.replay.

voila.

here’s my current playlist on repeat.

a song for every day of the week.

plus one.

cause you can never be too generous with good music.

.friendly friday - carl.

as one of the many maxwell maxim’s go:

“we are not put in circles of friendship by coincidence, but by divine design.”

there’s few things in life better than good friends.

and lucky for me, divine design has led me to some of the best.

so, here’s to friendly fridays.

just a little s/o to my home girls and boys,

and why they’re the greatest things

that’s ever happened to me,

you (even if you don’t know them),

and well,

the universe.

let’s start off with one of my favorites shall we?

been thick as thieves since seventh grade.

she’s 6’ 4” and so much more.

does she play sports?

yup, golf.

(just kidding, but that’s what i tell people

for the inevitable follow up question after her height).

we can have the time of our lives doing most anything.

and i look up to her for just about everything.

introducing… the one… the only…

name: 

carley anne rasmussen

nicknames: 

carl(s), car, carley fries, carls barkley, carl bucket, carlos…

three words: 

classy, sassy, and the most altruistic lassie.

treat of choice: 

diet dr. p with a hint of lime wedge.  

talents: 

knows how to beautify any place or space, be it with food, décor, words, or grace. volleyball superstar. marathon master. astute accountant. oh so stylish. dedicated. diligent. lover/discoverer of everything that is good.

one of a million memories: 

twas a hot summers day, and we’d been running errands of the p.a… we got in the car, turned on the “a/c,” and both legitimately screamed as a whoosh of burning hot hair blasted out suffocating our faces. and then we laughed (and sweated) uproariously.

words of wit and wisdom:

 “i’m no gold digger… but i ain’t no coal digger either!”

“we’ve already made the hardest decision by coming to earth… every other choice we make is a little easier knowing we’re already half-way there.” – carley llama

.magic is connections.

oh, this weekend was oh so lovely.

throughout all the loveliness,

i couldn’t help but be reminded of what a dear friend told me

many moons ago.

she said,

“magic is connections.”

that being said, onto the loveliness.

do you know who’s a saint? valentine.

this good man’s holiday is one i look forward to every year.

and this years blessed day of love was especially exceptional.

valentines night,

i went to the “sacred gifts” art exhibit 
at the moa (museum of art).

the moment you walk in,

you behold this beauty in all its grandeur and glory.

"agony in the garden" - frans schwartz 

now, i’ve always appreciated art don’t get me wrong.

it takes serious skill to do what the artistic greats do.

but i can count on one hand the number of times

i’ve been actually moved by art.

i stared at this painting for at least a good solid fifteen minutes.

i couldn’t stop staring at Christ’s face.

it pulled at my heartstrings to see such an expression of total despair.

i stared at the angel for awhile too.

(someone told me that maybe it was michael -

second witness, anyone?)

but whoever it was,

i thought about what an honor it would have

been to be by the Savior’s side during those moments.

i’m sure all the hosts of heaven were looking down

wishing they could do something to help,

and that angel received the privilege

of comforting the Comforter.

it is so hard to think about

the Savior of the World hurting beyond comprehension,

when He’s always been the one to lift others.

but He chose to.

He had to.

and continued to be selfless despite the agony.

i’m sure He was a little more than bummed

that His chief apostles were unable to stay awake

and watch with Him for just an hour,

or the heartache caused by Judas’s betrayal.

but despite either of those,

He still took the time to heal the guard’s severed ear.

or when He was hanging on the cross,

He was asking John to care for His sweet mother Mary.

or was comforting another thief on the cross,

with words of the paradise they had to look forward to.

i think elder bednar says it best:

“One of the best indicators of righteous character is the capacity to recognize and appropriately respond to other people who are experiencing the very challenge or adversity that is most immediately and forcefully pressing upon us. Character is revealed, for example, in the power to discern the suffering of other people when we ourselves are suffering; in the ability to detect the hunger of others when we are hungry; and in the power to reach out and extend compassion for the spiritual agony of others when we are in the midst of our own spiritual distress. Therefore, character is demonstrated by looking, turning, and reaching outward when the instinctive response of the “natural man” (Mosiah 3:19) in each of us is to turn inward and to be selfish and self-absorbed. And the Savior of the world is the source, the standard, and the ultimate criterion of moral character and the perfect example of charity and consistency.”

frans schwartz,

thank you for the magic connection of your art.

the day after valentines was equally lovely.

i had the amazing opportunity of meeting

one of the world’s great renaissance women,

melissa dalton bradford.

it was magical talking to her.

it was magical hearing her talk.

my eyes, ears, and mind were open

to all the temporal and spiritual blessings

of learning languages.

but more importantly,

communicating heart to heart.

and how learning languages expands that

heart to heart connection.

i don’t know what cultural opportunities

my future may hold,

but i’ll definitely be taking a language class

within the next year.

and come fall 2015,

hopefully i’ll have a chance to put that to good use.

and mixed in with all that aforementioned loveliness,

were some of the best movies.

the kind that make you want to cry and laugh 

all at once because your heart is going to burst.

those are the best in my opinion.

the boy in the striped pajamas

the book thief

and

life is beautiful.

i don’t why i have a WWII/holocaust obsession,

but i think it’s one of the most interesting times of history

that reveal human resilience.

that show what’s left to someone

when there’s absolutely nothing left.

and how they continue to leave the world better off,

than how it left them.

magic is connections.

.sigh.

as i was thinking about how many hours i’d worked the past few weeks,

i thought it was funny that my initial thought was,

“ok, x hours… so, that’s about a tank of gas,

rent, jerusalem, and maybe... maybe some groceries.”
the dolla bills already have a place to evaporate to in grownup oblivion

even before i can take in the number on the check.

makes me appreciate the good ‘ol days

of childhood odd jobs and lemonade stands,

when life was simpler, fifty bucks seemed like a lot,

and there was always spare change for a slurpee.

*sigh*

also, remember “never suppress a generous thought”?

oh, the irony.

(i really shouldn’t be too surprised at this point, i guess).

considering that mantra got me in this pickle the first place

i suppose the opposite may be true to get me out of it.

i never thought i’d be in a situation

to intentionally suppress generosity though.

and maybe it’s not so much stifling,

as it is channeling it

to another recipient or outlet.

*sigh*

also, griffin and cambelle.

two of my favorite parts of the week.

from griffin’s classic comments like,

“boy, it’s hot outside.” as he dramatically wipes his brow.

to watching youtube videos of “frozen” with cambelle

while she passive aggressively smiles,

looks at me and says,

“please don’t sing along.”

or when she wanted to play hide and seek

and tried to run into the elevator.

she almost got away with it too.

 .grelfies (selfies w/ griffin) // "let's take a picture with our bottles, liza." // trying to shovel snow off the trampoline. // "grif, how's it goin trying to shovel snow off the tramp?".

."i'm a pretzel walrus!".
(i would post more pictures of cambelle if she wasn't always using my phone when i'm with her)

aren't they the cutest?

*sigh*

.agency of the heart.

i've been on a big free agency kick lately.

i've been thinking about how crazy it is

that Heavenly Father trusts us so much to make decisions on our own.

and if we're living righteously,

He'll guide and direct us otherwise if our choice is wrong,

or path should be altered.

it's been really empowering to think that there's endless possibilities

of great things to do,

places to go,

and individuals we can potentially become

all because we can decide to do, go, and be

whatever we want because we can.

but we have a head.

and we have a heart.

what we know, and what we feel, aren't always the same.

i think for the most part,

i have a pretty good grasp on how to use agency with my head.

i know what's right or wrong

and can act accordingly based on that knowledge.

but the heart...

how does one be an agent of their heart?

for instance, for one reason or another,

someone leaves your life you wish could have stayed.

a death, a breakup, a falling out…

you try to reason there was a higher purpose in their departure,

and might even know that it was all for the best in the end,

but there's that part of you that still wants to be with the other person.

and no matter how hard your head tries to tell your heart to pull it together,

the heart still crawls off into the corner

trying to console the ache in ice cream, running,

listening to the sweet sounds of sentimental adele...

anything really, that might patch up the hurt.

that being said, how does one control the heart, or how they feel?

i'm not quite sure about the answer to that,

but my closest guess is that we have the ability to condition the heart.

to put ourselves in situations that will either cause the heart

to grow in love,

or conversely harden,

or become apathetic.

and each condition is gradual,

built up over time,

and stubborn to change when the head tells it what is best.

maybe the Savior asks us to come to him with a 'broken heart and contrite spirit'

because He's the only one who can fix it.

we have the choice to come to Him (our head + physical action),

but only He, the master heart surgeon, can heal how we feel.

i think it's interesting that in d&c 8 when talking about receiving revelation it says

that we will be told in "[our] mind and [our] heart."

i'm realizing more and more what a profound thing that is

to have what we think and feel come together as one.

it's kind of a big deal.

i remember a letter from a friend that

said something to the effect of,

"we have our sphere of control of what we can and can't do,

and that's all we have to worry about

and Heavenly Father will take care of the rest."

maybe that's what faith is...

is trusting that whether our head or our heart

is guiding us in our sphere of control,

that eventually both might meet at a crossroads along the way.

.to be or not to be socially acceptable.

some things i wish were socially acceptable:

1) lip-syncing in public.

you know what i'm talking about.

you're walking to campus, ear buds popped in,

you've got a great jam you're strutting to the beat to.

and all you want to do right then is lip sync along

pretending you're in a music video. 

aaaand sometimes i do just that. 

and sometimes i get weird looks from people.

but still.

why can't we all just universally accept everyone’s

inner desire to lip sync in public?

2) approaching people you've only seen on social media.

on a weekly, if not almost daily basis,

i'll see somebody i haven't met in real life.

but i know exactly who they are.

what they did last weekend.

who they're dating.

what they had for breakfast this morning...

the creepiness goes on.

social media has made me the most shameless stalker, guys.

and i know i'm not the only one.

can't we just all own up to the fact that we've mutually stalked

each other so we can be friends in real life?

"hey! how are you, paul? you're friends with [so and so],

from washington, went to peru last summer, business major...

how's that goin? i'm liza."

"hey liza! yeah, totally, how was the concert you went to last week?

sweet instagram post of that swig place too.

we should go sometime.”

see, how easy that was?

and think of all the friends we'd have if we could

actually talk to the people we stalk.

3) randomly using really big words in conversation more often.

why just say, “you’re beautiful”

when you could say, “my, how pulchritudinous you look today.”

ok.

maybe i’m just a lip-syncing weirdo, stalker, nerd.

lipsynceridostalkerd.