Tagged

So I didn't officially get tagged for this game, but I've been doing homework for 8 hours straight on a Saturday, so I'm down for about any distraction right now:

1. What is your most embarrassing moment?
Probably when I was on my first date with my high school boyfriend. Everything was going soooo well, and then we got in a really fun pillowfight (we had just watched a movie at his house and his mom had a lot of those couch pillows) and I went to hit him with one but it flipped in my hand and instead I clocked him in the face. Ha! Can you believe it, he still liked me anyway and we dated for another year and a half :).

2. What is your greatest accomplishment, to date?
Probably getting Jordan to fall in love with me by writing him clever and entertaining letters for 5 years. But coming in second would be the very generous FLAS (foreign language and area studies) scholarship I just received to study Italian with my graduate school classes!

3. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Realistic: San Luis Obisbo, CA.

Dreaming: Geneva, Switzerland or Cinque Terre, Italy

Wouldn't you want to live here too?

4. If you could only take 3 belongings with you on a mass exodus to somewhere else, what would you take and why?
My computer (let's be real, it's like an appendage at this point anyway), my bike (my pride and joy), and a good book :).

5. What is your dream date like?
Probably exploring a small town somewhere in Europe all day, conveniently located near an ocean where we can eat dinner overlooking the shore and sunset, and then sit in the sand and chat :).

6. What is your earliest memory?
I'm not totally sure which is earliest, but I do remember sitting in the little chair-contraption on the back of my mom's bike as we rounded a corner to the park we'd always go to. I think Trent was on my dad's bike, so maybe I was two? I also have some memories of going to Joy School, watching my mom make me macc n cheese, watching Fantasia for the first time, and some others. :)

7. If you could have anything to eat right this moment, what would it be?
Thai Mangoes and Sticky Rice, the yummiest dessert eeeeeeever.

8. If you had unlimited funds to start your own foundation, what would it do and what causes would it advocate?
Funny you should ask, I think about this all the time! I would create a foundation that advocates for girls' education and other methods of preventing and eliminating sex trafficking. Check out this website for a pithy video sum up: http://girleffect.org/question.

Maybe I'll get to an actual update on our life some day soon, but in a quick nutshell:

Jordan is being a rockstar as always :). He's taking a full load in school, continues to work with Capricia doing physical therapy, and was just called as the Elders' Quorum President in our ward (leader of the men's group). He will also be running the St. George marathon next week, which I am sure he will be amazing in!

I just started my Masters of Public Health (MPH) program at BYU, which is amazing! There are 11 other students in the program with me, and they are too much fun. I don't think I've ever enjoyed class this much! I also was fortunate enough to receive a FLAS scholarship, which promotes the study of European areas and studies. So I'm taking Italian and Western European Politics courses on top of my MPH load, totaling for 19 credits of school! WOW it's pretty busy, I feel like Jordan because now I study all the time (he's a great example ;). I'm also TAing/co-instructing the Refugee and Immigrant health class again, and that's just about enough to keep me busy!

:)

Nope, I didn't die, but it seems like this blog might have...

Hi all. What do you know but it's been months and months again since a post from yours truly! I'm sure you've all been hanging on the edges of your seats waiting for more, so here's another summed up recap of our Spring/Summer:

JORDAN ran his marathon in TWO hours and THIRTY-SIX minutes. For those of you who aren't hip on marathon times (like me, for example), those are sub-six minute miles for the ENTIRE 26 miles. Wowza, did I marry a rockstar or what?!?! He placed first in his age group, what a stud, and qualified for the Boston Marathon again. Amazing.

I took two art classes during Spring which I both thoroughly enjoyed and sort of detested in the same breath. I love to learn and I kind of need to be forced to paint if I'm ever going to actually finish anything, but I also really hate to have my work critiqued, mainly because I feel like art critique is so totally bogus/objective. Like, I'd get an 8 out of 10 points, but without any kind of explanation for why. Now if that happened on an essay, wouldn't everyone be frustrated? I for one, would not be satisfied with the response "I just didn't like it" or "It was missing that thing" (???). NO idea. Art.... I love and I hate it, what can a girl do.

Then, my sister Katie arrived for Summer term and we (Jordan, me, and her) had a blast hanging out at least one night a week partying. And it was a riot having my parents and Elise in town to drop her off. We always love having company,

especially such good-looking, fun, entertaining and hilarious company! ;)

Katie and I also took a bookbinding class together during Summer term, which was too much fun. We loved hanging out, not to mention I can't say enough about the art of bookbinding. Our teacher was a complete doll, and given the fact that we're both obsessed with

books, we were pretty much in heaven. Here's some of the fruits of my labor:

Thanks-Helping-Me-Graduate-Book for my Dad :)

Thanks-Helping-Me-Graduate-Book for my Mom :)

And a Baby Notebook for my friend and old roommate Jill who just had a beautiful baby girl!

Too much fun. Oh and as you may have deduced from the books for my mom and dad, I GRADUATED!!! Pretty awesome. And my awesome hubby decided to get me the entire Adobe Suite for graduation! It was a huge surprise to me.... he's much better at pulling those off than I am :). So here's my first attempt at monkeying around with photoshop:

Well, that's plenty for now I think... but stay tuned for a post about our trip to DC, Jord's birthday, and bunches of more fun. Or something like it :).

Hiatus

Well, I don't know if you noticed (probably not) but this blog pretty much dropped off the face of the earth this semester. Yep. Sorry blog. Ironically, though this is my last semester and you'd think it would fly by as a breeze, it has actually been my most difficult/crammed one yet!
Here's a few reasons why:
--I took the GRE and didn't fail
--I applied to grad schools
--I applied to fellowships
--I had a 150-hour internship working for the Grow Learn Give program
--I TAed for two (2!) classes
--I had 17 credits (aka a fullllll load)
--I got into grad schools
--I had to make a decision about grad schools (sorry U, hello Y)
--I applied to more fellowships
--I applied for scholarships
--I presented at BYU's Religious Symposium and won some dinero (we love dinero at our house)
--I took some midterms
--I graded everyone else's midterms
--I worked on my internship ALL the time
--During that time I made these suhweet booklets to help girls in Africa stay in school: Hygiene & Menstruation
--I thought "maybe I should do some homework"
--Sometimes I did homework
--Mostly I applied for scholarships though
--I graded some more people's tests and briefs
--I helped teach a college class (fun!)
--I borrowed young adult novels from the library and read them until 2 in the morning on a regular basis.
--I presented in 2 poster contests and won some more dinero (yessss!)
--I applied for a couple more scholarships
--I applied for graduation WOOT
--I thought "Maybe I should study for finals"
--I decided to write a post on this neglected blog instead.


FEWF! Well. That about sums up my hiatus from the blog world. So you're all caught up. As for hubby, his list probably goes something like this:
--He studies for Chemistry 24/7
--He hates chemistry
--He runs for about an hour a day, WOW
--He studies some more for Chemistry
--He makes me happy all the time
--He goes to work doing physical therapy
--He goes to meetings for Church
--He's getting ready to kick trash on his marathon (June 12)
--He gets more likable every day
--He studies for Chemistry

That's about how it goes for him. He rocks. And he's almost done with Chem for life (we hope).

Oh and I can't forget this:

Just a few weeks ago we celebrated our 2nd anniversary with a delicious dinner/dessert at the Cheesecake Factory! The food was ah-MAZING (we both got shrimp dishes, we're suckers for seafood), and the company was even better :). When you're engaged/first married I feel like everyone tells you how much hard work it's going to be, and ya I guess they're right it takes some work, but I feel like no one told me how much better it was going to get! That we would love each other even more two years later, that we'd get along SO much better, we would communicate lightyears better, and we'd have so much more FUN. Being married just gets better all the time :).

So.... now that it's finals weekend, I'm just about ready to not be in school anymore. Too bad I am graduating only to start an even harder version of school in the fall. Am I crazy!?! I think yes.

BUT.

I am really excited to be taking TWO art classes this Spring term. Yes, two. No essays, no research, just blissful painting classes for 12 hours a week. Delicious! I can't wait.

Also, probably the thing that is getting me through finals the most (besides the beautiful weather outside, the fact that my grades don't matter any more because I'm already in grad school, and looking forward to moving to a beautiful new house in 2 weeks) is looking forward to the trip Jordan and I are planning to this place later this summer:






Ah yes, we have decided to take an adventure to our nation's beloved Capital! And considering the fact that Jordan hasn't been east of Provo, UT, this is a very exciting prospect indeed. Oh except for Disney World (Florida). But that's just the happiest place on earth, directions are a bit pointless there really. Anyway. It's going to be amazing. No homework, no studying, just me and Jordan on a trip laughing and exploring and having a ball. Can't hardly wait!!!

Koins for Kenya Internship

Well, here's a sneak peak of what I've been working on for my current internship. I don't have a lot of time, but I thought I'd paste my internship description from my "Letters of Intent" below:

My commitment to literacy and prevention is currently manifested in my work as an intern for the non-profit organization Koins for Kenya. Working in partnership with LDS Humanitarian Services, we are developing female hygiene kits to aid girls in rural Kenya to overcome the challenges that adolescence poses to continuing education. Many young girls are forced to either miss school regularly during their menstrual cycle or withdraw altogether given their limited resources and the unsanitary conditions of their schools. Withdrawal from school is often followed by a variety of tragedies ranging from early marriage, to contraction of HIV, to obstructed labor and impending fistula. Research has demonstrated that by preventing withdrawal from school many of these painful outcomes can be prevented. Having personally learned from my research not only the cost of dropping out, but the increased potential of girls who complete their educations, I am delighted to become a part of the solution. As a complement to the re-useable menstrual pads and other products found in the hygiene kits, I am developing educational materials for the instruction of women and girls regarding their hygiene and the changes that occur during puberty. Though the project has just begun, I already eagerly anticipate the opportunity to pilot these materials in Kenya this summer with local women and girls. I am thrilled at the prospect of being engaged in this important work which will truly help eliminate disparities at the ground level; enabling young girls in rural Kenya to have a better chance of becoming educated, healthy members of their society.

Sorry, I'd write a paragraph just for the blog, but this one is great (maybe a bit out of context) and I'm busy :). lol. But so far it is going AMAZING and I love love love my work. We're planning to pilot the booklets in Africa, but the hope is that they can eventuallybe distributed worldwide. Hence the pictures of girls from different countries. The picture above is of a the mock-up I've made of the first page of the Hygiene & Sanitation Booklet I'm making (one of three, the others will be on puberty and menstruation). In this booklet we talk about germs, parasites, hygiene (from washing hands to preventing vaginal infections, which are a common and painful problem), methods of sanitizing water, how to make a tippy-tap (a basic device that helps water to flow over hands while washing them) and how to make a rehydration drink (dehydration is the #1 cause of death among children in developing countries). Awesome right? And I get to draw a lot of the illustrations, which is SO fun. It's the perfect blend of my two passions :).

More to come later. For now, I'll leave you with these startling facts to ponder on:

"More girls were killed in the last 50 years, precisely because they were girls, than men killed in all the wars in the 20th century. More girls are killed in this routine gendercide in any one decade than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the 20th century."

and

"The equivalent of 5 jumbo jets worth of women die in labor each day... the life time risk of maternal death is 1,000x higher in a poor country than in the west. That should be an international scandal."
--Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl Wudonn "Half the Sky"

Life, Internship, Books... the whole shpeal

Well I've been a bit negligent with this blog. In my defense, I've been submitting 1-2 fellowship/scholarship/essay contest/grad school applications every week for about the last month or so. Hope I see some fruits for my labors (fruits in this case being some serious green! :). I'll keep everyone posted.

Well actually, I have heard back from one entry. I submitted an essay last Fall to BYU's Annual Religious Student Symposium, and was selected to give a 15-minute presentation about my essay "Female Rights in Islam: The Contextual Qur'an" at the symposium! Pretty neat. And I've been informed that I'll be receiving some kind of award... which could be one of the cash prizes, or an honorable mention. I'm crossing my fingers for the former! But regardless, I'm actually excited to talk about this essay because I think it's both fascinating and important. Here's my abstract, to sum up what I'll be talking about:

This submission discusses the place of women in the religion of Islam. Discussion includes an examination of both the treatment of women culturally (in both the East and West), as well as the various cultural and literal interpretations of the Qur’an regarding the treatment of women and their rights within Islam. This discussion demonstrates the discrepancies between modern, contextual interpretations of Islamic scripture with the poor treatment of women “based” on Islamic scripture. It becomes clear that the original intention of the Prophet Muhammad and the Qur’an is often inconsistent with Islamic culture, and that women of Islam can assert their rights by becoming literate and understanding the true interpretations of their holy book, the Qur’an. The paper concludes with a celebration that true, unadulterated Islam is a safe place for women, and with time and education hopefully they can find a healthier and more gospel-appropriate culture of women as equals to men.

What else? Well, we're both pretty busy with school and work and what not. Jordan is taking a healthy load of classes, he continues to work doing physical therapy (PT) with Capricia 3 times a week, and is applying to be a volunteer PT assistant at the hospital here. The hope is that if he volunteers for the next couple months and they like him (which I'm sure they will, who doesn't?!) that they'll hire him to work for them this summer. It would be a great job, pays well, and would give him the hours he needs for his applications to PT school (in two year and counting). Fewf! He also was recently released from his position in the Bishopric in our ward, having fulfilled the year that they ask us to serve in a student ward. It was bittersweet for both us-- more time together, but we both enjoyed the extra service to the ward. But Bishop didn't let us off the hook for long... within like 2 days we were called as Temple Prep instructors, so we're working with 3 couples in the ward who are preparing to attend the Temple and be sealed! We feel so fortunate to have this wonderful opportunity, and love learning more together.

As for me, I'm busy busy busy with applying to grad school, full-load of credits, an internship, and 2 jobs. I'm working as the TA for both Environmental Health (which Jordan is taking, fun huh!? Lol we've been joking about he's seducing the TA for a good grade... I'm still waiting for chocolates and flowers though... ;) and for the Refugee and Immigrant Health class that I helped Dr. Cole develop. Keeps me plenty busy. And on the note of refugees, here's a shout out on behalf of Haiti: if you go to iTunes there's a wonderful cd available from last week's "Hope for Haiti" program, which costs $8 and all the proceeds go to really great, reputable charity organizations working in Haiti. So if you're thinking about donating to the cause, this is a way you can donate, and get some beautiful (mostly) music to listen to as well!


Well, I think that's plenty for now. I'll have to bore you with details of my internship next time (although I won't lie, I find it REALLY interesting :). I'll wrap up with this picture of me and the suh-weet book I bound! A girl in the ward taught a group of us how to bind books, and I'm a bit obsessed. I'm really hoping to get into the bookbinding class at BYU this spring...

The Sick-Stress Theory (kelsey style)

Soooo I remember learning/reading that we tend to get sick when we're stressed. Most of us have probably heard this. Sad news for all of us students-- that makes for a very sick finals week! But I seem to be following a different trend. About a day or two after arriving in California for Christmas, right after finals were complete, I found myself feeling mighty sick. Similarly, I found myself one sick puppy beginning the very afternoon after taking the GRE this week. Still recovering, it's been a doozy. Questionable though, right? I'm thinking my body is taking on a new version of "sick when you're stressed," and this new version might be called "body, you better dang not get sick while i'm so stressed..." followed by a total body collapse after the stress is over. lol. Just a thought. Any similar experiences?

Check out the other blog...

Hey all! Just wanted to invite you to check out my other blog. It's one that I started last year to help document my research on the effects of female literacy on health. My official project is over, but I've become so passionate about it that I've kept up with the blog and try to keep it well stocked :). If you're at all interested in the plight of the 3rd world, the situation of girls in the developing world, etc., I try to maintain a good flow of well-researched information about it on this blog. So, if you're into this kind of thing... well, here's the link :)

http://girlsliteracyandhealth.blogspot.com/

Fall Fun

Welp, it's my favorite time of year! Last weekend we went up on the Alpine Loop and loved taking in the fall colors and taking one-armed and/or mini-tripod pictures of ourselves. Probably gonna make the Christmas card this year (cuz who can pay for a photographer now that you're married? one armed shots it is!). Here's a bit of the fun:






Then on Friday we went rock climbing at the Quarry, which was a blast! We both really enjoy rock climbing (it's a Christmas miracle!). We'd actually love to invest in the gear eventually, and make it a fun hobby of ours. In the meantime though we'll just mooch off of other people that have gear, or use 2 for 1 passes to the rock gym :).

Thoughts and some more thoughts

Kay folks. I recognize I'm on a mom/women/religion kick lately. Pretty much it's just how it goes. So feel free to skip reading this one if you've had an overdose, but otherwise, I thought this experience was pretty much a neat one....

However, do proceed with caution. First of all, this is pretty much... long (shocking, I know! I never have rants or monologues that go on for extended periods of time!). But it's really good, thought provoking stuff, I promise :). And you should probably plan on reading the whole thing if you plan on reading at all, because the following is a Kelsey opinion/take on a generally sensitive subject :).

So. As you may or may not know, my hubby Jord is serving in the bishopric of our ward, which is basically a group of men who are called to be responsible for the welfare of our church group. Interestingly, of all the leadership (including ward clerk, exec secretary etc.) we're the only couple that isn't either greeeeaaaat with child, or has a baby or two already. A few weeks ago, Jordan relayed to me (probably much to his initial regret ;), that during a meeting a member of leadership essentially gave a passionate testimony/speech about the importance of having children as soon as possible, how it is counseled by church leadership, and that we should all seek after the blessings of parenthood immediately. Important of note is that he essentially directed his eyes at Jordan the whole time (obviously the speech would really only apply to us, since everyone has subscribed to that general idea already). I was pretty vehemently irritated when he told me this, feeling like it was completely and totally inappropriate for a member of leadership to approach this personal topic in such a public way, with absolutely no effort to discuss with us our situation. Yep, I was not happy. Thankfully, my level-headed husband explained to me the context of the situation, that it wasn't meant condescendingly, etc etc. I can understand that there are righteous principles that this man testified about-- the blessings of parenthood, of having a family, etc. So after venting for awhile, I got over it, and was in fact able to learn some valuable lessons from the experience.

The gospel is true. No doubt about this in my mind. The church "culture," however, can often miss the mark I feel. One of these misses I feel can be the assumption that there is a mold in which every new couple ought to fit, and if they don't fit this mold for some reason, they must be doing something wrong. Not everyone in the church thinks this, but sometimes you get some vibes that some people do. Church leaders have made it incredibly clear that personal revelation is an essential component of the restored gospel, but unfortunately I think we sometimes forget this as a church culture. Although in the past there have been some statements (often referred to out of context) referring to the responsibility to bear as many children as quickly as possible, the current recommendation on these topics, given by our modern prophets, is that the sacred subject of families and how and when to begin them is personal between a couple and the Lord. As BYU President Samuelson said, "You also know that the scriptures and the prophets have not been explicit about things such as numbers [of children], timing and so forth. This is because not only are these things intensely personal in terms of decisions, they are absolutely unique in terms of our customized, individual circumstances." I feel completely comfortable with those couples that feel prompted to start families right after their marriage-- that is truly wonderful! Unfortunately people sometimes forget that this "normal" procedure may not be right for every couple, and wrongly assume this is the immediate responsibility of every couple, regardless of whether they may feel personally prompted to start a family or perhaps feel personally prompted to first finish their education, etc.

I just discovered this confirmation to my thoughts in a talk given by President Samuelson (the same one I quoted above) to women at BYU studying the maths and sciences, "I'm candidly nervous when I hear well-meaning people make extrapolations from the scriptures or from the statements of the prophets and then seem to feel authorized to tell the rest of us what the prophets really meant, had they only been wise enough to say it clearly. When anyone says more than the scriptures or the prophets have said on a particular doctrine, principle or practice, I consider them to be on dangerous ground." Well put, sir.

However, probably the most incredible thing I realized was while watching General Conference yesterday. Totally unrelated to anything in the talks I was listening to, I had a little gem drop into my mind. It's interesting to me that as a church "culture," women are often expected to step into the role of motherhood as soon as possible after marriage-- even at the expense of education, training, or other worthwhile endeavors. Like I said earlier, this certainly may be correct for some couples. However the interesting thing is the comparison of how we treat the husband's role. Unlike his wife, the husband is not expected to step immediately into his role as "provider." He could in fact do this, quitting school and getting an un-skilled job, however, it is universally accepted that by becoming educated he will be better able to fulfill his role, and is therefore encouraged to get as much education and training as possible. I wonder-- did it ever cross mormon "culture"'s mind that becoming well educated would enable the wife to better fulfill her role as wife and mother? I know, it's a crazy thought, but bear with me. During the time that Jordan and I were determining how we wanted to address the conflict of finishing school/starting a family, I took the time to read through the majority of talks from the last decade of General Relief Society Broadcasts. And in almost every single one of these meetings, the Prophet of the church would counsel the sisters to "get as much education as you can." No stipulations on being single or not, just the counsel to get as much education as possible. Surely, though the husband's education is invaluable and does provide for the physical needs and comforts of his family, the wife's education contributes equally if not more to the healthy and righteous raising of the family's children. Where the husband's education contributes largely to the physical sustenance of the family, a wonderful and commendable contribution (among other things, but that probably being the most obvious), the wife's education contributes largely to the delicate training and nurturing of her children's minds and hearts. This may, in fact, ultimately be the longer lasting impression of quality education. I feel confident that our Heavenly Father values the education of women, and that skills, talents, and education do not have to be sacrificed at the alter of motherhood. Motherhood and education can go hand in hand, and when the opportunity for a woman to gain a valuable education is taken, it will have the capacity to positively impact her family for ever.

Like I said before-- it's personal to every couple. It may not be the right choice for every couple to get PhDs together :). Each person's path is different. Often, people should start their families right away, and it is a blessing and it is right and good. But when a couple is prompted to seek after educational opportunities with the righteous desire of enhancing the training and growth of their family and their capacities to be instruments in the Lord's plan, this is a good thing. Education and righteous motherhood are not at odds with each other! Surely, they are a perfect complement. I've talked to so many girls that reflect on how their education-- be it high school, college, elementary school, or even learning to be literate in developing nation-- has improved the situation of their family and their capacity to be a wonderful mother. Although church culture may not yet acknowledge this, it does not make it untrue.

I hope no one is offended by this. It's hard to put into words impressions that sometimes come, but this is something that I feel so strongly about. We need to weed out any untruths and twisted versions of truth that may pervade our church culture, and seek after real truth, undaunted and untarnished truth, individual and personal to each of us.

Here's an awesome quote from Elder John K. Carmack (The executive director of the Perpetual Education Fund) who spoke at BYU law school last Wednesday:
"President Hinckley never made a distinction between men and women in establishing PEF as the educational program for young adults in less-advantaged countries. Now that he is gone we can learn several important things about President Monson’s feelings.
• Education is just as vital for women as for men in the Church.
• Education for women is not just a safeguard in case of divorce, death of a spouse, or lack of opportunity to marry, but is also important for fulfilling life’s purposes and the goals of improving our minds and skills." yes!!!

He even went on to say, "Education can help women fulfill their life’s roles, including rearing children, at the highest level of which they are capable.Women also gain fulfillment and satisfaction from improving their minds and skills. Education helps women achieve excellence in Church and community service." Couldn't have said it better myself.

Really, we have a variety of commandments to fulfill. Commandments to have a family, commandments to become well educated, commandments to be fruitful, etc. We have to find the personal balance of all these commandments, and find the best way to fulfill all requirements for ourselves. Surely, God meant for these various commandments to go hand in hand, and not be at variance with one another. Though they may seem to conflict, they are not meant to, and if I may be so bold as to quote my brother Nephi: "I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them" (1 Nephi 3:7).

If you're interested, here's the link to President Samuelson's talk: http://cpms.byu.edu/speeches/family-education-careers.

And the link to Elder Cormack's talk (which was excellent, really), a perfect complement to what I've talked about here.

Domestication

So i'm no super chef. I'm not gonna lie to anyone. And I don't normally enjoy cooking all too much. Generally Jord and I split it, and if anyone tends to take control of the kitchen scene, it's normally Jord. The man is a genius.

But I HAVE CREATED..... FIRE!!!!

hehe. Okay not really, but I did feel a bit like Tom Hanks creating fire in Castaway when I made this:


It's okay, you can be impressed! I sure was. In fact I was so impressed that even though I made this like a month ago, I decided to put it on my blog and brag about it. :) buon appetit!

Faith

Well, I've been thinking a lot about the principle of faith lately. Isn't it neat how when you seem to have a "theme" of study and pondering, that you see it all around you? I just came across this photo and story today, and thought it was such a great summation of what I have been concluding. There's a gentleman who recently finished a photo series on Jesus' parables, with a modern twist. You can see more if his art here. One of his pictures really appealed to me, in huge part because of the story he told to explain it. Here it is:

Faith & Trust

"A traveler, hiking through the wilderness, comes to the edge of a canyon. Seeking a way to the other side, he discovers a big rope stretched over the canyon. As his eyes follow the rope toward the other side, he is surprised to see a man coming toward him, confidently pushing a wheelbarrow. Arriving on his side of the canyon, the traveler exclaims, “That was truly amazing!”

The man with the wheelbarrow asks, “Do you believe that I can do it again?”

“Oh, of course,” the traveler replies. “You walked across with such confidence.”

“Do you really believe I can do it again?” asks the man with the wheelbarrow.

“Definitely,” replies the traveler.

“Very good, then,” says the man with the wheelbarrow. “Hop in and I will take you across.”

Many of us look at God the same way we look at the man with the wheelbarrow. We say we have faith that God can do anything. Yet, when it comes time to get in the wheelbarrow, our faith begins to dwindle. Haven’t we seen enough of His promises to trust Him to carry us across? "

I loved this! I know that we can have more healing, more forgiveness, and more love in our lives than we ever thought possible, if only we truly embrace the promises of the Savior. He told us so many times to "Knock, and ye shall receive," and yet so many of us feel timid rather than confident in seeking after and asking for the righteous desires of our hearts. We had a lesson on faith this last Sunday, and one thing that really struck me was a quote from Elder Bruce R. McConkie that basically said that if you want more faith, you need to be more obedient. I've seen that that is the case in my life. Because I have made a bigger effort to keep my promises (particularly covenants), read my scriptures, and look for opportunities to serve those around me, I have been more confident in asking the Lord for the things I need. And I can truly say that he has not failed me yet. One example is the "miracle of TMJ." :) I call it that because we recently discovered that I have TMJ, an issue with my jaw that causes a great deal of pain. We looked into the costs of addressing it and they were, suffice it to say, way out of the budget. And I thought, why not exercise my faith? I'm studying the New Testament right now, I've been reading about the Savior's miracles. Surely, he can heal my jaw. So my husband and I fasted and prayed that my jaw could be healed, he gave me a priesthood blessing, and within about a week, the pain in my jaw subsided and my problem was healed!

This is just one miracle in my life that I have been blessed with, and I know that the Lord wants to bless me with more. He wants to bless all our lives, but so frequently his blessing are contingent on our faith in Him. Surely more miraculous than the healing of my jaw is the fact that when I'm distressed, troubled to tears and full of anxiety over my studies of the tragedies in the world, he heals my heart. And everything is okay because I know that in the end, He will make it all right. And even more miraculous than that is that at the end of every day, when I seek forgiveness for the mistakes I've made, He heals me from the ugliness of my trespasses, and I'm clean again. I know that he can heal all our sicknesses, all our pains, and all our trespasses. The capacity of his atonement is greater than we can imagine, and covers all our faults and pains. I'm so grateful for His blessings, and for the little glimpses of faith that I can see in art, in literature, in the scriptures, and in the lives around me.

fun fun

I did all the ones in bold! :)

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Have been published
81. Visited the Redwoods
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

All in a day's work-- for a mom!

Well, I have another school-inspired post for you. I just wish everyone in the world could take this class I'm in right now, it really is just mind-boggling. Part of our discussion today consisted of analyzing the work that is done by women, and the value that is assigned to it. By value I mean not only the perceived importance of it, but also its monetary place in our worldwide economy. I'll start by telling you a couple little diddys (spelling, anyone?) our professor shared with us:

1) If a woman decided to go work for another family and did all the housework and raising of the children, and then the mother of that family decided to go and clean and care for the household of the first lady, they would both be considered "productive" in the GDP. However if both those ladies decided to stay home and cook and clean and care for their own respective families, it's the same as if they had done nothing (economically, they produced nothing of value, made no income, etc.).

2) One of our classmates had a baby last week. Her OBGYN, who delivered the baby, was considered "productive" and assigned a value by our GDP. However the new mother, who carried the baby for 9 months, labored to deliver the baby for 26 hours, and brought a new little life into the world, did nothing!

Some pretty crazy thoughts, eh? Makes you consider how we value things in the world, even in America. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's necessary for something to have a monetary value stamped on it for it to actually have value, but unfortunately the world seems to look at it that way doesn't it? That leaves stay-at-home mothers and nurturers in a rough, defensive little spot. What do they do all day, anyway? (sarcasm ;)

Well here's a refreshing conclusion. Recent studies have concluded that the average cost of buying the services of a wife and mother, per year, would be about $109,000. WOW!!! That's some big dollars right there. So although "reproductive" work may not yet be considered "productive," by economic standards, you Mommas out there can sit back and know that your net worth is at least a pretty 6 figures. And that's without even talking about how valuable your work really is :). As for that, I think this just about sums it up:

"In 1935 the First Presidency stated, "The true spirit of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gives to woman the highest place of honor in human life.'"

and

“Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels.”
(The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

If you want more on that "mom salary," it's all at: http://mom.salary.com.

And for more fun/interesting reading, there's this: NYT "The Economic Unit Called Supermom"

Thanks Moms :).

Feminism

Well, I'm taking a really fabulous course this fall entitled "The International Political Economy of Women." Definitely my kind of class. I've been twice now, and not only have I been deeply moved (nigh unto tears, though if you know me I suppose that's not such a big deal), but I have been truly impressed with the instruction as well as one of the texts for the class, "Women in Eternity, Women of Zion." If you have ever had any questions about the LDS perspective of the female role, the concept of "patriarchy," the confusing concept of polygamy, or anything related to women's role in the church (or had a daughter with questions, for that matter), I highly recommend this book! I read almost the entire thing in one day, not because it's short, but because it was so absolutely insightful and incredible. Fabulous explanations that are almost all backed by scripture etc. There were just a few insights that I thought I might disagree with, but on the whole I thought it was really incredibly relevant and and enlightened.

I've got to go work on my grundles of homework or I'd keep writing, but you can expect to hear more about this class, I'm sure!

Quote of the day:
Michelle Stott quoting Rebecca West: "I'm not sure what a feminist is, but I am called one every time I venture an opinion that distinguishes me from a doormat."

har har. and yet so true.

p.s. My professor gave a profound section of her first lecture on the varieties of feminism, and how although the LDS faith is certainly at complete odds with some of them (i.e. feminism to the extent that you must totally disconnect yourself from males and embrace only the virtues of femininity etc.), it is in perfect harmony and in fact one of the greatest supporters of true feminism, the kind that seeks after the equal treatment and respect of men and women. I certainly can agree with full confidence that this is the case :).

I like to ride my bicycle... I like to ride my bike!!!

So. I'm not sure if anyone else can relate to this (although my guess is that they can :), but even though Jordan and I love each other a LOT, sometimes it feels like that's about all we have in common!!! And we actually have a lot in common, but there are some big ones that we definitely don't. For example, Jordan likes to spend his leisure time (yes, it is leisure for him) doing extreme sports. And you think "Oh, like he likes to exercise! That's great." No. I mean, it is great, but it's a bit more than that-- we're talking biking the Alpine Loop (3 hours), running marathons, rock climbing, snowshoeing for SIX hours, Hiking in the High Uintahs for a WEEK... you get the picture. These are wonderful hobbies. It's just that sometimes, I don't get it...? To demonstrate the confusion, here's a list of things I like to do for leisure: read books for hours, watch a good movie, go for a walk, paint for hours, go somewhere pretty or interesting and draw, go to a gallery, go to cultural events, see a play or a musical. Yep. Just about as different as they could be. And Jordan, bless him, is probably just as confused about my interests as I am about his! So, we try to compromise, and attempt interest in each other's hobbies. And I feel like we've done a pretty good job so far!

The only major glitch is that because Jord is so intense about his hobbies, and does them soooo extensively.... I would probably pass out or die if I tried to join him. And I could train, but frankly, I'd probably rather study for the GRE the rest of my life than do that. Lol. I'm just not a competitive person! So it's been interesting trying to find outdoorsy things that we can do together. And please don't get me wrong-- I do enjoy the outdoors! But as one of my good friends put it so well, there are two types of outdoors people: 1) The kind who like to be one with nature and enjoy it and 2) The kind that like to compete with nature, to explore and to conquer! This is a pretty good explanation of Jord and I's philosophies. I like camping as much as the next person, just not backpacking for a week in the mountains. Or I'd love to go romp around in the snow and sled and take a nice walk, but probably not snowshoe or hike in it for hours and hours. So. Back to the problem at hand: how to engage in and support Jordan's hobbies without wanting to kill myself? Answer: BIKING. Jordan recently has really gotten back into biking, and I thought, I can do that! At least, I could probably get into biking a liiiiittle more than casually, and meet him in the middle (i.e.: a 2-hour ride instead of 8 or something).

So. As luck would have it, when Jordan got his bike (which he actually was given as a gift from a family friend! Amazing right? It's a beautiful, well-used but very valuable road bike) UPS damaged it in the mail. Because it's carbon fiber, it's possible that the little dings it got compromised it's frame. So we received a large lump of insurance money to cover any potential costs of repair, but fortunately for us there doesn't appear to be any permanent damage! So we used some of that insurance money to buy me a new bike, to ride around with Jordan! We searched for a long time to find the right one and finally settled on a Gary Fisher "Simple City" 8-speed, which is a bit like a blend/hybrid between a road bike and a cruiser. Perfect. I want to be able to keep up with Jord, or at least try, but also have a comfortable bike that I can cruise around town with. And let me just say that I certainly have!!! It happened to be a bit more than we wanted to spend on it, so we decided to count it as a birthday/Christmas present for this year. That's okay though, cuz I probably just would've gone shopping more, and who really needs more clothes when you could have this beauty! Here she is:




The first day Jordan and I went on a beautiful 10-mile ride down the Provo River trail, reaching Utah Lake and then heading home! It was so fun to just get outside and be active together! I really enjoyed it. Since then, I've been to the grocery store (and filled up my basket with eggs, milk, ice cream, and the like-- so fun!), the library, my internship, school, rode around town dropping off fliers for my internship, and went on campus to buy our books! It's really been fun, and we get to enjoy each other and the community so much more than if we were at home watchin a movie! My conclusion: get a bike. It's super great.

hmmm

erm so that didn't work out so well. oh well, have fun reading about half of what i'll be doing ;)

Health Literacy Course

Hey all! Here's the info on the class I'll be teaching for my internship this Fall! I've been slaving away getting the class ready these last few weeks, and I am pretty excited! :)

Katie came to play!!!

So my hubby went on a week-long hike through the High Uintas with his dad and brother... and I thought "That's sad. I don't want to be alone all week..." so then I thought "Katie should come play with me that week!" And so I bamboozled my parents into letting Katie come hang with me! And then they decided they'd all come, so my parents drove out here with my sisters! Leesie went out to Vernal for the week to hang with her cousins, and my parents are here working on our townhouse and hanging with Katie and me! Yesterday we hung in the morning, laid tile at the townhouse, went to Cafe Rio, and watched "Psych." Today Katie and I slept in, I worked out, we ate breakfast, hugn with my parents, went on campus for a tour, checked into some majors Katie might like, dorked around in the bookstore, and went to see Angels & Demons! Fun right? And here's a little bit of fun we had taking pictures:









So glad she's here to keep me company! :)

Murals :)

Well, I've been a busy lady painting these murals for the Johnson fam! A bunch of posts ago I put some pictures up of Nathaniel and me-- he's the little boy with autism that I work with. Well, his mom found out I could paint okay, and commissioned me to do a bunch of fun work in her kids rooms!!! So here's the result so far-- basketball sconces, a UT Jazz Scoreboard, and an almost finished BYU Cougars football field for Nathaniel's room (he's 10), and a white picket fence with some bright fun flowers for Julia's room (she's 7). Although Nathaniel's turned out alright, I have to admit that I enjoyed painting Julia's room much more. Probably the little girl in me coming out- those flowers were way too fun to come up with!!! Not to mention I've listened to about 3 Harry Potter books while working on these-- not a bad gig, right? Well, here's the goods:

Here's the basketball sconce I painted:

The UT Jazz scoreboard (over his bed)

Soon this will say "Brigham Young" and "Cougars" in the endzones, with a big "Y" in the middle! Go Cougs!

Here's Julia's room... the lighting is bad and it was pretty messy, but this is what you see as you walk in...

On the right side of her window:

On the left side of the window:

close up...

This is on the wall to the right of her bed and window, a whole long wall of fence and flowers!

There's some more, but I think you probably got the idea. Fun stuff! :)