More thoughts post Capitol riot

 I keep processing and wanted to share some more thoughts.  I really do feel like part of the solution is to listen to each other and get to know where people are coming from.  I think this helps us to humanize rather than villainize.  I also love to hear how people think, whether they agree with me or not.

And with that I’d like to preface my thoughts.  You are free to choose to read this or to not.  If you read with an open mind I think it can be constructive, but if you read just to criticize I think that’s probably a waste of emotional energy.  If you comment I ask you to be kind.  If you feel heated I ask you to take a step back and process before responding because attacking back and forth doesn’t get us anywhere.  If you come off as rude and attacking I am just going to delete the comment.  If you are into conspiracy theories you are probably not going to change my mind and I am probably not going to change your mind, so my guess is the dialogue won’t do anything productive.  I realize we are biased, but we can look at biases and how different sides report and don’t need to label it as fake news.  I like to look at legitimate news sources that have accountability and require multiple sources, etc.  I don’t just trust any random person who says something on a YouTube video.  So when people tell me I can’t think for myself and I can’t use a mainstream media source to be legitimate I find it hard to have a reasonable conversation.  So while I am up for hearing other’s perspectives I’m not really up for all the political debate right now.

My thoughts are based on some things I’ve listened to lately that have been the most thought provoking to me.  One is Brene Brown’s podcast episode on Unlocking Us, “Brene on Words, Actions, Dehumanization, and Accountability.”   Another is on Jasmine Bradshaw’s podcast First Name Basis, “The Untold Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”  And another is on Spencer Cox’s (Utah governor) inaugural address.

I want to say in no uncertain terms that I do not stand for the dehumanization Donald Trump has done.  I have never voted for him, and in both instances it was more about who he was as a person.  I feel like he has moderate policies and feel pretty moderate so I haven’t had huge problems with him policy wise.  The policies I’m most critical of are the dehumanizing ones (separating families, Muslim ban).  For me it’s been about his rhetoric.  I’ve heard people excuse his words like they don’t matter or he just says what he thinks.  But it is not okay.  Brene gives some examples in the podcast episode on specific things he has said and how they have dehumanized if you’re interested in listening to that.  I think a lot of what he has said to dehumanize people has led to the environment in which the Capitol riot could happen.  These people probably already had their prejudice, but Trump created the environment for them to be emboldened.  I know some people probably got caught up in the moment and not everyone there was a white supremicist.  But there were enough people at the Capitol in gear from white supremecist and anti-Semitic groups that were there that you cannot deny that those groups have an adoration for Trump.  I know some people are up in arms about free speech.  But Donald Trump has plenty of access to speech and can call press conferences and news outlets even if he doesn’t have a Twitter account.  I have a major in History and do want to relate some of this to Nazi Germany.  Hitler actually had some really great ideas.  He was a strong leader who gave people hope after Germany was in ruins after World War I.  The highway system was one of Hitler’s ideas.  And he had something that sounded a lot like the idea of fast Sunday for any of my friends from the Church of Jesus Christ.  He helped Germans get on their feet, get food, etc.  I don’t think all people who did things in Nazi Germany were awful people, there were a lot of every day citizens.  Maybe they didn’t have the courage to stand up.  Maybe they thought his words and anti-Semitic statements didn’t really matter and nothing was going to happen with that.  Maybe they thought Hitler’s policies and strong leadership and turning the country around was enough good to turn a blind eye to his rhetoric.  But we all know where this story goes.  I know many people who voted for Trump and I love them dearly and they are wonderful people.  But I do want to state my opinion loud and clear that words do matter.  I hope no one else runs for president who speaks in the derogatory ways Trump has done (and if they do run I sure as hell hope they don’t get elected).  If they do run we need accountability.  We need to show in clear terms that it is not okay.  We cannot vote someone who behaves that way into office just because that person aligns more with our policies.  I’m not calling Trump Hitler right now.  But I am saying that throughout his presidency hate crimes by these groups increased around his dehumanizing language.  We cannot say that the way the president speaks really doesn’t matter in the scheme of things or doesn’t have real consequences.  I’m calling out Trump right now because of the way everything has gone down.  But I do think we need to tell all of our representatives in government that we won’t accept dehumanizing rhetoric about the other side.  We have to stop the name calling and villainizing someone just because they vote differently than us.  We should not vote for people who exhibit this behavior in their campaigns.  I just feel very strongly to speak up about this.  And I am not shaming anyone in this.  Brene also talks about this in the episode and she’s the shame expert if you have more questions on this. 

I also want to talk about love.  Sometimes I feel like we use words broadly and disagree because it isn’t clear what all we are saying or mean.  Martin Luther King Jr. said “the nonviolent resister not only refuses to shoot his opponent, but also refuses to hate him.”  Non violence is for people who are strong and courageous.  He talks about how to love your enemy through nonviolent resistance.  Christ’s command to love your enemies has been on mind a lot lately and the power of that.  And by talking about this, I think it’s okay to be angry at what happened and to take time to process that and not jump into love.  But here are thoughts on love for when we all feel ready for that.  King talks about three different Greek words of love.  Agape is the kind of love of nonviolent resistance, the love we can look at  through the lens of civil rights and standing up for justice. It is understanding and redeeming good will for all men.  It is the love of God operating in the human heart.  I think of charity in the scriptures.  The individual seeks not his own good, but the good of his neighbor.  He loves others for their sake, not his own.  It springs from the need of the other person, not your own.  Loving someone with no expectation of love in return.  It is needed because you can be faced with hatred and oppression in return.  You have to be so grounded in love and know the hateful person needs that love.  King said the soul of white man is scared because of prejudice, insecurities, and fear.  Agape is love in action, love seeking to preserve and create unity.  Jesus and MLK aren’t encouraging us to accept abuse.  It is holding people accountable for their words and actions. Exposing the shamefulness in racism and other injustices and the way they function in our communities is showing up in love.  It’s calling people in so they can learn and change.  Love people by holding them accountable and creating true community. Love people in spite of their oppression and hatred of you.  We are called to be better, rise up, and be inclusive.  (These ideas are from the First Name Basis episode).  I just loved this perspective.  We don’t need to throw out accountability to show up in love.  Jesus can heal our hearts and help us to love others.  And I think people really need love and the way people change is through love.

Spencer Cox said “Hateful rhetoric dominates our political discourse.  We are facing a crisis of empathy, a scourge of contempt.  Very little feels united about the United States today.  Indeed, it appears that men and women’s hearts are failing them...  Let me be clear, conflict and passionate debate around ideas can and is healthy.  But contempt and contention will rot the souls of our nation and our people.  And this division isn’t just ugly or unfortunate, it is dangerous.” He quotes one expert as saying that our democracy is on target to fail because there is no democracy when you drain all trust in the system.  He says the good news is it’s not too late to fix this.  He quotes Judge Thomas Griffiths, “If the Constitution of the United States as we know it is to survive, then we must inculcate the virtue of civic charity.  We must seek to understand one another.  To treat each other not as enemies, but as friends and to secure justice for all without daemonizing and ostracizing those with whom we disagree.”  Cox says “This way is distinctly American.” He quotes another saying “The heroes of America are the heroes of unity.  Our political system is designed for vigorous disagreement, it is not designed for irreconcilable contempt.  Such contempt loosens the ties of citizenship and undermines the idea of patriotism.” Cox says this is a theme that echoes through time.  Thomas Jefferson said “Let us unite with one heart and one mind.  Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things.”  Abraham Lincoln said “We are not enemies, but friends.  We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.” Martin Luther King, Jr. said “The words of the text to love our enemies glitter in our eyes with a new urgency.  Far from being the pious injunction from a utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization.  Yes it is love that will save our world and our civilization, yes it is love even for our enemies.”  I just really enjoyed all these thoughts on love and they give me lots to think on.  Jesus asks a lot of us and he is the One who can help us if we ask.  It is His love.  Impossible to find without His help.  I want to think more on how we can have conflict and passionate debate over ideas without having that contempt and contention.  I think sometimes we fear the conflict, but it’s not the conflict that’s harmful, but the contempt.  I do think love is the way forward, but we can’t confuse love with having no conflict, no accountability, and not doing the hard work to get to unity.  

Really all of these are great listens, I just highlighted parts from each of them.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on love and moving forward (which I don’t think we need to rush...we can mourn and take time right now.) and all these ideas and your ideas.

Unity

 This year I have pondered upon and studied unity a lot.  Between personal situations, an election year, COVID and science being politicized, and so much blatant racism I have felt a lot of division this year.  I thought a major theme of general conference in October was unity.  Enoch and the city of Zion were mentioned in four different talks.  I've also been elated that the prophets and apostles have spoken up against racism recently.  So in this post I will try and synthesize my thoughts and some of the conclusions I have come to.  I'd like to speak to unity with self, unity with God, unity with others, and overall world peace, Zion-type society type of unity.

Unity with self and unity with God- I'm putting these two together because they seem so intertwined.  We find unity with self as we are living true to our highest self and in alignment with our principles.  I've found more inner unity as I've spent time in reflection.  I've done some therapy, been coached, journaled a lot, studied scriptures, conference talks, listened to lots of podcasts and really took the time to reflect and ponder.  It's helped me to see my innermost thoughts and desires and places I'm out of alignment so I can work on getting into alignment.  If we ignore problems in front of us we really can't address them.  I've also spent time in prayer and seeing what God wants for me right now.  I think sometimes it's easy for us to fall into the trap of people pleasing.  But I've really noticed a weight off my shoulders as I've had my own back in situations.  I think using some self care and self love can go a long way for you to show up as your best self in situations.  I think as we live in alignment with our values we can feel God's love even more in our lives.  My favorite talk from conference was from Sharon Eubank: By Union of Feeling We Obtain Power with God.  In it she says Jesus "will help clear away the bad as fast as the good does grow."  As we are turning to Christ he helps us overcome our weaknesses.  We can truly feel unified as we work with him and feel that inner peace.  I'm grateful for a Savior who can help us overcome and for the many people and avenues that can teach us.  Forgiveness really is a gift from Christ that can help us feel inner peace and unity.  One of the blessings that has come to me from all the heartache this year has been how many people have spoken up and resources available for me to examine my own racism.  There are blatant racist things that everyone agree on as being racist, but there are also a lot of nuanced ways racism shows up.  By examining myself I've noticed a lot of cringe-worthy things I've said and done.  By recognizing these and changing, I do find more unity with self and unity with God and I'm sure it helps with my relationships with others as well.  One thing I've realized this year is that by being silent in the past I've been complicit.  By speaking my truth and speaking up I've felt more of that inner unity even if it can lead to some uncomfortable conversations or situations.  But peace from Christ trumps some of that discomfort that may come.

Unity with others- As we give up trying to feel control we can feel more unity with others.  We really cannot control others thoughts, feelings, or actions.  Sometimes that's hard for control freaks like myself.  Part of unity is realizing that we can't force our ways or timelines on others.   We can, however, control our own throughts, feelings, and actions.  I've seen some people post about things with the gist, if you're showing up as racist we can't be friends.  And I see where they are coming from.  But I've found persuading, getting to understand where people are coming from, having conversations, go a lot farther than shaming people.  I think it's important to note that getting to a place of showing up in love and compassion for others doesn't mean that we agree with others or condone their actions.  But it does mean that we give people permission to be themselves.  We are all at different places in our growth and development in various areas.  I think I put goodness into the world and also hurt others along the way.  I realize that other's who I see putting hurt into the world are also putting goodness into the world.  We are all human and all complex.  Things have a lot more grey area than I sometimes like to think with seeing things as black and white.  I'm grateful that I can change and improve and that others have that opportunity too.  Sister Eubank said, "We all beg for mercy for our sins and failures.  [Christ] freely gives it.  And He asks us if we can give that same mercy and understanding to each other."  We can show up in love and compassion while setting boundaries.  So in some situations, the best way to feel unity with others is from a distance.  We can have our back and stick to our boundary and let others work through things at their own speed.  I've found a feeling of compassion for others in trying to understand where they are coming from, and realizing others poor actions towards me is much more about their pain, fear, where they are at, than it is about me.  And you can love someone without liking them or agreeing with their actions.  It's helped me to take the drama out of conflict by realizing that conflict is just two different human brains seeing things differently.  Part of finding unity with others is not fighting so hard against conflict.  Sometimes there will be differences and conflict.  Your relationship with others is more about your thoughts about them.  Getting to unity and a place for things to heal can be a long process sometimes.  If we are not trying to rush and control it, and instead are patient, it's easier to feel that unity with others in the more complicated situations that can't be immediately resolved.  

A unified society- Perhaps the most thought-provoking quote from conference is from Sister Eubank.  She said "Unity doesn't magically happen; it takes work.  It's messy, sometimes uncomfortable, and happens gradually when we clear away the bad as fast as the good can grow."  So this piggybacks off of the last paragraph that sometimes to get to unity we need to be able to sit in our discomfort.  I listned to a Brene Brown podcast episode and loved what the guest said about unity.  She said fractured peace is actually farther from unity than conflict.  She spoke of fractured peace as not recognizing the problem that's in front of us.  With conflict we can actually recognize the problem and work towards a solution.  This helped me to see a unity continuum that goes fractured peace, then conflict, then unity.  This led me to thinking that it is people in positions of privilege and power (who want to keep that power and not share it with others) that want others to stay silent and have this facade of peace and unity.  I think of perpetrators, the wealthy and privileged who want to keep that wealth and privilege to themselves, and really any other situation where there is a power hierarchy.  These people want to keep this facade of unity going and don't like to address the issues in front of us.  I think of fractured peace with denying things like racism exists, or just happened back in the day, or things like perpetrators wanting victims to stay silent.  The powerful really like fractured peace because they don't have to deal with or recognize the problems that are there, and they get to stay in the position of power.  But the marginalized and those who have the least power feel this discord the strongest.  So I think to get to true unity we need to go through the messy part, where we are uncomfortable and have the hard conversations--both with our innermost self and with each other. Like will there ever be true unity or a Zion-like society when racism exists among us, or poverty, or abuse, or the mistreatment of the disabled, or any other manner of worldly ills? Real and true unity will only be acheived when the most marginalized among us also feel that inner peace and unity.  So while I don't see this happening until Jesus takes the wheel, I think it is something we can be getting closer to as we work towards it.  I love this call from our prophet: "Today I call upon our members everywhere to lead out in abandoning attitudes and actions of prejudice.  I plead with you to promote respect for all of God's children."  Working towards abandoning prejudice, having those uncomfortable and messy conversations (both with our innermost self and with each other), to get to unity is something our prophet is calling us to do right now.  Sister Eubank reminds us that "we are never alone in our efforts to create unity."  As we all work on unity we will get closer to this Zion-like society and have more of God's power in our life, our society, and our world. 

So that was a lot.  I told you I've been pondering on this topic a lot this year.  Hope you learned something new.  And I'd love to hear your thoughts on obtaining unity.  

Ode to Country Dancing

So I went country dancing last weekend.  It had been awhile.  I decided it would be fun to write a little blog post on it.  I've gone here and there throughout the years, and there always seems to be funny story telling moments.  And a little disclaimer to start with: I respect any guy who gets off the sidelines and asks girls to dance (unless you're the 50 year old) and I prefer to dance than sitting on the side lines.  So I may come off as a jerk, but...

10:30- Walk in and immediately notice this place fits in with the normal Provo 2:1 girl/guy ratio.  Awesome. Not.

11:00- I'm sure some stuff happened.  I don't really know the times and don't remember everyone I danced with.  Danced with a few people.

11:05- Finally danced with someone who was really good. But he liked to spin me.  I think once he figured out I could follow him he was spinning me all the time at triple speed.  Getting dizzy half way through the dance.  Brought memories back of one guy I danced with who was so impressed with my ability to spin.  He kept telling me "No, but you can like spin faster than any girl in this room."  Haha.  He spun me into dizziness oblivion too.  I think I could handle it better when I was more in my youth though.

11:07- Thankfully I get to sit this one out and get my balance back.

11:08 Unfortunately I'm standing next to a guy who looks like he's 50.  I spotted him before.  What is he doing here with a ton of college students?  Gross.  Creepy.  If you look older than my dad you should not be here.

11:09- He asks me to dance.  No!  Really?!  I get told on a weekly basis that I look like I'm still in high school.  If you're old enough to be my father you should not be here. I said this once before, but I thought it multiple times throughout the night. And if you come, you should bring an older woman.  I dance with him and feel awkward the whole time.

11:16- I don't notice the classic, short Mexican guy that's usually there.  You know the one.  He has danced with me and every one of my friends every time I've gone country dancing.  Kudos to him.  Now there is a new short Mexican guy here.  And he asks me to dance.  Only, I don't think he knows a thing about country dancing.  Maybe he missed the memo that it wouldn't be the salsa dancing that night.  We are swaying back and forth and he puts our hands high up in the air with every sway.  I'm not sure what we're doing--but it's definitely not country dancing--and I think we look completely ridiculous.

11:20- A guy walks in and my immediate thought is you look freakishly like a blonde version of Jordan Thompson from high school.  He comes and asks me to dance.  He exudes freshly being off a mission.  I'm thinking he's been back for like 2 weeks.  It's cute.  Then I think he also really looks like young Joseph from the Restoration movie.  Then he tells me his name...Joseph.  Kind of freaky, right? He dips me and I grab onto his bicep in the process and I notice he has nice muscles.  I immediately feel weird inside about that thought since I'm  dancing with a young Joseph Smith look alike.

11:25- There are a few guys who come in for there first time and I try and teach them a few moves, but it's been over a year since I've been...

11:30- I look over and spot my friend Laura dancing with a socially inept looking guy in his 30s.  He seems harmless though.  But it's an awkward slow dance.  There are worse things than sitting a dance out.

11:32- The 50 year old is staring my direction.  I try to avoid his gaze, but it's too late and he's coming over to me.  He asks me to dance.  Twice.  Does he know how creepy he is?  This ones a slow one.  Even worse.  Thankfully he does some country swing moves mixed in with the slow dancing.  But there was still time for some chit chat :(  For the most part I'm really happy with my life.  But every once in awhile there are moments like these that make me question why am I still single and dealing with this still.

11:35- Awkward but harmless guy who was dancing with my friend Laura asks me to dance.

11:40- Another line dance.  Why do they put so many in there anyway?  But this is one I've never seen before.  And it's awesome.  You just get to shake your butt around.  And that's something I can do and follow pretty easily.

11:45- I've been purposely avoiding eye contact with the 50 year old.  But he's heading my way again.  I can't do three times.  But boy in the green shirt swoops in and saves the day.  He asks me for a second dance right in the nick of time.  He does not know how happy I was to dance with him.  Laura was not so fortunate.  I notice her dancing with the 50 year old creeper.

11:47- I watch this random girl approach this random guy and ask him if he'll dance with her friend.  Then she brings him over to me.  What!?  We dance.  I tell him I've never actually talked to that girl in my life.  So weird.  Is this one of those social experiments for a psych class at BYU?

11:50- A really attractive guy comes and asks Laura to dance.  He's a really great dancer too.  Probably the hottest guy there.  Find out later that he's a player.  Oh, how it goes in Provo.

11:52- Random girl comes up to me and asks me how I liked my dance.  Really, who are you girl?

11:57- Last dance of the night.  The guy who likes to spin me a lot asks me to dance again.  He's the best dancer I've danced with all night, so it's a pretty good way to end the night.


I hope you enjoyed my night of country dancing as much as I did.  You probably enjoyed it more if you've been before and can relate to these stories:)

Places to go back to

I saw these places while in Kenya and thought they would be fun to visit when I go back.

 This place is a hotel in the rain forest!  How cool is that!?  It was gorgeous and had it's own pathway for a rain forest walk.  I saw monkeys right outside.

And this place is in Kisumu.  It is a retreat overlooking Lake Victoria.  The pool looked so nice.  Gorgeous views.  And it's right next to Impala Park with lots of animals.  I saw monkeys playing in the trees right by here.

Kenya!

While I was in Kenya the one time I tried using the internet it worked too slow to really blog.  So I wanted to make a post while the trip is still fresh in my mind.  I woke up in my bed this morning still in culture shock at being back, I still haven't unpacked my bags, and I'm feeling slightly sick from malaria pills.  Seems like a good time to post.

Kenya was amazing!  I already know I want to go back.  It is a gorgeous country.  I love how green everything is!

I also love the people!  They are so amazing.  Kenya is a very social and welcoming country.  Everyone would wave and say hello.  The people were so generous and loving.  I especially fell in love with the kids.  I knew it would happen.  I think I'll just make a completely separate post of pictures of cute kids.  The school children I met were so polite and cute in their uniforms.  They loved us taking their picture and showing them.

I was afraid of being hungry there, but I totally wasn't.  I loved the food.  Chapati was delicious and reminded me of Cafe Rio tortillas.  Ugali is a staple there and is delicious.  I also really enjoyed the talapia from Lake Victoria.  

Sleeping with a mosquito net made me feel like I was hanging out in a fort.

I loved the volunteering I was able to do.  I got to go to the orphanage twice.  It's called Babies in Crisis.  This orphanage takes in abandoned babies.  Most of the babies are abandoned by young girls or families who are too poor to care for them.  I loved these kids.  When I held them their eyes lit up.  It broke my heart to leave the orphanage when this one little girl cried when I left and whenever I put her down.  The first baby I held was Darius.  He fell asleep in my arms.  So precious.  This picture of me is of feeding them breakfast.

We also went to a lot of schools.  I loved the school kids.  They would all flock to us.  We taught a lot about what the US is like and about hygiene.  The kids are so smart.  The first school we went to welcomed us to their school by singing to us.  I wish I had brought more supplies for the schools.  The kids would all recite things together like "welcome to our visitors."  They played hopscotch, jump rope, and would run around with these tires.  Their school uniforms were adorable.

We also did jigger treatments.  Jiggers are these little fleas that enter into the skin and start eating it away.  This was so heart breaking to see.  We taught about hygiene things to the kids, teachers, and some parents.  Most of the effected kids are orphaned living with other family members.  So many kids parents have died from AIDS.  So sad.

We planted trees for the reforestation of the rain forest.


I was transported there in buses, motorcycles (called piki pikis), tuk tuks.  I think the piki pikis were my favorite.  The buses would sometimes get super full.  One time I was even sitting next to a lady on the bus who was holding a live chicken.

I got to do some fun things there too.  I loved the rain forest.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  And it was my first time seeing monkeys in the wild.  I of course had to swing on one of the vines I saw there.  I went on sunset and sunrise hikes there.

I got to see lots of animals there.  Some of my favorites were going on a boat ride in Lake Victoria and seeing hippos.

I also got to go to an elephant orphanage.  They take in and take care of baby elephants left in the wild.  Most of the moms died from poachers.  Then they release them back into the wild.  These elephants were so cute.  And I got to touch them.

Lists

Once I had it pointed out to me that I'm a list person.  I guess that's my way of keeping organized.  Or semi-organized.  One of the best presents I ever gave was a list journal (last year for Anger's birthday from me and Kayela).  I should look at that again...or ask Anger how she likes it.  Even better than that was getting Jenny the portable stripper pole. Owe Chelcee the genius behind that one.  But this is a post for lists.  Lately in my journal I've been making random lists.  It's enjoyable.  So why not blog about it?

Concerts I want to go to:

• Justin Bieber (yes, I am jealous of all the little girls who get to go that I keep hearing about
• The Shins (happening today)
• Taylor Swift (I think this could be the greatest concert ever and I would sing every word)
• Dave Matthews Band (for old time's sake)

Places I want to travel to:

• Hawaii (how have I still never been?)
• A cruise...to anywhere (refer to the parentheses in bullet one)
• South America
• Africa (thank goodness this is happening in under 2 weeks!)
• India (I want to work in the leprosy colony)
• Thailand (seems like a good place to ride an elephant)
• Savannah, Georgia
• Florida (I could always go back)
• San Francisco
• Utah or New England (to see the fall leaves)
• Virginia (I still have not seen any of Laura's college soccer games)
• Revisit all my places in Europe and see Florence, Spain, Austria, Prague, Germany, Switzerland
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Tonga
• I could go on forever, so I'll just stop

Bucket list items:

• Swim with dolphins in the wild (I have endangered myself on more than one occasion trying to fulfill this one, and yet it's still up there.  Why do dolphin's have to swim so fast?)
• Kiss a black guy (maybe I should've taken some of the opportunities I've had)
• I'm sure there's more, but these are the ones I'm thinking of right now

Businesses I want to start:

Note: if you steal my business ideas from my blog, that's just mean

• Journal making business with Kayela
• Pastry shop with Laura
• Women's clinic with Stephanie
• A backpacking through Europe business with authentic in country experiences

As fatty club president I owe one of these lists to go to great food:

• raspberry tarts
• Cafe Rio pork salads
• Greek yogurt with honey from Turkey
• Sister Volsky's Thanksgiving dinner
• Lettuce wraps (why did Chili's get rid of these?)
• Nina's pizza 
• medistakake
• creamy pesto pasta
• which reminds me of pasta da vinci
• Southern bbq

Favorite musicals:

• Wicked
• Les Miserables
• Phantom of the Opera

Things that annoy me:

• Slow traffic
• boys on occasion
• bratty people
• cheapness
• passive aggressiveness

Retarded Injuries (pretty easy since all my injuries are retarded)

• breaking my middle finger while trying to catch a basketball wearing drunk glasses
• cutting my leg to the point of needing stitches while going down a jello slide
• catching my arm in the top of a fence while jumping off in attempt to recover a lost tennis ball
• falling on my knee while running before I was fully awake at 6:30 am (this may sound not intense, but it got infected and I had to see the doctor, and after it was part way healed I got a prayer blister on it)

Things I was once voted for in most likely's (see how many of them I have fulfilled)

• to be in a reality tv show
• to help a friend in need
• to marry first out of my high school friends
• to run off with pirates and elves
• to get a PhD

Favorite Smokey memories:

• The time I blamed him for farting and he started laughing at me
• The story of him running over Jasper (or getting Jasper to roll over him) to get to the hot dogs first and then having him throw up those hot dogs whole
• That he was such a good trained dog and we completely untrained him
• how he could always leave the vegetables in left overs (even if we mixed them with mashed potatoes and gravy)
• how he'd always love to walk with me
• how he waited for me to come home from college before he died

Okay, I won't make you suffer through reading any more lists...but wasn't that fun!  Go home kids and make a list.

I'm starting a blog!

So I have officially decided to start a blog!  Slowly, I join my generation in the normal technological world.  I still have a flip phone and not a smart phone, showing that I have more thresholds to cross.

I've spent the last hour online reading about the apostles visiting Africa.  I am getting so excited to go!  It's coming up so soon.  I already love the people.  One of the thoughts I had from the Relief Society broadcast yesterday was that we love people more as we serve them.  I guess I'll find out how much more love my heart can handle:)  I'm excited to learn from the people I meet there as well.  One of my favorite things about traveling is spending time with the locals.  We all have different life experiences and there is so much we can learn from each other.  One thing I've read about the Africans is that they are so happy even though they don't have much materially.  They are so grateful for that which they do have.  Sometimes I fall into the trap of entitlement.  But we are really so much happier with an attitude of gratitude.

Here is a quote I like from Elder Nelson: “Education is the difference between simply wishing you could do something of value and being able to do something for your fellow men.” I've been thinking a lot about education lately as well.  I'm considering going back to school.  I want to do all I can with the time that I have.

I love journaling, so I am excited to get this whole blog thing figured out.  Well, it is pretty self explanitory, but one day I'll take the time to cutify it and all.  

I'm getting very excited to listen to general conference!

A few other thoughts of late:
How I totally loved the movie Pitch Perfect...I totally got pitch slapped:)
How Taylor Swift speaks to mine and every girls heart
What would it be like to live in the South
I wish I had tickets to go to the Shins concert
I want to see fall leaves


And on that note, I'm gonna call it a night.