Dr. Seuss

I will probably have many more posts about Dr. Seuss before the semester is over because I love him! I love his books so much because they just make me happy when I read them. Is it the weird word combinations, or just the weird words? Maybe it's his messages he sends through his books, like in Oh the Places You'll Go, or the Lorax; McGelligot's Pool or the Sneetches. He teaches children and adults some important life lessons through his books.

I think my favorite book of his is Fox in Sox. It is by far the most difficult book to read because it is just tongue twisters all the way through. But that's what makes it so much fun!

No matter who our favorite authors are or what type of books we like I think it's so important that we pick up a book every once in a while and let ourselves take an adventure. Reading words on a page, turning actual pages, has something about it that swiping on a screen just doesn't quite give you. When I graduate I am so excited to read some of the books I haven't had time to. Not saying textbooks aren't interesting...but really...they're not as great as Harry Potter. So let's read this summer!

What's Your favorite book?

Answers to prayers at Conference

My husband and I were able to attend the morning session of General Conference on Sunday April 5th. I served my mission on Temple Square so I was so excited to go back. That session was amazing. President Monson spoke and I just felt the spirit telling me over and over again that yes! he is a prophet of God. Elder Holland also spoke in that session and I felt the spirit telling me things that I needed to hear during that talk. I always love Elder Holland's talks, but this time was personally powerful to me. You know how a lot of people talk about writing down questions before Conference so you can have them answered during it? Well I didn't do that this time, but I felt at the beginning of the session that I should write some of my thoughts. I pulled out my notebook and wrote some things I wanted to know about the Savior. I said a silent prayer in my mind, pleading with Heavenly Father to help me have a stronger testimony. During Elder Holland's talk I looked down at the desires I had written and started to cry because Heavenly Father had already answered my prayer. I know that God lives. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and that everything will work out because of Him. I know that God answers prayers, every single one! And I know that I can be happy because of them.

If you are also questioning any of these things. That's ok. God loves you and He wants to answer your questions. He will answer them in the way that only you will notice, because He knows you. I know it often doesn't seem that things will work out, but I testify that if you put your trust in the Lord and He will lead you by the hand. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored church and I love it.

Hymns

I love the hymns. Every Sunday I am able to hear such beautiful music with beautiful words about our Savior Jesus Christ. I love to hear my husband play the hymns on the piano here in our apartment too. He helps bring the spirit in to our home, and we always get along better afterwards. I know that D&C 25:25 is true "a song in the heart is a prayer unto me." Music about the gospel reaches straight to Heaven, and sometimes angels sing with us. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church today. I know that Heavenly Father loves me, and I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. I know He lives, and they let the Spirit dwell within us.

Pocahontas

As we watched this movie today I realized that it is the only Disney movie I know of where the main characters do not end up together at the end. Weird. Not only do they not end up together at the end of the first movie, but then Pocahontas ditches John Smith in the 2nd movie for John Rolfe. Now I know that it's based off of a real life story so Disney couldn't really change that...but seriously that's so sad! And what are the odds that the guy she ends up with has the same name as the guy she loved in the first movie? Maybe I feel a little bitter because that's how real life is most of the time. Most people don't marry the first person they ever date, or even the first person they ever love. Plus also, I have my own story with ending up with a guy who has the same name as the first person I dated. Awkward. Anyway, usually I think I go to the movies or watch TV to get away from reality, to feel like magic is real, to see people living happily ever after...


But ya know what?...we CaN have a happily ever after in real life because of the gospel! Latter day Saints are basically Disney characters! Hmmm cool.

Girl in a Country Song

Ever since I heard the new song "Girl in a Country Song" I have been more than a little annoyed with the radio. Those girls got it right when they wrote about how wrong it is to portray women as sexual objects in country songs. A lot of songs, not all, talk about women and how they shake their money-makers and how their legs look in booty shorts and how it doesn't matter if you're committed, you can have a one-night stand and forget the whole thing tomorrow. WhAt??!! Who decided that any of that was ok to sing about on the radio? Actually, who decided that any of that was okay at all? Sorry for ranting a little bit, but I just have some strong feelings about objectification of women and I'm mad at all of the male country song-writers right now. And I'm also upset that most people think the only kinds of songs that objectify women are rap songs. Not true. Country songs are pretty bad about it too. Maybe some things will change now that those girls were brave enough to write a song about the truth.

Rugrats

So my husband and I were watching Rugrats last night...yes we were...and the episode was about the babies going to the movies. I was laughing at myself because I kept applying it to this class. My husband laughed at me too. The babies saw a preview of a Reptar movie and thought it was real. They are most definitely still infants so they can't distinguish between reality and TV. Then they went to the movies and kept looking for Reptar as if he was a real dinosaur. Now, I'm not going to say that this show displays a lot of great messages that everyone should learn, especially because Angelica is a really bad role model, but apparently there are some episodes that are actually backed up by research haha.

Powerful Women

The video we watched in class on Wednesday really made me think about the shows I watch and what messages are being sent about women. I thought about how the video said that most protagonists in movies and TV are male and females are usually represented as weak. But then I thought about the show I've been watching, Once Upon A Time, and why I think I like it so much. It's because the main characters are women! Powerful, strong, courageous women! Now there are definitely things in that show that portray women sexually, and that do a disservice to men by making a few of them kind of chauvinist. But the majority of the messages being sent through that show are that women can be the authors of their own lives and they can be heroes too. I noticed that last week and mentioned it to my husband. He said he hadn't really thought about it, but it was pretty cool. You see, he's addicted to the show as well which makes me happy that he's watching a show that is very much about women, when usually he hates chick flicks. Once Upon  A Time is not your usual chick flick though. It's not all about getting the guy and hanging out with the girls; it's about doing what's right and sacrificing yourself for what matters most: family. I love it! The whole premise of the show is parents and children fighting for each other. It's true though that some of the relationships are not good parent-child relationships, but they do talk about how to make it up to their children for messing up in the past. It's almost as if they're teaching repentance and forgiveness, which is pretty cool. Anyway, just another reason for me to like this show.

The phenomenon that is Facebook

My husband and I announced on Facebook the other day that we are going to have a baby in September and we got over 240 likes and about 30 comments.

I can't tell you how happy that made us feel that so many people were excited for us...but probably a third of those people haven't talked to me face-to-face or on the phone for over 2 years. But we are still "friends" on Facebook so that means we are still friends in real life... right? It is just interesting to me that the only contact I have with some of these people is to "Like" each others' random stuff as we scroll through our phones. I am totally guilty of this too though. There are so many of those people who I too haven't bothered to call in the last 2 years because I "don't have time." But I do still care about a lot of them. Has Facebook, with it's purpose of Keeping us Connected to those we love, actually made our relationships more shallow? I don't know.

Anyway...this just made me want to actually talk to these "friends" of mine about their lives instead of just "scrolling" through.

No Happy Endings...

I've been feeling really sad and funky after watching episodes of Once Upon a Time lately. It's a really intriguing show and keeps you wanting more for sure...but I have been trying to figure out why it leaves me feeling all "off-kilter" afterwards.

And I think I figured it out last night. 

The episodes leave you with a cliffhanger every single time!! I don't know what the heck is going to happen! They don't wrap up all nicely with a happy ending like movies do. You see I've never had a TV show that I watch so that's why this concept is new to me. Don't judge. But anyway, I'm used to watching a movie for an hour and a half to two hours and leaving feeling closure. These shows leave me with NO closure whatsoever. I think I'm going to get an ulcer actually. 

Does anyone have any advice for a new TV show watcher who doesn't want to feel lost and depressed because there are no happy endings??

Stake Conference

The visiting member of the Seventy, Elder Terry, had us read a series of scriptures before Stake Conference this year. It's been really cool to be able to have some specific scriptures to study from the the last few weeks, and I feel like it's brought my husband and I closer together. We were able to read the verses and talk about what they mean to us. Most of them were about Christ and we ended up sharing a lot of mission stories with each other. I've always heard people say, and I said it on my mission as well, that if you study more about Christ you will have a stronger testimony of his Atonement. I believe that is true, because in these last few weeks my testimony has grown. I think my favorite passage out of all the ones he had us read was Alma 36: 17-28. This is where Alma the Younger is talking about how he was in the gall of bitterness and was wracked with torment from his sins, but then he thought of Christ and cried for forgiveness and all his pain was gone. Not only was it gone, but it was turned into joy. I love that. I have felt something similar to that only a couple of times, but it is a very sweet feeling to feel forgiven and loved.

I'm Addicted

So I signed up for Netflix thinking that the movie I needed to watch for my project was on there...it wasn't. So now I have Netflix for free for a month and I figure I need to take advantage of it right? My sister told me that she loves to watch Once Upon a Time. I have never seen an episode before but I'm a fan of fairy tales so I thought I should try it...I shouldn't have done it...because I'm now addicted.

I've never "had a show" that I watch every week, except for Studio C, but that doesn't have a running plot. But this would drive me crazy if I had to wait another whole week before seeing the next episode! All I wanted to do today was go home and watch Once Upon a Time...ALL DAY...This is why I don't watch TV! Oh well. Bring on the next episode...

Disney - a monopoly?

My husband and I had an interesting discussion this morning while watching Cinderella and playing Monopoly, both I had just received for my birthday. There was a special feature on the DVD about a major renovation of Disney World where they were doubling the size of Fantasyland to add more attractions. It looked amazing and we both said we want to go there. We went to Disneyland last year for our honeymoon and it was so much fun, other than the super long lines of course. But that's just what we've come to expect right? So we then started discussing how Disney has become a monopoly; they own everything; they seem to be all about getting money. However, we decided, it still makes us really happy when we watch Disney movies and visit the amusement park. And I love putting on the old Disney princess movies and reliving my childhood; there are so many memories there! I remember going to Disneyland when I was 12 and learning how to draw Minnie Mouse. We got to meet a few of the Imagineers, the creators of Disney, and I told my mom I was going to be one of those one day. Everyone seems so happy to work for Disney, but then again, maybe they're not really. Maybe it really isn't about magic and happiness all the time. But I don't really know. I probably will never actually become an Imagineer, but I think I will always love Disney for what it originally stood for: family and joy. If Disney starts making movies that don't fit with family values then that will be sad, and the Disney channel definitely has some stuff it has to work through ...but I will continue watching my old Disney classics and wishing I could travel to Florida to go to Disney World.

Themes from The Count of Monte Cristo

Musicals are media because they actors on stage are sending a message to the audience and we each receive it. Something I think is interesting though is the fact that we can all receive different messages based on what we're paying attention to. I went to The Count of Monte Cristo the musical this weekend and it was fantastic. The actors and actresses were wonderful and their singing was beautiful. I was impressed by the production team as well, with all the simple yet creative sets. The theme of whole musical seems to be revenge. Now that's not a very good theme if that's really what you're going for. But obviously as the end the main character realizes he doesn't want revenge and he should have listened to the old man in the prison in the first place. So its not really til the very end of the story when you learn the lesson that forgiveness is the best lesson to learn, and part of me hopes that no one left the play 5 minutes early or else they might not have gotten that.

On the other hand, maybe it's genius to show someone's whole life struggle to get revenge and then show that he changed his heart at the end when he still had a long life ahead of him (he's only in his 40's probably). I guess that's what the Atonement is all about right? That even if we've lived a life unworthily, we can change any time with Christ's help. It might take a long time, especially if we've committed larger sins, but Christ will forgive all those who come unto him.

Feel-Good Movies

I'm one of those people who loves "feel good" movies. I don't know why, but I like being happy while I watch movies...crazy, I know. Yesterday my husband and I watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

It just makes me happy because the music is calming and the scenery is gorgeous and the story line is genius! He travels to some beautiful places and it makes me feel like I can go accomplish anything. Walter doesn't think he's anybody at the beginning of the movie; I've felt like that before...sometimes I still feel like that. But he just goes looking for what he needs and he finds that he really is a great person, just the way he is. He likes himself and he is proud of himself. He also realizes that he can be himself and people will like him, like when he shares his skateboarding talent with Cheryl's son. Sure he's a little awkward while talking to the girl he likes, but so are you! We all get awkward when we don't know what to say, but that's ok.

We aren't meant to be perfect. I believe that very strongly. We would have no reason to use the Atonement if we weren't inadequate. But we ARE amazing. We just have to realize who we are: we are God's children with great potential. 

I'm here!...yeah but are you present?

There's a difference between being in a room with a group of people talking and laughing and building relationships and being in a room with a group of people while everyone is looking at their phones. It doesn't matter what they're doing, scrolling through Facebook, checking their email, playing a game, it doesn't count as being social. I have had multiple experiences with this the past couple of weeks with family and friends. I think they just don't realize that what they're doing is slowly destroying relationships. When I'm sitting talking with people and they pull out their phone the message I get is:

 "you are boring me. Facebook is more entertaining", 

or "I don't really care about getting to know you better, so I'm just going to play a game." 

I've actually tried telling people who I love to get off their phones so they know how I feel, but all they say is "I'm here." Yeah your body is sitting on the couch next to me but you are not here with me.

I miss you...

Have you seen this video that has been going around? This girl doesn't have a phone and she's in multiple situations where everyone else is on theirs and she's obviously all left out. Why don't these videos work? Why don't people realize that they are the people in those videos who are ruining relationships and losing track of what's really important!?