3.31.2013

Happy Easter

Family Easter egg hunt -Still the most competitive Easter egg hunt I have ever participated in.
All I wanted for Easter was a chocolate dome! I'm lucky the Easter Bunny is so nice. 
I love the fun we have as a family Easter morning searching for eggs and laughing with one another.  However, I love remembering my Savoir, his life, atonement and Resurrection more.  I am grateful I have parents that take time to talk to us about the importance of Christ and his Resurrection   I appreciate their willingness to share their testimonies and help strengthen mine.  The Resurrection has always been a highlight of the Gospel to me.  It gives me hope, peace and excitement.  I can't wait to be reunited with my sister and other loved ones that have passed on.  He lives and loves us.  That to me is amazing.  

3.24.2013

Bushman Reunion 2013

Last week my family made the 16 HOUR DRIVE (yes, I thought I was going to die) to Texas to attend the annual Bushman Reunion.  It is always so good to see all of the family.  We do what one would expect at a family reunion - visit, play games, enjoy late nights and eat, A LOT.  The theme this year was Missionary work. How appropriate! We all were given a "mission call" before arriving and asked to prepare facts, meals,scriptures, skits and memories (if you had already served a mission). It was fun to hear about my Uncles and Papa's missionary experiences, as well as look at souvenirs/pictures from their missions.  All 41 of us attended Sacrament together and got to hear from my Nana and Papa before leaving on their mission to Martins Cove. I am very grateful for their examples and testimonies.  They both carry the spirit with them where ever they go.  The older cousins sang a medley of Sisters in Zion and Army of  Helaman in sacrament.  The spirit during that song consumed me.  It was so powerful to sing what I believe with people I love.  I miss all my family already and will always remember this reunion. 

This has to be one of my favorite videos yet!  I have the CUTEST family.




Silly faces with little Grace
Some of "The Men"


 Carlee after surgery for appendicitis....not the best start to the trip. She was positive the whole way through though.
This girl was giving me loves the whole trip.
 Smartest boy in the family.
 The "BIG" kids.

 Still not really sure what is going on here ;) Laughs for days.
Papa sporting the cap.
 This is how it is supposed to be worn.  Fashion Police approve Tyler!
 Just one of Papa's many treasures. Branson was in heaven.
Who needs cell phones?
 The missionaries - Nicaragua and Martins Cove.
 The WHOLE family.


3.10.2013

Something Different


I am a perfectionist. The first step is admitting it right?  I have to be the "perfect" student, dancer, daughter, teacher, missionary, friend......person.  That's what I thought at least.  But this week I learned something. I can't be perfect. At least not my definition of perfect and I am not supposed to be.  Christ is perfect and that is enough.  Trying to be "perfect" is only going to make me unhappy and a master of failure.  I have discovered my definition of perfect has been wrong. In this life to be perfect is to be complete.   Which means the good and the bad, weakness and strength, weird and normal, because that is how God intended us to be while here.  So, I am trying to change my thoughts and my mind.  I think I will always want to do my best and strive for excellence but I am ready to change.  I don't HAVE to be anything. I am free to change, create and recreate myself.  God gave me weaknesses so I would have experiences. He knew I wouldn't be tempted by drugs, alcohol, partying, swearing or stealing but he did know I would expect a lot from myself, I would buy into the Medias lies, I would be tricked by society and I would forget where my worth comes from.  That is the experience he needed me to have and I am having it.  I am learning every day. I am learning to love my good, bad, odd, goofy, shy, crazy, loud, quiet and weird sides.  I am learning who I have become today, is an accumulation of everything I have heard, experienced, seen, done, not done, dreamed and heard my entire life.  I am still trying to figure out what thoughts, that have been shoved in my overcrowded head, are true and which aren't, but I know the Lord will help me do that.  I am learning to love all the "different" parts of me.
 I love that I have long hair and have no idea what to do with it. I love that my face fills up with freckles during the summer. Or that my eyes are just as indecisive as me and change colors every day.  I love the tiny birth mark on my right shoulder.  And the lone freckle on the palm of not only my right hand but my left as well.  I am learning to accept and love my body.  I am accepting that I don't have supermodel legs and a movie star face. And that is okay.  Because I look like me and nobody will ever look just like me.  I am learning it is okay I am terrified of love. I am afraid....to love, that I am impossible to love and that I will be hurt by love. I am accepting that part of me and learning from it. I love that I laugh to loud. Or that I am dramatic and scream when unnecessary.   I love that I hug too often but that I don't care because it is my favorite thing in the entire world. I love the way my fingers fumble over the piano but I could play for hours trying to figure it out. Or that I run around my home on my tip toes talking in a squeaky voice.  And that I am a horrible cook.  I love that cupcakes put a smile on my face.  I love that I blush several times a day. Or that I dance anytime, anywhere - the grocery store, car, bedroom, while doing dishes, while folding laundry, when I am extremely happy and of course in the dance studio.  I love that my heart grows a little bigger every time I get a new student.  I love my faults, differences, odd ends and imperfections.  Because without them I wouldn't be me.  I am still learning how to love ALL the parts of me but I know that will come.  I know I will have hard days when I don't feel like enough, or like I'm not good at anything, or like no one could love all my different sides. But it is then I will ask the Lord to remind me of my worth to him, and that is enough.

That was a lot of words. My apologizes.