Something Special...

I have been so so blessed with a Mom who is talented in basically everything imaginable. She is the worlds most amazing cook, she is always serving others, oh and I guess she can kinda quilt... BUT SERIOUSLY boy can she quilt!!! Just look at this masterpiece she gave me for Christmas! This quilt took her TWO YEARS to complete. Of course she had other projects going on in-between, but that just proves to you how detailed and intense it is. I love it so much and I will cherish it forever. Thanks Mom!

Life is Puzzling!

After I moved down to Florida to pursue my life long dream of working at Disney World, I had a rude awakening that life doesn't always go the way that you want it to. Although I was living in the Wonderful World of Disney, the place where everyone dreams to be, the only place that I was "dreaming" to be was home. I missed everything about home. I missed the mountains, my comfortable house, my family, It got down to the point where I even missed doing HOMEWORK! Yes I said it, I was next door neighbors with Mickey Mouse himself and I would've rather done homework than go to Disney World! I was CRAZY!!!

During all of my homesickness, I received a letter in the mail from this awesome guy who I like to call Dad. In this letter he was giving me all of the fatherly advise he could think of to help me be my happy self again. He gave me a list of things that I could do to fill my schedule so that I had no time to even think about home. But, being the wise man my Dad is, there was one thing that he said that really stood out to me. He thought of this analogy comparing life to a puzzle.  It is so good and so relatable that I just have to share it with everyone. Im not even going to try to rephrase his words into mine because I don't think anyone could say it better than he could have. 

" I like to think that our lives are like a puzzle and we are putting pieces of that puzzle together everyday, with every decision we make. Sometimes we aren't quite sure where the pieces are going to go and where they will fit. Sometimes, we try to put a certain piece in the wrong place. We think we can force it in place and that it will look fine. Some pieces are bright and cheerful and colorful. Some are dark and in the shadows and we wonder why we have pieces like that in our puzzle. Some are the easy corner pieces and the edges and things that make perfect sense in our lives. Some really leave us confused and we can't seem to find a place where they fit. In fact, we hope some of them don't fit and that we have pieces that are just there in the wrong box. I hope you get what I'm trying to say. Life is really really good, but there are hard times for us in all of our lives. It's how we handle the good and the bad that will help determine what our finished puzzle will look like. We might like some of the parts better than the others, but the finished picture should be something we are very proud of. We are all working on our own puzzles, but we have people and family members around us who can help us see where certain pieces should fit. Nobody likes to put a puzzle together by himself." 

This letter from my dad totally changed the way that I look at life, and I hope it changed yours too.  Although others can help us with our puzzle, they can't do it all. Everyones puzzle is a different picture. We might look at someone else's life and think that it is perfect. Don't try to reach over to someone else's puzzle and take a few of their good pieces because you feel like they have more than they need. They will have their dark pieces too. We are all supposed to have those awkward and dark pieces in our lives. Going through hard times and trials forms us into becoming what we are capable of being.  We all also have the bright and sunny pieces in our puzzles. Those ones are an important part of our picture as well. So as you go through your regular day to day trials, sadnesses, and even the good times and happiness, just remember that you are being formed and molded into becoming who you are meant to be! 

Such an inspirational film. He makes such a good point. What a wise little fellow!

Follow YOUR dreams!

             I have always wanted to start a blog, but never had the courage (or ambition) to actually create one! And to be honest, I am still a little nervous about the whole thing. But my goal is to create a positive, inspiring and enjoyable blog for all of my friends and family to read. I think we can all agree that there is WAY to much negative junk in the world and on the internet, and it is always nice to have something happy and uplifting to read! So even if no one reads this I am still going to have fun with it!

            So for my very first post I wanted to talk about basically living life to the fullest.  I think that we all let silly little things get in the way of us enjoying every moment of life. Yes trials and hard times happen to all of us, some more serious than others, but we NEED to trust that the Lord has a plan and that he created this world for us to enjoy. There is so much good in the world. How are we supposed to enjoy the good when all we see is the bad? 

            The reason that this post is titled "follow YOUR dreams" is because well.... YOU SHOULD! Don't get caught up with trying to do what everyone else is doing! This is your life and you know what they say... you only live once :)

           Senior year of high school we were having all sorts of senior assemblies talking about college and our futures. All of my friends were trying to decide what schools they were going to apply for and what they were going to study. College has always been a goal for me in my life, it still is, but I just wasn't ready then. One of my other main goals or dreams in my life was working in Walt Disney World. I had thought and prayed about it for a really long time and I came to the conclusion that school wasn't what I was supposed to do right then. So I made my decision that after my senior year was over I was going to follow my dream and move to Florida. I was so terrified at the thought of moving to the other side of the country, but I was so excited! But when people would ask me what my plans were after graduation I felt almost ashamed telling them. I thought that because I wasn't going straight to college, like most of my friends, that people would think that I wasn't smart enough or that I was just plain old lazy. I hated that I felt that way because it was my life long dream and I should be proud of it!! I had to pray and pray and PRAY for inner peace with my decision. And sure enough Heavenly Father gave me my answer. I needed to follow MY dreams and not other peoples. I know I knew that all along, I just needed to be confident with my choice to be different and move to the "happiest place on earth" and pursue my dream. And I am so glad I did. 

I have learned so many valuable life lessons that I wouldn't have learned if I didn't move away. Yes I went through some major homesickness for the first two months I was here in Florida. Yes I begged my parents to let me come home. But I overcame my homesickness and nearly forced myself to enjoy every little moment. Now I am loving this beautiful place! The point is that we are all different. We all have different dreams and goals. We need to remember that Heavenly Father created roses for us to stop and smell, not walk past because they have thorns! Everything has its own thorns but also its own beauty. Live a positive life, take risks, but most importantly follow YOUR dreams! Adventure is out there so go and find it!