You can call me Master.
Logan and I both graduated this weekend. I graduated with my Masters in Social Work and Logan graduated with his Bachelors in Exercise Science. Graduation has been a long time coming. When I think about it I have been in school for pretty much my entire life up until this point. Even when I graduated with my Bachelors I never really felt done like my classmates did. I always knew that I would need to continue on in order to do what I love. But now I am done. "Done" what a funny word it is when you say it over and over in your mind. I guess we are never truly done with anything in life. There is a tiny space in the back of my mind that I have filled with the hopes of getting a Phd. But at this point in my life I do feel a vague sense of completion. I have poured my heart and soul into this degree and am excited to finally use it.

Logan and I had a wonderful week. My parents came into town and spoiled us rotten. They took us to our favorite places to eat and we played and had an amazing time. Towards the end of the week Logan's mom and her husband Steve came into town followed my my brother Sean and his family. Logan and I love and appreciate our families so much. Family is a priority in our lives and we are always amazing at the support and encouragement that we receive from those we love.

This weekend my heart was full as I achieved an amazing accomplishment with my husband by my side. Honestly when I was younger I never thought that I would get an advanced degree, however when I discovered my passion for therapy and helping others I was shocked at the fire that was ignited within me. I would have never ended up where I am without the love and encouragement that Logan constantly provided me with. I am so grateful for his support and his perception of who I am as a woman. Logan literally makes me feel like I can do anything that I should do everything. I love that he constantly views us individually on a level playing field and makes me feel unique for my strengths as well as my weaknesses. My ambition has never intimidated him, but made him see me for who I really am. I am so grateful for what I have been able to achieve and am so excited to watch as Logan continues on to Medical School and becomes that person that our Father in Heaven intended for him to be. He constantly amazes me and I know that he will accomplish great things.
Now that graduation has come and gone I am focusing on the transition that I will experience from being and academic to a professional. I am both scared and excited for my adventure into the professional world. I suppose it is best just to take it one day at a time. 

   I turned 25 this month and holy cow was it a good one. The day started off with classes of course, but Logan made me crepes in the morning stuffed with strawberries and whipped cream which totally made everything better:) He dropped me off at school and my friends made me a cake and sang to me. After I classes I went to Yoga and thanked my body for all of the things that it does for me. I went home and Logan gave me my birthday present. He gave me a yoga mat that I have been dying to get. Then we drove up to Murray and ate at the Cheesecake Factory. I seriously ate my weight in food and I was not even mad about it. Then we got our cheesecakes to go and ate them in bed when we got home. It was a really good day full of love from Mr. Thomas and lots of happy wishes from family and friends.
   So far in my life I have never even thought about my age in a negative way. To tell you the truth I never even really thought about my age period. But this year I had some thoughts. When I woke up to Logan snuggling me and singing to me quietly I thought "holy @#$% I am old!" All of you that are older than me are thinking "Taylor! Don't be silly you are 25! Your  still a baby!" to which I would respond "I know, but I still feel old all of the sudden." I always thought that age was a wonderful thing and as I aged I would embrace my wrinkles, wisdom, and changing body with open arms. But guess what folks, I think I am a little hesitant of that approach now:) The fact is that on my birthday I really had to think about my life, my age, and what is really important. The fact is that I am going to age and my insecurities in terms of my age will ebb and flow over time. But for now I am going to enjoy the fact that I can eat cake for lunch and cheesecake for dessert not think twice about it. Age brings a lot of things with it. I plan on enjoying the good stuff and dealing with the rest. So for now I am happy to be 25:)

     This weekend was a good one. I feel like Logan and I both live for the weekends these days. The weeks are full of school, work, tutoring, and homework so when we finally finish everything that we need to do on Saturday night we just like to party. This weekend included some much needed Inn N out, some yoga on the living room floor, a 5K race that donated all the proceeds to cancer research, Logan and his friend Corbin skating Provo Canyon, and a pretty pie crust on Sunday afternoon.
     The older I get the more I understand how important it is to take care of not only my body but my mind as well. Logan and I were both raised with the understanding that physical exercise can greatly contribute to your happiness. We both participated in organized sports growing up, but these days we have been able to find what works for us individually. Since I started grad school I started exploring zumba, pilates, yoga, cycling, and running. I go through phases with all of these, but what I have come to realize is a good as these exercises are for my body they seem to greatly benefit my mind as well. I am currently taking a yoga class that gives me an opportunity twice a week to center myself and gain a greater understanding of what my body needs. At the end of every session we lay in savasana, which is where you basically lay on your back (it sounds way cooler in sand script). During this time we are encouraged to find our conscious breath I usually like to thank my body for all the things that it does for me. I think that in our culture especially as women we are constantly hating on our bodies. We curse it for not being tall enough, skinny enough, curvy enough, smooth enough, or strong enough. And believe me I do my fair share of this. But twice a week for a span of 5 minutes of pure peace and breathing I thank my body for what it does do for me. It is moments like that that allow me to start a week all over again and pour myself into school, work, tutoring and homework. 

    I am currently in my last semester of graduate school, which means that this is my 6th year of college. I am feeling so incredibly tired and burned out that things that used to be easy are not incredibly difficult to even fathom. I used to be able to whip out a paper in 30 minutes and now it seems to take me 3 hours to create an outline and brainstorm my points. Midterms just ended this week and I am surprised that I survived the way that I did. To be honest I have kind of been spiraling down into a bit of a "poor me" thinking style, which is obviously not helpful in my current situation. I remember when I started grad school and I would devour every word from every text book that I was required to read. I love to read and I loved reading things about my profession. My motivation has steadily diminished and now I am struggling. Things were very hard right before Christmas break and my sweet friend sent me home for vacation with her favorite book that she said I "had to read." So I went home for two weeks and started to read it. I read it in two days and was dying for more. I entered the world that the author created and began to soak up the words like water. The book is a series and there were currently 4 more books out. So I would go to Barns and Nobel every other day to get each book, which can get pricey for a poor college student. 

     When I was growing up I noticed a pattern in my mom's behavior. Although money was tight there were two things that she would always buy if we asked, one was books and the other was sports or exercising opportunites. Every time I asked for a book growing up my mom would always make sure that I got it. Her willingness to buy me books reinforced the importance of their presence in my life. So by the end of the two weeks I had read 5 books, which ended up being 2, 437 pages all together. I once again had been able feel free in another world, while still staying grounded in my own. I read a quote by Benedict Cumberbatch last week and he said, "I can feel infinitely alive curled up on the sofa reading a book." His words really resonated with me and made me realize that there is so much entertainment that is not necessarily captured in the social networking world, but in old books that somehow remain timeless. 

     On Sunday I listened to an amazing message about recording our personal history. I have never been the type of girl that writes in a diary. I loved to read and explore other worlds through literature, but whenever I sat down to write in a journal I just thought of all of the other things that I would rather be doing. However this message that I listened to made so much sense in terms of leaving a piece of myself behind for my children and my children's children. As you can see by my profession I have always been fascinated by the human mind and why people do the things they do. I love learning about peoples history and seeing what happened in their lives that shaped who they are now. Whenever I have time with my mom I am always showering her with questions about people in our lives because I find it fascinating. I want my children to have piece of me that they can read and not figure out what I ate for breakfast or how many hours I worked in a day, but see how my mind works. I want them to know my quirks and what I loved and hated and what was important to me. I want them to know that I hate sloppy joes and love Postum. I want them to know that my soul guides the things that I do and witness what events have shaped my personality.
   So I am rededicating my blog to being a place where I can share my thoughts, successes, failures, and the things that make me who I am. So here is a little bit of me, I love the beach. I am so excited to be moving back to California so I can be near the ocean. I find that people who do not grow up near the beach think I am crazy, but I love the ocean. It makes me feel complete, comforted, peaceful, and grounded. There is something about the ocean that makes me feel like I am exploding with energy while remaining completely grounded to the earth.
   In therapy we do a fair amount of mindfulness. Mindfulness consists of a series of interventions that allows the individual to connect with themselves, accept who they are as a person, and keep themselves in the present. I have done some of these interventions myself and find that whenever I need to connect with myself I imagine the ocean. I think it is important for everyone to find and enjoy the things that bring them peace in order to become the best version of themselves. So there is a piece of me.