I'm a Big Kid Now.

I stop and smile inwardly at the sweet squealing child I rarely see totting across campus. 

Living in a college town is fantastic, and yet on campus it is rare for me to observe a giggling baby, or watch children walk in line with their parents. 

What happens to the sweet squealing inner child as we grow older?

Sometimes I see it in a 21 year old young man as he flies down a snow covered hill on a cookie sheet... high pitched squeals all the way down. :) 

Other times I see it when a student comes out of the testing center, literally jumping in the air with joy over a perfect score.  

Occasionally I see it in myself. For example, I discovered while leaving the library that my friend could give me a ride to my apartment, relieving me of a chilly walk in the brisk weather. In the middle of the quiet and still library I found myself in a "fist pose". Childish? Maybe. Necessary? Completely. 

I love and appreciate living in an atmosphere where young adults are learning to be responsible, competent, and independent. I thrive on the liberty of being on my own. I am having the time of my life, and I love it! 

That being said, letting the inner sweet squealing child out every once in a while is a satisfactory event. 

So, how does one become an adult?

 I pondered this question seriously before leaving for college. It turns out, everyone is just a big kid, trying to make their way in the world and build upon knowledge they have already learned. Acting professional, mature, in control, and stable is necessary to make it through the mounting challenges we are sure to face; however, catching a glimpse of the ecstatic, bashful, humble, silly, playful child inside of all of us is quite refreshing. 

Today I stop and smile inwardly at the two sweet squealing children totting across campus: a child holding a parents hand, and myself. 

I'm a big kid now!

Liz

Lets Consider Snow.

So many thoughts. 

Let's go with the snow:

It finally snowed in Provo! :) It is beautiful, festive, and freezing. I. Love. It. 

I see untouched snow on campus and have this urge to make endless snow angels, apparently other people don't share my enthusiasm.

There are two types of snow people. Those who love snow, and those who do not. 
When the first snow hits, common conversation starters sound like this:

"Do you like snow?"

                   Answer #1: "Yes! It's so fun!"

                                     Or
                  Answer #2: "No! It's so awful!" 

It is the hot (cold) topic for a week.

Changing ones thought process to snow= fun, rather than snow= awful, makes life in Provo, Utah 10X more entertaining.  

Listening to people complain about snow is hilarious, especially girls- "How do you even dress for this weather? This snow wrecks my hair. Yesterday I slipped and it hurt really bad. (whiny face)

Lets face it, I have felt these things before, but really I think we take ourselves too seriously. Pioneers trekked through feet of snow, in less than appealing conditions and literally settled the very campus we walk on. All we do is walk a few blocks to campus on salted and snow plowed sidewalks.  

My favorite thought on snow thus far is this (it is just a thought, I haven't really applied it, but it is something to think about.)

When involved in a snowball fight, you have the wonderful opportunity to throw snow at whomever you please. Let this sink in for a moment... Okay. Read on. :) 

This means if you like someone, you can flirt by throwing snow at them. This also means if you don't like someone you can peg them with a snowball and get away with it. 

Isn't that great?? I've been contemplating this ever since the big snowball fight that occurred in the court yard of my apartment complex. It was the most brutal snowball fight I have ever participated in, and yet it was epic. 

Well, there are my thoughts on snow. Incidentally, everyone I have talked to has told me I will become tired of the snow by April. I don't think I will. We shall see. :)

Enjoy your week, stay warm, drive safe, throw snow at people... :)

Liz

Through the Window.

I'm late posting this... Better late than never? :)

Over the river and through the woods I went last week to my Thanksgiving destination. I sat packed in the back seat for five and a half hours. I slept a good amount. My hair was a mess. Yet, I was enchanted. I experienced it all, through the window. 

Thanksgiving break. What a wonderful time! The moment my last class ended I looked through the window, imagining my weekend ahead. I turned in my last essay and practically skipped back to my apartment. Through the window of the back seat, I watched Provo disappear. 

During the car ride I brought a backpack of things that needed to be done. Mandatory assignments. Being blessed with the ability to read in the car means a nausea-free car ride and hours of reading, studying, ... or looking through the window.  

Visualize it-

Grazing horses, rolling mountains, prairie grass, silhouettes of bare trees, abandoned farms, trailer parks, green freeway signs, and the open road - all through the window. 

Regardless of the many long car rides I have experienced, I will never become bored of the astounding beauty around me. Images are a picturesque painting; through the window a slideshow of living beauty. 

Thanksgiving flew by. This morning I got back in the car and watched through the window as Idaho disappeared and Utah reentered my view. I'm home now. In Provo that is; home away from home. My mandatory assignments remain unfinished. My dirty clothes need washing. That's okay though; my time was well spent looking through the window. 

I'm so thankful for vision. That illumination of color that magnifies the world around me. Whether through the window or not, life is a beautiful thing. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Stay thankful! 

Liz

The Little Things.

This week I decided to write down all of the little things that made me smile - you know, all of the little things that make up my LIFE. 

Do you know how many happy moments we miss? 

My list consists of little things that not only made me smile, but made me think,made me laugh, made me patient, and over all made me more thankful.

Here it is - The Master List of Little Things that made me smile, think, laugh, have patience, and be more thankful-

• Seeing "conclusion" after reading 10+ pages of hw
• Night drives through the mountains with roommates
• Helping old people with directions
• Falling leaves
• Free food
• How Mormon girls make clothes modest
• A guy wearing pattern print pants
• Over hearing people talk about their mission calls
• Someone quoting Lion King in my Book of Mormon class
• A grateful attitude
• My family
• Being overly happy, to the point where people just smile because of how insanely happy you are
• Happy music
• When people smell really good...
• People who know the answer to my question
• Seeing teachers on campus
• Cute surprises
• Words that are fun to say, like Rubric
• My Bio teacher, who talks like a suffer dude, but is actually a genius
• Prepared individuals
• Prayer
• Wonderful roommates
• Wonderful roommates #2 (aka Jefferson 17)
• People
• Peppermint hot chocolate
• Meeting people in the laundry room
• Birch trees
• Ducks at the duck pond, that quack at you when you climb the south campus stairs. (I swear they're laughing at me)  
• The ridged mountains
• Empty campus on a Saturday afternoon
• Tweeting birds
• Christmas earrings
• Quiet time
• Singing
• Playing the Piano
• Happy people
• Making it through the work shift alive
• Not passing out while talking to attractive men
• Pizza late at night
• The Bomb.com FHE group 
• Sleeping in on Saturday

These are just a few of the little things that are going on around us each day. Aren't they wonderful? :) 

I'm so grateful for my life. No matter how glum it can be, I love life. I LOVE being alive! I'm truly thankful for all the experiences I've had. 

I am blessed. I know who I am, I know why I am here on earth. I know where I'm going after this life. I know I can be with my family forever. I know Heavenly Father speaks to His children. I know I am one of those children, and so are you! So much to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for YOU. For all of the little things you do that may go unnoticed, thank you. 

Yay for Thanksgiving. Yay for Thanksgiving break. Yay, Yay, Yay! Enjoy you're day, and especially enjoy all of the Little Things going on all around you. 

Liz

P.S. I'd like to recognize that my mother is an exceptionally talented writer and takes the time to review my blog posts. She gives me feedback before I post in the cyber world. She is the greatest and I'm thankful for her expertise and love. 

So You Think You Can -Walk-

Running.  BANG! The gun goes off and 145 runners sprint onto the course. With little starting room, and a vicious pace, these runners still manage not to run into each other. What a wonderful thing!

How is it that at the starting line of a race the flood of determined runners in a contained area maintain their space, by staying up-right, and not crashing into another runner, but little ol’ ME tries to walk across campus, and crashes into more people than can be counted on one hand??

Walking. This my friends is no ordinary task; this is an art that must be mastered.

I love running. I've been a die hard runner now for about 2 1/2 years. When I run, I'm free. My path is clear. I dodge people like bullets. No big deal. It doesn't even phase me. Walking, however, complicates everything. There are many things to consider- if I pass someone, will I clip their heel because they aren't going fast enough? When someone is directly in my path do I move right, left, continue going straight, or turn around and run the other way? You tell me.

All I know, from my observation, most people walk like this:

Moving from point A to point B 

                                        

I walk like this:

It’s the funniest thing. I've tried so hard to master walking. When I run with other people I can feel which direction they are  planning on going, before they turn. It must be a runners vibe. I've decided that the ‘vibe’ does not work with walking. For example, while walking I may consciously believe my company and I are turning, but instead of turning as a group, I just walk directly into someone. This... is awkward. Doing this once isn't too bad, it’s the third time it happens when an explanation is needed.

A following conversation might sound like this:  "Sorry I crashed into you three times.  I’m really not blind.  I know how to walk. I promise I'm not trying to crash into you on purpose.”   Mmmhmmm - that goes over well. 

So. You think you can walk? Probably. You are probably very capable of walking without running into people. Good for you. :) In all honesty, I may have dramatized this a little. I don't crash into people that often, but still, it happens. I do the ‘left- right- left- right-stand still-walking dance’ until the other person walks around me. It always makes me chuckle inside. 

For all my fellow inhibited walking friends, don't worry! People think it's funny we can't walk in a straight line -so should you. :)

For all my perfectly normal walking friends- please be patient with those of us who could run your socks off, but can't walk in a straight line. 

Enjoy your ridiculous day!

Liz

Kindness Begins With Me.

What a long week- 

Have you ever had a long week? Of course you have! 

I can't pinpoint what made this specific week so long... it may have had something to do with the fact that I've had a desire to blog a new post since 10 minutes after I posted my first one. I resisted. 

      

All week I've tried to correlate my experiences so I could put together a "master piece" blog. To no one's great surprise every day this week has been completely different and abstract. Pulling together one cohesive blog would turn into a book of random experiences.

      

What I've decided to post today, the significant point that you should take away from all of this jabber, is this- 

Just because someone is kind does not mean: 

• that they are ditsy
• that they don't have an opinion
• that they can't stand up for themselves
• that they can't be mean  

 Kindness does not indicate weakness in an individual, it reflects strength and understanding. 

       

Maybe you knew that, it took me sometime to realize this. As I worked on trying to be kind to those around me, I felt others found my kindness to be naive. It was a frustrating time; however, I found that being kind is worth it. 

 As I strove for kindness, other valuable traits fell into place.

• People appreciate a listening ear 
• People respect a positive voice of encouragement 
• People desire a kind heart 

I have been blessed numerous times in my life with kind people who so often give me the benefit of the doubt. I will forever be grateful for the kindness shown to me. The world is not a completely terrible place. :) 

    

 To finish up, here is a poem that Elder D. Todd Christofferson mentioned in his fall 2013 conference talk. It is directed towards women, but men these tips can definitely benefit you, too. 

"The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity." 

Have a fantastic day, and remember - Kindness begins with me - 

Liz

It Is Possible.

Oh my goodness, the excitement of starting a blog. Do people read blogs? Do blogs follow the trend set by Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook - I'll read your blog if you read mine? Well, regardless of who reads my mundane blog posts, I couldn't hold back any longer.

Is it possible to find life so enchanting, so enthralling, so incredible and awe-some that the joy and pain excite every fiber of your being? I do believe it's possible. This fall I embarked on my first real adventure. Not that I grew up without adventures, but when I was taken from every affiliation I'd grown up with and moved 849 miles from rainy lush Washington to dry mountainous Utah, life unfolded before me. Everything became possible in my eyes.

I know the first, "away from home-college experience" varies among individuals. My experience thus far is what fueled me to start this blog, to express my deep delight for life, even when it's tough. It has been a little over two months and I feel like a new person. When you are taken from every material object and affiliation that once defined you, as I mentioned above, life becomes quite the wild ride. At home I danced in the rain, letting my hair drip, frizz, and curl. Now I'm bracing myself for the snow, while the air is crisp and dry and the mountains tower over me. Once I lived in a small town, when going to the store resulted in seeing half the people I knew.  Now I walk on campus and if I see one person I recognize my day is complete. I used to eat ice cream out of the carton for breakfast...Oh wait, I still do that one! The point being, when I moved away to attend college, I had to adjust and take in all of life's possibilities.

I pinpointed what I want out of life and who I want to become. I realized every single experience I have been through in my life has led me to this point, and I love it! Did you know you can love something so much it hurts? My family, the gospel of Jesus Christ, serving, learning, growing, changing, becoming, expanding, experiencing, enduring, rejoicing, it is all possible.

That's all for now. Is it common to end blog posts in a cordial goodbye? Maybe an abrupt end and nothing more? Does it depend on the blogger? Is that what I am to become, a "blogger"? It's possible!

Anything is possible when you put your mind to it - go for it,

Liz