Ah, sweet mystery of life at last I've found thee!

I wanted to share the sweetest little moment that I had at work today. I was on my way out after a long 12 hour shift but I stopped at someone's office that I needed to speak with before I left. I'm standing at the door waiting, and a family walks by. First comes the mom, who seems to me to be a bit frazzled and stressed, she walks past me without any acknowledgment. Next comes a boy about age 8 or so I'd say. He walks by and gives me a big toothless grin, says hi and keeps walking. Next comes a sister, maybe age 6 who wants to share an understanding womenly glance with me, so gives me a little eye roll as if to say "sigh, brothers". Last comes the little brother, age 4ish. As he approaches, I wondered what he would do to entertain me, but instead of entertain me, he taught me. He walked right up to me, threw his arms around my legs, and looking up at me, he smiled and said "hi, how are you?". At hearing these words his mother turned around and saw what was happening. Mortified I'm sure, she commanded him to her side. Still beaming at me he said "well, I have to go now." and without another word walked off leaving me speechless. I stood there for a moment basking in the warmth of that moment. How is it that little children can radiate so much love! Where does it come from and how can I get it? Somehow, in that moment, through this innocent child, I caught a glimpse of Heavenly Father's love for me. If He were here, that is exactly what He would do; without hesitation, throw His arms around me and, beaming, would ask me how I am.

p.s. the picture is not really relevant. I was thinking I needed a cute little child picture to go along with my story, and in perfect sync, my cousin Jenn provided one of her cute little 4 year old. Jenn, I hope you don't mind my borrowing this pic :)

New car!!

I bought a new car!! I named her Millie. If you are thinking that everything today is thoroughly modern, you are absolutely right, but I know that not many of you probably thought of that.

Ward Choir: a commentary

Ah that quirky phenomenon known as ward choir. I recently had the pleasure of being called as the director. I suddenly have a new respect for those blessed with this assignment. I know that I usually have some strong feelings about ward choir...and it turns out the rest of the ward usually does too. It seems to me to be a unique entity in the church. Let us get in the frame of mind for a moment that each choir practice is a meeting. An organization in the church is getting together to prepare for an event (singing in church) just like activities committee except we get to have more fun because we get to sing to prepare. I'm a pretty experienced meeting goer, and I must say that of all the meetings I have attended, I have noticed a general trend that as far as meetings go, the strongest feelings are elicited in choir! People who wouldn't say a word in ward council, will speak up with passion in choir. Please don't get me wrong, I admire passion! Given a choice I would take a passionate meeting over a boring meeting. I love choir, I'm enjoying the calling and as a relatively inexperienced choir director, I usually appreciate the input. I'm just wondering what it is about choir that ignites this flame inside people? Is it the personality type that choir attracts? Is it the passion of the music? Is it the fact that people are usually a little hungry due to the extra hour at church? I really don't have an answer. Do you agree and/or have an opinion?

Self Portraits

What is it about self portraits? I love to take them, and I love to rope others into taking them with me. Perhaps it's the double chin elimination factor that I believe self portraits create, perhaps it's a never ending fascination with digital cameras (you can just keep taking and taking and taking!) Perhaps it's sheer vanity. We may never know the drive behind them. Here are some of my favorites, and as a bonus you see some random tidbits of my life.

My beautiful roommate Kaylee and I at a ward party.

My brother is a big inspiration to me on self portraits.

My lovely roommate Jessica and I at the airport on the way to Australia!

Cute little 4 year old cousin Jason didn't quite understand the concept...

ok ok, I really did just think my hair looked really good and wanted to capture it on film.

A particularly silly night with good friend Nicki, there are an endless amount of self portraits with this chicka, don't ask about the outfit.



This is my good friend Lucas at Bryce Canyon, I love that you can see my hand holding the camera through his glasses!

My good friend Lynette and I at a ward activity.

Another one of Nicki and I, we decided to take a night hike to the top of the Y, and I had some problems with the flash. My pupils just wouldn't adapt!

Me and a wild koala we found on the side of the road in Australia

Again, my brother is my self portrait inspiration.



hm, maybe it runs in the family...my little sister Emily.

My brother and I looking especially cute on our pseudo Christmas morning (I had to work on Christmas day, so we did Christmas a few days early)

And there you have it. Just a small selection of the type of pictures that fill my photo albums: self portraits.

Tagged!!

8 favorite TV shows
1. Jon and Kate + 8
2. Scarecrow and Mrs. King
3. Remington Steel
4. Star Trek
5. Smallville
6. I don't really watch very much television...

8 Books you recommend
1. Harry Potter
2. Mistborn
3. Les Miserable
4. Fablehaven
5. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
6. Ender's Game
7. Parly P. Pratt's Autobiography
8. Work and the Glory

8 things that happened yesterday
1. Said goodbye to my good friend
2. Got on a metro in Washington DC
3. Got on a bus in Washington DC
4. Sat in the Dulles airport for a long time
5. Sat on an airplane for a long time
6. Sat in Detroit for a long time
7. Read about 300 pages from my book
8. Had dinner with a really cute boy

8 things to look forward to
1. having a husband
2. having children
3. having a house
4. going to the Temple
5. having normal work hours
6. grad school
7. the end of Hero of Ages
8. my cruise!!

8 things on my wishlist
1. husband
2. children
3. house
4. new car
5. sewing machine
6. travel
7. to be in more plays
8. the day that I am sitting in a public place and everyone around me (including myself) bursts into the same song and dance!

8 things I love about fall
1. the color of the leaves
2. the lights on the Temple
3. I get to pull out my flannel sheets
4. I get to pull out my puff quilt
5. I get to put my fall quilt on top
6. hot chocolate
7. pumpkin bread
8. the heater

8 people to tag
1. Kaylee
2. Sara
3. Nicki
4. Jackie
5. Alicia
6. Pam
anyone else who wants to :)

My new fish

Alright, I've figured it out, my old fish Elmer had some trust issues, he couldn't trust me to give him the right amount of food. But this time it's true love. His name is Apollo, and the salesman taught me what to feed him and how much. Who could resist this face!!!

He's Beautiful

He's fiercesome (check out those eyes)

We just make a cute couple.

Is having a fish like having a fake boyfriend? An essay on humanity.

My ward just implemented this fake boyfriend thing...if you'd like more details, I'll give them to you, but needless to say I had some strong feelings about this. I wrote a little essay on it.


I had a very special man in my life once. He was amazing. He was always there when I needed him, he always listened no matter what he never judged me. I felt so comfortable around him. He got along well with all my family and friends. Granted, he would never let me get very close. He had his hesitations. Despite his hesitations however, I got attached to this man. I should've seen that it would never work, but I fell and I fell hard. And this man couldn't even catch me, in fact he didn't have any arms. That was difficult. But nonetheless, I pretended that it could work. In my heart of hearts I knew that he only stuck around because he had to. If I had let him go he would have swam wild. And yet inexplicably, my heart lept every time I went home and found him anxiously waiting for me. I blissfully ignored his indifference in me after I fed him. I thought we really had something. I thought he cared. But now I'll never know. I'll never know because, first of all he went belly up, second of all, it never had a chance to work because it was fake. His name was Elmer, and Elmer was a fish. So I would like to propose this question: is being in love with a fish kind of like like having a fake boyfriend, and does my love affair with Elmer teach me or Elmer about what it's like to date?