My Room

I am sitting on my bed right thinking that first I am a horrible blogger and second I have so many good memories of this room. First it was my brother's and mine. We shared a bunk bed that had been my dad's when he was a boy. It squeaked whenever you moved so trying to get to sleep at night was not always easy. We had those blinds that you pull down and if you don't pull them just right they shoot back up and spin around the circle at the top. Since I have 5 windows in my room, 3 of which are the whole South wall, we had a time getting all the windows covered at one time. Aaron and I used to torture our babysitters when they came over. We would tell them that there was still a crack of light that we could see. We knew that if you pulled the blind anymore it would fly back up to the top but it took the babysitters a while to figure that one out :)
After a while the bunk beds had to come apart. They were just too old and dangerous to be on top of each other so...we had two twin beds in this room. I don't know how we fit them both but we did. We barely had room for a little night stand between them. My mom decided to do an ocean theme at this point. My Grandma and her made curtains that fit between each window. They blocked more light from coming in but it still was pretty light in here (when you have 5 windows it is hard to keep mother nature outside). After he moved out Brianna moved in.
We kept the two twins for a while but they were really old by this point. A lady in my ward called and said she had some furniture she would like to give us. It had been her daughter's when she was growing up but there just wasn't room for it anymore. There was a day bed with a trundle bed underneath. A chest of drawers, a desk, and a shelving unit that went above the desk. At that time my bed was the trundle. It worked for a while but it got really annoying some mornings when I was so tired I didn't want to push my bed back under. Sharing a room was also night my idea of fun. I was supposed to be getting older and I wanted my freedom. I decided I no longer wanted to share a room so I kicked Brianna out. I have no idea now how I got my mom to agree with the idea but she did and that is all that is important.
Finally my own room. Now I had the day bed and I didn't have to push or pull anything out to sleep at night! What a feeling. I knew I wanted to get rid of the ocean theme, but what did I want instead...well we went to New Zealand and I knew. I wanted a room that was warm and inviting, peaceful, earthy, and green! It took a while but I finally got the room of my dreams. I found a bed set online that I loved. It has palm trees on it and it is all different shades of green. Next step...paint. I wanted two shades of green. An accent wall and the rest the same color. It took a lot of different swatches and opinions but I finally picked out the two greens. One green was really light and the other was just a little darker. My room was coming together so well. With paint on the walls and a new bed spread I thought I was in heaven. Next came my chair. The one I love to sit in when I am reading. We had to figure out something with the windows. Because I have so many it was going to cost a fortune to get blinds. A fortune I did not have. My mom had been looking whenever she had the chance and she came upon the coolest blinds. They were 8 feet long which was perfect because I would only need two. One for each outside wall and they were only $12 each. That is right I got blinds for $12! And not just those ugly venetian blinds. My blinds are made out of bamboo. They are the kind that usually go on decks and roll up. They are perfect for the day. I can see out but nobody can see in. We still needed something for the night though. My aunt who is always finding great deals found some fabric for really cheap and it was green! It took a long time but my mom and I made curtains for my room. There are two pieces of fabric on each one so that the light can't get through. Now my room is mother nature proofed :) I love it. And finally the tree. Yes I have a tree in my room. It looks like a palm tree! My parents got it for their wedding. It has been in many different rooms and at one point my dad's friend had it at his house, but now it is in my room and it is finally home.
I have had so many conversations with my mom and friends in this room. Whenever I need to feel calm and peaceful I come here. It is an oasis from the world. Yesterday we put risers under my bed so we could fit some stuff under it. (After living away from home I have collected way too much stuff for this little room to hold and new places had to be found to hide stuff :) Anyways it is one of those changes that makes the room feel completely new. I told my mom I finally have a big girl bed now because I have to jump to get onto it. In the process of getting my bed on the risers and sticking blankets under my bed I found a spider. A tiny one but a spider no less. And the tiny ones grow into big ones. Well it had to go. I was definitely not going to let it stay in my room. This is my oasis and my oasis doesn't have bugs in it! Well my mom wouldn't kill it and neither would Brianna so it was up to me. Me the one who is terrified of spiders. So I decided to be brave and get rid of the spider. I tore off a piece of cardboard from a small box I had on my desk. I put it in front of the spider and waited for it to crawl on the cardboard. When it would I would scream. I thought that it would get scared and stop and it did just right after it had crawled off the piece of cardboard. Well my mom and Brianna found this very entertaining. I was getting so mad at the stupid spider. I did eventually get rid of it but it took a while.
I love having lived in the same house for almost my whole life because there are so many good memories here!

Love

The other day I was reading a talk for one of my classes. It was all about the power of forgiveness and how to attain peace, both in our own lives and even more in the world. There was a simple formula that was given to attain the peace that we all desire. It was given by William Gladstone, he said "We look forward to the time when the power of love will replace the love of power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace." How simple and yet we still have wars and contentions.
Love is just a four letter word but it can change what happens to entire countries and civilizations. If instead of loving power people had loved those around them we never would have had World War II or the War in the Middle East. Thousands of lives would have been saved and thousands more would never have known the brutality of ruthless leaders.
This is my proposition. If for this Valentine's Day instead of buying our "valentine" chocolates or flowers we went and showed someone that we loved them we might be able to change the world for good. I often hear people say things like "I can't change the world by myself so I won't even try". You are right, with that attitude you won't change the world, but I think if we all actively try to change things something might happen. So this Valentine's day I am going to show someone how much I love them.
I might not change the world today, but tomorrow I know it will be that much better because someone out there knows I love them.