Books, books, and more books

So recently I looked at my bookshelf and came to an astonishing realization: I have started a lot of books but haven't finished many at all.

Yes, this are all the books that I've started and still need to finish. Eight.

And these are the books I want to read. Nine. That's a total of seventeen books. So to encourage myself to actually finish reading books before picking up a new one, I'm going to celebrate every book I finish reading on this blog. Whether that means I'll give a review is debatable. More likely it means that I'll put up a picture, write a few thoughts about it, and choose what book I'll be reading next. (But as it is with me, most likely I'll be reading other books all at the same time. Variety, guys. Variety.)

In any case, the one I'm working on right now is the biography of Thomas S. Monson. I hope to finish in the next couple of weeks, I'm that close.

So happy reading to all of you, and happy reading to me!

Some sound advice from Sis. Beck

I had the opportunity to go to a tri-stake Relief Society meeting, where Sis. Julie B. Beck spoke. It was an amazing experience, one that I won't forget anytime soon. The entire chapel and gymnasium were filled with sisters. My mom and I were fortunate enough to sit in the chapel on a side bench because we got there early enough to claim a "good" spot. Sis. Beck was friendly, open, and down to earth. She let us ask questions and she would answer them. Here are a few highlights:

• We need to protect the Spirit from other influences that will drive it away.
• Make every day a scripture day. She mentioned that she had "failed" all programs to read the scriptures until she decided to read something everyday. It didn't have to be a whole chapter, a specific set of scriptures, or following a reading schedule. And through the simple act of reading something, she developed a love and gave more time to scripture study. 
• Just do the best you can with your priorities: there are essential things, necessary things, and nice-to-do things.
• If you don't have a testimony of visiting teaching, now is the time to get one.
• Greatest danger to young mothers is escape. Don't run from your responsibilities when it gets too hard.
• If you're comparing yourself to other women, you're using the wrong measure.
• How good is good enough? The only one who can tell you that is the Lord.
• We're competing against unreal identities—and we can't run away from the divine calling and eternal identity of mother.

Sis. Beck is one of my personal heroes. If I can be like her, then I've accomplished something good in my life.

Being Left Behind

"It is not only selfish but also irresponsible and dangerous to leave the weakest members of your group to fend for themselves." —Clark R. Burbridge

I've been thinking about the above quote for the past week, mainly because it won't leave me alone. Talk about persistence,  the quote even wriggled into my dreams, strange dreams about mountain biking, which I have never, ever attempted before. (Bikes are not my friends anymore. Too many crashes and not enough band-aids, I guess.)

Anyway, the quote is about mountain biking, specifically when riding in groups up and down mountain trails. Clark, who is an experienced mountain biker, gives a suggestion about not leaving the weakest members of the group at the end of the line: Put them in the middle and have strong riders in the front and back.

This got to me thinking about experiences where I have been left to fend for myself. On one particular hike with my singles ward, a leader stayed with me for about five minutes before realizing that I was a slow hiker. He then took off to catch up with his children, which was fine, I suppose, except that action left me all alone. For nearly 25 minutes, I didn't see anyone on the trail, not even hikers walking down. Talk about some anxiety. All sorts of thoughts came into my head, especially about the 10-minute mark of being left alone. When I finally caught up to someone, I stuck to them like glue, and fortunately, they were ambling along at a rate that I could keep up. 

Now, I'm not a terrible hiker—I'm just slow—and I'll eventually get to the destination. I wonder what I would have done if something had happened during those 25 minutes. Would have anyone heard me shouting? I don't know. Everyone seemed so eager to get to the end that they forgot about me. A terrible feeling to have.


Contrast that to my recent cross-skiing trip where Kyle, my brother-in-law, stayed with me, even though there were only four of us and I was in the back. I really appreciated his concern for how I was doing, and he even gave me tips to ski better. That in turn made me feel more confident. And the day turned out to be a success.

All of these thoughts boiled down to this one: that some people have been left to fend for themselves, and perhaps in some way, I can be the one to help them, to encourage them, to be their guide for  a little bit. I know what it's like to be left behind and it's not fun. So instead of moping what's happened in the past, I can do something good in the future. And in the process help someone else who's been left behind. 


Okay, subconscious, no more dreams about mountain biking. All right?

New haircut

Yes, for those of you who don't know, I got a new haircut over Christmas vacation. It's actually shorter than I wanted it to be. I haven't had this short of hair since my mission, but overall, I think it looks nice. And it definitely has cut down on hair drying and styling time. :)

Happy New Year

Happy new year! I'm ever so grateful for 2011 to finally roll around. I had a lot of interesting things happen to me in 2010 and learned quite a few lessons about life, but you have no idea the kind of relief I feel that it's a brand new year and a new start. Whew!

Some things I learned:

1. Two moves in one year is not ideal. I now need to go to three wards to get tax information. Sigh.

2. Repentance does work. I think I learned this from the year before. And now it's a recurring theme.

3. Family is important. Take time to do things with them.

4. Gratitude changes perspective. For those months (like two) that I tried to find something to be grateful for every day, I had a better and healthier attitude about life.

5. Hearts really can be broken. I now know why the "Color Code" suggests breaking a blue's heart.

6. True friends will never abandon you.

7. Running is fun. Seriously, I got addicted to running, even though I complained about doing it. I miss running in the morning, and can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can start doing it again, this time on hills.

8. God will provide a way for me to be happy. I just need to listen and then follow.

9. Roommates are interesting, crazy, and wonderful. :)

10. And probably the best thing I learned was I can always depend on Heavenly Father and my Savior.


Learning some of these lessons came at a high price of emotional pain and growth. But I survived. And I'm a better person because of the hard knocks. Some of them, I'm still working my way through. But I do know that I can make it.

To evaluate my goals from 2010: no, I did not read the entire Old Testament (I got to Chronicles); did finish the Book of Mormon--twice; and lost ten pounds.


2011's goals:

1. Attend the temple twice a month
2. Read the New Testament
3. Run a 5K without dying

I believe this year will be much better than last. :)

Melly