Pretty Much Great

How Does Your Garden Grow...

2011-07-18T17:41:00.001-07:00

Britte and I worked hard on our family garden this year. We're excited, because everything is getting so big! We planted...

Cantaloupe in the corner, and Pumpkin (the massive plant in the foreground)

WATERMELON!!! We have 5 of these adorable little babies growing!

We transplanted this plumeria tree from my grandpa's house. We thought it might be dying, but now it's flowering a lot, and it smells so delicious!

Sunflowers and African Daisies

Crazy amounts of zucchini (Dad always plants too many hills!) and a random assortment of Tomato plants

Chili Peppers, Green Bell Peppers, and (my new favorite) spinach =]

We also have a bunch of carrots in another planter box, with a couple of strawberry plants that don't seem to want to grow for some reason...Oh, and some lettuce plants in the window, Chinese lantern flowers in a pot, and a small palm tree in another pot.

I'm a little more excited now about going to Florida, because my Dad says you can have a garden there all year round.

Oh, Ridiculousness, How Should I Describe Thee?

2011-07-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a Bekah--an inconspicuous young lady, who moved back to the town of her raising (no, not her birth--that's on the other side of the country) to take care of a little problem. The little problem concerned two properties that her grandfather owned. After he passed away, the family decided to sell the properties. Unfortunately, no one in her family had time to take care of the problem. So Bekah, who was planning on leaving and embarking on a 3+ year adventure to the boondocks of Tallahassee, decided said problem should be taken care of before she immersed herself in a whole other problem that would suck up her time.

Sadly, the more she cared for this problem of properties, the larger and more complicated it became. The whole situation reminded her of the Hydra from Hercules. The more she tried to cut off the head of the problem, the more heads grew out of his monstrous body. And the heads nibbled on Bekah. A little too much.

I've been a little broken for the past few months. I'm knocking on wood and trying not to tempt the Wrath-of-the-Whatever-From-High-Atop-the-Thing, but I think what broke me is almost over. We'll have to see. Maybe one more fast Sunday will do the trick. I'm even starting to let myself believe, again, that I might be able to actually afford to move to Florida, let alone possibly not be completely broken when I start my doctorate. That would be difficult, trying to get a doctorate in social work while being all emotionally/mentally/spiritually mangled.

I'm just glad I'm learning how to put myself back together again. =] I don't mean for this to be a sad entry. It's not. I'm on my way. So CELEBRATE my friends!

You Can't Quit, Because You're Fired!!!

2011-02-12T07:07:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I didn't really get fired. I really did quit. I gave my notice just over two weeks ago, and in the email I sent to my boss (who is always out of the country. I think he was in Jakarta at the time), I told him I could either stay until around the 20th of February or the 5th of March, if he needed me here longer. He emailed me back and asked if I could stay until the end of March, because some of the teachers weren't going to be here in time for the new semester. I emailed him back and said I could stay longer, but only until the 20th or so because my brother is getting married on the 25th of March. Then, just yesterday I get an email from the International Office (not even from HIM) saying they'd like me to leave either the end of February or stay until April. Why would I stay until April? My brother is getting married!! Did he just forget my logical reasoning? GAH! Sometimes these people drive me crazy!!!!!!

Sorry I got on here just to rant. Really, I've been having a great time. When I feel a little less cloudy in the brain area I'll post actual, useful things for you guys to read. The past month and a half back have been rather crazy. I've been wrangling kids for the winter English program they host here at the school when the university isn't in session. I was basically working 12 hour days for a month. Now I'm recuperating, organizing the office, and adding "figure out how to move back to the US in the next two weeks or so" to my list.

Someday I'll be sane again. I had to leave the office today because I was getting so overwhelmed with stuff to figure out. Good thing I found this little notebook while I was wandering somewhat aimlessly around Janghowan. It said on the front "Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy." Great quote. And it's one of the few in Korea that doesn't have obvious English mistakes in it. So I bought it.

Souvenirs anyone. before I leave South Korea for (possibly) good?

I don't care what people say...

2010-12-10T22:07:00.000-08:00

I don't care what people say...

~The new Narnia movie is great

~I have yet to draw up the energy to see the new Harry Potter

~Frozen peas are good. Eating them frozen is like having a treat

~No pain, no gain might be true. But yes pain, yes gain is definitely true

~Weird looking ornaments you made with macaroni noodles when you were little will always look better than the fancy store-bought ones

~You're not crazy if you talk to yourself, and then answer yourself back. Yet.

~Any references to Serenity/Firefly in Castle are hilarious

~The Sorcerer's Apprentice is also awesome

~It's not Christmas until Neil Diamond sings it, even if he is Jewish

~That other version of "Life is a highway" NOT sung by Rascal Flatts is terrible. PERIOD

~If any more books about vampires, wizards, or dragons come out, I'm going to have to sue the literary community for lack of imagination. Today I was thinking I should write a book and mention dragons in it all over the place ("Hey, remember when that dragon attacked our village and burned all our crops?"), but never actually HAVE the dragon appear. Just to tick people off and keep them confused.

That's all for now. I'll think of more later.

Until then, enjoy the show.

Cheese!

2010-12-08T23:36:00.000-08:00

Rice collected into white bags. But don't they look like marshmallows?

You don't realize how much you like cheese until it costs 8,000 won.

I'm back in the US, but just for a month. Supposedly I'm going back to Korea. I say "supposedly" because I'm waiting on my work visa. And yes, I really do want to go back. Mostly because I really want to go see the Great Wall of China and the terracotta warriors, hopefully this February.

Anyhow, I've been having fun with my family. My little brother, Dave, got back from his mission last Thursday. He's been trying to register for classes, find a job, and plan his whole future in the last three days, and watching him get frustrated over his inability to complete these tasks immediately reminds me of when I was fresh off my mission. Stir crazy after just five days of being home. I think I'll make him paint the hallway. That'll give him something to focus on while he's waiting for life to happen.

I've been spending my time avoiding grading my students' finals and instead working on the backyard. We had a ginormous (not a word) tree removed a little while ago, and just a few months ago the fence was finally completed. Now things have overgrown and gotten a little scary looking, so for some reason I've decided to dedicate my time to finding the backyard. That is, when I'm not watching The Sorcerer's Apprentice over and over. Great movie, great music...but where's the baseball-exploding scene from the trailer? I keep watching the movie hoping it will appear. And no, it's not in the deleted scenes either. =[ Sad day. Still, I love the main song. Other than all that, just decorating for the holidays and trying to decide what to do with my life. You know, the usual.

Museums and Halloween

2010-11-06T07:31:00.000-07:00

We had a Halloween Party for our students on Monday. Yes, it was November 1st. But technically in the US it was actually Halloween when we had the party, so it works. The guy with gray hair is Dr. Kim, who is over the international department. I still can't believe we got him to play!

Sony and I at Karaoke with all the International students:

We made masks as part of the Halloween Party. They don't really do Halloween here at all, so we had to come up with some kind of easy constuming for about 50 people. They really seemed to like decorating them.

I-am-a-robot.

Wait a second! The PARTY room they've been trying to get us to use is actually a huge DRESS UP CLOSET!!!! So glad they finally unlocked the door and let us in!

Aw, my students. Betty, the one on the right, is intent on teaching me Korean.

Becky is so creative! She apparently whipped up this costume in a matter of minutes. Just before the party, we suggested to Jon-David, her husband and my co-worker, that he put on the huge headphones from the office to walk around and listen to his "Ipod" for his costume. I think she even had a little ipod with speakers that she carried around with her so when people pressed the play button she could start up the music!

We always laugh when we go to church in Chungju, because they tend to add amazing adjectives to the beginning of the name of a city. For example, Busan (which used to be spelled "Pusan" but is now spelled "Busan"...I was confused over that when I got here) is known as "Dynamic Busan." We're still trying to hunt down nicknames for all the rest of the towns, but Chungju is also known as "Good Chungju." We laugh about it all the time, but as I find places like this--Hoamji Reservoir, which is just a few blocks from the church--I can't help but think "Ah! Good Chungju!" =]

So, I've been tutoring this girl in Seoul in order to help her get ready to possibly go live in the US and attend a private school there. The first day we met, they had arranged for me to stay the weekend at a hotel nearby. Guess what the name of the hotel was?

Oh Dear! What have I gotten myself into? =] Aside from the name, everything about the hotel seemed just fine. Except for someone smoking in the hall late at night. But I plugged the bottom of the door with towels.

I won't bore you with too much of my museum fanatacism, but check out this statue outside the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul:

Isn't it cute?! And HUGE! I want one for my front yard, when I have a front yard some day. It looks like what I would picture Hugo from Fablehaven looking like...except maybe not such a pointy head. And don't miss those flower bushes in the right hand corner! Who knows why they're bent over like that, but it's clever and entertaining looking.

What the...How did I become an ENGLISH teacher?

2010-10-14T04:16:00.000-07:00

So, once upon a time while I was at BYU I had a decision to make. I had to decide between majoring in English or Social Work. Here's the breakdown of how the two competed with each other for my affection:

Year One: My first semester of school was spent taking classes I thought would be fun, like astronomy and archaeology. They were fun--but they were also harder than I thought they'd be. Science fascinates me! I'm just not good at it. When it came time to register for classes for Winter semester, I spent a bunch of time flipping through the undergraduate catalog, trying to figure out what I might want to major in. English had always been an option, and was probably the most obvious since it had always been my favorite subject. Still, I thought, why not throw caution to the wind and try something new? I literally flipped to the social work page and was a little entranced. I vaguely remembered "social worker" being on the list of suggested professions on one of those personality tests they made me take in high school. That, and florist. So, I decided to take the intro to social work class. I was a little captivated--it was all about helping people. Like getting paid to be a service missionary, or something similar. Yep, that's me. Throwing caution to the wind--with social work.

Year Two: I started taking some of the prerequisites for getting into the social work major. It was in this second year that I met my Arch Nemesis (no, not you Dax), i.e. Physiology. It wasn't even the class with the cadavers. It was just the plain old Human Biology class, where you go in and talk about the human body. You had to get a B to get into the social work major. Even with all my stinking studying, I still got a C+. Really? =[ English wasn't looking so bad, especially if it meant I didn't have to retake physiology. I spent winter semester taking creative writing and social problems.

Year Three: I decided to focus on English. I had decided to at least get a minor in English, so I figured spending my time taking English classes wouldn't be a total waste, even if I decided to brave Physiology again.

After Year Three, I went on a mission. Yea for missions! And Chileans! Especially ones that no longer live in mines! I decided while I was on my mission that I should take another stab at Social Work, even if it meant retaking Physiology. I mean, we're supposed to aim high, right? And I really felt like Social Work was the way I was supposed to go.

Year Four: I went back to school in the Spring of '04. When I was registering for classes, I realized there was another social work class that I could take without having to be in the major: Family Interaction. I took it. Since it was Spring, there were only about eight of us in the class, if I recall correctly. I was the only non-major student in there. And I loved it. I was sad that I might have to retake Physiology again....BUT WAIT!!!!! When I looked at the requirements for entering the program, they had changed the one referring to Human Biology. You no longer had to get a B!!!! You just had to pass the class!!!! And I HAD passed that class! Muahaha. It's sad that I had to wait for them to lower their standards in order for me to get in. And that's all I'll say about that. When I asked my Family Interaction teacher for a recommendation into the program, he put me through a pretty dang rigorous questioning period to find out why I wanted to be a social worker. Then, at the end of the conversation he said something like, "Well, I am the Dean of the School of Social Work, so if I recommend you, you're pretty much in." And he did. And I was.

Year Five: I spent the rest of Year Four and all of Year Five blissfully taking social work classes. I'd already taken all of the classes I needed in order to get my minor in English. Two goals down.

However...I had started writing. Sort of. I snuck off to writing conferences. I kept a notebook in my bag, a habit my creative writing teacher had taught me, and wrote down interesting snippets. And more. It was my outlet.

When I went back to San Diego and lived at home, I found myself mysteriously assigned to grade papers by my High-School-English-Teacher-Mother. I guess I shouldn't say "assigned" because she paid me for it. I gave in and became a de facto teacher's assistant. And trust me, I decided then and there that grading papers--especially if you're looking for grammatical errors--is not fun.

Year Six and Seven (of school. There was a two year interlude where no school was attended. Unless you count social work/writing conferences.): I went back to school and studied social work. At secret, dark hours of the night I would hide in my room and write things, just to loosen the tension of all the other social-workey things I need to study or write or do or counsel about. Hey! They finally learned how to work together! I would also try desperately to read non-social work related books. But let's be honest, sometimes my brain was just tired. I got through half of a bunch of books, because I didn't have time to finish them. I did finish a lot of young-adult fiction, because that's what my brain could handle.

And now, here I am in South Korea. I was told I would mainly be teaching social welfare classes, but find myself tied to the English department because of a lack of teachers. I teach eight English classes a week, and one Social Problems class--and I'll be honest, I miss counseling a lot. I've even volunteered to help out the English Branch with one of the church's counseling groups, if I can. =[ My two loves are fighting again. I really wish they would stop butting heads against each other.

Anyhow, I think it's ironic how I try and push English out of the way of Social Work and make it stay in the hidden corners of my world, and it just keeps popping it's head out in unexpected places, like my current job.

And they lived Happily Ever After.

I felt like they were both appropriate =]

Dinner for Two

2010-10-03T04:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's the deal with pictures. It takes a lot longer to upload pics here than it does on Facebook. That's just the plain truth. And I have a LOT of pics so far. So I'm going to choose a few favorites to post here, and then if you want to see all of them, you can follow the link to the album on Facebook right here. Hopefully it works. I changed the album privacy setting to "everyone," so I think you should be able to see it, even if you don't have a Facebook account.

Here's the school I work at. Yea! It's real! The town in the distance is Janghowan. It's about a mile and a half away. There's another town, Gamgok, that is a little closer, but it's behind those trees.

The Philippino exchange students introduced us to an all-you-can-eat restaurant where you cook the food in a burner set in the middle of your table. From left to right, it's me, Jared, Michael, Becky and Jon-David.

Me, in front of the Jogyesu Temple, the main Buddhist Temple in Korea.

I hiked a trail by a nearby Catholic Church, and part of the trail was lined with about 15-20 of these reliefs of the life of Christ. This one is the Garden of Gethsemane...

...and this is the Resurrection.

My Temple =]

So, the funniest thing happened to me last night. I had gone to Seoul with Becky and Jon-David, two of the other English teachers. They showed me where the Temple was, and then I stayed to do a session. I was making my way back to Gamgok from there by myself--a 45-minute subway ride and another hour and a half+ bus ride. Anyhow, I stopped outside the bus station to get something to eat at a little burger shop (first burger I've had since I got here. And I ended up getting a chicken burger sandwich).

I was sitting there eating at a little table. In front of me was a couple facing me, and a woman with her little boy with their backs to me. The little boy, who was about 3 years old or so, got up to play. When he saw me his eyes got REALLY big. He pointed at me and then said something to his mom. When she didn't respond he began tugging on her sleeve. She turned to look at him, and he pointed at me again. I was laughing pretty hard by this point, and she looked at me a little embarrassed. She said "sorry" and I just waved and said "It's okay." The little boy said something again to his mom, and she told him to say "Hello!" He didn't really get it at first, and then all of a sudden he got shy and hid behind his chair. After a little bit he started looking at me from between the slats in his chair, and I bent over a bit so I could see him. We played a little international game of peek-a-boo for a bit. Then, with his mom engrossed in her conversation, he came over and climbed up onto the chair across from me. =] He had a little happy-meal-type toy car he was playing with, so I said "car" and he repeated it a couple of times. I told him my name (one of the few phrases I've learned is "Na-nun Rebekah imnida"--my name is Rebekah). Then I asked him what his name is (something like "irum-i mwo shimnikka?"). He told me--and I couldn't really understand him. It started with a "d" sound, but I couldn't make out the rest. But I asked him twice, and he said the same thing both times, so I'm pretty sure he understood me, even if I couldn't understand him. He just sat there playing with his car, driving it on the table and the wall next to us while I finished eating. His mom and her friend and I all finished at about the same time, and when she realized her little boy was just sitting there across from me she kind of laughed and said sorry again at the same time. I laughed, and said "bye-bye!" to her little boy. He said "bye-bye" a couple of times back to me as we both left.

So, even if my English students don't learn English, at least I taught a few words to a little three year old boy.

Sometimes "Bekahs" go to South Korea...

2010-09-04T18:12:00.000-07:00

...though it doesn't happen often. But it did this time.

Let's start from the beginning. Around mid-July I (on a whim) applied for a job to teach Social Welfare and English at a small university outside of Seoul, South Korea. The job ad came through my Social Work program at USU, from a professor who had worked in the sociology department there for 30+ years, and was now working at the university in South Korea (called "Far East University"). Applying for the job was kind of one of those "Wow, wouldn't that be cool?!" kind of things. I didn't know if I was really serious about it, because to be frankly honest I've never really been interested in going to South Korea. Literally, on all my lists of places to travel to, South Korea was never on it. Not that I thought it was a bad place--I'm just more of a Visit-Europe type of girl, always dreaming I could go to England and all of the UK, France, Denmark, Italy, down to Egypt and maybe some other countries in between. I would stop off in Spain too for good measure, because it's there in the middle of everything, the culture seems beautiful , and then I wouldn't be wasting my Spanish. (I'd go to South Africa, too, but it's not in Europe. And, now that David has lived in South Africa, I figure he can escort me around when I can finally pay for it). But this South Korea job was a chance for me to travel and get paid (a decent amount, actually, for a social worker who has just finished her masters degree) for it.

Anyhow, about 3 weeks ago (literally, THREE weeks ago) I heard back from the program. I had gotten the job, and they would like me to come by September 1st. What the...? That was two weeks away!!! When I got my mission call, I had two MONTHS to prepare, and they had given me a detailed list of things to bring and do beforehand. The lists I got from the university were sparse at best, most of them pertaining to things I would need in order to get a working visa 90 days after I got to South Korea. There were some other problems as well with the school's organization of getting me down here, so I won't lie--I was REALLY hesitant. I emailed a couple of friends that had served missions in South Korea and got information from them. I worked out making sure the school was real (having heard that some people get offers to "teach English" in other countries and then arrive to find the offer no longer exists, and they are therefore forced to figure out how to get themselves back home), and I emailed my professors from USU to see what they thought about the idea. A few of them knew Dr. Kim personally, so that helped calm my nerves a bit.

Up to the time my mom was flying me to the airport, I was seriously considering not coming because I was so nervous. There were, of course, many prayers thrown out there to figure out if this was a good idea. There was really no concrete answer, except for the emphasis on pursuing a goal that I've felt prompted several times in the past year to work towards--getting my PhD. I talked to a friend who is in his PhD program right now for Social Work, and he said that teaching social work in South Korea at a university (even if it is small) would set me apart from other applicants, so this could potentially be a chance to travel and improve my resume a bit.

I think the hardest part was getting on that plane from San Diego to San Francisco. By the time I got to San Francisco, though, I was feeling a lot more confident. I did, however, have to move some of my things from one suitcase to another, because I hadn't had time to weigh each of my bags to see if they were the correct weight. That experience was oddly, overly stressful. It all worked out though. Since then, I feel like everything has been kind of surreal. I got here South Korea's Thursday night. A man from Far East came and picked me and another teacher (and his wife) up from the airport, and drove us to our housing. We're living in an international house on campus, and the room I'm staying in is really nice. It's kind of like a nice hotel room. It was oddly comforting to have such a nice room. I guess they do that on purpose, so we feel better about the whole experience.

Anyhow, Friday morning we met with some of the students, introduced ourselves, had a little "American Culture" day, and then planned out the teaching schedule. We're supposed to have 2-3 more teachers coming next week as well (I was a little frustrated when I found that out, knowing I could have had a little more time to prepare to come!!). We walked into town, a little over a mile away, and our supervisor showed us where the grocery stores and a few little places to eat were. The town we're in is small, but it seems like we have almost everything we would need there. I haven't taken a walk on my own around the whole school yet, but I'll try to this evening so I can post some pictures. We went into Seoul for a little while yesterday, but we didn't stay long (we were all so tired!) so we just went to a few shops, learned how to ride the buses and subway, and did a very little sightseeing. I figure I'll go back to Seoul, and hopefully do some more sightseeing around the country, once I get a little more settled here in Gamgok.

Craziness, I know. But here I am. My contract is for a year, so it'll be over next August. To be honest, I'm not sure I'll stay the whole year (the penalty for breaking the contract is minimal--I just have to pay back the amount they paid for me to fly here), but it's been a great experience so far.

I'll post pictures soon!
Love,
Bekah

Summer Remodeling

2010-08-23T22:10:00.001-07:00

So, here are a few of the things I've been working on while I've been in San Diego:

I completely redid the laundry room. I didn't take a before picture, but the walls were a lime green with a 70's style wallpaper on the wall behind the washer and dryer. I removed the wallpaper and the old shelf that was up above the washer/dryer, painted the room, took out the old laminate tile and installed the new tile. New shelving and a new doorknob later and we were done. =] I like it.

I helped Britte make these Bridal Shower cakes for our friend, Emilyssa. Mostly I helped make the little flowers on the cakes and the bodies (which I sculpted out of fondant). It was fun for my first cake decorating experience, but I realized I'm probably way too perfectionistic while I was making the flowers!

Britte and I took down the old tile from our parents' bathroom. The pipe broke quite a while ago, and we finally decided we were smart enough to fix it. Eventually we decided we should just completely redo the whole shower area. Taking out the ugly old tile was actually pretty fun, but big trash bags were necessary.

Britte sanded down the glue on the old greenboard that was still good, so we didn't have to replace that section. In case you were wondering, you don't use "greenboard" any more, you use a mold resistant cement board. Fortunately, they still paint one side of the cement board green, probably because they know people like us (who work on their own home repairs) will freak out if we don't use the right supplies.

Sweeping the old greenboard pieces out of the tub in preparation for putting up the new ones.

Setting the tiles. It's a good thing there were two of us because it made it easier. For the most part I spread the grout and Britte pushed the tiles into place.

Cutting tiles. It was actually kind of fun, I felt like I was back in ceramics class...

...except I didn't get this wet in ceramics class, even on the wheel!

Britte takes a break in the newly tiled tub.

Here's the end product! (The curtain looks way brighter than it actually is. In reality it's more of a calm teal color. I'm assuming it's the flash causing the difference).

And on to the next project!!! The most frustrating part of this bathroom was the plumbing. The old plumbing was so messed up that removing the old pipes was incredibly hard. I actually had to heat the old pipe and twist the pieces out with a plumbers wrench. Ridiculous. Then attaching the new system took forever because the pipes we were trying to attach the new system to were a little bent, and to top it off we couldn't get the pipes to drain completely. Anyhow, we finally fixed the water problem by draining all the pipes in the house (you have to turn the water to the house off and then turn all the faucets, including the hoses outside, on) and then with a little more solder and a few "love-taps" with a hammer we got our new pipes to fit into the old ones.

Here's the finished product. Looks the same as the other one, but we decided to put the decorative line on top. Yea for like-new bathrooms!

And to top it off, here's my adorable nephew! =] He directed me in remodeling the play-doh into a bunch of animals. This was my favorite remodeling project so far, even if I didn't get to use the propane torch.

I keep wishing I had something amazing to write...

2010-06-05T00:25:00.000-07:00

The best I can do right now is, I'm still alive. I made it through graduation. No tripping, thank goodness. I don't know why that's my biggest fear. Maybe because I fell off the back of the risers once at a choral concert... I'll include some graduation pics for your (and my) amusement.

Outside, walking to the Spectrum. It's tradition that the master's students walk from one side of campus to the other. Thank goodness it wasn't snowing!

Where's Waldo (Or, in this case, Bekah)?

Getting my hood. The instructions for the hood literally tell you to put it on in a certain direction and then have someone help you fix the back. Luckily the school provides people who are obviously (based on the number of layers they were wearing) qualified to help fix your hood for you.

Walking across the stage. And Mike's finger. Someday I'll edit that out. But not today. Today you get all the gory details.

Graduated =]

So, "now what" you ask? Now I'm studying for a licensure exam I'm taking soon. I'll go down to San Diego for July, to help get some of my grandpa's things taken care of. Then looking for a job, hopefully working by August. Probably in Utah, preferably in the Salt Lakish area, but I may not be too picky, considering the job market and economy. And such.

I have only two problems that I need to fix in order to be a normal person again. 1: Graduate school, and the attending projects, papers and other such fun things that I toiled over into the wee hours of the morning in order to complete graduate school, has left me with the terrible habit of staying up late. My brain can't shut down early enough to go to bed at a reasonable hour. I'm hoping that my time in Cali will rearrange this problem, since my family tend to be early-going-to-bedders. 2: I now have the tendency to "need" to be busy. Because my brain tells me that if I'm not doing something important, it's because I've forgotten the important things that need to be done. Then I sit and wrack my brain for the things I should be doing. This also causes a problem in the social arena. I've been generally "too busy" to do many fun things for the past two years. So, when someone mentions something it takes me forever to decide if I have time to do it. I'll have to retrain my brain to stop being so stingy with my time, I suppose.

Nothing else too exciting, friends. I finished a crafty project I've been working on. I moved, but only temporarily, until I leave for Cali in a couple of weeks. I have some time to do things like take a look at some painfully neglected genealogy, books, and projects I want to complete someday. Hopefully someday is coming soon. He seems to keep running further away from me, despite my efforts to cage him in. I finished graduate school with the relief of finding my turtle still alive. He has neither died from neglect nor committed suicide out of the sheer rage of living in a much colder climate than he would prefer. And that alone is a huge accomplishment.

By the way, thanks for everything you guys. I couldn't have gotten through the past two years without you =]

~Bekahjo

Oceans

2010-05-01T23:34:00.000-07:00

In honor of my new-found freedom and the ability to use 2 hours or so in the manner that I so pleased, I went to go see "Oceans" this week. When I first walked into the theater it was empty, but it was early afternoon so I wasn't too surprised. Just before the trailers started a bunch of couples came in and scattered themselves around the theater, and I thought "How nice that all these couples decided to spend their date learning about the ocean!" I reveled during the previews that I wasn't the only person in the world who liked movies/documentaries like this.

Then the movie started. A small pair of feet wearing little kid pajamas scurried across a hard wood floor. Then little children were suddenly attacking Tina Fey and Steve Carell. What the...? Then I realized that I was sitting in the "Date Night" theater. I pulled my ticket out to see if I misread it. Theater 5. I'm pretty sure I'm in theater 5. I sat and pondered for a minute whether I would stay in there and just watch Date Night by default. I like Steve Carell. I haven't seen Tina Fey in many things, but she seemed entertaining. Then I went through the whole "Do I really want to sit here and watch this?" debate. And I didn't. So, looking like a fool because I, of course, sat in the front row where I could prop my feet up on that bar thing, I got up and left the theater. As I did, I checked the number of the theater. Five. My ticket again. Five. I checked that the stub didn't say Date Night. It said Oceans. Okay, so I've determined I'm not crazy. Good. I like that feeling. I went around the corner to the candy people. They were helping people, but I decided to be a little more brash than usual, and gave one of them "the mother look," as my brother's like to call it. One of them came over right away. "Umm, I'm here to watch Oceans, and my ticket says theater five but it's playing Date Night." "Oh yeah, sorry," the kid says "they changed the theater. It's in six now." Pause, in which I internally say to this kid "Did you think it might be a good idea to tell your customers this?" Instead I said "How far into the movie is it?" "Well, I think the previews probably just ended. If it's too far into the movie, we can exchange your ticket for a later showing." I decided then I didn't care, if the movie was good I'd probably buy it anyhow later on, and stopped torturing the awkward candy kid.

Still, what kind of movie theater doesn't tell you which theater to go into? Isn't the entire purpose of purchasing a ticket with the theater number on it supposed to ensure that I will, eventually, make it into the movie I paid to see?

Anyhow, when I got in there it was just a few minutes in, and they were starting with classic shots of whales breaching, so I figured I hadn't missed much. I settled down, this time higher up in the seating area so I could take in the whole picture. The only other people in the theater was this grandma and mom with her two boys. The older one was sitting up on the top row by himself, right under the projector, and the younger one kept running between sitting with his mom and sitting with his brother. It was pretty fun to hear them get grossed out by some of the stuff in the movie though. I was a little sad there weren't more people there. There was this GREAT scene in the movie though! They were showing these spider crabs off the coast of Australia, I think, and it was like a battle scene. One group of spider crabs made their way towards another large group. They began attacking each other like crazy. Then the camera panned out and there were literally THOUSANDS of these spider crabs all attacking each other. I felt like I was watching that scene in Lord of the Rings, at the Battle of Helms Deep.

Maybe this is why I'm not married. I'm too boring. I'd rather watch Oceans than Date Night. The thing is though, I think this stuff IS fun. Where are all these people that get as much enjoyment out of the same things I do? For example, right now my roommates are out in the front room watching Baby Momma. And I don't want to sound like I'm bashing Tina Fey, and there may be some point in time where I actually want to watch that movie...but I'd kind of rather read, or go on a walk, or swim, or sew or do calligraphy or go hiking or plan my future. Bah.

What's her face...

2010-04-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

So, want to hear something funny that happened in church today? There's this guy in my ward who goes down to San Diego all the time on business or for fun. Since last September or so when he found out I'm from San Diego, he's been calling me "San Diego." He'll just be like "Hey San Diego, how's it going?" etc. And we'll usually end up talking about San Diego for a minute or so. Anyhow, I saw him today just before Sunday School and talked with him about the earthquake that happened over Easter. Then he asked me if I'd like to say the opening prayer in Sunday School, since he was conducting. I said sure. Sunday School started and he made the announcements for the week. Then he was announcing the opening song and prayer--and he said "and the opening prayer will be given by San Diego..." and he got this blank yet horrified look on his face that clearly said to me he had momentarily forgotten my real name. It was pretty hilarious. I supplied my real name, and everyone laughed. So now, for the rest of the time in the ward, I'm pretty sure everyone is going to be calling me San Diego.

It kind of reminds me of this game on a radio program I once heard, where they were like "What if you were named after the place where you were born?" and tried to get as many random possibilities as possible. Though technically, with those rules, I would actually be named Washington D.C., not San Diego. Kind of think I like the latter better, just because it's smoother to say. And warmer there.

So, in case anyone was wondering what my after grad plans are, these are them (and don't worry, I have a whole calendar made up for when I'm doing what so I actually get some productive things done): May-mid June: Study for clinical exam, while working and completing internship at LDS Family Services. Mid June-July: Go home to San Diego and help take care of Grandpa's/other family stuff that it will take a while to clear out (and sneak in as much snorkeling as is humanly possible). July-whenever: Look for job in Utah (yes, I will be looking/living in Utah) while completing several other sundry goals that I hope to finish before my life is over (It sometimes feels like it'll take that long).

I only somewhat feel like I should have a job all lined up for after graduation, and the opportunities for application to such jobs have presented themselves--but I would much rather wait for a month or two and make sure to pass the exam the first time than get a job and worry about whether or not I'll be able to keep it. (You don't pass the exam, you don't work). So, in case you were wondering, my brief unemployment is strategic. And technically I won't be unemployed anyhow. I just won't be employed to my fullest capacity (and won't be getting paid as much as I would if I'd gotten a more official type job). Okay, babbling now. I'll stop.

Lastly, I'd like to point out what incredible self control I have. I bought the last Fablehaven book over Easter, but I promised myself I wouldn't read it until a) I finished reading Oliver Twist (done!) and b) I finished all of my semester projects (not done...). My semester projects will be done tomorrow, since I'm presenting my research project in class. Then there's an oral exam Wednesday, but I'm not too worried about it, so I figure by Tuesday, and Wednesday night at the most, I'll be able to crack it open. It's sitting on my desk, tempting me. I should've hidden it somewhere, but it just didn't feel right. I mean, how can you resist a book titled "Keys to the Demon Prison"? But I have managed, so far, to do it. Can't wait until Wednesday =]

Love your guts,
~San Diego

The operative word is "Spring"

2010-03-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

I sometimes wish I had more interesting things to tell. This week was Spring Break, but I decided to work this week instead of actually taking a break, in order to prepare for upcoming unemploymentness. Which isn't a word. I went to my sister's house last weekend and spent some time with her and my brother-in-law, and my oh-so-adorable-and-brilliant nephew, as seen here:

And here:

(This is some of what we do when Mom and Dad are gone)

The rest of the week was work, with several redbox movies interspersed throughout: Ice Castles (the new one. I know, they did a new one! It's basically the same as the old one, and just as good) Did you hear about the Morgans (wasn't that impressed), Where the Wild Things Are (perfect...but I thought it was probably too scary for kids; almost leaned towards a PG-13 rating. Hence my argument that there should be a rating in between PG and PG-13), Bright Star (beautiful, but sad), and I went to see Leap Year in the $3 theater (predictable, but darling; and I'm even more determined to tour Ireland this summer Britte!). Today I heard a song from the old Saturday's Warrior movie on the radio and had a sudden desire to watch it. I don't own it though, so I watched Mountain of the Lord (four stars) instead. I also sewed a bunch--something I love but don't regularly have the luxury of doing. I resisted the temptation to clean my room. Or maybe it was a prompting, but saying "temptation" makes it sound like a good thing, so we'll stick with that. It's mostly just school papers that I'll have to sift through eventually anyways.

I do have one tiny problem. About a month ago I planted some daisies and poppies in little bread pans and put them in my window. It had been a particularly warm day, and I was excited for Spring. They're growing and their just so charming and cheerful. But now I don't know what to do with them. They need a bigger home, and I've thought of taking them hiking with me one day near the end of Aprilish and randomly planting them in the wilderness, but I just want to make sure they have a good home. I'd love to keep them, but once they get bigger I won't have room for them anymore. Does anyone that lives nearby want some daisies and poppies? Otherwise, I'll probably plant them near Green Canyon somewhere. That's not bad is it? I know they don't usually want you picking flowers when you hike (which, I confess, I tend to do anyhow), but planting them isn't bad, is it? It's kind of like planting a tree. Or replacing all the flowers I have picked...Justification for the next time I want to pick some, right? =]

It's Probably Time.

2010-02-28T21:52:00.000-08:00

I think it's time for me to start looking for a job. I'll be graduating May 7th. Maybe I should have something lined up for after that. If you have any suggestions, do let me know. =] (Any suggestions on life-altering decisions I may have to make will also be appreciated and taken into consideration).

Thank you and Goodnight.

It's 2:33am. Do you know where your Bekah is?

2010-02-20T01:28:00.000-08:00

This one is up typing, for some reason. She should have gone to bed long ago. Technically, I guess she is in bed, she's just not using it for the purpose of sleeping, which is the whole reason the mattress was actually created. Misuse of Powers!

I don't know what to write. I've been going to class and trying to study and such. Mostly tonight's staying up is an effort to push Saturday from coming. See, when Friday night comes I'm all excited because tomorrow is Saturday and I can have a "free" day. However, inevitably I end up spending said "free" day doing boring things like cleaning my room, doing my homework, grocery shopping, exercising, piddling around, doing more homework, or the ever-present alternative: more homework. Or I just distract myself with episodes online that I can't watch during the week. In fact, I finally just got caught up on the Office tonight. I think I watched five episodes tonight. I really like the Office but there is one thing that bothers me...when Michael Scott does things that embarrass him I feel so embarrassed for him that it is just uncomfortable. I can't even watch sometimes. I have to hide my face because I just want so badly to help him be less awkward, but there's nothing that can be done. The awkwardness just continues.

I was talking to my roommate tonight about decision making. And I came to an important conclusion. There is a part missing from the Book of Mormon. And I'm not talking about the Book of Lehi. Let me explain. You know in the book of Ether when the Lord tells the Brother of Jared how to build all of the barges, and then the Brother of Jared does it? Well, after that the Lord says (basically) "Oh, by the way you can't breathe in them and there's no light. So you might want to think about how to fix that." The Lord tells him how to solve the breathing problem, but leaves it up to Jared to fix the light problem. Now, at the end of chapter 2 and the beginning of chapter 3 is where something is missing. See, at the end of chapter 2 the Lord asks the Brother of Jared what he wants Him to do. Then at the beginning of chapter 3 we see the Brother of Jared hiking up mount Shelem to get the stones for the Lord to touch and therefore bring light to the barges. And you know what I was thinking tonight? That's like us and our problems. The Lord is going to leave some things up to us. He has to. He's teaching us how to decide. What these verses are missing is all the mistaken suggestions that the Brother of Jared makes to the Lord. And maybe it was just because it was late, but I could totally see him running around their camp, kind of picking things up along the way--anything that might give light off inside the barges--and kind of looking up at the Lord going "Is um...Is this right? Can we somehow get this coconut to give off light? Would...seashells work? They're from the ocean too, so they might withstand....No? Okay...Um, how about..." Etc. Because that's what we tend to do when we have to make hard decisions. We go around and sort of test our theories about what is right for us. Hopefully while we're doing it we are constantly LOOKING for that feedback from the Lord so that we know whether or not what we're doing is right or not. And maybe by this time the Brother of Jared had perfected his listening skills so much that running around the camp looking for answers didn't occur to him at all--he just knew that going up to mount Shelem was the right thing to do. And THAT is the point that I want to be at. I want to get to the point where I don't have to run around the camp looking for answers anymore, because the Lord and I are already on the same page as to what the true answers really are. I want that connection.

Bedtime. Hope you enjoyed my babbling. =]

Curse of the Unripe Apple

2010-02-07T23:01:00.000-08:00

So, the other day I had an apple as a snack. It was kind of hard, not just crisp like regular apples, but I didn't think too much of it. Until about 2-3 hours later, when I got the worst stomach cramps ever. Literally, it got to the point where I was worried that maybe my appendix had burst or something. I kept feeling my face and forehead, trying to tell if I had a fever. I felt pretty normal, but then who knows what is normal when your appendix bursts, besides really smart people that go to medical school? Not many people. I thought about Googling appendicitis symptoms but the majority of the time I wasn't home, and then later on my internet was down. With all the books I have, you'd think I'd have some kind of medical textbook that would help me figure out whether my appendix had just ruptured or not. You want to know the really sad thing though? I wasn't ever really that worried about the appendix at all--just at the fact that I don't have medical insurance and I wouldn't be able to go to the student health center for a while; so I was basically praying that it wasn't an appendicitis so that I wouldn't have to deal with the medical bills. Where are my priorities, really? Hmmm....Life vs. Medical Bills....which should I choose?

Luckily it didn't come to that. I decided not to freak out until I got a temperature (or keeled over from pain), and it didn't happen (the former anyhow. I came dangerously close to keeling over). Therefore, my only conclusion is that the apple must have not been ripe and caused the stomach cramps.

Moral: Check your apples.

P.S. Percy Jackson comes out this weekend. For those of you who are as excited as I am. I hope it doesn't turn out like War of the Worlds. I was so excited for that movie too, because I'd just read it/listened to the old radio show that scared everyone. Then I saw the movie and disappointment prevailed. I'm already a little hesitant with Percy because some of the important characters either aren't on the character list at IMDB or don't look like the author describes them. Thankfully, we all know that looks aren't everything.

Indulgence

2010-01-17T19:11:00.000-08:00

I have a problem. It is getting worse. It especially gets worse every time I happen to go to DI or Borders. Barnes and Noble is the most terrible, so I suppose it is a good thing that I live in a place where I have to drive for 45 minutes to get to one. Amazon.com has made my problem grow by leaps and bounds, especially when I find one I love on sale for just a penny. I speak of...Books. Have I ever told you how much I love books? I love the smell of books. I love to draw my fingers over the spines of a shelf of books and marvel at the mass of information contained in so many pages. I love the feel of those pages as I draw my finger under the words or flip the corners while I read. I love to pile books up on top of each other on my floor, or next to each other on a shelf so they can talk to each other and entertain one another while I am gone.

I love the way words look on a page, all crunched together just waiting to explode in your mind with a story. I get into fights with books when the author has had the audacity to subject the pages in front of me to a poorly worded story or a flat character who won't form in my mind. I laugh with other authors, imagining that I know just what they were thinking when they wrote that line or created this character. It was probably because I was so shy as a little girl that I began to love books so much. Books don't judge you. They don't criticize you for not being good enough. They don't intimidate you. They invite you. They sit patiently there on a shelf waiting to tell you their story--and not just tell you their story but dress you up, turn you round and round and then drop you right into the middle of their world. You open the first page and they greet you with a cheery "Hi!", a somber nod of the head, or a loving and contemplative "Hello my friend. How glad I am to see you again! It has been too long."

Maybe that's also why I've taken so earnestly to journal writing. Looking over the journals I've filled so far, it's strange to think that they are (though completely mundane) filled with thoughts and feelings and breaths that have come out of my own mind. Maybe keeping a journal is a way that you can become your own friend. You can go back and read the things that have spilled from your own mind and look at it as a friend would. You can say "How exciting for you!," or "How sad! I'm sorry it has been so hard!," and even the occasional "Don't cry Dear! Everything will turn out alright!"

In any case, my friends are waiting.

I was off-planet

2010-01-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

Okay, not really, but it felt like it some of the time. Let's do a quick update. Thanksgiving was fun. My family and I went to Disneyland for the first time in a long time. It was really fun. And in case you were wondering, the best time to go to Disneyland really is when someone needs to be in a wheelchair. My Mom, who has had problems with her feet for several years now, needed one. However, I think that the fear of running over a small child or a Disneyland worker that is completely dressed in black while it's dark outside totally balances out the fact that you don't really have to stand in a line. The day after Disneyland I spent about 15 hours sitting in my parents bathtub. And despite the fact that I have some plumbing skills it took at least 6 visits to Home Depot in order to figure out how to remove the cartridge out of where the handle went...anyways. That was just a little stressful.

Our theme for the holidays has kind of been "We can celebrate any way we dang please." We decided after the plumbing fiasco that we were all too tired to make turkey, so we convinced my mom that having ribs from Pat and Oscars could, in fact, be just as good as turkey. And we were right.

If you're looking for a new game for the family to play and you also happen to have pretty much no shame, you might want to look into getting the game "Quelf." Every year Santa leaves our family a new board game that we play Christmas evening, and this year he left Quelf. And it's hilarious. The cards direct you to sing, say certain things that make no sense, play Peek-a-Boo with anyone attempting to talk to you, become the personal cheerleader of one of the other players and cheer for them whenever they do ANYTHING, etc. At one point my Dad turned to us all and said over and over: "Chickens are on fire. NUCLEAR Chickens are on Fire!" Still not sure what that was all about. Like I said, no shame.

Last Wednesday my brother and I drove back up to Utah. I left him in Orem with my sister and drove back up to Logan. I really didn't want to get back to Logan four days before school started, but I had to work. Anyhow, turns out I had to go back down to San Diego on Friday. While I was at work Friday my sister called and told me my grandfather had passed away. He's been sick for quite a while now. At the beginning of November he fell and broke his femur. He had surgery to fix the break, but he sort of went downhill from there. His memory/dementia was worse. He slowly stopped eating and drinking. I don't want to go too much into it. He kind of went sooner than we thought he would. Let's just say that I'm glad for knowledge of the gospel, and the plan of salvation that helps us know that we will see our grandpa again. And that, after 24 years of being separated from his wife, they are together again.

Eggplant is Actually Good

2009-11-08T20:29:00.000-08:00

This is for my friends that are from cold areas. Specifically the Gustafson's and Crystal (I consider Michigan to be basically the same level of freezing as Minnesota, my dear). Hopefully you can read this, because I laughed hard when I saw it.

So, I've been attempting to cook some of the things in my cookbook that I've never tried before. A couple of weeks ago I was flipping through the veggie section when I saw it: Ratatouille. What?! I have the recipe for Ratatouille?! How is it possible that I've had it this long and haven't realized it? I took a look at it, expecting it to be (despite the movie's definition of it being a "peasant dish") some ridiculously complicated french cuisine. BUT NO!! It's incredibly easy. And a new challenge presented itself: it is made with eggplant. Despite having lived on this earth for 28 and a half years, I have never a) purchased an eggplant b) cooked an eggplant c) eaten eggplant. So while I was doing my grocery shopping I boldly went over to the veggie section and (tried to pretend I wasn't reading the label beneath as to how to pick out a good eggplant while I) picked one. And it was a beautiful eggplant, if I do say so myself. There's something about buying a purple vegetable that makes you happier inside.

Anyhow, it was a success. Ratatouille, it turns out, is just a whole bunch of vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, onion, green bell pepper, and fresh garlic) mixed together and cooked in a frying pan. My roommate had some too, and she liked it. Plus, here's a little tip from Betty Crocker herself: you can puree leftover ratatouille and put it on top of crackers and french bread for a snack or lunch. I haven't tried that yet though, but when I do I'll let you know how it tastes.

PUZZling and PUZZling

2009-11-01T21:21:00.000-08:00

You know how when the Grinch took all the presents from Who-ville and got to the top of the mountain, he stopped and heard all the Whos come out of their house, hoping to hear them crying but instead they all started singing despite the fact that he had stolen all their who-hash--you know how he stood there "PUZZling and PUZZLing" about why they were singing when he had stolen Christmas? That's how I've felt this whole week about pretty much everything--I've been puzzling and puzzling about it. I've been puzzling over my clients at LDS, trying to figure out how to best help them, puzzling about whether I'm pushing some of them too hard. I've been puzzling about what to do with my life after school. Yesterday I spent three hours at the library puzzling over a research project that I'm trying to prepare for my research class for NEXT semester, puzzling out if the inventory I'm trying to make is even feasible. Even at church today I was feeling puzzled about the members of my ward and why some of them act the way they do. Humanity is just puzzling, and it's all been pressing on me this week.

A couple of weeks ago I was over at a friends' house and she invited me to go with her to these stables to help her friend bring a horse out of it's trailer and get it set up in one of the stables. When we got there I realized that they keep the fairgrounds open pretty much all the time, so this morning I went on a little drive and stopped by the fairgrounds to pet the horses. I've never really interacted with horses. I rode one once, for about 10-15 minutes, but we were on a trip with the kids I worked with. One horse, four people, so we each got just a little time to ride. Anyhow, the horses at the stable are really beautiful. This morning I was wishing I had one of those horse brushes, because some of the horses were covered with hay or mud from their stall. An elderly fellow showed up, and he voiced what I had been thinking. "There aren't many places where you can go and just smell the horses." He said he used to ride horses, up in the mountains near Logan. I imagined him to be an Americanized Jim Craig, riding down the side of a mountain when everyone else stops at the cliff. "I don't ride anymore. Now I just like to come here and smell them." Funny man.

Organize Yourselves

2009-10-18T22:13:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have a thought that won't leave you alone? And you're not sure why, exactly, but the thought is persistent and you know you just can't ignore it? I'm not talking about disturbing mental-disorder-type thoughts. I know enough about them to know that it's not those. I'm talking about persistent still-small-voice-thoughts that aren't just a little guidance in what to do in the moment. Instead, it's talking about something that you should pursue for at least the next while, either until you're done with it (and it'll let you know when you're done) or for pretty much the rest of your life...the rest of eternity.

I can't remember if I've written about this, because it's been on my mind for--I can't even tell you how long, months at least. So please forgive me if I have and I've forgotten, and I'm boring you. I keep feeling this inherent need to "organize myself." No joke. That scripture "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing" has just been kind of burning in my mind. I'm not even really sure what I'm supposed to "organize myself" in, so I've slowly but surely been trying to attack every aspect of my life that needs organizing. And, it's not like I'm the most disorganized person ever. My room is generally in some sort of order (though Val and other past roommates might be able to nail exactly where I'm lacking). But now that I'm working on "organizing myself," I'm pretty sure that my new roommates think I have some sort of OCD disorder with all the cleaning I'm trying to do. But I digress.

I've attacked my books, organizing and even--trying--to catalog them. I bought new drawers for my crafty things. I've thrown a ton of stuff away, and given another ton of stuff to DI. I separated out my household things and my holiday decorations and my outdoorsy things. I've been working on figuring out my finances and getting them in some semblance of order. I cleaned out my file boxes, separated one for my social work things, and created about twenty binders or so on every topic that I need in order to be an effective social worker. I ordered the Ensign (the true mark of an adult, I decided, is to have your own Ensign) and yesterday found a holder to put the past copies in, so they're easily accessible. I've even been working on some beginnings of food storage.

There are still a lot of things that I need to "organize"; but even though I've been working on this for several months, I still feel that small, persistent need to follow the counsel of the Lord.

"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;

"That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord; that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord; that your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands unto the Most High."

~D&C 88:119-120

So, I tend to think of it this way: We don't really know what the Lord has in store for us, but He does. And now that, week by week, I'm slowly getting closer to finishing graduate school, I keep asking in my prayers what step I should take next. And that's usually the answer that I get: "Organize yourself; prepare every needful thing." So, I still don't know what's around the corner of my bend in the road. But I'll be darned if I'm not organized and ready to take it on. =]

The Parent

2009-10-13T22:04:00.001-07:00

"Children aren't happy with nothing to ignore,
And that's what parents were created for."
~Ogden Nash

(Oddly enough, my parents actually used to recite
Ogden Nash to us, mostly as they were herding us off to bed)

So, let me preface this by saying that, in ten years of attending religion classes, including five years at BYU, I had somehow managed not to take Marriage Prep. Not sure how that happened. Anyhow, I felt like I should take it this semester, and I ended up with probably the best institute teacher I've ever had. He's been married 17 years and has 10 kids, so he pretty much knows what he's talking about. Anyhow, we were talking in class on Monday about the divine roles of men and women (which, in and of itself, was amazing), and in order to preface this he showed us a few clips. And so, I share them with you, for you viewing pleasure.

You absolutely must go to this link. I think when I have kids I'll just play this for them, and then I won't have to say the actual phrases. I'll just carry a little tape recorder and fast forward to the part I need.

The Mom Song

Dads, here's one for you all:

A Little bit Rowdy

A String of Thoughts

2009-10-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

So, you know how people have those defining moments in their lives where something happened that made them doubt, or wonder about, the existence of God? I had one of those the other day. Now, let me start off by saying: Don't worry. My testimony is still completely strong. I have not fallen away from the church or the gospel due to this experience. And if I had, it would really be a pathetic excuse to not believe in God--and I would have to laugh at myself every day for it's ridiculousness. I just thought it was humorous that this "string of thought" would even occur to me.

Anyhow, it all started when I was flossing my teeth before bed. I was standing in the bathroom and flossing and it occurred to me that floss was an incredible invention. I mean, who ever would have thought that running string between your teeth and gums would be so healthy for your teeth, right?...

Next thought: You know, teeth are a really important organ. There are so many people in the world that lose their teeth because we just don't know how to take care of them. And when you don't take care of them, they cause a lot of health problems that aren't easily solved...

Thought number Three: If teeth are so essential to our well-being, why wasn't the manner of taking care of them revealed from God? I mean, if you don't have your teeth, you really don't have much. You can barely eat. Shouldn't that have been one of the things listed in the Word of Wisdom? Don't drink hot drinks, keep your body healthy, and take care of your teeth in such and such a way? And, for that matter, why wouldn't it have been something revealed to Adam and Eve? "Hey, Adam, here's how you take those grains of wheat and smash them up to something I like to call "flour." Then you take this recipe and make "bread." Oh, and by the way, when your done grab some thin stuff that you used to make twine and run it between each of your pearly whites. You'll live an extra two hundred years if you do that."

And, I have to say, the problem perplexed me. But, in the end, I suppose that caring for our teeth is just another challenge that we have in learning how to take care of our mortal bodies. I'm not going to lie, though. I'm really happy that I live in a time of Floss.

Holey Cow!

2009-09-11T20:34:00.001-07:00

Okay, as requested: An actual video of the cow at USU that has a hole in it. For those of you who weren't in on the conversation, there is, indeed, a cow at USU that has an actual hole about the size of your fist in it's side. There's some sort of apparatus inside that keeps the hole open. They use the hole in veterinary studies to help students understand the workings of the cows' stomach. You can actually reach inside the hole and pull the already-chewed and digesting food out of it's stomach to see it. Then, when they're all done feeling around in there, they plug the hole back up so nothing gets infected. Supposedly it doesn't hurt the cow at all.

As I am not a veterinary-science student, I didn't feel it would be entirely appropriate to stick my hand in the cows' hole. Besides, I'm not sure whether or not it would've been considered a crime. Could you imagine the report that the USU Police would have to write up?

Poor cow.

Happy 9-9-09!

2009-09-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

I love it when the dates go in order. January 2nd, 2003. September 9th, 2009. Next year on October 10th it'll be even more exciting because it'll be my brother Mike's birthday. =] Yea for random celebration days landing on REAL celebration days!

I had a really great Labor Day weekend. On Saturday I went down to Salt Lake and went through the SLC Temple for the second time. I love the Salt Lake Temple. I love to look at all the old, ornate things inside and feel connected to the pioneers that sacrificed so much to build it. After I did a session I made it just in time to see the Joseph Smith movie over at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. =] I don't think it really matters how many times you see it-you'll cry every time. When it was over I wandered briefly over to Deseret Book to see if there was anything I wanted. I ended up getting a CTR ring. Generally I don't wear much jewelry. The last CTR ring I had was on my mission. I'd taken it off because it was bothering me and ended up accidentally throwing it away into a dumpster. Whoops. So on Saturday I decided that it was about time to get another one. Here's the one I chose.

Kind of different from the usual. I think that's one reason I liked it. After Deseret Book I made my way down to Orem and spent the rest of the evening and Sunday with my sister, brother-in-law and nephew. I was really excited because Chase is finally walking consistently (that's my nephew. Not my brother-in-law. As far as I know, Ross has been walking consistently for quite a while). It was so fun to run around with him, and watch Chase wander all over the house exploring things. We even got into a little game of basketball, where he would clutch his mini-basketball and run up to the closet door, and I would lift him up high so he could throw the ball into the mini basket. Yea!

On Monday I went shopping a bit, then visited Val, Dax and JayDax for a couple of hours. I love it when I get to visit my friends! It's hard sometimes, but it makes me so happy to be able to see my friends =] After a barbeque with my sister's in-laws (and a lot of razzing from my brother-in-law and his Dad about how USU lost their football game last week--I'm not surprised they lost) I drove back up to Logan, but not before stopping in Magna to talk with my friend Alise for a couple of hours. She gave me the most beautiful scarf from Venice that she got while on study abroad this summer.

Yea for weekends away!

Meltdown

2009-09-02T21:08:00.001-07:00

So, last night I was studying. It's a productive thing to do, right? Most of our professors post articles for us to read online, so I was doing this studying on my Lappy. Okay, so I have this study lamp that I use on my desk. It gets kind of hot, and it's pretty bright so I keep a handkerchief over the top to dim it down a little. Well, when I moved into my pre-furnished apartment the first thing I noticed was the desk. It's this little triangular desk that fits just right into a corner of the bedroom. It's a little awkward, but it's functional. Anyhow, it's small, so there isn't much room on top--especially when I put my lamp, laptop, speakers, rubber-band ball, stress ball and stress palm tree, and my desk organizer thing. Therefore, the lamp was banished to the back corner of the desk, just behind my Lappy. The lamp is still functional because I can tilt it just so that the light shines over the top of my laptop. So far it has worked just fine. Until I got to class today, pulled my laptop out and looked at the top of my lappy. Right around the top, surrounding the sliding tab to open said laptop, my poor little Lappy was...melted. Luckily the screen wasn't damaged. Unluckily, the sliding tab doesn't slide anymore. I can still open my laptop by shifting the screen over slightly. so that's good. And now my little Lappy is definitely unique. So even if someone stole it and I didn't have the number, it would still be identifiable.

The Victim

The Perpetrator

And thus we have evidence that lamps do not like to be banished to corners.

"I try to avoid situations that Emphasize my Awkwardness"

2009-08-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

I just heard that quote from Wizards of Waverly Place. I think that basically sums up my life. But guess what? Today I overcame my fear of awkward situations and slid down a giant water slide. Approximately four times. If you've just started a job and you have to meet all your new co-workers, I highly recommend going to a potluck picnic/water slide party in order to lessen the awkwardness. There's nothing like looking completely ridiculous, getting sopping wet and screaming at the top of your lungs like a little girl (or my brother David) to make saying "Hi! I'm the new MSW Intern," a little easier to choke out.

Here's a picture of the slide...Monica was trying to get a picture of me sliding down, but apparently my camera wasn't fast enough

Here's one of me sopping wet and standing in front of said slide

On a completely separate note, here's a picture of the tablecloth I finally finished embroidering. It's just over 3ft squared:

And lastly, a pretty bridge from my hike:

Whoops...and Elephants

2009-08-16T22:17:00.000-07:00

So, this one time after the Temple in Logan had been closed for a month, and exactly two days before my first day at LDS Family Services, I tried to go to the Temple and...my recommend was expired. The whole two-year expiration change threw me off a bit. It used to be every November, like clockwork. So, not only was I denied my Saturday Temple experience, but I was in trouble (Right here, in River City. With a capital T...etc.) because, considering the fact that I had to put my entire church history experience on my application, including whether or not I was Temple worthy and the names/phone numbers of the past two bishops I've had, I'm pretty sure that they want you to have a current recommend. I instantly returned home and called that guy in the directory that has "Call for Bishop Interviews" in bold letters next to his name. He said I could meet with the Bishop right after church, at 4:30pm, and that the Stake conducts their interviews from 4-6pm in the same building. Perfect! So I get to my bishop's office and end up waiting approximately 45 minutes, because he was in a meeting with someone. It's now 5:15pm. Pleasant interview is conducted. I dash down the hall towards the Stake President's office. The only one there is a clerk typing something. I knock and ask if there's a Stake Presidency member that can conduct my interview. Tough luck for me. The interviews are from 4-5pm. Too late. So now I'm going tomorrow without a current recommend. Boo. I'll have it all dandy by Tuesday night, so it won't be too bad. I just hope they're not so sticklish that they wonder whether or not I'm actually a faithful member of the church because I forgot that I have to renew my recommend in July instead of November (or September, which is when I actually thought it would expire, because that's when the scanner things were introduced. Apparently I was way too on top of it two years ago and went in first thing to get my recommend changed as soon as they said I would have to have it changed. I therefore can only conclude that since I entered into graduate school my brain has slowly started to disentigrate).

I therapized myself yesterday by moving my furniture. Someday, when I have a family, they're going to get lost in our house because I keep moving our furniture every four months.

On a completely random note, on the news the other day they reported a new baby elephant being born at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake. First, baby elephants are very cute. Second, this reminded me that elephants are pregnant for 24 months. I would think that being pregnant for 24 months would be incredibly uncomfortable (as would giving birth to a 251 pound baby elephant). Okay, now, you're going to have to pay attention to my train of thought, because it tends to jump a bit and I come out with weird results. From the baby elephant, my brain reflected on the multitude of babies that my friends/family have had in the past year and a half (all of whom are adorable--Moms and Babies). It then jumped to the fact that I will never have to be pregnant for 24 months. However, it will take me 24 months to get my diploma. And I like to think that getting a graduate degree is as difficult and possibly just as uncomfortable as giving birth to a baby elephant.

Herego:
MSW=Baby Elephant
And I'm pretty sure that deserves a Baby Elephant Walk

My only hope is that my diploma doesn't weigh 251 pounds. I mean, how would I ever hang it?

Sometimes People Update their Blogs...

2009-08-12T23:18:00.000-07:00

...and this time, that person is me. So, I've been doing pretty much a lot of things that don't seem important during the last two months of not updating my blog, but in the end they really were quite fun. For example, I spent my summer swimming a lot, visiting home twice, playing with my nephew, reading kids books, organizing my library (still in-process), pretending to do social-workey type things, hiking, making some skirts and blankets and tablecloths etc., and...so on. Lots of stuff. Fun stuff. Stuff of nothingness, and yet I've been able to fill up a journal about it. Good times. Now school is about to start and when I put my schedule into my Palmy I wanted to pass out. Busy. But only nine more months of busy, and then busy no more. =] Supposedly.

I made my mom stop by the Excalibur when we stopped at Vegas. It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be (for instance, I merely assumed that seeing knights with lances gallivanting around would be a common sight--sadly, at 10pm they are not), but the Luxor didn't disappoint. Aside from the Sphinx, the inside was really great--you can see the rooms going up towards the top in an inverted pyramid shape.

My nephew Chase, splashing in the pool. So cute!

I spoiled Chase at Macy's and got him an ice cream cone. They have these little ones for babies that cost a quarter. I decided I should be somewhat responsible, so I put the bib on him while we shopped.

My brother Mike and me at the Bountiful Temple, for our cousin Angela's wedding. When the reception was almost over we realized that no one had decorated the car. Not only that, but we had no supplies for the job! That wouldn't do at all. We collected ribbons from the vases on the tables and I broke out my coverup. Here's the end result:

Kind of Classy, huh? I thought so.

Anyhow, I'll try to be better about updating. Meanwhile, enjoy the meteor shower. =]

What if a much of a which of a wind...

2009-06-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

Isn't it strange how you start to miss something just all of a sudden sometimes? I mean, you didn't miss it five minutes ago, or even thirty seconds ago...but then BAM, it hits you like a ton of bricks. And you feel lonely for that something, and you wonder why you haven't been doing it or seeing it or practicing it every day for the past however long, and you know that your life wouldn't actually be complete unless you did it or saw it or practiced right then, and from now on? I wonder where that feeling comes from. Is it a reminder from Heavenly Father of things that are important for us? Or maybe it's just our souls reaching out for what we really need...

Just now, I was sitting at my computer for the first time in a while, and listening to the TV in the background. Then, all of a sudden I was absolutely sick of the TV. I turned it off and tried the radio. It didn't work either. I flipped that off to. Then I turned on my classical music from my computer. Goldilocks. It was just right. I guess I haven't turned on my classical since I got out of school. I usually turn it on when I'm writing papers or reading some important looking textbook. So I guess my brain wanted to retreat back to that mindset. It's not a bad one to have.

I tried to go up to Tony Grove today (which, incidentally is not Tony's Grove, like everybody has said. There's no "s".) Here's a picture from the bottom of the hill.

I love all the yellow flowers.

You drive up this winding mountain road, and it's really quite beautiful. I was looking forward to a calm little sit by the lake. Unfortunately, it started raining when I was 2/3 of the way up the mountain. I sat in my car for a while in the parking lot adjacent to the lake, watching the rain pound on my windshield and hoping it would die down a bit, but it didn't. I guess I'll have to save my lake trip for another time. It was beautiful while it lasted.

I think that's one of the things that I love best about Logan. It's really close to a lot of hikes and walks and such. Here's another from Green Canyon, literally a five minute drive from my apartment:

If anyone needs a nice little walk, let me know. We have a bunch up here. It's one of the things on my list of things not-to-ever-forget-to-do.

Laziness to the Power of 10...or so it seems

2009-06-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

Did you know camels' humps aren't actually full of water? I know I've heard that before, but I must've forgotten, because it surprised me when I read it. It's actually stored up fat. Interesting.

So, I just finished reading "The Lightning Thief," by Rick Riordan. It's absolutely excellent. It's like Harry Potter meets Hercules, with a little bit of Edith Hamilton's Mythology sprinkled throughout. If you ever wanted to learn more about mythology and never wanted to take the time to do it, here's your chance. I'm going to go and get the second book as soon as I can. As soon as I get paid. And I thought Riordan reasoned the whole "God vs. gods" issue very well, and in only just a few sentences.

I wish I had more to write, but right now my life is pretty much consumed with cleaning in the afternoon/night, and wiling my mornings away looking up random information that may be useful to me someday (yes, including the camel tidbit. You never know when you might find yourself stranded in the middle of a desert with a camel), reading children's books (though, I really should pick up Ben Hur and finish it...) and going to the pool. I try to slip in more productive things sometimes as well. Like studying Spanish and Conflict Resolution and Therapy and other stuff that I'll probably forget just as soon as my internship starts in August. Although, I must say that my storage unit is so totally organized. I have little "Hello my name is ____" tags above all the piles indicating what I might possibly find in that area. It destroys the illusion of surprise, when you go through your junk and find something you love and think "Hey! I forgot I had this! I forgot how much I LOVE it!"; but it also helps lessen the frustration when you're looking for your sleeping bag to go camping that night and it's buried beneath boxes of books, kitchen supplies you don't currently need because your three roommates already have one each, and those family pictures you're supposed to be scanning. No More!! Now it has a handy "Hello, my name is Outdoors" sticker right above it. =]

Calvinball

2009-05-31T22:43:00.000-07:00

I have nothing to write about. In fact, an hour and a half ago I vowed to my roommate that I would go to bed before midnight. Then I wrote my brother. Then I played on facebook. Then I played on my blog. Now I am fully aware of my avoidance, and am torn; one half of me wonders why I haven't been going to bed early. The other half doesn't care.

This weekend was pretty fun. I drove down and visited my friends, Ked and Cynthia. Cynthia is from my branch back home, and I worked with Ked at the library at BYU. This last year they (and a few other friends from back home) were in the same ward. We figured since we were all semi-unbusy, we should play. So I drove down and we went to cheer at the softball game going on across from the stadium, put on by the Special Olympics. I've always wanted to go watch the Special Olympics, but I'd never had the chance before. It was really fun. We cheered for whoever was at bat, or whoever made an especially good play. We got sunburned a little, sitting out there cheering for two hours. Then we went home to Cynthia's and made dinner/dessert. Afterwards, some friends of theirs came over, bored and looking for something to do. We finally landed on beach volleyball, at their sand court outside. That was really fun (even though I'm really bad--except, perhaps, at serving) because the team Ked and Cynthia were on decided that every time one of their players would serve they had to sing a song--any song--so that a) they could guess who sang it and b) they could distract us from the game. It actually sort of worked. Though, in the end it didn't really matter because we weren't keeping score anyhow. What was really great, I thought, was that people from the apartments nearby just came out and joined the game on their own. We didn't have to invite them, and some of them we didn't even really know. They kept playing, even after those who started the game left (they even kept up the singing, I believe).

I still prefer Calvinball, though I think what we did was somewhat Calvinball-esk. Have you ever tried it? It's very liberating. (Muahaha =])

And the answer is....

2009-05-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

Inquiring minds want to know: Has an ocean sprung up in the middle of Logan Utah? And the answer is no. As far as I can tell, there is no beach here. And trust me, I've looked high and low for one. I went to the beach when I was home in San Diego for a week an a half, whilst being homeless. My on campus housing kicked me out on the 1st of May, and I couldn't move in to my new apartment until the 10th or 11th or something, so I escaped to Cali. It only seemed right, because in all the songs they talk about running away to the west coast, so I figured I'd follow suit.

Point 2: Leven Thumps is actually pretty good. Haven't moved on to the second book yet, but I liked it. The ending, I thought, was especially good, and the characters (especially the minor ones) were pretty impressively created. I won't say anymore. All I'm saying is, I can't wait to see what happens next to Geth.

I just finished house sitting for my friend. It was really fun. Mostly I was there to take care of her dog, a pretty good sized boxer. My only complaint is that he is used to sleeping in her bed with her. And I was in a little twin sized bed in the guest room (which I chose, so I guess it's my own darn fault), and he was kind of pushing me off of it. The whole time. I've never really understood the draw to having your dog sleep in bed with you. I mean, it's nice to cuddle on the couch with your dog, and pet them and play with them and such. But really, sleeping in your bed? I mean, I loved having our dog, Moki. I especially love taking dogs on walks. It kind of gives me an excuse to go on walks at night, which I really enjoy. But I don't like smelling like a dog. And no matter how clean you keep your dog, they still have a doggy smell, and that inevitably rubs off on you. Especially if your dog sleeps in bed with you. So the end of this rant is: when I get a dog, little Tucker will be sleeping in his/her doggy bed. And I will probably get a basset hound flop dog, because they don't feel the need to follow you absolutely everywhere you go in the house. The End. (P.S. I know they howl. I'll talk him/her out of it.)

So I had a sad and strange sort of event happen a couple of months ago. It's still sort of surreal, so I haven't written about it. But I felt like writing it tonight, for some reason. So, amongst all my whinings about boxers and praise for Leven Thumps, I'm going to mention my little story of my best friend from elementary school. Lisa and I met in kindergarten. We were in the same class, and we ended up joining Girl Scouts together as well, starting out in the little known "Daisies," which comes just before the Brownie level. Lisa was vibrant. That's really the best word I can come up with to describe her. She had this something in her soul that shined out of her. I know she always wanted to be famous. She had this sparkle in her eyes all the time too, and her smile was infectious. She loved American Tail. She could copy Fivels voice exactly, and (I never told her this) but she kind of looked like the little mouse too. I used to sleep over at her house sometimes, and watch her perform songs. We'd play board games, get pizza, and watch movies. I didn't necessarily want to be like her, but I admired the spark in her that drove her to be so outgoing. I couldn't figure out where that spark came from. Lisa wasn't perfect--she always liked to get her way. And I, being terribly shy, was the perfect friend for her. She could talk me in to almost anything. She even talked me into joining the cheerleading squad that she and her mom started. Can you imagine me as a cheerleader?! I felt ridiculous, but Lisa was so excited about it. She just loved being the center of attention. I had this fascination when I was with Lisa--it was like I was in a play, acting a part that I'd never known I could play before.

As different as we were, I think it was inevitable that we would break apart. Seven years as friends doesn't seem long now, but to a twelve year old--it was my whole life. There was a new girl in class that at first we both became friends with; but then I realized I had become the outsider. It was painful. Lisa was becoming someone different than I'd known before. We entered the cruel teen years, and our friendship was damaged beyond repair. I'd always sort of admired her from afar, but then it changed. I couldn't admire her anymore, and I had to look for new friends. It was strange, going through junior high and part of high school, being in some of the same classes with her and us not even speaking. Ignoring each other, as if all those years of playing together had meant nothing.

After I left high school behind me, I thought every once in a while of looking her up. Her family had moved, I didn't know where. While I was on my mission--when you're day-in, day-out examining your life and everything that had led you to be where you were--I couldn't help but think of Lisa. I would find her when I got home.

I probably had a million chances after I'd gotten home. But this last January I discovered I would've been too late anyhow. I joined Facebook last September, to keep in touch with friends from back home while I was in another state studying. One of the first random people searches I did was to try and find Lisa. But she wasn't there. In January, it occurred to me to look for her younger sisters. They might have Facebook accounts, and not her. I searched, and found her youngest sister first. I "added" her, and asked for info on where Lisa was. She wrote back and told me. Lisa had passed away in a car accident six years before. She'd been driving intoxicated. She had died while I was out on my mission. I grieved the friendship that I'd lost so many years before. I'd been hoping that, since we were older and wiser and less like stupid teenagers now, that we could be friends again. And I think, somehow, we are. I hope she understands me a little better now. I think I understand her more now too. The thing that hurt the most was that I was gone on my mission, preaching the gospel to people I didn't even know, when someone I really did love was suffering so much inside. How much could the gospel have helped her? I think she'll get her chance. Maybe when she does, she'll remember me. And remember that I loved her, and that I could see the spark that radiated out from her, when she was happiest.

And on that serious note, to all my Dear Family & Friends: I love you. Please don't doubt it, ever. They say life is too short. It is. Just know that the gospel is true, and that Heavenly Father notices everything in your life. He has a perfect plan for you, just like He does for my dear friend, Lisa.

Detox

2009-05-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

Can you detox from Graduate School? If you do, do you forget everything you learned in the past 8 months? Because if I do, that would be a huge waste of a couple thousand dollars and some precious months of my life that could've been spent doing something else, like improving my butterfly collection. Or starting one.

Well, I did it. I finally finished moving in today. Yea for members of the Relief Society Presidency that have big trucks they are willing to lend out to unfortunate mini-car people like me that need to move a lot of junk. I still have boxes in the middle of my room, but I'm confident they will disappear of their own volition in the next few days.

I've been spending the past few weeks alternating between being very productive indeed, and being extremely lazy and somewhat flighty (though some would argue that I am flighty on a much more consistent basis than "somewhat" would imply).

Productive Things Done:
Painted a room green
Bought trimming for the bathroom
Moved
Budgeted and Set up Summer Schedule
Visited Friends
Took nephew to the Zoo (adorable!!)

Extremely Lazy Things "Done":
Gone to the Beach (x3)
Gone to the Pool (x1)
Caught up on TV shows

Walking the Line:
Read "Leven Thumps"
Read "Fairest"
Reading "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH"
Continued embroidery project--which looks amazing, I might add.

Jaime? =]

2009-05-08T18:15:00.000-07:00

Okay friends of Jaime, watch this commercial and tell me if you think Jaime is moonlighting as a Hallmark commercial actress and didn't tell us. It's the "Dorm Room" commercial. She's the one sitting on the bed, filing her nails.

Hallmark Commercial

Coffee Creamers

2009-05-01T07:03:00.000-07:00

Alise thought it was funny that whenever we go out to each I can't help but play with the coffee creamers. So here's a pic for your viewing pleasure. It's the little things in life...

50% Isn't so bad after all

2009-04-28T22:36:00.001-07:00

The cup is definitely half full. =]

Well, my bedroom is a disaster, my health is questionable, and my car is expensive. But darn it all if I'm not 50% done with my master's degree!!! Sorry, I have to celebrate. All semester I've been saying "We're almost half way done!" Even in January. So now we really ARE half way done, and it's a good feeling.

I'm celebrating with Alise in the morning at Angie's. It's a local restaurant, and it's pretty much great. They even have a sign on the outside that says "Where the Locals Eat." How can any other restaurant in town beat that? "Where the students that don't really belong here but reside here for the duration of their education eat" just doesn't have the same ring.

I'm taking in my completed Sudoku puzzle in so I can get a free piece of pie with my meal.

Auntie Bekah

2009-04-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

I couldn't get my homework assignments to post, so I'm posting here instead. This weekend I babysat my 10-month old nephew, Chase. We had a lot of fun =]. Here are some videos I took. Please note that in the first one, I am being attacked by Maggie, the crazy boston terrier, as I'm trying to film. And I'm sorry it's so pixelated, but I was using my cell phone.

He likes to say "Bek Bek Bek" a lot. I got him to add an "uh" to the end of it a couple of times. =]
I thought this was funny, especially since Mom and Dad always said Rachel used to crawl around saying "Bok Bok Bok" all the time.

Cutest thing ever! Well Ross, if you want him to be a drummer I suppose that having him hit you on the head is a good start!

Okay all you friends of mine with babies: This is the cutest tub for babies ever. It's an inflatable duck. And when you squeeze the bill, it makes quacking noises. It's the perfect size for babies, and Chase just adores it. My brother-in-law Ross registered for it when they were having their baby shower and one of Rachel's friends got it for them. Rachel said it's about $10 at Target. It's worth it. At several points in the day I took Chase into the bathroom to wash his face and hands, and every time he tried to reach for the duck in the tub.

By the way, I keep repeating "What does the ducky say?" because when he isn't on camera, he'll make quacking noises. Unfortunately I think the camera is too distracting for him.

Zero Death Crystals

2009-04-11T22:48:00.001-07:00

Enjoy. I couldn't stop laughing.

Head and Shoulders Commercial

Sabbatical

2009-04-09T21:57:00.000-07:00

Yea for new backgrounds. Mom and I finally figured out that you have to copy the code from bottom to top, instead of top to bottom, in order to get it to work. So in case you didn't know, now you do. We can all be part of the "in" crowd together. =]

Dax chastised me for not having written in a while. I had no witty comebacks, because it was perfectly true. I have been all too lax in writing. So since I took an hour and a bit to change the background, I figured I'd take three minutes and tell you what I've been up to.

First off, physical therapy is actually fun. Especially when they hook the electrodes up to your back and zap you with electricity while you're laying on a heating pad. It's basically like getting a massage. Maybe I should preface this with saying I hurt my back pretty badly two and a half weeks ago. I went to the doctor. He referred me to physical therapy. I go there twice a week, and they stick little pads on my back and shock me. They also make me do funny looking exercises (like walking sideways on a treadmill--try that at a gym and see if you get any funny looks), but they seem to be working, so I'm not complaining. Also, they recommend that I keep swimming (which helps, I think--except for the breaststroke. Right now that's not an option. Soon though), and one of them suggested I try walking in the deep end of the pool. This requires the use of a funny little belt-like flotation device, and the ability to laugh at yourself. Because while everyone else is swimming laps you're trying to walk through the water. And it actually works, you feel like you're going on a jog but at the most ridiculously slow pace ever. It's like seeing yourself forced to be in slow motion. So it was fun AND funny. Good times.

Other than that it's been lots of school work. The end of the semester is coming up and I have a bunch of projects and papers due. It's been a challenge just to keep them all straight in my head, and my poor little palmy appears to have died, so I have reverted back to using the paper calendars that seem to help me keep somewhat organized. I'm trying to think how old palmy was. 5 years? I think so. He finally gave up the ghost. Maybe I'll get a handy phone/Palm like Rachel has.

I'm trying to think what else. I finally folded my laundry today. I washed it on Monday. I've sort of just been picking clothes out of the basket for the past couple of days. I blame my back hurting. But today I dumped the remainder of the contents onto my bed (which I made, along with cleaning the rest of my room, thank you) and got them all put away. You wouldn't think it would be that hard to get your laundry folded, but it was a rough beginning of the week and I just wasn't home long enough to do it. Or, if I was home, I was staying up until 1am to finish a paper I had due. Anyhow, I'll be getting my break soon.

Can I just say, the weather was really pretty today! It was rainy, but the sun kept peeking out and the clouds were whispey and chubby and dark and white, and we just got a really good combination of everything. Clouds. They're fun.

Oh! So now I'm committed to going camping this summer, because I took a small portion of my tax returns and put them back into circulation in the economy by purchasing a camping sleeping bag. A Real one. According to my friend April, the girl in the camping section, and the tag on my bag I can sleep out in 20 degree (Fahrenheit) weather and still be alive in the morning. It was really kind of funny, buying the bag. I brought April with me because she's very outdoorsy and goes camping and backpacking all the time, so she knows what she's talking about. So with her and the girl that works in the camping section together telling me all the different features of the different sleeping bags--I just had to laugh about how little I knew about sleeping bags. They were like "Do you want to be able to sleep out in 30 degree weather, or 20 degree weather?" I wanted to respond "Who in their right mind would ever sleep out in weather that cold?!" but I resisted the temptation, knowing that there are lots of people in the world that do things like that. They had some sleeping bags there for people that do even crazier things, like try and climb Mount Everest, etc. I politely denied that I would ever try it. At least, not in the lifetime of my first official sleeping bag. I mean, lets be honest, if Al's Sporting Goods hadn't been having a sale for USU students, I would've gone to Wal-Mart and bought the one that gave the best appearance of coziness and hallelujah-you're-still-alive-in-the-morning-ness. When they had me get down on the floor and climb into the mummy bag and they zipped me up in it, and asked me all these questions about how I fit in it, I giggled. As for my back, the girl in the store said I should just get one of those bed floaties that they sell with the pool and summer stuff. She said they work better than the blue pads, and they're easier to carry around. If I can't find one, I'm pretty sure I still have a blow-up dragon somewhere. The point it, always trust the girl in the camping section of the sports store. That's all I have to say about that.

Spring Break Adventures

2009-03-19T22:28:00.001-07:00

Hiking the River Trail:

(This is my favorite picture)

There was still snow on the ground, but it was probably
about 45 degrees. So nice!

Utah State: WAC Champions

Sunday Walk:

Logan Temple from Old Main Hill

Old Main (It's kind of the Brigham Academy of Utah State)

It's not a pillow Dad, but I found a ketchup packet
and made it work. Turned out okay, huh? =]

12" of Snow

Wait, THIS is Spring Break?!?!
This is only about 8 of the total 12" that we got that day.

Working:

It's a terrible picture of me, but I love the Little Blue sign too much
to not include it. Big Blue is Utah State's mascot.
The elementary school that is run on Utah State's campus
has a mascot too: Little Blue. This sign is in their lunchroom.

Family Time:

Nap time was hard for Chase for some reason,
so Mommy held him and got a nap for herself too!

There were other equally spectacular things that I did during Spring Break that weren't captured on my little cell phone camera, so you'll have to deal with just having these memoirs. Happy, productive, non-sinful Spring Break. =]

Ditsy or Deceived, but I still Love it

2009-03-19T21:41:00.000-07:00

Last week was Spring Break. It was an event to be savored, since my entire college career has been null and void of anything even similar to a sliver of Spring-Breakishness. As my supervisor astutely (and sarcastically) noted, "it's because Spring Break represents sin and they want to keep students from committing sin." That made me laugh. Hard. Anyhow, a log of my amazing Spring Break will hopefully be forthcoming soon. I even learned how to extend the videos on my cell phone so that they're longer than 15 seconds. I don't know if any of them are post worthy, but we'll see.

I wanted to mention a discovery I made last week. On Thursday I was at the Salt Lake Wal-mart, wandering around as I awaited the time when I would be going to visit a few of my freshmen roommates for a little reunion. Well, Wal-mart has taken it upon themselves to sell some of their DVD's for $5. My guess is that they are replacing these boring, normal DVD's with the more exciting Blu-Ray ones. But really I don't care why they're doing it. All I know is that I benefit highly from these sales. And what, may you ask, did I find there? The Secret of NIMH. That's right. Good little Mrs. Frisby and the rats that she calls upon to help move her house, with the creepy owl and all. Well, I couldn't pass it up. I'll be honest, I giggled a little as I put it down on the counter. When I got back to Logan I told my friend Alise what I'd found. She giggled with excitement as well. And of course, we planned a movie night for the next night to watch it.

Three things popped out at me as we watched the movie. The first is obvious: It's an incredible movie, an incredible story. Who DOESN'T love a story where the Mom has the most astounding courage in order to save her children's lives; and where, as Alise pointed out, the good name of a man ends up saving his family's life, even after his death. Jonathan Brisby's name get's his wife in to see the Great Owl and the Rats of NIMH. He is the whole reason that they agree to help her in the first place. Actually the second thing that popped out at me is that in the movie their last name is "Brisby," whereas in the book it's "Frisby." Alise and I determined that the filmmakers might have thought "Frisby" would confuse the children somehow.

The last *POP* occurred when we turned the subtitles on to figure out if they were saying Brisby or Frisby. We left the subtitles on, and when it got to a part where they talked about the rats, I noticed for the first time that NIMH was in all capitals. Now, in my defense the last time I read the book was when I was about 9 or 10. So NIMH in capital letters wouldn't have meant much to me. However, now I am a semi-educated graduate student that has worked in the mental health field for 3 years or so. So now NIMH in call capital letters automatically equals (drumroll please) the National Institute of Mental Health. That's right. It was the first time I made the connection. I giggled some more, and Alise laughed that I was such a dork. Yea for new discoveries. I'm going to read the book again when the semester is over (or when I finish Peter Pan--my current guilty-pleasure book that I use to avoid homework when necessary) to see how many jabs at the National Institute of Mental Health there are in the book. Hopefully not too many. I wouldn't want a book that I loved so much as a kid to turn in to some giant backlash at an institution. It would lose all it's charm of being such a sweet story.

The Smoothest Line Ever

2009-03-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

Our Stake President told us in church today about an interaction between his 3 year old grandson and another little girl at the playground.

Boy: I'm Tarzan
Girl: I'm Cinderella
Boy: I have your movie...and I LIKE it.

~Just for kicks and giggles!

Top Ten

2009-03-06T23:17:00.000-08:00

Top 10 Things You Need if You Have A Stomach Ache
1. Pepto Bismal. It can be the Equate version.
2. Unsalted saltines
3. Ginger snaps. It calms the stomach. BTW, a cook that I used to work with told me that ginger in large quantities is poisonous. And he worked in the Temple, so it had to be true.
4. Pajamas
5. Pillow
6. Movie
7. Sleep
8. Chicken broth. Not actual soup. Those pesky noodles and veggies and such might make you feel queasy. Just drink the broth from a cup.
9. Classical Music
10. Bubble bath. And a bottle of bubbles to blow when you get bored of laying in bed.

Top Ten Reasons We Don't Deserve to Encounter People from Other Planets
1. MTV and BET
2. The flutophone
3. Newscasters from FOX network
4. Rhythmic Gymnastics
5. Jim Carrey (calm DOWN already)
6. People that wear shorts/flip flops when it is 30 degrees Fahrenheit or less outside.
7. Any "reality" show
8. Comic books (I include this not because I hate them, but because it would confuse our visitors. Can you imagine? "What, you mean you can't read people's minds? You can't control the elements? You can't repeat pi to the 400th decimal point?")
9. Hairless cats
10. Botox. You know why you're on here.

There are a lot more relevant ones (like Rwanda, Darfur and the Holocaust) but I thought for entertainment purposes I'd put the funny ones.

Just for fun, check this out. It has rained fish. I'm not crazy.

Big=Little IFF Little=Big

2009-03-01T23:00:00.000-08:00

I found a new equation today, as you can see. Actually, I included the "IFF" (if and only if) in here for my little sister, Britte's, sake. Math nerds.

I decided in my Sunday School class today that big things are actually little things, but only if (and only if) we make the little things in our lives big. Let me explain: The little things, like reading our scriptures and saying our prayers, writing in our journals, going to the Temple and doing our family history work, make us who we are inside. They are the building blocks of our character. My character is determined in the little things that I do every day--the things that are inconvenient at times, tiresome, wearisome, and even sometimes a little confusing (I knew I should have taken that Understanding Isaiah class at BYU...). I don't necessarily have to understand how these things are changing me. I just have to have faith that they are, and then be able to step outside of myself and evaluate how I'm doing.

Creating your character is like creating any piece of art. It takes planning. It takes patience. In ceramics (and unfortunately, in some of our lives), it takes beating the clay, throwing it against the table to get all the bubbles out so that you have something you can actually work with--something that won't explode in the kiln. It's only after all that preparation that you're clay is ready to be formed into something worthwhile; ready to withstand the incredible heat it will soon be exposed to. If you didn't do all the little preparation, then the big test will seem just that--a big test. But if you did go through all the little preparation, then the big things are just another little thing. And suddenly taking out your extra pair of earrings, or looking for someone to share the gospel with so the missionaries don't have to do quite as much tracting, or walking across the plains, or building a Temple with your bare hands when you know that the people waiting to overtake the city are just going to burn it down to the ground anyways, or being asked to serve in a calling that you don't feel quite prepared for--they aren't big things any more. They're just little things. Because your heart was ready for it.

You only learn to jump rope by jumping.

If you want my tonsils, you can have them

2009-02-27T22:59:00.000-08:00

When I was five weeks old I had spinal meningitis. Thanks to some very intelligent doctors in Washington DC, I was soon pumped full of penicillin and recovered gracefully, luckily missing out on some of the devastating effects that spinal meningitis can have on a little baby (despite what some people might say ;]).

Unfortunately for me, the vast influx of penicillin into my little five week old body has since rendered the drug somewhat ineffective. I like to think that, like Wesley built up an immunity to iocaine powder, I have my own immunity. However, unlike Wesley and his iocaine powder, penicillin is not so much a poison as it is...the miracle drug that pretty much cures everything. Including tonsillitis. So, it happened that as I grew up and got case after case of tonsillitis and received drug after mutated drug that were all some form of penicillin, I kept getting swollen tonsils. Boo. It must have been the year after my sister Rachel got her tonsils removed that doctor's suddenly decided that a tonsilectomy was too dangerous and pretty much stopped doing them. So here I am now, with tonsils that are perpetually swollen and a dental assistant who is always concerned that she is going to get sick. Don't worry. I won't infect you. They've been that swollen for a while now.

I wanted to post tonight, but I didn't know what else to say. So you got my tonsils. If you want them, you can have them. Just gargle with warm salt water. Some people think it's gross, but trust me--it is oh-so-effective.

The Blessing of iTunes

2009-02-17T22:01:00.000-08:00

So, I'm not much up on technology. Some of you may remember that it's only been about two years since I got my first cell phone, and only at my parents' insistence. (It's been a great experience since then, so thanks Mom and Dad).

Well, two Christmases ago I decided that I wanted music. I'd started keeping a list on my handy cell phone notepad of songs that I heard on the radio and really liked. I am, however, quite opposed to buying CD's. Here's why: I only ever end up listening to the two or three songs that I enjoy. The other ones are completely useless (although I admit that sometimes you find a song rarely played on the radio that you hear and your first reaction is "Hey! Why don't they ever play this one? It's GREAT!"). So why should I pay ten to fifteen dollars extra for all these songs that I'm never going to appreciate? Anyhow, I decided that an iTunes card was the way to go. I got two, and used one of them. Then I saved the other and decided to wait until my list got longer. So then this last Christmas I got another one, and the other night I decided it was time to break out the cards and my list and google the songs to find out who the singer was if I didn't already know (I know, what kind of lame person doesn't know who's singing the song that they like? Well, that lame person would be me. I'm sorry, it's just not a talent that I stood in line for in the pre-existence. I must have been preoccupied with other things, like lecturing David about not wandering off when it was his turn to come down).

Anyhow, I just got tired, so here's the long and the short of it: I downloaded 42 of my favorite songs, and I'm sitting blissfully listening to them right now. (And, if you'd like the breakdown, that's 2 alternative, 20 country, 1 hip hop/rap, 9 pop (though I don't know why "I Can" by NAS isn't rap...), 1 pop latino, and 9 rock)

Now all I need is an iPod, or the equivalent...

My First True Love

2009-02-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

Books: Number the Stars. I think it was the first young adult novel that I read. It was scary and beautiful and daring and real, and it introduced me to the world.

Babies: My brother, Mikel. When he was born and my grandma told me that I finally had a brother, I cried. I wanted them to take him back. I wanted a sister. But then my parents brought him home from the hospital, and I got to hold him first. He was so tiny and brownish-red and had these adorable chubby cheeks and tiny hands. So I figured brothers might not be all that bad.

Movies: Space Camp. It taught me to dream.

Boys: Robert. I can't remember his last name. I was in kindergarten. He was mean, so I'm not sure why I liked him. That's how kindergartners flirt, right?

Nature: The tree in our front yard. I couldn't begin to even guess how many hours I spent up there playing, reading, sleeping, and dreaming.

The Earth: La Jolla Cove. I learned to snorkel there, and when I figured out what was underneath the surface of the ocean, I never really came back to dry land.

Popular Music: "Running just as fast as we can," by Tiffany. Hey, I was in third grade.

Classical Music: Mozarts' 12 Variations on "Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman." It's the tune that "Twinkle, twinkle little star" is based on. In master class one week when I was 10 or 11, Patrick D. played this piece, and I was entranced. I have the sheet music, and someday when I have my own piano and a lot of time on my hands, I'm going to learn how to play it. Here's a link if you want to listen to it.

Movement: Ballet. I still love to do ballet, even though I am chubby. I just do it in the privacy of my own home. Besides, aren't ballet slippers adorable? They just make your feet look great.

Musicals: The Music Man. A close second is The Sound of Music, but we watched the Music Man ALL the time growing up. I loved every song, every hint of quaint small-town Iowa life, that Marian was a librarian ("Marian"), and it was so funny too!

Science Fiction/Fantasy: Star Wars, hands down. The originals (4-6). I want to live with the E-woks.

Art: Ceramics. Squishy clay!

Stuffed Animals: Muncheechee. Thanks to my siblings that scoured the garage not too long ago, I have him once again. He's a stuffed monkey that I got from my grandpa. David cut his hair, so he has a little bald patch on top. It adds character, I think.

Dessert: Anything strawberry. Strawberry ice cream, strawberry and rhubarb pie, strawberry short-cake.

That's all I can think of. Try it, it's fun!

If you find my motivation, send it to apt. 401 instead of 404

2009-02-01T22:07:00.000-08:00

So I gave in and moved. My RA came and helped me, as did my trusty sidekick, Alise (my single's ward companion, building-mate, and choir buddy. We also go to Wal-mart together.) Whenever I move, even if it's just across the hall like yesterday, I am reminded of how much junk I really have. Mind you, I did go through my clothes and get rid of a TON of stuff that I just keep keeping more out of habit than out of the fact that I actually think I'll wear it someday. I patted myself on the back for that one.

As for school, well. You know. I'm sort of still trying to be motivated. Last semester I was all on top of everything. Sure, I was crazy. But now this semester I am both crazy and unmotivated. Sad combination. The only thing that saves me is precariously balancing the number of times I go to the pool and swim laps with the amount of chocolate mint brownie ice cream I allow myself to consume. In case you were wondering, grad school is very liberating in that sense. =]

Have I ever told you all my 70 year plan? It's getting closer to a 60 year plan now, but I'm progressing within the plan, so I don't feel bad about that gap narrowing. Okay, so here it is. In my 20's and 30's I'm going to be a social worker (Check. I'm in grad school to be a social worker. Good job Bekah). Then, in my 40's and 50's I'm going to be a writer. I like to write, but I figure it will probably take me until I'm that old to get something pretty good published. Okay, then comes the fun part, because when I "retire" from social working and writing (around 60's and 70's), I'm going to be an oceanographer. I know, I know. Why don't I just do that now? Well, I really do like social work and writing. And you want to know a secret? I'm really not that good at science. Sure, I did pretty well in geology, but chemistry was never my thing. I might study it sooner than that (note: University of West Florida has a bachelor's program in oceanography you can do distance learning--what what!), but I'm talking about full-on living on a boat in the ocean for months on end. Besides, then I would definitely be the coolest grandma ever, because my grandkids could be like, "Oh, wanna know what I did this summer? My grandparents came and picked me up in their boat and then we sailed to Australia and snorkeled/scuba dived near the Great Barrier Reef." Maybe by then my dream of everyone having their own submarine will be fulfilled, and I can take them down in that too. Awesomeness ensuing.

(PS. My turtle, Alvin, was named after the submarine. Not the chipmunk. And only partially for Joseph Smith's brother, Alvin, because he was also amazing.)

=] I'm such a dork. But I love it.

BACK TO HOMEWORK!!!!

Copying Becky-My Crayon and Cookie

2009-01-21T23:05:00.000-08:00

What Color Crayon Are You?

You Are a Green Crayon

Your world is colored in harmonious, peaceful, natural colors.
While some may associate green with money, you are one of the least materialistic people around.
Comfort is important to you. You like to feel as relaxed as possible - and you try to make others feel at ease.
You're very happy with who you are, and it certainly shows!

Your color wheel opposite is red. Every time you feel grounded, a red person does their best to shake you.

The Sandwich Cookie Personality Test

You Are Traditional and Dependable

You are optimistic, friendly, and cheerful. People appreciate the hopefulness and good vibes you bring to any situation.

Your life is all about change. Right now, you may be going through some changes you really don't like.

You're easy going and easy to be around. You aren't picky or high maintenance.

You seek security in your life. Feeling safe is important to you.

I liked these a lot. And I AM happy with who I am! =] Do you think this is why mint cookies and cream ice cream is one of my favorites? Green and Oreos?

(And for those of you concerned, I do have water now! Thank goodness!).

What's next? Torches and Pitchforks?

2009-01-18T22:41:00.001-08:00

So, I'm having a little run-in with the on campus housing. Either they are doing their darndest to get me out of this building or they are...not organized. That's the kindest way I can put it.

Last weekend we got a notice that the window guys were going to come and check our windows. So I moved furniture away from the windows and even put a sticky note on the one that I knew didn't work. Monday I got home from my internship around 1pm and saw five window trucks parked on the sidewalk by my building. When I got up to my apartment the front door was standing open, and all my blinds were up. In your brain, what is the answer to that equation? In mine, the answer was "window guys are working on my windows." So I left the door open and left for class. Well, when I got home at 7:30pm my front door was still open. The window trucks were long-gone. I didn't want to cause a big hassle, but I did want to address the issue, so I wrote an email to housing explaining the situation, and asked them to please remind the window guys to close the apartment doors when they were done. I got an email back a few days later, saying how sorry they were, etc.

Then this weekend I get a call from my RA (yes, I'm twenty-seven and I have an RA) telling me that I need to either move out of my apartment into another female apartment in the building, or get another girl to move in with me, because I am currently alone in the apartment. Now, normally I wouldn't put up a fuss. I'm generally the type of person that lets people walk all over me--but, mind you, I am fully aware of the fact that they are walking all over me, and I am allowing them to do it, usually because whatever they are walking all over me about isn't that big a deal for me. In this case however frustration for me reigns supreme. I have been in this apartment alone for two and a half months now. If they wanted me to move, shouldn't they have asked me to do so before this semester began? Do they not realize that I am an extremely busy person, who barely has time to check whether or not her clothes match properly, let alone move in the middle of a semester? And, I'm going to be moving out in three months anyways, because when my contract is done, I'm out. Also, why is it my responsibility to get a girl to move in with me? Isn't that the housing office's problem, not mine? I read the housing contract and there's nothing stating that they can just move me from one apartment to another at their whim and fancy. Anyhow, after some bolstering from my family, telling me that I am not just being bratty and that I do actually have just cause to be frustrated, I told my RA that I'd like to talk to the housing manager before I do anything about moving. I guess he noticed my frustration level last night when I talked to him, because he told me he'd already told his boss to expect a visit from me.

So then I went back to my apartment to do some sewing and watch SeaQuest and try to forget about the whole thing for a little while. Well, I get up and go to wash my hands and...there's no water. In my whole apartment. My first instinctual thought was "they are trying to get me to move out by shutting off my water?!?" Then I gathered my senses and went to knock on my neighbors door. Their water was off too, and so were the other people across the hall. If the housing office was maniacal enough to try and get me to move out by shutting off my water, I seriously doubt they would've punished the whole building for my disobedience. I called my friend Alise who lives downstairs, and she did the smart thing. She called on-call maintenance. Apparently there is a water line that needs to be fixed, and it's going to take a few hours. All I'm saying is, we better darn well have water tomorrow morning.

Little do they know, I'm two steps ahead of them. I have two gallons of emergency water in my car. Sure, it's frozen. But with those two gallons I can wait out their hostile takeover of my apartment for at least a few days.

By the way, have you ever gotten your fluids in your car filled in Southern California and then drove back up to somewhere cold--somewhere like, I don't know, Logan Utah perhaps--and then realized that you forgot to tell the fluid-filler-uppers that you need the windshield wiper fluid that can withstand the freezing temperatures? Yup. Welcome to my world. My windshield wiper fluid container is currently a big block of ice. Then again, considering the fact that the container is all cracked on the top and falling apart, I'm thinking it might actually be an improvement...

Blissful Nothingness

2008-12-30T22:01:00.000-08:00

My vacation so far has been full of blissful nothingness. Sure, there's the occasional project--making Christmas dinner, laying new tile, trying to get my car smog-checked and registered--but in general I've had a week and three days of nothing particularly important or pressing, and I've adored every minute of it. I'm making great progress on my Christmas Advent Calendar; something that I've had for two years now and haven't been able to finish, mostly because I only find myself wanting to work on it during Christmas time. And by the way, it's harder than it looks. You have to put each little character together by hand, sequins and all. I also made two hot pads for my Mom. They look sort of like something I would've given her when I was eleven or so. She loved them. I think my brain is trying to recoup a little. Don't worry, though. I'm not forgetting everything that I learned this last semester. I even got a DSM-IV for Christmas. I asked for it. If that's not dorky, I don't know what is. I haven't started diagnosing myself. I figure that I should wait until the end of February or so, when my stress level has returned to normal. I've also been pretty spoiled with the weather--it was 72 degrees today. I don't understand why people wouldn't want it to be 72 degrees over their Christmas holidays. Of course, I grew up with this being my Christmas weather, so...to each his own. I'll be back buried under the tundra that is Logan Utah soon enough.

Let me tell you the best way to be surprised for Christmas. I just discovered it this year. Make yourself a wish list on Amazon.com. Every year my family makes Christmas lists. Everyone is expected to tell us what they want. Then we go and get one of the things on the list for them. We Nelsons love surprises, but we also like to get things that we actually want. This last year I made up a Wish List for myself on Amazon, so that I could remember things that I wanted to get for myself when I had extra money (haha). So when we made up our Christmas lists, I just decided to direct my family members to my Amazon wish list. Then I added a few sundry things that I wanted as well that weren't on my Amazon list, and there was my Christmas list. I really didn't expect my family to look at the Amazon list for things to get me. So, I was really surprised when I opened my gifts on Christmas day and got two movies that were on my Amazon list from my older sister (Space Camp and Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead--classic) and the first season of SeaQuest from my little sister with a tag attached to it that read "For your Sanity." As a side note, have you ever seen SeaQuest? I was ADDICTED to it growing up. Even when it got weird with the aliens and stuff, it was still somewhat interesting. But the first season is the best. And now I have something that I can turn to in those moments of desperation during school when I wonder what I could possibly have been thinking of when I decided to go back to school.

Anyhow, if you want to be surprised with things that you actually want, but forget that you wanted them, make yourself an Amazon wish list. It's amazing.

I'm watching the Kennedy Center Honors. It's pretty great. I love Morgan Freeman and Barbra Streisand. The other four being honored I don't really know, but I love to watch shows like these because I feel like it introduces me to a world that I wasn't aware of before. Like this Twyla Tharp, who's a choreographer that has done amazing things in dance. She reminds me of my old roommate Carly, who could make any dance incredible and moving--the kind of person that makes you wish your nervous system and soul could communicate as well as theirs so that you could create something that beautiful with your own body. I still remember the year that Sense and Sensibility won an Academy Award--I was almost fifteen, and utterly shocked because I hadn't heard about the movie when it came out, so it was the first exposure I'd had to the Jane Austen adaptation. Watching shows like this helps me feel cultured, as Becky would say. So I guess my vacation hasn't been totally useless.
Woot.

The End.

If there was ever a good day to visit the DMV...

2008-12-24T22:46:00.000-08:00

Did you know that the best day to visit the DMV is on Christmas Eve? I went there to get a disabled parking pass for my Mom (she's in a wheel chair, by the way. Put "Charcots" on your list of diseases to avoid developing; unless you want to get a temporary disabled parking pass), and the wait was only about 15-20 minutes. So if you ever have anything that you need to do at the DMV, plan on doing it on Christmas Eve. It is so great to go in and see only one person standing in line in front of you; only 5 numbers away from the number that you pulled.

Geminids

2008-12-04T21:07:00.000-08:00

2008 Meteor Showers and Viewing Tips

The next meteor shower is the Geminids in the evening of December 13, 2008. A gibbous Moon will overpower all but the brightest meteors...

Don't you just love meteor showers?

(Stupid Gibbous Moon. I'm still going to try and watch it, though. You might try it too. It's fun =])

Chalk me up for one more entry in November

2008-11-30T20:12:00.000-08:00

Well, it's not easy sending your baby brother off to South Africa, but I managed to do it last Tuesday. It's kind of weird having Dave gone. On Thanksgiving morning we were about to eat breakfast (waffles! Thanks, Dad) and I almost said to my sister, "Go get Dave," but I caught myself. Good thing too, because Mom probably would've started crying.

Aside from shipping Dave off, making Thanksgiving dinner Monday and not burning anything, NOT making Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday (I would like to thank Johnny R's, my Grandpa's favorite restaurant, for being open Thanksgiving day), and general family time, I think my favorite part was taking my nephew on walks. I basically kidnapped him from my sister three times to take him on little walks. I learned that he likes to watch cars whiz by. They don't get that very much in Woodland Hills. He also reacted to the dogs barking, which I attribute to his thinking it was his dog, Maggie. We also took a little walk to the library, and learned how to count. I'm pretty sure he's a genius by now.

Okay, so I saw the saddest thing yesterday. I was driving across an intersection and I saw a hearse driving towards me, but without any kind of a procession following it or anything. Now, keep in mind that I'm sure that this hearse was probably just going to fill up it's gas tank. Incidentally, this is really hard for me to imagine. I mean, have you ever seen a hearse filling up its gas tank? If you did see a hearse filling up it's gas tank, would you think twice about pulling into that station? I think it would just feel weird filling up your gas tank next to a hearse. Even if the hearse was empty. Babbling. The point is, there was no procession following the hearse, and I thought about how sad that would be, to be driven to your grave without anybody following your hearse to bid you farewell. So keep your friends and love your family, because if they outlive you they'll be the ones that will hop into their cars, turn their lights on, and follow that hearse to the very end of the road. And someday you'll see them again, and you'll say "Hey, thanks for following my hearse." Okay, maybe not those exact words. Maybe something more like "Thanks for being the most amazing friend ever, and for always being there for me."

I love you guys!

Things that make me happy

2008-11-06T22:50:00.000-08:00

It's late, and I'm incredibly tired. So why am I posting? I don't know. But I am.

Sometimes I like to make lists of things that make me happy. Here's one for your reading enjoyment:

Bubbles, waffles on Saturday morning, the violin, my pillow, finishing a crafty thing for my future (or current) home, finding my stuffed animals that I thought were lost, having door handles for my car, seeing snow out on the mountains, hot chocolate with marshmallows, toe-nail polish, Books (especially including scriptures), seeing someone do something kind for someone else without expecting to be seen, art that I don't necessarily understand, that sea creature that has a glowing nob hanging from its head, grass in my toes, friends who love me despite my ridiculousness, laughing like a 10 year old with any of my siblings, having a haircut turn out the way I wanted it to, journals, seeing babies laugh or cry, rocking chairs, a cozy corner in a library, going through the grocery store and finding all the miniaturized items, cartoons that I used to watch when I was little, the moment when you realize that you finally understand, reading old journal entries, hiding either candy or money from myself and being surprised when I find it, hearing from an old friend that I never expected to hear from, hearing a song on the radio that I know all the words to and singing them (or shouting them, depending on the level of hyperactivity), pearls, hunting for seashells on a warm summer beach, finding a little corner of nature that appears to be all your own for even just a little while, remembering how we used to pretend that we were on a deserted island in our backyard every summer, daisies, watching a romantic comedy and knowing that you deserve to be just as happy as they are, sunsets, ballet shoes, puppies, watching someone else sleep, spending all day cleaning or working hard and falling into a comfy couch afterward, finding the perfect card for someone, the first spoonful of ice cream when you remember how delicious it tastes, riding a horse for the first time, swimming a lap in the pool and thinking the whole way how incredible it really is that humans have learned how to do that, realizing you've created something that no one else could've done, and that first moment when you crawl into bed and you breathe out and completely relax.

And with that, my Loves, goodnight. =]

In Celebration of Daylight Savings...

2008-11-01T23:32:00.000-07:00

I am posting once again. And, if you noticed, I took my extra hour and spent it finding a new fancy-shmancy background. I like it.

Did I ever tell you that going on my mission to South America caused me to lose at least two hours of my life? People don't realize that this happens, but it does. Here's how it works. In order to understand the logistics, you need to remember that in the US we spring forward an hour in the spring, and fall back an hour in the fall. Now, realize that in the southern hemisphere, the seasons are backwards from our own. Thus, they spring forward an hour around Octoberish, and fall back an hour around Aprilish.

Just before I left for my mission (in May), we had Daylight Savings here in the US, springing forward an hour. This was normal for me, as I'd been doing it for pretty much my whole life. Then I left for my mission to Chile. October came around, and we sprang forward an hour again. Because now I'm in the southern hemisphere, and it's not coming up on winter, it's coming up on summer. April comes, and we fall back. Normal. Then October comes again, and we spring forward. At this point I return home from my mission (to the lovely San Diego). April comes. But now I'm in the northern hemisphere again. So we spring forward. Again. Did you catch that? I sprang forward four times, and only sprang back once. Guys don't realize this happens, because they are down in their southern hemisphere missions for two years, which means that the time changes equal each other out. When they get back, they double up on either the turning the clocks back, or turning them forward. But for the sisters it's different. We're only down there for 18 months, so our time changes don't get readjusted to being in the right order.

I wonder what I would do with those two hours if I got them back.

Neglect

2008-10-31T23:33:00.000-07:00

If it helps anyone feel better, whilst I have been neglecting my blog I have been reading about people that neglect their children. I'm glad blogs aren't necessarily like those web animals, that you kill if you ignore for too long.

Really, the past few weeks since I last blogged have gone by so quickly, I'm not even sure if anything exciting has happened. I'm in the business of trading my limited stats knowledge and not-completely-limited computer knowledge for new door handles for my little car. I think Jake was really worried I wouldn't be able to get out of my car this winter, and he was looking for help with stats anyhow. I found out during a break between classes that one of the guys in my program served his mission in the Carlsbad mission. We were talking about how Utah isn't exactly multicultural, and he boastingly stated that he had served his mission in an area that people jokingly called "Manila Mesa," because there were so many people from the Philippines that lived there. Hey...that's where I grew up!! I told him so, and asked if he remembered any families in the area. We started naming a few people off, and it was kind of fun. I showed him a picture of my family to see if he knew them, and he remembered Mike because he'd gotten into a car accident not too long before, and when Mike left to go on visits with the Elders, my Dad had told him to take it easy on his ankle (which he'd shattered in the accident). Funny how we remember those little things.

I really didn't have a Halloween costume today. Last night at about 1:30am I decided to be Bedtime Bear, and made a little moon with a star hanging off it to pin on my tummy. It was very cute. I didn't get much of a chance to wear it though. Still, I'm going to hang it in my room. I even wore turquoise, to make sure I was the same color as Bedtime Bear.

I've got to go to bed, but I just have to say that Aggie basketball is CRAZY. The crowd really is one of the most formidable, and the team is pretty much amazing. They won their game tonight against NNU, 73-46. Pretty great, huh?

They mentioned ceramics on the Office, and now I want to go throw a pot. Not throw a pot, but sit at the wheel and throw one. You know what I mean. I haven't done that in a while...I wonder if they'll let me use the one on campus. I'll have to do a little investigating tomorrow.

Bedtime Bear, signing off.

Sometimes people can get out of their cars...

2008-10-04T22:27:00.000-07:00

And then there's me.

If you know me well, you know that my experiences with cars has been...well, we'll call it "rocky." Let's review, for those of us who haven't heard the stories.

Car #1: Got smashed up and undriveable when a lady ran a flashing red light going 40 mph. She hit me, and then pushed my car into another guys'. He didn't have insurance. Sad day for him, and for my little Honda.

Car #2: My Dad's car. The engine burned out on Thanksgiving day, with my Grandpa and little brother in the back seat. I delayed Thanksgiving dinner 2 hours. Whoops.

Car #3: This is the most beautiful story ever. My little Dodge Omni was smoking. I determined not to drive it until I could get the problem checked out. It was Christmas vacation, and one of the ladies that had a newspaper route was going out of town to see her kids for the holiday. She couldn't find a substitute. I told her I absolutely couldn't, my car wasn't working well. She begged me and begged me and...well, it was Christmas!! What was I supposed to do? I said yes, rationalizing that I'd use the money to fix my car. I was driving the route, up one side of the street; then, as I came down the other side of the street, I parked the car to review the route list. I looked out the driver's side window and saw a little flame on the other side of the road. "That's weird," I thought, and got out of my car to look at it. As I bent over to blow it out, I thought "I wonder why I didn't see it when I drove up this side of the road." Then I turned and looked at my car. And the underside of it was glowing. I ran and grabbed my wallet and anything else that I could, then I crossed the street again to a nearby house. There was a brief moment when I considered grabbing their hose to put out my car on my own, but I decided that the hose probably wasn't long enough to reach my car. I ran up to the front door and knocked, cringing at the idea of waking up this family at 6am. A little girl in a soccer uniform answered the door. "Umm...is your Mom awake?" She nodded. "Could you get her for me please?" The little girl walked away, and a woman came to the door with a questioning look on her face. "Hi," I said, "Can-I-borrow-your-phone-my-car-is-on-fire." She grabbed her phone and rushed out of the house after me. Before she could dial 911, her neighbor, standing on his walkway in his pajamas, waved to us and said "Don't worry. I've got it." It was, we'll say, a learning experience.

Car #4: One word. Possessed. I inherited this car from my sister when I first came up to BYU. At the time, it was functioning perfectly well. As soon as I started driving it, it would randomly decide not to start. You know, just whenever it felt like it. It especially thought it was funny to not-start for a good while, and then when the tow truck would arrive, it would start just fine. That was it's favorite game. Eventually, small plastic pieces would start to fall onto my lap from somewhere inside the steering wheel whenever I would turn a corner; but the best was when it would randomly start honking on it's own. Oh, and there was the time that my siblings and I were returning from the beach. We were in the Taco Bell drive through when flames came up out of the parking brake region. No explanation there, either. Let's just say, it's probably in a much safer place now, settled in with all the rest of the demonic things that people toss out, like broken toasters and mismatched socks.

Car #5: Up to this point, you have to realize that I have become emotionally traumatized by all the car "experiences" that I've had. I decided to be extra careful and get my little car looked at just before I made the drive down with my Dad from Provo to San Diego, a month before I left on my mission. Everything was great. They changed the oil, I was good and ready to go. Yeah. The car gave up the ghost a mile south of Beaver, Utah. Good thing I have relatives that live in Beaver, huh? Have you ever had to cram two cars worth of stuff into one car? I had to decide then and there what stuff I needed for my mission, and what could be left behind in my Uncle and Aunt's garage, for my parents to pick up and put in our garage after they dropped me off at the MTC. It's actually an effective way to pack, kind of like those old shows where people run through the grocery store and grab all the groceries that they can fit into their carts in a certain amount of time.

Car #6: As could be expected, I've been nervous about cars since returning home from my mission. When my Dad suggested that I take his Prism my last year at BYU, because my schedule would be really hectic and I'd "need" it, I really hesitated. Needless to say, I've been a little overprotective of my car since then. It gets regular check ups and oil changes and tire rotations; and I'm pretty sure the guys at Goodyear laugh at me everytime I come in to get another electrical problem fixed. I've put a lot of effort into this little car. There are just two things that I haven't had the time, or been able to afford, to fix yet. They are replacing the container that the windshield wiper fluid goes in, and getting the door handles in the driver's side and passenger side doors fixed. You currently have to roll (I fixed it just for you, Darryl=]) the windows down and open the car door from the outside. Which brings me to the entire point of this blog post.

On Friday I reached out my window to open my car door when the front panel of the outer door handle came off in my hand.

I guess those door handles are made of two parts. The back part is the mechanical part that actually pulls the door open. The front panel of said door handle is not just for decoration, but functions as a place to put your fingers in order to pull the mechanical part up. I now do not have a place to put my fingers in order to open my car door.

I laughed for five minutes straight, ending my laughter with a rather vehement "Seriously?!?" Then I managed to pry the mechanical part up with my keys, and got out of my car.

So, in case you were wondering, I think the talk that most applied to this situation in todays session of General Conference was Elder Wirthlin's.

Come away, and love it. I embrace my car troubles. I laugh in the face of fire, electrical problems, and tires that explode on the side of the road. I've been through too many of them to even have it affect me any more.

(Sorry my blog posts are so long...but hey, when there's a story to tell...it's got to be done.=])

An Icy Blast from the Past

2008-10-02T22:29:00.000-07:00

By special request, I have been asked to share a story from my past with you today. Oh, that I were as vigilant in keeping a journal back then as I am now! I'm sure there would be so many, many more details to share!

Of course, we must start at the beginning. Once upon a time, two carefree and young San Diegan women moved up to Provo, Utah to attend school at Brigham Young University. Not being able to reserve rooms at the same apartment complex as some kind friends of theirs, their lot fell to a backup apartment complex--the Glenwood. Little did they know the insanity that awaited them at the unhallowed halls of their future apartment! It was a bittersweet day, indeed, when these well-intentioned girls finally realized that their two new roommates were, in fact, viciously unstable. Craving to escape the dungeon that was their "home", and desperately seeking to fulfill their need to gain friends, they traversed their ward, their classes, and even the sports events that they loved, in order to gain some sense of normality...

Okay, I can only write like that for so long. Needless to say, Susie and I were, in fact, desperate for any sense of normalcy at this point in our lives. Susie was (and still is =]) a big sports fan, and, though I've never been completely immersed in the culture, I really like watching sports. So we bought our season ticket packets from BYU (please note that at USU, students get in to all sports events for free...) and attended the games.

October 21st, 2000. Yes, I did look up the date. It was BYU's homecoming game, and Susie and I were especially excited because BYU was playing San Diego State; not only a pretty good rival at the time, but also one of the largest and most popular universities in the city we grew up in. I, being the dork that I am, thought it would be pretty hilarious to wear my SDSU sweatshirt to the game. I'd gotten it from some former co-workers of mine, who had all gone to SDSU, as my going away present when I left for college (to BYU. They had great senses of humor). I can't quite remember whether anyone got to see it though, because all I can remember is that it was cold. It was very very very cold and windy. I would even characterize it as "blistery." (Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful at looking up the exact temperature on said day. I tried for about 10 minutes, then gave up. I'm sure it can be done, but let's face it--weather people don't know how to organize a website).

We walked to the stadium, as it was only kitty-corner from our apartment complex, and I distinctly remember being grateful for the walk, mostly because I think it was probably the only thing that kept my blood from literally freezing in my veins. But we were determined. Nothing would stop us from seeing the homecoming game! Susie and I found our seats and started to watch the game. Now, when I say we "found our seats," I don't want to deceive you all into thinking we actually sat down on them. I'm pretty sure we were standing for most of the whole game, partially because it was homecoming and everyone was excited, partially because it helped to keep us warm, and partially because the bleachers were already sopping wet from the snow and covered with (as Susie mentioned in her comment) floating ice glaciers that, I have to admit, were pretty uncomfortable to sit on.

Imagine this as us, but cuter and possibly a little more freezing

The game, for me, is a bit of a blur. The stats say that it turned out to be a very field-goal oriented game (apparently touchdowns are overrated when the temperature is below freezing). At one point JR Tolver, our past high school quarterback and now SDSU's second string wide receiver, came out onto the field. Susie and I cheered for him. Then he made a really great play, catching the ball for SDSU and making a first down. We both screamed and cheered "YEA!!!! GO J.R.!!!!" Then, over the loudspeaker came the announcer, clear as day--"That was JR Tolver from San Diego State...blah blah blah..." Please remember that we were sitting right in the middle of screaming, cheering BYU fans, desperate to win their homecoming game. EVERYONE within earshot turned to glare at us. We smiled a little sheepishly and said "He went to our High School." They all nodded, as if to say "Oh...I suppose that's acceptable." So the lesson here is, if you ever think you're going to get beat up by a bunch of crazed fans, just claim the guy you're cheering for is your brother-in-law or something, and all will be forgiven.

It was probably during half time or so that Susie and I decided to hit the snack bar to help warm ourselves up. Susie got some nachos, and I'm pretty sure we both got hot chocolate as well. The hot chocolate helped a bit, but what really kept us both alive at this point was the nacho cheese. I'm so glad they heated it up so hot, or else I'm pretty sure that we would've suffered frostbite. I would never have played the piano, as poorly as I do, ever again! And what about Susie, you ask? How could she be expected to hit a volleyball without thumbs? Yes, it was the cheese sauce that saved us.

Eventually we were so frozen that, after the third quarter or so, we felt that we had fulfilled our obligation to the school and to JR, and decided to head back to our apartment to watch the rest of the game on TV. We never did get to see the end of the game, however, (which wasn't bad for us in the end, since BYU lost 15-16) because this was also the day that, when we got home to warm up and watch the game, certain events that unfolded in our apartment made it so we finally had had enough with our insane roommate and walked out on her.

Wheel of Morality: The Lesson We Should Learn

(Animaniacs, anyone?)

If you ever think you're going to be pushed to the limit, just stick your fingers in hot nacho cheese sauce and repeat to yourself: "I'm just glad that I do not have frostbite!"

I better start stocking up...Logan is colder than Provo!!! Or, at least, so everyone keeps telling me.

A Wrinkle in Bekah

2008-09-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to think of something that could summarize this week, in order to make a good blog post, but nothing really profound comes to mind, so I'll ramble. It's always fun to ramble.

My Dad came home from his 5 month tour with the navy hospital ship Mercy this last Thursday. I (obviously) wasn't there for his homecoming, but he did call me and left a message on my cell phone in Vietnamese, so I called back and got to talk for a while (in English). I'll see him and my Mom in a couple of weeks, because my little nephew is going to be blessed.

I've been spending a lot of time (probably more than I should, actually) at my internship. It's hard, but it's fun. Sometimes it's a little scary to think that the lives of these people are in my hands, and I have the chance to either hurt them (which would probably break my spirit) or help them change their lives. Sometimes I feel like I'm great at it, and other times I feel totally inadequate. I guess that's the way it is with everything in our lives though.

I've officially decided that I really do like Logan. It's small and rather quiet, but not uncomfortably small, and it's also really pretty. Here's a picture of a sunset that I took from the Spectrum (the sports building where volleyball/basketball games are held) while I was at work. Speaking of volleyball, I got a shock on Thursday when our volleyball team was playing Fresno State. I've never been too good with sports stuff, but I felt pretty confident in understanding how the college volleyball games worked, having attended quite a few with Susie while we were roommates. Lo and behold, at Thursday's game our team lost the first match, then lost the second. Sad, right? Except, then they kept playing. What? Why are they playing another set? Our team just lost...didn't they? Well, apparently in the WAC (and Susie, tell me if I'm getting this wrong) they play best out of five games, with the last set going up to 15. I was pretty confused. And it didn't help that a popcorn vendor told me they may have to go up to fifteen sets. I'm still not totally sure if he was just playing off my ignorance. Whatever, the point is, we lost the game. And I learned that not all college sports rules are created equal.

In case you were wondering what makes a good social worker, it's not all the theories and skills and lessons that you teach. All you really need to know, at least, if you're working with clients in mental health, is how to play pool. Someday I'm going to do a study. I'm going to contrast all the interventions that we try and apply, to the social skills learned while playing pool with the clients. I'm already pretty sure I know which one is going to come out on top. And in case you're already preparing to take me on, I just have to tell you that in the last two years I've gotten pretty dang good. And I spent yesterday and three Saturdays ago playing for three hours straight with a client who, in all honesty, needs to start his own business teaching people how to play pool. He's ridiculously good, and he taught me some pretty handy tricks. Any takers?

I think I might need to name my palm pilot. I didn't use it for two years, after I was done with school, because quite frankly I didn't have that much stuff to remember. Wake up, go to work, come home, read or watch TV, go to bed. Pretty basic stuff. Now that I'm back in school, however, and running around like a chicken with its head cut off, Palmy and I have become great friends. (Palmy is one option. I'm also considering Hal; Macguyver; "It," like the huge brain in a Wrinkle in Time...except that "It" was evil, and my Palm Pilot is not evil; I'm kind of leaning towards Palmy. It goes well with Lappy. My cell phone would be more problematic I suppose. You can't call it "Phoney.")

I would like to openly support NBC's efforts to prevent any unnecessary frustration on the part of their viewers concerning a certain couple on their show, The Office. I would also like to thank the websites for providing their shows online now, as my schedule doesn't allow me to watch certain shows that I like at normal-people times.

Lastly, has anyone else noticed, and felt slightly cheated, when they read the Voyage of the Dawn Treader and realized that Leslie Burke from Bridge to Terabithia wasn't exactly as creative as we thought she was, because she pretty much stole that name from the name of the Island that Prince Caspian and Co. go to? Anyone? Anyone? I mean, that couldn't have just been a coincidence. Still, they're both great stories. =]

Etchings of Fall

2008-09-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

I kind of wanted to go to the football game this afternoon, but I can hear the thunder out in the distance, rainclouds are steadily approaching, and my homework is calling. I'm not that excited for winter to come, but I am excited that the leaves are starting to change colors. That's one thing you don't really get in San Diego--red and orange leaves. I feel more like cuddling down with a book today than doing anything else. And textbooks don't count. They're not really cuddle-able.

Here's a picture of the storm moving in from my window. It's just starting to sprinkle now.

It's been an exciting day in Logan, that's for sure. There was a marathon that started out at one section of the canyon, went through town, and then ended at the other side of the canyon. I've been doing my CPR recertification all morning, but during our break I went outside to see the runners go by. There was a guy playing the drums, I'm assuming to encourage the runners along. It was pretty fun. I was kind of looking to see if I knew anyone, because I have some crazy friends that for some reason enjoy running (Alicia...Bishop Johnson...) =] but I really didn't expect to see them during my half hour break.

As for me, things are going pretty well. I almost had a nervous breakdown (or a "come apart" as my co-workers say) Monday/Tuesday this last week, because apparently I'm not taking a class that I was supposed to take--but it's one I've already taken, so my adviser and I got everything ironed out. So life will, indeed, go on. Other than that, it's been school, school, internship, more school, my part-time job (yep, as a janitor. I'm not ashamed. I actually really enjoy it.) and then some more school. Somewhere in there I also go to institute and church and the temple and such.

Delaying homework

2008-09-09T18:57:00.000-07:00

I'm putting off my homework. Here's a quiz I got emailed to me from Jenny:

1. Were you named after anyone? The Rebekah in the Bible

2. When was the last time you cried? I don’t know if I want to say…

3. Do you like your handwriting? Most of the time; and when I’m doing calligraphy, pretty much yes

4. What is your favorite lunch meat? Turkey or Ham

5. Do you have kids? No…but I'm really excited to be a Mom someday

6. If you were another person, would you be friends with you? I hope so or I’d be lonely

7. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Yes. But I try not to make it directed at a person, because that's mean. Just at inanimate objects.

8. Do you still have your tonsils? Unfortunately, yes. I’m always getting swollen tonsils. In fact, every time I go to the dentist they ask me if I’m sick, and I never am.

9. Would you bungee jump? I don’t think so. I don’t like the idea of flinging my body towards the ground. Actually, it's probably more the flying up afterwards on the rebound that frightens me. I'd probably be so freaked out that I would break my neck. I do want to go hang gliding some day.

10. What is your favorite cereal? Bran flakes. Weird, huh? When I was little, we would get cereal from Santa. Everyone else would get Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, etc., and I would be excited to get my Raisin Bran.

11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Tennis shoes, yes. Other shoes, no.

12. Do you think you are strong? Physically, no. Mentally, yes. Emotionally, depends on the day. Spiritually, pretty sure that’s a yes.

13. What is your favorite ice cream? Raspberry sherbet. Or mint Oreo cookie.

14. What is the first thing you notice about people? Height and hair color.

15. Red or pink? It depends on the day. Some days are pink days. Others are red. Today I wore a white shirt and red sweater. Does that equal Pink?

16. What is the least favorite thing about yourself? I refuse to answer this question on my own public blog.

17. Who do you miss the most? I had this glow worm when I was little. I wish I had him back... =]

18. Do you want everyone to send this back to you? It’s on my blog, so…But it would be fun if other people tried it.

19. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Blue jeans and flip flops.

21. What are you listening to right now? Country music station.

22. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? A turquoise color

23. Favorite smells? Fresh cut grass, rain on asphalt, almost anything baking, and my gardenia lotion.

24. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Family

25. Do you like the person who sent this? Of course!

26. Favorite sports to watch? Football.

27. Hair color? I like to call my hair color Neopolitan. I have this horrible problem. It gets blonder in the summer, reddish in the fall, and a dull brown in the winter. So it always looks a little weird. I tried dying it a while back, but I think it might have looked weird, so I stopped.

29. Do you wear contacts? Yes. I’m so dorky looking with glasses.

30. Favorite food? Pizza, spaghetti, taco salad.

31. Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings.

32. Last movie you watched? Marie Antoinette (part of it).

33. What color shirt are you wearing? White

34. Summer or winter? Summer. It’s my favorite time of year.

35. Hugs or kisses? I really don’t think one should have to choose between two such great things.

36. Favorite dessert? Ice cream, pie, cookies…

37. Most likely to respond? Bah.

38. Least likely to respond? Bah.

39. What book are you reading now? Biography of Benazir Bhutto, all my textbooks, scriptures, and I’m sort of still working on Ben Hur

40. What is on your mouse pad? I don’t have one.

41. What did you watch on TV last night? That was the Marie Antoinette thing.

42. Favorite sound? The piano, wind through trees

43. Rolling stones or Beatles? Probably Beatles.

44. What is the farthest you have been from home? Santiago, Chile

45. Do you have a special talent? Plumbing. Weird, huh?

46. Where were you born? Washington D.C.

47. Whose answers are you looking forward to getting back? These types of questions always bug me.

48. What time is it now? 7:45pm Laundry’s done!

49. Favorite quote? I keep a little quote book, so I have a bunch. Here’s one: “Life should be a little nuts. Otherwise it’s just a bunch of Thursdays strung together.”

50. Favorite kind of socks? Crew cut

Mystery Solved!

2008-09-07T19:43:00.000-07:00

All over Utah State there are these giant footprints spray-painted on the ground. I stuck my foot in the photo so you could compare the size of the spray painted foot to mine. There are right and left footprints, spread out about 10 feet apart or so. So I asked myself, why are they footprints? The mascot of USU is a bull. Shouldn't we have hoof-prints everywhere, or something like that?

Well, I took it upon myself to solve this Unsolved Mystery. Sorry Robert Stack, but I can handle this one on my own. After a prolonged and agonizing search on the internet (actually, it took two minutes) I found my answer. And here it is: They are the footprints of Paul Bunyan. That's right. Here on my very campus, we have the footprints of Paul Bunyan himself. Or, at least, a statue of him. You see, Paul Bunyan is apparently the mascot of the College of Natural Resources here at Utah State. Some poor sap (pun most definitely intended, and it was actually the forestry students (we have forestry students?)) carved a 12-foot statue of Paul Bunyan out of a giant tree back in 1939. Apparently, every year during College of Natural Resources Week (?) the Engineering students kidnap the statue of Paul and do weird things to it, like hanging him, dressing him in a diaper, or pouring concrete over him. The article that I read stated that the Natural Resources students retaliated by "letting sheep loose in the engineering building" and "filling an engineering classroom with crickets and straw."
A) Where did they get the sheep from?
B) Were the sheep ever returned?
C) This just goes to show you that you should never tick off a Forestry student. They're probably already angry that no one realizes their major exists.

As a side note, I didn't realize colleges have mascots. You can bet I'm going to come up with a great one for the College of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology. My nominations so far are as follows:

*Atlantis (try dressing THAT up in a diaper!)
*A Kiva (It's an archaeological wonder down near the 4-corners-ish. I toured them for three days my freshman year with my archeology class. It's basically a hole in the ground that has either stairs or a ladder going down into it. We think they used them as libraries. Plus, if the engineering students tried to do anything to it, we could just throw them in it and pull up the ladder.)
*An Anglerfish (This is the fish that lives in the deep sea and has a lure attached to its head. The end of the lure glows, which draws its' prey towards it. I vote this one so far, because a) it's the creepiest, b) most people don't know what it is, and c) those who do know what it is, and have watched Finding Nemo, think that it is totally awesome. Which, it is.)
*The NASW code of ethics. (Boring, but if someone tried to do something to it, you would have thousands of social workers, most of whom are liberal and slightly crazy, fighting behind you.)
*Harry Potter (he could be symbolic of all the people we try to help; he belongs to a foreign culture, which we all enjoy studying about; and he is master of the Elder Wand, so he could take out any engineering or forestry student that was feeling even a little bit mischievous. If you haven't read the last book, I just totally spoiled it for you. Don't re-read the sentence and try to understand it. Just go read the book.)

French Fries

2008-08-30T17:32:00.000-07:00

All I have to say is...Why?

The IT guy broke my computer...whoops, that was me!

2008-08-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

Grad school is pretty much nuts. I have approximately 1 billion pages to read by next Wednesday, and a bunch of other "little" assignments that all add up to a mountain of assignments towering over me, ready to squash me at any moment. For some reason, I'd really like to tazor the very bottom of that pile, just for fun. Is that morbid?

I spent an hour or so with technical support, trying to figure out why I couldn't get on Blackboard. This wouldn't be such a travesty, but I have an online class, and a bunch of my other professors have half of their billion pages of articles posted on Blackboard. Anyhow, the IT guy and I became friends, and he suggested that I download a free version of a spyware program. So I did. But, in my befuddled state of mind (thinking about all the assignments I have to do) I downloaded the wrong version. In case you were wondering, you shouldn't ever ever ever accidentally download a program that isn't compatible with your processor, because then you'll have to call your brilliant little sister and ask her to help you to stop your computers start-up, shut-down continuous loop. It only took 56 minutes to resolve the issue and obliterate said program from my computer.

Anyhow, positive things that have happened so far my first week of school:

*I found the library. Always my best friend, even when I don't have any real ones within an hour and a half drive.

*Today was the first day that I looked up from the stairs and was actually surprised that I was already on my floor. I'm hoping it's because I am now accustomed to climbing three flights of stairs, and not because I was just lost in thought and hadn't realized how long I'd been climbing.

*I got assigned clients at my internship, so I will soon be doing real-people work, instead of fake-employee work (aka filling out forms and taking online quizzes about sexual harassment and such)

*We had a fire alarm go off last night at 12:30am. I'd already been in bed about 2 hours, so at first I thought it was my alarm clock. Then I thought it was our apartment that was on fire, and that I had somehow caused the fire. I climbed out of bed and considered checking my apartment, but I somehow decided I wasn't at fault, and even if I was I didn't care that much to go check my apartment. Apparently I am REALLY apathetic when I'm tired. I went down all three flights of stairs and went outside to wait for the fire department. Despite the fact that we were all grumbling, it was kind of exciting. Way to get that out of the way now, instead of waiting until, say, November.

*I took time out on Tuesday to go to the Logan Temple, and it's just beautiful. I had a wonderful time.

*I've already found a great little study couch for myself at the institute--although, trying to balance taking an institute class with my internship schedule has proved a bit difficult.

*There is a statue of French Fries on campus. No joke. I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it.

P.S. VAL--Amy Grant is on the Radio right now =]

What an exciting week!

2008-08-21T20:52:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures of my adorable nephew. I got to spend some time with him and my sister and brother-in-law this weekend.

So, it's been a pretty eventful week. I moved in to my little apartment up in Logan on Saturday. I didn't get to meet my roommate (it appears I only have one), but I left my number and a note telling her I'd be back next Saturday. I live on the fourth floor, so I would personally like to thank my amazing little sister for helping me lug all my junk up four flights of stairs. I would also like to thank my calves and arms for not giving out on me during that time. I hope I never have to live on the fourth floor of anything that doesn't have a freight elevator ever again.

We moved Britte out of her apartment on Monday, and it took some creativity figuring out how to get all of her stuff into the little RAV4 that we rented, plus make room for the three of us in the same car. In the end, we tied our luggage, Britte's sofa cushion chair thing, and some other assorted items to the top of the roof. Now, in my defense, this is the first time I have ever attempted to tie something to the top of a car. You would think it wouldn't be that hard. But you would be wrong. I bought the tarp and bungee cords in Springville. We bought more bungee cords in Payson. We stopped just north of Nephi to purchase some duct tape. By the way, McGuyver, I was highly disappointed in the amount of time that the 20 yds of duct tape I purchased lasted on that tarp against driving 75mph and the strong winds that beat on the car at a perpendicular angle as we drove. By the time we stopped in Scipio to purchase something--anything--that would help our situation, Britte and I were laughing so hard at our ridiculous situation that I'm sure the people at the gas station thought we were drunk. I decided to try twine this time. I guess I figured that the three different elements holding this stupid piece of plastic together on the top of the car had to be somewhat effective. In the end, the twine was probably the most effective in keeping the plastic from flapping, and the bungee cords were effective in keeping the stuff on top of the car (though Britte says she is missing two pillows that were up there. I, personally, think they are lost in her room, because I clearly remember pulling them down from the top when we got home. Of course, it was midnight and I was tired and basically wanting to blow up everything on the top of the car by that point in time, so I could be mistaken).

Then today, my baby brother David got his mission call!!! We couldn't open it right away, because my Dad is floating out in the Pacific Ocean somewhere, so (following the clever plan that my parents previously came up with) my Mom emailed him and told him to call at 6pm. Britte, Dave and I went to the beach to distract him from opening his call early (and to get slight sunburns). By six we had bought pizzas and stuff for root beer floats, Dave's best friend (also named Dave) had come over, and my Dad had called. We got Rachel on a cell phone speaker phone as well, and Dave sat down to open his call. So guess where my Dave is going?

Johannesburg, South Africa
English Speaking
Entering the South Africa MTC on November 27th, 2008

Is that crazy or what? We've all been making all these random guesses as to where he would go, but I honestly never dreamed he'd be called to South Africa. I am SO jealous. I'm already scheming on how I can go there to come "pick him up" (aka, tour the country with the added benefit of being able to do so with your baby brother that you haven't seen for two years).

Rachel told us that she had been talking to Ross yesterday, and they had decided that Dave would have to go to Africa somewhere because my Dad served in Europe (Denmark), I served in South America (Chile), and my brother Mike served in Asia (Philippines). So we decided that she won the mint brownies. I'm so excited for him!!!

Because, why not?

2008-08-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

Celebrating the year 2059, for the endless possibilities that it holds.

I made tortillas from scratch today. They ended up being amazing, though they were a little chubby and Dave said he thought they needed more salt. I was on a cooking spree, and made a yellow cake with crushed pineapple mixed in. When it had cooled I put cream cheese icing on it, and when it was time to eat it I decided we needed to celebrate something. So I pulled out all the number candles we had and decided that we should celebrate the year 2059. Then we sang a rousing chorus of I'm a Little Teapot (with the motions, of course) and blew out the candles together.

All in all, it was a very productive Sunday.
And my talk went very well, thank you.

Maybe I should start packing...

2008-08-09T23:15:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty much vague about my packing efforts. I stole some boxes from our recent move at work, and purchased 5 more from the u-haul store this morning. Can anyone tell me why the u-haul store doesn't have parking? They have a huge lot for their vans and trucks and such, but not a single "I'm just coming to buy tape and a few boxes from you guys" parking spot. You have to park on the street, then walk up their drive-way and through their huge parking lot that you can't park in to finally get to the store. Then you have to haul your stuff back through the lot and down the hill to get to your car. I guess that's why they call it u-haul. They just want to make sure that you remember their name.

Anyhow, like I said, that has been my biggest efforts towards preparing to move up to Logan. We're scheduled to leave on Thursday. I'm optimistic that I'll be able to throw everything into boxes by then. I'm also on the lookout for inexpensive vacuum bags. You know, the kind you put your blankets in and then you suck all the air out with a vacuum cleaner, and the bag is then about 1" thick? I realize that will make my blankets and sheets and such all wrinkley, but I'm willing to deal with the consequences. So if anyone knows a good place to get them, let me know.

I also got a couple of DVD/CD cases so that I won't have to lug all of my DVD/CD covers up to Logan. I figure it will save space in my room if I put them all in the cases. I almost started taking the DVD's out of their covers to put in their case today, but for some reason felt that I would appear unfriendly and they would feel unwanted if I did it today, so I put it off. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it's what was going through my mind at the time.

I went to a bridal shower this morning, and a going away dinner tonight. The dinner wasn't for me (neither was the bridal shower, haha) though a lot of my friends that were at the going away dinner for my friend Crystal also wished me well. Crystal and Brandi gave me a piggy bank painted with ocean scenes, which is always a pleasing present. Crystal painted it at this great little do-it-yourself ceramic painting shop that we've gone to together before. She did an amazing job.

It will go great in my room. I discovered today (thanks to my Mom's Saturday afternoon love of HGTV) that my design style is Ethnic Eclectic. Basically what that boils down to is that I like a lot of random things, and I try hard to tie them all in together. It suggested that I use nature-type designs to do so. If you want to take the design style quiz, here is a link. It's under "Discover Your Signature Look."

The end. I have to go to bed now. I'm speaking in sacrament meeting tomorrow, so I have to get up early to practice giving my talk. I am resisting staying up much too late reading Deathly Hallows; however, I fear I might give in. Love you, goodnight.

Play-time for Bekah

2008-08-04T22:04:00.000-07:00

Last week, I spent Monday and Tuesday at a writing conference taught by Orson Scott Card. And it was amazing. There were about 60 other nerds there that wanted to learn about writing, and Card did not disappoint. We had class all day; we had to write a story and read about 15 beginnings to other stories during our hour (and a half?) lunch; At night we paired up with another classmate and had to interview a random person, do research in a library or bookstore, observe culture in San Diego, and then come up with 5 complete story outlines to turn in the next morning at 9am based on our findings. It turned out pretty cool. We had to share one of our ideas in a group of 6-7 people, and after we read the information on the card (we were only allowed one 3x5 card per story, and we had to fill it completely) our group members had to discuss and critique our outline. Once we had finished reading our outline, the writer wasn't allowed to comment or explain anything further. It was interesting to hear the other group members comments, and it was also kind of funny what aspects of the story they decided to focus on--parts that I didn't even think were important. So I suppose it's always good to get someone else's perspective.

One of my favorite things that he does is his "1000 ideas in an hour" group discussions. We came up with a character together, went through all the twists and turns of character development, and analyzed all the different angles of what would happen to him if such-and-such a thing happened. There's a lot more, but it's all in my notebook in my room, and it's too late for me to expend the energy leaving the family room to go get it, and then feeling obligated to put all 15 or so pages of notes on this blog. You wouldn't find my notes interesting anyhow, because most of them are little snippets of information that only my muddled brain would understand.

Anyhow, that's what I did for fun last week. Besides painting a large palm tree on one of the walls at work. I'll post a picture of it as soon as it's done. The kids want a little castaway painted on the island. I don't think I'm that talented.

P.S. I bought shoes today that look like they were made out of a tablecloth. And I think I love them.

Chick Flick Support Group

2008-07-19T23:40:00.000-07:00

I'll admit that I am a fan of Chick Flicks. My cousin recently came to stay with us overnight. I think it was about the time that I was writing the quizzes for my Mom's English class on Austen's Pride and Prejudice. He insisted that he has known too many girls whose ideas of love have become warped by Jane Austen movies. I tried to disagree, but to no avail. He was not to be persuaded.

I think that chick flicks are like medicine. They are good in small doses. If you are sick of Love, it might be a good idea to break one out and put it in the DVD player, to remind yourself (after you have become emotionally stable, else you run the risk of "accidentally" throwing something at your TV) that love really does and can and should exist in your life. But just like any medicine, if you take too much you either become addicted or you make yourself even more sick. In this case your "sickness" can warp your beliefs of what Love really is-most of the time without you even realizing that it is happening. And if you claim not to be addicted, take a real look in the mirror before you walk away. The first step is admitting you have a problem. =]

I'll admit that I own a large variety of Jane Austen movies, and a good number of "chick flicks" that I have deemed worthy of spending $7.99-19.99 on. Amazon frequently suggests such movies to me. But there are many out there that try and sell love, turning it into something cheap and unrealistic. I hate those movies. Most of them, despite weak efforts to incorporate some kind of moral in to their stories, end up selling a cheapened version of what real love can become, thus warping young single minds worldwide. No, thanks. I'm not buying.

So why am I even writing this? Yesterday I ended up at Hollywood Video. I was on a treasure hunt for Season 1 or 2 of Psych for my Mom (see previous post. The season premier was last night). No one had either. Even my Dad's beloved Fry's failed me. And they have everything! Anyhow, I was going to leave HV, because they didn't have Psych either, but then decided to roam around and see if there was anything that I wanted to rent. I remembered that there was a comedy out based on the Snow White fairy tale. A friendly associate helped me find Sydney White. It looked teenie-bopperish but cute. Then, as I was heading towards the counter I saw another movie that I'd had a vague interest in-Penelope. It was also fairy-tale like, so I decided to make a weekend of it, and immerse myself in fairy tales.

Sydney White was not bad, but if you ever want to see a really cute, sweet chick flick, then check out Penelope. It's about a girl who is cursed with the nose of a pig. It's magical and smart and funny and makes you want to become a better, stronger version of you. That's the story I look for in movies. So I guess Amazon can check off one more romantic comedy for this girl.

P.S. I'm listening to the classical music station, and the song they were just playing was written by Paul McCartney. Did you know he wrote classical music? I didn't. I was so flabbergasted that I didn't even catch the title of the song. Sad day...

Random is Bestest

2008-07-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

I have nothing to really say tonight, which sometimes makes for the most interesting posts. I guess we'll see.

This last week, for 3 days straight, all I was doing at work was painting and moving furniture and painting some more, then putting stuff away and cleaning once the furniture was all finally in the right place. And then painting some more. We moved into a new clubhouse. It's nice and big and has room outside for a basketball court and maybe even a little garden. I won't be there long, but it will be fun to help them get started. Plus I have now realized the value of painting a room "two-tone." It's where you have most of your room painted a neutral color, and then one "accent" wall a deep or bold color (one that would be too overpowering if you painted the whole room that color, but adds just enough pizazz if you have one wall painted that way). After I came home the second day my Mom, who is trying to re-do some of our house, took me to Home Depot to choose some possible paint colors. I tried to convince her of the benefits of a two-toned wall (I was channeling my inner-interior designer-something that doesn't happen too often), but alas, she was not to be convinced (as of yet. I think I still have a chance. I'm wearing her down slowly).

Have you guys ever seen Psych? It's basically my favorite show ever. It has Dule Hill in it. He played Charlie in The West Wing, and he's great. James Roday plays the main character, Shawn Spencer. He's basically the most hilarious character ever. He's this guy who has a talent for noticing details, and he uses it to solve crimes and convince everyone else that he's psychic. And what's also great is they make a ton of references to movies, tv shows, and music from the 80's and 90's, so every episode turns into one of those "remember when" sessions you sometimes start with your friends (remember Full House, Growing Pains, and the Cosby Show? Remember TGIF? We used it watch it on an extremely old black and white tv in Rachel's room, and beg my parents to order pizza on Friday nights while we watched it)...

So, have you ever gone to the library and checked out way too many books that you know you won't have time to finish--but you're really hoping that this time you will? That was me, yesterday...and for the next three weeks. So hopefully I can get them done. Plus, I purchased another book at Barnes and Noble which so far is really good, but then it's like a toss up--do I read the library books, that are due back in 3 weeks, laying aside my new very very interesting book; or do I read my very very interesting book very quickly and then read my library books; or do I try and read them all at the same time (which is what I usually end up doing), and risk the possibility of not finishing the library books before I need to return them. Ah, the complicated decisions of life...

You know one reason I'm excited to move back to Utah? Super Walmart. Yes, I know they are the devil or whatever because they don't offer benefits to their employees, and some of the stuff they sell is slightly on the crappy side, and they kind of have a monopoly on the "general store" market. But honestly, I need them in my life. You see, out here in California our grocery stores are organized into a union ("We're a union, just by saying soooo.....And the world will know!!"--name that tune). And they have decided not to allow Walmart to join their union (which Walmart probably wouldn't want to do anyways). This decision, however, has a grave impact on my financial welfare. I'm already paying $100 a paycheck for gas. If I can buy a cantaloupe for a few cents cheaper, then I want that cantaloupe a few cents cheaper. Luckily, Walmart has gotten around this and is now selling every kind of grocery type item that they can without infringing on the union's standards. The only thing that they lack is the meat and produce section. So it looks like I still have to buy my cantaloupe at Vons. Until August. Muahaha.

I have to return to my lair and read 7 books at once. Farewell. =]

What are the odds?

2008-07-08T18:57:00.000-07:00

I just got an email from my Dad. He is currently on the USNS Mercy. The ship just left Singapore, heading towards (I think) Timor. While he was in Singapore, he was able to attend church at a little LDS meetinghouse. At the end of the church meetings, the Bishop announced that there would be a fireside upstairs in the Stake Center. My Dad decided to stay for the fireside. The speakers soon arrived, and what are the odds that my Dad would know one of the speakers? He and my Dad had gone to a science camp together when they were in high school, and had been friends all through their BYU years.

Then, weirdest of all weird, my Dad met the Sister that was also speaking. She was introduced as a professor from BYU's School of Social Work. So my Dad asked her if she, by any chance, knew Rebekah Nelson. She was surprised, but said yes, she had been my professor over my 8 month internship while I was at BYU. My Dad introduced himself, and they had a good laugh about meeting each other halfway across the world. So what are the odds that my Dad, an old friend of his from college, and my college professor would all meet in a little meetinghouse in Singapore? I've never really taken statistics, but I'd imagine that the odds are in the millions.

I just want to include a little note about why Sister Sheffield (my professor) was in Singapore in the first place. The group had been returning to the US from Indonesia, where they had introduced a program that Sister Sheffield created called the Family Enrichment Program. It is based on our LDS idea of family home evening, but adapted for those who are not LDS. She has introduced this program to many different countries at meetings held by the United Nations (if I recall correctly) on strengthening family. Her recent trip to Indonesia resulted in the government adopting the family enrichment program, purchasing 280 million copies of the manual (for which Sister Sheffield gets no royalties).

What an amazing work!

Happy Fourth

2008-07-04T23:29:00.000-07:00

My brothers and I left on Wednesday night to come up to Utah and visit my sister and our brand new nephew. We stayed at Planet Hollywood in Vegas on Wednesday night. We didn't get in until 1:30am, so we didn't really have a chance to play around, but it was still quite fun. Inside their building there is a small area that "rains." Basically there is a sprinkler system up in the ceiling, and the water drips down into a little pool. Neat concept. We then drove the rest of the way up to Woodland Hills on Thursday. I've spent most of my time after that either chauffeuring people around or holding my adorable little nephew.

Fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday. What could be better than a summer day entirely devoted to family, barbeque's, picnics, fireworks, making flag cakes, and even the occasional swimming trip? I just can't think of anything that really tops it. Here is the traditional flag cake. My mom made one when we were little, and I've always enjoyed making it every year since. And no, this year I did not count out the blueberries to make sure there were fifty; nor did I make sure to put 13 rows of red and white. It still turned out just fine. It's pretty great.

Auntie Bekah

2008-06-22T16:25:00.000-07:00

Yea! I became an Aunt today at 2:45pm, MST. I'm so excited!

Welcome to my nephew,
Chase Nelson Wyatt!!!

Don't worry. More pictures will follow. This is just the beginning. =]

Reward: $2.00

2008-06-15T21:36:00.000-07:00

Missing!
I have been looking for this taco bell packet for at least the past 6 months.
If you run across it, please save it for me.

It makes me happy.
It's the funniest one, in my book. And it is missing.

See the Condiment Packet Museum here

Bekah, Bekah, the Strawberry Picka

2008-06-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

Tell me these aren't the most beautiful strawberries you've ever seen! My supervisor suggested an outing for me to take the kids on: Picking strawberries at a strawberry patch. There is a little strawberry patch north of San Diego where you can purchase either a quart sized container for $6 or a gallon sized container for $11. Then they tell you what area to stay in, and you head out with your little bucket and pick your own strawberries! There were rows and rows of strawberries, and you can dig your hands through the plants and look for the ripest strawberries. Yea! It was really great. If you ever have the chance to do something similar, I highly recommend it.

I've already made mine into a Strawberry Pie. Yum!

$47.95

2008-06-07T21:32:00.000-07:00

That's how much I paid to fill up my gas tank this afternoon.

Ree-di-cu-lous.

When I was in high school, I swear it only cost me $16. Or something like that.

If everyone else feels like I do, the entire United States just groaned in agony, and are all seriously considering taking the bus to work on Monday.

My Navy-fied Dad

2008-06-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

I know that I'm already updating my Dad's blog, but I had to post this picture on my blog as well. It's an awesome picture. He's in Mindanao, Philippines. They have been working with Operation Smile, treating children with cleft palates. In the three to four days that they have been doing the operations, they have treated over 300 children! They are working 24 hours a day to get as many operations done as possible.

In case you were wondering why he is so decoratively clad, he has to wear the long-sleeved Navy jumpsuit because it has been soaked in heavy duty bug repellent, so that he doesn't get eaten by giant Filipino bugs. They gave him the kevlar vest and helmet to wear when he goes ashore. Apparently, there has been some guerrilla fighting in the area prior to their arrival! My Dad says everything is all calm now, so I'm sure they are either a) making him wear the outfit just to see if he will actually do it, or b) are being super-protective of one of the only people that knows how to keep the hospital machines (that the Operation Smile people desperately need) up and running. Plus, who doesn't want a helmet that has their name taped on top of it? I'd buy one if I saw it in the grocery store!

The Leak

2008-05-29T22:12:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday at work I was walking from the kitchen into the family room area, in front of the TV, when I noticed that the rug was wet. At first I thought someone spilled water. I briefly began randomly muttering "Who spilled water on the carpet and didn't clean it up?" a few times; then I lifted the rug and realized that all the carpet underneath it was sopping wet. There was no way that anyone had spilled that much water and none of the staff notice it. So I moved the coffee table and rolled back the rug. There was a 2X4 foot area that was wet, with no sign of dripping from the ceiling or walls. I felt under the TV cabinet, and it was slightly damp. So I went to find our director. She agreed that it was probably a slab leak. She called the owner of the building, who eventually showed up (well, his assistant did) and said they would get someone on it "as soon as possible." My coworkers and I moved the furniture away from the leak area and waited. For AN ENTIRE WEEK. True, the day after we discovered the leak, a crew of two showed up and cut two holes...in the wall. Then they left. Nothing was done over Memorial Day weekend, and indeed, nothing was done for two days after that. Today, however, a jack hammer and some shovels were brought in, causing some actual progress to be made, and now our floor looks something like this:

(This is not an actual picture of our floor, although it is quite similar to what I get to look at for the next few days.)

It's actually kind of funny, because the giant gaping hole in the floor is a) blocking the kitchen, so we have to jump over it to get in to the kitchen area, thus putting to the test my nonexistent acrobatic skills, and b) surrounded by dirt, which has the appearance of beach sand. That, coupled with the ocean pictures on the wall that make fake ocean noises, gives the imitation that we are trying to create our own little beach area inside the building. Maybe tomorrow, I'll bring my beach chair and a book with me to work. That'll make the bosses laugh! Or cringe.

Pepe le Pew vs. Alvin the Turtle

2008-05-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

Last night a skunk passed by my open window. Sad day. Even sadder is the fact that Mssr. Le Pew sprayed near my open window. I spent quite a while spraying my mattress, carpet, and curtains down with febreeze. My pillows went into the dryer with a dryer sheet (turns out they weren't really affected). Unfortunately, there is still something that smells skunkish in my room. And I'm pretty sure that "something" is the shelled grumpy-old-man turtle on top of my book shelf. Boo. Does anyone know if I can wash my turtle in tomato juice?

The Wild Animal Park

2008-05-14T21:19:00.000-07:00

I spent my day today shepherding 9 young adults and 1 other staff member around the Wild Animal Park. It was pretty fun. If you ever feel the need to go to the Wild Animal Park or the San Diego Zoo and don't necessarily want to pay for it, each one has one day in the year where they don't charge admission. That day is Founder's Day. It's the celebration of the day that they opened, and it's not very well known. The Wild Animal Park's founder's day is in May, and the San Diego Zoo's is in October.

Here are a couple of pictures. I can't put many in, because I can't post ones that have my kids in them.

In front of the African Lions Exhibit

They have a bunch of lion cubs at the Wild Animal Park. Did you know that lion cubs sleep about 20 hours a day?

California Condors

I love Giraffes. They have a lot of great overlooks at the WAP, and in this picture I'm standing on one overlooking the giraffe area. The great thing about the Wild Animal Park is that there is a lot of space for the animals to roam around in, so you sort of feel like you're walking around in an African Safari.

Shell

2008-05-10T21:25:00.001-07:00

My Dad emailed me on my birthday (he was out in the middle of the ocean still, so he couldn't call quite yet), and asked me if I wanted anything for my birthday from Hawaii. Well, I have a bit of a sea shell collection, so I asked him if he could try to find me a conch shell. He found one, the last in the store, and this is the picture that I got of it:

Shell, looking out at the USS Missouri on the left, and the Arizona Memorial

Shell, watching the USS Pelilieu dock near the Mercy

In case you were wondering, he added the eyeballs himself. He's decided that it's too fragile to mail home to me, so I'll just have to get it from him when he gets back. We've decided to encourage Shell's exploration of the Southwest Pacific. You may be getting more pictures of all of Shell's travels.

To answer some of the questions people have been asking me, my Dad will be gone until the end of September. He's currently communicating with us via email, and his new little blackberry (as long as he's by land-they don't have the satellite phones set up for when they're out in open waters yet). We also have a webcam that we haven't tested out yet. We'll probably wait until he gets to Guam to try it out. My Dad is a computer analyst for SAIC. They contract with the Navy to keep the Naval Hospitals' computer systems running. The Mercy is a hospital ship, and the navy contracted with SAIC to get a computer analyst on board the ship, to keep all their hospital equipment running correctly. After a lot of serious talking, prayers, and other such important things-to-do-when-making-tough-decisions type things, my parents decided it was a good opportunity. Dad applied for the job, and got it. Thus the adventures of Jeff Nelson began. And now my Conch Shell is out having the adventure of a lifetime. I think when I finally do get it, I'll put it on a shelf on my wall, and then surround it with pictures of him all over the world. Sounds great, huh?

USNS Mercy and My Dad

2008-05-08T22:01:00.000-07:00

Recently, my Dad left on the USNS Mercy. No, my father didn't join the Navy at the ripe old age of 55. However, he does work for a company that contracts with the Navy, and they decided to send him out on a ship. This is my parents standing in front of the Mercy. As you can tell from the giant red crosses plastered all over the ship, the Mercy is a hospital ship.

The Mercy is big. Here it is, sailing out of the San Diego Harbor, beneath the Coronado Bridge.

My Dad took this picture two days away from Hawaii. The helicopter is just landing on the flight deck. Pretty sunsets in the Pacific, huh?

I've created a blog for my Dad too. It's listed in my links. If you want to check up on Where in the World Jeff Nelson is, you can go to his blog. Right now he's in Hawaii, but they are supposed to leave on Saturday. They will be touring all over the Pacific. It looks like they'll be adding a stop to Myanmar as well, helping out disaster victims there.

Happy Trails!

I'm not dead, I'm knitting

2008-05-04T18:18:00.000-07:00

Explanation: Every six months or so I feel compelled to buy more knitting supplies, whether it be yarn or needles or a new little book of cute or fun things to knit. This wouldn't be bad if there was something to show for my purchases. Note: These purchases usually occur while accompanying my Mom to Michael's, where she buys similar things; She usually has a much more productive outcome than I do, being blessed with a unique talent in the crocheting department. Unfortunately, nothing ever really comes of my new supplies, aside from being an overstock of yarn in my room beneath my little sewing drawer. UNTIL NOW! That's right folks, I have finally figured out how to PURL! Oh yEaH! Now the scarf that I am making, instead of being your boring everyday scarf, has six neat little rows of sticky uppy braid looking things (kill me, I don't know the terminology, if there is any). From the bottom of my amazing scarf, it looks something like this: VVVVVV I'm gonna be warm and cozy in Logan, styling my braidy scarf, I can tell you right now.

But really, the reason I haven't blogged in approximately 2 1/2 weeks or so is because I was planning a baby shower, trying to find my grandpa's dentures (don't ask!), driving up to Utah, attending my sister's graduation(s), touring BYU campus with my parents, touring Utah State's campus with my parents, buying a comfy t-shirt from Utah State, driving back from Logan to Provo, buying last minute baby stuff for my sister with my Mom, throwing the actual baby shower for said sister, having a family barbeque, driving back from Utah to Cali, recovering from said trip to Utah, catching up on the 1.7 million things at work that could, in all honesty, have been taken care of by some of my co-workers while I was gone, catching up on the things I actually needed to catch up on at work, throwing a Bon Voage party for my Dad, sending my Dad off on the USS Mercy, assisting my Mom in helping establish contact with my Dad, assisting my Mom in not feeling lonesome, Temple, and missionary car wash. This morning I finally found my floor, but now I cannot find my bed. Sad. And this is a faithful narrative of what I have been up to for the past 2 1/2 weeks. We managed to watch all of the extended LOTR movies on the way to and from Utah. It was awesome.

And now, dear friends, I'm off to the fireside. I'll post pictures of the exciting trip and recent events soon.

The Satisfaction of a Mediocre Haircut

2008-04-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

I work with young adults who have mental health disorders. For many of them, you can't tell that there is anything wrong with them. Perhaps they might seem a little different, but you really wouldn't be able to tell. And then there are the precious few souls for whom it is rather obvious that they are not well. They are really the sweetest people on earth. They are also the most stubborn, and the ones who make you want to laugh (hopefully in a non-condescending sort of way) the most at the things they do.

Let me tell you a little story about a young man that I will call Plucky. (This is, obviously, not his name, or nickname.) Plucky has been trying to grow his hair out for a while, refusing to have it cut because he wanted it to grow out long. His hair is rather coarse and slightly curly; he doesn't use gel, so the effect is that he has a bit of a fro (or as much of a fro as a white kid can have). Well, last Thursday I came in to work and saw Plucky in the hall. I said good morning to him, and he said hi to me. I looked at him close and noticed that his hair looked less fro-y, so I asked him if he got his hair cut. He gave me this sort of sneaky look, and then laughed really loudly at me. Then he walked away. As he was walking away, I looked at the back of his head and realized that Plucky had given HIMSELF a haircut. But it wasn't an all-over haircut. He had, apparently, grabbed a chunk of hair at the back of his head, nearish his neck, and chopped it off. So there was a huge chunk of hair missing from the poor boy's fro.

Needless to say, Plucky looked ridiculous. I spent the rest of the day trying to convince him to agree that he needed a haircut. He would yell at me, in a sort of laughing way, and tell me that he liked it. "Okay, fine. I'll just let him walk around with chunky hair for a while, and see if he really does like it," I thought. Friday I came in to work and mentioned it to Plucky again. He gave me a maybe--but only after I promised him that hair grows faster when you get it trimmed regularly. Unfortunately I didn't bring my haircutting scissors Friday, so I made a mental note to bring them Monday. I brought them, but got successive refusals from Plucky on both Monday and Tuesday. Then finally today, when Plucky came to talk to me about something totally unrelated, I mentioned a haircut again. He got a kind of squinty look in his eye, then said that he couldn't remember if it was a dream or something that really happened, but he had thought that he wanted me to cut his hair. Good enough for me! To the kitchen we went, with me wielding a dollar-store comb and my haircutting scissors. Now, I have never taken a haircutting class in my life. The little I know about cutting hair I learned from watching my mom, and trimming my own bangs (but only occasionally). But, honestly, anything would be better than having a huge chunk missing, right? Well, Plucky's hair is super coarse and randomly curly, so it was a little hard to tell; plus I didn't want to take off too much, because he wanted it "long." In the end, it turned out alright, although I did manage to cut myself with the scissors. I'm such a dork. At least I didn't cut him, though.

He went to check it in the bathroom, and came back to yell at me that he liked it. It's still a fro, just less huge and without a chunk missing, but what can you do? I don't think even a professional hairstylist could tame his hair. I'll take a look at it tomorrow and double check to see if I missed any spots or whatnot. But it's probably the most satisfactory haircut that I'll ever give, because it took so much patience for me to be able to convince him to let anyone touch his head in the first place.

What I did today...

2008-04-12T23:57:00.000-07:00

I felt like writing a blog tonight. I wrote a blog yesterday. I decided it would be okay to write two days in a row. So here is what I did today.

This morning I woke up at approximately 5:30am. I quickly got in the shower, because if I hadn't I would have fallen back asleep. By 6:30 I was ready to go to the Temple. I started out as a Temple worker about two months ago. I had been planning to take my new slightly-used beach chair with me, not into the Temple but into my car, to be used after said Temple shift. However, I didn't have time to gather all my post-Temple-attendance beach things, so I simply left on time and decided if I really wanted to go I could do so later on in the day.

My Temple shift was amazing, as always. I love the sisters that I work with. Since I joined the spanish speaking shift I am always surrounded by the sweetest ladies that all remind me of my mission. I felt like a new greenie again the first few weeks, and had a little trouble convincing some of the sisters that, indeed, I do actually speak spanish. I don't think I was ever really appropriately grateful for the forced memorization that I went through on my mission (this was pre-preach my gospel) until now. There is a lot of memorization that goes with being a temple worker, and being able to memorize everything is really very helpful. I realized today that I should probably be working on memorizing the English as well...

I left the Temple and realized that it was, surprisingly, approximately 94 degrees outside. I grabbed a sandwich at Subway and came home with plans to grab my beach things and head out. I ate my sandwich while watching a little TV. LOTR was on TNT, so that amused me for a little while, but it's not as satisfying watching it on TV, because you already know it is five million years long, and when they add commercials, it's just a little disheartening. So I went into my room and looked at my little pile of beach things. Here's the rub: my brother had just mowed the lawn this morning, and the only thing that could possibly tempt me not to go to the beach in 90 degree weather (and try to fight off all the other beach bums for a parking spot, I might add) is the smell of fresh cut grass, a nice breeze, and the shade of our front yard tree. So I dragged my little beach chair out under the tree, grabbed my copy of Pride and Prejudice, a pencil, my pillow and a bottle of water, and sat in the front yard, blissfully running my feet through the grass while I underlined important passages from Vol. II Ch. 1-9 of P&P (I'm writing study questions for my Mom's English students).

After a while, my other brother came home from work, and we eventually set off to pick up our grandpa and take him to dinner. Someone in our family always takes him out to dinner on Saturdays, and Mike and I were the only ones free today (we try to go all together whenever we can). We went to Johnny R's, a mom-and-pop type restaurant that is a little shabby, but we get the best service in the world there. I think we started going there when I was about 15 or so. It had become grandpa's favorite new hang-out, so we've known the owners and one of the waitresses there for years now. Grandpa doesn't even have to really order. Ada just brings him what she knows he likes--and he's totally spoiled; she even cuts his chicken up for him before she brings him his plate.

After we dropped grandpa off at his place, Mike and I headed back home. He had to leave to go to correlation meeting with the Elders, so I was home alone. Left to my own devices, I ended up watching Lost episodes on the Lappy and moving my furniture yet again. It's not just that I do this when I'm bored. It really is a very effective way to clean your room. At least, it will be when I finish going through the pile now lining my closet. I also scratched the wall with my desk as I was moving it. I don't feel too bad, because I was the one that painted this room, so I know where to find the touch up paint. Still though...I should really be more careful.

Now it's 12:27am or so, I have classical music playing, and I'm wondering what I am going to do with my Sunday morning now that I don't have meetings at 10am anymore. I recently got released as the co-chair of the missionary council, and called as a Relief Society teacher. I was a little sad to find out that I won't be able to teach until the last week in May. So, for the first time in what seems like years, I have my Sunday mornings free. Maybe I'll start reading one of the new books I got last week at the Deseret Book sale. That sounds like a good plan.

Lappy 486

2008-04-11T21:45:00.000-07:00

That's right folks! After months of hearing my sister complain that my desktop, once upon a time purchased at a BYU Bookstore tent sale, was quite possibly the slowest computer on this planet, I have upgraded from the Compy 386 (which, ironically, WAS riddled with unknown viruses that ne'er a Spybot nor a Norton Antivirus could crush) to this beautiful laptop that I am typing on now. We had our differences at first--the Lappy didn't really want wireless internet, and a few other sundry beginning-of-relationship-adjustments--but we have finally acclamated and are now on good terms.

Funny story about how I got the Lappy, and then I'm off to bed. I was talking with my Mom and Jodie (my surrogate mom) last Saturday, after a wonderful night of Deseret Book shopping/dinner at El Toritos while the guys were at Priesthood meeting, about the different things that I would need in order to start school in August. I mentioned changing out the old desk top for something a little more new. Well, my Mom said something to my Dad, and wouldn't you know it, just before General Conference was starting up Sunday morning my Mom comes in to the family room and points to my Dad and says "Ask your father what he did!" Now, any kind of a direction like this always makes me a little wary, so instead of asking my Dad what he did, I asked my Mom "Why?" Much more safe.

I guess last Presidents' Day, when the one-stop-computer-shop that my Dad doesn't quite worship, aka Fry's, was having their President's Day sale, my Dad decided to go buy a little laptop for work stuff that he needed to do at home (never bothering to mention this to my Mom, until now...two months later...). Now that he will be shipping out with the Navy at the beginning of May in order to fix their computers on board one of their ships for the next six months, he was thinking that he might need a different sort of setup than the Lappy 486 offers. So he quite willingly turned the Lappy over to me. Sometimes living in my house is sort of like what I imagine it must be like to live inside Mary Poppins' black bag. Things just sort of appear whenever you need them.

Welcome home Lappy. I'm glad you don't weigh 42 lbs.

Peeps

2008-04-01T21:06:00.001-07:00

The Easter bunny left us a bunch of boxes of Peeps this year. I am, sadly, slightly opposed to eating Peeps. I know they are an American tradition, and it's practically like committing treason to say you don't like them, but the honest truth is that I don't really like the taste of them. They seem ten times more sugary than regular marshmallows, and therefore tend to make me feel sick. I sometimes like to imagine that I enjoy eating Peeps, and so pop one in to my mouth. Bad news. My brothers, on the other hand, who have stomachs and blood sugars of steel, had a Peeps eating contest on Easter. Here are some pictures:

David, who has a bigger mouth than Mikel (in more ways than one =]), won the Peeps eating contest.

Me, Mom, and Dad

Feng Shui

2008-03-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else out there have fun rearranging their furniture? Last night I did a bit of a deep clean to my room and I moved some of my furniture around. Then today at work I finally moved the furniture around in the group room. There is something sort of satisfactory in moving your furniture around; almost like you get a whole new room just by moving one object to another place. I like the first week or so after I've moved my furniture around, because I come in to my room not envisioning how the room looks now, and it's almost as if I'm surprised that things aren't where I'm used to them being.
"Oh, the furniture's been moved!...Oh wait, that was me..."

I have this habit of all of a sudden being dissatisfied with how my room is set up, and then staying up until 1am in order to move the furniture to where I think it should go. It wouldn't really take so long, but in the process I end up dusting off all my books and the shelves, cleaning out drawers and vacuuming before and after, and even while I am moving things around. If you notice, though, there is something very peaceful about climbing in to your bed after you've moved it to another side of the room. Like you know that you'll have very pleasant dreams, because having your bed in a new spot creates creative new dreams that you couldn't possibly have had if your bed had still been in the north corner of the room. You know what I mean?

Sometimes People Make Decisions...

2008-03-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

...And I haven't had to make that many for quite a while now. So I suppose accepting Utah State University's offer of admission into their graduate program is an exciting decision to make. I'm a little nervous, but not doubtful that this is right. I'll be starting the Master of Social Work program at the end of August. WHEW!!! It does feel good to finally commit myself to something like this.

I hear it's pretty cold in Logan, Utah. I suppose I'll finally have to buy Alvin that warming lamp that I've been meaning to get him. My Mom told me something kind of cool. I guess she and my Dad were talking about my decision to go, and he realized that out of all four of my grandparents only one of them went to college. My Grandpa Nelson attended USU for two years. Dad said he never did finish. So I guess this one's for you, Grandpa. I didn't know that when I followed my whim of applying at USU. Maybe sometimes whims aren't really whims after all.

My Favorite

2008-03-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

My favorite flower is a daisy.
My favorite color is blue.
My favorite thing to wear is jeans, a t-shirt, and flip-flops.
My favorite animal is a dolphin.
My favorite way to wear my hair is in a pony-tail.
My favorite blanket is the red and blue checked one that my grandma made.
My favorite scent is gardenia.
My favorite cereal is bran flakes.
My favorite ice cream is raspberry sherbet.
My favorite sport to play is tennis.
My favorite yogurt is strawberry.
My favorite high school moment is when I laughed out loud at The Custom House
My favorite jam is raspberry.
My favorite fruit is either strawberries or watermelon.
My favorite holiday is the 4th of July.
My favorite part of the drive up to Utah is the mountain pass.
My favorite vacation was my eighth grade East coast trip.
My favorite part of my mission is Isabel.
My favorite theme park is Sea World.
My favorite instrument is the violin.
My favorite scripture is Alma 57:27.
My favorite hymn is Be Still, My Soul.
My favorite place to sit while I was growing up was the Y-shaped branch in the front yard tree.
My favorite radio program is "Wait, wait, don't tell me."
My favorite picture of me is when I was two, wearing a banana sticker on my nose.
My favorite library is the BYU library, (empty of people).
My favorite thing to take with me on a trip is my pillow.
My favorite stuffed animal is Muncheechee.
My favorite thing to bake is cookies.
My favorite thing to eat after swimming is macaroni and cheese with hot dogs.
My favorite radio station to listen to is the classical music station.
My favorite toy is a bottle of bubbles.
My favorite candy is peppermints.
My favorite lipstick color is a burnt brown.
My favorite kind of hair day is when the sun makes it look reddish.
My favorite century is the 19th.
My favorite part of me is my forearms.
My favorite hike is Torrey Pines State Reserve.
My favorite spectator sport is football.
My favorite time of day is dusk.
My favorite memory of elementary school is when Michael Halbe smashed up his oreos, put them in his chocolate milk, and then ate the whole mess-just to make me laugh.
My favorite art to do is ceramics.
My favorite dream is to be happy and have peace.

I cannot choose a favorite book.
I cannot choose a favorite movie, or TV show.
I cannot choose a favorite poem.
I cannot choose a favorite opera.
I cannot choose a favorite country.
I cannot choose a favorite family member.
I cannot choose a favorite pet.
I cannot choose a favorite friend.
I cannot choose a favorite teacher.

100% Mormon

2008-03-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

Today while I was at work I was preparing for a new group that I'll be running this month. The group is called "My Meaningful Life," made in hopes of helping the kids I work with figure out who they are and what is important to them. We'll be talking about things like family and friends, work, community responsibilities, faith/beliefs, sobriety, etc. This morning I was looking for information about faith/beliefs. I was hoping to encourage them to figure out what it is that they believe in. So I googled "faith/beliefs," and found the website for BeliefNet, and more specifically, (muahaha) a quiz.

Now, I'd like you to know that I do not sit around taking quizzes all the time, despite the fact that I suggested a few other quizzes recently. But honestly, how could I resist the "What's your Faith?" quiz? So I took it, and guess what? I'm 100% Mormon! It made me laugh, and I'm really glad that the internet community confirms my beliefs. The most exciting part was that one of my co-workers took the quiz, and it told him that he is 100% Mormon as well, so I invited him to come to church with me any time. I'm thinking this could be a really great missionary tool...

Anyhow, here is how the Belief-O-Matic explains the results, and how my percentages worked out:

"The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa. Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking."

1. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (100%)
2. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (97%)
3. Jehovah's Witness (94%)
4. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (91%)
5. Orthodox Quaker (81%)
6. Eastern Orthodox (75%)
7. Roman Catholic (75%)
8. Seventh Day Adventist (72%)
9. Bahá'í Faith (64%)
10. Orthodox Judaism (64%)
11. Sikhism (58%)
12. Liberal Quakers (57%)
13. Islam (55%)
14. Hinduism (51%)
15. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (46%)
16. Jainism (46%)
17. Unitarian Universalism (46%)
18. Reform Judaism (43%)
19. Mahayana Buddhism (39%)
20. Theravada Buddhism (37%)
21. Neo-Pagan (30%)
22. Taoism (22%)
23. Secular Humanism (21%)
24. New Age (19%)
25. Scientology (19%)
26. New Thought (16%)
27. Nontheist (13%)

After you see your results, you can click on the different religions to see their explanations of different religious topics. I laugh about it, but isn't it also a little sad that there are so many people out there that are so lost they feel like they need the Belief-O-Matic to help them figure out who they are in this great big universe?

You Know What I Love?

2008-03-07T21:51:00.000-08:00

Cherry Trees, in bloom