Glance at Fall Semester 2008

I am half way done with my grad program! 4 semesters down, 4 to go! I'm still very excited about becoming an occupational therapist. I know that it's a job that's just right for me. This was our pediatric semester so we got to learn about how to be occupational therapists for kids. It was a very fun semester. This next semester is going to be our adult semester, so we will learn how to do therapy on people from 18 and older. There's something energizing about starting new classes. I will still be with the same 26 people. I really enjoy the people that I'm in the program with. They're my second family. Anyway, some of the videos on here include: a party we had at my house in Salt Lake, Crazy Lady dancing, Oregon State winning fieldgoal, rushing field #1, TCU touchdown, Katie and Rachelle (girls from my program) after TCU game, rushing the field at the BYU game, singing "Utah Man" at Battle of the Chapters, juggling handkerchiefs for one of our pediatric skills labs, Rachelle and Jason singing "Finger Pushups", our rap we made to present our chapter info to our class, standing in front of the building before Wicked, the cool toilet in Chicago airport, Me, Tony, and Tyson (some friends) doing the dizzy challenge thing at temple square, Michelle dancing during my program's end of semester lunch at the Pie, and me making kids cry as Santa at our program's Christmas party.

My Tribute to Joseph Smith on his birthday.

Here is a tribute to Joseph Smith on his birthday. I made this slideshow to commemorate the life of the prophet Joseph Smith. As I looked through the pictures and video of him, my gratitude for what he did for the church increased greatly. I can't imagine where I would be without the gospel in my life. I thank him for never giving up on what he saw and for him remaining faithful and true to those things in everything he did. I am thankful that he translated the Book of Mormon. It truly is the word of God. I KNOW that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him in the Sacred Grove. There are few experiences in my life that I have had that I can never doubt. However, the answers I received when praying about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the First Vision are experiences that I can never deny. That knowledge has saved me on so many occasions. Please watch this tribute and enjoy and leave your thoughts on Joseph Smith in the comments if you'd like. You might want to pause the blog music at the bottom of the page before you watch this. Praise to the man!

Broken Things to Mend

In Nazareth, the narrow road,
That tires the feet and steals the breath,
Passes the place where once abode
The Carpenter of Nazareth
And up and down the dusty way
The village folk would often wend;
And on the bench, beside Him, lay
Their broken things for Him to mend.
The maiden with the doll she broke,
The woman with the broken chair,
The man with broken plough, or yoke,
Said, "Can you mend it, Carpenter?"
And each received the thing he sought,
In yoke, or plough, or chair, or doll;
The broken thing which each had brought
Returned again a perfect whole.
So, up the hill the long years through,
With heavy step and wistful eye,
The burdened souls their way pursue,
Uttering each the plaintive cry:
"O Carpenter of Nazareth,
This heart, that's broken past repair,
This life, that's shattered nigh to death,
Oh, can You mend them, Carpenter?"
And by His kind and ready hand,
His own sweet life is woven through
Our broken lives, until they stand
A New Creation-"all things new."
"The shattered [substance] of [the] heart,
Desire, ambition, hope, and faith,
Mould Thou into the perfect part,
O, Carpenter of Nazareth!"
- George Blair

I've been reading Elder Holland's book, "Broken Things to Mend," and it's amazing. I would highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for an awesome book to read. I think we've all felt like that broken thing to mend at times and the Master Carpenter has entered our lives and like it says in the poem, his life is woven through our broken lives and then we stand a new creation.

HOW ABOUT THEM UTES?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Utah Utes 13-0 (Only Perfect Season in College Football)!!!

Michigan (25-23)

UNLV (42-21) #22

Utah State (58-10) #22

Air Force (30-23) #20

Weber State (37-21) #17

Oregon State (31-28) #15

Wyoming (40-7) #14

Colorado State (49-16) #14

New Mexico (13-10) #10

TCU (13-10) #8

San Diego State (63-14) #7

BYU (48-24) #7

Alabama (SUGAR BCS BOWL) (31-17) #6

FINAL STANDING - #2 in the nation!

Excellent Season!

Occupational Therapy conclave in Chicago

Spoiled/Smart pigeons in downtown Chicago. They made me laugh huddling around the fire on this cold night.
All the people in our program that went to the Occupational Therapy Conclave in Chicago. 6 of us got our trips paid for. Free trips are always great! I really enjoyed it. I was able to have my resume critiqued by some people there on how to make it catch a clinic's eye. It was awesome being able to talk to some people in the American Occupational Therapy Association and network with some of them. It was just an awesome experience.

The first night in Chicago I was able to go and see Wicked. It was incredible! If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend that you go. It will be worth the money!

Game Winning Touchdown against TCU

Amongst the pressence of giants

Jace, Daniel, Devin, Dax, Me, Dave

This weekend I was able to go up to Rexburg and see some friends from BYU-Idaho. It was an awesome trip! It was good to see how awesome Jace is after his mission. I could tell he was a powerful missionary. It was fun seeing Daniel again and staying up till the wee hours of the morning getting caught up with him and his life. It was also fun to get to know his fiancee a little better as well. It was fun to see Dax's little boy Hayden and to see what great parents Dax and Jen are. And Devin and Dave....well, I get to see them every day in Salt Lake. It was so awesome to be with my friends and old roommates that have been HUGE examples to me in my life. They are my heroes. As I sat there and spent time with them, I thought of an entry I put in my journal lately. It said, "I'm so blessed to be associated with some of the strongest people alive. I am dwelling amongst the presence of giants." I truly believe that. The people in this picture and other people who are not have been lifesavers to me. I am sure that you who is reading this right now is also someone that I respect a ton and have learned a lot from. It was so awesome though to spend time with the guys again. I don't know if all of us will ever be in a room like that again anytime soon, but the time was highly enjoyed and valued. What an awesome weekend!

He knows, if you just need your hair brushed.

So this post might be kind of long. I just heard this story tonight at a fireside that Kenneth Cope gave. I"m going to try to paraphrase some of it so that it isn't so long, but here it is. Enjoy it. If any of you care to share, it would be awesome if you left a comment of a time that God sent someone to "comb your hair." So here is the story..... There was a Catholic lady that was waiting to board an airplane and was reading the Bible in an airport. She saw a strange man humped over in a wheelchair, he was skin and bones, dressed in clothes that obviously fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier. His knees protruded from his trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coat hanger was still in his shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses of veins and bones. The strangest part of him was his hair and nails. Stringy gray hair hung well over his shoulders and down part of his back. His fingernails were long. Clean, but strangely out of place on an old man. As she saw the man, she tried to ignore him and pretend like she didn't see him. But she had a feeling that she should interact with him. She says, "And it may be embarrassing. I immediately began to resist because I could feel God working on my spirit and I started arguing with God in my mind. "Oh no, God please no." I looked up at the ceiling as if I could stare straight through it into heaven and said, "Don't make me witness to this man. Not right here and now. Please. I'll do anything. Put me on the same plane, but don't make me get up here and witness to this man in front of this gawking audience. Please, Lord." Then I heard it..."I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to brush his hair." I looked up at God and quipped, "I don't have a hairbrush. It's in my suitcase on the plane, How am I supposed to brush his hair withouta hairbrush?" So she goes up to him and asks him for if she could comb his hair. He responded by saying, "If you really want to." Are you kidding? Of course I didn't want to. But God didn't seem interested in my personal preference right about then. He pressed on my heart until I could utter the words, "Yes, sir, I would be pleased. But I have one little problem. I don't have a hairbrush." "I have one in my bag," he responded. So she went and got a brush out of his bag and started brushing his hair. She continues...... A miraculous thing happened to me as I started brushing that old man's hair. Everybody else in the room disappeared. There was no one alive for those moments except that old man and me. I brushed and I brushed and I brushed until every tangle was out of that hair. I know this sounds so strange but I've never felt that kind of love for another soul in my entire life. I believe with all my heart, I for that few minutes felt a portion of the very love of God. That He had overtaken my heart for a little while like someone renting a room and making Himself at home for a short while. The emotions were so strong and so pure that I knew they had to be God's. His hair was finally as soft and smooth as an infant's. I slipped the brush back in the bag, went around the chair to face him. I got back down on my knees, put my hands on his knees, and said,"Sir, do you know my Jesus?" He said, "Yes, I do." Well, that figures, I thought. He explained, "I've known Him since I married my bride." "She wouldn't marry me until I got to know the Savior." He said,"You see, the problem is, I haven't seen my bride in months. I've had open-heart surgery, and she's been too ill to come see me. I was sitting here thinking to myself. What a mess I must be for my bride." Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a divine moment when we're completely unaware of the significance. This, on the other hand, was one of those rare encounters when I knew God had intervened in details only He could have known. It was a God moment, and I'll never forget it. He knows if you're exhausted because you're hungry, you're serving in the wrong place or it is time to move on but you feel too responsible to budge. He knows if you're hurting or feeling rejected. He knows if you're sick or drowning under a wave of temptation. Or He knows if you just need your hair brushed.

Beta Retreat 2008!

We had our Beta brotherhood retreat this weekend. It was fun getting to know all the guys in our frat. For those of you who don't know, I am a member of the fraternity with the institute here at the U of U. They're great guys. I'm in the Beta chapter. For our retreat, I was in charge of one of the activities. We played 5 different games and each game you were on a different team. If you won you got something good in your shake, and if you lost, you got something bad. The options were banana vs. pickle, peach vs. SPAM, ice cream vs. corn, pineapple juice vs. vegetable juice, and berries vs. fish. It was a lot of fun. Since everyone was on a different team each time, each person had different contents in their shake by the end of the night. My shake consisted of peaches, a pickle, corn, pineapple juice, and berries, so not too bad. The pickle taste was overpowering though. Here are some pictures and video from the activity.

Ethan's first day of school

Wes and Becca and Ethan at our baby lab for my pediatric class. We were looking at little kid's reflexes in our lab. It was Ethan's first day of school. I can't say that he made it through his first day of school without any tears, but then again, whose first day of school isn't filled with tears?

Especially For Youth 2008

My cool pants that I wore for the banquet on Friday night. :)

Trevor, Me, and Brooks taking cool pictures jumping off the hill. These 2 guys were great from my last counselor week in Rexburg. We had some good times and good laughs.

These are my boys from my counselor week in Rexburg. We had a lot of fun as a group. We had a lot of good bonding moments with rubber bands and honking noses. :) I love those guys!!!

This is the BC Team I was on for 3 weeks. We did 2 sessions in Logan and 1 in Salt Lake. I learned a bunch from these guys and had a lot of good times and laughs with them.

These were my boys from my counselor week in Ephraim. This was a tight group. They were a great way to start off EFY this summer. Love these guys too!

So doing EFY this year was a great blessing in my life. I thought that last summer was going to be my last year......so doing it this year was kind of a surprise. I just had this feeling that I needed to do it, and I know that I needed to be at each of the sessions that I attended. I did 5 sessions (2 as a counselor and 3 as a Building Counselor). My last session in Rexburg marked my 25th session of EFY. Working for EFY truly has been a blessing in my life. I've really learned how much Heavenly Father individually loves the youth of the church and does so much for them to know that they're his children and that He loves them. The last session of the summer in Rexburg was an emotional one for me. It was a perfect way to end all of my sessions though. Many things in lessons and devotionals were said that I really needed to hear, especially the Thursday night fireside. Brother Sweat talked about the sacrament and ended in D&C 45: 3-5. Read that when you can. He told us to read this and imagine what an amazing thing it will be when Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, says that when we are judged. Can you imagine what you will say or do if you were to hear that? When I thought about it, I got really emotional and my gratitude for Christ multiplied so much. I, like everyone else, am very imperfect and realize my imperfections and so to think about Christ making it so that I can return to Heavenly Father overwhelms me with gratitude for Him. I want to hear that come from His mouth. As I pondered that scripture during the devotional, I just thought of a bunch of things that I need to do or not do so that I can receive that kind of reception into our Heavenly Father's presence. It was just an amazing week and an amazing summer. I start school again next week and I am actually really ready for it. I know it's going to be a lot of work, but here we go......

St. George Trip #2

So my roommates and I just got back from St. George this past weekend. It was nice to be able to go on a quick vacation right after my summer semester ended. Which brings me to another point, I AM THROUGH WITH SCHOOL FOR 8 WEEKS! Anyway, we went down friday night, went hiking and swimming on saturday and then went to Les Miserables at Tuachan Saturday night and then drove home that night. For anyone who hasn't seen Les Miserables, you really should go see it. Check out Tuachan's website to see if they are still selling tickets. You won't regret going, it's incredible. So about the movie I attached, yes, I did get a cactus in my bum. As you watch the video, you will be able to see why I have the world's greatest roommates. Needless to say, it's never a dull moment around our place.

The U

So my roommates and I have been making frequent trips to the U on Sundays to read conference talks, share insights, figure out girl problems, share stories, and just talk. It's been really enjoyable and something that I can see happening a lot more. It's a great sabbath activity cause it's like a 2 minute hike up there. The view is really pretty from there as you look out onto the Salt Lake Valley. If anyone ever wants a guided tour, just let me know. :)

I can only imagine.......

With having done a half-marathon and the 2/3-alon and having worked with many people with disabilities, this is very inspirational to me. I got a little teary-eyed the first time I saw this. Truly inspirational, motivational, and amazing! Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father and son team who together compete in iron man races that consist of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming. Enjoy!

2/3-alon

They put our race number and age on the back of our legs and our race number on our arms.

Steve and I afterward hugging the finish line, glad to be glad that it was over. :)

By the finish line after I ran through a little bit before.

The swim! So the water was very choppy and I kept getting kicked by people. I wasn't as ready for the swim as I should have been. It killed me, but I finished it. On my way to the transition point to change into some dry clothes and into my shoes and socks, I threw up in my mouth. :)

Getting ready for the swim. The water was cold!

Steve and I standing in front of the bikes that we'd never get to ride for the race. :(

So in my rush to get all my stuff out of my car for the race, I accidentally locked my keys in the car and had to get the Salem police to come over and help me out. :)

On the bridge looking down at the water we'd be in the next morning.

My roommate Steve and I after we got our bag of goodies for checkin.

So I signed up to do the Salem Spring Triathalon. I got ready for it and was really excited to do it. However, the morning of the race, it was really rainy and so they cancelled the biking portion of the race. :( So we only got to do the swimming and running portions. (hence the 2/3-alon) It was a fun experience though. I hope that someday I will be able to do the whole thing. I had to pay a bunch of money to rent a bike and a wetsuit so I probably won't be doing a ton in the future, but I'm hoping that for sure I'll do another one sometime.

Summer Classes

Well, by the looks of the pictures below I'm sure it won't be difficult to see that my classes this semester aren't as intense as the ones last semester. We had an activities analysis class that we did different activities that we analyzed to see how people's body's work as they do certain things. Even though the class was mainly fun, we did have a lot of paper work that we had to fill out at the end of the day to analyze the activity. However, it was a great class and a great break from the intense schedule last semester. This summer's semester is divided into 2 halfs. The first half (which we just finished) was split into the activities analysis class and a theory class. Now, I am taking an occupational therapy in the community class and a seminar class where we are learning manual muscle testing, transfers, range of motion test, etc.

Summer Special Olympics in Provo. We helped do physical assessments with the athletes. It was a fun experience. It made me excited for my career someday.

This is the electrically wired fan that I made.

Lacey and I were in charge of teaching the class how to do Yoga. We decided to dress up and look like idiots.

Me in my 80's exercise attire for Yoga teaching class.

Country Western swing day.

Knitting day. That's right, yes, I do know how to knit now. :)

U of U's OT Class of 2010 in front of our building.

Animal balloon day. I'd be lieing if I said I didn't pop any balloons this day. :)

Me just chillin on the grass while we were working on a case study for our theory class. Can you tell that I'm really focused?

For our class relay race, I was put on the portion where you have to transport grains for rice from one bowl to another with chopsticks.

GOODBYE SPRING 2008 SEMESTER!!!!

This was shown to me, and I just really enjoyed it. :)

10 zillion points for the greatest room mates ever! All that needs to be said is that we have some fun in our place.

Steve, Mike, Ben, and I in San Francisco during spring break. So much fun! A definately needed break from school.

Jillian and I's first date. I met and started dating her this semester. Toga, Toga, Toga.

My reaction after I got out of giving the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure for the first time to an actor pretending he had depression. I passed!!!!

Volunteering at the Jazz games to raise money for our program. Never shall I ever buy a pretzel, churro, nacho, popcorn, or hot dog from there ever again.


Groups class. Good ol' Ethel, how I miss her so....... :)





This semester is finally over! I am very excited about that. It's been a semester that I've really had to ask myself if I really want to be an occupational therapist.........but the answer was always, yes I do. There were weeks that I averaged 4 hours of sleep and had quizzes, tests, papers, projects nonstop. It sometimes became laughable at how much they expected of us in a week. I feel stupid for saying this, but some mornings found me overwhelmed with life with tears in my eyes because of not knowing if I could do one more day.......... I not only learned a lot about my classes in psychosocial, groups, neuroanatomy, research, and fieldwork/seminar, but I learned SO much about life and about finding a good balance. Probably the biggest lesson I learned was the blessings that are promised from putting God FIRST in your life. I love the scripture in 3 Nephi 13:33 where it says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." I also pondered much about President Faust's quote when he said, "If you have not chosen the kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead." I have found these to be very true. I told myself that I was going to continue to not study on Sunday, go weekly to FHE and institute, and attend the temple every Thursday night. Doing these things every week was NOT an easy thing, especially when there was a huge test or project staring at me the next day. But Heavenly Father sure did take care of me. One of the most difficult things I had to do this semester was turning my grades over to the Lord. As many of you know, I have been a little particular about my grades and have really worked hard to maintain a good GPA. I knew that if I was going to find a good balance in life, I wasn't going to be able to maintain my ideal GPA. But I knew that if I put my grades in His hands, I would be able to pass my classes and stay in the program and learn the information I need to become the best therapist I can become. Since I turned my grades over to Him, I have been so much happier and less stressed. I know that He will take care of me and that if I continue to do my part and put Him first, I will be just fine. I just stand all amazed at how much love he showered upon me this semester. I was able to meet some amazing people, experience amazing things, see miracles happen, and daily see the love of Heavenly Father through the countless tender mercies He gives me. Although it's been a semester of great learning, it will definately go down in the record books as the most difficult EVER. I start Summer semester in a little over a week. I've never had summer school before, so here we go...............

March Yellowcard Concert

Mike and I and the lead singer of Yellowcard. Incredible Concert

Reflections of the True Light

So this morning I was studying about the light of Christ for my scriptures study. As I was studying, I remembered this story that I heard in one of my classes. It’s about a doctor of philosophy named Alexander Papederos. He gave a conference in Crete at a Greek Orthodox monastery. At the end of the conference Papederos asked if anyone had any questions. The author, Robert Fulghum said,

So I asked.

“Dr. Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?”

The usual laughter followed and people stirred to go.

Papaderos held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at me for a long time, asking with his eyes if I was serious and seeing from my eyes that I was.

“I will answer your question.”

Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into a leather billfold and brought out a very small round mirror, about the size of a quarter.

And what he said went like this:

“When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.

“I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it on a stone I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine – in deep holes and crevices and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find.

“I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child’s game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light. But light – truth, understanding, knowledge – is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it.

“I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world – into the black places in the hearts of men – and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life.”

And then he took his small mirror, and holding it carefully, caught the bright rays of daylight streaming through the window and reflected them onto my face and onto my hands folded on the desk

Ok. So many of you are probably wondering why I am putting a picture of a magpie on my blog. Well, this morning was kind of a slow/difficult/blah morning and so I was needing a little pick-me-up. Well as I was walking on my way to my building, I met the hoppiest magpie of my life. He wasn't just walking, or strutting, or bouncing, but he was hopping like there was no tomorrow. It was abnormally out of control. It made me smile SO much and even now I can't think of it without smiling! It was just what I needed to brighten my day. I think Heavenly Father definately knows my sense of humor and the silly things that will make my smile. Thank heavens for the hoppy magpie to brighten my day. :) And for those of you who are anxiously waiting more posts on my blog, I will be posting the Yellowcard concert and San Francisco pictures when I get some time.

My life recently

So this is me these days. I seriously can barely wait for Spring Break. I had a HUGE Neuroanatomy lab midterm last week, a Psychosocial and Groups midterm this week, and also this week a Neuroanatomy lab and lecture quiz. And to top it all off, i have another Neuroanatomy lecture quiz next week. So those are just the tests... There have also been some pretty big papers, assignments, and projects that have been due during this time too. So that is exactly why I chose to post this picture. I am trying to have a better attitude about all this school work, but it's a work in progress. Spring break is from march 17-21. My roommate Steve is having an interview for med school in San Francisco and asked if I wanted to join him. Along the way, we were able to pick up Mike and Ben and the 4 of us are leaving that Thursday morning and coming back Saturday night. I am SO STINKING EXCITED for it. I need a break and I need one BAD. It's going to be good company, hopefully good weather, and fun. And we also are going to eat at one of my favorite restaurants that they had in Japan, Yoshinoyas. I guarantee that there will be a post about the trip with pictures. Although life is stressful, it is so good and I am so blessed.

Never 2-B-4 Gotten

Here is the sample video for my new business for

weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, and other

occasions. I am thankful that Jenna and Brad

allowed me to use their engagement pictures

for a sample. If you are interested in having a

slideshow done, please let me know.

This is a picture at the Conference Center after President Hinckley's funeral. It was really neat to be there live. It was an experience that I will never forget. There was not a dry eye in the whole Conference Center during the final song. It was also very touching to see people wave their white handkerchiefs as they were taking his casket out. Although it was sad to know that we'd never see President Hinckley in the conference center again, it was hard to not be so happy that him and Marjoree are together now.