happiness?

i am no longer the owner of empty boxes, clothes/jewelry i don't wear, or outdated receipts and various documents.

my thanksgiving break was delightful. here's what i did on my mental list:

gym – exercised in my apt. so it counts. kinda.

temple – not during official break, but since i was still on break yesterday it also counts. kinda.

(and boy am i glad i went then... read more in a future blogpost)

clean – every single room (well, the ones we spend time in) in our apt was cleaned.

organize – yes yes yes!!! every single thing i own was organized, and it took all break. worth it!

read – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (book and movie - true story worth knowing)

tv/movies – basically watched seasons 1-4.5 of the office. laughed out loud multiple times a day.

walks – biked to the store once and thought my face was going to freeze off, so no.

thanksgiving meal – chicken breast (huge, so lasted two days), stuffing, homemade mashed potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, green beans, rolls, and homemade pumpkin pie. delicioso.

sleep – thankfully yes. a lot.

did i do homework? no. should i have? yes, but no. this break was most needed. for relaxing and feeling good about myself and my life. and rarely does homework do that for me. i feel organized, and that can, and will, help me do my homework for the next two weeks, so i'm good.

do i feel good about myself and my life? or a better question:

am i happy?

for the past little while, or actually most of this semester i have been attending a

looooooooooooooooooooong pity party, with myself as the only attendee. this is never healthy. short pity parties, i have found, can be very healthy. but get on with your life! i have not gotten on with my life, nor do i want to. because guess what? pity parties are more enjoyable than getting on with life. but i have to. i have to choose to be happy.

president uchtdorf gave this talk in the general young women meeting for april 2010 conference. in it he said:

"It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life's story will develop."

i am not reacting to my adversity in accordance with the life story i seek after. this reaction belongs in a different life story, someone else's perhaps, but not mine.

so i have a choice. in fact, i have multiple. what all of them are i know not. but i know that my reaction and attitude needs to change.

because i want to be this –––>

happy.

so that's my goal, and i'm working on how to get there.

my conclusion: happiness is a choice. so i'm choosing it.

wow dude.

i used to say this all the time. wowdude. and it's time to start using it again, because wowdude.

average hours of sleep for the past 3.5 weeks: 5 hours (or less)

# of times at the gym: 0

# of times exercising: 3

chocolate eaten: 500 (probably)

times waking up between 4:40 and 6 am: 18

lesson plans written: 22 (with 4 more to go)

i am on the verge of dying. with work, calling, and class assignments i literally have no time to finish everything. don't get me wrong, though, i have LOVED being in the practicum, but oh so glad it's almost over.

there is light at the end of the tunnel! three more days in the practicum, and on tuesday at 9 am starts my week long thanksgiving break! i cannot remember being this excited about something ever. even the fact that AMOS LEE IS COMING TO SLC!!!!! cannot top my excitement for this needed and long-awaited break.

oh, yeah, AMOS LEE IS COMING TO SLC!! feb 1, dani and i are SO there!

back to my thanksgiving break. i'm staying in p-town baby! and although i love and adore my room mates to death, i am welcoming with arm as outstretched as they can get being all alone in our apt. 9 am on tuesday i will come home, and NAP for as long as i want - i don't care if i wake up ay 6 pm and can't fall asleep until 4 am. because, guess what? I CAN!

i have a long mental list of things to do - here are some:

-go to the gym (finally)

-go to the temple

-clean

-go through and organize all my junk

-read

-watch tv/movies

-take walks

-make myself a thanksgiving meal

-oh, and SLEEP!!

and i guess i should work on some school assignments - in fact, i'm planning on doing a little each day. so there it is. the best thanksgiving ever.

in other news, i still check facebook only once a day. i've been watching a lot of my name is earl, but it's funny, so ok. ;)

i wish i had time to come up with more exciting things to report, but i have to get back to lesson planning, so it will have to wait.

until thanksgiving break,

peach out.

image from: http://mychinaconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel.jpg