It's been a loooong time...

Wow. Did I really just go the whole summer (and then some) without posting at all? Hahaha I can't help but laugh that the last time I updated was May 27th. Well, here I am, 4 months later...not any cooler or more exciting than I was then....


....Yeah that's really sad. Hopefully an update to come soon. Don't hold your breath, though.

The National Anthem.

I’ve always loved the Star-Spangled Banner. The song conveys so much feeling. As most of you know, when I graduated, my high school’s choir took a trip to Boston and sang at Fenway Park. 2 years later, my brother got to do the same thing in New York. To see the video, click here. Ammon is right in the center in the front.

And just for fun, click here to see mine. I’m standing front and center too.

Time for some new stuff.

So a little over a year ago, I had dedicated a post to my brother Ammon, who was then turning 16. I put a couple of his YouTube videos up. All the ones I had posted are no longer on his account because of some form of copyright infringement (because of the music that he used). So since he just continues to get funnier and funnier, I thought I would put a few more up. Enjoy!

JB. And J-O-B.

Today is my best friend’s birthday. Jordan Bondley. We’ve been friends since our sophomore year of high school when we started working at Papa Murphy’s together, and we worked together until I moved to Utah 3 years later.

We went to different schools. He went to Century High School (BOO), and I, of course, went to Bismarck High School. He came to my school’s Junior Winter Formal with me…

…and he asked me to his school’s Senior Prom.

We’ve always kind of stuck together because while all of our other friends were out drinking and partying, we were pretty much the only ones who didn’t. That’s a rarity where we grew up.

I really appreciate him for being able to stick up for the things he believes in. Even with both of us coming from different religious backgrounds, it’s still evident that we recognize God’s existence in our lives.

So, Happy Birthday, best friend. Hope you have a great day!

In other news…I received a call today telling me that I AM BEING OFFERED A JOB! Woohoo! I will still be working just a couple hours at night at the salon, but starting June 2nd, I’ll be working with my sister Monica, full time and making way more money than I am right now. I’m so glad I have this opportunity! Yay!

Stuck in the middle of life.

So, here I am. I am alive! I realize it’s been well over a month since I last posted. There are so many things that are going on in my life right now, and I know you’re all dying to know. I have enough to blog about everyday for the next two weeks. But, the question is whether or not it should be blogged about. So I’d rather not risk it.

So why do I have a blog in the first place? I don’t have anything clever to say, or anything particularly funny to share. I feel like the thoughts that I have and the things I do are only understood to me, like no one out there completely gets me.  My blog is to share the times that I am happiest, the times I am the saddest. The times I’m completely angry, the times I have reoccurring thoughts I just can’t get rid of. The times I learn something new, the times I set new goals for myself. I know I haven’t done a very good job of blogging on a regular basis, I’ve just kind of been in a slump lately. I keep to myself more so than I have my entire life. Which leads to the purpose of the title of this post…

I feel like I’m discovering who I am all over again. I thought I had figured that out a long time ago. There are things I used to love that I don’t anymore. There are things I used to hate, but now love. There are things I’ve tried that I never thought I’d have the courage to do. There are just so many things about me I didn’t know existed or would ever exist until recently. And there is just one experience after the other that changes my perceptions and opinions about life. I can’t help but be human and feel like I’m stuck and alone. Sometimes I feel like everyone else is smarter than me and that I don’t have the ability to understand complex or basic concepts.

But the best thing I’ve discovered is that some things are meant to change, and that I will never be alone.

There is one little bit of my patriarchal blessing I feel is appropriate to share. It says, “You will have to make decisions in your life and Heavenly Father is giving you the promise that He will respond to your sincere prayers as you go to Him in faith and as you believe that He will answer you, He will indeed do so. Sister Leah, you will never be alone in your life. Heavenly Father is giving you rich blessings. He is giving you the strength to understand the things you learn.”

What a comfort that is to me! And I love that it can be applied to everyone. Even when I am confused and don’t know what will come of difficult decisions, or I am at the lowest of lows, I do know what I want out of my earthly existence, and I know what my ultimate goal is. I know that I would be lost without the Gospel. I am forever in debt to the Savior. I know that I’m a daughter of God, and that I have a purpose in being on the earth at this time. I’m thankful to be blessed with such great family members and friends (who have become like family) that care so much about me and love me, no matter what good decisions or stupid mistakes I make. I’ve come to learn that I need to be humble enough to ask for a priesthood blessing sometimes. I’m grateful for the priesthood, and the friends I have that honor it and live worthily to be able to use it. The blessings I receive from Jesus Christ through those friends are just more of a testimony to me that God is completely aware of me.

How can anyone believe that Christ doesn’t live? I’ve never ever doubted it. I can see it in every detail. I feel His love and presence constantly. I hope I can continue to strengthen my relationship with Him.

From Piglet to Mexico

This is me and my good friend Ben, watching Winnie the Pooh when we were 2 or 3.

Ben is my best and oldest friend. Yesterday I had the great opportunity to attend his mission farewell. For certain reasons I knew I wasn't going to make it on time, and I was getting worried. But I ended up getting to the church just in time to hear the last 3 minutes of his talk, and I'm so happy I even got to hear that. As soon as I sat down and listened to him speak, I was automatically filled with the Spirit. I knew that he has been called of God to go on a mission and serve the people of central Mexico. He spoke of serving people and sharing the gospel, and when he started talking about his wonderful family, I began to tear up. I've known him and his family for just about my whole life and everything he said was true. He has such a great testimony. I'm sad I won't see him for two years, but it will be just fine. He enters the MTC on Wednesday morning.




I wish you the best of luck Elder Buxton! You, your family, and the Mexican people will be greatly blessed!

The Mysterious Birthday Package

Everyday last week, my mother would ask me if I'd gotten the mail that day. She was really excited because apparently she and my dad had sent me something for my birthday. She even told em that I had to take lots of pictures and do a whole blog on it. I thought that was really strange because for one, why on earth would she get so excited about a card, and two, she NEVER sends cards. Ever. Except for the occasional Christmas card. So I would just tell her that nothing had come from her that day and move on. On one of those days, my Dad (who now has Facebook) wrote on my wall and said,

"Happy Birthday, Baby! The pink boots are long gone, but I hope you like the other pink thing you're getting."

WHAT?! So apparently it was pink. Pink...it could be anything. But I highly doubted my parents would give me a hint about a card. That's kind of lame. I had a guess as to what it would be, but I didn't want to get my hopes up, so I pushed that thought out of my mind.

On Saturday the 7th, I went to work from 9-5. Obviously the mail hadn't come yet when I was getting ready for work, since I left before 8:30 in the morning. So I worked and kind of forgot about it. Then I got home that evening and this sweet little package was sitting on the kitchen table for me. I got really excited. I then was supposed to meet up with some friends for my birthday dinner at Pizza Factory. So I brought it along with me because my sister was going to be there and I knew she knew what it was, and she would want to see me open it and take pictures.

There it is, the one on the left.

Hmm...what could be in there? There is definitely more than a card.

I pulled out a beautiful card that my dad picked out. He did a good job. There was also a couple pairs of St. Patrick's Day-type socks, super cute with shamrocks all over. The kicker was when I pulled out three iTunes gift cards. That was the big hint. Was it what I had hoped it was?

After pulling out the last pair of socks, and seeing that one of them had a big, rectangular bulge in it, I knew it was what I thought it was...

My super sweet new pink iPod!

I got my first one for my 17th birthday, but it's been acting stupid and since it was a 4 GB, I couldn't fit all my music on it. So I asked for one for Christmas, but didn't get it. So I was really excited to find that my parents had sent me one for my birthday. Thank you, Mom and Dad! I love it. And you, of course.

And I just want to give another little shoutout to my mom. She has been living in the States since she was 6 and never did become a citizen...until now! She just passed her citizenship test this week! She worked so hard, and I'm really proud and happy for her.

Alfabeto de Leah.

A
- Available: No.
- Age: 19...20 in 24 days!
- Annoyance: When the bottom of my jeans get wet. Grrr.
- Animal: Monkeys. Or dogs.

B
- Beer: The North Dakotan's drink of choice. Not mine, of course.
- Birthday/Birthplace: March 6th, 1989/Chico, California.
- Best Friends: I have many! Besides my family...there's quite a few. Paul, Jordan, Phil, Andy, Emily, Gabe, Annie, Taylor, my roommates, and the girls I work with.
- Body Part on opposite sex: Hands.
- Best feeling in the world: Brushing my teeth.
- Been on stage?: Oh yes, plenty of times.
- Been beaten up?: I got pushed and spat on once.
- Believe in yourself? Most of the time.
- Believe in life on other planets: Not sure.
- Believe in miracles: Of course.
- Believe in magic: No.
- Believe in God: I could never deny that.
- Believe in Satan: Why yes, his presence is definitely real.
- Believe in Santa: I never believed in Santa.
- Believe in Ghosts/spirits: I believe in the Holy Ghost/Spirit.
- Believe in Evolution: Kind of...I believe in the evolution of other living things, but I really don't see how humans could have evolved from monkeys. Weird.

C
- Car: Oh that's right...I don't have one.
- Color: Purple...more on the plum/eggplant side.
- Cried in school: Yeah, enough times. I don't really like to think about that.
- Chocolate/Vanilla: Vanilla. Just like how I like my men. HAHA.
- Chinese/Mexican: Are we talking about food? Or race? I'm neither Chinese nor Mexican, but I love Panda Express...although I'm pretty sure that doesn't count. Mexican food is amazing!
- Cake or pie: Cake. Fo sho.
- Country to visit: Honduras or Italy.
- Comedian: Philip Wiseman. He's not an actual comedian, but he's one of my really good friends and he is HILARIOUS! I've never laughed harder around anybody before.

D
- Day or Night: Both.
- Dream vehicle: I'd take just about anything at this point.
- Dance: I used to be in it in elementary school.
- Dance in the rain? That would be awesome.


E
- Eggs: Scrambled please.
- Eyes: Brown.
- Everyone has: a guilty pleasure.
- Ever failed a class? Just math.

F
- First crush: The first one I can actually remember...Devin Kottenbrock. 5th grade.
- Full name: Leah Ines Miller.
- First thoughts waking up: I'm hungry.
- Food: Oh my gosh, there are so many. I love food. Any kind of chicken. Oh, and pizza. Can't forget pizza.


G
- Greatest Fear: Getting in car accident or losing a family member.
- Goals: Find the thing I love that I want to do for the rest of my life. Get married in the temple.
- Gum: I love Orbit or Stride. Spearmint or Sweet Mint are my faves.
- Get along with your parents?: I love my parents!
- Good luck charm: This plastic ring I got in a vending machine once. I've worn it to all of my auditions and performances. It never did me wrong. The one time I didn't wear it I didn't get into this choir I wanted to be in.

H
- Hair Color: Dark Brown
- Height: 5'0"
- Happy: Extremely.
- Holiday: Thanksgiving. And my birthday.
- How do you want to die: Not sure. But I've decided that I'm destined to die in a car accident.
- Health Freak: Not exactly. I like to feel healthy, but most of the time I won't purposely go out of my way to be healthier than normal.
- Hate: Spiders.
- Heart Broken/when/who?: Yes. Jason Schneider. Senior year.

I
- Ice Cream: Ben and Jerry's Vanilla Caramel Fudge or Strawberry Cheesecake. Rainbow Sherbet rocks too.
- Instrument: Piano.

J
- Jewelry: I love it all.
- Job: Receptionist at the best place ever.

K
- Kids: Someday!
- Kick boxing or karate: Never done either. Unless you count the Taebo videos we used to do in jr.high/high school gym classes.
- Keep a journal?: Not really. I probably should though.

L
- Longest Car Ride: Bismarck ND to Palmyra NY (almost 23 hours, 1456 miles).
- Love: Everyone and just about everything.
- Laughed so hard you cried: Quite a few times!
- Love at first sight: Sort of...

LAST PERSON WHO...
1.Slept in a bed beside you? Annie
2.Saw you cry? Diane, Lauren, and Paul
3.Went to the movies with you? Paul
4.You went to the mall with? Lauren and Mal
5.You went to dinner with? Paul, Shandell, Tay, and Brandon
6.You talked to on the phone? Paul
7.Made you laugh? The girls at work and of course Paul
8.Made you cry? myself
9.Broke your heart? Jason.
10.You vented to about a boy/girl? Liz, Lisa, and Courtney.

M
- Milk flavor: Land O Lakes Lactose/Fat Free.
- Movie: Frequency.
- Mooned anyone? Never.
- Marriage? Maybe in 2 or 3 years.
- Motion sickness? Occasionally.
- McD's or BK: If I had to pick one over the other, McDonald's. But I don't really like it that much.
- Memory: Going inside the Draper temple.

N
- Number of Siblings: 3
- Number of Piercings: One in each ear.
- Number: 4 or 9

O
- Overused Phrases: Whatev. Your mom. That's what she said. Thanks for calling Sport Clips this is Leah how can I help you. IDK my BFF Jill.
- Odd phobia: Deep bodies of water. And driving.

P
- Place you'd like to live: Washington or Boston. Anywhere on either the West or East coast, really. I'm sick of being in the middle.
- Pizza: Creamy garlic sauce, canadian bacon, grilled chicken, and pineapple. Yep, it's known as the Leah pizza in Bismarck.
- Pepsi/Coke: Pepsi.
- Person you miss: My brothers, the Papa Murphy's crew, and the kids in choir with me.

Q
- Quail: Reminds me of Quailman off of the show Doug. I miss that show!
- Quiet music or loud: Loud, most of the time.

R
- Reason to cry: When I get in fights with people.
- Reality TV: American Idol.
- Radio Station: I never listen to the radio anymore. I like Pandora.
- Roll your tongue in a circle?: I have no ability to. I'm one of those weird ones.

S
- Song: Oh there are so many. A Long December by Counting Crows, Fix You by Coldplay, The Best Deceptions and Am I Missing by Dashboard, and basically anything by Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, or Queen.
- Shoe size: anywhere from a kid's 2 to a women's 6.
- Salad Dressing: Ranch. But I usually don't eat salad, not a big fan. And no, I'm not one of those people that eats everything with ranch. I only like it on salad.
- Sushi: Still have never tried it. But I have a feeling I won't like it.
- Scent: Good food. Any perfume or lotion that I own.
- Skipped class: More times than I should have.
- Seen a dead body? Only on TV.
- Smoke? No way. It smells bad and I get sick.
- Skinny dipped? Never have.
- Shower daily? Haha...most of the time. But I've been pretty lazy lately, like every other day.
- Sing well? I like to think so.
- In the shower? I don't remember the last time I sang in the shower.
- Swear? Sometimes, but only if I'm quoting someone or something.
- Stuffed Animals? A hippo named Mr. Bubbles. Also a little gorilla my brother gave me and a pink dog my sister gave me for Valentine's day last year.
- Single/Group dates: I like them all.
- Strawberries/Blueberries: Are good dipped in sugar/I love blueberry muffins.
-Sport: To watch, basketball and baseball. To play, volleyball and soccer.

T
- Time for bed: Midnight
- Thunderstorms: are pretty cool most of the time. Crappy if you have to drive somewhere or they turn into tornado warnings like they do so many times where I'm from.
- TV: on the internet or DVD rocks. I also have a secret addiction to wedding planning shows and cake decorating shows. Ooh ooh and Storm Chasers. I love shows on TLC. I really like TV actually, more than any person should. There are plenty more shows I love.
- Touch your tongue to your nose? can't.
- Tattoos? I would never ever get one, but I like to learn the stories behind why people get certain tattoos.

U
- Unpredictable: not usually. I should work on that.
- Used to play: Drums. And basketball.
V
- Vegetable you hate: Pretty much all of them.
- Vegetable you love: I think corn is the only one.
- Vacation spot: I'd love to go either California or Hawaii, or anywhere warm out of the country.

W
- Weakness: lacking confidence, sometimes I'm more shy and reserved than I'd like to be.
- When you grow up: Not sure yet.
- Which one of your friends knows the most about you: Paul and Emily.
- Who makes you laugh the most: Phil, Paul, and Mckay.
- Worst feeling: Not getting enough sleep and being exhausted when you know you have a long day ahead of you.
- Want to be a model? No way.

X
- X-Rays: On my left arm twice. Once when I broke my arm at recess and once after i injured it in my car accident last March.

Y
-Year it is now: 2009
-Yellow: A good song by Coldplay.

Z
- Zoo animal: Gorillas.
- Zodiac sign: Pisces

What keeps me entertained at work...

As most of you know, I work as a receptionist at a salon aimed to please the avid sports fan. I actually really enjoy watching ESPN. When I have a day off, it feels like I get super behind in scores from various sports, this time of year it's NBA and college basketball (and the Super Bowl is this Sunday! I'm all for the underdog, so GO CARDINALS!) I would watch it at my apartment if I could, but my roommates and I decided not to sign up for cable, which is smart to me, because we don't spend enough time watching TV that it would be worth it for everyone to have to pay for it. Anyway, sometimes it tends to get a little slow watching the same channel for 6 hours straight, so the hilarious commercials make it worth it. Can I just say how much I love basketball players? They're so funny. My favorite team is the Celtics, if you didn't know. But as far as sense of humor goes, Lebron James and Shaq are hilarious! Here are some of my favorites.

So there you go. And now I'm off to get ready for work.

My Goal for 2009

Well hello everyone, a Happy New Year to you all.

So, I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions. But I decided to this year. No, I'm not trying to lose weight. Or quit smoking. Oh wait...

But I am trying to get healthier.

The girls I work with all decided to take this Healthy Challenge. It lasts for 12 weeks, but I started a week early so that I could get in the swing of things more easily. So I began on January 5th, with our official date starting on the 12th. We'll "end" on April 5th. I say "end" because in order to make something a habit, it takes 21 days. And since I'll have done the challenge for 13 weeks, hopefully it will be more than just a habit, it will be a regular part of my lifestyle.
I've listed how the challenge works, so you can see just what sort of adjustments I'm making.

The Healthy Challenge
There are a total of 8 points possible for each day and a total of 56 for the week.

Here are the points:

1 point for getting 7 hours of sleep. This does not have to be consecutive. If you don't get seven during the night you can take a nap during the day to make your total of seven hours.

1 point for drinking 64. oz. of water each day. 32 oz. need to be plain water but the other 32 can have Crystal lite or some other additive.

1 point for no carbonation each day. Nothing carbonated.

1 point for exercising 30 minutes a day. This does not have to be consecutive, just a total of 30 min. Sundays are a free day for exercise so you get the point regardless.

1 point for not eating any sweets. No candy, cookies, cake etc.

1 point for not making any un-healthy food choices each day. No fries, chips, crackers etc. Whole grain crackers and baked chips are okay.

1 point for not eating after 9:30 every night. If you get home and have not had dinner and it is 9:30, go ahead and eat dinner, just don't eat anything after that.

1 point for eating 5 serving of fruits and or veggies every day. 8oz. of fruit juice counts as a serving. 1 piece of fruit or about 1/2 cup of veggies equals a serving. 2 cups of leafy greens like lettuce equal one serving. V-8 actually counts as 2 servings! That is an easy way to get them. You will notice that you do feel better if you actually eat fresh fruit and veggies but dried are okay.

Each week we each get three "flex" points. These can be used to make up for a point if you lost one or to treat yourself to something yummy. If you use one of these points during the day you can violate that rule throughout the day. You can not carry these points over from week to week.

We also get three "free" days throughout the challenge. On the free days you do not have to do any of the things to earn points but you get the eight anyway. You may need them if you get sick. Use them wisely and strategically!

We will each put in $5, so whoever has the most points at the end of the challenge gets the money!

So there it is. Feel free to try it! That's one of the reasons why I posted all the rules. I've already successfully completed a week and a half, 11 and a half to go! Wish me luck!