simplicity

This is what a 21 year old looks like...

I pride myself in the fact that if I wanted to, I could take all of my belongings, fit them into the back of my 2001 kia sephia (john wayne) and drive until my gas tank hit empty. I take pleasure in the fact that most of my hobbies require no money and that rice and beans are the staple of my diet. I love how quarters are critical and how they seem to be non existent due to the fact that every load of laundry wipes me out, quarterly speaking. I like living the simple life and finding happiness through my simplicity.


In Portuguese, Voce gostas minha bunda peluda means: Do you like my hairy butt?
A mozambiquan taught me this phrase on a drive home to Caldwell. Of all the things that I've learned to say in Portuguese, I only remember the things that probably won't help me very much as a missionary.

As far as life goes my life be like ooh ahh. i think in fact i capture the idea of that song. I have recently moved to Yelm Washington where I'm with my brother and his family. I basically get to hangout with my favorite two year old, an overly sassy three year old and the best 7 and 8 year old boys I've met. And my sister in law.

Life is simple for me right now i have approximately 36 days till i leave for Sao Paulo and I don't have much to stress about or much to say. I'm happy and i'm learning. I learn mostly from what I'm studying which with 36 days left is pretty much the gospel, but I get a lot of hands on experience with kids. Slowly, I've come to the conclusion that being a mom would pretty much be the raddest thing ever. I used to make fun of the girls in my church who only had one ambition in life and that was to be a mother. I admire these girls now. To be so with it at such a young age, man it took me nearly 21 years to figure it out.

I look at society and the future freaks me out, but then i think about it and realize...if everyone took parenting as seriously as they should, the world would be awesome. If everyone sought to be the best versions of themselves boom roasted i wouldn't dread the day when i hold this creature that i made in my hands and expect them to grow up functionally in the environment its been placed. I hate on the idea that family is not important in our society, it is the most fundamental and critically important thing possible.

I'll hop off that soap box for now. I'm just saying that I look forward to the day God tells me to start a family so I can experience the joy that comes from being completely and totally selfless. But until then, i'll work on the selfless part of me and be grateful for the selfish opportunities i have now.

That is me. Poor priceless and pleased to live such a wonderful life.

CALLED TO SERVE

Yesterday morning I called the post office at about eight o'clock in the morning. The post-woman eyed me as she realized I was the young lady who subsequently had been stalking her for the past three or four days at my apartment complex. She gave me my post, and i thanked her. I opened my call and it said:






Dear Sister Peterson,

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Brazil Maceio Mission.
All I have to say (and it's really not all I have to say) is that this call was the perfect call for me. I'm stoked and incredibly humbled that God would give me this calling. I cannot wait to meet the wonderful people of Maceio and share my simple testimony of the gospel with them. This is one thing in my life that brings me joy beyond anything else. I am very blessed to have it and I am very blessed to have this opportunity to serve.

At night a bunch of my friends came to dinner to celebrate. I feel blessed to have so many friends supporting me. It was a lot of fun. I'm gonna miss some of these wonderful people.

117 days till i enter the Sao Paulo Brazil MTC. Life is good.

SUMMER LOVE

Summer has this intriguing way of making me smile 24/7, making me break out into song (oooh oooh oooh HONEY!), and filling my soul with happiness. Amen sista, it's true, I've fallen HEAD OVER HEELS for Summer. I'm considering making this thing official, unfortunately by about september i'm longing for my other love, Fall. Although I know this is a short fling, i am so much in love with this summer thing that I must blog about it.


I am a quarterly blogger, i must admit, but hopefully i will have more time to dispel my about doings to those two or three faithful readers. Baha. love it!

I have recently moved to the beautiful city of Provo Utah and yes, it is a whole new universe here. It may take time to get used to the smiles and constant lds jargon in and out of class. My roommate overheard someone saying "Not only is that against the Word of Wisdom, but it is also against the honor code." I like BYU, it is different but i like that my religion is encorporated in my learning and it is something i am very grateful for.

I am rooming with one of my previous roommates, Nicole, and one of my lifelong biffles for riffles Lindsey. We like to have adventures they involve ripsticking, rollerblades, longboards, and peanut butter no bake bars. Lindsey constantly likes to ask, "are you ready to play, will you please play with me?" our apartment is GHETTO, but we love it. We all love eachother and life is GOOD.

I put my missionary papers in last Thursday. So within the next three weeks i should know where i'm going! EXCITING! I want nothing more than to serve my God in any way possible and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to do so by volunteering a year and a half of my life. I love my God and I know He loves me. That simple truth brings me happiness, pure simple and lasting happiness. I hope i can bring that happiness to others.

I must say i've got a lot to be thankful for. Love it.


"There's a five piece gospel band in the heart of every man." -Shake your Peace!

ALOHA Mi Hermana un doitchland.

I haven't "blogged" in awhile due in part to my busy lifestyle and that my life isn't all that interesting. BUT if you are reading this you probably like to know my life so here is a synopsis:

1. Once again, I have experienced CRAZY ROOMMATE SYNDROME. Without fail i get a crazy each year. But the problem is gone and now i have awesome roommate virus so i'm happy.

2. The snow is here and that means: SNOWBOARDING!!! I spent a week in Tahoe Nevada/California snowboarding with some friends and experienced the beauty of a banana board. 

3. It was a pleasure to congratulate me on being accepted to BYU and BYU Hawaii. 

4. The physiological functions of the human body never cease to astound me. 

5. I've found that one of my favorite places in the entire world is around the Seattle Washington area. 

6. I lost my cell phone snowboarding (its the same number so if you call me i will have your number too). 

7. I'm in love with Jack Hody Johnson. --------->

                                              

8. Andrew Michael Peterson, my brother, is

 my best friend.  

9. Rock climbing is rad.

10. And last but not least and probably not even last is this one simple truth:

The Family is ordained of God. 

Although I have not always shown it in the past, I love my family with everything I have. Sometimes I get frustrated and upset. I often don't understand why they do the things they do, but I know I was given the family I have for my betterment. I love them and I wouldn't want to change where I came from. Although I am under the impression that half my family is computer illiterate a

nd the other half have no intention of reading the rest of this, I hope and pray that they know and feel the love that I have for them and the continued desire that I have for their success. 

crinkled paper and orange juice

“What is the feeling when you're driving away from people, and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? -it's the too huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies."
-Jack Kerouac

It is a bittersweet feeling when you leave those you love. But you rationalize it. Going to college, here is my adventure: friends. classes. life. love. i'm leaving the ones i love for the next step. its different yet similiar feeling, not necessarily worse, when you're the one that is stationary.
A little over exactly one year ago my wonderful Heavenly Father looked at me and thought. This girl needs some help. His incessant shouting of "hey girl, hey, hey girl, hey." was obviously not sinking in. So He sent me an angel in the form of a short girl with a big personality to compensate.

One of my first memories of my best friend took place my second semester at Utah State University. I was sitting outside old main on a wood-slabbed bench. The weather was a beautiful bitter cold unmatched by any place outside of Logan. I was rummaging through my ninja turtle back pack and as Hayley walked by i heard a, "hey, cool back pack." i replied back with a thanks.

little did i know this girl was going to be one of the best and truest friends i would ever meet. People often tell me, you usually hate people who are too similiar to yourself. That my friend, is not always the case. Because in this past year i have found my clone in Hayley. Perhaps i am incredibly narcissistic (which very well could be the case) and i love myself so much that i welcome a fellow me with ease, but one thing i do know, i am a much better person for knowing this clone of myself.

Now Hayley doesn't need another "Ode" of sorts. I believe the Blaker has that one covered. Instead, i'm going to focus on me, because i'm a narcissist with apparently too little to write about. I am standing here stationary, while my other half goes on a great adventure to Germany for a year and a half to bring truth and light into the lives of those in doitchland. And i'm frustrated. and ecstatic. Happy. yet full of sorrow. It is hard because one person i have depended so much on is no longer there to be my support. Heavenly Father brought her into my life to build me up but now is giving me the opportunity to stand on my own chuck t's and IT IS HARD. already, though she has not left, it is hard.

in the last General Conference (i'm stealing this from you Hayley)--if you are not mormon General Conference is like the Grammy's for Mormon's where a bunch of incredibly wise and divinely inspired men instruct us and give us inspired counsel--one talk that was prominent was by sister Elaine S. Dalton. A main topic of her talk was this: I CAN DO HARD THINGS. Heavenly Father can be pretty obvious at times. I feel so weak and so small. I'm working so much going to school so much and at the same time i'm attempting a pre-medical major. to some this could be nothing, but it is my mountain and the altitude is high. I can't breathe sometimes. And i am weak. I am small. But my Heavenly Father has made it clear to me that I can do these things.

Although I feel i'm stationary, i'm not. I feel sorrowful for the absence of my HSML, best friend, and cocaine. But at the same time I know that this opportunity for loneliness is what is best for me. More than that, I know that God has a plan for me and has given me the understanding I need to be a light for myself.

OUR GREATEST FEAR IS NOT THAT WE ARE INADEQUATE. OUR GREATEST FEAR IS THAT WE ARE POWERFUL BEYOND MEASURE...AND AS WE LET OUR OWN LIGHT SHINE, WE CONCSIOUSLY GIVE OTHER PEOPLE PERMISSION TO DO THE SAME. AS WE ARE LIBERATED FROM OUR FEAR,

OUR PRESENCE AUTOMATICALLY LIBERATES OTHERS.

Hayley, thank you for being my example. my best friend. and for liberating me through letting your light and goodness shine. Although we are so much a like i owe you more than i could ever make even with what i'd make as a doctor. thank you for allowing our Father to use you as a tool to improve my life. thank you for your preparation.
You are and will always be my sister and my best friend i love you and i'm so proud of you.
Good Luck in Germany girl!

i don't appreciate when your hate affects my study time.

This past week I've taken on a new challenge: studying. For those who are close to me, you know that for me, studying is reading the material the night before the test. Up to this point in my collegiate career i have found this method of learning suitable to my interests which, sadly and unfortunately, have been little. The best example of my study habits resulted last semester when two things happened, one good one bad. I discovered the beautiful sport of snowboarding. It altered my views regarding God, Nature, and my own physical being. However it also resulted in about 60% class attendance and more all nighters than any college student should attempt. The result: All A's and a B+.
Some of you may say, "wow you're a smart girl." My rebuttle: No, I'm an innately "lazyish" girl who up until this point in her life has taken the paved road equipped with a free motorized bicycle. Did i mention this road is pretty short.
One short note: i say lazyish because if i really want to work for something i will make it happen. I have it in me, as i believe all people do, to be an incredibly hard worker.
Not all bad things came out of this short aside, i did improve my writing skills and i had the opportunity to receive tips for studying effectively. Not that i used them till now, but nonetheless they are there.

So now that you know all this about me, you will understand my utter frustration caused by the events on the campus this week.

Obviously it's the beginning of the semester and there is going to be activities going on. I can study semi-well in environments with background noise, but this week as i tried to study an evangelist preachers shouts overpowered the process of aerobic respiration resulting in 36 ATP.
I'm all for sharing beliefs with others. In fact i totally encourage it. The free flow of ideas and concepts is what makes America, well, America. But I do not know how any one can concentrate on the good and happiness in the world while someone screams of eternal hellfire and damnation. it is distracting and irritating. Of all things I know about God (which is little) I know that He is love. Pure and lasting love. I'm pretty sure that no matter what we do, he will give us as many opportunities as possible to find happiness and truth.
So you may think i'm a damn hippie and ya know thats okay, but at the same time i believe in a more existentialist approach. While i do believe our creator is our guide and the reason for our existence, i think that it is up to us to be happy. Call it karma, call it agency, call it whatever you like, but this is true: Good people tend to be happy. Good people who do good things are happy. Bad things happen to good people, but i think it is the ability to continue in goodness or righteousness or selflessness that truly connects us with Diety.



I guess the taking the road paved complete with the electric bicycle is easier. Sometimes its hard to share beliefs with people when you are on the same level as them. but when there is no chance for reciprocation or even legitimate rebuttal, i suppose its quite easy. I guess i'm not the only person who likes to hear them self talk. it's easy to live your life just getting by...but i s'pose the road less traveled by is where i have found meaning and understanding. So please, don't hate. Appreciate. All you need is love. And i am a scientist.

reflections on a premature thought process.

This semester I'm studying Shakespeare in one of my English classes. Oh how we all love Shakespeare and his beautiful work,how he revolutionized English Literature, his major contribution of... wanna know the only hard evidence he left behind? A certificate of birth and court orders against him for violence and tax evasion. I'm not saying that I agree with the cynics who claim that Shakespeare didn't write what he claimed; i'm actually pondering the question of when you die, what will you leave behind? What will be the hard evidence against (or for) your cause?

For Shakespeare, the records he left behind do not paint a picture of the romantic, brilliant, intelligent man we get from his plays. He seems more like an arrogant rich kid without direction. So far the only records I have to my name are a birth certificate, a high school diploma, and a speeding ticket. Due to modern technology and what not there could be more information if someone were to look for it. I guess that's awfully presumptuous to believe that one day someone will actually think enough about me to study my life. Perhaps I will do great things and be a great mom, friend, sister, or even just person. However, it seems like quite an easy thing for people to fall into the category of "sucking at life" and i hope that i won't fail myself and the people who look to me for support. So in short I guess you must ask yourself:

"To be or not to be?"