Ohh Mexico!

Is it possible that I'm actually staying in THIS hotel/resort/condominium complex this spring break when I go to Mexico? Apparently! Ha, a bunch of students from East, Highland, a few other schools, and some families are going to Puerto Penasco to paint houses. These houses were built during the time between Christmas and New Year, and now we get to go paint them. I am so excited to be able to help these families. (Along with stay in this beautiful place!) Counting down the days!

P.S. I Missy you Mees

A thought on happiness

Though many teenage girls would disagree, the set of emotions inside a human being resemble a piano, and the owner of the emotions plays the role of the pianist. This musician might have a crowd of people surrounding him with each person yelling a specific note to play. In a situation like this the screamers try to persuade the piano player to play one thing; however, the only person who can choose which key the pianist hits is himself. Likewise, a person might not have control over the situations surrounding him. Tragic events could take place making it easier to become depressed, or to feel self pity. But no matter how many people yell at a pianist to play Chopin, he still has the ability to choose Beethoven. Difficult situations will always find their way into a person’s life, yet that person will never lose the opportunity to choose happiness.

Living in happiness requires three fundamental steps: 1) keeping a positive perspective, 2) eliminating self pity, and 3) making an active choice. Helen Keller said, “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” Helen Keller, a woman lacking the access to two of life’s most common luxuries, emphasizes the importance of finding an open door to happiness, instead of focusing on what lies behind closed doors. Seeking out an open door does not always mean looking for the “silver lining.” It could mean feeling peace with a situation. In this case, the person may not like their circumstance, but they choose to recognize that they cannot change it, and move forward with their life.

By choosing to find the open doors leading to happiness, people can eliminate the self pity they feel. Harboring the habit of feeling sorry for one’s self increases the difficulty of achieving true happiness. On many occasions, uncontrollable events provoke individuals to feel victimized. A person living in the constant belief that they cannot escape their unfortunate life soon becomes a victim of self pity more than anything else. Like some of the most deadly drugs, self pity possesses addictive qualities, and it separates people from reality. Self pity is dangerous and creates a wall preventing those who indulge from progressing to complete happiness.

Seeing situations from a positive perspective and eliminating self pity have a common foundation; both cases require a conscious choice and commitment from the seeker of happiness. When people allow surrounding conditions to influence them, slipping into disappointment, discouragement, depression, and the deprivation of joy feels justifiable. Negative emotions lie at such an attainable point that the easiness of reaching them often appeals more than the diligence needed to push through and work for happiness. These emotions falsely seduce individuals into believing that happiness is not a choice.

Even with screamers suffocating a blossoming concert pianist, he has a choice to make. Will he bow down to the wishes of those around him and play Chopin? Or will he take control of his situation and play Beethoven? Picture this: the pianist introduces himself. He pulls out the piano bench and takes a seat. He cracks his knuckles in preparation for his performance. Men, women, and teens on all sides of him yell, “Chopin! Play Chopin! We want Chopin!!” The musician takes a deep breath, and begins playing Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata. The chaos of the spectators increases. They boo and hiss, but gradually, they see how bright Beethoven makes the piano player. One by one, they begin to listen. The barrier breaks. Beethoven got through to those who unwillingly heard him. Through a choice and commitment to bear whatever hardship came from his decision to play Beethoven, the pianist prevailed in uplifting himself and those around him.

Family... Isn't it about time?

Let me take a minute to introduce a few of my all time favorite people...

Here we have M&M. Missy and Mike have been married almost a year now (crazy eh?) And this just happens to capture Miss in her natural habitat. She always did wish she were Tongan in high school :P (ha, Missy, I hope you liked my face) Anyway, despite some pretty crazy health issues, Missy graduated from college last year, with a BFA from BYU. And that gentleman on the right is the newest addition to our family. He's kind of cool. I guess... Just kidding Mike :) He's a great brother-in-law. I've even asked him questions about confusing high school boys. Talk about a PATIENT bro-ha-in-law!

Now on to Ty and Becca! Hmm... where do I begin with these two? Well, Tyler turned 30 this week-- eek! I have a brother THAT old?!? Haha, just kidding Ty. On his birthday, it was announced that Tyler is going to be one of the chief residents at Stanford Medical School during the 2012-2013 year! Insane much? And his wife there on the right was a part of our family before she ever married Ty. Becca has a degree in music from BYU, along with a nursing degree from Drexel University. Last I heard she was subbing as a supervisor at work. Pretty sure she's worked there less than a year. (I could be wrong on that...) Yeah. She's cool. These four beauties are Kristin, Dave, and their kids, Patten and Kimball. Kristin has a degree in choral education from the University of Utah, and is now working as a chef, taxi driver, babysitter, maid, and professional nurturer-- aka the best mom ever. Dave has a degree in civil engineering from the U, and then decided he wanted to go to law school. So... he went to law school. Dave is a fabulous example to me of a hard worker. He knows that anyone can do whatever they put their mind to, and you know he knows it because of the way he studies, and works hard in other ways. I miss this! I miss everyone singing around the piano and having fun with each other on Sunday nights. I sincerely wish I had taken more advantage of having you guys around the house when I was younger. I miss and love all my blood-related siblings!
And as for all you not-blood-related-siblings, I miss you too! I feel like all of you were members of our family before we ever even met! Thank you all for giving me such great examples, and for your hard work. I see how hard you work, and it makes me want to work just as hard (if not harder) than you, so I can do something cool with my life like you have! Thanks again!

Love my life

Start with a prayer

Get a little educated...

Take a little break...

Have some "social" time.

That's my life as of late...Fun eh??

Haha, as complainey as that sounds, I actually love it! I've gotten hooked on running, I study a lot, and I feel like I'm actually being productive. Awesome :)

Voice

I always knew I was the kind of person who felt better when I spoke my mind. I usually bottle things up to a point and then let them out in an explosion of emotion. Here's the deal folks--- it's A LOT harder when you're forced to keep your mouth shut. I haven't been allowed to talk for the last seven days, and it's been EXTREMELY frustrating. If I ever have to do this again... I will be sincerely annoyed. Though, I have learned a lot about how much I talk :) haha peace.

P.s. this isn't meant to be a complainey blog post, it's just interesting how much of a difference talking makes.

Summa Time!

Yay for summer. It makes me happy to only worry about sno shack and flip flops. WHOO! :)

Interesting

Everyone who has tried eating healthier told me that after a while.. you don't really have to try. You just start WANTING to eat food that is good for you because it actually TASTES good and you feel good after eating it. While I don't have a perfect diet, I have noticed this. Burgers don't appeal to me anymore, greasy fries make me want to gag, and tonight, I had my first bowl of kraft macaroni and cheese this year and I felt like I was going to have a rock sitting in my stomach for 8 years. I think it's interesting slash cool that my body can tell me when it likes what I'm eating.

Heres to healthy eating folks.

peace :)