The Update: Finding My Meaning and Fulfillment

Work started up again yesterday, and now I am back into the full swing of things! While I did enjoy having almost three weeks to myself, I am a definitely a girl who loves structure. Clearly, my goal to blog every day did not happen, but I did blog more than normal. I also struggled to meet some of my other goals, but I came out with a list of things that fulfill me and add meaning to my life, which was the main point. All in all, I'd consider my "project" to be a success. Here's how it all shaped out.

- Aim for 30 minutes of gospel study each day. This didn't quite happen. I still made time for the gospel every day, but most of the time it wasn't for 30 minutes. I still had some great experiences though.

- Answer one list of getting to know me questions every day. I did enjoy this at first, but then it became a chore, so I dropped it. Oh well. 

- Learn something new. I had planned to get on Skillshare. That did eventually happen, but not until Monday. Success? You decide. Or don't, because you know, this is my project after all.

- Blog every day. We've already established this wasn't something I did very good at. I am still trying to figure out what I want to do as far as blogging is concerned.

- Spend time doing things I enjoy. I think I definitely did that. I went on a road trip that involved camping and hiking and two national/state parks. I read, I watched Gilmore Girls, I exercised. I think all of those things definitely qualify.

- Read one new book. Sadly, this did not happen. I'm still looking for any recommendations you may have though!

- Improve my athletic training knowledge. This didn't happen the way I planned, but with school starting again, I've found myself working on a new certification. Definitely counts. 

- Embrace my likes and dislikes. Done!

I've thought a lot about where I am in life and who I am and what I am like. I have to say, I am happy to be me. I'm proud of who I am and where I've gotten, and I feel so blessed to be me. I know that there are people out there who may not be able to say that about themselves, which makes me all the more grateful for that self-confidence (for lack of a better word). 

I was able to come up with a small list of things that bring fulfillment and meaning into my life:

1. The gospel of Jesus Christ + feeling the Holy Ghost

2. Being physically active

3. Being creative.

4. Spending time with other people (which sounds a little funny, coming from a solid introvert)

5. Reading

6. Being productive

Here's to living MY best life. 

Also, a couple of things I'm loving lately, for my/your enjoyment. 

The new journaling edition of the Book of Mormon from Line Upon Line. I just got my beautiful book yesterday, and I can't wait to read it!

I also found (thanks to Line Upon Line) a gorgeous General Conference study guide from Work and Wonder. This workbook/study guide is geared specifically toward this coming October 2018 General Conference. I just ordered it yesterday, and I am so excited for it to come!

I get the occasional email from Bloglovin', highlighting different blog posts from around the web. I tend not to read them very quickly, leaving them to pile up in my inbox until I dedicate some time to reading the ones that catch my eye. I'm not really spending money right now (besides the general conference workbook), but if I did, you can bet I'd be buying one of these bags. I might have a small bag/purse obsession.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy hump day!

Find Your People

Clearly I haven't been blogging as regularly as I said I would, but I have been blogging more frequently than usual, so that is progress. I struggle knowing what I should write, wondering what I have to say that people would be interested in reading. What draws me into different blogs, however, is when the author writes about their life. I love it when my favorite bloggers write about themselves, what they are doing, what they think about various things, their life experiences, etc. I most appreciate it when the writing is real and I feel like I can connect with them on some level. It's when bloggers are trying to promote products continuously or putting on a show for their readers that I become turned off by the blog. You can see what I mean if you visit Hannah Emily Lane, Wit & Delight, or A Well-Spent Day. If you care, that is. One of these days, maybe I'll put more consideration into my blog. For now, though, I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with it. I hate constantly posting on Facebook and Instagram that I've blogged so that people will go read it. I also want what I write to be relatable to the people that do read it. Any ideas?

Today I want to give a quick shout-out to my people. I'm not going to name names, but I do want to talk about how important it is to have your people. 

I am so blessed to be surrounded by truly incredible people. Each of the people in my life that I spend time with are people who lift me and inspire me and have all been there for me in one way or another. I have been raised (whether it was consciously done or not) to have people in my life that I can depend on and trust, people that I am there for and that are there for me. I am tremendously blessed in the family department, both immediate and extended. I am also extremely blessed to have incredible friends. It is so important to find friends that are there for you and support you in what you are doing. To flip that around, I also believe that it is important to have friends that you are willing to be there for and that you support in what they are doing. My friends are people that I truly love. 

Find your people and make them a priority. In my experience, meaningful relationships make my life much more meaningful and fulfilling, especially when I devote time to them. 

Happy Saturday. 

A picture of flowers, just because I love them.

Creativity

I definitely spaced blogging both yesterday and Sunday. I realized I forgot to write as I got into bed each night, but one of the rules I set at the beginning of this was that if I didn't want to do it, I didn't have to. I'm back and ready to roll today though!

Today I'm very intrigued by the concept of creativity. Not that anything in my life today has been notably creative; I've just been doing basic adult life things. I've been thinking a little bit about creativity though, and it amazes me that the essence of creativity is bringing something to existence that wasn't there before. It's unique to everyone - the idea may be the same but the process and result will be different. Hamilton wouldn't be Hamilton without Lin Manuel Miranda. The music of Queen wouldn't be what it is without each member of the band. You get what I'm saying, right? It just amazes me. 

That's all I've got for you today. We're talking enticements and agency and experiences. 

See you then!

My Thoughts on The Nightingale

     I have never written a book review before, and I don't think I'm about to start, but I have to take a minute to share my thoughts about the book I just finished: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I don't know if I have ever read a book that has made me sob when I'm not already emotionally vulnerable. I don't remember the last time I read a book that made me cry the way I just did.

     The last true World War II novel I read was All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I've heard many wonderful things about this book, but unfortunately, I didn't truly sit down and read it. I read the novel intermittently, taking so many breaks that prevented the story from truly sinking in. It is a book I will have to read at a future date, but that's not the book I'm here to talk about.

     The Nightingale, for those of you who haven't read it or heard of it, follows two sisters living in France during World War II and their respective journeys. I can't even imagine the hardships, the inhumanity, the depths of despair and hopelessness described here. As things in the story progressed and conditions became worse and worse, I found myself silently expressing gratitude for not having to experience those same things. At the conclusion of the book, I feel the same gratitude expanding to include all of the men and women who did what they could to fight for freedom, peace, love, and hope during the second world war and for those that do so now.

    In all of the books I read growing up, I imagined myself as the main character - strong, brave, and never afraid to do what was right. Now that I'm older I recognize that I am extremely non-confrontational and that in reality I would be much too scared to do anything like Felicity (American Girl, anyone?) or Katniss or any number of fictional heroines. This thought came back to me poignantly as I read about Isabelle and Vianne. I could see myself in Vianne, knowing that I would act the exact same - keeping my head down and living submissively and obediently to avoid any trouble. Yet as she made choices that defined the rest of her life, I found myself wondering if I would be able to do the same. I would certainly like to think so, but do any of us really know how we would act in any given situation unless we actually experience it? Food for thought, because I certainly don't have an answer.

     I'm grateful that I picked up a new book to read (actually, that my mom asked me to pick up a new book for her to read), a book that serves as a sharp reminder to never forget history, to live and learn from the lives of the people that came before us and hopefully become better because of them. If you have read it, what did you think? Did you learn anything? If you haven't read it, I strongly encourage you, male or female, to do so. I believe that knowing all sides of the story is extremely important, and The Nightingale delivers yet another side of World War II in a resounding, heartbreaking way.

Self-Caring

Do you ever feel so overwhelmed with everything that's going on in your life? Like you don't have time to even sit down and breathe because you have so much to do?

That was me today. I've spent the last two days working exclusively on my thesis, even though I have an anatomy test next Thursday and a bajillion things I need to study to feel ready to take it. About 20 minutes into class today I found myself so tired and bogged down, and I think my professor said it best:

Some days it's just hard to exist. 

I'm not ashamed to admit that internally I screamed AMEN. Then he said something even better, and it went something like this:

I mostly have really good days and even my bad days are probably someone else's good days. 

Perspective, people. I feel like I can say the same. I mostly have really good days and even my bad days are probably someone else's good days.

Things got better after I got a little chocolate in me and started moving around a bit. However, I still decided to take the day off from studying and take the time for a little self-care.

A girl in my ward recently posted a survey on her Instagram account asking about people's self-care habits. Because of that I've been thinking about it a little bit more and how I can take better care of myself.

Boom. Perfect opportunity.

I did a 10-minute meditation practice on the train ride home from class. (I'm trying out the Calm app on her recommendation/suggestion.)

I met my sister and her boyfriend at a food truck round up and indulged in a wonderful dinner of street tacos and doughnuts from Art City Donuts. 

--side note: I highly, highly recommend the book Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that Works. It will change your view of food and eating and life in general. I even picked up some good parenting tips--

I nitpick-cleaned parts of our kitchen, something that I actually found really satisfying.

Three words: lavender bath bomb.

I wrote in my journal.

Guys. I feel so much better right now. I'm not even stressed about the amount of not studying I'm done today. 

Essentially, this is a blog post of me promoting self-care and telling you that it really worked for me. 

I'll leave you with one more quote:

Love yourself enough to take care of yourself. 

--John F. Barnes

Happy almost weekend!!

(because every weekend deserves fireworks)

Living Water

My goal to post a few times this week didn't happen. At the risk of sounding like a total millennial, I'll just say one thing: #finals. 

I'm sure many of you have heard of Light the World by now. If you haven't, head on over to mormon.org for inspiration on how you can focus on Christ this CHRISTmas. If I'm being honest, sometimes I get a little caught up in the gift giving, twinkling lights, and Christmas trees, forgetting the real reason we're celebrating Christmas. Light the World focuses on one of Christ's teachings every day and provides suggestions for ways to serve based on that message. Today's theme is "I was thirsty and ye gave me drink." 

Jesus Christ is the living water. Just as water is essential for our physical bodies, He is essential for our spirits. He brings light and life and hope and joy and all things good. So, to share this living water, I want to post some of my favorite scriptures. 

"Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit...if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." 

-- Mark 9:17, 22-24 --

"Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend."

-- Mosiah 4:9 --

"I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

Now, as my mind caught hold upon this though, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me...

And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea ,my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!"

-- Alma 36:17-20 --

I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, the Son of God. I know that He loves each of us infinitely more than we are able to comprehend. I know that He has the power to change our hearts and to bring light into our lives. I love Him, and I'm so grateful that we get to celebrate Him and His life each year. 

Fish Out of Water

You know how sometimes you have those weeks that push you completely out of your comfort zone? 

This past week was one of those.

found on Pinterest from Pixar Post

Definitely a week of fish out of water experiences, although maybe not as thrilling as Dory & Nemo & Marlin's. 

It was also one of the craziest I've had in a while: two performances, my big certification exam, and a weekend-long interview for a graduate school. I also finished it off by attending another church's worship services for a class.

The shows were fabulous. I love performing with my team, I love dancing, and I love meeting people afterward. In this case, I also met two very special people before the show even started. I was leading the warm-up in the backstage area when security showed up with Elder D. Todd Christofferson and his wife! Of course, we all started fangirling pretty hard and stopped the warm-up so that we could all shake his hand and meet him. And then he stayed for the show. What? Pretty cool.

I also met a little girl after our last show that was initially very shy around the three guys I was with, but warmed right up to me. She even invited me to her house and told me we could dance together. Definitely one of my favorite meet-and-greet moments.

In the middle of all of this performing craziness, I took the Board of Certification exam for athletic training (fingers crossed that I passed!) and then left for a weekend interview at one of the graduate schools I applied to. I was definitely a fish out of water there. After meeting everyone, I definitely did not feel qualified, and it was a very different atmosphere than I am usually in. Hopefully though, I rocked my interviews, and I think I find out this week (gah!) if I'm accepted and get an assistantship. 

I ended the crazy, fish-out-of-water-y week by visiting the Adventure Church in American Fork. Continue imagining this fish out of water. It was a very different experience, but I loved the music. Picture a drum set, a keyboard, a base guitar, an electric guitar or two, an acoustic guitar, and several vocalists. Not what you would typically think a church service would include, but I'm here to tell you that it was beautiful and I totally felt the Spirit. Everyone there came specifically to worship God, and some of them physically manifested their worship and love of God. 

I loved how God-centered it was. I feel like I sometimes lose focus of God and Jesus Christ and pay more attention to all the things I should be doing without thinking about why I'm doing them. It was a beautiful reminder, and I highly recommend taking on a similar experience. I think that learning about other religions and ways that people worship is very eye-opening and enlightening. Everyone has their own way of "loving on God," as one of the worship team members said today, and I love it.

found on Pinterest from instagram.com

Happy Sunday!

Seeing

I don't know about you, but I have a tendency to look at others and idealize their lives. Even when they have challenges and trials like anxiety and depression or the loss of a loved one. I see the image that they present to the world and how it seems like they have it all together, despite their challenge. 

And I want to be like that. (Pardon the incorrect sentence structure). 

I look at them and see the goals they are setting for themselves. I see the way they dress. I see the skills that they have. I think they're amazing.

The thing is, though, I only see the progress that they post about. I only see the image that they want everyone to see. I'm not there for the dark and lonely hours, I'm not there when it feels like everything is going wrong. They are amazing, but I'm not seeing the whole picture because I'm not them.

I only know what it's like to be me, what my thoughts are, what my true struggles and hardships are. I only know what I see of myself, and what I see is probably a lot different than what other people see. Maybe they see the same thing. 

I try to have it all together, I try to push through my trials. To a certain extent, I try to look like life's going great. 

Really though, I have bad hair days A LOT. I don't wake up when I want to in the morning, so I'm rushing around, throwing my hair into a ponytail and hoping I look good, shoving a lunch together because I know it will be a really long day if I don't have food. I don't get all of the studying and homework done that I want to when I want to. I can't buy all the clothes that I want, and more often than not I'm in a Sports Medicine T-shirt and tennis shoes. 

I'm me though. It's something that we all have to accept. There is no one else like me and there is no one else like you. My trials are unique to me, yours are unique to you. I have a different style, I think about the world differently, I see people differently, I interact with people differently. We're all different, and no one truly has it all together; we just want people to think that we do, or people even make that assumption all on their own. 

Here's to being unique, to having flaws, to making mistakes, to being imperfect. I often say that if I've learned anything, it's that God has a plan and everything will work out the way it's supposed to. That's true, but I've also learned without a shadow of a doubt that I am not perfect. So here's to imperfection and seeing imperfection and living and loving our imperfect lives. 

Also, since the weather has been nice today and I love flowers, here's some pictures of flowers. I can't wait until it's spring and there are real flowers outside and not just in the grocery store.

He is there

Sometimes I think that I shouldn't share my blog posts on Facebook as much as I do. What if it gets annoying, what if people don't like it? Today I realized that a) I hardly ever post on Facebook, so why not post goodness (or my perspective of goodness, anyway), and b) if people don't like it, they don't have to click on the link and they can unfollow me if they want to. 

What I really want to write about today though is the stripling warriors. It's pretty common for LDS people to love the stripling warriors, especially teenage girls. Right? Today, though, I found a different perspective that I want to share with you all. 

from lds.org

"behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we shall fall; then let us go forth"

- Alma 56:46 -

"according to their faith it was done unto them"

- Alma 57:21 -

In the past, I've really only focused on the courage of the stripling warriors, their love of their families and their mothers in particular. I was struck last night and today by their faith. HUGE amounts of faith coming off of these boys left and right. It was their faith that saw them through horrific battles in an even more horrific war. They trusted the things their mothers had taught them, they trusted Helaman to lead them, but they trusted their God most of all. Helaman even says that their faith was so great that not a single boy was killed in the course of their battles. They were wounded, sure, but no one died. 

from womeninthescriptures.com

Go back to the second verse that I shared - "according to their faith it was done unto them." That's so incredibly amazing to me. God is right there, arms outstretched, ready to help us with whatever we need if we only ask. Of course, His ways are different than ours and we may end up with something completely different than we were expecting. The point is, though, that He is there. 

If I put my faith and my trust in God, He can help me in everything that I am doing - dance, classes, clinical, homework, studying, etc. He is there.

He is there. 

Happy Sunday!

2-0-1-6

I know you're all dying to read my cliche, overdone post about how 2016 went for me. Honestly, I get a little upset when I scroll through Facebook and see all the posts about how terrible 2016 was and how ready everyone is to move into 2017. I'm just as excited as the next person for what 2017 will bring, but I also think that 2016 was really good. 

I finally made the transition back to being blonde. It's true, blondes have much more fun ;). 

I visited two big cities that I had never been to before - San Francisco and Washington DC. 

I fulfilled one of my National Treasure nerd dreams by visiting Mount Rushmore (Washington DC also fulfilled a couple of those).

I learned more about taking care of myself, and made a few much needed changes in my life. 

I started a new adventure on the BYU Ballroom Dance Company touring team, and, let me tell you, it's been a blast so far (a very tiring blast, but a blast nonetheless).

I applied for graduate school.

I studied hard, but also made sure there was plenty of time for fun.

I also attended way more BYU sporting events than I ever have before - women's soccer, football, and men's basketball. 

------------

I've got a lot of big plans moving into 2017 as well.

I'll be taking my certification exam for athletic training.

I'll graduate from BYU.

I'll [hopefully] start graduate school and move to a different city.

I'll be visiting a foreign country for the first time, and traveling outside of North America. 

-----------

It's honestly been a great year. Even the seemingly never-ending rough spots have been good. I've learned plenty about myself, and my testimony has grown so much. I have an increased appreciation and love for my family, and I'm getting better all the time at studying. 

Here's to an even better year during 2017. 

I can do all things

It's been a while since I last blogged, as usual. Life just gets crazier and crazier.

I applied for graduation this past week.

I take the GRE tomorrow.

I've opened applications for graduate schools.

The future seems to be coming so fast, and it's one of the most terrifying things that I have ever experienced.

Of everything I've learned in college, I've learned that I can't do it alone.

I can't do it without God.

Learning to rely on Him is hard. Learning to turn to Him in everything is hard. Learning to hear and listen to what He is saying is hard. And I am nowhere near perfect at it. In fact, I'm not even close to being even kind of good at it. I am getting better though.

I'm learning that He wants to help me. I'm learning that He is always there, waiting to help me when I ask Him to. He's given me so many resources to turn to.

I know that He loves me, and I'm learning that I can do anything with Him. 

So here's to the future, to not holding back, to trusting in God, to leaning on Him. Here's to living a life full of exciting possibilities, and taking those possibilities and turning them into a world of good. 

image from lifeway.com/kidsministry

Being Alive

It's fairly late and I have a lot of things I have to do tomorrow. That's why I told myself that I couldn't write for very long in my journal tonight. 

And then I opened the computer. And I got online. And I looked at Facebook.

What I saw made me think (and I am a firm believer in things that make me think). I had seen a friend's post a little earlier, but it jumped out at me tonight.

He asked the question, "What about being alive and being able to experience things do you enjoy the most?"

I enjoyed reading the replies that had been made, and even left one of my own. But now I'm thinking.

It's been a hard week. Nothing super uncommon or special, just one of those weeks. We all have them. It's easy to get lost in the negative and build an uncomfortable little nest and stay there for awhile. That doesn't really do me any good. So, I decided to make my own little list of things that I enjoy the most about being alive and being able to experience.

the feel of my hair on my back

reading for fun

learning new things

watching and playing sports

the feeling I get when I am dancing for fun

being able to help other people

feeling confident in what I am doing

spending time with good friends

taking time for myself

eating chocolate

eating after being really hungry

warm bread

burying myself in a soft blanket

holding a puppy

being productive

making lists

achieving goals

smiling a lot

I could probably go on and on and on. And maybe I'll let myself do that this weekend. Heaven knows I need it. You should try it to. It feels really good.

A big thank you to the friend that decided to post on Facebook and ask this question. I needed it tonight, and I'm sure other people need it too.

Happy weekend, friends. Take a little time for yourself. You deserve it. 

A Treasure Beyond All Imagining

2 things you should know about me:

A) I am one step short of being a National Treasure fanatic. I love the movies, I can quote a lot of both movies, and my goal is to travel to as many of the historical sights (the real ones, that is) that they were filmed at. The relevance of this statement to this post? Nothing really. That's just where I got the title from.

from movies.disney.com

B) I'm not normally excited for the young adult CES devotionals that the Church hosts and broadcasts every now and then. 

For those of you that don't know, there was one of these devotionals last night.

And I was actually excited for it. 

I'm not sure why I was so excited, but I decided to put it on my calendar. I was sick yesterday and stayed in bed the majority of the day, so I almost forgot that the devotional was on at 6. 

I was reminded by a couple of my roommates, and after a brief hesitation about whether or not I should watch it, I chose to.

Guys. It was amazing. I loved Russell M. Nelson's talk, but I loved the things that his wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, shared even more. And that's what I want to share with you today.

from lds.net

She issued a 30 day challenge.

 Each day, take the time to kneel and thank Heavenly Father for the scriptures. Ask Him the question that you most need to have answered that day, and pray for the Holy Ghost to be with you as you read the scriptures. Then, open to any place in the scriptures and read until you find an answer to your question.

I decided to take her challenge to heart and to read for an answer for 30 days. Today is day 2 of my experiment, and I absolutely love it. (That's why I decided to share!) To ensure, as much as I can, that I am opening to a random spot in the scriptures, I close my eyes and turn the book over and over and over, then open to whatever page. That's just how I do it, one of my many idiosyncrasies. I decided to write down impressions and passages that particularly strike me according to the question that I have. 

I've been taught for a long time that the scriptures are a main channel of communication from Heavenly Father to me. After all, the Book of Mormon was written to us, right? I'm experiencing this channel of communication like never before, and it is incredible. So, I am passing on Sister Nelson's challenge to you. I promise that you will see results and that you will find answers. I have. 

If you missed the devotional, I encourage you to watch it. You can find it right now by just going to lds.org, or search "worldwide devotional with President Nelson." If needed, one of the key words will be "millennials." 

Happy Monday!

Everything is different.

It's a new semester.

Brand new classes.

New clinical assignment with a different ATC and a whole bunch of new athletes to get to know. A new setting, new everything.

A new roommate.

A new set of problems.

A new perspective of life.

It's the first semester that I haven't actually auditioned for a technique class, although I will be TA-ing a standard class to keep up on my technique.

Like I mentioned, I have a new clinical assignment this semester. Going into last semester, I knew the athletic training staff that I was working with, I knew a lot about how the training room was run, and I knew many of the dancers. New clinical means new everything. Back to the insane amounts of pre-wrap and white tape. Different sports, lots of kids. 

It is definitely a new year and a new semester. 

Yet there are things that aren't so different.

I have the same friends.

My team is basically the same.

A few of my teachers are the same.

Same group of students in my semester of the athletic training program.

Same desire to help other people and improve myself as an athletic trainer. 

I'm still studying to be an athletic trainer.

Same room-roommate (Jessi is one of my angels), and the majority of my roommates are the same.

Church is at the same time, the same place, and it's the same (more or less) ward. 

There's a mix of the new and the same, and it is good. I am still learning, I am still being challenged. I get to work with athletics in a way that I haven't before. Today is the first day that I will don the typical athletic training uniform - Nike shoes, khaki pants, and a polo. Milestone: Check.

Growth continues. I am learning more and more of what I want out of my life and what I want to do with my life. I am becoming a better Racquel. 

So, take that winter semester and 2016. I'm comin' for ya.

 

Faith, Trust, and a Little Bit of Pixie Dust

Patience is hard.

Learning to trust in God's timing is hard.

Doing things you know you should be doing when you don't want to is hard.

Loving EVERYONE is hard.

Choosing when to act and when not to act is hard.

Choosing what to say and what not to say is hard.

Lots of things in life are hard. I honestly wouldn't change anything though. It's during the hard times that I have learned the most (about myself, people around me, and life in general) and grown the most. 

I came across a scripture while I was reading in Alma the other day, and it has become one of my favorite scriptures. 

"thou didst bear all these things with patience because the Lord was with thee"

--Alma 38:4--

God will give me the strength to keep going and to have patience. He will take me through life one day at a time.

Then I read verse 5:

"as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials"

It all comes down to trust and faith. Let me add another item to the list I created up there - 

Continuous faith and trust in God is hard. 

It's hard to keep putting faith and trust in Someone that we can't see. It's hard to keep having faith and patience when we can't see what's coming and what's going to happen.

That's the point though. Faith is "hope for things which are not seen, which are true" (Alma 32:21). It's not meant to be easy. It's meant to be trying, but oh so wonderful when we do. As Loki says in one of my favorite movies, "if it were easy, everyone would do it!"

And even though I can't see God, I can feel Him. I have hope and faith that everything is going to work out the way He has planned, because I know that He does have a plan for me. I may not have figured it out yet, but I know that there is one. 

I like to have things planned. I make lists, and then I make more lists, and then I make more lists. I like to know what's going to happen and I like to be in control. And when there's a problem, I come up with a solution (I have a really hard time not working to solve the problem. My attitude is very much along the lines of "oh, there's a problem? Okay, well how can we fix it? What about this? Or can we try this?"). I plan, and I think and then think some more (overthinking is something I am often extremely guilty of).

"Put your trust in God even so much." "Thou didst bear all...things with patience because the Lord was with thee."

Patience and trust. Two things that I'm working on, along with faith. I guess you could say that's my New Year's resolution for January. 

Hard times and challenges are inevitable. It's just a fact of life. But here's to faith, patience, and trust, and enjoying the journey.

 

from hercampus.com

It's the bandwagon life for me!

But not really. I don't just jump on the bandwagon unless I think it's particularly cool or something that I actually want to do. Like this #2015bestnine Instagram thing. So, I present to you, with minor amounts of pride, my top 9 Instagram pictures of 2015:

I'll probably talk about some of these highlights if you keep reading. If I don't, you'll just have to wonder.

This year was a big one for dance. Competition-wise, it was great. I placed well at Nationals in March with Andrew and Robbie, then won Pre-Championship Smooth with Robbie in November. People-wise, it was even better. I felt like I was around some of the best people during practice and at competitions.

One of my best friends, Taylor, got married.

I started my way through BYU's Athletic Training program.

I visited Chicago, Nauvoo, and St. Louis for the first time, which included my first MLB game.

I celebrated Halloween like never before.

And I spent a lot of time with some of the best people, all of whom I am extremely grateful for. Each of them have blessed my life in many ways. In my opinion, it isn't about the things you've done, but about the quality of the time spent and the people you did them with. Although the things you've done are pretty great too ;D.

It has been a wonderful year. I wish I had enough pictures to do it justice, but I'm pretty sure you would go into Racquel's-Life-in-Pictures overload.

Here's to 2016!