Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Here is my little tribute to Valentine's Day, since I am not a celebrator of this holiday!

(Those flowers are not mine, by the way! I bought them for my valentine....my mother! So they are our center piece on the table right now!) 

Anyways, seeing how it is Valentine's Day I deemed it would be appropriate to post one of my favorite poems. It is by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and is called, "How Do I Love Thee?"


How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and Ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee frequently, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my saints lost, I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! And, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death. 


So there is my little Valentine's Day tribute! Happy Valentine's day!


Now onto.....none other than my life! 

This picture pretty much sums up my life at this point in time and how I have been feeling lately!

It is kind of interesting because not too long ago I was in high school and felt like most high school students do......I wanted out!

I couldn't wait to graduate and get out of high school. 

But WHY?

Since I've been out of high school, I realize that this could possibly be the most difficult time in life.

Sure, it is fun and there is a lot of excitement that comes during it, but at the same time it's like that map.

You can plan out your goal (or destination) and know what you want to do, but then once you look at the map, you realize there are so many ways to get there! 

Talk about overwhelming! 

Of course, some of the routes would be a lot wiser to take than others, but even after you narrow it down there are still many choices to make that lead to the same destination.

It is quite the adventure!

So lately, I've been feeling overwhelmed as I have evaluated things in my life and the decisions I have been making and have to make.

I'll be honest, at times I have wished that I could know what lies ahead of me on my journey and what I should be expecting.

However, in Relief Society today we had a fabulous lesson on agency that made me extremely grateful for my opportunities to choose. 

I realized my wishful thinking of knowing what lies ahead of me kind of puts a damper on my agency. If I knew what was going to happen, all of my choices would pretty much be made up for me. 

As I started thinking about this more and more I realized that my opportunities to choose are in all actuality blessings in my life. 

Even though it seems overwhelming to make decisions about school, work, relationships, etc. it is so worth it.

It really hit me today more than ever that as long as I do what I know is right and rely on the Lord, He will guide me to my destination of Eternal Life. Not only that, He will help me with the pit stops of schooling, work, marriage, etc. that come along the way.

What peace and comfort that knowledge brings! It also helps for the map to not seem so overwhelming. 

I am thankful for the opportunities I have to choose the roads that lead to my pit stops in life. 

Each road I try serves as a learning and growing experience. Often times, it turns out that I have to reroute; however, I am so grateful for the lessons I learn by doing so! With the lessons I learn, and with the help of my Heavenly Father, I am able to 

Find joy in the (sometimes crazy overwhelming) Journey!