Lesson.

Beauty of life.

Everything relates. Every story worth telling has a hero. In the Bible it's Christ. In my life it is still Christ.

Christ.
He walked and talked, but have you ever noticed he didn't just say to people "I am the Savior. worship me." At least not outright.  He preached and taught (why some still think he was only a prophet) and for some people, it was plain for them to see and recognize that he was the Savior. But for most... they knew of Him. They had heard of His glory, but they had to find for themselves that he was their Savior.

Example, the woman at the well. He let her ask questions until she figured it out.

We too must ask questions, he will answer them. And as he did then, he still does now....he might answer in riddles. He may ask us questions in return. Because how often do we ask Him questions we already know the answer too?

He is eternal. and the same today as forever. We have to come to know Him ourselves.

Just a thought.

fall into happiness

one day... jess and I decided to get together and it may have turned into a little bit of a photo shoot. 

because who doesn't love taking pictures in the park?

she had to be inspired for her outfit. 

i had to make her be inspired for mine too.

(who knew the style genes could be so unevenly distributed?)

so we went. 

we played with fall leaves. 

and took photos in black and white. 

 we wore hats

and played like homework would never come.

 we might have even whipped out my tripod for some sister pictures. 

Then where did we go? 

Our favorite place!

it just seemed to fit the occasion. 

and, as always, she made me finish hers along with mine. 

i ask if she wants me to gain weight.

she looks at me with puppy dog eyes and says she is just too full.

i tell her "i hiked this morning"... and proceed to eat it. 

someday I'll learn to resist her. but not today. 

probably not tomorrow either if we're being honest here. 

that's just us though. 

i'm vanilla.

and she's chocolate. 

different. 

in fact, very different. 

but complimentary. 

and essentially, we're made from the same stuff. 

we go well together :)

"Stressed spelled backwards is desserts.  

Coincidence?  I think not!"

-author anonymous

This morning the plan was to get up early.

Go to the temple.

Hike the Y.

& do homework.

All before I went to school.

Did it happen? No. But I did hike the Y with lin.

Somehow we ended up arriving the same time as a family activity.

The Family President's council or something.

We met a girl named Anna, who I learned was 8.

Bright eyed, gap toothed, and happy as could be to hike the Y (which, may I interject that the Y is no walk in the park). She asked right off if we were BYU students and when we answered yes, her eyes sparkled and she said, "That's where I'm going to go!"

It seems like only yesterday that I was 8. Her birthday was in January, mine was February.

And I too only ever wanted to come here. To this magical place we call BYU. Lessons learned from Anna today...

1. Time flys. I can't believe that was 11 years ago.

2. I'm here. I attend Brigham Young University. For so many years I dreamed of these days. Every once in a while it's surreal to realize that I'm living the life I live.

I hope you're having a great day :)

-Tay

Vegas: chandeliers and dirt.

This past weekend (General Conference Weekend) we went to:

VEGAS.

(For a rodeo... but in all honesty, for a father daughter weekend....)

We stayed:

HERE.

and i got to hang out with cute people like:

THIS.

we got to see things like:

THIS.

and on the way here, we went to classy gas stations

that sold things like:

THIS.

And we celebrated a B on an Econ Test.... with treats like:

THESE.

Thank you Heavenly Father, for sending me to such a cool family

and giving me opportunities to spend great weekends like this with them.

Beauty and Love

9.24.2010

Today I loved people.

I love them everyday, but especially today.

Nearly every day on my walk home from school, I talk to my mom on the phone. Talking about my day makes me think. I think of things that have happened in my day, but have you ever noticed how conversations and thoughts linger through the rest of your day? At the end of the day I'm left with all of these wonderful ways the Lord has blessed me.

How has the Lord shown his hand in my life today?

Today it was people.

It's a fascinating concept to think that everyone has their own life, and really the world doesn't revolve around mine and my immediate surroundings. I had opportunity to interact with a lot of people today. Well, this week in general really. I went into the academic advisement office and after asking me about the things I know I like we promptly realized that Humanitarian work is what I would be happiest doing for the rest of my life. Business major? Nonprofit minor? That's the new direction I'm headed.

9.30.2010

Speaking of directions, I used to think you had to have a life plan. An exact vision. But you don't. You have to know the important things. Priorities. And if you work towards those, everything else will fall into place. And surprise! Those "things" don't have to be tangible! They can be that you want to help people, or that you want to get married in the temple to a worthy priesthood holder, or you want to do an internship, or that you want to be happy (although remember, happiness is a choice). So choose. work toward those things. Eventually I will have to make an exact plan, but for now? I'm just moving in the right direction.

Does your heart ever feel so full it could burst? Sometimes mine does. There are just so many wonderful things. If I know anything, it's that Heavenly Father WANTS to bless us. He really does. I have the opportunity to be at BYU right now. It's incredible. Tuesday night I was able to meet and listen to this man...

Merrill Bateman

He is wonderful! Talk about having a list of incredible accomplishments. I was one of the first to shake his hand afterward and he looked me in the eye and asked, "How are you?" there were people waiting in line to see him, but he didn't move on before he waited for my answer and honestly made me feel important among the crowd. To be completely honest, he reminded me of Santa Claus :) Really rosy cheeks and just so kind.

Then tonight, wow.....

NieNie.

I was there. Fourth row. The capacity for the room was said to be 1700. There were hundreds more than that. In the back, on the sides.

She was wonderful.

Favorite quote of the night?

"I came back because I wanted my body.... I didn't care what it looked like"

We really do need to understand beauty. Beauty isn't "pretty". It's not something you inherit from your Mom or Dad here. It's something you inherit from your Father in Heaven. It's that light. The light in your eyes. That spirit in you. Beauty is health and strength and confidence.

"Of all the creatures of the Almighty there is none more beautiful, none more inspiring than a lovely daughter of God."

-Gordon B. Hinckley

Sisters, sisters, and more sisters :)

First, let me state how much I love Provo.

One of the main reasons being...

sister time

My sister needed some pictures taken,

for resumes I believe... (she is going to be an elementary school teacher... can you get more pure than that?) so with my favorite camera I proceeded to drive right on over and we had a spur of the moment photo shoot!! naturally, they came out darling because well... my sister happens to be SUPER darling. but really... she is... and look at her, she can rock that red lipstick!

I only had to take about six or seven

before I found that there was never a bad picture

so I stopped there :)

This is one of my favorite things about Provo...

quality sister time

in the midst of the craziness of school and everything else.

She gives me dating advice and hugs,

we watch chickflicks and paint our toenails,

and she never fails to make me feel better.

What's on the docket for this week?

Chilean independence day and empanadas.

One year ago Jess and Steve were engaged, but still invited me to celebrate the holiday with them. Things have changed... maybe more than a little... but I'm glad I'm still invited :)

And the thought for today? Friendship.

"The Lord has touched my spirit time and again, and more often than not,

His touch has reached me through the hand of a friend."

-Kathleen H. Hughes

Welcome Back... the beginning adventures of Devonshire #20...

BEFORE

AFTER

It was nasty. Don't worry, there's multiple cleaning hours

on my knees with a toothbrush and comet that went into making this "house" a "home"

The tools of a cleaning champ :)

I LOVE our apartment!! My roommates are wonderful. So wonderful.

And my classes?

Econ- Lots and lots of work, but I'm gonna try soo hard.

Stats- I'll work on getting the lingo

Beginning Piano- Most people in the class are NOT beginners, but I'll catch up.

New Testament- I love Christ, and studying the life of Christ. It brings Him to an even more real level :)

Church History- Sister Black is hilarious. Enough said.

Social Dance 280- Best. Class. Ever. I love dance.

Student Leadership- I will be serving in the BYUSA office again this year! Yay!

What else has been going on in Devonshire #20? Lindsay and I have been cooking up a storm. We have great friends over on the other side of what we so fondly call the "chastity wall", and we are having a house warming party this Friday! Today I invested in a sewing machine, I have TONS of Econ homework, I made us all matching blue and white bows for the football game on Saturday, and we are happy as can be.

Until Next time

-Taylor

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 :)