Another year down!!

This year started out dragging, which is unusual. Usually the months fly by. But now all of the sudden we are at the end of this year. It is satisfying to look back and see all the things I have accomplished year. Many of the accomplishments were official and unofficial goals that I have had for myself. Official meaning it was something that I wanted to do before I die. Unofficial being I thought it would be fun to do one day.

• Graduate with B.S. from BYU-Idaho (official goal)
  
• Internship (official)
  
• Work in a untraditional school (The Leadership School) (unofficial)
  
• Live on the East Coast (Maine) (Official)
  
• Go to Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire (unofficial) Making the # of states I've been to 28, I think.
  
• Go to Boston (unofficial)
  
• Go to Washington DC (surprise treat)
  
• Climb Mt. Timpanogos (unofficial)
  
• Sew three quilts (unofficial)
  
• Started a leadership course here in Utah (official)

philomathy

This is actually a word that my mom sent to me and I love it. Definitely a favorite.
Philomathy: fi-lah-mê-thee (Noun)
Meaning: The love of learning.

Notes: It is amazing that this word, dating back to the end of the 16th century, has found so little work since then, that it has almost slipped from our grasp. Well, here is alphaDictionary's effort to jumpstart this word and its entire family. Its family includes an adjective, philomathic or philomathical and an adverb philomathically. The agent noun is philomath. I hope all read this will have many uses for the whole family.

In Play: Wouldn't you like to hear people say things like this more often: "Pure philomathy drove Aaron Spelling beyond his AB in medieval philosophy to a PhD in the subject". Unfortunately, we are more likely to hear things like this: "I think Archer Bowman was motivated to go to college less by philomathy and more by his interests in the athletic programs." (Can you guess Archer's sport?)
Word History: This word began in ancient Greek as philomathia from philos "beloved, loving" + mathos "learning". It was borrowed by Latin, which apparently had plenty of use for it, passing it on to French as philomathie, where English nabbed it. Philos appears in many words English borrowed from Greek, including philosophy, the love of wisdom, bibliophile, a book lover and, of course, Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. Mathos you have no doubt already associated with mathematics but did you know that this word, Greek mathematikos, was originally

philomathy - alphaDictionary * Free English On-line Dictionary

Brobdingnagian

Brobdingnagian • Pronunciation: brahb-ding-næg-i-yên (Adjective)
1. Relating to the imaginary land of giants, Brobdingnag, described in Jonathan Swift's satirical novel Gulliver's Travels (1726) or the people living there. 2. Humongous, enormous, gigantic, the antonym of Lilliputian.

Brobdingnagian - alphaDictionary * Free English On-line Dictionary

That's fun to say!

Snow Fun

Hurray for Snow

...And the lake effect. I still feel like a kid when the first big snow comes in. I have an urge to go jump in it and make a snow fort. This definitely the best way to welcome in December and get into the Christmas mood.

The 2nd Great Commandments

1. Thou shall not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.
2. Thou shall not be fearful, for most of the thing we fear never come to pass.
3. Thou shall not cross bridges before you come to them, for no one yet has succeeded in accomplishing this.
4. Thou shall face each problem as it come. You can only handle one at a time anyway.
5. Thou shall not take problems to bed with you, for they make very poor bedfellows.
6. Thou shall not borrow other people's problems. They can better care for them than you can.
7. Thou shall not try to relive yesterday for good or ill, it is forever gone. Concentrate on what is happening in your life and be happy now!
8. Thou shall be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear different ideas from your own. It is hard to learn something new when you are talking, and some people do know more than you do.
9. Thou shall not become "bogged down" by frustration, for 90% of it is rooted in self-pity and will only interfere with positive action.

10. Thou shall count thy blessings, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one.