FaceTime

I am defintely grateful for the invention of face time. It is simple and easy, and from my experience isn't as painful getting started like skype and google hang out.

 

This is my little brother showing my husband and I his toy truck! :)

This is a screen shot of when I was face timing with my family when my mom was getting a 3-D ultrasound of my soon to be newest little brother.

I am grateful that I can still be part of my family in these fun moments even though I am across the country. :)

I Am a Princess, and so are You

My media teacher showed this video in a lecture she gave about the effect Disney Princesses could have on little girls. Really interesting findings. I probably will post about that later. I don't know why, but I just seem to always cry when I watch this video. It touches a part of my soul. Maybe it's because I know that I really am a princess...for my Father is a King...the King in heaven. "Long may I rein" in kindness, compassion, empathy, service, love, etc.

 

We are all princesses and princes. Don't you ever forget it. :)

Thanks Disney.

I Told My Kid I Ate All Their Halloween Candy

Yesterday Kirk told me that Jimmy Kimmel had parents tell their kids they ate their candy again. He did this last year and it was pretty funny! This year's is awesome too. Especially the kids at the end of the video. After watching it I decided that I wanted to be more like the kids at the end of the video. In life surprises happen all the time that stink, but the way we react to them can tell people a lot about us. I want to know the parents' secret for how their kids are already so sweet at such a young age. (I know part of it is due to temperament though...) Haha. Enjoy! :)

Studio C - Want to laugh?

I am sure I'm like a lot of you out there that love to watch entertainment that makes you laugh. My new found source of media that makes me laugh so hard is Studio C. You can find their videos on byutv.org or their YouTube channel. I have to say it is one of my favorite things ever! :) They are currently posting a new episode each Monday. 

Here are a few of my favorites:

ECON 101

P90X

Blind Date

Wedding Announcements!

It's that time of year! Many are getting married over Thanksgiving weekend and many more are getting married over Christmas break including two very good friends.

I have known Gillian since I was eight years old and we have been friends ever since! We have laughed together and cried together and have made music videos together! (if you are friends with me on facebook you can see this music video.) ;) I am so excited to share one of the most amazing days of her life with her! I am so happy she found the man she wants to spend eternity with!

Melissa and I met briefly in our ward on the Sunday before we both flew out to go to our first year of college. (Her family had barely moved into the ward.) We both wished each other luck at college and that was it. But then we started hanging out over Christmas holidays and the summer. It was so fun! I really enjoyed getting to know her. I am also so happy that she has found the man of her dreams! (Can't wait to meet him!)

Anyways, wedding announcements are so fun! Classic form of media when you are getting married. :)

BRAVE

Yesterday my Media teacher, Dr. Coyne, mentioned the movie BRAVE a couple of times and how much she loved it. Kirk and I have been meaning to go to the dollar theater and watch it, but just haven't gotten around to it. After hearing here talk about it multiple times I was dying to go see it. So, last night at 7:30pm Kirk and I decided to see the 7:30 showing. We finished eating quickly and ran out the door. We got there with time to spare and enjoyed some of the previews (see below).

Anyways, the movie started and I was so excited. My teacher mentioned in class that she had debated taking her four year old daughter because there are some scary bear scenes and it was suggested that under seven years old shouldn't see it (click here), but she said her daughter had no problem with the bear. I learned from this though that I am a big wimp! Haha. I already knew I was, but I will admit that I got scared with every scary bear scene. This just might be because I get so into movies (I literally emerge myself in the movie as I watch them) that I imagine everything is happening to me. It was all I could do to "whisper" at the screen telling the characters what to do and to run, etc! (Yes, I am one of those people that talk to the movie...sorry!) Well, the movie was great! Intense! But great! Haha. 

Through Heaven's Eyes

This is one of my new favorite songs! Especially when it is sung by Brian Stokes Mitchell. I was reintroduced to this song by my coworker when I told him about how the Mormon Tabernacle Choir just joined YouTube officially on October 30! We also put our names into the drawing for the Christmas concert they do each year a month or so ago, but unfortunately I wasn't chosen...and he doesn't know if he got them. Haha. Oh well. I think I am going to go try and get in by doing stand-by.

 

 

A single thread in a tapestry
Through its color brightly shine
Can never see its purpose
In the pattern of the grand design

And the stone that sits on the very top
Of the mountains mighty face
Does it think its more important
Than the stones that form the base?

So how can you see what your life is worth
Or where your value lies?
You can never see through the eyes of man
You must look at your life

Look at your life through heavens eyes

Lai-la-lai...

 

A lake of gold in the desert sand
Is less than a cool fresh spring
And to one lost sheep, a shepherd boy
Is greater than the richest king
If a man lose everything he owns
Has he truly lost his worth?
Or is it the beginning
Of a new and brighter birth?

So how do you measure the worth of a man
In wealth or strength or size?
In how much he gained or how much he gave?
The answer will come
The answer will come to him who tries
To look at his life through heavens eyes
And thats why we share all we have with you
Though theres little to be found
When all youve got is nothing
Theres a lot to go around
No life can escape being blown about
By the winds of change and chance
And though you never know all the steps
You must learn to join the dance
You must learn to join the dance
Lai-la-lai...

So how do you judge what a man is worth
By what he builds or buys?
You can never see with your eyes on earth
Look through heavens eyes
Look at your life
Look at your life
Look at your life through heaven's eyes

I am so grateful for YouTube. :)

Also, here is a youtube video of President Thomas S. Monson welcoming the choir to the YouTube world! So neat!

Violent Video Game Supreme Court Argument

This past Thursday our whole media class reenacted the violent video game Supreme Court argument. We were all assigned a part on Tuesday and then came to class prepared to act out our part. I was a lawyer. Let's just say I am so glad I am not ever going to be a lawyer. Haha. I texted my cousin Taylor who actually wants to be a lawyer (& is going to BYU Law School right now) and begged for help. He gave me some quick pointers through text that were helpful. :)

This is part my class all dressed up for the court. 

I defended the side for "Protection of Minors" [make a law that minors cannot purchase (M)ature rated video games] and asked a witness (mine was Arnold Schwarzenegger...who was played by Cami Whitaker) from that side questions. I also cross-examined the other side called "Freedom of Speech". It was nerve racking! I had to read and prepare questions for both witnesses. I had two minutes to ask questions to each. Craziness.

Unfortunately the judges decided to go with the "Freedom of Speech" side. This is also how the real supreme court ruled. You can hear some of the real discussion by clicking here. 

Family Photo Time!

A couple Sunday's ago my husband and I had the opportunity to take pictures of our neighbors. I actually work with Jeff (the dad) as well. We had so much fun and the pictures turned out really well. I love capturing these moments for people so that they can have them and look back at that time with fondness. I will have to say again that taking pictures is one of my favorite forms of media to create. 

The Flex Belt

For my group project we decided to look at commercials randomly selected from different TV channels and code for how parental figures are portrayed in the commercials we see. Last night I watched two hours of commercials (for the project). Thankfully it went by fast. Now, I just wanted to share one of the interesting commercials that I saw.

The Flex Belt....apparently is an ab workout that is EFFORTLESS. Haha. When I told this to my husband he said, "Exercise isn't supposed to be easy!" Maybe an ab workout can be though? Who knows. Personally I think the ab workouts are so painful! I almost die every time I do them. The advertisement that I saw was pretty convincing though! :) 

Lost Without a Phone

On Tuesday forgot to charge my iPhone, so by the end of the day it died sadly. After school I had to run to Smith's before going home though. I thought I totally knew where Smith's was, but apparently not. If my phone was on I probably would have googled where Smith's was and it would have given me directions straight to it. Instead, I had to think...haha. I was so proud of myself when I found Smith's a few minutes later. 

Another thing I noticed when my phone was off is that I had no idea what time it was when I was in the store...or anywhere else for that matter. (I'm not a watch girl.) I had a deadline that I needed to get home for, but I couldn't easily look at my phone to see what time it was.

It's crazy the things you realize when you are "separated" from something you use so frequently for a lot of things. :)

It's Cool to Have a Kid While in School!

For my media class my group had to make a 30-45 second advertisement that had to do with any family related issue. A couple weeks ago we talked about advertisements and the six facets they need to include if people are going to watch them.

The six facets are:
1) Perception (is the advertisement attention getting?)
2) Emotional/affective (does the advertisement stimulate wants. touches the emotions, or elicits feelings?)
3) Cognitive (does the advertisement explain what it will do for the consumer?)
4) Association (is the "product" transformed into something special?)
5) Persuasion (is the advertisement compelling and persuasive?)
6) Behavior (does the advertisement make the viewer want to take some action?)

-Creativity (not one of the facets, but important)

I would encourage you to remember these as you watch commercials. It is really interesting to see what people do with commercials and how much they try and get us to watch them!

Hike & Light the Y

One form of media is flyers! This form of media can be very informative. I work as a secretary and see many flyers come to our department. I love that it informs me of the activities going on and the sales that are happening around campus! One flyer that I was particularly excited to see was the one that said "Hike and Light the Y!" I had never done this before so Kirk and I made it a priority to go!

 

I am so happy we went! We even saw Cosmo there! We were able to screw in the light bulb located on the right side of the Y. (Where the red dot is on the Y below.)

 

 

Gooooooo Cougars!

MissRepresentation

In class on Thursday we watched part of a documentary about how women are misrepresented. It was heavily edited, but still did a very thorough job about proving a point. Women definitely have a lot to try and live up to if they are basing their image and self worth on what the media says it should be based on. The truth of the matter is the media portrays women that do NOT exist.

 

Last week in my Human Development class my teacher talked about how so many girls have eating disorders these days because of all the pressure of what they should look like. My teacher told us to NEVER be the reason someone starts an eating disorder. He said after he gave this lecture a few years ago one of his female students met with him and told him that she remembers very clearly the day she started her eating disorder. She was thirteen. Her dad sat down and had a talk with her and said something to the effect of, "If you want to make your future husband happy, don't ever get as fat as your mom."



 

You might think this picture above is photo-shopped. It actually isn't. This is a real girl that went through plastic surgery all over her body to make herself literally look like Barbie. Don't go searching for her on the web because a lot of immodest pictures will come up. It is just so sad though.

 

 

Our bodies are temples. They may be imperfect at the moment, but that is what we are...imperfect human beings learning and tyring to become perfect. We just have to do our best at taking care of our bodies (and spirits) and the Lord will help us with the rest.

 

Favorite Childhood Book

This week I had an assignment in my class to write about my favorite book as a child and then tell why this book was my favorite and what impact it had on my life. Enjoy!

My favorite book as a child is called The Little House. This book tells a story of a little house that was built out in the country on a beautiful green hill. The man who built it lived there with his family and this house was passed on from one generation to the next until finally no one wanted to live in the little house because it was out in the middle of nowhere. Eventually the city started to build around the little house and it just sat there abandoned. Finally, one of the descendants of the man who built the house came and moved the house with a truck back out into the country where they lived in it and the house was loved again. 

 I’m not sure that I have one specific reason why I loved The Little House book growing up, but I think I liked it because it displayed this little piece of heaven for the families who lived in the house and I loved seeing that. I of course didn't like how the house was forgotten, so I loved how the ending was happy and that the descendants were able to come and get the house again and make it happy. As I have been thinking about the impact this book might have had on my life I have had to chuckle to myself because this book focuses a lot on the little house’s feelings, but it doesn't talk about why the people might have left the house. All growing up I was very aware of things and that they might have feelings…so maybe this spurred from this book. I’m not sure. All I know is that when I drive past old houses I hope that they are being taken care of by their new owners.

Media Spreads FAST

This will be a quick post, but I was just thinking about this the other day. 

1. My coworker showed me this new crazy video that was apparently getting really popular. I thought it was pretty weird and then just forgot about it.

2. My husband and I were at a BYU football game and the song from the music video came on and everyone starting doing the dance that was in the music video. My husband hadn't heard or seen this music video and was so confused why everyone was doing a dance to this song he had never heard. I told him it was weird and to not look it up (immodest girls galore on it).

3. I was driving to work listening to the radio and this song from the music video came on. I thought about how I was introduced to it and then saw what this media had done to tons of BYU fans in the football stadium because it is the new "popular" music video on the market. Again. I stand by my statement...weird...and not all the way appropriate. 

4. My conclusion: Media can spread SO FAST! Both good things....and not so good things. 

Halloween is Approaching

Last weekend I had the opportunity to carve TONS of pumpkins for my "side" job. 

CLAS Ropes Course invited all their employees and spouses to come out and carve lots of pumpkins for their Halloween Cruise. The pumpkins will be placed along the Provo River for our guests to look at while they are on the cruise! How fun! The "cruise" will last all through the month of October! It's a great date idea...and it's family friendly! You should check it out!

These are all the pumpkins Kirk and I carved!

Anyways, after doing this Halloween activity it got me thinking of all the festivities that come along with this holiday...especially scary movies. I am one of those people that do not like scary things...whether it be a friend wearing a freaky mask or watching a scary movie...I just don't like any of it, no matter what the season. I can handle the "kids Halloween shows" though. :)

I am so proud of my witch feet! I can't wait to see what they look like when they're lit!

Just a taste of how many our group did in a couple hours. :)

Harry Potter ~ Memory Lane

This past week Kirk and I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone because my media teacher showed me a clip from it in class. I was just craving to watch it after that. It was so fun to travel down memory lane while watching the very young Harry Potter cast. That was probably my favorite part. They were just so YOUNG!

 

 I am not one of those "crazy" ;) Harry Potter fans, but I did read all the books and watch all the movies. Kirk and I actually went on a date to the midnight showing of the very last Harry Potter movie. Haha, good times.

 

 I love the media class that I am in! It is so cool how it makes me think about the media in my life. Media is awesome.

 

 

Adam fell that men might be Happy

Last night Kirk gave our family home evening lesson. The lesson he taught was so great that I wanted to share it with you. It can change your life forever. He taught it from one of the greatest forms of media; The Book of Mormon. 

We read 2Nephi 2:25-26. These verses say: 

Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and to not be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.

 We are to act and not be acted upon. We are free forever to choose how we will act to situations in life. This is such an amazing blessing that I think we as imperfect beings tend to forget. Life can get pretty difficult sometimes. One thing that I think will help us as we deal with trials, struggles, pain, etc. is to stop and think, "Is this something I had control over...or not." If we had no control over the situation, we needn't work ourselves up in a frenzy...we can still choose to be happy despite our predicament. Of course even if we didn't have control over the situation, it still stinks, BUT we can say to ourselves "I did what I had power to do" and leave it at that and not let our "natural man" (Mosiah 3:19) carry us away into a state we know we don't want to be in. 

I am so grateful I have a loving husband to remind me of such a profound lesson that I hope to never forget again. I love the scriptures. I love the gospel. I love my husband. 

The end. 

Diamond Rings

The other day I had my Human Development class. Dani Ruiz, my new friend, was sitting on my right as usual. She was looking at rings (for fun) online and of course I took the opportunity to "show and tell" her about my ring. :)

Kirk designed my ring from scratch. The only characteristic I told him I wanted my ring(s) to have was this: I wanted the wedding band to slip through the middle of my engagement ring. I saw this sort of design once a couple years ago and absoultely fell in love with the idea. He did an absolutely amazing job and surprised me with the outcome.

                                           Kirk surprised me and put 10 diamonds evenly spaced in the wedding band.

Of course, the best part about having the ring is having the husband that goes along with it. I love him so much and look forward to the many adventures we will have together in our lifetime and throughout eternity!

It's amazing the conversations you can start having in class with your "neighbor" just because someone was looking at something on their computer...whether it be facebook, blogs, pinterest, etc. It's fun to have random conversations.

Camera+People=Memory (Media)

I love cameras. I love people. I love pictures. And I love looking back on those pictures and remembering those fond memories.

 

Kirk's beautiful blue eye.

 

Kirk and I got our Canon camera this past week (thanks to the help from many giftcards from our wedding reception). We call it our first baby because we are so cautious around it and are always making sure it is safe. :) This camera was definitely an investment, but we know it will be worth it. We want to take many pictures of our family as time goes on. My personal goal is to make a family book every year to sum up the events that happened. First I need to finish our wedding book though. ;)

 

 

One of my favorite features of this camera is that it takes great videos! I love doing videos. This is also a form of media I love to do with my family. I get so excited just thinking about the future and how fun it will be to look back on the videos and picture books Kirk and I make of our family. I hope our children will find this specific form of media one of their favorites.  



I am so grateful for our new camera and the memories it will capture.

 

You NEVER Check Your Religion at the Door!

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to go to the Marriott Center and watch the broadcast of the CES Devotional given by Elder Holland. Let me just say, wow. What a talk. The spirit was there and thriving. Elder Holland is an amazing speaker. A powerful speaker. A "to the point" kind of speaker. It is always so refreshing sometimes to be told straight out what you could be doing better. One of my favorite parts was when he told us to NEVER check our religion at the door. Here are a few quotes from that section of his talk.

 Lesson #1 – “For the establishment of Zion in the twenty first century you NEVER check your religion at the door! Not EVER! My young friends, that kind of discipleship cannot be, it is not discipleship at all. As the Prophet Alma has taught the Young Women of the church to declare every week in the young woman’s theme, we are to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places that ye be in. NOT just some of the time, in a few places, or when our team has a big lead. Check your religion at the door? I was furious.”

Lesson #2 – “Someone has to live their religion, or else all we get is a bunch of idiots acting like moral pygmies [an unusually small individual]. Look, it’s easy to be righteous when you’re calm and life is good and everything is smooth. The test is when there is real trial or temptation. When there is pressure and fatigue, anger and fear, or the possibility of REAL transgression. Can we be faithful then? That is the question because Israel, Israel,God is calling.” 

Really? Check your religion at the door?

I am so grateful for Latter-day Prophets and Apostles on the earth today to be one kind of medium between me and my Heavenly Father. The church is true!

I LOVE Missionaries

I love missionaries and missionary letters! I think they are one of the most uplifting and emotionally stirring types of media that are sent on a weekly basis! I am so blessed to personally know so many missionaries out serving our Lord and spreading the TRUE and everlasting gospel!

 Elder Brady Johnson (Cousin) Boston

 Elder Cody Butler (Cousin) Philippines

 Hermana Kristi Christensen (Good Friend/old Roommate) Arizona

Sister Karli Engebretsen (Cousin) California

Elder Cameron Jones (Cousin) Dominican Republic

Elder Eric Perry (Brother-in-law) Japan

Thank you to ALL the missionaries serving now and the ones who will serve in the future! (My little Brother reports to the Missionary Training Center October 31st and will then head to the Philippines! Crazy!

The Church is true! Don't you forget it!