One of God's Many Gifts to the World

Yesterday I did a service project by helping out at Aspen Elementary for their fall carnival and by the end of the event, as I was walking to meet my grandpa for him to take me home, I noticed the sunset.

It was beautiful, as always, and I just was walking along and suddenly I realized that the sunset is different EVERY single time. I think that's why people never get tired of it. Isn't that just an incredible thought? To think that God could honestly just say, "Oh hey, I like these colors along with the sunset, so we'll have this be the same every day all over the world." But no, he took the time to create a sunset for every blue sky, sun shiny day. God is emmaculate and wonderful. Thank goodness for His colors painting the sky just so we have something pretty to look at around dusk.

Music: Healer of the Mind, Heart and Soul

I know that we're all thinking the same thing. We all want life to be easier right? I know that sometimes I wish I could have an easier time with life, yet I always seem to be struggling with SOMETHING. The trials never seem to end. It's just like one after another. Know what I'm saying? Whether it's with family, friends, school, stress... Yourself... Life in general? Yeah, I know just how you're feeling.

Is it normal to go to school feeling anxious because you're afraid that you're going to take the initiative and volunteer for something else in which you do not have time to do?

Is it normal to want to help out with everything and then realize that you've made this choice, but how do you get out of it?

Well, there's no escaping it now. But I can tell you that there is a way to cope with it. Last night I was invited, by my good friend Elder Budge, to his ward to listen to him play a special musical number in sacrament meeting. I can even tell you how much it meant to me for him to invite me. Obviously he invited me cause he wanted to see me and needed the moral support. Regardless of his admitted shaking and nervous feelings, he did a fantastic job playing a fancied up arrangement of "Nearer My God to Thee". Seriously this was just the healing that I needed. I'm not exactly sure what it was about the musical number that spoke to me so evidently but it did, through the spirit, and I was extremely humbled by the fact that I was able to attend such a treat.

I was telling him that music speaks volumes more than any words ever could in some cases. In this case it was a healing of the mind, heart, and soul. I know that somehow he was inspired to ask me to attend his musical number and I know that all the small events leading up to the actual happening of it all, well, it all worked out for the best. Thank goodness.

So I attended two sacrament meetings today. Probably for the best reason. Cause I needed it. I wanted it. I crave the gospel. I'm addicted to it. That kind of gives it a stigma, but hey, that's okay. There's nothing better than having so much of a good thing in your life. Something that you can ALWAYS rely on and it's absolutely, 100% fool-proof.

I just wish that everyone in the world could feel the protection of the gospel the way that us Latter Day Saints do. It's a magical feeling and it's so wonderful to be so enlightened with joy and happiness when we do what we know is right.

Now as Elder Budge prepares to leave on his mission, I pray that he'll always keep music close to his heart and always refer to it if his faith ever grows dim. Music is powerful and can be used to empower the greatness that mankind has to offer. I just wish that everyone else was capable of appreciating the wonderful gift that our gracious Heavenly Father has given us. Often we take music for granted because it's all around us all day every day. I hope that I can learn and help others learn how to appreciate the fact that music is the root to our entertainment, sanity and existence. It's a gift, not to be abused.

Thanks to music, life is good. :)

Back Where I Belong

I am soooo SO ecstatic to announce that I'm transferring back into choir!!! GAH! Super pumped. When I found out that I was taking Business Management (which class I am in right now) for no apparent reason besides the CTE credit, it became absolutely useless to me. I mean, Bus-Mgmt is useful in life, but not when you take it at Timp High. I don't know, that's just my opinion. I haven't learned anything new yet and it's already 3 weeks into the term. Ree-dick-you-luuuus.Anyways, it just so happens that my photo classes that I'm taking this year count as the SAME EXACT CREDIT! Yeah, I just found this out last week and it made me really excited. Yesterday I got permission to switch into Chamber at the end of the term! I don't have to wait until the semester change (thank goodness). I saw the dresses today that we get to have and DUDE. They are actually really awesome and so pretty. And they're not sparkly. (Thank goodness.) Hopefully I look good in it. Here's to hoping. I knew something was missing in my senior year and I knew exactly what it was all along. The fact that I wasn't in choir this year at all made me feel incomplete and now I'm really excited. I feel as though I'm back where I belong. It's a beautiful feeling.

So you know that wonderful photo class that I've been in? Yeah, haven't really learned anything in that class, but I've learned more than Business Management... We turned in a photo shoot already, so here they are! Well, my favorites anyways :)

I will now have the PERFECT B-day after this first term is over.
My classes will go as follows:

Stage Craft (tech)
Seminary
Chamber
Lunch (always acceptable :))
Digital Photo

You should be jealous!

UP SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE: Ha, just wait until I tell you about the paper that I wrote for Bus-Mgmt. Ha, it's complete garbage. Can't wait to tell you about it.

Do you need a reality check?

I have this philosophy about life. In fact, I have a lot, and Maddi and Nikki think that I have too many, but this one, this one is important and essential to my life-long sanity.

Many people notice (or don't) that I wear my hair "up" a lot. In fact, more often than not. I'll just twist my bangs back and then tie my hair back into a bun. Easy, comfortable and doesn't look too bad. Well, let's be honest, sometimes I don't feel "pretty" or "beautiful" but I don't have to be either of those to be confident in myself. I don't think that I'm ugly by any means, but it's all apart of how I trust people. Every once in a while I will straighten my hair for school, but that's for me. Not anyone else. That's for me to look at myself in the mirror and say, "I look good today and no one can tell me otherwise".

Don't get the wrong idea, I can tie my hair back and say, "I look good today and no one can tell me otherwise" too, but when I take the time to get ready, I feel that much better about myself. Granted, I'll probably have my hair up by the end of the day cause it starts to bother me when it gets in my face and I'm trying to do something, but I made an effort so shouldn't that count for something? Same thing goes with putting on "stylish" clothes. I'm totally comfortable in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, or even a t-shirt and a pair of SWEATS (for crying out loud!). I've even been told by a guy that he respects the fact that I wear sweats to school occassionally and he likes that about girls. (Totally made my day, by the way.)

Dress and appearance is important to me, but to be perfectly honest, I want people to see me for who I really am and I think it's easier for one to look past the looks and the clothes and the hairstyles and look at someone's personality rather than their body. We should be dressing nicely and getting ready and taking care of ourselves for OURSELVES, not for anyone else.

Fact: I will get ready to hang out with one of my best friends, because I know and have heard him say that he doesn't care what I look like. He appreciates me for me. He will tell me that he appreciates it when I get ready for a date or ready to just hang out with him. And that's exactly why I do it. Do you get the point yet?

If your "friends" judge you by the way you look and talk and think, honey, I'm sorry, but you need new friends.

Or if you judge your friends by the way they look and talk and think, honey, I'm sorry, but you need a reality check. You are not a friend.

Definition of "friend", (yep, I looked it up in the dictionary): a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard

This is the "not a friend" definition, (I didn't need to look this one up in the dictionary...): a person attached to another by clothes, what they look like and how much money they have

Everyone single person in this world should be able to walk out of their house wearing slippers, a pair of sweats, and a baggy t-shirt with their hair pulled back or uncombed and not care what the rest of the world thinks. 

Unfortunately, not everyone is so lucky...

You know...?

You know when you just don't feel as though you belong somewhere that you've tried to put yourself into?


You know when it's really hard to stay positive about something that you've taken on but then everybody on your so called "team" (if you even call it that...) doesn't even acknowledge your presence?


You know when you thought a couple months ago that you could handle everything, then when it all starts to pile on, the haunting of the stress makes it that much worse?


You know when some things aren't so great in life and then you feel really good about something and then you get chewed out for it and asked what the purpose is for and get told that it's a waste of time?


You know when it's really hard to find someone to lean on?


You know that feeling when you finally don't care what other people think and just do what you do because you can?


You know that feeling when you realize that you have the best friend in the world who is always loving you for you, whether you're having a bad hair day, or you're in a bad mood and everything in the world is wrong and yet, they still love you anyway?


You know when you figure out that that OTHER Best Friend who is always there for you, even when no one else can be for you and He is always there for you even when you're not really paying much attention to Him?


God is the answer to all of our problems, struggles, stresses... Everything under the sun, and yet people still have yet to realize that He is the Mediator and can get us through the hardest of trials (like my senior year for instance...)

Be grateful for what you do have in life and hopefully you will be able to use that in your life to help you through it. God gives us blessings, we just have to be able to see them through the thick fog of suckish problems in life. Hm... yep. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. Can you tell?

The Draper Temple:

I had the wonderful pleasure of going to the Draper temple yesterday with some of the young women in my ward. What a lovely bunch of coconuts. The Draper temple was so beautiful and is the first temple that I have been inside besides the Timpanogos temple. I loved every second of it.

Yesterday at work, I was in THE WORST mood. I was on everybody's nerves and just being whiney and complaining about everything that popped into my mind. It was awful. Then my one of the ladies I work with said, "Savanna, you're having the worst day because you're planning on going to the temple."

Say what?

"Yeah, people will talk about this all the time. They have a really bad day and then they find that it's not worth it to go to the temple anymore and they just blow it off cause they're having such a bad day."

Well, let me tell ya, I was NOT going to blow off the temple because I know very well that it was the only thing that would correct this bad day. Ha, see Satan? I'm smarter than you in that aspect.

Well, I was right. We got into the temple, and I automatically felt peace. Ahh... I love that feeling. Don't you? Yep, it's magical... (to say the least)...

Anyways, here are some pictures:
(And just so you're aware, these are the first pictures I will be posting of me that I do not have braces. Just so you're aware of this... sorry it took me so long! :) )

A Letter to My Future Spouse

Somewhere, out in the world that we all live in,

is my future husband.
I know he's out there somewhere,
and I don't know if I've met him yet,
it's a possibility,
but who knows?
Not me...
He could be a good friend of mine already,
or I could have no clue who he is whatsoever.
But he's out there :)

For a while I've been wanting to write a letter to my future husband.

Nothing too fancy,

just simple and meaningful.

The hardest part was deciding what to say.

I finally figured it out and decided that it would be a good "Sunday afternoon project".

I just wrote about the things that I expect from him and

what I know he'll be like.

For example,

I told him that he would be sitting in the temple while he read the letter.

I wouldn't expect anything less from my future husband

but for him to take me to the temple.

Just stuff like that.

I would definitely suggest writing a letter to your future spouse.

Nothing too definite, but pretty general, but all in all, personal and meaningful.

Put it in an envelope, seal it,

then save it in a special place where you won't lose it,

(don't forget to date the letter!),

and then give it to your "soon to be" spouse on the day of your wedding.

Boys, very few things will earn you more brownie points from you future wife

then if you write her a letter way ahead of time.

Haha, just go with it.

It's fun to think about and do.

At least for me anyways.

Just try! Just for fun!

And always remember, life is good. :)

Let's Review, Shall We?

So having had a junior year bucket list, here are the things that I accomplished (bold), things that didn't get accomplished (italics) and then of course those things that are right there in the middle (both).

Here's the list:

• Go to every dance (Homecoming, Sadies, Bargain Ball, Preference, Prom and Morp - IN THAT ORDER!) 
• It was so much fun. I loved going with all the guys that I did. (Some more than others...)
• Ask a football player out on a date
• Um... yeah. It was good, but not the best choice I have ever made. 
• Be elected Student Body President
• Not exactly. I was all for it, and then I decided to run for something else. So I'm on student council. Yay :)
• Reach out of my comfort zone to make lots of friends and meet a lot of new people
• I felt as though I made a lot of friends this year. And not just petty relationships that will never last. I have some really close friends now that I'm only gonna get closer to during senior year.
• Make Footloose a success, and become as reliable as I can be
• Footloose was stressful, but SOOO much fun and definitely worth all of the time it took. I really enjoyed every little bit of it. (And bossing people around was lots of fun too :) ) 
• Get an A in Calculus (come on... at least one term...)
• Oh brother. Hardest class EVER. I hated that class. Have some good memories with it, but all it brought was pain and misery. Stupid B-'s all year...
• Take summer school to get ahead and so I'm not miserable Senior year... haha
• Not even. Just had to make a few sacrifices in order to fill up my FULL schedule for senior year. It won't be difficult though. I promise I won't be miserable at all.
• Go to every dance with someone different
• Definitely a success. It was a total blast. Izak, Tanner, Andrew, Kaden, Jordan and Alex. So much fun.
• Get Driver's License
• That was exciting. The idea was to get it before my permit expired. I definitely made it happen.
• Get A's and Honors credit in seminary all year
• Ha, yup. Still have some stuff to do, but it shouldn't be too difficult :)
• Pass Calculus AP test at the end of the year with a 4 or a 5
• I shall let you know in July... when we get our scores... :P I felt good about it though.
• Actually TAKE the ACT
• I will be on Saturday... wish me luck!
• Finish the Book of Mormon
• Nope. That's been pushed to a summer goal. And I wrote it down. And it's going to happen.
• Finish Harry Potter Series (I'm on Book 6!!!)
• Oh yeah. Definitely on my favorite books list now.
• Make Show and Chamber
• Nope, I didn't even try out. Had a change of plans and I'm taking photography instead. I'm gonna miss choir a TON, but it'll be totally worth it and I have a lot of memories associated with choir. No worries. I'm gonna miss it a lot, but at the same time, I'm gonna love being able to enjoy all the concerts. :)
• Get braces off
• Urgh... We're shooting for July.

A Temporary Fixture

It doesn't matter how many times you fall.

All that matters is how many times you get back up.

I've been going through a few rough patches lately in life.

Really, the only thing that keeps me going is the fact that I KNOW

that it's not a permanent fixture.

It's kind of nice to think about actually,

knowing that I'll be high on life again.

Soon enough.

It'll come.

I just have to strive for it.

Lately, I've become more quiet and to myself.

I'm still social, and what some might consider outgoing,

but I just prefer not to be judged by others.

Not that I really actually care,

but it still doesn't feel good when people don't care about what you have to say,

or what you want to share with them,

or what you might be excited about in life at the time.

Yeah,

that's alright.

No one is really the perfect friend.

Not even me...

Well, I can think of ONE,

but He's perfect at everything.

No matter what,

He will make you feel better.

I can talk to him about anything,

and he cares.

When you fall, He's the first one by your side.

He'll pull you back up and then lift you higher than you ever thought imaginable.

It's an incredible thought to think about.

When you're frustrated,

He's frustrated.
If it's a problem for you,
it's a problem for Him.

But when you're happy and laughing,

He'll laugh with you,

He WILL enjoy that moment in excitement with you.

He rejoices in our happiness,

probably even more than we do.
(believe it or not)

Someday, I hope to be the best friend ever.

To be the best sister,

daughter,

cousin,

niece,

granddaughter

wife.

Not in this lifetime,

perfection cannot be obtained,

but I can get pretty close

as long as I let Him help me.

It's kind of hard to pull somebody back up,

if they're not willing to get up.

One day.

I just have to start trying to be that kind of person now.

That's the only way it's going to happen.

They do say that in order to become the person you want to be,

you have to start acting like it.

Thoughts become words,

words become actions,

actions become habit

and habit becomes character.