President Hinckley Dies at 97

This morning I was doing my cardio on the elliptical machine in the fitness room in my apartment building. At the tail end of the news, there was a brief story about the "passing of a leader in the Mormon church." With the noise of the machines, I didn't quite hear all of the pertinent information in the report. I was pretty sure that it was President Hinckley that they were speaking of, but I wasn't certain.

 

I had more than 10 minutes left of my workout. I couldn't wait to finish so that I could get to my computer and confirm the story. I began putting forth more effort, as if that would make a difference! I know it really didn't, but it did seem to make the time go by faster.

 

President Hinckley will be greatly missed. He became the prophet during my senior year of high school, so while I do remember vaguely Presidents Benson and Hunter, President Hinckley has been the prophet for all of my adult life. I know that he was inspired of the Lord and that he guided and directed the church according to the Lord's will. He committed his entire life to serving the Lord; he was great man and will always remain a strong example to me.

 

During General Conferences in recent years, I have always enjoyed his talks. I will miss his stories and his counsel. I will miss hearing of his travels around the world. I will miss hearing him testify of the gospel.

 

My prayers will go out to the remaining apostles during this time of transition.

Goals

One of my goals this year is to be healthier and get into shape. Part of that includes losing weight. I have gained quite a few pounds since I've been married, and I really want to shed some of that--get back into a "healthy" range.

I joined myfitnesspal to help me. This is a really neat FREE site that helps you track your daily activities and nutrition. There are a few sites out that that help you with this, but I really like this one because it is FREE (of course), but also because you can customize your own foods and activities.

Another site I tried, MyCalorieCounter, only lets you customize if you upgrade to a paid membership. Also, to get your food totals, you need to upgrade as well. This, I found wasn't very helpful. The other site I used to use was FitDay, and it doesn't let you customize your activities, and it doesn't have elliptical trainer in its database. That's what I use more frequently, so I found the site wasn't meeting my needs.

I just discovered myfitnesspal yesterday, and so far I love it! It is very easy to use! It even makes counting calories kinda fun. Hee hee...

Wish me luck on my goal. I'd like to accomplish this by summer, but if it takes longer, I don't mind--as long as the pounds are shed in 2008!

MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

Well, I'm officially official...

Today, I received my PIN to be able to log into the online Registration system.

I am now registered for 4 classes:

• Circle of Advocates--meets two Saturdays, 2/2 & 4/5
• Education's Place in Society--every Thursday from 4:45 to 7
• Field Experience I--Exploration--not sure how this works, but I need to do 30 hours in a classroom sometime during the semester
• Human Relations & Multicultural Education--every Tuesday from 4:45 to 7

I even went to the bookstore and forked over $292 for the books for these courses!

Ouch!! Thank goodness for student loans! :-)

So I'm all set...now I just need to make it through the weekend, curbing my enthusiasm.

Classes start on Tuesday!!

Wish me well.

Jeff's the One For Me!

Okay, I've been tagged by my friend Lara! I figure it should be pretty interesting to read all about our better halves...so anyone who wants to give it a try. Just leave me a comment on my blog when you've done it so I can come take a look!

 

What's his name? Jeff
How long have you been together? We've been married for 3 years.
How long did you date? Let's see...dated 5 weeks, broke up for a few days, got engaged the following week, and were married 6 weeks after that...guess that would be 11 weeks give or take a couple of days
How old is he? 29
Who eats more? I'm afraid I do.
Who said I love you first? Honestly, I'm not sure.
Who is taller? Definitely, Jeff—by a few inches.
Who is smarter? I think Jeff is smarter about "things," but I think I may be more "book-smart."
Who does laundry? Mostly I do, but every once in a while he'll start a load. I definitely have to fold, though.
Who does the dishes? I do the dishes. Well, sometimes Jeff will empty the dishwasher.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do.
Who pays the bills? I keep track, but we both contribute the finances.
Who mows the lawn? We don't have a lawn!! J
Who cooks dinner? Generally, I do; however, sometimes he will make some Spanish rice and tamales.
Who drives when you are together? Jeff drives, which suits me just fine!
Who is more stubborn? Hmmm....probably me...
Who kissed who first? Again, I'm not sure. It was probably a mutual thing.
Who asked out who first? Jeff asked me over to teach him how to make Hamburger Helper. J
Who proposed? We don't have a good proposal story. I think it was more of a mutual thing. We just decided that we should get married. Although, I do remember one time we were at my parent's home and he leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Do you want to get an apartment downtown with me?" Marriage was implied.
Who has more siblings? Definitely me! I have 11 siblings (mixture of full, half, and step); Jeff only has 1 sister, and 2 brother.
Who wears the pants in the family? Pants?! Who wears pants?! I guess I'm probably bossier than Jeff.

The wait is OVER!!

Last Friday, I received my acceptance letter to the University of St Thomas School of Education! Yeah!

 

My acceptance was conditional. To gain full acceptance, I needed to take the Praxis I test. I just took it this afternoon. The minimums for passing in MN are 173 for Reading, 171 for Math, and 172 for Writing; the highest possible score for any section is 190. I believe that my scores were 182 in Reading and 187 in Math. I am really pleased with how I did. My score for the Writing section will come later, as it included an essay that cannot be scored by a computer. :-)

 

I was kind of stressed about the test, but now I can sigh a HUGE sigh of relief.

 

Now I just need to turn some paperwork and register for classes. Classes start next week already, so tomorrow I'll be turning in that paperwork. Hopefully, it won't take too long for me to be able to register.

 

It will be a little weird to be back in school, but still, I find myself terribly excited about it. Wish me luck!

 

 

Waiting

I've never really been all that great about waiting for things. I know patience is a virtue, but when I know something is coming that is very exciting, it's so difficult to wait!

Yesterday, the final piece of my graduate school application was submitted.

Now comes the waiting...

It should be too long of a wait, though. They keep assuring me that once everything is submitted, it doesn't take long for a decision to be made. I hope that's true because the semester starts in less than 2 weeks!

This is a big deal! Grad school! I never thought I would make the decision to return to school, but after much gentle prodding from my husband coupled with lots of prayerful consideration, I made the decision to return.

I've applied to the University of St Thomas School of Education. It will take a great deal of studying and hard work, but I hope to be a licensed teacher 2 years from now. My licensure will be in Communication Arts & Literature, which is perfect since my undergraduate work was in Communication Studies. My goal is to teach High School English.

I'm so excited to begin this next chapter in my life!

But for now...

I need to wait...

TEST

I just changed a setting on my blog to allow me to e-mail a post directly to my blog, without having to log into Blogger.

 

I wanted to test it out.

 

Here goes...

Photography

It seems that all I post now are other people's photographs. I should probably make a winter trip over to Minnehaha to take some winter pics of my favorite park.

In the meantime...here are some more photos I found online...Click on the pic to be directed to the original post...

Photography

Here are a few more photographs that I have recently come across online.

For more information on the artist and the photograph, click on the photo to be directed to the original post.

How to Answer...

I was reading a Deseret News Article today by Joel Campbell, LDS Newsline blogger. In this article, he grades several recent news stories about the LDS faith.

The first "A" that he gave went to an article in the Orange County Register, called "IN THE SPIRIT: Misconceptions follow Mormon faith." Campbell commends this reporter for using a reliable source--"a genuine, believing member." The article is basically a quick interview with the Stake President of the Newport Beach California Stake.

I was impressed with the answers of this Stake President. I actually had misread this article, thinking the interview was with a current Bishop. Regardless, it was still impressive, and it gave me pause.

Would I be able to answer a reporter's questions as succinctly?

As members of the church, we sometimes shy away from talking about our religious beliefs with those not of our faith. I know that I do. I get tongue-tied and unsure of the words.

We are taught in the church the importance of being a "member missionary" and "teaching by example." This article reminded me of that. As I was reading it and thinking about whether or not I would have been able to provide precise answers as this Stake President did, I thought how important it is that every member know the doctrine as well as those in leadership. Every member ought to be prepared to answer questions from a reporter. While the likelihood is that reporters will only interview Bishops or Stake Presidents or Apostles, I still think it is important that every member be prepared for such a situation.

I know that I definitely need to make some improvements! One of my New Year's Resolutions, actually, is to become more spiritually minded.

Here's to 2008 and becoming the best "Mormons" and "Christians" we can become. Right? It's all about eternal progression and always doing the best we can.

Happy New Year!!