SCHOOL!

Today, and for a long, long time, I am so very, very, very grateful to be able to study at BYU. They have impressed upon the incoming class how very lucky we are to be here, and that since we're here, we must be pretty spectacular.

I am also grateful for a friendly roommate to eat and explore with :)

I am grateful for my Mom, who's connections are very handy, and it's nice to be known as a close relation to someone who was completely wonderful. (And still is!)

I am grateful for my jobs. And my FAFSA. And I sure hope that next year the government doesn't cancel the Pell Grants, and that I can earn a scholarship from BYU, so I won't have to worry about jobs and loans and whatnot so much.

I am grateful for my lovely dorm. I am settling in quite nicely. Every morning, I apologize profusely to my bed for having to abandon it, but in the end I'm not sorry at all, because I get to go LEARN!... But I feel sorry until I'm past the hill. After that things pick up.

I'm grateful for my new ward :) And FHE, even though I work when they meet... bummer. Next semester I"ll have to see if I can't change that.

I'm grateful for lots of family, and miss my people back in Aiken. I'm grateful that I know for SURE I am going back for Christmas, because my plane tickets were already purchased. :)

Let's see... and I am grateful for people who smile at me when we pass each other on the sidewalk. When people don't smile, it puts quite a damper on the encounter. Or, it's just awkward when you don't look at each other at all... because you KNOW they know you're passing.

And now, I am grateful for warm showers and lovely beds... and hopefully nothing will go off in the morning before my alarm. SOMEthing has gone off every morning... my iPod, my roomie's Mom called (at 6:30 our time... yeesh...), and today some college called for a Mary Porter on my cellphone, so it was buzzing and making noise at about the same time as yesterday. (When the iPod went off, it was my old alarm for the bus, so it went off at 4:30... >.<..) I called the college back today, it's the second one in a few days... I'm really hoping Miss Mary Porter gets her number straight, soon. And that no more colleges call me trying to reach her.

...and hopefully, I will very soon be grateful for study groups. Still working on that one.

Early to rise...

Today I am grateful for the UTA Bus system. I can get to BYU in 2 hours any day I want. I wake up at 4:30, make it to the bus stop before 5:30, and get to BYU at the Wilkinson Center at 7:30, before anything really opens up. It's amazing how much longer the days are when you're up before the crack of dawn.

I'm also grateful for seminary, and the practice it gave me getting up early.... admittedly, I was terribly unpunctual for the later years..... I would recommend not doing that. It wasn't so hard this morning to get up for the bus, though. I think the problem was that I had to push myself for seminary. If I miss the bus, I miss the bus and I miss work. I'm grateful for something else to push me out of bed in the morning.  (Seminary should be reason enough, but after long nights of homework during the teen years... it's hard to convince yourself to leave your bed when you're not fully conscious.)

I'm grateful for good books, museums, and iPods. :) Today I read a fair bit of Pride & Prejudice on campus, walked around the Monte L. Bean Museum, and enjoyed the wonderful songs of Enya on my long bus rides. :)

Tomorrow, I will go to campus to work. Today was just to make sure I could navigate the bus system. :) 'Cause I'm a big kid now....

New Chapter, New Blog

Today I am grateful for my family; for my extended family; for my pioneer heritage; for modern convienences; for the chance to go to Brigham Young University; for the chance to live in the fulness of times; for the knowledge of the gospel and the perspective it brings; for the hope of meeting a charming young man who serves the Lord with all his might, mind and strength and who will take me to the temple and be sealed forever; for the hope of being reunited with my Heavenly Parents someday; and for the pushes that life gives us to make us move on and become better people.

Today I went with some of the Baroses to go and see 17 Miracles. I needed that reminder, of what my ancestors had sacrificed for the Lord and for all of their posterity, including me. Suddenly my life doesn't seem nearly so hard. It's true that I've been missing my family terribly, and until today had had very little to no success finding a suitable on-campus job to finance my education, but perspective can change everything. My family is sealed forever. I received two more emails back regarding possible jobs today. Things will work out, because I have a will and a prayer in my heart. 

Earlier today I had been struggling with what to do with this blog. I knew I wanted one to record my comings and goings and get it well established so that by the time I have kids, I'll already be in a routine of updates and pictures. Hopefully. We'll see if life really turns out anything like that. :) At first, I was toying around with cute phrases and song or movie references, but none of them fit what I had hoped for, and so I had thought I would put it out of my mind for a little while and try again later. Then, as I was brushing my teeth and thinking about how grateful I was for the running water, the clean towels, the beautiful house, the warm bed, and all those other commodities the pioneers sacrificed on their journey, it struck me. I would write a blog about my everyday stories, but make sure that it was through a grateful perspective. This way, I will remember to count my blessings everyday.


So, in accompaniment to this new chapter of my life, at BYU and beyond, here is a brand new blog.

[Gratitude is a Spirit-filled principle. It opens our minds to a universe permeated with the richness of a living God. Through it, we become spiritually aware of the wonder of the smallest things, which gladden our hearts with their messages of God’s love. This grateful awareness heightens our sensitivity to divine direction. When we communicategratitude, we can be filled with the Spirit and connected to those around us and the Lord. Gratitude inspires happiness and carries divine influence. “Live in thanksgiving daily,” said Amulek, “for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.”] - Bonnie D. Parkin, "Gratitude: A Path to Happiness", Liahona, May 2007