Favorite time of year!

Today marks one month until Christmas!

I love Christmas! I love the lights, the music, the cheesy movies, Santa, the increased focus on giving and loving, the time with family and friends. I love the focus on Christ.

I am pretty sure I have more to say about this favorite time of year, but it can wait. For now I'm just feeling happy that it's nearly December.

Amazing smoothie

So, I've been craving smoothies lately. Lots and lots. Even though it's cold.

So for lunch today I decided to make a smoothie. And it is so good! I didn't measure things, so I don't have the precise recipe, but I wanted to write out what I did so that I remember. Also, I never understand why people must put sugar in their smoothies. Fruit is sweet and wonderful and sugary on its own. Who needs additional sugar!? Ok, I'll be honest, I love sugary things. But I just feel like it's very possible to make amazing smoothies without sugar.

So, here's the recipe:

Simple and Amazing Smoothie

Ingredients:
Plain greek yogurt- A few big spoonfuls (I would imagine it was about half a cup)
Frozen strawberries- Probably about a cup or a little less?
Frozen mangoes- Probably about 3/4 cup
Frozen banana- half
Water- maybe a cup? I just added it in gradually to give the smoothie enough liquid to blend (Maybe that's weird to add water, but I didn't have juice, and I kind of didn't want to add any other flavors)

Blend!


If I had any spinach in the fridge, I probably would have tossed a small handful in too. But that would have maybe changed the taste, and it's kind of amazing as it is. I'm sipping it and feeling really happy!

On Grace and Setting Goals

So, sometimes I get these ideas of things I want to do in my life, and I get really excited about them. I think, I should write this down and make it a goal! And I fully intend to make this cool thing a goal. (As a side note, I often get this goal-setting motivation on Sundays. Church does that for me--motivates me to become a better person.)

So anyway, I start trying it, and then it starts feeling hard, or I feel like I can't do it perfectly, and I give up. Goals are intimidating to me; I feel like I have to do them perfectly. I have been thinking about goals because I set two this month that feel important to me. I haven't written them down yet because that makes them feel official, and then What if I FAIL!!!!!!???? Basically, I think I'm scared of failing.

But then this morning, I was thinking about how even if I set these goals and try to do them, aren't I accomplishing more than if I don't even attempt the goal? The answer is yes. With the goals that I have for this month, I hope to do them every single day, but if I mess up and miss some days, I'll still be doing things that will be beneficial on the days that I do complete the goal. I think it's probably ok to be imperfect in accomplishing my goals. I still will progress at least some. 

Interestingly, I decided today on my lunch break that it had been a while since I'd listened to a past BYU devotional and I randomly decided to read this talk: His Grace Is Sufficient. In this devotional, Brad Wilcox talks about how in life a lot of us feel like we have to live life perfectly or else we have completely failed. But then he talks about how that's not how it actually goes. Because of grace, we can keep going and keep trying. It's like learning to play the piano. We have to practice to become good at playing. We're not just going to magically be able to play the piano perfectly. I want to go over the talk a couple more times because I feel like this concept is something I really could better comprehend.

It was pretty lovely that this morning I was thinking about how I need to not worry about failing at goals and how working on goals will still help me progress and then I came across this talk. I like it. 

So, with one of my goals, I don't want to share it quite yet, but the other goal I will now share. So, I read about this great thing where you collect all your spare change in the month of November up through Thanksgiving and then donate that money or the equivalent of what was collected, and I'm going to do it! I think I'll do half through Pioneers of Peace and half through Community Action Services in Provo. Over the past few months, I have learned a lot about poverty and hunger, and I feel so blessed in my life. There are so many people, so many children, even here in Utah, who go hungry on a regular basis, and I just feel so sad about this. I want to help, but it's hard to know how. And I am a huge fan of donating food to the food bank, but they also have the resources to make donations go so much farther than I could. So, this is one of my goals for this month. I know I can't statistically change the world, but I want to do this out of love, not statistics (see Elder Holland's wonderful conference talk). 

Ten Most Influential/Inspiring/Important Books That I Have Read

My wonderful friend Camilla tagged me in a post where she listed her top ten books and asking me to do the same. I told her I wanted to do it, but that I needed to think about it. After thinking about it for a month, I still am feeling like I'm forgetting some things, and that bothers me, but here is my list as I can think of it now:

1. Harry Potter series- I'm pretty sure about 90% of people who know me know that I love Harry Potter. My friend Camille asked me one time why I love them so much, and I had a really hard time explaining it. But I think I had a hard time explaining it because it has a lot to do with emotions, which are never easy to put into words. I feel like lovely miss Rowling has a lovely way of writing. I feel like when I read the Harry Potter books, I was able to feel so immersed in the world, and I was able to connect so much with the characters. Sure, the books are directed toward children, but they are books that I can go back to again and again. I feel like they have so many relatable situations. I love how there is humor and sadness and anger and difficulty and happiness and hope, just like life. 
2. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls- I don't remember how old I was when I read this book. I think it was somewhere around the 4th grade though. And I remember sobbing like a baby. I think it was the first time I'd ever cried like that because of a book. I loved realizing the power of books.
3. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff by Richard Carlson- Yes, a self-help book. Ok, here's the thing. I feel like every year for Christmas, I'd ask for books, and every year for Christmas, my parents would get me self-help or church-related books, even though my parents knew I loved fiction. I don't know if they even realized that they did this. However, my mom is a huge proponent of the library, so maybe that is one reason for their gift-giving decisions. But anyway, one year my parents gave me this book, and honestly, this book has had a huge influence on my framework for thinking. A lot of the information is fairly common sense, but I really like the way the author puts it. 
4. Way to Be! and Standing for Something by Gordon B. Hinckley- I think my friends maybe said church books were against the rules because obviously they are inspirational and influential, so that's why I combined these, to maybe be less cheaterish. But anyway, these books both really taught me the values of kindness and hope and education. I love them. 
5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss- My siblings and I read this together every Christmas Eve. I really love Christmas, and this is just such a classic Christmas-type story. 
6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee- How un-unique of me to love this book. I don't even feel like I love this as much as others, so I feel unfair claiming this on my list, but I do feel like this book opened my eyes to things I hadn't thought about before. 
7. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson- My love of this is much like my love of Harry Potter and Where the Red Fern Grows, but I think this was one of the first books that taught me how fragile life is and that taught me how important friendships can be. 
8. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitgerald- So, I read this in high school, and I enjoyed it, but I reread this book last year, and I realized that I didn't understand half of that book back then. But when I read it this last year, I realized that it is beautifully written. I wish I could write beautifully like Fitzgerald. 
9. Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare- I always have heard people in life saying they don't understand Shakespeare, and I'll be honest, I don't really understand them. I mean, sure, early modern English is different than modern English, but learn a little vocabulary and etymology and spend a little time reading to get to know it, and the works of Shakespeare are so interesting and clever and not all that hard to understand. Study a little extra too and you'll get even more meaning out of it. That's one thing I love about Shakespeare, the layers of meaning. And Much Ado About Nothing holds a special place in my heart. We did the play in 6th grade. I played Hero, the female character with the second most lines and who the story basically revolves around. I'm not going to lie, but I was pretty proud of myself. It was proobably hilarious. I was probably a cocky little 6th grader pretending to be this fantastic actress. But the play introduced me to Shakespeare plays and sonnets, so, it's pretty great that we did the play. 
10. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli- So, this is a children's book, but I only read it a year or two ago. A really close friend of mine told me that I reminded her of Stargirl. My confused stare surprised her, and she told me that I must read Stargirl. She let me borrow it, and I loved the sweet story. Also, I discovered what a compliment it was for my friend to say I'm like Stargirl. I hope I'm at least half as caring and kind as Stargirl. So, now sometimes I look to Stargirl for inspiration! 

Runners-up- These are other books that I have LOVED in my life and/or have really impacted how I view things

• The Egypt Game
• Oedipus Rex (I know everyone hates this story because it's kind of messed up, but it's sort of a beautiful tragedy when you think about it.)
• Chronicles of Narnia
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
• Daphne's Book or another book by Mary Downing Hahn
• The Alliance
• The Farthest Away Mountain
• The Importance of Being Earnest 
• The Work and the Glory series
• The Jewel Book series (not necessarily classy books, but they helped solidify a friendship that made middle school so much better than it would have otherwise been)

I feel like there are 20 others that I have simply forgotten. I feel like all books, even the silly ones influence my life. Yes there are some that are more influential, but I feel like they all help me see other ways of life, and I love that. I love reading. I should make more time for it. 

Writers

So, I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but there are so many times when I read a book or an article or someone's blog, and the writer seems so deep and profound and cool, and I feel inadequate next to them. How did so many people get to be so amazing? Some of these people are younger than me too. How can I be amazing like that?

I don't necessarily feel like I'm profound or cool or the most fantastic writer on the planet. However, I do enjoy writing. I like trying to put my thoughts and feelings into cohesive statements. I do wish I were cooler and seemed deeper, but I also am just trying to be happy with where I'm at and who I am. Maybe one day I'll be able to write something that helps someone feel something powerful. But maybe not. And maybe that's ok.