A Realization.

I recently came across this quote from a man named Gordon B. Hinckley. While I do not condone everything that this man believed, I find a lot of truth in this statement:

“Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others…By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.” 

I was thinking about this quote earlier, when it hit me: this is why I want to be a teacher.

It started out with me thinking about all the times I've been unhappy with my life versus all the times I have been content. It was completely true: those times when I was feeling discouraged, sad, or unloved were times when I was focusing only on my own life and my problems. The times when I have been most happy have been times when I have focused on pouring into other people's lives.

I realized that, at least for me, I don't need to have everything I want in order to be happy. If I put my energy into thinking of other people, helping them however I can, and being happy for them, I forget to set aside time for worrying about my problems. I realized that I can be fully content by simply making a difference in someone else's life.

And that is why I want to be a teacher.

 This will be me, only with brown hair and probably not as nice of a classroom.

I could never really explain why I wanted to teach. I would always say it's because I love little kids, but I always knew there was something more than that. Now I understand: I want to get to know these future students of mine. I want to help them learn. I want to show them that they can be successful. I want to make a difference in their lives.

Everyone remembers their teachers. In my opinion, a teacher is probably one of the most influential professions there is. I'd even argue that they are more influential than motivational speakers.

When I was in junior high and even parts of high school, I thought I hated people. I honestly don't know why I thought that, but clearly I did not know myself. Because the truth is, I love people.

I have a love for people (specifically, children) and I want to use that love to help, to mentor, and to inspire. I want to pour all my time and energy into the lives of children so that they may see that they can accomplish something great. I want to teach. Because I know that even when times get stressful and hard and I just want to quit, one child's success will be enough to keep me going.

It may not pay a lot, but what is money compared to the genuine happiness that comes from serving others?

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." Matthew 6:24

I don't need to worry about my problems because I know the Lord will take care of them. Happiness does not come from material possessions, but from the Lord and doing His work.

And that is why I want to be a teacher.

Why Summer is Actually the Best.

 Summer provides once in a lifetime opportunities, like shark riding.
(Btw, this was me and my dad, circa 1997ish).

Usually when people refer to "the most wonderful time of the year," they are talking about Christmastime. While I am in complete agreement that Christmas is pretty wonderful, I would argue that it is not, in fact, the most wonderful. The following is a list of reasons which I would use to defend my position. (And it wouldn't be a list if it wasn't alphabetical).

Beaches.
Berry season.
Bright colors.
Butterflies.
Flip-flops.
Flowers.
Green grass.
Ice cream cones.
Lemonade.
Longer days.
Movies.
No school.
Painted toe nails.
Picnics.
Popsicles.
Running through sprinklers.
Sandals.
Sand volleyball.
Shorts.
Snow cones.
Sonic's Summer of Shakes!
Sundresses.
Sunshine.
Swimming.
Tank tops.
Vacations.
Water parks.
Weather that isn't cold.

Basically, happiness. Summer is just the happiest time of the year. And the most wonderful. And the best.

And if you're wondering why I think summer is the best, but back in September I called autumn my favorite season, it's because I go back and forth between the two. Usually by the end of summer/beginning of fall, fall is my favorite, but near the end of fall and all the way through spring I'm SO ready for summer. I'm not a liar, I promise.

Check out my lists for why I love fall and winter (mainly Christmas). There isn't one for spring, because spring is clearly the worst season and doesn't deserve a list (I have bad allergies, if you're wondering why I have a vendetta against spring).

A Rant About the Dentist and Miley Cyrus.

So, I had an impromptu dentist appointment on Monday.

It was scheduled for today, but for some reason unbeknownst to me, six months ago I thought it would be a grand idea to schedule my next appointment for 11:30am...right in the middle of the workday.

Which is totally fine for someone who works full time and really has no other option but to miss part of work to go to the dentist. But I only work until 2 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 3 on Mon/Wed/Fri so CLEARLY I do not need to miss part of my work day. Nor should I.

So on Monday, I called to reschedule, and literally the ONLY time they could get me in was 3:00 that same day. Right when I get off work. I told them I'd be about 10 minutes late, but they were cool with that so we scheduled it.

So, I get there at 3, and as usual, I sit around for about 15 minutes before they call me back. The lady calls me back to do some x-rays, and that takes like 10 minutes. And then she sends me back out to the waiting room because apparently she's not my hygienist. My hygienist isn't ready yet.

So I literally sit in the waiting room for 15 more minutes. Remember that they scheduled me for an appointment at 3...I didn't get back in the room until almost 4.

Then while I was waiting, a girl showed up who is apparently a new employee starting on Friday and so she was supposed to be visiting. Well, the head honcho dentist guy decided to put MY hygienist in charge of helping her out, so about 5 minutes into my cleaning, she leaves for literally 10 minutes. And I'm just sitting there with a bright light shining on my face, until a nice lady came in and moved it for me.

Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE my dentist. I truly feel like they want what's best for me, and not what will make them the most money. But I had somewhere to be at 5:30, and I was starting to get concerned.

My teeth were perfect as usual, and my gums were puffy, inflamed, and unhealthy as usual. I don't know why I have had gingivitis since I was 7 but I have never had a cavity. But whatever. At least with gum infections they don't drill a hole in your face.

Anyway, they are genuinely concerned about the condition of my gums, so guess who gets to go back into the dentist in three months for another cleaning? Huzzah for me.

So, I leave the dentist with my sore and bleeding gums (because they are NOT gentle with those cleanings!) and OH YEAH my broken wire because she literally flossed right through my permanent retainer on the back of my bottom row of teeth....

I was meeting a bunch of family for dinner at 5:30 and didn't have time to go home, but did have time to run a quick errand. So I stopped at a store, walked around for 10 minutes looking for what I needed, got in a line with a broken register, got in another line, left, and got lost. Because I thought I knew where I was going, and I should never, EVER think that.

EVER.

So I was like...15 minutes late to dinner. But it's okay. We went to see Man of Steel afterward, which was good, but WAY too long, and the action scene at the end seriously could have been 30 minutes shorter.

And thus ends my dentist rant. Which brings me to my rant about Miley Cyrus. Have you seen her new music video?

Please don't.

Though you probably will now because I've struck your curiosity, but I must warn you: it is the WORST music video, in every way possible, that I have ever seen in my entire life. Including Lady Gaga videos.

Yeah. I know.

And what's even worse, is all the people in the comments who say "This video is so awesome!" and then say "Stop hating on Miley, she's a grown up now!"

Um...I'm sorry, but she looked pretty juvenile in that video.

Newsflash: being a grown up does NOT give you a free pass to do whatever the heck you want. It means you stop acting like a child, which is not -- by any definition -- what Miley has done in that video.

If anything, she was more mature when she was on Hannah Montana.

Sorry if you're a Miley fan, but unfortunately it's the truth.

Also...either Miley is really bad at twerking, or that dance move should never, EVER be attempted in public OR private. End of discussion. Outlaw the twerk.

Don't worry, I'll have some more coherent posts up soon. :)

Life Without School Is Kinda Boring.

I know that doesn't seem like a logical sentence and you must think I'm losing my mind, but it's true. I've been doing school the last, like, fifteen years of my life and NOW I'M DONE. Which was cool for all of about two hours and then it hit me that, um, I had nothing to do.

Like seriously, I have no life. I kinda had to put whatever inkling of a life I once previously had on the back burner about a year and a half ago when I decided to take the fast-paced approach to college, and didn't realize that that would have severe consequences once I no longer had to do school.

I. AM. SO. BORED.

Yeah, I'm working still. About 30 hours a week. But y'all? There's 168 hours in a week. And yes, I did google that number (twice, because I closed the tab and then promptly forgot what it said), because I'm now [almost] a college graduate and therefore I don't need math anymore. But that's not the point. The point is that there's 138 hours a week where I have nothing to do.

Okay, that's not true. Factor in like, 56 hours of sleep and like two to three hours for church on Sundays...oh! and two hours for my summer group on Tuesday nights...and that leaves me with....hold on...like 70ish (that's not the exact number but AGAIN I don't need math anymore) hours a week where I have nothing to do.

So...what have I been doing with all that free time you ask?

• Reading this AMAZING baking blog I found via Pinterest, and baking ALL of her recipes (Okay, only three. But I'm working on it.)
• Reading this makeup blog (also found via Pinterest) and being reminded how much I LOVE reading up on makeup/hair care/skin care tips, and constantly giving myself makeovers.
• Pinteresting. Meaning, doing every DIY I've ever pinned ever.
• Watching Gossip Girl on Netflix. Because I can't get away from the trashy teen dramas.
• Cleaning/reorganizing my room/bathroom because for some reason THEY JUST DON'T STAY CLEAN.
• Shopping at Goodwill, because it's close and I love new clothes and great deals.
• Spending 45 minutes at Wal-Mart trying to find where the heck they keep the glycerin and the castor oil (for a Pinterest hair mask I was making).

So basically, since finishing college, I have become a well-dressed, thrifty, organized, teen-soap-opera addicted Pinteresting machine monster with cookies. And blondies. Ooooh, can't forget the blondies. They're the best.

Like, no really. When I die, I really hope it's while I'm eating a blondie*. Best way to go, right there.

*I JUST realized that if you don't know what a blondie is, it might sound like I'm eating a female of the blonde hair variety. A blondie is basically a brownie without the cocoa. It looks more blonde than brown so it's called a blondie.

It's crazy how when you have school work to do, there are a million other things you'd rather be doing, but when you don't have school...there's NOTHING to do. That saying that "you don't know what you've got until it's gone" really rings true for me right now. (In a kind of pathetic way.)

But anyway, does anyone else have any other ideas of ways I can keep myself busy? Oh, and PLEASE don't say "working out." Because seriously, I'm not THAT bored.

P.S. Oh yeah, I finished college last week. I just realized y'all didn't know that before I wrote this post. Oops.