En Peru....

En Peru, encontre mi alma...

En Peru, aprendi como poder amar

En Peru, las estrellas nunca me fiya

La luz me guilla adelante,

Girasoles encuentra en Peru <3

Peru.
How do I even begin to explain what has happened to me?

I spent almost 3 weeks this summer working with the orphans of El Girasol [the sunflower] in Urubamba, Peru. They have no source of running water, so we spent 4-5 hours a day with picks and shovels [picos y palas] digging trenches for the cause of the children. After work we would help them with their homework, or prepare family home evening lessons. And other times I would play duck-duck-goose on the grass or sit and let the girls braid my hair.

I don't know of any good way to convey the feelings I have about this trip, but if a picture is worth a thousand words, then I hope they can help.

The children of Girasol orphanage dressed in their traditional

Peruvian clothing for our welcome celebration. At two different points,

the children led us to the next place for the celebration. Yerri (Right) grabbed

my hand and directed me to sit for the beginning. And afterwards, Evelin (Left)

led me to ride a donkey, as part of our welcome.

From that point on, the three of us were inseparable.

I fell in love with the both of them and somehow I feel they will always hold a place in my heart.

Aside from my time in the orphanage, I saw a lot of things....

like Llamas :)

And political campaign posters that are slightly different from the ones we have here :)
[insert visual of Obama flashing a peace sign in his sunglasses]

I found that Peruvians are Cougar fans also.

And I ate some very different kinds of food....

I met people who lived in homes made from adobe

with no water

no electricity

dirt floors

and holes in the walls to provide light.

I saw Incan Ruins that are like nothing you could imagine.

But the thing that impacted me most were these.....

The Children who love to dance.

And hold your hand...

who own only one pair of clothing...

And have no dental care...

the ones who make the most trouble,

but know every word to every primary song.

and love to sing.

The ones who are wounded,

But whose smile can light the whole room.

The children who grab your hands and stand on your feet.

The moments when nothing else matters.

The things that impacted me most were the people: the children.

The ones whose love changed my life.

I've found that it's true. So so very true. When you lose yourself in the service of others, you find yourself. 

"En peru, encontre me alma."

In Peru, I found my soul.

"Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved"

-Thomas S. Monson

Before I leave.

Today was happy.

It's official. I will be en-route to Lima in

37 HOURS.

Today I also got to see Kelsie Martinez Warcup :)

We have the coolest/weirdest story, and how it came to be... well, there's only one thing I know that could have crossed our paths so perfectly. And randomly?

I actually didn't know her the first time we met. I knew her little brother Trent.

She, for her little brother's friends, was kind enough to invite me to her... 17th birthday party?

I happened to be the only girl in the room willing to go outside with her to the bounce house in the middle of December(why that was so unappealing to the rest of the female population I'll never guess... haha) .... and thus started our unbreakable friendship.

We've been through alot together.

From breakups....

to blind dates...

to backstreet boys concerts

&bridesmaids dresses

From beach trips

and from boy to boy(now I'm left to do that part on my own)

but we really have been through it all.

It's always a good day when I get to see my Kelshead.

So story for the day...! My dad and I go to the gym every morning at 5:30. This morning it was light enough that I thought, "hmmm, I think I'll run outside today". So I proceed to head toward Willow in search of a running trail that I had seen when driving at some point or another.

So I'm feeling good.

I hit International

Still feeling good.

So I decide to try and loop around instead of taking the same way back.

wrong move.

So, for those of you not familiar with Clovis, you aren't alone! I'm not that familiar with it either...apparently. Because International is not a straight road. It took me out away from my destination as opposed to parallel with it. When I finally realized it was not going to be easy to make it back to meet with my trainer at seven, I started really running. It's amazing how a timeline can do that for you! Needless to say, I ran for a solid hour and twenty minutes. At least. Thirty minutes of which were hard/adrenaline filled/ half-lost minutes of running.

That was followed directly by an hour of weight training.

I'm very near dead.

But don't you worry... the fanny pack did survive our little adventure.

I haven't been able to find my ipod armband for a while now.

Needless to say, the fanny pack and I have spent some quality bonding time together.

This is a face of pure joy....

This, my friends, is the source of that pure joy... :)

I hope you're feeling some of that happiness.

Right now.

Bask in that joy until next time.

Which may be tomorrow....

or may be in three weeks.

You never know :)

wonderful happenings

So I decided that I have failed slightly in my blogging attempts. Nobody wants to read a blog that's never updated! So thus, I shall work on making my weaknesses into strengths ;)

So one happy thing... I had the privilege of watching the Garner children while their parents went through the temple for the first time, then got to get them ready in their cute white clothes to go be sealed to their parents. And took pictures, don't you worry.

ANDREW

So the kid's a little....nuts.... but the cutest thing you could ever imagine.

The very first thing he did when we

walked into the cultural hall was to....

rip his shirt off

&

break into a sprint

....going nowhere in particular. Naturally.

Then of course hopping into my lap or arms from time to time.

No matter how wild little boys are, you just have to love them.

TANNER

Ok, this kid is so cute. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Bowl cut.

Missing both front teeth. Endless energy. Oh yeah, these are the best kinds of little boys :)

THOMAS

This one is at the stage where there's

no hugs or sitting on laps anymore.

girls have cooties

which includes me... so he had lots of fun,

and was very grown up of course, but this one's fun didn't include me.

Last, but not least,

PEYTON

The princess and second mother in this cute little family of boys.

She organized a "play" while we waited where she was the teacher.

Everyone got involved (even Thomas, who was crew manager)

So in all, it was a fabulous day!

I got to play mom for a few hours, and they got to be sealed together for

eternity :)

Until next time.....

-Taylor Ann

The beginning of my adventure with blogging...

Who am I anyways? And why is my blog named Tayzie Mayzie? Well, Tayzie Mayzie is what my dad has called me since before I can remember, and still does, and since I don't have much creativity in me I thought it would do. So that begins to tell you a little about who I am. I am the daughter of that daddy I talked about. He's a cowboy/rancher turned business. But you know what they say... you can take the boy out of the country.....but you can't take the country out of the boy. So that's that. That's why I live in Coarsegold, that's why my parents are soon to live on our third gener

ation working cattle ranch.

And why on earth did I start a blog? Well, it isn't because I want to grace you all with great stories and humor (because I have very little of either)... but rather because I feel like you can learn so much more from a person by reading their blog than chatting with them on Facebook... or Facebookstalking their pictures... or e-mails... or anything else for that matter. A blog, to me, is kind of like a public journal entry. Now naturally, public is the key word, don't be expecting me to pour out my whole soul on here because that's not going to happen.

So I'll tell you first where I'm at in life. I just got home from my first year at Brigham Young University (which I absolutely loved) and am working for my dad everyday in Fresno (which is about a 45 minute commute from my house). At first, I'm going to be honest, I was dying a little. For my first 3 weeks home, my room was occupied by

my sister and her husband (I love you Jess and Steve!) so I was living out of a suitcase and in a room with either my little brother or sister. What's the big deal you might ask? Really, there isn't one. But I think that combined with the restriction of freedom that comes with being home (and empty space where college friends used to be), it was a little much. Now, however, I have fully embraced home and am honestly enjoying myself. There's a solitude and love when living in a home with your family that could never hav

e been attained in any dorms anywhere (oh how we all love Helaman Halls). I think any change needs adjustment really, that's all :)

Aside from the broader perspective, I'll tell a small story that those of you who know me may find entertaining. Sooooooo.... I'm famous in

Dr. VanWagnen's (my oral surgeon's) office. Why you may ask? Well, let me tell you. Four weeks ago I got my wisdom teeth removed. They were impacted and all that good stuff, so you can imagine how wonderful it was. Well.... yes, four weeks later.... I said "hey mom, check this out, my left cheek is a little swollen"

I woke up the next morning to a swollen cheek that looked like a half a golf ball. Yesssss! What a joy. I was scheduled to be a chaperone on my little sister's waterpark fieldtrip that day, so I headed straight for Dr. VanWagnen's office at 7 am. So, he tells me I'm infected, opens up the wound and proceeds to stuff (with a tweezer-type object) medicated gauze into my open wound. It wasn't exactly an enjoyable experience to say the least.... So I stand up to rinse my mouth out (so gross) and all of a sudden I'm light headed. Oh dear. So I turn around and reach for the chair behind me..... and BAM.

out cold.

"Taylor, do you know where you are?"

"haha, Dr. VanWagnen's office"

"Taylor, you fainted"

"Yeah... I figured that one out...."

.....Anyways, what a great first passing out experience! (sarcasm fully intended) So I get to VanWagnen's office again today (to relive the experience... don't you worry, it felt every bit as enjoyable the second time around), and the receptionist says oh! You're the one who passed out! ... yep, that's me.... Then the nurse...and another...and another... Who knew you could get famous from being so lame! I'll have to remember that next time I need some attention. Haha.

Well, My long winded first post must come to an end.

There will be more to come.

Done and done.