To Women Everywhere

Today I stumbled upon a youtube video of Judy Garland singing with Barbara Streisand, which somehow led my curious self to read up on Judy Garland's life. It amazed me how this beautiful woman struggled with self-doubt her entire life, much of it brought on by outside forces. She wasn't pretty enough, studio execs said, so they made minor changes to make her look better. After years of putting up with that, it is very clear she bought into it. (studio execs also made her take drugs in order to handle the rigourous schedule they put her through, which led to her drug addictions, yet another problem in the entertainment world).

I also was pondering on a recent article that my roommates and I were discussing from the Daily Universe (http://universe.byu.edu/node/9273), which basically says that men know within seconds whether or not they are attracted to you, and it is completely based on how pretty your face is.

The connection of these two items, and my problems with them are these: society is constantly attacking a woman's self esteem. If a woman like Judy Garland could feel ugly and not good enough, then what about the rest of us? If men indeed know if they are attracted to somebody within seconds, then what does that mean to the MANY of us women who are not being asked out? I have an issue with this. I know many women who will never be compared to Judy Garland, who might never make a photo shoot, or who will never be a size 4. But, these same women are still absolutely beautiful. Their smiles, their eyes, their curves, the mere fact that they are a woman is beautiful. And this is why - God made them. I see in every one of the women in my life a beautiful daughter of God. He made them attractive on BOTH the inside AND the outside. Just because no man is asking them out does not mean their face is not attractive enough, or that they need to fix something - it simply means that the right man has not come around.

So, to all the women out there who sometimes feel ugly, inferior, are self-conscious about some aspect of their body - tell yourself that you are beautiful. Who cares about all those critics? Look where it landed Judy Garland - a drug overdose. Its Satan who wants us to think less of ourselves. Those wrinkles around your eyes? They are beautiful, because they are earned by years of laughter. The rolls around your stomach? Beautiful, because they are evidence that you are real. The frizzy, uncooperative hair? Beautiful, because it shows that you live life and don't stop just because its raining.

Be happy, because you are beautiful. And I'm not just saying that in vague terms - I know each of the women who read my blog, and I KNOW that you are beautiful.

Lets all eat ice-cream and watch the song Beautiful Girl from Singin in the Rain to celebrate being beautiful. And then swoon over Gene Kelly, just because we can.

Mystery Solved

A few weeks ago my roommate and I were sitting outside enjoying the night air and looking at the stars, when all of a sudden it started to rain. We looked up and saw a cloud moving very quickly away from us, but from our limited understanding of meteorology, it did not seem like it could be producing the amount of rain we were getting. It was odd, but we just sat enjoying the freak rain.

Then, this past weekend my nephew and I were sitting on the porch on a very warm, very cloudless afternoon. He all of a sudden claimed that he felt a raindrop. I asked him where it came from, since there are no clouds in the sky. He said, "It was higher than the sky; it was from space. It was the astronauts. They were spitting."

I'm so glad that I now know where that freak rainstorm came from a few weeks ago. It was the astronauts. They must have been having a major spitting contest.

Application

In talking with E2 the other night, I learned that her parents became engaged because her mom was applying for jobs, and her dad said, in essence, "You'd be qualified for the job of my wife" (sorry if I butchered that, E). It got me to thinking that I'm going about this job application thing all the wrong way. I'm not sure how to go about applying for a wife position, but I think I'd have a pretty good resume for it:

• Get along great with children.
• Would prefer to stay at home with the children, but if necessary, can work in a decent job.
• E3 says I have soft hands.
• Fairly low maintenance.

Okay, that's about all I want to share without this getting awkward. My only point is, I hate job applications and would love to have an excuse to give up on them.

-Insert creative title here-

Two things on my mind today:
1) I accidentally deleted the wireless driver off my computer. I don't know how, I feel rather stupid about it, but thank heavens for a brother who fixes computer problems. Our deal is that I help with his adorable kids when I'm visiting, and he doesn't laugh at my mistakes with my computer. I think its a pretty good set-up.
2) I think I'm too influenced by TV shows in the food I eat. Today I went to get food, and every fast food place looked disgusting, so I grabbed a quick sandwich; however, I couldn't make it through the line without grabbing a bag of Funyuns, simply because Shawn and Gus in an episode of "Psych" were discussing the wonders of Funyuns. Yes, I really did try some food simply because some made-up characters on TV said they liked them. And I liked them.

P.S. - I fixed my computer. System Restore is a pretty sweet tool. Still no solution to my food obsessions, or the fact that I ended up watching that episode of Psych while I was doing homework.

Addendum to list

So, when I wrote the list I knew I'd leave off some important people - which happened (serves me right, this is why I should never mention actual people, but instead stick with talking about things that are only pertinent to me - like broken cars and starships). But, I was thinking today of how much I love my friend Katie and her husband Hank. They are a hilarious couple (who I happened to run into when I was in San Fran - literally, they jumped on the same trolley I was riding. What are the chances?!) So, I love this couple, and I love even more that they are going to be parents!! So, a big congrats to Katie and Hank, and know that you are some of my favorite people.

And, Ruth and Jeff need to be added to the list. Just because they make me happy - all the more because she asked him out first :)

I can't think of anything witty, and my computer battery has the light on that tells me "This computer might shut down at any second, with no warning and will erase all things you are working on." So, I bid you all a fond goodnight, and I promise to get back to my typical pattern of useless posts soon.

I was never THIS bad

I will be the first to admit that I'm a geek, but I promise I was never as bad as Jason from Fox Trot. Though this comic does bring me enjoyment.

Couples I admire

Walking home today, I ran into a friend and his wife and briefly chatted before continuing on. It led me to thinking about how much I love them as a couple, and also pondering about other couples I admire. Its not just that I like them individually (which I do), its that I like them even better BECAUSE they are together. They are like peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper, Han Solo and Chewbacca. . .well, maybe not that last one, but you get the picture. They have made the world a better place just because they are together. Their deep love for the other person is so apparent, the need for that person's friendship, and their commitment to the other person is so admirable, that you, the observer, cannot imagine the friendship of one without the other. They are your friend - them, as a couple, not as individuals. Here is a list of a few of the couples that I admire, as an example.

Richard and Debbie (mom and dad, you are the best!)

Brent and Sarah

Steven and Erika

Vance and Brittney

Amy and Billy

Todd and Hillary

Quincy and Mindy

Andrew and Ariel

Scott and Nancy

Michael and Rachel

Michael and Jani

(feel free to add some couples you admire in your comments!)

To these, and to the many other couples that I might not be remembering right now, thank you. Your friendship means a lot to me, and I truly admire and respect the love and friendship you have towards your spouse. You help give me hope that it is possible to find true love in this world - because I've seen that you have found it.

Grand Canyon part 2

In the evening we decided to find a nice location and watch the sunset, which was beautiful. We also had a little fun, like practicing our hiding skills.
















Or kissing skills (yeah, yeah, they've had more than thirty years to practice and they are still in love. Of course they have this skill down.)














Or posing skills.































In the end, God won with his ability to make everything beautiful skills. And basically everything else that He can do so much better than us. Luckily He's really good at sharing those beautiful creations with us.















We saw more beautiful creations in Zion National Park, but those pictures are on my mom's camera. Which are at her home, and not with me. So, this is it on the pics from that fun trip. Maybe in another month I'll blog about my recent trip to San Fran - or I'll throw you all off and blog about it soon. Who knows?!

Grand Canyon - 1 month late!!

Okay, so here are a few of the favorite pictures from my Grand Canyon adventure with my family. Because I suppose every once and a while I need to blog like a normal person about what actually goes on in my life. We started the trip with a stop at the Freemont Indian Museum, where we saw petroglyphs and got to play inside a recreation of a pit house - cleverly named because it is much like a pit. And a house. A pit house!















The next day we made it down to the Grand Canyon, where I forced my family to go on hikes that wore them out. Here is a picture during one of our breaks (where my little sister is thinking, how can Emily and I really be related? I think the same thing when she talks about Anime. And I love her anyway.)
















Good thing I had my favorite man along on this trip to save me from a horrid death of falling into the Grand Canyon. Odd thing was, we both dreamt of falling in at a later time . . .

















Look at that view!















My favorite part of the day started when the sun went low in the sky and was casting shadows throughout the canyon. Incredible.