With the exception of talking about Dan a little, I've tried to steer clear of personal stuff on this thing. This post might be another slight deviation from the plan, but a friend taught me a lesson yesterday that I'd thought I'd already learned. It was pretty good to be reminded of it and I wanted to try and pass it on to everybody else. So here goes.
Relationships are fluid becuase people are fluid. Everyone is changing and going in different directions and so it follows that their relationships will as well. It's ok when things change. You are a true friend when your actions are motivated by a true desire to see the other person doing what's best for them and being happy.
It's so funny to admit that I hadn't known all that before. I thought I did, but it was so understatedly shown to me yesterday that perhaps I didn't understand the meaning behind those words.
So to all my friends out there. Ones that I keep close to me and those that are farther away, I wish you all the best. I want you to be happy and to make the best decisions for yourself. Whether my presence in your life is big or small just know that I care about you and that I'm always worried for you. Thank you for being my friends.
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
A Little Pearl
So I stumbled across this poem today. Max Ehrmann is one of my favorite poets. He may not be the most noteworthy or the highest on the list of American Authors, but what he's written for the most part resonates with my heart. Desiderata is probably his most famous poem written and I like it, but there are many others I've found equally worthy. Anyway, here it is:
A Prayer
Let me do my work each day; and if the darkened hours of despair overcome me, may I not forget the strength that comforted me in the desolation of other times.
May I still remember the bright hours that found me walking over the silent hills of my childhood, or dreaming on the margin of a quiet river, when a light glowed within me, and I promised my early God to have courage amid the tempests of the changing years.
Spare me from bitterness and from the sharp passions of unguarded moments. May I not forget that poverty and riches are of the spirit. Though the world knows me not, may my thoughts and actions be such as shall keep me friendly with myself.
Lift up my eyes from the earth, and let me not forget the uses of the stars. Forbid that I should judge others lest I condemn myself. Let me not follow the clamor of the world, but walk calmly in my path.
Give me a few friends who will love me for what I am; and keep ever burning before my vagrant steps the kindly light of hope.
And though age and infirmity overtake me, and I come not within sight of the castle of my dreams, teach me still to be thankful for life, and for time's olden memories that are good and sweet; and may the evening's twilight find me gentle still.
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
A Prayer
Let me do my work each day; and if the darkened hours of despair overcome me, may I not forget the strength that comforted me in the desolation of other times.
May I still remember the bright hours that found me walking over the silent hills of my childhood, or dreaming on the margin of a quiet river, when a light glowed within me, and I promised my early God to have courage amid the tempests of the changing years.
Spare me from bitterness and from the sharp passions of unguarded moments. May I not forget that poverty and riches are of the spirit. Though the world knows me not, may my thoughts and actions be such as shall keep me friendly with myself.
Lift up my eyes from the earth, and let me not forget the uses of the stars. Forbid that I should judge others lest I condemn myself. Let me not follow the clamor of the world, but walk calmly in my path.
Give me a few friends who will love me for what I am; and keep ever burning before my vagrant steps the kindly light of hope.
And though age and infirmity overtake me, and I come not within sight of the castle of my dreams, teach me still to be thankful for life, and for time's olden memories that are good and sweet; and may the evening's twilight find me gentle still.
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Flour Explosions
I've had a lot to do with flour in my life. Here are two recent incidents with flour in my life:
1) Last night for FHE we had a flour war. It was awesome. At first we played by the rules with these little bags of flour in nylons. When you hit someone with them they would make a mark on you and then you were dead. It was pretty cool because we could just use the nylon flour balls over and over. But our FHE dad bought a 20 lb bag of flour to fill up 13 little nylon bags. Needless to say he had a ton of flour left over. In the end that flour bag was empty and everyone was covered in flour. We were so sneeky and we got our FHE dad wet too so the flour truned into paste. It was pretty cool. The only bad part was that I got a hand full of flour right into my eyeball. Yes, my eye was open and now it's all red. Kinda gross, but worth the fun.
2) Last week my class went on a field trip to Deseret Mills flour milling company. It was really cool to go there and see how flour is made. My mom used to grind her own wheat occasionally when I was little. Then she would make bread out of it. When she did it a distinct smell would permeate the whole house. I loved it. When we walked into the "roller room" where the flour is actually ground that smell was everywhere. I was in heaven. Anyway, the whole mill has hardwood flooring and is kept pretty clean. I thought that was just to ensure clean flour. Aparently this is not the case. I found out that flour mills are pretty dangerous because they are suseptable to getting burned down. The question in my mind was, how could this be? I'm sure you are all wondering the same thing. Well here's your answer. Flour is made from the endosperm of the wheat kernel which is very high in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates (ie. sugars) are very flamable substances. If or really when the flour gets in the air it has a big supply of oxygen. One little spark say from a maching and......KABOOM, the whole place explodes! Amazing. So how do you ask, do they prevent this from happening? They keep the place very, very clean.
So anyway, just incase you wanted to know. Flour is AWESOME.
1) Last night for FHE we had a flour war. It was awesome. At first we played by the rules with these little bags of flour in nylons. When you hit someone with them they would make a mark on you and then you were dead. It was pretty cool because we could just use the nylon flour balls over and over. But our FHE dad bought a 20 lb bag of flour to fill up 13 little nylon bags. Needless to say he had a ton of flour left over. In the end that flour bag was empty and everyone was covered in flour. We were so sneeky and we got our FHE dad wet too so the flour truned into paste. It was pretty cool. The only bad part was that I got a hand full of flour right into my eyeball. Yes, my eye was open and now it's all red. Kinda gross, but worth the fun.
2) Last week my class went on a field trip to Deseret Mills flour milling company. It was really cool to go there and see how flour is made. My mom used to grind her own wheat occasionally when I was little. Then she would make bread out of it. When she did it a distinct smell would permeate the whole house. I loved it. When we walked into the "roller room" where the flour is actually ground that smell was everywhere. I was in heaven. Anyway, the whole mill has hardwood flooring and is kept pretty clean. I thought that was just to ensure clean flour. Aparently this is not the case. I found out that flour mills are pretty dangerous because they are suseptable to getting burned down. The question in my mind was, how could this be? I'm sure you are all wondering the same thing. Well here's your answer. Flour is made from the endosperm of the wheat kernel which is very high in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates (ie. sugars) are very flamable substances. If or really when the flour gets in the air it has a big supply of oxygen. One little spark say from a maching and......KABOOM, the whole place explodes! Amazing. So how do you ask, do they prevent this from happening? They keep the place very, very clean.
So anyway, just incase you wanted to know. Flour is AWESOME.
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Car Accidents, Brain Tumors, Death
So in my family, if you get a headache it's quite possible that it's a brain tumor. If you don't hear from someone it's prefectly logical that they got in a car accident. Death is not out of the realm of possibility. Well, actually only two of those three have ever actually HAPPENED before, but that doesn't stop my mind from jumping to those conclusions. One time, when my mom was out later than I thought she should be at night I was almost in hysterics when she got home. I know this makes me sound neurotic, but I'm just telling the truth. In my family as long as I can remember the rule has been that when you're traveling you call and tell the people you left that you made it ok. Also, you call mom to tell her you made it ok. She worries, it's just better that way. That's ALWAYS been the rule.
So all of this preamble is for a story about Dan. The other day he drove from one side of Washington to the other by himself. I was expecting him to finish driving at about 8PM. That's when I also (as previously mentioned in the rules for travel in my family) expected him to call me and tell me he arrived ok. The call never came. At 10PM I decided that I would call him, just to make sure he was ok. Nobody answered the phone. I was a little distressed about this, but I didn't worry too much. Then at 11PM I called again. No answer. At this point my mind automatically jumps to all the irrational possibilities that could have happened to keep him from answering the phone. Again, I realize that I'm neurotic, but that's how my mind works.
So anyway, I finally just have to go to bed because I have class in the morning. I'm seriously worried about him the next morning. Then I'm mad at him for not having called and then I feel bad for being mad at him in case he really DID get in an accident and is in some hospital somewhere. I got a message later that afternoon from Dan that said he just forgot to call and tell me he was ok. HE FORGOT! At first I was a little upset about this. Then I realized that his family might not have the same rules as mine does so I just let it drop. I hope from the nine zillion messages I left on his phone he realizes this is a big deal for me and doesn't forget again. That night was way stressful for me.
So all of this preamble is for a story about Dan. The other day he drove from one side of Washington to the other by himself. I was expecting him to finish driving at about 8PM. That's when I also (as previously mentioned in the rules for travel in my family) expected him to call me and tell me he arrived ok. The call never came. At 10PM I decided that I would call him, just to make sure he was ok. Nobody answered the phone. I was a little distressed about this, but I didn't worry too much. Then at 11PM I called again. No answer. At this point my mind automatically jumps to all the irrational possibilities that could have happened to keep him from answering the phone. Again, I realize that I'm neurotic, but that's how my mind works.
So anyway, I finally just have to go to bed because I have class in the morning. I'm seriously worried about him the next morning. Then I'm mad at him for not having called and then I feel bad for being mad at him in case he really DID get in an accident and is in some hospital somewhere. I got a message later that afternoon from Dan that said he just forgot to call and tell me he was ok. HE FORGOT! At first I was a little upset about this. Then I realized that his family might not have the same rules as mine does so I just let it drop. I hope from the nine zillion messages I left on his phone he realizes this is a big deal for me and doesn't forget again. That night was way stressful for me.
Monday, September 20, 2004
The Egg Drop Soup Miracle
So this morning I had to get up early to do my homework for classes. It was rough, but I did it. Then I went to class. I am totally stressed about my chemistry class. I have a test that I'm probably going to be taking friday night for it and I am so far behind. I don't think I'll be able to catch up right now. Oh well, that's what I get for practically taking a week off of classes. After Chemistry I went to my stat lab. I can't stand being in classes with people that are slow. I mean I should be more patient because sometimes I'm the slow one in the class, but some of the kids in this class couldn't even follow the directions for opening crunchit. These were step by step kinda instructions and they couldn't figure it out. Also, one of the kids in there is taking the class for the THIRD time! I was pretty frustrated. Maybe it was because I was tired and hungry though. (Just so you don't freak out Mom, I had an apple and cottage cheese and toast for breakfast.) So I was walking home and thinking about what I wanted to make myself for lunch and I was just so sad because I didn't want to cook for just myself. Then I came home and witnessed a miracle!
My roommate Heather made egg drop soup and left some in the fridge for me with a note on it. I was so happy! I really do have one of the best people to live with ever! She's so thoughtful. I need to be more like her. Anyway, thanks Heath!
My roommate Heather made egg drop soup and left some in the fridge for me with a note on it. I was so happy! I really do have one of the best people to live with ever! She's so thoughtful. I need to be more like her. Anyway, thanks Heath!
Sunday, September 19, 2004
So nothing about classes
Nobody wanted to comment on frogger? Oh well, I guess drama is always more interesting than someone almost getting hit by a car.
As for my boyfriend, his name is Dan Whiting and I'm really glad that my sister likes him. He was here all last week and his plane flight just took off 36 minutes ago. Right now I'm kinda depressed, but that's to be expected. It turns out that this week was great! I didn't really do anything in my classes, so that's why this post doesn't have anything to do with my classes.
So my sister has told me many times, "Never have a long distance relationship." She's right. People told me this summer that this coming year would be hard without Dan here. I thought, yeah, of course it'll be hard, but I'm strong, I can make it. Plus, I love my major and what I'm doing at school. I'll be fine. Well, I don't think anyone that hasn't tried it will be able to know how hard it really is. I made a rule for myself that I wont cry when I'm saying goodbye to him. That's a super hard rule to live by. But I did it again this time. I also cried all the way home this time too.
I don't know what you all would like to know about this kid, or even if anyone cares anymore. I've probably bored everyone around me with details about him. Here are a few that I recently picked up. While on his mission he and another missionary got a hold of a broom. He said to the other one, "Hey let me hit you with this." And the other kid said, "ok." So he did! Wow, 19-21 year old boys are SO SMART! What was the thinking behind that one?
Well, I guess that's it for tonight. I have so much work to get done just for this week. I'm so behind in my schoolwork. Oh well, c'est la vie!
As for my boyfriend, his name is Dan Whiting and I'm really glad that my sister likes him. He was here all last week and his plane flight just took off 36 minutes ago. Right now I'm kinda depressed, but that's to be expected. It turns out that this week was great! I didn't really do anything in my classes, so that's why this post doesn't have anything to do with my classes.
So my sister has told me many times, "Never have a long distance relationship." She's right. People told me this summer that this coming year would be hard without Dan here. I thought, yeah, of course it'll be hard, but I'm strong, I can make it. Plus, I love my major and what I'm doing at school. I'll be fine. Well, I don't think anyone that hasn't tried it will be able to know how hard it really is. I made a rule for myself that I wont cry when I'm saying goodbye to him. That's a super hard rule to live by. But I did it again this time. I also cried all the way home this time too.
I don't know what you all would like to know about this kid, or even if anyone cares anymore. I've probably bored everyone around me with details about him. Here are a few that I recently picked up. While on his mission he and another missionary got a hold of a broom. He said to the other one, "Hey let me hit you with this." And the other kid said, "ok." So he did! Wow, 19-21 year old boys are SO SMART! What was the thinking behind that one?
Well, I guess that's it for tonight. I have so much work to get done just for this week. I'm so behind in my schoolwork. Oh well, c'est la vie!
Saturday, September 11, 2004
Frogger, Homework, and a Surprise!
So I was hit by a car when I was in the fifth grade. I went to the hospital and was out of school for about two weeks. This has been a defining moment in my life. People think I should have gotten over my fear of crossing the street and getting hit by a car. I haven't yet and I probably wont. I remember being in all that pain and I'd rather not do it again. I do NOT like to cross the street outside of those little white lines of security and I definitely don't cross the street when the red hand is showing us the warning that "you will get hit if you cross now." (At least that's what the red hand means to me.) With all this in mind let me just say that I live two blocks south of the BYU campus. This means that I have to cross two pretty busy streets to get to campus. I feel like everyday I am in my own personal game of frogger. None of the people driving their cars on those two streets are ever paying attention to what they're doing. (This is my personal feeling about all drivers in the United States. They're doing and/or thinking about too many other things while driving.) At any rate they're not looking to see if someone is going to be crossing. If you just step out in front of one assuming they'll stop you'd be wrong. A couple of days ago this theory was proven correct. I saw someone almost DIE trying to cross 800N. He stepped out assuming that the right of way protection that those little white lines gave him would keep him safe, but he was WRONG! He realized that a car on the street did not in fact see him and so he had to run back to the sidewalk. I'm sure he saw his life flash before his eyes. He obviously never played frogger as a kid.
My second subject is homework. I have spent approximately ALL DAY SATURDAY doing homework. I have an estimated 3-4 hours of homework left. How crazy is this?! Sometimes I'd rather give up and decide that I'm not doing school anymore. On the plus side I'm going to get 100% on my second quiz of my organic chemistry class. That's pretty exciting. I'm off to a great start!
Surprise! My boyfriend is coming on Monday! I am so excited. I have been counting down the days on this blackboard in my apartment for about a week now. I'm so girly I can't even stand it, but I haven't seen him in three weeks and I miss him so much. Things with him and me for this school year will be pretty rocky since he's going to be in Oregon and I'll be in Utah. I hope I'll be able to go the whole year and get pretty good grades. That's really my goal for the year. Just make it through with pretty good grades. High aspirations huh? Yeah, I'm awesome.
My second subject is homework. I have spent approximately ALL DAY SATURDAY doing homework. I have an estimated 3-4 hours of homework left. How crazy is this?! Sometimes I'd rather give up and decide that I'm not doing school anymore. On the plus side I'm going to get 100% on my second quiz of my organic chemistry class. That's pretty exciting. I'm off to a great start!
Surprise! My boyfriend is coming on Monday! I am so excited. I have been counting down the days on this blackboard in my apartment for about a week now. I'm so girly I can't even stand it, but I haven't seen him in three weeks and I miss him so much. Things with him and me for this school year will be pretty rocky since he's going to be in Oregon and I'll be in Utah. I hope I'll be able to go the whole year and get pretty good grades. That's really my goal for the year. Just make it through with pretty good grades. High aspirations huh? Yeah, I'm awesome.
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Water
Ok, so water is officially the coolest thing EVER! Well, maybe not.
Anyway, in one of my classes we go to different places around Utah that have to do with food. Today we went to the Utah Valley Water Treatment Plant. At first I thought this field trip would be lame because it's just to go see water. Well let me tell you, it is not! They went through and showed us all the things they do to purify the water that they get out of the Deer Creek Reservoir. First of all it made me think more about people that go boating on that reservoir. That doesn't sound like things I want in my drinking water. (Don't worry the genius that thought up the filtration and purification system figured out how to make sure it's not in our water.) My favorite part of the tour was when they showed us how they filter the water. They don't just use regular filters, which is what I always imagined they did. No, no, no my friend! They use Anthracite Coal! I know that probably none of you care about this, so I'm not going to go into all the steps of water treatment, but we saw when they cleaned the filter and it was AMAZING!
One other thing I have to mention. The water treatment plant has the safest water supply around. They use these things called daphnae (I'm not sure how to spell that) which are little water fleas and they pump their water through the container that they live in and if the daphnae start jumping all over the place and moving erractically then they test the water for toxins. Also, they have this fish tank that is partly partitioned into two spaces. The fish can easily swim to either side, but one side is smaller than the other and also without folliage. So the water is pumped through one side and then has a 15 minute delay being pumped to the smaller side. If all the fish swim over into the delay side then they know somethings up with the water. PS. Fish are VERY SENSITIVE to toxins. Oh man, this plant was so amazing and I've only told you all two things about it! I know that this probably isn't the most entertaining thing for all of you, but I thought it was cool so I wrote about it. Hope you enjoyed it!
One last thing is my new cool word I learned today:
flocculation.
It not only sounds cool and is fun to say, but it's a pretty interesting process as it turns out.
Anyway, in one of my classes we go to different places around Utah that have to do with food. Today we went to the Utah Valley Water Treatment Plant. At first I thought this field trip would be lame because it's just to go see water. Well let me tell you, it is not! They went through and showed us all the things they do to purify the water that they get out of the Deer Creek Reservoir. First of all it made me think more about people that go boating on that reservoir. That doesn't sound like things I want in my drinking water. (Don't worry the genius that thought up the filtration and purification system figured out how to make sure it's not in our water.) My favorite part of the tour was when they showed us how they filter the water. They don't just use regular filters, which is what I always imagined they did. No, no, no my friend! They use Anthracite Coal! I know that probably none of you care about this, so I'm not going to go into all the steps of water treatment, but we saw when they cleaned the filter and it was AMAZING!
One other thing I have to mention. The water treatment plant has the safest water supply around. They use these things called daphnae (I'm not sure how to spell that) which are little water fleas and they pump their water through the container that they live in and if the daphnae start jumping all over the place and moving erractically then they test the water for toxins. Also, they have this fish tank that is partly partitioned into two spaces. The fish can easily swim to either side, but one side is smaller than the other and also without folliage. So the water is pumped through one side and then has a 15 minute delay being pumped to the smaller side. If all the fish swim over into the delay side then they know somethings up with the water. PS. Fish are VERY SENSITIVE to toxins. Oh man, this plant was so amazing and I've only told you all two things about it! I know that this probably isn't the most entertaining thing for all of you, but I thought it was cool so I wrote about it. Hope you enjoyed it!
One last thing is my new cool word I learned today:
flocculation.
It not only sounds cool and is fun to say, but it's a pretty interesting process as it turns out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
