Friday, August 2, 2013

Today, I felt happy when I bought stamps. See, Ellen and I have been pen pals lately, so I've been going through them much quicker than before. I was down to my last stamp! Then, just a few minutes after leaving the post office, Ellen gave me a call. She wanted to know when I was sending her a letter! I was excited to tell her that I had a fresh sheet of stamps and would try to send it tomorrow.



Life is beautiful, especially if you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Today, I am grateful for my happy shoes. I got this pair of shoes seven years ago. When I wear them, I feel happy. 

Life is beautiful, especially if you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Today, something that made me happy was making dinner in my crock pot. I made Hawaiian barbeque chicken. It was nice to put it in early in the day, let it take care of itself all day, and enjoy it for dinner.



Life is beautiful, especially if you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day.

On Aging

I've got two stories or ideas that prompt this post.

First. Last weekend, I made a trip to my parents' house for a special family event. Loveduck and I were in her room one afternoon, probably doing nothing in particular, when I noticed she had a hula hoop in the corner. It was blue and sparkly. But, Loveduck is 19 years old, so I was kind of confused.

So, I asked.

Me: Loveduck, why do you have a hula hoop in your room?
Loveduck: Why don't you have a hula hoop in your room?

Ah. Good point.

Second. I recently stumbled upon a picture on the internet. It was a picture of advice a 6th grader was giving to next year's 6th graders. Here's the advice: "As you get older things will seem more lame than before. Nothing will change but you, I promise."

(Here's the link to where I got that: http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=74073)

The philosophy. As we're fighting our battles, it's easy to feel like we can or should leave childish things behind. Things like finances and careers and appearances become more important than taking the time to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. See, if you listed the concerns of the average child, they would probably include things like how much candy their parents let them eat or how much play time they had each day. But as adults, we worry if we'll make it to the next paycheck, or if the boss is satisfied with our work, or if when we look in the mirror, our hips aren't too big. (You know what, that second list was easier for me to make than the one about children. Interesting.)

I've discovered that I seek out those friends who like to find a reason to laugh, and sometimes laugh for no reason except life is funny. Those times when we laugh until our sides hurt are the best. That's when we really connect to that inner child, and it makes it easier to fight the battle.

On Texting

A philosophy I've come to live by, and, at times, teach, is this: No matter how difficult your circumstance or trial, no matter how tired or stressed you feel, there is always a reason to smile and always a reason to hope.

Today, my reason to smile was a surprise text conversation I had with my nine-year-old sister. I'm still not clear on all the details, but it appears she had borrowed our sister's cell phone and wanted to text me. So, a little after 5:00pm this evening, I received the first text:

5:07 Ellen: What are you doing ellen? (Which clued me in that even though the text was sent from Loveduck's phone, the text was not from Loveduck.)
5:08 Me: Well, I just finished eating dinner. Now, I'm just listening to music while playing a game on my ipod. What are you doing?
5:10 Ellen: What game?
5:11 Me: It's called Sevens Pod. You have to play your cards faster than your opponent. It's fun. What are you doing?
5:13 Ellen: I i
5:16 Me: What?
5:19 Ellen:On monday i have no shcool.
5:20 Me: That's fun! Why don't you have school?
5:22 Ellen: Because it's a holiday
5:24 Me: Memorial day? And guess what? If Loveduck's mission call comes this week, i'll come home!
5:25 Ellen: Yes!
5:26 Me: I'm excited to see you!
5:27 Ellen: Me to!

This is where it really gets funny!

5:36 Ellen: Have you send?
5:36 Me: What?
5:40 Ellen: Have you send Me A text (I thought we were done with the conversation, but I guess she wasn't!)
5:41 Me: Oh, no, not for a bit. What movie are you watching tonight?
5:43 Ellen: I am not.
5:44 Me: You're not going to watch a movie and eat popcorn?! But that's what we always do on sunday evening!
5:46 Ellen: Loveduck cant eat popcorn but we will next week :) (Loveduck got her wisdom teeth out a few days ago, so no popcorn for her for a while!)
5:47 Me: Oh, I see! How is Loveduck feeling today? Are you helping to cheer her up?
5:49 Ellen: Macoronee (What? Pretty sure she was referring to macaroni, but why? Maybe I just hope she was trying to type macaroni and this is just a nine-year-old's adorable misspelling. But also, maybe she made a mistake and didn't know how to delete it, so she just sent it. Either way, I laughed so hard at that one!)
5:50 Ellen: I am making her feel better and she is eating yogurt but she is not eating
5:51 Me: Well, you are a good sister for helping her to feel better! I wish I could come help! I bet it hurts her to try to eat food. Give her a hug for me, ok?
5:54 Ellen: I will give her a huh i love you!
5:55 Me: I love you too, sweetheart!

Later in the evening, when I could be fairly certain Ellen wasn't playing with Loveduck's phone, I texted her to ask if Ellen had help with those texts. Turns out, Ellen mostly did it herself, but had some help with one or two of the longer ones. Interesting.

I'm so grateful for Ellen and all the times she has been my reason to smile. Ever since she was born, she has been the sun that shines on my darkest days. I love her more than she can ever know.

On Fast Forward

April has been a very difficult month for me. Lots of overwhelming events have occurred in my personal and professional life. But to top it off, I had to move during the last weekend of the month. When you're a young, single woman, moving isn't easy, especially when you have a hard time asking people for help. On the morning of moving day--today, I was so physically and emotionally exhausted, I had this wish that I could have just fast forwarded through April--simply skipped all the hard things I experienced and felt and saw. But then, I realized that if I could do that, I would also miss all the joys and blessings I also received during that difficult time. In my mind, I began to reflect on them, and I was amazed and overwhelmed by all the good, beautiful things that happened amidst the painful, challenging times. Here's a list of some that I thought of:

• I got to teach a few friends how to play cribbage, which is my favorite card game. We even played a few times after that!
• I got to go to Salt Lake and sing on Temple Square.
• I caught a cold, but it only lasted two or three days.
• I went on a really fun group date where we played Minute to Win It games. My date and I won!
• My younger sister submitted her mission papers so she can serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She is such an amazing example to me.
• I got a pay raise!
• Spring is here, and that finally means flowers are coming up and blooming. The world is starting to look beautiful.
• I went to Tucanos Brazilian Grill for the first time. That is quite the experience!
• That same night, at Tucanos, I happened to run into one of my roommates from a few years ago. I only lived with her for a summer, but she is so amazing, just thinking about her makes me smile!
• My visiting teacher got me flowers because she knew things were hard. I don't think she knew how much I love flowers, though!
• I can think of two nights when I was feeling particularly discouraged and really needed someone. Each night, I was able to find someone to sit with me and cheer me up.
• After having done something very difficult, but for the benefit of others, my dad told me he was proud of me.
• If I ever need a hug, I have one friend who gives the best hugs, whether I'm discouraged or having a good day.
• When I was packing, I took the time to go through the box of "Things I Might Want Someday." It's things like notes or letters people wrote to me, ticket stubs, cards, wedding announcements from close friends, and cute things my little sister wrote or drew for me. I loved reading all those things again because they are reminders of happy times.
• My parents were able to come and help me move. That was special because they've never been able to do that--not even when I first left home when I was 17.

I know if I took more time to think about all the positive things that happened in April, I could make a longer list. It's nice to realize that the world is a beautiful place, and there's no need to fast forward. Just fight your battle from beginning to end.

On Busy

Over the past few months, I've really come to loathe the concept of busy--mostly when it comes to being too busy to see when other people need you. I do think it's important to fill one's life with important pursuits, like education and a career, but when they start to take up so much time, energy, and thought to the point where you can't see when and where you are needed to help, you are too busy.

In my current living situation, busy seems to be a constant, daily, even unavoidable struggle. My roommates lead very busy lives. They are gone from the apartment before the sun is awake until the sun has gone to sleep. Actually, this is only true depending on the season, so I guess they just leave really early and get home later in the evening, around dinner. Dinner is something quick, then they hit the books. There's no time to talk and connect. I find myself starving for someone to just visit with. We could talk about anything. But, they are too busy.

And sometimes, it's all too obvious that they are too busy just to chat and catch up. One Sunday, I had just arrived home from work. My roommate asked, "How was work?" I told her an interesting story about how we hold LDS church services at work for the students. As I sort of segwayed into the Christian church services, she piped in clearly confused with details from the first story and the second story all jumbled. I explained, but her response was, "Oh, I'm not really listening."

Ouch. At this point I noticed she had her computer open and school work all around her. Why did she ask about work if she didn't really want to hear about work? Unfortunately, that's not the only time I've heard "I'm not listening" from roommates in my apartment.

I just want to repeat something important: Education is important! Careers are important! But loving others and genuinely caring for others is eternally more important.

I think President Dieter F Uchtdorf summed up my feelings pretty well in the most recent General Conference:

"Isn’t it true that we often get so busy? And, sad to say, we even wear our busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an accomplishment or sign of a superior life.

Is it?

I think of our Lord and Exemplar, Jesus Christ, and His short life among the people of Galilee and Jerusalem. I have tried to imagine Him bustling between meetings or multitasking to get a list of urgent things accomplished.

I can’t see it.

Instead I see the compassionate and caring Son of God purposefully living each day. When He interacted with those around Him, they felt important and loved. He knew the infinite value of the people He met. He blessed them, ministered to them. He lifted them up, healed them. He gave them the precious gift of His time.

In our day it is easy to merely pretend to spend time with others. With the click of a mouse, we can “connect” with thousands of “friends” without ever having to face a single one of them. Technology can be a wonderful thing, and it is very useful when we cannot be near our loved ones. My wife and I live far away from precious family members; we know how that is. However, I believe that we are not headed in the right direction, individually and as a society, when we connect with family or friends mostly by reposting humorous pictures, forwarding trivial things, or linking our loved ones to sites on the Internet. I suppose there is a place for this kind of activity, but how much time are we willing to spend on it? If we fail to give our best personal self and undivided time to those who are truly important to us, one day we will regret it.

Let us resolve to cherish those we love by spending meaningful time with them, doing things together, and cultivating treasured memories."