World on Stop for a Day

What would I do if the world paused for a day?

First thing that pops into my mind (no surprise to anyone who knows me well):

I would got to all the restuarants I can think of and EAT EAT EAT! I would eat Cafe Rio, Ruth's Chris, Outback, Olive Garden, Zupas, Five Guys.....I would eat so much I am getting so excited just thinkg about it.

What would other people do?

Assuming that everyone elsein the world is frozen, I asked my friend what he would do:

Kiss a really cute girl (typical)

Ride nice cars at the dealership

Try and help people--for example, if they were falling, he would put them back on their feet. If someone looked hungry he would put food in their hands.

It is interesting that many of our first impulses are to do things that only gratify ourselves. Take me for example, the first thing I thought of was to eat. But how much cooler would I be if I used that time to help other people instead of just eat. (an occasional break to eat would be okay)

Again those who know me know that I am pretty competitive in school. My first impulse is to not help those around me cause it increases my chance of getting a good grade. But I have really been working on training myself to change my first impulse. Marriage has especially trained me to do good at that. My first impulse is starting to change from "me" to "you." And I have found that helping those around me in school makes me more happy than just thinking of myself!

New Decisions

I am taking ASL next semester! I can't wait. I think it will help me get a good start in learning sign language. I think my whole family wants to learn it so we can all talk to Brynn. Natalie (my sister-in-law) tells me that the hardest part about being deaf is the feeling of isolation. My whole family loves Brynn so much, we need to know how to show her that with more than just a hug or kiss.

I sent out a resume to a market research company in Salt Lake. It is the first time I have applied for a job (thanks to dad who already had an awesome job for us to do growing up). Who knows if it is really the job for me, I still need to find out more about the group, but it is a good start, and I am really interested in what they do! Especially because they apply economics so much! Thanks to my MCOM 320 class, I actually had a resume to send.

Mitch is going to apply for law school. That is the route he wants to do before trying to enter the foreign service. We are hoping he gets in to BYU's law school so that we can have more time in Utah.

I finally made a decision for my research topic in my econometrics class! I am going to determine the impact of beauty on wages.

And, I'm going to end here and go work on my project!

Brynn

I have a neice, so sweet and so small.

She can't hear the world yet,

but one day she will.

What would it be like,

to not hear the world?

No vulgar and vain sounds,

no crudeness or lightness.

I bet that she does hear

the most precious of all,

the sweet little whisper

of the Lord, "I love you."

I want to be more like Brynn

and stop listening to the world,

instead I want to listen,

to the sweet simple whispers.

Succoth

A starnge little hut sits on a large stretch of green grass in between the Joseph Smith Building and the Spence W. Kimball Tower at BYU. It is draped in white sheets and has branches for the roof covering. If I had walked past this just over a year ago, I would have asked "What is this? And what is it for?" But now I know. I know because I saw several, at least a hundred, similiar huts to this one, not here in the U.S., but in Jerusalem! What are these little huts? They are called Succoths in Israel, but a more familiar term here may be a tabernalce. The Feast of Tabernacles has started. In Jerusalem right now, every Jewish family would have a succoth at their home. Every restaurant in West Jerusalem would have one outside of the restaurant, and even the Governmental buildigs have them! They are everywhere! I stood in one at a gelato shop and at my ice cream inside it once. I am grateful that BYU shows our link to Jerusalem, and honors the Feast of Tabernacles!

Happy Succoth everyone!

Vernal

Guess where Mitch and I are going this weekend? Yup--Vernal!!! We are going out for conference! I am really excited because we haven't seen his parents since the wedding. And guess what else is awesome? Vernal now has a Cafe Rio! Yahoo!!! Too bad it will be the most busy place in town during the Men's Preisthood session. We will have to there for lunch or something. So, as you can tell by the picture, I am not real good with a shot gun. . . .YET! I will be good! I did pretty good for my first time, but the gun is so stinking heavy I could hardly lift it (hence my bad posture) haha. Too bad I don't think we will be doing any shooting this time out there because the weather will be so cold.