Boots to Fill

I think I'm turning into my mother.

Wow. I never thought those words would come out of my mouth. 

I remember that as a sloppily dressed, messy and quirky ten year old, I vowed to never be exactly like my mother, to never take naps, a to never like guacamole, and to never, ever, fall asleep during the opening credits of a movie. Famous. Last. Words.

My experience of being away at college has changed me. It started when I realized that I eat like my mom. Over the course of my mortal existence, my mom has become more and more of a health nut. The Early Days of Healthy Eating were rough (Pro Tip: don't put broccoli in smoothies), but over time, my mom became the master healthy eating chef she is today. Here at college, I found that I couldn't gain the (full) freshman fifteen because I couldn't escape the good habits I developed as teenager. My mom's voice was constantly reminding me to "go put some quinoa on your salad" or "do an egg white omelet instead," and I couldn't help but listen to these instructions. Turns out, I actually enjoy eating healthy and enjoy how healthy food makes me feel, both physically and mentally. I think I'm addicted. 

Speaking of addiction, I've also picked up my mom's love of running. We went and bought me new running clothes over Christmas break. My mother must've known that if anything could guilt me into exercising more, it would be her buying me new workout gear. So come second semester, I took to the road with my tunes and my track shoes and found that running relieved stress and boosted my self-confidence like nothing else could. 

I am also guilty of stealing my mom's fashion. I blame seven years of attending a uniformed elementary school for my disastrous fashion sense. I literally have no idea what matches, and I actually... kind of don't care. My mom is the one who does the shopping for jeans, new school clothes, new churches dresses, and even my senior prom wear. I have always been content with whatever she clothes me in. 

Sometimes, while at college, I catch little glimmers of my mom in everyday life. I hear something she says, like "fo what" or "baby doll", and I whip my head around to see her only to realize that those words came out of my mouth, not hers. Sometimes, I glance in the mirror and see her neatly plaited dutch braids and floral patterned dresses, but when I reach out to try and hug her, all I get is air. 

And sometimes, when I pull on my mom's pair of worn cowboy boots for church, I feel like I'm back in Bellflower, getting ready for 9:00 church, just like every Sunday. I think back to when I was a little kid and I vowed to never turn out like my mother, and I just laugh at my naivety. Looks like I'm bound to end up being just like her. My perspective now, however, has changed; I actually want people to see me and say, wow, you're just like your mom. You sound the same, act the same; same mannerism, same smile, same Basso party genes. And, oh, are those her cowboy boots that you're wearing? 

And I want to smile and say, yeah. It's some big boots to fill. 

Light the World Part Two

So I just wanted to give you guys some more ideas with my advent calendar set up.

If you haven't read Part One of this post, go back and read it first!
Originally, I had my advent calendar on the back of my wardrobe (see the picture on the right), but I ended up moving it to my front door so all the girls in my dorm could participate too!! (left picture) I left a note on my door that said "#lighttheworld Treat under each! Feel free to participate." I've had lots of the girls in my hall show interest in participating, so I was really excited to make the calendar available to them.
Here are the very simple steps for creating your own calendar:
1.) Print out all of the cards: In my last post, I posted a link to the place where you can find them. I printed these out in color for about $2.00 at my school's library, but if you're feeling like being extra cheap, you can print them out in black and white too
2.)Write out on sticky notes your gift for each day: You can see my last post for some ideas.
3.) Tape or sticky tack the cards to your door: Under each card, put one of your sticky note rewards. That way, each day you can lift up the card and see what your surprise for the day is! Personally, I liked using sticky tack to hold down the cards because that way, it is really easy to lift up them up and see what is under them.
And that's it! My roommate and I have been doing the challenges on the cards for the past couple days, and we've been having a lot of fun lighting the world. I wish you all the best of luck in lighting up the world too!

Light the World Part One

Hello guys!
So, I've got something super cool to share with you all today.
For those of you who don't know, there's a new social media Christmas challenge for this year to #lighttheworld! If you don't yet know anything about this yet, watch this sweet video to learn more.
People all across the world have taken this idea of lighting up the world and ran with it. If you just search #lighttheworld on social media, you'll find thousands of examples of people doing just that.
Well, I wanted to hop on that service bandwagon. As a college kid, however, my life is a lot different than other people's lives. I pretty much fit the stereotype of an ordinary college student. I am consistently dead broke and dead tired (but I haven't died yet!), I eat cereal for dinner sometimes (because why not?) and I walk in the snow in flip flops (hey, I was too lazy for boots). Although I love being at college, its sometimes hard to get into the true Christmas spirit when I am so far away from home. When I watched the video on lighting the world, however, I was inspired and knew I wanted to get involved in lighting the world in my own little way.
One blog that has some great ideas on how to light up the world this Christmas season is the blog Brightly Street. Please check out her AMAZING ideas here. She made a cool advent calendar to keep track of the daily themes for the Light the World challenge. I was inspired by the idea and have tweaked it to fit into my crazy college kid life. So today, I'm going to give my appropriately cheap, easy, and lazy college version of her wonderful idea.
First off, I printed out all of her advent calendar's cards (you can get them here). There are cards for each day of December, and each card has a song, scripture, video, and challenge associated with it. I then wanted to think of some way to have treats to go with my calendar. Most advent calendars come with a little piece of almost edible chocolate for each day. Instead of this, I wrote a "college" style treat for each day on sticky notes and then stuck the sticky notes under each card.
Here's the list of my treats, but feel free to get creative and make your own!
Day 1: Make a snowman
Day 2: Go Christmas shopping
Day 3: Netflix time!
Day 4: Watch the LDS Christmas Devotional in your pjs
Day 5: Vending Machine Snack
Day 6: 10 minute break for Facebook or Instagram
Day 7: Eat dessert today!
Day 8: Eat ice cream today (for me, I specified BYU Creamery ice cream because that stuff is LIFE)
Day 9: Make a blanket fort and study in it
Day 10: Movie Night!
Day 11: Call one of your little siblings or cousins
Day 12: Go for a walk and watch the sunset
Day 13: Pamper yourself! Dress up, do your nails or hair, whatever you like.
Day 14: Vending Machine Snack (you can never have too many)
Day 15: Music Jam session
Day 16: Temple Trip
I stopped here, because we all start going home for Christmas around the 17th, and for me, that's gift enough. You may want to extend or change your daily gifts, depending on your Christmas break plans. Other ideas include going out to eat with friends, Skyping people from home, going to sleep early or waking up late (which, I think, is the best gift in the world!), or go off campus exploring.
More ideas on a college Christmas coming soon!

My Magical BYU Origin Story

I just started a brand new blog giving out advice on college! We'll see how it goes. Here's the link if you're interested, and here's my first post on my new blog:
It was destined to be the best day of my entire high school career right from the start.
For my eighteenth birthday, my parents had bought me a Universal Studios pass, and my friends Lina and Elyse had bought one as well. This was incredibly life-changing and earth shattering for us because Universal Studios had recently acquired the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The three of us are the ultimate fans; we take Potterheading to a whole new level of seriousness. It was literally a dream come true to be able to visit.
So on this obviously fairly normal day, the three of us clamored into my mom's van and drove to Universal Studios. Technically, Harry Potter land itself wasn't opened yet, but Lina had heard rumors on Twitter that the park was undergoing a soft opening. That meant that for a few random hours each day, Harry Potter World would open to visitors, allowing the workers to test run the rides and visitors to get a sneak peak. We were crossing our fingers and hoping that we would get lucky and be there for the soft opening.
One of us must've drank Felix Felicis in the morning, because as luck would have it, Harry Potter World was open in all of its gloriousness. We were literally having mental breakdowns being in the real Harry Potter World. I think we cried (well, I know Lina cried, but that's another story for another day). We excitedly went on the Hippogriff ride two times. We then headed to the Forbidden Journey ride, pretty much melting from excitement and pure joy. The ride's line alone was a dream come true, like the Harry Potter books in the flesh, and the ride itself exceeded any possible expectations. We ate at the Three Broomsticks... browsed products in Honeydukes... shared butterbeer... conversed with wizards... died of happiness.
The three of us were in line for Ollivander's when I got a text from my mom asking if I had heard if I'd gotten into BYU yet, since other people already had. My heart literally stopped. I battled between curiosity and fear as my fingers hovered over my mother's text, but curiosity won over. I shakingly scrolled through my phone and opened the mail app. After refreshing the screen about fifty times, I found a BYU email sitting innocently and sweetly in my inbox. Fantastic. Hesitantly opening it, I found a link with some instructions. At this point, I was practically hyperventilating, and despite Lina and Elyse's attempts to figure out what was going on, I was too nervous to say anything coherent. I just willed my spotty data service to work faster. Finally, finally, I saw the words, "Congratulations on your acceptance into BYU!" and I was filled with unspeakable joy. Here I was, in the land of my dreams, holding an acceptance letter to the school of my dreams, surrounded by the two best friends who are better than any dream. It was literally the best day ever.
I can honestly think of no better way to find out I got into BYU. It was magical. It was particularly special to share the moment with my two best friends. I took my first step into the future with Lina and Elyse, and I knew that that meant they were going to be my forever friends, no matter the miles or the years between us.
P.S. At Ollivanders, I was later picked to choose a wand. There was no ka oi, nothing better.

The Sunshine Scatterer Who Sees the Clouds

I've always considered myself an optimist. I'm one of those annoying people that seems to have too much energy and excitement for life.
When it comes to sad stuff in life though, I like to pretend that it doesn't exist. World hunger? Poverty? Politics? In my mind, those problems disappear when I don't think about them. I can just skip through life singing high school musical and pretending that I'm not growing up, I don't have to go to college and leave my friends behind, and I definitely don't have to get a job.
I've never seen a problem with my "optimism" until my friend Ambeajaf gave me a book. I won't talk too much about the book because I want to discuss it in detail on this blog after I've finished reading, but I do want to talk about how it's changed my perspective on optimism. The book discusses how my generation is often refusing to grow up; we're scared of what the future may bring and don't want to have to deal with the pains of adulthood. We're pretending like we don't have to become an adult, that living in our mom's basement for another decade is totally fine.
There's lots of lessons I'm learning from this book, but the first  one I've learned is that optimism is NOT denial. Optimists don't just pretend problems don't exist and think happy thoughts instead. Optimists know and understand the terrible problems and sadnesses that are in  the world today. AND THEY ARE STILL HAPPY! That is the real beauty of optimists. They aren't daunted by the vast quantity of the world's problems, they aren't overwhelmed by how many thing are wrong with the world. They acknowledge that problems exist and then do something to stop the problems. They are the believers, the hopefuls, the dreamers, and most importantly, the doers of humanity.
I was much humbled by this realization. How did I think I was going  to make a difference in the world around me if I don't acknowledge that there is something wrong with it in the first place?
I'm working, now, on facing my future with more faith than fear. I'm working on not letting my problems overwhelm me into a denial of their existence. I'm working on living life happy, with a full realization of how many problems and sadnesses are in the world today. I'm hoping that by doing so, I can make more of a difference in people's lives. I can first recognize problems, then believe  that there is a solution, then go find out what the solution is. Recognize. Hope. And do.
I'll end with some song lyrics again. (I can't help myself! I love music way too much). This song is called "Walking in Sunlight".
"It's a beautiful day, even though it's dark out there. Got the sun on my face; I take it with me everywhere. And it warms my heart that's beating, it comes from believing, and it's a beautiful, beautiful feeling! It's like walking in sunlight when the whole worlds covered in rain clouds, walking in sunlight: finding the truth and living it out loud. Here, when you know what's right it's like walking in sunlight. Sunlight."
I wish you all the best luck with becoming true optimists, with recognizing, hoping, and doing. Go be awesome. :)

Home is Wherever You Are

I'd like to start with lyrics from one of my favorite songs, "Home" by Jack Johnson.
"Home is wherever you are, if there's love there too."
I've always been a homebody. I like the sameness and comfort that home provides; there's nothing comparable. That's why for me, travel is bittersweet. I love seeing new places, trying new foods, and just expanding the world I live in, but I always miss whatever and whomever I leave behind.
I'm beginning to learn, however, that I cannot just call one place home. I have a home wherever in the world I can find love. What makes home special is the people who live in it, not the things. And there are people that love me all over the world, from Finland to Hawaii to Arizona and everywhere in between. When I'm with the people I love, it doesn't matter where I am. I am home.
I spent the Fourth of July weekend at a cabin with a bunch of mostly strangers I'm not exactly related too... But sort of an (it's complicated. Long story). At first I felt a bit nervous being plunged head first into a foreign family gathering. Then I met the people I was to be staying with. It didn't matter that my last name was Douglass and theirs wasn't. They treated me the same. They played pranks on me and pulled my seat out from under me. They cooked food for me and stuffed me full of homemade chocolate chip cookies and packaged mint Oreos. They played card games with me and shared their favorite chick flicks. They made me crack up with jokes like  "Elizabeth! That's so rare!" and played beanbag toss with me.  They made me feel at home. I have all kinds of stories and memories to carry with me now!
I'm back from the cabin now, but I left a piece of my heart there, and I plan on keeping it there for a while.
I'll end with some more song lyrics, this time by the amazing Mindy Gledhill.  All too soon, "I'm gonna leave this nest and give my best to the place where I grew up." I'll be off on my own, and my house will no longer be the same. But my home? Home will never change. Home will be with me, wherever I go, wherever there are people who hold the keys to the front door that is my heart.

How is your home shaped by the people you share it with?

Thank You For that Subway Sandwich

It's that time of year again: time to write in yearbooks!

Yearbook writing could quite possibly be the most intimidating genre to write. Signing a yearbook is a tall order. The writer has to:

1.) condense a whole year's worth of experience, emotion, and craziness into one short paragraph

2.) do this without sounding cheesy or cliche

3.) not smudge the ink in the process

The process of writing in yearbooks can be tedious and exhausting. It involves trying to find something meaningful to say to people you barely know who ask you to sign their yearbook. It involves walking that fine line between genuine and cliche when composing your message. It involves gerrymandering out space on an already-full-of-signatures page for a signature of your own. It is a hand-cramping, ink-smearing, mind-bending work. Whatever you write will remain permanently scrawled on the yearbook's pages and looked at decades after it is written. It will be read by future spouses and children, scrutinized for use of "old people slang", and proofread for spelling errors. In short, yearbook writing is intimidating. 

As my English teacher reminded us today, this is why it is important to take yearbook writing seriously. Some people don't; they use their block of white space to insult people, cuss out their friends, or simply write lots of meaningless fluff in giant lettering to fill the page. These signatures may say a lot on the surface, but they are hollow on the inside. You only remember these remarks because they are annoying, inappropriate, or embarrassing.
On the flip side, good comments in yearbooks can have high impacts. One of my favorite yearbook signatures this year was "Thanks for that subway sandwich". This statement, which has no meaning to anyone reading this, has deep personal meaning for me. Just a few words resulted in a change of perspective. This is the power of yearbook writing: you have the opportunity to leave an impression, good or bad, on the reader. How you will be remembered in ten, twenty, thirty years is in part contingent on the five or six sentences you scrawl in Sharpie in a yearbook. My point? Craft those five or six sentences wisely.