Updates

BYU Adaptive Show Choir (Next Year)

There is no official decision being made or set in stone at this moment---but I am kinda considering the fun opportunity to be involved with the BYU adaptive show choir. I attended one of their concerts a few years back and absolutely loved getting to see the participants get out of their comfort zones to perform a song, dance, or anything they wanted the audience to see. I especially loved the energy inside of the field house with so many fans cheering them on from the stands and making it an experience no one will ever forget. 

I am keeping my fingers crossed that this time next fall in 2027 I have signed up myself for something that I confidently know will impact my life forever. I cannot wait to make new friendships with so many other participants who have been a part of this for some time and learn so much from them. I have wanted to be involved with this show choir for some time but was never able to make it work into my schedule where I had so much going on. 

BYU Basketball Diamond Painting

Minus the option of taking this to show and tell for a SNAP activity... I literally have no idea what my decision will be afterwards to give away my diamond painting to someone else. I obviously would like giving the piece of art to a friend of mine who loves the game of basketball and continuously leaves me stunned with all that they do in working behind the scenes of BYUWBB. I am keeping my head up high and hoping we can make it to some of the women's basketball games this next season if we get just even one chance to watch the team play. #StayTunedForMore

Back To SNAP!!! (Next Week)

I am literally excited to get back into SNAP and have more activities to look forward to as we head into the fall season. I have genuinely missed being with my friends on a weekly basis and making lots of new memories together alongside the other participants who are in attendance. We are having a birthday party for everyone since people had birthdays during the summer months and we were not able to celebrate any of them as an entire group--which if you ask me will be a treat all by itself. 

Terms End

My six year terms serving on two of the best governor appointed entities in our state will come to an end next month and cannot even imagine my life without them. I have truly learned and grown so much as the person who knows they were not going to be perfect in the beginning of a journey that allowed me to be an instrument in the Lord's hands. I throughly enjoyed getting to volunteer my time with some amazing and incredible colleagues who pushed me to do my best in any situation--no matter the circumstances that I was up against. They inspired me to see the good in those I came in contact with and recognizing my full potential was to serve on these boards. 

I obviously didn't know if signing up to be on two councils at the time was a good idea and not to mention the fact I was incredibly nervous about what to do in any given circumstance. I did have my fair share of mistakes along this six year journey and learning to put my trust in the Lord as much as I possibly could without questioning what I had gotten myself into. I definitely came to understand over time that he was going to be in the small details of my life and not leave me wondering what to do next. I am grateful for the comfort and peace of mind he gave me when emotions in my head felt almost unbearable to control but knowing he was not going to let me do this alone was an answered prayer. I know this experience at times was nothing short of easy for me when it came to processing all that this entailed in what has felt like the blink of an eye. 

There are too many unforgettable moments and experiences to be shared right now, but I am grateful for the opportunity my colleagues gave me to be a part of their lives. They made me want to be a better and more confident self advocate who could believe in themselves to do hard things, not being afraid to take risks when I knew it was going to be fun by the end of things, etc. I will admit that I especially loved getting to be involved with some of the disability leadership conferences that helped me get to where I am today and leaving an imprint on every heart of the individuals I was able to learn so much from throughout this journey. 

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Four Days Left

These past two weeks alone have been treacherously long and boring for me in more ways than one minus the fact I am anxiously excited to have my mom walk in the door of our house. I have done my absolute best in keeping up with house work and making sure we are getting things done that need our attention. I have definitely liked not having so much on my schedule while my mom has traveled out of state to help do the choregraphy for a long time show in Nauvoo that's gotten revamped multiple times if not more. We are more than ready at this point to have her back home and helping me with things that I have waited for two weeks to either get online or have completed before figuring out what to do with my diamond painting that I spent a lot of time on. #IYKYK 

I have waited anxiously to get to this point in time with all that has been going on and look forward to having a little bit of a normal life around here. I know my mom sacrificed so much of her time, energy, skill into making sure this particular show in Nauvoo is what they are asking for which to me is either what they wanted or maybe need to find someone else who knows what they are supposed to do in any situation like this one. 

I am probably going on about this way too much and have left you feeling slightly confused---but I am grateful to have made it as far as we have. I am more than excited to have one of my parents home with us again and not having to leave out of state again once they get here. I know I have felt the lord's hand in this whole process and giving me peace when I didn't know if I was going to feel it or not during any kind of situation I didn't want to put up with. We have not needed to call other people for extra help in anything that has gone on for the past twelve days and not having to be somewhere in particular (I will admit is nothing short of a miracle.) I am quite certain that we can all take a big sigh of relief in a few short days from now and get excited for what is to come down the road. I am grateful that my mom is not going to be doing this again next year and have an extra fun filled summer with other things to do rather than twilding our thumbs waiting for time to pass. 

I look forward to participating in my adaptive needs institute class again next week and not having any kind of worry about what I need to do the second we walk in the door. I have waited a long time for this weekend to finally arrive and now that we are officially here at the moment---I know things will begin to settle themselves down quite a bit. 

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Clear Answer

"Let me take the reins on this one and I will take care of her." 

This is the clear answer I received multiple times after praying to heavenly father with asking him if there is anything he needed me to do for an incredible young woman that I have looked up to for some time and I cannot get this out of my head. I know the lord will do all he possibly can to take the hand of this young woman as they walk down his covenant path on a daily basis. I still may want to let them know that I am praying for them every single night and letting our heavenly father do his stuff to make her life bearable---as they have experienced so much. I am not necessarily going into the details about all of this right now on here, but in the moment I really wished I could have been there to give them a hug or let alone cry with them as many times as they would let me but in my heart I knew there was not much of anything I could physically do in the sense of performing an act of service for them in some way or another. However, I knew the lord was going to take the reins on this one for me and take care of this individual who I have looked up to for awhile now. I obviously knew the least I could do for them was kneel down on my knees in sincere prayer to my heavenly father and ask him to help me with this no matter the circumstances that were going to come up later on in their life, I needed to make sure the lord was looking out for them.  I have continued doing this for awhile with no plans to stop any time soon and know it is better than just dwelling on what I have absolute zero control on whatsoever. I am not necessarily writing this to draw any kind of attention to myself or make a completely utter fool in any way but I am confident this is what the lord needs me to stick with. I know he would not ever put me in a situation that was too hard or unbearable for him to assist me on his path that all of us are walking down. 

I have contemplated on this experience for awhile now and understanding that I may never be able to let this young woman know the blessing it has been for me to pray in their behalf. I have obviously thought quite a bit on the fact my prayers will do a lot more than I could ever write in anything like a note or just about whatever comes to mind. I know my prayers to our heavenly father are what make us want to draw closer to him everyday and putting our complete trust in him no matter the circumstances we may be up against. I know without a shadow of a doubt that we are never alone in things we may be going through while we take hold of the lord's hand to guide us in the right direction and giving us hope for a brighter future ahead. 

I know the lord gave me this specific answer for an important purpose and letting this young woman trust in him as she continues forward with her life. I would obviously like to tell her in person that praying for her has blessed me in ways I never knew I needed for some time along with the fact she is such a strong, confident, kind hearted, genuinely sweet, self-less, patient young woman in more ways than I could even put into words. I know the lord brought her example into my life when I was processing through so much in a situation that left me not knowing if I would ever feel happy again which if you ask me, after I said a quiet prayer to heavenly father with tears rolling down my eyes. I knew in my heart the lord was watching out for me in that particular moment four years ago and letting me know everything would be okay as long as I invited him into my life more than I ever have before. 

FLASH FORWARD:

As I have followed this young woman over the last few years, I know their example has impacted my life in more ways than one and not only on just certain occasions. I remember calling out their name shortly after one of the BYU women's basketball games at the Marriott Center and next day feeling slightly bit on cloud nine!!! I had the absolute biggest smile on my face as I anxiously waited for the UTA bus to show up at my stop to get to my adaptive needs institute class. I literally cannot express perfectly the gratitude and appreciation that I have for this young woman right now. I know either one of us see each other on a daily basis or anything like that---but knowing she is a part of my life in some way that the lord knew I needed has left an imprint on my heart. I want to be able to make other people feel happy like she has me for the last while and striving to be like our Savior, Jesus Christ in so many ways. 

I am grateful for their influence throughout these past few years and letting me know what no matter the road it takes to achieve your dreams that I am going to get there at some point. I may not have wanted to share this with you all on here and yet I know not a lot of people who come across my blog will want to read through a treacherous post such as this one, but I am confidently hoping that someone will want to do the same for another person they come across. It may not need to be over social media or anything of that nature for you in particular but I am confident there is someone whose influence will leave a mark on your life too. 

Diamond Painting

TO MAKE THIS BRIEF----I finished up with my diamond painting today and could not be more grateful for the way it turned out. I obviously spent a lot of my time making that come to life as well as the fact I did push myself a little too hard on this one. I didn't waste any time putting each of the diamonds by their number, code and diamond colors every time I sat down to work on this project in making sure it was all in the right place. 

I genuinely still have a lot more work left to do for this and have no clue whatsoever how the final product is supposed to be like. I need to take a brayer or rolling pin to make sure all of the diamonds are tightly or at least as securely on the canvas as possible along with brushing on a water sealant that will lock all of the diamonds in place. I will also need to take heavy books that can set on top of the painting itself while the sealant dries over a twenty four hour period---but who knows??? I would obviously like to show off the painting to at least a small number of people and not make a complete fool of myself during a quick time frame. I am not necessarily planning on keeping this specific piece of artwork whatsoever and not have one more thing to take care of at home, which if you ask me is even close to an understatement. I definitely am not the kind of person who feels inclined to keep stuff laying around for months and just simply wanting to hold onto them. 

I literally spent two weeks and five days on this project that originally should have taken me all of BYU football and basketball season to finish but that didn't happen. I honestly wanted to spend more time on making this look as decent as possible but obviously there was an energy inside of me that was going to keep me patient and focused at all times. I am not going to post this diamond painting over social media due to personal reasons and not worrying about what other people think of my ability to do achieve this kind of thing. 

(To Be Continued)

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I literally thought once my new diamond art project came to my house that it would take me all of BYU football and basketball season to finish. I obviously worked on this a little too fast and didn't necessarily  take the time to enjoy making the painting itself come to life. I know it was such a great escape for me to learn something new and have a project that could keep me busy for awhile, if you know what I mean? I am grateful for the way it has turned out so far and look forward to maybe doing another one of these at some point in the distant future. 

I am not particularly certain what is going to happen after this painting of mine is completed, but I want to take my time over the next two days to finish up what I have left. I am definitely not going to begin a new one of these at any given moment but know it will give me something else to focus on if I ever want to do this again. I am grateful for the way it has come together and look forward to maybe seeing more of these paintings have other BYU sports that we love watching so much. I am not sure if that will ever be the case at any given moment in time but I am excited for BYU sports to begin their seasons!!! I cannot wait to see what our players have worked so hard on throughout the summer months and want to bring to the court or field this upcoming year. 

I really hope we can make it some of the home basketball games this season and cheer on the cougars if we ever have a chance. I loved being able to watch our women's team fight to the end in their touranment that I enjoyed getting to watch them compete in. I was obviously sad with them being runners up in their final game but so pleased with their willingness to step up together as a team to make that an experience no one will soon forget. I am keeping my fingers crossed and faith in my heart our players can maintain good health throughout the season without any problems as well as just soaking in every moment before things come to an end leading into the NCAA tournament if we get into that. I know our team could play so incredibly well and make it further into it as we possibly can which I am positive we can do if we stick to the game plans. I am also confident that our heavenly father will be with our coaches and players who do so much behind the scenes into making BYU sports what they are. I really wish I could take a minute to thank all of them for their contributions and dedication to what make BYU sports so much fun to see either in person or just from the comfort of my home. I truly love being able to cheer them on with each score we make and competing at the highest level they can to win games throughout the season that are ahead for them. 

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Birthday Celebration

LONG STORY SHORT----I enjoyed celebrating my birthday with friends and making lots of memories that I know will be talked about for years to come. We bought donuts from Macey's and took them to our independent living center to share with friends while we had lunch during our class. Later in the afternoon, We picked up our friend Maria and played two games of bowling up at BYU which if you ask me was a treat in the sense we just had fun being together. We also had my older sister along with her kids join us at the bowling alley which was a lot of fun too because her two older kids wanted to help us bowl. We loved getting to cheer them on as they rolled the bowls down the lanes and would once in a while give us a strike or spare if we were lucky to have them show up on the scoreboard. 

From there we walked over to the new BYU creamery to have dinner and spend more quality time with each other. We laughed a lot more than we should have and definitely wanted to keep the energy high as much as we could possible without drawing attention to ourselves. I loved getting to share my king sized kit kat bar with friends while we finished bowling our two games, which did I forget to mention that I had a strike my kind niece wanted to make sure I got was incredible!!! 

I also received lots of birthday wishes from friends and family that made my entire day more special. I am grateful for the amazing people who continue to support and help me in any way that they can while even though they are not with me in person. Overall, I had the absolute best day celebrating with friends and family that made it a celebration I know will be amazing the next year that lies ahead.