May 15, 2012

How to... be the Next Pitbull/Daddy Yankee/Etc/Etc

This is hands down the FUNNIEST thing I've seen all day!

I know the image is kinda small, pero vale la pena tomar dos segundos to click on it (clicking makes it bigger), para que lo puedan leer bien! (**Note:  Please see the note about how to write the chorus. Best line of the whole chart!)

:D

Happy reggaeton-ing! Hee hee!


A Wedding

This is a belated post about a wedding -- Jane-Austen-fairy-tale-style.

Once upon a time, there lived a fair maiden. (Let's call her Eve.) In the same area, lived a young man. (We'll call him Erick.) Eve and Erick were good friends for two whole years, during which time they each searched high and low to find the respective love(s) of their life.

One day, a brilliant woman (let's call her Nancy) asked Erick if he'd ever thought of asking Eve out. He took up Nancy's suggestion and asked Eve on a date. And the rest is history.

After two years of being just friends, Erick and Eve dated and fell in love. And got married.



They celebrated at a barn in the mountains on a beautiful summer night (complete with a supermoon),




wonderful family and friends,





and, of course, cottillion-style dancing. We looked just like this:



Just kidding. We actually looked like this:


 

Happy (belated) wedding day, Erick and Eve! May you live happily ever after, and may all your dreams come true!

PS This post has made me realize that iPhone photos don't turn out so great. Maybe I should start using a real camera again? Nah!


May 14, 2012

My Mother's Bathroom

My mother's bathroom is a sacred place.

Mother's Bathroom image via here


In the bathroom, I watched my mom put on her makeup and get ready for the day. I would sit on top of the toilet seat and stare, thinking how pretty my mom was.

In the bathroom, I've helped my mom highlight her hair (and turned down her offers to highlight MY hair) many-a-time (you need help with foil or the cap and hook method? I'm your girl).

In the bathroom, my mom would give my sister and me baths and let us do silly things with the foam from Bathtime Fun Barbie.

In the bathroom, I've definitely played with my mom's makeup. And maybe I still do when I go home? You'd play with her makeup too, if you saw the eye shadow collection she has! And the shades of blush! (Lancôme Miel Glace really IS the perfect shade of peachy-pink.) And all those Juicy Tubes!

In the bathroom, my mom taught me about being a woman and what that meant as I got older. (Insert 13-year old giggle right here.)

In the bathroom, I watched my mom take care of three newborn babies. When the first of the boys was born, it became part of MY nightly ritual to help Mom bathe the baby and get him dressed and ready for the night. Watching her take care of these little babies is a special memory for me.

In the bathroom, I've had deep conversations with my mom (usually with one of us on either side of the door). 'Cuz it's small in there, duh.

In the bathroom, I've made many memories with my mom. But the reason my mother's bathroom is a sacred place is because it's where she taught us to pray.

In a house with five kids, two dogs, and a husband, my mother's bathroom was her sanctuary. Even now, when she has her own bedroom (my parents got divorced two years ago), her bathroom is still where she goes to pray. All of us know that the first thing Mom does in the morning is lock herself in the bathroom, so she has a bit of privacy for her morning check-in. If we call for her and we see the bathroom door is closed and she doesn't answer, she's either A- mad at you, or B- praying. (And first thing in the morning, it's usually praying. :D) She prays for me and for each one of my four siblings. She prays for success at work. She prays for help with her daily struggles. And she prays giving thanks to God for her many blessings.

Through her example and through her words, my mom taught us that God always answers our prayers, that He is always available to us via prayer, and that we must pray morning, noon, and night. Through applying in my own life what she taught me, I've learned for myself that everything she ever taught me about prayer is true.

I'm grateful for a mother who taught me to pray, because prayer strengthens me daily. I know God hears and answers our prayers ALWAYS. It may not be the answer we want or expect, but HE always answers, and as we follow the answers He gives us, we'll find peace, fulfillment, and JOY in our lives!

Thanks, Mom! :)

May 12, 2012

FINISHED!!

No more pencils, no more books...

Actually, I had neither of those this semester. I take a laptop to class, and used the Kindle app on my phone to read my textbook .

The point is...

SCHOOL IS OVER!!

(For a week and a half only, but let's not focus on that detail.)


This is how excited I am:




This weekend's gonna be great! :)

May 09, 2012

Evolving

Like President Obama, my views on gay marriage are still "evolving." Yesterday, North Carolina passed a state constitutional amendment that was extreme by any yardstick. Not only did it formally ban gay marriage from the state, it also banned any other sort of alternate arrangement (civil unions, domestic partnerships, etc.). (See my pre-summary of yesterday's NC primary here. (PS I wrote this on Monday.)) This made me feel outraged and absolutely incredulous. The implications of this amendment will be felt by people both gay and straight.

I've struggled for years to reconcile my faith with what I think I feel about gay marriage, but I always wonder...

If I support gay marriage,

  • Does this mean I'm going against the gospel?
  • Am I promoting that some people live a lower law? (Law of Moses vs. Law of Christ- type?)
  • Do I stand against the Church if I believe/support this?
  • What is the right thing to do???! (And what does this all mean for me as a Mormon Democrat??)

Here in Maryland, gay marriage will be on the ballot in November, and I feel pressure to formally pick a side. As a straight, LDS woman, I often struggle with dating and with thinking about if I'll ever get married. I can't imagine on top of that having the added measure of NOT being able to legally marry. And sure, gay people can technically still legally marry... Just not each other. My friend David (who is an openly gay, active Mormon) often asks me to think about how I would feel if someone told me I had to marry a woman, and he explains that's exactly the same way he feels about marrying a woman.

When I'm done with "finals," I'll share an article I'm working on about a conference I recently attended for LDS LGBT folks and their allies. (I meant to finish it a while ago, but school and job searching got in the way.) I'm not sure I should be sharing all of these rambling thoughts on the worldwide web, but, well, here they are. More to come, I guess...

For now, an interesting clip from Sunday's "Meet the Press" wherein VP Joe Biden discusses his personal views on gay marriage: