Strong Girl, Raised

My parents had only daughters, 2 of us. Their motto and reference for thinking in raising us girls was "Raise Strong Girls". They taught me to be smart, capable, and about what matters. 

Be Smart: My parents placed me in an environment, culture, and society where knowledge really is power. Learn, simply for the sake of learning. Read poetry simply because it invigorates your mind. The Church values knowledge and learning. Through this, also introduced to me and taught by my parents, I learned to value knowledge. Love to learn. I was taught that I have been blessed with a brain, and with that I have a responsibility to fill and use it. Their parents taught them the same lesson, and it was passed down to me. My poetry book is the same as one my grandpa has. His is heavily worn, all the pages read, spine held together by duct tape. I watch him slowly turn through the pages, reciting the poems printed on the pages, but not reading them. He pulls them deep from memory, from a place deeper than he seems to be able to access for other information. This, these familiar, learned, beautiful words are what he remembers. What you know is a solace, a comfort, a friend when all other things leave you. 

Be Capable: I learned to be capable, be independent. My place in the world is wherever I want to be. I have chosen to become a teacher, but eventually to stay home with my family. I was taught that what I can do is important. I need to have the potential to be completely independent. Should I need to support my family, and myself; I need to have the skills to do so. Throughout college I have taken classes in electronics, robotics, woodworking, sewing, cooking, finance, parenting, nutrition, interior design, among others. I am learning skills that I can use to take care of my family, if the need arises.

Know what matters: I learned that friends may come and go, but family is where time matters. I will always have my family and those relationships are more important than anything. I was taught to stay close to family members, help them, even when it means sacrificing something that I want, or time that I want to use elsewhere. The gospel matters. It also is more important than anything. Whatever happens, I will always have my family, and the Church.

Here I am, as a strong daughter, Raised.

A few of my Favorite Things

1. Yellow- I love the color as long as it is the right shade. I love creamy, softer yellows, not like caution signs or Wal-Mart Smiley faces. I have lots of yellow stuff.
2. Sunsets- My favorite thing to do in the evening, especially in winter, is to watch the sun go down. I will watch the shadows get longer and the light turn more blue and then I know it is time to say goodnight to the sun for the day. I love simple less colorful sunsets as well as the vividly colored ones.
3. Good bread-By bread I mean good French bread, or sourdough. Crusty and wonderful with cheese. I am fairly picky as to which breads I LOVE versus the ones that I like, but I know my favorites.
4. To lie in bed doing nothing knowing that you don’t have to get up yet-the feeling of things to do—but not just yet. The mild suspense of a day yet to come, but able to wait a few minutes.
5. Watching people-People are all so different. It is so much fun to just sit and watch what happens. The best is when you can hear bits of conversations, but just watching is nice too.
6. Blogs- This goes along with my love of watching people. Blogs offer a snapshot into the writers life that otherwise would be unavailable. I love to read blogs of people that I don’t know. I get involved in their life and they seem to become one of my friends although they have no idea that I know they exist.
7. Photography-I love to take pictures. If I had all the time in the world, one of the first things I would do would be to better learn how to take great pictures. Being able to present so simply what I see is such an amazing thing
8. Photographs- Looking at photographs, especially museum quality ones, is a love I seldom get to experience. Photographs are like paintings, but of things that the viewer knows really happened, not something pulled out of the imagination of someone. The emotions that are easily shared through a simple image can be so varied.
9. Getting letters in the mail- Knowing that someone took the time to write something and send it as a little surprise for me to find later just makes me happy.
10. Looking at the stars- to quote the song by Switchfoot, “when I look at the stars, I feel like myself” Looking at something that far away that is still so beautiful here is amazing. Also, looking through a telescope at the things that are so beautiful if you are willing to work to see them. Empty looking patches of the sky are really full of stars.
11. Spending an afternoon with a book and a bowl of popcorn- Being able to leave this world and enter the world of the book is so relaxing yet energizing, and the popcorn doesn’t hurt either. Learning about how others think and such helps me realize more about my own life.
12. Watching little kids- Kids have a totally different view on the world than older people do. Everything with children takes more time than if it were to be done alone, but letting them do their own thing, even just walking on their own instead of being put into the stroller is so fun to watch.
13. Smelling books- Books smell good.
14. Playing piano-Piano is my way to de-stress. Sadly, I don’t really have access to one very frequently, so I have to find other ways to calm down. The best is having a piano while nervously waiting for a date to come. Having a few songs that I can just play while my mind wanders helps a lot.
15. Going places with my dad- Even if it is just to the hardware store to get a few screws, I love going places with my dad. He seems to know everything about whatever I am wondering. He can explain all about things on a million topics. I guess I love just talking to him more than being in these places.
16. Ending a run-The end means it is over, meaning I started at some point but don’t have to keep going right now.
17. The silent sound of snow-This is one time I understand the sound of silence. The world is muted through the snow, all sounds are dulled. It is a special kind of silence that has as much presence as music does.
18. Beautiful architecture-The thought that goes into a design of a building, to make it unique, but functional. It is like a functioning, practical piece of art.
19. Going places- I love to travel. I haven’t ever left the U.S. but I do love the places I have been. Seeing people that I won’t see again, and the anonymity of being just another person is intriguing.
20. Pasta salad-Pasta. Italian dressing. Cheese. Olives. Amazing.
21. Clouds-They are always changing, but always have some sense of what they are. They change shape and color but they are still clouds
22. Plants- I love plants and flowers. Anything that grows. I am happiest when I don’t have to weed the garden around them, so indoor plants are so fun. I love buying flowers just for fun and arranging them. I also love having something that is alive from outside inside my room during the winter when everything looks so dead.
23. Going home- The feeling of being at home is great. I am blessed to have a good home that I can go to frequently and be welcome there. I love knowing where everything is and all the little rules of the house, like don’t sit on the arms of the couches, don’t put stuff on the piano, etc.
24. Words- I love to write, but rarely do so. I love knowing words and talking. I tend to talk too much generally, but I love words. I have been a voracious reader nearly since I started to read.

Snow Shoes

I went snowshoeing for my first time today. I got snowshoes last year but the snow got rained on and I got busy, so I never had the opportunity to go. I am blessed to live in a place where a fifteen minute drive from home takes me where I can go enjoy the outdoors. I really liked snowshoeing; it was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I was expecting it to be as hard as backpacking or something. Granted, I was on a trail where other people (snowmobiles, cross country skiiers, etc.) had all been, so the trail was fairly packed. I was passed by a jogger who was just in normal shoes and he was doing pretty well. It did get harder when I went off the path and into the looser powder and scrub oak. Clothing wise I was pretty comfortable. I had jeans, borrowed gaiters, a long sleeved shirt, a hoodie and my new Gore-Tex shell. It was cloudy, but not too cold. 

Christmas Lights

General Conference

What a great weekend! Getting to sit and listen to the Prophet and others speak for two days is wonderful. Conference sessions can be found here. I found a blog with really good notes on the talks here. Can't wait until next conference in April!

Life's too short to have a boring umbrella

Due to a large storm starting late yesterday and growing into everything a storm should be, there were lots of umbrellas on campus today. Walking to class this morning there were those who had umbrellas, those who wished they had one, and those who weren't awake enough yet to realize that they needed one. Oh, and a few like me who had a waterproof jacket and whose roommates didn't and they needed the couple umbrellas in the apartment more than I did. That pretty much covers everyone.
As I was walking, I noticed one girl had an umbrella. A rather large one. She saw someone who had woken up enough to realize it was raining, but not until he was outside in shorts and a t-shirt. She ran up to him and walked next to him, sharing her umbrella. I heard her introduce herself and walk towards the building he was going to. As they reached the doorway, she said "Nice to meet you" and ran off to class. I think the guy smiled the whole day.
Later, as I was walking back to campus for a later class, I had an umbrella. I don't know where it came from, it just was here in my apartment when I moved in. It is one of the cool ones with the pointy thing on the tip and the curved handle. The best part about it is that printed on the cloth-ey part is this painting, Poppies at Argenteuil. Makes for a pretty bright umbrella. Noticing the looks I was getting from my brightly colored umbrella, I started looking at others. For the most part, they are terribly boring! Black and navy were the most common colors! Where were the neons? the pastels? the Anything-but-black's? As if rainy days aren't blah colored enough, at least get a colorful umbrella.

Stormy Monday

They called it stormy monday,but tuesday is just as bad
Oh, they called it, they called it stormy monday,
But tuesday, tuesday is just as bad
Oh, wednesday is worst and thursday oh so sad

The eagle flies on friday now, saturday Ill go out to play
Oh, the eagle, the eagle flies on friday saturday Ill go out and play
Sunday Ill go to church, and I fall on my knees and pray

I say, lord have mercy, lord have mercy on me
But lord, lord have mercy lord have mercy on me
You know Im crazy bout my baby
Lord, please send her back home to me

School!

I am halfway excited to begin school again on Monday. Having something to do all the time will be exciting, but I'm not sure that I want that "something to do" to be school. I am excited for the classes I am taking. I think they will be a lot of work, but will be ones that I enjoy. I am taking a break from my major (Technology Engineering Education) while I decide if that is really what I want to do. Instead, I am taking lots of General Ed classes that I will have to take eventually anyways, and have to be finished with before applying to the other major I am considering, Elementary Education.

I am excited to get new school things and to organize them all. A few weeks ago my mom, sister and I went school shopping. I didn't get much, but I really like what I did get: a button up shirt, a sweater/jacket thing, and a bag.

I also recently got another bag that I totally love at the local Farmers market. She sells them here. They are wonderfully big and bright. I am going to use mine for textbooks on lighter days, and for groceries when I remember to go shopping.

I am looking for a job on campus and it isn't going too well. I have applied to lots, but heard back from none of them. I just have to keep looking I guess.

I have been looking for simple things to cook for dinner that I can easily reheat the rest of the week for lunches. What are things that make good leftovers? What are some that are fast to make when I am tired after classes?

Cleaning can only take up so much time. I have been working on fixing my apartment to a liveable state since my previous roommates left and didn't take a lot

Food

Food. Its on my mind right now for some reason. Which is unusual, because unless I am cooking, I don't care much about food. It is late and I could and probably should eat something, because I don't like breakfasts. I have a love/hate relationship with food. I love making it and sometimes enjoy eating it, but I often dislike having to eat. If I didn't get sick from not eating, I would probably go several days between eating. But I do get sick, so I do eat fairly regularly. Being a student makes having food constantly is a bit of an issue. I do alright when I go shopping regularly. Enough about food. I think I will go eat cereal now. That sounds good....

Worlds coolest boyfriend

I have the worlds coolest boyfriend. Ya he lives at least 6 hours away from me. But that is ok. Tonight he stayed up and helped me study for a final I have tomorrow. We worked on it for a couple hours. He had no idea what he was even quizzing me on most of the time (Astronomy). I tried to escape but he was determined. I even facebook messaged his sister for help! (Did not work.) In the end we got through it all. I was (and am) pretty tired.
He says:
and...thats all
you are studied
I say:
good
He says:
so
what now
I say:
do i get nachos?
He says:
do you want nachos?
I say:
mjh,
He says:
then you get nachos
See? What a good boyfriend. He lets me have nachos at 11. Cool.

Floral Class

I am in a Floral Design class this spring at school and here are some of the arrangements I have done.


This is a Dutch spiral wrapped bouquet.

These are a wrapped bouquet I did.

Gnome Vacation

Spring? Maybe?

There is hope!

Aside from the lovely warm weather so far this week, there is hope of spring coming. I discovered these a week or so ago in our garden when there was still snow around.








And lastly, the best thing of all...

Blue sky!!

Ice Ice... yeah...

I was home earlier this week and saw these cool ice crystals on our grass. So I had to take pictures of them :)

Clueless

I wanted to write a post today, but couldn't think of anything to write about. For Christmas I got a Writers block. (The Writer's Block by Jason Rekulak) So I decided to pick a page and write about that. I opened to a page that said Sparkword: Clueless. That meant that I had to write about being clueless.
This was a difficult topic for me to write about. Not because I am clueless though. Far from that. It is because I have no idea which incident I should write about. I feel clueless so frequently that I couldn't pick just one moment. (I am taking a math class if that explains anything) So I guess I got a firsthand experience with being clueless tonight. It isn't too much fun.
The one thing that I can think of that is me being clueless right now is remembering my electronics class last semester. I would work and work to get all the parts lined up and try to test the circuit, but it wouldn't work. And I didn't have the faintest idea why. I am just thankful I had a patient teacher and a bit of free time when he wasn't teaching classes. The feeling of having absolutely no idea what was happening is not fun. I guess I figured enough of it out because I managed to come out of the class with a B+. Not too bad for something that goes totally over my head.
I guess I have that feeling again in my math class right now. But that is in no way unfamiliar to me with math. Just a part of life.
When have you felt the most clueless? Did the Ah-ha moment ever come?

Sick Day

I am sick today. It is not fun. Not one bit. I was scheduled for 12 hours in classes today. First one was at 8 AM and I was supposed to get done at 10 PM. My teacher let us out three hours early though. Still meant that I had that class for 3 hours, but still. (Here I will ramble about today, no idea what I am even thinking. Read at your own risk) Getting home at 7 instead of 10 is a nice thing. I got home and immediately crashed on the floor with a blanket for about 45 minutes. I finally got dinner after roommates commanded me to. I ate and went and lay on my bed crying for a while. Called my parents and they told me that they wanted me to come home. So after a while I did. So now, I am at home doing pretty much the same thing I was at my apartment.

Being sick has messed with my brain and so now I am going to write about my favorite memory of being sick. I was about 7 and had a fever and a cold or flu or something. It was late and I was up with my dad because I couldn't sleep. He showed me a secret stash of Hershey bars and gave me a couple Popsicles. I most distinctly remember sitting wrapped in a blanket with a chocolate bar on my lap, Popsicle in hand watching South Pacific with my dad. Although I was sick, it is still one of my favorite memories.

Gnome vacation: A photo story

Being a gnome is a drab life. You sit on a shelf or in a garden, watching life happen to everyone else. Finally it becomes simply too much to bear. It is time for a vacation. You pack your bag and head out. After many tricky situations, you finally are on your way. Until....

A closed door. This is a serious predicament indeed.

What a discouraging view. Maybe this is why gnomes don't get out much.

BBQ Sauce

I asked my sister what to write about today, and she told me to write about BBQ sauce. So here we go I guess...
My sister had a lovely experience today with BBQ sauce. We went out to dinner tonight, and she got the kids menu rib plate. It was a meaty little rack of 4 ribs. I honestly think she got more sauce on her than in her mouth. In the end she was rubbing it on her hands and face. Basically making herself a total mess. My family was cracking up, as was the waiter. In the end she said that the ribs were good, which means that SOMETHING ended up in her mouth.
Our night out to dinner was the reward for cleaning the house and putting away the Christmas decorations. The house looks strange without all the Christmas things everywhere. Definitely is cleaner though. It will be strange to leave to go back to my apartment next week.

Turtles