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.

Death Days

It is finals week at BYU...aka DEATH DAYS.
(I secretly always love college but these days prove quite the "test.")

MY LAST 3 DAYS:

8.5 hours of testing 

38+hours of studying (good thing i love learning or else it would have been torturous.)
7 classes completed and DOMINATED

Submitted My:

19 page research paper on polygamy

25 page professional education book

1 more day

1 more final
1 tired girl-but if I make it...

1 SWEET CHRISTMAS BREAK!!!

a thankful heart

I am home from college for the week. YAY! I came home to my glorious family, a week of relaxation and bonding, and "my" beautiful mountains and fall trees surrounding our home.

All that we behold is full of blessings.  ~William Wordsworth

My heart is over-flowing with gratitude this day. 

Among the millions of things I can list, I am deeply grateful for: 

 God, our Father, and His Loving Son, Jesus Christ.

My Family & Loved Ones.

Thanksgiving Day was absolutely amazing and.....a little 
 different than previous years......... this year has introduced
 quite a unique set of challenges and life changing
 experiences for my family and my extended family.  My 
 Grandparents decided to eat in Salt Lake today at Little 
 America before going back to their home to play games
 and let our bellies rest from our hard-core feasting. 

 Crab Leg Obsession.

 

 

Fondue...turned into lip gloss. 

(Avery is my teenage cousin in an 8 yr. old body. 

We are pretty much besties.)  

Who doesn't love a rich, chocolatey lip gloss, anyway?

My Grandparents are Angels from Heaven.

My Family=My Life.

A lot of the women are now going to go shopping together at 5:30am-not because we need anything desperately-we just LOVE to be together. Some call it insanity, others call it bonding, I call it LOVE.

Teach Me to Teach

I am freeeeeeeeeeee! Yet, I don’t feel so free; rather, I am going through withdrawals...from 276R.

276R was my life

…until now.

276R instilled a deep love and passion for teaching within me.

276R is a class.

A class that I went to for F-O-U-R hours E-V-E-R-Y day to learn how to become a teacher! 

I know, I know, I have heard every argument as to why any another career exceeds that of teaching but in all reality where would we be without teachers? I do recognize there are horrible teachers out there-we have all had our fair share of “Ferris Bueller teachers”-but I am talking about the powerhouse teachers.  I am talking about the teachers who have passion, charisma, and dedication; the teachers who empower their students to fight for a better future.  I am talking about the teachers who really care.

I am here to tell you…TEACHERS ARE INCREDIBLE.

After a series of fingerprinting and background checks, I was equipped with a badge, a BYU badge that allowed me to enter into the various schools to teach and observe. I studied and was trained, with 12 other stellar students, from a spunky professor about how I can become not just an ordinary teacher but a PHENOMENAL teacher :)

Over the past few months, I have had the opportunity to teach numerous Social-Psychology lessons, lessons about Egypt-where I was able to show the students MY pictures of the historical artifacts and landforms they are currently studying…It still find it CRAZY to think I have been there…the Underground Railroad, Islam, Geography and units on Slavery in BYU classrooms and in REAL high school classrooms.  I still catch myself in awe as I teach in these college and high school classrooms.  

I am just a baby… but these are real students and they actually “enjoy” listening to me!

(I won’t mention the fact that I graduated…what…2 years ago? I will be straight up honest, without my name badge, I look like I fit right in there.)

From overflowing, psychology classrooms in public high schools… to barefoot (I am serious, the students don’t wear shoes and they sit on couches rather than in desks) eccentric, charter school Sex-Ed classes.  Needless to say, I have endured quite the spectrum of experiences.  

I have had the opportunities to teach psychology and history lessons to a college class several times so I could be critiqued by a. the students b. the professor c. it was recorded so I could watch and critique myself teach.  Joyous, eh?

The beautiful thing is…I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF 276R!

Although it consumed every part of my life, I have discovered a passion for this career. I love crazy teenagers. I love learning.  I love meeting new people. I love to help others. I love to talk. Ha.

-

 I often find myself staying up late in my room creating my OWN lesson plans.  My mother instilled in me some creativity and I AM USING IT BABY!!!!  I have let my creative juices flow as I think outside of the box to illustrate various principles.

I have created mock juries, poems, songs, showed live court testimonies, and at one point I turned off all the lights and used my running headlight and recited a narrative to my “fellow underground railroad buddies” as dogs (barking noises off of youtube) were hunting us down.  

I plan on continuing my education and going to graduate school. I would love to teach at an inner-city high school. I would also love to travel and teach in various countries abroad. Okay, it’s final, I will teach abroad. The possibilities are endless. I do not know where I will be in the next five years but that is what makes life so exciting.  

As for this moment…I love to teach.

I decided to throw this vid in.  I am obsessed. 

I am all about "powerhouse" teachers.

P.S. This film is based on a true story. There are teachers like this out there :)

 

26.2

St.George Marathon 

2011

After wearing out 2 pairs of running shoes, discovering dozens of new running routes and training for HUNDREDS of hours…I ran my FIRST MARATHON!

On Friday, seven of my friends and I caravanned down to race in the beautiful terrain of St. George. After feasting our face off with carbs, carbs and more carbs and getting lost in the desert for two hours, we finally arrived to a random cabin where we would spend the night before the marathon.

5:30am. We ate a light breakfast, Isaiah 41: 10&13, dressed in our racing gear, strapped on the energy-gu and piled into a small car to the starting line.  In the midst of the darkness, large lights pierced the night sky to reveal the starting line.  Music was blaring, thousands of runners were all gathered around small fires, large lines surrounded the bathrooms…and everyone was excitedly/nervously conversing.

6:45am- the gun went off…I had awaited this moment for months…I had to keep reminding myself… I am running a marathon!

Commonly receive advice: DO NOT start out too fast because you will feel it in the end.

So Chels and I started off with a comfortable pace and we ran and ran and ran our little hearts out.  Some miles were BLISS and some miles completely ROCKED my body.

After mile 15, Chels and I felt SOOOO good. We dominated the hills and pounded the flat ground.  It was an absolute MIRACLE that Chels’s legs were doing so well…she has been having IT-Band problems and shin splints.  Prior to the race, she received a priesthood blessing and was blessed to be healed.  Every mile proved to be a miracle.

Marathon Friend: we met an older gentleman who was currently running his 75^th Marathon…CRAZY!

Mile 21: I was feeling great and wanted to continue onward at a quicker pace.  Chels told me to go on.  Leaving Chels felt like part of me was gone, I ALWAYS run with Chels, ALWAYS.  I expected her to catch up in a few minutes, so I continued onward.

"I tell our runners to divide the race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart."-Mike Fanelli

Mile 24: I began to experience a PAIN never before experienced.  I was beyond the point of EXHAUSTION.  My body was slowly shutting down. I REFUSED to walk. I had trained my heart out and I was NOT going to give up now.  It was my heart that kept me going, everything else was failing me. The last mile was….DEATH. It felt like the LONGEST mile I had ever run.

To me, RUNNING IS SACRED. The veil becomes so thin.  You experience the power of one of God’s greatest creations, our bodies.

GOD IS THE REASON I FINISHED.

The last three miles….I pleaded with Heavenly Father to help me finish, to help me put one foot in front of the other, to give me the strength to endure the pain.   Right as I was about to give in, I saw a few of my family members and friends cheering me on…I dug down deep and FINISHED. I DID IT! 

After incoherently waiting by the finish line for some time, my mom came up frantically searching for me to ask where Chels was. She said she felt like something was wrong, that Chels was in one of the ambulances driving by.  (It the hottest marathon St. George has ever had and tons of people were passing out and in dire circumstances that required assistance.) I told her not to worry, Chels was just behind me and she was still plugging along the last time I left her.  After a few more minutes, I looked up and saw men bringing out a stretcher from an ambulance.  All of a sudden I realized…CHELS WAS THE WOMAN LYING ON THE STRETCHER. I started to panic. I dropped everything I had in my hands and hysterically started pushing my way through the crowd to the stretcher.  Chels was flailing her arms and ranting about random things. She was COMPLETELY OUT OF IT. I had never seen her so rashly blunt and outspoken.  (We later found humor in it...my favorite thing she did: when a man was rubbing her painfully tight legs out, she kept saying, "OUCH, YOU ARE HURTING ME. I AM GOING TO KILL YOU." or" I AM A RUNNER. I AM NOT SICK. I SHOULD NOT BE IN THE SICK TENT. HA.) 

I found out she had passed out 800 yards from the finish line due to dehydration and pure exhaustion.  They asked me to stay with her because I calmed her down.  I sat by her side and rubbed her head and legs for a long while. I was emotionally and physically drained. I tried SO hard not to break down in front of her.  How could I have left her? I should have been there to catch and help her.  I should have been with her. I felt so much guilt.  I HATE seeing people I love suffer.  I had never seen Chels in such a horrific state; I did not know what to think or do. Spencer Anderson was an absolute ANGEL. I sent him to go get my mom. My mom and I just held each other and cried for a moment before she went into see Chels.  Today was just as emotionally exhausting as it was physically exhausting day.  It was a blessing we were right next to the ambulance when Chels came in.  We all sat by Chels for a few hours in the sick tent while the IV pumped fluids into her body and doctors cared for her every need.  Lesson: DRINK LOTS & LOTS OF WATER WHEN RUNNING A MARATHON!

Let me tell you, the sick tent is ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE.  People were dropping like flies on the course.  In the tent, runners were wailing, barfing, some passed out on the cots and grass and dozens were hooked up to IV’s.  

I kept thinking to myself…and we do this for fun?!  Ha.

We curled up on the grass for another hour until we could prepare to head home. We showered at a friend’s home and at 7pm we headed home with my mommy and Eliza.   

Despite the pain…it was a life-changing experience I will never, as long as I live, forget. I RAN A MARATHON. Running is part of my life. It is part of who I am. I would do it again…I will just wait a while :). We came home to enjoy conference…what a spiritual weekend!