The preacher

So as many of you know, I am a humongous worry wort! I worry about everything! I always lock my doors, set three alarms to wake up in the morning, stress myself out about work, school, and basically anything no matter how large the significance. In case any of you find yourselves plagued with a similar state of mind, here is a scripture that we discussed in my institute class about worrying. It is from the book of Ecclesiastes, which has become my favorite book in the Old Testament. I love Ecclesiastes because of his metaphors, images, and beautiful language!

Ecclesiastes 11:3-6
3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall towards the south, or towards the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.
4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

This scripture helped me not to worry about things beyond my control and not stop myself from doing things that put me out there, are risky, or challenging because I'm too afraid of not succeeding. I think the scriptures are my biggest spiritual resource. I have been blessed by having my prayers answered by scripture all the time.

On another note, this past week has been as busy as ever! The Middle East Student Advisory Committee, of which I am the chairman, hosted an open house for the Middle East Center. We had done several weeks of planning. We had food from Cedars of Lebanon, music, games, and lots of information to give students about study abroad and other things going on in the center. It turned out really well!

Friday night was fun, Evelyn G and I took advantage of the time we had away from our boyfriends by renting a chick flick (we saw The Duchess, and LOVED it!), painting our nails, and going out to eat we finished the night off by having a sleepover. FUN huh??

I spent Saturday with this guy.... so of course it was excellent.

يانير

January was one of the best months EVER! Nothing amazing happened, but overall, it was a great month, and I think I know why...

One of my new years resolutions was to not watch rated "R" movies, try my hardest not to gossip and follow all of the commandments, I usually don't have a huge problem with these three things, but I felt like there was room for improvement. Because of my ability to stick to these three resolutions, for the most part, I feel like I have been blessed so much! Although school is just as stressful as ever, my job still doesn't pay well, and despite the unseasonably warm weather we've had lately, I still feel like it is freezing out side, having this goal for myself has helped me to overcome little negative things in my life and focus on what is really important.


Oh yes, did I mention Evelyn C got married January 24th? This is how happy it made me.



...and Stephen moved to Salt Lake City!

Good Riddance!

A new year always reminds me of the resolutions I failed to keep, goals I didn't meet, and things that I didn't seem to get done in the previous year. However, I will spare you and not list all the negative aspects of 2008, and instead list a few of the positive ones.

• I learned a lot about myself while i spent the summer as an intern in Washington DC
• My friend/former roommate Staci got married to a really cool guy
• Taught myself how to crochet
  
• Declared my major as Middle East Studies-Arabic
• Started dating Stephen
• I finally got to do some sightseeing in NYC (Stephen coming along was of course, an added plus)
  
• Attended two pretty nerdy debate competitions in Denver and DC
• I got to spend Christmas and New Years Eve with Stephen's wonderful family (Although I missed my own a lot, I still had a lot of fun!)
  
• Started cooking more, and of course
  
• Barack Obama was elected president!

For 2009 I have established quite lofty resolutions and goals. Here are some of them:

• Only eat one treat a weak (this is the most difficult of my resolutions)
• Don't drink any soda pop
• Exercise five times a week (also very difficult)
• Don't watch any rated R movies
• Be more diligent in my scripture studies
  
• Get some sort of scholarship for the 2009-2010 academic year
• Decide what I want to be when I grow up
• Don't make fun of people who bear their testimonies during testimony meeting
  
• Write a budget and stick to it

Ideally, I would love to keep all of these goals and resolutions, but realistically, I know that many of these will be difficult to achieve (no treats and exercise specifically), But regardless, I believe 2009 will be a great year! Stephen's sister Lara gave me some good advice, she said that in making resolutions I have to also prepare to make mistakes, and don't give up!

Temple Square

Last weekend Stephen's grandparents gave us tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert in the Conference Center at Temple Square. I was feeling pretty sick that day but still enjoyed the concert. Afterward we walked around and looked at the beautiful lights at Temple Square.

Change we can believe in

Although I am relieved that Barack Obama won the election, I am still quite apprehensive about what his presidency will be like. I favored Obama's stances on key issues to John Mccain's, but I am not too confident that the change Obama has promised will come anytime soon. Obama has stressed the domestic issues in his platform mush like George W Bush did when he ran for office. I fear that the much needed reform will take the back burner to the more pressing issues of Afghanistan and Iraq much like social secuirty reform and immigration reform did soon after Bush was elected. But regardless of my fears and apprehension, I know that Obama was the best, although not the ideal, canidate in this election. Obama has promised to, "hit the ground running," and I think it will be interesting to see if he can deliver.

Sundance 2009

Registration for Sundance Film Festival tickets begins today! Click Here

An Assignment

Go watch this movie.