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 May 2023 

I became an auntie for the third time and could not have been more excited!! I genuinely loved seeing the thrills from my niece and nephew who were ecstatic about having a new sibling in their home. I am truly grateful to spoil another little rascal that has brought so much joy into our lives--even before they arrived in this world!! 

April 2023

I was especially thrilled about our upcoming vacation to Texas and getting a chance to visit family who we have not seen in what has felt like forever!!! We explored the well famous Sea World park where we got to see shows of the water animals there and literally got thousands of steps in throughout the day. We took an incredible visit to downtown San Antonio and went on the super fun boat ride that takes you to locations-- on the river-walk trail. One of my favorite parts on this specific trip was visiting my cousins' home which is also a farm and loved every single minute of it so much!!! I really loved playing with my cousin's kids and enjoying their endless amounts of energy was nothing short of an understatement. We played a lot of fun games together outside and laughed till our hearts were tired--which I must say never quit at any given moment. 

November 2023

This month has certainly opened up new doors for me as I look forward to continue serving as the chair of a brand new committee that one of my governor appointed entities put together. I definitely have so much to learn along the way as I navigate my new leadership role in a position that will only make me grow so much more as a person in the disability community. I also had an opportunity to be asked out on two fun dates with a colleague of mine to attend their Institute class and participate in the "Lighting Of Riverwoods" festival last weekend--which I will admit was a lot more fun having never gone to an event like that before!!! 

This weekend I get an unforgettable opportunity to participate in the Orem temple open house that so many members of our stake will participate in. I am excited for another chance to be in such a quiet--- peaceful and holy place while ushering people who walk through in the right direction. I cannot wait to see the many smiles on people's faces as they enter into the house of the lord and getting that spiritually uplifting reminder of who we are in the eyes of our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

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Date Night

 LAST FRIDAY---One of my colleagues picked me up along with their good friend to attend the lighting festival at the Riverwoods. I was excited to have a kickstart into the holiday season and spending quality time with friends who made it an experience I will cherish forever. We arrived at the Riverwoods LONG before the lights were going to come on and luckily we were able to participate in the miniature countdown from ten till we got to the end!! Did I forget to mention the Truman brothers performed?? I am not at all familiar with their music whatsoever, but it was delightful to listen to them sing about the holiday season and reminding all of us what it really centers around. My colleague ended up getting asked to get some footage for them while they were performing--which I am positively certain was top notch!!! We had a lot of fun dancing to the music, laughing till our hearts were tired, had a very warm and scrumptious meal at Waffle Love to end our fun night together. I definitely have wanted to hang out with this colleague of mine for awhile, but the timing was never right for me or I would have some commitment unexpectedly come up out of the blue. Overall, it was the best night ever and one that hopefully can take place again in the distant future if we're lucky!!! :) Did I forget to mention that we also got our picture taken with the Truman brothers after they performed for everybody?? 

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Promoted

 Unofficial News: (New Leadership Role)

LAST NIGHT--- I received an email from one of my colleagues about a new leadership opportunity that I never had before with this governor appointed entity. I obviously could not pass up this chance to grow so much more as a self advocate and become a good board member. It has definitely been a long time when I last served in a Chair person role within the disability community and look forward to what else this new experience has in store, which I know is only going to help me further into where I'd like to be once all of my years of service conclude. I was able to run my first meeting today with the committee I signed up to serve on, which if you ask me went over pretty good as far as being in my new role since gotten asked 24 hours ago!!! 

Adaptive Needs Institute Class (Last Night)

One of my colleagues who I serve with on the speakers network invited me to participate in their institute class and I obviously took them up on the chance. It was so much fun to meet all of their classmates and learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ together for an hour. It certainly did not go without laughs or heartfelt thoughts being shared in regards to the lesson, which if you ask me was not anything of an understatement. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to spend quality time with friends and have a little extra boost of discussing what holds such a dear place in my heart.

Free Write

BYU Men's Basketball (Exhibition Game)

Our good neighbors invited me and my twin sister to attend the first BYU Men's basketball game of their season tomorrow night. I am excited for us to cheer on our favorite team to victory along with all the other energetic BYU fans who will be there in attendance. I genuinely have no doubt we will have the best time ever and not get home too late in the evening hours!! I have never attended an exhibition game before and so I definitely think we will be in for a treat this time!!! I look forward to watching how this game will end up and hope it is an experience that no one will ever forget. #GoCougs.

Other Updates:

Happy Halloween!!! I hope everyone is able to have a safe and fun Halloween. I didn't know what to dress up like for this year and then decided to be Wednesday Addams!! It was so much fun to be someone other than myself a couple of times and enjoy being with my friends. Our independent living center hosted their own Halloween party last week and it was so much fun getting into the Halloween spirit with everyone in attendance with us. 

We also celebrated our best friend's birthday last week and got to make homemade pizzas, drink some yummy apple cider, eat scrumptious cupcakes for dessert, etc. We definitely made an effort to not stay up too late into the night hours and ended up coming home after 11pm. It was a lot of fun laughing w/ each other and making memories that we will cherish forever, which if you ask me is nothing short of an understatement!!! We also skimmed thru Camille's scrapbook of memories with her family and

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Late Night

NEXT THURSDAY----My twin sister and I along with our best friends will be meeting up at Camille's home for a little birthday together!!! We are going to make mini homemade pizzas with various toppings and playing games or whatever else we decide to do with our time. I cannot wait for all of us to spend the night together and make some new memories that will last forever--which if you ask me is nothing short of an understatement. I will make sure to write up a mini update on this if I ever get myself around to it- but I cannot genuinely make any promises!! 

Happy Birthday Camille!!! I am so grateful for your friendship in my life and the unconditional amounts of energy you share with everyone is amazing. It has been so much fun getting to know what an awesome, fun loving, true, loyal and wonderful person you are and continue to be in the lives of so many people who know you!! Thank you so much for being who you are and making this world a better place!!! 

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Other Update:

This year in 2023 has given me a fair share of lessons to take close to heart and not worry about things I have no legitimate control over. It has reminded me about who I want to be and continuing to set a good example for others within the disability community to look up to. I have grown closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ as I have felt of his love for me and knowing that everything will be okay...regardless of whatever mistakes I have ever made. I am so grateful for my testimony of this gospel and knowing that I can always turn to the one who overcame everything for us, so that we could be here. He's recognized the faith I have to trust him in every situation that life throws me and not ever losing sight of what I can do better as one of his disciples. 

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New Presentation (Disability 101)

One of my colleagues reached out to me earlier this week about co-presenting with them on a topic that I have never educated people on before. I have presented with this colleague several times throughout my years of being on the speakers network and quickly responded with a YES!!! I am grateful for the chance to present with this colleague of mine and learn along the way, about how we can make our population an more inclusive for all people with disabilities.

Internet Safety Presentation (Early November)

LONG STORY SHORT--- This was the first presentation I ever did as the newbie on the speakers network and ended up talking a little too fast. Did I forget to mention the slides were out of order?? It was certainly awkward for me to not feel out of place or wish this could have been an easier topic to educate others on how important it is to protect yourself online. I can only hope for a good outcome and that everyone who will be in that classroom are inspired to help others do the same. This presentation is not taking place for a couple of weeks and yet I'm excited to refresh my brain on the importance with being self online as well as keeping yourself protected at all costs. I look forward to educating the students who will be in attendance at the school me and my colleague are going to present at. We'll have a lot of material to cover in short period of time, but I am definitely up for the challenge to do what I can to make this an educational training--none of those students will soon forget.

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Super Fan

LONG STORY SHORT---I legitimately feel bad for not having attended more of the BYUWBB games last year had I known how stellar their basketball season was going to be. My family enjoyed following their journey for what felt like a short period of time, but it was incredible to watch them play tough and give every single basketball game, everything they had in order to be successful. After their legit season came in my mind, which was a very heartfelt end last year... it was hard for me to not wish they could have gone further into the NCAA tournament and brought that trophy home. I genuinely wished also that I paid more attention to what was going on and not purposefully missing out on what I saw was an unforgettable season for all of those lady cougars. I will admit that in my heart all of those ladies went all the way and made it an experience that none of us cougar fans would ever soon forget. I have been incredibly grateful to have been able follow a couple of the former players on their social media accounts and learn a little more about each of them. One of the main players whose name I will not mention in this blog post right now has one of the best YTC (YouTube Channel)'s ever and you could easily say that I have become obsessed with their content. I was a little hesitant to subscribe to this only because I didn't want to make it awkward for them having some random girl following their basketball journey without feeling like it was appropriate. I have been immensely grateful for their goodness and example of what it means to be a leader and person in this world more than anything. I genuinely have to say they have inspired me to always be a little happier than I was before, which if you ask me is not an understatement or even close to that. It has been an absolute dream come true to kind of get to know this remarkable BYU D1 athlete and their spunkiness never fails to put a smile on my face, whenever I need it at any given moment. Whether they know it or not---I could not be more grateful for what they do to make our world a better place. I may never know when my opportunity of meeting them in person will happen, but it will be the best day of my life and getting to let them know how much I want to have the energy they have when I grow up, I am certain would either make them laugh really hard or just smile really big. (Stay tuned for more!!)