Flowers

Has anyone had a rough day and come home to your favorite flowers?

This is what I came home to after work! I love white roses!

What is your favorite flower?

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Australia

Today I am going to talk about the top place on my list of places I want to visit. Australia is at the top of my list. I do not know what makes me want to go here so bad. Ever since I was a kid I have wanted to though. I love Kangaroo. I think it would be really awesome to see one outside a zoo, along with many other animals that live around that area.

Here is the list of things I hope to one day do.

• Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef
• Climb Ayers Rock
• Explore Litchfield National Park
• Helicopter Bungle Bungles
• Swim with the giant whale sharks at Ningaloo National Marine Park
• Visit Sydney Opera House
• Tour the Australian Outback

I hope to one day live this dream! 

Have you been to Australia? If so, tell me where you suggest I visit!

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts!

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Self Respect

I thought this was a really good way to think of the world self respect. I have a huge problem when it comes to self respect and self confidence. This is something that I have started to work on a lot in the last month. The more self respect I have the more self confidence I will develop.  Follow these steps for the next month and then let me know how it changes the way you think and feel.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Through The Good And Bad

I saw this tonight and I thought it was very relevant to what happened today. Today was the last day to spend with my mom before her move. It didn't hit me till I was leaving to come home how much I was going to miss her and the house I grew up in. I am glad I got to see my whole family this weekend. This new adventure is going to be tough for a while but I know that Heavenly Father will help e get through it. A lady from my church hosted a going away party for her tonight. It was so heart warming seeing all the people from church that came to say bye. If you put your faith in the lord he can help you through anything.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Hunter Hayes

On Wednesday I went to the Hunter Hayes concert in Colorado Springs. It was a lot of fun. It had been a while since I had been to a concert. Our seats were two rows from the floor. I did not realize when I bought the seats. Dan + Shay and Danielle Bradbery opened for Hunter Hayes. I was honestly more excited for Dan + Shay then anyone else performing. They did an amazing job. I was sad they only played twenty minutes though. I was never really a fan of Danielle Bradbery. She impressed me at the concert though. She put on a great performance. Hunter Hayes was so energetic the whole time he was on stage. I thoughts he could have performed better though. I was amazed with his guitar skills! There were points in the concert that I couldn't believe one person could make a guitar sound the way it did. If you have not heard any of the music by the artists above you should really check them out!

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Five Minute Friday: Friend

I feel like I have been talking about friendships a lot lately, so it was a little ironic that this was today's word. I have talked about my close friends in previous blogs before. I can never express how grateful I am to have them in my life. I am lucky to have a best friend, Caitlin, that even though is miles away will make sure we talk everyday even when it is only for a minute. Amanda, another good friend, has been an amazing friend. I don't know where I would be without her somedays. She also has a little boy my daughters age. I hope they get the chance to grow up together. Then there is Jessie who I have known since she was born. In the last couple years we have become much better friends and have been able to hang out more and do some fun things together. Last and my greatest friend of all.... my daughter. I can not imagine what my life would be like if I didn't have her in my life. She is my favorite person in the whole world and I am happy that she is the one person that will always be in my life! Friends are an important part of everyones life. They are the people that hold our lives together.

I don't have a picture of Amanda and I so that will need to change soon. Here are some of my favorite moments with friends.

How close are you to your friends?

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from tomorrow, live for today, and hope for today." - Albert Einstein

Special Mornings

This week I am thankful for whatever made me wake up for work today. We all have days like this. I do not remember my alarms going off at all. For some reason I woke up right around 5 AM. I had about 10 minutes until I had to get out the door. I am not sure why life does this sometimes. If I hadn't woken up right then I would have missed work. That would not have been good.

I know today's post is somewhat short. Like I said above it has just been one of those days. I should be getting my new computer tomorrow. Hopefully that will prevent anymore delays on posts.

What are you thankful for this week?

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Chalk Cave

What does this make you think of?

I really hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Hawaii

In 2009 my family was able to go to Hawaii. It was a last minute trip but turned out to be very fun. My brother, who was a swimmer at the time, had a meet there. We were not there very long and did not get to see much. We stayed at a very nice hotel on the coast. I loved the view. The water is very blue and very pretty. During one of the not so busy days we got to go visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial. We rushed through a lot of it since we did not have much time. I thought the old ships were really cool. I also got to meet a few veterans that served in Hawaii during Pearl Harbor. Most of the trip was spent at my brothers meet. There were trees surrounding the pool where my brother was swimming and they were very strange looking. They somewhat looked like palm trees, but with less branches and soft leafs instead of pointy needles. The flights were also very long. We watched a few movies and slept a little bit. Especially on the flight back since it was a red eye flight. Overall it was a good family trip and I hope to go back in the near future so I can explore the island more.



I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Effort

It's not about being perfect. It's about effort. And when you bring that effort every single day, that is where transformation happens. That is how change occurs.

This hit me hard this week. I have been slacking off with my workouts and diet since I started my new job. I have been getting so tired by the time I get home that I do not feel like cooking or working out. I am hoping to change some of my routine to help get me on track. It can be frustrating not having your life be in order. If I can stick to something for a full 21 days without breaking it then I should not have anymore problems. If you do not put effort into your goals you will not be able to move forward. I am not saying anyone needs to be perfect or to perfect the lifestyle they have. I know I have not done so and will not be close anytime soon. Every little piece of effort put forth puts you one step closer to perfection.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Easter

HAPPY EASTER

I hope everyone had a nice Easter. I was able to spend it with most of my family and very good family friends. As we were sitting in the living room while my daughter went through her Easter basket, my mom asked why we even do baskets on Easter. I thought that was a very good question so I looked into it. I believe Easter is a holiday to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Easter baskets were started because in the spring it was customary to take baskets of early seedlings to the fertility goddess to increase the chance of a good harvest. The fertility goddess carried a basket of eggs. It then became a hallmark tradition that came from the German folklore of the Easter Hare... aka... Easter Bunny.

I really hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Let It Go

I apologize for this post not getting posted yesterday. In the rush of the holiday weekend I didn't check to see if it posted automatically....and it didn't....

Better late then never I suppose!

My daughter has been in love with this song since the day we saw Frozen! Every time we are in the car she asks to listen to the soundtrack. She loves that song! I love the Demi Lovato version. I think that besides being in a Disney movie it has a meaning as well.

The lyrics in the song say:
It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all
Up here in the cold thin air I finally can breathe
I know I left a life behind but I'm to relieved to grieve

I believe this is a good song about moving forward. Even if you seem like you keep getting knocked down. There is never anything you can do about the past but you can do everything about your future.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Five Minute Friday: Glue

Today's word is glue. Glue is an item that holds things together. These days a lot seems to break around us. Anything from a friendship to a relationship to a marriage. There are also simple things like a bone or a glass. Having an active three year old makes me think about these things constantly. She is constantly knocking things over sometimes even breaking them. Since I do not want my daughter growing up with men coming in and out of her life I also have to be careful with my relationship. One of the most terrifying things is having her get attached to someone that wont always be there for her. I have what seems like few friendships these days and I try very hard to keep them. Glue does not always fix everything. Sometimes the little things but definitely not the life related things. Make choices that will improve your life. It will help life events not to "break", and possibly make people happier.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Coworkers to Friends

I am thankful this week for the friends I have made at my new job. I was not starting this new job with a goal of making some friendships but was hoping it could happen. It has made training a lot more tolerable. Especially considering some other people in my class. One of the ladies I work with lives fairly close to me so we have been carpooling. I am glad we started doing this only because it is saving me tons on gas. I hope these friendships remain even when we find out our permanent schedules.

What are you thankful for this week?

I really hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Disney On Ice

Have you ever been to Disney on Ice? Share your experience with me.

I really hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Arkansas

This is not the story I wanted to share today but stuff happens. Today has been one of those days where you just want it to be over. Unfortunately I have wanted this day to be over since 9:30 this morning. I apologize for posting this so late. It wasn't until about an hour ago that I realized I had not posted today!

I have been to Arkansas many times. My grandparents live there. There was one trip that stands out more because my best friend got to come with me. My mom was having a reunion and she invited us to tag along and participate in the activities. Things took a turn for the worst for me though. The night we got there I ended up in the hospital with what we thought was appendicitis. It turned out to be an extremely bad case of a kidney infection. Needless to say I spent the rest of the trip on the couch with a fever and abdomen pain. My poor friend had to spend the trip doing these activities with my mom. I felt so bad! I think she had fun for the most part though. The car rides there and back were good and a lot of fun though. I hope someday I get to take some more trips with her. It would definitely be fun to do now that we are adults.








I really hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

To Write Love On Her Arms

Last summer was the first time I had heard of this thing called To Write Love On Her Arms. They are a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. They encourage, inform, inspire, and also invest directly into treatment and recovery. In the last four years I have lost three friends to some of the struggles above. It is not an easy thing to struggle with something like that or be a loved one of those people. For anyone who may read this that deals with these struggles, you are surrounded by people that care about you and are willing to listen. If you feel like no one is around to listen, I would be happy to. Sometimes all someone needs is a friend. I recently have done more research into TWLOHA. There are so many ways to get involved so you can make a difference. I recently purchased one of there sweatshirts and it is the most comfortable sweatshirt I have ever worn. One of the ways to get the word out about TWLOHA is to just simply wearing their merchandise. Please take a look at the website for yourself www.twloha.com

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

David Archuleta

I have been a David Archuleta fan since he was on American Idol. I was able to see him in concert in 2009. I did not know he was LDS until about two and a half years ago. He recently served a mission in South America and returned at the end of March. Down below is a 23 minute documentary about David Archuleta and his mission. I respect him so much as a performer. It is very nice to know there are still stars out there with good values.

Please take the time to watch this.
http://www.ksl.com/?sid=29350800&nid=148

Do you all like David Archuleta?

I really hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

ACM Awards

I spent last Sunday night watching The Academy of Country Music Awards. It was hosted by Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton. There was so many great performances. I am a huge Luke Bryan fan. I thought he did a great job on stage. I like Tim McGraw but his performance was not very good. Many of the performances made me crave concert season even more. I am sad that there are many artists not coming to Colorado this year. I am looking forward to the concerts I am already planning to go to though.

Just to recap the night:
     Entertainer of the Year - George Strait
     Male Vocalist of the Year - Jason Aldean
     Female Vocalist of the Year - Miranda Lambert
     Vocal Duo of the Year - Florida Georgia Line
     Vocal Group of the Year - The Band Perry
     New Artist of the Year - Justin Moore
     Album of the Year - Same Trailer Different Park by Kacey Musgraves
     Single Record of the Year - Mamas Broken Heart by Miranda Lambert
     Song of the Year - I Drive Your Truck by Lee Brice
     Video of the Year - Highway Don't Care by Tim McGraw ft. Taylor Swift and Keith Urban
     Vocal Event of the Year - We Were Us by Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert

Every artist that took home an award deserved it. Country music continues to be my favorite genre of music and I look forward to what the rest of this year brings.

Did you watch the award show? What were your thoughts? What is your favorite type of music?

I really hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Five Minute Friday: Paint

Today's word was kind of challenging for me. To be honest I had no idea what I was going to write about when I saw this prompt. Has anyone ever seen the painting that families make with their hands? Like a tree made from their hand prints. That is about how far my painting skills go. I have never been much of a painter. My daughter is to young to use paint so I have not had the fun pleasure of her being covered head to toe with multiple colors. The word painting come to mind when I see the word paint. I love looking at paintings because they tell a story. It is amazing how something so simple can be so amazing. I know there are a lot of random thoughts floating around this post. I hope you can take something away from it.

Paint your life story for the world to see. Don't be afraid to show your true colors.

I really hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

LIFE

I came across this picture this week and and it made me smile. I am thankful I have all of these things in my life. Sleep really stands out this week. I am in the middle of my second week of work and am finally getting used to waking up super early and getting myself on a decent sleeping schedule. I am NOT a morning person so it was a tough adjustment for me. Yesterday I  even had to stay in bed for fifteen more minutes just because I could not wake up. I have started falling into a pattern though and I am very thankful for that. I love my life right now and would not change a thing. I have friends that I get to be around almost everyday. My amazing family I get to come home to after work. I love that my daughter wants hugs and kisses the second I walk in the door.

What are you thankful for this week?

I really hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Music inspired bird

I want to get this tattoo someday. I don't know where I want it though.

What does this picture make you think of?

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from tomorrow, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein 

St. Louis

In 2009 I was in love with a band called Jonas Brothers. I saw them live three times in 2009.  Each concert experience definitely has it's own story behind it. This one was probably had the most excitement. I went to St. Louis for a concert. No other reason. The trip didn't last more 42 hours. Is trip took place in July. I had been going through a very rough month. I had wanted to go to California with some girls I knew to see that concert but that didn't work out. A very close family friend called one day and offer to take me and a friend to St. Louis for this concert. We were going to fly there the day of and fly back the next morning. Only scary part about this was we were going to be on standby. The night before we were supposed to leave I got a call from the person chaperoning us.... She was worried that the flight was going to be to full for us to get on in the morning. We had to make a decision to either leave in the next hour and drive or push our luck in the morning. We talked to our parents and packed quickly and hit the road. We made it to St. Louis a couple hours before the concert. The show was amazing! I loved how even though this was the second show on this tour I had been to, there was stuff I realize from the first show. We stayed the night in St. Louis and drove back the next morning. The drive back was definitely exciting..... On the way back we caught up to the Jonas Brothers tour bus. We spent miles just driving a square around it going down the highway. After that we started seeing smoke in the distance. As we got closer traffic got slower. Turned out that a car that was being pulled on the back of a Uhall caught on fire. Definitely not something you see everyday. The trip was a lot of fun. I was happy to get away from home for the weekend. I want to go back sometime to site see and spend more time there some day.

Have you been to St. Louis?

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts. 

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Trying

"Don't worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try." - Jack Canfield

I love this quote. No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes and occasionally fails. I can not begin to tell you how many times I have failed. There were many times I knew I was going to fail at something before it even happened and wanted to just give up then. When I was in high school I had a rough senior year. I missed a lot of school due to my migraines. My absences resulted into having pour grades. I was told at the beginning of the last quarter of the year that there was a chance I was not going to graduate, especially if I missed more school. I worked very hard that quarter and didn't see much change. When I was ready to throw the towel in, I was told that if I got an A on my finals I would pass and get to graduate with my class. I got a 89% on my final so I didn't graduate. That was one of the worst feelings in the world. I took a summer class though and got my diploma. Without my best friend though I probably would not have finished that class though. All my motivation for school was gone. You never know what could happen if you don't try. Even if it has a possibility ending in failure it is always worth trying.

I really hope you all like reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Everyone has a choice

I started reading the bible from the beginning this week. I want to build my relationship with my church and the Lord and I thought this would be a good place to start. Its hard not knowing what the future has in store. There are days that I wish everything was painted in black and white for me. I want to bring god into my house as much as possible. It will help the decisions I make, the way I act, and improve my daughters life.

If you don't go to church or are not religious, that is alright. I have found strength and peace in my beliefs and my church when I have needed it most. I will always be grateful for that.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Be Okay

Today's song is Be Okay by Oh Honey. If you have not heard this song you should look it up. A lot of songs these days are about love or break ups. This song is an up lifting song. It is about loving life and being happy.
The song says: Whats the point of dreaming when your life is great. Celebrate the feeling. Cant complain about much these days. I believe we'll be okay.
I think everyone should live with this look on life. Now I have had my fair share of ups and downs in my life. Days where I did not want to get out of bed the next morning. Looking back now I wish I wouldn't have wasted so much time worrying about bad things that had happened that I couldn't change.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Five Minute Friday: Writer

The word for five minute Friday this week is writer. Outside of school or work I have written in journals and written little stories that no one else have ever read. I start each year by getting a new journal and trying to write a page each day. Most of the time I barely make it through February. That is why this year I decided to start this blog. It is a lot easier for me to sit down and type my thoughts out on the computer then write in a journal. I am currently training for my new job. This has giving me a lot of time to write. You would be surprised. I have never had a good vocabulary or grammar but I still like to try. I know there are days when I started talking about something that no one else is really interested in reading. Those days are probably days that I just need to vent or just to say what I am thinking out loud. I relax when I write.

Do you like to write? If so what about?

I really hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

My Mother

I know I have been talking about my mom a lot lately. This week I am truly thankful for her though. She is super busy cleaning and packing to get ready for her big move. However, she had time to take my daughter for a night after I had a very long week. I have been very stressed lately and it was very nice to have a night to myself. My daughter was thrilled and had so much fun that she was mad when my mom dropped her off.

What are you thankful for this week?

Quick side note. I know some people have been commenting on the links I share on Facebook. If it is possible please comment on the blog its self and please share with others if you think someone would be interested in reading it. Thank you for the continued support.

I really hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

A child's love

This picture really made me smile. When I saw this picture the caption was "Mommy i'll protect you while you sleep." Crystal does this when I am not feeling good. She has come to realize that if I am not out of bed in the morning when she gets up that I am probably not feeling good. When this happens she will come into my room, crawl up into my bed, lay down next to me, and start rubbing my back. 

What does this picture make you think of?

I really hope you all like reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Mexico

Happy April Fools Day!

My family went to Mexico in December of 2009. This trip was very strange but very fun. I had never been away from home for Christmas before so that was odd. But we decided to take a cruise for Christmas that year. My brother had just broken his ankle so sadly he was in a cast during the trip. We went with a family friend of ours which was cool because I had someone my age to hangout with. The ship was decorated beautifully. We made two stops. One was at the Mayan ruins in Cozumel and the other was at a beach. When we stopped at the beach it was nice to lay out in the sun. My brothers and I got our pictures taken with parrots. They were interesting. The one I was holding kept climbing up my arm closer to my face which scared me. They were beautiful birds though. My friend and I got henna tattoos. They were really cool, but left really bad rashes on our shoulder after a week. I loved how clear the water is in Mexico. I didn't get in the water much. It wasn't very cold which was nice. It was a good break from the ship though. We did a lot on the boat too. We got our nails done one day. There was a comedy show another day that was fun to watch. We played a lot of cards too. We had a very nice dinner on Christmas day. It was a nice trip to get away from life for a week. I definitely want to take another cruise sometime!

I really hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions or thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for day, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein