Alrighty, as we wrapped up finals last week i realized i didnt have ANY finals. Sweet!! Only papers to write. Those kind of suck, but to me... way better than taking a test. Anywho.... my final research paper for English 315 had to be 12-15 pages. My topic was the effects of Pornography on Individuals Families and Marriages.
I had the same teacher for Eng. 315 as I did for Eng. 201 and she runs her class the exact same. So i figured, easy peasy.. just write the paper and turn it in. right? well ... not right... my teacher decided to throw in an oral presentation. Awkward. I literally felt like I was having to give a talk in General Conference or something because i had to teach a class full of mormons, most of them quite a bit younger than me about Pornography.
Aside from the awkwardness of my oral presentation, i learned a few cool tricks. When writing a research paper, you can make the periods (.) size 14-16 font and it seriously gives you like two whole pages. Just use the "Find and Replace" tools. Also, if you have a computer program that will allow you to do so, you can make the spacing 2.2 instead of just double spacing and you can barely notice, but it also gives you about 2 more extra pages. Just little tricks to make your paper look longer if you are in need of a page limit.
Kind of fun huh??
Anywho.. Aced my presentation and paper. Love getting good grades in school. It feels like a good accomplishment. Especially since we recieve scholarships based on our GPA. Huston and I both finished out First term with great grades. We were pretty excited and relieved at the same time. Bring on Fall semester.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Happy Birthday Dad!
Happy Birthday Dad! We sure do love you alot!
I am my daddy's little girl, we have always been close. He is a very understanding and loving person and can always make me laugh!! I love my dad and am grateful for him and his desicion to join the church when he was 18 years old. He has since gone on a mission, married in the temple, and raised his 4 kids in the gospel, and used his story as a teaching tool for others. Thank you Dad for all that you do for us. Sure do miss you. Hopefully you will be getting on a plane soon to come see us.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
new favorite
My new favorite flavor of ice cream is Mint Chocolate Chip. It used to never be my first choice, however recently we have gotten it the last two times and I have found that I actually REALLY like it. Plus its green, so it makes me feel better about myself for eating it. Hows that for justification???
The Arbinger Institute
They at Arbinger share a deep understanding and passion for our compelling model of human understanding. It offers people a common language for openly and clearly discussing - and settling - their differences. And it works across cultures, races, classes, religions and beliefs.
***On Saturday we had the oppurtunity to attend a workshop for this institute and I believe it will be life changing. The workshop we attended was called "THE CHOICE" and it is AMAZING. I was not sure what to expect as I only signed up to do it for my friend who had to teach it to get certified, but I was not prepared at all for what I was about to learn. Really cool stuff. Life changing, heart strings tugging kind of stuff. Needless to say, I have alot to change about myself, and I think we both learned alot about how to better communicate in our marraige by being non-resistant.
I will sum up a little bit of what I learned.. but if you ever have the oppurtunity to attend ARBINGER ever in your life, DO IT!
1. There are two Ways of Being- The responsive way where we see others as people, and the resistant way where we see others as obejects
2. Way of being is deeper and more important than behavior
3. When we betray ouselves, we enter the resistant way of being
4. In the resistant way of being, we see others and ourselves in ways that justify our own self-betrayals.
5. Over a lifetime of self-betrayal, we develop characteristic self-justifying ways of seeing ourselves and the world; we carry our "boxes" with us.
6. In the box, we provoke others to get in the box as well, and the mistreatment we then get from others gives us justification for staying in the box.
7. We get out of the box not by focusing on ourselves, but by responding to others- that is, by recieving the humanity of those we have been resisting. We cease resisting them.
8. Responsive relationships and memories give us leverage to get out of the box in other areas of our lives
9. Once out of the box, we stay out of the box by doing for others what we feel we should do.
Basically in this workshop, we learned about the two different "Ways of being" -discussed our "sense's and our desires" and then SELF BETRAYAL. Once you have betrayed your original sense, you are then in Self betrayal which is the ultimate state of justification and you begin to see people as ojects.
For example- If i had a "sense" to take a friend dinner because i felt they needed it, and i didnt... I would begin the self betrayal process by justifying my action..and putting myself above "said" friend. For instance, well im just too busy, i dont have time to make them dinner. or..They really dont need it that bad, and we cant afford to feed four people tonight. - When you enter the stage of self-betrayal you are seeing people in the resistant way-and thinking of them as only "objects" and not as people.
Did i spark your interest yet??
Anyway.. As the workshop went on, we learned that by being in "self betrayal" we put ourselves in a box. and then we learn how to get ourselves out of the box. Ultimately the workshop taught me how to identify the problem, and solve it. In other words, identify my ignored "sense" and then get myself back to a place where i feel that "sense" again.
The 4 ways mentioned to getting out of the box were:
1. Realize your in the box
2. While in the box- find an out of the box place (start thinking of positives)
3. Ponder the situation anew (look at it from a different stand point)
and
4. Follow your sense- and do what you feel you should do for that person you are "in the box" with
The cool thing about this workshop is that it can be used in almost every situation of life. With work, school, home, family, marraige... etc. I will admit.. there are times I am "in the box" with Huston.
this blog post is getting long already, and I barely scratched the surface. After all it was a 4 1/2 hour workshop-but well worth our time. Im glad we were able to help a friend out, and actually learn some much needed material. Humbling experience!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Talk Story
I just realized that we met most of our good friends here.. in very unique ways.... well because my husband.. he is a very unique person. haha... lets just say im lucky that these people even stuck around to be our friends. We refer to each and every one of them as our Hawaiian Ohana!
Its funny how God brings people together. :)
Our first Sunday in our new ward... a good ol' guy named Wolfgang was giving the closing prayer in sacrament meeting. He had a very european accent and Huston of course was so excited because thats where he had served his mission. Therefore, after church he made it a point to go up to this guy and try to say something in German. I remember being embarassed because we were brand new in the ward and knew NOBODY. but..Sure enough.. Wolfgang understood and could respond because he is from Austria, where Huston actually served almost half of his mission. Small world. Needless to say.. Wolfgang and Jamie were our first real friends in TVA and we loved picking on them in Sunday school, watching "The Hangover"with them, going to China Town, and telling personal stories. The first time we had them over we stayed up really late talking about life and married things. I remember thinking they had an amazing relationship and I was always comparing ours to thiers because when your first married you are trying to figure those kinds of things out. Luckily they didnt think we were too weird, and stayed our friends! :) Sure miss seeing thier faces in Hawaii.
Then.. one day... the Mannings(another couple) were throwing a party, and had opted to inviting us because they felt bad for kindly declining a couple of dinner offers. So it was more of a pitty invite ( haha just kidding, ) but anywho.. We went to thier party, where only 1 other couple came, aside from us. 6 people is a good turnout right? Later the Brunner's(Wolfgang and Jamie) showed up as well, but still.. We were just meeting most of these people for the FIRST time. As we were playing this really fun sheraids game, boys v/s girls of course... the girls thought it would be funny to write on a piece of paper "Gang Bang" (not knowing the real meaning of the word, which is where a gang rapes a woman pretty much) because we wanted to see the boys act "gangster".. but much to our suprise...mostly just my suprise (because it was my husband who had to act it out) ...he took the words into a completely different context and was literally on the floor humping and making all kinds of gestures.
I went red in the face and was trying to figure out what in the world was going on. All the other girls were doing the same. We couldnt believe what he was doing because we didnt understand. Finally after the time was up, and nobody understanding what was going on. When Huston said was he was supposed to be acting out ... "Gang BANG" all the boys went "OHHHH" but all of us girls went "HUH...? How was that a gang bang?"
Put together a bunch of embarassed husbands who had to explain to thier wives what that really was and some vulgur gestures coming from your own husband.. you get a great party right???? ... its a very good thing we all laugh about it now, because the Mannings, and the Smith's who were both in attendance of this party, are now some of our very best friends. (keep in mind, literally this was the first time we had ever hung out with either couple) and we had to attend church the next day with the Mannings. Melissa tells us that she was nervous to see Huston the next day at church because she was not sure if he would feel comfortable around them... If you dont think this story is funny.. its ok.. but truly this was such a bold move for Huston. Nobody knew what to think about him after that.. haha!
Oh Huston, I think i speak for everybody when I say that we all love you. You always bring the entertainment.
And last but certainly not least we have our dear sweet old next door neighbors. I can remember when they first moved in we were not quite sure what to think, but we knew we wanted to have a good relationship with them because we love our community and it would just be nice to be friends with your neighbors. Once again... my awesome husband Huston can take credit for this one... but he used to listen for our neighbors to come up the stairs, and as soon as they were close enough he would screech out the window to scare them. I wont lie, its pretty fun to see Ben jump five feet in the air EVERY single time(this happened, YES multiple times). Having never really talked to this couple before, we decided it was enough torture scaring them, and they probably hated us by now, so we decided to make friends...Only to find out they had been plotting to scare us back the whole entire time. Rachel had been waiting ALL day long for us to close our door, and finally we did so they thought they would be sneaky and hang a spider from our door (close to halloween time) ...but we ended up hearing them so instead Huston listened for a few moments..and then opened the door screaming. This was the best scare of them all, because they both about peed thier pants.
and We have been friends with the Erb's ever since!! ....
When we mentioned to Ben that we were having a hard time getting to know our new neighbors... he said "well did you try scaring them,? That's what did it for us!"
We get a pretty good laugh from these stories. They are great memories. Thanks Huston for being such a good friend maker, because i have loved and enjoyed getting to know these crazy people who have decided to stay in our lives. :) .... well.. not really stay.. Most of them have moved on from the "Hawaii" "Shoe box" stages of thier lives and are on to bigger and better things. ... We forgive them for leaving us.
Its funny how God brings people together. :)
Our first Sunday in our new ward... a good ol' guy named Wolfgang was giving the closing prayer in sacrament meeting. He had a very european accent and Huston of course was so excited because thats where he had served his mission. Therefore, after church he made it a point to go up to this guy and try to say something in German. I remember being embarassed because we were brand new in the ward and knew NOBODY. but..Sure enough.. Wolfgang understood and could respond because he is from Austria, where Huston actually served almost half of his mission. Small world. Needless to say.. Wolfgang and Jamie were our first real friends in TVA and we loved picking on them in Sunday school, watching "The Hangover"with them, going to China Town, and telling personal stories. The first time we had them over we stayed up really late talking about life and married things. I remember thinking they had an amazing relationship and I was always comparing ours to thiers because when your first married you are trying to figure those kinds of things out. Luckily they didnt think we were too weird, and stayed our friends! :) Sure miss seeing thier faces in Hawaii.
Then.. one day... the Mannings(another couple) were throwing a party, and had opted to inviting us because they felt bad for kindly declining a couple of dinner offers. So it was more of a pitty invite ( haha just kidding, ) but anywho.. We went to thier party, where only 1 other couple came, aside from us. 6 people is a good turnout right? Later the Brunner's(Wolfgang and Jamie) showed up as well, but still.. We were just meeting most of these people for the FIRST time. As we were playing this really fun sheraids game, boys v/s girls of course... the girls thought it would be funny to write on a piece of paper "Gang Bang" (not knowing the real meaning of the word, which is where a gang rapes a woman pretty much) because we wanted to see the boys act "gangster".. but much to our suprise...mostly just my suprise (because it was my husband who had to act it out) ...he took the words into a completely different context and was literally on the floor humping and making all kinds of gestures.
I went red in the face and was trying to figure out what in the world was going on. All the other girls were doing the same. We couldnt believe what he was doing because we didnt understand. Finally after the time was up, and nobody understanding what was going on. When Huston said was he was supposed to be acting out ... "Gang BANG" all the boys went "OHHHH" but all of us girls went "HUH...? How was that a gang bang?"
Put together a bunch of embarassed husbands who had to explain to thier wives what that really was and some vulgur gestures coming from your own husband.. you get a great party right???? ... its a very good thing we all laugh about it now, because the Mannings, and the Smith's who were both in attendance of this party, are now some of our very best friends. (keep in mind, literally this was the first time we had ever hung out with either couple) and we had to attend church the next day with the Mannings. Melissa tells us that she was nervous to see Huston the next day at church because she was not sure if he would feel comfortable around them... If you dont think this story is funny.. its ok.. but truly this was such a bold move for Huston. Nobody knew what to think about him after that.. haha!
Oh Huston, I think i speak for everybody when I say that we all love you. You always bring the entertainment.
And last but certainly not least we have our dear sweet old next door neighbors. I can remember when they first moved in we were not quite sure what to think, but we knew we wanted to have a good relationship with them because we love our community and it would just be nice to be friends with your neighbors. Once again... my awesome husband Huston can take credit for this one... but he used to listen for our neighbors to come up the stairs, and as soon as they were close enough he would screech out the window to scare them. I wont lie, its pretty fun to see Ben jump five feet in the air EVERY single time(this happened, YES multiple times). Having never really talked to this couple before, we decided it was enough torture scaring them, and they probably hated us by now, so we decided to make friends...Only to find out they had been plotting to scare us back the whole entire time. Rachel had been waiting ALL day long for us to close our door, and finally we did so they thought they would be sneaky and hang a spider from our door (close to halloween time) ...but we ended up hearing them so instead Huston listened for a few moments..and then opened the door screaming. This was the best scare of them all, because they both about peed thier pants.
and We have been friends with the Erb's ever since!! ....
When we mentioned to Ben that we were having a hard time getting to know our new neighbors... he said "well did you try scaring them,? That's what did it for us!"
We get a pretty good laugh from these stories. They are great memories. Thanks Huston for being such a good friend maker, because i have loved and enjoyed getting to know these crazy people who have decided to stay in our lives. :) .... well.. not really stay.. Most of them have moved on from the "Hawaii" "Shoe box" stages of thier lives and are on to bigger and better things. ... We forgive them for leaving us.
Misfits..
I always have little thoughts.. not worth a million posts.. so ill fit them into one!
Hawaii.....
When i put make up on.. it comes right off. Why bother?
When i shower, 3 hours later it feels like i havent showered in weeks. Why bother?
a little breeze to get us through the next couple "Hot" months would be nice
"Shoe box"....
You are quaint and simple and we are grateful you put a roof over our head..but...
If only you had a dishwasher, washer/dryer, and if only a california king bed could actually fit into the bedroom
I like you because it takes me about 30 minutes to clean you. (vacuum, bathroom, and a few dishes?? not bad!) My chore list is definately shorter. I dont mind that.
But, you are small. and your walls are thin.
If only we didnt hear crying babies and snoring neighbors... literally.
"Future house"
We sure are enjoying talking about buying you someday.
Having something be OURS. It will be our first big investment after all, ok.. it would be the second if you count school as an investment.
How many bedrooms will you have? how long will it take me to clean you? Will you be in a good neighborhood? How long will we live in you?
I am excited to give Huston "home improvment" projects.
We want a California KING temperpedic bed. (only $3,000 or so) but worth it. You spend most of your life in bed right??
Also wouldnt mind having a few love sac's lying around
School...
CANT WAIT TO BE FINISHED
Baby....
Oh thats right... dont have one.
Puppy....
We will buy you someday, and I cant wait to laugh at all your wrinkes, but please be potty trained and dont chew on anything, otherwise you will get sent to live with your grandparents. They have a "farm"(sarcasm)and im sure you will love it. Lots of cousins to play with.
Stories....
I will document you eventually. I realize sometimes that as im telling stories to some people.. I have not yet documented them. Like for instance the unique stories as to how we met almost all of our best friends here, and the beginning stages of our marraige and when we were extremely poor. I was bad at documenting that because i didnt want anyone to worry about us, but looking bad, it was fun to struggle through that together.
Life....
Slow down please. I feel like the past two months have been a high speed chase. Im always trying to catch up with you, so slow down because im tired.
Goals....
We have come to a pretty good consensus lately. One of my goals was to keep in better touch with friends and family, and so far in the last two weeks i have talked to my two future to be sister in laws(Sam and Amanda) skyped with Ben and Rachel, talked to my mom and dad on the phone, skyped with family, spoke wtih Melissa (an old Hawaii friend) on the phone, caught up with my old roomie on FB, and texted a few HS friends and it feels great. I LOVE people. My heart is warm and filled with grattitude when i realize how blessed I am with people who have been set in my path.
Hawaii.....
When i put make up on.. it comes right off. Why bother?
When i shower, 3 hours later it feels like i havent showered in weeks. Why bother?
a little breeze to get us through the next couple "Hot" months would be nice
"Shoe box"....
You are quaint and simple and we are grateful you put a roof over our head..but...
If only you had a dishwasher, washer/dryer, and if only a california king bed could actually fit into the bedroom
I like you because it takes me about 30 minutes to clean you. (vacuum, bathroom, and a few dishes?? not bad!) My chore list is definately shorter. I dont mind that.
But, you are small. and your walls are thin.
If only we didnt hear crying babies and snoring neighbors... literally.
"Future house"
We sure are enjoying talking about buying you someday.
Having something be OURS. It will be our first big investment after all, ok.. it would be the second if you count school as an investment.
How many bedrooms will you have? how long will it take me to clean you? Will you be in a good neighborhood? How long will we live in you?
I am excited to give Huston "home improvment" projects.
We want a California KING temperpedic bed. (only $3,000 or so) but worth it. You spend most of your life in bed right??
Also wouldnt mind having a few love sac's lying around
School...
CANT WAIT TO BE FINISHED
Baby....
Oh thats right... dont have one.
Puppy....
We will buy you someday, and I cant wait to laugh at all your wrinkes, but please be potty trained and dont chew on anything, otherwise you will get sent to live with your grandparents. They have a "farm"(sarcasm)and im sure you will love it. Lots of cousins to play with.
Stories....
I will document you eventually. I realize sometimes that as im telling stories to some people.. I have not yet documented them. Like for instance the unique stories as to how we met almost all of our best friends here, and the beginning stages of our marraige and when we were extremely poor. I was bad at documenting that because i didnt want anyone to worry about us, but looking bad, it was fun to struggle through that together.
Life....
Slow down please. I feel like the past two months have been a high speed chase. Im always trying to catch up with you, so slow down because im tired.
Goals....
We have come to a pretty good consensus lately. One of my goals was to keep in better touch with friends and family, and so far in the last two weeks i have talked to my two future to be sister in laws(Sam and Amanda) skyped with Ben and Rachel, talked to my mom and dad on the phone, skyped with family, spoke wtih Melissa (an old Hawaii friend) on the phone, caught up with my old roomie on FB, and texted a few HS friends and it feels great. I LOVE people. My heart is warm and filled with grattitude when i realize how blessed I am with people who have been set in my path.
Sleepover!!
My good friend Alysha's husband is gone for a few days, so she invited me to spend the night with her and one of her young women from church. We had a great evening visiting, eating way too much junk food, watching chick flicks and talking all night about how we wish we were innocent like Jenifer Garner in "13 going on 30." It was such a fun evening!
Somehow... Alysha and I ended up on the air matress and Makana(15 yrs old) got Nick and Alysha's bed all to herself. Not quite sure how that happened, but needless to say.. Alysha and I had pillow talk till about 2am before i passed out on her.
Love me some GIRL time. Sometimes its just what the doctor ordered. As much as I LOVE being married, I also really miss being young and having wild nights with my roomies. So it was great to enjoy a night away(across the way about 3-4 buildings) with my girl.
It was my first "real" sleepover since being married, and i quite enjoyed myself! :) Thanks Alysha for inviting me! Although I had fun, one night is enough. Sleeping next to the man of your dreams for the rest of your life has got to be the best feeling in the world, there is just something comforting about it.
Somehow... Alysha and I ended up on the air matress and Makana(15 yrs old) got Nick and Alysha's bed all to herself. Not quite sure how that happened, but needless to say.. Alysha and I had pillow talk till about 2am before i passed out on her.
Love me some GIRL time. Sometimes its just what the doctor ordered. As much as I LOVE being married, I also really miss being young and having wild nights with my roomies. So it was great to enjoy a night away(across the way about 3-4 buildings) with my girl.
It was my first "real" sleepover since being married, and i quite enjoyed myself! :) Thanks Alysha for inviting me! Although I had fun, one night is enough. Sleeping next to the man of your dreams for the rest of your life has got to be the best feeling in the world, there is just something comforting about it.
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