Peace I Leave With You

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”--John 14:27

This is the scripture repeatedly given in President Hunter's message for my lesson tomorrow.  The Lord is truly there for us if we just ask Him.  He will not leave us alone to do this life by ourselves.  It is very easy for me to get overwhelmed and discouraged--especially with my job.  I know my job is what I am suppose to be doing (most of the time I feel that way at least), and I couldn't do it without the support that I can feel from the Spirit.  

After being at work for 8 hours today and coming home with a TON of grading to do, I really started to feel overwhelmed.  I had downloaded the lesson to think through and listen to while I drove home and I felt better by the time I was done.  I was still exhausted, and if I thought too much about it the overwhelming feeling and stress were still there, but the peace that it will all be alright eventually just had to keep coming to forefront as I worked on tonight's lesson.

Thank you Google for helping me find this picture.

Five Minute Friday

The word today is present.

Remember I have to type for 5 minutes about this word.

So I thought of two things when I saw the word---being in the present and gifts.   Being in the present can actually be very difficult for me, because I am such a planner.  I am usually thinking three or four steps ahead.  This can a good thing, because I am usually planning for lessons or activities etc.  It helps to make life run smoothly.  However, it can get me in trouble because I am overwhelmed by everything that has to be done and I want it to just be over and done with. Being a school teacher is the worst with this, because I want to get the material done, but the grading is just a killer and I want to fast forward it to being done!

Gifts are tricky things with me.  I usually have very high expectations with gifts.  I like to be surprised and have things that are very special and meaningful.  However, if you asked me what that would be I have absolutely no idea.  As a result, the person giving the gift has really no shot at succeed and I have no shot at being satisfied.  I actually have started to not like Christmas as much as a result, because I think ooh all the presents that are coming when in all actuality at the end of the day I am rather let down to the big huge build up in my head.  This year I did try to keep the build up at a minimum, and I think it seemed to help the after Christmas slump that often happens.

Quote of the day

I felt like this quote today was appropriate because I could use the reminder to stay in the moment

Outside the Window

Today I decided to track down one of the writing prompts that are on the main lists floating around Pinterest.  This list has 365 Creative Writing Prompts.  The prompt is:

What’s the weather outside your window doing right now? If that’s not inspiring, what’s the weather like somewhere you wish you could be?

It is winter in the Uintah Basin (Utah) which either means one or two things.  There is a ton of snow on the ground or it is bitterly cold outside.  With this year being an El Nino year, we have had a lot of snow--like days on end of snow at some point.  We got pretty pounded today, but a lot of melted so I'm not sure how much we actually got but I would say at least 2 inches on top of the foot already on the ground outside my house. My phone says it's 21 degrees outside, which is actually not that cold.  If we don't gain any cloud cover tonight it will probably bitterly cold in the morning.  Not excited about that at all.

I would love to be some place where I could go to the beach anytime I wanted.  All the white/grey is starting to get old.  This is the beach that would be great to go and sit and just read all day.  No work, no responsibilities, and warm weather with no stuffy noses and coughs.

I know it is generic....but this picture looks like a great idea

What classic has most surprised you so far and why?

The classic that has probably surprised me the most is a tie between Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.  I love Persuasion, Emma, and Pride and Prejudice....but I barely finished Sense and Sensibility and I haven't been able to finish Mansfield Park.....I don't know why but it surely is surprising to me that I haven't enjoyed these two Jane Austen classics. Maybe one of these days I will try to get through Mansfield Park and I will try Sense and Sensibility.

January 2016's Question Meme from Classics Club (Repeat of February 2013).  Add your answer.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes

Today as we have been celebrating Martin Luther King Day, I have seen a few quotes that are really cool.






I hope these are accurate.  Even if they aren't...they are a great sentiment.

10 million dollars

I have struggled to figure out what to write about and all the lists were not helping.  But I found this list.

I liked idea 2...$10 million...so here is what I would do with it.

1. Quit my job
2. Pay off debt 
3. Go on a huge road trip across the country
4. Go to Europe and do a big tour there. 
5. Save whatever is left over and figure out some job to do from home.