Relief Society :)

I feel at peace today. This tranquility will most likely not carry on through the rest of the week (one word: school), but at least there is today. I am just grateful for so much.

Today in church we had our first relief society meeting. It is comprised of half of the girls in the ward and I think it's going to be great this year! Everyone is sincerely intent on getting to know the others and creating unity within the group. I had the impression today of how thankful I am for such a strong network of women. And I was struck by the distinct contrast between men and women. Women are predisposed to nurturing, compassion, and the like. Not to say that men don't have that, but it just seems to be so prevalent among women. I think that's why it's so important to us to feel that we have deep friendships that involve mutual trust and care. That is what we live for! I don't know how men feel, I've never been a man, but girls find that to be incredibly important. That is why we care so much when we "fight" with other girls: we're emotionally invested in those relations.

Love Them Allergies

It's been a while, but guess what? I finally went to the allergist a few weeks ago! It was a very informative visit. I got to tell him about the whole jogging/hives incident and mentioned that I had eaten an hour before I went jogging, which was unusual. He asked excitedly, "What did you eat??" I laughed. My summertime dinners are never really planned out. They just kind of happen. "Well, I started out with celery and peanut butter. . ." I might as well have told him that I discovered the secret to black holes in the universe. He got so excited! He told me all about this allergist convention where they learned about a study of the exact same thing. Celery and jogging combination- not the best. So then I was tested. . .

So that's it- I'm allergic to celery! Semi-allergic, anyway. I eat it cooked and. . .nada. That's about as random as it gets, especially since most people don't think twice about it, and this summer it was my chosen vegetable.

Sometimes life deals the oddest hand. :)

My Country

I feel bad. I last wrote on Thursday (9/11), and I didn't say anything about the anniversary. But I did think about the many people affected by that tragedy on Thursday. To think how much has changed in seven years is unbelievable. There is so much I could say about that, but I wouldn't even know where to start. I love my country. It's not perfect, and it could definitely use some work, but it's mine. And I think many Americans would agree that they would like to build it up, to find strength in a nation which we love dearly. That may sound terribly idealistic, but what can I say? I'm an idealist. It may not be pragmatic, but it helps me remember why we're in this, what it is we're aspiring to become.

So...there you go. God bless the U.S.A.!

And also, I hope that things turn out okay in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike in Texas. Especially for my awesome brother and sister-in-law. I love you Brandon and Jenn!

The Brief Penguin Handbook, except not in the slightest

Oh my goodness. Time, time, where has it gone? School started eight days ago and I've been running to and fro since. If I'm not in work or classes, I am studying (or at the very least should be!). Efficiency and time well spent is of the utmost importance, and I am still working on that (obviously, as I'm taking time to write this before delving into the Odyssey!). But enough of the parenthetical sidenotes. Let me relate something I read that changed my life just today.

"Life is like some crazy machine that is always going either too slow or too fast. From the cradle to the grave we alternate between the Sargasso Sea and the rapids, forever either becalmed or stormtossed. It seemed to Maud, as she looked across the dinner-table in order to make sure for the twentieth time that it really was George Bevan who sat opposite her, that, after months in which nothing whatever had happened, she was now living through a period when everything was happening at once. Life, from being a broken-down machine, had suddenly begun to race."
-From A Damsel in Distress by P.G. Wodehouse

I sat down at the table, opened my book that I was oh so close to finishing before starting school, and saw my life strung out in words on the pages before me. How perfectly this passage describes the bridge between summertime and the ever-growing load that is school in the fall. This fall will be great, don't get me wrong, but it will also be a lot of work. Rome wasn't built in a day. No really, it wasn't. More like several hundred years, as I'm learning in my Roman history class!!

So that's a little update on school life, but as for the end of the summer, let me just say that it was amazing! The weekend before last I went to Liberty Land with Alyse, Jocelyn, and their mom and sister. I'm not going to lie- I loved the roller coaster. And little boats from which you soak your friends. It was great! The next day I floated down the Provo River with Alyse, Jocelyn, and a few guys. That was when I discovered that I have an indescribable magnetism to the scraggly growth on the sides of rivers. Who knew? Rapids only aid in that regard, unfortunately. Don't worry, we survived, even during the two hours following the river when we discovered Jordan's keys had been unceremoniously swallowed up by the raging waters. Why oh why? But it was kind of fun, hanging out and realizing how useless cell phones are in an emergency if they're all locked in the car. Why, you ask? I mean, besides the fact that you can't actually use the cellphones? Well just tell me how many phone numbers YOU now know off the top of your head and get back to me! Mine is a slightly helpless generation. But we're working on it :)

I have so much more to say, so I will be back!

Also, why the title? I dislike naming things, and when I tapped the title bar it came up with the penguin handbook. If you're not in college, you might not know that that is actually a book on writing citation. It's lovely. And it's on sale for twenty bucks. Come on, you know you want it!