I AM ENOUGH

So lately I've had a lot of people trying to tell me in almost anything I do, that it's not enough, that what I do isn't good enough, and that the decisions I've set for my future aren't fulfilling my full potential. I've pretended not to notice and to just brush it off, but in reality it really takes a hit to my self esteem. It's hard, especially as a girl (having self confidence issues already), to hear that you aren't adding up to other's expectations. For the past few months I've really struggled to realize that most people don't say this to be offensive, they really just want me to progress, get better, and be happy, even if it doesn't come across that way. And sometimes what makes them happy won't be what makes me happy. After having a long talk with a good friend of mine, I decided that it's time to get some confidence. So here is my "Confidence Declaration": *You are enough. You don't need the approval of others to feel successful. You are enough. What you do is enough. If you try your hardest and give it everything you have, then no one can ask for anything more than that. Do what makes you happy despite the opinions of others. You are special and unique which makes you beautiful. You don't need to depend on others because you have yourself; and YOU ARE ENOUGH. You are strong, beautiful, and smart. Your Heavenly Father made you the way you are and He doesn't make mistakes, even though you do. You are not the mistakes you have made, you are not your past. Your Heavenly Father has prepared a way for those mistakes to be erased! Lean on Him in ALL things. Envision a future that makes you HAPPY; set goals to get you there. Do what it takes to meet those goals. You have all the potential in the world, everyone knows that. Now live up to that. Who you are is enough. You might not see it now but it's true. You were made to be a champion and that's exactly what you'll be. Don't get discouraged by the criticism of those around you because they don't know where you've been. Put yourself first for once. Take a day to do something FOR YOU! And don't feel guilty about it later! Don't settle for anything less than what you deserve. You deserve the best! And DON'T EVER FORGET THAT YOU ARE ENOUGH!!!*

The Book Thief

The past few weeks have been wonderful. When I'm not in the gym for volleyball workouts, or at work, I'm reading. I was skipping class one day a few months ago and I went to my favorite teacher, Steph's, classroom. She was teaching a younger class so I went and sat in my usual seat at her desk. I was looking for something to do and she told me to start reading the book she'd started: "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. I read the first page and knew immediately that no matter what, I was going to have to finish that book. The way it is written is so unique. It's written in death's point of view during WWII. Yes, I am aware that it sounds gruesome. I thought it sounded horrible but it is honestly written so beautifully. It really makes you think about things on a deeper level than we, as humans, are used to. I speak for all of us when I say humans are generally shallow minded, meaning we become too comfortable with things as they are and don't care or try to make changes or think deeper than what we consider comfortable. It is definitely on my top 5 list of favorite books! It is a must read. It's one of those books that you have to keep telling yourself, "Ok. Just one more chapter, then I really need to go to sleep." And before you know it, it's 5 o'clock in the morning. The pages just seem to drag you in and won't let you escape.

Volleyball 2011

So since it's been FOREVER since I've updated before this week I've decided to go through the past year and update the world on the most important things that have happened. Volleyball, basically being my entire life, must be mentioned in at least one post. This last year I was a Junior and I was good enough to play both JV and Varsity on our school team, which at our school is a great accomplishment in volleyball. Our JV team went undefeated all season long, and our Varsity team only lost one game. We were region champions and sadly took 6th in state out of 16 teams. I say sadly because we should've won. At the end of the season I got the great honor of being on the 1st team All Valley (Huge honor). I loved our team this year because we were all so close! We were ALL pretty much sisters. We did EVERYTHING together, from hanging out on the weekends, to going to the football games together, to team sleepovers. It was so incredible how close we all were. And the best part was that one of my best friends was on the team with me:) She's the blonde one that's in almost every single picture:) Here are just a few pictures to kind of show what the season was like, even though there aren't many pictures of us actually playing!

Update On Elder Nield:)

Derrick... excuse me.. Elder Nield has been in the Mission Field, serving in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma mission for 1 year and 2 months now. He absolutely loves it out there and has had such a good experience. There are a few airforce bases close to where he's at and he thinks that he wants to be a pilot now! His companion right now is Elder Dalia. Here are just a few pictures that he's sent to me. As much as I miss my brother, I know he's doing the right thing by being out there and it's so amazing to see how much he's grown just in the past year through a mission.