I don’t like to brag, but I really do have the best job ever! I didn’t exactly realize I would be leading this dance… I thought I would just be a dancer! It’s a teaching video, so it’s pretty long. Jump to around 12:00 to see the full dance without the instruction. Also, if you have a Dance Dash coming to a location near you, sign up to participate! You’ll have a blast, guaranteed!
Every now and then we do some pretty awesome events at work. Here’s my participation in the latest: March Madness!! It’s a lot harder to wheel around those chairs than you think… Our great team! We lost every game we played. But we had spirit! Defensive skills at play Yes, we kept switching headbands and wore them after other sweaty teams played. Yum. I do have a great bruise to show for my efforts, as well. My job is awesome!
I’m an Ireland fanatic. It was the first country I ever visited. I love the people, the music, the dance, and the food. Eight years later, I’m even more obsessed with Ireland! That three week trip shaped my life – especially my academic life. While I won’t claim to be an expert in the field, I have spent the past years honing my knowledge of Irish dance history, and I have hopes of publishing a book on the subject in the next year or two. I love Ireland. One of my favorite pictures from that trip is of this gentleman we met on a pedestrian street in downtown Limerick. He was playing traditional tunes on his accordion, and it seemed to me like he was the quintessential representation of Ireland. Here’s to the mystique and intrigue of the Emerald Isle, where the past and present live side by side on Read more…
I’m so thankful for my patriarchal blessing. I’m thankful that I’ve been able to come closer The Lord since the start of the new year. I feel like I’ve gained additional trust in The Lord and his plan for me. It’s one thing to be promised something and bother thing to trust those words. I feel like my trust has grown. I believe it. I’ve seen some aspects come true already. The rest will come. Marriage to a righteous young man. Children. A strong and happy family focused on The Lord. Continued opportunities to serve, learn, and grow. I know it will come to pass. And I know it in a way that I don’t think I believed in beforehand. I’m thankful today for this realization, this growth in my testimony, and for the lords continued hand in my life.
TIME has decided to help a girl out and clear the air about marriage. Specifically, how far off the mark I am in being 28 and single. GOOD NEWS! I have 10 months and 11 days before I fall on the wrong side of the median! For what it’s worth, the site does a nice job explaining it’s methodology and how it calculates the data. It’s not exactly a comprehensive survey or comparison, but seems fairly reliable. Mostly, I’m just glad to see my suggested “expiration date” is in the future. With girls I once babysat now having babies (!!!), I figured I would be far past my prime marriage time. Thanks, science. Happy Valentine’s Day!
I’ve been in the Isaiah chapters for my scripture study, which is instructive, but by always the spiritual direction I’ve needed of late. It’s not always easy to liken scriptures about the end times and destruction to having faith, hope, and enduring to the end. Today is a gem, though. 2 Nephi 22. Read it, especially verse 2. Words like trust, strength, salvation. It’s a joyous reminder of the gifts and majesty of The Lord; just the right way to start the day!
This is my 400th post! I was going to put a cool picture on here to celebrate that, but most of them were of motorcycles and schmancy cars. And I’m a little bit off-put by motorcycles still, thanks to the X, and fancy cars remind me of someone I’m currently working to forget. So…. no pictures on this one. I did want to say a little something about how thankful I am for faith and hope. It still isn’t easy, and hasn’t been easy, to feel the familiar sting of a mis-timed or mis-matched relationship. It’s because it’s familiar that makes it hurt more. Re-opening the old wound, scratching at the scar… well, you get the image. I’ve been striving very much to move forward, and to do so with faith and hope. The gray days of February make it hard sometimes. I’ll openly admit that I get a little SAD Read more…
January has brought along some interesting experiences and tons of opportunity for personal growth! I could probably count on one (maybe two) hands the number of days I haven’t cried, but a lot of that has been from spiritual influences and feeling the Lord so close to me. I’ve definitely grown much closer to Him these past few weeks. At first it was a matter of survival – ain’t no way I was going to “endure” the circumstances without some divine help! Well, I say that, but I just knew that I needed the comfort and peace that comes with seeking the Lord. Emotions are gnarly and tricksy and all sorts of trouble, sometimes. Peace calms the negative feelings and allows the positive feelings to shine through, no matter how weak they are. That’s why the gospel makes us happy…. it let’s the Lord shine His light through us without the Read more…
This post may get a bit personal. But I don’t know that anyone reads my updates too much these days, so I’m just going with it. It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life’s story will develop. ―Dieter F. Uchtdorf Despite how difficult circumstances may look at the moment, those who have faith and move forward with a happy spirit will find that things always work out.―Gordon B. Hinckley In life as in the dance, grace glides on blistered feet.. — Alice Abrams I’ve been thinking a lot lately about happiness. What it takes to bring true, enduring happiness. For me, I’m beginning to realize that happiness and faith are closely linked… especially on the big things. Obviously, a donut always makes me happy. Dancing makes me happy. But intangibles that bring happiness – successful career, love, friendship, marriage, acceptance, etc. – really require Read more…
I was reading yesterday about a man who complained that life always seemed to be on an up and down rollercoaster… never smoothing out into a nice balance. He happened to be complaining to a nurse, who observed that if you’re in the hospital, the peaks and valleys on the heart monitor indicate you’re alive! No one wants to get a flat line there. It’s true. Life is a continual series of peaks and valleys, reminding us that we are alive, living, learning, and growing. Monday was a day like no other for peaks and valleys. There’s a few things in limbo for me right now, which is a phase of living that I really don’t care for and really don’t thrive in. I dislike limbo. Nor am I particularly patient in limbo. Clearly, there’s some learning and growing for me to go through right now. So limbo. I’ve been in limbo Read more…