Happily Ever After.

 Every girl has that dream of that perfect guy who holds her hand, makes her laugh when she's sad, holds her tight, says I love you and is all around the perfect guy. But as far as I am concerned, that guy doesn't exist on this Earth. I know he is out there somewhere...I just don't know where. In church they always say that they man you're going to mary, you have already seen him. Whether you walked past him at Disneyland, smiled to him at the par, sat next to him in school...you've seen him! It just amazes me that I could have already seen my future husband and it kills me no being able to know who he is.

Is my husband tall or short? Blonde or brunette? Good at math (i hope) or bad? Extremely cute or average? I want to know so bad! I'm at that point in my life where I can't wait to be 16. To be able to drive, go on dates, to dances, maybe have a boyfriend excites me! I just can't wait. I still have 11 months 'till I can do any of these things!

A lot of my friends have so many guy friends that they hang out with and talk to with no problem. I have a lot of guy friends...I just never hang out with them! I'm afraid that my parents won't let me. Like when I am home alone, bored, on a saturday afternoon and my friend asks me if I can hang out. I really would like to, but I don't know if I can! I think that my parents would be okay with it...but you never know.

Elder DIETER F. UCHTDORF gave a talk to the Young Women last year and it is by far my favorite one. He says:

"My dear young sisters all around the world, I am grateful and honored to be with you today. President Thomas S. Monson and all the leaders of the Church love you; we pray for you, and we rejoice in your faithfulness.

Over the years I have been exposed to many beautiful languages—each of them is fascinating and remarkable; each has its particular charm. But as different as these languages can be, they often have things in common. For example, in most languages there exists a phrase as magical and full of promise as perhaps any in the world. That phrase is “Once upon a time.”

Aren’t those wonderful words to begin a story? “Once upon a time” promises something: a story of adventure and romance, a story of princesses and princes. It may include tales of courage, hope, and everlasting love. In many of these stories, nice overcomes mean and good overcomes evil. But perhaps most of all, I love it when we turn to the last page and our eyes reach the final lines and we see the enchanting words “And they lived happily ever after.”

Isn’t that what we all desire: to be the heroes and heroines of our own stories; to triumph over adversity; to experience life in all its beauty; and, in the end, to live happily ever after?

Today I want to draw your attention to something very significant, very extraordinary. On the first page of your Young Women Personal Progressbook, you will find these words: “You are a beloved daughter of Heavenly Father, prepared to come to the earth at this particular time for a sacred and glorious purpose.” ¹

Sisters, those words are true! They are not made up in a fairy tale! Isn’t it remarkable to know that our eternal Heavenly Father knows you, hears you, watches over you, and loves you with an infinite love? In fact, His love for you is so great that He has granted you this earthly life as a precious gift of “once upon a time,” complete with your own true story of adventure, trial, and opportunities for greatness, nobility, courage, and love. And, most glorious of all, He offers you a gift beyond price and comprehension. Heavenly Father offers to you the greatest gift of all—eternal life—and the opportunity and infinite blessing of your own “happily ever after.”

I really hope that I will find my knight in shining armor who loves me for me, is strong in the church and uses his priesthood powers. I know that I may go through many boy troubles, broken hearts and drama but it will be all worth it to get my Happily Ever After.

Someday my prince will come...and our picture will be a part of this :)

When you think you know someone.

 Once upon a time there was a little girl who had a best friend. These girls did everything together; they shopped, watched movies, played hide and go seek, had play dates, had tea parties, and had sleep overs. Everyone knew that they were so close and could never be separated. No one ever thought that anything could split them apart...no boy with cooties or even a brand new pair of shoes. In fact, they were such good friends that they forgot about their other friends and began losing them too. None of their old friends were very happy about this and never invited them to play dates again. But one day, the one little girl stopped talking to the other one. Of course the little girl felt left out and said, left wondering what she could've done wrong. She let it sit for a while to see if her "best friend" was just in a bad mood. This wasn't the case though. 

 This little girl had no clue what to do, she tried to hide the pain from all around her. What was she suppose to do at school now? Her other friends did not talk to her that much any more. All this little girl wanted to do was roll up in a ball and cry. She decided not to do that though, instead she took the risk and talked to her other friends. She realized how much she missed playing tag and having tea parties with them. They all became great friends again, and the little girl forgot about her old best friend. Every now and again, an old memory of her comes back into her mind and the pain comes back. But just for a little bit, but every time they see each other on the playground; the little girl can't help but wonder what wrong. What did she do? Did she say something mean?  

  It's been about a month now since she had a play date with her best friend. But this little girl is now stronger than ever. It seems that this was a lesson learned; you can't just be with one person and ignore the rest of the world around you. She learned to be open and can have more than one best friend. Now she has many best friends, and her old best friend only has one; and her new best friend is not the other little girl. They are both happy now, and occasionally talk to one another. The little girl still doesn't know what happened between them, and she hopes that someday she might be able to understand. After all, it's never fun losing someone over nothing or something dumb.

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out." I hope that everyone   will just be a friend to everyone they meet and never be mean. I know this little girl from the story above and know how much pain she went through. It is never fun to be suddenly ignored by someone you called "your best friend". So please just be a friend to every one. It will make life a whole lot easier.

 If being mean ad ignoring others is your way to build yourself up; just remember that you are breaking someone down in the process. Don't make others feel bad to make yourself feel better.

"Be the friend that you would like to have." 

"Riding in, stealing Cinderella"

I am going to take a second here and just say how much I love country music! Make fun of me, and laugh, but I do not care!!! I don't like the really old country, like "hillbilly". Country as in; Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Rascall Flatts, and Chuck Wicks.

Right now, my favorite country song is Stealing Cinderella by Chuck Wicks. It is such a cute and beautiful song. I love every word of it.

It is crazy to look back and remember times like running through the sprinklers, and riding my first bike. I can't wait until the day that I get married, but I am going to miss these times. I know my dad will be thinking the same thing, that fellow would be "riding in, stealing Cinderella."

Happy Birthday C.J.! (YEARBOOK Deadline 4: August 14)

This is C.J.

This is my little brother C.J. (a.k.a. Joseph Cannon Holbrook III).  C.J. stands for Cannon Junior.
 Today is C.J.'s 10th birthday! He got an electric guitar from mom and dad...he's been playing on it ALL day! He will be great at it as soon as he learns how to play! (:

Here is a little bit about C.J.:

He loves to swim, especially breast stroke!

C.J. loves playing football with his little brother Jackson.

When we were younger, we loved fuzzy pajama's!

From left to right : C.J., Jackson, Me, and Morgan having fun with the birthday boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CJ! We love you so much (especially me!!!) and our glad to have you in our family. You bring fun, hilarious good memories into everyone's life. I don't know what I'd do with out you! Thanks for being a great little brother. Love you!

I Know That My Redeemer Lives! (Yearbooke Deadline #3)

This past week I was given the chance to go to Girl's Camp up at Camp Mia Shalom. While I was up there, I could feel the spirit and feel my testimony growing. One thing that really struck me, was when people talked about Christ. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, goosebumps all over my body! I knew for a fact  that my Savior lives and loves me. 

At Girl's Camp a few years ago, my YCL's gave me a letter from Christ. It goes like this:

"Dear Friend,

          I just had to send you a note to tell you how much I love you and care about you. I saw you yesterday as you were walking with your friends. I waited all day hoping you would want to talk with me, also. It hurt me that you didn't talk to me, but I still love you because I am your friend. I saw you fall asleep last night, and I longed to touch your brow. So I spilled moonlight on your pillow and your face. Again I waited, wanting to rush down so that we could talk. I have so many gifts for you, but you awakened late the next day and rushed off to school. My tears were in the rain.

           Today I noticed you looked sad, and upset. It makes my heart ache because I understand. My friends let me down and hurt me so many times too. But, I love you. Oh, if only you would listen to me. I really love you. I try to tell you in the blue sky and in the green grass. I whisper in the leaves on the trees, and breathe it in the color of the flowers. I shout it to you in the mountain streams and give the birds love songs to sing, clothe you in warm sunshine and perfume the air with natures scents. My love for you is deeper than the oceans and bigger than the biggest  want or need in your heart.

           If you only knew how much I want to help you. I want you to meet my Father. He wants to help you, too. My Father is that way, you know. Just call me, ask me, talk with me. Please, please don't forget me. I have so much to share with you.But, I won't hassle you any further. You are free to call me. It's up to you. I'll wait because I love you.

Your brother,

            Jesus "

This letter means so much to me. I turn to it in my times of trial. I know that my Heavenly Father and His Son are here for me always, and love me. I just have to remember to talk to them and listen. They are my friends, my family. Jesus Christ did gave us the greatest gift anyone could give. He died for all our sins so we may live with Him again. He loves us and misses us. It brings tears to His eyes when we go astray and forget to talk to Him. I love him with all my heart, and I know that He lives!

Deadline 2: June 19

Summer has been AMAZING these first few weeks! I spent 2 weeks in a row with my long time best friend and cousin, Brittany Bott.

Brittany is 14 and just plain awesome. I love her so much! She is hilarious, smart, pretty, and always fun to be around. Brittany and I had the chance to go to EFY this summer. While we were there in the dorms together, we not only grew closer to our Heavenly Father, but closer to each other.

Britt and I have always been very close but being together 2 weeks straight and rooming together brought us even closer. I don't know what I would have done if i wasn't going to EFY with her. We know EVERYTHING about each other and aren't embarrassed to do anything in front of each other. That's what best friends are, right?

First day of EFY in front of our room. 

Believe.Hope.Endure.

This was the theme this year, based off of the 13th Article of Faith. This was such a great theme, especially for Brittany. She is moving this summer so these 3 simple words really meant a lot to her. While at EFY I could tell that Britt was changing in a way...her testimony was growing. She was happier and always made everyone laugh. I don't think there was one person in our Company that did not like her. What's not to like?!

We decided that we were going to go to EFY every year together and I can not wait until next summer. Hopfully we see some of our really good friends from STE (Smite The Earth) next year!

From left to right: Heidi Curtis, Taylor Holbrook, Brittany Bott, Samantha Norberg, Kennidy Hassel

These girls in the picture above are all so funny and sweet. We all became best friends 2 weeks ago at EFY. Time went by so fast! We were all sad to have to say goodbye, especially since all of them but Brittany and I lived in Arizona. I miss these girls so much and couldn't ask for any better friends. Thanks for being your great, crazy selves. I love you!

Best Company Ever! SMITE THE EARTH

Brittany Michelle Bott, this post is for you. I love you so much, don't ever change. Get ready for EFY next year!

From left to right: Taylor Holbrook and Brittany Michelle Bott

Deadline One--May 29 "About Me"

Mayson Astle, our Yearbook Editor for next year, has given the yearbook staff deadlines and such for our blogs during the summer. Deadline number one is this Sunday, but since I won't be home I decided to do it right now.

This first deadline is suppose to be about me so that the yearbook staff can get to know me better. Some things you may not know about me are:

1. I lived in France and was baptized there!

2. My favorite color is blue.

3. I am the oldest of 4 children.

4. My favorite subject in school is English.

5. I HATE math.

6. I love to write stories, essays (eh, depends on what it is), write in my journal, and blog!

7. I enjoy taking pictures of other people, animals, and nature.

8. Photo shoots are one of my favorite things to do with friends(:

9. I moved to Utah at the beginning of the school year from California.

10. I am a swimmer! I was on the Timpview team and I am doing UVRay Club team now.

This is an old picture of me when I had long hair!

This is the most recent picture of my family and I. Left to right: Me, Kristen(Mom), CJ, Morgan, Cannon(Dad), and Jackson.

Photo shoot, I took this picture! Left to right: Carson Rahlf and Taylor  Holbrook (Me)

 

Paige Brimhall shows off her muscles at the State Swim Meet.

I hope that this helped you get to know me better and see my "picture taking skills". This blog has given me a great opportunity to express myself, show my writing, and show my pictures! It is a great experience and I am glad that this is our Summer Yearbook Assignment! Until next time(: