Friendship is the best kind of ship :)

You know those times, where you just can't seem to get a break. Where it seems like once you cross one thing off the to-do list eight more are added? Where everyone is teaming up around you to swarm you with unwanted words and unfair judgements? I sure do. The question is how do you remain positive through this time? How can you stay upbeat and happy even when you are so overwhelmed you barely find time to eat? The answer is simple. Friends. You must surround yourself with the people who will be there to help you. People you can trust. People you can call at one in the morning to cry to, or that will stay up late talking with you just because they know you need them. That is how you get through life. Having someone who is a good friend, or your best friend doesn't mean that your friendship will be perfect or that you will never fight. It doesn't mean that you will always be together, and talk to each other constantly. Being best friends means that when the time comes you can call on them and they will be there. It means they will drive you to Salt Lake and play so you don't have to wait alone in an airport for four hours. It means they will ask how you are doing and mean it. A good friend is someone who can put a smile on your face just by being there. Who says hi and lets you know you are important. That is how you can make it through life. All you need is a couple of good friends. Thanks to those in my life who are my good friends :) Y'all are awesome!

Update :)

Well it's been awhile, and I do apologize for that :) So here is an update of my life, A LOT has happened in the past bit. I am still going to Utah State in Logan, UT. Going to school has been a blast, but it has also made me appreciate where I come from (I will never complain about heat again) It has helped me realize the value of good friends and that people love me no matter where I go. Most importantly, being here has helped me to truly understand my saviors love and the joy i feel when I do what I am supposed to do. Many life decisions have been made here. I have settled on a major of Elementary Education and will be working towards that goal this summer while being a camp counselor at Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort. I have also decided to go on a mission. If you would have asked me a year ago, 3 months ago, even one month ago if I was going on a mission the answer would have been no. Now it is a YES. A definite yes. I know that a mission is where I need to be. It is what I have been preparing for without even knowing and it is something I have begun to look forward to. Thinking about how quickly and how extreme my life has changed I realized that I am not in control. My heavenly father's plan for me is way different than my plan. This is scary, frightening, but extremely comforting. I know that whatever comes it will be what is supposed to come. I am so excited to see how my life plays out and am glad that I am loved so much I have a plan :)

You Are What You Listen To

Music has always been a part of my life, as it is apart of most peoples. I love to listen to hear and sing the music I love as loudly as possible. While thinking about what songs have defined me and my life I have come up with four main songs. Those songs are, “Cowboy Take Me Away,” “Super Freak,” “Beautiful to Him,” and “Mama’s Song.”

Being from Las Vegas, many people automatically assume I am a city girl, what they don’t know is that my heart belongs in the country. My parents were raised in a small farming town in California, so I became acquainted with country music, country living, and cowboys at a very young age. I can distinctly remember being no older than five, going to the fair and dreaming one day of marrying a cowboy. When I first heard the song “Cowboy Take Me Away” by the Dixie Chicks, I knew it was my song. Moving to Logan, and going to a school centered on Agricultural studies made my desire to meet a cowboy the punch line of many family jokes. My brother even wrote on my graduation present, “Don’t marry the first cowboy you meet.” It may be a joke, and it might never come about that I meet a cowboy to marry, but this song will always be one that I enjoy listening to and will always bring back memories of my childhood and dreaming of my perfect cowboy.

A lot of the songs that I listen to now, or know have been a part of my childhood. One song that I remember from my childhood is “Super Freak” by Rick James. I remember being in fourth grade and getting called a freak because I wasn’t a normal little girl. I remember that I thrived on that and loved being different. I began to sing “I’m a super freak, super freak, I’m super freaky” on the playground and told everyone it was my theme song. I of course, grew out of this and forgot about the song and the meaning it held for me until just recently. I was riding in the car with my friends and the first few notes began to play, I then hear, “this is your song, Tasha.” I didn’t recognize it at first, but then the chorus came on and I went back to that time on the playground singing it and knowing that I wasn’t normal. As I look back and think upon my life, that seems to be a constant theme, I am a super freak, and proud.

Being accepted by others is never something I have put a lot of time and effort into doing. I knew that I only wanted the approval of my parents and my savior. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and I love that. In my religion, girls are taught from the very beginning that they are daughters of a heavenly being. As I came to this knowledge, I found that music helped me to believe and to really understand. I found one song in particular that I love. This song is “Beautiful to him” by Jenny Frogley. This song is all about seeking approval from your savior, instead of seeking it from the world and those who want to bring you down. I first heard this song when I was at a crucial age where many teenage girls are seeking approval from many different sources and self confidence is lost. I sang this song in a choir and I remember feeling deep in my heart that I was loved and that I was enough as the person that I am. I know because of this song that I don’t need to be anyone besides myself. I know that this song is one of the reasons that I am the person I am today.

Another song that I know has shaped me has to do more with what the song is about than a memory of the song. The song is titled “Mama’s Song” and is by Carrie Underwood. I love this song because it is about the message of a mother and her desires for her child. I have the best mom that anyone could ask for. I know of her wishes and desires for me and I want to be able to fulfill those desires. I want to be the person that my mom can be proud of and happy with. As I am away at college, I know it has been hard for both of us to be apart and it has been hard to have to grow up. The chorus of the song talks about how this little girl has grown up and found what her mama wants for her and how her mom doesn’t need to worry anymore because she is being taken care of and is becoming a strong adult. This song just makes me happy. I love my mom. She is a huge person in my life and I hope to live everyday in a way that would make her proud. The song then continues on to explain that when the girl is grown up and has a child of her own she will want them to say the same thing that this girl is saying now. This also has meaning to me because I will have children one day and will raise them the way my mom raised me so that one day I can be proud of the person that they have become.

These songs are songs that have shaped my life. They have made me who I am. The words in them have influenced my life. Most of the songs go back to a time when I was a carefree child, but I can still connect with them today as a responsible adult. As I have listened to and really thought about each of these songs, and what my day sounds like, I have realized one thing; we are what we listen to.

A Year in the Life of ME!

2010 accomplishments:

New Job @ Henderson Public Defenders (BEST JOB EVR)

New Drivers Permit

Got Drivers License (on my favorite holiday, St Patricks day)

Missed 29/45 days in a quarter of school

Was a Summer camp counselor for possibly the last year

Got a new best friend (actually i've had a few of those)

Had a best friend move to Germany

Fell in love.... with Logan, UT

Graduated with high honors form high school

Moved to Logan UT

Got another new job

Finished my first semester of college

Stayed single :)

All in all, this has been a VERY good year,

I have loved, laughed, and lived to my fullest! :)

some more poems... :)

Tis The Season

Tis the season to be jolly

Tis the season to string holly

Tis the season to wrap presents

Tis the season to cook pheasants

One month a year say hi to a stranger

One month a year recognize what happened in a manger

One month a year be nicer than normal

One month a year don't act so formal

Remember the reason for this time of year

Remember the season means more than reindeer

Remember the baby who grew to a man

Remember the one who was a part of the plan

Christ is the reason we do what we do

Christ is the reason Im me and you're you

Christ is the reason for festivities and lights

Christ is the reason we celebrate christmas night

Tis the season to love and to care

Tis the season for to treat all kind and fair

Tis the season to remember his word

Tis the season to rejoice in our lord :)

THINK. CARE. ACT.

Share a smile with a passerby,

Share a smile with a special guy.

Give a hug to someone you know,

Give a hug to someone you don't.

Be a friend with a listening ear,

Be a friend full of cheer.

Caring is easy, it doesn't take much time,

Caring is easy, easier than making a rhyme.

Take 5 minutes to care a day,

Take 5 minutes to go out of your way.

Think about what you can do,

Think about the influence caring would have on you.

Act with dignity, honor and sweetness,

Act with love, joy, and completeness.

Three things can make someone feel really glad,

Three things that will make you feel more good and less bad.

Thinking, Caring, Acting, it isn't hard to do,

Thinking, Caring, Acting, what does it mean to you?

HOME.

This past week (over Thanksgiving) I went "home." Being there led me to many thoughts regarding what a home is. I know that my home in Las Vegas is home but I also have a home in Logan. I decided that home is where the heart is. My heart is in Logan, but those I love are in Las Vegas. Home in Vegas, to me means comfort. It means that there will always be a broken down bus on Charleston by Albertsons. It means my dogs will be there whenever I walk through the door. Home is the fact that I can always walk into In-N-Out and order my favorites and they will always taste amazing. That is a home that I know because my parents shared it with me and I enjoy every minute of being in that home. My current Home is Logan. This home to me means fun, excitement, adventure and growth. It means that there will be snow on the ground, it means that I can meet people I have never met before and instantly be friends. It means that no matter where the girls I live with come from we have a connection and a bond that is always there and will always be there. Sometimes our homes aren't what we expect them to be. Sometimes they are found in places we don't want to be, but come to love. We may only have a home for a semester, a week, a month, or we may have a home our whole lifetime but the fact is we can always have a home. Now, there is a distinct difference between a home and a house. You can have a house without having a home and you can have a home without having a house. Home is what we all strive to find. Home is what we want to have. Home is where we belong. So, as this wonderful season of giving begins, ask yourself do I have a home? Am I living where I am happy? Can I help someone else, whether it be a roommate, friend, mother, sister, brother, aunt, uncle or stranger find their home? Im grateful for the homes I have and have had and the people that have made them home :)

THANK YOU!

In honor of the lovely holiday of Thanksfiving, this blog is going to be all about things I am thankful for and people I want to thank :) I am thankful for leaves. I love the way they change colors, fall, and cruch when you walk through them. I am thankful for mountains. I would rather be in the mountains in a tent then in a house with a bed. I am thankful for the sky. I love the sky! At night it is gorgeous and full of stars and the wonderful moon. I love how during the day it can be the brightest blue or the dullest grey! I just love watching the sky change. I am thankful for crayons. I love to color. :) I am thankful for games. Video games, online games, board games, mind games, all games. I just love to have fun and play! I am thankful for snow and rain. I LOVE rain!!! I am still getting used to snow but rain is my most favorite thing. I can stand outside or dance around in the rain for hours!! I just LOVE it!! :) I am thankful for trees, grass, flowers, bugs, and broccoli. I am thankful for playgrounds and swings. Swinging is my FAVORITE thing and I really enjoy it! I am thankful for children! I love kids! I love playing with them, teaching them, joking with them, holding them, and just plain being around them. There is something wonderful about the joy of a child that I just love. I am thankful for my family. There are no words that can describe the joy I feel when I am around them and how badly I really miss them. I am thankful for teaching, teachers, and school. I love to teach. It is what I want to do with my life and I enjoy it. I love the teachers I have had that have influenced my life for the better. i am thankful for school and the opportunity to learn. I am thankful for my friends and roommates. I am so blessed to have such great friends!!! I love them all so much!! I miss the ones that live in Germany and Las Vegas and I am so grateful for the ones that live in Logan and keep me company. I am grateful for the school that I go to! I love and always have loved Utah State! There is just something about Logan, about USU that has always made me feel like I belong. I do belong here and I LOVE IT!!! I am thankful for blankets and barefeet :) I am thankful for pretty dresses and gym shorts. I am thankful for talking. I am thankful for music. Specifically country music. I LOVE country music! It makes me SO happy!!! There is just an amazing thing about it that I feel so great listening to it. I am thankful for the way I talk. I am thankful for me. I am thankful for the gospel in my life. I am thankful that I have people who love me. I am thankful that each day I wake up and take a breath. I am thankful to have a job. I am thankful that can be here on this earth at this time experiencing all that I am experiencing. I am thankful that I live the life I live. I am thankful for opportunities to serve those around me. I am thankful for people who serve me. I am thankful for all these things and so much more! This month is all about giving back and acknowledging what you are thankful for, so take some time and let someone know you appreciate them, trust me, it will make their day :)