Being the Apple That Didn't Fall Far From The Tree

And being really grateful that it didn't! I've decided that once a month I'm going to make a legitimate post about something important and the rest of the month I'll make little posts about little things that I just want to make sure to remember!

So it's now about that time for an actually important post and as I was thinking about what I could do a few topics came to mind. The others I'll maybe hold off on but one idea came to mind at a really random time so that probably means it's the best!

I was at work and talking to a supervisor about the kids and then he asked me to help him move some things around in the office so we went to work and in no time the whole office was in MUCH better shape. As I was rearranging things I realized how much I love my job (although rearranging the office may have made me think that since I couldn't actually DO my job at that time) and what brought me to that opportunity. Well to make a long story short it's having good parents that taught me good values, people skills and how to work.

So this month's post is about my parents

First we'll start with the Patriarch of the Family:

This is poppa Wright. To save on time and not make this a novel, I will pick 2 things about him that are amazing and explain them. 1) Respect 2) Understanding

1) Respect. My dad knows how to treat people well. He knows how to treat PEOPLE well (This is not alluding to how he treats the family pets). What I'm trying to explain is that my dad meets people and gives them a chance to show him who they really are before trying to label them. No matter your background, he's interested in the kind of person you are right then and how hard you've worked to get there. This also goes the other way where if you have an impressive title then my dad is still going to feel the same about you in spite of the title. My dad just respects good solid people because he is one!

2) Understanding. My dad and I think A LOT alike when it comes to problem solving and how people work. Because of this I always knew I could go to my dad, even when I did something dumb and talk it out with him. He could follow my logic and give me expert advice, knowing it would go well with how I think. 

This is mama Wright! The two things about my mom that are at the top of a long list of amazing things would be 1) Charity 2) Caring.

1) Charity- my mom is the most giving person I know. Whenever she sees a void that can be filled she fills it if she can! And if she can't she tries anyway! So many times I have come home and she has slipped me a 20 (with an appropriate "don't tell dad"), knowing I am a poor student always in need of cash. Even when it's something I don't need I end up with games and things "to play with my friends". My mom is just that thoughtful kind of person.

2) Caring- along with that she is constantly looking out for people. If you are under her radar then you have someone who really cares about you always thinking about you. I know this because I'm her daughter but if all the people that she is always worrying about knew how much she was doing behind the scenes for them then she would constantly be bombarded by "thank you"s! My mom is too modest to be in the limelight and she is the best example of quiet but impactful service that I have in my life.

So I have learned a lot from my parents and am SO lucky to have them! Hopefully I can someday successfully emulate all that my parents are but for now I can just be grateful and try my best!

Real Salt Lake

I went to my first pro soccer game! Bryan was nice enough to take me along and introduce me to the game. 

I made sure to tell him that I scored a goal in the last game of the little girl soccer league that I was in. Yes I played just like all the other little girls. So I knew everything about soccer... also I was the MVP of my 6th grade basketball team so I know everything about sports...

And THIS was the car ride up! It's at a weird angle because the camera was hidden but it turned out awesome! I had to wrestle the Ipod away from him and promise not to do anything irresponsible... my blog is very responsible.

Making a Real Change

I was reminded of the wise words of Elder Maxwell today about real change:

We tend to think only in terms of our endurance, but it is God’s patient long-suffering which provides us with our chances to improve, affording us urgently needed developmental space or time. (See Alma 42:4–5.)

Paul observed, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness.” (Heb. 12:11.) Such “peaceable fruit” comes only in the appointed season thereof, after the blossoms and the buds.

Otherwise, if certain mortal experiences were cut short, it would be like pulling up a flower to see how the roots are doing. Put another way, too many anxious openings of the oven door, and the cake falls instead of rising. Moreover, enforced change usually does not last, while productive enduring can ingrain permanent change. (See Alma 32:13–16.)

Namaste

Yoga is awesome. It's this incredible thing that you think is just stretches (which are hard, don't get me wrong) but then it turns into a muscle building, patience exercising hour of awesomeness. The gym that I climb at offers it every night Monday through Thursday so you can just go when you can.

Funny quotes from our new bff, the yoga instructor:

(During a particularly hard pose) "You guys are all looking at me like you hate me"

"Ok now we'll do that 10 more times... just kidding we're only doing it 2 more times"

"Yeah it's nice to have guys come actually for the yoga and not just to pick up on chicks. Or wait, is that why you guys are here?"

Yoga is such a good combination of stretching, muscle working and resting without really resting. I recommend it!

Adventure Documentation

Bryan and I decided to go for a little motor cycle ride and ended up hiking through Squaw Peak. No, we weren't wearing the appropriate shoes and yes he is wearing a suit style jacket. Adventure Time!

Guru

Greater love hath no woman than this, 

that a woman bring back a Guru for her friend.

Autumn Papritz brought back this TREASURE! I once ate 12 of these in a week. I started keeping a little spot in my planner for Gurus eaten. It was alongside "lessons, progressing investigators, etc." When something's important you keep record of it.

Some People Spear Fish

This is John. He spears fish. Big fish. I felt cooler after

 having met him so this is why he has made the blog. 

Some good old Sara lyrics never hurt anyone:

I'm gonna lose my mind and sail the ocean.

'Cause somebody told me there were

Cherry blue skies

I'm gonna fix my mind with a final destination

And have a deep sleep upon a sweet dream

My Life Lately

Remember that one time when I was so determined to keep a blog and then didn't write for like 2 or 3 months? Well I'm repenting of my ways and am hoping to keep up a little better from now on! The whole idea behind the blog was "well I'm not good at taking pictures or writing things down but maybe I'll be good at blogging!" SUPER not logical!

But here's my life lately:

I started working at Slate Canyon Detention Center which has definitely kept me busy! I'm there about 30 hours a week on average but it's on call so it can fluctuate. I work mainly with the boys right now and make sure they're being safe, not hurting anyone (including themselves) and help them sit down and talk things out when they need it. They are really hilarious. I don't think a day goes by that one doesn't say something that has me laughing uncontrollably! They're sweet kids, just have done some not so constructive things... and it's great because they are the kinds of kids I want to work with in the future!

I've never taken a picture in Slate but here's a picture I found online. There are core values posted on the wall to remind the kids of the things they're there to learn and then there's a kid going into a cell.

Then there's school! I'll be finishing up my Bachelor's in Human Development in June! I'm thinking I'll take a year off to make money and gain some more experience and then jump into a Master's of Social Work! That's the plan (cross your fingers that it actually happens!)

Then there's play- Just a couple fun things:

This is Autumn STRAIGHT off the mission!
Like I took this in the airport!

So in June one of my best friend's officially made it back from her mission. What's cool is that Autumn and I became friends ON the mission, she was the last companion I ever had and I was so lucky to have her before I left. An eternal friendship was formed and we're making all kinds of fun plans including paragliding, traveling and what we're gonna do when we're old ladies still causing trouble! I was able to fly up (BIG shout out to Autumn's mom for making that possible!) and be there for when she got off the plane!

So I'm just kind of pulling pictures off my phone and using them to remind me of the fun things I've done! Ironically now that school has started I can have way more fun because I went from working 60- 70 hour weeks to 30 hour weeks + school... life is crazy!  But one day I was talking to my awesome friend Nadine and she said "Hey wanna go to Lagoon for free on Friday?" and I said "Yes!" so we hopped in the car that Friday and gave Lagoon a visit! Neither of us had been there in years so we just ran around hopping on rides and enjoying the free food Nu Skin provided! 

Nadine and I on the train to go through the zoo!

Bryan and I enjoying the scenery!

THEN just a few days ago I was thinking- I need to do something I haven't done before... ride a motorcycle? And literally the next day I get a gchat from my friend Bryan that went like this:

Bryan: Hey, how's it going?
Me: Good! How are you? I haven't heard from you in months!

Bryan: I'm good, I always have my motorcycle!
Me: Yes... about that...

A nice little waterfall we stopped at

And then he was nice enough to take me on a ride through the Alpine Loop. It was BEAUTIFUL! It was so nice to just ride around and enjoy the fresh air and not be in town for a little bit. It was kind of hard to come back after such a beautiful ride...

Bryan took a couple awesome panorama shots. I couldn't believe all the color! It was really beautiful.

I look kind of intense because
1) I had been trying to dodge the picture and
2) Because I'm really intense

Other than that I've just been kickin' around- moved into the new place, got back into rock climbing (so if anyone ever wants to go give me a call) and have been able to catch up with some really awesome people! I feel like I've done more but either I'm wrong or I really am just that bad at documenting things, and it really could be either...

As for right now I'm kind of working on a bucket list so if anyone has suggestions please post below! Things in the works are : Learn to scuba dive, paraglide, learn Spanish, make a dress, white water rafting, run... something that's a little more feasible than a marathon,... if you can think of anything help me out!

So a new goal will be to update this a little more (more for my sake than for anyone else's) but that's my life lately!

Handing A Little More of My Life Over to Technology

First, I just want to say that I know it looks like I haven't blogged in a while but I've been working on setting up other pages of the blog like BOOKS and DREAMS so I'm not slackin'!

So moving on to today's post: it's really about realization!

What I've realized lately is that there are so many resources available to me that I am not using. Things that could really help me not only get organized but organize the way I want!

1) For example, despite popular belief, really I am an organized person BUT I hate when things get predictable! So I never set up a schedule to get organized regularly because I would rather not plan things out that are just going to get monotonous fast.

BUT I have found a solution! Google has pulled through for me again! I've started using Google calendar and mapping out my goals and what I want to accomplish while making sure that it's not too predictable and boring:

Check it out! The system works like this: I picked a few things that I want to make sure I get done on a regular basis as well as things that for sure happen on a regular basis.

Example of things that for sure happen: Work, having the chance to go to the Missionary Training Center and  talk to the missionaries who are going to Hungary soon, bills that need to be paid.

Example of things that I want to have happen regularly: Clean Room, Clean Bathroom, Balance Checkbook, Work on my English Class, BLOG! 

So I went ahead and put in the things that happen with or without me to remind me to do them (like giving my landlord money so she doesn't kick me out).

What I did with the things that I wanted to have happen was pick a starting day and then decided to do it every 5 days. That way a day never gets labeled as "Bathroom Day" because that would just be an injustice to any day of the week. I'm excited to give it a try!!!

2) I do WANT to take care of myself but I don't know how... but recently I was introduced to MyFitnessPal.com by my awesome friend Caitlan and it's a fantastic way to keep track of your fitness and motivate yourself to eat healthy foods and exercise. There's something about having a screen tell you that what you did that day made a difference. It can motivate you to do it again the next day!

It's great because you can create a profile, connect with other friends who are in the network (I have one friend... Caitlan...) and is basically either just a fitness journal and calculator at it's lowest function or a fitness support system at it's highest.

Here is an example of the many functions it is capable of! You input the food and it tracks things like Calories, Carbs, Fats and Protein. AND you can actually change those settings to keep track of other things such as vitamins and cholesterol.

You can even create a meal so you don't have to put in the same thing over and over again if you have a tendency to enjoy the same meal often. For example I recently created the "Mini Awesome Sandwich" which is made of many things like turkey, avocado, different kinds of cheeses etc. etc. and now I just go on and click "Mini Awesome Sandwich" and it loads all of that information for me! Which is good because I do eat that awesome sandwich pretty often!

Then there's of course the actual physical activity aspect of this fitness stuff... which is the hardest part for me but because of this site I'm able to find different ways that I can exercise for just a few minutes a day and actually feel like it's making a difference. My latest discovery is jump roping, which as it turns out burns 108 calories every 15 minutes at a slow pace! Who would have thought!

3) My 3rd and final discovery that I would like to share today is a resource I've found to help me get organized financially. It's called Mint.com

I am a super newbie when it comes to understanding finances, which is why I signed up for a free online course through BYU Independent Study and while exploring that wondered what free programs were available for actual budgeting. I did a little background check to make sure this site was secure and then got an account. It sounds like it's very basic but handy for someone with limited knowledge of how to handle finances. I've already been able to link my banking information, create an income and outcome chart and learn about how I can make and keep my money or even make it grow. With the online class and this resource combined I can tell I'm going to be quite a bit more organized from now on!

So that is my story about how I am getting myself organized! I didn't realize there could be so many resources right in front of me if I would just do a google search on them :) If anyone else is feeling a little unorganized I would highly suggest these tools and please let me know if you know of any more!

"Perfection"

So today's Realization has much to do with feelings common among the people around me. And I want to share my opinion. No better place to do that then in a blog post on a blog that has 5 followers (and I think a few have actually discontinued their accounts) but I will not be discouraged! Not that this is a particularly discouraging situation but there's something empowering in the phase "I will not be discouraged!" And while that has nothing to do with having a blog it has everything to do with today's post:

I just read part of this article:

http://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/08/i-have-a-question/i-have-a-question?lang=eng&query=broderick

While the entire thing is probably great I was really lured in by the question:

The Savior said that we should be perfect, even as he and our Father in Heaven are perfect. (See 3 Ne. 12:48.) Are we expected to achieve perfection in this life? If so, how can I avoid becoming discouraged with myself as I try to achieve it?

This is something I've mulled over in my mind over and over again and here are some things that I have come across in my casual studies:

1) To be perfect means to be "whole," not necessarily "without flaw".

2) God does not expect us to be perfect in this life.

3) Being on the correct path to perfection brings affirmation from people you trust.

4) "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" is an inspiring scripture.

But here is how I interpreted it whether I knew it or not:

1) To be on the right path to perfection is to feel whole as you are achieving perfection.

2) God expects you to be making pretty good head-way in this life on being perfect.

3) If I make my church leaders and parents proud of me then I'm achieving perfection.

4) In God's eyes I'm a project that is trying to deserve His patience.

As you can see there is often a disparity (you know you liked that Caitlan) between what I take in and what I process. But I am not at all under the impression that I am alone in this misunderstanding nor am I under the impression that this is a comprehensive list of common misconceptions.

Now I want to share some things from this article that opened my eyes just a little wider today and reminded me why the end goal of perfection is not a punishment for the imperfect but instead a feasible goal for those who are willing to follow the footsteps of those who have 1) commanded it and 2) done it before:

Perfect can also mean “having all flaws and errors removed.”

While I knew this, I didn't really know it because I know that repentance is a true principle that Jesus Christ taught, I didn't realize that the very definition of perfection was to repent. I knew that if we repent we can become perfect and that God has commanded us to repent... I just never realized that when He commanded us to be perfect it was nearly synonymous with the commandment to repent. Which for some reason seems much more possible.

 The Lord himself has warned us about being unrealistic in our expectations. To a young prophet, deeply contrite over losing 116 pages of sacred manuscript, the Lord said: “Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength.” (D&C 10:4.) 

Provided that you believe that Joseph Smith was a man of God (and the one person who reads this does) then it's a little easier to understand why this moment in Joseph Smith's life (http://mormon.org/restoration/) was particularly discouraging. He had openly disobeyed God and fell short of a much demanded "perfection". But God's counsel to him (although he was chastised) was to calm down and slow down. To breathe! How often do we think once we've realized that we've done wrong and sufficiently realized the weight of our error think "now I will take a moment to breathe and slow my pace a little bit." And how wise would our future actions be if we did?

I think this is long enough for today but there is so much more in that article that I may write more later! Either way I hope that messages like these make it out to more people more often so we can all confidently say "I will not be discouraged!" on our own personal and transcendental quest for perfection.

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From Salt Lake to Dunauj

So this post is to explain the reference in my last post to Viki.


The story starts in February of 2010. I have a mission call but am still all nervous about actually going and if it's the thing that God wants me to do. After so many unanswered prayers about whether or not I should go, I'm about at my wits end! A few friends and I went to Salt Lake and after finding out that the Salt Lake temple is closed we decide to go see The Joseph Smith movie. We'd each seen the movie at least 3 times but there was nothing else to do so we went!


Like I said I had seen it several times but this time something different happened. There's a part where the prophet, Joseph Smith, stands in chains and rebukes his guards for their disgusting language and boasting of horrible crimes they had committed, including the murdering of several Latter-day Saints on several occasions. He stands and tells them pretty clearly that they should stop talking or either they or he "will die that instant." That part is pretty dramatic and at that moment your a little caught up in his bravery but it's what he says next that caught my attention as well as my heart. It was something to the effect of:

The worth of every soul 

is great in the eyes of God.

At that moment I suddenly had the strongest experience with emotion I can remember having. Suddenly I could only think of Hungary and had a very distinct impression that the decision to go on a mission was mine but if I needed a reason, this was it. I could go tell people that they were worth an indescribable amount to their Father in Heaven.

Fast forward almost 2 years. I come to the end of my mission and honestly I feel like I've had a pretty great mission but as if I haven't really had an experience where I really helped someone understand that God loves them. I mean you have many experiences where that naturally comes and it's a great experience but I hadn't had a moment where it was very obvious that I was there to deliver this message. And that was fine, I just accepted that it had naturally been woven into my work, until I met Viki.

As I said before, Viki is an absolute sweetheart who's had her fair share of hardships. The Relief Society President asked us to meet with her and actually came herself. So the 4 of us sat down at a table and started to just chat. The RS president is really good with people and of course speaks Hungarian perfectly so she kind of led the lesson until a maintenance man wandered into the church building. She went to help him and my companion also went to help. This left me and Viki at the table.

As we started to talk she expressed feelings of distress at the idea that she was trying so hard but struggled so much. Eventually she told me that she was afraid that God wasn't happy with her. With all the missionary authority I had in me I told her that "[her] worth is great in the sight of God" (Doctrine and Covenants 18:10). I then explained a few thoughts that I had developed over the past two years from the time this idea first struck me. The feelings in the room were of confirmation that Viki was truly precious in the eyes of God. 

There is no soul that is not priceless to God. I know that because by all logic I shouldn't have even been in the area I was in when I talked to Viki, through a strange series of events we found ourselves together in a little room/ kitchen in a branch house in an obscure part of Europe helping each other understand that God was on our side and rooting for us. And if God is with us, who could be against us!

I'm Back!

So today is a day of celebration in terms of me posting on this blog for 2 reasons!


1) I haven't posted a thing in about 2 years...
2) Today is my 6 month mark of being back from my mission!


I decided to start blogging again because coming back from a mission is a little confusing and I need a way to organize the craziness that is in my mind. It's not even that what I'm thinking is so crazy, more that that it's running around in my head all crazy like.


So to start I decided to change the title of the blog from "A Day Without Laughter is a Day Wasted" to "A Day Without Realization is a Day Wasted" because while I greatly enjoy the contribution that Charlie Chaplin has made to the world and while what he said is true, I just think there is something more monumental than laughter on my mind lately.


I'm going to try to not make this too wordy because I know that I never read something long but at the same time it's been two years! 


So first of all, I served a mission and it was awesome. It was by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life and pounded me into the ground but I took great comfort in the fact that the same Hand that broke me down is building me back up into something much more awesome. 


Don't get me wrong, a mission also brought a lot of joy and yes, laughter. The joy is eternal and often exactly what I needed to just get me through a difficult time. Here's what that looks like:




This is a picture of Zsofi, me and Lala in Szombathely.  


Ahhhhh this kind of happiness is the special kind that sticks with you forever. Zsofi is a hilarious investigator and Lala is one of my best friends in Hungary. She was baptized while I was in the MTC and is one of the most beautiful people I know, inside and out! She helped me through some very difficult times and is still one of my best friends (I just wish she wasn't so far away!!!!)


And this:


is also what a mission is about. This is a picture of Dori getting ready to be baptized. Such a happy day! I remember when I first met Dori she didn't know if God existed and now she is the Young Women's President in Debrecen. I'm SO proud of her. I felt like my companion and I just became friends with her and then the Savior took over and God wrapped His arms around her.


And this:


is Viki. She's been a member for many years and has had her faith tried in many ways and has not given up. She moved to Dunauj while I was there and came to church and everything just fine and then the Relief Society President asks us to meet with her and she expressed some of the difficulties she'd been having. You would never think while talking to sweet Viki that she had a trouble in the world but she bore more than she let on. It was with Viki that I actually had the most remarkable experience of my mission. I'll dedicate my next post to that experience because I realize this is getting a bit long.


So I just wanted to share one experience from a few different aspects for a mission. The first was when I was new and met some great friends who built me up when I was low. The second was when I was able to see someone come unto Christ and the third was when a member taught me how God is aware of every one of us. All missionaries have many experiences like these in the 1 1/2 or 2 years they serve and I thought I'd just share a few of mine.


So YAY! It was awesome and now I've been back for 6 months! CRAZY!

Oh, IKEA

Ok. I've been trying to suppress my feelings but I think this commercial is hilarious. I apologize for the terrible quality.

Yeah, ok!

So I can ALMOST say I go into the MTC this month! Two more days and you better believe that'll be my facebook status. So this post is dedicated to the reasons I have decided that it was a blessing for me to be here the past few months. I really, honestly thought that I would be leaving mid March MAYBE. Like AT THE LATEST. Like I actually thought mid February was a pretty good guess. So having my entry date so late was kind of torture. BUT I've decided to post about the reasons why it maybe wasn't so bad that I was left in Provo to rot and die (or so it seemed). And here is my list:

1) First I really needed to get a grip on what was happening. I needed to wrap my brain around what a full-time mission actually is. I love lists so here are some lists of things that I've found a mission is not by talking to some returned guys and girls:
      a) It is not a time to prove that you are awesome. You're kind of worthless unless you are willing to accept that while you are awesome it's not your awesomeness that's doing the trick. You are the instrument. Let The One with the real wisdom use you accordingly.
      b) A mission is not a walk in the park. You'll want to give up sometimes. That's fine.
      c) A mission is not a time to enforce everything you've ever believed to be true. The gospel's great, it answers all of my questions. So now it's time to let it answer other people's questions even if it's not exactly the way I want things to go.
Here is a list of things that a mission is:
      a) A mission is a time to let yourself work with other people and change. Become flexible.
      b) A mission is a time to learn to depend entirely on our Heavenly Father. Let yourself go and open your mouth.
      c) A mission is a time to realize the importance of people you didn't even know existed and tell them about it.

2) I needed to stay in Provo to sort out a few situations with people. I really needed to learn to work harder when needed but also to let go when needed. There were a few friendships that I realized really do mean a lot to me and that I needed to work a little harder to show those people that I care. And, though it's sad, there were also a friendships that I needed to face the facts about. I needed to realize that your friends should build you up in all situations. Not just when it's convenient for them or when it will benefit them. And building you up doesn't mean be on your side with everything but when you are on the same side you're happy for each other and when you're not you accept the difference and move on.

3) I needed to learn to recognize when I'm being jerked around by life and when I'm jerking myself around. I've had a lot of scares through this whole process. Everything from "Can I do this?" to "What the *swear word* am I going to do when I get back?" These are very stressful situations and basically I learned that when the conflict is internal you need to give yourself the benefit of the doubt. You can do it. And when it's external that means that you aren't even completely in control of the situation, there's some other party that is contributing (making it an external conflict) so just do your part and know that you'll survive. Basically no matter who I was being jerked around by I needed to step back and realize that I'm doing just fine. Since when has every move I make been so big? Turns out never...

4) I needed to learn why I want to do this whole mission thing. I had some good reasons before but I learned more about why I want this after my mission call came than I ever realized before. The number one reason on my list relates to an experience I had in Salt Lake a few months ago about the worth of every soul and I would share it here but I just found out that my farewell in Provo's topic is "The Worth of Souls" and just about died at how amazingly perfect that is. So I'll save that story for then and for now just say that there are some Hungarians who are about to find out what Heavenly Father thinks of them.

5) Also, I kind of die a little bit in the winter and come back to life in the summer so it's actually awesome that I'm starting possibly the most difficult thing of my life at the most beautiful time of the year!

So that's all I have time for. I'll just post this (mainly because I just added a short but sweet play list to my blog and want you to hear it as you read) but this is also me admitting defeat to the fact that the past few months have been CRAZY but oh so worth it.

How I Met Your Mother

These are my friends Marshall, Lily, Ted, Robin and Barney.


Each of these friends are great in different ways:
Marshall: Reminds me that I want someone who will always be on my team.
Lily: Shows me that people are supposed to be nice to each other no matter what. Unless they make you mad.
Ted: Wearing your heart on your sleeve actually isn't a bad trait.
Robin: Doing things your way isn't always selfish.

But Barney, Barney is the real gem. True: Barney is the least respectable, least ethical and least emotionally accurate character on the show BUT he's hilarious. AND he's trademarked a phrase that goes something like this: "When I get sad I stop being sad and be awesome instead, true story" and I'm coming to realize the ingenuity of that remark. When I feel like I'm too weak for something, too dumb to make a decision or too cowardly to do what I know is right I stop being weak, dumb and cowardly and be awesome instead! Since I've realized this I can't do anything but be awesome! Life is too short to become anything else. Heavenly Father is awesome so if we want to be like Him then I guess we also want to be awesome. Yesterday it was so funny because he didn't want to admit that he was sick so when he sneezed and blew his nose he said "My nose was just overflowing with awesome and I had to get some of it out!" and I laughed and laughed because I realized this is applicable to every part of life. Say you trip:

"Sorry, I had an over abundance of awesome and stumbled over it"

or you mess up what you're saying:

"Sorry my brain sometimes has a hard time processing all of my awesomeness at once"

I think if everyone could appropriately adopt this then we would all be so much happier because we would all be able to recognize our awesomeness without question. I feel like I hear too often about people who are in stressful situations (I, as a human being, can relate) and there seems to be a trend where it comes down to someone doubting their capabilties. Doubt no more my friends and...

SUIT UP!

Catalina Island: The Result

I know, I know. I just posted yesterday but I have some very important homework I'm trying to avoid and I don't think the 2 people that read this blog will mind (especially since I already told Maryn about this) and it's such a funny ending to the story.

So I finished my puzzle today and discovered that yes, indeed, I had lost a piece. I was determined to find it, it could only be in my room, so I bent over to look for it and instead found a book entitled "Missionary Miracles". I thought to myself "Nice Heavenly Father but I'm not reading it until I find that piece!" and before I finished that thought I looked down and the piece was right in front of me! Touche, Heavenly Father. Touche.

Simple Pleasures

The point of today's post is to outline the simple pleasures that are keeping me alive right now. Since I wasn't planning on being in the circumstances in which I find myself, the simple pleasures are becoming more and more important to me.

1) Putting "Fully-Loaded" Lays potato chips in my turkey and cheese sandwiches.

2) Putting an abnormally large amount of face wash around my mouth and blowing bubbles.

3) Writing on someone's Facebook wall with a ridiculous quote they recently said.

4) Doing the dishes and singing. Being under the impression that no one can hear you because the water is running is so liberating. Past roommates, you're welcome.

5) Eating french fries with a fork.

6) Eating things that are supposed to be eaten together seconds apart.
     ex: right now I'm eating apples and cheese but instead of putting the cheese on the apples I take a bite of apple and then a bite of cheese.

7) taking something mildly funny and building on it until it's completely out of control. Anyone who has talked to me about leather sleeves lately knows what I'm talking about.

8) Singing "On the Catwalk" in my head if I'm walking across a room full of people.

9) Guessing what color someone's hair is based on their pants and shoes.

10) Picturing certain real-life situations but how they would be if my life was a tv show. Complete with music and canned laughter.

11) Going to "http://www.dearelder.com/?index.php&inc_name=package_area" and putting the cursor over the "International Packages" thing and then down to "U.S. Packages" and then back up and down. It makes the elder look like he's dancing.

*I reserve the right to add to this as I think of other simple pleasures*

Catalina Island

So in an attempt to do something productive with my 51 days left before I head out I decided to buy a puzzle. The one I bought is a 1000 piecer of Catalina Island. I love things like puzzles because you have to use your brain and find a strategy that works for you to figure it out and put it together. I started the puzzle yesterday and have already decided that it's amazing what you can learn about life from something as silly as a puzzle. Here are some things I've learned so far and how they relate to life:

1) Sometimes when you feel like you've tried everything and there is not a single piece in the puzzle that will fit where you need it to and you're pretty sure that the manufacturers must have left out a piece of your puzzle you look and realize that the piece you were looking for is right in front of you. You just thought that there was no way it would fit. I'm constantly surprised at how the one piece can end and a completely different looking piece is the one you need to continue. The piece seems so unlikely to help and is discarded as an option. Together the two completely different looking pieces come together and make a requisite contribution to your puzzle. This is a lot like the people that surround us. We all have things that we need from the people around us and vice versa, that's just how it works. We don't realize that we have what others need and they have what we need until we are willing to look right in front of us and see (shout out to Avatar). Just because a person seems unlikely to help doesn't mean they should be discarded as an option.

2) The shape, color and orientation of the 1000 individual puzzle pieces splayed on your desk seem random and should not be able to fit together to make an amazing picture but they do, that's why they were put together in the box. This is just like the world in general. We shouldn't be able to work together with all of our obvious differences and yet the picture isn't as pretty if we don't take all of our differences and just let them exist together. When that happens we can make a pretty beautiful community out of this world.

3) When I went to bed last night I was a little frustrated because I had two chunks of puzzle pieces that I knew needed to be together but I couldn't figure out where the missing piece was to put them together. So eventually I went to bed and then woke up this morning, went to work, came home and looked at these two clusters of pieces again. I put my finger on one chunk and scooted it a little to the right and up. It turns out these two pieces that I wanted to have fit together vertically were meant to fit diagonally. I must have spent at least 20 minutes staring at these exact same pieces yesterday and in a matter of 20 seconds saw the answer today. This is what happens when you let a problem sit while you refresh your mind. You become aware of other options and see things you couldn't see before.

4) In this puzzle there are a lot of blue pieces representing the ocean. I collected all of the blue pieces together and began trying to put them together. I made a little headway and then hit a wall. None of the pieces would go together! I sat playing with one piece and thinking about what to do next. As I was playing with the piece I spun it with my finger and realized that when I turned it upside down the piece was still blue. It gave the appearance of being the same but in all reality it became a completely different piece because now it suddenly fit. This can be applied many different ways but the first one I thought of was that sometimes we think we know someone, what they think, feel and believe but we could be completely wrong because you can't really know until you see the person from all angles and really know them. People always look the same but you don't know how they fit into your life until you see them right side up and upside down.

5) As I was going through and organizing the pieces into appropriately colored piles and shapes I dropped one into a giant bin of shoes inconveniently located under my desk. I was holding a handful of pieces, had pieces splayed all over my desk and had a box of them over to the side. I looked at all the pieces and then down at the giant smelly bin of shoes. Then back up at the pieces and back down at the box. I then realized that even though I had 999 pieces that were in perfect condition I would never be satisfied with my puzzle until I went after the one in the giant shoe box of doom. My heart broke at the idea of having almost everything but not quite enough to complete the puzzle and knew that every effort I could make without that one piece would leave me dissatisfied. I liken this to the idea of a shepherd and his sheep that is often used in relation to our Heavenly Father and His children. If a shepherd has 100 sheep and one goes astray will he not leave the ninety and nine to go after the one (Matt 18:12)? I had to leave the 999 to go after the one. I had thought many times of how blessed I am to know that Heavenly Father will always come for me when I wander but I had never thought about the motivation behind it. I now realize that Heavenly Father will never be satisfied until He has every one of His sheep back. His puzzle won't be complete without each of the pieces in place. It's not just a kindness that He provides because He's a good Father in Heaven, He will not be satisfied until the puzzle He created is complete with every single piece needed and will sort through any proverbial smelly shoe bin to get us back.

So basically getting this puzzle has benefited me in many ways; spending my time productively, creating something that's going to be really cool looking and teaching me a few things about life.