Why am I enjoying finals?

I made it a goal to have a fun finals week.  I know... a total oxymoron right!  But I did it, I succeeded. And I have to say that I am thoroughly pleased with the week I made for myself.

Here's the key.  Just kidding, there isn't a key.  You just need to be positive. Have fun study breaks.  Plan out your week so you know when you're studying and when you're done (but leave a little wiggle room).  Call up old friends.

This goes for more than just finals week.  It's for life.  I have to plan out what I'm doing.  Know when you're going to bed, when you're waking up, and what you're doing each day.  Not having a schedule is bad  not productive.  Also, get enough sleep.  I need a solid seven hours.  But if I get too much sleep then I am tired the next day and can't get out of bed (I think that's normal but I'm not sure).

Now that you know my sleep schedule, I'll tell you what to do for a solid study break.  Go to the temple, go for a walk, buy a gift for someone, write a letter, clean out your email, find a good book, cook yummy food, exercise, go to a sporting event (I like baseball), watch mindless t.v. (or something educational.  you pick).  When I am hitting a wall and at my wit's end, I call an old friend I haven't talked to for a while.  It is my favorite pastime I think.

But before you do any of these things, I need to earn it! You need to work hard in order to play hard (refer to my previous blog post about how to do that if you are confused).

In life, we need breaks!  But only when we work hard for them.  And we need other people in order to keep our sanity.  I think that's the point of this pointless post.

Here's a pretty picture, because we all need some annual weekly daily hourly inspiration.

Be serious; but never take yourself too seriously

"Life is not only meant to be endured, but to be enjoyed."

President Gordon B. Hinckley said that.  He knew how to be professional, somber, and thoughtful without eliminating all sense of humor.

I mean... it will be a sad and dark day when we forget to laugh and enjoy life.  I realized this as I walked to class the other day.  I pulled an "ella" and slipped and fell.  This wasn't a small trip.  It was a wipe out.  Sure, I could have blushed and cried as my economics book flew to the ground and my butt slammed so hard I'm pretty sure it shook the snow off the trees next to me.  I was in a crowd of people, but I didn't know a single person.  I popped up and, embarrassingly, said, "Wow.  Careful right there, it's slippery."  Lots of people were staring at me, and I'm fairly certain my dress was caught up in my backpack (revealing my awesome back shot).  But, WHATEVER!  I don't know these people, and if nothing else, I brought a smile to their faces.

Heaven knows I brought a smile to my own.

And here's just a few of the many people that taught me to laugh when I fall (seriously there's just so many.  But no way do I have a picture with or of all of them).

I wish you could tag someone on blogspot...

snapshots

Sometimes we share moments that we want to freeze in time.  To hold a Polaroid photo of that feeling in our hands and remember it in its entirety even as it yellows and fades.  They are moments of epiphany, moments of joy, and moments of beauty.  When you hug your firstborn tight to your chest and breath in that feeling of love, anxiety, and peace all at the same time while standing in a dimly lit hospital room.  Or that second of delight when reach the summit of a long-awaited hike.  Often they are simple moments of togetherness-- when your family is all tucked tight in their beds while a gentle snow falls beyond the window.  I myself have moments such as these, and all contain the company and companionship of those I love.

Tonight I was reminded of those moments as I watched The Book Thief with my friend/roommate/blessing Kait.  It is late at night on the day before my last final, and probably the last place I should be is a movie theater.  But there we were, and there our hearts were changed.  There was beauty on the screen-- in color, speech, music, scenery, wardrobe, expression-- it was seemingly flawless in its simplicity.  The masterpiece brought us the fresh perspective we needed.  And that's my raving review of The Book Thief.  Do yourself a favor, and see it.

Being happy and other virtues

This is how you become the best you can be, which will undoubtably bring happiness.  

For example: Something you're passionate about is life.  So become immensely interested in it, and continue to let that interest grow.  Look around you and see the beauty of the world.  Keep your head up and see the people around you.  Lift them, and allow them to lift you.  Foster life-long relationships with others, and don't let petty things keep you from holding fast to those friendships.  Call your family members, both close and estranged, and ask them how they are doing.  Learn about other cultures and develop a respect for them.  Eat good food and go on long walks.  Find yourself in the mountains with good people and a good view.  Read books, and then read some more books, so that you can have more insight to things around you.  Look down from the tops of man-made skyscrapers God's peaks and canyons.  Admire the beautiful artwork and architecture around us, and immerse yourself with beautiful melodies and music that move the soul. 

These are just a few ways to show that you appreciate this life you've been given.  Be grateful.

And doing this doesn't ensure that there will be no bad days or hard times, but it does make those times less bad and less hard.  It gives you things to be grateful for even in moments of distress and sorrow.

This one's for my mom

This one is for my mom, because I'm pretty sure she's the only person who really cares about what every day looks like for me.

 look at those blank faces

The testing center... it even looks scary

My favorite building-- the Maeser building

 Just sleeping under a tree.  It's casual.

 Getting some self-defense lessons.  No big deal.  

My walk to and from campus every day

 Sometimes at night I feel like I am at Hogwarts

My favorite time of day... 7:00pm

The classic shoe pic.  Because you were all dying to know what I had on my feet.

The classic food pic.  Because I know that mom is curious about what I eat every day.

The Vaudois of the Piedmont Valley

I have stumbled across perhaps the most interesting thing that has happened to me all summer.  While working on a sunday lesson, my mom was given a stack of papers from my cousin, and therein lied the history of our ancestors.  Late last night, after returning from dinner with some good friends, I came downstairs and asked to look at the documents of our predecessors.  In the lamplight I poured over them, and was soon enamored by the beauty of my heritage.  I searched late into the night for pictures and primary documents that would contain any information on the type of people I am descended from.  

Here is their story:

The Piedmont Valley in Italy is surrounded by the Cottian Alps, which serves as a border between Italy and France.  Three valleys run to the Piedmont plains, which are the valleys of Lucerna, Perouse, and San Martino.  In all they are about sixteen square miles.  And nestled in this Piedmont Valley are a wondrous sort of people.  The Vaudois, a race that has existed there since long before any historian could have archived their arrival, were striking in both appearance and attitude.  Their description goes as follows:

Within this little area has...existed from remote times a peculiar race of people, rarely numbering more than twenty thousand. They have retained their primitive appearance and manners to a greater degree than almost any other European community. They have always been noted for the simplicity and purity of their lives, and their absolute freedom from the ignorance superstition and vice which have cursed the countries around them. The men are tall, well-made, graceful in section, vigorous and hardy. The women are fair, endowed with a native grace and refinement and have always been noted for their chastity and modest deportment. Both sexes are frank, hospitable Peaceful and forbearing in disposition.

Traditionally these Vaudois or people of the Valleys belong to a church which is held to be the direct result of the teachings of the Apostles of early Christianity, never having belonged to the Roman Catholic religion. Thus they were the forerunners of the Reformation, having preserved their ancient faith, through the centuries, "in the Vaudois Valleys simple, free, and pure, as in the time of persecution."

How beautiful, don't you think?  They were persecuted for not joining the Catholic church and instead remaining faithful to the New Testament apostles.  And for this they fought an 800 year war against the Duke of Savoy and the pope.  Children were torn from their mother's arms and brutally murdered.  Bodies were skewered and left to demonstrate what being faithful would cause.  However, they never gave in.  After being scattered about Europe numerous times, they always returned to their home in the Piedmont Valley.  And after many unwavering generations, eventually were granted religious freedom.

In the early 1800s, President Snow (who was then Elder Snow) came to the Piedmont Valley to restore the everlasting gospel to the people of Italy.  He was inspired to do so, and found a humble and strong people who were open to the words of our future prophet.  My ancestors, the Cardons, were then baptized and later traveled to Utah in the pursuit of establishing Zion.

Marie Madelaine, daughter of Philippe Cardon and sister to Louis Philip, recounts having had a dream at a very young age, in which three men came to her and told her they were the servants of God.  They then proceeded to tell her all about the restored gospel.  When she awoke, she was acting very strange, and recounted the entire dream to her parents.  Being so young, she soon forgot the dream, but her parents always remembered.  And when their daughter was eighteen years old, the father heard of men in La Tour who were teaching a strange and new doctrine.  He walked all day and all night to the place where the men were, and recognized that their teachings were the same of those in his daughter's dream.  He invited the men back, offering his home to them as their new headquarters.  They accepted his offer.  And upon returning to his home, his daughter looked upon their faces, and suddenly recollected her entire childhood dream.  She knew that they were the same men.  All were later baptized.





◆How moving this is for me to see, and how I hope that they look down on us now, and see that their efforts have been paid in full.  Such gratitude I feel, that words cannot convey it.  I will see their faces again, and look forward to that day.  But for now, I will live the way that they have taught me.◆



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