FDA approved

Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes things happen unexpectedly. Sometimes finals are in a week and a half and you can't remember anything from the beginning of the semester.

But that's only sometimes. 

The reality of it is that there are always wonderful and hilarious friends/coworkers/bosses.

There is always a supportive, loving, understanding and funny family.

The sun is always shining, especially during this wonderful time of year.

I am always learning new things. Whether it be from class, experience, or wisdom of others.

My body is always hurting, in a satisfying way, because I am training for awesome events (1) (2) (3). 

There are always emails and letters coming to me from around the world.

I always have the opportunity to make a little money at a good job.

There are always chance run ins on campus.

There are also always planned run ins on campus. 

General Conference is always in April.

Sometimes you have to learn things and sometimes learning hurts your brain. But the good news is that there is always Ibuprofen in the form tender mercies. 

Now, that's a drug I approve of. 

Secret

I have always craved my own secret spot. A place where I can be alone and think. An area that is mine, where I can get to know myself again. When I was younger it was the curtains pulled shut around my bed, the back of  the cubby in my room. Then it was in the branches of the tree in my backyard where I would climb and sit and swing for hours, letting my imagination run wild as I envisioned myself as an Indian running through the forest or climbing a cliff or taming the wild horses.

I had a secret spot in the forest surrounding the cabin in Montana. I would walk through the bushes and grass, balancing on fallen trees while I pretended I was the fourth friend in the Harry Potter trio. Sometimes all it took was a blanket draped across a table with a bean bag underneath to have my own lair where I could plot how to overthrow the evil wizard or figure out the code on the "Lights Out" game in order to free my fellow spy from an eternal imprisonment.

Then I grew up.

Suddenly being alone was a sign of social incompetence. If I wasn't physically with my friends I needed to be connected to them through technology. I couldn't be alone because if I was alone that meant I had failed. It meant I was undesirable and...alone.

My secret spots disappeared. I was never alone. My imagination was crumpled as I swamped it with movie after movie, drama after drama, and selfishness after selfishness. I didn't think about adventures anymore. I thought about how this person had wronged me, how I could get this boy to like me, how I could get invited to this party or who I could spend my weekend with. My imagination was exhausted with trivial things and malnourished to the extent that it might have died.

This scares me.

Yesterday I went out by myself. I didn't go because I wanted to. I went because I couldn't stand to be alone in my apartment anymore. My addiction to company was manifesting itself in my forlorn and despairing attitude. So I left. I took my hiking backpack and my bike. I just started riding away. Through a series of intersections, hills, and dodging of water guns, I found myself 30 minutes away from my apartment at the base of a canyon. I stashed my bike in the bushes and started hiking, taking deer trails and scratching my legs on the still bare branches of the hibernating vegetation.

I found a new secret spot.
I met myself again.
I am ok with who I am.
I plan on being alone more often.

the boss

I wonder what it is about people that makes us want to tell other people what to do.

I know that I do this all the time. I used to be worse at it. I'm trying to improve.

Why are we so bossy?

It is, perhaps, one of the most demoralizing things to have someone order you around.

"Oh, I guess you're right. What I thought I would do is obviously a pathetic attempt to do what you have already been able to master. Please, tell me more about how to live my life."







Someday I'll be a better person.
Scratch that.

TODAY I WILL BE A BETTER PERSON.

the end

copy that...

I'm sorry that I don't have pictures of children or foreign lands to showcase on my blog. 

But here. 

Practically the same, right?

Now that your thirst for hipster photos has been quenched, I'll share my experience of the day.

COPY JOB.

It was such a ginormous job the picture can't even display it correctly.

Yep. That's the copy job I just completed. 

Instructions:

Remove staples from each copy

Make three copies of said copy

Re-staple copies

Put in binding clips

Carry stack of papers weighing more than I did when I was 8 back to professors office

Tips:

Don't trip while walking down the hall.

Boom. It's done. 

Now to nurse my 6 paper cuts.

Note to self: hand sanitizer is a no-go on tiny cuts on hands.

summer itch

Can you believe that just last weekend I was doing this? 

And now I am wearing these.

Oh March. What would we do without you?

lollipop? not quite.

Here I am, sitting at a desk, inside, looking at a computer instead of being outside, with friends, enjoying the pleasant weather that has happened upon us this fine February day.

Waboo.

But don't worry about me. I have things to keep me entertained. Things like a vegetable tray, jumbo size Smarties, a co-worker wearing a Hawaiian shirt and listening to country music (his name is Nathan and he feels honored to be mentioned on my blog), and my journal, which is in desperate need of a catch up entry.

I've already had fun here. Nathan and I licked and sealed 45 envelopes, much to the dismay of our taste buds and now deceased brain cells. Remember that Seinfeld episode where George's fiance dies because she licked too many envelopes?

I hope that's not what happens to us.


Oh. This is may be one of my new favorite songs.

Yep. I have a good feeling.

tuesday

It's a Tuesday. Tuesdays have been my least favorite day since 7th grade. School surrounds this day on all sides. The memory of the past weekend seems like a wisp of an idea and the future weekend only a distant promise of relief.

Dramatic? Yes.

Today my dearest friend Tracie convinced me to go to the devotional. Now, I am pretty good at attending devotionals, cramming my legs into a 7 inch spot, and obtaining the necessary enlightenment. Today, however, was more of a struggle. But the seat was being saved and I needed to fill it. So I did.

One of the lessons taught during the talk was to "do your best in school and in work."

I hate to admit it, but I had been contemplating not going to my next two classes. The thought was daunting and sad. Class? I didn't think I could do it on this specific Tuesday.

Tracie reminded me what we had learned in devotional.

I went to class and got full credit for the in class assignment.

Thank you Tracie.
Thank you devotional.

Thank you Tuesday. I'll see you in a week.