Flowers!

I'm pretty sure that most people know that I really love flowers. I took floral design during my last year of school, and it was one of my favorite classes from my undergraduate education, and that's saying a lot since I really loved school and my major.

Last Friday was not my best day ever. In fact, I was calling it an awful day. I wasn't feeling very good, and I wanted to be having fun with my friends, and I kind of felt forgotten (I was also being dramatic; oh well). However, at about 8 or 9, one of my best friends  brought me some potted orchids.

Kind of like these, but mine are prettier



This was one of those little miracles in life and answers to a prayer. Not only did these flowers and the fact that my friend had thought of me when she bought them make me happy for the rest of the evening, but it has made me happy all week! I have placed the orchids on the desk in my room, and they just make me so happy. They are so beautiful!

My friend also told me that the way the orchids looked reminded her of me. How cool is that to be compared to a beautiful flower!?

I think that flowers make the world a better place with their beauty. They bring joy and can be a comfort to people. For that reason, they are wonderful.

Bittersweet

There are two parts to the word bittersweet: bitter and sweet.

Therefore, if you are going to use the word bittersweet, please make sure that there is something bitter and something sweet. The definition in Merriam-Webster includes this in the definition, "pleasure alloyed with pain." I like that.

Ok, I just wanted to clear this up since I've seen this word used incorrectly a few times recently. I don't have a lot of language pet peeves, especially considering that I'm an editor, but this is one that I just noticed and felt very upset by. A little ridiculous, but I am a word nerd. :-)

Reflections

So, I'm feeling pretty behind. I'm still in Christmas mode, but I suppose it is the new year, and I did want to review last year's goals. I'm sure I'll make some resolutions, but I'm not quite there yet, and I'm really ok with that.

But here were my goals from 2012 with how I did on them:

• Go to the temple more- I think I did do this, but I still didn't go as often as I would like to
• Visit nature more- I did not do this one, and that's pretty sad. I love nature. It brings me a lot of joy. The great thing about life though, is that I can still keep trying!
• Serve- I did serve, and it was lovely! I am excited to serve more.
• Eat well and work out- I think I have worked out more this year than in other years, so, yay, success! I also have eaten fairly well, maybe not as well as I could have, but I did pretty well.
• Smell good- I hope I was successful. I just don't want to smell bad, ever.
• Be kind- I was pretty kind! There were times this year where it was less natural for me than in the past, but I was still pretty kind, so I think that's good!
• Do monthly goals- hmm, I did this for a few months
• January's goal did not happen. I tried to do a book drive for a hospital.
• February's goal totally happened, and there were two! I took a cake decorating class, and I organized photos for my mom
• March's goal was back to my basics and buy a gym membership and save money and take care of my car. I think I did fulfill back to my basics, which meant that I wanted to do things that I genuinely loved. I wanted to spend time with people I loved and do what I felt was right. I believe that I succeeded in doing this in March! I also did get a gym membership, but I don't remember if I did the other two
• April- support my friends, especially with graduation! I feel like this is a weird goal, but I would say I succeeded. I didn't want to be so upset about people complaining about school. Just because I love and miss school doesn't mean tests and projects and finals aren't a pain. Also, my friends graduated, and it was so exciting!
• May- read scriptures every day for 30 minutes. I don't think I quite met this goal, but if I'm remembering correctly, I did do a very good job. It was good!
• months after May- I didn't make any specific goals really for these months, at least, not that I wrote down. I did accomplish a lot and continue pursuing things.
• Share hope, peace, and love with others- hmm, I tried on this one, but I don't know if I did the best I could have done
• Listen- I think I listened well, but I can still improve
• Learn to cook more things- I actually didn't cook a whole lot this year. It was weird. I did learn a few new recipes, and I took a cake decorating class.
• Write thank you notes- I actually didn't really start doing this until later in the year, but it has brought me so much joy! Expressing gratitude is a wonderful thing!
• Be in a musical- This did not happen, but it is still a life dream of mine!

There are a few others, but they are a little silly. I think I had a successful year! I would also like to write a list of highlights from 2012 like I did for 2011, but I will not do that right now. 

Happy New Year!