Parent-Birthday week

Once upon a time I started taking a family foundations class in which much advice is given on how you should have a fantastic family and get married to a fantastic person and have fantastic children which you raise in the best way possible. All this learning has actually just made me realize that I've had a wonderful example right in front of me my entire life. They seriously did a good job/are still doing a great job.

So pretty soon I finally get to hang out with them for more than a few hours and it's in the time between their two birthdays. This also happens to be the time of the greatest holiday ever- Thanksgiving. Anyways...Shout out to both of them...here is a list of (a few of) their combined qualities that I admire as parents and as people. 

I don't think I've ever head either of them yell at each other or any of their kids...or anyone. 

Passion for traveling and learning everything you can about the world.

Saturday chores when I was little- a combination of doing all the yardwork and practically spring cleaning the entire house. Every. Week. The reason...six kids.

The way they wake us up in the morning: mom=coming in and dancing the Ketchup Dance dad=consistent annoying bell ringing or blasting music

Lots of memories of eating dinner together...some of those dinners not so good. Like the yams that got spit all over dad's t-shirt when zoie told him she didn't want them, and mom thinking ox tail soup was a good idea. But mostly good food. 

The value of music. So many family home evenings when all we did was sit around the piano and sing hymns until we couldn't anymore. And then of course there's the 'you must pick an instrument and play it until you're 16' which only ever resulted in good things.
Watching movies as a  family when everyone would eventually falls asleep except me and dad. But mom's not asleep...she's just 'reading her book'...with her eyes closed.
The way they raised their kids and let them develop into whoever they wanted to be (with guidance to be a good one) and to not chose everything for us.


To name a few. 

Refocusing: minimize distractions

Occasionally in life frustration will set in for a reason that may not be apparent for quite sometime. For me I had this building frustration for a couple days in a row and I wasn't sure why. This morning I figured it out Thanks to a random conference talk that I found where Uchtdorf told me what's what.

If life and its rushed pace and many stresses have made it difficult for you to feel like rejoicing, then perhaps now is a good time to refocus on what matters most.

So I began to question what I was doing and what mattered most. We all have goals of what we hope our lives to be like. I guess what happened is the activities I was giving time to were not those that were contributing to the goal of what I want life to be like. Not that any activity in and of itself was bad, just that it was distracting me from doing something better with my time.
In one of my classes we were talking a lot about how certain things in the media are distractions from what is really important. I think that's what was making me so frustrated- spending lots of time doing things that were not important to me. So as part of refocusing myself I am setting weekly goals for myself. This week I am starting with controlling how much media I spend my time on.
I found this program called 'stay focused'- you type in all the sites that you constantly find yourself wasting time on (some blogs, facebook, pinterest) and once it knows those sites it times how long you are on them. You only get 10 minutes a day to spend on time wasting sites. Once your ten minutes are up it says ...

Other inspiration was gotten from an article I was shown once by a friend called 'Focus' by Leo Babauta.

It contains some serious good stuff if you ever want to read it...click here. It's free, it's somewhat long, it's inspirational. 

Some great quotes pulled out...

There are days when I wake up and refuse to turn on the Internet, and sit still with my cup of coffee in the hush that fills the hours just before dawn. I’ll listen to the quiet. I’ll reflect on life. I’ll lose myself in a novel. Some days I’ll sit down and write, just my thoughts and the quiet and the gentle tapping of the keyboard. And it’s beautiful.

It’s not technology we should be afraid of. It’s a life where we’re always connected, always interrupted, always distracted, always bombarded with information and requests. It’s a life where we have no time to create, or connect with real people.

I also realized that so many turn into movie nights and nothing else. Why the need for so many movies? So another of my week goals is to not watch any movies. Not even this weekend. Think of something more creative to do, or if you can't and everyone around your wont, go to something productive instead. Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving up movies entirely- just taking a break for a week.
 There is no need to be pulled into media constantly. Not that it's a bad thing, there are just better things I could be doing.

So as part of what I hope to be many weeks of goal setting- this week is dedicated to minimizing distractions in the media. We'll see how it goes.

To each his own

Welcome to my little discussion about my major- which lately (okay- midterms are scaring me to death and assignments are piling up) are taking over my thoughts. And lately I've been getting a lot more questions along the lines of 'what in the heck are you doing with all your time?'

Sometimes when people realize how much time I actually spend in the library and how much I stress over my classes they say things like 'what could you possibly be doing' and 'how do you even have homework for classes like that' and 'how much can you really learn about flowers.' OH let me tell you though. It is not always easy. But I do always love it.

When I initially explain my major to people...most likely the thought that goes through their head is "oh wow. I can't imagine why you would need 4 years of college to learn that". Because with something like 'Horticulture emphasis in floral design' how could you possibly even ever have homework assignments. Right? WRONG! Flowers may just seem like a cop out to some people- but you've got to learn some complicated stuff in order to really know how it all works. It's such a huge field and there is so much more to it than anyone thinks. Yes, arranging flowers is fun and relaxing. But like any other thing out there- if you don't absolutely love it, you may find yourself wondering why you are putting so many hours into it. 

First off... the nerdiness of it all: One million experiments about one million factors that could possibly affect the growth of corn. And taking at least a half hour a day just to water the dang things with precise measurements and data charts and different nutrients. How many people actually just love doing that kind of thing? And how many people are totally willing to become a nerd that memorizes things like '43560 sq ft in an acre' just so they can know different facts and numbers about the soil in a field. And pH levels and nutrients and the intricate process of photosynthesis and memorizing scientific names of hundreds of plants and SO MANY COMPLICATED THINGS TO LEARN. But I mean...this is biology and science type of stuff which I usually hate- but for the sake of the plants I don't even mind it. Sometimes I tell people about things I do for my classes- which seem normal to me (like how we went to the sand dunes just to dig holes and look at the root systems of the grass) and they think it would be a total drag to do that kind of thing. 

 Second off. I've maybe become obsessed with it all- plants and flowers. I can't walk past one of the greenhouses without going inside and smelling those three plumeria flowers we have growing, and I can't walk out of a single grocery store without examining their flower selection, and if I see a plant in a pot you'd better believe I'm going to stick my finger in the soil and make sure it's getting proper watering. Little things like that. Except there are probably like 20 more habits that I've developed due to my obsession.
Anyways...that's my ramble-rant about my major.

PS ...Tropical flowers just get me crazy excited for the day in the not-so-far-future when I will be able to see them in their natural environment rather than just in a greenhouse. !

Best Friend Weekend

Hurray for my best friends coming up to visit me. So nice to feel that comfortable aspect of being your old crazy self and laughing about good times and eating cupcakes and ice-cream and all sorts of good food and being WEIRD and laughing until you fall asleep. 

Spent a good deal of time on campus looking at the art and the gardens and the greenhouses while I nerdily explain how everything works and what's going on on the campus. 

Teaching the ones who haven't had art history classes how to appreciate art. "It's like, when you're far away it looks like a picture, but then when you get up close it's just a bunch of freaking smudges!" OH the comments of understanding Impressionistic paintings. 

This was my favorite show in the Spori (ps) that's why all these pictures are everywhere. It's a ton of little pictures like the one above all on the same wall- incredible.

Awkward pictures with bars through them.

Chillin in the gardens

There's just something about a friend that you can be absolutely crazy with and they think it's completely normal. I don't know exactly how to explain how much I loved this weekend. Just that my soul felt very happy to see a familiar face and remember good times and LAUGH and act like it loves to act. 

Snowflakes on Eyelashes

There's something enchanting about a soft snow- especially when it's the first one of the season. Waking up in the morning and the world is white and tells you it's finally time to break out that notorious red hat and all your techniques for staying warm so you can tromp about The Gardens and take pictures of the trees- it's such a romantic scene. And I mean that in a completely not mushy way. I mean it as...remember all the paintings from the romantic era in art history and how majestic they were...and as in an aren't you just falling in love with how the world works...way.
How can you not be in a good mood when you're a second year Rexburg resident. Remembering the horror the snow brought the first time and I had cute boots that got soaking wet and gave me the chills all day long, and I thought the only way to survive any temperature below 50 was to cut through all buildings every chance possible. Things like that which happen to people who have never experienced the harsh weather of Rexburg. Although today was not one of those harsh days (it really was beautiful) I'm facing this winter much more prepared feeling. I know what to expect. I've bought myself some TALL and WATERPROOF boots that will keep me dry. My mom gave me wool socks. And I know that if you ever want to walk outside in a blizzard the way to get through it with clean makeup is to wear sunglasses. Slowly but surely I'm learning how to do this whole Rexburg thing. And enjoy it.

So first day of snow with no fear!

My favorite are all the people not from Utah or Idaho who think this is as bad as it's gonna get. And those same people from the states that believe in canceling school for snow- those ones that went back to bed this morning when they saw snow, only to find out that school does in fact not get cancelled for anything. Yeah, that happens often.

For the rainy sick days in which homework should not be done

Today was the first cold rainy winter day of Rexburg. Not quite snow- but really cold and really wet. That's how it is here a lot of the time. And considering I had just gone through a particularly not-my-favorite weekend and was in a grumpy mood from being sick...the part of my brain that hates doing homework (this part does not win very often mind you) reminded me that Cara was waiting for me to be done with class so we could walk to the library and be responsible. And then it reminded me that Cara can always be counted on to encourage me to sluff (yes, I know that's such a Utah-girl word) homework and do more fun things. So it developed a plan that was only meant to last about an hour but ended up lasting most of the day. And it didn't take any convincing at all to get her to make me go through with it.
That plan started out involving a lunch of cupcakes and hot chocolate for lunch. And it ended up involving caramel apples and the presidential debate for dinner. C'est la vie...

Oh the rainy small town streets of Rexburg.

This note on the glass door to a staircase that led up to a little alley apartment- made. Cara's. day. "I still love you daring. Have a great day!" Such a little glimpse into a life.

 Puddles and pictures of feet slowly getting soaked. But really it wasn't that slowly.

On a random side note- found these cars in a parking lot and took stalker pictures of them because both were beautiful and I would be proud to be a driver of such a car as these.

Happy fall!

"Try and dip your apples while I move this pot in circles."

What a way to start the week. Tomorrow will most likely be more responsible and less fun. 

There's something about the trees

My longing for mountains full of the turning leaves of fall was finally fulfilled. I swear I complained so many times about how the Rexburg trees just didn't quite come up to par with Utah's mountains full of them. So when one of my classes went on a field trip to Salt Lake overnight I was EVER so grateful to be picked up by my dad and driven into the mountains where I stayed the night with my FAMILY (!!!) instead of in the hotel with the rest of the students. I'll tell you, it was just what I needed in the midst of this crazy life. There's nothing like your own family mixed with nature to set you at peace with the future and the present.

And then my camera died. But you get the idea.

And then I came back to Rexburg and it was as if all the trees were trying their very hardest to be beautiful and autumn-y. 

The ones that do fall justice...The few and the proud. 

 There just is something so transcendental about going out in the middle of nature and just listening to it. Being alone and out of the way of worldly things. It certainly clears your head. For me it's a way to meditate and re-boost my connection with God. This is peace. This is what gets me through the times when life gets unreasonable- it's like a filter that shows me that things happen for a reason and that I am not alone.

"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature- trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...We need silence to be able to touch souls."

-Mother Teresa