my well-deserved time-out

I do believe I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

I had the incredible opportunity to go to Time-Out for Girls with one of my best friends. Basically, we got to listen to these amazing famous LDS speakers sing and give inspiring talks.

It was awesome. (And I mean that--It. Was. Awesome. Not awesome like the new Taylor Swift CD, or the Avengers, or the frozen burrito I had for lunch. Think about the word "awesome." It means something that inspires awe. Human beings should not throw around this word so carelessly unless the thing you're describing is really that awesome. This is one of those times.)

Prepare to be blown away.

John Bytheway was there. Like, the real John Bytheway. The hilarious and inspiring author of three of my very favorite books? The one who remixed Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Trees? Yeah. That was awesome. He is awesome.

Kris Blecher and John Hilton III were also there. John was pretty hilarious too. He talked about getting personal revelation by searching the scriptures. (But when you're mad at someone and you're seeking for peace, and you open up to a scripture that says "slay him" don't do it. Remember to apply the verse correctly.)

Okay. Prepare to be blown away AGAIN.

My friend Brooke just introduced me to this really cool video by Carmen Rasmusen Herbert and Alex Boye. Watch. Inspire yourself.




If that didn't blow you away, this will.

CARMEN RASMUSEN HERBERT WAS THERE AND I GOT TO MEET HER.

Look! There I am next to a Season 2 American Idol finalist who also happens to be an amazing Latter-Day Saint woman! She is so awesome! I love how even in Hollywood, with all those negative influences around her trying to get her to compromise her standards, she stood firm.  She talked about how true beauty isn't on the outside, but on the inside.


You know who else I got to meet? SANDRA TURLEY. She's a Broadway star who performed in Les Miserables. She was such inspiring speaker. She also didn't give in to the world trying to get her to do things against what she knew was right. Besides that, she has an incredible voice. Like, seriously. This girl was born to be on Broadway.

I admire both of these women because even though they were famous, they decided to end their careers and start families. Carmen said while we were there, "Fame and fortune do not hold a candle to faith and family." I love that. Nothing is more important than faith and family. We want to become who God wants us to be, not what the world does.

One of my favorite parts of the whole day was at the very end when Carmen and Sandra sand "For Good" from Wicked. That song is so special to me, I couldn't believe it when I heard the song starting! Both of them have gorgeous voices and strong spirits, and I hope someday I can be like them.

Laurel Christensen, who wrote my book "He Loves Us and We Love Him" was there too. She said this:

"There is a plan for your life. There is a story that is yours. Just. Yours. What part of your story are you writing today?"

I want to do the best I can to be my best self and write the best life story I can. I needed this time-out so bad. I'm so glad I got to go to this event and feel the spirit.

in which I meet an author and become a superhero

That's right, guys. I'm a superhero. Sort of.

Awesome-Author-Rachel and Me

My aunt Liane's sister, Rachel McClellan, author of an awesome book called Fractured Light came to stay next door to us. As a mutual activity, she came to speak to our Young Women's group about becoming our own superheroes. (Double awesome. Meeting author. Who is also a superhero.)

She started out with this awesome quote by Marianne Williamson:

"We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?"

She told us that we have this light inside of us that we need to use to help, uplift, and serve others. Our SUPERPOWER. (I know, right?!) In order to use our power for good, we have to be unselfish, not judging, have a desire to serve, and be courageous.

Imagine Superman, she told us, sitting in a diner, eating his enchilada soup. What if he was selfish? What if he judged others? What if he didn't want to help the people outside who were being chased by that giant robot? What if he was too afraid to save them? Would he be a superhero? "Of course not," Rachel said, "He wouldn't be a superhero. He's just a really good looking guy in a cape and tights."

Even Superman, with all of his strength, talents, and abilities, wouldn't be anything if he was selfish, judging, and afraid.

But he is a superhero. And those good qualities, being selfless, courageous, brave, kind...we need to be all those things if we want to become our own superheroes.

Rachel's an author. She knows that people, like characters, have flaws. Nobody's perfect. But we need to be the best that we can be so that we can be the heroes of our own stories.

So guess what, guys? I'm not the only hero around here.

You're a superhero too.