First Road Trip

Well, my brother and I went on our first road trip without our parents. I was nervous at first but, it was fun. We drove down to Normal, Illinois for a friend's graduation/birthday/going away party. My brother and I had quite the fun time once we got there since we had not seen this friend in quite awhile. We helped with decorations and spent some time chatting with her grandma (which was quite fun and interesting. Sean and I both enjoyed it) and other stuff. Then, it was time to start heading back home and so we started up Rt. 39 to I-88. As we got to I-88, however, the gas light went on. I knew we would not be able to make it home without getting some gas but, since it was Sunday we did not want to stop and buy some but, circumstances said we must. So, we said a prayer and pulled off at the next gas station and were blessed to see gas for $3.69 and got to wash the windshield that was bug-splattered. Sean & I saw this as a major blessing for doing our best for what circumstances would allow and trusting that the Lord would help us with the rest.

Towers of Fun

block tower I built while babysitting

I have been truly blessed. As I've looked back on my time being back home I have realized how much the Lord really has been looking out for me. Even though I still don't have a job, I have been getting so many babysitting jobs and other small jobs that have made it so I can still earn money to pay for school. I also get to do something I love, and that is, play with kids. Children are so naive but, teach you so much at the same time. They are so easy to open up to you and are genuinely interested in your life. They show concern when you are hurt and look to you when they are in need.

This time I've been able to spend with children really opens up the scriptures that say to become as a little child. Children can be some of the sweetest spirits. Even if they can drive you up a wall or do some really bad things, they are children and are still learning just as we are. Every day is opening up a new door of opportunity and life to teach us something new to become just a little bit better, a little more like our Savior.

Daily Scriptures

In Relief Society (the women's meeting at church) yesterday, we talked about scriptures and ways to increase scripture study since it is easy to forget or neglect it. At one point, the teacher talked about how it is easy to lose track of time on facebook and then, it hit me what I could do. I love to edit pictures and it has become a nice hobby/past time for me. I thought to myself, "I could edit a picture and put a scripture on it and set that as my cover photo and change it once a week, or so!" Obviously, I was quite excited and wanted to jump into it once I returned home but, other commitments kept me away from it for awhile. Then, last night, I had the time and I made five different pictures that I can use. I set one to start off my facebook scripture help. It made me so happy to have a scripture on my page to maybe help someone else, as well as myself, read the scriptures more and feel the love of my Savior. Yes, it's not like I am reading a ton of scriptures by doing this but, it will help keep my mind focused on my eternal goals and maybe, just maybe, help someone do the same.

Playing "Mom" For a Day & Find Love

Little Man & I

Today I woke up to a text from my mom asking me to help my littlest brother get out the door. Well, I woke up about 5 minutes before he was supposed to be out the door and, well, he had just woken up as well. He was in tears freaking out and wondering where everyone was and so, I had to calm him down, make him eat and get dressed while I made his lunch and get him out the door (in 5 minutes). Luckily, we did it and it ended well but, as I watched him ride his bike down the driveway and yelled good-bye and he said good-bye and thanks it made me reflect on what I was thinking yesterday with the whole "growing up" thinking process. I could almost see myself doing the same thing in more than a few years (since he is 8 years old. :P ) for my own children and family. I do not know how moms do it every day but, I understand why.

Love.

I took & edited this picture

Love is a powerful thing. It makes us do crazy things we would not typically do otherwise. It's amazing how much love a mother has for her child or how much love a man, or woman, have for the other, or how much love the Savior has for each of us. It is sometimes hard to believe someone could love everyone but, as I have attended church camps and college, I have found that when you have the love of Christ, you can love anyone and everyone. No matter how mean they might be to you or if they do not have the same thoughts as you, you love them and care for them and see them as the Savior does. It is amazing to see that love and realize, that same love is the love he has for you. 

A Little Bit of Everything

me&my best friend

Well, yesterday, I finally saw Hunger Games. I must say, I quite enjoyed it! It was fun to go see it with a best friend and be able to have the same reactions to the same things. Best friends are a wonderful thing. As I have grown up I have realized just how important and wonderful they are. Like all kids, everyone you had a play-date with was your "best friend" and then, the group would get smaller but, when you did not see people, they became distant. Now that I have met some very close friends that I have shared experiences with and see that we still stay in contact even if we do not live right next door it is easy to see the true friends I have. Thanks to those who have been such a great friend to me. I really appreciate it. It really has made me the person I am today.

This is me when I was about 10 with not a care in the world.

On another note, I began my calling as an activity day's leader last night [Activity Days is a group for the girls at church ages 8-11]. They learned about cooking easy meals for babysitting and when there is not much time to make dinner since life is quite crazy. Before we began, though, the other leader (since she had never met me and this was my first time) asked what I would like the girls to call me [in our church, we typically call people Brother or Sister Insert-last-name-here]. It had never hit me I would ever be called "Sister Fisher." Just the sound of it made me feel so bizarre. Since one girl is my sister and the rest I have babysat since they were little, Chelsey fit me quite nicely. To think of being called the same as my mother and grandmother just made growing up seem too real. I know I am 19, turning 20 this fall, but, to think that I really have "grown up" seems so weird. I have always just been Chelsey or some nick-name. I have only been called Sister Fisher as more of a joke since they know my parents. Life moves so fast. When I was younger I always would tell myself I would go to Middle School, High School, then on to BYU and get married and have a family and all the usual things but, it always seemed so far away that it would never really happen. Now, it is happening so fast it is crazy to think about. It makes me reflect on if I have really learned everything I need to. Many times the questions Have I learned enough to do well in school to be a great teacher? Will I be a good wife? Will I be a good mother? have entered my head. I always wondered what the future would hold for me but, never thought I would really find out. The time for preparation really has passed and the test is right outside the door. As I have reflected, I know I have not learned everything so, I get to keep learning but, I feel my parents and leaders have taught me well. Guess it is time to really dive into life and leave my childhood behind and simply remember the memories. Do not worry though, I know I will be like my mom and always have a little child inside of me ready to play the crazy girl.

I am sure everyone has had that time where they are sitting there and have some words pop into their heads and think "I want to write a song." That happened to me earlier today but, like many others, the initiative to actually do it is very difficult. I started writing words down but, I feel they are not quite right and I am not sure if I should combine it with piano or guitar and then, when I do, how will I do it? Chords or a moving part? What should the melody be? How will I know it is finished? Will it ever be finished? Life really is like a song. Music reflects life so well and, like life, it is difficult to create the perfect ending. There is, however, a way. Everyone has a song they are writing and as long as you keep working hard, one day, it will be perfect and we will be able to present our song to the Lord and he will be proud of us. Some of us will have a symphony and others a simple lullaby but, each, if we have worked hard, will be a perfect gift to give. So, just keep working hard and all will work out. For me, I am going to keep working on my song of life and the songs that come to mind because why not practice? Practice makes perfection.

Mother's Day Surprise

We couldn't leave the room... 

I wanted to write about this on Monday when Marin and I actually did this but, I did not want to spoil the surprise in case my mom looked on here. On Sunday night (a week ago), my sister and I were laying there and had the thought of different ways we could reorganize our room and decided we wanted to do it. So, the next day, after she got home from school, we attacked. We moved the shelves, desk, dresser, headboard, mirror, and queen-size bed all by ourselves and completely reorganized the room.

Chewie & I were quite exhausted after

It was a lot of work but, a lot of fun. We accomplished this in about two hours. Then, since Mother's Day was still several days away, we kept mom away from the room (and almost the rest of the family as well) until this morning when we unveiled not only a different set-up but, a clean room. It was quite refreshing to know we had accomplished this great feat by ourselves. Not many times can we say that we did something that usually only Daddy does or our brother. It was quite an exciting moment to say we had done it all by ourselves and that we had kept it a secret for almost a whole week! Not often that happens.

finished product

On another note, it is Mother's Day and I would like to comment accordingly on my wonderful mother. I know I should do this every day and that Mother's Day should not be an excuse to comment on this subject but, I do feel I should express my deep gratitude for my mother, or Mommy as I still call her. My mom has always been there for me even though I have not always really shown my gratitude for it or taken full advantage of it. I always kept to myself in my room until just before college when I decided I wanted to share more with my mommy. So, I promised I would tell her my college stories and this has made our relationship a lot better. I am so happy to have a mother who is a close friend and can make me laugh and I can be honest with. I have not always been the best child but, what daughter is? I am thankful for her craziness, her laughter, her crazy dancing in the kitchen when we should be cleaning,  her teaching me about home-making even when I did not want to learn, her support in furthering my talents, her continuous love, her consistency, her creativity, her musical talents, her singing to us at night, her teaching us the gospel, her continuous effort to always have family prayer and scripture study, her love of my father, her support of education, her not giving me everything I want, her teaching me you do not need everything you want to be happy, to see joy in the little things, teaching me to learn from mistakes, teaching me I am not perfect but, can strive for it, and so much more.  Thank you Mommy for helping me to find joy in the journey. ♥

Thanks Mommy. Happy Mother's Day!

The Power of the Priesthood

Tonight, I went to our stake's Relief Society Meeting (for those who do not know what that means: the group of women in our congregation at church is called Relief Society because they try to bring relief to others and a stake is a group on congregations in an area). At first, I did not really want to go and thought it would be boring and long and tiring and full of old women (no offense to older women). My heart was changed, however, as the speaker began talking, the spirit touched my soul. At one point, she told a personal story (that I will not repeat since it is her personal story) but, at one point, she talked about 6 priesthood holders (her sons and husband) walking in a line to perform an ordinance for her other son, and the spirit hit me, and many other ladies in that room, about how strong the priesthood power is and how powerful those men that hold that power is. The hold the power of God and perform blessings and ordinances to help others, not themselves. It is amazing to think of the love God has for us that He gives power to these men to help serve His other children. As I sat in that chapel, I could feel God's love and feel His power and felt my heart burn to testify the truth of these things. Even though I went to a meeting for women/mothers and tomorrow is Mother's Day, I must say, my love for my earthly and Heavenly Father and my brothers and my brothers in the gospel has grown so much. Thank you to all those wonderful men that honor their priesthood and help serve others. It is such an honor to witness that love of God shine through each of you. Thank you.

What You Never Realize

I had an eye-opener experience today. I had always tried to look for lessons in life to be learned so that I can become better and find the positives in life to be able to always keep a smile on even when life gets tough. Little did I know how my continuous efforts would impact anyone else. Today, I received a message from a friend letting me know that I had helped them. I was surprised since I had not thought I was really helping anyone but, myself as I was working toward finding happiness in all the little things from teasing my siblings to brownie batter battles to time alone. I guess the Lord really does use us as instruments in His hands to help the other sheep in His fold come unto Him. It's important to always listen to the little promptings so we can help Him reach others, as well as ourselves because we never know who the Lord places in our path to help both sides.

Just think, we if decide not to write that little note to help someone, we could have a greater impact on their lives than we think. The story of the young man that just went to help another comes to mind. A young man was walking home and saw another young man get picked on and saw him drop all his books that he was taking home. Now, he could have just left him but, he didn't. He went and helped him carry his books home and invited him to hang out later. Years later, these two were best friend and they were at graduation and the other young man told the story but, included the detail that he had been planning on committing suicide that weekend and was bringing everything home so his mom would not have to after he was gone but, the fact that someone showed they cared stopped him from going through with this act. If that young man had not helped the other, the latter would not have been there that day. We never know who we are impacting so, listen to the promptings you receive and try to look for the positive so that maybe you can be someone else's life saver when they are at their lowest point. The Lord needs each of us. Every one.

(I've included some pictures/quotes I have found over the years that relate to what I have written about. Neither are my own pictures or quotes.)

Brownie Batter Battle

Well, life is always full of surprises. I had quite the plan set for today from teaching guitar to nap to treadmill to lunch with a cousin to babysitting to babysitting then, sleep. Only some of those things happened, however. I taught guitar and got my nap but, overslept so, lunch & the treadmill did not happen today. Then, the latter babysitting job fell through so, I had a free evening. My mom said to go hang-out with people so, I asked a friend I'd been promising to hang out with if she was free. She was not. So, I asked another friend and then, next thing I knew, (after dinner, of course) I was heading to her house to help her make cookie pies for her girl's camp fundraiser. What  started as harmless fun turned into quite the battle of batter. We both wanted to lick the brownie bowl clean but, neither really wanted to share so, we got a little messy... This was quite the fun. I'd missed getting dirty and laughing with friends. It was such a relief to just be crazy and laugh. Laughing really is life's greatest medicine. So- if you're going through a rough time, grab a friend, some brownie batter, and laugh.

Looking Back: Past to Present

Well, I was doing another "walk-down-memory-lane" this evening and came across pictures from when I had to dye my hair for our stake's musical: "The Savior of the World: His Birth and Resurrection." At the time, I was very upset because I had never dyed my hair and really loved my dirty blonde with it's blonde & red high-lights that were naturally set a midst my hair. Now, looking back, that time was won of great growth and sacrifice. I've realized dying my hair was not even the biggest sacrifice I had to make. No, my time and spiritual turn and emotional stress were the biggest things but, like any sacrifice, you give them to the Lord and He gives you something better. He makes you a little bit more holy. He loves us so much he will have us go through hard things to become more like Him. I am grateful for the opportunities I have had to change and become a little better each day. Now, for some laughs (because I can finally laugh at these) I have included a picture from Mormon Prom that year when you can tell my hair is QUITE a bit darker & a picture from today that shows how blonde I'm becoming again. Enjoy and remember how much the Lord loves and blesses each of us.

Lawn Mowing Revelation

So, today, I started off my day quite well. Started teaching guitar and then, after sleeping again, I walked for 30 minutes on the tredmill and did quite a bit of stretching and such of my own free will. Weird, I know. While exercising, my daddy texted me and asked if I would mow the lawn. Usually I would try to avoid this but, I decided I would. This ended up proving to be very beneficial since it gave me some time to think. Before returning home, I was very nervous about coming back since everyone has their own life-style now with out me being here. I was nervous about finding a job and seeing people I had not seen in so long. I had watched other college kids return and just ignore all their old friends and I really did not want that. Well, today, I realized how much the Lord has blessed me. I have been getting so many little jobs that have helped me earn money so that I will be able to pay for my college education this next year. I also have had so many wonderful times with my family and feel as if I do almost belong. Yes, it is still weird and I miss Provo and BYU but, the Lord has helped make this time a great time to grow and learn and be blessed for doing what is right.

Cake Shake

Well, today, I finally did it. I tried the famous Portillo's Chocolate Cake Shake. I had tried it before but, alas, it was hours after it had been purchased so it was soggy and melted and gross... Today, while I was driving around running some errands, I came across Portillo's and decided it was time to give it a try.

At first, it was weird. There were chunks of delicious cake mixed with my usual chocolate shake (which is quite heavenly I might add). It was not very fun to not be able to just slurp it up the straw because of the chunks but, it did taste quite delicious. I had to take a few minute breaks in between because of how sugary it was! I thought I was going to have a major sugar crash after finishing it. I think I will stick to my regular chocolate from now on. It was good but, I would like to just finish my shake and be able to keep moving and not feel like I need a nice LONG nap  after it. So- Thank You Portillo's but, I think next time I'll go with the usual.

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On a different note, yesterday I spent a lot of time taking "love" pictures after seeing a bunch of ideas on pinterest.com. One I took was a combination of pictures of my hands signing the letters for "I Love You." I then, took a trip to picmonkey.com and edited it so it was multicolored. I was quite happy with the end result. This led to doing the same thing with my name and my sister's for our cover photos on facebook. It was a lot of fun and let me practice my sign language from this past semester.

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I've been meaning to post this but, I have not had the opportunity yet. I had listened to Michael Bublé a few times but, had never really appreciated his music very much until the other day. My mom had  her car set to play all his songs that she had and I happened to be driving her car when the song, "Home" came on. I felt like I had found a new theme song since my life has been very focused on missing Provo and Young Hall which has gained the feeling of home for me. Yes, I love home in Chicago-land and my family and friends here but,  at the same time, the 46th ward became my family & friends in Provo and that place had the feeling of home and knowing that there's a chance I will never see some of those people again makes me want to return and spend more time with certain people and give more hugs and laughs than I did. This, however, is not what can happen so I just have to accept that life moves on and I have grown from those relationships and now, the Lord needs me to touch someone else's life and have them touch mine. I have included the song "Home" just so you can take a minute to listen and think of a place you long to be and people you long to see and just remember the good times and then, carry on to where the Lord needs you to be now and go help someone else only you can touch. May the Lord bless you.

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Apple Cutting

This post is for my roommate, Jenny, A guy in my freshman ward, Soren, and another guy who is actually on his mission right now, Wesley. Today, before doing some application check-ups, I will show you how I cut an apple for a snack before leaving. Yes, I did cut an apple all by myself.

For those of you who do not know this- I have a great fear of knives and so, I would try not to use them so, I never really learned how to cut an apple correctly... I know, it is very sad but, the knives scared me from hearing about everyone's "I nearly cut off my hand..." story. I do not do well with blood so, I did not want to risk having my own "I nearly cut off my hand..." story. But, today- I overcame that fear and I will show you how I cut my apple:

I typically would use a handy dandy device (that I still would rather prefer.... ) that is pictured to the right. However, I will illustrate what I did today instead of using my favorite device.

I began this endeavor by choosing an apple and a knife and a cutting board. I chose the smallest cutting board and the second smallest knife.

Then, after setting all these items on the counter, I cut the apple in half. Yes, I said that correctly, I cut the apple in half. Not my roommate, not a friend, not my mommy. I cut the apple....in half.

After cutting it in half, I cut it in half again. Yes, I said "I" again. I am not lying here! I really did all this by myself!!!

I know this sounds repetitive but, after the previous step, I cut the apple slices in half, again.

This step is different, I turned the slices on their sides and cut the parts that touched the core off so that there were no hard parts that could cut my mouth while I ate them.

The last step is to grab some caramel and eat them. I actually had to use a dulce de leche consistency caramel this morning but, it still tasted delicious.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial on how to cut an apple. I know I did. Have a great day!
And to the above people- I think I have improved don't you?