Latest Update

Hi everybody! I just wanted to check in and let ya'll know how things are going for me (if you care. haha).

My goals are coming along really well. I'm right on track in Preach My Gospel, Jesus the Christ, and the New Testament and am loving every minute of study. I'm feeling so good and so loved and so strong. Thank you for all the support. :)

My cousin Kristy and I have been working out together a lot recently, which is really fun. I like having someone to work out with and someone who's willing to go outside and run with me. The weather is getting nice and we're able to run a little farther every night (though we mostly walk).

Last night I came across this article by President Monson called "Meeting Your Goliath." I highly recommend it. I feel like I'm constantly facing the same Goliaths in my life, things that I've come to realize I can't overcome on my own. President Monson recommends 5 stones we can use in our lives to overcome our own Goliath, and I've adopted them as my new mantra: Courage, Effort, Humility, Prayer, and Duty. For anyone facing their own Goliath (which, I think everyone is probably facing in one form or another), I really recommend you read this talk. It's such a relief and blessing for me to know that Heavenly Father knows me, loves me, and is willing to help me work through the difficulties I encounter in life. :)

Sorry that this is such a short update, but I think the next few posts will be on the shorter side. This is post #47 and I have some special things planned for my 50th, so I want to get there fast. Haha. :)

Anyway, have a lovely week everyone!

Worthy Goals

Hi everybody! How lucky do you feel, two blog posts in one day! ;)

So, it's now August and I'm feeling kind of weird. Usually this is the time I'd be thinking of school, getting ready for my classes, trying to cram as much into the remainder of my summer as possible. But this year, I'm not signed up for any classes since I'm anticipating a mission call. It's weird to think about not going to school, especially since I may not be called to leave for upwards of 6 months. I feel good about just working, but still I feel like it'll be very easy for me to become complacent if I have to wait a long time to go on my mission.

With all these thoughts running through my head, I came up with some worthy goals to accomplish over the next three-ish months. My own personal spiritual college course, if you will. So, here's my goals.


1- Read "Jesus the Christ" by James E. Talmage by September 30th.

2- Read the New Testament by October 10th.

3- Finish Preach My Gospel by October 6th.

4- Read one classic literature book per month.

5- Read one book of choice per month.

6- Spend at least 30 minutes outside each day.


So, there's my goals. On Sunday I sat down and marked everything out in my planner and figured out where I need to be in each book each week in order to accomplish my goals. These goals officially go into effect today, August 1st. My plan is to study Jesus the Christ for an hour each morning, Preach My Gospel for 45 minutes each afternoon, and the New Testament for 45 minutes each night. Maybe it seems excessive, but considering that I spend three hours at least on the internet or watching tv every day, I think it's not impossible. I just really want to strengthen and fortify my foundation before my mission by learning more about my Savior and His life and the work He's called me to do.

I've been reading Preach My Gospel kind of sporadically for the past 6 months and am on ch. 4 of that, I'm on ch. 4 of Jesus the Christ (this book is almost 800 pages, I figured I'd better get a head start. haha), and have been studying Matthew for the past two days. Already I can see a change in my life! I'm sad to say I've hardly ever read the Bible in my personal study, but I am absolutely LOVING Matthew! I love Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Those chapters are all basically "How to" chapters and give us tools to examine and evaluate our own lives and how close we are to Christ and being who He wants us to be. I love it! :)

Anyway, I just wanted to officially mark my goals down on the blog so I can keep ya'll updated on my progress. A couple years ago when I did my 12 month plan, having the blog to refer to and be held accountable on really helped me stay focused and reach my goals, so I wanted to do that again with this round of goals.

What kind of goals have you set for yourself lately? How are they going? :)

Something's Missing . . .

It feels like something's missing . . . I can't quite put my finger on it . . . Oh wait! Yes, I remember! My tonsils!

So I got my tonsils out two weeks ago Thursday. The recovery process was fun (I'm lying. It wasn't fun.)! But I did get to eat lots and lots of Pace popsicles, applesauce, jello, and soup. Except for when I couldn't swallow without lots of pain. Then I didn't eat anything. . . Yeah, the days where I couldn't swallow were the worst. Thankfully they're over and now I can happily eat pretty much anything I want. :)

There's also something else missing . . . 28 POUNDS!!!!! :D I'm really happy and proud of myself for this accomplishment. I worked hard, had to make some changes, and had lots of people supporting me. Most of all I know that the Lord was and is supporting me in this weight loss journey. There's no way I could have done what I did so quickly and with such little pain without His help. He wants me to go on a mission just as much as (if not more than) I want to go and I've felt His support and love through this experience. So now, I'm meeting with my Bishop tonight and we're starting up my papers again. Hopefully this week or next we can get them turned in to Salt Lake. :)

Now, it's not over. I plan to continue doing my best to lose more weight. My goal is to have lost a total 50 pounds before I enter the MTC (though, I have no idea when that will be, so it might be an unrealistic goal).

So, yeah. That's all the stuff I've lost in the past few months. Well, there was that one day I lost my pants . . . and my mind. Haha. (It's a K-pop culture reference. Just smile and nod.) ;) But see? Losing things isn't always as bad as we think it will be. Maybe losing something is just setting you up to find something even better!


P.S. I'll post some before and after pics eventually . . .

Unexpected Blessings

I've been meaning to blog for a while, but I haven't really been sure what to say. Putting in my mission papers was put on hold in April due to weight issues. I have to lose 30 pounds before I can turn them in. At first I was really sad about it, but now a month and a half later, I can say that this has been a really amazing journey. I've grown closer to the Lord, become healthier, am happier. Oh, and I've lost 15 pounds. Half way there! :)

I think there are lots of ways Satan tries to work on us to get us to do things we shouldn't. He likes to make us insecure. He likes to make us feel like we aren't good enough, that we're stupid, old-fashioned, ugly, and a million other things. But something I've realized this week is that anytime we're feeling that way, it's not the Lord putting those thoughts in our head. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us as we are. Yes, we have flaws and weaknesses that we need to overcome. But the Lord is much more patient and kind than I think we sometimes give him credit for. Each one of us is beautiful, precious, and loved in the Lord's eyes. He is our Brother, Savior, and Redeemer! There is not a mean or malicious bone in His body. He appreciates any effort we make to better ourselves, and with His help we can overcome any weakness or flaw we may have. Perfection won't be achieved in this life, but with His help we can get a good start. ;)

So, yeah. I love my Savior. He makes me feel loved and special and beautiful. :)

A couple weeks ago I got Bronchitis, which was no fun. But it was nice to just lay around the house all day and get to eat whatever I wanted because it just got burned off by my fever anyway. Haha. While I was sick I wrote a couple songs. But even though I'm feeling pretty much back to normal I don't have my singing voice back. As soon as I do I think I'm going to record my songs and put them up here on the blog. I'm pretty proud of them, so I really want to share them with people. :)

Well . . . I think that's about it. There's really not much going on in my life. I'm working really hard to lose the other 15 pounds so I can turn my papers in, and while doing that just writing stories and songs and spending time with people I love. Those are pretty much my priorities at the moment.

So, to end this post I'll post a video that I think kind of fits how I'm feeling right at this moment. Have a great weekend! :)

Sunny Days!

Hi people of the blogosphere! Wow! Two posts from me in one week! Don't you guys just feel so loved? ;)

Today was such a great day. I got to spend the morning with two of my dearest friends, talking and laughing. Then my wonderful coworker agreed to take on my shift at work so I could spend the afternoon out in the sun enjoying my Spring Break.

So that's exactly what I did. I went out into our backyard, sat in the shade of our cherry tree on a bench and read. There was a nice, cool breeze blowing, birds were singing to each other across the trees. The sky was a fantastic blue with puffy white clouds rolling by over the mountain. *sigh* It was such a good way to spend my afternoon!

Are you all enjoying the weather? :)

Time Just Seems to Fly

It's already March! Can you believe it? *sigh* Where does the time go?

Right now it's Spring Break for WSU so I have a whole week off to play, read, sing, write, and catch up on my k-pop. I like this whole not having school business. :) But don't think that I'm just being a lazy bum. The past two weeks I've really been pushing and working to get my mission papers all done. I've already gone to the doctors and have a dentist appointment tomorrow. Then I'll be able to turn my papers in!

It's crazy to think that soon I could be out in the mission field serving the Lord for 18 months. Crazy, but exciting. And a little daunting. I've been thinking a lot about time lately. Time is such a relative thing. Looking forward something can seem so far away and unreachable, then looking back you realize how far you've come. It's important to live every moment to the fullest, but it's also important to take time to reflect on the past and plan for the future. I only have one life to live and I want to live it to its full potential.

The other day I heard this song come on the radio by Daughtry that just seems to fit my life called "September" about friendship and changes, looking to the future and reflecting on the past. It's a really great song. So go ahead and have a listen!



Also, I have written a couple songs of my own that I'm thinkng of putting up on YouTube and sharing on my blog since the songwriting festival I was going to participate in kind of fell through on me (they didn't have a piano at the venue, which was really disappointing). So, I think I'll film those and put them up before Spring Break ends.

Anyway, time really does just seem to fly. So make the most out of this week! ;)

February Update

Right now it's 1:14 a.m. I just got done editing the prologue of The Elements. I've always kind of dreaded editing, but I'm enjoying the process a lot more than I thought I would. It's been over a year since I've looked at this book. For those of you who don't know, this is the first book I ever wrote and after it got rejected by all the publishers I sent it to I just stuck it in a drawer and moved on. But the other night I just had the urge to pull it out again. Editing it I can see how much I've changed and learned since I wrote that book. I can see why editors rejected it. (FYI, active voice is a whole lot better than passive voice for making a story interesting). Haha. But, I'm going back to the manuscript and re-writing. I'm going to polish it up, make it the best story it can be.

School is going well, but I'm losing my motivation. I like school, I really do. I like my classes and I'm learning a lot in them. But I'd rather be writing. I'd rather be editing. I'd rather be on a mission.

It's so easy to get into this mindset of "I wish" or "I'd rather". But I know that even though writing and blowing off school is what I'd rather be doing, it's not what the Lord wants me to be doing rigt now. And even though I'd rather be on a mission than in school, that's not what the Lord wants me doing right now either. All things have their time and season. I just need to remember that and be thankful for the season I'm in now. :)