more books!

So I've read Dracula by Bram Stoker (phenomenally good by the way. Extra super creepy!) I've also read Ender's Game and Ender in Exile both by Orson Scott Card (i really liked Ender's Game and Ender in Exile was ok, but i thought the ending was kind of stupid...Jake says there's probably more in the series, but I'm too lazy to find out. ;)

Book Review

 Life’s a Beach by Claire Cook

so i got this book from Amazon for my kindle…for free.At first i was kinda ify. when i started reading it, i found out it was about this 41 year-old woman named Ginger and it was in first person. i have no issues with first-person novels, but i wasn’t really sure i was—as a recently married 21 year-old—interested in the life of a single 41 year-old. Anyway, the longer i read the more i realized she was about 23 at heart. 23 i can totally relate to :)

 

Basically the book was a blast. it’s about a woman who’s come to a point in her life where she’s asking “where the hell have i been for 41 years!?” and then figures some things out. it was pretty funny [i love Ginger’s sense of humor] and her family is quite the hoot—even her slightly irritating older sister, Geri.

3.5 stars out of 5 :)

don't worry...be happy

i know this is going to sound horribly selfish of me. but sometimes i forget what it is i love about hawaii so much. i know that those of you who have only ever visited won't understand. it's living in the same place for ten years, living through the tsumani warnings and the oh-my-gosh-we're-gunna-die storms ;) it's all the flood warnings and the praying your house will live through it that makes you forget that you live in hawaii. it's not being able to take a road trip to see your best friend's wedding (either of your best friends) because you live on an island.

but today isn't about those things.
today is about the palm trees. the way the wind is warm. the way the air is sweet--of course after you've eaten 1/3 of a loaf of cinnamon-banana bread with a cream cheese frosting, everything tastes sweet. today is about how you can watch the ocean for hours and feel like it's only been a couple minutes. it's about that one of a kind nap that comes only from surfing for 3 hours and being baked in the sun. (not baked like on drugs but baked as in sun baked).

today is about the immense love and saddness i have. i love hawaii. it's become so much a part of who i am and what i am. i want my children to grow up with ocean water in their veins and sand between their toes. i want them to love the ocean, to love the sky and the palm trees, and the wind, and the way the air is so humid you can almost drink it. i want them to look back on their childhood and know what it smells like when a plumeria tree has bloomed. what it tastes like to drink water from a hose. i want to scrub their little red feet that are stained because they never wear their shoes. --and this is where the saddness comes in.-- i also want them to get a good education. i want them to be clever and to be understood. as a tutor i've met kids here that went to some of the best ILH (Interscholastic League of Honolulu; they're basically the rich private schools of Hawaii) and can't write a thesis statement. I've met some that don't know what a run-on sentence is or how to fix one.

i love hawaii. i'm sad to leave it. but .... but i also can feel it--in my toes--i can feel that it's time to move on, not away, just on for now. we'll come back. i know we will. you can't live somewhere for 11 years and not come back. it just doesn't work that way. :)

waterpolo

i'll admit. i'm pretty stoked. there is an advanced girl's water polo class going on during the summmer [yeah, that's right now] and it's $65 to do it...and i just paid the $65. I went yesterday. it was basically like practicing with Kahuku's jv team (not that that is any easier lol. they swam circles around me).

i'm nervous about it though...for a couple of different reasons:
1. i'm afraid it will start to feel like waterpolo practice. i like the idea of a summer 'class' where we play because we love playing. i don't want to have to be nervous in the water.
2. i'm going to continue to get schooled by 8th graders... i mean i knew i was out of shape when i started but this is pretty ridiculous...
3. i'm going to start comparing myself again like i used to when i played in high school and succeed in nothing but being discouraged and frustrated.

but my hopes are high. as long as i think about it like i'm there to just fill in so these girls have enough players to get experience then i think i'll be alright.

we were doing shots yesterday and i shot and one of the girls looked at me and said (completely shocked....and in awe) "you're left handed?" i confirmed that i am and she said "wow" (which is where the awe comes in...) ;]
it's 3 times a week. i guess we'll see how this goes. overall, i'm pretty stoked.

from nick-nacks to doo-dads

I found these pieces of paper with my notes from various sacrament meetings and relief society lessons. i figured i’d put them on here that way i could throw them out without feeling guilty about it :)

“God doesn’t want us to give up movie quotes, alcohol, smoking, or drugs; God wants us to give up who we think we are” (Brian Bowler).

“What the queen desired of him was his only desire” (Alma 19:7)

“We are all human beings; this means we’re all equal” (Ting Ting).

“Wist ye not I should be about my father’s business?” (Luke 2:48-49). I was sent to do God’s will, why else would we be here? Christ is an excellent example of understanding God’s will over the ‘to-do list’ of the world. He led a perfect life; as long as we strive for perfection, we can still make it.

Christ taught us to love and serve one another. “After his fast and his encounter with Satan, Jesus began his public ministry. He came to earth not only to die for us, but also to teach us how to live. He taught is that there are two great commandments: first, Love God with all our heart, mind and strength; and second, to love others as we love ourselves” (Matt 22:36-39 qtd. in Gospel Principles).

“Jesus Loved others with all his heart. Often his heart was so full that he wept. He loved little children, the elderly, and the humble, simple people who had faith in him. He loved those who had sinned, and, with great compassion, he taught them to repent and be baptized. He taught ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6)” (Gospel principles).

“A quality of life is God’s greatest wish for us. Life is to be lived well in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. There should not be a waiting period” (Marvin J. Ashton).

“The key to life is not to find yourself, but create yourself, through choices that make us who we do or do not want to be”

Life is 90% how we take it and 10% how we make it. Take it with a spoonful of sugar and make it magnificent.

Virtue is a pattern of thought.
Love makes us want to reach out to other, and reach out to God.

Love builds trust, Lust kills it:

1. Seperate ourselves from temptations

2. Acknowledge that people who have problems with lust need more than self-help

3.The only real control is self-control

4. Don’t throw open the door for lude thoughts. Throw these thoughts out. Substitute with loved ones.

5. Cultivated and be where the Lord is.

The devil lulls people into a false sense of security, All is well in Zion

“Teach me to walk in the light, teach me to walk in the light, Dad. And my response is Come, let me teach you”

It is time for the young women of the church to lead the world back to virtue:
“We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us and we love Him. We will stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places as we strive to live the young women values which are:
Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice & Accountability, Good Works, Integrity and Virtue.
We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make & keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the temple and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.”

 

Qualities to look for in friends:
Honesty
Trust
Positivity
Fun/Funny-Sense of Humor
Loyalty
Common Interests
Respect
A Mentor
Encouragement
Happy for your successes

Why we have problems with friends:
pride
jealousy
envy
drawing comparisons

• Pride stands in fear of Man’s judgment rather than God’s
• Pride takes hold and we loose our freedom to Man’s judgment
• We are a peculiar people; if we start comparing ourselves to the world, we become like them and we lose our weirdness as well as our blessings…

 

Although we may not be praised for the trials we overcome or the time we give, our acts of kindness will be accounted for by our Father in Heaven.

This next bit comes from Henry B. Eyring’s talk “Help Them on Their Way Home.” These are the parts I underlined:

“Brothers and sisters, our Heavenly Father wants and needs our help to bring His spirit children home to Him again. I speak today of young people already within His true Church and so are started on the strait and narrow way to return to their heavenly home. He wants them to gain early the spiritual strength to stay on the path. And He needs our help to get them back to the path quickly should they begin to wander” (1).

“Foreseeing the needs of His children, a loving Heavenly Father placed directions and rescuers along their way. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to make safe passage possible and visible. He called His prophet in these times President Thomas S. Monson. Since his youth, President Monson has taught not only how to stay on the path but also how to rescue those who have been led away into sorrow” (2).

“I learned the power of simple faith in prayer and in the Holy Ghost when our children were small. Our oldest son was not yet baptized. His parents, Primary teachers, and priesthood servants had tried to help him feel and recognize the Spirit and know how to receive his Help. One afternoon my wife had taken him to the home of a woman who was teaching him to read. Our plan was that i was to pick him up on my way home from work. His lesson ended earlier than we had expected. he felt confident that he knew the way home. so he started to walk. he said afterward that he had complete confidence and like the idea of being alone on the trip. after he had gone about half a mile, it started to grow dark. he began to sense he was still very far from home. he can remember that the lights of the cars as they streamed past him were blurred by his tears. he felt like a little child, not the confident boy who had begun to walk home alone. he realized that he needed help. then something came to his memory. he knew he was supposed to pray. and so he left the road and headed towards some trees he could barely see in the darkness. he found a place to kneel down. through the bushes he could hear voices coming toward him. two young people had heard him crying. as they approached, they said ‘can we help you?’ though his tears he told them he was lost and that he wanted to go home. they asked if they knew his home phone number or address. he didn’t. they asked if he knew his name. he did know that. they led him to the nearby place where they lived. they found our family name in a phone book. when i got the phone call, i rushed to the rescue, grateful that kind people had been placed along his way home. and i have been ever grateful he was taught to pray with faith that help would come when he was lost. that faith has led him to safety and brought him more rescuers more times than he can count” (2-3). [wow, i cried just rereading and typing this up…]

don’t know if you noticed…

but i started a NEW blog….i know it’s kind of silly since i hardly write on this one as it is, but this other blog will be different! it’s dedicated solely to my cooking prowess (not that i have one, but if i did it would be totally AWESOME!) that’s actually what it’s called The Concepts of My Cooking Prowess. My plan is to cook throughout this 50 day period in which i have no school and to post the recipe i tried as well as a picture of the final product and some experiences i had while doing it. :) So far so good. i cooked Bread yesterday…well i guess the correct term would be I baked bread yesterday.

anyway, i’m pretty stoked. my only worry is that it might get a little expensive…but on the bright side, i should always have lunch now. lol.