The Power of Music

In my Media, Family, and Human Development class we had a lecture about the power of music. I was so surprised at how much music can influence people. Music can affect spirituality, identity, and personality. Music is transgressive, which means that it makes people think and do things they normally wouldn’t. Sounds pretty powerful doesn’t it? Well studies show that music happens to be more important than any other media type in managing your mood and expressing your identity.

This was kind of a reality check for me. Am I listening to music that is positively affecting my life or negatively affecting my life? In rap and hip-hop music there tends to be lots of sexual references and women are very objectified. It is said that boys cant listen to rap music in front of women because the music teaches the boys how to be men. If rap and hip-hop music teaches the boys how to behave then that terrifies me. Why would you want to listen to music where women are constantly objectified and put down? I know that I don’t want to listen to women being objectified. I don’t want those thoughts running around in my head and eventually turning into beliefs and actions. I know I am worth much more than that. I know I am a woman that wants to be respected. Music is scary powerful and I think it is really important that we all start listening to good, uplifting music from now on.

In class we also learned about how music can be positive as well. Prosocial music inspires people to go out and do good in the world. This song by Gavin DeGraw was shared and I really enjoyed it. Go out and do something good today! Xo

Will You Accept This Rose??

Tonight is the night. I know, I know, I am a day late. BUT, I had to go to FHE last night and have a pre-super bowl party! So now I get to have a Bachelor party tonight! I decided to invite a bunch of friends over to my apartment. I honestly don’t understand why I love this show so much but I just do. The dating and the drama and the scandal. It is all just so entertaining! It is so hilarious to watch just how crazy some of the girls get. I mean I can kind of see why, who actually dates 30 girls at one time? Of course that would get emotional, cutthroat, and dramatic! This got me to thinking about dating in our day. Particularly dating in Provo.

Dating in Provo is an art. It is something that takes awhile to master. I sat back and chuckled as I found comparisons between dating in Provo and The Bachelor.

Never Ending Dating Pool. Dating in Provo is similar to the Bachelor because in Provo there seems to be a never ending dating pool. There is always someone else around the corner. This is especially exaggerated lately because of social media and apps like Tinder. It is just too easy to get connected to so many people at once. The Bachelor has 30 women and one man. I would say that is a pretty large dating pool, especially to date them all at one time. Maybe not 30 women at once, but I think if you tried, you could almost get away with that in Provo.

First Impression. The first night of the show is always interesting. Girls come in on motorcycles, singing, telling jokes, and whatever else you can think of! What about the first week in church in a singles ward in Provo? Oh those lovely singles wards.... When everyone gets all dressed up to make sure they get noticed. Double points if you bear your testimony in church that week. Sound familiar Provo?

Cookie Cutter. Sad but true, we all know there have been suspicions of racial discrimination on the show. There also isn’t very much diversity here in Provo.

One on One. In Provo you better know how to master the first date. If it doesn’t go well then you probably wont “get a rose” or in other words, “get another date” because you can easily have another 5 first dates that same week if you wanted.  

Willing To Do Whatever It Takes To Find Love. You have to be dating for the right reasons. The Bachelor contestants are constantly telling everyone that they are on the show for the “right reasons”. This can be applied to Provo dating too. There are Provo-All-Stars and Players everywhere. You have to watch your back in dating and make sure that you, and the others, are dating for the right reasons. (A.k.a. eventually getting married in the temple, duh!)

Will You Marry Me? Another similarity I thought of is the pressure to get married. There is clearly a stigma at BYU that if you don’t get married by the time you graduate, then you are a failure. Just like the Bachelor. There is an engagement at the end. This forces decisions to be rushed to be made. This causes stress and pressure. People get really aggressive in dating. This also makes the girls, and boys, go crazy and do things they normally wouldn’t. Just. Like. The. Bachelor.

Maybe this is why I like the show so much. Maybe it is more related to real life than you think! I cant help it, I just LOVE The Bachelor!!! Xoxo

Visiting the Widows

Recently I have been thinking a lot about the elderly. This may sound like a little bit of a silly statement, but I have had a lot of things remind me of the elderly lately. My Grandma just passed away about 2 weeks ago. I think this has made me a little bit more sensitive in noticing things around me that remind me of her, or the elderly. This also has made me think a lot about death and about spouses that pass away and leave their loved ones here on earth. My poor Grandpa is so lonely now that my Grandma has gone to Heaven. He doesn't know what to do to fill his time! He has spent almost 60 years of his life married to my Grandma, and he has spent the past 10 years taking care of her while she was sick. Now what?


This devotional came at the perfect time in my life. In this devotional, Don R. Clarke, talks about visiting the widows. His words hit me hard. They helped me to feel peace. I am so ready to go out and find some widows and become their best friends! I also know that others are doing the same and looking out for my Grandpa as well.






Take some time to listen to this devotional. It is so worth it. I know that charity is such a pure form of Christlike love. I encourage everyone to try and reach out to others and serve them. I know it will mean EVERYTHING to the people you are serving, and it will bless your own life as well. It will help us all to be happy, feel the holy ghost, and be closer to the Savior. Go out and do something good today! xoxoxo

That HI Life

Hawaii was the BEST! It was the perfect getaway with my family. Every single time I go to Hawaii I always have such a strong desire to move there for school, internships, work, surfing, ANYTHING!! I love it! Sometimes I seriously think I was born in the wrong state because I could totally pull off the whole surfer chick thing. Livin in a shack, eating fish taco's and snow cones, driving a jeep, no makeup, curly hair... the list goes on. I am pretty sure I could do it :) A girl can at least dream.

We went to Hawaii for my dads work meeting and we stayed at the Hyatt in Poipu, Kauai. Both my parents were there and my awesome little sister, Syd. The resort was beautiful and had huge swimming pools and gorgeous beaches. We would explore in the mornings and then go to the pool in the afternoons and dinner at night. So chill and so much fun.

I got to go on some great adventures in the few short days I was in Hawaii. The first adventure we went on was to the Waimea Grand Canyon. It was just my family and we drove up to the lookout. It was a little bit overcast and foggy so we were worried that the lookout wouldn’t have the best view. Turns out, the view was amazing! The clouds made it better because the lighting was perfect and the fog gave it an eerie, majestic feel! The only bad part about the Waimea Canyon is the steep drive to get there. I actually got carsick and was puking at the top. :( That was no fun. We found this cool fruit stand at the top with our new favorite fruit! It is called Rambutan. It made my tummy feel better ha. We also tried sugar cane, cocnut water, fresh avocado and we finished it off with some yummy taco’s at Island Taco on the way home. 

Rambutan 

 My AWESOME parents! 

The next day we went on an adventure to….. church! It was just my family and our neighbors from back home. We went to sacrament meeting at a local LDS church. Everyone was super friendly and it was such a great, refreshing feeling to go to church! We actually made my sister Syd, and her friend Alex, stay for Sunday school while we all went and got lunch because there were cute Hawaiian boys in her Sunday school class J hehe. They told everyone they were twins and everyone believed it! Our next adventure, on Monday, was to Queen’s Bath! It is a gorgeous little pool that is cut out of the sharp lava rocks. The water is so blue and the view of the Na Pali Coast is fabulous. Here is the picture that I posted on Instagram.

It was gorgeous and the hike was gorgeous and we even found a cool waterfall on the way. 

The funniest part of the whole day had to be on the hike to Queen's Bath. There was this overhanging tree and all the boys and Syd were jumping off this rock and swinging on this tree. Of course, I wanted to try it too! But being the clumsy person that I am, I jumped up and grabbed the tree and my hands slipped and I fell straight onto my back! My face in the picture below explains everything hahahaha.

Idiot.... 

  

Overall I had such a great vacation! I am so lucky to have such an awesome family. I am so blessed to live in such a beautiful world! I love Hawaii! Xoxo

Embracing the Ski Bum Lifestyle

This week I decided to buy a seasons pass to Snowbird so that I can snowboard a lot this year. I have always loved to snowboard but I haven't been able to go as much as I would like in the past few years. Some of my friends in my apartment complex, Matt and Barton, decided to get a season pass with me. Our goal is to become ski bums this year! It snowed 24 inches overnight so we decided that this past Tuesday was the perfect day to officially become ski bums (or a snowboard bum in my case). We got the cars all packed the night before and we were ready to drive through the awesome snowstorm to get to the mountain! We tried to look up ski bum phrases on our way. The phrases we are currently working on this week are:

Tracked Out- someone has gotten to the powder snow before you and made their tracks
Pow pow- fresh powder snow
Lodgie- people who just like to hang out in the lodge
Flat light- when the lighting is bad so you can't see the snow very well
Shredding the gnar- just totally looking like a baller as you go down the hill!!

Haha it has been a lot of fun to try and "embrace the ski bum lifestyle" with my friends! I am so blessed to live in such an amazing place where the mountains are so close. I love when there is fresh, white, snow weighing down all the trees. It is such a sparkly dream, and everything seems so peaceful and quiet after it snows. One of my favorite things is going up to snowboard while blasting music as I shred down the snowy hills. Some days I feel like listening to hard core music that gets me pumped, but most days I love to listen to chill music so I can think. Music can really influence my mood and my thoughts. It is great to board to uplifting music as I try to figure out all of the worlds problems ;) It recharges me and makes me feel energized. Snowboarding makes me so happy! Wish me luck this season as I try to officially become a ski bum! xoxo