Epic Falls, Ward Reunions, and "The Best Two Years"

Weeks go by so quickly in Spring Term. Already we are halfway through. Let's see, this week I had my midterms for my folk dance classes. I had more projects for Drawing. Friday night my roommates and I watched "Aladdin" and made smores in the oven. We made them with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. So good! Oh and Friday right before my my dance class, I had the most epic fall ever. So there is this hill right outside my apartment, and instead of going around it on the steps, I usually skip down it because it is faster. Well, Friday it was raining...So I took about two steps and all of a sudden I was on my back and I slid all the way to the bottom. It hurt pretty badly, and it was pretty embarrassing, but also super funny.

Unfortunately, my hip hurt pretty badly from the incident, like I pinched a nerve in my hip, and I was limping all the way to Dance. I wasn't able to dance, and afterwards my teacher took me to the physical therapist for the dance majors and she said that my hips were out of place and a fall like mine could have pinched a nerve. So she put my hips back in place. So weird feeling, let me tell you.

Saturday was a mini reunion with all the people still around from my previous ward. That was so nice to see them again! Two of my old roommates, Alicia and Carolina, came down and it was so great to be reunited again, to listen to the crazy. I seriously got in the car with Alicia and Carolina and felt this overwhelming feeling of "home." We all went up to some canyon and roasted marshmallows over a fire. It didn't last very long though. It seemed like we had barely been there and then a park ranger told us it was almost curfew. So we had to pack up and leave. But Alicia, Carolina, and I went back to our old apartment and we just stood outside it and looked up at our window. It was so weird, because that had been our home for a year and it felt like we were supposed to go up those stairs and all would be back to normal. It was hard to say goodbye to Alicia and Carolina again.

Well today I gave my first Gospel Doctrine lesson. I think I bored them all. I tried to make it interesting and to keep everyone interactive, but only the same couple people would participate. I could see some people asleep in the back and others doing the bobble-head. One girl told me she really enjoyed my lesson, so I'm glad at least one person seemed to get something out of it. I enjoyed learning about the lesson, I just think I bored everyone else.

After church today, my roommates and I watched "The Best Two Years." I'd never seen it before. I really liked it! And it's gotten me thinking a lot about missions. I think it would be really cool to serve a mission. Super scary, but so rewarding. I always thought, oh if I decide to go on a mission, I hope I go somewhere like temple square, because the thought of going tracting, and in a different language in a different country, would be terrifying. But watching "The Best Two Years" made me excited to share the gospel like that. I live in pretty much an All-Mormon society at the moment, living on-campus, and so I don't get the opportunity to share the gospel. Watching the missionaries go door to door and preach the gospel made me want to do it too. I wish I could go to a foreign country and learn another language and immerse myself in the Lord's work. I don't know if I ever will go on a mission, but I definitely want to at least go on a couple's mission, and I encourage all young men to go on a mission. It is seriously one of the greatest decisions you will ever make.

Well, that's all I got for tonight. Goodnight world! Hope you have sweet dreams.

Happy Mother's Day

Aren't mothers awesome? I want to be a mother some day. Some people say they never want to have children, and that makes me so sad. I love children and I especially want to have my own. To be a mother is the most noblest calling a woman could ever have. And you really don't realize how much your mother does for you until you move out either. I don't say that because I miss her doing things for me. You know how some people say that and what they really mean is "I miss my mom cooking dinner for me and folding my laundry and making my bed." But instead, having moved out, I have become very independent, rarely do I ask for help with something. So when someone does something for me, I immediately notice and feel extreme gratitude. And so with this new sense of independence, I look back and realize how much I used to be dependent on my mom. My mom did so much for me and I am so grateful to her, and I almost feel guilty. All those times she kindly made my bed, or cleaned up after me, or made me dinner, or took me shopping, when you are so dependent, you don't realize just how much of a sacrifice it is for the other person, just how thankful you ought to be. And then you move out and you have to do all of those things yourself and realize how spoiled you have been. I am eternally grateful to my mother and love her so much!

As for my week, it was busy but not too stressful. I just feel like I'm constantly doing something. Social Dance Club, Recreational Night for Folk Dance, projects for my Drawing class, studying for tests. Yesterday I took an online test for my Joseph Smith and the Restoration class. Took me like 4 hours. Bleh. I could have saved it and continued working on the test later, but I just wanted to get it done. I also went to the temple again yesterday and finally went shopping (I'd been putting that off for several days) and worked on writing a song. So this song, I started writing it a long time ago. I don't even remember the last time I worked on it. It was a long time ago. I play it every once in a while, and then I get to the end and just don't know what else. It's been a major case of writer's block for over a year. But yesterday as I was playing it, I thought it would make the perfect lullaby, and all of a sudden I knew what should come next in my song. And guess what? It's finished! I still need to finish writing the lyrics, but today I finished the piano part. Personally, I think it's really pretty too. It's titled "The Maze." I'm quite proud of myself.

Well that's really all I can think to say, so happy Mother's Day and I hope you all have a good week and remember to stay optimistic and grateful.

I've decided I like Spring Semester

Well I've decided that I am officially very glad that I staid for Spring. I still miss my old dorm and roommates and ward like crazy, but I am really liking my new roommates and FHE brothers. For FHE tonight, we played sardines in the HFAC. My roommates have told me before that you can get lost in the HFAC. I learned tonight how very true that was. The HFAC is huge!! For those who don't know, that is the performing arts building on campus, and there are five floors, and the two bottom floors are like a maze. I felt like I was in the phantom of the opera, because it just kept going on and on. We paired up, thankfully, for the game that way we wouldn't get completely lost. The first round, my partner and I never did find the group. They eventually called us and told us where to find them. That meant the second round it was our turn to go hide. It was so funny, because we just started running down hallways and climbing up and down stairs and going through doors getting ourselves completely lost until we figured we were far enough into the maze of the HFAC and we could let them come find us. It was by far the best FHE activity I have ever had.

Last week wasn't too stressful, just busy because I have afternoon and evening classes. But Saturday night was way too much fun! There was a dance, and although it was combined with all on-campus housing, it was still the smallest dance I have ever been to. There was barely anybody there. But it was still a blast because I got to see quite a few people from my old ward. That was exciting. And on the way home, my roommate and I randomly decided to run up a hill singing "the hills are alive with the sound of music!" It was really nice to do something crazy and spontaneous. Previously, I had been feeling like I was going to go crazy inside, but the dance combined with randomly running up the hill screaming the sound of music was a nice way to let out some of the craziness. :) Oh and then we bought graham canyon ice cream. Yummy! I don't like graham crackers usually, but I love graham canyon ice cream! So basically it was really great night.

It's just really weird to be here during Spring because there is barely anybody here. My ward's really small. All of my classes are really small. I walk into the WILK and there is no one there, unlike during Fall and Winter when that building is usually packed. Old Heritage is like a ghost town. New Heritage feels like a hotel and it is not nearly as sociable as Old Heritage. But my roommates and I still find ways to have fun. We have movie nights. We creep out our window. We make people food. And I continue to go to the temple every week. I love that place. :)

Well that's all I have to say really for an update. And I can't really think of anything inspirational to say this time other than "be patient with yourself" but I took that from President Uchtdorf. I've just been thinking about that a lot lately. We know we should be patient with others, but we should also be patient with ourselves. Sometimes we mess up, sometimes we do something stupid, sometimes we embarrass ourselves and want to crawl into a hole. We need to remember to be patient with ourselves. That has been on my mind a lot lately, so I guess that is my thought for the day. Have a good week!