To My Sisters

Okay, this post is dedicated to my sisters Ashley and Emilee (I know they read my blog cause they're the ones who kicked me in the butt to make me start posting again), but I think everyone can learn a little somethin'-somethin' from this. So anyway, here are a few things I've learned in life that I thought might be beneficial to you two. Some of these won't apply to you now so just log them away in your mind for future reference. I'll categorize them:
School (these will apply more to your college years probably)

• Develop good study habits. I cannot tell you how important this is. Your classes are probably really easy for you right now (you're an Oldroyd after all ;) ) and you can probably  ace your tests without studying or just by cramming for a couple hours the night before, but trust me when I saw this will SCREW YOU OVER when you get to college. College is most definitely not like high school was.
• Study whatever you are most passionate about. Whatever interests you most is what you should study, otherwise you're not going to try as hard in your classes. You might find that you are interested in lots of different things but stick with what you're MOST interested in. Perhaps you're most passionate about history but neuroscience interests you too. Well stick with history girlfriends, cause you'll probably regret it later that you didn't. 
• Don't let science (or scientists) try and convince you there isn't a God. I think science proves the existence of God; I mean how could everything just be random? There's no way everything just appeared out of nowhere and randomly organized itself. Everything is just too complex for there to not have been a creator. And when you consider all the complexities of the universe, it also makes you marvel at how powerful God is.
• Ratemyprofessors.com. You're welcome. Although by the time you guys are in college that website could be obsolete. 

Boys/Relationships (advice for when you turn 16)

• DON'T date guys that don't have your same standards or at least aren't willing to ALWAYS respect your standards.
• NEVER let boys come in between you and your girl friends, especially if they're your best girl friends. Boys just aren't worth that.
• Don't base your happiness solely on a guy. There are so many other better things to base your happiness on.
• Make him text you first every once in a while. If he doesn't text you first, there's probably a reason for it. As in, he doesn't really like you like that. Or he could just be really busy. If he does text you first, then you might be on to something.
• Associate yourself with guys who act like they genuinely care about you, cause if they act like that, then they probably do genuinely care about you. Don't associate yourself with guys who seem cool at first but are actually douche bags.
• Don't judge a book by its cover. Just because he looks scary doesn't mean he is. Just because he acts mean doesn't mean he's not a big softie underneath.
• Don't be shallow. Him being liberal or wearing flip flops are not reasons to not get to know or date a guy (and yes, I do know someone this shallow).
• If you feel like a relationship isn't bringing you closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ or it's taking you further from them, then it's not a good relationship for you to be in. 
• Mom was right about the "watch how he treats his mother cause that's how he'll treat you " thing. 
• When you get engaged, and even while you're dating, you're gonna want to spend all your time with that guy. However, don't alienate your girl friends, cause after you're married, they're the ones you're gonna want to hang out with.
• People say that once you get married you ditch all your old friends and they never see you anymore, and maybe that's true for some people, but I've actually had the opposite experience. All your old friends ditch you, so you're gonna have to try even harder to hang out with them.

Life

I've found this to be especially true. If you try and try and try to make plans with someone and they  continually back out, just quit trying. If they really wanted to be your friend and hang out with you, they would.

• If you think you're going to regret doing something later, then don't do it. Pretty simple.
• If you think you're going to regret not doing something later, then do it. Duh. It think that's a solid way to make to decisions, at least about fun stuff. Just think to yourself, "Am I going to regret not finding out where this path goes and what there is to see there?" And if you think you are, then do it. Of course, if you think you want to do something and the Spirit tells you not to do it, then don't do it.
• Most people really are good and decent. There are those people out there who are real jerks, but the world isn't as bad as TV and movies would have you believe. Surprisingly enough, I learned this from working at Target.
• If it doesn't feel right, then it probably isn't. This goes for pretty much everything.
• Take responsibility for your actions. Don't blame someone or something else for your own mistakes or stupidity. 
• You might think it will be fun to room with your best friends in college, but 9 times out of 10 you won't be best friends with that person anymore afterwards. If you think it will work out, then you can try it, but be careful. On the other hand, it's usually okay to room with girls who become your best friends after your freshman year. I mean, Stevie and Lisa are still a couple of my best friends. 
• One of my most favorite things is when people look at you like they genuinely care about you, even if they don't know you very well. I've noticed it's mostly guys who do this, but girls do it too. There's no way I'm the only one who likes this, so always look at people as if you genuinely care about them. And don't just look at them like it, really do care about them.
• Be the kind of person that people want to talk to and be around. Always be kind and loving to people. 
• On the other hand, don't take crap from anybody.
• Empathize with people. People like to know somebody cares, and be that somebody who cares.
• Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
• "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." -Albert Einstein
• Sometimes you lose the good things in life to make room for the great things. This is probably one of the most helpful things you'll ever learn.
• People don't always need you to try and fix their problems; sometimes they just need someone to listen. But always be willing to help someone fix their problems, if that is what they need.
• Relate to people. It will bring you closer to them.
• When you open up to someone, they'll open up to you. A special bond is forged when someone tells you something personal, and that gives you permission to share something personal about yourself too. If someone opens up to you about something personal, that means they trust you, and whatever you do, don't betray that trust.
• Some girls will get under your skin. I haven't quite figured out how to get them out from under my skin yet, but you'll either get to the point where it just doesn't matter anymore, or you'll figure it out.
• Be quick to forgive. People do stupid stuff sometimes, and if they're really your friend, you should get over it. In my Doctrine & Covenants class, we learned you're supposed to go to someone who's offended you and ask them for forgiveness. I haven't tried that yet, but it's definitely the Christ-like thing to do.
• It's stupid to hate someone for something that happened between the two of you years ago. And if there are people in your lives that hate you for something that happened years ago, let that show you the kind of person you don't want to be. It's so stupid to hold onto something like that for so long. And it's super female dog-ish. 

Church

• The opposition this church faces is proof that it's true. Satan doesn't want this church to progress so he's going to try his hardest to tear it down, or at least take out as many people as he can. 
• Keep the temple in your sights. 
• Dieter F. Uchtdorf gives great talks.
• Days always seem to go better when you remember to say your morning prayers. 
• Be where you should be, when you should be there, doing what you should be doing. And not just cause it'll keep you out of trouble, but cause it might keep someone else out of trouble too. 
• Jesus Christ didn't just suffer for our sins. He suffered for every negative thing we will ever experience, so He knows how you're feeling, and He wants to help you get through it.
• Difficult people are in our lives so we can learn Christ-like love and charity. When we have love and charity, we don't see them that way anymore. And anyway, if you knew what they were going through, you would probably be more compassionate. I also think difficult people are in our lives to show us the kind of person we don't want to be, and to humble us and bring us closer to Christ.
• "Heaven will solve our problems, but not, I think, by showing us subtle reconciliations between all our apparently contradictory notions. The notions will all be knocked from under our feet. We shall see that there never was any problem." -CS Lewis
• “If prayer is only a spasmodic cry at the time of crisis, then it is utterly selfish, and we come to think of God as a repairman or a service agency to help us only in our emergencies. We should remember the Most High day and night—always—not only at times when all other assistance has failed and we desperately need help.” Howard W. Hunter
• "At such times when we feel the floods are threatening to drown us and the deep is going to swallow up the tossed vessel of our faith, I pray we may always hear amid the storm and the darkness that sweet utterance of the Savior of the world: “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.” -Howard W. Hunter
• “Happiness is a state of mind, rather than a certain point which can only be reached by expectations we hold for ourselves.  The pursuit of happiness may be a little less stressful than we thought.  I hope that amid the phone calls, meetings and plans that Provo residents are pressured with, we will each take enough time each day to find joy in life’s simple pleasures...” -Laurie Fisher
• “There is a guiding hand above all things. Often when things happen, it’s not by accident. One day, when we look back at the seeming coincidences of our lives, we will realize that perhaps they weren’t so coincidental after all.” -Thomas S. Monson
•  "God does not look on the outward appearance. I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely." -Dieter F Uchtdorf
• "Compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God." also Dieter F Uchtdorf

I got all these images from Pinterest. If Blogger wasn't so stupid, I would have arranged them nicely and in an aesthetically pleasing fashion. Well this is pretty long, and I'm running out of things to say, so that's probably good for now.

*Wrap*