Everything's amazing and nobody's happy

We live in an amazing time.

We're not peasants out in the field anymore, just trying to get by. We live in beautiful homes, we have plenty of food, we have multiple pairs of shoes and plenty of warm clothes. We don't have to depend on a fire to heat our homes in the winter. We have access to running water (even hot water!). Since our basic needs are taken care of, we can develop our time to educating ourselves and building careers in fields nobody dreamed of a few generations ago. The technologies available to us would be perceived as miracles by the people of the past. We have instant communication 24/7 from nearly every place in the world. We have access to the internet that connects us with essentially all the knowledge in the world. We can flip on a TV and watch an event that's going on on the other side of the planet. If we want to travel to the other side of the planet, we can climb aboard a flying machine and get there in a day's time. The possibilities today are truly limitless! What do our ancestors think as they watch the amazing opportunities we are blessed with?

And yet, has all this prosperity and technology made us happier? No. Granted, there are still problems in the world, not everything is sunshine and roses. But how often do we get caught up in "first world problems" and forget to look around and be grateful for all the things that we do have? We are living the dream! Let's not forget that.

New Beginnings

My  family has lived in the same house since I was  five years old. Really, it is the only home I can remember. But things are about to change. My family will be moving to a new home in the spring. It will still be in the same city, just a couple neighborhoods over. We will be in a different ward, but still the same stake. I'm a little nervous about the change, but I realize I am fortunate in that my family isn't leaving my hometown!

The house is currently under construction. It's still in the early framing stages. My family has made many many trips to watch its progress and walk through its skeleton. At first, it was hard to envision it as a house, but the framing is nearly complete, and now as we walk through it I find myself imagining what it will be like in a few months, when we call it home. I think we are going to like it there, but it will be hard to give up our old house. That's all I've ever known!

Hopefully this isn't too cheesy, but the whole thing struck me as a parallel to my life right now. For the last six years, I've been at BYU. I've loved it there. But next year I am graduating. In a few short months, I'll be leaving behind the life I know now and moving out into the real adult world.

It's exciting... and terrifying at the same time. I've been scrambling a little bit trying to figure out what the next step of my life would be. PhD? Get a job? Move back to Colorado or stay in Utah? I am a person who always tries to work upstream... I try to plan several steps ahead. But it's hard to plan when you don't have any idea what's coming.

But like our new house, my future is beginning to take shape. I have a tentative plan laid out. I won't be going on for my PhD just yet. Instead I'll be looking to get a job in my field. I am willing to go where the job takes me, but if at all possible I want to stay in the Provo area. I love Provo, and I'm not ready to leave just yet. Shauna is there with me now, and my brother will be coming next year to start at the Y. If that doesn't pan out, I've got backup plans in place for returning to Colorado, including a backup job if I can't find one in my chosen field. If I can't find a job in my field... next year I will consider applying to a PhD program after all.

Life isn't so scary anymore now that I know (sort of) where I am going. Things are going to come together somehow. I'm actually starting to look forward to my post-BYU phase. It'll be exciting to see where life takes me!

A year from now, my family will be safely established in their new house. It will be complete and beautiful and they will have been there for long enough to get used to it. A year from now, I'll be several months into my new life. What seems a little foggy now will have taken shape. Looking back, all my fears and worries will seem silly.

Here's to the future!

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

My amazing roommate Natalia has an uncle in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and he sent her a bunch of tickets to their Christmas Concert. :) We got to go last night! Getting there was an adventure. Parking was TERRIBLE. I think we drove down every single street in Salt Lake City trying to find a place to park. We were supposed to be in our seats by 7:30 (at that point they give seats away to the standbys) but 7:30 came and went and we still couldn't find a place to go. I think we were all praying like crazy that we'd still be able to make it somehow. In the end, we did. :) We found a random place to park a few blocks away, ran like crazy women in our high heels, and made it to our seats at 7:59, exactly one minute before the performance began. They were dimming the lights as we sat down. Haha, when we first arrived at the conference center, we were afraid they would turn us away, but the volunteers manning the door were incredibly sweet. "We're so glad you made it! We've been waiting for you! Come on in!"

The show was STUNNING. It was not a typical Mormon Tabernacle Choir show, it was complete with ballet dancers and special effects. Nathan Gunn and Jane Seymour were the special guests. The music was beautiful. If you have not heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing, you should go look them up on youtube. Right now. :)

One of my favorite special effects was snow that poured down from the ceiling. It looked very realistic, but it didn't stay on the floor. What was it? Well, stop now if you don't want the secret to be spoiled... but on our way back to our car, we met a trumpet player and a bassoon player from the Orchestra on Temple Square. They told us that it was thick, foam bubbles. Perfect for faux snow.

All in all, it was an amazing experience! I hope someday I get to go back again.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

This week we had our amazing ward party. :) It was a bit of an adventure getting there. For some reason Google Maps and my GPS failed me in my attempt to find it. I ended up driving around in circles for about 40 minutes, but a quick phone call to a friend finally got us there. Fortunately there had been some issue with the catering, and they didn't serve dinner until shortly after I arrived. :)

Santa was there!

Being at the party took me back to the ward party a year ago. It is interesting to think about how much has changed since then. Many of my friends have graduated and moved away, and I miss them. But this year I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of amazing people and make a lot of awesome new friends.

I wonder where I will be in a year from now? I am not quite sure where life will take me after graduation, but it will be fun to find out.

Hair

The blond highlight look was fun for summer, but I decided I wanted to go back to my natural color:

I think Shauna was more interested in getting a picture of her Jimmer poster than a pic of my hair, but that should give you some idea of my new/old look. :) I think I like it!

NCFR

This week I got to venture to Florida to attend the National Council on Family Relations. This is a big annual gathering where family professionals from around the country gather together to share their research. I had heard about it for years, so it was exciting to finally get to go for myself.

Can I just say, Orlando is beautiful? I wish we had more time there to just play around and explore. I will have to go back someday.

This was the view from our hotel window:

Everyone at the conference got an official nametag with ribbons attached. Most ribbons said cool things like "Award Winner" "Legacy Circle" or "Section Chair."

Somehow I ended up with more ribbons than anyone else I saw, but they were mostly for dorky things:

"First Time Attendee" "Student/New Professional" "Student Aide"... the one I was proud of said "Certified Family Life Educator." :)

I spent four hours volunteering at the registration desk. It was AWESOME. So many big name professors checked in... people whose research I've been studying for years... I was a little star struck by it all!

On Thursday I presented a poster on my thesis. A lot of people stopped by. They were all nice and said encouraging things. I felt a little bit more like a professional!

Me and my amazing poster

 After my presentation was over, my friends Lena, JV, and I headed out to Downtown Disney!

Even though it's not actual Disney World, it has the same vibe to it. Just being there made me really happy. I found this awesome little souvenir at the world's largest Disney store (World of Disney):

An antenna topper for my car in the shape of Cinderella's carriage... It says "Disney Princess" and it's the same color as my car! Perfect!

 Overall the trip was amazing and I'm glad I went! Hopefully I can go again next year. Also, I need to go back to Orlando sometime and really check out all the sights... Disney World... Harry Potter World... Sea World... All of it!

But even though I had fun, I am ready to be back home. :) I was surprised how much I missed Provo while I was away. Turns out Provo is a pretty cool place to be!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you got out there and partied! :) We did. Shauna and I were both brave and wore our costumes up to campus for the first time. It might have been my imagination, but I swear there weren't as many people dressed up this year as there are usually. I felt like wearing a costume made me act a little differently... I felt like I had to be super extra cheerful to match my costume. :)

 Here is Shauna as a mad scientist.

 I was a rainbow unicorn. :)

For FHE, our group watched Monster House (great movie!). Then we went reverse trick or treating with a big group of people. It's a great alternative to regular trick or treating if you're in an area (like university housing) where people won't have candy on hand. You knock on the door, yell "Treat or trick!" and then throw candy into their apartment and run away! :D Lots of fun! I definitely recommend it.