Thursday, November 26, 2009

26 Things I'm Grateful For

1. My Ward family
2. My cell phone
3. The Scriptures
4. Mail
5. The Ensign
6. Chickens in the Road (truly hilarious, you should go to her website and follow her directions to vote)
7. Colored pencils
8. My niece and nephew
9. Christmas music (enjoy my new playlist!)
10. Milk
11. Hot chocolate
12. People that support me in everything I try to do
13. My camera that allows me to capture special moments
14. Facebook that lets me see the special moments other people manage to capture that I don't
15. Good literature
16. The time to read
17. A love of cooking
18. Good people
19. Soap
20. Expressions of love that others give me
21. Opportunities to express my love for others
22. hydrogen peroxide (I have a strange obsession with pouring it on open wounds and watching it "fizz")
23. Deoderant
24. A living prophet
25. Heavenly Father
26. Jesus Christ


On an unrelated note, once again it is difficult to read old posts due to my new layout, so just highlight the text to be able to see it.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Unbelievable

Do people have no standards anymore? I cannot believe the extent to which people will go to refuse to take responsibility for their actions. I am actually so disgusted by this that I'm at loss for words.

Read it here.

No offense to any smokers out there- that is your choice and you have the right to make it. But that's the point- it is your choice. I know most people, including smokers, agree with this and it's the few who don't that make it in the news, but I'm so disappointed in the juries who award money for this.

I fell off. . . again!

And I'm gonna jump back on, but I'm not gonna catch up. Meaning, I'm skipping 16 and 17 and starting again with 18.

1. Thomas
2. Susan
3. Nozomi
4. Cory
5. Carrie
6. Yoko

OKAY, I'm totally cheating because I am grateful for these six people all for the same reason: helping me run my research tonight for four loooonnnnggggggg hours. We're manipulating our independent variables trying to figure out if we can make the placebo effect stronger depending on certain things we try, which I'm intentionally being vague about. We should know soon how our data turned out.

7. Booyoon, my coworker who covered at my desk for me today so I could have the afternoon off, since I knew I had four hours of research to run.

8. Contacts. I don't like wearing glasses in the heat.

9. Glasses. Haha. Not having them, and being forced to wear my contacts as soon as I got up and until I went to bed was getting really old after like ten years. I'm relieved when I can take my contacts out at night.

10. My well equipped desk in my apartment. Most students out here aren't as well prepared as I am.

11. All the great educational resources I have available to me here.

12. That laundry at the school is only $1.50/wash & dry instead of like $10/wash & dry at the shopping center.

13. That my new haircut didn't turn out like the last one that might have made me a little paranoid. That's saying a lot too- I am very much one of those "it's just hair!" type of people, so if I was nervous, it must have been bad . . .

14. The smell of rain.

15. The smell of fire. I love it when they're burning something over at the PCC.

16. Jesus Christ. I know I already mentioned Him. But He will be on my list every day for the rest of my life.

Being grateful is great.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

11, 12, 13, 14, & 15 Things I am Grateful For

The last half of my week was kinda crazy so I kinda fell out of this a little bit. But I didn't forget. However, I'm cheating a little bit in my makeup work, posting them all at the same time and no explanations.

Eleven
1. Veterans like both my grandfathers and my dad.

2. My doggies, Cami and Jacoba.

3. My temporary doggies: Beverly, Cascade, Phantom, Patriot, and Megan.

4. GDB.

5. My boss who is kind and generous. I forgive her for the times she gets snappy. Her job can be stressful.

6. Trans Siberian Orchestra- some of my most favorite Christmas music.

7. Christmas music in general. I know, I know. I gave into early. It is not yet Thanksgiving. But I won't listen to it loudly until then.

8. My first 4H leader who's name I don't even remember.

9-11 ran away.

Twelve
1. My Patriarchal blessing.

2. That in a month I'll be able to go to the Temple whenever I want without buying a plane ticket.

3. Craigslist.

4. Photographs.

5. Other blogs.

6. Camp Bloomfield.

7. Camp Bloomfield staff.

8. Camp Bloomfield puppies.

9. Leather leashes.

10. Dishwashers.

11. Electric outlets.

12. Homemade bread.

Thirteen
1. Ryan & Irene.

2. My education.

3. That things always manage to work out.

4. My ingenious cardboard box under the bed idea.

5. The wind.

6. Lotion.

7. My bug-bite meds- a clear winner!

8. Harry Potter.

9. Mugglenet.com

10. How could I leave out Wicked?

11. Gordon B. Hinckley.

12. Institute.

13. Relief Society. Seriously this time.

Thirteen
1. My computer.

2. Tacos.

3. Okay, all Mexican food.

4. Cold Stone.

5. Bend, Oregon.

6. Mr. Harris.

7. Mrs. Cardiff.

8. Mr. Lund.

9. Dove ice cream that I just discovered this week.

10. Homemade salsa.

11. Homegrown tomatoes that I can just eat by themselves.

12. My cozy apartment.

13. Sleep.

Fourteen
1. Hot chocolate.

2. Big, cute mugs.

3. Disney. Love it. Too much.

4. That my room smells good.

5. The great deal I found on a rental condo and paid for yesterday that will allow both my mom, my sister, Stephanie, and me to stay in the same place rather than broken up into three places.

6. Q-tips. :)

7. Bath and Body Works.

8. Hand sanitizer. Deja vu again.

9. Surge protectors.

10. My newly found flashlight! If there's a power outage, I'm prepared. Again.

11. My three hole punch.

12. Costco.

13. Naps.

14. Brownies.

And finally, today.
1. Church.

2. The great talks given today.

3. The really cute boy that spoke last. Too bad he's engaged.

4. Oh My Gosh! The super hot boy that stopped at our Stake service project car-wash yesterday. That is a member and goes to BYUH. Since his ward didn't tell him about the car wash, clearly he comes from an inactive ward. I should have invited him to Church with me. I would have sat next to him. I could have made that sacrifice. You know, for the Lord.

5. The dart game my mom gave me for Easter. It helped me to find my long missing flashlight.

6. Jessica.

7. The chicken tacos I'm going to have for dinner tonight.

8. My nice clean section of the fridge.

9. A&W root beer. It's recently become my drink of choice.

10. Job Offers!

11. Vizlas.

12. Vizsla people (Judy).

13. The Holiday season. What could be better?

14. The Sabbath.

15. Jesus Christ.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Ten Things I am Grateful For

1) My new reading glasses. Yes, now I wear distance glasses (well, ya know, contacts usually) and reading glasses. And I'm very grateful that I should be able to see my books and computer screen from now on. Since normally without any correction, I can't see a book at arm's length, it's quite a weird sensation to be wearing them and have everything up to about four feet away be clear, but anything more than a few feet away is super blurry.

2) The amazing new Christmas music I bought on iTunes today.

3) The job (paid eight month internship) I got offered at Disneyland today.

4) The knowledge that the Lord will help me, within the time frame I've been allowed, make the right decision on whether or not I should take said job.

5) Carrie.

6) Shawna (I love you!).

7) The wonderful A&W root beer sitting on my desk right now.

8) The reassurance I have that even if it rains and rains and rains and floods this weekend like is anticipated, I'm prepared.

9) Did I already tell you how amazing psychology students are? I'm grateful for all my "major" friends.

10) That Jessica is going with me to the New Moon release so I will not be the only one going with the sole purpose of making fun of the whole thing. Okay, maybe that's not my sole purpose. I really do like the series, A WHOLE LOT, but seriously the movies are terrible. I've never before in my life repeat watched a movie with such bad acting.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Nine Things I am Grateful For

1) My FHE (Family Home Evening) "family."

2) The Bishop. I know I already said I'm grateful for him a few days ago, but I'm thankful again. Or still. We had a great FHE at his house tonight.

3) My cell phone that lets me easily stay in touch with my family.

4) 

5) That I'm still caught up on schoolwork!

6) My hilarious Educational Psychology class. We are so much fun!

7) My fan. It's great.

8) That my new slippers are not too slippery (for all you mainlanders, in Hawaii, "slippers" refers to flip-flops).

9) Faithful examples of the kind of woman I want to become, from Sister Tueller (Bishop's wife).

I have an amazing life.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Eight Things I am Grateful For

1) The Sacrament. Basically I'm grateful that I get a chance every week to start again, to 'fess up to my screw ups, wipe the slate clean, and try to do better.

2) General Conference. I just got my conference issue of the Ensign this week (did I already say I was grateful for this 'cause I'm kinda feeling some deja vu . . . ) and began digging in last night. I always love re-reading the talks over and over again and finding new meaning. This issue is a little more special than normal because I was as sick as a dog conference weekend last month and I slept through most of it, so for many of the talks, this is my first exposure. I decided from now on, rather than just highlighting, I'm also going to write three things, right there inside the magazine, on each article, that I can do to apply the teachings from each of the leaders of the Church. I think this will bring me many more blessings than simply reading and trying once in awhile to remember what I read will. Taking action is always a good thing.

3) That things at home are going better.

4) Relief Society. Okay, honestly, I might have had a "I'm bitter towards RS" moment today, so this is my attempt at one of those "live like you believe" things. If I publicly express my gratitude for RS maybe I'll get back to my normal state, which is gratitude, much faster. I really do love RS, just not for an hour or two today. I love it that the Lord has provided us with an organization to help us grow together as women in the gospel.

5) My toothbrush. Maybe if I publicly declare how happy I am with my toothbrush, the batteries will maintain some sense of loyalty and decide to hold out until I'm able to make it to Walmart again.

6) The cute earrings I wore today. I bought them back in June and wore them for the first time today. I really like them. "Mahalo, Target."

7) Monk. Such a good, clean show.

8) That I am feeling well-rested for the first time in weeks. How fantastic is that?

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Seven Things I am Grateful For

Today was good day. Still a little stressed about my failed midterm yesterday, but I didn't think about that today so I could focus on everything else.

1) I am grateful that when I prayed feverently yesterday that I would be able to focus on my schoolwork all day today and that the Lord would help me to ignore distractions, that He did. I got a lot done today and I am sooo grateful.

2) I am grateful that my mom paid $4,000 for my braces when she could have paid for her own instead.

3) I am grateful for a clean apartment.

4) I am grateful for an amazing bishop.

5) I am grateful for the opportunity to relax with fun friends on stressful days.

6) I am grateful that at a time when buying "local" has become important to me, ways to do so in my community have really opened up.

7) I am grateful for my many, many different colors of highlighters. They help me to stay organized.

This has been fun but I'm definitely starting to run out of "unordinary" things to be grateful for. This list is going to be getting much more typical and ordinary.

Have a great Sabbath.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Hello Blog (and Six Things I am Grateful For)

Aloha!

This has been one crazy week. Some really good things have happened and it's also been one of the most stressful weeks I can ever remember. I don't think I've actually ever cried while taking a test before, and I totally did tonight while I was failing my social psychology midterm.

But I am still grateful:
1. It's the weekend! Yay. Now I have, from this point, 28 hours and 15 minutes to sit in my room and do homework and not have to worry about interruptions from work, classes, and teachers trying to assign more to the pile.

2. For Tillamook Cheese in Hawaii (I'm trying really hard to eat locally, but I allow myself this splurge, purchasing cheese shipped from the mainland- I'm pretty sure all our cheese, at least at our grocery store out here, is shipped from the mainland anyways).

3. For the great mentors I have at this University.

4. That the Hale will be pretty quiet tonight. Or at least until a bunch of love-drunk and infatuation high girls return from the Fall Ball.

5. Our surprisingly fantastic library on campus that allows me to escape from reality for a bit once in awhile.

6. Is it lame to say "the weekend" again. Probably- okay then- my two copies of the General Conference issue of the Ensign that just arrived this week and I can start studying this Sunday. I'm particularly excited because I was really, really sick Conference weekend and I missed a lot of it, so this will be my first exposure to some of these talks.

Now, to get to my remaining 28 hours and 8 minutes for homework . . .

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Five Things I am Grateful For

I have this feeling that as I start to list more and more things my explanations are going to get shorter and shorter and my items probably sillier and sillier.

1. My coworkers, especially JiNah, Anna, and Rachelle since they are the ones I sit with.
2.
3. My computer. It has truly been a lifesaver. I am so glad I was able to afford it.
4. A roommate who is very much "go-with-the-flow" and puts up with my opinionated inflexibility.
5. The cooler weather.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Four Things I'm Grateful For

Today was a BAD day. So it's kind of tough to write four things I'm grateful for, but I'm going to try.

I ran a psychology experiment today. I have two teammates that help, but we also had three other people come help. I'm grateful for Thomas, Kazumi, and Cory. They made it go so much faster. They willingly gave their time to come help with a project that they did not have to do. I appreciate their Christlike examples of service.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the research teams. Though they might stress me out a lot, not a lot of undergraduate students have these research opportunities, especially at such a small university. I'm grateful that I was prompted to go to school at BYUH because I am receiving an excellent education.

I am grateful for my family. They stress me out too! But I love them. My mom is having a really tough time right now and I desperately wish I could be home with her.

I am grateful for prayer. Sometimes, even when I don't perceive an answer, just knowing the Lord is listening is what gets me through. How lucky I am to know that my Heavenly Father is aware of every petition I make and of every grateful thought I have. I love what Abraham Lincoln said: "I have been driven many times to my knees by an overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." That's how stressed I am now. I am grateful for a God who loves and listens.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Three things I am Thankful for

Since today is the 3rd of November, a list of three things I am thankful for.

Rainy days:


Okay, I know it doesn't look very rainy but it is. It's not as bright as this picture makes it look.

Fablehaven books to read on rainy days:


And my old roommate, Carrie, who gave me my first Fablehaven book (not pictured, it's on the mainland). Seriously, though, I love these books and if you are at all into fun (not dark) fairy, dragons, and other fun magical creatures fantasy, they are fantastic and very well written. I'm sad that I finished the fourth one (for about the eighth time) today. I'm excited for the release of the last book next spring.
Thank goodness (I'm listening to Wicked right now) for small blessings.