Sweet Juicy April

What do dogs have to do with motherhood?

2012-01-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

You know how lots of people have Lhasa Apsos and Shih Tzus? If you don't know what those are, here's a picture of one.

Well I used to think they were the ugliest dogs ever. I didn't even want to pet them because I just didn't think they were cute, and that's saying a lot for me because I usually want to pet any dog I see. But then one day my sister came home with Charlie, a Lhasa Apso that she found in a McDonald's parking lot. He became our dog after we contacted his owners and they informed us that they didn't want him anymore. He completely changed my mind about the Lhasa Apso and Shih Tzu breeds. He is such a funny, sweet, and cute dog, and I love him with all my heart! Now, whenever I see a Lhasa Apso or Shih Tzu, I just want to hold and pet it so much! I think they are some of the cutest dogs in the whole world, and I would really, really LOVE to have my own Lhasa Apso someday (hint to Tony).

Charlie and me

So, how does this pertain to motherhood?

Well, I'm not saying that I used to think babies were the ugliest things ever, because I really didn't. But I used to have very little to no interest in babies. I just didn't think about them. I didn't care when people posted pictures of their babies. I didn't read blogs that talked about people's babies. I didn't care about baby stats or baby outfits, etc. I didn't understand the love that parents had for their babies. I thought that maybe it would be hard to love a baby because it would cry a lot and demand so much attention.

And then... Eli was born. Now I'm obsessed with babies. Well, I'm obsessed with my own baby. I can stare at him all day long and never tire of adoring every little grunt, squeak, and movement he makes. But my feelings about other babies have changed, too. Now I love reading blogs that talk about babies and children. Sometimes I cry when I read sentimental posts moms have written about their children. I cry because I understand the feelings they're expressing. I love looking at people's pictures of their babies on Facebook. I love reading baby stats and imagining what milestones Eli will accomplish in the coming months and years. I now completely understand the love that parents have for their babies.

I know that this love is obvious to most people, either because they already have children or because they always felt that kind of love for babies and children. But for me it has been a surprise. I had no idea what to expect in becoming a mom, and that's why I was so scared. But I have been pleasantly surprised. Being a mom to my sweet Eli has been, so far, the best thing that's ever happened in my life. I don't mean to sound cliche, but the honest truth is that I feel so fulfilled being a mom, and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father blessed me with such a sweet, perfect little baby who brings me so much joy.

Today I told Eli that I love him even more than I love my dogs. And that is true love!

That's Pinteresting!

2011-11-02T00:44:00.001-06:00

During the past week I recreated a lot of Pinterest stuff.

First, I made this recipe:

Source: thedeenbros.com via April on Pinterest

When he took this picture, Tony said, "Don't tilt your head like that, it makes you look like a valley girl..." But since I am from the Salt Lake Valley, I guess I should look like a valley girl. I mean, hello. Obviously. (I'm really good at talking like a valley girl, too.)

This recipe turned out pretty good, and it's supposed to be healthy - I think because they use alternative ingredients for what would be fatty ingredients. But I couldn't find Italian turkey sausage, so I just used regular Italian sausage and that probably made it as fatty as it originally was. Oh well. It was spicy and since we both like spicy food, it was good.

And here are some Pinterest outfits I recreated:

I have really liked using Pinterest for outfit ideas because I don't feel that I'm naturally very creative at putting together cute outfits. Pinterest helps me see new ideas with my old clothes, and sometimes it even helps me get dressed faster! (PS - I know my outfit recreations are never as cute as the original, but at least I tried, okay?)

Source: tandsdaybook.blogspot.com via April on Pinterest

I tried to make this more maternity-friendly by moving the belt up above my belly. I noticed after I took the picture that the band on my maternity jeans was peeking out so I ended up just switching into regular jeans and buttoning them low, but I didn't take another picture. I wore this grocery shopping and just hanging out with Tony.

Source: thedaybookblog.com via April on Pinterest

I copied this outfit for Tony's and my date night last weekend. I even tried to tie black ribbon around my head so my hair would look like hers, but I never know how to pull off ribbons and headbands and stuff like that. I like her sweater a lot better than mine, but I still think mine's pretty cute.

Source: lazy-saturdays.com via April on Pinterest

I really like the original Pinterest idea and I like my recreation of it, but I haven't actually worn this outfit yet. I was thinking I'd wear it to church but then on Sunday I didn't want to wear it. So maybe next week. Or it might wait until I'm not pregnant anymore. I'm just not sure how much I like wearing skirts above the pregnancy belly... then they just balloon out and make me feel fat. It only looks cute if I keep my hand there so everyone knows it's a pregnant belly, and that would just be awkward if I walked around church all day with my hand there. I really like her polka-dot turquoise belt... maybe I could find one at a thrift store someday.

Source: Uploaded by user via April on Pinterest

This is what I did end up wearing to church last week. In case you can't tell, I copied this from the girl in the upper right hand corner of that pin. Yes, I know, I know, her outfit is much cuter than mine! Yes, I'm jealous of her hotness. But since I just ran to the computer and looked at that pin, and then ran to my closet and copied it as fast as I could, I put this outfit together in probably 3 minutes, which is record time for me! It was really disappointing for my husband because normally he just loves waiting for me to try on ten different items of clothing and then get angry at all of them because they all look ugly.

That's it for now! I still have some other Pinteresting ideas I'll probably be copying/recreating/making soon!

Welcome to: That's Pinteresting!

2011-10-26T12:29:00.001-06:00

I have seen lots of blogs talking about Pinterest. I can't remember when I joined it, but probably about 2 months or so ago. People say it's really addicting, but I still spend way more time looking at blogs than at Pinterest. However, I do love "pinning" all my favorite blog ideas to Pinterest, so in that way, yes, I use it all the time.

Anyway, I recently found this blog that I love looking at, and she does a weekly Pinterest re-creation post that I thought was really fun, so I'm going to do it, too. I'm not going to "link up," though. I just want to do it for fun for my own blog and for myself.

Oh yeah, that reminds me. Remember how I used to have a "fashion blog" and then all the sudden it just disappeared? Well, I kind of had a love/hate relationship with that blog. It was really fun in some ways, and it helped me want to get dressed and try to look cute on a more regular basis... but almost every single day I felt guilty because I just kept thinking about how I could be using my time for better things. You know that "Good, Better, Best" talk from Elder Oaks? (If you don't know it, but would like to, you can read it here.)

I knew that having a fashion blog wasn't bad in and of itself, but just because it's not bad doesn't mean that it's a worthy use of time, you know? So I had enough of those thoughts and feelings that I just decided to shut down that blog and I really haven't had any desire to get it up and going again. (I realize that any form of blogging could be considered a waste of time, but taking pictures and editing and posting them is actually a lot more time-consuming than I thought it would be, and just doing it for a bunch of pictures of myself felt really... um... selfish? - and I also had to have Tony take the pictures all the time, and even though he loves playing with the camera, I still felt guilty constantly asking for his time just for that blog.) So, in case you were wondering, that's why I don't do that blog anymore.

BUT.... I still love looking at other people's fashion blogs and thinking of cute ways to wear clothes. That superficial stuff is just a part of who I am... I JUST CAN'T STOP LIKING CLOTHES (and purses and jewelry and shoes and all cute accessories)! I always pin my favorite blog outfits to my Pinterest, but then I never do anything with those pins. So, I'm excited to have this new segment on my blog. I'm going to call it "That's Pinteresting!" (I just made that up when I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom last night - I know someone else probably has already used that title somewhere, but still, I made it up for myself.) I'm not going to link it to other blogs and I don't care who follows it or likes it or hates it - it's just something fun for me. And I'm just going to do it whenever I want - sometimes weekly, sometimes more, sometimes less. Oh, and it doesn't have to be clothing/fashion, it can be crafts or recipes or any idea I got from a blog or a pin from Pinterest.

So, after that LONG and really detailed introduction, I am pleased to present my very first "That's Pinteresting!" post:

Source: None via April on Pinterest

This was a pin I found a few months ago. I actually can't remember if I found it as a pin or just on the blog directly and then pinned it. I always forget which came first. Usually it's the blog first and then I pin it. I thought it was really cute and I made my own version of it all the way back in August. It turned out really cute and is probably my most favorite Halloween decoration in our house. Here's my version of it:

The ribbon looks navy blue in those photos, but it's actually black, and I like it a lot better black (instead of the orange used on the original idea).

I hope you liked today's segment of "That's Pinteresting!" Next time there won't be so many words, okay?

PS- Not sure why the pin isn't linking to the blog, but it came from Tatertots and Jello.

BLOOD DRIP!

2011-10-09T10:35:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we had a little Halloween get-together with some friends. I'll post pictures from that on our family blog later. Julia and I first began talking about having this get-together when we were looking around at Target (as we do almost every week.... Target NEVER gets boring!) and we saw these Halloween blood-drip glasses:

We were imagining how fun it would be to pretend to drink blood from these glasses (yeah, we think things like that are fun) and decided that we needed to have a Halloween party so we could drink from them. I seriously considered buying some of these glasses (which are actually plastic), but they were $3 each, which adds up fast when you want to have 8 or 10 of them. And I always feel bad to buy holiday things at full price when we all know they're going to be half off in just a few weeks. So I put them back on the shelf and we kept planning our party.

We ended up going to Wal-Mart and buying glass goblets for less than half the price of those Target plastic ones and planned that when we got home that night we'd search the internet for ways of making our own blood-drip on them. So, without further ado, here it is.............

These pictures were taken last Thursday (Oct 6) when we got together and decorated for the party. I really LOVE the way these glasses turned out! I think they are so much cuter than the Target goblets, and they were so fun and EASY to do. And the best part is that after the party you can clean off the "blood" and have nice glasses to use for other holidays or special occasions. I just soaked our glasses in hot water and the candy came off in less than 5 minutes. I'm really glad I didn't waste money on those Target cups.

Julia already had a candy thermometer and Karo syrup, so we didn't have to buy anything extra to make this. We were worried that the hot temperature would break the glass, but it didn't hurt it at all. I would definitely NOT use plastic cups, though, if you decide to do this because they would melt. After you dip the glasses in the candy and wait for them to cool, you'll hear some quiet cracking noises (and we were worried that it was the glass cracking) but it's just the candy cracking a little bit as it cools - it doesn't break the glass at all. The one single regret I have about making these blood-drip glasses is that I didn't look at the D.I. before buying goblets at Wal-Mart. I happened to stop at the D.I. last week and found that they had a large selection of glass goblets for 50 cents each. The ones from Wal-Mart were $1.25 each. At the D.I. near my house I could have even bought 8-10 matching goblets if I'd wanted, but there were also a ton of different kinds, and I think mismatched goblets are just as cute as matching ones for holiday parties.

Since we made these 2 days before the party, I stored them by covering each glass in plastic wrap and putting them back on our shelf. That kept any dust from getting on the candy, and when we took them out Saturday and took the plastic off for the party, they were all ready to go.

I found the recipe for making this blood-drip from this website:

Source: hostessblog.com via April on Pinterest

I originally found it through Google and then I pinned it to my Pinterest (I don't want to give credit to the wrong internet source, okay). I like the way our blood-drip turned out better than the one on her website because hers was a little too candy-red. Julia had the idea to add a few drops of black food coloring to the mix and that made it a deeper red, which is obviously much more realistic. And being realistic is important when pretending to drink blood.

If you are interested in making these blood-drip glasses (for a Halloween party or even a.... Twilight party) and for some crazy reason can't get to that blog, here are the recipe and instructions:

The “blood rim” is made from the same kind of mixture as you’d use to make hard candy. It’s actually pretty easy, but you will need a candy thermometer (which you can find at most grocery stores).

Ingredients:
1 c. Sugar
1/2 c. Karo Syrup
1/2 c. Water
Red Food Coloring

Directions:
Combine sugar, syrup and water. Cook without stirring to hard crack stage – which is 300 degrees F. Add food coloring.

Turn off heat. While the mixture is still hot, dunk the top of the cocktail glass into the mixture to create the red rim. If you need to do several glasses, keep the mixture hot so it lasts longer (instead of turning heat off, just reduce slightly).You can go anywhere from just along the very tip of the rim to part way down the glass – whichever you prefer. Flip the glass right side up to cool. The thick consistency of the mixture will cause “drips” as it hardens on the glass!

My first free motion quilt!

2011-10-05T12:41:00.002-06:00

I guess I'm always really excited to post any new craft I do, but I am REALLY excited about this quilt! ...because.... it's my FIRST free motion quilt! Ever since I first started looking at quilting blogs and decided that I wanted to learn to make them, I have admired all the quilts that had free motion quilting. But I was intimidated by it, so I put off learning how to do it until now. I got a darning foot last month and I started practicing on Monday (Oct 3) with it for the first time. Here is the first mini quilt sandwich I practiced on:

If you look to the bottom right of the second picture, you can see how messed up the thread tension was (it kind of looks like a spiderweb because the top thread is pulling through to the wrong side). I had to mess around with the tension for a while before I got it looking better. I am still working on learning about setting the tension. Sometimes it will all the sudden not work, like if I put in a new bobbin or if I have turned off my machine for a while and come back to it later. It doesn't make sense to me because it was working at a certain thread tension setting for the whole time and then all the sudden that setting doesn't work. I get really angry when that happens, but I guess it's just a part of learning.

I got most of the piecing and all of the basting of this quilt done during General Conference. Tony took pictures of me during the Sunday (Oct 2) morning session:

This one is my personal favorite. I don't know how Tony kept his eyes on conference with an amazing view like that in front of him.

He took these the next day (Oct 3) when I was free motion quilting for the first time. (I promise I don't make him take pictures of me - except for my baby bump pictures, I always nag him to take those ones - he just likes playing with the camera and I like documenting everything, so I'm fine with him taking as many pictures as he wants!)

And here is the finished product (which will be a surprise gift for a certain someone)....

Don't you just LOVE staring at those swirly lines? Me too!!

This quilt is far from perfect but I still love it. I love quilting and have had so much fun so far developing this new talent. Free motion quilting is frustrating at times but mostly it's not that hard and it's really fun. I think every quilt I make from now on will be free motion quilted because I like doing it so much! I can't wait to make my next quilt!

This was a long post and probably boring if you don't care about quilts. Gold star for you if you're still reading now!

Halloween Calendars!

2011-09-28T14:08:00.000-06:00

I am REALLY excited to post pictures of these awesome (if I do say so myself) Halloween advent calendars I just finished. I spent about 2 weeks working on them, but it felt like so much longer... I don't know why, maybe just because I'm getting burnt out on crafts and am easily distracted. I think it was also because they were big and bulky (with 4 layers of felt), and it was hard to pull all that stiff material through my sewing machine. One time I was angrily whispering bad words to the calendar I was working on and Tony heard me and said, "Maybe you should stop working on those now..." But I finally got them done, just in time for October, and they make me so much more excited to celebrate Halloween! I made one for me and Tony (and our future kids, I guess) and one for Kayla and Brighton. Tony and I are really excited to give them their calendar!

Without a doubt the funnest part of making these was last night when Tony and I filled them up with candy and little toys and stickers for Kayla and Brighton. It sort of felt like Christmas, only for Halloween. It only took about ten minutes to choose stuff and put them in all the pockets, but it was just really fun, probably because Tony was helping me and we were imagining how Kayla and Brighton would be so excited to take something out every day (and they'll probably cheat and take stuff out early, as all kids do). I got most of the toys/treats either from the dollar store or from the dollar section at Target (which was having a 70% off sale, so a lot of things were only 30 cents). I can't wait until someday we can fill these up for our own kids.

I made some mistakes on both of the calendars, and the perfectionist in me kept telling me to go un-stitch and fix them, but then the lazy person inside me kept telling me that would be too much work. So I listened to the lazy person and left the mistakes. I won't tell you what they are, though, because maybe you won't notice them unless I do. I sewed on almost everything because I want these to last as long as possible. The only things I hot-glued were the very small things, like the cats' yellow eyes. These are pretty heavy when they're filled up with treats, so I'm thinking I might need to get some thicker dowels to hang them from or find some made out of metal or something more sturdy than the wood ones I have now.

I got the idea for these from a picture my sister-in-law, Amy, pinned on Pinterest. It was made by a lady who was selling them on etsy. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to make it. Mine isn't as nice as hers, and I changed and made up a lot of things to make it simpler, but I still like mine. Here's a picture of (and link to) the original:

Visiting the Witches

2011-09-28T11:08:00.000-06:00

Last Thursday (Sep 22) Julia, Sarah, Charlotte and I went to Gardner Village to visit all the crazy witches. It was fun to look around in some of the stores, especially the fabric store (Pine Needles). I just wished they would have a 90% off everything sale. We didn't buy anything because it was so expensive, but there were many, many fabrics I pined for! We stopped at the candy store to get a Halloween treat for Sarah and then we walked around and took pictures with some of the witch displays.

Julia wanted me to take a picture of this pillow, I think because she wants to make one like it.

I took a picture of this Halloween advent calendar because I've been working on one that looks different from this one, but I've seen lots of versions on Pinterest and blogs that look like this one (which is a copy of an old Pottery Barn calendar). I like the look of this one though and want to keep it for reference in case I ever want to make a simpler Halloween calendar (the one I'm working on now has been a lot of work).

Craft Party

2011-09-14T15:42:00.001-06:00

Last night some of us crazy Oakcrest friends got together and had a craft party. It was Alabama (me), Splash (April #2), Blinky (Julia), Biph (Kathrin), and Doodle (Stephanie). We made Halloween/Fall wreaths similar to the one from this blog post. It was really fun catching up and laughing about stupid things. Sometimes I forget how fun it is to hang out with old friends, but during this get-together we started plans for our next craft night, so we won't go waiting months and months to get together again. We are even thinking about starting a craft club, and we came up with some really cool name ideas, like the ABCD Craft Club, and we made up a club song that we have to sing before we start crafting. But I won't reveal too many of our club secrets because I don't want to make everyone jealous. When Tony came home from scouts and heard some of the things we talked about I think he was embarrassed for us and thought we were big weirdos, but we are, so that's okay. Here are some pictures from last night:

April and Kathrin

Steph and Julia

Kathrin and me with her almost-finished wreath

Too bad Julia changed her pose at the last second.

Nice wreath, Biph!

All of us.

Julia's finished wreath.

I just barely finished my wreath this morning. It took a long time because I distressed all the circles. I think it looks a little crowded and maybe I should take off a few circles but I'll probably just leave it the way it is. I love making Halloween crafts and can't wait for October!

Baby Quiet Books

2011-09-08T12:29:00.001-06:00

I made these 2 quiet books over the past 2 weeks. I could have made them in less time, but I'm easily distracted so they took a while. I've made so much quiet book stuff over the past month (click here to see the other quiet books I made) that I guess I'm getting a little burnt out on it. I'm more excited for my next project because it's for Halloween, and I love Halloween! I think making Halloween projects means you can watch Halloween movies and listen to cheesy Halloween music while you make them, so that will be a highlite to my upcoming days. (Doesn't that make my life sound pathetic?) Anyway, back to the quiet books....

I made 2 of these: one for our baby and one for my brother and sister-in-law's baby girl, due Jan 2012. I tried to make them more baby/toddler-aged-appropriate than the books I made before, so that he can play with them at a younger age. I think some of the pages are more appropriate for a younger age, but some of them would be fun for older kids, too. At first I guess all babies do is put stuff in their mouth anyway, so we'll still wait a few months to take this out for him. One thing I would change if I made these again is that I'd make them smaller. Here they're probably about 9"x9" square (maybe a little smaller), but since they're for a baby I think they'd work better if they were about half that size. That wouldn't necessarily take any time off of making them, because you'd still be doing the same amount of cutting and sewing, just reducing the size, but it would make them more manageable for a smaller-sized person. But then again, babies like big, bold colors and shapes to look at, so maybe they are better in the bigger size... I don't know. These 2 books are pretty much the exact same, except for the girl's I chose more pastel colors and did a few things to make it girly.

This is both of them... the pink heart is for the girl and the blue heart is for the boy - I know, so creative.

I'll just show the pages mostly from our boy's since they are basically the same in both books.

I made this button page because my sister-in-law, Julia, said her daughter really loved grabbing buttons when she was a young baby. JoAnn's has a bunch of button packs that are really big, and cool shapes and colors. This page probably took the longest because I sewed on each button by hand. If I ever do another one of these pages, I'm going to figure out how to sew on buttons with my machine.

I love this lion page... it's supposed to be fun for the baby to touch and grab the ribbons. We'll see how much my baby likes it when he's born. I'd love to say I just made up this page because it's so cute, but I didn't. I copied it from here.

This is just a simple finger-puppet page and was actually pretty fast to make. I designed all the finger-puppets myself, but they're pretty simple so I'm sure there are lots of puppets out there that look similar. I'm just always proud of myself when I don't copy something from another person's blog, okay?

I love these little puppets, especially the lion. The dog one is designed after my sweet Rosie girl. I tried to make whatever animals I thought would be the easiest and fastest, that's why they don't really have anything to do with each other. But I think it will be fun to teach my son to make the lion kill the rabbit and eat it. Poor little rabbit.

I'm not so sure about this page. I read that little kids like to look for treasures, but I didn't make this as "I Spy" as I probably should have. I just filled it up with stuff. Hopefully he likes it. If I ever make another page like this, I'm going to glue the little circle mirrors back to back so they're reflective on both sides, because right now sometimes the mirrors get turned over and then I get really annoyed and have to fiddle with the page until they turn back over. I got the idea for this page here.

I got the idea for this page here.

I was going to do a page with 3 different zippers that the baby could just play with, but then Julia suggested that I make a monster with a zipper mouth. I wasn't going to do it, but then I decided that I'd rather sew on one zipper instead of 3. I'm glad I went with this idea because I think it's a lot funner than just the 3 zippers. I just bought some cute baby pajamas that have little monsters all over them, and I designed the monster after one of those.

Here's why this zipper page is a lot funner than my original idea... I put little felt monster food inside him, and I think a baby/toddler would like playing with that and taking it out and putting it back in.

Little mirrors for looking in and reflecting.

Feather fabric and tassles to touch.

Beads to move around and count (when he gets old enough to count).

Shape page.

I made the shapes and colors match so he can learn about both while he plays with it. I kept the shapes attached to string so they won't get lost. I was going to do velcro, but I think string works better for keeping it in the book.

Here are a few pages from the girl book that are more "girly" than our son's book.

I made scalloped edges on the window page. I can't stand looking at that one edge where I accidentally cut off a scallop, so I'm glad this book won't be mine so I don't have to look at it.

The monster for her book has big, beautiful red lips. After I made this page, the monster page from my son's book kept trying to kiss her! Bad monsters! I had to keep them apart!

Her butterfly has hearts. How sweet.

See, basically the same, just more pastelly.

Thoughts on Parenthood

2011-09-03T13:57:00.000-06:00

I was reading this blog post, and I saw this quote that I really liked:

“Parents tell their children to make sure they enjoy their life before they get married. Young people want to do their own thing and enjoy life before settling down. They have come to think that settling down and having children will not be enjoyable. On the other hand, God equates having children with joy. Motherhood is associated with joy. (He makes the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord. Psalm 113:9)

"It is true that there are many unhappy mothers and fathers. I believe this is mostly because of mind attitude. Because society has taught women to think that mothering is an inferior task and careerism is far more important, they feel bogged down with children who interfere with their life choices. They love their children, but they don’t love motherhood. This is the catch! It’s not enough to love our children; we must love motherhood! It is only when we embrace motherhood that we enter into the joy of it and begin to experience the fullness and anointing of motherhood that God intents us to walk in.” ~N. Campbell

I'm not a mother yet and I'm honestly not quite sure how I feel about becoming a mother soon (it mostly freaks me out), but I like the above quote because it reminds me that becoming a mother is what Heavenly Father wants me to do, and he will help me with all my inadequacies. Ever since I started having regular "play-dates" with my niece, Kayla, when she was about 4 years old, I have realized in a very small degree the kind of love mothers must feel for their children. I always felt a little depressed inside when Kayla would go home to her parents. I just loved her so much and missed her sweet presence whenever she left. I know motherhood will not always be sweet and lovey-dovey, but I'm grateful for sweet little kids and the joy they bring to us. Even though at this point I feel really scared to have my own child, I know he will be a blessing to me and Tony and we will love him and learn to become better people through parenthood.

Photos with Kayla (and Rosie!), Summer 2007

Craft Day

2011-07-20T13:04:00.000-06:00

Yesterday (Tuesday, July 19) April, Julia and I got together for a craft party. April worked on some flip flops, Julia worked on a dress for Sarah, and I made a flower wreath similar to something I saw on my friend's blog. While we were crafting Sarah and Bennett had a fun time playing in the little pool outside. I felt kind of left out because I didn't have a child to play with theirs. It was really fun to get together, and have I ever mentioned how much I love making crafts? I LOVED making this wreath, and Tony can attest to the fact that after I hung in on our door I went back like 5 times to open the door and admire its cuteness. I looked at it again this morning. I'm thinking of making another one for my parents just because I had so much fun making it. I can't wait until we do another craft day (or night) together, and next time we hope to spend longer (because April had to leave early yesterday).

April's craft (braided straps for flip flops).

Julia's craft (dress for Sarah).

My craft (summer wreath for our door).

A Walk to the Park

2011-07-20T12:47:00.001-06:00

After swimming with Kayla all day Wednesday, Alesa invited us to go to dinner with her and Brighton, so we did that and then both Kayla and Brighton came over to spend the night at my house. The first thing they (mostly Kayla) wanted to do was visit the horses that live near our place. We walked over there and were pleasantly surprised to find that now they have not only horses, but 2 ostriches, 3 llamas, tons of bunnies & turkeys & chickens, 2 goats (and one of them is a really cute baby goat), and some sheep! I can't really understand why they have all those animals, but it's fun to see, feed and pet them. I forgot my camera on both of our visits, but next time I'll of course get some pictures of that.

I set up the air mattresses so they had a big bed to sleep on and they fell asleep in the front room. I thought for sure they would come wake me up at like 7am, but they actually slept until past 9, which was so nice! After visiting the little zoo again in the morning (Thursday, July 14), we went to my parents' house and took the dogs on a long walk to Murray Park where the kids played on the playground and swings for a few hours. We got snow cones and had a fun day together. By the time we walked back to my parents' and Alesa came to get them, they were pooped! It was a really hot walk to and from the park and a good thing I brought tons of water and Gatorade for them because they drank it all! I love hanging out with my niece and nephew and I'm grateful I have some extra time this summer to do that (before Tony and I have our own baby).

On our way to the park we stopped at my sister's work to say hi.

Pool Day with Kayla

2011-07-20T12:30:00.000-06:00

After spending the day with Brighton last Tuesday, we saw Kayla when she came with her mom to pick him up from my parents' house. I told her she could come have a sleepover at my house whenever she wanted and she asked her mom if she could sleep over that night. My sister and I were planning to watch HP7, Pt.1, so we did that before going back to my house, and in the process Kayla fell asleep so I just left her at my parents' for the night. The next morning (Wednesday, July 13) I went back to my parents' house to get Kayla and we spent the day swimming at Murray Park. We used to do that all the time when she was younger. It was fun to do it again. She loved playing with the waterproof camera as you'll see from all the pictures.

My nose looks funny when I pinch it.

Waiting in line to ride the slide.

Our first time down the slide together.

Kayla thought her face looked hilarious in this picture. I agree.

Pool Day with Brighton

2011-07-20T12:10:00.002-06:00

Last Tuesday (July 12) my mom invited me and my sister to go swimming with her and Brighton at the local pool. It was fun to spend some time with him, and since Tony had just gotten this cool waterproof digital camera for his birthday it was a nice opportunity for me to try it out at the pool. Brighton loved riding down the big slide with us, and after a while he got brave enough to go by himself (but he always wanted my mom to be at the end to catch him).

This was when my mom didn't quite catch Brighton as he came off the slide.

He was kind of upset about it. He said accusingly, "Grandmaaaa!!" after he came out of the water.

My sister and I were laughing at him so he ran off to sulk by the wall, but then he ran back when I took a picture.

Poor baby. It's hard not to make fun of him sometimes...

A happy ending... a slide with shallow water!

Super Cool

2011-07-18T16:26:00.004-06:00

Movies Reviewed

2011-07-16T12:41:00.001-06:00

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

My sister and I saw this in the theater yesterday. I think I've only gone to 2 other HP movies in the theater because I'm not a big fan of the movies (they don't compare to the books). One of the problems with the movies is that they leave out so many details, and obviously they have to because the books are so detailed. But since it's been years since I've read the 7th book, I went into this movie not really focusing on the favorite details that I didn't want left out. With that perspective it was actually a really good movie. One of my friends mentioned on Facebook that she thought it was too much action and not enough dialogue, but I didn't think that. Because she said that, I thought it would be all about the huge battle at the end and showing all that action at Hogwarts, but it hardly showed any of it. It wrapped up the story pretty well and did a good job revealing the true Snape (my favorite character). I thought the very end was funny though (the part where they're all supposed to be married and older). I'm glad they put it in because of course we all want to see that part, but it just seemed kind of awkward for all the actors... like they don't have chemistry as older married couples; it was just weird. Also, the guy who plays Dumbledore is nothing like the Dumbledore I imagined when I read the books. The first actor who died after the first movie was much better. Dumbledore is supposed to have a constant, kind twinkle in his eye and demeanor, and the actor who plays him doesn't show that at all. But anyway. I guess I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

X-Men: First Class

Tony and I saw this about a month and a half ago. I'm not that particular about seeing movies when they come out - we usually just wait for RedBox. But I always want to see the X-Men movies in theater. Tony was excited to see this in theater too because he loves action and special effects, so it was a win-win for both of us. I watched the cartoon version of X-Men when I was a kid even though I never wanted to watch any other "boy cartoons." There was something about this story that was fascinating, and I still find that fascination with the movies. I think these are the very best superhero-type movies ever made. The actors always do a good job, and this movie was no exception. I liked seeing more of the beginning of the story for Magneto and how his anger and need for revenge developed. It was also interesting to see the early friendship of him and Charles Xavier. I love that even though Magneto is the "bad guy," he's still likable and you can understand his perspective. I also liked seeing how Beast became Beast. I don't read the comics so I don't know any of those stories and it's fun to learn about them in the movies. I loved Kevin Bacon in it; I wasn't expecting to see him, but he did a really good job! I give this movie 5 stars or whatever the highest rating is, and I'm sure we'll buy it when it comes out.

Transformers 3

I couldn't find a bigger picture than this. Well I probably could have but I didn't want to look. But it doesn't need a bigger picture because it's a REALLY stupid movie. I don't like the Transformers series at all. We saw this in theater for Tony's birthday because he loves seeing action and special effects on the big screen, but we were both disappointed in the story and dialogue. It was pretty much all action and it went on for way too long. I think the Transformers movies are really objectifying of and degrading to women, and that's the main reason I just don't like them. This movie stayed true to that - having a beautiful woman run around scantily clad and even wearing stiletto heels while running through rubble and fighting giant robots the entire movie. Wow, that's just embarrassing. Also, what's his name, the main actor - he's not funny when he's supposed to be, and I don't think he's a good actor. I just think these movies are really cheesy and I don't understand why they're popular. I give it zero stars.

Pleated Skirt Ideas

2011-07-15T23:11:00.002-06:00

Not all of these are styles I'd wear, but I like them for ideas and wanted to save them for reference. I just got a cute pleated skirt. It doesn't look quite as cute with my growing belly, but I think it's still wearable for a while... and then wearable again in a few months after that. I should give credit to the sources of all these ideas, but I didn't keep track and it would take too long to find them again. Whoops.

Love For Dads (Happy birthday Dad!)

2011-03-21T02:39:00.001-06:00

Tony and I attend a "Marriage and Family Relations" class for Sunday school at our ward. It's been a really good class and so far we have loved all the material they've taught. Just recently they've been focusing on parental roles, and yesterday the lesson was about "The Sacred Role of Fathers."

As we studied that topic, I mostly thought about Tony and what kind of dad he will be to our future children. I've probably said this a million times (and thought it even more), but I know Tony will be the best dad I could ever hope for my children. He is such a humble, sincere, loving, kind, unselfish person, and he always stands up for what he knows is right. I am so grateful to know that he will be the father and male role-model in our home and family. I feel so comforted and secure with him, and I love him so much. I adore him. I know our kids will love and adore him as much as I do. And they will know what's right because he will teach them the truth.

The topic also got me to thinking about my own dad (whose birthday happens to be today!). One of the "Ideas for application" in the manual yesterday was to "Write a letter to your father or to a grandfather." I feel like writing a letter to him would be a little too personal to post on the blog, but I do want to say how grateful I am for my dad. I have always been a "Daddy's Girl" and for good reason. My dad is one of the nicest, most humble, loving people you could ever meet. He loves the gospel and Heavenly Father and you can see that in his actions. He has taught me to be strong in so many ways. He (and my mom) always encouraged me and told me I was the best (and I believed them). My dad is always willing to help out, even when he could be justified in taking a break. He always tries to take the higher ground and do what Christ would do. Also, I love my dad's sense of humor. He makes me laugh so much. Tony says that my dad and I always know what the other one is going to say (in jokes) because we have the same stupid humor. I take that as a compliment (thanks Tony). I love that I can call my dad a thousand times and every time he'll answer the phone saying, "Joe's Bar & Grill..." It's not even funny anymore (wait, I don't know if it ever was funny), but the fact that he's saying it (again) makes it funny.

But what I am most grateful for in my dad is that he led me to Tony. Not that he physically led me to him, but that his qualities led me to recognize the goodness in Tony. I always worried, growing up, that I would never be able to find a man who could be as good of a father to my children as my dad was to me. But now I know that's not true. When I met Tony in the student ward, I immediately recognized that there was something special about him and that he would be the kind of husband and father that I wanted for my family. I know I was able to recognize his goodness because it was something familiar to me; it was the same goodness my dad had always brought to our home and family. I know Tony will be the kind of father to our children that my dad was to me and my siblings. And I am so grateful for that! I am so thankful to my dad for teaching me what qualities are most important in husbands and fathers. I know that I am very blessed to have such honorable men in my life. I am thankful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with so much!

PS - Happy birthday Daddy-waddy! I love you!

Valentines Craft

2011-01-19T02:07:00.002-07:00

What's up blog? Long time no see.

Julia, Steph and I did a craftnight/GNO last night, and of course I took pictures.

Do you see Julia's eye in the peephole?

I don't know what they're doing...

Steph holds her heart because we're in love (that's why the heart is floating between us).

Now Julia and I are in love.

And no, we haven't taken down our Christmas tree yet.

Gratitude

2010-11-28T00:17:00.000-07:00

Some stuff I'm grateful for this year...

Go Wilde!

2010-10-31T15:18:00.001-06:00

This is my dad. I love him.

Last week my dad's opponent sent out a couple of mailers making some negative claims against him. One of them claimed that he wants to shut down the Murray Rec Center and the Murray Ice Rink. Another claimed that he wants to shut down the garbage services. These claims are outright lies, and neither of the mailers used any facts to support them (because there are no facts). So, from my dad's own hand, here are some facts:

The true information?

It's simply that I have never proposed shutting down any rec centers. (And on that point, the Murray Rec Center is funded by Murray City, not the county, so I couldn't have had any influence on shutting that place down).

And I've never proposed any other services in the county - such as garbage services - should be shut down. In fact, I serve as a member of the board of the special sanitation district and have been more regular in attendance at those meetings than any other council member (there are four of us) who serves on that board.

I simply voted against the property tax increase the Democrats passed last November. And so from that they make the jump that I wanted to shut down the budget and stop all county services.

It's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. If I had voted in favor of the budget, Diane would have argued I support raising taxes. So for voting against the budget, I'm accused of wanting to shut county government down.

Our Halloween Souls

2010-10-06T21:52:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday, during the priesthood session of General Conference, I went over to Julia's and we carved pumpkins and watched Hocus Pocus with Sarah. I know this is hard to believe, but we were so excited to start celebrating the Halloween season that we turned into monsters!! We love Halloween!

Julia cooked our pumpkin seeds, and I bet they turned out yumptous (but I didn't get to try any, so I don't know for sure). I really love Halloween and Fall... I think because they are the beginning of the holiday season, and because we get to wear cute sweaters and jackets. I like to start celebrating Halloween in August just to make Fall feel like it's longer, but Julia won't start celebrating until October, so this was the first time we REALLY watched Hocus Pocus (last time with Steph didn't count because we really didn't watch). I brought our new camera over so I could try it out a little bit.

When Isaac came home from the priesthood session, he finished carving Sarah's pumpkin. The left one is Julia's, middle one is mine, and right one is Sarah/Isaac's. We are good carvers!

New blog up and running.

2010-09-18T10:44:00.002-06:00

Remember how I said I wanted to make a modest fashion blog? Well I made one. Check it out at:

modest-apple.blogspot.com

Announcement!!!

2010-09-12T16:28:00.005-06:00

I'm pregnant....

with IDEAS!!!

I know if I put "Announcement" as my blog title, people will probably assume I'm announcing pregnancy. And they're right. Because I am pregnant, like I said, with ideas.

I have been thinking a LOT lately about starting a new blog: A fashion blog.

Two of my favorite things are blogs and fashion. I love looking at cute fashion blogs - sometimes I'm kind of obsessed with it. Lately I've been looking into modest fashion blogs, and I've found that, comparatively speaking, there aren't that many of them. Modesty isn't a huge issue in most fashion-inspired communities. But still, I know there are a lot of women out there, like me, who do care about being modest. We're the ones who look at the fashion magazines/blogs and constantly restructure every outfit with a slightly higher neckline, lower hem, and sleeves. But it's nice to not always have to do that. For that reason, I have decided that if I were to start my own fashion blog and show how I and others can create cute outfits out of modest (and reasonably priced) clothing, it would be an overall beneficial addition of information to our internet society. So I think that's what I'm going to do. What do you think? Would you be interested in reading the kind of blog that I've just proposed?

If so, please look forward to my soon-to-be-created modest fashion blog! If not, you don't have to look at my blog, okay?

For now, I'll share a small tidbit with the outfit I wore to church today. My husband took these photos (while telling me to "work the camera"). We're obviously not professionals, and I'm no cover model, but this the best we've got for now.

Shirt: Old Navy $15
Skirt: Thrifted (GAP) $3
Belt: Aldo $10
Shoes: Target $5
Purse: Thrifted $7

Girls Night / Craft Night

2010-09-12T15:33:00.002-06:00

Last night (September 11), Julia and Stephanie and I got together for a girls night / craft night. We watched Hocus Pocus (actually just had it playing in the background while we talked) and worked on crafts. We had originally planned for it to be a Halloween craft night, but we ended up each doing our own thing. We had a girls night get-together a few weeks ago too... oh wait, it was actually more than a year ago! Time flies by so fast. I really felt like it hadn't been that long since our last get-together at Steph's house. We need to do it more often!

I freehand painted this rug. I copied the idea from something Julia and I had seen at a craft store. It didn't take very long to do it. After I spray it with some sort of paint protectant, I'm going to put it in front of Tony's and my front door. I'm pretty sure he'll be proud to have that displayed for all our guests!

Julia was working on these owl Christmas tree ornaments. They were turning out really cute.

And Steph was working on this name decoration for Abby's room. Really cute too.

In Hell.

2010-09-10T10:52:00.003-06:00

Kathrin inspired me to post this.

When I was in junior high / high school, we had this hanging on our fridge. It's funny.

A Link in the Wilde Chain

2010-08-11T00:05:00.010-06:00

Last Saturday we had a Wilde family reunion. As I was writing about it on my other blog, I got to pondering about my grandparents. I'm not sure if they had time from their busy spirit-world-schedule to visit our reunion, but if they did, maybe they would have felt surprised by how many families have come from them. It's amazing to think that hundreds of people have come from a marriage that began only 78 years ago (March 5, 1932). It makes me realize the great responsibility that comes with marriage and family. All of us are links in the chain started by my grandparents, and all of us still vicariously learn from their example every day. With our own marriages and families, we start our own chains (and build onto the ones we're already linked with), and we have a responsibility to be good examples and teach them what's right.

I feel really grateful and honored to be a part of the Wilde chain. I am grateful for my grandparents. I remember spending time with them when I was little, and I could always feel their strong love for me. They were funny, loving, good people who set a great example for all of us. There have been lots of times in my life when I've felt their love for me. Even though they aren't here anymore, I know they are still looking out and want the best for me and my family.

Something I've thought a lot about recently is my grandpa's blue eyes. I know this sounds really cheesy, but he had bright, sparkly blue eyes, and everyone always commented on how beautiful they were. I have an old black & white photo of my grandpa on our desk at home, and even though it's black & white, you can still see the sparkle in his eyes. I think his eyes were so happy and sparkly because they reflected his Christlike, loving personality. You could really see Christ's countenance in his face. I've thought a lot about this lately because Tony has those same blue eyes. Although I think everything about Tony is handsome, I love his bright blue eyes the best of all, and I feel that, just like my grandpa, they reflect his Christlike love for me and others.

On my grandpa's birthday in 2009, my dad and I went to the cemetery to visit his and my grandma's grave. For some reason that day was a turning point in my life. I decided to open up to my dad about some personal feelings and thoughts I was having, and he gave me a father's blessing and some good counsel to follow. I don't think it was a coincidence that it was on Grandpa's birthday and during our visit to his grave that I felt like I should talk to my dad about my feelings. I think my grandpa was helping me to make the right decisions for my life - decisions that would lead me to Tony. And, I don't know, maybe I'm just superstitious or cheesy or something like that, but I don't think it's a coincidence that when I look in Tony's blue eyes, I remember my grandpa's eyes and his love for me.

I hope I've made my grandparents proud, especially because, even though I graduated from the U and come from an immediate family of die-hard Ute fans, I married a BYU graduate and fan. (Grandpa Wilde was a Cougar fan.) Just for you, Grandpa! Thanks for all you taught me and all your love! I love you so much!

(I wish I had a picture of both my grandma and grandpa, but that's the only one online that I know of. It's Grandpa Wilde with his last of many dogs, Pebbles. He was one who instilled our love of animals - especially dogs.)

Modest Really is Hottest.

2010-08-01T23:43:00.008-06:00

Did you know I love clothes? I do. (You may not believe it because I'm usually found wearing jeans and t-shirts, but I'm just lazy about properly displaying my love for clothes. Or, in other words, I can't spend more than 2 minutes choosing my outfit because I'm always running late.) I just found this blog called Clothed Much. It has some cute modest outfit ideas. I don't think the blogger is Mormon; she just prefers modest clothing. I also know of another cool blog called Sisters 4 Say More is More. I'm pretty sure they are Mormon, and they're all super cute and creative (and thrifty). I plan to look as cute as them after I have kids.

I was raised in a family that taught us modesty was important, so, in general, I've always tried to be a pretty modest person. (Though, yes, I admit, I used to sometimes wear bikinis when I wanted a good tan...) But I seriously think that even if I hadn't been raised that way, I would still want to be modest. Whenever I see someone wearing a really short skirt or really short shorts or a really skimpy whatever, I just don't think it's cute. Even if you have the "perfect" body, it's just not flattering. I like fashion and the creativity that comes with it, but I like it best in the modest designs. And there are LOTS of really cute modest fashions out there. Here are a few cute ideas from the previously mentioned blogs:

Movies I Like

2010-07-29T13:45:00.003-06:00

Do any of you have those certain movies that you just love, and when you see them on TV, you have to watch them (even though maybe you already own the DVD)? I have lots of movies like that. The ones I've been thinking about lately are...

This used to be on some cable channel all the time before I got married. Whenever I came home and had something to eat, I would search through the guide and find it to watch. It didn't matter that I'd seen it a million times or just watched part of it the day before. I love this movie.

This is really one of my all-time favorite action/suspense/drama movies. I still remember the first time I watched it, I was totally engrossed. Every time I watch that scene where they're on the bus and it crashed and landed on the train tracks and Harrison Ford jumps out just before the train crashes into the bus I get all scared and in-suspense. Hello, I know he's going to get out, but, still, every time I get nervous. That's a movie well done. I really like Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones.

I just like this movie. So supenseful. Whoopi Goldberg is funny. But I don't like it when she and Demi Moore snuggle intensely. I know it's supposed to be Patrick Swayze, but it's still disturbing.

I don't really think about While You Were Sleeping that much, but the other weekend, when Tony was away at scout camp, I was laying on couch flipping through channels and it was on, so I decided to watch. I got almost to the end of it, and then I remembered an errand I had to hurry and run before the store closed. I was hoping to get back before the movie ended, but I was too late. Luckily they were playing it again (you know how it is on those "women" channels where they play the same movie over and over again). So, even though it was late, I decided to stay up and watch it again so I could see the ending. Then, I got almost to the end again, and I muted it at a commercial and rested my eyes and when I opened them again, it was OVER! I was so mad! (I don't own this DVD.)

Oh yeah, and there's this part in the movie where Sandra Bullock is at the Callahan's Christmas dinner, and the mom is eating a bite of mashed potatoes, and she says, "Mmmm, these mashed potatoes are so creamy." Every time I think about that part, I really want mashed potatoes. I seriously almost made some at 11pm when I saw that part.

My Favorite Niece... oops.

2010-07-12T23:40:00.003-06:00

Tony went away to scout camp this past weekend, so I invited Kayla over for a sleepover. I try to have her over every few weeks, especially during the summer when she's out of school, but I almost always forget to take photos, so this time I took a LOT to make up for the lack.

First we went with Julia and Sarah to Leatherby's for icecream. While we were driving there Julia said, "You have 2 nieces in the back seat." I was like, "What...?" and then, "Oh yeah!" I have to remind myself that Sarah is my niece now! I always just think of her as my best friend's baby, and I still think of Kayla as my only niece. While at Leatherby's we were making funny faces and Sarah started copying us. It was really funny. The funny faces stem from a joke my brother made up in church many years ago. A baby was crying during sacrament meeting, and my brother poked me so I looked at him. He was opening his mouth and making a crying face every time the baby made a crying noise (so it looked like he was the one crying). I started laughing a lot and then my dad got mad. But then he saw what my brother was doing and he started laughing too. From then on, my dad started making crying faces when he heard babies cry in church. It's our funny family joke. So while we were at Leatherby's we heard a baby crying and I started doing that, and Sarah saw me and she started doing it too. Then we kept making ugly crying faces so she would keep making them. I didn't really capture one of Sarah's crying faces in the photos. Too bad because they were hilarious.

After Leatherby's and looking around at Target (Julia's and my weekly tradition), Kayla and I went home and watched a movie in bed with the projector. The next morning we made waffles (that's what she always wants), and then we made banana bread with our gross, old bananas. Then we did "arts and scraffs" (as she used to call it) and made some cards. Throughout all of it Kayla was trying on all my shoes. We had a fun day together. I love Kayla so much. She is such a sweet girl and I never get tired of hanging out with her.

Witches Tea

2010-07-10T11:13:00.004-06:00

Robin couldn't keep her hat up because she has a really small head. (I'm not sure how to rotate this photo.)

Last October I attended a "Witches Tea Party" with Julia and her family. It was supposed to be a family event, but I was allowed to go because I was dating Tony and could possibly become family. Now that I am family, I am looking forward to attending this year's event. I LOVE Halloween - I usually start getting excited for it in August.

For our tea party, we obviously all dressed up as witches. Julia's family made a bunch of yummy food that was gross at the same time (like boogers on a stick which was actually pretzels with cheese dip on the end, etc.). We played witch games, like seeing who had the best cackle and who could guess the Halloween song first, etc. It was really a fun time to get together and celebrate Halloween. I hope I'll someday have daughters who can dress up as witches with me. That would be my dream come true.

Gingerbread Houses

2010-07-10T10:57:00.006-06:00

I've had a tradition for 2 or 3 years now that every December I make gingerbread houses with Kayla. I love holidays and having fun traditions. On December 4, 2009, we made them with Tony. I guess I forgot to post these pictures. Tony's not in them because we made them the night before and then Kayla spent the night and we took these the next morning (right after I had showered - that's why my hair's all wet). I like the dogs in these pictures... Bandit really wanted to eat some gingerbread houses. I love spending time with Kayla.

Pre-Marriage Party!

2010-07-10T10:48:00.002-06:00

I just uploaded pictures from my old camera, and I found some pictures I forgot about. These were from my pre-marriage party. Julia, April, Nicole and I went to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. We had a really fun time talking about how to keep a clean home and make delicious, nutritious dinners. After this party I felt so prepared to be a wife! Thanks guys!

Flamin'

2010-07-10T10:28:00.005-06:00

I love flamin' hot cheetos (con limon).But every time I eat them I end up feeling sick in one way or another (usually heartburn, but other variations have come my way).

So. Now I make sure to eat yogurt before and after consuming flamin' hot cheetos.My theory is that since milk is a base, the milk in the yogurt will offset the acid in the cheetos and cure my heartburn / other FHC side effects.

PS - Word to the wise: Do not consume flamin' hot cheeots with carbonation. Because when they come bubbling back up your throat, it hurts!

Do you like Survivor? If so, read this.

2010-05-13T23:32:00.005-06:00

This weekend is the season finale of Survivor. Tony and I watched the last episode at his parents' house, and afterward we were discussing who we thought would win and who we thought DESERVED to win. It was agreed between us that Russell Hantz deserves to win above the others. Why?

Well, in MY (humble) opinion, Russell deserves to win because he PLAYS the GAME. I know he can be malicious and mean, and he does go against his alliances and (gasp!) lies sometimes. But... it's a game. Isn't it?

Tony's dad compared it to "Liar's Dice," a game we occasionally play as a family. You have to bluff about what's on your dice, but, because it's a game, no one's going to get mad that you bluffed. You bluff in order to win, and everyone understands that it's strategic and nothing else.

In my eyes, Survivor is a game. It seems to me that most people would agree with that view, since the discussion of "the game" is often had on Survivor episodes. Yes, lying goes on, but so it is with a strategic game like that. So... I do NOT understand why people get personally offended when someone lies to them in the game. I mean, okay, I can understand to an extent - it would be annoying - but all contestants on Survivor know it's a game (they sign up knowing they may win or lose - nothing is sure), and while they get mad that someone does it to them, they would (and do) turn around and do it right back if it were beneficial to their chances at winning the game. It seems to me that Russell Hantz is truly the best at playing that strategic kind of game. He's good at manipulating the other players and knowing when to break up alliances (even his own) for the benefit of his chances at winning. The other players take personal offense to his actions, and then he can never win with the jury at the end. But, I believe that is wrong. If I were on the jury, even if he manipulated me and voted me off, I would choose him to be the Survivor because he truly PLAYED the GAME, and THAT is how you win.

So, if any of you are Survivor watchers, maybe you have an opinion on this. What makes someone the top Survivor? Why should someone win or lose? Who DESERVES to win?

PS - Natalie, from last season, did NOT deserve to win. She only got to the top 3 by hanging on Russell's coattails. He played the game for her and then she took the title because he got judged for being too manipulative. I sincerely think that the players who get mad at Russell for playing strategically are, by far, more childish than he is. They go against him as a jury because he played better than them and they're mad about that. It's the same as playing "Liar's Dice" and getting mad at someone because he/she bluffs better than you and wins. Stupid. Childish. Okay?

GNO

2010-04-29T22:49:00.006-06:00

Tonight we had an Oakcrest Girls Night Out. I was kind of depressed that it wasn't on Tuesday like the real GNO, but oh well. We went to TGI Fridays and had dinner and just talked. I felt really lucky and honored because Steph chose to sit next to me. It was fun to meet Natalie's son, Stokton, and see how cute he is. It was also really cool to meet Michelle's cute sons and hear the stories behind them (1 adopted, 2 foster sons waiting to be adopted). It's always fun catching up with old friends.

While we were there, Julia was telling about one of her most embarrassing moments. It made me laugh so hard, so I'll just share it here. It was in junior high. She had a huge crush on this guy she was too shy to talk to. One day, in sewing class, he came up and showed her what he'd been working on. Her mind went blank and she didn't know what to say, so all she said was, "Yee-haw." and then he walked away. You'd probably have to know Julia to realize how funny that is. Oh man, Julia, that is funny!

After GNO, Steph, Julia and I went to the mall. My favorite part was when we went to the family bathroom to change Sarah's diaper, and I guarded her from the toilet that she wanted to climb and play on. I am such a good friend. (You'll thank me later, Sarah.)

Becky, sorry my big head blocked you out both times.

Why am I so happy today?

2010-04-29T14:33:00.007-06:00

Because. I was running late this morning. I run late pretty much every morning, but today I was especially late, and with the snow and road work, I was really late. I always take TRAX to work, and I have to catch the train that goes straight up to the University (which only comes every half hour). If any of you are TRAX riders, you know that TRAX waits for no one. I don't know how many times I've watched someone run as fast as they can to catch the train, only to arrive at the door just as the train leaves the station. You know the train driver watched that guy run, but he/she doesn't care because he/she has a schedule to keep, and if he/she waits for every straggler, he/she'll never keep the schedule.

Today I was the straggler. I was running as fast as I could, with the snow flurrying in my face and my books about to fall out of my arms. I was just coming up to the train tracks as I heard the driver ring the bell signalling that the doors were locked and he was leaving. I made eye contact with him and said, "Please! Please wait!!!" all the while still running. To my total amazement, he waited! He pressed the button so the doors would open again, and I got on, and then he left! I was SO, SO HAPPY! I was so grateful that he waited for me!! I sat in the train in awe for a few minutes. It has made me happy all day whenever I think about it.

So, I sat toward the front of the train, and when he came out to help with the handicapped door, I told him thanks for waiting and gave him a pack of fruity flavored Mentos that I had in my purse. I felt sort of stupid giving them to him, but I was just so grateful and wanted to show him! He said, "I just waited because you always wave when the train comes." (He's a really nice driver, and he waves every time he pulls up to the station, but only some people wave back, and I always do. Now I'm really glad that I always waved.)

Anne

2010-04-16T09:57:00.003-06:00

We've all read Anne Frank's diary, right? I think I first read it in junior high. Last week I ordered a couple of biographies on Anne Frank from Amazon and this week I've been reading them. I am so impressed by how much a young girl's writings can affect people. She was obviously inspired.

It makes me really sad sometimes when I think about how she suffered and how all of the Jews suffered during those years of the Holocaust. I'm amazed by what the German government got away with back then. How could all those people/citizens just let that happen? The Franks immigrated from Germany to Holland so they could try to escape the persection, but once the Nazis reached Holland, they had to go into hiding because it got so bad. In one of the books I'm reading it talks about how smoothly the "round-ups" of Jews happened. The Dutch people followed German orders pretty much exactly, and more than 3 quarters of the Jewish population in Holland was exterminated (I think that was second only to Poland).

So, I've been thinking as I've been reading. If I had lived in Holland or Germany (or any place the persecutions were happening) at that time, would I have had the courage to help them? Of course, ideally, I'd say yes. But realistically, the government imprisoned and even killed people who tried to help the Jews. Would I be willing to put my family in danger for someone else's sake? I guess I could really only answer that question if I were in the situation. But I hope the answer is yes. I have so much respect for those "helpers" of the Franks and others who went into hiding. They risked their lives and their families to follow the greater good, even though no one would have blamed them if they'd just sat back and tried to ignore the persecution of the Jews. Even though seven of the eight who went into hiding at the Secret Annex were eventually killed in the concentration camps, those years of hiding allowed Anne Frank to keep her diary, and now, years later, we can all learn from her experience and hopefully have more courage to stand up for what we know is right. I'm really grateful for Anne Frank and all that she's taught us through her diary.

Still love you, Rosie!

2010-03-15T13:59:00.006-06:00

It's been exactly one year since Rosie went to Heaven! I just have to do a memorial for her on my blog. I love her so much!

WWJD

2010-03-12T13:51:00.001-07:00

I saw this card at Target a few weeks ago and thought it was hilarious. Sacrelicious? Maybe. But still, hilarious.

Positive Attitude

2010-03-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

"We must learn to become creators of circumstances and not creatures of them… I really do have control to a great degree over my circumstances. If I don’t like them, I’ve found there are certain things I can do to change them. If I want to move to higher ground, if I want to have more positive experiences, I must think about life in positive terms, not dwell on the negative."
-Elder M Russell Ballard

Last night Tony and I were talking about having a positive outlook on life. I was trying to remember a quote I had heard about not being a creature of circumstances, and Tony reminded me that it was one he had posted on his blog (that's where I read it).

Something I've been pondering lately is whether my life is better or worse than other people's lives. That probably sounds weird, but I guess it's pretty normal to sometimes compare your life with others', right? And it's not so much that I really care about whether my life is better or worse than another's, but sometimes I wonder why Heavenly Father seems to bless some of us so much while others don't seem to receive very many blessings. But as Tony and I talked about this last night, we concluded that the reality probably is that everyone has about the same amount of trials and blessings, and what really matters most in the whole scheme of life is what you choose to focus on. If you choose to focus on your trials and see them in a negative way, you will probably feel and act as though your life is negative. But, on the other hand, if you choose to focus on your blessings and the good things, you will probably feel and act as though your life is positive.

What I like most about the quote from Elder Ballard is that we don't have to be creatures of our circumstances. We don't have to focus on our circumstances and blame them for our thoughts and choices. We can take control of those thoughts and choices, and we can choose to overcome the negative. I think sometimes it is hard to do, but if we want to be happy it's probably pretty necessary.

I appreciate people who are honest, realistic and positive. The other day I was reading my friend's blog (Jenny Sperry). She wrote a post about how she gets tired of people making their lives seem perfect on their blogs. She then wrote about a personal trial that she's struggled with for more than half her life. I thought it was one of the most refreshing blog posts I had read in a long time. I think it's good to be honest and not pretend your life is perfect while at the same time being able to see your trials in a somewhat positive light (that's what Jenny did).

I think we can all recognize that everyone has blessings AND trials. I have been amazed sometimes to learn of the trials that my close friends and family have been through. I think a lot of people would assume they don't struggle with much or that their lives are "practically perfect in every way." But the fact is that they have kept their struggles to themselves and tried to focus on the positive. I'm grateful for their examples. I'm glad that we can support each other in our trials and rejoice with each other in our blessings. And I'm really grateful for the Gospel, which teaches us that we can be creators of our circumstances. That knowledge gives us power to have happier lives.

Sorry to be annoying, but...

2010-03-06T15:51:00.004-07:00

...we changed our family blog address.

It is now tonyapril.blogspot.com.

I also just updated our blog with like 4 new posts. Yeah, like. Sometimes I say like.

De España

2010-02-05T13:09:00.004-07:00

Hi everyone, did you know I got married 2 weeks ago? Yeah, I did. So, now I made a new blog for our married life. It's not all done yet, but I did some posts, so you can read them if you want, and you can add our family blog to your list.

tonyapril.blogspot.com

Many spanks!

-April

WILDE

2010-01-21T00:18:00.003-07:00

Sup. It's my last full day as a single woman, so I thought I'd blog about that.

People have been asking me if I'm getting nervous for the big day. And my honest answer is... (wait for it, wait for it)... no. Getting married is a huge step in life, and I know it will bring many transitions for me and Tony. I'm not expecting life to change into a fairy tale. I am expecting those trials and challenges that are natural in marriage and life. I'm also expecting to be happy and have fun with Tony.

The main reason I'm not nervous about getting married is because I feel so peaceful and happy. That sort of doesn't make sense, because it seems like there should be an exact reason for feeling peaceful and happy. But all I can say is that I feel so good because it's the right thing to do. You know? The one thing I can compare it to is serving a mission. I remember when I prayed about serving a mission, and I felt sure that it was the right thing to do. Then came all the natural fears and worries. But I stuck with the decision to serve because I knew it felt right. The day I left home for the MTC was pretty emotional; I cried A LOT. But when I walked into the MTC, the feeling of peace hit me so strong that I distinctly thought, "I'm not even going to cry anymore because this feels so right." I just KNEW, without a doubt, that I was where I was supposed to be. As I have gone through this process of preparing for marriage, I have felt those same feelings.

I'm really excited to marry Tony. For those of you who don't know him, he is one of the nicest, most genuine guys you could ever meet. I feel really lucky and blessed to have found him and that I get to be with him forever. I really can't imagine life without him. I love him so much.

So, no, I'm not nervous about getting married. I'm really, really happy!

Engagements

2009-12-20T00:57:00.023-07:00

We got our engagements taken Saturday at Wheeler Farm by Kathrin Paul. I'm going to post some of our favorites on here (in no particular order). Maybe you guys could vote for which ones you like best. I think we already know which one we like the best, but it's always fun to hear other opinions!

455

447

400. I REALLY love this photo! It's not good of Tony, but the look in my face just shows how I adore him! I really do love him so much!

393. I just think this one's cute (not for announcements). I like it when he kisses my cheek.

339... The kissing ones are a little too risque for sending out, but I still think they're really cute. This one's funny. I kept accidentally keeping my eyes open. We are pretty hot, eh?

343... It looks better with my eyes closed.

131... I thought these ring pics were so creative and cute!

134

130

129

317. This one is my favorite kissing one because I love the lines in the background.

310. I love the way we're looking at each other in this one. We love each other!

309

294

269... Tony made this one his Facebook profile picture.

237

167

166

165

Thanks Kathrin for doing these! They turned out really cute! If anyone is looking for a photographer you should contact her! Here's a link to her photography blog. She's really awesome!

Guess what.

2009-12-12T23:00:00.004-07:00

I'm getting married! That's right!

I don't usually write about really personal stuff (dating life) on my blog, but this is pretty big.

Some of you may know Tony. I've known him since I was eleven because he's the older brother of my lifelong best friend, Julia. I never really thought of him as more than "my friend's brother" until I started attending the same student ward he went to. I went to some ward activities and found that he was the guy I had the most fun with. He was just so genuinely nice, and he always made me laugh. Also, he was the most creative guy, and we were always playing fun games. I felt like I wanted to be around him more than anyone else. So I got a crush on him. I soon realized that many girls in the ward also had crushes on him! But I was the best girl of all, so I won!

I love him so much!

It really hurt my feelings when Max Hall said he hated me.

2009-12-02T16:42:00.001-07:00

Go Utes!

DONUTS

2009-11-30T11:25:00.004-07:00

I love donuts. Whenever someone brings donuts to the office I can't eat less than 3. I know, it's pathetic, but I just can't resist so I don't even try. When I read the email that someone brought donuts, I get up, walk to the kitchen, put 3 in a napkin, and walk back to my desk. Yummy yum yum!
Plain glazed are my favorite.

2009-11-20T10:03:00.000-07:00

That's cute

2009-11-20T09:52:00.003-07:00

I love this dress, don't you? I like the whole outfit, actually. This girl has a pretty cool fashion blog (What I Wore) if you want to check it out.

November 12

2009-11-12T11:42:00.009-07:00

Who can let November 12 go by without remembering these momentous events?

Back to the Future is one of my all-time favorite movies. I just love Doc and Marty and all the crazy adventures they have together. Sometimes I wish I could be Jennifer (but only the one from the first movie, because the girl who plays her in the 2nd and 3rd movies is really cheesy).

"Calvin, Calvin... Why do you keep calling me Calvin?"
"It's your name, isn't it? It's written all over your underwear."

"Where are my pants?"
"Over there... on my hope chest."

And, in case you didn't know, Novemeber 12 is also the birthday of these twin girls. I know, because I think I watched this movie almost every week of my elementary aged life.

"I'd bite off her nose. Then she wouldn't look like you!"

It was a killer

2009-10-13T18:11:00.014-06:00

If you didn't already know this about me, I am a big fan of the Killers. I LOVE their music and know every song by heart. For a long time I didn't really have a favorite band.... until I heard the Killers in mid 2004. Since then I have bought every album as it came out (except during my mission). So when they came in concert in September I made sure to go. Here are some pictures from that:

Brandon Flowers. He's hot. I got to stand like 3 feet away from him during one part of the concert.

Singing "Human"

Piano and singing.

By the big K.

This is the Killers' bassist Mark Stoermer. I looked him up and found out that his favorite bassist is Paul McCartney and he tries to mimic the kind of sound that he created in Beatles songs from the White Album.

These were the girls I hung out with at the concert. I went with a friend, but she was with other people and they stood more in the middle. I wanted to be closer to the front because I know how hot it gets if you're surrounded by people. These girls were fun to hang out with and I liked where we stood.

I bought this sweatshirt.

During the concert, before they played "Mr. Brightside," Brandon Flowers described the song's origin: Before they were a band, Flowers found an ad from the bassist (Mark Stoermer). So Flowers went over to meet him and Stoermer gave him a cassette with some demos. Flowers put the cassette in his car stereo on the way home from Stoermer's house, and the first song to play was "Mr. Brightside." That might not be a cool story to you, but to me it was awesome! "Mr. Brightside" was the song that first made me love the Killers, and knowing that it was originally written by the bassist makes me like/respect him so much more. If you've never heard "Mr. Brightside," I recommend listening to it. It's a really original and creative song. The more I learn about the Killers, the more I love them. I think the reason I love their sound so much is I grew up liking all the same bands they did. When they talk about the bands and musicians that had most influence on them and their music, it's pretty much always from bands that I love too. I'm not a music expert, but I really think the Killers are such a talented band. There are times when I hear some of their songs and I am just in awe. I know that sounds cheesy, but it is true.

All the songs they played were awesome, but I think my favorite of the whole concert was an acoustic version of "Smile Like You Mean It." I was hoping they'd play my favorite song "I Can't Stay," but no such luck. Still awesome though, awesome.

Elder Holland's talk

2009-10-08T11:52:00.004-06:00

Part 1

Part 2

I thought this talk was awesome. Elder Holland is one of my favorite apostles. He's so passionate and intense about what he knows to be true. I always think to myself, "Man, he's someone you don't want to mess with!" Also, I really love the Book of Mormon and I know it's true. Elder Holland's testimony of the Book of Mormon is so firm, and the Spirit that comes as he testifies just proves to me even more that it is a true book. I am grateful to have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, and I look forward to the day when I can meet the prophets who wrote it and thank them for their work and tell them how much I love them. I don't think a day goes by when the Book of Mormon doesn't somehow help me or make me think more deeply about life and its meaning. I think everyone should read it and feel the peace that it brings.

MISSION REUNION

2009-10-03T23:27:00.016-06:00

Last Friday was my mission reunion. I wanted to go because my mission presidents (the Scotts) were in town and I love to see them. President Scott always takes some time to give a talk/lesson, and I love hearing what he has to say. I don't know if it's just because he was my president, but I always feel the Spirit so strong when he teaches us. I love President and Sister Scott SO MUCH! I think since I have come home, my love for them has only grown more, because I look back on the mission and remember all that they taught me, and I just feel so grateful.

Being there and listening to them made me feel so happy to have served a mission, and to have served with the Scotts. I LOVED the mission so much, and I think words are inadequate to express the gratitude that I feel for what I learned during my time there... also for the friends I made and the love I felt.

If anyone reading this happens to be contemplating serving a mission, I highly recommend it. I have such strong feelings about my mission. I just can't imagine my life without it. I think there are times when Heavenly Father places us in positions where we REALLY need to be, and for me that was the mission. So if anyone has feelings like that (like maybe you should serve a mission) and happens to read this, just follow those feelings, because you will love it!

And now, since I'm all sentimental about my mission, I'll post a few favorite pictures from that time. (I've probably already posted some of these pictures, but they're my favorites so whatever.)
Me and the Scotts on my first day in the Texas McAllen Mission.

The "Sisters Table" at one of the many zone conferences.

Me and Sister Brown helping with a live nativity scene.

Brown, Orgill, Chi & me. We went to DQ for Chi's birthday. She was the funniest girl, we laughed ALL THE TIME! I loved her.

Brown, me, Chi & Villamizar. We were saying goodbye for transfers! Brown and I had just gone running and we stopped at the mission home to say goodbye to Chi (that's why we're in sweats).

On p-day after playing volleyball... game p-days were always the best ones! I loved Mario and Ramon, but especially Mario!

Michael & Andy Agven and me. I put on Michael's Batman mask. This is one of the funniest pics from the mission. Sis Avery and I taught this family, and they were the best.

With Cindy (the mom) and Andy & Jenna. I still talk to Cindy every few months. She's one of the most humble, sincere, nicest persons I've ever met.

Me and Andy playing. This baby made me laugh so hard all the time!

This was when Wayne decided to quit drinking, and he dumped out all his beer! It was an awesome night!

Teaching English in Brownsville with Sister Villamizar.

Sis Avery and me with Sister Naty... she was my most favorite member! She always made me laugh!

My favorite Mexicans (and Brother Greeley).

EAT YOUR ESSAY and much, much more!

2009-09-26T15:51:00.002-06:00

Best Friends Forever from April Wilde on Vimeo.

This is a picture/collage/video thing I made for Julia back in 2004 before I went on my mission. I recently found it again and uploaded it onto my computer. Today I was cleaning up my desktop and saw it and watched it again. Every time I see it, it makes me feel SO HAPPY, like sometimes so happy that I want to cry! I know that's cheesy, but it's true! It's almost 15 minutes long, so it might be boring to those of you who don't really know Julia or me. But still, I love it, so I want to put it on my blog.

There are some UGLY pictures, but that's bound to happen sometimes, right? Also, there are some embarrassing things in the notes we passed back in those high school days, but enough years have passed that they're not TOO embarrassing, right Julia?

If you do watch it, the parts with the envelopes and long typed letters are from when Julia and I used to do this thing called the "TRUE LOVE DELIVERY SERVICE" and we'd write letters to each other, but we'd pretend they were from our future husbands. Then we'd deliver them at work and the other person would read it, and we'd laugh our heads off. It's so stupid, but we loved it. I only have notes that Julia wrote to me because I saved those, and she should have the notes that I wrote to her (I don't have them). Oh, and the stories and pictures about the dinosaurs and animals are from zoology, when we had "layered curriculum." We always worked together as partners and we'd somehow make everything about ourselves and then laugh about it. We were ALWAYS laughing! I love all these memories, and I'm so grateful that Julia has been my best friend, cuz I don't think I could have had as much fun with anyone else!

If you happen to know us from high school or Oakcrest or something, you might be in some of the pictures!

It was a good one.

2009-09-25T13:27:00.004-06:00

I saw this movie and it was pretty awesome. Julia had already seen it, and she told me that it was really funny. I agree with her on that. I wouldn't say it's as good as Up, but it did make me laugh a lot. I think my favorite part was when the monkey wants to eat the dad's mustache. I mostly just always love the Pixar movies. If you want to go see this one, it's worth it.

Do you like these shoes?

2009-09-25T12:31:00.005-06:00

Do you think these shoes are cute? Because I do!

Do you think this outfit is really cute? Because I do.

Well Blog, I have been feeling like I just can't blog anymore! What's up with that? I have blogger's block or something. I guess the real problem is that I feel like I always write about the same things and it gets old and dumb. But that's because I always think about the same things. I have a one-track mind in a lot of ways. Or I guess you could call it consistency. But whatever. Is my blog boring? I just want some sympathy compliments. Please, Blog, answer me Blog!!

My name ain't Ernie no more, it's Ice... Ice.

2009-09-19T17:10:00.005-06:00

I haven't been writing on my blog lately (compared to other times). That's a good thing because it makes me write more in my real journal, but it's bad because then all the millions of my blog readers get really bored.

Well lately I guess there hasn't been much to write about. Or maybe there has been, but it's the kind of stuff that has to go in the real journal, if you know what I mean, wink wink wink wink wink. But you don't know what I mean, so don't pretend you do.

It's that time of year again that I REALLY love.... Fall. I have already watched Hocus Pocus 3 times, that's right, THREE times! I love that movie, especially in the Fall. I just love Halloween and the holiday season that follows it. I recently watched Hocus Pocus with a friend who'd never seen it. This friend thought it was really dumb and childish. I couldn't believe it. I've loved that movie since I was like 9 years old, and I never EVER get tired of it, even when it's not Halloween time! I love Max, Dani, Allison (oh Allison, eh?), Binx, and even those crazy, evil Sanderson sisters. "Why was I cursed with such sisters??!" "Just lucky, I guess!"

Lately I've been thinking that I'm sad to not be in school anymore. When fall semester started a few weeks ago, I found myself feeling kind of depressed about it. I work up at the U, so I see all the students walking to and from their classes, and I feel a little jealous of them. I am glad to be graduated from college and everything, but I wish I could be in graduate school or maybe law school or something like that. I don't really feel "career-oriented," meaning that I'm not too interested in actually practicing law or any big career, but I just love going to school and learning new things. Even though I hate doing homework and stuff like that, I do get satisfaction from setting educational goals and working to accomplish them. If school weren't so expensive I would definitely be enrolled in it right now.

Last week I was able to go to my friend's sealing to her son. Some of you know April Atwood, she is one of my closest friends. She got married while I was on my mission and I felt really bad that I had to miss her wedding/sealing. So I was happy to be able to see her and Brian sealed to their son, Bennett. I thought it was really special, and it made me feel grateful that we have the Gospel and our families can be together forever. Thanks for inviting me, April, I love you!

Well that's all for now.

Why can't I keep my mouth shut?

2009-09-10T12:54:00.005-06:00

It has been a while since I've written on here.

Lately, on the Oakcrest site, we've been discussing this whole issue of Obama's address to school children. I like discussions about stuff like that because they cause me to consider what I believe and why. On the other hand, in many ways I really hate political discussions because they're often contentious. My parents are always watching the political channels, and I feel like all people do on those channels is argue with each other. It really does get annoying. So it's good and bad - Good, you think about where you stand and why; Bad, you feel contentious and argumentative.

Sometimes when I read opinions and disagree, I think, "Oh well...." But then I can't just leave it at oh well. Why not?? For some reason I have this continuous urge inside of me to stand up for what I believe. Maybe it's just because my dad is like that, and I have been profoundly influenced by him over the course of my life. But I think a lot of it stems from the Gospel. Especially when I read the scriptures and see those prophets who always stood up for what they knew was right. I feel so inspired by them, and I think of all the sacrifices they made for God and also for us, and I feel like I, too, have to stand up for what I believe. Otherwise I am just taking for granted what they did for me.

I know that politics and the Gospel are separate. However, there are plenty of times when they coincide because certain political ideas are directly challenging the teachings of the Gospel. When that happens, I think that we should all stand up for what we know is right (the Gospel). I know that sometimes I probably seem a little bit too "passionate" about my opinions. But I'm not going to make excuses for why I believe what I believe. I don't want to offend others or be totally inconsiderate, but I do want to stand for what I know is right, and if that does offend some, then, "Oh well...."

PS - Those of you that may read this who are Oakcrest people, I'm not implying that Obama addressing school children is directly challenging the teachings of the Gospel. There are other more obvious issues to which I'm referring. That discussion just made me consider these kinds of thoughts.

Happy Birthday to The Boy Who Lived!

2009-08-03T00:45:00.007-06:00

I was totally planning to write "Happy Birthday Harry Potter" as my Facebook status on July 31, but then I forgot, and now it's already August 3rd!!! I am such a bad Harry Potter friend!! Do you think he will forgive me?

My friend, Lizzy, made a blog post about Harry Potter a few days ago, and I really liked it. She shared this really cool article about personal development lessons that can be taken from the Harry Potter series.

Since I first started reading Harry Potter, I have loved those books. They are so interesting, fun and well-written. The characters are believable and lovable. The first few books were fun, but as the series continued on, the story got deeper and deeper and more interesting. As we waited for each book to come out, my sister and friends and I sometimes spent hours and hours contemplating what would happen with Harry and the rest, and what it all meant. Those were some good times! That's the one sad thing about when our children read those books.... they won't have to wait years for each book to come out, and they won't have to speculate and ponder as much as we did.

I actually waited a while before I started reading HP. It was so huge and everyone was talking about it, so I didn't want to just follow the trend. I think what finally led me to read it was when I found out they were making them into movies. I hate to see a book-inspired movie without having first read the book, so I decided I'd read them (at that time the first 4 were out). I'm so glad I did finally read them because those books are truly FULL of good lessons that we can all take to heart. I don't think anyone can read them without identifying with each character in some way or another, or without learning some good things. I guess it's basically just that good vs. evil idea that we should always be pondering, and HP definitely leads you to ponder that.

Anyway, I just wanted to give a shout out to JK Rowling. She deserves many a thanks for writing that series. I don't doubt that it will be a classic forever and ever. I'm sure she was inspired as she wrote it. I'm going to re-start that series sometime soon. I think it's a worthy use of free time on TRAX.

SIDE NOTE: Harry Potter is one of the reasons I am so anti-Twilight. I only read Twilight because it was so huge and everyone talked about it, like HP. I decided to give into that trend because I figured it could be awesome like HP was. But I was so let down. I do NOT identify with even one of the characters in the Twilight books, and I don't think the author teaches anything substantial/meaningful / worth pondering. Sorry to be rude, but that's what I think!

Awesome Best Friend Moment!!

2009-07-31T14:05:00.002-06:00

Well Julia and I have been best friends for a pretty long time, so we've had a lot of hilarious moments together. (If you don't know any of them, you can read this old blog entry if you want.) But recently we had a moment that hits pretty high on the list of funny moments we've had together. It's so funny that I just have to share it on the blog. I'm not sure if I can capture the hilariousness of it, but I'll try.

This past Tuesday we went to dinner together at Chili's. We were talking about some minor accomplishment in my life (I would share it with you, but it's kind of embarrassing and stupid). We pretended like it was really great, so we were dancing around in our seats at the table and saying, "Yeah, good job, yeah, that's so awesome!!" And then (this is the funny part), we looked over, and Sarah, in her high chair, was dancing along with us!!! Oh man, we started laughing SO HARD!!! Then we just kept dancing in our seats, all three of us! And Sarah laughed right along with us. Someday, when she's old enough we'll tell Sarah about that funny moment, and she'll be so proud of herself. It's so fun to see her becoming crazy like us! Well I hope you liked that as much as we did!

Sarah!

Agreed.

2009-07-29T11:32:00.005-06:00

I read the following letter in the Salt Lake Tribune online today and totally agreed with it. I'm sure most of you have heard about the "kiss-in" (or whatever it was called) in the local news. Two homosexual men were kissing on Temple Square, they were asked to leave, and then some of the homosexual community felt the need to protest that, so they staged a "kiss-in" on Temple Square. I really like this letter because what she writes is true. Respect needs to go BOTH ways. If people want to demand respect for themselves and their lifestyle, then they had better be willing to give that same respect in return.

Unfair to LDS Church
Public Forum Letter

I agree with Norman Swain ("Respect for respect," Forum, July 20). The infamous Main Street Plaza kiss and consequent media circus isn't about tolerance for gays; it's about religious tolerance and respect. Derek Jones and Matt Aune have admitted that they had been drinking and engaged in behavior they knew would not be welcome on LDS Church property. Why not express their feelings for each other at some other downtown place? Because it wouldn't have caused such a stir.

When I am in the Vatican, I respect the desires of the Catholics. Why is it acceptable to not respect the wishes and beliefs of the Mormons on Temple Square?

The religious divide in Salt Lake is not kept alive by the LDS Church, but by people who enjoy finding ways to disrespect the church. Salt Lake has a large gay population because for the most part Mormons are kind, accepting neighbors.

The LDS Church does a lot of good for downtown. It donates millions every year to help the poor and homeless. These stories aren't reported much because they're not sensational. An organization that does so much shouldn't be dragged through the mud simply because two men decided to be disrespectful.

Susie Knight

Salt Lake City

2009-07-26T01:00:00.022-06:00

"You can tell a lot about a person by his shoes."

"I do remember the first time I heard the sweetest voice in the wide world.... She was like an angel."

"She taught me how to read, and I showed her how to dangle!"

"You wouldn't believe it if I told you, but I can run like the wind blows."

"Because #1, I wasn't hungry but thirsty, and #2, they was free, I musta drank me 'bout 15 Dr Peppers."

"My name's Forrest Gump, people call me Forrest Gump."

"What are you, twins?" "We are not relations, sir."

"I sure hope I don't let him down."

"Bubba was my best good friend. And even I know that ain't somethin' you can find just around the corner."

"What am I gonna do now?"

"In the buttox, sir." "I'd like to see that."

"Tell us about the war, son." "The war in Vietnam?"

"Why are you so good to me?" "You're my girl." "I'll always be your girl."

"No religion, too?"

"Happy New Year, Gump."

"But don't you think I'll be callin' you 'sir'!"

"I didn't know it, but I was destined to be your mama. I did the best I could." "You did good, Mama."

"What's my destiny, Mama?" "That's somethin' you're gonna have to figure out for yourself."

"She gave me the greatest present in the whole world."

"Sometimes I guess there just aren't enough rocks."

"And it was the happiest time of my life."

"Quiet! He's gonna say something!" "I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home." "Now what are we supposed to do?!"

"You can come stay with me if you're sick. I'll take care of you."

"This is my Jenny."

"You died on a Saturday morning. I had you placed here, under our tree."

"I miss you, Jenny.... If there's anything you need, I won't be far away."

"Forrest, don't... I wanted to tell you that I love you." "I love you, too, Daddy."

Favorite old SNL skits

2009-07-24T20:52:00.005-06:00

I never watch the current SNL regularly, but I like to watch the old skits and laugh at them sometimes. Hardly anyone agrees with me on this, but I think most of SNL's awesome skits were from the early days, when it first started. Of course some of the best ones are also from the 90's with Chris Farley and Adam Sandler, and then there's some really awesome Will Ferrell ones from more recently.... I guess there are good skits from all the times, just depending on who's in them. But some of my favorite comedy actors are from the old days, before comedy got so trashy. Not that old SNL isn't trashy, because even back in the 70's it's sometimes surprisingly trashy, but these ones I picked aren't too bad, and they are some of my favorites. They always make me laugh.

This one is just so funny! My sister and I both agree that Chevy Chase was so HOT back in the day!! I wish he had stayed on SNL for more than one season, cuz he was pretty funny.

I know this one's kinda dumb, but it's one of my favorites because I love the way Steve Martin dances around, he's just so stupid and funny. I think he's one of my favorite actors.

This skit's kinda long, but it's worth watching because the funny moments are so funny! I think Bill Murray is one of the best comedy actors ever. It's because of this skit that we sometimes put napkins on our heads and kick our legs during Sunday dinner at my house.

Same-Gender Attraction - LDS Newsroom

2009-07-20T00:11:00.005-06:00

Same-Gender Attraction - LDS Newsroom <----This is a link to the article.

I found this article on Facebook tonight because one of my friends had posted it on his page. I really liked this quote:

"One of the great sophistries of our age, I think, is that merely because one has an inclination to do something, that therefore acting in accordance with that inclination is inevitable. That’s contrary to our very nature as the Lord has revealed to us. We do have the power to control our behavior." -Elder Lance B. Wickman, of the Quorum of the Seventy

I really like this article because it shows how Heavenly Father's way is empowering. We are not slaves to our feelings; we can control and eventually overcome them. I think that is what makes the Gospel so desirable - because it gives us so much power. It tells us who we really are and who we can become if we do what's right. That's one of the reasons I love the Gospel; I feel really strong because I know who I am and what is most important, and I know that I don't have to conform to the world.

I was going to write a lot more about this article, but I'm having a hard time with it, so I'll just let you read it if you want (it's kinda long). Basically I just think that this is a touchy issue, but an important one. I'm glad we have leaders who have the courage to always stand up for what's right, even when it's the most unpopular thing to do. They are good examples, and I know they are telling us the truth.

This is my family.

2009-07-14T20:04:00.003-06:00

My brother just found this video on some old card he had. It was taken in September 2006. He wanted me to post it on my blog because he wants it to get as many youtube views as possible. If you decide to waste 5 minutes watching this, please excuse the inappropriate stuff. My siblings and I are just a little immature.

Such Joy

2009-07-12T19:04:00.010-06:00

I recently got into a religious "discussion" with someone who was trying to convince me that the Book of Mormon wasn't true and the Mormon Church was founded on lies. So, it made me think.

When I hear people say things like that, I can't help but remember the story of Korihor in Alma 30. Most specifically, I think of Alma's question to Korihor: "And now, believest thou that we deceive this people, that causes such joy in their hearts?" (Alma 30:35)

When I was on my mission, Sister Manukyan (my trainer) and I met a couple (Chris & Janene Bradley), and we felt really strongly that we were supposed to teach them. When we met the husband, he invited us right in, and we became such good friends with him and his wife, even though they weren't particularly receptive to our message. But we taught them sincerely, and they told us their sincere feelings and beliefs, too. The husband (Chris) told us that he believed we were truly following what we thought was right, but that we were deceived. He said he thought Joseph Smith had truly seen an angel, but that it was an angel of the devil (since the devil can appear as an angel of light if he wants). And so, through Joseph Smith, this whole Mormon Church had been founded by the devil, and we, poor misguided missionaries, were spreading this message and unknowingly doing the work of the devil.

Of course I would not have gone out to serve a mission if I didn't have a testimony that the Restored Gospel was true. So I knew that Chris was wrong, but still, I felt the need to seriously consider his beliefs (because if I expected my investigators to seriously consider what I said, then I felt I had better do the same for them). So we went home, and I spent time really pondering and praying about what he said. I wondered if it could be possible that Satan could have deceived Joseph Smith, and all the work we were doing was founded on that deception. Then, one morning soon after our discussion with the Bradleys, I was reading in the New Testament. I came across this scripture:

Matt 12:25-26
(25) And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
(26) And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

Those verses answered my questions. The Restored Gospel teaches us to believe in Christ and follow His example. It teaches us to keep the ten commandments as well as many others. It teaches us to love our families and treat all people with compassion and respect. Those are all clear teachings that oppose what Satan would have us do. So, if Satan founded the Mormon Church, a Church that teaches doctrines opposing him, then Satan would be divided against himself, and the Church would not stand. But does the Church stand? Yep.

So we went back to the Bradleys and told them about these verses and what we thought. It should have been significant to them, since the scriptures were from the Bible and clearly answered the questions they had (or at least I thought so). But they still weren't too receptive, and we eventually ended up having to let them go. (I still think someday they'll accept the Gospel, though.) But I learned so much from that experience. The Bradleys were two of the most memorable investigators from my mission because they really made me ponder. They made me appreciate being a missionary. I loved being their friend and learning from their perspective. I know they went to their church and learned anti-Mormon crap (they told us that), but we showed them that missionary work is really about love and being Christlike. Because, in the end, that really is what it's all about. I just have this feeling that they'll always remember what they learned during their time with us, and someday they'll be receptive.

So, since I've come off my mission, I sometimes hear people making claims against the Church or Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon. I'm probably a little prideful, because I always think, "Oh, say whatever you want, I've heard it all!" (But really, there are just a handful of common arguments people make against the Church, and once you've heard them, they seems to be all you hear over and over again.) But no matter all that I could argue, it really comes down to what Alma asked, when Korihor, thousands of years ago, made the same claims we hear now: "...believest thou that we deceive this people, that causes such joy in their hearts?" People may claim the Restored Gospel is false. They may claim that Joseph Smith made everything up. They may claim that the Book of Mormon was written from his imagination. But what can they claim about the joy in our hearts? Can this kind of joy be born of deception? Nope. This joy comes from God, and that is the strongest testimony that the Gospel is true. So I love the Gospel, and I know it's true. And I really don't care what anyone says against it, because nothing will change what I know and how I feel, and I will always stand up for the Gospel. Spank you for listening.

This is the Bradleys. Chris sometimes played the guitar while we sang hymns. It was funny.

This is Sister Manukyan with some underwear. Just thought I'd throw that in there. She was the best trainer ever!

Thanks Kyle. Now let's kiss.

2009-07-09T22:38:00.003-06:00

I visited my aunt today, and I saw this quote on her fridge:

"You only have so much willpower and strength inside you to stay who you want to be, but whomever you surround yourself with, eventually that's who you become, no matter how strong you think you are."

-Kyle Korver, who credits his faith in God, family and friends with keeping him grounded.

I thought it was a good quote, something to think about. Korver's so hot. I think he and I would make a good couple. How 'bout it, Kyle?

His head fell off...... yeah, he was pretty old.

2009-07-07T19:37:00.003-06:00

I have probably not watched Dumb & Dumber all the way through for at least 5 years. But today I had the urge to look it up on youtube, and watching this series of clips made me remember why this movie was one of my favorites while I was growing up. This is Jim Carrey's best movie ever, no matter what anyone else says. There are so many awesome one-liners! If you want to laugh, you can watch this:

Deep Thoughts

2009-07-07T15:52:00.004-06:00

Doodle (Steph) just posted these on her blog, and I was reading them and laughing so hard that I was crying and then I inhaled the cracker I was eating. So everyone knew I wasn't really doing my work (because I was at work when I read Doodle's blog). But anyway, I want to post them on my blog too so I can be cool like Doodle (and also because her blog's private). They are from Jack Handy's "Deep Thoughts". It's funny to quote these to my dad because he always says, "That's not funny, it doesn't even make sense." Duh, Dad, that's WHY it's funny. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

* To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, "Hey, can you give me a hand?" you can say, "Sorry, got these sacks."

* I think there probably should be a rule that if you're talking about how many loaves of bread a bullet will go through, it's understood that you mean lengthwise loaves. Otherwise, it makes no sense.

* Instead of studying for finals, what about just going to the Bahamas and catching some rays? Maybe you'll flunk, but you might have flunked anyway; that's my point.

* If you saw two guys named Hambone and Flippy, which one would you think liked dolphins the most? I'd say Flippy, wouldn't you? You'd be wrong, though. It's Hambone.

* To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other.

* If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did."

* When you die, if you go somewhere where they ask you a bunch of questions about your life and what you learned and all, I think a good way to get out of it is just to say, "No speaka English."

* If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey, free dummy.

* There is nothing sadder than a mosquito sucking on a mummy. Give it up little fella.

* Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words- "mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.

* I hope if dogs ever take over the world, and they chose a king, they don't just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good ideas.

* It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

* If you define cowardice as running away at the first sign of danger,screaming and tripping and begging for mercy, then yes, Mr. Brave man, I guess I'm a coward.

* When you go in for a job interview, I think a good thing to ask is if they ever press charges.

* One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. "Oh, no," I said, "Disneyland burned down." He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.

* Laurie got offended that I used the word "puke." But to me, that's what her dinner tasted like.

* If you go parachuting, and your parachute doesn't open, and you friends are all watching you fall, I think a funny gag would be to pretend you were swimming.

* Children need encouragement. So if a kid gets an answer right, tell him it was a lucky guess. That way, he develops a good, lucky feeling.

Happy birthday Isaac!

2009-07-01T23:02:00.007-06:00

Well today is Isaac's birthday, and I just got all sentimental because I wrote a happy birthday message on his Facebook wall, and it made me start thinking about what a great friend he is. So now I'm going to write a blog post about him.
Those of you that have read my blog might remember the post almost a year ago when we got engaged. (If you don't remember that, you can click here to read it!) Yeah, that was fun. We still haven't gotten married, and I don't even know what happened to my engagement ring! Sometimes I get depressed when I think about that! But anyway.

When I wrote that last post about friendship and how I have a few friends that are so loving, Isaac Holyoak was one of the friends I had in mind. He is one of those who will stick by you no matter what. He has ALWAYS been so Christlike and loving to me. In all our fourteen years of friendship, I don't remember even one time when he's been mean to me or done anything to hurt my feelings. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen Isaac be rude to anyone. He's just one of those guys who is pretty much always kind, and everyone wants to be his friend. Whenever I'm around Isaac I get this feeling like I just want to hug him because he's so nice. Oh man, I just love him so much.

Another one of my favorite things about Isaac is that he's so smart. When we hang out, we can just talk and talk for hours because Isaac is full of interesting information, and we ponder everything together. Sometimes we disagree about certain issues/ideas, but we never really fight about anything, because Isaac's too nice (but really it's because he knows I'd win the argument... just kidding, we both know he'd win, because he's a little better at arguing than me). I really appreciate how Isaac helps me to open my eyes and see things in new ways. And I appreciate that he listens to me and values my opinions even when he doesn't agree with them. I am never afraid to be open and honest with Isaac, because I can depend on him to be reasonable and respectful. That is one of my favorite things about our friendship.

Isaac, I know you'll read this post, so.... Thank you for being one of my best friends. Thank you for always laughing at my jokes, even when they're totally not funny! Thank you for being there for me when I've been sad. Thank you for teaching me about life and how we should try to love everyone unconditionally. I sincerely love you, and I know that you will always be my friend, no matter what. I hope you had a happy 25th birthday!

Love, April

FRIENDSHIP

2009-06-27T14:01:00.005-06:00

Yesterday and today I've been thinking about friendship. I'm only 25 years old, so I have plenty more years to meet people and make new friends. But in the years that I have lived, I feel like I've learned some important things about friendship. I attribute most of this knowledge to Julia, because she has been SUCH a good friend to me. I really feel like she is one of the most Christlike people I've ever known, and I'm so lucky to have her as my best friend.

What I want to say about friendship is that when people are friends they should genuinely love each other. They should think nice things about each other and openly acknowledge those nice things. Friends should NOT be in competition with one another, and they should NOT compare themselves to one another. Friends should try to lift each other up and truly rejoice with one another when they're happy and mourn with one another when they're sad. THAT is what friendship is.

Of course it's true that our friends have weaknesses. EVERYONE has weaknesses, everyone is imperfect. And it's normal to notice our friends' weaknesses. But once we start focusing on those weaknesses and looking down on (or judging) someone for them, that's when we stop being his/her friend.

I honestly feel like I've been blessed with some special friends. Friends who genuinely love me for who I am, and who have never and would never look down on me for my weaknesses. As we've grown up and our lives have changed, our relationships have remained solid and loving. I feel really grateful for my close friends.

I really, really don't like it when people are fake and mean. I really, really, really don't like it when people pretend to be someone's friend and then go behind his/her back and say mean things about him/her. If you genuinely don't like someone, then you should just not be around them. I know that there are some people who aren't fun to be around and who are mean, etc. Those are the people that I just choose not to be around, and maybe I am passing judgment on them when I do that, but I think that's better than pretending to like them and secretly getting all mad inside when I'm with them. (And I think that we DO have to choose our friends wisely, because some "friends" will bring you down, so in that way you DO have to make judgments.) I have learned from my experiences that there are a lot of nice people in the world, so there's no need to waste time being around those who bring you down.

Anyway, I guess I'm just kind of rambling about this. But sometimes I hear or see things that get me thinking, and then I want to express those thoughts. I know that none of us is capable of being perfect at this point, but we are all capable of being nice. I'm not always the nicest person, but I think that I do seriously try to be genuine and nice with my friends, and that is because I genuinely love them. It makes me feel sad and a lack of trust when I hear someone gossip about a person that they are "friends" with. I just think that is really dumb. Okay? I know I've been guilty of it sometimes, so I'm not claiming that I'm perfect, but I just want to say that I think it's DUMB. So that's what I think. Bye.

Oh, also, one more thought. I really love dogs because they're so nice and they NEVER say mean things about you behind your back! Sometimes when I'm sad, I just want to go home and hug my dogs. Thank you dogs! Okay, now bye.

'Cause he heard there was a sale!

2009-06-26T00:53:00.007-06:00

We all know why Michael Jackson went to K-Mart, right?
Just like the rest of the world, I found out that Michael Jackson died yesterday. I was at work and received a text message from my little sister, Nicole:

N: MICHAEL JACKSON JUST DIED OF A HEART ATTACK!

A: Are you serious?

N: Yes! It's all over the TV! I'm crying!

A: Well don't cry too much Nicole. He'll probably get into Heaven because God will want to listen to his music, you know?

N: Heavenly Father will be like, "BEAT IT!...just kidding! Come on in." Lol, that's a lame joke!

A: No that was hilarious!

N: No!!! I love him! It's like Steve Irwin all over again!

So there you go. I really did laugh hard when I read her joke about God saying, "Beat it!" But anyway, I'm not particularly sad about his death, because mama always said dyin' was a part a life. But I would like to give a shout out to him for the awesome music he created during his lifetime. I personally never listened to him that much, but it was only because my sister played him EVERY SINGLE DAY, and so I just got so sick of hearing him that I never listened to him on my own time, even though I have a couple of his albums. But still, thanks to Nicole, I know many/most of his songs by heart, and even though I always nagged her to listen to something different, I did sometimes enjoy his girly voice. But seriously, no matter how weird he was, he was undeniably talented.

I love my dad.

2009-06-21T13:50:00.012-06:00

Happy Father's Day!

Most people who REALLY know me know that I'm a daddy's girl. For as long as I can remember I've felt really close to my dad, and as the years go by I feel like I just admire and respect him more and more. Lots of people think that their dads are the best, but it's not true, because truly MY DAD is the best, and I'm not exaggerating. Why is he the best? Well, let's see...

He makes me laugh. Just yesterday I was on the phone with Julia, and we were talking about something that annoyed us. I said something kind of snotty to Julia, and my dad walked by and said, "You go girl!" (He didn't even know what I was talking about.) I know that sounds really dumb, but it's actually funny. He just says and does dumb stuff that makes all us kids laugh our heads off! Sometimes at Sunday dinners all we do is sit there and laugh, and it's so fun!

He always stands up for what's right. My dad's a councilman on the Salt Lake County Council, and while he gets put down sometimes because he doesn't go with what's always the most popular, no one could EVER criticize him for not standing up for what he believes in. He has integrity, and I always trust his judgment. I think he has a special ability to analyze and see things clearly, and when he shares his opinion, you can pretty much bet that it's founded on solid ground. He has taught me that I should always stand up for what's right, and I really do try to be like him in that way.

He's so humble. Even though he's probably one of the smartest guys around, he never thinks he's better than anyone. Of course I know he's better than everyone, but he's still humble even when I tell him that. When I was in junior high and high school he used to sing this song to me: "Do what's right, be polite, don't try to be the center of attention!" Yeah, he just made it up, and the tune that goes with it is really dumb. I bet I rolled my eyes every single time he sang it to me, but I think it really did impact me. I don't ALWAYS do what's right, and I'm not ALWAYS polite (I gotta work on that one), and sometimes I might try to be the center of attention.... but I think for the most part, that counsel has stuck with me and I've tried to follow it. I think my dad taught us that being humble is an important part of being a good person. We shouldn't try to be the center of attention, trying to impress others, etc., we should just try to do what's right.

He is a good example to our family. I guess all those other reasons I just listed show how he's a good example to us. But really, the reason I respect and admire my dad so much is that I know he would NEVER lead us down the wrong path. He has taught me so much about the Gospel, trusting in Heavenly Father, what REAL love is, etc. His testimony of the Gospel is strong and he shares it often. Whenever I have a serious question I can go to him, and he'll take out the scriptures and teach me from them. If ever I need a blessing, I can go to him because he is always worthy of his Priesthood. I feel like I have a much better understanding of Heavenly Father because of the kind of earthly father my dad has been. He has been the best example I could ask for, and I hope someday my children will have a dad as great as my dad has been to me and my siblings!

Oh my duh!

2009-06-20T19:31:00.002-06:00

That duck on the top of my blog was quacking to me about how stupid it is when people are immature! I mean, duh!!! You know what I mean!!

Movie Review: UP!

2009-06-19T12:17:00.005-06:00

DO NOT WORRY! I WILL NOT GIVE AWAY THE STORY. YOU CAN READ THIS POST EVEN IF YOU HAVEN'T YET SEEN THE MOVIE.

Hi. I saw Up a little while ago, and it was SO GOOD!!! I had been wanting to see it ever since I saw the preview where the dog is talking and then he sees a squirrel and stops mid-sentence and yells, "Squirrel!" It made me laugh so much that I knew I wanted to see it.

Honestly though, I was a little worried that it might be a dumb movie. Because you know how it is when you see a preview and it makes you laugh a lot, but then you're like, "What if those were the only funny parts of the movie?" And I think I was confused about all the balloons carrying the house.... I just wondered what kind of story it would be. At first in the movie, I was thinking, "Oh great, this is going to be dumb...." But then it was totally NOT dumb! It is so creative and cute, and it really makes you appreciate the simple, good things in life, like family, friends, cute dogs, and true love. I really like movies that show how friendships develop and people learn to appreciate and love each other. Also, I like how this movie shows the sweetness of little kids and how they make life funny. Okay, I just totally loved this movie, and I'm going to buy it when it comes out!

PS - Only April Atwood will appreciate this, but the little scout in the movie totally reminds me of Matthew from after-school (remember him?)!! Except I think the boy in the movie was a little bit cuter than Matthew. (Poor Matthew.)

OAKCREST

2009-06-13T12:29:00.010-06:00

WARNING! Long and personal post below!

All 3 of you that read my blog probably already know that I was a counselor at Oakcrest Girls Camp during the summer of 2003. Last week I was thinking A LOT about Oakcrest.

Last Friday was "Friends & Family Night" at Oakcrest, and Julia and I went to that together, because it's our tradition to go every year. It was so fun to be on the camp grounds again and remember some of the crazy times we had there. Only those who work at Oakcrest can really understand what I mean when I say that it is REALLY HARD WORK! When I was working there in 2003, I told my brother how hard it was, and he was like, "I bet it's not as hard as a mission." I said, "I bet it is." But I couldn't really argue with him, because I'd never served a mission. Now that I have served a mission, I can testify to the fact that Oakcrest is just as hard, and sometimes even harder, than serving a mission. Mainly it's because you get SO TIRED and worn out, but you just have to keep going and trying to be positive. Missions are very hard work, too, and emotionally draining in many ways, but at least you get enough sleep because you have a required bedtime, etc.

Anyway, even though Oakcrest was really hard, I loved it there. I know I was supposed to work there because I felt so strongly about it before. It was while I worked there that I realized what a testimony really is. You might think that by age 19 I would already know that, but I didn't. I used to let myself get really confused because I didn't know how Heavenly Father would tell me something was true. But while at camp, we had to teach this "finding the seed" object lesson to our girls every week. The basic gist is that the girls were blindfolded, and we helped lead their hands to where the seeds were (because we put seeds on the ground), but we could never just GIVE them the seed, they always had to take it for themselves. And then after the object lesson was over, we taught from Alma 32 about what happens with the seed, etc. After weeks of teaching that lesson, I realized that it was something I really needed to learn. I read Alma 32:28 over and over again, and I realized what a testimony was:

(28) Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves - it must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

I learned that I ALREADY had a testimony of the truth, but that I was failing to recognize it because I just didn't understand how simple it was. I always had felt that the Gospel was good, and I never wanted to rebel against it, but I just never felt like I KNEW that it was true. Studying that scripture so much helped me to realize that gaining a testimony through the Spirit really is not much more than just feeling those swelling motions and recognizing the goodness. If you can be humble enough to accept something as simple as that and act on it, THEN the seed grows, and THEN you see ALL the goodness that comes from the Gospel, and then your testimony just grows like crazy, and then, like Alma says, "it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life" (Alma 32:41), and "by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet... and ye shall feast upon this fruit until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst" (32:42).

I'm really grateful that I got to work at Oakcrest because it taught me so much about about the Gospel and myself. I feel that, since Oakcrest, I have always been a stronger person. I am most definitely NOT perfect, and I know I have a lot to work on, but I have a strong testimony of the Gospel. I really love it a lot and am grateful to have it in my life. I no longer feel that I have to question Heavenly Father so much; I think I better understand the concept of faith. I'm also grateful for my time at Oakcrest because there are so many people I met there that I love so much! I'd be sad if I didn't know those people... Splash, Doodle, Biph, Streussel, Doinkee, Anchor, Sunbeam, Chunky Monkey, Coliape, Chama, Sparkles, Tic Tac (and any other Oakcrest people that might read my blog) and many, many more! And, even though I knew Blinky many years before Oakcrest, it was SO FUN to be there with her, and I'm really glad we shared that experience together!

Blinky and me.

Me, Blinky, Chunky Monkey, Tinkles.

My camper, Jessica, who's a counselor this year. Her camp name is Calamity.

Why is Forrest Gump my favorite movie?

2009-06-03T12:02:00.008-06:00

I was at work this week, listening to my online playlist, and "Free Bird" by Lynryd Skynyrd came on. Because I've watched the movie Forrest Gump so many, many times, I know that that's the song that was playing when Jenny was standing on the ledge, contemplating suicide. So I sat there at work, listening to the song and thinking of that moment in Jenny's life and how sad it was. Even though Jenny's not real, I think her character is one that can teach us a lot about the sadness that can come to our lives when follow the shallow things of this world.

That's why I love Forrest Gump. Besides the fact that it's just entertaining to watch, there are so many lessons that can be learned from it. I could go into detail about each character and what we learn from his/her choices, but instead I'll just point out some of my favorite lines... Like when Lieutenant Dan is depressed and complaining to Forrest about how stupid it is to say that Jesus will save him, and Forrest responds with simple frankness, "I'm going to heaven, Lieutenant Dan." Or when Forrest asks Jenny to marry him, and says, "I'm not a smart man, but I know what love is." Or when Forrest's mom tells him, "If God had wanted everyone to be the same, he'd a given us all braces on our legs!" Or how about when Forrest is running and the guy wants to get the bumper sticker slogan from him:

-Whoa, man!! You just ran through a huge pile of poop!
-It happens.
-What? Poop?
-Sometimes.

(Yeah, I did a little editing there, and I'm sure the quotes aren't completely accurate, but you get the idea.) Forrest Gump is a character who shows what life is really all about. I don't think anyone could argue with the fact that he's a childlike character, and because of his childlike ways, he lives a full, happy, humble life. He never sits on the sidelines, even though many tell him he should. Rather than complain about his disabilities, he just goes out and works. He always thinks of others before himself, and he NEVER worries about trying to impress anyone. He loves his friends with all his heart, even when they aren't perfect. And enemies... well, he doesn't really have any because he never thinks to hold a grudge (except maybe against Jenny's stupid boyfriend that hits her at the Black Panther meeting). The other characters learn from his example, and as they let go of their "worldly" ways, they become happier. For me at least, Forrest Gump is one of the best movies ever because it's one that really makes you ponder what kind of life you want to live and whether or not the choices you're making are leading to true, lasting happiness.

"But you ain't got no legs, Lieutenant Dan."

Aerobic Fart

2009-05-26T23:30:00.003-06:00

I found this video a few days ago on youtube, but I hesitated on putting it on my blog because I don't want people to know just how immature I really am. But oh well. This makes me laugh every time!

2009-05-17T15:58:00.001-06:00

Honesty Tag

2009-05-15T12:08:00.004-06:00

I found this in my old posts from back in February. I never published it because I hadn't written number 8. This was a tag from Laura. I'm pretty sure she was tagging her sister-in-law, but since my name is April, too, I pretend the tag was for me.

a. List 8 honest things about yourself - and make them interesting.

b. Pass it on to 7 other bloggers.

1. I REALLY like fashion and clothes, but I am the worst at putting together cute outfits! Part of that is because I procrastinate choosing an outfit until I'm running late to wherever I have to be, so I don't have time to really think about what to wear, and part of it is because I always want to be comfortable, so I often end up wearing the same old things! Oh well.

2. I think farts are really funny. I know everyone pretends they're above this, but in reality probably everyone thinks farts are funny.

3. I always wear lipstick. I have one color that I really like, and I buy 2 - 3 at a time, so that I can stock up. I don't know why I always have to have it, but I just do. Okay?!!

4. I'm a very impatient person. This is not something I'm proud of, but this is an "honesty" tag, so I'm trying to think of honest things. Yeah, I sometimes (often times) get REALLY mad inside about things that really don't matter that much! I don't know why!! For example, I pretty much can't make it through one driving trip without swearing at another driver or at a traffic light. I always think to myself, "Why are you getting so mad, April? It doesn't matter!" But I still get mad. Good luck to my future children... I will most likely abuse them!

5. I love the Book of Mormon. I have written about it a few times here on the blog. I don't say it to be self-righteous, but it is a genuine, honest fact about me. I never read it all the way through until my senior year of high school, but since then, I have never stopped reading it. The people and stories have become so familiar that I feel like they are my friends and those stories are somehow a part of my life. I love the Book of Mormon because it's so easy to read and clear to understand, but at the same time it's so profound. If you want to read for just a few minutes and not think too much about it afterward, that's okay. And if you want to ponder one verse for a long time, that's great, too! It helps me see life with a more simple perspective and have hope for good things. I just really, really love the Book of Mormon, and I know it's true.

6. I make "To do" lists all the time. For some reason I just feel more motivated to get things done if I have a list that I can check it off of. I find it really fulfilling to put the little "X" next to the chore once I've finished it. Sometimes I have 2 or 3 lists going at once, and they might even have some of the same chores on them, but I can't bring myself to throw away a list until I've checked everything off. Also, sometimes I put really dumb things on my list, just so I can check them off. Things like, "Wake up" (which I can "X" off as soon as I get up in the morning, nice!). I've been making these lists since I was little and my dad always used to make fun of me for them (because when I was younger, I really put every little thing on them). He would say, "Why don't you put 'blink' on the list, and then you can cross it off when you blink!" But that's not funny.

7. When I was young, I used to pray for every single dog I could think of. First I prayed for all my family's dogs, then my grandparents' dogs, then any other relatives' dogs that I knew of, then my friends' dogs, and then the neighbors' dogs that I knew of, etc. This also included dogs that had died. I felt guilty if I didn't pray about every dog I could think of, because I just loved them all and didn't want them to be left out. Now that I've grown up and gotten more mature, I've realized that I only need to pray for my own dogs.

8. I like the smell of cigarette smoke from a distance. I don't know why, but I do. I don't like the smell of old, musty cigarette smoke, like in a car/house of someone who smokes, but I do like the smell of the smoke outside from a distance. I know it's really weird! But I have never smoked in my life, so that's not why.

Book of Mormon jewelry

2009-04-25T19:58:00.012-06:00

Whenever I see these bracelets, or whatever they're called........

I can't help but think of the Book of Mormon jewelry......

I have thought about buying one of those bracelets, but seriously, every time I see them I just think of some Book of Mormon character! I guess I spent too much time starting at the illustrations when I was little. I know only the men are wearing them, but I swear there were some illustrations of women wearing them. I don't know.

Stay Forever Sunday

2009-04-24T14:08:00.006-06:00

This is a blog I've looked at for months now, but today I just feel like sharing it with you:

Stay Forever Sunday

If any of you are like me, then you like to waste time looking at blogs of people you have never even met / will never meet. I love this blog because it's so pretty! She posts the cutest things, and almost everything gives me some kind of idea of something I'd like to do.

For example, she posted a picture of this:

And explained, "After a trip to the hardware store for chalkboard paint, a discarded piece of plywood became our new kitchen chalkboard."

I love her creativity and cuteness. If I ever grow up, I'd like to do cute, creative, crafty stuff like her.

Rant.

2009-04-18T11:25:00.006-06:00

I recently read this on a certain blog that I like to look at:

"A few months ago I had a dinner with my guru and his friends. I don’t know if he knows I consider him my guru, but he is. Before we ate, one girl said 'Blessings' and smiled at everyone at the table. I loved it so much I have started doing the same thing. And now, I’m tempted to sign off e-mails with Blessings as well. Because I feel so blessed!!

"But I’m wondering if it looks religious/pushy when I sign off like that? What do you think?"

My response to her question was: "Duh, why do you care? Just do what feels right to you. Don't worry so much about what other people think."

This is one of those things that gets me angry. I know I shouldn't get angry, but I do. It bugs me when people are afraid to seem religious. But then they are so ready to play agnostic/atheist/inner-spiritual. I know I'm probably just judgmental. But seriously, why would it be bad to look religious?!! I guess what gets me mad about it is that usually I feel like people are trying to impress others with their views on life. They tell themselves that they're being "open-minded", but in reality, they are just conforming to what they think is cool in the eyes of their peers. But guess what guys? In a few years, the coolness of that won't be cool anymore, and you'll have to conform to something else.

Religion and spirituality should be about God and yourself. It shouldn't be about anyone else. I know we are supposed to try to be good examples to the people around us, but that doesn't mean that our goal should be to please them. We should only be trying to please God and ourselves. Even though that sounds selfish, that's what I think... Religion and spirituality are about YOUR personal relationship with God, and everything else is second, third, etc. to that. Also, another comment I have to make is that religion and spirituality are THE SAME THING. I know a lot of people don't think this, and if I wasn't a member of the LDS Church, I might not think it either. But for me, my church/religion is something that brings me closer to God, helps me understand Him and His plan, and when I go to church, I feel the Spirit and I feel connected to God. When I don't go to church and when I don't study the teachings of my religion, I feel farther away from God. I know that God created a church so that we can stay closer to Him. There are SO MANY institutions existing in this world that drive us away from God, so why is it crazy to think that God would want to have an institution in this world that helps us stay close to him?

Okay, so this is long, and congratulations to you if you're still reading. I just really wanted to write about this. I may be far from perfect, and I am, for the most part, a conformist to our society... but my religious and spiritual views are NOT based upon trying to be cool for my peers or on whatever is popular in our current society. I believe that we ALL, no matter what our religious views are, should be trying to please God and truly our inner-soul, NOT trying to impress the people around us. And we should be bold. If you know something is true, then stand up for it. We shouldn't try to be offensive (and yeah, sometimes I'm offensive), but we should be bold and strong... not ashamed.

Flying!

2009-04-18T11:12:00.002-06:00

Do you ever have flying dreams? I do sometimes, and I LOVE them! Last night I dreamed that there was something bad going on, and I had to fly to Spain to get something that would make things better. (I don't remember any of the details anymore.) But I remember flying... not in a plane, but just me with my body. In my dreams I can just run a little and make a jump and then I push myself up into flying. I really, really wish I could do it in real life! It's so fun, so much better than walking or running, and way faster. Last night's dream was so enjoyable because I was doing all these tricks, like flying up high and then nose-diving and pulling up just before I hit the ground. I was scared in my dream, like I thought maybe I wouldn't make it, but then I made it. I'm a pretty good flyer.

Movie Reviews

2009-04-10T09:40:00.005-06:00

I've seen 2 new movies over the past week, and I loved them both! (They're not really new because they've been out for a few months, but I'd never seen them before, so they're new to me. I like to wait 'til movies go to the dollar theater because the big theaters are such a rip-off! Don't you think?) I want to tell you what I thought of them because sometimes movies get bad reviews by "real" movie critics. I mostly just don't believe anything a movie critic says. I watch movies if they look good to me, and then I think what I want about them.

The first movie was Bedtime Stories. I was looking forward to seeing this one ever since I saw a preview months ago. I'm a big fan of Adam Sandler, especially in his later movies (like 50 First Dates and Click... Click is one of my all-time favorite movies). Some comedy actors go down the stupid road of slapstick comedies. Don't get me wrong, a few slapstick comedies are funny, but after a while they just get old. Adam Sandler's cool though because he does funny movies that have real messages, and you laugh, but you also learn something. I thought Bedtime Stories did that. It's silly and funny, but it also shows the importance of loving your family and stuff like that.

Next was Bride Wars. I've heard so many times that this is a stupid movie... and maybe it is, but I didn't think so! I go to a chick flick with the mentality that it's going to be a chick flick, and I expect no more, no less. So yeah, that's exactly what this movie was, and it fulfilled all the desires that chick flicks inspire. It was funny, cute, romantic and made you want to look like Anne Hathaway or Kate Hudson (take your pick, they're both so cute)! It's only rated PG and doesn't have a single sex scene, and I don't even remember any swear words (there may have been, but I don't remember any). I liked it!

Congratulations April #2!

2009-04-05T17:35:00.007-06:00

As most of you already know, April and Brian adopted a little boy this February! They went through a lot to get him, but I know it was all worth it because they love him so much and are the best parents he could ask for! I just want to say congratulations to April! I love you so much, and I know you are such a good mom to Bennett! He is so cute, just like you and Brian! I wish you still lived here so I could spend more time with you and your little family! Love, April

We weren't ready for this picture.

This one's a little better. It's me, April and Bennett!

(These pictures were taken with my cell phone because I forgot my camera, so that's why they're kind of crappy. They are from February, right after Bennett was born.)

Rosie's Funeral

2009-04-05T00:16:00.003-06:00

It's been almost 3 weeks now since Rosie died. There are still moments when I stop and think about her, and I have to shed a few tears because it's just sad to not have her here with us anymore. She's the third dog we've had that has died over the course of my lifetime, but I've never felt so sad about another dog's death. Rosie was just a really, really good dog. She was one of my best friends, and it's hard to say goodbye to a best friend, even when you know you'll see her again.

I think that all things, even dogs, have a purpose in life. Rosie truly fulfilled her purpose. When we had her funeral, my dad said a prayer, and in it he said that we should all remember Rosie's example... to love everyone unconditionally, just like she did. I'm so glad she was our dog and was such a loving, good friend to us. It sounds a little silly (because she's a dog), but, still, I really am grateful for her example.

Before we buried her, my sister and I each wrote her a letter to tell her how much we loved her and say goodbye. My dad got a piece of chocolate cake and a couple of scraps of meat and wrapped them in some napkins. We put her in a towel and buried her with her treats and letters. When she wakes up in the resurrection, she'll be pleasantly surprised!

As I hugged her body for the last time, I couldn't keep the tears from falling into her fur. It made me remember all the times during her life that she caught my tears in her fur. She was always there for a snuggly-hug when I was sad! I was glad that she could catch my tears one last time at her funeral!

I love you, Rosie-Posie!