Let's Talk About Robyn

This is Robyn, more affectionately known as Robyna. Isn't she beautiful! I met Robyn as a freshman in college, when we just "happened" to be roommates. Oh, what a happy happenstance! The girl is amazing! Here are some reasons why:

1. She is a good listener. (I kept her up until 2 a.m. almost every night the spring/summer we lived together. Oops! :))

2. She loves life!

3. She strives to do what is right and to learn from the experiences she has.

4. She loves musicals! (This is one of the main reasons we're friends ;). One time I was helping her fold her sheets while we were listening to Showtunes and the song Matchmaker from Fiddler on the Roof came on. Needless to say, we were pretty excited :).)

5. She loves people.

6. She doesn't just go to school to get good grades. She really wants to learn. She's a thinker! :)

7. She loves milk and cereal! (I don't think I've ever met someone that loves these two things more! Thanks goes to Robyn for filling up our milk card at the creamery and thereby getting us $1 ice cream!)

8. She goes puddle jumping and loves the rain!

9. She's uplifting.

10. She loves her family.

 AND.....

SHE'S COMING HOME FROM HER MISSION NEXT MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOORAY!!!!

If you can't tell, I <3 this girl.So much.

The Giver

I love this book. And I mean, I LOVE it. I read it several times when I was younger and then decided to read it again earlier this year. I'm so glad I did. I was able to see some things I hadn't seen before and other things I had perhaps seen before gained more significance.

If you haven't read it, you should. Period. But, if you just want a brief summary, here's the Wikipedia article. :) 

Here's some Giver goodness for you <3:

"'Giver,' Jonas suggested, 'you and I don't need to care about the rest of them.' The Giver looked at him with a questioning smile. Jonas hung his head. Of course they needed to care. It was the meaning of everything." (156)

 It's all about love! Jonas left the Community because he loved the people there and wanted more for them. Life is all about love! Jesus Christ atoned for mankind because He loves us. When we have pure motives, we help those around us because we love them. Love makes life meaningful.

"All of it was new to him. After a life of Sameness and predictability, he was awed by the surprises that lay beyond each curve of the road. He slowed the bike again and again to look with wonder at the wildflowers, to enjoy the throaty warble of a new bird nearby, or merely to watch the way the wind shifted the leaves in the trees. During his twelve years in the community, he had never felt such simple moments of exquisite happiness." (172)

"If he had stayed, he would have starved in other ways. He would have lived a life hungry for feelings, for color, for love." (174)

 We are able to know happiness because we know opposition. Those living in the Community never knew the pain that comes from unrequited love because they never loved. Their perfect world never allowed for the growth that comes from experiencing hard things. It didn't provide the richness of life that is available to us because we have the privilege of feeling, of hurting and healing. Isn't life wonderful!

Oh! There's so much more I could and would say about this book if I had the time right now! But for now, I guess I'll have to suffice myself with this. Go read it :)

Rising from the Ashes

Today I went to the Saturday session of my Stake Conference. It was great! President Wood, the Stake President, started his talk with something I really liked. He talked about when the Provo Tabernacle burned down and how everyone was sad. Later, President Monson announced that it was going to be rebuilt as a temple. He compared this to trials we have in our lives. We start out being one way, which isn't necessarily bad, and then the trials come, a.k.a. the fire. We may feel like everything is lost and really struggle for a while. With time though, we can rise out of the ashes of our firey trials and see what we are meant to become after going through them. The Tabernacle was wonderful, but because of the fire it is now on it's way to becoming a temple, one of the holiest places on earth. The hard times we go through can sanctify us and through them we can become who God wants us to be. 

"I believe that everying happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, . . . and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."

-Marilyn Monroe-

What's in a Name?

Hello! I've really wanted to start a blog for quite a while now. I have a friend from my freshman year of college whose blog inspired my desire. I even made a list of things I would blog about once upon a time. I just had one small problem holding me back; what in the world would I call it?

A few weeks ago I decided I was really going to get down to business with this whole blogging thing. I didn't even really care if people were going to read it (It might actually be better if they didn't :)), I just wanted to write what I thought. I thought of a bunch of names, but A LOT of URLs were already taken :'(. Eventually I came up with Just Being is Fun, which comes from this quote by Katharine Hepburn, "I never lose sight of the fact that just being is fun." I wasn't sure if that was what I wanted because although I think having fun is great (I'm a Therapeutic Recreation major) I don't really think life is all about having fun all of the time, so I still didn't make a blog.

School started and I went to my MCom 320 (Communication in Organizational Settings) class and my teacher told us we needed to have a blog for the class. So, here it is! A collection of some things I think about and what I think about them. Enjoy!