"The perfect place to begin is exactly where you are right now."
~Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Saturday, January 26, 2013

2013 Utah All-State Band

Just last week I had the amazing opportunity to be a member of the 2013 Utah All-State Band. I sent in an audition tape a few weeks prior and to my surprise, received an email notifying me I had been selected as on of 213 high school students to perform at Abravanel hall in January. I was delighted! Once the weekend of the concert came, we had chair placements, I was placed fourth. The concert was amazing and I had such a wonderful time. While on one of our breaks, the Westlake Band director approached me and offered me a job to help staff over the flutes/woodwinds for next years marching band!! DREAM JOB!!!!! I am SO excited to get to be a staff member with their band next year. Although, I do think it's quite funny: I might be the same age and even younger than some of their Senior flutes!!




Our incredible band students from American Fork!
Caitlin and I were the ONLY girls!

The whole band!
It truly was an amazing concert and I'm so grateful I was selected to perform with all those wonderful musicians!





Thursday, January 10, 2013

BYU-Idaho!

Dear Cambri:

Congratulations! We are pleased to offer you admission to Brigham Young University-Idaho. Rich blessings and life-changing opportunities await you here.


Ahh! I’ve been accepted to BYU-Idaho! I’m so excited! This is the school that I’ve REALLY wanted to go to! So when I got the news you can imagine my excitement! I quickly ran downstairs to tell my dad and called my mom as fast as I could! It literally is a dream come true! In February I’ll be going to the campus with my Mom and Dad to audition for a Music Scholarship I’ve been working on for the past few months. It’s a cRaZy Scholarship with lot’s of things to perform so I’m crossing my fingers I’ll do good :).

Thank you to my mom and dad for all of the help, love, and support they have given to me. My dad helped me write all of my essays and for that I'm very grateful. I love them both with all my heart and don't know what I would do without them! I love you :)

Sunday, January 6, 2013

2013

For most of us, the New Year brings change. We all set goals and decide what we'd like to change about our lives. To me, the thought to better myself is exciting! and I always do super good on my goals for the first little while. But soon, I start to forget I even set those goals and everything I had been working so hard on the first month slowly goes away. So, this year I've written them all down in hopes that it will encourage me to keep working on them throughout the year.
As I was thinking of goals I'd like to start working on, I came across a website that had a list of 100 New Years Resolutions. As I was reading through this list, I chose a few to work on:

1. Listen to My Favorite Music More
      They say music is the soundtrack of life, but it's also a great way to put you in a better mood, no        matter what the circumstances are. 
2. Be Healthier
       I feel like this is always one of my goals, and I never do anything to change it. So this year, I made up a few more specific goals so I can better reach the overall goal of becoming a healthier person.
3. Validate People In My Life More
       It's easy to take the important people in your life for granted, especially if you see them every day. Taking time to let them know how important they are to you on an occasional basis will make you feel good and will strengthen your relationship with them.
              Even though I feel like I do have a pretty good relationship with my Family & Friends, I'm still making this a goal for myself. There is always room for improvement in any relationship. I have friends I wish I knew better. And I hope to become best friends with every single one of my family members.
4. Get More Sleep
       Most of the time I stay up until midnight for no reason at all and I wake up the next day feeling sleepy and tired. So this year, I'm determined to go to bed earlier so I can be a happier person to be around.
5. Stop Procrastinating!
       I am SO bad at this one! I'm always putting things off until the last second and it leaves me stressed and mad. So this year, I'm making it a goal to stop the procrastinating and Get'er done :)
6. Meet Someone New Every Day
      It's easy to be closed off and think that your circle of friends is complete, but there are many opportunities each day to strike up a conversation with someone you don't know. And you never know what it might lead to.
7. Drink More Water
      I've actually been doing pretty good with this one. I haven't had anything but water to drink since the New Year. 
8. Spend Less Time on Facebook & Pinterest
       Social networking sites can be a great way to keep in touch with people you don't get to see everyday, but they can also become a vice. If you're clocking more time on these sites than you are with the people you do see each day, it might be good to logoff more.
              I'm pretty bad at this one too. A lot of the time I spend on the Computer is on Facebook and Pinterest. And while these sites are fun and useful, there are much more important things I could be doing. So this year, I'm going to spend less time online and more time doing things I should.
9. Get More Organized
       My backpack is a mess and my room... well... we won't go there. I often hear that if you have a clean and organized life, you'll feel less stressed! So this year, I'm going to clean and organize everything and I'm determined to keep it that way!
10. Learn To Cook
       I'm heading off to College in the Fall and I can't cook... at all. Ask my family if you don't believe me. So this year, I'm going to learn how to Cook! And be good at it!
11. Stop Being On My Phone So Much
       I always have my phone in my pocket and as soon as I feel it vibrate its in my hands and I'm replying to a text message. So this year, I want to try and go without my phone as much. Yes, phones are great and very helpful, but they can also be very distracting like Facebook. So I'm going to try my hardest to turn it off as much as possible.
12. Read More
       I used to read a TON, but now I find that I rarely ever pick up a book. So it is a goal for me to read more often.
13. Finish the Book Of Mormon
       I've actually never finished reading the Book Of Mormon. I always start over and say "This time... I will!" But I never have. So this year, I'm GOING to finish and I'm not going to stop until I'm done.
14. Spend More Time In Personal Progress
       I'm a Laurel and I'm done with the Young Women program in May! That's only five months away and I don't have my Young Women Medallion. I remember being a little beehive and thinking I was going to get it as soon as I could! Well... that didn't really work. So this year, by May, I WILL have my Young Women medallion and I will wear it proudly :).
15. Read My Scriptures More & Pray Better
       Yes, I read my Scriptures and Yes, I say my prayers. But I think I do it just because I know I'm supposed to. So this year, I'm going to study my Scriptures harder and pray more sincerely.
16. START! 
       Even if your resolution is to stop doing something, start stopping today. It's easy to get caught up in the thinking part, but eventually you have to start doing what you said you'd do. There's no time like the present, because it's always right now, so start towards your goal right now.

I am determined to accomplish each of these things! And I know I will! And I know that you can accomplish your New Years Resolutions as well. 2013 is a pretty big year for me. I'll be Graduating, leaving for college, and who knows what else! So here's to a great year!

 I wish you a Happy New Year and hope that you have a wonderful 2013 full of happy memories.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!


Christmas Eve
Grandma & Grandpa Marks came for Christmas Eve. We each showed off our musical talents and played a Christmas Song. Ash played her violin, I played my Flute, Syd sang, and Dallin and Hollie sang a cute duet :) I'm so thankful for all our musical talents!
{Grandma, Me, Dallin, Sydnee, Hollie, Grandpa, Ashlyn, Mom}

Christmas Morning
{Ashlyn, Hollie, Dallin, Sydnee, Me}

Christmas Morning Pictures :P
Oh how lovely :)

Syd

Ash

Dallin

Sweats!!!
{Ashlyn & I}

A few days after Christmas we went to Aspen Grove with a few of the families in our ward. It was so much fun lounging around in sweats, sledding, and playing games with all those wonderful people.

Ashlyn shoving snow in my face!

Matching Gap Sweatshirts!

My beautiful cousin, Courtney and I at Grandma & Grandpa Marks house for dinner.

Happy New Years!
This year we had the Edwards over to play games and eat food.
{Emma, Joel, Brendon, Brother Edwards, Sister Edwards, Mom, Hollie, Dad, Me, Ashlyn, Dallin}

The whole Marks Family got together and went tubing at Soldier Hollow. It was FREEZING but so much fun :)

{Me & my two cousins Cassidy & Tyler}



I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and New Years! I look forward to 2013 and hope it to be the best it can.