An Entire Life Update

I made a post a while while back mentioning majors and life choices and all that terrible, awful jazz.  WELL.  I'ma gonna tell y'all what's up.  What's REALLY up.

I'm a Liberal Arts major.   The intent is to become a teacher.  4th or 5th grade is best.  Do I know how I'm going to do this?  NOPE.

I'm a junior now and life is creeping up.   I'm not gonna lie, I didn't really plan for after college.  You know, you're a kid and you plan on going to school and then going to college. But then what?  You tell people what you want to be when you grow up, but that's not for another seven years, right?  NO.  NOT EVEN CLOSE.  That's like a year from now.  I still tell people what I want to be when I grow up.  But guess what. I am grown up.  Technically.

Ruh roh.

Nahh, it'll work out.  I just got to make a couple of phone calls, right?  RIGHT?!

Vanity Post

Lately I've really wanted to get a nice perfume.  One that wasn't some cheep, tweeny body spray.  Something that would last.  One spritz and you're good.  So whilst in the mall we walked into American Eagle.  Not really my store, never go in by my choice.  But, you know, people go in, ya gotta follow, look at the jewels, sunglasses and whatnot.  Well today the whatnot was PERFUME!  Quite fun.  I got a little excited and smelled quite strongly for the rest of the night.

Long story short I picked one and purchased it.  I really like the smell.  Picture:

Good stuff.  And I smell good.  Gotta have a scent, ya know!  That's what everybody says!

Git yo smells.

Creamy Italian Chicken

At this VERY moment I am attempting to make a pretty easy recipe in my crock pot.  It's a creamy Italian dressing chicken sort of deal.  It only has chicken, Italian dressing mix, water, cream cheese, and cream of chicken.  I'm using this recipe as a sort of road map.

Now I woke up quite late today due to the fact that it's spring break.  So I didn't start defrosting the chicken until one this afternoon.  Whoops.  And I put everything together at around five so... dinner at ten!  Also I feel like I may have used the wrong dressing mix, so we'll se how it works out.

I'll keep ya posted!


- - - Update: 7:15

So far so good.  I took the chicken out and shredded it.  And then I added like a cup of milk.  'Cause I felt like it.  I was hoping it would maybe dilute it cause it was pretty salty.   But soon I'll start to cook the noodles and we'll taste the final result!


- - - Update: 830

Well we ate it.  I thought I had a box of bowtie noodles but it turns out I only had like a third of a box.  So I took some of my roommate's angelhair noodles... I need to go shopping.  But anyway, it was pretty good!  I don't know if I should have put that milk in.  It was pretty soupy and I didn't let it cook long enough to boil that away.  The chicken was good.  Other times I have had this dish the chicken was totally in pieces.  So I think the fact that I didn't cook it very long made it so the chicken was still pretty solid.  Next time I'll actually get up and defrost early and then have the whole thing cook for much longer.

I love crock pots!

Hakuna Matata

Oh... oh hey.   This is awkward.   It's been a while.   No excuses.  I suck.  My b.  Let's quit the chit chat and get right down to business.   

I'm in a ward.  In college.  This evening we had a Priesthood appreciation dinner and though I'm not part of the Relief Society Presidency, I got emergency roped into writing a song for the dinner.  

Let us share, shall we?  It's to the tune of The Lion King's "Hakuna Matata"

Chorus:

The Priesthood power!  - What a wonderful phrase! 

The Priesthood power!   - Aint no passin’ craze! 

---------

You hold the Lord’s power - for the rest of your days! 

It’s an honorable...... responsibility! 

The priesthood power....

Person 1: When you were a young deacon - 

Person 2: When you were a young deacooooon!!! 

Person 3: We found your aroma lacked a certain appeal

                  You could clear the chapel after every ordeal

Person 4: You’re a sensitive soul - though you seem thick-skinned

                 But now, we can call you Whenever! - on a whim!!!

Everyone: And ohh the blessings -- Presidency: oh what’s in a blessing?

Everyone: We praise the Lord’s name -- Presidency: Oh what’s in a name?

Everyone: When we need some comfort -- Presidency: What did ya feel???

.............

THE PRIESTHOOD POWER!   - What a wonderful phrase! 

The Priesthood power!  - Ain’t no passin’ craze! 

------

You hold the Lord’s power - for the rest of your days! 

It’s an honorable...... responsibility! 

The Priesthood power! 

Whisper:

The Priesthood - the power,  The Priesthood - the power,

The Priesthood - the power, The Priesthood - the power,

 The Priesthood - the power, The Priesthood - the power,

The Priesthood...

You hold the Lord’s power - for the rest of your days! 

It’s an honorable...... responsibility! 

The priesthood poweeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrr....

Yup.  It was cute, it was fun, it was written in half an hour.  

Detective's Work

First semester I had to write a short story in the style of Flannery O'Connor.  It's cliché, but it's... alright.

Timothy Prier wanted to be a detective when he grew up. Joseph, his best friend, had a dad who was a detective. and Joseph told a bunch of stories about how his dad caught bad guys using stealth and his gun.  

Timothy loved hearing those stories.  He wished he could go visit Joseph’s house and see  his dad’s gun, but he never was able to.  Whenever he mentioned it to his mama, Josephine, she always mutter something about “different colored skin” and “intolerance” and “just plain rude.”  

Since Timothy couldn’t see Joseph’s dad’s real gun, he had a special routine that he would repeat every weekend.  After he did all of his chores for the week, each Saturday Timothy would receive just enough money to purchase a hard-candy handgun.  Timothy assumed that it was probably not as big as the real thing, but he loved getting one just the same.  Each Saturday, Timothy would go to Mr. Turner’s Drug Store and Mr. Turner would say, “Mornin’, son!”

“Mornin’, sir,” he would always reply.  Then Timothy would go straight for the candy section.  He would pick one that was blue, because that color was closest to black.  He wanted it to be as authentic as possible.  He would purchase his gun, give it a good lick, and then place it in his pocket.  His mama didn’t like that because it ruined his trousers, but a detective always needs his gun.  

He would then go back home to find out that his six year old sister, Louise, had done something terribly wrong, and he would have to figure out what she had done.  For some reason Louise would always get upset by this, probably because Timothy always caught her and always had to shoot her dead.   Louise didn’t like this, and would always tell on him.  His mama would always say that he was too young to be playing with guns, candy or real, but Timothy always thought otherwise.  He was nine and half years old, for goodness sake.  He needed a gun to keep the crime off the streets.  

One Saturday morning, while Timothy was getting his weekly handgun, something was inconsistent with his normal routine.  After his typical greetings with Mr. Turner, Timothy went to pick out his blue prop.  As he did this he heard the front door of the shop open and close and someone yell, “Bob! I knew it!  I just plain knew it!  I knew that she was cheatin’ on me! That dang slut, Patricia!”  Timothy wheeled around to see Mr. Cuckeld, the town bar owner wearing a  wife beater and olive corduroy pants, both in need of washing.  

“Calm down Carter, are you sure?  How did you find out?”  Mr. Turner said.  

“I just know!  I heard them talking outside of my bar about meeting up with each other tomorrow at eight.  Her and that idiot, Don Perkins!”

“Well, what are you gonna do?”

“I’m gonna kill her!”

“What?!”

“I”m gonna kill the both of ‘em!  After all I’ve given her!  A good house, a modest living.  And how dare he take what’s mine!  I’m gonna kill ‘em, tomorrow at eight, they said their going to meet at the motel next door to my bar, and  you’re gonna help me.”  

“What makes you think I’m gonna help you, Carter?”  

“Come on, Bob!  You know what it’s like-”

“Alright! Alright. I’ll go with you.”  

“Great.  Meet me at seven so we can get everything read and set up.  These two are gonna get everything they got coming to them.”  Timothy couldn’t believe it!  He was about to catch two criminals in the act!  He was going to buy his gun from Mr. Turner and pretend like he didn’t just hear everything that they had said.  Then he would meet up with them tomorrow at seven and spy on them and see them commit their crime.  Then he would go to Joseph’s dad and get them in trouble.  Finally, Timothy would be a real detective.  

 * * *

Robert Turner always liked to think of himself of a decent man that always had horrible things happen to him.  When he was 13 his mother died and his father had a serious drinking problem after that.  When he was old enough, Bob opened his own drug store and tried to help as many people as he could with his products.  Sadly, his business wasn’t doing very well.  He only had a couple of regular customers, one of whom being a young black child that only bought a candy handgun once a week.  Then, a few years ago, his wife left him for a better work of a man.  It broke his heart and it re-broke it whenever he thought of it.  That’s why, when Carter Cuckeld came to him asking for help with his wife, Bob was a little more sympathetic, and a little more willing to help, than most.  Now it was almost seven and he was a little worried about Carter was going to do, but he had said he was going to be there, and he was a man of his word.  Now as he arrived at Carter’s bar, Carter yelled, “Bob, I was worried you weren’t gonna come!”  

“I said I was gonna show, didn’t I?” replied Bob.  

“Yeah, but since what we’re gonna do... anyway.  I’ve got the supplies and the plan.  Are you ready for this?”

“I guess.”

“Alright well I found out that she’s gonna be in the motel and then he has to meet up with her a bit later.  We’re gonna go up and snuff her out and then we’ll wait for him and take care of him too.  Quick and easy, get rid of this scum so I don’t have to see ‘em every day.  We’ll strangle them, so it’s quiet, but I brought my gun in case anything gets out of hand.”

“I don’t know-”

“No, no, it’ll all be good.  I’ll do everything, and you’ll hold the gun, and whatever you do will be self defense.  You have nothing to worry about.”  

“Alright, Carter.  I’m letting you take the reins with this.  I’ll just be by your side.”

“That’s all I wanted, Bob.”  They then waited until they saw Patricia Cuckeld heading towards the motel and then after she entered they followed her to her room.  Carter wasn’t very stealthy once they were near her room.  “I know what you’re doing here, Patty!” he yelled.  

“Yeah right, Carter!  You have no idea why I’m here, no proof or anything!”  Bob could only look at Patricia with contempt.  Before, whenever he thought of his wife, he could only think of how much he loved and missed her.  Now, looking at Patty, all he could think of was getting back at her, giving her what she deserved seeing Patty get what she deserved.  

“I got proof enough, and I’m gonna stop you in your tracks, Patty!”

“You can’t stop me from doin’ anything! You never could, and you never will.”  And with that Carter whipped out his belt took four large steps across the small, motel room and began to end his wife’s life.    His eyes went dark and was gritting his teeth.  She was clawing at his arms, but she was quickly losing the struggle.  Then she finally stopped moving.  

* * *

Don Perkins was so excited to see Patricia again.  This relationship they had was the as real as it could get.  Every time he saw her, he couldn’t get her out of his head days after, and now he was just about to see her again.  He made his way up the stairs to the room that he knew Patricia was going to be in.  He opened the door and he saw Patricia laying with her head in her husband’s lap.  His stomach dropped.  What was going on?  Patricia hated her husband.  Carter then got up and Patricia’s body eerily fell to the floor.  Something was terribly wrong.  Her body didn’t move at all.  Carter made his way towards Don, and Don couldn’t move.  Carter had a belt in his hands.  

* * *

Timothy was terrified.  He had followed Mr. Turner into the bar, and then he had followed him and Mr. Cuckeld into the motel.  Since they were both so distracted by what they had to do, they that he had followed them, at that point he thought he was doing a pretty good job at being a detective.  Then the door closed and all he heard was yelling and then stomping around.  He was a little scared about what might have just happened, but he just held his gun in his pocket and kept quite, a detective always kept at his post.  

Then Timothy heard footsteps coming up the stairs.  He moved into the shadows as the man opened the door into the room where Mr. Turner and Mr. and Mrs. Cuckeld were.  The door was left open, so now Timothy had a clear view of what was going on.  He saw Mrs. Cuckeld’s body on the ground and Mr. Cuckeld headed for the man that had entered the room.  Mr. Cuckeld had an extreme look in his eye as he wrapped his belt around the man’s neck, and Timothy involuntarily gasped and Mr. Cuckeld and Mr. Turner both turned their heads to him.  Mr. Cuckeld yelled, “Get the boy!”  and Mr. Turner ran to get him, and Timothy made no move to escape, paralyzed by fear.  Mr. Turner grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to a chair in a corner of the room.  

“What are you doing here, boy?  You have no business being here!”  Mr. Turner exclaimed.  Timothy didn’t know how to respond.  He simply remembered a time where his mother said that if he ever got into trouble with some white folks that he should tell them about his life.  Tell them about how nice his family was and what he liked to do in his spare time, but always respectfully, calling them “sir” or “ma’am.”  

“Well, sir, I’m Timothy Prier and I have a little sister named Louise and she’s just six.  And I have a mama, her name is Josephine, and she loves me and my sister.  My father works in the tire factory on the outskirts of town.  He’s a good worker, always gets enough money for my mama to make good meals for us.  Mama says that’s a mighty fine blessing for us to have and that we should be grateful for it every day.  

I want to be a detective.  It’s because my best friend’s dad’s a detective.  I hear the neatest stories about it, I want to be able to keep the streets safe, sir.” 

“What’s that kid blabbin’ about, Bob?” Carter shouted, with the man’s body at crumpled at his feet.

“His life story, he wants to be a detective or somethin’.”  

Carter mutters, “This kid’s seen too much, Bob. We gotta get rid of him.”  

“He’s just a kid, Carter, who’s gonna believe him?” 

“He’s just a negro, Bob, just snuff him so we can get on with our night.”

“I can’t do that, Carter.  If you want it done you’ll have to do it.”  Timothy could barely hear them talking but he knew something bad was going to happen.  He was holding onto his gun for dear life, just sitting in that chair.  Then he saw Mr. Turner’s already sad face turn to anguish.  Then there was an exchange of hands.  Timothy felt something awful, something terrible was coming.  He clutched his gun even harder.  Mr. Cuckeld turned to face Timothy with a gun pointed towards his face.  Triggers were pulled and within Timothy’s pocket were the remnants of a hard-candy handgun. 

Blogger Fail - Summer Term

Yup.  Go ahead.  I deserve it.  I, me, doth faileth at the blog.  I'm not gonna lie, I'll probably continue to fail.  But right now I'll just share with ya'll what I'll be doing for the next five months. 
I'm going to be doing an August term (Others call it "Summer Term II")  During this term I will be taking...

Marriage and Family: 8am - Oy.  (I recognize that this is actually quite reasonable.)
A study of American marriages and families. Attention is given to successful marriage and family relationships based on research examining dating and mate selection, marriage, sexuality, family interaction, family resource management, parenting, divorce, and remarriage.
And...

Astronomy: 10am - Just in time to see the starts!
Study of the motion, physical properties, evolution, and environments of the sun, moon, planets, and stars. Includes observing activities.
Six credits!  Whoa.  Aug term is about a month long.  Should be fun, right?

Then for the Fall Term I'll be taking 13 (possibly 14) credits.  
MWF:
Introduction to Music History: 9am This course has two goals: to refine listening skills, thus increasing the student’s understanding and enjoyment of music, while at the same time providing a survey of the major composers and musical styles of the Western classical repertory to be encountered in concert halls today. Students will be introduced to music from the Baroque, Viennese Classical, Romantic, and Modern periods, including works by composers such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, and Stravinsky. Genres to be covered include the symphony, chamber music, opera, song, and choral music.

(I might do... Concert Chorale: 10am  "Advanced choir" ish.  I have to audition, but I'm BASICALLY in.  Haha - just kidding.)

Child and Adolescent Development: 12:30pm (Just Monday and Wednesday)An introduction to human development. Emphasis is on life span processes within physical, emotional, cognitive, social, personality, and moral development. Major concepts, theories, and principles of child and adolescent development are covered.

Foundations of Education: 2:30pm
A study of the practices and issues that affect American education. Consideration is given to such topics as philosophical approaches to education, history of American education, and the organizational and cultural aspects of schools that influence education practices.

For Tuesdays and Thursdays...
Bella Voce: 9:30am
Another choir.  Just girlies.

Group Voice Instruction: 12:30pm - I took it last semester and I'm taking it again.  I love this class.This course is designed for the beginning vocal student offering group instruction to familiarize students with the fundamentals of singing and provide opportunities for development of vocal skill and public performance.
It shouldn't be too difficult.  I'll keep you posted.  But probably not.

I'm not dead yet.

I have twenty more days of my freshman year at college.  This semester has been nice. Not too many papers (except for the three that I'm putting off right now by writing this), just one obnoxiously insane presentation.

But the biggest theme that has occurred this semester is MUSIC!  Let's start at the beginning and waste time, shall we?

It started of with me taking chemistry.  I was relatively "excited."  I liked chemistry in high school and I had done pretty well and I was hoping this class would simply reaffirm my feelings on the subject.

FALSE.

The teacher and I did not get along.  I don't think he knew it, but I knew it enough for the both of us.  So I dropped it like a hot tamale.  But with that class dropped I had some space to fill.  My roommate was signed up to take a class called Group Voice Instruction and I had heard that it was supposed to be really good.  The problem was that there was a possibility of me not getting into the class.  After a stressful couple of days, I finally got in and things started to settle.

This class has basically changed my life.  Ehh... yeah.  It has.

It is taught by Clayne Robison, with the help of a couple of characters.

BYUtv - Beautiful Singing: Not Just For The Chosen

This is a short film that we have watched many times and it is basically what we are learning in class.  Dr. Robison is sometimes a startling person, but you just go along with it because you know(hope) he knows what he's doing.

With what I've been learning I am able to use it in my other class: Bella Voce!  The same couple of characters who help Dr. Robison with Group Voice are the conductors for Bella Voce.  This class has also had a greater impact on me than I could have ever expected.

Here is what we have done this semester:

For our first concert we did:

Dirait-on - Morten Lauridsen
We are a womens' choir, so it is slightly different from this.

Tango To Evora - Loreena McKennitt

Set Me As a Seal  - René Clausen

My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord - Moses Hogan

Sing Me to Heaven - Daniel E. Gawthrop

Psalm 23 - Z. Randall Stroope

Revelation - Z. Randall Stroope
This one is really intense.  Especially this video with the illustrations.

Now we have another concert coming up on April 21st where we will be singing Sing Me to Heaven, Psalm 23, and Revelation along with:

Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit - Rosephanye Powell
This version is very different from what we sing, mostly just the same words, but you get the idea.

Hoj, Hura, hoj! - Otmar Mácha
I'll be singing one of the solos in this one.  I'm excited.

Because of these two classes over the course of two semesters my love of music has grown exponentially.  So much, in fact, that I was considering doing a double minor of Early Childhood Education along with Music.  But, for whatever reason, the Early Childhood Education minor is no longer available.  At least at this point in time.  So we'll see how things pan out.

I'm grateful for the all the opportunities I have at this school and the people I have met that help me improve in my skillz.

Twenty more days.

Back.

Night night, Mom.  I love you.

Miss

I'm really grateful that I chose to go to this school.  I would have been miserable if I went to any other place.  I'm grateful that I'm able to give the advice, "Pray about it," and it's not a horrendous joke.  I love seeing the same faces that I see in church in my classes.  I love being in 3 choirs even though one if them is a slight abomination.  I think my ward is wonderful and all three hours are very enriching.  FHE is always a blast and our family is a pretty good size with consistant attendance.

Of couse I miss my ward at home.  The smallness and warmth.  But something that I truly miss is hearing the Sacrament Prayers in Spanish.

It took me forever to find these:

Oh Dios, Padre Eterno, en el nombre de Jesucristo, tu Hijo, te pedimos que bendigas y santifiques este pan para las almas de todos los que participen de él, para que lo coman en memoria del cuerpo de tu Hijo, y testifiquen ante ti, oh Dios, Padre Eterno, que están dispuestos a tomar sobre sí el nombre de tu Hijo, y a recordarle siempre, y a guardar sus mandamientos que él les ha dado, para que siempre puedan tener su Espíritu consigo. Amén.


Oh Dios, Padre Eterno, en el nombre de Jesucristo, tu Hijo, te pedimos que bendigas y santifiques este vino [agua] para las almas de todos los que lo beban, para que lo hagan en memoria de la sangre de tu Hijo, que por ellos se derramó; para que testifiquen ante ti, oh Dios, Padre Eterno, que siempre se acuerdan de él, para que puedan tener su Espíritu consigo. Amén.


I never really realized what a blessing it was to have a multilingual ward until I came here and no one was speaking Spanish, or signing.  Every Sunday I've been aching to hear these prayers in Spanish.  I guess it shouldn't matter, but it's a comfort from home that I'd like to have.  

Admission

It's funny because I didn't even need this to get into SVU.  

Here's a little story before you read:  When I told my friend, Emily, that I was going to talk about Pride and Prejudice she sort of gave me a look of extreme pity.   She told me, "Mary,  everyone writes their essay about that."  My stomach dropped but then I remembered that mine was going to be different.  It took me kind of a long time to write this essay.  It went through a bunch of people before it went out.  It's funny that SVU didn't see it.  They probably would have appreciated it the most.  But it did it's job all the same.  I got into all the schools that I applied to.  (WIN)

When reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, I was struck by the character Mrs. Bennet.  Mrs. Bennet is traditionally viewed as a rather shallow person who has foolish goals and irrational expectations.  I disagree with this interpretation.  I feel that Mrs. Bennet is simply trying to be a good mother.  She is striving to give all five of her daughters a sound, prosperous life.  During the late 1700s, women had few rights and had to depend on the presiding male in their life. Mrs. Bennet tries to provide the protection that her children will need. I see her decisions and actions as high expectations for the futures of her daughters. She only wants the best for her children, and her children's children.  

I believe that being a mother in today's society is an underappreciated responsibility.  Mothers are the caretakers of the future.  There are a lot of elements to being a good mother and  education is a critical part of a mother's success.  A mother has to be a nurse, home economist, teacher, psychologist, diplomat, agriculturist, musician, nutritionist, and nurturer, to be able to deal with the daily affairs of a busy life. She has to be familiar with mathematics, literature, grammar, foreign languages, history, biology, chemistry, and physics, in order to help with school work and to answer the unanswerable questions that youth and children have.  A mother has to be a “Renaissance Man”.

The family is the most intimate form of community, and the mother is the keystone of that institute.  She has to teach her children how to be upstanding citizens in society and to be respectful of others and their beliefs.  A mother has to motivate her children to do the best they can, and to have high standards for themselves.  

I know so many mothers that fulfill this exact description and add their own abilities to the mix.  I know women who are experts with writing, literature, theology, politics, education, and music.  These mothers are the most balanced people I know, and they have been true mentors in my life.  

Throughout my life I have also seen these traits in my own mother.  With the education she received she has been able to shape our lives in the best way possible, and it is truly inspirational to see the time and effort she puts in to each child's life.  My mother is raising four children, is about to see her first go to college, and she has made it very difficult for me to leave.  For every single child, my mother would read a bedtime story, sings a song, and turns out the light, until we were too old for that childish treatment, of course.  She sleeps with my youngest sister, while the other is at a sleepover, because she cannot sleep in the room alone.  At the beginning of each school year she makes a back-to-school treat to help each of us ease into a new and harder year.  She helps each of us as we practice an instrument, and she coaches us through our homework.   Her patience and guidance has helped make me the person I am today.  

Watching my mother has motivated me to become the best I can be.    She has always supported me in whichever field I have wanted to study.  My mother has set me up for a desire to learn everything possible.  This love of learning is what helps me to be successful in anything I do.  My ability to soak up information and share it with others is sustained and encouraged by my parents. Watching these astounding people has given me an ability to support my family and peers.  I have gained a natural ability to teach and connect with people, and with this I have been able to influence the people around  me.  I plan to use what I learn from a liberal arts education for society and a family of my own.  I have been inspired to learn everything I can so, someday, I will be a good mother also.  

Though society may look down on Mrs. Bennet and mothers, I see both in a different light.  Mothers are a strong, intelligent group of people guiding the next generation into a vast and unknown world.