My Simple, Happy, Beautiful Life

I love weddings, they just make me happy. I love watching the first dance. I love watching couples stuff cake into each other's face. I love wedding dresses and colors. I think at one point in my life I considered being a wedding planner. I would love it, but in my brother's wedding I learned a lot. Wedding Planning is hard. It takes lots of time, money, decisions. You have to decide your wedding colors, place for the reception, luncheon, wedding date, flowers, first dance song, catering, and 5 thousand other things. Even thought it is hectic, it is a very exciting time! Picking out fabric took lots of time, but it was fun to match colors and figure out what color combinations work. I love the wedding reception, mormon wedding receptions are much different than regular receptions. They are much cheaper, we do things to save money. I came up with ideas for my wedding in 5 years....haha. Well, maybe not 5 years but not anytime soon! 1. Me and my bridesmaids are going to make a ...

I have had mixed emotions today. Everything is changing around me. I am changing. I am going new places in my life, I am traveling to new places.It is a very exciting time in my life. Nothing is permanent. The people I meet will be temporary in my life. My life is packed in boxes in Rexburg. My life is old clothes in Elk Grove. My life is thinking ahead of what my plans are for the next semester. My life is constantly changing. The one thing constant is the fact that the people in it are constantly coming and going. I have just realized that everything will change from this point in my life. I won't be home until August this year. I will be in Florida and then Idaho for the spring semester. Elk Grove doesn't have much to offer me anymore. I went to my singles ward today and It just felt weird. All the younger single adults were leaving, so the ward is going to be tiny. I don't hang out with my friends from High School anymore. My friends don't live in Elk Grove anymor...

I have a collection of letters and notes from loved ones in a box in my room. I never look at them. Today, I had this urge to read my letters in that box. I felt so loved to read letters and have reminders of some of my favorite memories. I looked at old letters and they just made me happy to read. And reading old notes from my friends in High School made me laugh, we have all changed in so many ways. It is a good change from being immature and silly to more mature and having a clearer picture of our future. I have had lots of love in my life. I am very loved by everyone around me. It is nice to know that I will always have that strong support system with me wherever I go. Even if I don't talk to my friends from High School anymore, I will always remember our friendships. I know this blog is very sentimental. I guess I am in a grateful, reflective mood lately. It is the season to reflect and show love to those around us. I love this time where I can spend time with my family. Esp...

I had a stressful time packing. I had to rush to finish my finals to pack to get to the shuttle. I went to my best friends wedding in Ogden Utah. I had a blast. Here are some pictures from the wedding :) I caught the bouqet..so that means my wedding will be next. If next means in a couple of years, but Mary looked beautiful in her wedding dress, and she looked very happy. It was exciting to see one of my best friends on one of her happiest days of her life. This is when Mary was leaving the reception, all the girls took one last picture! Don't we all look cute? Anyways, I left finals early to go to the wedding, and surprised Mary. Her reaction was the best, "Wait, what are you doing here, you're not supposed to be here!" haha. She hugged me and then wouldn't let go! It was worth it to surprise Mary. I couldn't miss her wedding for the world. I remember planning our weddings when we were 12 year old. I think we are growing up at the this point! haha. I ju...

In my child development class, I received a big compliment in the last class period. I have never been thanked for being in the class. I am not bragging in this blog, I am purely just saying my thoughts. If It sounds like I am bragging, it is not my intention I gained new perspectives on modern issues dealing with child development. I commented a lot in that class, I thought I commented too much. Sometimes I would think I have a interesting thought, but think I would I say too much. I ended up saying sharing my thought with the class. During the final, the teacher stood up and thanked a few students. I was one of them! I felt honored. She said I had consistent comments that added to the learning in the classroom. I hugged my teacher after words and said "Thank you for teaching, I enjoyed the course". She said, "Thank you for being in the class, I enjoyed having you in the classroom". It just felt good to have a teacher thank me for my participation, to be noticed. I...

I have striaght hair, but I want curly hair. We can never find happiness in our own situation. We look at others and what they have, develop a jealousy, and then want what they have. What brought this blog about is when I was walking in the cafeteria. I heard two girls eating lunch together. One said, "At least boys ask you out". The other girl said, " I don't want them to ask me out, I want to be single and be left alone". And then they kept going back on each other talking about how they were jealous about the other person's situation. Why can't we find the joy and benefits of our own situation? Why do we want what we can't have? Why do we want the forbidden? Why we do look for whats wrong in our situation and whats perfect in somebody's situation?

I watched Eclipse with my roommate and Hanna last night. I love watching it with Hanna. We analyzed the movie, of course! Anyways, Here are my thoughts. In my science class, we talk about the influence of movies. It made me think about what is Twilight going to influence young teenage girls to believe? And if you like the movie, nothing is wrong with you. I will be harsh in my critique. It doesn't mean I don't like you just because you like the Twilight Series. First, Lets Discuss Edward. 1.Edward is extremely controlling and manipulative. Who wants to be with someone who is manipulative? He doesn't trust Bella, Bella will make a decision, and he won't let her go through her own decision. Who would want to be with someone who made decisions for you? Maybe Bella doesn't make the best decisions. She will put herself in danger intentionally. I don't know why. But most people should be capable of making their own decisions. Most boyfriends should trust their...

I know I post these videos up a lot. My reason, they inspire me. I love watching them, and I remember crying in this one. So Watch it, trust me you will like it. Anyways, I have been thinking about forgiveness today. As human beings we can hold grudges. It is easy to hold a grudge when someone has hurt us. But, we shouldn't. Although we may think holding a grudge doesn't affect us, it will only create more anger inside us. The anger inside will grow until we feel like we are dark inside. To move one completely from being hurt, rejected,offended, we must forgive the offender. And p.s. Here is a amazing thought. We can only control our own thoughts. We can't control how other people are going to treat us. We can't control our brother to do something for us. He will do something for us if he wants to do it. We can influence, but ultimately people have their agency and will make their own decisions. So we choose to be offended or be hurt. We can choose to be offended when o...

Three of my roommates had birthdays this month. Here are some pictures from my roommate Kelsi's birthday pre-celebration! Anyways, I have mixed feelings about the semester ending. I love my schedule, my roomates, and I love Rexburg! I will miss it. I had so much fun this semester. I learned so much about myself, about psychology, about dance, about boys, about everything. It was so far my favorite semester that I have had. I am excited to go to Orlando. It will be such a good opportunity. I will meet people internationally. I have never done anything like this before, everything will be new. And I can play at DisneyWorld when I am not working? Can you tell something that is more exciting than that? Rexburg, I will miss you, until then I will be working and partying in Orlando. Yes!

I had a fabulous time with my cousin, ex-roomate (should be roomate again), and best friend Hanna Dunn. We tried to go to a show on the campus, it was sold out, so why not go to Subway? haha. My favorite part was making our outfits. She inspires me to mix my clothing: Here are some of the outfits we put together! I think her fashion blog is inspiring me to come up with creative things for my clothing. I never realized how much I have, and things I can mix together to make a new outfit. I tend to wear the same clothes over and over again and then I get bored of them. But last night was a good to see what I can do to dress differently. And then of course, I love our conversations! I think we were meant to be friends. We have helped each other see different perspectives, vent out on each other, and we just seem to know each other well. I am so grateful for the day in San Fransisco where we listened to "Strawberry Field Forever" and went shopping and bought matching shirts, ...

I always dreamed of being grown up. Now that I am growing up, I don't want to grow up. I long for the days of not having to be responsible. I long for the days of climbing trees and not having any things demanding my time. I am not Peter Pan, but I am just realizing that when I was little I didn't have to work, do homework, figure out the answers to all these hard questions. I like growing up on the other hand too. It feels good to be responsible sometimes. Just not during finals week. I just wish I could not be responsible, not care about getting a scholarship, and just play all weekend. I like being independent. I like being on my own. I like making my own decisions and being in charge of my future. It just scares me sometimes. I think I am normal. Most people I talk to my age feel the same way. It is hard because we are in this in between stage. We are not fully independent but we are not living at home and are somewhat independent. Nobody is telling us what to do. I choose ...

I have been listening to John Mayer's music a lot. I love him. But, his music has one theme. He is lonely. Each song is about how depression or sadness. There are exceptions, I can't generalize all of his music as depressing.. I feel bad for him. He just needs a hug someone to tell him that he will find happiness in the end. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy his music. He is extremely talented. When I saw him live, he amazed me. He can play the guitar like no other. He can entertain. People can relate to his songs about feelings of rejection, hurt and sadness. That is what makes him a great musician. A great musician has musical abilities yet the most important thing is connecting with your audience. Taylor Swift is a great example. She writes great lyrics, but teenage girls and I can relate to her music. I can hear her songs and remember certain experiences when I felt the same feeling. This is what I have been thinking about. What makes good music timeless? These are my conc...

I was writing my paper on people who are genetically vulnerable for a disease or addiction. It made me think of how interesting it is for some people to start a addiction after trying one cigarette, and some people can smoke several times without a addiction. We can't control our genetic vulnerability. We can control one type of vulnerability.  Our emotions. We can control if we let someone in our heart or if we keep a guard up. Which one is better? This is what I have been thinking about lately. I was talking to a friend and they told me that to be careful and to not be vulnerable is the best thing. I agree somewhat with the statement. If we were never vulnerable, never let anyone in, never loved, never took any chances, we would never grow. I am saying you should go tell everyone your deepest and darkest secrets. But is it worth it to get your heart broken in a situation when you were vulnerable to get hurt? That is what you are doing when you open up to someone....

This morning, I woke up to music everywhere. I heard Handel's Messiah, efy music, and some other type of music. It was great. I love waking up to uplifting sounds that will make me smile. Then I was uploading and editing some stuff on my blog, and I turned off my music. It was silent, and I was alone in my room. It was so nice. I don't know how to describe it. Do we have take time to slow down, turn music off, and just ponder and reflect? It reminds me of so many of the last couple general conference talks where they talk about slowing down and reflecting on what matter most. We have constant noise around us, we have constant movement, we have constant distractions that we face daily. When do we ever just stop? It is okay to be busy, it is okay to be active, but it isn't okay when it takes over things that matter the most. When doing extra activities take over time spent with the family, and time to reflect and ponder. Maybe this post is because I am somewhat of a intro...

I had a week of discoveries. I discovered a talent and passion. I always knew I loved dancing, but today I had a dance competition. I got 5th in the Waltz competition, and 2nd in the Cha Cha. I had a blast at the competition. Me and my partner started getting into character in the cha cha competiton. We found our positions, and just performed the routine but started to enjoy the dancing instead of just going through the actions. It was exhilarating. Walking onto the dance floor, there was no cheering crowd, but feeling the butterflies as the music starts. Relaxing and just focusing on smiling and keeping the right timing. Waiting to be called back for the next round. Seeing your number on the call back list, getting back in line, performing again. Then the exciting part, waiting for the finals and to see what position you are. Waiting for cha cha final number to come up, seeing couples go up and knowing that we had potential to be 1st was so exciting. 2nd was amazing to get, I just w...

This video inspired me. In my social psychology class, we learned about prosocial behavior and altruism. We watched a video about this father and son, of course there were teary eyes in the room. The father went through so much hard work to show love and care for his handicapped son. The son's joy was running marathons with his father. Of course, he wasn't running, his father's body was doing the work. However, the son's heart and love was what motivated the father to do the work. This father is a great example of true love and service. He dedicates himself to training to run a marathon or trialathon just to see the smile or laughter on his son's face. What if we had this same level of true love and service in our lifes for others? What if we knew what made our loved one's happy and sacrificed everything just so they could experience joy. I have realized how selfish we are. How many times do you think about yourself during the day? How many times do you compla...

I had this thought pop into my head. How do you see people? Do you see their imperfections, their weaknesses, strengths, potential? If we only saw people as their weakness, of course we won't like them. Then in return, they won't like us back. It is a no-brainer situation. The self fulfilling prophecy. We see them as a liar, they will act as a liar, and then our idea is confirmed that they are a liar. What if we see their strengths instead? We see them as a courageous and intelligent person, they will act that way, and then our idea is confirmed that they are a courageous and intelligent person. How does this idea relate to my original thought? If we see people's strengths and potentials, we can help them become better. We see them as potential to become amazing. We encourage them by treating them like they are amazing. They will most likely be amazing. It won't happen like this every time, there will always be exceptions. I was thinking about the people in my life and ...

I realized this blog is mainly text, which can get boring, so I am going to post pictures of important people and things of my life. My Best Friend Some of my roomates this semester. They are amazing! My 14 year old Dog Butch. He is a little younger here, but he is definitely aging now. Me and Michael Buble! ;) I accomplished one of my to do before I die list things during the summer. Skydiving was so worth it. Reccomend it.  John Mayer Concert with some of my best friends! I know it is backwards, but it me and my friend Amanda at Free Zoo Day on Christmas Eve. Precious I know :) My Utah Friends, I love them to death!

I find it interesting when you talk to people, and you can tell there is something bothering them. They won't tell you openly what is bothering them. They give you a plausible explanation, but you know the problem is something much different. They just try to find a cover up. I find this interesting with my friends. I will talk to them and they tell me that they are frustrated with some external event, but when I really get down to the root then it is something much more internal and personal. There are a lot of people who will just accept the false explanation and then move on. But I think we need to really try to understand people by understanding the root of the problem. It reminds me of what we learned in AP English, and we have a tone and a undertone. The tone is the obvious one but we have to analyze and take time to find out the undertone. It can be hard to find the undertone in a passage, but when we find it we have a clearer picture. Take time to find the undertone or the ...

My brother once told me that there was a formula for happiness. I am not sure, but I think it was your expectations divided by reality. I have seen people live with high expectations, which in my opinion is a good thing.  It is a good thing in certain situations, when we are able to drop our high expectations if they are not realistic. Many people have these high goals and expectations, and when things don't work out as planned, then they become depressed. We need to have high expectations but then we need to learn to let things go and not have disappointment take over. It is a hard mix to not have too high expectations but then not lower them too much, so we don't get anywhere in life. There is a happy medium that we should strive to reach, where we still have a expectation but not too high, that could possibly lead to unhappiness, and too low expectations that could lead to boredom. I have been thinking about this lately. It applies to dating, amazin...

Today I  ran the 5k in the Run to Feed the Hungry. I ran with my brother's fiance, and we helped motivate each other to keep going throughout the race. We finished the time around 30 minutes, which we were happy about. I could of kept running because I was still energized after the end of the race. My goal next time is to run a 10k, I think it is possible to reach if I trained up to running that much Anyways, my Thanksgiving Day was good. Of course, it was a thanksgiving feast. We had a lot of people come; extended family, friends, and close family. We watched football, played games, ate, pet my 14 year old dog who is getting really old. He received the most attention he has received in a long time. Everyone gave him lots of love. The dinner was good and filling. I haven't felt stuffed in a really long time. The dinner conversations went from trees, tools, music. family, and religion. It was fun to just laugh about the past and talk about the future. Anyways, I am glad that I...

Today, I went out to lunch with one of my best friends, I haven't seen her for a long time. We laughed and talked for a long time. Time passing didn't matter, we ate very slowly, and just talked about our hopes and where we want to travel. We both talked about our recent endeavors in school and just our recent hobbies and passions. It was cool to see that even if we didn't talk that much that we could have a good friendship. I love those friendships, although we may not see each other a lot, I can always rely on them and just know that we can have a good time. We are so different but we manage to be best friends, it is weird. But I am so grateful for my friends who I can just talk to whenever and trust them completely. Life wouldn't be complete without those kind of friends. Most of my friendships are like this, which is pretty cool. One of my best friends, we see each other once a year maybe, but when we get together, it seems like no time has passed. Without the socia...

Here is a video I found on youtube about people talking about gratitude. It made me smile, and I think it might uplift you during this thanksgiving season. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuwid8_O8dk . To continue, It made me think what I am thankful for, and I could write a long list, but here is mine: I am thankful for -My family, they support me in all that I do, and show love everyday. -My friends, they are such good listeners, and I can always count on them to make me laugh. -God, As I am coming to know him more, my gratitude increases. -Music, it is my life. I love to listen and dance along to it. It brings so much joy into my life. -My body, I love the fact I can run and dance and be healthy. -Education, I love learning and being able to challenge myself. -The Atonement-Without it, I would have no way to return back to my Heavenly Father! -Food, I love to eat good and bad food, of course bad food in moderation! haha -Sleep and having a Bed ...

I heard a quote that made me think: "I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious". Guess who said that? Albert Einstein. The quote inspired me to have the hope that I can become a amazing scientist, or whatever I want to be. Albert Einstein had struggled with learning when he was younger, his teachers said he wouldn't perform at a high level. Well, they were wrong! The fact that he said he didn't have special talents, but just that curiosity made him gain his infinite knowledge brings me hope. I know I may not be the most intelligent person alive, but I have a strong desire to learn, and curious nature about asking questions on human nature. I think that the ingredients to gaining more knowledge and wisdom are not purely intelligence. I believe that in order to gain wisdom one must have; the curious nature of asking questions, strong desire to learn, and to be hard working. When all of these combine, I think one can receive more intelligence than someone...

I was thinking about life's greatest joys. The things that bring me joy when I feel down. Buy me a two pound bag of twizzler's and a loaf of french bread and I am set for happiness. Don't get me wrong, I love my chocolate and red roses, but french bread just hits the spot! Roses die, and chocolate is temporary joy. I recently just bought a loaf of french bread, and it brought much needed delight into my life. Everyone has their simple pleasures in life. I remember traveling to San Fransisco and walking  into the bread factory and loving every minute smelling the fresh loafs of bread in the oven. Then I first tasted the inspired mixture of clam chowder in a hot sourdough bread bowl. I knew what love was when I tasted clam chowder in a bread bowl. I know it may sound silly and I do admit I am a silly person. Everyone has a silly side to them even serious people. Have you ever witnessed a serious person open up and reveal their silly side? I have. It is funny to see the contra...

I don't have anything exciting to say. Not a extraordinary day. I did homework, played piano, went to my grandpa's house, took a nap, ran, the usual. Played apples to apples for family home evening. I guess you have to be grateful for the good, bad, and just average days. They all have their purpose. Although, nothing exciting happened, I did make this big page of goals. I was thinking of things I want to change in my life. I made categories, made specific goals that I want to do in my life. It made me think about how we talked about how Marriage and Family Therapy is goal specified therapy, which makes it work. You make a specific goal, work to accomplish the goal and then you have improved! I like making goals. I make goals subconsciously, I may not follow up on them, but I like to make them, evaluate my progress, and then make changes. This may sound dorky, weird, whatever you want to call it. But goals make me driven. They give a direction in life, where I can make progress...

This weekend someone called me beautiful, and it made me feel amazing. I haven't been called beautiful for a while, and I just started getting used to it. But when he called me beautiful, it made me think about why it made me feel so good. I think as females, we have this need to feel beautiful. We may not need to be size 0 to be beautiful, but feeling pretty is important to our self esteem. Why? I don't know. Maybe it is a natural feeling that we are born with. I remember when I was young, i loved feeling "pretty" in my tutu and princess clothes. It made me feel, simply happy to feel like a princess. We lose the need to dress up as a princess when we get older, except during on random days when we are depressed or on halloween. But when a guy will call you beautiful, it just will brighten up my day. So here is a note to all the guys in the world, even though I don't think anyone reads this blog. When you tell a girl that she is beautiful, you will brighten up her...

I decorated my grandpa's house today. It made me so happy. Seeing everyone else happy listening to good old Bing Crosby and drinking hot chocolate was a highlight of my week. My favorite part was playing the piano and singing Christmas songs. I started playing songs, and everyone gathered around the piano. The house was decorated beautifully. I was looking at the decorations, there were so many, and the house was lite up in every room. There were colors of red, green, gold, pink, blues. The combinations were beautiful I could only think of my Grandma. She would play the piano and sing, that was her greatest joy. And there I was playing on her piano, singing with my family and friends, and it brought so much joy. I haven't felt this much joy in a long time. I just feel love for everyone, for music, for this time, for everything. Watching my grandpa feel joy and talking to the group, brought me so much pride and joy. I was related to this amazing grandpa. I was able to feel that...

I was sitting in the library, when i pulled up a blank document. I was going to study for my social psychology exam, but I had a weird thought pop into my head. My future is a blank sheet of paper waiting to be filled with amazing things. It is going to fill up with many people who will come into my life. It will fill up with amazing work positions where I will be able to help others. It will up with all the experiences I have yet to have in my life. I just realized I have a bright future ahead of me, and I need to remember that as I craft my decisions. I shouldn't be afraid to shine and take advantage of those opportunities that will fill up my blank piece of paper right now. My assignment for one of my classes is to make a VITA for graduate school, and I realized I don't have many things to put on my VITA. I don't have a research internship, I have never been a Teacher's Assistant, but I have yet to do these things. I have yet to shadow in counseling, see what happens...

I have had a hard time with time management lately. I procrasinate unto the point where I am stressed. i get so stressed, I am unhappy, and I am just rushing to get things down. I finished my homework, and I ran. It felt so nice. I carried all the stress within me all day. I got on the treadmill, turned on Michael Buble, imagined myself performing my quickstep and cha cha final. I got in this mode, and I just started enjoying my running. I could feel stress coming off my chest, I could feel just relaxation, I could think clearly. I haven't had that kind of feeling in a long time. I love the feeling of exercise where I can let go of negative emotions, get them out in a healthy outlet, where at the end of exercise I have a happy and healthy feeling. I love getting on the treadmill, or wherever I am running, thinking about what is worrying me, and then watch my cares float away. I can get my anger, frustration, stress out by imagining it go away each step I take when I run. I let my i...

A friend of mine came over to vent.I realized she didn't need someone to give her advice. She needed someone to just sit there and listen. Try to understand her, and just be there for her. I thought of times in my life, when I needed someone to just listen to me. Often times when i was frustrated, I just needed to vent. I tried to give my friend advice, and I realized she just needed me to listen. During times when i was sad, lonely, needing something  more, having my friend there to talk to and give me their complete attention was all I needed. Someone to just smile and say "I am sorry, I understand". Someone to let you cry on their shoulder. Someone to cry with you. Someone to laugh with you. Someone to be your friend. Someone to make you feel like you aren't alone. There is a innate feeling that we must be loved, feel like someone else cares, that someone else on the planet understands us. It dosen't matter if it is a loving grandpa, a understanding mother, a...

Lately, I have been going and going and going continuously. I think it all caught up to me last night. I realized I was pushing myself too much, and then I could feel my temperature going up. I finally just took time to recooperate. I slept 13 hours, skipped class, and I am just relaxing today. I know I will be behind, but it is more important for me to have my body rested and healthy. Not saying that everyone should skip class and work, but don't work yourself too hard. When your body is sending you signals, that it needs rest. Don't ignore it, and give your body rest. I could feel my body just being completely exhausted, but I ignored and kept working at a full pace. Sleep. Eat Healthy. Exercise in Moderation. Take Breaks when you are tired, Don't overwhelm yourself. When you are stressed don't ignore it with work, find a outlet and use it to release it. If you don't release stress, then it will build up and it can cause sickness in your body. I could of avoided f...

As we had a presentation in Child development today, we learned about children's language development. It made me wonder the affect of parent's fighting in toddler's language development. Of course, there would be other effects like their emotional development.  But, specifically I am interested in finding out the effect of arguments and language development. Are children going to learn and recognize the negative tone in their parents voices? Are they going to pick up on negative words? Are they going to model their parents and argue with others more, making them more aggressive and argumentative? Children model their mom and dad's behavior, so it makes sense to me that watching their mom's negative language to the father, they would observe and model. I bet there is already research out there about this subject. It is just something interesting to think about. What are children learning from arguing parents?

It is so important to find a emotional outlet to express whatever you are feeling. I have never realized how much writing helps me. In High School, I hated writing, but through this blog, I have started to enjoy writing. I am not writing critical essays but just a place where I can express how I am currently feeling. This morning I wrote in my journal, and my thoughts were organized when I started writing them down on paper. I was able to see more clear, and realize emotionally what I was feeling. It was amazing. I never realized how writing is such a emotional outlet. Then I thought back to Jane Austen. I love Jane Austen. But in Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice, letters were so important to communication, dealing with differences, and falling in love. Mr. Darcy writes a letter to Elizabeth Bennett explaining his past, his family, and his hopes. It cleared up the prejudice Elizabeth had towards him. It helped her see in a different way, and she changed her perspective. Also...

I ask questions. I read research and journals. I then question the article and ask for the creditionals. Today, I had some questions about what has just happened to me recently, and so I looked on the internet to figure out the reasoning. I realized how curious I have become. I guess I have been my whole life, but maybe I am just realizing it. I have always heard "curiousity killed the cat", but I think I have a opposite point of view. Although people do a lot of things because they are curious, I feel like we can't learn without curiousity. If I never asked questions, I would never have the desire to gain more knowledge. Desire is key to gaining knowledge. So part of my questioning included today.. Why do we say things we don't mean? Why and when do we use defense mechanisms? Why are some people more willing to open to up to people and some take longer to get to know? Why are we afraid to be alone? When standing in a group and being the only one out, why are we...

It is hard to be good. It is easy to give in. It is easy to forget everything you should do, and give in to your desires.  It is hard to think of what is best for your future. It is hard to make a righteous decision. Of course there are the exceptions, but it is easy to not care about what is best, and do what you want in the moment. There is that momentary happiness that you feel that makes giving in seem worth it. If we really thought about the decision in the long run, then we would realize the long term effects. If we give up the momentary happiness for the long term happiness. If we have the faith that everything will be okay, then we will be able to make the hard decision. This is what I am learning. It is hard to do the right thing. It is hard to have a eternal perspective. But that eternal perspective is so important to our happiness. If we gave in to every momentary desire we had, then we would have no self-control. Do we have to sacrifice our momentary desires for the lon...

We have been learing about chrildren's emotional development. It amazes me. I never knew that you were born with certain personality traits. Every child is different, there is so many things that can make a person who they are. You need to know the child's personality and then treat your child according to their personality. I was looking at my siblings, and we all had different personalities. I bet my mom had to figure out different ways to teach us by how we learn. I was a very stubborn child, and maybe I was born with that personality trait. Of course, you can develop the traits as you grow. Anyways, I continue to be amazed at human development everyday as I learn about how fast children grow. Their process of self awareness and gainging self knowledge is  fascinating. I am so grateful for opportunities to learn, the internet and the availability to gain information, and the chance that we have to grow, help others grow.

I wonder if our emotions work like the Chaos Theory in Physics sometimes. I feel a emotion, can't find the source, I am so frustrated over the fact that I can't control my emotions. I try to find a way to control my emotions, but it is hard. I try to find the reason about why I am feeling the way i do, and I can't. I wonder if I should just accept the theory of chaos and realize we may not understand and know everything. Those are my thoughts for tonight.

I never realized the strong connection between the mind the body. When you are physically healthy, it so much easier to have a healthy mind. I woke up this morning feeling out of it, and I still dont' feel that good. It is not anything major, but it is interesting how my energy level has gone down, which makes my social level go down. I don't feel upbeat, I just feel exhausted. Why does what is happening to my body have a strong influence on how I feel in my mind? It is like "you are what you eat". Whenever I am eating healthy, I feel like I have this endless amount of energy, and I am more likely to have a positive attitude. But when I start to eat unhealthy, I will have more doubt, and I will get down on myself more. I think I will take "Healthy Psychology" in the next couple of semesters, I will be able to answer my question!

   I saw Eat, Pray, Love with my roomate. I loved it. It inspired me because I could see the healing process Julia Roberts went through. She learned so much through her journey. I dont think we need to travel to Italy, India, Bali to find ouselves. We have social support, family, and many resources that we can find to find the peace. I realized how important it is a relationship for each individual  have that "inner peace" or completeness. She wasn't happy in her marriage, because she wasn't complete herself. Although people looking at the outside would think she was happy. She was a writer, publishing books, traveling, her husband was smart, they were "happily" married. But she identified herself by what she did, not who she was. One part during the movie, they were talking about words to describe themselves, and Julia Roberts described herself as "writer". One man commented saying, "thats what you do, not who you are". I feel like we id...

I feel like time management is the hardest skill to learn. I have 5 thousand things I could do within one day, and I have to choose which ones are important, and in what order to do it. I have to let some things ago if I don't get them done. I have to include a social life along with class, homework, roomates, sleep, working out, and scripture study. I have been slowly developing it as I have been through school. There are just so many demands, and I have to choose what is important to me. Lately, this week, I feel like I have been running around all day and at night I am exhausted. I guess it is part of college life. Sleep deprivation and exhaustion are just part of my life. I just have to find my outlets so I don't get too stressed. I feel like I am getting better at that. Stress management is a hard thing to learn. I have learned that my outlets are working out, playing and singing music, dancing, watching movies, eating, sleeping, talking to friends, and writing in my journ...

I realized today it is the small and simple things that bring people together. Today, I ate breakfast with my roomates altogether, which never happens. I felt so united and "family" like with them. Lately at devotionals and my classes, we have been talking about how the small and simple things bring families together. Eating together, spending time together, praying together. I have started trying to do those things within my apartment, and i have noticed a difference. When we pray as a apartment, we get along much better. When we talk about our days, talk about our frustrations, funny moments in our days, or whatever we want, it bring us much closer. When we talk and spend time together, the differences become small and we are able to relate to each other. I love the feeling when people who are very different find something to love about the other person. I have learned to do this with my roomates. We are not all perfect, and we make mistakes, we judge each other, but once w...

The other day I was feeling down, and I just thought I could either think depressing thoughts and just cause my own misery or try to think of something positive in my life and then try to be happy. It was a weird thing because I decided I was going to change my outlook on the situation, and then be happy. I forced myself to smile, forced myself to change my thinking, and eventually my attitude switched. It wasn't a automatic switch, but it over time I could feel myself not having to force myself to smile or to think positive. I started to think about why it worked, and this was my conclusion. 1.I made a conscious decision to change my thoughts. 2. It was intentional, and it took effort and energy to smile, and change my outlook. I always have heard that simply smiling can bring you some happiness. Maybe it was the muscles I was changing to smile instead of frowning, maybe it was the fact that my thoughts were changing from depressing ones to hopeful thoughts. I have no idea exa...

I am Kristen. I am a student. I am a future psychologist. I am a daughter. I am a friend.   I am a musician.  I am a runner. I am a listener. I am a shopper. I am a shoe addiction consumer in denial.  I am a food lover. I am a glee fanatic. I am a fan of Michael Scott. I am organized. I am a people watcher. I am captivated by anyone who can play the guitar and can sing.  I am a beach lover. I am curious about human behavior and emotions. I am a fan of sleeping in on the weekends. I am indecisive.  I am still discovering about myself each and everyday. I am optimistic. I am a believer in the statement that "Your future is as bright as your faith". I am jukebox. I am a owner of the most adorable golden retriever on the planet. I am a accountant's daughter who doesn't know how to live on a budget. I am constantly singing a song in my head. I am a dreamer. I am a lover of rain and stormy weather.  I am Kristen. 

I had a really good weekend. I am so grateful right now. I came home and seeing my roomates was so much fun to catch up. And then I had a note from my roomate on my bed, after finding out we were pranked by some friends! I am grateful for my roomates, my friends, my family, General Conference, education, and the opportunity to spend time with people we love. I just wanted to share my quick note of grattitude.

I didn't think I could accomplish everything on my to do list today, and then I woke up feeling sick. I kept thinking "this is not a good time to be sick". I am going to General Conference this weekend, and seeing friends, so I wanted to be healthy. I just felt like I needed to throw up, but luckily after my nap, I was able to feel better. I learned the basic of the quickstep today, and I was able to feel comfortable with the step. And then in Social Psychology, we learned about social peception. It was so interesting to see how quick we judge on appearance. We learned about internal attribution, how we see something and think its because of their disposition, and we don't see the situation. There was this funny commercial, the guy was making a romantic dinner, and the cat spilled over some red sauce/soup. He picked up the cat covered with the soup, and held it up with his knife in his other hand. His girlfriends walks in this moment. Think of what she was judging him...

I am currently taking Latin Dancing, and I love it. My teacher can sure shake her hips, and my new goal is to shake my hips. We learned all about the footwork needed, so in order to shake my hips,I will learn how to balance my weight between my two legs, and have the correct footwork so I can shake my hips. I have compared myself to her many times, and I realized she has been dancing her whole life, and is teaching so of course she will able to move to the music. Compared to me, the beginner. I recently just started to learn to dance. I took Social Dance last semester, and now i am taking two dance classes this semester. I am still learning the technique, how to be graceful, how to not have floppy arms, keep my feet turned out, and to remember my chasse's. There is a lot to learn, and I never realized how much work goes to getting the basic step  looking beautiful and perfect. When you are doing the basic you have to think of your posture, your footwork, your shift in your weight w...