Wednesday, April 27, 2011

wait a second.

Hey life? Where did you go?

This is going to be so much harder than I thought. I guess I will see you again in 14 weeks. Hopefully.

Friday, April 15, 2011

finally some springish summerish sunshine. ish.

I'm really sad that my institute class is almost over. That class has taught me so much! In just a few short months I have been inspired so much more than even Brother Toth's four years he had with me in high school. And I thought Brother Toth's class was amazing! I have learned much much more about Christ than I have ever before. A lot of that has been my own personal study because I was inspired to study up at home as well. I only have two class periods left, and I will really miss it.

Work. I go home happy now. I love my new position. I've been making a lot of little mistakes, but I haven't had any training on the position like what I am actually in charge of or what I am supposed to do in this situation. I have observed the other CSM while I was on a register and everything, but not really in depth or I haven't paid that much attention because my job was different from hers. Nevertheless, I am learning the ways and I will get to a point where I don't let any mistakes by. I just have done things like forget to vaccum earlier than the announcement of closing or lock money in the drawer instead of giving it straight to a manager. Or not knowing that I was in charge of putting the sliding doors on one-way when we are closed so customers wouldn't get in. Or leaving the droors closed at the end of the night instead of open so the office lady can get to it in the morning. Or...haha the list goes on. I haven't made the same mistake twice though--so I am learning :)

Namaste.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Live, Laugh & Love

I've been thinking.

I know, I know. You didn't know I was capable of thought.

I've been trying lately to study Christ's actions on the earth and to be more like Him through following what He did. Here are just a few of my thoughts today:

If we are not supposed to let our left hands know what our right hands are doing, imagine how much more Christ must have done in His life. Our lives and service are supposed to be kept secret, and Christ's was written about and preserved through the years. I guess I have never thought about how much He must have done that is not documented.

Also. I have been trying to be more like Christ--thinking the way He did and acting the way He did. In institute, we were talking about how when we are in the service of our fellow men, we are only in the service of our God. Therefore, the service is really coming from God. I have been trying to think and be like Christ, when what I really could be doing is trying to think and act like God, which is all Christ was really doing with His life. I donno--I guess that thought was more of an eye opening thing as I was sitting in institute this morning.

I was watching a movie on Emma Smith last night. I liked a couple of the quotes in the movie like, "when the spirit of truth touches your heart, then there is no room for doubt," "shall we not go on in such great a cause?" and "sometimes you know things with your heart that you don’t know with your head." It was a good movie. You really had to know the church's history in order to understand it though because it jumped around without transitioning into the next thought!

I loved General Conference this past weekend. I laughed really hard when C. Scott Grow started talking :D Here are just a few of my favorite quotes from the speakers throughout the four sessions I saw:

"Everyone is tested. One might think it is unfair to be singled out and subjected to a particular temptation, but this is the purpose of mortal life—to be tested. And the answer is the same for everyone: we must, and we can, resist temptations of any kind." –Boyd K Packer

"Inside the footlocker was a wooden tray and package of sacrament cups so that we could be blessed by the peace and hope of the Lord’s Supper even in the conflict and despair of war." –L Tom Perry

"Warn them that they will encounter people who pick which commandments they will keep and ignore others that they choose to break. I call this the cafeteria approach to obedience. This practice of picking and choosing will not work. It will lead to misery. To prepare to meet God, one keeps all of His commandments." –Russell M. Nelson

"It is true. We live to die, and we die to live again. From an eternal perspective, the only death that is truly premature is the death of one who is not prepared to meet God." –Russell M. Nelson

"...tithing will keep your name enrolled among the people of God." –Russell M. Nelson

"I testify to you that our Father in Heaven loves His children. He loves us. He loves you. When necessary the Lord will even carry you over obstacles as you seek His peace with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Often He speaks to us in ways that we can hear only with our heart. To better hear His voice, it would be wise to turn down the volume control of the worldly noise in our lives. If we ignore or block out the promptings of the Spirit for whatever reason, they become less noticeable until we cannot hear them at all. Let us learn to hearken to the promptings of the Spirit and then be eager to heed them." –Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"Often, the answer to our prayer does not come while we’re on our knees but while we’re on our feet serving the Lord and serving those around us…By becoming the answer to someone’s prayer, we often find the answer to our own." –Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"My brothers and sisters, temples are more than stone and mortar. They are filled with faith and fasting. They are built of trials and testimonies. They are sanctified by sacrifice and service." –Thomas S. Monson

"I express my undying gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the temple now being built in Rome and for all of our temples, wherever they are. Each one stands as a beacon to the world, an expression of our testimony that God, our Eternal Father, lives, that He desires to bless us and, indeed, to bless His sons and daughters of all generations. Each of our temples is an expression of our testimony that life beyond the grave is as real and as certain as is our life here on earth. I so testify." –Thomas S. Monson

"Brethren, do you lead out in family activities such as scripture study, family prayer, and family home evening, or does your wife fill in the gap your lack of attention leaves in the home? Do you tell your wife often how very much you love her? It will bring her great happiness. I’ve heard men tell me when I say that, “Oh, she knows.” You need to tell her. A woman grows and is greatly blessed by that reassurance. Express gratitude for what your spouse does for you. Express that love and gratitude often." –Richard G. Scott

"As I have thought back over our life together, I realize how blessed we’ve been. We have not had arguments in our home or unkind words between us. Now I realize that blessing came because of her. It resulted from her willingness to give, to share, and to never think of herself." –Richard G. Scott

"It is so rewarding to be married. Marriage is wonderful. In time you begin to think alike and have the same ideas and impressions. You have times when you are extremely happy, times of testing, and times of trial, but the Lord guides you through all of those growth experiences—together." –Richard G. Scott

For the past few years I have been thinking that I will be a better person when I am older and more mature. I would be better at following the commandments (and not being a cafeteria chooser) when I am older. In the past few weeks I have been thinking about how I will never reach that point when I'm older unless I find a place to start. I'm wondering, why not start now? Why not be the best I can be right now? I have no answer for the why not. I just know that I have a new approach on my life, and I'm starting NOW. I hope it sticks with me.



Take every opportunity to live fully. Laugh often to firm up your tummy. Love with all your heart. :)

Saturday, April 2, 2011

beauty lies all around.



This made my day soooo good. Lily Ann. :) :) :)

Today was my last day of NOT working as a Customer Service Manager. Next week I start! Everyone at work has been telling me how they wouldn't want the job. I guess mean people don't get to me as much as others. Some of the people at work will take angry customers personally and it makes them feel horrible. I'm not that way. Speaking of angry and horrible customers, yesterday I got a lady who wanted to make a return, but her receipt was from April of 2010!! We don't even carry the product anymore! She got so mad at me when all I was trying to do was help her! The old man behind her was just like, "jeez it's not your fault!" to me. I love old men. Haha. I had this one old guy a while ago that said, loud and clear, "are all your customers that rude and inconsiderate?" right in front of the lady. Oh goodness.

Today was so sunshiney and happy. Yay.

I went to Harbor Freight the other day (thank you dad for telling me where the cheapest tools were located) and bought me some wrenches and socket wrenches. I fixed my car! No more problems. Sweetness.