Book Reading

I decided in the last two weeks or so that I should add some reading to fill my time. Mostly it was inspiration from Jeff. He is busy about every second of every day, and yet he posts all the time about how he's read three thousand different titles. I am busy like 6 hours out of the day, and I thought that reading could be something productive I can do to fill my spare time. Ironically enough we had to do book reviews for my stress management class (I read The Prophet specifically for that assignment) but two of the students in my group had read both The Message and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and I was able to discuss with them the books and their meanings and purposes.

Also like Jeff, I will take any recommendations!

Since Monday, March 17th I have read the following titles:

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (BYU GRADUATE!!!! :) ):
This of course is a fictional story of romance between a human and a vampire. I knew that it was an extremely popular book and I got it for Christmas from my mom, but something about it for a while sat uneasy with me (BEFORE I read it of course). However, after completing it I really can say it is probably going to remain one of my favorites for quite some time. I'm looking forward to the movie that is coming out in December and I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom:
I really loved the message in this book. I was however at times frustrated with the format of it. It's kind of hard to explain my feeling towards it, but I definitely wasn't expecting what I read. However, I would recommend reading this book. It makes you stop and think about life and things happening around you and I think that in itself is worth taking the time to read it. Too often we are just racing around through life and not taking the time to consider things going on around us.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie:
This also was a book I got for Christmas. It a fictional story of a 14 year old boy who lives on an indian reservation and realizes that if he stays there, he will never leave. He asks his parents to transfer to a high school off the reservation and from there his entire world starts to change. I likewise enjoyed the message is in this book but I dont know if I would recommend it specifically because of some of the language in it. It wasn't full of foul language but, it was a little inappropriate at times.

The Message by Lance Robinson:
This is the true story of a man from Idaho Falls who suffers from multiple diseases and was in a coma for a number of weeks. While he was in that coma he shares the story of being given the oppertunity to visit the Spirit World and learn what life will be like after this earthly state. This was an incredible book. Probably the most important of these that I read. I can honestly say that I believed that he wrote and "the message" that he had to share was really of value to me. My favorite quote from the book was a quote that someone said to Lancewhile in the Spirit World, it was simply, "Now what are you doing for this cause?" I just thought it was something to think about.

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran:
This book I would read a thousand times and NEVER get sick of. It is a fictional story of a highly-regarded individual who is returning to his place of birth where he will inevitably die. His followers ask him to leave advice with them before he goes and in the subsequent chapters he shares life lessons on dozens of topics. It reads almost biblically and is difficult at time to understand but (just as with scripture) after a few times going over paragraphs, you understand the real meaning and the lesson that is to be learned. To sum it up, I loved this book.

Just In Time: An E-Mail from Mom

I received this today and thought it was worth sharing:

Hi Miss Erin!


So it's all over the news today: If you text message, or email, or IM too much it's considered a mental illness! Good thing you "quit" when you did!

Love you!
Your Forever Best Mom

"CALL," don't "SEND."

Okay. So first I will start off by saying I am guilty of contributing to the problem. Texting is convienent, it's fairly inexpensive and it can make some things easier. HOWEVER, there comes a time when texting does nothing more than get in the way. When you're out with friends or family, when you're in with friends and family and in general when you're with other people. It's plain rude if it continues for an extended period of time. Oftentimes a receiver cannot control what the sender does and it puts the receiver in a difficult situation with those around him or her. Hey, here's a novel idea...try making a phone call. Texting is meaningless the majority of the time and phone calls have the potential to be meaningful.



The bottom line is texting can be useful in circumstances like, "I'm Here." "What time?" Etc. However I am over the days of texting conversations back and forth for hours. And saying that, I should apologize to my family members. If (as a receiver of text messages) I can control it, from now on there will be no problem. That's a guarantee.

Nostalgic.

It's friday night. I'm anywhere between the ages of 5 and 12 years old. Mom and Dad have plans for dinner but don't know what the kids are going to eat. We get into the van and travel to Giant at the corner of Route 7 and Dranesville Road. I make a dash for the frozen food section and pick out my favorite Kid Cuisine. I am reminded a thousand times they are over priced and they don't even taste good, but I don't care because, it's friday and I want some of that over priced mac and cheese dang it.

My roommate Heather and I decided to treat ourselves to Kid Cuisines last night at Macey's and today for lunch that is JUST what we ate. So what if it isn't even close to the Rachael Ray we make on occasion? It is Kid Cuisine and it speaks for itself.

Is it too late?

No Republic has said, "It's too late to 'pologize." I'm hoping I still have time to 'pologize. It's been more than a week and you know nothing about my life. That is, if you even want to know something about my life. This is what happened; I WENT HOME! YAYYYY HOME! We had spring break here at Weebs and I was able to fly home for about ten days. Rather than tell, I shall show. Enjoy!

Kaitlin and I visited Luray Caverns. It was a really fun day trip, but I got tired fast (hence the sitting down). :)

Kaitlin and I at the "Picture Frame." Woooh best friends!

Our first night together we made chocolate cupcakes with funfetti frosting. They were incredible to say the least. The Fairfax Surf Shop was having a huge sale while I was home, so I received my birthday present for next November. I'm not allowed to use it until then. :( So sadly, the Burton Lux remains in Virginia.
The orange fading into red is the best part about it. I love it.

"Any Dream Will Do..."

I didn't want to get arrested for fraud violations so I decided not to embed the following video.
HOWEVER, I highly suggest you click this link.
On occasion I become bored with my own life and find that google-ing or youtube-ing other's lives is highly entertaining. This week's victim: Donny Osmond. I always regarded him as someone who was entertaining, wholesome and just all around a flawless celebrity. The following video made me love him even more.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tSAvicL_2pQ

The Sweetest Way to Eat a Cranberry...

At the very least, every morning I grab a handful of Craisins to start my day. And I have been using the same bag since, ohhh, January. "What?... How is this even possible, Erin?" It is true. I have the largest bag of Crasins known to man. 48oz.

See, the same size as my laptop. Where it sits everyday.

And I am looking forward to taking it with me on my journey back across the country in May. Thanks to Stacey, Jeff and Jacob for this ever-lasting Christmas present.

"Charity Never Faileth"

On March 17th, 1842, in Nauvoo, Illinois, 26 women founded what today we know as the Relief Society. 166 years later there is more than 5.2 million members of this organization and it is known to be possibly the oldest and largest women's organization in the world, with members in more than 170 nations.

To celebrate this birthday, some of the girls of our ward's Relief Society drove down to Salt Lake to visit the Church History Museum, the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, walk around and enjoy Temple Square and have lunch at Lion House (which I might add, was FREE).

View of Temple Square from the Church History Museum

I had once seen the movie Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration, but it had been about two years. Watching it again reemphasized to me how much the pioneers sacrificed, and how many trials they went through to provide for us the knowledge and freedoms that we have been so blessed with.Photo from http://lds.org (James 1:5)

5th Ward Relief Society