Changed

How long has it been? 1 year and 8 months? Life. Changed drastically by one little impact. A life that would not be the same. A life that I love.

trying.

Sometimes life gets hard.

Like really hard.

Nothing goes right.

It seems like nobody wants to be your friend.

No matter what you do you're not pretty enough.

Not skinny enough.

Not good enough.

Sometimes the only thing left to do is break down.

And so that's what you do.

Time comes where you just cry and cry and no matter how hard you try you just can't stop.

Then after you let all that out of your system, you feel...not better, per say, but relieved.

You're able to breathe again.

Things don't seem as difficult.

You can finally pick yourself up off your sorry butt and move on with your life.

The time comes where you get down on your knees and you finally just pour everything out.

Everything that's been on your mind.

Every last detail.

And the tears flow again.

You can't help it, it just feels so nice to get it out.

When you get up you feel so much peace and love, it's almost magical.

You realize that things still suck.

That can't change over night.

But one thing can.

You can start trying.

Try harder than you've ever tried before.

Trying is all that's left, so that's what you'll do.

You'll cry and you'll try and somehow you'll pull through.

Just try.

Try.

.try.

.thanks.

I have so much in my life to be grateful for, it's crazy.

church.friends.family.food.christ.atonment.
strawberries.blueberries.hotchocolate.
warmbed.creativity.clocks.showers.sweaters.
thecolorpurple.pools.cars.phones.dance.singing.
trials.lessons.poetry.flowers.beauty.thesky.flannel.snow.
rain.sun.cold.heat.utah.idaho.
memories.pillows.chapstick.football.socks.raspberries.
efy.girlscamp.fans.sunglasses.
jeans.adversity.school.roadtrips.pumpkins.sleep.dreams.
personalprogress.instagram.
pinterest.joy.acceptance.fall.summer.spring.winter.
mints.fires.books.music.stripes.balloons.snowcones.
sleepovers.cookies.shoes.roses.daisies.pictures.videos.pajamas.movies.
stickynotes.ribbon.crayons.


My life is full of wonderful blessings.  But some of the things I am most thankful for are the hard times I have been through and the people who have brought hard times into my life.  I may not have known it then, but every one gave me strength, acceptance and taught me something I did not know about myself.  I am grateful for every single aspect of my life.  I wouldn't change a thing.

Happiness.

Happiness.

It's a peculiar thing, isn't it?
It's contagious.

Invigorating.

Priceless. :)

But what really IS happiness anyways?

I looked it up in the dictionary and it stated that happiness is a state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intent joy.

Well, I guess that explains the basics behind happiness.

However, when I think of happiness, that's not exactly how I would define it.

 Happiness is not always a state of well-being.

In fact, happiness can come when you are in the hardest situation of your life.

When everything seems to be going against you.

Your self-confidence can be below 0.

School?  It could be going better.

The way things are going with your social life could be greatly improved.

And yet, somehow, happiness can still show in your life.

I would define happiness as a choice that you make.

You have the power to control whether you are happy or not.

I've learned this the hard way the past couple of weeks.

Lets just say...they weren't the easiest or most pleasant times of my life.

And then...I stopped.

Stopped letting the world beat down on me.

Stopped believing I wasn't good enough.

Stopped holding onto hard feelings.

Stopped letting how other people view me affect how I view myself.

See, all the hard things were still going on in my life.

School was still stressing me out.

Friends were still driving me crazy.

And I obviously could have used more sleep.

But I could still be happy.

By allowing myself to ignore all the hard things in my life, it became easier to focus on the good things.

To focus on all of my many blessings, which I have more than my fair share of.

So, do you see what I'm saying?
Happiness, it's not some prize to be won by having your life going perfectly.

It's the joy that is brought by overlooking all that isn't going perfectly.

You can be happy at any point in your life as long as you have the desire to be happy.

"Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you but what happens inside of you!"
-President Harold B. Lee

A week of friends, fun and TESTS.

Wow! This past week??!  It's been so crazy!!!  But busy means a lot of memories in the making, right?
OF COURSE!!!

Last Saturday was the wondrous event of Orem Highs Sadie Hawkins dance!!  Lets just say, best day ever!!  My date, Danny Hart, and I kicked butt at every game our group played.  Skittles bowling? Of course we powned.  Swedish Twister?  Our group didn't stand a chance against us. ;)


Our obvious victory pose after bowling. Duh.
I mean, what else would you be expecting us to do?
Nothing.
That's the only pose.

Notice that Danny and I are the only ones still standing up? Of course we are.
We're just the best there ever was.
Obviously.

One of my favorite things ever though?? Reconnecting with old friends after what's been forever!

Well...a decade.  Same thing, right?

Right.

This?  This is Annelise Trent.  My BEST FRIEND EVER when I was growing up!

We were inseparable.

No, like, literally.

You could not tear us apart from each other.

No matter what.

And now? After realizing the world can't live without us?

We just Skype.

All the time.

Don't even worry about it.

We also ignore the stupid 400 miles separating us.

Honestly, though.

So stupid.

She's also my dad...but that's another story.

Adding that spazzy relationship onto all the craziness with my Orem friends?

Totally cool.

Like, totally.

I mean, we still look and act normal.

Can't you tell that?

Alex and I are normal.

Kinda.

Sort of.

No, actually.

We're not really.

But that's okay.

Cause we're still best friends.

So it's all tight.

And to top all of that off last week consisted of tests, tests and more tests!

Stressful?

Very much so.

But it's worth it.

At least, that's what my grades say.

I am a Mormon...I know it, I live it and I LOVE it.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Am I ashamed?

Not in the slightest.

I believe with all of my heart that this church is true!  I love the gospel and my Savior.  I know that He lived, I know that He died and atoned for my sins.  I know that He LOVES me!!  Isn't that all you need to know out of life?