Moral Discipline

"Mere wanting is hardly a proper guide for moral conduct."

For some reason, this has been jumping out at me recently. Every Sunday for something like 3 weeks now, somebody mentions it. And every time, I am overwhelmed by the power and truth behind this simple statement.



I am so grateful for inspired prophets and apostles.

Read the whole talk here.


Add to Your Faith Virtue; and to Your Virtue Knowledge by Walter Rane

Countdowns

Ten things you want for Christmas:


1 an ipod dock
2 a cute winter coat (like Taza's maybe)
3 lots of sheet music
4 books
5 college completely paid for
6 the sun to go down around 8:00 instead of 5:00
7 my little brothers to stop growing up
8 Talana to move out here and be my roommate
9 a boyfriend
10 a spaceship

Nine musicians/bands you love:


1 Sugarland
2 She & Him
3 Lady Antebellum
4 Ingrid Michaelson
5 Regina Spektor
6 Lisa Mitchell
7 Miranda Lambert
8 Couer de Pirate
9 Zee Avi

Eight things you do everyday:


1 wake up a half hour before the alarm clock
2 check my email
3 read my Book of Mormon
4 drink 3 liters of water
5 talk to Michee on the phone
6 take a nap
7 read the New York Times
8 listen to lotsa music

Seven things you enjoy:


1 sweets
2 books
3 my family
4 making people/me laugh
5 dressing up
6 swimming in the ocean
7 friendlies

Six things that will always win your heart:


1 laughter
2 silliness/spontaneity
3 getting my car door and other gentlemanly behavior
4 smiles
5 great hair
6 thinking that I'm funny

Five favorites:

1 Candy: anything chocolatey, really.
2 Fast food: urgh, gross.
3 Snack: today it is clementines. yesterday it was cold cereal.
4 Movie: Support Your Local Sheriff
5 Place: home, temple, ocean

Four smells you enjoy:

1 the ocean
2 cucumber/melon baby lotion
3 bakeries
4 fresh rain

Three places you want to go:

1 AUSTRALIA!
2 Europe (don't make me pick a country. I want it all.)
3 South Pacific

Two holidays you love:

1 Christmas
2 Halloween

One person you'd marry on the spot:

BORED!

I am bored out of my mind.
This is what happens on Thanksgiving break when all your classes get cancelled, your professors do not assign you any homework, and your next exam isn't until finals week (December 14).
Seriously?
Seriously.
At least I have work this evening to give me something to do.
And Glee is tonight.
And Thanksgiving tomorrow
(thanks for taking me in, Kenzie and Heather!)
Maybe I should go to the library.
Any good book suggestions?


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S: School {BYU vs. Hogwarts}

I am a proud student of Brigham Young University. I love everything about it {except for American Heritage}. I love my major {Public Relations}, the beautiful campus, the amazing people, the fun classes. It is all SO GOOD!

But a small part of me {the part that read all the Harry Potter books and saw the most recent movie} can't help but want to go to Hogwarts. I just want to be magical. Can someone please make that happen? And give me an accent while you're at it? And a broom. And a pet owl. I could go one and on. I mean, really. I wouldn't mind the snow if it was like this.

S: She & Him

When it comes to {S} there is nothing I love more than She & Him. I think that they win the Artist of the Year award from me. Not a day goes by that I don't listen to them.

Clean White Love

Remember how I love her? I love her. A lot.

Because I'm feeling very Mormon right now.

pride for my country has nothing to do with it.

I have a problem called American Heritage. Let me rephrase that for all you nonBYU-ers, because that might sound suspiciously unpatriotic.
I hate my class called American Heritage. Let me list the reasons why.

1. It is boring. So boring. America has a lovely history. Do we really have to ruin it with such an awful class?

2. The exams are the worst ever. Really. Going to lecture, lab, doing the reading, etc. makes almost no difference on my grades, give or take 5 points. Granted, I am not the best student ever, but I do try. I do put effort into my classes. And I like to see results of that effort. But when the best test grade from your section is a 73%, there is something to worry about. Or not. Because it is graded on a curve.

3. It is a freshman class and I am not a freshman. There are millions of freshman, all vying for a good seat in the JSB Auditorium, and I get accidentally {I hope...} groped every single Monday and Wednesday as I fight for a seat. By little freshman. Ugh.

{JSB=Joseph Smith Building. BYU campus is a classic example of how much we Mormons love acronyms. With things like CTR, LDS, & EQP, it's no surprise that our campus is full of MARBs, JFSBs, JKBs, etc.}

4. I am supposed to be writing a 5 page paper on the role that agency played in the constitutional development of the country. Right now. It is due at 8:00 am. I have one page. Wish me luck on the rest of the pretend stuff that I will be writing.

5. I sit next to a little freshman who makes almost perfect scores on everything. That's not doing much for me in the academic confidence department.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am grateful for the temple. I have been twice this week and both times have been wonderful. Learn more here.

I am also grateful for friends that make me come decorate cookies and watch Glee with them, even when I don't initially want to. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

And I am grateful for {in no particular order}:

Talana
my grandmother, for moving in and taking over when my family needed her this past week
heating units that work
cute boots
tie dye
a certain friend that is getting married very soon who talked to me about important stuff
almonds
friends in all my classes {seriously, the best semester ever for making friends in class}
meteor showers

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Baby Names

In the spirit of my baby hunger
(I seriously think about how much I want one at least 3 times a day)
and copying Heather, here are some of my favorite baby names.
Yes, I know that I have no use for them at the moment.
I don't care.
But, I like games.
And this is just another game.
Out of the following names, you get to figure out which I really like and which I loathe.

Post edit: I forgot to clarify. I love all these names except for 3 boy names and 3 girl.

Girls:

Emma
Jane
Megan
Elizabeth
Penelope
Abigail
Diane
Lucy
Claire
Ophelia
Briony
Elinor
Zoe

Boys:

Nathaniel
Lance
Joseph
Henry
Anthony
Elijah
Bastien
Kai
Talmage
Seamus
Isaac
Todd
Benjamin
Phineas
Ethan
Emery
Jacob

Good luck. I highly doubt that anyone will get 100%. Please prove me wrong.

Disclaimer: I apologize if your name is any of the ones that I do not like. Please place the blame accordingly on your parents.

I Love Me

Becca wrote an eye opening post about how we view ourselves.
She challenged us to write a post about things we love about ourselves.
So, at the risk of being annoying...

I've not really had problems with self perception.
I mean, I've never felt beautiful or glamorous, but I have also never looked in the mirror and felt bad what I saw.
But let me clarify that.
I have bad hair days where I look like a lion.
I have sketchy skin a few weeks out of the month.
I get pale in winter time.
I passed size two back when I was twelve.
I forget to shave my legs.
And sometimes I'm too lazy to dye my roots, so those get pretty noticeable.
But none of these things are permanent.
(Well, maybe the curly hair is...)
I am not my broken out skin.
I am not my fuzzy legs.
I am not my long toes.
Or my soft muscles because I refuse to exercise.
I am me.
Not what I see.
And I have never felt bad when I looked and saw me.

5 Things I Love About Me

1. I am pretty funny. Maybe not to you, but I always manage to make myself laugh. At least once a day I wish that someone was around so I could share something funny.

2. I have a pretty decent nose. I mean, I like it.

3. I can make really good pumpkin cookies. So good, in fact, that I can and will eat the whole batch by myself.

4. I have really nice fingernails. I've never had the problem of them not growing or being too short. They're nice and long and thick and shiny. The perfect nails.

5. I'm good at being nice to people. Not just a fake nice, but I really do feel love for the people around me. Even if we aren't really friends. I just think people are important. And I think that being able to recognize the spark of Divinity in others is essential.

So there we have it.
5 things about me.
Some are vain, some are silly, and all are fabulous.

Your turn.
Tell what you love about yourself.

Red Carpet

Time for the obligatory Red Carpet anazlyzation of this year's CMA's. And blogger doesn't think that analyzation is a word. But I'm gonna use it anyways.

Ok, my winner of the night was Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland.
Surprise! Like you didn't see that one coming.

Second runner up was Faith Hill.
We haven't seen Faith in awhile, but she sure looks good.

I thought that Kelli Pickler's new red hair was lovely and I enjoyed her look.Honorary mention goes to Hilary of Lady Antebellum. I didn't love her dress, but I thought she looked beautiful.

Carrie Underwood...well, she was in both the best and worst categories of the night, the best being her red carpet and the worst being her Cowboy Casanova dress, which tied with LeeAnn Rimes dress.
Ugh.
Really ladies.
Sparkly hot pants are out.

Here's the Cowboy Casanova, if you missed that whole event that was reminiscent of some MTV awards, not something remotely country.

A Lesson to All Young Men: Smiles and Doors

Today a young man stopped at the Harold B. Lee Library to open the door for me. Now, I go to BYU, so this is not an unusual occurrence. I can't remember the last time I had to open the door for myself. {Note: Remember this boys.} But then he smiled. And I fell in love. Now, I don't know his name or anything else about him, but I want him. I don't even know if he really was cute. But that smile made him beautiful to me. My new life mission is to find him and marry him.

So, boys, remember to always open the door, and then to give a big, genuine smile. The girl will turn to putty in your hands.

The end.

Q: Quoteables

"Who is more real? Homer or Ulysses? Shakespeare or Hamlet? Burroughs or Tarzan?"

~Robert A. Heinlein

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R: Red

Sometimes I just really want red hair. I guess my red/brown will have to do.

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Q: Quoteables

Gather out of star-dust,

earth-dust,

cloud-dust,

storm-dust,

And splinters of hail,

One handful of dream-dust,

Not for sale.

~Langston Hughes

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Me. In Pictures.

Thanks to Jodi for this cute idea and for also loving creme brulee.


1. What is your first name? Reyna
2. What is your favorite food? cherries
3. What school did you go to? BYU
4. What is your favorite color? yellow
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Joseph Gordon Levitt
6. Favorite drink? water
7. Dream vacation? Ugh. Too. Many. To. Choose. Venice.
8. Favorite dessert? Creme Brulee
9. What you want to be when you grow up? a momma
10. What do you love most in life? the gospel
11. One word to describe you? crazy
12. Your nickname? Flossie

1: go to flickr.com
2: in another window open http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php
3: choose 4 columns, 3 rows
4: answer the above questions in the search bar of flickr. pick your favorite one on the first page and paste the address into your mosaic


1. La reyna niña, 2. sakura, 3. 070606, 4. Red Poppies And A Dramatic Sunset Sky, 5. 500 Days of Summer, 6. Dusky Beauty, 7. Venice - the other side, 8. day 58: creme brulee, 9. X Vert tige X, 10. In the beginning, there was a Word.., 11. Masjid Al-Noor, 12. the green sand beach

Order and Toilet Paper

Since I need some sort of order in my hectic life, I think I'm going to start with my blog.
So... Mondays are going to be A-Z and Thursdays in the month of November are going to be Thankful. That's the plan.

Also, remember how I'm kind of a nanny?
Well, let me tell you about Baby's new favorite food: toilet paper, dipped in the toilet and chewed on until I come and make him spit it out.
Disgusting, but he runs into the bathroom every time someone leaves the door open.
I have found him on more than one occasion dipping wads of paper into the toilet and then putting them in his mouth.
I am gagging just thinking about it.
I don't know why things like that appeal to one year old little boys.

The Anthropologist

Guys.

Remember how Anthropologie is really cool?

{Even if it is too expensive for a poor college student like me...}

They just came out with the most amazing website.

Really.

I am so so in love.

The Anthropologist

is incredible.

My favorite is Greig Fraser.

Just click on getting to know the light and you will be led to beauty.

I am swooning with joy.

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Happy Birthday Little Blog!!!

I completely forgot my first birthday!
Woop woop!
This blogging thing is kind of good.
I'm liking it.
The part that I like even more is that people actually read my ramblings.
The innermost thoughts of my head are kind of fun to share.

So here's to you!
Go enjoy something sweet in honor of my little blogs goodness.

Q:...

{Q}.
{Q} is hard.
There are only three things that I can think of that begin with {Q}.
So I am A. taking suggestions and 2. combining them all into one post.

Quail:
Have you ever seen a quail?
I never did in Florida, but here in Utah they are everywhere.
Really.
Like I came out one morning at my first apartment complex and they were all over my car.
Like 20 of them, just sitting there.
So cute.
And then they jump off and run in a line in zig zigs and curly cues.
I have seen them all over my current neighborhood and I love it.
Here's to quails.

Quilts:
I really like quilts. They are just awesome.

Queens:
There is a queen who has a name that looks/sounds kind of like mine.
So sometimes I pretend I am her and that I have servants to pick up all my clothes and make me delicious food.
That sounds good right about now.
It also helps that she is beautiful and adorable and awesome.

P.S. Remember how my name means queen?

Queen Rania of Jordan

P: People

This has been a new semester for me, because it is the first where I have my own room.
And while this is nice in some ways {having my own bit of space and all} I find that more often than not, I am just lonely.
There is no one that is going to come in and tiptoe to their bed late at night.
There is no one to talk to at 2:00 in the morning.
There is not a soul in sight to save me when I hear a scary noise and get a little bit frightened. There is no one to giggle with.
There is no one to argue about the laundry all over the floor with.
There is no one to fight with about who was the last one up that should turn off the light.
There is no one to just be with.

And today I discovered that I kind of like people.
Sure, maybe they annoy me sometimes, but I like having a person.
And my roommate has always been my person for me.
I need someone to be here when I'm in a bad mood.
That way, I don't just sit alone and sulk.
There is someone there to tell stupid jokes and make me forget why I was so darn cranky in the first place.
So Dawna, come back.
And come back soon.
Because I am not doing so well here on my own.
NEVER LEAVE ME AGAIN!!!!
That goes for you too Katie Kelly.
And Heather.

{My first time at In-N-Out Burger.}

{Getting home from Vegas at 6:00 in the morning. With matching pajamas.}

{Getting home from Vegas. Same night. Or morning. Whatever.}

{The best tinfoiling of a front door ever done. You're welcome, FHE Family.}

{Did you take this picture of you guys, Elfie? I thought you didn't take pictures of yourself...}

{The last time we saw Katie for 18 mos. I'm counting down the days till May, little one!}