Tuesday, December 28, 2010

A quote and a lesson

It's been so nice to have this 2 week Christmas break and not have any sort of responsibility or anything because I've been able to do some thinking...and think about life...not the next assignment due. It's been great. I have felt so close to the Spirit here in my beautiful home with my beautiful family. Anyway, I was playing with my phone and went through the notes section and found one of my favorite quotes written there...
          "I will give place no more to the enemy of my soul" (I can't remember who said it)
I love that quote. It's so strong and final. 
We need to not give any place in our life for Satan. A place is a form of residence, if you will, for someone to preside. If there is no place there is no where for that person to be. If there is no where for that person to be, they have no way of influencing you. No place for Satan = no influence from Satan. 
This is easier said than done...especially with the way the world is these days (scares the shizzy out of me...the world is so corrupt!). I think if we can just eliminate the things that trigger our weaknesses...just those little things ("There are no little things" -volleyball coaches) ...that will help us not give any place for Satan.
So, that's my quote.
Now for the lesson that I learned over the last few days.
It's kind of hard to explain. I learned that even when your intentions are good with someone...loving that person is always more important. I know you probably had to read that a few times...and even after that it probably doesn't quite make sense haha! What I mean to say is, Love is always the most important thing. In any case or circumstance with any person...loving that person is more important than anything else you were trying to do with that person. I've just had a few instances this week where I have tried to do something and my intentions were good...but I forsook love in order to do that thing...and I felt after wards and knew that to be wrong. Love is most important. We need to remember that when we are dealing with someone...they are a child of God and we need to love them as He would.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

My beautiful, wonderful, amazing, and hot mother

Dear Mom,
You are amazing. In my last blog I talked about "my angels"...not only are you one of these for me...but you have taught me to recognize angels in my life, and that is a gift from you that I will always treasure. I think of you and the things that you have taught me and I get a warm feeling inside and instantly my eyes start to tear up. I have such feelings of joy around you and love hanging out with you. You are my very best friend in this whole entire world. You would do absolutely ANYTHING for me. and I really mean anything. I have seen you make yourself uncomfortable physically, socially, mentally, emotionally...in order to make me comfortable. You don't just do this every once in a while....it's just natural for you and you do it all the time. You just love and love and love and give and give and give and never take.
I'm in awe of how amazing you are and a little frustrated because I want to be like you...and it's hard to be as amazing as you!! As I get older, and experience what life has to offer, I come to understand more and more how deep and real your love is and the sacrifices you have made on my behalf. I also get frustrated because I know I will never be able to repay you for what you have done for me. It's far too much. The love you have for me and others is such a Christ-like love. The life you live is the ultimate example to me and has strengthened my testimony so much. 
I know you have trials and things you have to deal with...but through it all you never cease to amaze me with your strength and will to get through things and be better. You teach me every single day without uttering a single word...just simply by the way that you live. 
I'll never forge the times you have cuddled with me in my bed as I drench you with my tears, the times you have lit candles, cleaned the house, and put on music when I come home...just so I can feel absolute comfort and peace when I come home, the times when you have given in and let me buy things at the store that we both know I shouldn't get, the times when you drop all of the important things you have to do to talk to me, or the times you take the time to talk to me even when you have a migraine, the times when you have slaved all day to cook amazing meals that are healthy when we could just have cereal or burritos, the times when you have just walked away when I was being relentless/stupid/mean instead of yelling back at me, the times when you have gotten SO excited for me when I come home and talk about a boy, the times when we have just gone for drives and talked for hours about life, the times I've watched you change people's lives with your kindness, the times i've seen you show absolute patience with Charity...oh my goodness I could go on forever! You're probably falling asleep now! 
Mom, I wish there was some way I could truly show you how I feel about you, instead of writing a silly blog about you. There's just no way I could show you just how much I love you. but, I think you know what I mean when I say...
                  I love you to the moon and back.

    Love,
       Mooie

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

My Awesome Dream

I have the most awesome dreams. I don't know why I was blessed with such incredible dreams and the ability to remember them so vividly, but I'm so glad I was. I love dreams. I keep telling myself I need to start a dream book...and I'm telling myself again, right now. But for now, I want to blog about last night's dream. It was by far the most random and most awesome. 
It starts of with me (as myself. I say that because i'm usually someone else in my dreams) on a magical island with the seven dwarfs. Yes...the seven dwarfs from Snow White. We take an underwater roller coaster, shaped like a dragon, to the real world. We make this journey because I had had a dream that I would find my one true love in the real world. It took some convincing...but I got the dwarfs to agree. When we got off the dragon coaster, my one true love was a hot Asian man. My hot Asian took me to a Justin Beiber concert. Justin Beiber had a twin named Jared Beiber and they both performed in their whitey tighty underwear. While in the audience watching the show...I see an ex-boyfriend sitting with his new girlfriend. I look back a couple rows from them and I see the same ex-boyfriend and his girl but they were like 20 years older. In my dream I think..."Oh dang...they used the bodpod!" Clarification: the bodpod is a machine used to measure body fat...in my dream the "bodpod" was a time traveling device. anyway...My dream self knew that if they saw each other they would die...that is, the old boy and girl and the present day boy and girl. So the rest of my dream was dedicated to me saving those guys. 
Crazy right? but so awesome. I love dreams. 
I will start the dream book, if you want a copy...let me know. :)

Sunday, December 19, 2010

A few of my angels

There are people in my life that I will never forget...people who have blessed my life so deeply and I will be forever grateful. I call them my angels. I have so many and I want to dedicate this blog to them. Its just another testimony builder to me when these people come to me in my life. The Lord knows me and loves me and knows when I need a little boost...and that's when he sends me His angels. 
I wish I had pictures of them all! I'm such a bad picture taker and I'm paying for it now because you all won't be able to see my beautiful angels!!

Grandma Wallace:
This women is very special to me. This is my mom's mom and I never really knew her. I have one memory with her and it's actually my oldest memory. I was still a baby and was running on the beach towards her and tripped on my way to her and my face landed in the sand. I looked and her and she went, "whoo!" and then started laughing her loving grandma laugh. I looked at her with my face still in the sand and smiled...and then I started eating the sand. Anyway, before I really knew what the Holy Ghost was...I called it "feeling grandma". Whenever I felt the spirit or was really happy as a child I would look at my mom and say, "I feel Grandma". I still feel Grandma with me in times when I need her. I can't wait to get to know this amazing women better in the afterlife. 
Thank you Grandma Wallace.
ps. My mom just told me that tomorrow will be the anniversary of her passing away. 1993. 


Lindsey Kauffman:
I have no idea what this girl is doing now or where she is...but when I was a skinny, scared freshman on the LP volleyball team. This girl took me under her wing and helped me feel comfortable on that team. She gave me rides, advice on the court, always smiled at me, and always went out of her way to be there for me. 
Thank you Lindsey Kauffman.

Kiana Rogers:
haha...this girl. oh man. I love this one so much...she is one of my bestest friends ever. Again...as a (still) skinny, scared freshman on the BYU volleyball team, she took me under her wing and befriended me. She broke me into college life and showed me how to have fun! I learned a lot from this girl. A loooot. She'll never know just how much she helped me though. I went through a time in my life where I felt unliked by a lot of people...and she made me feel like a cool person. I know that sounds weird...but feeling cool and liked is important for humans. I love you Ki.
Thank you Kiana Rogers.

Grandpa Grant:
Grandpa Grant is probably 87 years old and went to about every single home volleyball game while I was at Lone Peak. He came up to me before a game one day and talked to me for about an hour. He was so pleasant to talk to and the cutest old man I had ever seen (I have always had a special place in my heart for the elderly). I had no idea who he was. I asked around and nobody knew who he was. The next game he brought me a cd and even tried to give me money to buy a snack!! From that day on I saw and talked to him before every volleyball game. He never missed!! I started to become more and more fond of him. We dedicated a spot in our media guide to him and he became our grandpa Grant. When I went away to college, I wondered if he would still come to my games. I can't really remember, but I don't think he came my freshman year. Then he came once my next year and found out that I was red shirting...so he said he would come the next year. I got his number and called him and found out where he lived and brought him a Christmas present that year. Found out he lives upstairs in a house with his family. His sweetheart died many years ago and he was listening to an old recording of a book on tape when we went to visit him. Grandpa Grant just lights up every time he sees me. I talked with him for hours that night and then left and didn't see him for a LONG time. I began to really worry about him...but never checked up on him and I wish I did. I can't treat my angels like that! anyway, then one day during double days in the summer he comes walking into the RB gym randomly!! I ran over to him and started crying my eyes out. I was SO happy to see him! I don't know what came over me...but I have so much love in my heart for this man. He left after practice and I didn't see him for a long time after that again! Then he came to a game randomly and I ran to him smiling bigger than I ever have and yes...balling my eyes out. He explained to me that after he left that day in the summer he had a heart attack!!!!! Right after he saw me that day! and I had no idea! I couldn't believe it. I was so grateful that he was alright and I got to see him again. I'll never forget that man's laugh, smile, kindness, warmth, and caring. I love him so much. I have no idea why he came into my life...maybe it was just to bring me happiness. That's exactly what he has done. 
Thank you Grandpa Grant.

Larry Jensen:
When my family moved to Alpine from South Jordan, I had no friends. We moved in the summer so I didn't have school to make any friends. I remember being so excited when it was time to go get the mail! hahaha because it was something to do! Anyway, my dad set me up my first email and I was so excited about it. I had no one to email though, so my dad gave me the email address of Larry Jensen from his work. This man responded to every single one of my silly, childish emails and made each day exciting for me to get an email and respond back. My dad just gave me his email again and I am going to email him right now and thank him for that.
Thank you Larry Jensen.

My family:
Of course every single member of my family is an angel to me as well! I love my family so dearly...they have all helped me out through all the difficult stages of my life and I will be forever grateful to them for that. I want to mention my little sister Charity specifically. For those of you who don't know...she has Down Syndrome. So....she is legitimately an angel. :) anyway, she is going through this teenage phase right now and she is driving me nuts. BUT....she, above anyone else, can sense when I am really down and will just give me a hug without saying anything. She has an amazing intuition with that sort of thing and I don't know what I'd do without her. 
Thank you Family.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Delayed flight...awesome

Here we are....sitting in the SLC airport waiting for our flight to take us to our death by snow and ice. Yes, we are heading to Wyoming where the high will be 10 degrees. The hiiiigh. Oh well, we will just barely miss the blizzard that is supposed to hit here in Utah that everyone is freaking out about. I'm kinda sad we'll miss it! I love storms! Would have been fun to curl up by the fire, with this new tea that I love, and the new book I just bought. But I'm going to play volleyball! Which is my passion, so I am happy and it's a fair trade off.
Sucks that we will have to miss Thanksgiving again though. We will be celebrating it in a hotel in Colorado probably. I"m grateful we get to have one at all!
Well, life is pretty rough right now. Broke up with the boyfriend a few weeks ago and I was fine at first. I guess numb is the better word. It's starting to wear off now and I'm feeling the full blown effects of it. I'm just taking it day by day. I guess that's the best way to do it. Stay busy and try not to dwell and analyze too much. I tend to think about things and feel things a lot deeper than most people. Life is good though. I'm grateful for this trial which will make me better and everything is going to work out. The Lord knows what He's doing and I just need to trust in Him.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Still easy to be grateful

The past couple of weeks have been...crappy...to say the least. School, volleyball, life..It's been really rough. But life is good. I look around me and I think of all the things I am blessed with, and no matter how hard life gets, it's still easy to be grateful. Life is good.
It's important for us to always be grateful for what we have. There's always something. Even if it's being grateful for the trials we go through that make us stronger.

Monday, November 1, 2010

the FLUUUUUU! :(

I knew it was bound to happen again, I just haven't been sick in so long I forgot what it feels like to throw up. Worst feeling EVER! Ok I'm sure there are worse feelings...but this one is up there. I hate it. This particular timing was the worst though, because we had my family birthday dinner last night. There was steak, and orange rolls, and asparagus, and ice cream pie for dessert. My favorite meal. Had to watch my family eat it and fill themselves while I empty myself over a toilet. Ugh. It was terrible. But always so good to see my family, even when I'm sick. I love my family. Oh, by the way, over half my family has had the flu also. My dad and I are home with it today - it's our turn. I hope we're the last of it. 
At least I wasn't sick for Halloween! It was so fun! Joe was a bumble bee and I was his flower. It was so cute. I'll post pictures (as soon as I figure out how to do that). We went to the dance at UVU, it was SO packed! So fun though. Before that we took his little sisters trick-or-treating. Those girls are adorable and I love them. They were troopers though, we went for a while. One house was handing out king size Symphony bars. I had Lauren (one of Joe's little sisters) go and get me one. Of course I switched her coats and had her put on my hat so she didn't look like a double treater cheater. :)
A vampire, me, and Katy Perry

looks like Katy Perry will soon be a vampire!

We hadn't dressed up at this point yet. But we're still kinda scary huh?!

trick or treat!

Bumble bee and his flower!
Now I'm at home in bed. Trying to get over this sickness. It's kinda nice to lay in bed all day though because my body has been hurting from volleyball lately. But, it's annoying because I'm an on-the-go person so it's hard to just lay here. 

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Happy Birthday to me!

 I'm 22 now!! Whoooooooa nelly. No messin around anymore. 22 is so much older than 21 I feel like. Time to grow up I guess. :)
Thanks to my wonderful boyfriend whom I love dearly (Joe Stewart), I had an amazing birthday yesterday! In the morning I slept in only to wake up to a fabulous breakfast of whole wheat pancakes made by my mom. After that I went to the BYU devotional with my team and got a bunch of lovely birthday wishes. Thanks girls! Then went and had a very much needed nap. After that, went to practice where there was a whole lot of running...Thank you Shay. :) Best part of the whole day was going to dinner with Joe, watching some Brian Regan, and hittin up the steam room and hot tub at the gym. First time steam room trip. I think it's so awesome! Anyway, overall it was a super chill, but awesome birthday that I was able to spend with my man!

Joe, I know you'll probably read this so this is for you:
I want you to know how much I love and adore you. You put a lot of effort into that day to make it wonderful for me and I want you to know how much that means to me. You are such an incredible person and I thank my Heavenly Father every day for you. Thank you for being the person that you are and making me want to be better. You're amazing. Mush. :)

Saturday, October 23, 2010

hello there

I have tried this whole blogging thing once before...but somehow it vanished one day. Probably has something to do with my awesome computer skills. But as they say, "If at first you don't succeed, try try again." Ok I will. 
I feel a bit embarrassed to let others read my blog (apology in advance), because everyone is so dang good at it! Such good writers and creative templates and colors, etc. I used to think I was creative back when I was in elementary school cause my teacher told me all the time that I was. No one tells me anymore so I think it wore off. 
I've become obsessed with stalking other people's blogs this past weekend. We got stuck in Texas because our flight was canceled due to a tornado warning. Laaaaame. So, I've had a lot of time on my hands in the hotel, most of that time has been spent on blogger. 
Now I believe an explanation is in order for my cheesy blog title name. Carpe Diem. Betcha never heard that one before right? When I came on to play volleyball for BYU the seniors gave me the nick name Carpe...because my last name is Carpenter...get it? it's shortened. For the URL thingy just "carpe" wouldn't be allowed so I did Carpe-diem-yo. Diem just flows after Carpe so I decided to just name my whole blog that. There ya go. But I also seize the day too.