"How do you feel? Saint-like...Come again...Saint-like. I'm holy..."

So there's a quote that my mom keeps up on the front of our fridge:


"Why were the saints saints? Because they were cheerful when it was difficult to be cheerful, patient when it was difficult to be patient; and because they pushed on when they wanted to stand still, and kept silent when they wanted to talk, and were agreeable when they wanted to be disagreeable.
That was all. It was quite simple and always will be. "


...and for some reason it just really struck me today. I look at the overwhelming difficulty that the early saints encountered and there is no way that I ever could have done that. And then I realize that I'm a latter-day saint and was like, how could I possibly deserve that title when compared to them and what they went through. But looking at this quote it's not all about what kinds of trials you encounter or what difficult circumstances you're in, it's about how you choose to react to them. And I think that's important to remember. We just need to do our best with what is given us. So the next time your little brother (or sister, or really anyone for that matter) is being the most irritating human being on the face of the planet, try and have a tad more patience  (I know, that's a lot to ask) . And when you feel like you've hit a wall, don't give up, just keep pushing a little longer. Sometimes I know that's really hard for me. Many times I just want to throw the towel in, just say "That's it. I'm done. I quit". But I find it's always more rewarding in the end to wait just a little bit longer, to pray a little bit harder, and to never give up. This reminds me of another of my favorite quotes:
"The simple secret is this: put your trust in the Lord, do your best, then leave the rest to Him."
--Joseph B. Wirthlin
When you have done all that you can, He will ALWAYS make up the difference. He will never ever leave you hanging. You can always count on him.


(I think I'll save being cheerful and keeping silent for posts in the future...far too much to talk about there :P)
So...the last part of the quote is what really gets me. The word simple. I mean, sure, it sounds simple enough, but it's not that easy to always be cheerful and patient and agreeable. Especially those days when you want to just curl up in a corner and die. But I think that as I try really hard and think about these saintly traits more, that I might have less of those curl-up-and-die days. I guess we'll see...wish me luck!

catch up #2: Julyyyyyy

So...July. July started out on the right foot with a trip to the Washington D.C. temple with mi Madre. I  absolutely love going to the temple. What a beautiful place it is. I get there and instantly feel as if I've come home after having been away for far too long.

{mi y mi Madre <3}

Then on Wednesday the 13th my best friend reported to the MTC. He called Tuesday night to say goodbye and I was totally fine until the second I hung up the phone. I was only not fine for a minute or two because it's hard to be too sad when you're so excited for them. Some days (like today), I really miss him and feel rather lonely. I wish I could just call him up and talk to him. But it's already been two weeks so hopefully time will continue to clip on at this pace.
Next was...THE LAST HARRY POTTER MOVIE! I went with my family to see it and I must admit that it was pretty good. I just can't believe that it's over; my childhood has ended, but Harry Potter will always be part of my life. There will never be anything else quite like it.

{with the little bro waiting for the movie to start}
[don't know about you, but I love the face]

This past month, I had the pleasure of reading a book titled "A Heart Like His" by Virginia H. Pearce (a daughter of President and Sister Hinckley). It has been very enlightening. The book is all about opening your heart to others and letting the walls around your heart down. It was definitely something that I found I need to work on. So many times it's just easier to keep to yourself, to be guarded, but I have discovered through this book the blessings of opening your heart and letting it be filled with God's love that you might share it with others. I highly recommend it :)
This summer I also managed to obtain a job. I've been working full time in the U.S. Army War College Library. I check books in, check books out, stack books, sort books, shelve books, edit reports about books, basically, all things book. I have thoroughly enjoyed it though I am very glad that next week is the last one. It has kept me busy all summer and I am looking forward to my last work-free week of summer :)

catch-up = terminated

*note to self...don't date premies, just don't do it (it makes life WAY more complicated than it needs to/should be)

catch-up #1: Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start

well, not actually from the very  beginning but the beginning of my summer :P
so...my summer started out at the end of April, returning home from a fantastci year at BYU. Up until that point, I never realized how difficult it was to say goodbye, it was never a problem for me before, but saying goodbye to my best friend for the next 2 years was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. He is serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Joao Pessoa, Brazil and I couldn't be prouder :) He sure is a great missionary! He was the best best friend a girl could ask for and I am so blessed to have him in my life.

{night before I left for home}

In the middle of June I got to go on a short backpacking trip with my dad and my little brother. We did a 17 miler on the AT (appalachian trail). It was way fun. The portion that we did had some abandoned mining towns on it and even a little cemetery in the middle of the woods.  We were fortunate enough to encounter a giant thunderstorm that night and I'm afraid that we got rather wet.

{hittin the road}

{not gonna lie, I was excited}

{here's the itty-bitty cemetery just chillin in the middle of the woods}

My 19th birthday was also in June! I know...not a terrible exciting age but a good one all the same :) For my birthday, I treated myself and took a half day off of work, went home and made my birthday cake (carrot cake from scratch...yum...it was pretty darn good if I do say so myself), and had dinner with my family! My bestie Jess also came over for dinner. Also, I discovered that I have one of the coolest little brothers ever (just kidding, I already knew that). After dinner, we were going to watch a movie and I didn't know what to watch so Daniel said he would go get one and he surprised me by having bought Tangled (a.k.a. the cutest movies ever)! So yeah, it was a pretty awesome day. Oh and I got a phone call from the best friend mentioned above, highlight of my day :)

{makin a wish}

{me and the lovely Jess <3)

 So I think that's about it for the first half of my summer...stay tuned for July (which is a tad more exciting :P)

first post...oh boy...

Well folks, I have finally joined the blogging community. I've been thinking about it for a long time but, frankly, I've just been too scared to actually do it. I was afraid that I wouldn't have anything to say or that it would be of absolutely no interest to anyone but myself, but regardless of this, I took the plunge. This will prove to be an interesting experience for me.
 Life has been kind of rough lately and I feel like blogging could be kind of theraputic...or something like that. I hope that through doing this I might be able to help others or at least help myself :P Mostly I'll just be sharing stuff from my life and thoughts and ideas for life in general. I know that I certainly enjoy reading the blogs of my friends and find them inspirational at times. In fact I would say that their blogs are what finally prodded me to start my own.
I've had a couple of (in my opinion) blog-worthy experiences recently, so the next couple of days will be spent in playing catch-up and informing ya'll on my oh-so-exciting life :P