the way to a man's heart

Today at institute we were talking about how men can respect and support women in a courtship setting. One girl mentioned the quote by a former president of the Church that a kiss should be innocent, like one between a mother and son or father and daughter. Far be it from me to disagree with a prophet of God but...I disagree, at least with the wording. So I decided to share with the blogging world my theory.
Many have said that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. False. If you aim for the stomach, you have looked beyond the mark. The way to a man's stomach is most definitely through his mouth. The confusion is understandable, since the taste buds do play a role. It is a truth universally accepted that men love food, especially good food and especially free food. Who doesn't? But it is only half of the picture.
A kiss communicates a lot. The very fact that you are kissing might mean different things to different people. To me, it communicates exclusiveness. But the type of kiss also communicates things. I agree that our covenants dictate that our kisses should not communicate lust, I do believe that they should convey attraction. I surely don't want my men kissing me the same way as they would their mother, in a way that communicates, "thanks for giving birth to me and changing my diapers." I want to be kissed in a way that communicates "you are so beautiful and fun to be around and I admire you so much that I'm not interested in other girls right now and I'd really like to spend a fair amount of time with you to get to know you better because I think this relationship might have long-term potential," which is too much information to pack into a quick, tight-lipped peck.
Baked goods are important and helpful. But you also need to kiss in a way that says, "I like kissing." Trust me, that is the way to to a man's heart.

an entertaining disaster

I should have known that this road trip was doomed from the beginning. It was originally supposed to be a family trip, but most people bailed, leaving me and my sister Cassity. I was disappointed, but felt pressure to make the most of it, since the hotels, gas, and tickets were paid for, since my Mom had planned the trip (I'm pretty sure) to help me with my post-Europe blues, since Cassity had already scheduled her days off, and since any break from my currently-boring life is much appreciated.
So Monday morning we hit the road, me full of faith that Cassity knew where we were going and Cassity sure that I would tell her where to get off the freeway. So, we took the long way to our hotel in Bluffdale, Utah, and got a speeding ticket on the way, and very nearly ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Needless to say, we were relieved to finally arrive at the Recapture Lodge. The hostess asked us upon checking us into our room what we were going to do there, and we cheerfully and excitedly told her that we were planning on hiking the narrows. "What narrows?" she asked, looking quite confused. My mom had somehow, quite on accident, booked us a hotel hours away from what we where we thought we were going. To make ourselves feel better about the rough start of our trip, we watched a lightning storm from the pool. (Don't worry, we got out before it got close.)
Tuesday morning, we cheerfully and determinedly decided to make the most of our situation, changed our plans, and headed for Natural Bridges. Cassity thought she had a big water bottle in the car, but when we parked for the hike, she couldn't find it. My handy Camelbak holds enough water for me to make it to the top of Timp and back, so I told her I had plenty to share. Turns out, I didn't. Shortly after running out of water, we lost the trail and couldn't see any cairns anywhere, and hadn't seen another living soul in hours. We did eventually successfully drag ourselves back to the car, and when we got to the visitor's center, we both made ourselves sick drinking gulping down all the water our stomachs could hold.
I asked the ranger at Natural Bridges if we had time to make it to Mesa Verde. "Oh, sure," she said, "just take the highway into Cortez and follow the signs. There will be signs everywhere". Sounds easy enough. In Cortez we stopped for a burger and asked for directions, just to clarify. The burger lady didn't have a clue. So we continued on that same highway through Cortez. Just before reaching 4 Corners, we knew something was wrong and asked a construction worker who told us we were going in the wrong direction, that upon entering Cortez we were supposed to take a sharp left. There had not been any signs. By the time we made it to Mesa Verde, paid our $15 entrance fee, and made it to the visitor's center, we were too late for the cliff palace tour and, again, out of gas. The rangers said they could not help us until our car stalled on the road, then they could give us a gallon or two to make it to a gas station. The problem is, there is no side of the road. There is the road and then a couple thousand foot fall to certain death. So we crossed our fingers and made a run to the gas station. We went to THREE different gas stations and NONE of them worked, even though we saw someone get gas right before us at the first one. They kept telling me to "Please See Cashier". But there was no cashier. I count it no small miracle that Cassity's little Lancer made it to gas station number 4 after having driven 50 miles with the gas light on. By this time Mesa Verde was closed and we had seen nothing. We had driven all day and through two different states and paid $15 for absolutely nothing. With some gas station comfort food, we headed back to our hotel. The pool was again the best part of the day as bats swooped around me, inches from my head. I thought it was super cool; Cassity hid in the hot tub while I laughed at her. She didn't understand how I wasn't scared of the bats. But on our way out a beetle attacked me and I screamed like a little girl while she laughed at me, so we are even.
Wednesday it was off to Vegas, where our troubles were finally behind us. We made it to Vegas without incident and had time for a good nap and a great dinner before seeing Lion King: the Musical. I was skeptical, even though everyone I know who has seen it says they like it. I enjoyed the creative and elaborate costumes, and loved Rafiki. Some of the music was great, other parts I thought so-so. Overall, I enjoyed it, but it will never be my favorite musical because the plot is so.....Disney. I much prefer Les Mis with its deeper, more complex themes and thicker plot.
The only plans we had for Thursday were to drive home, but we delayed that in favor of the Shark Reef aquarium, roaming the strip, getting henna tattoos, and lounging about the Cesar's Palace pool. They didn't ask us if we were actual guests of that hotel, and we didn't bother to tell them that we weren't. We just grabbed towels from the pool boy and walked in like we owned the joint.
It was so nice to have Vegas at least be stress free. And, even through the stressful and disappointing times I had fun. I was glad to be with Cassity for those parts, because we just laughed them off and had fun anyway. And I was glad to have some bonding time with my crazy hysterical sister. A lot about his vacation was a disaster, but at least with her it was an entertaining disaster.

the right questions

I watched the movie Just Like Heaven the other day (don't judge me). In that movie, Jon Heder's character tells Mark Ruffalo's (oh baby, oh baby) character that he couldn't solve his problems because he wasn't asking the right questions. Shortly after watching it, I learned personally how true that is.
I haven't really been myself since I got home from Europe. I don't think many would judge me for thinking that leaving that absolute freedom, the adventure, the fulfilling of lifelong dreams on a daily basis, the exquisite beauty, for familiar old Utah Valley was kind of a downer. Especially when they know that returning also meant sleeping on the floor all alone in an unfurnished house, spending every day in the library, and re-realizing that some of my favorite people have gone away. Add to these things some other miscellaneous...misfortunes... that welcomed me home, and I was more than a little depressed.
I missed me. I missed having people ask me how I was doing and being able to answer, in all honesty and as was my habit, "Super!" I missed the me that got excited about the littlest thing, the me that only needed to see the sunshine shining through the leaves with blue sky as a backdrop or one good laugh to call it a great day. I do believe that our emotions are a choice we make, but no matter how many times I decided to be happy about life, the decision just wouldn't stick.
Then one night I prayed. Well, I mean, I pray every night, but this particular prayer happened a few nights ago. I said something to this extent. "Heavenly Father, I know we're supposed to pray in the name of Christ, but I just don't know how right now." As per the Bible Dictionary, praying in the name of Christ means praying for what He wants us to pray for. And on that point, as on many points in my life, I was stumped.
And then it came to me. The right question. And as soon as I learned to ask the right questions, Heavenly Father gave me the right answer. I woke up the next morning, overjoyed to be me again. I was so excited about life in general, and not just the Harry Potter midnight premier, as exciting as that was. (BTW, HP 7:2 was amazing!). I love Heavenly Father so much, He is so good to me!
So go a head, I dare you. Ask me how I'm doing. Well, I'll tell you
SUPER!!

accountability

One thing that they try to drill into your head as a missionary is the principle of accountability, especially in the sense that you report on your goals to your leaders and to Heavenly Father. I currently live alone, if you don't count the large population of spiders that also dwell there. I'm pretty sure they're HOBO spiders too. But they're not very good listeners Probably because I kill them on sight, so I guess it's not their fault. But I digress. Anyway, that leaves very few people to report to, so consider this my report.
Academically- I have been in the library studying for hours each day, six out of the past seven days. As far as my specialty exam status goes, I have successfully upgraded from "Oh my gosh I'm going to die, I'll never learn all this stuff!" to "OK, I'm on track, and I can do this, even though I'd really rather not". I am proud of this improvement.
Physically- One of my 101 goals was to go to the gym six days a week for a month. Today marks one week down, three to go. It also marks the realization of what awful planning I have, since next week I'm going on vacation with the fam and will be unable to attend the gym and will have to start all over. Oh, well, good thing I enjoy the gym.
Nutritionally- today I had Greek yogurt for breakfast. I realize that sounds more healthy than it actually is, but I discovered this new kind (Greek God Honey flavor) that is like heroine in yogurt form. I'm not making that comparison from experience, merely to prove a point. I think I'll go home now and have some more. Then I ate an apple and some fresh snow peas for lunch. Then I had an XXL Grilled Stuffed Burrito for dinner. So, there's still some room for improvement I suppose. I'll do better tomorrow....maybe.