Happiness is a choice...

The longer I live, the more I come to believe that happiness is a choice. Joy is a direct result of one's attitude and reactions to personal experiences, both good and bad. It is being able to see just how good the good things are, and searching for and finding any shred of good in the bad. Happiness is optimism in even the most dreary situations. It is a perspective, a learning to let go of that which is negative.

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." ~Abraham Lincoln

"Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

So make the decision to be happy, without forcing it, and then move on prepared to allow joy into your life in any and all of its infinite forms.

-Britt

"'Well,' said Pooh, 'what I like best,' and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called." ~A.A. Milne

I wish I knew what that moment was called too... :]

Pictures? What a wonderful idea!

Okay, so like the title says, I'm going to try and post some pictures in this post. Hopefully. I mean, it can't be that hard, right..?

Let's get started. I've been at school an entire week now and I must say it wasn't too shabby at all. Once I got my bed made (which took a couple days because I had to get a mattress protector), it really started feeling like home. And I think my mom would be proud of how good I've been about making it every morning, too. :)

I really like the new comforter cover that I got for Christmas. :)

Gotta love IKEA...

I hung a lot of pictures up so it wouldn't look so bare, although I need something to put on the shelf. Any ideas?

My desk... It never looks this good.

On Friday night, us roommates thought it would be okay to take these two to the movies. Katie's wearing a Snuggie and Reegan is... Being Reegan. What were we thinking? :)

Me and my roommates Audrey (left) and Cassie (right) in the car on the way to the dollar theater. We saw Life as We Know It. Pretty good movie.

At the theater. Yep, I snuck in delicious Whirley Pop kettle corn in that huge tin. I got mad skills... Reegan is excited for the popcorn, Katie is looking normal (for once :P), Cassie is looking sad/bored, and then there's half of Audrey's face (I'm not sure she knew she was in the picture). Good times.

Me and the lovely Katie Pitts... Cute, right?

We're wearing aprons because we were baking!!

See? Katie grabbed a butter knife to make it look like she was helping...

... And then she pretended to murder me with it, haha. "I'll cut you..."

We made pear bread!!! I love pear bread... A lot. If you want to try it out for yourself, you can find the recipe here. It's amazing, really.

So yeah, that's my picture post for tonight. Hope you enjoyed it!

-Britt

Boogers, nose-picking, and story-sharing...

So, I'm seeing how I like having my writing centered... What do you think?

Well, school is still going relatively well. My family finance professor, Dr. Israelsen, is pretty much hilarious and completely random.

There seemed to be a theme in my day today with boogers and picking your nose, haha. Yeah... It all started with Stephanie Pitts' most recent blog post which I read before heading to class (yes, I actually woke up early enough that I had time to read a blog :P). Then, on my way to school, I was walking with my roommate Audrey and discussing how much we dislike the cold and she told me that she wouldn't mind the cold so much if it didn't freeze her boogers. She thinks "it feels like you have icicles up your nose." This train of thought led her to tell me an anecdote about having a fly fly up her nose one summer while she was at efy and having to pick her nose in order to get it out. Yep, within 2 hours of waking up I'd already found out more about people's nose-picking business than I ever cared to.

But oh, it gets better... I was in Sociology when a kid brought up picking your nose and why society doesn't think it's okay. Yes, really. My professor started explaining social "norms" and their purpose while I minimally shook my head at the theme my day had taken on. He even went on to admit that he himself picks his nose, which he finds acceptable as long as he isn't in a public setting and washes his hands afterward. I would've been laughing except that he said it so matter-of-factly and without any shame that I was mostly just impressed with his level of honesty. And lastly (hopefully), I got home from class and Katie was rinsing dishes in the sink when I heard her say, "What is that? Brittany, did you eat a bagel this morning...?"

"Yes..."

"Oh, so this green thing on this plate is just a jalapeno?"

"Oh, yeah I guess. Why?"

"I totally thought it was a booger, haha!"

"Huh, that's funny because my entire day seemed to revolve around the pesky little things..."

(I went on to tell her the whole story so she would stop looking at me like I was nuts, but it didn't help much; she always looks at me like that, haha.)

-Britt

A new word, a new semester...

Change. There is so much of it going on in my life right now. And all of it is amazing. Now I'm not gonna lie, I struggle with change as much as the next person, but when you put it into the right perspective, all inner conflict disappears. (It's all about TRUST)

Today was my first official day of school since I don't have classes scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I don't think I could have asked for a better schedule. All my classes seem at least somewhat interesting and my professors seem reasonable as well. It's going to be a good semester. The first day of a class is always interesting to me. A couple of my professors shared some good quotes today, good enough to write down and share here. :) Up first, good old Gordon B. Hinckley: "I am satisfied, I know it is so, that whenever a man has a true witness in his heart of the living reality of the Lord Jesus Christ, all else will come together as it should..." This quote stuck out so much because it goes along perfectly with trust. If we have a true witness of our Savior, then trusting things to line up becomes simple; just as a greater measure of trust adds to one's witness of Christ. Hmmm... I can't find the second quote. It was by Vaughn J. Featherstone I think. Ah well, I read some other good stuff while searching for it and now it's time to go to bed. More later.

-Britt

A New Year, a new word...

So I read an awesome article online today that my sister Kristin sent me. I have never loved New Year's resolutions; I always felt like I was just setting myself up for disappointment. I like the fresh perspective Christine Kane offers in using a single word to focus on instead of a list of things you wish you did that is really just overwhelming to think of starting to do them all at once. So... Choosing a word. For me, it was easy. About a month ago I put the word "trust" as the banner on my phone, and I don't think that was coincidence. Trusting life and its experiences, trusting those I come in contact with, trusting myself, trusting God. Some other words popped into my head too, like "strength" and "know," but I think mastering "trust" is what I need to focus on right now, and maybe I can move on to those other ones in the future.

Trust... A year full of trust. I'm looking forward to it. :]

-Britt

And who says looks aren't everything?

So I just stopped at a gas station on my way home. I went in, paid, came back out, and as I was pumping my gas a big white truck pulled up next to my car. I saw the window roll down out of the corner of my eye and looked up to see two guys looking at me. The guy in the passenger seat said, "I'll buy you a house." I was like, "You'll buy me a house, huh?" And he said, "Yeah, you're freaking GORGEOUS! I'd buy you a house..." I smiled, said thank you, and they drove away. Easily made my night... He'd buy me a house. :)

-Britt