Still Believe the Best is Yet to Come

     Ever hear of a little band called Red? Well I heard them for the first time like a year ago when I saw this amazing routine done to one of their songs. Wish I could say that I immediately fell in love with them...because I didn't...but they did grow on me. And now I really appreciate a lot of their songs and respect them as a band {which is a huge compliment coming from me because I don't respect a whole lot of artists out there...I mean I like a lot of them but it takes a lot for me to respect them.} 
     Anywhoosers the reason I bring them up is they have a song on their most recent album "Until We Have Faces" called  "Best is Yet to Come." And, at the risk of sounding so cliche and so cheesy that it will make you want to throw up, it really spoke to me. {too bad that does sound really cheesy and kind of makes me a little sick to my stomach but there just isn't any other way to put it} Unfortunately I don't know what the composers of the song's original intent was, but I did take my own interpretation from it.
     Every year at this time {right before a new school year starts} I get a little nervous. Like I don't want to move on because I'm afraid that if I keep growing up the best moments of my life will be behind me, which is also the reason that I may or may not hold on to things a little longer than I should. But then I heard this song, I thought to myself "Holy crap! Red is reading my mind...freaky." And it helped me to grasp the idea that the best is yet to come. There are so many things that I have yet to experience that most definitely the best is yet to come.

Best is Yet to Come

Afraid it won't come 'round again
Afraid to move on
Wishing I could go back when
Everything was easier and meaningful to me

Wanting all we left behind
Like it's the answer
An hour glass we can't rewind
Holding back the life that I've denied for so long

Can I find my way to you?
And After all that we've been through
And after all we left in pieces
I still believe our lives have just begun
Cause now the past can be outrun
And I know you are the reason
I still believe the best is yet to come

A photograph's still in your hands
Afraid to let it go
The minutes rain like grains of sand
And time is just a war that's stealing dreams from within
So come and take them back again

And After all that we've been through
And after all we left in pieces
I still believe our lives have just begun
Cause now the past can be outrun
And I know you are the reason
I still believe the best is yet to come

I won't turn around
Let it all slip away
I'm never backing down
Cause tomorrow's a new day
And everything can change

And After all that we've been through
And after all we left in pieces
I still believe our lives have just begun
Cause now the past can be outrun
And I know you are the reason
I still believe the best is yet to come

I still believe the best is yet to come
The best is yet to come
I still believe the best is yet to come 

     So like I said before...I don't know the composer's original intent for the meaning of this song but that was just my interpretation of it, what I came away with. I like to believe that the sign of a truly fantastic song is its ability to speak to many people but not necessarily have them all walking away with the same interpretation of its meaning.

I still believe the best is yet to come....

Thank you Red for this.

Wait....what?!?!?!

      Oh hey school starts on Monday....wait....WHAT???

     Really though....didn't I just barely hand in my last paper like yesterday??? At least that's how it feels to me....in some respects I feel like I am still waiting for my summer to begin and now it's ending? Now that just isn't fair. But if I really think about it Summer 2011 has been very good to me. I have gone on many a crazy awesome adventure with my wonderful, crazy, awesome friends. This summer was definitely one of the best summers to date.
    It's a sign of a good summer when it feels like it has gone by altogether too quickly. There are so many things that I still want to do but I guess I have to save those awesome things for next summer; or there is always holiday breaks right? haha. On the other hand though I have done so many awesome things this summer that made amazing memories so I am totally and completely satisfied with the adventure that was Summer 2011. If I really truly sit down and think about this past summer I come away smiling and that is what I aim for and what I call a good summer. I was able to play with my best friends basically everyday as well as have the opportunity to meet and make new friends who I love. Granted all this fun was interrupted with work but that wasn't even that big of a deal because I do love my job and my coworkers so very much that it isn't too much of a chore to work.
     I am totally going to take this opportunity to share some of my most favorite pictures from this summer though...because they bring a smile to my face...and if you don't like then...well...go start your own blog then haha.

Gage's birthday at classic skating! So much fun!

Thor adventure at midnight

One of the many, many reasons we are best friends

The photo that began the photobomb chain of Summer 2011

Special car adventures. Also photobomb.

Our very first MC face!

Just creepin in an empty theatre before Green Lantern

Stuff on screen went "Boom"

Proof that we can take a cute picture every once in awhile

We love weddings! But really one of the best adventures of the whole entire summer!

First late night Molca run, with our special fweind ;) We love AJ lots

Hating on the Biebs

Justin Bieber with a girlfriend? Nope....Definite marketing fail

Adventures with my girls!

Favorite :)

Another MC face....basically it's one of our favorite poses ever!

Look out....here comes the smolder

Yeah we are this cute in real life too...don't be too jealous of us

P.H.O.T.O.B.O.M.B.

Fat Boys for our best friend. Brilliant idea if you ask us

Boot picture! You have to wear your boots when you go to Cowboys and Aliens...it's a must!

          I just want to thank my wonderful and amazing friends for helping to make this one of the best summers ever. I am sad to see it end but I am super excited for the next stage of our lives to begin. If this summer is any indication at all, if we stick together it'll be an adventure. Love you all!! And away we go!

And the World Spins Madly On...

     Ever have one of those weeks, you know where every itty bitty insignificant thing totally and completely stresses you out? Those weeks where you just want to curl up into a ball in a corner somewhere and not come out for a reeeeeeeally long time? Those weeks where everything frustrates you for no reason at all? Yeah those weeks suck so badly. And I am truly sorry for any of you that have had a week like the one I just had.

     It's not that it was a hard week or anything, it was just one of those weeks where your mental state just isn't prepared to do anything harder than sleep. So when something harder than that activity comes up, as they inevitably will, that's how life is after all,those things make you feel uber stressed and just icky.

     There's just been so much drama lately and while I was watching it play out in front of me the song World Spins Madly On by the Weepies kept playing over and over again in my head. Because no matter how dramatic life gets the world keeps spinning, life keeps moving on and there's no stopping it. I just think everyone needs to take a step back and take a deep breath. Especially me. I just need to breathe and let myself be.

Thankfully I have wonderful coworkers, many of which I am proud to call my friends and wonderful friends that I don't have the pleasure of working with that are very understanding of me when the stress is just too much for me to handle and I snap at them for no reason. They are the reason that I am able to get through weeks like the one that I just had. Their understanding and caring and their willingness to lend a listening ear when I needed to whine and complain about my life {that isn't really awful at all} I love them and am so grateful to them. Thanks you guys!! You do more good than you know and I love you for it!

     We have this one chance at mortality...this one jaunt on Earth to prove ourselves...let's make the best of it. 

...And the world spins madly on... 

Woke up and wished that I was dead

With an aching in my head 

I lay motionless in bed

I thought of you and where you'd gone

and let the world spin madly on

Everything that I said I'd do 

Like make the world brand new

And take the time for you

I just got lost and slept right through the dawn 

And the world spins madly on

I let the day go by 

I always say goodbye

I watch the stars from my window sill 

The whole world is moving and I'm standing still

Woke up and wished that I was dead 

With an aching in my head 

I lay motionless in bed

The night is here and the day is gone

And the world spins madly on

I thought of you and where you'd gone 

And the world spins madly on.

Sometimes we want to freeze a moment...but, just like scenes on the highway, it rushes by as the world spins madly on

So Blessed

Best friends!

     The other day I was talking to a good friend of mine about life and how different it would have been had I chosen to go to Utah State University last fall. I could not believe how different my life would be. There would be so many people that have made a huge impact on me this past year that I might not have met. There are others that I have grown close to that I probably would have never even begun friendships with. So many adventures that I would have missed out on and so many experiences I wouldn't have had. I'm sure that I would have had awesome and crazy adventures as an Aggie but it was still completely weird thinking about how many people and adventures and experiences would be missing from my life had I chosen to go away to school.

Carli. Love her. Nuff said.

Best friend since Kindergarten.

     This chat also helped me to realize just how extraordinarily blessed I am. It's almost as if I have an embarrassment of riches in the blessings department. I was thinking about everything that happened in this last year and the person that I am now compared to the person that I was a year ago and I am just so grateful for all of it. This past year at school I really think that I have discovered who I am, and yes I do realize how cheesy that sounds but its the truth, and what I truly want from life. I feel as if I have a clear path in front of me and I know what I want to do with my life {for the most part at least, I am still open for changes no matter how drastic they may be}. I'll be honest with all of you, last year at this time I felt lost, completely and hopelessly lost. I didn't know what school to go to, what I wanted to study, whether or not I wanted to minor in anything and whether or not I even wanted to go to school in the fall. But luckily I finally made the decisions that brought me to where I am today, and I am so grateful that I did. I have an extraordinary passion for my chosen major {just ask any of my close friends and they'll tell you that I ooze psych major sometimes.... I just can't help it!} I have loved almost all of my classes so far and I have made awesome friends! I feel great about my choice of school and I'm so glad that I chose to go to school last Fall in the first place.

Halloween at the
Grub

     I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, whether that reason is obvious or not. I believe that certain people come into our lives at specific times for very specific reasons. And that is so totally true, at least in my life it is. I have been seriously blessed with an amazing group of friends and seriously awesome co-workers. I absolutely love the place that I am in my life and I love the people that came into and stayed in my life. There have been a lot who have walked in and walked right back out, and while they all taught me valuable things and helped to make me who I am right now, the fact remains that they are no longer in my life and there are some that I really miss. Those that have stayed in my life have taught me valuable things and continue to teach me daily, and I am so grateful to them.

My Theatre people. Oh how I miss them

Love her!

Love and miss this!

     Everyday I am amazed at the goodness of my friends. I wish they could know all the good that they do. Most of the time it is just by their example that their goodness shows through. Just in the way that they treat their peers, their families, and even strangers. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat a complete stranger, usually someone that can do absolutely nothing for them, and I am so proud to say that most of my close friends treat these people very well. I am amazed at their abilities to make friends quickly with people that were previously strangers to them and to create a very comfortable environment around them, I hope to one day be able to do this myself. There is so much that they teach me just by their examples. I am very lucky to have the people in my life that I do. They remind me every day that there is good in this world, that there are still wonderful people around and that one person can make a huge difference in the world. I thank God every day for these amazing people that He has sent to be my friends and I hope that I am half the friend to them that they are to me. They mean the world to me and I am unbelievably grateful to them. Like I've said about a billion times already in this post I am so unbelievably blessed.

Princess Stairs with Anne!

Yep....

I love you all so very much, and don't want you to ever forget that you are incredible individuals that deserve all the best in the world! Don't ever be afraid to be amazing because that's what you already are naturally.

Don't Forget That You Are Amazing, Incredible, and Beautiful

     I'll admit it....even though I try my hardest to be positive there are times where negativity creeps in. I find that I sometimes compare myself to others {alright basically I compare myself to other people almost all the time} and in the process I end up putting myself down and feeling all together kind of gross {I HATE that! it's one of the worst things in the world I am sure of it}and I forget all my positive thoughts that I had maybe only moments earlier.
     What I need to remember is that yeah sure there may be someone who is prettier than I, someone who has accomplished more things than I have or someone who has traveled more than me but all their accomplishments don't detract from who I am. Instead of focusing on what I don't have I should be focusing on what I DO have and what I have been blessed with. And friends I will be honest, I have been seriously blessed. I have a fantastic family, an amazing network of friends and a truly fantastic place to work as well as the opportunity to continue my education at a university {and those are only the big blessings in my life, there are SOOO many more but I won't bore y'all with those here}.
     There is this couple that lives in Provo, Utah both survivors of a nearly fatal plane crash. The wife came away from the crash with third degree burns over 80% of her body {she now refers to herself as looking like Sally from A Nightmare Before Christmas} her husband suffered extensive injuries himself but not to the physical extent that she did. her story in her words {this woman is so incredible!!}. She looks like a completely different person and in my mind she has every right to complain about the hand she has been dealt, however what is truly amazing is that she doesn't complain. In fact reading her blog is inspiring to me because she and her husband work so hard to find the positives in their situation even though I'm sure many people wouldn't begrudge them a little complaining. This couple is really incredible. To the world she may look like a stitched up doll but to her husband she is the most beautiful creature in creation.
     The best part about that? He loves her for her. He doesn't love her because she looks like a supermodel but because she has a beautiful soul that far outshines her burn scars. Her husband is in love with her. He is in love with her spirit. And that is truly inspiring and probably one of the most beautiful and wonderful things in the world to learn. Her blog has taught me that we are not our bodies. We are our spirits.


     My grandfather Renstrom was always, always, ALWAYS so good at seeing a beautiful spirit. He would go on and on and on about this beautiful girl that he met the other day and how wonderful it was to see such beauty in the world. He would continue on in that manner until you were just dying to meet this beautiful and gorgeous girl because the way he was speaking about her you just knew that she would be the end all and be all face of beauty. However more times than not when you were finally faced with this person, the girl before you would be very plain, sometimes even leaning more on the unattractive side and it was enough to make you wonder what kind of glasses does Grandpa wear when he meets with this girl? It was always very weird to me that my grandpa {who's wife was and still is absolutely beautiful} could call these plain, mousy and sometimes unattractive girls beautiful and stunning and gorgeous. I thought that until I actually took the time to speak to and get to know one of these girls. It dawned on me {well more it smacked me upside the head} that my grandpa wasn't looking at their physical appearances  but at their spirits. And in every instance he was right, these girls were incredible and absolutely gorgeous. These girls that he had called beautiful were beautiful but not in the physical way. They had a much better beauty, they had beautiful souls. After learning this little fact about how my grandpa viewed people I always felt much better about myself when he called me beautiful because I knew that he was commenting on something much better than my physical appearance. I've always been jealous of that ability my grandfather had to look not only at the body of a person but also at their soul and I hope to one day do just as he did and see beauty in everyone. And I do mean EVERYONE
     I am learning to not just ignore but accept and love the faults and flaws that I see when I look in a mirror, because those "faults and flaws" are what make me uniquely me and are not the only thing to me. I am trying to work on my spirit everyday so that it is the most beautiful that it can be. I may not be Natalie Portman or anything but I am me and I am determined to be the best me that there ever can be {that feels like I am channeling my inner Dr. Seuss...awesome right?}
     And to my blogstalkers {all four of you?} "don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise, but you are AMAZING, GIFTED and INCREDIBLE. I love you and everything that you are. Heavenly Father knows you by name and loves you with such intensity. Don't EVER give up and don't EVER be less than what you CAN be. You have the POTENTIAL to do ANYTHING. You are a choice spirit."
     I love you all and you are all amazing, incredible and beautiful! Thanks for being a part of my life!

    

The One With the Peanut's reference...

Today, while I was surfing the internet out of sheer and complete boredom, I came across something that acutally got me thinking and was pretty intriguing...shocking right? I know, I was pretty surprised myself that I found something that has a little value to it.

The Philosophy of Charles Shultz

The following is the philosophy of Charles Shultz, the creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip. You don't have to answer the questions, just read this through and you'll get the point, hopefully. 

1. name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. name the last five winners of the Miss America Contest.
4. name ten people who have won the Nobel or the Pulitzer Prize.
5. name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. They are not second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. list at least five teachers who aided you on your journey through school.
2. name three friends who have helped you through difficult times.
3. name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. think of six people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are NOT the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones who CARE.

I LOVE THIS! It really made me think. How often do we spend soooooo much time thinking about the celebrities that dominate our news and how important we think they are; and all the while we are ignoring or taking for granted those that truly matter in our lives and those that are making us who we are.
I don't know about the rest of you but I couldn't for the life of me answer those first six questions {and trust me...I tried...I almost cheated by thinking about looking them up on the internet...}. But answers to the last five questions came to me in the blink of an eye. In fact I am going to share with you my answers to those last five questions :)

1. Five teachers: Mr. James Felt, Mrs. Sandra Cordon, Mrs. Robin Edwards, Mrs. Ashley Shaw, Miss Marci Bishop. {And so many more, but it only asks for five and those five are the ones who have had the biggest impact on my scholastic journey}
2. Three friends that have helped me through difficult times:
1. Lexi Goodrich - She's always there for me and is never judgmental. She is my best friend after all and the one that I have crazy adventures with every time that we spend time together...even the classes we take together turn into total, epic adventures :) Love ya girl!
2. Seawillow Knight - She is the voice of reason in my life and has been since Kindergarten {and that ain't no exaggeration folks} I know that I can go to her when my life is all messed and feels like its falling to pieces and she will calmly help me sort it all out and make it better again. Not sure what I would do without her to be honest.
3. Devionare Jones - We survived rehearsal after grueling rehearsal together for not 1, not 2, but 3 full years...'nuff said.
3. Five people who have taught me something worthwhile:
1. My parents - they taught me how to work hard, to respect myself and others, and that I have the ability and the talent to succeed in anything that I put my mind to.
2. My Grandpa Renstrom - he taught me to love everyone and to see the beauty in all of God's children...because every person is a child of God and every child of God is absolutely beautiful.
3. Anne Morey - she taught me that it was ok to be wholly and completely myself. I have never met someone who is more comfortable with themselves than Anne is with herself and that is so incredible to me.
4. Danielle Schow - through example she taught me that it's not only ok but totally awesome to be nice to every SINGLE person you come across. Dani always speaks to people with a smile on her face and she is always kind to people. She is such an amazing example to me {and she'd be totally embarrassed by this...}
5. Any and every LDS missionary that go out and serve a full mission willingly - think about it...these guys are all of 19 years old, fresh out of high school, ready to take on the world and they willingly give up two years of their lives to preach this beautiful gospel. I have always admired them and will continue to admire them, even more so now that many of my friends are receiving their calls and are so excited about them. These valiant guys have taught me that this gospel is worth sacrificing for. {and yes I do realize that this is not a single person...but they are worth mentioning..every SINGLE one.}
4. A few people who have made me feel appreciated and special: My family {every crazy one of 'em}, my bestest best friends {you know who you are!} and really so many people that are genuine that it would take forever to name them all.
5. Six people that I enjoy spending time with:
1. Lexi Goodrich - Duh...she's my best friend
2. Seawillow Knight - again....duh....I feel like I've mentioned this already ;)
3. Anne Morey - I always, always, ALWAYS have such a blast hanging with her!
4.  Carson Kohler and Tina Vazquez - they are my squashmores that are squashmores no more and I FRIGGIN LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!!!
5. Cassandra Taylor - We started at the Grub at the same time and rocked every Saturday night for almost 2 years! She is such a fascinating person and so much fun to be around!
6. Any and all the people that I have met in my new ward! They are all such awesome people and I absolutely LOVE spending time with them!

This was really was kind of fun for me to think about and it really made me appreciate all those amazing people in my life that are my friends and my family. I am so blessed to have them in my life and I love them all so much!
And in parting my favorite quote from Charles Shultz: "Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia..."

It's the Thought That Counts....

Oh hey blog....haven't seen you in awhile...oops. Sorry about that. I'm sure my blogstalkers (all three of them) are highly disappointed in me. I would make some sort of promise here that I won't leave it for weeks at a time without an update...buuuuuuut it is me we are talking about here and I will get distracted and forget to update it...but hey it's the thought that counts right?

Soooooooo this is what Lexi and I do at school....after our Nutrition class we go to the Union and get super healthy foods....doughnuts and pizza have some sort of vitamins in them.... right?

Welllllllll even if they don't it doesn't stop them from being delicious.

D. Coke and a doughnut breakfast of champions. AND the doughnut was in the shape of a U...we got excited about it.

So delicious.

This was probably the best way to spend a couple of hours of downtime on campus ever.

Seawillow wanted to see her computer screen but couldn't because it was rather sunny (FINALLY! took Utah long enough to realize that it was Spring! but that's another story) So Paul took my sweatshirt and made a tent-like thing to place over her computer and herself...it was rather ingenious if you ask me.

Seawillow and Paul are probably two of the greatest people ever....pretty much the most legit afternoon in awhile. It better happen more often!

I love my friends...both those who I have known forever and those that I have met just recently. My friends truly are blessings in my life and I am so grateful for them.

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!