ordinary teachers tell.
good teachers explain. great teachers show.
unforgettable teachers inspire.
8.31.2009
walk with me
walking to school?
the 2 large hills are a bit annoying.
but this morning was absolutely gorgeous!
the weather was perfect.
the kind where you step outside and can't decide
if it's hot or cold because you can't feel anything.
longboard. truck. bush. berries.
so many interesting things today.
abandoned couch. packed bus. comcast man.
campus in the early sunlight is stunning.
i love being awake early.
8.30.2009
numb
she really scared me today.
scared is an understatement.
terrified beyond my wits?
a little better.
you always hear of things like this
but when it happens to someone you
love so much it's a reality slap.
we're not really invincible.
people can be so good at hiding things.
8.29.2009
gravity
"something always brings me back to you
it never takes too long
no matter what I say or do i'll still
feel you here 'til the moment i'm gone
you hold me without touch
you keep me without chains
i never wanted anything so much than to
drown in your love and not feel your reign
set me free, leave me be
i don't want to fall another moment
into your gravity
here i am and i stand so tall,
just the way i'm supposed to be
but you're on to me and all over me
you loved me 'cause i'm fragile
when I thought that I was strong.
but you touch me for a little while and
all my fragile strength is gone.
.....
i live here on my knees as i try to make you see
that you're everything i think i need
here on the ground.
but you're neither friend nor foe
though i can't seem to let you go
the one thing that i still know
is that you're keeping me down
......
set me free, leave me be
i don't want to fall another moment
into your gravity
here i am and i stand so tall,
just the way i'm supposed to be
but you're on to me and all over me."
-- sara bareilles
8.27.2009
6 days??
engaged
after 6 days
of knowing each other?
WOW.
i don't care who you are,
there's no way you can
know someone in 6 days.
bless their hearts:
set for marriage
in 2 and a half months.
i could never do this.
8.25.2009
put a fork in him.
she set the deadline and stuck to it.
and tonight, august 24th, at the exact stroke of midnight,
we chimed 12 times then did ceremonial readings of poems,
contracts, and speeches, tore up memories, and tossed
out sentimental trinkets, including the jacket.
it was hard for her to do, but she did it.
she said to him, 'go suck an egg' and stuck to it.
and tonight, august 24th, at the exact stroke of midnight,
we forgot him and his selfishness, left his carelessness behind,
forbade our thoughts to drift to him, and it's done.
over and done like a pie overcooked in the oven.
it was hard for her to do, but she did it.
put a fork in him. it's over.
the charm of the first day of school.
used to be such an adventure?
an exciting new time for new classes, new friends,
reuniting with old friends, new goals.
school has always been exciting.
packed lunches and brand new outfits
laid out so carefully the night before.
this year the first day of school
lost its charm. i'm excited to be back...
kind of... but starting school just isn't
as exciting as it used to be.
possibly because this is my third year
of college (hard to believe...).
i like school. a lot. and i hope this
semester gains back its charm.
otherwise leaving my family
will be in vain.
glad to be back in aggieland!
8.23.2009
liz. or die.
this made me happy. but she said i was too sincere sometimes.
ha ha ha. can't help it, honey! :) when she reads this post
i want her to smile bigger than she's ever smiled in her life.
so i will now commence operation make liz feel good.
elizabeth emiline tarzan tight mortensen and i met
2 years ago in the towers. she was my visiting teacher.
but we didn't get to know each other until a year later when
we roomed together with whit and joyce and emily.
after our stokes nature adventure to the canyon we were buds.
liz is a unique girl, and i love her to the moon and back
lots and lots of times. my favorite thing is that liz always
speaks her mind and you always know where you stand
with her. if she doesn't like the boy you're dating she'll say it
and i love that! not many people like that in the world today,
and i believe we need more of them. she sincerely wants to help
you in any way she can, which is rare these days.
liz also has the funniest sense of humor. hard to explain,
but i just love it. and liz is one of the most supportive
friends i have ever met. she will attend concert after
concert and any event you are in. so so supportive.
best! riding in her crazy truck is always an experience
and a half, and she has the funniest phrases that
she says, you can't help starting to talk like her when you are
around her a lot. it's great. and liz doesn't try to make people
like her, which i respect about her because most the world is
trying to get everyone to like them. liz is just herself, and i need
to learn how to do that better. mmmhmm.
i can't wait to spend this year with the amazing liz!!
yay for liz!
hope that made you smile :) love you, llliiiiiiiizzzzzzz.
8.20.2009
be there, stay.
be there.
if you're gonna stay,
stay. tonight.
start living,
out with the old
i'm on the up
must be the good life."
--howie day
all the above
so, naturally, we heard it at least 6 times each morning last week.
as "i gotta feeling" will always remind me of LEAP, so will this
"all the above" song by maino. i just can't listen to it enough,
and each time i do i think of my bestie annie!
"tell me what do you see
when you looking at me
woooahhhh
who i'm mission to be
what I'm destined to be
woooahhhh
i done been through the pain and the sorrow
the struggle is nothing but love
i'm a soldier, a rider, a ghetto survivor
and all the above
all the above"
miss you and your ridiculous alarm, annie!
de ja vu
kristie had us all over for a bonfire celebrating steve's return.
so there we sat. around the fire. just like old times.
too much like old times. dan was there, home early.
david, rob, chris, to name a few others.
call me crazy but i believe we had a similar get together
just before steve left. a last shebang before summer ended
and we all took off to go our separate ways.
so there we sat again. two whole years later.
this whole boys coming home from their missions thing
is weird, but i enjoy it. i didn't think i would. but i do.
makes me really think about the past two years of my life.
have i really done all that i want to before they all come home?
what a strange time of life. eehhhh.
8.19.2009
goodbye
hates the sound that goodbye's make."
i've decided i'm really bad at goodbye's.
and i mean really bad.
back to the 435
this summer flewwww by.
packing up all my stuff reminds me
how much i hate moving.
some day i'm convinced they'll
invent a teleporter, and sure as heck
will be the first to buy one!
logan, here i come....
8.18.2009
i gotta feelin
i gotta feelin that tonight's gonna be a good night
that tonight's gonna be a good night,
that tonight's gonna be a good, good night.
tonight's the night, let's live it up!
sickkk
but for once, i'm not sad i'm sick. it was totally worth it. wa ha ha...
8.17.2009
alex doxey
is home!!
well, he's been home for a while.
but not to utah. he moved to virginia.
or rather, his family did. while he was gone.
gone to ukraine to preach the good word.
he came to see me last night.
made my whole week.
he's grown up so much, and i love it.
i think i was forgetting how great of friends we were
before he left... 2 years can do that to ya...
but i wish last night would've lasted for a lot longer than it did.
then he left me for powell today, with just a promise that he'd
come to usu and take me on a date. i'm holding him to it.
and i hope with everything in me he follows through.
alex doxey is one of the most amazing young men i have ever met.
in my entire life. and i'm not just saying that.
i've always been extremely impressed with him.
the way he lives his life, the gospel, treats himself and others,
and knows what's important. he used to tell me everything.
i miss those days. but maybe we can have them back now?
sometime i feel like chances have passed
but maybe, just maybe, this time i can do something right.
leap it to me
care is contagious.
haragei.
the 10 foot rule.
the 15 system.
be interested, not interesting.
ask.
walk talk.
my top 20.
results produce actions.
no turkey talk.
i'm a 10.
establish BLT.
platinum rule.
belief window.
clarity creates velocity.
what's important now.
manage events.
no catfish.
i need your help.
no? no.
copy genius.
100 years.
brilliant questioning.
no one-sock deals.
standing ovation.
get it? got it.
truth journal.
i am a leaper
and i am proud
i'll say it once
i'll say it loud,
i am a leaper
and i am proud!
the week that changed my life... again.
it did last year, and this year was no exception.
no matter how hard i try to describe it to anyone,
there's just no way to reconvey the feelings, emotions,
power, experiences that go on at LEAP.
i can honestly say there is NOTHING like it in the whole world.
the support system there is impeccable, and i gain great
strength from the people i meet. the week always goes so fast,
time slips away before i can hold onto it and really cherish it.
then, we travel back to our homes spread out across the country,
or the world in leeto's case, back to our chicken environments,
to a place where people can only dream of what LEAP is like.
but that's the beauty of a secret. maybe screaming "i'm a ten"
at the top of your lungs every morning sounds cheesy.
maybe chanting the "i'm a leaper" song sounds dumb.
but i tell you what. there is immense power in numbers.
and hearing 150 people stand up and say that is the most powerful
thing in the world to me. why? because they believe it.
how? because we're there for each other.
call me crazy for making dozens of new best friends this week.
call me crazy for calling them best after one week.
but i'll tell ya what. common goals and values unite people
so strongly, nothing in the whole world can break it.
so even though we're now everywhere from cali to canada,
new york to idaho, we belong to something. something unique.
and that something gives us hope for a successful future.
i miss my LEAP family SO much already. every single one of them.
but the great thing now is, they keep my accountable. sane.
they keep me in line with my goals we set together. they keep me alive.
i love LEAP with all my heart, and can't wait for next year.
i just wish i could explain it to you. but i can't.
slacking
i don't even know where to begin.
what a fun-filled, exhausting week!!
more details to come.
my life has been changed,
as expected. ;)
8.10.2009
8.09.2009
LEAP culture
with LEAP is the culture we create here.
if only the world lived by LEAP culture standards!
in the midst of training and bonding, i find myself
already completely re=dedicated to new goals,
a new change, a new me. really quite unique
the type of motivational turn-around a program
like this can give you, when you aren't expecting it,
or even if you are. the students arrive tomorrow.
can't wait for the rest of this week's adventure!
"under promise, over deliver"
8.06.2009
grow separate, not apart.
annie and i have
grown separately
for a year now.
but, in 15 hours
we will be reunited,
and this makes me so thrilled
words can't express.
i love the girl to death
and love the friendship we have
but so many times this past
year i needed her with me,
not just on the phone or the
internet, but with me.
side by side. screaming, jumping,
laughing, smiling, crying, feeling.
i can already feel like 10 days
won't be enough... just make me
miss her more than i already do.
but i can't wait to make new memories
and be with one of my best friends
on the front row in the whole world.
amazing what distance and time
can do to friends that continue to grow.
and i'm continually amazed at the power
of people (2 or more) bonded together
by common goals, standards, and direction.
this week annie and i will be surrounded with
such people, and we will grow together,
only to be separated for another year
to grow separately again. SO excited
to see what she's learned, and tell her what i've learned.
it's going to be an excellent week
where cable cars climb halfway to the stars
couldn't be more excited!!
i've been looking forward to
august 7th
since february,
and even possibly
last august 31st.
lame?
i think not.
acceptable?
without question.
why?
because LEAP
changes lives.
i can't wait for it
to change mine again.
and i can't wait
to see it change others'.
california, here i come.
8.03.2009
oh, michael.
love this boy
is when he writes things
like this that remind
me of his easy going and plain
silly personality
at times:
"not too much new here. yesterday we had a crazy last second baptism at the church. the haverhill elders were teaching a spanish girl and didn’t let anyone in the ward know till right before so it was a mess! still valid as a saving ordinance though, which is what counts...
also had latino days, some people got stabbed, a few riots, the usual. but we didn’t try to contact there because it was too loud!"
6.5 months :)
hot air balloon
to our own fairy tale
and bought a parachute
at a church rummage sale
and with a mean sewing machine
and miles of thread
we sewed the day above l.a.
in navy and red
we wound a race track
through your mom's kitchen chairs
and fought the shadows back
down your dark basement stairs
i lit a match, then let it catch
to light up the room
and then you yelled as we beheld
an old maroon hot air balloon"
through your mom's kitchen chairs
and fought the shadows back
down your dark basement stairs
i lit a match, then let it catch
to light up the room
and then you yelled as we beheld
an old maroon hot air balloon"
--owl city
stuart
honestly, when i found this out today, i got really sad.
and when he walked out the door and said,
"have a nice life, sara..." i wanted to cry.
hah. it sounds so silly. but it's true.
probably won't see him ever again.
dang. it's been a good summer.
8.02.2009
grand
grandparents. i am so blessed to live within
10 minutes of both sets. . . who are all 4 still alive!
some nights, like tonight, we have the privilege
of visiting both. i love night like tonight when
we create priceless memories with them.
after all the cousins left, grandpa and grammy
stood behind coleman and i as we played
the organ and we sang. all 8 of us sang.
they can't sing very well now, their voices are
shaky and old, out of tune and sometimes really off,
but it was one of the most beautiful sounds i've heard
in a long time. they are getting fragile.
then at the ences, my cute grandma had her sister here
from arizona. we see aunt pat once a year.
grandma's been so sick all week and looked terrible tonight
but amidst all her ailments and ability to barely open her eyes
she smiled and greeted us with warm hugs and offers for ice cream.
that woman never thinks about herself. not even in the worst
of her pain. grandpa ence is one of my very, very favorite
people in the whole wide world. they probably won't be around
much longer, but i honestly cherish the times i have with him.
i sat down and talked to him for a good half hour tonight.
he's losing his mind a bit, and a little disoriented, but
he kept repeating how gorgeous i was, how beautiful, and
kept kissing my hand, which he wouldn't let go of :)
he told me all about his grandpa gottlieb that came from switzerland
and is the reason we are members of the church and also why we're
in america now. he told me about his exercises and how getting
old is something i should never plan to do. he told me about how much
he worried about grandma. i could see in his eyes
he wishes he could do more. he told me about playing softball as
a young man, how he misses those days.
what a sweet old man i am so lucky to have in my life!!
nights like tonight i am reminded how lucky i am
to have such amazing grandparents in my life
that started such a wonderful family and brought my parents
together. if it weren't for them and their match-making skills
i wouldn't even be here. i treasure tonight
and other nights we have like it.
sadly i feel they are getting more and more rare
and will one day only be sweet memories.
they are surely grand people.
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