The Rescue Party

This last weekend I was able to go to Wyoming with my ward, U32. We went along with two other wards..U13 & U52. We went up to Martin's Cove and thereabouts.This trip was entitled The Rescue Party. It was focused on a few things. One being the pioneers who ended up stuck in Martin's Cove because of the snow and the rescuers who came to save them. Two, being that of our own ancestors and how we are connected to them. And three, being that of how can we each be rescuers today in our own lives to those around us.

We went up on Thursday morning. It is a long six hour drive from here to there, but it we all made it safely. Once there we set up camp. With about 200 people there you can imagine what camp looked liked full of tents and what not. Once set up we were recruited into teams to play games. We played water volleyball, which my team won, This board walk game, which my team won, human Foosball, where my team tied, and a relay race where you had to partner up with one of your team members and hold a tennis ball with your foreheads. You then had to run down to a poll and back without letting the ball fall to the ground...this my team also won. After the races we then had to put on skits. Each group received a bag of props, all of which had to be used. My group had a construction vest, a hula lea, and a pair of big red foam lips. This is the song that my group came up with. And yes, we did have actions to the whole thing. "I looked out the tent and what did i see, two hot lips kissing under the tree. Spring has brought me such a nice surprise, a hula dancer and a construction guy. If I could take three wards a make a treat, a rescue party would be so sweet. Is is really so, yes it is to me. a rescue party perfect for you and me." We got second place with this. They said that if we had actually kissed then we would have gotten first. To bad we didn't know that before hand. After all of the games we had dinner and then we went to the Hip-Hop Hoedown. All of us gathered over in a big clearing and the missionaries that stay there taught us different pioneer dances. We did the Virgina Reel and Oh Johnny Oh. It was a lot of fun and very tiring. The dancing continued though back at our camp with hip hop, swing, and line dancing till ten. Then we watched The Blindside and went to bed around 2 in the morning.


On Friday we were up bright and early. I believe that i was out of bed at 5:45 am. I helped cook breakfast and got ready for the day. After breakfast was over we were all instructed to put our tents down so the wind would not blow them over, get your gear together, pack a lunch and be ready to go by 10:15. We first went to Independence Rock. It was really cool to be able to walk around it and see the names that had been carved into it by all different people at all different times in history. It is one of the neatest things to know that you are standing in place where so many great people had stood before you.


From there we went over to Martin's Cove. We all ate lunch first at the visitors center. We then had an orientation about Martin's Cove where we watched videos about what happened there and what to expect for our afternoon. We then grouped ourselves into families of ten and went over to the handcarts. Each family was given a handcart to pull along the trail. Once we were all really we started forward and walked to dirt trail up near the cove. They don't let you take the handcarts up into the actual cove so they have a stopping point where you can park them and then walk the last mile up. The Martin's Cove itself has such a feeling of peace and wonder. There is no way to describe how it felt to be there.





After we all left the cove when then got our handcarts and headed down to the Sweatwater River. There the missionaries told us stories about those pioneers who had to cross the river and those great rescuers who carried the people across the river on that frozen November day. We then had the opportunity to go down to the bank and cross the river ourselves. We each took off our shoes and headed into the chest deep water. It was cold and fast moving and is about 30 feet across. Luckily we also had our own rescuers with us. Eight great men stood in the water and made a line across the river. They helped each of us cross and made sure that we never lost our footing or went under in the water. We all crossed the river in silence. Once I was across I looked back to watch the other continue to cross as well. It was such a great sight to see each person enter the water and walk to the other side. At that moment I was so grateful for the rescuers, the ones of old and the current ones in the water. It struck me that God's angels still exist today. It struck me that they not only live, but that they are us. God's angles are those who are willing to step forward and act. They are those who will go and do what is asked of them no matter the consequences.





Once everyone had crossed the river we went back to our handcarts and trekked it back to the visitors center. From there we went back to camp and had dinner and played some games. Afterwords we had a devotional about what we learned and our testimonies of the places we went. It was such a great experience to hear what others had learned that day and what they took from the experiences that we all had had.


Saturday we woke up, ate breakfast, and broke down camp. Then we all headed on our six hour drive for home. My group stayed at camp and helped clean up the area and make sure that everything got to where it needed to be. Then we headed down the Wyoming Trail towards home. All feeling both a great sense of sadness for leaving but joy for having been there to experience it.

I have to say that I have come home being a changed person. I can't even begin to express to you what I learned and how it felt to be there. There is just no way to capture it in either a picture or words. I not only learned so much about the past and the pioneers, but I was also able to learn a lot about myself and who I want to become and who I want to be in my life. I truly enjoyed every moment that I spent on this trip and was sad to see it end. Even though this trip was barely three days, it changed something in me and I will forever remember it and forever be grateful to it.

I Have a JOB!!

The job hunt is officially over...at least for now anyway. As of last week I now work at The Sylvan Learning Center. I am working as their associate director.

This job came about in a random way. As most of you know i graduated in Elementary Education this last May. I have been applying for different teaching jobs throughout Utah as well as some in Texas. To apply to any school you first have to apply to the district that it is in. Then you have to have a screening interview with them. They will then rate you on a scale with other teachers. If the district decides to clear you then you are free to apply to schools. Some of the districts don't even let you apply to the schools, they just give each school a list of applicants and how they rate you. I had been applying online and then sending packets of application materials as well. I would check emails daily and websites daily to see if jobs were posted or if any new information had been posted. I had some emails asking for interviews, some interviews, and some phone calls, but really seemed right and nothing was working out. I had been doing this since April, and was pretty much to the point where I was worried about getting a job.

Then about two weeks ago I decided to check my U-mail account to see if I had been recommended for my actual license. It turns out that I had and that I had received it. I also had another email. This email said opening job. I clicked on it and found that it was a job opening for Sylvan. It just asked you to email in a resume if you were interested. I sent mine in not really thinking anything of it. I just figured that at this point I might as well apply anywhere. I received a phone call that afternoon.

This phone call was from Sylvan asking me to set up an interview. I called and set one up for that Thursday. On Thursday morning I gathered up my application materials and headed off to the interview. I ended up staying there for 2 hours. I interviewed with the the people in charge and felt really good about it. It just seemed like i had the answers and experience that they were looking for. After I talked to them i spent some time tutoring one of the students and observing the office. Before I left the lady in charge came up to me and said, "You know, you are my favorite out of all we have interviewed. The job is yours if you want it." I just stood there for a moment and she told me to think about for a night and give them a call tomorrow to let them know. It was funny though, as I was walking out they had just started interviewing someone else and she called out to me to make sure that i gave them a call.

So, I then went home and thought about it for a night. I talked to my mom about it and got her opinion as well. The thing is, I think I already knew deep down that I would take it. It just felt right. So, that is what I did. I called them on Friday and told them I would take the job.

I have now been to work three days. So far so good. I think that it will be a good place to be for the next little while or so. As the associate Director I am in charge of all of the scheduling for both the students and the teachers, training the teachers in the tutoring programs, updating the students lessons each night and pulling all of the materials that they will need for the next day, testing the students when they first come in to check what level they are at, giving progress monitoring tests to all of the students, and tutoring some of the students as well. It is a lot of new stuff to learn, but I think I will like it.

So, as I said earlier, the job hunt is now over. I am no longer worried about not having a job and not having an income. I am no longer stressed out about interviews and screenings. For now, I am good where I am at, and that is a great feeling. It might change in a year or so, but for now, I am good.

Happy Birthday Brett!

As some of you know, the fabulous Miss Brett Brown celebrated her 23rd birthday on June 16, 2010. Also, as some of you know I have been privileged enough to know Brett my whole life. As cousins we have been able to grow up together and spend many hours at family outings and such. But not only have we grown up being cousins, we have also grown up being friends. Friends who have had some of the most entertaining adventures, many random crazy nights, and lots and lots of laughter throughout the years. Even when we were little kids, we were still the best of friends already. We spent many years playing doctor, staking blocks to make crowns (even if they weren't allowed to be bigger then wendi's), building forts under the pool table, going to the zoo, and just being friends.

Thank you for being my friend my dear. You are an amazing girl and so full of life. Don't ever give up on your dreams. You will be great in whatever you choose to do. Happy Birthday to one of my true and faithful friends!

The First of the Trips

Every year around this time people start asking the you a question. It is a question that everyone seems to ask and a question that without fail gets asked every year. This question would be "what are you doing this summer? Do you have any fun plans or trips?" It is something that we all want to know. We want to know what fun things people are going to be up too. We want to hear about the adventures,and truth be told, we want others to hear and know about ours.

For me, it seems that I have the same response to this question every time it is asked, no matter what year. For you see, I tend to go on the same vacations and trips every year with the same people. Some of you might think that this is boring or lame, but for me it is fantastic. I love the trips that I take and I love the people that I go with. Don't get me wrong, I would love to go to different and new places as well, and I have nothing against going with other people. And I do go on different random trips here and there. But there are some trips that I love to go on every time summer rolls around. These trips include St. George, Bear Lake, Snowbird, and Lake Powell. These trips are something that I look forward to every year. It doesn't matter that I just went on these trips last summer or the year before. It doesn't matter that I go on these trips with the same people every year. Every time I go I have a blast. Every time I make new memories. Every time is a new adventure.

I went on the first one of these trips over Memorial Day Weekend. Every year a group of us girls get together and drive down south for a weekend in the sun. And even though we are just going to St. George, we have a blast and just have fun being with each other. We even tend to do the same things every year. We go to the Pizza Factory, go shopping to all our favorite stores, get pedicures, go to In-N-Out, go to the Temple, lay out by the pool, watch movies, take tons of random pictures and laugh all along the way. We may not do anything amazing or spectacular while we are there, but we have fun just the same. We have fun just being their together. It is the people that make this trip worth it, St. George just happens to be where we go.

Life Takes Action

Over the last couple of months in my life I have come to a point where it is time to make big decisions. A point where I truly have to decide what I want to do and where I want to end up in my life. I have been able to come to some conclusions and learn a few things along the way. I have learned things about life in general as well as about myself.

The first thing I learned was to keep on dreaming. No matter where you are in your life right now, the best thing that you can do to keep moving forward and to keep life exciting is to keep on dreaming. Keep thinking of what you want out of life and what you want to spend your time doing. Keep on dreaming of new things that you would like to do. Keep on dreaming of how you want to live.

The next thing that I learned was that you are not stuck in life. No matter where you end up in life or what you are currently doing, you are not stuck there. It doesn't matter what job you have of your current state of living, no matter what they are, you are not stuck in them. They all have the possibility to change and the probability to change over time anyway. Some people might see this as a scary concept that things can and will change. But for me, I see this as an adventure of possibilities. I am comforted by knowing that I am not stuck in my current position. I am also comforted by knowing that if I end up somewhere that I think will be good and it turns out horribly wrong that I have tho option to get out of it. I like knowing that I am not stuck. I like knowing that there is the possibility of change. Especially with the things that I do not like.

To go along with both of these things, the biggest thing that I have been continuing to learn is that life takes action. And not just anybodies action, but your action. Life takes doing something. You can dream all you want to in your life but if you never do anything about it, that it what it will always be...just a dream. It will never be anything more then a dream or a wish if you don't take the action to make it a reality. All it will ever be is just some thought that you had once. You have to be the one to take the action. You have to be the one to actually do something about it and make it more then just a dream.

Inside each of us there is a power. A power to dream. A power to do. A power to act. This power is there. It is there to help us live our lives. But the thing is, we have to have the courage and the guts to use it. It is a scary thing to dream and then even scarier to act upon that dream. So many things can go against it. So many things are there as obstacles that already make it look like you are going to fail. This is where we tend to stop. We tend to backtrack when we realize that there is fear within us as well. We tend to give up. but, what we have to remember is that we already have this power within us. We have already been given the strength and the power. The strength and the power to dream, to do and most of all the strength and the power to act.

Don't be afraid that you will fail, because if you stop there, then you will never know if you could have succeeded.