Ever feel like life speeds up and then never seems to slow down. Yeah, this has been our life for the past month or so. And you wonder why we love summer so much. As it always does, school came way too fast, before we could accept the fact that weekends would no longer exist and that we would spend all of our time, day in and day out, on campus. It seems like the weekends are no different than the weekdays, we just don't go to class. But all weekend long we are still studying and trying to tackle homework. We are both facing our junior year in the engineering program, but the word is that next year WILL get easier. We are crossing our fingers.

The worst part for me is that I feel like I can never relax or do anything that I fully enjoy, because it's not productive. But I've come to realize that I NEED to take that time for me, to just sit down for an hour and let my brain recuperate, because there will always be something else that I should or could be doing and if I never stop to take a break I eventually fall apart. I stress myself out to the point that I have no other choice than to take a moment and breathe.

I'm sure that in two more years, when we finally make it out of this storm, we will look back and say Well that wasn't so bad! Isn't that how life always works? We always yearn for the next chapter in life, thinking it will be so much easier, but in reality we will always have new challenges heading our way. Because that is what this life is all about: growing, learning, changing, progressing.

Though the weeks are rough and the days seem long, time still just flies right by. It is crazy to think that the semester is already almost half over. So, right this second, I am stopping time for an hour to reflect and really appreciate all that my life has to offer. There are probably hundreds of thousands of people who would give anything to live my life, yet here I am complaining and whining about all of the opportunities I have been given. I have an amazing husband (not complaining about that), we have the perfect little apartment, I have a fantastic job, we have plenty of food to eat, we have technology that works, and cars, and clothes, and more of everything than we even need. Most importantly we have the gospel and we are happy. And that's all that matters in the end.

School is hard, there's no doubt about it. But it is worth it. Knowledge is such a powerful tool. Sometimes I get all caught up in the homework, the tests, and the grade, but I need to try to focus on what I am actually learning about the world and the wisdom that I am acquiring. It's really quite enlightening. And I hope that someday I can use these skills to go out into the world and help change lives. We are all placed in different circumstances for a reason. We were created to reach out and serve each other, to use our talents to bless those around us. Thinking of it this way seems to makes all the stress worth it.

Time is so valuable in today's society. Millions of things are begging for our time, and if there is ever an empty space in our days, something will come along and try to fill it. Which is exactly what Satan wants. He wants us to be so busy that we don't have time to ponder what is really important. And before we know it, we have lost track of our purpose and forget what we came here for. So I am challenging myself to make time to slow down and just breathe, to focus on the important aspect of life, and put someone else before me and my wants. I'm not sure how, but doing so always seems to make everything else go more smoothly. I'm telling ya, someone is looking out for us. And he truly wants the very best for us.