Sunday

I say this every Sunday but I'll say it again.
I love Sundays.

It's like.. no matter how sad, lonely, or awful I feel, it all goes away when I get to church. It seems like the message for that Sunday is always fit perfectly to what I really need to hear or learn. When I need to meet someone new, talk to someone, I do. It's perfect. It makes me perfectly happy.
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On another note! The puppy is back home. He stayed at the hospital overnight to get re hydrated, and they wanted to make sure he could eat and go to the bathroom on his own before they let him come back. Turns out it was just an upset tummy. He ate something not intended for doggy consumption!

Speaking of pets, I'm taking my dog in to the vet tomorrow. She's getting her teeth cleaned, and it's loooong overdue. Stinky breath dog.

Anyhow. I'm sitting here listening to The Singles Ward soundtrack, getting ready to check out my online classes since school starts tomorrow. And getting ready to send e-mails to the teachers whose classes I'm waitlisted on. I need in, suckas!


(PS I'm sorry for being suckish at visiting your blogs. I promise to get back on it tomorrow!)

A Couple Things

1. Got somethin to say?

This is my blog. I am a Mormon. Don't like it? Don't visit my blog. Don't leave me comments trying to 'save' me. I don't need to be saved. I need you to leave me and my beliefs alone. Especially if you don't know the first true thing about it. If you read up on what we really believe and still want to discuss it? Feel free.

2. Mockingjay



Mind. Blown. Can we discuss? First off, if you have not read this book yet, you probably shouldn't read much further. You should also go acquaint yourself with the wonder that is the Hunger Games trilogy. It kicks the Twilight series' trash. No joke. Now, if you've finished, feel free to read on and discuss with me. If not, get reading!!

Spoilers

The "real or not real?" thing.. genius. I love how it played into Peeta coming back to Katniss, and finally Katniss realizing the he really is the right one for her.

Speaking of the 'right one'.. Gale. Seriously? How many of you are Team Gale? Now take that hand you raised and smack yourself in the head. I liked Gale well enough in the first two books, but my like pretty much dissolved in Mockingjay. I don't like how quick he was to get angry at Katniss (even if she did the same back). I also didn't like how heartless he appeared to be most of the time. He wanted to kill that mountain full of people. He may have helped design what led to the death of Katniss' sister. I feel like he didn't really care for anyone other than his family and Katniss. And in the end, he ditched Katniss when he found out she would never be his.

Which brings me to Peeta. Sweet, sweet Peeta.. bake my bread.
He makes me swoon, and sigh, and boy do I wish he had more appearances in this book. I'm okay with how S.C. played his role though. He came back, rescued, wanting to kill Katniss. He was programmed to hate her. He tried to kill her. He came back though. With the hope of Delly, of the "Real or not real" game, and with the help of Katniss.. (The hug, the kiss, oh my!) he came back in the end. To what will forever be my favorite line of fiction..

"You love me. Real or not real?"
"Real."

As for Coin, did any of you think she was totally sketchy sketch from the start? She didn't appear to like Katniss at all, which was shady. And she seemed to put on an act. I'm glad Katniss shot her, because I'm pretty sure she may have turned into another President Snow. She had no problem killing people to get her way, and suggesting a final Hunger Games.. so wrong.

My heart broke so many times in this final installment. For Katniss. How she felt responsible for everyone's deaths. Her nightmares. I cried when she sang The Hanging Tree.. and got complete silence just like her father used to get. I cried when she was reunited with Peeta, and he tried to kill her. When her dear sister Prim died. And when Peeta finally came back to her.. and she finally made her choice.

I loved.. loved.. LOVED this book. I hope you did too. Discuss!

Wednesday

I think it's fun to see how things have changed over time.
I think it's even more fun when every picture you take with someone looks the same.. over the course of over a year.

From April 2009 to July 2010

Back in Action

Well, I'm back from Utah! I know you all missed me, right? Right. I even got new followers. Ok, now a quick warning. This post will be fairly long. Endure!
Anyway, I'm back. I was gone for about a week, and lots of fun was had. I'd run through every single thing that happened but, I don't really want to. So I'll summarize.

I got into town on Wednesday. Boyfriend took me to Cafe Rio (sigh, I miss it already), we went back and watched TV and ate. That was the end of that night.

On Thursday, he took me up to Salt Lake City. It was my first time there, and I LOVED it. We ate, walked around temple square, toured the conference center.. and I took lots of pictures. Don't worry, I'll share them! A little later that night.. I got sick. So we left.

Friday, we didn't do much. Boyfriend's family started coming in for the wedding, so that's how the night was spent. I met a lot of people. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday was the wedding. There was a lunch thingy at noon and everyone just played games and ate. Then the wedding was at 5, short and sweet.. and more games were played after that. I hate Monopoly Deal, by the way.

Sunday, boyfriend had to work in the morning. So I went to lunch with his mom, aunt and cousins. Then I went to the bookstore with his mom, met him there and we did a lot of nothing for the rest of the day.

Monday, boyfriend had work again. I went to the movies with his mom. Then we had dinner, and basically did nothing the rest of the night.

Tuesday, we went to lunch.. and then went back. We just watched TV until I had to leave at about 6. I may have shed a tear or two or.. 50. Don't judge.

Anywho, I got home at about 10:30 last night. A few side notes: It was 102 degrees at 9 at night in Baker, CA.. and I also had to pay 3.41 for gas in said hell-hole. I hate it there.
This morning I had to wake up at 6:30 for a meeting. It was pretty pointless. I basically found out that we now get 3 weeks for Christmas break, and that I'm taking a 6% pay cut. Lame.

OK. Picture time! The only pictures I took myself are from Salt Lake city.. so yeah. Maybe I'll steal pictures from someone else if anyone puts any up.

This is what I get when I ask for a smile:


SLC Temple. Beautiful.


On the roof of the conference center:








:)


Inside the conference center:







Outside of the conference center:



Visitor's center:







Conference center from a distance:



And outside of the SLC temple again:

Q&A

Ash asked:
Would you rather eat standing up, or get into a car through the passenger seat for the rest of your life?
Get into a car through the passenger seat! I hate eating standing up. I'm so uncoordinated, my food usually ends up on the floor. So I wouldn't mind climbing into a car awkwardly over dropping my food all the time.

peaceandpinkfrosting asked:
What's your all-time favorite Disney movie?
HERCULES! In my mind, this is the greatest of all Disney movies. Though I also love The Little Mermaid. And, not animated, a friend got me hooked on this old Disney movie called The Ugly Dachshund. You should watch it. I'm such a Disney fan, I can't really think of more than 1 or 2 Disney movies that I don't really like.

Shammy asked.. for advice on getting his wife happy:
Oh man. Advice. I suck at advice. All I can say, is I think most girls really appreciate the little gestures. I guess things like phone calls, flowers. We like being payed attention to. Um. Gosh. I told you I'm not good at advice :(

Marissa asked:
What made you chose LDS over other Christian faiths?
This is kind of hard for me to answer. I don't know how to explain why exactly I chose it. I think it's because of how different, in a good way, it is from a 'normal' Christian faith. There are a lot of things that the church does that stick so closely to what the bible says, that a lot of the other faiths omit. Also, I prayed about it.. which I think is the most important thing to do. I prayed over the Book of Mormon and it's truthfulness, and I received my answer.

Ryan said:
Once I accidentally a whole hamster.
I tried to think of something funny to say but failed. You win. You're also crazy.

Conversion Story

I've been asked by several people to share how I came about joining the Mormon church! I realize I have never really talked about it in depth, so I'm going to give it a shot.
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The reason for my conversion is plain and simple, this guy:

Now, don't get it twisted. I did not fall madly in love with this boy and decide to join his religion in an effort to win him over. That is unfortunately what 95% of the people in my life believe. No matter what I say or how often I tell them that's not the case.

He is, however, the reason that I was introduced to the church. Without meeting him, maybe I never would have joined, never would have cared to learn more about it. But I knew how much the church means to him, and that intrigued me to find out what the big deal was.

Let me start off with my religious history.

I didn't have one.

I went to church maybe five times before the age of 10. A couple of those times were for funerals, mind you.  When we moved to Hesperia, my parents made friends with people who went to a Christian church up there. They made us kids tag along whenever they went. I never enjoyed myself, never felt like I learned anything. My favorite part was when the music started up after the sermon, because I knew it was almost time to go. Then in 10th grade, my best friend invited me to go to Hume Christian Camp with her. Sleep away camp? Yes please! I didn't even care that there were mandatory church meetings twice a day. Strangely enough, this is the place where I first started to understand the 'big deal' about God and religion. The counselor of our cabin was the kindest, most loving person I had ever met. I went to this camp the next year, too, and learned even more.

However, I never felt a real connection with regular Christian Church. I always felt like there was something missing, something I was losing out on. I felt like I wasn't as close to God as I could be, and that I wouldn't find it in that church. I was always so annoyed by the hypocrisy of the disciples. You just can't preach one thing and do another. My friends all claimed themselves as good Christians, yet had no problem making out with the same sex, getting drunk, 'playing' with boys. I didn't understand it, and I didn't like it. 

I found my missing link with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In March of 2009 (on our first date) Ryan gave me a Book of Mormon. He said "I understand if you don't want to accept this, but it's something that's really important to me and I feel like I'd be doing you a disservice by keeping it from you." (Y'allllll my heart melted to the bottom of my feet.) I took the Book, read the note he had written on the first page, and I knew I'd be reading this book.

Over the next few months I started reading, and I relied on Ryan to answer my questions and help me understand. Eventually, in July, I told him I wanted to start talking to missionaries. 30 minutes and one magic Mormon phone call later, I had missionaries at my door.

It took me a really long time to finally decide I wanted to be baptized. I made the decision on April 1st, 2010 and was baptized on the 10th. It wasn't that I didn't know this was right, it was that I was scared. What would everyone think?



But I ultimately couldn't deny the feelings I got when reading the Book of Mormon and speaking with the missionaries. I couldn't deny how right it felt to be in that church building. How wonderful everyone was to me, the obviously out of place girl in her jeans.

Did I meet opposition? Absolutely. Does it matter when you know, with a certainty, that you did the right thing? Absolutely not.

But my journey hasn't been without it's struggles. I've never had trouble staying away from drinking, drugs, and smoking. I'm lucky enough to have never had the urge to pick any of it up. I struggle to go to church regularly. To keep the Sabbath day holy. I try to cop out and say it's harder to go when you're the only one getting up and ready for it in the morning. That I don't have any friends in the ward. But there really isn't an excuse. I know I'll get better. I know eventually I won't be scared to say the prayer in front of everyone. Eventually I'll agree to give a talk. I'll open up more, be better at sharing my testimony. Because I do have one.



It's been a long, difficult journey for me. Through all my struggles, I still know without a doubt that this church is the true church. I know that I'll be helped through all of my troubles. I know that Heavenly Father is with me, and listens to me and guides me. And I know that I made the right decision, the best decision of my life thus far. Those are the best feelings in the world.
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(I apologize for any misspelled words or jumpy paragraphs.)