The Right Things

Wow. This last week was such an eye opener.

A true blessing.

I had so many experiences that I was so overwhelmed with the Spirit.

On Tuesday night I had a meeting with the Bishop just because

he wanted to get to know me! I really feel at home in this ward...

I absolutely love my bishop, he cares so much just to get to know me.

I just feel like its more personal in this ward than in my last ward.

I had good hours at work and stayed pretty busy.

My workouts went great. I am starting to feel a difference. I feel like

im getting stronger. I havent felt this good in a long time.

Again, I am so grateful for all the support that I have recieved from so many people.

Sunday was just an incredible day.

It was a "great day to be alive" as we like to sing! Haha

On Sundays we have church at 11:00.

I actually slept through my alarm and woke up at 10:20!

But it was an absolutely beautiful day!! I was actually hot in my peacoat

while walking to church... and that made me really happy because it was such a nice day.

Haha - But anyways, Whitney, Amanda and I decided to all do roommate 

dinner, so I hurried and threw cilantro lime chicken into the crockpot and got ready for church!

[It was absolutely delicious by the way!]

I wasnt even late! [I love that it hardly takes any time to get somewhere in rexburg. haha]

However, we did walk in just before sacrament meeting started...Haha.

Sunday was our ward conference and the talks and lessons could not have been more

spot on. I am so grateful for that.

I have been called as our FHE groups "Ma" and a Relief Society Teacher.

I am so excited and grateful for the opportunity to serve. It is a real blessing and I am really excited for the semester!

Now onto my favorite part of the day! Our neighbor came over while we were eating dinner and

invited us to go sing at the retirement home here in town and it was an incredible experience!

A few of us talked to a lady and she got married when she was 19 and she only knew him for

six weeks!! Thats so crazy!! They were married for 57 years before he passed away. 

It was such a joy to listen to her tell us about her life. She was wearing bright blue fuzzy socks and a bright yellow sweater. She had a light just radiating from her. She is 89 years old and still has a great sense of humor. She sang along to every hymn that we sang and had a smile on her face the entire time.

Tears filled my eyes as my heart was overcome by the spirit as we sang.

It was an incredible experience and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to sing to the elderly.

It meant so much to them. The group sings ever Sunday and I cant wait to go next week!

 I got the impression that keeping a journal is not just for my posterity but for me as well.

I think that it is a really important thing for us to go back and read through our journals and blogs

and things like that. After reading back through, it helped me realize that as I fill my life with the right things I am happier and the blessings in my life overflow.

New Years Resolutions

It seems like when the new year rolls around
everyone and their dogs go on diets.
I hear so many people say,
"I need to loose some weight!" or "Its my new years resolution to lose weight!"
And so they begin... But not very many people complete
their goal. (I am one of those people!)

So I got thinking about this common new years resolution
and decided to look up the actual definition of "Diet".
And this is what I found.

1. Food and drink regularly provided or consumed
2. Habitual Nourishment

So this got me thinking.
According to those two definitions,
aren't we all on diets?

Now, of course I am not a doctor
but all of this really got me thinking.
Because according to those definitions we are
all on diets.
So can you really decide to go on a diet
when you already have a diet?

I think a better way to put it
is making a new years resolution to
"maintain a well-balanced diet".

So with these thoughts in mind I decided I needed to make my own New Years Resolutions.
I have always been taught that when making a goal,
you should be smart about it.
Smart goals stand for:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Results-oriented
Time-bound

So after a lot of thought my New Years Resolutions are:

1. Keep a well-balanced diet
and
2. Train for a half marathon and run it

Do I sound crazy?
Sometimes I even think im crazy!
A half marathon is 13.1 miles.

There is a program called the
"Couch to Half Marathon"
It lays out exactly what your supposed to do each day of the week
for 14 weeks.
I decided since im not in school this semester to tell myself
that instead of being in school for 14 weeks,
I am going to train for 14 weeks.
Seems like a pretty fair trade off I think.
The Teton Dam Half marathon is on Saturday June 14, 2014.
I have 21 weeks left until the race.
The goal is that by the end of the 14 weeks, I can just keep in shape
and continue to run every day so that by
the time race day rolls around ill be ready for it!

Those are my new years resolutions.
Between the two,
if I work as hard as I can at both of them,
naturally I should lose some weight.
Instead of just having to goal to lose weight,
my resolutions have helped me to lay out a plan as far as how
I should go about losing weight.
My goals might seem a bit big, but they are smart.

In having a goal this big you cannot allow a single bit of negativity inside your head.
I've heard it said,
"Believe you can do it, and your halfway there."

I am grateful for the support from my family, friends, and my roommates!
And I ask that you would continue to support me as I train.
Some go running with me and some are supporting me from far away,
but I am grateful for it all!
So here's to the New Year!

I hope that everyone has made smart goals for this year
and I pray that you can be successful in whatever it is that you do!

First day of Training: