Peace on Earth

Well, so far this holiday season hasn't shaped up to be quite what I expected, but it's been a good one! :) I think, when I came back from Thanksgiving, I had dreams of lazy evenings watching ABC Family Christmas movies, like when I was a kid. That hasn't quite happened. Most nights I'm busy with my calling or with my PREP instructor training or catching up on housekeeping tasks.

But life has been good. This last weekend especially! Melissa and I went to see BYU's annual Christmas Around the World. It's the Folk Dance team's annual show. It was beautiful! I'm so impressed by all the talented dancers at BYU... wish I could move like that! Seeing all the different cultures represented really makes me want to travel the world... although I suspect folk dance is a dying art in most places. Guys, our ancestors really knew how to groove! Why have we let that slip away??

Then, on Sunday night, Shauna and I headed up to Salt Lake for the Church's First Presidency Christmas Devotional... along with half our ward. :) My Relief Society president found out you can get tickets for free, without having to participate in a lottery or anything (like for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert). So she let us know, and everyone scrambled to get tickets. We must have gotten them around the same time, because most of us sat together in the same section. I will admit to being a bit hyper and excited to be there... I had a lot of fun goofing around with my friends beforehand.

And then of course the Devotional itself was amazing! The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang like angels. My favorite talk was by Elder Nelson. His message was about finding peace through the Prince of Peace, the Savior.

So... things have been a little more hectic than I anticipated, but it's still been a great month so far! Here's to keeping that up! :)

Great quote I'm stealing from a friend's Facebook page

“Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?” – Corrie Ten Boom

LOVE THIS.

Do you pray for God's help to guide you as you move forward, or do you only turn to Him when you're in trouble?

Best December Ever

I am determined to make this the best December ever.

It's a tall order, I know. And I have to be careful. Sometimes when you set up such a grand expectation... whatever happens seems like a disappointment.

Here is my line of thinking: this may be one of the least stressful Decembers of my life. I don't have to worry about finals anymore! I'm watching my poor friends scramble to prepare for those and I have to say, I don't miss that.

It's interesting. I haven't had finals in a year and a half, but I've had major work projects going on for the last two finals weeks... so I was just as stressed as my roommates. So far, it's not looking like that will happen. Fingers crossed.

So, no finals. Just working, with my evenings off. I've been busy the last couple months with things like becoming trained as a PREP Inc. Instructor, but that's over now, which means I will have some free time.

I need to use that free time wisely. This is the time of year when we should be serving others, right? I need to make that happen.

I also need to keep up my streak of being social all the time and going out to do fun things.

And... I should probably work on writing my novel a bit... that was a New Year's Resolution I've been neglecting. Good thing there's still a little time!

I am going to work on all of these things, and I am going to have the best December ever. :) Here goes!