As many of you know, last week was my first week of being an EFY counselor. And for those of you who didn't know, SURPRISE!
Well, I cannot say anything but that amazing things happened last week. We were witnesses to true miracles. It all started with my amazing co-counselors, Landon and Jenny.
These two people helped me so much! It was incredible how great we got along and how easy it was to split up all the duties and things we had to do.
My girls were incredible as well; I learned so much from each and every one of them. I was humbled by their spirit and how much they truly love and live the gospel. I was able to have the spirit 24/7 with them; they knew exactly when to be outgoing and fun, and they knew when to calm down and let the Spirit whisper those promptings that they needed in their lives. Kaelan, Aubry, Rachel, Erin, Christie, Becky, Madison, Lizzie, Kim, and Hannah, if you ever read this, know that your testimonies truly strengthened mine.
As for the rest of our company. I just have a couple words. FINNA AWESOME! I will never forget Paul's sick cat. Or Matt's surprising us all when he broke out into dropping it low at the dance. Or Brandon's epic I Will Go the Distance. And every other awesome moment, especially dancing with Kara and Jake, and talking and hugging everyone after testimony meeting.
I love you all so much!!! And I meant what I said about having a reunion in the Millenium. I hope that I make it there, and I hope that I will see everyone there.
So here are some pictures of our epic awesomeness...
Chandler's toe-touches during lunch
Christie and Aubry
Madison and Lizzie...and Chandler
Isaac, Matt, and Kara
Kim and Hannah
Capturing our awkwardness!
Rachel and Erin, and... Photobomb much!? :)
Rachel <3
Ray-Ban twins with Quinn!
Brandon and Sarah and some jokesters
Super blurry but I'm only missing 4 girls! Kaelan, Hannah, Kim, Aubry, Erin, Rachel, and I for our secret dinner
This girl helped me to be my most hipster self for Hipster Friday. Thanks Haley!
hahahahaha Colby and Jake
Our most awkward family picture. WINNER. Karlie, Colby, Paul, Amie, Fallon, Abish, Hannah, Isaac, Christie, Haley, Aubry, Erin, Matt, Rachel, Becky, Kara, Brandon, Kim, Sarah, Madison, Lizzie, Hannah, Chandler, Kaelan, Quinn, Shaun, and Jake.
I am now starting my second week of EFY at UofU in Salt Lake. I know that EFY is an amazing program that not only helps the youth to recommit themselves to stand Firm in the Faith, but it also has helped me to come closer to Christ as I strive to live the principles of the Gospel. With that knowledge, I know that this week will be amazing as well!
They have great expectations of me, and sometimes it's a lot of pressure.
But they gave me life.
They have given words of encouragement.
They cleaned up after me and put up with me when I was little.
They also currently put up with me when I behave like a brat and refuse to listen.
They work hard for me to have a bright future.
They are patient with me when I make mistakes.
They listen to me, even when I call three times a day.
I used to think that any time they scolded me or told me that I was doing something wrong it was because they were being hard or judgmental or just annoying. But now, I realize that anytime they tell me something it's because they want to help me be my best self. They truly want what's best for me. And I know that I will still make a lot of mistakes in my life, and I know that we won't always agree in the way to do things. But knowing that they will be there for me in one way or another helps me to know that things will be ok.
I love when my parents write me letters. They have written me letters for as long as I remember. From the poem my daddy wrote to me when I was baptized, to the note my mom wrote in the last package she sent, those notes and words of love and wisdom have carried me through the hard times.
My mom is cool. Sometimes, she calls me Ma Petite. And I like it. She makes the best food ever. And I love that sometimes I don't have to say anything and she knows how I feel.
My dad is cool. He's the funniest person ever. His dreams for me are bigger than my dreams for myself. He has so much confidence in me.
My parent's lessons and example have made me the person I am today. I am grateful that because of them, I can stand on my own and know that someone will always be there to catch me if I fall.
Today's post is inspired by recent events. My roommates and I got to talking about things that some of our friends who are girls have done to us, which make them kind of not worthy of the title "friend." So this is a post about Girl Code. Those unwritten rules that will make a friendship between girls be treasured and enjoyed.
1. Be a good friend, even when it's not convenient for you.
If you're friends with someone, don't just call them when you need something. Take time to build the relationship. Remember Oprah Winfrey's wise words:
"Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down."
I think that's the true meaning of friendship.
2. If your girlfriend tells you that she likes a guy and introduces you to him, DO NOT FLIRT WITH HIM. She already called dibs and it is your duty as a friend to make the guy see how incredibly amazing your girlfriend really is. If they don't end up together, at least it wasn't your fault.
It's not ok to flirt/spend an excessive amount of time with your girlfriend's guy/boyfriend/ and especially, husband! If she tells you she likes him, he's off limits. If they're married, he's definitely off limits. Don't give him pet names. Be a friend!
Now an etiquette rule:
3. If he broke up with you, he is freeeeee. It doesn't matter if it was yesterday, (ok, give yourself at least a week of mourning period.. sometimes, it's ok if it turns into a month) if he broke up with you or you broke up with him, the relationship is over. He was part of your life. Emphasis on the WAS. Move on, girl. Did you not hear Destiny's Child when you were little?
I'm wishin' you the best
Pray that you are blessed
Bring much success, no stress, and lots of happiness
I'm not goin' blast you on the radio
I'm not goin' lie on you and your family
I'm not goin' hate on you in the magazines
I'm not goin' compromise my Christianity
You know I'm not goin' diss you on the internet
'Cause my mama taught me better than that
Yeah, some guys can be heartless, but then again, so can a lot of girls. Some break ups can take longer to get over than others. But we all deal with heartbreak in a different way. Take time to take care of yourself. Know that other girls will like him and date him. It's okkkk. It sucks a little at first, but it will be ok.
4. If you have to borrow money, pay back in a timely fashion. Being friends doesn't give you unlimited access to their wallet. And even if they say it's ok, make sure that you tell them you will pay them back. And keep your promise.
Debts under $10 are ok to pay within the week or even two weeks. Any more than that, and you have to realize that your friend spend a considerable amount (come on, we're in college here, $5 bucks can make a difference) on you and you should pay her back ASAP. Within a couple of days if possible.
At the same time, help your girlfriend out. If she forgot her wallet, it's ok to pay for her now and then.
5. Be nice. We can all drive each other crazy sometimes, but, as my mom said, we were put on this earth to learn from each other and try to perfect ourselves. We know we're not perfect. We know we'll have our weak moments, and our angry moments, and our teary moments together. But it's always easier to go through these moments when we know we have a friend by our side.
Let's build each other up, instead of tearing one another down, yeah? We'll be so much happier because of it.
I called home Sunday night, and I was in for a surprise.
The first thing my mom said was, "Did someone tell you the latest yet?"
She proceeded to tell me that that Sunday, my friend, Kara Strebel, had given her farewell talk in Church. She went in to the MTC yesterday, to go serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Philippines. Apparently, during her talk, she talked about me and how certain things that I had said when we used to hang out in high school made her want to improve her family relationships, specifically with her sister.
Earlier that day, my sister had sent me a somewhat teary (I could tell!) text about how she was so happy that we had chosen each other in the premortal life to be sisters upon this earth. I was kinda confused by her text, but now I understand why.
I never thought that something that I did in high school would ever come back to me. I always thought that my change upon the world would come from becoming a doctor, or serving a mission, or you know, something big... I don't mean to say that I think I changed the world with my attitude. But Kara's words about me and about how my attitude made her want to change her attitude came at just the right time. She made me see myself in a new light.
I think that during our teenage years we think that our actions are our own and that they don't affect anybody else. Of course, the more we grow up, the more we realize that this way of thinking is completely flawed. Everything we do affects somebody. Kara reminded me of that.
Her words especially touched me because, even though Kara and I went through our good friends phase, I lost contact with her after high school. Which is normal, right? The people that come with you to college are the ones that you keep in contact with the most. It was always good to see her during vacations and I would occasionally see one of her posts on Facebook, but I never thought that my attitude about my relationship with my sister during high school would have an impact upon anybody besides myself.
Today, I am grateful to Kara for reminding me that what I do matters.
Somebody is always watching.
And I don't mean that in a creepy way.
Our actions today can have an impact upon people, even if we don't know it.
And I am also grateful to my sister. For being the type of example for me to follow. I know that we chose each other!!! haha, nobody else would have put up with me in the ways she does.
Yesterday I realized one of the problems of our generation.
I had to wake up really early because a couple of months ago, a wonderful soul broke into my car and stole my license. So, my dad woke up early with me and took me to the DMV (oh, the delights of being home!) to get a duplicate.
As we were standing in line for the DMV to open, Dad and I had a pretty interesting conversation with the people that were standing in line with us. There were three of us in line,--because we got there REALLY early--one was a man, probably mid forties and the other was a woman of about the same age. We started talking about how it was ridiculous that even though we got there that early, we were probably still going to have to wait in line for about an hour or two (I ended up waiting for five!) to get our issues resolved.
The conversation flowed from the ridiculousness of bureaucracy, to complaining about how our tax money was being cut from the schools and probably being allotted towards politicians' salaries and whatnot, to how Pelco was one of the most successful companies ever in Fresno.
When we finally stopped talking for like a minute, I started to think about how nice it was that we were talking.
And that's when I came to the conclusion, our generation's biggest blessing and curse is technology.
I realized that I hadn't talked to anyone while standing in a line in forever. Not that I stand in lines all the time, but when I do, to take a test, or order food, or something like that, I never talk to anyone around me. And no one ever talks to me. Because we're all looking at our phones. We're always looking at what someone's posted on Twitter, or Instagram, or Facebook.
Even if we don't have anything to look at. We've pressed "Refresh" more times than we can count. We scroll past the same posts over and over. Mostly because we have this idea that talking to someone we don't know is AWKWARD. What the heck does that even mean? I don't think I ever even used that word until after Napoleon Dynamite came out.
Things are only awkward when you make them awkward.
Talking to someone you don't know doesn't have to be awkward. You could actually come to learn something new. You could make a new friend. You could brighten up someone's day. And even if you don't, you could always gain a little more faith in humanity as a whole by learning that somebody else doesn't appreciate PSY as a faux-artist.
Maybe if we stopped obsessing over our virtual selves, we could learn more from life from the experiences of others every day.
So here are my suggestions to make all this awkwardness go away:
1. Put your phone away. Unless you're really bored in class because your teacher is reviewing what a proportion is, and you learned about proportions in fourth grade. (And maybe even then, you should probably be paying attention because when they explained it in fourth grade, you might have been busy folding up a cootie-catcher or something.)
2. Have the courage to talk to people. Compliment someone because of their cool shoes, or sweet watch, or awesome Proenza Schouler dress back from the days when they had a collection at Target. Maybe they're carrying a book; ask about it.
3. If a stranger makes a comment to you or tries to spark up a conversation, answer with more than a one-syllabled answer.
4. Be open-minded about the ideas of others. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. You don't have to like everyone's opinion. Just because you disagree with someone doesn't mean it has to be WWIII.
And that's all. Let's learn what we can while we can, right?
Which naturally means that my mind will focus on anything but the things that I'm supposed to be studying.
So, I really should be studying, but one's brain can only handle so much ochem. That is, in my case, a minimal amount.
Instead, this is what I'm thinking.
I don't know why I find this so funny. Probably because my Ochem TA showed it to me a couple of weeks ago. He was the most wonderful TA ever. Ryan Byrne Cook. If you ever see this (which you probably won't) know that your funny videos made me want to come to lab every day. and I don't even like cats. they make my nose itchy. and they make me sneeze a lot. That's a distraction for ya.
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