since the last so far...

played the piano

reviewed 313 stuff

colored in my coloring book from ry

read a book for leisure

only a few more things on my list...! :)

even the little things

back home, the rubbish day is on friday. it was usually the boys' job to take the trashcans out to the road the night before or else we'd be stuck with a whole bunch of rubbish for another week and that also meant maggots. :S ...aka disgusting.

now that im on my own, and living in a house with roommates, we share the responsibility. usually jennie will do it but sometimes i do it too. and this week jennie was out of town so that meant it was up to me to do the job.

i realized, at about 11 o'clock last night, that the trashcan still hadnt been taken out to the front. i didnt feel like going outside in the cold (and snow) cuz the driveway hadnt been shoveled yet and i was tired. plus, i didnt wanna hassle with putting on some shoes. so i just went to bed.

and i also said a prayer. it went something like this:

"heavenly father, please bless that if i need to be the one to take the trashcan to the front that i will wake up tomorrow morning before the trash man comes......and please help me to recognize that that is why im waking up. in the name of jesus christ, amen."

i honestly believe that we can pray for anything...even the little things. i was tired and i didnt feel like taking care of it last night. so i figured i'd give my roommates a chance to remember that today was trash day and maybe, just maybe, one of them would take care of it. but if not, i would do it. ;)

well folks, god answers prayers. he really, truly does! it amazes me, every single time.

i woke up at 5:30 this morning cuz i was cold. so i put on my winter coats (see the blanket, dec. 7th if you are confused) and was about to go back to sleep...when i remembered: the trashcan still wasnt out front! and then i realized: ...i woke up! AND, i remembered!

it was a miracle. :)

p.s. just so you dont have to assume, yes, i did take the trashcan out to the front. and no, we wont be stuck with the same rubbish for a whole 'nother week. :)

the sweetest thing

it's been snowing almost ALL day. id say we've got a few inches on the ground. (but thats just a guess...really, i have no idea how much snow is out there. im not good at guesstimating measurements.) anyways, at about 5 or 6 o'clock i looked out the front window and saw an older (ish) man with a snow blower thingamabobber, clearing the sidewalk in front of and approaching my across the street neighbor's house. then he continued on down the street, clearing the sidewalk and walkways so people dont have to shovel it themselves. im assuming he did it out of the goodness of his heart. and i just thought it was the sweetest thing! when i went to the gym i noticed that he cleared the sidewalk all the way to chadders! i am grateful for kind old men like him. they make me wanna do nice things, just because. :)

p.s. is it good luck to have a deer in your back yard? if not, i think it should be. cuz today there were THREE deer in my backyard! ...i only got a picture of one before they all ran off. so what do you think? am i lucky!? :)

HEADLINES!!!

this afternoon i went to the byu homepage and look what i saw:

it's me! it's my boss! and my work! and nanosieves! WE'RE FAMOUS!!! this is the kinda stuff i do. i was so shocked!!! :p this is like, for real, official, BYU HOMEPAGE headlines. :) they even have an article about us. my name isnt ever mentioned in it and there arent any pictures of me, but there are pictures of my boss (dr. hawkins) and my mentor (mark hamblin). I KNOW THEM! THEY KNOW ME! I WORK WITH THEM! isnt that crazy!? :p there's even a video. here, you can watch it yourself...it's only a minute and 17 seconds. and it shows the cleanroom (where i work) and the devices (the nanosieves) and it explains what they're for. the first guy is dr. hawkins and the only other guy is mark. check it out:

isn't that SO COOL!? :p i thought so. :D

p.s. if you wanna read the article, click on the title "HEADLINES!!!" it will conveniently take you there. :)

two truths...no lie

today i gave a talk in church. my stake had a combined meeting cuz so many people are out of town for the holidays. so i only knew a total of 7 people in the congregation. well, actually i knew 11 if you count cam, josue, erwin, and meags. and i guess 12 if you also count jon. :p

my topic was "the birth of christ." and i started off by reading a quote from elder perry about how eternal truths and principles last forever...because they're eternal! :) so the approach i took was to point out two truths surrounding the savior's birth.


TRUTH #1:

God always fulfills his prophecies and promises.

"Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled." -D&C 1:37

TRUTH #2:

Sometimes we encounter trials/adversity as we wait on the Lord. But he always comes through for us.

"We can grow in faith only if we are willing to wait patiently for God’s purposes and patterns to unfold in our lives, on His timetable." -Richard C. Oak

i applied the first truth to our everyday lives by expounding on the promises of tithing, sabbath day observance, and temple worship (windows of heaven, power, and personal revelation). and the second truth by focusing on the example of the nephites as they waited for the signs of samuel the lamanite to come to pass. overall i thought it went well.

at the end of the meeting president heaton gave some closing remarks. if you dont already know, i have so much respect for president heaton. i always love listening to what he has to say because he speaks with the tongue of angels! every single time he speaks he changes me. i seriously wouldnt be surprised if he was sent to the byu 22nd stake for me. anyways, today his counsel was: hold on to the promises...but give the clock up to the lord. (thats a profound way of saying trust in the lord's promises AND his timing.) *sigh* so good! so so good!

just like old times

when i was a little girl (maybe more like elementary age) i loved to read. i remember going to the public library in waimea or even just the library at kekaha school to check out books. and during the summer we participated in the summer reading program and got prizes for reading books. sometimes it would be a pencil or a notebook and other times it would be coupons for free food at mcdonalds.

i went through phases...at one time it was mystery novels, another time it was the romance novels, and then there was the suspenseful stuff. i read series like sweet valley high, the boxcar children, the babysitters club, love stories, clearwater crossing and authors like lurlene mcdaniel, lois duncan, and francine pascal.

i remember reading into the wee hours of the morning...sometimes 2 or 3 o'clock...and maybe even 4! but those were only the good books. the ones that i just couldnt put down and i had to keep reading.

every once in a while mom or dad would wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and they'd see my light on. if it was a school night they would tell me to go to bed. and that was always a bummer.

one time i asked for a night light for christmas...cuz it was always such a hassle to get out of bed and turn off the light when i finally decided to go to bed. it was so much easier to stay in bed and fall asleep after a quick switch/click.

this was back in the day when it didnt take 5 billion hours to do my homework. and when i had a lot more time on my hands. so i actually enjoyed reading. nowadays all the textbook reading i have to do makes me too exhausted to wanna read for leisure. now it's more like a chore...it takes up so much time that once one assignment's done its time to move on to the next one. so i stopped reading.

BUT, this break i wanted to read a book. with all the time on my hands i figured itd be a good use of my time. and i always feel guilty for not reading as much as i think im supposed to be reading. i feel like i should read more cuz the prophets are always so well-read. so i went to the provo library and borrowed some books. :)

well...this morning, at 3 o'clock in the morning, i found myself lying in bed, with the night light on, reading one of my library books. i had to laugh to myself cuz i could barely believe what i was doing. it was just like old times! i couldnt put the book down so i just kept reading and reading. i found myself saying, "k, one more chapter and then i'll go to bed." but it just kept getting better. :p

there was no school tomorrow to make me feel guilty for not getting enough rest. there was no mom and dad telling me to turn off my light and go to bed. there was no needing to get off the top bunk to turn off the lamp.

i was in heaven. :)

christmas at midnight

erwin couldnt wait til morning to open his presents. so after the cavalheiro's we took a christmas picture and changed into our jammies. then, for the first time ever, we opened presents at midnight. it was a happy christmas. :)

-----------------------------------------------------

FROM ERWIN...

----------------------------------------------

FROM ME...

---------------------------------------------------

FROM CAM & JOSUE...

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FROM MEAGS...

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"The Christmas season gives us encouragement to remember Him and His infinite generosity. Remembering His generosity will help us feel and respond to the inspiration that there is someone who needs our help, and it will let us see the hand of God reaching to us when He sends someone to succor us, as He so often does. There is joy in giving and in receiving the generosity that God inspires, especially at Christmas." -Henry B. Eyring

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

just do it

lately ive been thinking/hearing a lot about goals. in church this past sunday somebody (i forget who) said,

"Discipline is the bridge between

goals and accomplishment."

i thought it was so good i wrote it down! and today in my personal study i read president uchtdorf's talk Two Principles for Any Economy. in it, he quoted president monson:

“It is not enough to want to make

the effort and to say we’ll make the

effort...It’s in the doing, not just the

thinking, that we accomplish our goals.

If we constantly put our goals off,

we will never see them fulfilled.”

so today ive decided to be more disciplined and to DO, not just think. if i wanna see my goals fulfilled, and if this is "all it takes", im willing to do it. :) future goals, here i come!

so far...

decorated cookies

played card games

visited the provo library

did a puzzle

i am taking full advantage of this break. and loving it. :)

try it

"WHEN WE PUT GOD FIRST,
ALL OTHER THINGS FALL INTO THEIR PROPER PLACE
OR DROP OUT OF OUR LIVES."
-Ezra Taft Benson

a universal language

"There are no language barriers in the Church.

There is a mighty power that transcends

the power of messages conveyed by words alone,

and this is the power of messages

communicated by the Spirit to our hearts.

In every land and clime the sweet Spirit

of our Savior communicates to all who seek the truth,

regardless of tongue or dialect.

It is a universal messenger to every heart in tune."

dear josue,

thank you for your fhe lesson.

i was so impressed.

mostly i appreciated the spirit that i felt.

thank you for your preparation.

<3, lynnell

words of god

one of my weekly goals is to read one talk from this past general conference per day. sometimes i read the most perfect talk for that day. its like god is speaking to me personally, directly, and lovingly; its the exact thing i need to hear. today it was president monson's talk from the priesthood session, School Thy Feelings, O My Brother.

last night i was upset about a situation. and then i got more upset because i was getting upset and i knew i shouldnt have been. rather than confronting it i ignored it and tried to let it go.

earlier today i asked meags what i should do. her advice was to listen to the spirit...and in order to be worthy of the spirit, i couldnt get upset. she also said she would pray for me. :)

and then i read president monsons talk and it was exactly what i needed to hear. here were my reminders:

"We've all felt anger. It can come when things

don't turn out the way we want.

It might be a reaction to something which is

said of us or to us. We may

experience it when people don't behave

the way we want them to behave.

Perhaps it comes when we have

to wait for something longer than we

expected. We might feel angry when others

can't see things from our perspective.

There seem to be countless possible reasons for anger."

"No one can make us angry. It is

our choice. If we desire to

have a proper spirit with us at all times,

we must choose to refrain from

becoming angry. I testify that

such is possible."

"May we make a conscious decision,

each time such a decision must be made,

to refrain from anger and to

leave unsaid the harsh and hurtful things

we may be tempted to say."

"May we ever be exemplary in our homes

and faithful in keeping all of the commandments,

that we may harbor no animosity toward

any man but rather be peacemakers,

ever remembering the Savior's admonition,

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,

if ye have love one to another."

i was so grateful for these words. they made me want to be a better person. they gave me the desire and the motivation to choose not to be angry or upset. they made me appreciate the counsel we've been given to study the words of the prophets. and most of all, these words strengthened my testimony of our heavenly father's love for us and of his desire for us to become more like him.

girls night out

tonight we had a cinnamon tree 42 roommie reunion (minus abby). we decided to watch the princess and the frog and then go out for a bite to eat. it was fun. :)

it was such a cute movie! and i highly recommend it. if you plan on watching it and dont want my comments to ruin it for you, dont read the rest of this paragraph until AFTER you've watched it. so here's my review...i love that it taught good morals: dream big, work hard, take time to have fun, dig deep, know what you need, and never forget the important things. i love that it emphasized that good food brings the world together--its true! :D i thought it was cute (and kinda random) that there was an ukulele in it. :p i love that they were complete opposites--cuz thats how i think im gonna end up. i love how sweet and kind and loving her dad was to her. i love that ray ended up with evangeline. i love the songs. i thought the shadows were CREEPY and too scary. i love the part where she taught him to mince and he taught her to have fun. i love that he was willing to do whatever it took to help her achieve her dreams. i love how awkward and clumsy he got when he tried to propose. i love that they were totally content being frogs as long as they had each other. and most of all, i love that she got her dream. :) some day im gonna make MY dreams come true.

we went to wendys after the movie was pau. it was cheap, fast, and right there next to the mall. that made for the perfect place!

and then marisa dropped us off, we chatted for a bit, marisa gave us yummy chocolates, and we took one last picture.

thanks for the fun night girls! :)

my first cake ever

this coming sunday is luis' birthday. since jesse was stressed with finals i offered to make a cake. and it was so much fun! here are a few pictures of the process:

i baked 2 strawberry cakes

and set 'em on racks to cool.

then i layered them and covered the

outside with a cream cheese frosting.

last, i added the guava topping,

sealed the edges with some fluff and

wrote happy birthday. :) ta-da!

seeing as it was my first attempt it actually wasnt too bad. im just happy there weren't any disasters! :p

im DONE!!!

today i finished my very last final for Fall 2009. this is happy news folks...no more ridiculous 324 labs, no more ten-hour 464 homework assignments, no more senior project meetings, and no more unproductive 281 lectures. its a great feeling to be done with finals. i celebrated with a veggie burrito (no onions) from betos. it was yummy. :)

now...what to do with all of this free time in my near future? see below.

• visit the provo library
• read a book for leisure
• watch into the west
• exercise a lot
• start a "secret project"
• knit a scarf
• make/decorate/deliver sugar cookies
• play the piano
• practice the guitar
• pepper...if the weather is good
• review 313 stuff
• study for the gre
• relax
• play board games and card games
• do a puzzle
• hang out with my family
• color in my coloring book from ry

a christmas romance

ive been wanting to watch a christmas movie since last saturday and today i FINALLY found one! it was my sunshine for today. :)


this movie was so so so so SO so good. i absolutely loved it! or as mom would say, "i thoroughly enjoyed it!" :p it was exactly what i was looking for.

if you're ever looking for a happy-ending, feel-good, family-friendly christmas movie, here's your winner. :)

p.s. i even cried. not during the whole thing of course. but at one particular part. man, it was a heart-wrencher! and i am not usually a movie crier! i shocked myself. lol. (meagan. watch it. i wanna see if you can pick out which part!)

p.p.s. dont worry, the characters grow on you. :)

my bucket list

tonight i watched expiration date with my roommates and some of their friends. i highly recommend this movie...its clean, its funny, and its unique! a lot of people (cami, for instance) think its really weird and dumb. but there are others, (evan, meags, and maybe erwin) who actually like it. if you ever get the chance to watch it, let me know what you think. :)

watching it makes me want to make an official bucket list. :) so here's the start of it.

1. learn how to drive stick
2. serve a spanish speaking mission
3. do something with monkeys inc
4. own a nell's novelties
5. take a ballroom dance class
6. marry the man of my dreams
7. go to a utah jazz game
8. hike timp
9. visit an egyptian pyramid
10. be a math teacher
11. ice skate with confidence
12. go to a concert
13. ride an elephant
14. knit my own scarves
15. eat something made by rachael ray
16. learn how to swim
17. play with a trained monkey
18. plant/maintain a garden
19. 
    

to be continued...

whats yours? :)

as a child

roommie portrait

crossroads

today i read elder christofferson's talk Moral Discipline. in his intro he recounts an experience that president faust had--about which he said, "This was one of the critical crossroads of my life."

that got me thinking. i wondered, what are the crossroads of my life? here is (a shortened version of) the list that i came up with:

1. skipping 4th grade. at the time i wasnt too keen on the idea. who wants to leave behind all their friends, their playground, their classmates, their reputation? what would people think of me? how would i make new friends!? whats the point? well, well, well! its a good thing mother knew best. it boggles my mind to think what my life would be like if i was still "a year behind"...if that even makes sense. :p and of all the people/friends/classmates/study buddies i would NOT have met/befriended/studied with, had i stayed in that 4th grade class. i am SO grateful i consented.
2. maceys thanksgiving day parade. deciding to march in this parade affected so many aspects of my life. had i not gone, i wouldve missed out on several profound opportunities to develop my testimony. these were life-changing experiences we're talking about here. :) a few ripples of this choice: a solidified trust in god, a greater understanding of how to receive answers to prayers, a knowledge of the power in the scriptures, and an opportunity for some of my childhood dreams to come true.
3. math 113 at 7 am. i distinctly remember this crossroad. it was a little over a week into school...my second semester at byu. i got a call from a friend and he was trying to convince me to switch to his section. it was at 7am. and this was wintertime. so its still very dark (and cold) at 7am. i thought he was crazy!...who does that!? well it turns out, i do. :p i ended up switching. why is this a critical crossroad? we were study buddies...so that meant we spent A LOT of time together. studying. but his influence and example has made me a better person. i appreciate him for that.
4. being a SOAR counselor. i absolutely loved it. my own soar experience wasnt an amazing one. in fact, it was a disappointing one. so i actually wasnt even planning on applying to be a counselor. but i did. and i met so many wonderful people. i gained an appreciation for the mss office. i learned how to be a leader and to work in a team and to plan/execute activities. i also met eva. who met jennie. who is the reason i live where i do. :)
5. choosing my major. as an ee i am trained to be logical. even though i was already born that way, my formal education has enhanced/sharpened/polished those natural traits. so that makes me even more logical. and detail/number -oriented. also choosing this major got me into ecen 391r, which got me into immerse, which has given me internship experience. this one will be fun to see where it takes me...

so thats the end of my shortened list. it was helpful to reminisce and reflect on the critical crossroads of my own life because they explain who (and where) i am in my life. you should try it. :)

"The decisions you make will

profoundly affect life now and for eternity."

-Richard G. Scott

this is the place

dont you just love it when you find something absolutely hilarious and cant stop laughing? when you're laughing so much that your stomach hurts like crazy...as if you've just done a HUNDRED THOUSAND sit-ups...and you keep on laughing cuz you just cant help it? so then it hurts even more. and every time you think about it--long after it happened--you wanna re-live it all over again, just so you can have a good laugh? or better yet: you wish you had a video camera to capture the moment so you can watch it again and again?

i do. :) and today, that is exactly what happened.

i wish you all were there to have experienced it for yourselves. (describing it in words just wont do it justice!) but i will try my best. imagine this:

jesse and i drive to campus. im driving, its sleeting, and i dont feel like parking far away. that would mean needing to walk (in my skirt and flats...i.e. through the puddles and snow and ice and coldness) all the way from wherever we park to whichever building is closest. not a good idea. so i drive to the wilk to try my luck.

there are lots of cars driving around the parking lot. but there are no spaces. on my way to exit the parking lot we have to stop cuz theres a build-up of cars. no ones moving. we're all waiting for one car (2 cars ahead, who is waiting for another car, that is reversing). finally the pileup is moving again. i start driving. and then i see reverse lights! CHA-CHING! i scored a parking stall. and apparently i was lucky. :D

so then we get out of the car. i put on my coats (yes, plural) and gloves while jesse waits for me and i gather all my stuff. then we walk towards jamba. k guys, here it comes...we are approaching the sidewalk. im walking slightly behind jesse but kinda off to the side.

all of a sudden i see this splash out of the corner of my eye. so i look to see jesse, trying to TIP-TOE through a puddle about as deep as his ankles! and of course the puddle was so deep that the tip-toeing wasnt as clever as he thought it would be. not only did his toe get wet...but his whole foot, sock, shoe (and pants) got wet! and instead of jumping out of the puddle he let his OTHER foot splash into the very same puddle and got his second foot/sock/shoe completely soaked. :p

im pretty sure he turned around to glare at the puddle. and i just about DIED laughing. oh.my.heck. it was SO hilarious! i could not, for the life of me, stop laughing. the look on his face was classic. it was a mixture of frustration, shock, and "wow. that was retarded"-ness. and i just laughed. and laughed. and laughed. and laughed. my stomach hurt so bad but i couldnt stop. it was WAY too funny.

despite my non-stop, uncontrollable laughing jesse was such a good sport. his revenge: a tightly packed snowball, right to my back. and i deserved it. :)

ono kine grindz

consider it our "end of semester" celebration. :)