Christmas: a counterpoint

My roommate, Marcie, wrote a blog about why she loves Christmas and why she wants to celebrate Christmas all year round. Christmas is wonderful in how it livens the snowy, cold winter and it is fun to celebrate but I don't agree that Christmas is the epitome and seed for joy, hope, and love.

I have mixed feelings about Christmas. I think it is wonderful that we have chosen to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world. I think that the kindness, joy and charity that people show throughout the season are beautiful expressions of the love and humanity found in those around us. Christmas is a joyous season but sometimes I feel that people forget that part of Christmas.

I hear all the time that Christmas is a consumer driven holiday and as true or not true as that may be, Christmas makes me a little sad. I feel like although people choose to be charitable and kind during that season but not always for the right reasons. Plus, it seems like people forget why we celebrate this holiday. Christ is a key figure in our eternal happiness. Isn't if funny that even on the celebration of his birth we are more concerned about the number of presents we get or the dinner we are eating or the little family quarrels that drive us apart? No, it's not. It's sad.

I think the thing that makes me the most sad about Christmas is simply the fact that people can't remember or can't be nice, kind, charitable people if it is not Christmas. Is there something special about stockings, presents, lights and a tree that make people remember that life is wonderful and that kindness heals all wounds? Why don't we all just want to be good people all the time?

I don't think we should extend a holiday throughout the year to find love, charity and kindness. Instead, we should look deep into our hearts and find the pieces of us that care. Service and kindness are the sweetest when they are needed.

Happy Holidays!

And you're the perfect thing to say...

Life is incredible. It is always nice to have one of those moments that makes you want to jump up and down and giggle. I had one of those moments last night.

I found a old friend on facebook last night. Not only did I find her but it turns out that during the time I "lost" her, she has joined the church. It sounds dumb, but I am completely giddy. I am so excited that she has found the gospel. I am so happy for her!

I truly know that this gospel is the gospel of happiness. It brings joy to my life and to those around me. As I tried to fall asleep last night, I realized that the gospel is all about love. Service is love. Obedience is love. Charity is love. The Atonement is love. It doesn't matter what we look at in the church, it is all based upon love.

That is really what is missing from the world. Love. I firmly believe that if we taught people to raise healthy families that much of the hate and hurt that happens in this world would go away. If we all really loved one another, there wouldn't be wars. Love heals wounds.

Last night, I felt the love of many of my friends and relatives and I realized that there is not reason for me to ever feel lonely. Besides my family and friends, there is always my Heavenly Father and Christ. They know me better than i know myself. I just need to remember to put my faith and trust in them. They will lead me down the paths I need to go.

I guess the point is that faith and love change lives and make the world go round.

Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone.

So this post is dedicated to lists of things i want to remember.

First, a list of all the things I have never done that I have done this year:
-I went to a fair. My cousins and i went to the Utah county fair and it was SUPER fun
-I went to my first football game ever.
-I went to my first Rock concert (Sigur Rós is amazing)
-I baked bread for the first time
-Dressed up as a group for Halloween.
-Performed in the open on campus
-Soldered
-Voted
-Set up my own computer
-Worked on a book challenge
-Rode a mechanical bull

That's all i can think of right now. Life should be a celebration, so I am trying to celebrate the little things.

Words, words, words, I'm so sick of words!

Why do interpersonal relationships have to be so hard? Especially boy-girl relationships?

Anyway, I am obsessed with Iceland if everyone hasn't gotten the memo. So, funny story, in my Icelandic class on Wednesday a family from Iceland came to our class and talked to us in Icelandic for a while. Anyway, one of the sons is 28 and beautiful.

So, I went home and told my roommates about him. We also have this joke about how I want Icelandic babies (mostly because children speaking Icelandic is probably the cutest thing ever). After I told my roommates, they said, "you just really want Icelandic babies." I adamantly told them that my children WILL speak Icelandic. I then pounded my hand into the couch for emphasis. Well, our couches in my apartment look a LOT softer than they are. So, when I pounded my fist into the couch I hurt my hand.

Moral of the story, Icelandic babies are not worth it.