American Sign Language

"I don't speak ASL, but my hands do."



Can I just say I think the most beautiful language is ASL.

It is so expressive!

Of course, all language is expressive, but I feel like I have been able to connect to Sign in a way that I can't always connect to English.

It's really hard for me to express how I'm feeling sometimes, but sign language is allowing me to do that in a different way.

My Sign class is the best form of stress relief!

My teacher is hilarious! He looks like the biker version of Santa Claus:)

This is also one of the only classes where none of us really know each other, but we feel like we are all good friends just because of all the hands on experiences with sign we are having together.

I love it! I hope one day to be fluent in ASL.

That would be wonderful:)

Only in Logan

So I am walking up to campus today and I notice a police car parked in the middle of the road and I thought to myself....that's a weird parking spot...

When all of the sudden I heard a loud honking noise behind me.

When I turned around, I saw a parade of at least 50 tractors coming up 8th East honking and having a splendid time.

This isn't the strangest thing I've seen this week though.

What other school would have various farm animals around campus all week including cows, pigs, and ponies?

Welcome to Cache Valley!

Isn't it awesome!

Birthday Party!

Karl's birthday was yesterday and we had a great time celebrating!

First of all, this guy loves his birthday. He was so excited about it all month!

His family has a lot of fun traditions for birthdays.

First: Family breakfast including bacon, juice, and french toast smothered in a delicious secret sauce.

Next: Family dinner. The birthday person gets to pick whatever they want for dinner. Yesterday the birthday boy decided to have pasta a la carbanara (his favorite). Accompanying dinner is one of the Beckert's favorite birthday games: Favorite Moments with the birthday person. Everyone describes their favorite moment with the birthday person! I learned a lot of fun things about Karl like:

-For his 13 birthday, he and some friends watched Jurassic Park in French because the dinosaurs roar differently

-He was very protective of his sister Tori when she was first born. He is right next to her in every picture:)

-He was OBSESSED with Ninja Turtles and used to have a Leonardo cake every year for his birthday

- He got his siblings lost while riding their bikes a few times in Arizona

and one of my favorite new pieces of info on Karl is.....

-When he was a toddler, before his dad put him to bed so he could watch whatever game was on, Karl would have his dad pitch a baseball to him which he would hit, run after and bring it right back. His dad never had to take his eyes off the game:)

I just love him more and more!

Third: Opening presents time!

The best part of this segment of birthday awesomness was when his cousins Gabriel and Patrick came over. Gabe made Karl a way cool pop up birthday card. Patrick ran up to Karl, gave him a hug, and said, "You're a pansy and Happy Birthday!" It was funny because Karl and Emily are the ones who taught Patrick to call people pansies:)

It was so much fun getting to spend time with him on his birthday and get to hangout with his family.

I just love that boy more and more all of the time.

He always knows when to make me laugh or when I need to talk seriously about something and he even handles thing so well when I need to cry.

Last week was the first time I cried in front of him and although I absolutely hate crying, it was a very therapeutic experience.

He just held me and let me cry and when I was ready to talk about it, he let me talk.

I am one lucky girl:)

Only 3 weeks and 1 day until we are married for forever!!!

Bridals

Oh!

And my bridals are finally done.

You can see them here:)

.....

Sometimes it's hard to remember that I am a daughter of God.

I'm sure all of you have felt like that at some point.

Things like, how do I look, what do people think of me, I'm not pretty enough, or I'm not smart enough start to creep into our thoughts and make us wonder what we are worth.

This talk I found by President Faust helped to remind me of how wonderful it is to know I am a daughter of God.

When I remember that fact and trust in it, life becomes so much more meaningful.

Comparing myself to the people around me becomes less of a temptation.

I see more of the purpose I have in this life and am able to see that purpose so much more clearly.

I am so thankful for the gospel!

It would be so easy to forget how much we matter without really knowing who we are and who we can become.

My dad told my siblings a story yesterday of about an English prince. A group of men wanting to overthrow their current form of government captured this prince and tried to corrupt him by exposing him to every sinful, vulgar behavior. After weeks of not being able to bring this young man down, these men asked him why he had not fallen to this lifestyle that no one else they had exposed to it had been able to withstand.
The prince replied that he was born to be a king and that was not the behavior of a king.

My dad reminded us that we all have the potential to become kings and queens. We were born to become kings and queens. As a daughter of God, that is my destiny if I follow a righteous path.

All of us daughters of God must be worth a lot if our Heavenly Father has promised us that we can have all that he has by following him and living up to our divine potential.

It's good to remember who I am and where I am going.

My lIfe is Average

Sometimes, you just need something to make you laugh. I love the little things. It doesn't take much to make me happy.

Like the other day when Karl and I were walking to the library. As he was drinking his pop, he proceeds to tell me how much he likes pop. Why you ask? Because it makes him burp!

Gross maybe, ridiculous yes, but I laughed for a good twenty minutes and it made my entire day!

Whenever I need a good laugh I go to mylifeisaverage.com. A lot of the stories are ridiculous, but if you read long enough, they all sound hilarious! Here are a few gems I found today:

Today my friends and I went to a country club. We were bored, so we decided to walk by people and say random things really loud. When we walked by one family, my friend said to me, "So how's your new medication working?" I said back, "It's working well, but I'm still hearing the voices." The looks on their faces? Priceless. MLIA

Today, I looked up strange laws in the state of Oklahoma. It turns out that whaling is illegal. I have no idea how someone would manage to go whaling in the inland state of Oklahoma. MLIA

Today, I was at the mall shopping in Urban Outfitters with my friends. I called out one of my friend's names which so happens to be Marco. At least three people said "Polo" and one person jumped out from behind a clothes stand and ran away saying, "YOU CAN'T GET MEEEE!!!" MLIA.

Yesterday, I got my wisdom teeth taken out. My mom told me that when we left the clinic I "ran" and belly flopped on top of a bush, attempted to do the breaststroke all while screaming at the top of my lungs, "the British are coming, the British are coming!". I have no recollection of this, but I really wish my mom had videotaped it. MLIA

today my 7 year old sister slapped me across the face screaming "this is for narnia!" then looked at my cat and yelled out" hermoine! you left your cat at our house again!"HerLIA

Today, my grandma picked up the TV remote and asked 'Whose cell phone is this?' MLIA

I have no idea if any of the stories posted on this website are real, but I always find something to that makes me laugh every time.

Ever since I started reading this website, I find myself noticing random things that happen every day and appreciating them so much more. Yay for my life is average!

Help For the Overwhelmed

I can't take credit for this post because it was the inspired feeling I felt when I read Ashley Benjamen's blog post about feeling overwhelmed and needing to sort out priorities that made me decide to write it.

I know a lot of us are feeling overwhelmed with school already and it's only day three!

My emotions have been so up and down the past couple days of school. I was excited to start my new Communicative Disorders classes, overwhelmed by my new work load, and I have just felt like something hasn't been quite right.

After reading Ashley's post and reading a talk by Elder Ballard about focusing on priorities (read it!), I feel so much better. It put things back into perspective for me.

I haven't spent enough time making sure I put the Lord first. Everything else falls into place when I remember to put him first.

He is with me in everything I do when I spend time with him each day.

Elder Ballard gave these six suggestions for prioritizing our time.

1-Think about your life and your priorities always keeping in mind the covenants you have made with the Lord as you write down your daily schedule.

2-Set short term goals that you are able to attain and pray about what these goals should be.

3-Create a wise budget for yourself to ensure that your needs are met and wants don't trump needs.

4-Stay close to family and friends. Honest, open communication with the people you are close to brings happiness into life and creates a good support system.

5-Study the scriptures. There have been many times in my life where turning to the scriptures brought a comfort and peace into my life that I couldn't get from anywhere else.

6-Pray. That lifeline is so important! Talk to your Father in Heaven. He loves you and he wants to help you.

This talk has really helped me refocus my goals and priorities for this semester.

I know I am feeling better already and I hope you are to!

Good luck with school!!!


On a side note....my engagement pictures are done!
Check them out!