Deep Roots are Not Reached by the Frost

It's Christmas time again!! Last Christmas came and went so quickly and now here is another Christmas come and gone. I'll save my year "recap" for new years week. Right now I'd like to say that I have a wonderful family. There is a sanctity and sacredness that I feel is a very prominent part of my family. If anything I feel that with Laurel on a mission that heavenly sacredness has grown stronger between the 8 members of my family. For Christmas Eve my family sang some Christmas songs around the Christmas tree before opening our Christmas Eve present. We were singing....lalalala. And all of a sudden I get really emotional and can't hold back tears. I'm usually really good at making them go away but that night I simply couldn't and so they came. I was trying to hide my face but then a song ended and mom turned my way, asking what song I wanted to sing next, but then saw my tears and asked what was wrong. I couldn't say anything for a few ...

Mi hermana has left on her mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She will be going to Singapore and speaking Malay! It's all very exciting. :) Her service to the Lord for 18 months will be a tremendous blessing to our family, to her life forever onward, and to all those who come in contact with her during her service. She is a wonderful example of Christ-like love and understanding. I'm not putting her on a pedestal, but I am acknowledging that she is ready to serve the Lord and has prepared wonderfully. When dropping her off today, we had almost my entire family (Georgia and Ruby had to stay in school), by Aunt Debra and her little baby Truman, my Uncle Joe, Laurel's friend Janice, and her honey as well, Sterling. We all gave her hugs, took pictures with her, and were very calm and ready for what was coming in a few short moments. Once we dropped her off, it felt like nothing had changed. Just another part of life happening. I thought about ...

My initial thought to this quote was that those days never actually occur and they are simply memories that come from fragments of other memories pieced together. But as I thought more about it, I realize those “perfect English autumnal days” really do exist. They exist when we let the beauty envelop us and push away the ugly. Those perfect English autumnal days did actually occur in life, but simultaneously it’s possible a harsh word slashed that beauty away for a bit of that morning or afternoon making that perfect day slightly imperfect. But the way my mind works is that I tend to remember the wonderful things separately from the terrible things, making a peaceful, joyous walk through arches of trees a distinctly separate experience from that same day needing to take a foreboding test. So then, when I look back a year later, I don’t remember that test at all! It was a test to be forgotten, but I do remember that breathtaking stroll with Heavenly Father. I remember t...

I like blogging. In fact, I love it. But as of late I've been at a loss as to what to grace your eyes with. I shall be more observant, more exciting in my life. Hopefully this will bring me to write a little more. Maybe not. We shall have our patience tested, shan't we?

1. I've moved into a new apartment. Currently I am neighbors to a pizza place whereas before I was a neighbor to a hair cutting place. The only reason I'm now the pizza place's neighbor is because they are taking over the hair cutting place. So logically the hair cutting place is taking over my old apartment. My apartment complex decided to just kick me out of my old apartment and into the one I'm in now, about 50 feet from the old one. Nevermind I had a contract for the old apartment until April.... So, now all my stuff is moved over and I get to organize now! Wahoo!...not. Well, sort of Wahoo. The apartment will be very nice looking when we're all moved in I hope. I'm going to buy a few things to make it more home-y including: curtains for the front window and closet a new shower curtain a few lamps, possibly a table cloth two hanging pots for my plants throw pillows clocks art, etc. It will look lovely! Of course I'm going to see what my...

“Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other.” - Marvin J. Ashton Yesterday I felt like I was trying to walk through a big pot of molasses. I couldn't get myself out of a dreary mood and my thoughts and actions were uncharitable. I fully comprehended what was happening and how to fix it. Serve whoever I was feeling uncharitable toward. Simple fix, right? Well, not really, but a much more comfortable way of living. Walking through clean water vs. mol...

This past week I went to a family reunion where my entire Dad's side of the family was gathered. It was exciting to see everyone! There were a few babies and among them was this little boy: Alfred Hitchcock reincarnated. Maybe I'm the only one that sees it, but all through out the reunion I saw it and I just had to show everyone else. What do you think? Something rather interesting: I got two of my wisdom teeth out yesterday. I participated in a study to see which kind of drug is most effective out of an experimental drug, Tylenol, or a placebo. And guess which one I'm pretty sure I got? I'm pretty sure I got the placebo, although I'm not sure. They didn't tell me afterward so I just have to guess based on the amount of pain I was in which just so happened to be quite a bit. After being on the site of the surgery and watching 1 1/2 Lord of the Rings movies I was able to go home. I ended up taking some Ibuprofen half way through because the pain got me t...

Today I got my stats homework done for today and tomorrow. I went grocery shopping. I worked for 5 hours. I almost suffocated at work for 5 hours. I ate the last of my ice cream. I went to my Stats lab. I actually did my hair and tried to look nice. I missed people. I wanted to take a nap, but I didn't. I texted my sister. I thought about my future. I got frustrated with my future. I walked around in heels all day. I changed into sweats the moment I got home from work. I began a huge project at work. I feared the continuation of this project. I thought about how it's hard to do huge projects when you can't see an end to them. I watered my plants. I thinned my plants. I thought about getting my wisdom teeth out and how I'm scared. I thought about my birthday and how I'm almost 19. I smiled at a stranger. A stranger smiled at me first. It was a day unlike any other. :)

Spring term ended last week, I went to Park City for the weekend, had a date that was.....well, worth mentioning but nothing beyond that, decorated shirts for Daddy's Day, had an emotional break down, then started an entirely new schedule on Monday. For Summer term I now have Statistics from 10-12 MWF and 10-11 TuTh, then work from 1-5 everyday. It's a more relaxing schedule than last term, thank goodness. I do hate change though and it always takes a while for me to get used to it. Once I've got it down though, there's no going back baby! In other news, I have found a game I truly despise. It exists to simply put human beings through pure torture. It's called the dating game. Nobody knows the exact rules, especially since they change for each individual. What is worst about this game is that when you actually want to play because there is someone who might make it fun and worth your while, but starting the game can be even more torturous than the actual gam...

Well, finals have come again. Spring term classes ended yesterday and finals start tomorrow. Cleaning checks are on Thursday, and I'm going home to party with my friends the same day. I spent the night cleaning my FHE brothers' apartment and man, that was fun! No joke. There is a very satisfying feeling that comes when you leave a kitchen looking almost beautiful where before, it looked like a very small tornado could have come through. I maybe should have been studying instead, but it was really tempting (for many reasons) to go clean with my roommates. And we had a very good time. When we barged into the apartment, our FHE brothers were kind of confused for a second, but then quickly understood what we were doing and left. 15 minutes later one of our roommates whom we didn't know was home comes into their apartment and tells us that she was in her room watching a movie and heard our FHE brothers talking. She thought they were just talking to us so she didn't...

Laurel's professor, Dr. Harris, from her hearing science class: "The short one is the dangerous one. *If* your house was wired correctly. If the electrician is competent, unlike the ones who wired half my house backward. This one is not the dangerous one. You could stick a knife in it and be fine. I know -- my son did it. Should we see if these are wired correctly?" Dr. Harris takes out a key and motions toward the short opening of the plug. Guys: Do it!! Girls: no! No! Dr. H: Do it!? Thanks a lot! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mabel: Do you have access to any of the General Authorities? Julia: I am confused by the question. Mabel: Yeah....me too....... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ruby: My weapon is my teeth. Except I don't ever use them except for chewing on myself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sarah: Snow shovels??! That's how Utah handles floods.....with snow shovels! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Laurel...

If you haven't noticed, the title of my blog has been changed. This blog has recently undergone some renovations and the change in title was a necessary addition. I, unfortunately, cannot claim the genius behind it. Laurel was given access to my blog as an administrator and sorely abused her power. I was quite shocked at first, but now, I think I rather like it. It's growing on me, and we'll have to wait and see if it grows on me enough to keep it there for longer than a week.

My professor this term was talking about happiness and pain in our class yesterday. He related it to death, but it has a lot of other applications. His main point was that the pain we feel at the death of a loved one occurs because of the happiness and joy we’ve shared with the one who has passed. We are sad due to the lack of love we are unable to receive from them now. Only because we loved are we pained. If we didn’t love that person who died, it wouldn’t be painful. I have applied it in a different context. I went home over Memorial Day weekend expecting an energetic, reviving weekend free of responsibility, but I was sorely disappointed and pained. I wanted the weekend to be like a weekend when my family was all home, happy, full of life, and laughing. I couldn't, for the life of me, focus anywhere but myself. All I understood about that weekend was that I couldn't have fun because my family was either busy with their own responsibilities or was just really tired. Th...

I lost my car. Literally. I thought it was stolen. My beautiful, sleek Nissan, gone forever. I missed its roll-up windows, its faded paint, its special cracked dashboard, and that even more special sticky clutch. I didn't know who in the world would want to steal this car, but I did know it wasn't where I must have left it. I filed a report. I talked with a policeman. I took a deep breath and said, "I can do this. I'm an adult." And I did. But then. All of a sudden, my sister comes running through my front door. "THEY FOUND YOUR CAR!! Why aren't you answering your phone?" Anyway, long story short, I parked it on campus, forgot about it, then walked home. I left it there Tuesday night and COMPLETELY forgot about it. Honestly, no recollection at all. Still. None. I am more upset and mad now than I was before when I thought it had been stolen. I can forgive others. You know, that's a little easier than forgiving myself. I have this i...

The previous post was an evening of craziness. We all went to play Rock Band at one of the guys' apartments and decided to dress up for it. No one freak out please. I hardly ever really look like that. It's fun to be extreme sometimes. :)

And now for a little bit of extremity: My roommates decided to pick wildflowers and when I was coming home from campus I found them with a basket full of beautiful flowers! We all trimmed and arranged them so their spectacular aesthetics would stun all on-lookers.

Today I got a new calling in my ward! After working through a bit of pride and selfishness I finally saw that this calling will help me become more of what I want to become. Already I've learned a couple of lessons from thinking about it and from my setting apart blessing. Any guesses as to what it is?? I'm the new ward chorister. At first thought I was really disappointed and felt slightly side-stepped. That's not a very good attitude to leave with after an interview with a member of the bishopric. After a few minutes of these feelings I realized that the Lord wouldn't ever side-step me or put me in a position to make me feel inferior or miniscule. That's what I felt had just happened, but once I realized that my heart harbored such feelings I quickly wanted to find reasons that I needed this calling. What can I learn from this? How can I serve in this calling? Why do I feel this way toward this calling? 3 insights: #1: My pride needs to be cut down. I fe...

"Your faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to His commandments will strengthen your character." - Richard G. Scott, "The Transforming Power of Faith and Character," October 2010 General Conference "Righteousness increases the uniqueness of our presence, but sin sinks us into sameness." - Neal A. Maxwell, Of One Heart , pg. 42 "The more one is true to Jesus Christ, the more that person is the unique individual he or she is destined to be. If one is not obedient, that person loses sight of his or her uniqueness and becomes more like others." - Strengthening Our Families, pg. 220-221 The first statement I read this morning in the given conference address and it brought to mind something I'd read in the textbook for my Strengthening Marriage and Family class, which consists of the 2nd and 3rd statements. I then concluded the following: The more obedient to the Lord's commandments, the more we are able to develop into the unique daughter/son o...

Yes, there's a boy in my life. His name is "life." This week I decided to ignore him for the most part and he didn't really like that. He kept telling me not to buy that candy because he knows what candy does to me, and he told me lovingly to pay attention to my reading, and he let me know that I can do it, but I ignored him. I bought that candy. I was lazy and hardly did my reading. I told myself over and over that I just needed a little break, so I watched a movie then didn't have any motivation to do homework after that. We're kind of at odds right now because I was so unproductive this week. It makes him sad to see me wasting time and money, so after much deliberation, I decided next week I'd try to please him a little more. Hopefully we won't get into any huge fights over what my roommates are doing and my reactions, or how long I spend getting ready in the morning....hopefully. He's really happy that I have a job that I have to be on ...

I've been studying for 4 straight hours at this point and I decided I needed to take a break for a few minutes so I'm listening to the Trout Quintet and writing on my blog. My brain doesn't hurt and feel like it's walking through unnaturally dense molasses! Once I look back at my textbook it will feel that way again.... So, as of late I have entertained the Prince of Whales. He is of no consequence. :) My finals are almost over! Now that my friends, is of GREAT consequence. I have but one left! And it doesn't look like I'll be taking it tonight. If by some miracle my brain decides to function when thinking about how families work together, I may be in the testing center in a hour....we shall have our patience tested tonight, shant we? Something else I ought to report. I've been flirting too much as of late. My textbook is in love with me, but I was innocently having fun and now it won't leave me alone. How do I tell it go leave me be, or do I ...

Can I just say, Oh! My! Gosh!!!!!! Last night, this morning!! Ah! Great great things. J First, last night my roommates and I were just giggling, having a grand time being together after a long day, I was trying to study but my heart wasn’t really in it, I had gotten my studying done for a test I had this morning (which I think went pretty well!) Then, in the middle of our tremendous hilarity, I get a phone call from a guy I work with asking me out on a date for Friday night. Smiley face #1 --> :) Second, I to go to bed at a reasonable hour (11:30..haha) and don’t sleep well, but whatever. I get up this morning (I actually got up! That is a miracle as of late.) and after getting ready, I noticed I had missed 2 calls from the same person within 1/2 hour when I was out of my room. I recognized the number as the lady I had a job interview with, so I get really excited. I call her back immediately and she offers me the job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND I’M ...