He Done Good in English Class

I know I've already posted today, but I'm in a strange giggly mood and can't think of anything I feel like writing extensively on, so there is a good chance I'll do several short posts throughout the day. Check back.

The most recent thing that made me laugh out loud in an embarrassing way in this very quiet office is . . .

I was reading up on my Penguins (to understand the beginning of my hockey fandom revolution, click here) and found an article about how one of the players fell into head coach Michel Therrien during practice and knocked him down. Here is what the headline said:

Therrien felled during practice

Oh, wow. I don't know if its just my giggly-condition right now or if its really that funny, but I'm pretty sure that's not how you use the word 'felled'. I can't stop laughing. Tears of laughter.

(Wait, my confidence is waning. Is that the way you use felled and I'm just an idiot?)

Late Edit: so my good friend Lauren informed me that "felled" is used when describing chopping down a tree. So if the headline was an comparing Therrien to a tree coming down, it works perfectly. And come to think of it, that's probably what it was doing. I read it like it was supposed to say Therrien Fell During Practice, which is a crappy headline anyway, but when you replace 'fell' with 'felled', it makes it that much more funny. So I'm just uneducated in lumbering terms, but that made it all the more funny.

Speaking of my Penguins, I also saw this picture of my boyfriend Sid Crosby getting primped for the team photo shoot. Isn't he so cute like a puppy?

Ok, I'll shut up about my Penguins now.

Big Announcement!!!

Well, its finally time to announce the big news . . . .

I GOT A PERMANENT FULL TIME JOB!!!

[Applause]

What, did you think it was something else?

(more details to follow later)

I Knew the Swedes Were Amazing . . .

. . . but this amazing? I would never have guessed.

My favorite hockey blog (yes, I have a favorite hockey blog) talked about this and I thought it was fascinating. My Pittsburgh Penguins start their season out this October with a game in Sweden. They are playing in the Globe Arena in Stockholm. It’s the largest hemispherical building in the world, with a diameter of 361ft and volume of 21,188,800 cubic ft. But that's not the cool part.

The cool part is that the Globe represents the sun in the world’s largest to scale model of the solar system (1:20,000,000). All other planets of the solar system are represented by other precisely sized and distanced objects throughout Sweden. As an example of the distances between these models, the dwarf planet of Pluto can be found 300km from the Stockholm Globe Arena and has a diameter of 12cm.
Here are pictures of some of the planets.

Clockwise from top left (click for sources): Venus, Jupiter, Earth, and Mercury

Isn't that amazing?!?

A giant model of the solar system, to scale, spread across Sweden.

Impressive.

P.S. Today is the 3 year anniversary of me and Chris's first date. He remembered before I even said anything about it. I caught a good one;-)

The Not-So-Great Smokey Mountains

People say funny things here sometimes.

Things my brain doesn't compute.

The other day at Church somebody said in their talk how lucky we were to be "only" 3 hours away from a temple. Only 3 hours. He's right, I know. 3 hours is nothing compared to 3 days. But I like my temples 5 minutes up the road.

Then a guy at work said the Tennessee vs. Wyoming football tickets were only $40. Only $40? For the Wyoming game? I guess Florida tickets went for $80 out of the ticket office, but good ol' BYU tickets only go for $15--and BYU actually puts on a show!

But my absolute favorite is when people say "the mountains". The City of Knoxville is at the foot of the Great Smokey Mountains. People always say things like drive toward "the mountains"; a beautiful view of "the mountains"; we went camping in "the mountains". But here's the deal: I cannot find the mountains. You can't see them from the ground. You can't even see them from the 5th floor of my office building. Supposedly they are toward the east, but I've never actually seen the Great Smokey Mountains. And its hilarious, because every time someone says "the mountains", I just want to say: "People, I think you have to be able to see mountains in order for them to be considered mountains. These are mountains":

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In a completely unrelated topic:

A big shout-out to Carlos Zambrano,

who pitched a no-hitter for the Cubbies on Sunday night.

We watched the last inning and I though I was going to throw up I was so nervous for him.

It was awesome.

The Cubbies are now 8 games up in the Central Division.

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Finally, a friend of mine brought this up on her blog and you should check it out because she hits the nail right on the head. But here's my two cents on this one.

Lindsey Lohan recently posted on her blog her feelings about Sarah Palin. That's great, whatever. At some point I'll probably get around to doing a political post of my own, if I ever find the energy. But I hate when celebrities get high and mighty on political issues. The worst part about it is that for some reason lots of people care about what Lindsey Lohan or Oprah or Ben Affleck has to say about politics. And voting for someone because Lindsey Lohan likes them is a bad sign, people.

Anyway, just one expert from Lindsey's inspiring words:

"Is our country so divided that the Republicans' best hope is a narrow minded, media obsessed homophobe?"

Um, where do I begin?

Conservative does not equal narrow-minded.

Conservative does not equal homophobe.

Conservatives see things one way.

Liberals see things another way.

That's the point.

And "media-obsessed"? Wasn't that Barack Obama I just saw on the cover of Rolling Stone?

Honestly, the last person who should be giving political advice is this girl: That was kind of harsh, I know.

Maybe that's why I've been avoiding my Election 2008 post; I get a tad passionate.

Anyway--

Utahns, say hi to the mountains for me.

Go Cubbies.

"We Have Power to Do These Things . . ."

Late edit: so Chris read this after I posted it, and he said that it made me sound les miserables and him sound like he's being tortured in grad school. That honestly was not my intent. In fact, I was in quite a good mood when I wrote this and all of it was written in humor. Challenges are challenges, and if these are the "hard" parts of my life, I'll take it; because I actually love Knoxville and I'm happy we're here. My point was sometimes little things bug you; and the scriptures can be an answer to any question and a great source of comfort. That being said, on to the original post:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .

(I've been wondering when I'd get the chance to use a cliche line from famous literature.)

But that's really how I feel sometimes here in Knoxville. One minute everything is good and flowing nicely, then the next day it gets all . . . . crappy (love that diction).

I would never say my problems are all that significant in the long run. I'm ridiculously blessed and fortunate. I have the things that really matter: food, shelter, Chris, the Gospel, loving family (not necessarily listed in order of importance). So I'm lucky. And I know I'm lucky, and I'm grateful that I'm lucky. But that doesn't always prevent the crappiness.

One problem is called Chronic Lateness and I have yet to find a solution. It doesn't matter what time something is, I can't make it there on time. In Provo, church started at 1:30. I don't think we made it on time the whole year. Whether I wake up early, on time, or late, I'm always late to my destination. This has been particularly bad here because I drop Chris off on the way to work. Due to my chronic lateness, he is late, then I am late. And he HATES being late, especially in graduate school. So we leave the house in a rush and huff, and both start out our days rough. Go, me. Now, I know this specific "trial" is my fault, but I've seriously done everything I can think of to correct the problem to no avail. And it makes me so mad inside. I don't know whats wrong with my internal time-keeper.

Another problem is called Bad-Job. I work in a nice place with really nice people. My job is defined as "temporary" which means they'll keep me working 40 hour weeks as long as they need me--but don't have to give me benefits. I'm desperately trying to find a great permanent job, but in the meantime I'm here. At it would be great . . . if I had something to do. I think they hired me thinking they could use the extra help, but when I got here it turns out they really don't need me all that much. I just sit here probably 6 out of 8 hours during the day. Its torture for me, and awkward any time someone walks by. The just don't have any work for me to do. So I feel useless . . . and the days pass by painfully slow.

Then bring on the "Beyond Spousal Loneliness". I have Chris. That is wonderful. Without him I'd be horribly sad and lonely (granted, I probably wouldn't be in Tennessee, but that's beside the point). I'm glad Chris and I can make this adventure together. But we have no friends. We have no family (ok, we see Jenny on Sundays, but still.) It has been surprisingly lonely here. And when people are jerks and school and work and you feel like no one has any idea who you are or where you are coming from and you don't get to see your spouse for 7 more hours . . . then its really lonely.

Finally, I have a serious case of "Can't-help-ya-there". Graduate school is a biggy. Its hard. We expected it to be, but its really hard. And Chris can get frustrated now and then, and I don't blame him. But I can't help him. I can speak soothing words the best I can, and that helps, but in the end I can't make classes easier, I can't make classmates nicer, and I can't make professors more helpful. And I know absolutely nothing about Exercise Physiology. In fact, I have a hard time spelling exercise. But I wish I could make it all better. I wish I could smooth the way. I wish I could help in any way beyond soothing words. But I can't. And unfortunately I think graduate school all about the bumpy ride.

(I don't mean to complain--I'm actually quite happy these days. Just venting a few minor frustrations.)

So yesterday morning I was reading in Jacob 4 (The Book of Mormon) and you know how the scriptures you read always seem to apply to you specifically? That's crazy how that works. This is what I read (I bolded my favorite parts) . . .

7 Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things.

8 Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore, brethren, despise not the revelations of God.

9 For behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?

10 Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works

So basically, the Lord gives weaknesses and trials to show us we have the faith and strength to overcome them. We can't understand the way He works. But if He can create the Earth and create man by simply speaking, then can't he make sure our lives will turn out just right if we follow Him? Why yes He can. I know that. And that's why I love the last line the most: "For behold, ye yourselves know . . . ." You know. You have faith in the Lord. You know. Now its all about just keep on keepin' on from here on out.

Gotta love that BoM. It makes me smile.

Thou Shalt Not Covet . . .

I'm really not that into fancy electronic gadgets.

I picked my cell phone based on its color (pink) rather than what features it had.

The only things I truly covet are chocolate and shoes.

Until now . . .

How would I even choose?

Where Were You?

This morning I was thinking about exactly where I was 7 years ago (7 years!) today. I was standing in my bathroom holding a curling iron in my hair, preparing for another day of 9th grade at Franklin Jr. High. I went out to check the Today Show (I depended on it even then) and saw that a World Trade Center tower had been hit by an airplane. What a dumb pilot, I thought. Or maybe he was drunk. How could he not see the buildings? When the second plane hit, it was painfully obvious that I was ridiculously naive, and it wasn't an accident at all. A vulnerable United States was something my generation had never considered, let alone actually seen before our own eyes.

When I was looking for pictures for this post, the phrase "Never Forget" came up in captions for many of the pictures. I remember that phrase being a rallying cry in the days after September 11. Its bittersweet, really, to remember how united the country was at that time, how we really thought we'd "never forget". We thought we'd "never forget" Pearl Harbor too, but most years December 7th passes without notice or remembrance. Whether its because of a heated election, a disputed war, or the simple passing of time, I don't think we've really lived up to our rally cry. I have no intention of getting political about the war, because one person's mess is another person's success. I just thought for a second we could "Never Forget". This song is a little corny (it is a country song, after all), but I really like the words anyway.

"Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?" By Alan Jackson

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day

Out in the yard with your wife and children

Working on some stage in LA

Did you stand there in shock at the site of

That black smoke rising against that blue sky

Did you shout out in anger

In fear for your neighbor

Or did you just sit down and cry

Did you weep for the children

Who lost their dear loved ones

And pray for the ones who don't know

Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble

And sob for the ones left below

Did you burst out in pride

For the red white and blue
The heroes who died just doing what they do

Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer

And look at yourself to what really matters

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day

Teaching a class full of innocent children

Driving down some cold interstate

Did you feel guilty cause you're a survivor

In a crowded room did you feel alone

Did you call up your mother and tell her you love her

Did you dust off that bible at home

Did you open your eyes and hope it never happened

Close your eyes and not go to sleep

Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages

Speak with some stranger on the street

Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow

Go out and buy you a gun

Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watching

And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns

Did you go to a church and hold hands with some stranger

Stand in line and give your own blood

Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family

Thank God you had somebody to love

CHORUS:

I'm just a singer of simple songs

I'm not a real political man

I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you

The difference in Iraq and Iran

But I know Jesus and I talk to God

And I remember this from when I was young

Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us

And the greatest is love

And the greatest is love

The greatest is love

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day?