To Be A Leader

Hey everyone, so I'm not in the mood to go to bed, though it is late and I definitely should. I'm just full of hopes, goals, and dreams right now, and since it is too late to call Mom and gush, I'm doing it here. Sometimes I just need to talk and get it off my chest, but if I talk to someone in person (like a roommate) I just feel cheesy, and it's a lot easier to feel cheese-free when I'm writing on here.

I have so many things I want to do in my life...it feels like I will run out of time to do them all! I want to get married and have a family, but I want more than that. I want to leave this world knowing that my life, and the life of my future family, made a difference in the world. I know that being a good mother is a wonderful and meaningful life--I do believe that motherhood is the most important calling I could have. But, I also believe that I can do more than that, and I can teach my children to be more than that too. During my senior year of high school I did a project on extreme poverty throughout the world. It is very real. Suffering is real. As I did that research, I really felt the drive and desire to change the life of at least one person in those circumstances. To give them a chance to help themselves, to not feel hungry or cold, to have the comfort of knowing their child can actually have a better life than they had. And then there is this class here in the College of Engineering that I want to take so bad. For a year you work on teams of engineers (of all kinds) to design things that are needed in poverty-stricken areas of Peru, Tonga, or Ghana. They've done projects like installing bio-filter toilets for sanitation, economical ways to convert coconut oil to diesel fuel, and installing plumbing. I want to do that soo bad! What worth will my knowledge have if I don't DO anything with it? I mean, really. Who cares about some gas company in CA, when these people can't even get clean water?

Tonight I saw The Blind Side. That woman is a doer. She is somebody who sees a need, and fills it. She has made a life for herself that has put her in a place so that she can do something. I want to be like her. It's not quite my nature to be all crazy proactive, but I need to be. I want to be. I want to not waste my time, I want to really work at school. I want to become a doer. I will have to if I want to make a difference.

So, first thing on my list to do to make a difference: I'm going on a mission. It's pretty much decided. I've been thinking about it since the beginning of December. Things happened, God showed me things, uncommon things, just so .... well, I know I need to go. It's at a time in my life when a lot of things happen. I'm giving up school, friends, and family for 18 months. But giving 18 months of my life to God isn't much. And I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and the most important thing I can do right now in my life is to share that with others. It will help teach me selflessness and responsibility, which will definitely help in my goals of changing the world. So for all of you that didn't know. :) Now you do.

If we all just broke out of the bubble of our own little lives, think of what we could do! I am determined. :) Let's do it guys.

Summer's coming!

So, I finally have some of the pictures from the Festival of Colors! I swear, we looked more colored in person. :) It was a ton of fun, good memories!
Here's the group! The girl kneeling on the bottom (Liz), the girl with the crazy bright blonde hair (Tasia), and the girl second from the right (Kim) are some future roommates! It'll be great. :)

The Hindu Gods are so stern! We thought we'd go with that theme...

Um, look at the mountains. Another great thing about Provo.

This has been finals week, and it's been nice to get to go home and NOT go to class. :) Of course there is studying, but there is also lounging. This is a pretty common scenario with Amanda, Jen, and I...and notice that they are both lounging on me (also, pretty common):

Summer will be official in four days! It'll be great...warmth, the sun, swimming, no school.... :)

Starting New

Hey everyone,

So I'm actually changing my blog to this one: www.maryataglance.blogspot.com. This is just because of weird email/logging in annoyances. I've been wanting to do this for a while, so it's finally done! Yes! :)

Anyhow, sorry about the pain. But I won't be using this one at all anymore.

Chuck

So, I'm just in the mood to write something, and the thing I am most passionate about right now(which is kinda pathetic as you will soon see) is Chuck. Before you get excited, this is a fictional character. Haha, I know a couple of you were getting a bit too excited as usual. :) This Chuck is Chuck Bartowski, aka Agent Carmichael. That show is sweet! The characters are funny, weird, quirky, and for the most part dang good lookin'. Well, the episode tonight was exciting like always, and ended like always....freaking me out! Seriously tv people!? Can't you leave me one night feeling happy and content about the ending of the episode, looking forward to next Monday? No. NO, you have to have me freaking out that Sarah Walker is about to be meet her DOOM. And thus causing Chuck to be heartbroken and commit suicide, and then Cpt. Awesome will have to explain everything to Ellie and they'll be stuck in the Witness Protection Program for the rest of their lives, and Casey will be unsatisfied as a meager citizen, and Morgan will be stuck as a loser at the Buy More FOREVER. Thanks tv guys. Really, thanks.

Actually, I love the show, and it's great. :) So, I don't expect you to understand, unless you watch it obviously. Amanda (my roomie) does at least, so she'll appreciate it.

Here are some good quotes:

Chuck: Morgan this is a bad idea.

Morgan: Well, we can't stay here Chuck.

Chuck: I'm uncomfortable with the plan.

Morgan: Plan? What plan? This is survival. (After hearing knocking at the door) That's her. We've been comprimised. I'm a ghost.

Chuck: Morgan, you can't leave me like this. You can't do this to me, man.

(Ellie walks in and turns on the light.)

Ellie: Chuck, what are you doing?

Chuck: Uh, escaping.

Ellie: From your own birthday party?

And another good one:

Morgan: Chuck, we have an emergency. We need to talk.

Chuck: I'm on the phone.

Morgan: Shhh, not here, not here, there are spies at the Buy More.

Chuck: (hangs up phone) Spies, really?

Morgan: Yeah, Tang's minions, they're everywhere! He's like the dark lord Sauron from Lord of the Rings. Only instead of the ring of power he's taken over control of the assistant managership.

Chuck: Yeah, from me, thanks for the reminder.

Morgan: You got it man. Look, we need your help Chuck.

Chuck: Me, what am I supposed to do? I'm just....

Morgan: One small hobbit? So thought Frodo Baggins, my friend, so thought Frodo Baggins!

And sorry, a couple more....Amanda (my roomie) will enjoy them.

Chuck: (pointing a gun at Casey) I know what I'm doing.

Casey: You have no idea. You're entering a world of pain, Chuck.

Chuck: I want this Intersect out of my head. Are you going to help me or not?

Casey: You gotta be...is that a tranq gun? You don't even have the common courtesy to threaten me with an actual firearm!

(after having food delivered to the car)

Casey: The idea behind a stakeout is to remain inconspicuous, you moron.

Chuck: Uh, hello? That's why I used an alias.

Just Thoughts About Life in General

First off, there are less than three weeks until finals! I would say "finally" but honestly, the semester has flown by. Looking back over the last few months, this semester has been really good. I've enjoyed pretty much all of my classes, even calculus honestly hasn't been horrible. It's been a lot of work, and so when I finally understand something it feels great. I like the satisfaction of working to understand something difficult and then actually getting it. Also, this is the semester that I've finally felt that Chemical Engineering is really what I want to do. I enjoy the material, and I think I'll really enjoy the challenge. This semester I've also been involved in my building/ward's dinner group. It's been great! The food is usually good, you get a real meal without any cooking 7 out of 8 days, and you get to actually sit down and eat with friends. I've quite enjoyed it. :)

So, a random thing: the other day when I was sitting in my calculus lecture, I was just thinking about how much I really do not like math, and how much the teacher truly enjoyed it. My sub was clearly having a nice time, and my usual professor is always bouncing around (literally) from her excitement of the "great problem!" :) Well, it occurred to me that since math is a good thing (it has helped in countless processes and solved many problems in our society) and there actually are people that think it's fun, then our Heavenly Father probably likes math too. I've just never thought about that before. He knows everything there is to know about math, and since it is a good thing, He probably likes it. It then made me think that throughout eternity, I'm going to have to learn everything there is to know about math. I mean, I thought I was done with math classes after next year, but really, I'll be doing math for eternity! ....Forever! I suppose I'll learn to like it, especially as my understanding of what I can do with it increases I probably won't mind it. But what a thing to realize in the middle of a never-ending calculus lecture when you're just looking forward to the end of that class! Well, later that day I was listening to some of my favorite movie soundtracks, when I realized that I would also get to study music for the rest of eternity. And since I get to do the good stuff forever, I figured I can deal with the math. :)

And on the plus side: I can leave my apartment without a coat at any time of the day, and I won't die of hypothermia! It's been really nice and balmy lately; I can't wait for summer in Provo. Warmth, fun, no school, game nights, tennis, basketball, friends. It'll be a blast!

YESSSSSSS!!

Finally. FINALLY! :) I have decided that I love chemical engineering, and it is definitely for me. Right now I'm doing a group project where we are building a car that is powered by a controlled chemical reaction. I really am enjoying it; it's so much fun! It's nice to be able to work as a team, cause you all can contribute and help each other. Plus, homework is always better with other people. I predicted correctly, and the math doesn't really bother me since there is a purpose to it. In a way I like that we have to do it, and that the problem is complicated enough we need to. And we get to do chemistry too, which is always interesting. :) I am happy tonight. It's such a relief to know for sure that you picked the right path for your future. It's about time!

Lookin' Hot...Granny Style!

So, Friday night Amanda, Raven, and I went to Savers (basically a Salvation Army). While browsing, we came across the most amazing dresses ever! They are so horrid. :) Well, we thought it would be great to get one for each of us (and Olive) to wear to church. ...Yes, we actually did do this. It was fun, though my dress was pretty much completely made of polyester, so a bit uncomfortable. And the top is short and the skirt kept falling down, which was dang annoying!

Haha, so yes, I do realize I am not good at posing as an old lady...but it was the best I could do! For some reason the crippled hands just seemed to fit.


Meet Phil. Phil is this grotesquely ugly chair. Amanda and I bought him for only $13! And he is quite comfortable. We named him Phil and have become pretty attached to him. :) Phil looks especially good with Amanda sitting in his lap in that old dress!!