Itty-Bitty Blessings

No, I actually didn't. (Touch a blue rhino, that is.) That was just the random title that I wrote in my cousin's missionary email today, and it kinda stuck to me... Aside from that creative burst, I'm feeling GOOD today, for multiple reasons. First of all, finals are over!!!!! I'd write a whole paragraph on how relieving that is, but it'd just be cliche. Second of all, I attended two Christmas programs today, one of which was the homecoming of my dear friend. This sparked a lot of Christmas reflection, and those swirling thoughts and feelings continue to warm my heart. Third, do you realize what was on TV today?! Sound of Music- -The Sing Along version!!! How did I not know that existed?? My world is changed. For reals. And my Mom made me a cheese log, which I ate while watching Sound of Music. *sigh* Life is too good. Let's not forget, however, some of the BYU campus gems that I've been saving up to write about. Here goes! A week or so ago, I was walki...

As usual, the selection of little blessings for this week is somewhat akin to the selection of drinks at Swig. (The hip high school drink place- Kirsten took me there last week. They let you choose from a billion types of soda and then mix it with crushed ice or ice cream or syrup flavoring or who knows what else, making their menu literally endless.) Therefore, this week shall be a list week. 1. Went to my first Jazz game. The real miracle? I actually enjoyed watching the game! I don't want to ruin a good thing by speaking prematurely, but I think I may have a seed of basketball love growing in me. Yay for progression and change! 2. This week, after (Mysterious Moment X, which cannot be explained on a blog post), I felt deep satisfaction when I remembered what good people I've chosen to surround myself with. What a joy to be in a time of life where I can live fully, based on the dictates of my own choice and conscience, and can trust my friends to do the exact same. 3. ...

She meaning me, of course. I'm back, with a couple Thanksgiving updates and little miracles to share. 'Tis the season, right? So as Julie Andrews would say (or sing, rather) "Let's start at the very beginning... A very good place to start." ..... Empanadas!!!!!  Yes, empanadas are the beginning. For those of you who don't know, they're a sort of Chilean hot-pocket type thing with either melted cheese, or a yummy meat mixture (called pino) on the inside. They can be fried or baked, and they're super yummy and we used to eat them all the time over in Chile! It just so happened that I was having a really rough day last week- one of my close friends was having a hard time and I stayed up the night before trying to help her, but I woke up the next morning with a feeling of frustration. Some things are just out of my hands, and this was one of those times where all I could really do was observe and share part of the suffering for my friend's wr...

Well. Life is rollin' along, my dear people, and things are happening every day. Remember that Dance competition that I told you about last week? One of last week's miracles was finding out that I didn't have to miss classes, and that I could just go watch it to fill the assignment. Behold- the evolution of the miracle. This week, at the beginning of my dance class my teacher was calling roll, and when she got to my name she pointed her pencil at me, looked up from her clipboard and asked, "Do you still want to dance Samba? I found you a partner. Talk to me after class." Do I want to dance Samba? Um, YES I DO!! So I talked to her after class and the rest is history... DanceSport competition, here I come!! Other tender mercy? Finding out that my sister sees tender mercies. We were walking together on campus, talking about life, and she said to me "Er, I have to tell you my tender mercy story." She recounted to me a little event from the night befor...

Other warning: I'm actually not going to copy anything from the Miracle of Forgiveness. Just the title. But this week is definitely a bullet-point week. Here it goes: 1. Somehow, my homework load was super light this week- lighter than it has been all semester. I know it was divinely arranged, because it gave me just enough time to prepare for my lesson and talk. Amazing! 2. In my Latin ballroom class, we've been planning all semester  to compete in BYU Dancesport. (I'm going pro, people!) When it came time for choosing partners, however, all the boys were taken... So I was going to have to compete in a different event, a different time and day. It just so happened that this particular event happened to overlap with two of my classes, one of which I absolutely could not miss that day. (It was literally the one day all semester that I was going to get individual participation points.) After a long suspenseful interim, I finally found out that I can do a make-up assignme...

Hello friends! It is FALL!!!! This week I really began to feel the season. Are you feeling it?? Those piles of crackly leaves, the quick breezes, the cold sunshine... LOVE IT. Besides that fall breeze, want to know what else has been whispering? Little blurbs of love and happiness and college romance. Not in my life, of course. (Once again, faking you all out. Sorry. Keep waiting patiently with me.) But to someone even better!! I just love it when my dear, crazy mission companion becomes really, really happy. There is nothing better than a Cougar-Eat luncheon, munching chips and listening as the life of my dear friend develops exactly as she's always dreamed. I really love that. And besides that sticky sweet romance, what else has been whispering?? Well this one really does apply to me. There are always those whispers of "You're still failing at this or that..." and "Shouldn't you be doing homework instead of hanging out with your sisters or going to t...

Hey friends! I hope Relief Society today was as inspiring for you as it was for me. Unless you're a man, that is, and then I hope you are working to help your Priesthood class discussion reach our level.  (Just teasing!) We were reminded today that GRATITUDE is the name of the game, and I absolutely and 100% agree. Elder Uchtdorf put it this way, " I’m suggesting that instead of being thankful  for  things, we focus on being thankful  in  our circumstances—whatever they may be."  That is the idea!! And I'm so happy to be in these circumstances right now. Here are the golden moments of the week. I went to the opera!! It was recently brought to my attention that I had never been, and so I decided to be a rebel, put aside my mountain of homework, and go to The Marriage of Figaro at BYU. It was kind of up in the air who I would go with, and just a couple hours before the show, I remembered my dear mission companion (Revelation? I think so.) and texted her, a...

What if I began this post by telling you all that I was in love? For that is, indeed, what I wish to write about today. Doubtless you would think that I was talking about some cute guy in one of my classes, or one of my nice coworkers, and you'd smile a little to think that I'd be smitten in so little time after returning home from my mission. Well, my dear people, I will not deny that this is a probable assumption after reading my first sentence, that "I am in love." But let's think about this a different way. This week I spent more time with Sydney, my sister, than I have in a long time. I stayed with her one evening after classes to help her with a paper, we studied together for a Humanities test that we have, we went to True Blue Foam (see picture below) together, donated blood one evening, went on a family outing to Salt Lake City, etc. One night I was texting her and realized- "You know what? Sydney is one of my best friends!! I love being around h...

Man, I couldn't even wait until Sunday to start this post! If what follows seems incoherent, that probably results from the weekend of picking and editing and adding that I did. Who knew I would so easily fall into the comfort of casual web-style writing? Love it!! I found myself sincerely surprised by the feel of the week. There were not so many big events, like the one that came before, but here are some quiet highlights:  Miracle 1: Having a Mom willing to wake up in the night to watch a lunar eclipse with you. My mother is a gem.  2: Having SO MUCH reading to do, and resigning myself to a very long and tedious night. I found myself dozing, despite the straight-back kitchen chair and bright lights.... Miracle? Just three songs on Just Dance woke me up well enough to finish the whole reading assignment. I even got to bed by 12:30 that night. Score for mixing work and play!!  Miracle Number 3. (This may seem trivial, but I'll explain myself. Just wait.) I work in ...

Another Erica Oldroyd blog, you might ask? Why in the world? Well, allow me to explain. 1. I love to write. 2. I've had the idea on the backburner ever since I got back from my mission, but never felt like I had a good enough excuse or a good enough subject matter to really merit starting one. 3. As I sat in the women's session of conference, I seemed to forget those objections and just felt it. They sisters spoke so beautifully about sharing what we know, about shining our individual light, and I knew this was one way to do it. 4. As I turned over the idea, it occurred to me that I might make this blog a bi-lingual one, thereby stretching my Spanish writing skills and giving me an opportunity to stay connected with my dear Chilean people. I mean, when someone asks you how you are, there are only so many times you can say, "Good! Working and going to school." 5. The premise of this blog, then, will also be something to keep me on the ball with my journaling. I...