Final Stretch for Spring 2012!

So happiness of all happiness! No more classes until the end of August!

Even more happiness - my World War II final is now optional!  Less happiness...my Chinese history final and anthropology final are going to give me a heart attack! So much studying to do...(but will I actually do it?!)

So here's the thing.  I really love finals week! I know that sounds crazy because most students hate it...late nights...studying...stress attacks...  But here's how I see it: If I've been going to class the whole semester, completing my assignments, and doing my readings I should be okay.  So while I will feel a little bit stressed and I will be doing a small bit of studying, I'm pretty sure I just won't know what to do with all the free time I'm going to have!  So bring on the finals and bring on the summer!

*Good Song: Be Strong With Me by Jenny Phillips

Almost Summer!

It's almost SUMMER!! Camping, fires, swimming for hours, HIKING (!!!), shooting guns, napping in the sunshine. I cannot even wait! One week left of classes and then one week of finals and I'm FREE! So excited!

Okay so now that I've gotten that out, I am planning on staying in Logan for the summer. I don't have a summer job yet, but I'm sure I will be finding one soon. I'm also thinking about taking a summer class helping a professor/archaeologist here at Utah State catalog Native American artifacts. So I think I'm in for a great summer!

Some Musings...

Well this year of 2012 has been interesting...letting go of some things, realizing more about myself, and making big decisions! I realize that life can be very painful...but it's so worth it! As I'm closing a couple of doors on my past I realize that I would not change a single moment in my life! All the good moments are completely worth the pain that comes with goodbyes and moving on. Because certain people come into our lives and completely change us. I have been so blessed with incredible people in my life. And while sometimes we have to say goodbye to some amazing people, they were there when we needed them. Loving people is never a waste! It doesn't matter what they do with the love that you offer them. As we love and allow the Savior to heal us from the pain, our capacity to love increases! So the next time we offer love to someone else, it can be bigger and mean so much more!

This is all kind of jumbled, but I've been thinking about this the last couple of days. I was thinking about it in terms of my mission too. My mission was so hard! And sometimes I wondered why I was doing it, but the things I learned from those experiences and the happiness I felt far outweighed the negative things. That's how I feel about loving people. Loving people can be so hard! Especially if they do things to hurt you or if you have to say goodbye at some point, whether through death or choice. But it's so worth it! The memories are something that you will always have! Nobody can ever take those away! Or the knowledge you learned from it!

So as you love and are hurt, remember that next time you will love even more! Life is all about what we do with the things that we're given...including people, experiences, attitudes, etc. And I want to choose to be happy! And love everyone! And smile through all the hard times! And remember that Heavenly Father always has a better plan for me than I have for myself!

*Good Song: Fix You by Coldplay (or check out the cover by Boyce Avenue)

Contemplating...

Well, life has a way of throwing some ridiculous curve balls my way! I found out some news last week that brought back some painful memories that I would much rather forget. Nothing seemed to be working out and talk about frustration!!

But despite facing something that should have knocked me flat, I am still here! And what's more, I'm not even angry or bitter! I feel great! I spent some time these last few months feeling sorry for myself over a few things. But how stupid! Why waste any time?! Life probably won't go the way I want it to like 90% of the time. And that's okay! Because life is so EXCITING!! So leave the past in the past and move on right? Something not so easy for a passionate history major! :)

Good Song: "Never Be What You Want" by We Are the In Crowd
Good Movie: "Life is Beautiful"

I love friends!

So this last weekend I was able to go hang out with some of my friends from my mission. We had such a fantastic time - from dance parties to eating lots of food to nickelcading! Yep, we went to a nickelcade and it was pretty much the best! It was so much fun! And when we were done, we bought mustaches and removable tattoos with the tickets we won. I loved it! I love doing random things like that!

And now school has begun once again and I love all of my classes!! Not kidding...I really love all of them! And I think I have finally decided what I'm going to do with my schooling. I have decided that I really am going to change my major from History Teaching to History and then I'm going to add an anthropology minor. Then it would be super great if I could get into a graduate school. So I need to start preparing for the GRE! But it will be great! With all of this, I should be able to graduate by next spring if I take a couple of classes this summer. So for now, that is the plan!

I Love Christmas!

This holiday break has been so great!! I absolutely love spending time with my family! We had such a great time...but now it's back to school and work and real life. Which is probably good considering all the food I've been eating since I've been home... :/ But it is the holidays!!

I've just been reflecting on the birth of the Savior and what a complete miracle it is...that the Son of God would come to earth to atone for the sins of all mankind is just completely incomprehensible to me. But how grateful I am that He did!

And now it's the New Year! I always love New Years! A time for setting goals, for having new beginnings. This last year has been great - experiencing the floods in Brisbane, returning from my mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, adjusting back to American life :), going back to university, making new friends, and definitely learning more about myself. I think that 2012 is going to be a great year!! More university, more working, making new friends. Who knows what this year has in store for me?? I am definitely excited to find out!

Why Can't We All Just Be Friends?

So I was just thinking the other day about how sad it is that we can't even include Christ at Christmas. At school, everybody wants to include all the holidays...Hanukkah, Kwanzaa,etc. And I think that's great! Let's all learn from each other and celebrate together. But the thing that gets me is that if we even mention Christ in conjunction with Christmas, people get all upset. What?! In going to school, we are supposed to learn and be tolerant and accepting. Where does that apply when talking about Christ? Christmas as it is today originated through the Christians celebrating Christ's birth. Yes, we know Christ really wasn't born in December and that the Christians adopted the date in conjunction with a pagan festival. But Christmas as it is has been celebrated for thousands of years to remember Christ. Even if you want to look at Christmas as a historical, traditional celebration you have to include Christ. What is so wrong with saying, "Christians celebrate Christmas to remember the birth of Jesus Christ who they believe to be their Savior." If I can learn about Hanukkah and why the Jews celebrate it, why can't others learn about Christmas and why I celebrate it? Taking Christ out of it is in very essence intolerance and prejudice against Christians. When we become intolerant to others' beliefs, it makes it easier for hatred and misunderstanding to grow. In order for us to all live together in peace, we should learn about each others' beliefs and respect each other for those beliefs and not try to change their religious celebrations because it might offend someone! If people don't want to celebrate Christmas as a Christian holiday, don't! That's fine! But don't try to take Christ out of it for me. What's all this talk about us forcing our religion on them? They're forcing their beliefs on us by taking Christ out of one our most important celebrations. If people want to include all religions in the holidays, let's include ALL the religions, including Christianity! I wish that we could all just be tolerant of each other and not single out other religions because somebody might be offended. Well, I'm offended that people can't have some respect, especially when they're always talking about accepting everyone!

I know Christ to be my Savior, that He was born in a lowly stable to free the world from death and sin. It's only through Him that we can repent (overcome our mistakes) to return to live with God, our Eternal Father in Heaven. And it's only through Him that we can be resurrected, to live again with our families forever. This knowledge is the center of my life and Christmas is a wonderful time when I can feel connected with fellow Christians, whether they're of my faith or not, to celebrate the birth of the man we know to be the Son of God. Want to celebrate a different holiday at Christmas? That's great! Go ahead and celebrate! I'll let others celebrate their holidays if they just let me celebrate mine! And don't try to take Christ out of CHRISTmas!

Merry Christmas!

*Good Song: "Little Drummer Boy" - Josh Groban
*Good Movie: Star Trek