Violence and video games

So at this point in my life my whole existence is slightly wrapped up in my thesis and eventually graduating. In the midst of all my researching and writting I have begome slightly obsessed with media violence. So pretty much everything I do in life somehow gets related back to media violence....slightly crazy yes, but wlecome to the world of Grad school. I was reading in my scriptures today about the Lamanites and their hatred of the Nephites and it says in the scriptures that they delighted in wars and bloodshed. All I could think of was first person shooter video games! Now take this for what it is worth, but I fear that we as a generation are becoming more like the Lamanites than we like to admit.

Jesus the Christ

This weekend I was working on a seminary lesson and found myself completely stumped. I am very willing to say that I am by no means a gospel scholar. I can't tell you where specific versus of scripture can be found, I have no idea who said most famous quotes, and when it comes to church history I am utterly lost. But I also believe that "by small and simple things" the Lord works miracles so I trust that with my meager knowledge and willing heart the Lord will continue to use me in building His kingdom. So as I was desperately looking for further light and knowledge on this lesson I began reading in Jesus the Christ about the Savior's atonement, resurrection, and time in the spirit world. As the Holy Ghost whispered to me of the love, humility, and mercy of our Savior I began to feel so utterly grateful for the words of apostles of the Lord and the easy access I have to them. I thought of the Book of Mormon prophets and the effort and sacrifice that it took to teach the people. I thought of the time it took to get information and messages and then I thought of how all I have to do is open a book or the web and I have access to millions of messages. How grateful I am to live in a time when the "veil over the earth is beginning to burst". How grateful I am to hear the voice of the Lord through prophets and apostles with so much ease.

My Femanist Soapbox

So i hate to admit this openly in fear of mass amounts of hate emails telling me I am a bad Mormon, but I am a feminist. Not like those crazy people who beleive men are worthless and adopt babies so they can still be a mom and have a full time career without a man (awkward!), but mostly like men and women are equal so when my husband tries to tell me to do something I always say "Don't tell me what to do fool!". So a little more normal, in my opinion. So i am currently in the process of rereading Jane Eyre, which is like my favorite book of all time because Charlette Bronte is like the ultimate normal feminist and I lover her a lot. As I am reaing about this rocking female character who does not ever faulted from what she believes to be right and refuses to just sit down and follow societal norms and as I am reading about this super strong female character I could not help but compare it to this

So for those of you who worship at the alter of Twilight you should probably stop reading now. Seriously folks why are we encouraging young females to be mindless and obnoxious because they are "in love"? Seriously if my teenger became ridiculously depressed because her creepy pale boyfriend moved I would probably have her committed. Also, what are we teaching girls? This vamp character constantly yells and Bella and tries to force her to do stop all in the name of "protection". If you ask me it is all about controlling. Why are we teaching girls that controlling boyfriends are "awesome". This stresses me out! If Bella were to have a little more spine and actually stood up for herself in these books maybe I would not hate them so much. Until then I will stick with this

and pray that my children never act like Bella-whimp and act more like Jane Eyre.
(On a side note I learned how to put pictures on!)

Julie and Julia and Laura

This weekend I guilted my husband into watching Julie and Julia with me. I LOVE cooking so this movie totally spoke to my soul. What I was not expecting was how the movie portrayed marriage and couples in this incredible light! I am so sick of movies that surround divorce and couples fighting and all other kinds of junk. I loved how this movie showed Julia and her husband totally adoring one another and supporting one another. In fact while I was watching this crazy women and her incredibly supportive husband I could not help but reflect on my own slightly crazy tendencies and my amazingly and unwaveringly supportive husband. As we watched this movie I thought of the countless "dreams" I have to get a PhD, to go to culinary school, to live in a distant country, to go to hair school, to open a home for troubled youth, to be a foster parent to disabled kids, to be a stay at home mom, to become involved in public policy and so much more. And I could not help but think about the husband I have been so blessed with who when I tell him of theses dreams never attempts to shelter or calm my very independent spirit and always replies "If you want it we will find a way to make it work". How grateful I am for the men in my life who taught me to think for myself, stand on my own two feet, and go for my dreams. As Sister Hinckley once said, "My husband gave me wings to fly, and I have been forever grateful for it".

Pride and Prejudice

So I hate the admit that I am a big, big fan of the new version of Pride and Prejudice . Super girly and lame yes , but true. I recently watched the like freak long version and also hate to admit that it was also really good, although WAY too long. So we got net flicks on our xbox and I found this totally nerdy PBS version on Pride and Prejudice and shock beyond all shocks it is totally amazing. It may be my favorite version! I am slo officially a nerd. No, a girly nerd.

Grooveshark

So I  have recently become addicted to the website groovehsark.com. I am constantly listening to music in the grad lab, trying to block out all the talking so I can get stuff done. I usually listen to (get ready for the nerdiness) Musicals or Glee, but this week I was trying to read my scriptures and decided on a whim to search for LDS hymns so I could read my scriptures and still block out people talking. Amazing beyond Amazing was the fact that they actually had songs! Not only that they have conference talks! Not to be like one of those super weird Mormons who only listens to church music (no offense), but I got really excited! How cool is it that anywhere I have the interenet I can listen to random church songs from a whole bunch of artisits? and how much cooler is it that nonmembers have the opportunity to hear an Apostle of the Lord through this website. I love you grooveshark!