Joy

Mi Familia Loca

This past weekend was amazing. First off, I ran my first official 10K. I will write about that at a later time, because all I can think about right now is the fact that my family was standing at the finish line. I did wonder if maybe a friend might be willing to get up early on a saturday morning and drive 20 minutes to where the race was. Turns out my family was crazy enough to do that. And their trip was a little bit longer.

Most people think they're crazy,
but I think they're the most loving people I've ever met.

Later saturday night we saw some friends at subzero (go there right now if you haven’t been there yet). They commented on how cool it was that my family came, and my mom responded with, “Well, how could we have not been there for her first race?” I hate to tell you mom, but there were a lot of reasons why you could’ve missed it. Such as: you would have to drive two hours to get to phoenix, fly to salt lake, get a rental car, stay the night in salt lake, get up early and then drive 30 minutes to the race. That’s about 800 miles, and who knows how much travel time. Not to mention my race wasn’t really that long. It’s not like it was a marathon or anything. So there were numerous reasons why coming here was a little illogical. But for reasons I don’t understand, your love is far bigger than any of those inconveniences. And I can only hope that my heart is capable is loving someone so much that one day it will seem like doing something completely ridiculous is the only reasonable option.

Why the Delay?

Because I have to spend my time writing things like, "Met-enkephalin and leu-enkephalin are two endogenous opiate peptide neurotransmitters. From previous studies, it is known that RLS patients may be dopamine and iron deficient in the substantia nigra. Low iron levels have been known to lead to the death of dopaminergic cells in animal models of RLS. All of this information implies that iron, dopamine and opioids are all factors in the onset of RLS" or, "A lack of endogenous thalamic opioids causes pain stimuli from spinothalamic levels to be changed and the body feels an urge to move, which is the characterizing symptom of RLS. Since the levels of tyrosine hydroxylase in the substantia nigra were the same in RLS patients and the control group, RLS must not change dopaminergic activity in that brain area" instead of telling you about my life. And if I did try to write about the million things going on in my head at the present time, it would probably sound like I was talking about enkephalins and endogenous thalamic opioids anyways. At least I'm off to go paint for enhancing creativity, which has so far been one of my favorite classes.

Love is...

Compliments of eight-year-old Robert

1 John 4:7-8

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.

Galumphing. All the Cool Kids are Doing it

Each semester I have to take an honors course. Last year I took the english classes, remember? This fall I registered for Perspectives in the Creative Arts because it sounded slightly more interesting than Great Ideas of the East. I was surprised to find on the first day that the class was actually Enhancing Creativity. 

The class looks like it's going to be a lot of work, but I’m actually excited. First, we were able to choose which textbook we wanted to use. I picked the one that is somewhat spiritual, because I think it’s nearly impossible to understand yourself or anything without questioning your spiritual beliefs. We have to go through the text on our own time and journal all the exercises we do. Then during the semester we have to complete two large creative projects and journal during the process. 

My favorite activity that we have to do each week is called galumphing. It is something we do simply because we want to. It can’t benefit us or anyone else, or be something that we’ve had on our to-do list for months. Coloring would be an example. Or as one student did, buy a red leather dress and test drive a ferrari.

Galumph: a joyful, celebratory, or just for fun activity; preparation for adulthood

As our professor was explaining galumphing, people (including me) were already freaking out about how they don’t have time to waste on something that really has no purpose. How sad is that? We are all so focused on accomplishing tasks that we have forgotten how to have fun without having an agenda. 

Our professor told us to be selfish when we were thinking about what our galumphs would be. The suggestion that made me think the most was that it could be something we no longer do because we realized we weren’t as good as someone else. 

Can you think of an activity you used to love, but stopped doing because you weren’t the best?

There are many times when I find myself wishing I could just be young again. If only I were playing at my grandparents house or in my backyard with my dog, I would be much happier. I would be content with life. I think everyone feels that way at some point. Except at that time a person has two options: they can either find some way to experience that satisfaction with life again, or believe that it’s only attainable in childhood and then continue to live a oftentimes miserable adult life. 

From what I’ve read so far, this class isn’t really about becoming an artist. I’m not expecting to become Picasso in 12 weeks. I think it’s more about finding the dreams you’ve buried, because at one point the world told you it was a dumb idea, and you listened. Silly world, everyone should keep their dreams alive.

Otown Chapter 2

Well I’m back in Ogden, and it’s crazy how quickly you settle right back into the routine of going to school. I’m not exactly thrilled about the idea of spending hours on homework, but that’s just how things work at college. Unless you’re the student who doesn’t do any studying or work. Why are they even going to school in the first place? Did they just have a few thousand dollars lying around that they didn’t know what to do with? 

On top of school, I’m working as an academic tutor and chemistry lab assistant. Those don’t start until next week, and I’m pretty excited. Mostly because I get to be in a chem lab six hours a week, and a majority of the people who come for tutoring need it in math and chemistry. Both of which happen to be my favorite classes. 


I am slightly concerned about trying to balance everything, but it won't be impossible. I do think this year will be tougher than the last though. I'm going to be stretched and tested, because I simply will have a lot to do. So much that I'm feeling overwhelmed just thinking about it.

Enjoy the various pictures from around town and my dorm. And the cactus? His name is Javier.

1 Peter 1:6-7

In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Fluffy

For my father's birthday we went to Vegas to watch Gabriel Iglesias. He is an overweight Mexican comedian who consistently makes me laugh/cry. Enjoy this sample of the hilarity that is Fluffy...