really understand something before you make a decision!!

For a few months now, I have been meaning to sign up at Gold's Gym, but honestly have just been too lazy to get myself there. So yesterday, my roommate and I took a ride up there to finally sign up. They were very nice, and polite. I was very impressed. They got me excited and they were really interested in what my goals were.

I was very excited, and was ready to start working out. After deciding to with the current no-contract deal and pay month to month, they had us talk to a trainer that wanted to help us. It was like a pep talk before a softball game, getting me all fired up to lose my freshmen-15. We really liked what they had to offer, so we both signed up for help twice a month to make sure we are on track.

After leaving the gym, we realized what we just did. We had just signed ourselves up with a personal trainer on contract for 12 months, paying them $120 PER MONTH ($60 per person) for TWO VISITS with the trainer. Although I understand it could be a lot pricier, asking a poor college student $60 plus an additional month to month pay is asking too much. I'd be spending $720 a year for to meet with one only 24 times!!! I'm not going to lie, they were VERY good at talking you into a personal trainer when you sign up for a gym. I also realized that I should have asked more questions. The trainer that set us up with a contraction talked very fast, and was quite confusing.

We read our contract the next day--thankfully we caught ourselves to quick, because we only had 3 business days to cancel our contract. We went back to Gold's the next day, and they still tried to talk us out of it. They got out their calculator and tried to figure out how much we make, and what our bills cost, how much is left over, blah blah blah. After we told them that we were really not interested (and this took awhile to convince them), they understood our priorities and needs. We still planned to come to the gym to workout, just not with a personal trainer.

So my lesson learned for the day: really understand what you're getting into when you sign a gym contract, or any contract for that matter. I'm very thankful that my roommate said something about the price when we came home, otherwise I'd totally would have just went to the trainer and paid money that I didn't really have.

Accepting yourself

This past weekend I've had some deep thinking about myself and how I am conducting my life. I feel as though I've been pretty obedient to my calling as a daughter of God. I attend church every Sunday, study my scriptures daily, have morning and evening prayer, offer my service to others, and try to be a nice person to others. I should be happy, since I'm trying to do the right things at the right time in the right places, but I feel as though something deep down is holding me back, and making me unhappy.




I've prayed to know what that missing something was in my heart and that I needed to fix in my life. After talking about it with a few people, I feel as though I need to accept myself the way I am and have patience. I know that these are two completely different ideas and I could ramble on and on about each of them and how each one has affected my life, but I'll try my best to keep it simple.




All my life, I've struggled to accept myself the way I am. I always wanted to be the girl next to me with such great potential and talent. The sporty type with an very humorous, outstanding personality. For me, I was always the average girl that wasn't sufficient at anything, and an okay sense of humor. Yes, I did have talent and still do have talent, but I was never really GREAT at one particular activity that I did. After talking about with a few close people in my life, what I found that helped me feel successful was how well rounded I am. Yes, I may never be terrific at anything, but look at all my accomplishments of what I CAN do !!
- Play softball (and pitch!!)
- Dance (ballet, tap, jazz, etc)
- Sing (sang in choir for 8 years)
- Play the piano, piccolo, euphonium


I am so thankful for God blessing me with talents that I can share with my future children. I know my sports, dance, and musical knowledge to help them. And for me to be average, which I am proud of being, I had to work at it. I had to practice softball 4-5 times a week. I developed patience, and of course  continuing to develop this trait. I danced for 8 years to get one little, simple lead in the Nutcracker. I don't even care that I had to share the lead with 2 other people. I practiced, and worked hard for something so simple. I had to wait until senior year to be in the highest choir and band. Before then, I was put in between the beginning level and highest level of musical talent my high school offered. I am so thankful to learning what hard work means, and for having the patience to do it!!


Although I am still learning how to accept myself the way I am, I know that I  am much better than I was back then. I am thankful for God in my life, and for blessing me with so many talents!

Olmsted Falls Varsity Team 2010

Senior Year of HS

Not quite sure what the year was, but I'm pretty sure it was either 8th grade or 9th. 

Chorale Fall Choir Concert

2010

(I'm in the front row, second one from the right with the very white, right arm. 

Softball Nationals 2009 in Sterling, Virginia

it was AWESOME!!

Freshmen Year of HS in Defiance, Ohio

Another fact about me:

I absolutely LOVEEEEE to shop!! I think I may have a problem about it too :/ but I don't care..I love LOVEEE getting new clothes. I would take pictures of myself and upload some new outfits I just bought, but I think that may be a little weird ;) 

I don't really know what to title this.

After hearing about journaling from my church on many occasions, I decided to cave in and try blogging out, and also the inspiration of my roommate.  I hope this will be a great opportunity that my family and friends back home will know what's going on in my life, and possibly get to know me even more than they already do.

So I'll try and write one thing about myself that defines me on every entry. The first one and the most important aspect about my life is that I am a latter-day saint!! 

This what we call a Mormon temple, and this one is located in Las Vegas. There are many throughout the United States, as well as the world. There are currently 134 operating temples in the world, 11 under construction, and 15 announced ones. This place brings me such peace and happiness every single time I go inside. I honestly love the Gospel, and would never EVER  trade it for anything in the world.