Winterball for Le Squad 2016

Here's some photos of my fab squad lookin' all handsome and darling at Winterball.

Location: Golden Spike Arena, Rachel's house

Yes, I am a lame butt and didn't go to Winterball, but hey I took pictures of that for Paw Print! #photojournalism I'll put a link up to that here once we get it live on the website and I get on it. :) But for now you can check out my articles here!

But really, there was hardly a moment where I wasn't laughing with these people. Thanks for letting me take your pictures of you guys!

Thought for the week:

"No one likes to fail, [but] we mortals do not become champions without making mistakes."
-President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

When everything is seemingly falling apart, it really is coming together; happily, everlastingly, coming together. Be happy friends, and have a grand week!

Until next time,

Mostly Marissa

Let's also take a moment
to appreciate that I actually
saw Carson in real life
and not yelling at him
via Greer's snapchat.
Yay for Carson!
#EFYbrowithdrawls

Let us also appreciate that this was
on the sketchy train.

The Word Means No Discount.

Senior year is a weird thing. It's rough. It's fun. It's stressful. It's crazy. It's full of sleepless nights. But I wouldn't have it any other way. There's days when you pull a Rapunzel and just think "when will my life begin?" *cue catchy Disney song tune* and other days where you just stop and say, "how about no, I'm quite alright with not adulting. Let me go build a fort and color and eat mac and cheese and chicken nuggets." That's what senior year has proven to me.

Discount Worthy.

Also, what's with being a senior and getting no discounts? I mean they say senior discount and all, but where's mine?! I've made it through these past several years of school with many scrapes-I'm really good at falling-so...discount yes?

Alright I'm just kidding. I don't see a need to get a discount for being just another high school senior figuring out life as I go. But I can't help but think of one person who never really got that "discount" either.

My Favorite Person.

Yeah. I talk about Him. All. The. Time. But how can I not? He literally gave His life for you and I. And not a thing He did wrong either. Quite literally He lead the perfect life. Spoke ill will of none, blessed and helped those in need. If I could describe His life in one word-which really can't even be done-would be service. But why is it fair that He served others, loved the Saint and sinner, and still didn't receive His "discount" when He suffered for our sins in Gethsemane. That I have had the hardest time coming to a realization of.

It's because He LOVES US. Everyday. Everyone. All. The. Time. Because He knows what it's like to fall and falter. To feel disappointment, ache, and pain. He truly knows. Because He understands what it's like to not get that "discount" we feel we deserve for working so hard and doing the best we can. He gets it. He totally gets it.

Never mind, the sale isn't worth it. 

Although times are rough, monotonous, exciting, laughable, enjoyable, crazy, fun, and downright unexpected in their own ways, we don't need a discount. We don't need a discount from senior year, from feeling like we deserve everything in a life that's perfect and hunky dory, we don't even deserve a discount from the Atonement. We all need it. Each and every one of us. The cool thing is, since we don't get that discount, we all know what it's like to live this life at a full price. And so does He.

Mostly Marissa

"I am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it more abundantly."
John 10:10

"Always, Jesus honored the Father and followed Him."
-Elder Dallin H. Oaks

We Don't Get Along Well.

We all have that person that we just cringe a little by the thought of them. Whether it be their quirky attitude, jokes they make that don't really make sense or really aren't that funny, or even that we just can stand them. Thing is, that is temporary. Haha all of it actually, we figure that life goes on and there's better things to do with our time than worry about them. BUT, there's this ONE. STINKING. PERSON. that's really good at escaping it all and man, we just don't get along well.

My 6th Brother. 

Little do ya'll know, I've got a 6th brother. He bugs me everyday. He lets nothing go and I'm pretty sure that his life goal is to make me miserable and unhappy. Yeah there's that "oh he's your brother" kind of thing where it fades away and you later realize that you love him and life is good. (At least until he picks on you again.) He picks on my friends and family, never letting up. Sometimes I just want to call him a straight up peabrain. But this 6th brother, he's not very nice. Not at all. His name? Satan. Lucifer. Tempter. Whatever you want to call him.

Sure, he's technically not my brother anymore. He defied my Father and wanted to tell me how to live my life. I'm not alright with that. He actually comes in phases, some days he works really hard to make me miserable. Then I'll tell him to knock it off and he'll go away. Before I know it, he's back again, making me unhappy and getting under my skin. Some brother right?

Cheesy Scenarios. 

Holy cow, that was super cheesy right? But really, Satan's all of our brother. In a way, he's lost that right to be called a brother of ours. He knew what our Father, our Heavenly Father expected and expects of us--to be happy and learn--and wanted to take both of those away from us.

Grumpy Gills.

Since Satan only wants us to be unhappy and not return to our Heavenly Father, he does so much to get us to stray away and be angry at each other and our own Father. 

Weeks are hard. Days can be hard. Moments can be hard. People gosh dang it can be hard!! But Satan's a Grumpy Gills so he just wants us to sink to his pitiful level. To be unhappy like him, and want us to bring others to that level too. But goodness, he doesn't even know what it's like to feel true happiness. He doesn't know what it feels like to really know that this time of unhappiness and hardship is just temporary and not even worth our worry. He doesn't truly know happiness. 

But to Truly Have a BROTHER.

But to truly have a brother. To have a brother that gave us the blessing and opportunity to be happy and return to our Heavenly Father. We truly have a brother that quite literally gave His life for us. We truly have a brother that knows exactly what it feels like to go through anything in our life and feel alone. We truly have a brother that knows what it feels like to be miserable from our other brother. We truly have a brother that just understands. 

I believe we truly have a brother. The one that cares for us beyond comprehension. One that knows the hardships that we face, firsthand. But knows that the happiness we will receive is beyond comprehension. A true brother.

We Don't Get Along Well.

So yeah, our first brother I mentioned, simply put; we just don't get along well. I'm not sure if we ever will. But I sure am mighty grateful for another brother who quite literally gave His life for you and I, so we can be just...happy.

Mostly Marissa 

A few happy things I've been thinkin about lately...

How fantastic the temple really is. 

How fun cameras can be.

The fact that Kazia Jo is TWO YEARS OLD!!

How Adam's foot pops in
this picture, I thought it was supposed to
be the girl that pops her foot?

Adam & Alex can now say the F word. (Fiancee, c'mon guys what did you think I was sayin'.)

Levi had a mini squad art gallery
because his Telestrations
sketches where that darn good. We
call them "BatCat" and the "Hedgehog Grimlin." 

And squaddddddddd.

Takin these kids engagements with pops was pretty fun.

And Adam probably said some doofy joke
here but it's a cute picture so oh well.

He finally put a ring on it. 

And now double A has a cheesy laughing at
nothing picture. 

Look at how little the twins were, dang they're cute. 

Loving that this gal tried doing the
same face but it turned into a duck face
for her...it's cute so she can pull it off. 

These two littles matched and it was cute. 

Love this oldie but goodie of Andrew and Mike when
she was little and couldn't talk or ask why all the time. 

The fact that miss Ella Bella was this tiny and held still.

How much I love these girls and going to miss them come college time.

Aware.

I think as the clock turns to midnight every New Year's Eve, signifying and ringing in the New Year, we all seem to take a silent deep breath. (Amongst all the cheering and drinking of Martinelli's Sparkling Cider--stay Mormon my friends. ;) I think that silent heave of a breath is the last one to wrap a previous year full of trial, hardship, laughter, anger, sadness, sorrow, confusion, and complete and utter happiness. Taking in a good, fresh, new breath of the year to come and start anew.

Oh 2015.

As I thought (like many I'm sure) on this past year of my life, 2015. Oh 2015. So many adventures and good times that I can't even put into words how extraordinary every year seems to get. (2016 you've got some record to beat.) But a single word keeps ringing in my mind and ears from 2015, aware. 

And this isn't the creepy kind of "be aware" kind of aware, but the kind where so many words can be shoved, compacted, squeezed, and remembered by a simple five letter word.

Five-Lettered-Aware.

Being aware that I could hear, and would hear what people would say about me. About who I am. Or who they thought. Saying things that would hurt to my very core of my soul, saying that "I just thought I was better than them," or felt like "I lead some kind of perfect life." The kind of words that pierced through me and made me feel like if I didn't wear what trial I was going through on my sleeve, then I wasn't going through one at all. The awareness that people thought I was being a "Molly Mormon," and not doing the right things just because it made me want to be better in the end. Aware that the jokes, didn't feel like jokes. That kind of awareness hurt.

Jacob 1:7

Psalms 34:14

Still. 

And it hurt for a long time, sometimes still, that awareness comes back to us in short glimpses, but we realize, that it's not us. It's never going to be us. Because only our Heavenly Father and we our individual selves realize that this awareness goes more than surface deep.

The Recognizable Kind. 

But then there's that glorious awareness. The awareness of what you have, the life you're living, it's all grand in it's own individual way. Aware that no matter how hard it gets, you've always got those few friends you can lean on and go stuff your face with fatty food and talk the world and problems away. Aware that you're favorite thing is as simple as getting close to zero sleep when the family is all together, going to bed later than you should, and waking up to laughing (and screaming) of the grandkids playing downstairs. Aware that Heavenly Father just loves you. That He's far from forgotten you or what you're going through. Aware that if you do your part, He will do His and it will all work gloriously in the end. Aware of a good life, even if it doesn't feel like one.

Isaiah 41:10

Doctrine & Covenants 84:83

Ah.

You know that moment when you feel like you can finally take a breath and just say, "Ah." That "Ah," my friends, as much as I hate to say it, will never be completely satisfactory. But we can make good awares, the kind of awares that leave a little doofy smirk on your face for reasons you only know. The kind of good awares that may only last a single day, but were a good memory to hold on for those smelly, awful, good for nothing bad awares times. 

So lets kick those bad awares to the curb, nobody liked them anyways.

Mostly Marissa

Enos 1:4