June. June. June. June. June.

IT’S JUNE! Has anyone heard that it’s June? It’s June, guys. June. The best month of the year. It’s here! It’s the 11th! The 11th. That means the 15th is four days away. That means June is almost half way over. (or half way full-? ha).

I’m not really one for life lists or summer lists or goal lists, but every year I make a JUNE list. This year I decided instead of just writing down a list, that I would make a June door. I wrote down each of my June “to-dos” and taped them on one side of my door. When the items are completed, they get moved to the other side of the door- the “human na” side- which means “finished” or “all done” in Cebuano.

So what’s on my June list?

- Hike in Bountiful (It is so green and beautiful in June!)

- Hike Mt. Olympus

- Hike to see the wildflowers up Little or Big Cottonwood

- Go country or latin dancing

- Go boating

- Get a longboard

- Go backpacking or camping

- Play in a volleyball tournament

- Write my brother and sister on their missions

- Have a sleepover with my little sisters

- Make a friend a b-day present

- Make a friend a baby present

- Celebrate the two year anniversary of coming home from the Philippines

- Bake a delicious dessert

- Hang up shelves in my bedroom

- Write two friends serving missions

- Read one novel

- Read “Lectures of Faith”

- Get up every morning during the week to go jogging or do yoga and read the scriptures

- Cook a few meals

- Complete my mission photobook

- Memorize a scripture from the Book of Mormon every week

- Write or message someone in the Philippines every week

So it’s pretty ambitious, I know. How I wish there were more weekends in a month to get it all done! But it’s awfully motivating to wake up to those little bright slips of paper, just itching to transfer them to the much emptier “human na” door...

Making the most of a wonderful June morning.

About two months ago I found out my work would be sending me to D.C. for a meeting (!!) ... for one day.

:(

I would literally arrive at 11 p.m. and leave the next day at 4:45 p.m., after a seven hour meeting downtown.

That leaves veeeery little time to wander in a place I came to enjoy and love so much... bummer.

At first I resigned to the fact that this trip would, in fact, simply be a business trip. I wouldn't be able to visit friends, and I didn't see how I could squeeze in any sight seeing. Any Capitol tour. Any office visits. Any garden wandering.

But then I got creative.

I didn't have to be to my meeting until 9 a.m... so as long as I could grab some breakfast on my way in, I could use the morning hours before then however I wished.

And I did!

So after arriving at the hotel around 11:30 p.m. last Tuesday night, I woke up Wednesday at 6:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m. Utah time!) and jetted out to the nearest bike share station. I was on a mission! There was only one bike left at the station near my hotel on New Jersey Avenue, and it was mine. I was off!

I veered up towards Union Station so that I could circle around my old office at the Hart Senate Office building, cross the street to roll past the Supreme Court, and then cross the street again to stare the U.S. Capitol in the face and wish it "good morning". So many happy memories here.

A jogger- one of HUNDREDS I saw that morning- was so kind to take my picture. It was a high pony kind'of morning.

After enjoying the Capitol front for a moment, I was back on the bike for the best part- the cruise down the Mall. It was exhilarating to fly past where I watched President Obama's inauguration, where I took photos of the spring flowers last April, where I'd wandered after so many workdays and on so many weekends. I plowed on past the Smithsonians, the Washington Monument, around the Tidal Basin to the Jefferson, the Roosevelt, and then to the Lincoln. Oh it was a thrill. It was pure pleasure to be out and about on such a sunny, muggy, early, June morning in Washington.

And a sweaty good morning to you, America!

I could have stopped there and been happy to wheel my bike around and plow back up the hill to my hotel. I could have been content. But I was on a mission, remember? A mission to make it to Baked & Wired in Georgetown for an early morning cupcake. I'd mapped out my route, and they opened at 7 a.m. With a swift ride around the Waterfront past all the rowers, I was in Georgetown and soon parked in front of the little bake shop. No one was buying cupcakes at 7 a.m. But I was. A whole box of them. They went into my purse which was then strapped onto my bike.

Waterfront.

Baked and Wired cupcakes! Dats good stuff.

About 20 minutes later, I was back showering at my hotel. And then off to my meeting. My bike ride was a dream. It really doesn't get much better than that.

My early morning D.C. bike route. Eight miles round trip, in jeans!

I am a morning girl. Sometimes circumstances don't allow it, but for the past two weeks I've been trying to make the most of June with early rising.

Peonies and Poppies SPELL J-U-N-E. A few from an early morning jog a couple weeks back.

I won't convince you of anything, but when was the last time you walked or took a jog in your neighborhood around 6 a.m.? I can see your face souring up like a pickle, but it is glorious. It puts me in an A+ mood for my day, and gives me a shot of gratitude and joy I don't get from anything else.

Incredible. Sunrise in SLC.

Happy June, everyone, and happy mornings.

Stop the waiting, already.

I think sometimes we wait to be happy. I don’t think we do it on purpose; I think we just sometimes get so muddled down in the day-to-day and think that happiness can’t be attained until ____ happens. Until we have a new job, until we get married, until we graduate, until we come home from our missions, until we have a family, and so on.

I also think we sometimes wait for these landmarks to happen in order to start working towards or becoming the kind of people we hope to become: a better cook, more adventurous, more Christlike, a better member missionary, more positive, etc.

Sometimes life can be very challenging and discouraging. Sometimes it feels like a waiting game. Sometimes we see the skills and traits of everyone around us and don’t know how to start to change or become something better or different. But I really believe that happiness can be felt and enjoyed every day, regardless of whether graduation, the baby, new job, or husband has come. Desire, skills, and traits can be acquired with hard work and focus. Why do I believe it? Because I believe that we can control the way we react to our circumstances. That ultimately, people were made to act and not be acted upon. And although applying principles and habits of action and progress won't erase every difficulty or sadness, life's challenges can be better understood when the the real purpose of living is understood and put in perspective.

My favorite quote of all and every and any time, about what we are actually here to do and be, is this one:

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about it a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of- throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."

With the perspective that the waiting game, the roadblocks to perceived happiness, that the constant struggle to better is all part of the plan to make us better people, it's much easier to understand, accept, and maybe even enjoy. I hope this becomes a space that I can record and reflect on the waiting game, the roadblocks, and the challenges, and see that there was truly joy to be found in each of these times. That I will be able to see my efforts to become a more thoughtful friend, a more selfless giver, a more committed disciple, a runner, a cook, a life-long learner, a positive influence, a musician -- that they will happen. Slowly. In time. I just have to keep working at them.

You want to come along? 
Sure, of course you can. 
See ya next time.