Random Thoughts

Despite the fact that I lost my keys

and that I have 8 AM classes every day

and that I'm dirt poor.

Things are going well.

I've really enjoyed my classes so far. This is the first time that I've been really excited about starting school in awhile. I don't know what it is, but I have this random drive that's making me want to learn and expand my mind so much. I think it's partly because this whole summer, I felt like I was kind of in a standstill and wasn't learning anything. Even though I've only had three days of classes so far, I feel like I've already learned a lot of really interesting things, and I'm so excited for the rest of the semester.

I've never been a morning person, but I've been forced to at least try to become one over the past few years, especially this summer. I made the decision to have classes from 8am-1pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday's, and then only have one class on Tuesday and Thursday. So far, it's been a great decision. It's so nice to have my afternoon's open, even if I have to go to work later on.

My apartment is nice. I have my own room, which I love. There is a washer and dryer in the complex, which is amazing. It's across the street from Forrest's new apartment, which is definitely awesome. It's kind of pricey though and I would like to be saving more money than I am. So that's a bit discouraging. I'm thinking about finding another job somewhere that I can work 10 hours more. I'm working the maximum amount of hours I can on campus, which I'm grateful for (even if I'm incredibly bored right now.)

I went to the distribution center in Orem today. I have been wanting to make one of these cool picture displays portraying The Living Christ, so I had to go there to get the 8x10 that I needed. For some reason, I just thought the distribution center was the coolest place ever. I just walked around for like 30 minutes. It's the same feeling I get going to the BYU Bookstore or Deseret Book. haha.

I've been really feeling a lot lately that I should be doing more family history. However, it's just SO confusing to me. I have no idea what to do with it or where to start. Forrest and I spent awhile on Family Search, but only because we both have an ancestor with the same name, and we wanted to find out if it was the same one (don't worry, it's like 8 generations down the line). It's been fun to see some of the family history that's been done in his family. But anyways, like I said, I've been really wanting to family history. Today in my Joseph Smith and the Restoration class, my teacher, Sister Susan Black, talked about patriarchal blessings and how they tell us the things that will bring us great joy and happiness in this life and how we can obtain them. She mentioned that her's said something about Genealogy, and how at first she was like "what! That is going to make me so happy?", but then she went and did it, and she loves it. It reminded me of part of my blessing that says a similar thing. When I was at the distribution center, I found this book called "Member's Guide to Temple and Family History Work". It was free, so I grabbed it. I'm excited to start learning more.

I've felt exceedingly grateful for the Church lately. I feel so blessed to be a member of it and to know the things I know.

On Sunday, I went with Forrest and his new ward to sing hymns at a retirement home. What a great experience. I LOVE singing church hymns. The hymns are probably one of my favorite parts of Church. So it was really cool to be able to do that. A few weeks ago I went to a yard sale, and I got all of the hymns on CD for 1$. I thought it was quite the steal!

So, everything is going well. I've had my ups and downs over the summer, but things are finally starting to just be consistently good, and when they aren't, I've been really trying hard not to get down about it...which is definitely one of my weaknesses. But I'm working on it, and that's what matters. I definitely have more than enough reasons to be happy right now. I'm excited to see what the next few months will hold. It's crazy to think back to where I was a year ago and where I am now. I guess that's the beauty of life. :)

To end, here's a quote that I really like and that I've been working on doing more. I got it from LDS Gem's, and the talk it comes from is equally great. You can read it here.

"All you have to do is trust your Heavenly Father. Trust Him enough to follow His plan."--President Dieter F. Uchtdorf