Mother's Day 2012

My little gift to Mommy for Mother's Day

I love doing little girls' hair!

A scholarship...and then some!

I GOT THE LeCROY SCHOLARSHIP!!! Two years of my tuition and books completely paid for! I also get two amazing and very kind mentors!!!! And there are only 12 students total in the entire scholar program, and we meet often for meetings, conferences, and dinners, so hopefully I will be able to make some good friends, too! And if I do really well in school, I will be able to transfer as a "LeCroy Scholar" and will most likely be able to nail another scholarship for the next step in my education! AHH! I'm so excited! Thank you to Heavenly Father and my wonderful parents and my sweet counselor for all of their help! :)

So here's what's up: I work for the Chelius family in Sunnyvale for the next year (they are the nicest family in the world, and their house is AMAZING!!!), making good money and growing up a lot as I will be living independently away from my family. Come autumn, I'll attend the Dallas East Stake Singles' Ward, take classes at Eastfield Community College, get my Associates in English, transfer to either UTDallas, Texas Women's University, or Brigham Young University to study Speech and Language Pathology, serve an 18 month mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, return home to complete my SPL degree, and begin working as a Speech and Language Pathologist!!! Somewhere along the way, I hope to meet my Prince Charming. I will not settle for anything less than a temple marriage to a handsome and spectacular Returned Missionary with a strong testimony of the gospel, who is kind and hardworking and who loves me with all of his heart. And I want to be the best mother in the world for my future children. And I want to get to the point in my career where I can work from home so that I can home-school my children until they attend high school. And then I will do all that I can to get my children on missions and married in the temple, and to be the best grandmother! And then the best great-grandmother! Ahhh!!! It'll be so much hard work but it's so exciting and I know that I can do it with lots of help from Heavenly Father!!!! It all starts with my job this summer!!!

Also, I've been trying much harder to stay close to the Spirit lately. I've been really STUDYING my scriptures, keeping a very good scripture journal, and praying much more meaningfully as I work harder to live by all of the commandments. I can't even begin to tell you how much strength I have been blessed with, and within only a few days of making these changes!!! I have been given great desire to work hard, energy to be able to do all that I need to do, an increase of faith, love, patience, and all things good! I've even been able to get back on my diet! And it's not even hard! Yes, I'm totally screaming right now as I type this! Life is so good! God is so good! I love the gospel! I love my family! I love my friends! I love our beautiful world!!! All of these great changes have come just because I covenanted with Heavenly Father that I will do all that is in my power to turn my life around for the better, and asked that in return He help me as much as He can, because I can't do it without Him! HE KEEPS HIS PROMISES!!!! My world is brightening, and opportunities are opening up for me! I am escaping the physical and emotional traps that I have been in all of my life! It is never too late to change, thanks to the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ!!!! "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you!"

With SO MUCH LOVE,

Youth Conference

WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND!!!! It was my last Stake Youth Conference that I will have ever attended as a youth in the church...now onto Relief Society/Singles' Ward activities. I had such a great time. I have the fondest memories of Young Women's and will cherish them forever!!!

On Friday night, we had a nice dinner while we watched each ward from the Stake show their talent. My favorite was Kaufmann ward, who put together a swing dance. It was obvious that they put a TON of work into it, and it was done very well! Others played musical arrangements, showed videos that they made, and one ward even had this genius idea--You know that primary song that goes, "Whenever I hear the song of a bird, or look at the blue, blue sky...?" Well, imagine about 40 hands floating in the air, joining together to create a couple of ears, a bunch of birds flying around, and drawing out other phrases of the song. It was so cool! What they did was wear white gloves, and used a black light while the rest of the gym was pitch black. SO COOL! The dinner was a spaghetti/salad/alfredo dinner. Yummy. And afterward, we finished the night with a fun dance. I didn't dance as much as I talked to all of my friends and leaders whom I hadn't spoken to in far too long! I had a great time! A "funny" of the night: My brother, Randy (16), asked what I was telling my friend, Jaycie, at the dance, because he looked over to where we were sitting in the corner and saw her crying. I explained that we were having an intensely spiritual conversation about overcoming temptation hahahaha. I can't help myself! I was born to be a missionary! I really hope I get to go on a mission!!!!

On Saturday, the Stake held a service project for the Special Olympics. The youth assisted the special-needs children onto the track, assisted them with getting their race shirts and numbers, cheered them along the way as they competed, etc. From what I hear, it was a very spirtual experience, as the special-needs children were very sweet and innocent. I myself did not attend this event, but did join them for the next activity. Although I missed out on the wonderful service project, I was actually quite fortunate in that I did not get the awful sunburn that every other youth in the Stake received while outside with the Special Olympics. I also had about an hour to get ready in my church clothes at home while everyone else had only 30 mins to get ready and all in the same, tiny bathroom at the church! Haha. But I do regret missing out on a spiritually-lifting experience!! When we all met back at the church at 3pm, we began the GAME ABOUT LIFE....

The game was made to be a "Mormon version" of the board game, Game of Life. It began by going through a veil (the front doors of the gym) that represented how when we came into this world, we forgot everything about our pre-mortal existence. We received a card as we walked in that told us how we spent the first 18 years of our life (to speed things up). Some people got a card that said how they attended seminary every day, or how well they did in high school, or informed them about a scholarship that they received and other things like that. From there, we went to college. We registered for any classes we wanted to take, and applied for/received the job that we would work for. I started off by getting my Associates degree, and got a job in child care, which is funny because that's almost exactly what I'm getting into right now! From there, we went to the Singles' Ward! We got a dorm and a college roommate, and lots of school loans. Ugh. Then we got matched up with our spouses! I was SO lucky. My husband was extremely handsome, perhaps the cutest guy there! He was very tall and super strong--a football player. :) He was also very nice, and both of his real-life parents liked me, which was a bonus. Hehe. He wasn't too smart, though, unfortunately, and neither was I, so we got into 220, 000 dollars of debt. It was awful! As we went through life, the odds were against us, as things like being unable to have children, having to adopt, having our children die in a terrible accident, our house get hit by a tornado, my husband lose his job, my father suffer from a stroke while WE had to support him financially...it was awful! We were buried in debt with no hope of ever recovering!!! When we got to our 60s, I went back to school to get my Master's degree, and began working as a Special Care Worker, earning 75, 000 a year. It was great and we were finally able to start paying of some bills. After a terrible roll of the dice, we were sent to court because apparently our marriage had gotten to the point where it seemed the only option was divorce! After lots of time and money and talking with the "Bishop," we "solved our marital problems" and stayed married! We began to use our Blessing Cards (earned from paying Fast Offering, adopting children, helping out our dad, and so on) to help us get out out of financial crises, which was great! But right when life started to get better, I died of terminal cancer. Pbbbpb. After I died, I waited in the "Spirit world" (outskirts of the gym) and waited for my husband to die and join me because I couldn't move on in eternity without him. FINALLY he died in a car wreck, and our lives were evaluated. We did well as far as getting married in the temple and staying married and getting our education, but somehow we forgot to go on missions and to pay our tithing, so we lost a lot of points. Then we went to the Celestial Kingdom and lived happily ever after; i.e. off to the kitchen to eat pizza and salad and brownies!

We then attended workshops about physical and emotional health, getting our education, how to do well in choosing a career, how to do family history work, and, my favorite, how to stay strong in the gospel as a teenager (taught by really awesome and super cute college boys via texting! We'd text them a question and they'd answer it really well using their own life experiences! It was fun because they were our ages!). All of the classes were very helpful and inspiring!

We ended the night by discussing the Game About Life and its events, as well as hearing a few testimonies from selected leaders and youth. My favorite point that was made was taught by a Sister Pool, who is a very kind, elderly woman who put the game together for us. I appreciated her perspective because it was ORIGINAL, something that I hadn't made a connection to on my own! I mean, everything else that we learned in the Game About Life was stuff I'd always known-- like how all that matters in this life is getting our education, getting married in the temple, raising our families unto the Lord, faithfully keeping all of the commandments, and thereby receiving Heavenly blessings that we carry with us into Eternity. Things like money and worldly accomplishments do not matter at ALL in the end! That is all very good and things that we all need to remember. But Sister Pool brought up something that I wasn't expecting.She said that during the game, many of the youth had been displeased with the groups that they had been placed in, and so they traded wristband colors with other teams. She said that because of this, many people in the game ended up as single throughout the whole game, as the person that had been chosen to be thier spouse (unknown to all of we players) was on the wrong team. (I almost switched my band with another team color, too. So glad I didn't!) She explained how, in the game, the people who chose to switch teams knew, to some degree, that they would suffer a consequence for their decision. But they DIDN'T know how it would affect the other players! Likewise, she continued, people in today's society who choose to be immoral and have sex before marriage know when they make that choice that they will endure some kind of consequence, but they do not realize how it affects others. The child, for example, was born before it should have been. It's another way of "playing God" with life, as murder is. It wasn't able to be born to a family who was sealed in the temple. It also affects other family members, especially the grandparents of the child, who have to help out the couple who made the mistake as they were not entirely prepared for the responsibilities of parenthood. It was such a good point, and really helped me to better understand the importance of remaining abstinent before marriage, and to always remain clean and chaste.

So that was my last and wonderful youth conference!!! I really enjoyed it! I wish I didn't write so much but I wanted to make sure I wrote down every detail for my own memory's sake. :)

One month until graduation!

I HAVE SO MUCH TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN LIFE. My job, college, serving a mission, and beginning my career as a Speech and Language Pathologist are all wonderful, life-changing experiences that are just around the corner!!!

I recently broke up with my boyfriend, Robert. It wasn't anything that was wrong with him, exactly, it was just that with all of this stuff coming up I wanted the freedom to date some more guys and to really live my life rather than stressing about what he was doing all the way up in Utah. It's also better for him to be able to focus on his own schooling and work. It's funny...I have LOVED being single again! I'm a pretty good flirt, and have had a ton of fun with it these past couple weeks. And I haven't even started Singles' Ward or Institute, yet! :)

I got this new, amazing job as a full-time, live-in nanny ("Au-Par") for a family of six. They are the Chelius family, a family in my ward that I have been babysitting for since we've lived here in Dallas. On June 1st, they are moving away to Sunnyvale, about 30 mins away from here. I'll be moving with them! :) I'll get my own bedroom, and they'll pay for all of my food and everything, and will even let me use their cars (van on weekdays when caring for the children and little car on the weekends) and pay for the gas. I get payed really well on top of that, but because my money won't be going to anything but taxes, I'll just get to save, save, save all of it for a real university, my own car, my mission, etc. While I am working for the Cheliuses (plural?), I'll be taking online classes with my community college, as it will be difficult to go to college full-time while working as a nanny. The plan is to get my associates here at El Centro Community College and then to transfer to either BYU or UTDallas to study Speech and Language Pathology. I applied for a scholarship that, if I qualify (I have a lot of confidence that I will), they will pay for my tuition and all of my books. But even if I don't get the scholarship, I will be saving tons of money with this plan and will be able to go to a real university without having to go into debt! Wee hee!

My duties as an Au-Par include caring for, protecting, and providing structured activities for the children, as well as helping them with their studies, teaching them piano, keeping the house clean, cooking the meals, driving to and from school and other activities, running errands, and so on. Basically I'll be getting payed to be a mommy for these four sweet children, ages 7, 5, 3, and 1. I'm SOOO excited. The family is very nice, and I love all of them. It is a one year commitment, and then I'll decide what I'll be doing after that when I get to that point. :)

As for my mission, I really want to serve one! I don't care where I'm called, I just want to be able to focus on nothing but living and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ for those 18 months. Girls in our church aren't allowed to go until we are 21, so I have time to adequately prepare for this great calling. I have a strong testimony of the gospel and of the love of our Heavenly Father and I want to share that along with all of the general teachings of the church to His children, and help to bring the blessing of the gospel into their lives. I also strongly believe that by doing this, I will learn and grow and mature in so many ways, both emotionally and spiritually.

So I graduate on May 23rd, but our last day of actual school is the 17th. I am so excited to be DONE with high school and to start my exciting new life! I need to work really hard these last few weeks though so I can graduate with POWER. :)

Love you guys! Love,

Pursuing My Dream

I'VE ALWAYS HAD THIS IDEA IN MY HEAD OF WHO I WANT TO BE. I want to be beautiful, happy, kind, loving, educated, hardworking, and someone who really makes a significant and positive impact on my family and in society. I know that perfection IS achievable with the help of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Because of Him, I can repent of my mistakes and work towards becoming mistake-free. The solution really is a simple thing to do, just difficult-- ALL I have to do is LISTEN TO THE PROMPTINGS OF THE SPIRIT, and if I do, I will naturally become more like Christ.

So why don't I just do it?? Why don't I pray more meaningfully? Why don't I study my scriptures more thoroughly? Why don't I honor and respect my parents? Why do I still let myself be filled with angry feelings and impatience? Why do I still criticize others and not appropriately criticize myself in my own problems? Why am I so LAZY? Why do I procrastinate my responsibilities, especially those regarding my health and education? The answer has to be that I'm NOT LIVING IN A WAY THAT KEEPS THE SPIRIT EVER IN MY LIFE!!! That seems baffling to me sometimes...and I promise that I don't mean that in an arrogant way. It's just that it's easy for me to think that because I have always been a faithful member of the church who keeps the commandments and loves my family and so on, that I should have the Spirit with me constantly! I guess this just goes to show how serious the gospel must be taken: we can't just "go through the motions" of doing this and that NOT doing those and them.

I've known so many members of the church who keep all of the commandments and laws and principles of the gospel to the letter. They seem to have no flaws to speak of. They do EVERYTHING right! But somehow they are still such meanies. On the other hand, I know tons of people who have obvious issues and yet they are so much more Christ-like (charitable, loving, and compassionate) than the letter-of-the-law people. That's the difference. The HEART. The MINDSET. As we strive to live by Christian values, we must also be engulfed in humility and live in complete dependence on the Spirit. We learn this from the true story of the Lamanites and the Nephites in the Book of Mormon: While the Nephites were the Lord's chosen people who supposedly lived so very righteously, it was they who were destroyed in the end while the Lamanites prospered because, although the Lamanites were still very wicked in many ways, at least they were not PRIDEFUL like the Nephites were.

I'm really trying to rid myself of my pride, and to completely open my heart and mind to the promptings of Spirit, in addition to living every principle that the Lord has asked me to live by. I want to be obedient. I want to be happy. I need to just decide here and now that I will stop making excuses and simply do what needs to be done. It's so hard. But I can do it with the support of the Holy Ghost and of my family and friends. Thanks to the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ, I can and WILL become that beautiful, happy, kind, loving, educated, hardworking, and impactful woman that I've always wanted to be!

My wonderful 18th birthday!

Texas Sheet Cake...per usual. It's our favorite cake, obviously. :)

DELICIOUS Coconut Cream Pie from Breadwinner's Cafe. Totally worth breaking my diet! I couldn't believe the explosion of flavor! Haha I'm such a food fanatic...it's terrible. And then the next several pictures are of my brother Randy and our good friend Josh Daughetee. This kid is so sharp. He really goes out of his way to make everyone feel loved and special. We had so much fun talking to him--only for the last hour or so though because he was being a good guy out teaching with the missionaries. So Josh! :)

Below are pics of the (left to right) Daughetee, Farmer, and Seegmiller couples. We have been great friends for years! I didn't realize how much I missed them until we saw them again last night for the first time in FOREVER!

Look at these pictures of these beautiful children and tell me that families are not part of Heavenly Father's great plan of happiness. You can't, can you?? Children are such a joy. They are my life....I have six younger siblings and I've been babysitting amazing little kiddoes since I was 11. They make me sooo very happy! I love their sweet and fun spirits. Goodness I can't even begin to explain how much I love them!!!!

MY BIRTHDAY WAS PERFECT. It couldn't have been any better, really.

I got a few of my presents pretty early. I got an Exhibit II Android touch screen phone from my mommy. It's so cool!!!! It's touch screen and I get internet (wifi) on it and everything!!! She also got me some adorable pajamas that I am in love with. I never wear cute pajamas. I always wear old t-shirts and tank tops and that's about it. These are so cozy and very adorable. :) My daddy got me some antique, beautiful piano scores. They are old hymns and lullabies and sweet music like that. I love this gift, too, as it really makes me smile to think of my dad looking through so many music scores and looking for just the right ones for me. He is so thoughtful. He has always loved my music. I'm not great at all hardly, but my daddy makes me feel like I am. He's so sweet. He's one of the biggest reasons why I've stuck with piano for so long is because I know it makes him so happy! So his gift to me means so much. :D Another gift from Mommy was that she took me out to go shopping for some clothes. I bought everything with money that I've earned with all of my babysitting, but I could not have done it without her. She helps me stay focused and teaches me how to save and make good choices while I shop. It was a lot of fun to be with her and my sisters. We took our time and really enjoyed spending it together!

I got many gifts from others, too! Aunt Lesa gave me some nice makeup and taught me how to do it properly, some tips that I needed very badly! Mema gave me 25 dollars (she sends 25 dollar checks to ALL of her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren for their birthdays every year. She is so sweet!). Mimi and Papa also gave me 35 dollars so that I can buy some more clothes. That really helps!

Sister Chelius, a family that I babysit for in my ward very often, gave me three boxes of Bounce dryer sheets. This gift is hilarious and so nice because of it's story....One night I was helping her fold her laundry and I noticed that all of her clothes smelled SOOO good. I asked her why and she explained how they used these dryer sheets, something my family never uses because it doesn't seem worth it to spend 6 dollars for a box of them. I had only mentioned this once and it was a while ago, so it was very sweet of her to remember that! I also got a very beautiful homemade bracelet from Sister Seegmiller last night!!!! I love it so much!!!! It is pink and white and dainty and loose and just perfect. I love it all the more because she made it. It is made up of hundreds of little beads that she had sewn on one at a time, made with lots of patience and kindness. It will help me remember her too since we haven't been able to see them ever because they moved to TN a few years ago. So far away. :(

It was another wonderful gift to be able to see them (the Seegmillers) again last night. The only bad thing is that their visit is because of terrible circumstances: a family from our old ward, the Griffins, are having a funeral for the father and grandfather, Vince, this Tuesday. So what brought the Seegmillers here was not good at all!!! But it was great to see them again just the same. We met them at the Daughtee's house, another family that we absolutely adore. Fortunately, THEY are still in our Stake, at least, but we don't see them very often, either. It was such a joyful reunion!!! We talked and talked and laughed and talked and laughed. :) I hadn't realized how much I had missed all of them until I saw them last night!!!! I hope we will be able to get together again soon!!! (I hope no one else has to die to make that happen, though!)

So that was my spectacular birthday. I am so grateful for the people in my life. Oh, that was another thing was the hundreds of "Happy Birthday!"s that my many friends from all over the place had posted on my Facebook wall! I felt so loved. Thank you to everyone for making my day so special!!!!!! I am so excited to be 18!!! I am in Relief Society with Mommy now and I'll be graduating from High School very soon so I can start working (hopefully) as a full-time nanny and beginning my college education! Whoo! Life is so great. :D

I love you guys! Love,

I have to give back!

I THINK THAT I OFTEN TAKE FOR GRANTED the wonderful family that my Heavenly Father has blessed me with. I have a mom and dad that really do love me more than I can even begin to comprehend, and who have never just "put up" with all of my bad attitudes and rebellions and wrong-doings, but have lovingly given me consequences for the bad and have supported me in doing the RIGHT things. I have three handsome brothers that have always been patient with me and have loved me despite my bossy-ness. They are more commonly examples and leaders to me than I am for them as the eldest. I have three adorable baby sisters who admire me and are SO grateful for every little thing I do for them (which is never really enough, in all honesty). They want nothing more than to cuddle and talk to me. They are little angels. I don't deserve them.

I am sincerely sorry for my selfish attitude toward my parents and siblings. They do nothing but GIVE GIVE GIVE to me all the time. But I am more concerned with myself; school, friends, church, working out, dieting, etc. I haven't been listening to all of THIER exciting stories or cared about THEIR feelings or loved them for who THEY are like they do for me.

I'm going to do better. Starting now. I love you guys. Love,

Mommy's Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mommy! I think she had a pretty good day...crepes for breakfast, a little pedicure, a clean house, all of the dishes done very well, homemade carrot cake, and then dinner at the Kamat couple's house (Daddy's very good friend from work and his wife). Sorry there aren't any good pictures. :( I love you, Madre! Thank you for being so wonderful! :) Love,