If there is one thing {I love} about Christmas......

It's the movies. :)

 I LOVE movies! :) as you all know. But Christmas movies seem to be that much more exciting! :) I see them every year and yet I bust a gut every time I watch them. :) Here are my favorites. I will start with

Number 6: Jingle All the Way.

This isn't the best Christmas movie ever, But i still like it. It has Arnold Schwarzenegger in it, and i still like it. :)

"They sit there and use subliminal messages to suck your children's' minds out! And I know what I'm talking about because I went to junior college for a semester and I studies psychology so I'm right in there, I know what's going on. They make the kids feel like garbage and you, the father, who's working 24/7 delivering mail so you can make an alimony payment to a woman that slept with everybody at the post office, but me! And then when you get the toy, it breaks and you can't fix it because it's little cheap plastic!"

"I'm not a pervert. I'm just looking for a Turbo Man Doll!"

Number 5:The Santa Clause Trilogy. :)
"This thing, you never know where it's been. A thousand malls! Well I hope you're happy, Comet. I hope you're happy, but most importantly, I hope the guy that lives here IS A TAILOR!"

"It is Santa. You Killed him!"

"The Santa Clause: In putting on the suit and entering the sleigh, the wearer waives any and all right to any previous identity, real or implied, and fully accepts the duties and responsibilities of Santa Claus, in perpetuity to which some time the wearer becomes unable to do so, by either accident or design."

"What about Santa's reindeer? Have you ever seen a reindeer fly?"

"Yes"

"Well, I haven't"

"Have you ever seen a million dollars?"
"No"

"Just because you cant see something, doesn't mean that it doesn't exist."

"Down the chimney? You want me to take the toys down the chimney into a strange house, IN MY UNDERWEAR?"

Number 4: The Grinch.
"What's that stench? It's fantastic!"

We're gonna die! We're gonna die! I'm going to throw up, and then I'm gonna die! Mommy, tell it to stop!"

"If you utter so much as one syllable, I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN AND GUT YOU LIKE A FISH! If you'd like to fax me, press the star key."

"And they'll feast, feast, feast, feast. They'll eat their who-pudding and rare who-roast beast. But that's something I just cannot stand in the least. Oh, no. I'M SPEAKING IN RHYME!"

"The nerve of those Whos. Inviting me down there- on such short notice! Even if I wanted to go my schedule wouldn't allow it. 4:00, Wallow in Self pity; 4:30, stare into the abyss; 5:00, solve world hunger, tell no one; 5:30, jazzercize; 6:30, dinner with me-I can't cancel that again; 7:00, wrestle with my self-loathing.... I'm booked. Of course, if I bump the loathing to 9, i could still be done in time to lay in bed, stare at the ceiling and slip slowly into madness. But what would I wear?"

Number 3: Elf.
"This place reminds me of Santa's Workshop! Expect it smells like mushrooms and everyone looks like they want to hurt me."

"Francisco! That's fun to say! Francisco.... Frannnncisco... Franciscooo."

"First we'll make snow angels for two hours, then we'll go ice skating, then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookidough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle."

"I'm sorry I ruined your lives, and crammed eleven cookies into the VCR."

"Son of a NUTcracker!"

"I'm a cotton-headed ninnymoggins!"

Number 2: A Christmas Story.

"The snap of a few sparks, a quick whiff of ozone, and the lamp blazed forth in unparalleled glory."

"The heavenly aroma still hung in the house. But it was gone, all gone! No turkey! No turkey sandwiches! No turkey salad! No turkey gravy! Turkey hash! Turkey a la king! Or gallons of turkey soup. Gone, ALL GONE!"

"Oh! The theme I've been waiting for all my life. Listen to this sentence: 'A Red Ryder BB Gun with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time." Poetry, Sheer Poetry, Ralph! an A+!"

"Oh, no! 'You'll shoot your eye out!'"

"Those Icicles have been known to kill people."

and...

Number 1: National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

"Every time Catherine revved up the microwave, I'd piss my pants and forget who I was for about half an hour or so."

"Burn some dust here. Eat my rubber."

"We're kicking off our fun old fashion family Christmas by heading out into the country in the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape and select the most important of Christmas Symbols."

"Hey, Kids, I heard on the news that an airline pilot spotted Santa's sleigh on its way in from New York City."

"You serious, Clark?"

"Oh, Eddie... If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am now."

"Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?"

"And why is the carpet all wet, *TODD*?" "I don't *KNOW*, Margo!"

"Hey Griswold. Where do you think you're gonna put a tree that big?"

"Bend over and I'll show you!"

"Oh, I was just smelling-smiling. I was just blouse-browsing. Well, I guess it just wouldn't be the Christmas shopping season if the store were any less hooter than they, HOTTER than they are."

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays.

Until Next Time..

Peace & Blessings.

{Reflections}

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we wrtie according to the prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

-2 Nephi 25:26

I'm pretty sure that i already told you this, but this semester I had the privilege of attending an Old Testament Institute class. One of the assignments that Sister Seamons gave us was a "Reflections of Christ Project." I'm not going to lie, initially, I wasn't going to do one. 

Then, one day I went to the Wednesday Devotional at the Institute and the musical number was a beautiful arrangement of "I Know that My Redeemer Lives."

I have always loved this song. Totally one of my favs. 

So then, I decided to do this.

Pretty much, I listed every reason why He lives from the song and put it on once piece of wood. 

Then on the back...

I wrote a scripture and a small testimony on each reason why He lives. 

And as I was doing this project, I realized something. It has always been easy for me to think of Jesus Christ as my Savior. I don't why, it just has. But, as I was doing this project, I realized for the first time, and thought of Him as my brother. 

I think that it is totally incredible, that I have a brother that loves me so much, that He would die for me. And live again to help me make it back to our Father in Heaven. 

I Know that my Redeemer Lives. 

I love Him.

I trust Him.

Until Next time...

Peace & Blessings. 

{No More Sad}

I know that it has been forever and a day since I have posted. For that, I am sorry. I guess you could say that I have been busy. But really, I've been lazy and not really doing anything that I used to do. 

I suppose that I am really far behind on catching you up, but there is not time for that today. Se-lave, right? So I think that I will just keep you updated on what has happened most recently. As you know, I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the most true and perfect thing out there!

As the Bible does, I'll start in the beginning. 

This semester in school, I signed up for an Old Testament class at institute. What was I thinking, right? I loathed the Old Testament. Why on earth would I intentionally sign up for this class? A few weeks into class, I began to ask myself that very question. On Tuesdays, I am at school forever! My first class (which happens to be another institute class) starts at 7:30am, my last class ends at 8:20pm. This Old Testament institute class with Sister Seamons is at 1:30pm. I must admit, I began to sluff this class, which makes no sense. Why not choose the 7:30am class to sluff? Don't even ask because, I honestly don't know. 

But, this is how I felt about that Old Testament!

VERY DANGEROUS!

A very long, and spiritual experience happened that caused me to return back to this class. 

I'm going to tell you a secret. 

I LOVE the Old Testament.

WHAAA???

Yeah, I know. It seems impossible for someones opinion on this book to change as quickly as it did for me. But, it did. The Old Testament is SO incredible. I also find it amazingly fun to read because things will happen where you'll say "WHAT IN THE DEVIL??" Many, many times has that happened in my personal study. But after thinking about it, the stories were amazing. Can you imagine being Jael, and be like "oh, you're lookin' for Sisera? He's in my tent, I nailed him to the ground!" Then there is the whole Ehud story; I could go on and on about these amazing acts of Faith and Trust in the Lord!

But, before I do that (because I could), I want to talk about one woman. Her name is Hannah.   

Yes, I did learn about this in my Institute Class yesterday. But, this is why you take the class, to love and learn the Old Testament. 

The story of Hannah is in the first chapter of 1 Samuel. To sum this story up. Hannah is a "sister wife" who hasn't had any children. Her husband's other wife basically mocks Hannah for not having children. So, Hannah goes to the temple and prays. The descriptive words they use to describe how she feels are incredible. "her adversary also provoked her sore", "she was in bitterness", "wept sore", & "poured out my soul before the Lord."

While she was in the temple Eli saw that her mouth was moving, but couldn't hear her words. So, his first thought, was that she was drunk. After asking her, he found out why she was so upset, and this is his promise to her. "Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him." WOW! He just promised her that her prayer was heard! Now, in the very next verse, is says "So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad."

In class, many were saying, "that is such great faith, because I would have to have ended up pregnant before I was happy." Which is true. This is a great example of faith. 

But here is my thought.

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ aren't afraid to put the words "Joy", "Happy", or "rejoiced" in the scriptures. I know this, because I have read them. But this says, that she was "No more sad".  So I began to think about my own life and the times where I have poured my heart and soul unto the Lord for the sadness that was hovering over me. Most of the time, the answer didn't come immediately after that heartfelt prayer. As a matter a fact, most of them were much later. But I can honestly tell you, that after I prayed to him, asking for help, that I was no longer sad. That isn't to say I was happy. But I was at peace. I was comforted. Because I knew that the Lord had heard my prayer. And that He could help through the rest of the hard days.  I know how hard this is. But I am so grateful that I can trust in the Lord. That I can lay my burdens at His feet and know He will help me stand back up. And that He will make things turn out the way they are supposed to. 

I love this Gospel. And I love the Old Testament.

Until next time..

Peace & Blessings! :)

Fairy Tales

"Didn't you know that all the fairy tales tell a lie? Real love, and real life doesn't have to be perfect."-Sara Evans.

Wow... December. That was an ultimate fail on my part. I've slacked on posting. Guess it's good we aren't all perfect, huh?

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about how we perceive life. How we think that it is supposed to go. We all should have friends who are chipmunks and a prince charming waiting on the other side of the door. It's funny though, these fairy tales all lie. Life isn't like that. Life is about learning, growing, and coming closer to God.  Why is it that none of us remember this? Because there isn't a movie about it. We go through life seeing how Hollywood portrays life. False advertising. 

To me, life is like Hills and Valleys. There are times when we are on top of the world, seeing all there is to see. Other times we feel that we are falling down the hill until we are in the pit of a valley. Trying to get out. The amazing part is that we always can. Have you ever thought about that? It doesn't matter how dig we deep, there is always a ladder that is long enough to get us out. It is amazing to me to see how I can bring myself back up, but never alone. I always have help along the way. This unseen force that it pushing me to grab on to the next wrung on the ladder until I finally reach the top. Sometimes the experience is great and the hill plateaus off so that I am on top of the world longer. 

These past couple weeks at work I have been working to bring my attitude back up to where it used to be. This battle has become easier and easier. I hope that all of you will find that desire and ambition to better yourself. It doesn't matter how far down you are. You can always get back up.

:) Food for thought! :)

Until Next time...

PeAcE & bLeSsInGs!!!!

 

Decisions.... Decisions...

"It is in the moment of decision that your destiny is shaped."-Tony Robbins

Why is it that there are not happy mediums in life? Why can't we make a decision and feel indifferent about it? When it comes to making decisions, once they are made you can either feel indefinitely happy about it, or, you can feel as if you made the worst decision on the planet. Why is this? Decisions are such a part of everyday life and each decision affects the rest of our life. If they are such a big deal, why can't some of them be easier to make?

Are the decisions that I have made life or death? No. But do they feel like it? Oh yes. This particular one has been difficult, but was one that needed to happen. I may end up regretting it later, but at least I had enough guts to go out and act on my decision, right? With everything going on, sometimes it is hard to know if your decisions really had enough thought put into them. But, the sad thing about decisions is that you have to live with them. Whether or not they are your friend. For now, I will trust that I have made the right decision. At least for now. :)

Until Next Time...

Peace & Blessings.

{Truth} :)

Over the past few days I have come to realize how much Truth I have in my life. Some of them were during spiritual classes, while others cam straight out of the blue. I will begin with this one.

I had a best friend in High School, which many of us do. After I graduated things seemed to change. It wasn't until yesterday that I realized that I have been in the wrong. I have been the one that hasn't been a true friend. The Lord was willing to finally just smack some sense into me. Telling me, wake up and humble yourself your prideful idiot. After some apologies, we are back to as we were. Situations may have changed, but our friendship never had. I am so eternally grateful for my Savior and Heavenly Father for helping realize how to bring back a friendship that i never should have lost.

Second, Institute was amazing yesterday. I have had the opportunity to take a class from one of my favorite Seminary Teachers. This lesson we found a talk that we loved from General Conference, then found a scripture and Hymn based off of it. This is what I picked.

Waiting Upon The Lord

Robert D. Hales

This is a quote that I loved from his talk.

"On this Sabbath morning, I express gratitude that "in my Gethsemane" and yours, we are not alone. He that watches over us "shall neither slumber nor sleep." His angels are here and beyond the veil are "round about [us], to bear [us] up.""

The scripture that i found is Alma 26:12 {found is the wrong word choice, it is actually one of my favorite scriptures.}

"Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things;.."

The Hymn that I chose is I Know that My Redeemer Lives

I know that my redeemer lives

What comfort this sweet sentence gives

He lives! He lives who once was dead

He lives! my ever-living friend.

He lives! To bless me with his love

He lives! To plead for me above

He Live! My hungry soul to feed

He lives! To bless in time of need

He lives! To grant me rich supply

He lives! To guide me with his light

He lives! To comfort me when faint

He lives! To hear my soul's complaint

He lives! To silence all my fears

He lives! To wipe away my tears

He lives! To calm my troubled heart

He lives! all blessings to impart

He lives, my kind, wise heav'nly Friend.

He lives and loves me to the end.

He lives, and while he lives, I'll sing.

He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King.

He lives and grants me daily breath.

He lives, and I shall conquer death.

He lives my mansion to prepare.

He lives to bring me safely there.

He lives! All glory to his name!

He lives, my Savior, still the same.

Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:

"I know that my redeemer lives!"

He lives! All glory to his name!

He lives, my Savior, still the same.

Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:

"I know that my Redeemer lives!"

I also remembered a poem that I thought went well with this idea.

The Little Blue Engine

By Shel Silverstein

The little blue engine looked up at the hill.

His light was weak, his whistle was shrill.

He was tired and small, and the hill was tall,

And his face blushed red as he softly said,

"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."

So he started up with a chug and a strain,

And he puffed and pulled with might and main.

And slowly he climbed, a foot at a time,

And his engine coughed as he whispered soft,

"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."

With a squeak and a creak and a toot and a sigh,

With an extra hope and an extra try,

He would not stop-now he neared the top-

And strong and proud he cried out loud,

"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."

He was almost there, when-CRASH! SMASH! BASH!

He slid down and mashed into engine hash

On the rocks below. . . which goes to show

If the track is tough and the hill is rough,

THINKING you can just ain't enough!

I know that I can do anything with the Lord, and that I can't, or shouldn't, do anything without him.

I am so grateful for all of the opportunities I have to grow spiritually. :)

Life is great isn't it? :)

Anyway,

Until Next time

Peace & Blessings!

{Time has passed... I must now fill you in.} :)

School seems to drain me. Hahaha. I guess I can fill you in on others books that I have read in that class. :) I don't even know what the last one was that I told you I read. But, I will tell you from where I think it was.
I read: Gunga Din-which is an essay that wasn't my favorite. I think that it has a good moral to the story, but, other than that I didn't really enjoy it. And I REALLY didn't like the movie. Worst movie ever, I would never recommend it!
I read: Banner in the Sky- This is actually a really good story considering that it is a children's book. :) It is a story about the first ascent of the Matterhorn. :) The movie is almost identical to the book. i really enjoyed this one and would probably recommend it. :)
I read: The Hound of Baskerville- this is one of the more popular Sherlock Holmes books. I really enjoyed it because he did a really good job at confusing you. Hahaha, you never really knew who the murderer was. The one thing that I didn't like was that I had a hard time not picturing Robert Downing Jr and Jude Law as I read the story. hahaha. The video that he had us watch was very good. :)
I read: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde-This was a very odd, yet very intriguing story. The whole personal personalities is so hard to follow. The movie that we watched for class added all of these women into the story which I really didn't like.
I have started but not finished, Frankenstein, Something the Lord Made, and A Christmas Carol. But I know that all of them are fabulous! I've read two already! :)
That sums up my schoolwork that I don't really care about! ;) hahah

One thing I haven't told most teacher is that one of my most beloved teachers was diagnosed with Cancer. :( It is really hard because I have had to have a replacement teacher. it isn't fun to try and get used to a new one. She will get through this though, i know it! :)

Right now I am celebrating Thanksgiving at my sister Kadee's house. It is super fun! She has an amazing house in Fullerton California. :)

This is all that i can think of that has bee happening in my life, I hope you all have a great rest of your Thanksgiving Break, i know I will! :)

Until Next Time
Peace & Blessings!!!! :)