Life Goes On

Wow! Life is just running at full speed and I can barely keep up! I'm back from Italy! It was incredible! I had to keep a journal every day while I was on my trip so I'm just going to repost all of those entires with pictures.  But first I need to catch up with everything else that's going on! Oh my word! Where to start...

A few weeks ago Kendall took me to Davis High's Moonlight Serenade (every year the jazz band, moonlight singers, and dancers put on a show where you can come and dance as well). Kendall and I decided that since the Salsa was popular at the same time as jazz that we would dress the part (Okay, I don't really know if that's true but it was easier to find a salsa dress than a 20's style flapper dress). I'd say we looked pretty hawt ;)

It was absolutely one of the funnest dances I've been to! Kendall is incredibly good at dancing and I'm mediocre at following so we made a pretty okay couple. Apparently other people thought so too. We had a few random people come up to us and ask how long we'd been dancing together, if we were professional or that we should be, and how we learned to dance like that. Truth is, we simply repeated the few moves we did know, whether they fit the beat of the song or not. In my opinion, the magic came from the fact that Kendall and I are both performers (I danced and he was in musical productions) so we know how to perform well whether or not we are good at what we're doing - that, and we were having the time of our lives so I'm sure the big smiles on our faces and in our eyes made us look even better :)

Maybe I miss dancing...

Let's see, what else is new? I'm currently unemployed, or jobless if you want to use the more politically correct term. I probably shouldn't complain about my job too much where other people can read it, but it was awful. I hated the negative, backbiting work environment, the power hungry management, the unseen motto of "faster is better and it better be accurate or else", the ridiculous reasons to get written up, and the feeling of walking on pins and needles every day at work just to not get yelled at rather than do my job right. After a year of that I was done. I really don't think I could have endured it long enough to find another job. I can't handle a negative environment like that. One should not have to pray to be a good employee every day before work and be terrified to walk in afraid of who's going to be yelling and for what reason next. That's ridiculous. So if you have any ideas on leads for a new job... preferable one that give me the same $13 an hour, that would be awesome!

I decided not to take a summer semester. I declared a double major, Interior Design and Technical Sales and decided that if I took summer semesters I could be done by 2013 like intended - but I've finally come to the realization that life does not have to be rushed. Why do I need to be graduated so soon? Yes, it would be wonderful to be done with school before or soon after I get married and especially before kids, but I don't see any reason to burn myself out because of it. Life is meant to be enjoyed, not just endured.

Remember two years ago when I went to California for a school trip and had to use a cane because of a leg injury? Guess what little friend I got to take with me to ITALY?? We may not be friends anymore. I'll just explain real quick how I got a lovely stress fracture in my foot just before my trip. At the beginning of May I was working on a final project for a class. The day it was due, 30 minutes before class, my group was still printing pages and gluing stuff to a board (don't worry, so were all the other groups, as well as the professor). I had to run down to the printing center on campus but was slowed down by heels and a pencil skirt. My solution? Take off the heels, hike the skirt up a little bit, and run - there were about 10 minutes to presentation time at this point. With the first or second step I took I felt a snap in my foot, yelped a little, limped a little, but I was fine and kept going. I was fine the rest of the day, but every time I went running after that it would get worse. I figured this was just a side effect of training for a half marathon and I didn't worry about it too much. Until the Tuesday before I left for Italy... I went on a lovely run with Kendall - it was a pretty easy going run, and I kept making him stop to take breaks for "my back" not wanting to tell him about my foot too. I made it home, and within the next hour I could barely walk my foot hurt so bad. I sat in the office and cried a little bit as I explained to my mom what had happened. I made a doctors appointment for the next day, found out I had a stress fracture, was told to stay off of it completely until my trip, good luck in Italy, and to make another appointment when I got home to see what more damage I had done. Great. I was ecstatic about this news.

It's still healing - I never went back to the doctor... :S It hurts every Wednesday after volleyball but I really am taking it easy. I swear if I take it any easier I'm going to lose my mind. The half marathon will  have to be postponed until it heals completely though...

Well I think that may be all the catching up I can do for now. Oh! Jeremy graduates from high school tomorrow! This blows my mind - what is happening to the life that I've known for so long?? My goodness...

Two weeks...

Two and a half weeks.... two and a half weeks... I can do this. I'm going to make it!

Gah... I don't know if I'm going to make it! I only have 2 and a half weeks of the semester left... actually I take that back. Only 2 weeks (I just looked at a calendar. Wise decision.) But if these next two turn out to be anything like the previous two... I'll never survive. The problem with a project based major? Exactly that. Projects. You can cram for a final exam in one night, but you can't exactly cram creativity and a presentation board into one night. Good thing only 6 of my 7 classes have semester projects. Bahaha! What WAS I thinking??

There is light at the end of this tunnel though! ITALY!!!! (right now I think the light I see may be the light that shows up right before you pass to the other side though...) haha actually I have an even closer trip to look forward to :) Las Vegas! The week after finals I get to spend 3 days in Las Vegas with some friends at a Kitchen and Bath Convention! Woot! And then 9 days after that I'll be on a plane ride to EUROPE! I don't think it has sunk in that I'm actually going to Italy yet. My focus right now is to survive the next two weeks... Speaking of... I gotta go design a rug! Ahhh!

Painting Extravaganza!

On Monday February 21st, my friend Kendall invited me to come down to Provo to help him and his roommate paint their apartment. We first thought to paint something exciting but not to crazy so the next tenants might not make us repaint, however, with Josh as an art major and Kendall as an animation major, that idea soon went out the window as ideas began to flow. We set off to seek inspiration from a graffiti wall, but ended up going on a hike/stroll to Bridal Veil Falls. 

We played in the snow and explored an abandoned building.

We traveled to the DI looking for inspiration... No luck. Until Kendall and I found this:

And so began our adventure...

What do you think? We didn't quite finish it so I'll have to post pictures of the finished product soon. Especially because one of my favorite parts, the kangaroo, is missing. But I'd say it's probably the most exciting painting job I've ever seen. I've never painted a mural before but I am totally inspired to paint one in my next apartment! I'll just have to have Kendall come draw it for me - do you see that beautiful sun?? All I really did was paint inside the lines... Kendall was the one to make it so beautiful. What a fun fun date!

Winter, Weddings, and Waxing!

I really should post these pictures when they happen but better late than never, right? I'll try to go in chronological order, but just be prepared for quite a lot of pictures!

My first ever 4 DIGIT PAYCHECK! It came to a grand total of 1000.35! I worked A LOT of overtime during December but I was still excited to see such a large number on a little piece of paper. I figured this was a moment worth documenting...even though you can't read the paycheck in this picture. (I made a copy of it and it's been on my 'inspirational board' since I got it. One day it will happen again.)

Celebrating my 20th birthday with my roommates Christine and Kaitlin and my dear friend Sara :) Love them!

The wonderful card that Kaitlin Lloyd gave me for my birthday. Isn't it soo cute!? Best card ever!

My roommate Alli Warnick got engaged and we threw her a bridal shower :)

Alli married a wonderful boy named Brad on February 2nd and became Mrs. Alli Nelson :)

when girls get hungry...

And possibly my favorite picture of me and Kaitlin :)

A beautiful scene from the top of the conference center at sunset :)

And last but certainly not least... WAXING

So maybe it was my idea... Kaitlin and I had been complaining one day about how we were tired of shaving and I said something about how I wanted to try waxing sometime. If you can wax once and have smooth legs for 3 weeks, why not endure a little pain? So for my birthday Kaitlin got my a waxing kit! And guess what we did last Sunday? Bahaha! The minute I put the wax on my leg I thought, "What the heck am I doing?? I don't want to do this!!" I turned to Kaitlin and the look on her face matched the thoughts in my mind. We decided we had to do it together though, plus there was on turning back at this point. 

It hurt sooo bad! And it didn't even work! We were both rolling on the floor crying/laughing/screaming and then when we investigated the area... the wax had hardley even been pulled off! Let alone any hair! How could that have hurt so bad?? After a few failed attempts we ended up having to scrape the dried on wax off with our fingernails as it pulled on each individual hair... we sat by the fire we had built to try and reheat the wax so it would come off easier and then run into the shower to get it off... probably TMI, sorry. Anyways, I'm sticking to shaving from now on. It's really not that bad. haha but thinking back on how hilarious this moment was, I'm glad Kaitlin and I got to share it ;) hahaha!

Molecular Thoughts

There is a book entitled The Messages of Water written by Japanese author Masaru Emoto. In this book, Emoto discuss studies he has conducted that show the effect that words, ideas, and music have on the aesthetic appeal of water molecules. His experiments consisted of exposing water molecules to specific words, music, or ideas, allowing the molecules to freeze, and then examining the molecular structure with microscopic photography. Emoto experimented with words such as love, gratitude, evil, and hate. He also tested different music such as classical versus rock. For Example:

The picture on the left was taken after the water molecules had been exposed to heavy metal music.

The picture on the right, however, was taken after water molecules had been exposed to folk music.

Why is it that the aesthetic appeal of the second pictures is so much more pristine and beautiful? Why is it that the fragile structure of water can be disturbed by certain words and feelings? It's interesting to note that the human body is approximately 70% water... I wonder what effect our thoughts have on our bodies? In our church we have been counseled by the prophets to have clean thoughts, listen to wholesome music and watch uplifting movies. It seems as though scientific evidence comes a little late, but eventually backs up exactly what we believe. Maybe we're on to something...

Water isn't the only element this experiment has been tested on. Certain plants have been seen to exhibit certain positive and negative characteristics when exposed to specific words or thoughts. Energetic interchanges seem to exist between all forms of life; but does this come as much of a surprise when we know who our maker is? Of course there is an energy in all things.

In the book The Secret it discusses these same principles. If you haven't read it, do so, and keep in mind the similarities between the ideas discussed in it and our religious beliefs. They are very similar, however, it discusses the energy in the world and our relationship with it. It talks about the power of affirmation and things like "Can someone really heal them self of something as terrible cancer simply by thinking they can?" I believe that's possible...

Our words and thoughts have tremendous power; do we fully understand that power though?

Metaphors for Scriptures

Did you know that the scriptures testify of themselves? All throughout the scriptures prophets speak of their importance. For example: 1 Nephi talks about the iron rod as being scripture - "the iron rod is the word of God, 'twill safely guide us through" (hymn 274). Therefore the iron rod is a metaphor that directly means 'scripture'. There are 7 incredible metaphors for the scriptures that directly show the importance of scriptures study. 

1. The Liahona = scripture (1 Nephi 16:10, 26-29) If you recall, the Liahona was a type of compass that Lehi's family used to guide them through the wilderness to the promise land. Had Lehi's family been disobedient, the Liahona would not have worked and they would have wandered in the wilderness with no progression and eventually would have led to death. If the Liahona is a metaphor for the scriptures and the promise land is eternal life, we can conclude that the scriptures guide us to eternal life. Without them we will not progress to the celestial kingdom and ultimately die spiritually.

2. The Iron Rod = scripture (1 Nephi 8:19-20, 23-24) In Nephi's dream, he saw the iron rod leading to the tree of life. He also saw mists of darkness surrounding the rod, and a filthy river following along a strait and narrow path. If the iron rod represents the word of God, these versus in 1 Nephi tell us that the scriptures keep us from temptation and darkness, help us stay on the path, and ultimately lead to the tree of life - Jesus Christ. Without the rod/scriptures there is no way for us to stay on such a narrow path that leads to Christ. You cannot leave the rod/scriptures without also leaving the path. If we do not have the rod, we will wander in darkness, drown in the river, or get swept up in the worldly mansion - ultimately leading to spiritual death.

3. Manna = scripture (Exodus 16) After the Israelites fled Egypt, they wandered through the wilderness and eventually began to murmur for bread. The Lord answered their prayers by having manna rain down from heaven. Just like any food, manna provided the Israelites with strength and nourishment. Therefore if manna is a metaphor for scriptures, we know that the scriptures give us spiritual strength and nourishment. Without food in the literal sense we will die, so without spiritual food our spirit will also die.

4. Lamp = scripture (Psalms 119: 105) "The word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path". In a very simple way, this verse tells us the obvious, we need a light to show us where to go. Therefore if a lamp is a metaphor for the scriptures we know that the scriptures illuminate our path and show us where to go. If we were wandering in darkness without a lamp we would eventually get lost, have nowhere to go, and die. So, without a lamp/scriptures we will in time, die spiritually.

5. Water = scripture (John 4:14) A Samaritan woman came to a well where Christ was resting having traveled from Judea. He asked her to give him a drink and she was surprised that a Jew would speak to someone of her social status. After questioning him, he told her "whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst". Immediately she asked to partake of this water and then went back to the city to tell others. Water quenches thirst. Therefore if the water in this parable represents the scriptures, we know that the scriptures quench our thirst for knowledge. Without water we will die, therefore without spiritual water, we will die spiritually.

6. Sword = scripture (Ephesians 6: 11-18; D&C 27:18; Helaman 3:29; Jacob 2:8) Quite often the scriptures tell us to "put on the armour of God." D&C explains what each piece of armor represents.
helmet of salvation
breastplate of righteousness
loins girt about with truth
feet shod with the gospel of peace
shield of faith
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Of all the armor listed, the only offensive piece is the sword. Everything else helps protect us from the enemy but the only element that helps us fight and defend the truth is the sword. If the sword is the scriptures, then the scriptures help us fight against the powers of the devil. Also, we know that a sword can heal. If you take this in the literal sense, a sword or knife, is what has enabled modern medicine to heal millions. In Jacob it states that the word (scriptures) healeth the wounded soul. Without the ability to fight the enemy or heal, we will die both physically and spiritually.

7. Seed = scripture (Alma 32:28, 37-38, 41-42) "Faith is like a little seed, if planted it will grow" (children's primary song book). We are told if we plant the seed of the gospel in our hearts and nourish it, it will grow. Well what will it grow into? A tree that will bring forth good fruit. Fruit that is most precious and sweet, white above all that is white, and pure above all that is pure - does this sound familiar? The Tree of Life, even Jesus Christ? If we 'plant' the scriptures in our hearts Christ will grow and dwell within us. Of all of the reasons that scripture study is important, I can't think of a more powerful one that having Christ dwell within us. In a world swept up by the cunning and evilness of the devil, what better way to withstand him than to have our Savior with us at all times?

The new testament is not just an account of Christ life and teachings, the Book of Mormon is not just the keystone that holds our religion together and sets us apart from other Christian faiths, and scripture study is not just something we are encouraged to do because the prophet said to. The scriptures guide us to eternal life, lead us to Christ, give us strength, illuminate our path, quench or thirst for knowledge, allow us to fight the devil and defend the truth, and allow Christ to dwell within us...

Guilty Pleasure

What's my guilty pleasure?? Chocolate? Okay yes, guilty. Chocolate is definitely a weakness of mine - put any combination of chocolate and caramel or chocolate and peanut butter in front of me and there is no hope. However, I'm actually going to talk about a better, healthier, more exciting guilty pleasure of mine. One that makes me smile just thinking about it.

running.

Yep. You read correctly. I am absolutely in LOVE with running! Why? This question has actually been weighing on my mind all week. (Well, in all honesty, Tanner asked me in his most recent letter why I have taken such a liking to running, which has caused me to contemplate the true reason).

I started running when I moved down to BYU but I was never very serious about it - only going a couple times a week and not running hardly at all when it got colder. Then I picked in back up again that summer. I began thinking, "Maybe I'll train for a marathon or something". But I soon realized how far fetched this idea really was and let it go. However, I continued running. More as a form of relaxation than exercise.

I love nature and feel that we can be connected with it in a way, and running outside allowed me to make that connection. It gave me an opportunity to enjoy what was around me, to "slow down" from my busy life and breath. 

After Tanner left I had a lot more free time; time I spent running. What's a girl to do on a Friday night when her boy has left? Run. When I moved up to Weber I was most ecstatic about being able to find a new trail to run on (you can only run on a relatively flat, straight trail for so long and enjoy it (the legacy trail by my house)). When it got colder I realized I was right the down the street from the Weber State gym - free to students. Bomb! :) 

I used to have something against treadmills. Why not be outside enjoying nature, breathing fresh air? However, I have had to overcome that for it is much too cold to run outside. But believe it or not, I have absolutely fallen in love with treadmills. I can set the speed and completely zone out, letting the treadmill pull me along. I let the music from my ipod consume my thoughts as I stare at my feet in the mirror while the beat of the music and my step synchronize. Before I know it an hour has passed. 5.5 miles of track. 671 feet in elevation. 

I think running is my replacement for dancing. Why did I dance? I loved being one with the music. Letting all thoughts disappear as the music ran through my veins, the moves and notes following the same crescendo and decrescendo, my dress flowing gently across my skin as I moved, a thin saber or blunt rifle spinning with me and around me yet with a strong forceful appearance, and allowing the energy of the music to match the energy of the dance and portraying that to the audience. It doesn't get any better than that. I can't dance anymore. But when I run I get to let the music consume me again. My steps match the beat of the music once more. My breathe is synchronized with each move I make just like it did when I danced. 

Maybe all that is just my romanticized view of the world, but what's wrong with that? I LOVE RUNNING! Who knows, maybe I will end up running a half marathon this summer - but for now that is just an idea. I'll just enjoy the running for now...