Magic B.O.B. -- Video Star

[20] Conclusion, But Not The End

     Over the past few months, we have been expected to create a blog for ourselves. I have been able to write twenty entries over the past four months and I can honestly say that it has truly blessed my life in ways that I never thought it would. I never thought that simply taking the time to write down my feelings and events that happen whether big or small. Some things don't feel like a big deal, but being able to write down these seemingly insignificant events help me realize that it is the small things in life that make a difference. It is not about the major events, but the minor moments that truly define our deep character.
      I have been able to take time to write down stories and things that are important to me and I realized themes that make me who I am. A quote I heard was, "Inspiration carefully recorded shows Heavenly Father that his communication is sacred to us." I realized that the promptings I have and service opportunities are Heavenly Father's way of showing me He loves me and when I write it down and am able to look back on it later, I show Him that it matters to me and I can recognize His hand in my life.
       This has been a great reason to start a blog, and now I am going to continue my blog, so even though this is technically the "conclusion", it is definitely no the end. This is not going to be my last post. Keeping a record helps me stay faithful, just as the examples in the scriptures. I can't wait to continue this as well as look back on such a great time in my life!

[19] Procrastination at it's Finest

I know it is probably cliche to blog about blogging and to write about procrastinating while in the middle of procrastinating, but I feel like blogging in the middle of the night is something worth remembering, especially in future days when I am about to take a nap even though I have to have 19 blog entries by tomorrow...
     Either way, I have learned a lot about college so far. I have learned that BYU is actually a lot harder than high school. I have to read the textbooks or else the lecture won't make much sense and I won't do well on tests. I have to spend a lot of time in the library if I even want to think about doing all of my homework. College is not as low key as high school. BUT, college rewards are much greater than high school.
     I learned that hard work pays off. Even after studying for 8 hours for a nutrition test and still getting a B- on it, the reward will come later and maybe not in the way I expect it (or even want it).
    I've learned that sometimes you have to fake it till you make it. I've gone on 4 blind dates in the past semester and I am not usually an outgoing person at first. It usually takes me a little while to get comfortable enough with the person to fully express my excitement. I learned, though, that with dating, I need to fake my excitement in the first date until I finally make it to feeling comfortable on the third date.
       Most importantly, I've learned how to learn and this has become one of my most cherished lessons. I have come to truly know that, "The more you learn, the more you realize you don't know." There are so many things in this world that I don't know, but I love expanding my knowledge every day at such a wonderful campus!

[18] Finally Found Facebook

     Growing up, I was never allowed to have a Facebook. My mom had one, my dad had one, and my older brother had one, but my parents never allowed me to have one. I guess they thought I would waste too much time on such a pointless internet site. Unfortunately, Facebook is quite the social directory for today's media-savy world. Technology is huge and everyone uses Facebook.

     On my eighteenth birthday, my parents told me it was finally okay to get a Facebook, but even I knew they were so ten years ago and no one starts getting them now. The time had come and gone. But in college, my ward has a Facebook page for announcements and getting to know each other. I really missed out on learning names and faces for the first few months because I never saw these people on social media. Luckily, my roommates are great and realized my Facebook-challenged mind needed some help. They set me up with a Facebook account, and now I am happy to say that I can now see every piece of people's lives whether I want to see it or not... In all seriousness though, I am excited for this new opportunity to share the gospel through social media. I may need a little help understanding what "Poking" is though...?

[17] My Parents Were Right All Along

    In high school, I was known for having strict parents. They had the most intense rules and they never let me break them. Ever. One rule, was that I was never allowed to sleep in past 8:30 a.m. no matter what. Even if it was Saturday, I was expected to wake up and be doing chores by 8:30. I had a date Friday night and was very tired so waking up Saturday morning was not very easy. When the morning came, I opened my eyes and looked at the clock that read 8:33. I jumped out of bed and started making the bed. Right then, my dad walked into my room and looked at me. He told me that he knew I wasn't up at 8:30, so he took away my phone for the rest of the weekend for a punishment. 

     My parents were strict like that all the time. I never knew it was that bad until my friends curfews got later and later until they didn't have one anymore and mine stayed at 10:30. I was expected to tell my parents everywhere I was whenever I went anywhere and changed locations. I was expected to get home at 10:30 even up until the day I left for college. 

     I told myself that I would never do that to my future kids. They would have late curfews like all of their friends, and I would let them rest on the weekends after hard weeks of school. I would let them have sleepovers and have their own phones. They would know how much I love them because I would show them in letting them hang out with friends when they wanted to because my parents wouldn't let me. 

     I thought I was right and they were wrong, until I came to college. I am in a Human Development class and one day we talked about parenting. That day, I realized that my parents were amazing parents and they did almost everything right. They made rules (even if they were a little harsh) and stuck to them. They didn't let me break rules and that taught me consistency. My parents set high expectations for me, but without them, I wouldn't be where I am today. Now I know that my parents were right all along and I owe them big time. I guess their reward will be sweet when I am a mom and have similar rules to the ones I had growing up. 

[16] David A. Bednar's "The Character of Christ'

     I recently read a talk by Elder David A. Bednar titled The Character of Christ. It was given a few years ago at a BYU-I devotional. The entire talk was completely life-changing and inspiring. A few points that I really liked had to do with how he broke up the word Character.
    The first few letters are C-H-A-R which are the first letters in charity. Charity is the pure love of Christ. How we show our gratitude and Christ-like love to others shows who we are which is our character.
     The other letters are A-C-T which obviously spell out the word act. Our character is defined by our actions. We may believe something or think it is a good idea, but it doesn't necessarily become a part of our character until we do something about it. We can change our character to become more Christ-like by showing actions of love and especially service.
     The main point that really hit me was when he said, "Your character is how your thoughts are outward instead of inward." I pondered that statement for a while and decided to put it to the test. As I walked around campus, I started to pay attention to the thoughts that I usually had. I didn't change them, I just made a conscious effort to remember them. After a while, I realized that most, if not all, of my thoughts were inward. For example, I thought about what others may be thinking about me, or how I look, or what my future agenda was. They weren't all necessarily bad thoughts, I just was thinking about how everything around me affected me. I was thinking about myself and if others were thinking of me.
     I decided that to know if the doctrine of outward thoughts strengthening character was true, I would need to test it out. So I did. I changed my thoughts for a whole day to what I could do to help those around me. I started thinking about what others were going through and how I could serve them. I found myself smiling at strangers and wanting to serve people I've never met. I saw people that usually bother me, and found things I like about them.
     I learned so much about thoughts and how changing them from being self-centered to selfless increased my self worth. I felt better about myself and what I am capable of. I have felt more positive and happy. I hope after some more time with practice that positive thoughts will turn into actions that turn others to Christ.

[15] Just One More Snack

     It all started because Haley (my roommate) loves popcorn, so she brought a lot of it to college. We had only used her special popcorn once, so the Tupperware with the kernels in it was still mostly full. We had a friend, Michael, over to hang out and play guitar just like we did almost every night. He never noticed our popcorn stash though, so he pulled out the popcorn Tupperware from the usual place in the cabinet and looked at it for a while. He got distracted, so he set it up on top of the fridge and no one noticed. We had a great night, then Michael left. 

     After a few minutes, all of us roommates dispersed into our bedrooms except Hailey. She wanted to get one last snack before winding down for bed. I remember standing in my room and I could only hear what was happening, but that was enough to know what was going on. I heard the fridge door open, then Hailey screamed as loud as she could, and then there was the sound of a million popcorn kernels hitting the ground and flying everywhere around the kitchen. 

      The house was silent. Everyone knew what happened and no one wanted to say anything. Quietly, the rest of us made our way to the kitchen to find Hailey sitting on the ground next to thousands and thousands of popcorn kernels with the door of the fridge wide open. Immediately everyone busted into laughter. I don't think we were laughing because we found it exciting and amusing that we would have to clean up every kernel, but we were laughing because we could't believe that this had happened. 

      We cleaned up the best we could, but because there were kernels on every inch of the entire kitchen floor, to this day we still find popcorn kernels. At least now we can enjoy cleaning up the few we find remembering the great times of laughter and misfortune of the day Hailey wanted just one more snack...

[14] The Worst Date

The worst date I ever went on was a year ago. I met this guy *Sam at work. He was a cool kid and he knew he was attractive. Every girl at the deli liked him, so they were really jealous of me when he asked me on a date. He told me he would bring one of his friends and I could bring one of mine and we could set them up on a blind date and we would double with them. I obviously brought my best friend *Sarah. Sarah is a beautiful girl and she is the sweetest person on this planet. I knew I would have a good time with her no matter how things were with Sam.
     Sam and his friend *Joe came and picked us up at my house. We got in the car and drove to Airborne, which is a giant room filled with trampolines and foam pits. We ran around there for a while and it was so much fun. Sam was a great date, not too pushy, not too distant. I was impressed where this was going!
     After Airborne, we went to the movie theater. It was the opening weekend of the second movie in the Hunger Games series: Catching Fire. It was about 7 pm, and the soonest showtime we could get into was 9:30. We agreed and the boys bought our tickets for us! Joe and Sarah were getting to know each other and they looked happy. I could tell that Joe was not Sarah's type, but they still had a great time laughing and getting to know each other.
      Since the movie didn't start for an 2 and a half hours, we decided to go to my house and cook some food and play some games. The whole date goes downhill from here. We get to my house where my mom had pulled out some ingredients to make yummy tacos. Sam didn't say a word to me the whole time. I was so confused. What did I do? Was it something I said?? I figured he probably didn't feel good, so I moved on from the fact he was sitting quiet at the end of the table. We finished cooking the food and went to the game room to play some games. I had known Sam long enough that I knew exactly what he was doing to Sarah. He was flirting with her. It started not very obvious. I hinted at Sarah and she was completely clueless. After a little while, it became very obvious that he was picking up on my best friend on our date at my house. For the whole two and a half hours, he didn't say a word to me. I tried to not let it bother me at first, but after Sarah was flirting back pretty strong, I was angry. He had no right flirting with my best friend right in front of me while on a date with me and my best friend was betraying me. I wanted the night to be over.
       It was finally time to go to the movies. I was relieved that we could leave my house and go sit in quiet where no flirting would happen. We ended up driving two cars because the drive from the theater back to my house back to his would have taken forever, and we had to get home in time for curfew. We got to the movie theater and the minute we got out of the car, Sam was talking to me again. I was still very angry, but it was nice to get a couple words from my date. We handed our tickets and walked into the theater. It is common knowledge to let the girls sit together in the middle, and their dates on the outside. Sam apparently has no common knowledge and he sat in the middle next to Sarah next to Joe. That left me on the end by Sam with a stranger beside me that had the most obnoxious laugh and happened to think that everything was funny.
       I was fuming. I didn't say anything about it though because I knew that once this night was over, Sam would never ask me out again and we could just be co-workers.
       I sat there as the movie began trying not to cry. This night was supposed to be perfect, and he just ignored me and flirted with my best friend. About twenty minutes into the movie, he whispered something to me which I didn't hear. I felt his arm move and his hand slid into mine. WHAT IS HE THINKING. As soon as he grabbed my hand, I let go, didn't look at him, stood up, and left the theater. I texted Sarah and told her we had to leave and she should come out. I hid behind a giant cardboard display for a different movie just in case Sam came out looking. I got a text back from Sarah saying that she was going to stay and finish the movie. She was going to make me go home alone and stay with two guys she met that night. I couldn't believe that she was doing this. I looked around. Sam never came out to find me. I was so done and left. I drove home alone. That was the end of Sam.

*Names have been changed

[13] The Spirit To Me

This is a more serious thought, but I wanted to put it up on my blog, so if my hard copy journal gets lost or ruined, I can always have this entry I wrote.

       Over the summer, I wen't on a Church History tour. One of the stops was Joseph Smith's birthplace in Sharon, Vermont. It was such a peaceful place. I remember sitting in the room by the piano looking out into the trees and significant monument while a friend played the piano. I felt so amazing that I wrote down how I felt. That day, I had been pondering the Spirit and how the feelings are different for everyone. I felt like in that moment, I could express in words how it felt for me, so I did and this has become one of my most important words as I find myself constantly looking back on what I wrote for guidance. I titled it The Spirit to Me meaning how the Spirit speaks to me, and how I know how I feel when it is the Spirit.

I wrote, "The Spirit to me is the hope I feel. The drive in my heart to do good. It is the cleansing of my view to see who I really am, the view of who I can be. The Spirit is the incredibly strong desire I get to do everything I can to help those around me feel Christ-like love. The excitement I get to share this beautifully perfect gospel. 

     To me, the Spirit is the comforting thoughts that burn within me. sometimes I feel like I might explode with joy. The Spirit is the change I plan to become more Christ-like. Nothing bad enters my mind. It is the reassurance of what I know, who I am, and what I know is right. The strength I feel within myself that I know I can overcome anything.

       The Spirit to me is the decreasing distance between me and Jesus Christ. It is the love I feel from Him and His voice telling me that I am not alone. The Spirit is so strong. It makes me feel like I can never be knocked down. It is the unwavering faith and burning light that can never be darkened. It is the willingness inside of me to devote everything to helping everyone feel the peace the gospel brings. It is the firm testimony I have that I will give anything for. I will never stop standing as a witness of God. 

      The Spirit is the piercing voice of warning, love, and comfort that is small but extremely powerful. The Spirit is the brightness I see in everyone around me. The incredible love I have for people I've never met. The desire for them to reach their full potential and gain everything Heavenly Father has. The Spirit is every piece of happiness I feel. A happiness that the world looks for, but rarely finds. I will never lose this. I will do whatever it takes to keep this fire burning inside me. 

      Even if no one else will stand with me, I'll stand alone because I know that I'm not really alone. I will, simply because that is what Heavenly Father needs me to do. And that is enough for me."

[12] 1 Month to Go!

I missed the official mark, but in exactly one month (from yesterday) my older brother Michael comes home from his mission! He has been working really hard in California. I'm so proud of him and I can't wait to see him!
When he turned 18 in August, he started school here at BYU. Then, at the October 2012 General Conference, President Monson changed the mission age to boys leaving 18 after high school graduation and girls at 19. He immediately started his mission papers and got them turned in. The next Wednesday, my mom found his mission call in the mail. She immediately got in the car and drove to Provo to meet Michael in between two of his classes. She met him in front of the JFSB and handed him his mission call. He put it in his backpack and continued to class. My brother doesn't love attention or big events focused on him, so after class he went back to his dorm room in New Heritage and opened his call by himself. By this time, my mom was back in Highland grocery shopping at Wal-Mart. She got a call from Michael and he told her where he was going: California Roseville Mission leaving in February. She started crying hysterically in the middle of Wal-Mart and had people staring at her while she finished her grocery shopping.

       The few months went by, and it was finally time for Michael to leave. The day before he reported to the MTC, I asked him to go longboarding for the last time together for 2 years. We went on a great ride and while we were talking and riding, I realized that he was ready. Hearing him helped me feel confident in him and relax myself.
       We took him to the MTC the next day, and that is the last time I hugged my older brother. Now, I am going to hug him on January 2nd, 2015. He is going to be very busy, though. He comes home on a Friday, wants to go skiing the next day, then starts school that Monday. Hopefully he will be able to snap right back into things. My dad was signing him up for classes and we were able to coordinate and make it so my brother and I have 2 classes together next semester! Wow, 1 month can not come fast enough!

[11] Eventful Run

I was one block away from home. Finally my run is almost over! I thought. All of a sudden a police car speeds right by me and pulls over into the parking lot by the Law Building. I slowed down my pace a little bit to see why the cop was in such a hurry. I turned around saw a man about 50-60 years old who was running towards me. I watched him as he ran right past me. I looked back at the cop who had gotten out of his cop car. He yelled at the man who just passed me, "STOP! Put your hands in the air and GET ON THE GROUND." He pulled out his gun and chased the man. I had no idea what was going on, so I stopped running and just watched everything happen. 5 more cop cars showed up and jumped out of the car and ran at the man. Once the cop caught the runner, he put his gun away and got out his taser and tased the guy. He fell to the ground in the middle of the road. 4 more cop cars showed up; 2 of them were K9 units. The dogs got out and started smelling the guy who moved and was sitting on the curb. Soon after the dogs got out, an ambulance and fire truck pulled up and parked. They blocked the road and police officers were controlling traffic. I had to find a way around the scene since I couldn't get through the road right to my dorm. Turns out, running isn't aways safe at BYU.

[10] Grateful for Eternal Families

This Thanksgiving, my dad's side of the family was all together. The only person missing was my brother because he is still on his mission (gets home January 2nd!!!). The last time the whole family has been together like this was 12 years ago. Everyone congregated in Utah this wee so all of my dads siblings could go to the temple with their parents for my grandma's birthday wish. While they were in the temple, the older cousins were able to take the younger kids around temple square. We saw the beautiful lights and the incredible Salt Lake Temple.
Since it was the day after Thanksgiving, we were all thinking about what we are grateful for and I couldn't help but feel immense gratitude for my family. I looked at each of them knowing that because of the righteousness of 2 people (grandparents), that all of our cousins will be able to meet again after this life and live for eternity. I am able to benefit from the amazing blessings of the temple and covenants and ordinances that seal my family together for eternity. I am so grateful for my eternal family!!

[9] Dream Come True

When I was little, I always dreamed of being a photographer. I loved looking at pictures of nature and watching my mom take pictures. Whenever it was a sibling's birthday, we would make breakfast and take it in to them in their rooms and sing. We had a usual line of kids: one carrying the meal tray, another carrying the drink so it didn't spill, one carrying the presents, and the other holding the camera taking pictures. We didn't have assigned jobs, but I always wanted to be the one in charge of carrying the camera. Unfortunately, I was never good at taking pictures so my mom would take the camera to get quality shots.

For some reason, I still wanted to take pictures everywhere we went: family vacations, summer trips, and even outings to my favorite cousin's house in Springville. Every Christmas and birthday list had "camera" on it. If it didn't come that year, it would be number one on next year's list. 

Finally, when I was 17, my parents gave in and got me a camera. It isn't the nicest camera, but it was perfect for what I wanted it for. I wasn't going to major in photography, or even minor in anything artistic, but I was able to go out and take pictures that made me happy. 

I pulled out my camera about a month ago when the trees were turning colors. Fall is, and has always been, my favorite season. I loved taking pictures of my ugly old dorm buildings surrounded by beautiful colors from campus. I still am not a good photographer, but I have loved getting to use my camera to capture memories and scenery that will always be a happy, beautiful memory!

[8] Trust Your Training

            I ran across the finish line and felt amazing. I finished my first half marathon! All I could think about was going home and setting some frozen peas and carrots on my knees to feel better while watching a chick flick. I felt like I deserved the relaxation. When I got home, my parents made me their famous chocolate peanut butter protein shake! I relaxed on the couch with ice on both knees while I listened to their conversation about training for their marathon.

            My parents are insanely committed runners. My mom has run over 20 marathons and completed 2 IRONMAN’s.  My dad has run 10 marathons and did 1 IRONMAN with my mom. I knew they would be talking about something insane, but I never would have guessed that my dad would include me in their craziness.

            He looked at me and asked, “Aimee, do you realize that the St. George Marathon is only 3 months away? And do you realize that you are halfway trained for the marathon? So if you keep going with training and increasing your mileage, you could run the marathon.” I laughed that he would even consider bringing up a thought so impossible.

When I realized he wasn’t joking, I explained to him, “I can’t run a marathon! I just barely ran a half!” My mind went back to the race earlier that morning. I imagined the finish line being the half-way mark and then having to turn around and do it all again backwards to mark the distance for a full marathon. The thought was unbearable.

As I laid in bed that night, I thought more about it. My mind was torn. Running the martahon would be so hard, in fact, close to impossible! On the other hand, it would be so cool to accomplish something so amazing for myself. After an hour of mental debates and listing pros and cons, I decided I was going to run a marathon.

The very next day after my first half marathon, there was a 3 month training plan on my bed. Once I told my dad my commitment for this marathon, he would not let me change my mind. I think he knew I would be able to do it, even if I thought I couldn’t.

The buzzing ring of the alarm went off, again. 5:45. Running before school was probably the hardest part of my day. I had to do it though. My dad told me that if I followed everything on the training plan, I would be able to finish. I trusted him because I knew that he knew what he was doing. Every Saturday was a long run, and each week the mileage would increase and I would be running longer than I had ever before! After many minor injuries and complications, it was finally the night before the race. We drove down to St. George just in time to check into the hotel and settle down for bed.

            I can almost always tell when my dad is nervous. He has a look where his eyes widen and one of his eyebrows tilts. I’ve learned throughout the years that this was his look of concern. He turned to me while trying to hide his obvious anxiety and asked, “Are you ready for tomorrow?”

            “I did everything you told me to, so you probably know better than me, dad.” I replied. I expected his look to go away or at least fade, but it didn’t. I shrugged it off, but later realized he was nervous because he knew exactly what I was about to get into, and I had no idea.

            That night went by too fast. Before I knew it, I was awake doing my usual pre-run routine that I had perfected throughout training runs for the marathon. We loaded the busses and were on our way to the starting line. The bus driver told us not to look out the window or pay much attention to how many hills we were going down because we were driving the course backwards. As we unloaded the bus, the driver got on the intercom and said, “Alright you guys, you are ready for this. It’s show time!”

            The words ‘show time’ hit me. It was time for me to show what I could do. We met up with some of the running group and stood together at the starting line. I stood there not knowing what the next few hours would be like. I didn’t know what would hurt, how I would control my nutrition, or how I would compensate for future injuries. All I knew is that I was going to finish no matter what. 

MILE 1

            Then, the gun went off. Everyone started running, and my adrenaline was intensely pumping. The adrenaline only lasted so long, though. After a mile, I started to remember what it felt like to work to run. It didn’t take long for aches to come in, which was very frustrating knowing that I still had a long way to go. 
MILE 7

            After making it up the first intense hill at mile 7, I was able to feel my usual running form. I felt like I was set on cruise control. The running still wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t impossible. 
MILE 10

            Surprisingly, miles 10-17 went by pretty fast. The course had drink stops every 2 miles. Even though they were called drink stops, my dad wouldn’t allow me to actually stop through them. After so many water stations, it became a race between me and my parents to see who could make it through the fastest. I learned that the rest stops were no rests. I had to drink a filled cup of the electrolyte sports drink every station. I began to highly dislike the sugary coating and fruity flavor of Gatorade. My dad made me drink them anyways. My dad was there for me the entire way. It wasn’t my dad’s corny jokes that made me laugh, but usually it was my mom’s pity laughs at his every joke. I could tell she was trying to make him feel good and avoid tension while limiting the encouragement of such terrible humor. Watching them laugh and run together made me realize that I wanted to have a relationship like that someday. I realized that I want to marry someone I can run with, laugh with, and happily live a wonderful life with. I thought that happy enlightenment was the extent of personal lessons for the day, but I was about to prove myself very wrong. 
MILE 18

            Mile eighteen came with a gradual 2-mile-long hill. I looked up at the hill that seemed to never end. There was no way around this mountain: I had to run up it. My dad must have noticed my concern when he looked at me and gave me the most influential advice that has changed my life and I will never forget.

He said, “You’ve got this hill. Trust your training.” I pictured all of the other hills I had run up during training that looked like this. I had done something like this before. I knew my body was capable of running up this even if my mind was screaming otherwise. I put my headphones in to distract my brain and started making my way up the monstrous incline. I got three quarters up when I felt my knee pop. Instant pain shot down my leg. I could barely stand and there was no way I could put any pressure on it. It took all my strength not to collapse completely. Luckily, my parents were right beside me and grabbed my arms to support my weight. They kept me walking forward, never stopping. My dad gave me a GU packet he had been saving, and my mom started asking me questions about my pain. Luckily they knew what they were doing because I had no idea how to help myself. I wanted nothing more than to stop running and climb into my comfy bed at home and relax. Unfortunately, that was not an option here. I needed to finish this.

My mom figured it was nothing too serious and I needed to keep running on it to tweak it back into place. Although every step shot excruciating pain down my leg, I was able to compensate for the unbearable pain in one leg to balance other pain in my opposite leg after a couple of minutes. Once I reached to the top of the hill, I started to feel a lot better. My knee didn’t hurt too badly anymore, or I stopped thinking about the pain. I made it to the top of the hill. A few minutes ago, I thought I would never be able to do it.

After that hill, I knew there was nothing stopping me. I was on my way to the end. Although there was still 6 miles to go, the distance seemed like nothing. Despite the constant pain in my knees, pressure on my feet, and side-aches, I was happy. I couldn’t stop smiling. The other runners would ask me why I was still smiling after 20 miles! The only response I could give them was a bigger smile. That was the hardest, yet best day of my life. 
MILE 23

At mile 23, my parents noticed too much energy in me so they told me I needed to go faster. My dad said, “You are going to regret this run if you have so much left at the end. You have to give this race all you have and we can’t run any faster. We are holding you back.”

My mom always knows how to apply running to valuable life lessons, so she added, “Sometimes in life, your parents can’t support you anymore. There will come a time in life, just like this race, when we have taught you all we can and you need to go out and live it and learn it for yourself. It’s time, Aimee. Leave us and prove everything you are capable of.”

That was all I needed to hear. I was gone. I picked up my pace and started passing so many people. In my head the finish line was just around the corner, but in reality, there was still 3.2 miles to go. Half of me wanted to get the race over with and be done with it. My legs felt like jelly, and my heart was pounding. Catching my breath was like trying to breathe out of a coffee straw. I wanted to be done with the pain. The other half of me never wanted this race to end. I didn’t want to lose the sensation of accomplishment I felt when the crowd would see me running a marathon at such a young age. All of the effort and hard work I put into this was bringing a sweet victory. I didn’t want to stop doing something people said was impossible. I was doing it, and I was about to finish.

MILE 26

I passed the mile marker that read “26 miles”. I started accelerating. This was it. I had two-tenths of a mile to go. Less than a lap around a track. The giant orange and white balloon arch read the most beautiful words, “FINISH LINE”. I was never going to forget these next moments. I sped up a little more. I looked around at the crowd and took as deep of a breath as I could manage. I got to the point where I was running as fast as my legs could take me, and then I ran faster. The announcer called out as I was approaching the end, “Aimee Gardanier, 15 years old, from Highland Utah coming towards the finish line!” I spread my arms out just like I always did every time I finished a big race pretending I could fly. I felt like I was flying. I looked down at my feet as they finally stepped over the checkered finish line; a moment I will never forget. 

[7] My BYU Experience

Before coming to BYU, all I knew was what my brother and parents told me. My mom attended BYU and met my dad who graduated here. They loved it and told me adorable stories of their time together at this great campus. My dad has always stressed the importance of hard work. Honestly, I wouldn't be here without his encouragement and expectations. When preparing to come here, he talked about the school work. He helped me set up my schedule and plan time to be in the library every day. Everything he taught me and prepared me for here was great, but it was all about the school.
My older brother came here for a semester before his mission. He is the oldest, so he was the first sibling in our family to go to college. He paved the path for me in everything I do. I always asked him what he was up to and what his plans were to get the idea of a college life. Michael is really smart and took some difficult classes. His average day at BYU consisted of waking up early to go to class, coming home and eating, then doing homework all day/evening. He would go to bed hoping he did everything he needed to, woke up, and did it all again. He said, "Sometimes I feel like there are not enough hours in the day to get done what I need to." That made me really nervous to come to BYU. Not specifically BYU, but any college. It looked hard, so I expected no social life and stress every day about hours upon hours of homework.
Coming to BYU, I realized that the college experience can be different for everyone. I do have lots of homework, but I stay on campus and get it done. That way, when I go home, I can enjoy my evening with friends and activities that I want without worrying about homework. I have loved getting to know new friends all the time, going to sports games, playing intramural soccer, and having jam sessions with my friends almost every night. College can be hard and time consuming, but I have learned that it can be as fun as you make it! I love BYU!

[6] Research Paper Reflection

     To find my topic for the research paper, I immediately contacted my dad. The idea was to get some family story, so I figured the best place to find a family story is to go to family! He emailed me some ideas and as soon as he said the funnel theory, I knew I wanted to write about it. More than just write a paper, I wanted to become an expert on serious relationships in high school. Once I decided my topic, I became so excited to write. I found myself researching the topic for hours on the weekend and thinking about it in my spare time. That was the best thing for me to do to write this paper: I loved the topic.
     Going to the library to research really helped as well. I found so many sources and ended up narrowing them down quite a bit. I loved researching high school relationships. The one thing I wish I could change, was the topic isn't really relevant to me at this time in my life. Researching this paper a few years ago would have been more beneficial to my life then. Even though the topic research doesn't help me specifically, I can still talk about it with my family and friends and those younger than me. This topic is brought up at every family reunion, so I will be able to talk about it much more. Most of my family doesn't agree with me, so having this extra research to prove my point will make the discussions at the beach much more fun.
     I think the best thing I did when researching and writing this paper was taking lots of time. I didn't wait to write it the night before. I took a few weeks and evenly spread out the work. That gave me time to write it so I wasn't rushed, and it gave me time to think about the topic and generate ideas for evidence and further research.
    It was almost sad finishing the paper because I don't want this to end! This was pretty much the first time I have written a paper and wanted to learn more! My research of this topic is definitely not going to end today.

[5] October 2014 General Conference: Ponder the Path of Thy Feet

In President Thomas S. Monson's October 2014 General conference talk, Ponder the Path of Thy Feet, he used repetition of what the Savior walked through to build a relationship with Christ in the audience members individually.
When he talked about walking as Christ did, he used repetition as well to emphasize the importance and intensity of the decisions we make in our lives today.He talked about going to Jerusalem and going where Jesus Christ did. Most people get caught up in standing in the exact same spot that he did, and walking exactly where he walked. The prophet pointed out that it is much more important to not walk where He walked, but to walk as he walked.  He repeated how Christ walked, "He went through many of the same trails we go through today, he walked the path of temptation, he walked the path of disappointment, he walked the path of pain." These statements cause the audience to really think about the connection they have with Jesus Christ that they may not have thought about before. This feeling of connection between their own individual lives and the Savior's life can have an incredibly lasting positive effect on their relationship with Christ. Knowing Christ personally will help them realize that worldly things don't matter, but eternal and heavenly things do. Thus they will make better decisions in this life.
Thomas S. Monson effectively uses repetition to emphasize the similarities between the audience's lives and Jesus Christ's lives, causing each member to feel closer to the Savior. President Monson states the importance of the choices we make by saying, "Decisions determine destiny." What we do in this life greatly effects our eternity, therefore getting people to understand this will greatly influence the perspective of church members to be more eternal.

[4] Research Paper Topic

When we got the prompt for our research paper to be about families in some way, I thought about what my family strongly values. The main thing that came to mind, is the "Funnel Theory and Unsteady Dating". For my whole life, my dad has taught me about the importance of this dating technique and how it will bless our lives as teenagers and as future adults. I have studied what this theory is for quite some time now, but I have never really studied why it is so important.Some questions I came up with include:

•  Why does my dad strongly discourage steady dating in high school?
• How can my family benefit from each member following the ideas of this theory?
• What are the advantages/disadvantages of following the Funnel Theory?
• How do the views of this theory from an LDS perspective and non-LDS perspective compare?
• Is steady dating in high school actually bad?
• Are there theories to improve lasting marriages, other than the Funnel theory?
• Have people tried it, and has it worked?

Thesis: Although most teenagers think having a serious relationship in high school is the only way to be happy, steady dating in high school should be avoided completely because these serious relationships cause low self-esteem, more depression, and lead to a greater risk of divorce.

[3] Rhetorical Analysis Reflection

    The writing process for my rhetorical analysis worked well in some aspects, but could be improved in others. I began the writing process by choosing a speech. The first topic I chose was a speech by Margaret Sanger. I originally chose her speech "The Children's Era", because I am studying human development and this topic interested me. After some research on the topic, I realized that what she believed in changed my perspective on the article, so I decided to change. I'm glad I did research on the history of the speech and the author because that changed my views on the article. After researching some more, I decided to change the speech to Frederick Douglass' The Hypocrisy of America.
     I started writing the paper days in advance. The thing that really worked for me, was meeting with the teacher. I feel like every teacher expects something different, so having her read through my paper and critiquing it helped me see exactly what she wanted. It even gave me confidence in what I wrote about. In the future, I hope to be able to meet with the teacher again to give me more confidence as well as corrections on my writing.
     I didn't procrastinate to the night before it was due, so that was helpful. It gave me time to think about my paper, and work on it more. Every time I read it, I found something new to fix that I didn't see before, so reading it with a few days to fix it really worked for me. I want to carry that into my writing process for future papers.
   

[2] The Importance of Family Narratives

Bruce Feiler of the New York Times wrote, "The most important thing to do for your family may be the simplest of all: develop a strong family narrative." The New York Times article explained the importance of family narratives.  According to this article, a happy family will create, refine, and retell family stories. After experimenting strategies and how children cope with different situations, they concluded, "The [children] who know a lot about their families tend to do better when they face challenges". These kids were proven to 1. have a stronger sense of self control 2. have a higher self esteem 3. the more successful they felt their families functioned.  After this study, came the terrorist attacks of 9/11. They tested the children again, and the same kids who knew about their families showed resilience.

These are so important qualities for children to have early in their life when building a foundation for themselves. It is interesting it comes from knowing about the origin of their family and hearing stories about them. LDS.org also wrote few thoughts on this article. Though mainly summarizing the previous article, the thoughts on lds.org also added ideas giving more hope. I love that they emphasize the importance of the stories to be journeys of trials and hardship, but how it is equally (if not more) important to result the stories with overcoming the trial and having a rewarding outcome. This point reminds me of my family stories, and I love that! This life is supposed to be hard, but we have been blessed with ancestors and family members with amazing lives to learn from. We will be asked to do hard things in this life, but we can do hard things, and that is what I think family narratives are all about. 

[1] Things As They Really Are

In 1899 the US Patent Office closed down because everyone thought that everything there was that could be invented already had... It has since been opened. The internet was invented, and the world has been exponentially increasing the manufacturing and inventing of technology.
We live in a world with technology everywhere. In fact, it's hard for this generation to imagine a life without it! Although, this can sometimes cause problems with wasting time, and not getting good things out of it.
Elder David A. Bednar spoke of the importance to realize the true things in life that matter in Things As They Really Are. He talked about the importance of coming to Earth and gaining a body. He talked about how important it is for us at this time to not fall idle to the hype of social media. It is important for us to use social media and the internet for good and spreading the gospel. He shared a statistic that I found quite amusing, "More than a quarter of gamers [who responded indicated that] the emotional highlight of the past week occurred in a computer world." Some people have forgotten how to feel happy and excited about things outside of the computer screen.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and all sorts of social media don't matter in the long run. Elder Bednar said, "To be 'encircled about in the arms of his love' will be a real and not a virtual experience."