Lucky Me

Life is full of changes. From the first time we enter kindergarten, to the first time we leave home and head to college we are always changing, always growing, and always moving. In five days I will be taking a new step, making the biggest decision of my entire life. In five days I will have the great opportunity to marry the most incredible man in the world in the House of the Lord. I love him more than anything in this entire world and am so excited to be able to be sealed to him for time and all eternity. He is my rock, my anchor, my sanity, and my best friend. I know that every girl says this about her husband (or in my case soon-to-be husband) but I truly am the luckiest girl in the entire world. Words cannot begin to describe the joy and excitement I am feeling that to know in a few short days I will become MRS.REID. :D

Body and Soul

Running. Some people love it, some people hate it. For me it's a love/hate relationship. I hate having to drag myself out of my nice warm bed in the mornings or tear myself away from something else in the evenings but I love just about everything else that comes with it.
I love the rush that comes from going harder and faster than I ever would have though possible, I love the silence of the road when I run alone, and the camaraderie of running with others. I love the feeling of accomplishment when I finish. I love coming to find myself on long empty roads.
Running is my escape from the world. If I'm running alone I can outrun my worries and problems by pushing my body faster and harder with each step. If I'm running with a partner it gives us both a chance to vent our frustrations and then leave them on the trail behind. Then when I finally finish I feel ready to face the world. My problems no longer seem quite so large and daunting. I figure if I have the strength and willpower to push my body through steep hills, hot days or frigid nights then I do have the strength to deal with whatever else life decides to throw my way.
Having a running buddy not only keeps both parties involved committed to their goal but (at least in my experience) gives each person a sounding board for whatever may be going on in their lives. This may or may not include feedback but it basically just allows the other to say what they're feeling. There is an unwritten rule that what is said on the road stays on the road.
As I've been doing better about going running this semester I've come to find that everything else in my life seems to be falling into place. Why I know this is more due to my Heavenly Father's love and guidance, I also contribute some of the reason to running.
My wonderful father always told me growing up that running is 90% mental and only 10% physical. I couldn't agree with statement more. If I can mentally push myself to keep going then my body seems to fall in line. But even more than that running allows me to deal with life, deal with everything or not. Either way I come back from a run with a clearer view of what I really want in my life and can look and situations from a more rational perspective than I had been able to grasp before.
For me running is good for the body and the soul equally. When I run I feel all-powerful like I can take on the world. No matter where I am or what I'm going through I know that I can always lace-up my running shoes and go. There isn't anyway or anything that can't stop me. I am my own boss. I decide how I will view my life, and running allows me to see just exactly that no matter what I can get through it. Just like I push myself faster and farther to get to the top of a hill just to see the magnificent view below, I can push myself through the tough times of my life so i can see the beauty that my Heavenly Father has created in my life. Running is a way for me to see just how amazing this life truly is.

Live Life with No Regrets

"life is too short to wake up with regrets. ♥ So love the people who treat you right. ♥ Forget about the ones who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it." These words I promise to live by. I cannot and will not waste anymore of my time on people who have mistreated me. My life is mine and nothing or no one can change that. I have power over my own destiny and how my life is. Today and everyday I choose that I will live with no regrets. Happiness is a journey, not a destination after all. :)
Have a great day and remember that it's not where you end up that matters its how you get there and the people that touch your heart along the way that do.

Families are Forever

Family is one of the greatest blessings our Father in Heaven has given us. They are there for us in our best moments and in our worst. This weekend was all about family, past and present.
My mom was able to come up and spend the weekend up in Provo which I was thrilled about. Then on Saturday we went with my cousins and aunts and grandparents to Kamas where part of my Grandma Wrights' family is buried. We met up with some of her sisters and their families and listened to several of the stories about those who we had come to pay our respects to. It was really interesting to hear the some of the stories of my great grandparents and their children.
Sunday was a typical Sunday. Dinner at my Aunt and Uncle's and then card games at my grandparents' house followed by a movie at my cousins apartment. :)
Monday, Memorial Day was another great time to honor our ancestors. This time we went up to Logan to visit my Grandpa's side of the family. This was more interesting for me because I actually knew some of my relatives that I was visiting. I will always remember my great Grandma Wright reading me stories as a little girl. After that my cousins and I had a picnic where we played games, ate delicious food and had an amazing day.
As I enjoyed the company of the some of the people that truly matter the most to me in the world, and visit those who have gone before me and given me some of my most precious gifts. I looked around me and realized just how grateful I was for all of my family, past and present. I spent my memorial day weekend the best way I possibly could have, with the greatest people I know, I spent it with my family.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

Life as a college student has its ups and downs just like everything else in life. However, why does it sometimes feel like the "ups" are short sweet moments and the "downs" are long and drawn out?
Between roommate drama and the schoolwork that just keeps piling up no matter how much I try to prevent it from doing so, some days I want to just hop on the next plane to Australia, (or better yet to California).




However, every time everything seems to be spiraling down I get that little breath of fresh air that allows me to keep moving forward.

This time I have been fortunate enough for that to come in two parts. The first being a trip out and far away from Provo to a great place I like to call paradise, (aka Layton, Ut and my cousins house) where I can rest, rejuvenate, and relax. It's a beautiful place. :)
The second part of this weeks "upward climb" came from a phone call from my dad. As I explained all that I had to accomplish this upcoming week and my frustration with what I perceived that was not going as well as I would have hoped, both at school and with my personal life, he gave me two pieces of advice to succeeding:
1. don't sweat the small stuff
2. everything's the small stuff.
Have I mentioned how much i love my dad? Now he didn't mean to stop trying or not to do my absolute best. What he meant was that I have to learn that I can't control every little detail of my life and that whether or not I get an 'A' on my paper or in a certain class; all I have to do is do my best because looking back ten, twenty years from now it's not that paper or that class that I'm going to remember but how hard I work and whether or not I did my absolute best. So that's my new goal, to work hard, do my best and not let the "down hill" part of life become larger than it is.