Email

So this past wednesday was my 21st birthday!! Party! :) On special occasions like these I realize how grateful I am for email and other forms of communication. My dad's in the air force, and he's often overseas. He's been in England, Germany, and Afghanistan for the past week. I was so happy to see an email from him on my birthday. It's amazing that we can communicate with people all over the world. We live in an amazing time in the history of the world.

Couples' Retreat

Don't see it. My roommates wanted to take me to see a movie for my birthday, so we decided we'd see one around 8:00pm. None of us watch TV so we hadn't seen previews for any of the movies, so we just chose the 8:15 showing of Couples Retreat. Whew.. it was crude. Some parts were hilarious, it's true.. but the majority of the movie was dirty and uncomfortable. Don't waste your time or money on this one.

Lately..

Lately I've noticed something: I can't stand the TV being on in the background. First of all, I just flat out don't watch TV. I maybe watch an hour of it once a month. There are great shows on, I just don't find time for them. But having the TV on bothers me.. it bothers me that so many households have one on all day just to have one on. Who wants all that extra noise? Not me :)

The internet..

Right now I'm trying to study for the exam, and I'm struggling. When my study guide for any test is on my computer, it's too hard sometimes to not get on the internet while I'm trying to study. Sometimes I check my email, sometimes I chat on facebook, sometimes I write on my real blog, sometimes I go on our family website. There are just too many options on computers these days.. at least this time I was "productive" and blogged for a class assignment!

Google Earth

Have you ever played with Google Earth? I remember when it first came out, and our family had so much fun finding our school and our town's library. Since our house was so old, it wasn't on the original Google Earth, but do not fear: It's on there now! If you haven't used it, you can find pretty much anything in the world on this site. It's pretty awesome. Try it out at googlearth.com & download your free trial.

My newest love.. Asher Book.

I love Asher Book. I love the movie FAME. I just love happy, motivational movies :)

Media and Relationships..

For about a week, the idea of media messing up relationships has really been bothering me! First of all, we (mostly being females) are obsessed with being pursued either by friends, family, or boys. There's a feeling in the air that it's necessary to be reminded of how wonderful and how missed you are very often. There's a phone call, there's texting, there's email, there's facebook, there's myspace, and there's skype.. There are SO many ways that we can be constantly reached, and I feel like we expect to be constantly sought after. We rely on these forms of media to strengthen our relationships. We expect too much from the guys we are dating. It used to be a phonecall a day and a date every few days. What ever happened to that? Too much pressure is put on men to call, to text, to facebook chat, and to leave comments on their girlfriends most recently posted pictures. I think media is destroying relationships. It is making us too dependent on one another for our happiness. Going from hearing from your boyfriend every morning when he wakes up, when he knows you're on you're way to school, when he knows you've finished your test, when you have a break on campus, when you get home from school, and when you're going to bed, to not hearing from him at all when you break up is too much of a change. It brings your self-esteem way down. The entire schedule of your life is altered. Something's wrong, guys..

The good old days..

When I was five, my favorite book was Leo the Late Bloomer. Leo resembled me in many ways... he never felt like he could do anything right. He was behind all of his friends in his abilities. I struggled to learn how to read as a first grader, and this book was the first book I actually memorized. I was so, so happy I could read, although my parents were not fooled by my memorization :) Anytime I'm "behind" in life, my parents quickly remind me of Leo, and reassure me that everything will eventually be ok.

Media and the Church

I know most people are going to blog about conference over the next week, but that's ok.. I feel like it's something I have to express my feelings about. I think it is amazing that the church can provide general conference and other meetings to people all over the world. Last week when the General Relief Society Meeting was on, I wasn't in the mood to go to a church building or to the Marriot Center, but our TV wasn't hooked up. So, I just sat in bed and watched in on my computer. It doesn't get better than that. Also, today's sessions of conference were fantastic, even more so since I could watch them from the comfort of my own living room. That church is wonderful. The church is true. I love it.