Spiritual thoughts

"The Lord doesn't expect us to work harder than we are able. He doesn't (nor should we) compare our efforts to those of others. Our Heavenly Father asks only that we do the best we can -- that we can work according to our full capacity, however great or small that may be." --President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
I got that quote on a cute little handout from one of our Relief Society teachers a few weeks ago, and since we're on a cleaning binge in my home, I found it on my desk and put it up on my desk almost without thinking. Then later (or NOW, in my grand timeline) I saw it again and was struck by it. I don't know what it is, but I have been thinking a lot about our Heavenly Father lately. He sent us all down here for a reason. He has a plan so that even though we all screw up, it won't ruin our chances of returning to Him. He has given us all that we have and all that we have to do is do our best. Our VERY best, mind you, and work at it, but that's it. Do our best and put our trust in Him. That doesn't seem like very much, does it?
I never understand why people think that God is mean. He is the reason that we exist! He blesses us with so many things! He is our Father and He lvoes us so much that He sent us Jesus Christ, our brother, who was willing to suffer and die for us so that our Father's plan could work! We are so loved by them that I can't even comprehend it!
In some of my more contemplative moments, I wonder why I was sent here and now. Why not when Jesus was on the earth? Why not during the Restoration? Why was I not a Nephite woman or a pilgrim or a peasant in Queen Elizabeth's time? Why am I in this place at this time? I do have days where I honestly wish I were somewhere else in some other time. But every time I have thought that, these two lines come into my mind: "The Lord does not make mistakes. You are meant to be here right now." Does that make me feel better? Yes. Does it answer anything? Nope, but I trust that the Lord knows exactly what He is doing. It's me I'm a little worried about.
Easter is coming. And General Conference is on Easter this year. I feel more inclined to prepare myself for conference this year than before, and whether that is due to the holiday or just my own spiritual sense, I don't know. But I am so excited for the opportunity to hear what the Lord wants me to hear. I hope--and pray--that I am ready and open enough to listen. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

The end is near...

So February was a failure of a month as far as my blog posting stats go. But with the Olympics absorbing all of my love and devotion and attention, I'm not going to apologize. I am, however, going to have to excuse myself for feeling slightly less adoring over Mr. Sidney Crosby, who scored the winning goal for Team Canada during their gold medal game against Team USA. I still love him....it will just take a tiny bit for me to get over the sting. And I found a new hero in Ryan Miller, the goalie for Team USA. I even won an ebay bid on a Miller shirt from the Buffalo Sabres (and can I just say that I love him even more for playing for a team called the Sabres? I mean really, that's fabulous). True story.
ANYWAY.... February is over and all I can say is HALLELUJAH! It lasted SOOOOO LONG! Maybe it's because I tend to loop February with January as the longest stinkin dang months ever. Anything after Christmas is a let down for some time, and the cold, gray, dreary months of the remainder of winter are just a monotonous reminder that the holidays are ended and we must return to reality, which is cold, gray, and dreary compared to the magic of December.
But, as I said, it is over. March is here. March means warmth and rain and green and birds and SPRING!!!! The darkness is passing, the sun is coming! ALL HAIL MARCH!!!
I may be a little over exuberant, but I don't care. Winter is over and Spring is coming. I can smell it!

An interesting idea...

I woke up the other day with an interesting idea that began the night before and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since.
I've been having problems sitting down and writing like I used to do, and I'm pretty sure it's because I have too much time on my hands and so I can't focus. But I had a great idea for a story pop in, with just one minor problem: I could only vaguely create a plot. I had no solid ideas on any characters. I don't have names, pictures, and only have itty bitty personality traits that may or may not change. I have never been so dissatisfied with my creations.
When I woke up the next morning, I had a few more little ideas, but one really big one: get input.
Do here's my interesting idea: I'll tell you some of what I know, and you help me fill in the gaps. Obviously I'm not going to tell you all because that would ruin everything. But I want to test this out and see what kind of response I get and if you guys have as creative imaginations as I think you do. You don't have to answer them all, just any that strike your fancy.
So here we go.
Setting: 1800's England
NAME and DESCRIBE our heroine. Wealthy daughter of a respected family, moderately attractive, sensible, but with an independent streak and longs for any sort of adventure. Quite used to biting her tongue. Not yet had a suitor she could stand for more than 15 minutes.
NAME her wastrel, extravagent but rather attractive older brother and BRAINSTORM how he got that way. Not even closely approaching any thoughts of matrimony or preserving the family estate.
NAME and DESCRIBE their father. A decent man, although forgetful since his wife's recent death. Has a secret...one he is terrified of having revealed.
NAME and DETAIL their neighbor. A meddling middle-aged widow who rambles and always has some ailment to complain about. Knows absolutely everything about everybody...and never forgets.
NAME and DESCRIBE the family friend. A bachelor of mid to late 30's with an impressive fortune, good heart, but minimal social skills and no taste for idiocy. Also has a taste for criticism, an eye for potential, and a dark past that haunts his dreams.
NAME and DESCRIBE the plain, painfully shy daughter of the magistrate. A girl of our heroine's age, of moderate accomplishment, rarely seen and even more rarely heard. Overshadowed continually by her beautiful TWIN SISTER and their overbearing, pompous, absolutely bizarre mother, both of which also deserves a NAME and some physical features.
NAME and DETAIL the token invisible male, who always does good that is never traced back to him. Desperately hopes for one thing...and one thing only.
NAME and DESCRIBE the mystery visitor who rides recklessly in and changes everyone's lives in one way or another. An exceedingly attractive rogue with a dashing history...if it can be believed.

Right, so that's that. Have I made you all curious? Good, because, quite frankly, I've made myself curious. I make no promises to accept anything that you say, but then again, I just might accept everything....bwah hahahahahahahha......

Something I really love

I know that you've all read my Jane Austen posts that I did a while ago, and so you all know very well how much I love her and her works. Well, the BBC has done it again. A few years ago, they redid all of works of Jane Austen EXCEPT Pride and Prejudice and Emma. Pride and Prejudice we can understand them skipping, as the A&E version that came out in '95 is still phenomenal and very popular, and the Focus version that came out in '05 is still quite new. But Emma...there were two versions that came out quite close to each other, one a TV version by A&E and a feature film by Miramax, I beleive. Both were quite good, but about the same length.
Now the BBC has decided they were going to improve matters. They released a new version of Emma and PBS' Masterpiece Theater is showing it over the next few weeks. The first two hours were on Sunday and I taped it and only jsut got around to watching it...
OH MY GOSH, it was awesome. Romola Garai plays Emma perfectly and Jonny Lee Miller is a fantastic Mr. Knightley. The supporting cast is great, and I can honestly say this version of Harriett Smith is just as clueless as I always thought she should be, but never got to see. Frank Churchill is charming and attractive, but not overly pontsy, and Jane Fairfax is appropriately mousy.
Now, I've only seen the first segment, and there are two more short segments to go, but I am GREATLY encouraged by my first taste of it. I recommend the rest of you to tune in to Masterpiece Theater this Sunday at 9pm to see the next installment. If you feel that you can't watch that without seeing the previous one, then you can go to pbs.org to watch it before gametime on Sunday!
DO IT!!!!

I need hobbies....or a job

It is an interesting turn of life when you find yourself unoccupied for most of the day, and then work most of the evening, which is when normal people have their most unoccupied time. Unless you're single, and then it is just as busy. As I am single, it would still be busy. But as I only work in the evenings at this point, my social life is pretty much in the tank.
But enough about that, let's get back on topic: I have a very long day before I ever get to work because quite simply, I don't have too much to do. I'm looking for another job to fill the morning, but with the economy the way it is.... And then there's the worry that working during the day AND at night will significantly hinder my availability for those few chances I get to work during the day.
But what should I do during those long mornings alone? I have very few needs at the moment, so shopping is pretty pointless. I have very little money, so taking classes for fun is out. I seriously lack patience or creativity, so I cannot knit afghans for orphans. I'd write, but quite honestly, I write better when I have a little compressed time and not huge masses of time that need to be filled.
I need ideas. Until I have steady work that keeps me busy, I need ideas for things I can do during the day to make me feel productive and will use my time in a cosntructive way. I've had my share of TV days, and those days are just as long and unproductive as sitting around and staring at dust.
Help me out, kids, will ya?

New Year...

I was a slug the entire month of December. Granted, I did things...like baking dozens of coffee cakes for our friends, addressing and stuffing envelopes with Christmas cards, mailing packages...and I watched a lot of Christmas movies. I think I went through each of the movies in our collection once, and some of them at least twice. I really enjoyed the holidays! I had all of the anticipation and had time to revel in the entire season.
But now it's over...and as always, I am really sad. It's just such a magical time and when it's over it feels like the magic is gone. I don't get nearly as excited about New Year's as other people do. But I do enjoy the time that it allows me to look back and try to figure out how to improve myself. Whether or not I follow through on those things is another matter entirely...
What are you going to do this year that will make it so special?

It Snowed!!!

I know that eventually I'll complain about it, but you can't complain about the first snow of the season! It's so nice to wake up and see a nice dusting of snow on the ground. There's something magical about it, I think.

I have no idea how long the snow will be here, but it's so pretty!!! It make me smile and totally made my day.