Happy Easter!

He is Risen. What a glorious message! 

I have a testimony in Jesus Christ- that He lived a perfect life, giving me an example to follow; that He suffered in Gethsemane, atoning for my sins and for the sins of all mankind; that He lives again, all glory to His name! He is a resurrected being. As such, He has visited the earth again, first to his apostles and followers in Jerusalem, and then to his "other sheep" (John 10:16). I have a testimony that he came hundreds of years later to a young man in New York, a youth of 14 that was praying for truth. Through this man, Joseph Smith, Christ restored His church on the earth again, following the pattern that existed in the original church as Christ instituted it during his mortal ministry. I am proud to be a member of that church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jesus Christ is my Saviour and I am so thankful for the relationship I have with Him. In the ups and downs of my life, His love and my knowledge of His eternal plan has made all the difference. 

Jesus Christ broke the bands of death and gave all mankind the blessing of resurrection after death. As I strive to live my life in a way that will mirror His divine footsteps, I learn and grow so much. Sometimes my road seems filled with potholes and diversions. When I feel like I need His arms to lift me up, I often go to the temple. I can feel peace in these beautiful, sacred places. 

No matter what is happening in our lives, the Lord loves us. He will not abandon us. We can find peace anytime, day or night, by seeking Him in prayer. He's waiting for us with open arms. 

Nothing to be done

Those familiar with 'Waiting for Godot' by Samuel Beckett may recognize the distinctive first line (oft-repeated throughout) of the play. Of course, his piece falls in the genre of 'Theater of the Absurd,' so his statement is bit fuller even its very emptiness. Regardless, I submit the following quote as explanation to why I have such a good time with life. 

There is no fun in doing nothing when you have nothing to do.

Jerome K. Jerome(1859-1927)

Business majors, eat your heart out

So I totally owe this incredible find to my old roommate, Meridith. Like me, she is also a grad student in the liberal arts, although I'm in Humanities and she's in English. Unlike me, she has written and defended her thesis already... envy, but props to her for being done! And, like anyone who has decided to take a more education-oriented approach to school rather than a trade-oriented approach (and yes, that includes everything from engineering to law to business and any major where you have a specific job once you get a specific degree), we have all heard flak from our peers on why our education and career choices are silly, ridiculous, un-economically-minded, and other such berating comments. It's fun to joke that we'll end up living in cardboard boxes as we contemplate Plato, Thoreau, Brahms, and Nijinsky. In all reality, a mind peopled with great thoughts and aspirations is more fulfilling than a house filled with stuff. I'm quite satisfied with what I've learned (if you ever want to know some interesting history behind why you call people "yahoos" let me know) and I'm quite certain that I will be successful in many possible careers. And, barring any major eruptions or disruptions, I'm quite certain I'll find a job in a few months that will be fulfilling and pay the bills. So, to all those people who think that humanities education is just fun but not useful, check out some of the articles on this website and find out what true education is worth!

Fun things I've done lately...

In March I went on a double-date with Jenny, Fez, and Fez's friend Rowdy. Activity of the day? FLOWRIDING!! I think this is actually a shot of the place in Ogden where we went. I had never been before, but I was hoping that my wakeboard skills might help me out. It took a bit to figure out what board worked for me and then how I needed to work the board to stay up, but I had such a blast! I totally got whiplash from some amazing spills that I took early on, plus some nice bruises. The best part, though, was actually riding the wave! I started off holding onto a rope so I could figure out my balance, then I would toss it back and go solo, like this guy below. Ok, so maybe I wasn't exactly carving the waves, but I had some good moments sans-rope and was really proud of my progress! Woot for trying new things and having a blast with awesome people.

Then, the next weekend, I decided to be impulsive and buy a ticket to see Riverdance. It was on tour through Salt Lake City during General Conference and since I was planning to go north for the weekend anyways, it made sense to take in the show. I bought the best ticket I could find, and it ended up being the perfect seat! I was on the balcony level, first row, and dead center. Of course, I wouldn't have minded being closer so the attractive Irishmen could have flirted with me, but from a critical standpoint I seriously had the best seat ever. The show was absolutely astounding, with an amazing cast of dancers and musicians. Having been preparing my conference paper about Riverdance and healing, it was especially great to experience the actual event, something I'd never done before, despite my love of the style! In addition to the resounding Irish dance, the flamenco dancer was one of the best I've seen, and the tappers were also absolutely wonderful. 

 I can't wait to find more new adventures this spring and summer!

Hitch your wagon to a star.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

My $200 Life Lesson

I think most life lessons we learn come with some kind of a price tag, be that literal or figurative.  Of course, the things that require something of us are generally more valuable because we are invested in them. 


Last Tuesday I had the chance to go to a charity event called "One Day Without Shoes." It was hosted at the Riverwoods, along with another charity for children in Africa. Typical to my nature, I went along with Ananda to hear the free music concert and go to the dance party. I meant to get some money out of my purse to donate, but of course I managed to forget to grab it out before I locked my purse in my trunk. I didn't really feel too bad about that. Ananda donated some money. Part of the incentive for some to donate was that you could enter raffles for free stuff. Since she had donated, I entered my name and hers for a raffle of $200 cash. We had to guess how many golf tees were in the jar. After some mathematical collaboration, we chose 262 for my bid. I wanted Ananda to have her own bid, so I put her down for 273. Then we went over to enjoy the amazing group on stage, not really thinking about the raffle after that. 


After hanging around the fire pits (since it was exceptionally cool and drizzly that night), we headed back closer to the main stage to hear from the charity coordinators and get the dance party started. They raffled off some handmade longboards, then brought out the cash prize. "How many golf tees do you think are in this jar? Some girl won... the total number golf tees is 271." At this point I started cheering, because I was 99% certain that Ananda had won. Sure enough! The announcer butchered her name and she went up to claim the $200. The announcer put the money in her hand, and 2 seconds later she put it into the hands of the charity coordinator. 


I was super impressed. We had talked around the fire about the raffle and what if one of us won it. She had mentioned before that since we didn't come with it, we might as well donate it back and leave it there... that it wasn't really ours. How true that is! Of course, if I had won I probably still would have kept a $20 and given away the rest of it. Suffice it to say, I was really glad that Ananda won. Her simple action will help 6 or 7 young children in Africa for a month: food, school, clothing, safety, etc. I would have most likely done something quite frivolous, enjoying the "free" money and being relatively selfish. 


So thanks, Ananda, for your wonderful example of love and selflessness. I learned a valuable lesson and hope that I can be a better person because of that.