Over the past week, I have been reflecting my life and the opportunities that I have missed because I have been so caught up in life. I missed out on truly knowing who I am. This past weekend, I went through a series of incredible emotions that allowed me to be able to say: I am completely committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ!
The possibility I have invented for myself is the possibility of being alive. With this aliveness, I created the possibility of being spiritual. This is me. I am spiritual. With this realization and discovery this past weekend (thanks to the Landmark Forum), I am committed to spreading the good word! I want to thank all those who are committed to spreading the good word.
This past weekend I lost a very important person in my life....a very important person in many lives. The Prophet who completely committed himself to leading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you to those who are keeping his memory alive. As I contemplate this great loss, I am excited for the new possibilities for the gospel to roll out with fervor.
Here are a couple people who inspire me:Russel Page: Thank you for putting all of President Hinckley's talks online on January 28th, for those of us who haven't thought of it before. You have created the possibility of being committed to your word.BYU Alumni Center: Thank you for the memories and for honoring the Prophet.YouTube: Thank you for hosting an incredible testimony!KSL: Thank you for making accomplishments of the Prophet available online.
Salt Lake Tribune: Thank you for seeing how others pay respect to the Prophet.President Bush: Thank you for honoring this most beloved leader!
Glen Beck: Thank you for not being a 'fathead.'
I will miss this incredible man whose influence has been so very present in my life!
So…the fun and exciting night of New Year’s quickly came and quickly left. I got my very first New Year’s kiss right at the stroke of midnight! I tell you something, I was resolved to never having to make New Year’s goals again….I got the kiss (something I secretly wished for when I blew my candles out at every birthday). I was content! But, after thinking about it, I knew something that silly shouldn’t leave me as resolved for 2008. So, I made a rough-cut plan in my head of what I wanted to accomplish. So far, I have been doing great keeping up with my plan. Though most of my goals are set up to reflect my religious beliefs and how I can be a better person through my faith, I also have some other goals that I want to share….that are a little less reflective, but fun to read about!
Water: That’s right…water. I love water more than any other drink. In fact, it wasn’t until this past year that I realized that when someone offers me a bold beverage, I always ask for water. Crystal light, what’s that? Milk….though proven to do a body good, I will take the water.
My life is water. I was raised as a fish…always swimming, running through the sprinklers, chasing waterfalls, taking long showers, jumping in ditches, ocean surfing, lake hopping…good ole water fun.
This year, I decided to take water to a whole new level!! I decided to drink so much of it, that I would cleanse the insides of my body and feel more energetic and lose weight! That is right, lose weight. You see, the wonderful thing about drinking huge amounts of water is that your stomach is so full, you don’t snack as much, which I am very prone to do. Yes, it means more trips to the bathroom, but since I started drinking at least 80 ounces of water a day, I have lost 10 pounds! Oh, how I believe in the power of water!
This link leads to an article so you can see how water can do your body good!
Landmark Forum: Most of the owners of Two Little Hands have gone to this incredible seminar called the Landmark Forum. I have been contemplating attending these courses for a couple months and am finally going to do it. After much prayer about how this can help me in my life, I have come to discover that I am ready to really start making changes that will help me improve the quality of my life. At first I thought…well, I understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, why do I need some kind of ‘self-help’ workshop to tell me how to live my life!? After much contemplation, I realized that I could use this class as a stepping-stone on my little trail of progression. Of course Jesus Christ is the foundation of what I believe and talks by the modern-day prophets will most certainly provide the guidance I need, but I fully support programs dedicated to helping people think in order to move ahead. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.” The class lasts for 3-days from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. I am excited about this journey that I am about to take.
A New Couch: So, I have needed a couch forever. I have had my current couch since I was a freshman in college. Imagine, 7 years….ah. As you can imagine, the couch has become a little gross, but not gross enough for me to get another one. I am perfectly content with it. It doesn’t really look that dirty. Every time my mom comes to visit, she always says....why don't you get a new couch and then talks for hours on end about how gross my couch is. I suggested that she just buy me one....but she wasn't too down with that. So, I just kept putting it off.
One day, my greasy brother sat on it (greasy describing that he works as a mechanic at Sears and therefore will always have greasy fingernails and body). One day, he sat on the couch putting oil grease stains all over one of the pillows. I used shout and other Scotchguard products trying to get it out. Needless to say there is now this large white spot on the pillow…revealing how gross my couch really is. Saddened that my mom was actually spot-on about this, I de
cided it was time to say goodbye to my college couch. I bit the bullet and bought a couch this weekend! I am so super excited! It has this dark brown vinyl (that looks like leather) as the base, with tan cushions, and then has several pillows that are all different shades of brown. It totally matches my African motif that I have going on. It is a sectional that has a 3-cushion regular sofa with an l-shaped extension that we can make long or short. Because of the confines of my apartment, it is just going to have to be short and I will take the leftover couch and stick it in my room. I am so excited. It is coming on Saturday.
These are just a couple of new things going on in my life for 2008. Stay tuned, I am sure there will be more things to come!
The Signing Time Foundation has partnered with Signs of Hope International to bring the hosts of Signing Time!, to Ghana, West Africa. On January 21st, the Signing Time Team, including Leah, Alex, and Rachel, will head to Ghana, West Africa for 10 days to teach sign language to students that are deaf. The Signing Time Team will also help the teachers learn how to teach sign language.
It is incredible to see all these different organizations dedicated to making the future for children in Africa full of possibilities. Some other organizations that I respect: ONE, Shameless Self Promotions, Oprah's Angel Network, Charlize Theron's Africa Project, Choice Humanitarian and much more.
We have been given so much. Why not help? People might think, 'Why help there when we need help here.' My point is, why not support those who are willing to help anywhere?
read more | digg story
I know this is old, but it is incredible how much it inspires me, even today: It all started when Jason McElwain got a chance to play during the last game of the regular season. Jason is autistic, so the coach was just hoping he could make a basket. In four minutes, he sank six 3-pointers...Stories like this happen everyday. People have a chance to become heroes...let's take that chance. We can be a hero for people, or we can let them be heroes for us. It is not hard. It is time to commit to a better way of living life...to finding the hero in everyone....even the guy who cut me off in traffic this morning!read more | digg story
Things I will always remember about Christmas 2007:
Laughing hysterically during Loaded Questions: the question was, who do you fight with the most. People answer and someone has to guess who wrote what. Let’s just say that it is amazing anyone gets along with my dad….or me!
Family: Watching movies with the family every night, going to the container store, shopping together (we can’t even separate even though dad has opinions about how long we stay in each store…and sometimes it wasn’t even us girls,) pointing out the fire zones, going to the beach, deciding what to eat for dinner, pigging out on leftovers, laughing at ailments and drugs, scrapbooking, going to church and laughing hard at the part where the speaker was talking about a busy life and then his cell phone went off (I thought it was funny and realized I was the only one laughing out loud. I was so embarrassed. I thought it was perfect timing), Bryan saying that me kissing Bret made him sick to his stomach, turning the electric blanket on at night, Jamie’s addiction to video games, going to see where dad works, Super Mario, laughing at Jamie and me on the car ride to church (apparently making fun of us is hilarious), blustery lake walk, Ruby's diner ranch dressing, buying leather jackets and perfumes, running into friends from Sierra Vista (Christy Burg),going to the San Diego Temple, crying as we came back to cold weather and responsibility, I could go on and on.San Diego Zoo: Monkeys and churros. Sh, the pandas are asleep. Parking in BFE and deciding to walk all the way to the zoo! I didn’t need to exercise the rest of the trip! All the animals were fairly lively….except the lions! Maccorium-tatestee (inside joke…sorry), weren’t we just here?, seeing the difference between the African and Asian elephants (WHAT….is the difference between an African and European swallow? WHAT….is your favorite color)?
Universal Studios: Screaming and jumping at the Terminator 2 3D movie, unexpected backwards mummy ride, hot chocolate and chicken (YUM), Jurrasic park ‘I don’t want to get wet, I call middle,’ Waterworld pyrotechnics ‘Oh, more fire…it makes me warm,’ dad’s goofy hat, listing all the movies we wanted to see, holding tight hands and jumping at the werewolf in the haunted mansion, the snoring chorus of dad and Brendon (poor Bret), hot tub-ing at the hotel, dreams about all you can eat buffets, watching Monk.
Wicked: Meeting up with girlfriend April and going with her and Ramona to the Grove, laughing at Glinda, being amazed by Alpheba defying gravity, seeing the facial expressions of the actors and actresses, loving the music so much- we had to get a CD, needing a bathroom- but not finding one because every gas station goes into lock-down mode in LA, getting lost using the GPS lady to get home to San Diego (she took us to the hospital).Injuries/Ailments/Illness: We do this as a family, neck/arm injuries, healthy-back store-we spent 30 minutes getting massaged in the chairs, overnight flu, Bret taking care of me- buying 7-up and soda crackers (he is wonderful), finding dad and Bryan out in the hallway at church due to upset stomachs only to realize it hit me later too, pain-killers, Mommy taking care of me (yes, I am 25), hot-flashes, runny noses, sprained ankles, not being able to lay down, but all in all….we didn’t let it slow us down!!
Christmas morning: Santa came….a couple nights before (Bryan found some of his presents had already come), but he came again! Sentimental gifts and shocks and squeals at hidden treasures, wanting to open Jamie’s present before she came because we wanted to use it!, rice balls, Christmas dinner (turkey turned out amazing), staying in our pajamas almost all day, a good Christmas post-walk, burning CD’s, Simpson’s, scrapbooking, whipped cream chocolate cookies.
