2011 Grateful List

As the new year approaches(it's 6 hours away!) I have been thinking about all the things that I've been grateful for this year.

Things I'm grateful for :


-Cars with heaters and winter tires

-toe warmers, toques, gloves
-teaching and meeting new people
-learning to have fun
-seeing miracles
-seeing changes in others

-making lifelong friends
-trying new food
-bug spray
-doctors
-Canadian summers

-fall leaves
-The Book of Mormon
-music
-loving family
-reconnecting with loved ones
-meeting new nieces

-dessert (even though I had to much in 2011)
-running
-airplanes
-money for school
-pianos
-having a job
-the temple

-my life

Even through all of the stress that happened in 2011, I am so much a better person because I lived through it all.

I hope 2012 is just as good or better than 2011!

What are you grateful for this year?

C.S. Lewis

I have loved C.S. Lewis ever since I read The Chronicles of Narnia. I have since read The Screwtape Letters, and it never ceases to amaze me at how much knowledge and insight he had towards Christianity. Last Night I watched the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (the third in the Narnia series). I remembered my favorite part in the book.

Eustace (Edmond and Lucy's cousin) has turned himself into a dragon by his greed. Him being a dragon helps him to see how arrogant and unfriendly he has been to everyone. Eventually he meets Aslan, and is told he must "undress"(Rid himself of the dragon skin) so he can become clean. At first, he can scratch the skin off, like a snake shedding, but he keeps looking like a dragon underneath. Eventually, Eustace realizes that he cannot rid himself of the dragon without the help of Aslan. He allows Aslan to use his lion claws and he cuts very deep--to the very heart of the dragon, and off comes the thickest, scaliest, and roughest skin yet. Underneath, Eustace is a boy again. It makes me think about how our sins, mistakes, and weaknesses sometimes turn us into "dragons". These times help us to become better, learn to love and empathize with others, and to realize that there are consequences to our actions. Hopefully we learn from these times. However, try as we might, we ourselves cannot get rid of the "dragon skin". We need God's help to do so. As He helps us to change, we experience pain. God may slice us to the very heart, but we will become who He wants us to be. We must let Him change us. We must take the pain to overcome our dragonish tendancies.

On another note, but still on the topic of C.S. Lewis, I found this quote that I think is amazing: "A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." I met many Atheists on my mission who tried, in effect, to diminish God. It seemed like a foolish and insurmountable task to me at the time. I know Heavenly Father is real. I'm grateful for inspired people like C.S. Lewis who can help me more fully understand Him.

Real Life Love

My whole life I've heard songs on the radio about love, falling in love, breakups, love at first sight, etc... I thought that these were all just fiction, and real love was different. Now from some experiences I've had in the last couple of weeks I'm starting to think that a lot of the songs were written from real life experiences. Many have resonated a lot with me lately. My favorite romance movie is Pride and Prejudice--the Kiera Knightly one. Last night I rented it from the library and laughed and cried all by myself. Life has it's ups and downs. Sometimes people love you when you don't love them. Sometimes you love someone who doesn't love you. The quest for me is to find someone who will not only love me, but who I can give my whole heart to.

This brings me to one of my fave youtube vids. Hopefully you've seen P&P or it won't make much sense...



How did you fall in love?

Cards

I decided that I wanted to start selling the cards that I make, so I started a blog about it! Here's the link here. There are photos on there of the cards I've made. Please let me know what you think :D

Discovering Music

After coming home from a mission you realize you've been in a culture bubble. I missed a year and a half worth of movies, music, and entertainment. I'm not sad about that fact, there are some things I'm glad to have missed (such as the really annoying song Friday). One artist that gained momentum and became very famous while I was "away" from the music scene I've rediscovered and absolutely love!

Adele is a British artist similar to my faves: Sara Bareilles, Regina Spektor, Ingrid Michelson, and Christina Perri. She has a jazzy flair, top notch vocals, and a slight British accent while she sings. She also sings a lot about break ups which I've been thinking quite a bit about lately. My favorite songs that I've discovered are Rolling in the Deep, Someone Like You, and the one I've listened to over and over for the past half hour, Set Fire to the Rain. Here's her singing it live


I also love how she sounds just as good live as on CDs, I actually think she's better live!

What are some of your favorite artists? I'm always looking for good music! Please let me know in the comments!

crazy life

I haven't blogged for a while because I haven't wanted to be negative for everyone to read. Since I've been home there has been so much opposition to everything I've wanted to do, and I've had some terrible luck. I'm supposed to go back to school in January, but I still haven't registered for classes and I still don't know how I"m going to pay for it. Thing after thing has slowed down both processes as well. One thing that I had good luck on though, is that I got a job a week after coming home, so I at least have enough money for housing in January. Here's what I'll be going to in 4 weeks:

I'm actually really excited about Rexburg snow, it will remind me of Calgary! and I'll be 10 hours closer to Calgary as well! I didn't realize how much I would miss the cold. SHHH! don't tell anyone! I'm itching to put on my warm boots, coat, and Canada mittens!

I've also lost my mission weight! I think I'm thinner than I was before my mission too! Crazy, but oh so good :D
Also, my amazing companion Erin Riley came to visit me! I absolutely love her! We had a fun time reminiscing about the mission, playing board games, and she saw my homecoming talk. I can't wait to spend time with her sometime in the near future :D

I'll update once I know more about everything!

Home again

I arrived home from my mission last Thursday at 11:08 am. We flew first to Phoenix, Az. My first thought while there was, "Wow this looks alot like Nevada!" We flew over the Grand Canyon. It is huge! And very beautiful. The desert has a beauty all it's own. Especially if you haven't seen it for 18 months!

Then pulling into LAS was so weird. I felt like a tourist. For a bit, I felt like I had left my home in Calgary. I certainly left a bit of my heart there with all the people I love so much (You all know who you are!).

I got to meet my new niece Sara on the way home. She is so adorable. Driving on the I-15, then the 95 was also weird. I guess I forgot what Las Vegas looked like. First we stopped at In-N-Out. A hamburger has never tasted so good in the history of the existence of Hamburgers. Then home. I got to talk to my sister who is hilarious! I've missed her :D Then my brother Zac. I've missed him too, and can't wait to see him at Thanksgiving. Then Jake and his family came. I got to meet Izzy another new niece. What a cute little girl.

Getting released was hard for different reasons than I thought. It wasn't hard to take off my tag, but it was hard to not be out teaching people anymore. Somehow I still feel like a missionary who's only on vacation. Like now I'm pretending that I'm going to go to school in January, but really I'll be back in Calgary.

Then we had cake because it was my birthday. I loved spending my birthday with my family. My family is what is the most important thing to me. I feel like on my mission I just added more and more people to my family.

In short: I'm definitely not normal, and I don't know if I ever will be, but I am enjoying being a normal person again. I just hope that the friendships I've gained on my mission will always be there.