V-day wrap-up and Parent Teacher Conferences.

A day of lists. We'll start with the V-day wrap-up. A list of what my roomie Megan-o and I wrote (with a guest appearance by Christina Craven) in our love game. And yes some things have been omitted because not everything needs to exist on the internets.

I love Lynette because she bought chocolate today. The Gospel. Christ. Truth. James Talmage. iPods. Amber. 8th period. Dante's job. Jane by Design. Matthew Atkinson. NICK FADDEN! Texting. Mornings that aren't 5:45. Stutters. Christina. Humanities. Don Q conversations. Megan-o. Lynette! Doing nothing. Chocolate. Journals. Saturdays. Sweat pants. Sleep. Not wallowing. Ice cream. Crepes. Illnesses leaving. Preach My Gospel. The fact that I thought this said creeps (with an arrow pointing to crepes). FB stalking. Lynette's squeaky voice. Mikey. Megan-o. Spotify. Pesos. 8th period helping out. When Jake is good. Participation. Short faculty meetings. Making grades better. Sleep. Preach My Gospel. Day being over. Being trusted. Family. Having grades entered. Pink nails. My perfume. Being giddy. Mrs. King. That cute boy in 101. Smell-good boys. Water. Dinner. Amanda. Love songs. Blogging. Sounding like a woman. Not coughing. Funny videos. Pink. Comfortable shoes. Good hair. Healthy days. Megan's healthy days. Thomas. Mike Steele. Folk skirt. Speaking in Church. Learning from my mistakes. Chivalry. Rides home. Made up raps. McD's. Pepe at McD's. Codster. On-task Jake. Being complimented by students. AMBER. Dinner I didn't make. Blogging. Reading cool blogs. Sweats. Guy friends. Totally Missing the Point . Lauri. Having a job. Maddie. Holly. Cassidy. Caroline. David. Spanish. Spanish music. Timpview. Good groupwork. Bubble gum pink skirt. Friday. Jane By Design. Blue shirt. Tandy. Mikayla. Kelsey. Friendship. TOUR. Julie. Jon. Jeanette. Mike Steele. New blog. Mikey. Katrina's shirt. FRIDAY. Island projects. Review days. Dan's 101%. Bed. Leggings. Not having appendicitis. Cough drops even if they're nasty. This episode of Jane By Design. Free pizza. Good weather. Not being rejected. Brownie bites. Curled hair. SUNDAY. Speaking in church. Compliments. The Alex incident. Flirting. Getting asked out. Not dying in the snow. Alina. Ashlee. Maloree. Noel. Noel's boots. Larissa. This sweater. Curled hair. Being added on Facebook. Family. Makeup. Review day! Test tomorrow! V-day tomorrow. Thomas. Folk skirt. Jeanette. Lauri. Valentines Day. Much Ado About Nothing. Kenneth Branagh. Emma Thompson. Lia. Jeremy! Talia! Hair staying curled. Hoops and Yoyo. Not being awkward. TMA! Kyle. Andrea. Jenn. Becca. Post-its. Garlic alfredo chicken pasta.

For the first year I had to refill the bowl of M&Ms! Megan-o and I have a lot of love.

And now for parent teacher conferences. I'll keep it short and sweet. Some words that come to mind after my first experience as a teacher at parent teacher conference.

Long.
Funny.
Really funny.
Awkward.
Long.
Insightful.
Useful.
Long.

I was also reminded that every time an opportunity to speak Spanish exists, my Spanish doesn't...

Thankfully none of these parents came...

2 Secrets and a Truth.

1. I used to hate Valentines Day. Also pink.

The pink thing changed when my mom gave me a huge, puffy, pink, Jigglypuff looking winter coat. I decided to like it. As for Valentines Day, I attribute much of it to my beautiful sister Shiree. Her love for it was infectious and adorable and cool.

I did NOT approve of that coat. At first. 

2. There is a point on Valentines Day when I'm just as sad and lonely as everyone else gets/has been.

Yep. I'm human. But here's the thing. This happens at the end of the day, after I've done my normal day things but always, always before I hand out Valentines. I highly encourage buying those paper valentines that you hand out in 4th grade because you may be amazed at how delighted people are to get these silly things. I'm sure nostalgia plays a large role in it. The other factor may be that they were sitting in their apartment feeling just like I was pre-Valentine handing out. I don't think I need to point out the moral of this story.

These were my valentines last year. 

This year I procrastinated to much to get anything this cool. 

If you've never seen this show...um...watch it. 

Here's one of my fav episodes. ONE of the many. 

1. Truth:
God is love. Here's the deal, this will always be my message on Valentines Day. There may be many facets of love but in God all of them are contained. It is no coincidence that the Disciple who so clearly stated this is called John the Beloved.

Let's just face it, the Beatles got it right. All you need is love.

It all comes back to you.

You give a little love and it all comes back to you.

You know you're gonna be remembered for the things you say and do. 

Karma is truth folks. You want love? Give it. Now here's the deal, just because you want a certain kind of love doesn't mean you will get that specifically. Just because you love a person doesn't mean they will love you back romantically, or even as a friend. Or even as a person! But if you put love out there you WILL receive love in return. Somehow. The world is balanced. Promise. 

Also. You should definitely watch Bugsy Malone if you never have. It's too good.

Love YOU.

So today I decided the most important thing for me to talk about would be loving yourself.  Because let's face it, that is one of the hardest things to do. 


A quote I found from a Young Women's lesson lds.org "We are children of God, and when we do not love ourselves, we are not respecting the things God has created." 

I have friends who have a hard time with this and I find myself getting almost angry about it. Not loving yourself means you're not fully loving God! He truly sent his Son to die out of love for you. And his son and your Savior died (and lived) because of his love for you. 


Also, he created you. Individually he made you and is the father of your spirit. How proud are you of things you have created? He has that much love and more for you! He is proud of what you are and sees your eternal worth and when you don't see it, just think how hard that is for Him to see. 


 Have you ever had a friend who you just adore. You know how wonderful they are and what they are capable of. But then they don't see it and they get discouraged. Isn't that just about the most frustrating thing ever? Magnify that a hundred fold. That's the frustration from an Eternal Father who sees your potential. And He knows exactly what your potential is because He gave it to you!


Now remember, self love doesn't mean you only consider yourself and not other people, or that you accept your faults as is and not work on them. The Lord chasteneth those whom he loves. We can and should still be self critical while at the same time keeping in mind our self worth. They must exist together though they seem opposite. Like justice and mercy. Sound familiar? 


You're wonderful. Now go do some soul (and scripture, and prayer) searching until you believe it. 

Love it.

Today I had this extremely interesting day. It was full of a great variety of things and experiences and I loved it.

Now, while I had a day that was fairly easy to love, it helped me remember another thing to love. LIFE. Recently we learned a new Mexican dance on my folk team (Jalisco! It's so cool!). The dance was hard and tiring and different than I expected. Rehearsals were frustrating at first, but then I decided to LOVE it.

By our last rehearsal with the choreographer, I legitimately loved the dance. Le.git. It was fantastic. All because I chose to.

So today I say to you. Love life. LOVE what life gives you.

Come what may, and love it.

Have you noticed that I love Elder Wirthlin? He is my favorite Apostle of all time, I miss hearing his sweet testimony in General Conferences.

Friendship.

So I know my philosophy of Valentine's Day is that it isn't just about romantic love but I realize that I haven't shown much evidence for that yet on my blog. Other than religious love (which really...let's be honest, encompasses all the kinds of love, but still) and romantic love (including the sub-genre of crushes, etc) I haven't really ventured anywhere else. So let's talk about friend love shall we?

I have been amazingly blessed in my life to have about 98% more friends than I have ever deserved in my life. No. Make that 99%. The only people who have to like me are my family. And even they like me more than they need to/perhaps should. Here are some ways my friends have shown their love for me.

Making me dinner when I don't feel well even though I never would have asked them to.

Making my bed in the morning when they can tell I'm stressed.

Answering crazy ranting text messages when I'm trying to sort out my life.

Listening to me complain about people who complain and not calling me a hypocrite.

Letting me eat their delicious cheescake cookies.

Bringing me ice cream.


Talking
Listening to me.

Having  a sleepover with me the night before an AP Psych test.

Being my best friend even when I legitimately had 0 other friends in school. (I was not liked in elementary school, simply put.)

Giving me a chance to be funny even when I was viewed as "nerdy".

Bonding in a hotel room at dance conventions. Even when the only thing I had to say was something silly about math.

Including me.

Thinking I'm talented.

Telling me the truth.

Lying to me when the truth will devastate me.

Doing my dishes for me.

Not thinking I hate them when I'm focused on homework.

Teaching me things. All kinds of things. And being patient when I don't get it.

Remembering what's going on in my life and asking me about it.

Noticing when I'm tired or sick or frustrated.

Being a spy when I'm with whichever boy I like so they can tell me afterward if they think he likes me or not.

Always telling me he likes me, even though that's basically never true. :)

Reading my lame-o blog.

Buying me presents even though they know I never buy people presents because I'm terrible.

LOVING ME.

This list could go on for days. I just hope to high heavens that I do this for my friends also. I should probably not hope and just do. People. Love, like faith, is a principle of action. Love not acted upon is just a false feeling, it's the ghost of what it would be with action. We know this. We know that upon serving someone you love them more, but knowledge is just data until it's put into our life. Love is just a sham until it's acted upon.

Soapbox over.

Let's just be a little juvenile again shall we?

So this post won't be as juvenile as yesterday's but I'm harking back to teenage years. I'm sorry guys, I know. But here's the deal, I do spend all day with teenagers. And let's be honest, teenage crushes were just so fun!

Plus, my song of the day was Phantom Planet "Always on My Mind" and that was most def my go-to crush song my senior year of high school. So I've decided to devote today to crushes. To that moment in jr high and high school when student council comes around on Valentines Day with the carnations that I never got but for one second...it really looks like they are headed for you and you are pretty delighted. And it was exciting (and devastating...but let's keep our eye on the prize here).

Long story short, I saw this fantastic video the other day and I thought "the 15 year old me would have EATEN UP this video". It still makes me feel 15 and all life-inexperienced inside. And fuzzy. It's like when you have that one best guy friend in jr. high and high school and they always tell you that boys don't like you just because you're not easy or they're intimidated by you, etc. And then you turn 23 and they still tell you that (or maybe that's only me...). And so when I watch this I feel all Young-Women-feel-good-bookmark inside. And I laugh, because this kid is funny. I don't know who he is but he is a winner in my book.

Okay. A few things.
1. Please tell me this is true. Because the Young Woman in me wants her bookmarks to be true.
2. This boy is a stud. He probably would have been my best friend in high school.
3. He could maybe use some differing volumes. Anyone?


And here is one that I can verify is true because I, my dear, am a woman. Or a girl. I never know which one to use. I'm just barely getting used to Miss at school so...give it some time.

Except for the Twilight thing...that's hit or miss. 

So there you go! You looking to get some points with a crush by/before Valentines and/or whenever? Listen to this boy. He is wise beyond his years. I am guessing his years to be about 17. So if I'm wrong, now I'm awkwardly wrong all over the internet. 

Any questions? This kid also has a BOMBIN' video on Valentine's Day that I would love to talk about but there are only 14 days of Valentines Day and I don't know if it will make the cut. We'll see kid. We'll see. 

Puppy love.

Kids' Ideas About Love

Kids, aged 5 to 10, were asked questions about what they thought of love and marriage. Here's what they said.

Love and Marriage:

• "If falling in love is anything like learning how to spell, I don't want to do it. It takes too long." -- Glenn, age 7
• "Love is like an avalanche where you have to run for your life." -- John, age 9
• "I think you're supposed to get shot with an arrow or something, but the rest of it isn't supposed to be so painful." -- Manuel, age 8
• "No one is sure why it happens, but I heard it has something to do with how you smell. That's why perfume and deodorant are so popular." -- Mae, age 9
• "Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too." -- Greg, age 8
• "Once I'm done with kindergarten, I'm going to find me a wife." -- Tom, age 5
• "On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date." -- Mike, 10
• "I'm in favor of love as long as it doesn't happen when Dinosaurs is on television." -- Jill, age 6
• "One of the people has freckles, and so he finds somebody else who has freckles too." -- Andrew, age 6
• "My mother says to look for a man who is kind. That's what I'll do. I'll find somebody who's kinda tall and handsome." -- Carolyn, age 8
• "It gives me a headache to think about that stuff. I'm just a kid. I don't need that kind of trouble." -- Kenny, age 7
• "One of you should know how to write a check. Because, even if you have tons of love, there is still going to be a lot of bills." -- Ava, age 8

• "When somebody's been dating for a while, the boy might propose to the girl. He says to her, 'I'll take you for a whole life, or at least until we have kids and get divorced.'" -- Anita, 9
• "I'm not rushing into being in love. I'm finding fourth grade hard enough." -- Regina, age 10
• "Most men are brainless, so you might have to try more than once to find a live one." -- Angie, age 10
• "A man and a woman promise to go through sickness and illness and diseases together." -- Marlon, age 10
• "[Being] single is better . . . for the simple reason that I wouldn't want to change no diapers. Of course, if I did get married, I'd figure something out. I'd just phone my mother and have her come over for some coffee and diaper-changing." -- Kirsten, age 10
• "Love is foolish...but I still might try it sometime." -- Floyd, age 9
• "Love will find you, even if you are trying to hide from it. I been trying to hide from it since I was five, but the girls keep finding me." -- Dave, age 8

---

Kissing:

• "When a person gets kissed for the first time, they fall down, and they don't get up for at least an hour." -- Wendy, age 8
• "You should never kiss a girl unless you have enough bucks to buy her a big ring and her own VCR, 'cause she'll want to have videos of the wedding." -- Jim, age 10
• "Never kiss in front of other people. It's a big embarrassing thing if anybody sees you. But if nobody sees you, I might be willing to try it with a handsome boy, but just for a few hours." -- Kally, age 9
• "You learn [how to kiss] right on the spot when the gooshy feelings get the best of you." -- Doug, age 7
• "If it's your mother, you can kiss her anytime. But if it's a new person, you have to ask permission." -- Roger, age 6
• "It's never okay to kiss a boy. They always slobber all over you. That's why I stopped doing it." -- Tammy, age 10
• "I know one reason kissing was created. It makes you feel warm all over, and they didn't always have electric heat or fireplaces or even stoves in their houses." -- Gina, age 8
• "The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that." -- Curt, age 7
• "The rules goes like this: if you kiss someone, then you should marry her and have kids with her. It's the right thing to do." -- Howard, age 8
• (on seeing a couple kissing) "He is trying to steal her chewing gum!" -- Boy, age 6

---

Beauty:

• "If you want to be loved by somebody who isn't already in your family, it doesn't hurt to be beautiful." -- Anita, age 8
• "Beauty is skin deep. But how rich you are can last a long time." -- Christine, age 9
• "It isn't always how you look. Look at me. I'm handsome like anything, and I haven't got anybody to marry me yet." -- Brian, age 7

---

How People In Love Act:

• "Lovers will just be staring at each other and their food will get cold. Other people care more about the food." -- Brad, age 8
• "They act mooshy. Like puppy dogs, except puppy dogs don't wag their tails nearly as much." -- Arnold, age 10
• "All of a sudden, the people get movies fever so they can sit together in the dark." -- Sherm, age 8
• "Romantic adults usually are all dressed up, so if they are just wearing jeans it might mean they used to go out or they just broke up." -- Sarah, age 9
• "It's love if they order one of those desserts that are on fire. They like to order those because it's just like how their hearts are -- on fire." -- Christine, age 9
• "See if the man picks up the check. That's how you can tell if he's in love." -- John, age 9
• "Many daters just eat pork chops and french fries and talk about love." -- Craig, age 9

---

What Mom and Dad Have In Common:

• "Both don't want no more kids." -- Lori, age 8

---

How To Tell If Two People Are Married:

• "Married people usually look happy to talk to other people." -- Eddie, age 6
• "You might have to guess based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids." -- Derrick, age 8

---

Deciding Who To Marry:

• "You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming." -- Allan, age 10
• "No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with." -- Kirsten, age 10

---

Strategies For Making People Fall In Love With You:

• "Tell them that you own a whole bunch of candy stores." -- Del, age 6
• "Shake your hips and hope for the best." -- Camille, age 9
• "Yell out that you love them at the top of your lungs...and don't worry if their parents are right there." -- Manuel, age 8
• "Don't do things like have smelly, green sneakers. You might get attention, but attention ain't the same thing as love." -- Alonzo, age 9
• "One way is to take the girl out to eat. Make sure it's something she likes to eat. French fries usually works for me." -- Bart, age 9

---

The Best Age To Get Married:

• "Twenty three is the best age because you know the person forever by then." -- Cam, age 10
• "No age is good to get married at. You got to be a fool to get married!" -- Freddie, age 6

---

Good Advice About Love:

• "Spend most of your time loving instead of going to work." -- Dick, age 7
• "Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough." -- Lynnette, age 8
• "Tell your wife that she looks pretty even if she looks like a truck!" -- Ricky, age 7
• "Don't forget your wife's name. That will mess up the love." -- Erin, age 8
• "Sensitivity don't hurt." -- Robbie, age 8
• "Be a good kisser. It might make your wife forget that you never take out the trash." -- Erin, age 8
• "Don't say you love somebody and then change your mind. Love isn't like picking what movie you want to watch." -- Natalie, age 9

---

What To Do When a First Date Turns Sour:

• "I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns." -- Craig, age 9

---

What Most People Are Thinking When They Say "I Love You":

• "The person is thinking: 'Yeah, I really do love him. But I hope he showers at least once a day.'" -- Michelle, age 9
• "Some lovers might be real nervous, so they are glad that they finally got it out and said it, and now they can go eat." -- Dick, age 7

---

Why People In Love Often Hold Hands:

• "They want to make sure their rings don't fall off, because they paid good money for them." -- Gavin, age 8
• "They are just practicing for when they might have to walk down the aisle someday and do the holy matchimony thing." -- John, age 9

---

Titles of Love Ballads You Can Sing To Your Loved One:

• "'I Love Hamburgers, I Like You!'" -- Eddie, age 6
• "'You Are My Darling Even Though You Also Know My Sister.'" -- Larry, age 8
• "'I Am In Love With You Most of the Time, But Don't Bother Me When I'm With My Friends.'" -- Bob, age 9
• "'How Do I Love Thee When You're Always Picking Your Nose?'" -- Arnold, age 10
• "'Honey, I Got Your Curly Hair and Your Nintendo On My Mind.'" -- Sharon, age 9
• "'Hey, Baby, I Don't Like Girls, But I'm Willing To Forget You Are One!'" -- Will, age 7

From http://www.rinkworks.com/said/kidlove.shtml

And to finish it off...

Yes, please.

Here are some of my favorite lines from a particular playlist in my iTunes (that I have also made available to everyone on Spotify, your welcome). This playlist is called "Yes, please". I'm sure you can figure out why.

You're the melody of a symphony by Strauss. I wanna be your last first kiss. So like I wanna get married, I never asked you to kiss me, just don't want you to be sorry you didn't try. No I won't stop loving you, why should I? Far longer than forever, like no love's ever known. If you would win my heart, sing me a love song. Full of love and understanding, beautiful inside. It must be love because we are too afraid to say it. A tiny bit nervous, cuz I've never been kissed, did you open your eyes, cuz I never did. Starts in my toes makes me crinkle my nose. You've got the most unbelievable blue eyes I've ever seen. Take every chance you dare, I'll still be there when you come back down. And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while. Now every February you'll be my Valentine. Why all at once my heart took flight. Oh you, it's always you. All the times I have sat and stared as she thoughtfully thumbs through her hair. I can only give you love that lasts forever. There's no gravity up here, it's kind of hard to explain. She is love, and she is all I need. And yet, you make me smile, you make me laugh, you make me care. Say yes, make me more than I am. For always, forever, beyond here and on to eternity. Everybody knows but you, so here it goes. I could go across the world and see everything and never be satisfied if I couldn't see those eyes. If someone like you found someone like then suddenly nothing would ever be the same. You know who I am, take me as I am. Tonight I need exactly who she is, we're going to be perfect. But right now there's you and me. You touch me and time has no meaning at all. I love the way you love the way I love you. I'm a superman thanks to Lois Lane. I took the good times, I'll take the bad times, I'll take you just the way you are. Can hardly wait 'til our next kiss, you're so cool. You watched me grow up I watched you change, thought one day we'd share a last name. I keep holding out for what I don't know, to be with you, just to be with you. I've been sleeping in way to late for the past 3 days straight cuz I've been talking to you. It takes somebody special to make me say I do. I want to love you madly, I want to love you now. Can't wait to live my life with you can't wait to start. Oh no, it's just the nearness of you. When you say you love me for a moment I know why I'm alive. This will be an everlasting love. It's not the way you look it's the way you look at me. It might not be suitable for greeting cards and such but it's a true and honest feeling. There's a golden ring and I want you to have it. I must admit I still don't understand why I lose my head holding your hand. I think I fell in love with the 8th world wonder. So I'm hiding what I'm feeling but I'm tired of holding this inside my head. Smiling just to see the smile upon your face. 'S marvelous that you should care for me. Then I saw her face. I don't want my love to go to waste I want you. Love will make my spirit grow. So keep me awake to memorize you. At last my love has come along. If you're listening Mary, this is for you. What you've got boy, is hard to find. That girl is fire, that's why I desire her. Beautiful girls all over the world I could be chasing but my time would wasted. Oh please say to me, you'll let me be your man. And I can't move, so I sing.

Um guys, and I totally cut this playlist down today. And this is only a small playlist compared to my FULL playlist of love music (currently 528 songs...) I'm a lover of music what can I say?

How many songs can you identify?

This speaks for itself.

If.

This post is a little more of an admonition than a declaration. I will be using some scriptures in John that are a little out of order, but there is purpose to this.

John 15
Verse 10: If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
11: These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12: This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14: Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Chapter 14
Verse 15: If ye love me, keep my commandments.
21: He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

First of all, some of the things I've already blogged about came into this. I wanted to remind you (and myself) that all of this is connected. When love is speaking of Truth with a capital T, it's all connected.

I also included my highlighted moments of the scriptures, trying to translate to you how I read those scriptures, with italicized things being general highlighting, bold being circled words, and yellow meaning things that give me joy.

Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you; if ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love; if ye love me keep my commandments; He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he is is that loveth me.

How do you show your parents that you love them? You obey them. How do you show a teacher that you care about them and their subject? You do the homework, you listen in class, ie. you obey them. (Student teaching really does take over my entire brain most of the time.) So how do you show Christ that you love Him? You keep his commandments. Why does he give commandments?

Why do your parents give you rules? Because they love you and want you to be safe and happy. Why do teachers give you work and homework? Because they love you and want you to learn. Why does Christ give us commandments? Because He loves us and desperately wants us to be able to live with Him and Our Father again. So desperately.

But that isn't all, He doesn't just give us a long-off promise that we will gain eternal life, though that is the ultimate gift. In verse 21 of chapter 14 He says "...he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and I will manifest myself unto him." We receive the love of two perfect beings who see us outside of time, they see our potential and our abilities that we can't even comprehend. We also receive the promise that Christ will manifest Himself unto us. What glorious promises.

Ye are my friends. If.

Teenage dream

So I spend all week in a high school teaching teenagers, it's fun.

Then I come home and watch Jane By Design.  (Um, Nick Fadden is a dang babe. A dang. babe. Consequently I cannot for the life of me find the birth year of the actor Matthew Atkinson, I really need to know if me finding him a babe should be creepy or not.)

It's this weird double perspective teaching teenagers and then watching (and maybe obsessing over) a show about teenagers in high school with scenes where they talk/text/whatevs in class.

And then I put these two experiences together and what do I think about? Teenage love. Obviously.

Remember how giddy it is? And the butterflies in your stomach? And how simple it was? And how important it was? And how dramatic it was? And how FUN it was?

I remember once when my crush wore my jacket at school to be ridiculous. For the rest of the week I kept that jacket on my bed not touching anything so it kept it's smell. I couldn't wait to get home every night so I could smell it.

Adorable. 

Remember?

And now behold, my joy is full.

So I know all the blogs thus far have been much  more on the serious side. I promise I'll get lighter, but this was the first blog post so far that was inspired without any prompting or studying on my part so I really wanted to go with it.

I woke up to a terrible, no good, very bad morning. Off I went to school at too early in the morning and thankfully I didn't have to teach the first period of the day. I "planned" at my computer but mostly just stared and tried to text people (hard to do when you wake up and are two hours into your day when most college students wake up) and ended up mostly ruining my hair and completely removing my makeup by the amount of running my hands over them that I did. (That sentence is seriously awkwardly worded but sorry, I don't think there is any way around it.)

I helped teach one period and interacting with the students helped, but since it wasn't "my" class (my co-teacher and I split up the classes) I mostly snuck away every once in a while to see if anyone had texted me back yet and took a looooong bathroom break to calm down. Seriously, it was that bad of a morning.

This bad mood continued and I was DREADING 8th period. My 8th period class is more chaotic then I would personally choose, but they can also just be so amazingly fantastic. So I was pretty worried about them on a Friday afternoon, but I knew I had to get through it. No other choice.

And guess what? It was amazing. Once I was teaching and interacting with those students and helping them I was so happy. And they were great and inquisitive and fun today and the class ended and I just looked at my co-teacher and said "That was great!" Bad mood gone.

What does this have to do with love you say? Un momento por favor.

One of my very favorite scriptures in all of the world is found in 3 Nephi 17. I mean, how can you ever go wrong with the Savior's visit to the Americas? But in this chapter, in verse 20, Christ says that His joy is full. The first time I read this as an understanding, thirsting for knowledge adult, I was so struck by that phrase. How could your joy be full? Brimming? Completamente? It sounded so wonderful. Since that time I have found that phrase other times in the scriptures and I always perk up when something gives me an indication as to how my joy could be full.

But in this particular scripture, Christ's joy is full because of those He was visiting. Because of His people. Seeing their faith gave him un-add-to-able joy. And their faith did this because He so thoroughly loved them.

Insert inquisitiveness and on-task-ness for faith and then you may understand why my joy was filled (perhaps not full, that's a pretty tall order) when I saw these students who I have come to love, show such promise. Full joy. Lots of love. Day 3 of love.

By this shall men know.

God has given us many commandments. And these commandments seem to stress us out. One of the commandments oft brought up in the light of stress is "Be ye therefore perfect...". Obviously this is a difficult commandment as we are all imperfect beings. I am going to move on from this point even though I know that the discussion of this verse is incomplete and could take ages to fully address. But for my purposes. this verse is an example of a seemingly impossible commandment.

I found another commandment today. Another seemingly impossible commandment. "A new commandment that I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved  you..."

When speaking of Christ's love for us it is an unthinkable, unimaginable thing. Even though I don't understand the depth of his love I am to surely glad it is so deep.

And it is by the showing of this love, love in parallel to the love of Christ, that we are seen as His disciples.

This post surely isn't to discourage you. But to me  it is a reminder that there is always more depth that my love can explore and reach and attain. Just because you love someone or show your love to them, it doesn't mean you have reached love that is as pure and as deep as we are commanded to have. Like all commandments this isn't a check off on your to-do list but a system of development. That must be why those who work hard in marriage say their love for their spouse grows the longer they are married. This love is the way we become like Christ.

Or. Is it that as we become like Christ this love comes with it?

Or. Is it both?

Our ministry is one of love

To start off my 14 Days of Valentines I wanted to use the first couple of chapters in the Teachings of the Presidents of the Church manual for this year on George Albert Smith.

The first week we started talking about George Albert Smith I was mostly like, oh! He was a prophet wasn't he? In fact all I really knew about him was where he fell in the song. (Bragging moment, my aunt Vanja totally wrote that song. Boo-ya.) So I was pretty interested to hear what his particular teachings were.

Another side note, ever since I started really studying the gospel for myself in high school I fell in love with love. (Starting to see why I love Valentine's Day?) I remember the day I read that "perfect love casteth out all fear" I was completely astounded! Who wouldn't want that? So ever since then the gospel study of love has fascinated and delighted me.

So when I went home and read for myself the introduction which was the Life and Ministry of George Albert Smith, I quickly realized that he is my new favorite prophet that isn't alive. (I mean, you can't have a favorite over President Monson, that just seems wrong.) But here is my favorite quote about my new hero shortly after he passed away.

"...God attracts the godly, and I am sure that the shortest journey this man of God ever made in all of his travels has been the journey which he has just taken. God is love. George Albert Smith is love. His is godly. God has taken him unto himself."

Wouldn't it be so wonderful to be thought of as such a man or woman? My favorite scripture for Valentine's Day is always "God is love" and to see that powerful scripture equated with an earthly man was astounding to me.

The first chapter of this manual talks about living what we believe, and how President Smith truly lived his beliefs, he lived the gospel and didn't just teach it. And in the second chapter it more specifically talks about how he lived his beliefs of love in the chapter entitled "Love Thy Neighbour as Thyself". It is from this chapter that I got the quote after which this blog is titled. And doesn't this just sum up what our lives should be about? Shouldn't we be where we are to spread love?

When you know wonderful things that would make someone else eternally happy. When you have understandings that bring deep peace to your soul? When you have come to know an inkling of the love of God. Shouldn't you share that love? Shouldn't you share that IN love?

Love quote of the day: "Our ministry is one of love" - George Albert Smith

Love song of the day: "Everything to Me" by David Lehr

Love picture of the day:

Get. Ready.

Here's just a reminder that the best month (February) and the best holiday (Valentine's Day) are coming up. So get ready people. I'm probably going to ramp it up this year by posting a blog entry every day. Just because I can.

Here's how you celebrate the 14 days of Valentines (the 1-14 of February. Obviously.)

1. Wear something pink or red every day (purple counts if you're desperate)
2. Eat some chocolate every day.
3. Find a new love quote everyday (any kind of love, romantic love, friend love, gospel love, it all works)
4. Read other talks, articles, etc. on love.
5. Listen to love songs. Obviously. NO breakup songs. That is like the cardinal sin of Valentine's day, only slightly behind wearing black on V-day, that's just blasphemous people.
And finally.
6. SHOW love by doing at least one nice thing for someone every day.

Valentine's Day is true people. And I truly believe that if you practice it with love in your heart for EVERYONE and really give service (and eat chocolate) then you will love Valentine's Day as much as I.

Oh Valentine's boxes. The ultimate V-Day tradition.

In conjunction with the 14 Days of Valentines here is a great activity to play. If you play it well, it can help you fulfill your duty of eating chocolate everyday too.

First get some candy (chocolate is clearly preferred) and put it in a bowl in a place MOST tempting for you.

Next get some writing utensils and surfaces ie. notecards and pens or paper and pencils, etc.

Now, whenever you want to eat some of that delicious chocolate you must write down one thing you love for ONE piece of chocolate. Try not to do repeats. Cheaters.

The rewards for this game are many.
1. You get chocolate
2. You get to count your many blessings.
3. If you are like me and crave chocolate when you are depressed you are forced to think of happy things before you eat said chocolate.
"Now think lovely thoughts..."