Fading from Color to Black and White.

There you are

Fading from color to black and white

A reflection of the woman

You once were.

I didn’t know you then,

hadn’t been born.

Still I was a part of you.

A locket around your neck

Falls across your chest.

I now wear around my own.

A reminder of the past fading into the future.

Laugh and labor lines cross your face,

You wear a dress of faded jeans with pockets

Stitched with calloused hands,

The home you and Grandpa built together

Stands in the background,

Where you raised your eleven children in

And lost two more.

The scent of fresh, baking bread

Floating out onto the front porch steps.

You look to the right,

Sun streaming

Across your face.

friday happy list p.16. why i love my major.

this edition of the friday happy list is brought to you in part by the utah state university english department.

why i love my major!

...i have the greatest professors. seriously.
...my professors already know me by name.
...classes i actually look forward to.
...everyone is so happy and friendly.
...real life lessons taught through reading and writing.
...even the 'textbooks,' i enjoy reading.
...teachers that actually care about you as an individual.

it took me three years and two previous majors before i finally made the decision to change my major, yet again, to english. i love everything about it. i can say with absolute certainty that this is what i want to do for the rest of my life. (the english - writing part, not the school part. :) when i told a certain someone in my life i would be changing my major from social work to english, they looked at me with the most disapproving look and questioned why i would choose to do that. i'll admit that this upset me, and made me question for a second what i was doing. until i realized...this is my choice. it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or believes. i love what i'm doing. my first three years of school, when i was trying to figure out what to study at college i always kept going back to what this person would think because of previous conversations we had. i worried so much about what they believed and how they would react that i wasn't really making the choice that was best for me. yes, i loved interior design. yes, helping others through social work is important to me. but, i was trying to please them. it wasn't until i finally made the choice that i wanted that i realized how much i had been missing. so, when you're faced with a choice...do it because you want to. because you believe in it. not because someone else tells you to. 

what makes you happy today? 

praying for change.

everybody makes mistakes
some more than others,
it's easier to fake.
taking the easy road
if only for a while
till something comes along
to take away your smile.

so you look straight ahead
never letting it show,
the way you feel
feeling lost, feeling pain
always hoping for the sun
to come again.
never certain
still always praying for change.

surviving your blessings.

i love to read. in fact, i think i could easily consider this past time one of my favorite things to do. growing up i have never understood why so few people seem to enjoy reading for fun. although, trying to find the time to do so comes very far and few between for me, so i try to choose my books wisely. well the last book i read was nothing short of wonderful! it happens to be titled"surviving your blessings - learning to laugh in the face of life's storms" the moment i saw the title of the book i knew it was just perfect for me. and it got even better as i began reading. i love the author's writing style and how she shares her own experiences. it really helped me to connect with what she was trying to teach in her book. {i have to admit i wish i could write just a little bit more like her. :) } just to share some of the fabulous quotes from the book...

'where am i going? that's the great part; it's up to me!'

'we all leave our mark...people do the same thing to each other's lives. we leave telltale signs on each other, little imprints of our presence when passing through...the next time you have a chance to make an impact, make it a good one, a great one!'

'mourning with those that mourn is a good thing. comforting those in need of comfort is also essential to being a disciple. But it seems incomplete to me if we don't also rejoice with those who are rejoicing and cheer for those who are excelling...stand as witnesses to each other's lives.'

'...i just misjudged them all. didn't know them as well as i thought i did. apparently i couldn't tell didly from squat. that's what's so darned frustrating about mortality. eh? unpredictable. that's what's so great about mortality though, isn't it? the surprise? the unexpected blessings? i just have to learn not to trip over the blessings.'