H & Em

Dodger dogs, nachos, root beer

2010-08-12T20:17:00.001-07:00

We took Emma to the Dodger game for the first time last week and she loved it! Her favorite part was the root beer and she had unlimited refills because we say in the "all-you-can-eat" section. The not so favorite part was when the nacho cheese sauce was dumped on me twice - on and inside my purse, my jeans, and my white tennis shoes. The other not so favorite part was that we had to stand in line for food for at least 45 minutes and we missed 3 innings. Fortunately, the Dodgers beat the Padres, 9-0. Emma keeps asking me to take her back after the Dodger game; I'm so excited that she likes sports! She is also free at the Dodger games until age 4.

If you weren't here last week, you missed....

2010-07-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

A fun day at the beach
Lunch at Panera - yum!
Dinner at BJ's with the famous pazookie cookie
Souplantation
Basketball
Ping pong
Toy Story 3
World Cup

Fun pictures:

Working on....

2010-06-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

Getting some awesome "2010 NBA World Champions: Los Angeles Lakers/Kobe Bryant"

Pictures to come.

Derek Fisher is clutch

2010-06-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

He is and you know it - especially if you watched Game 3 in the Finals tonight. People need to have more faith in the Lakers, besides the obvious Laker fans. Even the commentators stated (before the game) that the Celtics were favored to win. But the Lakers come through again. Maybe at this time next week, I'll be sporting a new t-shirt dedicated to the 2010 NBA Champions: the one and only Los Angeles Lakers.

On another note, here are some fun pictures from recent weeks:

Quick assessment

2010-06-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

I know that most of you hate Kobe Bryant (for reasons which I will not disclose at this time), but in the end, it is my team of purple and gold that will be performing in the NBA Finals of 2010. Yes, I did write "performing," not "playing." Friends who are fans of other teams constantly taunt me for cheering for the Lakers and Kobe. But in the end, whose team is playing in the Finals? Yes, that's right: only those who live in Boston and Los Angeles. It is true - of course, there are Celtics and Lakers fans living elsewhere besides the two cities, and there is legitimate cause for my Boston friends to hate the Lakers right now. That is the one exception I will make. I cannot make an exception for friends living in other places (who are not true Celtics fans) to hate the Lakers. Now that is just not right. ;-)

Check out these Kobe pictures:

Kobe Bryant fan

2010-05-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

Check out this video about Kobe Bryant and his fans:

Crazy Kobe Bryant fan

Wetzel's Pretzels

2010-05-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

Sad story: I didn't win the election! I know - I was (and am still) in shock. I thought that my only competition was Haley Herkert, but apparently some random girl who was running, (and who never put up any posters and only 20 people joined her Facebook group) won. However, she and Cami Lopez (the future vice pres. of ASB) are pretty tight, so I'm almost convinced that the election was somehow rigged. We still went to Wetzel's Pretzels that night to try to get past my devastating loss. Pictures below for proof:

This picture's just for fun. :)

I'm running for senior secretary

2010-05-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

So apparently I'm 17 again and running for Senior Secretary at La Canada High School. Who thought that I would be back in high school at age 27? Not me, that's for sure. But here I am. And oh how much fun I am having!! So the elections are on Friday and I made at least 500 posters to plaster all over the school so people would know exactly who to vote for. (side note: I don't like putting prepositions at the end of sentences, ie the previous sentence, but so be it for now...) Oh and since I don't like people seeing me put up my posters during the daytime at school, I like to run around the school at 10:30 at night, taping up my hot green, pink, and yellow flyers. You can tell I know how to be safe - trust me, the janitors were around, so everything was cool. I'm a little concerned for my competition, Haley Herkert (but I do love her first name) because she is pretty popular, even though popularity has nothing to do with the contest. (I got all of my choir's votes and that's like 60 people. I even did a facebook group and invited - like - 2,000 people, so seriously, I shouldn't be worried.) I just don't think that she can pull it off like I can, though. Her posters are, like, pretty cute, but I would never admit that to her. (Besides, chocolate makes you fat and gives you lots of pimples - gross!) She probably didn't spend as much time as I did on my posters, though. I stayed up late into the night, perfecting my posters with my originality, including pretzels, suns, and twirly cues. I have created a pseudonym for myself under the name "Leah Wetzel," as you will note in the pictures below. I even found a girl by that name to represent me so I won't have to make a speech or anything. Speeches are for lame people and I am certainly NOT a lame person. So...if you happen to be around on Friday and feel like walking around LCHS, stop in and vote for me. Remember: Don't get your vote knotted up in a pretzel; for senior secretary, vote Leah Wetzel!

(I posted some other people's posters just to show you how lame theirs are compared to mine. Come on - you have to admit that mine are totally epic!)

Here's the Leah Wetzel that I found to represent me and my posters:

Here's the competition: The Hershey's thing is kind of creative,

but not like Wetzel's Pretzels

Yeah - this one's just weird

On to the Western Conference Finals

2010-05-11T13:59:00.001-07:00

Of course they won. We all knew they would. Check out this sweet picture:

Wild cell phone story

2010-05-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

You know how we're always saying those prayers to find our keys and we end up finding them in the fridge or the trash? Well, I don't usually have the problem - haha. (knock on wood) For me, it's the problem of finding my cell phone. They (whoever the cell phone inventors are) need to make a "clicker" so that the phone beeps when you're searching for it; you know, like clickers for cars? Anyways, I took Emma outside to the car on Saturday at 10:40 a.m., thought I would be smart by putting my phone on the roof of the car so she could not take it and throw it on the ground, and strapped her in. Funny story: I got into the car without remembering there was a phone on the roof of my car. So I drove away, got to the gas station, realized that my phone was missing, could not exactly remember if I had left it on the roof of the car (I could imagine myself putting it there, but couldn't remember if I actually had) or if I had left it in the house. I took a couple to the Burbank airport, then came home to search around for the 6 week old cell phone. (p.s. I love the keyboard on my phone!) I run some errands, hoping that it will just show up, talk to my dad and stress about it - he tells me to be patient and look around. He said, "Sometimes I leave my phone lying on the laundry shelf and then find it the next day - the same might happen to you." Ok - so I look in the laundry room and find no phone. Since the internet is down at my house (at this point, I am completely disconnected with the outside world and the land line doesn't count because I don't have my contact numbers from my cell phone memorized, so there's no point in using the land line. Later that afternoon, I am frantically typing emails to the people who are at the top of my call log, hoping that they will get a call from a stranger, telling them that they have a phone and they are intent on returning it. Well - one of them did receive a call and he gave the mysterious cell phone holder my address and they told him they were returning it. (Apparently the phone had flown off the top of my car and someone had seen it from his/her car and pieced it back together). I never heard from anyone that night. My dad receives a call on his cell phone the next morning from a couple up the street. They tell him that they have his daughter's phone (b/c he shows up as "dad" in my contact list) and he and I go up there to get it. Wild story: They had found it that morning at the back of their driveway. I thought, there's no way the phone could have flown all the way back there from the street from the roof of the car. I don't think it had because I had no driven up that far when I had orginally left when the phone on the top of the car. I said, "You called out on my phone yesterday, right?" They said, "No, the phone is not in service...The only logical conclusion that I can come to is: The people who originally picked up my cell phone off the ground after it fell off the car drove to the address 5111 instead of my address of 5011 and threw it in the driveway....

All of this is a blessing in disguise because I am having a new phone sent to me for free and if my cell phone had not shown up, I would have had to get a new one for $200. Very disheartening!

I think I said at least 46 prayers over that 24 hour period.... :)

Missionary Work

2010-05-10T14:24:00.000-07:00

A family of 5 was recently baptized in the La Canada first ward and I am SO excited for them! It is so neat to see the Spirit surrounding them and the light of Christ within them. Sometimes I get jealous when people convert to our Church because I think it would neat to be a convert. I feel like I have mostly taken the Church for granted my whole life and I wonder if I would view things in a different light if I was a convert. However, when I stop and really think about this, I cannot begin to acknowledge my thankfulness for being a member my whole life. I wish that everyone could be raised in the gospel, but am so thankful for missionary work so people can convert and raise their posterity in the gospel. It is so easy to see all of the imperfections of the members in our Church, and get caught up in this, but it is good to remember that even though we are imperfect in the Gospel, the Gospel is perfect and our Savior is perfect. Sometimes I think that it is so hard to become perfect (it sounds a little stressful), but then I try and remember that we have our whole lives to continually attempt to perfect ourselves and become more like Christ. What if we pick one thing each week or month in which we could become perfect, such as saying our prayers every day or reading scriptures every day? We all can be perfect in doing these small things; how fun to have perfect habits! :)

Pictures below of the baptism of the Pererra family. (Emma loves Kayla (7), the youngest):

The happiest place on earth?

2010-05-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

I know that most of you know Disneyland as the "happiest place on earth," but I can think of a few others as well. ;-)
Anyways, I bought a Disneyland annual passport and Emma and I have taken a few trips there in the past few weeks. It was Emma's first time and we had a blast! We went on every ride, except the roller coasters and a few that we did not end up having time for. (ok, it's a pet peeve of mine when people use prepositions at the end of a sentence and I just did...lame) Emma's favorite place ended up being "Minnie's house." When we got home and I asked her what she wanted to see at Disneyland next time, she said, "Minnie's house." (see pics below) I must admit, it's a fun perk about being a Southern California resident.

"Put the nail in the coffin tonight"

2010-05-10T13:20:00.001-07:00

Here we go. 3-0. I like to put a status on my Facebook profile sometimes about the Lakers. Nothing that trashes the other teams they are playing, ie the Jazz (currently). I just like to show my loyalty for my Los Angeles Lakers. However, whenever I post a status about the Lakers, I tend to get a lot of negative response. One person was even going to "defriend" me on Facebook until the playoffs are over. I don't get it - why are people such Laker haters? And Kobe haters? Yes, I understand that Kobe chose to make some immoral decisions within the past decade, but other Lakers have not proven upstanding either, ie Ron Artest (think of his year-long rejection when he was on the Pacers) or Magic Johnson's personal relationships that were scrutinized by the media. If one feels that one must be a "Kobe hater," then one must point out all of the other immoral errors committed by the team as well. It is not fair to one player to hate him over the others. Yes - I do not condone Kobe's past, gross mistakes at all. I simply separate his personal life from his athleticism. And many of you also think that Kobe is a self-centered player. I will admit that he has been in the past, but has vastly improved. Aren't all of us trying to improve? Haven't we all made mistakes, in our lifetime and moved on?
Anyways, I didn't mean to start off on a tangent about Kobe Bryant. I admire him for his quickness, ball handling skills, and fade-away jumpers. He is currently #5 in the all-time top scorers in NBA history.

We all know that the Lakers are going to sweep the series tonight in Salt Lake City in game 4. No team has ever come back from being down 3-0 to win a series. I don't think this will change tonight.

On another note, why were all the Jazz fans booing Fisher? We all know that Fisher is on the verge of retirement, but he had several clutch shots in game 3 to give the Lakers a win 111-110. We also all know that Fisher only played on the Jazz for one year, but had to leave in order to take care of his daughter, but apparently the Jazz fans had forgotten that fact. "The anger that spewed down from the scowling Utah Jazz fans in steamy EnergySolutions Arena here Saturday wasn't new. They haven't liked Fisher here since he left in 2007, granted his release to better care for his young daughter suffering from eye cancer, arousing suspicion that he simply wanted to return to the Lakers." Apparently, this incessant chanting and booing of Fisher caused him to score 20+ points in game 3. Perhaps people should boo Fisher wherever he plays. haha. Fisher had an interesting retort: "I would venture to guess that if I was a construction worker...who requested a transfer to another department for the betterment of his family, I would be commended for it. But because it's sports, there's just so much passion added to it." (Los Angeles Times, C1, C7)

Wrap up the series, Lakers. (note the sweet picture below)

A future basketballer

2010-05-06T15:00:00.001-07:00

Emma must be a natural (see video below). She's never seen me dunk - because I can't. ;-) But somewhere, somehow, she picked it up...

And...this one goes down in history

2010-05-01T16:26:00.002-07:00

Family-ing

2010-04-29T23:29:00.000-07:00

I picked up a book this morning at a friend's house and started skimming through it. I found some interesting ideas, so I started writing them down, then thought about posting them, thus here I am. :)
The book is all about being a functional family and "homemade recipes" to becoming a happy family. We come from all different walks of life and whether we are single, divorced, going to school, raising children, we can apply these ideas:

"A family that prays together, plays together, spends time together, works together, and laughs together" is one that will stay together. I love this idea - I love thinking about a mom, dad, and the children working together to have a fun time. Families can have fun together!

On dreaming:
"If you can describe your family dream and if you want it to come true more than you have ever wanted anything before, or ever wanted anything now, or ever wanted anything in the future, it will come true." I used to think that wishful thinking was for little girls, like myself once upon a time and still now and then, who like to go to Disneyland and wear their princess costumes. Not true! (especially after reading this quote) If this is your dream, and you want it so very badly, it will happen.

We need to look into the future and see the good that is waiting there. We need to create a family climate that will allow good desires to come true. When we choose the right, families can be together forever.

"The thing to go after, with your whole soul, is not your career or your hobby or anything other than your family." I like this idea of "going after" a family. There are always things in life to "go after," but not like family.

To have a functional family: live in accord with spiritually founded values. We will always be spiritually safe if we put our trust in the Lord.

(If you are wondering what the term "family-ing" means, it is the verb of "family." This term reminds me that a family should be "doing.")

Never ceases to amaze

2010-04-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

You might ask yourself who I am speaking of in the title of my posting: Yes, there is only one Kobe Bryant. Before you move away from my blog (again - I know, the last time you saw his name, you immediately headed for another website), try to be patient with me and read the article below. Yes, the author admits Kobe's past selfishness, but is optimistic and spotlights his athleticism:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-heisler-lakers-20100429,0,5310675.column

The series is currently 3-2, Lakers lead.
Game 6, at Oklahoma City, Friday, 6:30, Channel 9 (for those of you who live in southern California)

Spiritual muscles

2010-04-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not having written a substantial posting for a few weeks. I heard a talk on Sunday at church that I keep thinking about and I wanted to share it. I feel like it was directed at me and I'm grateful for that. The topic was about the Spirit. I feel like I have been in a spiritual slump lately and I am trying to resolve it. I have decided that when we think we are doing really well in our lives and doing everything that we should, we cannot stop trying. We always have to put in more and more effort to stay spiritually strong. I need to continue to endure, but since life can be so fun (or we can make it that way), it does not always have to feel as if I am just enduring to the end. I also have to realize that we are continuously being refined. When we feel a sharp decline in our spirituality, let us double our efforts - keep moving and trying. One resolution to picking ourselves out of a spiritual slump is to focus on the needs of others - focus on what we can do for others and put them first. I truly believe that our frustration will diminish if we are seeking ways to involve and assist others in their lives.

I liked the analogy that I heard about a runner - a runner who endures until the end. A runner needs to endure to the finish line and the only way to do this is to condition and practice each day before the marathon. A runner is conditioned to maintain his pace and endure to the end. So should our spirituality be: we need to condition our spiritual muscles to endure to the end and perform well.

Understanding this eternal principle of work allows us to become more like our Savior. Constantly working to maintain our spirituality keeps us in tune with what the Savior and Heavenly Father would have us do. For those unexpected moments when we are asked to perform a task to the best of our ability, the only way to successfully accomplish the task is to have been daily conditioned by the Spirit to silently and meekly listen to that still, small voice. I find it interesting that the Spirit will never yell or nag at us - it will simply withdraw. We radiate what we are. I do not like being in a spiritual stagnation - it coarsens the soul and creates a hole for temptation to crawl through. When I remember my relationship with my Heavenly Father, I remember to never lose confidence and continually trust in Him.

2-2

2010-04-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

So the series is tied 2-2. (Lakers vs. Thunder) What an embarrassing game on Saturday night for the Lakers! I really don't want to talk about it - all I want to say is that it happens and we all have our off nights. But being that off was just plain embarrassing. Kobe does need to step it up if the Lakers want to go to the Western championships. Even though he did have a 39 points game in game 2, he needs to have one of those games during each of the playoff games. The Lakers need to win game 5 (tonight, currently 48-30, Lakers, 2:43 in the 2nd) if they are to win the series. If they lose game 5 in Los Angeles, they will probably not win game 6 in New Orleans (based upon the last 2 games played there in the past week) and the Thunder will win the series. That just sounds wrong to say that.

2 years old!

2010-04-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

Emma is 2 years old now - actually she turned 2 three months ago today. haha. So I'm a little bit late on this posting. I had wanted to get her 2 year old photos taken, but had not done it until now. (I must admit that there were a few reasons that I was waiting, one being that I wanted her to cooperate at the studio and I knew that even though she may be a few months older, that would make a big difference). The last time we took her and Grant (see adwhanderson.blogspot.com) at Halloween, Emma would not cooperate and wanted to run over to me and have her hold her. She still wants me to hold her constantly (which is pretty much what I do a lot of the time), but she is using more words and phrases, so she and I can communicate better. I'm glad that I waited a few months to get her 2 year old photos taken because it was so fun and she had so much fun! She loved climbing in and out of the box. Although, she would not lay on her tummy for one, so I got down on mine, hoping that she would get on hers too, but instead she proceeded to sit on me, hence the photo below of her on me. :)

Update

2010-04-20T22:39:00.001-07:00

I really need to think about updating my blog soon... :)

Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 11, 2010

2010-04-11T22:16:00.000-07:00

By the title of this posting, which will be lengthy, I am going to try to summarize why I have such a passion for learning about the Holocaust and I will use graphic stories to illustrate the gravity of this gross period of history. WARNING: DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO READ ABOUT GENOCIDE AND THE MANNER IN WHICH IT WAS PERFORMED.

THE NAZI YEARS
Many of you know the basics about the Holocaust, ie the fact the six million Jews were killed in concentration camps around Germany and Eastern Europe, but there is so much more to understanding the mindset behind these atrocious brutalities performed during the reign of the Third Reich. I will attempt to illustrate scenes in which the Nazis used and abused their power to rid their race of all that was "sub-human." In Hitler's publication of Mein Kampf (My Struggle, 1925), he asserts his political ideology to that of committed anti-Semitism and blames Germany's struggles upon the swift punishment incurred by other countries after WWI. To understand the crimes committed against humanity during the Holocaust, one must understand the mindset behind the leaders of the German regime. For centuries, Jews have been persecuted and murdered for numerous reasons. So why now? Why the need for the Holocaust (in the German mind) now? The Jew was not considered part of the super-human race which Hitler attempted to create. The Jew did not fit the blonde-hair, blue-eyed stereotype. The Germans believed it their destiny to further the Aryan race, which would include the concept of eugenics (detailed below) and purifying the blood, leaving no traces of any person considered to be "sub-man." Almost a Christian ideal, the Germans viewed this idea of ridding their race of any unclean thing a commandment: "As for any other nation, too, the eternal God created for our nation a law that is peculiar to its own kind. It took shape in the Leader Adolf Hitler, and in the National Socialist stated created by him. This law speaks to us from the history of our people, a history grown of blood and soil. It is loyalty to this law which demands of us the battle for honor and freedom." (The Nazi Years) Out of this ideology grew a contempt and disgust for the European Jew. One is probably familiar with the terms "Kristallnacht," "The Final Solution," and the "Warsaw Ghetto Uprising," so I have written some of the lesser known Nazi crimes out in detail (which is just as horrific as the major events of which one is aware) so that one may understand the severity of the years between 1939-1945 and why we have a holiday called "Holocaust Remembrance Day."

Told from the perspective of a German woman:

"I saw another woman with a crying baby in her

arms. One of the Gestapo was yelling at the

baby, 'Shut up! Quiet! Stop yelling!' The mother

tried to quiet the baby. She opened her blouse and

tried to breast-feed, but her baby was scared, or

cold, or in pain, because it was just crying. Then with

one movement of his arm, the Gestapo officer

pulled the baby from its mother's arms, took it by

the feet, and threw it with the head to the ground.

The baby was instantly quiet. I will never forget

the inhuman, shrill scream that the mother let

out as she jumped to reach her child." (Conscience & Courage)

"In Amsterdam they rounded up Jews, opened the

bridges and drove them into the channels to drown.

I saw with my own eyes one hundred and twenty

Jews killed...I was with my sister on an open field.

We saw the Jews forced to kneel and put their hands

up. As one by one they lost their balance - ping -

they were shot. One gone, two gone, three one,

one hundred and twenty gone. And they left them

there...And mothers cried for their babies..."

(Conscience & Courage)

EUGENICS

Eugenics is (formerly) known as the ethnic cleansing of a race, which was prevalent during the Holocaust. "All the instincts of human decency which distinguished men from beasts were forgotten, and the law of the jungle took command. If there is such a thing as a crime against humanity, here we have it repeated a million times over." (The War Against the Weak) (I must mention that the idea of eugenics originated in the United States in the late 1800s, including the Virginia states and Utah as well. The concept of Social Darwinism was taken to an extreme and only the "survival of the fittest" would remain to produce the next generations. Those who were handicapped, mentally disabled, or socially dysfunctional were eliminated to preserve the "racial hygiene." Several institutions in the United States fully supported and funded the eugenics campaign. Hitler adopted these concepts and put them to use in the concentration camps, especially at Dauchau and Auschwitz. Yes, millions were gassed in the chambers, but one also need to understand the other crimes committed against the Jews and the camp doctor, Josef Mengele, known as the "doctrinaire Nazi eugenicist", abused his genetic engineering background and inflicted pain to the Jews beyond what any of us can imagine. Mengele used twins for his experimentation. He seemed to have the perfect control group for planning a super human race. (warning: VERY GRAPHIC)

"The Reichenberg boys, mistakenly thought to be twins

because they so closely resembled each other, piqued

Mengele's interest because one possessed a singer's voice

while the other couldn't carry a tune. After crude

surgery on both boys' vocal chords, one brother lost

his speech altogether. Twin girls were forced to have

sex with twin boys to see if twin children would result.

Efforts were made to surgically change the gender of

the other twins.

One day, Mengele brought chocolates and extra clothing

for twin brothers, Guido and Nino, both popular with

the medical personnel. A few days later the twins were

brought back, their wrists and backs sewn together in a

crude parody of Siamese twins, their veins interconnected

and their surgical wounds clearly festering. The boys

screamed all night until their mother managed to end

their agony with a fatal injection of morphine.

Mengele suspected that two Gypsy boys, about seven

years of age and well-liked in the lab, carried latent

tuberculosis. When prisoner doctors offered a different

opinion, Mengele became agitated. He told the assembly

staff to wait a while. An hour later he returned and

sedately declared, 'You are right. There was nothing.'

After a brief silence, Mengele acknowledged, 'Yes,

I dissected them.' He had shot both in the neck and

autopsied them, 'while they were still warm.'"

Today eugenics is known as genetics. However, there is still some debate as to where to draw the moral and ethical boundary. To what extent and when does this practice become immoral? We do have scientists around the world dedicated to fighting disease and finding cures - just how they conduct their experiments can become a moral dilemma if not taken with caution.

THE RESCUERS

"The hand of compassion was faster than the calculus of reason" was penned by one rescuer (of Jews). I often ask myself these questions: Would I lay down my life for the life of another? Would I allow a Jew to step across my doorstep into my home, knowing that if I got caught, we would both be shot? Would I have enough compassion to allow the endlessly sought-after Jew into my home, knowing the consequences? Would I have enough courage? Would my conscience allow compassion to take over? These rescuers did:

"Six-year-old Annie P.'s stepfather told her to let

certain strangers into her Bussum, Holland,

house after curfew. Her stepfather, noted in this

suburb of Amsterdam for his black roses, was a

horticulturist who was hiding twenty-five Jews on

various parts of his nursery property. Annie was

never directly told that her family was sheltering

Jews, but she figured it out. So did her step-

father's pro-Nazi neighbors. They noticed that

the huge amount of garbage Annie's family

threw out was too much, even for a family with

twelve children. The neighbors reported their

suspicions to the Germans, who raided Annie's

house regularly. One one of these occasions, the

officer in charge was particularly frustrated by

still another fruitless foray by his troops. He questioned

Annie: Did she know where the Jews were hiding?

Annie said nothing. The German threw her down and

kicked her again and again. Still Annie said nothing.

She kept the secret. The Jews survived the war, but

the vicious kicking Annie received damaged her

spine. Years and a number of unsuccessful

operations later, she lost the use of her left leg and

required a brace." (Conscience & Courage)

Would you have been able to keep quiet like Annie did?

"In the case of Romaulda Ciesielska, she found Nazis

rounding up Jews in the square, providing them with

spades to dig their own graves in the forest. Ciesielska

first walked away casually, then ran straight to the Jews

in hiding [at her home] to warn them. There was no

time to flee, and the Jewish woman looked too Semitic

to slip past. Ciesielska ordered the Jewish woman into

bed and told her to pretend she was dying. She placed

a towel over the woman's head, a cross in her hands,

and candles at her sides. Ciesielska grabbed the

peasant's apron and tied it on the daughter, who was

commanded to kneel at the bed and start weeping.

She ordered the peasant woman outside to feed the chickens.

When the Gestapo arrived Ciesielska told them in

German, 'Please be quiet, there is a dying woman

here.' The Germans took one look and left."

(Conscience & Courage)

Would you have had the creative mind to do what Ciesielska did?

Helmuth Hubener, LDS boy, aged 17 and youngest opponent of the Hitler regime, was executed (at the guillotine) for treason on October 27, 1942. His crime: speaking the truth. Three years earlier, he had started listening to the BBC Broadcast (illegally) and writing anti-Nazi pamphlets, which were eventually distributed to not only the surrounding towns of his hometown of Hamburg, but surrounding countries as well. His pamphlets were intended to prove how distorted the Nazi propaganda and other indoctrination proved to be. By the time he was arrested and executed, Helmuth had influenced hundreds, if not thousands of people, to disbelieve and separate themselves from Hitler's loyalty (all done in secret, of course). He lost all civil rights in prison, ie no bedding and minimal food.

Would you have had the courage to do what Helmuth did?

LEARNING FROM THE HOLOCAUST THROUGH THE LENS OF THE GOSPEL:

You are probably wondering how I can connect the Holocaust to the gospel. We can use the gospel in this context to learn how to treat people and not repeat our own or history's mistakes. If we act in the place of the Savior on behalf of our brothers and sisters, I highly doubt that we will be tempted to do what those did during this dark time period of history. I will always try to remember who I owe and act in accordance to that. I like the phrase, "Remember that the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." Let's never suppress a generous impulse - or a righteous impulse. No matter how little or big our crimes are, we are all in need of mercy. Jesus atoned for all of our sins and I'm sure that He wept uncontrollably for those who committed these disgusting crimes. (I almost wept uncontrollably just writing out these graphic stories, especially the ones with the mothers....) We all have trials, some much more difficult than others. As we willingly submit our burdens to the Lord and place all that we have upon His altar, we will be blessed and have more faith to emulate His ways.

OTHER RESOURCES:

SHOAH Foundation (http://college.usc.edu/vhi/?gclid=CIqsipexgKECFRP_iAodXwQLzw)

Maus Comic Books (by Art Spiegelman)

Life is Beautiful (movie)

The War Against the Weak, by Edwin Black

Conscience & Courage by Eva Fogelman
The Nazi Years by Joachim Remak

E.M.M.A.

2010-04-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

What an interesting, event-filled Tuesday! (Too bad the Dodgers lost yesterday and the Lakers lost Sunday....come on, at least 1 of the 2 should be winning the same week). Anyways, I went to get my teeth whitened today and the electricity was out at the office, so I didn't end up getting that done. I ended up doing some errands with my dad and we ate at a little Mexican restaurant down in San Gabriel. He's friends with everyone there and they know him, so it was fun to meet some new people and learn a little Spanish. It's fun to hear my dad speak Spanish too. :) When I got home, Emma woke up from her nap, so we took a little trip to Target and Michaels. Target was uneventful (which is a good thing when you take a toddler anywhere), but Michaels proved to be a slight disaster - not terribly, but slight. Emma (meaning I) wanted to paint her block letters (of her name) pink, so we picked up some pink paint. As we were standing in the world's longest line (why does that store have the longest lines - it doesn't matter what state you're in), Emma saw the candy shelf and decided to go grab some. I told her to please look and not touch; we were getting her a plastic $2 whale, so I thought that would keep her occupied, but obviously the candy looked more enticing. So she brings over a big bag of Hershey kisses and as she started to open the top, I try to gently take it away from her and she did sort of give it to me, but the bag was already open and the kisses went flying everywhere. So of course, the most expensive thing that I bought today was an unwanted, opened bag of pink Hershey's kisses with each tag reading, "It's a Girl." Yeah, I know. Out of all the candy "we" could have picked, it had to be the candy appropriate for a baby girl's shower. That one is just a couple years too late. Haha
See pictures below and enjoy:

Michael Jackson, Jesus Christ, and Duke

2010-04-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

I know what you may be thinking: How can she put Jesus Christ and Michael Jackson in the same sentence? Does she live on the same planet as we do? Yes, in fact, I do. Although I am somewhat educated as to the history of Michael Jackson (I don't really like bragging about what pop culture I know, so we won't really go there - haha), his music and his personal life, one of his songs struck me. I wasn't really planning on buying his CDs since I have some of his songs on iTunes, so it was a last minute decision to buy his "Number Ones" last week. And I love the CD! I'm sure it's in my CD player in my car right now. His song, "You are not alone" made an impression on me. Although it is a love song, I thought about the Savior, especially with this line:

"Just the other night I thought I heard you cry

Asking me to come and hold you in my arms

I can hear your prayers

Your burdens I will bear...

You are not alone

For I am here with you

Though you're far away

I am here to stay"

As I heard this song, I thought of the Savior and how He will bear our burdens. Interestingly, I am comforted by that thought. Perhaps it is hard to give up everything we have and cast it upon Him, but when I think about this idea, I feel relieved. Let Him have everything that is difficult for us! Let's just give it all to Him. Think how much lighter and happier we will feel. Let's get rid of all that extra weight that is bearing us down - the Savior will gladly take our burdens. He will even lift us up too. When we feel sadness or like crying or feel alone, the Savior is "here with [us] and here to stay." While there is constant change and turmoil around us, He is constantly here with us forever; he is unchanging.

On a different note, if you do not follow March Madness or read the sports section or watch ESPN, Duke did win and it was an easy win for them too. If only I had them winning tomorrow too!

Mr. Darcy & Partygirl

2010-04-03T16:02:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to think of some really good excuses as to why I haven't posted for a week....ummm...March Madness - wait, that hasn't happened for a week; how about the Lakers - hard week for them, but pulled in a good win against the Jazz last night; how about Emma taking all my time - at least this one does sound legitimate, right? haha.

I found two fun surprises when I walked into the door this morning: the most adorable pugs! Ever! We get to keep Mr. Darcy and Partygirl for a week or two (tragic story as to why they are staying with us: their owners, Rachel and Tyler, found their 18 month old daughter at the bottom of the pool 2 weeks ago; Sophie is still in intensive care, breathing with minimal support and may require a trachea/esophagus surgery; the brain damage is still unknown).

Emma and I already love these cute guys as if they were ours. I have always wanted a pug anyways.

On to the Final Four

2010-03-28T22:41:00.001-07:00

Duke won. Who else is happy, besides me and my bracket?

Duke and dunking

2010-03-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

I had a fun conversation with a 7th grader as I was taking her to school this past week. She and her two younger brothers (as well as her parents) are avid sports fans, including that of basketball and football. Taryn is almost 6 feet tall (her dad is 6'4" and her mom is 5'11") and plays basketball and volleyball year round. I was asking her how her teams are doing and if she is making more goals to play in college (as she has mentioned this to me in the past). She said that she still really wants to play college basketball. I said, "Taryn - can you dunk yet?" She said, "No, but my dad told me that when I can dunk, he'll buy me a dog." I thought to myself, Now that is the correct way to parent! (haha) This sounds like a conversation that I will be having with my seventh grade son(s) when the time comes. (Please ignore the part that I love dogs and will probably have one long before my son is in seventh grade).

If you did not watch the Duke/Purdue game last night, you missed out on a lot of excitement! Of course Duke pulled through in the end - on to the Elite Eight. Go Blue Devils!

Falling in love...

2010-03-25T15:43:00.000-07:00

I bet I know what you're thinking from the title of this post: oohh, does she have some juicy gossip to share or what fun story is she going to write about today? haha. It's probably not as fun as you think. Hate to disappoint, though! I'll attempt to make it interesting:

I recently overheard a conversation about how someone was having a hard time falling in love again and getting his head "back in the clouds." (Apparently it was in the clouds in college, but not anymore...) Perhaps age has made him feel less romantic and more realistic. I hope that age doesn't do that to me! I love the term "hopeless romantic." It conjures images up in my head of walks on the beach at sunset, San Francisco days and evenings, driving up the Pacific Coast Highway, hugs and kisses, passionate looks, Romeo & Juliet, love songs, ie KOST 103.5 (j/k!), love poems, candy hearts.....ok, you get the point. :)

Then I started reading all of these marriage articles in the Ensign for April 2010. (I think there's 4 of them - whoa! Are we supposed to be paying attention to something here? haha) Anyways, going back to the idea of falling in love, I came across a concept in one of the articles: "Remember that we come into this life hardwired, so to speak, to fall in love. Don't make it harder than it is!" Cool! I love these two sentences because: a) It is being spoken by an apostle of God, thus divine revelation, so we really better pay attention, b) When we realize that we are meant to fall in love here on earth, doesn't that make life simpler in a way?

I think that this phrase sums it up:

"Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love." - Leo Tolstoy

p.s. Maybe someday I'll have some juicy gossip to share. ;-)

Blueberry muffins and In-n-Out

2010-03-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are Laker haters and decided to delete my blog off your blog list altogether, stop for a minute and read the title of this post. You may be inclined to leave my blog link on your blog. I know that you probably like In-n-Out and blueberry muffins. :)

Remember how I used to post something on my blog about ever 2-3 months? I've decided that there are too many interesting things going on every day to wait and post. If I do, then I forget everything that happened the past 2 weeks, so I'll try to continue to update daily.

So if you don't live at 5011 La Canada Blvd., here is what you missed so far this week:

1) A trip to the emergency room (I thought Ems had broken her wrist, but fortunately it was not - after 3 fun hours of waiting and x-rays.....it happens. That's life sometimes)

2) In-n-out - it's becoming more than a weekly trip, especially since Ems discovered how amazing the fries are. I still think the vanilla milkshakes are the best vanilla milkshakes on the planet.

3) A fun dinner at Roscoe's chicken and waffle house - I had never been there before and am not a huge fan of heaping amounts of butter on top of anything, but they were actually very good. After that dinner, I tried to ignore the phrase, "A moment on the lips - forever on the hips"

4) Laker wins.

5) Looking forward to more March Madness tomorrow. You know where my party will be tomorrow afternoon. (on my couch with Emma; you know, I have to indoctrinate her with all the good stuff while she's still so young - haha)

6) LCHS basketball banquet

7) Making blueberry muffins (see picture and recipe included below)

8) Jumping on the trampoline with 6 other kids (don't worry, it didn't break - they're all pretty skinny)

9) Watching the BNP Paribas Open (too bad Roddick lost)

10) Shooting hoops

The Berry Best Muffins

1 c. butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 c. flour
1 c. milk
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
4-5.5 c. fresh (or frozen, but I always use fresh) blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, or cranberries

If frozen, partially thaw. Berries should be well rinsed, drained and well dusted w/flour.

Cream butter and sugar in large mixing bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla. Blend thoroughly. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternately add flour mixture and milk to first mixture. The batter will be very thick. Blend well. Fold in berries. Grease muffin tins. Because batter will need to expand over the rim, it is best to grease or oil muffin tins beyond rims of cups. So that muffins will take on a mushroom shape, heap batter above rim of muffin tins. This should produce a beautiful shape. Sprinkle generously with sugar.

Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes of baking, turn oven temperature down to 375 and bake an additional 15-20 minutes until muffins are done in center and a rich golden brown on top. Enjoy!

You're probably wondering what the picture below is; I found these sitting on the counter and tried them. I didn't make them, but they're SO good! Some sort of a rich brownie with powdered sugar on top....

Thought I should take a picture anyways....haha

Phil Jackson

2010-03-23T16:56:00.000-07:00

Obviously, from the title of this post, you know what I am about to write. So, for those of you who are Laker haters because a) you severely dislike Kobe, b) you don't live in Los Angeles and feel that you have to hate the Lakers in general, or c) don't like the Laker coach, Phil Jackson, please stop reading and blog stalk someone else.

I would like to address an article that I read about Phil in the L.A. Times today.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/22/sports/la-sp-simers-20100323

The author seems to be scrutinizing Phil very closely and his lack of wins and energy that his team has put forth in the last few games. Yes, the Lakers blew some big leads the past games to pull off some close wins - nevertheless, wins. (If you don't know, I will admit that the Clippers beat the Lakers, but they also beat the Jazz, another Western conference team that has shown some big strides this season - it happens, teams get beat, even the best). The press seems to feel worried about the lack of energy from the Lakers, namely Pau, Kobe (why is he only taking 1 shot during a half?) Bynum, and the inconsistencies of Odom. Phil is being partly blamed for this, ie why can't he step it up now, why can't he be a little less lax about these close games, etc. However, if you have followed the Lakers throughout the years, you know only too well that they are, historically, a "clutch" team. They always come through in the end (see the number of titles they have won in the last 10 years). I am not worried at all about the Lakers. True - they may have some tough games in the playoffs, but that should be expected of any team. Let's just ponder recent Laker history for a minute and think back about June 2009.

Covenants = celestial credentials

2010-03-21T23:31:00.000-07:00

Ever since I have been attending the Glendale 7th singles ward, I have been so amazed with the Spirit that resides during all three hours and the lessons that I have learned. I feel impressed to share a few thoughts from today's sacrament meeting. I believe that it was a few of the members of the stake presidency who spoke. They spoke about temples and the importance of attending the temple often. One thought really struck me and it is the idea that "covenants become our credentials for admission into the celestial kingdom." What a brief, but profound statement! As I continued to ponder this concept, I thought about all of the worldly degrees that many of us have or are attempting to obtain. Yes - it is important to bring all of the education with us from this life, but if we do not keep our covenants, then we cannot enter the celestial kingdom, even with two hundred degrees bearing us down.

It is interesting to hear other people (mainly girls) speak about their break-ups, flings, or relationships that went sour. Yes - this can be tragic and I can empathize, but I feel so strongly that we need to see the "big picture" of what our life is really about and how we are missing out on so many wonderful things if we sit around and cry for those that are long gone, never to come back. Let's remember our covenants when we have trials in relationships - let's remember that Christ will never turn His back on us and break up with us. Our covenants connect us to Christ. When we are connected to Him, our souls can become whole and our Spirits will remain alive. We must not allow our spirits to become coarse and empty; so often, we allow others to take over our emotions and thoughts (which can also be a good thing - there is just a right time and right place for these moments). We need to have the strength to remember that the one person who we should allow control of our thoughts and emotions is our Savior.

Our Savior is consistent. He is steady and will always remain so. I love these two terms: steady and consistent. These adjectives should define who we are and who we will become. When we are steady and consistent with our covenants, we will always be connected with our Savior. What greater blessing is there than that?

Why I'm really not a BYU hater

2010-03-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

I have a feeling after today that several friends think I'm a "BYU hater." I'll explain this in a second, but here are some reasons why I do not technically hate BYU:

1) I graduated from this university in 2005
2) I faithfully attended most of the basketball games while I was attending school there
3) I still follow BYU sports
4) I still stay in touch with professors
5) I still own BYU apparel (although I admit that I never wear it)

Hopefully you are all following these (AMAZING) March Madness games! And Madness it is! Double overtimes, major upsets, and disappointed brackets have made this first day intense. I was almost having a heart attack this morning as I watched my thoroughly researched, well-chosen, perfect bracket fall to imperfection, then lowered my standards to the hope that my bracket would have at least 50% wins by the end of the day. The major heart attack this morning included BYU's (lucky?) win. I insert the word "lucky" because FL lost two of their best players in the overtimes and were forced to work with what they had left. BYU also missed several free throws, even though they are the best free throw shooting team in the NCAA right now, yet they were up by seven with two minutes in the second overtime. Possible luck?? (and a LOT of prayers...)

I need to state that I did not pick BYU to advance to the second round. Here are my reasons: a) BYU is not historically known as a clutch team, b) the last time they advanced to the second round was in 1993 when some of my older friends were graduating high school (but I will say that I am not THAT old - I just have some older friends...haha) c) they tend to lose big leads, ie the 13 point one today lost late in the game. Upon reviewing these facts, I chose not to advance BYU. And I got a lot of crap for it. Why? Most people tend to think that I need to be cheering for my alma mater, even when it seems clear that BYU will not pull through. As long as I back up my reasons, shouldn't you be a little more supportive, please? ;-)

I will bet you serious money that, after Kansas State wins their first round, when BYU meets KS, they are toast. Don't even think about debating me on this. That's analogous to asking me to debate whether Kobe is the best basketball player in the NBA right now (sorry to all you Lebron fans out there) and why he is such a dominant necessity for the Lakers.

We dressed accordingly today

2010-03-17T16:17:00.000-07:00

Some (probably more "un" ) interesting things that we did on (not for) Saint Patrick's Day:

1) drove to Alhambra to get the car serviced, took a walk for an hour and found some interesting people/places: Guadalajara Dental Care....a few questions came to mind about that one; Caesar - he even posed for me :) (see pictures below)

2) dressed in green (pictures below)

3) swam

4) watched 24 - season 1 (not the whole thing)

5) found out that the first Irish parade took place in New York City

6) wanted to watch "Waking Ned Devine," an Irish comedy that is one of my favorite movies...

Kobe Bryant dilemma/debate

2010-03-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

Some of you were probably wondering when I would start a discussion about the Lakers, ie Kobe Bryant. Well, here it is. I was talking with a friend on Facebook (of course - where else do we talk to people anymore? haha) today and he persisted in telling me that Pau Gasol is a much better player, overall, than Kobe. He only mentioned this because Kobe had 29 points last night (against GS), but 9 turnovers. Pau only had 3, I believe. (I don't have the stats in front of me, so I apologize if I'm a little off...I'm pulling them from my head right now. ha) Because Kobe had 9 turnovers last night, my friend insisted that Pau is a much better player than Kobe. I also need to mention that my friend's head has become clouded with the fact that Kobe is an immoral individual. I am not denying that he is not. Whenever I say that like Kobe, I am simply referring to his athleticism, not his personal life. I think that most of you would agree with me that the Lakers would not be able to win a championship without Kobe. I know that some of you are thinking back to a few years ago when the Lakers produced the amazing All-Star team, but did not win the championship. Some say that Kobe was too selfish. Perhaps he was, but the Lakers have gone on to win a few titles since then without the big All-star team. Some also say that the Lakers have built up a team around Kobe, which may be true, but I will admit that there are so many other good players on the team right now who help make a difference, ie Fisher, Gasol, Odom, and Bynum. Anyways, I could go on and on about the Lakers and how no one should hate Kobe - purely for his athletics.

Yes - I will admit that Kobe does not have that fun-loving, warm personality, but "he's clearly the best clutch player in the game," ie breaking a tie 3 times with 4 seconds against Miami, Sacramento, Memphis, Toronto, etc. (Los Angeles Times, March 13, 2010)

Note: this will not be the last post about Kobe and the Lakers. Several more to come...esp. during playoff season.

A pencil in the hand of God

2010-03-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

I picked up a book this morning at a friend's house, entitled "I am a Mother." As I started reading it, I could not put it down. It is an easy read, but has so many profound ideas. Before I post what I have learned, I would like to give a little background of my feelings toward being a mother. If you had asked me 5 years ago if I had wanted to be a mother, I would have said something like this: "Yes, but I want to get a master's degree, then a Ph.D. and travel to a few countries." If you had asked me 3 years ago if I had wanted to be a mother, I would have said something like this: "Yes, but I'm applying to graduate programs right now, so it will have to wait for a few more years." If you had asked me 2 years ago how I like being a mother of an infant, I would have said something like this: "I love it and I would give up one hundred degrees for having the blessing of motherhood." When I was in college, I had two very important professors: one who wanted me to attend a university in England and one who supported the idea of marriage and family. The two would argue back and forth about which lifestyle was better for me. I think that the one who supports the family more wins. :) I must admit that when I found out I was pregnant 3 years (wow! that long ago?) ago, I was in shock, but excited at the same time. I had already applied to grad programs and had been accepted to a few on the east coast and knew that I would need to put that off because I knew, deep down, that my unborn child would take ultimate priority over any schooling. Yet, I was still sad at the same time. My dreams of attending these programs might never come to fruition after my baby was born. Once Emma was born, I knew that she had come at the right time for so many different reasons. One reason was that Heavenly Father was trying to humble me and give me the strength that it was took to raise this tiny infant. Two years later, Emma is still the greatest blessing and joy that has ever come to me and I still feel that I would give up anything else in my life to have her. After reading "I am a Mother," I learned several lessons and the most important one that I learned was to be proud of motherhood and when people ask me what I do, I will not say, "I'm just a mom." I am a mother.
Sorry for the rather extensive list, but I feel that all of these ideas need to be included from this book:

- Trust in the Lord, rather than the world
- Motherhood is near to divinity
- The immediate rewards are: love, joy, laughter and assurances, but there are no Christmas bonuses or vacation
- "Motherhood: 24/7 on the front lines of humanity. Are you man enough to try it?"
- We hold the power to change the perception of women
- God's kingdom will fail without righteous mothers
- Protect this role
- Let's not be apologetic about our own motherhood
- There are no rewards for the "best diaper change of the day"
- Money cannot buy motherhood
- As we sacrifice, we will be led by the Savior
- It's ok if we have unfinished projects
- We are co-creators with the Creator Himself
- "Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And it will make your children whole as well"
- The greater the submission to the Lord's will for mothers, the greater the expansion
- We are pencils in the hand of God
- We must allow the Lord to use us
- The most important things we have are relationships with families and loved ones
- If it looks good to the world, but doesn't feel good to the soul, it is not success at all
- "Place all that we have on the altar of God, kneel there in silent submission, and willingly walk away"
- When did caring for children become a labor of love smothered under a blanket of of sentimentality that hides its economic importance?
- Motherhood = enobling endowment
- Rely on Him, Rely on Him heavily, Rely on Him forever
- Rest if you must, but don't quit
-The hand the rocks the cradle is the hand the rules the world
- It's about seeing the big pictures
- Look beyond today to eternity
- There is no such thing as Supermom
- It's ok to take a break
- We need to take care of ourselves to take good care of our babies
- Live in the moment
- I do not lose my identity, but have an opportunity to more closely identify with God
- The Spirit must be present to magnify our calling as mothers
- Mothers who pray in faith receive revelation
- Love and support each other without judging
- Choose to be charitable
- Rejoice in this sacred calling
- How do we fulfill ourselves? By turning ourselves over to the Lord
- We are all mothers - there are no "just moms" involved

I wanted to include some pictures of Emma's first day, January 24, 2008. These were all taken within the first 24 hours. I have never posted these pictures anywhere because I didn't have Facebook or a blog back then. :)

Got pizza? Got peace?

2010-03-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

I have been eating SO much pizza the last few days, but I'm still not sick of it. :) I will never get sick of cheese or pepperoni pizza, no matter where it comes from, although Costco does make good pizza. haha

I was contemplating on what to write on my blog tonight and I really wanted to write something about what I learned in church today, but nothing really stuck out in my mind. I remember the topics about thankfulness, husbands/fathers/priesthood, and a few quotes from "Alice in Wonderland" (which I want to see in 3D, btw), but I couldn't pinpoint one thing that I really felt necessary to share.

I think that we all have days when we are frustrated and part of me was feeling a little discouraged today - I could not figure out why. Perhaps it was just the adversary working on me and wanting me to feel disheartened and troubled. Then a simple thought came to mind: if you read your scriptures, your frustration will go away. Then I thought, "Oh, I read mine earlier, so I've met my quota for the day." Bad way to think about reading the scriptures - I admit it! So I started reading later today; my frustration left and my soul was filled with peace.

What a simple resolution! Then I thought about all the little instructions that we are given in our lives that will truly make us happier than when we don't follow them. I know that I will feel less frustrated if I follow the simple instructions in life.

What a girl wants

2010-03-13T07:37:00.001-08:00

What a whirlwind of a trip to Utah these past two weeks! Emma and I did so many fun and special things (see list in previous post) that it was hard to leave. I wanted to focus this post on how lucky I am to have good family and good friends, especially my mom. I had an early morning yesterday (Friday) and knew that I would be driving back to Los Angeles with Emma. Emma did not sleep well the night before, so she slept with me most of the night when we got home that evening. I was ok with this because I had not seen her much that day and I missed her. However, I had to get up at 6 a.m. and knew that if she was still in bed with me when I got up, it would wake her. So I finally placed her in her bed at 2 a.m., which she did not like, but fell asleep after 5 minutes. I actually started driving at 11 a.m. yesterday. I was really fatigued, but knew that I had to get back to Los Angeles safely. So I drank a lot of Coke, but it wasn't really kicking in. My gram, mom, and dad called a few times to see how I was doing, and I said I was tired, but that I would be fine. At about 2 p.m., I got a call from Gram, telling me that my mom would meet me at the airport in Las Vegas to drive the rest of the way. I said that she didn't have to do that, but was secretly relieved. Emma and I stopped in St. George to see some good friends who took us to Cold Stone's (yum!) and Ems ran around with Tara's kids for a while, then we starting driving about an hour later. Once I met my mom in Vegas at about 5 p.m., I asked her to drive and almost fell asleep instantly. However, I must admit that we did stop at the outlets at state line for about 45 minutes. (I did find some pants at the Lucky store for $6.99....I am a bargain shopper....haha....was still tired though) I fell asleep once we we got back in the car. Fortunately, Emma was almost asleep at this point and if she had been crying, I don't think I would have had the energy to help her. I woke up when we were on the 210 passing Santa Anita and the song, "What a girl wants" (Christina Aguilera) came on the radio. I used to really like this song, and I contemplated it for a few minutes. I'm aware that she is singing about a boy, but I thought about other people that this song could refer to. (Sorry for using a preposition at the end of a sentence - that drives me nuts and I just did it). I have written some of the lyrics below. I thought about how we - girls - want so many different things in life, but some of the things that we take for granted in life aren't usually thought through as wants, ie our family. Usually our families, whether parents, siblings, relatives - are there for us at many points in our lives, so we tend to take them for granted, or at least I do - so I do not tend to view them as a want. But as I was listening to the lyrics, "what a girls wants, what a girls needs, I'm thankin you for being there for me," I thought about the people who have always been there for me: my family, good friends, and people who really care. Yes - we have probably all had rough times with our families, but they are still there when we need them. Why is it that we want and need our families so much, but don't think about it all the time? I have decided that it's the consistency with them. They are there with us through thick and thin. We can always come back to them when other people come and go in our lives. It's the same with good friends and others who really care about us - they are consistent in the way they treat us and care for us. We want them in our lives, but more than anything, we need them in our lives.

Thanks, Mom - for driving the last 5 hours. I don't know if I would have made it....

What a girl wants, what a girl needs
I'm thankin you for knowing exactly
What a girl wants, what a girl needs,
Whatever keeps me in your arms
You're ready and willing to give me
What a girl wants, what a girl needs
You let a girl know how much you care
About her - you're the one who always knew
I'm thankin you for being there for me...

too long....

2010-03-08T16:49:00.001-08:00

I know, I know. I promised that I would post every day and I have not made good on my promise. I'll make up for it somehow. More pictures? 3 posts a day? haha. So here's my excuse for not posting: trip to UT (still here), but here is what you're missing if you're not in UT right now: (note: not in any specific order)

1) Happy hour at Sonic, 2-4 pm daily (diet cherry limeade - AMAZING)
2) Emma having fun in the snow
3) Olive Garden - I know this restaurant is everywhere, but it really makes a difference who you're with... ;-)
4) In n Out - UT style (not bad, I must admit)
5) sour worms
6) board games
7) DownEast Outfitters
8) good friends who let me stay with them forever.....and ever.....and ever. :)
9) Cafe Rio
10) playing basketball (I won't say who won - I'll just let you guess...)
11) bowling at the BYU Wilk (I barely recognized it, but I promise that I'm really not that old)
12) seeing more than half my family up here (4 of the 5 of my siblings were here during the same week...Utah must be the happening place for the Andersons right now...haha)
13) seeing good friends' cutest babies for the first time (some are age 3 now and some are 3 months)
14) million dollar brownies that are probably only worth $500,000 - haha
15) watching fun movies
16) having lots of "Disney" conversations
17) $5 Little Caesars pizza with crazy bread and A&W root beer - yum! (the nearest L.C. to my home in CA is about 30 minutes away; there's practically one on every corner here)
18) BYU Creamery - how can you not love that place! esp. for the mint cookies n cream
19) Jordan River temple
20) Pazucchi (sp?) cookies (if you live in CA and have been to BJ's, that's nice, but I thought they were an authentic UT commodity - oh well, still DELICIOUS)

Beach days...in February. whoa...

2010-02-28T00:03:00.000-08:00

My sister, Whitney, baby Grant, Ems, and I went to the beach on February 17. That's right - the middle of February. One can only do that in California, really. So we took full advantage. I documented our trip very carefully in the form of 75 pictures. However, I will only post a few. :) We went to the same beach of which my "blog picture" (see above) shows: Santa Monica Pier.

I'm back - for good.

2010-02-22T11:32:00.000-08:00

ummm.....what happened to me? Nothing really. I just forgot to post, but I have a running list of things that I need to post. I've already broken my promise about posting every day, so I have to make up for it now. This might be a long one today....sorry.

#1) Emma is only 2.5 feet tall....so she can take advantage. haha

So we were in Marshall's last week and I was paying at the register. Emma doesn't really like to sit in the carts, so basically I have to hold her the whole time in the store (I know - great times) or just not go. Sometimes I just have to go though. haha. (Usually it's for her benefit, too) Since she decided to be "loud" as I was paying, I got her out and set her down on the floor and told her to stay next to me. The next minute, I look down and Emma has managed to grab a bag of gummy bears and open them....I know, fabulous. So I get to end up paying an extra $2.99 that I hadn't planned on...haha, that's ok. She could have grabbed something a lot more expensive, but she takes after her mom's sugar addictions....

#2) "Not my will, but thine"

I was babysitting a three cute kids last week. After attempting to put them to bed after 1.5 hours, I gave up and went to read a book. The book that caught my eye is called, "Not my will, but thine." I started reading it - love it! Good investment. I recommend it to all. Anyways, here's the cool part: The oldest child, Nicole, age 9, comes out of her room because she can't go to sleep and asks me what I'm reading. I show her the title and she asks me what I mean. I thought, "wow, these are the moments in which we succeed or fail. I understand now why we are told to do the little things every day, ie read scriptures, say prayers, go to church each week, and keep the commandments - so that we will be able to feel the Spirit enough in random moments like these in order to make a spiritual difference in a child's life." I started talking to Nicole about the Atonement in the simplest words possible, but still at her level of literacy/comprehension. She really seemed to understand that the decisions we make in our lives should really be based upon the Lord's help and not always trying to do it on our own.

I probably learned a bigger lesson from this incident than Nicole did: always pray to feel the Spirit so when teaching moments occur for us, we will know how to rely on the Spirit and say what the Lord wants us to say.

#3) Married in 6 days after returning from his mission....whoa

I hope that this title was catchy enough - haha. I went to a fireside last night at my ward and the temple president from the Los Angeles temple spoke. He told us when and how he got married. He met his wife toward the end of high school, she waited/paid for him on his mission, and were married within 6 days of his return. Try to beat that!!! haha - no thanks. :) unless I found that perfect guy, of course. ;-) I'm so glad that I went to that fireside last night because my eyes were riveted on him the entire time because I felt that what he was saying was 100% true. The temple is always the right place to be. And I know that my (future) marriage will be much sweeter if I attend the temple often.

#4) Missionary work, anyone?

I have been challenged to pass out one Book of Mormon each week for the rest of the year. I filled my quota for this week. :) I brought a friend to church yesterday and gave her one after the meeting. I think I can do this!! (keep reminding me if you have to)

Will you marry me?

2010-02-14T20:29:00.000-08:00

Every fast Sunday, my ward has a "break the fast" meal right after church at 2:30. The theme was Italian, but since I didn't have any ingredients to make an Italian meal that morning, I made my "dreamy creamy caramel chocolate bars."

Upon trying my bars, one guy said to me: "Will you marry me?"

time for pictures

2010-02-04T21:16:00.003-08:00

I have been helping the frosh/soph basketball team at LCHS and I like to take Emma to the games. Thought a few pictures would be cute:

Want a bargain?

2010-01-31T16:33:00.000-08:00

Big sale at children's place this weekend: all clearance is $2.99.

I bought 6 shirts and 1 pair of pants there for $22.

interesting conversation

2010-01-29T05:28:00.000-08:00

friend: I really need to go jeans shopping soon.
me: Awesome! I'll go with you. I'm always looking for the perfect pair of jeans.
friend: They don't exist. Just like the perfect man. It's a myth. We search.
me: And search and search and search....

thank goodness for a locksmith (oh and Happy birthday, Ems!)

2010-01-25T21:08:00.000-08:00

So since I'm super tired to write a very interesting story tonight, I'll let the title of this post keep you in suspense...

missed 2 days.

2010-01-21T21:42:00.001-08:00

ahhhhh...didn't think this would happen so soon. I think I've missed a few days on my blog. I'm going to blame it on the non-stop rain. the power went out at times and so I had no internet, so my regular updating my blog routine got messed up...

NY & Co.

2010-01-18T14:16:00.001-08:00

Last day: Buy 2, get 1 free. Ends tonight.

Let's go WAAAAAAAY back.....

2010-01-17T17:19:00.001-08:00

So I went to the Poly/Prep game yesterday since my brother plays basketball for Prep. I totally thought that I would cheer for Prep (even though I went to Poly), but when I got there, my dad had saved us seats by the Poly cheerleaders - on purpose. He wanted me to remember....when I was once a cheerleader. I cannot believe that I am posting this on my blog, but since it's been 10 years now, it's kind of funny to think that I was a cheerleader! What?? ok, whatever. So it was sort of fun and we got sweaters with our names on them. :) So I actually talked to some of the cheerleaders and my old cheer coach (who, btw, still looks the same). She's on FB, so I'm going to look her up. Anyways, at first the cheerleaders were kind of annoying because they were banging their megaphones on the ground, but I used to love doing that during games. (haha) So I dug up some old pictures (I know, you can totally laugh - I did!) - to go way back, I'm talking 10 years back.......here we go:

I think this picture was at a CIF game. We won

the state championship during the years

that I cheered.

Can you find me??

Maybe at cheer camp? Notice the cute guy

(with the super short shorts)

in the background writing something down.

He must have been a coach since his uniform

was "USA."

Notice this cute guy in the picture too. No wonder

cheer camp was so fun! :)

Good times!

p.s. Guess who won the game yesterday?? Prep. :(

In-n-Out, 4 minutes to spare, Guess? jeans

2010-01-15T16:36:00.000-08:00

What an interesting and great day it has been! I went to take my computer to get fixed. My appointment was at 10:15 and I had to fill out some paperwork to leave it there. So I was done at about 10:30 and as I was walking back to the car, I noticed that the Guess? store was having an extra 50% off the clearance. I was trying to hurry to get to the temple, but I was really tempted to walk into the store. I absolutely love sales and good deals, so I was too tempted and walked in. I was concerned about the time because I really wanted to make the 11:30 session and driving from Pasadena to Santa Monica might not get me there in time and I didn't want to wait for another hour just b/c I missed it by 5 minutes. Anyways, I went into the store, browsed quickly to make sure that I wasn't missing any amazing deals and quickly sorted through the racks of jeans. One was marked $29.95 (from $89), then 50% off. I debated really quickly in my head: was it worth it to try them on, should I just buy them, then try them on later? I ended up trying them on really quick, all the while thinking about the clock ticking away. They actually fit me pretty well, so I rushed to buy them (I mean, can you beat $14.98 on Guess? jeans, esp. at the Guess? store?) and hurried into the car. Fortunately, the car was right outside the store. The clock was 10:41. Then I debated about not going until the 12:30 session and just running into the Gap to return something. ( I know, I am the queen of returns - I have learned to save all of my receipts) However, I decided to try and make it to the temple. Something just told me that I needed to go right then. As I got on the 210, I noticed a car getting pulled over, probably for a speeding ticket. That was a warning to me to slow down and try to make it to the temple and not speed. As I crossed the 210 to the 118 to the 405 S., I remembered last time when I missed the session by 5 minutes because of traffic on the 405. So I was praying really hard that there was no traffic, and my prayers were answered. The slowest I went was 60, and fortunately hit enough green lights on Santa Monica Blvd. to turn into the temple at 11:24. I grabbed my bag, leaving my purse and everything else and ran in. I was literally breathless when I asked the man if I could make the 11:30 session. He said that I had 4 minutes to spare! I was so grateful that I made it just in the nick of time! I feel that it's such a privilege to go to the temple and I was so thankful that I was safe on the way over and coming back.

What a great way to end my afternoon with a big juicy cheeseburger and vanilla milk shake from In n Out!

I feel so blessed every day of my life. I should never take my blessings for granted and always thank Heavenly Father for what I have.

p.s. Guess (no pun intended) what pants I'm wearing right now...

Ems

2010-01-14T22:36:00.000-08:00

I love Emma! The more she grows, the more I love her. She is saying tons of words now, like Elmo, Mike (from Monster's Inc), apple, juice, orange, Barney, P (for uncle P), Mimi (for her grandma), Oj (for Rog, her grandpa), up, red, yellow (she loves Big Bird), one, two, tree (for three), treat (she LOVES treats! but I'm trying to limit them), blue, green.

She's changed me the last 2 years. I so realize the importance of having children and the great joy that they bring can bring to life. I am so thankful for her and hope that I can always teach her how to live righteously and make good decisions.

LOVE YOU, EMS <3

Staying grounded

2010-01-13T17:10:00.000-08:00

Here are my thoughts for today: I have been thinking a lot today about how to stay grounded in the gospel. It's so easy to say that temptations are easy to withstand when there's not many around. However, when you're placed in front of temptation, that is the hard part. I feel that I have been confronted with many temptations lately. I have been trying to come up with a way to resist temptation. For me, the best way is to pray to Heavenly Father about how much I love the gospel and how much I want to keep the commandments. I truly believe that he will honor my prayers if I am trying to resist temptation as much as possible. I think of the scripture, our weaknesses can become strengths, and I really think this is possible. However, sometimes I feel like I may have gotten to the point where I have overcome my weaknesses and Satan can never tempt me anymore. NOT TRUE! This is when he works double time on me. I think that I've got it made and can withstand anything, so he works super hard to undo it all. Satan - please stop working overtime on me and move on to someone else! What's so special about me? Choose someone else, please. Would be greatly appreciated!!

Colors

2010-01-12T19:45:00.000-08:00

I have two ideas in mind to write about tonight. I don't mean to dwell on the spiritual stuff a lot, but there are just so many things along those lines that I have been thinking about lately. Last night at FHE, the spiritual thought was about how we can be close to Heavenly Father. When asked for any comments, one of my friends mentioned how he had had a hard moment(s) on his mission and he felt that the only person that he could turn to was Heavenly Father and he said that he has been able to carry that feeling of closeness with Him since his mission. (I think he's maybe 31 or 32 now? hopefully he doesn't ever read this....b/c I probably got his age wrong). I think that even if we don't have great turning points in our lives where we feel His closeness, we can learn it through other ways. I know that what my friend was saying is true because I could feel the Spirit so strongly and it was as if I had no peripheral vision for a minute. All I could see was him and hear the truth that he was speaking. I felt so blessed to be in the room at that moment.

On another note, I started reading a book and this quote caught my attention: "People observe the colors of a day only at its beginnings and ends, but to me it's quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations, with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spat blues. Murky darknesses." How interesting that we always talk about sunrises and sunsets, but what about the "in-betweens." The "in-betweens" make up the sunrises and sunsets, don't you think? There could be no sunrise or sunset without that in-between. All the small things make up the great things.

p.s. prize for anyone who guesses the book of the quote

Be Prepared

2010-01-11T22:17:00.001-08:00

Since I plan on writing on my blog every day, I don't really have a certain theme in mind. I just want to reflect back upon the day and feelings that I may have felt. Today, I title my topic, "be prepared." An incident occurred today in which I didn't have a diaper for Emma (I know this may sound a little trivial, but hear me out) and I had to leave for an hour, then come back to get her. I had a small prompting in the back of my mind that Emma may need a diaper and wipes, but since I was just driving up the street, I dismissed it and thought, "if there's a real emergency, I will be called and I can be there in 1 minute." Well, she did end up having a messy diaper and a diaper was found for her, but there were no wipes. When I picked her up 45 minutes later, she was crying and had a raw bottom. I felt so bad and put her in the bathtub at home, thinking that would relieve the redness. However, she kept crying and crying and I kept thinking, "if I had only left a diaper and wipes!" Because of my unpreparedness, my daughter was in pain. Although this is a minute incident and Emma was ok after a few hours, I thought, "maybe this is a warning sign for the future when something bigger comes up and I'm not 1 minute away." I need to be prepared to the best of my ability and ALWAYS listen to any promptings, no matter how small. This small experience reminds of a bigger experience in which we need to be prepared to meet our Savior. Because we know not when He will come. What if He comes in 5 days? Will we be prepared to look Him in the eye and tell Him that we've done everything we could to live with Him in the celestial kingdom? I wouldn't be prepared, so I hope that He doesn't come in 5 days, but I need to have this mindset because there will come a day when He does come in 5 days.

Till Death Do Us Part

2010-01-10T21:25:00.001-08:00

I went to a wedding yesterday for one of my friends from high school. The wedding was perfect- from the flowers to the readings to the bridesmaids' dresses to the music, except for one thing: the priestess said they would be married "until death do you part." I tried to imagine how I would feel if I was the bride and heard that during the ceremony. I think that I may feel very sad - that I would lose my best friend when I died. I tried to think about feeling the Spirit in the ceremony, but it just wasn't there. There wasn't any animosity in the room (I would hope not during a wedding ceremony), but the overall feeling was one of happiness, yet bitterness. An image of the couple at death was one where the two were floating apart forever and ever and could not come back to each other. Then I imagined what the feelings would be like if the couple was getting married in the temple. How the Spirit and the love of Heavenly Father would be present. I can't describe in words how thankful I am for the blessings and covenants that we receive/make in the temple! Even though the path of my life has taken a different unplanned course during the last few years, I have never been more thankful for the temple and the promises that we can receive if we are faithful!

I even thought it was interesting that a woman was performing the ceremony; however, I did not think it that odd as I was thinking of certain experiences in the temple. I have gained a deeper understanding of the importance of temple work and how I need to be going as often as I can and to make it a priority. Don't we all want to end up with glory sitting next to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the celestial kingdom? What greater way to do achieve this than by going to the temple and truly understanding what the true love of Christ means. I hope that I never take these temple blessings for granted (I'm sure that I have and that I do) and that I can always have the desire to attend the temple.

Quick update

2009-12-12T23:50:00.001-08:00

Quick update: Finally finally finally bought a camera on Black Friday. Canon Powershot 1200 for $129. I was really proud of my find, in spite of waiting in line for an hour (really not that bad for Black Friday). So I'm back and I am taking pics like crazy all the time, so I'll try to post more often. It's going to be one of my New Year's goals.

Below: a few pics from the last 2 weeks.

In loving memory of Mr. Fur

2009-10-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

Blazer (Babes, Peaches, Sweet guy, Pooches, etc.) died at 13 years of age on Oct. 7, 2009.

Ems and I loved him. Here are some pictures of him.

Photo shoot

2009-09-17T12:40:00.001-07:00

Here's a photo shoot that Ems and I did last month. I didn't think that I could post the pictures on my blog. I also put them on FB, so sorry for those of you who've already seen these! It was kind of fun this time because Emma knew how to smile when I asked her, and she wanted to hold her sheep and run to me. We got the pictures done at Picture People at the Santa Anita Mall. I recommend them. They're very affordable and you usually get a free 8x10. I also entered one of the pictures into a photo contest that they're having. I don't know what the prize is, but I thought it would be fun.

Summer pics

2009-09-13T08:23:00.001-07:00

Sorry that I haven't put up more pictures. I still haven't gotten a new camera, so I've been borrowing my mom's or brother's, whoever happens to be around. Anyways, hopefully I'll get one within the next couple weeks and I'll be back to more posting. :)

Here are some pics from the last 2 months.

Fires

2009-09-02T20:54:00.000-07:00

We almost had to evacuate last week from the La Canada fires. I heard that it was the

#3 story on the news all around the country. Whenever people ask where I live, I say the

Pasadena area because no one has ever heard of La Canada. Well, I guess they have now...

Here is a picture of my friends' house. I live about 1-2 miles away from here. Houses were

evacuated 2 blocks above me.

52 homes have been lost so far, 2 firefighters have died (one's wife is 8.5 mos. preg), over

140,000 acres have burned. I guess this is one sacrifice you make if you want to live in sunny

southern CA: to deal with fires and earthquakes.

Too big?

2009-07-26T22:42:00.001-07:00

Ems and I were trying shoes on and wondered if these would fit her soon....we decided that they wouldn't ;-)

(Refer to the 2 pics below to understand the above caption;

I just added the above pic b/c I liked it :)

More fun in the sun!

2009-07-12T21:01:00.000-07:00

What a fun day at Newport! We tried looking for crabs, but unsuccessfully. Ems loves to stand on the wet sand and let the water rush over her feet. She was so fascinated when her feet starting sinking down into the sand.

We (apparently) love being outside. Mostly Ems...

Fun in the Sun!

2009-07-09T11:26:00.000-07:00

We love to be outside. Can't you tell??

Happy 4th!

2009-07-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

I hope that everyone had a great 4th of July!! I love this time of year because we get to reflect upon our nation's history and the Declaration of Independence. I loved visiting Thomas Jefferson's home when I was living in Virginia. I went a lot because: 1) it was free each time, 2) I LOVE history. I love learning about the American Revolution and the authors of the Declaration.

I actually did not see fireworks though. I REALLY wanted to take Emma, but she was so tired by 7:30 that we stayed home. The "boom boom" of the fireworks woke her up anyways.

We watched the celebration in D.C. on T.V. Emma LOVED Big Bird. She doesn't watch t.v. very much, but she LOVED the Sesame Street characters.

(pictures to soon come)

Broken camera...help!

2009-07-04T23:10:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know how to fix a camera when the screen says, "lens error, restart camera." The lens will not retract back into the camera when I turn it on. I can't even force the lens back in. Is this a lost cause? (and my camera is not under warranty anymore...it's over by 6 weeks right now.)

While I'm on this post, does anyone recommend a REALLY awesome camera that they love and have had for more than a year with NO problems??? Any suggestions are welcome.

My current one is a Canon PowerShot Digital ELPH. I think it was around $200 and I really don't want to spend that much right now.

Who likes free tank tops?

2009-07-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

Most of you probably already have the Shade clothing coupon for a free camisole, but for those of you who don't and would like one, let me know and I can send you an email with a coupon for your free cami. You will have to pay for the shipping though ($5.95) but I think that's worth it for a Shade cami.

xoxo, Haley

Sunny Southern California

2009-06-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

Hi friends and family,

I am so excited to start a new blog. I hope to put up weekly posts, or more often than that. I feel like I should write in my journal more, and I think blogging is a great way to do it! There are so many fun things going on in our lives that I want to share them with everyone.

Thank you for all of your support and love. I appreciate it so much! You guys are awesome.

Since I haven't posted in a long time, I'll give you a summary of what's been happening with me and Emma. We are now living in Los Angeles, CA. Emma is growing up so fast. She is almost 17 months old. (I try not to think about the fact that I'm getting older too as she gets older...) It is so fun to see all of the fun things that she can do now. She is walking - almost running everywhere. She can say 3 words: mama, dog, and no. Sometimes I ask her if she's tired, and she will shake her head and say "no." I'm trying to teach her how to say yes. When she's asked a question and she wants to say yes, she laughs. She LOVES to go outside. If the door is closed, and she wants to go out, she will start crying if I do not immediately open it for her. :) Whenever she hears an airplane or a helicopter in the sky, she points (even from inside) and waves in the general direction. Ems will eat most foods. She loves Mac n Cheese (not the Kraft kind, but the kind from Trader Joe's - love that store!), peas, broccoli, "fruit leathers," toast, cream of wheat, and pears.

Whenever she sees a pen or pencil, she will grab it and try to find a piece of paper. If I ask her if she wants to "color, color, color," she will respond with a resounding laugh. She loves to color in her Spongebob coloring book. I try to save it for church, though. Funny thing: Ems doesn't actually color on the paper; she just likes to carry around a pen and paper and pretend.

As for myself, I am teaching the violin and piano. I love doing this and would do it full time if it was possible. Everyone always asks me if I want Emma to play the violin, but I secretly hope that she will want to play the cello. I wish I could play the cello; I love the deep, rich sound of the instrument. My brother Clarke (Uncle Peanut) plays the cello and when I ask Ems where the cello is, she will go find it and point to it. She doesn't do that so much with the violin or piano. So maybe someday...

Here are some recent pictures of us:

I was SO excited that the Lakers won the

NBA championship last week! There were

a few games there where I was on the edge of my

seat, but they pulled through.

Sorry this image is kind of blurry, but I think

that it's so funny! Emma was "walking" her

little dog which barks and walks and Blazer (the real

dog) was behind them, trying to follow them around.

He thought the little dog was real at first.

Here we are at Uncle Peanut's senior assembly

at La Canada High School. We watched him

jump around and dance in a cheerleading

costume. No joke. I have it on video.

(Apparently, it's a tradition with the flagee

squad, who are juniors, and they each pick

a senior boy to be their "partner.")

This is at Uncle McKay's 8th grade promotion.

We were just being silly b/c we had already

taken so many pictures that were too serious.

Left to right: my mom (G'ma, Emma, Uncle Rhett,

me, and Bernie, my Gram's husband)