Worth While

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

It is easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows by like a song,
But the man worth while is the one who will smile,
When everything goes dead wrong.
For the test of the heart is trouble,
And it always comes with the years,
And the smile that is worth the praises of earth
Is the smile that shines through tears.

It is easy enough to be prudent,
When nothing tempts you to stray,
When without or within no voice of sin
Is luring your soul away;
But it’s only a negative virtue
Until it is tried by fire,
And the life that is worth the honor of earth
Is the one that resists desire.

By the cynic, the sad, the fallen,
Who had no strength for the strife,
The world’s highway is cumbered to-day;
They make up the sum of life.
But the virtue that conquers passion,
And the sorrow that hides in a smile,
It is these that are worth the homage on earth
For we find them but once in a while.

Breaking Dawn Part One.

Yes, I did watch Breaking Dawn at midnight last night and I actually, surprisingly, liked it. It is rated PG-13 and yes a few scenes were taken out before it aired moving it down from being rated R. And I'll tell you why. Firstly, it was very much like the book. The couple is on their honeymoon and well.. Anyway. There's a few bedroom scenes where you see lots of shoulders and skin and lots of drawn-out kissing. And there's that ocean scene (which was very similar to that Harry Potter scene in the last one). Also, aside from all the honeymoon bits, there was a scene just before the wedding when Bella has a nightmare and she's standing on all the dead bloody bodies of all the people she knows and blood is seeping out from beneath them. Not a necessary scene but it didn't bother me as much as the other scenes did.

The acting wasn't as cheesy as some of the other ones and the makeup and everything was actually quite good. My sister Jessica, who sat next to me, said "Wow. They actually look really good!" The director took his time with everything and so it wasn't rushed at all. It split exactly where I thought it would and I thought it was super fun when they had Stephenie Meyer attend the wedding! And if you do watch it, be sure to stay for a bit after the credits, there's an important scene that sets up the next movie. So yeah. I liked it, but I think this is one of those movies where I'd just have to say: Watch at your own risk.

Okay Jillian, Let's Try This Again...

I have successfully made it to Day 12 in Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred. And I am loving it! ...Well, actually, as I'm exercising I don't love it, but afterward I do!

..Actually, I WAS loving it. That is, until I started her second workout. Her 30 days is broken up into three workouts, and, naturally, they each get more and more intense. And for the months and months that I've had this video I have never once looked at the second workout. ...until two days ago. And when I first did it I thought I was going to die! If workout two is THIS bad, I don't even want to SEE workout three! I don't even want it in my presence!

..But today wasn't as bad. I keep reminding myself that when I started this whole thing I felt the same way about workout one. And that's a piece of cake right now. Hopefully I'll feel the same way about the others. And soon!

Pizza Dough!

1 1/4 cups warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
Mix and let proof for five minutes.
2 Tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon salt
Mix in.
3 1/4 cup flour - Mix in 2 1/2 to 3 then knead in the rest.

Roll out fairly thin.
Poke holes in crust and shape edges.
Cover with 1 cup. sauce or so and add your favorite toppings!
Bake at 425 degrees for fifteen to seventeen minutes.

Tip: Before cooking, brush garlic butter onto the top!

Once Upon A Time.

Not that you don't have any other far more important things to be doing or anything, but I've discovered this new TV show on abc and I love it! It's a brand new series and it airs every Sunday night at 8/7 central. My roommate and I have faithfully watched every single episode so far and we're oober excited for the next one to come out! ...There's only three out so far and I think you can access them free on abc.com. I'm a little skeptical about giving too much of the story away by telling you about it. I'll just say that it has something to do with Snow White, Prince Charming, the Evil Queen, the fairy tale world and the real world! It's PG for mild language and the violence is very clean (old fashion punching, bloodless sword fighting), although the graphics are a little cheesy at times. Anyway, if you have a few extra hours in your busy day you should check it out!

My Dilemma in a Nutshell.

GED and ACT? Check.
College and University? Check.
Freshman year? Check.
Sophomore year? Check.
Junior year? Check.
Senior year? Check.
Graduation? Check.
What in the world to do next? .........AHH!!

Crossed.

It's the sequel to Matched by Ally Condie. And if you haven't read Matched I highly recommend it! The second wasn't quite as good as the first but it was still good! It sort of just set the pieces up for the last book. As I was reading it felt very much like watching the first part of the last Harry Potter movie. ...It just kept going and going and nothing really interesting was happening. I mean I enjoyed reading Crossed, but I sort of wished that.. I don't know.. I can't think of what she could have changed to make it better. Everything was important and all. Maybe that was it. It was all very serious. Practically no comic relief. Anyway, if you've read it I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Clockwork Angel.

So, I kept seeing this book on Amazon and all over Wal-Mart and I had heard that it was very good. So I finally got it! It was given as a present while I was recovering. Clockwork Angel is the first book in a series called The Infernal Devices which also happens to be the prequel set to a series called The Mortal Instruments both by Cassandra Clare. Anyways. I sort of have mixed feelings about this book.. On the whole I really liked it. I'd probably describe it best by saying the seventeenth century mixed with fantasy. Take the proper way of life back then and throw in warlock here and a vampire there and maybe a couple of dashing men and then you have Clockwork Angel. My mixed feelings come only from the language. It's a story with a lot of superstitious ideas and those generally (at least when you're talking about warding off witches and fighting off demons) have something to do with more delicate matters such as religion. So anyway, I feel like I'm making justifications for this book and I'm really not trying to. Mostly. Anyway. There's a lot of using the Lord's name in vain and such and I don't care for it. I guess I'll just have to break out a permanent marker or something and do a little editing.

Sometimes You Fall.

We have apple trees in our backyard. Lots of them. And on Saturday a family in our ward had asked if they could come over and pick some apples. Of course, we agreed and at about noon they came over. They brought all six of their kids along with a cute boy in the ward. I think we must have been out there for half an hour when I decided to climb up one of the trees and pick from the tall branches. I soon spotted one that was nice and big and round and green and perfect. So, naturally, I climbed up to get it.

And then I was on the ground... I can't describe it in any other way than that it felt like I was dreaming. The characters in my dream were fuzzy and their voices sounded far away. I opened my eyes, saw the fuzzy tree and the fuzzy outlines of two people, one on either side of me. I thought that I had dreamed that my roommate and that the said cute boy had come to my rescue. Although I couldn't remember why I needed to be rescued. I mean, nothing had happened. At least, not that I could remember.. But, nonetheless, my rescuers helped me to my feet and I quickly found that didn't have any strength in my legs and promptly fell to my knees.

It took me way too long to realize that I wasn't dreaming and that I had actually fallen from the tree. My back had taken the brunt of the fall but my head had also crashed to the ground and my roommate, who was also a nurse, told me that I had had a concussion. She said that I had fallen about seven feet or so and that one of my legs had gotten caught between some branches at the base of the tree which sort of made it impossible for me to land on my feet. So instead I landed on my back and she had to revive me by hitting my sternum. She told me that she had been in the truck when I fell and that she had the engine running and she STILL heard me fall.

When I made it inside everything hit me and I sort of went into hysterics and couldn't stop crying. Anyway. I think mostly, that the only thing that hurt worse than my head was my pride. I felt so embarrassed! All my friends were there and my roommate and the cute boy and what do I do?? I fall out of a tree!

After a short while and after stupidly trying to apologize to the mother about stupidly falling out of the tree and ruining the day, (which by the way, she told me wasn't allowed. "No! You're not allowed to apologize for falling out of trees!") I made a comment about my headache, trying to lighten the mood. "Well.. I don't know what it really feels like but I think this is probably what a hangover feels like."

Anyhow.. I'm fine now. I didn't have to go to the hospital or anything and now the only thing that hurts is my neck. And even that just feels as if I slept on it wrong. So yeah.. Moral of the story: Sometimes the best looking apples aren't worth falling for. But even if you do, you'll have a cool story to tell!

I Suppose It's About Time...

Someday my prince will come. Someday I'll find my love. How amazing that moment will be when the prince of my dreams comes to me. Somewhere he waits for me. Someone I long to see. Though he's far away I'll find him someday. Someday when my dreams come true.

I feel like this is my theme song right now. Yeah I know. I'm young. I've got time. No hurry here. But still. I'm getting a little impatient. Especially when I see those younger than me getting married.. And having kids.. BUT! I'm trying to be patient and doing my best to stay busy. As you may know I am on my off-track right now and so I have nothing to do, or at least, I have no set obligations. I spend a LOT of time happily babysitting and I going to institute once a week and I also started a sort-of-job (the kind where it's like 'hey, would you like to do this for me?') with a doctor in my ward. He has a beautiful cottage (with an awesome front door that looks like you just pulled it off of an medieval castle!) and I clean it for him. It's actually really nice! It's almost like working early morning custodial again. ..Except it's not early morning.. But yeah. I get to listen to really loud music and sing and dance and clean. All the best things in life right? ;)

So yeah.. I don't have much going on in my life at the moment. And so that pretty much makes for a super boring blog. But. I'll do what I can. For my sake anyway. It'll be interesting to take the boring things in life and make them interesting and fun to read.