Things that I have Learned in Life (Recently)!!!!

Well there are a lot of things that have been going on in my life.  I don't really know what this blog is going to be but I have been feeling like it would be cool to write things that are going on in my life, and what I have learned from them.  I feel like if I do publish this I will not use real names to keep the anonymity of the people that are involved.  I feel like I will mostly talk about principles that I have learned and gained a stronger testimony of.  Well without much further adieu here I go.

Well these are the people that are most influential in my life right now.  My Dad is on the far right, my Mom is next to him and then my little sister and myself.  This was at a concert for the Piano Guys when they came to Cedar City Utah.  We had a lot of fun, my parents had given us the tickets for Christmas.  There were somethings that I actually learned from this concert that was pretty cool.  The first is that you need to have passion in life, and if you have passion then you can make things that would seem hard or boring more fun.  Also though if you have some passion that is not your job but you become really good at it then you can really become professional at it, or at least do it for a job.  Basically develop a passion for what you like and become really good at it.  Even if you don't like something develop a passion for it and become the best that you can be at it.

Well this is kind of out of order but this is a picture from a date that my friend and I went on a group date with a couple of the people that we are friends with and also are in our bishopric.  It was a way fun date.  We drove up from Cedar City and meet the girls at this diner for dinner it was a lot of fun.  We were set up on these dates by the member of our bishopric and he went with us as well.  My friend that I drove up with was able to get some lower bowl seats from a friend of his.  Which was completely okay.  The only problem with this date was that my date and the wife of the member of the bishopric were like best friends in high school so they were catching up and talking a ton.  Which was OK just didn't give me a lot of time to talk to her and get get to know her better.  Plus the game was pretty loud so it was hard to carry on a great conversation.  I guess the principle that I learned from this is that life doesn't always work out how you would like it to, you just have to role with the punches and keep on moving.  Don't let the bad out way the good in your life always look for the good in every situation.    The good from this situation was I was able to meet a wonderful girl, and I was able to go to a Jazz Game.  Plus I was able to spend a lot of time with one of my good friends and we were able to talk a lot about different things happening in our lives and what we were concerned about in our futures.  The Jazz lost to the Grizzlies but it was still a good time.  I don't know if I will ever see this girl again but it was good to meet her and have a fun time on the date with her.

Haha I love this picture.  I don't know if you can tell but this was when my parents and my little sister and I went to Disneyland for my sister's birthday.  It was a lot of fun, we got there on a Thursday to California, and went to Disneyland Friday, Saturday and Monday.  The first day that we were going to the park the day just started out looking bad.  I didn't know what to really expect from it. I had been praying for good weather and it just didn't happen.  That day it rained like crazy, the weather channel said that it was the worst winter storm in California of the year.  It was down pouring most of the day.  That's why we wore these sweet rain ponchos that we had picked up that morning.

Though it was raining I'm sure you can tell that we were still having a good time.  It was actually a lot of fun, there were some rides that were closed periodically throughout the day but for the most part we were able to do all of the things that we wanted to do that day.  It rained so hard though they did not do fireworks that night, or even the light parade.  We ended up leaving early from the park just because it was so cold and wet and we wanted to get warm again.  Like I said though we really did everything that we wanted to do.  This principle that I learned here was really no matter what life throws at you, you can still have a good time and put a smile on.  Laughing is the best way to relieve tension, and smiling is the precursor to laughing so when life hands you lemons smile and laugh and make some lemonade out of it.  

The next couple of days were a lot of fun there as well.  Though I feel like the day that it rained when we were there is really the one that is going to stick in my memory the most because it just doesn't do that a lot when we go there.  You can either wait for the sunshine or learn to dance in the rain.  

Another thing that has been on my mind a lot lately is my future.  Whether that is going to be more education, or a job.  I have been graduated for almost a year now.  I have been looking for jobs every sense I graduated and even before I graduate.  I have been applying for jobs and trying to connect with people that can help me find a job but really nothing has panned out like I thought that it would, so the other avenue is going for more schooling.  Which don't get me wrong schooling isn't bad but I was kind of hoping that I would be done with the late nights and the cram sessions and the working your life away just to appease the professor and get that letter on you transcript.  I feel though that this is the direction that God wants me to go.  In the middle of February I took the GRE which is the graduate exam that people in my field have to take to get looked at by Universities.  I did fairly well on it I think.  Not the high score that I wanted but I did pretty good.  I then started applying at different colleges and different programs trying to decide what I wanted to do and really what my life is going to look like in a couple of years.  I have applied at the University of Utah and Oklahoma State University, for the Masters of Business Analytics.  Which I know a little bit about but not a whole lot.  I know that my math professors would probably be disappointed I'm not continuing my math education but I just feel like a Masters or a PhD in Mathematics would be really difficult.  Although you know a Bishop once told me the only people that don't change their minds are idiots.  Thus I reserve the right to change my mind if things don't really work out for me in this direction.  Also where I'm going to be going has been weighing on my mind a lot as well.  I was able to get my application in to Oklahoma State almost last minute.  I actually didn't think that I was going to make it because when I started the application I only had a week to complete it and that meant letters of recommendation, statement of purpose and everything.  Well when I got everything done I was amazed, and then I got accepted which just blew me away again.  I thought for sure that I would be going there but then some doubt started to enter and I just don't feel as confident as I would like to about it.  I haven't heard back from the University of Utah yet so we shall see if my decision will be made for me or if I will have to decide between these two great universities.    

The principle here that has been pounded into my mind over and over again is the fact that God is in control and he knows what is best for me and no matter what things will work out the way that they are supposed to we just need to move forward with Faith and believe.  

Well the last part of this post.  I know its been going on forever is experiences that I have had recently with dating.  I don't think I'm really going to talk about the dates that much just what I have learned from them.  I would say that one thing that I have learned from dating recently is that I really need to be doing things in my life that are interesting.  I have gotten into this lazy habit in my life where I just watch a lot of TV and play a lot of Video Games.  When I say I lot I don't mean that is all that I do, I still hang out with friends regularly and I still have a job and I'm out of the house doing one thing or another most days of the week but I realized usually on every first date the question that get brought up is "What do you like to do for fun?" I realized "Playing Video Games" is not going to sway the ladies at all so I have realized I really need to find a passion for something.  I like I said in that part about the Piano Guys, passions are important to have.  Something that you just love to do is important, so in the coming weeks I will be working on doing some of those things that I like but I haven't really developed, or done that much.  Examples of these things that I have thought of would be Frisbee Golf, Reading, and writing.  Hence the post about my life.  Also just looking at this from the Gospel stand point, we were sent here to improve ourselves.  We read in Alma 34: 33

33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

This really means to me that we have been given so much and we really need to improve on what we have been given.  These are our talents, our abilities and the things that we like to do.  We need to improve upon them, or we will not have improved our time.  

Other things that I have realized from these dates, and dating is that I really need to open up more and just be myself with anyone and everyone.  I feel like sometimes there is a tendency to compartmentalize my life and only act a certain way around certain people.  That is actually really bad because who are you lying to if you are doing that.  Who are you being your best self around, and who are you being your worst self around.  

I have also realized that though I do put the Lord first in my life there are somethings that I just do out of habit and I really need to improve those and become better.  Such as my scripture study, I read my scriptures but do I study them.  Where could I be right now if I had kept up with my daily scripture study like I had been doing on my mission.  That is something that I have been trying to do better on.  

Well these are somethings that have been going on in my life recently and my thoughts and feelings that I have had about them and the principles that they have taught me.  I feel like I should bare my testimony at this point but I feel like I have been baring it all along.  I would just like to add that I know that Heavenly Father is there when times are tough he will always help us.  We just need to turn to him.  I know that through Jesus Christ we can return to live with him.