Everything will be alright

Pretty much I've come to the conclusion that nothing stays the same. Shocker, right? I know it's taken me a while to figure this out, but we all know how I deal with change. I like to believe that everything will just stay the same. Obviously there will be little changes and I can manage that, but, of course, I always get proven wrong and HUGE changes come my way constantly. I'm slowly becoming okay with this, and I'm a little more willing to accept change head on. Slowly being the key word. However, along with my realization of nothing staying the same, I've realized that things will be okay in the end.

 

I like how this quote words it. When we go through struggles we always say everything will be alright. Everything is going to work out and we will get through this. However, just because we get through it doesn't mean that everything will be just as it was when we started. I know that's a simple phrase, and it seems really obvious, but I think it's important for us to recognize this in our lives. Things change and that's alright. :)

My Roomie ♥

Last semester I was getting ready to move in with five new girls...needless to say, I was a little worried. I moved my things in and met two girls right off the bat. Katie and McCall were crazy, but I already loved them. I was working a couple jobs and helping substitute, so I was hardly around for the next few days. When I finally was able to come organize my things, Karli had moved in and we became great friends. We were going to have six girls, but the sixth one didn't move in for a couple weeks, but I love Kadi just as much!

My room-roommate and I were never home at the same time so I had yet to meet her. Now let's have an honest moment... I was a little worried to meet her. I walked into my room and was bombarded with pink and Hello Kitty all over the opposite side of the bedroom. All I could think was...I don't like Hello Kitty, and I'm pretty sure pink is my least favorite color. However, I had signed a contract and I was going to be living with her for 14 weeks.

Finally I met Anna and I was a little overwhelmed. She'll tell you any day that her emotional range is WACKO, and I did (and sometimes don't) know how to help her. However, we soon became good friends and our semester was awesome.

We're both on the same track here at BYU-Idaho, and so we were signed up for another 14 weeks of good times. I absolutely love Anna, and I knew we were going to have fun. We're only 4 weeks in and we have become so close. She's already counting down the days until she can go see her family, but I'm so sad that I won't see her for five months after we say goodbye! We definitely have our moments....crazy, happy, sad, hungry, emotional, and the list goes on, but I'm pretty sure we have the best of times. So, this is a shout-out to one of the best roomies ever! Love ya Anna!

And I still don't love Hello Kitty, but maybe pink has gone up a couple notches on my favorite scale...

Who Moved My Cheese?

At the beginning of last semester I shared my reaction to change. I don't like it and I usually approach it with hesitancy. My dad has been advising me to read a certain book that talks about change. I'll admit, I wasn't too excited to read a book about change. I figured it would be boring, and that I wouldn't be able to really glean anything from it. This book is called Who Moved My Cheese?, and I'll be honest, the name didn't exactly make me want to read it either.

I mean, it seemed a little cheesy... no pun intended.

However, this semester I finally buckled down and read it...it took me about 45 minutes, and I felt like it was definitely worth my time. I don't want to give the whole story away, because this post would be a lot longer than you want to read. I just want to recommend it to you. If you ever feel like you are resistant to change (and let's be honest, who isn't?), you should read this book. It really put things into perspective for me, and I think everybody would benefit from reading it.

Although I don't want to retell the story here for you, I do want to share the insights that it gave me. One of the characters, Haw, writes his words of wisdom down as he is dealing with change. If you don't ever read the book, I think it would be good to at least see these thoughts.

Tree Skirt!

So this post is a little late in the making, but it is totally worth it!

Every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving my family goes and cuts down a HUGE tree....this year it was 17 1/2 feet tall! We go scout it out, chop it down, and bring it home to decorate for the Christmas season. It's always a lot of fun, and it's a great way to jump into Christmas.

Every year we put up our tree and put a little tree skirt around it, and it does the job. However, we don't exactly love it and mom's been wanting to make a new one. We saw a ruffle tree skirt on Pinterest and decided that we were going to make it for our tree. Now, the appealing thing about this tree skirt is that there is NO sewing! You use a hot glue gun and just glue away until you are done. So this is what I thought we were doing. However, when I came home to help with it I soon realized that we were not using a hot glue gun. Mom wanted this thing to last if she was going to invest the time and money into it...we were going to sew it.

Now my grandma is a fabulous seamstress. She can put anything together...however, my mom and I have yet to fully develop this particular skill, so this very easy glue on project became a little more daunting. However, we kept our chins up and went at it.

First, we got a circular tablecloth to provide the base for our tree skirt. The other tutorial said to use your old tree skirt, which would work fine, but this was better in our case. We folded the tablecloth into a triangular-ish shape and used a plate to measure a circle at the center and then we cut! We also cut a straight line from the edge to the center so we could get it around our tree. At first we didn't sew around the edges of the tablecloth, but we ended up doing it because it frayed so much, so sew the edges!

We then got a yard stick and a writing utensil that would show up on our fabric. We measured five inches up and drew lines so that we could sew along them, however, our strips were five inches so we ended up sewing them about 3 inches apart...or whatever looked the best!

Next, we figured out the fabric that we wanted. The other tutorial only uses two colors, but we added a few more... we picked a main color, the first color, and got 5 yards of it (we do have extra though, so you could get away with a little less). We started with red and then our second color was green; we got 3 yards of that. And then we picked three other fabrics and got 1 1/2 yards of each.

 At first we figured that we wanted the pattern of the tree skirt to be in the order of the above picture with the red in between, however, we quickly realized that would be way to many layers, so we condensed it.

We were worried about edges fraying, so instead of just cutting 5 inches and calling it good, we cut 10 inch strips and called it good. Then we folded each strip in half and sewed down the edge to create 5 inch strips. We did this to every single fabric and then we were ready to move onto the next step!

 

I was almost willing to skip the next step...it's kind of time consuming and very delicate. We needed to gather each strip so that it would be ruffled. So we popped in a chick flick and got to it. Needless to say, we got it done and we were ready to start sewing onto our base! We laid things out so we knew how many strips we needed to complete the circle, and then we sewed that many strips together.

 Then mom just started sewing away! We added a layer at a time, and slowly but surely, the finish line came into sight.

For the finishing touches we added our main first color, the red, to the edges to end the ruffles. We didn't add it to the middle, but it would work there too.

Last, but definitely not least, we put our completed tree skirt around our beautiful tree and admired it for the rest of the season! Now we get to have an AWESOME tree skirt every year!

Pretty much, my mom is a boss for doing so much sewing, and we're pretty proud of ourselves for actually doing it. :)

Finals.

So.... even if you're not in school, I think we all understand the stress of taking a test. Well, multiply that by like 5 million and you'll understand what some finals are like in college.

At the beginning of the semester you're pretty chill about it. Yeah, we have this huge test a the end, but I've got this. No worries; I'll keep up on studying and homework and it will be a breeze. Pretty much it ends up not being that way though. Ice cream? Sure, homework can wait. Movie? Well, this isn't really that important. Date? Of course, I'll come. I don't have any homework due at midnight, and tomorrow's won't take me that long. And the list of procrastination goes on and ON AND ON!!! Not that I'm complaining, of course, I love my social life. :)

However, I am approaching the end of a semester and those tests that I was going to be sooooo prepared for are in a couple weeks. I'm ready to be done and over with it all. Plus, I get my associates degree this semester, so I'm a little excited about that. :)

As I was browsing Facebook (dangit, another procrastination), I came across a friend's photo that describes my feelings almost exactly.

So good luck to everyone out there getting ready to take finals and I hope everything works out for the best!

Twin Falls Finally!!

So, forever and a day ago I said that I needed to go visit my fam in Twin Falls... and I finally did!!

I drove down there and listened to Andrew Allen the WHOLE way. He's pretty much my favorite artists EVER and I love, love, love his music. Particularly Loving You Tonight...and a lot more :)

ANYWAYS! Although Andrew Allen is amazing, that is not the point of this post. I love road trips, especially when I end up at my family's house! I got all the way there and the girls came out and gave me a huge hug! Then I got to see Uncle Jon and Aunt Amy, and we just had fun! We ate some deliscioushness food (haha, Aunt Amy spelled it that way) and watched the new Spiderman movie. The next day was Uncle Jon's birthday so we ate some more delicious food and made cake pops that were SO good! I loved seeing the girls and playing with them! If only they were all closer (hint, hint). ;)

Hope

The other week I was asked to give a talk on hope. At first I was a little intimidated, because I didn't really know how to address it. I decided to look through my posts to see if I had already written about and I came across The Power of Hope. This clip has such a powerful message, and it helped me to get a start on my talk, so I wanted to share it with you.

Now, I would like you all to think of a time where you were very scared, or where you felt completely lost…

For me, this was my first semester of college. I’m from little old Rexburg, and I’ve lived here my whole life. However, instead of coming to BYU-Idaho, I went to BYU-Hawaii first. I know, pretty chill life, why would I have complained? Well, I’ll say right now that I absolutely loved it and I would go back in a heartbeat; at the time though I was terrified. It was my first time being away from home permanently for a long period of time. Some of you might understand my situation. It was hard to not be close to my family and participate in traditions and go to my brother’s soccer games and have girls’ nights with my little sister. I remember being terrified that I wouldn’t be able to make any friends and that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself. Once I got there I felt completely lost. Laie is very different than Rexburg. I didn’t know where to go or who to turn to, and it was a struggle. However, there was one thing that kept me going. What do you think it was?

I want you all to think back to your times where you were scared or lost and think of how you made it through. Did hope have any play in your ability to keep going?

For those of you who know me, I love The Hunger Games. My ringtone is even Rue’s whistle. :) At one point President Snow explains that the reason they have a victor is because of hope. He states, “Hope is the only thing stronger than fear.”

Now, I don’t necessarily love President Snow, but I do agree with this statement. If there was nothing stronger than fear we wouldn’t be able to overcome it. However, just because there is something stronger than fear doesn’t mean we automatically overcome it. Hope is a choice, but what exactly is hope?

We all have hopes and dreams. However, I think that this look at hope diminishes its real power. I read a talk by Larry Miller called Hope: The Misunderstood Sister. He explains how there are three sisters: faith, charity and hope. Faith is the most talked about sister. She leads the way so that we can find our way back to our Heavenly Father. Charity is who we aspire to be like. She is always kind and genuine. However, hope is often used in a sense of keeping our fingers crossed so that all will work out; it’s not very reliable. But, "Hope is anything but wishful. It is expectation based on experience." He shares a poem that I felt was very applicable to life.

Walking with Two Sisters

Faith walks before me,

Holding up her lamp

As I try not to stumble in the ink-dark hours before the dawn.

Her light illuminates

One step and then another.

Beside me, Hope, arm linked with mine, encourages and steadies.

Sometimes in the tedium,

Distracted by the pain,

My mind begins to wander, then my feet. I hesitate.

Unsure, I look to Hope.

Her hand takes mine.

The touch reminds me of another hand held out to me,

One pierced and scarred

Yet oh so tender

Lifting me and blessing me when I had fallen and despaired.

Remembering,

I move ahead

Buoyed up by Hope, who sees the end with perfect clarity.

Because of Jesus Christ’s Atonement we can have hope throughout our life. (Moroni 7:40-43 explains this well!)

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf shared the following statement in this talk The Infinite Power of Hope;

The Lord has given us a reassuring message of hope: "Fear not, little flock." God will wait with "open arms to receive" those who give away their sins and continue in faith, hope, and charity. And to all who suffer--to all who feel discouraged, worried or lonely--I say with love and deep concern for you, never give in. Never surrender. Never allow despair to overcome your spirit. Embrace and rely upon the Hope of Israel, for the Love of the Son of God pierces all darkness, softens all sorrow, and gladdens every heart."

Hope is always looking for the best. An easy way to think this way is to just look at the word. The first letters form a sentence. Have Only Positive Expectations. President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Things will work out. Keep trying. Be believing. Don’t get discouraged. Things will work out.”

Trials are going to come our way and we need to be looking for the positive outcomes. However, hope does not mean that we turn a blind eye to the world. I found a quote on Pinterest…don’t judge me… that sums this up very well. “Hope is not pretending that troubles don’t exist. It is the hope that they won’t last forever. That hurts will be healed and difficulties overcome. That we will be lead out of the darkness and into the sunshine.”

Because of the Gospel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we can have hope in everything. This can provide us with stable ground to live our lives from. Hope is necessary for us to be happy. 

(Some great scriputers are Ether 12:4 and Moroni 10:20-22)

President Thomas S Monson tells us, “I testify to you that our promised blessings are beyond measure. Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us.”

We must have hope to reach the limits God has set for us. We may not feel like we can stretch as far as He wants, but He will never put something in front of us that we cannot do. We have hope that He will always be there for us.

Now, I’ve spent the majority of my talk on keeping hope within yourself, but I wanted to mention something quickly. Although we need to have this kind of hope we also need to instill hope in others. Sometimes you are the reason somebody has hope. They cling to your support and strength in their life and you help them to move forward. Never give up an opportunity to be hope for somebody else. Sometimes all it takes is an arm of comfort, a shoulder to cry on, a memory to remember, or a laugh to share. Be there star in the darkness. We all look to one another to find hope, and we need to remember to have charity towards all and help life each other up.

Neal A. Maxwell said, “Genuine hope is urgently needed in order to be more loving even as the love of many waxes cold; more merciful, even when misunderstood or misrepresented; more holy, even as the world ripens in iniquity; more courteous and patient in a coarsening and curt world; and more full of heartfelt hope, even when other men’s hearts fail them. Whatever our particular furrow, we are to ‘plow in hope,’ without looking back or letting yesterday hold tomorrow hostage (1 Cor. 9:10).”

I would like to leave you with a little “Knapsack of Hope.”

A star to remind you to keep shining.

A paper clip to help you hold your things together.

An eraser to fix all the small mistakes.

A lock to keep all your secrets safe.

A penny so that you’re never broke.

A rubber band to help you stretch beyond your limits.

I know that hope is very important in this gospel, and I pray that you can always keep it in mind.

Hope is not just a careless wish, it is the rock that holds us steady when we sway, it is the anchor that keeps us firm when we drift, it is the Savior walking with us step by step always encouraging, it is the voice at the end of the day saying keep moving forward I am here with you always.