General RS Broadcast

Can I just say that I really, really enjoyed the Relief Society broadcast last night?

I got home from studying on campus at about 5:30, and caught some of the football game on tv. One of my roommates informed me that the broadcast started at 6 (I had forgotten about it entirely), and I was admittedly a little upset that I was going to miss the rest of the game for what I thought was going to be more rhetoric along the lines of: My dear sisters, we need to be better wives/mothers. We need to support our husbands/priesthood leaders. Mothers who know have scrapbooks for all 10 of their children. (Just kidding, I love sister Beck.)

However, I was very pleased with all of the talks and their subject matter. No calling to repentance. No implications of seperate by equal with men. No guilt. Just women talking about being women. And President Eyering's talk on the importance of the history of Relief Society? Golden.

I have to say, however, Sister Thompson gave the best one.

Feeling Connected

One thing I've always loved about being alive is being outdoors. Experiencing God's creation as He intended it can be beautiful and grounding. I grew up with family summer vacations consisting of camping, and with two boy scout brothers and a boy scout dad, I was instilled very young with a wonderful awe and respect for nature.

Think about the Gospel, and how many important events happened in the stillness of nature: Joseph's prayer in the Sacred Grove, Christ's atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane, and Adam and Eve's Celestial-like life in the Garden of Eden. I have a very firm belief that God uses the beauty and power of nature to help us feel more connected to Him.

Tonight I had the opportunity to go to Provo Canyon for a bonfire and marshmallow-roasting a professor of mine put together for his class. Feeling the damp grass between my toes while looking up at the stars (something I don't get in the city), I experienced that feeling of connectedness with God.

Sometimes I feel closer to God when I'm in nature than I do anywhere else. I'm reminded of a line in my favorite book, The Poisonwood Bible:

"Do you think God wrote it all down in the English King James Himself? When I want to take God at His word, I take a peep out the window at His creation. Because that, darling, He makes fresh for us daily, without a lot of dubious middle managers."

An update in bullet points

• I love school. I can't imagine doing anything else with my life right now.
• Said goodbye to a good friend last night. Sad.
• I finally got my rain boots, but I don't have any jeans that are tight enough to wear with them, so I have to wait to wear them.
• Only a little behind in reading.
• Going way outside of my comfort zone on Wednesday. Details to come.
  

Birthday

So, yesterday was my birthday. And, honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better birthday weekend.

Friday night: vegetarian potluck/co-birthday party with Alyne. Probably the best potluck the club has had thusfar.
Saturday: lunch with old roommates, manicure, Timpanogos storytelling festival with friends, and BYU beat OU.
Sunday: totally chill. Read a lot, watched some movies, and discovered that my new favorite movie is Phoebe in Wonderland. Also, Cait and Tim had their baby on my birthday. How rad is that.
Today: no school

10 more years, at best

As I enter a new semester, I've been thinking about why I involve myself in so much. Two majors, a minor, a job, and president of a club. I've consistently taken 16-18 credit hours each semester since starting BYU, and feel the need to hurry through my undergrad to get on to grad school and a career. I'm counting down the months until I get to turn in my mission papers.

I realized why I do this.

I'm scared to death that, since I'll be expected for the rest of my life to take care of kids and a husband, I need to cram as much self-fulfillment as possible into the short time I have left. I'm going to be honest: I really don't want kids. Like, really, really, really don't want kids. Were it not for the fact that loneliness isn't that much fun, I probably really wouldn't want to get married, either.

Bertrand Russell

"Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and the unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind."

I miss Brad. A lot. Five months down.

I feel so at home in my classes. Even in metaphysics, in which I'm the only woman.

I recently cried quite a bit at seeing this photo essay.

Funny, I never really thought I had much in common with Russell.