A Poem

The sky is

Some things in life get old really fast.
If I was given Life cereal to eat every day,
One day, I would get sick of it and not want it again.
And that's saying somethings because
I love Life.

I also love (in no particular order or categorization)
Disney movies, tomatoes, cheese,
Hiking, snuggling, Christmas, chips and salsa,
Friends, family, Nutella, vacuuming, traveling,
Camping, writing, and eating ice cream.

Why do I love these things?
Why do I cherish the moments when I have encounters
With these things?

I think it's because

My interactions are always something special, or unique.

Life cereal: breakfast food. So yummy. I eat it when I have it.
Disney movies: I watch when I have time.
Tomatoes: I eat when they're in season from the garden.
Cheese: I eat to wind down after a long day.
Hiking: I go out of my way to see amazing vistas.
Snuggling: When I'm with someone I love, I snuggle.
Christmas: Once a year.
Chips and salsa: Salty, delicious, and spicy.
Friends: No matter which ones, we always have a grand time.
Family: I love them. And it sometimes hurts that we're so far apart.
Nutella: Sweet heaven in a small jar.
Vacuuming: Nothing is so therapeutic as making those lines in the nap.
Traveling: New sights, new people, new adventures.
Camping: With friends or family or by myself, nature speaks when I'm with her.
Writing: I don't paint or draw. My canvas is a story.
Eating ice cream: I savor each bite of it.

One thing that I love that I see
Everyday,
One thing that never ceases to
Amaze me,
One thing that I can't get over is
The Sky.

My Skies in my town are special.
Clear, cloudy, colourful, calm, or crazy.
At dawn or dusk,
A story rises or sets.
Stories illustrated in vivid colours.

I see it every day. And I never tire of it. I have yet to dislike
Disney movies, tomatoes, cheese,
Hiking, snuggling, Christmas, chips and salsa,
Friends, family, Nutella, vacuuming, traveling,
Camping, writing, and eating ice cream.

If they were repetitive and no fun and
Lacking delicious flavor and I
Had to eat or do the same things
Over and over and over again,
All the while being redundant,
I would,
Without a doubt,
Tire of those things.
Things that I love.

But not my Skies.

I can never tire of
My Skies.

There is Something ethereal
With my Skies.
Something eternal that connects me with you. Something that lifts my heart, my soul, my eyes,
My All.
Something that is fluid and liquid and
Changing.
All the Time. And so we have Skies to make us
Smile. To make us
Wonder. To make us
Connect. To make us
Humble. To make us
Look Up. To make us
Appreciate. To make us
Human.To make Us. You. Me. Us. Under a Sky, which reflects Us:
Fluid. Liquid. Changing.
Clear, cloudy, colourful, calm, and crazy. Stories rising. Stories setting.
Beautiful stories.

Beautiful Skies.
Beautiful Us.

[Title of Post]

It's sometimes difficult for me to see the purpose of keep a blog.

I mean, I'm on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. You would think that between all the different social media outlets, blogs would become obsolete.

And I have apparently "obsoleted" my blog.

And I apologize because I love writing! I really do!

Perhaps one reason why I don't feel the need to write on my blog is because I'm always writing at my job at the University Journal, SUU's newspaper.

Perhaps it's because I didn't finish everything on my #23b423 list and am so ashamed to show my (cyber)face.

Whatever the reason, I apologize to my huge following. When I say 'huge following' I'm obviously referring to the amount of support I feel from you.

Obviously.

Enough rambling.

Ahem. I think a good place to start is to say this:

This summer was amazing! I was able to be an Orientation Leader for the school I love! I was also one of the Adventure Orientation Leaders and had the opportunity to take a group of seven students up Cedar Canyon and explore Dixie National Forest and Cedar Breaks National Monument. And I got my Junior Ranger Badge.
I was able to visit Washington D.C.  for 10 days and see so many wonderful friends and make new friends.
I spent two weeks in the midwest visiting Katie and her cute family in Madison.
I went on a bunch of hikes that are in my backyard here in southern Utah.
I presented at a high school leadership conference on conflict resolution and passive aggression. In my presentation, I used examples from Harry Potter and Mean Girls. I was shocked by how few of those high school students had not read HP or seen MG. And it made me feel old when I found out that some in attendance were born in 1998.

Now that summer is over, I'm enjoying school.
I think I have finally learned how to say 'no' and am no longer in charge of the #tbirdnation blog. I was just too busy and something had to go.
I've been making loads of new friends and rekindling old friendships.
I love supporting my T-Birds in their athletic ventures as I cheer with my fellow students. There is nothing I love more than singing the fight song after each touchdown. And I actually get to see the game because I'm not working for the athletic department!

As this semester progresses and as super exciting things happen, I will keep you updated, dear reader.

Until then, I'll say adieu.

Walking on Sunshine

The following post has been sitting in my drafts since July. Enjoy.

This week has been heavenly!
I finished my stay in Washington DC. While there I saw new sights, met new friends, played tourist and tour guide, learned some Hungarian folk dancing, and fell in love with the Federal District all over again.
On Wednesday, I had the blessed opportunity to sing in the Cedar Area Interfaith Alliance Choir concert. The program was entitled The Seven Miracles that Saved America and was based on the book by Chris and Ted Stewart and illustrations by SUU artist in residence, Ben Sowards. It was a lovely program held in the spacious area of Christ the King Catholic Church. The program had narrations of fictional letters based on historical facts and the miracles were the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, Jamestown, a summer fog during the Revolutionary War, the Constitution, Abraham Lincoln and Gettysburg, the battle at Midway, and Regan's life being spared by a fraction of an inch.
Perhaps my recent stay in the nation's capital made my heart so tender as I spent Independence Day with my family in Kanarraville, Utah, population 320.
That town knows how to party and they surely appreciate, as do I, the greatness of this country and its divine origin. I got tons of candy at the parade, enjoyed the community talent show, supported the volunteer fire department, and enjoyed watching a waterfight, BBQ, four wheeling, and fireworks! Holy cabooses, were there fireworks!

Fireworks!