Political Correctness

I’m doing my homework for my Math Methods for Early Elementary Teachers class, and I come to a chapter about writing story problems. This is what the writer had to say:

“Naturally, teachers choose interesting problems that do not promote stereotypes. Women do not do all the shopping while men buy gas and cut the grass. Sensitivity to the cultural practices of each family helps teachers make wise choices. A problem about pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving may not relate to the everyday experiences of many children who eat sweet potato pie at the holiday feast or who don’t have holiday dinners.” 161

Oh boy. Complete craziness.

The idea of political correctness is especially prevalent at this… holiday… season. Holiday. Who chose which holidays are Holidays? I’m going to be honest– I get really offended when people wish me a happy Halloween*. Although I do celebrate it, there are some people who don’t support that wicked day, and we can’t risk offending them by being friendly. The best policy is to take offense if there’s even a slight possibility that someone somewhere could maybe be mildly offended by something. In fact, let’s just call Halloween a Holiday, and then we don’t have to worry about the consequences of spreading our joy by saying something nice to someone. It is a holiday, after all, and it comes just before Thanksgiving, so it only makes sense that we should strip it of its actual title and just stick it in the pile with the other days of celebration whose names are taboo.**

I was watching Fox News the other day, which is actually against my principles, but it was just on while I was eating dinner. This came on:

Wasn’t that great? I love it. I hope you watched the whole video.

*just kidding
**that was sarcasm

Snacks

As many of you know, I resolved to change my eating habits this semester, specifically to remember to eat (and actually eat) 3 full meals every day, and choose healthier foods.

This resolution was actually inspired (and/ or forced upon me) by my mom and Melissa, but I’m really grateful I’ve been doing it, because I’ve noticed a huge change in the way I feel, and with the amount of energy I have.

This is of course linked to the extra 3 or so hours of sleep I’ve been getting, and with the running I’ve started getting into. The point is, I’ve been healthier this semester, and it started with food.

These are some of the quick, easy, healthy, low-budget recipes I’ve tried so far:

 Um, just kidding. This is the girl who has ruined Ramen, instant oatmeal, Campbell’s soup, pancakes, and pretty much everything else. Someday I will be able to cook, though. And I am getting better! But the purpose of this post was to recommend easy, healthy snacks that I’ve discovered. So here they are:

I like to put string cheese on my crackers, and eat them with grapes. I just bought a HUGE bag of string cheese from Costco, so I’m just trying to eat it all before I leave.
 I always eat a protein granola bar right when I get home from my run. They are great.

 Edamame is probably my favorite healthy snack of all time. And all you have to do is throw it in the microwave! You dont even have to worry about puncturing the easy open bag in the right way. So it’s impossible to ruin, which is necessary for me.

Carrots are so great. Who doesn’t love carrots?

Let it be known that I’ve greatly improved on my eating habits this semester. I may yet be a gourmet chef someday.

I’m on my way

These past few months have been some of the most productive ones, as milestones go, of my life. I got my driver’s license, started my mission papers, and celebrated 2 seizure-free years since my surgery. NBD.

Actually no, it is a huge deal. But the big deal right now, besides the continuing anticipation of completing my papers, is that I took the Praxis exam yesterday (the test to get into the School of Education, and to become a teacher), and I passed!!! I thought I failed, because I always think I’ve failed, so when I saw my scores, I literally collapsed of relief.

So yeah. I just thought I’d announce that I’m one step closer to becoming a teacher, which has been my dream all my life. I must say that I am tempted several times each semester to drop my education major and just graduate with a Fine Arts degree, but I know this is what I’m supposed to do.

So here I go. I’m off to great places, today is my day, my mountain is waiting, so I’ll get on my way!

And when I grow up, I will be a teacher. I just have to climb all those mountains of education classes and interviews and student teaching and politics and all that other stuff. But the Praxis is over! Success.

Heaven Is Here

A few months ago, I committed to read a book every month for the rest of my life, because I feel like being as literate and well-read as possible is very important for me. I’m going to try to blog about each book, if they’re good, to further promote literacy, or something. (Still vague there.)

July’s book was Heaven Is Here, by Stephanie Nielson. I’d like to give a short summary, but I have to go to bed. So, trust me that it’s good, and check it out! I really like her writing, and the whole story is very inspiring.

Next time I blog about a book, the review will be interesting, and you will most certainly want to jump up and immediately get your hands on the book. Just wait.

News

You know those times when you hear something so incredibly surprising that it pretty much dampens the rest of your day? I’ve decided to compile a list of those hard facts that have gradually come to me in my life, for no particular reason other than I like to make lists, and I just found out about one of these (#3), so it’s fresh on my mind.

1. John Denver and Annie didn’t stay together
2. The Three Cups of Tea guy was lying
3. The Born to Run guy ended up with stress fractures
4. The “Good Parts Version” of The Princess Bride (book) doesn’t actually exist
5. Pluto lost planet-ship. Still upset about that.
6. A couple of things about Emma Smith. She’s still an amazing woman.
7.

Oh, you’re here too

*This post in highly uncharacteristic of me. If you don’t wish to hear me complain just a bit, feel free to overlook this post.

Do you know what I’m not? I’m not a soloist. I hate performing, because it makes me nervous, and I really can’t stand being in the spot light. I’m happiest working with others, and backing up and

Most Beautiful Songs Ever

1. Into the West
2. In Dreams (Lord of the Rings)
3. Gabriel’s Oboe
4. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, 18th variation
5. All of the Rigoletto soundtrack
6. Theme from Rachmaninov’s 2nd concerto
7. Nessun Dorma

Lessons learned from Harry Potter: Eternal Families

I spoke in church today, and do you know what I spoke on?

You guessed it. Harry Potter.

Of course! And why? Well, today is Neville Longbottom‘s birthday, and Harry’s is on Tuesday. So it would only make sense that I’d have to speak about them in church.

You’re probably wondering how a girl such as I could talk about such a devilish, horrible, sacrilegious, wicked topic in Sacrament Meeting, so I will gladly explain how Harry Potter is a perfect illustration of the importance of family, (which was featured in roughly 87.88% of the talks in this past General Conference) as well as a plethora of other essential gospel topics and principles, and why every human should read the tales of the Boy Who Lived. ….

THE WEASLEYS: correct me if I’m wrong, The Most Fantastic Fictional Family Ever Created.

Why are the Weasleys such an amazing family? Well, they gather together for meals and all other occasions, they communicate with each other, they work out their problems together, if they had the gospel in their lives, they would most certainly attend church together, pray together, and read their scriptures together.

Maybe I’ll get called to the Hogsmeade Mission.

So, the Weasleys are an example of a strong family that sticks together, takes care of each other, shows LOVE for each other, forgives one another, protects each other, and stands for truth and righteousness. (Obviously that’s what Dumbledore’s Army is all about.)

 Let’s agree that they are just the greatest fictional family ever. Don’t correct me, because I’m not wrong.

THE MALFOYS:

Oh them. We thought they were evil, and they were nasty to Harry and the Weasleys and Dumbledore and Buckbeak and Hagrid and Sirius and Lupin and pretty much everyone, and led the Death Eaters in that stupid rampage at the Quidditch World Cup, and allowed Voldemort to dwell in their manor, and participated in the dark works of the Death Eaters. But they were different.

Do you know why? Because they had love. (Obviously not Bellatrix. I won’t even go there.)

That single characteristic is what sets them apart from the other Death Eaters, and what ultimately saves them (to a certain degree) in the end.

Are we seeing a pattern? The most powerful weapon is love, and the most powerful love is the love in a family.

THE DURSLEYS:

Yes, I am including these folks. They are cows. We all know that. But I still want to point out that they loved each other and tried to protect each other.
As Dumbledore said, Do not not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living. Above all, those who live without love. Dumbledore is so great. What a blessing it is to have an eternal family.
In conclusion, Harry Potter teaches the importance of family relationships. From the example of the Weasleys, we can add our own knowledge of the Plan of Happiness (“happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ”) and prepare for our eternal families. (Yes, I had to add that. I’m a college student. That’s the law.)
Isn’t Harry Potter awesome? There are SO MANY lessons to be learned from this fantastic series. Siriusly. 

Thoughts on Death, the Devil, and Music Cathartis

Did you hear about the shooting in the Aurora theater in Colorado? Oh my goodness. It’s times like this  that I am incredibly thankful for the gospel and for the Plan of Happiness. It also increases my desire to serve a mission like 10 times.


We have all this knowledge– we know that there is life after death, we know that families can be together forever, and we know that our Heavenly Father, who is waiting for us to come home to him, loves us. But so many people don’t know that! So many people grieve over tragedies like these (as they should) because they don’t know that they can be together again. But they can be! 


And I could be the one to bring them that happy message. (2 months until I submit my papers!)

My first class on Monday, shortly after the news broke, was World Music Cultures. My amazing professor Dr. Kammerer brought up a discussion about Satan, and how we know that he is real, and an actual literal son of God, who can get hold upon the hearts of men, as he has with this particular man. (Those aren’t his words. He didn’t even use them. I just like to quote scripture whenever I talk about Satan. See Helaman 6:30 for a better description.) We know that, and we know how we can fight against him, and we just need to spread the world. Also, Alma 30:60. True statement.

He also talked about the cathartic powers of music. We listened to “Gone Too Soon”, as excellent song by Michael Jackson. The emotion conveyed through the music, even without the lyrics, but certainly supplemented by them, encompasses the emotions that inevitably come with death. Isn’t music amazing? It is so powerful.

Also, if we had a checklist of the Signs of the Last Days, which we actually do, pretty much the whole list would be checked off by now. Seriously. I’m starting to wait for an announcement about the temple in Jerusalem.

My prayers go out to those affected by this horrible event. And I guess The Dark Knight Rises will forever be associated with it, which is unfortunate.