Two Decades

To commemorate my 20th birthday I figured I would share twenty accomplishments or cool events in my life until now and also 20 people who have been influential in my life. Here goes nothing. The twenty accomplishments might be bragging a little, but it's my birthday, I can do that. (This post makes it look like my birthday is really Halloween, and it's not, it's November 4th, today!)

Twenty Great Accomplishments/Events:

1. My Birth- without it I wouldn't be here to do any of the rest!
2. Visiting Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch - a city in Wales with the third longest name in the world.
3. My Baptism
4. Starting to play the violin- it took me two years to convince my parents to let me.
5. Stopping the elevator in the mall on an orchestra trip- 8 of us jumped at the same time. When the door opened our director was standing there. Hilarious!!!
6. Learning to ride a unicycle- I doubt I could do it anymore, but before we moved to Houston I was getting pretty good.
7. Quartet in B- The quartet I was in in Bartlesville. Lots of fun and lots of great memories.
8. Getting my driver's license- amazing new freedom! It was a tramatic experience the morning of my 16th birthday though because Dad had the papers I needed in Houston. He overnighted them though so I only went one day without a license.
9. Playing in the Virtuosi of Houston- The best orchestra I've ever been in, and the greatest conductor's in the world!!
10. Going to Disneyworld- I finally went spring break of my junior year. Tons of fun! I wish I could go back and back and back. The Buzz Lightyear ride was amazing!
11. Getting a 30 on the ACT- Pretty sweet since I didn't bother studying at all.
12. Attending prom twice, in different states!- I went with one of my best friends in Bartlesville and got to see everyone again which was awesome. Then I went spur of the moment in Houston with Alex. I had given my ticket away but it made it's way back to me.
13. Graduating from seminary- Now when I have to get up that early it's really hard. I look back and can't figure out how I did it for four years.
14. Graduating Summa Cum Laude from Cy-Fair Senior High School- yeah, I was the 23rd person to walk. The boring part was the 700 plus after me!
15. Being admitted to the University of Houston Moore's School of Music- I'm pretty sure it's the best music school in the world.
16. Getting four scholarships to the University of Houston- turned out to be basically a full ride altogether. Dad was pretty excited.
17.Visiting the Sacred Grove- I really wish I lived in Palmyra so I could go there every Sunday afternoon. It was the coolest place in the world!
18. Moving to Provo- Although the Moore's School of Music is amazing life here is sooooo much better. I pretty much love every minute of it.
19. Buying a piano- It took a lot of saving, but now I have my very own piano and it is SWEET!
20. Getting a job at Archivers- Talk about a dream job, I was also pretty excited to leave the BYU custodial

And now....twenty people (in no specific order):

1. My Parents- Without them I wouldn't be alive, and I wouldn't have many of the things I have or know many of the things I know.
2. Caleb- My best and only brother. I love him to death and he's always there for me.
3. Mr. Grabiec- A great violin teacher and conductor, but the best teacher in the world. He taught me soooooooo much about music and how great it is. He's always happy and always willing to listen and talk.
4. Mr. Krager- The best conductor in the world. He taught me how to appreciate music and make it come alive. He is extremely passionate about what he does and is a great example to me.
5. McCall Sessions- One of my young women's presidents and a great friend. We've shared good times as well as bad and since she's older than me I get great advice from her!
6. Bridgette Solomon- The coolest laurel advisor ever. She taught me a thing or two about going with the flow and getting the most out of each and every experience.
7. Jeri Wyn Mumford- Another young women's president. She was the biggest help in convincing me that life was not terrible after we moved to Houston and she became a good friend.
8. Holly Flanagan- The coolest sister-in-law in the world, and also my one and only sister-in-law. We have a ton of fun together, I'm not sure how I lived without her until now.
9. Chuck Shearer- A friend of Dad's from work. He's amazing to talk to and will teach you anything he knows, he's also always willing to help with anything from Physics homework to tornado's while your parents are out of town.
10. President Hinckley- Basically the only prophet I remember a lot about and an amazing man. Each time I hear him speak I feel like I gain sooooooooo much knowledge and also motivation to endure to the end. He is a great example to me.
11. Tamyra Smith- My very first violin teacher. She was great and got me started in my music career.
12. Mrs. Hershberger- My middle school orchestra director. She had an amazing love for music and middle-schoolers which is amazing in itself. She retired after I graduated 8th grade, but I still get Christmas cards from her and she wrote an amazing letter of recommendation for me on a moment's notice.
13. Tammy Bitter- Alex's mom. She's amazing at talking, I'm pretty sure it's one of her talents, and I love talking to her about random stuff to get my mind off whatever is going on in my life.
14. Mrs. Hicks- My senior english teacher. She cared more about having fun than passing the AP test really and did everything she could to ensure we had a great senior year!
15. Debbie Thompson- My freshman seminary teacher. Without her starting off my four years of seminary with a bang I'm not sure I would have made it through. Calvin and Hobbes and hot chocolate make seminary great!
16. Stephen Consedine- A constant friend in German class and an amazing person. He was student body president his senior year and let me ask him to his own prom so that I could go back up to Bartlesville!
17. Mr. Kasberg- My world geography teacher senior year. Only he and his crazy personality could have made that freshman class bearable senior year.
18. Shawn Saunders- A crazy guy who proposes to me all the time. I keep saying yes!
19. Bishop Lundwall- My bishop in Houston. He's kind of a crazy guy but the look of wonder on his face when we sang "How Great Thou Art" gave me a new outlook on everything in the world.
20. Caroline Ewan- I don't really have a best friend, but Caroline comes close. We shared a lot of great times in Calculus and survived orchestra together junior year.

So that's it for me. Here's to the next twenty years!