I got my laptop today. I'm thrilled right now. Hopefully I don't have any problems and it continues to work beautifully for at least four years :) I'm typing on the bluetooth wireless keyboard I got to go with it so I don't have to use the built in one for typing long papers.
Would it be weird to post a picture on my blog? Maybe. So I'll just tell you that it's pink.
If I sound like an excited new mom, its because I spent more on this computer than most people would spend on their first-born child, so . . .
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
My first client
I have the privilege this semester of doing an undergraduate internship. That's pretty cool- it's not an opportunity many undergrad psych students get. The undergrad interns don't do mental health counseling, so with my clients I just stick to academics, but I'm still learning the process. Anyways, I saw my first client today and while I felt very inadequate, it was a lot of fun. I asked today to be assigned some special needs students too since that is more the direction I want to head. I love psychology (even though I don't plan on going into clinical, I'm still going to enjoy this semester).
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Graduate school, here I come . . .
I just registered to take the GRE today. $140 and a lot more stress to deal with. That's okay though- it will all be worth it.
I take the on April 25; just a little over three months. I have lots of studying to do. I want to apply to some pretty tough schools, so this is kind of an important thing.
Wish me luck . . .
I take the on April 25; just a little over three months. I have lots of studying to do. I want to apply to some pretty tough schools, so this is kind of an important thing.
Wish me luck . . .
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Chinese ?!!? Korean ?!!? Thai ?!!?
It is a never ending source of pleasure here at BYU Hawaii (this certainly happens at all the Church schools but is magnified at BYUH) to have the privilege of overhearing conversations between students from all over the world in their native language with students who don't speak that language natively. Every time I hear such a conversation I am amazed at the program we have in place to train missionaries, specifically those that are called to teach in a new language, and I feel a slight twinge of jealousy because I was called on an English speaking mission.
Not for long though because three weeks in the MTC was long enough for me and because I wouldn't trade the people from my mission for any others in the world.
Not for long though because three weeks in the MTC was long enough for me and because I wouldn't trade the people from my mission for any others in the world.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Tithing
The Bishop of my ward talked about something today that caught my attention; I apologize for blogging about something that isn't uniquely mine.
In the LDS Church at the end of every year, we have the opportunity to participate in something called “tithing settlement” when we are allowed to declare ourselves either full tithe payers or not. In the Church paying a full tithe means we give 10% of our gross income to the Church. There are many churches throughout the world that practice offerings or tithing (which specifically refers to ten percent), but in the LDS Church, being a full tithe payer is necessary to be able to hold a recommend that allows one to enter the temple. This is because only members of the Church who are making an honest, committed effort to live the commandments, of which tithing is one, are allowed in the LDS Temples. Tithing settlement is a private thing between you and the Bishop only. If you are not a full tithe payer, no one but you and the Bishop know. You’re not ridiculed, made to feel or ashamed, or otherwise punished, but I suppose the Bishop offers gentle counsel and testimony of the principle.
Around the world, other Churches wonder how the LDS Church is able to support and sustain itself without loans. It is because of the principle of tithing.
My Bishop spoke on this today specifically because he just recently finished tithing settlement with all the members of the ward. He said that his testimony grew during this year’s tithing settlement season because it struck him for the first time that if we were to tell members of other Churches that even our college student’s give 10% of their income to the Church, they would likely be very surprised. But in the LDS Church even our faithful college students (who are among the “poor” in the US) and members throughout the world who are poorer than even the poorest in this county can imagine still pay tithes faithfully.
I’m poor. I know that there are those that are poorer because they are unable to find employment, but as a college student who does have an income, I am definitely among the poorest of the employed workers in the country. I don’t make much money and I am responsible for every expense to support myself. And I am also a full tithe payer. And although it sometimes seem remarkable that I am able to give so much of my money in tithing to my Church in addition to other contributions I make to the Church, I always have money for the things that I need. But the most remarkable part is that I don’t even think anymore about how remarkable it is. Every paycheck, I give 10% without even thinking about and I don’t miss it. My life has been blessed by my obedience to the law of the tithe.
Before I joined the Church, I was always struggling financially, and while I still don’t have money to buy all the things I want and I still have to carefully budget and watch what I spend, I have been blessed with a job, financial aid from the government to pay for school, and the skills and patience to find good deals on necessary expenses. I know it’s because I’ve committed to show my faith in the Lord by being willing to keep this commandment and he has blessed me financially and in so many other ways.
In the LDS Church at the end of every year, we have the opportunity to participate in something called “tithing settlement” when we are allowed to declare ourselves either full tithe payers or not. In the Church paying a full tithe means we give 10% of our gross income to the Church. There are many churches throughout the world that practice offerings or tithing (which specifically refers to ten percent), but in the LDS Church, being a full tithe payer is necessary to be able to hold a recommend that allows one to enter the temple. This is because only members of the Church who are making an honest, committed effort to live the commandments, of which tithing is one, are allowed in the LDS Temples. Tithing settlement is a private thing between you and the Bishop only. If you are not a full tithe payer, no one but you and the Bishop know. You’re not ridiculed, made to feel or ashamed, or otherwise punished, but I suppose the Bishop offers gentle counsel and testimony of the principle.
Around the world, other Churches wonder how the LDS Church is able to support and sustain itself without loans. It is because of the principle of tithing.
My Bishop spoke on this today specifically because he just recently finished tithing settlement with all the members of the ward. He said that his testimony grew during this year’s tithing settlement season because it struck him for the first time that if we were to tell members of other Churches that even our college student’s give 10% of their income to the Church, they would likely be very surprised. But in the LDS Church even our faithful college students (who are among the “poor” in the US) and members throughout the world who are poorer than even the poorest in this county can imagine still pay tithes faithfully.
I’m poor. I know that there are those that are poorer because they are unable to find employment, but as a college student who does have an income, I am definitely among the poorest of the employed workers in the country. I don’t make much money and I am responsible for every expense to support myself. And I am also a full tithe payer. And although it sometimes seem remarkable that I am able to give so much of my money in tithing to my Church in addition to other contributions I make to the Church, I always have money for the things that I need. But the most remarkable part is that I don’t even think anymore about how remarkable it is. Every paycheck, I give 10% without even thinking about and I don’t miss it. My life has been blessed by my obedience to the law of the tithe.
Before I joined the Church, I was always struggling financially, and while I still don’t have money to buy all the things I want and I still have to carefully budget and watch what I spend, I have been blessed with a job, financial aid from the government to pay for school, and the skills and patience to find good deals on necessary expenses. I know it’s because I’ve committed to show my faith in the Lord by being willing to keep this commandment and he has blessed me financially and in so many other ways.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
New Years Goals
Although I frequently call them resolutions, I truly do prefer the term goals. Just looking at the definitions explains why. The edition of Webster’s that I have says:
Resolution: the act or process of resolving; the action of solving; the quality of being resolute; a formal statement expressing the opinion will, or intent of a body of persons.
Goal: the mark set as a limit to a race; an area to be reached safely in children’s games; aim, purpose; an area or object toward which play is directed.
To me the definition of goals implies something much better- it indicates a plan of action to get you where you want to go, whereas a resolution seems to set you up more for failure.
With this in mind, I’ve created the following list of New Year’s Goals. Although the Doctrine and Covenants teaches that all things are spiritual to the Lord, and therefore they are to me too, for convenience’s sake I still did divide my goals up into temporal and spiritual. My journal entry with my goals is much more extensive than this list and includes even more specific plans of action then I’ve included here, but holy cow- you don’t need to know everything that goes on in my head.
Temporal
1. Go to the gym more.
2. Do more to appreciate Hawaii. By this I mean doing Hawaii specific things like hikes and cultural activities. I also want to take a Hawaiian language class and a Hawaiian studies class at the school.
3. Save 10% of every paycheck and do not spend it a few weeks later. I’m good at saving some of every paycheck, but inevitably, a few weeks later I find something to spend it on. This year I want to keep my money in savings.
Spiritual
1. Read the scriptures in the morning. I read at night right now, but I know I’ll get more out of it if I read in the morning.
2. Offer morning prayers on my knees. I’m really bad about trying to mumble something somewhat relevant and coherent while taking a shower or brushing my teeth. I’m going to start working to offer these in a more reverent manner on my knees, after I’ve gotten ready, so I am coherent, but before my scripture study since I pray then anyways.
3. Learn to do a better job of recognizing, understanding, and listening to the Holy Ghost.
4. Develop a testimony of fasting for itself. I believe in fasting because I believe in obedience and fasting is a commandment. But I want to have a testimony of fasting because I’ve seen it work in my life.
5. Go to the Kona Temple at least four times. With the closing of the Laie Temple for renovations, going to the Temple becomes a little more difficult but I’m committed to making it happen, even if my ward doesn’t go often.
Resolution: the act or process of resolving; the action of solving; the quality of being resolute; a formal statement expressing the opinion will, or intent of a body of persons.
Goal: the mark set as a limit to a race; an area to be reached safely in children’s games; aim, purpose; an area or object toward which play is directed.
To me the definition of goals implies something much better- it indicates a plan of action to get you where you want to go, whereas a resolution seems to set you up more for failure.
With this in mind, I’ve created the following list of New Year’s Goals. Although the Doctrine and Covenants teaches that all things are spiritual to the Lord, and therefore they are to me too, for convenience’s sake I still did divide my goals up into temporal and spiritual. My journal entry with my goals is much more extensive than this list and includes even more specific plans of action then I’ve included here, but holy cow- you don’t need to know everything that goes on in my head.
Temporal
1. Go to the gym more.
2. Do more to appreciate Hawaii. By this I mean doing Hawaii specific things like hikes and cultural activities. I also want to take a Hawaiian language class and a Hawaiian studies class at the school.
3. Save 10% of every paycheck and do not spend it a few weeks later. I’m good at saving some of every paycheck, but inevitably, a few weeks later I find something to spend it on. This year I want to keep my money in savings.
Spiritual
1. Read the scriptures in the morning. I read at night right now, but I know I’ll get more out of it if I read in the morning.
2. Offer morning prayers on my knees. I’m really bad about trying to mumble something somewhat relevant and coherent while taking a shower or brushing my teeth. I’m going to start working to offer these in a more reverent manner on my knees, after I’ve gotten ready, so I am coherent, but before my scripture study since I pray then anyways.
3. Learn to do a better job of recognizing, understanding, and listening to the Holy Ghost.
4. Develop a testimony of fasting for itself. I believe in fasting because I believe in obedience and fasting is a commandment. But I want to have a testimony of fasting because I’ve seen it work in my life.
5. Go to the Kona Temple at least four times. With the closing of the Laie Temple for renovations, going to the Temple becomes a little more difficult but I’m committed to making it happen, even if my ward doesn’t go often.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Christmas break
I always wish I had pictures to post with all these words. But I don’t. Sorry.
Moving on . . .
I stayed here in Hawaii for a few days after finals. I finished all my exams on Thursday, the 11th but didn’t fly out until the following Tuesday. I just worked all day on Friday and worked at graduation on Saturday. That was fun. My feet were killing me as we didn’t get to sit down at all and I had worn heels. But before graduation, when President Wheelwright (University president) and President Eyring (first counselor in First Presidency- from the leadership of the LDS Church) were doing their sound checks, President Eyring was so cute. He gets up and says, “Aaaaloooohaaaaaa! – How was my ‘aloha’- was it good?” He walked right by me a couple of times, but I never talked to him.
After graduation, several friends and I went into Honolulu to go to Ala Moana (really cool mall). We watched the Christmas show they do there, “The Christmas Gift of Aloha.” I might have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t been so darn exhausted.
On Monday I again worked all day and began packing that night. Tuesday morning I took the school shuttle to the Honolulu airport. At the airport, my motel shuttle picked me up. The weather prevented Steph from picking me up in Portland, and my mom was anxious about driving up there to come get me, so I stayed at the airport Holiday Inn and took “The Breeze,” a bus from Portland to Bend, to get home.
Once home, I was just lazy. I watched a lot of TV, mostly CSI, Law and Order, and NCIS. I watched a bunch of movies, played with my dogs all the time, went shopping with my mom and sister several times, cooked good food for my family, did a little reading, and packed up some of my stuff, and that’s about it. And I got my hair cut. It’s very short and therefore now more fluffy.
Then this week, on Tuesday, I took the Breeze back up to Portland. The weather was better than it had been, so Steph came and picked me up and we had dinner and stayed the night at her dad’s. We were tired so we didn’t do much.
And that was kind of it. I miss my doggies. I’m a little homesick which is unusual for me. I hope that Cami lives long enough for me to take her with me when I graduate and go to graduate school. When I was leaving and saying goodbye to the dogs I told Cami that if she lived a year, she could move to Utah with me next January. Then my mom told Jacoba that if Cami didn’t live that long that I would take her to Utah. I told my mom, that no, I wouldn’t because Jacoba was her dog now, and I wouldn’t take her, because Jacoba would hate me if I did. My mom said that I’d be in trouble if I tried to take Jackie. It’s true though. Jacoba use to be my dog, but now my mom is her favorite. But Cami will always be mine. There’s no question that she’s most loyal to me.
Now that I’m back I’m just doing some reading preparing for the semester that starts Wednesday, playing on the computer, and planning a lesson for relief society for Sunday.
Anyhow, that’s about it. I’m not proofreading because I’m talking to Tonksey (Lindsey with Edie) on the phone and while I can handle typing while talking it’s much more difficult to read through it afterwards, so hopefully there are no errors.
Good luck with your dogs if you have them, and your life if you don’t. Happy New Year!
Moving on . . .
I stayed here in Hawaii for a few days after finals. I finished all my exams on Thursday, the 11th but didn’t fly out until the following Tuesday. I just worked all day on Friday and worked at graduation on Saturday. That was fun. My feet were killing me as we didn’t get to sit down at all and I had worn heels. But before graduation, when President Wheelwright (University president) and President Eyring (first counselor in First Presidency- from the leadership of the LDS Church) were doing their sound checks, President Eyring was so cute. He gets up and says, “Aaaaloooohaaaaaa! – How was my ‘aloha’- was it good?” He walked right by me a couple of times, but I never talked to him.
After graduation, several friends and I went into Honolulu to go to Ala Moana (really cool mall). We watched the Christmas show they do there, “The Christmas Gift of Aloha.” I might have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t been so darn exhausted.
On Monday I again worked all day and began packing that night. Tuesday morning I took the school shuttle to the Honolulu airport. At the airport, my motel shuttle picked me up. The weather prevented Steph from picking me up in Portland, and my mom was anxious about driving up there to come get me, so I stayed at the airport Holiday Inn and took “The Breeze,” a bus from Portland to Bend, to get home.
Once home, I was just lazy. I watched a lot of TV, mostly CSI, Law and Order, and NCIS. I watched a bunch of movies, played with my dogs all the time, went shopping with my mom and sister several times, cooked good food for my family, did a little reading, and packed up some of my stuff, and that’s about it. And I got my hair cut. It’s very short and therefore now more fluffy.
Then this week, on Tuesday, I took the Breeze back up to Portland. The weather was better than it had been, so Steph came and picked me up and we had dinner and stayed the night at her dad’s. We were tired so we didn’t do much.
And that was kind of it. I miss my doggies. I’m a little homesick which is unusual for me. I hope that Cami lives long enough for me to take her with me when I graduate and go to graduate school. When I was leaving and saying goodbye to the dogs I told Cami that if she lived a year, she could move to Utah with me next January. Then my mom told Jacoba that if Cami didn’t live that long that I would take her to Utah. I told my mom, that no, I wouldn’t because Jacoba was her dog now, and I wouldn’t take her, because Jacoba would hate me if I did. My mom said that I’d be in trouble if I tried to take Jackie. It’s true though. Jacoba use to be my dog, but now my mom is her favorite. But Cami will always be mine. There’s no question that she’s most loyal to me.
Now that I’m back I’m just doing some reading preparing for the semester that starts Wednesday, playing on the computer, and planning a lesson for relief society for Sunday.
Anyhow, that’s about it. I’m not proofreading because I’m talking to Tonksey (Lindsey with Edie) on the phone and while I can handle typing while talking it’s much more difficult to read through it afterwards, so hopefully there are no errors.
Good luck with your dogs if you have them, and your life if you don’t. Happy New Year!
If you've never met my family . . .
Don't feel left out. This is why.
When I got home (to spend Christmas in Oregon with my mom, sister, and dogs) I noticed a clear plastic (Rubbermaid thing) bin on the back porch that had stuff in it. I wondered about it, but didn’t ask immediately. A few days later:
Me: “Mom, what’s in that bin on the deck?”
Mom: “The meat and bread.”
This has been your official introduction to my redneck family. The freezer was full and they figured it hadn’t gone above freezing for two weeks and warmer temperatures weren’t in the forecast. A few days later, I made dinner with meat that my sister got off the deck. It was definitely frozen. Once there was room in the freezer, we put it in there and brought the bin inside to be defrosted.
When I got home (to spend Christmas in Oregon with my mom, sister, and dogs) I noticed a clear plastic (Rubbermaid thing) bin on the back porch that had stuff in it. I wondered about it, but didn’t ask immediately. A few days later:
Me: “Mom, what’s in that bin on the deck?”
Mom: “The meat and bread.”
This has been your official introduction to my redneck family. The freezer was full and they figured it hadn’t gone above freezing for two weeks and warmer temperatures weren’t in the forecast. A few days later, I made dinner with meat that my sister got off the deck. It was definitely frozen. Once there was room in the freezer, we put it in there and brought the bin inside to be defrosted.
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