Magic B.O.B. -- Video Star

[20] Conclusion, But Not The End

     Over the past few months, we have been expected to create a blog for ourselves. I have been able to write twenty entries over the past four months and I can honestly say that it has truly blessed my life in ways that I never thought it would. I never thought that simply taking the time to write down my feelings and events that happen whether big or small. Some things don't feel like a big deal, but being able to write down these seemingly insignificant events help me realize that it is the small things in life that make a difference. It is not about the major events, but the minor moments that truly define our deep character.
      I have been able to take time to write down stories and things that are important to me and I realized themes that make me who I am. A quote I heard was, "Inspiration carefully recorded shows Heavenly Father that his communication is sacred to us." I realized that the promptings I have and service opportunities are Heavenly Father's way of showing me He loves me and when I write it down and am able to look back on it later, I show Him that it matters to me and I can recognize His hand in my life.
       This has been a great reason to start a blog, and now I am going to continue my blog, so even though this is technically the "conclusion", it is definitely no the end. This is not going to be my last post. Keeping a record helps me stay faithful, just as the examples in the scriptures. I can't wait to continue this as well as look back on such a great time in my life!

[19] Procrastination at it's Finest

I know it is probably cliche to blog about blogging and to write about procrastinating while in the middle of procrastinating, but I feel like blogging in the middle of the night is something worth remembering, especially in future days when I am about to take a nap even though I have to have 19 blog entries by tomorrow...
     Either way, I have learned a lot about college so far. I have learned that BYU is actually a lot harder than high school. I have to read the textbooks or else the lecture won't make much sense and I won't do well on tests. I have to spend a lot of time in the library if I even want to think about doing all of my homework. College is not as low key as high school. BUT, college rewards are much greater than high school.
     I learned that hard work pays off. Even after studying for 8 hours for a nutrition test and still getting a B- on it, the reward will come later and maybe not in the way I expect it (or even want it).
    I've learned that sometimes you have to fake it till you make it. I've gone on 4 blind dates in the past semester and I am not usually an outgoing person at first. It usually takes me a little while to get comfortable enough with the person to fully express my excitement. I learned, though, that with dating, I need to fake my excitement in the first date until I finally make it to feeling comfortable on the third date.
       Most importantly, I've learned how to learn and this has become one of my most cherished lessons. I have come to truly know that, "The more you learn, the more you realize you don't know." There are so many things in this world that I don't know, but I love expanding my knowledge every day at such a wonderful campus!

[18] Finally Found Facebook

     Growing up, I was never allowed to have a Facebook. My mom had one, my dad had one, and my older brother had one, but my parents never allowed me to have one. I guess they thought I would waste too much time on such a pointless internet site. Unfortunately, Facebook is quite the social directory for today's media-savy world. Technology is huge and everyone uses Facebook.

     On my eighteenth birthday, my parents told me it was finally okay to get a Facebook, but even I knew they were so ten years ago and no one starts getting them now. The time had come and gone. But in college, my ward has a Facebook page for announcements and getting to know each other. I really missed out on learning names and faces for the first few months because I never saw these people on social media. Luckily, my roommates are great and realized my Facebook-challenged mind needed some help. They set me up with a Facebook account, and now I am happy to say that I can now see every piece of people's lives whether I want to see it or not... In all seriousness though, I am excited for this new opportunity to share the gospel through social media. I may need a little help understanding what "Poking" is though...?

[17] My Parents Were Right All Along

    In high school, I was known for having strict parents. They had the most intense rules and they never let me break them. Ever. One rule, was that I was never allowed to sleep in past 8:30 a.m. no matter what. Even if it was Saturday, I was expected to wake up and be doing chores by 8:30. I had a date Friday night and was very tired so waking up Saturday morning was not very easy. When the morning came, I opened my eyes and looked at the clock that read 8:33. I jumped out of bed and started making the bed. Right then, my dad walked into my room and looked at me. He told me that he knew I wasn't up at 8:30, so he took away my phone for the rest of the weekend for a punishment. 

     My parents were strict like that all the time. I never knew it was that bad until my friends curfews got later and later until they didn't have one anymore and mine stayed at 10:30. I was expected to tell my parents everywhere I was whenever I went anywhere and changed locations. I was expected to get home at 10:30 even up until the day I left for college. 

     I told myself that I would never do that to my future kids. They would have late curfews like all of their friends, and I would let them rest on the weekends after hard weeks of school. I would let them have sleepovers and have their own phones. They would know how much I love them because I would show them in letting them hang out with friends when they wanted to because my parents wouldn't let me. 

     I thought I was right and they were wrong, until I came to college. I am in a Human Development class and one day we talked about parenting. That day, I realized that my parents were amazing parents and they did almost everything right. They made rules (even if they were a little harsh) and stuck to them. They didn't let me break rules and that taught me consistency. My parents set high expectations for me, but without them, I wouldn't be where I am today. Now I know that my parents were right all along and I owe them big time. I guess their reward will be sweet when I am a mom and have similar rules to the ones I had growing up. 

[16] David A. Bednar's "The Character of Christ'

     I recently read a talk by Elder David A. Bednar titled The Character of Christ. It was given a few years ago at a BYU-I devotional. The entire talk was completely life-changing and inspiring. A few points that I really liked had to do with how he broke up the word Character.
    The first few letters are C-H-A-R which are the first letters in charity. Charity is the pure love of Christ. How we show our gratitude and Christ-like love to others shows who we are which is our character.
     The other letters are A-C-T which obviously spell out the word act. Our character is defined by our actions. We may believe something or think it is a good idea, but it doesn't necessarily become a part of our character until we do something about it. We can change our character to become more Christ-like by showing actions of love and especially service.
     The main point that really hit me was when he said, "Your character is how your thoughts are outward instead of inward." I pondered that statement for a while and decided to put it to the test. As I walked around campus, I started to pay attention to the thoughts that I usually had. I didn't change them, I just made a conscious effort to remember them. After a while, I realized that most, if not all, of my thoughts were inward. For example, I thought about what others may be thinking about me, or how I look, or what my future agenda was. They weren't all necessarily bad thoughts, I just was thinking about how everything around me affected me. I was thinking about myself and if others were thinking of me.
     I decided that to know if the doctrine of outward thoughts strengthening character was true, I would need to test it out. So I did. I changed my thoughts for a whole day to what I could do to help those around me. I started thinking about what others were going through and how I could serve them. I found myself smiling at strangers and wanting to serve people I've never met. I saw people that usually bother me, and found things I like about them.
     I learned so much about thoughts and how changing them from being self-centered to selfless increased my self worth. I felt better about myself and what I am capable of. I have felt more positive and happy. I hope after some more time with practice that positive thoughts will turn into actions that turn others to Christ.

[15] Just One More Snack

     It all started because Haley (my roommate) loves popcorn, so she brought a lot of it to college. We had only used her special popcorn once, so the Tupperware with the kernels in it was still mostly full. We had a friend, Michael, over to hang out and play guitar just like we did almost every night. He never noticed our popcorn stash though, so he pulled out the popcorn Tupperware from the usual place in the cabinet and looked at it for a while. He got distracted, so he set it up on top of the fridge and no one noticed. We had a great night, then Michael left. 

     After a few minutes, all of us roommates dispersed into our bedrooms except Hailey. She wanted to get one last snack before winding down for bed. I remember standing in my room and I could only hear what was happening, but that was enough to know what was going on. I heard the fridge door open, then Hailey screamed as loud as she could, and then there was the sound of a million popcorn kernels hitting the ground and flying everywhere around the kitchen. 

      The house was silent. Everyone knew what happened and no one wanted to say anything. Quietly, the rest of us made our way to the kitchen to find Hailey sitting on the ground next to thousands and thousands of popcorn kernels with the door of the fridge wide open. Immediately everyone busted into laughter. I don't think we were laughing because we found it exciting and amusing that we would have to clean up every kernel, but we were laughing because we could't believe that this had happened. 

      We cleaned up the best we could, but because there were kernels on every inch of the entire kitchen floor, to this day we still find popcorn kernels. At least now we can enjoy cleaning up the few we find remembering the great times of laughter and misfortune of the day Hailey wanted just one more snack...