My feet are sore

In case you didn't pick this up from other sources (aka Facebook, email or ME), I'm in New York City! It's a family vacation with my parental unit, whom I adore for bringing me and indulging me every step of the way. =)

We got up at 3am Mountain time yesterday, caught a flight from SLC to Minneapolis. Our flight out of there was delayed, and THEN we were put in a holding pattern above Pennsylvania for over half an hour while the weather cleared in NY. Finally we landed at La Guardia. Then we took a taxi into Manhattan--and I will make a note here that my mother does not handle taxi rides well. Sorry mom, just sayin'. Finally we arrived at our hotel. It's called the Manhattan Club, and it's literally a block off Broadway, and just a few minutes' walk from Times Square, which we visited later last evening after a dinner at the Whole Foods Market just off Columbus Circle. Times Square, by the way, is a gaudy tourist trap, but it was still immensely satisfying to go and take pictures like any other tourist. There's just something about five-story neon ads for musicals that makes my blood race.

This morning we were part of the studio audience for "Live with Regis and Kelly", except that they had given out too many tickets, and we had to stand off to one side in the aisle. I'm pretty sure we were on TV once, for about a second and a half. But it was still fun to go and see the live filming of a TV show. The stage manager (or whatever her title is) was fun. She had tape on her pants and what looked like four sharpies strung on a lanyard around her neck.

Then we took a stroll across Central Park, which is a lot bigger than you imagine it being, even being forwarned that it will be bigger than you think it will be. We didn't even see half of it. I wore my cute new shoes, and they gave me a blister (or maybe two), but still totally worth it. After exiting the park, we bought lunch from a sidewalk stand, and they totally ripped off my dad. You live and you learn, I guess.

But the highlight of the afternoon (well, the sole thing we did this afternoon!) was visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is enormous. They say they have over two million works of art. The museum practically takes up a city block. We spent, what? four hours there? More? And I feel like we barely breezed through. I really loved the 19th century paintings (those were the ones I recognized most frequently--lots of Van Gogh and Degas and Picasso, etc), but I also really enjoyed the early European paintings and sculpture. They also had an ENORMOUS wing of Ancient Egyptian stuff--that was the first exhibit we visited, so we spent more time there than those that followed, because we hadn't yet realized that it would take us years to get through at that pace. Anyway, it was an amazing experience.

Tonight we're going to see WICKED. I'm very excited. I'd probably be more excited (as in, ridiculously, uncontrollably excited), except that I saw it last year in Chicago. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very excited. =) But for me there is a magic in a show that I've never seen before. That's why both Phantom of the Opera and the Lion King have a bit more hold on me right now. We're also thinking about seeing a fourth show on Saturday night, possibly the Fantasticks? We'll have to see--we were planning to go to two museums today and only made it through the one, so we'll have to see what happens. Either way, I'm a happy girl.

Yay for New York City!

Watch the video, it makes me laugh

GOING CAMPING

I absolutely love camping. I am ecstatic to be (finally) going camping for the first time this year. Hopefully there will be many more trips to come. With several friends, I'm going to my favorite place on Earth. It's a little recreation area in Southern Utah called Red Cliffs. It's a slot canyon that has a series of waterfalls. When the water is high enough, there are places to cliff jump or waterslide. But any time, it's a beautiful place to hike and explore.

This year marks the fifth May in a row that I have gone to Red Cliffs. I love traditions, and my family doesn't have that many, so I've started making my own. This one's my favorite. I love going to Red Cliffs every year. I love seeing the familiar sights and sounds, I love the warmth of the red rocks, I love the warmth of the friendships in which I so fortunately find myself enveloped. More for the memories and tradition, this really is my favorite place in all the world.

So, I may have gone overboard in my excitement this week. But I sure don't care. I literally have been counting down the days (and now hours!!). I am absolutely stoked.

Hopefully in a few days, I'll have new pictures to post. =)

Life as a Blogger

I was looking at my blogger profile today for some arbitrary reason, and I took note of the little box in the corner that says, "On Blogger Since". I've been on Blogger since November 2003. And I was like... "Wow. That's a pretty freaking long time."

I started blogging that year because I was a stupid high school student with stupid high school drama (mostly self-inflicted), and I needed an outlet. I had this blog back then that was basically a mind-dump for my depression, my angst, and my frustrations with life in general. It's still live (no, I will not tell you where to find it) and it's almost embarrassing for me to read now. It's like an emo version of myself wrote it. Maybe that's what it was!

When I went to college, there was a year or so where I didn't blog much. Occasionally I'd post to the old blog, but that year was pretty dry.

The year after, I took a class from Dr. Jill Talbot in Creative Non-Fiction writing. Great class, by the way. We had a blog, and we were all required to post to it. I began to see new, non-depressed ways to blog. To express myself, not emotionally by neccessity, but artistically.

It was during that same semester that Ian was born. Suddenly I had a lot to write about. I started a new blog of my own, which I wrote to over the next several months. That blog helped me process the placement experience, as well as my postpartum issues. But as I healed, the less I wrote.

A semester or two after that, I took a great class from Dr. P about editing and literary production. One of our projects was to produce literature in an out-of-the-ordinary format. Like writing poetry on telephone poles or something. I worked with McKenzie, who authored a fiction piece that we structured in a series of blogs. I built a blog and we set up the story within that context. It was a great deal of fun. That project can still be viewed at http://suu.edu/honors/newhorizons/

This brings us almost to the present. I graduated from college in December 2007, and quickly found that I needed something to occupy my thoughts. Thus was born the Descent of the Muse. And I've been at least fairly regular in my blogging since that time.

As I started becoming an active advocate of adoption, I found that I needed a forum, separate from "daily life", as I think of here, to discuss my thoughts and views on adoption. So I now also maintain my adoption blog next door.

November 2003. That's five and a half years. It'll be six this fall. Six years, jabbering away at the universe-at-large. They'll never claim that I didn't have anything to say. That's for sure.

Movie update

Since I wrote my summer movie list, I have seen two more movies, about which I wish to report.

First was "Angels and Demons". This was an indulgent summer flick. It was engaging, certainly, though a bit thin in some places. It was action-packed, and I was very engaged by the characters. However, halfway through the movie I leaned over to Melissa and whispered, "They're ALL bad guys!" and she whispered back, "Why do you think the Catholics don't like this movie?" Overall an enjoyable spectacle, but I would not go see it again. And that's pretty much how my ratings work.

This past weekend I went to see "Terminator Salvation" with Gregory and Justin. I watched the first two in preparation, which is a good thing, because I don't think I would've understood anything if I didn't already know these characters. I'll agree that Salvation was pretty light on the plot, which for me is often a major turn-off. However, I think that people hold the first two movies in a little too high a regard. I mean, how much plot was there really in T2? There's a good Terminator and a bad Terminator, and lots of chase scenes, and the mental hospital stuff with Sarah. Really, plot? Not that much. Having seen T2 for the first time just before going to see Salvation, I don't think my expectations were unnaturally high. It was LOUD, and there was three times as many explosions as there were lines of dialogue, but I enjoyed the character dynamics where they were found (though, did Blair have to become a damsel in distress so fast? She was cool...) and I enjoyed the eye candy. It wasn't Star Trek. But it was good.

And really, I'm pretty much set until Transformers next month. There's a couple of peripheral movies I'm interested in through the meantime (Up, Night at the Museum 2) but I've already seen the ones I was looking forward to most. Is the summer movie season getting pushed earlier or something? It's only Memorial Day!

Stage manager at heart

This will tell you how big of a nerd I am. So last night, I got home pretty late after a meeting in Salt Lake. I was in the mood to pull out a book, but there wasn't really anything I was in the mood for. Get this: I ended up pulling out my Honors undergrad thesis, and I read the whole thing before I went to bed.

Yes. I am a nerd.

But it got me thinking this morning. My thesis was about the Art of Stage Management. I have to tell you, that this meeting last night (and all the meetings like it) have seriously employed the skills I gained as a stage manager. Committees of any kind need someone to organize them, or they're useless.

Here's my thing: I don't necessarily consider myself a leader. In the theatre, I wasn't ever the Director, the one with the vision. But I was the Stage Manager, who organized and enabled the visions of others to come to pass. Certainly I was deeply involved. I had my fingers in everything. But it was only to add upon the skills and vision of others, to enable them to accomplish their tasks.

I have carried these skills, inclinations and abilities with me, as I probably will for the rest of my life. Everything I do is affected by the fact that I am a stage manager. It's only the venue that has changed. Instead of Henry V, I have an adoption conference. But I remain the same.

I love summer! (Summer movie list)

I think I may retract that statement a little later in the season. Perhaps a more accurate assessment would be, "I love late spring and early summer", but that doesn't make for as clean a blog title. =)

Seasonally, May is one of my favorites. I also really enjoy September. But May just has so much...potential. Starting to get warm, drifting toward the languid summer nights were you sit on your porch and talk or listen to music and just enjoy life.

Thus, I believe I picked the perfect time to move out. I was sitting on my back porch last night talking to Melissa, and it literally was perfect. I had just gotten back from Taekwondo, so I felt good about myself and life in general. Wunderbar.

I particularly love the summer movie season. I've already seen three of the movies on my summer list, which (a la Gregorio) I shall enumerate below.

The Soloist. Now playing. This movie was somewhat strange, but I nevertheless enjoyed the performances of Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx. Perhaps running a little too long, I liked the resolution (and lack thereof) for the characters.

Battle for Terra now playing. I was more excited about this when I first heard about it, especially because there are several good names attached. However, my interest is diminishing the more I hear about it, so we'll see.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Now playing. As I stated in an earlier blog, I didn't much care for this movie. It was visually appealing, but the story and characters were weak. And a bit too much action for action's sake.

Star Trek Now playing. An absolutely engaging and enjoyable flick. Not much in the way of depth, but the charisma of these fresh new actors completely made up for it in my mind. Loved Bones!

Angels and Demons opening this week. I've never read the books and I'm not a fanatic, but it looks interesting.

Terminator Salvation the first Terminator to earn a PG-13 rating. Is it less R-rated or have we grown desensitized? Anyway, I got interested almost solely because of Christian Bale, but I've done a little reading, and I'm actually interested in seeing the previous incarnations of the Terminator. Something about the predestination paradox intrigues me.

Night at the Museum 2 The first one was, I'll admit, rather amusing. I have little hope for the second Ben Stiller romp, so we'll see if this ends up as a Netflix request instead.

Up because it's Pixar and it has the "Squirrel!" dog that makes me laugh every time I see the preview.

Away We Go because it has Allison Janney! No, really, the first time I heard about this movie, I was mildly interested, but the more I hear about it the more I want to see it.

The Proposal a distant possibly simply because Ryan Reynolds is cute. (Yes, I give into such nonsense every now and again.) More likely a subject for Netflix.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen which promises to be a lot darker than numbero uno. I just hope they let Shia LaBeouf act instead of being whiny the whole time [Compare Transformers to Eagle Eye. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.]

My Sister's Keeper because I saw a preview and it looks interesting (Abigail Breslin? We'll see)

[Public Enemies looks interesting, but a bit too violent for my tastes. Probably not one for me. Which is too bad, because I'll miss out on the eye candy!]

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince just cuz. (Incidentally, I think HBP is at least tied for my favorite book in the series. I hope David Yates holds up!)

That somehow ended up being a lot lengthier than I imagined when I embarked upon my list-making. But that just goes to show that there are a lot of good movies coming out this summer! I'm excited. Although, I have to admit that we've already bypassed one of my biggest anticipations for the season (Star Trek). But I'm still looking forward to a good few months of cinema viewing, in addition to camping and hiking and all sorts of good summery things!

Dixy's wedding and some thoughts

My friend/former roommate DixyAnn got married on Friday. I was an "unofficial attendant" so I spent the day with Dixy and our friends in celebration of her marriage to Matt Smith, who's a pretty cool guy. =)

She got married in the Logan Temple. She had a luncheon up in Logan, and then a ring ceremony and reception down in Salt Lake City. Her colors were black, red and white, and she had the reception in her single's ward bishop's backyard.

There were no major catastrophes, but I got to pondering about the value of stress. This followed a conversation/critique of Mormon weddings from a friend of mine, who was derisive about the lack of wedding planners in most Mormon weddings. So I was more alert to the fact that Dixy seemed to be under an undue amount of stress throughout the day. There were details that could (should?) have been handled by somebody else, but that fell to Dixy and Matt. The reception ended at 8:00, but at a quarter to nine they were still there, trying to organize everyone and make sure everything was taken care of, instead of leaving for their honeymoon. Small things that added up over the course of a day that should have been enjoyed, rather than still needing to be organized. Small things forgotten that should have been planned for in advance.

Like I said, no major catastrophes. And the reception did come off rather well. I just wonder, if it had been me, would I have instead trusted someone else with those details? I'm at least as controlling as Dixy, and I like to have things done my way (especially on wedding day!!) but I think it's still possible to get what you want while entrusting someone else to make sure things are run smoothly the day of. That's all I'm sayin'.

Funny story: so, Matt and Dixy forgot the garter at home, so they sent Christopher (of all people!) home for it. Under the guise of taking a long time to find it, he went to Wal-Mart and made a copy of their house key (SO Chris). We decorated Matt's car (rather lavishly--we had a little too much fun!). Dixy bought a new car recently, and literally threatened our lives if we touched her car. But after the newlyweds drove away, we decided to decorate their HOUSE instead of her car!

There had been some fake rose petals that were just going to be tossed after the reception, so we made a rose-petal path from the door to their bed (which we even made for them). Also, we took pictures of ourselves in their house with their camera, which was far too much fun. And Justin hid their shoes all over--kitchen cupboards, medicine cabinet, on the shower rod. Random, but really funny. At any rate, we had a good old time--even got the approval of Dixy's mother!

It was a good day spent with friends. I hope that Matt and Dixy have a great time on their cruise, and hopefully they don't catch the swine flu!

Wolverine: Meh

Just saw the Wolverine movie. My response is, "It was cool...but..."

Very disjointed, and the storyline was NOT cohesive. I'll frankly admit that the opening sequence (war transitions) was great. That's probably the only part I would label that way. Otherwise, I felt like the story was rushed (and it was a short movie, too!) the characters were not fleshed out--even Wolverine!!--and the plot had wide and gaping holes laced through it. For as much as some characters were anticipated (aka Gambit, among others) they sure didn't get a lot of screentime. And the Sabretooth/Wolverine conflict totally does not mesh well with where we pick up in X-Men(1).

The action sequences were (for the most part) engaging, though the post-credits scene was a bit much for me, simply because as far as I was concerned, it served no purpose. The whole Kayla thing...lame. The fact that Logan believed it?...lame. And what was with her wounded and then suddenly appeared by this recently-collapsed structure, out of nowhere? ... Like I said, major holes everywhere.

However, I still enjoyed it. Not one I'll go see in the theaters again, but maybe one I'll buy (unlike Last Stand, which I pretend does not exist). Maybe just so I can watch the opening a few more times...cuz it was seriously the best part of the whole movie.

It's true

I'm moving out.

Or, at least, I have the intention to move out. The reality is still at this moment a mythical dream in which I find a wonderful place to live for a wonderful price with wonderful roommates in a wonderful ward and it all happens with a wonderful alacrity that is wonderful.

You can see how it's a mythical dream.

But, the reality is that I'm apartment shopping, pretty much anywhere within a 20-minute commute of my job in AF. So this extends into BYU-land (though that's becoming more distasteful to me the more student housing atrocities I witness) all the way up into Sandy. So if you know of a good place....

I've decided that I'm picky. I've lived in some fairly nice places with some AMAZING roommates, entirely besides living at home. So it's a little more than I can handle to cram myself back into a closet of a bedroom along with four or five other girls. Nothin' doin'. I like living space. I don't need a HUGE place, but I need to be able to breathe. And that definitely includes toning down on the amount of estrogen present in the household.

I saw some places today and yesterday, nothing terribly impressive. One place was tiny, one place was crowded, one place was utterly ghetto. I'm not really in a hurry (except that I am) so I can afford a little pickiness, at least for the moment. I just want to be comfortable.

PS: If you're curious about the house, well, it just didn't work out. A house was *probably* a little too much for me right now anyway, but it just didn't work out. And my patience has come to an end, so I'm fleeing back into the rental scene. Oh joyous wondrousness. >.<

Random thoughts on nothing in particular

Last night, my dear mom and I colored my hair (aka she did all the work and I reaped the benefits). Except, I can't really see a difference. In the sun it shines a little brighter, I suppose, but nobody noticed and I'm kind of bummed. Except I don't want to spend another seven bucks and another night of my life to do-over, so I'm just staying with Chocolate Cherry for now.

I'm presently engaged in a Star Trek marathon--the movies, not the TV series. So far we've watched The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan. Definitely preferred the latter over the former. Tonight we will probably be watching Search for Spock. I just have to note that this is the first time I've ever seen these. The only Star Trek movies I've ever seen have been First Contact and Insurrection. Love them both. And so far I'm enjoying these earlier films, if on an entirely different level.

Speaking of which...I'm totally enjoying my Netflix subscription again. I have an on-again, off-again relationship with Netflix, usually about six months at a time for each. I think that in six months, I watch all the movies that I'm interested in, and then I have to build up a new stock of things to be interested in before I start again. Currently I'm alternating the Star Trek marathon with episodes of Heroes. =)

My guitar is good. It has this weird buzz that's been getting worse since I bought it; I need to talk to somebody who knows one end of a guitar from the other who is NOT the people who sold it to me. However, despite this annoyance, I'm really enjoying it so far. Still haven't started lessons, though that's coming soon, but via the internet I've learned a few chords which I have been trying to apply to the easiest songs I can find in the children's songbook. I'm trying to start building calluses, but no noticable difference thus far.

I really really really want to go camping. Like...now. I have such a craving to escape and go to the (relative) wilderness for awhile. Unfortunately, this will be have to be put off for a couple of weeks. Fortunately, it only has to be put off for a couple of weeks, and then I can go!!

That's all. Like I said...nothing in particular.

I want to be in there with you!

Guitar triumph!

Behold!


It's an Ibanez Sage series (SGT520VS). Solid spruce top, mahogany back, sides and neck, rosewood bride and fretboard. I tried bunches of different ones the past couple of days, and I found that I was particular to the Ibanez. I tried a couple different Ibanez, several Yamahas, Fenders, Samicks, Washburns, even a Martin today. It was amazing how much difference even I could hear, who have never played guitar before. I'm sure that ear will only get stronger with training. But for the money, I found that I liked the Ibanez. They got good reviews on different websites, I was able to get it for a good price, and it's pretty.

I'm very excited. Now I just have to learn to play it! =)

Playing catch-up

I was talking to a friend today about how busy I am making my life. He said, "That's okay, but just remember balance. That's a problem that you struggle with sometimes."

I wanted to take this opportunity to catch you up on some of the activites I've got going on, as well as those that I'm on the verge of.

Tonight I'm going to Taekwondo, which I'm pretty excited about. I didn't get to go last Thursday like I had planned, which is fine, but I'm glad to go back tonight. I am craving TKD and physical activity (which will play again in a moment) and I've missed the TKD community a great deal. So yay!

Also, I'm hoping that tonight will be the night: I'm going to buy a guitar. This makes me exceptionally nervous along with exceptionally excited. I can't wait to start learning.

Tomorrow I"m going to be playing softball on a city league team I just joined. I haven't played in ages so hopefully I don't look like an utter fool. But I'm excited to get out and play.

On Thursday I'll be up in SLC again for a planning committee meeting for the birthparent section of this summer's Families Supporting Adoption conference.

Friday I may be going to either the zoo or an aquarium, pending my friend Chris stepping up to organize the outing. I'm not going to lie. I really love every single one of my friends, but I get really tired of organizing most of our activities. So this time, Chris is in charge. =)

In the midst of all these things, I have lots of other things to do as well. Volunteer work, my new obsession with adoption blogging, writing a novel (in my new Moleskine notebook), stressing about the upcoming Semifinal announcement for ABNA, preparing to teach Sunday school, and hopefully making some kind of handout for visiting teaching (I've been kind of lax in that aspect of my calling), searching for a LBD to wear to Dixy's wedding, and hopefully maintaining x-number of friendships in the meantime.

Oh, and working 40 hours a week.

So yeah, life is busy. I wouldn't have it any other way. Hopefully I don't explode. And hopefully you know that I still love you!

Adoption blog

I'm getting more involved in the adoption cause, and I feel like I need a forum with which to specifically address adoption issues. For that cause, I have created a new blog:

mamavalerius.blogspot.com

There's nothing much there yet, but it will grow. For all few of you who read this blog, fear not: the muse will continue to descend. I'm just a little OCD and needed separate places for separate things.

Also, if you have some interest in adoption, please don't hesitate to link to either of my blogs!

Loves.

Life ambitions

I have a life list. Yes. I do. A list of things that I want to accomplish somewhere in my lifetime. (I think I may have discussed this list before). Anyhow, I've been feeling the itch, the last couple of weeks, to tackle something new, and particularly something from this list. I think the trip to Seattle made me see that I CAN accomplish things, that I can make them work in my life and schedule now.

This craving for new challenges has taken shape in two ways. After days of searching for continuing education and community classes (and not finding a whole lot that stirred my interests) I have decided that I am going to take up the guitar. This is one of several musical instruments that I enjoy and would like to learn to play. It is the most accessible, particularly at this point in my life. And so, I'm going to. This comes with all sorts of hurdles I must get over first, but it is now on the day-to-day to-do list, which means it's gonna happens.

Secondly, I'm going back to Taekwondo. This has been a long time in coming. But I'm going to get my sorry lazy butt up and back into the studio. I went tonight for the first time in...well, a really freaking long time. And actually, I had a blast, I feel great, and the endorphins are amazing. So while I know it's going to be hard to motivate myself (as evidenced by the last six months and more) I've made the decision to go back. Just need to follow through.

That's all. What's up in your life?

Paperback splurge!

I love the bookstore. I think we've discussed this. At any rate, it was Friday night, I had nothing to do and nobody to do it with, so I wound up at B&N for a little time in the SF&F section looking for something new.

After visiting the EMP/Science Fiction Museum in Seattle, I have realized that I need to read a LOT more science fiction. I think this prompted this evening's purchases.

First, I picked up "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov. I have a confession. Despite my profound love of science fiction, I've never read anything by Asimov. I know, I know, this is profane sacrilege of the worst sort. Soon to be mended! Unfortunately, the only copy B&N had available was a movie-cover--it has a lovely picture of Will Smith on the front. Gag. Not that I mind Will Smith, but I generally don't like books that are superimposed with film version covers. Lame. But I'm sucking it up--I'm a creature of immediacy, and I wanted this book NOW. So I'm stuck with Will.

The second book I picked up was "Sunshine" by Robin McKinley. Favorite author, but not a book I've read before. But I read the first two pages and was hooked, so I went ahead with the purchase. McKinley's books that I have read are among my top favorites, so I figured I was relatively safe here. We'll see how it goes.

And thirdly I picked up "The Speed of Dark" by Elizabeth Moon. I've only recently begun to read Ms. Moon (on the recommendation of my former Captain) but have been pleasantly enjoying her books thus far. This book in particular intrigues me--it is a science fiction novel surrounding autism. I am very eager to read it.

On the whole, I am rather pleased with how it turned out. I do love books, and I'm excited to get into some new works and authors. I would encourage you to do the same!

Old Navy amuses me

I think I would feel cooler if I had discovered this for myself, but no, I simply stole it from Jen's blog. However, I totally thought it was worth passing along.

Old Navy has hidden coupons on their website today, and since I like Old Navy things but don't like their prices under normal circumstances, I thought I would pass along Jen's step-by-step low-down on the 50% off coupon, which I have already snagged for myself also.

Step one:
Go to Old Navy Weekly. You will come to a screen that looks like this:

Click on "Start Hunting"

Step Two:
At the bottom of the page you'll see the "vote for the best legs" option...and I have to agree with Jen here that it's a little scary, seeing as they're mannequins and they have plastic-formed legs. Although, I'm not going to lie that their commercials make me laugh. Anyhow, you have to vote, and in perfect keeping with our society today, you must give EACH mannequin the full five stars. It will look like this:


Step Three:
Wait. After 10-20 seconds, a tiny kite will start moving through the page. It will start in the lower-left part of the horizon and move upwards and to the right. Can you see it below?

You must click on the kite. And watch it, because it moves pretty quickly to hide behind the mannequins!

Step FOUR:
Once you successfully click on the kite, you'll immediately see this screen:


Click on "Add to your in-store coupon." At this point, you'll see THIS screen:


Step SIX:
Click on "Make Coupon" and this will pop up on the screen:


You can either print the coupon directly from here, or have it emailed to yourself. I emailed it to myself so that I'll remember that I have it when I get home from work and actually have the opportunity to use it! On what, I don't know yet, but hopefully something cute!

Enjoy!

PS: Thank you Jen for not penalizing me for outright blog-thievery. O_o

General Conference weekend

As I grow older, I am coming more and more to love General Conference. This weekend, I will be attending four 2-hour sessions where I (along with several other million members of the LDS Church) will listen to the words of our prophets, apostles, and other general authorities.

Since high school, I have generally watched most or all of General Conference with friends and/or roommates. This year will be no different, although it's going to be a new group--friends from my singles' ward.

I also particularly enjoy the activites that surround general conference. For instance, on Saturday night after the Priesthood session (during which Cheri and I will be at Wal-Mart!) we are having a movie night. Our movie selection still remains to be seen, but we will be watching from the comfort of the club house at the Milano apartments...which is VERY nice. =)

And on Sunday, we are having a brunch between sessions, and I am SO excited to make french toast. I'll admit that I have been craving french toast for...well, awhile now. So that's my contribution to our potluck brunch, and I'm pretty content with life.

Of course, I am mostly just excited to hear the words of the Prophets. And I'm excited to get to read them in a month's time in the new conference Ensign. I just absolutely love general conference.