Exercise. Hip hip hooray.

Saturday night, feeling a little angsty, I ran to the temple. Well, since it's uphill two miles, I ran/walked most of the way. Then I sat at the temple for about 45 minutes until I was freezing and then decided to run home. Crossing the street at the MTC I ran into one of my favorite people at EFY this summer--Erin, one of our health counselors. I talked to her for a little bit, and what she said made me feel a lot better! (although, being alone at the back side of the temple did most of the work). Anyway, I decided that since it was downhill, I would see how far I could go.

I ran the whole way home!! So awesome. I was sort of shaking by the time I got home, but it was really good for me--I've never ran that far before! I was always more of a sprinter and less long distance, but I just told myself I had made a goal to run home and I WOULD. Also, I figured it sounded much more impressive to tell my roommates I ran the WHOLE way home rather than "most" of the way.

Yesterday, I signed up for a gym membership--it's month to month and not very expensive, but since I paid for it, I'm definitely going to go a lot. Kailey and I are workout buddies now. We went to the gym yesterday and biked for just a half hour, but it was still pretty exhausting (especially when the bike seats are UNCOMFORTABLE!! For a little bit, I was like, "Wow, I really can't go any further" but I just told myself, "Just go five minutes past that feeling". After the five minutes, the deathly feeling was gone, I was just tired but could keep going.

Also, just a little something. I hardly ever sweat. Like, sweat rolling down my face sweat. It's a gift, I know, but last night (probably also because we were indoors), man, did I sweat!! It was a great feeling until we stepped outside and it immediately all froze on my back! I spent the car ride home sitting stick straight upwards.

A couple of my roommates are doing this "No Sugar" thing. I was talking to Kailey about it yesterday, and we talked about how that really is pretty ineffective as a weight loss plan. You go off sugar for a bit, lose some weight, then start eating sugar again and just put it back on. I like to eat healthily, but I also like to eat what I want. So, I've always preferred exercising to dieting. As a permanent, life-style change, exercise can have much more long-lasting effects and I know that it also really affects you emotionally and mentally. When I exercise, not only do I feel better physically and less desire to eat junk food, I can release any stress or anger I'm feeling in a pretty cathartic way, my mind functions much more clearly in other things that I do, and I sleep better at night when I exercise.

Also, I saw one of my "No Sugar" roommates eating a candy bar today. Yes, I saw you >:) I was always pretty happy with my physicality and weight when I played soccer because not only was I exercising in a way that I enjoyed, but my mom was feeding me healthy things :) It's a lot harder to get those kinds of meals now, but I know that constant exercise is a good head start. I'm pretty excited for this gym membership, I just hope that I can make the most out of it in the gym and out.

Oh, and for those of who with whom I spoke about my song on Sunday (I sang "Oh Lord, My Redeemer" at a musical fireside for our ward---I was pretty worried about being really nervous and not being able to sing). It was amazing!! It was the first time in my life that I wasn't that nervous while performing. When I went up I felt a few butterflies, but as soon as I started singing it went away. It was such an amazing experience, I felt like I could truly express myself and my feelings without worrying about how nervous I was. I even thought I was going to make it through the whole song without crying! False. I cried in the last chorus. But still. It was great. A lot of people came up to me and talked to me about it and it just felt soooo good to be able to share my talent in a way that brings people closer to Heavenly Father. It felt SO good to REALLY sing, as well. I hadn't done that for a really long time, and it was also kind of fun to really surprise a lot of my friends.

Anyway, thank you for your prayers, they were answered. It was a great experience and I'm hoping that the butterflies are gone for good.

Back....to homework. Writing a little information paper about "The Call" in relation to Toni Morrison's "Paradise", and Shakespeare today is "Romeo and Juliet". Should be interesting to hear my professor's thoughts on this, today, he always refers to Romeo and Juliet rather snidely. Then institute tonight, and then I'll finally be able to drop in at home at about 8:30 before more plans of a more social nature.

Also, I grabbed a bunch of snacks to put in my backpack this morning before I left for work. I was hoping they would last me a lot longer. I'm one cheesestick, and half my supplies of beef jerky and wheat thins down. It's okay though, I still have one apple, one banana, a cheesestick, and the rest of the wheat thins and jerky to hold me until 8:30.

I'll probably make it.

Scriptures and Music

I've always found reading my scriptures along to some kind of musical soundtrack to be a much more effective way to focus and personalize the scriptures. I can never read/do homework to anything with words, but instrumental music sure does wonders for fun scripture study!! I learned my freshman year of seminary that reading about 50 chapters of the Book of Mormon in one day can be WAY more exciting if you're reading the war chapters along to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. Pretty intense. (Let me interject this post by saying that the kid kitty-corner across from me in the computer lab keeps looking around and around and around and it's driving me crazy. Keep your eyes to yourself, you're creeping everyone out!! Anyway.)

So lately, I've discovered some other music paired with my Doctrine and Covenants readings that I LOVE. Jon Schmidt's combination songs work really well for this. Love Story Meets Viva la Vida and (my favorite) Pachobel Meets U2 are basically my scripture soundtrack now. I love it. Usually scripture reading has been comforting and calming to me, but when I read these revelations combined with these absolutely beautiful piano arrangements, it is SO motivating! I want to change, to be completely better, and it gives me more direction. Yesterday I reread my patriarchal blessing while listening to Pachobel Meets U2, and it was so incredible, very enlightening. I'm sure that Heavenly Father meant for us to have a soundtrack in our lives, we just have to provide it ourselves!

I know that music has a lot to do with the mood that I'm in. Lately, being so stressed, I've been trying to listen to more uplifting music, specifically a lot of church music. John Denver helps keep the mood light, but I particularly like to listen to EFY music when I'm going to do something I don't want to (work, school, etc). When I arrive, I have such a better attitude.

Anyway, challenge yourself to listen to some wonderful, completely uplifting music! It can really change your mood and affect your attitude towards a lot of things, especially the beautiful world that Heavenly Father has created for us and the wonderful people that we are surrounded by!

Now that one of my favorite Keith Urban songs has come on the Pandora radio, I have to leave the library for class. But you can bet that I'll be listening to some "Stand in the Light" on my way there :)

Happy Halloween!!

Usually Halloween isn't really my thing. I don't spend forever planning ahead what I'm going to be. My freshman year, I had an awesome costume. Not the most attractive, but I was cool (first night: 60s rocker, second night: lumberjack). Last year, I didn't even go out on Halloween. Lame. This year, I was stressed out (I'm starting to believe I'm actually suffering from some kind of chronic stress disease) about Halloween, cause everyone was asking everybody what they were going to be...and I had nothing!! Finally, Thursday night, Sarah said, "I think I could see you as....a Greek goddess." BINGO! I loved it. Unfortunately, all I own that is remotely gold or Greek-like were my sandals. So now, after having borrowed lots of jewelry, makeup, etc, I also one full set of white twin sheets, a long string of gold, sparkly beads, and one pair of fake eyelashes poorer. But the outcome was spectacular (at least I thought so). For some silly reason I can't upload the pictures on here....I really don't know why. My blogging skills are going downhill.

I was super excited to post some pictures of Halloween and have something cool to put up, but now...well, at least I posted.

Halloween was lots of fun. My friend Kailey (in the pink sleeper with antennae) was a bed bug. My roommate Abby was Lady Gaga (don't ask) and my roommate Natalie was Miss America. Some of the other good friends that frequent the album are Jared (Maverick), Brandon (Nerd basketball player-the best part was how he acted the whole night....SO embarrassing at the beginning), Morgan (Lifeguard allergic to the sun), Michael (Crocodile Dundee...I'm guessing is how you spell it?), my summer roommates/neighbors/friends Genevieve and Rachel (Double Rainbow), Stefani (my fellow Grecian), Don (a Brazilian cowboy), oh and Bryce (the hick, hunter, whatever guy...who stepped on his fake teeth before we even left the house and so just looked like a hillbilly the whole night). Lots of fun friends (these are normally the people I hang out with...interesting crowd, huh? My roommate Sarah had a date so she couldn't come to the Stake Activity that we had Friday night. But we went sort of in the middle of the activity, right at the time of the dance. It was a bunch of fun, and my hair stayed curled for three days (I know, I know....shower shower shower). But there is a picture in Kailey's album on facebook just after she and Abby unpinned the curls...my hair was SO short and SO curly!!! It felt wonderful to have curly hair again! Here, it is just sort of wavy....SO sad.

Anyway, check out the album, I'm tagged in a few of them (it's Kailey's album) but once you click on one of my pictures you should be able to access the rest. Happy late Halloween!! On to November and huge term projects due before Thanksgiving!! (Although the bookstore exploded into Christmas today). Also, I've stopped biting my nails! (Pretty much!) The cuticles are still another question.....

Back to homework. King Lear, King Schmear.

New Semester, New Flood of Textbooks

Okay, I know that I'm way overdue for a new post and that I specifically owe one about EFY, but since I'm pressing this charger in with one hand as hard as I can at a weird angle and typing with one hand, i'm just gonna stick with asking the favor i need to ask. I have about a million new textbooks for the fall and I was wondering if anyone has any of these books they would like to lend me? Or recommend that I buy and keep, because I am trying to build up my personal library and yet still save money. Anyway, here's the list.

Peter Pan (Intro and Notes Zipes), Barrie
Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett
Sunset Song, Gibbon
Ulysses (ed. Gabler), Joyce
Hugh MacDiarmid: Selected Poetry
Prime of Miss Jean Brodie w/PS Insights, Spark
Celtic Twilight: Faerie and Folklore, Yeats
Collected Poems of WB Yeats 2E Rev (ed Finneran)
Invisible Man, Ellison
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston
Tell My Horse, Hurston
Jazz, Morrison
Paradise, Morrison
Mama Day, Naylor
Damballah, Wideman
Piano Lesson, Wilson
Riverside Shakespeare, 2E
Early American Writing, Gunn

That's the list once i dropped one class and added the Shakespeare class--gave me 7 less books! And while i'm on the subject of my library, any other suggestions? religious and regular?

Today we received the long-awaited-and-yet-never-really-expected new black leather couches! For anyone who has been to my apartment, you know what nasty, old furniture we used to have--now we have some beautiful, unbelievably soft new couches! It is great!

Also, if I didn't tell you, I did get the custodial job that I interviewed for. However, I finished some paperwork on Friday and was supposed to hear about when I would start around Tuesday. I still haven't heard from them, and I'm starting to really question whether I should work or not! I've been getting emails from EFY about different trainings and things I need to prepare, and I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed. Because this is my first time as an EFY counselor, I don't really know what to expect and I'd much rather be over prepared than go in seeming like a greenie that doesn't know anything. I really want to be able to do things smoothly and effectively and I want my kids to look up to me and respect me. I just don't know if I should be working a night job while I'm trying to prepare for EFY (there seems to be so much more to do than I thought there would be)! A guy in my ward has been an EFY counselor for a few years...maybe I'll ask him tomorrow.

Also, I have been reaping the benefits of dinner group. We have had some delicious meals, and you only have to cook once in three weeks! It is amazing, and I look forward to it every day! Today a few of my roommates and I were in the living room working on different things for about an hour before dinner group; my roommate Stefani would periodically say "___minutes till dinner group!" about every 10 minutes or so...I think it is what everyone works towards every day!

This weekend my stake is going on a two day handcart trek (sadly, not to Martin's Cove). I'm a "ma", so I'm one of the leaders for the two "families" that are going from our ward (which keep shrinking smaller and smaller). I am really excited to go, but I am hoping that my wardrobe works (well, appears...I have nothing pioneerish!) and that the weather will cooperate. I really want to have a great time, and I just hope that we won't have little things holding us back from being able to do that! We are just going to a church farm a little south of Utah Lake, basically walking in a huge circle on the property. But I hope that everyone really enjoys themselves. My family is planning a few unconventional things...I hope we get a chance to execute them!

I don't really have anything else to say right now, so I guess instead of rambling, I will sign off and think about going to bed? But I'm so comfortable on the couch right now! (especially in my friend's borrowed sweats which are much too big and much too comfortable!)

Happy Birthday Erika!

Here's round 2 of trying to get a birthday post for Erika up. I accidentally deleted the first one (story of my life). So here's my second try. Oh, and I don't know what the deal is, but I still can't post pictures.

Anyway, I met Erika in spring 2009. The first time I saw her, she burst into my new apartment W16, looking tall, curly-haired, and loud and said, "I lived here last year, we just wanted to see who had moved in!" Turns out Erika had slept in the very bed that I was sleeping in--she had moved out into another apartment in the ward a few days before I moved in. This encounter did leave me thinking that Erika was a little bit crazy, but it was the beginning of an amazing friendship. Erika and I grew to be friends and we attended several summer parties, went on a landmark St. George roadtrip, kept each other up late doing homework, kept each other up late avoiding homework,served in the Relief Society Presidency went on several late night Macey's trips, and took millions of pictures.

A few things I love about Erika:

-She is extremely self-sacrificing. She was my roommate Sarah's visiting teacher and probably the best example of a visiting teacher that I ever saw (except perhaps Sarah herself...but she learned from the best!) Erika was always willing to help Sarah out and would always drop by to see to whatever Sarah needed. When Sarah had a cold, Erika turned up with a huge carton of Sarah's favorite orange juice, and when Sarah had the swine flu, Erika was there to comfort her the whole time.

-She is dedicated and hard-working. She took classes spring and summer straight through and even though it seemed hard, she was always working to do well in her classes. She worked hard in her jobs and she was always on top of things, especially as a Relief Society President.

-She has an amazing ability to love. Erika was a wonderful Relief Society President but I think her ability to love was also defined by her choice of career. She is majoring in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Development (I think?) She has worked with autistic kids for a while, and she always speaks of them in the most patient, most loving way possible. She just got back from a great trip to Romania where she worked in an orphanage with some severely disabled children. Even though she was restricted in what she was able to do with the kids, she found special love for every kid that she worked with. The way she talked about them in her emails really made me see how much she truly loved those kids.

-Erika always takes lots of pictures!! She documented almost everything that we did, and always made sure to post descriptions on her blog! I always dislike carrying a camera around and making sure to get everything, but she always was ready with her camera. We had a good blogging system going for a while! We would post about the same event, but Erika would document with pictures and I with words.

-Erika often let me drive her car. Enough said.

-Erika is a wonderful and true friend. She always listened to what I had to say about things and even though she made sure to take my side at first, she would talk reasonably through things and help me to see different sides of issues. But she was really good at taking my side! :)

-Erika is a great example of faith and strength. She was baptized her senior (I think?) year of high school (the only member of the Church in her family) and now is getting ready to serve a mission. I will see her in July when she comes to Provo to go through the temple! I am so excited for her and she has so much to give. She will be an amazing missionary, I know it!!

Erika is one of my best friends and I am so excited for this next part of her life. I have loved being able to know her and to see the wonderful choices she has made. She is a great example to me and I know that she will bless the lives of a lot of people. I love you, Erika!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

NOTE: I started this earlier--well, by now I guess I should say yesterday. But then I had to run to dinner group, so I was unable to finish it until now. Sorry!

Today is my Grandma Colleen's birthday! Because she and my grandpa are at the Chicago Temple for a few days, she won't see this until after her birthday, but I still want to write down a few memories I have about Gr'ma Colleen and how she has effected my life!

-Sleepovers at Gr'ma and Papa's meant a few things that excited me as a little girl:
1. We were allowed to watch TV! I Love Lucy always makes me think of Grandma.
2. We got to play with her amazing collection of bears--I still remember distinct smell of the bears that made me so happy to be there!
3. Sitting at the breakfast table drinking my orange juice from the little glass cups and talking with her in the morning.
4. I loved listening to her read stories to us because there was a certain way that she said the words that I just loved (The Tar-Baby was one of my favorites to hear her read!)
5. Even a short visit to her house meant that we could always have a cookie.

-The famous story of our "Adventure":
We had a tradition of going to breakfast for certain occasions and the first time that we went to the Bob Evans in Portage, we had a little excitement. The driveway into the restaurant is situated right next to the freeway entrance, and of course we missed the driveway. Somehow we got on the freeway and Grandma loves to tell the story of how she heard a little voice from the backseat saying, "Grandma, are we lost?" and I remember just as well her saying, "No, we're just having an adventure!" I think of our adventure every time I see a Bob Evans!

-Grandma's jewelry has always fascinated me. Whenever Grandma and Papa come over to our house or we see them at church,I love to see the jewelry that she is wearing. Whenever she wore jewelry that one of us had given her, she was sure to point it out. I always felt warm and fuzzy inside when she specifically said, "Elise, you gave me these earrings!" I'm sure that my taste in jewelry has not always been that great, but she has always been sure to lovingly wear the gifts that we gave her!

-Spring Cleaning: One of my least favorite things to do is to deep clean and I always sort of sighed when Mom told us that we were going to help spring clean Grandma's house---however, I loved doing it! It honestly was not that hard, and I loved being with my little sister and my grandma and listening to some of her favorite jazz while we cleaned the Venetian blinds. She constantly praised us and told us what a great job we were doing and what great helpers we were. I loved being able to visibly see what I was doing to help my grandma.

-Dinner at Grandma's: I loved going to Grandma and Papa's for Sunday dinner. Bread and butter is still one of my favorite snacks! I think I always loved every dish (although I thought it was so weird that we had mayonnaise on jello salad--the beloved jello salad! That's another story all in itself. It's only right when Grandma makes it!) The table was always set so beautifully and we had all the food we could possibly want.

-My grandma is such a great friend! Recently, I've really started to appreciate my grandma not only as a grandmother that loves her grandchildren but really as a friend whose advice I sincerely value. I've talked to her on the phone a lot more this year and I'm amazed by how at least my side of our relationship has matured. I loved talking to her about what was going on in my life, about roommates, school, boys, jobs, etc. My grandma is such a great friend and I love her so much! She gives me so much, and I hope that you know how much I love you, Gr'ma!!!!!


Also, I just tried to upload a picture of my grandma on here (which I stole from my sister's blog post about my grandma on another of her birthdays!) As I scrolled through Rachael's post about our grandma right now, I saw all the things that Rachael said about her and I thought, wow, I should have said that!!! I should have said THAT too! So, for a picture of our beloved grandmother and another wonderful (and probably better written--Rachael doesn't blog-ramble like I do, she actually writes) description of her wonderfulness, visit here .