My Decade

Everyone did the decade challenge around new years and I am bummed that I have been so busy with school and pushed off doing mine. I love this so much because over the past ten years I have grown sooo much! I wish I could tell that 11 year old ten years ago what her life would be now...she would be so proud.

*happy tears*

Here we go:

2010

I started Jr. High. I remember my first year of junior high, it was an interesting one. I didn't have many friends and was a little shy (much more shy than I am now). I ate lunch with my older sister and her friends every day. I had a few friends but not anything crazy. Was slowly discovering what it meant to be a friend and have best friends. (As I played football with the boys all up until this point) I remember panicking when my locker partner started her period and wondering when that horrific thing would happen to me, so that was fun. I was still playing soccer, I had started singing for the Jr. High choir, and was in my first drama class.

2011

I started Jr. High track. I think this was the year that I really began to discover what I liked. I made it into an upper drama and choir class, and began running track. I was a happy little camper with all three of those too. I had never really ran competitively, but I ended up LOVING it (and I wasn't half bad). I had wondered how I had missed a whole year of track my first year, as I loved it so much. This was also my parents first year of track and they loved watching. My friend group was definitely starting to grow now too. It probably tripled from this year to the last.

2012

Something that you should know from reading my blog is that when I love something...I pursue it... and I don't look back. The summer of this year I FOUGHT my parents to let me run cross country as a freshman still in Jr. High. I remember the coach (who I now consider one of my closest friends) had convinced me at a school 5k that I was good. So I was convinced that I'd be decent on the team. After much trial and tribulation with my parents, they finally decided they'd make it work (and found me a carpool to get me there). Little did they know I'd run in a varsity position most of that year (jokes on them). Cross country altered my life in so many ways and still does. It gave me a large love and passion for running, and I wouldn't want to know what my life would be without it. The cross country team was the first place where I felt I fit right in. I also gained so many "older friends" from the team. I loved walking the Jr. High halls and saying I was friends with high schoolers thinking I was pretty badass.

2013

I fell in love.

This is a hard one for me to write. As this relationship would be one that would change my life. At 15, I claimed to everyone that I would never...and I mean ever...have a boyfriend. Then I met Kaden, and he flipped my world upside down. Something I realize now, looking back, is that Kaden fit into my life like the last puzzle piece. We clicked so well. He was truly my best friend. My life was great before him, but it was like the volume turned up two notches when he entered. I was just happy as a clam. Many ask me if I would relive these moments. I wouldn't want to relive them, but I would love to go back and see that happy little innocent 15 year old. He taught me what it felt like to be loved, to have someone that cares about you unconditionally, and someone that would stop the world to spend time with you. I'm grateful for every day I had with him and I wouldn't take it back, ever.

2014

I lost my grandpa. One of the few men in this world that raised me from newborn up, the man that held my mommy the day she was born. This was a tough year for my momma. I don't really think the unfairness of death had hit me until this year. Watching my mother lose her daddy left me feeling so unsure about life. I remember trying to imagine life without my daddy and just not knowing how to wrap my head around it. I ran the homecoming torch in on the day he passed and it was a sentimental day for us all. He will always be someone that I will never want to forget. We talk about him a lot, and he has changed a lot of our views on family. Along with this, my brother got in a pretty catastrophic accident in Logan canyon, a collision that killed the other driver. This year taught me to hold my family close, because in  the blink of an eye they could be gone.

2015

I became editor of the school newspaper. This was also such a good year in Jerra's life. I was the leader for everything that I loved. I loveedd writing and being a part of the newspaper staff gave me a whole new group of friends. This was also a time where I was at the school basically all the time (and I loved it) I had this cute boyfriend, was editor of the school newspaper, on student council, and captain of the cross country and track team. As my mom would put it I had "my hands in everything". This hasn't changed one bit.

2016

Holy Hannah. I have three things for this year.

1. My internship. All through high school I bounced through different career paths. (mostly in the medical field). I remember my mom mentioning to me once that I should try teaching, but I pushed it off. I then found myself in my last semester of school with lots of extra credits. I was not in the mood to start another college class, so I signed up for an internship with Kaden's mom in a kindergarten class. Where this idea came from...I will never know. But this would define my life. I learned how much I loved those littles. They slowly worked their way into my heart. Helping them read really hit me, and I realized that I wanted to be someone that changed those little lives for a long time.

2.  I graduated high school. There's not much to say about this one. I knew I'd graduate, it's just a big life step so I figured I'd include it.

3. I got my heart broken/moved out of the house/started college. Yowza. You may be asking why these are all not separate things. Well, because they all happened within one week. I look back on this week during my hard days, and remind myself that if I could make it through something like that...that I can do anything. I went through some pretty severe trauma, that still affects me today. I thought it would go away, but it has only slowly faded away. If I were to use a word for this time it would be: broken. I like to think that I am a naturally happy person, but at this point in my life, I was just floating. I was barely staying awake through one hour classes, going home in between classes to cry. I was in therapy once a week. Not eating enough, crying myself to sleep. And well, I was just coasting to keep myself afloat as best as I could. 

But every day I got up again and again. Life is remarkable in that way. I made it through something I thought I would die from. I wish I could hold that 18 year old. I wish I could squeeze her when she cried and tell her that she was going to make it out and she was going to be okay too.

2017

I moved on with a broken heart. One of the last days of 2016 was my last therapy session.I got rid of all the pictures we had together, hoodies, posters, jackets, etc. So this year I started clean. I feel that I began 2017 with my head held a little higher. I had a little fuel in my fire. I tried to date again and again, and I struggled. I tried to forget the fact that my ex had forgotten about me.I would have to say that this was the hardest year of them all because everything really set in. One day I will never forget is while going to pick up Ethan from wrestling with my daddy, someone sent a picture with Kaden and his new girlfriend and I panicked and lost it in his Jeep. He got out the car and hugged me and we went and got ice cream that night (he is such a good dad).

On the bright side of all this, I also had just began working at the Center for Women and Gender. I helped organize 2 sexual assault campaigns, and a domestic violence campaign. These times changed my life in so many ways. I learned so much from the center, each of the women I worked with taught me to hold my head up and not let anything hold me back. Three strong women that became my models in life when I needed it most.

2018

I got into the teaching program! First of all, let me tell you how hard it is to get into the USU teaching program. It's death. I cried to my mom lots and lots. It took me three times to pass the PRAXIS and I got to know the test proctor very well. But I loved the teaching program as soon as I was in it. For the first time I was taking classes I enjoyed. I also started my first level of student teaching this year in a 1st/2nd grade class. This year however, I began to gain some serious self-confidence. I was realizing how much I was capable of and that I could do more than what I was doing. I applied for student government, interviewed, and made it! I got my first college 4.0. If I were to put a word with this year it would be driven. Like I did in high school, "I had my hands in everything" and I excelled and loved it.

2019

I ran my first marathon. Never thought I'd ever make that statement (especially so soon) but here we are! After a rough break up that little fire in my soul decided to fuel a dream. I have always wanted to run the Boston Marathon, so I figured I would give it my first go. I trained endlessly for about 7 months. Let me tell ya, marathon training ain't no cup of tea. It took a lot out of me, but taught me so much about myself. I never thought I was capable to do a marathon, but not once during my training did I really doubt myself. I just wanted it so bad. The whole night before my marathon I cried, threw up, and barely slept. I really knew by then that I wasn't going to qualify for Boston. However, I went out the next day and KILLED IT anyway! All the pain that people told me I would have wasn't as bad at all! I completely surprised myself. It was a life changing experience for sure. (PS. I am still chasing that good ole' Boston don't you worry)

2020

*shriek* I'M GRADUATINGGGGGG. Let me say it louder for the people in the back, TWO DEGREES BEFORE 22. I hate to be not humble, but I have worked so hard for this moment and I deserve it all. These past two semesters I have busted my bottom. I got to student teach three amazing classes of kids and I fell in love with each of them. (I look at my class pictures every night and point to each of their faces and cry). All the times I thought I was unsure about my degree were proven wrong. I love my majors, I love all the kids, I love it all. I can't wait to be a teacher!

Also, my sister gets married this year. This cracks me up, because everyone clearly stated that I would be the first one to get married, but those suckers didn't know what was coming. I'm seriously so happy for Katie, and I'm gaining a new brother in law that treats my sister like a queen. Here's to lots of wedding planning...save us all. Welcome to the fam Greg, you already fit in pretty well.

Here's to what's to come, as I am sure there is much more that I don't know on its way!

I HOPE YOU DANCE

Wowza, the last time I wrote on this blog I was feeling very enthusiastic about school.

Don't get me wrong...school is going great, but my life has been a roller coaster ride. Full of many large ups and some downs here and there.

But along with completing my level three program (two semesters in one...thee hardest semester I will ever have), I started a new, real job. The fact that I am doing these at the same time is exceeding my expectations.

Last week however, I hit a breaking point. Had a tough day of work, as I was finishing up some heavy training. I was assigned my first client to be on my own with. And on my way home from work, I got pulled over.

Right then, I felt like quitting my job, dropping out of school, and working at some place easier.

 Never, have I ever had these thoughts. 

I think at that point, I had just come unglued after having struggled thee entire day.

So I did what Jerra's do, picked up the phone and called my momma to cry to.

I continued to cry all the way home. Just feeling defeated and emotionally drained from life altogether. And the song "I Hope You Dance" came on, and it just spoke to me.

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance.
Livin' might mean takin' chances, but they're worth takin'

These are things my mommy told me when I was nervous for my driving test, when I was scared to ride my bike without training wheels, or learning to wakeboard.



To not be scared. And to never settle for the easy path because it's easy.

Maybe people who achieve greatness are always scared, and apart of being great is being in a place that scares you. To take risks with a little bit of fear, but a whole lot of confidence.

I thought that being scared ended when you were 12 or so, but being scared is a part of life.

I realized that dropping out of school and quitting my job were things I wanted to do because I was scared, not because they are impossible.

It's time that I embrace that fear. I recognize that I am scared, but that I am not going to let that be the deciding factor in my life's decisions.

Fear goes away, if you continue to face it head on, it will go away.
But regret doesn't. You will always regret the things you didn't do because you were too scared to do them.



So I hope you dance. 

I hope you dance when your scared, when it rains, and when your all alone.

I hope that when you fear you've forgotten your routine, you lace up your shoes anyway, and you make it up as you go.

and when you get the choice, to sit it out...or dance....I hope you dance

Full Circle

It's been a few months since I last updated this....so here's one.

Every time I felt my life wasn't working the way I thought I had planned it to be, my mom would say:

"Just wait, it will all work out."

I think its hard to be patient when your in the dark and feeling like everything is going wrong. Not knowing when better times will come makes you grow impatient. But this summer has proved to me that everything I have been working towards is slowly making it's way.

At the beginning of the year, I decided to quit my job at the Gap to try something new (and get some more hours so I can graduate with ZERO debt 😀)

I got a dream job working on a summer school program for school aged kids. I interviewed, got the job, and was more than excited to start.

This has been something I have been working towards for three years, so I walked in thinking it would be easier than it was. Not going to lie....the first few weeks of having 25 kids to yourself full-time is NOT EASY. I struggled, but with every struggle, these kids grew their way into my heart. I am slowly approaching the day I will have to leave them to go back to school and I am not too enthusiastic about that.

The other day, one of my students came up and tugged on my shirt, looked me in the eyes and said:

"Miss Jerra, I'm glad you decided to be a teacher."

Those 5 year olds just know how to hit the heart strings.

I'm so grateful for these little experiences that have just been thrown in my path that allow me to learn, and love what I do. All my schooling has gotten me so far, and that's such a good feeling. (Only 3 semesters left!)

You look at life a little different when you get to see it through the eyes of kids with different families, backgrounds, ethnicity, and even religion. Makes me excited to be a parent one day (in the very very far future).

I remember someone telling me that your younger years are the best years of your life and I beg to differ. Every year I've had in college has gotten better and better.

I'm in this phase in life where I LOVE where I am at now with going to school, being involved on campus, and working my butt off. But I am also so so excited for future. I can't wait to have a classroom of my own and be able to afford nice things for myself as well. 😜

Here's to some even greater journeys to come, student teaching, graduating, moving back to Hooper, and maybe falling for someone. 😉

Until next timmmeee.

you were good to me

My little brother sent me this song super late last night. And I stared at my white ceiling listening to it. It brought a lot of things back.

All these little moments where I felt like someone was good to me came loose, and the lyrics spoke to me.

Leaving people behind in your life is gut wrenching. Pushing people behind you that once made you feel whole.

I feel like this song hits all of those feelings. 

"Leaving, isn't better than trying

Growing, but I'm just growing tired"

I remember feeling guilty leaving relationships because I felt that I could have tried harder to make them work. But I am...growing tired of leaving people.....and being left.

There's a growing fear, that because so much hasn't worked out, that it never will. (never thought I would say that as a twenty year old)

"Now I'm worried for my soul

And I'm still scared of growing old
You were good to me
You were good to me, yeah
And I'm so used to letting go
But I don't wanna be alone
You were good to me"

A fear that maybe all the times I left someone....I could have tried harder and it would have worked.

Maybe I am the one at fault all this time.

I am sure I am not the only one that has felt this way. 

Love sucks.

Some people just get it easy, it just comes to them the first try.

and some people have to struggle through it.

I have decided that I am one of many that was meant to struggle with dating and love. It wasn't meant to come easy for me and instead of being upset about it I need to be grateful. 

I often think of the quote "I am thankful for my struggle, because without it, I wouldn't have stumbled across my strength." My trials have made me strong, and molded me closer to the person I truly am. 

Every guy I have gone through has reminded me what I loved about myself, and what I don't love.

Maybe every person I date from now on is a stepping stone to the person I truly am, and the person I will spend the rest of my life with. 

Just because they were good to me, doesn't mean they were made for me.

God has bigger plans for me.

Until next time...

Triple Beam Balances

I feel like we all go through those times where you just hit a week of crumbyness.

This is my week.

Boston marathon times got raised, my brother dislocated his hand, forgot to turn in a homework assignment (this is the end of the world for me), spring break ended, got friend zoned, got my scholarship application rejected because I didn't fill out 1 box, I have laundry that needs folding, my room is a mess, I have been living off nothing for two days because I have had no time to get groceries.....I am just emotionally wasted.

After I cried to my mom 6 times over the span of 2 days, I said a prayer to God in hopes that it would get better.

I don't understand why bad things have to happen one after another. 

I laid on my bed this afternoon about as frustrated as I could be. I stared at the ceiling, and tears welled in my eyes.

As I laid there, I heard arguing from my roommate next door. 

*sidenote* no I am not a snoop, it was very loud

She was yelling at her mom.

I don't know, I think we all have those moments in our life where we snap like a glow stick and realize that we screwed up.

I quickly found myself on my knees next to my bed, my hands together, and I said my second prayer today.

"Dear Heavenly Father,"

"I take it all back. It is better. You don't need to make it better, you don't need to put things in place for me. Can you just keep it the same?"

"I love my mom and she loves me, and she is my best friend. I love my daddy, I love my sisters and my brother. And I would rather die than for you to take them away from me."

"Thank you for all the things you've done right, I love you God."

I walked home from work tonight and the A was just shining as bright as I have ever seen it.

I analyzed my life on this walk. 

I thought about the worst thing I had been through. My worst trial in the world. As soon as I thought about it, I found myself pitying myself. Telling myself that I had been through something terrible, and that it makes me deserving of something better.

But this isn't true. 

I am a firm believer that a lot of us think this way. We take some of our hardest times in life and let them devour us whole. We cry about them, worry about, lose sleep over them, and we pity ourselves.

I decided today that instead of focusing on the 1 thing that pulled me under, to focus on the ten things that kept me afloat during that time.

I realized on my walk home that every bad in this world is outweighed.

Remember those triple beam balances in jr high science class that you use to measure things?

Well....you put the thing you are trying to measure on one side, and your weight measurements on the other and you use those weight measurements to find the right measurement. 

This is how are hard times work.

As I was busy being upset about the Boston qualifying times changing (my 1 lb burden), I failed to see the weight measurements that were evening out that burden.

6 ounces - My mom was there to hear me cry over the phone. To tell me it will all work out. I am grateful to have a mom that I love, one that I can trust, and one that is my best friend.

4 ounces - As I am sitting in my office, my Logan mom and Sarah walk in to give me a laugh. I have a job I love. I have coworkers that care so much about me. That pick me up, give me advice, and would break their backs to make my day better.

2 ounces - USU. Doesn't take much to walk the campus of USU and realize how lucky I am to be able to go to college. I have a family here. I love my Logan life. I love my home.

2 ounces - Health. I am not sick. I am not confined to a wheelchair or a hospital bed. I can be completely independent, and I am lucky to say that.

2 ounces - The gym. This sounds completely cliche. But if you know me, the ARC is my place of comfort, and I am so grateful to have somewhere to go to take out all the pain I may be experiencing. Some people don't have places that make them feel this way. I am grateful.

So yes. These past two days have been full of tough times. But how these rough times will effect me is all determined by which side of the balance I look at.

Sleeping in the Stars

On October 24th, I was told my grandma had only two weeks to live. It came as a complete shock to my entire family; kidney failure, a tumor the size of shoe box, and a heart three times too big. My grandma has always been healthy...and that she has been that way since I have known her.

But she shocked us, the last two months of her life was a roller coaster, as she continued to exceed any expectation that was set for her. She's a fighter, yet shows no signs of it.

Grandma,

Oh how I can still just hear your voice. I can feel your body crushing hugs and the sound your shoes made when they scooted across our hardwood floor. It doesn't feel like your gone.

I miss the popsicles we ate on your back porch, that big swing you had in front of your house, I miss your hidden mints, and your stinky fish pond you made me clean. I miss you teaching us to cross stitch those ugly kitten patterns, I miss your love for the cabin.

I was right there with you your last moments, and I just hope and pray that you knew it.

You taught me how to work hard, and that hard work was uncomfortable. I remember the task of cleaning the fish pond.....we always thought you were punishing us by making us clean it. I remember telling you "IT STINKS!" and you just said "Oh, it's not that bad!" I know you didn't enjoy the smell either, but not once did you make that obvious. You were ALWAYS happy, I think that you had unhappy moments, but you were so good at convincing yourself that they were happy.

I miss going to church with you. You loved to sing, and you were so good at it. One day I was sitting in the pew with you, and you snuck me a sucker and taught me how to conduct from the back of the hymn book. (No I am not good at being a chorister....your funeral was a prime example of that). My most vivid memories of you were spent at church. You wanted more than anything to make us better, you wanted us to love God as much as you did. Until the day you died, you stood by your beliefs.  I hope he has his arm around you right now.

I miss sitting in your front room and just talking with you. We snuck lifesaver mints from your tin jars. You would hide them from us for your own entertainment. The common theme of our conversations was "Are you dating anyone yet?' You wanted us to find love and be happy so much.

I miss your love for Utah State. You would tell me about being in the honor college and being a resident's assistant for the honors dorms. And you were a teacher.....just like me. I walk this campus now and I feel you...everywhere. This is where you found what you loved to do. My heart is full knowing that I am following in your footsteps. What an example you are.

On your last day, you were still you. You were a fighter. I remember when my mom left the room for just 5 minutes and I just sat there with you and held your hand. Those same hands that taught me to sew, to garden, that reached to give me a hug, those hands once held my daddy when he took his first breath. How I didn't want to let them go.

Grandma, you were the beginning of a legacy. And this legacy will live on.

I was LUCKY to be your granddaughter. You brought me here. My middle name is yours too. You are the reason I am who I am today. My kids will know about you.

I'm going to finish that cabin, and I promise I will keep it there. I promise.

I hope you never forget how much I love you.

Love,

Your Little Rabbit.

Reopening

Our first trip out boating every year we go in May. For those who don't go boating often, during May, the water is still prettyyy darn cold.

As soon as we push out the boat, the four of us kids sit on the edge dipping our toes in to see if its cold. Some of us throwing on our wet suits (*cough* Katie and Ethan). 

My dad will get us out in the middle of the lake and then yell "who's in first?" We all look at one another and play this game of "Ethan you go first, Jerra you go first" as we stand on the edge of the boat peering into the ice water.

It takes about 10 minutes for one of us to jump in first, but quickly we all follow suit afterwards.

As the season goes on, the shorter the time it takes for us to jump in. It goes from 10 minutes, to 7 minutes, to 5, to jumping out of the boat before the engine is even turned off. 

As I sat in 10 degree weather this morning waiting for the bus to come, I couldn't help but think of boating. How so badly I wanted to be on a freaking boat instead of freezing like a popsicle.

But as that thought was passing, another one was running parallel to it. 

Opening up my heart again. 
I'm scared out of my mind that I am going to continue to get hurt the more I do it.

So you know me,

I had to make a comparison of the both of these thoughts.

Instantly I could see how my heart easily compared to the way the 4 of us are afraid of the cold water. 

Recently I got to the point where I didn't think I could handle ever opening up myself to anyone...ever again.

Here I am, standing on the edge of the boat, slowly dipping in my toes and its cold. That fear comes on just by dipping my toe in. It all comes flooding back. "What if I get hurt again? Am I sure about this?"  It's hard to jump in when you know what the water may feel like.

I look back at my family and maybe some friends, and they all tell me to jump...but I am scared.

After 10 minutes of telling myself it will be okay, (aka much longer in reality) I gain the courage to jump. I panic as the cold water hits hard...but I come right back up. And I realize it wasn't so bad after all.

It gets easier and easier every time you jump. You jump off quicker and quicker until it's just second nature.

So don't let the cold water scare you from opening up.

Oldie but a Goodie

Highlight Reel

My whole life I have been taught to never hold a grudge against people.  When we were little, my mom said over and over "two wrongs don't make a right". (I can hear her say it as I type) With this mindset, I learned that there was never someone who really hurt me bad enough to dislike them.

Years pass, and I hit a wall, a wall of people. People that lied to me, hurt me, and then left me in the dark. I felt the need to speak up about how hurt I was. That maybe if I told everyone how much I was hurt that it would solve the problem.

But I didn't. I had to be the better person. I wasn't going to make their lives worse because my own was hard.

So I held it in. Like my parents had taught me too my entire life.

It was rough. I am sure most people have had to experience it in their lifetime to an extent. Having to be positive towards someone that hurt you. It was hard, but I did it and I am proud of myself. Through the hard times, I fought my battles on my own.

But the longer I held it in, the worse I felt when their name popped up.

(warning: here comes the selfishness)

I don't see them much anymore, but I felt as if they were being put on a pedestal. Everyone would tell me how much they loved them, all of the people that never had to experience what I did. I wanted to respond by saying "are you sure?". Now don't get me wrong, they were good to me for many years, but I am still hurt. There's only so many bridges you can burn before there's no place to cross anymore, and I have reached that point with them.

I was on a drive with my mom and I brought it up to her.

"Mom, how can someone who hurt me so bad walk away like it was nothing?"
"Mom, I was the one that was hurt, and all that anyone cares about is them"

It all came flooding out with some tears and I felt as if I am being selfish. I don't wish hardship on anyone. But for once, I wanted people to see the truth.

My mom is a remarkable woman. She always seems to have the greatest answers to life's most pressing questions.

Katie has this quote she made hanging in our house that reads:

"The reason why we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind the scenes with everyone else's highlight reel."

I never really took the meaning from it until my mom mentioned it.

"What you are seeing is but a sliver of their lives, their highlight reel. Anyone can have a good highlight reel, but what about the rest of the movie?"

It hit me then and there that I was being ridiculous.

The conversation changed the subject right after. But my thoughts kept rolling.

What would my highlight reel look like? What would be on it?

It was overwhelmingly full. Full of good times and bad ones, and everything in between.
Maybe my highlight reel was longer than 3 minutes, maybe it was 20 years.

I realized that I needed to push these thoughts behind me, and soak up what was right in front of me.

Forget about their highlight reel, because my entire movie is breathtaking. They may have a short highlight film, but I have an entire movie.

Today I set a goal for myself.

From now on, I will make everyday good enough to be part of my highlight reel.

 

Lidia, Kate, Britt, and HP

I write this post with a heavy heart.

In two days, I will leave Logan for the summer. This should be an exciting thing, I am out of school, I get to live at home with my family. We get to boat, camp, run, and be out in the sun. But right now, my heart is stuck on Logan.

Last year, the second I moved out on my own for the first time, it didn't necessarily feel right. I moved in with a bunch of girls that didn't understand me. They didn't know what I was going through. None of them were my age, and none of us were on the same page.

Last year, I was alone with a broken heart, in an apartment full of girls that didn't care for me.

I told myself coming into this year to not set low expectations on roommates. I went into a random apartment with hopes that they wouldn't be worse than the ones before.

I will never forget walking into the landlord's office to grab the keys to our apartment. I ran into a girl named Hannah. Little did I know, I would travel across the world with this girl 6 months later.

I wake up to loud obnoxious singing coming from the room across from me on the first day of school, and I remember saying "This is going to be a long year."

They worked their way into my heart, and now each and every one of them are family.

They took this broken heart and made it full again.

Many times during this school year, on the brink of tears, and we asked each other how we all got put in the same apartment at the same time. The five of us were a match made in heaven.

I have had many friends throughout my life, many close friends from high school. But I lost a lot of my closest friends in high school, and never did I think I'd ever find friends as close as the ones I had.

But these girls gave me the piece of high school that I missed out on.

Most of my three years of high school were spent obsessing over a boy. To this day, I actually don't remember spending any quality time with my friends. But, this entire year, I felt like a 16 year old again. These four girls reminded me what is was like to have four best friends again. Four people that care about me just as much as my parents do.

We threw sleepovers on the front room floor, had dance lessons in the kitchen, put together dinners and invited the entire ward, laid in the hall at 3 AM and had deep conversations about life, we even took a service trip to Guatemala.

Who needs a guy in their life when you have friends like these?

This is a life I feel I could live forever.

They know my darkest secrets, they've heard my hardest stories, and they've seen me and my best, and my worst. I hope that one day we will all sit down when we have families of our own and laugh about the crazy times we had these past nine months.

I'm lucky enough to have two of them next year, but the other two are moving on to bigger and better.

I love you guys so much!
Here's to having four forever friends.

Guatemala

As most of the people who would read this would know, I recently spent my spring break in Antigua, Guatemala. It was easily one of the most life-altering times of my life.

Back in November, I was sitting in my office when Hannah burst in my doors to tell me about a trip to Guatemala she just got accepted into. She asked me to apply, and I looked her like she was crazy. A foreign country?  All by myself?

Next thing I know I am hugging my mom in Ogden airport, chocked up, boarding the plane to LAX for the first time on my own.

I flew into LAX and thankfully had Hannah with me to board my next flight to Guatemala. We got to Guatemala City, where a large amount of uncertainty set in real quick. That first day came a huge wave of shock that I wasn't in Utah anymore. I was really apprehensive if I wanted to stay all ten days or not.

Being to a foreign country really changes your perspective on the world.

You hear all the time about the kids in Africa that are going hungry. You see their dirty faces on a lit screen, with people voicing over how a donation could help them. But nothing could have prepared me for this.

What they don't tell you on TV is the happiness that these people just carry with them. How smart these people are, how innovative they are, and how much they love life.

Many in the U.S. will be quick to say that these people need help, they don't. They need change.

I watched a kid lift his shirt, and his back was covered with scars from a parasite. I watched waste get thrown in the middle of a road. An old woman tried to sell me a scarf for less than a dollar so that she could feed herself. A mother feed her child under cooked chicken, and parents feed their children before they fed themselves.

I thought to myself "How are these people happy? They have nothing compared to what I have."

They find happiness in the smallest of things.

I sorted beans with a woman that sang the entire time, joked with me about boys, and we laughed until we cried. What was she doing again? Sorting coffee beans.

A 14 year old boy named Amos told me that he enjoyed working on a coffee plantation. He looked forward to it daily.  How old was he? 14 years old.

I laid in bed at night, and for the first time in my life I could see the millions of little reasons that I could be happy.

You don't have to have it all to have it all.

Having each other was all these people needed.

The day I had to leave Guatemala was miserable. I had slowly been shoving my bag full in preparation, but when I had to zip it up I lost it. I contemplated extending my flight.

I wanted to live in this world a little longer. Take it all in 15 more times. I wanted to play soccer with the little boys on the street for one more game. Learn how to throw tops in the market with the little boys. Pick coffee beans with Amos. Run up Pacaya with the locals. Sort coffee beans with Karina. Tour with the infamous Carlos. I wanted to hear Jose's rusty laugh one last time followed by his crooked grin.

I wanted to live with all the people that were grateful for everything they had just a little bit longer.

I thought I wouldn't miss the cold "electric" showers. The beans, rice, and tortillas we ate twice a day. The smell of raw sewage. But right now, I'd go back in a heart beat.

Guatemala will always have a special place in my heart.


To the Guatemalans that changed my life,

I promise I won't forget about you.

Sincerely,

The Blonde Gringo

My Journey:

Arms are Open

Right now I am sitting in my bed, finishing up some homework. This song came on (in my random shuffle on Spotify), and I lost it.


Arms Open
By: The Script

I can't unfeel your pain
I can't undo what's done
I can't send back the rain
But if I could I would
My love, my arms are open

So when you feel like you can't take another round of being broken
My arms are open
And when you're losing faith and every door around you keeps on closing
My arms are open

I can't uncry your tears
I can't rewind the time
I can't unsay what's said
In your crazy life
My love, my arms are open

Oh, and when you're cursing at the sky
And thinking, "lord, you must be joking"
My arms are open
And, and when you're looking in the mirror
Thinking that, "my life is over"
My arms are open.

Lately, I have gotten on this blog to vent and to help myself recover. I've wrote about finding strength in hard times and standing up when I feel broken. I've been the weak one in the sense, because I've struggled for a little while.

But today, today I'm the strong one. 

For a long time I have wanted to take it all back. I've wanted to go back in time to change everything so that maybe my life would be easier. This was how I felt for a prolonged period of time. That maybe I would wake up and it would all be a dream. But today, I wouldn't change a thing. 

Today, I shine brighter than all of those people that tried to dull me.

Those nights of laying in a bed of tears, feeling broken, and climbing the constant uphill have molded me into someone I would have never imagined for myself. It's crazy how fast you can go from feeling that you have the world behind you, to standing on your own with no one in sight. Being lost allowed me to run into people that I will idolize for the rest of my life.

Someone asked me the other day if I would relive my high school years again.

Then I asked right back, "Would there be the slightest chance that I would forget the people that I have now?"

I've said it many times, and I'll say it again. I have it all. There are people that drifted away when I was struggling, but they were people that needed to leave. I have quickly realized that the people that make my life most beautiful are the ones that never cared how it looked in the first place.

There were people that judged me based on how I worshiped to something as superficial as the income of my parents. If they can't see the beauty within my life, why would I want to continue to share it with them?

Today I will cherish the people who love me for who I am, not who they think I should be. The ones that opened their arms out to me when I wasn't even strong enough to lift my own.

So here's to the people that held their arms open through it all:

(brace yourselves for the long mushy gushy)

God. It's self explanatory. You answer my prayers without saying a word. You have given me these people to hold close, and you hold the others even closer up there. I feel like you've been unfair to the people here, because you've given me the best set-up. One day I will hug you, embrace you, and I tell you how I made it. How I pushed through, and enjoyed every second. I'll tell you about people that entered my life that moved me. You are never overlooked.

My Mommy and Shane.  I will never be able to repay the two of you, but I hope that I can pay it forward to my kids one day. I dream of  being half the parents that you both are to me.The two of you could hold higher hopes for myself than I could at times in my life. You're both good at seeing all the positive aspects about anyone. You taught me to hold my head high in complete darkness or when you can't see what's ahead. To be happy even when you feel your world is ending. To love your life and embrace every second we get whether good or bad. Dad calls me every once in a while and sometimes before he hangs up he says "SMILE", and I can just see the smirk on the other end of the phone. Happiness in it's most raw form.

Ham Bam, Ethan, and Katie. The three of you didn't need to know that my world was crashing down to hold me together. From Ethan's singing in the passenger side of my car, Hannah handing me a fresh baked cookie, or Katie teaching me how to saw pallets. You three complete me in so many ways. You diversify me and give me examples to strive towards. The three of you make me realize that I always have a best friend in this world. I have someone to tell all my secrets too, someone to tease, and someone to teach me the ropes of life. When we are 90 and grey, I hope that we all love each other as much as we do now.

Willard. I hate you so much dog, but you make me laugh.

Grandma Nessa, Nannie, Grandpa Griz, Grandma & Grandpa Fowers. All of your lives were full of some type of trial. From losing the love of your life, to losing your son, or losing your mom at a young age. You five are living, breathing examples that life keeps rolling. We can find happiness in the hardest of times. You all picked up your pieces and made something of them. You raised the amazing people that would bring me here.

Aunt Nicki and Uncle Jess. I don't see the two of you that much, but I see you through my mom. Our whole lives she has taught us kids to love each other, "from birth to grave". She gets it from you two. You have been an example to my family of what a "forever family" looks like. I have dreams of one day being able to talk to my sisters and brother every day like the three of you do. You taught me the importance of family when hard times arise. You three are a reminder of what I will always have, family.

Brittany, Hannah, Lidia, and Katie. It's easy to feel far from home in a place like Logan (the four of you know all to well that my family is my comfort zone). You all taught me to live in the moment. To dance in the middle of the street, make crepes at midnight, have sleepovers in the front room, hold fashion shows at two in the morning, and ask out cute boys that I don't know well. You all bring out the kid in me, you make me feel brave.

Reni, Justin, Ann, Steph, and Michelle. I have had three jobs before working at the Center, but I have never felt like any of them made a difference. Everyday I'm at the center, I feel like I am paying it forward.The Center healed me, it made me look at my world differently. Not only that, but you all are family to me. You know some of the deepest details of my life, and you all give me wise advice, the kind I would ask my mom for. The five of you are a part of my Logan family.

Inadequate

This blog I feel like is a place where I can embrace my struggles. I'm far from perfect, in fact, I am probably closer to imperfect that perfect.

I feel inadequate, every where I go.

I don't feel like I am good enough to have the job I do. To receive the score I do on a paper. Have the amazing parents I do. Even date the guy I think is cute.

Not feeling good enough, is as real as it gets.

I'm not a 4.0 college student, although I wish I was. My parents have been helping me get through school, and I feel like I owe it to them. They deserve to sponsor a child that gets better grades than I do.

While I'm at work, I screw up a lot. I put down the wrong dates on designs, I forget to do tasks every once in a while. I work with such amazing people, and I feel like they deserve better.

I hate talking to guys I'm not good enough for. It's like preparing yourself for what's destined to happen. That one day, they will realize who I really am, and that will be the end of it all.

I try not to fall for the good things in life, to get my hopes up. Because 9 times out of 10, I'll get let down.

One day these guys will realize that I am horrible at dressing up. That I hate doing my hair, wearing make-up, and Nike's are my favorite accessory. They'll realize that I cry.....a lot. I'm cranky in the morning, and  I'm not the best at studying. They will see that I spend more time with my family than my friends.

When I start talking with a guy I like, I just want to tell them "Are you sure you want this? I am far from ever being good enough for someone like you." I would feel as if I was cheating them for dating them.

I dated someone for three years, and I left feeling like I did something wrong. That there had to have been something I could've done better. Maybe I really wasn't good enough for him.

If I were to pick anything I fear the most in this world right now, it would be feeling completely inadequate.

For most of my blog posts, I have this call to action. I have a way that I will resolve my life's challenges. But this one has me stumped.

I'm not sure how I will get through this. But I want to document it all. I want to remember my struggles, so that I can look back on them as learning experiences.

One day, I will figure this out, and look back on this moment with a brighter ending.

Fans

Today has been a rough one.

Numerous times today, I have looked up into  to the sky in a flood of tears and asked,

"Why can't you just give me a chance."

Last night, I finally built up the courage to ask my crush out....and was (basically) rejected.
This morning I didn't pass my teaching test for the second time.
And just 10 days before my big race, I had pneumonia and a partially collapsed lung.

God.........Why?

All I have done is good in this world. I say my prayers every night, I talk to you every day. I reach out to everyone around me. I am not mean to anyone. You put me through enough

Why can't just one thing work out for me?

Why can't I feel worthy enough to date this guy?
Why can't I be smart enough to pass my test the first time?
Why can't I do good in this race?

Just once.

As I was walking around campus, in the pouring rain, I hit breaking point.

I am walking around USU with mascara streaming down my face, with posters falling out of my hands, crying to my mom over the phone.

There comes a point in your life, when your sick of everyone telling you that "It will work out". Because for so long.....it hasn't felt like it.

I feel like I'll die before I make it through this teaching program, and I worry that I'll die alone.

After talking for 20 minutes, my mom and I  began laughing together over the phone about my crappy day. Somehow daily trials can become something that you can just shake off, and laugh.

I think that God was ready show me what I do have.

Immediately after hang up with my mom, I run into Hannah (my roommate) at my work. As soon as she saw me, she ran up and gave me a huge hug, not even knowing what I had been through. She asks how my day was, hands me a bag of food and walks with me up to work.

I walk into work, and there's Justin singing along to his music, and I try my best not to laugh at him. My manager hands us both money to go down and get her a drink, and a "treat". Next thing I know, we're hardcore hysterically laughing in our office trying to fit Bugles on our fingers and Snapchat at the same time.

Having no idea of my hard day, Justin is walking out the door and he says "The right guy is going to come around and he will love you so much."

I have everything I ever need.

I have so much more to learn, so much room to grow, two more years of school, and much more maturity on its way.  But in the end, when I lay in bed at night, I don't want to fall asleep. I could do my days all over again.

Life is so dang hard, it's full of so many reasons to quit. So many reasons to call your mom crying. But when I step back, I realize that I have so many people rooting for me.

So here's to not settling with a guy just because I think he's cute. Here's to not giving up on college because it's hard. And here's to not quitting running because I have pneumonia and a broken lung.

Because each of fans lining the path to my finish line have high hopes for me to finish strong.