I GOT TOWED

From a friend's apartment complex parking lot. Yup. Miserable, right? Well, why am I posting about it then, you may rightfully inquire. Because it, actually, WASN'T. Miserable I mean. Obviously I was bummed at the $150 I had to fork over, and kicking myself for not checking closer at the parking rules, but what was astonishing about this experience was how traumatic it WASN'T. Let me explain why.

Lately, it's been kind of a pile-up of stress and trials. I'm not gonna whine, it happens to all of us, and I'm learning to weather the storms like the amazing people that have gone before me. So you would think this would be the drop that made the cup overflow, the straw that breaks the camel's back, that last squirt of perfume that you kind of knew would be too much but sprayed on anyways and now it's too late to take back and you're overwhelming everyone around you...you get my drift. But in fact, I felt utterly amused by the whole thing. It was perfect comedic timing. I may just be in denial, who knows, I may wake up tomorrow totally ticked that it happened, but right now, I feel like shrugging, laughing, throwing back my head and mispronouncing "se la vi" are my honest reactions! This confused me.

But I'm grateful. :) Because I wouldn't want to deal with the stress of caring about being towed right now. So what, I got towed once, I know better for next time. And I even learned a lesson.

I was taking the offensive with the tow guy, using Dad's United Airlines voice, ya know? But then I realized, this guy has an all-night tow job, probably low-wage, and the only calls he ever gets are people who are furious at him/blaming him. I softened and tried to be more courteous. I had a dozen or so flashbacks of people being rude/impatient in DC and realized, I don't want to be that person. I want to be polite! (Not that Dad isn't - he's my hero, honestly, and I've learned some good lessons from him). But it really wasn't this tow guy's fault. Once I softened, we had a pretty good conversation. Soooooo it was a good day. :)

How Do You Gain Your Energy?

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In undergrad, part of my program involved studying personality types. I liked this unit. There were a few different definitions of extravert versus introvert (welcome to the world of social science - every term has like 5 varying definitions), but the one I found most intriguing had to do with how we gain our energy.

Do you gain energy from being at home, having time to read a good book, taking a solitary walk? According to social scientists, you would be labeled generally introverted. 

Or...

Do you gain energy from being around people, from exchanging conversation, making connections in a crowd? (Extroverted). 

In reality, no one is exclusively one category or the other. We all like conversation, just like we all at times enjoy curling up with a good book for some personal and quiet time. But, in general, how would you say you gain the most energy?

I am extroverted. Period. I get so, so, SO sluggish if I'm just sitting around by myself all day. If I don't have human interaction, I mean the kind where I can make people laugh and vice versa, it's hard for me to maintain motivation in other areas of my life. It's good to know this at this point in my life. It's been tough lately, so when I get really down I know I need to work harder to be around other people.

So, I've (hopefully tactfully) been asking if I could come to other people's parties. :) And you know what, as soon as I'm around those other people, I feel better, lighter, more energized. It's amazing. I NEED people. This is as much a bad thing as a good thing, of course. Some days require you to be at home alone all day, whether that be illness or a term paper, etc. And our worth shouldn't depend on the attention we get in a crowd, right? But I just can't help liking groups more than solitude. 

Blessings of today that go along with that: My sweet visiting teacher invited me last night to a "Family Storm Evening" which was a blast. In addition, I had a great conversation with my roommate, watched Titanic with Celeste (hysterical - don't worry, we skipped the bad sketchy sketches), and ran into some people from the ward. Heavenly Father is looking out for us! I believe He gives us what we need. :) May your day be joyful!

Back To The Basics...

It's time to start documenting the happy things that happen to me again. :) Mostly for my benefit, though if you read this hopefully it'll bouy you up to, maybe by reminding you of similar things you've been blessed with today!

Celeste and I played for a musical fireside tonight. It was such a great experience. Celeste had learned the piece by ear like two days earlier, and she played it flawlessly. I felt a strength and connection pulsing through us, I know it was the Spirit. We've never played better together! Definitely a wonderful, warm feeling. Funny note: An investigator also performed, playing an amazing song that he wrote! More John Legend than Mormon, but we needed that pick-me-up!!!

My parents gave me a flashlight. With the approach of FRANKENSTORM, I feel very grateful for that.

I have amazing Visiting Teachers who laugh with me about everything!

I have delicious candies to eat during the storm. Hmm, I may need to buy some real food and non-perishables.

I've gotten mixed messages on whether MY school is canceled or not, buuuuuut...the nice thing is everybody else's is, so, no school traffic!

I learned a lot of things in church today, especially about asking for understanding from the Lord "with an honest heart." (D&C 8). So the Lord really does want to hear how we're TRULY feeling, not just what we should be feeling. And if we ask in faith, He will give us understanding about our circumstances. The Lord gives us what we need to be happy now, if we will but recognize it.

I'm learning lots! Love you all family! Hope you have a safe day tomorrow.

Southerners Eat...

I've often been dismayed at my lack of real affiliation with the South. I mean, I kind of consider myself a southerner, (at BYU, I would sometimes claim it, but most of the time that would feel dishonest!) Growing up in Loudoun County, you get caught up more in the young urban professional vibe than the BBQ and grits kind.

But I now have a roommate and classmate from Georgia (with adorable accents) and I've met some great southern gals in my ward. So, based on those experiences, here is a list of things that I know we don't eat in Loudoun County, but seem to be essential foods of the South:

~ Red velvet cake
~ Hushpuppies
~ Honey Mustard
~ Grits
~ Fried Chicken (fried anything - my southern roommate convinced me to get fried cheesecake...interesting!)
~BBQ
~Crabs
~Shrimp
~Boiled peanuts

Yumm. No? Seems like a pretty good life.

Just a Spoonful of...Lavender??

Hello!!! Today was a busy day, of course. I spent 8 HOURS editing a group presentation today (people, prezi is amazing, but it is so time-consuming! Next time I'm just going to use my Microsoft 2000 powerpoint).

Anyways, I was kind of having a panic attack because I also have a 10-page paper due Monday...so I took a hot shower and didn't turn on the overhead fan, because I figured the steam would help me relax and keep me from hyperventilating. Then, I took a whiff of Celeste's doterra essential oils.

You'll laugh, I know, but I think it really helped. Celeste gave me this travel kit when I started grad school, and they all really smell soothing! I'm not so much a believer that the oils will heal gangrene and stuff (although I did put peppermint oil on my cheek when I had a canker sore, and it helped short-term). But I do like the smells.

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Balance, citrus, lemon, grapefruit, whisper, lavender, peppermint. And frankincense.

Well, today I'm grateful for the essentials! I'm also grateful that I get to give a talk on Sunday. It's been over a year, and last week I was thinking I would love to give a talk. I think Heavenly Father knows that I needed to. It's on how sharing the gospel brings others to Christ. I'm excited! :)

Grateful

It's almost 1:30am, but it's been a great day. I've seen so many wonders of nature - there was a beautiful sunset and some well-timed wind, it just made it one of those choice fall moments. I've been seeing a lot of birds lately. I think I'll devote a whole post to that tomorrow. For today, I'll just recount some blessings.

I've been having pretty intense muscle tension lately, but thanks to a blessing and help from my family and a foam roller, it has gotten much better. I'm hoping I'm going into remission.

A presentation that felt VERY stuck has come leaps and bounds. Thank goodness, because it's due Wednesday.

We played knockout at FHE. It was a blast.

I laughed a lot with a girl I met today. I hope we become best friends, she's hilarious!!!

I felt satisfied. I felt happy too, but it was wonderful to feel at peace with where I am in my life right now and have renewed excitement for the direction my life is taking. I hope I have many more of these moments in the future.

Oh, and I burned my cookies. :) Whiiiiiich saved me from gorging on them. That's a blessing in disguise, I guess.

Anticipation

I have been really looking forward to this weekend. :) Why?

Because TWO of my sisters are coming down with their families. I haven't seen them in months and months. I am so very very excited to hang out with them and their fun husbands and beautiful kids!

I used to judge the "Utah people" out in school, who went home frequently on the weekends. "Wow, they're really having a hard time transitioning to being out on their own." I thought.  Now that I'm in a similar position, my viewpoint has softened! While I am happy to be on my own, I love going home and visiting. It recharges me. I laugh so much with my family! They're my best friends in the whole world. They've definitely been the good of my week, let alone day. But a definite good of today was my hot shower. Oh, my, how I love long hot showers. I think I clocked 35 minutes a few days ago. Oops.

The only bad thing about going home is that the mattress on Sarah's floor is really hard, but if I'm tired enough that usually doesn't end up being too much of an obstacle. Haha. :)

So it's been a full week, and I'm looking forward to a great couple of days with the fam. I hope I can squeeze in some HW, because I think I have a project, 10 page paper, presentation, handout, and chapter of my thesis due within the next two weeks. Yikes!!!

Don't Feed the Raccoons!!!

We have a raccoon in the neighborhood. Last night it was under one of our cars. A kindhearted person fed it, but the whole time I was thinking "Noooooooo!!!"

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What a sweetie, right? Wrong! Raccoons always look adorable, but they are very aggressive and territorial creatures. They eat ANYTHING, from anywhere, and your disheveled trash cans will be evidence of that. 

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Yeah, that's probably more realistic. The raccoon has been pulling stuff from our trash recently. I might borrow dad's raccoon trap, though it may take some courage after one raccoon accidentally gutted himself on one part of the cage. Yick. And so sad.

Still seeking the good! Today was a very good day, regardless of the raccoon. I got a 100 on my very first paper back from grad school (it was a total reflection/journal type paper, but hey! I can do this grad school thing!). I'll let let you know what happens to miko.

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Note: Do not try this (i.e., being friends with a raccoon) at home.

I heard

A story. A good story! So good that I don't even remember where I heard it. So this is a rough paraphrase (I don't remember a lot of the details, I had to make up  the beginning) and if any of you know the author or where I can find the real one, please let me know. Mostly I just didn't want to type "devil" into google. :)

"There was a young man walking down a lonely road, off to seek his fortune. He was joined by an old man. 'Let me show you the land.' said the old man. The old man showed the young man the houses scattered among the hills. The young man pointed to a grand house with rich gardens. "Old man," said the younger, "there is but one small devil sitting outside of that grand house. It must be quite a good man who lives in there." The old man replied, "Oh, no, that man cares so much for his riches that it takes just one small devil to keep him on that path." After they had walked a little further,  the old man and the young man came to a small cottage. "Old man," said the younger, "there are seven huge devils surrounding that small cottage. Surely this man must be the wickedest of them all." The old man smiled, and said, "Oh no. That man is so humble and good, that the devil has sent his seven biggest servants to try to bring him down."

I love that story! Sometimes it feels like there's a lot of shafts in the whirlwind or a lot of devils/wolves at our door. The nice thing is, God is stronger. The other day I had an insight - God is omnipotent and omniscient, so if we prayed to him all day, every day, it wouldn't distract him from giving equal attention and care to every other citizen of the planet/universe. Just as my parents would listen to me at any time and try to help me (love you guys!), so would my Heavenly Father. And, I like this video. :)



Satan wants us to think that Heavenly Father is too busy to listen to us - it's not true! I need to remember that.

Money Matters and Other Things That Matter More

Work today was...wow. I got called in by some supervisors about a semi-serious situation, and it was quite stressful! Let's just say I cried and I was super embarrassed. Everything's fine now, if you were wondering, but boy I needed a pick-me-up!

Cue miracle. Seeking the good today was easy, thanks to Heavenly Father. So a while back I had gotten my deposit back from my last apartment in Utah. It was a lot of money, and I was so grateful! It was a time of need. Anyways, I noticed a mistake in her calculations (the landlady had given me 25-50 more than I thought was coming to me). I'm embarrassed to admit that I thought, "well, I've been cheated by landlords in the past, maybe this is just karma on my side" or "maybe it's not a mistake, maybe I am supposed to get this extra money." I didn't really want to call (I'm ashamed to say) but I did, and I'm so glad because the landlady called and said she was so impressed and grateful that she let me keep the extra. It was extremely generous of her.

Now I do NOT share this story to make you think how awesome I am, because as I mentioned earlier, I was so very very near not calling. But I did call, and Heavenly Father gave me this pick-me-up exactly at the time that I needed it. It was nice to hear I'd done something right. I'm so grateful! And I shrink to think what today would have been like if I didn't. Speaking of money and pick-me-ups, I think I would love to get this $5.00 back at a grocery store.

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Anyways, this experience reminded me of how in high school when you went to tell a teacher they'd missed something you got wrong, they always let you keep the points. That's the way it works! If you do the right thing, it always works out in your favor (either here or there!). Simple, right?

Owl Eyes

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Seeking the good, even at a grocery store! I was at Giant getting a refund for some VERY freezer-burned chicken (they were great about it) when I saw this little ceramic owl in the fall/halloween section. I immediately thought of Sarah, of course, and then I thought about how great that owl would look on a bookshelf someday with lots of great leather-bound books (which, I am assuming I will acquire in the future). Price tag? $3.00. Impulsive and totally worth it.

Okay, that isn't actually my owl, because my camera isn't working, but it's similar (mine's cuter). Today was a rainy, fallish, cookie-baking, oil-changing, indoor efficiency, wishing-I-could-light-the-pumpkin-gingerbread-candle-but-we-don't-have-any-matches kind of day.

Hope yours was wonderful as well! :)

Time to Vote!!!

Not the Romney-Obama kind, although I am SO looking forward to the presidential debate on the 3rd, 16th, and 17th. Will you be tuning in?

Speaking of tuning, these videos have impeccable...tuning. Haha. For day four of seek the good, take a look at three versions of the same song. These are my three favorite versions of ALL TIME. Such a beautiful song. It's hard to pick my favorite duo. If you're interested, take a peek and see which you prefer.



Celine Dion and Josh Groban. Celine's got soul!



Andrea Bocelli (love him!) and Katherine McPhee. Why don't people talk about her more often? Such easy control of her voice. I think Andrea has a crush on her.



This is a pretty special duo. Two teenagers, the girl helped the guy with his confidence issues, turns out he has a FANTASTIC voice and they made it to the finals on Britain's Got Talent. Pretty heartwarming! I think Bocelli and McPhee win out for me, but bravissimo to all!