The Moving Target Philosophy

Last semester when I was in Brother Hammond's religion class, he always said that "The Spirit likes a moving target." With this statement, he was trying to teach us that it is when we are moving that we will receive direction and inspiration from the Lord. It's when we are walking by faith. This is a concept I really grasped onto and now I just constantly tell myself to KEEP MOVING.

And things are falling into place!

This past week I starting training for my internship for the spring. I will be working as the Student Personal Wellness Coordinator at the Health Center on campus. I will do patient education on sleep hygiene, stress, ADD/ADHD, nutrition, and physical activity. I will be in charge of two blogs. I will sit on the wellness council. I will help with different support groups and activities on campus. I am really excited! I think it will be a great learning experience! It is funny because I have been planning on NOT being in Rexburg next semester and now, here I am! It will be nice to be here in the warm weather and to have one last semester here. Right now I am a walking target for housing! The Lord has never let me down on housing before, and I know He won't this time!

The one thing that I sad about for the spring is some of the people who will be gone! It kind of feels like I am staying and everyone else is leaving! I will miss Brooke and Liesel and Bryce - MY FAMILY! It won't be the same without them here, but they are all moving forward and doing good things and that they are going to be where the Lord needs them. I am really grateful for all the people I have met while I've been at BYUI and for the blessing they have been to me! I am leaving a different person than when I came!

Also, I am so glad I decided to come to BYUI rather than BYU.

Anyways, random thoughts for Sunday Morning.

But, life is good. Three weeks to go. I'm going to enjoy them all!

Love you all.

Pan Dulce

Today for my international health class we had to bring a cultural dish to share with the class.

I talked to my friend at work yesterday about some possible dishes I could do from Brazil that would be easy - cheese puffs or lime mousse. Perfect.

Around 11:30 PM last night I realized that I didn't have tapioca flour for the cheese puffs. Usually when there is an ingredient that I am lacking, I don't worry about it too much! That's what Google and experimenting are for. (This is coming from someone who attempted eggless lemon bars.) I soon found that there is really no good substitution for this ingredient. Plan - gone.

So then I started to consider all of our rich cultural traditions! And

BOOM

Like a ton of tamales it hit me ...

PAN DULCE! 

So I looked up a recipe on All Recipes and made some this morning.

I will admit it didn't have that authentic day old taste, nor did it match the experience of getting pan dulce in a sweet Mexican bakery - but by golly, it tasted great!

I don't care what everyone says every year - I LOVE this stuff.

Let's add it to our tamale tradition, shall we?

Not all cornflakes are created equal

Not all cornflakes are created equal.

You'd think a cereal as simple as cornflakes would stay pretty consistent among brands.

It doesn't.

This morning as I am eating my recently purchased Great Value cornflakes I am wishing I had that big bag of Western Family cornflakes from Broulim's. Believe it or not, there is a difference!

Oh well, I won't let it get me down!

Here's to you cold cereal!

And now for a piece of that peanut butter honey toast!

Chocolate Covered Cinnamon Bears

In all my years as a student, I can never once recall rewarding myself for doing well on a test or in a class. My personal satisfaction of that "A" in the gradebook has always been good enough! And besides, a penny saved is a penny earned, right?

Until today.

For the past forever, I have been eying these small packages of chocolate covered cinnamon bears at the bookstore. They are just SO good and the combination of cinnamon bears and chocolate is almost comparable to that of chocolate and peanut butter - unbelievable. I just can never bring myself to the extra spending and justify a purchase like that.

Today I could take it no longer! I wanted those cinnamon bears, and bad. I was studying in the library for my test and had the idea! Mal - if you get above a 90% on your test you can buy yourself that little treat! Deal.

I could miss five questions and still reach this minimum. When I finished taking my test, I had marked 13 questions that I was unsure about. Uh-oh. I left the testing center and slowly looked at the score screen - 90%! OH YEAH!

So, I splurged $1.06 and am now enjoying my package of CHOCOLATE COVERED CINNAMON BEARS.

I think I will keep this little tradition for my last semester. Now the goal is 100% - Big Mac! Challenge accepted.

Science NERD

One of the things in life that makes me happy is science. It used to be math, and although there is just something about solving for "x" that gets me going, nothing can compete with the processes of the digestive system, the neuromusclar junction, viruses, and especially - bacteria. While I've been in college I've really delved deep into biology and have learned to L-O-V-E it. Now, in my last semester, I am revisiting my junior year of high school with a little CHEM 101. So, here I am at 12:51 am relearning sig figs, the Periodic Table, and what makes elements, compounds, and mixtures all different. Oh man, I am in for a treat this semester! :)

Winter

It has almost been a month since I started my winter adventure in Rexburg. And so far it has been really great! Now I look back on my extreme anxiety at the end of last semester and think, "Oh Mal, why were you worrying so much?" Although at times I really wish I was at home watching Parker's basketball games, baking with Brooke, sharing the bunkbed with Sarah, and have late night conversations with Mom and Dad, I am glad to be in Rexburg. I really am. It's where I am supposed to be right now. By that statement I must clarify that I don't think I am going to meet my future husband or have some huge event occur, but I do think that this step towards "emerging adulthood" will be a good thing and I have already recognized some of the ways this has positively affected my life. So here is my post about why I am glad to be here and the cool things I've been able to do. For my lack of patience of writing a LONG post, I am just going to list these things. :)


1. Return with Honor council. - I get to witness the Atonement in my peers lives. One hour a week witnessing changes in hearts and learning from others. 

2. Holding a tarantula. I never thought in my life I would do such a thing! It was pretty disturbing especially when it wouldn't come off and for about ten seconds I thought its fangs had dug into my skin but I will never forget or regret it!

3. Being a Gospel Doctrine teacher. I have only taught Primary! I am very excited I have this opportunity. I taught my first lesson last week. It went pretty well! I am learning.

4. Saying prayer at devotional. I cannot write anything eloquent enough to express my thoughts and feelings as I sat on the stand at devotional. "Awesome wonder." I am very grateful for that opportunity. It was the highlight of being at BYUI so far.

5. Hearing L. Tom Perry. We were blessed to hear from Elder Perry last week. The BYU-I Center was nearly full. We sang "Called to Serve." I love the power when a lot of saints are singing a hymn. He spoke about the church being scaffolding for our families and professions. It was great. 


6. Meeting Nik Day. I don't know if any of you remember, but I nearly met him last spring when he came to do a concert at BYUI. My roommates and I were at the park and he walked right by us. I stared him down because I was in complete shock but was not quick enough to say something. Well, last night Morgan, Kim and I went to a benefit concert he was playing at and since Kim knows him, she introduced us!! And I got a picture. Then afterwards, he came to my apartment for about ten minutes. Guys, it was so great. haha. 


7. SEATTLE! This will be a blog post in itself in a month. This past week I bought tickets to go visit Spencer and Laura. I am really excited to see them and take an adventure!


8. My roommate Jamie got engaged! I am so glad I was here for that. Jamie and Jace are the cutest couple and such good examples to me. I really look up to both of them and are grateful for their influence in my life. I love being here for the wedding planning as well.


9. Roommates. I LOVE my roommates. This semester I was going to do a shared room to cut costs, but I felt like I shouldn't. I am really grateful that I didn't because my two roommates in that room are so great and they add so much to our apartment. 


10. This one hasn't happened yet, but I am excited for it  . . . . Katelyn is coming this next weekend! 


I guess the whole purpose of this blog post is to say that many times, we don't know what is going to happen when we try something new or even when we do something we've done a couple times. I am sure that if I had gone home this semester I would have been happy and I would have a list of great things I'd been able to do. I make one every semester I am home! I guess what I am trying to say is that despite this huge unknown I was facing this semester, I am really happy. I feel like God has blessed me SO much and that I am learning so much about myself and learning to take steps of faith, be confident in myself, and know that I can do hard things. And really, those things that I thought would be so hard have been easy as I have put faith in the Lord and decided to be strong. 


Thank you all for your support and love and phone calls. 


I LOVE YOU!!


And now its time for dinner . .. . .

Mallory - the song