so good

Some things are just so good, ya know?

Like the excitement that builds up right before a trip.

Or the countdown drawn on your back door.

Or getting off the plane and having a lady dressed in 12 shades of blue tell you she likes your "volunteer" t-shirt.

Or playing with your sisters on the beach.

 

 

 

Or seeing dolphins while you boogie board.

Or eating dinner outside with your family while the sun sets over the ocean.

Or attempting to make Mickey in the sand.

Or singing hymns while running through the breaking waves like an airplane.

Or getting 24 hour donuts at 12:01 AM.

Or going on a run along the beach in the morning, listening to the crashing waves and seagulls chirping.

Or taking a cliche "NO LIFEGUARD" picture in your new lifeguard shirt.

 

Or biking along the boardwalk with no hands and seeing an upside down stop sign.

Or seeing your baby sister's smile going down splash mountain.

Or waiting for an hour and a half behind a cute little family of three princesses to ride the new Cars ride and then exploring Cars Land at night.

 

 

Or getting the coolest water bottle thermos ever.

Or going to the beach for a final time before going home.

"where's the beach?" request by dad

Or coming home to your best friend's smiling face.

Or sleeping in your bed, alone, for the first time in a week, dreaming of those happy memories you've just made.

 

 

Until next time,

 

A

dream big dreams

So I found this quote yesterday, and decided it's my new motto.

 

"The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal.  The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.  It isn't a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream."

-Benjamin Elijah Mays

 

 

So any time someone tells you your dream is too big, or unrealistic, or excessive, or unreachable,  DON'T LISTEN.  You've got to have that something that keeps you wanting to move forward.  That gets you excited to wake up the next day.  That fulfills you.  That makes you happy.  And even if that dream does end up being too big, at least you had it.  And that says so much.

 

Dream big dreams.

 

Until next time,

 

A

 

 

i've been thinking

Some things just make you think. 

Like General Conference, when they announce girls can serve a mission at age 19.  So I've been thinking. 

What do I want in life?

-I want to share my testimony through the way I live.  I want to make others want to know their Father in Heaven and their Savior.  Maybe I want to serve a mission more now than I did before.

-I want to go places where I can make a difference to people, to make their lives better, fulfilling their basic needs or sharing the gospel, or being a friend.

-I want to be able to travel to new places, meet new people, try new things.  I want to teach my kids to love and embrace other cultures.

-I want a house full of kids, driving me crazy and filling me with love.

-I want to marry my best friend and prince charming in the temple.  I want to be in love completely.  I want his favorite parts about me to be my imperfections.

-I want to make someone's life different, especially a kid.  I want to take care of a kid who might not have all the opportunities I could offer.

-I want to make friends wherever I go.  I want true friends.

-I want to be happy.  I want to always remember how blessed and how lucky I am.

-I want to be healthy and teach my kids how to be active and eat right.

-I want to live the gospel and have a strong testimony always.  I want people to know how much I love this church and my God and Savior.

-I want to learn from all my trials and grow from them.

Well, now that I sound all needy and demanding, let me explain a little.  Basically I've just described my perfect life, I know there's a lot on there, and there will probably be more someday.  Things that I think will make my life perfect.  But I know things won't be "perfect".  Because I know that God's perfect plan is so much better than mine.  I know that there will be hard things, and trials, and times that I just want to give up.  But that's the thing.  I know those times will come.  And that's part of what I want to make my life perfect.

So here's the problem.  I have big, semi-unrealistic, dreams.  There's so many things I want to do.  But there are so many more important things that I want and know are more important.

I want to do like 5 study abroads.

I want to do a dozen humantitarian projects.

I want to go on a hundren vacations.

I want to have the perfect, successful career.

I want to go spend my life on an airplane bound for new places.

I want to go live in a village in Africa and teach orphans.

I want to go adopt a needy kid from 8 different countries.

I want to do so much.  And it's all good stuff, but it's just not possible, there's not enough time, enough money, enough me.  And the other thing is, I want that other stuff so much more, and I know that it's what matters most.

So, now I'm sitting here thinking, it seems like I do that a lot, and I'm facing a major decade of decision.

college
mission
marriage
job
children
home

Decisions that will shape, alter, and pave the road to my future. 

There may be some u-turns, some forks, some off-roading, some major highways, some detours, some merging, some ups and downs, some twists and turns.  The road won't always be clear and straight.  I might have to change cars a few times, or get repairs.  There might be construction, or I'll run out of gas.  Maybe I won't be driving the whole time.  But eventually it will all get me to where I'm supposed to go.  It will all shape who I am and determine my purpose and life.

With God's help, I will become who I am meant to be.

So bring on the prayers, the scripture studying, the tears, the stress, the joy, the fullfilment. 

Until next time,

A

"If God is your copilot, switch seats."

-unknown

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference." -Robert Frost

peanut butter brownies

brownie:

1 C butter or margarine

1 C sugar

1 C brown sugar

2/3 C peanut butter

2 eggs

2 C flour

1 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 C oatmeal

1 tsp vanilla

 

directions: cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar; add peanut butter and eggs; combine flour, soda, salt, oatmeal, and vanilla; add dry ingredients to peanut butter mix; mix well; spread onto greased jelly roll pan; bake at 350 for 20-25 mins; frost with topping when cool.

 

frosting:

5 C powdered sugar

4 T butter or margarine

1 C peanut butter

1 sm (5 oz) can evaporated milk

1/2 C chocolate chips

 

directions: cream all ingredients together and spread on top of cookie; drizzle melted chocolate on top.

 

The mess...

I had to leave a section without chocolate
for my crazy chocolate hating friend, Carly 

 

I really struggled with melting the chocolate,
burnt in pan, who knows what in white bowl,
and finally melted in red bowl!!

FINAL PRODUCT!  Yummy..or so I hear..

So, listen.  Here's the story of why I made these absolutely delicious peanut butter brownies, when I can't even eat them.

I've been noticing there's a lot of bad stuff in the world.  And it's been hitting close to home a lot lately, me, my friends, my family, my neighbors.

Heartbreak.
Divorce.
Sickness.
Hypocrisy.
Lies.
Stress.
Not loyal people.
Peer pressure.

I could go on.  But you get the picture, and I'm sure there's stuff you could add.  Bad stuff.

So I decided to try to cheer some people up.  I wrote little cards to my friends and took them some brownies, and chatted if they needed to.  For some of them, it was no more than just telling me about school, for others it was more.  And for me, doing that cheered me up. 

Even though my night of service kinda took a detour, it still made me feel better for a while. 

But, you see, the bad stuff didn't go away.  And it's not going to.  Life's hard.  And you're strong.  So you put on a happy face and make the best of it.  And you learn.  And you grow.  You fix your mistakes and you become better.

Life's not perfect and it's not meant to be.  You just have to trust that God has a plan special for Y.O.U.  That everything that's happened, that's happening, and that will happen is part of that.  You've got to have faith that it will work out how it's meant to be.
 
So it's your turn.  Go make someone's day!  Make yourself an army of good things to kill all of those bad ones.

The End.

Until next time,

A

p.s. the brownies really are amazing! try 'em out!