Merry Christmas!!

I wasn't able to post yesterday, but I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas! We have had a lot of family over so it's been a little crazy at home, but at the same time it's been a lot of fun. And although Christmas was yesterday, I everyone can remember to always give to Christ by serving others. Smile and laugh more often. Show kindness and love. Express gratitude. Give encouragement. Forgive those who have caused pain or grief. Help those in need. And most of all, strive to be like Christ by remembering his love, life, and example.

For any CF patients out there, I advise you all to be aware of germs. I'm sure you hear of them all the time, but I  started getting sick right before Christmas and realized I need to be more careful. I started having a hard time breathing and my lungs hurt as they had a lot of gunk in them and I was becoming really tired all day, so I started doing more longer treatments in the day along with getting more sleep in along with these few tips:

1. Be sure to always keep your hands clean. Wash your hands with soap and water (you can keep lotion with you if you get dry hands like I do) and carry hand sanitizer wherever you go.

2. Keep up with vitamins, treatments, and cardio exercise. It sounds simple, but it's so important!

3. Try not to touch your face. Remember that germs spread easily.

4. And I am also realizing that there are sick people everywhere! Viruses, flu, strep throat, you get the picture, so try to stay as healthy as possible!

Once again, Merry Christmas to all! :)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Rachel Marie was going to blog, but then forgot. So then she decided to update once more since it's Christmas time :)

So, things have been pretty fantastic. It's been a bit crazy trying to get everything together for Christmas, bt it's all been so great! For the past few days, my mama and I have been baking so much for presents! I feel as if I have been in my kitchen all day today. We have been baking cookies, including sugar, oatmeal, chocolate chip, etc, fudge, chex mixes, brownies, and much more.


About half of what we have made. Yum!

 Now it's time to travel back in time:

We had a party in Student Gov to get ready for Christmas!



Making paper snowflakes



decorating cookies







and you can't go wrong with writing letters to Santa :)





And so the next day we delivered the cookies to the Wentworth place and sang carols

And the next day was our Christmas dance, which was loads of fun! And for our after activity, we went ice skating. And guess what? I really can't believe it was my first time ice skating. I'm so glad my date was very patient with me that night because I took a while learning how to skate haha

The next week we had our seminary assembly, so the rest of the Seminary council and I taught lessons about the nativity. I had to speak about the wise men in an 8 minute lesson, and it was a little frightening at first trying to teach by myself, but luckily the other two students came later on to help teach. My cousin Kara came from BYU, so my mom, sister, her and I headed over to temple square to see David Archuleta perform with the Mormon Tabernacle choir. It was such an incredible performacnce!

I really felt the true spirit of Christmas that day.

To come to a conclusion for now, I absolutely love Christmas time. Even though there is so much that takes place, it's important to remember the true meaning of Christmas: the spirit of Christ and all that he has done for us. I love spending time with friends and family at this time of year, and taking the time to remember our savior and give back to him because he has given us so much. I know he has given me great health this year, but has given me the ability to push through hard times and changes in my life. I feel as if my testimony has grown this year as I have read the Book of Mormon for the first time (finished it last night), and as I have realized and worked towards goals I have for my future in many aspects. I am just so grateful for this wonderful year and love my Savior so much :)

Thanksgiving!!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, even though it was a few days ago haha. I absolutely love the holiday. I loved spending time with my family. I loved eating food, watching movies football, and just sleeping. I am so grateful for such a wonderful family and friends. I also just started thinking about how grateful I am for what I have learned by having CF in my life. I know that most people my age feel they fit their age, but for all I have gone through I really feel like I am around 25 or 30, because I have felt I have been through a lot. I just finished this antibiotic minutes ago, and was thinking how grateful I am that I'm done with it! It was only for a few days, but I was terrified once my pharmacy sent me a two inch long needle and iv fluid. Luckily the doc said I didn't have to inject it into me and just had to drink it! Whew! That is why I made a smoothie every morning and night to put the med into. I know I am rambling, but I am grateful it's done because the medicine would make me so so tired!

Anyway, school starts again tomorrow after the long break. I am glad I am able to see my friends again and start some new classes. Creative writing starts tomorrow, and I have literally been waiting about 5 years for this. I am also ready to join choir and start on our Christmas tour soon.

Yes! I am a Harry Potter Nerd!

Last night I was able to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. I had been waiting so long for this! The book was incredible, and I was hoping the movie would stick with it, and it did! I was a very emotional person during the movie and could not stop tearing up and crying! haha. It really was a great film and I cannot wait for part 2!

This was a few years back when the book came out. What a good memory :)

Dobby, Tonks, and Ginny

Bad Dobby!

my friend really looks like Emma Watson!!

Hagrid was huge!!!

Halloween

Happy Halloween!! I love this time of year!! I love seeing the gorgeous fall colors and carving pumpkins. I love hot soups and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I love lounging in sweats,watching tv and dancing around my room when I have nothing else to do since it's cold outside. Don't you love fall??

My Halloween was a little different this year. That's right, no trick or treating for me this year :( But that's alright because I'm really not the biggest fan of candy. I did end up going with a few friends who graduated last year to a single adult ward Halloween dance. We then headed over to a friend's house and ate homemade donuts. Yum yum

Today, I also attended a mission farewell for a friend of mine who is leaving soon for Rome (cool, huh?!). I am so glad for missionary work so that the gospel can be spread throughout the world and so that families can be together forever. The missionary who is leaving soon said something in his talk that inspired me. He mentioned a song Valient Faith by Jenny Phillips. In the song it mentions being a warrior of light as we strive to be a good example by living with honor and faith.This phrase Warrior of Light really stood out to me. To me, it means that we need to be a good example and knows that we can do great things and know where we stand, and have a firm foundation. It also means to me that we face trials in our lives in which sometimes may make us feel like we have to be warriors, and it can be difficult to fight our battles. By hearing this song after he suggested it, I learned that being a warrior of light means that we must not only avoid sin and fight our battles by striving to get by, but to fight Valiantly, Fearlessly, Fighting for the Mighty King. By hearing this phrase a warrior of light, I knew that I could find the strength in me to be a good example to others and not let my light dim as I face challenges in my life, especially pertaining to having CF.

Here are the lyrics:


To many people are just sliding by

Plugged into the world and missing the meaning of life

But I was born to be a warrior of light

With faith to move mountains and the power of God filling my life


I wanna life my life with honor and faith

I wanna return to His arms unashamed

It’s not enough for me to live it halfway

I’ll follow Him fearlessly all of my days

I will live with valiant faith


I've lived for ages

I've prepared for this life

I won’t be confused or cross to the enemy’s side

I am guarded with power and truth

Siding with God, He’s pouring out blessings in all that I do



Valiantly, fearlessly, fighting for the Mighty King

Valiantly, fearlessly, fighting for the Mighty King - Jenny Phillips

Sunday Pun

And I almost forgot this as well. At our cross country region meet, my besties Brooklyn and Kate decided to stop by to support us. Kate was surprised at how close the temple was to us, and pointed out how, from the view we saw, the temple was right in-between the football goal posts. Brooklyn cried out "The temple is our goal!" It was definitely the best pun I had ever heard hahaha. But it is true. We have to have the temple as our goal and keep our covenants and stay worthy to go there.

Cool picture, huh? ;)

Run Your Own Race

     I cannot believe how fast this cross country season went by, and I cannot believe I actually ran it!! It was very difficult to run 3 to 6 miles every day after long hours of school, but I can say it was worth it. I met so many new friends and actually got in shape. But I realized how important it is to run at your own pace and not compare your abilities to other students. I think this was the hardest part for me. It was hard to run with having CF and sometimes feeling like I had a brick on my lungs, and there were some students who did much better than I. But what mattered was when I improved my scores. During this cross country season, I also learned how there are others around me who faced very difficult challenges who were also running as well! There was one who had a very hard time breathing because she was born with about 1/2 the normal lung capacity as a normal person (she didn't have asthma or CF). There was also one with stomach cancer as well (I was very surprised to find out myself that she was running with it). It was a great comfort to know there were others with serious challenges who were running as well,and we were able to help each other out :)

     Oh, and I almost forgot. I finally got pictures of my sister's new puppy Cody. He is so energetic and precious. My other dog Oscar has had a huge jealousy problem with him, so hopefully his attitude will eventually go away.

                                               

                                                               Oh how he loves to play

                                               

Homecoming, 18, and Robotisa

     I figured I might as well start a new post since I haven't in a while. Anyways, homecoming was amazing!!! I definitely had a great time and such nice, fun date. We first met up with others in our group and played miniature golf. It's the best when you don't even take miniature golf seriously and just try to have fun :) We then got slurpees, and you definitely can't go wrong with them! :) Later on we met up with the rest of our group (17 couples) and had a lovely dinner at a golf course nearby. The dance was so much fun, and I was able to wear my grandma's dress that was sixty years old!! I absolutely loved it, and can you believe it fit perfectly?? After the dance we headed over to a gymnastics place where we all wore ourselves out by jumping on the bouncy floor, climbing ropes, doing cartwheels, watching the boys wrestle, diving into a foam pit, and much more. It was defintitely a great day!!


     And for this week, I was able to enjoy turning eighteen (can you believe it?) on Wednesday. Yes, it is a little weird to think that I am now 18. I am so grateful for such good friends and family members who helped make it a great one. I was able to hop around and get free food from some of the best places in Salt Lake City, such as Iceburg and Smokey Mountain Pizza. My mom made such a delicious cake that tasted like a chocolate cake from costco, and we enjoyed a small family party. It was a good birthday :)



Blowing out 18 candles :)


     And finally, I had to take a robot baby home with me for my child development class just for this weekend. I really wasn't sure what to name her, so I came up with the name Robotisa :) It has definitely been a challenge because she cries all the time. Very very loudly. And on top of that, I admit that I was very stupid enough to go to the football game last night, where I lost the baby's diaper. So now when she needs a diaper change, I can't do anything and am just getting points docked. I sure hope I will be able to laugh at this whole situtation with Robotisa later on, because right now I am not enjoying it. I came home last night, and was so thrilled to see my cousin Kara at the door because she loves this stuff!!! Luckily she has been able to help me out a little bit with Robotisa. Unfortunately, we both have a strong feeling that Robotisa will have to come home with me for another weekend so I can get a better grade.

A few discoveries

Here are a few things I have recently discovered, listened to, seen, tasted, and fallen in love with.
-The local band Allred. They are on Itunes and just recently came out with a new cd. They are so talented I literally had goosebumps running down my arms!
-the movie Letters to Juliet. It's so cute and clean :) . I actually saw it a couple of months ago, but it just came out on DVD and Blu Ray last week :)
-Recipes: Cinnamon Chips with fruit salsa. It is sooo easy to make and helped add a twist to my school lunch I brought. http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/04/sweet-fruit-salsa-with-cinnamon-chips.html and http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/04/baked-cinnamon-chips.html . I also discovered crepes are easy to make and delicious :)  (But on this recipe, I put it at a low temperature instead and cooked the crepes longer. And when they say use the rubber spatula, they mean it because they are easier to flip). http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/06/tutorial-crepes-famous-smith-family.html

Done with Cayston (for a month)!! Woo hoooo!!!!

I am so happy because I just finished this month's worth of Cayston over the weekend!! Now a break from this kind of stress:
-doing Cayston right after my first treatment in the morning. If I forgot to do it, I would rush home to smoke the pipe for 3 minutes and hurry back to what I was doing.
-Washing pieces right after cross country for second dose (and the whole routine of the strict way of washing them). Wait half an hour for them to dry. Then do Albuterol, wait 15 minutes, and finally do Cayson.
-Then Wait 4-6 hours (that's how long it is supposed to be) until the 3rd dose. I would usually cram in homework or dinner or other activities during this time.
-Do the third dose, wash the pieces for the next morning. Wait for them to dry. Then do my full treatment. Go to bed.
-Did I mention this was every day??

NOW CAN YOU SEE WHY I AM HAPPY FOR A BREAK???? I GET TO SLEEP YAHOOOO :)

Run, run, run, and more fun

Wow! I am surprised by how busy I have been lately, so I haven't had the chance to get online and blog, so here is an update of what's been happening lately...

Mon, August 30: It was my first time to run 6 miles for cross country. I was zonked out afterward, but felt accomplished.

Tues: Can you say John Mayer concert?!?! My friend and I took our free tickets from a radio station and met up with about 15 friends. It was definitely one of the best nights ever! I absolutely love John Mayer's music, and cried as I figured I would during "the Heart of Life." Before the concert, we all took loads of pictures and enjoyed hanging out. Once the concert started, we freaked out. John Mayer is such an amazing artist! He was a little dirty at time and very drunk, so that was annoying, but he still performed very well. We all got home late, but it was worth it!

We were so excited as John arrived on stage!

Oh my my my

Wed: For cross country, I attended my first race. Unfortunately I had a really bad stomach ache as we all had to run.

Thurs: The little sleep I had took its toll. But later at night, the doorbell rang, and three Altoid tins were placed on my front porch. I was being asked to homecoming! I had to open them up and each tin had a few scrambled letters, but only one tin had the guy's name who was asking me scrambled up. Two notes were attached: one saying how he wanted to be the one to give me the sweetest night ever, and the other saying how Homecoming will be so fresh. After trying with great difficulty to keep my dog Oscar away so he wouldn't eat the letters, I found out it was my friend Dominic. I cannot express how excited I am for homecoming!

Oscar was sad that I would not let him eat the Altoids as I tried to unscramble the letters

 Fri: I went to the football game at my school. After halftime, my friend Kira stopped by in the bleachers with a girl from Hunter with her (we were playing Hunter that night). After the game I went with a few friends to Smiths to get sugar drinks, then over to another friend's home. At her house Kira and the girl showed up. They said they met each other at the temple and immediately became good friends. As I talked to this girl, our conversation ended up lasting about an hour, and I found out that the 16 year old girl goes to the temple every day from morning to night in the summer and before and after school during the school year! Crazy, huh? We shared some cool experiences as she really strengthened my testimony and love for the temple.

Saturday: I woke up early and went with Josh to Brighton for our cross country meet at BYU. It was a long time to wait (4 hours) and we once again raced a 5k in the heat, but I was glad I was able to go. Later that night some friends of mine met me at my house to answer our dates for homecoming. I took a pair of jeans, scattered peas all over his doorstep, and had a sign saying "I almost 'pead' my pants when you asked me to homecoming!" and put cookies with it saying "It will be a great treat" What a great night!

And finally, this past week has been filled with more running for cross country and hours of studying for the ACT which I took for the 3rd time today. I have my fingers crossed that I got a better score.

It's Raining it's Pouring

     Last night at my high school football game it was pouring rain, and I loved it! We saw lightning in the distance, and I was losing my voice with my senior friends as we all belted out cheers for our team. It was such a great night as we shared umbrellas and blankets over our heads out in the bleachers. There were complaints from people as it downpoured, but I loved it :) Afterwards we all went for frozen yogurt and then headed to a friend's house, but I was exhausted by the end of the night from the long week. I can tell I am going to love this school year :)

with a few buddies in the bleachers at the game

the rain was about to come down hard

I fell in Love

Yes, it is true. I have fallen in love. I saw this recipe on a blog (http://www.bakerella.com/pillow-cookies/), and it sounded interesting, so I had to try it out! I made it and found I was in heaven. I like to call them brookies, because you make a brownie inside of a chocolate chip cookie. I made a few changes to the recipe from the scource I had found it at, but here it is:



Brookies:
1 package brownie mix
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 oz. bag miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

My own honey pecan mixture to add:
1/3 cup pecans, completely crushed (you can do this by pouring the pecans into a freezer ziplock, and then using a rolling pin to crush the pecans). Once rolled it should be powdery. Then add a tablespoon of melted butter with a couple of drops of honey, and mix the mixture together.
Make brownies according to package and let cool. Cut about ten 1 inch squares. Enjoy the remaining brownies. (I used a pan about 8 X 8)

For the chocolate chip cookie dough, beat butter with a mixer until creamy.
Add brown sugar and beat until smooth. Add eggs, yolk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a medium bowl and stir together with a wire whisk. Add flour to butter mixture and beat until combined. Then beat in the pecan mixture for a more buttery, sweet taste. Stir in mini chips. Let dough chill covered in the refrigerator for at least an hour.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Use a measuring cup to scoop batter by the 1/2 cup. Since it’s chilled, you may need to pack it with a spoon. Then use the spoon to remove the dough from the cup and place it on parchment paper. Work quickly so the dough remains chilled or either prepare one cookie at a time so the rest of the dough remains cold.

After the dough is on the parchment paper, make an indention and place a 1 inch square brownie in the center. Press the brownie down gently and work the remaining dough around the brownie. You can use your hands to shape the dough into a ball.

During this step, I found it easier to use a piece of parchment paper as a work surface since the dough can get sticky and then I used another piece of parchment paper for the baking sheet. If your dough gets too soft, you can chill the rolled dough balls for a few minutes right before baking.

Prepare six cookies at a time using a large baking sheet (15 X 20) and bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes. (If you wish, you can cook longer, but I have found it better if you leave them out once they are a bit doughy because they harden up.) Return the remaining dough to the refrigerator until time to bake the second batch.

Cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes about ten cookies using a little less than a 1/2 cup of dough for each cookie.

If your cookies start to get too brown before they are done baking, you can place a sheet of aluminum foil over top for the last few minutes.

All credits except for the pecan mixture go to http://www.bakerella.com/pillow-cookies/ since I pulled it directly from the site and Southern Living 2009

When I look at this picture

(I just exchanged a high 5 with the guy next to me, so that's probably why his hand is a blur. Don't worry it's nothing inappropriate.)

When this picture was taken, I recieved an award for being the student of the trimester. They choose one boy and one girl from each grade who have stood out for academic, social, athletic, etc reasons. It was a great honor to recieve this acknoledgment, but the ribbons and plaque were not exactly what mattered to me. It was what was behind it that did, making this moment special for me. Here is why...

That trimester at school was one of the hardest I had been through during my high school years. Most people I don't think realized the challenges I faced during that trimester. I even doubt the people who gave the award knew exactly what had happened to me. That trimester was supposed to be glorious when it first began. Why? It was a time that every Cystic Fibrosis patient who has a G-tube would shout for joy at when they would hear from the GI doctor "You can get your G-tube out! It will not take that long to heal up. If it does not close up within a week, call us up, but it shouldn't take longer than a week." I was vulnerable enough to believe this.
     I had my G-Tube taken out, and let me tell you it was very weird and exciting at first to just feel a guaze over the whole in my stomach. But a week went by, and it was not closed. Week after week had passed, and I continued telling myself it would close up and the disgusting gunk coming out of it would stop. But it didn't.
    I called up my doctor, and said I needed to have it closed up during spring break. They said it would only take a couple of days to heal. Again, I was very naiive to believe that it would only take 2 days to recover! And that they just had to simply stitch it up! Therefore I went in for surgery, and I was surprised to hear they would sew up each layer where the G-tube was. After the surgery, I was surprised to be in so much pain. I couldn't do anything that required my abdominals, such as eating, drinking, sitting up, laying down, laughing, walking, and worst of all, coughing. I couldn't cough at all, which was a nightmare for having Cystic Fibrosis. My doctors insisted I could, but it was literally impossible. And whenever I let out a laugh for something that was funny or a cough, no matter how small they were, I was in so much pain my stomach would tighten up immensely to the point where I could not stop bawling and I about blacked out. And lung infections increased, since my body was literally not capable of coughing. I had to fast for 3 days, and I had lost a lot of weight because after then I still had to watch what I ate.
     While all this took place, I was horrified to find out I could not attend school for 2 weeks. I was running to be a senior class officer, and I was not able to do anything. (Now this just shows how stubborn I can be!!!)...I was desperate, so I was making posters at home while still going through the pain. I had my dad take them to the school while I was on the phone with him early in the morning as he taped them up on the school walls. People wondered why I was not at school during the elections, and hardly any knew I had had a surgery. I sent out text messages asking for support the night before elections, but that was all I could do.
     After the elections, we had to show up at the school to find out who would move on to the next round. (Yes, I continued to be very very stubborn for some reason. Maybe it was because I had to have so much Loritab to decrease the pain.) So I came to the meeting, hobbling with my body tilting over because I had no abdominal strength to hold myself up. I made sure I took Loritab before I came just in case any of my friends would make me laugh for some reason while seeing them. I showed up at the meeting, but was too late as everyone just started to walk off and not even say hi to me. Many were friends of mine, and I was really wondering what I did wrong! I just had a surgery for crying out loud! I looked at the list of kids who made it through, and my name was not on there.
     And it just keeps getting better...
The next week, I was able to easily get over not winning the elections. I was glad the pressure was over with. But then there was an event that came up that most students would not stop talking about about...Prom. I was still at home, and started hearing of girls who were being asked. And I do have many friends, so it was really hard hearing about. I had never been asked to a dance, and I dreamed of being asked and going to Prom once I was healed from the surgery. I finally came to school, and almost every girl had been asked. I really was happy for them, and told them I was, but I was sad at the same time. Again, I had no choice but to let it go and move on, and just catch up with the mountain of homework I had to do.
     Then, a miracle for me. I swear, this was my Cinderella moment. The day of prom, I knew I had to let it go, but it was still difficult. I could not stop thinking about how much I had missed out on because of my stomach surgery. My wonderful mom had heard about this group of girls who weren't asked to prom going with a group of special needs kids from our school. She talked to the lady in charge, and she was able to have me go! I literally found out I was going an hour before the group activity before prom! I put on my sister's pretty blue-green dress she wore for hers, and it barely fit, and was picked up by the lady in charge of this group. There were girls I knew in the group, and I was easily able to get along with everyone in the group. The special needs kids were adorable. I had so much fun watching over them and dancing with them. It was a great night! Although I did not see a prince charming, lose a glass slipper, have to worry about hurrying home by midnight, it was a very memorable moment and a huge tender mercy from God for all that I had been through.
     So, to sum it up and talk about why this picture has to do with it...You can very much now see why this was a very difficult trimester for me. At the awards assembly, they were going to announce the students of the trimester, like they always do. First they went through all of the other awards, and then came to the student of the trimester awards. They first announced the boy and girl sophomores, and when they came to my grade I was completely surprised when my name was called. I know it's not that big of a deal, but as I walked down to pick up the award in front of the whole school, I remembered everything I had been through that trimester. Just like how hardly anyone in the school had realized my trials through my CF, surgery, and other high school moments, I realized everyone has those times. Life may appear perfect for someone, when deep down inside it is completely opposite. It is good to be nice because everyone is fighting some sort of battle. We must also realize those tender mercies in our lives and be grateful for everything we have. I was grateful to be back on my feet, and to walk again, laugh, dance, run...only because I knew what it felt like to not be able to just for those 2 weeks.

Summertime

Summertime? I think so! But there is only one month left, so it is important to make the most of it! I have been getting ready for the new school year while being in the student council, so things have been as busy as ever! But here are some moments I won't forget...

After one of the first major rainstorms, we looked outside and saw this gorgeous rainbow

and this was literally what we saw at the other side of the street! Can you say cool?!

I also attended girls camp. It was great at first, but then we had, that's right, snow and hail! Our tent was literally frozen in. It was miserable for everyone to sleep inside freezing tents, but we learned that it could not stop us from continuing on and trying to be happy.

I also attended another camp for school right after girls camp. It was a great load of fun!

Those were only a few great times this summer :) I also have been running in cross country, but sprained my ankle and have been waiting for it to heal. I am excited to go to California pretty soon, and my best friend and I are counting down to a John Mayer concert with Owl City. I feel very blessed for not needing a hospital tune up this summer. It is worth it to take those vitamins, medications, treatments, and spend time exercising! And last but not least, it's important to have fun!