You are never alone

On Sunday, Ammon was sick. Very sick. I learned the difference between gastroenteritis and influenza. Gastroenteritis is just another word for the stomach flu. Then there's influenza which is the actual flu we all think of when we hear the word,"flu." I'm pretty sure Ammon had gastroenteritis because he wasn't conjested and he didn't have a fever. Poor guy was throwing up all day. I'm glad it happened on a Sunday so I could take care of him. At the end of the night he texted me saying that he had herbal tea waiting for him at his apartment. His mom had texted Ammon's brother and Ammon's brother went and got him herbal tea. Ammon exclaimed in his text that he was grateful for all those people looking out for him!

This got me thinking. One of the worst feelings has got to be complete loneliness; like there's absolutely nobody to turn to. Then I got thinking about how God has never left me alone. He has blessed me with so many people throughout my life who have taken care of me. As I was thanking Heavenly Father for this in my prayers, the spirit touched me and I knew I was loved.

The next day, I got a text from my cousin and my brother. My cousin Amber said she couldn't wait to see me for Thanksgiving and my brother Taylor said I was an amazing sister. I know this wasn't a coincidence. They came just when I needed it. I am not alone. With God, I am never alone.

President Dieter F Uchtdorf said, "God sees you not only as a mortal being on a small planet who lives for a brief season—He sees you as His child. He sees you as the being you are capable and designed to become. He wants you to know that you matter to Him." I know this to be true!

Thank you Taylor and Amber and to anyone else who has ever taken care of me!

Halloween

I know, I know... Halloween was a while ago. But I couldn't resist writing about it in my new blog! I have noticed something about the correlation between myself and Halloween: the older I get, the less exciting it becomes. Although this is the case, I still enjoy pumpkin carving, dressing up, and eating candy. It seems no matter where I go, I get to do these things. :)

Cinderella Pumpkin 2008

Rexburg, Idaho

Pippi Longstocking 2009
Mapleton, Utah

A Spider of some sort. 2010
Xiolan, China




This year for Halloween I got to spend it with my best friend Ammon, my adorable little brother, Daniel, and some Brick Oven friends.

Oh yeah!

Before taking Daniel trick-or-treating. He was a missionary. :)

"And you thought E=mb?"

Gotta catch 'em all!

Nerds stick together!

Cutest Nerd couple!




Santa! I know him! I know him!



It was a fun Halloween. I wonder where I'll be next Halloween?

Burried Memories

Today I substitute taught at the very school I went to when I first started public school. A few outer changes have been made, but the corriculum itself seems to be about the same since I left. During Recess I witnessed something that brought back some burried memories. Two girls were walking arm and arm and a third girl was walking behind them. One of the girls in front turned around and said the following without any sympathy, "Go away Amanda!" Amanda then turned around and pretended to be tying her shoe as she fought back tears. I couldn't decide if I should go over and tell her I knew how she felt or watch to see what she would do next. I decided on the latter and a few minutes later, she shot right back up and ran over to another group of girls playing jump rope, smiling again. Amanda handled rejection much better than I did at that age. I saw a lot of me in her and reflected on the progress I've made in having confidence.


I love who I am today and I love being ME!

Being

I am super excited to officially start a blog. There are too many streams of "ah-hah" moments and creativeness trapped in my head that needed to come out. So here I am. Being.

Today as I was driving from Provo to Mapleton, I got thinking about the relationships I have with people. My peers, my family, God, my coworkers and I wondered if anybody viewed me how I want to be viewed. Are they viewing me as the person I think myself to be? So as to clarify who I want to be and how I want others to view me, here I go. I imagine I'll end up with an epitaph simliar to the ones they make you do in 5th grade. But better. Hopefully.

Who I am?
I am Leah.
Hair color: Brown
Height: 5' 1" (five one and a half if I'm feeling really good that day)
My greatest desire? To be better than I was the day before.
My biggest fear? Spiders... 2nd to failure.
When I fail, I beat myself up. At times, too much. And sometimes not enough. (I'm sorry to those I've tried to blame for my failures.)

I want to remembered as someone who...
1. Kept her cool in times of chaos (it's a work in progress)
2. Was an amazing school teacher. Almost nothing makes me more happy than receiving a poorly-spelled note from a first grader telling me I'm the best "supstatoot" teacher they've ever had!
3. Always tried to do her best. It's okay if I'm not remembered as the smartest girl, but as long as they knew I tried my best... This is who I want to be
4. Was always willing to give up oneself to do that which is needed of me. I guess there's one word for this. And that is sacrifice. And its antonym? Selfishness. I hope my name is never associated with selfishness. (This is also a work in progress.)

I guess after looking at this list, it doesn't matter how good my singing voice is (something I worry about way too much) or how perfect my make-up is that day (something I still can't seem to use correctly) or if I step in an ankle-deep puddle and ruin my favorite pair of shoes. All that matters is how I handle these situations day-to-day. This is being. And I love being.

Being ME