Creating Christmas

This will be my 8th year that I have spent Christmas away from my parents, my 7th away from my siblings, and my 1st away from even family friends. Wow... That's pretty... sad.

Don't worry. I'm not one to make myself miserable over that. If anything, I decided to create Christmas for myself.

And it turned out to be A LOT of fun!

It all started when Miss B and I decided to go to the Columbus Zoo to see their annual lights display. It was spectacular, though it's a good thing another friend kindly gave us one free ticket, because the display was certainly not worth the $14 entrance fee (and $7 parking fee). Nevertheless, I had a really fun time despite the wet weather.

 At the central "pond" of the zoo, where the lights show took place.

Then I participated in a cookie exchange party organized by one of my colleagues. Each of us baked 8 dozen cookies, to exchange with 6 other people (you kept one dozen, and shared the last dozen at the party). The idea was that you could give away other people's cookies as gifts. I made my mom's jello-cookies- yum yum! Note to self: use only pure white wheat flour if making the lime green cookies, if not color will lose it's "sparkle!"

I had never made 8 dozen cookies in one sitting, but ta dah! Some of the other cookies included chocolate chip, almond, peanut butter cup, date and sugar. Talk about sugar overload.





After slaving over my paper (that is almost done!) for a week, I took a break and drove down to Louisville, Kentucky to visit my old roommate, Miss Shay and her fiance!!! The drive there was bad because it snowed (finally), and I arrived there late in the afternoon, tired and hungry. But Miss Shay and her fiance took good care of me.

First off, we had good ol' pizza for dinner, with THE MOST AMAZING BREADSTICKS I EVER HAD IN MY LIFE AND I MEAN IT. Oh my word, the breadsticks were
to
die
for.

We ate them up before I remembered to snap a picture- urgh! The pizza was good too. 

 My lovely old roommate and her privileged partner

Next stop: the historic Galt House Hotel. Another oh my word. The hotel has an annual decoration spree that will make your jaw drop. The pictures seriously don't do it justice.

What is Kentucky without its horses right?! 

 We were exploring and found this room full of decorations that were going to be taken out on Christmas Day, decorations such as:

My favorite: the GIANT gingerbread house. There was a display of miniature gingerbread houses as well, and some of the things people can do with candy and treats is absolutely stunning. 

We also walked to Fourth Street Live, where there was an ice-skating rink in the center, and drove pass the famous Louisville Slugger. Did you know Kentucky is famous for its baseball bats? Well I didn't. This is the famous slugger, and you can see for yourself why it's so... famous!

Remind me to save up money so that I can buy one when I drive down for the wedding next year. Baseball bats are great defense weapons, don't you agree?

We slept in the next day, had breakfast, and just plain hung out before I headed back to Columbus. Who knew Louisville could be so fun?! LOVED IT!!!

Christmas Eve- I took a girl out in my ward to dinner. Her father and step-family had driven to Mississippi for Christmas, and she decided to stay here alone. I had so much fun with her! She was born prematurely at 7 months, and has to walk with a walker, but she is one of the most cheerful people I know.
Another note to self: DO NOT go to Olive Garden for Christmas Eve Dinner until 7 or something. It is extra crowded any time before. Who knew so many people didn't like cooking Christmas dinner?!

Christmas Day- Slept in, opened presents, then went to Christmas lunch at Miss Ortega's, another girl in my ward. Her parents were from Venezuela, and we had a traditional Venezuelan Christmas Dinner with food that was super delicious! Hallaca, pan de jamon, rooster salad... num num num...  In the evening I skyped with my family- the wonders of technology!

Post-post Christmas Day, ie. Thursday- Went with Miss Ortega to watch Les Miserables. I have been waiting for this film forever, and I was not disappointed. There were parts where I winced a little (I know people liked Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe's duets, but I didn't. And why was Jackman "shouting" when he was singing "Bring Him Home?" It's suppose to be prayer-like!), but overall it was just wonderful. I cried when Anne Hathaway sang "I Dreamed a Dream," and Eddie Redmayne did a TERRIFIC job as Marius- he took a secondary character in a secondary plot and turned Marius into the star. I'm going to be watching out for Redmayne now.

In between all these, I also participated in two smaller Christmas parties. One of them I organized as a way to feed the missionaries, and the other was organized by some other people in the ward. And I ate and slept a lot as well. Oh yeah!

I still missed my family this Christmas, but there is something special in creating your own Christmas as well.
Hope everyone had a fun and fulfilling holiday like I did!

Tis the Season for Peace

I didn't have a post scheduled for today but I saw this on one of my favorite blogs, Our Best Bites, and had to re-post this.

May we keep these families in our thoughts and prayers, and strive to make our world a safer place.

My Life is SO Pathetic!

Ok not really. It's just me whining again. But I'm in the self-pitying mood because
a) it's winter break, and I still have one more paper to write before I can celebrate. My 3 week holiday just got cut in half, and I'm dead serious
b) most of my colleagues are done with their work, and won't be coming into the office. So lonely
c) my roommate is engaged, which means the couple spends a TON of time in my living room... talking. (Not sure how often they make out, but I don't want to know). And I'm 4 years older than my roommate but not even close to snagging a date. Don't get me wrong- I am super happy for the couple. It's just that... *sigh* I don't like to be reminded of how I'm an utter-failure in the romance department.
d) I have to look for new housing sometime because the above-mentioned couple is taking over my apartment, and NO WAY am I staying with them. Great, just another "small matter" to take care of.

So don't mind my self-pity party.

Sob sob sob. Whine whine whine.

Alright, enough. I'm still internally shuddering at the "squeals" I'm hearing from my roommate in the living room with her fiance (really REALLY don't want to know what they are doing), but I can handle that.

Now on to something happier. This past Wednesday I turned a paper for my absolutely dreadful historiography class. See THIS POST (click on hyperlink) for why it is "absolutely dreadful." I want to share part of my paper with you because I think it shows how "open-minded" the LDS Church has become over the past few decades.

1950 Mormon historian Juanita Brooks published The Mountain Meadows Massacre. Some of her conclusions were:
- The massacre was a result of mob hysteria, compounded by the fact that Utah was going through the Utah War.
- John D. Lee, whom the Church placed sole blame for the massacre, was but one of the many leaders of the atrocity (some of them went into hiding, but only Lee was brought to trail and executed for it.)
- Brigham Young did NOT order the massacre.
- However, Brigham Young was an "accessory after the fact." He tried to "cover up" the massacre, but when pressured to find the "culprit" (singular) years later, he allowed John D. Lee to take the entire blame for it.

Brooks's book was well-received in academic circles; but this book was a very sore spot for the Church. General Church authorities in SLC refused to read it; her local Church leaders in south Utah censured her, and her ward ostracized her and her husband. [Brooks still remained a faithful Mormon the rest of her life.]

Fast forward to 2008. Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr. and Glen M. Leonard published Massacre at Mountain Meadows with the Church's full support. Turley is the assistant Church Historian, and the other 2 are practicing Mormons. Russell M. Nelson and Dallin H. Oaks even vetted the script before publications. Some of the book's conclusions:
- The massacre was a result of mob hysteria, compounded by the fact that Utah was going through the Utah War.
- John D. Lee was but one of the many leaders of the atrocity.
- Brigham Young did NOT order the massacre.
- The book stops there and does not indict Brigham Young for being "an accessory of the fact" although it does say that John D. Lee harbored bitterness toward BY for "abandoning him" in the last few months of his life.

Basically, the Church has finally acknowledged that Brooks was right in almost all of her conclusions. The LDS Church did play a part in the atrocity, and not just John D. Lee or the Indians.

So... what happened? New Mormon History happened. THIS is a good article about it, especially the first paragraph which explains what New Mormon History is. This shift from polemics to writing history factually and as objectively as possible, has transformed the writing of Mormon history.

Just a few years before Brooks published her book in 1950, she overheard one Utah Mormon historian pledge that she would purge any passages that criticize the LDS Church. Brooks disagreed, and always believed the truth, nice and ugly parts, would give the Church more credibility in the long run.

The Church has come to realize that Brooks was right, and so starting with the Massacre at Mountain Meadows, is trying to publish a more complete and accurate account of Church history, even if it means portraying the Church or leaders in negative light. Hence, full disclosure of all Joseph Smith's Paper of the Joseph Smith Papers Project, even the parts about polygamy, and other similar projects.

NOTE: Ugly parts of Church History does NOT equate to anti-Mormon material. There is a difference. See my above point about "shifting from polemics to writing history factually."

It is a great step for Mormon history.

"Wear Pants to Church Day"

The Mormon Feminists/ non-Feminists internet sphere in America is up in arms over the "Mormon Feminists Wear Pants to Church Day" that is going to occur this Sunday (December 16). THIS is a pretty good article about it. And before you go, "They can't wear pants!" you might be interested to know that these women did do their research, and found out that no leader has actually explicitly forbidden the wearing of pants to Church. Interesting.

Mormon Feminists- a very sensitive topic. So just before we start debating whether Mormon women should wear pants or not, let's clear something up first. 

When most people think of feminists, they think of this:

Women who are hot-tempered, burn bras, and hate men.

The truth is, feminists are more like this: 

Some are more conservative (e.g. Sarah Palin), some are moderate, while others are more radical.

Mormon feminists also range across this entire spectrum. There are more conservative Mormon feminists, and there are others who are more liberal. Most of the Mormon feminists bloggers that I've come across tend to be more liberal. I like to believe I'm moderate, leaning conservative feminist (depending on who you ask). Yes, I am a proud Mormon feminists. How I came to be- that's for another post. But for now all I going to say is I love being a woman and I love my faith. 

So before you lump all Mormon feminists together, make sure you know where they stand on the spectrum first before you argue with them. When it comes to feminists issues, there is NO ONE STANDARD opinion of Mormon feminists.

And I think this is important to realize because my opinion on this topic (for whatever it is worth to my like, 5 readers) is going to puzzle some of my friends who can't reconcile these 2 sides of me.

• I am a proud Mormon feminist. 
• I think the whole "Wear Pants to Church Day" is highly inappropriate. 

 I have 2 main objections to this.

1) Method: I am a feminists but I love wearing skirts and feeling feminine. This is not to say I can't feel feminine wearing jeans/ pants, but hey, wearing a skirt/ dress does make me feel more feminine! And I love feeling feminine because this is part of the unique experience of being a woman.

Liberal-radical feminists say wearing skirts is gendered, and is therefore discriminatory. I don't agree. Just because something is gendered doesn't mean it's discriminatory. As my desk partner commented when I told him about this issue, (paraphrasing him) "Just because you have feet doesn't mean your hand is not important" (quoting Paul).

Perhaps less people would feel intimidated by the thought "feminism" if we sought ways to show people that feminism can also mean celebrating being a woman, and that includes being able to dress appropriately to show off our feminism.

And as another feminist put it: women can wear both pants and skirts, men can only wear pants (except for Polynesian men to wear the lava-lava). How does being able to wear more type of clothing than men make women inferior?

2) Appropriateness: Sabbath Day is about worshiping God, and dressing appropriately shows respect for God. Making a statement protesting against Church norms is NOT an appropriate Sabbath Day activity. Intentionally taking the focus off Christ and onto what you are wearing is not hurting anyone but your own spirit of worship.

Furthermore, men are encouraged to wear ties, and women, to wear skirts, not because we want to accentuate our gender, but because it's considered "Sunday best." Church leaders don't define what is "Sunday best" because it's different in every culture (again, think of the lava-lava).

Then how come women can't wear pants as part of "Sunday best?"

Because our society has defined wearing a skirt for women as "Sunday best." It's not a Mormon thing. Think of how women scramble to find the best gowns/ dresses for special occasions. Pick up any celebrity tabloid magazine, and flip to the "Awards Ceremony" section- most of the women wear gowns. Or think weddings. Wearing a skirt is how society considers a woman to be wearing her "best." And there is nothing wrong with that. See my first point.

So for me, as a Mormon feminist, I'm won't be taking part in this Sunday's so-called "Mormon Feminists movement."

Make Me Happy

It's finals week for undergraduates! I guess it's finals week for me as well, but it doesn't feel like it since I don't have exams- yeah yeah yeah! However, I still have 2 mega papers to type out. Thank goodness I've started research on them already. Long way to go but I'm on the path.

So

To distract help me concentrate better, I'm going to

List out things I am thankful for/ that make me happy.
I know, it's a belated list. Thanksgiving was 2 weeks ago. I just thought it would be a good way for me to recap the happenings of my last 2 weeks, and see how blessed I've been.

Like I said, anything to "help" me concentrate (:p)

- My horrible historiography class is OVER. And even though one of the mega papers due soon is for this class, I think I rather type that out than do the readings for that class again, and that's saying a lot since I  normally rather read a hundred pages than write ten.

- My Modern U.S. history class Part 1 is also done, done, done! This was the one that I had to type out a 10-page essay in 2 days, and then "defend" it to the rest of the class for about 20 minutes. I was SUPER insecure about this class, because most of the time I leave that class in a daze. The discussions just fly over my head. So I prayed super hard that I would get a relatively easy question, and I did! It still required reading, brain-wrecking, discussing with fellow classmates, editing, etc, but my paper turned out okay, and the grilling went better than I expected. Not super but good.

God was very good to me.

- Thanksgiving Dinner. It's my favorite meal of all time (except when we eat at Peach Garden back home in Singapore), and this year, a couple of people from the ward got together and had our own Thanksgiving together. It was way fun, especially since the ladies beat the men in Catchphrase- holler!

- On that note, I made one of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes 3 times this year! GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE.

The picture was the one I brought to Thanksgiving Dinner. The other two times, I made a smaller portion for my own private consumption, and also a dairy-free version for my Christian small group private dinner.

I also made banana cream pie from scratch.Sadly I forgot to take a picture, and even more sad, the pudding didn't set! So it turned out to be a runny banana cream pie. *sob* BUT it tasted FREAKING AWESOME, so that was a consolation. Anyone have any ideas what to do?

- The day after Thanksgiving, I drove about 3 hours to visit Matt and Stacie Dalebout who live in Canton, Michigan. Matt is the son of a close family friend in Utah. Matt and Stacie have 3 EXTRA cute and well-behaved children.

 These are Jacob and Owen. My mom saw the picture and went, "Oh my Jacob looks exactly like Matt (his dad)!" Look at those grins- how can you not fall in love with them?!

 And then this is Anna. Notice her BYU shirt (it's not too young to start them you know). No I didn't buy it for her, but I want one for my daughters next time (hint hint Mom). Isn't she just sooooo cute?! 

I played with the kids, and went with the family for a movie and dinner. Drove back on Saturday. Total vacation and relaxation. It recharged my batteries though, and I went back to school/ work on Monday feeling motivated.

- OSU won our rival football game and beat Michigan- SWEET VICTORY! I love school rivalry, and it is awesome that most of my schools growing up and in college have all had rival schools to "up" the competition.

- Prayers and Miracles. A friend of mine had asked me to take car of her car for her while she went home to Taiwan for a month. Well, the very first day I "car-sat," I lost her car key- no kidding. Panicked, I prayed hard and searched everywhere. The thought came to my mind to go check the humongous garbage containers where I had thrown my garbage out that morning, but I resisted because hey, who wants to fathom the thought of...?! I finally became desperate, and walked out to the garbage containers, dreading the thought of telling my friend I might have accidentally thrown away her car key, when miracle of miracles, I found the key in the middle of the road, sitting there waiting for me to pick it up. 

You would not believe how overjoyed I was. My heart poured out in gratitude to my Heavenly Father. I'm telling you, prayers work.

- Rosie. She drives me INSANE, especially in the mornings, but I can't stay annoyed at her for long because she is just so darn cute. It's not fair- how come pets and children have such power over grown-ups?!

Over Thanksgiving break I got to feed Rosie while her Mom went home, and Rosie became attached to me, to the point of this:

 AND

AND

Rosie distracting me while I type out my essay. 

Which reminds me: this past Monday morning I woke up groggy and stumbled to the bathroom to pee. I peered into the sink in the dark (thank goodness I did this before I started my "business"), and saw this "blob" in the sink, and wondered why my roommate left her pile of clothing in the sink (she never does that). Then I peered closer.

Turned out that "blob"/ pile of clothing was really this:

IT'S A BATHROOM SINK FOR GOODNESS SAKE- AREN'T CATS SUPPOSE TO BE AFRAID OF WATER?! UNBELIEVABLE.

But she's so cute. I mean, look at her in the photo. *sigh*

So there you have it. My list of things I am grateful/ happy for.
Now that I have listed out what makes me happy, I feel like I can concentrate better...

THanksgiving- OMW THANK GOODNESS OR I WILL GO CRAZY!!!

This Thanksgiving, I am extra grateful that Thanksgiving Break is 5 glorious days! It won't be a complete break (research for two 20-page papers, and a few more mandatory class books) but at least I won't have to go for classes, and best of all, I get to

SLEEP IN.

My body is very tired, and it's come to the point where I'm a getting apathetic about my school/ work. Uh oh... I don't want to reach that point, but it has been a rough semester. I know I know, most people say the first semester is always the hardest, plus I feel bad whenever I whine because I know there are other people who are having it worse than me. So really, I shouldn't be complaining, but I guess my expectations of graduate school were so far removed from reality that it has been a little disillusioning and discouraging.

E.g. Perfectionism + GPA-based classes = a very bad combination. I struggled with this a lot in my undergraduate years, and it caused me a lot of anxiety. If I even got an A- for the first test, I would go see the TA and demand to know what I could do to get a better grade. Of course, it paid off in the end since my GPA was *erhem* rather high (not complaining about that!). But I was SO READY to be done with that once I graduated. I'm getting too old for unnecessary stress like this. 

Ha!

I can kick myself. Guess what, in graduate school, it's almost the same thing all over again. Granted, it's not as intense since you aren't really competing with your classmates, and you only have 10 or so classmates anyway. But like I said, I'm getting old so my level of stress-tolerance has also correspondingly decreased. When my body is super stressed, it reacts either physically (i.e. I fall sick) or mentally/ emotionally (it shuts down/ stops feeling/ caring)

Hence the lethargy and growing apathy.

Now before you guys continue to judge me, let me give you a taste of my classes first, and then you can leave a comment and tell me to stop whining, suck it up, and just keep going forward.

1) Historiography. Or the History/ philosophy of History.
We read things like this:
"First then, What is the historical fact? Let us take a simple fact, as simple as the historians often deals with, viz.: 'In the year 49 B.C. Caesar crossed the Rubicon.' A similar fact this is, known to all, and obviously of some importance since it is mentioned in every history of the great Caesar. But is this fact as simple as it sounds? Has it the clear, persistent outline which we commonly attribute to simple historical facts?" (Carl Becker)

Another:
"The predominance of a documentary approach in historiography is one crucial reason why complex texts- especially 'literary' texts- are either excluded from the relevant historical record or read in an extremely reduced way. Within intellectual history, reduction takes the form of synoptic content analysis in the more narrative method and the form of an unproblematic identification of objects or entities of..." (Dominick LaCapra)

KILL ME PLEASE.
Unfortunately this is one of my required classes so I have to take it. The professor is super nice but his area of expertise (18th C European intellectual and religious history) is so far removed from my field, I'm lost in this class many times. And I have a 20 page paper due soon. Can't wait for this class to end.

2) Modern US History Part 1. I have mixed feelings about this class. In theory, the way the class is set up sounds good, but the reality is another thing. We read one book/ week, except for 4 weeks when we read 2 books/ week and write a comparative 4-page paired book review. And in 2 weeks time, I will take a mock comprehensive examination, which means I will have to write a 10-page paper in 2 days and the rest of the class will "grill" me about it for half and hour. 

Just great. 

3) Independent Reading Class with Adviser. Remember THIS post? Even before I changed my topic, I did enjoy my reading, even though it wasn't my favorite thing. Now however, since I've changed topics, I'm SUPER excited to start reading again for this class next semester, and decide on a Master's topic! Cross my fingers it will happen soon. About 1 book/ week.

4) History of Childhood and Youth. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS CLASS!!! I actually took this class to fulfill my fellowship requirement, and who knew but I fell in love with it. I plan on doing a minor in this now, and I can't wait. 1 book / week, with a 20 page final. 

4 to 5 books a week. Multiple 20-age papers due in about 3 weeks. 

Sigh... Just holding out for a few more weeks then it will be Christmas!

But for now, I'm going to enjoy my Thanksgiving bliss.

I LOVE MY ADVISER!!!

It's only my first semester of my first year, so maybe by the time I get done (in like, forever six years), we might be ready to kill each other (I hope not!). But for now, I am so so so so grateful she is my adviser. Here's why:

- She persuaded the department to give me a bigger subsidy so that I could fly over on Visitation Day. I had been involved in a car accident a few weeks before, and the co-insurance had sucked up my savings. I explained this to her, and she promptly asked the Department if they could increase my subsidy, and the Department did! Talk about recruiting- very flattering!

- She is quirky. You have to meet her to understand. See here for her CV.

- She like to take off her shoes and put her feet up in her chair when in her office. Me too!

- I switched topics just 2 weeks ago - from conservative religions and women in 20th Century American South to 20th Century Mormon Women - and her reaction was,

"That is the perfect answer."

If I had known, I would have switched topics earlier. I was hesitant to do so because I really wanted to continue working with her, and I knew that Mormonism was not her area of expertise. When I took the plunge and asked her about it, she broke out in a "hooray" and told me that she had doubts about my initial topic for a while now and had been trying to nudge me toward a different direction. I wish she had been more explicit about it earlier. Oh well.

- Her reaction when I told her I wanted to focus on 20th Century Mormon Women, and feminism and cross-cultural examinations of Mormon women:

"Yes, and let's move beyond the issue of polygamy." 

Yes! Mormon Woman's History is ≠ Polygamy, especially in the 20th Century.

So grateful. Now I'm super "stoked" to begin my research.

Oh the Rumors About Mormonism...

Yesterday I heard one of the most illogical things in my life about my religion.

A 5th-year (I think) history graduate student was talking to a 2nd-year grad student in my office, and the conversation went something like this:

5th Yr: That's right, Calvinist believe in predestination. Ask Ms JW (a fellow grad student), she's Presbyterian.
2nd Yr: Really? Do Presbyterians believe in predestination? How do they live? 
5th Yr: Oh yes, it's still going on. I don't know how people live like that. 

Then the KICKER.

5th Yr: And so do Mormons. I am convinced that Provo, Utah is hell on earth. Don't get me wrong- Mormons are really nice. But I do not know how they can live with themselves.

Actually now that I type it out, I'm kind of speechless, or more appropriately, writing-less. I know Christian churches hostile to Mormonism say Mormons are nice but we are going to hell. That, I can let go. But to call Provo "hell on earth?"

Wow.

That student has absolutely NO IDEA what he is talking about.

I didn't say anything because
1) I was eavesdropping on the conversation, though to be fair to me, the 2nd Yr student sits at the desk next to mine, and the 5th Yr student has a super LOUD voice and is very vocal about his opinions. I couldn't tune out the conversation even if I wanted to.
2) You have to pick your battles.
3) I was still reeling from what he said.

And it taught me a few things as well. Apparently:

a) Nice people live in hell. Or is it hell creates nice people? 

b) My respect for that student just dropped like, 10 notches. He's still an expert on his specialized field of history (Elizabethan political and military history- I think), but when it comes to everything else, better to take it with a pinch of salt. 

For the record:
i) Mormons do NOT believe in 100% predestination. 

ii) I don't know much about predestination, but I think it's just a belief based on the fact that nothing in this life is coincidental, that God has already arranged everything. And you know what, to a certain extent, Mormons do believe in this too. We still have a lot of agency, but we also believe that God has a lot of control over the affairs of this world as well. SO LET'S NOT JUDGE OUR FELLOW CHRISTIANS FOR THEIR TENANTS OF THEIR FAITH.

iii) Provo is FAR FROM hell on earth, physically, mentally, anything-ly. I don't want to live in Provo again, NOT because it's "hell" where people are stuck under oppressive doctrines. I don't want to live there again because it's a college town and I need to move on, and I don't care for small towns, and it's too brown, and it's too conservative, and it's too politically boring, and there isn't a good food scene. But this does not equate it to hell. 

You are welcome for making you laugh today.

ALERT: Rosie Update!

Even though Rosie is not my cat, I feel like I should still give an update on her because 1) I don't have any children or prospects for one, and my blog needs to compete with all those blogs about their kids. (just kidding!) 2) She is just too cute. 3) Every time I post about her, my blogger traffic jumps to the roof, and it's very satisfying as a blog writer to know people are reading your blog. 4) Ever since her Mommy started dating someone, Rosie and I have become best buddies.

For example, when I come home every day, she would run to greet me get a back rub from me. Seriously. She would lie on her side and look at me with pleading eyes, and she knows I can't resist patting her when she gives me that look.

Snuggling up to me as I work on my computer in my room.

Sometimes she will even purr (btw it's SUPER loud)! Yup, best buds now.

So, first update: She is GROWING!!!


Look at big she is now compared to here. I'm not sure how much a cat her age and size needs to eat, but she eats more than one can now and keeps begging for more.

Also, Rosie LOVES human food, so much so that sometimes I have to keep her in her room to stop her from climbing onto the dining table to steal my food.

Worse, she has also learned how to jump into the garbage can and dig for scraps of human food.

SUPER DISGUSTING!

She does this even when she has food in her bowl. *shake head* I thought this was bad enough- it's grown worse!

She also knows how to climb and perch, and I am so not looking forward to the day when she is full-grown and can jump onto the kitchen counters. Argh! She has already attempted to do so whenever I have food on it.

On the other hand, it means that my food smells good... ;)

I had to snap this picture- Rosie just "hanging" out on the TV stand. Isn't this cute?! Picture taken a couple weeks ago, so she was smaller than she is now. 

Looking out of my bedroom window. Taken today. Look at how beautiful the weather is.

Another quirk of hers: she absolutely ADORES plastic. I don't know why- maybe it's the smooth texture or the sound it makes, but she is perfectly content to play with a piece of plastic (plastic grocery bag, ziploc bag) if she gets hold of one.

This was taken a while back when I bought a new glass baking pan that came with a plastic lid. Be assured that I washed that red plastic lid real good before using it.



Yesterday I caught her here:

Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Oh and did I tell you that she BITES as well now? Not hard, but enough for people to wince in pain. It's hard to stay angry with her when she does this later though:

*Sigh* What do you do with such a cute cat?!

OMW!!!!!!!

Meet dancing duo, Mr. and Mrs 2011 from Spain.

They are only 6 years old.

Do you think their parents are pushing them too hard and making them grow up too fast, or are they simply helping their kids cultivate their talents?

You decide.

But no matter what, you have to agree that

THEY ARE
SO
DARN
CUTE AND @_@!!!

"Peep, peep, peep"

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to attend a fireside featuring acclaimed LDS pianist Marvin Goldstein and his singing partner, Vanessa Joy. Click here to see a small bio on Marvin and to access Vanessa's webpage. The fireside was AWESOME. I grew up listening to piano arrangements of LDS hymns done by Marvin Goldstein (usually played as a special musical number during the rest hymn time, you know...) and I was in COMPLETE AWE to hear him play in real life. I was almost moved to tears when he played his piano arrangement on Primary songs.

Interesting tidbit: This is Marvin's calling for life. He was set apart by Marvin J. Ashton in 1989, and has been touring the world ever since, conducting fireside and sharing the gospel through his music.

Then there was his singing partner, who has an incredible voice. She sang this song, which is my favorite Christian song of the moment:

Performed by Selah. I tried getting a demo recording of Vanessa on Youtube, but didn't like any of them. You can find some of her with Marvin Goldstein, but be warned, the videos can't compare to listening to her in real life.

However, what struck me the most wasn't the music. Instead, two things:
1) A few years ago when Marvin was still a soloist act, he stopped in Arizona to conduct a fireside. After the fireside, a husband approached him with the idea of Marvin collaborating with his wife to tour and perform. His wife was Vanessa Joy, and ta dah! The performing duo was formed.

How many husbands will do such a thing?!

WE NEED MORE SUCH HUSBANDS. Husbands who take pride in their wives' accomplishments and want to help them magnify their talents; husbands who will let their wives choose whether to be a full-time homemaker or a career woman, and then work with them to take care of the children; husbands who are not afraid to pray, discuss, work and come to a consensus with their wives.
In short, husbands who view their wives as true, equal partners. 

And you wonder why I'm not married...

2) Quails are pretty smart birds. Which is saying quite a lot since I don't like birds (except for penguins).

Quail picture taken from http://rootsandbranches-stephanie.blogspot.com/2011/09/miracle-of-quail.html

Vanessa shared this story with us: A couple years ago, her family was on vacation and driving through Arizona when they spotted a family of quails. The father quail was perched above ground, on the lookout for predators, while the mother quail was down on the ground close to her chicks looking for food. Vanessa got out of the car to take a picture, but once her foot landed on the ground, she heard this "Peep, peep, peep" call from the father, and the next thing she knew, the Mommy quail had scurried her obedient chicks away to safety.

Talk about family roles- Dad and Mom WORKING TOGETHER for the safety of their family in equal but different roles. Daddy quail high above, on the lookout and giving the signal when danger approaches. Mommy quail with her children on the ground providing nourishment, strength and protection.

Sounds familiar?

The Family Proclamation of my Church states:

By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.

What a great insight. Got to give these birds credit.

FINALLY!

So yes, most Ohio-ians are ready for the election to be over, but this does not mean that voting day isn't exciting. I'm heading over to my friend's house to watch the election results. 

Each person got this sticker after voting- I "heart" Voting. Aww... although my desk partner said, "I 'heart' voting? No I don't. It implies something that is ongoing. Instead it should say 'I voted' or something like that." 

I agree with him. Not that I don't like voting (it's kind of empowering!), but yeah, "I voted" would have been more appropriate words. Bet the sticker designers just wanted to use the shape of Ohio as a heart.

Thank goodness I don't live on campus! All undergraduate freshman have to live on-campus, and here was the line to vote taken at 6:20 pm at the Ohio Union: 

The line snaked round a couple times and went all the inside as well.

This is my first time voting (I was eligible to vote in 2008 but was away on my mission and couldn't obtain an absentee ballot. Actually I didn't even know there was such a thing as an absentee ballot then.) My polling place was an elementary school 3 mins from my house (sweet!), and the line wasn't too long when I arrived. 

Me proudly wearing my sticker! And blue- for the Democratic Party. 

Although who did I end up voting for president?

I'm not telling... ;) 

The Election is ALMOST Over

And I can't be more happy.

Political ads- PLEASE STOP! As one of my friends said, political ads don't do anything. Informed voters don't believe them, while uninformed voters who believe these 30-second  completely-taken-out-of-context-and-badly-edited commercials should not be allowed to vote.

I've never looked forward to November 6 more.

As you can see, everyone is tired of it already. Even four year olds.

I just realized that I also needed to add one more thing to my list of Ohio campaigning before I stop.

James Carville vs. Karl Rove, at my school 2 months ago. Another perk of being an Ohio voter. They are respected campaign managers for the Democratic and Republican parties respectively. I think Carville worked on Bill Clinton's team, and Karl Rove was the campaign manager for George Bush Jr.

I really looked forward to their debate, and well, it was... a good show. James Carville was walking around, showing graphs, arousing enthusiastic applause with his "grass-roots" approach- in other words, very "democratic." Rove was dignified and calm, who stood at his podium the entire time. Again, the image of the Republican party.

Can't get more contrasting in style and rhetoric.

Did they say anything new? Sadly, no.

But it was still a good debate. Sometimes I wonder if politicians and lobbyists ever get bored with their job, saying the same things and dealing with the same facts over and over and over again.

Meet JR... and Paul Ryan

Let me introduce you to my friend, JR.

I wish I had a picture of him, but then, maybe it's better if you didn't know how how he looked like since he would say some of the most exasperating things. Like:

- JR works on the Romney campaign, and travels around with Romney (he rides the motorcade with Romney sometimes!), which is cool. I have another friend who also works on the Romney campaign in Boston- what did I tell you, I have cool friends!
Anyway, JR has been so completely immersed in the Romney campaign that Romney can't do ANYTHING wrong. Anything. If people get the wrong impression of Romney, it's always because the media is bias against him. Always.

- JR came to Columbus a few weeks ago, because hey, Ohio is a political hot-spot. Btw, Miss B posted this on my Facebook page, which I thought was hilarious:

My favorite part is the Democratic "lobsters" in the Northeast!

Anyway, Miss B, JR and I went out that night, and while having a heated discussion on FEMINISM (I'm pretty sure he was the one who brought it up), we decided to go to McDonald's for a night snack. He gallantly paid for it, and referring back to our very-heated-conversation on feminism, I teased him by asking, "So JR, why did you pay for my food?"

He smiled, and replied, "Because I can afford it."

You can imagine how Miss B and I riled into him. To give him credit, he was probably joking. Or not.

Btw, for guys out there who are asked this question, please say something along the lines of, "I know you can pay for it, but I'm just trying to be a gentleman/ nice so that's why I'm paying for you." 

So yes, exasperating. Some of the things he says makes me want to *palm slap forehead* over and over again. Having said that, he is also a really great friend. For example:

- He paid for my snacks. Twice.

- He has helped me understand the Romney campaign a lot more, and why it functions the way it does. 
I can ask him, "Why does Romney not..." and he will explain to me why he can't. As a result of our conversations, I have come to understand American politics and campaigning a whole lot more.

- Romney came to Columbus for a rally in Powell once, and JR took us up to the hotel floor that his entourage stayed in. JR's room was diagonally across from Romney's! We also got to talk to a secret service agent (frankly, their job is kind of boring). 
What is even funnier is that Miss B and I ended up talking to JR about politics till past 1 a.m. before we left the hotel room. Good thing they know JR is Mormon, if not you can imagine what the secret service agents on guard were thinking, "Hmm... two girls leaving the room with JR at 1 in the morning..."

- He arranged for Miss B and I to take a picture with Paul Ryan. PAUL RYAN!!! Someone once said, "Admit it Miss Keesh, you have a crush on Paul Ryan." Yes I do! I don't agree with all of his policies, but I think he is a promising young politician with lots of potential. And seriously, who can resist his charming smile?! JR arranged for Miss B and I to take a picture with him after the Romney rally in Powell, and my oh my...

If Romney wins the election, this picture will go down in his-to-ry!!!

- But most of all, JR sometimes just does things that are strokes of pure genius. For example:

A few weeks ago (but not the same week that we went to McDonalds), he came to Columbus again, and Miss B and I drove to meet him. He had borrowed a black SUV from the campaign, and when we met up, we decided to get something to eat at the White Castle drive-through (I think it's an East Coast eatery, like how In-and-Out is to the West).

JR went first, and ordered his meal, paid for it, then pulled the black SUV off to the side to wait for us. I ordered a side of fries, then pulled up to the cashier window to pay. The cashier lady opened the window, had this HUGE grin on her face, and said something like, "The guy in front of you just paid for your fries, and told me to give you this."

And then she promptly handed us a name card of a secret service agent that had a phone number hand-written at the top.

Miss B and I stared at the card. Huh?! Miss B immediately caught on and started laughing. The cashier lady kept grinning at us, shut her window and started gesturing to her co-workers. Then it hit me!

Think about it: some guy in a black SUV just paid for the food of the two girls behind him, was waiting for us on the side, and gave us a secret service name card with a telephone number written on top. 

Talk about being "picked up" (pun intended)!!!

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Seriously, how genius is that?!

P.S. The name card belonged to Paul Ryan's personal secret service card. Good thing we resisted the temptation to call the number!
P.P.S. JR took the card back.

There is Nothing Quite Like Chicago

You know you are a true blue, dyed through and through city gal when you love Chicago.

And I LOVE Chicago.
I even like the rundown, dilapidated train system, though I think it's more the idea of public transportation rather than the Chicago train system itself that I like.

Side note: Why is America's public transportation systems in huge metropolitan cities so horrible?! I don't get it... I can understand if lesser money is invested in transportation systems in smaller cities (e.g. SLC or Columbus) where everything is so spread out so everyone drives anyway. But what about NYC? Or DC? The public transportation systems in these cities are terrible! *shake head*

Another side note: Did you know that OSU students get to ride the buses in Columbus for FREE?! Just swipe our ID card and we're good to go! How AWESOME is that?! 

Alright, back to Chicago: a few weeks ago a friend (I shall call her... Miss B) and I drove to Evanston, Illinois to attend a conference at Northwestern University (more on this in another post). Chicago is right next to Evanston, and let's be honest, the conference was really an excuse to go to Chicago. Chicago is only about 7 hours away from Columbus, so it's not too far away.

We arrived there Friday afternoon, and my heart started fluttering upon sighting these:

Be still, my heart... Seriously though, the sight of Skyscrapers got me super excited. There's such a special "vibe" when in a large city! 

I think it helped too that Chicago played a huge part in modern American History, especially from the time period of 1877 to 1920, and coincidentally, I had just finished reading a book on Chicago before we arrived, so I was already intrigued by the place before we got there. Too bad we didn't have enough time to visit some historical sights... oh well, next time. 

Man I am such a city nerd.

We only managed to drive around the city , but the next day (Saturday), we went exploring- ooh! I'm so glad that we made it to an early morning temple session at the Chicago temple. 

Gorgeous temple! This is probably one of my top choices to get married in if my favorite one doesn't work out. This is the back view- the front view is just as pretty. I don't know what material the grey walls are made of (granite? stone? graphite?) but it sure is unusual.

Then at night we went to party! Well, "party" as much as two mid-twenties Mormon ladies could. Single ladies unite! We each bought a whole day train pass, and rode the metro in.

Based on the metro map, you get a glimpse of just how huge Chicago is:

First stop: 

Oh yeah, Chinatown baby! 

Too bad the Asian grocery stores were close, but we did manage to eat these:

 
Pretty yummy. I was just happy to eat decent Chinese food again. To my utter despair, Columbus lacks good Chinese food.


Next, we took the train to downtown Chicago, and walked among the skyscrapers to get to the John Hancock Tower.


Funny story: Miss B's friend had recommended that we get dessert atop the Hancock Tower because of the view. We arrived there, stood in line, then took an elevator to the 95th floor (it took less than a minute- wow wee!). We got out... and was greeted by full-house, bustling restaurant that didn't seem to have that great a view of night time Chicago. Confused, we asked a staffer for help, who told us that we needed to go all the way down, walk to the back, take an escalator down, and then take another elevator back up to the observatory.

So we did. Only to discover that he thought we wanted to go to the official John Hancock Observatory where tickets cost about $18/ person- NO WAY!

Knowing that it would be way cheaper to eat dessert, we went back up the escalator, walked round to the front, stood in line, and got into the elevator again. This time though, there was an usher who crammed as many people into the elevator as possible, pressed the 96th floor button, and activated an automotive voice that welcomed us and hoped we enjoy our visit. Apparently we weren't the only ones who knew how to get around the "system."

After arriving on the 96th floor that opened up to the very very very busy and very very very noisy lounge (more relaxed atmosphere than the restaurant), we stood in line again for a pretty long time. Once seated, we each had to order a dessert - no sharing!- before we could finally relax and enjoy the view. I ordered a chocolate mousse cake, while Miss B got the cheesecake. Delicious though nothing extraordinary (I was satisfied but a little disappointed as well).

However, the view from above was ABSOLUTELY STUNNING.


Wish my phone camera was better. The view made the waiting and wondering worth the trip.

Funnier story: After admiring the view and eating delicious-cum-disappointing dessert, I went to the bathroom and found THE EXACT SAME VIEW, only perhaps with a little more reflective glass. UUUURRRRGGGGHHHH! If I had known I would have skipped the waiting line, gone to the bathroom and simply admired the view from there- for free. *Annoyed*

Sunday morning we went to church at the family ward that Miss B's friend attended (the same one that recommended the Hancock Tower) at the University of Chicago. Driving into the city in an overcast, gloomy day:

I loved the ward! It's been a long time since I've been to a family ward with lots of children, and I was enamored by all the cuuuuuuute babies! I was also very impressed that quite a few sisters took the initiative to introduce themselves. The Relief Society and Sunday School meetings were also very uplifting, and provided lots of new insight. Maybe that Sunday was an anomaly, but the quality of their meetings really struck me.

Miss B's friend cooked us a delicious lunch, and we had a nice visit with her, before finally leaving to go back to Columbus.

There's so much more to do there but we just didn't have time- Millennial Park, Sears Tower, Hull House, Jazz clubs...


Driving home... *sob* Goodbye Chicago... till next time!