little reminders.

Today, I stumbled upon the ...24 or so journals that I've kept since the year 2003.

I was caught up for a few hours just poring over the pages and pages of entries through the years. Some made me roll my eyes; others brought a smile to my face. Sometimes I found myself laughing out loud at my silly school girl behavior (I guess part of me is still that way). Needless, as I was reading through one of the journals, I found this quote written in the margins:

"Faith is the ability to wait." 

I'm not sure where I heard it years ago. But, I love it. Waiting is hard. It takes courage, discipline, and dedication. But it is possible — to wait for what I really want in life and not just settle for a mediocre version of a potentially amazing something, or someone. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf once said patience is the ability not only to endure, but to endure well (don't quote me on that as the quote has obviously been paraphrased).
As I thought about that this afternoon, it is true that faith also takes work (faith without works is dead, right?). So, this year ... I'm going to be more patient. I'm going to have more faith. I'm going to work more diligently to change that faith to action.

And the results are going to be great. I can just feel it.

xoxo.

resolutions.

everyone makes them, and I'm going to share mine with you:

(These are a few I thought of the other day and are now on my computer via the awesome "stickie note" application...love it!).

-Exercise 3xs a week (I have a class so that'll definitely be happening). I went this morning before class and while it made me feel great, I also realized how long it's been since I've worked out!
-Eat healthier (limit fast food to once a month) and try to eat more balanced meals. Kind of hard living the "college life" and so far, I've failed at eating very nutritious meals...but I'll try!
-Be to church on time, and have a good attitude about learning :)
-Practice piano more (1 hour on Sunday)
-Read scriptures BEFORE homework (and before class, when possible)
-Baptisms once a month
-4.0 GPA (I did it before college, I should be able to now!).
-Be open and friendly. Don't hold back. Say "Hi" to strangers and don't be FEARFUL! I do this randomly sometimes when I see a new face, but I want to do it even more. Talk to people cause who knows what great relationships you could be missing out on??

There are some for ya! Tell me yours in the comments, if you want!

-Cheri

new years resolutions..

I'm not sure I "believe" in them, per se. Or maybe it's just that I've never made any that I have followed through with. This year, I have a few categories of my resolutions. The winners are:

Fitness
1) First, I'm working on my abs. Let's be honest. I used to have a pretty fit body since I ran cross country and track. Then, I had an injury this fall and I chose not to compete anymore. And since then? I sort of lost motivation to..exercise. On an occasional whim, I would go for a [painful] run, or once I pulled out my old Taebo dvd, and had to dust off the case a little. So, I came across this workout a few months ago, and saw it today on a different website. Here is the breakdown:

week 1 : 100 crunches/10 push ups
week 2 : 200 crunches/20 push ups
week 3: 300 crunches/30 push ups
week 4 : 350 crunches/35 push ups
week 5 : 400 crunches/ 40 push ups
week 6 : 450 crunches / 45 push ups
week 7 : 500 crunches /50 push ups

i figured, 100 crunches?? Easy! Well, not so easy when you haven't done them in four months! I can tell this will be a good challenge!!

2) Workout with Taebo [moves] once a week
Today, after crunches, I did a few little Taebo moves. So, I decided to do somewhere around 30 minutes including abs.

3) Go to indoor track. After my plantar fasicitis last fall, I'm a little nervous to pull out the Asics again. But, I think I will try and run a few times.

Nutrition
1) Less icecream. Tough! I eat it SO much, but I need to cut back...sigh.

2) More veggies & fruits. I love apples (I eat one a day for breakfast), but this year...more yummy salads. And fruit smoothies sans sugar. I made a delicious one today!

3) Holl and I decided to do a "no sweet " thing. Of course those never go well, but
she had an idea to not on sweets on even days (unless it's a holiday). And, that means on odd days, we can't just binge either! Also, we decided since we talked daily (literally), we could do checkups on each other. She is joining in with me on the abs workout, and we decided if we ever needed each other, we could just call. I told her she will be like my "nicorette patch" to get me off sweets.

Personal
First, if these are personal, why am I sharing them with you? Well, if I put them where a lot of people can see (ok I'm stretching it by saying "lot", but still), it's easier to follow through.

1) More meaningful journal entries. I write daily, but mostly about boys...I want to write more important stuff down as well. Last night I had a meaningful entry about my hopes and dreams- that's way more fun to read than "He flirted with me." Right?

2) Better attitude about sunday school. I feel out of place in my now-adult sunday school class that I attend. I swear everyone in there (with the exceptions of my mom, Celeste, and a few other young mothers) is going to die soon. Anyway, I am just ready to be in a singles ward, or at least in a ward where not everyone is decades older than me! I did learn some from the lesson on Sunday though, so I just need to suck it up.

3) More focused scripture study. I know that even reading "a verse a day" is important, but it shouldn't be that case everyday. Sometimes I just find it hard to stay focused when I have so much else on my mind!

4) Be a better friend; laugh more at the little things; have lots of game nights!

School (could be classified as "personal")
1) Don't get senioritis too bad, too soon. I'm already feelin' the little bugger.

2) Figure out my classes, and find JOY in them!

3) Don't like too many boys, especially best friends or boys who are already in a relationship (I'm always a sucker for these ones)!

Future
1) Decide where I want to go to college.