This is the World

     There is a quote that I love, it says, "Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid" - Frederick Buechner
      At no time is this more true. In the wake of this monstrous act, the nation as a whole is trying to put the pieces of our lives back together. I cannot even imagine what those closest to this tragedy are feeling and my heart is rent in two for them. My prayers and thoughts are still with them and I pray that God will be with them in this awful time. This is the world. Terrible, horrifying things happen everyday, and it is tragedies like this that cause us to lose hope. What many of us forget is that there is still beauty in the world, it is so hard to see after a maniac takes the lives of our most innocent, but my friends it is there.
     We shouldn't be afraid to go to school, or to send our children to school. I read something on Facebook the other day that touched me to my very core. The father of one of the victims of the 1999 Columbine massacre was asked to address a subcommittee of Congress following this horrifying event. What he said was neither what they expected him to say nor was it received well. I just want to share with you a portion of what this man said.

     "Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, mind, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc...What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence...No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our hearts"

     We have taken God out of our classrooms and we still wonder why horrific things happen. Morgan Freeman made the point that we, in an unintentional way, glorify these madmen by plastering their faces all over our news broadcasts and papers. They have become household names when we all but ignore the identities of their victims. We have sensationalized violence and murder and gore. Freeman says that these sickos who otherwise would have offed themselves in their basements see our news and begin to dream of ways to top them and to be remembered as the biggest monster the world has ever seen. 

     There is a darkness that has descended upon our nation, and it is hard to see the light, to see the beauty to see the happiness when a psycho decides to take the lives of children, and not to trivialize this but there is a quote from One Tree Hill that states this idea beautifully. In a voice over the character Lucas Scott says, "Does this darkness have a name? This cruelty, this hatred. How did it find us, did it steal into our lives or did we seek it out and embrace it? What happened to us that we now send our children into the world like we send young men to war, hoping for their safe return but knowing that some will be lost along the way. When did we lose our way? Consumed by the shadows swallowed whole by the darkness. Does this darkness have a name?"

     It's hard to see the light through the darkness but it is there. This is one of the most wonderful times of the year. Peace on Earth, Good Will toward men after all. 

In case I don't say it enough:

I love you all, and thanks for bearing with me through out my random musings on this blog.

Much love.

-L

Take a Deep Breath...It Gets Better

      I love the U. It's no secret, everyone who knows me even remotely knows that about me. It is truly the GREATEST school in Utah. That being said however, I do not love finals week at my beloved school. It sucks a big hairy hobo toe. But I am free at last! FREE AT LAST. Pretty sure this week felt like the week from hell and I just wanted it to be all over with, so naturally it felt like it was going slower than molasses, but like everything else in this world, it too came to an end, and I couldn't be more grateful.

     Honestly I am just so excited to get into my new major. I truly feel like I finally figured out what I want to do with my life and I don't want to waste another second (or any more money) to get started! For those of you blogstalkers out there that don't know I changed my major from the social and behavioral sciences over to communications. While I still have the strong desire to help people I feel that I would excel in the communications. What I really want to do with this degree is specialize in athletic PR and go on to work for a collegiate program or in the NFL (with my Baltimore Ravens perhaps? Hey a girl can dream can't she?). I don't think that I have ever been more excited for a semester to start than I am for this coming semester. I mean I need this break....more than anything else my brain needs to recharge itself; but I can't wait to get into these classes this Spring. I finally feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be and that is the best feeling anyone can ever have. It took me a little bit, but this is it, this is what I want to do when I grow up.

     And since it has been a minute since I have last blogged I wish that I could say that my life has had many crazy and wild adventures...but unfortunately it really hasn't. Being a student is sometimes the dullest thing a person can do. All we do, after all, is go to class, do our homework and study our lives away....fascinating right? Yeah not really. But such is life. My second favorite collegiate sport started back up though! Basketball season is back! And even better those runnin Utes are already having a better season than they have had in a long while. I'm excited for the direction that this team is taking, they really do look like an entirely different team from what they were last year and that is awesome. They are no where near what they used to be, but in them I'm seeing the potential for them to build back up. Overall they're a promising young team and I wish them all the best in their coming season. GO UTES!

     I apologize for the randomness of this post, I didn't really have a direction that I wanted to take when I sat down to write it, I had just realized that I hadn't blogged in awhile and I didn't want you all to think that I had died or something. In other news: CHRISTMAS IS IN 12 DAYS! Time to break out the Christmas movies and the fudge and the carols! I love this time of year, I love the smells, the food and even the terribly cheesy movies on Lifetime and Hallmark because they all make up Christmas when everyone is a little nicer to their fellow man and people are just happier. Peace on earth, good will to men after all.

     And to close out this rather random post (I'm gonna blame it on finals...my brain is fried a little bit) I want to share a quote that I found that describes me and my life to a perfect T. A quote that I think every 20 year old needs to read

"Your 20's are your 'selfish' years. It's a decade to immerse yourself in every single thing possible. Be selfish with your time, and all aspects of you. Tinker with sh*t, travel, explore, love a lot, love a little, and never touch the ground."

-Kyoko Excamilla

This quote really hit home for me. It's OK to be selfish right now, it's OK to not share yourself with anyone else, it's OK to look out for number 1 before anyone else. After all your 20's are when you are discovering who you really are. It's a quote that has really slapped my life back into perspective, and I'm really glad that I found it.

Lots of love!

-L

     

An Unkindness of Ravens

Did you know that a flock of ravens is actually called an unkindess of ravens? Kind of like a flock of crows is called a murder of crows....

Yeah me either....thank you One Tree Hill for that little tid bit of random trivia.

I really should be sleeping...or trying to sleep...or at least doing something a lot more productive than sitting here doing nothing...but it is me after all and this is what I do...I blog when I'm avoiding things...such as sleep in this case.

Anywhoosers...being the raging Ravens fan that I am, I actually thought that that was really cool.

An Unkindness of Ravens.

It just sounds B.A.

I love my Ravens...a lot. People who don't even know me all that well know that about me.

I couldn't even tell you why I love them so much.

I just do.

They're my team. They've always been my team. And they always will be my team.

Simple as that.

They've never been a team that has fancy wins. They just aren't. They sneak in and they battle in the trenches for each and every W.

Which I respect them for.

And I'm a big fan of the black and purple team colors ;) if I were to be totally and completely honest with you.

This Sunday is one of the best games in all of football season...well at least for me.

IT'S RAVENS - STEELERS WEEK Y'ALL!

As a Raven...I hate the Steelers...I hate everything about them. So last season's sweep of them was one of the greatest things ever.

I'm so looking forward to this game, it is always a great game to watch and I can't wait to see how each team performs against each other.

It is one of the most passionate rivalries in the NFL.

And I can't wait to support my favorite boys in purple as they defeat Pitt!!

GO RAVENS!

And to end this rather random and semi-short post I will leave you with one of my most favorite One Tree Hill quotes:

"Some people believe that ravens guide travelers to their destinations. Others believe that the sight of a solitary raven is considered good luck, but a group of ravens predicts trouble ahead. And a raven right before battle promises victory."

Have a fantastic rest of your week my friends

GO RAVENS!

Much love,

-L

PS and since it is my Utes last home game this season I must say GO UTES!!

Who am I sir? A UTAH MAN AM I. Utah man sir, will be 'til I die!

Well...woman...haha but you get my point with this blog title

The past couple of weeks have brought some major changes, both in my own personal experience and in the nation as a whole.

And while a lot of these changes are scary and some aren't that bad...they all have one thing in common:

They have made me extremely grateful to be who I am and grateful to be where I am.

Three years ago I made the best decision I could have ever made.

I chose the University of Utah. 

I chose to become a Ute.

And to be honest I had no idea that I would love it as much as I have.

I will be real with you all here...I was raised a BYU cougar....I know I know...but everyone has skeletons in their closet haha ;) But I found the light and boy am I glad that I did!!

So choosing the U was a little bit of surprise for my very much Cougar blue family.

But my daddy graduated as a Ute so it's not like it was totally out of nowhere.

It was a difficult decision for me to choose the U. 

I was lucky enough to get into every school that I applied to, so I had some major decisions to make when the acceptance letters came in.

Choosing the U would, after all, mean that I wouldn't be moving out of my house as quickly as I would have had to had I chosen to go to any of those other schools. Choosing the U meant that I would be going to a state school, which pretentious high school senior me wasn't all that inclined to do.

But like any big decision I took it to the Lord, and after a LOT of praying no other school but the University of Utah felt right to me.

I was surprised as anyone when I expressed my decision. I applied to the U on a whim (not to be confused with a safety net school...I wasn't even sure I would get into any schools and being the daddy's girl that I am I wanted to apply to his alma mater because my getting in would make him really proud) so my choosing it over all the other schools was not an outcome I was expecting.

But that was the answer that I received and it was the best possible answer I could have ever gotten, and I feel so blessed to have been able to heed that answer.

I LOVE my school. I love being a Ute.

If I could go back to senior year of high school I would still make the same decision.

I have a hard time understanding why people would want to go to any other school, because the University of Utah has been such a major source of happiness in the past three years for me.

I'm basically obsessed with everything Utah and I truly believe that we are the best school in Utah bar none.

I mean to each their own I guess...but Utah Utes will always be dominant ;)

I am a proud Ute and I am grateful to be able to say that I will always be a proud Ute...even if my graduation date has been pushed a little further back than I would have liked.

I love my school, I love my boys in red and I love my new major!

Good luck to those boys in red as they take on Washington in their second to last away game of the season.

Kill those Huskies!

"So fill your lungs and sing it out and shout it to the sky,

I'll fight for dear old Crimson for a UTAH. MAN. AM I!!

GO UTES!"

Much love,

-L

Wabbit Season! Duck Season! Wabbit Season! Duck Season...Fire!

This is what election season always ALWAYS makes me think of.

Nobody really knows what direction is up, which candidate they truly want to put their support behind and someone always ends up with their beak shot off (metaphorically speaking of course haha)

It never ceases to amaze me how hurtful people can be to one another over politics.

I'm no saint myself...I have been caught up in a spirited political debate once or twice where I have resorted to cheap shots that I wasn't proud of. 

Really though...people get so worked up over who is right and who is wrong that they stop listening to each other and just fight for the sake of fighting...and truly that makes me a little ill.

I was raised to respect the office of the president, no matter who the man or the woman (hopefully that'll happen in this nation soon) is. Because they are, after all, our Commander in Chief, head honcho, the big cheese...and any other cliched euphemisms for leader you can think of.

The president is the leader of this nation that we all love...doesn't that demand our respect?

Even if we don't absolutely love the person holding the office, shouldn't we at least give them our respect for even wanting the job?

Have you ever thought about the job of being the president of the United States of America? I mean sure, we are the greatest nation on earth but that doesn't mean we don't have our fair share of problems.

Personally I think being president would suck...you get blamed for everything that goes wrong even when there's no legal way for it to be your fault, and when things go right credit is never fully attributed to you.

Truly the job of being president is not one on my list of things I want to be when I grow up.

I will always support the office of the president. 

I'll be honest here, I was really hoping that Obama would not be re-elected but the chips have fallen and I will suck it up and support my president.

(Although the t-shirts that say "Hey don't blame me, I voted for Romney" might need to appear in my closet)

This is a choice nation my friends, don't ever forget that. The Lord has blessed this nation in crazy ways since the Revolutionary War and He won't abandon us now. 

It's a little silly to attribute the results of this election to a sign of the apocalypse...and yet I have seen people do that very thing. 

Truly would He allow an outcome that isn't in His plan for this nation?

I don't think so.

To be born in this nation and to be able to have the right to vote for our leaders is an amazing thing; and I for one feel extremely grateful to have been able to exercise my right as an American citizen, sure the results weren't what I was hoping for but that's ok. 

The thing I'm most concerned about is how I see people around me treating each other based on political affiliation...just because someone doesn't believe as you do or supports a different party than you does not automatically qualify them as stupid or evil...truly we all need to watch what we say and give respect. After all you get same amount of respect that you give.

I just want to end this little bit of a political rant with this statement:

 United we stand, divided we fall.

Cliche I know...but just think about it...

Much love,

-L

P.S. now that the election is over you all can turn your votes to what really matters...

THE PRO-BOWL!

Go Ravens ;)

I'm Only Getting Started, I Won't BLACKOUT!

Alright...so I know that it is Halloween...but I am a little slow on the blog updating and I really wanted to post about my absolute favorite game of the entire football season...college level at least...because let's face it...absolutely nothing can beat a Baltimore Ravens/Pittsburgh Steelers showdown haha.

The Blackout game is my absolute favorite game of the entire season bar none! 

This year we played Cal, and we walked all over them. It was the greatest thing ever.

I don't know if I could adequately put into words how much I love the blackout game...and I'm not even sure I fully understand why I love it so much myself, I just look forward to it ever year, it's the NCAA football version of Christmas for me I guess haha.

I just think seeing the whole stadium in black instead of red is a really impressive sight. 

And the boys always look really, really good in their black uniforms...but that is besides the point.

This game was an incredible one to be at, our boys in red (well black for this game haha) looked very good.

As much as I love close, nail-biters; I really love a blow out too. It is always sooo much fun when your team just blows their opponent out of the water.

This isn't to say that Cal didn't put up a fight, because they did, they gave us a very fun game.

Our boys just wanted it so much more, they needed this win more than anything else.

It was so fun to watch them win, there are few things in this world that convey greater joy than a football player pulling off a big win with his team. You couldn't help but smile when they all came over to sing "Utah Man" to the MUSS.

Not only did our team as a whole perform well but individual players had a fantastic game as well.

Our cute freshman quarterback totally leveled a Cal Golden Bear.

Blechen was making the plays that we all know and love him for, it's so nice to have him back in the safety position; it was definitely a rough time without him.

Of course there's Star...he's just such a B.A. haha end of story.

And to top it all off our kick returner Reggie Dunn quickly became the hero of the MUSS when he returned 100 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter AND in the fourth...a feat, which by the way, has never before been accomplished in the NCAA (way to go Reggie!).

You know you must be pretty B.A. when the MUSS will chant your name every time you take the field!

I love the Blackout game and I really can't wait for next years haha (yes I am already counting down....no judgment)

And of course it wouldn't be a post about football on my blog without a bunch of pictures you only half care about looking at haha.

Sooo proud of them! 49-27!! What a win!

We love the Blackout game!!

Reggie Freaking Dunn!!! Century Man indeed!!

Cute Utes in the MUSS

Traditional game pic

#normal

Sometimes our MUSS neighbors are gross....

We are pretty much a big deal

Best friends since freshman year of high school! Absolutely love this girl!

I loooooove when they wear black! <3

And I have to leave you with this amazing clip! Like seriously since when is a quarterback this B.A.?!?!?!

I'm definitely a Wilson fan after watching this! Total BEAST!

Much love

And GO UTES

-L

The Unkind Kindness of Football

"There are moments in our lives when we find ourselves at a crossroads. Afraid, confused, without a road map. The choices we make in those moments can define the rest of our days. Of course, when faced with the unknown, most of us prefer to turn around and go back. But once in awhile, people push on to something better. Something found just beyond the pain of going it alone. Something beyond the quiet persistence of a dream. Because it is only when you're tested that you truly discover who you can be. The person you want to be does exist somewhere on the other side of hard work and faith and belief and beyond heartache and fear of what lies ahead."

This season has been a rough one for my favorite boys in red.
The past few games have been rocky to say the least and I have had a hard time watching them struggle.
I will admit to sitting there a few time and wondering over and over again "Why do these boys play this sport? It seems totally and utterly unforgiving"
And then I realized that football is basically the greatest sport there is.
I already know that basketball fans and baseball fans and even the occasional hockey fan will strongly disagree with me. But I am just telling the truth.
Football is the greatest sport. End of discussion.
It creates some of the strongest bonds I have ever seen.
Every football team is a brotherhood, those guys would die for each other if it came to that, and say what you will about that...any bond of that magnitude is an impressive thing.
The football bond is one that is hard to break, and truly, I would never ask someone to break it.
The beauty of humanity often times comes from our social bonds and from seeing other people's social bonds in action.

Every football player I have ever met are some of the biggest dreamers out there. Those guys have dreams so big that they would scare most other people, and I love them for it.
Not only are they big dreamers, but they inspire kids to dream, and I think that that is one of the greatest accomplishments a human being can achieve in this lifetime.
To be able to inspire a child...well, that's beauty in and of itself.

They deal with their losses with grace and dignity, because their big picture dream buoys them up. Something beyond the persistence of their dream keeps them driving forward. And I don't know about you but I find that pretty inspiring.
I think the way that these boys have handled these losses is amazing. If it were me, and I will be completely honest here, I would be totally and utterly demoralized. But these guys...they have a fire in their bellies. It's truly impressive to me, they have the fire to win, they have the fire to show the world who they are and what they are capable of.
They seem to have taken these losses and used them to fire their determination, proving that it is not until you are tested do you truly discover the person that you are.

I can honestly say that I am proud of this team and what they have accomplished on and off the field. So to any critic of them I say this: You go through the heartbreak that they have gone through week after week. You see all your hard work for months and even years come up a few inches short of getting your end goal. You have critics hounding after you day and night. And then tell me that the way these guys have handled themselves is wrong, that they haven't been working hard enough, that they aren't what they need to be.

I'm not making excuses for them...I'm not a football coach, I don't totally understand all the intricacies of a team, but what I do know is what I've seen with my own eyes. These players are human; meaning they have hopes, and passions and dreams that scare them. But unlike most other university students they are doing this under the public eye, under public scrutiny.

There's still a lot football to play this season and I'm excited to see what this particular Utah team has in store.
The Black Out game is this coming Saturday and I cannot wait!
It is the best game of the entire season, in my opinion. It is always cool to see the whole stadium decked out in black instead of our usual red.
I can't wait!

GO UTES!!

Much love.
-L