Snowflakes and Sticky-notes

What a brilliant day! When I stepped outside to make my way to the Cannon for the ritual Tuesday devotional broadcast, I happened upon a world blanketed in wonderful, white, fluffy stuff! What bliss! How beautiful everything looks when it's accented in snow! What an amazing thing snowflakes are, as well. Think about it: There are millions of them. They are all fluffy and white, but if you look closely, you can see a whole bunch of tiny details that make each flake a wonderfully unique happenstance. And each one is different. Out of the millions of snowflakes that came into existence today, that will come into existence in the future, and that have long since melted, that one snowflake that got stuck to my eyelash while i was carefully making my way to the Cannon is completely and totally unique. And i'm pretty sure that it was an amazing snowflake, just saying. And what a wonderful fact to be aware of! How important it is for each of us to understand how amazing it is for snowflakes to be as beautifully individual as they are. (And no, i'm not still talking about cookies.)

After a wonderfully spiritually uplifting morning that involved scripture study, devotional, and a Book of Mormon study session (my test starts tomorrow), I had a smidge of spare time. I did some German homework, and then I happened upon my collection of Post-it notes. I then proceeded to spend the better part of almost two hours mixing my Post-its together. Not only where they going in a color pattern, but I also alternated directions. I now have roughly 2 inches of Post-its that are wonderfully mixed together and can be put in my Post-it dispenser that sits on my desk. They won't all fit, so for the time being I also have a pretty neat toy: If I hold the bottom of the stack in my left hand and pull up on the top with my right, the Post-it chain expands like an accordion. And if I let go at just the right speed, i can pretty much look like a legit magician. :D "Look what I did instead of doing my homework!"

We had a cultural potluck as a hall this evening. The food was pretty much delicious, and I thoroughly enjoyed baking. I'm so grateful for friends that are willing to help even when they may or may not have some homework that needs to be done by the next morning, and for friends who are willing to eat the slightly over-cooked German Apple Pancakes that could've used some home-made maple syrup. :D

****Quotes of the Day****

“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.”

~~John Ruskin~~

"You Just Sponge-Bobbed Jimmy!"

~~Jimmy~~

(I threw a yellow scrubby at a spoon that was sitting in the bottom of the sink)

"Kissed by the Sun Each Morning"

Don't you love the feeling when the sun is shining, the sky is a pure, beautiful blue, and you realize that it's the beginning of a wonderful day? I cannot begin to describe how wonderful mornings are! What a brilliantly amazing thing! You get to start with a clean slate, a bunch of energy, and a spring in your step. The air is crisp and cool, and the sun just peeks over the mountains in such a way that makes you want to breath deeply and smile all day long. 


Today was brilliant! I had the fantastic fortune of getting stuck in my coat twice because i was in so much of a hurry that i zipped the coat up on itself (twice! can you believe it?!? you would think that I would learn!) :D What an awesome opportunity to laugh at myself! I pretty much had a whole lot of those today, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

****Quote of the Day****

"Sólo luchan los que sueñan. Saber soñar es saber pensar en la huella que se va a dejar."

~~Author Unknown~~

Or for all of you English speakers out there, here is a rough translation (by my wonderful roommate):

"Those that dream, fight.  To know how to dream is to know how to plan on the footprint that is to be put down."

Be Your Own Kind of Happy

I feel like it can be really hard to have your own voice while writing a blog. Especially when you are following about five other blogs that each have their own voices...so you start to hear all of their voices in your head. And you want to be funny like they are, or write some really deep insights about life like they do, or at least make your mind sound somewhat relatively interesting. So you start typing, hoping that words will just come to your brain that will make you seem like you have all of these amazing qualities and characteristics. But, in the end, if you try too hard to be something that you aren't, and if you try too hard to crack a funny or make people laugh, you begin to lose the sincerity of it all, and your attempt at a really funny joke falls flat and there's about thirty seconds of awkward silence while everyone else tries to decide how to respond. So, in the end, it is better to just be yourself. It's better to be funny on accident (if that's how you roll). It's better to be genuine. It's better to understand that the individual you are is amazing, that you have so much worth, and that the best kind of person is one who is truly them self. :D

So here I am, with my own voice, with my own insight, and with my own jokes (as unintentional or corny or unfunny as they are). I am looking forward to writing down my thoughts (as crazy, bizarre, and Shalysse-esque as they might be), and I can't wait to share my individual personality with whomever decides to read this. 

So here I go:

I guess, to kinda go along with the Scattering Sunshine theme-dealio-bop, I just want to comment on how amazing I think random acts of kindness are. What an amazing thing it is when an individual goes out of their way to do a small thing like smiling, talking to you, or holding open your door. It makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside!  

Our lesson in Relief Society today was about service, and it focused on Jesus Christ as the perfect example of love, service, and sacrifice. There was not a moment in His life that He was not thinking of others. My RA pointed out that even when He was dying on the cross, one of His last thoughts was for His mother and how she would need someone to take care of her after He was gone. What an amazing thing! 

Even if your random act of kindness is just giving thought to some one else and truly wondering how they are doing when you ask out of politeness, i feel like that can go such a long way. Even if your random act of kindness is just being happy and helping others see that ray of sunshine in their lives. Even if your random act of kindness is taking that extra second to leave a small note for some one you care about. We are all living life here on earth; we are all children of a loving Father in Heaven; we are all trying to be happy, and life is so much easier when you can share your happiness with those around you. 

****Quote of the Day**** 

"The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up."  

~~Mark Twain~~