Good morning, sunshine. :)

I woke up to those three words today. Good morning sunshine!! It was the best start to my day. :) And now, as I'm about to go to sleep, I started thinking about what I'm going to do tomorrow after I wake up again. I am going to teach a cello lesson, probably mess around on my computer for a while, paint a playhouse, do some weeding, practice my cello, and then maybe try and motivate myself to exercise. Then I realized that it is now 12:24 in the morning, and I'm not in bed yet. That means I am going to be tired tomorrow when I wake up.... I don't really want to think about waking up. Finally, just barely, the bomb hit me. How lucky am I that I WOKE. UP. this morning? That means that I am living, breathing, and laughing. I'm still enjoying my life. There are so many stories on the news these days about young deaths--suicides, car accidents, drug overdoses. I really am blessed to still be alive right now. Right here, typing on my computer. I suppose you never know when your time will come to go, but I hope that mine won't come for a while. I want to wake up to good morning sunshine many, many more times. I want to practice my instrument, exercise, and paint playhouses many more times. Even though my days all seem to mush into one big, long trek through work and life, I am grateful to be here. I'm grateful for my friends and family and for the wonderful life that I am leading. So here's to tomorrow morning. Here's to good morning, sunshine. Here's to making tomorrow great and appreciating every single minute of it. 

:)

I was feeling a little bit of cabin fever today, and so I went on a walk. Naturally. To avoid my cabin. Get rid of my fever. ;) I was walking down the little quaint road out of my neighborhood, and something struck me. Like hard. Why is it that nature that has been untouched by us is so beautiful, raw, and perfect? Why is it that families like to take their pictures outside? Why is it that pictures outside with people in them are the best kind of pictures? I think I figured it out. At least a little. Untouched nature is God's space. It's His creation and the details that He understands and we don't. It's His beauty and a sign of love for us--something for us to enjoy and appreciate. God creates beauty and peace, right? That's where the whole people in the pictures comes in--family. It's beautiful. It's from God. God creates beautiful things for us. Why? Why do we deserve endless fields of tall grass and wildflowers and loving people in our lives who hug us while we push them away? Truth is, we don't. None of us have lived perfect enough lives to deserve any of it. I guess the only way to give back is to appreciate it and treasure it. Always carry your glass half full, and notice all of the amazing things around you. :) Life truly is beautiful. 

This is an "us" thing.

The inspiration for this post comes from a talk that was given in my Stake Conference a while back. Our stake president gave a message to us, and one line of it really stuck out to me. Life is not an "I" thing, but an "us" thing. Is that not so true? We are here on this earth for each other. We are here to help each other, to teach each other, to learn from each other, and to progress together. There is a reason God didn't send us each to our own planet by ourselves. We need each other to be tested and to help others through their tests, also. My shout out today goes to Estelle Carr. Yes, I know. My facebook has been covered with posts about her for the past few days, but what can I say? She is an inspiration to me, and one of the very best friends I have ever had. She knows how to make everyone around her happy, and she is so good at making you feel important. She really grasps the concept of the "us" thing. Maybe we'll all figure it out one day, and the world will be a better place. :)

Brownie Pan. :)

The other night I had a sugar craving at midnight that landed me in the kitchen making brownies. :) When they were finished, I was dishing them up, and the different kids who had mysteriously woken from their deep slumbers were telling me whether or not they wanted a corner, side, or middle piece. Well, when you have a family of 9, the brownies disappear pretty quickly. Finally, there was just one brownie left--a corner one. My little sister asked if I wanted it, and I told her no. I don't like the corner pieces. She does, so she took it. That is where my thinking began. Each member of my family likes a different brownie. That is what makes each of them happy and what gets rid of the entire pan. I mean, if we all only liked the middle pieces, someone would either always be unsatisfied, or there would always be a layer around the edge that didn't get eaten. It takes all sorts of people to make the world go round, to make an entire pan of brownies disappear. It takes a wide range of personalities to make a family function and learn from each other. Lately, I have been worried that my major isn't really going to get me anywhere big and successful in life. My mom, who usually sheds light on the situations that need shedding light on, reminded me that I didn't have to be big and successful to make a difference. The world takes all different sorts of people to make things work. If we were all big and successful, no one would be! There would be no motivation to work harder and progress. Even if I never become some big name cellist, I will be content with just working as hard as I feel I can and maybe teaching future big name cellists. I guess I'm content with being the person in the world and my family who likes the middle brownie. It's okay not to have some huge, important career or dream. My dreams are to get married, be a mom, teach cello students, and play in the OTS someday, and that is enough. Everyone else can finish off the rest of the pan. :)

cour-age.

So, that first step off of the cliff when you are repelling is the worst, right? The push to jump off of that high dive...putting that first piece of sushi in your mouth, looking through the bottom of a glass elevator, etc. I was thinking today on my long drive home from one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. All it takes to sever your fears of unknown and new things is 5 seconds of insane courage. It takes breathing out and pushing yourself off of that cliff, letting gravity pull you from the high dive, plugging your nose and shoving that seaweed, rice, and raw fish into your mouth (I love sushi, for the record). I think that courage isn't bravery and strength, but rather the trust that it is going to be okay in the end. My trusty friend dictionary.com defines courage in this way : cour-age. noun. 1. The quality of mind of spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc, without fear.  The quality of mind or spirit...what a beautiful way to describe it. You have to have a strong quality of mind and spirit. You have to calm your fears in your mind and remember calm your spirit and know that God has a way planned for you. Now, I am not saying that trying a piece of sushi for the first time is going to change your life in some huge way or anything, but trying that strengthened your mind and spirit. It gave you a little more will power. Courage. Try it today. Do something new. Trust that He is going to help you out. :)

Gray to Sunny. :)

Today has been kind of an icky day...ya know? Everybody has one of them every once in a while. I am missing my family a lot, missing other people a lot, having a hard time being engaged in life....just feeling blah. Sometimes it is so easy to get down into a rut--so easy to just not be motivated to do anything. I realized today that strength is making, even forcing, yourself to do something when you very least want to do it. For me, it was getting out of bed today. It was practicing today. It was reminding myself that I am loved today. Once I did all of those things, my day turned around a little. Yes, it is still gray and sleeting outside (NEVER. MOVE. TO. LOGAN. ;) ), my day hasn't been perfect, my knees ache from the weather, and I am way over my head in things to do, but it's okay. It's okay because I chose to be happy, and I pushed my way through the things that I wanted to do the very least today. YOU can do it today, too. While you're at it...be happy tomorrow, and the next day, and the next one after that. Smiling is good for you, laughing keeps you healthy, and being happy keeps you glowing. :)

all you have to do is ask. :)

This past week has been crazy! Should we start from the beginning? It really all revolves around one thing...housing for next year up at school. haha. So, this past Sunday, my roomates and I were sitting in church, and we realized it was fast Sunday...much too late to have fasted, of course. That evening when I went to bed, I prayed that I would somehow in the next week gain a greater testimony of fasting. Boy did I ever.
In the first week or two of December, I began doing a little research on where my two roomates and I were going to live next year. In the next few days after I started looking, we found this really great apartment and were the very first three put on the waiting list to sign contracts for the upcoming year. I didn't think much more about housing until this past week. The manager of the apartment called and informed me on Monday that she only had two spots available for next year, not three. Did I want them? Was one of us going to leave and live somewhere else? I wasn't really too fond of the idea. She said that we would have to sign our contracts on Wednesday if we wanted the spots. I was super frustrated. I had researched and researched for good apartments, found a really reasonably priced one with some awesome amenities, cheaper utilities...why?! So, I began the hunt again. Nothing was working out..Wednesday was coming...stress...stress stress stress. So, we found another option that wasn't as desirable as the one we were on the list for, but it would do. Tuesday night, before we would sign contracts the next day, we all fasted to make sure we were making the right choice of where to live for the upcoming school year. Wednesday rolls around, and I receive a phone call at about 2:00pm...a third spot opened up at our original apartment. I couldn't even believe it. I immediately closed my eyes and thanked Heavenly Father...I realized at that moment that He had answered my prayer from the previous Sunday. Fasting is a true principle, my friends. I have never been very good at it, and I have vowed to myself from now on that I will do nothing but my best to be better at it. The Lord is so good. He will always answer you. All  you have to do is ask. :) Have a BEAUTIFUL day.