Okay, it's definitely time to post. I was so going to post four times last month, but then I went to my dad's and that failed. Getting an iphone didn't help. It's so much harder to make myself blog when I instagram and facebook now. (btw, facebook was my dad's idea. He didn't know how instagram worked and wanted me to try facebook so he could 'keep up with me better' so I told him I'd do facebook if he did instagram. So now we're both doing it.) Anyway, I'm loving my new iphone! I'm love love loving my camera and how beautiful the pictures look. It is so easy to capture moments now. I can keep up with friends who are far away (or not so far away :) and I'm just loving it. I ordered a pink Mickey Mouse case for it and it's on it's way. ;)
Alright, I'll do some catch up on our Thanksgiving trip to Utah then skip to the present. I had such a fun time this trip. We didn't spend as much time with the boys cause we were only there one and a half weeks and they spent four or five days in Arizona with their dad for Thanksgiving like they always do, but it was fun anyway. Me, my sisters, Dad, and Diane went to temple square to see The Savior of the World musical, as you saw on instagram. That was just beautiful. We also saw the Christmas lights and I almost froze to death. But honestly, I think I get more cold in California than in Utah because of what we expect. I expect to be freezing in Utah so I really bundle up and it ends up not being that bad. In CA I have this sunny weather expectation and have too much pride to bundle up, even though I would be more comfortable if I did. Anyway, that was fun. For Thanksgiving we went to Idaho and spent it with my grandparents. My grandpa has started working in the garden section at Walmart and he had to go to work Thanksgiving afternoon so when we got there the night before almost all the food was made. Almost everyone got up around 6 the next morning (not me, hehehe) and we ate at 11:30. It was the smoothest Thanksgiving I have ever experienced. And so yummy. My grandparents brought out some of their apple juice that they personally juiced from the apples, I might have actually helped, I'm not sure. It was basically heaven in a glass. NOTHING like store bought apple juice. Oh, I just remembered that for mutual while we were there the young women went to the new exhibit at BYU. It had tons of paintings from all over the world. Back story: BYU did an exhibit like this before, no idea when, and they ran into a lot of old churches with paintings that they had kept for years and years and were not willing to let them leave. So BYU got what they could and the exhibit was really successful. Because of how respectful, successful, and loved the exhibit was last time, this time churches were a lot more willing to give up their paintings for a while. So we got to see paintings that had not been moved from those old churches in who knows how many years. It was so amazing and moving.
Christmas is 10 days away. That went by so fast and I'm kinda depressed about it. Oh well, we have school off now. I have seminary on Monday then I am done! Happy day! I really need to get caught up, on the book I'm supposed to be reading for Shakespeare class, cleaning my room, reading my scriptures. I just fell apart this week and it makes me sad. Not fall apart the sense that I broke into tears but that I just let my priorities go and wanted to be lazy before it was time to be lazy. Well now I can be lazy during vacation and I'm gonna work to get caught up! Haha, anywho, love you all and hope you're having a good Christmas season!
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
Something that makes everyone in our house smile...
Except Steve. In this house we are all pretty obsessed with High School Musical. All three of them. Always have been. We just love them and today when we watched the third one (Senior Year) Mom and I found ourselves talking about the characters and their actions in such depth that you would have thought we were discussing something so much more. I said, "Aren't we just so amazing, Mom, to find so much meaning in something so cheesy and meaningless?" We connected how loving and forgiving Troy is. In the second movie Gabriella and his friends totally got mad at him for taking a new job that payed more than theirs, missing dates and being so successful just cause Sharpay, who has lots of connections, made him so. In the third one, Gabriella does not tell Troy that she is up for an honors program in college and will have to leave halfway through their senior year, therefore causing her to miss the musical she asked him to do with her and then doesn't come back for prom like she promised, but Troy never gets mad or accuses her of anything. At one point Mom said, "Troy's my favorite. Not just because he's the cutest, but because he's so good." She cracks me up. Once when we were watching the second movie a few weeks ago (our favorite, btw) and during the last song that Troy and Gabriella perform, Troy would do a particular move, a toss of the head, move of the eyes, or flick of the hand and Mom would go, "I just love it when he does that. He's so adorable." She also says that Gabriella doesn't deserve him. Haha. : ) Of course I agree with her, I'm just not as expressive about it. ; ) These movies are watched very regularly in our household. The music is also listened to very regularly while we do the dishes. It's just a constant high school musical here.
So, did that make you smile?
So, did that make you smile?
Sunday, November 10, 2013
All the Little Things
Definitely time to post.
So, we borrowed The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants at the library this week. Love that movie. Before I get to the point of why I brought it up I want to add: the part when they're making the rules for the pants they say you're not allowed to tuck in the shirt and wear a belt or do the double cuffs at the bottom because that was super tacky. Well, I decided to wear their entire tacky outfit to a dance last night and it was actually pretty cute. It's so funny how styles change. Skinny jeans are hardly ever worn all the way to the ankle anymore, they are almost always double cuffed.
Anyway, in the movie there's this 12 year old girl, named Bailey who has leukemia that says that being happy isn't about having your life be perfect. It's about stringing all the little things together and making them count for more than the bad stuff. I thought that was really profound. Our life as a total can be looked at as one big mission, one big journey, one big anything, but really it's made up of lots of little things. The little things are what count. In my saddest moments, it's usually set off by something so little it shouldn't matter, like having my schedule for the day ruined or ruining a batch of cookies, or spilling water all over a beloved book. There are so many of those little things that can make our lives miserable if we let them. But we shouldn't let them. Since there is opposition in all things there are the little bad things and the little good things. The little good things such as getting asked to dance by someone who likes to talk ;), or going to bed early, or the day the plant you have been diligently caring for starts to look a little greener, and especially all those many gentle, soft, and little promptings we all receive everyday. Though we may miss a day talking to Heavenly Father because "we're just too tired" He will never use any excuse to avoid speaking to us, or miss any opportunity to speak to us. Once when I went to the temple with the youth in my stake someone gave a brief talk to us before we did baptisms. He said that he thinks sometimes people, especially youth, make receiving a prompting too complicated. He said all it takes is a thought and a feeling. You may ask yourself, "but what if it's Satan prompting me to do this?" We all have the gift of the Holy Ghost. We can tell if that action would lead us closer to God or closer to Satan. With all the little blessings, we shouldn't despair. After all if your schedule's ruined one day, does that mean that the next day won't be as fresh and new as always? If you burn the cookies does that mean you will never make a yummy cookie again? I don't know what to say about spilling water on a beloved book because that would really break my heart. There are some bad things that you can't overlook. Some of them aren't so little. So you've just gotta string all the good little things together and make them count for more than the bad stuff, just like Bailey did.
So, we borrowed The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants at the library this week. Love that movie. Before I get to the point of why I brought it up I want to add: the part when they're making the rules for the pants they say you're not allowed to tuck in the shirt and wear a belt or do the double cuffs at the bottom because that was super tacky. Well, I decided to wear their entire tacky outfit to a dance last night and it was actually pretty cute. It's so funny how styles change. Skinny jeans are hardly ever worn all the way to the ankle anymore, they are almost always double cuffed.
Anyway, in the movie there's this 12 year old girl, named Bailey who has leukemia that says that being happy isn't about having your life be perfect. It's about stringing all the little things together and making them count for more than the bad stuff. I thought that was really profound. Our life as a total can be looked at as one big mission, one big journey, one big anything, but really it's made up of lots of little things. The little things are what count. In my saddest moments, it's usually set off by something so little it shouldn't matter, like having my schedule for the day ruined or ruining a batch of cookies, or spilling water all over a beloved book. There are so many of those little things that can make our lives miserable if we let them. But we shouldn't let them. Since there is opposition in all things there are the little bad things and the little good things. The little good things such as getting asked to dance by someone who likes to talk ;), or going to bed early, or the day the plant you have been diligently caring for starts to look a little greener, and especially all those many gentle, soft, and little promptings we all receive everyday. Though we may miss a day talking to Heavenly Father because "we're just too tired" He will never use any excuse to avoid speaking to us, or miss any opportunity to speak to us. Once when I went to the temple with the youth in my stake someone gave a brief talk to us before we did baptisms. He said that he thinks sometimes people, especially youth, make receiving a prompting too complicated. He said all it takes is a thought and a feeling. You may ask yourself, "but what if it's Satan prompting me to do this?" We all have the gift of the Holy Ghost. We can tell if that action would lead us closer to God or closer to Satan. With all the little blessings, we shouldn't despair. After all if your schedule's ruined one day, does that mean that the next day won't be as fresh and new as always? If you burn the cookies does that mean you will never make a yummy cookie again? I don't know what to say about spilling water on a beloved book because that would really break my heart. There are some bad things that you can't overlook. Some of them aren't so little. So you've just gotta string all the good little things together and make them count for more than the bad stuff, just like Bailey did.
Friday, October 25, 2013
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
This happened last Tuesday and I've been trying to finish that post ever since then. Now it seems a little fuzzy, but I felt like I needed to document it.
I got back from seminary and was informed that I needed to make bread. I had managed to make the last batch of bread without any disasters (such as spewing butter or flour all over, forgetting an ingredient or trying to be tidy and putting the honey away only to have to lug it back down because I neglected to remember that you add honey two different times) so I really wanted to accomplish the goal of making more than one batch successfully. Mom left and I asked Gracie if she wanted to watch a movie or listen to music. She said she didn't want to watch a movie so I put on some music. After about two or three songs she came in with the movie Ramona and Beezus and asked me to turn it on. I was in the middle of a step that couldn't be interrupted so I told her it was too late and I couldn't do it right now. When she understood she threw a fit and ran out of the kitchen. I sighed because I hate it when I do something that upsets her like that. So I turn back to my bowl (feeling like I wanna cry because I'm trying to make bread for the family, tried to please my sister and failed, I had a lot of homework to think about in the back of my head and it was my time of the month for everything to be blown out of proportion ;) and realized that I couldn't remember how many cups I had measured.
I don't remember what happened from that time to when I ran out of wheat, but know I was still not in a good mood. I was at the end of the bread making process and all I had to do was add enough flour to get the right consistency. And this is when I reached the bottom of the bin of wheat. I called Mom to ask where more wheat was and she responded that it was somewhere in the garage, probably to far back for me to get. "Just use white flour." "I already used all of it. There wasn't even two cups." "Well then just use some quick oats. You can dump in a couple cups of those." So after dumping in three cups of quick oats it still wasn't ready. It was raising while I was trying to figure out what to do and I was getting more frazzled by the second. I called Mom again and her phone died in the middle so I had to wait for her to call on Steve's phone. We conversed over four different phone calls in less than 20 minutes over this stupid bread that my mind had been stewing over for hours and we came to the conclusion that the only thing we could do was put some plastic wrap over it and put in the fridge until they returned and Steve could get the wheat.
The space of time between placing the dough in the fridge and them getting back has also gone from my brain, but I believe I tried to spend it doing homework and studying for my permit test. When we opened the fridge after they got back we discovered that the dough had risen and overflowed to the point where a good portion of it had fallen over the edge of the bowl and stretched down past the edge of the shelf of the fridge (cause it was sitting at the very end, can you picture it?). I'm pretty sure that the first words out of Mom's mouth, though it might have been Anna's or Gracie's, was, "What happened?!" leaving me to put my hands up defensively and squeak, "It's not my fault, I did everything you told me to!" After which Mom gathered the escaped dough and shoved it back into the bowl, apologizing that she asked me to make bread when we didn't have enough wheat.
Another large obstacle in the back of my brain that added a lot of stress was the thought of taking my driving permit test, which I was scheduled to do at 3:30. I wanted to do it because I do want to learn to drive (even though I'm scared to death of sitting behind the wheel), I wanted to pass the test before I forgot everything I learned from Driver's Ed and at this point I wouldn't be able to get my license for several months after my birthday so I didn't want to add any more. Before we could think anymore about the bread we all had to run around to get ready to leave. Anna and Gracie scrambled to get dressed for dance because we were going there straight from the DMV and I had to gather my school together to try to get some done during all the waiting I would have to do. We left late and I panicked with the earlier conversation about the DMV going through my mind. Mom and Steve had told me all their horror stories about how many hours they spent at that awful building only to be sent back because there was some information about themselves that they didn't have. "Oh, and I failed my first test to get my California license, so I had to read through the entire manual before I took it again. It was awful!" "Gee, this is sure making me feel better." "Oh no, honey, you'll do great! You're so much more prepared than I was." Yeah, that one inspiring statement after that entire conversation about all the torturous hours in the dreaded DMV.
On the way there we realized that I didn't have my social security number. We call my dad and he doesn't answer. We pull into the parking lot 10 minutes late, waste another 5 by trying to find a shady parking space and end up finding one in the very back and run inside, praying that dad will call back while we're filling out my form. We walk in and after having a hard time finding the form to fill out, take it to a table and begin the process while I'm nervously drumming my fingers. After it's all filled out we call Dad again and he still doesn't answer. So we decide (er, Mom decides) to just get in line and start on everything else and hopefully he'll call during all of that. We get up there, Mom slides the copy of my birth certificate toward the guy working with us the same moment my dad calls. I hear Dad asking me, "You don't have it memorized? That sounds like a good project for you." (well thanks, I'll hop right to it cause it's not like I have anything else to do right now!) as I see the guy shaking his head at the copy in front of him. "You mean we need the original?" My mom asks. "We need the original?" I moan. "You need the original birth certificate?" My dad asks. So yeah, I didn't get to take or pass the test that day.
I walked out to the car, shoved aside Anna's "Aliese, what're you doing here?" and hopped into the back seat. We discussed what to do with our free hour and came to the conclusion that there was nothing to do but go to dance early and wait. Great. My bread failed, I didn't get to take my test which means we wasted a trip to the dreaded DMV building, and I wouldn't be able to go home and cry for six hours because their dance classes end at seven, which is just late enough to make driving through Monrovia to home then taking me back to Monrovia by eight thirty for my choir (called Vocalise) I joined this year a waste of time and gas. So we went to dance and I did homework during the long and lonely three hour wait. After my 'lunchbox' lunch from home I begged mom to get a snack because I was really craving chocolate (which I don't usually have a problem with except at that time of the month ;). "I don't know about chocolate, but I want some kind of snack, too," Mom said. I was grateful enough for that because it was something at least. "Are you sure you don't want those granola bars from Costco?" Mom asked. I grimaced. Costco sells these big boxes of crunchy peanut butter granola bars that I used to think were really good. Until I had way too many. "Still o.d.ed on those?" She asked. I nodded.
We went to Trader Joe's while waiting for Anna's class to get out and Gracie and I waited in the car while Mom went inside to "find something yummy for us all." Guess what she came back with? Crunchy peanut butter granola bars. "I don't think they're the same as those other ones," she said. I tried it and besides the peanut butter frosting on the top they are too much the same for me to stomach. "Yes, they are, Mom. Do you want the rest of mine?" Sigh. I just wanted to go home and go to bed, but we had to go back to get Anna then drop me off at my choir practice where I had another hour to wait.
Believe it or not, I still had homework to finish (this was all for my Shakespeare class) so I sat down near the spot me and a girl from choir usually study in when we wait for class. She had a tap dance class that finished an hour before our choir practice started in the same place so she always stayed and studied. Well, when she came out of class I realized that she had previously set her school stuff at the opposite end of the room and that's where she went to study. I sighed but told myself that I'd get more work done that way, though it really felt like another disappointment.
Probably around 8 (half an hour before practice) a girl named Lydia from choir walked in...wearing an EFY t-shirt. My curiosity peaked, I called out to her and said I wanted to ask her something. She walked over with an enthusiastic, "What's up?!" I replied, "Where'd you get that shirt?" She started talking about EFY and after I told her about my experience with it I said, "I didn't know you were Mormon!" And she said, "I didn't know you were either!" She took out her phone and said that she was going to put me in as her 'Vocalise Mormon Buddy'. We chattered on happily for the rest of my waiting time. Our conversation went from EFY to school to dances to family and back again and it perked me right up.
It's funny cause I remember a funny feeling when I met her. I don't think the thought that she could be Mormon crossed my mind and if it did it came and went in a second, but I had some kind of feeling that I didn't get when I was introduced to everyone else and it came back every time I turned around and looked back at the soprano section where she sat. It's amazing how much of a difference someone that stands for Christ with the Gift of the Holy Ghost makes. Not only to those hungry for the truth that they don't have, but to someone who needed to be reminded that she had that Gift too.
I got back from seminary and was informed that I needed to make bread. I had managed to make the last batch of bread without any disasters (such as spewing butter or flour all over, forgetting an ingredient or trying to be tidy and putting the honey away only to have to lug it back down because I neglected to remember that you add honey two different times) so I really wanted to accomplish the goal of making more than one batch successfully. Mom left and I asked Gracie if she wanted to watch a movie or listen to music. She said she didn't want to watch a movie so I put on some music. After about two or three songs she came in with the movie Ramona and Beezus and asked me to turn it on. I was in the middle of a step that couldn't be interrupted so I told her it was too late and I couldn't do it right now. When she understood she threw a fit and ran out of the kitchen. I sighed because I hate it when I do something that upsets her like that. So I turn back to my bowl (feeling like I wanna cry because I'm trying to make bread for the family, tried to please my sister and failed, I had a lot of homework to think about in the back of my head and it was my time of the month for everything to be blown out of proportion ;) and realized that I couldn't remember how many cups I had measured.
I don't remember what happened from that time to when I ran out of wheat, but know I was still not in a good mood. I was at the end of the bread making process and all I had to do was add enough flour to get the right consistency. And this is when I reached the bottom of the bin of wheat. I called Mom to ask where more wheat was and she responded that it was somewhere in the garage, probably to far back for me to get. "Just use white flour." "I already used all of it. There wasn't even two cups." "Well then just use some quick oats. You can dump in a couple cups of those." So after dumping in three cups of quick oats it still wasn't ready. It was raising while I was trying to figure out what to do and I was getting more frazzled by the second. I called Mom again and her phone died in the middle so I had to wait for her to call on Steve's phone. We conversed over four different phone calls in less than 20 minutes over this stupid bread that my mind had been stewing over for hours and we came to the conclusion that the only thing we could do was put some plastic wrap over it and put in the fridge until they returned and Steve could get the wheat.
The space of time between placing the dough in the fridge and them getting back has also gone from my brain, but I believe I tried to spend it doing homework and studying for my permit test. When we opened the fridge after they got back we discovered that the dough had risen and overflowed to the point where a good portion of it had fallen over the edge of the bowl and stretched down past the edge of the shelf of the fridge (cause it was sitting at the very end, can you picture it?). I'm pretty sure that the first words out of Mom's mouth, though it might have been Anna's or Gracie's, was, "What happened?!" leaving me to put my hands up defensively and squeak, "It's not my fault, I did everything you told me to!" After which Mom gathered the escaped dough and shoved it back into the bowl, apologizing that she asked me to make bread when we didn't have enough wheat.
Another large obstacle in the back of my brain that added a lot of stress was the thought of taking my driving permit test, which I was scheduled to do at 3:30. I wanted to do it because I do want to learn to drive (even though I'm scared to death of sitting behind the wheel), I wanted to pass the test before I forgot everything I learned from Driver's Ed and at this point I wouldn't be able to get my license for several months after my birthday so I didn't want to add any more. Before we could think anymore about the bread we all had to run around to get ready to leave. Anna and Gracie scrambled to get dressed for dance because we were going there straight from the DMV and I had to gather my school together to try to get some done during all the waiting I would have to do. We left late and I panicked with the earlier conversation about the DMV going through my mind. Mom and Steve had told me all their horror stories about how many hours they spent at that awful building only to be sent back because there was some information about themselves that they didn't have. "Oh, and I failed my first test to get my California license, so I had to read through the entire manual before I took it again. It was awful!" "Gee, this is sure making me feel better." "Oh no, honey, you'll do great! You're so much more prepared than I was." Yeah, that one inspiring statement after that entire conversation about all the torturous hours in the dreaded DMV.
On the way there we realized that I didn't have my social security number. We call my dad and he doesn't answer. We pull into the parking lot 10 minutes late, waste another 5 by trying to find a shady parking space and end up finding one in the very back and run inside, praying that dad will call back while we're filling out my form. We walk in and after having a hard time finding the form to fill out, take it to a table and begin the process while I'm nervously drumming my fingers. After it's all filled out we call Dad again and he still doesn't answer. So we decide (er, Mom decides) to just get in line and start on everything else and hopefully he'll call during all of that. We get up there, Mom slides the copy of my birth certificate toward the guy working with us the same moment my dad calls. I hear Dad asking me, "You don't have it memorized? That sounds like a good project for you." (well thanks, I'll hop right to it cause it's not like I have anything else to do right now!) as I see the guy shaking his head at the copy in front of him. "You mean we need the original?" My mom asks. "We need the original?" I moan. "You need the original birth certificate?" My dad asks. So yeah, I didn't get to take or pass the test that day.
I walked out to the car, shoved aside Anna's "Aliese, what're you doing here?" and hopped into the back seat. We discussed what to do with our free hour and came to the conclusion that there was nothing to do but go to dance early and wait. Great. My bread failed, I didn't get to take my test which means we wasted a trip to the dreaded DMV building, and I wouldn't be able to go home and cry for six hours because their dance classes end at seven, which is just late enough to make driving through Monrovia to home then taking me back to Monrovia by eight thirty for my choir (called Vocalise) I joined this year a waste of time and gas. So we went to dance and I did homework during the long and lonely three hour wait. After my 'lunchbox' lunch from home I begged mom to get a snack because I was really craving chocolate (which I don't usually have a problem with except at that time of the month ;). "I don't know about chocolate, but I want some kind of snack, too," Mom said. I was grateful enough for that because it was something at least. "Are you sure you don't want those granola bars from Costco?" Mom asked. I grimaced. Costco sells these big boxes of crunchy peanut butter granola bars that I used to think were really good. Until I had way too many. "Still o.d.ed on those?" She asked. I nodded.
We went to Trader Joe's while waiting for Anna's class to get out and Gracie and I waited in the car while Mom went inside to "find something yummy for us all." Guess what she came back with? Crunchy peanut butter granola bars. "I don't think they're the same as those other ones," she said. I tried it and besides the peanut butter frosting on the top they are too much the same for me to stomach. "Yes, they are, Mom. Do you want the rest of mine?" Sigh. I just wanted to go home and go to bed, but we had to go back to get Anna then drop me off at my choir practice where I had another hour to wait.
Believe it or not, I still had homework to finish (this was all for my Shakespeare class) so I sat down near the spot me and a girl from choir usually study in when we wait for class. She had a tap dance class that finished an hour before our choir practice started in the same place so she always stayed and studied. Well, when she came out of class I realized that she had previously set her school stuff at the opposite end of the room and that's where she went to study. I sighed but told myself that I'd get more work done that way, though it really felt like another disappointment.
Probably around 8 (half an hour before practice) a girl named Lydia from choir walked in...wearing an EFY t-shirt. My curiosity peaked, I called out to her and said I wanted to ask her something. She walked over with an enthusiastic, "What's up?!" I replied, "Where'd you get that shirt?" She started talking about EFY and after I told her about my experience with it I said, "I didn't know you were Mormon!" And she said, "I didn't know you were either!" She took out her phone and said that she was going to put me in as her 'Vocalise Mormon Buddy'. We chattered on happily for the rest of my waiting time. Our conversation went from EFY to school to dances to family and back again and it perked me right up.
It's funny cause I remember a funny feeling when I met her. I don't think the thought that she could be Mormon crossed my mind and if it did it came and went in a second, but I had some kind of feeling that I didn't get when I was introduced to everyone else and it came back every time I turned around and looked back at the soprano section where she sat. It's amazing how much of a difference someone that stands for Christ with the Gift of the Holy Ghost makes. Not only to those hungry for the truth that they don't have, but to someone who needed to be reminded that she had that Gift too.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
GRATITUDE
So today in YWs we learned about being grateful. By the end of the lesson my notes said this:
- "Attitude of gratitude." -Pres. Monson
- D&C 46:32 -How can I show my gratitude? Service, honoring the people I am thankful for, thank you notes, writing what I'm thankful for down, sharing my talents
- Luke 17:11-19
- Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
- Alma 34:38
- "Trying to remember [how I had seen His hand in my day] allowed God to show me what he has done" -Pres. Eyring
I am grateful that I have the scriptures, that I get to learn more about them every morning and that I understand them! I remember why I was a new beehive in YW I was so confused when people talked about how much they love the scriptures and how much they help them and I really didn't get it. I didn't understand what they meant, there was no way I could love them like all these other people seemed to. I just thought that that wasn't one of my gifts and I would go my whole life not understanding. Boy was I wrong. I am now one of these people that love reading my scriptures as much as the book I'm currently reading and I don't bear my testimony at testimony meetings, YW or youth conferences without mentioning how much I love them.
I am grateful that I finished Jane Eyre.
I am grateful that I got to go a Halloween dance last night, even though it wasn't a very good turnout. I dressed up as Dorothy and actually got quite a few compliments on it. I invited my friends from Pasadena and even though it was Stake Conference for them so they all had to babysit they came late. So that was fun.
I'm grateful I read an entire Shakespeare play for my Shakespeare class that I'm taking. Taming of the Shrew.
I'm grateful I'm a member of the church and that I've had the opportunity to learn and study this in my youth so that I may be able to know it well enough to share it with others now and on my mission later.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Random Happiness
Here's some random things that are making me smile lately.
This post about happiness in itself makes me happy because it's the sixth post in two months and that's a major major improvement for me! This new goal is working!
Conference is this weekend. I really really love conference. I haven't always loved it. Until recently I don't think I really understood why it was necessary to listen to 8-10 hours of talks over the course of the weekend twice a year. One thing that I think opened my eyes was the attitude that one of the YM in my old ward had toward it. In seminary and Sunday School you always have the 'primary answers,' reading the scriptures, going to church, take the sacrament and stuff like that. His answer was always General Conference. "How can we know the Lord's will?" "Watch General Conference." "What can bring us closer to the Savior?" "Watch General Conference." "What should we do when we're sad?" "Read a General Conference talk." Once my teacher asked him about it and he said, "I'm being serious. General Conference is the answer to everything." And I think he followed that profound statement with something like, "It's the bomb, man!" Eyeroll. So anyway, I'm really excited about General Conference, especially since we missed part of it cause of Gracie's baptism in April.
I'm really progressing with my crocheted quilt. I've sewn enough squares together to complete three rows and have sewn two of them together. Getting closer. : )
Fall is here! It's October, the beginning of the holidays. It's Halloween season, after which comes celebrating fall and Thanksgiving, the CHRISTMAS! I'm so excited and even though it's not really fall weather yet here, it's getting closer. We're more into the 80s and 90s instead of late 90s and 100.
To celebrate fall I made my first pie the other day! And we were going to take a picture, but by the time we remembered there was one lone piece left that really didn't look very pretty. I'll make another one and take a picture soon. This one was peanut butter with a layer of fudge sauce on top. It was delicious. I made Grandma's pie crust because she showed me how to make it while she was here and it turned out really well! The sides didn't fall in and it was nice and flaky.
I learned something in seminary that I wanted to share. It's in 2 Nephi chapter 4. This is the end of Lehi's farewell speeches (Patriarchal or Father's blessing, however you'd like to think of them) and then he dies. And what do Laman and Lemuel do after he dies? They start complaining against Nephi (cause that's their specialty). So here's Nephi, grieving his father's death, because whatever his brother's think, he did not want that to happen and he's not happy about it either. And what does he do? In verse 15 it says he reads the scriptures which his soul delights in. Then he thinks about the things of the Lord which his soul delights in. In the mist of discouragement and sadness he ponders the things which his soul delights in and counts his blessings. From verse 19 on he focuses on the things that the Lord has done for him that fills him with delight. This is known as Nephi's Psalm, a song or poem of worship or praise. Then in chapter 5 verse 1 it says he 'cried unto the Lord'. So if you could ask Nephi what to do when you feel like nothing's going right, when you're sick or your heart is broken. He would say, "I already wrote it down for you because God told me you would need it. You should read the scriptures, count your blessings and pray to the Lord who knows how you feel."
Steve's getting so close to opening the hot dog stand!
Jason's three week mark didn't present him ugly. He grows cuter by the day and he's starting to give us smiles more frequently. It's amazing how truly angelic they are, especially with their toothless grins.
I am enjoying the leftover lasagna that I'm eating for dinner. : )
If you haven't noticed, I've renoticed all the cool things you can do to your posts that are at the top of the page! So I'm enjoying using those, too.
This post about happiness in itself makes me happy because it's the sixth post in two months and that's a major major improvement for me! This new goal is working!
Conference is this weekend. I really really love conference. I haven't always loved it. Until recently I don't think I really understood why it was necessary to listen to 8-10 hours of talks over the course of the weekend twice a year. One thing that I think opened my eyes was the attitude that one of the YM in my old ward had toward it. In seminary and Sunday School you always have the 'primary answers,' reading the scriptures, going to church, take the sacrament and stuff like that. His answer was always General Conference. "How can we know the Lord's will?" "Watch General Conference." "What can bring us closer to the Savior?" "Watch General Conference." "What should we do when we're sad?" "Read a General Conference talk." Once my teacher asked him about it and he said, "I'm being serious. General Conference is the answer to everything." And I think he followed that profound statement with something like, "It's the bomb, man!" Eyeroll. So anyway, I'm really excited about General Conference, especially since we missed part of it cause of Gracie's baptism in April.
I'm really progressing with my crocheted quilt. I've sewn enough squares together to complete three rows and have sewn two of them together. Getting closer. : )
Fall is here! It's October, the beginning of the holidays. It's Halloween season, after which comes celebrating fall and Thanksgiving, the CHRISTMAS! I'm so excited and even though it's not really fall weather yet here, it's getting closer. We're more into the 80s and 90s instead of late 90s and 100.
To celebrate fall I made my first pie the other day! And we were going to take a picture, but by the time we remembered there was one lone piece left that really didn't look very pretty. I'll make another one and take a picture soon. This one was peanut butter with a layer of fudge sauce on top. It was delicious. I made Grandma's pie crust because she showed me how to make it while she was here and it turned out really well! The sides didn't fall in and it was nice and flaky.
I learned something in seminary that I wanted to share. It's in 2 Nephi chapter 4. This is the end of Lehi's farewell speeches (Patriarchal or Father's blessing, however you'd like to think of them) and then he dies. And what do Laman and Lemuel do after he dies? They start complaining against Nephi (cause that's their specialty). So here's Nephi, grieving his father's death, because whatever his brother's think, he did not want that to happen and he's not happy about it either. And what does he do? In verse 15 it says he reads the scriptures which his soul delights in. Then he thinks about the things of the Lord which his soul delights in. In the mist of discouragement and sadness he ponders the things which his soul delights in and counts his blessings. From verse 19 on he focuses on the things that the Lord has done for him that fills him with delight. This is known as Nephi's Psalm, a song or poem of worship or praise. Then in chapter 5 verse 1 it says he 'cried unto the Lord'. So if you could ask Nephi what to do when you feel like nothing's going right, when you're sick or your heart is broken. He would say, "I already wrote it down for you because God told me you would need it. You should read the scriptures, count your blessings and pray to the Lord who knows how you feel."
Steve's getting so close to opening the hot dog stand!
Jason's three week mark didn't present him ugly. He grows cuter by the day and he's starting to give us smiles more frequently. It's amazing how truly angelic they are, especially with their toothless grins.
I am enjoying the leftover lasagna that I'm eating for dinner. : )
If you haven't noticed, I've renoticed all the cool things you can do to your posts that are at the top of the page! So I'm enjoying using those, too.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Inspiring Scriptures
I hesitate calling this 'Inspiring Scriptures' instead of something more specific because, what if I post something else about scriptures that I can't get more specific than 'inspiring'? Oh well. : )
So I'm taking a Shakespeare class from the woman who taught my CC class last year. Her daughter loves Shakespeare so her mom's doing this class for free for specific friends this year. It has been awesome so far and we haven't even started a play! So far we've just been studying Shakespeare's life, his language and the time period he lived in. We start Taming of the Shrew in October. So in preparation for that we were given some assignments to study up on this week. One of them was to read the list of scriptures given on Gender Roles/Marriage and Beauty (we're studying Shakespeare with a Christian view). I was really inspired by what I read and I thought I'd share it. I'd really encourage you to look them up yourselves, but I'll just share the main point of each scripture.
Gender Roles and Marriage
So I'm taking a Shakespeare class from the woman who taught my CC class last year. Her daughter loves Shakespeare so her mom's doing this class for free for specific friends this year. It has been awesome so far and we haven't even started a play! So far we've just been studying Shakespeare's life, his language and the time period he lived in. We start Taming of the Shrew in October. So in preparation for that we were given some assignments to study up on this week. One of them was to read the list of scriptures given on Gender Roles/Marriage and Beauty (we're studying Shakespeare with a Christian view). I was really inspired by what I read and I thought I'd share it. I'd really encourage you to look them up yourselves, but I'll just share the main point of each scripture.
Gender Roles and Marriage
- Ephesians 5:22-33 ~ These scriptures tell wives to be submissive to their husbands and tell the husbands to love their wives as much as they love themselves. Make sure to look at the second footnote in verse 33 where it helps to replace reverence with respect.
- Genesis 3:16 ~ This verse talks about a woman's role to have children.
- Proverbs 31:10-31 ~ The first of these scriptures is the one that says "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." And the verses that follow describe what qualities a virtuous woman should have and what her duty is to her husband. In verse 30 it mentions beauty. These are really very beautiful scriptures and I would like to add something that I researched. I was curious about the value of rubies so I googled the worth of them compared to other jewels. Rubies are more rare and of more worth than any other jewel. Here's something I cut and pasted comparing rubies to diamonds. "Thus, while a 1-carat ruby is worth twice as much as a 1-carat diamond, a 3-carat ruby of the first quality is worth ten times as much as a diamond of the same description, that is to say, that while a 3-carat brilliant of the first water would be valued at about $16,300, a ruby of the same description would be worth about $160,300. The value of a 5-carat." I thought that was quite fascinating and made me feel very special.
- 1 Corinthians 7:4 ~ My interpretation of this was husband's and wive's responsibility for one another.
- 1 Peter 3:4 ~ It's the inside that counts.
- 1 Samuel 16:7 ~ The world looks at the outside appearance, but the Lord look at the heart.
I also learned something in Sunday School today that was very fascinating and moving. You might already know this, but I've never heard it before. So by the end of the Book of Mormon the Nephites are all destroyed, but the Lamanites aren't. Yeah, the Lamanites are good at the end, but when you add all the years of iniquity that they both went through they seem to be equal. Well in Jacob 2:35, 3:5-7 talk about how the Lamanites are not destroyed because they stay loyal to their wives and the Nephites don't. Sometimes it may seem like women aren't talked about a lot in the scriptures, but if staying loyal to their wives or not is the big tip off for getting destroyed or not, I think just in those few verses it testifies very strongly how precious and important women and marriage is. So there's my inspiring thought for the day. : )
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
September Must Have
Well, things have been kind of chaotic in my house lately so I haven't had much spare time, but I new I had to post at least once in September. And I was doing so well in August (for me anyway) and I don't want to mess that up. So.
Little Jason may have tossed up our schedule, but I love him so much. He is so adorable and he NEVER cries. He fusses when he needs to eat, but that is literally all. We have been so blessed and I think it's cause Heavenly Father knew that our life was busy enough with our homeschool and church schedule and hard enough since we just moved (not just, but recently). I wish I could put into words how adorable he is...but I can't. : )
Seminary is going awesome. I think I even love it as much as I loved last year which makes me so happy because I was so worried that I would be disappointed after having such a good experience my first year. My ward is put together with the 0 period class that starts at 5:50. Even though I was really bummed that I only got 5 more minutes than last year I thought that I should attend seminary with my ward. So I went the first day and came back heartbroken. Because it was the 0 period class everyone was dressed for school except me and it was a class of something like 25 kids. It scared me. We called the person in charge and I switched classes that night. The rest of the stake meets at 6:50, divided by grade. So now I meet with all the sophomores in the stake and we add up to 15 kids. It's so much better and I totally love all the kids. There's actually more boys than girls which is a major first for me. In every single boy/girl group I have been in the girls always outnumbered the boys. Now there's 9 boys and 6 girls, so that's fun. My class is taught by an older couple and I just love them too. I love learning from them. I love the scriptures so much. It seriously breaks my heart if I miss a day because that means I've missed digging into a chapter in a way I haven't before. Seminary is really one of my favorite things. Without it, I don't think I'd be able to be happy after this move. It makes me happy.
I finished Driver's Ed!!! I passed the final test on Friday and the certificate was sent. So as soon as it comes I can go take the test at the DMV and get my permit! I'm getting excited (though I'm still terrified) though now I'm just nervous about passing the permit test. Wish me luck.
I have finished all the squares for my crocheted quilt and am now working on sewing them together. This has been such a project. I've been working on it for over a year! It will be so refreshing to work on something else when I'm done.
I've completed 4 of the 8 values in Personal Progress and will have completed another one as soon as I finish my quilt! This makes me really happy because I want to finish it and have time to get an Honor Bee (the reward for doing the extra mile requirements) before I leave YW.
I got a regular babysitting job that starts in October! The woman that teaches Anna and Gracie ballet has four beautiful blonde children and the two youngest need a babysitter during one of the weekly classes. They are the sweetest things and I'm so excited for this! I'll be babysitting them a couple hours a week and she said she hopes to work up to $10 an hour!
I think that's enough for now. Love you all!
Little Jason may have tossed up our schedule, but I love him so much. He is so adorable and he NEVER cries. He fusses when he needs to eat, but that is literally all. We have been so blessed and I think it's cause Heavenly Father knew that our life was busy enough with our homeschool and church schedule and hard enough since we just moved (not just, but recently). I wish I could put into words how adorable he is...but I can't. : )
Seminary is going awesome. I think I even love it as much as I loved last year which makes me so happy because I was so worried that I would be disappointed after having such a good experience my first year. My ward is put together with the 0 period class that starts at 5:50. Even though I was really bummed that I only got 5 more minutes than last year I thought that I should attend seminary with my ward. So I went the first day and came back heartbroken. Because it was the 0 period class everyone was dressed for school except me and it was a class of something like 25 kids. It scared me. We called the person in charge and I switched classes that night. The rest of the stake meets at 6:50, divided by grade. So now I meet with all the sophomores in the stake and we add up to 15 kids. It's so much better and I totally love all the kids. There's actually more boys than girls which is a major first for me. In every single boy/girl group I have been in the girls always outnumbered the boys. Now there's 9 boys and 6 girls, so that's fun. My class is taught by an older couple and I just love them too. I love learning from them. I love the scriptures so much. It seriously breaks my heart if I miss a day because that means I've missed digging into a chapter in a way I haven't before. Seminary is really one of my favorite things. Without it, I don't think I'd be able to be happy after this move. It makes me happy.
I finished Driver's Ed!!! I passed the final test on Friday and the certificate was sent. So as soon as it comes I can go take the test at the DMV and get my permit! I'm getting excited (though I'm still terrified) though now I'm just nervous about passing the permit test. Wish me luck.
I have finished all the squares for my crocheted quilt and am now working on sewing them together. This has been such a project. I've been working on it for over a year! It will be so refreshing to work on something else when I'm done.
I've completed 4 of the 8 values in Personal Progress and will have completed another one as soon as I finish my quilt! This makes me really happy because I want to finish it and have time to get an Honor Bee (the reward for doing the extra mile requirements) before I leave YW.
I got a regular babysitting job that starts in October! The woman that teaches Anna and Gracie ballet has four beautiful blonde children and the two youngest need a babysitter during one of the weekly classes. They are the sweetest things and I'm so excited for this! I'll be babysitting them a couple hours a week and she said she hopes to work up to $10 an hour!
I think that's enough for now. Love you all!
Friday, August 30, 2013
Getting Used to the Best of Both Worlds
I moved with the intention of going back for all the dances and making sure to still see my friends regularly. Which is a little difficult because after spending a night with them it makes it really hard to come back home because I miss them so much. :( So I'm trying to get used to it so that I can see them without getting depressed again, because there is no way I'm going to stop seeing them.
I spent quite a bit of time with them last weekend with them. I got dropped off at a friend's house at six where we all met then drove to the dance. We were super early which is always kind of awkward at dances cause people don't start showing up till about an hour late anyway. But it was super fun being with them all again. And just fyi, I danced 5 out of the six slow songs. 4 out of the 5 were friends (which I prefer, it makes talking easier). And 3 out of the 5 asked me to dance, not the other way around.
Since we were getting back so late we decided that I could just stay the night at one of my friend's houses. It was very thoroughly talked out and contemplated before I was given the okay. Which was fine because we didn't even do anything. We got back after dropping everyone at home after midnight, washed our faces and went to bed. I would've totally gone to church with them, but Elder Perry was talking at our stake conference in Azusa so I couldn't exactly miss that. So I was driven straight to my stake building in Azusa to hear Elder Perry (which I will talk about later) then we all went back to Pasadena for the Girls Camp fireside.
Now, I hesitate to talk about this because I don't really want to tell you about it and I'm not going to be very positive, buuuuut, I'm pretty sure my mom emailed you all the What Makes You Beautiful video that the boys made for the girls in Pasadena. Well, someone decided that the girls should do a response video...and that it should be filmed at Girls Camp. Soooo, we filmed a video for the boys to a song none of us had ever heard before...at Girls Camp. This whole thing made me mad because the whole point of Girls Camp is that you don't have to impress anyone because it's just girls and the video completely ruined that. And the boys did not appreciate it at all. Except for literally one or two sweet guys all they did was laugh and point fingers. We showed it to them at the fireside, which is another reason I had to be there, cause everyone insisted. The video ended up not being that bad. I was hardly in it at all, which I was happy about, but it was nothing compared to the boys video. Their's is so much better. So there's that. And trust me, this was me being positive about it.
Onto being more positive. I am planning on meeting a friend at the mall sometime soon. It was gonna be tomorrow, but we had to reschedule so we'll see. And there's a stake dance in my new stake that I'm gonna invite my friends from Pasadena to! Since they got mad at me when they found out I had one they didn't invite me to. :) Haha. Love you all.
Monday, August 19, 2013
The Positive a midst My Tragedy
So, on of my best friends I've ever had left for New York yesterday. :( So so sad. Buuuuuuuuut, I got to spend a good last day with her on Saturday. They were super busy with cleaning and packing and yard selling so I helped them and just hung out. We watched the last episodes of the fourth season (the last one we have). And we also watched 17 Again, which we both love. She loves Winnie the Pooh so I crocheted her a stuffed Pooh bear to look like the original A.A. Milne's one. I was a bit disappointed with how it turned out, but she loved it so that's okay. I'll miss her, but I won't lose touch. :)
I'm working on an online driver's ed course and though miserable, it is slowly progressing.
I finished my knitting Personal Progress goal! So now I can continue with my crocheted quilt, which I am STILL working on as soon as I can get the book from the library.
We went to Lizzie's this past week, which was super fun! We haven't seen them forever and I've missed them. Elle was actually pretty easy to get along with. Usually it's not very easy to get her to like you, but she totally loved us this time! We watched the old Freaky Friday, which was super funny. Lizzie made totally delicious food for us. We had gourmet pizza, crepes and peanut butter brownies. They were all wonderful.
Seminary starts on Monday! And though I'm nervous for reasons I don't want to focus on I'm glad it's starting soon.
I'm going to babysit the two most adorable little boys I've ever known, ages 1 and 4, in Pasadena tonight. I'm so excited!
I'm working on an online driver's ed course and though miserable, it is slowly progressing.
I finished my knitting Personal Progress goal! So now I can continue with my crocheted quilt, which I am STILL working on as soon as I can get the book from the library.
We went to Lizzie's this past week, which was super fun! We haven't seen them forever and I've missed them. Elle was actually pretty easy to get along with. Usually it's not very easy to get her to like you, but she totally loved us this time! We watched the old Freaky Friday, which was super funny. Lizzie made totally delicious food for us. We had gourmet pizza, crepes and peanut butter brownies. They were all wonderful.
Seminary starts on Monday! And though I'm nervous for reasons I don't want to focus on I'm glad it's starting soon.
I'm going to babysit the two most adorable little boys I've ever known, ages 1 and 4, in Pasadena tonight. I'm so excited!
Thursday, August 8, 2013
The Good Happenings of the Past Two Weeks
I changed my blog not quite a week ago, but didn't make an effort to actually post any optimism, which defeats the whole point of changing it. So, I'm going to start by looking at the bright side of the past two weeks and remembering the fun things I did. Hopefully I can remember most of them.
Well, on the 27th I got to go to a musical that one of the young men in my old ward was in. It was called the Tavern Keeper's Daughter. It was actually a really good play and he had a good part in it. I went with his mom and three of my friends from my old ward and aside from being with them it was fun to hear him sing in a play. He has a pretty beautiful voice.
Last week we had a fun mutual activity. We worked on Personal Progress and there was a contest to see who could wear the most P things. I didn't win, but I think I should have won most creative. I was the only one with a pumpkin pin. ;)
Our library has an amazing stock of movies so we've been educating ourselves by bringing home as many musicals a week as we can. We've watched lots of Fred Astaire ones and are starting on Howard Keele ones this week.
Mom set up a new chore schedule and we've actually been doing it and keeping the house clean! I really don't mind chores that much as long as we do them regularly because I love living in a clean house.
One of my best friends is moving to New York in less than to weeks. It's a major tragedy for me, I'm not really being optimistic about it. But I did get to go to her family going away party on Sunday and see her for the first time in a month since I was at my dad's. And then she came over the other day to watch Avonlea with me! When I found out she loved Little House and the Waltons I just had to introduce her to Avonlea and she absolutely loves it! We're on the fourth season right now. She is totally in love with Gus. :)
There are probably more, but this is all I can think of for now and I don't want to post pone actually posting this to think of some more. Ta ta!
Well, on the 27th I got to go to a musical that one of the young men in my old ward was in. It was called the Tavern Keeper's Daughter. It was actually a really good play and he had a good part in it. I went with his mom and three of my friends from my old ward and aside from being with them it was fun to hear him sing in a play. He has a pretty beautiful voice.
Last week we had a fun mutual activity. We worked on Personal Progress and there was a contest to see who could wear the most P things. I didn't win, but I think I should have won most creative. I was the only one with a pumpkin pin. ;)
Our library has an amazing stock of movies so we've been educating ourselves by bringing home as many musicals a week as we can. We've watched lots of Fred Astaire ones and are starting on Howard Keele ones this week.
Mom set up a new chore schedule and we've actually been doing it and keeping the house clean! I really don't mind chores that much as long as we do them regularly because I love living in a clean house.
One of my best friends is moving to New York in less than to weeks. It's a major tragedy for me, I'm not really being optimistic about it. But I did get to go to her family going away party on Sunday and see her for the first time in a month since I was at my dad's. And then she came over the other day to watch Avonlea with me! When I found out she loved Little House and the Waltons I just had to introduce her to Avonlea and she absolutely loves it! We're on the fourth season right now. She is totally in love with Gus. :)
There are probably more, but this is all I can think of for now and I don't want to post pone actually posting this to think of some more. Ta ta!
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Tiny Update
I guess the reason I'm so scared to post is that I don't want to think too much and blogging requires thinking about my life and putting it all down. Thinking about your life and writing it down can be good, but right now...for me...it's not. Thinking breaks my heart and makes me go crazy. What works right now is distracting myself, making sure I don't have time to think. Unfortunately, those times still come, but oh well.
We've moved. Seminary's over. Attending church in Pasadena is over. I'm going to seminary graduation on Sunday, then I'm done going to that building. :( So so sad, but like I said, I can't think about it. If I do think it has to be about the book that my old YW leaders gave me, Who Moved My Cheese? It's an awesome book about change. It basically takes your whole life when you're dealing with change (thoughts, desires, actions) and writes it out at kindergarten level. It helps you understand, get in perspective and move on. I think it's a book everyone should have on their bookshelf.
I've unpacked some. I've got basically everything hung up. Mainly I need to work on my desk. We got it for free on Craigslist, so it need a lot of work. I need to sand it and clean out the drawers, then I'm going to paint it yellow. :) I thought I'd take a jump out of my comfort zone. Why not? Once I've got my desk I can organize my craft stuff and figure out what won't fit in the desk.
That's all for now.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Crazy, crazy, crazy
Life is so crazy right now. It has been for a while, but especially right now.
So much of my stress if because of Mock Trial. What did I say about it before? Did I mention that I hate it? Well I do. We all do. We are very unprepared for Monday (which is when the trail it) and are in no way expecting to win. Probably not the best attitude, but we can not do anything better than that. I have the fewest things to do and I feel overwhelmed. I have to work on objections. I'm an attorney for defense so it is part of my job (as well as the other attorney's) to object to protect our witnesses. The thing is, they are so confusing. We have to remember what classifies as hearsay, ambiguity etc. and the actual name. All on the spot in the second that a question is asked when it is not supposed to be. Not easy for someone who doesn't like to argue unless she's really mad (me!!!). Mock Trial is so hard. If I was interested in it, it would be less hard. But considering I would never in my dizziest day dreams become anything that would have to regularly go to court, the complicated stuff that I'm supposed to know like the back of my hand goes right over my head. I can not adequately explain Mock Trial and all the agony it has caused me and my family (all I do is complain about it). Every single little detail in the case is important and it's just too much for me.
On top of that I was terrified of moving out of the ward. We've been looking for a place to move forever since there's no room for a baby where we live and there was less and less hope for finding a place in our ward. I couldn't imagine losing everything I do with all these people everyday. Seminary, mutual, Sunday School, activities, dances. It was my whole life. Then the nightmare actually happened and it was announced that we were moving to Azusa. We are moving to Azusa. I cried all weekend. I hung by a thread all weekend, barely keeping from crying unless I was already crying. It wasn't only my ward friends being taken away from me. I was already losing my friends from CC. One girl's moving (most likely to New York), two people are going to public school. I'm going to a Shakespeare class with one girl next year, taught by her mom, who taught my CC class this year, but other than that, I'm losing everybody. And my church friends on top of it.
So now, everyday I have to think about how I'll be leaving and how much my life will change. Not to mention packing! Oh my goodness. We have so much to do and only one week left to pack. So stressful. Such a load on your shoulders when you have to pack.
And seminary. I still love it. But it's getting harder to get up everyday and I feel like I never get enough sleep. And I want to get the Stake President's award, which has extra requirements for going to extra mile in seminary. So I have to work on that. I have one scripture mastery left. :) And I'm so scared about seminary next year. I'm so scared I'm going to be disappointed. Guess what time it's at? We thought we'd get away with something later, but no, we got five extra minutes. 5:50.
My only comfort is the scriptures. It's strange, because I don't know why. They've never been like that for me before. I guess it just provides the comfort and reassurance that I need, while distracting me so I don't have to think about why I need that comfort. Because if I think too hard about my life, all I can do is cry.
And I haven't read a book since Christmas. That is the saddest thing I've ever heard. Sigh. I hate to end on this note, but I've got nothing else to say.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
What I should have posted before now:
I swear I started a post the other day but I can't find it. Oh well. I'm not exactly sure what to say first, though
First of all, I actually did make a goal for this year. It wasn't before New Year's but at least I made it a while before now. I really need to work on Personal Progress and I'm not going to make one of those 'Do better in Personal Progress' or 'Always be working on some Personal Progress goal.' I made a specific goal to finish Knowledge and Choice and Accountability (both of which, I've basically just started, so that leaves about 6 goals each, plus the projects). At least! Meaning, finish them as fast as I can in case I can finish more before the year is over. If I find it hard to do Personal Progress I can't imagine what it's like for public school kids. I am always in awe at what they do.
I do have my own school problems, though. Well, I guess not problems, just not what I'm used to. What we learn is sooo different from anything I've ever done before and even more different from what they do in public schools. We are not doing history or memorizing facts (though, with the Classic method of homeschooling, memorizing is all they do for elementary school age). Whether we remember what we're learning or use it in our lives or not, we are strengthening our minds. We are doing Logic, which is just another form of math as far as how confusing it is. I can't even explain it, but it greatly puzzles us all. It'd actually be kind of funny if we could watch ourselves, being confused together and all having the same exact expression on our faces, huh? Mock Trial is also very thought provoking. It involves original ideas, writing, logic, acting skills and memory skills, though we haven't used the acting skills yet. If I wasn't convinced against being a lawyer before, I so am now. I have no wish to deal with all of those rules and objections. Mock Trial isn't my favorite. I would say I hate it and I can't understand it, but this past week we brought in our opening statements (which is basically an introductory talk about the case overall. You're supposed to use persuading writing skills to make the defendant sound like the sweetest, most innocent person in the world (defense) or like a horrible criminal, with undeniable faults (prosecution). All with the same information.) and everybody flipped out at how great mine were, including the teacher. I was flattered, though I think their praise was exaggerated.
Anyway, I wanted to write more, but I have to do chores and such. But this is better than nothing, right?
Monday, February 18, 2013
Way, way overdue
At New Year's I realized that my last post was about Halloween and thought, "I should probably post." But did I post? Clearly not.
I could say things have been crazy. Sometimes they have been. December was...well December. It was Christmas. I basically focused on Christmas, what can I say? In January I had a couple dances that were fun. Well, the New Year's Eve dance was pretty sad. Not very many people, the really awkward songs that aren't really fast songs, but aren't really slow songs. There was a thing they called a Multi-Stake Youth Activity which was basically an EFY Express. There were a couple speakers, an In-N-Out truck and a dance. I was super excited about the In-N-Out truck, but it was outside when it was freezing (probably 40s or 50s) and there was a line of a hundred kids or more. They had us go in a certain order and I felt so bad for the priests because they had to go very last. The whole thing kind of ruined my burger. The dance was super fun, much better than the one before. Many more of us and much better music.
So, for school now I do this Classical Conversations thing. We call it C.C. It's a Christian homeschool group that meets once a week from 8:30 to about 3. We do Math, Logic (Symbolic Logic, to be specific), English (we're reading and writing short stories), Latin (I don't really do it. I don't know it!), and Science (right now we're reading a book called Defeating Darwinism). I love it. Everyone is divided into levels and we are together with the same teacher all day. The kids are awesome. I felt welcome and loved from the first day. There are only five other kids (three girls and two boys) in my class and they are all super sweet. The school work is working out pretty well. They started over with everything for the new semester, except Latin, of course, which is where I struggle. I can't do anything. We finally decided to get me a Latin for Dummies book when I got sick.
I got chickenpox. Yep, chickenpox. It was awful, to say the least. Mom had a flashback to when I would have gotten the shot for it. It wasn't required and my dad wasn't a P.A. so he didn't have strong feelings about it, yet. So, I didn't get it. What we can't figure out is how we went all these years thinking I'd gotten it. Through elementary school and lots of shots and checkups since then. Oh well.
Mom says that if she wasn't sure about immunizations before, she is now. I can't even describe it. I first got sick with a headache and a few blisters last Saturday, but I didn't make the connection with the blisters. I didn't get any sleep that night so I stayed home from church and was totally sick with a fever by the time they got home. We didn't figure out it was chickenpox until Monday. But there was not doubt. I was so achy from the fever I couldn't move. My head hurt so bad I couldn't open my eyes. I had blisters all over my back, chest, stomach, face, neck and eventually my legs, too. After a couple days my fever was gone and my main problem was the rash. It hurt, itched and was even in my throat. I could hardly eat anything and it had to be cold. I had two priesthood blessings total. One, when I was barely moving, and one in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep because of the rash. I didn't think I was going to make it. I honestly could not believe that I could ever get better and was afraid I was going to be like that the rest of my life. I basically just watched TV all day for days and wouldn't let myself think because if I left time to think I either wanted to cry to scratch my skin off. Plus, I felt like I was missing a lot of things. I missed a Scripture Mastery Fair, where a bunch of seminary classes played scripture mastery games. And there was a C.C. dance that I was super excited about. It was two nights. The first night they taught us some dance moves (which ended up being the side to side slow dance step we always do at Stake dances and a few more simple steps). The second night was a three hour dance where we had to dress up and switch partners all night. There were going to be pictures and the parents were invited for the last half hour. I missed the second night. So, I was pretty depressed this past week. If I wanted to, I could write a really moving story about it all, but I'm just not in the mood. Now, I'm basically better. My legs hurt if I do too much and I get tired easily. Mainly, I'm just covered head to toe in scabs. I told my dad that I was not going to C.C. today (I guess they don't take Presidents day off) because of it, even if I was worried about catching up. Luckily, my class was cancelled because the teacher was feeling good. I told my dad and he said, "This happened after I prayed that you'd be able to go to school. Prayers are answered in mysterious ways." I guess so. He prayed that I'd be able to go to school and instead it was cancelled so I didn't have to go. :)
I'm excited to get on with my life. Hopefully I'll go to seminary in a few days.
I got chickenpox. Yep, chickenpox. It was awful, to say the least. Mom had a flashback to when I would have gotten the shot for it. It wasn't required and my dad wasn't a P.A. so he didn't have strong feelings about it, yet. So, I didn't get it. What we can't figure out is how we went all these years thinking I'd gotten it. Through elementary school and lots of shots and checkups since then. Oh well.
Mom says that if she wasn't sure about immunizations before, she is now. I can't even describe it. I first got sick with a headache and a few blisters last Saturday, but I didn't make the connection with the blisters. I didn't get any sleep that night so I stayed home from church and was totally sick with a fever by the time they got home. We didn't figure out it was chickenpox until Monday. But there was not doubt. I was so achy from the fever I couldn't move. My head hurt so bad I couldn't open my eyes. I had blisters all over my back, chest, stomach, face, neck and eventually my legs, too. After a couple days my fever was gone and my main problem was the rash. It hurt, itched and was even in my throat. I could hardly eat anything and it had to be cold. I had two priesthood blessings total. One, when I was barely moving, and one in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep because of the rash. I didn't think I was going to make it. I honestly could not believe that I could ever get better and was afraid I was going to be like that the rest of my life. I basically just watched TV all day for days and wouldn't let myself think because if I left time to think I either wanted to cry to scratch my skin off. Plus, I felt like I was missing a lot of things. I missed a Scripture Mastery Fair, where a bunch of seminary classes played scripture mastery games. And there was a C.C. dance that I was super excited about. It was two nights. The first night they taught us some dance moves (which ended up being the side to side slow dance step we always do at Stake dances and a few more simple steps). The second night was a three hour dance where we had to dress up and switch partners all night. There were going to be pictures and the parents were invited for the last half hour. I missed the second night. So, I was pretty depressed this past week. If I wanted to, I could write a really moving story about it all, but I'm just not in the mood. Now, I'm basically better. My legs hurt if I do too much and I get tired easily. Mainly, I'm just covered head to toe in scabs. I told my dad that I was not going to C.C. today (I guess they don't take Presidents day off) because of it, even if I was worried about catching up. Luckily, my class was cancelled because the teacher was feeling good. I told my dad and he said, "This happened after I prayed that you'd be able to go to school. Prayers are answered in mysterious ways." I guess so. He prayed that I'd be able to go to school and instead it was cancelled so I didn't have to go. :)
I'm excited to get on with my life. Hopefully I'll go to seminary in a few days.
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