Rushing to Press

I have the best job. I get to work with the fantastically witty people of my senior staff (who are occasionally quite snarky, & then I just love them more). I get to edit fascinating articles. I get to be a little bit bossy. There are so many perks to being the managing editor of Insight.

And with all of the brilliant folks that I am lucky to work with, we get to publish the magazine of the BYU Honors Program. It's almost too fun for me to be paid to do it. But I'm not complaining.

Here's a sneak preview of all the goodness that went down—and up—at our cover photoshoot.

staff & friends

the lovely art director Sarah Kay, me, & our ruthless freshman editor, Mike

Happy Halloween!

All of the 50% off sales on candy give me little reason to bake up any treats this week (although America's Test Kitchen has been beguiling me with this killer brownie recipe... it will be posted soon), but this was too sweet not to share with you all.

I know, I know. Kissing pictures. ew. And if we're facebook friends, you've already seen this. Sorry for the redundancy. But I was really proud of this Halloween inspiration, and when you only get to wear something once, you have to post pictures everywhere.

We're supposed to be these two, if you didn't recognize the iconic pose: 

happiness: noun

a : a state of well-being and contentment : joy

b : a pleasurable or satisfying experience 

It's a simple definition for a simple feeling of bliss and contentment--a feeling that I've become rather accustomed to here. There are so many things that I would add to the definition of happiness. Friends, can I tell you a bit more about what defines happiness in my mind?

Happiness is singing hymns on the Sabbath at the Garden Tomb.

Happiness is hiking through fields laden with wildflowers in Galilee.

Happiness is poking jellyfish while collecting seashells and sea glass along the Mediterranean waterside (despite the look of disgust on my face).

Don't worry--it was dead & I only touched the top anyway; I learned my lesson from Finding Nemo.

Happiness is looking out across this beautiful ocean.

Happiness is discovering that your suitcase's handles double as straps & that you must have been a Sherpa in a previous life. 

This was even more impressive when I was carrying my backpack in front of me & holding the bus doc bag.

Happiness is blue skies smiling down on fields of gold.

Happiness is climbing trees in Chorazin.

Look how color coordinated we are!

Happiness is hiking with the little ones.

Cam has such a way with children.

Happiness is poppies and pillars.

Happiness is castles in a storm & Catholic saints spangled with the light of stained glass windows.

Happiness is playing April Fools jokes on/with your best friends.

Sorry boys, Carrie & I couldn't resist. Neither could the dozen people that called both of you. :)

Happiness is wind blowing through your hair under an ancient Roman arch & not even caring because you're under an ancient Roman arch along the Mediterranean. 

But perhaps the key to the blissful feeling I have on this lovely Sunday morning in Jerusalem: Happiness is staying up until 1 a.m. to watch General Conference, streaming live from Salt Lake City. 

 

If you're looking for something uplifting to do this weekend, I suggest you tune in for some prophetic messages of hope, faith, and happiness. What could be better than listening to wise words about our Saviors love and the importance of the family?

Not much. 

Except for maybe wandering around here afterwords:

Life is Beautiful

I find myself saying this a lot. I know, I know, it's very cliché, but it expresses my sentiments very well. I don't mean to say that life is always rosy or that every day is happy. That's not it at all. I think we learn to take the good with the bad, the joy with the sorrow, the laughter with the tears. Opposition in all things. But I feel like that balance of positive and negative is really crucial. It always seems like the little things that I probably wouldn't even think about are just absolutely wonderful when I'm dealing with something not-so-beautiful.

There are so many kinds of beautiful. There's the natural beauty of a tree, the human beauty of a pretty face, the pure beauty of a newborn baby, the affecting beauty of a piece of art, the beauty in the movement of a dancer. And then there's a sort of heart wrenching beauty of something so sweet, so perfect, and so amazing that you want to somehow be connected with it, to reach out and touch it, so see if you could somehow affect such beauty. I've been thinking a lot lately about what makes something lovely and why we all like such different things. What would the world be like if we all liked the same things? Boring? Perfect? Peaceful? Contentious?

So, this post doesn't really have a purpose or any deep meaning, it's just me rambling a bit. But on occasion I like to fling my ramblings out into the void, just to see if they come back or hit anyone along the way. *fling!*

My Mama Told Me...

"You can either laugh or cry." Here's my pro-laughter list:

-crying makes my eyes itchy and red.

-crying also makes my nose run.

-laughing is good for your heart.

-laughter is contagious, in a good kind of way that brightens everyone's day and occasionally incapacitates those around you in brief moments of pure hilarity.

-laughter burns calories.

-therefore, laughter allows me to eat more cookies/brownies/batter thereof.

I choose to laugh.

Floating

I've had quite a few comments on my "Going Under?" post, both on facebook & on my blog, so I wanted to write a follow up on a slightly brighter note, although I did not mean that post to seem melancholy.(if you're a facebook follower, please check out the real deal - rush-slowly.blogspot.com).

I loved reading all of your comments, and I am so glad that I have so many awesome friends, but I just wanted to give a little clarification: I'm really incredibly happy! A few of you seemed a bit worried about me - don't be. Life is good. In fact, life is GREAT. Life is crazy, insane, busy, and slightly sleep deprived, but I'm having the time of my life. *hums that great song from the soundtrack of original Dirty Dancing - my mom still has that tape stashed under her bed*

Keep your smile. There is something beautiful in every single day, some days you just have to look for it. Today isn't one of those days for me. Today was one of those mornings when you just wake up happy and things only get better.

Here is my list of top ten reasons for being deliciously happy:
1- I have great room mates. They love me a lot. We have a great quote wall of endless joy and amusement.

2- I love my classes, even if they keep me up studying past midnight. I think I have the most interesting/amazing/fascinating/cool/random/useful, yes useful! major ever. I could keep slashing for ages, but I'll restrain. I've decided that when people ask me what I'm going to do with a Major in Humanities w/ English Emph. & a Minor in Editing, I'll say, "I'm going to be awesome, brilliantly knowledgeable, teach my children to love the arts, and be totally content." If they ask me how I want to make money, well, that's just entirely different. (& I know a few answers to that question too.)

3- I recently discovered that you can fit 4 roommates into one XL Monopoly shirt. 4 roomies + one shirt + a lotta love = best midnight photoshoot EVER!

Sadly, Jess was asleep. :(

4-The sky is a gorgeous shade of blue and the leaves are gorgeous in their yellow and red glory.

5- I have a Savior who loves me and cares for me individually, who answers prayers and comforts me, whether I'm bothered by grades, illness, sadness, silly boy crap, or worrying about my family. Doesn't matter. He is always there for me, I just have to let Him in.

6- I celebrated my Halloween with my best friends as almost the entire cast of Peter Pan & Jason Bourne/James Bond, 'cause famous literary characters like ourselves need someone with two itty bitty toy handguns to protect us.Jas. Hook(Jason), Smee(Sae), Peter Pan(Carrie), Tiger Lily(Jess), & Wendy(me!) -
Not pictured - Bodyguard/Jason Bourne/James Bond (Michael)

7- There is a BYU Hockey game tonight versus the evil university of utah. (so bad it doesn't even deserve proper noun status)

8- I have goodly parents who love me so much it's ridiculous.

9- I slept in this morning. yum.

10- YOU! You make me deliciously happy because you are reading my blog!

Have an absolutely glorious day!

(I think I'm going to go buy the soundtrack from Dirty Dancing now - rockin' awesome combination of eighties slow jams and sixties pop. So good.)