Book talk.

So, time for a little shameless self-promotion....

That's right everyone...I am a published author.

Okay it's not quite a book. BUT...I worked very hard this semester at my internship and wrote two articles for a Web site called Forever Families. The second one is still getting wrapped up, but the first one is all finito and posted. The posted article is about the media's impact on girls and the one I'm still working on is about the benefits of family mealtimes.

Sooo...please go read my first article! And tell other people to read it! The whole point of the Web site is to inform people, so....spread the word and help me save the world :) Plus there's a ton of amazing articles on the Web site. So go kill some time and strengthen your family while you're at it...

Go to foreverfamilies.net
Click on "Try the New Site"
Go to "Parenting"
Go to "Parenting Challenges"
Click on "Media and Clothing Market Influence on Adolescent Girls: Warnings to Parents."
(Yes, they let me write about my soapbox. Huzzah!)

There's three parts to every article....the Extended, the Main, and the LDS Perspective. It'll take you to the main one first, but it's the shorter one.....I guess I won't be offended if you don't go read the Extended one....no wait, I will be a little bit. haha. It's just that the main article is about half as long and doesn't do it much justice...but i'm probably biased since I wrote it, eh? So, if you have time.....sit down and buckle yourself in. And then let me know what you think...I'd love to get some feedback! (Disclaimer: You may want to throw your TV out the window when you're done reading it. You may also want to kick the movie-making business in the shins for being complete idiots and marketing movies about sex to 13 year old girls. Or maybe that's just my thoughts. haha.)

p.s. they're converting the old site to the new site currently, so if you try to read some of the articles you might have to go to the old site. My article is only on the new one.

Thanks for putting up with my boastful blog....I'll make sure to post something less egocentric next time, promise :)

Alpaca.

Well well well....I am a day early on the monthly recap. But, I'm so excited to move on to the next month that I decided to jump the gun!

April April April.

Maybe I didn't pay close enough attention, but my list of exciting things to share is comparatively shorter than it was in past months. I think I was so focused on the fact that it was ALMOST FINALLY THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR that I forgot about things like list making and such. But, I do have some pictures to share so don't fret yourself!

So...here's the highlight reel:

- Finishing my internship. Well, it's still getting wrapped up a little BUT my first article is posted online. I'm so excited about this that it's getting its own separate blog. Which maybe you already read, I guess...

- Seminary! So, remember how I took that seminary teaching class mostly for fun/out of curiosity...well, the seminary pre-service program has three parts to it: The first class, the more advanced class, and then student teaching. You have to get selected to move up to each new level, AND....I found out a couple weeks ago that they picked me! I was pretty surprised, but the idea has really grown on me and I've gotten all excited about possibly becoming a seminary teacher! I don't want to get my hopes up cuz who knows what will happen with the next two levels buuut...we'll see :) The good news is that the only two places they have the pre-service program is in Utah and (conveniently) Tempe, Arizona! So, whether or not I move home in the fall I still get to pursue the idea :) Happy day!

- Dinner with Jane's family. My roommate Jane's family came to Utah from Minnesota and they took us ALL out to Brick Oven to eat pizza. The food was amazing, the company was awesome, and the balloon-animal man blew my mind with his skills. All in all it was a superb evening!

- Conference weekend. I already wrote a blog about this and how much I loved it...And I posted a video that sticks way out to the side of my blog...but it's still a good video....

- Becky's birthday. My roommate Becky had a birthday this month! I do love birthdays. We took her out to this place in Provo called Spark...it's an entirely non-alcoholic bar. Basically you can get neato drinks without a hangover. Plus they had good hummus. I drank an apple martini. It was delish....and no regrets the next morning. Take that, the-rest-of-the-college-world!

- Twelve Apostates. Yes, you read that right....the daily newspaper at BYU continually amuses/frustrates me with its consistent spelling/grammar errors (who edits that thing??) BUT i told myself to quit being a grammar snob and stop making fun of them. But then they had to go and make one HUGE error that took the cake entirely....the day after conference they posted a picture on the front page of the Brethren on the stand with the caption reading, "The council of the Twelve Apostates." Wow........just wow.

- Easters! Spent Easter Sunday in Salt Lake with all my roommates and a couple friends at my roommate Kelsey's house. There was so much good food...and I won the family egg hunt. Then I felt bad and gave all my candy away....It was a lovely holiday :)

- Pie eating. Went to the ward closing social....decided to be the only girl in the pie eating contest....barely missed winning the entire thing. I've never been so full in my entire life....I ate a lot of pie, very quickly. But I'm still proud of myself.

- Habitat for Humanity. My newest service addiction! I get a new one every month or two, eh? Caraline got me interested in my newest fancy....basically you go help build a house. I'm not sure yet if I am qualified for this kind of thing, but I know all kinds of random people go so I figure they can't ALL be professionals either...they can put me in charge of sweeping and painting stuff I suppose! Moral support is a skill as well. Anyways I tried to go to my first build a couple weeks ago and it was all rained upon so it didn't happen :( BUT I get to go to a build this upcoming Saturday and then another one in like 2 weeks. Woot! I did go to a carwash fundraiser a couple weeks ago and I loved it. Hooray for service time!

- Make A Wish. Ah, the monthly MAW update! I met my newest wish kid earlier this month...his name is Alan and he's 15 and he couldn't decide if he wants a new TV or a PS3. Turns out he can probably get both cuz we're sending him on a shopping spree! I've never done a shopping wish but it sounds pretty neat...they give him a bunch of money and 5 hours to spend it...plus like a limo to drive him and his family around. So hopefully that happens soon....I'm excited :)

- THE ELMS! Yes....I live in a new home. And I adore it thus far. I just moved in 2 days ago and we already had a ward activity and I think I know more people than I ever knew after 8 months in my old ward. I will miss my old roommates and a couple friends from good ol' Park Place but....I'm so excited to be outta that place!!! Ahhh!!! Just had to get that off my chest. The whole unsocial ward thing just wasn't my scene. Most of my memories from that place involve stupid winter weather and a lot of concrete walls. I'm just so stoked to be moved on I can't even say it enough :)

- Arizona trip! Ah it was blissful! So great to see the fam, see some friends, wear shorts, bask in the sunshine, forget about a little place called Provo for a couple days, go to a Dbacks game, ride the new LIGHT RAIL (ooh, ahh!), pick lemons, etc etc. I'm trying to make some big decisions about what to do with my life next fall so visiting home helps me get a clearer perspective of my options. I will let you all know when a final decision is made.....and then unmade, and then made again, etc etc. haha. Just trying to be honest.

And that's all folks! I am on to my new life of summer fun and...oh yeah, and work and summer school. haha. I started off on an awesome foot today by going to my first class in the wrong building and then arriving an hour early for my second class. Loooove looking like an idiot when I'm a senior in college. Freshmen tendencies die hard, eh? I blame it on being a transfer student. At least my classes are looking good...I have American Heritage (some hardcore LDS-based history class that was super interesting today) and then Family Adaptation and Resiliency (about how families cope with death, illness, mental illness, divorce, etc.) I'm stoked for that second one....it's my favorite kind of stuff to study in my major because it applies to real life so well. I love being more educated and more capable of understanding people around me.

But I could go on forever if I got started on why I love my major. So I'll clam up and just post some pictures....first some random ones from the school year and then a couple from Arizona! Enjoy!

Well, one time it was a Friday night and we turned down all our other awesome invitations to go do awesome things with awesome people and opted to play around in the Library instead...Here's me and Kels imitating a statue:And here I am browsing the books...

Break dancing in the lobby....


Oh, while we were on campus we decided to hit up the Quill and the Sword Club's social. Lots of jousting....lots of crazies in their medieval garb.....and one great picture with a giant castle:This is at J-Dawgs, an awesome little hot dog stand in Provo. We walked there one day and literally came across a giant blue J lying on the sidewalk. So, we picked it up and took it with us...a sign of approval from the hot dog gods:
And here I am riding the light with Bonnie Jean Jelly Bean! We are so excited to be on the light rail. Note the overly excited faces. I recommend the light rail to EVERYONE...
Ah, good ol' Dbacks game! We sat next to these crazy guys who (no joke) perform in a Mariachi band on the weekends. They danced, the sang, they yelled, they drank, they got us on the jumbotron like 4 times. Wow. One of them had no teeth but you can't tell in this picture....Viva La Baseball!
Waiting for the light rail to get to the game! It's me, Ashley, Katie Lee, and Bonnie.
Ah, this classic picture....so, we were all hungry. I bought french fries. I ate them. Bonnie bought nachos....didn't want any more....so I ate them. Then Ashley offered me some of her ice cream. Right about then Bonnie caught me on camera being awesomely gluttonous....what can I say? I love food.

And that's it! Bet you can't wait for May!!

Easter...

THIS is beautiful.
Enjoy it.
Share it.

Conferencing.

Conference = my favorite weekend of the year. Isn't it great that it happens twice??

Just some favorite thoughts from this past weekend...

SATURDAY MORNING
Pres. Eyring's talk on trials. Sometimes it's easy to get worried about the future...okay, ALL the time it's easy to get worried about the future. But Pres. Eyring reminded me that if I'm living in God's way, I have no reason to worry. He also mentioned how it can be easy to fret about temporal sustenance. Yeah, remember how the economy's going to pieces right when I'm graduating from college? But he said that if we are paying a full tithing we have no need to worry about it all. I'm grateful my parents taught me to pay a full tithing....they sat us down one day in our living room and told us how it important it is. And I've never forgotten that. Thanks, momsie and popsicle!

SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Elder Scott's talk about the Temple. Turns out there would be even more talks about the Temple on Sunday, and I drank it all up. This was also a reminder to quit worrying about things....Elder Scott taught that when we live righteously and attend the Temple, all else will fall into place. I believe that. In reference to the Temple, he said something I love: "It has changed my life profoundly." I believe this too. The Temple has changed MY life profoundly, and I expect it to continue to do so. Beautiful.

SUNDAY MORNING
This was my favorite session of the whole weekend, so I've got a couple favorite talks...

Pres. Uchtdorf's talk about discipleship and coming to Christ. He touched on so many great things...patience, work, trust, faith, service, etc. As he put it, it is ALWAYS the right thing and ALWAYS the right time to follow in Christ's footsteps. "Now is the time," he said.

Elder Holland's talk about loneliness and the Atonement. Holy cow. This seems to have hit home with more than one person I've talked to. We all have times when we feel alone and far away from home....but Christ knows that better than anyone else out there. Elder Holland told how even Christ's closest friends betrayed him toward the end...but that it had to be that way. He said, "Of divine necessity, the supporting circle around Jesus gets smaller and smaller..." Jesus never spoke ill of anyone or even came close to touching any unclean thing....so logically, He didn't deserve to suffer the way He did. BUT....He did it because He loves us. He had to know what it felt like to be alone because He knew we would each feel that way someday. And He knew He was doing it for us...because even when the suffering was excruciating, He didn't give up. As Elder Holland put it, "Jesus held on." This simple statement reminded me how much I need to remember to hold on to Him, too.

The closing hymn for this session was also super powerful...We thank thee oh God for a prophet. With a slideshow of Pres. Monson. So excellent!

SUNDAY AFTERNOON
Elder Oaks' talk about selfless service. I love that he touched on parenthood....even among the LDS culture, even at BYU, I hear it all the time...ALL the time...that children can wait until degrees and jobs and world travel and etc are taken care of. I respect everyone's right to make this decision for themself, but I personally do NOT agree with this viewpoint. And...I'm glad Elder Oaks agrees with me, too. We can get wrapped up in wanting to recycle, wanting to "go green," wanting to donate money, wanting to save small countries....but parenthood TRULY is the highest form of selfless service. I firmly believe this, and my education in the field of family science has only solidified that belief. I am grateful that I know where I stand on an issue that the world is so good at discoloring and disguising.


Well....that's it for now. As Pres. Monson said, "The future is as bright as your faith." And conference always makes the future look a little brighter to me. The person who gave the first opening prayer on Saturday referred to conference as an opportunity to rededicate our lives to the Lord. How TRUE that is.

Stay tuned in 6 months :)

Why i love it...

Brynlee...

My first wish kid.
2.5 years old, has lymphoma.
Wanted more than anything to meet a princess.

Sent her to Disney World in February :)

Found her blog...stole some pictures....want to share.


This is the party we threw Brynlee before she went on her vacation. Her shirt says "Chemo Princess." She's smiling because that cake was delicious...
Brynlee with her dad on the Dumbo ride...
Enjoying ice cream with her sisters in Disney World...

Meeting Cinderella...

THIS is my favorite picture EVER. I cried. It's so beautiful.


And...that is why I do what I do. And why I hope to keep doing it. That's all :)