Time for random facts about me!

I have been called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in São Paulo, Brazil

My favorite color is purple.

I have 5 half siblings, and 2 step siblings (3 girls, 4 boys)

I love the mountains!

I have played the viola for almost 9 years.

I once had a butterfly land on my shoulder.

My favorite foods to snack on are Oreos, Ritz crackers, and Craisins.

I am 5 foot 1 inch

I used to play volleyball, basketball, softball, run, and swim.

I dream of being a singer/songwriter

I've run a half marathon without stopping.

My initials are SMH...Simply Me Here

I love learning languages and I'm so grateful to be learning Portuguese.

If I were any other ethnicity, I imagine I would be Hispanic because I love the food, dancing, people, music, and language.

I can lick my elbow.

I am a White Blue.

My nicknames: Shan, Shanni, Shanaynay, Shnon, Shull, Shawn, Shannaan, Shanpoo, Shandiddly, Shann, Sahannon, Shansquatch...to name a few.

My favorite word is YA'LL.

I want to marry a boy who is first and foremost, my best friend.

I desperately want to study Music Education.

I want to learn to play the guitar.

I've always wanted to take horse-back riding lessons.

I wish I were a real cowgirl.

I used to have really bad performance anxiety...it's better.

I used to have an overbite.

I had congenital hernia when I was 4.

I was named after the character Shannon in Far and Away.

I love the outdoors!

I had braces for 6 years.

I am an official boy scout...no, not girl scout.

My favorite animal is the elephant.

I've had a cat all of my life. No dogs. :( Use to have a pet mouse.

I love going to Orchestra performances!

I went on a 10 day backpacking hike through mountains of New Mexico.

I have exercise induced asthma.

I was in the pit orchestra for Phantom of the Opera at BYU.

I want to work a summer at Philmont Scout Ranch.

I used to wish I had a twin brother.

I sleep with a Saber-toothed tiger named Shawn.

I miss my long, curly hair.

My favorite scripture passage is Proverbs 3:5-6

I have 2 nephews and 2 nieces.

My niece Madeline, was born on my birthday. :)

When doubts, fears, and worries creep into our hearts...

The past couple of days have been particularly stressful for me. As I allowed my worries to settle in my heart, I found it very difficult to smile, to think positively, and to radiate the light of Christ. I found comfort from Dieter F. Uchtdorf's message "The Hope of God's Light" given in the April General Conference of this year. I especially loved this passage,

There may be some among you who feel darkness encroaching upon you. You may feel burdened by worry, fear, or doubt. To you and to all of us, I repeat a wonderful and certain truth: God's light is real. It is available to all! It gives life to all things. It has the power to soften the sting of the deepest would. It can be a healing balm for the loneliness and sickness of our souls. In the furrows of despair, it can plant the seeds of a brighter hope. It can enlighten the deepest valleys of sorrow. It can illuminate the path before us and lead us through the darkest night into the promise of a new dawn. This is "the Spirit of Jesus Christ," which gives "light to every man that cometh into the world." (D&C 84:45-46)

When we allow our hearts to be penetrated by lightness, darkness cannot exist!

Uchtdorf gives a few steps to opening our eyes to the hope of God's light:

First, start where you are.
We don't have to be perfect now to experience the blessings of our Heavenly Father. "The very moment you begin to seek your Heavenly Father, in that moment, the hope of His light will begin to awaken, enliven, and ennoble your soul."

Second, turn your heart toward the Lord.
"Lift up your soul in prayer and explain to your Heavenly Father what you are feeling. Acknowledge your shortcomings. Pour out your heart and express your gratitude. Let Him know of the trials you are facing. Plead with Him in Christ's name for strength and support. Ask that your ears may be opened, that you may hear His voice. Ask that your eyes may be opened, that you may see His light."

Third, walk in the light.
"Your Heavenly Father knows that you will make mistakes. He knows that you will stumble- perhaps many times. This saddens Him, but He loves you. He does not wish to break your spirit. On the contrary, He desires that you rise up and become the person you were designed to be."

As soon as we allow the light of Christ to enter our hearts, we will be able to reflect that light into the lives of those around us. I am so grateful for the people in my life that radiate this light. On this day, I am especially grateful for my dear friend, Madeline Rose Morris, who shared her light with me for 7 wonderful years.

Madie,
I met you at a difficult time in my life, and right from the start you expressed love and kindness towards me the way that you always have. Throughout the years, you have taught me so much about life and being an example of the believers. You still teach me things every day. I am so grateful for the memories that I have with you and I will cherish them forever. Thank you for being that light in the darkness! I love you and miss you so much!

6 months closer to seeing you again...

Happy Birthday, Madeline Rose Morris! <3

You can find the entire talk here:
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/the-hope-of-gods-light?lang=eng

A Weekend in Joseph Utah

Those who know me know that I hate goodbyes...so the end of freshman year was pretty hard. The only thing that gave me hope was that I knew I had made friendships that were going to last.

Dainia and I made plans for me to come down to Joseph for a weekend. So I did!

Saturday morning, we decided to go for a bike ride through the canyon not really sure how in shape we were for this adventure.

 Yes this is our idea of hanging out. :)

It turned out to not be that bad! So we just kept going!

We took a lot of pictures along the way.

When we found out we were only 2 miles from Big Rock Candy Canyon, we decided to go all the way. And man, when we got there, we were relieved!

So we took some more pictures :)

         

And then we ate lunch! Mmmmmm....BLT and sweet potato fries :)

          
                                       

This trip reminded me of a few things to be grateful for. First, I am so grateful for the beauty of the Earth. There is something about being outside in nature that is just awakening. Although my testimony is built on much more, it is hard for me to imagine the beautiful world that we live in coming together just by coincidence. I think God knew we would find joy in it and maybe that it would remind us of Him. 

Secondly, I was reminded to be grateful for my body. I know that not everyone can just decide to go ride a bike any time they want to. I also know that gaining a body is essential for us to become like our Father in Heaven. Because I have a body I can:

go on a 20 mile bike ride

play the viola, the piano, and sing

hug everyone I love

dance like no one is watching

run a half marathon

throw a softball

And lastly, I'm grateful for this girl. A year ago, I wouldn't have had any clue that I would meet and become friends with a girl from Joseph, Utah. I loved every minute I spent with her this weekend: dancing, eating "heaven", talking about boys and college life, watching movies, taking pictures, challenging ourselves with a 20 mile bike ride, enjoying the breeze through our hair, collapsing on the couch afterwards, sunburns, bonfire, tin foil dinners, S'mores, and playing softball with our matching mitts.

It makes me happy to say, "See you later, Dainia!" <3

I never said it would be easy...

I learned a valuable lesson today. It's never really come easy for me to get myself to practice but I could never figure out exactly why. I thought it was reasons like fear of failure, or not feeling confident enough, but I could never understand how I could want something so badly one minute and be ready to give it up the next. I still wanted it but I didn't know if I was willing to do what it required to get it. What I realized was that I wasn't alone. I realized that every human being experiences this. There is not a single human being that doesn't have moments where they struggle with themselves to do something hard. And so the answer is simply that I must give up my desire to relax and have fun. I must give up the tendency of the natural man to be lazy. I must focus on the end goal, on what I want most, and never loose sight of that. I must depend on my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ, to give me the strength, to help me overcome my weakness.

I found this quote:
“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”
~Randy Pausch

I'll try to remember that this week.

...I only said it would be worth it.

Bake Cake INSIDE of an Egg!!

I was sitting at my apartment working on some homework when I heard an unexpected knock at the door. When I opened it, I found a small Easter basket resting on the mat with a note attached to it and the name April inscribed on the outside of the note. My cousin, April, was out on campus so I sent her a text message letting her know that she had a surprise awaiting her return. I could tell she was already excited and eager to know the details of this surprise. Finally, she returned and promptly read the note to discover that it was from her boyfriend. He apologized for the Easter basket, but requested that she spend an afternoon with him for a picnic. April was stoked!

Later that day she told me about her plan to respond to the invitation. She explained to her "picnic curse". From her story, I learned that from three separate instances she had gone on a picnic date with a boy only to find that he was breaking up with her a day or so later. She had yet to go on a picnic that was not directly followed by this disappointment. The date that Cory, her boyfriend, had set up was intended to break the picnic curse once and for all!

She had discovered a youtube video earlier teaching the art of baking cake inside an egg and we were thrilled to try it out!

Step one: Poke a whole in the large end of the egg with a fork or other sharp utensil (this is where the egg sac is located allowing you to make a whole without getting messy).

Step two: Now, proceed to make the whole larger. You may be able to use your fingers. If not use anything that is long and thin (a paper clip unfolded may work fine). The hole should be a little less than an inch in diameter.

Step three: Hold the egg above a container, large end down and gently shake the egg white and yolk into the container (shake side to side as well as up and down) Depending on how many eggs you are making you will have some leftover. That is why tupperware is good. However, make sure that you set aside the number of eggs according to your cake recipe.

Step four: Wash out the inside of the egg by running it under water.

Step five: Fill bowls with water and food coloring. Set the eggs inside until they are as dark as you would like them to be (It is best if the water level is deep enough to cover the egg, but as long as you rotate it, it will be fine).

Step six: (While eggs are soaking) After making the cake batter according to your recipe, separate it into different bowls and color with the food coloring. 

Step seven: Take the eggs out of the food coloring and replace with more eggs. Set the finished eggs on paper towel to dry.

Step eight: Pour the colored cake batter into separate ziplock bags. Cut a small, triangular piece out of the corner.

Step nine: Place tin foil in a muffin pan and adjust so that they eggs can rest inside (hole side up).

Step ten: Spray the inside of the eggs with Pam cooking spray. Fill the eggs (about half way) with all colors. The colors will swirl in cooking so there is no need to try to do any particular design.

Step 11: Bake in the oven according to baking instructions for the cake mixture. 

Step twelve: If you fill the eggs only halfway, you shouldn't have as much cake flow over as this, but there may be some that you will need to peel off.

Step thirteen: Arrange eggs in an Easter basket.

Step fourteen: To eat, crack egg on a hard surface just as you would normally crack an egg and peel away the shell.

Step fifteen: ENJOY! :)

In case you were wondering, Cory was impressed. :)

Open Eyes

It's really hard for me to understand how some people don't see the hand of God in their lives. I see it Every. Single. Day. Sure, you could say that I'm just trying to find something in nothing. But maybe it just takes knowing the feeling of depending entirely on someone or something that you can't see and then having things work out better than you could have dreamed of yourself. And then, having your greatest fears turn into greater faith. It's the start of a new semester, and rather than going into details, I'll just say that I feel like almost everything that could possibly be changing in my life is changing...drastically. One of my major concerns going into this semester was whether or not I would be able to improve enough on the viola to make it into the music program. I decided to set aside 5 to 6 hours a day to practice, because I want this so badly. I know that music education is the right major, but that doesn't mean that it's going to get handed to me. I have to work my butt off. So, I was starting to feel hopeful about the future and didn't see any way for the situation to improve, when I found out that I wouldn't have my old private lesson teacher. Instead, I get to study with the head viola professor at BYU (during fall/winter semesters she only teaches music majors). I get to work every single week for the next 6 weeks with the person that makes the final deciding vote on whether or not I am cut out for the music program. That means, that I get 3 hours to prove myself worthy. I get 6 tries, 6 weeks to improve and she will see every step that I make. She will see every ounce of effort that I put into this because she will be right there guiding me along. I am absolutely astounded at how blessed I am!

Today was my first day to go to my Portuguese class. I was so worried that I would be the only one there that didn't know Portuguese because it is a 200 level class (somehow I was able to take it without the prerequisite). To my surprise, there were 3 other girls in the class who were also taking the class because they got called to Brazil and wanted to start learning as much as they could but didn't know any Portuguese. The teacher was SO nice and understanding and helpful! I am so thrilled for what I will be able to learn. The class is certainly going to stretch me, but once again, Heavenly Father has taken my fears and turned them into opportunities to recognize His hand in my life and to move forward in faith.

I love this gospel! I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for 18 months in São Paulo, Brazil.