If You Want To Be Happy, Be.

I don't know what makes a clam so jolly, but I am as happy as one right now. There have been some bumps, but I can honestly say that most of my time since moving back to Edmonton has been in a state of bliss. My thoughts are a little scattered and I seem to be able to explain myself best through lists; So, I am euphoric because:

1. I have the cutest little house and it's in a great location. I'm surrounded by friends who live literally a minute away and it's so central that I'm in short distance to everything.

2. I. Love. My. Roommates! I love them! They are such great girls. They're selfless, zany, intelligent, and so easy going. If there was ever a perfect compilation of girls in a house, it would be ours.

3. Please refer to my last post.

4. I feel like I just have great experience after great experience. On Saturday our roommate Jesse, who just joined the church in April, went with all of us to the temple. I loved being able to do the work with her. It's so great that as a house we can all sit around and talk about the gospel with each other and explain doctrine and principles to her and also all be able to attend the temple together. It brings such a spirit to our home and it has definitely boosted my testimony in the process. It brings us so much closer to each other.

5. The weather is finally warmer and Edmonton happens to have the most beautiful fall season in the whole world. If you disagree I encourage a walk down by the river bottom. Your mind will most surely be changed after that.

P.S. I just want to say that my new addiction in life is silent football. I'm obsessed!

P.P.S. We went to a gymnast club and I learned how to do a back flip! It was awesome! I can't wait to go back...

This is my friend Dan who tried to learn how too... he wasn't as successful as the rest of us.

P.P.P.S. (sorry) I'm going to conference! :)

G-Mac

Last year I went to the U of A. I felt prestigious, I felt intelligent, and best of all I felt like I was at Hogwarts. When it was snowing out and I was walking on the brick sidewalks I couldn't help but wish to scream out Wingardium Leviosa! Or something along those lines... But,  despite all the beauty of the campus, I didn't like it. It was too big, the asians were too smart, everyone had an accent I couldn't keep up with. I was discouraged, overwhelmed, and unhappy. So this year I decided to take a chance and change schools. I resolved on Grant MacEwan. It's really small and pretty and to my delight cheaper! I'm saving not only a few bucks but a ton of stress for other things besides school. So far I have loved everything about it! I love all of my professors, I love the classroom atmosphere, and I love seeing people I know all the time, not just immigrants! It's here that I am finally excited for school and to finish my education. I feel like being a teacher is right. They're so motivational! They actually care how I am doing in my classes. They learn my name and ask my opinion and encourage me to make my own decision and use my own discretion. I. Love. Grant. MacEwan. Sometimes I want to sing to the heavens how much I love it!

Ranty Panties

Today, my panties are in a twist. Both figuratively and literally... actually now just figuratively.

Wanna know why?

Because if one more friend of mine gets engaged Imma bust a cap.

For reals.


Maybe its because the gas costs so much down to go to their weddings, maybe it's because I feel too young to be experiencing this with them, or maybe... I'm jealous? I want a dress. Someone wanna dress up as my fake husband just so we can take the wedding pictures? Then I'll be good for a decade or so.

Lucky

I am the world's biggest procrastinator. If I can put something off, I will without a doubt do such. I don't really know why. Maybe it's because I'm afraid that if I dedicate myself to something I'm responsible for it?  Maybe,  but I'm leaning more towards just being lazy. I'm lucky enough that I've mastered my technique a little bit because so far I've accomplished most of what I've wanted in life with as little effort or future planning as possible. I signed up for my classes the day before possible and somehow ended up with an awesome schedule, I left my final essay until the night before and somehow scored having my topic be on the birth of christ which I've been taught since nursery, and more recently I put off finding a place to live in Edmonton only to somehow end up in an amazing house of girls. 

Why am I so lucky? I have no idea. I do not deserve it in anyway. So, today in Relief Society when the lesson was on procrastination, I couldn't help but have a big pile of guilt dumped on me. I am being blessed without taking the actions to deserve it. Why is this? I realized that it's a lot like how my mom and dad are. I put off doing the laundry or cleaning my room or my car and still they will make time to help me. It's great, but I realized this is no way to build a firm relationship with anyone, especially not Heavenly Father. I promised myself I would today not put off anything. When the laundry needed to be done, it got done. When the buns needed to be made, I helped make them. I didn't waste my afternoon and it felt great. 

Taylor, like she does every Sunday, reminded me that she took piano and how good she's getting and that she's probably good enough for me to teach her a few songs. Usually I would have replied: "Not today Taylor" or "Maybe in a little while when I'm not so full from dinner", but instead I hopped onto the piano bench and we went through some of our favorites in the children's hymn book. It was adorable.  I showed her how to play by ear a little better and told her to never be afraid of singing out loud. At first she was just humming but by the end of the night she was the only one singing. It was great to see her singing so many by memory. A little while later she walked into my room to see what I was doing. Usually I would've said I was busy to be alone but instead my patriarchal blessing I had just read that morning caught my eye. I felt I should ask her about it. I said: "Tay, do you know what a patriarchal blessing is?" She said no. As I brought it out she was just in awe. She couldn't get over how it was from Heavenly Father. I told her what they were and how they were done and read a few simple parts of it to help her understand. As we talked a feeling of doing something that needed to be done came over me. I realized that with putting things off I often rush through them, and I either miss the point or the whole experience of what I'm doing. I looked at Taylor feeling so grateful for opportunities like this and she turned to me with the biggest of smiles on and said: "Well I'm gonna get one when I'm old enough. You sure are lucky you have this!"

I couldn't help but smile. I really am lucky.