Because I'm a woman.

Because I'm a woman, I love:

1. painting my nails.
2. talking about my emotions.
3. watching nineteenth century flicks.
4. hearing/making babies laugh.
5. crying.
6. laughing until I hurt.
7. pinterest.
8. being sensitive to my surroundings.
10. making chocolate cake.
11. feeling tender.
12. creating things with my hands.
13. my mother, my grandmothers, and my great grandmothers.
14. being told I'm beautiful.
15. giving and feeling all kinds of love.

{I know a lot of these also apply to men too. But right now, each of them remind me of the woman that I am.}

Making Words Meaningful.

As a journalism major, editing minor, and lover of the English language for my entire life, I often find myself having a keener eye for writing and a more attentive ear for speech than many people. While I admit that my own speech and writing are far from perfect, I do tend to notice and care about things related to language that many people don't. Lately, I've been thinking about how I can make both my speech and my writing more meaningful.

Meaningful language doesn't mean being more wordy. It doesn't necessarily mean speaking and writing more simply, either (although I tend to think that using less words is preferable). To me, meaningful language means thinking more about what words come out of your mouth and onto a paper. It means avoiding "vain repetitions." It means using the correct punctuation in the correct places. It means ridding your speech of hurtful, crass, or pointless words. It means asking the right questions. It means listening. It means putting a little more effort into your thoughts, speech, and writing.

Recently I read an article on the Huffington Post about how to ask the right questions in our human relationships. Instead of saying, "how was your day?", you should ask more specific questions. Say, "how did you feel about your test?" or "did you have any challenges to overcome at work?" or "what was one random moment when you were happy today?" Ask questions that dig for emotion, because after all, talking and listening is how we create a meaningful connection with each other. Life is so short, so why put a little more effort into making our communication as meaningful and genuine as we can? 

Just a little thought for today.

Let it sink in.

Thoughts on Womanhood & Mary.

In the last week, I've managed to end up at temple square three times--a treat I've never experienced so frequently during the Christmas season. Each time I visited, I was reminded of the nativity story and of Jesus Christ.

I mean, how could you not be touched by this display? 

As I've gone through my stressful, crazy last week of classes, I've pondered some about the powerful influence of Mary on her son, the beliefs of Christianity, and on the entire world. Of all the mothers and women in this world, I think Mary is one of the most powerful.

Bruce R. McConkie said:
"In my judgement, Mary is one of the greatest women who has ever lived on earth; the spirit daughter of God our Father, she was chosen to provide a body for his son, who was to be born after the manner of the flesh...I think we see Mary as a pattern of piety and submission to the will of the Lord which is the perfect example for all our women." (see here)

Isn't that powerful? And if that weren't enough, today during church, I came across this scripture:

"But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." 

(Luke 2:19) 

I love this scripture. It's probably one of my favorite verses in the nativity story--and maybe even in all of scripture. Mary, bearer and mother of the Lord, gave up everything she had to submit to the Lord's will. And not only that, but as she raised Christ, the Savior of the world. As she watched Him grow, she observed his wondrous qualities and pondered them in her heart. I see this quality as being very admirable: the ability to see amazing and wondrous things in her child, and to ponder them in her heart. She didn't shout from the rooftops about how she was raising the Savior of the world. She didn't try to brag about her son. She simply taught and observed Him, and knew that he was meant for great things. 

Even though I'm not a mother yet, and I likely won't be for quite awhile, I look to Mary as an example of pure love, dedication, obedience, kindness, and submission. I think of all the influential mothers and women I know, and I think Mary must have been a lot like them. When I become a mother, I hope and pray that I can be even just a little bit like her. 

 Sister Julie B. Beck said: 

"Latter-day Saint women should understand that no matter how many other people they enlist to help them with their home and children, they cannot delegate their role as the primary nurturer and teacher of their families. Righteous motherhood will always stretch every reserve they have to meet the needs of their families. As a daughter of God who has made covenants with Him, each of you carries the vital and indispensable female half of the responsibility for fulfilling the Lord's plan." 

I know a lot of girls who think women are suppressed within this church. But as I look at the example of Mary and read the words of Sister Beck, I can't help but think about how much power and influence we do have. Like she said, we carry the female half of the Lord's plan and he's counting on us to do our part. 

So on this December Sabbath day, I'm thankful for Mary and for inspired church leaders. I'm thankful for the ability to ponder on her example and their words. And most of all, I'm thankful for Jesus Christ and for the role that I know I play in His church. 

Merry Christmas, everyone. 

my thanksgiving break goals

include...

sleep. a lot.
eat my body weight in mom's homemade mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, rolls, and pie.
catch up on new girl, modern family, and parks and rec.
play my piano.
sleep in.
listen to lots of christmas music.
spend lots of time with the nieces and nephews.
sleep.
raid my parent's pantry.
play ticket to ride (at least 10 times).
beat spencer & rachel at ticket to ride.
get my family to play whacky 6 for the first time.
watch catching fire.
take a nap. or two. or three.
have good convos with the sibs and parents.
eat pie for breakfast.
finish making my book with pictures from europe.
sleep some more.
eat some more.

and NOT do homework. #suckitprofessors 

clearly, i'm a very ambitious person.

What I love.

(I don't post this to insult any of my friends, I just found it funny.)

Although I'm not one to post something I'm grateful for on Facebook every day in the month of November, today I had several random thoughts about things I love in my life:

Sunny November days

Gas station hot chocolate 

Laughing at Spencer and Chloe's ridiculous relationship (see here) 

Late night trips to Sonic (fat.)
Clean laundry

Writing intriguing news stories (stay tuned for a good one this week) 

Listening to Clair De Lune

New Girl
The recent discovery of We Bought a Zoo

Fruit loops (again, fat) 

The discovery of this song.

And lastly...

I'm thankful that I randomly ran into my good friend Patti Sadler today. She goes into the MTC TOMORROW and just happened to be on campus for a little bit. I was walking to the newsroom when she and I crossed paths at the perfect moment. I don't doubt that there was divine intervention in our running into each other. I had just been thinking that I was sad I never got to say goodbye, and then there she was. It was perfect. 

So thank you, Heavenly Father, for the simple delights that you put in my life daily.
I promise that they do not go un-pondered by this girl. 

Feeling homesick.

After a very busy and exhausting Monday, I sat down to get on Facebook for a few minutes today. Which turned into half an hour of looking at my pictures from Europe. And then my heart began to miss the streets of Ireland, Wales, England, and Scotland more than ever.

It's that kind of missing that you feel when your sister moves to Pittsburgh for 3 years. Or when your best friend leaves on a mission for 18 months. Or even when your sweet grandma passes away after a life of dedication.

I knew I loved those streets while I was there, but I never realized how much I would look back on my days spent there and yearn for them. I miss talking with old Irish men about their childhoods, I miss seeing eternal green rolling hills, I miss singing hymns with the African sisters in my London ward, I miss visiting the places I'd dreamt about my whole life.

What I'm getting at is that I think left a piece of my heart in the UK. I would always say that while I was there, but I think it really is true. There is a piece of my heart that will forever cherish the memories of walking through the streets of Paris eating a crepe, sitting in the park near St. Paul's cathedral and talking with my girls, dressing up at Jane Austen's house, and going to church in Scotland. 

I think one of my biggest challenges is learning to live in the moment--not focusing too much on the past on the past or the future and just enjoying the present. Because in reality, my life is good. Reaaaal good. I have so much to be thankful for and I truly am. But that doesn't change the fact that a piece of my heart stayed in the UK, and will likely stay there, forever. 

{big ben}

{jane austen's house}

{hampton court}

{stonehenge}

{the cliffs of moher}

{eiffel tower}

Dear men of BYU

My ride: "Alissa, did you serve a mission?"

Me: "No."

My ride: "Well are you going to serve a mission?"

Me: "No."
My ride: "Well are you getting married?"
Me: "No."

My ride: *laughs*, and then says, "Well what are you doing with your life?"

Hey, buddy. You may only have been home from your mission for 4 weeks, but I would expect you to know those probably aren't the questions you should be asking in a "getting-to-know-you" situation with a stranger. 

Don't get me wrong, I whole-heartedly respect and support missionaries. I have a strong testimony of missionary work and I do my best to be a member missionary, but you're missing the point. 

Here's the thing that 95% of you can't seem to understand: 

Missions aren't right for everyone.

Marriage isn't the only reason girls don't go on missions. 

It's not because we're any less spiritual. 

Some of us are just happy where we're at. 

We don't feel a pull to serve a mission because that's not always part of our role as women in this church.

So what am I doing with my life?

I'm living the gospel, educating myself, working hard, preparing for my future, and trying to weed out inconsiderate dweebs like you from my dating life. 

Progress.

There are times in my life where I know without a doubt that I have the spirit as my companion. 

It's a pretty amazing experience to know that you have the spirit with you and that it's guiding your thoughts, feelings, and actions. It makes life feel easier and it makes you feel stronger. I don't know how it works, but it does. Last week could have been a rough week, but instead I prayed for the spirit to be in my heart and make me stronger than I could be on my own. And then so many amazing things happened that made it the best week I've had in a very long time. 

What happened? Well, I felt complete spiritual confirmation that I am exactly where I am supposed to be right now. I'm not supposed to be on a mission, I'm supposed to be here in Provo. The spirit helped me realize that I was supposed to go on my study abroad, and my professor, Brother Gardner, was supposed to as well. We were supposed to meet, and he is now a major tool in helping me get where I want to go in life. I met with him last week and he was so eager to help me turn my dreams of working at church magazines into a reality. I left his office that day so full of excitement and feeling overwhelmed with the spirit. 

Similarly, I really feel like the spirit prompted me to write the story that I did for The Universe. One day, a guy I work with off-handedly mentioned to me that his wife's grandma had been to every BYU football game for the last 40 years. I thought that would be an awesome story, so I mentioned the idea to my editors. I ended up interviewing her and hearing her life story--which was entirely amazing. It was refining for me just to talk with her and hear about her life's struggles, her joys, and her accomplishments. She truly is an angel and I felt so uplifted after talking with her. 

Today, the article was published on the front page of BYU's newspaper and I had the privilege of bringing copies of the newspaper to her home. As she read the headline (92-year-old BYU fan still "loyal, strong and true") she smiled brightly and said, "That's just who I am!" I talked with her and her daughter for a little bit and they were overjoyed to see that their story was on the front page. I was already happy to be published, but seeing how happy they were about it completely made my happiness overflow. The reward of coming up with a story, interviewing her, writing it, and seeing it published is wonderful; but knowing that I helped a 92-year-old lady get the recognition she deserves and see her so happy was even better. 

I think a little bit of her heart and my heart went into that article. I needed to hear her story, and it needed to be told. I am just happy that I was privileged enough to be the one to tell it. 

Moral of the story: Heavenly Father is involved in every aspect of our lives, even especially when we don't realize it. Once we do realize his mighty influence, life is suddenly extra powerful and rewarding.