December Week 2

IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE!

What, you ask? DECEMBER WEEK 2!!

OMGee how awesome! The glory of finals! The thrill of packing! The ride to the airport!

These things and more are just around the corner!!!

There's a good reason I'm posting this.
No, not really.
But I will give you 25 points if you can identify both of these American Girl characters.

So what is the deal? In the midst of our crunchiest of crunch times, we decided long in advance to
BE GENEROUS. GIVE! 
We hereby pledge to focus on PEOPLE instead of PROBLEMOS.

Personally, I plan to do this by scheduling them in. Instead of studying, Tuesday night I will be wrapping books at Barnes & Noble and taking charity donations. Wednesday I will be chilling in my favorite building in all of Provo reading bedtime stories with Rosa (so she can, in turn, read them to her grandchildren during the holidays!) Hopefully I'll be able to go to the temple so I can decide whether I can work 3 jobs and keep up my grades. (Even as I write this, I feel like the answer is "no.") Ok. Hopefully I'll be able to go to the temple and feel good about my decision.
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But you know what I would like to give right now?? I would like to give some thanks.

At the commencement of the FINAL WEEK OF THE SEMESTER (crazy!) I would like to acknowledge how blessed I have been.
It's weird. When I think about it, this semester had a lot of "downs." But on the whole, I feel like the "ups" outweigh them 100 to 1. Really. I can't remember the last time I felt so peaceful and so happy so consistently over a period of time. I love school. (I am posting this before my finals because I don't want the possibility of a bad grade to skew my perspective.) But I do! This semester has blessed my life in ways I would have never ever anticipated.

I got to know- or got a lot closer to- lots of people who I initially found intimidating or thought I wouldn't be friends with. I got a better idea, at least, of things I could do for the rest of my life and things that would kill me. I discovered and redefined what things that are important to me and what I can live without. I had lots of heart-to-hearts. I tried to say "yes" as often as possible- did a lot of new things- made a lot of good mems. I made mistakes and I made good choices and I felt it all.

And after this week, I can say that I made it! One year from now I will be done with college. I used to be scared of graduating but now I'm kind of excited- excited about the time I have left and excited about the future. I have no clue what I'll be doing this time next December, but I think I am going to like it. Whatever "it" is. Moral of the story is, the Lord looks out for us.

            Story Time:
        I know He cares about the intimate details of our lives because on the first day of school I just happened to bump into a friend buying school supplies who just happened to mention the 472 class she was in- that she ended up dropping, but I added. Besides being my favorite class, that was where I heard about Washington Seminar, which prompted me to act on the feeling that I should go to Washington D.C., which led me to change my minor and graduation date. Just one example of the many extraordinary coincidences and tender mercies I've had. I can't even list them all.
           Just last week I called Cebre to discuss some things that had been on my mind. *LITERALLY* every time we talk about topics from this blog- our experiences are so similar, it's a little uncanny. Which means: I CAN'T WAIT to come back from break and plan next semester's goals :)

Dear 2012: I love you already. Here's to the best year of our lives thus far!!
(And yes, I am already planning my 12/12/12 Apocalypse Party. You may start getting excited now.)

December Week 1

 Hello, friends!
As our semester is ending and we're spending all of our time in front of computer screens and textbooks, we're working on the following goal:

1.) Hunger for the gospel- assess where we want to go, strengthen our relationship with Christ

And to be honest, after Lauren's eight hours of studying in the library, and my own eight hours of typing up papers and final projects, this will take more dedication than desired.

But really, this is the perfect time to redirect our thoughts and actions to the Savior.

Last Sunday, the First Presidency gave the world a gift. You can view this by clicking here. Merry Christmas, and happy finals!

The Thing About Dating

I believe in being honest.
Even when what you are honestly feeling is not warm-and-fuzzy-fresh-out-of-the-oven-cookie-goodness.

Truth is: I'm tired of dating.
Don't tell me it's a good problem to have, because trust me- I've been on the other side of the spectrum and I know how that goes, too. But honestly? I am rather burnt out. 
It's like that feeling you get after you've been in Bath & Body Works for a while. You remember you told yourself you just wanted one thing- and you "already had an idea of what you were looking for" so it wouldn't take too long. But they were having a sale... With a new seasonal collection... You had a little extra cash to spare... Your hands were feeling especially dry... The cute store girls were really nice...etc.

So you perused. You weren't in a rush and they have tons of merchandise, so you knew you could afford to be picky. You took your time and you started playing with all the "try me" bottles. They were all okay... but with each flirtatious squirt you didn't know if you really wanted to smell like that one thing every day for the rest of your life (or at least the next few months.) So you kept browsing...

Twenty samples later, you realize you have lost the ability to smell. Your hands are slippery and moist after going through rows of lotion bottles. Your neck, forearms and shirt are saturated with a dozen different body sprays. You thought you knew what you wanted but now you can't tell the difference between Cozy Autumn Vanilla, Warm Vanilla Sugar or Vanilla Bean Noel. Suddenly, all you want to do is get out of the store- get out of the whole mall- faster than you can say, "Juniper Breeze."

I have this dream that a year or so from now, I will just wake up married.
One morning my eyes will open to find myself in a little flat somewhere out East. I'll look down and think "Wow, this bedspread is really cute and significantly less tacky than the one I am familiar with."

Then I'll look to my left to behold some nice, glasses-wearing husband. The smart kind who likes to cook and play with his buddies in a low-key indie band.
And I will say, "Awesome."

After some deliberation, I have concluded it would be deceitful and wrong to wear my ring on my left hand when I go to the library. I know that God is not inclined to help liars... especially ones who shoot themselves in the foot by sending an unmistakably clear message that they are off-limits.
But I am tired of creepers AND I am tired of the nice, normal people who think you might be worth seeing again.

Well... guess what? You don't know me- and that's okay! The good news is, cute girls are dime a dozen round these parts!
So go fish, in the nicest possible way I can say that.

(Remember? I can't smell anymore.)