Tomorrow, Tomorrow!

I love ya, tomorrow! You're only half an hour away!

Then... Paris!

This will be me in less than 24 hours:

I'll take a pic and see how close I can come :)

So... for those of you who don't know, I am leaving the country tomorrow and will be gone for just under a month (or three and a half weeks... it sounds shorter if I say it that way... actually I can't decide which way it sounds shorter or longer, so pick your pleasure). I am not taking my computer, so I won't be able to blog frequently about my adventures, but I will surely have access to computers intermittently and will post comprehensive entries when possible.

So, France tomorrow, London next week... I'll be with Robyn a week from today!

Until my next post, au revoir!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day

...especially to my Mother Dear!

My cute parents.

Mom with the kids and the beautiful two-layer cake that Carmen made.

Rob, we missed you.

Dad and his Mother.

We love you Grandma Webb!

Soccer Super Star

David Timmins. #15. Soccer Superstar!

I went to my little brother's soccer game today and was so impressed!

He's an awesome soccer player!

Here he is taking on the biggest guy on the other team like it's no big deal.

...But for him, it probably isn't.

He has sweet moves and faces I didn't even know he was capable of making.

Right after a header... probably his third one of the half.

Go Dave!!

Thoughts on a Friday Afternoon

The latest things in my life of note:

1. I am now officially IFRS Certified! This means that I now know all about the new accounting standards (International Financial Reporting Standards as opposed to the current GAAP standards) that most of the world has already switched to. The US is in the process of switching with the approximate date of full conversion sometime in 2015... or thereabouts... it changes. Anyway, this is the future of accounting. Instead of every country reporting in different ways, pretty soon it will all be standardized, which is great, except that it means everything I've learned (all in accordance with GAAP) will soon be obsolete. Good thing I'm now IFRS certified! We accountants always like to be on the cutting edge of things.

2. Next apparently anyone who is a registered student can park in graduate parking during the Spring and Summer terms. Seriously!?!?! This was just confirmed today by Dave who called BYU police. Who knew? All this time (ok, really only the past two weeks) I've walking, what, and extra 200 yards for nothing!?! Well, you can be sure I'm going to live it up in graduate parking for my last day of school on Monday.

3. Another fun fact about Provo regulations, or lack thereof I suppose is this. Apparently anyone can walk into a jewelry store and, if you know which name to say, can pick up any diamond ring they please. I was charged with the task of picking up Becky's diamond ring from the jewelers today after it had been cleaned to take it to Salt Lake tomorrow for her and I just walked right in, asked for Becky's ring, signed my name, and walked out. No questions asked! They didn't ask if I was her, much less if I even knew her! I could have walked out with any number of rings!

4. Last thought. There is a duck pond at the south end of campus that I've walked past many times, more than I can count. For a year of my BYU education it was part of my commute to school so I'd pass it at least twice a day. Somehow it's true that I've never actually stopped to feed the ducks... until this week! We fed the ducks yesterday! It was so much fun! It was so entertaining to watch!

We'd throw a piece of bread and one duckling would grab it and run away from everyone as fast as he could, not even taking the time to eat! This happened every time... probably 20 times in a row.

Magelby's Cake

This is without a doubt my favorite dessert on earth. If you think I'm wrong or that I'm forgetting something, please remind me because if there is something better to eat than this I am all for it.

A picture is worth a thousand words... but really you should just go to Magleby's and try it for yourself. Call me. I'll go with you. Any time. Or just come over to my apartment because, thanks to a loving aunt and uncle, I have some there now! In fact, I'm going to go eat it.

Gone Bananas

Last week I went grocery shopping, as usual, and purchased bananas, which is also usual. I buy bananas almost every time I go to the grocery store, not because I like them, but because I feel like I should eat them because they're healthy. More often than not I end up giving them away to my roommates to eat, or making them into banana bread or chocolate chip oatmeal banana cookies, which doesn't really make them very healthy to eat, sadly.

So last week I bought 3 bananas and promised myself I would eat them. No excuses. They sat on my counter for the next four days and I would look at them in the morning and come up with some reason to not eat one that day... for four days in a row. Unfortunately there aren't many good reason to not eat bananas, because, unlike yogurt, they are extremely portable- you don't need any sort of utensil or even any preparation time to eat them. They're just made ready-to-go. That's the unfortunate part.

On Monday I realized I needed to get going if I was going to fulfill my promise to myself. So, over the course of the next three days I ate one banana per day. Three bananas, three days. I've been spending a considerable amount of time in the Tanner Building studying, often for 5-8 hour periods of time, so I would start eating the banana in the morning, and work on it throughout the day. On Monday I still had more than half of it left by the time I needed to walk home. I passed so many garbage cans and almost threw the rest of it away so many times! But I didn't. I kept plugging along. One bit at a time. Continuous improvement was my motto, however, like Toyota. Listen to this: it only took me 5 hours to eat the banana yesterday! (It was a little more urgent yesterday than the other days though, because by that point it was over a week old and turned browner and browner with every minute I didn't eat it.

All this banana-eating has caused me to wonder how valuable bananas really are to one's health, so I did a little research. It turns out that bananas are associated with a reduced risk of breast cancern and the juice treats high blood pressure and kidney stones. Wikipedia says, they, "also contain considerable amounts of vitamin B, and vitamin C, and potassium. The latter makes them of particular interest to athletes who use them to quickly replenish their electrolytes." So... considering I'm a newly renewed athlete (among other reasons), it's apparently a very good thing that I've increased my banana consumption as of late.

The Measure of Success

A couple of weeks ago I posted a thought from Sister Beck's most recent Conference talk. As I read that talk the first time I found myself debating which particular part to post about, feeling like there was so many gems in her talk! Obviously I finally decided on a part, but have found myself thinking about another part, so I'll write about that today. It is this:

"Good women [and men] always have a desire to know if they are succeeding. In a world where the measures of success are often distorted, it is important to seek appreciation and affirmation from proper sources. To paraphrase a list found in Preach My Gospel, we are doing well when we develop attributes of Christ and strive to obey His gospel with exactness. We are doing well when we seek to improve ourselves and do our best. We are doing well when we increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek out and help others who are in need. We know we are successful if we live so that we qualify for, receive, and know how to follow the Spirit. When we have done our very best, we may still experience disappointments, but we will not be disappointed in ourselves. We can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when we feel the Spirit working through us. Peace, joy, and hope are available to those who measure success properly."

I've learned something about myself recently. Often I base a lot of my feelings of success upon what others think of me or what I've accomplished. Depending on how close that person is to me or how much I value their opinion, determines how much their "approval" affects me. For example, I value the opinion of my parents a lot. If I perceive that my parents think I'm most successful because of my scholastic achievements, then I will make sure to tell them about those frequently. That is usually a good thing, until I start being successful in other areas in which I haven't updated them as frequently. It just makes for a complicated situation.

When I read Sister Beck's thought I read this: We often seek the approval of others, and that is great, but I also need to be able to "approve" of ourselves. We need to be able to look at our accomplishments and determine for ourselves that we are successful- to feel that determination by solely our relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. So, if I feel successful when I look back on my life and my actions, and I know Heavenly Father approves, then I am successful, regardless of what anyone else may think of me or say to me.

I think this is a lesson I've been learning for a long time. When I was in junior high and swam on the club swim team my coach (probably having recognized this about me) gave me this poem, right before I swam the biggest race of the season. Honestly, I don't even remember how I swam that day, but I do remember leaving that meet feeling like I was a success. I had learned something new, something I would come to find out would be something I would work on incorporating into my life for years to come.

This poem has changed my life.

The Measure of Success

Success lies not in how well known

you are, but how well respected…

not in your power to take,

but in your willingness to give.

It is measured by the height of your aspirations,

the breadth of your vision,

the depth of your convictions.

So look not to the

changing opinions of others

for news of you success.

Word comes in the small voice

you hear within at the end of the day,

Knowing you have done your best.

This is the only success that matters.

I challenge anyone within the sound of my voice (or really the sight of my post, I suppose) to take a look at how you measure the success of you life. You may be in for a treat in realizing the change in perspective that is available to you.