Our Timeline Vs. HIS Timeline

Hello everyone!

I've been doing quite a bit lately, and I honestly forgot that this blog existed. I figured now would be a really good time to write a post, especially since I leave in 6 WEEKS.

Yes, you read that correct, 42 days until I enter the Provo Missionary Training Center! It's so crazy, when I opened my mission call I had 109 days until I left. Time has legit flown by, which is exciting and scary at the same time. It's definitely been a stressful time in my life, knowing I'll be away from home for 18 months. Although, I will say, the time leading up to getting my mission call was particularly stressful as well. I'd like to share my story of how I came to know I should serve a mission! (:

I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on September 13, 2013. My best friend, Andrew (currently serving in the Little Rock Arkansas mission, visit his mission blog here) performed the baptism, and it was such a special day.

(from left) Elder Murdock, me, Andrew, Elder Laititi 

So crazy to think that this day was less than a year ago. At that moment and time, I had absolutely no intention on serving a mission.

Then, a week later, it happened.

I can't tell you what I was doing, or what I had been thinking about previously.
I might have been on YouTube, watching mission call openings? It was probably something like that, haha. ANYWAYS I was sitting there, and a very sudden (and at the time irritating) thought popped into my head:

you should serve a mission

I sat there, with this sudden thought and laughed.
I mean really, me? I had JUST gotten baptized, I had never read the Book of Mormon, didn't even have my first calling in the church yet, had never visited the Temple. Why would I serve a mission? And how, not knowing the scriptures?

So basically I shrugged the idea off. Or, at least, I tried.

Every single day from that point on, I had this thought literally in my head 24/7. Again, just like when I investigated the church/decided to get baptized, I didn't tell anyone for quite a while. THEN, I got my patriarchal blessing. I'm not going to directly quote it, but let's just say it basically called me out. This was the beginning on November, and I remember looking at Andrew and simply saying "Well, I'm going to serve a mission".

I started going to mission prep in December. My anxiety kicked back in, and I seriously was just like "NOPE NOPE NOPE CAN'T GO ON A MISSION I CAN'T TEACH AND I CAN'T THIS AND BLAH BLAH BLAH"

Okay, now fast forward to March 2014.

With my history of depression, self harm, anxiety and all that jazz, I needed to talk to a therapist at the LDS Family and Social Services office. They were all so sweet, and I was so nervous. What if they told me I couldn't serve? The day before I went in to see the therapist, I had this prompting to make all my appointments that I'd need to make in order to start/complete my mission papers. This was the first time that I didn't question a prompting, and I just did it. All the appointments were all going to happen within 4 weeks, including getting my wisdom teeth out.

You can imagine my fear when I went in the next day to meet the therapist. If I was told I couldn't serve, then I would need to cancel appointments. I would need to let everyone know I wasn't ready, and I was afraid everyone would be disappointed. Honestly everything was riding on how this meeting went.

**SPOILER ALERT: I WAS CLEARED TO SERVE AND HAD MY PAPERS IN JUST OVER A MONTH LATER**

So hooray! I was ecstatic to have finally gotten my papers submitted to Salt Lake!

To save time and explaining, I'm going to make a little list here, to show you what my expectation was:

• Receive Mission Call on: March 23
• Serve in: California or Utah, Spanish Speaking
• Leave: October 1st, Provo MTC
• Farewell talk would happen on September 28th

Ha. haha. hahahHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:

• I received my mission call on June 12
• Called to Serve in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission (English speaking)
• I leave on October 1 for the Provo MTC
• Farewell is on September 14th 

So. Instead of waiting 2 weeks, I waited FIVE.
I thought I was going to be super close to my home in Arizona, just one state away. NOPE 5-6 HOUR PLANE FLIGHT AWAY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN.
I thought I'd be Spanish speaking, I'm speaking English.
I leave October 1st, like I had expected. My farewell talk was unable to take place on the 28th, because of General Conference, and then the Sunday before THAT is the Primary Program.

Now, I am not complaining. I am SO excited. Hawaii, I'm so attached to the islands already. I adore the people, even though I have not met them. Those 5 weeks of waiting taught me so much, about how to have FAITH in our Heavenly Father's timeline, not our own.

I KNOW that this Gospel is true. As I have typed out this little tale, I realize how much I have learned in this past year about faith. Even though I'm a recent convert, and may not know the scriptures as well as everyone who has taken and graduated from seminary, I do have one very strong and vital tool to serving a mission:

I have a strong testimony of this gospel. 

I know that the gospel was restored through Joseph Smith. I know that President Thomas S. Monson is a prophet here on earth. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that I am proud to call myself a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

. 

I had such a strong prompting to serve a mission ONE WEEK after I had officially became a Mormon. I am so blessed that the prompting and idea never left my head, or else I may not have been given this amazing opportunity to serve the Lord.

I love this Gospel. I know that Christ performed the Atonement, so that we could live with our Heavenly Father again. I know that He loves each and every one of us.

I am so blessed. Blessed beyond belief, really.
I have such an amazing and supportive family, especially my Mom. Even though she is not a member, she is still supporting me as if she were. I love her so much, and I know I couldn't do this without her. (:

Mahalo, all! (:

Mahalo, Heavenly Father!

Dear Sister Noriega,

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
You are assigned to labor in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months.

You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, October 1, 2014. You will prepare to teach the gospel in the English language.

WELL HAWAII WASN'T EVEN ON MY RADAR BUT HEY I'LL TAKE IT.

Oh my goodness, waiting for this mission call was absolute torture. People will tell you that it isn't that bad. Yeah, those people who tell you it wasn't that bad probably didn't wait 5 weeks to receive their calls, so don't listen to them :P

I was terrified to open this envelope. And why wouldn't I be?! This letter contained where I would be serving for a year and a half. It had the day I was leaving home. It had what LANGUAGE I'd be speaking! I feel like I was allowed to have some anxiety about the whole situation, really.

I remember reading my mission call Saturday night. The moment that I read "Hawaii Honolulu Mission", I was shocked for a good few minutes, before this wave of comfort and assurance came over me. Heavenly Father called me to the Hawaiian islands for a purpose. The Spirit has confirmed to me these past few days that Hawaii is my mission!

I am so blessed. I had SO MANY PEOPLE  show up to my mission call opening, members and non-members. I have the most supportive parents, friends and church family. I look at my life a year ago, and honestly can't believe how far I've come in such a short amount of time. It makes me feel so happy to think about how much the gospel of Christ has truly saved me, and brought so much joy. Joy that I was convinced I could never feel.

I leave home and report to the Provo MTC in... 107 days! AH.

I was so stressed that I'd be leaving September 10th. For those of you who don't know, in order to go through the Temple and receive my endowments to go on a mission, I must be a member for 1 year.
I was baptized September 7, 2013.
If I had been called September 10th, I'd literally have 2 DAYS to go to the Temple. Yeah that would've freaked me out.

BUUUUUT Heavenly Father knew. He knew my needs, and this is all on His timeline. I have been taught through this experience that I truly cannot plan out everything. I need to let go of control, and realize that if I continue to live the gospel, I have no need to fear. Heavenly Father loves us all, and He WILL provide. He only wants us to succeed, and He WILL bless us as we continue to follow the commandments.

Okay, so I'm about to make all of you jealous... so I will be in Honolulu. Want to know what's in Honolulu?

LOOK AT THIS GLORIOUS, BEAUTIFUL TEMPLE.

The Laie Temple was dedicated in 1919, and it is just. Wow. I cannot believe I get to serve in such a beautiful place!

I will **hopefully** be posting more often, as I begin the process of SERIOUSLY preparing to leave and serve the Lord. If you know anyone that has served in this mission, or if there are other sisters reading this that will be serving in the same mission, PLEASE CONTACT ME. (:

I love this gospel! I know that it's true, and I know that my family, myself and (hopefully) the people of Hawaii will be blessed because of my decision to serve.

Mahalo, friends and family! Come back soon! (:

Worst. Wait. EVER.

Hello everyone!

Been a while since we've been on my blog, eh?
Well, since the last post I made, here's what's happened:

• Past my 1 year mark, for the last time I self harmed (YAY)

• I went to the Newport Beach Temple, which is pretty beautiful!
  

• Then I went to DISNEYLAND :D

Oh. And one other thing....

MY MISSION PAPERS WERE SUBMITTED TO SALT LAKE AHHHHHHH!!!!!!

So I mean, I'm kinda freaking out. Between the time I began my mission paper work and turned it all in was just over a month. I have had so many missionary opportunities with so many people around me, just by going through this process!

I will admit, though, it hasn't been easy since those papers were submitted. For one, I can feel Satan working on me. The closer that we get to Heavenly Father, and doing what He wants us to do, Satan's like "Welp, can't have that!".
Rude.
Through prayers, and blessings from Priesthood holders, I'm making it through. (:

Number 2, though.
Mhmm.
If you know ANYTHING about me, well. I'm not a patient person.
I am also a control freak.
So here I am, every single day, checking my LDS Missionary Log-in page to see if my call has been submitted. (**SPOILER ALERT THEY HAVEN'T BEEN AS OF 2 HOURS AGO UGH**)
Although I will say, I am so blessed. My Bishop and Stake President have been so patient with me, and offer comfort. I actually just emailed my Stake President a while ago, and asked when I should be concerned about not receiving my call. He told me that my mission papers are "in process", meaning they have received my call and are pondering where I should serve.

I'm so impatient, but I know that this wait will be worth it. I cannot begin to explain how much I want to serve the Lord, and bring others unto Christ. This Gospel has brought so much love, happiness, comfort and support into my life. I know that it's true, and I know that I have been saved in more ways than one.

Best part?

I have the opportunity to spread the Gospel, and help change lives for the better. I can use my testimony of this Gospel to save others, and that in itself will make all the trials I've been through more than worth it.

I'll try and update more, I promise! Thanks for reading, come back soon for more random adventures from me, soon-to-be Sister Noriega!

I will let everyone know when my papers are submitted, start thinking about your guess's on where I'll serve! (:

Restoring Hope;

Love is Louder

I am about to celebrate a very significant date in my life, and I am ready to share my story behind the date.

On March 1st, of 2013, I began my recovery journey.

Last January, I was diagnosed with panic/anxiety disorder and severe clinical depression. A large part of the story that nobody knew, though, was that I had been self harming for quite a long time.

I won't go into too many details, but I had been scratching, biting, punching, and pulling out my hair since I was a little kid. My self harm, depression and anxiety all hit me extremely hard my senior year of high school, and I started cutting myself. I didn't tell anyone for quite a while, afraid of the judgement and shame I would feel from everyone around me. So, I hid.

After a while, I finally told my best friend Andrew. He was/has been the best support, and didn't judge me. He tried to understand the best he could and was so loving and patient with me. I will admit, I felt extremely bad for him. He had to see me at my darkest, and he was the only one I would talk to for quite a while. On top of that, I was not always nice to him. If you know me, you'll know that I'm just a liiiitttttlllleeee stubborn. I often would get angry, and take it out on him. Seriously, this poor guy, I would have THE MOST irrational feelings and arguments. But the entire time, Andrew took the time to listen to me and tell me that I was wrong. He never yelled like I did at him, and he never faltered when I would get upset. The entire time, Andrew tried to make me see my worth.

I just wasn't able to believe him at the point I was at, unfortunately.

On March 1st (a Friday), I had a particularly bad panic attack. I had harmed myself pretty severely on my right arm, and was wearing long sleeves to cover it. As I was crying, this guy who went to my high school came up to me with a Sharpie. He said "Do you trust me? I want to write something on your arm.". Of course I was extremely hesitant. By the way he had asked, I knew he must have known I had harmed myself. I did eventually roll up my sleeve, and he took my arm. As he was writing, he said "Whenever you want to hurt yourself, I want you to look at this and remember that you are loved. You have so many people here on Earth who love you, and God loves you. Read this and know that you are never alone."
I put my sleeve down, and didn't look at what he had written until I was about halfway home. I looked at my arm, and on my right wrist I saw the word LOVE written in black Sharpie.

That night, I gave my razor to Andrew.
I had him take a picture of my arms that night, so that I'd be able to look back and see how much better my arms looked. I will not post this picture, but my goodness it's amazing how well I've healed. I'm so grateful for that.

The same night, I told my family about everything I had been doing.

One week later, I told my psychologist that I had began recovery. Immediately she told me I needed to be admitted to the psych ward in Thunderbird Hospital. I was terrified, but I knew it was necessary.

I was in the hospital for about 4 or 5 hours, with my Mom by my side.
I calmly told all the doctors and therapists that came to see me exactly why I was there, why I self harmed myself, and was able to describe everything I was feeling.

After all the evaluations, the doctor came in and he looked at me and said "I'm really surprised you're here. I'm confused, you are able to explain your emotions so well. Most people who self harm don't know how to communicate their feelings, but you are the exception. You don't need to be admitted, unless you think it would be best."
I told him no, and that's when I was referred to the best therapist EVER, Dina.

I know why I went to the hospital that day, it was so that I could begin therapy with Dina, who to this day is one of my favorite people. She and I are totally on the same wave length, and we both taught each other so much. I have found that art therapy is powerful and has been essential to my recovery.

I did relapse with cutting, once. It was after I had stopped someone from ending their life, and it brought up a lot of bad feelings.
You know what though?
I don't regret helping her. I am so grateful that she is alive and beside me in recovery to this day.
I received a Christmas card from her this last Christmas, and it turns out she also lives in Arizona! I cried when I got the card, because if I hadn't been online that night to help her, she might not have been here to write that card.

I am coming up on my year mark. My relapse happened April 24th. I asked my friends to take some pictures of me, to celebrate my recovery.

My blog is called "Restoring Hope" because that's exactly what I want to do with my story. I want to restore hope in the hopeless. I want to tell everyone that having a mental illness is not shameful. There is NO shame in it, and you are not the only one. You would be surprised how many people deal with different mental illnesses, I know that I have been.

I do have scars on my body. And you know what? I'm not ashamed of them. It shows that I was stronger than the thing that tried to kill me. I am a warrior, and they are my battle scars. My scars are a part of me, but they don't define me.

If you are reading this, and you are suffering, listen to me:
-You are loved more than you know

-I am proud of you 

-There is infinite hope

-You are NEVER alone

-Recovery is not easy. But it's worth it.

-There is no shame in mental illness. 

LOVE IS LOUDER.

With the help of Andrew, and all my other loved ones, I know that I have so much worth. I know that I am loved, and that I will never be alone.

All the pain WAS for a purpose. I've helped a few people that I know, just by sharing my story. That alone tells me that it has all been worth it.

Thank you, to everyone who has supported me through the years. I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell everyone while it was happening, and I hope you can forgive me. I know I was awful my senior year, and I felt I owed it to all of you and to myself to share.

I have so much love in my heart for all of the people who've supported me. Thank you, so much. I hope I can make you all proud (:

Here are the links to the different organizations that have really helped me through recovery, with the different messages and projects that they do:

-http://twloha.com/vision
-http://www.loveislouder.com/the-movement/

Thank you all, for taking the time to read this.
Have a wonderful day. (:

I will be posting pictures in a different blog post in a while! Come back soon!

“I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being.”

I want to share a story, of what happened this afternoon to me.

My brothers and I were coloring in the kitchen, and then we heard the mail truck. I asked my brothers if they wanted to go check the mail with Sissy, so of course they ran to get their shoes. I open the garage, and my brothers run off as fast as they can. As I'm mid-yell, Vincent (6) trips, and Tony (4) lands on top of him. Vincent just, starts SCREAMING, because he had scraped his chin on the sidewalk.
Naturally, I'm frustrated that my brothers didn't listen to me, but I felt bad Vince had gotten hurt. The 3 of us went back inside, and I cleaned up Vince's face.

After that, I decided to go back out and check the mail by myself. I had left the garage door open (since I was only gone for less than 5 minutes, and our neighborhood is generally a safe one).

I walk out, and I instantly hear shouting.
There is a man with 3 dogs, and he's yelling obscenities at his three dogs. His three dogs had gotten super excited when they saw this ladies dog, and they ran and got all excited and the 4 dogs all got tangled up. The lady who owned the dog that the other 3 had ran to was calm, and just trying to get her little dog untangled.

This man though, he was yelling "GET THE F*** OFF OF HER", "YOU LITTLE F***** GET OFF".

The lady finally untangled her dog, and she hurriedly picks up her dog, and starts walking away fast, because after that the man didn't stop yelling. He continued to yell these phrases at these dogs, and well, I really don't want to go into detail, but he basically started beating his dogs right there in the street.

This whole time, I'm standing in my garage in shock. I wasn't able to move, and was horrified about what I was watching take place in front of my house. I felt sick to my stomach, and once the man started beating his dogs I ran inside, shut the garage, and called 911.

Now I've never called 911 before, but they were very kind and calm. I told them where I lived, gave them a run down on what had happened, and described what the man was wearing and which way I thought he had gone.

Even typing all this up, I'm shaking, and feel sick.

I called my Mom, and she talked to me on her drive home. She told me that there were a couple of police officers, looking for this man, driving around our neighborhood.

As much as I am sickened and, honestly traumatized by what I saw and heard, the situation could've been a lot worse for me. It was a blessing that Vince had fallen down and gotten hurt, or else the 3 of us would've been out there as this happened. I don't know what the dogs, or my brothers, would've done had they seen what I had seen happen.

I'm grateful that we were protected, but I am still angry by what I saw.

The thing is, these dogs were bigger than Chihuahuas, but not as big as a miniature schnauzer. I have two 5 month old Rottie/German Shepard mixes, and these 3 dogs MIGHT HAVE been as big as them. Those dogs weren't attacking the little dog, or their owner.

The man had such bad rage, and just. I hate to think about it.

I have a feeling, though, this isn't the first time this man has done this to those dogs.
I don't know if the police ever found the man, but I will pray for the safety of those animals, and any other creature he may own.

I am so thankful that Heavenly Father kept my brothers and I safe, and that I was able to act fast after seeing the man beat his dogs.

It makes me think of how angry and upset I get, when I see those Sarah McLaughlin commercials. Oh, you know the one. "In the arms of an angel..."
Yeah.

NOPE.

Animal abuse is real. If you ever see any creature being abused, please contact emergency services. Any creature that God has created is precious, and are here to be loved. Not to be used as a punching or kicking bag.

“The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but "Can they suffer?” 

 Be kind to others. That doesn't only apply to human beings.


Thank you for reading this. I know this is a more serious matter than what I usually blog about, but I feel it's important to bring awareness to the real issues in the world as well.

"Hair is important"

I just feel the need to write about my journey that I've been on this past month.

My journey with my hair.

About, over a month ago, I was out with my close friend Mady, and I was like "Yo, I want to color my hair, I'm going to buy hair dye!"

Now I've been coloring my hair since 6th grade. I've had blonde, dark brown, bright red, dark red, nearly black, a vast majority of colors. At this point, it was dark with extreme roots showing up there.

SO, walking through Target's hair aisle, I see a hair lightening box, and I read it.
It said "Will make even the darkest hair light! Evenly distributes through all your hair!"

On a whim, I decided to buy this box. Normally I either do red or dark brown, so this was a major change.

First mistake I made: I didn't talk to anyone about the decision I would soon regret.
I consulted nobody about it, and went directly home and colored my hair. Or attempted to.

Want to know what happened?

My roots were blonde.
The rest of my hair was dark brown.


NO SERIOUSLY.

LOOK AT IT.


So that was awesome.
I spend the rest of the night FREAKING OUT and trying to figure out a solution.

My options were to go get a hair treatment to take all the color out, color over it and risk severe damage to my hair, or dealing with it.

Naturally, I chose to color over it. I went with red, and it was actually nice!

For a few days.

Then it became this ugly faded brown color, and my hair was fried. I felt so ugly, for the time that I had colored over the initial mistake color that happened.

WELL YESTERDAY I got my hair cut for the first time since June, really, and my stylist told me that my hair was damaged at the ends, but not overall terribly as I had assumed.

Again, on another whim, I told her to cut off most of my hair.

And then after I was given the go by my stylist, I colored it.

HELLO HERE IS ME WITH MY DARK BROWN SHORTER HAIR AND I DON'T FEEL NEARLY AS UGLY ANYMORE YAAAAYYYYYY.
(KAY I realize my haircut doesn't look that much different but she cut a lot off and it is actually styled somewhat and is super thinned out)

Hair is important.
If you're having a really rad hair day, you feel good about yourself and it is just a really awesome feeling.
When you're hair is a hot mess, you feel just like a hot mess.

It's been one heck of a year for my hair already. I plan on letting it grow out, and sticking with only dark brown for a long time.

So yes, you just read a blog post all about the hair on my head, and I really appreciate that. You must really love me to read through this! :P

Thanks for reading! Come back soon! (:

I hope they call me on a mission!

Alright everyone, this isn't going to be one long text post as it usually is!!

If you would like to see a video of me talking about my mission preparation, please follow this link (I promise that Vimeo is safe!).

I made the video yesterday! I apologize if I come off as awkward, haha.

Originally, I was going to keep quiet about the evaluation and everything, but I have a strong feeling that I should post this video. Not sure why, but here goes!

Thanks for reading/watching, come back soon! :D

 

https://vimeo.com/87742977

"This is like one big object lesson!"

Yesterday, my really close friend Arianna and I went on a hike.

We climbed Thunderbird Mountain, around where the new Phoenix Temple is being built!

Now. If you know me, you know I have been anti-outdoors for most of my life. I tend to not like being outside, I don't like getting dirty or sweaty, I don't enjoy the bugs that are found often in the outdoors.

SO you can imagine my surprise, as I found myself agreeing to go hiking with her. I absolutely adore Arianna, so my motivation to go was so that I could get some time with her, and the fact that we would be going to see the Phoenix Temple construction sight!

It was such a beautiful day. We started climbing at about 5:30, around sunset (there we too many clouds, though, so we will be hiking another day to see it!). There was a slight breeze, so that was nice. There weren't many people, so nobody was really around to see me attempt to hike for the first time.

Let me just say, I am totally out of shape. Within the first 10 minutes, I was breathing heavy.
Within the first 30 minutes, I legit stopped in mid sentence and said "I think I'm going to vomit, yo."

Arianna kept telling me though, I'm strong, and that it'll be so worth it once we reach the top. It will be worth all the effort to just, be on top of that mountain and see the beauty of everything from high up.

There was a point where I stopped, looked up at the sky, and yelled a prayer.

''HEAVENLY FATHER PLEASE GIVE ME THE STRENGTH TO FINISH CLIMBING THIS MOUNTAIN AND HELP US TO BE SAFE. PLEASE. HELP. I SAY THESE THINGS IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, AMEN."

Suddenly, I kid you not, there was a strong breeze. I felt the pain in my legs lessen, and I knew Heavenly Father was answering my prayer, right then and there.

So guess what happened next?

 

We made it to the top, and let me just tell you, it was absolutely, 100% worth it.

Being on the top of that mountain, I felt such a sudden rush of peace rush over me. Everything was so silent, calm, and serene. All the pain in my legs disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place.
Looking around, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of Arizona.

 

Arianna and I have such an amazing bond, and she is my favorite person to discuss the gospel with. While we were hiking, we talked about the many blessings that come from having faith in our Heavenly Father, and enduring to the end.

 

I compared this hike to when I decided to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: The beginning was rough. I knew at the beginning that the decision would be worth the end result, but it didn't mean that the journey to that point would be easy. I knew going into it how hard it would be, but I knew it would all be worth the trials and struggles I would face.

This hike was not only good exercise; it was such a spiritual experience that I got to share with one of my best friends. I was able to reflect on how much this church has changed and blessed my life. Hearing Arianna's testimony, and how much she loves this church, gives me so much strength.

In my prayers, before I went to bed, I thanked our Heavenly Father for this beautiful place we get to live in. I thanked Him for giving me the strength to be able to reach the top of that mountain, and truly realize the beauty of what's around me.

I think a lot of people in life don't take the time to truly look around and see the glory of what is directly in front of us. I'm so thankful for this earth we've been given to live on, I'm thankful for the gospel that I am living, I'm thankful for Arianna and for her strength and support.

It's interesting, one of the first things I said on the hike was "This is like one big object lesson!"

It really was (:

OH AND LOOK THE TEMPLE IS BEAUTIFUL EVEN UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

 

My goodness I can't wait to see it completed!

Thanks for reading! Come back soon! (:

"Why do you have a Pop-Tart box?"

I was cleaning out a bunch of my drawers the other day, and I had a bunch of the things you would typically find in a dresser drawer: papers, clothes, pens, pictures, dust, dust, and more dust.

Then, I came across something really odd...

I looked at it for a while, questioning myself, "Alexis, what sort of sentimental value does this generic brand of Pop-Tarts box have to you?"

THEN I turned it over, and I realized why I had kept it.

Every year, the SMHS choir/orchestra/band department go on a California trip. There are performances, classes, and on the last day we go to Disneyland!

Well, I was lucky enough to be able to spend the entire day with my best friend, Andrew, in Disneyland and California Adventures!

That morning, we had gotten fast passes for Space Mountain (because, as many of you know, that is the worst wait line EVER). We got the passes around noon, and our passes told us to come back between 7:30-8:30.

So we had a lot of fun, we met the Dapper Dans, rode a good majority of the rides, took lots of pictures, Andrew bought me my first Dole Whip, all was right with the world!

Then at about 7:45pm, we headed over to Space Mountain.

While we were waiting in line, just before we boarded, Andrew turns to me and says "Hey, do you know at which point they take the picture on here?"
Well, I mean, yeah, of course I did because I don't even know how many times I have been on this ride!
So I tell him yes, and he says "Okay, tell me right before the picture is taken, okay?"
I was like yeah, alright sure, thinking he just wanted to make a funny pose on time or whatever.

We sit in the little rocket, and we are putting our stuff away in the little pouches, and I look over at Andrew and he was pulling a box of generic Pop-Tarts out of his backpack.
I asked him "Why do you have a Pop-Tart box?"
He didn't answer me, and I didn't even think twice about it.

The ride starts, it's super fast and all, I yell "POSE!" at the end, and the ride sadly came to an end.

Being the person that I am, of course I posed. I was super curious to see what Andrew had done, so I ran ahead of him to see the picture. He was like "Alexis! No, don't run!" (what why not rude).

I get to the picture area, and there's a crowd around a certain picture, and I was really confused. Then some dude turns around, looks at Andrew and I, and says "DUDE did you ask her?"
Andrew said "Yes, now can she please see the picture?"

And this is what I saw:

Needless to say, I said yes, and might've cried a little. Seriously the greatest surprise EVER.
Asking me to prom, in Disneyland?
A+, 5/5 would recommend.

Andrew is currently in the Mexico MTC. He has been in there a week now, and will be there for a total of 6 weeks. He will then head to Little Rock, Arkansas, to serve the rest of his 2 year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
As much as I miss him, I am also super happy for him, and so proud. I know how hard he's worked to get to this point! He has been such an amazing example to me, and those around him.

Here's a link to his blog!
http://littlerockspanishspeaker.blogspot.com/

Finding the Pop-Tart box, seriously made my week.
Just thought I'd share. (:

Thanks for reading! Come back soon!

"The days are long, but the years are short."

I really love this quote. I know that I am one of those people that looks ahead and stresses about the future and doesn't always enjoy the things that are happening *right now*.

So, I suppose that is the whole purpose of this blog. To document my life, and to be able to reflect on the events that are happening. Honestly, there are so many things that happened during high school that I told myself "I will always remember this feeling!". Yeah, guess what? I don't really remember that much, and I've only just graduated about a year ago!

I am 18 years old, and there is so much happening in my life. There is so much change, day to day, week to week.

For a lot of people, when they look at their lives, it all seems to be moving slowly and sometimes it feels like the days are never-ending.

For me, I do that thing where I'll say "Oh yeah! Remember freshman year when this-and-that happened? WAIT THAT WAS ALMOST 5 YEARS AGO WHAT?!" (actual reaction I have in these moments).

So.
The days ARE long.
BUT the years, themselves, are short.

I know starting a blog may not seem like a worthy time investment right now, but I know in 1 year I will thank myself for doing this. That's just, how I am! (:

I should probably introduce myself now...

My name is Alexis, I'm 18 years old and currently residing in Arizona.

I love cinema, literature, television, music, pop culture in general really.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (I was baptized just over 5 months ago!). I am preparing myself to serve the Lord, and go on an 18 month mission to wherever I am called. Keep me in your prayers, there is quite a bit I have to do to prepare to serve!
There is a basic summary of me. As I continue writing, my story will be told, and I'm just really loving life right now!

I may post a few frustrations here or there, but this blog is not intended for me to be negative and sad. In fact, I'll just, leave this here to close my first post...

 

 

Thanks for reading! Come back soon! :D