.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. 

.little did i know.

“what have you been up to lately?”

“oh, you know. school and work. livin’ the dream.”

or the typical:

“what’s your favorite _______?”

“um… uh… hm… maybe chocolate?”

these seem to be the responses i at least give to people 97% of the time.

but, ya know, they're not entirely true either.

i’m mostly writing this post for the sake of remembering.

remembering that despite how much school and work

seem to take up my existence,

or how ho hum my answers tend to be when put on the spot,

there are some pretty cool things that have happened

and neat stuff i’ve learned about myself all along the way.

and especially in the present crusty crust of winter

in the tundra of uneventful-ness, 

i need to remember to be grateful for them all.

so here’s to 2013.

i don’t know if being born on friday the 13^th

had any correlation with the culmination of thirteen related karma,

but, oh man.

what a blessed year it was.

what a pleasantly surprising year it was.

what an incredibly lucky year it was.

so, here it is.

the discoveries, knowledge, experiences, dreams, and realizations of

eliza ann smith.

in 2013.

and to be completely honest, most of them were about food.

little did i know i loved:

cubbys chicken sandwich.

mountain west burrito.

green smoothies.

cilantro.

salted caramel.

butterscotch shakes.

kettle corn.

swig sugar cookies.

sweet tooth fairy iced oatmeal cookies.

oatmeal in general.

cocoa beans better-than-whatever cupcakes.

(i'm not avoiding a certain word, people.
that’s really what they’re called, i promise)

nougat.

mini m&ms (sooo much better than regular sized ones).

cow tales.

vanilla tootsie rolls.

and…

salad (gotta have a balanced diet when the rest is 80% dia-beet-uhs).

other new loves (non-food related):

cross-stitching.

poppies and zinnias.

ted talks.

collecting wall art and making collages.

sitting and reading in barnes and noble all afternoon.

learning about near-death experiences.

arcade games. 

pentel r.s.v.p. pens.

finding hidden gems of music on spotify.

zumba.

sunday naps (it is literally the day of rest).

grapefruit scented things.

sticky notes.

dreams that came true:

commercial music major.

being an efy counselor.

mindy gledhill.

jeep cherokee.

iPhone (what a blessed contraption).

nikon d7100 (still need to figure out to actually use it).

got an email to audition for one of my favorite t.v. shows.

met music publishers from nashville.

played a show at the velour.

went to a justin bieber concert.

new experiences/knowledge:

traveled out of the US of A for the first time.

sheep have tails.

the geologic term for the point of the mountain on I-215 is called the ‘spit.’
indexed over 1,000 names.

fixed multiple plumbing problems with the trusty aid of google and youtube.
wrote my first christmas song.

worked for my first and last time at chacha.

went on six dates in a week (also for the first and last time).

made thai food at midnight.

experiences are meaningful because of the people you’re with.

being specific in prayer makes all the difference.

anyone can get along with anyone.

it’s not what you’ve done, it’s who you’ve become.

i’m not in command but i’m in good hands.

things i learned about myself:

i’m a horrible texter-backer.

i may never be punctual in this life.

i yet to have a good experience with group projects.

i love to dance.

(efy and zumba bring out the best moves).

i think my favorite term of endearment is ‘darling.’

i love learning songs in different languages.

(‘dices’ by selena gomez ees muy bueno).

a good horse movie still makes me cry.

i’m all about the quality over quantity of people in my life.

i can’t sleep with socks.

and that’s just to name a few.

between crossing off a good chunk of my bucket list,

having dreams fulfilled i didn’t know i had,

or making new friends that taught me more about

life and myself that i wouldn’t have learned otherwise on my own…

2013 was kind to me.

cool things happen.

to you.

to me.

probably more than we realize too.

it’s just a matter of remembering

and being consciously grateful for them

when life throws you in the doldrums

of school, work, and crusty crust winter.

let’s see whatcha got 2014.

.bibliotherapy.

How long I lay on my bed sobbing for the one love of my life I do not know. Later, I heard Father's footsteps coming up the stairs. For a moment I was a little girl again waiting for him to tuck the blankets tight. But this was a hurt that no blanket could shut out, and suddenly I was afraid of what Father would say. Afraid he would say, "There'll be someone else soon," and that forever afterward this untruth would lie between us. For in some deep part of me I knew already that there would not--soon or ever--be anyone else.

The sweet cigar smell came into the room with Father. And of course he did not say the false, idle words.

"Corrie," he began instead, "do you know what hurts so very much? It's love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain.

"There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill the love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or, Corrie, we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel.

"God loves Karel--even more than you do--and if you ask Him, He will give you His love for this man, a love nothing can prevent, nothing destroy. Whenever we cannot love in the old, human way, Corrie, God can give us the perfect way."

I did not know, as I listened to Father's footsteps winding back down the stairs, that he had given me more than the key to this hard moment. I did not know that he had put into my hands the secret that would open far darker rooms than this--places where there was not, on a human level, anything to love at all.

I was still in kindergarten in these matters of love. My task just then was to give up my feeling for Karel without giving up the joy and wonder that had grown with it. And so, that very hour, lying there on my bed, I whispered the enormous prayer:

"Lord, I give to You the way I feel about Karel, my thoughts about our future--oh, You know! Everything! Give me Your way of seeing Karel instead. Help me to love him that way. That much."

"the hiding place" - corrie ten boom.

…

someday,

some way,

some how…

i just hope i can learn to live and love that way.

that much.

.guilty pleasures and perspective.

so… guilty pleasure.

i love reading lds romance novels.

especially the cheesy ones.

i don’t know why, but there’s great joy

that comes from vicariously living

through unrealistic sap.

anyways…

i was pleasantly surprised to find some

substance in the cheesy goodness

one night when i was 17.

“You know, Rachel, no one in the world has gone through what you have. Sure, you're not the only person who's lost a parent, but no one experienced the exact circumstances of your dad's death exactly as you did. Not even your brothers. Everything about you and your relationship with your dad makes your situation unique. That's why Christ is the only one who can help you get through this or any of your trials. He experienced the exact trials and the exact pain you're going through when He was in Gethsemane, in the exact way you're experiencing it and going through it every day. You don't have to explain why and how you hurt to Him. He already knows. That's why He's the one who knows how to heal and comfort you, if you'll go to Him for help. Sometimes He sends that comfort and help through other people, and sometimes it comes in pretty unexpected and unique ways. That's why it's important not to push people away who want to help. And that's why understanding and using Christ's atonement can help so much."

(“When the Bough Breaks” – Kay Lynn Mangum)

after reading this, i wrote in my journal and said:

“I don’t know why, but it really put things in perspective for me about Christ’s Atonement. I’d always heard it said that, ‘Christ knows exactly what you’re going through’ but now I more fully understand it. Sure, Christ knows what it’s like to have a bad day. But he suffered to know what it was like to go through one of my bad days… I’m glad to know a little bit more about the Atonement.”

little did i know how much i would need that understanding.

when my mom passed away three months later,

i turned back to the excerpt from this novel over and over again.

i couldn’t help but be filled with the Lord’s tender mercy

of emotionally and spiritually preparing me for that day

and every day since.

i’ve realized that you can still be a happy person

even with a constant hole in your heart,

but there are some better remedies than others.

for a long time, i would play the what-if game.

what if she hadn’t died?

what if she had gotten better?

what if things were different?

or sometimes it was a round of would-you-rather.

would i rather have her here and

not have grown from the lessons i’ve learned?

[or]

would i rather be the same person

and still have a mom?

i couldn’t win either way with these questionaire battles.

all the what-ifs and would-you-rathers just painted me

into corners i didn’t have the answers to.

but after awhile, i realized something…

i don’t have to pick and choose.

i don’t have to decide between my own personal growth

or whether or not my mom was still here.

the Atonement of Jesus Christ allows, and is intended,

for us to have both.

we’re meant to progress and live with our loved ones forever.

with the Plan of Salvation, we can have our cake and eat it too.

the Lord is good.

whether this life, or in the next,

there's wonderful things, loved ones to see, and places to go ahead of us.

i’m glad to know a little bit more about the Atonement.

.a dating discovery or dos.

well… be careful what you blog about.

or else you might get

s

i

x

dates in one week.

boy, i’m exhausted/exhausted of boys.

my level of intrigue with each suitor is another story,

but more importantly,
it has been a learning experience for this date-o-phobe.

i wouldn’t say i’m completely cured,

but i have realized that:

dating is a discovery process.

you discover things and attributes that you like,

and others you may not care for so much.

dating is validating.

you realize there are better people you can move on to,

or better people worth holding out for.

dating should be selfless.

as the asker on a date, you may be sacrificing your monies.

as the askee, you may feel like the only way to get through the night

is to treat it like a charity case (bless their hearts)

but as the asker or the askee,

it’s important to be generous with our time and attention.

it doesn’t matter if you have the best night ever

but we can do our best to make sure our date has one heck of a swell time.

the good news is,
is that eventually there will be mutual

discovery, validation, and selflessness

that will result in a best night ever

with many more best nights to come.

really, we've got a lot to look forward to my single folks.

 .dating mantra decor.