I am a member of a family.

I love my family. My parents are converts to our religion. I love my grandparents and all they do for us. It’s amazing how loving they are and happy. There are such good people in the world and I am blessed to have my family as some of them. It’s hard to see them grow older. I was blessed

my first semester of college as I was able to skype with them and talk to them over the Internet on social media sites and email. Skype is too confusing for them to understand now and they have trouble sending emails and chatting on social media. I can definitely see my communication with my grandparents as something valuable. I can tell I act differently around them than I do my regular parents or my friends. They are so special to me, I would hate to let them down or do something that they do not understand. This is why it was so hard to tell them that I was getting married in the temple and they could not come. This affects me positively though because I am able to show them my standards and how I will live them to bless my future family. 

I am a photographer.

I was interested in a DSLR for Christmas, so I asked for one and got one not knowing how much it would change my life. I started taking pictures of my sister, and then people started coming to me to pay me to take photos. My photography business sort of just “happened” and I wouldn’t change it for anything. I have grown so much in knowledge of my camera and in communicating with others. I don’t think I realized how much of a people person job a photographer has. I need to be professional when I talk to future clients or current clients so that my reputation stays high and has a positive influence on the people. I can improve my self esteem with my photography by putting my skills and gifts into the image and being confident in what I produce. Often I am scared that the customer is not going to like what I give them, but they are paying for my services so I need to show that I love what I do. This experience has affected me in a positive way. I am definitely not the same person I was before
I got my first DSLR camera. I am able to view the world more clearly and listen to my surroundings. I want to continue this talent and keep learning more about photography. 

I was a good sport.

Halloween with my family is always entertaining. I am the bird named “Kevin” in
the blue shirt, my sister Claire is the dog named “Dug”, my younger brother Parker is “Russell” and my parents are “Carl & Ellie” all from the movie UP. It is tradition in our family to dress up as a theme for Halloween each year. I enjoyed doing this activity together because it was a way for us to bond and enjoy our time together. It made Halloween fun and exciting because I knew we were going to come together and be awesome. It’s a family tradition that I want to continue with my own family. When we would dress up like this and show up to Halloween parties, we would receive lots of comments how fun we are and creative. This affects my communication style because I felt like every year we had something to hold up and carry on. I would sometimes be bossy at what the costumes should be and how we should look. But in the end it all worked out and we looked great no matter what our idea was. My mom still has every picture of our Halloween costumes hanging on the main wall of their home. This has affected me in a positive way because when looking back on my childhood, this was a big part of it. 

I was an animal lover.

I am the child holding the cat named Callie. Callie was our first “real” pet. My mother worked for a Financial firm and one of her clients was selling kittens. I still remember going to pick Callie up, it was like we were taking home a new friend and a new family member. I did everything I could with her. I enjoy being with animals because they don’t judge you and they want to love you. This has affected my communication style by showing a more caring and loving side. I remember finding baby rabbits in our backyard in a nest and picking them up because I was worried the mother wasn’t going to come back. Then my mother explained that now she definitely won’t come back because I touched them. I have learned how to help and care for others. I see this reflected in my daily life as well. I am concerned about how others feel before myself. I would rather have them okay and me uncomfortable. 

I was imaginative.

A new doll-house was the beginning to hours of imagination each day. I was in my own world when I controlled and created new stories for these plastic people to live. I loved having control over what happened and acting things out by myself. I was an only child at the time and I would usually play by myself, my sister would come the following March. This has affected my communication style because now I find enjoyment in being alone and working alone. I feel like I can think better in an environment that is free from others. This activity affected me in both a positive and negative way. I am able to work on my own great, but it’s also hard to deal with other’s ideas. I also think I am a creative person because of it. I think I am given a tough situation in life and I’m able to come up with a solution quickly, even if it might not work. I would give these dolls difficult stories/situations and then overcome it by figuring out a solution. Looking back I think it was a challenge for me to have a sister younger than me. Now I see her as a blessing, but having other people around is hard for me to work and get things done.

Journal Snipit From Tonight

I got there and couldn’t believe this day had come. I sat there waiting to be called up and thought, “I will never have to be called up and push in my chair again.” I got there and the guy said, are you excited it’s your last day? And I said, yessss. It went by pretty fast and I got a lot done while I was there. I was DONE! While I was there, Kent and I kept texting saying “one hour!” Less than 2 hours! Less than one hour!! It was fun. When I was done I went to the front and handed over my paper and said "goodbye forever!" To the manager. He said, "have a nice life! I went out the first set of doors and Kent was right there!! It was so exciting! He came for me on my last day!!!!!! I was so happy and I am so happy he came. It was so sweet and fun to see him there in the building on my last day. We skipped to the car and kissed in the car and he told me how proud of me he was and how much he appreciates me working for extra cash. He was so sweet and I just couldn’t wait to celebrate! I have less stress and I feel so free.

I usually don't use that many exclamation points, but that is real excitement right there!!!