Gossip

I've always defined gossip as talking negatively about an individual who isn't there. What if it's the truth though? Or what if it's to make sure someone gets the help they need because they're taking drugs or something? Would it still be gossip?

I've learned to examine conversation with four questions to help me define whether it is gossip or not:

1. Would it be better left unsaid? (If yes, it's gossip).
2. Is it personal information about another that you don't have permission to share? (If yes, it's gossip).
3. Does it harm the reputation of the subject of conversation? (If yes, it's gossip).
4. Is your intention to help the individual and are you informing someone who is in a position to help? (Answer has to be yes for both halves of this question for it not to be considered gossip).

It doesn't matter if want you say is true and factual; if it can cause harm, it causes harm. There is no positive to gossip. It destroys. It never builds.

Harms of Gossip

There are three individuals gossip ravages: the gossiper, the listener and the victim.

Elder Gene R. Cook mentioned that before the Savior arrived in the Americas that “Satan did stir them up to do iniquity continually; yea, he did go about spreading rumors and contentions upon all the face of the land, that he might harden the hearts of the people against that which was good and against that which should come” (Hel. 16:22). Gossip is an effective weapon against good. It really does harm everyone it comes into contact with.

One writer said, "Cooperation and good feelings among those who work together in Church callings are also iced over when gossip occurs." That's within the relationships between members of the Church. Imagine how destructive it could be in friendships and family relationships.

LDS.org

Why does the gossiper gossip? There are a few reasons. Sometimes when we feel insecure about ourselves, we pick, poke, and prod at others because if they are worse than we are, we must be better. Other times individuals have been gossiped about, so they gossip too. In some cases, gossip has just become a habit of conversation. Gossiping may feel like a great way to bond with others, but it's not.

Gossiping actually makes the gossiper more and more isolated. Gossiping makes people feel uncomfortable. It also causes them to not trust the gossiper with any personal revelations. Relationships cannot be built or strengthened if you can't trust one party to retain information given in confidence. The same writer mentioned earlier also said, "When we refrain from repeating cruel or careless words, we not only are able to serve more effectively but we also build a foundation for closeness and friendship." If the gossiper is talking about someone else in such a manner, you can't trust that anything they learn about you won't be shared too. People start to withdraw from the gossiper. The gossiper may sense this and so try to strengthen then relationship by gossiping about others. In the short term it may feel as if bonds are strengthening, but in reality it only worsens. Gossiping hardens your hearts towards people.

Our relationships are again affected as we alienate ourselves from others. We feel a cold, hollow hypocrisy as we greet or deal with people we have talked about negatively. Our own feelings of worth and our outlook on life are affected as we expect others to talk about us with the same lack of regard. We become nervous about appearing less than perfect because others might talk about us. After all, how can we expect others to act more nobly than we ourselves are acting? Worse, we pull ourselves away from Heavenly Father and cannot feel the warmth of his approval when we are being unkind to his other children. We alienate ourselves spiritually and thus feel even more shut out. "The Frigid Wind of Gossip."

The listener becomes an injured party too. Generally you don't want to hear gossip. It can be uncomfortable to listen to and you might learn things about others you just didn't want to learn. It skews your perception and judgment. It will harm the relationship you have with both the victim of the gossip and the gossiper. You start to avoid the gossiper and you have no idea how to communicate to the victim now that you know "things."

Obviously the victim is harmed. Gossip harms the relationships the individual has with others. Those that hear the gossip treat the individual differently, even if they know it's not true. Gossip isn't something that can be taken back. It's also not something easily confronted as it's said almost in whispers and behind hands. It cuts that people would participate in gossip. Gossip is only focusing on the victims faults. Knowing that people are poking at real or imagined faults causes the victim to become insecure and to focus so much on their own faults they might overlook what is wonderful about themselves. When people are insecure it harms their mental well-being and their confidence which overflows in all aspects of their lives. No one should want to cause this kind of harm in others.

Gossip can destroy friendships. It can destroy families. Gossip is not something you ever want. It only destroys.

Stopping the Gossip

Gossip is sneaky. You don't always realize it is gossip when arrives in conversation (thus the questions to ask yourself mentioned earlier). Gossip can be difficult to stop once it starts. Each individual involved in the gossip can do their part.

Gossiper. If gossip is a habit of conversation, it's important to learn new conversation topics and habits. If you find you're gossiping because it makes you feel better about yourself in comparison, you need to find confidence in who you are without involving any comparison. You should learn to look at yourself and realize how good you are as you. Don't involve anyone else other than Heavenly Father in gaining self-esteem. If you have been told things in confidence, keep them confidences. Sometimes people need to have someone to talk to about personal issues, but it doesn't mean you share what they shared with others. 

Listener. Gossip can surprise the listener. You don't plan to hear it. But there are three things you can do to not be a participant. For every negative quality being mentioned about an individual, you should start listing two positive qualities. It's important to recognize faults are not all that people are. When positive qualities are listed, you find yourself not wanting to focus on their faults. If that doesn't work, you could just ask them to stop. Tell them you're uncomfortable. That can be difficult to do. It may even feel rude, but it would be worse to let such conversation to continue. If gossip still continues, physically leave the conversation. If you let gossip continue then you are allowing harm to come to everyone involved, especially the victim and yourself.

Victim. How can you stop gossip when you aren't even present for the conversation? There really isn't much you can do. Being in such a situation would be a true refiner's fire. It's far from an ideal situation. What you can do is focus on yourself and your own responses. Gossiping in retaliation only worsens the entire situation. You have to really learn to “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matt. 5:44). Such a tough challenge that will definitely strengthen your character. The other thing you will have to do is recognize your divine worth. Recognize you are a child of God. Recognize your great qualities. Recognize your faults and where you can be better, but don't ever let it get you down. Always strive to be better, but recognize who you are today is a child of God. You will create a strong character that can be a foundation for others.

Create a Safe Haven

Become one of those individuals that people know would never reveal confidences. Become one of those people no one will gossip around because they know you won't accept it. Become the warm, safe, caring shelter for those who need it. Especially the most important people in your life: your spouse, your children, your relatives, your friends.

"For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). If that's what our Heavenly Father's and Jesus Christ's goal is for all of us, then we should desire to be a part of it. Gossiping about others is a sure way to work against God's goals. We should be helping each other up, not tearing them down. "Therefore, strengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations, and in all your doings" (D&C 108:7).

Resources:

Family Home Evening Resource Book

Q&A: We are warned against gossiping. But is it gossip if what we talk about is true?

Q&A: The scriptures warn us against gossiping. But what should we do if someone starts gossiping to us or spreads gossip about us?

Why Rexburg Hates My Roommate

For the past 12 or so hours, I've only had one roommate still here. All the others have left because their finals are over. This particular roommate's name is Brianne and I'm posting all of this with her full permission, just so you are aware. She was done with school on Wednesday. She hasn't left yet because she is driving a carload of people back to Washington today. Hopefully. If nothing else goes wrong.

Because yesterday was a gloriously beautiful spring day, she washed her car. Washed it, and then was telling us not to get it dirty. We were even teasing her in saying that a flock of birds were going to fly right over her car before she leaves on her trip, messing it up horridly. She couldn't bare thinking about it.

This morning, I'm sitting on our couch with the blinds open letting in the sunlight that reflected off the snow on the ground, the snow falling from the sky and being blown anywhere but down. My roommate wakes up, passes the living room, then comes back, points and says, "AH!!!!!!" I seriously had a vision that a giant animal was in our apartment going to eat us all by her reaction. So I jumped, but didn't see anything. Turns out she was pointing out the window. It was snowing.

Back at School

I love college. I really do. When I was in elementary school, before the No Child Left Behind, I loved school. It was the best thing ever. I was always so excited for it.

After those early years, I lost it. Mostly because everything began to focus on tests, which I didn't think I ever did well at. Plus, it felt like I was never really learning anything. It sometimes seemed like a waste of time. I almost believe that 2 hours could be taken out of every school day because that's how much time was totally wasteful.

But since then, I'm in college and I get excited for the first time I have a class. It makes me so cheerful! I make new friends. I learn things that I never thought about. College really teaches you how to think. How to look at the world around you and figure out what you can do to influence it. I absolutely love college. I really do.

Preparing for the Christmas Season

It's the Christmas Season. It really is. I see decorations up. I hear Christmas music on the radio. I've come across Christmas movies on TV. I see people helping each other out. The weather's getting brisk. It's truly the Christmas Season.

There are several things we do to prepare for Christmas. We set up our decorations both inside and outside. We look for gifts for our friends and family. We may go around and sing carols to your friends and neighbors, delivering a little gift as you go. Perhaps you have a Christmas Advent calendar. Maybe you begin reading all your Christmas books and stories. Possibly you read Luke 2. We may sing and hum about Santa and his reindeer or about how beautiful the first Christmas was. You might go to a soup kitchen and serve a meal. Or maybe go to a nursing home and sing carols. Sometimes you may have a huge meal with family and friends. There's a great many things we do to prepare for Christmas.

The Hike of a Lifetime (a.k.a. The Hike of MY Life)

Exercise. There are a lot of things that are positive about exercise. One of the big ones is that it generally results in a longer life. Kind've something you'd think everyone would be doing then wouldn't you? Well, let's just say that I'm extremely lazy and don't purposely go out of my way to exercise. I just live life and call it exercise.

As a result of this, even though I have a wonderful metabolism and look in shape, I'm actually not really. I mean, yes, I can go play some games of Ultimate Frisbee whenever I'd like, but let's just say I'm not a marathon runner or an extreme sport person. I'm not anything of the sort. I don't prepare myself to go hike Mt. Everest.

Well, I have a story for you.

Friendship Basket Investment

I've decided I want to invest in a basket. I want something like a picnic basket or an Easter basket. I'm sure that they actually have official names. But I'm going to call the two different types of baskets picnic or Easter baskets. However, I'd like to have more of a combination of baskets.

Picnic Basket

In my head a picnic basket looks like the picture on the right. Meaning it's deep. It has two handles. It has two lids. Simple.

Though I'd like something more like the Easter basket. Easter baskets are a bit more open and round. Yet, it's not very deep. Usually. I think.

I've wavering between having a basket with a cover or not. If the picnic basket was a bit more round... well. I'd probably choose that kind of basket.

Though you are probably now wondering why I am even considering in investing in a baket of any sort. I've decided I want a basket so I can entitle it my "Friendship Basket." There are a number of things I would do with such a basket.

First, it would have a pretty little cloth in it. Girly-ish of course. Both to cover the bottom as well as to cover the contents of the basket itself. As its contents it would have a copy of The Book of Mormon. Then I could pass it out when I felt like it. I'd have my own copy of the scriptures in there. I'd also have the most recent General Conference issue of the Ensign. Of course, I'd also have the most recent Ensign issue. I'd also like to have a few pens. And a few blank 4x6 index cards, cause then I could use them as cards for whatever purpose. It could also hold cookies, or little loafs of breads, or some other little treat that I could give to others.

Easter Basket

I'd use this basket for when I would go out to visit people, whether people I don't know well just yet or people who I am already fast friends with. Meaning, I'd definitely use it for visiting teaching. And for visiting my own visiting teachers. and my friends. and people I want to get to know. and people who are feeling down. or sick.

When I consider who I want to use this basket for, then came my thoughts of what I could contant in it. Because what is better to give a person and share your love for that person than an expression of said love with some sort of baked good, a note, and some spiritual nourishment! As well as whatever help I could do at the moment I stop by besides a smile.

Which is why I'd call the basket my Friendship Basket. and why I'm considering investing in one. Sadly, not until I get back up to school, because transporting such a basket would be a bit of a hassel. So I have a few more months to consider such an investment. Though I think it'll be worth it.

Tomato Picking

Moi et mes tomates

Last week I went and picked some tomatoes at a one of the farms near Patterson, CA that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns.

Goodness! It was a lot more difficult than I had thought it would be!

I ended up being really tired of standing up, bending over, standing up, shuffling over, standing up, bending over, etc. I became extremely creative in my laziness by sitting down.

This way  I could look for the perfect tomatoes at eye level as I lifted up thick tomato vines to get to the huge juicy red ones. Though I am so grateful that I had gloves. Because some of the most perfect red tomatoes were not so perfect.

How would you normally pick tomato? Do you have your palm facing away from you as you grab the tomato? Or do you have your palm facing you as you sort've scoop the tomato?

Apparently, I normally scoop to pick tomatoes. But there is a problem with this. Even though a tomato looks perfect from the top, when you pick it up the way I do, sometimes your hand ends up in the tomato and you make a little suppressed squealing noise and drop it or toss it away from you and you really, really pray that you never pick up another tomato like that again. It's gross. However much I love fresh fruits and veggies, I have a problem with being surprised by rotten ones when I touch it.


You know what I've ended up thinking about? Rotten fruit being thrown at people. It's a very unpleasant thought. Those people in the past throwing rotten fruit (tomatoes) at people who were condemned or disliked or whatever. I suddenly had the largest sympathy for those people who were the targets of the nasty fruit. I also couldn't really fathom the idea of people disliking someone so much to willingly pick up with your bare hands a nasty piece of fruit just so you could throw it at them. Seems extremely idiotic to me. Might sound totally ridiculous, but it's true.


In any case, a very large amount of tomatoes were picked last week.

I'd like to say that it was all my own efforts, but that would be a definite false statement. The other ladies I picked tomatoes with could be Super Tomato Pickers! Seriously. They'd have one huge bag done by the time I reached half that much. It was impressive. They're super skilled. Now it could be because I kept getting distracted by my hand constantly ending up inside a tomato and working on trying to not burst into tears. They either did not come across a rotting tomato, or they are super moms who have had to work through worse nastiness in their lives as a result of having children. I'm pretty sure it's the latter. I was just proud of my own tomato picking skills. and the fact that I didn't burst into tears after the 10th rotting tomato. It was a very good time.

The Super Tomato Pickers! and me. :)

Mourning Death

We all have been touched by death and it's effects. Many of us have known someone who had died: a family member, a relative, a close friend, a teacher, a student, a peer, a coworker. Some are expected. Some are unexpected. Either way, we mourn their loss in our lives.

Often, we mourn all the might-have-beens, might-have-becomes and might-have-dones. Either our own in relationship to them or their own. We mourn. We weep.

Death is a very sad event. No matter what the circumstances.

Today we received a call informing us that one of my cousins passed away.

She left behind a husband, three boys, her siblings and their spouses, her nieces and nephews, her parents, her aunts and uncles, her cousins, her friends. She's left behind a lot. She's left behind a lot of memories and holes in everyone she's come into contact with. Without her in the world there's a space of emptiness.

She always added more good in the world. In her own way and style. Without her there is so much time ahead where she could have done so much more. But she's left.

And we mourn.

It can be hard to comfort those that mourn. We try to say the right thing. But often there is no right thing to say. You can't really say that she's gone on to a better place or that she was needed more on the other side. She was a mother and a wife. That's her divine role. Honestly, I doubt there was anything more important than that.

But we can do what we can. We can do our little actions. We can simple mourn with them. We can share our memories of her. We can help recognize her influence in our lives. We can become better people. We can help those immediately affected. We can make sure to be involved in her kids lives. We can make sure to help the family get back on their unsteady feet. We can realize that it's not something that totally disappears.

We can help them find comfort in the fact the our Savior knows how they are feeling. We can help them know that their Savior loves them and watches over them. We can let them know we also love them. We can remind them that someday, they will be reunited. It might be a long time. But if we live the best we can, then we'd have forever with them. That's the miracle of God's Plan of Happiness. We will live forever with our loved ones if we do the best we can and turn to the Savior when we make mistakes.

UPDATE: Turns out that a friend of my sister and all of the Young Women in my ward also died. Along with her friend. Her younger sister is in critical condition. This is the news article.

UPDATE: The obituary for my cousin.

Semester Anew

I've just finished the 3rd week of my 4th semester. It's a bit more challenging than previously as I'm taking:

ENG 252: Fund of Research & Presentation
ENG 325: Language Theory–Grammar/Usage
FDMAT 108: Math for the Real World
ENG 350: Themes in Literature – Romanticism
FDREL 211: New Testament
FAML 200: Preparation for Marriage

Each of these classes are for either my Major (English-Creative Writing), Minor (Marriage and Family Studies), or Foundation requirements. But I throughly enjoy it.

My new roommates are awesome people. One of them is on a tour in Europe at the moment. The other two are huge soccer players, but I really love their company.

My brother is up here this semester. It's been pretty great having him around. We made a meal together pretty often, and we invite our friends and cousins over to eat with us. It's been a party. He also helps me out with my math homework. He helped me so much that I ended up with a 92% on my first exam.

I've received a new haircut with more layers than I had perviously. I love it. Though I had no idea that my hair was as wavy as it is. I still don't own a good picture of it yet. :P

My ward is awesome. I'm glad I'm still in it. I love it. All the people are amazing. I have great friends in the ward where I can just stop by and we have a little party. It's wonderful. I love them all.

This semester is the Spring Semester. It's the Best Semester. I'm excited for it!

End of a Semester

Life has been treating me pretty well. My 3rd semester at BYU-Idaho ended officially on April 9th. However, my wonderful friends came up on Thursday allowing us to leave on Friday. It was a fantastic week. I spent a lot of time getting to know areas of Utah that would have taken me longer to know.
It was just fantastic. We watched movies, read books, drove around, dropped off my cousin at the airport, ate at my first frozen yogurt place, visited University of Utah... it was just a lot of fun! Oh and did I mention the food? Because that was excellent. :)

 Dropping off my cousin at the airport was an interesting experience. See, we were running late... and my friend was driving... lol.

 Park pictures! :) Loved the little bridge that they took me to. A lot. It's probably even prettier when the trees are green.

Derby Racing

FHE today was pretty fantastical. Though, I must admit it normally is. However, today is our second to last day of FHE together. It's a sad realization. We've had some great times. Today we raced our Pinewood Derby Car that we made.
We had begun making it last week. Though none of us knew how to make one. See, even though the guys had made one in cub scouts, well, apparently their fathers made it, so they didn't really know how. And we girls had never made one in our lives.
Miraculously though we made one.
And it turned out fabulously:

We ended up coming in 6th out of 12 different cars. We also ended up winning the "Heaviest Lifter" award. Which wasn't quite what we were aiming for (1st, 2nd, 3rd, slowest, OR most likely to be found in a movie). But oh well. It was a lot of fun. To make and to experience.
I love my FHE family and I'm going to be sad when the semester is over and people leave, go home, move, graduate or are in some way no longer in my FHE group. But I'd like to think that they've become some of my really close friends. And I'm grateful for that. :)

Celebrating Birthdays

I love Birthdays. A lot. This has only been a relatively recent discovery. I like what Lewis Carroll has to say about it:

There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents . . . and only one for birthday presents, you know.

Birthdays are special days only celebrated once a year. I didn't really understand what they actually could mean until this year. Birthdays are a day that we celebrate the life of a person. We show them how grateful we are that they are in our lives, because they make it so much better. We celebrate their entrance into mortality. We can do meaningful things on this day just to say, "I'm glad you were born."

Birthdays create an opportunity to reconnect with those people you haven't stayed in constant contact with. They are also days to build the friendship between people. Birthdays are a day where you can relearn everything about a person. Where you think of them and truly pray for the best succeeding years and great quality of life for this person.

However, in the celebration of a birthday, we must not forget that there are three hundred and sixty-four days when we can show this person that we are grateful for their presence in your life; that there are three hundred and sixty-fours days to build and strengthen relationships. Everyday, every time you come into contact with someone, they should leave your presence knowing that you really are grateful for the opportunity to know them in mortality. Birthdays are just extra special.

Letters

I love technology.

I really do.

The whole instant information, staying in contact with friends, easily converse with people miles or houses away, et cetera, is pretty miraculous.

But there is something to be said about receiving a letter through the mail.

When I was younger, my siblings and I would sit and play in our lawn waiting for the mailman to arrive, as the mailbox for the street was in front of our house. We became really good friends with the different people who'd deliver the mail. It was always great to see people receive mail in their box, even better when I'd see mail enter our box.

It wasn't often that there was a letter addressed to me at 6 years old, but there were the occasional Birthday Invitations or Thank You Cards, and I loved to get them. I was slightly jealous of my parents who'd receive mail all the time. It wasn't until I was older that I discovered their mail was mostly catalogs, bills and advertisements.

Being here in Idaho,

receiving mail from those on their missions,

wedding invitations,

and the occasional package from home,

it causes me to think more about this classic form of communication.

A letter means something.

It represents a friend.

A friend who took the time to write me a letter, typed or handwritten.

It represents that someone cares,

that they wanted to make sure you knew they remember you.

It represents an invitation into their lives and your's into their's.

It means that someone wishes to communicate and took the time to do so.

If receiving a letter means so much,

we should be sure to send a letter ourselves,

even if it is only a few words long.

Fold a piece of paper and stick a photo to the front and ta-dah! you have only the inside to write in, limiting how much you have to write, especially when you have no idea what it is you want to write about.

However, I've discovered that once I start writing to a person, suddenly I have a lot to say. So, I'd also recommend leaving room to write as little or as much as you'd like, but even the mistakes in a letter make it personable.

Letters are pretty amazing.

"To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart."

~Phyllis Theroux

Family Home Evening

In my student ward, I've been called and set apart as an FHE Group Leader, or in other words the "FHE Mom". I had this calling exactly a year ago and so I have an idea of what to do verses last time when I was thinking "Me?! I'm an incoming freshman!! Are you INSANE?"

Basically, my job entails making sure people are coming, or at least feel a part of a family.

FHE, for those of you who don't know, does not stand for "Family Home Entertainment" movies. Rather it stands for Family Home Evening. "It's a special time set aside each week that brings family members together and strengthens their love for each other, helps them draw closer to Heavenly Father, and encourages them to live righteously."

That's the goal of having FHE.

So in a student ward, this means that a few apartments are thrown together to create a family. The guys are FHE brothers, the girls are FHE sisters, your roommates are still your roommates.

There are two people who are called as FHE Group Leaders for each family; one's a girl and one's a guy. This is why I now have the honorary nickname of "FHE Mom".

Luckily for me my FHE group is pretty amazing.

We had a schedule planned out on what we wanted to do, when we wanted to do it, and which apartment was over what before I was even called. So I just reorganized it, put each of our family members contact info and birthday and e-mailed it to the FHE Dad to see if it was ok. He responded that it was and I proceeded to e-mail to everyone. After receiving an e-mail from my roommate, I realize that I had not actually attached the information to the e-mail, so I sent it out again, this time with the attachment.

In anycase, it can be difficult to plan activities, especially when no one really wants to go anywhere when it is freezing cold outside. Literally freezing cold, not just "oh it's cold" but the temperature says its negative-something degrees.

So I googled FHE activities and I discovered some really useful sites:

101 Family Home Evening Activities

100+ Quick and Easy Family Home Evening Activities

Family Home Evenings for a Year

But then I remembered a game I played the previous year called "If/Then".

Each person has a strip of paper and writes "If..." and then whatever they'd like. For example someone in my FHE group wrote "If Lady Gaga were president".

Then you fold up the paper and put it in the middle. Once everyone's paper is in the middle you grab one that is not your own and you write on the back "Then..." and answer the If statement. So you could write "Then I'd no longer have any hope in humanity" or some such craziness.

When that is done you fold it again and put it in the middle. Once everyone's is in you grab another.

Then the real fun begins.

The first person reads the "If statement" they picked up, the next person reads the "Then statement" they picked up. That same person then reads his "If statement" and the next the "Then statement".

For example, one person read "If Lady Gaga were president..." and the next person read their paper which said, "Then I'd curl up into the fetal position."

You go around until everyone has read both of their If/Then statements.

You can do as many rounds as you'd like.

It was great fun!

and we didn't even freeze.

Home

Today has been a pretty busy day.

Love it.

It was cold and snowing this morning when I headed off to the bookstore to get my textbooks, but I learned that the pervious day it was colder. Plus, today it wasn't windy at all!! Yay! Total surprise! A total Lovely surprise! The wind is what makes it difficult.

So I still have more amazing friends. :D

Friends who drive me to the storage unit and help me load up and then unload it at home. I adore friends. I'm sure I've mentioned it before. I'm probably going to mention it again. 

But

 I love friends

&

Roommates!

Yes, this semester is going to be great! We have tons of dishes and cool appliances to make life easier. Which I am all for.

I'm finally settled into my home. My things are unpacked. My bed is made; stuff animals organized on top. Pictures of the Savior, the Oakland Temple, values, bows, a couple of little hearts from Build-a-Bear, and a sticker from In-N-Out on my walls. My drawers are in order. My space is clean. My dishes are away. My knives and utensils are as well. My DVDs are by the TV. My games are easily accessible.

Yup, I'm home.

Now all I have to do is shop for food.

That's for tomorrow.

Along with my first day of classes.

:D

Arrived!

REXBURG!

I'm here again after quite a trip!

I boarded a Train in Sacramento, CA after my family dropped me off, saying their goodbyes, and continuing up to Oregon.

I had ridden a train once before. It's a lot of fun! But it is also VERY long. Very. I boarded at 11 am on Saturday, and was dropped off at 4:15 am Sunday.

Anyhow, it just so happens that I found a friend from my home stake at the train station and discovered that we were traveling together! She was on her way to BYU-Provo and I on my way to BYU-Idaho. But it was crazy because we hadn't seen each other for awhile. Loved it though!

When I arrived in Utah my wonderful and amazing friends picked me up at 4:15 in the freezing morning. What's sad about the entire thing is the fact that the train was supposed to arrive at 3 am. Not 4:15. So my awe-inspiring friends waited for at least an hour in the freezing weather for me. We arrived back at their house at 6 or so in the morning. I felt pretty lucky to have such friends.

I then spend the next 24 hours and then some with them and my friend drove me to Salt Lake so I could catch the shuttle up to Rexburg at 1 pm.

I arrived in Rexburg this evening at 6 pm. It was dark, cold, and freezing.

But I have another fantastical friend who helped me carry my stuff to where I live now and after a bit of knocking on doors and checking in I was home! New home. Love it.

My roommates are pretty awesome. It looks like we'll have movies galore. Friendship. Fun. and a Fantastical time.

'Tis the Season

It is my personal opinion that this is the best time of the year.

I don't much care for the cold.

I don't care for rain nor snow.

But truly

This is still the best season.

Not perhaps a season of the weather,

but rather the season of the heart.

This is when hearts are warmest,

and hearts are fullest.

People open their hearts

and share.

They think about others;

they serve, they love.

This is the best season of all.

Yes

this is the season where people spend the most.

But

this is the season where people buy for others.

This is the season

where strangers come caroling;

where that one house around the corner has all those amazing lights on

as a tradition every year

for people to drive by and watch.

This is the season

of joy

of happiness

of delight

and

jubilation!

This is the season

where family gathers 'round

and listens to stories,

strengthening bonds.

This is the season

fires are lit

and hot chocolate is mixed;

where gingerbread cookies

and other delights

fill the house with its wholesome smell.

This is the season

of traditions and splender,

of magic and hope,

of dreams and peace.

This is the season

I love.

Forgetfulness

Today has been a wonderful day.
I woke up with an actual activities planned for the day.
I was to take a friend to her water polo section game. It was fun! Afterwards, we went to In-N-Out and ate. It's great to be able to talk to friends and catch up with each others lives and be listened to.
However, I had forgotten my journal. I had just started one. A handwritten one. I have been using an online one, but it is hard to get in print without the sufficient extra funds. So I restarted a handwriting one again. I took it with me to the water polo game, because I didn't know what else I was going to do, as I actually didn't have a book. For once. :D Well, as it turns out. I have forgotten my journal at the bleachers. I know. Sadness. I now have to buy a new journal. More money to spend. I don't normally have that kind of cash. Anyways, so I just find it rather interesting that I have left a journal at a high school and I'm not really concerned that somebody might read it. In fact, I think it would be good if someone read it. It's all on thoughts of life and also about the gospel. Nothing else. :P Which is rather silly. But I think that if someone takes the time to read it, then they may have thoughts they may not have had before.
So. What if I wrote a journal of thoughts and notes on those kind of things. And then leave it on a bench somewhere. Or a copy of it. But wouldn't that be interesting?