A Season of Giving

This year has been a very interesting year for me and gift giving. Due to my financial situation I was unable to buy gifts for my loved ones. This got me thinking a lot about the gifts that really matter in life and the gifts that I've received that have meant the most to me. As cheesy as this sounds I realized that the best gifts that I've gotten haven't been wrapped and can't be wrapped. These gifts include a listening ear, encouragement, laughter, blessings from Heavenly Father, and time, attention and love from other people. Those are just some things. I have to be honest and admit that I still like to get gifts like the new watch my sister gave me so I can time myself when I run, or the new shiny red kitchen aid mixer from my mom, or my favorite gift, the purse that my coworker gave me this year (see picture). These things make me happy and bring enjoyment to my life, but without those other gifts my life would have little meaning.

I had the most fun making gifts for my family and other loved ones and watching them open them. I tried doing something along these lines a couple years ago when I was in similar situation, however, I did not get the results I had hoped. That year I gave my parents a few of my running awards to show my appreciation to them for helping me accomplish something and so they could proudly display them in our home. I think they just saw it as a cop out. We laugh quite a bit about that now. My parents cried when I gave them my gift this year, so I feel like this year was a lot more successful.

I like this quote from President Hunter: "This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again. Christmas is a celebration, and there is no celebration that compares with the realization of its true meaning—with the sudden stirring of the heart that has extended itself unselfishly in the things that matter most." I think that is beautiful and so very important to do all the time. I'm glad that I was able to have this experience so that I can remember again what is really important. Merry Christmas!

Advice About Girls

When I was visiting my brother this weekend he showed me a book called, " The Dangerous Book for Boys" which discusses numerous topics that all boys love. One section was entitled, "Advice About Girls". I found it quite entertaining and thought I would post it for any of the males that might read my blog. There is some good advice. It goes like this (my comments are in red):

"You may have noticed that girls are quite different from you. By this, we do not mean the physical differences, more the fact that they remain unimpressed by your mastery of a game involving wizards, or your understanding of Morse code. Some will be impressed, of course, but as a general rule, girls do not get quite as excited by the use of urine as a secret ink as boys do.

We thought long and hard about what advice could possible be suitable. It is an inescapable fact that boys spend a great deal of their lives thinking and dreaming about girls, so the subject should be mentioned here-as delicately as possible.

Advice About Girls:

1. It is important to listen. Human beings are often very self-centered and like to talk about themselves. In addition, it's an easy subject if someone is nervous. It is good advice to listen closely-unless she has also been given this advice, in which case an uneasy silence could develop, like two owls sitting together.

(I personally get a little uncomfortable when I have to talk for a while and my conversation partner is silent. I don't normally have a whole lot to say unless someone gives me something to work with. There needs to be a good balance. Conversation is an art. One of my favorite things is being able to converse well with a guy.)

2. Be careful with humor. It is very common for boys to try to impress girls with a string of jokes, each one more desperate than the last. One joke, perhaps, and then a long silence while she talks about herself...

3. When you are older, flowers really do work-women love them. When you are young, however, there is a ghastly sense of being awkward rather than romantic-and she will guess your mother bought them. (I like flowers. The more spontaneous, the better)

4. Valentine's Day cards. Do not put your name on them. The whole point is the excitement a girl feels, wondering who finds her attractive. If it says, "From Brian" on it, the magic isn't really there. This is actually quite a nice thing to do to someone you don't think will get a card. If you do this, it is even more important that you never say, "I sent you one because I thought you wouldn't get any." Keep the cards simple. You do not want one with fancy stuff of any kind. (Cards are nice. And simple is always good. I prefer a nice card with a sincere note over a gift any day.)

5. Avoid being vulgar. Excitable bouts of windbreaking will not endear you to a girl, just to pick one example. (Amen)

6. Play a sport of some kind. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it replaces the corpse-like pallor of the computer programmer with a ruddy glow. Honestly, this is more important than you know.

7. If you see a girl (or anyone) in need of help-unable to life something, for example-do not taunt her. (Never a good thing) Approach the object and greet her with a cheerful smile, while surreptitiously testing the weight of the object. If you find you can life it, go ahead. If you can't, try sitting on it and engaging her in conversation. ( : ) )

8. Finally, make sure you are well-scrubbed, your nails are clean and your hair is washed. Remember that girls are as nervous around you as you are around them, if you can imagine such a thing. (It really is true...at least in my case) They think and act rather differently to you, but without them, life would be one long football locker room. Treat them with respect.

So that's that. If you want any more specifics on my thoughts on these, I would be happy to discuss.

In the Pursuit of Beauty

Even though my sister has already written about what I am going to write about, I'm doing it anyway, mostly because it was my idea in the first place. Since my only readers are my family and they have probably read what she wrote, I apologize for any duplication of ideas or thoughts.

This summer while I was at the beach with my family my mom, sister and I began discussing Chinese food binding. My mother was reading a book about it and we decided to learn a little bit more about this seemingly inhumane tradition. The more we learned, the more appalled we became. (See above photo)

Chinese foot binding dates back to the 10th century and was practiced until the 20th century. A woman began binding her foot when she was a young girl. The binding would cause her feet to break and then grow to be deformed and often infected. The foot usually reached a length of a mere 4-5 inches. The smaller the better. The reasons for doing this were mainly aesthetic, for the binding caused the woman to walk in a certain way which for some reason was highly attractive. This is called the lotus gait. Another thing that I found interesting was that with bound feet, the women had very limited mobility causing them to have a very limited role in society.

As I learned these facts about foot binding I couldn't not believe that a women in her right mind would allow that to happen. And then it occurred to me that we women do the same thing today just in a different forms. This idea occurred to me as I was laying out in the sun suffering from a somewhat painful sunburn. Who ever decided that baking in the sun in order to have dark skin at the risk of getting cancer was a good idea? Probably someone who thought that breaking little girls feet was also a good idea.

My point is, which I feel like I am not expressing very well, is that it is really ridiculous what our society has defined as beauty. The pursuit of beauty as the world defines it is in most cases associated with pain, discomfort, and sacrifice of one's virtue. How easily we are deceived. I am so grateful for the Gospel that teaches us what real beauty is and that we don't have to sacrifice our souls to obtain it.

I like eggs

I have been working fairly early in the morning this summer, which has its ups and downs. I usually get up in time to de-poof my eyelids (they get really poofy when I'm tired), check my email, and pack a small breakfast. Sometimes it is hard to get to bed on time so that I'm not completely dysfunctional in the morning. I'm amazed that to this point I haven't done anything completely ridiculous. There is, however, a first time for everything.

As I went to grab a yogurt for my breakfast, I noticed that there were some eggs in the refrigerator in the spot where my mom usually put eggs when she hard-boils them. (I fell in love with hard-boiled eggs on my mission) I got really excited, naturally, and proceeded to place one safely in a cloth napkin and then into my purse. A small thought occurred to me that it just might not be cooked, but quickly dismissed it because not many thoughts stick with me that early in the morning.

At breakfast time I drew out my egg and proceeded to gently tap it on the table with little recollection of my though from earlier that it might not be cooked. I then tapped a little harder until it completely cracked in my hand. It wasn't cooked after all. Amazingly, no one noticed what happened. Although a little disappointed, I chuckled to myself and quickly put it in a bowl and threw it away. I think I might have prayed that morning for help to be able to laugh more and I guess this was my answer.

9 Years and Running

I always get a little nostalgic around this time of year, especially when I'm at home. It was at this time 9 years ago that I began one of the greatest relationships of my life.

Before I began my freshman year, like most kids my age I had to seriously consider how I was going to be cool in high school. I had always viewed my brother as being cool and determined he'd be a pretty good guide if I ever wanted to be cool. So, I looked at what he did and followed in his footsteps. He ran cross country in high school amongst other sports, but because cross country was the only sport without cuts I figured that was my best bet.

There is a reason there are no cuts. I guess technically there are, but the coach doesn't cut. The athletes do, but the more common way of looking at it is quiting. In my younger years I was a quitter. You name it, I did it and then I quit it....soccer, ballet, gymnastics, swimming, piano, softball. This time was different for some reason. I'm not sure why because I was really horrible at first. I mean, really horrible. In fact, I used to hate running. As long as I can remember I always finished last when we would run the mile in elementary school and even my first year in high school I often finished last. I would look at it as a major success if someone finished behind me.

At some point I started to get faster and even started to love it. It has become one my dearest companions. I won't go into all the reasons that I love running now. There's lots of time for that. I just wanted to reminisce a little bit about it. I don't always love it. I guess it's like most relationships. We have our hard times, but in the end I always feel good after running (ok, there are some exceptions like when I ran my first and possibly last marathon and couldn't bend my legs without intense pain for a week). And like with most things, it's the hard times that make it so great. I love it.