Moments of Decision

I know I already posted today, but why not post twice...I have something to write.

I'm sitting here watching "Enchanted" while I work on some Christmas (and other) presents I'm making. I've been thinking about relationships and decisions a lot lately. There are so many little moments of decision in everything we do-related to our relationships, and to our lives. The ball scene is what caught my attention just now. They show Patrick Dempsy and Idina Menzel dancing. They look quite happy in spite of all their relationship has been through lately. I thought to myself, they're at a moment of decision. They've decided to put aside the things that have happened, and to go on with the path in their lives that they believe will bring them happiness. What would have happened if Amy Adams and James Marsden hadn't shown up at that moment? Their "happily ever afters" would have been different, but would they have been less fulfilling? Personally, I don't think so. There are so many things in our lives that are choices that we don't see as such. For instance, many of our emotions are choices. Of course, I'll admit that emotions come quickly and are not really within our control, but after the initial hit of the emotion, I believe we start facing decisions.

Do I continue to spend time with this person that I'm attracted to? Do I hang on to the anger I feel when someone cuts me off on the freeway? Do I wallow in guilt when I've wronged someone? Do I doubt my faith when something or someone shakes it? Do I float on the sea of nostalgia that I find each time something reminds me of days gone by? If we were really the emotional creatures many believe us to be, I don't think we'd get much done. We'd always be busy following our emotions, selfishly. We all feel many emotions each day, each hour, sometimes moment to moment. Some are meant to be savored, others meant to be let go. Sometimes this is an easy thing-I tend to get over being cut off rather quickly. Other times, not so easy-losing a friend leaves a hole that is only filled by constant choices to remember the good times, be grateful for what was, and not think about what might have been. This constant stream of choices can replace the hurt with fond memories. Coming out of ourselves through our choices helps us minimize (or maximize, depending on the choice) our selfishness, and lets us expand. Each time we make a choice, our capacity to do is increased.

I believe this is especially true for faith. Each time I make a choice to be faithful and patient, my capacity to be faithful and patient increases. It is a self-perpetuating circle. The choices in the beginning are difficult-believing is not something that comes naturally to everyone. Taking the first steps may be the most difficult, yet also sometimes the most rewarding.

Meanwhile, I hate the dress they have Amy Adams wear to the ball. I don't think it flatters her at all.

Triumph

It's true what they say, practice really does make perfect. I've been practicing for The Messiah for several weeks now. There are some really tricky passages in the flute part. My roommates can vouch for the fact that there were times when I thought I was getting worse, not better. I picked up my flute to practice today and nailed them! Hooray. I may actually feel ready when the performance comes along (in a little more than a week). I hope if you're in San Antonio you can make it.

Gratitude

I found this in the Dear Abby column.

Oh, Heavenly Father,

We thank thee for food and remember the hungry.

We thank thee for health and remember the sick.

We thank thee for freedom and remember the enslaved.

May these remembrances stir us to service,

That thy gifts to us may be used for others. Amen.

I thought it was beautiful. I hope we can all be grateful for what we have not only when Thanksgiving rolls around, but all year round. Remembering my blessings helps me forget my troubles. I hope it can do the same for you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Change in plans

I had planned to blog about institute today. My class last night was great-I took some notes of things to post here-mostly so that I don't forget them myself, but also in order to share them with anyone who was interested. Then I found this on failblog

and I couldn't resist posting it instead.

Just what I needed

I found this on a friend's blog...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao

I love it!

What would you do?

Running shirt...$22.00 (it wicks, and I live in Texas-wicking is necessary)
Running shorts...$8.00Running shoes...$45.00 (I can wear little girl's sizes-makes them less expensive-jealous?)
Sunglasses...$5.99

Practicing for the turkey trot, going to take a shower in the bathroom at work, stepping in and wetting down your hair only to realize that you left your towel in your office...Priceless.

Lunchtime field trip

Some background information...

• I am taking the Texas Teachers course-it's at a hotel here in town.
• Across the street from said hotel is a Jo Ann's craft store-I make frequent trips there on our lunch breaks.
• Keri is taking the class with me-she also knits.
• There is a craft fair at work in the beginning of December.
• I am wearing a Shevchenko jersey today.
  

Okay, on with the story-the info will all make sense soon. Keri and I are knitting scarves with the yarn below-a great chunky yarn that is a Jo Ann's brand. It takes size 35 knitting needles, and we can make a scarf with one skein in about an hour and a half. Pretty good all things considered.

A couple of weeks ago, I found a 20% off coupon for Jo Ann's, so Keri and I took a lunch time trip to Jo Ann's for yarn-it would cut down on our costs for the scarves we plan to sell at the craft fair. We basically cleaned them out, and have both sped through our respective piles of yarn, and visited Jo Ann's again last Saturday. The woman we talked to mentioned that they receive their yarn shipments on Thursdays. We decided it would be a good idea to go on a Thursday so we could have our pick.

We went at lunch today and found a less than satisfying selection. We decided to ask someone, and approached the fabric cutting counter. Keri asked our question, and told her a couple of other things. I stood by watching. The lady waiting for her fabric looked at me, looked at Keri, and asked "is she a visiting athlete from somewhere?" Awesome. I'm a Ukrainian soccer player :) Just call me Дженя.

Meanwhile, while the shipments of yarn technically come on Thursday, they don't get put out until Friday...I guess another lunchtime excursion is in order.

My Weekend, Post 3: Foot Guy

Okay...here's the disclaimer. The picture below will be up for a while, but since I can hardly stand to look at it, it may disappear. On with the story. The day before Halloween, there was a big party in Berkley, that Amy, Wade and I attended. We walked in, and wondered what the big line twisting up the staircase was for. When we found out it was for the haunted house, Amy and Wade insisted on joining. In the 10 minutes it took us to find out what was going on, we saw the guy below mingling, and pretending to eat one of those feet you hang out your trunk as a joke. Gross. What else can I say? He was instantly dubbed "foot guy". We waited in line for the haunted house and chatted-I warned Wade and Amy that I'm not the best person to take in haunted houses, and they might be better off leaving me at the door and meeting me when they're through. They would have none of my excuses. We got to the basement (where the "house" was), and went in with Rodger (whom we hadn't met at this point, and who I thought was supposed to be our tour guide through said haunted house). The first room seemed unassuming enough-a table with a tablecloth, and a non-lit fireplace. Not much else. We stood there for a while, then suddenly Rodger dropped dead. The lights went out, the fireplace roared, and in the black light above the mantle we could see that "you're next" had been written. I knew I was in trouble at this point. The door on the other side of the room popped open, and I grabbed Wade's arm, closed my eyes, and prepared to be led through the haunted house, as I knew that if my eyes were open I was in for an unwanted scare. Amy pulled her pirate gun and led the way. I heard lots, and "saw" the change in lighting through my tightly clamped eyelids as we passed from room to room. Strobe lights, flickering lights, mostly dark...empty aerosol cans spraying...I was scared. The terrified chatter of the others in our group didn't help. Thriller started playing. I imagine there were zombies in that room, but I sure didn't open my eyes to find out! At one point, we went through a doorway, and Amy said something like "oh my gosh, it's foot guy!" at which point I clamped my eyes tighter and held my breath. As I'm back in San Antonio, I need not tell you I made it through without incident. However, every time I saw foot guy upstairs, I avoided him like the plague (which it looks like he might have caught somewhere).

The haunted house exit was on the other side of the house, and took us through an indoor basketball court where there was a DJ, music, not-so-scary strobe and other lighting, and dancing. There were also giant fans. Too good to resist. Think Bollywood and the always present and unexplained indoor wind. Amy and I took several pictures. Below are my favorites.
I also like this shot of Amy and Wade dancing. I think it's the fact that her gun is being flailed above her head.
Another priceless moment was being on the porch when these two showed up. Amy and I made bets about how many people would actually get their costumes. As if on cue, the redneck on the right side of the picture struck up a conversation..."What are you on strike from?"
Meanwhile, later on my suspicions about zombies was validated. The DJ played thriller, and these guys did the whole dance with all of us watching (or quietly joining in).
What a great weekend. A much needed break, and a reminder of why I love California so much! Thanks Amy!

My weekend, post 2: Food

Here is my second post-on one of my favorite subjects. There are a couple of things I didn't take pictures of-either they were not important at the time, or couldn't be properly illustrated by a photograph. Of the first category is lunch with my mom on Saturday. Having her there was way more important than the food, as were the sail boats passing to and fro outside the restaurant window. The second category encompasses the Round Table Pizza we had Friday night (I miss Round Table-I love their crust), and the ice cream we picked up on our way back from the city-amazing. Grasshopper pie-if you don't know what it is, you should! Mint ice cream with fudge swirl and oreo cookies. Heaven for a chocolate and mint lover like me.

On to the photographed food-in a mostly random order. Amy, Wade and I had a picnic at the temple grounds Sunday afternoon. It was a bright sunny day, so we ate by one of the fountains. Wade snapped a couple of pictures of us-this is my favorite because of the looks on both of our faces...feel free to make up dialogue.


The next pictures are from lunch on Friday. Amy and I stopped in downtown Walnut Creek and picked a Chinese place. We had won-tons for appetizers, soup, then the main course. I had the almond chicken-satisfying, but American Chinese food has disappointed me since my return from Australia. Nonetheless, the presentation was wonderful, and the orange made a tasty dessert.

Amy had the orange chicken, which in my opinion was better than my almond chicken. It was just as pretty too. Any guesses about what the tiny bowl of peanuts is for?

Saturday night we were home for the trick-or-treaters. I had a great time handing out candy. It took two of us to answer the door-one to hold Vader (the giant black lab), and the other to give out the candy. We entertained ourselves with a murder mystery dinner-Death By Chocolate. Below, people are pointing a who they thought the killer was...notice no one is pointing at me:)


I love that "Rodger" is pointing with his pipe. His name is actually Ben, but we met him at the Halloween party the night previous, and as his costume is for Rodger from 101 Dalmatians, we had trouble remembering the right name.
Here's the whole group. Turned out that Kim's boyfriend was the killer. Who would have thought. You can also get a peek at Vader's imposing form in the foreground. Please forgive the camera angle, but I didn't have a tripod.

Lastly for the food pictures, I'm adding one from the costume party. Watching a guy wearing gorilla gloves trying to eat a baby carrot was a highlight. He eventually succeeded.

Until next post, that's all. More costumed pictures to follow.

My weekend, post 1

I spent the weekend in the Bay Area visiting my friend Amy. We did several things, and I took lots of pictures. I've been having a great time learning more and more about my digital camera. While the pictures it takes don't compare to my SLR, it's wonderful to have. The first set of pictures I'm posting are from our Sunday afternoon trip to the Oakland temple.
This bird of paradise was a great bloom.
I loved the color of these flowers-I don't know what they are.
My parents have these in their front yard. I love them-it's like getting a whole bouquet of flowers for one stem! They come in some great colors too.
And they make a great back-drop for these bright mums. I wish the front flower was a little more in focus-that's one drawback of autofocus. I still think it's not a bad shot.
I thought this was a cute, albeit somewhat munted, flower. I love the detail you can see, even if some of the details are the imperfections in the petals.
More to come when I get a chance-there's plenty more to tell!