My favorite condiment

Soo during the winter I simply guzzle hot chocolate. Just love it, I think it is wonderful. I mean, what is not to love about it? It is chocolate and it is a drink! But, I don't just do plain old hot chocolate, oh no! I LOVE coffee creamers. And during the holidays you can get all sorts of fun ones, peppermint, eggnog, pumpkin pie, etc. But my favorite is hazelnut. And I have a secret. You see, I really am not a milk person. I mean, there are certain things you HAVE to have milk with. Brownies, chocolate chip cookies, big sunday dinners, etc. But to just drink a glass of milk?? No way jose. Not me. Not happening. Unless... you mix in some hazelnut coffee creamer!! Suddenly you are drinking hazelnut flavored calcium!! What could be better? The last few days my body has been craving something sweet and calcium. (Not sure why the calcium, but the sweet is typical sometimes.) So, rather than indulging and getting ice cream or chocolate, I pull the milk out and add in the hazelnut creamer. Suddenly that evil looking glass of milk is a yummy hazelnut drink! Perfect. So, those yummy creamers are more than just for hot chocolate, but can be used in milk too! :)

The Divine Investiture of Authority

So yesterday in Institute we were covering the last 3 chapters of 2 Nephi. We started talking about various places in the scriptures when it is actually God the father speaking, and not the Savior. This led us into looking at various scriptures where the Savior is talking FOR the Father, places where the Holy Ghost is speaking for the Savior, and etc. We then discussed about how President Hinckley once said that the Presidency of the church is just one of the presidencies, and how there is a Heavenly presidency. This works in with how the Godhead is one in purpose, but not one in body. Anything that one says stands for all three. We will never receive doctrine or council from the Holy Ghost or the Savior that our Heavenly Father would not give us himself. We also looked at the chain of how important this makes the promptings we receive from the Holy Ghost. If the Holy Ghost can speak for the Savior, or speaks for Heavenly Father, then promptings are like a command from God himself. When we teach by the spirit of the Holy Ghost we are teaching with the power of God. When you really look at it that way, it kind of blows your mind. Promptings from the Holy Ghost are not just mild suggestions, but they are personal revelations to YOU from GOD himself... Makes you think twice about all of the times that you get ideas or promptings or thoughts put in your head and where they are coming from doesn't it?

On a Prayer

So this is perhaps one of my most favorite songs ever. I have a lot of most favorite songs, but I just love the message of this one. It is by Garth Brooks and it is the theme song to the movie Frequency. I don't know how many times I have felt like the first verse of this song. You are just barely making it through life, everything is tossing you about, you feel as if though your very soul is lost and broken and you just don't know what to do or where to go in life. Yet, suddenly you see that lighthouse that is always there just shining without fail, waiting for you to go towards it. The Savior is always there with his hand outstretched waiting for us to grasp onto it. There are times where you feel like you don't have the energy of even the desire to grab on and all you can do is weakly reach your own hand out and let your Savior make up the difference. No matter where you are He is always there, constantly believing in you, even when no one else does. There is nothing that we can do to change His ultimate love for us. So often it is difficult to believe that anyone has so much love for little ol' you, but it's true. Just keep on holding on and fighting. Sometimes all you can do is fight for yourself.

There's a ship out
On the ocean
At the mercy of the sea
It's been tossed about lost and broken
Wandering aimlessly
And God, somehow you know that ship is me
There's a lighthouse in a harbor shining faithfully
Pouring its light out across the water
For this sinking soul to see
That someone out there still believes in me

Chorus:

On a prayer
In a song
I hear your voice and it keeps me hanging on
Ahhh, raining down against the wind
I'm reaching out 'til we reach the circle's end
When you come back to me again

There's a moment
we all come to
in our own time and our own space
Where all that we've done
we can undo
if our heart's in the right place

On a prayer
In a song
I hear your voice and it keeps me hanging on
Ahhh, raining down against the wind
I'm reaching out til' we reach the circle's end
When you come back to me again

And again I see my yesterdays in front of me
Unfolding like a mystery
You're changing all that is and used to be

On a prayer
In a song
I hear your voice and it keeps me hanging on
Ahhh, raining down against the wind
I'm reaching out til' we reach the circle's end
When you come back to me again
(When you come back to me again)

Fun Times

So lately I haven't really had time to go and do anything with anyone. Not that there are a lot of people that I do things with, but I hadn't seen Ashley or Karen for quite awhile. So yesterday I made plans to meet up with Ashley. We made plans to meet up at 6 at the mall. We always meet in the same place at Chandler Mall, in Barnes and Noble. I got there early, and to pass the time I did what I always do, checked out the bargain books and then lost myself in the travel section. Ever since planning the trip to England last year, the travel section is just wonderful to me. I love looking at the books and imaging all the places that I so want to go to. Within the travel section are currently some calendars. I always like to look at the calendars of America and wonder why there are no pictures of Idaho in any of them. Well yesterday I found 3 different ones that had pictures of Idaho, and two of them had them on the cover! The first one was Lure of Fishing. I looked at it, and I am thinking oh wow! I know that place! It had a picture of a fisherman casting his line in Little Redfish Lake. There was no title for the picture, but when it is a place you have gone to every year of your life, you are able to recognize it. There was another calendar that was American farms, and for one of the winter months it had a picture of a farm in Idaho. The third calendar was from National Geographic and it was American Landscapes. I looked at the cover picture, and it was of the Stanley Basin, pretty much what the view is like from our cabin. Then, I was looking at this book of 500 places to see before you die. I flipped to the back in the index to see where there were in Idaho. There were a few different places, but the last entry was the Stinker Station. This made me laugh, and say no way! Yeah, I am one of those people who talks to herself out lout in a public area. So I flip to the page and there number 485 under 10 places that go blink in the night is the Stinker Station. It gave a short few line description about it and then last line says that while there are several throughout the state, something about how you will be able to find the one at 1777 Kimberly Road, Twin Falls. This just totally made my day. This is the Stinker Station that we would always drive by and my dad would take us to get hot dogs at when we were little.

After Ashley got there, I had to show her my discoveries and then we started wondering around the mall. We had mucho fun. :) I am pretty sure that every store we were in we erupted into random and really loud and long laughter. After shopping and an interesting time in Bath and Body Works where I talked her into buying stuff and then talking myself out of buying stuff we decided it was time to eat so we went to the Cheesecake Factory, where we were seated about 3 feet away from these two guys. Both Ashley and I had to restrain ourselves from piping in on their conversation a few times. At first it was awkward, because here you are trying to have a conversation and there are people you do not know sitting right next to you.

Through Heaven's Eyes

So, today's song is "Through Heaven's Eyes" from the Prince of Egypt. I was listening to this this evening on my way back to the house. I love every verse of this song, but today the part that struck me the most was about learning to join the dance. I mean this song has a great message about looking through heaven's eyes, but it was just the thought that you have to make an effort and JOIN life, you have to join the dance and take an active part in it. I don't know what it was about today that made that just really strike me. Today was one of those emotional roller coaster days. If you are a girl, you know what I am talking about, where you are just weepy and down and there isn't much you can do about it. 


A single thread in a tapestry
Through its color brightly shine
Can never see its purpose
In the pattern of the grand design

And the stone that sits on the very top
Of the mountain's mighty face
Does it think it's more important
Than the stones that form the base?

So how can you see what your life is worth
Or where your value lies?
You can never see through the eyes of man
You must look at your life

Look at your life through heaven's eyes

A lake of gold in the desert sand
Is less than a cool fresh spring
And to one lost sheep, a shepherd boy
Is greater than the richest king
If a man lose ev'rything he owns
Has he truly lost his worth?
Or is it the beginning
Of a new and brighter birth?

So how do you measure the worth of a man
In wealth or strength or size?
In how much he gained or how much he gave?
The answer will come
The answer will come to him who tries
To look at his life through heaven's eyes

And that's why we share all we have with you
Though there's little to be found
When all you've got is nothing
There's a lot to go around

No life can escape being blown about
By the winds of change and chance
And though you never know all the steps
You must learn to join the dance
You must learn to join the dance

So how do you judge what a man is worth
By what he builds or buys?
You can never see with your eyes on earth
Look through heaven's eyes
Look at your life
Look at your life
Look at your life through heaven's eyes

Butter, Milk, and Honey

So in my Institute Class at the beginning of each class a student has about 5 minutes to teach the class about what they learned from that days of reading. The past few classes have been covering the Isaiah portions of 2 Nephi. Today was chapters 17-24. You know a lot of us read the chapters but do not have that much understanding about what we are reading. We know that we are supposed to read them, but you sometimes wind up just staring thinking Isaiah why oh why couldn't you put it in simple English for us??? Of course those who speak Spanish or French or Italian are not thinking that, but you know what I mean!! Anyways, the girl who had today got up to teach us. She talked about the verses that say Butter and Honey. She then went on to explain that the butter and honey had confused her until she realized what butter was and that it was the same thing as milk and honey. She then went on to explain what milk and honey represent. Milk is revelation and scripture and honey is repentance. She explained all of these things to us and then sat down. Brother Calton gets up, looks at her and says "Where did you COME from? Are you for real? That was amazing, I don't even know what to say now." He then informs us that Lauren has been a member for 8 MONTHS and all of us life time members just sat there flabbergasted and maybe slightly ashamed. Here we have been studying the Book Of Mormon all of our lives and never had any of us gotten that much out of Isaiah. She also spent 8 HOURS studying this section to get the most out of it that she could. Once again you feel yourself go oh my goodness that is just amazing.

This is My Life

So I am a big music person. I love music and the way the lyrics can be related to certain events, times, feelings, etc. in our life. The past few months there have been various songs that I have really related to at different times. Today I was listening to my ipod on my way back from Show Low and I was listening to the CD Prayer of A Common Man by Phil Vassar, who is one of my all time favorite singer/songwriters. I had just listened to it a few days before, but today I was particularly listening to the lyrics. The first song on the CD, This is My Life really struck me today. I have listened to it several times before, but for some reason right then I really liked the words.

Fat cats just getting fatter
Lining their pockets
What does it matter?
All I want is an honest wage
A piece of ground where my kids are safe
80 bucks to fill my truck
Old man telling me times are tough
Sticking it to the middle class
Well, they can kiss my price of gas

Its time to speak my mind
Hey-- this is my life
Woa – woa this is my life
Hey--yea this is my life
Woa-woa
Yea, and I want it back

Republican or democrat
Well, I don’t give a damn about that
I want a chance to do my job
Pledge allegiance to my God
Talkin’ heads trying to buy my vote
I’m just trying to pay my note
I’m a husband trying to be a father
Raise my son and raise my daughter

Can you hear me?
Hey-- this is my life
Woa – woa this is my life
Hey--yea this is my life
Woa-woa
And I want it back

Well, I’m just standing on the edge of the brink
I will not go quietly
I’ll tell you what I think

Its time to speak my piece
Squeaky wheel always gets the grease
One single voice don’t matter
But everybody’s screaming up the ladder
Gonna get the attention of the man on top
Make it louder, shake and rock
It might just come tumbling down
Spread all that wealth around

That’s what I’m talking about
Hey-ya this is my life
Woa – woa this is my life
Hey-hey-yea this is my life
Woa-woa
This is my life
This is my life


The bolded part is what really struck me. I have realized lately that in life I tend to be more of a reactive individual, rather than a proactive person. I let things happen to me rather than making things happen. While in some instances this is just fine, I think that it is time that I start taking charge of my life and making things happen rather than just letting things happen to me. I have always been pretty good at dealing with whatever comes my way. And this weekend I realized that the thing I have the hardest time with is the unknown. If I don't know what it is I am dealing with then I have a really hard time, but if I know what it is I can deal with it, no matter what it is. Does that make sense? I guess it is like FDR said.. "All we have to fear is fear itself." I do not do well with the unknown. I do not like not knowing how someone feels about me or not knowing what is going to happen. Perhaps that is where my irrational fear of aliens comes from. I do not know what is out there and it freaks me out.... Hmmm interesting thing to ponder.

Parking Garages and Ditching Class

So today I headed off to school with my car packed up so that I could head to Show Low after I was done with class. I got to the parking garage and began the normal quest for that lucky spot that has just been emptied by a car. I scanned all 4 levels with many other people searching for that holy spot. And did so again. And again. And again. And again. I went through the whole thing about 4 times. I passed the same people several times. One Nissan Xterra with 3 guys I passed about 5 times and each time we would kind of laugh at each other because we were in the same boat. Well after going through the whole flipping thing several times I decided I would just break down and park in the pay by the hour parking garage, I could spend $8 if I had to. Well.... It was FULL!!! So I decided to check the Institute parking one more time. As I was driving back I called up Carrie to vent. I told her my circumstances and said you know if I can't find a spot now I am tempted to just ditch and head up to Show Low. She said I should. (Isn't she wonderful?) :)  As I was heading up to the 2nd level I see 3 guys walk down the ramp... My 3 friends from the Xterra. They raised their hands in the air and laughed. My windows were down and I called out, "You got a spot??? That is sooo not fair!!" They laughed and so did I, as I continued my hopeless quest for a place to put my poor car. Well... There wasn't one. I never passed by at the right time to find someone leaving. Of course I tried stalking a few people, but none of them were ever leaving. Sooo I wound up not going to class and went and got frozen yogurt and headed up to Show Low. I am now sitting on the couch trying to ignore my Vietnam War books and watching Jeffy dive for the kitten that wandered into the house. :)

Overall a pretty good day...

So Tuesdays are my long days. My institute class starts at 12:25 and I am in class until 9 at night. Long, but  for the most part it is usually pretty good. Today I left a little bit later than I usually do, about 11:15 until the usual 11. I was worried about having time to make sure I got a parking spot (we have a 600+ parking garage for Institute, but there are over 2000 kids signed up for Tuesday Thursday classes, soooo you don't have a guaranteed spot.) Typically I wind up finding a spot on the top level of the 4 story parking garage. Well today I got practically the closest spot to the Institute Building. YAY!! Of course on the coolest day so far of the school year I would have to walk the shortest distance, it couldn't have happened on one of those 110+ days, but hey I ain't complaining! Then later institute started. Class was GREAT today. It was one of those days where the Spirit really knew what I needed to hear and be reassured about. Those days where you feel like everything is being said especially for you and there are little cue cards that everyone is reading off of so that you can hear what you really really need to hear. (Ha I just got this great little visual of angels standing on the side with multi colored cue cards...) Anyways! Then at the end of class Brother Calton presented Terrence, a guy who got baptized about 6 months ago, with a brand new set of scriptures that some of the class had gotten together and purchased for him. By this time I was already a bit teary from the Spirit and then when Brother Calton handed him these beautiful scriptures and Terrence broke down from his emotions I started crying more. (And of course now I am crying again remembering it!) It was great to see how he felt to receive his own set of scriptures, it was a really nice moment. The whole class was just really good. My teacher has all of these really interesting tidbits of information and is just a really good teacher. He said some things that I really needed to hear. He reminded me that Heavenly Father has a reason for everything that happens in our lives and that there is a purpose for all that we go through and that happens. There was some other things, but that is all I feel like sharing. 

Fried Brain...

So for school I have MASSIVE amounts of reading. Like I am reading 28 books this semester, which is 8,301 pages... And I am writing 12 essays this semester, plus all of the in class, exams, discussion board posts, etc. writing. Today, like most days, I did a bunch of reading. I finished two books today which is a total of four books finished! Anyways, by the end of the day my brain is just totally fried. No brain cells left, which seems totally wrong because one would think that expanding your mind all day would have the opposite effect. Nope! It equals a fried brain that leaves you quite slap happy at the oh so late hour of 8:30. I was playing with Adelaide and we were being silly and laughing. Then Erik came in and asked me what a cat burglar is. For some reason this struck me as the funniest thing and I promptly started cracking up. Of course he is standing there going, well what is it?? And I am going I have no brain cells left! This resulted in me laughing for no reason for about 2 or 3 minutes with Adelaide laughing too and Erik just wanting to know what a cat burglar is.

Now I have a dilemma. Well, I have lots of dilemmas but I am trying to deal with my many issues one issue at a time so that I do not become even more... issued. (One issue is that I have a thing with ellipses.) :) ANYWAYS!! So my current dilemma is that my tried and true form of relaxation was always reading. Well now that I have several hundred pages that I am reading each week, reading is not exactly the most relaxing thing for me right now. So I have been taking advantage of the DVR downstairs. I have now watched all of the recorded episodes of NCIS, which is the greatest most addictive show EVER! I now know how Kate died, well actually someone already told me before I saw it, but now I actually saw the episode. I now understand so much more about the show! Now I have a bunch of House episodes and Early Edition. Soo... I don't remember what my dilemma was. Apparently I have solved my dilemma. I think I do that quite often, I make an issue out of something that really is not an issue which leads to more issues. There!! That is my dilemma. :) How do I stop making my life more complicated than it really needs to be?

Long Term Good....

So. You know those decisions where you really really want to do something, but you know that for your emotional and mental well being you just shouldn't? It is never anything bad, but just you know that by doing it this thing will probably do more harm than good for you in the long run, but it would be really nice for the moment. Well I have had this experience both yesterday and today. There was something that I ohhhh so wanted to do, really wanted to do. However, I knew that doing this thing would be more detrimental in the long run. So I was strong and did not do this thing! YAY!. Right? I have to keep telling myself that my decision is best for me even though at the moment I am wishing I had made the opposite decision...

Blogging

So the question is, how long do you think this will last? Me blogging that is. I have played with the idea of starting a blog off and on for awhile now. Of course the other night the name of it came to me... it was almost as if a mattress had struck me and gave it to me... Oh wait a mattress did strike me. Perhaps that is where I shall start the blog.

You see, I am this unique individual who manages to get herself into all sorts of interesting predicaments, like getting stuck under her mattress because she is looking for something. Or getting stuck behind her dresser because she HAS to plug her clock in behind the dresser. Of course I do not realize that these things are going to wind up so... absurd, until I am in the process of doing them! My friend Carrie told me yesterday that I should just not move. She said that I appear intelligent until I begin moving, and then my true colors come out.. I am a klutz and quite often a complete and utter blonde. But apparently I am also intelligent!! :)

Today was definitely another blonde day. My first major moment happened in institute, before class started. I had been talking to a friend that I haven't seen in over a year, and I realized my hair tie was not in my pocket. So I figure I had left it in my car and proceeded down the stairs and across the gym to run out to my car to grab it... Then I looked down at my arm and realized that I had placed it around my wrist. Of course I had!! So I turned around and walked back across the (full) gym and up the stairs and sat back down in my chair. Perhaps I should not move... After this,I had two exams, one on the French Revolution and one on the American Revolution. In my first class I walked in the door, found the class full as always and proceeded to knock a podium off of a chair and knock the chair over. Of course there are 40 people in the room silently, desperately trying to study at this moment and hear I am causing a racket and throwing things all over! Luckily my professor took pity on me and came to my rescue. Then after finishing the exam I proceeded to my next class where I had more mishaps. First I wrote my name on my blue book, when apparently we were not supposed to. Next I flipped over the test, when once again we weren't supposed to!! NEXT my phone went off during the test as I had forgotten to turn the sound off again. The whole class of 50 people and two teachers promptly swivel and stare at me... as I writhe in my seat uncomfortably. Last but not least my pen runs out of ink and the T.A. has to loan me hers so she can read my test! By the time I left campus I was most definitely ready to be done!

So my blog title is blogging, but really this blog is not about blogging, but about me being a blonde and my misadventures! And since I am extremely tired, I could go off on some tangent about that, but I believe it is best if I stop while I am... not ahead?