Soccer History: Started playing when I was 8 on coed teams. I played recreational soccer until 7th Grade. I made my middle school team 6th-7th Grade. 8th Grade I moved to St. George where I bounced from team to team until I could finally try out for the high school soccer team. The high school team was so much fun, but also very stressful. I don't ever remember having a problem with running until I made the high school soccer team my freshman year. I'm not sure what happened, but all of the sudden I had mental blocks in my mind about running. Freshman and Sophomore year I made the team, but it was with struggle that I survived the dreaded conditioning weeks in the summer. After playing soccer for most of my life I decided my Junior year that the stress, anxiety, and exhaustion wasn't worth it after all and I tried out for the Fall musical instead. Since that time I haven't even touched a soccer ball or thought about it that much.
Present: My roommate LeeAnn took a soccer class this semester and last weekend she was talking about trying out for a competitive girls soccer team. Upon finding out that I have played most of my life she encouraged me to try out with her. Try-outs were Friday and Saturday for two hours each. It was an amazing feeling to put my shinguards and cleates back on and run around kicking a soccer ball. At frist I was a little retarded trying to get used to controlling my foot movements again, but it all came back to me very quickly. On Saturday when I was debating whether I really wanted to do this or not I found myself dealing with feelings of fear, anxiety, and exhaustion. I decided to try and overcome these feelings and continue my try-out. Saturday night I got a call from one of the coaches inviting me to join her team the Lady Hawks. This week has been our first real week of practicing and it has been so much fun! I was surprised to find out how many girls had also not touched a soccer ball for 3+ years. Our first game is tommorrow at 8:00. I am excited to get to know the girls on my team better and to finally have fun playing soccer again.
I'm in college!
Friday, September 17, 2010
So, it's about time that I update this thing. My life is moving forward...FINALLY! I am in college! I have looked forward to this time in my life since I watched my sister Holly go and come home. I am enjoying the independent feeling that comes from moving out of your parents home. I have been in Rexburg, ID, for two weeks now going to school at BYU-Idaho. It's AMAZING up here! My first week was fun, but a little exhausting. BYU-I has a new student/Freshman orientation called Get Connected. It's a lot like a mini EFY. We did a lot of fun things and a lot of really awkward interesting things. The highlights were morning sides with President Clark, learning more about my major, and hiking Mesa Falls. School started last Thursday. I'm still adjusting my high school trained mind to think like a college trained mind, but it's going well.
My roommates are amazing! I have been so blessed. I live in an apartment with 5 other girls and it's so fun. Sometimes it's hard to get anything done because there is always something fun going on. I am the youngest of all the 5 and I'm so grateful for their help and examples. My room roommate is named Miki Weston. She is from Iowa and served a mission in Seattle, Washington. We have a lot of fun distracting each other from our homework. In the back left room there is Alicia Warwood from Battle Mountain, Nevada. She also served a mission; to Alaska. We like to strategize silly ways to get boys to notice us amidst the thousands of other girls. Sharing her room there is Eliza Layton. What an amazing girl. Just called as our relief society president. We have had many spiritually uplifting talks the most. I love that in the morning the first thing I hear her say is a compliment to one of us. These girls are my work out buddies. No freshman fifteen for me. Now, in the back right room there is LeeAnn Riggs from Ohio. She is our drama queen. She's a sophomore studying Theater. I love it when she gets real dramatic. It makes me feel at home. Sharing her room is her cousin Jenna Cabe also from Ohio. Jenna kills me. She is so funny. Most of our nights consist of sitting in our living room talking and laughing at all the funny things Jenna says. I love my roommates!
I'm looking forward to the rest of the semester and becoming more comfortable with my new life here in Rexburg. As I get used to my new schedule hopefully there will be more updates coming.
My roommates are amazing! I have been so blessed. I live in an apartment with 5 other girls and it's so fun. Sometimes it's hard to get anything done because there is always something fun going on. I am the youngest of all the 5 and I'm so grateful for their help and examples. My room roommate is named Miki Weston. She is from Iowa and served a mission in Seattle, Washington. We have a lot of fun distracting each other from our homework. In the back left room there is Alicia Warwood from Battle Mountain, Nevada. She also served a mission; to Alaska. We like to strategize silly ways to get boys to notice us amidst the thousands of other girls. Sharing her room there is Eliza Layton. What an amazing girl. Just called as our relief society president. We have had many spiritually uplifting talks the most. I love that in the morning the first thing I hear her say is a compliment to one of us. These girls are my work out buddies. No freshman fifteen for me. Now, in the back right room there is LeeAnn Riggs from Ohio. She is our drama queen. She's a sophomore studying Theater. I love it when she gets real dramatic. It makes me feel at home. Sharing her room is her cousin Jenna Cabe also from Ohio. Jenna kills me. She is so funny. Most of our nights consist of sitting in our living room talking and laughing at all the funny things Jenna says. I love my roommates!
I'm looking forward to the rest of the semester and becoming more comfortable with my new life here in Rexburg. As I get used to my new schedule hopefully there will be more updates coming.
WORK!!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
The summer before I turned 16 was probably one of the hardest summers of my life. Among many reasons the main one was because I needed money and I couldn't get a job. I even tried to convince my very protective dad to let me work at the Sno Shack selling snow cones. He didn't buy it. Finally my birthday rolled around and thankfully I was blessed with a job. I was hired to be a Hostess/Salad Girl at Pasta Factory. I was so excited. My first night was hard. It was slow and I was not used to standing that long. I remember my brother making fun of me after I had complained how stiff I was.
It has now almost been three years since I started working there. Where has the time gone? When I think about how much time I have spent at Pasta Factory I am a little disgusted, but it has been a great blessing in my life. There are days when I come home tired and frustrated, but as I am leaving so soon I realize how much I will miss it. The job itself is easy and mostly fun, but it will be the people that I miss the most. For some reason people don't seem to leave that place. Year after year pass by and it's still the same people opening the restaraunt, waiting inside, and cooking the food. This is precisely the reason why I will miss it. These people have become a family to me. I'm slow to admit that it has actually become a sort of home to me. On nights when I have been stuck at home alone I have found myself making up reasons to go to pasta to cure me of my lonliness.
In the fall Tuacahn offered me a job working in concessions. Thankful for the extra money I accepted. Now that it's summer and I am practically working 24 hours I don't know how thankful I am for the extra job. There are some days when I work at Pasta in the morning and Tuachan in the evening. This week I had to do that two days in a row. I am thankful that I am young and I can physically do this, but mentally I don't know how much more I can take. Work has become my life! I am thankful though, expecially when it is pay day! Well, it's 4:20 and I'm due at work at 4:30 so I'm off....
It has now almost been three years since I started working there. Where has the time gone? When I think about how much time I have spent at Pasta Factory I am a little disgusted, but it has been a great blessing in my life. There are days when I come home tired and frustrated, but as I am leaving so soon I realize how much I will miss it. The job itself is easy and mostly fun, but it will be the people that I miss the most. For some reason people don't seem to leave that place. Year after year pass by and it's still the same people opening the restaraunt, waiting inside, and cooking the food. This is precisely the reason why I will miss it. These people have become a family to me. I'm slow to admit that it has actually become a sort of home to me. On nights when I have been stuck at home alone I have found myself making up reasons to go to pasta to cure me of my lonliness.
In the fall Tuacahn offered me a job working in concessions. Thankful for the extra money I accepted. Now that it's summer and I am practically working 24 hours I don't know how thankful I am for the extra job. There are some days when I work at Pasta in the morning and Tuachan in the evening. This week I had to do that two days in a row. I am thankful that I am young and I can physically do this, but mentally I don't know how much more I can take. Work has become my life! I am thankful though, expecially when it is pay day! Well, it's 4:20 and I'm due at work at 4:30 so I'm off....
Daughters of God
Thursday, July 22, 2010
In May I graduated from high school and was given the book Daughters of God by M. Russell Ballard as a gift. I just recently finished it and have found it absolutely amazing. As a young women getting ready to start my life, go off to college, meet my eternal companion, and start a beautiful family this book has given me hope and strength. The worth of a righteous woman is diminishing in the eyes of the world, but it will never diminish in the sight of our Eternal Father. Near the end of the book Elder Ballard speaks of the Savior and his humble response to the Father's question, "Who can I send?" The Lord simply replied "Here am I, send me." Elder Ballard then continues and encourages us to be the kind of women who, when asked to do hard things, simply replies "Here am I, send me."
Finishing this book was the perfect ending to a journey that I started in February. Five months ago I was encouraged to sign up for the Bryce Canyon Half-Marathon. I struggled for a long time debating whether or not this was something I really wanted to do. For weeks I mused over the pros and cons of this task. In order to do this I knew that I would have to rely on the Lord. So I started running. At first it was only two miles, but eventually I worked up to three just in time to start my real training. In May my sister Holly and I started training together. Each run was an opportunity to converse with my loving Father. He taught me so many things, about myself, about Him, about this life. My training finally ended and the race was here. The Thornton's, Mckay, Mom, and I had a great time that weekend enjoying Bryce Canyon. The race was hard. Harder than I expected. It was long. 13.1 miles is a long way to run, but just like so many times before the Lord sent his angels to rescue me. One of them was in the form of my sister Holly. What an amazing women. I am truly in awe at the women she is. As I struggled to keep positive the second half of the race I would often times look at my sister and thank my Heavenly Father for such a strong sister that could help me along my journey in life. There were many times I would feed off of her energy and that would be the only thing getting me through my runs. I know I could not have done this race without her. There have also been many times when I have ran away to her house crying about how hard my life is and she would listen and give me advice and even deal with my melodramatic scenes. How grateful I am for her in my life.
I finished the race. 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 28 minutes. I was able to run it in my goal time with 2 minutes to spare. I am filled with gratitude to my Savior who carried me through it. In the end, as I have pondered this experience, the most valuable thing that I have learned is that I am a Daughter of God, who loves me and I love him. He is my strength, my hope, my everything. He knows me by name and will do anything for my happiness and the happiness of all his precious sons and daughters. When I am weak, then am I strong.
As my life moves forward and changes I am thankful for this knowledge that I have been given. Inevitably trails will come, but I hope I can always remember this and when the Lord calls upon me I pray for strength to simply reply "Here am I, send me."
Finishing this book was the perfect ending to a journey that I started in February. Five months ago I was encouraged to sign up for the Bryce Canyon Half-Marathon. I struggled for a long time debating whether or not this was something I really wanted to do. For weeks I mused over the pros and cons of this task. In order to do this I knew that I would have to rely on the Lord. So I started running. At first it was only two miles, but eventually I worked up to three just in time to start my real training. In May my sister Holly and I started training together. Each run was an opportunity to converse with my loving Father. He taught me so many things, about myself, about Him, about this life. My training finally ended and the race was here. The Thornton's, Mckay, Mom, and I had a great time that weekend enjoying Bryce Canyon. The race was hard. Harder than I expected. It was long. 13.1 miles is a long way to run, but just like so many times before the Lord sent his angels to rescue me. One of them was in the form of my sister Holly. What an amazing women. I am truly in awe at the women she is. As I struggled to keep positive the second half of the race I would often times look at my sister and thank my Heavenly Father for such a strong sister that could help me along my journey in life. There were many times I would feed off of her energy and that would be the only thing getting me through my runs. I know I could not have done this race without her. There have also been many times when I have ran away to her house crying about how hard my life is and she would listen and give me advice and even deal with my melodramatic scenes. How grateful I am for her in my life.
I finished the race. 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 28 minutes. I was able to run it in my goal time with 2 minutes to spare. I am filled with gratitude to my Savior who carried me through it. In the end, as I have pondered this experience, the most valuable thing that I have learned is that I am a Daughter of God, who loves me and I love him. He is my strength, my hope, my everything. He knows me by name and will do anything for my happiness and the happiness of all his precious sons and daughters. When I am weak, then am I strong.
As my life moves forward and changes I am thankful for this knowledge that I have been given. Inevitably trails will come, but I hope I can always remember this and when the Lord calls upon me I pray for strength to simply reply "Here am I, send me."
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