<----- This is why I absolutely love Fall





Colored leaves, chilly days, jackets, apple cider, cozy blankets, good books. Fall is such a beautiful time of year! I wish it would decide to stay a little longer. It seems that, as soon as the leaves begin to change, it snows!

This is my ultimate Fall goal. To make a batch of caramel-stuffed apple cider cookies. Mmm! Find the recipe here.

I am not a very crafty person. That's why I have a Pinterest. I wish I were though! I just discovered that my aunt has a blog called My Love 2 Create. She is so crafty and can make the cutest things for hardly any money at all. Follow her at http://www.mylove2create.blogspot.com/

Here's a little overview of another amazing General Conference:

Now, more than ever:

                  To watch all of General Conference, click here.

Tracy finally had her baby! She is so beautiful! Luke and Noah prayed that her APGAR score would be a 10. She didn't quite get a 10, but she is a healthy, beautiful baby. :) Welcome Zara Snow Barrionuevo!

              All the water in the world

no matter how it tried,

could ever sink the smallest ship,

unless it gets inside.

All the evil in the world,

the blackest kind of sin,

can never hurt you one least bit,

unless you let it in.

-Author Unknown

Oh my goodness. I can't believe it. The prophet, Thomas S. Monson, just announced that men can now go on their mission at age 18, and women can serve at age 19! That is so incredible! I have a countdown on my iPod, and today it went from:

 

  

 -------------------->

"In a move to expand the opportunities for young members of The Church of 

Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve full-time missions, Church president

 Thomas S. Monson announced today that, effective immediately, men may now

 begin serving at age 18 and women at age 19.

The previous age for beginning missionary service was 19 years of age for young

 men and 21 for young women.

The announcement was made during the opening session of the Church’s 182^nd 

Semiannual General Conference, broadcast worldwide from Salt Lake City, Utah.

President Monson said that missionaries will have to have graduated from high 

school or its equivalent, regardless of where they live.

“ I am not suggesting that all young men will—or should—serve at this earlier age,”

 President Monson said.  Rather, he said, the option is now available based on

 individual circumstances, as well as upon a determination by local Church leaders.

The Church anticipates that lowering the age requirement will significantly increase

 the number of missionaries who will serve by expanding the options for when they

 may begin their service.

A news conference is scheduled for 12.30pm today, when more details will be

 announced. A live stream of the news conference will be viewable on 

MormonNewsroom.org."

"Give me a young woman who loves home and family, who reads and ponders the scriptures daily, who has a burning testimony of the Book of Mormon. Give me a young woman who faithfully attends her church meetings, who is a seminary graduate, who has earned her Young Womanhood Recognition Award and wears it with pride! Give me a young woman who is virtuous and who has maintained her personal purity, who will not settle for less than a temple marriage, and I will give you a young woman who will perform miracles for the Lord now and throughout eternity."

-President Ezra Taft Benson

Gratitude

For Personal Progress, I have to focus on three standards that I need to improve on. So, I picked Physical and Emotional Health, Language (Gossip), and Gratitude. I decided at the end of each day, I am going to write down the five things I was most grateful for that day. Here's this weeks:

Monday-

School

Happiness

Family

Priesthood Blessings

Cross Country

Tuesday-

Cross Country

Friends 

Journal

Love

Wednesday-

the Gospel

the Book of Mormon

Young Womens 

Beliefs

Personalities

Thursday-

Friendship

Music

Hard work

Seminary

Personal experiences

Friday-

Cars

Jackets

Laughter

Second Chances

Forgiveness

Saturday-

Naps

Teamwork

Free Time

Weekends

Family

Sunday-

Jesus Christ

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Music
Family

Scriptures

"Without the rocks, the brook would lose its music."

 -Grandma Jorden

Sometimes life is hard, but without our trials, we wouldn't be able to become all that God intended us to be. It is through our perseverance and faith that we overcome trials and find beauty in our lives. It is only then that we can make beautiful music.

I love Sunday. It's my favorite day of the week. We have one o'clock church, so I wake up late, have breakfast, and then dedicate the rest of the morning to listening to church music, working on Personal Progress, reading talks and articles from lds.org, or spending time with my family. It prepares me to have a spiritual experience at church. After church, we all hang out as a family. I don't do my homework on Sunday, so I never worry about working on anything. I just spend the day doing things that I want to do. It is so relaxing and peaceful, and it helps me prepare for the week. :) 

                               https://www.lds.org/youth/from-leaders?lang=eng

Spiritual Enlightenment ---------->        http://www.lds.org/youth?lang=eng

http://ce.byu.edu/yp/ycorner/music.cfm (code: 3397768)

While walking along a beach, an elderly gentleman saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the ocean. As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, picking up starfish one by one and tossing each one gently back into the water. He came closer still and called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?” The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.” The old man smiled, and said, “I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” To this, the young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.” Upon hearing this, the elderly observer commented, “But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!”

The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it into the back into the ocean past the breaking waves and said, 

It made a difference for that one.

Check out this babe. Liza Smith.

I couldn't really tell you when Liza and I became friends. I've known her since freshman year because of seminary, but we were never great friends. One day during our sophomore year, Liza asked me if I wanted to go to YASE camp with her at BYU. I was so excited, because it was my dream to be a Young Ambassador. So we planned it all out. And we went. And it was awful. Everyone there was so talented! We felt miserable the entire time, but after out final concert, we both wanted to go again. ...? YASE made us feel so bad about ourselves, but we both had so much fun performing at the concert. haha And guess what. We went again this year. And I hated it even more. But this time Liza had fun. And, once again, after the concert, I loved it. I have very mixed feelings for YASE. But Liza helped me get through it, so our friendship is special. ;)

This is our friendship. (there's supposed to be two people with their bodies buried in the sand, so just imagine it haha)      

  

We're cute. :)

Woah, right? Yeah. Liza loves music: singing and playing the piano. And she's super good at both. We're both auditioning for the Music program at BYU in January, and we're so nervous! Last night we ate puppy chow and snuggled on her trampoline, and we decided that is would be so fun to room together the summer semester before school starts. :) I hope we get in to the Music program! :)

Haunted House

Our biggest choir fundraiser of the year. Making little children cry. 

<------ That's me and the "deady bear." The thing stabs itself! Igh!

The Haunted House turned out to be pretty awesome. And pretty scary. We made 33 kids cry. ha ha We are so awful. But, no need to fear. After the kids made it through, they got a piece of candy and a big smile from Katy. 

Meet Kaona. Isn't she beautiful?

Kaona is seriously one of the sweetest people I know. She is so nice to everyone, and she is so good with kids. She helps teach math in Tanner's class. I'm pretty sure she's going to be the best mom in the whole world.

I met Kaona at Neine's 14th birthday party, and we've been friends ever since! I love hanging out with Kaona, because she just makes me so happy. We both love Nacho Libre (thanks to Alyssa) ------>

She's goes to Laurel High School, and as of this year, she goes to Laurel Ward. So basically I don't see her at school or at church. Which means I miss her. A lot. But starting next week, we are going to live 5 minutes away from each other. I'm so excited. :)

Next year Kaona is going to Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming. That's 492 miles away from BYU! Thank goodness for Skype! I'll be sure to have plenty of Skype parties with her and Alyssa. :)

I have been blessed with so many friends. I'm so grateful for all of them, and for everything they've done for me. I am going to miss all of them so much next year. Here are a few of my best friends, the ones I can count on for anything:

My life is so crazy right now! But I guess that's part of being a senior, right? I feel like I have no time! I have voice, Cross Country, homework, piano, All-State music, college stuff, and Personal Progress. And I thought I had time for a job...... 

Last night Makelle and I went to Off The Leaf to watch Liza sing. Well, we got there and realized that she had sang about three hours earlier. ha ha Oh well. We had fun anyways. :) 

So, I'm kind of obsessed with this song.  It may be in Spanish, but I love it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjpSX6fCPDc

Tanner and I went on a little date on Saturday. It was fun! We went to Panda Express, then we got our bowl on at Sunset Bowl. :) (I kicked his butt)

It was fun. I'm starting to realize that I only have 10 months left with my family. I want them to grow up and remember me as their awesome big sister. I want them to think of me as nice, fun, caring, grateful, and most of all, I want to be their example. And so far I haven't been any of those things. I need to start being a better sister. Because I'm running out of time. 

Friday Nights

I am so bored. I could be doing homework, practicing the piano, voice, learning my All-State music, finishing my Spanish project, or cleaning my room. But nope, I think I'd rather post random pictures on my blog:

This.....is my black lady dress. When I wear it, I feel black.      
   Best dress ever.

 We were trying to take a picture for my dad. It didn't work. I still love this picture though.

Kaona, Alyssa, and I were hanging out. And of course, we were watching our favorite movie: Nacho Libre! My mom asked us to pick up Eddie from wrestling practice, so Alyssa wore my black lady dress, wrote him a love note, and brought him an eagle egg and toast. We are so weird....

Gotta love the Spratlings! They are the only reason I go skiing every year.

                      LOVE this picture!

I never wear my hair up. I don't know why, but I hate it. Well, I decided to try something out today. It actually turned out super cute! I'm going to have to check out Pinterest for some more ideas. :)

<------- Bought these little cuties online a couple of days ago. There for my senior pictures. :) I can't wait!

Life and nutshells...

Well, it's been a while. I should probably catch all of you up. And by all of you, I mean me, since I'm the only one who reads this blog. 

Anyways, a lot has gone on. And I haven't really posted anything because life has been so busy, and I've also started writing in my journal, a lot. So here's a little synopsis on my life the past few months:

American Idol came to Billings this August. I've always wanted to try out for fun, but I was never obsessed with it like some people. But, when it came to Billings, I kind of freaked out. I wanted to do it, but I was really scared. Plus, my mom didn't want me to try out. She though I would make it and she kept saying "Hollywood ruins lives." So I went to the zoo (weird place for an audition, I know) feeling really skeptical. Luckily, a girl in my choir class was right behind me in line, so we did it together. Neither of us made it, but it was still a really cool experience. Now I can say I tried out for American Idol! :)

My grandparents are the new temple presidents! How awesome is that? They even get to live in the adorable house across the street. At first there were a little bummed to leave their house and all of their animals, but they get to live out there on the weekends when they don't have to be at the temple. When they moved it, they had us over for dinner, and when they showed us their backyard, my mom said "This would be perfect for a wedding reception!" then my dad said "Kelsea, you have two years to get married!" ha ha 

I joined Cross Country this year! I really wanted to get in shape this year, so I decided to join. In the beginning, it was miserable. Especially since we were running in 100 degree weather. Now I really enjoy it. It's still hard, but I'm in much better shape than when I started. It's been so good for me, and I love it! 

As you can tell, I look really good when I run. :P

I took the ACT for the second time in September, and I got my score this week. I got........ a 29! That's 2 points better than the first time I took the ACT, and it's the average ACT score at BYU. Woohoo!

After much anticipation, and one looooong summer spending a lot of time with my family in our little apartment, the time has finally come to move into our house! We're in the single digits!

9 days 'til we move!

They're gone. Today was the seniors' last day. I'll never see any of them again. Ever. They're all going to move on with their lives. And I'm still here. Without them.  This is so sad. :( I wasn't even that close to very many of them, but it's still so sad. It feels so much more real than it did last year, probably because that's me and my friends next year. I've made so many friends at school and at church, and I'll only keep in touch with a few of them, and see even less. It almost makes me want to never make any more friends, so I don't have to worry about missing them. Why can't life always be the same?

And now that I'm in a sad mood, it's making me sad that we're moving out of our house next week. I spent a large portion of my life in this house. I've lived in Blue Creek most of my life. Change is so hard. But it's always worth it. I have to keep telling myself that.

Okay, well, it's official. I have the best sister in the world. Yep, Natalie Jorden. 12 years old. Good cook. Friendly. Selfless. Amazing. 

This past year for Natalie has been completely awful. Just about every single girl in the sixth grade has turned against her. And what has she done? Absolutely nothing. She gets so much crap from them. And it never ends. It makes me so sad. Yesterday it was so bad that my mom told her that she wanted to home school her for the last five days of school. But, she didn't want to. Anyways, she has had it really tough lately, and you wanna know what she did?

She bought me a bike. 

Seriously? When I'm upset about something, I go to my room and cry about it all night. But nope, Natalie went out and bought me the bike that I've been wanting. I hope that someday I can be just like my little sister.

Current Favorite Song

Wanted by Hunter Hayes

You know I'd fall apart without you
I don't know how you do what you do

'Cause everything that don't make sense about me

Makes sense when I'm with you

Like everything that's green, girl I need you

But it's more than one and one makes two

Put aside the math and the logic of it

You gotta know you're wanted too

'Cause I wanna wrap you up

Wanna kiss your lips

I wanna make you feel wanted

And I wanna call you mine

Wanna hold your hand forever

Never let you forget it

Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted

Anyone can tell you you're pretty

You get that all the time, I know you do

But your beauty's deeper than the makeup

And I wanna show you what I see tonight

When I wrap you up

When I kiss your lips

I wanna make you feel wanted

And I wanna call you mine

Wanna hold your hand forever

Never let you forget it

'Cause baby I wanna make you feel wanted

As good as you make me feel

I wanna make you feel better

Better than your fairy tales

Better than your best dreams

You're more than everything I need

You're all I ever wanted

All I ever wanted

And I just wanna wrap you up

Wanna kiss your lips

I wanna make you feel wanted

And I wanna call you mine

Wanna hold your hand forever

Never let you forget it

Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted

Yeah, baby I wanna make you feel -

Wanted

'Cause you'll always be wanted

You know how every girl has that one song that they want someone to sing to them? Yep, this is mine. So cute. :)

Memories

What a great weekend! On Friday we didn't have school because of State Music Festival, so on Thursday, we had a little Blue Creek get together. It was only Katy, Shelby, Tanner, and me, but it was so fun. :) We went to Blue Creek School and played on the playground. We got there pretty late, so we didn't get to see any of our teachers, but we decided to come back next Friday. Then we had a bonfire at Katy's uncle's house and just talked. It so good to catch up. :)

On Friday, the Bangerters came to town! So we had a big party with the McLanes, the Webbers, and the Bangerters. (The Spratlings couldn't make it) It was a Playgroup reunion. :) It's always a lot of fun to spend time with the people you grew up with. We're all so different now!

I got bangs! I decided that I really wanted to change things up, so Dannielle cut them for me! I was really scared, so they said a prayer with me. ha ha :) I'm a dork. I made Alyssa hold my hand through it, but I  survived. And she did a pretty good job. ;)

Thankful For The Rain

Dei and I have had some struggles lately. I'm thinking it has something to do with the 5 hours a day we spend together at school. It just seems like our friendship has been going at a downward slope. I was really bummed about it, and I was starting to think that she didn't want to go to Girls Camp this year, or EFY. It made me really sad. She's not allowed to go to church on Sundays or take the discussions, but her mom said that she was allowed to go to Wednesday activities. But, every since she's had a job at Softies, she hasn't been able to go. 

But, last night it rained. 

Softies isn't open in the rain.

I was so excited. She could finally come to a Junior leader meeting! And there was a fireside after. I'm so glad she came. She loved it and it reminded her how much she loves church. We decided that we are going to read the Book of Mormon together and finish right before EFY. :) 

Today at school, we were excited to see each other. 

I miss that. We used to laugh about everything and nothing together. We talked today and our conversation went something like this:

Me: "You know what I realized? We like each other a lot more when we don't spend every day together."

Dei: "I know!"

"I think we just like each other more when we don't see each other as often. We have more to talk about."

"Yeah!"

"You know what, I hope we don't have any classes together next year."

"Me too!"

ha ha Definitely a weird conversation, but it felt so good to get out. And I'm sure she thought the same thing. I hope that we can stay this good of friends forever, because she's not someone I want to lose. I'm thankful for the rain.

♫♪♫ I Sure Can Smell The Rain ♫♪♫

I love thunderstorms! Today was the first one of the year, but we had to go inside for track. Luckily, we played Duck, Duck, Goose, so it didn't turn out too bad. ;) I hope this is just the beginning, because I love sitting on the porch and watching the rain and the lightning. It's so peaceful. I remember in Honduras, there was the biggest thunderstorm I've ever seen, and it was so close. We sat on their porch and tried to figure out how far away the lightning was. That was one of my favorite moments.

We took the ACT today. I think it ripped out a part of my inner child. I don't want to grow up. I want to be a kid forever. But, I'm glad I got it over with. And actually, it wasn't that bad. Much easier than I thought it would be. I was really confused about the English test, and then halfway through, I realized I was doing it wrong. So I tried to go back and fix as much as a could before time ran out. The science test was really hard, but the math and reading was so easy. I'm hoping I got a good score, because it could pay for college. :)

A New Chapter

It's official....we're moving! 

A sign and all to prove it! :) I'm so excited!

But, with the excitement, comes some sadness. I basically grew up in this house! I know we're moved a lot, but I've lived here since 5th grade. I've lived here through elementary school, middle school, and most of high school. That's a lot of memories and tears. There's going through elementary school, where life was happy and carefree. Then there's middle school, where being yourself just doesn't seem enough. Many tears where shed in my room as I tried to fit in and make friends, and learn to love myself again. And now there's high school, where, even in my bright and a little immature room, I have so many things that remind me of the past, and how much I want to be a kid forever. I love this house, and my room, but I feel that it's time to start over. It will be a new journey, and I'm ready for it. :) 

WeStopHate

In English we're looking at a website called 150 Fearless Women. We have to find two women that we are really interested in, and learn more about them. One that I liked is a high school student named Emily-Anne Rigal. She wanted to campaign against bullying, so she started a blog called WeStopHate.org. She also made another blog called LoveYourselfWSH.org, where you write yourself a letter about how wonderful and beautiful you are. You aren't allowed to say anything negative about yourself. She is advocating girls to love themselves and to not give in to how we think we should look or act. She sells T-shirts that say "Be You (tiful)." I think she is such a wonderful person, and I know that she can change the lives of the insecure women in the world. What an amazing person. :)

Got the best compliment ever! So a while ago, I was talking to Dei, and I said "You know how you see someone with something in common with you, and you feel connected? Like, when I see someone with a BYU shirt, I know they're LDS, and I feel like we're friends." She said "Yes" so I said "I think I feel that way about black people, then I remember that I'm not black, and we have absolutely nothing in common!" ha ha

So earlier this week, I told my friend Lizzy that story, and I told her that I must have been black in a former life or something, and she said "I can see that two ways. Either you were a fat black lady who could really sing and make the best friend chicken, or you were an old classy black man who knows everything and plays the banjo and the trumpet."

Awesome.

Honduras

We had an amazing trip in Honduras! I didn't want to leave! It was such an amazing experience. There is too much to write about it, so here's the link to the blog my mom made for the trip: http://jordensinhonduras.blogspot.com/

This week I saw a book on my mom's dresser: Heaven Is Here. I picked it up, and didn't put it down. What an incredible story. It's about an amazing LDS who was severely burned in a plane crash with her husband. The story is about her struggle to find the will to live, coping with the extreme pain, and living with the reality that her life would never be the same. It also talks about her beautiful relationship with her husband and her children, and shows her love for God and how she puts her life into His hands. I was deeply touched by it. I found her blog on the internet so I could keep up with her life and to see the wonderful accomplishments she is making. Her blog is nieniedialogues.com.

March Madness

I made it to All-Northwest again! It was so much fun. I went with a couple of people in my choir this year, but none of my West friends were allowed to try out this year. Our choir sounded incredible. During our final concert, we sang a song called The Famine Song. It was so deep and powerful. We did an interpretive dance to the song, and by the end, there was not a dry eye in the whole audience. We were only halfway through our concert, and we were given a standing ovation. It was an incredible experience. Next year, I'm going to try out for Nationals. :)

This was our accompanist. She was so friendly and nice. Everyone loved her!

This is the church we rehearsed in.

The next weekend was Tyler and Brooke's wedding! (Not to mention Prom and the midnight premiere of The Hunger Games) At first I was bummed that I missed out on Prom, but now I'm so glad I did! And I still got to see the premiere in Las Vegas. :) The wedding was so beautiful. I felted so honored to be a bridesmaid. I got to meet Brooke's hilarious family, and guess what! They love Nacho Libre as much as I do! I even figured out that Brooke's sister, Megan, has the Ramses mask! I have the Nacho Libre mask! It looks like Tyler and Brooke were destined to be.

The NEXT weekend, the Yanez family came! They arrived in Salt Lake on March 30th, which happens to also be my birthday. I had a good day at school, and Dei and Laykin took me out on a little picnic. :) After school, I got to spend the monumental day of my birth in a car for nine hours. :P It actually wasn't that bad, and it was so good to see the Yanez's. We spent most of the next week (Spring Break) with them in Salt Lake, visiting the temples, going to General Conference, going to the zoo, seeing the church sites, meeting up with family at Jump On It!

On Friday we got back to Billings, and went to Tyler and Brooke's Billings reception. We spent the weekend with the Yanez family, but there wasn't quite as much to do in Billings as Utah. But Jose still said that his favorite part of the trip was being with us in Billings. We were sad to see them go on Tuesday. :( We can't wait to see them again some day.