Me

Write a letter to our future selves 15 years from now. Give advice, insight, etc.

Dear Braden,

You may not remember this note, but you will...i'm writing just to remind you of a few things.

Don't every be pushy and constantly correcting people. Yo may still do it from time to time, but be polite and kill 'em with love after doing it! Don't be too hard on your kids, they're bound to mess up from time to time, as you did many-a-time as well. Let them learn and grow like your Heavenly Father meant to have them do. Don't try and have them grow up too fast, and let them develop their own interests, hobbies, personalities, and friendships.

Be nice to your wife (mom will kill you if you don't), listen to her thoughts, worries, concerns, feelings. Be respectful and never judgmental. Never dishonor her.

Tolerate people and be patient. Never sell yourself out and pretend to be something you are not. Your friends like you just the way you are (or were :P) and you should never change just so that other people will accept you.

Above all else...love Christ, love your family, love the gospel, love others..love, love, love. Charity, true love, is the key to life.

Sincerely yours,
Braden

My Heart in a Nutshell

My inspiration--for more than just this post.

Instructions: "with as much creativity as you can muster, show your heart in: a picture, a poem, a song (or piece of music), a phrase (or quote), an item of clothing, a place, and (just for fun) a Disney princess."

Photo:

some of my favorite flowers are dahlia. they are so beautiful...and i love this one because it is so colorful and bright.

Poem:
The Road Not Taken Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

so good...sometimes the road that is the best is the one less frequently taken.

Song:
August Moon by Sara Bareilles. I love her, and I love this song.

Quote:
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
-Eleanor Roosevelt
sure, i heard this on princess diaries when i was younger, but it is so inspirational, important and true.

Clothing:
could not live without my hoodie. so serious..i love these things.

Place:

my favorite city in my favorite condition. i love the rain, and i love england.

Disney Princess:

i love, love, love, love aurora. she is beautiful, she can sing, and she is gorgeous when she sleeps! what more can i ask for?

You Oughta Know

So, after Siovhan had her post based on the prompts given by Twenty Something Writers, I felt inspired to try it.

To my future children,
you oughta know:

1. Be yourself. Never sell yourself out to be something you're not. Never become or try to be what others want to you to be. Never be anything but you. If I had known that I might have been able to be happier through high school.
2. Don't be clingy. Apparently smothering your friends with love and trying to spend lots of time with them does little to help a friendship. Find a balance in your life, and find balance in your friendships.
3. Know your place. I don't mean know your limits, I mean know where you belong, know your strengths. Take time to learn about the gifts that you've been blessed with and learn to hone them. Know that you always have a place in your family and in the Lord's kingdom.
4. Pray, pray, pray. A wise woman once told me that even when I think I've done all that I can, I can always pray to be able to do more. We may not know when out lives are turning around or when our trials are over, but never forget that you have a Father in Heaven who knows you and loves you and is always willing to help you.
5. Read. I regret not reading a lot when I was younger because now it takes me forever to read anything. The more you read in your youth, the more quickly you'll be able to read in the future.

I may be an annoying dad, one that you don't think can understand, but know that I love you and that I'm always here for you.

Peace

Recap

So a lot happened this past week. I'll do a brief recap for all y'all.

I had my last senior prom last Friday/Saturday and had a blast, but I woke up Monday morning with an illness. It only got worse, and Tuesday I developed a fever. So I had the missionaries and my dad give me a blessing because I felt very, very ill. It was a very beautiful blessing and an elder that meant very much to me gave me a beautiful reminder that my Father in Heaven loves me. Then he was transferred. Sad. But he's learning and growing in another place where he has been called to train a greenie...

Grandma and grandpa flew in on Wednesday and that night was my Senior Awards night. I earned two certificates/awards and three scholarships totaling almost $1000! Then Kirsten flew in on Thursday and that night I was ordained to be an Elder! It was such a great thing, but even better was what came after. Not even a minute after i was ordained my good friend asked me to give him a blessing (as he had a very important test coming up). It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life and I was very happy. Later on was the Senior Night, a weird form of a talent show. it was very nice but just felt weird...being with my class after being away for so long.

I had an open house on Saturday and about 100 or so people showed up in about two hours. Graduation was Sunday afternoon. It was nice, and all of my friend's speeches were wonderful (the class president, valedictorian, and salutatorian are all my friends).

It was a very eventful week and very exciting...but now things are settling down and I need to find things to do.

Que todo vaya bien.

Bad Blogger

I'm such a bad blogger. I always forget to post (for weeks on end) and then I need to do summaries of everything that's happened. So, I've resolved to make sure I write at least once a week, and I'll motivate myself with chocolate. Mmmmm.

So, the weekend before my Spring Break I had a Band/Choir/Orchestra competition in Annapolis/Baltimore, Maryland. Milford High School Music was awarded 11 awards: 1 gold in band, 1 gold in A Capella Choir (my choir), 1 gold in orchestra, 1 silver in Concert Choir (Ben's choir), the "Best Overall Department", the "Best Overall Instrumental Program", the "Adjudicator's Award", and 3 invitations to a more prestigious competition in NYC, Chicago, and LA, and one other that escapes me. I had a great time, I got to talk about the gospel to a few friends, I made a great life-long friend (a person that I knew but wasn't really friends with), and I relaxed.

Then I came home. I hung out with friends for a couple days over vacation, but then I just sat at home because everyone was busy later on in the week. Then I got an allergic reaction to something, shaved and cut all the hives open, and gave myself a infection. So, I had to get oral and topical antibiotics and buy an electric razor so that it never happens again.

I had my National Honor Society induction ceremony, and now I'm technically supposed to be done. But I'm not, because my high school is cool. Just like the school toying with my last day. I've worked hard this year so that I don't have to take finals, but the school thinks that it's best to make me be in the school while all the other seniors are taking their finals. Cool. I really don't want to go, but I will probably have to go anyway.

I took all my AP exams as well. I think that I did fantastic on my AP Literature test, but I d sections of it. My AP Spanish exam was easier than I thought it was going to be and I think that I did well, yet I'm still nervous as to what score I might get.

Now I am attempting to write my eight-page research paper on Anna Karenina, because I need a full rough draft for Monday...kill me. I have written two full pages and I have no clue where to go now...

Until the next post. Peace, love, y que todo vaya bien para vosotros.

Futuro...El Porvenir

School is going to be ending soon for me. I'm starting to become more reflective and retrospective; I think more about the things I've done, the many lessons I've learned, the people who have helped me along the way, and I also look to the future.
While MHS has been a great outlet for testing my testimony and a great way for me to learn who I am. I have really come out of my shell while at MHS, in regards to social situations, and I am really happy that I've been able to do so. I've met a ton of really awesome people, mainly teachers, but a lot of my friends are really great, sometimes weird, but really great overall.
As I think about the life ahead of me, all i can think about is my impending voyage to BYU and my fast-approaching mission. I know that BYU is where I am supposed to go, and I now know what I'm going to study, however I am still a little nervous about the friends that I have yet to make. I ask myself constantly whether or not I'll be able to make such great friends as the friends I've been able to become so attached to out here. I also cannot believe that I'll actually be closer (in relative distance) to all my church friends, as the closest one lives three or four miles away.
Also, with regards to the whole mission thing...I was lying in my bed last night after my personal prayer, and before I fell asleep I realized something rather odd. I realized that in less than 9 months I can be turning in my papers, which mean that in less than a year's time I can know where I'll be serving my mission. I cannot wait, I'm thoroughly excited and wicked pumped for my mission...
As for life right now, all I can do is keep saing "Endure to the End" to myself. School is wicked boring and actually more like a chore for me now, which has never been the case for me. It's actually painful to be in that school now, I just want to be reading at home, or hangin' out with my cool mama. Argh....I have AP tests in less than a month......ew.
Oh well, as they say in Spain, "¡que todo vaya bien!"

18 Years

If any of you have known me since my youth you would be just as amazed as I that I've made it this long! My parents probably thought I would die early on in life (someone tired of listening to me talk would silence me...hahaha).
But seriously, where has the time gone? I can remember moving into the Residence Inn and staying there for three months waiting for my house like it happened yesterday. I can remember the yellow bedroom with the animal wallpaper in my home in St. Louis and crying over leaving my beloved 2nd grade class as if it happened this very morning. I honestly cannot believe that I'm so old....
Saturday morning, my birthday, I awoke at around 7:45, prior to my family's "SURPRISE" awakening... As I was once again gaining consciousness I came to a strange realization. I realized that in a matter of months I will be leaving my family for good (basically). Christmas breaks and the couple of weeks that I'll be home before my mission (hopefully only a couple weeks) really do not constitute being home in my opinion. Sure I'll miss my family and the crazy chaos that is my life when I am doing things with them, but at the same time I'm so excited to leave. It'll be a good change and it'll be a great experience.
Another strange realization that I came to is that I have learned to love and embrace change. If anyone were to ask my mother what would happen when she would rearrange my pillows before bed one would wonder how I have come so far in such a short time. I constantly seek change, and lately I have embraced surprises...which still baffles my poor mother. I don't know when this change occurred but I honestly love it so much.
I have limited days left out here and I'm trying to learn to make the best of them. Making my days fun and relaxing helps them to pass much more quickly than they have been as of late (grammar?). Although all my classes are easy and I don't really get much homework, school is still the bane of my existence. I enjoy three of my six classes, and two of my six have big tests coming in about two months (AP Spanish and AP Lit exams). Argh! I just want it to end....but i know I can endure. Only 45 more days....