Tomorrow...

When it comes to change, there are three seasons of timing: People change when they hurt enough that they have to, when they learn enough that they want to, and when they receive enough that they are able to. -John Maxwell

Tomorrow I feel like i get a chance to start fresh. I"m moving into a new apartment, with all new roommates, none of who I know. I feel like it's a chance to make some changes and I'm really quite excited. I should admit, I'm rather nervous. In my 2 and a half years at BYU I've always lived with people i know and now to move into an apartment with 3 strangers and share a room with a stranger. Plus, i've had my own room for the past one and a half years, so sharing a room again should be interesting. I"m actually pretty excited about that part. I loved sharing a room freshman year. I loved having someone to talk to always, especially when your falling asleep. conversations in the dark are the best! I'm also pretty excited because my social life this semester and most of my semesters at BYU has been almost non-existent, and the complex/ward that i'm moving into is suppose to be one of the most social around BYU. I'm not a people person by nature, but it's nice to have options when i do feel the need for some social interaction and get a break from my TV world every once in awhile. I'm pretty excited to be moving. I like new things. I like different situations, especially ones that might take a little getting use to. So wish me luck!!

pretty much crazy

I'm pretty much crazy for volunteering to take my super cool friend Charlotte and her sister Emily to the airport tomorrow morning at 4:30 am. Charlotte is pretty cool, though; who wouldn't want to take her to the airport? She totally owes me and can probably do that through several Friday nights of mac and cheese, Monk, and homemade Oreos.

This is actually Charlotte--not Brooke. Brooke, you left your account up, so naturally I pretended to be you. Ha. You rock my socks for taking me up to the airport--just thought your entire blog readership should know. :)

Love Charlotte

Incense

Many,many moons ago, my Dad started the tradition of dollar store presents. It's the highlight of Christmas. We enjoy it so much so that Lance started the tradition in the physics department and it's become a yearly favorite there as well. Dollar store gifts, due to their funny nature, are good for a laugh no matter what. Probably all of my most memorable christmas presents are dollar stores gifts. I even remember all of my dollar store gifts from the very first time we got them. Let me name them off for you: incense, incense, incense....are you sensing a pattern?? Every year since the beginng of time (or just the beginning of the era of dollar store gifts) I have recieved incense for christmas from my dad. He gets creative though. IT's a different type of incense every year. One year the incense holder was in teh shape of an elephant, another year it was a little box, the smell of the incense is always different (and always gives me a headache!) The best part about it is, that after i open it he insists on putting it in the fire to burn, making our house smell like a mixture of burning potpurri and a public restroom. As christmas gets closer, i can't wait to see what sort of incense finds its way into my life this year.

This is going to sound a bit odd, but you know how people often write you notes to tell you thanks for just being you? This may sound a little prideful and i don't mean it to come out that way, but this semester more than any, I've received numerous random notes or had a lot of comments on the good qualities and aspects of my character. Which i definitely appreciate. Who doesn't appreciate notes that tell them how great they are? It definitely makes me feel like I'm doing something right in my life, either that or people just felt like they needed to lie to make me feel good about myself. Who knows? But sometimes, i wish people would just be completely honest and tell me all of my faults. I mean, wouldn't it be nice to know what people DON"T like about you? I think it would, then I'd know the things about myself i really should chance or work on being better at. I know that sounds weird but i would LOVE to know the things people hate about me, or at least think are annoying. We know ourselves to a certain extent, but we've never truly experienced ourselves as other people. Sometimes i think if i were to meet me, I'm not sure i would really like me. But like i was saying before, we don't really know ourselves from an outside perspective, so it's hard to really criticize yourself and figure out what aspects you really should try and do better on. Random thoughts, i don't know where this came from.

pounding the pavement

While i was running today, I thought of all the reasons why i love running, to help keep my mind off of the pain in my knees. And here's the list i came up with.
I LOVE RUNNING...
Because it feels good
Because even when it doesn't feel good, it feels better afterwards
Because I always feel better afterwards and never worse
Because it's hard
Because it makes me feel like i can do ANYTHING
Because I can climb to the 8th floor of the Widtsoe building and not get out of breath.
Because my red blood cells love it
Because my lungs love it
Because of the sweat, lots and lots of sweat
Because of the hot shower afterwards
Because of the peace of mind afterwards
Because I can pig out afterwards
Because it makes me crave healthy food
Because it helps me sleep well
Because of runner's thighs, butt, and calves (although the butt i don't so much have anymore unfortunately)
Becuase of skinny ankles
Because i love the look i get from people when i tell them i went on a short 5 miler
Because it gives me good posture
Because it makes me nimble
Because i feel like noone and nothing can catch up with me
Because it's my way to rebel
Because i get to splurge and buy cute shoes once a year
Because it's free
Because it's freeing
Because 20 or 30 years down the road it'll help reduce my risk heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer, and so many other diseases.
Because it's something i can do by myself
Because it's something i can do with anyone who will do it with me
Because it clears my mind
Because it's one of the few times my mind and body meld
Because I'm not such a great dancer but running to dance music makes me feel like I am
Because of the high
Because it saves me when I am at my lowest low
Because I love speeding past people on the sidewalk
Becuase I was always one of the fastest kids
Becuase it's the closest I get to childhood
Because of the sprint
Because of resisting the sprint
Because it's the closest I get to flying

Pure Deliciousness

I've been trying to use up all my baking ingredients before i leave for christmas. Because if it's all gone, that's one less box i have to move into my new apartment. So i gathered up everything i had, searched the internet for a recipe that i could use, and voila! S'more brownies...that's not a real picture of hte ones i made, but they looked pretty darn close.

Next, for the christmas season, i plan on making these!!

yet another way to waste time at work....

I have a new favorite website. It's called Stumbleupon.com. It's the best thing since sliced bread.

Come What May, and Love it

I've been rather frustrated with life lately, it's thrown me a couple curve balls that i haven't really known how to handle. And that really quite bothers me because i'm one of those people who likes to plan ahead, and know how things are going to turn out, and almost every aspect of my future right now, is just a bit hazy for me. That's not something i enjoy so much. I thought going home for Thanksgiving would help to clear my mind and help to pull somethings together but, if anything, it just made me more unsure about things. But as always, i've been reminded this week (even though it's only tuesday) that i'm never completely alone and that there's alway somone aware of what i'm going through. And for that i'm eternally grateful.

One of my best friends, Austin, is on a mission in Johannesburg, South Africa and he has a companion that has never gotten any mail, so i started writing him, along with Austin, every week. Anyways, i got a letter from him yesterday, and he had to have been inspired to write the things that he wrote because everything he wrote was just like an answer to my prayers. I honestly must've read the letter like 5 times yesterday. He talked about work and the importance of working your hardest in all that you do. He said that, "the priviledge to work is a gift, the power of work is a blessing, and the love of work is success." He also talked about choices and how life isn't a game, that every choice you make has a consequence. That's not even beginning ot scratch the surface on what he wrote but i loved it.

The other sort of blessing in disguise was Elder Wirthlin passed away last night. That in and of itself is not a blessing but my boss and I at work this morning were talking about it and she briefly mentioned a story from his last general conference talk and it prompted me to go look it up. I had forgotten how great it was. I feel like a lot of times the talks in general conference don't apply to me right at the time they are being spoken but as i read them over and over again and as new things come up in life, they all seem to tell me something eventually. It was the "Come What May, and Love it" talk and basically he just talks about how attitude is everything and the only way to be truly happy is if we choose to be happy no matter what gets thrown our way in life. The main points he stresses is to learn to laugh, keep an eternal perspective, know that you'll be compensated eventually for any hardships you endure, and to trust always. There's opposition in all things but if you learn to deal with it right, adversity can end up being some of the greatest blessings in your life.

And finally, to finish off this massively long post, I know why i've been so stressed lately! I came across an article today that talked about how swearing and kissing are two of the greatest stress relievers. And well, since i don't swear i obviously have ot make up for that by kissing more often and since i'm at a lack of that in my life (well i'm always at a lack of that in my life) it totally explains being stressed.

and now i'm done.

What was he thinking??

So i believe it was a Wednesday or maybe a Thursday night that i had meandered over to Caitlin's apartment for Crepe night!! (which was delicious by the way) I had a basketball game that night at 9:15p.m. and so i didnt' get a chance to stay for long, but long enough to eat like 4 or 5 crepes. (not a good idea before playing basketball!) Everytime i make my way over to their apartment, ALL of the visitor parking spaces are taken up, it's like a curse i have. So i had to park elsewhere. So i go to leave for my basketball game and i get out to my car at approximately 9:02 p.m. In fact, i get there just as this guy is clicking a boot onto my car. Oh thanks! He tells me i can't park there after 9p.m. I know there's no point in arguing, i've had numerous encounters with the boot people from helping Kellie manange the apartment, so i kindly ask him if i could just pay now and get it off so that i wasn't late to my game. So while this transaction was going on, we talked a little bit. After it's done, i go to get into my car to leave and he asks me out! Hello!!! you just put a boot in my car and made me pay $50 for being 2 minutes late to my car, of course i'm not gonna go out with you! Luckily, the night he asked me for i already had plans. Thank goodness. What seriously goes through boys minds??