How special are you?

So this weekend was the Special Olympics Utah summer games and it was an absolute blast as usual. The weather stayed really nice compared to what the forecast predicted and so we got pretty lucky. I made some friends as well and you can look for me in BYU magazine because there was a man following me around like the paparazzi taking my picture like a million times. I made "friends" with this kid named Will, and when I say friends I mean had called me over to him many times to tell me to stop giving him attitude. Was I giving him attitude when I asked him to step out of an area where he didn't belong? Maybe. But then I was repeatedly asked by him to stop giving him attitude. :) I love Special Olympics athletes. Never a dull moment.

Below is me sportin' a cotton candy goatee. I think it suits me well.


Next we have a few of the GOC here including program directors. It was a fun crew.

Holding the torch. This was a super fun privilege. I heart Special Olympics.


Here are some pictures of the track and field gang. I do love special Olympics and I hope that I can come back here next year although there are no guarantees since Pocatello is a little further away from Provo.

So this picture below was me shaking my head wild back and forth and capturing my face at just the right moment got this incredible face.
Below is our friend from Panda Express who totally made our day.

Joleen playing shoot 'em up with the broken starting gun.

This is Joe, Nicole, Joleen and I. The best track and field personnel ever! Don't we look so official with our radios?

A daughter needs a mom.

I just finished reading one of those cute little books that has just a few pages about why daughters need moms. There are so many reasons why I need my mom but here are just a few of them.
1. I need my mom because she encourages me to do my best in all that I do.
2. I need my mom because she will ALWAYS be my biggest fan.
3. I need my mom because she helps me understand how to better live the gospel in my life.
4. I need my mom because she helps me to laugh at myself when I do silly things.
5. I need my mom because she has been a pilar of strength and love.
6. I need my mom because she will teach me how to be a mom one day.
7. I need my mom because she sees my best side when sometimes I don't.
8. I need my mom because she prays for me.
9. I need my mom because she taught me how to cook with love.
10. I need my mom because she teaches me how to love by loving me unconditionally.
I love you mom!

O'Dell Family Road Trip!

This is my road trip last weekend from start to finish. Enjoy the ride cause I sure did! So here we are leaving Utah. Notice the SNOW in the background. That, my friends, is why we left.

Enjoy the sunset over Vegas. We stopped in at the Bellagio to watch the fountains since 4 of 6 of us had never been to Vegas. We also walked around a really pretty flower exhibit in the Bellagio as well. Vegas did indeed treat us well.

Not real... mom. :)
Getting ready for our day at the beach. For some reason someone pantsed me right before the picture, still not sure how it all happened but that is why I have pants around my ankles.

It was a lot colder than it looks. It was windy and freezing on the pier making the beach seem like heaven! And it was pretty close to that except for when I was taking my nap on the beach and a group of 100 preteen girls from New Mexico who were in Cali for a CHEER tournament decided to surround us with their things, forgetting that there was an entire uninhabited beach, interrupting my peaceful nap. Needless to say I was a little grouchy when awakening from my slumber.
Prepping on the tram ride to enter the happiest place on earth!
Luigi joined us and was very well behaved for a 6 month old puppy. And thanks to our puppy, on a pretty crowded day in Disneyland we got to go on 15 rides! Wahoo!




It was a great road trip. We even gave ourselves names of the O'Dell Family because we were speaking in accents more often than not and enjoying some good times with friends. I do love California. Always have, always will.

Friday Five

Well I have recently just been putting up pictures so I thought that I would tell you a little about what is going on in my life and give you my Friday Five so here goes...

1. I am so grateful for family. It was so fun to have my family here for graduation. I am grateful for all the support that I received from them. I am grateful for their prayers too... which seem to be working. :) I am grateful to know that families are forever and that when I do have my own one day I will never need to fear being separated from them. For my graduation present I get to go to Hawaii with Lanie and Papa. What a blessing to get to spend a whole week in Hawaii with my awesome grandparents.

2. I am grateful to have a job when there are so many students out their that are looking and can't find anything. I love my job and the opportunity that I have had in my life because BYU really does take care of their students.

3. I am grateful to have a best friend that is so much like me that it is ridiculous. She helps me to think through things logically and to understand what it is that I really want in my life. It is just nice to have someone to talk to all the time who totally understands me and my priorities. Friends are such an amazing blessing.

4. I am grateful for cell phones. I want you to just take a blast to the past for a few seconds with me. Remember life without cell phones when you actually had to like leave messages and then call people back and stuff. You had to actually think of a plan and a meeting spot BEFORE you split up. Or when shopping you had to actually go find your mom when you were ready to leave the store instead of call her. Crazy were the days without cell phones. I am grateful that I can call my mom on my way home from school just to say hi. I love my cell phone.

5. I am grateful to see the hand of the Lord in my life. All the sudden I am seeing more and more how he is directing my paths and how he is guiding my life. I am grateful for the spirit and how I feel his influence in my life.

Life is good! I can't complain about a single thing.

Graduation! WAHOOOOO!!

Yes I did really wear that under my gown, per my mothers request might I add. I could graduate happy with my championship T-shirt. Yeah baby!


Walking across the stage, getting a fake diploma!

The celebration of theC-town girls. Alas, we made it! We also had a little Claremont 1 reunion. It was great!


The happy graduate and the happy parents. Yeah baby!

Can I just say how great it was to have my family in town. I love them and I am so grateful for them and all of their support though my college years. Thanks family for being so willing to help my get through it. I am also so grateful I chose BYU and the amazing things I have learned here. More than the academic knowledge, which has been influential in my life, the people I have met her e have taught me so much about how and why I want to follow the Savior. I am so grateful to have felt over and over the love of God and His Son. I am a daughter of God and He loves me and I am so grateful for that knowledge.

Missing J-ru

So I love blogging even when I don't have time for it. Oops.. I am going to do a primary activity day for my aunt Stephanie all about Jerusalem and Galilee and the stories of Christ today. Therefore, I have been looking over tons of my Jerusalem pictures and stuff and so here are some more favs that made me miss it like no other. Also, there have been lots of really scary things happening over there these past few weeks and a friend said that she saw one of the little boys that we got to know who was on the news as part of the anti-Israel rallies and things. I hope and pray that all my friends are ok over there.

Friday Five

Well this little exercise helps me to stay positive and remember that life is good so here goes:
1. I am so grateful for prayer. Making decisions is not easy but prayer makes it easier. I am grateful to feel peace when I ask for peace even though I don't get the other things that I ask for right away, when I need peace it always comes immediately.
2. Warm spring weather. Before I go any further we all need to remember how non-committal Provo weather is but yesterday and the day before we just beautiful days. It helps me to be happier when the sun is shining.
3. Family. I am grateful for family who is always there to talk when I need someone to bounce things off of. Heavenly Fathers plan that families can be together forever is so comforting and becoming more real to me. I am grateful for nearby siblings and others who are only a phone call away.
4. Beanies. I cant tell you how working at 6am has really put a damper on my hair doing situation but I love that you can just cover it up with a beanie.
5. Joy! I am grateful for the things that bring joy into my life. I tend to forget fairly quickly that men are that they might have joy. When we are joyful in moments when we don't feel we can be are moments when I have noticed that the Lord will find a way to bless us with true joy. Its all about enjoying the journey through the trials and pain.