I love

Bubblebaths (:

with herb tea, mint preferably

and a good book

 (scriptures, a sweet romance novel, or a horse story!)

pure, relaxing bliss!

All Time Favorite Christmas Carols!

Here's some of my favorites this year, with some or all of the lyrics from them (:

• I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day - Bing Crosby's version

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

• I'll Be Home for Christmas - Bing Crosby's version

I'll be home for Christmas
You can plan on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree

Christmas Eve will find me
Where the lovelight gleams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams

I love this one, this version in particular,  because originally it was written for WWII soldiers

who thought the war would be quick, and they would be home by Christmas.

This obviously didn't happen,

hence the line "if only in my dreams."

This song held a tender place in the hearts of Americans,

both soldiers and civilians,

who were then in the depths of World War II. 

According to Wikipedia, 

Bing Crosby's version of "I'll Be Home for Christmas"

became the most requested song at Christmas U.S.O.

 shows in both Europe and the Pacific and Yank.

I love this version because Crosby was singing particularly with this meaning

and it's from the time period, it's the original version that those soldiers listened to

Pretty touching

• Oh Holy Night - the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O hear the angels' voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born;

O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

 

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,

Here come the wise men from Orient land.

The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;

In all our trials born to be our friend.

He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,

Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!

Behold your King, Before Him lowly bend!

 

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name.

 

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,

His power and glory evermore proclaim.

His power and glory evermore proclaim.

This is one of my all time favorites. I love how much hope is in it,

how it portrays the hope that everyone can have

because of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

This never fails to move me (:

I'm short on time,

but a few I love also are

Handell's Messiah, all three parts about Christ

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

and also, just fun ones

Baby It's Cold Outside

Last Christmas (I Gave You My Heart?) Not sure what the title is

but it's soo cheesy, and I adore it, haha

Santa Baby (Choir Memories)

Sleigh Ride

and It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

I love Christmas music!!!

and that's the end for now (:

Isn't it Lovely?

Running in the cool, crisp breeze in the forest roads down to your house

 and having a bald eagle swoop down and grab some food like 30 feet in front of me

 Pretty breathtaking (:

Except for the poor little rodent.. but wow

The week before finals, still as busy as ever, but

somehow managing to get time to do everything I need to

Prayers really do help!

Doing zumba after FHE

getting to dance around with a tinkling sequined bell thing around my waist

 with a bunch of other gals doing zumba.

Haha! Fun stuff (:



Having access to so many awesome things to read

and to learn, and do

Walking around downtown Fredericksburg, just by myself,

writing a letter to a missionary in a cobblestone park dating to the 1700s

so much history

soo amazing. I love it

and so cozy, with the twisting cobblestone streets & alleys,

all decorated with Christmas wreathes

the shop windows, filled with glittering toys & decorations

and live bands playing music downtown

So cozy (:

(only thing missing is snow... it's weird having a 50-70 degree Christmas season!)

Yes, life can be truly, truly beautiful (:

and usually it's the small things that make it so!

photo by eschn3am on flickr.com (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eschn3am/3041695011/)

Awkward..

So, I decided a long time ago that my life was pretty much composed of awkward moments. Okay, not the whole thing... but quite a large, substantial part of it (: Haha.

I'm in the mood to say something quite bold, something that will just knock you off your feet and get a huge reaction. Alas, I don't quite know what to say.

What's the most shocking thing about me?

Hm...

I really dislike ground beef. That's not too shocking though. The texture is just sick. Childhood memories of gagging down a hamburger patty...blegh.

But that's quite a depressing subject, so I'll change it.

How about this?

I have never kissed a boy.

That's right.

Never.

Shocking, right?

Totally, completely crazy!

18 years old, a freshman in college, and I have never had that experience.
Yeah.
Now, hopefully you are recovering from your moment of complete surprise
Take some deep breaths, get up from the floor, and listen up, because I'll explain a bit

It's not that I haven't dated alot, or gotten really close to a guy before.

 I have just never been... physically close.

I'm not quite sure why.

In middle school there were quite a few guys who I think would have gone for it
in fact, they did try a few times.
one guy, a random stranger I met that night, even tried to smooch me 10 times in one night.
Not even exaggerating, it may have been more.
oh, stake dances... but that's a story for another day.
 anyways, I waited to start dating until I was 16.

Then, when that coveted, long awaited day came, there were no young men I was interested in.

Honest, cross my heart, pinky promise

After that, the guys I got close to just never went for it.
Not sure why there, either. I heard that going for it can be kind of scary & intimidating.
Especially when you really like someone.
 But that's just a thought.

So... yeah. Now I'm dating around, all that fun jazz

and this quote from Captain America (I know - I'm a TOTAL cheeseball)

pretty much sums up how I feel on this subject

Steve Rogers: I know this neighborhood. I got beat up in that alley. And that parking lot. And behind that diner.
Peggy Carter: Did you have something against running away?
Steve Rogers: You start running they'll never let you stop. You stand up, push back. Can't say no forever, right?
Peggy Carter: I know a little of what that's like. To have every door shut in your face.
Steve Rogers: I guess I just don't why you'd wanna join the army if you're a beautiful dame. Or a beautiful...a woman. An agent, not a dame! You are beautiful, but...
Peggy Carter: You have no idea how to talk to a woman, do you?
Steve Rogers: This is the longers conversation I've had with one. Women aren't exactly lining up to dance with a guy they might step on.
Peggy Carter: You must have danced?
Steve Rogers: Well, asking a woman to dance always seems so terrifying. And the past few year just didn't seem to matter that much. Figured I'd wait.
Peggy Carter: For what?
Steve Rogers: Right partner.

Yep. Believe it or not, dear world that I live in, I am waiting for the right partner

When it feels right, and it means something

more then having fun, or a one night stand, or a one week fling
or just kissing someone to get that first kiss over with

I know eventually that partner is going to come around sometime,

when the time is right

and it'll happen

and it'll be wonderful (:

and I know it's going to be worth it (:

Blushing & Beautiful Moments of this Week

-Going to the temple way early in the morning, end up waiting an hour to do baptisms, so getting to help fold towels with the temple workers :)

- Ugly Sweater Party!! Wearing my Dad's ugly sweater...

- Finding out I have to work on Thanksgiving :( Just the morning & early afternoon... but bummer! Grateful I have a job though!

- Giving a talk today in sacrament meeting.. on gratitude & Thanksgiving. I started listening to Cmas music 2 weeks ago. This was Heavenly Father's way of reminding me I need to remember Thanksgiving. haha

-when telling the parable of the 10 lepers, in my talk, instead of saying lepers, I was so nervous I said leopards. Haha! Totally started laughing. It was super, duper embarrassing (:
- embarassing myself again, in church, of course.. Guys are silly sometimes...

-Service tomorrow and NO class!! Yay!

-Going to The Nutcracker in December!! Woohoo!!
- lovely friends & awesome conversations
- begin studying for finals. Eek!

and that's all for now, folks!

Top Ten Thursdays!

Wonderful Things About Life

1. Acing a test you studied really hard for (or, better yet, one you didn't study hard for)

Hard work really does pay off!

2. Coming to truly realize & understand & hit me in the face that as long as you do your part,

 things will always work out.

3. CHRISTMAS!! Enough said (:

4. Awesome people who make me laugh (:

5. Chilly weather. I know, crazy, but my heart has grown fonder toward it

6. General Conference Talks, that feel like they were meant straight for you.

7. Music. Christmas music, piano music, oldies music, patriotic music...

8. Getting to spend time with my family

9. Homemade caramel w/ cinnamon & nutmeg added. Incredible. Mouthwatering succulence.
10. Being outside! (Having a forest in your backyard helps :)

I'm Sorry

I just had the most humbling experience.

This past Sunday was the stake activities meeting after church.I had told everyone to plan on me not being there, as my family was taking a trip to Williamsburg & we were planning on being gone all day Sunday. Everything was set in place - John was going to be in charge, emails were sent to the people supposed to come, and I had sent all the information that needed to be covered. Everything was all worked out.

So a couple days earlier, I think on Friday, I found out that my parents decided to come home early. I would be home all day Sunday. I thought great! Then I thought about how dumb I would feel showing up at a meeting with such late notice, with all the preparation that had gone on for my absence- John leading, already giving him all the info, already telling everyone how I wouldn't be able to make it.

So, I decided not to go. I felt slightly bad about it, and it kept bothering me. But my fear of embarassment, and I don't know what else, got the best of me. My desire to balance? My desire for a free afternoon to nap, read scriptures, relax with family? So I went to the King George branch that morning and watched the primary program, and stayed home until 5, when I left for the regional YSA activity meeting.

I felt kind of sick about it, but figured it would all be handled, and it would be alright.

Well, yesterday and today I've been struggling... actually probably the last week or two. With my whole attitude. Just not feeling close to the Spirit... having a really hard time praying, and not feeling anything. So today I got sick of feeling this way, and decided to force myself to study the scriptures and think about what I could be doing wrong.

So I read a bit from the Old Testament, and then decided to read some of D&C, and then read some of the Conference talks.

I was skimming through the Ensign when an excerpt caught my eye. I ended up reading "Preparation in the Priesthood: I Need Your Help". Sounds like a random talk, right?

What a humbling, hurting wake up call

What is that scripture, that the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center?

In the talk, Pres. Eyring says to not worry about how inexperienced you are or think you are, but think about what, with the Lord's help, you can become. His counsel focuses on hard work, and pushing through fatigue and fear that might make you think of quitting. It was very inspiring, and held a lot of counsel that really applies to my life at this time. Then I read this experience he gave.

"President Spencer W. Kimball... had given years of service while enduring a series of health challenges only Job would understand. He was chairing the meeting that morning.

Suddenly, he stopped speaking. He slumped in his chair. His eyes closed. His head fell on his chest. I was seated near him. Elder Holland was next to us. The two of us rose to help him. Inexperienced as we were in emergencies, we decided to carry him, still seated in his chair, to his nearby office.

He became our teacher in that moment of extremity. With one of us lifting each side of his chair, we went out of the meeting room into the hallway of the Church Administration Building. He half opened his eyes, still dazed, and said: "Oh, please be careful. Don't hurt your backs." As we got near his office door, he said "Oh, I feel terrible that I interupted the meeting." Minutes after we got him into his office, still not knowing what his problems were, he looked up at us and said "Don't you think you ought to go back to the meeting?"

We left and hurried back, knowing somehow our being there must matter to the Lord.

Ouch.

This story struck my heart. Tears came to my eyes as I realized what my problem has been this entire week.

The humility and goodness of Elder Eyring's example made me feel so ashamed of my attitute. What an example of Christlike behaviour Pres. Kimball was to have such concern for others and for the Lord's work.

I felt absolutely sick about my attitude and behaviour after reading that. I immediately prayed to my Father in Heaven for apology and forgiveness. Even after, I still feel sick about how I've been, how my attitude has been. We are all called to the work, to be the best we can be.

I think I will continue to feel sick until I make action to make it better, and prove I will change my ways.

I am so, so sorry for not being willing to sacrifice. I'm so sorry for letting a stupid fear of embarassment and what others would think of me get in the way of what the Lord has called me to do.

I promise I will never let it happen again. Not ever. I swear it. I am completely dedicated to the Lord's work, to serving Christ, to doing what He asks me to do. Obviously, I am far from the perfect servant. But I never, ever want to feel like that again. To feel like I disappointed my Heavenly Father, and my Saviour, who has done so much for me. I never want to feel like that again. I am so sorry.

I know this is a really long post, and usually I don't post super personal things up.

I know this doesn't seem like a big dramatic thing, but it meant and means a great deal to me.

But I thought maybe this experience could help someone, and I thought it was important that I share it.

I know that when I feel far from our Saviour, from the Spirit, it's not His moving away from me, it's my moving away from Him. He would never leave me. It's my choices & my actions that lead to that.

 I will never, ever let something come between that closeness with God.

If I feel that distance, I am going to find out what I'm doing wrong so I can fix it immediately

I know it will be worth it

I know that's where true happiness and peace lies

and that is my experience for today. I will never forget it.