Do you ever have those days that feel like the best days of your life?

I had one of those days yesterday. Let me tell you about it.

It started in the morning. I was planning on waking up at 6:37, for work. I actually woke up at 6:18, which meant I had time to eat breakfast and make my bed and clean my room and read some of The Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball (that's the book I am currently reading; I'm only on page twenty, but it's already brilliant). It was a great start to my day.

Work was nice for a number of reasons. I only had a four hour shift, which is unusual, but nice. And I left at eleven, which meant I got to leave before any sort of lunch rush came in. I just went in, did a bunch of production (which I really enjoy) and then left. It was brilliant. Best shift ever.

When I got home, I was able to go running, take a shower, and then I accidentally took like a four hour nap.It was a nice nap, even if it was accidental.

When I woke up, I had the best letter I have ever gotten waiting for me. It was a beautiful letter, it even made me cry (but the good kind of crying). It was actually a dream come true for me.

I then went with Kwinn and Jon to Zac's play. We sat with his family (our cousins) and it was just hilarious. So funny. And Zac did such a good job, it's unbelievable. While I was sitting in Zac's play, I got an email on my phone telling me that a decision had been reached about my BYU application. In order to view the decision, however, I had to go sign in to a different page. I couldn't remember my password, so I had to wait all the way until I got home, which nearly killed me. But I made it.

This is what I found when I finally made it home.


Dear Charly:

Congratulations! You have been admitted to Brigham Young University to begin Spring 2013. Through your preparation and personal achievements, you have distinguished yourself from a very strong group of applicants. We believe you will make a positive contribution to the BYU community. It is a great pleasure to welcome you to our campus to pursue your educational goals. To be eligible to continue to future semesters, you must register for and complete this semester or term.

To secure your admission, it is essential for you to read the Frequently Asked Questions located at the link below and follow the instructions in question no. 1. The FAQ will also provide you with important information regarding scholarships, housing, financial aid, etc.

We encourage you to maintain the standards outlined in the University Honor Code, and we look forward to having you on campus.

Warmest regards,

R. Kirk Strong
Director of Admission Services

I am SO happy. So happy. Oh my word, so happy.

We went to Macey's, after I discovered that I got into BYU. We visited my friend Tayler there. She is so awesome and I love her. This is her last week at Macey's because she got a new job. I'm a little sad, but I think I"ll actually be able to see her more now, which is so great. And she loves her new job; I am so happy for her.

Jon and I have been planning for forever to read the BOM in 24 hours. Apparently it can be done in 22, but I'm not really sure how. We started it at 10:30 last night. By 2:30, we had fallen asleep; after four hours, we were only on page 74. Maybe you have to read it silently? But anyways, it was a fun night with Jon. I'm glad we tried and I know we'll try again sometime. I love my brother more than anyone could possibly know. It was such a great night, with him.

That was it. I feel so blessed, it's ridiculous sometimes.
But ridiculous in a good way.

Content.

Remember how I do that thing, looking back to a year ago to see what I was doing? A lot of times, that ends in either, I am so glad that I am not going through that right now, or a I wish that's what my life was right now.

Today, I'm doing that. I am looking back to where I was in February last year, and the year before, and the year before that. And you know what?

I am indifferent, looking back. I don't wish I was there, I am not glad it's over. I am just so ... content right now. No, actually, more than content. Today is the kind of day to look back and see the Lord in the details of m life. No one else could have orchestrated it so perfectly. I am so glad, though, that I am where I am at, today. I can look back and see both the good and bad times in my life, and I know that the future holds that as well. I still want to continue to grow and become a better person, and I am so excited for everything I am going to do. But today, I am ... content. All the way through my heart and out my fingertips.

Right now, I am facing a choice. I big choice. I hate that usually, but let me tell you, I have never been happier to be facing a decision as I am right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_LOOKssMpA&NR=1&feature=endscreen
This song doesn't fit the mood of my post, exactly, but I really like it. Sad songs are the prettiest.

P.S. I finished my book, story thing. I am so excited!

Just some life thoughts.

I love this song. Like, I can't stop listening to it. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BukPc7ip4Ws

I've been reading a lot lately. I really like it. Words are so beautiful. I'm thinking of changing my major ... I might want to be an editor for a publisher. Deseret Book, maybe? Well, I am about half way through Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451, yeah him), it's so good. It is the kind of good that makes you want to laugh and cry and take pictures, all at the same time. My favorite line so far is "Cutting grass and pulling weeds can be a way of life." I thought that was beautiful. I also am in the middle of The Abolition of Man, by C.S. Lewis. If you've never read anything by him, I would highly recommend it. It doesn't matter what, just read him (but especially The Screwtape Letters or The Great Divorce, so good). But anyways, The Abolition of Man, it's really good, but hard. I mostly don't understand what he's talking about, but the stuff I do understand is brilliant and the stuff I don't understand is beautiful. Here's an excerpt. 

For every one pupil who needs to be guarded from a weak excess of sensibility there are three who need to be awakened from the slumber of cold vulgarity. The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts. The right defense against false sentiments is to inculcate just sentiments. By starving the sensibility of our students we only make them easier prey to the propagandist when he comes. For famished nature will be avenged and a hard heart is no infallible protection against a weak heart. 

And another. 

We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful. 

Last one, I promise. It's my favorite part of the book so far, actually. 

I do not mean, of course, that he will make any conscious inference from what he reads to a general philosophical theory that all values are subjective and trivial. The very power of Gaius and Titius depends on the fact that they are dealing with a boy: a boy who thinks he is 'doing' his 'English prep' and has no notion that ethics, theology, and politics are all at stake. It is not a theory they put in his mind, but an assumption, which ten years hence, its origin forgotten and its presence unconscious, will condition him to take one side in a controversy which he has never recognized as a controversy at all. The authors themselves, I suspect, hardly know what they are doing to the boy, and he cannot know what is being done to him.  

So that happened. I am in such a ... reflective, almost hippie mood. I wish life wasn't so ... full of hard choices. I wish I knew what I was supposed to do, so that I could just do it. It still might be hard to do it, but at least then I would know what to do. All this not knowing is scaring me to death and I mostly hate it. 

I just have to share this last thing, even though it doesn't match anything in this post. Sorry, this is a random one. Mostly, I wrote this because I was too lazy to actually write out a journal entry for today. 

So yesterday at dance, we were doing our set dance in hard shoe alone, so we could hear what our sounds were like, etc. As I stood there, watching everyone else dance, I was blown away by how talented all the girls in my class are. It almost brought me to tears, as well, watching them and how good they were at their respective part. In some steps, one girl would be really good at the back clicks, or had such good sounds or was spot on with the music or I could go on and on. The point is, none of us did the step perfectly. We all did well, but none of us were perfect at it. But we all had parts of it that we did better than anyone else in the class. And it just made me wonder if that's how God feels, watching us in life (being a dance teacher has given me a lot of opportunities to wonder that; I'm sure I'll get even more when I'm a mother). None of is perfect at living life, but when one of us messes up or gets off the music or don't turn out our feet, He doesn't think, wow, she's a terrible dancer, why is she even here? Nope. After he tells us, wow you did SUCH a good job of hitting your back clicks. Make sure, though, to fix this part of the dance because you got a little off there. 

I just love how much Heavenly Father loves us, even when we make mistakes and even when we make the same mistakes over and over again. It again makes me think of dance. Being a teacher is so interesting, because I have watched my girls dance so much that I could tell you before they even do their step or leap 23's or whatever exactly what they will do well at during it and what they need to fix. I can tell you that I will have Molly fix her turn out, I will tell Bella to slow down her leaps, and I'll tell Fiona to straighten her front leg. But I can tell you that Molly always kicks her butt, never once misses it; Bella puts all her energy into getting higher leaps, every time; Fiona has the most beautiful, turned out feet on every leap. Just because they aren't perfect at leaps doesn't mean they aren't brilliant dancers and just because they keep making the mistakes, every week, that doesn't mean I don't love them with all my heart. Because I do. And it's so wonderful when I can see improvement, when I can tell they went home practiced that week. There is no better feeling as a teacher than to watch your student struggle with something and then one day, get it. Even if it's not perfect, that doesn't matter. Perfect has nothing to do with it. I love that dance helps me understand how Heavenly Father can love me even when I come to Him everyday and say, look, I messed up again, I am so sorry. But tomorrow, I will be better. And then the next day happens, and I have to say the exact same thing. I know He never gets tired of it, because He loves me and just wants to help me. And I know that when I make progress, even just a little bit, it makes Him happy. 

Isn't life just brilliant sometimes?