Just Another Sunday

The weeks just seem to be blending together like crazy! I can't believe it's another Sunday and another week of campers already. I think that I'm the unofficial substitute for Primary, because this is the third week that I've subbed for someone. Some days I like it, others not so much. I love being a big girl and going to Sunday School and Relief Society and actually learning new things, but then again I also love going to Primary and singing all of my favorite primary songs. Then of course, at night we have our weekly fireside and then I do my choir practice afterward. (Quick side note- the fireside speaker tonight is Elder Groberg, of Other Side of Heaven!! So exciting- I can hardly wait!)

In other news, nothing too major has been going on. I've started working on a much bigger and better list of my life goals, as directed by Randal Wright's book, "Achieving Your Life Mission". I've surprised myself by how many different goals I've been able to come up with. Some of them are pretty random, but I'm just excited to have them written down.

I finally stopped procrastinating and wrote to quite a few of my missionary friends. I feel kind of guilty about waiting so long to write some of them, but I guess writing them later is better than not writing them at all!

Oh! I also went and saw How to Train Your Dragon the other day, which surprisingly I didn't like very much! It just wasn't my cup of tea I guess. But I also went to Walmart and they had strawberries on sale so I bought some of those and I got some chocolate chips and.. you guessed it! Made chocolate-covered strawberries. :)

Also, I started reading the Hunger Games series. And by started, I mean, I read the first two of the trilogy in a matter of three days. They were SO good! I love those kinds of books, and it totally lives up to all of the hype that everyone gives it. I just can't wait for August when the third book comes out! It's going to be great. Although seriously, I'm in the middle of at least 3 or 4 different books right now. Sometimes it's easy to read, other times, it's hard to find a quiet place and a solid block of time and the motivation to get through a book, which is odd for me. Guess I'm just having too much fun being social.

Okay, so time for my random thought of the day. It's actually something I've been thinking a lot about lately. Basically, I'm wondering: what is a true friend? I mean, I know what it is to me, but sometimes I feel like people have many different definitions of the word. To me,  a friend is someone who is always willing to listen, and often willing to offer their opinion and give advice. A friend is someone who asks how you are doing and genuinely wants to know the answer. Friends notice when you're happy or sad, and they take time to find out the details of your life. They're considerate of your feelings and they express their love for you often. Now granted, there are different degrees of friendship, and with this comes varying degrees of these qualities.

I've been thinking about it a lot, and I think that at the end of my life, I would like nothing better than if everyone who knew me could say that I was a good friend. I remember learning at the personality workshop that I went to a little while ago that a big part of my personality (expressive) is based on relationships with others. As I've become more conscious of it, I realize how true this is for myself. I really do care a ton about my friendships with people. It consumes my life! I have to be involved in the lives of others around me, because that's how I show that I care. Whether it's a girl's night or a phone call at 1 in the morning, or just chatting while walking to dinner, I crave it. I need it. I need to show my love for other people so that they know that I care about them.

I think part of the reason for this is the other end of the expressiveness in me; the reciprocal end of relationships. I guess part of me hopes that if I be the best friend that I can be, that I'll get the best friends I can get. I guess I hope that by caring so much for others, that maybe, just maybe, somebody will care that much for me.

So a lot of the time, I think this is what gets me hurt. Maybe I'm expecting too much of the people around me. Maybe it's me being an expressive again, but we expressives feel emotions deeply. So as detrimental as it is to my emotional and mental health, there's a part of me that is hurt when my care and energy isn't reciprocated. Sometimes it leads to drama, even if it's only in my own head, other times I'm just able to let it go.

I don't really know what I'm trying to say. I guess it's just that I really really try to be a good friend, because I think that besides building a strong family and getting a good education, building good friendships and relationships is the most important thing you can do.

And that's my two cents. :)