Good 'ol EB (aka DP)

Yes, it has been about 80 degrees during the day, but when I come home at night, the AC is on and my little basement is a little cold.

So I of course turn to my trusty electric blanket.

My sister came over this evening and after cuddling into the warm blanket said that she could never own one of those because she'd never get anything done.

I experience that all the time.

My electric blanket = the destruction of production.

Happy Birthday from a stranger

So it wasn't until after I published my last post that I remembered this funny little story from April 14, 2012.

I mentioned that Susie decorated my car for my birthday. This included a circle on my side of the windshield with a arrow pointing to it by the note "Birthday girl." Then on the rear window it said, "Honk, it's my birthday."

Yes, throughout the day I did get some periodic honks. Each of which frightened me and had me searching around wondering why people were honking.

But the BEST response to this note was within my first 10 minutes of having a decorated car. I was stopped at a stoplight with Christianne. A car pulls up next to us. After looking over, the guy in that car's passenger seat catches my eye and mouths "Happy birthday" to me with a smile.

Anyways, it's small and silly, but was really nice!

The week around my Bday

Wow, so much to write about.

First of all, I loved my little month-long challenge. I challenged myself and was working toward goals and that was a great month! The best things that I got from it were cooking and running. I've been trying tons of new recipes and most of my attempts of been successful. (Yes, most :P). And running has been great. I find myself craving a run, and I feel so accomplished every time I finish. I don't do much (only 3 to 4 miles non-stop running), but I'll do more eventually.  I'm planning to do another challenge heading into May...that will probably start next week. I'm going to try again to incorporate yoga and...hmm, I'll think about that.

Next, I went to VEGAS last weekend with my sisters and it was super fun. Nothing too crazy, but a nice short getaway. And, wowsers, I'm actually posting pictures.

Our breakfast grill setup in the hotel room. 

Yum! Pancakes, eggs, and strawberries in trays that we stole from the cafe because we forgot plates.

At dinner.

On the strip.

J & I after riding the New York New York roller coaster.

And finally, my birthday! Yay, I'm officially 26. So apparently I suck at taking pictures. But I had my Zumba class in the morning and I'm thankful for everyone who came! I should have taken pictures, darn it! 

Other highlights: Enjoying Awful Waffle and Zupas, seeing Mirror Mirror with my sis Christianne (thanks for coming down!!), having Susie decorate my car, and just having a good day! 

General Conference April 2012

Alrighty folks, here it is. This is my first installation of my word art from the April 2012 General Conference.

After I printed out my quotes from the October General Conference (Part 1, Part 2), I realized that they all had similar color schemes. So I've wanted to incorporate more color this time around.

So here they are. I have also pinned these on my "Word Art by Karianne" board. Since we all know how much I enjoy my work being shared, help me out by repinning :).

I still have quite a few more that I'm planning to do. I still need to check these quotes with the text from the talks, but here they are. 

Strive to be active not only in the Church, but also in the gospel. – Elder Donald L. Hallstrom

                                        

We are required to continually sacrifice, to love and serve one another. We do this by sacrificing our own time and priorities. – Elder Oaks.

We must have faith or the power to endure will crumble. – Pres. Eyring

When you lift the burdens of others, your own burdens become lighter. The burdens haven’t changed, but your attitude has. – Elder Baxter.

Ask, do my actions place me on the Lord’s side or on the world’s? – Elder Soares

A dividing line between those who hear the music of faith and those who are tone deaf or off key, is the active study of the scriptures. – Elder Cook

Revelation is received by praying and asking our Heavenly Father in prayer. – Elder Scott

As you live righteously, you will always be prompted to know what to do. – Elder Scott

The more we allow our love for Heavenly Father to swell within our hearts, the easier it is to spread that love to those around us. – Pres. Uchtdorf.

There is important value in being aware and interested in the lives of those around us. – Elder Rasband

No matter our voyage, we always have the ability to, with the Lord, navigate safely home.  – Pres. Monson

We receive blessings through a lifetime of striving, seeking, repenting, and succeeding. – Pres. Monson

Life is better and much happier as hearts turn to family and as families live in the light of the gospel of Christ. – Elder Ballard.

If we are to prosper rather than perish, we must gain a vision of ourselves as the Savior sees us. – Elder Haleck

Our strength to endure depends on recognizing, remembering, and holding sacred… -Elder Pieper

I'm proud of you

A few months back, I went to the movie theater to watch the movie, "The Help." I thought it was a great movie, but my favorite part of that experience was feeling such pride for the characters as they stood up for something they believed in and set groundwork to have things change for the better. And as they learned to not let stereotypes, easy judgements, societal norms, etc. affect how they treat others and—really—their perspective on life.

I know the two situations aren't the same, but I've recently felt very similar feelings as I've following some of the happenings on BYU campus related to the gay and lesbian community. 

This started with a link a friend shared to a live blog of a event hosted by the BYU Sociology department featuring a panel of gay BYU students to discuss homosexuality. (The BYU Daily Universe's article on the panel is here. I'd recommend looking up other articles too but I wanted to link to one directly from BYU.) 

Brandon, one of the first panelist mentioned, is the son of my high school seminary teacher. So I spent every morning for two years in the living room of his home. He's a few years older than me and was already at school when I moved in, but I know his family somewhat well.  I'm think it's amazing what each of these students is doing and am proud that they are so open and willing to share their experience to not only help people dealing with similar struggles that they've had, but to also help educate the LDS community a little bit on the subject. 

Following this panel event (the attendance of which I've heard was packed to capacity), I started seeing the circulation of many "It Gets Better" videos. Here is the main video. I think it's fantastic...and again, I'm proud of each individual. 

I loved watching the extended videos of many of the individuals featured in the video above. One of my favorites was that of Jenna. One quotation from her video really stuck out to me.

"I still wonder how I can so fully believe the Church is true and that God loves me no matter what and still fully believe that I'm a lesbian. I don't know how the two go together, but I know God loves me either way and that there is a plan for me. And He wants me to be happy. ...If I stay with Him, my answer will come."

For me, there's a lot I don't understand about the topic. I know that and also know I can't ever fully relate to the experiences these individuals have had. But like Jenna said, God loves each of His children and there is plan for us. I'm thankful for the increase of love and understanding and peace in the world.