To avoid studying...

It's that time of year, when I have to devote literally ALL of my time to studying for 4 exams....but seriously I cannot make myself focus on anything. I dread it so much...and find any excuse I can to put it off...like blog posting :)

It is officially FREEZING in Washington....Wow. I complain about it at school and my friends shake their heads in disbelief saying: "Okay, Utah." --Don't like being called Utah...but I have never been able to handle the cold weather...its the WIND that kills me. I'm seriously thinking I need to live in a place where it doesn't get below 50 degrees....I'll take suggestions.

On Thursday, I went to hear Senator Orrin Hatch talk to a group of LDS students about "How [his] Faith has Influenced [his] Personal Service." It was fun to hear his stories. He's a very articulate man...very smart. And it's almost endearing how much he loves to brag about himself...like he's been talking like that for years, that he doesn't realize what he's saying. But he's a sweet man and has put in so many years of service to our nation. I went up and shook his hand afterwards. I told him that I thought he knew my grandparents, Ralph & Pat Romney (since when he lived in Utah, they were next door neighbors). His eyes lit up and he went on to tell me how wonderful my grandparents were and then asked me if he could give me a hug :) It was cute.

I feel like everywhere I go lately, I'm being asked to give money to someone or something. Seriously, I counted the other day, and I was directly stopped and asked 5 times! Whether it's homeless people on the street that come up to you, people at school with this fundraiser or that one, or volunteers for some organization cornering people as they wait for the light to change at crosswalks. Seriously. I wish I had money to give all of these people...and everytime I pass a homeless person, my heart seriously aches and I think about what I could possibly do to help people like this in a positive, lasting way...I don't know... I always find myself wishing I carried an extra sandwich around with me. The Savior teaches that we should care for one another... especially the poor and hungry...but then you hear awful stories about people getting hurt or being in danger because they went too far to help someone (like how Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped by a man her mother had helped by giving him some work to do at her home)...and then you wonder if you give money, if it will be used for food or drugs & alcohol...but should that matter to me when I think of giving? I don't know. I donate money through fast offerings...I love that program because I know it will be spent well...in ways that really help people to improve their lives and lift them permanently out of the situations they are in. We can't try to permanently solve this problem by continually coming up with temporary solutions. And I certainly don't have a practical one to offer. But I feel so awful when I say no to these people who ask me for money...and with it happening like 5 times a day now...I feel even worse about it. Maybe that's the point.