Vampires.

So I love editing. I put this one up on Facebook and my sister dubbed it "Celeste Cullen".

If it's that easy for me to make myself look like a Cullen, why didn't ANY of the characters in the movie look like one? Ridiculous.

Urgh.

I know I just posted yesterday, but I've got something to say again.

I think Parking Tickets are the dumbest thing anyone has ever come up with, and that's including all those dumb inventions in those Strange Japanese Inventions books.

So annoyed.

But in happier news, we had an awesome lesson in institute today. :) I'm in the class "Parables of Jesus" taught by Scott Forsythe and I am LOVIN it to death. Anyway, the parable we talked about today was Matt. 20, where the Lord of the Vineyard hires people throughout the day and in the end pays them all the same, even though some of them have struggled the entire day while others have worked for just an hour. Mostly we talked about those who worked through the "heat" of the day. We talked about what that means to us-- what is our "heat"?

We decided that our "heat" was opposition. Especially right now with the whole Prop 8 controversy, the church needs to be strong in it's beliefs. We talked about a talk that Neal A. Maxwell gave in 1979 called "A More Determined Discipleship" I was going to pick out bits and pieces, but it's all good, so I'm going to put the whole thing on here.

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presdiency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional, or political life.' This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly cital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ... Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted... This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simple because those opinions grow out of religious convictions. Resistance to abortions will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened... Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face or prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy,on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees pit forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh'. Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."

I think the reason I loved this so much was that he gave us warnings. It's frightening to know of all the things that will undoubtedly come. But at the end he gives us some incentive to go to work. He tells us that we are the hope of the world. We need to bring in our fellow men (and women) out of the heat and into the refuge of the Savior. :)

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy that as much as I did. Have a wonderful day/week/month!

Ferbrurary

IIIIt's Singles Awareness Month! Besides that little fact, I like February. Weather's getting warmer... and it's almost April! (Kind of..) Which means it's almost my Birthday!! Woot, woot. I'm super excited to be 19. Mostly so that I won't be the youngest in the YSA group. Hehehe... yep. That's exciting. Being the youngest was nice, I'll admit. It kept the creepers far away and the cool guys didn't worry about leading me on or anything. Buuut.. having people that are younger than me will give me some authority over somebody! hahaha.. just kidding. but not really.

I wish I could give you all some good news about my wall, but the truth is I haven't gotten past the white paint yet. It's not that I don't want to do it, because i DO, most definitely. I'm just worried that I'll do something that I'll hate and have to start all over. That would be no bueno. Especially since I'm paying for the colored paint.

So at the moment, the SuperBowl is going on.. and I'm EXTREMELY dissapointed in the commercials. Not only are they stupid and not funny, but they're gross! Come on, America. Let's have some class. But the SuperBowl provides a good opportunity for family bonding and delicious food. MMhm.. can you say drumsticks, meatballs, funeral potatoes, Gorp, brownies, homemade ice cream, and chips and dip! Woohoo, that's what I say. Hurray.

Also, two hours of the Office tonight. Holy Hannah! So excited. So very excited. Unfortunately it interferes with Ward Prayer.. which I've been to every week since I joined the ward.. but... i think The Office takes precedent, so I hope they don't miss me too much. Fortunately, we might have movie night here.. which means I don't have to travel. Good news there.

(wow, that was a nice touchdown.)

Speaking of Valentines.. (what?) I'm going to SANTA BARBARA!! Leaving on the 13. :) Do you know what that means? This is my 2nd Valentines Day in California. I'm loving it! This is the perfect time for a vacation. Plus, I get to see my awesome, awesome sister play Lacrosse. (I think Eric is probably more excited for this than I am, which is saying something. I only say that because apparently there are 22 girls on the team, and the only one that isn't single is our sister.. woohoo!) Anyway, I'm pretty excited for that. I am LOVING the sunshine lately. I will spend a couple hours laying in front of our windows, just absorbing. haha, it feels fantastic. I would DEFINITELY rather die of heat than cold. and I'll say that in the summer, just to prove that it's not because it's cold right now.

(haha, i keep getting distracted. darn SNL.. those guys are hilarious. I recommend Gilly)

What else can I ramble about? hehehe. Oh, I know! I've been having the strangest sensation today. Certain things will make me think of something, and then just a splitsecond later I can't remember what it was it reminded me of, but I still have the feeling the thought gave me. It's happened so many times today, and it's really fuh-ree-king me out. Anyone else ever had that happen?

Annnnd.. now for the grand finale. Larissa, this one's for you. You are the bomb! I am constantly being impressed by your many, many talents and your willingness to learn more! You are hilarious, as your blog proves, and I find myself wishing all my friends knew you so that I could share the happiness you bring with everybody! You are INCREDIBLE. :)

(oh, and you're cooking skills are top-uh-notch.)

Alrighty, that's it!

Goals:

• Daily Scripture Study!
  
• Optimism!


• Holding my tongue.

Quote:

"Personally, I mistrust all handsome men. The superficial pleasures of this life come too easily to them, and they seem to walk the world as though they themselves were personally responsible for their own good looks." -Roald Dahl in Galloping Foxley

(Just to make myself clear.. I don't agree completely with that quote. I do trust some handsome men, but it's easy for me to see what he means. I love reading other people's thoughts.)