It's not easy bein' green

          The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has been read and taught in schools for many decades. Some believe that it is somewhat outdated and shouldn't be taught anymore. However, I believe that it should continue to be taught and not replaced by more modern literature. There are valuable and timeless lessons taught in this novel that are as important to society today as they were back then. To Kill a Mockingbird is classic literature that has withstood the test of time because of its profound resounding message that is applicable and meaningful to everyone. Today, people have prejudices and make judgments about everything. We tend to stereotype people and treat them based off of how they look, talk, how good they are at sports, musical abilities, etc. Prejudices do not stop at race. In fact sometimes people are cruel without even realizing why. Following social pressures and society’s norm causes people to act in a way without thinking about it or questioning their motives. It leads to the cruelty and bullying that emotionally destroys so many people. To Kill a Mockingbird points out the effects of people’s cruelty without reason. How it affects not only the person immediately, but also the society, both children and adults.

I think we can all learn from Scout’s message when she says,

                        “Naw, Jem, I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks." 

A large theme of this novel is that before we judge a person we should put ourselves in their shoes. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view — until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” It’s only when we put ourselves in their point of view that we can make the best decisions of how to act towards them. 

This novel teaches of adults’ tendency to become desensitized to prejudice. When Scout, Dill, and Jem find themselves sickened by injustice, racism, and dishonesty, the town continues to do what is looked highly upon, rather than doing the right thing despite what people think. It shows that children have a certain innocence and awareness that we lose over time. Their compassion and empathy for people is something that should be kept especially as we grow older and enter professional settings.

Atticus is an example of integrity inside and outside of the home. He taught his children the importance of following your conscience no matter the circumstances. So often there is a separation of public and private virtue. People act differently when around other people than they do by themselves and compromise their integrity to be looked upon favorably by society. Atticus stood strong by his conscience even when he knew he would lose. He said....

.... You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

To Kill a Mockingbird teaches timeless lessons and talks about problems that we as a society continue to face today- lessons regarding racism, prejudices and judgments, constant integrity, and so many others. For these lessons and many other reasons, To Kill a Mockingbird should continue to be taught in schools.

This crazy world keeps spinning

Has Facebook Ruined Love?
      Studies have shown that this age of technology is putting a stunt on the young adults and teens’ social skills. For many, texting, Facebook, and other sites are the preferred form of communication over face to face conversing.  It’s harming the ability and also desire for real life social interaction, when it’s so easy to avoid having to start conversations by texting the message instead.  When we are out in the world, we should be anxious to communicate with people, not hide behind the wall of technology. We need to take time to focus on the here and now, not be distracted by less important, distant things. On the other side of things, I have seen many friendships/relationships started or strengthened through talking on Facebook and other social networking sites, so I wouldn’t say that it is “ruining love” completely. But take care not to replace spending quality time with people in the real world with wasting time in an imaginary one.

If Young People Could Vote, What Would Change? 

I realize there is great hesitancy in involving youth to have any say in politics for fear of their immaturity and superficial priorities. However, no one should assume that all the youth of today are interested in is drugs and crime. There are some extremely responsible and intelligent youth, genuinely interested in the welfare and betterment of America. Also having the responsibility of being involved in politics at a younger age could potentially increase the maturity level of young people, if they were to realize that their opinions and knowledge could have a lasting impact on a nation and reevaluate themselves. I agree that teenagers today are more open to ideas and forming new opinions on issues such as legalizing gay marriages and abortion, more so than the previous generation who already has set opinions. The education system is a huge part in raising the future of America and I agree, is a great concern to the young students of today. It should be at the top of U.S. leaders and representative’s minds.

On another note....why not just have a kid president? (;

Though the waters stay raging in this maze

The Bullying Pulpit- NYTimes.com

I agree, that many people say things on the internet, behind the screen, that they would not say in person straight to another person’s face. And many people fail to “think before they type” when jumping into a discussion or argument. Once you have stated your quickly-made judgment, it is extremely hard to take back or to know who has read it. Those that say cruel, mean things can get away with it much easier, without the immediate reprimanding that they may receive in face to face conversation. This may be cause for the continuing of rude comments and statements, seeing that instead of realizing the negative affect words can have on real people, it is an environment in which others can join in on the bullying without punishment. We need to be aware that cyber bullying is a real and serious thing that horribly affects many people's lives.

Workers Know Whether to Telecommute- Room for Debate- NYTimes.com

It’s true, that if someone is not getting the job done, they don’t deserve the job. People should be rewarded for taking responsibility and governing themselves to be efficient and trust-worthy.  For some, staying in the office is the only way to really be motivated to work, knowing that other co-workers and bosses are watching. But if that’s the way they are, unable to get anything done outside of the office, are they really the ones you want to keep working for you? Responsibility should in fact be rewarded with freedom, but the only way to see if they deserve the reward, is to allow them that chance to prove themselves and use the wonderful mobile technologies of this century. Also, having the option of choosing where you prefer to work can be a great stress reliever and even a motivation to work harder where you are, because you've been given the choice.

Picture you with the wind in your hair

Misha

Kind, witty, driven, sarcastic
Steven, Brian, Jared, Nicole, Lance

Love of dance, music, and laughter

Who feels excited, anxious for the future, and blessed

Who needs humor, motivation, and family

Who gives gratitude, down to earth remarks, along with encouragement

Who fears failure, having to eat nasty-looking food, and people touching her head

Who would like to see Greece, a pameranian  husky, and Les Mis

Who lives in her room, in a home surrounded by nature and horses

Duncan

10 things I know to be true:

1. The Book of Mormon is the word of God
2. Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet
3. Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son, and they called him by name.
4. Gravity is real- I'm an expert at tripping up and down the stairs.
5. God made Nutella
6. Families are forever
7. Friends dramatically impact your life
8. Knowledge is light and happiness
9. Time goes fast; we should use it wisely
10. The temple is God's holy house and it's there that we can feel real peace.

10 objects I can't live without:

1. My B.o.M.
2. My ipod
3. My dance shoes
4. My car
5. The refridgerator
6. The mirror
7. My bed
8. My phone
9. Yummy chapstick
10. Fuzzy socks



10 things I should have learned by now:

Sorry if looking at this makes you have a seizure

1. How to cook
2. How to sew
3. How to read fast
4. How to hail a taxi
5. How to change a tire
6. The rules of football
7. How to do a backflip
8. Spanish
9. How to be funny
10. How to drive stick shift                                                  

10 of my greatest fears:

1. Feet
2. Being kidnapped (er...surprise adopted..pardon the harshness.)
3. Family members being harmed in any way
4. Running up stairs at night
5. People touching my head
6. Failing the ACT
7. Not getting into BYU
8. Losing a friend
9. Mushrooms
10. Car accidents



10 things, places, people, etc. that make me the most happy:

1. A fantastic new song
2. My best friends
3. The gospel
4. Really good Italian food
5. Baby animals
6. Nailing a perfect parking job
7. Missionaries
8. Good quotes
9. Warm weather
10. Dancing

10 places I will visit before I die:

1. Greece
2. Italy
3. Australia
4. Russia
5. The fridge
6. Every temple in Utah
7. France
8. Blackpool, England
9. Brazil
10. Egypt

In a storm in my best dress

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

 Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. 

It is our light, not our darkness

 that most frightens us.

 We ask ourselves, 

Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?

 Actually, who are you not to be?

 You are a child of God.

 Your playing small 

does not serve the world. 

 There's nothing enlightened about shrinking 

so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, 

as children do.

 We were born to make manifest 

the glory of God that is within us.

 It's not just in some of us; 

it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,

 we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. 

As we are liberated from our own fear,

 our presence automatically liberates others.

-Marianne Williamson

How To Be Funny

Alright, let's be honest, don't we all wish we were the funny kid that could make the whole world laugh?
I'm not saying I'm an expert, but....(; I'll help ya'll out a little bit!
After a teensy bit of research, heh, I have found most humor can be put in 5 categories. All you have to do is pick a category, or heavens, master all of them! And you shall soon be a wit!

Here's the 5:
1. Pain- Think about it. Tom and Jerry. We are raised from the toddler-hood to think pain is funny. Someone falls off a bike, hits a stop sign, walks into a door, you name it, we laugh.  How many America's funniest home videos have you seen that revolve around pain? That's right, all of them. Warning: Try not to inflict pain on others, they might not think it's so funny.

2. Random/Unexpected- The above gif^ applies to this as well. A cat saying "potato." It's funny because #1 it's weird, #2 it makes life more interesting to have something out of the ordinary, and #3 it's a cat saying " potato." It makes people think a little more about what was just said and it's almost relieving that the humor wasn't predictable.

3. Lies/Untruths- Your brother tells you he's Hannah Montana. You tell little children that if the ice cream truck is playing music it means they are out of ice cream. (Cruel, but healthier..) And how much funnier is it when a gullible person believes the lie?

4.Wordplay- Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana. The pessimistic horse is such a neigh-sayer. He said I was average...that's just mean. The Dalai Lama walked into a pizza shop and said "make me one with everything." Also just saying words in funny ways. (in an accent, with a lisp, etc.) When British people say "aluminium," it's funny.

5. Puns- Just kidding, puns aren't funny.

Welllllll...They're  their  there ya have it! Humor makes the world go round guys, so let's nail it as well as  these guys did:

Date Night! How to...

How to make your date take you home early....

      So. Have you ever been on just a really awful date? And it drags on...and on...and on...and you check every clock you see just to make sure time hasn't completely stopped?
Maybe your date is talking your ear off,

Or you're both sitting in uncomfortable silence,

Or you're the superficial type and he/she is just really ugly...

 For whatever reason you're not enjoying your date, here's 10 quick tips to be dropped home early! Or, if you're a guy, your girl may request a ride home within minutes. I promise they won't fail!

1. Talk about how much you miss your ex every 7.5 minutes.

2. Cover your date with gravy.

3. Answer your phone with "Hey I'm glad you called. I'm on a date and it's not going very well."

4. Eat tuna fish with garlic.

5. Say, "You look hotter on Facebook."

6. Pick your nose.

7. Pick your date's nose.

8. Start a fight with a homeless person.

9. Tell them you've never seen Harry Potter.

10. Spontaneously combust

More to come.

Go ahead ya'll! Try 'em out!

Let's review, shall we?

Alright you guys! So here's 3 blogs that I'm really quite fond of. But first I'll let you know, I'm kind of liking this blogging thing. Who'd a thunk?

 I love technology...Sing it with me, anyone? Anyone?

So since I'm kinda into ballroom dancing.... This is a blog about all the things going on in the ballroom world, at a world level. It has a bunch of dance videos, info on world champions from their personal lives to competition stats, and it's just the opinions of one dance fanatic to her audience of fellow dance fanatics. Her format and layout of the blog is good and easy to read. (light background, dark text) She has a good mix of words, videos, and pictures and her paragraph and post lengths are quite satisfactory. ha Although all of her content is not all necessarily important, (it is what it is- gossip) I find it entertaining and interesting. She's pretty good at putting her voice into her writing because her posts are her personal opinions and her grammar is mostly swell.(:

This is my favorite poetry blog. Yes.. I like reading poetry... although writing it is something I haven't been able to conquer very well by all means, it has always been something I'm very intrigued by and find very beautiful. And I believe the author of this blog has mastered the art perfectly. First of all, even the title of the blog and titles of poems/writings draw you in. It's all writing, no visual pictures or anything, but it's organized and all about the beauty of words, so who needs pictures? I like blogs that have music...I kind of want to start that on mine.. It's good. The writing on this blog is the kind that tugs at your emotions. Whether it's happy, sad, makes you remember something (most are very relate-able in one way or another), or just to make you laugh, it's amazing how words have the power to make you feel emotion. I'm a fan. A+ poetry blog.

This one is another dancer blog, but she doesn't only talk about dance. This gal is a ballet teacher who loves her life, dance and photography. She asks questions for people to respond to such as "What's making you jump for joy today?" "What are you passionate about?" And she talks about life topics (both humorous and serious) and says some profound things. She's very optimistic about life and has an overrunning theme of "jumping for joy" through many of her posts. I like her pictures and the topics she chooses such as change. Her blog layout is simple and good. Her text is kind of small sometimes though. I think she's a very good writer and very honest/genuine in what she has to say.
So there you go.(:

Over and out.

Trying to Find a Way Down the Road We Don't Know

I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they could fly anywhere on the earth. 
   ...And then I ask myself the same question.

Last week I had the wonderful and fun opportunity to shadow a student at BYU for a day. It was the best ever! The girl I shadowed was just the sweetest, very helpful, and we got along really well. Her name is Kenzie and she is going into nursing. After taking a campus tour, I went to her Book of Mormon class and was really impressed with the professor. He was really old but fun. Beyond other reasons, you know he's old because he used the following word choices: "Pardon me, I have the snifflers and need a hanky." If only I could remember his name so I could sign up for him when I'm in college.... but I liked the environment right away.(: The biggest change will probably be the class sizes, and actually having to wait a long time to be called on...hah. I guess I've been spoiled with classes that are more like small discussion groups. After B.O.M. we went to the campus devotional/forum which was really cool! I think it's great that they have such inspiring speakers every week and if I'm at BYU, I'll definitely go to it every time. I also spent a lot of time in the Richards Building just because I dance there so often it's kind of my second home...so I felt comfortable there. haha And I discovered I know more people on campus than I thought I knew. 'Twas a very good time.
 Being on campus for a day, and feeling like a legitimate college student definitely forced me to think about what I want for my future...and importantly, how I'm going to get there. 
3 questions:
Who am I?
What was I born to do?
And what is stopping me?

I've said it since I was little- "I am a child of God."And I say it every week- "We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him..." Knowing my identity and divine potential is a great comfort while I try to figure out what I should be doing with my life. It helps me keep the perspective that college is only a small goal on the way to a more important eternal goal. 
I was born to... Well a simple answer for all of us is to serve others and love God. We were born to achieve our full potential and we can only do this by exact obedience and putting our full effort into our righteous and ambitious goals. 
So what stops me from achieving my goals? Laziness. Sometimes I just don't have enough drive. But I need to realize what's really important and step up and get to it.

"The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

Secret Agents for the Lord

"Every member a missionary." Through all of the technological advances of our day, we can share the gospel in so many ways. Through social networking sites- Facebook, Twitter, etc, it is easy for people to find out who we are, what we're interested in, and what we stand for. Our talents and interests allow us opportunities to meet different people and surround ourselves with different groups. Technology helps us make connections with people and talk to those who we wouldn't be able to see otherwise. We can share and bring up the gospel much more often than we think we can! The church is using media and successfully spreading "the good news" all over the world. Websites like Mormon.org, LDS.org, and others are available for those curious in the church or looking to be uplifted. And there are so many Mormon Messages that we can easily share.We can join in this effort, and through our friendships, our ability to talk to people, those that share the same interests as us, we can make connections and roll the gospel stone forward.

I just love this video. So enjoy it.(:

We Are His Hands

 "You have a great opportunity to be a powerful force for good in the Church and in the world. There is truth in the old adage that “the pen is mightier than the sword." In many cases it is with words that you will accomplish the great things that you set out to do."

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, it is our responsibility and duty to God and our fellow men to share the light of the gospel with those who don't yet have it. Because we live in an amazing age of technology, our opportunities for missionary work have increased by 10x. It has become amazingly easy to have our words spread to so many people, which only means we have to pay more attention to what we say. We can use this tool to idol away our time and words, or we can share and testify of Christ, which should be our main purpose. Where much is given, much is expected. So we, as a generation that has been blessed with so much, are called to spread the gospel of our Savior, Jesus Christ. So let's do it!

"The Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ has no doubt had a powerful impact on your life. It has, in part, shaped who you are and what your future will be. Do not be afraid to share with others your experiences as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ."

 Think of your favorite dessert. Chocolate cake? Costco Cheesecake? Mmmhm. Absolutely delectable. So, when you taste something so amazing, isn't it natural to want others to try it as well? So they can share your same love? Or when you see an amazing movie. I know for sure the very next day I tell everyone I cross paths with that they HAVE to go see it! I find that these same feelings apply to the gospel. The gospel has brought me so much happiness, and helped me through everything in my life. If I am so blessed to have this happiness, isn't it natural to want others to experience the same thing? We know that everyone on earth is a "spirit son and daughter unto God," and therefore we are all spirit brothers and sisters. So knowing this, doesn't that increase the intensity of wanting others to know the truth? I know it does for me. I want my brothers to be able to live with God, and when we want this badly enough, we will not be afraid to share. "We are all enlisted."

Mi día perfecto...

There are an unlimited number of good and amazing things in this world. It's hard to say which of these amazing things would constitute a "perfect day," but I'll give it a shot. 

To begin- I almost considered sleeping in on my perfect day, because sleeping in is a beautiful thing. But why sleep in when I could be in Greece on a beach? I'm thinking good, better, best here. Warm weather is vital for perfection. 85 degrees, slightly breezy. This sounds especially wonderful as I look out into the -10 degree ice age outside the window. Of course all of my stresses and obligations would be gone on this day, no homework, chores, school, rehearsals...nada. I would just relax, read a book by John Green, and then meet up with all of my best friends in the world and play hilarious improv games (still on a beach in Greece). I would have an unlimited supply of fruit smoothies and cookie dough brownies. The whole day, soundtracks of Ed Sheeran, Mat Kearney, He is We, Matt Wertz, Rascal Flatts, and every song I've ever loved would be playing out of the sky. I would go tubing, then dancing, and play soccer with all of my favorite people. I'd eat steak and shrimp for dinner and drink mango lemonade or a pina colada..virgin.(; Dessert would be a French Napolean, obviously. Then the rest of the night would consist of fun night games, a campfire, star gazing, and looking down on a beautiful view from somewhere high up. So that basically sums up my perfect day! Oh, and I'd probably marry a hot Italian man somewhere in there. So maybe (and hopefully) someday, if Ben decides to fund it, "my perfect day" will become a reality.(: