Procrastination at it's finest!

Well I am putting off cleaning right now to write my blog!! I made a commitment to write every week and so I need to hurry and write this one before I forget! I stayed up all night, and got all my homework done, and all my packing! I am going camping for memorial day weekend, and I had lots of time to do everything, I just didn't do the things I needed to do. I instead indulged in my new favorite show the Unit! So Thursday came I had 6 video response due, a chapter test, and all my typing homework due. I had my thursday all planned out! I was gonna get up early, do all my homework, clean my house, get packed, and be ready to go around 5. Well I didn't get up early :) and around 10:30 my sister called and asked if I could help her taking her kids to the doctor and running errands. I looked at the time thought yeah I can do this. We got home around 2:30 which is when my other sister called and asked if I could drop her off at the doctors so she could take Blake in before our big camping trip. I was a little worried about time, but agreed. My tank was an empty (another think I put off was getting gas). I quickly got gas, got Alex, dropped Alex off, and was home by 4. I got two video responses done before I had to go babysit which was at 5. I was home from that by 9:30 and got my other 4 video responses and took my chapter test by midnight. At that time I went grocery shopping, and got lots of things marked off my checklist! Spent the rest of the night packing! Now I will spend the rest of the morning putting my house together before I go camping! Moral of the story I could have avoided all this stress by doing my school work ahead of time, and my packing, and my cleaning, and my shopping :) So plan your time wisely please! Checklists really do help though :) This girl is off for an adventure!!

"We're on each others team"

I am going to try to post something every week, and this weeks topic is something that is really important to me. Something I have wanted to talk about for a long time. You know how they say it takes a village to raise a child. Well I have a theory, that it takes a village to raise that child, and raise it forever. Let me see if I can make the gibberish make sense. First let me say that in this post I am not going to mention any names in fear of leaving someone out. So as you read this think this "You know who you are".

This village, or as I like to call it "team" is what raises us. We each were put on this earth with a family, however I believe we were also put on this earth with a team. This team is always changing. We are losing people, and gaining others. There are certain members that are always on your team. I have been blessed with a wonderful team, and I want to share some of their stories. However most importantly I want to thank them!

One of the times that I can remember was when I was in high school. I had a member on my team who came over very late at night once because I was having a hard night. Not only was it a school night, but it was past everyones bedtime. They asked me what was wrong, and we talked for a little bit. That moment I knew that I had a team, and that I was part of  a team.

Another time that is more recent is the weekend that Blake was born. I was put on Braden duty, and I had part of my team there to help me! We took turns getting up with him in the night, and making sure his diaper was changed, and he was fed. We played mommy while his mommy was in the hospital. I was so grateful for that. I remember at one point in that weekend I was proud of the people I was with. They were willing to help me when they could have spent their weekend doing something. Not only were they there helping but they were happy to do it. 

Here is a another time someone from my team stepped up to the plate. My sophomore year of high school I got pretty sick, and had to spend a night in the hospital. Someone from my team drove an hour and half just to stay with me. Trust me those beds for guest at the hospital are not comfortable.

A certain member of my team understands that sometimes I need maps, and more maps. So on a bad day they took me to store and bought me maps. They are always there to listen, and share a love of music with me.

There are countless amounts of times people from my team have comforted me when I have been sad, talked me through scary things, and they have laughed their butts off with me. I am grateful for everyone that has played a part in my life. There are people on my team who understand that sometimes its a sweatpants kind of day, and there is no judgy. They understand that Taylor Swift music is never too loud. 

I am also grateful that I am key member on other peoples teams. It has taught me that sometimes you need to keep a bag packed for when someone goes to the hospital and you are called in right after you got back from a vacation. Being on a person's team sometimes you have to sacrifice working to be there for them. Its being there for every birthday, blessing, shower, birth, wedding, and everything in between. Calling on and seeing how the doctors appointment went, asking how classes are going. Just being interested in each other.I am so grateful for my team, and the teams I get to be on. When I think about those people that have stood beside me while I have faced trials, and triumphs it makes me smile, and have a growing love and gratitude for them. I can't even begin to fathom what people have done for me. I love being loved, and I love loving. I have my village raising me, and I couldn't ask for a better one.  

You know who you. 

What in the world is Jordan doing with her life?

It has been about two years since I walked across the stage at the Hult Center, and said goodbye to my high school career. Most of my fellow students went off to Universities and are working towards becoming amazing things. They have traveled across the world, and have studied things that have challenged them in one way or another. I can’t say that I have been to another country, or that I am working toward a career that could someday change someone’s life. I am not going to sit here and compare myself to my fellow alumni either.

I would not take back the past two years, I have learned a lot about myself that has helped shaped me into the amazingly happy person I am today, and I have had my own adventures. In the past two year I have changed my major more times than I can count. Starting with Graphic Design, and then criminal psychology to an accountant. I had reached the middle of fall term year two, and decided I had no idea what I was doing, except that the I never ever wanted to be an accountant. I met with a counselor, and we talked about me. We talked about my book that I am writing, that I hated accounting, that I wanted to open my bakery, and that at some point I want to be a mom. My counselor informed me to never take an accounting class again.I laughed and promised it would never happen again. She also told me I should take a career and life planning class. Which she happened to be the teacher of. I took the class and did career assessments that showed different careers that fit my personality.

You and never gonna guess what career kept coming up that fit my personality. Drum roll please! Graphic Designer. There was that career, that when I was 15 I decided was meant for me. I interviewed a Graphic Designer, and fell in love with occupation all over again. So yes it took me 2 years to decide something I decided when I was fifteen. It was then and there that I decided it was time to move forward. There were many different roads I could travel down, but I knew that I wanted to decide fast because I didn’t want to waste anymore time.

In March I started the application process to apply BYUI, and this is where my first scenario comes into play. I have not heard back yet about my application but this is how things would go if Idaho is the place for me. I will be working until December of this year, and then I would move out to BYUI in January of 2015. Then I would start working on becoming a Graphic Designer, and would hopefully be on the winter-spring track. I would not go in the fall because I applied for winter term knowing that I would want to work to save up money for living on my own. After getting my degree I would apply for Jobs all over. Mainly in California, and back in Oregon.

Scenario number two: Lane Community College has a very good Graphic Design program, and I have already taken a few of the required classes. I would stay in Eugene, and move in with my sisters. Still working all summer, but moving in with my sisters for multiple reasons. As most of you know I have been doing online school, but for me to continue on the path to become a Graphic Designer I would need to spend lots of time on campus. Living with my sisters would allow for me to do that. They live quite close to LCC, and I would save on gas money. I would also be helping out my sister while her husband goes on vacation. It would be a win win for everyone. I would be in down in two-years, and then start applying for jobs.

There are pros and cons to both schools, and both scenarios. At this point I am moving forward with both plans. I will make my decision fully in August. This will not be a decision I make on my own, there will be lots of praying, and talking to my family. However I should point out that when I make choice I won’t be making it for someone else. I will not be staying for my sister, I will not be going to BYUI for someone else. I will make my choice for me, and what is best for me. If you have input I would love to hear it.

I won’t be saving people’s lives or studying overseas. But I will be working towards something I love, and something I know will make me happy. Now you know what my future is looking like.

AWAS

Wondering what AWAS is? I bet you are! Its the name of my book! Yes you read that right my book. No it is not a book I am reading that I want to claim. It is a book that I am writing. I am not even halfway done, but I want to share the start of my journey in hopes to inspire someone else, and to re-inspire myself. AWAS was originally titled "Setting". Laugh it up I know what an original title. Well it was first titled that because that is where it started. It started as a "setting" exercise in my literature class my senior year of high school. I wanted to write about a sunrise. I drew the picture in my mind. Someone walking up a grassy hill with a crisp air blowing to watch the sunrise over the mountains. I included things such as the cold feeling of the dew on the grass, the little bit of warmth from that sun rising. I went with it, and played with a character.
I ended up having to do other writing exercise for that class, and just kept rolling with "Setting". Soon a story developed in my mind, and I fell in love with my main character. I wrote in my spare time, did character profiles, and started writing up plot twist. I was in love with the story I had created. At some point in my journey I stopped writing what I knew, and let the characters tell me their story. Call me crazy, but it is the truth. It has come to a point where I am no longer writing what I want, but what my characters want. Now that it is two years later from when I started, I have lots of hard work to show for it. I have 16,000 words, millions of scraps of papers with different things on it, family trees burned into my brain, and I constantly have something on my mind that has to do with "Setting". I have written in so many different places including Sheldon High school, my house, public parks, in the car on my way home from somewhere or on my way to California, on a lanai in Hawaii, and in Sunriver. I hope the list can keep going, and some day it will be even bigger I just know it.
Who knows if I will ever get it published, I want it to. However for now AWAS is just a dream that keeps me sane, and keeps me coming back to something I know. Sometimes when I am rereading a chapter or a paragraph it amazes me just how much I have written. Sometimes I will read something and literally laugh out loud because I think "Wow I wrote that, don't remember that but okay!" This is such a long journey. But I am so grateful for it. Its hard work, and I wished I worked harder on it!
In a year from now ask me how its going. I hope to say its finished.

My PCOS Story!

My sister Alex inspired me to share my PCOS story, so here goes it.
For those of you who don't know what PCOS is here is a defination "Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common female endocrine disorder, affecting approximately 5%-10% of all females. PCOS is a hormonal disorder that involves multiple organ systems within the body, and is believed to be fundamentally caused by insensitivity to the hormone insulin. It can be diagnosed in all phases of life - in girls as young as 8-9 years of age, up through post-menopause. Although PCOS is one of the leading causes of infertility, the reproductive aspects of the disorder are secondary. PCOS is not limited to women of reproductive age or potential." For more information head over to this website! http://www.pcosupport.org/what-is-pcos.php

I have never been someone who was public about my period, in fact the first time I started I waited four days to tell anyone, and even then my family had to drag it out of me. So this is a stretch for me, but I want people to hear my story so it can help them. I had been having irregular periods for a while, and I didn't think anything of it. Until I saw my sisters having a hard time getting pregnant, and they were having irregular periods.
          So I went to my doctor, told her what was going on. She looked at me and said no problem we will do some tests and see what happens. This started October 2010. By December of 2010 I had lots of blood work done, and I had been on my period for two months. (Yes you read that right 2 months) I went back to my doctor she said I didn't have PCOS but lets try birth control to help regulate my period, and then if things don't change we can talk about other treatment plans. The birth control she had me on caused constant migraines. So I went back to my doctor and she said it was time I go see a OB/GYN.
            I agreed, and off I went to see an OB/GYN. I was scared, but I knew if this is what my doctor wanted then I would try it out. The OB/GYN took some new blood work, and had me do an ultra sound. She said that once we got my blood work, and ultra sound results back we would talk about it.
           I came back, sat in the room with my mom and waited for the Doctor to come in and talk to us. She came in with my ultra sound results, and the blood work. She said "By the looks of everything I would say you do have PCOS." And this is what I thought: okay. That was it, I was just "okay" with everything. I didn't know what PCOS was, shoot I didn't really care. I didn't know what it meant. This was in February of 2011
The doctor said lets try a new birth control, and see how that goes. I agreed,  and we tried another birth control. That was the last straw for me, the birth control she put me on had my scared to death. It caused things to happen that I can't explain. I decided at that moment I would never go on birth control again!
     I was grateful that the OB/GYN said I had PCOS, but I wanted to go back to my pediatrician  (Oops did I not tell you I was still seeing my pediatrician! Yes I went through a Ross Geller phase. But now its over)  I went to my pediatrician and said "I am done with birth control.". She said we can move in a different direction, and that is when I started my battle with metformin! I say battle because if any of you have ever taken metformin you know what battle I am talking about! Lets be honest here, it gives you the trots. No going around it, its the truth! The good old TROTS! But guess what! NO migraines, NO side effects that had me scared to death, and it had me be as normal as a girl can be!
     The shock of having PCOS  came a year later! Even though the metformin helped, its not the cure to PCOS. So one night it hit me, and I cried. I cried a lot. I have PCOS, what does this mean? Women who have PCOS can get pregnant. But some women CAN'T. For those of you that know me well, know that I want to give birth to 4 kids, and adopt 1. I have their names picked out, and which ivy league school they are going to. So the idea that there are women out there that can't have kids, and I could be one broke my heart. I thought things like, no one will ever say "Oh Jordan he has your eyes", or "She got your bright red hair", and it made me even more sad. Yes there is adoption, and why would someone my age be thinking that far ahead need to be so scared. I was, and still am. Because I want kids in my future. So i decided now was better to address the problem, then when I was married and trying to get pregnant.
     Now I am living with PCOS, and I am working towards a happier healthier me! Its a challenge, but I know my heavenly father loves me, and wants the best for me. So I am working hard! Which means taking my medication, and living a healthier life style. PCOS is not something that you can hide from if you have it.
Here is my goal: To Beat It!

Prove Me - Hilary Weeks

A Mighty Change of Heart I know is in Me!

June 19Th, 2008 I produced a play that i wrote called "A Mighty Change of Heart". I really had no right to put that play on, because i when i was writing it i was in uncharted waters. I had never experienced a change of heart, and i wrote about. I wrote about how it made a person feel, and what they did to change. When i had never experienced it myself. Until recently i thought that to have a mighty change of heart you need to be doing bad things. When in reality that's not true. I have experienced a mighty change of heart. People have always said i had such a great spirit, and my light really shines. When in fact this is true at times. But i was hardly even doing the basics. I am laking in my personal scripture studies, and prayer. I have been questioning a lot things lately. But tonight that all changed! When i was playing a word game, and the word was Testify. Just that simple word allowed a huge change of heart in me. After then seeing that word, i remembered that Joseph Smith had died today. This day of June 27. I looked up the video a "Lamb to the Slaughter" and this feeling kept growing and growing. Then after pondering just what was sacrificed for me, i realized things needed to change. Not tomorrow, not in the morning they needed to change right now! So i then looked up the video above "Prove Me" and i have decided it is now time to prove myself to the lord. I am giving up stuff that i really should have given up on, and not even thought about, and i am changing myself! If you have ever felt a burning in your heart to change and brushed it off thinking it was going to be too hard, i challenge you to change. Have a Mighty Change of Heart! It will draw you closer to the Lord!