My last final ended last night at 8:30PM. I had been there for almost three hours and had typed over five pages of material. When I left, 2/3 of the class were still there. In a 58 hour period, I was in finals almost 12 hours, had a little over 12 hours of sleep, and studied almost the rest of the time. I did take a study break and Andrew helped give me some semblance of sanity. Finals are now over! I survived my first semester of MBA school and am amazed at the changes and growth that have occurred in me. As a side note, I love self-reflection. It brings such peace realizing how the Lord has helped me accomplish difficult tasks that I didn't think I had the capacity to complete. Such a humbling thought.
Now on to the real reason for the post. I was laying in bed this morning, enjoying not waking up to an alarm or having somewhere I had to be, and created a list of all the things I needed/wanted to do now that I didn't have to study for classes. Here is my list:
1. clean my room
2. clean the house
3. organize and file my notes and assignments
4. balance my checkbook (I have been keeping track of my finances but haven't taken the time to balance my checkbook since October.)
5. write my Christmas card
6. decide what to buy people for Christmas and actually go buy it
7. go food shopping (In July and August I built up a food storage because I had the impression that I was going to need it. I thought it was because finances would become tight. No, no. I didn't have time to run to the grocery store. I think I went twice after school started. Now, I went to Costco every few weeks to get milk and a few other essentials, but never made it to the grocery store.)
8. drop off items at the DI that have been sitting in my closet
9. organize the piles that have built up (this is not part of cleaning room because the piles need to be filed in the folders in the basement)
10. start creating the family calendar
11. organize emails (I take emails I write to people and put them in my journal)
12. write on the backs or pictures and put them in an album (In September I went through my 2006 pictures and had Costco print them. Well, they have been sitting in a box on my floor since then.)
13. search companies that do not recruit at BYU and look for a summer internship
14. read a book Andrew lent me about Hugh Nibley and the 101st airborne
15. read other books that I am not assigned to read
16. actually talk to Suzy on the phone (She has called me a few times the past week and I just couldn't talk when she called.)
17. clean out my car (However, it is snowing outside and this one may have to wait)
18. take a nap (I think I deserve this one)
19. venture out into the real world and meet people outside of the Tanner building
20. go to the temple
And that is the list I came up with this morning. I don't expect to do this all today. Just my list of things I can concentrate on now that final are over. Happy day!
Life is My Adventure
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Be Right Back
I haven't written for a while because I am in the midst of finals. Lots to say but my mind can only speak NPV values, capital budgeting, pro formas, CAPM, cycle counting, safety stock, EOQ, EPQ, 4Ps, 5Cs, and human capital relations. After Wednesday, I'll be back.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Remembering
Many people I know are suffering from the trials of life. One of those succumbed to colon cancer yesterday. She was a vibrant 26-year-old who still had so much to live for. This quote became her mantra and I post it in memory of her.
“… the tests of life are tailored for our own best interests, and all will face the burdens best suited to their own mortal experience. In the end we will realize that God is merciful as well as just and that all the rules are fair. We can be reassured that our challenges will be the ones we needed, and conquering them will bring blessings we could have received in no other way.
If we constantly focus only on the stones in our mortal path, we will almost surely miss the beautiful flower or cool stream provided by the loving Father who outlined our journey. Each day can bring more joy than sorrow when our mortal and spiritual eyes are open to God’s goodness. Joy in the gospel is not something that begins only in the next life. It is our privilege now, this very day. We must never allow our burdens to obscure our blessings. There will always be more blessings than burdens—even if some days it doesn’t seem so. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Enjoy those blessings right now. They are yours and always will be.” --Elder Jeffery R. Holland
“… the tests of life are tailored for our own best interests, and all will face the burdens best suited to their own mortal experience. In the end we will realize that God is merciful as well as just and that all the rules are fair. We can be reassured that our challenges will be the ones we needed, and conquering them will bring blessings we could have received in no other way.
If we constantly focus only on the stones in our mortal path, we will almost surely miss the beautiful flower or cool stream provided by the loving Father who outlined our journey. Each day can bring more joy than sorrow when our mortal and spiritual eyes are open to God’s goodness. Joy in the gospel is not something that begins only in the next life. It is our privilege now, this very day. We must never allow our burdens to obscure our blessings. There will always be more blessings than burdens—even if some days it doesn’t seem so. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Enjoy those blessings right now. They are yours and always will be.” --Elder Jeffery R. Holland
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Christmas Story
My Favorite Christmas storybook is Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree.
Mr. Willowby's Christmas tree
Came by special delivery.
Full and fresh and glistening green -
The biggest tree he had ever seen.
The story continues as Mr. Willowby realizes his tree is too tall. The top is whacked off and the maid takes it to her room. She too needs to take a bit off the top and discards the remaining portion. The story continues as the poor tree continues to be cut and thrown out. However, the ending brings warmth to my heart as the final recipient of the tree is a little mouse who lives in the wall of Mr. Willowby's house.
Oh, wasn’t it grand to have a tree—
Exactly like Mr. Willowby?
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Birthday Week
Today is my brother Richard's and sister Lucille's birthdays. They are not twins but were born eight years apart. My mom was very good and always made two birthday cakes making sure both felt important. Richard is always fun. He makes me cds full of random music that I would never put together. This week he sent me one titled CRAP (country, rock, alternative, and psychedelic). I enjoy the mixes he creates. When I first came to college, I felt alone but Rich always took time for me. We would go for walks and he would give me big brother dating advice. When I come to visit now, he shows me the latest basketball or Sports Center highlights on his DVR. We have a good time together and I am glad he is my brother. Lucille is one of my best friends. We have so many fun memories together including beach trips, playing _________ (fill in the blank) when we were younger, laughing hysterically when staying up too late (think 3 Little Pigs and Mickey and the Beanstalk), quoting movies, and conversations that always give me hope. One of those times happened in Russia. Because of some unfortunate circumstances, I was quite upset. Lucy put her arm around me, let me cry, then let me know everything would be okay. She is an amazing sister.
Monday, December 1, 2008
An Editorial on Mormons
http://townhall.com/Columnists/KathrynJeanLopez/2008/11/26/mormons_in_the_crosshairs
Mormons in the Crosshairs
by Kathryn Jean Lopez
Mormons have a reason to be nervous. I didn't fully appreciate it two years ago, when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints first came under an intense political spotlight. In 2006, Mormon officials had begun making the media rounds, prepping for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's expected try for the Republican presidential nomination. This protective measure stood out. No evangelical contingents were giving theological primers in anticipation of Mike Huckabee's run. Few officials were warning Catholics to not do as Rudy Giuliani does on abortion before his run. Why did the Mormons need to do advance work?
We quickly saw why. Many members of this young, uniquely American church understandably did not desire the intense scrutiny that Romney's run would bring. It didn't take long, as it turned out, for journalists and popular blogs to raise questions about undergarments, theology and points of history. Some points fell within the fair scope of political journalism, while many were clearly out of bounds.
But nothing justifies the concerns of anxious Mormons like the current controversy over Proposition 8 in California. This initiative protecting traditional marriage won by the same margin as Barack Obama did in that state -- getting the support of some Obama voters, in fact. Its victory has led supposed agents of tolerance to blatant acts of bigotry; gay-marriage advocates are blaming the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for their electoral defeat.
Romney, because he subscribes to the Mormon faith, had to give a speech on religion a year ago. In it, Romney did what John F. Kennedy didn't do in the first Catholic president's effort to allay concerns about his creed. Kennedy essentially apologized for his religion, assuring people that it wouldn't have any real influence over his decisions as president. Romney, on the other hand, stood by the faith of his fathers, and took the opportunity to talk about how the varieties of belief and nonbelief practiced in the United States make it a richer, more vigorous country.
Romney's thanks for this contribution to our civic life consist of continued hostility. A piece in the Boston Herald proclaimed "Mitt Romney's kin put faith in pa$$ing Proposition 8." The story detailed how some Romney relatives, along with other prominent Massachusetts Mormons, contributed cash to the pro-8 campaign.
And so? While some reports claim that Mormon contributions accounted for a whopping 70 percent of total donations to the pro-8 cause, it should also be noted that 70 percent of black Californians voted for the initiative. The backlash -- which has included white-powder scares and bomb threats at Mormon temples and offices -- is both wrong and unfair. (Outside Denver, a Book of Mormon was lit on fire and dropped on the doorstep of a Mormon temple.) Catholics, Orthodox bishops and evangelicals also supported the initiative.
A law professor at the purportedly Catholic Georgetown University, who is also a gay activist, argues that the cause of gay marriage is simply in conflict with religious liberty; he's "having a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win." (Never mind, again, that the victory of Proposition 8 in California was not the result of an edict from Salt Lake, the Vatican or any one religion, but the free and fair vote of California citizens, some informed by their religious belief, as they are free to be so motivated.)
Surely we don't have to be Mormon to be outraged. I make no statement about their recruitment strategies when I say, watching California, "We're all Mormons now." Next time the violent backlash may be in response to a brave Catholic bishop teaching responsibility at the voting booth. Next time it could be an online evangelical dating service hauled into court by a state "civil rights" office for not providing same-sex matchmaking. Oh wait, that already happened in New Jersey.
Now I know why Mormons were so nervous. They were warning the rest of us. Our freedom to believe is at hazard, and it's time we all had the Mormons' backs.
Mormons in the Crosshairs
by Kathryn Jean Lopez
Mormons have a reason to be nervous. I didn't fully appreciate it two years ago, when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints first came under an intense political spotlight. In 2006, Mormon officials had begun making the media rounds, prepping for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's expected try for the Republican presidential nomination. This protective measure stood out. No evangelical contingents were giving theological primers in anticipation of Mike Huckabee's run. Few officials were warning Catholics to not do as Rudy Giuliani does on abortion before his run. Why did the Mormons need to do advance work?
We quickly saw why. Many members of this young, uniquely American church understandably did not desire the intense scrutiny that Romney's run would bring. It didn't take long, as it turned out, for journalists and popular blogs to raise questions about undergarments, theology and points of history. Some points fell within the fair scope of political journalism, while many were clearly out of bounds.
But nothing justifies the concerns of anxious Mormons like the current controversy over Proposition 8 in California. This initiative protecting traditional marriage won by the same margin as Barack Obama did in that state -- getting the support of some Obama voters, in fact. Its victory has led supposed agents of tolerance to blatant acts of bigotry; gay-marriage advocates are blaming the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for their electoral defeat.
Romney, because he subscribes to the Mormon faith, had to give a speech on religion a year ago. In it, Romney did what John F. Kennedy didn't do in the first Catholic president's effort to allay concerns about his creed. Kennedy essentially apologized for his religion, assuring people that it wouldn't have any real influence over his decisions as president. Romney, on the other hand, stood by the faith of his fathers, and took the opportunity to talk about how the varieties of belief and nonbelief practiced in the United States make it a richer, more vigorous country.
Romney's thanks for this contribution to our civic life consist of continued hostility. A piece in the Boston Herald proclaimed "Mitt Romney's kin put faith in pa$$ing Proposition 8." The story detailed how some Romney relatives, along with other prominent Massachusetts Mormons, contributed cash to the pro-8 campaign.
And so? While some reports claim that Mormon contributions accounted for a whopping 70 percent of total donations to the pro-8 cause, it should also be noted that 70 percent of black Californians voted for the initiative. The backlash -- which has included white-powder scares and bomb threats at Mormon temples and offices -- is both wrong and unfair. (Outside Denver, a Book of Mormon was lit on fire and dropped on the doorstep of a Mormon temple.) Catholics, Orthodox bishops and evangelicals also supported the initiative.
A law professor at the purportedly Catholic Georgetown University, who is also a gay activist, argues that the cause of gay marriage is simply in conflict with religious liberty; he's "having a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win." (Never mind, again, that the victory of Proposition 8 in California was not the result of an edict from Salt Lake, the Vatican or any one religion, but the free and fair vote of California citizens, some informed by their religious belief, as they are free to be so motivated.)
Surely we don't have to be Mormon to be outraged. I make no statement about their recruitment strategies when I say, watching California, "We're all Mormons now." Next time the violent backlash may be in response to a brave Catholic bishop teaching responsibility at the voting booth. Next time it could be an online evangelical dating service hauled into court by a state "civil rights" office for not providing same-sex matchmaking. Oh wait, that already happened in New Jersey.
Now I know why Mormons were so nervous. They were warning the rest of us. Our freedom to believe is at hazard, and it's time we all had the Mormons' backs.
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