Maya Angelou

So I read one of Maya Angelou's books Letter to my Daughter and I just felt like sharing some of her wisdom. I love Maya's writing and I feel like this book and the quotes I'm going to share are just perfectly wonderful and uplifting. I'm sorry there are so many but I couldn't help myself!

"Be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity."

"Never whine. Whining lets a brute know that a victim is in the neighborhood."

"We may act sophisticated and worldly but I believe we feel safest when we go inside ourselves and find home, a place where we belong and maybe the only place we really do."

"That day, I learned that I could be a giver by simply bringing a smile to another person."

"My mother, Vivian Baxter, warned me often not to believe that people really want the truth when they ask, 'How are you?' She said that question was asked around the world in thousands of languages and most people knew that it is simply a conversation starter. No one really expects to be answered, or even wants to know 'Well my knees feel like they are broken, and my back hurts so bad I could fall down and cry.' A response like that would be a conversation stopper. It would end before it could begin. So, we all say, 'Fine thank you, and you?'
I believe in that way we learn to give and receive social lies. We look at friends who have lost dangerous amounts of weight or who have added ungainly pounds and we say, 'You're looking good.' Everybody knows the statement is a blatant lie but, we all swallow the untruth in part to keep the peace and in part because we do not  wish to deal with the truth. I wish we could stop the little lies. I don't mean that one has to be brutally frank. I don't believe that we should be brutal about anything, however, it is wonderfully liberating to be honest. One does not have to tell all that one knows, but we should be careful what we do say is the truth."

"We need to have the courage to say obesity is not funny and vulgarity is not amusing. Insolent children and submissive parents are not the characters we want to  admire and emulate. Flippancy and sarcasm are not the qualities which we need to include in our daily conversations."

"I maintain an attitude of gratitude. If I insist on being pessimistic, there is always tomorrow.
Today I am blessed."

"All great artists draw from the same resource the human heart, which tells us all that we are more alike than we are unalike."

"What do I think of my country? What is there, which elevates my shoulders and stirs my blood when I hear the words, the United States of America: Do I praise my country enough? Do I laud my fellow citizens enough? What is there about my country that makes me hang my head and avert my eyes when I hear the words the United States of America, and what am I doing about it? Am I relating my disappointment to my leaders and to my fellow citizens, or am I like someone not involved, sitting high and looking low? As Americans, we should not be afraid to respond."

"I find relief from the questions only when I concede that I am not obliged to know everything. I remind myself it is sufficient to know what I know, and that what I know, may not always be true.
When I find myself filling with rage over the loss of a beloved, I try as soon as possible to remember that my concerns and questions should be focused on what I learned or what I have yet to learn from my departed love. What legacy was left which can help me in the art of living a good life?"

"If we tolerate vulgarity, our future will sway and fall under a burden of ignorance. It need not be so. We have the brains and the heart to face our futures bravely."

"Many find themselves happy, without being able to explain the emotion. I think it is simply that they feel generally important."

"Make a difference
Use this degree which you
Have earned to increase
Virtue in your world."

Soooo......

So yeah, I haven't updated in months... I just don't have a very exciting life but I am leaving for England in like a day so that is actually worth posting I guess:) I also got a job working with mentally disabled children for the summer and if you have talked to me at all recently, you know how much I hate it, but sometimes I think that's just the pessimist in me... Yes it has some serious challenges, I mean most of these kids are completely dependent on you for everything, even changing positions, it's pretty sad really and I think that with the whole 'first real human job' thing it just made it hard for me to appreciate the good times I've had at this new job. I've met some really great people, my coworkers are amazing and are always there to help this poor soul, and the kids can be so sweet that I have a hard time not loving and cuddling them all day. One of the kids is my little buddy and he always comes to sit on my lap or play with me or just fall asleep on me (that's my favorite:) He's just so cute, it makes my gushy maternal side, that I'm always trying to squash down, come out, but I guess that's kind of natural for this type of job, right? Anyways, I just thought you guys should know I don't completely hate my job:)

Also I just wanted to say how much I miss this this summer:

Yes, this is the worst picture I could find

I miss my sisters! Yes, I live at home, and Megan still lives there too, however, Kathleen does not and she is always the one to get Megan and I off our butts to go on some grand adventure. Last summer was amazing, our parents were gone and we got to go and do anything we wanted, it was a blast but now Megan and I work all the time and Kathleen lives forever away, it's lame, but I look forward to our next visit with Kath, and the adventures it should entail:)

Ballet, Bangs, Dance and cookies

Yay! Another lame post! I hope you're all as pumped as I am.
In February Megan and I went to see the Ballet Cinderella performed by Ballet West in Salt Lake. It was dang good. The drive home is another story, but we won't go there....


Program for the Ballet, yes those are two men in the pink dresses

The ceiling at the Capital building

Megan has a gift for making pies, I could eat them all day everyday.

Megan's delicious pie!

So since it was march that means tons of dance performances. On the 16th we went up to Salt Lake for the Parade, which actually had nice weather surprisingly. Then we went out for some food before our next performances. We danced at two retirement homes that night and then my dance class decided to go out to Village Inn for some dessert. It was a lot of fun just hanging out with all of those girls, they're so much fun.

Me and my best friend Hannah

Our class minus Krista

We found a new way to wear our dresses

Bangs! I decided a month ago that  needed a change, I haven't done anything new with my hair since 5th grade so I guess it was about time:) To be honest it was really scary, I almost had a heart attack when she started cutting off all of my hair, I kind of felt like those people on What Not to Wear when they just start chopping away. But I really love them, they're so much fun and I think everyone else appreciated the change:)

I also made gingerbread cookies for the first time. They were really good, if I do say so myself:)

Shamrock shaped 'cause that's how we do!

The blob! this is what happened to the extra dough... Megan says it looks like Greenland

Me and the blob. Ignore the fact that I look certifiably insane, they were just that good

Obligatory landscape picture

I love living near Utah lake, it's so gorgeous!

Catching Up

It's been a while my friends:) So christmas happened, as did New Year's and the start of a new semester at school. It's been a lot of fun. Christmas break was a blast. I got to hang out with my sisters, and we saw a billion movies including Lincoln (which was amazing, I may have cried), The Hobbit (Also awesome), and Les Mis (sort of a let down but whatever, you can't have everything in life).
My friend Hannah and her sister Molly came for my very first sleepover.... yeah I know. Anyways it was so much fun and I hope they don't think I'm too crazy.
For New Year's we went to my aunt and uncle's cabin, that was a blast. I had so much fun skiing, sledding and just hanging out with all of my family. Kathleen also got a new car, which was awesome, I think she really enjoys having one finally.

Together at last

Sleepy Will

Cute Cousins

We made this in a day...

Showing us their new christmas presents

Snow!

Lots of snow!

The infamous obese valentine Barney outfit



The Cabin!!

Snow shot at the cabin

Scenery

Awesome tv

Good times

We also made this in a day

Guess what! We don't have lives.

Hurdles are dangerous things

Beautiful

January was lame as always but I loved the snow. February has been fun, just the other day we went back up to the cabin to celebrate my cousins birthday and yesterday I went and hung out with Hannah again which was super fun and we also had another birthday party for my other cousin Evie. I babysat her and her little brother not too long ago, I love playing and hanging out with those two, they're so funny. Cute story: I had put them to bed when Will came back out and told me he had something to tell me so I went back up the stairs and he looked up at me and said "I just wanted to tell you I love you." It made me so happy:)
Well I hate blogger more than life. I hope you didn't think this was I complete waste of time like I did.