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...