The Damage

Black Friday has come and gone. The damage? Only a mere

$138.48--

not as bad as last year.

Christmas is coming together nicely.

Too bad I buy as much for myself as I do for others.

Little Things

Today I had a conversation with a Taiwanese friend, who was in Hong Kong, over the internet.

It made me Happy.

Isn't technology amazing?!?!

(Pictured: me, Yu Yu Xiang, Yang Sheng Ai.)

This Morning...

I wanted to take this

and this

and do this.

I think it would have made me feel better.

Seven Days and Counting

In less than one week's time, the greatest shopping day of the year will be upon us. No other day are the stores open so early, the merchandise so hot, the lines so long, the cash flow so steady, the prices so low, or the shoppers so feisty as they are on

BLACK FRIDAY.

Bring it on.

With a Song and a Prayer

At our house, family prayer is more of a circus than a sacred observance. We all come together and, instead of promptly kneeling and praying, we chat about our day, exchange anecdotes and jokes while ribbing and teasing each other and getting in a few laughs, and just have a few, or 30, minutes of fun before praying. You could say that family prayer time is our family bonding time.

The following dialog occurred at our family prayer last night. It involves two people: Megan, who is thinking of ceasing employment with a local scrapbooking company; and Ryan, who is incredibly quick and very witty.

Megan: "What if I were to quit Making Memories?"

Ryan: "Then you would have nothing to remember."

I think we laughed for 22 of those 30 minutes.

I love my family!

Quotable Quotes

"Seriously. Honestly. Really. I am so sick of boys."

--Megan D. Hinckley

Megs, I couldn't agree more.

Craving

I want one of these. Now.

The Silver Lining

Yesterday was my 25th birthday. It was a good day, full of cake, greetings, and presents. I am now, officially, one quarter of a century old. One fourth of one hundred. Twenty-five hundreths of a whole. I feel good about being at 25, and I began wondering what else is good because it is a quarter or 1/4.

Me! (andColette on Halloween)

Loving 25!

A Quarter. 25 cents. Always good to have one on hand. Get four of them and you have a dollar.

A Quarter Pounder with Cheese. 4 ounces (there 16 in a pound) of Fatty Deliciousness. Yum!

Autumn is just one of the four seasons. Spring, Summer, and Winter are nothing without Autumn. And it is by far the best of the seasons. I mean, what other season has my birthday and Thanksgiving in it?

25% juice. Now that's what I call healthy.

Utah is one of the four states that meet at one point, resulting in Four Corners. (Note: Do not put your bare hands on the black plaque in the middle of a July day. It will burn.)

If you have a string quartet, it would only be a trio without the cello.

In every deck of cards you have four queens, but only one that is the Queen of Spades. Avoid her if you are playing Hearts. She deals a mean 13 points.

A Quarter horse: An American breed of horse that runs fast.

A quarter moon. We have one every 28 days or so.

One lap around the track is a quarter-mile. That's about as far as I can run. Too many Quarter Pounders with cheese.

And let's not forget the Quarterback. No football game would be worth watching without him. It would just be a bunch of men tackling and hitting each other. Entertaining but pointless. GO UTES!!

Who knew that being 25, a quarter, or 1/4 could be so great?!?!

Just Peachy

This is what I ate for breakfast:


Juicy, sweet, crisp, and plain goodness. Delicious.

Note: the above depicts a grouping of Asian pears, commonly found in parts of Southeast Asia and are readily available at your local grocery market. In flavor and texture, an Asian pear is a cross between an apple and a pear. No peaches involved.

A Lesson In Faith

I have currently been reading the Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. These books are amazing! Not only are they easy to read and thoroughly entertaining, they also contain many gospel principles and lessons. It is fun to read a piece of fiction and find religious symbolism.

In the fourth book Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy have been recalled to Narnia to help Prince Caspian defeat his uncle and be victorious in reviving "Old Narnia". The only problem is that the children have been away from Narnia for so long, and the lay of the land has changed so much, that they can't find Prince Caspian to help him. They are lost. They have two options: to go up or to go down. Lucy, the youngest and purest of the children, sees Aslan. In her brief glimpse of the lion, Aslan indicates to Lucy that they must go up. The others do not believe what Lucy saw and decide to go down. The path is very rocky and trecherous and everything goes wrong and they must go back to where they began. While resting for the night, Lucy hears someone calling her name. She wakes to find Aslan telling her that she must get the others to follow her. He will lead her and show her where to go, but at the beginning, no one else will be able to see him. Lucy wakes everyone and they grumble and moan and make a fuss about following little Lucy, and do so grudgingly. As they travel through the night and down a ravine and find a smooth path and are swiftly lead to their destination, they stop their mumblings and murmurings, and one by one they all notice that it is not Lucy who is guiding them, it is Aslan guiding Lucy.

The application? Take Aslan to symbolize the Savior Jesus Christ and the children to symbolize you and me.

Sometimes we don't understand all that the Lord requires of us. We don't see a reason or a purpose to doing the things that we need to do. We don't have the eternal perspective, we don't see our Savior, and our eyes and spirits are blinded. This is where faith comes in. As we follow the Savior and his teachings, walking the paths that he himself trod, we will find that road is smooth and easy.  We will be able to walk forward and eventually reach our goal. And while we might not see at first, as we soften our hearts, are willing do as the Lord commands, and become pure and child-like, we will begin to see Him and His hand guiding us along the path. Christ will lead us; all we have to do is believe and have the faith to follow wherever he leads.

A Letter (My One and Only Blurb)

Dear President Elect,

In the aftermath of the recent election for our nation’s forty-fourth president, I have decided to join in the many voices, both spoken and written, in expressing my thoughts.

I have never been one to join much in political hoop-ha; I study the issues and pick the candidate I feel will best support my ideals and best support and lead our country. We are all entitled to think and decide for ourselves. We live in a democracy, and as such, all have a say in our government. That is something that is truly great about our country: we all have freedom of choice, freedom of speech, and freedom to make our lives better.

I know there have been unsavory comments said of both you and your opponent in this election; the public and media are fierce when all vying to be heard. They often say whatever they feel will generate the most noise. Even after the votes have been counted, it seems that some of these voices have gotten louder and more obnoxious. I have stopped listening to these voices; I am sick of their bite and roar. I made a choice for a candidate, our nation made a choice for its leader, and now it is our duty as Americans to make the choice to support our collective decision.

I love this country; nowhere else on earth is equal to it in it’s freedoms, it’s power, it’s people, it’s spirit , and it’s strength. It is the Land of the Free, the Land of the Brave. As the United States of America, we need to live up to our name and stand united in supporting the man we have chosen to lead us.

President Elect, I trust you to work hard for the American people; to always have their needs and their best interests in sight. I trust you to make a better America and to always protect the freedoms we have been given. I trust you to do what is honest, good, and upstanding, to give hope to the downtrodden and inspire courage in the weary. I trust you to make America proud.

Don’t disappoint me.

Reflections on a Snowy Day

The gray sky grows heavy,
laden clouds and
menacing shadows.
The storm--
almost peaceful--
deceives,
greeting all with an
icy kiss.
Snow falls silently,
covering the ground with a
chilly blanket of white.
The wind is still,
the air,
hushed.
Winter approaches softly,
Her bare arms
reaching
in an empty embrace.

Lost in Translation

I studied French in Junior High. I learned Italian in college. I taught the gospel in Mandarin Chinese. I really only speak English. Every once in a while, I get a little confused.

Just Jammin'

I've decided that I wanted to have one of those really cool blogs that play music as you read. I have compiled some of my favorites from back in the day when music used to be good. The current playlist is purely oldies. I hope you enjoy the tunes.