Holiday Break

One of the highlights from this past week was getting my twin sister and I, along with our best friends Danielle & Maria for a little Christmas party. We picked up Maria on our way to Danielle's house and spent the afternoon having so much fun, telling stories and getting into the holiday spirit- believe it or not!!! :) We also got to Face Time with our best friend Camille who is currently living in Baltimore, Maryland while her parents are serving as Mission Presidents there. It has definitely been fun getting to see Camille once in awhile when she gets to come home and visit for a few days until she has to go back again. We are so incredibly proud of her and everything that she is doing to serve other people as well as her Heavenly Father. We went to the movie theater to go see Ferdinand, which was just absolutely hilarious and very entertaining if you haven't already gone to see it!!! We went to lunch at Sizzler and just enjoyed being with each other.. because that doesn't really happen too much but whenever the opportunity comes around, we don't want to miss it.

Wonder

This book was one that I actually read several years ago while volunteering at the neighborhood elementary school and it really struck a chord with me personally. It's about this young boy whose born with facial deformities and has been home schooled through a period of his life, but also just entering into the fifth grade for the first time. You are basically seeing his journey of what it is like for this little boy to be going into junior high and how he learns to feel accepted and loved by those around him. I definitely was inspired by how this ten year old boy never gave up on what he knew he was capable of and letting everyone know that he was more than just different from the other kids. It has made me reflect quite a lot on myself and even though I'm not like everyone else in this world, I don't need to let those situations get me down. I may not be like this little boy who just wants to feel part of society and have people who love him just the way he is. My life situation itself is not nearly close to what our friend Auggie in this film has to battle everyday, but I do understand how it feels being different because sometimes people may not even realize. I am very much looking forward to learning more about how it feels better to know: "Why blend in when you were born to stand out?"

#CHOOSEKIND

This hashtag really may just seem like every other topic you've seen out there on social media, but I will say that this one in particular means a lot to me. I have definitely been through my own share of experiences that really taught me how to better understand why something happened the way it did-- or whatever it is... I know my Heavenly Father would never give me a situation that he knows I could not handle. I may choose to see this hashtag as just something fun to share with people, but really just think about what it would mean to choose kindness over any feeling that you get sometimes & take a moment to see what happens.