Addicted to Happiness

Hi friends. Everyone loves to be happy right? Recently, I have found that I am a happier person and definitely a more pleasant person to be around. This is because  I have actively  changed my attitude. I have done this because I grasped the concept of: HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE. In any circumstance I can make myself happy. Did you know that there are studies that show if you just smile, you will become happier. Sometimes, I seriously have to "fake it, to make it" but it works. I slap a smile on my face and BOOM I'm so much happier. I love it. I am changing from a pessimist to a realistic optimist. I say realistic because I don't want to get crazy and think things are all fine and dandy when they are not. But when things aren't fine and dandy, my favorite thing to do is to find at least one thing that is positive from the situation. That one positive thought can go a long way, I promise. I encourage whoever is reading this to find those things that make you happy and keep them in your life. Make them common events, people, or things in your daily life. I am addicted to happiness. I can make anywhere my happy place because I have realized that there is no happy place. Happiness is a state of being and anywhere can be your happy place if you want it to be. Choosing to be happy is the best decision I make each morning.
My sources of happiness are infinite but a few things that I can always count on are my friends, family, and the gospel. I know I can always find a member of my family and they will put a smile on my face. I know that I can fall to my knees in prayer and become happy, I know that I can go to the temple and be instantly happy, and I know reading the scriptures and reading conference talks will always make me happy.
Thank you to those that have ever made me happy. Which is probably most of the people reading this because people who read my blog make me happy.

Here is a lovely picture of my wonderful family. They make me so happy and this picture not only makes me happy but makes me laugh and laughing is one of my favorite parts of happiness.  

White Crayons

Today in Young Womens we found a white crayon on the ground. It appeared unused and comments were thrown around like "White crayons are the most useless crayons"and "Why are white crayons even a thing?". I am not sure why but this almost made me angry. Then I stood up for this little white crayon and said  "Its not useless it just depends on how you use it." then we decided that a white crayon is a perfect option for colored paper, especially black, dying eggs, and other activities. This conversation maybe lasted two minutes but it has really stayed in my head for the rest of the day.

Aren't we all just white crayons? During this brief conversation I realized we have quite a bit in common with this white crayon. We can go through life and try to make marks on white paper or we can find our canvas and color our own picture. Make our own impact on the world.  This summer I realized a fraction of what I am here for. I found my colored paper and am now starting to write out my own story. I know Heavenly Father has a plan for me. He has a plan for every single one of us. We just need to let him guide us in the direction that we need to go. Every single one of us is as useful as this white crayon. We just need to realize what we need to do here. I know that sharing our knowledge of this perfect gospel is something we can and should be actively doing. Teach others that they are useful rather than useless. If you have not found what you should be coloring on, I hope you seek to find it, and if you have already found that paper, I hope you are creating something beautiful.  I am thankful to those that have helped me find me find my place to draw.

That Time When I Ran Cross Country

On October 21st, 2015 I completed my last race of my high school career. I have never felt so relieved after a race, especially since I stayed on my feet. I've ran for Murray High School all four years, and it is one of the hardest things I have done. When I mention that I run cross country, people always ask if I am crazy. Before, during, and right after every race I learned more and more that I am a little insane. Cross country is hard, but so if life. When running a race and running through life I do my best to keep my Heavenly Father right by my side. I know through him I can get through the tough times. Through cross country I learned so many things and met the most amazing people, some who have become my closest friends.

Running is 90 percent mental. I had to break through some major walls in my head to become successful. If it were possible I would just turn my brain off for the 20 minutes. Before every race we pray as a team and I know that because we do that we perform better and have The Spirit with us as we run. There have been times in my races that I heard a whisper that just said "Keep going, I know its hard, but you've got this". Then I would somehow find energy to push through all the pain and keep going. (After all 22 minutes isn't that long right?)  Something I learned from cross country is that our bodies are amazing. They can accomplish so much more than we think they can. I would have never guessed that I could run so many 5K's at the pace that I have. Our bodies are so strong and capable of so much. Do you know why that is? It is because they were designed and crafted by the most powerful being in this universe. I don't know about you but I think that is amazing. Cross country has given my confidence in my body, and in myself. I had the most amazing coaches,
teammates, and all around program. I was never that serious about cross country and honestly, neither is the Murray team. We work hard but its still fun. Our coaches make it so we actually want to come because they are fun, and we are fun.

One of my favorite things about cross country is that we aren't like a normal sports team. We had serious athletes but we also have some of the smartest kids in the school on our team. Yes, we are all awkward but somehow we still manage to get to know each other. I have gotten to know kids I would have never even thought about socializing with. We are like one big family that is all so different, yet we are all the same. I would not trade my time on the cross country team for anything because of how it had brought me closer my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Prayer is so Powerful

Hey there folks! Over the past couple of months I have changed, a lot. Most of it I made an effort to change and then some of it just came a long with my efforts. One of the things I changed in myself was prayer. How I pray, when I pray, where I pray, and what I pray for. I pray more intently, I pray A LOT more often, I pray anywhere, and I pray for basically everything. If I am nervous, I pray. If I am sad or angry, I pray. If I am happy or feeling grateful (which is pretty much always), I pray. If i need help or a friend needs help, I pray. this new habit of mine is so great and I highly recommend we all pray all the time.  Because of all of my prayers I feel the spirit with me, I am so much happier, and I am a lot more aware of what is going on around me. This past week I have had several experiences with prayer. 

One of these times my prayer was answered during the prayer. Isn't that cool? Nothing like this had ever happened to me and it was so awesome. When I knelt down, I was pretty upset and just wanted a way to let my emotions out. So in reality I just wanted to cry. I have a very hard time letting myself cry because I tell myself it is a sign of weakness. So I prayed and cried and it was super awesome and I stood up feeling so much better about life. The next day I had pretty much the opposite experience. I was crying uncontrollably and I felt like Satan was keeping me from thinking about what I needed to think about and I know that he was making me feel super angry and flustered. So there I was kneeling in my room asking for the opposite of what I had asked for the day before. About 30 seconds after I said amen, my crying didn't just fade out, it just stopped. It was insane. When the crying ceased, so did all the feelings of anger and confusion. I immediately knew what I needed to do and everything worked out perfectly. The difference in feeling I had was incredible and I can't even describe it. So the following day I had this super amazing experience with prayer. I had been praying for a few weeks for a friend and for them to be helped with what they needed. I was texting this friend and had casually mentioned they go read a certain conference talk about hope, and they did. (If you would like to read/ listen to this talk click here.) After they read this talk they told me that this talk helped them with exactly what they needed. My prayers were answered and that feeling is so wonderful.  

If you put to much thought into it, like I have, prayer looks strange. Kneeling with your eyes closed and just speaking to air. If you have not prayed, try it!! Once we get over the fact that it looks strange and actually try it, it will work. I love to pray and hope that you do too! Pray wherever and whenever!

Here is a super awesome talk on prayer that everyone should listen to!

I am more than an Athlete

Hi, I'm Jennie and I play basketball, softball, and run cross country. This is how I used to introduce myself to people when they asked me to tell something about myself. Please notice how I say USED to. I let sports be who I am and I really don't like that. I use to dress and carry myself in a way that people would look at me and say "wow she is an athlete". I wanted people to know me as the girl that plays three sports. Not only did I want other people to look at me this way but it is how  I looked at myself. I breathed sports; any decision I made, I had basketball in the back of my mind. I would skip out on fun social events to go work out or go shoot by myself. As an athlete some may think that this is the road to success, and they are correct, to be a successful athlete. I want to be more than a successful athlete. I hope one day to be a successful, wife, mother, and daughter of God. I know that a person can be all of those things and a successful athlete but the balance in my life was not healthy. I let sports run my life instead of letting Christ run my life. I wanted to go play college basketball which was going to keep me from receiving so many blessings. This would have kept me from part of girls camp which would have kept me from relationships with some very amazing people. This most likely would have kept me from going on a mission, which if everything goes the way it should I will be on in around two years. Over the course of my junior year I learned that sports do not define me. Once  I had that figured out, I still needed to figure out what did.  Through one of my teammates I learned that sports could be taken from me in a split second. In my mind that would have been the end of the world.  I watched her go through this injury and she handled it like a champ. This messed up her chance of going to college on an athletic scholarship but she went through it the best way possible.I don't wish to get an injury that will take sports away from me, but if it were to happen I know I could handle it, and I know I could find some sort of positive in the situation. As I went to girls camp I learned that sports do not define me. I am more than an athlete. I like to think I am a kind person, I like to read, recently learned that I enjoy writing, I love helping people and plan on spending my life doing just that, and most of all I am a daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves me and I love him. I love to talk about the gospel and I try to share it as often as possible. I am an athlete, but I am also a disciple of Jesus Christ. It took me a while to figure this out, but I am so glad I am figuring this out now and not entering college and figuring it out while I am sitting on the bench at some college basketball game because that would not be fun. I am more than an athlete. I am my own person, not what sports make me.  I am Jennie Anderson and I am a daughter of a King.

Because Labor Day

Clearly, today is Labor Day. I've always known that Labor Day was a holiday that honored those in the military but I have never really thought much about it until today. I have put a lot of thoughts out to those serving for our country and I pray for the soldiers and their families. Recently I have read a couple of books and watched a few shows about the military. Yes, I know that they probably are not the most accurate when it comes to feelings and the technical terms and all that stuff. But they have definitely opened my eyes on the military. I am so thankful for everything our soldiers do. I cannot comprehend why people would want to go into the military, maybe because its because I'm selfish but I could not voluntarily go and get shot at. These people go through so much just to protect our freedom. I will never be able to express how grateful I am towards everyone and their contributions to preserving the independence we have.

 Now lets take a second and talk about the families of those that are serving. That takes some serious toughness. Their family member takes off and they have no idea whether they are going to come back alive or not. I don't know about you, but I am not quite sure if I could do that. I don't think I am strong enough. I could not go on with my life knowing that my husband, or child is being shot at. These people have incredible strength. I cannot wrap my mind around the feelings they must feel as they watch their family member walk away. How do you even say goodbye? I really don't think  I could do it. Now, if my husband were in the military I would support him but I would definitely need some support myself. So I guess what it comes down to is that Labor Day should be a holiday that we are thinking of our troops and their families, and send a prayer in their direction. Happy Labor Day everyone!

Last First Day of School

Hey there folks! Today was my last first day of high school. It's a weird feeling and I don't feel like a senior and don't think I look like a senior. But I just need to face it, in 179 school days, I will be graduating. About two months ago thinking about this would have put me to tears. I avoided the topic and if anyone asked me about my plans after high school I would either cry or tell them that I am going to live in Disneyland and possibly turn into a cat. Now that I have figured out that I want to go on a mission, serve The Lord, and have a pretty solid degree option, I feel so confident going into my senior year. I am pumped. I have surrounded myself with great friends and know that Christ can help me get through this year. If my children and grandchildren are reading this, here is what I have to say to you.  Hopefully you have heard this from me already but if you haven't for some reason; being nervous and even a little scared for school is okay! People can be scary and the classes can be overwhelming. Find two or three friends that you can talk to about the scary things and be a good friend to everyone. Keep The Spirit with you at all times and try your best to not put yourself in situations that it will leave you. Even if people are telling you otherwise, you are loved by so many people including myself and your Heavenly Father. Always be open to make new friends and go to school things. Support your school and your friends, remember you only have one high school experience so don't waste it. I know it's a lot of pressure but I know you can do it.
Anyways, my first day of school went really smooth. I was definitely blessed with some really cool people in my four classes today. I kind of really love this new attitude I have because it makes me go into these situations more positive and then my day goes so much better. Anyways so my A day schedule is pretty chill and laid back with classes like, Women's athletics, SLCC human development, psychology, and SLCC English. SLCC English is probably the class I am least looking forward to because the teacher that I wanted to teach it left and I was really looking forward to having her and English isn't really my thing. You all are probably going to love me being in that class if you continue to read this because hopefully my writing will improve. I ventured into the library today which is pretty normal but the strange thing was I actually checked out a book. The first library book I have checked out in my two years of high school and I plan to check out many more! So that how my last first day went, nothing too exciting but it needed to be documented. All in all I'm really excited for this chapter in my life.
Oh, and here is what i looked like when I left the house on my last first day, I had a serious hair malfunction but everything turned out alright. (:

Thanks for reading! Definitely more to come from my senior year so stay tuned!