trip to cali

When California calls your name with a free place to stay... you just don't say no. 

Hey, being young is about being spontaneous, right? So while I should have been in school, and shoveling the sidewalks of the snow that I was informed happened in my absence, ;) my schedule went a little differently. 

paddle boarding

had a star-fish spotting

(a real live one, actually lots of them!)

shopped on the boardwalk

rented bicycles

spent the entire days as beach bums

(and even found a sand dollar)

enjoyed gorgeous sunsets over the ocean

roasted marshmallows

and laughed ALL weekend with Tiara and Jennessa!

Oh it was such a beautiful weekend! And it was well worth the long drive and missing school. But with that said I am a teensy bit stressed out. I guess you could say I have Spring Fever. If you have ever seen "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" just imagine how he was in the middle of doing anything, and he would suddenly lose all focus to stop what he was doing, stretch out his arms, face the sun and literally soak it in. That pretty much sums up my feelings about everything right now. I was losing motivation and getting tired and well, good thing Bro. Andersen prepares every single one of his institute lessons specifically for me. (seriously though, it's like this every week!) So of course today it was based on a talk by President Monson titled "Finishers Wanted" You should click on the title and read the entire talk, it's so good! And definitely a pick-me-upper. And just like all of his lessons, it was exactly what my little soul needed to hear. 

Life is hard you guys! It is fair, yes. But it is also difficult and sometimes we find ourselves in a little rut, or seem to be living in slow motion. These are the times we need to recognize our actions and as Bro. Andersen put it, "cowboy up." Stop feeling sorry for ourselves, stop giving life a half effort. Push through, and push hard! Finish the race strong! Push so hard that when you cross the finish line the crowd is jumping out of their seats cheering with all their hearts because when you go through something hard with a full effort, it makes the end result GREAT. And it will be that much greater if we work that much harder. As President Monson states in his talk we just need utilize "... vision, effort, faith, virtue, courage, prayer..." 

"Stick to your task 'til it sticks to you; Beginners are many, but enders are few. Honor, power, peace and praise will always come to the one who stays. Stick to your task 'til it sticks to you; Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too; For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile will come life's victories after a while." 

-author unknown.