Should have happened a long time a go. The trip. And the post.

I moved out here to Utah in 2010. That’s five years ago. And for those 5 years I have been thinking about, dreaming about, and talking about going to Zion National Park. There were lots of opportunities I guess but I just never made it there. Presidents’ Day Weekend presented the perfect opportunity. We packed our lunches the night before. Then we packed up my sweet roommate Kati’s car, picked up her brother and went on our way.

Pretty much once you get south of Payson the highway is surrounded by…nothing. We drove fast, blasted music, stopped for gas, slept, read books and took a wrong turn or two. We also made a pit stop in the town of Virgin…yes, you read that right…just to take this picture.I don’t know the origin of the word “virgin” but I think it’s kind of strange to give a town that name.Finally we arrived a Zion National Park. We were unaware that it was free national parks weekend or even if they accepted credit cards. So as we approached the gate we begin frantically trying to scrounge up the $20 entrance fee (because we’re college students and don’t plan these things ahead of time) only to be told that because we were all “so cute” he would let us in for free ;)

I had spent about 5 mins online looking up potential “hikes” of interest (because we were not all about the infamous Angel’s Landing) so when we entered the park we really had no idea where we were going. It wasn’t until about driving for about 20 mins and seeing the “Exiting Zion National Park” sign that we realized we’d missed a turn somewhere (turns out the turn we wanted was 11 miles back). But the drive provided some great scenic views and chances to practice some YOGA poses.We turned around and finally made it to the correct location where we ate our lunch and then hiked up to “Weeping Rock.” I use the word “hike” loosely here-it was a paved trail, up hill, that took 5 minutes. But the view was definitely worth the walk!Then (at risk of falling from a cliff) we hiked “Emerald Pools”. This was a beautiful hike with amazing views and plenty of places to stop along the way to enjoy the scenery. It was also pretty easy as far as hikes go-I give it a thumbs up! Em tried to take a nice picture of Mike and I but this child was in every shot.When I asked Em how it came out she replied “It looks good. Except that there is a random child in your pictures.” And then from behind her a woman angrily commented, “That’s my random child.” Whoops. But its whatever-that child was a real pain and was throwing rocks down the cavern while everyone was standing around. Dangerous. Control your kids!It was a fun trip! I can’t wait to go back. Or maybe hit Arches again. And I still need to see the Grand Canyon. Lots of adventure awaits!

Name Them One by One

They say it takes 21 days to make a habit (maybe I should try blogging for 21 days-HA!). 3 weeks. That’s it. So if I do something for a whole year it should become like a character trait or something. Right? On that idea for the last couple of years I have decided to make one resolution each year, hoping that if I stick to it I will create a life-long habit (because if it only lasts a week year than is it even really worth it?).

In 2012 I made the resolution to live with “no fear” and I think I did a pretty good job. I had some pretty scary conversations and made some pretty big decisions that changed my life forever.

Then in 2013, while living in a foreign country trying to figure out how to understand Spanish, I made it my goal to, See more, hear more, love more. Talk Less. I’m a talker and I wanted to learn to be a better listener. I learned A LOT about myself and about others in 2013.

2014 rolled around and I was still living it up in El Salvador and we were challenged to “give a gift” to the Savior in the next year. So I made it my goal to serve someone everyday. I honestly don’t know if I went out of my way to serve others every day, I didn’t keep track, but I do know that I never forgot my goal and having it on my mind made it a lot easier to find opportunities to serve.

This year my goal is again very simple: Recognize the blessings…everyday. I believe that happiness is a choice. I have learned that when we look for the good we find it. And when we look for the bad we find it. Life is very often what we want it to be. Knowing that, sometimes I am still a real downer. I see long hours of work piled on top of excessive homework assignments and having to get up early for church on my only day off. And because I’m so caught up in those things I miss all the beautiful little miracles that are happening around me.

My best friend Shelby gave me this beautiful journal for Christmas (it’s purple!) and since I already had my goal in mind I decided to use it as my Daily Gift Journal.  Everyday I am going to recognize, in writing, at least one good thing that happened. One thing that made me smile. Hopefully this will help me to be happier. Hopefully I will see more good. And that journal is pretty big so I think I have room for way more than 21 days.

Here’s to 2015 being a year of blessings and happiness!

Am I a feminist?

I have asked myself this question since my sophomore year of college. I took a Sociology of Gender class in which we discussed the issues facing men and women (but really mostly women) in today’s society. Quite honestly my teacher was a proclaimed feminist who I felt didn’t respect the opinion of others and turned me off completely to the whole idea of feminism. But she also made me think. Am I a feminist?

Feminism as defined by google (that’s a reliable source right?) is- the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.

I guess I agree with that. Kind of. Political and economic equality. I can hop on board. I’m glad I can vote. I’m glad I can have a credit card in my own name. I’m glad I can go to school and have a job. I am grateful for many things that the feminist movement had accomplished.

But I don’t like the word equality all that much. Or better, I should say I don’t what the word equality has come to represent. I’m  sure a thousands feminists could read this and tell me all the ways I don’t understand what feminism really is and that’s fine (I’d be thrilled if 1000 people read this). Equality seems to mean that woman want to be “the same” as men. Men and women are NOT the same. Just like I am not the same as anyone else. Just as society encourages us to embrace our individual differences, I think it should encourage us to embrace our gender differences. These differences are real. They exist.

Sure I think women should be given equal pay for doing the same job as men. If they do it just as well. But I don’t think that a company or organization should feel trapped into hiring a female just so that they don’t get the backlash for discrimination.

I think men are more naturally inclined to be providers. Just as there are stresses that come with motherhood and carrying and nurturing a child there are stresses that come with providing for a family. Women find fulfillment in motherhood, do they not? Just as men find fulfillment in “bread-winning”. This is not to say that women don’t enjoy success in the workplace or that men don’t value being fathers. All I am saying is that stereotypes exist for a reason. We each have an important role to play, men, women and children alike. If we would stop fighting it and embrace it I believe we would find true joy and escape the double-standard our society seems trapped in.

 

So, am I a feminist? You tell me.

Why I Dumped A Bucket of Ice on My Head

The first time I saw a video on my Facebook feed of a friend dumping ice water on her own head, I thought, “What kind of dare did she get herself into?” and didn’t watch the video because I “didn’t have time” (which is dumb to think, I could have watched it, I wasn’t doing anything but looking at Facebook). Over the next couple days these videos started popping up more and more, this “dare” of drenching yourself with freezing water spread like a virus…indeed you could say it went “viral”. I had no choice but to watch and learn about what the heck was going on.

From what I understand the challenge goes like this. Once challenged you have 24 hours to either complete the cold water act AND donate at least $10 to an ALS charity of your choice OR you can forego the “fun” part and donate $100. Simple enough. When challenged I chose to donate and enjoy a cold bath. Why? Not because I didn’t want to fork over $100 but because I realize that AWARENESS can do just as much for a cause as a private donation…and dare I say, more. I realize that a 30 second video of me being silly and calling 5 other people out by name specifically to do the same is a lot more effective than a “Please donate to this GREAT cause!” post that will be scrolled right over 90% of the time.

As mentioned in my bio I study non-profit management (aka charity organizations), I have volunteered on committees working to raise money and awareness for a cause…it is NOT easy. It takes a lot of time. A lot of brainstorming. You have to get creative. Anything that catches peoples attention is worth a shot. And the ALS Association has done a GREAT job of calling attention. I have read quite a few articles surrounding ALS and the Ice Bucket Challenge…and I have to say while many are positive and uplifting, I find some of them incredibly negative and even downright offensive.

I head over to the ALS official website (ALSA.org) and read things that make me feel uplifted, they make me feel like ordinary people can make a difference right from their own backyard:

“We couldn’t be more thrilled with the level of compassion, generosity and sense of humor that people are exhibiting as they take part in this impactful viral initiative."

and

"While the monetary donations are absolutely incredible, the visibility that this disease is getting as a result of the challenge is truly invaluable. People who have never before heard of ALS are now engaged in the fight to find treatments and a cure for ALS."

But then I read articles like these pieces of negative “journalism” (you can read here and here). The mention things like narcissism and point out that “pouring a bucket of ice over your head wont cure ALS.” I mean seriously? You think we don’t know that? If you think that is what this is about then you clearly have no understanding of how marketing and advertisement work. We understand that freezing in our backyards isn't going to give someone with ALS the ability to walk again. Just like we understand that shaving my head wont cure cancer, fasting for 30 hours wont stop starving children from dying everyday, or running an obstacle course wont give a wounded soldier his leg back. We understand that but we do it anyway. Why? Because it matters. Because thanks to people dumping ice on there heads millions of people who had never even heard of ALS (myself included) now know and care a little more about it.

So, NO dumping a bucket of ice on my head wont cure ALS but neither will your negative comments and articles. If you don’t want to dump a bucket of ice on your head, you don’t have to. But don’t tell me it doesn’t matter. Don’t tell this family it doesn’t matter (VIDEO LINK).

To learn more about ALS, make a donation and learn more about what you can do click HERE