Happy Ugly Sweater Holidays!

Ward Talent Show

My roommates and I created this video for our ward talent show. Hopefully people don't think we are bitter!

DC Trip

Washington, D.C.












So here it is, my second biannual post!
3 of my nephews and I just got back from DC, and here are my thoughts:

1. I love traveling with my nephews.
2. DC is my new favorite city.
3. The Wright Brothers' exhibit in the Air and Space museum made me want to do something amazing like invent something new.
4. I bought a book on Abraham Lincoln, and gained a large amount of admiration for him. He had the courage to do what was right even though a lot of people at the time hated him for it.
5. I like subways.
6. I never realized how large Arlington Cemetery is, and I was unprepared for the amount of gratitude that I would feel in seeing it.
7. I'm totally inspired to become a good cook after seeing Julia Child's kitchen in the Museum of American History, and
8. I could happily spend a full day in this museum.
9. Ryan, Spencer, and Dillon said one of their favorite places was the Smithsonian Air and Space Hanger. It very inspiring and made me want to excel at something the way those who built and flew these planes have.
10. The Holocaust Museum was also a major event for all of us. This has been on my list for many years and it was powerful. The main thing I got from it was a desire to never be a bystander who does nothing.

YAYYYY!

I didn't think it was possible, but "Winepress" is finally on iTunes! :) :) :) Thanks so much to everyone who kept encouraging/inspiring me! (Rianna, Becky, Marilee, Jordan Allen, Debbie, Destin, the Kunzes, Chelsea, Mom, Merissa Wilson, Whitney Perman, Kristin Mcmullin). I'm also excited about a couple new songs I will be recording this weekend. I'll be posting them as soon as I can. :) :) :) :)

ALMOST THERE!

I've finally made progress on getting my song out! It has been difficult because of my technology-challenged mind, but I am slowly problem solving through the process and soon my song will be available! It makes me want to write more!

Israel, Egypt, Jordan

Here it is, my very first blog! My old roommates Katie and Sharla and I just returned from a tour of Israel, Egypt, and Jordan. I'm so grateful for the chance to go on a trip like this with good friends! The greatest highlights for me were the things I learned from the tour guides and from actually being in the places that I have only heard about my whole life--I'm excited to reread the New Testament and Jesus the Christ with a new perspective. The lowest point of the trip for me was forgetting not to use Egyptian tap water to brush my teeth and paying for that for about 3 days!

Beit Lehi (below right): Dr. Lund had obtained permission to hold sacrament meeting at the archeological site of a 500 A.D. chapel outside of Jerusalem. I felt the Spirit very strong there in our outdoor meeting as the personal nature of the atonement was discussed.

Climbing Mt. Sinai on a camel (below): The best way I can describe this experience was once in a lifetime--I only want to do it once in my lifetime! It was actually a very scary experience for me because my camel was very slow and caused me for a short time to be left alone with the camel boy on this scary mountain in the middle of the night. I decided I'm not a big fan of camels and that I love American mountains because they actually have vegetation!

Unwanted attention: I'm not sure if it was because we were American or what, but the three of us got much more male attention than we are used to getting. The men didn't waste any time in asking us out--usually within the first sentence or two of meeting, they would ask one of us if we wanted to go for drinks. One of the best pick up lines I heard was from an Egyptian teenager: shortly after meeting me, he told me, "I want to know you." Also an older Egyptian man tried to pull me to him and kiss me on the cheek about one second after meeting me.

Garden of Gethsemane: Dr. John Lund presented a devotional on the atonement. He discussed forgiveness and said that unwillingness to forgive is one of the most serious sins (D and C 64:9-11) and I felt a strong impression to get rid of any feelings of unforgiveness for others or for myself. Obviously there are times when anger is appropriate, but after the appropriate anger and grief, we can eventually find the sweet peace of forgiveness, and leave the judgement of others to the Lord. He said, "how many of your todays and tomorrows are you willing to give to your yesterdays?"

Islam and Judaism (right is a monument representing Islam, Judaism, and Christianity existing together in peace):There is still so much I don't know about these religions, but I have a much better understanding than I did before, and a higher level of interest. It is amazing to me that three such extremely different religions all claim Jerusalem as holy. I gained respect for the Muslim religion and now am saddened when I hear of the tainted view some non-Muslims have of this religion because of a relatively few number evil Muslim extremists. Some Muslims say that the worse thing ever to happen to their religion was Osama bin Laden.