:) :)

I got to spend time with a friend tonight, it wasn't long but there is something about being around good people who let you be you that makes me smile. I can be silly and nerdy and myself and it is good. They can be silly and nerdy and it is good. It is nice to be oneself and not feel like you are judged for it, but rather appreciated for it. Appreciation and acceptance go a long way in life. :)

My favorite song

Today I played one of my favorite songs over and over and over again. I had to play it on Youtube because I have yet to buckle down and buy the CD. It is the song called "To Get Me To You" sung by Lila McCann on the Hope Floats soundtrack. This song makes me happy. It reminds me of college days, it reminds me that the trials we face in life are worth it. That no matter how hard or long the road, we need that road and it has a happy ending. No matter how hard or long the roads in our lives, they are needed.

direction

Today was a GREAT day. It is amazing how someone can say something that some how pricks you and gives you insight, direction, hope, or whatever for your life. My friend mentioned a few things out last night which led me to a realization. I know what I want to do with my life right now. It makes me happy, it makes me excited, it is good. And then this afternoon someone made an offer on my house that I am attempting to short sale. The Lord does bless us, things do come together, but it is in His timetable and His way. But His timetable and His ways are so much better than ours, though the path may seem harder at times, it is FAR better.

good friends, good food, good games, good times

There is something to be said about spending time with those that bring you up. There is a joy about healthy associations. More than just the enjoyment of good times, there is a joy of uplifting each other by just being around each other. Good friends make you better at the end of the day because you know them. They do not force you to better yourself, but rather you are better because of them. They may not fix the problems of your life, but they do enrich it and you and help you face life's challenges.

Girl Time

I am a firm believer that sometimes girls just need girl time. It is so very important to associate ourselves with other women. To laugh about life, eat good food, talk about whatever, and come to realize we are not the only ones having these crazy moments in life. I am grateful for the time I get to spend with other women. Learn from them, be silly around them, and just be girls.

People

There seem to be a lot of things in our lives that can bring us joy and make us happy. Whether it be the chance to serve a friend to walking in the stream, it is good. Today I would say that it is people that brighten my soul. I am full of happiness for the success of a friend. I am full of joy being around good people. I am full of joy watching a grandmother and a grandpa in the park with their grandchild. I am full of joy watching parents in the park together with their children. It made me smile to see the pride of a little girl that caught a water jumper at the stream. It made me happy to see people outside playing with their dogs.

small steps

I think often we get a little discouraged in our lives when we see small steps of progress because they are not BIG steps of progress. But in all actuality progress is a good thing. Today I had a few areas of baby step progress. How good it is that we are improving, it doesn't happen over night, but it happens gradually. We can find strength in our baby steps. We can find joy in it. :)

Slow Down

How often do we try to rush through this fast pace life. We may run to the store and buy a loaf of bread and eat it and not think twice. Today I had the opportunity to make wheat bread. I don't take enough advantage of the opportunity to make bread. It tastes so much better when we make it, it may be what it is in it, but it could also be the time and work and love that went into it that makes it so much better. It could be the sense of accomplishment. Some how it reminds me of the way I want my home to be like. The smell of bread in the oven and knowing I put forth the effort to do make it. It reminds me of provident living. Another moment that reminded me of just slowing down and enjoying this life was the sunset tonight. It was beautiful. As I sat here thinking about it, it reminded me of a time when I was living in Seattle and my best friend and I and her mother parked the car on the side of a hill and watched a beautiful sunset over Puget Sound. Just enjoying the beauty of the moment.

It is just good

I don't know what really to say but that this life is good. We may have moments of frustration, moments where we really don't know what is happening in our lives and all we can do is cling to the faith and hope that God does know best. We may have moments of tears, and moments of joys. This life is good though. Those times of trials can bring us closer to God and those around us. They came make those moments of joy so much sweeter. Today had a lot of different moments of joy and delight. I had the joy of seeing a friend so very excited about having his scriptures that he held them with a look of pure joy on his face. I had a dear friend of mine wave at me as I entered the room. I had the blessing of talking to those around me about God and the temple as I went in for interviews. I had the joy of walking in the stream and then talking to a complete stranger about Tolkien and A35s (yes I am a nerd). I had the joy of cooking good food and listening to good music. I had the joy of writing my friend on her mission and spend the evening socializing with friends. There is joy in this life. There is joy in the small things and the big things. This life is good. It is not easy, but it is for our good.

The perfect weather

Today was a beautiful day weather wise. I woke up to rain and got to sit on my porch for a few short minutes smelling the aftermath of the rain while reading a book and by the afternoon the sun came out and it was the perfect cool summer day. My roommate and I went for a jog/walk and I decided to push myself and attempt to run some hills. When I did cross country YEARS ago our coach used to have us run up a hill and then walk down just to run up it again. I decided to push myself and run a short hill ten times. It was good. I doubt I ever thought I would willing run hills by my own choice and there I was running up and walking down it. Funny how life turns out.

good smells

So there are some smells that just stink, for example the kitchen sink sometimes (oops). But there are other smells that make me happy. I think several of my favorite smells are warm cookies, a good perfume or cologne, actually I like the smell of certain male deodorants and clean pinesal smell. In Vegas one thing that made me happy as I drove to work was driving past the park and smelling the sprinklers on the cut grass. But I think my all time favorite is the smell of the rain. It can smell so fresh. It makes me happy.

individual

Today I volunteered at the LDS Employment Resource Center. It was an amazing experience. To start off, calling people scares me. That is exactly what they had us do, we had to make calls. To start off, on Monday someone mentioned they needed help on Wednesday, and today they had more volunteers than normal. It was awesome. They had us making calls to see how each persons employment search was going, as well as if there was anything we can do to help, whether it be look over resume or invite them to meetings or anything. That part that struck me was the individual nature of the work and of the gospel. We were calling individuals, we weren't trying to get numbers, we were calling to see how we could help one person at a time. "How are you?" "How can I help you?" The gospel is about individuals. Heavenly Father loves each of us personally. The next thing that was interesting was the fact that we could understand how they were feeling, because many of us either were or are in the same or similar situations. How reassuring it is to know that Christ know exactly how we feel. He can not just sympathize but empathize as well.

Cookies and Camping

So today was a good day. Among doing chores (like laundry and getting stuff for my bike) I went for a walk in the stream and made cookies. I was lying on the couch attempting to take a nap while my friend was on the other couch and I just jumped up and said "that is it" and went to the kitchen and made chocolate chip cookies. My roommate wanted to go camping tonight and i couldn't because I have something to do early tomorrow morning so my roommates went to our next door neighbor with a plate of cookies and asked him (he is a sweet old widow) if we could camp in his backyard. How fun is that. Sleeping in the backyard under the stars :) oh the good times. :)

Silly

So I went to bed last night with out blogging the small moments of joy from yesterday. Yesterday was an interesting day. It had it's different aspects but one thing that made me smile was the random moment of silliness. I got home late from an activity and was definitely in a silly mood, we seemed to have a song, quote or random statement for everything. Since I wanted milk we decided to all pile in my car and head to the grocery store at 10pm (or some late hour like that). It was amusing. On a side note, I have had my car for about 3 years and just last night found out the was a drawer under my passenger seat. How way cool is that! Extra storage I didn't even know I had :) I think those silly moments keep us sane and young.

Writing

Today I spent a good portion of my day writing out my thoughts. It was interesting, it gave me perspective, hope and understanding. It felt nice to look at my life and see God's hand in it and just put into words my thoughts, my concerns and life and just look at it in order. Often we get caught up in the here and now of our lives and wonder if God will help us with that and the future, but as we take a step back and look at it all, we will see that he had a hand in our lives all along as we let him. Writing can bring clarity, understanding, hope and just let it all out to carry on. It is healthy and good. It isn't something you have to share with the world but rather it is something that is there just for you as well.

The Resivour

I just got back from a weekend trip at a mountain reservoir. It was so nice to just be outside with people, making pancakes on an outside grill, getting sunburned (just so you can prove you were outside), going for a walk in the mountains, playing games, having quiet time and just being around good people. It made me smile. I loved seeing how boys really will be boys and how girls are girls and how good it is that we are different but that these differences are distinctly good as well. We got to visit a monistary and it is beautiful to me to see how people turn to God and draw closer to Him. It all made me happy.

Applets and Cotlets

I don't have one type of candy that is my absolute favorite, but I have many that I would call a part of my list of favorites. Applets and Cottlets are definitely a part of that list. Now I should probably give a description of these delightful candies, besides delicious to my taste buds. They are made from fresh apples and appricots and nuts into a jelly like texture with powder sugar coating. Many many years ago when I was in eighth grade (did I mention many many years ago) I went on a field trip to the plant in Cashmere, Washington and got free samples. That experience at such a young tender age was enough to hook me for life. My mother would give them to me as part of Christmas presents or we would buy some to enjoy on our Alaska cruise. I was hooked, that is all I can say. The only problem when it comes to Applets and Cotlets is that they are impossible to find. I used to find them in a few different grocery stores in Seattle, but since then the only place we found them was RiteAid. I don't recall ever finding them in too many places outside of Washington for that matter.
So now this brings us forward to today. My friend needed a cheap pair of sandals (we were going to go walking into the spring which makes me so very happy and he needed sandals for such an adventure). As we were walking from the sandal aisle towards the check stand at the local RiteAid (mind you I am not currently living in Washington) we walked down the candy aisle. Well upon seeing chocolate, I thought to myself, "today would be a good day for chocolate" (or something along the lines of I need chocolate) but upon further reflection I decided to be strong and forgo the chocolate. At that moment I looked up and what did I see sitting on the top shelf (or one of the top shelves). That is right Applets and Cotlets. Forget chocolate, Applets and Cotlets here I come. So today's joy brought to you courtesy of the Washington candy, oh the yummy goodness.

Good Books and Sleep

Yesterday I missed doing the blog so this is yesterdays blog. I have to admit on of my favorite times of the day is when I wake up and can just lie there in bed, comfy and cozy and just lie there and think or fall back asleep. It is so very nice. The other thing is just being able to sit outside and read a good book in this perfect weather. :)

wisdom

Today was a good day, I finished a good book, quickly saw a friend, went grocery shopping, cooked and ate some of my favorite food. I saw a family riding bikes together and enjoyed talking on the phone in the nice summer evening weather. Each of these things did make me smile. There was something else that brought additional joy. I enjoy talking with those of older generations. They have so much wisdom and experience, so much I can learn, but in general I just enjoy talking with them and being around them. While I was in the checkout line I had the opportunity to talk to two older women, both of which were grandparents. One of these ladies said she would email me a recipe for making peach raspberry jam and the other we just talked about life and I really can't recall too much about what, but to be honest, I may not always remember what is said but it made me happy none the less to talk with wisdom. There are so many things that people in older generations have to offer (and younger generations as well). It makes me happy.

Prayer

I love to think, I ponder life, boys, engineering, choices etc. I find myself thinking a lot, part of that may be because I am a girl and part because I am an engineer (or maybe it is the love of asking questions that makes me an engineer). There is a strength of quietly praying and discussing with my Father in Heaven the thoughts that I have as I try to form it into understanding etc. This mostly comes to boys, life and choices in my life however. :) I am grateful to be able to attempt to formulate my thoughts and try to understand what different things mean and what I want out of my life etc with a loving Heavenly Father. I should try to listen more to His answers, but what a strength it is to council with Him, to attempt to formulate my fears, hopes, desires, concerns, joys, and questions.

Puppies

My friend and I both happened to be awake early this morning and decided to take her ten week old puppy on a walk at the nearby park. I have to admit it was one of the cutest things. We took it to the stream and walked in the grass. How sweet the joy this small creature brings. :)