I went to the IMA banquet... and came home thinking like mad...

Not necessarily about the date I'd just been on, although it was a good one. The young man who escorted me this evening was a good friend from the ward last year, and thus very easy to talk to and enjoy spending time with. Great date, just not the topic my mind is racing through at this moment. Well then, if it is not the date, you may ask, what is it that I could possibly be thinking so much about right now? I'll tell you.

Once upon a time some neighbors of mine (young men neighbors, by the way) shared with us a diagram of sorts. Not just any diagram-- this one outlines a theory behind dating. This theory is mounted upon our wall of quotes... that's how impressive it was to us. Ever since we were made aware of this guy-perspective of dating, we've been searching as roommates for a counter-diagram, thus highlighting the female-perspective. As time has passed, I've formulated a few key concepts of the diagram, in conspiracy with several other members of the female gender, of course. ;) And tonight, at the IMA banquet of all places, I think I've made a breakthrough.

The speaker who addressed us this evening was a wonderful man full of energy and genuine happiness. His words had me attentive the entire time he stood in front of us. He got to a point in his talk where he referred to the activity we all know and love from our childhood called Dot-to-Dots. You remember? Remember how excited you got as a child when you finished a dot-to-dot and finally saw what the picture was?? Best feeling ever, right?

Well, now that we've reminisced our childhood naivety and pure excitement for life, we can go on with the story. As this gentleman explained his analogy of life being like a giant dot-to-dot, things fell right into place for me... Unlike as we get older and can instantly see what the dot-to-dot has in store for us, life's dot-to-dot is completely a mystery to our eyes until it is complete. Connecting the dots then, becomes more of a challenge. Okay, back to being a kid again, remember when you were just learning to count and the numbers on the dot-to-dot seemingly eluded your view? Remember a parent or sibling or friend pointing out the next number, the next dot? Remember, at times, a helping hand grasping your tiny hand and the crayon propped within and guiding the tip of the accoutrement to the next dot? Remember?

Okay, the dots of our lives can be people, experiences, places, trials, etc... just things that lead us to becoming who we'll eventually be. All things leading to our finished picture. And guess what? Those helpers pointing out the next dot or even gently leading us to that dot can most certainly be people we date. Or people we room with, or parents, or friends, or siblings, or teachers... you get the picture. Best part of what our speaker tonight said? We can be dots in other peoples' dot-to-dots. We can be a part of the process that makes them who they become. Pretty cool, huh?

There are SO many venues of thought sprouting from this idea, but I'll just focus on one for now. Occasionally, we see ourselves becoming dots in someone's dot-to-dot... or one of those helping hands guiding such a person to the next dot. And sometimes we see ourselves as crucial parts of that person's life. When, in all actuality, we are simply edge-dots leading to the ultimate picture of that person's life. Thus, dating is confusing. You can't see the whole picture quite yet, so that dot in your life or the dot you are becoming in someone else's life could be rather insignificant in the entire scheme of things. Or... it may be rather crucial. But we don't know which... which is what makes it confusing.

Point being, and what I got out of it, I want to be a dot in many people's lives. I want to help them accomplish their goals and dreams and become their best self. Whether I become a significant dot or otherwise, at least I've helped them on their way. Also, a huge thanks to all those who have become dots in my life. You, yes you, are helping me on my path of completing my picture. Thank you thank you thank you! I love you all.

I determined I have silly roommates...

Not just mildly silly roommates, majorly silly roommates! And yes, I do include myself (and my sister- pretty much an adopted roommate) in this "majorly silly" category. We do crazy things. Things like taking pictures at night on playgrounds, flinging ourselves back and forth inside a human rubber band, walking home in previously mentioned rubber band, squishing 6 people in a regulation-size canoe, swimming in real cold water at 2nd dam, sit in the tub together, have conversations about abstract concepts like emotions and the fall of Adam and the Big Bang theory and things that make our brains explode, create videos at midnight and feng shui in other apartments, throw epic birthday parties, take pictures like NONE OTHER, and create Life Mottos such as "Beat the Ratio."

Yes, we are silly, and proud of it. :) If you only could read half of the quotes on our quote wall and hear the stories behind them... But, as they always say, pictures are worth 1000 words... so here you are.
1st of all... for our dear friend in China-- we miss her face, but LOVE emailing and Skyping to keep in touch! :DPlayground FUN!!! :DHuman rubber band... yes, we walked all the way home in it. Roommate birthday parties... gotta love 'em. Yep, that's 6 of us. In a canoe. At 2nd dam. Jungle explorers... muahahaha!I love this angle... you can see just how close we came to swamping the little canoe of ours. hehe.CUDDLING!!! Love it. Camille died... but not really... but we were sad anyways. Tin foil party!!! We scrubbed and wrapped 180 potatoes in foil... gotta love linger longers.

I shouted, "Hello Logan!!!"

I've officially been in Logan for 3 whole days now... and I'm LOVING being back. :) Don't get me wrong, I immensely enjoyed my summer job in Jackson and I do miss the people I got to mingle with up there, but it's SO GOOD to be back.
And my roommates!! Ahh, my roommates... they are three of God's most choice daughters, and they demonstrate that every day by the way they speak, act, treat others, and choose to spend their time. I love these girls with all my heart. I look forward to a wonderful year getting to know them better via quote walls, late nights, silly moments, and giggling galore! We've already had some pretty epic adventures together- note that we have also adopted my little sister as part of our "roommate-ness" ;) She's pretty great though. We'll take her.
Adventures so far... ice skating with the institute, stalking the guy in the Nike shirt, posing on playground structures, feng shui art in Camille's room, licking pudding bowls clean, Wackee Six (of course!), and cuddling... according to the behavioral definition.

Oh, and our new motto for life is "Every moment is a photo-opp..." Thus, our legacy of silly pictures continues. Until next time.

I was stuck on the word and meaning of 'Contentment'

For the past few weeks I've been on one of those wavelengths that leads you to come back to the same thought process again and again... It only takes effect when I have little or nothing to think or worry about. I've had some long drives and spirit-filled Sundays that have played into my study of the concept of contentment. Today I got the chance to study a more worldly perspective of the word via Wikipedia... interesting, but not quite as satisfying as my previous discoveries via scripture reading and thoughts of the spirit.

Wiki defined contentment as a self sustaining enjoyment. The source also implies that being content comes intuitively to every person. Along similar lines, but in a less surface-like way, Elder Maxwell said that being content means acceptance without self-pity. He also said that pondering often precedes contentment and that true contentment reflects our participative assent rather than uncaring resignation. I found it interesting that being content, it seems, never just comes to anyone... it's a destination reached by self-instigated efforts.

After some exploring in the bible dictionary and topical guide, I discovered yet another real meaning of contentment... also known as the peace or rest of the Lord. It is, after all, our reward if we are faithful-- peace in this world and eternal life in the world to come-- (D&C 59:23) The feeling of being content, I believe, is heaven-sent. God wants us to be satisfied at every point in the twists and turns of our earthly and eternal journey. This desire of our Heavenly Father is why songs such as 'Be Still, My Soul' touch our hearts with the comforting blanket of the spirit as we are assured that God is in charge always. If we let Him lead us and be our shepherd, we shall not want. There it is again... not wanting = contentment.

After much pondering and returning to this subject again and again, I found a verse of Isaiah's that put the capstone on things for me... Isaiah 58:11 reads, "And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not."

Far too many of us spend our lives in a constant flurry of decisions, worrying about what to do with our lives and how to effectively use our time. Not to say that these activities don't reflect worthy and righteous goals... because most of the time they do... but far too often, we don't take enough time to be settled, content, satisfied, happy, at peace. The grace of the Lord can aid us in our search for contentment, if only we'll let Him take the lead. He knows what will bring us peace and where we need to be to get to that point, trust Him.

1 Corinthians 14:33 "God is not the author of confusion, but of peace..."

... The trio of pictures is complete!!

Any of you folks out there that spend any time talking with me as of the past few months know that I have a fair amount of stories based upon good times with a certain trio of people... (and I'm pretty sure that was probably a run-on sentence, but oh well.) hehe. Besides the understandable exception of my sisters, these two girls can distract, giggle, crack inside jokes, and gallivant around with me better than anyone! Funniest part of the story-- we've only really been close friends for maybe 6 months.

Quick overview-- it was a song, in fact, that brought us together. We'd known of each other, and brushed shoulders at church in the ward-- I seemed to always be in contact with the choir pianist and the Relief Society president... weird eh? ;) hehe. Well, a certain someone had been asked to put together a musical number and she'd wanted to have her mother come up perhaps and sing a duet with her... that's where I stepped in... I, being the eager soul that I am, requested to sing the duet. Turns out, that was one of the best bold requests I've ever made. Thus began the adventures of the 3 Musketeers. Such a title stemmed from the fact that we were pretty much ALWAYS together... at least when we weren't studying. (Bah ha!! Studying around those two was a laugh and a half! Never got anything done.) Problem was, eventually we determined if only 2 of us were together, it wasn't completely distracting-- we could still have a grand 'ol time talking and giggling, but not uncontrollably. Add a specific third party though, and wowza... we pulled out all the stops on the uncontrollable laughter part of the deal. Once the inside jokes began to fly, we couldn't be stopped. Quote walls were formed, letters of invitation to our Musketeer-ish-ness were written, the behavioral definition of cuddling was officially commissioned, and late night conversations became the norm.

One day, two of us were together- studying, and getting a lot accomplished actually. Then, a phone began ringing... on the other line was the missing third of our party. She quickly asked if the two of us were together, little did she know she was already on speaker phone. :D A story ensued, of course, and we giggled together via cell phone. Oh, one other fact about the 3 of us... for some reason, we managed to always snap pictures when we're together. With the help of facebook, we immortalized this phone conversation and tagged the phone in the middle as the before-mentioned third party. As time went on, we added another similar picture with a different of us tagged as the phone, and now... the set is complete. Just thought I'd share. ;) These girls have been such a blessing in my life. I know now the power of the influence of good friends. There's not much more important than surrounding yourself with the right people. Love you two!

I've come to realize more and more that life is about people.

But literally... think about it- the only thing around us that has been around forever and will last forever is everyone around us. People and the relationships we form here on Earth are the most important thing we'll ever accomplish while we're here. You know that funny 'click' feeling you get with some friends or family and you just feel like you've known each other for forever and a day? I honestly believe that we re-form such close relationships from days before we remember-- we most certainly had relationships with people before this mortal life, and when we are lucky enough to reunite with those closest to us then, we become, as the phrase goes "like sisters (or brothers)"... ironic, isn't it, that we know we're all spirit sons and daughters of the
same Heavenly Father, and thus siblings?

Life is about people. The moments we share with each other, the selfless acts of service we exchange, the late night conversations, the deep 'mysteries of the universe' discussions, and the love and bond and connection we feel toward those we're close to.

Working where I do and for who I do, this fact has become even more apparent. When I get to host guests for a week at a time and experience some groups come together in more ways than we'd even hoped for... and then stay in touch with each other and us... it's pretty incredible. We had a 46 year old gentleman with us on the trip this last week-- his name was Tim and he has Down Syndrome. This man taught me so much this week- he taught me that there is another level of enthusiasm for life that most of us don't even come close to realizing- he taught me that willing hands and an obedient attitude can always allow you to be helpful- he taught me that being accepting of someone isn't a particular act, it comes with a general love for the person you're around. Life is about people. There are no other things that can replace the people you come in contact with.

... I thought to myself, 'Self-- THIS is what I do for a job...'

Seriously, I forgot how much I LOVE my job up here in the Tetons. The first week of having guests with us was an experience I'll probably never forget. The sheer nature of the trip we provide for people from all over the world is a life changing experience. Saying goodbye to those folks on Thursday was a heart-wrenching process. It's incredible to me how close a group of people can grow together in just 4 days. Even after miserable weather Monday (sheets and buckets constantly barraging our seemingly inconsequential campsite... it literally lasted for hours and hours) we pulled through with smiles on our faces and had quite the week.

The lake we camped next to on day 2 of our trip was absolutely breathtaking that night...
The guests were more than willing to help with chopping wood, packing up the trucks and wagons, and even cooking with us in the kitchen... we had a couple ladies super excited about learning their way around a dutch oven-- it fascinated them. :) Pretty cool to see a bunch of city slickers out in the forest having the time of their lives. We had a few teenage boys on the trip from Florida who, after the miserable Monday, eventually warmed up to the experience and even had a hard time saying goodbye.

Have I said that I work for the most incredible people? They absolutely LOVE what they do. I feel so taken care of as well-- I had the battery go out in my car this past week and every step of the way I had someone there by my side helping me know what I needed to do to get it taken care of. My boss even took time out of his insanely busy day to put in the new battery for me.

Let's see-- so the gist of my life up here in Jackson involves playing with horses (okay, not really playing... but it sure feels like it.), cooking in dutch ovens all day long, building fires galore (I promise, I am NOT a pyro...), sleeping under a brilliant sheet of stars with the magnificent Tetons towering in the distance, and interacting with people from all over the world as we share with them an experience they'll never forget. I'm a pretty lucky girl.
Oh, and also-- I'm getting to spend some quality time with my little sister this summer. I love her face SO much!! We went to the park close by today during lunch and just had a pleasant little chat, played with a Frisbee, sat on the swings for a bit, and discovered a prime cuddling spot on the playground... ;) hehehe. It's been so great having her here. I love my sister.