like a normal person and cook more which will make me happierthanIcandescribe!!!!!!!
4) Not procrastinate- ask my roommmates- I have NO discipline when it comes to homework or fun. This semester I'm going to be better and try to do first things first. There are my goals I'm going to focus on this summer- I'm sure you'll be hearing more about them later on. Ok, so now for the dreaming...Here is a song that I love so much and it really makes me think...



I love love this song. I have heard it before, but I heard it again decide and decided to blog on it :) In the dating sphere I always think how would this guy treat me when I get sick, when I'm pregnant and throwing up and not cute at all, when I'm old, or if I ever get a disease? Will he support me and make me feel beautiful and see the beauty in me even though I'm not at all at that time? Will he make me feel safe and give me courage and strength to go on? When my Mom would get pregnant she would get really sick and I remember coming home from school and seeing her not able to get off the couch because she was so sick. She had to be attached to an IV the whole time and would have to have shots daily. My Dad would have to give these to her and as a little girl it was always so sweet to watch how tenderly he treated her and took care of her and as the daughter I felt so safe and knew everything was ok because my Dad was taking care of her. Anyway, long story or long story long haha, this song just is everything I hope my relationship with my husband is and how I can be to him when he is stressed or goes through difficult things or if he ever goes through anything like this.

music

This song is adorable...











I'm loving all their songs lately, but here are just some I've been listening to today

random tangent

Can I just say I LOVE this song!!! This song has been on my mind for about 2 weeks, which is strange because I heard it for the first time Sophomore and Junior year of high school and haven't really listened to it all the time since then haha anyway, I love that we all have different quarks and differences that make us- us! Everyone, but as a woman, I see it from the woman perspective, has so much filth bombarding us, telling us how we should behave, look, what we should enjoy, etc. I am so glad though that we know we don't have to listen! I can be and do whatever I want and feel is right because the only opinion in the end that matters is God's and He made us all different on purpose and it makes life so much more interesting and exciting

I've loved you from the start

Isn't this song adorable?! So tonight I went to one of my friend's wedding receptions and it was gorgeous/slightly depressing haha. As I was talking to her, he was looking at her with such an adoring look and his hand was just around her waist like he didn't ever want to let her go. You could literally feel the love between them (I sound like a cornball I know- it's fine haha). I am so excited for her! As I was driving home the above song came on the radio and it was so cute. As I looked around me tonight I felt like I was just surrounded by people in love- how did everyone find someone who fits them so perfectly? And how did I somehow miss this boat?!?! In all honesty, I know that my Heavenly Father has a plan for me. I know that everything comes in the right time and I am grateful for the opportunity to grow in patience and while this post is really dramatic (sorry about that), I am really happy in the stage I am at, just some times I get a little impatient, but I do love this stage. I love feeling so carefree (in regards to my time being mine) and I have so much fun with my roommates and this time of life. Anyway, to sum up my feelings today, I love my life- I love this stage and I love the journey we go through that molds us into who we are and can become, but it doesn't change the fact that my heart still aches to have someone love me so much for me- for every part of me and my personality and my heart aches to be a wife and a mother. While my dreams are to obtain a law degree in addition to my bachelors, the thing I look forward to the most in my life is being a full-time mom and just spending all day/every day at home with my children cleaning the house that's filled with people I love, doing laundry, COOKING FOR MORE THAN JUST ME!!!!, getting woken up at night because the baby is crying and just wants to be held, driving my SUV full of all my kids chattering and being crazy (because let's be honest my children will probably be just like me and have way too much energy and not enough attention span for their own good) and spending eternity with my best friend. I know that this stage of life will come but sometimes it feels out of reach and I feel like I'm not going to ever grow up and reach it (if that makes any sense) haha anyway, one of my fortunes from my fortune cookie one time was, "Good things come to those who wait. Be patient." It was during a particularly difficult time of my life and I've kept it in my phone case ever since to remind me that good things are worth waiting for. "So, um yeah"...

"Anonymous" and "What Heaven Sees in You"

First off, I love this song- I can't remember what it's from but I love it!! I have realized a few things lately that I already knew, just need reminding sometimes :)

So, yesterday I was just feeling inadequate. It wasn't a really big deal, just kinda inadequate for everything. I went to go somewhere, opened the door, and someone had left brownies and the sweetest note (I'm assuming it was a girl because it was on pink polka dot paper ;) but instantly I knew how much my Heavenly Father cares about me and that he inspired someone to take time out of their busy lives to do that

It made me so grateful for people who are close to the Spirit and follow promptings they receive and help others to see "what Heaven sees in you". I was so touched and tried to think of any way I could thank that person.... say thank you in the ward newsletter? Thank whoever it was on my fb status??? None of these seemed like they would be appropriate. I thought, how selfless of them to need no recognition for making someone's day. It reminded me of this talk. Sorry, lot's of thoughts and links today, but what I realized is the only way to pay that person back is to be that kind of person and try and do things like that more often for others around me. So, there's my thoughts in a not-so-small nutshell :) Hope you are having an amazing day!!! :)

Because I Have Been Given Much

ok, sorry, I found another really great music video and had to share :)

"Forget Me Not"

Hello! Today has been such a great day! You know those days where you feel rejuvenated and you get peace and quiet to do the things that make you feel so fulfilled and happy? Well, today was one of those days. I read this talk and it is so wonderful. I have heard it before and even read it a few times I think, but today it really touched me. Here is a picture from google about the forget me nots President Uchtdorf was speaking about... What a beautiful flower. You have to read/watch the talk to get it, but I'll probably put a picture of this flower on my wall now :) Anyway, what stuck out to me is that I am an extremely goal oriented person. I LOVE making goals, I love the plan of action of how to achieve them and I adore the feeling of knowing I reached the goal. Almost every Sunday I make new goals for how I can be better the next week. Today as I sat and thought about how I could be better I got a little sad thinking I make the same goals almost every week and I improve a little but I always have to make the same goal!!! WHY DON'T I EVER LEARN?!?!? But this talk comforted me and helped me to see that while yes, goals are good and important, I need to love who I am at every step along the way and recognize that while I am not good, I am still a good person who is trying very hard, and though I may fail quite a bit, I never truly fail because I am constantly learning. Anyway, I know that we are children of God and through him we can become perfect but need to remember along the way that if the Supreme Creator of the Universe can love us with our imperfections, we should be able to love ourselves. Hope you're having an amazing Sunday!!

This song is cool but not really feeling the jacket... but the scenery kinda reminds me of our hike in St. George so I had to have it playing :)

So we drove to St. George on Friday then got there around 11. We were soooo tired, but we couldn't go to sleep before we took some embarrassing pictures...

Then the next day we woke up incredibly early...not. The next day we slept in until our heart's content, then we went on a fun hike!!

The next night we went to Vegas. I had never been there. Not going to lie, I really dislike Vegas and never ever want to go back, but it's a good thing I had good company because that made it still fun :)

In Vegas we watched the water show...

and went to Hard Rock Cafe...

The next day we went to church and then took a nice nature walk up to dixie rock which I can't find the pictures from  and came home early Monday morning. It was such a nice weekend and so great to have a break from school. I came back ready to immerse myself in school again. Wahoo!!

Side note, completely unrelated...guess... does a boy or a girl sing this song?



Wrong. It's a girl. I was SHOCKED!!! I have thought this was a boy for how many years?!! This is one of my favorite songs (along with the rest), and props to her for having a good voice and singing though!!

randomness

Hello!!! I have been a terrible blogger, but oh well :) This post is going to be a little of everything because I have lots of random, worthless things on my mind that I feel the need to put on the world wide web so I can stop thinking about them :) This week are two of my midterms!! WOOT WOOT!!!!! Come on, cheer with me ;) so it'll be a pretty crazy week and what am I doing? Blogging... oops. It's ok though because this can be my outlet so then I can be rejuvenated to study right? ;) I usually don't like these very much, but this one made me laugh inside a lot and described me quite a bit I feel like...

So, this past week was full of giggles and laughs due to our road trip to St. George! It was so much fun- recap and pictures to come (because I know you were dying to see them of course)

Here are some of the songs I've been loving lately. Enjoy!
This first song is just really pretty and kinda soothing in a way- strange- I know.

This next one kinda relates back to my post on the American Dream and lots of my other posts about dreams :) I am a firm believer in plunging head first into anything you hope for whether it be scholastically, love, an incredible career, etc. My Nana (grandma) used to always say to my Father, "what's the worst that can happen?" I've tried to live by that- after getting hurt quite a bit I felt like I shut down for a while and decided to not hope for things too out of the ordinary to protect my heart and lately I had a very heart-breaking experience, but it made me so happy, because I realized I had learned to hope to again, and the worst that can happen is our hopes don't come true, we are hurt, grow stronger, and find something way better farther down the road than what we had hoped for. So, in reality, the worst, really isn't all that bad :)




This next one I just love and think it's cute :) sorry, there's a swear word in it and the music video is a little strange...



I have always loved this song and looked up the music video for it today and it almost ruined the song for me- I wasn't sure whether to be frightened or laugh- so don't ask me now why I'm showing it to you, but I sure hope he was kidding...Anywho, the song is still really pretty

Is it dead?

This is one of my favorite semesters of school I have ever had! Life is so great right now I can't even believe it, but yesterday I was in one of my classes and we talked about something that is one of my passions...the American Dream. First off, let me just establish my major is American Studies, so obviously I have some pretty strong opinions on these subjects ;) "The American Dream" is something that is quite often discussed and something I have always loved, however, oftentimes when it is discussed, I feel like people scoff and say that the American Dream is a myth. In my class yesterday the class basically came to a consensus that the American Dream is dead. I disagreed and explained my reasoning, but no one sided with me, but that wasn't what bothered me, what bothered me was trying to figure out is it just me? Am I naive? Is it dead? And here is what I decided...

First, to analyze this, we have to establish what the American Dream is in our minds- since I'm the one doing the talking here, I think I'll establish what it is to me ;) To me the American Dream is the possibility that if you are willing to work hard, you can rise in your station, that you do not have to be what your parents or grandparents were whether that is monetarily or emotionally, it is the belief and the hope that we can change. After a lot of thinking I decided, if this kind of thinking is naive, I will take it and I hope to be "naive" forever, because if I ever lose this hope that I can be/do whatever I want if I am willing to put in the work , then what is the point of work?

Above are some of my heroes. The first picture is of my family way back when, and I don't have a picture of my Dad's parents on my computer so, I just showed the product of them- my family! :) and the second picture is of my Mom's parents. These people in large, are a huge reason why I am so adamant about the American Dream. My Dad's parents (first picture representation), were alive in the Depression. He fought in World War II and she took a job spotting fighter planes on the beach, they had nothing, but worked their way to the top. The second picture, my Mom's parents are amazing as well. My Grandpa was born in a log cabin, literally and decided he wanted church and education in his life, so he became active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and went to school. He married the love of his life, provided for an ever-growing family while a student in college, then he went and received his masters. Right when he was born, someone could have looked at him and predicted where his life might go and predicted that he would never get an education, etc. however, they would be wrong, because he was willing to fight for this dream.

I shared that story in class and my teacher said, well does anyone have an example of the opposite? I thought about it, and decided I know lots of people who work really hard and choose to have a good attitude despite all the things that happen to them and therefore, they are happy, yet I know many who try and then bad things happen to them , so they give up and decide to be miserable, therefore, obviously, happiness is a myth- correct? Of course not, that is absurd. I need to clarify that I know many people work extremely hard to rise in their station of life and are not able to because of unfortunate circumstances- I do not wish to downplay that or claim that they just did not work hard enough, because I do not believe that at all, the people I am addressing are the ones that say we will never get there, therefore we will not try and the American Dream is Dead. Is it dead because it's impossible or is it dead because notions of hope and hard work are dead inside of us? We live in a day in age when if we have to walk a block, we are really upset about it and if we have to cook something on the stove which may take ten minutes rather than 2 in the microwave- we are so upset. I think maybe the American Dream is dead because we no longer know how to work like our grandparents and we have allowed media and cynicism to turn us into a pessimistic people who have no hope. I believe, however, if we are willing to work and hope- we can be/do whatever we want that God sees fit for us in our lives and that, to me is the American Dream and is most definitely not dead.