He Lives

Okay, I have to say that I LOVE the new General Women's Broadcast! I was SO excited when they opened it up to all female members of the church and made it so much more diverse. Probably one of my favorite parts, though, is the videos. The Church is really good at keeping up with technology and the media, and they have put out some of the most stunning, uplifting videos that are available online. Here's just one example of one of the stunning Bible videos, in honor of Easter:

To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate...

I've seen the vaccine debate go on forEVER and I have to say... I'm getting really tired of it. The problem isn't that people have opposing viewpoints. The problem is all the ad hominem attacks and the claims by people who aren't experts that they know better than those who are. Parents should do what they believe is best for their children, but they shouldn't try to make everyone else do the same. For example, my sister had a horrible reaction to the hepatitis B vaccine, so I didn't receive it until I was putting in my mission papers. Irresponsible? Certainly not. Granted, I turned out not to have a problem, but this is an example of a parent using their better judgment. This is not:

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

I happen to think that vaccinations are very important (look at the measles outbreaks and smallpox is coming back!!), but what gets me the most is that people are willing to accept people with no ethos on a topic as important as this without doing their own research or making a decision based on their unique circumstances, not the facts. Like I said, my family had some exceptions and that's totally fine. But what you don't know CAN hurt you.



Gorgosaurus

Daniel showed me this today:

And we busted up laughing.

And then we geeked out looking up prehistoric animals and dinosaurs for like half an hour.

Including measuring out the length of a diplodocus along the sidewalk.

There are perks to living in the information age :).

The Lamb of God

I don't know if any of you have seen this musical production, but especially as it's Easter time, I thought I'd give it a bit of a shout out. It's probably one of the most spiritually touching concerts I have ever seen. Yesterday we had a double date with Daniel's best friend to see it up in Salt Lake (my stand partner from when  I was in the orchestra for this a couple years ago was concert mistress!), and I had never before been able to watch it from the audience. The soloists were PHENOMENAL!! So... just to give you a taste, here you go:

But the best song isn't on YouTube. It made me cry! Deseret Book has the CD. Check it out!

And this is why we never find good sources on HBLL's database searches...

See it?

Hint: It's the third one down. So much for good references.

Netflix marathon

I know I'm not the first to do it. Honestly, I'm really not a TV watcher. I have a hard time staying focused through a lot of movies. But Thursday I was REALLY sick (as in, the unable to read/watch TV/anything else even if I wanted to kind) and I've been tired and under the weather since then (along with my husband), so yesterday, being the free day it was, it just sort of... happened. I don't know the last time I saw five episodes of a TV show in one day! Probably in the third grade when I was home sick or something. Anyway, I'm not proud of it, but I don't feel guilty either. That said...I feel like a lot of people champion things like binge-watching TV or eating tons of junk food because a person "deserves" it. While there may be a time and place for these things, as I would like to think this weekend was, I don't think they're something worthy of championing. It's an indulgence, and since being sedentary and eating junk food aren't good for people, I strongly disagree with the sentiment that anyone "deserves" them. Let's just enjoy as an occasional treat and champion people for things that actually require effort and self mastery, shall we? :)

Because...who doesn't love food?

Is it just me, or have recipe books basically become obsolete? I see all these collections of recipes compiled nicely into books, displayed on store bookshelves... but I really never use them. I own a few recipe books and I cook all the time, but when I want a recipe for something that isn't on my tablet's database already, I go to the internet! Allrecipes, eatingwell, yummly--plus there are a million food blogs out there, and with thousands of options for how to make a chicken pot pie, my motivation to go digging through a book for one recipe is pretty low. Modern convenience or a dying art form?

So I got married yesterday...

...and I have to say, it was nothing like I had been led to believe by my friends, parents, and especially the media. It was so much better. My mom was convinced I was going to make myself sick on my honeymoon with stress as she did, and her sister, and her friend, and many other people she knew. My friends thought it would be scary and completely different. According to every wedding-themed movie on the planet, there should be large city-crushing monsters in the forms of my mother-in-law and bridesmaids ruining everything in sight. Every magazine and advertisement on the side of my Facebook news feed informed me that if I wasn't wearing a designer dress and didn't have a full bouquet on every table with pinterest-perfect centerpieces and cake, my wedding would be shameful or not good enough or in some way regrettable.

That is not what happened.

Yesterday was the best day of my life.

My mother-in-law is one of the coolest people on the planet.

I wasn't stressed.

(Well, maybe once or twice)

But mostly, I just laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed more than I can ever remember! The spirit was strong. I spent the day with my favorite person in the world, surrounded by some of my other favorite people in the world. Nothing was scary afterwards. Our reception was THE FUNNEST time I've had in I don't even know how long! I almost didn't want to leave! And I felt completely at peace.

 

When we walked out of the temple nothing felt different. It was still just us. I guess it's a good thing I like us :).

The point is, weddings don't have to be headaches. They don't have to be stressful. They can be special and fun and everything you've ever dreamed of. The media has a habit of turning some of the most beautiful and wonderful things in life into total caricatures that don't represent the truth at all.

I love my husband. (Ooo!! I just called him my husband! :D)

I love my life.

And... I got married  yesterday! What am I even doing on this computer? Ha!

Dirty Lyrics

So I'm in the group coding for sexual content in popular music and I have to say, it is ASTONISHING the things that show up in some of those songs. That said, maybe the statistic Dr. Coyne showed us in class (that only 30% of teens know the words to their favorite song) is actually a good thing. And on that note, here is a kitten to clear your mind of the trash in pop culture:

The only time I saw my fiance cry

So... I'm getting married on Saturday! And there's a lot to do. And emotions are running high. I'm really happy, but tears may have been shed in the last several days. The funny thing is, I've only seen Daniel cry once. And that was watching this video. Enjoy! ;)