Dear Internet

For the first time in the past three weeks I have consistent access to the internet.  Hooray! Because of this lack of internet access I have not kept my blog caught up. Mentally I have written about a million and one blog posts.  So dear little blog, let me catch you up.

I now live in a different state and a different time zone and a different world than the last time I wrote.  The state is Pennsylvania, the time zone Eastern, and the world Beautiful. After this move and my past month in Virginia and my little trips back east over my lifetime, I'm convinced that there is an east coast girl that has been waiting to come out. And here she is!

I will post a few pictures on this post and I will post more later.  Right now I should be working on homework that is due tomorrow. :)

This is me and my street!

Dad and I stopped at Winter Quarters on the way out here.

Winter Quarters Temple

Danville Courthouse

More pictures and posts to come soon!

Lexington, VA

We went on a day trip yesterday to Lexington.  There we saw VMI (the Virginia Military Institute), Stonewall Jackson's Cemetery, and ate at Macado's Restaurant.  The VMI is a beautiful school that looks like it's a cross between a prison and a castle.  We visited a chapel on the campus that was located above the schools museum.  I didn't take any pictures because I didn't want to be disrespectful but it was beautiful. There was a huge painting of soldiers in battle above the stage.  I thumbed through the hymnals and the prayer books left in the pews.  It was very cool to see.  The museum was cool to see as well, with more paintings and a display of huge class rings.
Then we went Stonewall Jackson's cemetery.  The cemetery was very beautiful with huge trees and old tombstones.  For a little background on Stonewall Jackson, he was one of the generals for the Civil War and is arguably one of the best US was generals ever.  (You know, except for the fact he was on the wrong side...)  Another fun fact, his arm is buried at a farm house near the battlefield where he died.  It was amputated eight days before he died.  He was killed by friendly fire.  He ate lots of fruit and one historian argues his favorite fruit was lemons.  People still leave lemons at his grave, although evidence now shows they weren't his favorite fruit.

I thought it was really interesting that there would still be Confederate flags hanging through out the cemetery.

Stonewall Jackson and the Confederate flags and lemons left at his grave.

Close up of lemon and Confederate flag.

"He did what he had to do for where he was"

We ate at Macado's which was super yummy.  It's a local sandwich shop that has a huge menu full of yummy foods like the Mona Lisa, the Titantic, and the Julius Cesar.  It was super fun to see.

Things I Haven't Posted Yet

It's been a while since I've blogged.  I guess I've been too busy living to blog.  Which is definitely a good thing.  Anyway, here are the updates:

• I went to Arizona and was a mother for a week and a half to three children.  What a crazy week and a half!  But I'm so glad that I got to hang out with Sabrina and her adorable children!
• I have been working EFY this summer.  I worked three weeks in Utah and I'm now in Virginia for four weeks!
• I will be moving to Pennsylvania to do a Child Life internship (in the middle of nowhere) sometime in August or September (date still up in the air).  Getting that internship was an EFY miracle.  And it is obviously where I need to be now.
• I love Virginia.  It's so green and beautiful.  And the fireflies!  Oh the fireflies! I am officially obsessed with fireflies!  I had no idea what I was missing but I'm like a little kid when I see fireflies!  And the food!  Oh the yummy, huge portioned, unhealthy food that tastes like a sinful heaven!  I love it!  I'm going to be so fat at the end of this month.  Except for the huge hill (mountain?) that I have to climb several times a day to get back to my dorms.
• And yes I've been wearing yellow all summer.  And I wore a bright pink sparkly headband today.  It's a strange world we live in.

Now for picture overload:

"Republican" vs "Democrat" a.k.a. "Romney" vs "Obama" aka "Us" vs "Them" aka "Good" vs "Evil" aka "Right" vs "Wrong" aka "The Nastiest Divorce I've Ever Seen"

I'm kind of/sort of a huge news junkie.  I'm constantly checking ksl and reading the free newspapers provided by my school.  As a news junkie, I feel like I'm constantly getting flooded with political "stuff". And with the upcoming election I'm getting flooded with even more political "stuff" from "friends" statuses.  I know "stuff" is such a vague term but I feel like vague is a good description of our current politics. It's not specific political arguments about how the city, county, state, or nation should be run.  It's vague finger pointing blame.

Election year 2012 is the nastiest divorce I've ever seen. (Except with most marriages the couple starts out liking each other, I don't think either political party ever liked the other political party.)  You know the ones where when the Mom and the Dad are just arguing because that's all that they do, it's not about whatever the argument was originally about.  They start arguing and they just throw every little grievance over the years and they throw the kitchen sink into the argument and they get so off topic from the original argument.  Those divorces where the couple is fighting years after the divorce is granted.  Those divorces where the parties involved believe that nothing is "their fault" it's all the other person's fault.  Yes the divorce is ugly but if the "other person" would just stop fighting, they would stop fighting, but heaven forbid they should be the one to stop the fighting first.  Those divorces where there is absolutely no possibility of the couple agreeing or compromising about anything.  Those divorces where everyone who knows someone involved in the divorce has to "pick a side".  Those divorces where both sides thinks "I'm right and they are wrong" or "I'm a good person but the other person I'm pretty sure is the devil in a thinly veiled disguise".  And everyone involved in the divorce, but especially children, which is in this case the country, gets hurt.

What makes me even sadder is when politics spills into everyday life and even relationships between friends.  For some reason people seem to think that if they post an angry Facebook post about how whatever political party/politician that they disagree with is the devil himself sent to destroy the country will convince their friends/family/acquaintances that support that devil  politician that the politician they support is actually evil.  Because of their angry and contentious Facebook post everyone is going to vote for the politician/party that they think will save the country.    But what really happens is that they just tick off their friends and start arguments.  And all the while the country becomes more and more polarized and incapable of compromising.  Compromise is exactly what this country needs.

I'm just going to say it.

Democrats aren't evil.
Republicans aren't evil.
Mitt Romney isn't evil.
Barack Obama isn't evil.

Honestly, we need Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.  We need people who think differently and who value different things.  But we also need people who able to work with people they don't agree with and who are able to compromise.  Even if they could just pretend to get along the country would be taking a step in the right direction.  Extremism causes problems.

Please research the candidates, national, state, and local, and vote for whoever you think will be the best for the country.  But don't hate people who vote differently then you.  Honestly, the world isn't going to end because of who is elected.  (The world is going to end because the Mayan calendar ends, duh.)

It's just like Miranda Lambert says in "Only Prettier"

"If you wanna pick a fight, I'm gonna have to say goodnight.

I don't have to be hateful I can just say "bless your heart"

We don't have to like each other but it's sure fun to pretend.

If you just smile and behave you can always get your way

It's a universal plan that'll get you where you can in all societies.

So let's shake hands and reach across those party lines

You got your friends just like I got mine

We might think a little differently but we got a lot in common you will see

We're just like you, only prettier.

I'm just like you, only prettier."

That's all I have to say about that.

September 11, 2001

Cliche question of the day . . .  "Where were you when the towers hit?"  Cliche statement of the day "I remember exactly where I was on September 11.  I was . . . " But you can't help but ask and tell your story on this ten year anniversary.  So here's my story. (My memory is very fragmented, so I'll just share the parts I remember.)

I was ten years old. It was a Tuesday.  I remember going to school and I walked into my fifth grade classroom and the TV was on and everyone was watching it, which was weird because my teacher Ms. Goble never had the TV on.  I just remember seeing the plumes of smoke and the fire. I don't think we watched it for very long though. I remember watching the replays over and over again after school and everyone seemed so shocked.  I didn't really understand it.  I remember watching the towers go down and hearing everyone screaming as the towers fell. I remember watching people running and covered with dust and coughing and freaking out.  I remember being surprised when my mom told me that nobody expected the towers to actually fall.  I remember thinking that lots of people must have gotten hurt, but it never occurred to me that people had died. I don't think I really had any sort of idea what death really was at the time. No one I had known had ever died before. I truly thought that it was just a matter of finding all the people in the rubble and then getting them to the hospital and the doctors would make them all better.  I really didn't think anyone would die, I just thought they'd be spending a long time in the hospital.  It made sense to me why having family and friends hurt and in the hospital would make people really sad, because I knew from experience that being sick and in the hospital was not fun. I didn't really realize just how mind blowing and scary and crazy the attacks really were.  It wasn't until my parents explained to me that they had all died that it even occurred to me that they would have died.  I still don't think I fully understood it.  But I do remember going to Choral Collections - my song/dance class - and one of the girls in my class said it was her birthday.  I remember thinking "Today has to be the saddest day to have a birthday.  Every one from now on is going to think of this all of this sadness and pain every year on her birthday."

I remember how sad everyone was after and how everyone was holding up pictures and looking for their family and friends.  I thought that they'd all eventually find the people they were looking for.  I remember everyone flocking to Ground Zero.  I remember everyone talking about how life would never be the same.  I remember everyone being really scared. I remember feeling really bad for President Bush because I thought that it would be really hard to be the president during something like that.  I remember how Patriotic everyone was after.  Flags flying everywhere. I remember everyone talking about how everyone was extra nice to each other.  I always thought (almost) everyone was nice so I didn't really notice a huge difference.  I remember everyone being so together.  I remember thinking how great it was that we were so united as a country and that it would never change.  I remember thinking that we would find Osama Bin Laden.  I remember General Conference being disrupted by President Bush telling us we were going to war with Iraq.  I remember it was on my mom's birthday.  I remember feeling glad that we were going to get the bad guys.  I remember President Hinckley announcing it in General Conference.

Ten years later, I understand the attacks and the affect they had on the victims and their families and on the nation better then I did when they actually happened. A few years ago I met a woman who was actually in Washington D.C. on September 11. Last year I watched a documentary on September 11 and it went through everything.  It's heartbreaking to hear about those last phone calls.  Those last moments.  When I see the footage now, I actually understand what was happening.  I think I probably mourned the loss more last year than I did when it actually happened, because I get it now.  And I think that's why my generation was so happy when we got Osama bin Laden. I don't think we should have been celebrating death but he has been the real life "evil villain" since we were little.  September 11 had a big impact on us then, but I think we understand it better now.  Osama bin Laden has been the evil villain about as long as Lord Voldemort.  In a way, they are one and the same.

I went to New York and the only pictures I haven't posted on this blog yet, are the pictures of the World Trade Center. Actually seeing the area and the reconstruction was a big deal for me.  We also visited the Memorial and the Museum (gift shop). Here are the pictures I took.

Articles:
 ksl.com - The day that `changed everything'.
  Internet Archive
 If you want something with a little lighter spirt go here.
 If you want to hear what an apostle has to say on this momentous day you can go here.

Music that makes me think of September 11.
"Superman" - Five for fighting
"Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" - Toby Keith
"I'm Already There" - Lonestar