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!

Back to the Future

I saw this movie for the first time the other day. Other than the...language (strongly suggest a Clear Play DVD player for this movie) it was very thought provoking for me. I loved that it showed how if you choose to be a pushover you might end up being a pushover your whole life unless you decide to change that.

Decisions that you make now definitely effect the future...including those small decisions such as eating habits, exercises habits, church habits, sleeping habits, etc. I think sometimes we focus so much on the BIG decisions in our lives, when really it is the small decisions that can change our course.

President Hinckley told this story once, "Many years ago I worked for a railroad in the central offices in Denver. I was in charge of what is called head-end traffic. That was in the days when nearly everyone rode passenger trains. One morning I received a call from my counterpart in Newark, New Jersey. He said, “Train number such-and-such has arrived, but it has no baggage car. Somewhere, 300 passengers have lost their baggage, and they are mad.”

I went immediately to work to find out where it may have gone. I found it had been properly loaded and properly trained in Oakland, California. It had been moved to our railroad in Salt Lake City, been carried to Denver, down to Pueblo, put on another line, and moved to St. Louis. There it was to be handled by another railroad which would take it to Newark, New Jersey. But some thoughtless switchman in the St. Louis yards moved a small piece of steel just three inches, a switch point, then pulled the lever to uncouple the car. We discovered that a baggage car that belonged in Newark, New Jersey, was in fact in New Orleans, Louisiana—1,500 miles from its destination. Just the three-inch movement of the switch in the St. Louis yard by a careless employee had started it on the wrong track, and the distance from its true destination increased dramatically. That is the way it is with our lives. Instead of following a steady course, we are pulled by some mistaken idea in another direction. The movement away from our original destination may be ever so small, but, if continued, that very small movement becomes a great gap and we find ourselves far from where we intended to go."

I am grateful for the simple reminder Back to the Future gave me. I am not perfect, but every day I can try and make better decisions that will aid the course of my life in a better direction.

Keep Moving Forward

 I thoroughly enjoyed watching Meet The Robinsons this past weekend with my hubby, Kirk. It was his first time watching it (I was shocked) and he seemed to enjoy it. I personally think that this movie is even better the second time you watch it because you notice all the characters more throughout the movie.

I want to ramble about a few of my favorite things about this movie.

1. Funny! There are so many random funny things thrown into the movie that it keeps you entertained the whole time. "All right, Lewis, knock em' dead. That was a figure of speech. Please don't kill anyone."

2. Family Friendly! There are no bad words, no innuendo's, nothing. I LOVE that. It is clean, clean clean.

3. Inspiring! This movie makes me want to go create or do something amazing! I usually feel like I am not the "creative type" but I know if I work on it, I can be!

4. Great Message! I want to be a better person and never give up when something is hard. I want to always keep moving forward. I want my family to be the type that encourages when things go wrong instead of scolding the person when something goes wrong. Having an environment where children feel safe is so important! I want my home to consist of that safe and encouraging feeling.

Anyways, if you and your family haven't seen Meet The Robinsons, you should go watch it ASAP! The end.