Sunday, November 30, 2008

P-p-p-PIE

In reverse order (because that's the way Blogger uploaded my photos) here is what I did for Thanksgiving:Last, we hiked around a place called Tent Rocks. These cool looking rock formations were all over the place. We walked through the windy slot canyons and then up a few switch backs to a beautiful view of Tent Rocks and beyond. Everyone did it, even Jared and Ellie.
The day before, we went to Santa Fe and saw the oldest house in the United States (pictured here) and also went in the oldest church in the United States.
Santa Fe is a an artist town...which is really cool to me, but boring for the kids. There were so many Art Galleries that it could keep me busy for a whole month probably. It was really fun to walk around and see all the sculptures and statues.
I'm trying to be just like this red man.
The night before that we played Taboo. It was girls against boys and from the picture below, you can see for yourself who won. Scott even tried to start the score over hoping they would have a better chance, but the girls were too good.



Here is us eating our Thanksgiving Lunch
This is the pie we ate every meal for about 3 days straight.

and here is mom carving the turkey!


I LOVED This Thanksgiving. Thanks Sarah, Scott, Kaitlyn, Brynn, Jared, and Ellie! I love you guys!

Monday, November 24, 2008

What makes a hero?

So I have decided to write a paper exploring the idea of what makes a Hero. It's for my Greek and Roman Mythology class. We had an entire unit dedicated to studying Greek heroes, only I don't know how many of them are actually heroes. So what makes a hero anyway? Some Greek heroes are demi-gods--one of their parents are immortal. Because they are also half mortal, they are deeply flawed. For example Hercules got drunk one night and killed his wife and kids. Odysseus slept with at least 2 Goddesses while his wife Penelope remained faithful to him for 20 years, not knowing if he was dead or alive. Agamemnon, a great Trojan War hero sacrificed his daughter and then brought home the concubine Cassandra as a victory prize. Odysseus is also known for being able to tell great lies...he is a 'speaker of words' as is typical of a Homeric hero. So these great heroes aren't really great people. Sure, Hercules goes into the underworld and brings back Alecestis from the dead, but he also has an extreme appetite for wine and women. Frodo Baggins is a sort of hero, but he's a scrawny wimpy hobbit who is sometimes mean to his friends. Is it the great challenge that he overcomes that makes a man a hero, or is he only a hero if he also lives a life worth exemplifying? Who is the ultimate hero? Are there everyday heroes, and what makes them so? Jesus Christ, half immortal, came to earth and overcame the greatest of all challenges: he suffered for the sins of all mankind. Their are a lot of similiarities between Christ and the Greek heroes, but there is also one giant difference. Christ was perfect. He was faithful, kind, not murderous, disciplined etc. Understandably no one else in the world is perfect, so we can't expect to have other perfect heroes, but should they at least possess good qualities?

Anyway, I'm interested in what everyone thinks, so take my poll (to the right), leave a comment or send me an email....but don't facebook me.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Growing up

It's 1:17 AM and I'm blogging with my face about one inch from the computer screen. Both pairs of my glasses broke recently and they're unwearable so I can't see a thing once I take my contacts out. The screen is actually kind of burning my eyeballs.

This weekend I had sort of a cleanse. We had some pumpkins left over from Halloween that we never carved so my roommate and I decided to smash them. We wrote things on them (like code names for boys we were mad at) and then took them to the park and smashed them. It was symbolic of letting go and moving on I suppose. Mostly it was just REALLLY fun. Then on Saturday I deactivated my facebook account. I had been thinking about it for months and finally did it. I was hesitant because it seems like when you're single, in order to be in the 'game' you have to have a Facebook. It's a way for people to learn more about you and adds another medium for flirting. Anyway, I decided it was pointless and also adds one more medium to complicate life. So, I let it go. It's amazing how good I feel....like I gave up smoking or something. I guess I don't really know what that feels like, but it's probably close. I feel all grown up now.

My friend Elliott said to me today "Abby, today is the best day of my life." "why?" I asked. "Because we're not friends on facebook anymore." I think that secretly means he is really upset because I'm his favorite facebook friend. Here are pictures from my pumpking smashing fun. Don't worry mom and dad, we cleaned it up when we were done. :)

Monday, November 10, 2008

Rain

It rained today…all day. In fact I think it’s still raining. I don’t mind it so much because at least it’s not snowing. I don’t love the worms that come out on the sidewalk, but my roommate says worms love wet, damp stuff so a rainy day is like going to the beach for them. They lay out all over the sidewalk and soak.

Something about rainy days makes me move much slower. I slept in, took an extra long shower, walked really slow to and from class, and I even feel like I talk in slow motion. I guess I probably don’t though. I was walking to work today and passed a gigantic puddle in the driveway to a church. Someone put a yellow rubber ducky in the puddle. I laughed and pushed a little so it could float. As I continued down the street there was another puddle and another rubber ducky. It made me smile.

At work we got a Despair Inc. magazine and this was one of the new Demotivators:

BLOGGING: Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few.

I thought that was great.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

H to the alloween


This shower guy was my all-time 2nd favorite costume I saw this year.


I had a pumpkin party the Wednesday before Halloween. We had a million pumpkin things to eat, and then we all sat around and watched Pajama Gladiator on my roommates projector.


Jenny best friend as a mime. She was the best mime ever. She teaches school at Provo Canyon, and she went the entire day without talking even to her class! She also did a few box and balloon blowing performances on Center Street in Provo. She is so cool.


This is my costume. I won the "most original" award at my Ward Party, and a woman at work's daughter copied my costume, with my permission, and also won at her school. It just so happens that Jenny lives in an extremely colorful house, and I fit well in it with my costume.

I AM PECULIAR (this is a permanent post. If you have already read it, scroll down to see my latest)

Those of you who read my blog could probably make a list of all the reasons that you think I am a bit peculiar. No worries, I would be the first to shout an amen to everything you could think of. I know I’m peculiar; but let me tell you the number one thing on my list that I think makes me a peculiar person.

I know where I come from, why I am here and where I am going. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some of you will know me as a “Mormon” although that is just a nickname. The word ‘Saint’ just means ‘member’ in this context. I believe in God the Eternal Father, that I am a daughter of God, and that He loves me and wants me to be happy. I believe in my Savior Jesus Christ who lived a perfect life, atoned for my sins, died and was resurrected all that I might enjoy the blessing of being forgiven of my sins, and having my body and spirit reunited after death. I know that just as God called prophets in the Old and New Testament times that He has in fact called a prophet to lead and guide us today. I believe that families can live together for eternity; death does not have to be the end of our relationships with the ones we love. Some of you may wonder how on earth I can know these things. As I learn more and more from the Bible and other scriptures and actually live what I learn I see the promises the Lord has made being fulfilled in my life, and I feel the Holy Spirit bear witness that these things are true.

I know, I’m peculiar, but thankfully there are over 13 million other peculiar members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and with each year that number grows. I feel so much joy and happiness in my life because of this knowledge. If you want to know more depth about anything I have said that makes me peculiar, visit www.mormon.org. This website explains in detail much of what I have just professed to believe and more.