ill bless the rains down in Africa!

tomorrow I am going to South Africa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
......I'm just kinda excited. this will be my first time going to the African continent. shoot that's cool.
yes I am going for work...and yes I will be working while I am there, BUT there is no work on the weekends ....you know that that means that this girl will be taking full advantage of being in a foreign country for 3 weeks = adventures (and it means that not only am I getting paid while I am there, but they are paying for EVERYTHING)

the flight down there is crazy long- I will be traveling for 22 hours starting tomorrow afternoon....that is an insane amount if time I decided so I got the Big Bang theory on DVD to entertain myself. as well as sleeping pills. here's hoping I don't get cabin fever on the 777 I will be stuck on. :)

to close with a quote from big bang theory tonight:
from Leonard to Sheldon: "it looks like once again you are stuck between a rock and a crazy place."
very fitting for my travel tomorrow I think!

See you in Africa! yeah....I'm going to Africa. (still doesn't feel real..someone pinch me)

my motto

I love the strong, bold declaration by Paul in the new testament:

for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. (New Testament, Romans, Chapter 1, verse 16)

this is true! salvation comes to everyone who believes in Jesus Christ.

what a powerful statement. I am also not ashamed. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know He is the savior and redeemer of the world. I know that he is there, that he lives, that he is full of grace and mercy and truth.

this is my motto. I am not ashamed!

I am constantly learning about Him and His role in my life. visit http://jesuschrist.lds.org/SonOfGod/eng/

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Oliver

‎"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else." --Judy Garland

i believe that one of our missions/goals in this life is to find out what our talents are and use them to bless others, to influence the world for good. each one of us has our own specific set of gifts...and your gifts are unique to you. sure maybe someone else can do one or two of them also, and maybe even one better than you, but not in sync with all the other talents you have. there is only one YOU. there is only one ME. so we must discover our gifts! what things come so naturally to you that you excel without trying? what activities make your heart sing? what would you define as so uniquely you that no one else you know enjoys that/knows how to do that? God gives us these gifts. He can do everything and knows everything perfectly, and as His children, we have each inherited parts of His divinity. what a wonderful, amazing journey that we can find out what sparks of divinity are within us! i think that as we try to decide what to study, what career to pursue, or what path to take, we should take this inventory of discovery and use the talents we have discovered we possess and use that as our guide. don't let others dissuade you from your discovery. they have their own unique blend of gifts. they see things differently and thus would choose differently. this is your one life, you have your own specialities. (yes i just made that word up) your talents are given to you to make it a bit easier for you to brighten the path of those around you. if you don't know, ask God. He knows how amazing you are and what makes you unique. He wants you to know. be you, not who you think the media or society or others want you to be. it feels wonderful! and is so worth the time and introspect required. 

stepping back in time for a day

I just had the most wonderful weekend that began with the most fantastic day on saturday. i have been dying to visit Straford Hall, which is the birthplace of Robert E Lee, ever since i read an glowing article about it in the NY Times. there was this gorgeous picture of a view of the Potomac near the plantation that told me I just had to venture down there. well i decided that I needed to go on an adventure this weekend so I found the plantation's website and discovered that saturday was General Robert E Lee's birthday and they were having a celebration with free admission....quite convenient! well it was too great of a wonderful coincidence so my dear friend Elizabeth and I made the trip down to the Northern Neck of Virginia and had the most loveliest of days. the weather was absolutely perfect...blue skies, temps in the mid-50s. gorgeous. as we were driving almost to Stratford Hall, we saw a sign for the birthplace of George Washington and just knew we had to make a brief stop since we were already there. I have decided that I could be perfectly content to live in a big plantation house on a river...here's why:

Pope's Creek

 flowers poking up in january

GW's birthplace on Pope's Creek

i could get used to this view every day

 

Stratford Hall

love the red door

Pope's Creek 

 stratford cliffs

gristmill

the calmest i've ever seen the Potomac


the beauty outside was accompanied by wonderful interiors and we were just brimming with joy.



I then had a fabulous Sunday, playing the night away with various games, good friends, and lots of laughs.
today was Inauguration Day, DC's grandest party day...however I chose to make a productive day of cleaning and much needed grocery shopping at my beloved Trader Joe's. I had an epiphany while I was there and decided to try something new: english muffin topped with Lemon Curd and fresh blueberries. tried it tonight... absolutely heaven. i highly recommend it as a healthier and i even might venture to say a tastier alternative to a brownie or cupcake.
so here I am, rested, and so relaxed....not wanting to think about going back to work tomorrow...so I just don't. :)

spilt between two coasts

lately I have felt a great conflict inside...between my loyalty to both coasts of the country. I love the colonial style of the east coast: red brick buildings, white shutters and trim, Greek columns. I'm also quite enjoying this past fall and mild winter. no snow yet, just pleasant rain which keeps things relatively green despite it being the dead of winter. ive always considered that I have a classy style typical of the east. if you looked up 'east coast prep' in the style dictionary you would see my wardrobe with the quintessential cardigans, blazers, ballet flats, and leather watches. and then there are lighthouses....I LOVE lighthouses. you don't get much east coast-y than that. oh yeah, and trees! driving around here is fantastically gorgeous.

however, as I was eating my "napa chicken wrap with avocado" while looking at a video of the Santa Monica coast, I was reminded how much I miss Cali. and the west coast in general. with the chill, laid back attitude and flip flops...the organic foods and wonderful fresh fruit...palm trees...beaches... Mediterranean climate...mountains... beaches....wide open space...bright colors on buildings and clothing...did I mention beaches? ahh I miss the ocean. I know I know- I live closer to the ocean in DC than I ever did in Colorado or Utah....and yet I miss it all the same...perhaps even more.

somehow, someday perhaps I will reconcile these two sides of myself that are separated by 3000 miles of landmass.

There is no failure except in no longer trying. Failure is not in falling down, but in staying down. Choose with what you will struggle. -L Tom Perry

i found this article today:

40 Ways To Find Joy In Your Everyday Life

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/meimei-fox/happiness-tips_b_2405608.html?utm_hp_ref=gps-for-the-soul

and i love it. its just like what i am trying to do here, document the joy in my everyday life. :)

so today's joys:

free breakfast with lots of fruit
free lunch with tasty sweet potato chips...that's right SWEET potato chips...they were delish
getting out of training at 3:30pm
wearing my fantastic navy coat that i just realized today i only spent $14 on
getting compliments on my outfit from a complete stranger
talking to this hilarious guy during lunch as we commiserated about sitting in one spot all day
completing another scholarship essay
good hair day
made it on time to work without rushing
education
Friday!
choices
the multitude of opportunities that i have living today
my computer is functioning properly still even though it has been acting quite strange lately....cross your fingers that it continues to cuz i most definitely cannot afford to buy a new one but most definitely need it!
freedom...I read a speech today by Elder L. Tom Perry, of the 12 Apostles and he related this story:

"For twenty-eight years it has stood as a symbol of the division of Europe and the world, the Berlin Wall, that hideous, twenty-eight mile-long scar through the heart of the once-proud European capital—not to mention the souls of the people. And then, poof! It was gone, not physically, at least yet, but gone as an effective barrier between the East and West, opening in one unthinkable, stunning stroke to the people who had been kept apart for more than a generation. It was one of those rare times when history shifts beneath men's feet, and nothing after is quite the same.

Once there was a break in the wall, there was no way of containing the spirit of the people and their desire to have freedom. A little more than a month later, after these two remarkable articles, the Romanians were trying to comprehend their newfound freedom. A news correspondent for the Associated Press on December thirtieth wrote:

In a passion that fueled Romanian revolution, freedom was spoken again and again. But to a people forced to register even their typewriters, the full meaning of the exotic word was difficult to grasp. "What is it to live free, to travel free, to speak free?" said a young medical student. "We have only seen darkness and silence." Over the moans of the wounded in the crowded hospital ward, she and some fellow volunteers considered what the term "freedom" meant. "We cannot realize what freedom is," said another student. "You grow up in freedom, and you do not realize what it means to us." She paused and frowned and apologized for poor English. "I am sorry," she said, "I learn English eleven years, and this is the first time I speak it." We don't know what freedom means. We don't know what to do with freedom. We have no experience, no model, no ideal." Where There is No Vision

how marvelous it is that i grew up in freedom! and have had so many amazing choices and opportunities! do i realize what it truly means to be free? ill admit it: nope. i literally can choose to wear or say or do whatever i want. i can choose to work wherever i want (provided they will hire me :) ). i can choose to be whoever i want to be. how wonderful and fantastic is this?
Spencer W. Kimball said: We can be common, ordinary, dull, colorless, or we can so channel our lives to be clean, vibrant, progressive, colorful, and rich.
we can choose! every day we can make this choice because we are free. seriously. wow.