Only the BEST sister ever!

For Christmas, Hillary wrote me this little poem. .

 I love my sister so much and I don't know what I would do without her! 

She really is my best friend.

I'm so blessed to have a sister so close in age to me.

We have so much fun together, I love it! 

I love my sister! :)

full of thought today

With all of this opposition to our church with Proposition 8, I found this quote. Its what I think about what's been happening lately in the world, mainly concerning political issues. I definitely gave me some comfort! 

Written 30 Years ago: 

Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.'

This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.... Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted... This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions. 

Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened....Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do.

We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."

Elder Neal A. Maxwell, "Meeting the Challenges of Today,"

BYU Devotional October 10, 1978

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done” (History of the Church, 4:540).

I'm back!

So.. yeah... its been awhile. but I'm back to blogging. Mainly because I had this institute class about how important it is to keep a journal... oops...I'm pretty bad at that. But then it was mentioned that having a blog is another way of keeping a journal. So I'm on the computer for school and facebook pleasures anyway, so why not blog right? And I can keep in touch with all of you beautiful people. 

My Family is the Bomb dot com.

Family is so awesome, they're the people that will love you always, even if you're a complete jerk. I love my family, Mom, Dad, Hill, Austin and Brandon. We love each other. Nuff said. 

Some people that I know aren't very close to their extended family. For instance, when I say that I have two family reunions during the summer, they groan for me and say, "ah I'm sorry, that sucks...." But secretly... I love them! And I'm extremely lucky because I have two extended families that we're very close to. Pretty Much it Rocks. 

The Dodd Familia: 

The Martin Familia: 

Summer Lovin', happened so fast!

I had an absolutely amazing summer this year. It was the best summer.. ever. I was basically always on the go, and always doing something. But, I loved it! Now I have so many great memories that I'll always remember, what with things changing so much and friends leaving and going all over the place.  I spent a lot of time on little vacations with my family, two family reunions, and lots and lots of time with my friends. I had a job at USU catering, which was.. interesting.... But I did earn some good money. I love summer, laying out by the pool, bike rides with kylie and bergen, flip flops, otter pops, reading a book on my front porch, and staying up till all hours of the night. LOVE IT! 

But that's another thing that I love. I love that here in Utah, we get to have every season. I would get so sick of summer if it lasted all year. There comes a time when its just supposed to be fall! I love the seasons. The way that they all change so much makes you appreciate each one, because you only have a certain amount of time to enjoy it. 

Our trip to disneyland, just the four of us. no adults. And if you were wondering, most of the young men that work there are about our age. New Toy Story ride, 90 minute wait? Psh... try right to the front of the line, no wait at all. VIP fireworks seats? Go on Thunder Mountain Railroad as many times as you want? no line? Too many fast passes to use that we came home with extra? muhahahah...;)

One of the many boating outings. No matter how many times I try to water ski or wake board, I am most definitely pro at tubing. 

Date to Temple Square to see the Joseph Smith movie with Jason. (of Course:) I absolutely love temple square, so I was glad to be able to share it with my friends. 

Family Vacation to San Francisco. Wow, what a cool place. It was SO beautiful there! My family had a lot of fun together, even though I was super ornery at times. What can I say, I had horrible cramps. haha. We went to a Giants game, that was Awesome. I think I found my long lost love for major league baseball. 

The Slip and Slide became quite the phenomenon around our neighborhood. whenever we whipped it out, people would drive past really slow, with their mouths watering, amazed at how much fun we were having. 

John Mayer concert with the girls. I love John Mayer's music so I was so excited to go. We stopped at California Pizza Kitchen and ate before going, but it ended up making us late because there was tons of traffic. And, we were in bergen's volvo which had no air-conditioning. it was not a good combination. "Everybody just GO HOME!" Once we got there the concert was tons of fun though! and we all just laugh about it now:)

Me and Jason went to raging waters, we had a blast together.. I swear everybody  and their dog had a tattoo. So we contemplated if we were ever to get a tattoo, which one we would get. I told him he should get a ginormous dragon right on his chest, and he told me I should get a dolphin the back of my shoulder. So right before he left he gave me a dolphin tattoo. Fake of course. 

This was the night of 11 people in my volvo, driving all across Logan.  So I know that its only the coolest car ever, and whenever you see it you wish that you were me, so sorry to make you all the more jealous about how cool it is. Yes, eleven people is the record. good luck hillary!  and yes, mom we did. Love you!:)