Inspiration.

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,

“You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”

The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

Hope and Faith

"God doesn't care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and, with His help, where you are willing to go. Faith is for the future." -Elder Holland

"Hope comes of faith, for without faith, there is no hope. In like manner faith comes of hope, for faith is the substance of things hoped for. Hope is critical to both faith and charity. When disobedience, disappointment, and procrastination erode faith, hope is there to uphold our faith." -Elder Uchtdorf

Goodbye to Good Friends.

This past weekend I went down to Saint George for one of my best friend's, John Challis, mission farewell! It was a blast and it was great seeing him and his family from the last time I went down to St. George, earlier this summer, with Mikey. At 8 in the morning, Nicole and I drove down... I was soo tired from my family reunion that I had her drive on the way down, intending to take a turn, driving back to Draper. We also met up with our friends Mikey, DeLaney, Alex and Seth... it was great seeing some familiar faces from BYU! John's talk went really well and afterwards we went to John's house for some visiting and food! Unlucky for me, I caught a 24 hour stomach flu on the way back so I had Nicole drive again, which I felt soo bad for. Other than that it was such a great trip! Soo... Good luck to John down in Ecuador! I know he'll be such a great missionary and I can't wait to see him and all my other guy friends in 2 yrs... wow, what a long time! :(

I Hate Goodbyes.

Great, I only have a few guy friends and cousins left to leave, just sayin.... GREAT :(

Oh, How I Love My Family.

This past week/weekend I had my family reunion, on my mom's side. It was awesome to see all of my extended family after such a long time! Thursday started it off with boating at Deer Creek Reservoir! It was great to get our jet ski out for the first time this summer... I forgot how much fun they are, and of course, it was great having the Schmidt's boat out there too! I got crazy sunburned but now it's turned in to a nice tan!:) That evening more people showed up and we had dinner in our barn and took family pictures up at our Heber property. Afterward, the teens and kids all played in the "teen zone" set up in our quonset hut. That night everyone camped out on our lawn. It was great to see our property being used for the first time with that many people. Friday we had breakfast at the barn again. Then we spent we spent a few hours cleaning up so we could head up towards the Heber Valley Camp. First, we stopped at a church for lunch and had a typical family talent show, which was quite the entertainment. Then we all cleaned up again and headed up the camp. That afternoon we set up all of our belongings in our cabins then headed to the lake for some fun canoeing and paddle boating. We all had a blast being around all of the beautiful nature, in the mountains. In the evening, my cousin mark cooked us an awesome Hawaiian dinner then we all gathered around and had a bonfire with s'more and entertainment. The night ended with an awesome, full-moon hike that my cousin Jared took all of the teenagers on. Saturday was that last of the reunion. We did a challenge course with team building activities and a zip line, ate lunch, then ended with the closing ceremonies, then said our goodbyes. What a great few days with the fam :)

FINALLLYYYY.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make. I FINALLY FOUND A JOB. For the time being I'm going to do office work for my Aunt Julie and Uncle T.G. It really is a relief to know that I have work up until I can find a job in Provo. This was perfect timing since I was just beginning to worry if I would be able to pay off my Russia trip on time... looks like everything's gonna work out just fine :)

It's My Burfdayy!

Yesterday was my birthday and I turned the big 19. Dang, I feel old. Although, I do feel like 19 is such a random and kind of unimportant age haha! 20 is going to be much bigger! I had such a great day. I wish I was home in Georgia so that I could have spent it with lifelong friends but I had a great family-filled day with a few friends... not to mention TONS of Facebook birthday wishes, as always haha! I spent a lot of time with family during the day. I also went shopping with my younger brothers Steven and Jeremy and my sister Katie.... it was soo much fun! Later that night I opened my gifts. I got a bunch of random small things that I love! I also got a new phone and a NEW GUITARRRR! :) Don't worry, i've already started to learn! I decided I'm just going to try and teach myself rather than taking lessons, since I have so much time on my hands. Then I'm going to try and get into a guitar class at BYU in the fall... we'll see how that goes cuz it seems like that's nearly impossible:/!! That night I went out to dinner at Noodles and Company(my favorite in Utah)... both sets of grandparents and my aunt and uncle and their kids joined us too! It was a lot of fun. My favorite part was how my Grandma Jo tried to run out of the restaurant with her oxygen tank after making the servers sing happy birthday to me.... oh how fun! The night ended with a good ole chick flick with my mammaaa! :)WHAT A GREAT DAY :)

Sooo Much Time on My Hands...

So this summer has definitely taught me patience since I am still currently looking for a job after almost two whole months. It's definitely a little frustrating. Especially since we moved, it has been hard to find tons to do. SOOO, lately i've become a little obsessed with some things and have a little more time to watch, do and learn many different things. I've been watching a lot of t.v... wish I say I didn't, but here are some of my favorites and what I plan to make of my summer for the next few weeks!

*Running*

Recently i've become obsessed with running, especially when

training for the half marathon soon. I love it! Hopefully I can stick with it!

*Glee*

One word... OBSESSED! Seriously, I never missed an episode

this past season and I downloaded all the music... I love it!

Thank goodness there are reruns this summer, but fall needs to come

already so that season 2 can be here also! I can't wait :) :) :)

*Letters to Juliet*

All time , new favorite movie. I went and saw it the other

day with my mom and sister and I absolutely loved it.

It was such a completely chick flick... funny, romantic, and

just good alll around... I would definitely recommend it!

*Pretty Little Liars*

This is such a good show. I don't really ever watch t.v. during

the summer, but since I have a little more time on

my hands thanusual, i've decided to pick up this new show. It's

kinda dark but at the same time it keeps you your

feet wanting to know more each time you watch it.

And of course, I'm going to learn more on my GUITAR I just got

for my birthday. I can't wait to bring it with me to BYU too! :)