Yes, please. :)

As I rounded the Point of the Mountain today entering Utah County, I was stunned by the beautiful scene before me. Just beyond the clouds, I could see the brilliant pink sunrise peaking around the mountains. Under the cloudcover of the storm,  amid the snow on the mountains, my breath was just taken away. I'm grateful for God's grace and love...and this beautiful world He has gifted us with. 

!Vivan las Mariposas!

In many latin american countries, today is International Day Against Violence Towards Women. :) This day is help in memory of the Mirabal sisters who fought bravely against a vicious tyrant and in so doing have become models for women fighting against injustices of all kinds.

The 4 Mirabal sisters were born into a middle-class family in the Dominican Republic in the 1920s and 30s. Their education coincided with the rise of the cruel dictator, Rafael Trujillo. Minerva went on to study law although her rejection of Trujillos romantic advances kept her from being able to practice law.

All of the sisters eventually married and raised families. However, Minerva and her husband Manolo were highly involved in risky underground revolutionary activity in overthrowing Trujillo and before long Maria Teresa, Patria, their husbands and Patria's oldest son, Nelson were involved. Their activities led them to prison, torture chambers, and eventually death.

Dede survived. A sole sister left to tell the stories of her 3 sisters who helped undermind Trujillo's regime and in their martyrdom, became symbols of freedom and liberty. Their code names in the underground were Las Mariposas (The Butterflies) and they are still remembered and respected today.

Today, November 25, 2008 marks the 48th anniversary of the murder of the Maribal sisters. Here's to their memory. !Viva las Mariposas!

P.s. The book by Julia Alvarez is incredible and gives you the historical facts while leaving you with a sense that you were really able to get to know each sister individually.

Emerson

This Sunday, we had Ward Conference and it was amazing. Our stake president is an incredible man and I know that I was fed plenty of things to chew on for a while. Our theme for the year is Moroni 10:8-18 and we learned a lot about spiritual gifts. Then he taught us a bit from Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-Reliance. I looked up the discourse and several things stood out to me. I've included a few comments below, but would suggest that everyone invest the time to read this piece in full (it is readily available on Google).


"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion;"

President Wilkey tied this particular quote to a story about envy. Then we discussed envy in relation to spiritual gifts and how it usually leads to ingratitude for the gifts we've been given. My friend was teaching a lesson to her Young Women about individual worth and she wrote the ingredients needed to make a cake on individual ziploc baggies. Then she filled each baggie with 1/2 c. flour. She handed out the bags and instructed the girls to make a cake. Get the picture? :)


"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events."

In a world where we all rely on what others think of us, we place too much emphasis on their opinion. I would put forth: Trust your instincts. We are all sons and daughters of Heavenly Father and we have notions and inspired greatness within us all--we just need to tap into our resources.


"Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world."

While we are warned not to rely solely upon our own knowledge, we are only instructed to rely on that of God and His anointed servants. We do not need to listen to the world--we can all become agents for good, once we've figured out what "good" is. Go forth in intelligence and might. Be a force for good in this world. We all have a responsibility and a calling to make the world a better place. Don't listen to anyone who says you can't...because God and I say you can.

Solamente Asiano

Where else in the world could you find these? :D

I think I need one of these...the blue, definitely.

Hugh, Kris....does the burrito need this from Santa this year? ;)

Angie--wouldn't these be great for those rainy days in expensive shoes?

Hmmm....

Yum!

Wow--I should've thought of this years ago...

Hope you got a smile out of these...I know I did. :D

Until There's a Cure

• Over 22 million people have died from AIDS.


• Over 42 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, and 74% of these infected people live in sub-Saharan Africa.


• By the year 2010, five countries (Ethiopia, Nigeria, China, India, and Russia) with 40% of the world's population will add 50 to 74 million infected people to the worldwide pool of HIV disease.


• There are 14,000 new infections every day.


• HIV/AIDS is a "disease of young people" with half of the 5 million new infections each year occurring among people ages 15-24.


• The UN estimates that, currently, there are 14 million AIDS orphans and that by 2010 there will be 25 million.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xstLRWHgD2Q

Until There's A Cure:

http://www.until.org/

What the....

So, BYU just decided to hand Utah the game. Apparently they decided to exercise charity and let Utah have a chance to represent the conference this year...oh wait, no they didn't. They just choked. You wanna hear the choke, feel the pain we (everyone watching) experienced? Well here's your recap: 6 BYU turnovers, 4 of them in the 4th quarter and 3 of those resulting in a Utah touchdown. We entered the 4th quarter only down by 3 at 27-24, then after we handed them the 21 points (MERRY CHRISTMAS!), final score was 48-24. Way to drop the ball Cougs. And to top it all off, in the last 3 minutes of the game Unga and Reed joined Pitta on the injured list--there goes any hope we might've had of winning our bowl game. Crap.

I still love my Cougs, but there's no denying that they messed this game up. Royally.

GO COUGS!

The most amazingly awesome Cougars face the undefeated (thus far) Utes on Saturday. This is the place to be.

Inspired by Lynn, my blog is also blue until after tomorrow's game. GO COUGS!

Spring cleaning

My sister sent me this...and I found it interesting. I wonder ...............



So, someone-who-shall-not-be-named heard buzzing from their grill when they decided to clean it after the winter. They decided to let a flea bomb loose under it and just see what happened. when they returned a few minutes later, this is what they saw:

Well, you may wonder "just where did all those bees come from?" I'll answer that one for ya, too. ;)

...........if they'd known, would they have found some other way to kill the bees and not sacrificed the potential honey to the flea bomb? :D

Chocolate Therapy?

It's NOT just an old wives' tale...medical studies show that SMALL amounts of dark chocolate* can be healthy. It's not healthy to just binge on chocolate claiming that it's good for you...but, the antioxidants found in dark chocolate have been proven to reduce blood pressure.

Ladies, the next time you feel guilty for indulging yourself--don't. It's all about staying healthy, right? ;)

*health benefits are only present in dark chocolate...white and milk chocolate remain, as always, only delicious. :)

Resiliency

re⋅sil⋅ient. adj.
1. springing back; rebounding.
2. returning to the original form or position after being bent, compressed, or stretched.
3. recovering readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyant.

So I wonder...can resiliency be taught? I mean, it's something we all need--how in the world can we be expected to endure to the end of this life if we aren't resilient. I met someone lately who made me wonder...are some of us just born with it and some of us without it? Or should this become a new subject taught in our middle schools...

Yellow Cake

Okay, confession time:

I'm having a love affair.........







....with yellow cake.

I like it hot, cold, fresh, left-over and most definitely without any frosting.

Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

Just plain old yellow cake from a box.

That's it. :)



Life's full of CONTRADICTIONS:

I don't drink a lot of soda, but I can't live without my Diet Coke.

My closest relative lives in Alabama, but I have people here I care for more than life itself.

I don't like watching tv, but I never miss Grey's Anatomy.

I don't really like reptiles, but I love Scheherazade.

When I'm busy, I want more time alone, but when I'm alone, I want someone to be with.

I like trusting people, but I don't appreciate being taken for granted.

And I trust God's timing, but there are days when accepting that is the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

I know I'm quirky, I mean, I love Children's books, Scrubs and burning candles.........


.......and I often wonder if there is any other person on this planet who can appreciate these things as I do and love me in spite of my quirkiness.

Obama

I do NOT think Obama is going to magically make things better.

I am NOT excited to learn what he means by 'change.'

He did NOT get my vote.

These facts aside, he won the election. He is now our President-elect, as voted by the voice of the people. And while he wasn't my candidate and I don't condone his campaigning methods or his lying to the people, he is our next President. And I will give him the respect deserved of anyone who holds that office. We will survive the next four years, then can reevaluate our situation. He may very well surprise us and act as "a President for all Americans." He might be great for the nation--only time will tell. I do, however, as of now, pledge to stop making fun of him and support him as I would any of my leaders. Now, if he ruins my country, I may not support him for long, but I am willing to see where this goes.

Best of luck to everyone dealing with this decision. May you all come to some sort of peace about this election and do whatever you deem necessary to bring that event to pass.

Allhallow-even

"Eve of all Saints, last night of October" (1556) the last night of the year in the old Celtic calendar, where it was Old Year's Night, a night for witches.

Well, here in Provo, it wasn't as exotic as it might have been, but we did the best with what we had. My plans to hit Studio 600 (a dance club in Salt Lake) fell through, but I have amazing roommates and we all went to our stake dance...not too bad as we live in Zion (not kidding, if you want to know what I mean be that, just ask).

The dance ended up all right, but the most fun part, by far, was dressing up and showing off my costume. :D

Twas the Night Before Voting

This is from my aunt...I laughed out loud and simultaneously recognized the truth of the message. PLEASE make time today to vote.

'Twas the night before elections
And all through the town
Tempers were flaring
Emotions all up and down!

I, in my bathrobe
With a cat in my lap
Had cut off the TV
Tired of political crap.

When all of a sudden
There arose such a noise
I peered out of my window
Saw Obama and his boys

They had come for my wallet
They wanted my pay
To give to the others
Who had not worked a day!

He snatched up my money
And quick as a wink
Jumped back on his bandwagon
As I gagged from the stink

He then rallied his henchmen
Who were pulling his cart
I could tell they were out
To tear my country apart!

'On Fannie, on Freddie,
On Biden and Ayers!
On Acorn, On Pelosi'
He screamed at the pairs!

They took off for his cause
And as he flew out of sight
I heard him laugh at the nation
Who wouldn't stand up and fight!

So I leave you to think
On this one final note-
IF YOU DON'T WANT SOCIALISM
GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!

Ah, to reminisce...

Things (not an all-inclusive list) I remember about my youth that I love:

• playing cards and eating popcorn (with candy corn) with my family at my grandma's house on friday nights.
• making plum jelly; or homemade dill pickles
• devouring stolen jars of frozen blackberries from the freezer (sorry, grandma ;)
• visiting granny and having her teach me that a woman should always have some "mad money" tucked away.
• fishing with my dad when I was three and catching more fish than he did. :)
• being taken out of school randomly as a child because my parents impulsively decided to spend the week vacationing at the beach.
• riding horses on Saturday mornings and being so cold that I would run inside my aunt's house and run cold water over my toes until I could feel them again. lol.
• poking snuff and bread down the chickens' throats to help them lay better (where do you get memories like this these days).
• just playing in the creek that runs behind our house.
• being barefoot.
• riding the tractor with dad.
• shopping with mom after school just because.
• picking fresh blackberries, then explaining that we had eaten them and couldn't make cobbler after all... :D

Growing up in a small town on land was a great experience. I wouldn't wish to subject any child to having to grow up in the city. Now before I offend anyone, let me say that I've known some incredible people who were raised in the city and I love them much. As my aunt would say, 'different strokes for different folks.'

On a different note, public voting happens tomorrow and I urge everyone to take part in it. TAKE THE TIME. Don't be too busy. Don't say you don't care or that it doesn't affect YOU. It does. Take responsibility for being american and do your civic duty by voting. I'm not going to express my views in my own words here since I've found a couple of blogs that express my beliefs very eloquently. I invite you to read the recent posts here and here. If you have any strong opinions that you wish to express about what you've read, please comment on my blog and NOT on theirs; unless, of course, you wish to leave a positive comment, then feel free. ;)

*I will soon be posting pictures of what I was for Halloween, as I'm very proud of it. I just need to finagle getting the pictures from my friend's camera.

Favorite Poems

This is one of my two favorite poems...maybe I'll post the other one some day. ;)

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
~Robert Frost

May we all take the paths that best suit us and never regret our decisions.