Shelece Navidad

People ask me sometimes where my name comes from.

I wish I had a cool story to tell. The real story is pretty short. There was a girl in our ward in California when I was born. Her name was Shelece. My parents thought it was a pretty name. The end!

No one is ever satisfied with this story. But where does your name come from, people ask? Sometimes they'll guess a place. Someone was convinced once that it was a Jewish name. I've had other people guess that it's French.

That's when I tell them the truth: it is a Utah Mormon name. A random mashup of two names, as popularized in Stephenie Meyer's book Breaking Dawn (don't forget, she's a Mormon!). Renesmee? Totally a Utah Mormon name! And I don't even know the two names that went into my name. One of them is clearly Elise. But where did the "Sh" come from? Sharon? Charlotte?

I love my name, but I do have one small regret, in that it has no meaning behind it. It's not referenced in any baby names list I've ever seen, and no one has any clue what it means.

One of my friends in the grad lab told her husband about me. He gave me a new nickname: Shelece Navidad. Very appropriate for the season. :) I started wondering-what does the Spanish word Feliz mean anyways? I know Feliz Navidad is Merry Christmas, but what does Feliz mean? I put it into google translator. Turns out... it means "happy." :)

I like that. I'm claiming it. From here on out, if anyone asks, Shelece does mean something.

HAPPY!

I made it!

You know, it's pretty funny to be me that I can be an obsessive journaler, writing down every little detail that goes in my life (well... at least lots of the little details) but I cannot seem to do this public blogging thing to save my life. I don't know why. I guess I feel like I should have something really inspirational/funny/witty/brilliant to say in order to blog, and that hasn't been happening to me all that often. :)

But something significant did happen of late. I officially survived my first semester of grad school! :D After the first month, I wasn't so sure I was going to make it. But it turns out I love grad school. The girls in my program (and okay, like the one guy there) are amazing! Our work load is intense, but it's stuff that really matters--no more busy work. The professors treat us more like equals now that we are in grad school. Overall, it's a great experience-I'd recommend it to anyone!

Anyways, that's all for now. Everyone have a very merry Christmas! Be safe in your travels home, and don't forget to keep in touch. :)

A year makes a big difference

A year ago, I was feeling pretty lost.

Ever since high school, I'd been planning on becoming a marriage and family counselor. I was going to get my bachelor's degree from BYU and then apply to stay on in their marriage and family therapy program. I'd worked hard for three years, taken the GRE, gotten a job as a research assistant, and even signed up for a class on how to apply for MFT programs. The application due date was December 1, and I was all set to go.

Except... the closer the application date came, the more something felt wrong to me. Every time I went to my MFT application class, I felt more and more uneasy. Something was telling me that MFT was not where I belonged. That was really hard for me. It was something I prayed about and anguished over, and finally realized... MFT really wasn't for me. That wasn't what I was supposed to do. I never turned in my application.

I was devastated. I felt like my whole life plans had just gone out the window, and I didn't know why. I worried that maybe I just wasn't good enough to handle graduate school. I had no idea what to do with my life. My bachelor's degree wasn't that conducive to a career, which I'd never worried about before because grad school had always been the plan. I was scared to death, and praying all the time for help in figuring out what I should do. I kept thinking how much it would help to see just a little glimpse of the future!

I didn't get that glimpse, but I kept getting the message, "Relax. Everything is going to work out."

At the time, I couldn't see how it could, but looking back, I never should have worried. Everything came together, one step at a time, right when it needed to. Now here I am, a happy graduate student in the Marriage, Family, and Human Development program, emphasizing Family Life Education. I know with all my heart that this is where I need to be and what the Lord needs me to be doing. A year ago, I couldn't see the path ahead of me, but Heavenly Father could. He got me where I needed to be. He helped me make the connections that I needed to make.

Yesterday, while I was in the meta-analysis lab, I overheard a conversation going on outside. A boy who was working on applying to graduate school was asking one of my fellow grad students for advice. As he talked about how nervous he was in not knowing the future, I had to smile. I didn't go out to talk to him, but to him and all my friends in their senior year-Relax. Things really will work out. Just do your best and move forward. He will get you where you need to be! The unknown is never unknown to God.

Random Observation for the Day

So today I had to dig through my apartment "move in" packet to find my landlord's address. I noticed this interesting tidbit in there:
"Hint: Don’t ever put these down the disposal:

                        Fibrous vegetables - raw carrots, celery, broccoli, etc.

                        Thick starches - rice, pasta, noodles

                        Peelings of any kind - potatoes, carrots, onions, apples, bananas, melons

                        Rocks from fish tanks"

...

...

Rocks... from fish tanks?

Okay, who dumped their poor fish down the food disposal???

Oh BYU

Every Tuesday, BYU's Daily Universe newspaper comes out with its latest police beat! It's always my favorite part of the paper. Today I think they had my favorite police beat of all time: "Three males were seen entering the Wilkinson Center. One of them went and suspiciously changed his pants. When officers arrived, they searched the area that the student changed in and found nothing."

Ah, Provo. Such a city of crime and despair.

General Conference

On the first weekends of April and October, my Church gathers together to listen to the prophet, apostles, and other Church leaders as they speak to us and give us counsel. The meeting happens in Salt Lake, but it is broadcast to meeting houses and television stations around the world, as well as broadcast live on our website (http://www.lds.org). General Conference weekends are my favorite weekends of the year. The counsel we receive always gives me strength and peace.

There were many many good talks, but one which really struck me was by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency.  He used a couple analogies for life. If we look at the rings of a tree, we can see that when growth seasons aren't optimal, the tree doesn't grow normally-it cuts back and focuses on survival. When planes hit turbulence, how should they handle it? A novice pilot might speed up, thinking that if he goes faster, he will get out of the turbulence sooner. But this only makes it worse. Good pilots know that you slow down when you hit turbulence. "When experiencing adverse conditions," President Uchtdorf said, "slow down and focus on the essentials!" We shouldn't unnecessarily complicate our lives. That just leads to decreased joy and sense of meaning. Sometimes we need to forego good things for better things. To become great, we need to start by mastering the essentials. So what are the essentials? President Uchtdorf mentioned four relationships:
1. Our relationship with God-this brings us joy and fulfillment.
2. Our relationship with our family
3. Our relationship with our fellow men-Build this one person at a time.
4. Our relationship with ourselves-we shouldn't belittle and hate ourselves! We should try to remember how Heavenly Father sees us.

One of my best friends, Lori, always catches a ride here for Conference weekend. It was fun to see her and get to hang out for a few days. We went bowling during the Priesthood session and... I got a 120 score on our first game!!!! That's the highest I've ever gotten in my life! For our second game I got 103... and breaking 100 is a pretty big deal for me! :)

This weekend has definitely been amazing and I am sad to see it end!

An introduction

Usually, when I start a journal, I start by introducing myself. I feel weird that I haven't done that on here, so, here goes:

15 cool things about Shelece:

1. My name is Shelece.
2. I am a writer and a graduate student.
3. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (see http://www.mormon.org). God and Jesus Christ my Savior are the top priorities in my life.
4. My family are my best friends.
5. If you're one of my best friends, I consider you to be family, too.
6. Pink is basically my most favorite color of all time.
7. I own the complete series of Gilligan's Island.
8. I am a Trekkie-and not just any kind of Trekkie, I like the old-school Captain Kirk style Trek.
9. All of the "man movies" that I own are either sci-fi or superhero movies, with one exception: Bandits (Bruce Willis, Cate Blanchett, Billy Bob Thornton... it's pretty awesome)
10. When I was little my favorite cartoon was Alvin and the Chipmunks. I have some of their music on my i-pod.
11. If I could be an animal, I'd have to be some kind of bird. I've always wanted to fly.
12. I really really would love to go to France someday. That's where my mom's family came from. I took some French in middle school and high school but I haven't retained much of it. :(
13. I love listening to music. When I'm not listening to it, it's usually running through my head anyway. It's like having my own private soundtrack. 
14. I've been working on my own novel since I was 12. One day I will finish it and it will be epic.
15. I enjoy long walks on the beach. Okay, I've only been to the beach a couple times, but it seemed pretty cool and I do like long walks, so...

Ahhh... now this blog feels so much more official. :)

Working at the Car Wash

I don't understand what is in the air here that gets cars so dirty, but after sitting in the parking lot for two weeks, my car looked like someone had dipped it into a mud puddle. Clearly it was time to take action. I drove over to my friendly neighborhood car wash, only to discover that... there was a giant rope blocking off the driveway, and it was completely abandoned.

No matter. I managed to find a new place. $1.75 for a wash seemed pretty reasonable. I grabbed my quarters and ran to get started. Just after I put my money in, I realized... I'd left my keys in the car. Did I lock the door? I ALWAYS lock the door. Did I seriously just lock myself out of my car at the CAR WASH? I take one step to go check, and water starts spraying out of the wand thing on the wall. Okay, forget it. I might not be able to get back in my car, but at least I can make it look good.

Considering I'd never tried a pay-self car wash before (I'm usually a fan of parking in the driveway and using a hose), I did pretty well with the prewash and the soap phases. Then I get to this phase called "foam brush." I think that I am just supposed to take the brush and use it on the soap already on the car... I don't realize that it is shooting out a thick pink foam spray. So when the car wash beeps for more money, I put the brush down to go feed the machine more quarters. When I turn around, there is a foot high pile of pink fluff on the concrete. THAT isn't good. I switch to the rinse cycle, and start by spraying down the foam mess-which results in the foam mess exploding all over the wall. It looks like a cotton candy machine just blew up. But oh well, because I have two minutes left and my car is coated in this stuff.

At this point, a nice older gentleman comes to see "How are you doing, honey?" It's not until he straightens the foam brush I threw haphazardly into its case that I realize he must own this place. Suddenly I am grateful he didn't come by a minute ago before I semi-destroyed the evidence of my waste of soap. I take a deep breath, attempt to look like I know what I am doing, and finish rinsing the car.

Now for the moment of truth. I approach the driver's side door, grasp the handle, and... it OPENS! For once in my life, I didn't lock it when I got out! One last deep breath, and I'm in the car and on my way.

Maybe next week I'll get this car washing thing down...

Starting Over

So here goes blog attempt number #3. :)

Confession: I am kinda addicted to journaling. So you’d think that I would be big on blogs! But… I am also kinda addicted to privacy. And kind of scared to post personal information on the internet, at least outside the semi-friendly realm of Facebook! That means that previously blog attempts have been very carefully password protected—and thus subject to incredibly small readerships.

This blog will be a little different. I am going to try this whole public blogging thing. I’ve been nervous that my name is obscure enough, that anyone wanting to find this blog will find it. But then I got to thinking… my name is obscure enough, that it probably won’t attract a heck of a lot of people who I don’t know. So. I am giving this a try. Here goes!