So I feel slightly like a slacker, but I really shouldn't! I was only tagged a few days ago, and I've honestly been too busy to write on my blog.

But here it is, a wonderful Friday evening, and I am at peace with the world. So, here I am.

It occurs to me that before I go on to anything else, I should think for a little while about why I am so cheerful right now -- you know, "recipe for happy" and all that. So I guess I'll back-track, one thing at a time, as best I can...

I am wearing my wonderful pajama pants. I was cold for one, and for another the whole reason I bought them was that they bring me joy.

My sister is at a friend's house for the weekend, so I was sad when I got home and couldn't say hi to her. Realizing it was important to me to say hi to her was a happifying thing, though.

I chatted with my mom the whole way home. Mom and I have a kind of lengthy commute, especially with traffic, but we never seem to be quiet for long. We've never been super-chatty, which is hard sometimes because I tend to feel most loved when I am having interesting, cheerful conversations with whomever, but the ride home seems to be an exception.

I suspect I am learning to better manage my time. Because I get up at 6am, don't get home until 7pm, and should start getting ready for bed by about 9 at the latest, it leaves very little time for me! I didn't realize that maybe I was spending my time more wisely and carefully until I glanced at the clock and thought "Well okay, it's not 7 yet, I can write for this long and then I need to go do this, this, and this." If that is what working so much is going to teach me, then BRING IT. I am so excited.

Doing what I do for work tests my cheerfulness sometimes, though. It can be really, really tedious, but sometimes tedious in the way that the sound of someone's screechy alarm going off gets old fast. But every day is a little different, so I do my best and try to be patient for better, and grateful for what I have. And if that's what I need to learn right now, then well, bring that too.

This whole job thing has been extraordinary, though. My car is not fixed yet, and even once it was, the best I could come up with was going to be getting two (low paying) part time jobs and take out an additional loan for school, if I needed it. However, I have prayed and prayed that I would be able to go back to school next semester, that I would not be a burden, that I would not have to go into greater debt. And then, the day after I paid my tithing, Mom told me there was a position open at her office and that she would put in a good word for me. So here I am before you, an office assistant making $10/hr, working full-time, with no gas expenses because I ride with Mom. That's WAY better than anything I could come up with.

All in all, I am completely in awe of God and His powerful goodness in the life of one small person -- me.