most amazing words October 6, 2009

Recently was the General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints where we had an opportunity to listen to words from the living prophet and apostles of our time. Elder Holland is an apostle of God, and I was impressed with the words he spoke about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

Here is a link to his talk: http://broadcast.lds.org/genconf/2009/10/50/GC_2009_10_503_HollandJR___eng_.mp3

And here are a few of my favorite quotes:

“The power of Christ to counter all troubles in all times, including the end of times. That is the safe harbor God wants for us in personal or public days of despiar.”

“No wicked man could write such a book as this and no good man would write it unless it were the true and he were commanded to do so.”

“My testimony of this record and the peace it brings to the human heart is as binding and unequivocal as was theirs [the ancient prophets]. Like them I give my name unto the world to witness unto the world that that which I have seen and like them, I lie not, God bearing witness of it. I ask that my testimony of the Book of Mormon and all that it implies be given today under my oath and my office be recorded by men on earth and angels in heaven. I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgement bar of God that I declared to the world in the most straightforward language I can summon that the Book of Mormon is true. That it came forth the way Joseph said it came forth and was given to bring happiness and hope to the faithful in the travail of the last days.”

His words are so profound and inviting to read the Book of Mormon and feel the Spirit that the book evokes. I have found comfort in the teachings of the Book of Mormon, and know that I have been blessed by learning from the prophets of old. Joseph Smith was an inspired man and translated this book to help us come unto Christ. The purpose of the Book of Mormon is for us to learn of the true happiness in returning to God by becoming like Christ.

la cucaracha October 1, 2009

I HATE cockroaches.  And I wish the “La Cucaracha” song included a dance to get rid of cockroaches.  The Orkin man came by yesterday to spray the house he was told we don’t have problems with bugs inside.  This was true.  Until this morning when my blood pressure skyrocketed because I found 3 roaming around like they owned the place!  To date we counted 8 sightings of cockroaches in our house.  We think that the Orkin man just agitated the nests around the house so the smart ones (oxymoron?) are coming in the house for revenge.  I’ve never been one to scream and be scared of bugs.  Then I learned that some cockroaches can fly!  And that they are dirty little critters and carry all kinds of germs.  (I will admit to being a germ-o-phobe in every way)  So I made my pregnant friend dispose of the bugs after I smashed them.  I made her gag because I kept freaking out and gagging that I was sharing living space with them.  Without further adieu (and much anxiety and disgust) I show you the creature that crawled out of the drain this morning:

I think the hate for cockroaches originates from a little trip I was a part of to Tijuana, Mexico a few short years ago.  We stayed in a little one room house with a few mattresses.  Every time we moved a mattress we unsurfaced about 10 of these bugs (the ones who cannot be named).  I had the worst nightmare that night that these bugs were crawling out of every crack and small opening in the room until the room was bursting at the seams when I finally woke up in a sweat.  True story that one of the girls woke up with a few on her body.  I’ve been in loathe ever since.  It would also be an understatement to say that I’ve been paranoid all day, and will be until Monday when the Orkin man comes again!

Sweet home Alabama where the skies were not so blue September 26, 2009

This morning I woke up VERY early (for not being a senior citizen) and drove out to Birmingham, Alabama!  It was really dark for the first hour of driving, but by the time I got into Alabama I saw the misty sunrise (in my rear view of course because I was going west).  It was an odd sensation because it was in the morning so it looked cold but I had my air conditioning on because that’s the only way to cut the humidity.  Having the AC on AND thinking it looked cold outside tricked me to putting on my heater to get ‘warm’ but that only lasted a hot second!  So moral of the story is don’t let that misty sunrise fool you, it’s there because you can drink the humidity out of the air and to make your hair go frizzy.

I headed down there because I made an appointment at the temple to go to the 8am session.  It took me until the delirious hours of this morning when my alarm went off before it needed to to figure out that since they are an hour behind I can sleep in an hour later!  Maybe I was just rationalizing sleeping in longer, which is second nature to a college student.  But, you’ll be glad to hear I made it on time.  The temple was packed!  There were a lot of people from the Atlanta area because this temple is closed until 2011 sometime.  One girl was telling all the other ladies that she and her friends had to wake up SO early and drive ALL the way out here, and that she’s living up in the Kennesaw area (close to where I live) because she’s such a poor college student.  It amused me to hear the ladies say they felt so bad for her when most of them drove just as far.

When I was sitting quietly in the temple I heard this loud obnoxious sound from outside, and then I realized that it was THUNDER!  Seriously, I don’t think you’ve heard thunder unless you’ve been down here in the south, it’s earth-shaking!  I drove in to Birmingham to partly sunny skies and there were no more blue skies when I left.  Such is the life down here, how else would all these rivers get muddy so that country singers would have lyrics?

I asked a friend what I should do if I were just going to Birmingham for a few hours and he told me to go see the Vulcan.  I wasn’t sure what I’d be in for, but I’m pretty sure that the toosh of an iron man wasn’t really anywhere on the expectations list.  Here’s a picture so you can see what I mean:

It’s a really interesting statue though.  He was made to show off the resources that Birmingham has.  JH Adams (same as John Adams?) made a few statements about how the wealth of these natural metal resources will be the source of power in years to come.  Vulcan Park is up on a hill overlooking the city, so there was a spectacular view.  I wish I brought my camera with me to show yall.

Next trip is to South Carolina… stay tuned!

School is cancelled September 22, 2009

Bad weather shuts down all metro Atlanta public schools

We’ve had some really bad rain for the last 5 days.  So bad that there have been a lot of accidents on the freeways and some freeways have closed due to flooding.  Yesterday some schools tried to cancel after the kids were already at school and that didn’t make working parents very happy.  Today I got a call from my program director that school is cancelled!  I’m surprised Utah doesn’t get the same clue when it snows 1 foot in a day…  But, there has been a lot of flooding, up to 12 feet in some places.  I have been fortunate to not have any of these side affects in my neighborhood, and I am safe and dry.  It’s crazy to live here during this natural disaster.  I can only imagine what this flood will do for the mold here since it’s already a perfect humid environment for it to grow in.

A few nights ago we had a thunder and lightening storm.  The thunder was so loud that it actually shook the house a few times!  And the lightening was amazing.  I didn’t see the bolt of lightening, but the whole sky lit up in different colors.  It was pretty spectacular!

Ima git what I want September 21, 2009

Actually, the title is something that Melissa and Jake always say, and it’s really funny with a good moral.

The first week of the internship I got a parking ticket.  I was definitely the only one in the program to get one, and all the other girls acted like ‘yeah, so glad I’m not you because I was totally parked illegally too.’  The officer who wrote up the ticket couldn’t even spell, and as far as I’m concerned that voids the ticket then and there.  But, there’s no way I was going to pay for that one because on the internship schedule we weren’t supposed to get one until Wednesday, how was I to know where to go?  I didn’t, and ignorance is bliss.  I went into the Police Department (or rent-a-cop place) and asked if I could do anything about it.  The front desk guy gave me an appeal form, and I wrote a compelling case as you can see for yourself:

Moral of the story: Life University parking enforcement is logical.  BYU parking enforcement is ruthless.  It just might work out here.

#1 piece of advice for the Atlanta area September 16, 2009

#1 thing I’ve been told by just about EVERYBODY down here:  I need a GPS system!  I have a very keen sense of direction, definitely put to the test in  the Atlanta area.  I knew I was really in trouble when I drove in the car of a local who would only drive if we had an address she could put in her very nice female-talking Navigation system.  Case in point:

I would like to point a few things out about this photo.  Not only are there 4 different names for the SAME street, but two even use the same name!!  One is named a PLACE and one is named a DRIVE.  How is a girl to find her way?

too good not to share September 12, 2009

I’m so done with the days of backpacks!  (At least I think I am, but I still own my trusty and very dusty North Face backpack.  I’ll always be a student at heart).  Now that I’m in the world of grown-ups, I decided it’s time for a bag!  But not just any bag.  A classy, big but not too small, short straps, and goes with every outfit sort of bag…  This is what Nine West sale rack came up with for me:

I LOVE IT!  Thank you Nine West sale rack, you’ve made a very happy new professional.  Please also notice the beautiful yard in the window.  It’s so green!

one up on the mac September 12, 2009

So I figured out the most backwards way to upload a picture, but it works!!  Here are some pictures of the move to Georgia, and whatever else from the summer.  Who’s smarter now Mr MacBook?

This is my good friend Christina who is serving in Independence, Missouri.  I didn’t tell her when I was coming to set up an appointment because I was SURE that wasn’t ok to do, but I was so glad to see her!  We talked for a while, and it made me miss her all over again…

The Liberty Jail was rebuilt as close of a match as they could make, and they think the foundation is the original.  They built the visitors center around the jail, so it was interesting to go inside one building to see another building.  The Prophet Joseph went through quite the struggle to start the LDS church.  My mother and I were reminded of a great talk by Elder Holland about Lessons From Liberty Jail.

Then we headed out to Nauvoo, IL.  This is really not on the way to anything.  Unless, yeah, it’s just never on the way.  We got there at dusk and saw the beautiful temple at sunset and also the Miss-iss-ippi with the spectacular sunset!  It’s really pretty out there, and the cicadas are LOUD and the misquitoes are plentiful.

At night the temple is light up all the colors of the sunset:

And the river is glass and colorful as well:

Mom and I were able to go into the temple and participate in a temple session.  The temple is beautiful and teaches eternal truths that are essential to everyone.  I love the temple and the blessings that come from being worthy to be a regular attendant.  I am so grateful for the sacrifice of the early saints to allow us to ‘dot the earth’ with temples.  We also went to the Carthage Jail, but for some reason I didn’t take a picture there.  One of my only regrets of the trip.

Last stop was to the St Louis Arch.  They say it was a visual representation of the hopes and dreams of the people in that time.  It was an engineering marvel at that time as well.  To get to the top you have to take this special elevator that goes around the curve of the arch.  The guide said it is a mix between a roller coaster ride and an elevator, and the only one of it’s kind.

I’m glad to not be on the road any more!  At least 8 1/2 more months before I have to think about making that trek again…

Cheapaholics anonymous September 12, 2009

In light of college football starting, Chick-fil-A sponsored a “wear your favorite team shirt and get a free chicken sandwich” day.  I live with two other newly graduated kiddos and we decided to partake of this amazing FREE deal!  We went to lunch to 3 Chick-fil-A’s and later went to 4 more for a total of SEVEN stores to get a free sandwich each.  We rounded up 15 free sandwiches!  It was funny because the girl kept saying things like “did you remember your wallet at this one?” or “this one is empty, not like the last one we went to!”  A few freudian slips, but no harm done.  Here is a picture of me sporting my team gear and the sandwiches.  (Yes, I did get a few remarks from the kind southern folk since they were in denial that Oklahoma didn’t just lose, but lost to BYU!).

And… a close up

sweet southern comfort food September 4, 2009

Really?  No more caption necessary:

More pictures to come, right after I figure out how to use a Mac…