I don't this one really needs any further explanation other than I know that what Elder Holland teaches is true


I find that I am constantly learning about new things that I want to try.  As I was returning from FOL, my friend made a comment about wanting to ride the Heber Creeper, a train that snakes through Provo Canyon up to Heber.  Right then and there I decided that I wanted to ride a train too....except in Europe...while I'm backpacking through the Alps.  So I decided that it was time to reevaluate my bucket list so here it is:

1. Ride train through Europe
2. Go to Harry Potter world
3. See Wicked on Broadway
4. Go to the Tulip Festival in Holland
5. Attend a soccer game in Europe
6. Skydive
7. Scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef
8. Become a certified scuba driver
9. Drive from the tip of Alaska down to Tierra del Fuego
10. Have a dish at a restaurant named after me
11. Ice skate at Rockefeller Center during Christmas-time
12. Attend the Olympics (the summer ones)
13. Run the Boston Marathon
14. Attend the temple on every continent...except Antarctica
15. Win a game of Assassin
16. Have a Jason Bourne-esque chase through the city (without the violence however)
17. Participate in Karaoke
18. Be on a game show
19. White water raft in the Grand Canyon
20. Eat gelato at the Trevi fountain
21. Spend a whole week at the Louvre
22. Complete a triathlon


Earlier this summer,  I was invited to apply to be a Peer Mentor at BYU's Foundations of Leadership Conference (FOL). I was so excited when I was selected and couldn't wait to meet my freshman.  My FOL adventure began last Saturday.  We had a training meeting for all Peer Mentors.  I was paired up with a young man who got home from his mission a few moths ago.  We hit it off immediately and I began to get even more excited.  Towards the end of the training they told us about the last activity that we would be doing with our groups.  It was an object lesson about confronting our fears to achieve our goals.  To physically demonstrate this purpose, each of the participants were going to break a board.  They asked for a volunteer to show us how it was done, so, naturally, I volunteered.  I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to do it.  After a few practice shots, I went for it and.....it broke!!! I was a little surprised but my hand hurt like crazy! However, it was a well worth it :)

On Monday morning it was time to get the show rolling.  I anxiously awaited my freshman to arrive and one-by-one they started coming in.  It was just as amazing as I thought it would be!! I have always wanted to do something like this so I could hardly believe that it was happening. I was so impressed with all of them! We had eleven students in our group and each one was great in their own way.  After we were all assembled we headed up to Apsen Grove for a full day of games and training.  We played at the ropes course and on the fields.  We did everything from standing on a sewer top to trying to fill a bucket with water spewing from the ground.  It was the perfect day! 

Tuesday was another full day.  I don't think I have ever been so tired in my whole life! We had a delicious breakfast of waffles and strawberries then it was time for training.  I had the wonderful opportunity to sit on classes taught by some of BYU's finest teachers.  I am so grateful to attend a university who puts so much emphasis on student development.  These wonderful professors took time away from their families to improve the lives of these incoming freshman.  Also on Tuesday I had the opportunity to teach several lessons to my amazing students.  I have only taught a few times but I loved this time.  I was so impressed with the things they had to say and contribute.  I learned much more from them than they did from me.  They all had wonderful insights that I never would have to been to develop myself.  It was such a blessing to be able to spend time with them.  

The last activity of Tuesday night was the Night Adventure.  Travis and I blindfolded each of our students and led them away from group spot.  After arriving to our designated place we split each of them up and allowed them to be by themselves for a few minutes.  We then began to sing in hopes that they would each move towards us until we were all together again.  Although things did not go exactly as we planned it was still an incredible experience! As we discussed the what happened from the time we blind folded them I again was humbled to be in their presence.  Their faith and knowledge of the gospel is astounding! I was edified and uplifted as I listened to each of their testimonies.

We parted ways this morning.  It was a bittersweet experience.  I am so excited for the adventures and opportunities that lie ahead of them.  I am so blessed! What a privilege it was to spend just a few days with these amazing sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. They will do great things and I am so grateful that I got to be a small part of their journey! Yay for FOL :) 

My arm after breaking the board

It hurt....

The Blue Ivies....aka the best group everrrrr

Group! 

Look at that face

The Dance
Me and my lovely ladies

And the boys!


The whole group

Dancing
  
Andrew Rutherford is such a great example of what it means to have the right priorities.  I came across this video as I was perusing Mormon Channel.  He talks about his love for swimming, but that what was most important was the Gospel.  It doesn't matter that he is one of the best swimmers in the world.  He is committed to those things that matter most.  What a great reminder!


Yesterday was a great day! I woke up early to go to work and then came home for a nice long nap.  I have gotten into this terrible habit of sleeping between work and dinner.  I think school is going to start and I'm going to hit a wall right as my classes are starting.  It's not a good situation...

After I awoke from my long, long nap, my roommates and I went to the temple to do baptisms.  I love going to the temple! There is such a peace that is there. We were able to spend a beautiful hour and a half serving there.  It was completely perfect!

Following the temple the three of us went to dinner.  We headed over to our favorite crepe place and with stars in our eyes....it was closed :( Deciding not to believe the sign, we tried the door anyway but it was true...closed! After a quick discussion, we decided that we still wanted crepes so we headed over to a place on State St.  We were in for a great surprise...it was even better than the place we were going to go originally! Needless to say, it was the perfect end to a spectacular day :) 

Keyla, Katie, and I

Hello, beautiful crepe!

I knew this day was coming.  I've been dreading it since those wonderful fireworks exploded over Olympic Stadium two weeks ago.  The Games have ended :( I don't know what I'm going to do anymore when I get home from work.  I had developed this wonderful routine of coming home, watching a few events, head back to campus and get home in time for the prime time events.  It was beautiful! But, alas, all good things must come to an end.

As I think back over the Games I must admit that the London ones were my favorite (it may be because they're some of the only ones that I remember, but that's a minor detail). They were full of triumph, heartache, and not a few history-making moments.  

These were some of my favorite:
-Ryan Lochte winning the 400IM
-Gabby Douglas winning the Gymnastics All-Around
-Rebecca Soni breaking the world record in the 200 breast
-Team USA breaking the Women's 4x100M world record
-Mo Farah winning gold in the 10K
-USA Women's team wins gold in gymnastics
-Usain Bolt sweeping the sprints
-Three-peat by Misty May and Kerri Walsh
-Missy Franklin's interview with Bob Costas
-All of Oscar Pistorius
-Dana Vollmer's world record swim
-Chad le Clos wining the 200M fly
-Andy Murray topping Roger Federer in a Wimbledon rematch
-Michael Phelps becoming the most decorated Olympian ever
-USA swim team making a cover to 'Call Me Maybe'



Ryan Lochte winning gold

The Fierce Five (minus Gabby)

Andy Murray

Mo Farah

Missy Franklin

Usain Bolt

Women's 4x100M Relay Team

 (sigh)...Is it time for Rio yet?






Don't you just love it when you have a perfect day? From sun up to sun down every little part of the day is just wonderful? Yesterday  I was blessed with one of these days.  There was too much about this day to put in one post, but a highlight was when I got to go to the temple with some sisters from my Relief Society. 

What Dreams are Made Of

We had just a small group of us who went but it was a wonderful experience.  The temple was empty last night, which is almost unheard of in Provo.  It felt like Heavenly Father had made it just for us in that moment.  I love going to the temple! There is such a feeling of peace and love there.  We had the opportunity to participate in baptisms.  It was one of the highlights of my week.  While we were waiting for one of our friends to finish, we watched a movie in the waiting room.  Prophets and apostles spoke of the blessings of the temple.  Truman G. Madsen stated perfectly the blessings of the temple and worship there.  He said the temple embodied 'true love and true joy.' 

I love the temple and am so grateful that I have the opportunity to go there on a regular basis. 
Sorry for the two blog posts within in minutes of each, but when inspiration strikes you have to act.  I have decided on 'Running Commentary' as the new blog name and am officially retiring 'Just an Itty-Bitty Ditty.'  Itty-Bitty served well for the last year but it's just time to switch it up.  

I settled on 'Running Commentary' for a few reason:
1) That is kind of what this blog is.  I don't have a set topic that I write about; it's more whatever tickles my fancy.
2) It does not limit me to certain topics.  I feel that the name of your blog sets the tone for the type of posts you post...wow that was redundant. Commentary keeps the field wide open though
3) It's short and sweet.  I don't like it when the name of blog is longer than the post and since my posts are short, the name has to be too :) 

So, that's the story of how I came to this decision.  I went through several potentials but nothing fit.  This one feels just right though.  So here's to many happy posts on the Commentary :)


Finals are over!!! It is such a relief to finished.  I went to the Testing Center in the early afternoon yesterday and two and a half hours later I was looking at that beautiful score on the screen and realizing that summer was (finally) here.  I now have to two and a half glorious weeks to play! The only problem is that I have no idea what I'm going to do :( I have been in school for two years straight so not having homework does not even register in my mind anymore.  I am at a complete loss, haha.  I don't want to spend the next few weeks holed up in my room watching Netflix though.  I have a short list of things I want to do, such as:

-Read a book
-Run
-Go to the pool
-Watch Sabrina (again)

This very short list is not going to fill up an entire three weeks though. Part of me wants to escape Provo and go to Moab or climb a mountain. The Olympics are quickly coming to a close so I need to make a longer list soon! 
I've decided that it's time to update my blog name.  While 'Just an Itty-Bitty Ditty' has been great I'm feeling ready for a change.  The only problem is that I can't think of anything.  I've been mulling over it for a few days now and inspiration just hasn't struck so....what are your ideas?

Ready...Go!
It has now come to one of the saddest parts of the Olympics: Swimming is essentially over.  This is inevitable each time, but the sting never seems to diminish.  Swimming is by far my favorite event to watch and it has nothing to do with Ryan Lochte.  I swam my senior year of high school and have loved it ever since.  I get so excited when I see the athletes flying through the water and they have the most beautiful flip-turns that I've ever seen.  It's amazing! Not only is the technique impeccable, but the races (for the most part) are always so close! Most are determined by a few one hundredths of a second! If that doesn't get your heart racing then you should probably get that checked out.

During these Olympics a new queen of the pool has emerged. Missy Franklin is the bubbly 17-year-old from Colorado.  I hate to admit that I didn't watch many of her races.  I was caught up in the Lochte-Phelps duel, but I did manage to see a few.  She's a bullet! She won race after race.  I wish I was winning Olympic golds at that age (really any age)! While it is no doubt that she's something else in the pool, she's all stellar on land.  I watched her interview last night as she closed out her games and to say I was impressed would be an understatement.  She carries herself with such class and spunk (not two words I thought would go together, but she makes it work).  She was captivating and engaging, which isn't always the case with world class athletes.  Needless to say, I am excited to see her again in Rio in four years.  Congrats on a great Olympics, Missy!





Today was one of the most amazing days in church! We had a wonderful lesson in Relief Society about Heavenly Father's love for us.  I love how often we have reminder about this principle of the Gospel.  After this wonderful lesson I went downstairs for Sunday School and again listened to a beautiful lesson.

We were studying in Alma and his lecture on faith.  At the very end of our lesson our teacher shared with us this amazing video.


Brittany is such an amazing example to me! Here is a young woman who has her priorities in the right order.  While she has immense trials of her own, she continues to use her talents to bless the lives of those around her.  I think I often allow my trials and challenges drag me down and define my attitude.  I sit at home and wallow.  I may be exaggerating a little bit, but nonetheless, there is definitely room for improvement.  I hope that I change my attitude to be more like Brittany, to live with charity in my heart and a renewed commitment to serve those around me.  Just as she said, when we serve others we tend to forget our own struggles and simply find joy in service.  What a beautiful reminder and example.  
It's that time of the semester again....finals.  Right now I should be studying and cramming every piece of information possible into my brain.  But, I just can't do it anymore.  I have been working through my accounting notes for a solid (not so solid) five hours.  Here's what I've done instead:

-Purchased a new app for my Mac (I decided to go with the MacBook Pro!) that makes sounds like rain and thunder and whatnot to help me focus while studying (meant to help with accounting...)
-Watched the Olympics.  They only come once every two years so I feel justified
-Taken an obnoxiously long shower
-Cleaned my room
-Read some blogs
-Written a blog 
-Finished my hummus and Wheat Thins
-Thought about going for a run
-Decided against the run
-Water my plants
-Polished off my Cheerios

Some may look at this list and think that I've completely wasted my day.  When I look at this list, though, I see a day well spent.  Cheers!

I watched this man win the 10K this morning and loved every minute of it.  And, naturally, I cried just a little bit :)


Today, I watched the wonderful movie Sabrina.  It wasn't the 1995 version with Harrison Ford or Julia Ormond (although that is suuuch a good movie). It was the classic 1954 film starring Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart (Hello! Two of the greatest actors ever!!). I love this movie...there is something magical about watching a classic love story in black and white.  It's one of those movies that's perfect for a rainy day or when your sick. It's charming, witty, refreshing.  The perfect combination.  

And remember...Paris is always a good idea :)


For your next rainy day :) 

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a crier.  I sometimes refer to it as the 'Lopez Chokehold,' there's not get out of it.  If anyone in the room is even thinking about crying, chances are I already am.  From previous posts, you probably also know that the waterworks extend to the Olympics as well.  I just get caught up in the moment.  Basically anytime someone wins a gold medal, the tears are flowing :) 

The crazy thing is is that it doesn't even have to be an American medal.  Case-in-point: Yesterday was the finals of the Men's 200M Butterfly.  The whole race Phelps was out in front but at the last moment Chad Le Clos out touched by mere fractions of a second.  At this point, I was nowhere close to tears.  Just when I thought I was in the clear though, the camera panned to Papa Le Clos and it was all over.  As he sat with the South African flag wrapped around his head, weeping in joy/unbelief, I joined him, basking in the glory of his son.  

This happens event after event and I love it.  So to all the Olympic parents out there...way to go! 

Papa Le Clos 

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