School is best when unattended

I am surrounded by some of the most amazing women on the planet. I know its true, so don't fight me on this one. Today, I was so blessed to have been able to attend Women's Conference down at BYU. My friends Liz Rose and Ruth Hill were speaking and there was no way I could miss it, even on the week before AP tests. Believe me, I was more than happy to rearrange my schedule to ditch school and head down there!

Amazing woman #1: my mom. She was kind enough to come play with me for the day (I think we were both afraid of something happening to me if I went alone...the buddy system. This is why my mom's nickname is Buddy. Okay, not really. Side note over...), which I was very grateful for. I'm so glad that we're good friends, things might be awkward if we weren't... Thanks Mom!

Amazing woman #2: Liz :) I've known her since I was in preschool, so we go way back. She gave an amazing talk on how important time is when it comes to our families, which was something I definitely needed to hear, as I spend the majority of my time at school, work and in my bed :) I learned just how important it is that I spend time with my family while I still can, before I go to college or get married or whatever may happen. She also had a fabulous little object lesson, involving an hourglass. While the time on the top of the hourglass is running out, it's only building what we'll have in eternity. It's such a great way to think of how you're spending your time with an eternal perspective. Thanks Liz!

Amazing woman #3: Ruth. Who else could be ma faux mere? She was first my seminary substitute, and since then I've spent many nights in her home and had many discussions at her kitchen counter. She spoke on scriptural heroines, which couldn't have been more perfect, since she's always quoting the book of Ruth :) I always forget about how important the women of the scriptures are until I talk to Ruth. I love the way she can pull the scriptures into any discussion, it always reminds me to keep my focus on the gospel. Thanks Ruth!

See? Just a small sampling of these amazing women. It probably isn't fair that I get a whole bunch of them, but I'm not giving them up! Dear fabulous women, thank you for shaping me to be who I am. I am eternally grateful.

Always a party!

Once upon a time, there was this little thing called Easter. Just one Sunday, once a year, and we have like 5 parties. And whole bunch of candy and junk food. I really don't see anything wrong with this, I was just observing.

Over the past few years, I've grown to learn what Easter is really about and it has become my favorite holiday. A couple years ago, I had the opportunity to sing in Lex de Azevedo's choir as they sang Hosanna, an opera about the final days of Christ's life. Nothing strengthens my testimony quite like music does, and each time we sang I was just overwhelmed by the spirit. I had the opportunity of watching it again on Sunday, and again, I was amazed by the power of not only the spirit, but of the Atonement and the resurrection and everything Christ did for us. I think this video sums it all up quite nicely: http://lds.org/pages/his-sacred-name-an-easter-declaration?lang=eng

Anyway, I'd just like to take a second to make a shout out to my SCBFFFEWC, aka my best friend...hey there pretty! It's good to know we take the time to blog-stalk one another occasionally...

Tonight, as our FHE activity, I forced my family to learn the cup game. Well, I'm pretty sure I'm still the only one that knows it, they just figured out how to move their cups to the rhythm. I'm pretty sure that was the greatest family activity we've had in quite some time. Nothing like throwing plastic cups and laughing together.

So, for the past couple weeks, I've forced myself to get up much too early and get over to the Sportsplex. And I absolutely hate to admit this, but I actually kind of enjoy running. I'm not sure what's wrong with me, I think it just came with the Richardson genes. You better believe I hate that I love it. Okay, love is the wrong word, since I generally curse the entire universe whilst on my treadmill, but still. I love the way I feel when I'm done. Now that I'm not sore all the time, I just feel happier, and I love the fact that I've accomplished something by 6 o'clock every morning.

Today, I broke a personal record. Last Thursday, I ran for 15 minutes straight, which I had never done before. Today, I ran for 20. Was I out of breath? Absolutely. Did I want to fall over? Most certainly. But mostly, I was just proud of myself. If you had asked me to do that 6 months ago, I think I might've died. Now it's totally normal. So, I'm setting a goal, or maybe adding an item to the bucket list, just something along those lines. I would like to run something more than a 5K. Like a 10K or something. Maybe someday I'll hit a half-marathon, but that seems much too lofty at this point. So we're starting small. I believe that's called the foot-in-the-door effect, which leads me to another issue. AP tests are next week, and I've been applying calculus and psychology to everything possible. It drives me CRAZY!!! 8 more days and I'll be done. Oh, and then I have to go to college. Psh, whatever. 39 days until graduation. Life is good.

Hilary Duff and my sunroof

When feeling nostalgic, which happens quite often, I go back to my H-Duff days. When I would clean my room on Saturdays, I would pull out my boom box and put in my CDs. I thought I was so cool, being 11 and listening to teenager music. I remember listening to it and envisioning myself driving around, singing along in my car. Well, years later, here I am. One of my favorite things to do is drive with the windows down, it just makes me feel cool. However, this became difficult when Rhonda's windows stopped working. And the singing along became difficult when the speakers starting going in and out. Needless to say, the fender-bender that sent Rhonda to her grave really was a blessing, for several other reasons than having working windows and speakers. Now, on a warm afternoon, I can open up my sunroof and reminisce as I drive "up-town," as some might say :) There's something about driving and singing at the top of your lungs that can be very cathartic. And tinted windows so no one can see you? Even better!

Does any of this make any sense? Of course not, I don't get enough sleep for that. I'm pretty sure that the point I'm trying to make is that I love being able to just take a minute to relax and remember the times when life was simple, when cleaning my room was probably the worst part of my week. Oh, and the second point: sunroofs make my life.