Lessons From the Universe

For the first time in a very long time, I got to sit down and read a book all in one sitting. I woke up this morning, had some breakfast, then promptly got back in bed and read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (which, if you haven't read it, you need to...like, yesterday.) I've read it at least 3 times before, but every time I read it again, it's as if it's for the first time. I've never had another book read that way. Even though I know what's going to happen, somehow it's either been long enough or the story is so complicatedly simple that it's a completely fresh experience. It's a story about pursuing your dreams, following the omens, and learning the Language of the World. Like I said: complicatedly simple.

As I read this time, thoughts and memories came up in my mind, showing me a few lessons the universe has been putting in my path over the last little while. The foremost of those lessons was that dreams are important. As children, each of us has dreams, goals and aspirations that resonate within us, all the way to our souls, and the world looks beautiful and full of possibility and hope. But then, as we grow, the color of the world gets darker and our dreams start to seem impossible, so we often give up. But the moment the choice is made to listen to our inner child, everything in our world conspires together for our good, the dream awakens, and we are set on a path. I've been thinking about making some pretty radical changes in my life, but I've been afraid to fully plunge in, for fear that everything will go wrong or that I am pursuing the wrong path. But then today, everything felt right. It is scary to dive off the cliff and do something completely different than I expected or what has been expected of me, but I realized everything is falling into place to help me get exactly what I want.

The other lesson that has come up a lot lately that I wanted to mention was to immediately listen to impressions from the Spirit. God is always listening and can therefore tell when one person needs something from someone else. I LOVE getting to be that someone else. I also love the moments when I can recognize my innermost needs being met through another person. Sometimes it's a smile, a text, or a conversation with a stranger while waiting for a train. It's all God's love, and we should be anxiously listening for both the chance to give and to receive it.

Final thought from The Alchemist: Everything is written by the same hand. Everything is one. Isn't that a comforting thought?

Off Adventuring

Sorry for the hiatus, it's been a crazy crazy month! April always seems to be the time when everything pours in with the rain (and boy has it been raining.) School is finally over, but leading up to that were a few really fun events. Last post I told you about the Festival of Colors, which was amazing, but what I didn't tell you was that later that night Chancy and I went to the BYU Traditions Ball. Somehow we managed to clean up pretty well:

I scored that gorgeous dress for $20 at DI last summer and I was so excited to finally get a chance to wear it! Chancy was the perfect date for this fancy event, he was classy and a perfect gentleman. The live band was incredible and we wowed everybody there with our smooth blues moves, especially to "Fever." Let me tell you, they were jealous of our mad skills ;) 

A couple weeks later was my good friend Hailey's 21st birthday, which was a smashing success! It was a loosely masquerade-themed party, so I painted my eyes all pretty and wore a feather in my hair and feathers in my ears and we had a blast: 

As you may have gathered from the pictures, Chancy and I have been spending quite a bit of time together in the last few weeks, and we've had a really beautiful time. He and I have been best friends for almost a year now (he and his roommate Aldo have been there for me particularly in the last few months, helping me through being in a long distance relationship and just generally being awesome) and shortly after the Traditions Ball we decided we wanted to be more than just friends ;) Unfortunately, our time together has an expiration date of next Monday because he got an opportunity to work in Panama, where he served his mission, so he's taking it with great enthusiasm. Even though it's been short, I couldn't be more thankful for our time together and all the soul-deepening experiences we've shared. He has been there for me in a time when I was vulnerable and needing a lot of healing and love, and he knew just what to do. 

And finally, my summer plans have shifted from moving to California to staying here in Utah for just a few more months. There's a really exciting reason as to why, but I can't tell you just yet....so stay tuned!! Much love :)

All Things Spring

I woke up to my favorite sound this morning: rain against my window. Nothing says SPRING! like a gorgeous, soft rain shower. The whole weekend was beautifully sunny and I got my first inklings of a sunburn on my nose and cheeks, which made me sooo giddy with thoughts of more sun to come!

And instead of dying eggs for Easter this year, I dyed myself! This Saturday, all my closest friends (except poor Meg, who was stuck in bed with a migraine) got together for the Holi Festival of Colors at the Hindu temple down in Spanish Fork. It's an annual Hindu celebration of life and joy and freedom that is attended by about 20 Hindus and about 2 million Mormons haha....but seriously. So we went and got ourselves covered with chalk and had ourselves a blast. Here's some evidence:

Before.....

After....

Team Purple Hand!

A view of the temple

Taken from here:

Happy Spring!!