August vacation

So while I lived in Utah I had 2 of the most amazing roommates who were sisters. They happened to be from Texas and had a lot of Texas pride, but not too much. They never rubbed it your face. They also had another sister and a brother-in-law that lived in the area that took me in and treated me like I was part of their family while we were in school. Now, 3 out of the 4 of them are back in Texas and the other will soon join them. (Classes will soon be over!!) I could not be more grateful for all of them. I am so glad that my schedule has time off that I can use to see them again for the first time in almost a year.
By the time I get out there it will have been a year since I said my tearful good-byes to my awesome roommates as I left to start over in North Carolina. I, for one, cannot wait for our reunion. It has been too long. I miss them more than they know or can probably comprehend.
Texas and all the great Tex-Mex restaurants that I've been hearing of for the past 2 years- watch out. August 2011, Magnolia, TX is the time and place of the Charlie, Sam and Jannette reunion. It's offical! I CANNOT wait!!!


Now I just have to book my flight...


Edit... I now have a flight. Texas vacay from August 17-23!!!!!

Sometimes it's the little things in life

So the other day I was thinking to myself that I could not remember the last time I saw a rainbow.
There has been some interesting weather here on the East Coast lately and North Carolina has gotten its fair share. This past week it had been raining on and off. Not very conducive to the amount of studying that I had to do to ready myself for finals.
So there I was on Friday, feeling extremely tired from the long week of finals and what felt like non-stop studying, when I looked out of my window and saw the perfectly shaped and bright double rainbow that seemed to be over our apartment complex. It was just a little thing. But I felt in some wierd way that Heavenly Father had been listening to my random ramblings. I felt like He wanted to show to me that He was there, especially through this extremely stressful time in my life and that is what I needed to see on Friday.
By Friday I had taken 2 out of my 3 finals. With my 3rd being the next morning at 9a. Yes. On a Saturday. I had already found out how well I did on my first one- and I say well because the grade that I got on that final was better than I had received all semester in any of my classes. However, I did not feel confident after my final on Wednesday and almost felt exhausted from it to the point that I did not want to study another set of powerpoints but knew that I had my most important final still to come.
I'm usually not such a baby when it comes to finals. But I can say that I have never had 3 comprehensive finals that were at least 20% of my grade in the same semester, let alone in the same week. So it kind of hit me hard.
So the rainbow on Friday afternoon felt like an answer to a prayer. Even if it was just a small one.
I need to look more for these little things in my life because I know that they are there and that they have a purpose.

Spring Break 2011

So this year I am so excited to say that I have a Spring Break. I probably won't appreciate it when I am still in classes at the end of April. But with how the last couple of weeks have been I can NOT wait.
So because I am off for a week and because Jennifer was able to get that same week off we decided to go somewhere. In order for us to get there we have to go on this very large boat. It has about 12 different floors on it. A pool, a fitness center, a spa, night clubs, restaurants with all you can eat food, a theater, casino (which we won't be using obviously) and an inside stateroom which will have different animals made out of towels waiting for us each time we come back to our room.

Yes. Jennifer and I are going on a cruise. For 5 nights. We will be in the Bahamas and the Caribbean. Neither of us have ever been on one before. It will be quite the adventure I'm sure. I just want to be in the sun and actually have a pool that has water that isn't below freezing in it. I want a tan. I want to not have school to worry about. I want to have fun.
I can not wait!!! Thank you Jennifer for this wonderful present and for giving me a week to decompress so that I can make it through the rest of the semester. It'll be so much to hang out on a boat with you and party!!!
And another plus of all this... I will be half way done with the semester when I come back from Spring Break. I tell myself that if I can make it through the first half then I can definitely make it through the second half. Then it's all down hill from there.

My Ode to Sam

Because this is a "just because I can" thing and because I miss her, I have decided to make a blog post just for her.
Here is a sampling of all the things that Sam has introduced to me since our meeting way back in August 2008.


(This is my favorite part of the 3- but if you don't know what this is you should go listen to all 3 parts.)




(The Valentine's Day one is good as well!)


(I think it was Chris who showed this to Sam, I just love it and I think Sam has an amazing voice and could do the same thing if she just let herself.)

That is just the start of it. Sam (and sisters) have introduced me to many t.v. shows as well. Some I still watch, others I just let Sam update me on them every now and then.


I think this is the one show that stuck with me the most.


(This is really a thanks to Kristen who showed it to Sam who in turn showed it to me.)


(The show was better than the movie- even if I did fall asleep during it.)




I think we just watched this for the host's accent.


Never really got into it but I did watch it occasionally and I felt bad for when Sam had to explain the entire back story to me.


I only watched it for Dean, not Dean on this show but Dean in Gilmore Girls which I think was Sam on this show.


I just want Clark Kent to fly already!

Thank you Sam for being a wonderful inspiration to me even with the distance between us. You have been a terrific friend and I am so lucky to have met you at BYU. Even if no else likes your sense of humor I am glad that I got to partake of it on a daily basis- it still gets me through some rough days.

Update

I have really been slacking in this lately. I could say that it had to do with all the studying I had to do towards the end of the semester or I could say nothing important happened to post about. However, both of those would be wrong. I was just lazy. But I am going to post again before the end of the year. I just have to think about what I need to write about.
Until then... good night and good luck.

Thank you to those that still read this and have a very Merry Christmas!!

Dating

Today for Priesthood/RS lesson we had our Stake President do the lesson. He took questions that anyone had. I knew at least one would involve dating. The last one he talked about was in fact about dating. Someone asked if he had any suggestions on dating members of the church because it seems at times it is easier to date out of the church. He had all the guys stand up and ask if they remembered the covenants they made in the temple. They all nodded. He said that it was all the guys responsibilities to date and to be the ones asking girls out on dates. He said that he thought that Christ would hold the guys responsible for what they did and did not do in regards to dating. (We'll be held accountable for a lot more than that but that's what he focused on.)
He also talked about having a long term perspective on life and more importantly dating. He asked us how long we existed before we came to the earth. It was a long time and in that time we were single. In this life, in the context of eternity, we are single for a short while- no matter when we get married, next week, next year, in 10 years or even in 50 years. This life is short. We have all of eternity to look forward to. Eternity is a long time as well. That is a time that we won't spend as singles.
So I guess what I took out of his message was to live in the moment. I know that I have all of eternity to look forward to. So whenever that happy occasion does happen for me, and I know it will happen, I know that it will be when it is supposed to happen and with the person it's supposed to happen with. I love this gospel and the peace it brings me on days such as today.

Spiritual Thought

So one thing that I really liked that we did in my old BYU ward was to read a Conference talk every week and then have a talk on it during Sacrament Meeting the following week. I miss that.
Well tonight I was in charge of the spiritual thought for FHE. I was asked to use one of the talks from this past General Conference. It got me wanting to start doing the reading a talk per week thing again.

For my spiritual thought I used the talk from the Sunday Morning Conference session- Trust in God, Then Go and Do by President Eyring. Here are some snippits that I liked.
"Each of you is a unique child of God. God knows you individually. He sends messages of encouragement, correction, and direction fitted to you and to your needs."
"The Savior invited Peter to leave the safety of a boat to walk to Him across water. We ache for him and see our own need for greater trust in God as we hear the account:
"And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
"And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
"But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
"And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bud me come unto thee on the water.
"And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
"But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sing, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
"And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"
"We can take courage from the fact that Peter came to trust the Lord enough to stay faithful in His service all the way to his martyrdom."
"Be still, and know that I am God."
"For me it began in 1820 with a young boy in a grove of trees on a farm in the state of New York. The boy, Joseph Smith Jr., walked among the trees to a secluded spot. He knelt to pray with complete trust that God would answer his pleading to know what he should do to be cleansed and saved through the Atonement of Jesus Christ."
"The Father revealed to us that He lives, that Jesus Christ is His Beloved Son, and that He loved us enough to send that Son to save us, who are His children."
Joseph Smith trusted that his prayer would be answered. He didn't know the gospel but he knew that one scripture that got him to the grove- he knew that if he asked with sincere faith that his prayer would be answered.
"He can and does place people in positions of influence who want what is best for the people and who trust in the Lord."
He also puts people in our lives at certain times to remind us that He is mindful of us as well.
"You show your trust in Him when you listen with the intent to learn and repent and then you go and do whatever He asks. If you trust God enough to listen for His message in every sermon, song, and prayer in this conference, you will find it. And if you then go and do what He would have you do, your power to trust Him will grow, and in time you will be overwhelmed with gratitude to find that He has come to trust you."
Elder Scott, 2003, "Trust in God... no matter how challenging the circumstances... your peace of mind, your assurance of answers to vexing problems, your ultimate joy depend upon your trust in Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ."