It's been a while

The other night, I was super sick (coughing up bits and pieces of my organs) and my thoughtful, talented and extremely attractive husband came to the rescue. There he was, at 3 in the morning, reminding me how to breathe, and coaching my coughs to not be so deep. Then, (whether in his delirium or consciousness, I know not) he started telling me one of the weirdest stories I've ever heard. (It actually seemed quite normal to me at the time, due to my state of being.) There was something about walking through a field of mud (which later became chocolate and chocolate chips on an ice cream sundae). Anyway, I was thinking that it would be pretty entertaining to record ourselves during the night, and listen to the things we think are logical when we are sleeping. I bet we would learn some interesting things about ourselves.

Is that a joke?

I just sat down to write this post, and this guy with a spray bottle full of cleaning suplies (who was drenching the drinking fountain with the toxic stuff), dropped the bottle and this scary pink liquid sprayed all over the girl he was working with, and started oozing on the floor.

Guy: are you okay?
Girl: *cough, cough, hack, screams of pain* "yeah, I'm fine"

so that's why they tell you to wear goggles. Do you think it's okay to drink out of that water fountain? She still hasn't come out of the bathroom. Talk about death of chivalry! Back in the day, if a guy even looked wrong at a girl it was rude. Now, he can throw toxic chemicals at her and get away with it?

Anyway, the reason for this post, was that I was indexing some names from a California 1920 census today. Some of it is somewhat decipherable, but other parts, are unbelievable. I don't know if it's just bad handwriting, or if the guy who was writing the census records was multi-tasking and watching their version of SNL or something. I can just see it:

Man (who we'll call Clifford) writing: "...John Hammond, Mary Edmund, ha, ha, ha Ecksnerzlenytrina. Shoot, do you think they'll be able to read that? Oh well..."

My question is, is Ecksnerzlenytrina a guy or a girl?

p.s. Barney and I have a new nephew!!! Congrats Net!

On a more serious note...

*note: this post is much more personal and serious than usual. Don’t worry, I’m okay. Just wanted to say some things…

Recently, I have been thinking more introspectively, and reflecting on the miracles that are prevalent in my life—the greatest of which, I often take advantage of. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are many people in the world who know what that means (many of my 3 fans/blog readers!!!), but there are also many who have no idea and probably don’t really care.

When I was young, my family took a trip to California and were staying in a hotel. I remember sitting in the hot tub with my mom and we were soon accompanied by a few fellow hotel stayers. They started light conversation, and after asking where we were from, asked my mom if we were "Mormon". She acknowledged this proudly. Then, they asked how many wives she was sharing my dad with. Despite my young age, I found the whole encounter rather amusing. (Not that my dad couldn't get another wife, but just that he would need to! My mom is amazing!) It is my earliest memory of meeting someone who didn't belong to the same religion that I do, and at the time, I wondered if I would've been brave enough to stand up for what I believed.

Well, time passed and one day I found myself talking to another man who once again, was contesting my beliefs. He wondered how I could believe something that was so ridiculous to him, and I remembered that this man was my brother and I wanted so badly for him to feel as happy as I felt. At this moment, I realized that this was a chance for me to stand up for my beliefs--not because I was right and he was wrong, but because I knew that he needed what I had.

And now, I have another opportunity. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. I know that He bled and died so that I have to opportunity to be cleansed from sin. I know that God is my father and that he loves me. I know that he knows my name and my heart. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the same that Christ himself organized when he was on the earth, and it is true. When I think that I have the truth, it makes me want to cry and yell and thank my Father that I have been given such an incredible gift. I can call the sky purple or yellow or green, and I can really believe it, but it doesn't make it true. In the same way, what God says is true and right. It doesn't matter what I think or say or even believe, the truth is still the truth and I am so happy to have it. I wouldn't be anything without the light and joy that fills me because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is why I live. That is why I smile.

If anyone reading this post has a desire to learn more about this life-giving truth, go to: lds.org or mormon.org

Thanks for reading.

So, I've been thinking...

I saw a woman wearing a sombrero today. She had four children with her, each donning a hat of all kinds of shapes, colors and sizes but she definitely won the ugly hat contest (well, I actually kinda liked it. :)) I think if I were an immigrant from Mexico, I would move back home after seeing some of the fashion statements in this country.

Have you heard the song "Love song" by Sara Bareilles? You know, "I'm not gonna write you a love song, cause you need it, ...." It's pretty amazing that she was even thinking of writing a love song for that punk that she wrote this song for. (Isn't that a little ironic?) Anyway, I tried to write a love song once. It said something like, "Paul, (he was the boy I liked for those 5 minutes) you're the cutest boy I've ever seen, you look like you're from a magazine..." Well, needless to say, my songwriting career never really took off.

You know what I think is amazing? Yeast. all it needs is a little warmth and it grows like crazy. Maybe we should make an alternative source of fuel that uses yeast to expand the source. Then we could save the world. Oh wait. That's my idea. Don't even think about trying to steal it.

The Tale of Two Silly Sisters

Once upon a time, there were two silly sisters.
They were pretty happy being silly,


Despite their rather disturbing facial features at times, one of the sisters was happy to have just extracted a pea that had been in her nose for 3 days, and the other just got lasik. What's there not to be happy about?




One day, these silly sisters faced one of the biggest crises they had ever faced together.


One of the sisters saw a beautiful specimen of a man walking on campus. And not just any man. I mean, look at him! He's worth kissy faces and more!


These silly sisters dreamed about him,


They even sat in front of the mirror for hours, practicing looking as attractive as possible to impress him.



But they knew that in the end, one of them was going to win this man's heart, and that meant that the other was going to lose.



At first, they were both determined to win him. This was war after all.


But after a while, neither of them felt very happy. And this did not help them attract the man.


In order to save their relationship (they were sisters after all) one of the sisters tried going after other men. She wasn't too successful. Some were too tall, others too short, and then there was that one who wouldn't stop talking about his job cleaning fish tanks.


Then, one summer day, the man asked one of the silly sisters on a date. The other one tried to be happy for her.


And actually, she was. Because the man and the silly sister ended up falling in love and living happily ever after. The silly sisters went back to being just as silly as before, except this time, they had another silly face to join theirs











*Disclaimer: Diane was never chasing Barney and we would never fight anyway. It was just for the sake of the story. Oh, and no, I didn't try dating John E. :)

"Essay on poor weather" by Mary F. Lund

As discovered among scientists many years ago, continental states such as Utah and Russia tend to have climates that can change from the slightest disruption. Some examples may be ocean currents, el Nino, or suggestions from political candidates. These natural occurrences cause major problems among humans, because, as is common knowledge, humans like to be in warm, sunny, sandy places and not in cold, rainy, school-y places. To remedy this problem among humankind (notice my political correctness), I propose that we increase global warming to the max. This solution will:
1. Cut my clothing bills in the winter months
2. Save the sanity of many- especially college students who are required to walk from class to class, and
3. Create an increased sense of general comfort one with another as we shed our layers (to a modest degree of course)-showing our fearlessness to express the inner self.

As you can see, there are many reasons to warm up this planet we live on. Sure, it may cause iceburgs to melt, and increased pollution, but come on! I'm freezing here!


*Disclaimer: I understand the complexity of global warming and the negative affects- we talk about it a lot in the Geography Dept. Don't worry, it's just a bit cold.

Jorge

Big news! There is a new Francis! As of Sept. 9, my sister-in-law Marcie gave birth to a 9 lb. 4 oz., 22 inch baby boy named George Taylor Francis. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty dang excited for him. I mean, he has no idea what a cool aunt he's got! :) *

And in case anyone else forgets (like my brother Jason did when trying to call me to tell the news), my new last name is LUND. It's not that hard! Just think of the state on the east coast, close to Washington D.C.



*of course the aforementioned "cool aunt" is Diane. Who else would I be talking about?