The real YOU

Ok, so the other day I caught myself watching Oprah. Which, for the record, I am not ashamed of. I think she has a lot of good points and interesting thoughts. Anyways, I was watching an episode where Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers were singing together. It was great. Very country. Then at the end Oprah was sitting down and talking with the both of them, and she turns to Kenny Rogers and asks him what he likes so much about working with Dolly Parton. He gave a very insightful answer. He said, "Well each person has 3 people who they are. The person you think they are. The person they think they are. And the person who they really are." and then he said, "the closer you can get to being the same for all three of those people the happier you'll be." He then went on to say that Dolly Parton is the most genuine, real person he's ever met, because all 3 of her "selves" match up.
I love that thought! I've been thinking a lot about it, wondering how congruent I am in who I think I am, who people think I am, and who I really am. There are many secrets to happiness, but I think knowing who you are and being that is a great key to contentment in this life.

Sunday thoughts

Hmmmm.... What should I write about??? -sigh- I always find it interesting that generally on Sunday nights I find myself reflecting a lot. Sometimes it makes me just want to go to bed because when I reflect on my life I sometimes want things to work out a certain way, and it generally doesn't work out the exact way that I had imagined. Life is a learning experience. Not that my life is bad, or sad, or anything terrible right now, I just have been thinking about this poem. I love this poem, and find that I can relate with it a lot.

Just A Weaver
by Benjamine Malachi Franklin

My life is but a weaving,
between my God and me,
I do not choose the colors,
He worketh steadily.

Ofttimes he weaveth sorrow,
and I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper,
and I the underside.

Not till the loom is silent,
and the shuttles cease to fly,
Will God unroll the canvas,
and explain the reasons why

The dark threads are as needful
in the skillful weaver's hand
As threads of gold and silver
in the pattern He has planned.

a necessary evil

My life is like a Tide commercial, everyday is laundry day! As I've been reflecting on my life I've come to the conclusion that I do laundry more than I do anything else. If we were to break down my life into a pie chart, I venture to say that 35% of my time is spent doing laundry! That is far too much! I think half of the problem is that the majority of my clothes require line drying, and this is quite the process, there's the initial hanging it up on a hanger, hanging the hangers on the shower curtain rod, then shuffling the clothes around to accommodate for showers in the morning, hanging them back on the rod, removing them once they're dry, blah blah blah, folding and putting away. The whole thing is annoying. This excessive laundry has caused me to think a lot about my situation. "Am I a super dirty person? Am I a clean freak? Do I have too many clothes? Do I not have enough? Do I like to change outfits a lot?" What is the deal??? All I can think is that this laundry explosion is going to have to settle down before I get a family of my own and have to do everyone else's laundry as well. I'll need 3 sets of washer and dryers! :) If you have any ideas I'm open for suggestions, but until then... I'm off to go put in another load of laundry!

The first mile is the hardest

So I've never been much of a runner. I have been known to say "I hate running" and I actually mean it! There are just so many variables that go into running. You could get half way through a run and all of the sudden have to go to the bathroom and there's nowhere to go, your lungs may hurt, your legs may hurt, the weather may change, your ipod battery may die, your muscles may cramp...the list goes on and on. But I decided last fall that I wanted to become a runner, I wanted to run a half marathon. I entered me and a group of friends into the Canyonlands Half Marathon lottery and hoped that we would be chosen. We were, and began training in January. I'm not gonna lie, it was one of the hardest things that I've done. There were many afternoons where I was like... "uh... do we really have to run today? I'm so tired, or busy, or not motivated." But we would go. A lot of the time I felt like it was a test of my dedication and mental will power. I had never run more than 5 miles before this whole thing, and it was amazing to me to see that once I told my body that I could do it, I was able to. A lot of sweat, and hard work made for a successful experience. Right before the race started on March 20 I caught myself thinking that the race we were about to run was not the most important run, it was just the icing on the cake. The most important run, was a culmination of a bunch of different runs. The ones that we did by ourselves in the cold, in the dark, or with each other when it was so hard and we wanted to give up and walk, but we didn't. All those little experiences made me able to run like a champion on race day. I learned about finding joy in the journey. I've felt a runners high. I've crossed a finish line and knew that I did my best. I've learned that the phrase "no pain no gain" actually has a lot of truth to it. I've conquered a fear. I've learned that I can do most anything I put my mind to. I like running! And that's enough of victory for me!

The Big L

"Tell me everything you can tell me about being in love"... It's funny that I go around asking people this question, when I'm so far from it, but this question has brought new insights, new friends, and a whole new twist on how I think about love. The best though was when I asked my aunt what she could tell me about love. She got teary eyed, choked up and her response was, "it's caring for someone more than you care about yourself." Some people said love is a long conversation, some said it's something you grow into as opposed to falling into. Some said it's having someone who cares about all the small stupid things that went on in your day when no one else does. Others said you know you're falling into love when your world starts revolving around that person. All agreed that it's hard work, but well worth the effort. Music artists try to write songs about love, thinking it can be expressed through music or words, but I think it runs much deeper than that. "Love lifts us up where we belong", "all you need is love", "love is a battlefield", "I will love you always" "it's your love". However I look at it, how ever you sing it, or express it, I can't help but think... it's true... love is the answer!

Black Friday

This adventure was also inspired by the thought...hey...that's something I've never done before. What the heck! I think I'll go to Walmart at 5 in the morning on Black Friday and see what it's like!
The story begins as Jen and I set our alarms for 4:40 am only to hit the snooze once, and then roll out of bed, grumbling and thinking... "is this gonna be worth it????" I decided to go with early morning look, I left my flannel polka dot pajama pants on, accompanied with a BYU sweatshirt for good luck, and a wonderful green beanie covered my messy hair, I kept the natural look by leaving the mascara residue under my eyes, and didn't even bother to brush my teeth! :)
So, Jen and I headed down to Walmart and rolled in at 5:15 to see the parking lot completely full. People were hustling and bustling in and out of the store, and I thought out loud..."what time of day is it?" Not only had people lost track of the time, they had lost track of their minds! We entered the store with eyes wide, taking in all the sights! The lines went the entire length of the store, with shopping carts overflowing with items such as toys, tvs, pajamas, tupperware and cutlery??? (Who wakes up at that hour to buy tupperware?) Everyone was there, families, couples, young children, and infants. And they all appeared to be ready to go for the day, showered, make-uped and groomed. Anyhoo, we meandered our way back to the electronic section, and began looking at tvs, because that's kinda why we went. We found one that suited our fancy, and headed for a check out line. Geesh! The line was, like I said, L-O-N-G. So we decided to get comfortable and make friends with those around us. That lasted a short 5 minutes, and then a miracle happened! An angel appeared dressed as a Walmart sales associate and asked us if we only had the one item. I replied yes, as Jen was quickly putting things back onto random shelves. The angel then told us that we could go up to customer service desk to check-out! It was like we had won the golden ticket! We walked with a bounce in our step to the front of the store trying not to make eye contact with others who were probably going to be standing in line for at least 2 hours. We checked out in no time flat, and were on our merry little way, laughing at the sheer randomness of it all, and that luck had fallen upon us! It was awesome! So the bottom-line of the story is... Black Friday really isn't that bad after all!

Do something each day that SCARES you!

That phrase has been the theme for my life for the last 2 months! It's definitely some food for thought at least! I've found myself doing all sorts of crazy things... such as... going backpacking for the first time, being Hannah Montana for Halloween, leaving my phone number on a guy's motorcycle, talking to someone about the gospel, starting to teach aerobic classes, taking classes to get a teaching certificate, trying on a pair of skinny jeans, riding my bike home with a cup of hot chocolate in hand, or today for example... starting a blog! The list goes on and on. It can be big or small, but it's been a blast to see what new adventure each day brings! There's always something to do that gets us out of our comfort zone a little bit, something that stretches us each day. Most of us see those experiences and let them pass by thinking we'd feel self-conscious or vulnerable if we did them, but my motto is to seize those moments, experiences, and opportunities and live life a little more! If the whole purpose of life is to gain experience, then we might as well be getting the most bang for our buck! This phrase has revolutionized my thought process, and re-defined how I want to live my life! I hope it'll do the same for you!