My new roommate!

She's actually not that new...she's been a part of our "family" for a few weeks now, but I just decided to incorporate her into my life.

Her name is Patsy. she's about 2'6", and she's made of cardboard. I found Patsy at work, and brought her home to stand in our window.

After a few weeks of Patsy being boring and only being made of cardboard, I decided to spice up her life a little bit, and it has turned into a weekly event (going for 2 weeks strong now).

This was her first outfit:



And this is the one I just made for her:



Patsy wears some of the funniest shirts around. I help her out a little bit, but in all reality...she's the genius behind it all.

Fashion Notification!

Maybe I'm just not as up-to-date in fashion as I should be.

But I really don't understand this:



Scarves. I understand scarves in the winter: when it's cold outside. But I keep seeing people wearing scarves, now...in June. Yesterday I saw a girl wearing a scarf. It was about 93 degrees yesterday. I think my favorite part was when she took it off as soon as she got inside the air-conditioned building.

Is there something I'm missing? Could this be one of those things that no one ever told me about? Or perhaps we're taking some small advice from Middle Eastern people, who always wear long sleeves and pants and head coverings when it's hot.

I guess now that I think about it, the most fashionable things aren't always the most practical ideas. E.G. Leg warmers (who wants to put more clothes on their legs while working out?), dog clothes (they've already got fur, and they're not people), string bikinis (not good for use in actual swimming), bangs that cover your eyes (usually, it's useful to see), etc. The list goes on and on.

I guess it's a good thing I'm so practical.

High as a kite...

Stoned wallabies? Really?

I love this article. But my favorite part is what people said on the bottom. Made my day! Hope it does the same for you. :)

Cats...?

I'm not exactly sure what the phrase, "The cat's out of the bag" is supposed to mean.

I mean, who puts a cat in a bag in the first place? I think a bag would be the last place I'd put a cat. It's not like any cat is going to go into a bag peacefully.

And imagine what it'd be like to let the cat out of the bag! I'm sure it'd come flying out of that bag like a bat out of hell, claws a blazin'.

In all reality, I do know what the phrase means. But who coined it? Who thought, "Well, I've had this secret, and I finally told people. How could I say that? Hmmm...Got it! 'The cat's out of the bag!' Definitely the best way to put it."

My opinion? Not really.

Feet

Today I was sitting in the library studying for a test. I was also listening to my iPod. I'd been listening to it for awhile, just sitting there reading through my notes. Then, some movement caught my eye, so I looked down near my foot to see what it was. That's when I found out: it was my foot.

"That's weird." I thought to myself. "I'm not telling my foot to move..."

Not only was my foot moving, but it was moving to the beat of the music that I was listening to. Sometimes I think of things that I know I'll want to blog about, but I know I'll forget them if I don't write them down somewhere, and the most convenient place for that happens to be my phone. This is what I wrote:

Do you ever realize a part of your body is moving, even though you're not telling to, and didn't know until you saw it moving?

I'm not talking reflexes here, kids. I'm talking about major amounts of continuous movement. I sat and watched my foot move for the rest of the song. I wasn't aware that I was telling it to move...the strange thing is that this happens to me fairly often, and not just in my feet (although that's usually where this phenomenon occurs). My best guess as to why it happens is one or both of these reasons: 1) I dance so much that I don't even realize that I'm dancing non-stop, and/or 2) I have been a musician all my life, and I can't help but feel the beat of music.

I'm not really sure if this happens to anyone else...but this is me we're talking about here. The odds of me being abnormal are pretty high. :)

Lonely, yet never alone

"I know that I am not alone, but still I feel lonely."

That's a line from one of my favorite songs. I've been thinking about the idea of being lonely or aloneness for the past couple of days.

As each of us moves through our lives, we lose people who are important to us, through various means. The Lord brings people in and out of our lives with purpose and meaning, and sometimes it's hard to understand why He would do so. However, we must have faith in the Lord that the trials we have been given in life are for our benefit and learning.

One of my very favorite General Conference talks was given this last April by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, entitled None Were With Him. In it, he talks about how Christ suffered alone, for each of us. This is something he says near the end of his talk:

"Brothers and sisters, one of the great consolations of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so. His solitary journey brought great company for our little version of that path—the merciful care of our Father in Heaven, the unfailing companionship of this Beloved Son, the consummate gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in heaven, family members on both sides of the veil, prophets and apostles, teachers, leaders, friends. All of these and more have been given as companions for our mortal journey because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel. Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are. Truly the Redeemer of us all said: “I will not leave you comfortless: [My Father and] I will come to you [and abide with you].”

As I find myself lonely at times, I know that I can turn to the Lord. Something else I have learned is that we must consciously choose a way out of being lonely, and not to allow ourselves to wallow in self-pity or despair. Once again, as I have said so many times, and will never stop saying, we cannot wait for our circumstances to change. We must find a way to at least like, if not love, the happenings of our lives.

No longer forward nor behind
I look in hope and fear;
But grateful take the good I find,
The best of now and here.
--John G. Whittier

Another thing I've been thinking about lately is agency, and how our agency and that of those around us effects us all. Often our decisions have an impact on our lives only, at least for the most part. However, on occasion there are decisions made by others that greatly influence our own lives. And again, on occasion, sometimes the decisions made by others aren't necessarily what we want, or what we would have wanted them to choose. How do we deal with this? In Elder Dallin H. Oaks' talk Timing, he gives counsel on how to do so:

"Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ prepares us for whatever life brings. This kind of faith prepares us to deal with life’s opportunities—to take advantage of those that are received and to persist through the disappointments of those that are lost. In the exercise of that faith, we should commit ourselves to the priorities and standards we will follow on matters we do not control and persist faithfully in those commitments, whatever happens to us because of the agency of others or the timing of the Lord. When we do this, we will have a constancy in our lives that will give us direction and peace. Whatever the circumstances beyond our control, our commitments and standards can be constant."

I also found this quote the other day:

There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying things which are beyond the power of our will.
--Epictetus

I won't lie; the past few days have been extremely hard. I don't expect things to change anytime soon, as much as I would like them to. However, as was said in my sacrament meeting today, one of the greatest blessings of affliction is that it will drive us closer to the Lord and His comfort. And I have the greatest example to look toward: my Savior. I'm not sure who said it, but Jesus partook of history's bitterest cup, without becoming bitter. I hope to be able to do my best to follow His example in all that I do, at the same time allowing Him to take me by the hand and lead me through my life, all the while helping me to become a better and stronger person.

Walking

This morning, I was walking to work. I was in a bit of a hurry, because I was slightly late, and also didn't know exactly how long it would take me to get there, seeing as I'd never walked there before. Because of my hurry, I was obviously walking rather quickly.

I saw some EFY boys playing some kind of game, and I discovered that as I watched them and tried to figure out just what it was they were doing, my pace slowed, even if only a tiny bit. But it slowed. I'd taken my mind and eyes off my goal, and it set me back. I realized that I didn't have time to slow down. I didn't have time to stop and see what they were doing.

I can look at this in a few different ways.

First, taking my eyes off my goal. Something I discovered about myself today is that without something to work towards, I am useless. At my secretarial job, I have to enter data every day. All the sheets of data are in separate folders, each dedicated to a different person. There, I have a goal. I know just how much I must complete, and I have a specific time in which I would like to finish this work. I have similar situations with things like classes, other jobs, etc. However, if I don't know how much I must complete, or if what I have to complete is ambiguous, I have absolutely no drive to get any part of it done. Without a goal, I'll never know just how high I can reach.

Second, lately I feel like all I do is rush. I get up early in the morning, but not early enough, so I have to rush to get ready and then out the door, with no breakfast. I work for four hours, and then I rush off to class. After I get out of class, I rush to the next job. I get off work, and then I can finally relax. The sad part is, I'm so used to rushing that I get home and I can't relax because I always feel like there's something I should be doing. I got home today and I was walking back to my apartment from my mailbox, and just about fell over because I was so physically tired. I need to find something that lets me relax.

That's a nice segue into the last point. Take some time. Relax. Live your life. But most importantly, enjoy it.

Trials

Just before I went into class today, I stopped to fill up my water bottle. I was really thirsty, but I waited until I'd finished filling up my water bottle before taking a drink out of it. And then I realized something.

Dogs (and lots of other animals, but we'll focus on dogs for now) have it hard! When I'm really thirsty, I just want to chug water. How difficult to be extremely thirsty, and to have to drink like a dog. That can hardly be thirst-quenching.

I suppose however, that there must be opposition in all things: even for dogs.

Sucess!!

A bit ago, I blogged about creeping under someone's umbrella, not really ever planning to do it, since I already have my own umbrella. Well, today it rained. I came out of the building in which I have church, and stood just under the eave, umbrella open and ready, waiting for the crosswalk to let us go. Then all of the sudden, my personal bubble was being invaded. I looked to my right, only to behold a guy who I did not know, but who was standing uncomfortably close to me in order to stand under my umbrella.

At first I was irritated. Who does he think he is, standing so close to me? He was literally touching me. I didn't know him! How dare he! And then I realized: this was my dream come true! Someone had finally done what I had always wanted to do, but didn't think anyone would actually do. Thereafter, I gladly shared my umbrella with him. Sadly, we parted just after we crossed the street, but those two minutes together may or may not have changed my life. I never found out his name, but to whoever he is: thank you.