Finding Gratitude

"Gratitude is the sign of noble souls" ~ Aesop.

Gratitude has been on my mind lately. Two of the simplest words, thank you, can bring the greatest peace to a soul.

A Grateful Heart

It's interesting. It's a lot harder to have gratitude when things are going easy in my life. I have so many things to be grateful for, and yet how often do I take the time to say "thank you?" When I should be praising God, I get caught up in all my daily affairs and forget about what's important.
Here's a question for you: How often do you show gratitude towards yourself? How often do you stop and say "thank you for doing such a good job today?" I don't think I ever have now that I think about it. Sure, I've been proud of my accomplishments. I've given praise, but I don't think I've ever said thank you. I wonder if that would change my attitude?

Appreciating the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I discovered something about myself the other day. I don't like hard things. In fact, I hate them! Hard things make me so angry and frustrated and ungrateful. Yet, how would my life change if I felt gratitude for the hard things in my life?
Some of the most difficult things I've ever experienced have been my greatest teachers. And yet, I still harbor some negative feelings for those hardships. For example: I participated in a swim team my sophomore year in high school.
It HURT.




Yet, it taught me to work hard and push through pain. It taught me that I can accomplish something
great. Even though I got a C in my Chemistry class because of swim team (well, Chem has never been my best subject...) I survived the semester. And that's something to be grateful for.
I wonder how my life would change if I changed my attitude towards challenges. I don't know, but I'm curious to find out.

The Gratitude Challenge

I have a challenge for you. I want you to stop what you're doing right now and find three things that you're grateful for. I'm serious, stop. Think for a minute. It doesn't have to be anything extravagant.
I picked: My laptop, my blanket, and my pillow :) What did you pick?
What would happen if each day we stopped for a minute and just thought about three things that we're grateful for? Perhaps instead of getting trapped staring at the path in front of us, we'll begin to see the sky.



Do you think that would change the world? I think it's possible.
Here's a quote from one of my favorite Shakespearean villains, Iago, for my last thoughts: "Poor and content is rich, and rich enough; / but riches fineless (infinite) is as poor as winter / To him that ever fears he shall be poor" (3.3.172-174).
When we learn to be content with what we have, we begin to see all the rich blessings around us. I hope that both of us can find more gratitude in our hearts and that we can find a way to change the world.

Have a blessed day :)

Ireland and Malahide Castle

Here are some more pictures of Malahide castle. It had beautiful gardens and the castle itself was really cool. Also, I have to apologize, I only have my phone to work with and it has been giving me some problems updating my posts. So I can only write in small increments. Sorry about that. Anyways, enough of that, here's Ireland!

 I had to get a picture of the sign and logo :)

Entering the grounds!

First view of the castle

Miri being awesome!

The rest of these pictures are just some of the flowers that I saw and different things in the garden. In my horticulture class we're supposed to take pictures of our adventures and keep a sketch journal (which has been so fun!!)

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! And don't worry there is definitely more to come! 

Just Believe

Day in a plane and Ireland

Picture this: it's eleven o'clock at night. You're sitting in a cramped spot on an airplane and your eyes burn from exhaustion. You tilt your head to the side hoping to rest a little, but after a few minutes, your neck screams in agony. Desperate, you pull out the table attached to the seat in front of you and rest your head on your arms. You think this isn't too bad, you could deal with this. You doze off. A few more minutes and you bolt straight up. Your hands are numb, and your head aches. Position after position results in more aches and pains and an exhausted body. That was my journey to Ireland.

However, I did have a plane buddy (a.k.a. Pillow :P) for the plane ride!

Her name is Miri and she is awesome :)










Anyways, once we actually landed in Ireland it was really all just surreal. Many of the houses are old fashioned and really cute and then there are pockets of modern buildings that really creates a unique experience.

This really isn't the best example, but it's the best I got at the moment :/ So! After we drove for a very long time we ended up going to Malahide Castle (which has really gorgeous gardens!)
Here's some pictures for you :)

Here's the castle itself. Apparently some of the places we're going to go and visit are a little haunted! Which I thought was really interesting and kinda scary haha :P

Anyways, this is all I'm going to put up for now. I'll add more pictures soon :)

Just Believe

The Night Before the Study Abroad

Oh my goodness, I can hardly breathe D: Tomorrow... I leave tomorrow!! I don't know whether to freak out with excitement or freak out with terror! (Either way I'm TOTALLY FREAKING OUT!!!!)

Sorry, I'll try to calm myself :) I'm heading out to Dublin, Ireland on a 3 & 1/2 week long study abroad in Ireland and England through BYU Idaho. I'm going with a bunch of students and four professors and seeing the sights. And I am so terrified and excited at once!

It's a lot like leaving for school for the first time. I'm not really going to know anyone there (I met a few of the people through meetings we've had but not super close friendships) and I honestly can't believe that I'm actually leaving!

I've been to Europe before, but it's never been something like this where I'm actually traveling by myself. I can hardly think about it without getting a twinge of nervous excitement.

 I'm honestly not quite sure what else to say except that I hope I will have the time to be able to post on the blog and talk about traveling England and Ireland and posting pictures. Sorry if you've seen me recently, I've been so overwhelmed by all these changes that my mind has been kind of zoning out trying to process all the information and prepare to leave. So I've been a bit of a quiet bore, but I definitely will have more to say when I get back, and in the meantime, I hope to make up for my absent mind by writing on here and sharing with you all that I learn.

Wish me luck friend and send a prayer or two my way so I can have the strength and energy to have a good time. (A frustrating tidbit about me is that sometimes, because I can get so overwhelmed by changes and my mind is trying to process everything, I lose the joy of the journey. Maybe with this trip I'll find a solution to this and help you if you might suffer the same conflict. I hope so :) it'd be nice if this blog proved to be useful for you :)

Take care!

Also, what is one of your favorite vacation spots? Have you done a study abroad? What was it like? Got any advice for me? I'd love to hear it! Thanks and take care!

Just Believe

Summer Writing

Today is a new day (Well, technically evening, but that's a minor detail). I have some good news. I'm almost done with my first manuscript! It's a fantasy book I have been working on for over two years! Literally, I only have about five more chapters to write and then it's done! It isn't the first book that I've completed (and it certainly won't be the last), but it's going to be the first book that I hope to publish. It's been a long journey to get to this point, and I still have many miles to travel... I don't know where I'm going, or how far I will go. But I will see it through to the end. That's a promise.

Anyways, I have a lot of dreams for the future and I want to make them a reality. So, I guess that means I should probably take the time and follow some of the advice that professionals give: building a platform for my writing career, looking up editors, seeking after agents, and fighting against the stress :) Which means more work, but who said life was easy? :)

So, while I have been working on my novel this summer, I've been doing some research in the book 2012 Writer's Market. It's been giving me some great tips about pretty much everything to do with writing. Which is great because I have no idea what I'm doing! But that's okay, I'm still learning. And I'm going to keep on learning until I can at least get some things right :) I've been typing up a bunch of stuff about publishers and going to different sites to see the requirements about query letters and so forth. I'm definitely not going to send in my manuscript yet! It needs a lot of whacking and slicing before it can ever see the light of day. But the information will be useful. I can start preparing for the day that I send my little child out into the big ugly world. I'm not really looking forward to it, but I want to succeed. And with success comes a lot of setbacks and rejections. I just figure after one hundred "No's" I'll finally get my "Yes" and it will all be worth it!

Oh, and in case you want any good books to read over the summer these are some of the ones that I've looked at from the Mesa Library that I enjoyed. I'm going to be doing a lot of reading this summer so if you want any recommendations on Fiction, Young Adult, or Fantasy just ask away :)

The Slayers by C.J. Hill. An interesting Young Adult novel set in contemporary Washington. A teenage girl goes to a dragon camp for the summer and ends up finding out some startling secrets about herself and a small group of special individuals. She must learn how to control her new powers before her world is destroyed by a powerful force of creatures thought to have never existed. A really good read, it kept me up all night :P

A Glory of Unicorns Compiled and Edited by Bruce Coville. I haven't gotten to read this one quite yet, but it looks like it's going to be a good one. It's a collection of short fantasy stories all about unicorns :) It includes works from Gregory Maguire, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, Sean Stewart, and Bruce Coville. I'll let you know how it is in my next post!

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. I really enjoyed this Young Adult Novel. It's the story of a teenage girl who suffers from the debilitating effects of choosing not to speak rather than reveal the truth about her painful past. It touched me very personally and I think others might enjoy it as well :)

Entwined by Heather Dixon. Another of my favorite story tale upgrades. This is the story of the twelve princesses who leave the castle in order to dance at night while their father wonders where they have gone. It's definitely a good read and a cute romance. I recommend it!

Also, any book by Sara M. Eden, I highly recommend. Look at Seeking Persephone first and then go from there. Her romances are set in the Pride and Prejudice England era and are a real treat. They're clean, wholesome, and I always have to stay up late at night to read them. She has a witty sense of humor that makes me literally laugh aloud while I'm reading and whenever I get started on her books, I cannot put them down!! Her books are definitely a good summer investment.

I wish all of you the best! Have a great summer and remember, "If you really want to do something, no one can stop you; but if you really don't want to do something, no one can help you" James A. Owen in his digital book  Drawing out the Dragons. Take care!

Image courtesy of dan from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A New Leaf

Wow, I really rant a lot on this blog, sorry everyone, I should be more considerate. Yeah, I think that'll be a good idea, so from now on I'm turning over a new leaf. I'm just going to talk about positive things and try to keep my posts more uplifting. Nobody likes reading negative stuff, or at least I don't. Anyways, this post is just going to be a small update on my life :) So, no ranting, I promise!

Well, yesterday, was Valentine's day and it was super fun :) (No sarcasm, it really was a good day for me!) I took a couple of photos of random things people did around campus :P

 Found this on the ground in front of the Smith Building :)

 Someone had a little fun decorating the statues :)

Every so often I'll just find random silly things while I'm walking around on campus or going to and from school like this:

It looked a lot better a couple of days ago, but I finally decided to take the picture yesterday. I love finding things like this. They're usually small and often unnoticeable, but someone took the time to place it there. Like, for example, at the McKay library, a while ago, someone randomly placed a bunch of sticky notes along the stairwell saying, "You're awesome", "You can do it!" and so forth. It's so fun when people take the time to do little things like that. It really brightens my day. :)

Anyways, to make sure I keep my word and keep my blogs a little kinder and more positive I'm going to end each one with an inspiring or uplifting quote.

“Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine,” Ludwig van Beethoven. 

Anyways, I hope that everyone is doing well, leave a comment if you like :) What's something that you're grateful for?

Hey World I'm back in the Blogging! (At least for now ;) )

Wow. It's been three years since I've used this thing?! Haha! Well, not much has
 really changed. Well, I guess that isn't really true... I've gained a lot of new experiences living on my own and going to a University far from home. I've gained a lot of valuable spiritual experiences and haha tons of my friends are now married, on missions, graduated from college, and on their way there. That or making big plans and dreams and just living life :) I went through a big ordeal trying to change my major and figuring out what I wanted to do with my life and blah dee blah. I'm still up at BYU Idaho. Had some great experiences with roommates, and I've had some not so great experiences with my roommates :) And all in all, I'm still writing, and sketching. Oh! And speaking of which, I might as well put it up here since I'm thinking about it. I created a sketch for a contest on the art website deviantart. The winner wins a trip to California to see the premiere of Beautiful Creatures and gets two thousand dollars along with a bunch of other merchandise :) So this is what I entered:

 We're supposed to do an image of the main character as a light caster or a dark caster. I created her to be taken by the darkness and disliking it. Which is why she's holding a rose in her hand that's bleeding to symbolize the life she once had and the sacrifices she's made and her pain. I'm titling it Regret, thought it would be appropriate :)

So.... the reason I'm actually on here was because I really needed to rant, and so, yeah... To premise, look at these websites of amazing artists who create wildlife art that is absolutely breathtaking.
 http://www.collinbogle.com/     (His is my favorite)
And this next website is the reason why I'm going on this rant :)
http://ericwilsonsart.com/

I've always had a thing for tigers when I was growing up. I just always have and still do, and their survival has always been something important to me. And just, with their numbers being reduced down to 2,700 it saddens me. They're beautiful creatures, as are many of the glorious creatures that God put on this earth for us to look after. Then why are we allowing them to go extinct? Which brings up other things that have been bothering me for while. Where are the people that will stand up for what's right? Where are the people who care? I'm not just talking about wildlife because I know for many people it isn't as important to them as say governmental and national concerns but even then, it seems as if we're all trying to wait for some other person to do the right thing. When will we start rising up ourselves and do our part?

Our world is one of abundance, the prophets in the past and present have said it. We are supposed to help this government, this land, and the environment, and all of God's creations He has blessed us with. Then where is everyone? Why is everyone afraid to speak up? What happened to the freedom fighters who would do anything to stand up for the truth and for their religion and freedoms? Evil will prevail if the good stand idle. A spirit of complacency is settling and how much longer must we wait before the other person does our job? If we're sick of all the garbage, then we need to do something now. Why put our burdens on our children when we didn't want to face the consequences ourselves? If we are men and women of God, we are a people of freedom. We make the choices to do the hard things and face the darkness and we stand up for the truth. So learn, take a stand, do something because our choices are what's making this world dark. Stand up and take your mantel men and women of God. Stand up for the truth and righteousness. God never said it would be easy, He only said it would be worth it.

Anyways, I'm still unsure of what I will do, but I know that I want to stand up for the right. I want to do my part and learn all that I can so that I can say I have done all even if the world may be in shambles. We must stay hopeful. There are so many good things in this life. So many things to look forward to and if we lose sight of what's most important we'll easily be lost in this maze of shadows. Anyways good luck to all of you and Yay for my wonderfully long posts and rants ;)