Too Hot to Handle

last april, my friend beth and i went on a little hike. when we made it back down r mountain, i discovered that my arms were spotted with small red bumps. i shrugged it off, blaming it on dehydration. fast forward to the end of a zumba class. hives. hives everywhere: arms, stomach, legs.burning, itching swelling hives. every time i exercised i broke out in hives. talk about an incentive to not work out, as if i needed one.

the last straw was a couple weeks* ago. i went to what was possibly the worst zumba class of my life for only half an hour. on my way home i could feel my temperature rising. by the time i got home, my body was coverd in hives. my top lip was swollen to twice its normal size. really though, i looked like i got botox...and you know i don't need no botox! so i finally went to the health center and got it checked out.

although the doctor was surprised, he had a diagnosis: urticaria- a fancy word for hives. he also had a prescription. every night i had to take a little white pill, an antihistamine of sorts. the benefit? today, i went running. i put on my shoes and got on a treadmill. i only ran a mile, but it was the greatest mile i've ever run because at the end of it, there were no hives.

*note: i wrote this a couple days ago. by "a couple" i mean like a week.

Happy Thoughts

i feel like i haven't had a happy blog post for a while. so i will share some happiness while the endorphins are high! 

here are a few things that brought me happiness today:

*i have an internship! it is such a blessing in my life! i'm so grateful to be a the point where i can complete an internship! and you know what? i get to help all kinds of people understand something that they generally are intimidated by and it is so cool!

*i have great roommates! they are kind and funny and sometimes we rough house and since i'm bigger than they are i pretty much always win because i get to decide when to stop.

*food. glorious food. i love it and i'm so grateful to have it everyday.

*friends. i have the greatest friends! they are funny and smart and wonderful!

*co-workers. i have really great co-workers. when we are not busy with tax things we just talk and it is great.

*the love of God that i feel whenever i tune in. He is there, just waiting on me to let go of anger and frustration so that i can make room for His love.

*our clean apartment. seriously, the roommates.

*being honest with myself. (there will eventually be a post about this honesty process. at some point.)

*our home evening group. we came together and talked and decided that we would be friends! i love friends.

*my friends having babies. my co-worker thinks that she is going to somehow convince my to be more excited about having kids. we are both very single but she wants babies. i'm not on that chapter of this journey. i'm perfectly content being cool auntie sam to all those cute little babies that will eventually go back to their parents.

okay, there is my list of happy things for today! think on your happy moments!

I Wish it Were Steak

january is over, and what a month it was. i have a lot on my plate at the moment and although i've heard people say that when you have too much on your plate, the Lord makes your plate bigger, i would much rather Him turn whatever is on my plate into a big juicy steak. but i digress.

from the top: i currently have two callings (in order of acceptance) home evening group leader and second counselor in Relief Society. you may be saying to yourself "but that can't be right, i've read that variation of a calling complaint before." fret not, dear friends, tis true. the latter is a calling that i've had before, though it appears i may have missed the lesson, and so... here's to learning.

i'm also completing an internship for the much coveted accounting degree. i like taxes. there, i said it. are you happy now? it taps into every bit of accounting and office work nerdiness in me. it is great! (trust that exclamation point, i don't wield the power of exclamation lightly.) along with the internship, i'm taking what some call the most difficult accounting class in our degree program. it is kicking my butt.

i know that we are never given more than we can handle. i know that right now is right. everything is in the place that it needs to be. and life is overall good and wonderful and beautiful, but it would be better with steak. i'm just saying.