Time for Change

You know what it's time for?

A dramatic change in my life.

This week has been extremely difficult for me for several reasons, but one of the biggest reasons has been myself. I sometimes feel as though my mind has been invaded by a complete stranger and they decide to pull out every negative thought that may be hidden in the deep crevices of my brain. I have had trouble sleeping, I've been an emotional wreck, and I feel as though I've created more problems in my life than are necessary. Among the many things that have been occurring, I also suddenly realized how much I miss my family.

And you know what I realized today? I need to STOP STRESSING. It is consuming my life, and it's not healthy, so I propose for myself a change. A change in my attitude, a change in my life, and a change in my actions. My dad once told me that if you want to do something, you should write it down, because then you can go back and reference it. It's not just in your mind where it can be easily forgotten. So here goes:

A CHANGE IN ATTITUDE:

I want to be happy. All the time. I know that may not be feasible, but I want to go throughout the day looking for good and not focusing on the bad. Beginning today, I will go to sleep every night after writing down five good things I noticed throughout the day. If anything bad happened, I'll write it down and throw it away.

A CHANGE IN MY LIFE:

Sometimes, it's good to do something different. I've been saying this for a while but have postponed it several times now; however, I will now go through with it. Tomorrow, I'm going to look for a hair salon to donate my hair to Locks of Love. I know that this may seem illogical or random, but it's something I have really wanted to do, it's for a good cause, and it's the Christmas season. It's time for me to make a change in my life, and this is one that I want (and am ready) to make.

A CHANGE IN MY ACTIONS:

I wake up at 11 AM, eat breakfast, and more or less stay lazy until I have to go to work at 5 PM. That stops now. There are three things I want to change about my actions, and here they are:

1. I will begin waking up at a decent hour. Sleeping in is great every once in a while, but I'm crossing into borderline laziness. Tonight, I'll set my alarm and start my morning off with a good attitude.

2. I will exercise. Remember back in the day when I was on track and worked out 5 days a week? Or how about when I decided to start Insanity and worked myself 6 days a week to get into the best shape of my life? I need to start this again, so tomorrow will be Day 1 of exercising 6 days a week. I won't be working out on Sundays, but there is now reason for me not to exercise or go running throughout the week, especially while I'm on break from school.

3. I will go to the temple once a week. Whether I go alone or with friends, I'm making this a priority in my life. I have found that going to the temple brings peace into my life as well as immeasurable happiness. I was able to go last Friday as well as yesterday (Thursday), and I'll begin to do it every week.

I want to be happy, and in order to do so, it's time for change.

Diana Laura Peck

A Twist in the Plot Line

This week was crazy. No sleep, interesting phone calls, boatloads of homework, and the best friends. The week began with an intense essay writing session that went until around 3 in the morning, followed by a stressful trip to school where the printer only printed out the first two pages of my 5 page paper. Thank you college. The next day brought began with an amazing Christmas devotional from my school then a trip to the Salt Lake Temple to do baptisms for the dead with Allen. AMAZING. Another crazy essay writing experience occurred that night, but this time, I was working to combine four 3-5 page essays into one big essay for a group project. The stress was so real. That was turned in all fine and dandy on Wednesday morning, then I went along my day, but didn't go to sleep until around 2:30 AM. My alarm went off on Thursday morning at 6:30 for my 7:40 class and I seriously could not even function. I fell back asleep, missed class, and woke up at 11:30. Since I still had two hours before my next class of the day, I decided to get up, get dressed, and go Christmas gift shopping. I ended up getting a couple of things then going to my Book of Mormon class. That day went on pretty normally, then I went to sleep late and woke up at 7:00 on Friday morning for my various study groups.

Study Group #1: Group Essay. BFF Marcus and I will be meeting at 8:30 at the school to work out some problems in the essay. We worked on that until around 10 when...

Study Group #2: Calculus. I worked with Joseph for a while, trying to figure out Area Between Curves, then he left at 11:00 for class and TJ showed up, so I continued to work on that with him. I went back to...

Study Group #1 to finish up some more stuff then I headed off to Calculus for an hour.

After Calculus, Allen drove me over to the house I'll be renting next semester to check it out, then we went back home because Nancy needed some help taking stuff out of her storage unit. I called my parents to tell them about the house and also to ask my Dad if I could go on a date with Allen. (*GASP*) He said no haha. So, I went to work that night, then woke up bright and early on Saturday for (guess what?) more study groups.

This wonderfulness began with an 8:30 session at the Business College, BUT WAIT: the college doesn't open until 10 on Saturdays. RELOCATE TO STARBUCKS. Get there and Michael is the only one who is there (online) to help with the paper. At 10, Joseph gets there to study for our Calculus test on Monday, then BFF Marcus gets there to help with the paper at around 11. ALLEN CALLS MY DAD AND MY DAD SAYS YES. I ended up leaving Starbucks at around 1:00 to go home, clean around Nancy's, and get ready for a date :)

Had an enjoyable night and I bought two new dresses for $20, then Sunday came before I knew it. Went to sacrament meeting with Kelli, then we went to temple square to take pictures in the snow. After that, we ended up getting in the standby line for the 2013 Christmas Devotional and WE GOT IN. Made a quick trip over to the conference center and it was amazing. We then went to Kelli;s to make brownies and watch The Polar Express, then I went home to do a business assignment then write out my blog. Overall, it has been a hectic week, but I have been fortunate enough to find the blessings that God has given me each and every day.

The things of this week that I am MOST happy about are:

*Going to the temple*

*Telling my dad about Allen*

*Finding a place to live next semester*

*Taking pictures in Temple Square*

*Getting to attend the Christmas Devotional with Kelli*

I hope your week is as hectic and wonderful as mine was!

Keep a Smile

Diana Laura Peck