Random Thought of the Day

It's amazing how different the tiredness levels are between

job searching online all day

AND

running around with friends to the cemetery,
elementary school library, 
their houses,
random parking lots and streets because you fatefully get to see them...
getting fro-yo to
celebrate on of my favoritest people's birthdays,

being a jungle gym for children,

a long drive home in the dark,

and talking on the phone late at night,

all happening on another day...

It's weird.

The first one makes you MORE tired than all that playing.

p.s. I love Logan's beauty: in the temple, in the fall trees,

but mostly in the people.

I sure did love my visit and 

I have once again come to the conclusion

that I have the best friends and family in

the.whole.world.EVER.  

the end.

Begin Again

Lately the hardest part of doing something is starting it. I'm not struggling with finishing things because I have not started anything. It's actually starting to be quite bothersome. But then I think about the time and sometimes the money that it would take to start something and well . . . then the motivation that was lacking already pretty much disappears completely.

You see . . .
I have had lots of ideas.

Thoughts on projects that I could entertain myself with,
that I WANT to do,

And that I can find joy in.

But then I have that lack of motivation . . .

*sigh* 

And at this point in time I am not really sure how to fix it.

In the meantime here are some more cloud pictures.

 And I guess I'll figure out a way to get started on at least
one of those fun projects . . .

HOME

Yup. That's where I am.

I have been here a few days
and soon I take off camping.

The other day I was driving
and there was a thunderstorm to the north,
sunshine and blue sky to the south,
blowing fields of green grain,
and tall majestic mountains.

Gorgeous.

I love home.
And am so excited to spend more time with my family
in yet another middle of nowhere place.

Until I get back.

So long. Farewell. And enjoy your summer days.

Small and Simple Things

I have written this post three times.
It's not working but here it is anyway. . .

Today I was thinking and it reoccurred to me
that the simple things are what matters.
They ARE the big things.

"By small and simple things are
great things brought to pass."
Alma 37: 6-7

Happiness.

Joy.

I don't know if you've noticed but these are great things.

And while I know if someone gave me $1,000,000
I'd be ecstatic.
I also KNOW that that happiness wouldn't be like
the happiness I have when I realize the simple joys I experience daily.
(feel free to still give me the money if you were thinking about it though)

I mean yesterday I found joy in so much.

The weather.

My friends.

The Book of Mormon.

The dinner I had.

Picking up Alaura with Michelle.

The way we spent time waiting for her.

Roundabouts.

Empty parking lots.

Good songs playing over and over.

The laughter over something random.

Cyri's reaction to the laughter story.

A thunderstorm lullaby.

It's all so amazing and yet so


SiMpLe.



What simple things have you
noticed bringing you happiness today?

p.s. I just love this song.

Saddening Sprinklers

Lately I've decided to take every opportunity.

When I see something that looks exciting or fun
I do it.
Be spontaneous.
No regrets.
No thoughts or waiting to do it the next time.
I mean what if there is no next time.
I want to live today . . . not tomorrow.
Because if you wait for tomorrow to do everything
you just end up with a lot of empty yesterdays.
Anyway. The story?
Today Alaura, Michelle, and I ran some errands.
One stop was the library.
Outside the doors there is a circle garden and
when we arrived the sprinklers were on.
We decided to run through them.
Just as I was about to enter the wet spray
with the others following me close behind.
They shut off.
We all said "Noooooo!"
The people coming out of the library just stared.

Although spontaneity doesn't always work.
You get a story out of it every time.

Reaction to Life

Remember when I wrote about being so frustrated?

I do.

And I did when a kid in my ward bore his testimony Sunday too.

He said:

"I find it hard to get frustrated with life.
When I know there is a God watching over it all
Directing me.
I do however get frustrated with how I react to life."

While I know being frustrated is a choice
This opened my eyes.

It's ME deciding to react this way.
I am ok.
A loving Heavenly Father has huge influence in my life, everyday.
And he's leading me just as he has promised.
It makes me think of the Tapestry of Life poem.
You know. The one where if we could see how everything that happens
is woven together to make a beautiful picture.
God CAN see.
And not only that he knows us and our potential.
Trust in Him is key.

This also reminds me of the Touch of the Masters Hand poem/song.
We need to notice Him in our life.
We need to let Him be a part of our lives.

Things happen.
Sometimes they are just what we want,
Sometimes they can be fixed easily,
and sometimes they require effort and positive thinking
to be dealt with.

All in all.
Life is good.
Life is a blessing.


And each day has the promise of hope.
And one you chose hope. . . .


Anything is possible.

That's not written as well as I had hoped it to be.
But I hope it's good enough to communicate what I know.
And also a plug, I sadly forget things I know sometimes
If it's along these lines - help me remember.
Thanks.

Have you noticed that while some sunny days are cloud-less,
most days there are some clouds in the sky.
Even on the cloudiest of days, light still reaches the earth.
In life there may be clouds even on the happiest of days,
While we can't always ignore them,
we need to focus on the suns rays.
Life has been really good lately.
My weeks have been filled with all kinds of sun,
friends,
time to relax,
SPRING,
and even school.

At the same time there are feelings of inadequacy,
numbness, and anxiety/frustration.
I know I choose how I feel.
I know how to get through the hard times.
I know who I follow.
I know who I am
(not necessarily everything about me
but I know what to build the foundation on).
I know a lot of truths.
The sunshine has never looked so good.

Too much on my plate

So lately I feel like this. Yet I don't know how to say what this guy is.

I wish it was more like this.
I know I need more alone time.
Guess it's time to find some and figure out more about myself:
what I really like, what calms me, and more.
Wish me luck on this journey.

Success

So I DID experience all four seasons within one week and will be posting pictures of the last event soon. I really enjoyed embracing all sorts of weather and one thing people experience during each of the seasons! LOVED it!

Also I am sitting here at work. I wrote a lot of my O-chem lab report but could not bring myself to finish it.
So I tried for studying Physics and I realized I am SO burned out? Why is a question I don't know - I really need to find something to refocus and revamp me (I mean I have finals and then another semester coming quick). Any ideas?

Seasons in a week

So yesterday I was thinking (a dangerous pastime, I know) and got this is what resulted:

Monday I jumped into a bunch of fall leaves as stated in the post below.
Tuesday I built this small snowman with my friend Michelle. His name is Doug O'Riley and yesterday he kept a bench near the USU Engineering building company.
Also when we were taking this picture a fellow student joined us in doing so - this made me smile.
So with two seasons in two days I was hoping that today I would get to dance in spring-like rain
and maybe roll down a grassy summer hill.
It's not going to happy today BUT with the weather looking to warm up for next week stay tuned to see how many seasons I can see!

Oh! When I was looking for pictures to post I found this and thought it was great - who thinks of these things? It is seriously real.
image image image image

So today I was actually reading all of my e-mails from my adviser. I found one talking about applying to med-schools written by a student. He talked about how he went and saw a medical admissions officers about what would be the best thing he could do to get into med school but did it as a confused senior instead of asking directly. The man saw through him but what he said I think can help us all in our lives. The article says:

"When he (the admissions officer) sees swarms of applicants that have covered all the bases but haven’t demonstrated particular interest in anything, he gets nervous. Why train doctors who can’t invest themselves in anything? He said he would rather have a student who is a glee club national award winner than one who has perfect grades, worked in labs and shadowed fleets of doctors. Only if applicants can truly care about something can they care about their patients.

I needed to think about how I would become a good doctor (not a good applicant)."

This made me feel a little better because grades are somewhat of a stress. I know that I need to find my passion. What I love. What I excel at. This is what a I want to do whether I decide to get a profession that includes more schooling or not so I can be the best me I can be.

One Day

I'd like to be involved in things like this.

Imagine . . .

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create." - Albert Einstien

That quote really is amazing and true! I think imagination is incredibly important to each of our lives - young or old. I want to share an experience that I had last week while walking home from work after a week of back to school.
I was walking home from work and was near the Quad on Utah State's campus. Four people were jogging a woman, a man, and two young teenage boys (not sure if they were all family but pretty sure most of them were). They had all slowed down near Old Main and then realized they were close to their destination so the woman and man took off again and the boys followed. One of them lagged behind a little and as he was running past one of the buildings he stopped and took a few steps backward, peered through a little corner spot of trees and bushes, and then proceeded THROUGH the bushes as if suddenly on an adventure. This made my whole day and I smiled the whole way home. I don't really know if I got to watch his mind kick into imagination mode while he took off on a quick adventure or not but that's what it appeared like to me and just the thought of seeing that transition made me so HaPpY. I LOVE imaginations!

It's hard to find a photo of a boy in the woods and I quite like this one.

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere." -Carl Sagan

School

FiRsT WeEk Of ScHoOl is over and done! Wow - at the beginning of the week it seemed as though it would drag on forever but once Wednesday was done it flew by.

I am currently taking Physics accompanied by TwO recitations and A lab, Organic Chemistry with a lab, Culinary Basics with a lab, and Art Symposium. Fun stuff here folks.

Here are somethings that I have discovered/re-discovered this week:

1. Free food is good and free food with great people is even better - Ward BBQ Opening Social
2. New roommates are ALWAYS different.
3. Summer campus is REALLY empty and LOTS of people return for school.
4. You don't get use to walking up the hill to school - even after doing so all summer.
5. You miss old roommates like crazy - especially those who have become like a sister.

And really there is a lot more but that is all for this moment! Have a great day!

New roommates are always a change - you can't get used to them the first week and you miss the old ones terribly.

Wow.

That is the only word I can think to describe this website. . . . givesmehope.com I found it due to my sisters blog post and was utterly amazed when I went and checked it out. I know I already wrote to posts today but this is truly AMAZING and I encourage you to check it out. Here are two examples from the website (and a picture of me climbing a tree because like the website that makes me happy):
My grandma is sick and can't control her body. While mentally alert, she is often treated like a child. My grandpa and I were running to the grocery store when suddenly he turned around and drove all the way back home. When I asked him why he said "I forgot to Kiss your grandma goodbye". GMH.

Today, I was walking in a dog park. I reached this really steep hill, and noticed someone rolling down it, laughing the whole way. At first I passed it off as a just a kid. Then I noticed that it was a woman at least 60 years old, and that her husband was waiting at the bottom of the hill to catch her. They GMH

What gives you hope?

Great people.

We all know them. We all strive to be like them. And we all love them.

This past week my family and the world lost a great person - my Great Grandma Davies. She was a wonderful person. I remember going to her house at Christmastime and seeing her GORGEOUS trees (yes treeS- all decorated extraordinarily and themed), being fascinated by all her dolls when I was young, her always telling me how much she loved my hair when it was curled, listening to the songs about her or that she wrote with her face beaming with pride and joy, sitting in her yard watching the beautiful Snake River, along with many other little things.

She raised some of the most amazing women that I know and thanks to her I have an amazing grandma and mom. She left an extraordinary legacy.
I LOVE LDS funerals because of the knowledge that we have of the next life. Life and death are both just stepping stones on to greater and bigger things. I also LOVE that we get the privilege of reading loved ones patriarchal blessings after they die and seeing them fulfilled as well as finding comfort in them. My Grandma's had some very powerful statements that were read. The service was amazing My aunt Jeanette gave the life sketch, my mom's cousins shared memories, and my great uncle spoke - he started one sentenced with an Eleanor was and immediately corrected himself with a she is an great woman as it's unnecessary to refer to her in past tense.

I love this lady and KNOW that she has been reunited with those that have gone on before her. :)

This Week . . .

Well to tell you all the truth this last week has been so awful! I have been so super stressed about so many things . . . it has been no fun at all. Well last night I resolved the biggest stressor for me and so I feel MUCH better! Wahoo!

Yesterday I also came across Taylor Swift's new song "Love Story" and I LOVE it! :D The music video is on youtube and many a times I wonder how much this girl spends on her music videos . .. but it is way good so if you feel like it, check it out!

Weekend Wonders

So pretty much, I have still not uploaded pictures to this here blog so it is still quite boring. I would upload today but my computer does not read my USB thing. So I went to bed fairly early Friday night because Saturday I was up and about at 5:30. I got ready for the day and went with my cousins to my cousin Olivia's baptism. It was really really good. Then I attended a breakfast at my grandparents where I spent time with the family (sadly not my immediate family but I did get to see my aunt and uncle and cousins from Oklahoma! Hooray)! It was really good. I did get hit with a plastic pizza and a chair on my head but it's all good. After all this fun I worked and sadly, I did not get to ride on my grandpa's boat. :(

So after work I was busy helping my roommate Stephanie and the guy from next door (Dan) prep for Molly's birthday party. It was insane. Then I took Molly to Noah's (well Noah picked us up) and we 'distracted' her until we actually surprised her. It was all fun and stuff. After the party I just chatted with my friends that came and then did the dishes . . . Oh I also learned the tricks to getting a Rubik's cube done! Will taught me. So I ran through that once and then went to P1 with Katie to watch the Bucket List with Lynn and later Jason. It was pretty good and even though I was told you fall asleep when tired, I made it through the whole thing!

Sunday I went to church which was way good and what not . . . so I am still wondering about my choice to move. My roommates can sometimes be too much and other times they are great to be with and do I really want to move all my stuff if in a month and a half I will be doing it again? *Sigh* why aren't little decisions like this easier?!?!