Word of the Year: Soar

My goal for 2017: Soar to new heights.

Reporting back on my word of the year

As 2016 winds down, it's time to report back on how I did with my word of the year, "Love."

Goals:

• Spend more time with my loved ones.
• Verdict: Success! I spent a lot of quality time with my family and with my closest friends.
• Of course the best part of this was getting to spend time with Kristie and Jason as they got home from their missions.

• Another highlight: spending time with loved ones in places I love.

  
• And doing fun things with people I love. :)

• Returning to the things I love, like writing.
• Verdict: Success. :) 
• Novel wise, my best month was January, when I wrote 7,000 words in a stretch.
• When my perfectionism got to be an issue, I wrote a 30,000 word fanfiction over the summer. It's four chapters away from being done--but on hold now because I'm back in novel writing.
• And just look at this blog! I've set a new record for blog entries in one year. :)
• Another thing I love that I've brought back into my life... I've always loved animals, and so this year I adopted a little furball into my life. :)

• Another love: reading. And this year I've joined an awesome book club that's been awesome. We even went to a book signing together (my very first!)

• Loving myself more.
• Verdict: Success
• Maybe it's just my age, but I feel more confident and at peace with myself than I ever have before.
• Loving my fellow men.
• Verdict: Success... at least I hope so.
• This is personal enough that I don't feel comfortable writing about it here.

A lot of people say 2016 was awful... but for me, it was a good year. Here's hoping 2017 is even better.

What is Christmas?

Today I had the opportunity to speak to my singles congregation during our church service. Here's the text from my talk:

Merry Christmas brothers and sisters! My name is Shelece McAllister, and I’m from the Mount Herman ward. Today Brother Gardner asked me to speak on a talk by President Monson from 1998 called, “What is Christmas?”

In the modern era, the spirit of Christmas is sometimes hidden under the secular, materialistic version of the holiday. The true joy of Christmas doesn’t come from Santa Claus or the gifts under the tree. Instead, the true joy of Christmas comes from Jesus Christ. In President Monson’s words, “This joyful season brings to each of us a measure of happiness that corresponds to the degree in which we have turned our mind, feelings, and actions to the spirit of Christmas.”

What then is the spirit of Christmas? There’s something special about this season of the year. Hearts are turned to focus on the wonderful gift God gave us when He sent His only begotten son to Earth. As Christmas approaches, everyone seems to become kinder and more caring and more invested in their fellow men. President Monson explains it this way: “Of course, that which prompts such feelings is the spirit of Christmas, which illuminates the picture window of the soul, causing us to look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people than in things. To catch the real meaning of the spirit of Christmas, we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the Spirit of Christ.”

How can we increase the spirit of Christ in our own lives, not only during this time of year but all year long? In his talk, President Monson shares 4 places where we can find the Spirit of Christmas—in children, in remembering, in giving, and in studying.

First—the spirit of Christmas can be found in children. President Monson shared a story of a visit he made to the Primary Children’s hospital during the Christmas season. He was a young elder at the time, and he was there to give the children priesthood blessings. It was his first time being in a children’s hospital, and it was hard for him to see the little ones suffering. In his words, “A feeling of sympathy welled up within me as I noticed these tiny children, many with legs or arms in large plaster casts. Some were ever so weak and pale.

A young lad called out to us, “Will you give me a blessing?” Of course the blessing was given. I shall ever remember placing my hands on the tousled head of that faithful boy who was desperately ill. As we left his side, he looked up into my eyes and said, “Thank you, Brother Monson.”

We walked away, only to hear him call out, “Oh, Brother Monson, merry Christmas to you.” I could scarcely see him for the tears in my eyes. He had that glow about him that comes only at Christmastime. That boy trusted in his Heavenly Father. He acknowledged the priesthood of God. His faith was unwavering. I felt I was on holy ground. What made the glow emanate from the presence of this faithful boy? It was the Christmas spirit.”

How can we apply this to ourselves in the singles ward? Though we are not children any longer, the scriptures tell us to “becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child doth submit to his father.” The world is still new to little children. They know that their parents know more than they do, and they trust their parents to teach them and guide them. We too should remember that Heavenly Father knows more than we do, and He will guide us (if we let Him) to grow to become our best selves, the people He needs us to be. The trials we face will ultimately be for our good and even our glory.

Christmas isn’t always a happy time. It can be a time we mourn lost love ones or life circumstances that don’t match the Hallmark movies. But even in the midst of all this—if we look to Christ and seek to serve Him, we can find joy. We can be like that little boy in the hospital, still finding joy in life’s hard times.

Next, President Monson says that the spirit of Christmas can be found in remembering. He shares a journal entry from a pioneer woman, Rebecca Riter, written on 25 December 1847 as the Saints spent their first Christmas in the Salt Lake Valley. Rebecca wrote, “The winter was cold. Christmas came and the children were hungry. I had brought a peck of wheat across the plains and hid it under a pile of wood. I thought I would cook a handful of wheat for the baby. Then I thought how we would need wheat for seed in the spring, so I left it alone.”

This story breaks my heart. Can you imagine not even being able to feed your children on Christmas day? During this Christmas season, we must remember those who have come before us, and the trials and challenges they faced so that we could live our lives as we do today. My family had the chance to visit Salt Lake City a few weeks ago. Now it’s a beautiful city with central heating and many food pantries to feed the hungry. But it could never have become that without the sacrifices of the pioneers. We can’t let those sacrifices be forgotten.

And, we shouldn’t take for granted the blessings that we have now. I’ve never been in a destitute circumstance like Rebecca Riter where I didn’t have enough food, and I admit I eat my meals each day without stopping to think about what a great blessing it is to have enough to eat. Satan tries to distract us from the blessings that we do have by reminding us of the blessings we don’t have yet. Comparison is a thief of joy. The Christmas season, at the end of the year, is a wonderful time to pause and think about all that we have been blessed with.

Of course we must always remember the Lord and His great love for us, every day of the year and not just at the Christmas season. Even greater than the gift of His birth is the gift of His atonement. The Savior suffered for all of our sins, sorrows, and griefs. Because of His sacrifice, we can repent and be made clean, so that someday we might return to our Father in Heaven. Above all else, we must never take that gift for granted. Remembering the Savior and His sacrifice every day helps motivate us to follow in His footsteps and walk on the strait and narrow path.

President Monson also speaks about experiencing the Spirit of Christmas through giving. He isn’t speaking of the commercialized gift giving which sometimes takes over this holiday season. In fact, he quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson’s thoughts on the matter: “Rings and other jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only [true] gift is a portion of thyself.”

How can we give of ourselves during the Christmas season? One way is by serving as Christ has served. This year, the Church put out a social media campaign called “Light the World.” Many of you have probably watched the videos they’ve created. These videos focus on showing us ways that we can serve as Jesus did. The works He did were miracles. Miracles still happen today through priesthood power—I bear testimony that that’s true. But more often, the ways we serve are more subtle—yet still very meaningful. We may not heal the blind, but we can read to someone with failing eyesight or donate eyeglasses to a charity. We may not feed 5,000 with five loaves and two fishes, but we can feed the hungry by volunteering at a soup kitchen, donating canned goods, or even by signing up to feed the missionaries.

President David O. McKay has said: “True happiness comes only by making others happy—the practical application of the Savior’s doctrine of losing one’s life to gain it. In short, the Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit, that makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and prompts us to kind deeds of service.”

Finally, President Monson talks about feeling the Spirit of Christmas through studying fulfilled prophecy. From the days of Adam and Eve, God taught His children to look forward to Christ’s birth and atoning sacrifice. The Bible and the Book of Mormon are filled with prophecies of the coming Messiah. Isaiah, more than 700 years before the birth of Christ, prophesied, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

On the American continent, King Benjamin said: “For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent … shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay. … He shall suffer temptations, and pain. … And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.”

And yet despite all the prophecies—many doubted. We see over and over again that believers were mocked for believing in a coming Savior.

Five years before Christ’s birth, a prophet named Samuel prophesied to the people in the American continent that the Savior would be born in 5 years, and that there would be “a sign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day” (Helaman 14:3). He said this sign would occur “the night before [the Lord] is born” (Helaman 14:4). In addition to prophesying of a night without darkness, Samuel told them to watch for “a new star … , such an one as ye never have beheld” (Helaman 14:5).

Five years passed. “But there were some who began to say that the time was past for the words to be fulfilled, which were spoken by Samuel, the Lamanite.” The unbelievers set a deadline for the sign to appear—and if it did not, on that day they would kill all of the believers.

I’m sure this was a terrifying time for them. They believed in God and His promises, but they feared their pending execution. The prophet Nephi prayed mightily on behalf of their people. And the voice of the Lord came unto Nephi, saying, “Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.”

And then came the night when the shepherds were abiding in their fields and an angel appeared bearing good tidings of great joy. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” In the Americas, Samuel’s promised signs did appear—and the believers were spared.

Christ’s birth, life, atonement, and resurrection show us that God always keeps His promises. In the end, things are always made right.

In our lives now, we are in the decade of decision. As we seek to build our lives, sometimes promised blessings are delayed. Sometimes they even seem impossible. But we must not lose faith. Just as the Father fulfilled His promise to send His only Begotten son, so He will fulfill every promise He has made to us. We need only be faithful and trust in His timing.

Brothers and sisters, I hope you all have a wonderful and merry Christmas today. May we all keep the spirit of Christ with us not just during the Christmas season but all year long. I’d like to close with my testimony. I know that Heavenly Father sent His Son to us. I know that Jesus lives, and because of His Atonement, we can become clean and forgiven for all our sins. Because of Him, we can return to live with the Father someday. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Gilmore Girls (Spoilers Free!)

Anyone else watch the Gilmore Girls revival? I wasn't as big a fan as many of my friends, but I've seen most seasons and I do like it. I'm 85% of the way done watching the new episodes.

And.... it's interesting. The original is a classic coming of age, watching a girl go from 16 to 24. I sort of grew up with her.

The revival (without giving too much away) is about her quarter life crisis. She's 32, she's not married, she doesn't have a stable job, she gives up her apartment and just couch surfs from friend to friend. She's nowhere near where she (and we!) thought she would be at the end of the original series, and she doesn't know what to do.

There's a whole subplot involving the "Thirty Something Gang," a group of young adults in Stars Hollow who have "been to college, then out in the real world, and it spit ‘em out like a stale piece of gum, and now they’re all back in their old rooms." Oooooof.... That one hit a little too close to home.

I mean.... I wouldn't say that the world chewed me up and spit me out. But I did end up moving back home in my late twenties... and that was never in the plan. Actually, my life hasn't turned out anything like I thought it would. It's still good, but... very few of my childhood dreams ended up happening.

Every YA novel and movie ends when the person is at the brink of adulthood, when hope is bright and anything is still possible. But if you skip ahead a few years (like Gilmore Girls does) for those characters, you'll find that dreams don't come true for anyone.

Life is crazy and unexpected. No one has all of their childhood dreams come true. Okay, maybe there's a very rare person who has everything happen that they wished, but my guess is even they would tell you life hadn't turned out quite the way they expected.

That doesn't make life bad. I still have a good life, even though it's nothing I hoped for or expected. I think an important part of life is accepting that most of it is out of your control. You can choose how you react, and you definitely make decisions that shape your life path... but a big part of it is learning to enjoy the ride even when it doesn't take you where you thought.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

Hope everyone had a wonderful day filled with good food and good company.

Jason is home!

Jason is home!!!

He came back home last Monday. Today in church he gave his homecoming talk. I am so proud of him. He's grown and matured so much over the last two years, especially spiritually. We've had some great deep talks on gospel topics since he got home.

It feels so great to have our whole family reunited again.

Our extended family came to Jason's homecoming talk, and of course for dinner after.

It's not for very long. In 5-6 weeks or so, Kristie and Jason head back to Provo for another semester at BYU. They're both tentatively planning on staying there for Spring/Summer, so this could be the last time all 6 of us live together.

Of course, didn't I say that about the summer before Jason left on his mission? I guess you never know what the future holds.

And no matter what it holds... we'll make sure family is always a priority for us. We'll find a way to stay close, no matter what. That's what families do.

Why NaNoWriMo Is So Hard

Last night, my awesome book club went to a book signing. :)

We recently read We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. Around the same time the library was sponsoring a community read of another one of her books, so they flew her in to give a speech and do a signing. So of course, we went. Natalie helped us all make matching t-shirts so we could be a team (actually, she 100% made mine--thanks again Natalie! :D)

It was really fun and now I want to go to more book signings. Unfortunately it doesn't look like there's any more coming up in 2016, but I'll keep my eyes open.

Anyway, during the author's speech she said something that really struck me about NaNoWriMo. This is a professional writer, right? Someone who does this for a living.

She said her goal is to write 1,500 words a day.

In order to complete NaNoWriMo, you have to complete 1,666 words a day.

No wonder I never finish! No wonder it's so hard! Life is just so busy. Oh well, it's too soon in the month to give up yet!

NaNoWriMo

Every year, I try to do NaNoWriMo. Every year, I get off to a slow start, get miserably behind, and then give up.

NOT THIS YEAR!! I am determined to really put some effort in this year and make this happen. I've been exercising my writing muscles lately, so hopefully I'm in better shape for this event.

I'll let y'all know how it goes. :)

29

So, today I turned 29. You know what that means.

It's time to party like it's 1999! :D

I am determined to make this last year of my twenties the best year. Don't ask me what that means because I haven't figured it out yet. :) I'm hoping to pack in lots of fun things--more traveling, potentially some house buying, potentially some puppy buying... We'll see how it goes. :)

Confession

There is an adorable little miniature dachshund girl at the Humane Society right now and I am SO tempted to adopt her.

But I'm still not in a place where I can get a dog, and I know it would be irresponsible to do it... So I'm just stalking her page on the Humane Society and hoping desperately that when it disappears, it's because she found a good home with someone else.

I need to get a house so I can get a dog!

McAllister 2016

I saw a fun challenge on Facebook today. Your last text message is now your campaign slogan in your candidacy for president.

I thought mine was quite convincing.

I mean, I'd elect someone with that slogan. ;)

Hufflelumps

Kristie's return to the Springs allowed us to solve a long standing mystery....

What house would she be sorted into at Hogwarts?

Shauna, Jason, and I had all taken the official Pottermore quiz and fully embraced our houses with pride (once we got over the initial shock of not being Gryffindors). Can you guess what we are?

I'm a very proud Hufflepuff. :) To us, the most important trait is being nice... and that's a philosophy I can stand behind! It's also very important to us to be loyal and hard working. Other houses look down on us sometimes, thinking that since our most important trait is kindness... we are dumb without anything else going for us. But hey, what else is new? There's a reason there is a widely accepted (and not true) expression, "Nice guys finish last."

Shauna and Jason are both Ravenclaws, which of course, is the house for the smartest students are Hogwarts.

And today, we discovered that Kristie is a Gryffindor, just like Harry Potter! :) No surprises there. Gryffindors' most important trait is bravery... that fits her to a T.

We made Mom take the quiz too. She is a Ravenclaw (so that's where Shauna and Jason get it from). She's not a Potterhead like we are, and it's been a while since she's read the books/seen the movies.... so she got it into her head that my house is called the "Hufflelumps" (a slight variation off the Heffalumps Winnie the Pooh talks about... you know, Heffalumps and Woozils?). Several times today she cheerfully called me out for being a Hufflelump, and she said that we all must be fat if everyone calls us lumps. XD I laughed pretty hard. The truth is, Heffalump is a clever nickname for us Hufflepuffs. ;)

Dad watched all the Harry Potter movies with us growing up, but he never read the books, and I can't imagine him ever taking the quiz..... so we've decided he is a Muggle.

And there you have it, the basics for your very own McAllister family Harry Potter fanfiction. :) A Ravenclaw married a Muggle, and produced a Hufflepuff (assumingly to everyone's slight dismay at first), 2 Ravenclaws, and a Gryffindor. We would have had a great time at Hogwarts, it's a shame our letters never arrived!

3 Fictional Characters

Natalie clued me in to a social media challenge going around these days, describe yourself in 3 fictional characters. After a lot of (fun!) deliberation, here's what I came up:

That's Giselle from Enchanted, Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, and Jane Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. :)

Giselle for being a daydreamer, a bit too naive for my age, and still trying to cope with the fact that real life is not a fairytale. Hermione because I am a total nerd and a Wikipedia addict who sometimes comes off as a know-it-all. Jane because she is an oldest sister who is very sweet and kind, but unfortunately also a bit too passive.

Who are your three characters?

Kristie is home!!!

Last night we picked Kristie up from the airport! :)

For the last eighteen months, she's been serving a mission for our church in Finland. We were able to email her once a week, and we Skyped on Christmas and Mother's Day, but that's all the contact we've had with her.

I am so proud of Kristie and her desire to serve. :) For the entire eighteen months, she dedicated her life to serving the Lord--to serving His children (seriously, if you ever need help with yard work or help around the house-call the Mormon missionaries and they will help you out!), to studying His word, and to teaching. For the last 4 months, she's been serving as a Sister Training Leader, which means she worked closely with her Mission President and his wife to assist in all the affairs of the mission.

She's grown so much while she's been away. :) When she left, she was a college freshman and definitely still my baby sister. Now she's a grown up adult woman who can drive in Finnish traffic and bake tons of delicious Finnish stuff. I'm so happy to have her back. I wondered if it would feel a little weird at first, but instead it feels like life is closer to normal with her around. :) Now if we can just get my brother back from his mission in Mexico (he's there until November) our family will finally be together again! Only 52 days left. (Yes, I am counting down. :)

I'm grateful to have awesome siblings that have always been best friends. I hope we stay like that for forever.

Today, in celebration of Kristie's return, the two of us went to get mani-pedis. I'd never had a pedicure before, she'd never had a manicure. It turns out it was really fun. I managed to mess up my manicure in like 5 minutes, but the pedicure lasted great. We may have to go back again!

The picture's a little shaky because apparently massage chairs make it hard to snap a pic! Pro tip. :) Also pro tip: TURN THE CHAIR OFF when they are trying to paint your toes. It took me a minute to realize that.

Captain America and Me

Last night I had an awesome dream that involved me hanging out with Captain America AND the Winter Soldier.

They rescued me from some team of villains. I had some super powers of my own, but they were "sheep powers" (?!?!?)--which apparently involved things like reading other people's emotions (think Deanna Troi on Star Trek TNG). Basically, no defensive abilities what so ever.

Somewhere along the way, Captain America and I fell in love and started dating (yay!). But... then of course I was even more of a target, because the bad guys knew we were together and that I was a pansy. So, they were constantly after me, because that way, Captain America didn't feel like he could ever leave me alone or else I'd die. So he and the Winter Soldier stuck around with me all the time to keep me safe, but meanwhile other attacks were going on with a lot MORE people in danger. Basically I had become a liability. And I was trying to figure out if I needed to break up with him, or hole up in the Avengers building for forever, or what, to help keep other people safe. You know, the classic superhero's girlfriend dilemma.

This must be why Steve Rogers only dates women who can defend themselves. :)

Anyway, it didn't end on the happiest note, but I still give this dream 10/10 for getting to spend so much time with Steve and Bucky. Here's hoping for a sequel! :D

10 Year High School Reunion

So, yesterday was my 10 year high school reunion. 10 YEARS. How crazy is that?

I mean, high school does seem like it was a long time ago... but even so, that blows my mind.

We met up at Palmer Park. If you know the park, it was easy to find the pavilion. I didn't know the park. I came from the wrong entrance and drove around for about 10 minutes before I finally found the right place. And even then, Hayley and I almost drove past it, because the pavilion was decorated for a little kid's Batman themed birthday. I could see a group of kids gathered around a Batman pinata, and there was a bouncy house set up next to it and everything. So we thought that couldn't possibly be our reunion--but I parked and hiked over to check things out, to at least find out the name of the pavilion in the hopes that I could figure out where we really needed to be.

And I found a couple people from Rampart Class of '06 hanging out there. They politely let the birthday party kids know that we'd reserved the pavilion--we didn't rush them out, because we didn't want to ruin the party. So with all that, it took about an hour for things to kick off. It was an awkward hour, with the birthday party, and with only a few people from our class standing around and waiting for more people to show up. A couple more trickled in, but... it was a very small affair, haha.

It got better once we ate lunch together. We all fit around one picnic table and talked and caught up. Some of us didn't even know each other in high school. :) But the ones that I did know... I don't know, there's just something special about hanging out with someone who knew you as a child/teen. Even if they didn't know me well back then, they still know things about me that no one else will ever know. There's a special connection there that you just can't fabricate with anyone else.

It came up what advice we would give our 18 year old selves if we could go back in time. I was surprised to realize... I don't have any regrets from the last 10 years. Sure, I made some mistakes in that time, but I learned lessons from those mistakes that made the experience worthwhile. Life didn't turn out as I hoped or planned in many ways, but it never does for anyone. That wasn't my fault. All things considered... life has turned out pretty well. I may not be a wife and mother like I wanted, but it turns out being a successful career woman isn't so bad either. :) I've had opportunities I wouldn't have had as a married mother, and I think it's okay to embrace that and be grateful for them. That's something I've struggled with sometimes... If I'd sought out those opportunities rather than marriage/motherhood, that would be one thing. But that's not what happened... those opportunities are what has happened in my life while I've been waiting. It's okay to be happy about them--actually, I probably should be happy about them.

Travel Bucket List

People keep talking about my trip to Europe as a once in a lifetime opportunity. That may very well be what it is... But oh man, I don't want it to be!! I have the travel bug so bad. I want to go everywhere and see everything. I'm already saving up for my next trip. :)

Now every time someone mentions somewhere, I'm adding it to my mental bucket list of places to go. So my tentative plan is to make my wishlist and just keep on adding to it for forever. Here is the wishlist in no particular order:

1. Ireland--I had ancestors from there long ago. :) While I'm there I'd love to stop at the Trinity College Library to see the Book of Kells.
2. Scotland--The McAllisters came from here! :)
3. Capetown, South Africa--One of my airport shuttle drivers told me this is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, surrounded on 3 sides by the ocean. I looked up the pics and he wasn't kidding!
4. Finland--Kristie served her mission there, so I want to take her back someday. In the summer when the sun is out ALL day! :D
5. Tokyo, Japan--Jason and I want to check this place out.
6. Norway--Kristie's friend Antti was telling us about this place to the north with mountains and the ocean visible and how pretty it is in the summer.
7. Caribbean (ALL of it! :)
8. Tahiti--the beaches here are supposed to be legendary
9. Hawaii--Polynesian Cultural Center, Honolulu Temple, Pearl Harbor
10. Germany--including Neuschwanstein Castle
11. China--especially the Great Wall
12. Austria--including where the sound of music was filmed :)
13. Australia
14. New Zealand--Lord of the Rings! (Yes, I'm a dork! XD)
15. City Museum, St. Louis Missouri

Week of Craziness

I think it's funny I had these grand plans to relive my Europe trip here in my blog, and I only got as far as describing the plane ride over. >< Haha, well, expect more to come out in bits and pieces now and then. There have been times I haven't let myself journal/blog about more recent things until I got caught up in writing about past stuff I wanted to record.... but when I do that, the list of things I need to write just gets longer and longer and I fall so far behind that it becomes impossible to catch up. So, this time I'll just keep blogging as usual, and every once in a while when the mood strikes me, I'll write about Europe. :)

This last week was crazy busy for me. I woke up at 3 am on Monday to head out on a business trip to Jacksonville, Florida. Unfortunately I was flying Delta, and their systems went down worldwide. I made my first flight okay, but I got stuck in Atlanta for 7 hours. They tried to switch me to another flight going out the next morning, but instead I canceled the second leg of the flight and took a Southwest plane the rest of the way.

The conference lasted for 4 days. It was great connecting with my coworkers--both members of Senior Staff were there, and I got to meet Kevin, a BYU Professor we've hired as a Local Evaluator, in person for the first time. It's always good to meet other grantees too, and I met our Federal Project Specialist in person too.

It was kind of funny--at each table during the conference, they provided Play-doh, crayons, and pipe cleaners for us to play with to help us stay focused. I had a lot of fun with those things--sometime when I'm in charge of a conference, I will copy them.

I came home on Thursday night, arriving home at midnight.

At 3 pm the next day, I headed to the church to set up for the One in Christ YSA Conference, my committee's biggest event of the year. I was there until about midnight that night--we had dinner (Brazilian, in honor of the Olympics--we tied that in to our unity theme because they are about international unity!), a wonderful fireside, and a dance. The fireside was presented by Brother and Sister Chatelain, the new seminary teacher and his wife. When they were married about a year, Brother Chatelain had an accident that has left him as a quadriplegic ever since. He was very open in talking about what a challenge that was and still is. Although his life hasn't played out as he hoped, he sees the Lord's hand in it, and it's still good and worthwhile. He shared some of the lessons he's learned from the experience. It was wonderful, and I think it helped all of us put our own problems into perspective.

The next day I was up at 6:30 to get ready and head over to the Evergreen cemetery in town. We did a BillionGraves service project--taking pictures of tombstones for their website, for later transcription, so people around the world can find their family members who are buried there. We had a decent turnout--30-40 people for that part--and I think we did over 2,000 names, although most of the pictures we submitted are still being processed, so I'm not sure. After that, we headed to a nearby park for a picnic lunch. Then back to the church for 3 hours of workshops, an awesome closing fireside by President Brock and Sister Brock of the temple presidency, another dinner, and international unity games (because Olympics is copyrighted. :) We had a better turnout for that part.

I think people had fun. I know of a couple that hadn't been to YSA stuff before who appeared at the YSA wards on Sunday. Another guy mentioned to me that before the YSA conference, he felt like he didn't know anyone, but afterwards, he felt like he'd met everyone. :) I think we did get some unity going and some new friendships formed. I'm calling it a success. And I'm a little relieved it's off my back until next year. ;)

Anyway, so that's what I've been up to of late. It made it hard to find time to blog. :) One of these days, though, I do want to go through all my Europe pictures and try to recapture that experience.

London and Paris--the Plane Ride Over

My trip to Europe was phenomenal. We ran around every day all day to pack in as many things as we could. I loved it--but I didn't have much time to write about it, and my head is overflowing with many many posts about what I saw and experienced. We'll see if I can rein it in, or if this post turns into a series of posts!

The trip started off great. I'm one of those people who usually can't sleep before I travel, for whatever reason. Even if it's just a little business trip, I'm often awake until the wee hours of the morning the night before. It's not because I'm worried or excited, necessarily... I don't know what it is. But somehow I managed to sleep just fine the night before. It seemed like a good omen. :)

Hayley recommended that on the flight there, I watch one in flight movie, eat dinner, and then go to sleep. So, I watched the new live version of the Jungle Book (I liked it, but I'm not really hankering for a rewatch), ate my dinner, and... conked out! Again, so surprised I could sleep.

Dinner was some chicken thing that was actually pretty good! And the cheesecake dessert was a very nice touch.

Amazingly, I was able to sleep on the plane. I had one of those neck pillow things--highly recommended! Usually I have trouble getting comfortable.

Hayley and I were on a row together--she was on the aisle and I was at the window seat. She booked the seats that way hoping that no one would take the middle seat, and no one showed up... but I wonder if someone booked the spot and missed the plane, because at meal times they would bring special meals someone had ordered and we'd tell them it wasn't either of us. So I woke up to the stewardess trying to deliver a special breakfast meal. She said, "Did you preorder breakfast?" I guess she didn't realize we were sleeping? We both popped awake and I just stared at her while she repeated herself at least 6 times as my fuzzy brain tried to figure out where I was and what was happening. This was the only time on the trip I had trouble understanding a British accent. Finally I noticed the tray in her hands and assumed she was offering me breakfast, which I didn't much want at that moment, so I said, "No thanks." She looked at me like I was a crazy person and tried one last time, finally getting through to me. "Did you preorder breakfast?" "Oh... no, sorry."

At last we landed. I was so giddy. Every little British thing excited me at that point because it was all so new. Look, the elevators are called lifts! Hey, their toilets look different. Wow, listen to all the British accents!

Customs was a nightmare. We were in line for 2 hours. But I got my first stamp in my passport, much to my delight. :)

Hayley's sister-in-law Anna was sweet and came to pick us up. For our first two days, we stayed with Hayley's brother's family while we attempted to recover from our jet lag. That first day, I felt like a total zombie. I didn't do much besides sit around the Carters' house and try to stay awake. I did try to take a nap at one point, and I couldn't even sleep! Craziness. Most of that day is a complete blur to me.

Haha, wow, okay, I've barely dipped my toe in here, but it's late, and I guess I'll post this anyways just to let people know I'm still alive. ;) The actual exciting trip stuff will come soon!

The Choice

In our church, we have a lay ministry. That means that we don't have paid clergy--instead, we all take turns doing the jobs needed to keep the church running. As part of this, each Sunday members of the congregation take turns speaking in our sacrament meeting. This week, I was one of the speakers. Below is the text from my talk.

Good afternoon brothers and sisters. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Shelece McAllister. Today the Bishop has asked me to speak to you on a great talk by President Boyd K. Packer called “The Choice.” Though President Packer gave this talk in 1980, he was speaking to those of us in 2016 as well. He noted that, “a careful account is kept of these proceedings, and through that record I hope to speak to those who are not yet born.” That’s us, guys.

President Packer opened his talk by saying, “I fear that when I have given this counsel, some will say, ‘Well, I knew that already,’ and regard it as prosaic, unimaginative, even dull. For what I want to say is so ordinary, so commonplace, that it is very difficult to have it universally regarded as important.” 

What does it mean to be successful in life? The world defines it differently than we do. If you listen to the media’s idea of what earthly success looks like, it’s easy to believe that success comes from two things: wealth and fame. A lot of people spend their whole lives chasing after these two outcomes. But in the end, neither one of these things has anything to do with happiness. It’s possible to be rich and famous and completely miserable. It’s possible to be poor and completely unknown and still be completely happy.

In President Packer’s words, “It is the misapprehension of most people that if you are good, really good, at what you do, you will eventually be both widely known and well compensated… I want you, our children, to know this truth: You need not be either rich or hold high position to be completely successful and truly happy. In fact, if these things come to you, and they may, true success must be achieved in spite of them, not because of them.”

The truth is, true success in life has nothing to do with fame or fortune. We’re not here on earth to seek money or the praise of others. We are here to be tested and tried, to grow to become more like our Father in Heaven. President Packer describes it this way, “the choice of life is not between fame and obscurity, nor is the choice between wealth and poverty. The choice is between good and evil, and that is a very different matter indeed.”

We first faced the challenge of choosing between good and evil before we were born here on earth. Heavenly Father created our spirits, and we lived with Him as His spirit children, learning and growing in His presence. But we were not like our Heavenly Father, nor could we become like Him and enjoy all the blessings that He enjoys without the experience of living in mortality with a physical body.

So Heavenly Father presented to us His Plan of Salvation. We would be born here on earth, without memories of our life before with Him. Here we would gain bodies and experience that would help us become like Him. During our lives, we would make mistakes. We would sin. But our Savior, Jesus Christ, would live a perfect life so that He could accomplish His Atonement—He would suffer for all of our sins, all of our pains, griefs, and sorrows—and through Him, we could become clean again so we could return to the presence of the Father.

But our brother Lucifer rebelled and did not accept Father’s plan. He wanted to force all of us to do his will, rather than allowing us our precious gift of agency—the right to choose for ourselves whether to do right, or whether to do wrong. Lucifer fell and became Satan.

We were faced with a choice—to choose the plan Father had for us, or to listen to Satan and follow him. A third of the host of heaven chose to follow Satan. But we—and every single person who has ever lived or will live on this Earth—chose to follow Heavenly Father instead. We chose good over evil.

The challenge of mortality is to keep choosing good over evil. President Packer said, “Our lives are made up of thousands of everyday choices. Over the years these little choices will be bundled together and show clearly what we value. The crucial test of life, I repeat, does not center in the choice between fame and obscurity, nor between wealth and poverty. The greatest decision of life is between good and evil.” End quote. Heavenly Father has provided us with many gifts to help us make right choices. Everyone is born with the Light of Christ, which allows us to distinguish right from wrong. After we are baptized, we have the opportunity to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost—his constant companionship helps us know what we should do. In D&C 11:12, the Savior counsels us, “put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.”

Heavenly Father also sent His son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect life. If we look to His life as an example, we can come to understand what Heavenly Father wants us to do.

Satan tries to distract us and to dissuade us from doing what’s right. One lie that he tells us is that the conditions of this test are unfair. He may tempt us to compare our lives to those around us—to people who are more successful by worldly standards, perhaps, or to people who aren’t facing the same trials that we are facing.

We must remember Isaiah 55:9, where the Lord says, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Although sometimes it may appear that the trials we face are unfair, remember that our mortal view is limited, and we don’t understand the full picture.

For example, in the world, it may seem that those who are rich and famous are more successful than those who are impoverished and obscure. But in the New Testament, the Savior counseled that “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24). That isn’t to say that it’s impossible for someone to be rich or famous or both and still live a righteous life. But it helps us understand that people who are wealthy or famous are not at an increased advantage spiritually. In fact, they may have a more difficult time turning to the Lord than those who are in more humble circumstances.

President Packer describes our challenges this way: “Some are tested by poor health, some by a body that is deformed or homely. Others are tested by handsome and healthy bodies; some by the passion of youth; others by the erosions of age. Some suffer disappointment in marriage, family problems; others live in poverty and obscurity. Some (perhaps this is the hardest test) find ease and luxury. All are part of the test, and there is more equality in this testing than sometimes we suspect."

That last line especially touches me—“there is more equality in this testing than sometimes we suspect.” I think most of us have experienced a time when we’ve seen a loved one suffer, through no fault of their own. Most of us have gone through a time when we ourselves have suffered. It’s easy to think, “Why me?” or to lament that it isn’t fair that you have to go through this.

But President Packer’s counsel reminds me—life is more fair than we think. With our limited mortal perspective, we cannot fully comprehend the trials that anyone else is going through. Don’t compare your trials to someone else’s. Just trust Heavenly Father that through the trials you pass through, you are growing to become more like him.

Sometimes it is easy to be discouraged in our life choices. We look around us, and sometimes we see people making poor choices who seem to be better off than we are, even though we are trying to do what is right. President Uchtdorf shared a powerful story from a time in his life that he felt this way. He said:

 “Every one of us is called to wait in our own way. We wait for answers to prayers. We wait for things which at the time may appear so right and so good to us that we can’t possibly imagine why Heavenly Father would delay the answer.

I remember when I was preparing to be trained as a fighter pilot. We spent a great deal of our preliminary military training in physical exercise. I’m still not exactly sure why endless running was considered such an essential preparatory part of becoming a pilot. Nevertheless, we ran and we ran and we ran some more.

As I was running I began to notice something that, frankly, troubled me. Time and again I was being passed by men who smoked, drank, and did all manner of things that were contrary to the gospel and, in particular, to the Word of Wisdom.

I remember thinking, “Wait a minute! Aren’t I supposed to be able to run and not be weary?” But I was weary, and I was overtaken by people who were definitely not following the Word of Wisdom. I confess, it troubled me at the time. I asked myself, was the promise true or was it not?

The answer didn’t come immediately. But eventually I learned that God’s promises are not always fulfilled as quickly as or in the way we might hope; they come according to His timing and in His ways. Years later I could see clear evidence of the temporal blessings that come to those who obey the Word of Wisdom—in addition to the spiritual blessings that come immediately from obedience to any of God’s laws. Looking back, I know for sure that the promises of the Lord, if perhaps not always swift, are always certain.” 

In closing, I want to share President Packer’s take home message from his talk:  “What, then, do we want you to do? Simply this: Be good! Study the gospel. Live it! Stay active in the Church. Receive the ordinances. Keep your covenants.”

I want to bear my testimony that the commandments Heavenly Father gives us are for our own good. Even when we don’t understand His counsel, we can trust that He knows better than we do. The scriptures often tell us to become humble like little children. Little children are so humble! They know that they don't know very much yet. That's why they ask so many questions--and they trust that their parents know better than they do. We are adults here in mortality, but we need to remember that we're still little children compared to Heavenly Father. He knows better than we do, and we need to trust Him. If we obey Him, we will be blessed.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

London Eye Ticket

Long, long ago I put the London Eye on my bucket list... Inspired by the opening credits of BBC's Sherlock, I admit it. :)

Just now, I purchased  my tickets to go. :) It's very surreal and I'm very excited.

Life is Crazy

Man, last month I was a pro at writing in this blog, and then it slipped off my radar. Life has just been insane lately! New crazy stuff at work, crazy stuff with my calling as we work towards our biggest event of the year next month (a 2 day YSA conference), crazy (but fun) stuff in my life as I prepare for my very first trip to Europe, ....and not so fun stuff like family health problems.

Between all of that, I've barely had a second to breathe. I have missed so much of the YSA scene this summer just because I'm scrambling to keep up in every other area in my life, and I feel a bit guilty about that. And I feel like I've been punting some major decisions I need to make... like, am I going to apply for a PhD? If I am, I better get going on studying for the GRE again.

Oh well. A big chunk of this month, I'll be in Europe, so that's a free pass to not worry about things for a bit. And after that, I'm sure I'll be out of my mind stressed about the YSA conference.

Once I get past that on August 14... then I can work on my more major life decisions like grad school and where to live and all of that jazz.

Survived

Guys, I think we've survived this grant app (knock on wood!) Everything is written, it's all been edited. My boss has it in a PDF format, and tomorrow she's going to formally submit it.

On Monday I will go back to my regular work responsibilities (I have some catching up to do in that department) and my regular social life.

I'm both relieved and a little sad, strangely. Working on a grant app teaches me a lot about myself, believe it or not... about my abilities, about how much I've grown in my company since I was hired as a brand new, painfully shy graduate. And... there is something nice about losing yourself in one focus for a few weeks. All the other stresses in life melt away because you just don't have time to deal with them right now. Now it will be back to real life and all the problems that come attached with that.

Weird, huh? But mostly I'm just glad that it's done. I think we did a great job. I'm hopefully we'll hear good news this fall.

Outlining

Okay, one last thing. I was having a rough time outlining my novel, since I'm used to being a "pantser" and making things up as I go rather than plotting things out ahead of time.

But outlining the fanfiction was easy. At first, I started by writing out the events in the film that I wanted to cover. Then I realized that I was parroting the actual film too much... fanfiction is supposed to bring something new, right? So I started expanding things... and I started seeing the beauty of the outline. It was much easier knowing what to add in where, because I could see how it would add up in the bigger picture.

For example... there's a scene where an uncle gets very angry at his nephew for many complicated reasons, but the one he vocalizes is that the kid is drawing when he's supposed to be doing something else. Cue a much earlier scene I added in that explains why his artwork is so very upsetting.

Seeing the whole picture helped me think through what elements and themes were needed to tie together into the great whole.

Tl:dr version.... Outlining my fanfiction is converting me to outlining in general, and giving me insight into how to outline my novel better. I think for some of it, I need to work backwards. Begin with the end game in mind, and think through what would need to happen in the beginning to raise the stakes.

Hayley often quotes the Fantasy Fiction Writing Formula, a how-to book she loves, that you have to write a million words before you can be a good writer. This fanfic may be silly, but it does count towards million words, and I'm already learning a lot from the process. And, getting into the healthy habit of writing every day without stressing about it too much. The amazing thing is, I'm reasonably happy with my work, even though it's certainly rough and unpolished.

Growth all around. :)

PS: I'm up to 5 readers now. Yep, it's literally just a handful, but man... does that have me jazzed!

Lessons from My Experiment

So.... I promised myself I would never speak of my dorky fanfiction experiment again...

Apparently that was a lie. Huh.

I posted it up on Fanfiction.net on Saturday. I kept working on it during the weekend and it ballooned up to 6 chapters, but nobody was reading it. That wasn't a surprise. Actually, that was part of the plan. It's scary to let internet strangers read your stuff.

Last week during my grant writing madness, I also finally signed up for a DeviantArt account. That website is more geared to... well.... art, but there is a fanfiction section... I didn't get the account with intent to post anything. Actually, I didn't even have a fanfiction when I got it. I wanted an easy way to save my favorite pictures (there is some gorgeous work on there!) and pinterest wasn't cutting it.

During the process, I liked a fanfiction in the same category that I ended up writing in. Apparently in DeviantArt etiquette, it's polite to thank someone who favorites your work, so the author popped onto to my wall to thank me. I thanked her for her awesome story and admitted I like her version way better than the real thing.

And then I got brave and posted just the first chapter of my fanfiction. DeviantArt is way harder to navigate than fanfiction.net. I've been reading fanfiction since 2004 (at least, that's when I made my account!) so I know that site pretty well, and it's easy to upload stuff. (Makes sense, since it's an all-text website.) DeviantArt... man, that was a tough one. I thought of asking some friends for help, but I was way too embarrassed to do that because then THEY'D SEE WHAT I'D WRITTEN. Hahaha.

Anyways, author girl popped back up on my wall to thank me again for my nice compliment.... and she saw what I'd posted! And she submitted it to a fan group for that particular topic! And she favorited it, and told me she liked it and hoped to see more.

Do you see the exclamation points building!!! Hahaha... I liked that feedback way more than I should. By the end of the day, I had 3 readers. I mean, on the one hand that's like, pssssh, hardly anyone. But I am so excited anyway!! Three people read my work (from 1 o'clock in the morning, nonetheless) and they liked it!!

One of those people is THE number one fan of this fandom. No really, it's true. It's not the biggest fandom in the world... She has more fanart and fanfiction than anybody else, she's met the writers behind the scripts and even did an internship with them, so she knows lots of plot details no one else knows (because when she was geeking out over this thing, she was right there with the creator to ask him whatever questions she had and get real answers.) Anyway, I've read her stuff a lot and really liked it.

And she favorited my dumb little fanfiction! And talked for a while, I think our comments went back and forth for 4-5 times.

I was so excited by all this silliness, I ended up getting inspired to write a new, better chapter 2 than what I had posted on fanfiction.net originally. Already it has two favorites (from two of the three who liked the first one) and number one fan girl is now following all my posts on DeviantArt.

It's not a big deal at all so why am I so excited?!? (Oh yeah! It's because I'm a DORK!) Apparently I needed to get my writing up on the internet before this, I guess.

All in all... I think this is a good experience that will help me with my own book. It's giving me a little more confidence in my abilities as a writer. And it's helping me take a step back and analyze some of my strengths as a writer.

There's a lot I need to do to improve, but you know what? I'm semi-decent at tugging people's heartstrings. I know how to pack an emotional punch. I know a bit about human relationships and how we all get so tangled up in how we relate to other people, it impacts everything we experience and feel and do.

That's what I'm doing with this fanfic. And that's part of what I want to do with my book.

Part of my problem is that my two greatest strengths (well, at least what I like to write the most) are polar opposites: family drama and ridiculous off the wall humor. It's hard to mix the two without getting serious mood whiplash in the narrative.

Oh well. I'll figure it out somehow. :)

Fuzz Helped Me Out With Work Today

I was petting her next to my laptop, and the next thing I knew, she was up on the keys.

Look, she's even smaller than the computer mouse! Love this little girl.