Snowpocalypse

I had always wanted to live in Virginia. The sound of the state name is just so pretty and when you are a little girl, you want things that sound pretty. Of course, that's something that never really changes. When I finally did move to Virginia for graduate school, I learned that the storybooks are true: there really are four seasons in a year! You have Spring, full of flowers and birds and cherry blossoms and so much more. Spring is absolutely beautiful. Then comes Summer. I knew Summer...in Texas you have Summer, Hot, and a short duration of Cool. Summer in Texas can also be called Hotter, depending on with whom you are speaking. In Virginia though, Summer is an enjoyable time that does not stay at 110+ degrees for days or weeks at a time, although it is still quite warm. I miss the Hawaiian summers, but you really learn to appreciate the season when it's sandwiched between Spring and Autumn (or Fall). Oh, Autumn! I absolutely love Autumn. The changing of the leaves, the rain, the bonfires. The pictures of Autumn I always saw in elementary school are real! And not only that, the season actually lasts for 3 months!! Amazing. It's always a toss up on which is my favorite season: Spring or Autumn. But if I absolutely had to choose, Autumn would win out. Which brings us to Winter.

Ah, Winter. "Blow, blow thou winter wind" (William Shakespeare, As You Like It) And this year, it really has been blowing! A typical winter in Northern Virginia is not bad at all. You'll get snow, but now enough to shut down the metropolitan area...especially the malls. There's usually enough to make a decent size snowman, go sledding and have a good snowball fight. If you had to measure, it would probably be between 8-12 inches most years. This year, however, proves to be the exception. Every so many years, Virginia experiences a REALLY good winter; one that can compete with the western states. The last one was 1996. This year is about 2 inches away from beating the winter record, at least it was at about 10 this morning. We got a bit of snow before Christmas. About a week ago we got some more snow, and this last weekend we got just above 2 feet dumped on us. We had all thought that what the news called "Snowmageddon" this last Friday and Saturday was indeed the worst. Saturday afternoon my roommates and I went exploring to see what other life we could find. When we passed people, they had the same look we did, the one that said "we survived." We thought we were out of the red. We were mistaken.

Yesterday afternoon it began to snow softly again. Snowmageddon, or what my friends and I like to call Snowpocalypse, was not over. Rather than this current storm being an aftershock, I think the last weekend was just a warning. The winds are reaching 30 miles per hour, the snow is no longer falling vertical but going horizontal, power has gone for many more people than last time.

Swagbucks.

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/emmalin

This year will be....

....magical. And I'm going to try really REALLY hard to post something up here at least once a month. I'm excited for what adventures await me!

The only 'new year's resolution' I have is to be good :) Not that I'm not good already, just that I want to be better. And for those who are thinking 'that's not a very good new year's resolution' or some variance of that thought, just remember that I worked for FranklinCovey and therefore don't believe in making resolutions once a year, but throughout the years. So a new year's resolution doesn't have the pomp and circumstance for me that most other people put on it.

I promised pictures from Trinidad. I know I'm about half a month late; however, you should find them worth the wait...I certainly did ;) Enjoy the show.

Excuses, excuses!

I lied. I said I would have Trinidad pictures up by Thanksgiving (which means by the end of Thanksgiving weekend of course) and I don't have them up. I can't think of a way to put them up the way I want to...so you'll have to wait just a little bit longer. I'm going to try really REALLY hard this week though, on top of getting ready for an interview, working 6 days from now until New Year's Day, and trying to figure out my life, especially my holiday season life.

Nighttime ramblings.

Dang, I'm really REALLY not good at this whole blogging thing. But somehow I still get followers.....man, you people must really love me! I actually had it on my task list today to update this thing, and still failed. Mostly because it was a C priority, and there were a few B priorities of which I wanted to take care. As it is pretty late (usually it would be a good time for me at 10 pm but I've been actually getting tired early and therefore trying to get to sleep by 10...11 at the latest), I can't update this as much as I had hoped but will still ramble just a little bit while listening to the awesome music off of my sister's blog. She has some pretty good taste in music. And seeing as how we're pretty much twins born six or so years apart, makes sense that we would like the same entertainment to an extent. I'm still not sold on Twilight like she is though.

Oh man, I've had such adventures!! Weddings galore, Especially For Youth (no, I was not a participant!), world traveling. The last several months have been absolutely wonderful. Of course I had my low moments too, but who wants to hear about those?! Besides, the good totally outweighs the bad, as is always the case if you have the right perspective. Anyway, back on topic. The adventures have been grand, and the pictures don't do them justice. Just the same, I will post some pictures of the beautiful places I've been and the beautiful people I have met and visited. I will actually have them posted by Thanksgiving, while I reminisce of the great blessings I have received, particularly this last year, be they grand and adventurous or simple and small.

One quick thought before I go though. I was reading recently in my scriptures when I came across Alma 34. Amulek just finishes teaching us that we should pray unto the Lord in basically everything and everywhere and then tells us "Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you. And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need - I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith" (verse 27 - 28). My roommate used the same scripture in a lesson for family home evening tonight, and it hit me more fully how differently people see things. Studying psychology, and witness testimony and such, I knew that people saw the same thing differently. But for some reason I realized it more tonight. I think it's more what you need to hear is what you see, when it comes to scriptures. My roommate was focusing on how during this time we need to help the homeless and participate in food drives and what not because we've obviously been blessed with everything we need. My jerk reaction was that not all of us are in a position to give those few dollars to Salvation Army or buy food to give to those drives, because some of us are about to eat from our food storage and barely making enough to pay rent and bills each month, with very little left over. But then I thought I was just being sinical. During this time, my thoughts returned to when I was studying this same section of scripture when my mind was focused on the same phrases my roommate was drawing out...the "if ye turn away the needy, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance" (I just noted the "if ye have") and I began to ask: how often do we turn away the needy and hungry and naked? How often do we overlook them when they are roommates and friends because we either can't or don't want to believe that they could be in that state of life, whether they be needy/hungry/naked physically or, almost more importantly, spiritually. It's easy to see those physically in need and I would hope we all help when we can. But do we look to see those who are spiritually in need? Or do we overlook them? If we overlook them, we are as hypocrites and deny our faith.

Almost there.

April showers bring May flower. Here's hoping at least.

I'm glad April is pretty much over! This month has been, well, annoyingly frustrating. And the adventures that are to be had over the next several months can begin :)