My favorite comic strip :)

Sometimes when I'm bored while waiting for my next client at work I look up a bunch of Pickles comics. They make me happy :)

 

I mean seriously, who doesn't love the antics of Opal and Earl?

Hey Mystie, does this remind you of something?

Ain't that the truth!

This one's for you Maci!

Anyway, speaking of "wise-ness" and "wisehoodness" I really should get back to studying my chemistry :P

Basically, this is my life

I feel like I have been very adequately named.
Wanna know why?
Well, I'm gonna tell you even if you don't!

My life can most definitely be a dilEMMA!

(I feel like I should mention that I haven't seen this movie)

And I also feel like this song describes my life most of the time, which STINKS!

I guess it's gonna have to hurt

I guess I'm gonna have to cry

And let go of some things I loved

To get to the other side.

I guess it's gonna break me down

Like fallin' when you're tryin' to fly

It's sad but sometimes moving on 

With the rest of your life

Starts with goodbye

However!

I have made a commitment to myself to be happy.

So no matter how bad things get or how much I wanna quit

and run home to my mommy...

I'm gonna be happy.

See past the bad things and focus on the good.

I'm gonna get through this...

1. I have an amazing Heavenly Father.

2. I have an amazing religion.

3. I have amazing roommates.

4. I have an amazing family who sticks by me no matter what.

5. I have an amazing job with amazing kids who teach me more and more and MORE every day.

6. Jeff let me have first dibs on his Reed's Dairy Chocolate Milk

7. Ryan left me half a chocolate bar on my bed (where the other half went I could only guess)

8. Mystie left me a letter on my bed that made my day.

9. Megan made me laugh at myself for toasting a corn dog on the toaster.

10. I got to walk home in the middle of a rainstorm.

Life.

is.

good.

What do you do?

You know what?
Sometimes life sucks.

HARD CORE!

And it sucks even more when you can't change it.

So, what do you do when life sucks?

DO.


THE.


DISHES!

Yes, I am pathetic

I mean, how many people do you know who almost have a panic attack every time they see one of these on the street: 

You would be happy to know that I'm actually getting better about weiner dogs though!
I saw some puppies the other day at McKee's and I didn't even walk away...
It may have helped that they were asleep and behind two panes of glass though.

To a very good friend of mine...

Happy Birthday Derek Stucki!

I can't say enough about how much Derek's friendship means to me.

But I guess I can try...

D is for dedicated. I swear, he's been working on the same project for the entire semester and he says he's still only half done with it...I would have just changed my major haha

E is for elusive. I don't think I have ever seen anybody elude drama or just about anything else as well as Derek does.

R is for receptive. He is always willing to listen to me when I haven't been able to elude the drama like he has.

E is for Extremely smart...I ran out of E words. One day he had me read a few pages from his C++ book. I went upstairs and cried because it made my head hurt so much haha...just kidding.

K is for kind. Everyone that knows Derek knows that he is pretty much the nicest person you've ever met. He has an opinion about everything, but he has a very nice way of telling you that you're wrong ;)

I am so blessed to have a friend like Derek in my life. 

He is one of the few people I can say is just legitimately good without having to try.

I'm pretty sure he's the reason I'm alive right now (if you don't know why, see this post.)

And let's not deny it, he's always good for a laugh:

Always gets his rear end in a shot.

For Halloween he was a flasher...which meant he wore a long jacket that covered his clothing and then opened up his coat to show off his GOTCHA sign...

Happy birthday Derek!

Why is he my hero?

So, in my last post I expressed that Michael McLean was my hero, so now I figure that I will explain why.

On Sunday March 14, 2010 Michael McLean came to Soda Springs to speak at a fireside.
Maci and I went half an hour early to be sure to get a good seat :)
I don't remember much about the actual fireside except for one thing.
Let me remind you that I had been broken up with a little more than a month before...
This is what he said.
"I'm going to go off on a tangent here for just a second because I feel like this needs to be said. Someone here came with an exceptionally large burden. I don't know what it is, if you're feeling inadequate or heartbreak or what, but this song is for you." 
He then sang Ninety and Nine, which is my favorite song by him.
Then he came to this part:

You are one of the Ninety and Nine

Have you any idea how brightly you shine?

You are safe in the arms of the fold 

And it's time you were told 

That I know where you've been

So I know where you'll be

Because all of your life you've been following me

You are more than just one of the sands of the sea

Or just one of the ninety and nine

You are mine!

I know that these words could apply to so many people in so many situations, but at that moment he was speaking to me.

It was certainly what I needed to hear at that moment :)

Just exactly what I needed!

It's no secret that for the last little while I've been caught in something of a FUNK!


I hated school,
    I hated being in Pocatello,
        I wasn't too pleased with how work was going,
             I was getting bugged by things that normally wouldn't bug me and,
                 I felt like I had let some people down in a big way, which made me disappointed in myself.

In other words, that ecstatic feeling I had just a couple of weeks ago was GONE-ZO!

...All I can say is thank goodness I have a Heavenly Father who loves me.
...He cares for me and even when I am at my weakest I am upheld by his righteous omnipotent hand.
...And I know that Jesus has felt these exact feelings, so he knew exactly how to succor me.

I went home this weekend for two things.
1) Conference
2) I really needed a hug from my mommy.

Before I made it out of town I made a stop.
I went to DI first to look for a tape player for Mystie (hers was eating her tapes).
  While I was there I decided to look at the books and see if there was anything worthwhile.
     That's when I saw it...
         Hold On: The Light Will Come, a book by none other than my hero, Michael McLean.
         I had never even heard of it before, but I knew I had to have it.

Here are a couple of quotes from the book:

"Somewhere between holding on and letting go, between love lost and love found, between promises made and promises kept, between those who build us up and those who let us down, our lives are lived and our lessons are learned."

"I've had the extraordinary blessing of getting not what I thought I wanted, but what I need." (This was followed by a little bit of a song he wrote):

All I ever wanted, all I ever dreamed of,

Everything I hoped, and all the things I prayed for

Couldn't hold a candle to what I've been given,

I've been given what I need.

You're Not Alone:

You're not alone, even though right now you're on your own.

You are loved in ways that can't be shown,

Your needs are known

You're not alone.

...Well, I know that it's not easy, but I know that it won't last,

'Cause one who loves you more than me

Is sending blessings fast

...And even when it's hard to find the words,

Your prayers are always heard.

You're not alone.

"Who are you doing this for?"

"And on the days when being good didn't come as naturally as I would have liked, I didn't need to obsess over the failures, but rather than get back on track and keep moving forward."

"If you're good, and you're doing what you're doing for somebody else, you won't fail."

"...that doesn't change my passionate belief that God knows us, and loves us, and has a plan remarkably tailored to help us figure out how to live happily."

"...my happiest moments...come when I've acknowledged Him."

I was already feeling a little better after reading these words...but then it was time for conference.

Elder Kent F. Richards of the Seventy spoke about pain in the Saturday Morning session.

He said that pain was a gage of your patience...

   That Christ is not a silent observer in our lives...

       That Christ chose to suffer pain so that He could understand us...

            That healing comes in many ways-each according to our individual needs...

               That our circumstances might not immediately change,

               But we will be encircled by the arms of His love.

Then he said this:

"Behold, ye are all little children and ye cannot bear all things now. But fear not, ye are mine."

It took all of that to finally make me realize that I was being pretty stupid.

I realized that I hadn't really let anyone down...the situation was out of my control.

I realized that I was hating Pocatello because I just needed a hug from my mom.

I realized that I am hating school not because I have years to go, but because my classes are just legitimately boring right now.

I realized that I should be working for the kids and not for me.

And I once again realized Heavenly Father's love for me. In a very VERY strong way.

Needless to say...my happy is back :D