Why Family History?

I used to say spending time with family was the greatest. I want to edit that, but reiterate it at the same time. Spending time with family is the greatest, whether they are living or dead, blood or not. I just spent over four hours getting to know ancestors who have long past and have been waiting patiently for me to come along and do work for them that they cannot do themselves. I am always amazed by the extreme amount of patience these people have developed over the years. I cannot accurately express how vital it is to work through our family history and to make those records available. It reminds me of a certain Sunday morning in which I was being sustained as the Miamaid President in my branch. I woke up that morning sure I was going to be sick. In deed I was! Just as we needed to be heading out the door, my stomach twisted and made a big mess. To spare you the gross details, I made an unwise choice to try and get rid of the mess quickly, to be able to run outside before my ride left. Very unwise choice I made there. I felt absolutely awful, pressured, nervous, sick, and about to break down and cry. My loving brother Ted pushed me aside as I stared at the bigger mess I had created. He simply pushed me toward to car and started to clean up the mess in which I could not clean up myself. And trust me it was incredible disgusting. My love for him grew tremendously in that moment. When people give up their time to come to your rescue, your love for them and their compassion grows and you only want to hope and pray for blessings to be poured into their lives, for helping you, when you felt so lost and alone. So here is to family!‪#‎familysearch‬ ‪#‎geneology‬ ‪#‎ancestry‬

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Back in April, I served a "Mini" Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. While this post is 4 months late, the feelings from this mission have not expired. I witnessed miracles and life changing circumstances that I will never forget! I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and for all of the people that make it possible :) I would not change anything that happened within those days.

"A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being." 

~James E. Faust

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Oh! Exciting news! As of a couple of weeks ago (2?) I have a logo! I know, what even? Well I'm not going to say it "just happened" but I was surely surprised and elated when we finally decided on one. AND HERE IT IS FOR YOU TO SEE. WOO HOO.

I'm so excited about this! And I have to say, this is kind of a hint and a step closer to whats going to be revealed in just some time! Ah! Such big news coming your way and this is just the cusp of it! 'Till next time!

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So a trip happened! And I forgot to even say anything about it... how foolish of me!

So about 2? months ago I flew to Seattle Washington. And I have decided that the pictures from that trip NEED to be seen. Washington State is gorgeous. Despite what you may think, its not all hunter forest green. Crazy right?! I know, I know. The colors there are just magnificent and honestly when taking pictures, there was no need to use filters. I miss it! Anyway, here are the pictures. Enjoy!

MOUNT RAINIER IS HUGE. JUST PUTTING THAT OUT THERE. (I screamed the first 3 times I saw it...)

And the sunsets were flipping gorgeous. 

And like I said before... none of these had filters. I was shocked and inspired. Washington is absolutely gorgeous! I hope you enjoyed the photos :)

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Drew Lynch: Stuttering Comedian

Trust me... this is most definitely worth the watch.

The Hope Of God's Light Video

This is a video that I found astounding and revelatory. I ask that if you can find about  6 minutes out of your day, out of your 1440 total minutes, please use that time to watch this. I sincerely hope it will be as astounding to you as it was to me. Try and watch this without any premonitions but despite if you do, listen to the words and watch the images and I promise that as you do, you will feel a certain type of joy and calm.

Diagnoses, Medications, and my Anaphylaxis thoughts.

I was thinking about it recently and I decided I wanted to make a post about it.

Diagnosis are not always bad things. Many times they are not. As a person who has a lot of health issues, I can say that I am always thankful to receive a diagnosis for a problem I have gone to a doctor for because I know that is what I am asking them to do. And beyond that, receiving a diagnosis or labeling a person doesn't need to be seen the way that it is. Someone can tell me that I have "So and so disease" and that is alright with me. Many of the diagnoses that are given are ones that you have had all your life and are just now being discovered by said doctor. It doesn't change who you initially are as a person. You are the same person who walked into the doctors office as you were when you walked out. The only difference is now you have a name for the symptoms. And trust me, these names help. When you have over ten health problems all at once, it can become confusing as to what reaction is to what problem. When a diagnosis can be determined, its like a light-bulb in a very dark room. Diagnoses help more people than we can possibly imagine. And they help the doctors too! Diagnoses go beyond understanding the person and their infirmities, diagnoses help in prescribing the right medication.
While medication can seem scary to a lot of people, I am very thankful for it. After having gone through enough anaphylaxis moments to last a lifetime, I am always thankful for my diagnosis and that epinephrine and IV. There is a purpose behind it all and sometimes it just takes a while to fully understand it. When your life really flashes before your eyes, and I don't mean when you are riding your bike down a hill and forget to hit the brakes and ram into a tree, rather I mean it in this context:
Imagine your lunges have collapsed and there is no air getting past the back of your mouth. Then your body gets heavy and you feel numb everywhere. Your vision suddenly gets blurry and you feel like you are drowning in an ocean because you cant grasp onto any thought or any objects because your body has gone slack. Your brain is beyond hyper-active. It would be like standing in the middle of a highway and trying to successfully jump into a moving car. Then the rescue medication you take causes your heart rate to speed up; to make sure your heart doesn't stop. Your heart beats so fast you feel it will literally beat right out of your chest. You can't stop shaking and shuddering and shivering. You feel like you are sweating more fluids than you could possibly have in your body but you are shivering so your body thinks its cold. Your mind suddenly takes in the possibility that you might be dying and impending doom surrounds everything around you. It is not like you really want to die, but your body has just accepted that you are going to. Its then when your body starts shutting everything inside you, your organs, your blood flow, everything, down. You become slower, and slower in everything you are doing; your breathing, your movement, your focus. You don't respond to any interactions around you. Suddenly a "moving rash" appears. Your skin is covered in redness and everywhere is itching. The more you itch though, the more hives that appear (and tear open which causes them to bleed). This all happens within the course of a mere ten minutes. As you arrive at the hospital, the epinephrine is stuck into your arm. There is nothing more welcoming than that Epi-pen and you would give anything to receive it.
That is when medication and "labeling" or diagnoses are greatly welcomed and appreciated. These things do play their part and it is a very important one really. Honestly, imagine not having had a clue what had caused these symptoms... you would not have known to rush to the hospital like I did when this happened to me. I also know I would have most likely died. And this I know. Thankfully, I have my parents trained in the art of looking for these symptoms! I look at diagnoses as a helping hand, because when you really need it, it's there. And its there to help you figure out whats going on and to give possible answers to your questions.

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Thoughts

I came across an interesting thought today so I though I'd share it!

"Butterflies often arrive in the pit of our stomachs. When the butterflies show up, we rush to get rid of that feeling and back away. For some reason, we usually think that the butterflies indicate that we are doing something wrong or dangerous. In reality, the butterflies are not signs of what is right or wrong—they’re just saying, “Wow, we’ve never done this before.” We have to reprogram how we react to butterflies. They show up because we are pushing ourselves and growing. Those butterflies are a signal that we are engaged in our lives."

I hope this resounded in someone out there like it did to me.

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Citation: Roadtripnation.org

Play By Play Of Mexico

Despite the time it's been since the actual trip, a post is in order! I thought it only fair to give details somewhere (considering it's a bit unfair to unload them on someone who spends their days in the cold while I on those few days was getting vigorously sunburned). So the posts will be here.
January 19-25 some of my family and I, relaxed in the Gulf of Mexico and explored islands off of Mexico.

This^ was on the Yucatan Peninsula, Uxmal (Mayan Ruins). This was the temple at the main gate. We found out, if you clap your hands while at the entrance, an echo that sounds like a bird's chirp (a loud one) goes off. This leads to some amazing acoustics when they bring bands in to play. (Dream Goal!) 

This^ was the half-uncovered temple at the back of the site. This one could be climbed on but, the steps were so narrow you had to walk up sideways (whilst leaning against the structure). Two boys around the ages of ten and twelve didn't get the memo! I swear I went into full panic mode as they raced each other up the front of the structure on the tips of their toes. Still, the view was gorgeous.

This^ was on top of the temple in the last picture. It took my step dad with knee problems all of five minutes to get to the top (about 180 stairs already 75 feet in the air). And it took my fourteen year old Aunt and I about 25 minutes. It was a shameful moment for us when we looked back after climbing about 7 stairs and gasping for air to see him already at the top. Quite shameful.

This^ I SWEAR to you was the best game of ping pong to have ever been played. If you count loosing about three of the balls, having five take a nose dive into the pool, almost breaking the light fixture, and hitting the ball back only three times an actual game. It was a sit down sort of scenario. We laughed for so long we couldn't look at one another without getting a migraine. Considering it was two in the morning, maybe even later, I consider this the funnest night on the ship. 

Do you see that little speck in front of the temple? That's me! It was literally so huge you couldn't not take a photo. This wouldn't even fit fully on Facebook. It kept trying to cut my head off... I didn't appreciate that I think you could say. 

This little cove, believe it or not, has quite an interesting story attached to it. If you lean on the walls on the inside it acts as a air conditioner of sorts. And those black marks at the end? THEY'VE NEVER BEEN TOUCHED BY THE SUN. So it's cold to the touch! We sat there for a while, considering it was instantly 80 degrees the minute you walked back into the open square. 

The open square itself has a remarkable story. When standing in the field on the west side you can shout at the person on the east side, and hear nothing even if they shout back. But, if you are standing on the east side, and a person from the west side just as little as whispers, it'll sound like they are shouting in your ear. It's been 1,200 years and their geometry then is still better than ours is now. 

I was excited about seeing this part of the site. Back in fifth grade we watched a movie about the Mayans and a game they played, came up. This was the court they used when playing a quite peculiar game. While it seems like basketball and soccer combined, they used a stone ball. Ouch. They could not use hands or feet but had to use hips, knees, and elbows. I can just imagine the hip problems. 

This was back in New Orleans on our way to the airport. Not a huge story to go with it but it was windy enough that it blew me away! My parents say they lost me in this park. Oops. I only walked down the sidewalk I swear. I was following the birds!

This^ was back in Uxmal. The "throne" could be twisted depending on where you wanted to be positioned. Another cool part was that it had dual purpose. On one side it was a female cougar and the other side was a male cougar. 

This was at the front of the site where our fantastic tour guide snapped a couple shots of us. 

It would be absolutely impossible to forget this beautiful beach on Cozumel. We spent the day snorkeling, getting massages, sleeping in hammocks, and eating ice we weren't supposed to! I only regretted the ice after we got home.

On the way to the beach. We had just docked in Cozumel and were about to go through customs. (Customs included two golden retrievers and a handful of mermaids and pirates. No joke.)

This was also when we had just docked in Cozumel. Oh, I miss that beautiful place.

This was the sunset on the boat the first night! #Sogorgeous and surprisingly #nofilter

This was the sunset the first night... really glad we got these in the long run because the rest of the nights were so windy you weren't aloud on deck. Oh man, and this was right outside of the 24 hour pizza line. Oh the memories. (We found out that if you go there anytime other than for lunch... NO ONE IS EVER THERE. FREE PIZZA. WHY WAS NO ONE ELSE THERE. Crazies. All of 'em.)

This was my beautiful stack of pancakes. They were so delicious I literally cried. It was a beautiful moment for me. 

JUST LOOK AT IT. ISN'T THAT COOL? NO? Well I thought it was amazing. 

And this was Leah! It was just too pretty of a picture for me not to put it up. #tumblrpic

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Stu-Stu-Studio!

In the studio tonight. Got new equipment and I'm pulling my hair out trying to get it all in the correct places. We also took all the previous equipment down for an performance. My least favorite part is putting it all back together. I swear it's going to be a week before I can even get back to work! Meanwhile, I've been listening to music CONSTANTLY. So I've come up with dozens of ideas for covers and such. Works for me!
#Studio #StudioProbs

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STUDIO CHEERS

So it's been on some accounts an amusing ride to get where I finally stand today, but I can blissfully and freely say, the studio is officially set up! This of course means music is coming your way, not very quickly I am heavyhearted to say, but it is in the works. 
But I promise, it'll all be here before you know it!

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Intro! Introduction! Beginning! Fiesta! Wait what?

I've been contemplating starting up an blog for quite some time now. It's only recently that I started going through the motions. After long nights of sitting across the table from my manager in one-in-the-morning meetings (which we've seriously grown tired of) and bantering back and forth of what is allowed for me to type here, we've gotten on solid ground! I will admit that starting this up was much more perplexing and intricate then I ever would have imagined. I have spent months contemplating this idea and trying to configure a well-set-up blog.
As we continued along this process we found out David Archuleta had the same idea on a much quicker timeline than we did. I applaud him for also thinking of an idea such as this! 
Speaking as a musician, I noticed a lack in personality from other performers, hence the blog. I decided that a more informal way to get to know some of the most important people in my life that I may not get the chance to meet would be through this blog and these posts.
I will say that most of my posts may seem scattered or late as it seems my best thinking happens in the wee hours of the morning. 
Thank you for checking out my blog!
xx