The month of May-hem!

Okay so maybe it took just a little longer than I thought, but I'm back! The reason why I was gone is because I agreed to be in a musical at CVJH for their banquet show. We only had two weeks till show time. That was including learning the music, the dances, and memorizing all of the lines. So that is why I had to stay completely away from the computer and just devote my time to the musical. It was a VERY VERY stressful week, but thankfully, we did it! (and it's done... haha)

This month was a CRAZY month! Not only was I in this musical, I also choreographed and performed in a dance for my old ballroom team at OHS. It was so fun to be able to perform again! Even though it wasn't the same school I performed at, it still brought back memories! So lets just say, I am very grateful that after Tuesday, this month will be OVER and it will officially be summer!! I'll be graduating the end of June, and then finishing up my internship in September! I've been giving it some thought and I also think I'm going to be going back and doing the Pharmacy Tech program. It would take me from August until December and it's night school so I can still hold my job doing Medical Office Administration, so we'll see how that goes!

But besides all the craziness this month, there were just a few things that got me through it, and I thought I would share them with you. :)

1. Fish-- My best friend Kristy just sent her boyfriend off on a mission to Ohio this month so she and I have been hanging out LOTS. One night we were sitting in her room and I was watching her fish. She has a 10 gallon tank, and a 2.5 gallon tank in her room. For some reason they mesmerized me and made me feel so calm! So what did I do? I went to Petsmart and Animal Ark. Next thing I know, I'm an owner of a 2.5 gallon tank with 6 fish! It sounds kinda weird, but I love them all! I would lay on my bed and just watch them swim around in my tank at night and it would make me not feel as stressed and I'd fall asleep! I LOVE my fish!

you can see 4 of them in this picture, the other two are hiding in the tower. :)

2.Being with my mom-- My mom and I are best friends. Some people think we are sisters because of the way we act. It is seriously the best. When we do stuff together we just laugh and laugh. It's the best therapy in the world just being with her! Yesterday we drove up to Bountiful to take my Grandma to my Grandpa's grave to put flowers on it and I had SO much fun! We just laughed and talked the entire time! I love my mom. :)

3. Nannying-- I seriously LOVE my job. For safety purposes, I'm just going to say T & E. There are 4 girls, but 2 of them are in elementary and I babysit from 10:30 until 2:30 so I only have T & E during that time. They make me so happy! Haha. When ever I see T with her curly brown hair and bright blue eyes I can't help but smile! She is SO funny! She's just learning how to talk and when ever she wants to get my attention she'll say, "We-ee" (Livi) and she says it so excitedly and had the BIGGEST grin on her face. I LOVE IT! Then E and T and I will just sit and watch Elmo on the couch and have tickle fights and laugh our heads off. Even when we made cookies and T accidentally dropped sugar... everywhere... I laughed and loved it! I love the messes little kids make, most people hate the clean up, but you've got to just let kids be kids! They are so cute and say the darnedest things. One time when E and I were sitting on the couch, she looked up at me and said, "I love you... Miss Hanigan!". Seriously, so cute huh! Haha. Even though I don't know how I like being related to Miss Hanigan (from Annie) I still just loved it. I just love them. Haha. Every day is a new adventure and everyday they make me happy. I love my job!

4.YouTube-- Kinda random, I know, but if you've ever watched Miranda Sings, or Glozell, you'll know what I mean. They both have channels on YouTube and they're just SO funny to watch! Glozell tells stories, and Miranda, you guessed it, Sings. They're both comedians and you can't not laugh when you watch them. But one thing that I loved about YouTube yesterday, I just decided to type in Jacob's name not really thinking I'd find anything.... but I was WRONG! Some wonderful person recorded Jacob singing "Hardest Part of Love" when we were in the musical "Children of Eden", and posted it on Youtube! The first time I ever heard him sing this song I cried, partly because of my recent break up, but because Jacob's voice is amazing and he did SO good! That honestly was a HARD day. I was already on the verge of tears but when Jacob opened his mouth and sang this song, the flood gates broke loose and I sobbed. Right after he sang, thankfully rehearsal was over. Jacob saw me crying and he and Tiana took me out to ice cream. Haha. He and I were honestly BEST friends I tell you! We were ALWAYS there for each other! Anyway, I cried when I found it and just loved my life ever since. I'm not going to openly admit to how many times I've listened to it on YouTube, haha, but just know, I've listened to it it quite a bit... haha. I love it.

This was after "Once Upon a Mattress" I couldn't really find a "Children of Eden" picture, but this works!

5.LETTERS-- of course. :) For some reason, none of my letters came on Friday this month! Until 2 days ago, but that was when the chaos was all over with! Haha. HE IS DOING SO GOOD! I love hearing from him! He is amazing! I stand in awe at how wonderful he is everytime I get a letter. But letters seriously make my week, every week! I just sorta kinda love that boy... a lot. :)

6. Spyder-- Seriously, anytime I was just about to my breaking point I'd go into my dad and say ready for a ride? And five minutes later we would be on the road! With the warmer weather we've been doing canyon rides a little more and I LOVE IT! I am so grateful to live where I do! I love being able to go up the canyon and just take in the beauty of it all! There is something about riding on the Spyder and being able to not be in a car and just take in the wonderful nature! Our world is so beautiful and I LOVE the mountains! I need to take a camera on one of our rides sometime. I seriously am amazed at how different it is than driving in a car. It's beautiful. I love it!

7. Photo shoot-- My bff Kristy that I mentioned earlier, is a photographer and she wanted to take some pictures so Ciarah, Kristy and I went in the canyon and had a photo shoot! I'm really excited to show them all to you! She's not done editing them yet, but when she is, I'll give you the link to her blog so you can view them. It was so fun!

8. Temple & Scriptures-- I'm still going to the temple once a week, and in 4 weeks it will mark one year of me going to the temple every single week. I know that it is blessing my life and it is just a peaceful place to go. I love being there and being able to feel of the spirit. It brings me such comfort, it's the most wonderful place on earth! A Heaven on earth. :) Also reading my scriptures is a great comfort as well. They are filled with the most wonderful things. I love reading them. You can learn SO much from them! This gospel is amazing isn't it!?

So amidst the chaos, this month really was a wonderful one. Even though I'm not a big fan of stress, I grew so much this month. I'm so grateful for trials, they make us so much more stronger, and closer to our Heavenly Father, I'm so grateful for this gospel, and families. It really is amazing! So on this Sunday, even though it looks like it may be a rainy one, don't take it for granted. We are so blessed! Take some time and write down the things you're grateful for, visit family, serve a neighbor, or make cookies for someone. Make this last Sunday in MAY a memorable one................ and THAT'S a sip of Livi's Lemonade! :)

Ready or not, here it comes...

Alright Ladies and Gents.

This is the week! The week where I will totally fall off the face of the planet earth and become invisible. I can't fully go into detail as to why that is the case, but just know that I am VERY looking forward to the end of this week and truly hoping I will survive it.

You could say this week sounds like it holds endless stressful responsibilities, but that would be a bit of an UNDERSTATEMENT. 

The next time you hear from me (electronically) will be Sunday at the earliest, for there will be no time for it!

So while I hope you all have a wonderful week, the most I can hope for is that I will take more than one shower and remember to brush my teeth twice a day!

*YIKES*

 Maybe it IS a good thing you won't be seeing me this week. And if you do happen across the tragic event of running into me, I apologize in advance. Ha ha ha.

So if any of you need to get a hold of me, it will have to be by the good old fashion phone, or snail mail.

I love you all! Remember to make lemonade out of your daily struggles! ciao.

........and THAT'S a sip of Livi's Lemonade!

Just a little thought... :)

SORRY I've gone AWOL again... May always ends up being my busiest month of the year, no matter what I'm doing, so just bare with me and as soon as this month is over, I'll get into my usual routine. Ha ha :)

Everyday when I wake up, I read a book called, "He Shall Fulfill All of His Promises" by Lloyd D. Newell. It's a book that has a spiritual thought for every day. Today's though, I felt like I needed to share with you. So here it is:

"Choose good friends. Friends will help to determine your future. You will tend to be like them and to be found where they choose to go. Remember, the path we follow in this life lead to the path we follow in the next."

~Thomas S. Monson

(ensign, May 1998, 47)

"All along our life's course, we can choose to associate with those who build and bless others, or we can choose to associate with the damaging or the apathetic. Especially for adolescents, friends are a vital part of constructive development; they can help us to stay faithful and strong, or they can lead us in a negative, harmful direction. President Thomas S. Monson said, "In a survey made in selected wards and stakes of the Church, we learned a most significant fact: Those persons whose friends married in the temple usually married in the temple, while those persons whose friends did not marry in the temple usually did not marry in the temple. This same fact pertained also to full-time missionary service. The influence of one's friends appeared to be a highly dominant factor--even equal to parental urging, classroom instruction, or proximity to a temple. The friends you choose will either help or hinder your success. (Ensign, May 1998,47)"

(He Shall Fulfill All of His Promises, by Lloyd K. Newell page 144)

 

I think that all is pretty self explanatory. I am so grateful for the many people that have come into my life to help ME come closer to Christ, and become the person that I am today.

Thank you all!

 "People come in and out of ours lives every day. But no matter who they are, every single one of them made a difference in your life. "

Be grateful today! :)....... and THAT'S a sip of Livi's Lemonade! :)

Miracles

Today has been a crazy day. It started at 4:30am when my parents were roaming about the house and out the door at 4:45am to get to the hospital for my dad's heart surgery. Because my body hates me, once they shut the door, I was completely awake. So I went down stairs, got some breakfast, and watched "Boy Meets World" on TV. By 6:30 it was time to get ready and head to school. On the drive out to MATC I was starting to get a little tired. When I got into class I couldn't focus at all. So I took a test and received a text from my mom updating us on the surgery, and decided to leave and go meet my mom at the hospital where we would wait for my dad to come out of surgery.It was a surgery that hasn't really been performed very much, and it's a tricky procedure. Luckily my dad's surgeon is the best heart surgeon in the world (so we've been told, and so far it's proven to be true :))

On my drive over there, at a stop light I looked down
at a tiny notebook that I keep in my car.
It's a notebook that I got in seminary that has entries from most of my friends. For some reason I grabbed it and picked it up. As I flipped through the pages there was one random entry in the middle of all of these blank pages, totally out of place.

I quickly flipped back to that page and smiled as tears came to my eyes.

It said, "Miracles happen. Expect them. And if you ever doubt that they do, remember that you were one of mine.
Love, Jacob Parmley".

I have no idea when he wrote this, but I am so grateful that it wasn't until today that I found it. It's amazing to me how even though it was written probably 9 months ago, it wasn't meant for me to find until today. My heart is full, and I am VERY grateful for promptings of the spirit, modern medicine,

wonderful amazing inspired doctors, and tender mercies. :)

Everything went fine with my dad's surgery and he is now recovering. My mom and I will probably only venture out of this room about two times the rest of the day, so don't be surprised if there is more than one post today. ;) So today, I challenge you to notice the tender mercies in your life and write them down. I promise you that there will be more than you think they are.
:)................ and THAT'S a sip of Livi's Lemonade! :)

love you all :)

Slacker...

Okay, I've been producing some SERIOUS slackage. BUT I have an explanation, and a very GOOD explanation I might add. Yes I do know the quote, "Excuses are like armpits, they always stink". But this one doesn't! I promise! :)

So since the day I was born, my dad has ALWAYS owned a Harley Davidson. Along with two of my brothers. (Todd on the left, Dad in the middle, and Spencer on the right) When I was 8, we moved down to Orem into our newly built house with an unfinished basement. What does that have to do with anything? Well, two years later, when I turned 10, my dad sold his Harley to finish our basement. Being that young I hadn't ridden on the Harley that much and didn't realize how much I would miss it.


Well, you see, the past year has been a crazy one for my Dad. Last summer he started looking for a new bike and found one that he wanted to get. A Canam Spyder. He went to a dealer and searched through the many kinds they had, and decided to get the 2011 special edition Spyder (one that has all the bells and whistles, of course ;)) and they are only making 50? I believe? In the whole world. So in October, my dad put down 1,000 dollars that couldn't be refunded on his new Spyder, that would arrive in March.


My dad was SO excited to be able to have a motorcycle again. He even blew up a HUGE poster of his bike to put up in his office at work. Well, two weeks later, he started having knee problems, and was scheduled to have a knee replacement in December. A week before his surgery, he went into the Canam store and told them that if someone else wanted his Spyder, that they could give it to them because he didn't know if he'd be able to ride it. Well life went on, and he had his knee surgery. Then after one of his doctor appointments that I drove him to, we went to the Canam store. He walked in and told them that he would be able to ride the Spyder and he wanted to still have it. Luckily, nobody had claimed it so it was still his. After spending about a half hour in the store, I REALLY started to get excited about the Spyder and the fact that my dad was going to have a motorcycle again.


My dad bought my mom and I these decked out motorcycle jackets, and these REALLY cool helmets. His Spyder was supposed to arrive in March, and he was going to retire on March 28th. PERFECT retirement gift right?! Then on March 12th my Dad went into tachycardia, his heart rate was 196 a minute and had to spend three days in the hospital (He was fine). He has a pacemaker, artificial valve, and a defibrillator, but the defibrillator didn't go off. Even though that happened, that wasn't going to affect anything of the upcoming events, OR riding his new Spyder when it arrived. Well on March 18th they called my dad and told him that the Spyder was in Canada just waiting to be brought down on a truck and that it would be about a week. Well the week came and went, and then the next, and then the next, and then it was time to go on our cruise and it STILL hadn't arrived. The store owner told us that it should arrive the Monday that we got home from our Cruise. So when we got home, one of the first things my Dad did, was called him, and the Spyder was STILL NOT HERE! I was going CRAZY! I was so ANXIOUS to get on that bike!


There is a happy ending to this story, I promise. Monday April 25th, they called my Dad and said that his Spyder would be ready for him to pick up on Wednesday the 27th. That day I drove my dad down the the dealer and hurried home so that I could get all geared up for a ride! :)

So my fellow followers, may I introduce to you, the much anticipated, Spyder Mabey..... (Yes, I treat him as my own brother, haha)

So the reason why I have been slacking is because I have been spending ALL of my free time with my Dad, and Spyder. We've been on rides EVERYWHERE! My favorite features are I get to control the music, AND the HAND WARMERS! It's the best thing in the world. It's so comfortable. AND a side note, my mom's back usually hurts when she sits on practically anything, BUT it DOESN'T hurt when she's on the Spyder, Cool huh! Anyway, My dad is going in for heart surgery tomorrow and has to lay in bed for 4 days after he gets home from the hospital. So we've been riding a lot today. Speaking of which, I can hear that he just started the motor in the garage. Time to go! I'll be back soon! There will be lots more time to blog because Spydie is going to have to sit in the garage for a week. So until then, love you guys!..... THAT'S a sip of Livi's Lemonade!

P.S. If you hear a motorcycle go by your house, it's probably me. I'm obsessed with riding on Spyder. ANY time of the day! :)

1345.64 miles away.

Tonight was my last night CLOSING at Wienerschnitzel, and I only got three hours of sleep last night, and yes it is 12:39 right now, but sometimes, you just need to post. Tonight while I was at work, I got a text from my mom letting me know she'd been on my email and she thought that I had already been on it for the night.  Mondays are when Elder Parmley has p-day so he sends an email home and his mother forwards them for all of us to read. :) So between my mom and I, we're always checking to see when the email gets sent. But like a good mother, my mom USUALLY doesn't read them until I do. The reason I say usually is because tonight, that wasn't the case. Haha. :) I was so anxious that I made SURE we clocked out by 12, (but it was 12:04) so I could rush home and get on the computer! Needless to say, it was a GREAT email. In a letter I sent a while ago, I asked him if there was anything he would like me to share here, on this blog, and in the email today, after he finished something he wrote, "Livi, you can quote that on your blog if you want :)" So here I am, on the blog... haha. :) BUT thats not the best part. You may be wondering what the title of this blog has to do with this post.... and after reading what he said, I'll tell ya. :) So here you go! I present to you.... Elder Parmley!

"It was such an amazing spirit in sacrament meeting.  I did sing with the really small choir, but it was such an awe inspiring program.  I’ve missed singing and bearing my testimony of the Savior through song.  Elder Hunter (he plays the piano phenomenally) and I are working on “Savior Redeemer of My Soul” so that we can perform it in sacrament meeting soon.  I’m really excited for that J I love music.  I absolutely love to share my testimony through it, to open up my heart to an audience and tell them how much I love my Savior through song.  It is precious to me to feel the spirit while I sing.  I need to sing more.  I’ve missed feeling the spirit in that way.  Sister Jeansome ( the Ward Choir director) pulled me aside after church, grasped my hand, and with tears in her eyes simply said, “thank you.” She said some other things to, but I only remember exactly the way she said “Thank you.”  Music can touch the chambers of the hearts that words alone can never reach"

If you read my post from yesterday, you'll understand why this brought tears to my eyes for more than one reason, and that's because of the experience I had in sacrament meeting when I sang a solo about the Savior. There was just something about singing it in that meeting that touched me and made me almost lose it in front of everyone. And yesterday (after the fact) Jacobs words, were the VERY thoughts in my head. Miraculous.

So here's where the title of the blog comes in. Isn't it INCREDIBLE how even though you can be 1345.64 miles away from each other, you can STILL be having the same experiences and it being as though they are with you? And even though Jacob wasn't there, It sort of felt like he was in a way and after reading that, I can't deny it. I'll admit, another reason why it was hard for me to sing in sacrament yesterday was because the last time I sang in my ward, was last summer when I sang a duet.... with Jacob. And just thinking about that and remembering how far we had come since that day and thinking about the Savior, and all that he has done for us, and the experiences I've been through in this past year, just brought tears to my eyes. So reading THAT in his email, you can imagine! I was a wreck! Haha :) I am so grateful for this gospel and for music. Music really does touch the chambers of the hearts that words alone can never reach. That statement was testified to me as I was singing the song yesterday. It doesn't reach only those hearing it, but it can also reach the heart of the person singing it. It's just up to us to share it.

So tonight I just thought I'd share that little thought with you from Jacob... and I... both being 1345.64 miles away.......:) ................ and THAT'S a sip of Livi's Lemonade! :)

p.s. For those of you that don't know. He has the most amazing voice... it's seriously is so beautiful. There is just an amazing spirit in his voice when he sings. I LOVE listening to him sing.....{After all, we all know it was when I heard him in Fantastiks when I first wanted to be his friend ;) haha}

Blessed Easter

Today I feel very blessed. For everything in my life. In fact, I've been on the verge of tears all day. But today in sacrament meeting is when it hit me the most. First of all, I went to church early today to have an interview with the second counselor, for a calling!!! HORRAY!!! I then in sacrament I was sustained to be a Nursery Leader and I couldn't be more excited! :) As you all know I absolutely LOVE kids! :) Even though we only have two kids in there right now, I absolute love it! :) So today as I started my new calling, we were having the lesson, and Sister Olsen had all these different pictures of Jesus. She would ask each of the two boys who are 17 and 18 months old, "Can you show me where Jesus is?" and with out ANY hesitation, both of them would point to it and smile all huge and say, "Dedus!" and they'd grin and giggle. :) It was the CUTEST thing in the entire world. I love how you can feel the spirit through little kids and how even though they are so little and only know how to say, "Mamma" and "Daddy" they STILL know who our savior and redeemer is! I am SO blessed to have this calling, I couldn't imagine anything better than to be with those two little boys, and being totally surrounded by the spirit every week!

Anyway, back to sacrament meeting. Haha. As the meeting went on, there was a choir number, a talk, two more choir numbers, then I had to sing a solo. Most people don't know this, but even the thought of singing in church TERRIFIES me. Weird right? I lived my whole high school life on the stage singing solos, why would that terrify me? Well I'll tell ya. When performing on the stage, I'm fine because I'm not myself. I'm acting as another person. But when I have to sing in church, I'm not acting. I'm being myself and singing from my heart, not through the character I'm pretending to be. The hardest character to play is yourself. When singing in church I always try to hide it (being why most people never know) but today, I'm pretty sure it showed. I was sick this week and didn't get to practice that much, so that added on to the nervousness.
The solo I sang I found one day while looking for songs on the Internet to record for my Easter CD I've been creating and recording with my voice teacher. I was on "Sally Deford Music" when I found the song titled, "For Me Alone". It was the most perfect song! The whole song was about if only I had wandered from the straight and narrow way, he would have come for me. For me alone. So a GREAT song for Easter. It really is SUCH a beautiful song.


As I was walking up to the pulpit, I had no idea what was going to come out of my mouth. I had sung this song numerous times, I recorded it a couple weeks ago, so I knew it really well. I knew the words, and I knew what it meant, but I had never FELT the words or FELT what it meant. Then, as the music started playing, it hit me. (Big, uh oh. Haha, if any of you had been in the first rehearsal of me singing "Days of Plenty" in Little Women, you'll know why. Haha when emotion takes over me, I can't even BREATH let alone sing, and I just literally SOB and can't ANYTHING out for the life of me!) BUT the show must go on! Next thing I knew, it was the measure before I needed to sing and I was opening my mouth and BOY did I struggle getting it out. LUCKILY, I have no idea how (really I do, haha, the spirit) I was able to buck up and sing the entire song. I only wish that I didn't let my emotions get over me entirely so I wouldn't have missed the key change.. bummer. Also a good thing that I never looked at my family, or I would have lost it COMPLETELY considering my sister and mom were crying, haha. But I did it! I still don't feel that great about how it sounded, because it HAS sounded better. But there was such an amazing spirit about that song. It was just another little nudge from the spirit reminding me that even if I alone had to come down to this earth, the savior would have come just for me. And that I am SO grateful for. I'm also SO grateful that I was able to sing it and share it with my ward on this Blessed Easter Sunday. Ahh I love promptings from the spirit, aren't they great!? :)

It's been kind of a rough week, but after church today, receiving the calling, hearing the wonderful talks given, and being able to seen that song, the cherry was put back on top of my ice cream sundae. I am so grateful for the knowledge of this gospel and the comfort it can bring you in times of need. :) I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday as well!............................. and THAT'S a sip of Livi's Lemonade! :)

and also, because some of you have asked, if any of you would like a copy of my recording of the song, just let me know and I'll give it to you. :) Thanks you guys!