The Gratitude Challenge

This was in the December 2011 issue of the Ensign and I really liked the way it broke being thankful for 100 things down.  I did it with my students this week as part of their writing assignment and they really enjoyed it.  It is harder than it looks though.  With everything that has happened the last 6 weeks, I have A LOT to be grateful for, especially things I normally wouldn't think of or would take for granted.

Write 10 physical abilities you are grateful for.

talking, walking, exercising, sitting, sleeping, writing, cooking, eating, driving, typing

Write 10 material possessions you are grateful for.

car, blanket, chair, laptop, phone, scriptures, camera, ipod, books, scrapbooks

Write 10 living people you are grateful for.

Mom, Dad, Marcus, Katie, Jessi, Holly, Grandpa Jim, Grandma Karen, Sharon, Lane

Write 10 deceased people you are grateful for.

Jesus Christ, Grandma Karen, Grandpa Mark, Pres. Hinckley, Joseph Smith, Dave and Blanche Johnson, Brigham Young, Parley Pratt, Grandma-with-the-animals

Write 10 things about nature you are grateful for.

rain, snow, trees, flowers, birds, camping, fishing, hunting, thunderstorms, sunshine

Write 10 things about today you are grateful for.

job, students, co-workers and other staff, the gym,  alarm clock, recess, time to read,  good friends that listen, humidifier,  ibuprofen

Write 10 places on earth you are grateful for.

my apartment, home, Provost, Utah State, Logan, Disneyland, Fish Lake, Temple, grandpa's house, grandma's house

Write 10 modern inventions you are grateful for.

cell phone, laptop, cars, washer and dryer, dishwasher, electricity, running water (that is

clean), indoor plumbing, medicine that works,  insurance

Write 10 foods you are grateful for.

chocolate, cheese, peanut butter, bread, milk, water, apples, bananas, cereal, wheat thins

Write 10 things about the gospel you are grateful for.

Atonement, sacrament, tithing, music, scriptures, family history work, temple, patriarchal blessing, priesthood, forgiveness

Dear boys #2

Dear Police Officer,
You weren't wearing a ring...you could have stuck around longer.  I wouldn't have minded.

Dear Pyro,
You have turned my life around.  I really don't appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

Dear You,
This can never go back to how they were so please stop.

Dear Psych,
If you weren't so sweet, and nice, and amazingly perfect, I wouldn't like you so much.  This would solve a lot of problems. Thanks.

My Worst Nightmare

This weekend one of my biggest nightmares happened.

Friday
11:45- I come home from a ward dance party...I am the last person in the parking garage (according to police)

Saturday
1:00 AM-  I go to bed.

4:15 AM- A loud "boom" wakes me up and I hear yelling outside.  I dismiss to be the crazy people around the corner.

4:30 AM- Someone bangs on my door and rings my doorbell repeatedly.  I sweat at them in my head and roll over

4:31 AM- My smoke detector goes off. I jump out of bed, grab shoes, my coat, phone, and keys and run out the door.  I see and smell the smoke immediately and see the cops knocking on the other doors in my complex.  I am rushed across the street and watched the thick, black smoke come rolling out of the parking garage underneath my complex.

4:35 AM- I call my dad in a complete panic because I don't know what else to do and Daddy always has the answers

4:45 AM- Call Holly to come and get me because I am standing outside in my pajamas (shorts) and freezing my rearend off.

4:50 AM- Cops come and tell us to evacuate to a local church.

4:55-6:00 AM- I sit in the cultural hall at the church and talk with the other single person in my complex and discuss the fact that there is a good chance my car is on fire.

6:15 AM- They let us back into our apartments.  It smells like smoke, but I am exhausted so I just crawl back in bed and go to sleep.

9:30 AM- I get up for the day and realize a black layer of soot covers everything in my apartment.  I eat breakfast and get to work.

Throughout the day, Holly, my parents, and my sister help me scrub and clean my apartment.  This stuff is extremely hard to clean up because it just smears all over the place.  We get most of the apartment clean...enough that I can live in my apartment.

Turns out, a stolen truck was dumped in my parking garage (and happened to be parked next to my car).  They set the truck on fire intentionally and took off.  The people below me could hear a car alarm going off and looked out to see what was going on and saw the smoke then called the police.  The truck and the car on the other side were a complete loss (see pics on facebook) and my car has some minimal damage to the drivers side- melting of the plastic pieces and weather stripping, etc.

Luckily, no apartments were damaged other than heavy smoke and no one was injured.   I had spent two days cleaning and doing laundry, but it is almost taken care of.  The complex manager will be coming around tomorrow to look at walls and carpet and what needs to be done to clean them.  Everyone has been so great and working to get things taken care of and fix the things that need it.

Everything outside still smells like smoke and my bathroom still has a lingering smell, but other than that things are pretty much back to normal.  I am so thankful that things are not worse than they are.  Cars can be fixed and apartments can be cleaned.  I am so lucky things are like they are and that I have people who love me and help in the time I need them.

Live Loyal to the Royal Within

Do you ever wake up thinking "Today could be a really great day...or...today could go horrible wrong." Well, today was one of those days. I knew several things of importance were happening and depending on how they turned out would affect my entire day. Let's just say today was much better than I expected it to be.

I have had a lot of experiences recently topped off by being set apart for a new calling today that have struck me as coincidental...but as we all know, nothing with the Lord is coincidental. I feel like the main message of things lately has been how blessed every person on this earth is to be a son or daughter of God. He is literally our Father in Heaven. I keep getting reminders of this on almost a daily basis this week.

I watched General Conference this past weekend. I took notes. I paid attention. And, as usual, I still have a hard time remembering who said what. The one word for word statement I do remember and that has stuck with me all week was from Sister Elaine S. Dalton's talk, "Live loyal to the royal within you." What a great reminder of our eternal potential.

I also finally got around to watching the General Relief Society broadcast from 2 weeks ago. (I know I should have watched it sooner.) I had heard all these wonderful things about President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's (2nd Counselor in the First Presidency) talk and how amazing it was, but really, nothing could have prepared me for that message. It was exactly what I needed to hear! Once again, what a firm testimony of how much our Father in Heaven loves each and every one of us! How much He wants us to succeed! How much He wants to bless us and helps us reach the eternal potential each one of us has!

Then, I bought Pres. Uchtdorf's book "Your Happily Ever After." Again, I had heard great things about it and after that message from the Relief Society meeting, I figured I should look into it. Again, he knocks me off my feet. Pres. Uchtdorf has a way with expressing words in the way to strike me perfectly. As he is talking about receiving the blessing of "happily ever after," he says, "But such a blessing does not come without a price. It is not given simply because you desire it. It comes only through understanding who you are and what you must become in order to be worthy of such a gift." Once again, who we are, daughters of the Most High, with potential to become just like him.

Next, (I know crazy, huh!?!) I finally got a copy of the Church's new book "Daughter in My Kingdom." Maybe because this has already been on my mind, but it struck me how much emphasis Church wide is being put on sisters and the Relief Society. Just the fact that they published this book, focusing on the history of Relief Society and the purpose of it, for every sister in the church amazes me. Then in the very first section of the book it states one of the purposes of the book and in studying the book is so "They can receive guidance as they strive to become the people the Lord wants them to become and do the things He would have them do."

For some reason, the Lord really wants us all to know that we are His daughters (and sons). I know this is true and have felt it in the last week stronger than ever. Don't ever forget to live loyal to the royal within.

Dear Boys... #1

So I am a little behind the times, but Elise's Pieces challenged everyone to do their own.

Dear you,

You make me want to punch you
on a daily basis. Please stop talking.

Love
Jess


Dear old friend,

You have been home for over two months
and I still don't know what to think.

Love
Jess


Dear little boy,

I am so glad you are in my class. Your daily
hugs make me feel like the best teacher on
Earth.

Love
Teacher


Dear door man,

Thank you a million times over and I promise I
don't always have that many problems with doors.

Love
Jess


Dear cutie,

I miss your face.

Love Jess

My heart belongs to...

(Just want to point out this i is my second blog post this month...I am on a role :)

Being the incredibly stupid person I am, I deleted my entire external hard drive last night. Now, usually I would not be totally heartbroken over this except for the fact that all my pictures, every single one, from the last 5 years of my life were stored there. Now, lucky for me, I have this excess habit of putting almost every picture I take on Facebook. That has come in very handy the last 24 hours. My current project has now been centered on downloading each and every picture, one by one, back to my hard drive from Facebook. Time consuming, yes, but I am actually enjoying it. It is giving me a chance to look back on the last 4 years of my life and remember all the awesome people and things I have had the opportunity to do and be a part off. So, this blog post is dedicated to all those things.

1- Utah State: What can I say, best decision I ever made. My life changed so much from that decision and I know i would not be who I am today without it and all the things I learned there- academic or not.



2- A-team- What can I say, after choosing to go to Utah State I think this is one of the best things I have ever done. I was heartbroken after not making the Ambassador program at USU my freshman year, but looking back on it I am so glad I didn't!! The A-team became like a family for me and I loved every minute of it...retreats at Bear Lake, bowling, (Physics), waffles, the boys house, star gazing, staff sanities with uncooked meat (Larry!), Sergeant Slaughter, volleyball and the "Scoop," Lisa-isms



3- Apt 3- What can I say, we were all meant to be roommates, even though half the time we wanted to kill each other...80's night, dessert nights, fingerpainting the wall, getting stuck in the snow, hiking to the windcaves, bridge and canasta and shanghi



4- Four wheeling- I may not seem this way, but I not only like to be outdoors, but I love it and crave it. One of my favorite things to do is go four wheeling with my Grandpa. It doesn't matter where we go or how long of a ride I love it. There have been numerous trips up Middle Canyon to the overlook, Jacob's City, St. John's, and Davenport. In my opinion, the muddier or dustier the ride, the more worth it it is.

labor day weekend with no labor

What a wonderful Labor day weekend. I went home to Tooele and my brother came up from Ceder City. It was truly a family filled weekend. Saturday we all went out to dinner and then bowling, which we haven't done in a really long time. Monday, my family and grandparents went four-wheeling and had a BBQ/picnic. It was a fantastic trip. It was a very dirty trip, but a very good trip.