Feelin' Awesome!

This week has been fantastic:

You know how I was feeling a bit of shell-shock at seeing my guy friends from freshman year, now that they're back from their missions? That reaction has normalized now, and I'm back to enjoying seeing them again!

My roommate came back from visiting her family! That combined with reconnecting with other friends on campus, I feel much less lost and lonely in the crowd. It's fun having someone who can finish my sentences, read my mind, and just be silly or serious with me. She and I have been pretty tight since freshman year.

It is expected that students will repeat most of the dance classes I've taken (and retaken) over the past year in order to keep working on their technique. I'm a first-timer in my dance class this semester, but today, I felt pretty competent in learning the figures we covered! That's a pretty unusual feeling for me the first time I take a class :)

Since my 4-hour catch-up effort on Monday, I've stayed caught up in my math homework! I'm finally developing the discipline to just sit down, read the book, and get started on homework, even the unpleasant stuff. It seems like an elementary exercise, but when I was in elementary school, I managed to get good grades in spite of procrastinating every assignment and putting in minimal effort. College has been a different story, but that story is changing because I'm changing.

Work has been great! I'm in a student leadership position, and I love being able to teach and work with the new employees. I love feeling productive, and I really enjoy the friendships I'm forming and continuing to develop in my job. It's fulfilling to serve the customers and to be able to pass on my experience to a new semester of workers.

I'm in a clinical phonetics class this semester, and I love it! My teacher is really fun and engaging, and he makes the material understandable. Being a class on the study of speech sounds, we get to play with our articulatory structures (lips, teeth, tongue, palate, larynx, alveolar ridge, etc) and experiment with making sounds different ways. It's fascinating how we produce and shape speech, and I'm learning so much that I can apply to real life. It's great to be geeked out about my major :)

After a LONG (but fun!) evening at work yesterday, I decided to swing by the various dance clubs that meet on campus on Tuesday nights, and I had even more fun there! I danced with some newbies, some old friends, and made more new friends. I spent most of my time in the ballroom club, but ended the night in swing because they were still playing music. Dancing really makes me so happy: moving together with another person, transforming that dynamic energy into something moving, beautiful, and fun to participate in. It takes work, it takes cooperation, it takes forgiveness and flexibility, it requires humility and confidence, and in return, dancing shows me the inspiring possibilities for athleticism, aesthetics, and the increased joy that comes from working with another human being. Dancing is a spiritual (and often, a patience-building) experience for me. My last dance of the night included all those things, and was a great, enjoyable experience. I hope I get to dance with that partner again :)

And, I'm ever-realizing the importance of relying on Heavenly Father in all things. When life is going well, I'm tempted to say, Wow, I must be awesomer than I thought, and I'm tempted to forget God and get lazy. But He is the one who's gotten me this far and always been willing to give me guidance when I ask for it. Everything I am, I owe to Him. My own experiences in life have shown me that when I do the things that God has said will bring me happiness, I am happy! So I believe Him, and continue to follow Him. There are times I'm sad or frustrated, but I trust that as I push through and hold tight to God's words, His promises are fulfilled :) That is what makes life bearable and fantastic. If this is what life is like now, I can't fully imagine the pains nor the heights of joy that lie ahead. Hallelujah for the infinite wisdom, mercy and love of God!