Dream of Cali-chastity

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sometimes your friends invite you to go to California and you say yes (P.S. who would say no to that? I wouldn't.)

Luckily, 8 of us said yes... and we had a blast. This is our story:

1. Day 1(ish) Highlights:
-8 hour car drive. A bit scrunched, but not too shabby. Scary stories were told, chocolate raisins were spilled, and gangsta music was played.

-Woke up at our leisure... DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES courtesy of Stephanie Morgan (lovely, really).

-Home videos. Some people say it's boring to watch other people's home videos... but that was sooo not the case this time. For one, Alexander Morgan and cousin dancing to "You're the One That I Want"=CLASSIC. Oh so fun. I even watched it twice and was just as amused the second time. Also, Alex's amazing gymnastic skillz don't get old... and let's just say I wouldn't want to meet Connor Morgan in a dark alley. Or a wrestling ring.

-MISSIONARIES!!!!!!!!! So, we found out that one of our group went to High School with one of the Elders who was teaching Shane who is the guy who is friends with Connor who was the one getting baptized this weekend which is the reason we went to California (did you get that?!). We all got to sit in on an AMAZING missionary lesson, given by Shane, and enjoy the Spirit of the Lord in great abundance. Seriously, I can't think of any other way to put it. Shane=amazing, and we were all very blessed to get to meet him and participate in his covenant-making this weekend.

-Carson (age: 2 years) learning how to edit Black Eyed Peas from his mama (BEEEP!)

-Getting to know you games with the fam. I'm sticking with "the fam" because that's how it felt. Also, I didn't participate, but some of our group had near death experience with a train tunnel. Let's just say... if you're in a tunnel shooting fireworks and a train comes, you might not be forgetting that experience soon.

2. Day 2 Highlights:
-BAPTISM!!!!! Baptisms are so fun. And this one was seriously PACKED!!! Connor did a great job baptizing (didn't even have to dunk more than once) and Shane shared an awesome testimony. And by shared I mean he volunteered to get up and share his testimony. That's right. He's that cool.

-Gymnastics lessons with Coach Alex

-BIRTHDAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. Connor turned the big 1-9 and we celebrated with style. And pizza. And cake. And good company. And adverbs. And he may or may not have been wearing a blue bow tie at some point.

3. Day 3 Highlights:
-Shane got his gift!!! That is, the gift of the Holy Ghost. Man, that boy was ready for it and he is going to do amazing things with it. Also, bore his testimony again. Did I say he was amazing yet?

-Okay, does HIGHLIGHT have to mean good? Because from this point on it may start going a little downhill... with a 16 hour car drive. Oh man. Still recovering (I should actually probably be sleeping right now instead of writing, but ya know...) Best part of the car ride? When Megan REALLY REALLY REALLY had to go to the bathroom and we gave her two options (we were stuck in snowy traffic... not just cruel): A bottle, or the side of the road. We convinced her the side of the road would be the best... and I will admit that those of us in the car watching Crystal and Jillann hold up the modesty blankets were cracking up. I didn't feel too bad about it however when Megan asked us to take a picture. We did make it home safe, though we were pretty tired of that car by the time we got to Provo.

P.S. Let's just say... the trip was HECKA amazing!!! (And yes, that will be the last time I use that word, so enjoy it.)

Idealism

Here are some great quotes about writing/imagination I've picked up:

"Every word written is a victory against death." -Michael Butor

"The world is but a canvas to the imagination." -Henry David Thoreau

"There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds." -G.K. Chesterton

"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." -Edgar Allan Poe, Eleonora

"Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures." -Jessamyn West

"I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see." -Duane Michals, Real Dreams

"All men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers." -Orison Swett Marden

"If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking." -George S. Patton

"Some stories are true that never happened." -Elie Wiesel

"The man who has no imagination has no wings." -Muhammad Ali

"They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea." -Francis Bacon

"Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young." -Paul McCartney

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." -Henry David Thoreau

Party in the USA

Liel and I were watching this video and it was the gr8est.

Click here! Click here!

The Flu (No, not of the swine variety).

So, having the flu is fun. I forgot. Getting sick makes me realize some things about myself.

#1-My Protestant work ethic. Yes, I did still go to class on Monday despite waking up at 4:00 am with a splitting headache, a torturous motion-sickness filled 2 hour flight from San Diego to Salt Lake, nearly passing out several times both in the airport and on my way to class, and an admonition from the University to stay home if we were showing any signs of the flu. Not that it did me any good. I think I got 27.543% of what was said in class. I did, in fact, during that painful flight, finish my reader report which was due in class (not my best work, aka, total crap), and pick up my take-home midterm from my other class (and finished it on time again today-more crap).

#2-I like eating! Nothing like a good bout of nausea every time you take a bite of anything to make you long for the days when you could look at a big juicy hot dog without wanting to run the other way and hurl. Funny thing though... I don't always give it up. I figure out what I can keep down and eat a lot of it. Needless to say, I've had my share of Sprite and toast the last few days.

#3-I'm kind of a baby. I was reading this story about a lady with chronic pain who said when she cries it's not because of the pain but because there's no visible end in sight. Well, I'm not sure that's why I cry when I'm sick (it may in fact have to do with #2), but I tend to get a lot more whiny/helpless when I'm sick. I'd like to think it's something everyone does, and maybe it's just the fact that my mom was here. Although, instead of feeding me soup and rubbing my head she had me moving furniture. "It will be good for you." She said. Yep. Dr. Mom.

#4-I'm not invincible. I swear, every time people around me are getting sick I just think to myself "Wow, good thing I have such an amazing immune system" and then WHAM! I'm laying in bed wondering what happened to all those white blood cells. It seems the flu is hardly ever a respecter of persons (or deadlines for that matter!)

Well, I hope to get better in a few days. In the meantime, I'm gonna pick me up one of these:

BEST INVENTION EVER!!!!!

Go ahead. Judge me.

So... being at BYU is fun. Let me give a few examples why.

I'm in a creative writing class. Yay! Anyway, we had a discussion today about the genre "Creative Non-Fiction." The last 3 weeks we have been reading, writing, and studying this genre. Apparently this week there was a discussion over Blackboard about whether the scriptures count as creative non-fiction. Evidence #1 why being at BYU is fun.

Evidence #2: The arguments for both sides.
ANTI: The scriptures have great value, but not necessarily in a literary sense.
PRO: The Book of Mormon has lots of good stories! And they're true!
ANTI: Nephi isn't the greatest author ever.
PRO: Yes he is!

What really gets me is one of the ANTI girls. Her argument was "Nephi isn't the greatest author ever" prefaced by "I read the scriptures, I have a testimony, I'm worthy to go to the temple..." Whoa. Why don't you just show me your temple recommend before giving your opinion? I don't know why some people are so scared of being judged.

And later she apologized again. "Now everyone is going to hate me and know me as the girl who hates Nephi." I assured her they wouldn't, but she insisted. NO really.... I don't think anyone's going to care. But I guess she just wants to be the Nephi-hating girl. There has to be one in every class.

Evidence #3: I love how it feels so naughty when we talk about things like (sex) or (feminism) in class.

Life is Short

So today I had this thought. I mean, a lot of people say life is short.... but it REALLY is. I mean, I've almost lived a quarter of a century, and it feels like nothing. Just a few more rounds of that and I'm out of here.

And the other day I was thinking about dying. What if it really hurts? There are only a few ways to die that don't hurt. I guess I don't think about it much, because it doesn't seem close. But it could really happen any day. It's amazing how little separates us from death sometimes.

I don't know what brought on these thoughts of my own mortality. Maybe that's what happens when you get older. Not saying I'm old... but I'm not getting any younger :)

Good hair day