Deep Roots are Not Reached by the Frost

  These plants, gifts from people dear to my heart, have witnessed everything that has happened in my apartment over the last five months.   You can see some of their leaves have turned yellow from inconsistent watering habits on my part.   About a month ago I started watering them consistently again and you can see some new, beautiful green growth because of that. Today as I stood in my kitchen with so many thoughts running running running through me I felt them encourage me a little bit as they shared some wisdom with me: Our yellow leaves are from a lack of water, yes, but you didn’t give up on us.   While we’re changed because of that period of drought, we are currently thriving and bringing forth beautiful new growth because you started watering us again.   That growth is slow and doesn’t come after a week or two of the change in watering, but it does come.   Giving us time is just as important as giving us water in those moments you feel it’s...

I feel strangely new at blogging, but I do enjoy writing so I thought I'd start again with a little poem I read today by Shel Silverstein.  The Genie in the Flask I opened up that magic flask, And zoof , up popped a genie. I thought he'd be my slave, but no-- This genie is a meanie. Instead of filling every wish And doing all my bidding, He says that I must be his  slave, And oh, he isn't kidding. I sweat and cough with no days off From Tuesdays until Mondays.  I cook his beans and scrub his back And wash his yucky undies And sweep and  paint--this surely ain't The magic I was hopin'.  I guess in life it all depends  Which  magic flask you open. I read that little poem and it really got to me. Are we going to choose the flask we think will give us what we want out of life only to find out our self focused thinking has led us to more servitude than if we had focused elsewhere?   Every choice has a consequence whether or not we want to face that con...

Tonight I kind of went crazy.  After a day on campus doing engineering homework and then Spanish homework I was tired.  I came home and tried to do more homework, but alas, I failed utterly as illustrated by my body strewn across my bed having no movement; I was tired.  My roommate came in and told me about FHE, but I told her I wasn't going to come tonight.  No energy. I got up a few minutes later because I shouldn't be sleeping at 7 pm.  So I got up and realized how hungry I was!  That may have been part of the reason I had no energy....  So I ate a bagel with some delicious cream cheese.  Mmmmm. :) Side note* I'm trying dairy again because maybe that is the problem I'm having with my back, maybe it's not.  So I'm going back and forth for now.  2 weeks without dairy, 2 weeks with dairy, 2 weeks without....and then we'll see how much of a difference it makes.  I'm eating my bagel and two of my other roommates are going off to...

Today!  Ah ha! My car : I should take care of it, right?  And since I'm handing it off to Lydia soon it should probably be in tip top shape when she gets it.  I took it to the auto shop today just to have them check it out and see if there was anything they needed to fix.  Initially the mechanic said a diagnostic test would be $20, and then anything they find will be added to that, but they'd let me know before they did anything. "Okay! Sounds good!" and I left my baby with them. Then they call me back a bit later and tell me my clutch is having issues, but it's still drivable.  Replacing it would cost about $600.  I already knew that though, so I just said not to do anything with that.  And then they mentioned something else, but the mechanic said, "If I were you, I'd just drive the heck out of it until it breaks and then replace the broken parts or get a new car." Well, thanks for your honesty Mr. Mechanic.  How much will the services yo...

I had dinner with these lovely people tonight.  I lived with them the summer after my freshman year, so it's been almost 2 years since we first met each other.  Times goes quite quickly, if I do say so myself.  Kelsey is now getting married in a month and a half.  Janelle is going to teach 10th graders at Orem High starting this fall.  Kirsten is in limbo, waiting for things to come together so she knows what she'll be doing.  She'll most likely be teaching in the fall too!  And I'm in limbo too!  Waiting for Laurel to come home, waiting for classes to end, waiting for my farewell, waiting for Spain to come... And these wonderful ladies filled another evening, and it was a wonderful way to spend the evening.  Kelsey and Janelle Kirsten and me

Today I had a Spanish oral exam which I know I did not do well on.  I forgot how to conjugate verbs for the future tense and everything I had to explain was pretty much in future tense.   No good. At the end of my exam, my professor asked me how I thought I did and I related the aforementioned feelings to him.  Now, my BYU professors tend to criticize their students by first uplifting them and telling them what they did well.  I have seen this pattern in many professors and been told to do this on peer evaluations many times.  So, what goodness could my professor have to say about my terrible performance?  "Let me tell you what you did well!  You weren't familiar with the conjugations, but you went for it anyway.  You put yourself in an uncomfortable position to say what you knew how to say, and so many students don't even touch things they aren't comfortable with.  You weren't sure about it, but you tried it anyway.  That's rea...

This morning I went to the TRC (Teaching Resource Center) at the MTC (Missionary Training Center) because I am required to go at least once for my mission prep class.  What I did was pretend to be a less active member of the church and 3 elders came in and practiced teaching me.  I felt terrible saying that I felt the church wasn't for me and that my family didn't really fit in with all the other Mormons. During our discussion, one of the elders bore his testimony about God's love for each of His children and shared an example of how he had come to know that for himself.  The Spirit was so strong. I was proud of myself for holding back tears.  I wanted to tell him, "YES!  He loves me!  I know that with my entire soul!! And I know that you are telling me the truth. I know He loves you just as much as He loves me."  But I was acting as an inactive member and a characteristic of that was not knowing how much God loved me. I hope and pray that when I t...