La-Di-Da

So, I am sitting awake in my bed, not sleeping for the past few hours, but listening to that kid's rendition of "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" (from the previous post, a few hours ago). Do you want to know what I think is so amazing? The way people express themselves through music.

For some, it's creating music. The lyrics and the music come from someone's thoughts and feelings. The emotion that is put into the music I listen to just astounds me.

For some, it's sharing music. Whether you are this kid who uses another artist's music to express himself, or whether you are a person who produces music or distributes it, you must believe in it at least a little to share it with the world.

For some, like me, it's listening to it. I don't know about you, but there is music I listen to that corresponds with my mood. I have music that I listen to when I am happy--it's the upbeat, fist-pumping type music. It's the kind you just can't help but dance to. On the other end of the spectrum, there is music I listen to when I am sad. There is also music I listen to to calm down, or music that says exactly what I can't say.

Music is such a universal language. I can listen to something foreign and love it as much as I love my usual music. I was talking to a friend who wants to go to Brazil to play his music. He was telling me how much Brazilians love American music, even if they don't understand what it is saying. That's pretty awesome.

Music creates experiences that can be both personal, and communal. Portable music devices made music a personal experience. Groups, such as choirs, make music a shared effort. Niches, groups of people that share a common interest, are formed based on music preferences, like when people gather at concerts. It can be shared with friends, or be kept special for yourself. I like to share my favorite music with the people I care about most.

I never really realized how special music is to me until these past few days when someone asked me if I know any really awesome music, and I thought twice about sharing it. That may sound a little selfish, but when something is so special to me, I like to be sure it will be appreciated by those whom I share it with.

Music is so amazing. It is truly one of the Lord's gifts to His children. I am just so grateful that talented friends and family will share it with me.  

Happy Birthday

Actually, it's no ones birthday. But here is this kid's gift to the world. Enjoy.

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

Floodgates A-Gush

Church was a little interesting.
It is fast Sunday and for some reason, in testimony meeting, I started crying and that was that.
I couldn't stop. I'm still not completely stable at the moment, but at least I'm not blubbering anymore.
It was quite embarrassing and did not go unnoticed.
My amazing Branch President actually called me to make sure I was OK. He is so amazing and was actually one of the deciding factors of me staying in Utah for a while.
I just want to say that I am OK. It was just a build up of the past few weeks of emotion and low blood sugar. I don't know why it came out all at once, but I was having struggs. (Thank you to Alex Agle for letting me use the word "struggs"--aka struggles--just this once. I owe you).

But, believe it or not, I did get a lot out of Testimony meeting.
President Walker reminded me that even if something is a good thing, maybe it is not meant to happen right now. We need to move forward with faith to work on the Lord's time table.
That is such a hard thing for me to remember. If I know what I want, I want it now.
It is a hard thing to understand and remember that even if it is good, maybe now is no the best time to have it.
It seems to me that sometimes, that's harder than finding out that something is not good, so we should not have it.
Is this making any sense? I hope so, because it is important to remember.

Another thing I got out of Testimony Meeting is what President Fischer talked about.
He reminded me that Satan's sole purpose is to make us miserable.
Sometimes, he gets such a strong hold on us and we can't seem to shake him, but we are never alone. We always have someone to turn to.
Also, at this time in our lives, we are super vulnerable to falling under the bus and being lost. Because of this, Satan is hitting us as hard as he can just to get us down and keep us down.

These things are so important to remember and I feel like they were talking directly to me. Isn't it interesting how the Lord works?

Happy Sunday, everyone. Love you all.

True Love

"True love requires action. We can speak of love all day long—we can write notes or poems that proclaim it, sing songs that praise it, and preach sermons that encourage it—but until we manifest that love in action, our words are nothing..." 

--Elder Uchtdorf

Yoga=Togetherness, Forever.

Yoga. I love it. With my whole heart.
It is amazing. I cannot get over it and I think about it often.
It is sometimes hard and makes me want to die, but I love it so much.
I take a hot yoga class on Mondays and Wednesdays, and I can honestly say that it is my favorite part of those days.
 I sweat a lot. And breathe a lot. And forget to breathe a lot. But it is amazing.

Today, in class, we yoga-ed to Sting and Dido.
WHAT? REALLY?
Why haven't I thought of that?
There is no one better to yoga to.
Except maybe Peter Gabriel.

 Imagine doing yoga to THIS, or THIS.
I know they seem a little crazy and up-beat, but we are talking POWER YOGA, people.
I had an amazing idea, all resulting from Yoga:
Yoga Tuesdays. Everyone from the singles branch would be invited, and we just do yoga together.
Yoga...bringing singles together. Forever.
I think so.

I'm Better With Food

Woah. It's been a while my friends. I am very sorry.
A lot has happened that has kept me crazy busy and preoccupied with things I usually am not preoccupied with. But it's good to have a few changes in life. So I'm not complaining.

Today, I was writing down a list of weird things about me.
I called it, "Weird Things About Me."
I know, I know. I'm super-duper creative.
But it was an amazing exercise.
I tried to come up with things that are truly unique to me--what makes me different from everyone else.
I saw it in a TV show I was watching, and I thought to myself that it would not be a bad idea to try it, too.
The hope is that I recognize that I am different and weird compared to other people, but that's ok because it is what makes me me. And, it helped me remember that I am definitely not the only one in the world that has weird things that make them who they are.

While I has doing this exercise, I kept thinking about a certain scene from a certain movie.
You might know what I am talking about when I say "Jell-o" and "My Best Friend's Wedding". It is a great scene. Enjoy it HERE.

Basically, I kept thinking about how "You're never gonna be Jell-o" may be one of the truest statements in my life right now.
I will never be Jell-o. Maybe I will never be Creme Brulee.
Maybe, I am S'mores, or Can't Say No Sundae, or Banana Pudding.
I'm my own self.
You are your own self.
People can either accept it or not, love it or not. It's not your problem, it's theirs.
It's not my problem, it's theirs.
It is important that I not change who I am just make someone like me, or make someone happy.
I am me, and my list of weird things is going to stay my list of weird things. They are all keepers.

"AHA!" moment.

This is Why I Love Grandmama and Grandpapa's House.

Yesterday rocked my world.
But first, lets go to Sunday, which rocked it even harder.
After church, after dinner, we went walking along the most beautiful beaches in the California.
First, we went to Baby Beach, where I tried my hand at stand-up paddle boarding.
Grandpapa was kind enough to ask a man to let me try his board. It was amazingly fun.

Then, we made our way up to a new beach called Salt Creek. GORGEOUS.
It is the beach that numerous 6 million dollar lots and multi-million dollar homes overlook.
It is also those homes' backyards.
And it is the most beautiful beach I have ever seen.
We all had tons o' fun.

Our House, in the Middle of the Beach.

Beach Explorer 1.

Beach Explorer 2.

Grandpapa and Smushy.

I'd Rather Be Sailing.

Happy Feet.








Grandpapa and Girls.







We kind of love each other.

They kind of love each other, too. Forever. Into the Sunset.