What Comes After

That's the question I'm asking myself right now. I'm graduating from college (finally!) in May, and I don't really have a plan for after. I have a broad, this-is-what-I'd-like-to-do idea, but for the first time in my life, I'm really not sure where I'm going to be in six months. Oh, there have been periods of a few months when I was at loose ends, but this time I'm looking at a big, fat question mark right over the part of my future labeled "the rest of your life".

People keep asking me, "Asian Studies? What are you going to do with that?" I'm rather sick of that question, to be honest. I understand why people ask it - who really knows an Asian Studies major, after all? - but it's annoying when I don't know myself. And then there are those who have a thin, polite veneer over their "What a useless degree!" faces when they ask it, which is even more annoying.

The only real, concrete goal I've ever had for my life is unattainable at the moment. I'm working toward it, but it's not something I can achieve on my own. In the meantime, I have to do something with my life. I have a feeling my parents aren't that anxious to let me live at home while I spend my days watching dramas and waiting for "someday". I can't say that I'm that anxious to do that, either.





[Source]: Photo by Macarena C. here on flickr, with these restrictions

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

This was me, 25 Christmases ago.

I'm hoooooooome!

Not jiggity jig, though. Stephen and I left Logan Saturday morning (after pulling a late night doing laundry, packing, and cleaning) with my cousin and his wife. We stayed the weekend at my aunt and uncle's house and had a fun time visiting with the cousins we don't get to see as often. I also got to go to church with my trainer - she goes to the Korean magnet ward in SLC, and so we went to Sunday School in Korean. I was thrilled to realize that I could follow the lesson on the book of Revelation; there were only about twelve words that I didn't know. Radically different from when I used to go to church in Korean, whew! My mission president and his wife only live about a half-mile from my aunt and uncle, so I was able to go over there Sunday evening and have a nice chat with them, too. All in all, a good weekend.

Monday morning we woke up long before the crack of dawn to go to the airport and catch our 7:10am flight. Everything went smoothly until we were on the approach to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where our flight was scheduled to land before we got off in Houston to catch our flight to Nashville. We made the approach, but weren't able to land because visibility was so bad. They rerouted us into El Paso, where they had us switch planes to a flight going from El Paso to Nashville, while our first flight flew back to Albuquerque. Thankfully, that meant that we didn't have a layover and landed in Nashville only a half-hour later than we were originally scheduled to land. On the downside...we had no layover and landed a half-hour later than we were originally scheduled to land. Which meant that all we had to eat between 5am and 3pm was juice and peanuts. Suffice it to say, we were very, very hungry.

The worst part of getting home is never flying, though. It's the three-hour drive home after we've already been on the plane for six hours. By that time you're just impatient and tired of sitting, plus, let's face it: driving the highway in the dark in Tennessee is not the most interesting thing to do. Thankfully, though, Heidi came to pick us up, so the company and the conversation was good. And of course, actually getting home and having all your little siblings run out of the house screaming your name with joy and launching themselves into your arms more than makes up for not eating for ten hours.

It's good to be home.

The Paradox of Mankind

"The great deceiver knows that one of his most effective tools in leading the children of God astray is to appeal to the extremes of the paradox of man. To some, he appeals to their prideful tendencies, puffing them up and encouraging them to believe in the fantasy of their own self-importance and invincibility. He tells them they have transcended the ordinary and that because of ability, birthright, or social status, they are set apart from the common measure of all that surrounds them. He leads them to conclude that they are therefore not subject to anyone else’s rules and not to be bothered by anyone else’s problems.

...

Another way Satan deceives is through discouragement. He attempts to focus our sight on our own insignificance until we begin to doubt that we have much worth. He tells us that we are too small for anyone to take notice, that we are forgotten—especially by God.

...

The Lord doesn’t care at all if we spend our days working in marble halls or stable stalls. He knows where we are, no matter how humble our circumstances. He will use—in His own way and for His holy purposes—those who incline their hearts to Him."

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

October 2011 General Conference

There's a powerful principle in that - the sin lies in the extremes. God would have us cultivate balance in all we do, and especially in how we see ourselves. It is true that alone we are nothing, and it is also true that each of us have a divine potential - the potential to become like God. But that divine potential can only be realized in a partnership with our Heavenly Father, through the power of the Savior's Atonement. 

[Source]: Picture here at ThingsToLookAtHigh.com

10 Things I Hate to Do

* Clean the kitchen

} Fold laundry

# Scrape ice off my windshield in the morning

@ Smile for pictures

$ Wake up in the morning

^ Write papers

& Explain myself repeatedly

% Clean up other peoples' messes

+ Make my bed

= Wash the dishes