“Every Dream I’ve Ever Had”

I picked up a second shift for the summer, with a manager that I worked with before my mission and who has become a good friend. He doesn’t know this, but two days ago he said something that has stayed with me, burying itself deep in my heart. He said, “Every dream I ever had …

Measuring Up

***Author's Note: I recently discovered this piece when I was looking back on old journal entries. What struck me is that, though the feelings described in this work were most poignant to me at the time, I only rarely feel that way now. So, I thought I'd polish it up and post it here as …

A Much Needed Update

I started this blog nearly four years ago, as I was a new freshman at BYU and getting ready to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Seeing as the point of this blog is to document and share all the ways I am learning and growing and changing for …

A “Real” Story

These first two weeks of school have been a wild ride so far. This semester, I'll be beginning my in-school practicum, which is one step prior to student teaching. That means that, beginning this semester, I'll be teaching real students real lessons inside real classrooms. The thought is both thrilling and terrifying at the same …

Tripping Gracefully

When I was little, I loved to play dress-up. I loved wearing the heels and long dresses and stealing all my grandma's costume jewelry all in the name of being pretty. But I also loved the idea of pretending, just for a moment, to be a princess because I loved how graceful and elegant they …

Charity Isn’t P.C.

I love old people. Just when you think they're about to share some deep, profound particle of wisdom they've picked up and polished during their long walks along the road of life, they make a joke about gastrointestinal problems. I think one of my favorite "old person" stories is this: There was a young hairdresser preparing …

Faith and Trust (Pixie Dust Optional)

(Originally Posted: Sunday, August 3, 2014) Faith. If I had to bet my entire life savings on which topic Bishop is going to talk about in church (again), that would be it. I can't count all the Sunday School lessons, the devotionals, the talks in General Conference, and the reading and re-reading and re-re-reading of …

Faith to Move Mountains… Or Not.

This is one of the pictures we took as we climbed the mountain, before we realized we were super lost. This one shows how steep the climb was!

Introductions

Introductions have never been a strength for me. I always stumble over the words, fumbling to find the things I really want people to know about myself and usually winding up with the things that aren't really important, but that everyone uses in introductions anyway. "My name is Contessa Neff, I'm studying Elementary Education at …