A Pretty Good Reason to Love Disney

Disney is so well loved because of a lot of things, I think that one of those reasons, an important one, is because it's so relate-able. I know, you're like "Come on, whatever, it's nothing like real life." Which is fair. But listen up, don't you sometimes wish life was a little like a Disney movie? I know I do! I love Disney, it just makes me happy. And I think Disney has some incredible things to share with the world. Amazing gospel principles (even if they're not trying all good things testify of Christ), and just really wonderful life principles. I'm going to share some with you because this is the reason I love Disney. This is why it makes me happy. I've always found that some Disney princess song would temporarily become my life motto and I want you to see why. Although I'm sure you already know ;)

Let's start with a classic, Beauty and the Beast. Who doesn't love Belle?
She's intelligent and beautiful and just basically one of the very best Disney princesses of all time. In the

reprise of the song "Belle" she sings:

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere

I want it more then I can tell

And for once it might be grand

To have someone understand

I want so much more then they've got planned!"

This was seriously my song during a long "I'm a misunderstood teenager who's plans are way to big for the rest of you to comprehend" phase. I'm over it but I still love these lines. Who doesn't want adventure?! And who doesn't make plans that they sometimes feel are misunderstood? I think it's safe to say that we've all been there.

I really wanna talk Frozen. Some people didn't like it, everyone was comparing it to Tangled, but most people loved it I think. It's kind of a hit, and how could it not be with Idina Menzel singing? Like what a rock star right! So in defense of Frozen I just want to say, stop comparing it to Tangled. They're different stories, let them stand alone. And now I'm gonna tell you why I thought Frozen taught great things. First off, true love? Sisterly love? Come one, who doesn't like that? :) Anyway, in "Love is an Open Door" Anna says:

"All my life has been a series of doors in my face

Then suddenly I bump into you...

...Love is an open door!"

Okay, I totally get it if you feel like "She's so shallow" but think about that song in the context of what the movie is really about. Sisterly love. Love is an open door. Isn't that exactly what "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" is all about? Anna is singing to Elsa from outside the room asking her to show her love, to open the door, to be with her. I don't think it's a stretch. Also when Anna is singing "For the First Time in Forever" she talks about all these hopes and dreams she has. She sings:

"For the first time in forever

I've getting what I'm dreaming of

A chance to change my lonely world"

How can you not feel like she's a relate-able character? Am I crazy for thinking that people are so excited when they get what they've been dreaming of? And who isn't lonely once in a while? I feel like I'm only friends with people who feel lonely no matter who they're with. Doesn't that say something about how Disney is targeting their song? People are lonely and who doesn't love the opportunity to change something about that? Maybe none of us are having that opportunity "for the first time ever" but we like it all the same. Then there's Elsa, and I mean COME ON! How can you not love her? Her voice alone and then she's beautiful and can I just point out that she is definitely NOT a Disney princess. She is a Disney QUEEN. Yeah, and she acts like it. I love "Let it Go" and I'm about to tell you why :)

"Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know.

Well now they know

Let it go! Let is go,

Can't hold you back anymore

Let it go, let it go,

Turn your back and slam the door....

...It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small

The fears that once controlled me

Can't get to me at all...

...It's time to see,

Test my limits and break through...

.....I'm free.....

...You'll never see me cry,

Here I stand, and here I'll stay

Let the storm rage on...

..I'm never going back,

The past is in the past...

...I'll rise like the break of dawn..

..That perfect girl is gone...

...Here I stand in the light of day

Let the storm rage on

The cold never bothered me anyway."

Okay, I attacked that song, it's because it's SO amazing though! All the things it talks about are just perfect! She's been taught all her life that she needs to hide who she is and what she is and she like "well now they know," and in the movie you're like "YES!" because she's so intense! And she's thinking that she's literally going to let it all go. She's going to stop letting people scare her, or control her. She's going to test her limits, find out who she really is and who she really wants to be. This is a classic example of self discovery. Everyone needs to figure out who they are and who they want to become. And that doesn't happen just once. You have to figure out who you are all the time and then you have to re-align yourself with the person you want to be. It's a life long process and she's finally started hers, which is awesome!! She's all about being free and standing strong through the storm, letting the past go, getting some perspective so she can understand that her fears aren't really that scary. What about this song isn't in life? Like it's amazing! And when she sing "the cold never bothered me anyway" you're just like "WHOA" because she's got such attitude and she's finally letting it out! People should always let the real them out because it's an improvement for them, the world, and it's honest. But I'll move on so you don't feel like I'm laying on Frozen to hard (yeah, I know, you're like "Too late!"). Let move on to what people have been comparing it to. Tangled.

Which is totally different by the way. Totally not similar stories. I guess a couple of things are similar but lets me real, they're super different. I'm so not going to talk about this. I want to share something from Tangled. Like "When Will My Life Begin" and "I've Got a Dream" she sings:

"I'll keep wonderin' and wonderin'

And wonderin' and wonderin'

When will my life begin.......

...Now that I'm older

Mother might just

Let me go."

I love this. What teenager isn't like "I just want to do what ever I want!" as they collapse dramatically into their bed and what teenager doesn't thing "Maybe mom/dad will let me go now..." This part of Tangled to me is just so easy to relate to. I definitely had a stage with this song. And then she sings:

"And with every passing hour

I'm so glad I left my tower!

Like all you lovely folks

I've got a dream!"

Don't anyone tell me they don't like this song. I mean, look at it. It's all about everyone having a dream, recognizing it and going for it. It's a fun song but remember that it's a song about life. All the best songs are about life. There are only a couple more! Hang in there :)

It seems appropriate now to talk about Tiana from the Princess and the Frog. There are some great songs in that one but the one but I wanna talk about "Almost There". It's my favorite song from that movie. She says:

"I ain't got time for messin' around

And it's not my style...

...But I know exactly where I'm going

And I'm getting closer and closer everyday...

...But I've climbed the mountain, I've crossed the river

I'm almost there!"

Tell me how can you not admire Tiana? She's so incredible! She's so motivated! And totally determined and ready and brave and I would love to have half the courage and motivation that Tiana's got.  She's such a hard worker! Which is why I think she was such a breath of fresh air and she's wonderful! Her's it pretty straight forward, it's a story all about how hard work really does pay off and dreams can really come true.

I want to talk about Ariel now. She's a favorite of mine, though friends try to dissuade me and tell me what a terrible Disney princess she is, I disagree. I love her. She doesn't get to sing as much as I'd like since, ya know, her voice is stolen! But she sings in "Part of Your World" saying:

"(Speaking) Maybe he's right. Maybe there is something the matter with me.

I just don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things could be bad.

(Singing)Look at this stuff.

Isn't in neat?...

...I wanna be where the people are

I wanna see, see them dancing...

...Up where they walk, up where they run

Up where they stay all day in the sun

Wanderin' free, wish I could be

Part of that world."

Well first off, no one, not anyone should ever be made to feel like there is something wrong with them. Ariel's family made her sad. Her father make her feel terrible! That shouldn't happen. I know it does, but it shouldn't. And then she shows us her collection of all the things she loves and dreams about. She just wants to walk around in the sun. At this point she isn't really considering leaving her family forever, she only wants a  little freedom, to feel independent. She wants the choice to do the things she's dreaming about and then she'll make the right choice, or the wrong, and she'd learn. But she wasn't given a choice and everyone deserves the choice.

I know this one's been long so thank you :)

"All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to persue them" -Walt Disney

Little Wonders

Please Listen, read along, and hear my thoughts.

Let it go,
Let it roll right off your shoulder
Don't you know
The hardest part is over
Let it in,
Let your clarity define you
In the end
We will only just remember how it feels

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders,
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours,
These small hours still remain

Let it slide,
Let your troubles fall behind you
Let it shine
Until you feel it all around you
And i don't mind
If it's me you need to turn to
We'll get by,
It's the heart that really matters in the end

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders,
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours,
These small hours still remain

All of my regret
Will wash away some how
But i can not forget
The way i feel right now

In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists & turns of fate
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away but these small hours
These small hours, still remain,
Still remain
These little wonders
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away
But these small hours
These little wonders still remain

     This is the theme song we're using at my school for your annual charity drive this year. We have one more week. I've moved past worrying about the total of what we might make and I've decided that I won't let other people tell me they didn't like certain things ruin the way I feel when it's something that's nearly sacred to me. The feelings and the truth that you feel as you service others is unbelievable. I love that this song was chosen because I feel like it embodies Silver Rush. It's the little wonders, in our small hours of service with the twists and turns of fate that make it what it is. Silver Rush would not be so special to all of us if it wasn't the little things, the small and simple things that change our perspective and change how we feel about life. I realize that we have moments where we feel the spirit so strongly that we declare our determination to change and to be a new person completely and then as time goes by, the rush wears off and we forget abut those experiences. But I hope I will always carry apart of the service I do as a student at Riverton High Silver Rush as part of me for the rest of my life. I don't want to let it fade. It's the greatest reminder of the things that are wonderful in life aren't the times we're focused on ourselves and they're not the times we spend with friends necessarily but the times we think about people we know and love and even more the people we don't know and love anyway. Those people who see who are different that you in so many ways but you can't help but notice that they go to school too, they have friends kind of like yours and you love them for their quirks and just because you know who they are in some small way that they might not even recognize. There's nothing quite like the love you can feel for someone, for any one, when you let yourself. It's a miracle! A wonder that you can find yourself loving people so much and you never run out of love. Love is an active, excited, powerful action and feeling. The beautiful thing about love is how many different ways you can share your love, and it all still means "I love you" and everyone understands that. Elder Uchtdorf said everyone understands "the universal language of Christ's love." And, you know, he's right. As he often is. And I realize that sometimes love doesn't come easily but sometimes the love that takes a little work is the love most worth fighting for and sometimes you find you love someone instantly, treasure that too because you don't find it often enough. But never let yourself not love because there is SO much worth loving in everyone you meet. Let love create the little wonders in you life. Let yourself be guided in love and in the small moments, the small hours of your life. Love doesn't take a lot of time to give. Just love and never stop. Let the little wonders take over in your life.

Make Your Choice

          Sometimes you have to choose! Just wake up and say "I('m going to be happy today" and don't let anyone fight that from you. No one, and nothing can make you feel how you don't want too. Don't let the darkness that hounds you from outside and from within win! Don't let it! Fight back with a smile on you face and a spring in you step. You are NOT ALONE in this war. So don't you dare pull that card. There are thousands fighting with you and there are so many people who love you. So make your choice.

"Choose ye this day whom ye will serve;...

but as for me, and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Joshua 24:15

A Judgment Call

          There's a girl who sits next to me in choir and between her and the boy sitting beside her I'm terrified of life. They talk about people and are so cruel! Often when I complain about these sorts of things I have friends who say things like "That's just the way it is," and I refuse to accept that! People should be better than that. Don't they want to be?
          The girl tells her friend how it's so awful that this boy across the room sings so loud because he's clearly tone deaf and how the girl a couple rows in front of us is a "whore" because of some very flimsy evidence. And it really disgusts me but it also frightens me. What might they think of me? When I'm not in class or when they aren't sitting beside me again what do they say? Do I even want to know? Do I really care?
          There's just something about it that leaves me sitting still and stiff during choir because I don't want to receive their judgment. And it's people like them that not only give our entire age group a bad reputation but they're also the people who end up bitter and unhappy. And where does this horrible desire of theirs come from where they want to say these terrible things about their peers? And why is it that the ones they say these things are the ones who are wacky? Crazy, nerds, theater geeks, loud, kind of annoying, and totally okay with themselves? Perhaps it's not the boy across the room or the girl a few rows in down that have the problem. They're both laughing and talking to lots of people who like them. So could it be that the problem lies with the two sitting beside me? Are they the ones who need to look closer at themselves? Isn't there something said about fixing the world from the inside out? Start with yourself and move outward? "He who is without sin cast the first stone." Isn't that what Christ said?
          So I guess the point here is me saying that I didn't like it. I didn't like what they were saying and I was even more displeased with myself for not telling them that I happened to be friends with the "tone deaf" boy and the quite kind girl in front of us. Start with yourself and let others follow but don't judge them because they do things differently. And certainly don't judge them for loving themselves and the life that they have.

Answered Prayers

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers

Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs

That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care

Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

             I don't know if you've ever heard the song Unanswered Prayers by Garth Brooks but it's a favorite of mine. I think it's beautiful and so true and just perfect! And I've thought about that song a lot recently but today, tonight I want to talk about the prayers that we receive answers to. In the most beautiful way too. I was in the middle of a really hard situation with a friend of mine who I just love. She's wonderful, but I was in sticky spot with her so instead of deciding what was right or wrong I decided that I loved her and that I would just keep loving her despite the situation. It was hard. And that night I knelt down beside my bed and I wept. I prayed and pleaded for understanding and guidance and it might very well be one of the hardest things that I've ever experienced. And then today, four days later, the situation has been altered and cleaned up quite unexpectedly. I wept again. I couldn't believe it. Of all the blessings I was expecting from my Father in Heaven it was not this. It was not that kind of blessing but I was so grateful for it. I saw my friends text message and right there I sat down on my stairs where I'd been standing and I prayed while I cried because I don't think I could ever properly express my gratitude. It was so wonderful. So the one of the last lines in the song is "I guess the Lord knows what he's doin' after all" and I just want to say that it's true. He does know. And I don't know all His reasoning for everything but I do know that it's all worked out and I've learned a lot in four short days so I just want to say that I know God answers prayers. Sometimes His silence is an answer in itself but so often you just have to kneel down and be grateful for the prayers that he does answer. Tonight I'm grateful for the answered prayers.

My Favorite Thing About Endings

             I don't handle endings very well. I don't like them. They're just so sad. It's taken me a long time but I know now that all things need to end. People can't live forever and stories can't go on after they've been told. It's just not the way the world works. Everything eventually ends. Every books has a happily ever after. Every day has a good night. Every life has a good bye. And every sunrise has a sunset. Every fire leaves it's ashes. The point is that everything ends. There's nothing you can do about it.
             But fortunately for us, every books tells it's story, every day has a good morning. For every death their is new life. And every sunset has a sunrise. Every fire leaves long enough for what was destroyed to be rebuilt. The end is bitter sweet. There's pain in every good bye but there's also hope. You'll see them again. Good byes are never final. I was thinking today, while I was laying on the floor in the sunshine, that afternoons are my favorite. I realized that they are also kind of sad. They're the end of something great. But what if the day hadn't been great? Wouldn't the afternoon and evening be a welcome occurrence? So I suppose that it's all about perspective when it comes to whether something is happy or sad. If someone has been suffering then wouldn't it make them happy to go, to be free of pain? Wouldn't it make someone happy to see a sad story end well? The important thing here is that endings are in actuality a good thing. They can be painful and sad but they can also be happy and so full of joy. Personally, I struggle with endings. I don't want things to end. I never want summer to end. But that's not because I love the summer so much. It's mostly because that's when I get to do things with family. I never want to stop spending time with all the people I love, my family, my friends. I would love for the times we get to be together to continue on forever.
             However, with the end of summer comes the start of school. Of new experiences and new friends. The end of so much focused time with family leaves me a little more time for friends, and the end of time with friends leaves time for family. Endings always have a transition period, there's the pain and the heartache but then there's this wonderful time where you start to love what's come of that ending. They way things have changed turns out to be a beautiful thing, the sort of thing you just can't take your eyes off of and your heart never let's go of.
             When I started high school I joined the school newspaper. I was thrilled. It was going to be the most amazing experience! I was going to write and people were just going to love me! I was going to be the best and it would be what I was truly known for in high school. Well a month or two into the class I realized very quickly that I wasn't going to make friends there and I wasn't going to be able to be myself. I felt incredibly uncomfortable and the other students were just plain mean and did kind of disgusting things. So I quite the newspaper. It was probably one of the hardest things I'd done up to that point in my life, I was terrified to tell my incredibly intimidating teacher that I was leaving. I left. That was the end of my newspaper dreams. And I can't tell you how alone and completely afraid I felt to try something I'd never thought about. It was horrifying for me. But then I somehow ended up in a foods class. Cooking? It wasn't really my thing but I hadn't known what else to do! This is how I ended up meeting my best friend and how I decided I wanted to major in culinary arts. It all started here, with an exciting adventure gone all wrong. By the ned of the newspaper I was starting a new adventure that I hadn't even anticipated. And oh, how wonderful it was.
             There's never a real ending. As my sweet sister said a while ago "Life is just a bunch of adventures stacked up next to each other," and she was so, so right. With then end of one adventure you begin another one. You never know what's just around the corner.
           My favorite thing about endings are beginnings.

Words

     Words are  a very powerful thing. At least I've heard it said and I've been thinking about why I've always believed that to be true. I'm a writer, or at least I try to be, and with every word you craft your message. Every word tells something about you, the way you express yourself tells a lot about who you are. I'm of the opinion that every person expresses themselves through some art form. I have a good friend who paints and draws. She very literally expresses herself through art. There are a lot of people who write music and that's their way of expression. Some people speak. Doesn't sound like an art? Think about the last time you spoke in public, it's an art. But now I'm all off track, let's come back. I like to use the written word to express myself, as I'm sure you've gathered. Recently I've been thinking about the things I say and what I write and what ever single word does for me and for everyone around me. Then on the way to the Temple the other day I discovered Christian music on the radio. It was delightful. But I also discovered the song Words by Hawk Nelson. And it kind of struck me. Made me think.

     At the very beginning of this song he talks about what words can make you feel. Like a prisoner, a criminal, set free, a king. He says

"Words can build you up, words can break you down, start a fire in our heart, or put it out."

I've seen it with words. What they can do to people, do to all of us. And we need to be careful with our words, but more importantly than just being careful with our words we need to commit to using our words to benefit as many people as we come into contact with.. My favorite part of this song is his line,

"I don't want to say a word unless it points the world back to you."

     And I guess I like that because it's kind of how I feel. I worry about my words and what they'll mean to people, but I don't want to speak unless I can be the representative of Christ that I know I want to be. I haven't always been a good example of using your words in the best way, of pointing to God with my words. But I want to be. I want to exclaim to all the world what I know to be true and I want to speak the words of God. One of the most wonderful girls I've ever met received her mission call this last week and she is so excited to go and to preach the gospel to everyone she meets. But, like they tell you in primary, you don't have to be a missionary to do missionary work. Every word we say should show the world the kind of people we are and what we stand for and who stands behind us. Our words should show the world who we promise to represent. In all that we do, I hope that we try to point our peers, our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers, and the strangers that we come into contact with to Christ. Even for people who don't believe as I do, I hope they believe in whatever they believe strongly enough that they want to share it with the world. Because that's how it should be isn't it? If you have this amazing message of joy and happiness, shouldn't you be dying to tell the world? I want to share it with the world. And right now, while I'm still in high school, I'm going to try to share it with the world through my words.

So Much Bigger On the Inside

Idris: Are all people like this?
Doctor: Like what?
Idris: So much bigger on the inside!

    Many of you know, many of you don't, that I have become quite the Doctor Who fan. To all of you who haven's seen it, I recommend it. This is a couple lines from one of my very favorite scenes. It's like the very first reason I was ever drawn to the show, another quote, of the inspiring variety. There are so many things I love about Doctor Who but one of the things I love most is when there's a moment that says so much more than people realize and probably so much more than the writers intended to say. This scene is one of the most beautiful and this woman, Idris, is not just an ordinary woman. As I'm sure you've gathered. However, she finally, in all her years of traveling with the Doctor, is able to speak her mind. All she wants to do the entire episode is say "hello" to this Doctor that she's come to love very much. But she's overwhelmed with so many other things. Being stuck in human form for one.
    The real reason I loved this part so much was because a few episodes later the Doctor uses this as an insult when he tells a villain that they are "so much smaller on the inside". To me that speaks of character. What Idris was experiencing was what it feels like to be a person, to be human. And she hadn't expected there to be so much inside of such a small creature.
    We are small. People look up at the sky and marvel at how tiny we must be in God's vast universe. Galaxies and worlds with creations beyond number. How do we ever feel anything but small? Then I remember the first quote that drew me to the Doctor.

"Do you know, in 900 years of time and space I've never met anyone who wasn't important." 

    It was one of those nights when you feel so alone, so tired of everything in life, and suddenly it's like you're given this great, glorious gift from God to fix your very temporal need. But He loved you enough to help you anyway. And that's how this quote came to me, when I needed it desperately. That's also how the tv show came to me.
    Now back to the quote up top. Feel free to read it again and keep thinking about it. I'm about to tell you why I love it so much. This quote is speaking of the human heart and mind, emotion and thought, even our godly capacities. We could be so much! We have such potential!! And we are not as small as we may seem to others or ourselves. No. On the contrary, we are far bigger on the inside. We tell each other everyday of our ability to do whatever we want so long as we "put our mind to it". How then can we ever say that anyone is small? That anyone is ever unimportant?
    No. No, in God's vast universe that we all look at in wonder we are very, very important. We are all so much bigger on the inside. Remember, everyday, when you have to make the choice, remember what you can be. What you are. And please, please remember that you are so, so much bigger that all of that.

Friends: A History

    So it's been a while, right. I haven't had much time to say everything that's been going on. Basically I want to express my gratitude and love for a glorious change in friends. Not really a change as much as an addition. I've always kind of had a hard time with friends. I didn't feel like I had any when I was younger until probably 6th grade. Then I thought I just had to coolest friends and looking back I realize that we probably didn't have a healthy relationship but that we helped each other progress and become who we are today so in short I am very grateful for them. They're wonderful and I still love them.
    However, we moved in 7th grade and I was livid. It wasn't that I didn't want to make more friends, it was just that I wasn't sure how and I didn't really think anyone would want to be my friend because I didn't think I was that cool. I went through a very brief stage where I thought no one was cool enough but then I went right back to thinking that no one would want to be my friend because I wasn't good enough to be anyone's friend.
    Last year I met this weird, weird girl in my foods class. We met, were in the same kitchen and pretty soon we were begging to be put in charge of washing and drying dishes so we could talk to each other. We didn't talk about really personal things or anything like that. To be honest, we loved super heroes. We talked about that a lot. We were incredibly similar in surprisingly different ways. Then summer came and we didn't talk too much. We still liked each other, like I still thought she was cool and I guess she still thought I was cool because school started again and we met up and we talked. We didn't have any classes together but I'd see her before school and at lunch. Pretty soon, I'm still not totally sure how, we became really good friends. We like to think of each other as best friends, if you'll indulge us. She introduced me to several amazing people who I love now. They are also quite weird but it was a pretty quick transition. Depending on how you count it, she introduced me to four or five incredible people who I am now very good friends with. I love them to pieces :) But it has been so good for me to have real friends. The type of friends that I want to spend time with. I'm always trying to do something with them because they're the first group of people that I feel I can be completely myself. I'm so grateful to them. They've made it an amazing year and I hope that they'll help me have a fabulous summer.
    This is the sort of post that I don't necessarily want the whole world to see but I just feel like I need to express my gratitude in some way. So to all of my friends, thanks :D