I had wanted to watch the Royal wedding for several reasons... I loved Princess Di as a kid and remember watching her funeral, when I was in Junior High I had a crush on Prince William, and when he started dating Kate I really liked her, plus I really liked her name and have always wanted to name a daughter Kate.
Anyway when I saw the wedding was going to be at 3 in the morning here in Utah I was sad...until I realized I would be at work!! So Thu and I decided we had to have a "Royal Potluck" in celebration as we watched the production.
Photo from Lifetime
Thu made these AMAZING cupcakes...Peach Champagne in flavor. Marcia made an English Trifle and put it in a huge glass (a girl after my own heart), Matt brought English cookies, Jean brought pizza, and I had Meat pies and fruit salad. We had an absolute blast! Kate and William looked stunning and it was overall a nice night.
Went and saw my sister's production of "Much Ado About Nothing". This is by far my most favorite Shakespeare play of all time. It is funny, clever, and I love Benedict and Beatrice's little love story. My sister Kristan played Leonata and Sarah was Margaret.
"Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps." - William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing
Went and saw my friend Laurel get married. The Card's were neighbors of ours for almost 25 years. Laurel did a beautiful job choosing colors, dresses, cake, food, etc. and the ceremony was very nice.
Went and saw Jane Eyre with Merilee and Audrey. I had never seen or read this tale before. A good dark and twisty romance. It felt a little long, but left you wanting to know more at the end. I would recommend it for a good GNO.
"I sometimes have a queer feeling with regard to you--especially when you are near me, as now: it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that boisterous channel, and two hundred miles or so of land come broad between us, I am afraid that cord of communion will be snapt; and then I've a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly."-Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre
"It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquillity: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it." - Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre
"The Reluctant Entertainer" is a book that was recommended by Emilie that I have just started reading. It covers the importance of hospitality and the "joy busters" we allow to disuade us from being hospitable, learning and loving from others, and the goodness that can come from spending quality time with others.
Two quotes the author, Sandy Coughlin, shares in the first couple of chapters have particularly caught my attention:
"It is only when I share life's experiences with others that I can enjoy them or endure them to the greatest advantage. You see, having a relationship calls for being in fellowship with others, and that cannot be done very easily at arm's length. It implies getting in touch, feeling the hurts, being an instrument of encouragment and healing. Fences must come down. Masks need to come off. Welcome signs need to be hung outside the door. Keys to the locks in our lives must be duplicated and distributed. Bridges need to be lowered that allow others to cross the moat and then share our joys and sorrows." (Chuck Swindoll, "Dropping Your Guard")
"False hope leads us to make exhausting demands and prepares us for bitterness and dangerous hostility when we start discovering that nobody, and nothing, can live up to our absolutistic expectations." (Henri Nouwen, "The Wounded Healer")
Absolustistic expectations causing false hope/desires, being in fellowship with others, fences coming down... Reminds me of the reminder not to prejudge any opportunity or person...
So maybe just because it is on my mind, but it seems to me this book should be called, "The Reluctant Dater" instead.
Interested to see what else is in store as I read on...
I have felt the need to crank through and finish the New Testament. Reading it had been a goal I set for 2011, but I wanted to finish it for Easter. So in the past 4 days I have read Acts-Revelations....and this has been testified on almost every page,
"These simple words—“He is not here, but is risen”—have become the most profound in all literature. … They are the fulfillment of all He had spoken concerning rising again." -Gordon B. Hinckley
...and in the words the importance of this to our salvation is emphasized again and again. I am grateful to have the knowledge of life beyond death. I am grateful that God loves us so much that He provided a way for us to make it back to Him, and make it back clean and whole. I am grateful for an Easter season to bring us to a rememberance of these things, things that are good for the soul.
On a more secular note: “You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans. ” -Ronald Reagan
1. "21" by Adele, and it's just too hard to pick a favorite at the moment.
2. "Sigh no More" by Mumford and Sons current favorite number is "Timshel"
3. "Songs for Japan" by various artists. This album is a compilation of 31 songs for $9.99. itunes donates all precedes to the American Red Cross for the Japan earthquake and tsunami relief effort. There is a wide variety of songs in all genere's. My personal favorites at the moment include: "Don't Let The Sun Go Down" by Elton John and "Save Me" by Nicki Minaj
4. "Sing" by Glee cast as a cover of My Chemical Romance
5. "The Adventures of Bobby Ray" by B.O.B, current favorite song is "Ghost in the Machine" and of course I still love Airplanes I/II.
funny how things can change in a year, yet stay the same...
I just found a note to self I wrote last year:
Goals for the month of May--
-catch up scrapbook to Jan. 2010
-Only out to eat 1x/week
- no shopping except for Ren. Faire
This year it could read about the same except I am almost caught up to Jan 2011 in scrapbooking and I have a lot of shopping to do for Cambodia next month.
For a Memory Monday post, I am looking back at what was going on in my life, the past few years in the month of April:
-2006: Bee's baseball, singing "Forgiveness...It's more than saying sorry", nursing home stories, stake and general conference notes about Standing in Holy Places, True Aggie Night, Diversity Committee, and also I was single...surprise...and in my journal are some epic M.A.S.H. games played with Kristin, Toni, and LaDawn.
-2007: Lists of my favorite USU memories, notes from General Conference about His Will. Picnics at First Dam, LPN Nursing School, and also I was single...surprise...but I didn't write anything down about it (that I can find anyway).
-2008: I was finishing up my first semester at Weber, had decided to move back to Salt Lake City (and thinking back I think Katie was the only one I told I was going move until about a week or so before I just did it). Also I was single...surprise...and wrote this post about Gibert Blythe
-2009: I was watching Swine 09 take over the hospital, mourning the loss of ER, going to trauma conference, scrapbooking, shopping too much, and also I was single...surprise...and I blogged about Sully from Dr. Quinn.
-2010: I was blogging about the secret mental health of hair bands, muse concerts, glee, and my trip to Washington DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival. Also I was single...surprise....but I refused to blog about it because I felt like it was going to curse me. (** Update--I lie. Reading through the "hair band" post I found a tiny little paragraph about the "State of Nonboyfriend")
Speaking of the Secret Mental Health of Hair Bands I recently discovered this cover of one of my all time favorite songs and thought it matched the rainy weather, while still being able to help my mental health...
So here were are in April 2011... I have blogged about work, crafting, scrapbooking, Dr. Quinn, history, and also I am single...surprise...and I blogged about love and marriage, and my horoscope talked about being single today, and Stake conference yesterday was all about marriage and being single. OK WORLD I GET IT.... finding an eternal companion is the most important thing, love makes beauty, choose your love and love your choice (you don't always have to like them though), and the most important thing I thought Elder Grow said in Stake conference, " Be careful not to prejudge an opportunity or person, or you may be losing something for eternity."
Wait how did this post turn into another one about dating? Crap. On a side note --I was not single all of those years...I just apparently was single in April each of those years.
On another side note, one of my favorite quotes popped up in my inbox this morning:
“Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it. ”
I follow a lot of craft blogs and am constantly bookmarking and saving ideas... but I am terrible at actually following any ideas I find. Actually I can only think of 2 that I have ever actually done, a felt bat pillow and a snitch Christmas ornament. When I saw this US felt pillow on Kiki Creates I just knew I had to do it and it would be a fun NEW decoration and a NEW craft experience.
I ghetto hand stitched it while watching the Ellen Degeneras show yesterday and I love it. The full tutorial is linked above.
I just realized I never posted a NEW for last week.... The only NEW thing I can think of is that I hired my sister to clean my house. I pay her to come over every week to clean for a couple of hours. It is going to help has pay for her trip to Peru, and quite frankly I have felt too sick and have been too busy and or lazy to clean for myself so this makes us both happy.
This is a glimpse at what I do 3 days a week at work.
The other day we celebrated my roommate Melissa's birthday the way a 14 year old boy would...Mexican food at Tres Hombres, Arcade games, and the movie Arthur... which was surprisingly delightful. Not nearly as crass as I anticipated a Russell Brand movie to be, and it really was cute.
Not only did singles get chewed out about love and marriage during general conference, but now they are realigning all of the singles stakes. I am just going to pretend it is the end of the school year at USU and a bunch of people will be moving in and out because I am not terribly excited about this. I really like my ward and bishopbric, and I honesly have only been in 4 wards since I was 3 years old. We will find out next week what our new ward boundaries will be and then split at the beginning of May.
Speaking of love and marriage I had the opportunity to be a bridesmaid and attend the sealing of my friend Rachel Lee her now hubby Josh. It was a beautifully snowy day in Logan, with a delightful and tasty reception in Salt Lake. 3 different times Sakerra, Becca, and I were asked if we were sisters which was super random. Some pictures of the day:
I am making some progress on my A to Z reading list and am on track to read 52 books this year. Currently I am reading Return by Robert D. Hales; The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, and am half way through the New Testament. A book series I have been working on is the Secrets of the Immortal Nicolas Flamel by Michael Scott. You can read my reviews on Goodreads...I have mixed feelings about the series but am intrigued enough I can't wait for the next one to come out in May.
Speaking of anticipation...HP 7.1 comes out tomorrow. Pirates 4 is next month, Cambodia is in 2 months, and I get to fall asleep in 5, 4, 3, 2....zzzzzzz.
Today happens to be the 150 year anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. Why do I care/noticed? Maybe it's because I have ancestors who fought both sides. Maybe I watch too much Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. Or maybe it is because I love old photos and have recently discovered this website: Civil War Photos. Nevertheless I thought someone should mention and remember it.
1861
Walt Whitman
ARM’D year! year of the struggle!
No dainty rhymes or sentimental love verses for you, terrible year!
Not you as some pale poetling, seated at a desk, lisping cadenzas piano;
But as a strong man, erect, clothed in blue clothes, advancing, carrying a rifle on your shoulder,
With well-gristled body and sunburnt face and hands–with a knife in the belt at your side,
As I heard you shouting loud–your sonorous voice ringing across the continent;
Your masculine voice, O year, as rising amid the great cities,
Amid the men of Manhattan I saw you, as one of the workmen, the dwellers in Manhattan;
Or with large steps crossing the prairies out of Illinois and Indiana,
Rapidly crossing the West with springy gait, and descending the Alleghanies;
Or down from the great lakes, or in Pennsylvania, or on deck along the Ohio river;
Or southward along the Tennessee or Cumberland rivers, or at Chattanooga on the mountain top,
Saw I your gait and saw I your sinewy limbs, clothed in blue, bearing weapons, robust year;
Heard your determin’d voice, launch’d forth again and again;
Year that suddenly sang by the mouths of the round-lipp’d cannon,
I repeat you, hurrying, crashing, sad, distracted year.
Between all of the General Conference talks on dating/marriage and being a bridesmaid for the __th time, love and marriage have been on my mind a lot lately. There is a scripture about how there is no fear in love. I believe that...if you love someone with a perfect love there shouldn't be any fear. But the problem isn't fear in/about the love. The problem is the fear around the committment required. It's stupid but I think it is true for a lot of people.
We all know how much I like quotes. I have a hard time expressing what I feel or think eloquently so these are some quotes and thoughts I have collected that describe how I feel...
if you press me to say why i loved him, i can say no more than because he was he, and i was i.
-michel de montaigne
the girl's greatest fear--if the girl was really honest with herself--was that you could find the man--the man you'd follow to the ends of the earth--the man for whom you'd lay down your life and sacrifice and work and love for--and that he'd then find that woman. in someone else. -Meg Fee
There is a terrible hunger for love. We must have the courage to recognize it. -Mother Teresa
the very first moment i beheld him, my heart was irrevocably gone. jane austen
"she wants to know if i love her, that's all anyone wants from anyone else, not love itself but the knowledge that love is there, like new batteries in the flashlight in the emergency kit in the hall closet." extremely loud and incredibly close
"what truly is logic? who decides reason? my quest has taken me to the physical, the metaphysical, the delusional, and back. i have made...the most important discovery of my life. it is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logic or reason can be found. i am only here tonight because of you. you are the only reason i am. you are all my reasons. thank you."-a beautiful mind
Plato once said that "Excellent things are rare." He is right. Last night I got to spend some time with a group of excellent people. It has been years since we were all together like this and we laughed and laughed and reminisced about all of the crazy, amazing, peaceful, good, and bad moments we had spent together working EFY in 2005. This is an excellent group of people. This is a group of people where we can talk for hours, call each other out, talk about our hopes, dreams, and insecurities. I'll always be grateful for the assignment I had that summer and the that we have all remained friends.
Photo from Lifetime
