Love

In honor of the day of love:

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."
Rebecca - age 8

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri - age 4

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
Danny - age 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"
Emily - age 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen,"
Bobby - age 7

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"
Nikka - age 6

"There are two kinds of love. Our love. God's love. But God makes both kinds of them."
Jenny - age 8

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
Tommy - age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore,"
Cindy - age 8

"My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."
Clare - age 6

"Love is when mommy gives daddy the best piece of chicken."
Elaine -age 5

"Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."
Chris - age 7

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
Mary Ann - age 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."
Lauren - age 4

"I let my big sister pick on me because my Mom says she only picks on me because she loves me. So I pick on my baby sister because I love her."
Bethany - age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you."
Karen - age 7

"Love is when mommy sees daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."
Mark - age 6

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget,"
Jessica - age 8


I don't really care for Valentine's Day because I don't have much to look forward to except the weekend and my daddy's birthday. However I still love the holiday! These kids are very intelligent aren't they?

By the way if you want to read an entertaining dating story you should read my sister's blog. It's hilarious!

Janet's Blog- A hormonal disorder story

19th Birthday

Happy Birthday to me!


It was an excellent birthday. I woke up to surprise decorations everywhere! My roommates and I did a Taebo workout video. They made me pancakes for breakfast. Could a day that starts out so awesome continue to be awesome? Yes!

You know how you want your birthday to be a good day simply because it's your birthday? I remember when I was little, on my birthday I would expect a lot. So then, when it wasn't an excellent day I was disappointed.
This year I had a great day! Not because it was my birthday. It was just a good day that happened to be my birthday. There wasn't anything to bring it down! In my New Testament class we had a quiz that I completely forgot about. I took it and got 2/8. After the quiz, I thought, "Well this is the only bad thing about my birthday so far". But then my professor told us that it didn't count. It was just a good day :)
My parents came and we went out to dinner. Then later that night some people came over for cake (Both of my roommates made one! see above) and games. It was a lot of fun!

The best thing about my birthday was the devotional that day. This is only my second semester at BYU so I haven't had that many devotionals but it was by far the best one yet! Elder Holland spoke and it was incredible!
He started his talk out with talking about Lot's wife. I would love to tell you about it but I just want you to hear it from Elder Holland himself. I don't know if you have time, but I promise that if you listen or read this talk you will be uplifted!

Here's the link you can either read the PDF file or listen to the MP3.

Elder Holland's BYU devotional

I love my roommates!!!

I don’t think I could ask for better people to live with. They inspire me to better myself. They’re a HUGE part of my college life and I love them! I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have good roommates. College life can be hard and many times last semester it did get really hard and my roommates helped me more than they even know.

Melanie is an amazing cook! Someday she will feed her own family very well. I have had many, many delicious meals made by her.

She’s also hilarious!! After you get to know her she’s a lot crazier than she appears to be. She loves to laugh and she’s quick to make jokes. I love her laugh and I think I would recognize it anywhere. I think ‘fun’ describes her well and I’m sure Camille would agree with me:) I can’t wait to see where life takes her!

Camille is one of the most caring people I know!

We had the opportunity to visit Provo Care Center together. I remember just watching her and I could just see that she loves people. When she spoke or played with them you could just see that she was interacting with important people. She was quick to love them. I knew Camille before I moved to Provo, but not well. I knew that she was nice and that I could have fun living with her. I’ve loved getting to know her and I’m so grateful that we could be roommates! I wish I were more like her in SO many ways!

Last semester there were many times when I was tired of homework and working and I would come home and my spirits were quickly lifted by Melanie’s laugh or by Camille funny/cool stories that she wanted to share. I have had memorable experiences with both of them individually, but when one of them is missing it just doesn’t feel right. They have become my family.

I want to apologize to them though. About the last month of school last semester there were many times when I didn’t feel like myself. I was going through a low point in the roller coaster of life. There were times when I’m sure I seemed rude. I’m sorry. I had some really hard days and I didn’t even tell my roommates about! For some reason I was being hard on myself for many different things. I wasn’t like that all the time but even if I was “happy” I just didn’t feel like myself.

So far this semester has been going great!!! And I’m VERY determined to keep it this way!

I’m ready to start fresh this coming semester!! There are so many things that I want to improve this semester!! I love my roommates! I want to stay close friends with them for many years to come. I’m so excited to see where life takes them!! They have so many great things ahead of them!

I love you guys!!!!!

Ipod game!

So Camille told me about this game that she played and I thought I would put it on my blog because I haven't done anything for a while... And I thought it was pretty hilarious! I have to share it with people!

So here's the game...

Directions:
1. Put your iPod on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS




1. IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?

All At Once- the Fray



2. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?

Ain't No Fun- Guns and Roses (hilarious!! and true, just kidding)



3. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY/GIRL?

Everytime We Touch- Casada (For sure! ha ha I'm kidding)



4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

Those Canaan Days- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ( I miss those good days :) it works!)



5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE PURPOSE?

Never Let Go- Josh Groban



6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

Some Kind of Miracle- Kelly Clarkson



7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

March of the Witch Hunters- Wicked (This is SO funny!! The song starts out as "Go! And hunt her! And kill her!!... KILL THE WITCH!!" Oh man that's funny! )



8. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

Familiar- EFY 2007 Power in Purity (Maybe because of the preexistence?)



9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

Battle Hymn of the Republic- West Jordan Concert Choir (I like my country)



11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

Less is More- Relient K (Honestly, I didn't cheat! )



12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

High of 75- Relient K (This song is about how the girl he likes is kind of like the weather and she brought a high of 75. It works)



13. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

Weeping- Josh Groban ( Oh man! Weeping? Ha ha ha)



14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WHEN YOU GROW UP?

Dirty Little Secret- All-American Rejects (That's horrible!!! Can believe how well some of these matched!? I didn't cheat I promise!)

15. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now- Hairspray (This is horrible too!! This song is about how she's a big girl and it's inappropriate )



16. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

Remember When It Rained- Josh Groban ( In mourning on my wedding day? )



17. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

Sway- Michael Buble ( I don't dance! I actually hate it sometimes! )



18. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?

How Can You Mend Broken Heart- Michael (This is SO true! Maybe not my biggest fear but it's pretty high up there!)



19. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

One More Night- Cascada (Huh?)



20. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

The World Will Know- Newsies ( I don't know how to take this one... My friends and I are forming a union maybe?)



21. WHAT SONG THEY WILL PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

You and I- Michael Buble ( I like this one! )




This was a ton of fun and those that have blogs should totally do it!!! I guess you could do it even if you don't have a blog too. Or if you do have a blog and you don't want to post it on your blog then... fine but I you should still do it!!

if i had my life to live over

Today in my Introduction to Family Processes class we talked about some things that got me pondering about life. Here is what brought my deep thoughts.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER

by Erma Bombeck

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television- and more while watching life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."

There would have been more "I love you's"..More "I'm sorrys"...

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute... look at it and really see it... live it... and never give it back.

This got me thinking. What is it going to be like to look back on life here on earth after it is over? What things would I want to go back and change? My life is young but with that being said… what can I change now to be more grateful for my life?

I have an image in my mind of what the pre-existence might have been like. I can imagine we were learning and preparing to come down to earth in all sorts of ways. We were getting ready to come to earth!! We were nervous but of course excited. Some may have been a little more nervous than others. Maybe some were scared it would be too hard. I’m sure others were fully ready to take on the world. Of course we knew it was going to be hard. We knew that. But I can just imagine that we were SO excited for our long awaited opportunity to final come to earth!

Maybe we would talk to each other about the big things we were going to do here. Or about how grateful we were to even have the opportunity to come. And what about getting a body!?! Can you imagine that anticipation to finally get a body? We probably had some idea what it would be like, but could we REALLY comprehend it? I bet we marveled at the thought of having a body that was all ours and that it was our responsibility (when we are older old enough) to take care of it. We knew that our bodies were a marvelous creation. It’s amazing how our bodies work!! Only God himself could create such a thing!! We wanted to be apart of that and I don’t think we were too worried about what our body would look like because it would be ours. Some were so excited to get a body that they were willing to only have it for a day. We came here to gain a body of flesh and bones!! So isn’t great that we finally have one!?

Have you ever wanted something really bad and waiting for it seemed like eternity? And then you finally get what you were waiting for, do you stop and take a minute to be grateful? Here what I mean. When I was little, I loved Lagoon. I would say things like “I can't wait to go to Lagoon!” Then, when I did go to Lagoon, I would think to myself, “I’m at Lagoon! I’ve waited for this for ever and I’m here!” I do it all the time, whether it's Christmas or with summer time or when I miss someone. When I finally get to be with that person I think “I’ve wanted to see them and here I am, next to them right now!” I know that in the pre-existence we were excited to come to earth. We waited for a long time and the anticipation was great! But guess what! We’re living it right now! We're right in the middle of it! It’s going to pass us by before we know it, so even though life is hard we need to stop and think about how we waited for this very moment! I know need to be grateful and just stop and soak in all of the beauty around me.

With my blue and white personality traits, I dream big but sometimes I don't follow through. But I’m not always like that and I don’t have to be. Today while we were reading this poem I just had a lot of thoughts about what I want to do with my life. And I CAN do great things! Since I’ve started college I’ve had to come out of my shell a little bit. I've had the opportunity to expound on my thoughts rather than just doubting myself. And even though I'm at a University with 30,000 smart and talented people, I still have a lot to offer! Also, I've gained an even greater testimony that with His help I can do ANYTHING!!!

Life is great and we need to live it to its fullest!! Later we will look back at our life. Most of all we need to be grateful for everything around us! And just for the chance we have to be here!

Brothers are the best!

I have been SO busy! I haven't done anything with my blog for a really long time and I figured that if I worked on homework rather than on my blog Heavenly Father would help me more. I have some time today so I thought I would do as much blogging as possible.
A few weeks ago my brother Tim was sent by his work to visit BYU. I haven't had the opportunity to write about it yet. Tim is number 8 of the family and is 6 years older than me. He is living in Michigan with his wife, Rachel, and his new baby girl Kennedy. His work sent him here to BYU to recruit people.

Kevin is number 9 and his 4 years older than me. He is also attending BYU. While Timmy was here visiting we had the opportunity to spend some time together. It was just like the old times when we were home together! I absolutely loved talking and laughing with them!

I can't believe how different these two are! I love them both, but wow they have differnet personalities! (Not to mention they look nothing alike) I'm blessed to have them as my brothers.
I wanted to write about one experience that I will probably remember for the rest of my life. One morning I went to campus to take a Biology test in the testing center. I felt really good about the test, but when I saw my score... that was ALL gone! I don't even want to tell you my score, so I won't. Well anyway I was feeling really down after this dumb test! I had no desire to tell myself it was ok or that I would do better next time. With my discouraged spirit I walked to my next class on the verge of tears. I didn't want to look at anyone. I didn't want to go to my next class or do anything for that matter. I think this was one of the first times I really felt down.

Well my brother, Tim was on campus that day and on the way to my next class I stopped to say hello (It was very fun to see him on campus by-the-way). I told Tim about my test and how it didn't go very well. He immediately started to tell me that first tests were hard and that really it's ok. He told me about an experience that he had here at BYU. He said, "Dave(the brother just older than Tim) and I were taking a class together my freshman year and I studied really hard for the test. Harder than Dave did and he still did better than I did. It wasn't fair that he was better at school than I was". I thought about those words for the rest of the day. It was very comforting to hear that other people felt the same way I did. Not only did other people feel this way but my own brother did! I love and have always loved how Tim has the ability to notice when I was down. I won't forget that day because I felt very alone, but after I talked to my older brother I suddenly felt happy. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know how much he helped me that day. BYU is full of smart people and sometimes it's hard to feel smart, but that's ok. I still work hard:)
We also had the opportunity to throw the frisbee around, just like the good ol' times. Even though college life is fun sometimes I miss being at home with my siblings. I'm grateful for my siblings and I know my life would be very different without the strength I get from them.

Proposition 8

Last week my sister Janet wrote a post on her blog about Proposition 8. I really enjoyed what she wrote, because my knowledge about this was expanded. On my sister Janet's blog many people commented on it and there are many different opinions. I want to thank my sister for writing about this because it gave me this desire to research it out for myself. Even though I'm not from California and I won't be voting on it I still think it is important that I know what is going on. If you don't know much about Proposition 8 then I highly suggest that you look it up for your selves. You could look at my sister's blog. Also here are some websites you could look at:

www.ifprop8fails.org
www.iprotectmarriage.com
www.preservingmarriage.org
www.whatisprop8.com

I have Elder Holland's son as a teacher here at BYU and he said a few things that I really loved about this topic. He teaches American Heritage, so he mentioned how this would affect our society and our country. He said that the founders of this country did not include anything in the Constitution about whether marriage is of a man and a women because it was simple assumed. They didn't think that we would need clarification. He also taught that a heterosexual marriage and family is essential to sustaining free societies. Generating and rearing children would not be possible without a mom and a dad. That is just how it works and how it is designed to work.
I don't know if you know much about how involved the church has been in Proposition 8, but they are very clear that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints votes yes!
The church came out with an article called "Divine Institution of Marriage", which talks about the roles of a father and a mother.

The church has been discriminated for taking this stand and being involved. The argument has up come that it is "unconstitutional" to be this involved. But in fact we are protecting our beliefs.

In this months visiting teaching message there's a quote by Elder David A Bednar that says:

"Gender in large measure defines who we are, why we are here upon the earth, and what we are to do and become. For divine purposes, male and female spirits are different, distinctive, and complementary. . . . The unique combination of spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional capacities of both males and females were needed to implement the plan of happiness"

We were female or male before we came to this earth and we were created differently. Each gender has different qualities and different roles to fulfill, and substituting these roles is difficult, if not impossible. To gain to fullness of joy we need each other.

The last thing I want to say about this topic is very important to me. Not only have I been taught that same sex relations are wrong my whole life, but I personally believe that marriage is only between a man and a woman. I know that for myself. However, it just makes me sick to hear about members of our church thinking we are more superior. We aren't, actually we are commanded to love them. I can't imagine how hard it would be to have those tendencies. As members of the church we are taught what is right and what is wrong and sometimes that keeps us from being Christ-like. As we are standing up for what we think is right, we also need to be understanding.