New Update

July 14th, 2024 - Sunday Night

LONG STORY SHORT----After we had finished up with our birthday dinner, my older sister along with her family had brought over what my twin sister and I thought was a present. Little did we know about the picture at the bottom that was going to be an unexpected surprise for everyone!!! I cannot wait to become an auntie for the last time in early February of next year and look forward to seeing my niece, nephew and their little sister give unconditional love to a new sibling. 

July 17th, 2024 - Birthday Party with friends :) 

As I think about this and how much fun we had, it would be a complete understatement. We first decided to go bowling up at BYU for awhile and then went into bowl prior to the FSY kids making their debut in the bowling alley that night. My older sister and her three kiddos joined us for a game, which if you ask me made the evening a little more fun in my book. It was so much fun seeing them bowl their balls down their lane and watch them either get a strike or whatever it is you get when you bowl these days. I was not at the least bit surprised that our best friend's husband ended up winning his game, because he does go bowling on a regular basis. Shortly after that, all of us walked outside in the summer heat  a block away down to the old BYU creamery on ninth to enjoy a scrumptious cheeseburger meal that came with a scoop of ice cream!!! Little did we know it will end up being rebuilt back in the location of where the current one is in keeping up with the demand of so many ice cream lovers like me!!! 

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Solo Presentation

Granite School District - Fall Institute 2024 

I have never presented at this event before and look forward to meeting with the individuals who dedicate so much of their time, energy and hearts into teaching students in the disability community. I will be doing a mini presentation about celebrating self and continue spreading hope about how important it is to respect those with disabilities in our society. Lucky for me, I have a couple of weeks to practice through all of my materials and get prepared for an experience that I hope to look back on with a smile!!! I genuinely hope everything goes over well for me and there are no technical difficulties like what happened at the provider conference I was involved with last month. It is definitely going to be a treat for me to do this on my own without any extra assistance from my colleagues, which I am certain will be slightly nerve-wracking but I am up for it. #MySoCalledLife.

Random Story (SNAP June 13th)

One of our newest youth leaders for SNAP whose name I will not mention here, brought their yearbook to with them and I could not help but ask if I could sign it. I obviously went for it and wrote a very genuinely kind message to them, which I know is not going anywhere but you get the idea?? I also ended up giving this person a sweet little shout out on my IG stories and pretty certain they didn't see it---but I will for sure inform them about it tomorrow if we see each other!!! I had never signed a yearbook from the school on the other side of the tracks before, but I didn't want to pass up the chance to let my new acquaintance know that I am there to support them in anyway I can. I am grateful to always bring a smile to their face as we get to know each other when they come to SNAP on Thursday nights---which sometimes is a hit or miss for them and hopefully that can get fixed soon!!! Did I forget to mention I finally got to see my legit all time former division one basketball athlete's picture with the lady T-Bird Basketball team inside and just immediately squealed with excitement??? #LikeNoKidding #BestNightEver #LikeEver. 

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Disability Pride Project 2024 

After having participated in this two years ago, I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to do this again and luckily I was able to come up with a legitimate answer to the questions I had been asked. It certainly took lots of time for me to think about what to share with people and have a slightly better response than what I had given years prior. I may not know what disability pride means to me on a personal level, but I do know it is so crucial to let the community understand what this is about and that our disabilities do not define any of us, let alone tear us down into what society perceives us to be. This will be posted in a few days and cannot wait for everyone to read my answer as well as other participants who had an interest in being a part of this. 

Presentation Opportunity (To Be Determined)

One of my colleagues reached out to me earlier today and asked if I would be interested in giving a solo presentation about celebrating self determination at Taylorsville High School. I haven't made a decision about this yet and can only hope it all works out for the best. I have not done a solo presentation before, but I am definitely willing to do what I can in making this one a success--(minus the fact I will not have any colleagues with me is going to be a little nerve-wracking but I can put my best self out there.) I am hopeful this can be an experience that will not only happen more in the distant future, but allow myself with being able to grow into the self advocate I want to be. 

32nd Birthday (Just For Fun) 

I legitimately wish I was turning twenty three all over again & not the other way around-- which if you ask me is nothing short of an understatement. I am seriously hoping to have an unforgettable day with lots of smiles and excitement in the air!!! With all of that being said, I am excited to be reaching a new age in life and beginning more adventures that lie in my future. It is definitely going to be in hopes of being a day that I can look back on with a smile on my face and celebrating with those I love!! We will be getting together with friends two days later (due to one of them being out of town starting tomorrow into part of next week.) I cannot wait to share memories with everyone and laugh until our hearts get so tired that we have to quiet ourselves down!!! #LikeNoKidding. 

Summer Break

YESTERDAY----My twin sister and I along with our many friends who attend classes at our IL center took a field trip to Antelope Island State Park. I had never been there in my life and looked forward to hopefully seeing some animals which were only a couple of horses, lots of bison buffalo that were just roaming around in the fields nearby. We had an opportunity to visit a small village from the olden days and look inside of the historic sites, which were not too many but it was nice to see how they did things back then. We also got a chance to look at some of the farming equipment that gets used to keep a farm running smoothly, which was fairly interesting if you ask me!!

AFTERWARDS---We headed out of the park to have lunch some place and look out over the beautiful scenery. It was lovely to spend a little time outdoors and enjoy what the state of Utah has to offer, which believe me is nothing short of an understatement. I was able to get a couple of pictures taken as we drove around to see everything and did I forget to mention we saw bison crossing the road?? :) 

THS Marching Band (SNAP)

This was literally one of the best activities ever and I know it will be an experience that is going to be cherished forever!!! I genuinely loved spending quality time with my friends and laughing until our hearts were tired which is nothing short of an understatement. One of my best friends videoed themselves as they walked around the parade route and could not stop being silly the entire time, which was not a surprise if you know Camille well enough to know how much energy she loves sharing with everyone!!! I seriously wished those band members could attend our SNAP activities every week and make it extra special for all of us if you know what I mean??? :) 

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Busy Week

Advocacy & Provider Conference 2024 (Mini Version)

I am grateful to have had an incredible time being with my friends and colleagues at this advocacy conference earlier in the week. I absolutely loved being involved with this conference while doing multiple presentations in regards to celebrating self determination, getting around in your community, among other topics that were a little harder for me to process than others. Did I forget to mention about reading through the advocacy awardees bios during lunch time on the second day?? I also had a chance with singing "Happy Birthday" to one of the attendees after being kindly asked to do so and of course I could not hesitate to accept the offer. It was so much fun getting to laugh till my heart was tired, playing outdoor games with everyone, and inspiring other people to know that they are not alone. I have a deep genuine love for the disability community and loved making new friends while in attendance there. I am probably going on about this too much, but it was so much fun and an experience I will cherish forever if not for the rest of eternity!!!

Minus all of what I said earlier, this blog post should have been on here last week and completely forgot to publish it for some reason. I am grateful to have participated in this event while learning so much along w/ everyone about important topics that the disability community needs to know. It was such an incredible & wonderful experience to be a part of with so many people who are dedicated to making our world a better place. 

32nd Birthday (Next Month)

Still have not planned anything for this yet and not sure what will be happening-- but I know it would be a dream come true to have a birthday shout out from my favorite division one basketball athlete & spend at least a minute with them!!! #NoKiddingHerePeople. I would certainly love for that to happen and make my birthday extra special, but I also understand it is not possible in anyway either. I will be honest with you about this, is that spending quality time with my friends would mean the world to me and their presence is all I could ever need. #StayTunedForMore.

Extra Time

LAST MONTH---I ended up only writing one post on here due to the fact that I am not as consistent with blogging like I used to be and needed a break from this. However, it was incredibly relaxing to have time away and focus on other things instead of when my next blog post would get itself here. I especially found it rather nice to not have anything to worry about about for a couple of days and just enjoy the beauties of our earth in paradise!!! 

I would like to give a mini shout out to my favorite YouTuber in this world, (you know who you are) Thank you so much for the lovely post you shared today!!! I legit almost cried happy tears watching you spend quality time away & soaking in every moment you possibly could. I am forever grateful to have come across your channel 2 years ago and getting to know what an incredible person you are!! You are truly the best of the best and never forget it!!! :) #IYKYK. 

This summer has gotten off to a somewhat of a legit start and leaving me with opportunities to grow more as a person than I ever could have imagined possible. I will make sure to get back into this stuff once my life has settled down a little bit and I can actually share with you, things are or will be taking place over the course of three months. Please stay tuned for more updates to come and hopefully I can share more with you all in the weeks ahead!!! :)

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LONG STORY SHORT--- I am excited for the upcoming advocacy and provider conference that is coming up next week!!! I cannot wait to make some new friends and learn some things about how to become the best version of myself. I genuinely hope we have a legitimate turn out and can educate so many people on issues that affect the lives of people with disabilities. I am going to be fairly busy with being a room host occasionally while doing little odd jobs here and there, but I look forward to making this experience one that conference participants will not soon forget. 

Summer 2024 Highlights:

My twin sister and I along with our many friends are participating in our independent living center's summer program. We have opportunities to go to different places in the community while learning a number of skills that will help us be successful in finding a job at some point. We already had the 1st activity yesterday up at the national ability center in Park City where we participated in team building, which if you ask me was a little more complicated than I would have liked it to be. We got to eat lunch outside for a little bit and make some new friendships with the other attendees who were there, which I will admit was probably one of my favorite things!!! 

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