Samwise Gamgee

My roommates and I have been watching all of the Lord of the Rings since I got them in the mail the other day. Before this, I'd never really liked Sam for some reason, but watching it this time I started to come to respect and admire him, especially for his line at the end of the third movie, as he and Frodo are trying to climb Mount Doom when he says to Frodo: "Well, I can't carry it [the ring] for you, but I can carry you!" That line really struck me this time. Sam was a perfect friend to Frodo, sticking with him through everything, even when Frodo was making decisions that Sam knew were bad for the both of them (keeping with Gollum for so long). Sam supported all of Frodo's decisions, following him to help Frodo with the hardest thing he would ever have to do: carry the ring to Mount Doom and destroy it. Samwise Gamgee is one of the most unselfish characters ever written. He is completely honest and loving to Frodo, even when Frodo is rude and selfish in return.

BYU -- I Do!

I understand why there is such a pressure to get married here. The church is centered around families, therefore we're encouraged, nay pushed to date, get engaged, and get married. It's all very subtle, the church's influence on that aspect of BYU student life. At first glance, it's simply the sheer numbers of people that are in relationships, of both the permanent and transient variety. But when a member of the stake presidency spends three-quarters of a lesson that was supposed to introduce the stake theme talking about how guys need to ask more girls out without batting an eyelash...well, the root cause is found. These "subtle hints" create a culture where everyone feels like they need to be in a relationship as soon as they become sophomores, if not as soon as possible. If they're not, there's something wrong with them. If they're not married by the time they graduate...there's next to no hope.

I do admit that, if given the opportunity, I would get married. I'm sure I'd be very happy. I'm not going to go jumping into any relationships with jerks, though. Too many people here succumb to the pressure by marrying someone they hardly know. Yes, sometimes it is "right," but nine times out of ten they've worked themselves up into "love" with someone they barely know. Some of these marriages work out with lots of effort and God's help, and some of them don't. They mix up the Spirit and love, or they simply are completely different people after they're married.

Dear God, don't let that happen to me. I'll do my best to not let it happen.

New Semester

Back at school. Ward's alright finally, roommates are crazy (but good), classes are interesting. Still don't know what to major in. I'm tired. I have hypothyroidism, so I have to take medication every morning. Maddie got her birthmark removed from her forehead. No guys in my life, as usual. The end.

Summer

So it's two months into summer, and I desparately want to go back to BYU. Alas, there are still two months to go. I'm currently a nanny for three kids and a six month old bull mastiff. I'm starting to dislike the dog a lot, and I love dogs. My mom has become politically active, which is weird. I guess I didn't know my mom as well as I thought I did. Today, she wrote a letter to our Senator and our Representative about some UN thing that wants to give kids all over the world rights, and apparently our terrible president wants it to happen. Whoever came up with this idea is obviously an idiot that doesn't know anything about children. They need parents to guide them; their brains aren't like an adult's at all. Obviously, no one in the UN took Human Development (haha). Anyway, I'm bored out of my mind.

Oh.

One more thing.

Dalin got his mission call on Sunday (:D). To the Salt Lake City South Mission, Spanish speaking.

This means he will be less than five minutes away from me for three months, and less than an hour away for the rest of the two years. The closest to him I'll have been in years, yet the farthest.

Mr. Perfect

No, I haven't met him. At least, I don't know him very well if I have. :P

Yesterday, instead of paying attention in German, I made this list. Enjoy. There's no particular order.

• confident, but not pompous
• intelligent
• spiritual, but not intimidatingly so
• good with kids
• loves his family
• curteous
• returned missionary
• generally happy
• sensitive, but not overly emotional
• prefers not to watch chick flicks
• likes to read
• loves to learn
• funny
• will be silly with me
• polite
• has a geeky side
• congenial
• treats me like a princess, but doesn't overdo it
• knows his limits, financially and personally (as related to the previous statement)
• wants to spend time with me and family, but doesn't require me for happiness (i.e. he isn't depressed when away from us)
• thinks for himself, doesn't require approval
• strong
• optimistic, but realistic
• understanding
• slow to anger
• makes me feel beautiful & delicate with actions, not only words
• appreciates the arts & beauty in nature

Those were the required ones. These are optional:

• Tall
• blue eyes
• curly hair
• plays soccer
• buff (large in stature)
• fashion sense (well, not fashionably inept)
• sings or is musical
• washes the dishes :)

So there you have it. My perfect man in a nutshell. Maybe I'll add to it later.

Mission Accomplished

First week = done. I've officially completed one week of my first job ever without blowing something up. The power did go out, but that was because of the snow, not me. It's been kind of slow, but it's supposed to get busier next week. We'll see. It's just been really stressful with my job and school and a girl came and stayed with me and a choir retreat on Friday...ya, busy. There's just so much to do..

There are a couple people in a couple of my classes that I knew in Germany: Sarah Jane in my German class, and Skylor in my Book of Mormon class. I was so in love with him in Germany...it's been a long time. I think he might think I'm running away from him every day after class, but I literally have to run from Book of Mormon to German every day to get there on time. Oh well. All my classes look like they'll be really interesting though; I'm excited. 

Today I got to see the prophet for the first time in person. It was pretty much the highlight of my life. I love President Monson; I was crying for most of the fireside. I love the Gospel :)