Life is Beautiful.: my choice.

Right now i am in a college financial survival class. not because i am facing debt, but rather because the teacher is one of the counselors in our office and I needed a one credit hour class. the class is great. i feel slightly guilty for buying an iPod touch a few weeks ago instead of putting that money in a retirement fund- but ill survive.

Todd Martin, the counselor and teacher, starts each class with a spiritual though. now most teachers when the say they will start with a spiritual though spend sub 2 minutes reading a scripture and giving their brief input. not todd. His spiritul thought was a good ten minutes, and i loved every minute of it. He talked about his son who was born with shortened arms and missing two fingers. he told us story after story of how is son stayed positive with this trial. how kids would look at him in the grocery line and he wouldnt be effected by it at all. once in line, he crouched down to talk to a little boy who had been staring. the dialogue went something like this. "look at your hands, god made you with 10 fingers and me with 8." Each story was amazing- I wanted to be just like his son- not with the physical deformity, but with my attitude. Todd went on to say how we have choice. His son chose to stay positive. He acted instead of reacted.

I swear I have heard this lesson a thousand times. To act instead of react. and every time i hear it i love it. Every time i think that i can have the best attitude in the world until something happens that makes me upset. Its a lot easier said than done. I remember there was a day a while ago where a guy I was dating and I kept having these conversations that would end with us both sad. it was the worst. we were sitting in a CES Fireside, both sad, when i decided I was done being sad. I made a decision to be happy. told him i was sick of being sad- that I didnt care- this was what i wanted, so I was going to be happy... and for once in my life it worked. I remember feeling so in control. I was able to conquer my emotions instead of the other way around.

There are so many times in my life where I let other people control my emotions or how I act. Its dumb. I want to say i am going to be just like Todd's son and choose to let nothing get me down- while I cant say I will succeed, I sure will try.

Off topic. but on topic. I have complained a lot about my job lately. But it really is a wonderful job- I love it.

My reasons.

Friends. I get to work with some of my best friends. Spend three hours a day with anyone and either you will hate them or love them, and i love them all. Megan, Jesse, and I have a monopoly on the corner spots so we can all sit by each other, even if one of us is on the window. I love coming to work and hearing stories of the weekend, getting boy advice, and coming up with new ways to entertain ourselves. Jesse came up with a new game show game where you have to guess letters which has a number assigned to it, and that is how much money you win. (that is my awful explanation of it- but its great). I have also renewed my love for hand sanitizer and paper. I feel like a three-year-old, but watching the gel slowly crawl down the paper leaving a streak behind it brings me great joy.

jesse was the nicest and got me a bagel when i didnt have breakfast. and he has mad skills. look at that balancing.

Free Food. Every friday is treat day. best day ever. minus the days people (cough cough..Tom) bring in popsicles at 8 in the morning. but the occassional muffin or other scrumptous morning treat makes the week look so much better. On thursday we were given free pizza to celebrate getting through financial aid so well. and it was good pizza- there was tuscan five chesse, and bbq chicken. no 5 dollar hot and readys present. and then today they gave us free bread from great harvest. one thing you should know about the hall family is we LOVE bread. growing up my mom would have to let us know how many rolls we were allowed at dinner because they would be demolished so fast. i was in heaven.

im a creeper, but yay for free food.

Jeans Day: When BYU has a home game we get to wear jeans on the friday before. It's bad when wearing jeans is your "cute" day. The options of what to wear increase exponentially and i feel like i have to get ready for the day.

The occasional President Samuelson siting. Nothing makes my day better than getting a friendly "hello" from the president of BYU.

And the kicker! Meeting the Prime Minister of SOMOA. yes that is right. the prime minister of Somoa came to the ASB today. The lobby was filled with secret service all morning preparing, and then at 10 30 his highness arrived. We were able to go up and meet him, which was an amazing experience. He was so humble and kind. I loved it.