Black Friday

I have never ever gone shopping on Black Friday, for good reason, but this year I decided to give it a shot. After my Thansgiving festivities out in Avondale I came home to Tempe and joined Blake in camping out in front of Frys Electronics. He got there around 5:30 pm on thursday, I got there around 7ish. We played cards, rode our longboards around the lot, watched a movie, did some scripture study and drank a ton of hot chocolate. Jon got there around midnight and we all just chilled on the air mattress, literally, because it was freezing outside. Frys opened up at 530am and it was a madhouse! We were in the front of the line so I was in and out pretty quickly, I wasn't going for anything big anyways, I just got a stereo for my car. Blake on the other hand, did like all of his Christmas shopping and had a cart full of goodies. I had a fun time hanging out all night with the boys, I wasn't really there to shop. The downside is that I have been really sick the past two days from being out in the cold. I had to call in sick to work today and have been in bed allll day. I think I am almost better, so hopefully I will be able to make it to church and to sing in the choir concert tomorrow night at 7. For now, I will continue watching all the Disney movies I own and rest.

November

I am going to officially declare November the month of Baptism. Within our ward I can think of 6 baptisms that occured this month. Derek, Mo, Rebecca, Jeff in the previous weeks, and Adam and Ryan this upcoming saturday. I am not really aquainted yet with Derek, Ryan, or Adam, but I feel particularly close to Mo, Rebecca and Jeff. Witnessing their conversion and how much they have changed, mainly how happy they have become, has been a tremendous blessing in my life. I feel like when I am around them that my own testimony grows and I know I am learning so much from these amazing new members. Mo has taught me to live life with passion, to be excited about everything and to enjoy every second of every day. Rebecca has taught me to always wear a smile and to have a positive attitude, this girl is NEVER angry or upset, ever, and when I think of her I think that I have no excuse for being cranky or thinking that my lot is hard, I should be smiling and "finding joy in the journey" as the prophet said. Jeff has taught me the importance of deep study. He loves the scriptures and studies them so much, I think from Jeff I have learned to truly appreciate the scripture and what a blessing it is to have them with me at all times and at such convenience. Attending all three of their baptism was an amazing experience, especially because each of them had a lot of support from their families. When I was baptized my family chose not to attend, I wish they would have but am not upset or angry about that, but seeing how supportive their parents were made me so happy for these new members. Rebecca's sweet parents had even mentioned how proud they were of Rebecca for her decision. Even though they don't have a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel they could see how important baptism was for her and what a huge decison she was making and were fully supportive. :)

I am so completely overjoyed that November is not the end of the baptism fever that is spreading in Tempe! For the last couple of weeks a friend that I work with has been taking the lessons at my apartment, and today the elders committed her to be baptized on Dec. 6th! We are all so excited for her! It has been amazing for me to watch her grow and change as she learns about the gospel and the perfect plan that Heavenly Father has for all of his children! I love this gospel and know, more than I know of anything else, that it is 100% true and that it is the church of Jesus Christ.

Shine On

RULES:
1. Put Your iTunes, Windows Media Player, MP3 Player, or whatever on Shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write down the name of the song no matter how silly it sounds!
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.

If someone says, “Is this okay?” You say?
Poor Fool He Makes Me Laugh- Phantom of the Opera Soundtrack
[this one made ME laugh]

How would you describe yourself?
Oh Say What is Truth?-Hymns
[Oh yeaaaah, honest and true, that's me alright]

What do you like in a guy/girl?
Tie the Rope-The Format
[I guess this could describe my current attitude toward the male species ha ha]

How do you feel today?
The Day Dawn is Breaking-Hymns
[Oh this real good, I actually feel like I am almost out of the darkness that is fall semester and can see the light!]

What is your life’s purpose?
Nay, Speak No Ill-Hymns
[Wow the hymns are popular today with the shuffler]

What is your motto?
Give It Up-The Format
[Format also seems to be popular]

What do your friends think of you?
Resolution-Motion City Soundtrack

What do you think of your family?
Choose the Right-Hymns
[bahahaha this does NOT remind me of my parents, maybe because I have to choose the right and be nice to them when sometimes it's hard]

What do you think about very often?
Push Push-Bang Camaro
[basically an intrumental of guitar amazingness, i guess i think about amazingness]

What is 2 + 2?
Electable-Jimmy Eat World

What do you think of your best friend?
Sore Thumb-The Format

What do you think of the person you like?
While Shepherds Watched their Flock-Hymns
[that make zero sense]

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Majesty-Hillsong
[Oh this is good, so this is a song from a Christian band about Jesus Christ, so maybe it's saying that I wanna be like JC, which is TRUE!]

What do you think of when you see the person you like?
The Course of Human Life-the Early November

What will you dance to at your wedding?
Into the Airwaves-Jack's Mannequin

What will they play at your funeral?
Lifesong-Casting Crowns
[This is also perfect, casting crowns is an amazing Christian band and this song is about making all aspects of your life be praise to God "May the words I say and the things I do make my lifesong sing, bring a smile to you"]

What is your hobby/interest?
Dear God-Avenged Sevenfold
[Prayer? I SHOULD make this a hobby, it's a sign]

What is your biggest fear?
Ruthless-Something Corporate

What is your biggest secret?
The Jetset life is gonna kill you-My Chemical Romance

What do you think of your friends?
Catalyst-Anna Nalick

What will you post this as?
Shine On-EFY
[nice]

So I saw this on Kara Morris' blog and hers turned out hilarious, way better than mine, but it was fun to do and try and justify the divine shuffle selection of my iTunes.

Damsel in Distress

Today I received a piece of information from a male friend that really surprised me! So I was on the phone with this male friend, and just for background, we had discussed in the past few weeks the possibility of us dating. Now it wasn't a big deal, we had just kind of discussed what the pros and cons would be, and what both of our concerns were, and then kind of just left things undecided for awhile because I don't know why. Tonight he called and decided we needed to figure out where we stand. He knew that I really enjoyed his friendship, but could easily swing either way, whether it was friends or dating I really could have gone either way, no big deal. He told me that he had been kind of observing me to see if we would be good together, he didn't want to risk our friendship by dating when it wouldn't have a positive outcome, which is good, I am very glad that he took the time to consider these things rather than rushing something that would have been ineffective. So from his observations he learned that: 1. I am always trying to help others. Ok, I do try hard to help others, I could always do a lot more, but I do my best. This comment didn't really throw me off, I took it as a compliment. 2. I don't really need help from others very often and am ok standing on my own two feet. Yes, this is also true, another trait of mine that I have always viewed as a positive one, one that I really am proud of myself for. Apparently
(and this didn't bother me or hurt my feelings, merely surprised me)he concurred that because of trait #2, it would be unsuccessful for us to date because he wanted to be with a girl that needed him and he could take care of. This blew me away! Guys want needy girls? Wow. If you recall the instance in previous blogging where I changed my own flat tire, my dad had told me very bluntly that I should have had a boy do it because guys do no want girls who do not need their help! Who would have thought that my father actually knew what he was talking about! So, I am unsure about what I will do with this new tidbit of information. Should I remain relatively in charge of my needs and be i-n-d-e-p-e-n-d-e-n-t...OR become the damsel in distress and convince the male species that I am in great need of their help and attention? I think I will need to reflect on what it is that the male species is seeking, in correlation to what it is that I am seeking.


Love,
A thoroughly confused Madison

My Absolute Best

Last week at work my store manager, Jon, took me into the backroom to show me a movie. I was thinking it was going to be some kind of training video from the company about "tomato coverage" or how to count the safe, but I was totally wrong, and was so touched by the clip I was shown from the movie "Facing the Giants", which I had never seen before.



As I watched this movie I couldn't help but cry, yep in front of all the associates who were working at the time, in front of my managers, I just stood there and cried. What stuck in my head about the movie was not what my boss had intended, which is that I have an impact on the other associates and need to be giving my "absolute best", but that Heavenly Father is right there with us, every step of the way. When times get so hard and we think we can't take one more step, He is right there telling us to go just a little further. He sees the divine potential in each of us, and knows what we can become. Although right now, it may seem impossible to go even 50 yards in our journey, Heavenly Father is slowly but surely leading us to the endzone. It was funny because after the movie my boss mentioned something about us both being Christians and about how just as God knows how much potential I have, he also knows that as a manager I have huge potential that I just don't see within myself. My boss is always telling me to have more confidence in myself and that I need to push myself. After watching this clip, I know that I need to be giving my "absolute best" at work, at home, at church, with friends and family, in good times, in bad times, and will make a conscious effort to do so.

Let's Just Let it Roll

Ups

1. That Geography test I thought I bombed-I totally rocked it and got an A+! That was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me, well, not really, but wow it felt great!

2. My wonderful roommate Ashley must have been bored or something, but she did a huge cleaning job on our apartment while I was working and it looks great! It just feels so much better to come home to a clean place rather than clutter and mess.

3. Mo's Baptism is on Saturday! Excitement! I am so happy for her and am really looking forward to attending her baptism.

4. My Ensign came yesterday. I have been checking the mail every single day, anticipating its arrival. I am so excitement to review the talks and study the words of modern day prophets :)

5. The weather. It is absolutely gorgeous outside today. This time of year is my absolute favorite because being outside is so relaxing and my world seems to gain a little more peace. I am going to try and spend as much time outside as possible.

6. Christmas songs. I am in the Institute Choir and we have started singing Christmas songs! We are singing this great song called Christmas Bells, which is a version of the Hymn "I heard the Bells on Christmas Day", and this song is so beautiful and brightens my day. I cannot wait for the Christmas season.

7. I bought my first scripture case yesterday. I know I am like a year overdue in getting one but I am so picky! So I just bought a plain black one and I am going to stitch my name on it and some cool spiritual stuff that is personal to me, like a good quote or maybe a hymn verse, like "More Holiness Give Me", mmm best hymn in the hymnal, I will testify of that.
8. My mission to be fearless is showing some fruits. I made a move that was quite bold, for me at least, and the result was not what I expected but it will be quite interesting.