21

21 Years Old=21 Years to Be Grateful

 From a surprise 12am visit with a homemade cake... to 7am breakfast in bed (YUMMY Mickey Mouse Pancakes w/ my favorite fruit)....

To crazy birthday dinners with my family and close loved ones. 

I am very grateful for the wonderful people that consume my life;

I count it to be among one of my greatest blessings. 

I am SO very blessed and I simply don't deserve it.

Thank you for making this THE BEST 21st Birthday a girl could ask for.

One of the best parts about birthdays...I get to spend them EVERY YEAR with my best friend!!!!!!

The Truth is at Our Fingertips

Today, I just finished the Book of Mormon again. I testify with everything I am that this is a true book.  I remember the first time I completed the Book of Mormon, individually: I was a young teenager on a road trip with my family and we were crossing the Indian Reservation in Arizona.  [Now thinking back on it, I was amongst the descendants of this sacred book…how cool is that?!!!!] The spirit consumed my entire body and tears started streaming down my face as I took upon myself Moroni’s challenge and prayed about the truthfulness of this book.  My soul began to burst with one of the purest and strongest joys I had ever felt.  Six or seven years later, I still remember how powerful and overriding those feelings were and still are when I read it. I can feel a physical difference in my life when I read it compared to when I do not.  When I was younger, I found the language harder to understand and the material hard to relate to.  Now, I can see EVERY single stage I enter in my life directly weaved into this sacred book; it is applicable in every aspect of life. When I read those words, I am receiving advice, wisdom, and love DIRECTLY FROM GOD.  Along with the Bible, the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ.  We have the truth and knowledge at our fingertips. I know it is true without a doubt in my mind. 

I echo Elder Holland’s words: 

"Now, I did not sail with the brother of Jared. I did not hear King Benjamin speak his angelically delivered sermon. I was not among the Nephite crowd who touched the wounds of the resurrected Lord, nor did I weep with Mormon and Moroni over the destruction of a civilization. But my testimony of this record and the peace it brings to the human heart—given to me through the whispering of the Holy Spirit just as it is given to you—is as binding and unequivocal as was theirs. I testify of this book as surely as if I had, with the Three Witnesses, seen the angel Moroni or, with the Eight Witnesses, handled the plates of gold.

I further testify that not one of us can come to full faith in this latter-day work and thereby find the fullest measure of peace and comfort in our times until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it testifies. As my great-great-great grandfather said in the early days of the Restoration, “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.”

Read it.

Happily Ever Afters

Love is a beautiful thing.  Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of the day that I would meet the man of my dreams and we would live happily ever after.  To this day, I still find myself delighted and in awe with love.  Call it a crime but occasionally escaping reality, by putting my “hopeless romantic shades” on, is my kind of living.  For example, I thoroughly enjoy looking at complete strangers’ engagement photography blogs and wedding videos despite my insanely-busy schedule.  It is so fascinating to see who people decide to share the rest of their life with and even more interesting to hear why. I cannot help it… I am a romance-supporting, love-observing, chick-flick lovin’ kind of a girl. There is something about someone selflessly giving up everything they have for another 
person that so sparks my interest.
  

There are billions of individuals on this Earth, no two individuals are exactly the same…not even identical twins…and yet every single person who has ever lived has the potential and yearning to love and be loved.   Some have lost hope in finding love.  As told by the increasing divorce statistics, marriage is hard to maintain. However, today, more than ever, it is important to realize that love is a verb; it is something we must do to feel.  We do not simply fall in and out of love.  Prince Charming will ride as quickly out of the relationship, on his white stallion, as he did in…if no work or effort is put into fostering the relationship.  

Elder Groberg described why love is a universal joy:

“Men give various reasons, but the real reason is that every person who comes to earth is a spirit son or daughter of God. Since all love emanates from God, we are born with the capacity and the desire to love and to be loved. One of the strongest connections we have with our premortal life is how much our Father and Jesus loved us and how much we loved Them. Even though a veil was drawn over our memory, whenever we sense true love, it awakens a longing that cannot be denied. Responding to true love is part of our very being. We innately desire to reconnect here with the love we felt there. Only as we feel God’s love and fill our hearts with His love can we be truly happy.”

In five days, I will be 21. I cannot believe I have already been alive for 21 years!  The people and places I have lived have enabled me to discover countless beauties of life.  One beauty I have better acquainted myself, in the recent years of my life, is…LOVE.   From the “butterflies” of the grade school crushes to the deep, powerful love that gives reason to life, my little heart has endured quite a spectrum of feelings for one of my age.  I would not trade one single memory, heartache, or love-filled relationship, for I am deeply grateful and humbled to have the depth and knowledge I acquired from each one.  I anticipate my definition of love to be built upon and enhanced in 50 years [“Then” by Brad Paisley articulates this concept]. Although I am still very young and far from the wisdom of my elders, I did not know a heart could experience so much love and yet also survive so much heartache and still keep pumping.  There are times where I feel like I am drowning in the vast pool of feelings contained within my heart. Yet, I cannot help but marvel at the grandeur of our hearts and the ability we have to feel love. 

  
I now am at the age where I am selecting my own “Prince Charming” to have a “Happily Ever After” for eternity.  Despite surmounting decisions to make and complicated circumstances, I refuse to believe that I, too, cannot have a beautiful love story.  I refuse to let the decisions I have to make and the fear of the unknown paralyze me and hinder my succession of such a dream. 

Love is beautiful. Love is real. Love is a choice. 

 Happy endings are not just in fairy-tales. 

 With trust in God, my fairy-tale can become a reality. 

Still Kickin' & Strong @ 70!

On account of my Grandma turning 70, my Grandpa threw her the biggest surprise party imaginable, all without her knowing.  Hundreds of people gathered to celebrate her and her influential and eventful life.  My Grandma is not the typical Grandma…after receiving her PhD, she wanted to make a difference in the world…and started her own company.  She is still the CEO of Beneficial International and travels all over the world for business and pleasure. (She can name the few countries she has not traveled to on one or two hands…on Tuesday she is headed for Panama.)  She will wake up at 6:00am to go to “Boot Camp” to work out before work.  Although her age defines her as the oldest member of the club, she is far from it physically.  She loves her family: we often go, as an extended family, to various exotic places for family trips, each grand kid joins her on an exciting adventure when they turn 12, annual birthday dinner & shopping with the Grandparents, front-row support for every extra-curricular activity any of their grand kids participate in, late night talks, eye brow waxes to take care of our equally dark and uncontrollable eyebrows, etc.  She shows me how to selflessly serve and love others, expecting nothing in return.  I would not be the person I am today without her.  She is an example to me of living life to the fullest, following my dreams, staying healthy and strong, and waking up each day with passion and excitement for another opportunity to change the world. 

 

 My Grandma has an obsession with  Elvis….   

We had a photo booth...with costumes…

 

My Grandpa told her they need to help their best friends look at the Eaglewood Golf Course as a venue for their daughter’s wedding reception before dinner...lights down...constant shushing... *SURPRISE*

My sweet Grandpa just cried and cried

 

We had dinner and a program involving various groups of people expressing their love and appreciation for her through stories, song, or slideshows.  

Some were hilarious.... my mom talking about the 80's and my Grandmother's attempts to perm her hair at home.

 

  

I love my Grandma. She is, by far, one of the classiest, most charitable, and ambitious individuals I have ever known.

All-Stars On and Off the Court!

Walk Down Memory Lane.

Volleyball Tournaments are insanely fun, l-o-n-g, exhausting, exhilarating, sweaty, and quite the weekend for the parental/cheer section.

My mom needed a cheer buddy this weekend for a few hours… so she came and randomly picked me up from Provo to watch my sister, Eliza, play club volleyball at Open Court. We cheered, laughed, talked about anything and everything, jammed to music; we did it all.

Eliza is a volleyball beast.

It felt like yesterday that I was the little ninth grader playing volleyball and laying on my mom’s lap during the breaks as she played with my hair while we waited for the next game.  I am now almost 21 and in my third year of college…where does the time go?

 Cheerleaders. My mom is the epitome of THE GREATEST mother in the world. She spends thousands and thousands of hours supporting my sisters and I in every extra-curricular activity imaginable…believe me, we did EVERYTHING growing up.

  My mom is my rock and my best friend.  I could not be happier than when I am with my family. 

Not to mention…Eliza dominated.

My Life is...

MY FAMILY

 

WE cannot forget the other male in our home...Koda:

 Turned From A new, Cute, shy puppy-->To a Jumping, Spastic, Separation-anxiety prone “Horse" this year. 

Merlin Lemon

Meet…MERLIN LEMON

Brother Lemon lives up the street. 

He is an 80 year-old, Cadillac-driving, McDonald's-loving, Gentle and Sweet Man whom my sisters and I have come to L-O-V-E & ADORE.  His wife died a few years ago, which left him extremely lonely and in need of some good company. 

      [cute story: before his wife died, she had a large printed Book of Mormon.  She reached a point where she could not lift it up anymore to read it.  Brother Lemon divided the book into two section and bound each section of the book.  This enabled her to continue to read the Book of Mormon, one section at a time…how sweet is that? He loves and misses her dearly.]

We often go visit him at his home and once in the rehabilitation center, where he tells us stories upon stories about his life.  He frames our notes above his fireplace and lovingly takes us in when we stop by.

One time, he even took us on a joy ride in his Cadillac to his favorite restaurant that offers “anything and everything”…McDonald's, where we enjoyed cheeseburgers in a red-greasy booth. 

      We love him.

And Guess What? HE CAME TO VISIT US TODAY.  Brother Lemon, WHO RARELY GETS OUT, pulled up in our drive-way, in his Cadillac, this afternoon to visit. I didn’t even think he knew where we lived.  My parents, Chels, and I spoke in sacrament meeting this morning and he drove over to tell us how much he loved it.  He is such a sweetheart.   

We all officially have another “McDonald's date” planned tomorrow…excitement.