Last night, Ashton and I had the opportunity to go to a James Taylor and Carole King concert with his company. We ate dinner with his company. I got to meet a lot of the people that he works with, obviously, and talks about. It's nice to put names to faces. After dinner, which was in the Pepsi Center, the same place as the concert, we went into the concert.
I can't say that I knew who James Taylor or Carole King were before this concert. Ashton didn't either, so that made me feel better. We had gotten a CD of some of their songs with the invite to attend the concert from his company, but we didn't listen to it. I figured that if I didn't like the music, I didn't want to know until I got there. So, I was surprised when I started hearing their songs how many I recognized and could sing along to. Ashton knew a few as well. That made the experience all the better.
The performance was also amazing. For being as old as they are, they were doing a whole lot of jumping, kicking, and dancing. It was entertaining to watch to say the least. It was also fun to watch other people really get into the songs.
So although we stayed up way late and today we're suffering from that, we had a good time!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Why Can't We All Get Along?
If there's one thing that bothers me, and there are plenty of things that bother me, it's people demanding tolerance while showing intolerance. What I mean by this is that there are people out there who want, even demand, that people accept them and their beliefs. There is nothing wrong with that, except for maybe the demanding part. There's no sense in demanding that people accept you because you can't control what other people think or do.
What is wrong with this is these same people who want to be accepted, immediately point a finger and announce "racist" or "discrimination" to those who disagree. Certainly, not everyone is like that. There are plenty of people who will be respectful of others' beliefs no matter how different those beliefs are from their own. It seems to be a growing trend though to point fingers and react violently toward people who aren't "forward thinking" enough.
What's wrong about this way of thinking and action should be obvious, but apparently it isn't. The best way of describing why pointing fingers and being intolerant of others while demanding tolerance from them is by asking this question, "Why would you expect people to respect you and your beliefs if you don't respect what other people believe?" We each have the right to express our views, especially when they differ. No one has the right to force their opinions on someone else or rather no one has the right to make someone else believe the same thing as another.
What is wrong with this is these same people who want to be accepted, immediately point a finger and announce "racist" or "discrimination" to those who disagree. Certainly, not everyone is like that. There are plenty of people who will be respectful of others' beliefs no matter how different those beliefs are from their own. It seems to be a growing trend though to point fingers and react violently toward people who aren't "forward thinking" enough.
What's wrong about this way of thinking and action should be obvious, but apparently it isn't. The best way of describing why pointing fingers and being intolerant of others while demanding tolerance from them is by asking this question, "Why would you expect people to respect you and your beliefs if you don't respect what other people believe?" We each have the right to express our views, especially when they differ. No one has the right to force their opinions on someone else or rather no one has the right to make someone else believe the same thing as another.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Great Book!
When I read books, I read a lot of books. I have currently 5 books that I've started reading and have yet to finish. That's not including reading General Conference talks and the scriptures. There are some of those 5 books that I haven't picked up in months. The reason for so many books is that most of the books that I'm reading are informational books so they're a little harder to get through in one sitting. There's also the fact that there are just so many good books that I want to read so I try to, at the same time. I wanted to mention one in particular that I just picked up again. It's called, Just and Holy Principles: Latter-Day Saint Readings on America and the Constitution.
This book was actually a required book for my American Heritage class at BYU. I kept the book after the class was over, because I thought that it'd be a good book to keep. I saw it in my bin of books that my mom brought with her when she visited. I've been thinking a lot lately about the Constitution and was really excited to read what prophets, apostles, and other church authorities have said about America and the Constitution.
I've only made it to the prologue, because it's amazing. I kept reading parts to Ashton yesterday and we'd talk about it. Then we switched books and he read parts to me from Ezra Taft Benson, Wilford Woodruff, Dallin H. Oaks, and others. I couldn't believe how right on they were about what we'd be facing, or what we were facing and what we continue to face. It really shouldn't amaze me, because these are inspired men, but it was like they were here and, of course, some of them are, like Elders Dallin H. Oaks and Jeffrey R. Holland. They talk about communism, socialism, the separation of church and state, the Constitution, and other topics.
There are so many good quotes that I could pull out from the book. There are so many that I want to share because they address problems that we are facing. One of the sections that impressed me was President Ezra Taft Benson's talks. Among other things, President Benson talked about 5 principles that are basic to understanding the Constitution. He talked about the principle of agency. We have the right to choose for ourselves and not be forced into "government guaranteed security programs" (117, 119-120). The next principle is the proper role of government in which he quotes Doctrine and Covenants section 134 verses 1-2 and 5. The third principle is the source of human rights. God gave us our rights, not the government. It even says so in our Declaration of Independence. The next two principles go hand in hand and I want to quote them.
"The fourth basic principle we must understand is that people are superior to the governments they form. Since God created people with certain inalienable rights, and they, in turn, created government to help secure and safeguard those rights, it follow that the people are superior to the creature they created.
The fifth and final principle that is basic to our understanding of the Constitution is that governments should have only limited powers. The important thing to keep in mind is that the people who have created their government can give to that government only such powers as they, themselves, have in the first place. Obviously, the cannot give that which they do not possess.
By deriving its just powers from the governed, government becomes primarily a mechanism for defense against bodily harm, theft, and involuntary servitude. It cannot claim the power to redistribute money or property nor to force reluctant citizens to perform acts of charity against their will. Government is created by the people. No individual possesses the power to take another's wealth or to force others to do good, so no government has the right to do such things either. The creature cannot exceed the creator (120-121)."
(These principles came from President Benson's talk The Constitution - A Heavenly Banner on September 16, 1986).
I think the role of government has gotten way too big. It's a big problem when the government is creating more jobs than the private sector, not to mention spending way more money than we have. We're paying for those government jobs, bailouts, and everything else the government does. The creature, the government, is exceeding the creator, us, and that needs to stop.
This book was actually a required book for my American Heritage class at BYU. I kept the book after the class was over, because I thought that it'd be a good book to keep. I saw it in my bin of books that my mom brought with her when she visited. I've been thinking a lot lately about the Constitution and was really excited to read what prophets, apostles, and other church authorities have said about America and the Constitution.
I've only made it to the prologue, because it's amazing. I kept reading parts to Ashton yesterday and we'd talk about it. Then we switched books and he read parts to me from Ezra Taft Benson, Wilford Woodruff, Dallin H. Oaks, and others. I couldn't believe how right on they were about what we'd be facing, or what we were facing and what we continue to face. It really shouldn't amaze me, because these are inspired men, but it was like they were here and, of course, some of them are, like Elders Dallin H. Oaks and Jeffrey R. Holland. They talk about communism, socialism, the separation of church and state, the Constitution, and other topics.
There are so many good quotes that I could pull out from the book. There are so many that I want to share because they address problems that we are facing. One of the sections that impressed me was President Ezra Taft Benson's talks. Among other things, President Benson talked about 5 principles that are basic to understanding the Constitution. He talked about the principle of agency. We have the right to choose for ourselves and not be forced into "government guaranteed security programs" (117, 119-120). The next principle is the proper role of government in which he quotes Doctrine and Covenants section 134 verses 1-2 and 5. The third principle is the source of human rights. God gave us our rights, not the government. It even says so in our Declaration of Independence. The next two principles go hand in hand and I want to quote them.
"The fourth basic principle we must understand is that people are superior to the governments they form. Since God created people with certain inalienable rights, and they, in turn, created government to help secure and safeguard those rights, it follow that the people are superior to the creature they created.
The fifth and final principle that is basic to our understanding of the Constitution is that governments should have only limited powers. The important thing to keep in mind is that the people who have created their government can give to that government only such powers as they, themselves, have in the first place. Obviously, the cannot give that which they do not possess.
By deriving its just powers from the governed, government becomes primarily a mechanism for defense against bodily harm, theft, and involuntary servitude. It cannot claim the power to redistribute money or property nor to force reluctant citizens to perform acts of charity against their will. Government is created by the people. No individual possesses the power to take another's wealth or to force others to do good, so no government has the right to do such things either. The creature cannot exceed the creator (120-121)."
(These principles came from President Benson's talk The Constitution - A Heavenly Banner on September 16, 1986).
I think the role of government has gotten way too big. It's a big problem when the government is creating more jobs than the private sector, not to mention spending way more money than we have. We're paying for those government jobs, bailouts, and everything else the government does. The creature, the government, is exceeding the creator, us, and that needs to stop.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Weekend Full of Fun
It was a long weekend, but a fun one. We started by celebrating my birthday on Saturday. I realized Saturday that this is my last year of early twenties. Then Ashton pointed out that this was his last year of twenties. That made me feel better. Ashton did a good job of picking out my presents and I only guessed one of them so he was pretty happy about that. It doesn't get much better than a Spain World Cup jersey and two music books for the piano, especially since it was the music for Phantom of the Opera and Wicked. We got to spend some time with his family too since they were up for the weekend and the Bolder Boulder which was yesterday. We finished off the day with dinner at Red Robin and watching soccer at home. While we were at Red Robin, Ashton asked me if he should tell the server why we were there. Thankfully, the server wasn't there to overhear. I had to remind Ashton that if he did that, his birthday was next and that I'd have no problem telling the people at whatever restaurant that we went to that it was his birthday. He really does not like it when people at restaurants sing to him. He looked a little sad after that and said that sometimes he wished that his birthday was first. I'm not. He didn't tell anyone that it was my birthday so I didn't have to sit through people singing to me. Ashton did sing to me later so that was fun.
Sunday was just nice day at church and then at home. I actually got to see some people from Maine, too! That was a surprise for both of us. They were in Colorado visiting family and their family happened to be in my ward! It was fun to see them and catch up a bit.
Yesterday, we spent most of the day up at Ashton's aunt's house hanging out with family. They allowed us to bring Dusty with us so she got to participate in the festivities too! The kids loved her, although they were a little scared at first. Dusty was very good with them although I'm sure she would have liked them better if they had fed her. It was fun to see everyone and hang out.
Today is our 3 year anniversary! We probably won't do anything too special for it since Ashton actually has to make up the hours he got off yesterday. That was kind of a lame deal since the building was probably closed for Memorial Day so he couldn't work (and didn't really want to), but he didn't qualify to get holiday pay. In any case, I'm glad that he's such a hard worker and willing to make up the hours so we don't have to take the hit in pay. I love my hubby and so happy that we've been married for 3 years. Here's to many more!
Sunday was just nice day at church and then at home. I actually got to see some people from Maine, too! That was a surprise for both of us. They were in Colorado visiting family and their family happened to be in my ward! It was fun to see them and catch up a bit.
Yesterday, we spent most of the day up at Ashton's aunt's house hanging out with family. They allowed us to bring Dusty with us so she got to participate in the festivities too! The kids loved her, although they were a little scared at first. Dusty was very good with them although I'm sure she would have liked them better if they had fed her. It was fun to see everyone and hang out.
Today is our 3 year anniversary! We probably won't do anything too special for it since Ashton actually has to make up the hours he got off yesterday. That was kind of a lame deal since the building was probably closed for Memorial Day so he couldn't work (and didn't really want to), but he didn't qualify to get holiday pay. In any case, I'm glad that he's such a hard worker and willing to make up the hours so we don't have to take the hit in pay. I love my hubby and so happy that we've been married for 3 years. Here's to many more!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Hope and Gratitude
This morning I was reading blogs. In my sister-in-law's blog, she talked about a woman named Stephanie who had been in a plane crash and suffered severe burns. My sister-in-law also included a video of Stephanie's story and it was a huge inspiration to me.
There are many days that I struggle with the challenges I face. Those challenges vary from day to day and some are as simple as struggling to find stuff to occupy my time so that I feel like I've been productive or trying to reassure myself that it's alright to have a day where I just read. Some are more extreme like trying to deal with an abuse that happened years ago and not being able to have kids.
As I watched Stephanie's story, I was impressed with her courage, faith, and optimism. I felt hope for my life and gratitude. I felt a reassurance that every day does not have to go perfectly for things to be alright. I don't have to be perfect for me to be alright. There is always room for improvement, but that improvement does not have to happen all at once or even in a short period of time. I felt that things would work out even when it doesn't seem like it ever will.
Some days, I struggle with all of these trials, but other days I only struggle with a few. I'm grateful for the days that I don't struggle so much; for the days that I feel great and can conquer the world. I'm even grateful for the days that I really struggled to do anything, including getting out of bed. I'm grateful for those days because they've helped me get to this point where most days, I feel good. Through all of this, I was reminded of this quote (I need a plaque with this quote on it so that I can read it every day):
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow." -Melody Beattie
There are many days that I struggle with the challenges I face. Those challenges vary from day to day and some are as simple as struggling to find stuff to occupy my time so that I feel like I've been productive or trying to reassure myself that it's alright to have a day where I just read. Some are more extreme like trying to deal with an abuse that happened years ago and not being able to have kids.
As I watched Stephanie's story, I was impressed with her courage, faith, and optimism. I felt hope for my life and gratitude. I felt a reassurance that every day does not have to go perfectly for things to be alright. I don't have to be perfect for me to be alright. There is always room for improvement, but that improvement does not have to happen all at once or even in a short period of time. I felt that things would work out even when it doesn't seem like it ever will.
Some days, I struggle with all of these trials, but other days I only struggle with a few. I'm grateful for the days that I don't struggle so much; for the days that I feel great and can conquer the world. I'm even grateful for the days that I really struggled to do anything, including getting out of bed. I'm grateful for those days because they've helped me get to this point where most days, I feel good. Through all of this, I was reminded of this quote (I need a plaque with this quote on it so that I can read it every day):
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow." -Melody Beattie
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Faith, Hope, and Charity
There are so many things that I've been meaning to write about. So many thoughts, too little time. Recently though, I've started watching Glenn Beck on Fox News. Usually, I don't get into politics, but the things that have been happening lately have been worrisome enough to me for me to watch Glenn Beck every day and look up some of the stuff that he's talking about. The part that I find even more interesting is how to fix the problems that we have. Mainly, he subscribes to faith, hope, and charity as the general principles that will help guide us back to safety, along with individual rights, equal justice, knowledge of the Constitution, love of our Founding Fathers, and faith in God.
The reason that I find the solutions to the problem interesting is because no matter what you think the problem with our country is, if we go to these principles, I think we'll find our answers. Also, these principles are simple solutions. They are not the complex solutions that Congress and the White House try to bring with 2,000 page bills that no one has really read. These simple principles, particularly faith, hope, and charity, are easy to define and understand. I don't think it's too much to ask for our laws to be easy to define and understand.
One of my favorite days on the Glenn Beck show is Friday because Fridays are Founding Fridays, where Beck talks about one of the Founding Fathers. Now, I love history so I love hearing about these men and how the influenced our country. I'm sad that I don't remember more about them from school because they are truly inspired men who were incredible and had a great vision of what this country should and could be. They were not perfect, but what I love about them is that they tried to live the best they could according to their faith in God.
I scribble down every book about these men that Beck recommends that were written by historians, and I wish that I had the money to buy every one of them. What I love about history is that the truth is the truth. When you have the facts, and when you look at what people actually said, in their own words, you can see why things happened the way they did, whether the consequences were intended or not. Unfortunately, there are those who try to "rewrite" history by giving a skewed perspective on it; telling only one side of the story. When we narrow our scope of vision, we miss out on the big picture. Looking at the other side does not necessarily mean that you have to believe that side, but at least you know what it is.
No matter what we believe in, when we come together with faith, hope, and charity, we can find solutions for the problems we face. We may not always agree on the way there, but we need to find the truth and come together for a solution.
The reason that I find the solutions to the problem interesting is because no matter what you think the problem with our country is, if we go to these principles, I think we'll find our answers. Also, these principles are simple solutions. They are not the complex solutions that Congress and the White House try to bring with 2,000 page bills that no one has really read. These simple principles, particularly faith, hope, and charity, are easy to define and understand. I don't think it's too much to ask for our laws to be easy to define and understand.
One of my favorite days on the Glenn Beck show is Friday because Fridays are Founding Fridays, where Beck talks about one of the Founding Fathers. Now, I love history so I love hearing about these men and how the influenced our country. I'm sad that I don't remember more about them from school because they are truly inspired men who were incredible and had a great vision of what this country should and could be. They were not perfect, but what I love about them is that they tried to live the best they could according to their faith in God.
I scribble down every book about these men that Beck recommends that were written by historians, and I wish that I had the money to buy every one of them. What I love about history is that the truth is the truth. When you have the facts, and when you look at what people actually said, in their own words, you can see why things happened the way they did, whether the consequences were intended or not. Unfortunately, there are those who try to "rewrite" history by giving a skewed perspective on it; telling only one side of the story. When we narrow our scope of vision, we miss out on the big picture. Looking at the other side does not necessarily mean that you have to believe that side, but at least you know what it is.
No matter what we believe in, when we come together with faith, hope, and charity, we can find solutions for the problems we face. We may not always agree on the way there, but we need to find the truth and come together for a solution.
Friday, May 7, 2010
By Popular Demand...
So I've had people ask me to take pictures of our apartment for a while, and well it's been a bit of a mess, still is, but I decided to take the pictures anyways. Please don't judge me, too harshly anyways. I still have to get Ashton to finish putting up the rest of the pictures on the walls. The slacker, but he has had a cold the past couple days and has been all stuffed up. So I guess we'll give him a break.
"Dining room" and you can see a little bit of the kitchen and the outside door. The folding doors behind the table are where the washer and dryer is. I was so happy that my piano fit underneath the kitchen bar!
Hallway. You can see how the rooms fit together.
Bedroom. We're missing the headboard to our bedroom set because it's too big to fit in our car.
Our closet. It's a little stuffed.
The other side of our bedroom. Like I said, Ashton still has to put up the rest of the pictures.
This is the living room. A little hard to see, but it's a good size. This is what you see when you walk through the door. The door that you see in the picture goes out to our balcony.
"Dining room" and you can see a little bit of the kitchen and the outside door. The folding doors behind the table are where the washer and dryer is. I was so happy that my piano fit underneath the kitchen bar!
This is the kitchen. It's usually cleaner then this but oh well. The door that you see goes to the pantry. I love our pantry!
Hallway. You can see how the rooms fit together.
Bedroom. We're missing the headboard to our bedroom set because it's too big to fit in our car.
Our closet. It's a little stuffed.
The other side of our bedroom. Like I said, Ashton still has to put up the rest of the pictures.
Bathroom! There wasn't any good angle to take this picture and particularly not without getting me in the mirror, so that's all you get!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)