Keep Moving Foward.

HURRAY! I have survived another year of life! I can't believe it.

This year has been a crazy year. So many learning experiences and people that have made me a better and more awesome ME:) I'd just like to thank everyone for being there and helping me to stay sane ha ha.

However, now that I am NO LONGER a teenager, I feel like people will take me more seriously when I say, "Hi, I'm 20 yrs old," instead of the usual reaction of, "really? you're only 19? wow, you are young." FYI. people, like myself, don't like hearing that. Especially when I am more mature than the average teen.

Yeah, yeah, I know I'll want to be called young when I get older and start to turn gray, but as of now, I'd rather here, " oh wow, you are so mature for your age." Ha ha. On the other hand, I did get asked today by an 8-year-old if I was turning 27, soooo I wasn't the biggest fan of that ha ha.

As for what I did today, I woke up this morning to a few texts from my best friends, some crazy phones calls of people singing to me and about 100 people saying "Happy Birthday!" on facebook. Thank you to everyone who did:) I then proceeded to go to my former YW President's house, Sis.Papenfuss, and finished 3 of the 6 skirts I'm taking to Jerusalem...they are BEAUTIFUL! (I'll be putting pictures up tomorrow) Then I went to go tutor Ben, who was a joy to work with (extreme sarcasm). Later mom and my brother Matty surprised me with ice cream cake and then mom and I got Chili's to go (hmmhmm good). Finally we watched one of my favorite movies, "Meet the Robinson's." If you have never seen that movie shame on you. It's so inspirational and I'm just a sucker for good Disney movies. As of now, I'm talking to my good friend Kurt and hoping to fall asleep because I'm exhaustedddd ha ha.

But, we have to "Keep Moving Forward," like good ol' Walt Disney would say. So, it's time for a new chapter in my life. It is the beginning of a new decade! This year is going to be one CRAZYYYYY year. To start off my twenties I will be traveling to the Holy Land, then come home for a few weeks in August and head off back to the amazing land of Idaho. Then my brother Charlie is going to get married. After that big shin-dig and a semester at BYU-I I'll be able to turn in my mission papers in December. CRAZY!

After that I really don't know what is going to happen except that my mom and I are planning a trip to go to Ireland for when I do turn 21 ha ha. Here's to the future! Keep Moving Forward...

Free Falling

I WENT SKYDIVING!!!

Holy guacamole, it was AMAZING!

Ok, I thought I was going to be 100% more scared than I was when we got there, but no way jose! I was so freaken excited. I had a grin on my face the whole time. Not only did I go skydiving, but my Mom came and jumped with me!

Why did we decided to jump? Not only to having bragging rights to our friends, but it was the first day to the beginning of our new lives. Yesterday was the year mark of my Dad's death, so we decided that this was going to be a whole new year and we were going to live in the moment. So, we crossed this off our bucket lists!

I thought there would be another guy jumping with us to take pictures, but that wasn't the case. So, I don't have pictures of the actual fall, but I do have some before and after. Once I get my video of the jump I'll put that up too!

Mom and I leaving to go skydiving!

Mom and I strapped up getting ready to go!

After! Oh my gosh, it was amazing! It felt like we were floating on air. I totally recommend jumping out of a plane, with a professional and a parachute, any day! If I had the money I'd be a skydive junky!

Happy *early* Birthday to ME :))

1 Year.

One year ago, I was living in Rexburg, Idaho, finishing up my winter semester. On this particular day, one year ago, I had gone to the temple to do baptisms for the dead with my great friend Spencer Hair. After the temple I was doing yoga when I heard my phone start to ring.

At first I thought, "ehh, it's probably my mom. I can call her back when I finish yoga," but I got the feeling that I should just pick up. I paused my dvd, picked up the phone, and it was my mom.

When I heard her phone I knew something was wrong and asked her. She then replied, " Jenny are you sitting down?" I was like, "yes? why do I need to be sitting down?" She then asked, " is someone there with you?" I wasn't sure where she was going with these random questions, but I told her, " yeah, Kelsie is here with me. What's up mom?" I then jumped to conclusions and asked if she had surprised me and came to visit me in Idaho, because my birthday was the following week and it would be the first birthday away from home, but her voice changed.

When her voice changed I knew something was wrong and I immediately thought something bad had happened to one of my older brothers because they are in the military. When I asked about the boys she said, "No, Jenny. It's Daddy...he passed away this morning."

Louis Albert Montgomery, was a one-of-a-kind type of man. I promise you that the Lord could only put 1 of him on the earth at a time because the world couldn't handle more than 1. My dad was so captivating. Not only did he have a huge personality that you immediately loved or hated, but he was huge in appearance. He made a statement wherever he went. The man was a human encyclopedia. If you had a question about ANYTHING he would know the answer. People were just drawn to my dad's spirit.

At my dad's funeral there were well over 500 people attending. I don't remember everyone that was there, because that day was somewhat of a blur, but I knew that that group was the most diverse group I have ever seen in one place. My dad loved everyone and treated the people he met and became friends with like family.

Since that day, one year ago, my life and my families life have changed forever. Has it been hard? Heck yeah, but I wouldn't be the person I am today if my dad hadn't passed away. His death has made me a stronger person who can have more empathy towards others. It has taught me that you need to live life in the moment and to not stress over things you can't control, because you never know when your time is up. If the Lord wants you He will certainly take you. I encourage you to love more. Forgive more. Laugh more. Just let loose and enjoy the life you have with your family and friends.

I miss my dad everyday and think of him often. Sometimes I cry, but as the year has progressed the crying has gotten less. I know where he is. I know that he is in spirit paradise preparing a place for me and my family. I know I will see him again, because we are an eternal family...

I love you Daddy.

Creep-ahhhhhhh

So, if you are feeling like a creeper today then this video is for you. If you have a small bladder, and are prone to peeing your pants, I would advice you to go to the bathroom before watching this video. You will be on the floor laughing.

There Is Beauty All Around...

Dang, the world has just been full of beauty lately! Ok, maybe not lately because the earth is just beautiful all the time, but I've been trying to make sure I notice it more often. Since I am able to enjoy it I want to share the beauty with all of you!

Took these today with my new camera! I decided that for an early birthday/Jerusalem present I'd buy a legit camera that is good ha ha.

B-E-A-UTIFUL! I love the sun and all of the colors it makes!

Cowgirls Don't Cry

So, I was driving on the road today going to my tutoring session and this song came on the radio. I have heard this song hundreds of times because my family loves country music, but today this song meant differently. Lately, I have had my dad on my mind because the 1 yr mark of his death is this friday, so when I heard this song I thought of him. Everyday it has gotten easier and easier to not cry, but sometimes cowgirls need a good cry. Enjoy the video:)

Livin' On The East Coast.

Not gonna lie, I love living on the east coast of the United States. There are some things I hate about living in Florida like, the unbearable heat, mosquitos that come out to eat me whole, and sweating 24/7. Besides some of the things I don't like, I am privileged to just live 15-20 minutes away from the beach, and I was able to see this beautiful sunrise this morning...

I've been wanting to get up early to watch the sunrise for like a month now, but for some reason every saturday that I've wanted to do it I was either 1) sick 2) it was rainy or 3) I wasn't home.

It was amazingggggg. Yesterday, when I finally committed to waking up at the crack of dawn to see this sunrise, I went on weather.com to see what the weather was going to be like. This past week it has been a little unpredictable, so I just wanted to be a 100% sure I'd be able to see the sunrise before I drove half asleep to get to the beach. When I checked it said today was supposed to be clear with temperatures being around 65 degrees this morning and the sunrise happening at 7:10am.

So, my plan was to roll out of bed around 6:15am and get to the beach around 6:40am, so I could see the whole transition. Boy-oh-boy, it was great just sitting there looking out at the horizon when its barely light out. I didn't realize how many colors I would see as the sun was making its way up.

If you pay attention you can see the colors of the rainbow over the water...you probably can't see them in the pictures, but I sure did notice them this morning. If you look good in the second picture you see where the sun is about to come up. It's so cool. It's like all of the colors got together and were concentrated in that one spot until the sun came up. Like 5 mins because the sun got over the horizon that spot was a beautiful red. It was an amazing site to see.

Now, I'm happy that I was able to see it today because today is the first day of General Conference. For those who don't know what General Conference is it is a world wide semi-annual conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Today is when we are able to hear the inspired words from the Prophet, Apostles and other General Authorities that the Lord would want us to hear.

Why would I be happy to see this sunrise on the same morning of conference you may wonder. Well, just look at those pictures. How could you not believe in a living and loving God when you can see those colors, let alone the miracle of a new day.

I am excited to hear what these inspired men and women have to say for the next two days, and I hope and pray that it will change me. I also love April conference because it usually focuses more on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his Atonement, since easter is in a few weeks.

I love the church I belong to and all of it's teachings. I love knowing the Christ went through the atonement, partook of the bitter cup, just so we could progress and live with Him and the Father again. I love knowing that I have a forever family, and that I'll be able to see my Dad again. I love knowing that I'm never alone. I love knowing that one day I can receive a fullness of joy.