My New Motto

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a cild of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

-Nelson Mandela

I have been thinking about this quote a lot lately. I heard it for the first time a few years ago, and I thought it was really good, but I never took it for what it is worth. I thought to myself, "How could I possibly be afraid of being powerful beyond measure? That's just crazy. It's not that I'm afraid, it's just that I can't do it." I can't do it? Now that's just crazy.

I've learned a lot about myself and the world since I've been on my own. There is so much variety out there, that I really can do and be anything I want. Just thinking about that makes me happy. Right now in my life, is the time for me to shape my character into the person that I want to be, and that I have always seen myself becoming as I got older. I want to do great things, and I will do great things. My playing small will not serve the world. I am so excited to see what the future has in store for me, and to move along with the confidence that I am a child of God, who is brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous.

Best Thing About Summer. . .

Sleeping on the tramp :)

Country Girl for the Weekend

This weekend I went up to Twin Falls to visit my friend Ruby. Ruby lives on a ranch all summer. The ranch is about an hour away from civilization. So I had the pleasure of getting the full ranch experience.

We woke up at 6:00 a.m. to get ready to head out for the day. We rounded up our horses, loaded them in the trailer, and took them up to the mountain.

(This was my horse, T.J., we became quite good friends by the end of the day)

Once we were on the mountain, we rounded up all the cows in the field so we could fence them in and sort them from the branded calves and the non-branded calves.

Once they were all sorted it was time for the scariest part of the whole day, branding.

I mainly tagged their ears, while Ruby's brother, Levi, branded, but he let me brand a few. I didn't like it so much. Tagging their ears was pretty bad for me too, but I got used that pretty quick. I didn't, however, ever get used to the smell of burnt skin and hair from the branding.

(This calf was too small for the shoot, so they had to tackle it to brand it)

After we finished branding, we went back out to the fields just to move cattle to a different spot on the mountain. Moving cattle was my favorite part of the whole day. I was out in the middle of a beautiful field, on a sunny day, just sitting on my horse.

It really couldn't have gotten any better.

I had such a good time on the ranch with Ruby. I had a lot of new experiences and learned a lot. I probably drove Ruby crazy with all of my stupid questions, but she put up with me. Kyle, a worker, even told me he was going to make me a harness, so I would have to come back up and have a reason to use it :)

100 Things I Love

Every Summer it is tradition for me to write a list of 100 things that I LOVE. It is so fun for me to make the list and then go back and read previous lists. It's neat to see the things that ALWAYS make the list and the new things that show up as I've gotten older. So. . . in no particular order, here is what I have come up with for the SUMMER of 2010.

(Katie, Em, and Me on the beach in San Diego)

#1 BEING BUSY

#2 POLITICS

#3 DRESSING UP NICE

#4 BEING PROUD OF MY MISSIONARY

#5 TRAVELING ESPECIALLY TO NEW PLACES

#6 THE OCEAN

#7 RUNNING

#8 BEING ON MY OWN

#9 MAKING NEW FRIENDS

#10 THE GOSPEL

#11 MY SEWING CLASS

#12 WORKING AT A LAW FIRM

#13 BEING CONFIDENT

#14 ACTING LIKE I HAVE POISE

#15 GETTING MY HAIR DONE

#16 GETTING NEW CLOTHES

#17 BEING told I HAVE GOOD STYLE

#18 ANY COMPLIMENT FOR THAT MATTER

(Yes we bought matching sweaters)

#19 READING SOMETHING INTERESTING

#20 MY BEST FRIEND RUBY BRACKETT

#21 BOISE

#22 GOING TO COLLEGE

#23 DeCiDiNg WhErE mY lIfE iS gOiNg

#24 MY YELLOW PURSE

#25 RED FINGERNAIL POLISH

#26 DOING STUFF WITH MY FAMILY

#27 HAVING DINNER EVERY WEDNESDAY WITH MY FRIENDS

#28 BOYS

#29 FUNNY PEOPLE

#30 MY SINGLES WARD

#31 GETTING CUTE SMILES

#32 DRESSING PROFESSIONALLY

#33 INFLUENCING OTHER PEOPLES LIVES

#34 HAVING OTHER PEOPLE BE PROUD OF ME

#35 DATING

#36 LONG CAR RIDES AT NIGHT

#37 BIRDS CHIRPING

#38 SKIING

#39 TRYING OUT A NEW RECIPE

#40 LIP GLOSS

#41 AIR FRESHNERS

#42 HAND SOAP

#43 SETTING GOALS

#44 LETTERS FROM MY MISSIONARY

#45 FEELING INSPIRED

#46 SWINGS

#47 WATCHES

#48 WATER

#49 SHOES

#50 ALL MY FRIENDS

#51 MY MOM & DAD (of course)

#52 HIKING

#53 MY JOURNAL

#54 FIREWORKS

#55 COLOGNE

#56 MY PERFUME

#57 GETTING REACQUAINTED WITH SOMEONE

#58 THE GOSPEL DISCUSSIONS I HAVE AT MY PARENT'S HOUSE

#59 OLD COUPLES IN LOVE

#60 THE SCRIPTURES & PREACH MY GOSPEL

#61 BLOGS

#62 FARMERS MARKETS

#63 JEWELRY

#64 MUSIC

#65 MY TWIN :)

#67 THE SUNSHINE

#68 GOING ON WALKS

#69 MANGOES

#70 GETTING TEXT MESSAGES

#71 BEAR LAKE

#72 HAVING A CLEAN HOUSE

#73 SUNDAY AFTERNOONS

#74 COUNTRY SWING DANCING

(i can't believe this made the list)

#75 LITTLE KIDS

#76 WAKING UP EARLY

#77 MAKING CRAFTS

#78 SUNGLASSES

#79 DOING A GOOD JOB AT WORK

#80 DOING GOOD ON A TEST

#81 MY BROTHER ALWAYS CALLING ME TO TELL ME TO STILL BE A LAWYER

#82 LOSING IT WITH JILLIAN

#83 LEARNING NEW THINGS

#84 TRYING NEW THINGS

#85 MY DAD'S WONDERFUL ADVICE

#86 MY MOM'S SWEETNESS

#87 DR. MARIO

#88 CaMpFiReS

#89 COSTA VIDA

#90 ANIMAL PRINT

#91 LONG HAIR

#92 SUN DRESSES

#93 GETTING NAILS

#94 GOING TO PLAYS

#95 LONGBOARDING

#96 BIKE RIDES

#97 PONDERING & DAYDREAMING

#98 MAKE-UP

#99 SPEED SCRABBLE

#100 ME