Category: Uncategorized

My family is splitting up. By order of the First Presidency.

Well, my biological parents aren’t getting a divorce. (Thank heaven.) But my family in Hawaii– my beloved 11th ward– is being ripped apart and scattered to the 4 corners of the island. The church is structured so beautifully, and of course the concept of wards is divinely inspired, so it’s really lovely the way wards really do function as families.

And then sometimes other people intervene and make the family change their name, and leave each other. That’s contrary to Heavenly Father’s plan!

But I know the church leaders are working under the direction of the Lord, so we just have to accept it,  but it’s so hard! Today was the last Sunday in my ward, and it just hurt. We have the best bishopric of all time! And the kids are all really stellar as well. The new ward boundaries are way different, and like I said, they’re changing the name. The BYUH 11th ward is become the Laie YSA 16th ward. Sick.

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

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.

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.

*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

Aloha. I have an exciting announcement: I FINALLY GOT MY DRIVER’S LICENSE!!!! I don’t have a car here in Hawaii, so it’s not like I’ll really be able to drive, but it’s just the fact that I’ve finally accomplished what all my friends did 6 years ago. What a relief.

Can we just take a second to review why this is such a huge deal for me?

I had epilepsy.
I had a major brain surgery two years ago.
I don’t have a right hippocampus.

I can drive a car!

Also, I’m working on my mission papers. Have I announced that? Now that info can go on it!

There are a few things I am very passionate about. One is of course music, because it is essentially my life right now. Another is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, another is Chocolate Haupia pie from Ted’s Bakery, and another is my three little sisters– Kristen, Lauren and Sophie. I’d like to think that I’m not a very prideful person, but if there’s one thing I take incredible pride in, it’s these three young ladies. Please let me brag about them to you.

KRISTEN is my oldest friend, and by that I mean I’ve been friends with her for 18 years of my life. She just turned 18, and she is one of the most spiritually in-tune, selfless, compassionate individuals I know. Whenever I go home, she’s usually not home about 60% of the time, and about 90% of that is visiting other people and giving them cookies she made or something. And let me tell you, that girl can cook! She also just got accepted to the extremely competitive BYU School of Music (round of applause, please) after impressing much of Western Europe with her cello skills. She should commence her world-tour sometime within the next five years. Ticket prices to be announced at a later date. And if her cello skills weren’t enough, she can also sing the socks off of any Broadway musical or Italian opera or what have you. Seriously.

LAUREN is not only the most popular girl at Timpview, she is also

Last night, I went to one of the most incredible concerts I’ve ever been to. It was the Honolulu Symphony, performing the Eroica Symphony, Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Rhapsody in Blue, and Pictures At an Exhibition. Let me say that when I saw the program, I almost died.

We studied the Eroica in Music History this past semester, so I already knew quite a bit about it, and it just happens to be one of my all-time favorite symphonies. Very fine performance. Then the Rachmaninov. Oh my word. I am going to make the biggest statement of my life, and say that I think the 18th Variation of Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is the most glorious piece ever written. I will qualify that there are thousands of other beautiful songs, some of which I blogged about last March, linked here for your viewing/ listening convenience. Nonetheless, it has been one of my favorite pieces for almost as long as I can remember, and the stunning performance nearly brought me to tears.

http://youtu.be/bNrVFkBDte8

One of the absolute greatest members of the Oaks Hills First ward passed away last Saturday. I was her favorite Primary kid, so I feel like I should write a tribute to her, out of duty.

I think every neighborhood has at least one “crazy lady”. (I’m totally gonna be the one in my ward.) Well, Sister Hickman was our’s. And when I say crazy, I also mean hilarious, energetic, loving, friendly, and pretty much awesome. (Hoping for some of those qualities as well.) She was the fire in our ward, as well as the neighborhood “gossip”, if you will. I mean that in a very kind way. She just liked to be in on everything, not unlike myself. (That will unquestionably be me.) I remember one time she opposed a calling, and I have respected her for that ever since.

She was the Primary pianist when I was in Primary, and I remember her spouting out different things during the lessons, and I just always thought she was incredibly cool. As evidenced by that calling, she was obviously a pianist, which means she had a piano, which means Lucy and I made our monthly rounds of pre-Master Class performances to her every month. And she always seemed happy to hear us! How cool is that? I got to play for her when the cancer started to get bad, and that was really special.

For some reason, Bishop Holcombe called Lucy and me to be co-choir presidents, which means we had to call EVERY SINGLE CHOIR MEMBER, EVERY SINGLE WEEK. And you know how I love talking on the phone…. Yeah. But I always did members A-L, which included Sister Hickman, so she got the “Hi Sister Hickman, I’m just calling to remind you–” “I’ll be there.” Every week? Seriously? Baffles me. (I still love Bishop Holcombe, though.) So she was a rock in the alto section, and I think we were really blessed to have her. She and Sister Christiansen and the Monsons and Brother Marlowe were the constants. Oh boy.

She was and is a wonderful example to me, and when I say I want to be like her when I’m old, I absolutely mean it. Her husband died like 30 years ago, and although I’m definitely not planning on that, (please no) I admire her attitude of service and compassion and love, even when she had experienced such a tremendous loss. I think I’ll recognize Brother Hickman when I get to the next life, because she talked so much about him. I hope to have that kind of love for everyone.

Sister Hickman was so great. And she made everyone feel loved. I guess that’s why I think I was her favorite Primary kid.

This is her real and very well-written obituary.