Joyousness

Lately I've been crazy busy. I always feel overwhelmed with the amount of homework I have. I don't know how I'll ever have enough time to do the desperate studying I need to do in order to keep up my test grades, GPA, and scholarship. I've been running on a very little amount of sleep, and I keep forgetting to do my laundry.

BUT,
life has also been a joyous.
I absolutely love the fall.
I love great friends.
I love it when I somehow manage to find time to do fun things.

Here's proof:

This new friend of mine named Angela is just great. I love it when I love my ward.
We (along with others) had an evening up in Provo Canyon where we made a campfire and roasted deliciousness. (I ate way too many s'mores that night.)

Often, one of my best parts of the day is walking home. Usually I'm not in a hurry (like I am when I'm walking to school), and I get to enjoy this lovely view every single day. Glorious.

In fact, walking practically anywhere on BYU campus is just breathtaking. I just about died and went to heaven when I went to the Marriott Center the other day for the kick-off to homecoming week (our "devotional" for the week) and saw this along the way.

When I have lots of time (which I have already mentioned is not nearly often enough), I take the scenic route home and go through the "hidden" walkway near Maeser Hill. I can't express to you how much Fall is my favorite season.

This night my roommates, some friends, and I carved pumpkins. We had lots of fun not only carving the pumpkins, but taking pictures afterward. Now I get a smile every time I come home and see our handiwork proudly displayed on the doorstep.

(p.s. 10 points for who can guess which pumpkin Laurie and I carved. And cheating on facebook isn't very fair...)

I have to keep reminding myself that life is meant to be enjoyed and not just stressed about 24-7. Currently I have a quote on my whiteboard that says, "The next stage of life is always better than the previous one, even if it takes you a while to realize it."
(Thanks, Rebecca, for teaching me this in a comment you made a long time ago.)

What current joys are you experiencing?

Tucanos

Since September is obviously the greatest month in which to have a birthday, Jon and I (along with Jennifer and Emily) went to Tucanos to celebrate! This was my first time to the all-you-can-eat-meat heaven. It was delicious, and I stuffed myself silly. Here's some documentation of the fun we had!

Besides the quail egg, I was also brave enough to eat chicken heart and sushi (though I've had that once before a long time ago). I loved the bison, teriyaki chicken, pork roast, grilled pineapple, and just about everything else I ate. What a great way to use my buy one meal get one free birthday coupon! (You should all join the Tucanos birthday club so you can get one too!)

p.s. You can click on the pictures and see them bigger if you'd like.

The Gift of Life

Maybe I gave it today.
I donated blood. Somehow I'll be able to work the General Conference "theme" of service into my life. Today it was blood. Tomorrow, what should it be?

What will YOU do for someone else today?

Post-disclaimer: In no way was this blog post supposed to send the message that "I'm better than you because I donated blood and you didn't." Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Backwards

Today I did some things SDRAWKCAB.

For instance, I showered and then I cleaned.

I cleaned the not-so-dirty kitchen and thus was too tired to clean our very dirty bathroom.

I swept the kitchen floor before doing anything else.
Yes, I had to re-do that.

I vacuumed the carpet on our main floor instead of cleaning our bathroom (and I'm usually one who will do ANYthing [like clean a bathroom] before I will vacuum).

I watched the afternoon session of conference before the morning one....
(Okay, that one I was joking on. I just wanted to throw something silly in.)

I finally got up and put a jacket on when I was cold.
But I closed the door too and thus ended up getting hot.

I got too busy practicing the piano to eat lunch between sessions.
I was starving and finally ate lunch after the afternoon session.

Sometimes I'm YLLIS.
All I gotta say.

Words of Inspiration

I just love listening to the words of a prophet! I'm very excited to listen to General Conference this weekend, because I know I'll hear great words of counsel.

Here's a video clip of some other great inspiring words. Even though the title of the video implies that it's counsel for youth, I bet we can all learn from what President Packer says here.



I especially like the part where he reminds us to "never complain about schooling." During this busy week with lots of tests, sometimes it's hard for me to remember how blessed I am to have the opportunity to receive an education at Brigham Young University. It's great to receive this reminder that "the glory of God is intelligence."

What is some counsel you have especially appreciated recently?