Story of a Call

Somehow it's December...
I'm still not sure how that happened, because last I checked, I was stepping off a plane in Salt Lake City - having just come home from my wonderful adventures abroad, and it was October.
Even that seemed wrong.
The past 6 months of my life have been such a wonderful ride that I hardly remember getting on! One minute I'm on my way to Rexburg, in a random car, with a random Vietnamese chick, and then next thing I know I'm getting a letter in the mail telling me I'm going to be spending the next 4 months preparing to serve a mission in the Alps!
That's really why I started writing this post - because 2 weeks have passed since I got my call, and I've yet to post about it!
But simply posting about it wont do.
No no...I think this calls for a little story.
So go ahead and put your footies on, grab a juice box, and get ready for the story of my lifetime.
(Don't worry - there's pictures...)

Once Upon a time, there was a girl...

Who grew into a bigger girl...

Who grew into a bigger girl...

Who grew into a Missionary.

This Missionary, however, was a sad Missionary...

For all the other Missionaries had their calls...

But this poor Missionary did not.

She waited...

And waited...

And waited...

And waited...

Until one day she saw...

HEDWIG IN THE SKY!

She had come with her mission call!

But then this poor missionary had to do some more waiting...

And some more waiting...

And some more waiting...

AND EVEN MORE WAITING!

Until finally all her family was home!

Well...in a manner of speaking...

Then the magical moment arrived...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFhKxLqQvCQ

And she lived happily ever after.

THE END.

A Beginning in Red

So I'm still waiting for my call, right?
It's supposed to come tomorrow, but I can't help checking the mailbox every day, just in case.
This morning I decide to try writing to keep my mind off things that may or may not arrive this afternoon (which it did not, by the way)...but it's not working out so well. So far all I've got is the start of a very dreary work that begins with the gruesome death of a child...

I clearly need some ice cream.

Or perhaps a therapist.

But the one positive thing that can be said about all this is that it has helped me make some real headway on my book. I'm the type of person who lets her mood control the work that gets done, which is probably not a smart way to live - but it produces the best results in my writing. I can't quite describe the feeling I get when I know that I need to sit down and "bleed" (as Hemingway describes it) but when I'm anxious about something, or anticipating some kind of adventure, or fearful of some change in life, I get this odd numb feeling in my head that just seems to scream "GET TO SOME PAPER QUICK, AND WRITE!"
Sometimes I get a similar feeling that leads to me spending the entire day reading sad literature and sobbing like a baby on my bed.
Or to a day of watching chick flicks.
Or to a day of practicing piano in the dark. (Don't ask me why...I just like the dark).
But the weird thing is I'm not really feeling depressed when I do these things, just numb. I have a hard time focusing on anything else - and when people try to talk to me I respond in a sort of empty, unfeeling way, that most take the wrong way.

I like to call it my 'thinking' mode, because it usually means I'm lost in thought about something or other. It happens a lot in school or in church - where someone will say something that gets me thinking about something both similar and completely unrelated at the same time...but then the teacher will always call on me and I'll look at him/her like a complete idiot and respond with a quite "I don't know."

Seriously though.
Every time.
And then people look at me funny because I don't have anything to say - and usually they can't get me to shut up...


I don't even know if you're still following me here. I probably lost you a while back.

Here - just look at this funny picture of a turtle, and I'll get back to my novel writing.

Not in Nottingham

One of the greatest things about life is that it is continually offering up new things at which to smile. There is never a shortage of wonderfulness in this world, though at times it may seem more difficult to find...

Today I had the privileged of spending the entire day at home, with no real duties to uphold. Of course, there was plenty I ought to have done, and while I did not - the few that actually did happened happened because I wanted them to be done, and not because they had to be. There is something beautiful about a day so relaxed. It's one of those days you just want to blog about...
But I'm not going to.
Since most of it involves sitting on a couch.
Instead I shall tell you of the smiles life gave me during this couch-sitting day! Or rather I shall post about them, and let you do the telling and smiling for yourself.

 

A Little Princess and The Secret Garden - both by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Read them, and then you'll understand.

This video... ^

And this video... ^

I also watched the latest Bones episode this morning while working on a Christmas project...and sometimes the best smiles come after a good cry, which is definitely what this episode had me doing. With Veteran's Day behind us, a 9/11 theme was only fitting, and also very emotional. But I think the best and most truthful emotions come out in fiction, don't you? It offers up questions reality cannot ask - and helps us discover things we sometimes wish we had never found.
Today fiction led me to a whole slew of discoveries that I'm very glad I found, however, and as cheesy as it sounds - I scooped up those smiles and saved them for a rainy day!
Ha.
You can tell I was reading children's literature today.

In other news... No white envelope in the mail yet :(
But that's okay - I suppose my owl just missed the morning post. It was probably that left turn at Albuquerque...

I suppose I'll join in the posting...

My family and I sat around the tv last night and watched the results come in together. Before the outcome of Ohio was definite, we turned it off, kneeled around the couch, and said a prayer for our next President - that he and his councilors would be blessed to know how best to lead this country. Then we turned the tv back on and waited.

As soon as it was a sure win for President Obama, we turned off the TV, said goodnight, and went to bed. Well...most people went to bed - I went back to my Harry Potter book.

But I digress...


If there is one person in whom I have absolute trust, it is my Heavenly Father. I knew even before I filled out my ballot that no matter who was at the head of this country, so long as I was here, and so long as I put my faith in Him, everything would be alright.

Who I voted for, whether it was Obama or it was Mitt Romney, does not matter. Who my family voted for does not matter. I purposefully did not post online who I, or anyone else in my family supported in this election.

All that matters it that I believe in this country and what it stands for. I believe in the Constitution, in the 3 branches that do their best to uphold it, and in the people of America who will never let this country fall.

For those who are upset in the outcome of last night - please take faith in the knowledge that you still have your freedom. You still have your liberty. You even have the right to express your distaste, should you wish, and the right to either move on, or do something about it in 4 years by voting again. You could even run yourself, should you wish.

If you really have concern for the President, do your best to help him in the years to come, instead of abandoning a man who has undoubtedly done only what he thinks is best for this country.

I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to join in the election process this year, and look forward to the chance I have of helping this nation grow, by supporting President Obama and all the American people in the years to come.



For those who might be interested, this is an official statement made by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, of which I am a member and will shortly be serving a mission for:
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/statement-on-election-result

Yup...that just happened.

I was eating some lunch, and I thought - "Hmm...I should write a blog post!"

So I opened this window,

Stared at the blank page for a few minutes,

...And wrote this.

Yup.

That just happened.

So...

I'm going to read Harry Potter.

Later.

National Harry Potter Day: R.I.P Lilly and James :(

If you were to ask me to describe the perfect Halloween, I would do so with the following bullet points:

• E.T.
• Pumpkin flavored snacks
• The Village Soundtrack
• It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!
• Little children in ridiculously cute costumes, forced on them by their parents.
• Especially Peter Pan and Hobbit costumes...
• Candy
• Hocus Pocus
• Harry Potter, books 2 and 4
• And....an Alfred Hitchcock film marathon

In the past Halloween has actually been one of my least favorite holidays - but only because I've been at school the past two years and missed all the family fun at home. This year I celebrated by going to the ward trunk-or-treat with my folks on Saturday; helping pass out the candy to the cute kiddos, and the not-so-cute older kids who really just need to give up and buy their own candy.
Monday night I went to a YSA Halloween Party with Ashley Jarman It was super fun and I'm glad I went :)

Tuesday night I celebrated the holiday with my Dad! We watched Wait Until Dark for what I thought was the first time, but part way through I realized I had actually seen it before, but it was so long ago that I couldn't remember all the particulars. So basically it was like watching it again for the first time...which really is the best way to enjoy movies, I'd say. I love being surprised, in a 'non-gory', 'non-life-threatening' way.

Side Note - My mom is watching Once Upon a Time right now (great show; beautiful people) - and I would just like to express gratitude that she did not name me Rumple, or Snow, or something of that ridiculous nature.
That much said - I cannot promise the same for my future kids.
One of you will probably be named Ice Cream - depending on how much sleep I've had before we fill out the papers.

Okay - back to Halloween. The actual day now - Wednesday I spent dancing around the house to the Village soundtrack (which you can dance to, believe it or not) while doing some chores. Then that evening I went to see Luke perform in Sweeney Todd with Greasepaint Theater, in downtown Scottsdale. They all did a spectacular job, which I don't often say about youth productions of Sondheim. Luke in particular was amazing, as was the girl who played Mrs. Lovett. I still have mixed feelings about that musical - because as cool as the music is, the story is just gross. A good gross, but still gross. Anyway, it was fun seeing it Halloween night, and I got to help collect tickets at the door and hand out programs, which I've never done for anything before - so that was kind of fun.

You know what I love most about Holidays though? It's not the candy or the presents - and it's certainly not the stupid outfits teenagers try to pull off.
It's the given excuse to celebrate.
I love finding reasons to do fun things every day, like makes pies, or dance to scary music, or slide down the hallway in my socks...

So today, while I was thinking about all the fun I'm going to have with future offspring - forcing them into Yoda hats, Hogwarts robes or fake Hobbit feet - I decided to look up some more fun holidays I could celebrate with them - and here are some of the fun ones I found!

Book Lover's Day - November 3rd
King Tut Day - November 4th
World Kindness Day - November 13th
Button Day - November 16th
Have a Party with your Bear Day - November 16th

And those are all for this month alone! November is also National Novel Writing month, National Adoption Awareness month...and National Model Railroad month, Peanut Butter lovers month, Aviation History month, International Drum month...the list goes on and on!

So many excuses to celebrate...and buy model trains.
I love it.