Okay... for school this year, I decided to take 12 classes. Yes I know... that's a crazy amount of classes and I'm probably going to die. BUT one of those classes is a PE class for swimming and I have to record my success and triumphs during the next semester as I'm doing physically active stuff, which is mostly going to be about swimming but I'll probably talk about a lot of other stuff too cause I like to do a lot of other stuff. Especially when it comes to biking and running, but I've invested a lot more time (and money) into biking so I'll probably talk about that more ;)
So... for the sake of keeping this blog alive and in use, I make a decree that it's awesomeness will go up in the charts another 60 bajillion times and that I will get on here more regularly and talk/boast about all the awesomely fun stuff I'm doing with my super active self.
Tata for now friends, I hafta go to swim practice for a few hours :)

Well, I'm back! And I have quite the life story to tell ;)

First off, this new (and revised) blog is going to be about my thoughts on life and what my opinions are when it comes to things I'm passionate about.

So hopefully I'll be able to get on here a lot more often and and share my adventures...
But in the meantime I'll quote the great Tigger and say "TTFN... ta ta for now!"  

Serving Our Fellow Men

I haven't been on here in  really long time! I've been super crazy busy with stuff and it's been lots of fun!
Anywho, I wanted to share this talk my mom gave in church about a month ago. It seriously made me cry and made me want to be a better person right there on the spot and start helping others as much as I possible could, and it worked, cause thats one of the things I've been doing. But thats another story. Right now my mom has the stage, and I want everyone especially her, to know that I love her more than she'll ever know.

Most of these quotes are by Elders of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. And most of the scriptures are from the Book Of Mormon. Just a helpful hint ;)

Serving Our Fellow Men  

Tara Olkjer

        I want to share a story told by Russell m Ballard in the last conference- it was one of my favorites shared. He said:

There is a world of uncertainty, complexity, and confusion. The demands of everyday life—education, jobs, raising children, Church administration and callings, worldly activities, and even the pain and sorrow of unexpected illness and tragedy—can wear us down. How can we free ourselves from this tangled web of challenges and uncertainties to find peace of mind and happiness?

Oftentimes we are like the young merchant from Boston, who in 1849, as the story goes, was caught up in the fervor of the California gold rush. He sold all of his possessions to seek his fortune in the California rivers, which he was told were filled with gold nuggets so big that one could hardly carry them.

Day after endless day, the young man dipped his pan into the river and came up empty. His only reward was a growing pile of rocks. Discouraged and broke, he was ready to quit until one day an old, experienced prospector said to him, “That’s quite a pile of rocks you are getting there, my boy.”

The young man replied, “There’s no gold here. I’m going back home.”

Walking over to the pile of rocks, the old prospector said, “Oh, there is gold all right. You just have to know where to find it.” He picked two rocks up in his hands and crashed them together. One of the rocks split open, revealing several flecks of gold sparkling in the sunlight.

Noticing a bulging leather pouch fastened to the prospector’s waist, the young man said, “I’m looking for nuggets like the ones in your pouch, not just tiny flecks.”

The old prospector extended his pouch toward the young man, who looked inside, expecting to see several large nuggets. He was stunned to see that the pouch was filled with thousands of flecks of gold.

The old prospector said, “Son, it seems to me you are so busy looking for large nuggets that you’re missing filling your pouch with these precious flecks of gold. The patient accumulation of these little flecks has brought me great wealth.”

How do we recognize the wealth in our lives- the small flecks of gold???? To repeat Pres Ballards question- How can we free ourselves from challenges and uncertainties to find peace of mind and happiness?

Alma taught his son Helaman:

“By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. …

“… And by very small means the Lord … bringeth about the salvation of many souls” (Alma 37:6–7).

Pres Ballard asks- What are the precious, simple things of the gospel that bring clarity and purpose to our lives? What are the flecks of gospel gold whose patient accumulation over the course of our lifetime will reward us with the ultimate treasure—the precious gift of eternal life?

The first and greatest commandment loving God. “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:36–40).

It is through small and simple acts that we show love to our neighbors. We have been shown love by our neighbors in large and small acts of service, acts of love-

Kids being given given rides to and from seminary and scouts. Extra cars being loaned when ours was in the shop, flowers left on a doorstep of an overscheduled mom who hadn’t had flowers in years, brothers and sisters willingly filling in for teaching assignments and callings, compliments given to little children after church- reminding them that others are watching their example. Showing up in our driveway with a shovel after a deep snow (and we have a big driveway), sending outgrown clothes to a family full of rough and tough boys who can tear out the knees on the first wearing of new jeans. Including our family in your FHE, family dinners, and service projects. Taking a kid, or two, or five when we were in need. Telling my children your love and appreciation for them- helping them stand a little taller and be a little better.

So many acts of service given when work was rough many years ago…food being dropped at our door, clothes purchased, presents appearing, money being left- most of it without us ever knowing who did it- reminding us that we were not forgotten not by you, our neighbors, or by the Lord.

Long ago our family memorized a life changing poem.

Watch your thoughts- actions

Actions- habits

Habits- character

Character- destiny



The acts of service that I have mentioned given to us by our neighbors, our friends, were obviously precipitated by thoughts (those whisperings of the Spirit) leading to actions, habits, character, and a destiny of a lifetime filled with love. You are focused on the things that matter most when you give to others- something as small as an uplifting word spoken at the right time, a bag of outgrown clothes, a few hours helping shovel the driveway. If Charity is the pure love of Christ then are not daily small acts of service not the things Christ would do if he were here? Many times we are serving and not even realizing what we are doing- just as the young man with the pile of useless rocks. We are weaving flecks of gold into our daily lives.

I service we give within the walls of our own home are often the most difficult. I read recently in a parenting book about the feminist movement: Quote:

“Women who worked (without pay) in the home raising their children and women who worked jobs outside of the home feel pressured from all sides. Women who stayed home to raise the children suffered from feelings of inadequacy to lower self-esteem, to anxiety about not ringing money home to the family, while women who worked outside the home experienced guilt and sadness about being away from their children. The author states, mine is the generation of women who determined with a fresh ferocity to shift the worlds of finance, law, medicine, and any other workplace dominated by men to accommodate us. We are sometimes tired of limited choices, disrespect, and often just plain bored with the mundane task of keeping our homes in order and our children well cared for.”

When we are in the middle of wiping noses, and changing diapes it feels like we will never do anything else in life. How do we find joy in the daily service of others when there are few accolades and immediate rewards (like a clean kitchen) are so short lived???

We must have a paradigm shift. A paradigm shift is a change in our way of thinking. It can take many forms, a conversation with someone who shares a bit of wisdom, an Ensign article, a Women’s conference, a book. Several years ago I had a huge paradigm shift when I stumbled on a blog written by a young mother who was LDS. She loved to take pictures of her children and write little snippets about the joys she found being a mom. She helped me to recognize my blessings- I found her blog when she was in the hospital deep in a coma after a terrible plane crash that nearly killed she and her husband and left her burned and disfigured over 80% of her body.

When she began blogging again her remarks about things little things she missed (being able to bend her arm to brush her teeth- having hair to brush). Her remarks about the joys she was finding in the simple things she could now do were life changing to me. I began each day not caring about the zit I had, just grateful because I had skin- that was whole and unscarred. I had a huge paradigm shift because of the wisdom this woman has shared with me- a woman I have never met and probably never will. Sometimes we do not know how much others need us.

As a young mother someone gave me the book “A Chicken soup for the Mothers soul”. An article in there changed the way I was looking at the daily, monotonous job of cooking and cleaning every young mother faces.

The article was titled Oatmeal Kisses. It began with a question written to Erma Bombeck by a young mother:

She wrote- "I know you’ve written before about the empty-nest syndrome, that lonely period after the children are grown and gone. Right now I’m up to my eyeballs in laundry and muddy boots. The baby is teething, the boys are fighting. My husband just called and said to eat without him, and I fell off my diet. Lay it on me again, will you?"

Okay.

One of these days, you’ll shout, "Why don’t you kids grow up and act your age!"

And they will.

Or, "you guys get outside and find yourselves something to do… and don’t slam the door!"

And they won’t.

You’ll straighten up the boys’ bedroom neat and tidy: bumper stickers discarded, bedspread tucked and smooth, toys displayed on their shelves. Hangers in the closet. Animals caged.

And you’ll say out loud, "Now I want it to stay this way

And it will.

You’ll prepare a perfect dinner with a salad that hasn’t been picked to death and a cake with no finger traces in the icing, and you’ll say, "Now, there’s a meal for company."

And you’ll eat it alone.

You’ll say, "I want complete privacy on the phone. No dancing around. No demolition crews. Silence! Do you hear?"

And you’ll have it.

No more plastic tablecloths stained with spaghetti. No more bedspreads to protect the sofa from damp bottoms. No more gates to stumble over at the top of the basement steps.

No more clothespins under the sofa. No more playpens to arrange a room around. No more anxious nights under a vaporizer tent.

No more sand in the sheets or Popeye movies in the bathroom. No more iron-on patches, rubber bands for ponytails, tight boots or wet knotted shoestrings.

Imagine.

A lipstick with a point on it. No baby-sitter for New Year’s Eve. Washing only once a week.

Seeing a steak that isn’t ground. Having cleaning your teeth without a baby on your lap.

No PTA meetings. No car pools. No blaring radios. No more washing her hair at 11 o’clock at night. Having your own roll of Scotch tape!

Think about it.

No more Christmas presents out of toothpicks and library paste. No more sloppy Oatmeal kisses. No more tooth fairy. No giggles in the dark. No knees to heal, no responsibility.

Only a voice crying,

"Why don’t you grow up?"

and the silence echoing,

"I did."

This article changed the way I looked at my role as a mother, I was able to find the joy in serving. Recently my sweet husband worked a long 12 hour day at the office, ate a very fast, very late dinner, and worked until midnight organizing our family’s sheds for the summer. When I thanked him for all of his hard work and asked how he managed to work so much without a word of complaint or irritation he answered, “What good would it do?”. We are already doing daily acts of service in our homes, the real blessings come when we are able to find joy in the service.

The Savior said in John “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you. …

“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” .

This love the Savior is describing is an active love. It is not only manifested through large and heroic deeds, but also through small daily acts of kindness and service. Moms wiping kids noses, changing diapers, cleaning the kitchen….again. Dads working a long day at the office and coming home to wrestle with your energetic kids, or spending the evening cleaning out sheds you didn’t even mess up. Teenagers picking up a messy house because you can tell mom is overloaded. Children jumping up to do what they are asked with a smile. Neighbors hearing the whisperings of the Spirit, seeing a need, and taking care of it. Thank you for all of your acts of kidness and service over the years- our family has been so richly blessed.

I would like to close with this quote by Pres Ballard, “Great things are wrought through simple and small things. Like the small flecks of gold that accumulate over time into a large treasure, our small and simple acts of kindness and service will accumulate into a life filled with love for Heavenly Father, devotion to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a sense of peace and joy aach time we reach out to one another.”

Let Us Keep Our Bullets

Let Us Keep Our Bullets
Payton O

Is it our right to bear arms in the United States? Is our Second Amendment guaranteed to be in place for all lawful citizens that choose to own a gun? I believe in the right to bear arms for the following reasons. States that have implemented gun control have seen huge rises in violent crimes. Gun control violates our Constitutional Rights. Banning guns would take away a person means to feed and protect their family. I understand the reason for concern about violent crimes, but lawful gun owners are not the problem.

          To start with, States with gun control have seen huge rises in violent crime. In Washington D.C., a district with zero tolerance for guns, had a murder rate of 3.1 people per 10,000, this is 5.6% higher than the U.S average (NRA.com). In England, country that has banned guns has also seen the opposite effect. “Over the course of a few days in the summer of 2001, gun-toting men burst into a court and freed two defendants; a shooting outside a London nightclub left five women and two men wounded; and two men were machine-gunned to death in a residential neighborhood” (Malcolm, 1).  On the other hand, Florida, a state with concealed carry permits, has had only five know instances of gun violence out of the 315,000 permits that have been issued (Los Angeles Times B-5).  With these facts to look at, nonproliferation seems to take guns away from good people, and put the guns in the hands of criminals. Would you want to live in a society like that?

              Next, there is the issue of our Constitutional Rights. Our forefathers, who fought for years for the freedoms that we have today, believed in the Right to Bear Arms. This is the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. If gun control were passed in any part of the U.S., this would be a violation of our rights. We as a whole cannot give up our rights. Once the government is able to stick its nose into taking rights away, it opens up the possibilities of losing any of our rights. Can you imagine no more guns, no more freedom of speech, and no more rights to choose religion? Where does this travesty stop?!

               Then, what do we do for the wildlife, sporting, and protection of our homes guns give us? Should we stop shooting the many animals that society hunts? Without guns wildlife population would spread into cities everywhere. We would not be able to gather with the family at the local gun club for a little trap. People do use their guns for target practice and educate their families in firearms. Any law-abiding citizens have the right to protect their own property against unruly thugs. We still have these rights, do not give them up.

                In conclusion, we need to be aware of what is going on with gun control. This is a right that may not seem important to you, however hopefully after reading this it will be on your mind a little more. We as a Country have to stand up for our rights. Places that have tried gun control have shown it does not work; yet places that allow guns find that crime is lower. That’s interesting put a gun on a person, that rapist might think twice, funny how that works. Also let hunters who want to shoot some game for dinner, have at it. Let us use education to control gun laws not give total control to Big Brother (government).

My poem I wrote for literature class. It was kinda funny though, cause I started out writing about flowers then it kept changing on me to girls :)

The Prettiest Girl (Flower) Around 

I see you there in glory shining bright,
Following the sun and its path of light.
Standing tall above all others in the field,
You grow, conquer, and do not yield.

The little birds take great delight
in playing round you, from day to night.
With your petals of love that always sheen
how very easily you are seen.

But there is more to you than first sight,
More than beauty and grander to delight.
Every beautiful aspect that appears,
Gives praise to the Father dear.

He made you a part of creation,
and you praise him in glorious celebration!
The beauty that within you is expressed,
Gives testimony to his greatness.

Beautiful flower, how I long to be like you!
Glorifying God in all I do.
Following the Son and His path of light,
to worship Him in His glory shining bright.

I can learn from you, my friend,
with every breath, praise to God, I might send.
With all of his creation telling the story,
Might I, with you, proclaim His glory.

Payton O

I found that true friends don't always stay true friends, and that you have to find new ones depending on your vision/goals in life. This last summer my family and I went down to the lower 48 and that's what really helped me join this school called Williamsburg(because I had no outside influences telling me it was a stupid decision) and become a different person than what all my friends here thought I was. When I came back from our vacation, all my friends had changed in my opinion, but I found out this last month that they didn't change at all, it was me it that changed I had become a way better person than what I was before I left. And my friends didn't agree with what I had chosen to do with my life, so they found new friends.

I'm not sure why I just told you all that, but I was trying to get to the point; that our society has changed so much in the last couple hundred years that now everyone is labeled and sent to our "groups" of popularity, brilliance, age, looks, money, and many others, and we're not allowed to leave our groups without being accused of doing something wrong, or doing something against the rules. I decided researched it and found out that most of this "corruption" of the minds of these kids has been parallel to the "corruption" of the government. So every time a president or a group of powerful leaders becomes in charge of our country, thus the social part of most people, mainly kids in school, they become corrupt and brain washed from media and music and friends and everything else the people "in-charge" can throw at them, destroying our country from the inside out.

I still don't know why I'm writing all this down but from what I learned brings me to my next goal - Changing the world back to the way it should be. 

I'm going to start doing hard things and even if I can't change every one at once, I can change one person at a time, and that will make a difference. I know this because someone changed me and I'm returning the favor

“When we change the way we see the world, we change the world.”  ~Warren Macdonald

I was digging through all of my school folder this morning and I found this poem by Taylor Mali, and I realized that our country is falling apart from the smallest least important things like our speech!! Even though we don't know it we're losing our ability to speak our thoughts and our ideas with other people. So please read this and comment your ideas and teach me something new.  

Totally like whatever, you know? 
By Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com

In case you hadn't noticed,
it has somehow become uncool
to sound like you know what you're talking about?
Or believe strongly in what you're saying?
Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)'s
have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences?
Even when those sentences aren't, like, questions? You know?

Declarative sentences - so-called
because they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true
as opposed to other things which were, like, not -
have been infected by a totally hip
and tragically cool interrogative tone? You know?
Like, don't think I'm uncool just because I've noticed this;
this is just like the word on the street, you know?
It's like what I've heard?

I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?
I'm just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty?

What has happened to our conviction?
Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?
Have they been, like, chopped down
with the rest of the rain forest? Ya Know?
Or do we have, like, nothing to say?
Has society become so, like, totally . . .
I mean absolutely . . . You know?
That we've just gotten to the point where we’re the most aggressively inarticulate generation
to come along since . . .
you know, a long, long time ago!

So I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you,
I challenge you: To speak with conviction.
To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks
the determination with which you believe it.
Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You have to speak with it, too.