Don't be dumb.

There is something so sick, wrong, and demented with my generation. Ladies, this may be the dumbest thing I've ever seen. Please stop posting it. If you base your marriage off of a few happy tears your husband might shed when he sees you in a way overpriced dress you'll wear once, please don't get married. That's not what it's about. It bothers me that people take marriage so lightly. Marriage is so serious. You are no longer your own person. When you get married life is no longer about you and what you want, it turns into your spouse and what they want. You should consider how everything you do and say will affect your spouse. You should always want to be your best and do your best for them. I don't know anything about marriage, please don't get me wrong. I am not an expert, but this picture, and this post that keeps going around is a piece of crap. Cut it out. Not everyone cries, happy or sad tears. If them not crying at your beauty makes you want to turn around and leave, even if its just a thought, even if your joking, clearly you need to do some soul searching. Please if you feel this way, don't get married. It's not how it works. Don't be dumb. 

How Do You Know You've Been Blessed?

There are some things in life that we take for granted. One of the easiest things to take for granted is a friendship. A friendship can be so hard to hold on to. People grow up, move on, life goes on without one another. Fortunately though, on rare occasions Heavenly Father will place people in your life that will literally make life an amusement park. How do I know I've been blessed? Look at these pictures. Each one of these pictures bring me back these amazing memories with the most generous loving people I have had the opportunity to meet in this lifetime. Heavenly Father blessed me with an amazing support system throughout my life and High School especially. My 17th Birthday when everyone accommodated my want and dressed up all vintage like. The first youth conference when we hit it off. When we went to the haunted farm and corn maze. When we all played paint twister for Maggie's 16th Birthday and then washed up and went to the movies. When we dragged a couch around the city and pulled it out in front of the baseball  field during a game. When we went to an Ice Skating activity, and I didn't fall and hit my head, mostly because I was too afraid to skate anyway. When the girls went to see the Batman premiere and Batman and Joker both showed up. When Maggie and Orville escorted me around Walmart wearing Storm Trooper Masks. This doesn't even begin to cover all of the amazing good times I've been lucky to have with these kids. They have literally helped shape who I am today. They are all a blessing in my life. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. There is no way that I could name all of the memories we've had. One of the saddest things I will ever have to do is leave this behind. I have had a lifetime of friends like these. Some of them have even been my friends for a lifetime. One of the best things about our group is that we like all relationships, have had some bumps in the road. Whether it be jealousy, or not thinking of others feelings, or judgments made without truth. Its safe to say that its been a rocky road. But every night we spent anytime together, no matter who was mad at who, there were always hugs and thoughtful words of goodbye. Even if someone was mad at someone else, we still got along! There were never screaming breakout fights. Although there were a few interventions... Most of the time we put our differences aside and shared memories regardless of what might have been going on. I don't know... Its definitely a  hard relationship to describe, but I know that these people were a blessing from God to me. From destroying Sam's house with toilet paper once every year to playing chubby bunny with huge marshmallows or tiny gummy bears. This kiddos always made my days brighter and nights longer. Like I said though, people move on, grow up, life goes on. Sadly that's happening, well for me. Slowly our relationships have become distant. That's okay though. It just means that all of us are having new doors opened in our lives. Going to college will be weird without these kiddos. Especially when my best friend wont be there. Yet its good to know that no matter what, I know that I could go to anyone of these kids with anything in the world, and they would be there for me. That my friend, is how I know I've been blessed. 

What Does God Have in Store?

There's one thing that I've struggled with my entire life. It's nothing big. It's a blessed struggle. I count my lucky stars that its the hardest thing I've had to face. Some people would say that it's not even a struggle. They would say that I'm just thinking about myself. Well they would be right there. My biggest struggle in this world is being an only child. Yeah you probably just laughed and rolled your eyes, and I don't really blame you. Yeah I am a spoiled brat. But one thing I will always miss out on that you have, is the love of two siblings. My parents may have been able to buy me a car because they don't have six mouths to feed. But let me tell you, I would trade that car for a brother or sister any day. I think that those other only children out there can attest to this also. It's not my parents fault. They didn't choose this, it's no ones fault. It's just the way it is. Heavenly Father had something else in store. It's good to know that eventually my mother will get to raise other children. It's good to know that I have spirit brothers and sisters. It's just hard, in this life, to be alone. I won't be able to go to my little brothers football game. I won't get to help my little sister get ready for prom or her first date. I won't get to give my little brother advice on girls or set him up on dates. It just won't happen. I won't get to fight with a sibling and know that at the end of the day I will love them no matter what. All of these things and more have become things I live with. Yeah it may not seem like it's a big deal. It's just sad. I will say though, that the family I was put in was not by accident. God new exactly who and what I needed. Being an only child has helped me learn and grow and be independent and yet so dependent on Christ. It's has given me a relationship with my savior that I don't think I would have if I had siblings. Christ is my brother. He's the closest thing I ever have had to a brother and the closest I will ever get to a brother. His love or me was so strong that he died for me. He bled from every pore in his body. For me. Christ did it so that I could live with our dad again one day. He literally gave everything he had to make sure that I could always be a part of the huge family we have.  He knows every pain, weakness, and strength I have. He knows every thing I've ever done. I can follow him. Heavenly Father didn't give me siblings, and I believe a big part of that was to help me understand that I have siblings. Everywhere. He gave me a love and bond with Christ. The best brother in the whole world. The best brother I could have ever asked for. I can go to him, and he will make me feel better. I love it so much. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that although I have had this struggle to face, it wasn't without cause. If you have siblings on earth with you, please love them with every inch of your soul. Let them know how wonderful they are. Remember to be there for them no matter what. If they mess up be there to help fix it. They need you and you need them. For those of you like me, who didn't have siblings, or maybe lost your sibling, remember that you are not alone. Your never alone. God has a plan for you. Just keep looking for it. So that's the point. No matter what your situation may be, remember that God has something in store. Because he loves you. He knows you. He loves you.

Heros

A hero can be anything, and mean anything. A hero can be a best friend who came to you in a time of need. It could be a sudden savior by accomplishing a physical rescue. It could simply be a parent or any figure that leads by example. Tonight though, I see 19 brave firefighters who are the epitome of a hero. What more can a person do then give their life to protect others. Today 19 firefighters died fighting a fire in Yarnell Arizona. The wind shifted the fires direction to fast and the 19 heroes were unable to escape. I'm lying here in my comfortable bed, with all of the luxury in the world, listening to the wind blowing outside. Listening to the same wind that they faced. I want nothing more than to run outside and make it stop. I want to make the fire go away. I want to bring those firefighters back. But we can't always get what we want. Luckily, because of people like the ones we lost today we can get pretty darn close to getting what we want. But haven't you noticed, the more you want it, the harder it is to get. I can't help but turn to my Father in Heaven and understand that he loves us. I sit here thinking that it's not fair. Children are going to bed tonight knowing that they will not be tucked in by a parent. Parents are watching the news praying with every piece of their heart that their child is okay. Spouses are crying realizing that the words I Love You may not be spoken for a very, very long time. I want to give those people back their loved ones. I want that so bad! We all do! But we can't. The one thing we can do though, is to give them hope and peace and comfort. To everyone who was not firsthand affected by this, I hope you pray for them. I hope that we can all take this time to realize how grateful we are for our heroes. I hope that anyone who reads this goes to their hero and gives them the love and appreciation they deserve. These firefighters were real heroes. They were protecting us, now we need to return the favor and do all we can to give their friends and family the comfort and safety they are searching for. I know that God has something in store. We all just need to wait it out a while. Hang on and don't let go. We need to come together. And stay together. A tragedy like this, shouldn't be the reason we all unite. We are "one nation under God..." So lets act like it! Lets always remember how it was to come together like this and work for one thing, keep one purpose in mind. Keep us united, together. If we take anything away from what happened, it should be to never take anything for granted and to work towards the greater good. We can get through this together. We can get through anything together. Just don't give up. Be like these heroes and try your best until the end. It will be okay. 

The more time that goes by, the faster we are forced to grow up.

Children, I don't think, have a real grasp on the concept of time. I remember from my own childhood that night and day made no difference to me. I did know that one I was awake for and the other I was asleep for, but in all truthfulness I would have rather never slept. It's amazing how I've gone from that desire to never sleep, to wanting more than anything to sleep all of the time. Why? Because now I know more than I used to. I think teenagers and adults rely so much on sleep not only because we are running around all crazy like, but also because we have so much on our plates that sleep becomes an escape from reality. When we become so busy that our minds are running wild, we usually turn to sleep. Our brain tells us thats what we want. To sleep, because it gives us a break.
Now what does this have to do with time and growing up? I don't know..it's five in the morning and all I want is sleep and my brain won't let me have it... Therefore I think I just decided to talk about it instead. But I think it toss in with the stress thing. The more time that goes by in a persons life, the more there is to worry about. Babies never have to worry about being "normal" or forming into society. No, because they are heka cute and everyone loves them. But the second a child steps foot into a pre school or kindergarten class, they all of the sudden have to worry about making friends and being "normal." That's just kindergarten! The older you get the more there is to worry about, and soon enough you realize that there are never ending things to stress over. Soon enough you grow up and realize everything will not be how you imagined. Soon enough you grow up. It really seems like in our society "soon enough" is to soon. I feel like we have our own obligations to help each other not feel like its to soon. The only way to fix this large disease that we have all been implanted with is to trust in knowing that everything will be okay. What goes up must come down. What is bad will become good. It's the constant fight between good and evil. In the end what is right will always win against evil things. These are some things we always have to remember while facing challenging stressful times. We have to stay calm and remember that it's for a larger purpose than maybe eve we know. We have to look for the good. If you look for the good in life, you will find it.

Have we become so foolish as to forget this quickly?

I think we all know what I'm talking about. I am completely disappointed in the way we have acted today. Forgotten, it's all been forgotten. Do you not remember 9/11? Is that your excuse? Did you even realize that today was the eleventh anniversary of that tragic attack that tried to bring our country down? Ten years? That was enough of our pride and our unity. Ten years that's all we needed to come together and remember. Ten years is up we are at the eleven year mark and so it doesn't affect us anymore? Is that how we view this? When we have children will they even begin to understand the devastation that came with that horrible and gloomy day? We were there. We were all there. Whether we were in the buildings, in the plane, on the street, at school, out for breakfast, at work, at home just waking up, wherever we were, we were there. We all saw the videos. We all cried. We all prayed. We all felt sympathy for those who were affected directly. In the end we were all affected. Is that why we are choosing to slowly care less? Because its to sad for us to handle? Is that what it is? That's pathetic if it's your excuse. Pathetic. People died. People became heroes and died saving those who could not save themselves. People from the street ran to save those inside. People inside ran to jump out because falling six hundred feet was better than being trapped in a burning building. America was helpless. Where did we turn to? After all we were always the country who helped other countries. Things like that didn't happen in America. This was new, so what do we do. Me and my classmates LOST a part of our childhood that day. Do you not understand that? As all children are, we were oblivious to war and people hating other people. We were innocent. That day though, we witnessed hate. Hate. Pure hate. We lost our security blankets. We had always thought nothing like that could happen, then we watched it happen. How were we supposed to stay the innocent children we were when we watched men drive planes into buildings to kill the people
Inside. All so they could send a message. How were we supposed to feel safe after that? I don't think we have ever gained that back fully. When our parents came to wake us up and they were crying. Some of us had never seen their parents cry. Not like that anyway. I remember tying my shoes when I watched the second plane crash into the building. I didn't know what to think. I tried to convince myself it wasn't real. What were the teachers supposed to say to us? How do you explain that to a child?! And here we are eleven years latter and it's just a day that marks something that was important. No. I'm ashamed that we have lost our love that quickly. In my class today, a boy said "today's depressing, I woke up late, forgot to do my homework, it's raining, and I didn't get to eat any breakfast." he apparently forgot. Did people forget how children kissed their daddy goodbye and never had the chance to say hello? Or that spouses said "I love you, have a nice day." and never got to ask them how their day was? Did we forget? I hope that I never become so foolish as to not care, or pretend it didn't happen. I hope I have the courage to tell my children stories about the heroes that day. I hope our country doesn't forget and make it another forgotten thing. It will always affect us, and the future generations.
I hope we always remember the day that all of us took part in. 9/11.