Random stories

Yesterday (Sept. 25) I went with three friends from my singles ward to go and see a preview screening of The Saratov Approach in South Jordan; it was free if you printed out/saved on your smart phone a pass. They said to arrive early cause seating was open seating not assigned; it started at 7 so we figured an hour early would suffice. However when we got there we found out that you had to exchange the pass for tickets (one pass would get you two tickets) and they were sold out, because the tickets went on sale at 4, but that wasn't on the facebook or at least not made clear. We were obviously disappointed and sadly drove back to Provo. We decided to watch a movie and ended up decided upon a French film from the 70's entitled "Donkey Skin" that J. owned. B. and I were at first concerned about the title and vague discription from J. about what the movie was about, but after reading a description online we were both excited to see it. "Donkey Skin" is a fairy tale about a princess who receives help from her Godmother to disguise herself so she doesn't have to marry a man. The thing that sealed the deal for me was the fact that the movie was a musical (I LOVE musicals!).

Giving fair warning there will be a sort of 'spoiler alert' if you ever plan to watch the movie and don't want to know all the details skip this paragraph. The description was correct online, but didn't give all the details, such as the man she was avoiding marriage with was her father. You see as her mother lay dying she made her father (the king) vow to marry again, but only marry someone that was prettier than her (the queen). After many years of searching the king was lead back to his daughter who was surely prettier than the queen. He vowed to marry her (gross and wrong). The princess was confused as to whether or not she should, she knew she loved the king but didn't feel right about it (well, duh!). She went to her fairy godmother for advice and she made it clear to the princess that parents DO NOT marry their children and offered her help. After some ridiculous attempts to prevent the marriage ie. telling the king she would marry him only if he got her a dress the color of good weather (which he got), then the color of the moon (which he got), then the color of the sun (which he also got). Lastly she asked for the skin of the donkey; to back up a bit, the donkey "pooped" out coins and jewels similar to the goose that laid the golden egg. The king didn't want to give her the skin but he "loved" her so much that he gave her the skin of the donkey. Princess then disguises her self with the skin and the Fairy Godmother sends Princess now known as "Donkey Skin" to a faraway kingdom. There a prince finds her in her cottage all dressed up, he falls in love. Long story short they end up together through a Cinderella type story involving a ring. At their wedding, her father arrives with the fairy godmother via helicopter; What?!?! Yes, a helicopter that is correct. Apparently the fairy godmother is ahead of her time. Also she and the king get married. They all live happily ever after and they would "still be in love today if they hadn't died 100 years" after their wedding. The end. Like I said strange, but strangely fun and enjoyable. Her song is annoying a bit, but the prince has a fun song. I would say if you feel like a just plain goofy movie, go for it.

(9/26) Another random thought, we are now coming into sweater weather; although it warmed up this weekend. Thursday I was so cold, and I decided that it was a good day for soup. So that's what I had for lunch, yummy Zupa's peanut and chicken soup. I made a quick stop at Shopko's next to Zupa's in Orem, to get longer socks so my ankles wouldn't feel so cold. This is one of the hardest times of the year, it can be really cold in the morning so you bundle up and then it gets warm in the after noon and then you get too hot. Ah good ol' Utah weather, I've missed ya.

Funny story. Thursday while I was doing homework at school this girl was sitting near me and then this guy came over and sat next to her. He made several attempts to strike up a conversation, she was polite but gave short responses and never really turned to look at him. Finally he left, defeated. :( I had to smile though because I could easily hear their conversation and it reminded me of a BYU Divine Comedy skit "Subtitles" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYB3MYeB7Qc at least the first part; enjoy.

Yup that's some random fun stuff at the moment.

Moments with Missionaries

(Note this happened Sept 7-8)
This afternoon in Provo we suddenly got hit with quit the thunderstorm; strong winds, rain (coming down hard and in buckets), thunder/lightning. We had some excitement at home with water coming in our front door, so we were running and grabbing towels and my dad was mopping it up. Just after we finished that, we got a knock on the door. It was the elders, they had been walking and got caught in the cloud burst, they were DRENCHED! Of course we had them come in, got more towels, and had them dry off. We visited with them for a bit, cause their appointments had cancelled. It was so much fun. I know most returned missionaries say things like this, but man I love helping the missionaries, it brings back good memories, and I feel as if I am paying it forward for all the help I received on my mission. Plus it's fun to swap stories with them. One of the elders is quite the character and the other is fairly new, so they are an interesting pair; but we love having them in our area. They work hard and have a passion for the gospel. Plus, especially this experience reminds me of the many times we were caught in the rain in good ol' Oregon. :P

That night I went to the MTC to be an "investigator." It was so nice to feel the Spirit and to be taught the gospel in a very simple and sweet way. I had a couple of investigators I worked with on my mission in mind, but it sort of came out different, but it worked well. It was a really good experience, the elders were great. Being there in the TRC brought back a flood of memories from my experiences there as a missionary which was wonderful to remember. My favorite was when the elders shared their testimonies at the the end; brought such a strong Spirit.
Sunday night the elders had dinner with us and we had some really good discussions with them. I love the fire our elders have, they work hard and do great work.
So that was some fun moments with missionaries..a while ago.

Shopping at "Mom's Closet"

So this morning after getting ready for church at waiting for my ride to go to the relief society presidency meeting (last week I was called to be 2nd counselor) I was looking for something else through some of parent's things and stumbled upon a dress. It was a really cute and very retro/vintage/whatever you want to call it. But I mostly liked it cause of the deep blue color and the ruffle around the waist. Later I found out it was the dress my mom wore to my dad's graduation from BYU, I like that I can wear my mom's old clothes. I excitedly changed into and it fit perfectly...until I sat down. Then it was a little short on the knees and the buttons bunched up. After sitting through all of the presidency meeting like that, I knew I needed to fix it. I did not want to change, so I decided to try putting my black skirt over the top so it looked like a blouse, and it was just the right trick. Now I was modest, while still capturing the cuteness of the dress/now made blouse. Yeah for finding a new dress without spending money and technically it was found on Sunday but not breaking the Sabbath.
Here it is

Before I added the skirt. See it looks good, hitting just at the knees; but it hikes up and shows my garments when I'm sitting.

Added the skirt and ta-da! Although this picture doesn't do it justice cause the belt is at a funny spot I didn't realize.

I love my mom! I'm grateful for her example of living the gospel and accepting Heavenly Father's will and time. Is she perfect, no, but she strives to do what is right and that's what I love about her. 

As for life, it's GREAT! I am really enjoying school: all my professors seem pretty cool and more than willing to help us succeed. I especially like my anthropology professor and my acting professor, they are both laid back and very "real" with the class. My acting teacher is hilarious, but I love his honesty 'cause you can trust him to be "kind" (we had a whole discussion about the difference between nice and kind. Nice is praise not matter if it's good or bad; kind is looking for the good and constructive feed back so the we know how to improve), and you really can tell he has a passion for what he does. He is strange like you would expect a theater person to be, don't get me wrong, but he's not crazy. I think I like him cause he reminds me of my high school drama teacher Mr. Bauer, whom I really enjoyed; I think that is why I really like this class. Then my anthropology professor is a cool older guy that just likes teaching and having intellectual discussions. He doesn't care so much about assignments or grades as he does with helping us to see the world in a new light and appreciate the culture of others and really LEARN. 

 It feels really good to be back in school. I am thankful for the strength Heavenly Father has given and will continue to give as I am taking on more responsibility serving in the relief society presidency. Looking forward to the future and enjoying the present. :) Live, laugh and love life!