me vs. me

I win!

What Drives You?

Last year I was asked to write a paper in response to the question "What drives you?" This was my reply:

"You walk down a street and see people all around. Different personalities flash by as others drive past. Maybe it's their type of music that they are playing that describes them and what they love. Or maybe you see a mini van abundant with children, a mom, and a dad. What do people live for? This father could be a working man, trying his hardest to provide for and raise his family. He lives to make his family happy.

Everyone has something that they live for, and something that "drives" them to do what they do everyday. For me, it's the people and loved ones around me. To see them happy is a great treasure of mine. In my life I have tried to dedicate all my efforts to those I associate with. I find it reasonable to say that the feeling of brightening up someones day is a worthy cause to live for. Seeing a smile drives me   to go on and to live for a better day.

Joy has always been my favorite word. It's the word that drives me. It reminds me of my courageous grandmother. She is the inspiration for the word joy. I often wonder what drives her. The answer always seems clear. It's joy. You may think that joy is small. in fact, it's a three letter word. But it has greater meaning. My grandma has undergone sickness after sickness and surgery after surgery. She doesn't complain. She goes on. She maintains joy in her life. This is my inspiration and my goal in life. To be like my grandmother would be a huge accomplishment. That goal drives me. I want it and I'm willing to shoot for it.

Is there ever a day where you don't feel joy? That's definitely a yes. We all have difficult times and that's what life's all about. Difficult things happen. Joy is still waiting though. When you find the thing that drives you, you have to be able to recognize it when it's there and you must reach for it with all your might. I know that sometimes people have a hard day and feel like they can't do anything but mope around. i don't think they are passionate about joy enough to recognize it, because it's there.

The man in the mini van gets in a car accident. He looses his wife and one of his children. He thinks to himself, now what do I have to live for? it's all gone. The joy in his life is supposedly gone. Does he give up on those children who are still living? They're still there. They feel the pain too, just the same. They lost their mother. Does the man recognize the influence that he has on the children who now look up to him more than ever? he can become their "joy". But he has to prove it, and live up to that. Can he find his joy though? He can find joy in the faces of his children. He can see his joy all around him. The oldest child has his wife's eyes. The other, looks just like her sister. Can he view these small evidences of joy?

It may seem tough. It is, no doubt. But with the right focus, we can understand it, and come back to the joy we had. When I'm in a bad mood, I recognize the effect it has on others around me. I've decided that I don't like it. My life time goal is to be happy and to make others happy. The lit up face of a child as I push them on the swing: that drives me. To feel the embrace of a friend who had been going though a difficult time that I helped them get through: their tears of joy drive me. Seeing a bunch of people, while walking down the street, makes me think about the difference one can make. I realize that I could be that "one". That drives me."

Halloween 2009! :)

Yes these are a little late.. but I was looking through pictures and thought that these were pretty cool! I was Russel from Up for Halloween. (put together the costume myself ;) haha! every random pin we had at our house was on it). After I showed the picture to my Grandpa he told me that I should have called him because he had every single patch on his sash and I could have borrowed it, so its a bummer that I didn't think of that!

Our jack-o-lanterns were SWEET! :)

Rachel Photography!

I've finally been able to start a blog for my photography! Go ahead and check it out! I'm still in the process of getting caught up with what I've photographed, but I am working on it! It is honestly so much fun to put together! Enjoy, and make comments of what you think! It's a work in progress! Go ahead and visit rachelvoorheesphotography.blogspot.com! Keep checking for more 'cause it's coming! Thanks!

Baby Jaylee

what a kid.. haha

Exciting Week

I'm continuing with my obsession of photography and I can't wait for good weather so that I can go out and take shoots of everything and anything :) If any one wants to see some great pictures though, go to fausetphotography.blogspot.com. This girl is my inspiration! Amazing stuff she's done! :) Maybe one day I'll be as good as she is haha.

But with more news :) I went to a school Dance this last Saturday! :) It was a BLAST! Adam Jones was my date :) He's my best buddy! We just had loads of fun! He thinks he's not photogenic but I'd say this is a good picture! :) *hopefully I'll get more pictures from the other girls in the group soon :) and i'll share. Sorry adam ;)

He is also in my ward and him and my friends won Region Church ball! It was loads of fun to cheer them on and be appointed as their Mascot and Manager :) They even dragged me into being in their Pictures. :)

Adam's Jr Jazz team also went all the way and won the championships! :) So he's a Champion all the way!

I had a very eventful and exciting week! :) I love having good weeks! Lets keep it up! :)

Photography :)

I have suddenly come to adore the art of photography! I love it so much that I want to do it professionally! :)

Alicia and I bought a Canon and I take pictures of anything and everything! It has become one of my favorite things to do!
Here are a few of the pictures I've taken! :)

I still havent figured out how to add photos onto blogger and make them big and not blurry.. Blogger seems to blur my pictures for some reason.

But thats all I'll show right now, but I hope to improve so i can get to the point were I could do it professionally in the future!! :)

EFY!

EFY! what an experience! It was so great to meet these people and have such a great, spiritual, awesome time!! This bunch of friends make me so happy! We had a great time! I really miss them!

Our Group name was Watch Yourselves!! :) This is while we were doing our awesome cheer!! WE WON the contest.. ya. "Don't look at us! Watch YOURSELVES!" wahoo! :)

The girls! they really are inspiring, and great girls! :) i hope to see them again soon!

The Guys! hahah!!! gotta love 'em! They made me so happy!

alright. the EFY i went to only was a Day one.. so I went with my neighbor Andrew (the one that can breakdance, haha) and we stayed at the Hinkson Family's house! Amazing family! They were so great! They had three sons that went to EFY with us. They were so much fun! The kid in the pink vest is Daniel Hinkson.

Here's Andrew again.. haha

Devin Hinkson! Awesome kid! :) Unfortunately none of the Hinkson boys or Andrew were in my Company, so I was alone there.. but I became GREAT friends with the people that were. :)

The whole Crew:) :)!!

If any of you get the chance to go to EFY, GO!!!!! Its so wonderful!! I'll do another post that is more on the experience. :) when i have the time haha!

FROG! :)

I've had a few momentous things happen over the last little bit.. and I haven't really blogged in a while. ha! So I'm showing you some pics of some fun things :)

4th of July :) Nathan made it memorable for sure! :) ha!

I officially can solve the Rubik's cube! :) haha! although I'm not as fast as Emily at it. We race and she beats me 99% of the time. ha!

I dissected a Frog..mmm.. yummy...? Miss. Wood's biology class! wahoo! good times.

So another bit of news, I'm going to be going from the Jr. High to the High School! It'll be awesome. I'm super excited. although 9th grade was the best! I'm going to miss a ton of teachers and people there! and now I'm off to explore a whole new experience! We'll see how that goes!

Well not much else. Wow that was pretty short. I didn't have many pictures to show. oh well. This will just have to do. ha! and I'll try to get on top of this Blogging thing again. I'm getting slow at updating again. ha!

Happiness

Some people wonder why I'm always so happy. Sometimes I wonder myself. I've thought about this a lot lately. Why am I such a happy person? Sad was never a word that described me.

After much thought I've come at least one of the reasons for why I am so cheerful and happy.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This definitly is the #1 reason for me being filled with joy. I'm sure those of you who are members know and feel this happiness. But how often do you show that joy you feel? Even if your not a member of the church, how often are you happy? How often do you make the best out of a bad situation? I guess I've made a decision to let my happiness show. I've made that essential. Its become a habit. and when i've had hard times, my happiness seems to take over and I don't feel as bad. I get through it. Some people go through challenges and just bare it, without a smile. But I've found it so much easier to feel and recognize the joy that surrounds you. Sometimes I find it hard not to smile.

My Dad has complemented me on being someone who is able to be full of happiness and joy through almost everything. He told me its made an impact on other people but I'm just being me. But I guess it's made a difference to other people as well.. not just me.

JOY. This word means so much to me. If you've read my post about my Grandma V you would know that this is her favorite word. I've grown up with the guidence and example that my Grandma has shown to always have JOY. Growing up with someone like that around, I guess it was just natural that I would always be happy.

I have so much to be grateful for and I think about the things I have been blessed with constantly. This gives me hope, peace, and joy. I become stronger. I want to fight for the better. Stand for what's right. I just hope and pray that those who are behind on feeling what it's like to feel truly happy will recognize the JOY, and feel it. Come walk beside me. Keep your eyes towards the better. Make the best out of a bad situation.

Let's walk together in JOY.

Alright I'll share my sad story..

Well I love doing art.. I have so much fun doing it and i hope to pursue it in the future.

In my art class we were doing a project with Oil paints, and I thought that my project was going rather well.. and then after it was finished I put it in the cupboards that Mrs. Morgan has for us to put projects. I week later I thought that I should probably take it home.. it wasnt in the cupboard so I asked Mrs. Morgan where it was. she assured me that she saw it in the cupboard the day before. we looked like crazy.. but I still havent found it. yep.. sad story.. but I at least have a picture of it!

LET'S GO SPARTANS!!!

Nathan is really enjoying going to Murray's basketball games to see Mitch play! he's getting really into it and loves shouting "DEFENCE MURRAY DEFENCE!", "LET'S GO SPARTANS", "GO MITCH!". All are screamed at the top of his lungs!
He also loves to dance to the band and even request songs! haha. "PLAY ME ME!" (ode to joy which is now his favorite song. if you havent seen that video on youtube where Beaker from the muppet's sings it then you better check it out! just type in Ode to Joy and it will be at the top of the list!).


Nathan walks out the door and grandma chases after him...
Grandma: Where are you going?
Nathan: I GOTTA GO TO MITCH'S BASKETBALL GAME!!

he gets pretty anxious and gets very disappointed when there isn't a game that night.

LET'S GO SPARTANS! :)

Me Snowboarding.. kinda

Rachel.. With her first attempt at the Snowboard.. failed..

Yes.. I tried snowboarding for my first time! well it wasn't too extreme.. my cousin Aaron is good at it though. (it's his board) Brady got pretty good at it too.

haha..but I did hit that garbage bag every time!! apparently I'm not very good at turning right.. it's a killer.

Cabin!

Our Yearly family cabin trip for the new years has always been the highlight of the holidays! This year we went to my Aunt Linda's new cabin which is just up the road of Uncle Jerry's (the cabin we usually visit).
We had the company of Family members, such as Cousin Amy, Steve and their 5 boys, Aunt Linda, and a few pop in faces for a day or two. :). Blake and Amy were here for the holidays as well! Having them home from Washington St. is so much fun! we love having them around! :) (Blake even ended up buying an iPhone! :).. it's a lot of fun. I became obsessed with it and the games. haha.)
We also had Mitch with us! Cousin Amy's boys loved having him around! I was surprised that they let him go home with us instead of them. haha!
The sledding up there was pretty intense! (as it always is) Sledding is the best part! We even had a cool addition to our sledding extremes. :). Which included an awesome steep hill just on the side of the house. It was awesome. :]
But anyways.. here is a little Gallery or our exciting trip :).
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